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Rex - In Love And War - Where Do We Go From Here?

Rex x Fem!Reader (FF)

Warning: Angst/Hurt

Aftermath Of Order 66 / Sad Rex

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Author's comment: This one has been on my mind for a while. Because I already have so many projects going on, I kept putting this one off, but I'm not the most patient person, so now I've started it after all.

As you'll notice, I changed the ending of the seventh season of Clone Wars to tie in here. This is practically right after or during Order 66.

The reader is a (former) superior officer of Rex. The beginning of this story will focus on how the reader and Rex deal with the new situation, being on the run, and over the course of that, the two will become closer. Either way, this will segue into a romance between Rex and the reader. There will be fluff and of course smut, those who know me a bit won't be surprised by that.

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Summary:

Order 66. the galaxy is upside down, nothing is the way it used to be. Rex and you have been through hell and are now on your own in a new order spreading across the galaxy that is hostile to you. The shock is still deep in your bones, the circumstances are hard to comprehend or even accept, but you have no choice, you must adapt. You have only each other, a former captain and his commander.

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Following Chapters:

Part 2 -Noises In The Dark

Part 3 - Sinful Dreams

Part 4 - Mesh'la

Part 5 - Old Friends

Part 6 - Unspoken Things

Part 7 - Lies And Other Things About Love

Part 8 - Guilt And Forgiveness

Part 1 - Where Do We Go From Here?

How could it have come to this? How was it possible that something of such magnitude had been overlooked? Well, actually, it had been discovered, but no one had believed it, even though Tup's and Five's demise had left a very bitter aftertaste, even with you. But that didn't change the fact that the danger had been ignored, that Five's desperate attempts to uncover the truth ended in his senseless death. And everything he said had been the truth.

You swallowed, had the bitter taste of bile in your mouth, everything that had happened in the last few hours had turned your stomach, turned your world upside down. Nothing was as it should be, nothing at all. In retrospect, Five's death now seemed even more senseless, even more painful.

Your breath was heavy, your eyes burned from the smoke rising from the wreckage of the crashed cruiser, blown in your direction by the wind at the moment. With wet eyes your gaze wandered over the countless graves, the helmets, over the partly very familiar paintings of the helmets. Today you had lost even more friends and comrades, so many that you didn't know how to deal with this.

"Commander."

You blinked. Rex's voice behind you, calm, soft, yet full of sadness brought you back from your thoughts to reality. You sensed his grief in his tone, even though he held himself bravely upright, inside he felt shattered. You could literally hear the shards of his broken soul in his voice.

"Please don't call me that, Rex," you spoke quietly.

For a moment there was silence and it seemed as if the former captain of the 501st, was thinking about your words.

Before he could say anything, you continued, " That' s not who I am anymore."

You looked down at yourself, at your uniform, you ripped your badges from your uniform jacket and threw them to the ground in front of the graves. You had once been so proud of those badges, so flattered that you had been chosen and promoted by the Jedi Order to this mission, especially since you were not one of them.

But the fact that you worked for the Order had made you a target in the ominous order 66 as well.

Your thoughts wandered to Ahsoka and you were glad that she had decided not to accompany you, but had traveled on with Bo Katan after Maul was captured. That you had used Maul to escape was another sting that led to the bitter aftertaste in your mouth. The chaos and suffering he had caused lay heavily on your shoulders, after all it had been you who had freed him from his bonds. But you had hardly had any other choice, Rex and you alone would never have been able to stand up to all his brothers, who could not be dissuaded from their intention to kill the both of you, after it was clear that Rex's chip wasn't working and he wouldn't follow Order 66.

From now on, everything would be different, your old life was a thing of the past, and as you suspected, so was the Republic. There was no more headquarters, no more orders, no more home, the two of you were on your own. The thought was strangely frightening, until now you had always had a belonging and a home, if not a family. The Republic had been your home, your comrades your family, you knew for Rex it was the same.

"What should I call you then?" you suddenly heard Rex ask.

You finally turned to face him. Captain Rex, whom you had always looked up to in a way, whose strength and discipline you had always admired, almost envied, looked so vulnerable at that moment that you would have liked to hug him. But you held back, not sure how he would react. You were friends, but your relationship had always been quite professional.

You gave him a tentative smile.

"How about my first name?"

"Y/N?"

You nodded encouragingly.

Silence descended again, you looked at each other mutely for a while. You were afraid of what was to come, of what your life would be like in the future, on the run, but you hoped he wouldn't notice. Maybe he had similar thoughts, even if you could hardly imagine that Captain Rex was afraid, but he was only human.

They had all been people, all the soldiers on the cruiser, your subordinates, your friends. You thought of the moment when Rex tried to get through to Jessy, but to no avail. The heaviness in Rex's voice when he realized that he would not be able to convince his brothers not to kill their commander, you could still hear it in your thoughts, almost feel it physically.

You wanted to tell him how sorry you were for all this, how sorry you were for what he had to go through today and the things that were to come, the things he had suffered before, the losses, the confusion about Fives. You wanted to comfort him, but you didn't know how, besides you were overwhelmed with the situation yourself.

You've been in a few battles with Rex, though mostly as a strategist in the background or a gunner from afar rather than on the front lines. You had even been on Umbara, probably the darkest chapter of the Clone Wars in your opinion. But what had happened today overshadowed everything.

When you realized the extent of Order 66 and couldn't reach anyone to warn them, the terror crawled deep under your skin, into your bones...there it still sat, a persistent echo.

Your eyes met, his amber eyes looked at you questioningly, as if you had hidden the answers to all his questions somewhere from him. This man you had always admired so much, whom you had looked up to even though he was your subordinate, still saw you as his superior officer.

At this realization you suppressed a sigh, you couldn't blame him for looking for support after all that had happened. It was also his life that was now completely turned upside down.

A small explosion in the wreckage behind you made you wince, while Rex didn't move a muscle. He was used to loud, unexpected noises from the battlefield.

It was probably force of habit talking, yet you blinked in irritation when he asked, "Where do we go from here?"

You were his former commander, until just a few hours ago, so it was probably natural for him to ask you that question. At the moment, however, you felt overwhelmed by this deceptively simple-sounding question.

You didn't give him an answer right away, you thought for a moment. You realized that you didn't have a concrete answer to that, you didn't quite know how far Order 66's influence already reached. Maybe it already went further than you thought. A good chance, at least for the moment, might well be the Outer Rim.

"We need to put distance between us and our pursuers. I think Batuu might be a good option."

Rex frowned critically.

"From what I've heard, rumor has it, Batuu is a retreat for deserters, smugglers and pirates".

He sounded less than enthusiastic.

"I know Rex" you said patiently "Strictly speaking we are deserters at the moment though".

The startled expression on the Captain's face made you realize that he had not yet internalized this thought at all, the dutiful Rex was suddenly a deserter, that had to be an uncomfortable feeling for him.

He finally nodded and boarded the shuttle you had stolen from the hangar of the crashed cruiser. You followed him and automatically sat down in the co-pilot's seat.

Rex started the engine and the cockpit closed.

"What do we do when we get there?" he wanted to know.

"We'll find a way to adapt to our new situation. Don't worry, we'll be fine," you said more confidently than you felt.

As the craft took off and finally broke through the cloud cover and the black of space loomed before you, you felt an unexpected surge of hope. You weren't alone, you had each other, you and Rex, that was a good start. You didn't know what you would have done if you had been on your own.