Reunion (#3 Post-Order 66 Series)

Reunion - Part 15

Fives's recovery was slow going, and Rex couldn't help but be amused by his impatience. Some things never change. Even though it had only been a few days since his rescue, the former ARC trooper had already started to look more like himself. With a normal diet and the ability to exercise regularly once more, his body had quickly started to recover its mass, filling back into a silhouette more resembling what Rex remembered from the war. His skin had returned to its normal pallor, and the dark circles under his eyes had faded. One of the first things he'd demanded was a haircut and a shave, and with Echo's help, he'd managed to trim the curls back to something that more resembled his regulation haircut, although he had decided to keep it a little longer on the top. He'd initially shaved his face clean, but had quickly grown back his signature goatee after trying out a mustache for a bit, which Echo had teased him relentlessly about.

"Only Boil could pull that off, Fives," he chortled.

Fives had turned, razor still in hand as he glared. "Boil and I literally have the same face, Echo."

Echo had shrugged. "What can I say, he wore it better."

Despite their spats over facial hair, Echo and Fives were practically joined at the hip, hardly ever seen apart, and it was so eerily familiar to Rex, but it warmed him as well. It was what he'd hoped for them, a life after the war, and at one point, he had thought both of them would never have that opportunity, another set of hash marks robbed of their lives and their potential.

Fives's personality didn't appear to have been affected much by his time in captivity. When Rex had asked how he was so unbothered by it, he simply replied, "Because I didn't think I'd get to be like this again, here with everyone. I thought I was just going to be an experiment until my body gave out, but now, I get another shot at it. Wouldn't want to waste it being sad." There were still moments where Rex caught him staring off into the distance, his brows furrowed as if he were remembering something painful, but those were few and far between. Overall, it was more than he ever could have hoped for when they'd found Fives, and he felt incredibly lucky.

Unfortunately, Fives being "normal" also meant that he was...well, Fives. A few days after they'd returned, he and Echo approached Rex and Senna in the mess hall. Fives had just completed some of his physical therapy that Echo had been helping with. He was still thin, but his chest and stomach were already starting to fill back out, hiding his ribs and joints a little more as the bruising from the medical equipment faded. Both of the twins had their shirts dangling from their belts, a thin sheen of sweat coating their skin as they approached the captain and the Jedi. Fives caught Senna's eye and waggled his eyebrows at her.

"See something you like, Master Jedi?" he teased, and Senna smirked at him.

Echo started to speak, but Senna shot him a look, and he quickly closed his mouth and raised an eyebrow at her. Rex had to bite the inside of his cheek as Senna stepped closer to Fives. They hadn't had time to do a lot of catching up, and Fives had no idea what he had just waded into. Diving in, dick first, as always, Rex thought. It was something Jesse had said to describe Fives late one night at the 79s, and he had been right.

Senna toyed with her braid, twisting the end around one finger innocently as she batted her eyelashes at Fives disarmingly. "And what if I did, trooper?"

He leaned in a little closer. "Well, then I'd offer to buy you a drink. Feels like I owe it to you and all, since you helped save me. Plus," he said, lowering his voice as he leaned a little closer, "I haven't been able to stop thinking about your eyes. They were the first thing I noticed when I woke up, and I could get lost in them again, if you'd let me."

Rex noted that Gregor and Hunter were sitting at a table near them, and their conversation had grown quiet as they watched the interaction play out. Unfortunately, for Fives, he had not noticed, pressing forward in his ill-advised pursuit. Like watching a speeder wreck in slow-motion, Rex thought in amusement.