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depressed-sock · 9 months

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Strays and the Hands that Feed Them (7081 words) by depressed-sock Part One Fandom: Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types, Star Wars - All Media Types Relationships: CC-1010 | Fox & Darth Maul, Coruscant Guard Clone Troopers & Darth Maul

Bad Things Happen Bingo: Enemy turned Caretaker

Another bthb prompt that grew a life of its own and is now waaayyyy past my original goal of 1k

...

Fox doesn’t know what to say as he stares at the body that’s currently lying on the floor of his office. Blood slowly seeping from wounds and a low growl at the back of it’s throat, the Zabrak looks more dead than alive. It’s also barely holding onto consciousness, frantic eyes keeping Fox and Thorn in view even as it’s eyelids drag close every other second and are forced back open by sheer willpower.

“Thorn,” Fox says, blankly staring down at this whole fucking mess that’s been dragged into his life. “What the fuck.”

“I found him in the lower levels.”

“And you thought bringing him back here was a good idea?” Fox asks, a sneer settling on his face, hidden behind his helmet. Honestly what the hell was Thorn thinking making this a Guard problem?

Thorn has the gall to laugh, though it’s more on the edge of hysterical than delighted. “It’s not like he’s going anywhere on his own.” Because the Zabrak has no fucking legs.

Fox knows exactly who's on his floor. Knows it in every fiber of his being just as much as he knows it from every report he’s read about the Sith. (He’d been desperate. Looking for answers from anything he could get his hands on.) He thinks, quietly and desperately, that if he doesn’t acknowledge who the Zabrak on his floor is that maybe it’ll turn out this is just another hallucination from lack of sleep.

Fox has never been that lucky though.

He turns to stare at Thorn who Fox knows is staring right back. He grits through his teeth, “Put. Him. Back.” Back wherever Thorn found him. Back and out of sight, where the Zabrak’s presence won’t cause Fox and his men a multitude of problems. He doesn’t care where; fucking throw the body in the trash or the sewers as long as it isn’t here.

Thorn shifts, glancing down at the body before letting out a frustrated sigh, “Fox, I think he can help us.”

“How?! By killing us faster?!” Fox lets out a harsh bark of laughter. “Even if he doesn’t kill us he doesn’t look like he can even put two words together to make a sentence! He’ll be dead by tomorrow at this rate! How the fuck could he help us?!” Fox sucks in a breath of air, balling his hands into fists as he resists the urge to yank his helmet off and throw it at Thorn. With a quiet viscousness he adds, “We can’t even talk about the other one, why would we want another?”

“Because he already knows what we’re up against! We don’t have to say anything because he knows,” Thorn stresses the word. “That already makes him better than the fucking Jedi or the GAR! Add on the fact that he’s a force user and the fact that he could teach us to shield against-” Thorn stutters, stumbling over the words with a pained sound before he corrects what he was going to say, “Fuck! The other one. He can teach us to shield against the other one.”

It’s not just a terrible idea, it’s a fucking awful idea. But Thorn is unfortunately right about one thing. There’s no one else who could or would help them. The Guard are on their own with no sign of safety in sight.

“Shit,” Fox hisses under his breath. This time he does give in to the urge to rip his helmet off, his breathing sharp and panicked. Fox has plans. He even has plans for those plans in case something goes wrong and none of them account for the Guard getting any kind of help. This could easily just blow up in all their faces but what choice do they have? “Fuck. Ok. He can’t stay here but maybe we can move him to Isolation One.”

It’s too much of a risk to the Guard to keep an enemy in their heart. The safe house is at least near enough and well stocked enough that Fox could easily visit it without putting any suspicion on himself or the Guard. Perfect for keeping Mau- The Zabrak contained as well.

“I was thinking Kamino Three but that might be the better idea. Only we get sent to Isolation one for punishment anyways.” Because as Commanders they all cost too much and have skills that aren’t easily replaceable. So decommissioning and reconditioning got thrown out as punishments around the start of the first year. But that didn’t mean that there aren’t other fun ways for him to torture them.

Especially once Palpatine figured out how much the clones rely on touch with each other. Fox was never really the same after nearly a week in isolation. It was somehow worse than when the Chancellor had the Red Guard beat him half to death.

It’s why Isolation One even exists now. A haven to protect him and his Commanders from ever having to experience that bullshit ever again. It’s only luck that Palpatine hasn’t caught on to their game.

“We need to tell Stone, Thire, and the Medics that we found-” Fox winces before gritting his teeth ignoring the pain in his head, “-a stray tooka.” A tooka because there are no Sith Lords on Coruscant. Just like there is not a Sith Lord on his office floor. There is a stray that is broken and injured and might kriffing kill all of them. But considering it feels like this planet has been trying to kill them since day one it’s not like it’s much of a change.

“Should we move him to the warehouse before we tell them?”

“Yeah, I’m not letting him get any more blood on my fucking carpet and at least we can make sure he’s secure in the warehouse before Shivers and Stone try to murder us.”

Thorn snorts in amusement, stepping forward and kneeling down next to the stray. Getting an arm under its back. “If we carry him between us, we should be able to make it look like we’re taking him to the drunk tank. Careful though,” Thorn leans back as the stray growls and bares his teeth, “he bites.”

“Of course he kriffing does,” Fox mutters as he slams his helmet back on.

…

Fox doesn’t even know how this bastard is still conscious by the time they drag him into the warehouse. Throwing him on the first cot they can find.

The only cot if he’s being honest because the second one broke a couple of months ago and the third got moved to a different warehouse. This is the only good one compared to any that they have spread out between other warehouses and Guard HQ. Mostly because it’s covered in several blankets and pillows. Now there’s a bastard bleeding out on their good cot and Fox is so very fucking tired.

Thorn takes one look at the Zabrak lying in their good cot, then he turns and waves to Fox as he makes his escape to contact and inform the others. Leaving Fox to do all the hard work. He sighs as he stares down at the Zabrak and wonders if they all wouldn’t have been better off just putting him out of their misery.

“You’re wrong,” the Zabrak’s voice breaks through Fox’s thoughts. Sounding like he’s been chewing and swallowing dirt for who knows how long. “You’re wrong. Wrong color, wrong red. It’s not blood but it’s still bleeding.” His hand reaches up, fingers sliding against the white of Fox’s armor, smearing a bloody red handprint across it before it falls back down.

“No, I’d say this is in fact blood,” Fox tilts his head as he studies the Zabrak, trying to come up with a plan to start taking care of his wounds. “Your blood in fact.” Possibly most of the Zabrak's blood, if Fox is being fatalistic, is running down Fox's side he’d used to carry the Zabrack on. Dark and dripping. He should tell Thorn to tell Shivers that they might need to get blood for a transfusion. (Shivers is good at that, Fox doesn’t ever want to know where they get the blood from.)

“Wrong,” the Zabrak grits his teeth, baring fangs at Fox as he does so. “You’re wrong. His mind has already broken us both.” He stares at Fox, eyes suddenly going glossy as he falls fully back onto the cot. Dazed and out of it.

All Fox can do is sigh before he takes his helmet off and throws it on a nearby table. Then he gets to work. Making a list in his head and checking it off as he accomplishes each task. Fresh water from the sink in a clean bucket, a clean rag from the drawer, alcohol that shouldn't legally be considered alcohol in any system.

He pulls up a chair, forces the Zabrack out of his tattered clothes, and starts to clean and categorize the wounds on him so that maybe Shivers won’t live up to the first part of their name and shiv Fox when he isn’t looking.

Some part of him is aware that this is easier than it should be. That he expected more of a fight but the Zabrak's fully out of it, only making vague noises of pain before falling completely and utterly silent. It reminds Fox of himself after a meeting with Palpatine. He tries not to think too hard on that fact or the memories it drags up with it.

From what he can tell the majority of the injuries are electrical burns and stab wounds that are familiar enough Fox knows they’re from the Red Guard. Which means that the Chancellor knows Maul is here and that maybe it’s a bit pointless trying to pretend that Fox doesn’t know who he is. He wonders idly if Palpatine ever considered that someone would find Maul. Maybe he expected Maul to just fucking die in whatever dumpster Thorn found him in. Or maybe it was just a warning and punishment for Maul.

Fox doesn’t dismiss either option because chances are that both of them are right. He knows that from experience. Knows it in the way that he now has about a dozen trackers on his person. All of them personally put there by Thire after the one time Fox went missing for two weeks and was found concussed and barely coherent.

“I doubt you understand much right now,” Fox mutters as he dips the rag in the bucket dying the water red as he squeezes it, “But you are going to help us. I don’t care of much he’s broken you or me.” He leans forward, swiping the rag down Maul’s chest while looking into hazy yellow eyes, “You’re going to help me protect my vode and in exchange, I won’t drag you back to him kicking and screaming.”

Maul whimpers as Fox digs into one of the wounds, trying to get the grit out. Fox hums in understanding but not sympathy before adding, “I might even throw in a pair of working legs just as an incentive.”

There’s a harsh breath, then a question in a moment of clarity. “What would you even have me do?”

Fox tilts his head, studying the Zabrak for a moment. He doubts that Maul even remembers Fox and Thorn’s conversation. So he may as well start there. “Well first, you’re going to teach us how to keep him out of our heads.”

Maul chokes out a laugh before he’s suddenly breathing heavily. The hysterical laughter that fills the warehouse shortly afterwards doesn’t inspire much confidence in Fox’s plans but at least someone thinks this situation is funny.

When Maul finally catches his breath his voice is more of a croak than words. “I’d kill you all in several heartbeats if I could.”

“I have no fucking doubt about that.” Fox rolls his eyes, standing up and getting a glass from the table to fill with water. He adds a few drops of the sedative he’s supposed to use for himself into it and then adds five more drops considering Maul’s a fucking Zabrak. “We have a medic on the way. Don’t fucking bite them or I will put a bolt through your head.”

Maul only responds back with a low growl, and when Fox turns he finds that Maul has shut his eyes, his claws digging into his hands. Fox doesn't know what a Sith Lord is supposed to look like. But this injured broken thing is so far from any expectations he can't help but feel disappointed.

He walks back, putting a hand behind Maul’s head, “Lift your head a bit and drink some water.” He pushes the glass to Maul’s lips and he must be desperately thirsty because he drinks it without complaint.

Only when he’s finished does Fox set the glass on the floor and out of the way and watches as Maul slowly falls asleep. When he’s certain there won’t be any retaliation he gets up, digs a force suppression cuff out of a drawer in the very back of the warehouse, and locks it onto the back of Maul’s neck.

Fox already has to deal with one asshole who can use the force on a daily bases and he’s not taking his chances with a second.

…

Shivers has been the CMO for the Guard for as long as they can remember. Which isn’t exactly saying much considering they’ve already been reconditioned once and is still having trouble remembering anything before that. It’s fine though. Everything is fine. Mostly because everything has to be fine or Shivers might kill someone they’re not supposed to.

Not that that’s happened before.

Not that anyone can prove that it's happened before.

Anyway being a Guard medic is a certain kind of hell, but they know it could be worse. That the frontliners suffer worse every single day. Sure Shivers has had to deal with the pinch of a lack of supplies but really who hasn’t in this economy?

And sure they’ve had to deal with having to remove limbs without anesthesia, and illnesses without an easy access cure, and hell they’ve had to make bandages out of bed sheets once. The thing is though, unlike the fronties, the Guard has an opportunity to adapt. All of that only happened once, and afterwards the Guard as a whole made sure it would never happen again.

They all have their roles to play. Fox stuck Slick on this particular issue and now the Guard has an abundance of medical supplies and some extra credits for when they really need it.

As a rule, Shivers never asks how or where any of the supplies come from. Just like no one asks Shivers about their incredibly illegal clinic down in the lower levels. It works best like that.

It’s also why Fox doesn’t question them when they show up to Isolation One several hours late carrying a bag of medical supplies that includes several different Zabrak blood types and a few illegal painkillers. They got lucky even getting that much in a short amount of time.

None of this means that they're not extremely pissed though. Just the fact that Fox and Thorn are taking this risk for the Guard as a whole is enough to make their blood boil. That's even before you add on the fact that Shivers new patient is likely to kill them all just from ignorance and bad intentions.

So when they enter the warehouse, they're stone-faced and silent. Radiating their displeasure at Fox with every single move of their body.

“Shivers.”

“No. Don’t speak to me, I don’t want to know who, how, or why. I’m going to fix him and then I’m going to leave.”

Fox winces before he lets out a tired sigh, “Can I get away with at least saying that this is Thorn’s fault?”

Shivers scoffs and shakes their head. “Of course it is. Who else drags strays back home from the street? At least you get your strays from the GAR where we know they’ve been chipped and vaccinated. Who the hell knows what diseases this one’s picked up.”

It's a mean thing to say. Especially considering that Shivers likes Thorn's other strays. Even Boba. But Shivers doesn't feel like being nice right now.

Fox chuckles in response and shakes his head, moving back to let them work. “I did dose him with that sedative you gave me. Might have overdosed him considering he hasn’t moved at all for the last hour.”

Shivers nods his head, “He’s still breathing so he should be fine. Zabrak’s bounce back better than any human or clone. Now get out, I know that you’re already late for your rounds in the Senate.”

“Stay safe Shivers.” Fox gets up to leave but Shivers quickly grabs him by the arm.

“I’d tell you the same but I know you won’t listen. Just…” Shivers squeezes Fox’s arm once before letting go, “Just keep your head above water a little longer ori’vod.”

Fox nods his head once, and then he’s gone. Leaving Shivers alone with his patient.

It’s ok. Everything is fine.

It has to be.

…

It’s nearly two weeks before Maul looks at Fox with clear yellow eyes and not the madness that has held him in a near-death grip since they found him. “You really think I can help you?” He chuckles, grinning with too many teeth for it to be nice. “You realize that I can’t even keep him out of my head.”

Fox just rolls his eyes, sitting back in his seat as he works on his datapad. One good thing about most of his work is that he can just take it with him. “We’re very aware of that,” He answers dryly. “But you know more about shielding than we do and we need any help we can get.”

Maul studies him from where he’s been propped up. The sickly yellow eyes feeling like they’re piercing through him. Like just by looking they can take Fox apart and not put him back together. “You can’t go to the Jedi because he already has his fingers in your heads,” he says with quiet glee as understanding dawns on him. Maul looks away, lips pulled over his teeth now in amusement. “Oh little clone, are you sure you want me to give you hope that he’ll just crush within seconds?”

“I don’t want hope,” Fox bares his teeth at Maul, mirroring the way the Zabrak has been showing his displeasure all week. What’s hope to someone who was made to die anyway? It’s worthless and Fox has never needed it to survive. “I want to make the bastard work for every single piece he wants to take from me.”

Maul laughs, but this time it has an edge of anger to his glee. “Well, that, that I can teach.” He tilts his head, “If you take off the suppression collar.”

“You can just tell us how and we can figure it out from there.”

“And how will you know if it even works?”

“We’ll figure it out,” Fox narrows his eyes, “We’re not risking ourselves against the chance of you using the force on us.”

“You realize I could just as easily kill you all without it?” Maul leans toward Fox, a snarl rippling across his features making him look deadly instead of half-dead. Fox would say he’s impressed but just the other day he watched the Zabrak fall off the bed, faceplanting into the ground.

He makes a point to glance at the empty half of the cot and look Maul in the eyes as he says, “I think we’ll be ok.”

“You shouldn’t underestimate me little clone.”

“Like how you’ve been underestimating me?” Fox raises an eyebrow. “You're going to teach us, then afterwards I’ll let you pick. Either the force suppressor gets moved to your wrist or we get you a pair of legs.”

Maul’s eyes narrow. “Fine.”

…

“Do none of you sleep?” Maul asks with a tone of disgust at being awoken at three in the morning. He thinks that the longer he stays here the worse these clones get. Not that he can blame them. He remembers a time when he didn’t sleep either. Remembers the danger that used to itch just under his skin, and how no matter how he tried to peel the feeling out, it never went away.

Commander Thorn just looks at him with tired eyes with dark bags underneath that Maul is absolutely certain are an unhealthy sign in most humans. “Maker I wish I knew what sleep was. It sounds fantastic.” He drags his feet further into the warehouse, dropping a small contaner and fork onto the cot before putting his own on the table. “Eat up, we get a Dex special today which is amazing because I haven’t had his cooking in months.”

Maul rools his eyes, scrunching his nose as he opens the container looking down at the greasy food in disgust.

“I found you eating a rat. You’re not allowed to complain,” Thorn wags his fork at Maul.

How this clone has survived this long is a miracle in Maul’s opinion. “The rat at least was fresh.”

“And diseased probably!” Thorn smiles with a false cheerfulness that is enough to put even Maul on edge. He remembers how Fox had said that Maul was underestimating him. He thinks maybe he’s been underestimating them all too much. The fact that Sidious has yet to come calling is proof enough of that.

These clones have their own ways of getting around Sidous and his stranglehold. Enough that they have at least one space carved out for themselves that does not bear his touch. The fact that they want to learn a more concrete way to protect their minds will just add on to what they’ve already accomplished.

Makes them even more dangerous to Sidious’s plans.

He picks at his food as Thorn devours his own. The clones that he’s from the Guard all look thinner than he thinks they should be. Not by much but enough that it’s easy for Maul to tell that they’re all regaining the weight. It means something and Maul isn’t sure what. Not yet at least.

By the time Thorn’s inhaled his food his mouth splits into a large yawn. Maul is suppsoed to start teaching him how to sheild but he doesn’t think Thorn will even be able to stay awake a minute more then he has too.

Maul bares pointed teeth at this Commander of the Guard who had found him. This weak and tired being who Maul does not want to deal with right now. “There’s no point in teaching you if you’re going to fall asleep during the lesson.”

“Great! I’m just going to lie on the floor for a couple of hours then. Wake me up if someone tries to storm the warehouse.”

Maul doesn’t even deign the clone with any kind of further acknowledgment. Just slowly eats his food and ignores the way Thorn curls in on himself on the floor.

…

When Stone steps inside of Isolation one with a stack of books he’s not completely sure what to expect. He’s aware that Thorn and Fox’s stray is here, that it’s dangerous but also in no position to try and hurt any of them. Not without putting itself at risk.

None of that means much of anything when it comes to meeting the Zabrak face to face.

A face he’s going to have to see for the next few days because Stone apparently pissed off a senator enough to get sent to isolation. He doesn’t even remember what he did wrong. If he actually did something wrong or if the senator was just feeling especially vindictive for no good reason. It doesn’t matter in the end. He’s here to stay. Unfortunately with unwanted company.

The stray watches Stone from where it’s laying down. Yellow eyes following his every move as he sets the stack of books on the table.

“And which one are you?” The stray asks with a low bored tone.

Stone tilts his helmet enough that he can look back at the stray out of the corner of his eyes. A part of him just wants to completely ignore it, to just find a space on the other end of the warehouse to keep as far away as possible. But this area is cordoned off enough that it keeps the heat in and Stone doesn’t want to freeze. He’s going to be stuck here so he may as well take advantage of the heating and be civil with the stray.

“Stone.”

The stray freezes like it wasn’t expecting for Stone to answer. It’s eyes narrow, “I see and why are you here Stone? I wasn’t expecting you for lessons.” Stone’s pretty sure the only people who should be taking lessons are Fox and Thorn right now. Next would be Thire and Hound because they’re the ones who do the bulk of training with the shinies and would have an easier time passing on the knowledge.

Stone will either learn from them or if he gets too bored in the next few days he’ll just pester the stray until it gives in. He turns his focus back to his books, sorting through them after giving the stray a quick shrug. “Pissed off a Senator, got sent to isolation.”

The stray stays quiet for a moment. Long enough for Stone to find the book he’s looking for and to sit in one of the more plush chairs in the warehouse. It’s not a cot or a mattress but he’ll probably end up sleeping on it later. Better than the floor by a long shot.

“A senator punished you?” The stray asks with a curiosity that’s tinged with disbelief. “For what?”

Stone shrugs again as he unlatches and drops his helmet to the floor. Then he flips his book open to the page he’d left off on, “I don’t know. Sometimes they just don’t like the way we look. Or breathe. Or exist.”

“They punished you for existing,” the strays tone is flat as he says it. Then he scoffs and mutters, “Sidious didn’t have to do much to corrupt the Republic did he.” Honestly Stone agrees with that particular sentiment. Even if he doesn’t get what the stray is trying to get out of this conversation. It’s not like any of this is a surprise to anyone who's been on Coruscant long enough. “And you’re not going to do anything about it?”

The stray says it like that’s a bad thing.

Stones got better things to worry about than getting back at the assholes in the Senate. “I’m going to finish my book. Then I’m going to start a new one.”

The stray makes a noise of disgust in the back of its throat. “No wonder he doesn’t expect you any of you to rebel against him. You’re already broken enough that you don’t even fight being locked in a room alone.”

“Sure,” Stone agrees. Isolation sucks but it’s still better than being stuck babysitting senators. Besides none of the Guard is willing to put each other in danger by fighting back. That’s Fox’s job and no one can do a better job than him. “This is one of the better punishments anyway.” Because Fox has twisted it into a break rather than a punishment.

The stray sneers like he can read Stone’s mind, “Tell me Stone, what do you know of punishment? What do you know of disappointing your masters?”

“I know there’s one senator who likes to use whips as a discipline measure for stupid things like making their coffee wrong and another who used acid to burn out the eyes of one of our shinies because they didn’t like the way he looked at them.” Stone looks up and glares at the stray, “Palpatine uses the Red Guard to beat us but never touches us himself. Not yet at least. I’m sure he’ll get there at some point.”

Stone doesn’t say that he suspects that Palpatine does go hands-on with Fox’s punishments. He’s not supposed to know that and the stray definitely doesn’t need to know that.

“And you feel nothing for the way you and yours are treated?”

“I think I can’t afford to do anything without endangering our most vulnerable brothers.”

“So you wouldn’t-”

“Do you want a book?” Stone interrupts with a flat look at the stray.

The stray narrows his eyes, lips pulled back up into a sneer. “No.”

“You’re telling me you’re not bored out of your mind yet just laying here waiting for one of us to show up?”

“I’m quite used to being out of my mind.” The stray’s laugh is on the edge of hysterical as it speaks.

Stone’s aware of those first few weeks. How there had only been fleeting moments of clarity. It’s gotten better. Fox suspects that the Chancellor did something to the stray’s mind and that it’s the force suppressor keeping it sane currently. He wonders if the stray is aware of that yet.

“Ok.“ Stone contemplates just ignoring the stray entirely but then he finds himself standing, going towards the table, and grabbing one of his more well-read books. It’s not exactly an exciting one, more of a comforting adventure than one filled with danger around every corner. It’s also completely ridiculous and is the reading equivalent of watching a ship crash and burn into a sun.

He tosses the book at the stray who catches it with a growl.

“You’ll thank me later.”

“I’m absolutely certain that I won’t.”

…

"This is the worst book I've ever laid my eyes upon."

"Do you want the sequel?" Stone asks even as he holds the book out for Maul to grab.

"...I may as well see how this trash fire ends."

…

Fox can’t remember how exactly they got on to this conversation. Or when the alcohol had come into play. But he thinks it was somewhere between bottles three or four that they started bitching about Palpatine. It's now bottle six and apparently, it’s somehow led to this.

“I will have my revenge,” Maul drunkenly sneers, eyes glowing a special kind of rancid yellow today that’s still somehow better than those first couple of weeks of slowly dying madness.

“On who? Palpatine?” Fox snorts, taking a sip of his water to try and flush back some clarity. He’d pay credits he doesn’t have just to watch the Zabrak try. Maybe if Fox is feeling generous he might even be willing to stitch the bastard back together again afterwards too.

“On Kenobi,” He hisses, lunging forward just enough from the cot so that he’s face to face with Fox where he's seated next to the bed. “He took everything-”

“You’re the fucking idiot who fought him.” Fox interrupts him with an unimpressed look. Sure Fox doesn’t know how to feel about Cody’s General. As far as he knows the Jedi tries his best to keep his men alive but he’s also Skywalker’s Master. Which automatically docks him points because Skywalker is Palpatine’s pet project and Kenobi seems to be just as bad at enabling the asshole.

It doesn't mean he wants that particular Jedi dead. Mostly because it would make Cody sad.

“I-”

“Oh don’t even start Maul,” Fox rolls his eyes, “Every clone trooper goes into a fight not expecting to come back out the other side. It’s your own fucking arrogance that fucked you over.”

“He left me-”

“Kenobi left you?” He raises an eyebrow at the outraged look Maul is giving him.

“Stop interrupting me,” He hisses, hand going around Fox’s vambrace tight enough to make the plastiod creak. “Sidious left me! He left me on that planet! My mind broken, in shambles. He-” Maul growls, claws digging into Fox’s armour, “-He left me. Discarded me.”

Fox looks down pointedly at Maul’s hand and the man releases Fox’s arm with a growl. Honestly, he’s not surprised by the confession. The only thing he’s really curious about is if Maul was on a whole other plant how he got to Coruscant from there.

“I still don’t see what this has to do with Kenobi.”

“Because I failed to kill him. Because he cut me in half.”

“So that makes you want to make some kind of dramatic revenge plot? Where you show up and what? Torture him to death? Kill him?”

“Yes.”

This man would not survive the Senate in any way or form, Fox thinks to himself. And because he is that kind of asshole he tells Maul precisely that. “The Senators here would eat you alive.”

Maul just glares at him, eyes narrowed and mouth twisted into an unpleasant sneer. He makes no move to speak as Fox continues on.

“I’ve been fucking tortured by the worse ones. Beaten and abused by the morally dubious ones. Completely ignored by the ‘good ones’. And you know what I have to keep doing every single fucking day because it’s my job?” Fox leans forward, nose to nose with Maul now. “I have ignore everything they fucking do to me and to my brothers. I have say ‘yes sir’ to whatever the fuck they want and I have to do what they tell me to."

And because this is a conversation deserving of more alcohol he leans back and reaches for another bottle. He opens bottle number seven and drinks straight from it before continuing. "And you know how I handle that? I make sure that their backs are all turned when I inevitably make their lives a living hell for every one of my troopers they hurt.”

Maul’s now looking at him with interest so he keeps going.

“If you go make some dramatic entrance and try to kill Kenobi you’re going to be hunted down and eventually killed. The smart thing is to set things in motion so you can sit back and enjoy the fallout without putting yourself or anyone else you care about in danger.”

Maul’s calmed down considerably as he quietly studies Fox. “And how would you do that Clone?”

“For Kenobi?” Fox sets fully back into his chair, cracking his neck as he thinks about it. “I’d go after Skywalker first.” That bastard’s got a high enough casualty rate for his troopers that Fox would want him out of the picture anyway. “Find any illegal bad shit he’s done. Start on Tattonie and add in the fact that he’s married to a senator. Take her out by making the marriage public, let Skywalker get mad about that, show his true colors a bit. Then you set something up to really show how far he’s fallen to the dark side.“

Fox presses a hand to his lips. Mind working through the scenario and adding into how Kenobi’s part would play out. “That should completely fuck up Kenobi because the kid he raised turned out to be a monster. Then, I don't know, while Kenobi's trying to redeem the bastard have an assassin take him out in front of him to just completely shatter his heart or something. Best revenge is getting to see how fucking broken they are and the fact that they have to keep going on.”

Maul's staring him down now, something calculating in the way he actually looks at Fox. Like somehow Fox is now on even standing. "How long have you been planning this little Clone?"

"The Skywalker part? Since the fucker got a bunch of his men killed because he wouldn't wipe his droid. Don't really have anything against Kenobi because one of my batchmates is friends with him." There is a high possibility that Fox is giving too much info to Maul. But Fox is also too drunk to care. So this will all be tomorrow Fox’s problem.

Maul hums, tapping his claws against his glass. "You already have the blackmail you need." A statement rather than a question.

Fox does in fact have a fuckton of blackmail. He’s saving it for a rainy day. "It's not for free."

"Hmmm," Maul grins with sharp teeth. "I'm sure I can figure out an appropriate payment. Now since we’re on the subject of revenge, tell me in exact detail how you'd ruin some of those Senators."

Fox snorts and figures he has nothing better to do anyway.

…

Fox barely feels conscious when he drags himself back into the warehouse after a seventy-two-hour shift. Maul’s sitting up, reading one of the many books that Stone has stocked in Isolation One. He barely acknowledges Fox as he walks in, sits on the ground, and proceeds to curl up there on the floor. Waiting for the sleep that’s inevitably coming for him.

Maul just sighs and Fox can hear him moving around before something hits Fox. He cracks an eye open to find a blanket on top of him.

“If you get sick and leave me here to die I will find a way to resurrect you so that I might kill you myself.”

Fox snorts, before letting his eyes close.

…

Thire fucking hates that he and Hound are currently stuck with Enemy #2. Especially while Enemy #1 is sitting pretty and untouchable up in his office with Fox serving him on hand and foot. It’s not like either of them could have taken his place but they could have been there to support him afterwards.

But no, apparently they have to learn some stupid meaningless bullshit from the failed darksider.

Enemy #2 just glares at the both of them, waiting to see who will make the first move. Eyes honing in on Hound who shifts nervously under Enemy #2’s gaze. Thire steps forward with a sneer, purposefully dragging all attention back on himself, “Well, are you going to teach us or should we just fuck off?”

Please just let us fuck off, Thire begs inside his mind because, for one, he doesn’t want to be here. For another, he knows for certain Enemy #2 can’t currently read either of them.

Enemy #2 just scoffs but sets his shoulder’s like he’s ready to do something he doesn’t want to do. “How did the Jedi teach you to shield your minds?”

Motherfucker. Thire just can’t win today.

Hound’s shoulder bumps Thire’s as he steps forward. Helmet still on and in place as he answers, “We weren’t taught by Jedi. Our trainers had us go through a quick course that I’m assuming is the usual way for most nulls. Basically, imagine a wall between our mind and everyone else’s.”

Enemy #2 sneers in disgust, “That would work on a minuscule scale. But it’s not what any of you need.”

“Great,” Thire snorts, crossing his arms protectively over his chest, “And what do we need?”

“I’d say it depends on what you want to achieve. You can make your mind near impenetrable, you can make it hard to find, you can even make it so you hurt whoever tries to touch your mind.”

That. That catches Thire’s attention. “We’ll have to go over all of those but let’s start with how to hurt someone stupid enough to take a peak into our heads?”

Enemy #2 grins, “First take out the wall. Then imagine in its place a livewire. One that’s sparking and dangerous. Imagine what would happen if anyone were to touch it. Imagine how it would course through them. Convulse through them. How painful would it be to be electrocuted? How quickly would they be dead? How fast would it take to go straight to their heart?”

Yeah ok. Maybe Thire likes this idea a bit too much. But it’s a nice change to have a way to fight back in his own mind.

“Does it have to be electricity?” Hound asks with about the same amount of enthusiasm that Thire feels.

Enemy #2 grins at them both and starts a deeper explanation on how to trap their minds.

…

Shivers applies the electronic legs to their patient with a practiced ease. They can feel Maul watching them and Shivers is ready for the Zabrak to attack or lash out at them. "Just so you’re aware I'm very good at surgically implanting explosive devices into people's spines without them being aware I’ve done it.”

Maul glares at them but says nothing in response. Wise of him considering he’s Shivers favorite patient at the moment. Mostly because Maul doesn’t speak to them and actually listens to Shivers advice for his recovery.

The joint that they’re handling clicks into place and whirls to life. Shivers backs up as the legs fully begin to function and Maul moves to sit with his new legs over the side of the cot. The artificial toes curl as Maul seems to test what he can control.

“I’m surprised Fox let you be here alone with me,” Maul’s voice is low as he turns his attention to Shivers with a dark look. Probably contemplating murder. Not that Shivers can blame him, they also contemplate murder every chance they get.

Shivers in return gives him a flat look. “I’m here alone because you’re not going to kill or hurt me.”

“Oh? You really trust my intentions that much clone?”

Shivers rolls his eyes and starts putting his medical supplies away. “I think that if you want me to patch you up for free in the future you need me alive and willing to do it.”

Maul is quiet. Quiet enough that Shivers looks back to find Maul frowning at them. “You’re willing to give me further medical aid?”

“As long as you don’t hurt any of my brothers I don’t see why not. If you’re leaving I have a clinic in the lower levels I can give you the address too.”

“You think I can leave?” Maul tilts his head, “You think the Commander would let me?”

“Considering you have working legs now, I expect you to go run off and do something stupid. If you’re worried about Fox I know he would be fine if you used the warehouse as a base for now, makes it easier to find you.” Shivers hefts their medical bag over their shoulder, “Now if you’ll excuse me I’m needed back in medical.”

They don’t look back as they leave. Though they do give it a week before the Zabrak comes crawling back and they have to patch him up again.

#star wars the clone wars #bad things happen bingo #commander fox #darth maul #coruscant guard #enemy turned caretaker #fanfiction #my writing #sock-writes #writer on tumblr

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