Chapter Text
It was late, and Rex was still up doing paperwork. He didn’t really need to do it, none of it was due urgently, but he needed the distraction from Ahsoka’s trial, and all the feelings that came with it.
There was a knock on the door of his office. “Come in,” he said without thinking. He wasn’t able to focus anyway, not with what was happening to the person he considered to be his best friend.
“Hello Rex,” her voice said, s lot more meekly and subdued than her usual cheery self, but he was relieved to actually hear her voice again.
He spun around In his desk chair like an eager child, regardless of his rank, and looked at her as he leaned forward in his chair just a little.
She was standing in the doorway, where the dim lamp of his office wasn’t enough to properly light her features. She looked tired, and weirdly nervous, but she smiled at him weakly.
“Commander, how did your trial go?“ He asked, even though he already knew that she must have been acquitted. If she hadn’t been, she wouldn’t have been here.
“It went well,” she said “but there were some… problems… with the Jedi order.” She looked at him intently when she said the last part.
“Problems?” He asked, unsure if he should even ask about that. The Jedi held many secrets, and he never knew how much he would be allowed to ask.
“I wanted to leave,” she said with a heavy sigh.
“But you didn’t.” he guessed, hoping he was right.
“No,” she admitted, “Anakin offered me the one thing I always wanted, so I stayed.”
“What did he offer you?” Rex asked curiously, tilting his head just a little.
“Your freedom.” she stated, still looking at “or at least, a chance for me to offer it to you.”
“You… wanted my freedom?” He asked, flabbergasted that she would pick his freedom out of all things. He wasn’t even sure if Anakin was able to give him his freedom, since he was property of the republic, not the Jedi Order.
“Yes. Please, come with me,” she asked - no, offered.
“Can I still say goodbye to my brothers?” He asked timidly “They’d want to know I’ll be gone.”
“Rex, I… I won’t separate you from them. You’ll be back here in a week, I promise” she said “You won’t have to say goodbye to them, even if you take your freedom.”
Rex sighed in relief. “Alright. Should I put myself on leave?”
“No, “ she said, “We already put the entire 501st on leave for the next week. But you can send a message to your brothers that you’ll be gone for a week.”
“Alright,” Rex said, before quickly sending a message to the 501st group chat telling he was needed by the Jedi but that he’d be back in a week. “Where are we going?”
“The Jedi temple,” she said ominously.
The tone with which she said that made him feel all sorts of things. The Jedi order had always been rather secretive, and getting to see the temple was a huge privilege. One he couldn’t say no to.
“Alright,” he said, getting up, abandoning his paperwork. He wouldn’t need to do it anyway if he was going to get his freedom - or become her property instead, something he knew might happen if the Republic didn’t allow him to become his own person legally. But he wasn’t worried about that. It would still be an improvement, and he doubted she’d make him do the paperwork. He was just a little nervous about this new development.
“Follow me, I want to walk there,” she told him, before turning around and walking
“Alright,” he said, not wanting to disobey what might actually be his last order from her.
He followed her outside of the barracks, into the dimly lit streets. It was raining, and the streets between the barracks and the temple seemed weirdly deserted.
She didn’t walk with her usual confidence. She kept looking at the ground in front of her feet, where the raindrops distorted at the reflections of the neon lights.
“You seem nervous,” he commented. “Are you okay?”
“Do you believe in fate?” she asked, blunty, ignoring his question.
Rex was taken aback by this inquiry. Philosophy was not something he was trained for. Still, he wanted to answer her question honestly.
“No,” he said “Though I know I don’t know for sure.”
“Why not?” she asked.
“I don’t like the idea that everything we do won't matter in the end,” he said “I have to believe that my actions have consequences. That they mean something.”
“I know what you mean,” she said.
They walked in silence, the only sound being their footsteps echoing off the building as they got closer to the temple. It was strange, somehow, though Rex couldn’t quite place the feeling of unease, though it wasn’t entirely unfamiliar to him. It was just stronger today
“Sometimes it feels like it doesn’t,” Ahsoka said somberly.
“Yes,” Rex confirmed “I don’t know why though, But sometimes it feels like… I don’t know. Like this doesn’t matter.”
“Like it isn’t even real,” Ahsoka added just around at the last corner, the Jedi Temple was now right in front of them, looming over them ominously. Something about the sight gave Rex an even more uneasy feeling, and he stopped to look at the towering building. “Do you even feel like there is something out of place?” Ahsoka asked.
“Yes,” he said “There is something wrong with the world, but I don’t know what”. He quickly added “I know I’m not supposed to question anything though.”
“But what if you could?” she asked “Would you… want answers?”
“Yes,” he said without hesitation, wondering where this was going.
“Then come with me” she said, before walking up the stairs.
Rex followed her, even though it felt forbidden. The Jedi temple had been off limits for so long. Maybe that was where the surreal feeling was coming from.
When they reached the top of the stairs, Anakin was waiting for them between the large pillars, hidden from view. He too, looked nervous, Rex noticed as he gave his general a polite nod as they both joined him in the shadows.
“Ahsoka, Rex,” he greeted them “Are you guys sure about this?”
“Yes,” Ahsoka said. “I wouldn’t have asked him if I wasn’t, Skyguy.”
“Of course,” Rex answered “I trust her, and I’d do anything she asks of me.”
His General shot him a worried look, filled with something similar to pity and confusion.
“Snips, I don’t think we should tell him about the Matrix.” Skywalker said “He doesn’t seem like he’s ready, I think he is doing it for you, not for himself.”
“But master-”
“No buts!” he said “Bring him back to the barracks”
“But you said-”
“If he’s ready.” the General interrupted.
“What’s the Matrix?” Rex asked.
“How do you know about that?” the General asked in disbelief.
“Because you slipped up.” Ahsoka argued with her master.
He stared at her, and she stared back at him. Just as Rex started to feel uneasy, Ahsoka nodded slowly and intently. Anakin frowned, but gave her a hesitant nod of approval.
Ahsoka turned to him as if nothing happened. “The matrix is everything.” she told him. “It’s the battlefield, and the city where we are on leave. You can see it when you look around you, and you can taste it when you eat your rations.”
Rex shot her a confused look, partially because rations were, if fact, completely tasteless, but the General elaborated “it’s the world that’s been pulled over your eyes to hide the truth”
“What truth?” He asked
“That you’re a slave” the General said grimly
“Sir, I already knew that,” Rex said “I mean, I know there’s a legal loophole about us not counting as humans, but…”
“Rex, I know… but it’s different than you think.” Ahsoka told him.
“And yet, it’s also kind of the same.” the General added.
“Stop being vague and tell me the truth,” he insisted, before timidly adding “if you still want to, that is.”
“That's why I brought you here,” Ahsoka said confidently.
“The matrix isn’t something that can be explained,” the General said “you’ll have to see it for yourself.”
“Can you show me then?” He asked, looking between the both of them.
“Yes,” Ahsoka said “but I must warn you. This is your last chance to turn back. I won’t hold it against you.”
“Ahsoka, I’d do anything to make you happy,” he said “I’m not turning back.”
“Rex…” the General said “Don’t. Don’t do this for her. Do it for yourself, or don’t.”
Rex looked at Ahsoka. “Rex, if you don’t want this that’s fine.” she assured him “I’ll stay with the order regardless of what you do now.”
“But you wanted to tell me?” He asked, “That’s the whole reason you agreed to stay with the Jedi Order.”
“That’s not what I asked for.” she told him “I wanted to offer you the truth, but I can only lead you to the door. And that’s what I’ve done. Now, it’s up to you what you want to do.” At that, she pulled out a small box from the small pouch on her back. she took out whatever was inside of it into her hands.
Rex looked at Skywalker, who was looking nervously at Ahsoka. He followed his General's line of sight back to her hands.
“Rex.” She said, opening her hands to reveal two pills. A red one in her right hand, and a blue one in her left hand. “If you take the blue pill, we’ll bring you back to the barracks, and everything will go back to normal. You’ll forget everything we said today, and you’ll get to live your life as you always have.”
He looked her in the eyes. “If you take the red pill, we will be able to show you the truth, but your life will never be the same again.”
Rex looked back at the two tablets. They were bright coloured and transparent, reminding him of the food supplements the Kaminoans used to give him.
“If I take the red pill, will I still be able to see my brothers?“ He asked.
“Yes,“ Ahsoka said. “Though it will take about a week until you can see them again.“
He considered it. Not seeing his brother for a week wouldn’t be that bad, it’s not like he had never done this before. And whatever this was, it would be better than watching Skywalker and senator pretending to be friends, and part of him was curious now about this mysterious truth that could only be seen.
So, he slowly reached out and took the red pill from her hand and looked at it. Like it’s blue counterpart, it was a transparent capsule filled with clear liquid. It didn’t look like it was tampered with, but that didn’t really matter because he didn’t know what was in it regardless. Still, he trusted the Jedi in front of him that they wouldn’t offer him something that could harm him.
He put it in his mouth and swallowed, and Ahsoka let out a sigh of relief. Skywalker, however, got even more tense and raised his comm.
“Eres, he took the red one. Can you get a lock on his location?”
“Not yet,” said an unfamiliar, female voice.
“My location?” Rex asked, before realizing that wasn’t his only question “And who’s Eres?”
Skywalker ignored him, and kept talking to whoever Eres was. “Alright, hurry up”
Rex’s heart started racing and he started to get dizzy. “Ahsoka. What’s happening?”
“You’re waking up. It’s normal. Don’t worry.” she assured him.
His vision started to go dark and he fell to his knees, clutching at Ahsoka for support. He was unable to breathe, and his throat felt like it was closing.
“You’ll be fine,” she assured him, but then everything went black.