#morphine 2008 | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

depressed-sock · 8 months

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Strays and the Hands that Feed Them by depressed-sock

Part Four ( 8,577 words )

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: Stitches

Cheated a little bit with the prompt. People do get stitches in this part but I also have a medic named Stitches so he got to make a couple of appearances lol.

This one is a series of snippets of things that didn't fit within the main fic story.

...

Slick Head of Criminal ‘Investigations’ for the Guard:

Slick was sure he knew exactly where his life was headed after he’d gotten caught. He’d figured he was headed either straight for decommissioning or reconditioning. Either way they’d pick apart his brain to find out exactly where they think they went wrong with him. The spiteful part of him hoped they found nothing. Well maybe not just out of spite… but also the vain hope that they couldn’t change anyone else to be completely mindlessly obedient like the rest of his brothers.

But then hours in a cell turned to days and he figured that maybe they’d decided to go for public execution instead and just hadn’t gotten the balls to do it yet. It wouldn’t surprise him.

Then Fox had come swooping into his life. And everything Slick had expected was turned on its head.

Fox had given him a new number, a freshly painted set of Corrie armor, a list of rules that made his head spin, and then he’d just… let Slick go. With the only expectation that Slick would follow his rules and not much else.

Slick’s not going to lie. He ran the first chance he got. If he didn’t want to be a part of the GAR he sure as hell wasn’t going to be a flimsi-pushing Guard. Besides, Slick had figured that on a world like Coruscant he could easily find a way off and to anywhere else. Preferably somewhere he’d finally be free from all of this. He didn’t get far before he realized he had no money, no plan, no way to survive outside of the Guard or the GAR.

Fox was waiting for him when he’d walked back into the barracks. Took one look at Slick and motioned him to follow. Then he’d pushed Slick into a room so vastly different from the rest of the Guard Barracks. A room filled with color, blankets, and pillows. Brothers in cuddle piles, all of them looking as if they’d seen the front lines with how heavily scarred they were. Then Fox had dragged him to the floor, handed him a cup of something that smelt closer to fuel than alcohol, and got him blackout drunk.

The next day he’d set Slick to work. Apparently, the Guard barely got any supplies even though they were on the home front. So they’ve been having Guard members take time out of their usual shifts to work actual natborn jobs so that they could at least afford some medical supplies. Since that’s apparently an issue here.

Fox tells him that, Slick’s skill with making deals with natborns would be invaluable to the Guard. He’s still not sure how ‘Slick betrayed the Republic by giving intel to Ventress’ became ‘Slick is skilled enough to talk to criminals and make deals with them’. But Fox was adamant about it. Not like Slick could say no, not when he’d personally seen how badly stocked the medical bay was. He doesn’t think he’ll ever forget the screams coming from there when they’d run out of morphine.

So it had started small. A couple of deals here and there to look the other way or even help carry the uh, “cargo”. It didn’t hurt anyone, well it didn’t hurt the Guard. That was the important part that mattered.

Then without really realizing everything started to get a bit more…Complicated.

It went from looking the other way, to guarding deals going down between criminal organizations, to making said deals. Growing bigger than what Slick ever could have expected. He’d talked to Fox about it, if he should pull back before he and the other Guards working with him got caught. Fox had shrugged and told him to do what he thinks will keep his men safe.

That’s when he realized he’d been trusted with his brothers without him even knowing it. It should have been obvious but he’d been so caught up in self-flagellation he didn’t even consider the possibility of ever being trusted again. Not that he’d ever believe this was Fox’s way of putting any kind of faith in Slick’s motives. This was Fox trusting Slick’s skills to get a job done and keep the men under him alive in the process.

It might have helped his case that Slick is also very aware of what would happen to him if he purposefully got any of his brothers here killed. He’s seen Fox’s list, seen what happens to the people on that list. He doesn’t have that kind of a death wish. He’d rather throw himself on Skywalker’s lightsaber than ever piss off Fox or any of the Guard. They’re all vindictive bastards.

So he’s not exactly surprised when Fox assigns two more of the Guard to him and his growing division of criminal activity. He is surprised that what he’s given is a blind trooper and a cranky medic.

The trooper shifts nervously, a bandage wrapped carefully around her face. She has one hand on the medic’s shoulder, grip tight enough that her knuckles have gone white.

Fox stares Slick down as he introduces them. “This is Mouse, she’s got a talent for binary and can help you start delving into what blackmail we can sell. Stitches is here to help her recovery and to help anyone else who's been dodging the medical bay.” His eyes stray and narrow on a spot just behind Slick. There’s a crash as someone hurries out of the room.

Aw... Poor Kiki. Slick wishes you luck but he’s not getting between you and an angry medic.

“Understood,” Slick nods his head, looking over his two new recruits. "I’ll have Zoomy clear out a spot for the both of you.”

Mouse ends up being an asset he hadn’t realized he’d needed. She’s an experienced technician and while it took a bit of time for her to figure out a new way to do things she’s talented and adaptable enough to already be good at repairing the cheap datapads that like to break down on him. She’s also somehow got an army of mouse droids constantly feeding her gossip which turns into blackmail Slick can use.

Either to get some extra credits or to quietly threaten people into making deals with him. Both have been boons to his ever-growing job.

Stitches is also weirdly useful in an unexpected way. He likes to make drugs. Lots of fucking drugs that Slick isn’t all too sure are completely safe. Slick has to immediately veto using anything ‘new’ on test subjects even though Stitches claims he could easily get some Senator or asshole to test it. Everything else is free game and nets them all enough credits that Slick can fully stock the Guard Medical bay for the first time in… well ever.

There’s even some extra he splits with his crew.

And apparently, they’ve all become saps because they all end up buying shit for the other Guards who have to deal with the Senate on a daily bases. It’s a sad realization that criminals are nicer to them than the people they were made and enslaved to protect.

It continues like that for a while. Fox dropping off new people for Slick to protect. Some of them too injured from their work in the Guard, some of who were being threatened with decom, and then there are the ones Fox plucks from other Battalions like they’re fucking candy from some old lady’s candy bowl. He’s absolutely certain one of those is from the fucking wolfpack and Slick doesn’t want to know how or why Fox got his hands on the trooper.

In fact, he fears the day that particular Jedi and Wolfe figure out where their missing trooper has gone. The trooper wants to be here. That’s the important part. Slick still plans to throw Fox under the speeder because he at least has a better chance of surviving the wrath of his batchmate.

So other than the occasional new trooper everything is going fine. Slick’s running a steady criminal business and he’s providing for his brothers. He’s not free like he wants to be. But, other than the massive amount of stress that comes with being a Guard, it’s the first time he’s felt he’s done something worthwhile in this shit war.

Then Thorn shows up one day and has to fucking ruin Slick’s good mood.

Thorn stands there, awkwardly shifting as Slick glares first at him, then down to where Thorn’s hands rest on the shoulders of two fucking teenage pink-skinned Twi’leks. “Please,” Slick begs as he pinches the brow of his nose, “Please, tell me you didn’t kidnap a couple of kids.”

“…I didn’t kidnap a couple of kids.”

“We kidnapped him!” The one with light purple markings grins up at Slick. “He was wandering the lower levels by himself so we tried to get some money off of him. But he didn’t have any and he told us you’d pay a ransom to have him returned safely!”

The other Twi’lek with darker almost black markings nods their head, glaring at Slick with their arms crossed, and for some reason that invokes an image of a miny Stone in Slick’s head. Fuck he doesn’t need that kind of crazy here. The silent ones are always planning something.

“Yes…I’ve absolutely been kidnapped so you should give them credits for me.” Thorn licks his lips and glances down at the twins before meeting Slick’s eyes again, “And maybe a room to stay in. And food. And-”

“Please tell me Fox knows you’re picking up his bad habits.” Slick swears no one else has to deal with this bullshit. First Fox adopts every single trooper who passes through the Guard’s cells and now Thorn’s picking up strays off the street? Fuck, he hopes this isn’t contagious.

“Fox is absolutely aware of this.” Thorn lies to his face and Slick would give him props for that if not for the fact that he’s offended the bastard just tried to lie to him.

The worst part is that Slick can’t even complain because two days in the twins already have Slick’s men wrapped around their fingers. They’ve taught several of his men how to pickpocket, what levels are safe, where not to go, and who to look out for with a list far more extensive than Slick’s and Fox’s combined.

So he keeps them around. He is not wrapped around their fingers. Vinia and Ven are just a fucking resource.

Then Thorn strikes again a month later. Only this time it’s a very familiar face he brings in. Kicking and Squirming, trying to escape Thorn’s grasp that holds firm against the assault.

Boba Fett looks like he’s seen better days. He’s much skinnier the Slick remembers him being, taller too. Some part of him hopes that maybe Boba has just lost his baby fat since he left Kamino. But Slick knows that he isn’t that lucky and apparently, neither is Boba.

Thorn winces as Boba kicks into his leg, giving Slick a strained smile as he says, “Sooo….uh this time I may have accidentally kidnapped a kid.”

“Aura’s going to slice your fucking throat clone!” Boba screams, slamming a hand into Thorn’s stomach.

Thorn for his part doesn’t even flinch. Just laughs that awkwardly painful laugh that tells Slick he’s not going to like what Thorn says next. “Oh, I don’t think she’s going to be doing much of anything anymore.”

“Thorn.” Slick’s smile is thin as he stares this fucking bastard down. “Please tell me you didn’t kill Aura Sing.” Aura Sing who’s been a reliable if sketchy contact. Aura Sing who was working as a fucking bounty hunter for Fox.

“I didn’t kill Aura Sing.”

“You couldn’t even if you tried, you-” Boba starts to bite out but Thorn just yells over him

“She killed herself!” Thorn’s strained smile turns into a full-on wince. “Neither of us knew the crate had explosives in it.”

Boba’s stopped struggling and is now staring up at Thorn with disbelief. Slick breathes in through his nose and out through his mouth. One of his fucking contacts is dead and now he has to find a new fucking bounty hunter for Fox. And to top all of that off he’s got fucking Boba to deal with, who just lost another person in his life. Great. Fantastic.

Slick is going to pay Zoomy to put fucking ants in Thorn’s cot.

“Put him down and get out,” Slick says calmly. Deathly calm because he’s about ten seconds from pulling his gun. He thinks Fox would let him off for shooting Thorn just a little bit.

“I-”

“No Thorn. Put Boba down and get out. I will deal with this.”

He does, retreating out of the room and hopefully off planet for the next few days at least. Slick sighs as he grabs Boba’s shoulder and guides him to one of the extra rooms. He expects that the kid is going to run the first chance he gets.

Boba doesn’t leave. Doesn’t even attempt to do much of anything but to sit on his bed and stare vacantly at the wall of the room Sick had shoved him into. The kid’s lost two people and to be honest he didn’t have many to start with.

Slick and the other clones would always have each other. Even if none of them knew each other on Kamino they were still all brothers. Still went through the same training, still raised in the exact same way to serve the Republic and Jedi. Didn’t matter what you identified as, you were a brother and a vode. They made those words theirs, twisted to mean things only a clone would understand.

Boba’s a clone too but more importantly, he was Fett’s son. Made like them but built to fill an entirely different role that none of them could ever fill.

Slick doesn’t know what to do with him or how to treat him. If he were just some normal cadet it would be easier. And maybe it’s that thought that leads him to do what he does next. Eventually, he gives up trying to figure out a way and grabs Boba by the scruff of his neck, marches him down to the Guard’s main barracks, and shoves him into the first cuddle pile he sees because why not? It’s not like Boba has reacted to anything else Slick has tried.

It’s not like Slick can make him worse.

The little fucker hisses like a tooka and attempts to break free the first chance he gets but unfortunately for him, the vod who got him was Hound. And Hound likes strays especially the ones that put up a fight, so Boba’s stuck there. Warm, safe, and surrounded by brothers for the foreseeable future.

Slick won’t say that Boba gets better after that. He spends more time around the other clones and runs off occasionally with the twins. He doesn’t try to purposefully cause trouble and he always shows back up for something to eat so Slick doesn’t complain. In fact, he’s just thankful Boba hasn’t tried to go after General Windu yet.

Life steadies out after that, Slick gets newer better contacts. The Guard gets newer better weapons. Then Hound shows up with a full-grown natborn slung over his shoulder.

“No. No, Hound! Fuck. Do not do this to me,” Slick is not on the verge of tears but he can fake it. He can specifically fake it if it gets him out of this situation. Thorn and Fox’s tendencies have now somehow infected several other troopers and Boba, who’d all tried to sneak in several cadets into the Guard Barracks.

Slick’s been holding out hope that it was a contained event but now here’s Hound with a fucking whole new person. Which means it’s only a matter of time before it infects the others and they all get attached to it.

“He saved my life and got beaten up.” Hound pouts, Hound never pouts unless it’s to get something, usually from Fox, and now he’s turning it on Slick. Slick however has three fucking kids now and that shit doesn’t work on him.

“Take him to a hospital then!”

“Please don’t,” The body groans. “I already have enough people trying to assassinate me let’s not make it easy on them.” They pat Hound’s shoulder and he reluctantly sets them down on unsteady feet. The natborn winces, hand going to Hound’s shoulder to steady themself. “Ah apologies, I’m Krayt Zihav a senatorial aide for-”

“I can not even begin to describe how much I do not care.”

The… near-human? Slicks actually not too sure about that, something feels off about their appearance but he ignores it for his own sanity. They raise a painted eyebrow and Slick has several blissful seconds before he realizes he just talked back to a natborn who’s technically considered his superior.

“Apologies, Sir. I-”

They laugh, “Sorry,” they wave him off, “You’re fine. Trust me I know what it’s like putting up with the Senate.” They make a face. “I do sincerely apologize for the disturbance.”

Slick studies Zihav before he nods his head and focuses on Hound, “Take them to Shivers clinic next time. Stitches is in the back and can stitch them up. After that’s done get him out.” The faster the natborn is gone the less time for someone else to want him here.

Hound salutes lazily, still trying to help hold up Zihav when he lists a little to the side. Slick figures that’s the last time he’ll ever see the aide.

It’s not.

In fact, Zihav comes around the Guard’s barracks often enough now that everyone knows the fucker is not near-human but a Rattataki who hides his appearance. Claiming it’s a safety measure against the prejudice. Which is the biggest lie Slick has ever been told and he’s had the twins and Boba try to trick him out of enrolling them in school by claiming they’ve already graduated.

Zihav is a fucking spy. Slick has credits on that and he knows he’s right.

He doesn’t do anything about it though, because Zihav has been actively working with the clones. Distracting the worst Senators when he can and giving the clones even more blackmail to add to their growing collection. Slick even got a few new contacts through the spy, including a reliable bounty hunter.

Of course, the Mando Bounty Hunter is a little bit weird with the way she likes to stare at him but Slick can deal with that. It’s much better than a bunch of the others he’s tried to work with.

Everything finally settles down after that. All the new additions are just the troopers Fox pulls off of Decom and Recon orders. There’s no more natborn chaos other than the ones that have already been collected. Everything is good and steady.

Then fucking Fox tells him about Darth Maul and ruins Slick’s steady life again.

Fox and Ashoka: Thorn’s Revenge

Fox glares at Thorn with his best ‘I’m disappointed in you’ glare in the slim hope of getting across exactly what he’s feeling right this second. Thorn, the bastard, remains unaffected as he grins at his hastily equipped trooper who stands way too short and is very distinctly not a trooper.

How Thorn plans to hide the very obvious Togruta among the Guard Fox has no idea. He gets the feeling it’s going to be his problem though with the glee Thorn is in no way suppressing.

“Thorn, why the fuck is she here and not in her cell?” Which is a great question because they’d literally just hunted her down not even several hours ago and caused multiple explosions to capture her and put her in that cell.

“Well…” Thorn hesitates for the first time since he shoved the newly armored Togruta into the room. Then he just shrugs, “We all know the trial is going to be rigged and I really don’t want to execute a fucking kid.” Thorn then pushes the padawan towards Fox, “Also Slick will murder me if he knows I stole another kid and you left me with Feral and Savage sooo… you get this one.”

“Thorn,” Fox warns even as his second in command is backing away towards the door.

The padawan scrunches her face in confusion as she shoots a look towards Thorn. “How many kids have you stolen?” She asks in confusion.

“I haven’t stolen any kids-”

“Officially we’re up to five if we count the two cadets we had to give back.”

“Alright, No, those last two were Boba’s fault! Also… I need to leave and go cover up the footage of her being alive. So good luck with the Jedi!” Thorn retreats and gods Fox wishes he’d learned that tactic for battle instead of just using it to avoid conversations.

He still makes sure to shout loud enough for Thorn to hear, “He’s taking after you! So it counts as your fault!”

There’s a moment of quiet before Fox hears the loud echoing complaint of, “He’s Slick’s kid now! It’s Slick’s fault!”

“Umm… I’m sorry, I don’t really know what’s going on?” The padawan says moving awkwardly in the armor that is clearly not built for her size. The only thing she’s missing is a helmet and none of what he has comes Togruta-shaped.

“Trust me this isn’t your fault,” He pinches the bridge of his nose. Trying to figure out exactly how he’s going to approach this. “You’ve been…conscripted into the Guard’s stray tookas because Thorn’s afraid the Senate will try to just execute you without trial.”

She pales, eyes widening, “I- What?!”

“Yeah, don’t think too hard about it,” He frowns looking her over. She’s still scraped up, a cut on her lekku bleeding sluggishly. “Come on let’s get you stitched up and I’ll give you the full rundown.”

…

Hours later General’s Skywalker and Kenobi stare him down and Fox stares right back. His mind is ironclad shut and he’s certain neither of them can get a read off of him. They can, however, definitely get a read off the trooper just behind Fox who is distinctly shorter and Togruta-shaped behind the hastily applied face mask, but that hasn’t stopped Fox from lying straight to their faces.

This would be a great opportunity for Maul to just jump out of nowhere and start a fight with Kenobi. In fact, Fox is begging for that to happen the longer the silence between the three of them stretches on.

“Are we done here, sirs?” Fox asks in hopes of one of them putting him out of his misery.

“I apologize I’d just like to confirm again, Ashoka Tano was killed in the explosion?” Kenobi raises an eyebrow. Fox is impressed that Kenobi keeps his eyes completely on Fox the entire time never straying to stare at the trooper just behind him.

Skywalker also has his eyes on him. Except he’s glaring at Fox like he can light him on fire with his mind. Fox is pretty sure Skywalker can’t do that, but considering his association with the fucker who can shoot lightning Fox doesn’t immediately dismiss the fact that he might drop dead just from Skywalker staring too hard.

He hopes Thorn appreciates his sacrifice.

“Yes, sir. We found remains matching her description. We can forward you the evidence if you like.”

Skywalker makes a face of disgust at Fox, looking seconds from exploding but stops when Kenobi puts a hand on his arm. “I see. You know I don’t think we quite caught the Trooper’s name behind you?”

Fox does not look behind himself. He just tightens up his posture, hiding the trooper a bit more from view. “That would be CT-9957, Sir. They’re from one of Nala Se’s experimental batches. A mix of Jango Fett’s DNA and Togruta DNA.”

Kenobi frowns at that. “I wasn’t aware that there were clones like that.”

“Most don’t make it past the tube but some Nala Se likes to keep around to… take apart later.”

“I’ll have to contact Master Ti about that.” Kenobi strokes his beard in quiet contemplation. Like he’s surprised about the fact that the Kamonians kept something like that from the Jedi. Fox isn’t surprised, if the Kamonians could get away with it they’d decommission every single clone with a defect.

“Are we seriously ignoring the fact that, that is Snips,” Skywalker asks in disbelief as he stares back at Kenobi.

“Anakin honestly, that’s quite obviously-” Before Kenobi continues he tilts his head towards the trooper and asks, “Do you have a name you’d prefer us to call you by?”

The trooper, thank fuck, stands at attention and gives the Generals a near-perfect salute while saying with all her chest, “Tooka, Sir!” Because of course, the thing she took from his explanation was the stray tookas part. He’s going to throw her at Feral make this Thorn’s problem again by proxy.

“I see, thank you,” He nods his head and looks back at Skywalker, “That’s quite obviously Trooper Tooka Anakin. Now, I’m so sorry but we should go and properly mourn your padawan.”

Skywalker sputters but lets himself be pulled out of the Guard’s offices.

“Wow… I did not think that would work,” Ashoka says as she removes her face mask.

Fox can only sigh. “It didn’t but that’s fine. I know someone who’ll keep them so busy they’ll forget you even exist.”

Not Maul. He didn’t fucking magically show up so he can never know that Fox stole a Jedi Padawan.

Mouse and Locks: Behind Locked Doors

Locks isn’t avoiding Mouse. She isn’t. She’s strategically making sure she’s in a different place than her best friend because if she’s not near Mouse she can’t be forced to hurt Mouse. Or help hurt her ever again. It’s a good plan, because Locks is good at plans.

Just like she’s good at hacking locks and finding escape routes. She would have been an asset on Commander Thorn’s diplomatic escort missions. Except for the fact that she can’t be near any senators anymore without having a breakdown. That’s ok though!

In fact, Locks doesn’t have to be near any senators any more. And she doesn’t need to hurt any of her brothers ever again because Fox moved her permanently to the Jail. So she’s good. She’s fine. The other Natborn officers barely work here and the longer the war goes on the fewer of them there are. So she only has to listen to brothers when they give orders.

She’s fine. She’s fine. She’s fine.

And Mouse is fine too. Because Mouse is far away from her and in a completely different division of the Guard that everyone pretends doesn’t exist. Mouse is happy and safe and will never be able to see again because Locks held her down while she screamed and screamed and screamed.

But it’s fine.

Locks stops her patrol for a moment, takes in a shaky breath then continues on like she wasn’t on the verge of a panic attack again. It happens sometimes… A lot of times.

Shivers had wanted Fox to throw her in with Mouse’s new division but Locks had a panic attack so bad she’d lost consciousness just at the idea of it. The other option had been working with Hound and his massiffs but Locks has never been good with animals. The prisons are fine anyway. They’ve only had one brief riot and while Joker had to get stitches from a stab wound no one else had gotten hurt.

Well, no brother had gotten hurt. There’d been a few Corsec deaths but they’d been killed by brothers during the riot. Not that anyone else would ever know that. Except maybe the strays but they don’t really count as anyone else. Not when they do the same thing for the Guard that the Guard does for their own.

Locks remembers the day when she’d been told Senator Pox had been horrifically murdered. It’d been the happiest day of her life, and she’d been so tempted to go see Mouse. She didn’t because a few minutes after having the thought she’d had another panic attack.

But it’s fine.

Because the senator can’t hurt Mouse ever again. They can’t make Locks do that either. Everything is fine.

That’s what she always tells herself. Continues to tell herself as she enters the prison's Guard office she’d been called to by Commander Stone. She’s not sure what she’s expecting from this meeting, but she knows Stone’s been trying to push her to open up with other people. Just to talk at the very least.

He’s even given her a bunch of actual flimsi books. They’re all terrible but in a good way. A way that helps take her mind off of literally everything else.

So when she opens the door and walks in she expects to see Stone. She’s already removed her helmet when she takes a step in… and trips over a mouse droid that zooms under her feet. She flails a bit trying to catch her balance but accidently overbalances and hits her head on the very edge of the long office room table.

Her ears ring, her head pounds. Vaguely she thinks it reminds her of the one time she got hit during her training on Kamino by a trainer who hated her specifically. She’d been out for the count for the rest of the day that time.

“Fuck!” Comes a familiar voice through the ringing in her ears, even while the room kinda spins. “Locks, shit, hold on. Are you okay?” A hand grabs her, forces her to sit up when her body wants to list to the side.

“Mouse?” She asks completely confused about what’s going on. Stone was supposed to be here, wasn’t he? Why is Mouse here?

“Stop moving I need to check your head.” Locks hadn’t even realized she was moving. “I think you’re bleeding. Let me call Stitches he’ll be able to help. Fuck I’m so sorry Locks I didn’t know Roller was that close to the door.”

Locks swears she hears a beeping that sounds really sad before she kind of checks out of reality for a little while.

…

Locks sits quietly on the office room table as Stitches numbs the new cut on her forehead and sticks the needle through her skin. Mouse sits in a chair next to her, holding Locks’ hand and fidgeting with her fingers as each stitch is put into place.

“You know there are easier ways to talk to people,” Stitches grumbles under his breath. “I don’t know how anyone in the Guard can stand each other when none of us can talk to each other like normal vode.”

“I was going to talk to her like normal,” Mouse groans, bringing Locks hand up to her forehead. It all still feels so surreal. “Also maybe by locking the door so she couldn’t escape.”

Locks snorts and gets a hissed “Don’t move” from Stitches.

“You really thought you could lock me in a room Mouse?” She’d chosen her name for a reason. Mouse should be very aware of how good she is at hacking locks. She feels like she’s thought about that recently… but to be fair she also feels like she’s been floating off the table after Stitches made her take a couple of pills.

“I didn’t say I was going to lock it the normal way,” Mouse mutters, hazy white eyes narrowing in Locks direction, “I had my friends in place to block the exit.” Mouse tugs on her hand again as Stitches finishes up.

“Well, good luck with all that. Please don’t accidentally kill each other after I leave.” Stitches says as he snaps his medical bag closed and takes off.

Locks sighs, she knows what’s coming. She kind of wishes she’d stop floating before this though, “Time to talk?”

“Not yet, Locks,” Mouse says softly. “First I’m going to drag you off to the cuddle room so you can have someplace safe for whatever Stitches gave you to wear off.” She squeezes Locks hand, “Then we’re going to talk.”

“Kay,” Locks bends forward and rests her forehead against Mouse’s. She’s really missed her best friend. Maybe everything really would be fine now.

Jedi POV: What the hell is happening on Coruscant?

Several minutes before Palpatine’s Death:

Mace has a headache and he can’t tell if it’s his normal stress headache or one from the massive amount of shatter points that just broke only a few moments before. It hasn’t been this bad since the day Darth Maul of all people appeared from nowhere and murdered Pong Krell. What’s worse is that Mace has a crushing certainty that this is connected to that event.

He stares vacantly at the datapad in front of him, debating whether to try and continue going through his flimsi-work or to finally get some sleep. Maybe that will finally get rid of the pounding in his head.

All thoughts of sleep are put aside though when Ponds rushes into his office holding up his communicator. ”Sir, you need to see this. Someone just flooded all the news coming out of Coruscant with proof that the Chancellor betrayed the Republic.”

Well, that at least explains the headache.

Thirty minutes after Palpatine’s Death:

Feemor isn’t on duty when he gets the call along with the rest of the temple guards to storm the Senate and take a Sith Lord into custody. So he’s rushing down the halls by the time most of the others are already on their way to the Senate.

A Jedi Shadow joins him, the Rattataki running to catch up to him, “What have you heard?” His face is grimly set as he matches Feemor step for step.

Feemor hasn’t put his mask on yet so he can’t hide the grimace he makes. “Not much, but we have reason to believe that Palpatine is the Sith we’ve been looking for.”

"Has the Guard been warned?”

“We put out a call but all of their communications have been cut. We can’t even contact anyone in the GAR right now.”

The Shadow shakes his head with a frown, “I’ll figure out what’s causing the communication block and warn the Guard.”

“Force be with you Krayten.”

“Same to you Feemor!” Krayten splits off, and Feemor dons his mask. Grim determination bleeding through as he exits the temple.

Thirteen hours after Palpatine’s Death:

“Palpatine still hasn’t been found?” Shaak Ti frowns at her fellow councilors. There are only the three of them currently, with their Commanders though Alpha-17 has taken Colt’s spot by her side, while the others work to fix their communications. Mace and Plo Koon were at least near enough to Coruscant to reconvene and Shaak’s own communications seem to be so far unaffected.

It is worrying though that the Sith has yet to be found. There should be something left behind for them to follow but it’s as if the Sith has disappeared into thin air.

“There were signs of a struggle in his office but as far as we can find we have no way to tell who it was between.” Plo Koon adds in grimily. “All the cameras had been shut down and there is no footage that shows anyone coming and going from the Senate in the late hours of the night.”

“And any other evidence was cleaned up by the service droids, who were reprogrammed to immediately throw all of that in an incinerator,” Mace says, bent forward head in his hands.

Shaak winces in sympathy, she knows that this has been a strain on Mace. She can’t imagine the shatter points this event has caused. It’s already begun to change the entire war.

Plo taps his claws together, clearly thinking something over, “There is evidence of someone possibly being pushed from the window. Though no body could be found.”

“You think someone got to Palpatine before he fled?”

“If they did there’s little chance they survived the encounter,” Mace mutters under his breath.

“Or maybe it was Palpatine who was pushed?” Plo Koon hums.

Mace sighs as he sits up fully, “I’ll have our people start investigating the streets around the Senate. It could be we’ve missed something obvious.”

Alpha-17 shifts uneasily beside her. She looks over to see him frowning at her fellow Councilors. “What’s happening with the Coruscant Guard?”

She doesn’t see Ponds and Wolfe’s faces but she knows the familiar body language of a trooper in full armor. The way they perk up shows exactly how invested they are in that answer.

Mace winces, pinching the bridge of his nose as a sudden headache seems to appear, “They’ve locked themselves down, along with the Senate. They’re cooperating, if just barely. Considering that some of the evidence that was released showed them all as victims of abuse by the Senate, I doubt we can ask much of anything from them.”

“And Marshal Commander Fox?” Alpha’s eyes narrow.

“Still not accepting any communications,” Mace confirms grimly.

Alpha’s gloves creak as hands tighten into fists. The worry coming off of him is strong enough that it’s impossible for him to hide it. She sets a calming hand on his shoulder and though she expects him to shrug it off, he lets it stay.

Fifteen hours after Palpatine’s Death:

“Why do they keep asking if we found a body near the Senate?” Hound asks Stone and Thire who have equal glares leveled at the Jedi investigator who’s finally leaving them all alone. “They should have found Palpatine’s body by now right?”

“In pieces at the very least,” Thire nods his head. Stone turns to blankly stare at him and Thire just shrugs, “What? The tracker I nicked him with was a Shivers special. Of course, I took the chance to explode him when I found out Maul killed him.”

“You could have made Palpatine explode this whole time?”

“Everyone kept telling me not to explode people! He was a corpse anyway when I hit the button.” Thire shrugs not meeting Stone’s gaze.

Stone’s eyes narrow, “Mas Amedda is missing.”

“Not my fault that some of the explosives are tied to one button.”

Twenty-four hours after Palpatine’s Death:

Obi-Wan is sitting in his office going over several strategies with Cody when a call comes through from Quinlan Vos. He stares a moment at his communicator in confusion, unsure why Quinlan would be calling considering the last Obi-Wan had heard his friend had been going deep undercover.

He answers it of course. Something must have gone wrong enough for Quinlan to break cover.

“Quin?” Obi-Wan furrows his brows at his holo communicator and his friend who looks like he’s gotten less sleep than Obi-Wan has.

“Have you heard what’s been happening on Coruscant yet?” Quin rubs at his forehead, looking back at someone whom he gives a quick shake of his head to before focusing back on Obi-Wan.

“No? What’s happened?” Something has gone very wrong, his gut tells him as he dreads the answer he’s about to get.

“The Chancellor was exposed as working for both sides of the war. And worse he’s the Sith mastermind behind it all.” Quin sighs. “You should get back here as soon as possible. Officially Palpatine has gone into hiding but unofficially he’s been confirmed dead.”

“Shit.” Obi-Wan presses a hand to his mouth. This could be a very good thing for the war itself but Anakin… That’s a whole different set of problems he’s going to head off before they explode.

“My thoughts exactly.” Quinlan gives him a strained grin.

Cody coughs into his fist, “Sir, I can go start us on a course back to Coruscant?”

“Yes, please Cody. Just… Don’t mention why just yet.” Obi-Wan strokes his beard. This is such a mess. He hopes Anakin hasn’t gotten the news yet. He doesn’t know how he’s going to handle that. And…Fuck a Sith Lord has had access to his padawan for years. He’s going to need to schedule a mind healer for them both.

“Of course sir,” Cody goes to stand but freezes at Quin’s next words.

“I’ve got to go Obi-Wan. We’re still looking for Commander Fox, with the injuries he sustained there’s a good chance he might not survive long after what Palpatine did to him.”

“…What?” Cody’s voice goes deathly cold and Obi-Wan glances up at him in surprise.

Quin either doesn’t catch the tone or ignores it as he shakes his head. “We know Palpatine was torturing Commander Fox before he was killed but we don’t know what happened to Fox afterwards. The Guard says Fox isn’t with them but their shields are so strong we can’t tell if they’re lying or telling the truth.” Quin winces, “We’re hoping he’s with them, but considering what I saw with my Psychometry we need confirmation otherwise…”

He doesn’t need to finish. Fox could very well be dead right now without any medical aid.

Cody blinks down at the holoprojector. He takes in a deep breath then he breathes it out before he turns on his heel to leave the room. When the door shuts behind him Obi-Wan doesn’t bother to hide the wince. “Find him as soon as you can Quin. Fox is Cody’s batchmate from what he’s told me and he might burn down Coruscant if he finds out Fox is still missing by the time we reach there.”

“Well… the good news is that he’s got a high chance of being alive?”

“Oh?” Obi-Wan raises an eyebrow.

“So, highly confidential, but uhh Darth Maul is the one who carried the good Commander off.”

“…What,” Obi-Wan stares at his friend, trying to wrap his mind around that whole sentence.

“Yeah… that’s not even the weirdest part. I’ll tell you more when you land.”

Obi-Wan can only sigh as he shuts off his comn. He can’t tell yet if this is a nightmare or a dream.

Fox and Maul Quiet Moment:

For the first time in a long time, Fox feels… Relaxed. He’s seated at his desk still filling out paperwork but there’s no rush to it. No need to hurry or panic about being punished. He looks through, signs piece after piece that slowly builds a better future for the vode.

Behind him, he can hear the soft snores coming from his couch and it settles in his bones like an extra confirmation that he’s safe. The stitches in his face and back still pull, still hurt. But they’re the last time someone will ever have enough power over him to inflict these kinds of wounds. He’s making sure of that.

Because unfortunately for the Senate no matter how fast they move it’s still never fast enough. And they have yet to revoke Palpatine’s emergency powers. Emergency Powers Fox has access to because he’s always done a majority of Palpatine’s paperwork. Which means he can automatically approve certain bills that have been submitted. Like Organa’s and Amidala’s Clone Rights bill. As well as a few others.

Of course, the Senate will try and void anything Fox does once they realize what’s happened but by then he’ll have enough senators under his thumb that they won’t be able to. The benefits of gathering a fuck-ton of blackmail and having Maul around killing people. Everyone is terrified of the Guard nowadays.

They know exactly what will happen to them if they leave even a bruise on Fox’s men.

Fox idly taps his pen on the table, humming softly under his breath. There’s nothing for him to worry about, no fire for him to put out. The Jedi have for the most part left him alone, though he does find it strange none of them tried to contact him immediately after Palpatine’s reveal. They’ve been bugging the rest of the Guard though.

He leans back in his seat, careful not to put too much pressure on his back. For a moment he just closes his eyes, and lets himself rest for a second.

Then his office door slams open and he opens his eyes to glare at the intruders.

Cody marches in with heavy bags under his eyes, and he freezes just a few steps in as he stares at Fox. His breath catches as he takes a step towards Fox and seems to hesitate. “Fox?” Cody’s voice breaks on his name and all Fox can do is blink in shock.

Fuck he doesn’t even remember the last time he saw Cody let alone any of his other batchmates. It had to be when they were all first shipped off. Hells, he doesn’t even remember the last time he spoke to any of them. Fox had cut off contact when he’d found out about Palpatine.

Ponds steps in a second later with a confused, “Cody? What’s wrong-” He cuts himself off when he meets Fox’s eyes. “Fox?!”

Then fucking Wolfe comes in (how many of these assholes showed up?) makes an immediate bee-line to Fox with furrowed brows and a snarl. He’s only stopped by Ponds who grabs his arm. “Where the Fuck have you been?��

Fox raises an eyebrow and doesn’t wince when that pulls on the stitches in his brow, “Here? Where else would I be Vod?”

“No one could get in contact with you,” Cody’s voice is quiet as he takes in every inch of Fox’s face. “Everyone thought you were dead.”

“Why would I be dead? I’ve been in my office for the last,” he checks the time and date on one of his datapads, squinting down at the small letters. Fuck he’s been here a while since Shivers stitched him back together. “Fourty-eight hours? Fuck, I missed my three hours of sleep.” He rubs a hand over his face, carefully to avoid causing himself any further pain.

He’ll just pass out later on Thorn when he gets back from that diplomatic escort he ended up on before all this bullshit went down.

Ponds makes a sound and Fox looks up to see him giving Fox a pained look. “Ok, there’s a few things we’re going to have to talk about in that sentence alone. But first, Fox you were tortured and then no one could contact you.”

How the fuck do you know that? He wants to ask but he doesn’t comment on it because he’s still got the option of avoiding that conversation. Also, wait… couldn’t contact? He unclips the comn unit on his belt, opens it, and narrows his eyes as suddenly it floods with messages. He sighs, “Looks like one of my tech specialists was blocking communications.” He types a quick threatening message to Slick who just sends back a smiley face and some bullshit about Fox needing the rest.

Fox shouldn’t have let him have kids, now he just fucking mothers everyone.

“Why would you tech specialists block your communications?” Cody asks, looking more and more like he wants to rush over to Fox. Probably drag him into a bed and hopefully not to strangle Fox for just now realizing no one could contact him.

“Because Slick worries too much,” Fox mutters under his breath. He ignores the way Cody’s posture tightens. “So now that you’ve confirmed I’m alive, you can all leave.”

Wolfe frowns, opens his mouth like he’s about to shout Fox down then he glances just past Fox and freezes. “Is that kriffing Darth Maul?!” Wolfe snarls, transforming from angry because he’s worried to angry because he thinks there’s an enemy present. Wolfe now looks like he’s three seconds from trying to lunge past everyone to rip out someone’s throat.

Cody and Ponds look behind Fox now and he sighs, turning in his seat to look back at the figure resting on his couch. Maul lies curled up and content. Also completely and utterly passed out because Shivers dosed him with the strongest sedative they have when they found out Maul’s been awake for several days.

That was about thirty-something hours ago now, so Fox thinks it’s worn off by now and it’s just Maul’s body now that’s catching up on sleep. Fox really should get some sleep soon before Shivers decides to put him in a coma.

Fox shifts back to face his brothers and with a straight face says, “No? That’s our stray tooka Thorn pulled out of the trash.” His brothers turn to stare at him in unison. Which just makes him want to fuck with them. “He even drops dead moneky-lizards on our doorstep when they get too handsy.”

“Monkey-lizards?” Ponds asks in disbelief.

“It’s what we call senators here.”

“Fox,” Cody groans in brotherly dismay and now nothing holds him back as he walks straight for Fox and pulls him into a hug. Fox hisses in pain, Cody shifts slightly to adjust the hug enough that he doesn’t touch Fox’s backplate. He mumbles softly into Fox’s hair, “I’m going to fucking kill you. Do you have any idea how worried we were?”

“I’m safe,” he closes his eyes and leans into Cody’s chest. “He made sure of that.” Cody hums in understanding and Fox is sure Cody shoots a glare towards Wolfe who’s been walking over.

“I’m not going to fight him stop glaring at me,” Wolfe grumbles as he closes in and runs a hand through Fox’s hair, “I can’t believe you got a fucking pet Sith. Cody’s supposed to be the one who adopts everything.”

“Now that’s a complete lie. All of us are CC’s, you know that was ingrained into our DNA.” Ponds laughs, pushing whatever is on Fox’s desk out of the way so he can sit on it, leaning in close to Fox. “We are absolutely not telling our Jedi about this.”

“Good,” Fox murmurs, eyes closing as he revels in his brother’s presence. He’s safe here. Maul is safe here.

He hears Maul groan in the background, a quiet rustling, and the click of a comn unit. “It’s far too late for that,” Maul mutters sleepily. “Hmm, oh look at that, I’ve been fully pardoned by the dear Chancellor himself.”

“Wait, what?” Cody straightens up.

“Thank you, Chancellor Fox,” Maul adds on and Fox can hear the grin in his voice.

“No problem.” Fox lifts his head up enough to grin right back at Maul. “I figure I’ve got a few more days before they disavow me, anything else I should sign?”

“Woah woah, wait what do you mean Chancellor?!”

“Don’t worry about it, Ponds.”

“No, I think this is something to worry about.”

“Fox is right Ponds don’t worry about it,” Wolfe nods his head in agreement. Then he leans in to whisper to Fox, “Can you make it so people could legally adopt us?”

“Already done. But I can make sign something specific if you want.”

Wolfe nods his head, “Let me message my General.”

“I’m pretty sure this is treason in some way,” Cody frowns, then shrugs it off like he commits treason every day of his life. “We can figure that out later. You need sleep, Fox.” He steps back just enough, so that he can pull Fox to his feet. Keeping a protective arm around him as he starts to guide him out of the office.

“Maul?” Fox asks. He hears a quiet snort and Maul’s steps follow Fox and his brothers out of the door and straight back to the barracks.

#star wars the clone wars #star wars #darth maul #commander fox #fanfiction #my writing #sock-writes #writer on tumblr #bthb #bad things happen bingo

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