You hadn't spoken since you'd signed your resignation. Which was odd, because Fives was never known for his silence. In the months without him, you'd started missing his loud laughs, terrible jokes that never failed to make you laugh as well, his cheesy grins, soft eyes, wandering hands, and... okay, well maybe you just missed him all together. But really, this time it was really over. Truly.

The bar your friends had chosen, on the other side of Coruscant and completely different level than 79's, wasn't bad. It was full of cool people who were probably interesting, decent looking, and most importantly very not Fives. So, your private comms unit buzzing on your wrist shouldn't have stolen your attention so quickly. The holo projector flashed the contact name, and you instinctively turned so none of your friends would see, you already knew it was a bad idea and they would disapprove.

Fives out of Ten DO NOT ANSWER. SERIOUSLY DON'T ANSWER HIM.

You stared at the contact flashing, debating, teeth toying at your glossed lip. You'd played this game before, you knew where this path would lead, but... your eyes flashed up to your friends. Most of them seemingly very interested in respective conversations or sabacc games, or some of them already lodged down someone's throats. Your drink had gone warm in your hand, so you downed the rest of the cocktail to block out your more logical thoughts. blah blah blah... yeah you probably should not... but this night wasn't going anywhere and you deserved some fun too.

So, you slipped into the muggy Coruscant night air and clicked the comm on, steeling your voice to sound cold even if your interest was piqued, "What do you want, Fives?"

"Hello to you, too, Beautiful." The trooper was seemingly unaffected by your cool greeting, and even without a hologram to confirm, you could imagine the shit eating grin growing on his face and you wanted to say the thought didn't make you smile as well, "Torrent Company is on planet for a couple days."

"I heard. What exactly does that have to do with me?" You scoffed, you weren't going to cave. And even if you did, you weren't going to make it easy. You heard that familiar laugh through the tiny speakers, and to keep from laughing with him, you rolled your eyes, "I'm out right now, so get to the point."

"Didn't see you at 79's." He didn't answer your question. Stars, he knew how to press your buttons. You huffed, considering hanging up on him, finger hovering over the button but instead you snarked back.

"There's other bars, Fives, and I'll have you know there's other men here, too, that are buying me drinks and talking me up." That last drink was catching up to you, and the words were tumbling out of you, partly true and partly a taunt, "Seeing you tonight, would be a bad idea right?"

"And yet you're still talking to me? Besides, I remember you always loving my terrible ideas." His voice was irritatingly smooth, ending in a gravely chuckle, and you could envision the exact smirk he wore, the glint to his eyes. The undertones that he had you right where he wanted you, he wanted you and knew you wanted him. His taunt worked better and it was infuriating.

"Ugh!" Your little outburst, complete with a stamp of your heeled foot, was somewhere between a growl and a whine, "I knew this was a bad idea."

Fives only laughed some more, the last thing you heard before you ended the transmission and stomped back into the bar. You tried, really tried, to get back into the headspace. You flirted and took drinks that were bought for you, let someone run hands down your back and dance with you, but Fives's laughter and words played through your head like an annoyingly catchy song.

It was as the burn of another shot slid down your throat, that your wrist buzzed again. This time you were grateful that you were sitting at the bar as a picture popped up- a piled of familiar blue painted armor in a corner by a GAR bunk, an open bottle of Pantoran wine in the background of the shot. Under the photo, with no other words but new room assignments. Curious... new bunk. The photo was obscured by the countertop so your friends couldn't see, and you weren't proud about how long you stared at the holo-pic trying to pick apart any details you could. When you looked up, the man you'd been flirting with for the last hour was gone, flirting with a tall trandoshan woman who was way more into the attention than you had been. Sighing, you flagged the bartender for another shot as typed and erased a coupled different responses. Flirty remarks, harsh refusals, prying questions... Nothing sounded quite right, so you closed the holochat in favor of downing the liquor placed in front of you.

Fact: He was your ex. But, things had obviously changed, it'd been months and during war time, so much can change so fast. Can't two people reconnect? Even before you were together, you'd been friends first, right? Surely, a friend could visit another friend... late at night, in a pretty little outfit... after a few drinks. You could be just friends, right? Even after the shots multiple kinds of liquor, you could hear the lie you were telling yourself. But you peeked at the picture again, remembering all the other times you'd seen his armor discarded like that and all the contradictory voices went silent.

Fuck it, it's fine.

It was embarrassing how fast you flagged a cab, not even bothering to tell your friends lest they figure out where you were heading. You knew you'd get scolded in the group chat for wrecking plans, and that you should probably turn around and stop, but the you'd made up your mind. It was also embarrassing traipsing through the GAR barracks (your workplace come morning) in the sparkly ensemble you'd picked for the night on the town, fortunately any troopers that would have had the off time to be in the barracks were out and about. As you crossed through a courtyard, you looked up to the area you were heading. And there, second floor where the semi private rooms were, leaning against the window with smug grin looking down at you approaching was Fives.

You consider turning around, walking back out and flipping him a rude hand gesture, but your legs kept pushing you forward, into the barracks and into the lift, but instead of letting your friends well timed reminders warn you offAnd when it opened, Fives was waiting there for you. From the waist down, he was still wearing his armor. New Armor, you noted, swallowing thickly. The painted leather of a new Kama swayed around his thighs, accentuated by the holster straps of duo dc-17 pistols. From the waist up, he was in his blacks. Basically a second layer of skin, the material left little to the imagination as it stretched over his chest and across his broad shoulders. He'd taken off the gloves and pushed the sleeves half way up his muscled forearms. Fives, since you had last seen him, had updated the stick and poke tattoo on his temple to an actual temple and cut his hair accordingly, even his beard had been trimmed up nicer than before.

You were sure, positive, that at some point you'd seen someone better looking, a hotter man. Surely, you had...But for the life of you, you really couldn't recall when. Your jaw clenched, nostrils flaring slightly as you tried to come up with something to say other than, "Ahhh" or a slew of curses (Because, of course, he got hotter over the past two months because the force hated you).

"Was starting to think you weren't coming, beautiful." Fives smirked at you, and you wished you could take the credit he was facetiously giving. The little shit knew you weren't going to ignore his blatant unspoken invitation. The soldier whistled lowly, "Glad I waited though, kriff, I'd fight another five campaigns for that dress."

Heat flared to your cheeks, and to elsewhere, as you shifted self consciously on your heels. Your brain was still short circuiting, part of it reveling in his praise and the other reminding you every reason you broke up and even more reasons as to why this was a bad idea. So, even you were surprised when your voice was surprisingly cheeky, "Yeah, I heard a lot of similar sentiments tonight, this dress made me very popular."

The soldier seemed shocked at your snark, eyes first flashing in jealousy before his smirk turned to a grin, "Is that so?"

His bare hand reached up experimentally, and you knew you should pull back, prevent the contact, that it was a bad idea to let this go on, but you stayed still. Eyes fluttering shut as a warm thumb crossed across your flushed cheek, his gaze noting how you swayed a bit, the slight smudge of your makeup, and how your outfit was just slightly disheveled. With his other hand, featherish finger tips started at the peak of your shoulder trailing in a teasingly light graze down your arm before making their way down to play with your fingers, noting how they trembled slightly with anticipation. His smirk grew when your breath caught in your throat. Fives pressed a slow kiss to point of your jaw, smelling the remnants of your perfume, the slight smell of sweat from dancing, and the lingering smell of bar smoke and liquor, "I can tell."

Your eyes shot back open to glare at him, "Did you call me all the way down here just to comment on my outfit?"

"Of course not, but it'd be rude not to tell a gorgeous woman just how good she looks." He flirted shamelessly, a reminder of how you got here in the first place, leading you further into the barracks with the fingers he'd tangled into yours. He easily walked backwards, quietening the angel on your shoulder with kisses starting at your jaw and working his way down your neck. You were so engrossed in watching him, how easily he slipped back into this routine, that you barely noticed when he pulled the two of you into his quarters. The door sliding open and swallowing the two of you before swishing shut again, leaving the room in the dim orangey light of the streetlights outside the window, the light made his skin glow like coper.

Just as in the picture, the top half of his armor was piled in the corner by one of the two beds, open bottle of wine sitting on a foot locker. What the picture hadn't shown, was the ID printed on the foot locker. Not CT-5555, but ARC-5555. At the foot of the other bed was ARC-1409. ARC troopers Fives and Echo, things really had changed.

"That's new." You breathed, free hand tracing over the letters. Fives chuckled into your neck, coming up for air and to joke.

"Try not to sound so surprised, gorgeous." He breathed, nose resting against your cheek as his hands fell to your waist. You knew all clones were the same height, and he was done growing, but the way his half lidded eyes were staring down at you... seriously, had he gotten taller? His boot subtly shifted between your feet, placing one of his thighs between your own, "Without you around to distract me, had to find something to occupy myself with."

"So you became an Advanced Recon Commando trooper?" You almost laughed, of course he'd brag in such a blasé (flirty) way. And if his thumbs hadn't started rubbing devilish little circles at your hips, you would have admitted to being proud of him. He laughed again, leaning back in, his voice a teasing whisper before his kissed right at the base of your ear where you dabbed on perfume earlier.

"Impressed yet?" He teased, finally catching your lips. It was then, his lips against yours, your hips canting up against the plastoid of his armor, that it was like you'd never stopped kissing him. All those reasons you'd broken up, all the red flags, all the arguments, faded into a buzz in the back of your mind as your arms wrapped around his neck. Your reaction made him smile against your lips, pulling you even closer, once again kissing down your neck as his hands started to gently swipe the straps of your dress down your shoulders, exposing more of your décolletage. His hands went down your arms, leaving goosebumps despite his perpetual warmth, pausing at your comm unit which you suddenly noticed was vibrating erratically on your wrist, flashing through your friends' content names at an insane speed. With a mischievous look, he smoothly unclipped it before placing it in your palm. While you contemplated answering the messages, his beard scratched and blazed a trail ahead of his mouth, moving down your jaw and neck, no doubt leaving marks that would serve as a reminder of your bad ideas for days to come. The slight nip of his teeth cemented your decision. You sent the comms unit sailing onto Echo's bunk before leaning back into Fives's embrace, and as he went, he subtly guided you towards the door until your half bare back pressed against the cool durasteel of the wall. You hadn't realized how heated your skin was until you gasped at the sudden difference, nails digging into his shoulders in shock, "God, I've missed those little noises you make."

"Stars, this is a bad idea, right?" You groaned, tangling your fingers into the ends of his hair that were just long enough to start curling, his knee pressed between your legs so even the slightest movement made your breath catch. To your utter dismay, Fives stilled completely, hands freezing where they had settled at the hem line of your dress ridden up on your thighs, his lips halting their trail down to your cleavage to look up at you with sincere eyes.

"Do you want me to stop?" His voice was genuine, teasing and taunts gone, reminding you that as bad as your relationship might have been at times that he was, above all, a good guy. Such a little thing, a thing that should be basic decency, shouldn't make your lip quirk up in a smile just as genuine. You should have thought about it, really, but all your could think about was the growing heat in your very core, the way you slotted together perfectly, and the way that even after all the drama no one knew exactly how to press your buttons quite like Fives did. Still, his ego didn't need to hear those sentiments so you let your head drop to his shoulder, nose prodding at the neckline of his blacks as you shook your head against him, rocking your hips against his armored thigh. One of his hands held your hips in place, his voice now half serious and half teasing, "Need to hear that pretty voice, mesh'la."

I should... probably... probably not, I should... probably... probably not. Your mind was flipping rapidly between ideas. Was it better to recognize this was a bad idea and still go through with it? Should you pretend you didn't know this wasn't your best decision? You were already here though... fuck it, it's fine. Which was becoming an increasingly common sentiment lately.

"Ah-" You started, cutting off the embarrassing whine his actions brought out of you, "-I don't want you to stop."

Fives just laughed quietly, catching your lips again and pressing himself further into you as his hands wandered from your thighs, up your hips, over your ribs, and across your chest. One of his skilled hands explored the fabric of your dress until he found the zipper, deftly unzipping it without unzipping the dress without even pausing the way his other hand squeezed the softest part of your thigh. Force, what were they teaching him in ARC training? You moaned into his mouth and he breathed it in like oxygen. The shimmering fabric fell into a pool around your waist, the hemline hiked above you waist, leaving the dress like a belt and your undergarments exposed. Fives pulled back for a moment, eyes roaming the skin he'd exposed like an artist looking at their favorite piece. Eyes dark and adoring as they roved your body, fingers occasionally grazing across the marks and curves that made you so you. His eyes were so intense that you had to look away, lest your bad ideas turn into the wrong ideas. You were done and through, this was a one time thing... right?

With his stare just long enough to make you squirm, you hardened your resolve, hooking your fingers under his belt and using the grip to pull him back into you once again. Not as deftly as his zipper skills, but you managed to fairly smoothly unlatch his belt as the same time you deepened the kiss. You were rewarded with a deep groan vibrating through his chest, making your own smile turn greedy.

Fives, never one to be outdone, put both hands on your waist, easily lifting you slightly as he lifted a knee and pressed it into the wall. Your legs had no where to go other than wrapping around his unfairly slim hips. He supported most of your weight, but let a delicious amount of pressure fall onto the plastoid encasing his muscular thighs. You didn't mean to grind down like you did, nipping at his lip as you went and letting one hand wander to his hair again to tug slightly, earning another low moan at the same time you pleaded his name.

You reward was short lived though, a curt knock at the door halted the way his hands slid down your thighs. Fives groaned, slowly retracting his thigh and holding you until your legs were steady enough to lean you against the wall. The sudden change pulled a keening mewl from you, and if you weren't so lust drunk (and regular drunk) you'd be offended when Fives's hand covered your mouth. His warm palm centered over your mouth gently pressing you against the wall just out of view for when the door opened. Fives, tall and broad, used his body to take up most of the doorway, his hand over your mouth making it look like he was just leaning against the door frame. His form was the picture of relaxed, while you stood with jelly legs and clenched thighs, heaving chest and shaky breaths through your nose as your own hands flew up to cover his, gripping at his fingers like a lifeline.

"Can I help you, vod?" Fives's voice was cool, though you knew him well enough to hear the impatience there. You didn't dare turn your head, afraid that even the slightest turn of your head would alert the new comer to your presence. So, out of the corner of your eye, you stared at Fives the best you could. His side profile gave you no clue as to the visitor, but unfortunately the voice was familiar. Your already hot cheek felt like the went aflame, but the lewdness of the situation didn't escape you as you squirmed slightly.

"You Fives?" The voice- Jek... Rys maybe? Since working so much on Coruscant and so closely with the Coruscant guard, the shock troopers had become good friends of yours. Good enough that they'd heard the saga of your relationship with Fives, and were firmly on the 'keep you away from him' train. Had they not been on patrol that night, they would have been out with you making sure you didn't end up exactly where you had.

"Yeah..." Fives's voice wasn't quite hesitant as he drew out the word, "You are?"

"Jek."

Of course it was, he was the more confrontational of the two. You wondered if your friends had gotten ahold of him, sent him on the hunt for you. Fives didn't seem bothered.

"What can I do for you, Jek?"

Jek said your name like one might mention a weapon, with an underlying threat, "You know her, right?"

"We go way back." You could see Fives's grin from the corner of your vision, making you roll your eyes. Boys. The grin elicited a similar reaction from Jek if his scoff was any indication.

"You seen her around?"

Fives made an exaggerated show of leaning into the hallway and looking both directions, the action pressing you harder against the wall.

"Nope, don-" He started smugly. You smirked against his palm before turning your face, slipping two of his fingers in your mouth and running the tip of your tongue over the line where the fingers pressed together. Fives's voice cracked slightly before he smoothed it back out, "She doesn't really run with torrent company anymore."

Jek was silent for a long moment, most likely staring at Fives like the Arc trooper had grown another head before forcing an edge to his already gruff demeanor, "Good, you should keep it that way. Stay away from her."

Fives's fingers pulled from your mouth, now wet fingers gripping your chin just hard enough to make you gasp. Your eyes widened and stomach dropped as you went perfectly still. Had Jek heard you? Would he be able to tell it was you? Embarrassment flooded your nerves along with the exhilarating thrill of being almost caught.

"I'll keep it mind, have a good night, brother." Fives didn't skip a beat, though his lackadaisical confidence had gone cold. Jek scoffed once more before his footsteps turned and retreated. The door once again swished shut, and Fives had you wrists pinned so fast you barely registered until his eyes were only inches from yours.

"Didn't realize you'd get me in so much trouble. Maybe you are a bad idea..." He trailed off, taking your wrists in one hand and hooking them around his neck. His hands went back to their favorite resting spot at your waist, pushing the ridden up fabric finally the rest of the way down your legs so it pooled around your ankles and heels. He had followed the material, briefly kneeling at your feet and looking up at you with dark, ever mischievous eyes as he pressed a kiss to the inside of both knees, fingers kneading into the plush backside of your thighs, "I love bad ideas."

He rose quickly, meeting you lips with a ferocity that hadn't been there before. Fives, as always, was a dizzying spiral that drew you in and you stood very little chance of escaping. Especially in the heels you were wearing still. So, really was it your fault when you just tripped and fell into his bed?

---

Later, sweaty and exhausted and sated, you stretched to reach your forgotten comms link. You settled into the bunk, barely big enough for the soldier it was meant for which meant you were on your side, puzzle pieced into Five's chest with a heavy warm arm against your bare midsection keeping you in place.

You scrolled through the messages, trying to be offended that most of them guessed where you ended up. You never thought you were a liar until you texted back, "Sorry, I was asleep <3!"

You pointedly didn't mention where you'd fallen asleep or more accurately whose sheets you were tangled in. And with the aftershocks of everything Fives had done to and with you, you couldn't even hear the thoughts of what tomorrow would be like.

"Really? Your ex? Again?" Was the only response. You ran a hand through your mussed hair. You wouldn't outright lie to your friends, besides you weren't the only person to ever fall into old habits.

"Is it a crime for two people to reconnect?" You typed back, feeling Fives stretch slightly behind you, his chin nuzzling further into your neck and his thumb rubbing comforting arcs at your hip, "I only see him as a friend."

"Just a friend?" Fives's voice was gravely as he pressed a kiss against your neck, where the column of your neck met your spine before he chuckled, "Didn't know you were such a liar, beautiful."

Your stomach fluttered at the same time your brain tried to remind you just how final your last breakup had been. Still, you scooted further against him as his hand drifted lower again. Force this was a bad idea...

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