Pain. That's the first thing Fives was aware of. A burning pain in the pit of his stomach, like a ball of molten lead. His head pounded too, probably from whatever they jabbed him with on Kamino. He shifted, and let out a small groan of pain as his stomach tightened. There was a scuffling sound, and unfamiliar hands slid under him, lifting him up enough to slide a pillow under his head.

His eyelids were dead weights, but he made an effort to open them. He looked around an unfamiliar room, a communications terminal in one corner, a low table next to him, and a small kitchen all crammed into the small area. Somebody was in the kitchen, and he made the effort to turn his head to see who it was. The gaunt face of a familiar togruta was a sight for sore eyes.

"You're awake." She smiled faintly, grabbing a cup of caf and moving to sit on the table.

"Please, knock me out again." He groaned softly, his voice grating in the back of his throat. Ahsoka rolled her eyes.

"Don't have anything strong enough to do that." She said wryly.

"Where am I? How long have I been here?" He croaked.

"My roommate's and my apartment. About fourteen hours." She filled him in. "She'll be back soon. Please don't freak out?" She sighed, digging at her eyes.

"Me or him?" Came a gravelly voice from another doorway. "Tano, why is there a clone on my couch?"

Fives jerked away and hissed in pain as he saw the speaker. Asajj kriffing Ventress. He looked between the two with wild eyes.

"He was hurt and wouldn't have survived long enough to get to another trusted medic. Please don't gut him." She asked, giving the assassin puppy eyes. Ventress pinched the bridge of her nose.

"At least it's not one of the jedi. He can stay, but I want him gone as soon as possible." She rumbled. "Whatever. I'm going to sleep."

She trudged across the room to another door and disappeared. Ahsoka sighed, turning back to a terrified Fives.

"She's fine. Just grumpy." She promised. Fives opened his mouth, hesitated, then shut it again as he shifted with a small gasp to lay back down.

"Where's Rex?" He asked with a frown. "Why isn't he here?"

Ahsoka's mouth twisted like she had bitten into an underripe johgan. "The captain has other duties." She spat. Fives frowned.

"What happened? I thought he would be excited to see you." He closed his eyes as his head pounded with the strain of talking.

"What happened was he went and got himself killed." She growled. Fives opened his eyes again.

"You're mad at him." He realized aloud. Ahsoka scoffed bitterly.

"Of course I'm kriffing mad. He willingly died without a fight and withour a care for me or anybody else he was leaving. And then he lived, and didn't bother coming back until the other day" She hissed. Fives shifted with a grimace so he could look her in the eyes.

"Commander, get your head out of the sand. Rex worked tirelessly to get back here, even going so far as to get back earlier than he would have if he had stayed with the 501st." He rasped. "You're mad because he didn't fight? I fought them, and look were I am." He sat up slightly with an agonized hiss. "A half dead fugitive on the run from the republic."

Ahsoka pressed her lips together and pushed him back down, pressing the back of her hand against his cheek.

"You're warm." She noted.

"You're mad just to be mad." He grunted. "You asked him to leave, didn't you." He met her eyes. Ahsoka clenched her jaw and looked away.

"Yes." She muttered, standing up to drag a first aid case out from under the sink. She dug through it, looking for something. She apparently didn't find it, because she slammed the top down and shoved it back under. Fives watched her, glaring.

"You're worse than Krell." He muttered, Ahsoka's spine stiffened.

"Krell was a monster." She spat.

"At least my Ori'vod still had most of a will to live after that monster was done with him. Rex spent every waking moment fighting to get back to you. He loves you more than life itself. Kix sent me to check up on him enough times. He was usually in  your rooms, with your pillow or one of your tunics pulled close to his chest, and a wet stain under his cheek." Fives ranted.

"I'll bet you my last stims that when you told him to leave, he did without complaint. Not because he wanted to leave you, but because you did. Rex doesn't know how to put himself first. And you abused that power he gave you." Fives whispered, gritting his teeth through the pain in the pit of his gut. Ahsoka snapped at him.

"Well what would you have me do, huh?" She growled. Fives's head lolled to the side a little.

"Call your kriffing husband and apologize." He mumbled, suddenly exhausted. Ahsoka huffed a rueful sigh as she drapped a cold rag across his forehead in an attempt to battle the fever.

She stood, arguing with herself. She didn't have any medication to help with fevers, and Fives was getting worse by the minute. An infection was the last thing he needed, especially when the wound was a blaster bolt to the lower stomach. That would cause a whole host of problems if left untreated. She didn't really have a choice.

Sighing, she keyed the number into the communications terminal.

~

Rex woke up to his holocomm going off. He sighed and rolled out of bed, digging at his eyes blearily as he answered.

"No, Cody I haven't heard anything abou-"

"Rex?"

He stopped dead, blinking at the too-bright hologram until his eyes focused.

"Ahsoka? Has something happened?" He asked, now very much awake indeed. She shifted uneasily.

"Fives has a fever. I think the blaster shot might be infected, but I don't have anything of the caliber to treat something like this." She said quietly. Rex gave a small smirk.

"Why, Ahsoka, are you asking me to steal from the GAR to help a criminal dead man?" He tried for a joke. She just glared at him.

"You're the one who gave him to me so, yes, I am." She said flatly. Rex's shoulders slumped slightly.

"Alright. I'll send Anakin down with some supplies and-"

"Actually," She cut him off, looking at the ground. "It might be better if you came. Asajj is home, and she's less likely to gut you than Anakin." She said quietly. Rex hesitated.

"Are you sure? You made it pretty clear that you didn't want me there." He rubbed at the back of his neck with one hand. Ahsoka looked down.

"Fives's well being is more important than my comfort." She met his eyes. Rex nodded.

"Alright. I'll be there within the hour." He cut the connection.

He arrived at her door in his civvies, a bag slung over his shoulder. She let him in without comment, and took him back to where his brother was sprawled on the couch.

Rex gave her the bad and looked down at her. "Anything I can do to help?" He asked softly. Ahsoka licked her lips, and Rex noticed just how thin she looked. How hadn't he noticed before, the hollowness in her cheeks, the sunken eye, the cracked and chapped lips.

"Hold him down. He's gonna flinch when I stick him, and if he tries to squirm after that, I don't want him making anything worse. I'll need your help changing the bandages too." She listed. Rex nodded and moved to hold Fives in place as she pulled out the correct stim and prepped the needle before jabbing it into one of the veins on the back of his hand. Like she had predicted, Fives flinched and tried to get away from the stinging pain.

Rex held him down, muttering soft mando'a into his ear until he calmed down again. Ahsoka changed the compress on his forehead. She blew out a long breath.

"Ok. I need you to lift his hips up, as gently as you can. I'm going to change the bandages on his stomach." She ordered. Rex obeyed, sucking in a breath when the burn came into view. Ahsoka examined it briefly, now that it had had time to settle.

"It's not as bad as it could have been. His muscles saves his intestines, and if the infection doesn't kill him he should make a full recovery." She observed. Rex smiled thinly.

"That's a relief." He said as she began to rewrap the wound. "When did you learn all this medic stuff?" He asked appraisingly. Ahsoka's mouth tightened a little.

"When you were in bacta and resting afterwards. You slept a lot and Kix was happy to share some things with me." She mumbled.

"Ah." He sighed as she finished. "I suppose you'll want me to get out of your hair now?" He questioned, already collecting the now-empty bag and slinging it over his shoulder.

"I..." She hesitated, and Rex met her eyes for a second.

"It's ok, Ahsoka. I'd rather you be comfortable without me than uncomfortable with me." He said earnestly. Ahsoka wrung her hands nervously before making up her mind.

"Stay? Please?" She whispered. Rex was caught off guard at that.

"Stay? I- Of course I'll stay." He fumbled, fidgeting and looking at the ground. She chewed her lower lip.

"I'm sorry." She said at last, breaking the awkward silence. "For hitting you. I... I went too far." Rex looked up to meet her eyes.

"You have every right to be mad. You're right. I left. I promised you I'd never ask you to let me die, and that's exactly what I did. I'd let you hit me a thousand times if it made it alright." He said. Ahsoka swallowed thickly.

"Just once was enough." She stumbled forward, wrapping her arms around his middle as the dam broke.

Rex held her carefully, letting her cry into his chest and not really knowing what to do. Eventually, the tears seemed to stutter to a hiccuping stop.

"I don't deserve your love. Not after how I acted." She mumbled into his now-damp shirt. Rex stiffened and stepped back, holding her by the shoulders.

"Now you listen and listen carefully." He growled, looking her in the eyes. "You don't ever have to earn love. Not from me. Ok?" He asked. Ahsoka nodded and leaned forward to press a kiss to his lips before burying her face into the crook of his neck.

"I missed you." She mumbled as he tightened his hold on her. Rex leaned his own head against hers.

"I missed you too, Cyare. Kriffing harran, I missed you." He ran a soothing hand down her rear lekku. Her knees buckled but he caught her, picking her up with an ease that worried him and sitting down on the floor by the couch. She was a skeleton under her clothes. He could feel the concave hollow that was her stomach, fell her ribs easily through the fabric. She probably weighed as much as she did when he first met her almost three years ago.

"When's the last time you've eaten, Ahsoka?" He muttered against her montral. Ahsoks pressed her lips together against his neck.

"Dunno." She mumbled. Rex untangled himself from her and left her sitting by the wall as he raided the refrigerator, getting a small cut of meat and some eggs. He managed to cook the eggs without burning them, but left the meat raw as he dumped it on a plate and returned. He handed it to Ahsoka who made a face.

"Not hungry." She complained, pushing it away. Rex sighed and picked her up again, settling her in his lap.

"Too bad. You're finishing the plate." He said against her montrals. "You've got to take better care of yourself." Ahsoka huffed but picked up the plate of food. It wasn't a lot of food, but it was something.

It took a lot of coaxing, but he managed to get her to eat most of it. She cuddled into him with a drowsy purr. Rex shifted so she'd be more comfortable.

"Sleep, Cyare. I'll be here when you wake up. I promise." He whispered as she started to doze off. She nodded sleepily and went out like a candle in the wind.