Star Wars the Clone Wars - One shots

It's an inside joke - Part 3

When Fives woke up, the first thing he was aware of was pain.

It started in his head, a throbbing sensation at the base of his skull. His neck was stiff, his chest uncomfortably tight from what he suspected were a number of broken ribs. His legs felt oddly numb, like they had been submerged in an ice bath for too long.

Something must have happened to him for him to be waking in so much pain. Slowly and sluggishly, his soldier senses told him to get a grip of himself and wake up. If he had been captured by the enemy, he needed to be alert.

An inkling in the back of his mind told him that he had a job to do. He had to protect the Commander.

His eyes felt like they had been glued shut, his mouth full of cotton. Once he managed to peel his eyes open, he immediately squinted at the bright light over his head.

Ah, medbay.

At least he wasn't in an enemy prison.

"Coric, the kid's awake," he heard a voice grumble.

Never mind, he would take the prison, especially when the sweet smell of bacta hit him, along with the droning noises of the various machines.

"Thanks, Zyme," there was suddenly a face in front of him. Fives blinked to clear the blurriness, revealing the calm expression of the 501st's CMO. "Hey, Fives. How are you feeling?"

He had to wet his lips with his tongue, his mouth thoroughly dry. "Like I've been trampled."

A piece of plastic was pressed to his mouth. He realised it was a straw, and at someone's gentle suggestion for him to drink, Fives relished the stale taste of the Resolute's water.

Coric chuckled, pulling the straw away, "Not far off, vod'ika. Do you remember the mission?"

Fives tried to recall what had happened for him to end up in medical. His head throbbed, as did his entire body, but he couldn't remember any of the details.

Something about protecting the Commander.

Eventually, he sighed, "Not much."

"That's okay; you got hit pretty hard," Coric's smile was kind, "You and Commander got caught in a rockslide whilst on patrol. The pair of you fell to the bottom of the ravine, we had to dig you out."

That explained the pain.

The memories were slowly filling in. Fives could remember being tossed like a ragdoll between rocks the size of tookas. He had tried to remember his training, but ultimately, his main concern was protecting the-

"Is the Commander alright?" He asked, feeling tired. His eyes kept drifting shut.

"She's fine, just a few bruises and scrapes." Coric assured him, "Had you not wrapped yourself around her to break the impact, she would've been a lot worse."

Fives tried to not think about how Ahsoka's body might've looked if he hadn't done what he did.

"What did Brightside say?" He said, his words slurring from exhaustion and whatever pain meds they were pumping into him.

Zyme snorted near his head, "She used a lot of colourful words to describe your heroic act."

Coric looked like he was trying to hold in his laughter as he shined a torch into Fives' eyes.

"He's slipping back under," Zyme muttered, now standing at the foot of his medcot. The man's braid had got so long since Fives met him, it fell over his shoulder now.

"Yep," Coric gave him a reassuring smile, "Night, Fives."

He spent the rest of the day in and out of sleep.