Cejanr (A Rexsoka SWTCW Fanfic)

45

Rex was crouched on all fours, gulping air. He wiped at the sweat from his eyes with the back of a gloved hand and stood, looking for where his enemy had disappeared to. He reached out with the force, searching for his general. 

He had his lightsaber out and above his head to block a strike from above that drive him to his knees. Anakin pushed him back to the edge of the small platform they were on, nearly fifteen feet above the ground. Rex disengaged the bladelock and shoved himself backwards. Force enhanced reflexes let him grab a bar on the bottom of the hovering block and twist, landing on another nearby. Shoving at the force again, his tired muscles complaining, he launched himself ten or so feet in the air from a crouch to grab a platform above him. 

His civies flapped loosely around him as he grabbed the edge with a grunt and hauled himself up. He mentally thanked Anakin for giving him the gloves for training, specifically meant to aid jedi padawans in learning to use the force to move so they wouldn't break their arms on the training courses. 

There was a faint click from behind him, and he instantly hit the deck, igniting his blade once more as a turret sent a spray of stun blasts through the area he had just been standing. After waking up in the medbay a couple times, he learned his lesson to avoid those. 

Had to get out. Had to escape. Rex dove off the platform, his stomach dropping as he fell. He landed in a roll, hissing in pain as his wrist hit the floor weird. If not for the gloves, it would have been broken for sure. Ok, a little stronger on cushioning his fall. Rex shoved forward and hit the button on the wall, ending the little training course. He slumped against the wall, exhausted. 

Anakin walked over to him crouched in front of him. "Better, Rex. Better." He gave a wry smile. Rex just sat there, too tired to even muster a glare. Every fiber of muscle in his body ached and complained with the intensity of the training over the last few days. Learning to accentuate your movement and agility with the force intentionally was a lot harder than either Anakin or Ahsoka made it look. 

Rex coughed a little, taking a water flask Anakin offered him with shaking fingers. After he took a few drinks, he set it aside and pulled off the gloves. He flexed his left wrist, the one he fell on, and winced. Not broken, just sprained. He'd had worse. Carefully, he rubbed at the slight swelling and sighed. 

"Are we done?" Rex asked tiredly. Anakin chuckled.

"No, now you get to run ten laps around the training room." Anakin said sardonically. Rex slumped a little and glared at him, making the jedi laugh. "I'm kidding. We're done." Rex closed his eyes gratefully and slipped his lightsaber hilt into his pocket. 

"M'k." He rasped, sitting there a moment longer before pushing himself to his feet. He stood there for a second awkwardly, then Anakin rolled his eyes. 

"You're dismissed, Captain. Go see Kix, and check up on Cody while you're at it." Anakin instructed. Rex nodded and staggered out the door, leaning on a wall most of the way to the infirmary. 

Kix wrapped up his wrist without comment aside from telling him that it should be mostly fine the next morning. Then Rex was ducking into a curtained off area where Cody was sleeping. The commander jerked awake with a gasping start that turned into a wince as he pressed the flat of his hand to the stitches along his side and the bottom of his ribcage. 

"Sorry, sorry." Rex apologize, wincing along with him. He sat tiredly in a chair next to his ori'vod's bedside, letting his head fall backwards. 

"Don't be. You just startled me, that's all. You look beat." Cody said raggedly. Rex gave a chuckling laugh. 

"Just been working hard. Almost makes me wish I was on bedrest like you." Cody snorted at that comment. 

"Yeah, right. I'm going out of my mind when the only walking they let me do is to pee." Cody bit out. 

"Yeah, you'll be missing the rest once you're up and about, trust me." Rex sighed, opening his eyes and leaning forward to rest his head in his hands. He scrubbed off some of the tacky dried sweat off his face. 

"Prepping for Skako?" 

"Who gave you a datapad?" Rex countered. 

"Kix. Blackmailed him into giving me some paperwork to do." Cody fished said datapad out from beneath the covers of the rough cot he lay on. 

"So you know about Echo." Rex blew out a long breath. His brain was sluggish from after the workout Anakin had given him, if the near beating he had received could be classified as such. 

"Rex, I know how much Echo weighs on your conscious, but that was nearly two years ago. Even if it is Echo, it will most definitely not be the same Echo that we left there." Cody said softly. Something bitter snapped in Rex at the word 'left.'

"I had no choice! I wanted to go back for him but I thought we had more pressing matters at the time. I know I should have gone back regardless. Anything that happened to him since was my fault, no matter what anyone else says, I gave the orders to move on after the explosion." Rex shouted, his voice rising. "If I had gone back for him, I would have seen that he was alive and taken him back with us. If I had gone back, he would have been spared. Hawk would still be alive. Hundreds of those kids would have still been here, still with their squadmates. You wouldn't be in that bed."

"Rex." Cody's voice was hoarse and soft, but insistent. Rex's chest was heaving again, but it was from anger and guilt this time, not exhaustion. "Rex, look at me."

Reculantly, Rex met his brother's eyes. "You did the best you could. Nobody could have done better than what you did. We were so, so lucky to have made it out of there alive." Cody whispered softly. "If it wasn't Echo, it would have been you. Then so many more would have been dead. Now, you have a chance to make it right. Don't throw that chance away."

"I failed him." Rex's voice broke. 

"You did. So make it right. Right now, Echo needs you. Even dead, he would never rest peacefully knowing something you and him made was being turned on our brothers." Cody gave a small grunt and pushed himself up to a semi sitting position so he could put a hand on Rex's slightly sticky shoulder. "Skako is a one in a million shot. Don't throw it away."

Rex sighed and leaned in to his brother's touch a little. "I know you're right, but..."

"That guilt will never go away, no matter what you do." Cody continued. "But you can't let it consume you."

All Rex could do was nod. He didn't trust himself to say more.