Hero (Rex)

8

Character development!

Kinda.

Tw: Violence, blood, gore, death.

"We're close," a trooper announced.

Rex nodded and gripped Kara's arm. "If she tries to escape, shoot her. Try not to kill her, but if you do, it's not a big deal."

"I should be a big deal," Kara grumbled indignantly.

Rex rolled his eyes under his helmet and unholstered a pistol with his free hand. "I want the child alive, and the Togruta as well if you can manage it. The child must be captured alive, though."

The group finally entered a small clearing where trees had been cut down to make room for tents. A fire pit was in the centre, the embers still smoldering.

"There's fives tents," Rex noted. He glanced down at Kara furiously. "You said he was just here with Ahsoka. Why are all these tents here?"

Kara kept her gaze away from his. "I lied, obviously. Alex is safe far away from here."

He cursed and kicked a rock. "Why did I ever believe you? How stupid am I?" He placed the binders back on her and shoved Kara away as he stormed over to one of the TKs.

Kara stumbled and fell onto her stomach, unable to catch herself with her hands bound behind her back. "Hey! Moron!"

"What?" Rex spat out as he whipped around to face her. "What the kriff could you possibly want now?"

"I was just going to point out that if Ahsoka and Alex didn't set up those tents, someone else probably did." Kara sneered at him. "I don't want to die because of your stupidity."

Rex took a deep breath to calm himself. He gently picked Kara up, showing great restraint by not bludgeoning her in the head. "The kid isn't here. We need to return to Lord Vader to give our report. File back to the shuttle and- Tk-1003! Look where you're going!"

It was too late. The soldier had already began to lower his foot, and triggered a landmine.

At the same time, figures charged out of the woods, opening fire.

Somehow in the fray, Kara's head was knocked against a tree, causing her to fall to the dirt, ears ringing. 

She could taste blood in her mouth.

Everything was twisting and screaming and clawing and yelling and crying and blood was flying through the air and-

Someone pulled her to her feet, ducking to avoid a shot. "Kara!"

She stared at him blankly, furrowing her brow as she tried to remember who he was-

Rex.

He was Rex.

The Rex who would gently smile at her from across the room. The Rex that would braid her hair as she told him stories. The Rex that would kiss her forehead every time he said goodbye.

The Rex that worked for the Empire, blindly following a Sith lord.

"Get away from me!" Kara screamed. She desperately kicked and scratched as she tried to push him off of her. "Get away! Get away! Get away!"

Rex snatched her arms and pulled her behind a tree, out of harm's way. "Kara. We have to get out of here!" He stared for a moment before he added, "Please just don't fight me on this."

Kara shook her head. "No!" She kicked, and he fell down, hitting his head against a tree.

Rex went limp, dropping his blaster. Kara felt a moment of hesitation as she debated running into the woods-

Red eyes stared at her from the shadows of the forest.

"Kara," Rex said and removed his helmet, clutching his head. "I-What- My head hurts."

"There's something out there," Kara whispered, gripping his forearm.

It stalked forward, breathing heavily. She could see its ribs poke out with each inhale because of how thin it was. It had dried blood on its maw and sunken eyes that watched her every move.

Rex groaned again and rubbed at his forehead. "Kara-"

"Shut up," Kara hissed. "Don't move, either."

Rex obeyed and fell into silence, staring up at her. He watched the slight furrow of her brow as she glared at the creature. Something in him ached to reach out and touch her cheek to apologize for some odd reason.

But he held back.

"I'm going to run to the shuttle," Kara quietly said. "I don't care if you come as well, but I'm leaving."

She tensed before she sprung into action, sprinting away. She dodged stray blaster bolts as they came, and managed to escape the fight. She didn't bother to glance back to see if he was following, focusing on pumping her legs as hard as she could.

She could hear pounding footsteps besides her own, but she didn't know if they were Rex's, or the creature's.

Then Kara was tackled, and she knew who had been chasing her.

Sharp teeth buried themselves in her abdomen, tearing away chunks of flesh. She let out a shriek of pain, desperately trying to tear it away.

Her own blood dripped onto her face as the creature paused to look up at something. Spots danced in her vision as agonizing pain shot up from her new wound.

Kara raised her shaking hands to wrap around its throat, to hopefully kill it before it killed her. Then it snarled, baring its teeth at something else, before a hole was blasted through its side and it fell beside her, moving no more.

She weakly turned her head to see Rex getting closer, falling to his knees next to her. He wiped blood off her face with trembling hands.

"My head hurts, but I can think clearly now," he told her, crying. "I don't want to be here. I don't want the Empire. I want out. I-I want you."

"It's too late to have me." Kara squeezed her eyes shut as the pain became overwhelming. "You chose to abandon me."

Rex picked her up and started running to the shuttle, noticing when she winced as his movements jostled her. She let her head fall against his chest, too weak to hold it up. Everything was spinning.

"We'll run away together," Rex softly said as he put her down on the ship's floor. "We'll find Alex and be happy. Together."

Everything in her screamed not to trust him. Every piece of her warned that this was a mistake.

"Imagine it! You, Alex, and I! Ahsoka too if she wanted! We could find Kix! We could bring Fives and Echo with us! We could be a happy family!" Rex pleaded.

Don't trust this. It's a trick. He's manipulating you. His sick, twisted mind is just trying another way to find Alex-

Kara pushed those thoughts aside and gave a strained smile. "Okay."

Rex beamed and snapped his fingers at a couple of the troopers that had survived. The pilots got to work while the assigned medic struggled to keep Kara alive.

Rex stared at Kara fondly, ignoring the pounding headache he had, and the twisting guilt in his chest.