Cejanr (A Rexsoka SWTCW Fanfic)

27

Ahsoka's rest didn't last long. Visions of explosions and blaster fire filled her sleeping hours. Screams of a dying clone that had the slight tone that was uniquely her husband's rang in her montrals, sending her shrieking to wakefulness. 

The door slid open, and Fives leaned wearily against the doorframe. "Ahsoka?" 

Ahsoka's heart tugged. It was so similar. Everything about him was, from the way he gripped the side of the door to the way her name rolled off his tongue was nearly identical to Rex's. Ahsoka had never seen the clones as identical beings, being able to tell them apart like she would any other sentient being. 

But now every resemblance was amplified. 

She pulled at the blankets around her and hiked them up over her montrals, curling up in a little ball. "Just a bad dream, Fives. I'm ok." She assured him. 

"Ventress will be back in a few minutes. She just commed to say she was at the docks and heading our way." FIves informed her. "Do you want me to stay with you or..." He trailed off. Ahsoka shook her head. 

"No. Sorry, but I can't..." She looked up at him with big sad eyes. Fives nodded. 

"I get it. I know I look and sound just like him. I'm the one who's sorry." He said softly, his voice holding that same strain she had coaxed and kissed out of Rex's voice after nightmares so many nights. She wanted to cry again, but no tears came. 

"It's nothing you can control. Don't be sorry." She whispered, drawing up a little closer and running her fingers down the wedding vambrace on the inside of her right arm. Fives jumped as a hand clamped down on his shoulders and carefully shoved him out of the way in Ventress's version of 'gentle.'

The harpy pushed passed him and into the room, sitting down next to Ahsoka, who leaned against her in turn. Fives gave a barely concealed snort and left them alone. Clearly Ventress was better with the Togruta who had tried to kill her several times than a clone who held a grudge but never actually faced her in person. 

Fives huffed and started to pace. More for the practice walking than out of worry, but the worry was there. After a few minutes his stomach began to tire from keeping him upright so he slumped on the couch. He lifted his shirt to reveal the ugly bruised scar of all that was left of the blastershot. He cautiously pressed the flat of his palm against the mark until he could feel the pulse of his heartbeat through the skin. The sore muscles complained at the pressure, but he didn't relent for another moment. 

He repeated the process a few times, pacing the floor with his slightly wobbly steps and then taking a short break. Ventress came out long enough to chuck a bottle of water at him and grab some raw meat on a plate before going back into hers and Ahsoka's room. The bottle impacted on his shoulder as he fumbled to catch it and sent him sitting down hard on the ratty carpet, sending bone jarring force through his tailbone and stomach. 

He winced and pulled himself up onto the couch, panting slightly. He glared for a moment at the closed door and at the offending water bottle before snatching it up and taking a few greedy drinks from it. After a moment of rest he forced himself gingerly to his feet and resumed his pacing, now with a sore bottom to add to the annoyance of his lower belly.

The harpy came back some time after that, setting the bloodstained plate in the sink. Fives snickered to himself, unable to resist the urge to take a dig at her. 

"Don't let anybody see that. Might think you're becoming a murderer. Oh wait." He sneered in spite of his promise to Ahsoka to be civil. Ventress glared at him over her shoulder. 

"And what would you know about murder. All you've ever killed are dumb droids." She hissed back. Fives rolled his eyes. 

"Yeah, well, you're tempting me to start my body count with you." He grumbled. Ventress made an irritated sound in the back of her throat. 

"You start a fight and I will have no qualms about gutting you. At least then we might get some peace and quiet here." She snapped back. 

"If you want silence try the outside of an airlock. I've heard the void of space is very quiet indeed." He spat, flopping backwards on his back. Ventress slammed down the plate into the sink, abandoning her attempt to wash it. It shattered, but she didn't care. She stormed over to the clone with fury in her eyes. 

He looked up at her and raised an incredulous brow. "Gonna actually gut me this time? Oh wait, you're too caught up in your 'debt' to actually try to hurt me. Can't have you owing Ahsoka even more now."He laughed bitterly. Ventress grabbed him by the ear and dragged him forward so her lips were right next to the side of her head. 

"Per your precious commander's request, you'll be joining me on my next hunt so she can give herself time to recover and adjust without you right by her side. I have promised her that I will not kill you, but everything else above death is on the table. We will leave in exactly three days once I get my next set of pucks. And you will spend the next two weeks living side by side with me rather you like it or not." She growled low in her throat, practically against his skull. "So get your prejudiced head out of your ass and look me in the eye like the brave soldier you were engineered to be, or suffer the consequences." She threatened, sitting back. 

"And if I choose the consequences?" Fives asked. She smiled thinly. 

"Then my lightsaber shield shrinks to encompass me and me alone." 

He shrugged. "Fair enough." Ventress left him on the couch to take care of the broken mess of the plate in the sink. "Oh, and Ventress?" Fives called. She looked over her shoulder at him with a death glare and raised her hand. He felt a faint pressure in the area around his neck. Fives just grinned even as she tightened her hold just the slightest as a warning. "To be civil, I should warn you that I snore like a congested bantha." He said easily enough as she constricted his airway to a not-quite stranglehold. 

"Well then. I guess I have an excuse to hit you with a shovel." The pressure around his neck disappeared and she turned around. Once he was sure she wouldn't see, he rubbed at neck sourly.