Reunion (#3 Post-Order 66 Series)

Reunion - Part 15

Fives laughed quietly, giving Rex a nudge in the arm. "Well, I'll be damned. The captain's in love."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Fives shrugged. "You were always so busy looking after all of us that you never took any time for yourself. Jesse and I used to joke about what you'd look like after the war. My credits were on you farming, Jesse thought you'd become a teacher and terrorize some younglings."

Rex huffed a laugh. "To be fair, I don't think anyone could have predicted the Empire. I didn't think I'd still be fighting. For the record, if everything had all gone to plan, you would have won the credits."

Fives grinned, and the two were silent for a moment. "For what it's worth, I like her," Fives whispered.

"Obviously," Rex muttered, raising his eyebrow at his brother.

"Aside from all that," Fives teased, shoving Rex in the shoulder again. "She's not what I would have chosen for you, but I don't think I'd have been able to imagine someone like her."

"You're more alike than you might think," Rex laughed. "Reckless, sloppy, terrible jokes, but good hearts. The both of you."

"I'll bet I'm the better kisser."

"I don't plan on finding out."

At that, Fives tipped his head back and cackled. "Alright, well I'm going to go hang out with my sister-to-be then. You coming?"

"In a moment."

Rex watched as Fives sauntered over to Senna. He said something to her Rex couldn't hear, and Senna grinned at him, jerking her head to indicate he should sit down. He parked it next to her, throwing his arm around her shoulders and leaning in to whisper conspiratorially. Senna caught Rex's eye as Fives continued whispering to her, and she winked at him. Those two are going to be a problem together. I can tell already. But his heart soared. The war might not have ended the way we all imagined, but I'd never imagined I'd get to talk with him again. Somehow, this is better.

---

"How's it coming Tech?" Senna asked, plopping down at the workbench next to him.

The goggled clone spared her a glance out of the corner of his eye. "The same as it was when you asked me half an hour ago, Master Atiniir."

Senna huffed in frustration. In the days since they'd escaped from Wayland, Tech had been working meticulously to see what information he could recover from her destroyed datapad. It had been slow going, and patience was never something Senna had an abundance of. She'd laid awake most nights with Rex snoring gently next to her in the bunk, wondering if there was something she could have done differently to back-up the information or avoid the datapad being hit by the blaster bolt. Ultimately, she knew it was just a bad stroke of luck, but that did little to assuage her.

Deep down, she knew the mission was far from a failure. They'd found Fives, and for Rex, that had been a gift that he never thought he'd receive. She'd caught him just watching Fives and Echo as they went about their day, a look that she couldn't quite place settling into his features, somewhere between relief and disbelief at his fortune. Even with all of that knowledge, she still felt frustrated with their current predicament.

The datapad's core was charred and blackened, the outer casing peeling back from where the plasma had slammed into it, leaving a large hole that dug into the electronics. Tech worked carefully, trying to reconnect traces where he could. Senna had left this task to him. Delicate operations with fragile electronics had never been her strong suit, and in this instance, the outcome was too important to risk it over her ego. To his credit, Tech had only made a few minor jabs at her about it, and for that at least, she was grateful. However, just because she wasn't an active participant didn't mean she couldn't incessantly bother him about it. She'd come down several times each day to the workshop to check in and ask about his progress. The first handful of times had been frustrating, but she sensed Tech understood her anxiety, and he had softened after that, becoming a little more understanding.