When Fives woke up, the first thing he was aware of was pain.
It started in his head, a throbbing sensation at the base of his skull. His neck was stiff, his chest uncomfortably tight from what he suspected were a number of broken ribs. His legs felt oddly numb, like they had been submerged in an ice bath for too long.
Something must have happened to him for him to be waking in so much pain. Slowly and sluggishly, his soldier senses told him to get a grip of himself and wake up. If he had been captured by the enemy, he needed to be alert.
An inkling in the back of his mind told him that he had a job to do. He had to protect the Commander.
His eyes felt like they had been glued shut, his mouth full of cotton. Once he managed to peel his eyes open, he immediately squinted at the bright light over his head.
Ah, medbay.
At least he wasn't in an enemy prison.
"Coric, the kid's awake," he heard a voice grumble.
Never mind, he would take the prison, especially when the sweet smell of bacta hit him, along with the droning noises of the various machines.
"Thanks, Zyme," there was suddenly a face in front of him. Fives blinked to clear the blurriness, revealing the calm expression of the 501st's CMO. "Hey, Fives. How are you feeling?"
He had to wet his lips with his tongue, his mouth thoroughly dry. "Like I've been trampled."
A piece of plastic was pressed to his mouth. He realised it was a straw, and at someone's gentle suggestion for him to drink, Fives relished the stale taste of the Resolute's water.
Coric chuckled, pulling the straw away, "Not far off, vod'ika. Do you remember the mission?"
Fives tried to recall what had happened for him to end up in medical. His head throbbed, as did his entire body, but he couldn't remember any of the details.
Something about protecting the Commander.
Eventually, he sighed, "Not much."
"That's okay; you got hit pretty hard," Coric's smile was kind, "You and Commander got caught in a rockslide whilst on patrol. The pair of you fell to the bottom of the ravine, we had to dig you out."
That explained the pain.
The memories were slowly filling in. Fives could remember being tossed like a ragdoll between rocks the size of tookas. He had tried to remember his training, but ultimately, his main concern was protecting the-
"Is the Commander alright?" He asked, feeling tired. His eyes kept drifting shut.
"She's fine, just a few bruises and scrapes." Coric assured him, "Had you not wrapped yourself around her to break the impact, she would've been a lot worse."
Fives tried to not think about how Ahsoka's body might've looked if he hadn't done what he did.
"What did Brightside say?" He said, his words slurring from exhaustion and whatever pain meds they were pumping into him.
Zyme snorted near his head, "She used a lot of colourful words to describe your heroic act."
Coric looked like he was trying to hold in his laughter as he shined a torch into Fives' eyes.
"He's slipping back under," Zyme muttered, now standing at the foot of his medcot. The man's braid had got so long since Fives met him, it fell over his shoulder now.
"Yep," Coric gave him a reassuring smile, "Night, Fives."
He spent the rest of the day in and out of sleep.
Fives could hardly stay awake long enough for the medics to ask questions about how much sensation he had regained. He woke up to Rex doing some datapad work in the chair next to his bed, but the next time he opened his eyes, the Captain was gone.
Tilly brought him so food around mealtime, but took it away after Fives dosed off for the third time with half-chewed rations still in his mouth.
It took several more hours of rest until Fives could hold a conversation longer than a few sentences.
"Are you sure there's nothing else I can get you?" Echo fussed over him in the middle of the night, straightening his pillows. "Some water, some food? Are you comfortable?"
"I'm fine," Fives replied, only partially lying. It was hard to get comfortable whilst it still felt like his chest was tightly wrapped in chains. "You need to go and sleep, or Rex will yell at you for nodding off during drills."
Echo smiled, worry for his brother evident in the lines across his forehead. Apparently, he had stayed by Fives' bed almost constantly whilst he was unconscious. "I suppose you're right. You'll use your call bell if you need anything though, yeah?"
"Of course," Fives said, "Thanks for sitting with me for a while."
"I'll see you in the morning," Echo squeezed his hand before heading for the exit. Fives waited for the doors to slide shut behind his brother, then let his eyes close.
He wasn't tired, especially after sleeping all day. It was more so that being alone in the dimmed medbay was making him feel uneasy.
Fives was a sociable clone. He knew that Echo felt bad for leaving when he so desperately wanted the company, but there would be hell to pay if he fell asleep during training.
Fives wasn't some needy shiny, but he was still in pain and now lonely. It was far too quiet in the medbay with him being the only patient awake.
His eyes opened at the sound of a door opening.
Across the room, the medic on shift left the office. Brightside had a beeline for his bedside, datapad tucked under her arm.
Fives felt his anticipation soar.
The first time he'd met the woman was immediately after his and Echo's investiture into the 501st. They had scheduled medical examinations, as was procedure for any new personnel on the cruiser.
Brightside let them do the exam at the same time, claiming that they had already been through enough without needing to separate for a check-up.
Since that day, Fives had been completely enamoured with the only female non-Jedi who served on the front lines alongside the men.
"Would you like some company?" The Kiffar asked, standing a few feet away from his bed. "I remember you don't sleep well in medical."
Fives nodded his head towards the chair that Echo had been occupying, gesturing for her to sit down.
Whilst Brightside had already made it blatantly obvious that she had zero romantic interest in him, he was still going to shoot his shot at any given opportunity.
After all, ARCs never gave up.
Rex hadn't actually signed the forms for him and Echo to go to Advanced Recon Commando training, but Fives knew it was coming. No matter how many times he was called a shiny, there were scuffs on his armour now.
Well, actually his armour had been thrown out because of the state it was in when they pulled him and Ahsoka out of the debris, but the point still stood.
"Are you comfortable?" Brightside asked as she got settled on the chair, placing the datapad on her lap. She brushed her many braids over her shoulder. "I'm surprised you're not in more pain. Not many people survive those types of injuries."
"I'm fine," he said, which was an extension of the truth considering how much his body ached. He couldn't help the flewts in his stomach when she implied that he had survived something that many others wouldn't.
"It's because I'm basically pure, solid muscle," he lifted his arm that didn't have wires and tubes sticking out of it and flexed.
Brightside raised an eyebrow, "I'd give more credit to your armour than your physique. You are consistently getting your shebs handed to you by the veterans in the gym."
"You've watched me spar?" He asked, somewhat surprised.
Brightside tended to train solo in the middle of the night to avoid socialising. Besides mandatory drills and her shifts, she was practically impossible to find on the cruiser.
"I've patched you up afterwards," she reminded him. "Remember, when Appo gave you a concussion?"
Fives grinned, "I remember you yelling at him."
Something akin to a blush appeared on the woman's cheeks, and she diverted her gaze. Fives took it as a victory that Brightside obviously cared about him, even if she didn't think of him in any romantic capacity.
Fives supposed there would have been a lot of implications in the relationship. Brightside was the second oldest person on the cruiser after Admiral Yuleran and had decades of combat experience. Compared to her, he wasn't just a shiny, he was practically a cadet.
Another reason why things wouldn't have worked was blindingly obvious as the woman suddenly went completely stiff at the opening of the medbay doors.
Fives squinted at the approaching figure. Decked in a dark cloak and his metal prosthetic on display, Skywalker did admittedly look menacing as he crossed the medbay.
Brightside stood up, and Fives didn't miss the way she positioned herself in front of his medcot, like a nexu protecting her cub.
"General," there was a tremor in the woman's voice, the fear of the Jedi that many of the 501st talked about on display. "Do you need something?"
Skywalker stopped a few feet away, offering a gentle smile, "I just wanted to see how Fives was doing, that's all."
If Fives was some sort of shiny, he would've gawked at just the prospect of Skywalker making a trip to the medbay to see him, but he was familiar enough with the Jedi to not completely freak out at the request.
Brightside looked over her shoulder, scanning Fives. He felt like she was trying to assess him, attempting to determine if he would be able to defend himself in his condition.
Her worry didn't make any sense, but then again, a lot of the actions of her superiors during the Kiff Civil War didn't make any sense either.
Fives wondered how many times she'd regretted leaving a patient's side, only to find them dead after their leaders deemed them a waste of resources.
The woman met his eyes. Fives hoped he managed to convey reassurance through his gaze.
She turned back to the Jedi, her tone cautious. "I'll be checking on my other patients. Call if you need me."
Skywalker nodded politely, "Of course."
She gave him a wide berth as she stepped away, giving Skywalker the chance to move forward. Fives shifted in his medcot, prepared to at least look like he was trying to move to attention.
"Relax, Fives," Skywalker put up a hand, "At ease, I don't want to get on the medics' bad side by agitating your injuries."
Oh, there would be hell to pay.
Coric might act like a chilled CMO, but he could be just as ferocious as Kix when it came to his patients.
"Do you mind if I sit down?" Skywalker gestured to the plastic chair that Brightside had vacated.
"Sure thing, sir," Fives said, "How come you're awake?"
It wasn't unusual for the Jedi to be up at this hour. Sometimes, if Fives slipped out of his bunk to get a snack from the mess hall, he'd spot his General pacing up and down the corridors, hunched over holomaps on the bridge, or training in the gym.
He never wanted to pester the man who got as little sleep as it was, so he would silently slip away. Admittedly, he'd once stayed out of sight to watch Skywalker practice with his lightsaber, which left him completely unable to get to sleep because all he could picture was his General's shirtless body as he-
Enough said.
"Uh, I struggle to get to sleep sometimes," Skywalker admitted, fanning his robe out before sitting down. "I just wanted to check on you. Rex said you were asleep all day."
"Yeah," Fives looked up at the IV stand next to his bed, "They've been pumping me full of sedatives and painkillers."
Skywalker snorted, "The medics finally got sick of all your yapping, huh?"
Fives laughed, which he immediately regretted because of the shooting pain it sent through his ribs. He placed a hand against his side and grimaced.
"Careful," Skywalker frowned, stretching out his flesh hand.
"It's fine," Fives wheezed, "Just need to… not make me laugh."
"I'll try my best," Skywalker said, attempting to hide a smile. "I didn't just come to put you in pain. I came to thank you."
As the pain eased, Fives frowned. "For what, General?"
The Jedi's face went somewhat devoid of emotion, "When we pulled you two out of there, Ahsoka was able to walk. She had a few cuts and bumps, but no major injuries. You were… well, you looked mangled."
Fives snorted but tried not to laugh, "Thanks for the compliment."
Skywalker surprised him by putting a hand on his shoulder, "Coric said that if you hadn't taken the brunt of the impact, Ahsoka would be in a similar state that you're in now. It was already a miracle that you survived. So, thank you, for saving my Padawan."
He looked at Fives, dead in the eyes. "I owe you one."
Fives had to get a hold of himself. It was bad enough that he could feel the heat of Skywalker's palm through his medical gown, and that the Jedi was staring straight into his soul, but he needed to compose himself before he melted into the medcot.
"Sir, I think anyone in the 501st would have done what I did." He said carefully, "Whether the Jedi Order approves of it or not, we all care about the Commander, more than we care about our own lives."
Skywalker drew his hand away, and only then was Fives able to take a full breath.
"I'm aware, and I know that anyone would've done the same." The General said sincerely, although he would never fully understand the fondness the men had for Tano. "But I'm glad it was you, Fives."
The clone managed a smile, "Glad it was me who almost got squashed like a bug between falling boulders?"
Skywalker matched his expression, "No, I'm glad it was you because I've been looking for a reason to recommend you to Rex for ARC training."
Fives blinked.
He hadn't been expecting that.
"Seriously, General?" He exclaimed, "I'm still a rookie."
Skywalker made a confused face, "Says who?"
"Everyone."
Shiny, rookie, vod'ika, it all meant the same thing: inexperienced.
"I don't." Skywalker argued, looking somewhat unsettled, "I wouldn't even consider you to be a- never mind."
He stopped himself from venting and composed himself, "What do you say? I could get you on the next shuttle to Kamino once you're cleared from medical."
Fives took a breath as deeply as he could manage without causing pain in his ribs.
This had been his dream since he was a cadet. Every mission he went on, Fives used as a mental countdown to the day when he would finally be presented with his new rank and kama.
Every clone wanted to be an ARC. Those who did complete the training walked with an air of superiority that Fives salivated over. He wanted to be one of them, and he was prepared to do whatever it took to change his designation to ARC-5555.
"Not without Echo, sir."
It was Skywalker's turn to be caught off guard.
"What?"
Fives felt a sudden twinge of regret. Skywalker was presenting him with an opportunity that very few clones would receive. Anybody would call him a di'kut for refusing such an offer.
But he and Echo had made a deal after Rishi, and before everything, Echo came first.
"Echo and I only have each other." He started slowly, "I know the 501st is our family, but we're all that's left of our old squad. We're twins. We train, fight, and die together."
Skywalker's expression softened, like he'd heard this a hundred times from other clones.
Or maybe he'd heard similar words from his own student's mouth.
"You know how unpredictable this war is, Fives." He said gently, coaxing him to understand that the expectations he and Echo had set were highly unrealistic.
There would come a day that he or Echo would die, whether it was during the war or after. Hell, one of them might die on their next mission, although Fives always tried to not think about those possibilities.
Fives nodded, "I'm aware, but this is something that you and the Captain have control over. I want to go with Echo."
He knew it was a big ask. Clones were raised to never voice their desires to their superiors. Squads could be separated, twins could be split up, and they could be punished for disputing it.
But Fives hoped that Skywalker liked him enough- respected him enough- to allow him this.
And if he didn't, and he was court martialled for making such demands, then he would expect Echo to get himself into a similar level of trouble so they could be decommissioned together.
"Okay," Skywalker said after a few seconds of thought, "When you're both ready, then."
Fives could've cried with relief.
"Thank you, General," he ushered, "And don't think I don't appreciate the opportunity. It's just that-"
"Some things are more important than ranks and promotions." Skywalker finished for him, "I get it, I understand."
He was probably making the link to how he felt about Ahsoka, or maybe even his own Master. Not many people were more important in a Jedi's life than those in their lineage.
Surely.