Chapter Text
Kix didn’t know what to do. He didn’t think anyone knew what to do.
Krell was dead. Umbara was under Republic occupation. They were slowly, very slowly, getting shuttled onto the Negotiator, along with the 212th.
He didn’t know if he’d be able to look any of them in the eye.
He still remembered finding out that it was Waxer, Waxer , that was in charge of the platoon Krell had turned them against. The look in Rex’s eye when Waxer shed one last tear before slipping away. He still remembered every single detail of that battle. Of all of Umbara, really, but that battle replayed itself over and over in his mind.
He could see the same thing happening to everyone else around him, as they waited for the next LAAT/i to come down. Fives and Tup had already been taken, but Kix could see Rex still pacing around, not wanting to leave before all his troops were safely ahead of him.
He didn’t know if Rex had taken his helmet off since everything had calmed down. Probably not, knowing the captain.
Kix was sitting against a rogue crate when the last gunship came down. He was so tired. More tired than he’d ever been, really. But he managed to push himself up and into standing position, following Jesse onto the gunship and grabbing a handle. No one spoke as they lifted off and flew through the umbaran fog. No one had anything to say.
That is, until Rex cleared his throat. “General Skywalker will be joining us in a few days. He left Coruscant as soon as possible. Until then, we’ll be staying on the Negotiator with General Kenobi and the 212th. The ship will stay above Umbara until the General rendezvouses with us.”
Rex spoke with a weariness that Kix hadn’t heard in his captain in— well, ever.
It was the same weariness Wolffe spoke with after Abergado.
The same weariness Fives has had for a long time after the citadel.
It was the same weariness Kix imagined the 501st, along with the 212th, would be speaking with for quite a while.
Kriff. It would be his job, as medic, to deal with all that. To make sure everyone was… dealing.
He wasn’t complaining, of course. It would just be tiring. He’d have to push his emotions to the back. There wasn’t time for those. His patients came before him, always.
The ship landed with a clunk and the door opened to the bright hanger of the Negotiator, more silent than Kix had ever heard it.
No one talked, even to ask who was going to the mess and who was going back to the barracks.
Rex headed toward the bridge, most likely to find General Kenobi and Cody.
Kix wondered if anyone had told Boil yet.
In his mind, he had two options. He could go to medbay, see if they needed help. Though he assumed that this late anyone still alive would either be healing or in a waiting game between life and death, and there was never a way for him to change the odds in a game like that.
His other option was to go to the barracks and make a plan. He’d have to talk to most of the troops individually, assessing them...
He didn't feel like making a decision right now. And so he wandered the docking bay, watching crates of supplies get stacked and gunships fixed all by people who hadn't been down there in the fog and the darkness and--
“Kix?” The comm on his wrist beeped with the message from Rex.
“Yes sir?” He responded.
“Could you meet us on the bridge?”
“I’ll be there right away, sir.”
Kix strode through the corridors of the Negotiator, not encountering a single soul. They were all probably in the barracks (since the negotiator was just one ship in the 212th’s fleet, there were enough empty bunks for the 501st to stay anytime.)
The bridge, much like the halls, was eerily empty. Only General Kenobi, Cody, and Rex were situated around the holotable, which showed a large view of Umbara.
Rex had both elbows on the table and seemed to be in a position of almost-collapsing-but-this-uncomfortable-position-of-leaning-on-a-holotable-is-preventing-that. He still had his helmet on, Kix noticed. He didn’t even look up when Kix entered, though Cody smiled wanly and General Kenobi nodded at him. “Good to see you, Kix.”
“And you, General,” he replied.
Kix made his way over and stood next to Rex, facing Kenobi and Cody, who seemed to be waiting for Rex to speak. “Rex? You called Kix here?”
“Hmm?” The captain looked up from the table. “Oh, yes. General Kenobi suggested evaluating all the men. Their mental state. I said you’d be the perfect person to do so.”
“I was thinking the exact same thing sir,” Kix replied. “I’ll get right on that tomorrow morning.”
“Great,” Rex said before turning back to the table.
Cody raised an eyebrow at the sight of Rex and turned to Kix, who shrugged. General Kenobi smiled watching the interaction. “I hate to ask this of you, Kix,” the general said, “but do you think you could do the same for my men? We… lost our medic on Umbara.”
Cody lowered his eyes at that.
“Of course, sir.”
“Good. Unless you have anything else to say, Rex—” Rex shook his head “—you can go, Kix. Thank you,” said Kenobi before looking at the table again.
Kix was halfway through the entrance to the bridge when he saw Cody’s eyes on him. The commander nodded at Rex, and Kix got the message loud and clear. Get Rex out of here. Get him to sleep.
He nodded and sidled back over to where Rex was standing. Kenobi looked up for a quick second before looking down again, leaving it to the clones to figure this out.
“Hey, Rex, when was the last time you slept?”
Kix planned on using the ‘be nice’ card before pulling out the ‘as a medic I outrank you in these matters Rex’ card.
The be nice card, though had no effect, as Rex simply waved on hand in Kix’s general direction. “Recently,” he said.
“Well, come on, you’re gonna go get some right now,” Kix said as he grabbed Rex’s arm, who instantly jerked it away. “I have other things to do, Kix.”
Fine. Medic card it would be, then.
“Sir, as your medic—”
“Kix, no—”
“Rex.”
Kix looked pleadingly across the table.
Kenobi sighed. “Rex, as High General of the Third Systems Army, which you are a part of, I order you to go with Kix.”
Kix started walking out, hoping Rex would take the hint. Which he did, after receiving no backup from Cody.
“Not gonna forget that, Kix.”
It was good to see Rex still had his sense of humor.
“Oh, I’m sure you won’t, sir.”