Tw: Sexual references, one bed trope but there's actually fifty beds? Slight language.
I once promised myself that I would never write the one bed trope.
So there's fifty beds lol
Also, we find out who the traitor is in this chapter!
Any guesses? I won't say if you're right or not.
"Where am I sleeping?" Kara questioned. She raised a suggestive brow. "In your room perhaps?"
Rex smirked. "If you wanted to, you could. I was actually going to put you in the medical bay, but you could spend the night in my room if you wanted to."
Kara nonchalantly shrugged. "Sure."
Rex pushed her wheelchair into his room.
Which was the barracks.
Dozens of bunks lined the walls and men ran around the room, wrestling with each other. Kara blanched and looked up at Rex. "I changed my mind. Take me to the medical bay."
Rex grinned. "Too late to change your mind."
Kara glowered at him. "You son of a-"
"Kara!" Fives happily said, jogging over. "What are you doing here?"
"She's staying here for the night," Rex announced, giving Kara a smug look. "But there isn't an extra bunk, so..."
Kara's eyes widened. "Don't you even think about it!"
"She's going to need to share it with someone," Rex finished.
Fives gasped. "Dibs!"
"Dibs on what?" Echo questioned as he joined the conversation.
"Sleeping with Kara!" Fives told him.
Echo paled. "What?"
"Not like that!" Kara hissed at Echo before glaring at Fives. "And absolutely not!"
"Why do you want to sleep with her?" Echo asked Fives. "Did you forget she literally kills clones for a living?"
"No one is sleeping with me!" Kara exclaimed.
"Sleeping with you?" Jesse echoed, raising an eyebrow. "Why is this conversation even a thing?"
"No!" Kara brandished a finger at him. "Nothing is happening!"
Rex chuckled. "She's staying here for the night."
Jesse narrowed his eyes at Rex. "This is a shared room. Sound travels."
"No!" Kara nearly shouted. "I'm going to the medical bay!"
"Afraid not." Rex grinned. "It's already closed for the night. If you wanted to stay there, you should've said so earlier. Kix closed it and will open it in the morning. If you had said you were staying there he would've left it open."
"Did I hear someone say my name?" Kix questioned as he approached. He tilted his head at Kara. "What's she doing here?" He whipped his head up towards Rex. "Don't tell me she's staying here!"
"She is," Rex confirmed, leaning against the wheelchair casually. "We're just figuring out where she's sleeping."
"I'll stay in the chair!" Kara declared.
Kix pursed his lips. "A bunk would actually be better. It would help it stay elevated and prevent swelling."
Kara scowled at him. "You just went up two spots on my hit list."
"Am I on the list?" Fives curiously questioned.
"No," Kara answered.
"And I am?" Kix inquired.
"You shattered my bone!" Kara cried out.
"Fair enough," Kix admitted, shuffling away.
"Is it piano lesson time? Why are you here?" Coda frowned as he stared down at Kara. "I haven't gotten the chance to find any music for you."
"No, but thanks for taking her off my hands for a while," Rex responded. "She's actually spending the night in here. Her wheelchair doesn't it into the cell."
"We're gonna cuddle!" Fives excitedly said.
"No, we are not!" Kara argued, grasping Rex's forearm with her hands. "Right?"
Rex hummed, feigning consideration. "I don't know..."
"Please!" Kara begged, shaking his arm.
"Alright, you won't share a bunk with Fives," Rex agreed. "But I'm not kicking anyone out of their own bunks and making them sleep on the floor. So choose. Share a bunk with someone or sleep in the chair and risk your ankle swelling."
Kara crossed her arms. "Fine. I'll share a bunk with someone."
"Great. Who?"
"You." Kara wickedly smiled.
Rex frowned. "Wait, what?"
"Which bunk will we sleep in?" Kara asked, looking around.
"No, wait!" Rex could only watch as Fives pushed Kara's chair to his bunk with an evil cackle. "I changed my mind! I'll have Kix open the med bay!"
"No you won't. Kix is sleeping."
"Then why did Kix just speak?" Rex sarcastically asked.
Echo and Fives helped Kara out of the wheelchair and onto Rex's bunk. She laughed maniacally as Rex grumbled.
"Alright! Lights out!" Rex yelled, flicking the light switch.
Blankets rustled as everyone tucked themselves in for the night, Rex one of the last to crawl into bed. He shoved Kara over to make room for himself, yanking more blanket to cover himself.
It was going to be a long night.
"Maker, I'm sore," Rex complained as he steered Kara into the cafeteria.
Fives raised a brow suggestively. "Oh?"
"Yeah, she kept me up all night." Rex flicked the back of Kara's head.
"Hey!" Kara protested, rubbing the back of her head.
Echo curled his lip. "No offence, Captain, but that's disgusting. I don't need to hear about that."
"Hear about what?" Rex frowned in confusion.
"How she kept you up all night," Fives reminded him, nudging Kara.
"So?" Rex seemed to not understand still.
"It's true." Kara grinned. "He was awake all night."
"I was. Why is this so hard for you to get?" Rex asked Fives.
"Rex, they're saying that she kept you awake all night," Echo slowly said. "And you slept together."
"Yeah?" Rex was tired, slowing down his thinking. "And?"
"They're both implying you had sex," Echo explained, burying his face in his hands.
Rex's mouth fell open. "And you encouraged this, Kara?"
"All I did was say I kept you up all night," Kara innocently said.
"So you didn't do anything?" Fives asked.
"She repeatedly stole the blankets and kicked me," Rex said. He narrowed his eyes at Fives. "That is all. Nothing else happened."
"You should've put me in the medical bay." Kara grabbed a piece of bread off Fives' tray.
"I was going to, but you were the one who wanted to sleep with me!" Rex watched as Kara devoured the bread.
"Why isn't she wearing binders?" Anakin asked as he sat with them.
"I can't walk. What am I going to do with my hands? Kill someone and not escape?" Kara scoffed. "Think, dummy."
"How are the piano lessons going?" Ahsoka asked, settling next to Rex on the bench.
"I've only had one so far, but it went well. Coda's great." Kara grabbed Echo's bread. "I'm looking forward to the next lesson."
"I'd like to formally apologize to what Pong Krell did to you." Anakin faced Kara, a serious look etched onto his face. "It was unexceptional and he will be severely punished for it."
"Why do you care?" Kara bluntly asked.
"Pardon?" Anakin glanced at Rex for guidance.
"Why do you care that he hurt me?"
"Because what he did was wrong?" Anakin carefully said. "Am I missing something?"
Kara blinked, feeling a sting in her eyes. "Never mind."
Anakin and Ahsoka left as quickly as they had appeared, discussing what Krell's punishment might be. Kix took their place, beaming at Kara.
"I'll put a cast on you and that'll hopefully work!" Kix gripped her arm and tossed her into the wheelchair. "Let's go!"
He pushed away away, practically sprinting.
"He's kidnapping me!" Kara shouted over her shoulder. "Help!"
"You'll be fine." Rex grabbed the bread Kara had dropped and took a bite.
"So." Fives put his weight on his hands, leaning forward slightly.
"So?" Rex raised an eyebrow.
"Why didn't you make Kix open the med bay last night?" Fives asked, a smirk growing on his face.
Rex narrowed his eyes. "He was already in bed. There was no reason to make him get up."
"Sure." Fives shrugged. "Whatever lets you sleep at night."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Rex demanded.
"Nothing," Fives lightly said. He paused before saying, "Unless it does mean something?"
"You're making no sense." Rex crossed his arms, glowered at him. "Just spit it out."
"Oh look, Hardcase needs me." Fives ran off.
"What was that supposed to mean?" Rex desperately asked Echo.
"He's just messing with you." Echo patted Rex's back reassuringly. "Don't let him get to your head. That's how he gets to you."
"What did he mean, though?" Rex asked, laying his head on the table.
Echo pinched the bridge of his nose. "You really have no clue what Fives was hinting at? I thought I was the oblivious one."
"Look, Echo, I'm tired and can't think straight. Just tell me," Rex pleaded.
Echo let out a deep sigh. "Do you really want to know?"
"Obviously! Why else would I be asking?"
"We all have a bit of a bet going. There's only about a dozen of us in. Fives is just trying to win," Echo regretfully said. "Technically he's cheating by getting involved, but whatever."
"What bet?" Rex lifted his head off the table.
Echo awkwardly shifted between feet. "Uh... I have to go now."
Rex's hand shot out and snagged Echo's arm, bringing his escape to a halt. "Get back here." He dragged Echo onto the bench. "Tell me about this bet."
Echo refused to make eye contact. "You didn't hear this from me alright?" As soon as Rex nodded, Echo scooted closer, lowering his voice. "The bet is on your love life."
Rex facepalmed. "What?"
"There's a bet going on how you and General Madden are going to end up together. People are also betting on how soon it's going to happen," Echo added.
"It's not going to happen!" Rex exclaimed, throwing his hands into the air. "She's a Separatist General!"
"Is that the only reason?" Echo pressed.
Rex shot him a filthy look. "And I don't like her."
"I never said you did," Echo calmly said.
"But you implied it," Rex shot back.
"And you got defensive." Echo smiled, getting off the bench. "I have to go now."
Rex watched him leave, wondering why the kriff his soldiers made stupid bets.
Stupid bets on things that would never happen.
Ever.
"There you go," Kix proudly said, stepping back from his work.
Kara wrinkled her nose at her ankle. "Why is it so big?"
"The more padding the better. That way you might be able to put a bit of weight on it without collapsing. It doesn't matter if it looks bad," Kix told her. "And you should be able to go back to your cell now. You don't need the wheelchair anymore."
Kara put the foot with the cast down on the floor, testing her weight on it. She winced, taking the crutches he held out. "I thought you didn't have crutches?"
"I got them back. Turns out they had been used for duelling." Kix laughed,
Kara hobbled towards the door. "Guess I'm heading back to my cell then. Is Rex taking me back or...?"
Kix shrugged. "I don't know where he is, so I might as well walk you back myself."
"I'll do it."
Kara and Kix both glanced at the doorway, where Coda was standing, one forearm propping him up.
"Alright," Kix agreed. "Might as well. I have better things to do with my time then walk her back to the cell."
Coda and Kara exited the medical bay, going in the direction of the cell. As soon as they were out of Kix's line of sight, Coda pushed Kara into a storage closet.
"I told you, we can't keep doing this," Kara whispered. "What if someone catches us?"
"When else am I supposed to do this, then?" Coda asked. He raised an eyebrow. "We can always do this at the piano lessons instead."
"But I actually want to learn piano." Kara pursed her lips.
"And I don't want to have to visit you in your cell to do this." Coda put a finger under her chin, making her look into his eyes. "You shouldn't have gotten caught."
Kara swallowed, shirking away from him. "Coda, I didn't want to get captured."
"Then how come you haven't escaped yet?" Coda murmured, inching his face closer to hers. "It's making me think you wanted to come here."
"I didn't!" Kara protested.
Coda's eyes softened. "Kara, the scouts have almost arrived. You know what happens when they get there, yes?"
"Yes." Kara lowered her head.
"Good." Coda stepped aside so she could pass. "Dooku doesn't take lightly to failure."
Kara flinched at his words, her hand going to the scar she hid at the back of her neck. That was the reason she kept her hair so long. To cover the evidence of her failure Dooku had left there.
"He doesn't take well to traitors either." Kara lifted her chin in defiance.
"He does when they work for him," Coda retorted.
"Does he?" Kara sneered.
Coda hesitated, a bolt of fear striking him. "Yes. He does." He didn't sound confident in his answer.
Kara pushed past him and entered the hallway again. "I'm tired. Bring me back to my cell."
Coda guided her back and locked her inside of it. Kara settled on the bench and put her crutches down so they leaned against the wall.
"You have a new assignment," Coda finally said.
Kara raised an eyebrow. "What is it?"
"Capture Captain Rex and bring him to the base without getting caught."
"Why do they need him?" Kara furrowed her brow.
Coda entwined his hands behind his back. "It's time to test your loyalty. Dooku suspects you're getting too close to him."
"And how would Dooku know I've even interacted with Captain Rex?" Kara suspiciously asked.
Coda smiled. "I told him. You said it yourself that Dooku doesn't like traitors. He'll probably dispose of me once I'm no longer useful. But if I tell him that a famous Separatist General has switched sides, I might earn his favour."
"You bastard," Kara spat out. "You're framing me to save your own skin. I don't even care about Captain Rex."
"Then you'll have no problem with your mission." Coda took a step towards the door before adding, "Pretty girl."
Hehehe