A Pain Lost In The Stars - Complete

Chapter 10

Present…

Kix was snapped out of his thoughts by a cry, his parental instincts kicked in. Dove had screamed in her sleep waking many of them up, Kix moved from where he sat over to her side. He instantly brought her into his chest. "Shh, I've got you. Let it out, he is not here nor will he ever be. Dove, open your eyes. I'm here" His words seemed to work as she opened her eyes quickly and latched onto him.

"Dad!"

"Shh I've got you" Kix managed to get out, he coughed into his shoulder. He was aware everyone was watching so he made sure to hide Dove from them all. He couldn't even stroke her face due to the mask the two had to wear. Dove continued to hug him tightly. He made to move to sit against the wall, it was the middle of the night and Rex was in the machine as was Fives. 

He sat against the hard wall holding her close in his lap. As he did when she was younger, he frowned looking past her head to see Jesse watching with a small smile. Kix had to stop himself from glaring since he didn't have his helmet on him. Crosshair grumbled beside him but was quickly shushed by Hunter who held him close. Only Hunter had joined Sev on the walk up as the others remained with the ship due to the uncomfortableness they had around the others. Hunter just needed to get Crosshair but when he found the marksman asleep, he didn't have the heart to move him. So the batch leader made sure to settle down and pull the marksman into his arms. He informed his batch of the changes and they reassured him they would be looking after their new member. Kix smiled at the peaceful face of the normal serious Hunter who tightened his grip on Crosshair unconsciously.

Soon enough the hours passed and they had all had their chips removed, even Kix who had made sure everyone was out first before he settled into the machine. Cody was taking a while to settle down, always on edge but it didn't matter. The rest of the batch had theirs removed once Hunter and Crosshair returned to the Havok Marauder, Tech and Wrecker appeared for the procedure. But, refused to both go under at the same time unless someone was watching over them which ended up being Hunter. Which left Crosshair with Scorch at the ships. 

"Kix?" The soft voice of Echo made the medic look up from where he had been awake all night looking at his daughter. 

"Are you alright?" 

Kix only nodded knowing he must have looked worse for wear per usual. Boss frowned at him from beside Coric who crossed his arms over his own chest. 

"No, I'm not but I'm improving, '' Kix admitted to the room as he pulled Dove to her feet. His daughter hadn't said a word since waking up, she was aware her nightmare woke many others and she felt a little embarrassed by it. Kix rubbed her shoulder in comfort knowing exactly how she felt.

Rex only nodded from beside Anakin and Ahsoka, the three had been discussing their next moves when Scorch suddenly radioed in. 

"Boss. We have a situation. The Empire has put out a huge warning to any those against them who will be killed on sight. Oh and Suu demands we help her before we die by her hands" Scorch chuckled over the commlink, Sev and Fixer groaned alerting the room. "We are so dead, we were meant to check in" Sev exclaimed looking at Fixer who was grabbing his pack and readjusting his armour. 

"Boss! Enemy ships are here!" Scorch suddenly shouted through the commlink. 

Boss ignored the others as he directed his squad to their designated spots. 

"Kix, since you don't have your rifle. I need you to get these guys out of here. Scorch will meet you by the tunnel's exit. We will rendezvous with you. Dove, come with me, you are going to be helping Grey and Fixer with the locals. I'm sure Clone Force 99 will help out. Understand?" Kix and Dove nodded, they hugged each other tightly before the two went their separate ways. Hunter, Tech and Wrecker joined Boss intending on getting back to Crosshair and their new member.