Malaina walked behind Tech, keeping her hood on as she entered the parlor.
"Took you long enough." Echo greets from his seat next to a blonde clone. Malaina furrowed her brows underneath her hood, the right side of her head beginning to hurt.
Hunter was leaning up against the counter, swirling a drink around in his hand. With his cup, he pointed to Malaina. "Rex, this is-" She removed her hood at that second.
Rex's lips part and he stares at her in shock and confusion. "Sarad?"
Flower.
Malaina placed a hand on the vibroblade that rested on her hip. "Wh-what?" She asked, brows knitting together. Rex. The blue armor. The nickname. It all echoed like memories appearing in the front of her mind.
Rex took a few steps forward, but froze when he saw she was backing up the closer he got. "It's been three years, Malaina. Where were you?" He asked, bewildered by the woman standing in the parlor.
Malaina looked to Hunter and Echo who remained at the bar. They looked just as confused as she did. "Who is this guy? What did you tell him about me?" She asked in an accusing tone.
Rex began to look hurt. "You don't remember me?" He asked, arms falling to his sides. "Malaina, I was your clone Captain."
Echo's eyes widened in realization. "Wait, Malaina's the Jedi Commander you older clones called Sarad?" He questioned.
Malaina stood in the doorway, debating whether or not to run up the stairs. "I'm not a Jedi, I-I'm an Inquisitor. You have the wrong person." Not even she believed that. Something in her knew who Rex was, but with her memory loss she couldn't pinpoint where in her life she'd met him.
Rex shook his head, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a flattened, preserved flower. He held it up for Malaina to see. A pretty blue color. She identified it as a starflower from Alderaan.
"For you, Captain."
She had handed a man in white and blue armor the starflower. He took it by the stem, holding the beautiful blue flower so gently that it looked funny for a soldier to be doing it. His other hand raised to remove his helmet, which had blue jaig eyes painted on. Once removed, she was met with the blonde clone. Captain Rex.
He raised the flower to his face, allowing himself to smell the fresh scent of the plant. Then he smiled at her, nodding his head. "Thank you, Commander."
Malaina blinked, raising a hand to rub the pounding spot on her head. "I gave you that?"
Rex nodded, carefully putting the flower away. "On our first mission together." He confirmed, his eyes scanning her from head to toe. He smiled. "You cut your hair. You used to have these two long, thick braids."
Tech held up a finger. "Those only recently made their departure. She cut her hair onboard the Marauder." He chimed.
"So what have you been up to? Why'd you not come back?" Rex asked, tilting his head slightly to the side.
Malaina sucked in a breath, not really feeling like telling the clone Captain she supposedly fought alongside with for some time that she had been locked away inside of a facility, and for the last three years she had been tortured and forced to learn how to kill Jedi, something that she just found out she had once been.
Why did the Jedi not come looking for her?
"It's a really long story." Is what she settled on telling the Captain before she walked past him, sitting on the stool at the far end of the bar. Tech was seated next to her.
She could sense Rex's disappointment, the hurt he was feeling, but Malaina couldn't focus on anything. There was too much to process.
"I thought General Skywalker and his Padawan were the leaders of the 501st?" Hunter questioned, understanding that Malaina needed to separate and take a few minutes to think to herself.
Rex sighed, sitting between Echo and Hunter. "At the very beginning of the war we were assigned General Cade and his Padawan–Malaina." He explained, shoulders slumping. "Five months into the war we were overwhelmed during an attack on our flagship. When we crashed onto some unclaimed moon, I thought most of our men were gone. Including our Jedi General and Commander." The 501st was assigned to General Skywalker the following week.
Malaina looked like she didn't hear a word of what he said. Her legs bounced anxiously, her eyes focused and unblinking at the decade-old poster plastered on the wall. Tech noticed this more than anyone else, and he hoped what he was about to show her would distract her from her overwhelmed state.
Pulling out his datapad, he leaned closer to Malaina and held the screen between them. "I did some additional research on the alpharas flower," He began, adjusting his goggles while he took in her initial reaction. "I was quite surprised to see they actually bloom early next year. It looks like you won't have to wait 100 years after all."
Malaina blinked, finally some positive emotion displayed on her face. She rested a hand over Tech's that held the datapad, tilting it further in her direction to read the information he had dug up from the deep depths of the holonet. "No freaking way." She whispered in disbelief, looking up at Tech with doe-eyes. "Seriously? It's really blooming next year?"
Tech was beet-red, his heart fluttering at the pure excitement he had put on her face. Kriff, she was so beautiful. "I am positive." He replies, struggling to keep his tone even. Tech could barely keep himself together around her, and in the back of his mind he knew why. And it gave him the courage to say this, "Malaina, I would like to take you to see these flowers. It is quite a unique experience, I'd hate to miss it." And he'd hate to miss her reaction, but he kept that thought to himself...for now.
Malaina smiled, making his heart skip a beat, and she immediately nodded her head. "I would love to go with you, Tech. I need someone to listen to me ramble about this flower, no matter how stupid I might sound."
Tech nodded, his breath threatening to catch in his throat. "It's settled, then."
It took everything in Malaina not to throw her arms around the spectacled clone. He had no idea just how much this meant for her, or maybe he did. But she could barely contain herself in her seat, only allowing herself to trace her eyes across Tech's face.
Though she was immediately thrown back into the company of the other clones in the bar when Wrecker came running in and going straight for Rex, picking him up into a tight bear-hug.
"I thought you didn't like the regs." Omega questioned, following in behind Wrecker. She looked up at Rex with furrowed brows.
"This one we like." Wrecker replied, giving Rex one more tight squeeze before setting him on the ground.
"Omega, this is Rex." Hunter introduced, leaning further against the counter. Malaina surprisingly didn't find her mood dropping as much as she thought it would.
The news about the alpharas flower balanced out everything else, believe it or not. She didn't realize until now just how much she loved flowers.
Rex knelt down in front of Omega, eyebrows slightly raised. "I've met many clones in my time, but never one like you." He revealed.
Omega stepped closer, getting a better look at the other blonde clone's features. She smiled softly. "You're a generation one."
Rex tilted his head. "Now how'd you know that?" He questioned.
"From the lines on your face."
Rex chuckled, turning to look over his shoulder at the other clones. "Yeah, I guess I've been around." His eyes met Malaina's and she immediately averted her gaze to the ground. She could sense more disappointment from him, but she couldn't bring herself to care.
Wrecker laughed. "You got that right." He responded, then his head shrunk into his shoulders and he began groaning in pain, hand resting over the same spot on his head. He quickly turned to Tech, eyes squinting in pain. "Tech, I need one of those med patches."
Tech raised an eyebrow. "You used the last one."
Rex stood up, brows knitting into a frown. "What's wrong?" Malaina detected a hint of suspicion.
Wrecker shook his head. "Nothing. It's just a headache."
Echo no longer seemed convinced of that. "Which are becoming more frequent." He pointed out.
Rex started slowly moving a hand to his blaster, stepping to the side to block Omega. "Is that so?" He asked carefully. Malaina was the only one to notice his hand, and she found herself reaching towards her belt for her vibroblade.
Tech sat up straighter in his seat. "If you're concerned about the so-called inhibitor chips, don't be. Our deviant nature appears to have impeded their functionality." He raised a hand to adjust his goggles, then pointed a finger. "Except in Crosshair."
Rex's suspicion grew stronger every second. Malaina now held her vibroblade in her hand, hiding it from the others. The Captain looked between each clone. "You're telling me you haven't removed your chips?"
Tech shook his head. "No, not yet."
Rex's movements quickened and the Bad Batch immediately stood up, alarmed to see the Captain resting a hand on his blaster. Malaina gripped her vibroblade so hard her knuckles turned white.
"Rex?" Hunter said slowly, looking past him and at Omega.
"Those chips make you a threat to everyone around you. Even her." Rex explained, gesturing to Omega. He looked back at Malaina. "You should get away from them too."
"Don't tell me what to do." Malaina retorted, remaining to stand between Wrecker and Tech.
"You're all ticking time bombs." Rex expressed.
Hunter held out a cautious hand. "Take it easy, Captain."
"What's in your head is more dangerous than you can imagine. I've seen what happens when the chip activates, and I don't want to bury any more of our brothers." Rex pressed, his face darkening. "Trust me. It is not something you can control. I couldn't." He glanced off to the side briefly, eyes fogging over like he was reliving a memory. "It's a risk you do not want to take."
Hunter looked at Omega, realizing this was an urgent matter they needed to attend to. Then he glanced at Rex. "How do you suggest we get them out?"
Rex removed his hand from the blaster. "Good question. I'll be in touch."