Chapter Text
“Dogma, enter!” Barked Commander Algid, as Dogma hastily stood and followed him into the small office. “Do you know why I’ve called you in here? Again?”
“No, sir,” Dogma answered truthfully. He hadn’t been briefed on the discussion topics that his clone commander wanted to bring up, so he had no idea. He couldn’t fathom how he could be expected to guess, either. Dogma looked closer at the Commander’s face; his eyebrows were drawn in, his wrinkles made more pronounced, lips pressed into a tight line. “You are angry about something?” He tried guessing.
“Yes Dogma, for kriff’s sake, I am angry about something, well done,” Algid growled, rolling his eyes. Dogma wasn’t sure why he deserved congratulating for his guess, but eye rolling usually meant the person was annoyed. Dogma chose to stay quiet, opting to wait for the Commander to explain.
“Dogma,” Algid began with a sigh. “The other boys are still reporting problems with you working in the team. They say you’re argumentative, too rigid and fixed about things. You remember when I said you have to loosen up a bit, right?”
“Yes, sir.” Dogma remembered Algid saying it, but it made about as much sense now as it had back then. “I don’t understand what you need me to do, sir. I was under the impression I have followed all the appropriate regulations...”
“And that’s the problem!” Algid exclaimed loudly, rubbing his palms into his eyes. “It’s annoying. You piss everyone off. I don’t know how many times, how many ways I need to rephrase it Dogma! No-one wants to listen to the multitude of minor infractions everyone has committed. Not one person wants to sit and hear you speak for hours about the wildlife on some plant in the ass-end of nowhere. When you’re asked by your Sergeant to do something, he doesn’t expect you to take every karking word literally. Out in the field I can't have the team not trusting you to have their backs. If you don’t adjust your damn attitude, I’ll have no choice but to recommend you’re returned to Kamino for reconditioning. Do you understand me?”
Dogma stared at the floor as the Commander’s words washed over him. Reconditioning was about the only word that stuck. “Understood, sir,” he murmured.
“Right. The boys are going out to 79’s. I want you to go with them. Stay out of trouble. Be friendly. Be normal. And tomorrow we’ll see if you’ve listened to what I’ve been damn-well trying to tell you. Dismissed,” Algid said, waving his hand towards the door.
Leaving the office with an uncomfortable feeling in his stomach, Dogma headed back to the barracks. Be normal. Dogma had no idea what that meant. But he would try.
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“And then she said... Well not with that thing I wont!” Hardcase finished, the group breaking out into raucous laughter.
Rex snorted and shook his head before throwing an arm around Hardcase’s shoulders. “You’re a menace.”
“Aw c’mon Rex, you love me anyway, right?” Hardcase asked, turning tooka-kit eyes on him.
Rex shoved him gently at Fives, who sniggered and grabbed Hardcase in a half-hearted headlock. The two of them jostled into Echo, who huffed and rolled his eyes fondly at Fives, before Kix draped an arm around him and Jesse, the three of them giggling about something. It was a welcome break to leave the ship for a while, and not have to fight for their lives, and Rex made the most of watching his squad being able to relax.
As they passed the alleyway next to 79’s, Rex’s attention was caught by the unmistakable sounds of a fight. He slowed, very much wanting to just ignore it. He was off-duty, and no-one would blame him for saying he hadn’t noticed the scuffle. Coming to a complete stop he groaned softly and rubbed a hand over his hair. “Karking Sith hells... boys! Wait up!”
He pointed to the alleyway, motioning for them to advance with caution. To his squad’s credit, the two ARC troopers immediately clicked into action, flanking him as he moved quietly into the dark gap between the neighbouring buildings. He didn’t have to check to know that Jesse and Hardcase would be right behind them with Kix, ready to leap forward if needed.
As they reached the end of the alley, it became clear there was a group of Coruscant locals beating up what looked to Rex like a clone. Blood boiling, Rex waded forwards, hooking one of the thugs around his knees to bring him to the floor, smashing a fist into the face of another. As the gang realised what was happening, Rex ducked past them to reach the clone curled in on himself on the floor, leaving the thugs to his squad.
“Hey, vod, we got you. Can you sit up for me brother?” Rex murmured soothingly.
Groaning in obvious pain, the man blinked up at him and winced as he shifted to sit upright against the wall. The clone had a large tattoo over his left eye, a bit like a downward arrow made up of smaller symbols. He seemed scared, keeping his eyes downcast. “Thank-you for helping me.”
"It was nothing. What’s your name trooper?” Rex asked, as the clone cradled his left arm against his chest, still staring miserably at the floor.
“Dogma,” he replied, glancing upwards. “Sir,” he added hurriedly, as he had presumably caught sight of Rex’s pauldron.
“Ok, relax Dogma. My name is Rex. I’m Captain of the 501st. You ok to let my medic Kix check you over?” Rex asked, frowning as Dogma still seemed to be nervous. Dogma nodded as Kix materialised next to him; sometimes Rex could swear Kix could have been a Jedi. “What did you do that got those guys so angry?” Rex asked quietly, as Kix gently checked him over.
Dogma frowned, still not meeting his eyes. “I didn’t do anything; I was just walking. I don’t know why they got angry.”
Fives snorted from where he was rolling one of the unconscious gang members into the recovery position. It was poor form to let civilians choke on their own vomit. Even when they deserved it. “Well, lowlife as these jokers are... you must have said something to piss them off!”
“Well, I did say something to them, yes,” Dogma replied. “They asked why they should let a clone infect their city. I informed them it is not their city because it is technically under the jurisdiction of the Senate, and the clones are commissioned to be present.”
Echo nodded, smirking. “I guess that would do it.”
“Why?” Dogma asked him, frowning again.
Echo looked confused. “Why what? Why would that annoy them? I don’t know... you contradicted them... patronised them I guess?” At Dogma’s surprised expression, Echo smiled kindly. “Hey, no criticism. Good on you for sticking up for us clones.”
“I just pointed out inaccuracies in their statement,” Dogma replied, still looking at the floor.
Kix narrowed his eyes a little in the way Rex recognised as the medic attempting to solve a problem he found particularly interesting. “Well, you’ll be ok Dogma. Few bruises, but nothing some bacta patches can't fix.”
“We’ll walk you back to your barracks,” Rex stated firmly, offering a hand to Dogma to help him up. Dogma stared at his hand for several moments, before accepting it, wincing as Rex pulled him to his feet. “Where were your squad, while this was going on? They should’ve been watching your back.”
“Oh, they prefer it when I’m not around. I overheard them saying so. So I left by myself,” Dogma stated, matter-of-factly.
Rex couldn’t help staring at him in astonishment. “And who is your commander, Dogma?”
“Commander Algid,” Dogma answered promptly. “409th.”
Humming in disapproval, Rex motioned for the group to move out of the alley. “You boys go on to 79’s if you want. I’ll get Dogma back to a med bay,” he said as they reached the main walkway.
Kix crossed his arms, raising an eyebrow. “Nah it’s ok Rex. I’ll bring Dogma back to the Resolute and patch him up. I’ve triaged him; he’s my responsibility now.”
“We’ll come for the walk,” Jesse stated confidently, as the other three nodded in agreement. “Anyway, Torrent stick together.”
Dogma was watching them in obvious confusion, and as the group started walking again back in the direction of their docked ship, Rex adjusted his stride to walk next to him. “We’ve been through a lot of tricky battles. These boys are a loyal bunch. The two ARCs are Fives and Echo. The one with blue tattoos is Hardcase, he is Jesse. And you’ve met my CMO Kix,” he explained.
“I thought clones were supposed to be loyal to the Jedi and the Republic, not each other,” Dogma stated in response, his way of speaking continuing to Rex to sound a little stilted and unusual. “But I have heard of the 501st. Your battalion are one of the most successful in the GAR.”
“We are,” Rex replied proudly with a nod. “But it’s our brothers we fight alongside, eat, sleep, and breath next to every damn day. My battalion are so successful because we are loyal to each other. We trust each other to have our back; we each have our part to play and work in complete synchrony with each other.” He pulled a face as Fives tripped Hardcase up on purpose, Echo catching his arm just in time to stop him face planting into the floor. “Most of the time, anyway.”
Dogma hummed thoughtfully but said nothing else, apparently preferring to walk back in silence, which was fine with Rex. He remained content in observing his boys continuing to joke and lark about, no less cheerful for having their evening interrupted.
When they reached the Resolute, Rex gestured to Kix. “Ok Dogma, go get yourself patched up with Kix. I’m going to go have a word with Commander Algid about what happened.”
Dogma flinched and shook his head. “No sir, please don’t... Commander Algid asked me to be normal and stay out of trouble... he said he would send me for reconditioning if I didn’t...”
Rex’s expression of dumbfounded horror was mirrored on the others’ faces as they stared at Dogma. “He what?”
“What do you mean, be normal?” Kix asked in confusion.
Looking decidedly uncomfortable now, Dogma tapped his fingers nervously against his thigh. “Commander Algid says I am argumentative, rigid, and fixed. He says I am annoying,” he whispered.
Jesse sniffed. “Commander Algid sounds like a...”
“Yes, thank-you, Jesse,” Rex growled before turning to Dogma. “You won't be sent back to Kamino. You have my word, Dogma. But I will be having a conversation with your Commander.”
When Dogma reluctantly nodded, Rex left him with the others, and strode across the hangar towards the Valorous; the 409th star destroyer. Clones scattered out of his way as he marched onto the landing ramp, barking at a couple of shinies to point him in Algid's direction. When he reached the Commander’s office he knocked and didn’t bother waiting for an answer before shouldering open the door. “Commander Algid. Captain Rex of the 501st.”
“Captain,” Algid greeted, looking up from his datapad in surprise. “To what do I owe this pleasure?”
Rex didn’t know a huge amount about Commander Algid; nothing particularly good nor bad. So he did his best to calm his temper and get his side of the story. “Ran into a trooper of yours this evening, name of Dogma.”
Algid groaned and chucked the datapad on his desk. “For kriff’s sake. Whatever he said to upset the 501st, I formally apologise and personally guarantee it wont happen again. This is the last time that clone embarrasses me.”
“Oh, he didn’t upset the 501st, don’t worry Commander. But he was in a spot of bother,” Rex began.
“Yeah, sounds like Dogma. Look, I appreciate he probably wasted your time, so no more said. I’ll handle it,” Algid interrupted, waving a hand.
“I don’t think you’re quite understanding me,” Rex bit out. “He was being attacked by thugs in the street and his squad had left him.”
Algid sighed. “No Captain, trust me, I do understand. Let me guess... he left 79’s early because the others had fallen out with him, he started walking back and managed to piss off some of the locals who set upon him, and he has your boys to thank for saving his neck? That about right?”
It was pretty much right, but for Rex that wasn’t the point. “Commander Algid, Dogma informed me that you threatened to send him to Kamino for reconditioning?”
“Correct. And that is what I will do. I've given him enough chances, Prime knows I've tried my best with him.” Algid stood, walking around his desk to perch on the front of it. “Captain, look. He’s different and weird, and not only does he not get on with anyone, but he’s impossible to work with; everything has to be done his way or he has a damn meltdown about it. Honestly, I don’t know how he got through cadet training. Reconditioning would be a kindness; he’d suit sanitation work much better with their predictable routines and order and such.”
Forcibly calming his breaths, Rex realised he had balled his hands into fists. “Transfer him to me instead,” he blurted out.
Algid laughed. “Sorry... I thought you asked me to transfer Dogma... to you?”
Rex nodded. “Not a joke. Transfer Dogma to the 501st. I’ll counter sign your request for a replacement trooper from Kamino.”
Smile fading, Algid narrowed his eyes. “Why?”
“He seems to get on with my men just fine,” Rex replied coolly. “Perhaps with a more supportive squad around him, Dogma will flourish.”
After a few seconds of staring each other down, Algid relented. “Fine. Truth be told, I don’t really care where he goes, as long as he’s off my hands. You want him, you keep him. Was there anything else?”
“No, sir,” Rex muttered, not bothering to say anything more before leaving the room.
When he got back to the med bay of the Resolute, Rex found Kix and Dogma chatting quietly, heading straight over to them. “Dogma, you’re being transferred to the 501st. I’ll sort out the flimsiwork in the morning, but I've agreed it verbally with Commander Algid, effective immediately.”
“I... I don’t understand...” Dogma stuttered, looking thoroughly shocked.
“Commander Algid intended to send you back to Kamino and I refuse to let that happen,” growled Rex. “So you’re being transferred to me. To my team. You’ll join Torrent Company with Kix and the others.”
“Yes, sir,” Dogma whispered. “I won't let you down.”
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At the knock on his door, Rex looked up from his datapad. “Enter.”
“Hey Rex, you got a minute?” Echo asked, peeking his head into the room.
Grinning, Rex nodded. “For one of my dominos? Of course.” Echo smiled back and shuffled into the room, coming to sit in front of him. “What’s up?”
Echo’s smile faltered and he turned pensive. “Uh, I came to talk about Dogma.”
Rex’s heart sank. It had been a couple of weeks since he’d transferred Dogma over to his team, and it hadn’t exactly been a completely smooth journey. The first few days Dogma had seemed fine, although in hindsight, he probably hadn’t been ‘fine’, he had just been very quiet. That quiet period had more likely just been Dogma feeling too anxious to engage with anyone. Once that initial period had passed, Dogma had then entered the phase of being horrified by how many regulations the squad broke on a daily basis, and letting Rex know about every single one.
The fourth day in a row of Dogma coming to his office and reciting minor infractions, Rex had been forced to say something.
“Dogma, can I just stop you for a second,” Rex had interrupted in exasperation, midway through Dogma informing him how many regs were broken when Hardcase had accidentally set fire to a bin. “I appreciate the fact that the boys don’t always play by the book, but you don’t have to come and tell me every time it happens.”
The man had just looked confused. “But if they have broken the rules, why are they not reprimanded?”
Rex had struggled to find an adequate answer, and had mumbled something about duty and loyalty or something, making up an excuse to get Dogma out of his office. It had been at that point that Rex had gone to Kix and asked his medic’s advice.
“Kix, I hate to say it, but I'm starting to understand why Commander Algid had been so keen to get Dogma off his squad...” Rex had said miserably, hating the words even as they came out of his mouth. “I don’t want dogma to change, I don’t want to get rid of him, but there must be a way we can help him feel a bit more at ease? He just seems so...”
“Anxious?” Kix had finished, draping an arm around Rex’s shoulders. “Yeah, I noticed that too. Don’t worry. I’ve been doing some reading and I have a theory.”
Rex had been relieved to hear it. Because when Kix had a theory, so far he had always turned out to be correct. Kix insisted on talking directly to Dogma about it first, coming to explain it to Rex straight afterwards.
Dogma was autistic.
It wasn’t a term that Rex had heard of before, but it seemed to perfectly encompass the ways in which Dogma was different. Or as Kix put it; diverse. He had explained it as Dogma’s brain processing information in a different way, a divergent pattern of thinking, and a non-typical style of communicating. Kix explained that Dogma viewed the world as more black-or-white as they might; that he would benefit from predictable structure and rules, because change was uncomfortable. His way of understanding interactions with others could be a challenge for Dogma to interpret subtext, inuendo, subtleties, and abstract ideas, as well as reading other’s emotions.
Rex had later called Dogma to his office and discussed the ways that Torrent could alter their communication to help their brother feel more at ease. They weren't major or difficult changes. But just slightly changing the way they worked with Dogma benefitted everyone. The boys had been only too happy to check in with Dogma on how they could help, and Dogma had been keen to help them all understand his needs a bit better.
Rex had thought things had been going ok; Dogma understood he could come to Rex if someone was at risk due to the squad’s rule breaking (which was almost never the case), he had reported feeling much less anxious about the change in battalion, and the squad were reporting that they were getting on well.
So the appearance of Echo at his office telling him he needed to talk about Dogma made Rex’s heart sink. “What about Dogma?” He asked nervously.
“Well... he talked to me about the ecosystem of Kashyyyk today,” Echo said, frowning.
Rex blinked. “Right... and this was a problem?” He asked in uncertainty.
Echo shook his head. “No! No, it wasn’t a problem... but I say he talked to me... it was more like he talked at me.” When Rex still looked perplexed, Echo huffed. “Rex, Dogma hasn’t said anything to me so far that wasn’t reciting a regulation or just out of necessity. And then he talks at me for half an hour. About plants. Completely out of the blue!”
Rex smiled slowly. Several days ago, Dogma had done the same thing to him. Randomly came to find him to talk about the differences between nexus and tusk-cats. Rex had listened in bafflement for about fifteen minutes before interrupting Dogma to ask why.
Dogma had looked worried for a moment. “Because I find it interesting. If you’d rather I didn’t talk about it, I'll stop... my old squad banned me from talking for more than five minutes at a time because apparently I get very boring.”
Shaking his head in dismay, Rex had vehemently disagreed, because he’d be damned if he was going to stifle Dogma’s interests or make him feel he was boring. “It’s not boring at all. Go on. You were talking about their claw sizes?”
So now, most days, Dogma came to Rex’s office; not to list the regulations that had been broken, but to share his interests with him. Rex had started making time for the clone out of politeness. But he’d grown strangely fond of the little chunks of his day listening to Dogma excitedly talk about poisonous fungi or the different breeds of toads found on Naboo. Were Rex’s mountains of flimsiwork probably more important? Yes. Should Rex be spending the time catching up on signing the long list of requisitions his Sergeants had submitted? Yes. Did it get a little exasperating? Yes. Would he stop Dogma doing it? Absolutely not.
“He must really like you, Echo,” Rex said to his ARC trooper. “He likes sharing his interests, but worries about people getting annoyed with him.”
Echo gaped in surprise for a second, before his face lit up. “Oh! Well that’s ok then! I was worried that he might be upset or something!”
“Upset?” Asked Rex.
Nodding, Echo stood. “Yeah. He has very strong opinions about the trees on Kashyyyk. He got so emotional about it, I was worried it wasn’t about the trees, I guess.”
As Echo headed to the door, Rex smiled fondly. “Nah, it probably was just about the trees.”
Over the next week, Rex was reassured to find the Torrent boys were getting used to Dogma’s habit of sharing his knowledge with those he liked. When they realised that was the reason for the clone’s information dumps in fact, they positively encouraged it. By the following week, Rex was amused to overhear them apparently competing with each other for who Dogma liked best.
“Dogma talked to me about whales for twenty minutes today..."
"Yeah, well, Dogma drew me a picture of a tauntaun this week."
"Don't forget he explained the difference between wildlife on Hoth and Barton IV to me and Kix for over an hour yesterday..."
Yes; Rex had a feeling Dogma was fitting in just fine.