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The scent of irons still lingers. Like an echo of the day’s events. Even more disturbing, small splatters of bloodstains the cleaner bot missed during the frenzy.
Kix stares out at his now empty Med-bay, too exhausted to move.
His office is the only place on this floor that hasn’t been transformed into a make-shift trauma bed. It’s the hub. The command center of all medical personnel, and today, the only place that doesn’t make him physically ill. A rock in the sea of chaos.
He really should be used to it by now. He spends half his life patching up bloody brothers. His men are prepared, they know that each time they enter through those doors they may not come out.
That doesn’t make it any easier. Knowing something can happen and it actually happening are two very different realities.
He is not a doctor.
When they land, a civilian doctor will meet them at the entrance to the morgue. Only to tell them what they already know. Maybe, he thinks glumly, if we survive this war, I’ll go to Med school and get a proper license. Maybe he’ll actually learn how to save people’s lives instead of just postponing the inevitable.
“Hey, vod.” Coric’s voice carries across the empty medical wing. “How goes clean up?”
“You have eyes, what do you think?” Kix snaps, still not moving from his place slumped over his desk.
“Oro’nas, Vod.” Coric smiles, flicking the younger medic’s ear, “I’m here to help.” *“Stand down, brother”
Kix sighs, finally lifting his head from his arms, “Sorry, I’m just…” He trails off, unable to find the words to explain what he’s feeling.
“What are you doing?”
“Flimsiwork.” He groans as his back cracks as he sits up. The chair he’d stationed himself at for the better part of two hours, squeaks loudly when he rolls back.
That reminds me, I need to get maintenance down here. Kix adds it to the mental list of tasks he still hasn’t gotten around to.
Coric snorts. “Don’t tell me that’s your excuse.” He makes a face like he’s been severely disappointed, “I expect better from our CMO.”
“ Hmm.”
“Come on, vod.” He claps Kix on the shoulder, “I’m hungry!” Coric grabs his arm and yanks him out of the chair.
Kix doesn’t protest— already giving up— and follows the older medic out into the hall.
It takes him a moment to adjust to the much dimmer lighting of the hallways. Night cycle , his sleep deprived brain supplies, it’s early in the cycle, around 02:30. He vaguely remembers checking the clock earlier, about halfway through the initial intake. It was midnight then.
Coric however, doesn’t seem fazed by the sudden change and strides past him, still gripping his bicep tightly. Kix stumbles after him, nearly tripping over his own feet. If Coric notices, he doesn’t mention it, just wraps an arm around his shoulder as they meander through the halls.
It’s not until they are in front of the refractory that Kix realizes he’d zoned out. “I’m not hungry,” he grumbles, when Coric pushes him in.
“That’s osik if I’ve ever heard it.”
He’s about to snap something back, when a tray of food slamming on the table startles him. “Here you go.”
A light, higher, more feminine voice catches his attention, Commander Tano smiles warmly at him, placing her own tray on the table and sitting down.
“Rexter said you haven’t eaten yet, so I kept a tray of the good stuff.” She winks at him.
He’s not sure he’s ever heard the Captain be referred to so flippantly as ‘Rexter’ by anyone aside from the Commander of 212th and the General himself.
He hasn’t worked with her much, in the two months she’s been with them. Kix still remembers their only other meeting with a rather horrifying clarity.
“ Hey, you’re a medic right?”
“Uh… yes, sir? Do you need something?”
“Umm.” Their new commander hesitates, and on instinct he gives her a sharp once over. A scarlet trail running down her pant leg catches his attention.
“What did you do,” he asks abruptly, far too used to the near endless stupidity of his men. He reaches for the scanner on his desk.
“No. Wait! I’m ok, I…” She pauses again before blurting, “IthinkIjustgotmyperiod.“
“Sorry?” He asks— rather stupidly in retrospect.
“I just got my period,” she mumbles, studying her boots.
“Oh. OH.” He gapes, realization dawning on him. “I’m so sorry.” He says, mortified, “we have stuff over here.” He avoids her face, too embarrassed on his own behalf to face her.
He has a feeling that interaction is gonna stick with him for years to come. Thankfully he doesn’t seem to have offended her too badly, because she grins widely at him when he pulls the tray closer.
“Thanks, Commander.”
She waves him off, “don’t worry about it. It’s the least I could do after all the work you did today” If he had been slightly more awake he might have been concerned by the vigor with which she swung the knife in her hand around.
“Thanks, kid.” Coric nudges his side, “He’d forget to sleep if you didn’t remind him.”
She giggles, “Happy to help.” Her ComLink chirps. “Sorry, gotta go, Master's is looking for me.” She jumps up— practically flying— from her seat, but slows down just long enough to yell, “Get some sleep!” Over her shoulder before leaving.
“Good kid.”
In the corner of his eye he sees Coric smile.
Damm jetti, got half the battalion wrapped around her finger .
He already knows she is going to be trouble. The idea of a mini-Skywalker should really scare him more than it does; but he can’t bring himself to be all that upset when it comes in the form of a cute— albeit feisty— adiik. *child
Kix finishes off his dinner— a sad-looking soup— with a resigned sigh. The med-bay is the last place he wants to be right now, unfortunately there is no choice in the matter. Even though he and Coric had managed to get through most of the mass-cas protocol, there still are a few things left to do.
“Let’s go.” He drags Coric up with him, trying (and failing) to discreetly use him as a crutch.
For his part, Coric only grins at him, wrapping his arm around Kix’s shoulder.
Kix rests his eyes as they walk, letting Coric lead him blindly through the halls. The ship is deadly silent. The dull thrum of the ship’s engine is the only sound, outside of their boots scraping along the metal floor. He can practically feel the look Coric is giving him.
“I’m okay.”
Coric hums lightly, like a teacher humoring a school child’s wild fantasy, “whatever you say.”
Kix is caught between offense and pride at the lack of pushback. They stop suddenly and he forces his eyes back open, trying to blink away the weight that has formed on his eyelids.
“This isn’t the Med-bay,” Kix observes, staring blankly at the door.
“No p e.” He says, popping the ‘p’.
“ Why are we not at the Med-bay.”
“ Because, “ Coric says, an edge seeping into his voice the first time all day, “you need sleep , vod. Gar shuk meh kyrayc .” * you are no use dead
Coric waves his hand over the Keypad— which Skywalker had installed personally as a gesture of their autonomy under his command— and the door slides open. Inside, the welcoming darkness of the barracks beckons him. His bunk in the back calls to him, stronger than any gravitational force.
It physically pains him to say, “I can’t.” He pushes himself away from Coric, “I have work to do.”
“No you don’t!” Ahsoka sing-songs from down the corridor. She grins widely, sharp canines on full display. “We did it for you.”
The Padawan has a data-pad clutched in her hand, which she passes over; on it, is the entire completed To-list. He scrolls through, pausing every so often to peer at the various supply requests and reports that had been filled out. They aren’t perfect, and the reports have a few errors and corrections that will need to be made, but, it’s done .
He stares down at the miracle in his hand, still not quite believing it’s, “Commander…”
“—Ahsoka.”
“I… I— thank you .” He says earnestly, in the least sarcastic thing he’s said today, “this is perfect . I—“
She shrugs, the chevrons on her Lekku deepening significantly, “It wasn’t much.” She says, bashfully, “I dunno if I did everything right.”
“This is exactly what I needed” He sighs blissfully, slumping back into Coric— who chuckled but obligingly resumed the post of human-crutch.
The bright smile returns. “Wizard!” And then the adik turns on her heel, marching proudly away.
“Strange kid.” He comments, watching her retreating back.
Coric just smiles and pulls him into the barracks.
Neither of them bother removing their soiled compression suits, simply shedding the layers of rigid armor, and falling into bed. Slumped in his own bunk, he feels Coric slide into the one above his.
A thought strikes him suddenly. “Tano was with us during dinner, there is no way she could have finished it all.”
“You think she didn’t have help.” Coric whispers back, his smile audible.
“You sneek .”
“You're welcome!” He taunts gleefully.
“ ‘I’m hungry’, my ass .”
Leaning over the edge of the bed, Coric winks at him. “Anytime, vod.”
Kix Rolls his eyes.
The next day when he sits down in his chair he notices, with a small smile, the room stays completely quiet.