Cyare (A Rexsoka SWTCW Fanfic)

28

Rex woke up crying, still huddled in a ball on the floor. He stretched as much as he could, feeling bits of the scab break off and flake away. Ahsoka was already awake and probing at him again with the force.

"'Soka." He slurred, forcing his addled and feverish brain to think. Ahsoka didn't answer, continuing to focus on her feeble attempts to heal his back. "Ahsoka stop." He said, louder. Her blue eyes fluttered open. He saw the room lightening again. Either they were in for a new round of torture or they were being brought rations.  They were backlit in the dim light like a lothcat's.

"Why? I'm trying to help you, love." She slid her hands through the bars to grip his.

"But I'm not getting better, Cyare." He leaned his head wearily against the bars. Ahsoka leaned forward too, pressing a kiss to his forehead through the cage. He managed a ghost of a smile.

"Then I'll have to try harder. They'll come for us eventually." She said determinedly. Rex's lips twisted bitterly.

"They'll come for you, you mean. You're not expendable." He shivered unconsciously. Ahsoka reached up to stroke the side of his face gently. He leaned into her touch, taking a small solace with her cool hands against his burning face.

"Neither are you!" She said sharply. Rex gave a coughing chuckle.

"Yeah, to you or the 501st maybe. But anyone else would see me as just another clone, and an injured one at that." He curled up closer to the bars of the cage again, dried pus and blood flaking off the scab on his back leaving it raw and tender to the touch.

"Rex no! I will not just let you die!" Ahsoka grabbed his jaw with an iron grip and forced him to meet her eyes. She was holding back tears that he could hear in her voice.

"Please, Ahsoka. I hurt so, so much." He whispered, meeting her gaze with eyes that were hot and prickly, but had no tears left to shed. "Please, if you love me, spare me the torture and just let the infection take me." He begged. A single tear slid down his fiancee's cheek and she let out a strangled sob.

"No I- I can't. I won't!" She yelled, her hand falling to his chest weakly. In the brightening room he could see the bloody raw marks that covered her wrists and arms from her sliding her hands through the bars.

"Ahsoka." He said her name softly. That was all he said, and yet it showed everything he didn't. Ahsoka's hand curled into a fist in his blacks, or what was left of them. She yanked him forward and kissed him. There was nothing soft or sweet about it. Just a mess of icy-cold lips against burning hot ones in a flurry of teeth and tongue in a messy mixture of apology, grief, and goodbye. Finally she pilled away.

"I love you." He whispered softly. Ahsoka was crying now. She understood what she was going to do. She pressed her mind up against Rex's and let out a soft breath. Rex let her in without hesitation, but he frowned. Ahsoka gave him a sad smile, and gave a soft tug at the force. Rex's eyes rolled back into his head and he slumped against the cage, unconscious.

The light got to about as bright as it had ever gotten, and stopped. The door slid open and Caedus walked in leisurely.

"I hope I'm not interrupting anything." He drawled. Ahsoka quickly yanked her hands back into her cage, wincing as the bloody raw edges of her skin brushed against the bars. "I just wanted you to know that the republic has found this place. If I had my way, I would kill you two now. But my master wants to release you two for some odd reason." Ahsoka couldn't believe her ears. This had to be another illusion.

"Said you were a part of the grand plan. That you needed to go back to the republic. Shame. I loved hearing your screams." He sighed and tossed two lightsabers from his belt off to the side along with commlinks and Rex's 17's. The ground shook, and Caedus looked up exasperatedly. "Really? Bunker bombs? So uncivilized of them. Oh, well. Time to correct the errors of the republic later." He sighed like it was a genuine pity. He spun on his heel and marched out of the room, taking his presence out of her mind for the first time since he broke her.

This definitely wasn't real. Ahsoka huddled in her cage, listening to the trembles of the earth around them and Rex's raspy and shallow breathing beside her.

The timely shuddering of the ground fave way to the sound of footfalls through the halls around her. Finally, the door burst open and Anakin charged in, lightsaber in hand. He stopped dead when he saw what was in front of him.

"Snips?" He asked, incredulously. Ahsoka flinched. His voice was just like she remembered it, and just like it sounded in her hallucinations. Anakin ran over to her and tore the front of the cages off. He took one look at her arms and Rex and keyed up his comm.

"We need a med team in here. Prep a bacta tank." He ordered, his face going pale. Ahsoka crawled out of her cage and stumbled to her feet, her legs aching from lack if use. She spun on her heel and tried to help Rex out of his cage, but he was heavy and she was weak. Anakin used the force to levitate them both out into open ground. Ahsoka dragged herself over to her love, who was still on his side in the fetal position. She pulled his head carefully into his lap.

She felt and hand on her shoulder and flinched away. Anakin backed off, putting his hands ip peacefully. Ahsoka glared at him.

"Don't. Touch. Him." She spat menacingly. Anakin was growing more and more concerned. He poked at her head questioningly and was alarmed when he meant no resistance. Her shields had been turned to shreds. The med team came bursting in and Ahsoma stiffled a scream. They were coming to hurt and kill and they would destroy and she couldn't breath and she was trapped and her arms burned and...

She heard voices out of her distant panic.

"Adrenaline and pulse spiking..."

"Infection.... 104 degrees..."

"Sedation... syringe..."

She saw the glint of medal and freaked out, launching herself at the white armor that had tortured her so many times in the last few days. She sank teeth into what ever soft spot she could find, biting and kicking and keeping them away from Rex. She snarled obscenities at them in her native tongue when they finally managed to get a hold on her. There was a prick in her neck, and everything went black.

A/N - YAY! Rescue at last. Don't worry, the worst is yet to come. No riddle of the day, sorry.