SWTCW Oneshots (Mainly Clones) part 2

Legacy

The dark, endless black skies of nighttime were suffocating.

Rex was staring up at the stars, which only served as a reminder of how lonely he's truly become. After everything him and his brothers have been through together, they were gone.

That left him to sit here and suffer for the rest of eternity, or however long his miserable life would allow. Strangely, he didn't want a longer life. Instead, he wanted a short one, if only to be reunited with his fallen and forgotten brothers.

He didn't want to be here anymore. Didn't want to be forced to live a pointless and pitiful existence with none of his friends by his side.

Ahsoka was gone. Skywalker was gone..Fives, Jesse, Echo, Tup, Hardcase..

Cody.

Only a few days ago, he had put his eldest brother into the ground. After a short struggle, his brother, unable to cope with what he had done, sent a bullet straight through his skull.

Ironically, he was the only person he had left. Now, he looked up at the billions if not trillions of bright, flickering stars.

Once, there were millions of clones. Now, they had all been replaced. Either that, or killed. The ones that were left didn't have a purpose anymore.

Rex definitely didn't. He had failed his only objective. To protect his family. His brothers. But yet, he couldn't even accomplish that simple task. Because his best friends were dead.

He didn't want to be alone.

"Nightmare?" Fives mumbled. He climbed his way into the Captain's bunk uninvited, casually making himself at home as he always does.

Rex lowered his gaze, remaining silent.

The ARC sighed, lending a comforting hand to squeeze his shoulder with. "If you think I blame you for Umbara, you're dead wrong," His lips twitched into a cocky grin. "Not to be offensive, but sometimes you're as dumb as a--"

"If what I think you're going to say leaves your mouth, you will never know of the outside world again."

Fives snorted. "That of all things gets you to talk. I need to start getting more jokes from Jesse."

Rex shook his head. "So unoriginal, Fives. So unoriginal..."

He could practically feel his brother watching him. Of course, it had to be when his face fell again and he looked away. The emotions were hard to keep at bay.

And then there were arms around him. He turned his head to see the ARC making himself comfortable. Once again, not caring what Rex thought, but at this point he didn't care.

"What are you doing?"

"Helping you sleep because I don't think you'd be willing to listen to another one of my pep talks," Fives answered. He shoved him down. "Now lay down, oaf."

It wasn't uncommon for brothers to shove their way into another brother's bunk, demanding comfort, but for Fives it was for the opposite reason. Sure, sometimes he did it because he craved comfort, but he usually did it to comfort the person who's bunk he was forcing his way onto.

Rex choked. "Did you just call me an oaf?"

"Did I?"

He didn't bother to answer. But after some silence, Fives spoke again.

"You know, even if we had gotten executed, it wouldn't be your fault."

"And why's that?"

"Cause you were only doing what you thought was right. And you didn't understand."

Rex huffed. "That's no excuse."

Fives turned his head to look at him. "I didn't always know any better either. Not until after Echo--"

"I know."

"I'm just saying I know what's it like," Fives rested his head on his shoulder. "And I don't want you to feel like you tried to kill us."

Rex frowned and Fives offered a reassuring smile.

"Sleep, Rex. Because if you don't, I'll go get Kix and I'll make you sleep."

"Fine.."

The Captain pulled his knees up to his chest, taking a quick sip of his canteen of water.

He couldn't live like this. His brothers were his rock, his anchor. And his only reason to keep going. But with them gone..

Living was pointless.

Squeezing his eyes closed, he cradled his head in his hands, oh so desperately wishing his brothers were here again.

"Give that back, Fives!"

"No! Finders keepers!"

He rubbed his palms over his eyes. Not for the first time, he wanted to disappear. Fives and Jesse were both there to keep him sane. Especially Fives. And after he died, Jesse took up the role as overprotective ARC trooper.

"Fives, no!"

"Fives, brother.."

"Stay with me, Fives!"

"The mission...the nightmares..they're...finally..over.."

"Oh, no..."

And then he died too. It wasn't fair. His death was in vain. There was no one to remember him. The only one who could was Rex.

"Rex?" Jesse asked.

"Mm?"

"I'm here if you need me."

Rex smiled. "I know."

"I don't think you do."

He rolled his eyes. "Jesse."

"Fine."

It was up to him to carry on their legacy. Because none of them would be forgotten. Not on his watch.