#blaster wound

“Don’t do it! Don’t do it, soldier!” one Corrie shouted.

“Get away from me!” he heard himself scream as he lifted the pistol.

Rex pounded on the ray shield. “Fives, no!”

Fives smelled the smoldering plastoid and fabric before he heard or felt the shot. His head fell forward to see the burning hole in his gut. He’d been shot before–most clones had–but he’d never been hit so close to center mass. Commander Fox was a crack shot, for sure.

Distantly, he heard someone calling his name and the bark of orders flying high above his head, as he struggled to understand what was happening.

“-all for hel- ne- medic!” 

Oh, he thought. I’m dying. Took longer than I thought.

“Rex,” he gasped, unable to take a full breath in.

“Fives.”

Fives figured any cadet would be lying if they’d said they hadn’t thought about what he’d like his last words to be. He’d hear other squads talking about it and couldn’t stop himself from questioning how many of them would never be cursed a slow enough death to have true last words. 

But he realized that he was among the few who would. He needed to clear his name before he became just a number again.

“This… it’s bigger than any of us,” he rasped. “I-I never meant to… I only wanted to do my duty.”

“Brother,” Rex whispered. “Fives. Stay with me Fives! Fives, please!”

That was odd. Was Rex crying?

“The mission… the nightmares,” he wheezed as Rex pulled him up to embrace him. “They’re… finally over.”

“Fives. No-no, Fives, please just– Would someone call a kriffing medic?” he roared at the Corries watching. “Just hang on, Fives. Hang on. It’s not over yet, brother.”

His blurry, spotted vision could see a figure that looked somewhat like the general over his brother’s shoulder. “Rex, he’s not– the medic’s too far out.” 

Fives coughed as he managed a smirk. “Rex– o-ori’vod,” he said. His voice was coming out as a faint whisper now. “I-I’m…sorry, I… I can’t…”

He watched as Rex steeled himself. He’d seen that look so many times before. “It’s not your fault, Fives. It’s… it’s alright, kih’vod.” 

Something damp splattered on his face. Somewhere, in the back of what was left of his fading brain, he knew it was his captain’s tears. Still, it reminded him of rain– of home.

Rex sniffled. “You can let go, Fives. It’ll be okay.”

“R-Rex, d-don’t–” he coughed harshly, the frigid cold spreading into his chest. “Don’t… f-forget…”

Rex held his brother’s until he drew one last rattling breath and that clear, bright determination he’d seen in those shinies’ eyes on Rishi faded.

He stayed with him– with his body until someone came to take him away. He sat still on the floor of the hangar, unmoving, almost unbreathing. The gears of his mind spun and ground under the weight of Fives’ accusations. Something about it all just didn’t sit right.

Ni ne’ven digur, kih’vod, he swore to himself. Gar… ra ibic.

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Thanks for reading! - River

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