#codyrexfives

In a brief moment of lucidity, he wonders what his old instructor would say about him, about the way he’s crumbling immediately.

Clones were meant to have a strong mind and will - you had to develop them if you wanted to leave Kamino - and they’re not supposed to crack under pressure, but here’s the other thing: they were always meant to do this together. That’s why they call each other vode, that’s why, when they’re together, they’re unstoppable.

They were never meant to be alone, they haven’t been trained for this. The only acceptable way in which they could be on their own is if they’re dead.

How is Fives not supposed to lose it then, huh?

 All he can really do is hoping - praying - that they will listen to him, that they’ll bring Palpatine down. That’s what really matters, and as long as they do that, he can even die, he doesn’t care, but they have to defeat the Sith lord.

Please, let them succeed.

  After all that has happened, Rex still finds it hard to believe that he’s alive to tell the tale, and he’s not the only one.

“We… We did it,” he hears a voice behind him say. “We found the Sith lord and we…”

“Cody…” Rex mutters, turning towards his partner. “I know how you feel, but remember that we are on duty.”

Those words are enough to snap Cody out of the weird mood he’s been in since this whole deal has started. He shakes his head and clears his throat, assuming a more controlled posture. “Yes, you’re right. I’m ready.”

Now he truly looks like Marshal Commander Cody.

“Let’s go then.”

 What’s their mission? To retrieve any prisoner they can find in the cells. Why are they going with armor and weapons? Because they don’t know if Palpatine has installed any kind of trap in there, and they’d rather be able to defend themselves in case of an attack.

Even the Guard doesn’t know exactly what could be hidden in there, despite the fact that the detention center is their jurisdiction. Maybe machinery meant to activate at the former Chancellor’s death? When they discussed it with the Jedi Council, they said it was unlikely, given how confident he was on his success, but it’s not a possibility that they can rule out entirely, so they’ve decided that it would be best to send a couple of people to check if it was actually safe before doing anything.

As soon as they’ve heard about this, Cody and Rex have volunteered to go. Why? Well, because someone’s special is locked in there, someone who they haven’t seen in a long time, someone that they really care about.

  They haven’t seen Fives since he tried to kill the Chancellor.

He had been taken to the Council, where together with master Shaak Ti he explained what was going on. He talked about the chips and the conspiracy. Not everyone was convinced, but they were willing to give him the benefit of the doubt.

Of course, they couldn’t exactly inform Palpatine of this, so they’ve had to pretend to play by his rules: they let Fives get imprisoned while they conducted their investigations in secret. As it turned out, he was right about everything.

 As soon as that was deliberated however, Rex, also present at the meeting, immediately begun protesting.

“You can’t do that!” he said to the Council. “He’s going to die!”.

Surprisingly, the first one to speak was Fives. “I won’t. If the Chancellor wants to keep his charade, he’ll likely keep me imprisoned under the guise of interrogating me. If he acts too willing to execute me, people might wonder where the good and merciful Chancellor has gone.”

“You think that’s gonna stop him? It would take him nothing to make you disappear!” Rex insisted. He wasn’t going to let his partner die like this, not when… not when they were so close to freedom, admitting that he was right.

“It would still be risky. Do you think after all this time he’s going to blow everything just for this? If he thinks everyone believes him and not me, he won’t kill me,” Fives continued, then he rested a hand on Rex’s shoulder. “You have to trust me.”

 Rex wanted to trust him, truly, but how? He was risking his life for kriff’s sake! Still, he recognized the look on his face: it was the same he had on Umbara.

… There was no convincing him, wasn’t there?

In the end all Rex could’ve done was letting him go, and that’s what he did. He only hoped that it would turn out well for both of them.

  It seems that Rex and Cody are lucky that the Council’s guess has turned out to be right: there are no traps in the detainment center, though they do find something that makes their blood boil: political prisoners.

When they’ll later ask the Guard about them, they’ll reply that they didn’t even know those cells were used. It turns out Palpatine’s power was big enough to condition a great amount of minds at the same time.

From their state, they all seem on the brink of death, malnourished and dehydrated, all with a mad shine in their gaze. It makes them worried about the state in which they’re going to find Fives - if they’re gonna find him.

 While Cody files a request for an evac - these people need medical attention now - Rex continues opening the cells, until… he finds him.

 To say that Fives looks terrible would be an understatement.

It’s not that he looks physically bad, after all it’s been only a couple of months since he’s been sent into custody, unlike so many other people they’ve found who have been locked up for far more time than that, but everything still seems so wrong. There’s a manic edge that has never been there, fear, pain, so much pain.

It makes Rex almost afraid to approach him…

 “Cody!” he shouts to the other then. “I’ve found Fives!”

He knows by the sound of echoing steps that Cody’s rushing to them. Unlike Rex, as soon as he sees Fives - he looks so small, he thinks, cowering in a corner - he manages to move, enveloping him in a tight hug.

“Fives! Thank the Force you’re alive!”

At first, Fives remains completely silent, body rigid, like he’s afraid, like Cody has scared him with his sudden movements. Then, he finally manages to speak, though his voice is so low and ruined that it’s barely understandable.

“Cody? Rex? That… you?”

He sounds so broken that both Cody and Rex can’t help but to feel guilty about having allowed that something like this could happen, for having let him go. They even had a fight about this, with Cody sustaining the Council and Fives’ decision - he was always so ready to put his duty in front of his personal life that it’s infuriating sometimes - while Rex didn’t; they almost broke things off, but in the end they’ve stuck together, because even though at the time it was difficult to even look at each other, they knew it would’ve been even worse for them to go their separate ways.

At least now they’ll have Fives back with them.

 Rex is still paralyzed when Cody turns towards him. “Rex, we need to carry him outside. C’mon, I need your help…”

“R-Right…” Rex stutters, shaking his head as he tries to calm down, then he wobbles towards them, getting on Fives’ other side, opposite to Cody.

Together, they help him out, and it’s a good thing they’re holding him, because Fives is just a dead weight, not that he weighs so much actually - what did they do to him?

 There is one thing Rex is grateful for, at least, and it’s the fact that Cody has always been better than him at keeping calm under stressful situations - something that Rex usually is able to do as well, but this time… this time it’s different - because while Rex’s mouth is shut, unable to speak, he’s able to comfort Fives.

“We found you.”

“You’re safe now.”

 “Everything will be fine.”

 “We did it, Fives. We did it.”

 “Now, we’re free.”

  Fives wakes up with a start, gasping as he tries to gather his bearings as those words still echo in his mind.

It was a dream, or better, a memory, something that he finds himself reliving over and over again, because he needs to tell himself that it was all real, that he’s not rotting in a cell anymore, that he’s free and recovering.

As he scans his surroundings, however, he finds out some things: first of all, he’s in the room he, Rex and Cody share in this apartment that they’ve bought on Coruscant - yes, they have an actual home now - and secondly… he’s alone.

 No.

 It can’t be.

 No no no no no no.

 They’re not here.

They… they left him alone again.

Where did they go? Are they fine? Did someone kidnap them?

 No, he can’t be alone! Not again!

 Fives can’t breathe. No matter how hard he tries to gasp for air, his lungs always feel empty.

His heart is beating so fast in his chest that he’s afraid it’s going to explode at any second.

 He’s still in his cell, afraid and alone.

Being freed, finding Rex and Cody again… that was all a dream.

 Of course! How stupid has he been?

It would’ve been too good to be true if everything was fine!

The days spent in the hospital recovering, the hours spend with his friends, all so relieved that he was still alive - Echo even cried, the poor thing - and the ceremonies he had to attend, those were all figments of his imagination, a way to cope with the isolation.

 He feels cold, just like he did when he was in the cell.

He feels hungry, just like he did when he was in the cell.

 … Hungry? Yes, he feels hungry.

Maybe the droid will bring him food soon… No! He can’t he eat that!

He can’t trust it, no, no, no, no. Who’s to say that it isn’t poisoned?

They want to kill him slowly, he wants to do it, but he won’t fall for it, not at all!

 He has to be strong. He will be strong.

Oh, if they think he’s going to go down easily, they’ll have a huge surprise, because the stakes are too high, and he will prevail.

B-But can he prevail? He’s so alone and afraid, and he misses everyone.

 He needs to get out, he needs…

  Just as he scrambles towards the door - he needs to leave, he needs to run away - he comes crashing against something, a weight.

Before he can even begin to comprehend what has happened, however, he passes out.

 Everything becomes black.

 Finally, peace…

  “… ives? Fives? Can you hear me?”

 At first, the voice comes as a distant muffling, but the more time passes, the more clearly Fives can hear it. Whoever this is, they sound very worried, though he can’t exactly figure out why they would.

Is this another dream? Another nightmare?

… No, this is something else.

 Finally, he manages to open his eyes.

At first everything’s confused, blurry, but then he’s able to make out Cody and Rex’s figures, hovering over him.

“Fives!” Rex exclaims once he notices that he’s woken up. “You’re alright!”

“Huh… Yeah, I am,” he manages to croak in response. He feels tired as shit, even though he must’ve been sleeping until now.

Cody reaches out for him, brushing a few strands of hair away from his forehead, but before he can retract it, Fives manages to snatch it, holding it between his own hands. He wasn’t like this before, but after spending so much time alone, he’s grown quite clingy. Can you blame him? He needs contact to ground himself, to remember that this is real.

“Fives, what happened?” Cody asks then, still worried even though he looks a bit relieved seeing how Fives is acting.

 What happened? Wait, what? Did something happen?

… Oh, right. That.

And to think that he had already forgotten about tis little “episode” of his.

 “I… I’m sorry--” he begins apologizing, but before he can continue, Rex interrupts him as he caresses his cheek.

“None of that, it’s not your fault. We just want to know what happened, that’s all.”

Ok, they aren’t mad at least, though why they should’ve been, Fives doesn’t know, not when they’ve been nothing short of supportive during his recovery.

“It’s just…” damn, he’s embarrassed now. “You weren’t here when I woke up and… I panicked.”

Rex and Cody exchange a guilty look between them.

“Oh, Fives, I’m so sorry,” Rex mutters.

“We wanted to surprise you,” Cody explains. “Since you’ve been making so much progress with the recovery…”

“Oh?” is all Fives is able to say regarding this news.

“Yeah, huh…” Now it’s Rex’s turn to look embarrassed. “We ain’t exactly great cooks, not yet at least, but… We were trying to make you breakfast, so that we could’ve brought it here…”

Oh, so that’s why they weren’t anywhere to be seen when he woke up the first time. They were trying to make a romantic gesture, but he ruined everything.

“I’m sorry…” he mutters, completely saddened by this, though he’s also relieved to know that he was worrying for nothing.

“Don’t be,” Cody reassures him. “We should’ve been less careless. With all the progress you’ve made, we thought that--”

Fives interrupts him with a scoff, though his anger isn’t directed at him and Rex but rather… himself.

“Such progress I’ve made,” he says in fact. “That waking up alone is enough for making me lose it like that…”

 For a moment, everything’s quite, with Fives marinating in his own anger, while Rex and Cody try to come up with something to say that it wouldn’t be heard as disingenuous.

Eventually, Cody finds a solution: first things first, he motions to Rex to get closer, and the two join Fives in bed at his sides, not so tight that they’re crushing him, but enough to make him feel their presence through their closeness, something that Fives appreciates. Once they’re all comfortable enough, he begins talking.

“Did I ever tell you about how I got this scar?” he asks, pointing to the one on his brow.

Fives shakes his head, and while Rex doesn’t say anything, he still finds himself rather interested to hear what Cody has to say, because not even he knows how it happened - Cody has always kept it a secret.

“One time I… I got captured by Ventress, and she interrogated me. Of course I tried to resist as much as I could, but that only meant that she was free to torture me, as long as it got me to talk.”

Fives is about to speak, to offer his sympathies, but Cody raises his hand, stopping him before he could even open his mouth.

“What I remember most even now is how dark it was. She’s always been cunning, she knew that it would’ve fucked over my head even more, because I couldn’t control what I wasn’t able to see, I couldn’t predict what she was going to do to me.”

At those words, something like a revelation hits both Fives and Rex, who turn to look at each other. Yeah, it seems like they’ve had the same thought.

“Is that why two days ago you left the light on at night?” Fives asks, turning towards Cody again.

The other nods. “Yeah. See? It’s been years since that happened, and even though I’m over it, sometimes I still get scared in the dark.”

“I never knew…” Rex mutters. He kind of wishes he had told him already, but he understands why he didn’t - some things are better to be kept buried - and why he decided to do it now.

 “See then, Fives? Would you tell Cody he’s weak for this?” he asks, then.

Fives looks at him and shakes his head.

“Even after so much time has passed?”

Fives shakes his head again.

“Would you say he has made no progress in his recovery because of this?”

Again. No.

“So why should you think that of yourself?”

 Fives remains silent, agape at what Rex just said.

“Alright…” he mutters then, lowering his gaze.

He’d never dare calling Cody weak or berating him for his trauma, nor he’d do that to any of his brothers - they’ve all been through so much - so he supposes that the same should be applied to him, no matter how frustrating it is.

“You win…”

 His feeling of defeat - damn Rex and his logic, why is it so sound? - is short-lived thankfully at least, because he soon gets distracted at the feeling of hands sliding down his own, going to hold them.

He looks up to Rex first, then Cody. They’re both smiling encouragingly at him.

“Thank you, guys,” he says then. “I don’t know what I’d do without you…”

“Don’t mention it,” Rex replies, before stealing a kiss from Fives, and soon being mirrored by Cody, who doesn’t want to be left out.

 The atmosphere is calm, peaceful, and Fives too feels at ease, a far cry from what he was feeling mere moments ago.

If he could, he’s stay like this forever…

“Since you’re well now, why not help with breakfast?”

… Until Rex ruins it.

“Oh, so now I have to make the breakfast you were going to make for me?” Fives laughs. “Wouldn’t it defy its purpose?”

“Smartass,” Rex replies, but unfortunately for him he can’t hold back a smile at Fives’ attitude. He’d rather have him like this that they way he was before, all panicking and afraid.

“You can still watch us do all the work if that’s what you’d rather do,” Cody proposes, ever the diplomat.

This, Fives can do.

  He ends up lending a hand anyway because the other two are a disaster when it comes to cooking, but it’s not like he’s any better in this department.

In the end, they make a mess, laughing and throwing jabs and other - more physical - shit at each other, but hey, you won’t catch them complain about it.

It’s in the midst of this almost war that Fives realizes something: it will get better, he will get better. That’s something that plenty of people have already told him, but only now he’s starting to truly believe it.

It won’t be easy, but the good thing about this is that he’s not going to do it alone: Rex and Cody will be with him at each step, catching him in case he falters.