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Chapter Text

Erin’s feet pounded against the pavement as she sprinted through the deserted streets of Coruscant. Her lungs burned and her muscles were straining to keep up, but she had no choice. She had to make it to the lower levels before the storm hit, and she was running out of time.

Of course she had picked today of all days to come to the upper levels, hoping that the restaurants would throw out more food before the storm. Not only was she wrong, she was going to be dead in a few hours if she didn’t find a place to stay.

It rained on Coruscant once a year. Once a year, rain fell from the skies, soaking everything and everyone unfortunate enough to be left outside. But it wasn’t the rain that would kill you, it was the cold that came afterward.

She shot a glance at the countdown timer on one of the thousands of billboards. Three minutes. She wasn’t going to reach the elevator in time.

“Think,” she mumbled, spinning around to survey her surroundings. “You can’t go down and you can’t stay here. Think!”

A timer began to tick in her head and the clouds began to thunder overhead. Out of options, she began to bang on the door of every restaurant and store on the street. Each time, the owner shook their head and turned away.

“Get away from here, gutter trash!” one older Ithorian yelled, chasing her away with a broom. “Go back where you belong!”

“I wish I could,” Erin mumbled, catching her breath.

There was one more store that she could check, although she knew their answer would be the same. Hesitantly, she knocked on the door. A young twi’lek answered, frowning when she saw the rags Erin was dressed in. “You should be home, little one.”

Erin tried to give the woman a shy smile. Based on the owner’s wince, it didn’t work. “I need a place to stay during the storm. Can I please come inside?”

The woman’s answer was immediate. “I’m sorry, but there’s no room.” The empty chairs and space behind her would suggest otherwise, but Erin didn’t argue. “Perhaps you can find another place to stay.”

The timer ticked down. Two minutes.

“Perhaps I will.” Erin tugged the hood of her poncho over her face, refusing to let the other woman see her fear.

She stopped on the other side of the street to collect her thoughts. There had to be something that she could do, but she couldn’t come up with any solution. Based on what she saw in the last five minutes, no one was going to help a random kid that showed up unannounced on their doorstep.

She took a shuddering breath before pulling back her shoulders. She had survived everything else Coruscant had thrown at her, and she could survive this. When she looked up, she spotted a small alley. It would have to do.

Erin slipped her backpack off, trudging wearily down the dingy alley. She breathed a sigh of relief as she saw empty barrels and pallets lining the walls. She could work with that.

The overhead speakers crackled to life, a robotic voice coming through loud and clear, “All citizens, please move inside. One minute before the rain begins.”

There was no time to lose. Erin quickly began moving the pallets to make some sort of shelter, throwing her blue tarp over everything. With any luck, that would be enough to keep the rain off of her for the night.

She crawled under the tarp just as the rain began to fall. The little tent held for a few minutes, long enough for Erin to decide it was safe enough for her to bring out her torn blanket. She pushed herself against the wall, curling into a ball to conserve body heat.

Then, the leaks began. Erin tried to plug them with random pieces of debris she had found in the alley, but whenever she stopped one, another appeared. The rain continued to pelt the tarp, tearing it even more, and there was nothing she could do to stop it. She ended up soaked, shivering in the cold as a growing puddle began to ooze closer to where she sat.

She was just going to have to ride out the storm. Holding back a shiver, Erin pulled the blanket tighter around her. She could make it. She had to.

-------

Commander Fox of the Coruscant Guard sighed for what had to have been the thousandth time that day.

“What is it?” Hound asked, eyebrow raised. “Did Senator Zusk lose his tooka again?” The sergeant was still in his armor, Grizzer sitting happily beside him.

Fox glanced up, rubbing at his eyes. Today was supposed to be easy. The senators were on recess, back on their own planets, and even the chancellor wasn’t being as terrible as usual. But of course his good day couldn’t last. “Someone just called to report a kid out in the storm.”

Hound looked towards the ceiling as thunder rumbled, making the walls around them shudder. “That’s not good. Where are they?”

“You’re not going out there.” Fox’s answer was firm, his face set in a frown.

Hound ignored him in favor of slipping on his bucket and grabbing Grizzer’s harness. “There’s a cadet out there, Fox. I’m going.”

“It’s probably just a lost pet or something. There’s no way that someone would let a kid wander around in this.” He raised an eyebrow. “You’re going to get soaking wet, and I won’t save you when Stitches gets his hands on you.”

“Fox, if there’s a chance that there is a kid out there, I have to check it out.” The sergeant chuckled good-naturedly, “Nat-borns aren’t used to the rain like we are.”

Knowing how stubborn his vod could be, Fox just sighed, leaning back in his chair. “Fine, but I reserve the right to say ‘I told you so’ when you end up getting the sniffles.”

Hound laughed, Grizzer wiggling his butt happily beside his partner. “Haven’t you heard Senator Burtoni? We’re clone troopers, we don’t get the sniffles. Where is the kid?”

“Level 13, the market district,” Fox said, nodding towards the door with a fond sigh. “The sooner you leave the sooner you get back.” Before the door closed, the commander shouted, “And Grizzer isn’t coming into the barracks wet!”

Hound ignored his commander, letting the door shut behind him. Scratching Grizzer behind his collar, he said, “Don’t worry, bud, I’m not gonna make you stay in the kennel tonight. Fox’ll get over it.” He straightened, clicking an order to his partner. “Now let’s go find that kid.”

Coruscant rain was nothing like Kamino, but it was still miserable. And cold. Very, very cold. “I hope Fox was right,” Hound said, having to yell for Grizzer to hear him, “no one needs to be out in this.”

He leaned into the wind, fighting to stay upright. Rain began to pelt him harder, making it impossible to see anything past a few feet. The trip to Level 13 was horrible, pieces of trash and unsecured tables flying through the streets, but after a small eternity, he reached the market district.

It took him another hour to search the area, water soaking through his blacks and puddling in his boots. Finally, he found a small alley.

“If the kid’s not here,” he told Grizzer, “we’re going back to base.” The massif shook itself off, which would have been unfortunate if everything around them wasn’t already drenched.

The alley was filled with more trash and junk, forcing the sergeant to be careful as he picked his way through. He didn’t want to add tetanus to the list of things Stitches was going to rant about. Wait. He had a partner who could make this search go a lot faster. Letting go of the massif’s harness, he gestured deeper into the darkness. “Grizzer, search.”

The massif ran out like a shot, sniffing and dismissing each pile of garbage. The sergeant frowned as he realized that the rain might keep Grizzer from finding a scent trail. Then, he fell flat on his face as he tripped over a carton covered by a blue tarp.

Grizzer barked, running back to bump Hound with his nose. “I’m okay, bud,” he said, rubbing his partner’s head. “Let’s get back to the barracks, there’s no one here.”

He got to a knee, looking for the handle on Grizzer’s harness. Which is when he noticed a purple scrap of cloth under the tarp. Hound moved to the edge of the makeshift shelter, hand on his blaster. Lifting it up, he tried to be ready for anything. He wasn’t.

Under the leaking fabric was a girl. Hound could tell she was young, but he was terrible at guessing nat-born ages, so he couldn’t be any more specific. Ragged clothes hung off her shoulder, and she shivered under the purple blanket that had caught his attention. Worst of all, she was soaked, her lips clearly blue, even in the darkness. “Kark.”

He gently shook the girl’s arm, breath catching in his throat as her head lolled to the side. “Kid?” Shaking her harder, he repeated, “Kid, can you hear me?” There was no response.

Hound gathered the girl in his arms, accessing his internal comms. “Fox?” he asked, whistling for Grizzer to follow as he made his way out of the alley.

A few seconds later, Fox’s tired voice came through. A stab of guilt flashed through Hound when he realized he probably just woke the commander up from his first nap in days. “Where are you?”

“The market district. I found the kid.” He debated running, but that was a sure-fire way to fall in this weather, and he had cargo now. “She’s in bad shape.”

“Then take her to the hospital. Her parents are probably worried sick.” Fox yawned. “Not our problem.”

“Fox,” Hound began, hesitating as he wondered what to say, “I don’t think she has parents.”

There was silence on the other end of the comm. “You’re coming here, aren’t you?”

Huffing a laugh, Hound kept moving. “It’s almost like you know me, Commander.”

“I’ll tell Stitches to get ready. What should he expect?” The commander’s tone was all business, soothing Hound’s frayed nerves. Fox could fix anything, even this.

“I think she has hypothermia, and I don’t know if she’s eaten anything in a while.” Hound readjusted his grip, moving deeper into the storm. “She’s not heavy.”

“How old is she?”

The sergeant glanced down, looking into the girl’s face. “Maybe six?” With more confidence, he added, “Twelve standard. She’s about the size of a 6th year cadet.”

Fox hummed, probably sending Stitches a comm. “Okay. Come in through the speeder bay. Stitches and I will be waiting for you.”

“Thanks, ori’vod.”

“Don’t mention it,” the commander said, sounding a little too smug for Hound’s comfort, “because I want you to get looked over by a medic, too. I don’t want you to come down with something we can’t treat.”

Hound groaned, even as he realized that Fox probably had a point. He usually did. It wasn’t like they had the supplies to spare, and who knows what all they’d need to help the kid. If a quick screening would keep him from having to waste medical supplies, it would be worth it. “Fine, but Grizzer is coming, too.”

“I don’t want that mutt in the barracks.”

“You know you love him and his cuddles.” Grizzer wagged his butt as they kept walking, happy to hear the word ‘cuddling’ in any conversation.

Fox growled, “No wet massifs in the barracks. You know the rules.”

“But what if Grizzer got sick? We need to check him, too.” Hound wasn’t whining. Definitely not. Wheedling was totally different.

He could almost see Fox pinching the bridge of his nose. A big sigh echoed through the comm. “If I say no, you’re just going to sneak him in, aren’t you?”

“Me? You’re favorite rule-abiding ARF trooper?”

“Fine,” Fox huffed. He must be really worried if he gave up that easily. “How much longer till you’re back?”

Hound checked the positioning system on his HUD. “Five minutes.”

“We’ll be waiting.”

Chapter Text

The speeder bay was just in sight. Hound began to jog now, the girl in his arms not reacting to the change in speed. She had stopped shivering a few minutes ago, and the sergeant was pretty sure that was a bad sign. “Come on, kid, hang on just a little bit longer.”

Past the curtain of rain, Hound could see two figures waiting for him. And thank the Force, they had a stretcher. He ran out of the rain, gently laying the girl down. Stitches whisked her inside, already yelling into his comm. Good. He’d take care of the kid.

“Hound?” Fox asked. The sergeant didn’t respond, still staring at the closed doors the kid had disappeared behind. Fox knocked on his helmet. Finally getting Hound’s attention, he said, “You did good. Stitches has it covered.”

“I know.”

“Then why don’t we go inside and get you and the mutt dried off? Afterwards, I’m sure we can go and check on her.”  Fox began to subtly herd his vod into the barracks, ignoring Grizzer slobbering along beside them.

The hallways were practically deserted, everyone getting some well-deserved rest while the planet hibernated during the storm. Tomorrow, everything would go back to normal. They would have to deal with pompous senators, cruel citizens, and drunk brothers. But that was tomorrow’s problem. Tonight, all Fox needed to do was help his vod’ika.

They made it to the commander’s bunkroom. Fox shared it with Thire, Thorn, and Stone, but it was still marginally larger than the other bunks. And it had its own ‘fresher, which Fox pushed Hound towards. “Get in there and get warmed up.” He rolled his eyes fondly as the sergeant lumbered towards the sonic. “Take off your kit, first, di’kut.”

Hound complied, dropping his armor into a wet pile on the floor before going into the ‘fresher, door closing softly behind him.

Thire chuckled quietly as he slipped off his bunk, grabbing a towel to try and dry Grizzer off. “He looks dead on his feet.”

“Spent over an hour in the storm looking for that kid.” Fox frowned as he began to pick up the discarded armor, taking a rag to start drying it off.

Thorn whistled. “No wonder he looks like he dunked himself in the senate fountain. No one should be out in this stuff.”

“Let alone a kid.” Stone ran his hand over his head, turning to look at Fox. “So what are we going to do, Commander?”

Fox shrugged, focusing on the armor in front of him. “Hand her over to the Child Relocation Bureau, what else?”

“Fox.” Thorn’s brows were pinched, the amusement gone from his face. “You’ve heard the rumors about that place. We can’t send her there.”

“What other option is there? It’s not like we can keep her.”

“Why not?” The ‘fresher door had opened without any of the commanders noticing. Hound stood in the doorway, towel wrapped around his waist and thankfully looking more awake than when he had gone in. “Anything’s better than the CRB.”

Fox rubbed his forehead, knowing that this argument wasn’t going to end well. “Hound, she’s not a stray tooka. She’s a human child.”

“She needs us, commander.” The sergeant’s puppy eyes were out in full force, but Fox wouldn’t give in to them. Again.

“You just met her. How have you gotten attached so quickly?” Fox looked up to the ceiling, praying for patience from anything that would listen. “We’re not keeping her.”

A kark-eating grin grew on Thorn’s face as he leaned back against his pillow. “You know what, Fox? I think Hound has as good point.”

Betrayed, Fox shot a glare at his second-in-command. “Not you, too!”

“Hear me out,” the commander began, hands up to stave off any incoming argument. “We get this kid to work with us. She’s probably lived on Coruscant for years, knows where the cartels and drug runners are. She leads us to them, and BOOM, we catch the bad guys.”

“We. Do. Not. Know. How. To. Raise. A. Child.” Fox tried to hammer that fact into his brother’s heads, but by the look on Thire and Stone’s faces, it wasn’t going to happen.

“We can figure it out,” Thire said. “I mean, how hard could it be?”

“If a nat-born can do it,” Stone began, stopping only when he saw the near-murderous look on Fox’s face. The other commander shrugged. “Think of it this way, Fox. She can be the Guard’s mascot. You know how much of a morale-booster those Jedi commanders are.”

“And we could really use a morale boost.” Hound had increased the power of his puppy eyes, and to make it worse, the other commanders had joined in. Even Grizzer was trying to look adorable. Well, as adorable as a wet massif could look.

“I want it put on the record that this is a terrible idea and you’re all terrible brothers.” Chunking Hound’s pauldron at his head, he continued, “And if the kid says no, that’ll be the end of it. Understand?”

“Yes, sir!” Hound’s smile was blinding, and it warmed something in Fox’s cold, shriveled heart. He didn’t see those smiles much, anymore. Coruscant tended to beat it out of the Guard, so if this random child could make his brothers that happy, maybe she would be worth the trouble. But Fox wasn’t going to get his hopes up.

He patted the bunk beside him. “You should get some rest. It won’t be long until the storm stops and we have to get back to work.”

The sergeant shook his head, water flying off the ends of his curls. “I need to go check on the kid, see how she’s doing.”

“You’re no good to her sleep deprived.” Thorn crossed his arms, shooting an amused glance to Fox. “Right, Commander?”

Fox rolled his eyes. “For once in his life, Thorn’s right. Stitches said that it’ll be a while before the kid wakes up.”

He could see Hound bracing himself for a fight. “Then it won’t bother anyone if I stay in the medbay for the night.”

“This kid isn’t your responsibility, Hound.”

“Yes, she is.” Hound began to pull on a fresh pair of blacks, refusing to look at his ori’vod. “I brought her in, so I need to look after her.”

Fox sighed before grabbing his gear. “Fine. I needed to check with Slice, anyway, to see what he could dig up on our mystery kid.” He typed out a quick message on his comm. “He’s going to meet us there.” He glared at the other commanders. “You three, try and get some sleep.”

“Don’t have to tell me twice,” Thire smirked, sliding back into his bunk. “You try and get some sleep, too, Commander. I’m sure that Stitches will let you borrow a cot.”

Smirking, Thorn tried to subtly put his vambrace back on the ground with the rest of his armor. ‘Tried’ was the key word. “Don’t worry, I’ve already told him that you two will be spending the night in his tender, loving care.”

“Why do I put up with you?” Fox ignored the grins that all of his brothers were shooting his way in favor of putting on his helmet. “Come on, Sergeant, let’s get going.”

Fox marched out of the bunkroom, Hound and Grizzer right on his heels. “Thank you, Commander.”

“Don’t thank me yet,” he said, wishing he could pinch the bridge of his nose. “Who knows what’ll happen when the kid wakes up.”

“I have a good feeling about her.”

The commander sighed. “That makes one of us.”

He saw the Guard’s best slicer coming towards them. “Slice.”

The vod fell into step beside them, eyes not leaving the datapad in his hands. “Commander.”

“What’ve you found?”

They turned, reaching the hallway that would lead them to the medbay. The tech-genius huffed, running his fingers through his hair. “Hound was right, the kid’s an orphan. Parents and younger brother died three years ago in a fire-”

“She’s been on her own for three years?” Hound interrupted, eyebrows raising to his hairline.

Slice threw a glare at his brother. “As I was saying, all of her known relatives are dead. She’s been in and out of CRB custody since then. Escaped 6 times, and still on the run.”

“Do we have a name?” The doors to the medbay opened, revealing the handful of medics rushing between patients. Stitches looked up, immediately finding the trio intruding on his domain.

“Erin Trenlow.”

The Guard’s CMO waved them forward, meeting them halfway. Not one to mince words, he said, “She’s going to make it.”

Hound’s shoulder’s slumped with relief. “Thank the Force.”

“I wasn’t finished.” Stitches led them through the crowded medbay into a curtained-off room. Hound immediately went to the side of the bed, gently taking the girl’s hand in his own.

She looked so kriffing small. Someone had changed her into a medical gown, the old clothes folded on the lone chair. Short brown hair hung down to her chin and was cut haphazardly, like she had done it with a pair of dull scissors. Her cheeks were sunken in, and she was just so KARKING SMALL. There was no way that he was ever that little. Fox forced himself to loosen his grip on his bucket. “What else, Stitches?”

The medic ignored Fox and turned to Slice, instead. “How old is she?”

“Fourteen.”

“Kark.” The medic frowned, jabbing at his datapad.

Hound’s brows were pinched as he ran a thumb over the unconscious girl’s knuckles. Grizzer sat by his partner’s feet, leaning against the sergeant’s legs. “What is it?”

“She’s underweight, her growth’s been severely stunted, and although you got her here in time, she may still contract an infection of some kind.” The medic rattled off his diagnoses, eyes flickering between his pad and the monitor above Erin’s head. “If she’s going to stay, we’re going to need to get some actual food. We may not be able to get her up to the correct height, but we can definitely correct any nutrient deficiencies she has.”

“Stitches,” Fox said, resting a hand on his brother’s arm, “we can’t even feed ourselves. Ration bars are all we have.”

The vod sighed before looking to his commander. “I know,” he turned his gaze back to the kid, “but a man can dream.”

“You did good.” Fox squeezed his arm before moving to stand next to Hound. “When do you think she’ll wake up?”

Happy to be on firmer ground, Stitches readily replied, “Not sure. It depends on how much sleep she’s been getting recently. Which, if I had to guess, hasn’t been a lot.”

Fox nodded, decision made. “Hound, you stay with the kid and try to get some sleep. When she wakes up, let me know and we’ll get a meeting set up to explain our proposition.”

“She’ll accept.” Slice crossed his arms, a thoughtful look on his face. “She’d do anything to not go back to the CRB.” He huffed a quiet laugh. “Not that I blame her.”

“Stitches, I’m going to need a report on what human females need at this stage of development. If we’re going to do this, we’re going to do it right.”

He watched as the medic began to type furiously on his pad. Knowing his CMO, he had already had a small library’s worth of information gathered. “Most nat-borns her age attend school. Can we do anything about that?”

“That depends,” Slice said, rubbing his chin, “what do nat-borns learn at school?”

“Why are you asking me?” Stitches looked up at his brother, eyebrow raised. “Do I look like a nat-born?”

Hound stepped in before the argument could escalate. “What were we learning at her age?”

“We would have already been separated into our specializations,” Fox said, pulling out his pad. “But who knows what this kid would be interested in.”

“We can figure that out once she wakes up, but we should definitely cover all of the basics: tactics, hand-to-hand, weapons, and basic medical knowledge.” Stitches went back to typing things on his pad, probably adding some curriculum to his dossier.

“And how to cheat at sabaac,” Hound added, shifting to get more comfortable in his chair.  

Fox glanced at his vod’ika, eyebrow raised. “Really?”

The sergeant shrugged unrepentantly. “It’s a useful skill. Force knows we’ve done it often enough to get some extra supplies.”

“Fine. We’ll add cheating at sabaac to the list.” He began to make a form. “I’ll send out a survey to the Guard and see if there’s anything else they think she should know and who would be willing to teach her.”

“Put me down for medicine,” Stitches said, checking the monitor again.

Slice grinned. “And I’ll do slicing.”

“Animal handling.”

Fox frowned. “Really?”

Hound straightened in his chair. “Everyone needs a massif, sir.”

“We’ll see what she wants to do.” The commander rubbed his eyes as his comm pinged with Slice’s report. “Now everyone go and get some sleep, the storm will be over in a few hours.”

“That goes for you, too sir.” The medic said, staring the commander down. Fox sent him a glare that sent shinies scurrying away in fear, but it only made the medic raise an impervious eyebrow. “I will sedate you.”  

“It’s a rebellion. You’re mutinying against your commanding officer.”

“Yes, yes I am.” Stitches pushed Fox towards a cot, getting him down and stripped of his armor before the commander knew what was happening. “Everyone’s safe. Everyone’s in the barracks.” He nudged Fox backwards until his head hit the pillow. “Now go to sleep.”

Fox sighed. “I hate you all.”

“We love you, too, sir,” Hound said from where he was lounging on the chair, feet propped up on the bed beside him.

Fox decided to not grace his brother with a reply, instead getting comfortable on the cot. Stitches threw a fuzzy blanket he got from who knows where over him, but it’s not like Fox felt it. The commander was already fast asleep.

Chapter Text

She was warm. That was the first thing Erin noticed as consciousness slowly began to return. Then she remembered what happened before she fell asleep. Cold rain pelting her body, the tarp a small defense against the storm. Shivering even as she pulled the blanket tighter around her, knowing it wouldn’t be enough to keep her alive through the night.

She wasn’t under her tarp now, that’s for sure. Subtly, she stretched her hand out, feeling fabric crumble under her fingers. She was dead. That must be it.

To be honest, she thought that being dead would feel a lot different than being alive. She was still hungry, and her legs ached from her mad dash through the city. Speaking of her legs, there was something lying across them, pinning her to the bed.

“Verd’ika? Are you awake?” a deep voice asked from beside her, which is when she noticed that someone was holding her other hand. Maybe this guy would be able to explain what was going on or lead her to the afterlife. At this point, she would settle for either as long as she wouldn’t have to be cold or wet ever again.

She heard the man laugh warmly above her. “You may as well give it up, kid. I know you can hear me.”

Erin wasn’t sure what she was expecting to see when she opened her eyes, but it definitely wasn’t a clone. A scruffy beard covered his face, but his eyes were bright as he smiled at her. There was armor on his legs, and it looked like the rest of it had been piled beside his chair.

“Hi.”

“Hi,” the clone repeated, squeezing her hand. “I’m Hound, and this is Grizzer.” Something began to move around her feet, and she saw that the thing pinning her legs down was actually a giant massif.

He quickly padded to the head of the bed, putting his face directly in front of Erin’s. Cautiously, she scratched him under the chin. “Hello.” Grizzer’s butt wagged in response, prompting more scratches.

She looked up, still petting the obviously spoiled massif. “I’m Erin.”

“It’s nice to meet you.” Hound stood up, giving Grizzer a scratch before moving closer to the curtain surrounding her bed. “I’m going to call Stitches, okay? He’s the one who’s been taking care of you.”

“So I’m not dead?”

Hound’s smile dimmed into something gentler. “No, kid, you’re not dead. You’re in the Coruscant Guard’s medbay.”

Erin stiffened in the bed. If the Guard knew who she was (which they probably did), then they would send her to CRB. She had decided years ago that she would never be forced back there again. Looking at the lines hooking her to the machine beside the bed, she began to plan an escape.

“Whatever you’re planning, stop it.” Another clone had entered her area, this one wearing a gray uniform. Scars stretched across his face, and his mouth was set in a firm line.

Erin bristled. “Who says I’m planning anything?”

The man huffed as he fiddled with the machine. “You’re not the first patient who’s tried to escape medbay.”

“And she won’t be the last.” Hound leaned against the bed, a smirk on his place even as the other man glared. Hound nodded towards his friend. “If you couldn’t tell by the wonderful bedside manner, this is Stitches.”

“What’s the last thing you remember?” A pad was now in the man’s hands, waiting to record her response.

Erin nestled down under the covers, refusing to answer. Stitches sighed. “Kid, I want to help, but I need you to give me something to work with.”

She turned and faced the wall, refusing to look at him. He would leave in a few minutes, then she would take the IV out and make a mad dash for the door. Shouldn’t be too hard.

Hound came around the bed, kneeling so that he was eye-level with her. “Verd’ika, it’s okay. We’re not going to hurt you.”

“You’re going to send me to the CRB.” Her fists clenched the sheets as she stared him down. “I won’t let you.”

The man’s eyes widened in understanding. “Kid, we’re not going to give you to those demagolka, I promise.”

She huffed, sending her bangs flying from her face. “Like I haven’t heard that one before.” Erin sat up, picking at the tape on her arm. There was no sense in hiding her plans now, might as well get ready to run. “Next you’re going to tell me that the people at the CRB only want what’s best for me, and I’m being difficult.”

“I was actually going to tell you that I’m impressed with how many times you’ve been able to escape.” Her head jerked towards Stitches, who had a small smirk on his face. “Hanging onto the bottom of a senator’s speeder for two clicks was ingenious.”

Raising an eyebrow, she laid back into the bed, still not willing to trust these clones. “So you’re not going to tell the CRB about me?”

“We’re not.” Another clone pushed back the curtain, acting like he owned the place. The bags under his eyes were dark, and there was stubble on his cheeks. To put it nicely, he looked like he had been hit by a speeder. But Stitches and Hound still straightened when he strode in.

The whole ‘authority’ act wasn’t going to work. Erin refused to let this man intimidate her, even if he did look like he could break her in half like a toothpick. “So what are you going to do?”

Stitches pushed the visitor’s chair toward the other man with a pointed glare. He huffed but sank into it, making it groan under his weight. “Mutiny,” he grumbled.

“Of course, Commander.” Stitches crossed his arms, satisfied that his commander was taking a break. He looked at Erin. “This is Marshal Commander Fox. You can call him Commander or Commander Fox.”

Stitches realized his mistake as soon as the words left his mouth. Erin grinned like a feral nexu. “Foxy.”

The commander didn’t react beyond a twitch of his lips. “No.” He leaned forward, elbows resting on his knees. “Now then, we have a proposition for you.”

Erin copied his posture as best as she could from her bed. “I’m listening.” She heard Hound stifle a snort from her left and smirked.

Fox rolled his eyes. “We need help finding smuggling and kidnapping rings in the lower levels. You’re from the lower levels. If you help us find them, we’ll take care of you.”

“I don’t need anyone to take care of me,” she snarled, humor forgotten.

The commander raised his hands, trying to calm her down. “I’m not saying that you do. You’ve clearly done a good job of keeping yourself alive, but everyone needs someone to watch their backs.”

“Not me.”

Hound placed a hand on her arm. “Kid, you were almost dead when I found you. If you stay with us, we’ll give you food and a safe place to sleep.”

“We’re not going to force you to stay, but I would like for you to at least consider it.”

It was like Fox could see right through her. She didn’t like it. But she grudgingly admitted that he had made some good points. It was getting harder and harder to find food, and she had experienced more than her fair share of close calls in the past with slavers.

Frown still in place, she asked, “When you say ‘take care of me’, what do you mean?”

Stitches handed her his datapad, which turned out to be a file with all of her information on it. Putting aside the fact that this was creepy beyond all reason, she scanned through it while Fox began to explain, “Obviously we’d feed you, give you medical care, and let you have one of our bunks. We’d also teach you. There are some things that we’re going to make you learn, like basic first-aid, hand-to-hand combat, and strategy. But after that, you can pick what you’d like to specialize in.”

Erin’s mouth fell open. “How long was I asleep?”

“12 hours.” The commander shrugged self-consciously. “We would have had something more concrete drawn up, but I had to go meet with the chancellor.”

“More concr-” she stuttered, trying to figure out if he was joking or not. With a shock, she realized Fox was being completely serious. “Can you give me a minute to think about it?”

“Of course.”

Being able to get regular meals would be nice. And to be honest, there were worse places to stay. The clones obviously liked her for some unknown reason, even though they knew she was a flight risk. Actually, that may be why they liked her. Worst case scenario, she would sneak out in the middle of the night, never to be seen again.

She stuck her hand out, waiting for the commander to shake it. “Deal.”

Hound’s grin lit up the room. “You can bunk with me, Stitches, and the rest of the squad!” He turned to the medic. “When can she leave?”

Stitches shook his head, a fond smile on his face. “I need to run a few more checks, and Erin needs to actually answer my questions. Can you do that, kid?”

Erin nodded. “I’ll do my best.”

“Alright.” He nodded. “What’s the last thing you remember?”

“I remember setting up my tent, but that’s it.” She ran her fingers through her hair, tugging at some of the tangles as she answered.

Stitches made a note on his pad. “Hound found you and brought you back here. You were borderline hypothermic, malnourished, and dehydrated.” He pointed towards the IV. “That’s why I have you hooked up to this.”

“How much longer till you can take it off?” she asked, continuing to pick at the tape.

“It’ll be done in about an hour, but I want you to drink three more bottles of water before bed tonight.” He watched her nod, then continued, “Do you have any allergies that we need to know about, and have you had any surgeries?”

“No surgeries, and I don’t think I have any allergies.”

“Good to know.” He turned his attention to Hound. “Go ahead and get a bunk ready. By the time you’re done, Erin should be ready to go.”

Hound squeezed her shoulder as he stood. “Don’t worry, vod’ika, I’ll get everything set up perfectly for you.”

Erin blushed as he left, something that Fox took notice of. “You okay, kid?”

She blushed even harder at being found out. “Yeah.” Picking at a loose thread, she added, “It’s just a lot to take in.”

“Well, you’re not on your own anymore, so if you need something, let us know.” The commander squeezed her knee. “Welcome to the Coruscant Guard.”

Chapter Text

Hound came back right as Stitches was unhooking her from the IV. “Is everything ready?” the medic asked, cleaning up his supplies.

“Yup! And we lucked out, Cardshark just got off shift.” His eyes took on a mischievous glint as he smiled. “Just like you.”

“Hound,” Stitches began as he gave a long-suffering sigh, “you know that’s not how-”

Whatever he was going to say turned into a squawk as the medic was unceremoniously thrown over his brother’s shoulder. “You haven’t slept in over 48 hours, vod. It’s time for a nap.” The sergeant winked at Nyx, “Don’t worry, this is normal.”

She swung her legs off the bed, scooting forward until her feet finally reached the floor. “If this is normal, I’d hate to see what ‘weird’ looks like.”

“Looks a like a nat-born kid being dragged into my medbay half dead.” Stitches grumbled.

Hound gave him a shake. “Be nice to the kid.” As the medic tried to wiggle out of his brother’s grasp, Hound shook him again. “Sorry about him, after 36 hours he gets a little grumpy. He’ll be good as new after a little shut eye.”

Resigned to his fate, Stitches relaxed. “I do not need a nap.”

“Of course, vod,” Hound said with a fond roll of his eyes, “and I’m the chancellor.” He turned to Erin. “You ready to go, vod’ika?”

She bounced off the bed with a smile. “Been ready!”

“Then let’s go.” As the small group marched through the medbay, she bristled slightly as she felt over a dozen eyes land on her. Subconsciously, she moved closer to Hound’s side.

The sergeant laughed quietly. “Don’t worry, kid, no one’s going to hurt you. Everyone just wants to get a look at our new shiny.”

The doors to the medbay opened, revealing a bland gray hallway that seemed to stretch on for miles. Hound led her to the left. “What’s a shiny?”

“A shiny is what we call new Guardsmen. They’re armor is new and shiny, like them.”

Erin crossed her arms. “Then I’m definitely not a shiny.”

Hound patted her arm. “You’ll earn your paint soon enough, vod’ika.”

The halls of the barracks twisted and turned like a maze, each hallway identical to the last. They passed other Guardsmen, each of them turning to watch Erin as she walked by. “I still don’t understand why everyone’s looking at me. Haven’t you seen a girl before?”

Stitches huffed a laugh before yawning, his mouth widening to almost comic proportions. “You decided to stay with us. That makes you special, and the others just want to see what all of the fuss is about.”

She fought back the urge to roll her eyes. “And what does ‘vod’ika’ mean?”

“Don’t worry, kid, you’ll figure it out eventually.” Hound stopped in front of a seemingly random door. “This is our bunkroom. Me, Stitches, Cardshark, and now you sleep here. We have different schedules, though, so don’t be surprised if we’re never in here at the same time. I’ll give you a tour of the rest of the barracks tomorrow.”

“I’m not tired,” Erin said, crossing her arms as the door opened. “I just woke up, for Force’s sake.”

“You clearly have a sleep deficit, so you will be taking a nap with the rest of us.” Hound had finally put Stitches down, and he took the opportunity to pin her against his side so that she couldn’t escape. “It’s not going to kill you.”

Erin struggled against Hound’s hold, but quickly realized that she had no chance of escaping. Her shoulders slumped in defeat as she huffed, “Fine.”

Stitches slapped open the door, revealing a relatively clean room. It was empty except for one clone, who was busy shuffling cards where he lay on his bunk. The man looked up, revealing a red eyepatch over his left eye. He quirked a grin as he quickly sat up. “So this is the new shiny?”

“Yup,” Hound gently shoved her in the room, making sure the door closed behind him before pushing Stitches towards his own bunk. “Vod’ika, this is Cardshark. He’s the best sabaac player in the Guard.”

The clone’s eye ran over her assessingly. Not to be outdone, Erin crossed her arms, glaring back. The clone laughed, leaning back against the bunk. “I like her!” He smirked as he shuffled the cards again. “Do ya know how to play sabaac?”

She raised an eyebrow, frowning. Nothing good ever happened when someone had that look on their face. At least, nothing good for her. “No,” she said after a moment’s hesitation.

 Cardshark patted the mattress beside him. “Come ‘ere, vod’ika, let me show you the ropes.”

Shoulders still tense, Erin looked to Hound, who gave her a reassuring smile. “Go ahead, kid. We were going to get Cardshark to teach you, anyway. It’s part of your curriculum.”

Erin slowly moved to sit beside the one-eyed clone. “Why do you guys want me to learn sabaac?”

“More specifically, we wanna teach ya how to cheat at sabaac.” Cardshark shuffled the playing cards in a dizzying pattern, quickly dealing out two hands. “As for why, one day you may be stuck somewhere without money. If you can win at sabaac, you can make some quick credits.” He placed some cards in her hand. “Ready?”

She looked between the cards to the clone. His eye had grown serious, the laughter gone from his face as he stared her down. “Yeah, I’m ready.”

“That’s the spirit,” he said, smiling as he clapped her shoulder. “Now let’s get started.” 

Hound had to go on shift an hour later, and Erin won her first game four hours after that. “YES!” Cardshark yelled. He picked Erin up, spinning her around the room as she grinned. “You’re a prodigy, kid!”

Of course, Cardshark’s celebration did not go unnoticed by the room’s other occupant. “Someone had better be bleeding out,” Stitches grumbled, hand thrown over his face.

Cardshark threw Erin on top of his brother, eliciting a pained grunt when she landed. “The kid beat me!”

The medic opened his eyes, immediately finding his trouble-making brother. Eyebrow raised, he asked, “Really?”

“Really!” Cardshark flopped on top of both of them, making the bunk groan under their combined weight. “Her sabaac face could rival the Commander’s.”

“That’s not possible.” He wiggled, trying to escape before slumping in defeat. “Fox has no tells; he’s impossible to figure out.”

“So is the kid.” The clone shot her a grin. Erin turned her head, vainly trying to hide the blush creeping up her cheeks. “Give me a few more weeks and I’ll have her ready to face the best players in the galaxy.”

“Great, we’re raising a criminal.”

Cardshark slapped his brother on the knee. “We’re raising a warrior, ner’vod. The sabaac table is a battleground, and she’s going to conquer it.”

The medic rolled his eyes as he reached for his datapad, frowning at what he saw on the screen. “Don’t be so dramatic.” He looked at Erin. “Commander needs to see you, when you’re available.”

“What, is he going to teach me how to be a spy?” she asked jokingly. When no one immediately responded, her eyes widened. “Wait, is he going to teach me how to be a spy?”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Stitches said, shoving her and Cardshark off the bed, “Dagger and Green are going to cover that in stealth training.”

That definitely wasn’t the answer she was expecting. Maybe she should’ve asked more questions when they were talking about her classes. “Then what does he want?”

“Comm chatter says that the Crimson Runners are going to make a big move soon. Fox probably wants to see if you have any insights.”

“Not sure how much help I’ll be, but I’ll do what I can.” She shrugged. “I stayed away from their territory as much as possible.”

“I’ll take you to Fox’s office.” Stitches sniffed at a shirt before shrugging and pulling it over his head. “Get some sleep, ‘Shark. There’s only three hours till your next shift.”

“Sir, yes, sir,” the other clone said, sending a sloppy salute their way as he collapsed on his bed. He was snoring within seconds.

Erin looked at the sleeping clone. “That’s not normal.”

“Welcome to the Guard, where not normal is the new normal.”

Stitches led her into the hallway, where he made a dizzying set of turns before stopping in front of another seemingly random door. “The commanders all share this office.” He turned her to the left. “The medbay is at the end of this hallway.” Turning her back the way they came he said, “Mess hall and rec room are that way.” Finally, he moved her to the right. “Lobby that way. Got it?”

She nodded even though she definitely did not ‘get it’. “Good,” the medic tapped on the door pad, requesting entrance. “Have a good meeting.” Then he disappeared towards the medbay, leaving her alone in the hall.

The door slid open suddenly, making her jump. The inside of the office was dark, the space illuminated only by the datapad held in Commander Fox’s hand and the window behind him. With a gulp, she stepped inside, fighting a shudder as the door closed behind her.

Chapter Text

If it were possible, the commander looked more tired now than he had yesterday. At least, Erin thought it was yesterday. It was hard to tell since there were no windows in the barracks.

The commander had been able to get out of his armor. Now he wore a black bodysuit, the republic crest plastered across the chest. Kind of tacky, if you asked her, but it wasn’t like the republic had asked for her help designing the trooper’s gear.

Fox’s bloodshot eyes rose met hers. “Take a seat, kid.”

Erin looked around, finding the only chair that wasn’t littered with datapads and energy drinks and pulling it to the other side of the desk. “I don’t know much about the Crimson Runners.”

“I didn’t expect you to.”

Well, that was news to her. “If you knew, why did you call me in here?”

He stretched his back, making her wince at the frankly insane number of cracking noises that echoed through the room. “You know the lower levels better than any of us do. We have reason to believe that their headquarters is somewhere on Level 47. I want you to go down there and see what you can find.”

He passed her a seemingly random datapad from one of the piles. “Here are some possible locations. You’ll scout them out and tell us which ones are the most likely. I’ll have a team on standby to clear it out.” Seeing the tense line of her shoulders, he added, “You won’t have to fight. As soon as you mark a building, I’ll have Hound and Grizzer get you out of harm’s way. Okay?”

She looked at the datapad in her hand. There was a lot of territory there to cover, and most of it was in some of the most dangerous places in the level. “I’m not sure if this is safe.”

“It’s not,” his quick concession surprised her, “but I wouldn’t be asking you to do this unless it was absolutely necessary. We need to find them, and you’re our best bet.”

Erin stared at the commander, trying to figure out if he was lying. This would be a very convenient way to get rid of her, after all. The Crimson Runners weren’t just known for their drug running. They were also slavers, stealing children and women off of the streets of Coruscant to sell to the highest bidder. Death would be preferable to what they would do to her.

“What happens if something goes wrong? If they catch me?” Her voice was unnaturally quiet and hesitant, her gaze glued to the floor.

Fox’s eyes widened a fraction, realizing again that a nat-born child stood in front of him, not a vod. She hadn’t been trained for war, and what survival skills she had must have been picked up from the streets themselves.

He was asking a cadet to go into what was essentially a warzone, and she was facing her fear head on. Something shifted in his chest, and he realized that this kid had somehow wormed her way into his cold, shriveled heart in less than a cycle. Unacceptable, but now unavoidable.

The commander stood up, quickly making his way around the desk. Gently grabbing her hand, he tilted her chin so that she was forced to look at him. “We’re not going to let them lay a single finger on you, vod’ika. You’re Guard now, and that means that you have an entire battalion of brothers looking out for you. If they want to get you, they’ll have to go through us, first.”

Of all the responses Fox had expected, he had never thought that the kid would burst into silent tears, wrapping her arms around his waist in a crushing hug. He hesitated for a moment. Fox wasn’t really the comforting type, that was Thorn’s role. Could he comm the other commander? No, he was stuck on a patrol in the senate. Hound? He was in the kennels, too far away to get here in time.

Fox squared his shoulders. He was a commander, for kriff’s sake, trained by Alpha-17. He could handle yelling senators, prison riots, a corrupt chancellor, and jedi dumpster fires. A crying natborn should be a piece of cake.

Maybe it was like comforting a vod. With that thought in mind, he carefully brought his arms up around the still sobbing girl, one hand running up and down her back while the other pulled her close. “Shhh, it’s okay, vod’ika. I’ve got you.”

When it didn’t look like Erin would be moving any time soon, he slowly scooped her up in his arms. Hound was right, she really was too small. Senator Zon’s tooka weighed more than their cadet. Fox made a mental note to talk to Stitches again about that supplemental diet. He sat on the couch, pleasantly surprised when the girl seemed to melt further into him.

He wasn’t sure how long he whispered meaningless platitudes into her hair, but eventually her breathing evened out. Fortunately, he had brought a pad with him, sending a quick message to Stitches to see if this was normal. He also messaged his quartermaster, hoping to get a surprise for his youngest vod’ika.

A few minutes later, there was a quiet knock on the door. Without waiting for him to get up, it slid open, revealing his head medic. When he saw his commander sprawled on the couch with the kid, he smiled. Right before he took a holo.

“Delete that.” Fox’s order would’ve been scarier if he hadn’t been whispering to avoid waking Erin up. “Delete it now, or you’ll be scrubbing the ‘fresher for the rest of the war.”

Stitches raised an eyebrow before pointedly pressing a button on his vambrace. Fox groaned quietly. “You just sent it to Hound didn’t you?”

“And the other commanders.” The medic kneeled in front of them, scanning Erin before sitting back on his ankles with a sigh.

“What’s wrong?”

The medic looked up, a smile quickly flashing on his face before disappearing. “Nothing a nap won’t fix. She’s still recovering from her time on the streets.”

Fox ran his free hand through his hair, frowning when his fingers caught on some tangles. He’d have to cut it soon. “Good thing the mission isn’t until tonight. How long should she be asleep?”

Shrugging, Stitches said, “Not sure. A couple hours? She’s probably not used to sleeping for long periods of time.” He stood up before plucking the datapad out of the commander’s hand. “Either way, you’re stuck here for the foreseeable future, so that means it’s a perfect time for you to take a nap.”

“I’m not a tubie, Stitches.” Fox vainly tried to grab the datapad without moving the girl, growling when the medic stepped out of arm’s reach.

Unbothered, Stitches put the pad on Fox’s desk. “Of course not, sir. A tubie would follow his medic’s orders. You, on the other hand, refuse to have any semblance of common sense and think that sleep is a weakness that you can conquer with enough stims.”

He looked into the forgotten cup of caff Fox had left on the desk, wincing when it inched towards the side of the cup. “I’m pretty sure that your blood is half caff at this point.”

Fox played his last card. “I have work to do.”

Realizing that this was Fox’s final stand, Stitches went in for the kill. “Do you want to set a bad example for the kid?”

The commander visibly flinched before deflating. Stitches watched the transition with interest. Vod’ikas were usually the only way to get the commander to do something he didn’t want to do, but this reaction was even stronger than usual. He could use this.

By the look on Fox’s face, the commander had realized it, too. “I’m going to get up.”

“And wake her up?” Stitches silently cheered in victory as Fox froze halfway between sitting and standing. “Coruscant won’t burn to the ground while you’re asleep.”

The medic moved to the filing cabinet in the corner of the room, rifling through the drawers to find the emergency blanket he had packed. With a flourish, he unfurled it over the pair, hiding his smile as Fox began to tuck it around the cadet. “I’m going to write you up for mutiny,” the commander grumbled, his harsh words dulled by the soft look on his face as he watched Erin sleep.

“I’ll take that risk.” Stitches turned off the lights before opening the door. “Try and get some sleep, Commander. Please.”

As the door closed silently behind the medic, Fox sighed. He didn’t have time for a nap, but there was no way that he could move without the little limpet waking up. If it were possible, she had somehow latched onto him tighter than before. At least he had been in his blacks when she came in, or this would be really uncomfortable for her.

He shimmied further towards the couch cushions, laying his head against one of the armrests. Erin shifted but didn’t wake up, instead inching up until she was under his arm.

Fox looked down, really looking at her for the first time. Freckles dotted her nose, and she looked peaceful. And she was short. The commander knew that Stitches had said that malnutrition would keep her from reaching a human’s normal height, but there was knowing and then there was seeing. With Erin’s head resting on his shoulder, her feet only went as far as the commander’s knees.

As if reading Fox’s thoughts, Erin frowned, fist clenching his blacks. Fox whispered, “It’s okay, vod’ika. I’m here.” He pulled her closer, smiling when she relaxed, breaths evening out again.

Fox looked up at the ceiling. He wasn’t supposed to get attached, that was Hound’s thing. But there was no use in denying it, now. He cared about the kid, and he was surprised to find that he didn’t really mind.

But if this incident had taught Fox anything, it was that the Guard was woefully unprepared to raise a natborn child. Maybe he could get the slicers to find some parenting books. Just because the Kaminoans didn’t think to teach the clones about raising a child didn’t mean they couldn’t.

Fox huffed quietly. If Rex and his bunch of di’kuts could keep a Jedi commander happy and healthy, how hard could it be?

Plan of action in place, the commander closed his eyes. This was an unforeseen complication to things, but it wasn’t something that he couldn’t handle. He sunk deeper into the cushions, letting the unfamiliar sounds of Erin’s breathing lull him to sleep.

Chapter Text

Her pillow was moving. That was Erin’s first thought when she woke up. Her second was that the pillow was oddly shaped. Then the events of the past few hours slammed into her like a speeder.

“Calm down, vod’ika. You’re safe,” the commander’s voice rumbled from above her.

She sat up anyway, trying to hide her growing blush. “I’m really sorry, I didn’t mean-”

“Don’t worry about it, kid,” Fox interrupted, leaning on his elbows. “How do you feel?”

“Better.”

“Good.” He didn’t say anything else as she got off the couch, watching her stand awkwardly in the middle of the room as he folded the blanket, putting it on the back of the couch. “I was about to wake you up, actually. The mission will start in ten minutes.”

Erin couldn’t hide her grimace. “The one with the Crimson Runners?”

The commander gave her a sympathetic smile, which didn’t seem very in-character for him. Erin wondered what had happened while she was out. He gently grasped her shoulder. “You’re going to be just fine, vod’ika. I’m not going to let anything happen to you.”

“Yes, commander.”

She let him lead her out into the hallway, his hand never moving from her shoulder. Before long, they stood in front of a door marked ‘Quartermaster’. “What are we doing here?” Erin asked.

Fox grinned, a slightly feral glint in his eye. “Getting you some gear. You do know how to shoot a blaster, right?”

He was going to let her have weapons? This was the best day of her life. “Point and pull the trigger, right?”

Fox’s grin grew wider. “Right, and keep it on the stun setting. I don’t want you accidentally killing anyone.”

“Alright.”

They entered the room, which was stacked with boxes from floor to ceiling. A tired-looking clone with a bun sat behind the lone desk, busy looking over a datapad. Fox cleared his throat. “Zero, we’re here for the kid’s kit.”

The quartermaster’s face shot up, eyes wide in surprise. “Sorry, commander, I didn’t hear you come in!” It was then that Erin noticed that he was missing an ear, an angry burn scar stretching across half of his face.

“It’s fine, vod. Do you have the stuff I asked for?” Fox asked gently.

Erin couldn’t help but notice the younger clone’s eyes lighting up with excitement. “Yes, sir!” Zero pulled out a small container, sliding the lid off to reveal a small dagger and blaster. He winked at her. “I had to do some digging, but I think that these will fit our resident cadet.”

“Not a cadet,” she grumbled, even as she reached for the weapons. Fox and Zero shared an exasperated look over her head.

She strapped on the belt, happy to see that it fit her perfectly. “Well?” she asked, hand on her holster and sheath. “How do I look?”

Fox adjusted her belt before stepping back. “Not bad. We’ll work on getting you some armor, but this will have to do for now. Thanks for your help, Zero.”

“Of course, commander. Let me know if you need anything else.”

“I will.” He nodded before leading Erin back out into the hallway. “Do you remember the plan?”

She stopped fidgeting with her dagger for a second. “Go to Level 47, find out where the Crimson Runners are, tell you, and then stay with Hound while you go kick butt.”

“Good.” The commander slid his helmet on. “I hope you don’t have to use them, but I’m glad you can defend yourself now.”

Reaching into a pocket on his belt, he pulled out a small communicator and earpiece. “This is so we can stay in contact during the mission. There’s also a tracker embedded in it, so we’ll be able to find you if something does go wrong.”

Erin breathed a sigh of relief, the tension she hadn’t noticed carrying falling off of her shoulders. A large set of doors opened into the speeder bay, revealing two squads of Guardsmen. Hound, Cardshark, and Grizzer stood at the front, quickly falling into attention when they saw Fox. The rest of the men followed suit.

“At ease,” Fox ordered. “You’ve all been briefed, so I won’t waste time repeating mission parameters. Get into the gunships. We’ll reach Level 47 five minutes after take-off.”

As the commander disappeared into one of the waiting gunships, Hound clapped Erin on the shoulder. “You ready for your first mission, vod’ika?”

She readjusted her belt, trying to avoid looking at anyone else. The knot in her gut tightened when she remembered that this wasn’t a game. There were going to be real consequences for her actions, ones that wouldn’t affect just her, but the men around her. “I hope so.”

“You’re gonna be fine, kid,” Cardshark was quick to reassure, sliding his helmet on with practiced ease. “We’re not going to let any of those slimy krif-” he froze at Stitches’ glare, “miscreants get you.”

The medic crossed his arms, eyebrow raised. “Miscreants? That was the best you could come up with?”

They began to walk towards a ship, Erin trying to hide her giggles as Cardshark tried to come up with a suitable answer. He eventually gave up. “I panicked.”

Stitches’s bucket tilted up in what must have been an eyeroll. He latched onto an overhead grip bar, helmet tilting when he realized that Erin was too small to reach them. Holding out his hand, he said, “You can hold onto me, if you’d like.”

The ship lurched suddenly, sending her careening into the medic. His arm immediately wrapped around her, keeping her pinned in place. “I’ve got you.”

Erin held on tightly to the clone’s armor, finding small gaps she could dig her fingers into as the ship dove and twisted through Coruscant’s levels. One of the other troopers chuckled. “Don’t worry, the first time flying with Crash is always the worst. You’ll get used to it.”

She squeezed her eyes shut, willing her stomach to catch back up with the rest of her body. “Why’s he called ‘Crash’?”

A hand rested on her back, rubbing soothing circles as she tried to get her breathing under control. “It was a joke on Kamino, since he always refused to do the crash simulations.” Hound pressed a little closer, essentially trapping her between him and Stitches.

“Because I never crash!” a voice, presumably Crash’s, yelled from the cockpit. “There’s no sense in practicing a crash landing if it’s not going to happen!”

The commander looked up from where he had been leaning against the wall. “Well you’re going to have to practice your cleaning skills if you don’t straighten out. The kid looks like she’s going to barf.”

The ship immediately began following the laws of physics and gravity. “Thank you,” Erin grunted, eyes still shut.

A few minutes later, the ship had stopped. “Alright, vod’ika, it’s time to get out.”

She opened her eyes, closing them again a heartbeat later. “Give me a minute. Ship’s spinning.”

Stitches hummed above her. She felt him move his arm and heard the rustling of a pouch. Before she could piece together what that meant, a hypo pressed against her neck, bringing sweet relief. She sagged as Stitches laughed. “There we go. How do you feel now?”

“Better.” The world had stopped spinning, and she was steady enough to jump out without falling flat on her face like an idiot.

Commander Fox was waiting for her, bucket moving up in down in a quick assessment. “You ready, vod’ika?”

Erin unconsciously straightened under his gaze, unknowingly forcing the other troopers to mute their buckets, just in case she could hear their snickers. “Yes, sir.”

“Then get going.” He nodded towards the first location, a warehouse three blocks away. “Comm us when you have something.”

--------

The first three locations were a bust. There was nothing there but cobwebs and drug addicts high on their last hit. Erin had stolen a poncho about an hour ago, needing to hide the weapons at her hip. There were only two more hideouts on her list, and she hoped that she would find the real spot soon.

Fox sounded worried when he talked about the mission, and she wanted to help the Guard.  They probably wouldn’t kick her out if she didn’t find anything, but she could never be sure. Trust wasn’t built in a day, after all.

She was a block away from the next warehouse when she spotted him. A tall weequay was leaning against the wall of an alley. He looked like everyone else on this level, except for one thing. His eyes roved through the crowd, never staying on one person for long.

Erin pulled her hood tighter over her face. Fishing her comm out of her pocket, she called Fox. “Status report.”

“I haven’t found it yet, but there’s a guy down here that’s giving me the creeps.”

A sigh rattled through the comm. “We can’t arrest someone for giving you the creeps, vod’ika.”

She shook her head, forgetting for a second that he couldn’t see her. “It’s not that. He’s acting strange, watching everyone.”

“Like he’s on guard duty?” Fox’s voice had become harder, sending a shiver up her spine.

“Yes.”

Muffled words were exchanged outside the comm’s range before Fox came back. “How close are you to the location?”

She looked up, barely able to make out the roof of the warehouse. “Less than a block.”

“Okay.” He took a deep breath. “This is what I want you to do. Keep your head on a swivel and get a look at the warehouse. We’re on our way. If you see anything, let us know, but don’t get close. Do you understand?”

“I do.”

There was a second of hesitation before the commander asked, “Do you think he saw you?”

Erin looked around. She hadn’t thought about what would happen if the weequay had spotted her. Fortunately, there was no sign of him. “I don’t think so.”

“Good. Stay on target, and we’ll see you soon.” The comm clicked off, and Erin was on her own.

She knew that something was different about the building almost immediately. For one thing, the lights were on. There was also a landing pad positioned half-way up, a ship coming to land as she watched. Three niktos and a torgruta exited, disappearing into the building.

Erin was about to comm Fox again when a rough hand grabbed her wrist. “Just what do you think you’re doing, street rat?”

It was the weequay. He spun her around, pinning both of her arms to the wall. She thought fast. “I wanted to see if I could do any selling for you.” She stared at the man, gathering as much defiance as she could muster as she said, “I need the credits, and I’m willing to go into the dangerous levels.”

The smuggler was quiet. “You’re a good liar, I’ll give you that.” Before she could fight back, he had cuffed her and pulled the comm out of her hands. “But I heard you talking on the comm to a meat-droid.”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” Erin said, kicking and struggling against her captor. At least he hadn’t noticed the weapons hidden by her poncho. And there was no way he could survive two squads of Guardsmen.

He pulled her into the building, the door shutting with a clang behind them. “Let’s go see what the boss has to say about this. I’m sure that he can think of a few things to do with you.”

To her horror, the weequay stopped in the hallway, a sinister grin on his face. “Of course, he may decide to let me keep you.”

Erin bit the man’s finger, making him curse. “Why you little kriffer!” He slapped her cheek, sending her crumbling to the ground. Grabbing her arm, he hauled her up, dragging her stumbling behind her. “I’ll take great pleasure in breaking you.”

She spit out a glob of blood, the copper tang filling her senses. “You’re going to regret that.”

“Oh,” he said as he shoved her through another door, this one leading into a warehouse stacked high with crates and cages, “I seriously doubt that.”

He brought her to an empty cage in the middle of the room, throwing her in careless of how she rammed into the bars on the other side. “Just wait until I get the boss. Then we’ll see if your bark is really worse than your bite.”

Erin sunk to the floor as the weequay walked away, probably to go find his boss. She fought back the tears threatening to spill onto her cheeks. The Guard would find her. They promised.  

Chapter Text

“Where is she?” Hound paced back and forth through the alley, his agitation rubbing off on everyone around him.

Fox ignored his brother, instead looking towards the warehouse less than a block away. He pushed down the fear that had been building in his gut ever since the kid’s last comm. “You and I both know.”

The sergeant slammed his fist into the wall, sending cracks through the weak concrete. “But we promised that we’d keep her safe!”

“At least she’s alive. We can still save her.”

Cardshark had been quiet, but he finally spoke up. “This changes the plan. We can’t put her in more danger.”

“You’re right.” Fox glared at the warehouse one last time before turning to his men. “Green, Dagger, get to the roof and see what’s going on in there. I want the kid found.” The two ARCs saluted before running into the night.

“The rest of you,” the commander said, facing the rest of the men, “protect the cadet at all costs.” He unholstered his blaster, changing the setting from ‘stun’ to ‘kill’. “And we’re not taking prisoners tonight.”

“Oya!” the men roared. Sure, they had only had the kid for two days, but she was theirs, and Force help anyone who messed with a Guard. The smugglers were about to find this out the hard way.

All around him, the men began to readjust their kits and check on their battle buddies. Fox was so focused on them that he didn’t notice the medic creeping up behind him. “If they’ve done something to her, I can’t be held responsible for what I’ll do.”

“Understood.” Fox looked back at the warehouse as the medic rejoined the rest of the men. He thought he could see Green and Dagger scaling the roof, but that could have been his imagination. “Hold on, kid,” he said, hands resting on his blasters. “We’re coming for you.”

Five minutes later, they were running through the hallways. Green and Dagger would join them once they reached the main warehouse, rappelling from the roof. They hadn’t found the kid, but the presence of cages in the room meant that she was likely in there somewhere. Fox refused to think that she could be anywhere else. She had to be there.

That was when he heard his normally steady medic growl. The group froze, blasters raising automatically to find whatever had upset Stitches. “What is it?”

“Blood.”

Fox turned, trusting his brothers to watch his back. Stitches knelt on the ground, scanner out. He looked up, bucket hiding his expression. “It’s hers.”

The leather of Fox’s glove creaked under the pressure as he clenched his fist. There was no more time for stealth. Their kid needed them. Now. He strode to the front of the group, calling Hound and Grizzer to his side. He looked at the sergeant. “Find her.”

Hound nodded, his normal joy turned into steely-eyed determination. He clicked out a commander to his partner. “Grizzer, find the kid.”

The massif was running in an instant, the rest of the Guard right in his tail. Hopefully they wouldn’t be too late.

-------

Erin sat in the corner of her cage, as far away from the door as possible. She wasn’t sure how long it had been, but it felt like an eternity since she had been caught. Every sound made her jump, thinking that it was the mysterious boss that the weequay had talked about.

To make matters worse, her face and jaw ached from where the smuggler had slapped her. She didn’t think anything was broken, thank goodness, but that didn’t stop it from hurting like a hutt.

The Guard would get here soon. She had to hold onto that hope. That was when she realized that she didn’t have a plan for what would happen when they did arrive. Would she stay in the cage? Erin shook off that idea with a frown. No, she would be an easy target for the smugglers. They could use her as a hostage.

Her fingers brushed against her blaster, still concealed under her too-large poncho. Being small had its advantages. The weequay hadn’t even thought that she would be armed. And although it hadn’t kept her from being caught, that didn’t mean that the blaster wouldn’t help her now.

She stood up, quickly crossing the length of the cage to look at the lock. It was old, the kind you unlocked with a key. A blaster shot may break it enough to open the door. She almost smiled, stopping when the motion sent a flare of pain through her face. Now all she needed was a distraction.

The needed diversion came about ten minutes later. Without any warning, the lights shut off, the emergency lights coming on a few seconds later. Blaster shots began to ring out through the warehouse, so no one would notice one more.

She pulled her blaster out of its holster. The handcuffs made things a little more difficult, but not impossible. Erin set the blaster on the ground, quickly finding a way to get it settled between her palms. She aimed it at the lock, and closing her eyes, she pulled the trigger.

The lock turned into a charred mess, giving no resistance when she nudged the door with her shoulder. Now she just had to get away and hope that one of the Guardsmen found her before a Crimson Runner did.

Erin carefully made her way through the maze of crates, moving farther from the sounds of the fighting. Her finger rested on the trigger, ready to shoot anything that wasn’t dressed in Corrie red.

Unfortunately, she wasn’t ready for the speeder that crashed into her. The breath rushed out of her lungs, and the weequay breathed down her neck, “Did you think you could get away so easily, little fighter?”

He pinned her against the crate by the shoulders, the splinters of the wood digging painfully into her back. With one hand, he threw her blaster away. “You won’t be needing this.”

Fortunately, he hadn’t noticed the dagger strapped on her other side. She just needed to get a hand down to it. “The Guard will find me.”

The smuggler laughed. “Not in time.”

He leaned forward, but before he could do anything, Erin plunged her dagger into his stomach. The weequay staggered back with a gasp, staring in surprise at the now blood-stained knife held in her trembling hands.

The smuggler growled and tried to reach her again, but she slashed out, scoring another hit across his face. By this time, a large pool of blood had grown on the floor under his feet and he collapsed.

Erin wasn’t too far behind him. She sank against the crates, dagger dropping from her fingers. She knew that she should run, that someone had probably heard the struggle, but she couldn’t take her eyes off the cooling body of the smuggler. Her hands continued to tremble, and she waited. The Guard would find her. They promised.

--------

Hound was furious. How dare these hut’uun even think about touching his vod’ika. And now they had the audacity to put up a fight while he was trying to find her. He was going to rip them limb from limb.

Beside him, Commander Fox aimed, taking down another member of the Crimson Runners. The commander hadn’t said a word since he ordered Hound to find the kid, and if he was fighting a little more viciously than normal, it’s not like the sergeant would tell anyone.

Fox grunted as a blaster bolt got a little too close, blackening a part of his pauldron. He ducked behind the crate where he and Hound were taking cover, gaze shooting towards the ARF trooper and his partner. “If you see an opening, take it and find her.”

Hound nodded, grip tightening on his pistol. “I’ll bring her back, sir.”

“I know you will.” Fox peaked over the crate. “On three. One…Two…”

Hound shot out as the commander said three, Grizzer at his side. They disappeared into the maze of crates, the sound of blaster fire still present but muffled the farther they got from the main fight.

Grizzer still had the kid’s scent, and it wasn’t long until they reached a cage. Hound growled in time with the massif, moving to get a closer look.

He huffed when he pieced together what happened. His vod’ika was clever. “She shot out the lock. Those di’kuts didn’t even think to check her for weapons.” Grizzer looked up, watching Hound for his next set of orders. The sergeant clicked his tongue, “Find her, bud.”

As he followed his partner, Hound breathed a small sigh of relief. If she still had her weapons, she could defend herself. She wouldn’t be completely helpless. The sound of fighting had died down even more, so the sergeant wasn’t too surprised when his comm crackled to life. “We’re done here. Do you have the kid?”

“Still looking.” Hound ran faster than before, trusting his brothers to have taken care of the smugglers. “They had her in a cage, but she blasted out the lock.”

“They didn’t take her blaster?”

Hound grinned ferally. “Probably didn’t even realize she had one. Told you she would be a good cadet.”

Silence echoed through the comm for a moment before he heard the commander sigh. “Just let me know when you find her. And be careful, we haven’t gone over blaster safety with her yet.”

“Will do. Hound out.” He clicked off the comm, focusing on keeping up with Grizzer.

“Kid?” he yelled, hoping she could hear him. He didn’t want her to shoot him on accident. “Where are you?”

He was beginning to get worried when suddenly he heard a quiet gasp, like someone was trying to stave off a panic attack. It sounded like they were only partially successful.

“Kid?” he called, heart twisting when the gasps turned into sobs. Hound pushed himself to run faster, sliding around a corner to crash into a crate. He didn’t even feel the pain blossoming through this shoulder, because he had finally found his vod’ika.

She leaned against a crate, head in between her knees as she tried to calm her breathing. A bloody knife lay at her side, and the still body of a weequay lay motionless in front of her. The reality of the situation came crashing on Hound like a Kaminoan tsunami. He sent a message to Fox, certain that the commander would use this tracker to find them. Then, he moved towards his vod’ika.

Hound knelt down, doing his best to block Erin’s view of the dead smuggler. He gently reached for her shoulder, throwing his hand back when she flinched. “Vod’ika, you’re alright. I’m here.”

She looked up, eyes red and tear stained. “Hound?”

He slipped off his helmet, letting it rest on the ground beside them. “Yeah kid, it’s me. The others are on their way.”

Whatever else he was about to say was forgotten as Erin crashed into his chest with the force of a small torpedo. Sobs wracked her small body, and Hound only hesitated a second before wrapping her up in his arms. “Shhh, vod’ika. I’ve got you. You’re safe.”

Grabbing his helmet, he rose, cradling her as he began to walk away. “He…he took my blaster.”

Hound nodded. “One of the others will get it.” He held her a little tighter as he began to hear the sound of his brother’s boots echoing through the warehouse. Tension leaked out of his shoulders when he saw the familiar red paint of Commander Fox. “We’re getting out of here.”

Chapter Text

Fox couldn’t help it, when he saw Hound holding the kid, he thought the worst had happened and froze like a shiny. It didn’t matter that the sergeant had commed to say she was okay, just traumatized. All he could focus on was the too-small body curled in his vod’ika’s arms. But then he heard a broken sob, and the spell was broken.

Stitches ran in front of him, blood from Trigger’s flesh wound still staining his gloves. He was by the kid’s side in an instant. “Where are you hurt?”

For some reason, that only made her cry louder. The medic had his scanner out in an instant, sighing with relief when the results came back.

“What is it?” Fox asked, moving closer but still too afraid to get within arm’s reach.

“No broken bones, stab wounds, or blaster burns. There’s a bruise on her face, but that’ll clear up with some bacta.” He put his scanner away, laying a hand on Erin’s back. “I’d rather do it in the medbay, though. I don’t want to spend any more time here than we have to.”

“Agreed. Let’s move.”

He turned, ready to let them comfort the kid, but then he heard a quiet voice whisper, “Commander?”

“Yeah, kid?” He braced himself, ready for her to yell, to tell him that he was an idiot for sending her on this mission, to scream that she hated him for making her come.

But she didn’t say any of those things. Instead, she looked at him and said, “I’m sorry for getting caught.”

Fox’s world stopped. “What?”

“I’m sorry for getting caught,” she repeated, eyes beginning to fill with tears. “I tried to stop him, but he was too big and he grabbed me-” Her voice broke as she heaved through another sob, finally spurring Fox to action.

Not sure if he was doing it right, he rubbed circles into her back. “You did everything right, kid. I’m the one that should apologize.” Erin looked up, wiping at the tear tracks on her face. Before he could lose his nerve, Fox continued, “I shouldn’t have sent you on this mission. You’re too young, and we haven’t had a chance to train you yet. So I’m sorry, and I understand if you don’t want to stay.”

Erin was silent for a moment, searching the commander’s eyes. Without a word, she wiggled out of Hound’s grasp and pushed herself under Fox’s arm. “I want to go home.”

Fox stiffened, watching as the kid nestled herself into his side. “Home?”

“Yeah,” she said, like it was the most obvious thing in the galaxy, “home. The barracks.”

Fox froze for the second time in less than ten minutes. The thought that Alpha-17 would have his head for being this sloppy flashed through his mind, but he had bigger things to worry about when he realized he hadn’t said anything in a while.

The kid was looking at him, worry plain in her eyes. “Unless…you don’t want me to come.”

He didn’t hesitate, scooping her up in his arms. She gasped in surprise before throwing her arms around his neck. Fox ignored the looks he was getting from his men, marching through the warehouse and into a lartie.

Hound, Stitches, and Cardshark followed, and soon they were flying through the levels of Coruscant. “How do you feel, vod’ika?” Cardshark threw off his helmet, watching her with concern.

Erin shrugged before burying her face in Fox’s neck. “I’ve been better.”

“I’m never letting you out of my sight again,” Hound said as he absentmindedly rubbed Grizzer. The adrenaline rush from losing her had run its course, leaving him drained and tired.

Stitches looked up from where he had been bandaging a cut on Cardshark’s arm. “I couldn’t agree more. No missions until you’re properly trained.”

“Okay.” Erin closed her eyes, holding onto the commander a little tighter than necessary. “Can I ask you something?”

“Of course,” Fox answered, readjusting his stance as the ship rocked.

She stared at his visor, wishing that he would take his helmet off so that she could see his face. It was hard to read his expression normally, but it was impossible with the bucket. “You guys keep calling me ‘vod’ika’. What does it mean?”

Fox, on the other hand, was glad he was wearing his bucket. If the men had seen his smile, he would never hear the end of it. Although judging by the look on his CMO’s face, maybe it was showing, anyway. “It means, ‘little sister or brother’.”

Erin leaned her head against him. “So you’re calling me your little sister?”

Hound frowned from where he stood on the side of the gunship. “We can stop if it makes you uncomfortable.”

Her head shot up. “No, I like it.” She waited a minute before returning her head to its place on Fox’s shoulder. “How do you say ‘big brother’?”

Something in the commander’s chest constricted as he softly replied, “Ori’vod.”

“Ori’vod,” Erin said, slowly sounding out the word. She looked to the others. “Did I say it right?” When they nodded her face lit up, only for it to turn into a wince as she pulled tender skin. She settled for a small smile. “Thank you, ori’vod.”

Hound smiled back as he brushed his forehead against hers. “Always, vod’ika, but let’s not make it a habit.”

The lartie landed with a small jolt. Stitches patted her arm as he jumped out. “Let’s get you to the medbay.” Not bothering to even look behind him, he added, “You too, Commander. Don’t think I haven’t noticed the limp you’re trying to hide.”

“You’re injured?” Erin asked, pushing away from Fox. “You don’t need to carry me!”

She tried to scramble out of his arms, but the commander just held on tighter, stepping out of the gunship and not breaking stride as he marched to the medbay. He would drop the kid off and make a run for it while Stitches was distracted. “You’re not heavy.”

When they got under the harsh lights of the landing bay, Fox sucked in a breath. Clear as Senator Taa’s stomach, a handprint stretched across Erin’s cheek. And he wasn’t the only one who saw it.

“Who did that to you?” Cardshark asked, snarling. His fingers twitched towards his blaster, as if the perpetrator would pop out for some target practice.

Erin blushed, doing her best to hide her face. She only managed to show them how far back the mark stretched. “It doesn’t matter.”

“It matters to us.” Stitches ushered them forward, and they began to slowly work their way towards the medbay. “You’re one of us now, vod’ika. That means that we’re responsible for keeping you safe, and killing anyone that dares to touch you.”

Her eyes widened. “I don’t want you to kill anyone.”

Fox couldn’t help but snort. “Kid, we’re soldiers. Killing is what we were made for.”

“That can’t be right.” She scrunched her face up like she had taken a bite out of a sour melon. “You’re made for more than that.”

While the others were talking, Hound had been connecting the dots. “It was the weequay, wasn’t it?” When the kid didn’t answer, he kept going. “You did good, vod’ika. I’m proud of you.”

“I don’t feel like I did good.” They had made it to the medbay, and Fox gently set her down on a cot. “I feel kind of sick, like my stomach is all tangled.”

“Battle jitters,” Stitches declared as he grabbed a tube of bacta. “You sit your happy shebs on a cot, Commander.”

Fox froze from where he had almost reached the door. “I have datawork.”

“It can wait.” The medic raised an eyebrow. “Do I need to bring out the tranquilizer again?”

“No,” the commander grumbled, raising an eyebrow of his own as the kid patted the spot beside her.

“You can sit by me, ori’vod.”

Fox blushed but sat down, trying to hide his surprise when she leaned into his side. By the look on Stitches’s face, he wasn’t successful. He pulled off his helmet, only to be met with soft laughter from his side. He glanced down to the kid, who was hiding a smile behind her hand. “What is it?”

“Your hair looks funny.” She ran her fingers through it, making a face when she felt the sweat that had built up over the course of the night. “And it’s wet.”

Fox shrugged. “That’s what happens when you wear a bucket all day.” And forget to cut it. He had been meaning to see Snips for weeks, but with the chancellor giving him more and more work, he hadn’t had the time. Now his hair reached his shoulders, the grey streaks becoming more pronounced with each passing day.

“Can I get the tangles out?”

He glared at Cardshark and Hound, who were doing their best to hold in their laughs. Their best wasn’t good enough. Fox was about to tell the kid to forget it, but when he looked at her, he found himself saying, “Knock yourself out.”

Erin brushed through his hair with her fingers, and Fox studiously ignored his brothers, who were definitely taking holos. He was finally saved when Stitches came over with a tube of bacta. “Alright, let’s get you patched up, vod’ika.”

The young girl sighed, sitting still as the medic put some of the gel on her face. “I’m going to put a bandage on it, but we should be able to take it off tomorrow. Alright?”

Once she had nodded, the medic turned his attention to the commander. “Your turn, ori’vod. What happened?”

Fox tried one more time to get himself out of the medbay. “It’s nothing, Stitches, really.”

“I’ll be the judge of that. Now tell me what happened.”

“Some di’kut made a lucky shot.” He began to take off his leg armor. “It’s just a graze, though,” he added quickly.

Erin peeked over, frowning when she saw the blaster burn on Fox’s thigh. “That doesn’t look like a graze.”

“No, it doesn’t,” Stitches agreed, crossing his arms and giving the commander a disappointed glare. “That’s going to need stitches.”

“Just wrap it up. There’s no need to-”

“Are you a medic?” Stitches asked as he grabbed all the supplies he needed and herded his two roommates out. When no answer was forthcoming, he nodded. “That’s what I thought. Now don’t be a cadet and take it like a man.”

Fox couldn’t help but wince as the needle went through his skin. The Guard had been running low on medical supplies for months, and painkillers were the first thing to go. Truth be told, their bacta supply was running low, too, but they weren’t going to let the kid suffer.

Suddenly, he felt a small hand wrap around his. He glanced towards his side, only to see Erin studying the wall, a wince on her face. “Kid?”

“I don’t like needles, either.”

“Thanks, vod’ika.” This time he couldn’t hold back his smile, the pain in his leg dimmed by the girl beside him. “Your classes are going to start tomorrow. What would you like to learn first?”

She closed her eyes. Apparently staring a hole in the wall wasn’t enough to keep her distracted from the needle. “What are my options?”

“Hand-to-hand combat, blaster training, medicine, slicing, and tactics.” He grinned at the bewildered twist of her mouth. “Of course, once you decide what you want to specialize in, you’ll get more of those types of classes.”

“That’s a lot of options.” Erin thought for a minute before making up her mind. “Medicine, if that’s okay with Stitches.”

“I’d love to have you as my assistant.” Stitches grinned as he finished up with Fox’s leg. He had just won ten packs of his favorite rations, and he couldn’t wait to tell Hound and Cardshark the good news. “It won’t be easy, though.”

“That’s okay.” Erin said, finally opening one eye to see if the medic had finished. “I want to be able to help patch up my ori’vod.”

“Plural is ‘ori’vode’,” Fox said with a small smile, watching as she concentrated on the new word.

“I want to help my ori’vode, then.” She looked up at the commander. “Could you teach me more of those words?”

“It’s mando’a, the language of the Mandalorians. And I’d be happy to, if I have the time.”

He huffed as Erin threw her arms around his neck. “Thank you!”

“I said I would if I had the time, and the chancellor keeps me busy.” He tightened his grip around her as she frowned. “But one of the others could teach you.”

Erin looked up at him with giant tooka eyes. “I want you, though. Please?”

The commander melted in the face of the kid’s assault. “Alright.” He looked up, only to find Stitches looking at him with almost unrestrained glee. Kark.

Chapter Text

3 months later….

“Again.”

“Ugh,” Erin groaned, dragging herself up from the mat. “We’ve been doing this for hours.”

Fox crossed his arms from the other side of the sparring circle, a frown on his face. “And we’ll spar as long as it takes until you get it right.” Voice softening, he added, “I don’t want you to be caught unprepared. Your opponents are going to be bigger than you, so you need to learn how to win against those odds.”

She sighed, realizing the wisdom behind her ori’vod’s words. Settling back into a ready stance, she nodded, ducking the commander’s first punch. She threw a few of her own, which Fox blocked easily.

He kicked her feet out from under her, but Erin threw herself into his legs almost immediately, sending them both crashing to the ground. She threw herself on top of him, getting the commander into a chokehold before he could start grappling. Instead of trying to get out of the hold, Fox stood up, trying to dislodge his tag-a-long. Erin held on tighter, wrapping her legs around his torso. She also leaned back, using her body weight to add pressure to the commander’s windpipe.

Then, a miracle happened. Fox tapped her arm three times, their signal to stop. She let go, dropping to the floor in a gangly heap. Looking up, her face split into a grin as the commander turned around, absentmindedly rubbing his throat.

“That was sloppy.” Just like that, her smile disappeared. Then the commander kneeled in front of her, a proud grin appearing on his face. “But effective. You did good.”

Her chest puffed up with pride, her aching muscles forgotten. “Thanks, ori’vod.”

Fox stood, holding out a hand to pull her up. “We’ll do our cool-down stretches, and then you’re free to go see Slice for your next class.” He moved into the first stretch, but before they could get more than a few in, Fox’s comm beeped.

Erin groaned, not moving from her position. “Not again.”

The commander winced as he read the message. “Sorry, vod’ika, duty calls.”

“The chancellor again?”

“Who else?” Fox grabbed his helmet from where it rested beside the mat, ruffling her hair as he walked past. “Finish those stretches and go to Splice. I’ll see you when I get back.” Then he was gone.

---------------------

She passed a trooper on her way to see Splice, but something was off about him. He seemed a little taller than the rest of the men, and his gaze lingered on her for a little too long. Erin waited until he had turned a corner and then began to follow. If there was an intruder in the barracks, she was going to find out about it. Fox may not let her go on missions yet, but this was something she could do.

An incoming comm from Thorn lit up her comm. “Where are you going, vod’ika?”

“Outside for a bit. I wanted to stretch my legs.”

“Hmm,” while the commander thought, Erin watched the imposter walk through the doors of the speeder bay. She continued to follow, sticking to the shadows to avoid being seen. “Is there a vod with you?”

She looked to the fake clone then decided if he was wearing armor, he was close enough to a vod. “Yup. He’s a shiny, and I thought I’d show him around a little.”

Thorn chuckled. “Alright, but make sure that you’re back before dark. Don’t want to have to send out a search party.”

“Thanks, ori’vod.” She paused at the entrance to the bay. “Would you let Splice know that I won’t be able to make it to class today? This is kinda important.”

“Sure, but you’re going to have to make up the time. Alright?”

“Alright.” She turned onto the sidewalk, the not-clone’s height making it easy for her to spot him in the crowd. “I’ll see you later.”

“Stay safe.”

Erin put the comm back in her pocket, fingering her small blaster as she did. It wasn’t like she was going to use it, though. All she planned to do was scout out where this guy was going so that she could report back to Fox.

Of course, her last scouting mission hadn’t gone as planned, but that was before having three months of training. Now, she was sure that she could handle it. And if she couldn’t the Guard was only one comm away, and a tracker was hidden safely in her hairband. And boot. And shirt tag. Okay, so maybe they were a little overprotective, but better to be safe than sorry, especially on Coruscant.

The man stopped at an elevator. Kark. She was going to have to go in with him, there was no other option. He walked in, and Erin did her best to blend into the rest of the crowd cramming themselves into the small box.

She watched as he inputted the level number he was going to and hoped that other people would be getting out there, too. Erin breathed a sigh of relief when three others left the elevator with them.

Unfortunately, though, the imposter had realized that he had a tail. He began to make erratic turns, sometimes doubling back to try and find out who was following him. But every time he turned around, no one was there.

That was because after the first time, Erin had climbed up to the roof of a building and was following from above. It was like Green had said during her stealth class: “No one ever looks up.”

So she jumped from roof to roof, following the man without him knowing. He stopped at a shady-looking restaurant, going in after taking one last look around. This must be his hideout.

Lying flat on the roof, Erin waited a little longer to make sure. When she was certain that he wouldn’t be coming back out anytime soon, she pulled out her comm and tried to call Thorn. But the sound of a blaster’s safety being clicked off stopped her in her tracks.

“Just what do you think you’re doing, kid?”

She slowly turned, doing her best to keep her hands steady. “I could ask you the same thing.”

This man was wearing armor, and he was just as big as the imposter. A modulator inside the helmet distorted his voice, and he had a blaster pointed at her. This was not good.

As Erin began to mentally run through possible escape plans, the man turned on his comm. “I found your tail, di’kut. It’s a kid.”

She stopped in her planning for a second to glare at the man. “Not a kid, and my brothers will find me and beat your sorry shebs halfway to Taungsday.”

A laugh sounded from the other end of the comm. “The kid? Ordo, you gotta bring her in, Kal’buir has to meet her.”

“I’m good.” As fast as she could, she threw herself over the wall of the roof, landing hard on the awning below. She slid down, jumping to the ground with a little more grace before breaking into a sprint.

The man, Ordo, looked over the edge. “Get back here!” He also jumped over the roof, and soon it was a footrace. Erin did what she could to stop him, from sending an avalanche of crates crashing on his head to diving into holes in the fences that only she could get through, and she was finally able to put some space between them.

But suddenly another mountain of a man appeared in front of her. Erin tried to dodge, but he grabbed her by the arm, spinning her around and pinning her to his chest. “Easy there, kid. No one’s gonna hurt you.”

Her self-defense training flashing through her head, she kicked back as hard as she could. But the man didn’t even flinch, instead holding her tighter. “I said that no one’s gonna hurt you. Calm down, verd’ika.”

She blew a strand of hair out of her face. “Why should I believe you?”

The man shrugged as Ordo finally caught up with them. “Good point.” Without a warning, he slung her over his shoulder. “Grab her comm.”

Ordo grumbled as he pulled it out of her pocket. “Let’s get back. We gained some unwanted attention thanks to our little tail.”

“I wouldn’t have come if you guys hadn’t impersonated my brothers!” Erin had stopped struggling, figuring that she would need to save her energy if she wanted to escape. It didn’t matter, though. Thorn would get worried when she didn’t come back to the barracks, and they would be able to track her easily. She’d be back in her bunk by the end of the night.

“Your brothers?” the guy holding her huffed. “You don’t look like any clone I’ve seen.”

“Don’t have to. You di’kuts haven’t heard of ‘adoption’ before?” She tried to move her arms, reaching for a droid popper that she had spotted on the man’s belt, but he stopped her by tightening his arms. “They’ll find me, and you guys are going to be sorry you ever messed with the Guard.”

“Sure, kid.” He carried her into the restaurant and up a set of stairs in the back. Small apartments littered the second floor, and he stopped to knock on one of the doors. “Mereel, got something for you!”

The door opened, but of course Erin couldn’t see who it was, since she currently was stuck looking at her captor’s butt.

A jolt of surprise ran through her when she heard the gruff voice of a clone. “Kid?”

She turned as much as she could, shocked to see that a clone was the fake Guardsman. He was bigger than the rest of her brothers, but there was no mistaking that face. “Ori’vod?”

Ordo barked out a laugh, pushing past them to enter the apartment. “Kid, we aren’t your ori’vode.”

She was set on her feet and herded inside. At least six clones were lounging around the apartment, datapads and wires strewn about like a tornado had come through. “What’s going on here?”

“The better question is: how did you find us?” The question was asked by a tall, stern-looking older man in black armor. His eyes were sharp and piercing, and a strill paced at his side. Another man in gold armor leaned against the counter beside him, gaze less cold, but still assessing.

Erin refused to let herself be cowed by these two random mandos. She was the Guard’s vod’ika for goodness sake, she couldn’t get scared at the first sign of trouble. “I knew that he,” she said, pointing towards Mereel, “wasn’t a real Guard, so I wanted to see who was impersonating my brothers.”

“Your brothers?” The man in gold armor put his cup of caf down, moving to stand in front of her. “You’re not a clone.”

Erin huffed, crossing her arms to mirror the man’s position. Tilting her chin up, she said, “I’m adopted.”

“Hmm.” He smirked, an eyebrow raised as he continued to judge her. “And why would they want to adopt you?”

She shrugged, eyes narrowed. “You’d have to ask them.”

The man turned to Ordo, a small smile on his face. “What do we have on her?”

“Erin Trenlow. Fourteen years old. Parents and brother died three years ago in a fire. Escaped from CRB custody six times.”

“You could’ve just asked me,” she mumbled, trying to decide if it was worth it to try and escape again.

“Would you have answered?”

“Probably not.” She took another look around the room. “So why are you guys pretending to be Guard?”

“If we told you, we’d have to kill you,” the guy that caught her said, earning him a kick from Mereel.

“We’re not going to kill her, Prudii.” He looked up to the golden-armored man. “Right, Sarge?”

“Of course we’re not. We don’t hurt ad.”

“But we aren’t going to tell you about our assignment.” The man in black armor stalked towards her, but she refused to turn her gaze from him. “Operational security.”

“Fair enough, but why impersonate the Guard? I’m sure Fox would help you.”

“Too risky,” the sergeant said. “We’re digging into some dangerous stuff, don’t want to get anyone involved that doesn’t have to be.”

“But now I’m involved.” Erin frowned as she began to plan escape routes for the second time that day.

“No, you know where our base is.” Mereel gently grabbed her shoulder, sending her a reassuring smile. “But you won’t tell anyone, will you vod’ika?”

When she quickly shook her head, Mereel grinned. “Now how did you know I wasn’t in the Guard?”

Erin looked at him like he was an idiot. “You’re too tall. And you looked at me like you didn’t know who I was.” She raised an eyebrow. “Everyone in the Guard knows who I am.”

Sergeant Kal laughed, “You’re quick, ad’ika, that’s for sure. What are you doing with the Guard?”

“They found me,” she said with a shrug, “and now they’re teaching me. When Fox finally says yes, I’m going to go on missions with them.”

“What are they teaching you?” the man in black asked, mouth frozen in a scowl.

“Slicing, hand-to-hand, tactics, everything I need to know to survive.” Erin smiled, showing a few more teeth than necessary. “Hound says that I’m a good student.”

Mereel looked between her and the sergeant. “Well, you’ve definitely got a talent for reconnaissance work. I wonder what you’d be able to do with a little specialized training.”

“No,” Ordo said, leaning forward on his elbows. “We’re in the middle of a mission.”

Ignoring the other man, Erin grinned. “Are you offering?”

The clone copied her feral smile. “That depends. Would you accept?”

“I’m free between 3 and 5. That work for you?”

“We’ll start tomorrow.” Mereel stood up from the couch, patting her on the back and leading her towards the door. “Now let’s get you back to the barracks before Fox starts freaking out.”

Chapter Text

“Vod’ika, why is there a null in my office?”

“A what?” Erin’s voice crackled over the comm, which meant that she was in the kennels. “Oh, do you mean Mereel? I told you, he’s going to teach one of my classes!”

Fox rubbed his forehead and asked the force for patience. His vod’ika didn’t know any better. Probably didn’t even know what a null was.

The commander had noticed that Mereel had been haunting the barracks for the past couple of weeks, but as long as the null didn’t bother any of his men, he didn’t see any reason to stop him. The commander had bigger problems to deal with. The biggest one right now being his trouble-magnet of a sister.

He looked up to the unrepentant clone. His question sounded more like a plea than anything else, but he couldn’t help it. “Why?”

“We like her.” Mereel’s smile promised future chaos, but that was going to be a future-Fox problem.

“Is he here?” Erin asked, voice coming through clearer.

Fox closed his eyes, breathing harshly through his nose. Anger wouldn’t help anything. “Yes, he’s here. What exactly is he going to teach you, vod’ika?”

“Not sure! Should be fun, though!” There was a pause as a door slid shut. “I’ll be there in a few minutes.” The connection closed, leaving Fox and Mereel sitting in silence.

Fox caught the null with a steely-eyed glare. “I don’t know why you’ve taken an interest in the kid, but if you so much as lay a hand on her, I’ll-”

“Don’t worry, commander, we’re not gonna hurt her.” The clone leaned against the desk, looking over some datapads with false indifference. “Do you want to know the truth?”

“Yes.”

“She saw me in the hallway, realized I wasn’t a Guard, and followed me back to our temporary base.” He huffed a laugh. “The thing is, I knew I was being followed, but I didn’t know who it was. It took Ordo scanning the rooftops to spot her, and even then it took us a good ten minutes to catch her once she bolted.”

Fox fought the urge to roll his eyes. Of course Ordo was involved. He’d be lucky if the whole batch didn’t end up waltzing through his barracks at one point or another. “So why train her? I thought that us normal clones were beyond your notice.”

The null looked towards the door. “That kid’s special. Should’ve heard how she talked about you and the rest of the Guard.” He ran his fingers through his hair, smiling slightly at the memory. “Was ready to take us all on if it meant keeping you safe, and we felt that she might do well with some…specialized training.”

Pushing down the warm feelings that had blossomed in his chest, Fox asked, “And what kind of training do you plan on running with her?”

“Don’t be a mother nuna, commander. Everything we’re gonna do has been cleared by Sergeant Skirata.”

Now the man was being vague on purpose, and by the look on his face, Mereel knew it. Fox wasn’t paid enough to deal with this. “Can you at least tell me where you two will be?”

It seemed like the vod was finally going to have mercy. He smiled, “We’re gonna be in the central plaza on level 24. I want to go over surveillance techniques.”

Fox breathed a sigh of relief. Surveillance techniques were child’s play to a null, and to be honest he had been worried about them starting off with improvised explosives. “Alright, but have her back by nightfall.”

“No problem. Do you want me to pick her up something to eat while we’re out? Kid has to be getting tired of ration bars.”

Ignoring the subtle dig, Fox answered, “Yeah, that would be fine. She’s not allergic to anything, but she can’t handle anything spicy. Trust me,” he said, suppressing a shiver, “you only make that mistake once.”

Before they could continue, the door slid open, revealing a bouncing ad’ika. “Hi Mereel!”

“Hi, kid!” The null stood up, ruffling her hair as he passed. “You ready to go?”

“Ready!” She began to follow but stopped halfway through the door. Whirling around, she ran to Fox, throwing her arms around his neck. “Be back soon, ori’vod.”

For a second, Fox’s brain stopped working. He automatically brought his arms up, returning the hug. “Stay safe.”

Her smile was as bright as the Geonosian suns. “You, too.”

Then she was gone, running after Mereel. Fox sighed, running his fingers through his hair as he activated the tracker in Erin’s hairband. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust the null, but he definitely didn’t trust his vod’ika to not find trouble. The commander turned back to his datawork, knowing that he wasn’t going to be able to finish any of it until the kid got back.

--------

“So what are we doing?”

Mereel had to admit, the kid’s enthusiasm was cute. He might have to look into acquiring a vod’ika of his own. Surely it couldn’t be that hard. If the Guard could do it, then so could he.

He brought his attention back to the bundle of energy beside him. “I actually need your help with something. I have to gather some intel on a target, but they’d be suspicious if I showed up on my own.”

Erin raised an eyebrow, looking scarily similar to Fox. “So what do you want me to do?”

“Nothing crazy. I just need you to pretend to be my sister while we get a snack. It’s a lesson in surveillance.” Mereel fought back a smile at the concentrated look that crossed the young girl’s face. Yeah, he was definitely going to get a vod’ika.

“Alright, ori’vod, so what do I do?” Ok. Maybe he already had one. The kid looked up at him with big eyes, determination to complete the mission clear on her face.

The null couldn’t help it, he grinned and ruffled her hair again, ignoring her aggravated huff. “Just follow my lead, vod’ika. I have a feeling you’re going to be a natural.”

--------

“So, why are we in a bakery?”

Mereel had bought her a new outfit, claiming that she “stood out like a cloner in a sim room”. So here she sat, tags rubbing against her neck, wondering why in the world they were here.

The null raised an eyebrow, sliding another cupcake towards her. He was dressed in civvies, looking nothing like the trained soldier he actually was. “Because, our mark always comes here at 5:35, eats a croissant with an informant, and then twelve hours later a datapack is sent out from somewhere on Coruscant giving information about battle formations to the Separatists.”

“So he’s a spy?”

“Good work, vod’ika!” he praised. “You get another cupcake.” He grabbed another one from the small box he had bought, putting it on the table. Erin slid it to the side.

“Aren’t you gonna eat that?”

She shook her head, licking the frosting from her fingers. “I want to give it to Fox. We don’t get to have desserts in the Guard.”

A frown crossed the null’s face. Mereel knew for a fact that thanks to the jedi, clones were given one dessert every day. Or at least, they were supposed to. They were barely edible, but it was something. Then, a horrible thought popped into his mind. “You are getting food, right?”

“Of course,” Erin said, jumping to defend her brothers, “Fox makes sure that I get three ration packs a day.” Looking down at her cupcake wrapper, she sighed. “But I think I’m the only one.”

Mereel kept an eye on the door. The mark should be walking in at any minute, but this was more important. “What makes you say that?”

The eyebrow Erin sent his way was pure clone, there was no doubt about it. “I’ve never seen Fox or the other commanders eat. Their blacks don’t fit, and they wouldn’t be so worried about me getting food if they had enough.” She tugged at her shirt. “I don’t think they have enough medical supplies, either. I worked with Stitches in the medbay, and we never had any bacta.”

“Hmm.” The null sent out a quick message to his brothers, knowing that they would figure out what was really going on. “I’ll see if I can get you guys some food and medicine.”

Catching movement out of the corner of his eye, he grabbed Erin’s hand. “Mark is here, pretend to be happy.”

She immediately plastered a smile onto her face, laughing at some imagined joke. The target passed by without at second glance.

“Good job, kid,” he whispered, covering his mouth with a cupcake. “Now we just have to tag his little friend.”

The informant came in right on time, immediately moving to the counter to wait in line. Mereel winked at Erin. “Watch and learn, vod’ika, watch and learn.”

The null stepped out of the booth, holding the empty cupcake wrappers in his hand. When he passed the mark, Erin noticed a small puff of white dirt shoot out and land on the man’s hand, where it quickly became transparent. Mereel threw away the wrappers and sat back down. “Alright, kid, what did you see?”

“You shot that guy with some white stuff.”

He grinned. “Nice work. That’s tracking dust. It has a unique radioactive signature, so we’ll know this guy’s every move.” Closing the box of cupcakes, he helped her out of the booth. “And the best part is it becomes invisible within 10 seconds of deployment.”

“That’s really cool!” Erin took the cupcakes, already thinking of what the dust could be used for. “When does it wear off?”

“Couple of weeks,” the null said, a small smile on his face. “Why? Is there someone you want to track?”

A blush trailed up her cheeks. “I just thought it would be nice to know where Fox is. He gets into trouble sometimes.”

“Funny, I think he’d say the same about you.”

Erin shot him a glare. “No, he wouldn’t.”

Mereel patted her on the shoulder consolingly. “You just keep thinking that, vod’ika.” He smiled as she huffed. “Now let’s get you home before Fox kills me.”

Erin hurried to catch up with the clone’s long strides. “So, what are we going to learn about tomorrow?”

“Ordo’s gonna teach you how to make improvised explosives.”

She grinned like a cadet holding a blaster for the first time. “Wizard.”

-------

The force hated him. That was the only explanation for why a jedi was standing in his office right now, being a general nuisance and distracting him from flimsiwork.

“So Foxy,” Quinlan Vos asked, leaning against the ratty couch, “what’s new?”

“Everything is as it should be, General. The guard is operating at peak efficiency.”

Vos looked like he wanted to roll his eyes. “Yeah, but is there anything new going on?”

Kark. Did Vos know about the kid? Fox kept his face carefully neutral, checking his mental shield to make sure they were as strong as possible. “Nothing new, sir.”

Of course, that was when the door slid open to reveal the kid and Mereel. To the kid’s credit, she immediately noticed the intruder, moving to hide herself behind the null just like he had taught her.

Vos perked up. “Who’s this?” He tried to move around Mereel to get a better look, but the null kept shifting so that the kid was always blocked.

“You, first.”

The jedi grinned. “Jedi Master Quinlan Vos, at your service.”

Erin’s gaze turned to Fox. He subtly nodded, tapping the desk twice. “It was very nice to meet you, but I have to go now.” She was gone before the Jedi could blink.

Vos turned back to Fox. “Who was that?”

“None of your business,” Mereel growled.

Undeterred, Vos kept talking. “Is she an orphan? The Child Relocation Bureau-”

“No,” Fox interrupted, pleased to see Mereel blocking the door. “The kid stays here. With us.”

The jedi raised his hands in surrender. “Alright, alright. There’s no need to get defensive, Commander. But what are you doing with a kid? I never pegged you for the nurturing type.”

“Get. Out.” Fox growled.

Before Vos could argue, Mereel threw him into the hallway. “You heard the commander,” he said, voice dripping with false cheeriness. He was Fox’s favorite null, no question. “Don’t let the door hit you on the way out. Or do, I don’t care.”

Fox fell back into his chair as the door closed. “I just talked back to a jedi.”

“You did great, commander.” Mereel pulled out a datapad. “He’s in the lobby, and….he’s gone.”

“I’m going to get decommed.”

“Over this?” the null asked, eyebrow raised. “Nope. And even if the order came through, I’d cancel it.”

Fox looked up through his fingers. “Why?”

Mereel shrugged before moving towards the door. “That’s what ori’vode do. Oh,” he added, almost as an afterthought, “Ordo’s coming tomorrow to teach the vod’ika about explosives.”

The door closed before he could hear Fox could scream.

Chapter Text

“What is this?” Fox asked, datapad held loose in his hand.

Zero wasn’t faring much better. His mouth hung open as he looked out at the crates being unloaded. “Rations and med supplies.”

“I thought we weren’t supposed to get another shipment for three more months.” The line of crates seemed endless. They had never gotten this many supplies at one time.

“We weren’t.”

“Commander!” Flashbang called, waving a piece of flimsi in the air. “There’s a note!”

He handed it to Fox before running back to help with the unloading. Zero looked over the commander’s shoulder. “What does it say?”

Written in messy scrawl, the note read: “Found a discrepancy in your supply requests. Make sure the kid gets the stuff in the small crate. More to come. – Mereel”

“Did the kid-”

“I don’t know.” Fox put the flimsi in one of his belt pouches before striding out of the loading dock. “But I’m going to find out.”

He entered the training room only to find Erin and Ordo crouching in the center, wires strewn over both their laps. “Now, the red wire-”

“What the utter kark are you doing?”

Ordo raised an eyebrow. “Teaching the kid about explosives. I thought Mereel told you.”

“I didn’t think he was serious! She’s fourteen!” Fox ignored the angry look his vod’ika was sending him, instead focusing on the unperturbed null.

“You’re twelve, and she’s fine. Aren’t you, kid?”

Erin had decided to ignore the both of them, instead clipping a yellow and blue wire. She cheered when the screen turned green, and Ordo patted her shoulder. “Good job.”

“Did you see that, Fox?”

And kark it all, Fox couldn’t stay angry when those big eyes were turned on him. “Yeah, kid, I saw. You did good.”

Erin frowned. “What’s wrong, ori’vod?”

The commander cleared his throat, not noticing the null carefully watching the two of them. “I had a question for Ordo.” He turned to the clone. “We just got some supplies, and I was wondering if you guys were responsible.”

“Yup.” The clone pulled out another bomb, pressing a few seemingly random buttons before handing it to the kid. “Try this one.” She immediately went to work, biting her bottom lip in concentration.

But Fox was still confused. “Why?”

“Because you needed it.” The clone said it like it was the simplest thing in the world, like Fox hadn’t been trying for months to get them supplies.

“Why now?”

Ordo raised an eyebrow before standing, pulling Fox to the corner of the room so Erin wouldn’t hear. “Kid said you were running low. If we had known you weren’t getting what you needed, we would’ve done something about it.”

“Even if the kid wasn’t here?”

The man sighed, rubbing a hand over his face. “Look, I realize that us nulls have never been on good terms with everyone else, but we would never leave a vod to starve.”

A cheer erupted from behind them. Turning, they saw Erin holding up the dismantled bomb like a trophy.

“Good work, kid.” Ordo began to put the various bombs, wires, and tools into a canvas bag. “That’s all we have time for today. Mereel’s going to come back tomorrow and work on your knife skills, alright?”

“Thanks, ori’vod!” And if the null’s face softened at the girl’s smile, well, he would never admit it.

Within moments, only Fox and Erin were left in the training room. “So, what kind of stuff did we get?” Erin asked, stopping when she got her first good look at the Commander’s face. “Do we need to go see Stitches? You aren’t looking so good.”

Fox shook his head, holding back a laugh when Erin put her hands on her hips, a little carbon copy of Stitches. “I’m okay, kid. Just tired.”

“When’s your shift over?”

Fox checked his datapad. “Technically I was done an hour ago, but I had to check in with Zero about those supplies.”

“Alright, then. You go to bed and I’ll help Zero unload.” She began to steer him towards the door, nudging him gently towards the barracks.

That’s when he remembered that the nulls had sent her a crate, too. Images of disassembled bombs, weapons, and exotic pets filled his head, and he suppressed a shiver. He was definitely not leaving her alone with whatever they thought would pass as supplies appropriate for a nat-born teenager. “Actually, I was going to go see what the nulls sent you.”

“I wonder what it is.” She frowned before shooting a quick glance at Fox. “But once we do that, we’re both going to bed.”

“I still have some data-”

“I’ve been getting nightmares again,” Erin interrupted.

Was this a low blow to get her ori’vod to take care of himself? Maybe. Did she have permission from Stitch to do this as often as possible to make sure their commander actually went to sleep? Definitely. And it wasn’t exactly a lie, she had been getting nightmares more frequently over the last week or so. They just weren’t bad enough to call for a vod pile, but Fox didn’t know that.

And Erin knew she had won by the look on his face. “You can stay with me.”

She leaned against him as they walked. “Thanks, Fox.”

The rest of the trip to the loading dock was made in silence. When they got there, Zero had already singled out the small crate and was waiting for them. His hand rested on his blaster as he looked at the box like something could jump out at any second. Knowing the nulls, it was a valid concern. “What did they get you?”

Erin, not knowing enough to be wary of anything that came from a null, shrugged before nudging it with her foot. “Not sure.”

Fox quietly signaled to Zero, who moved closer to Erin, ready to snatch her out of harm’s way if necessary. The commander unholstered his blaster and got ready for anything. Erin yanked the lid off, and thank the force nothing jumped out.

“What is it?” Fox asked, still untrusting of anything that didn’t come from the Guard.

“A blanket!”

She pulled it out, and the first thing Fox noticed was how big it was. The red fuzzy monstrosity was easily as tall as a clone and wide enough to go over two bunks. But of course, that couldn’t be the only thing.

In addition to the blanket, Erin also pulled out some pillows, several new outfits, and strangest of all, a stuffed animal. To add insult to injury, it was a fox, which she immediately handed to the commander with a smile.

“Alright, ori’vod, I’ve got the rest of it. Let’s get back to the barracks.” She threw the blanket over her head, looking like a very strange homeless jedi with terrible fashion sense. So Vos.

Fox grumbled, but grabbed a pillow and followed her through the halls of the base, ignoring the snickers of the men as they passed. Finally, they made it to the commander’s shared bunkroom.

Already knowing what to do, Erin pulled the mattresses off the two lower bunks, arranging them in the middle of the room while Fox took off his armor. Then, she wrestled the blanket into submission, stretching it over everything.

Thorn stumbled in, clearly coming off-shift. “Vod pile?” he asked, already throwing his helmet in the general direction of his bunk. “Kark yes.”

He collapsed on the mattresses, holding back a smile as Erin groaned. “Get off, you big lug. You’re supposed to go UNDER the covers. And take your armor off, this isn’t a zoo.”

“When did you get so bossy?” the commander groaned, pulling off his kit. “Must be spending too much time with Fox.”

“Hey,” they both said, wearing identical expressions of disappointment.

Thorn choked back a snort, rolling into the blanket like a burrito. “Goodnight Fox, mini-Fox.”

“Goodnight Thorn.” Erin rolled her eyes but scooted towards her usual place in the middle.

Once she got there, she looked up at Fox. “Aren’t you coming?”

“Sure,” he said absentmindedly, distracted by something on his comm.

“What’re doing?”

He glanced up at her. “Just checking to see why they gave you a stuffed fox. Apparently, it’s because Sergeant Skirata says that toys are necessary for proper emotional development.”

Fox tossed the datapad on a bunk as he finally sat down, sinking into the mattress with a sigh. Handing her the stuffed animal, he asked, “So, do you feel emotionally developed?”

Erin hid her laugh, doing her best to not wake up Thorn. “Yes.”

“Good.” Fox nodded, laying down. “Now go to sleep, you have a busy day tomorrow.”

“Yes, buir.” She rolled her eyes but leaned into her ori’vod. It didn’t take her long to fall asleep, feeling perfectly safe surrounded by her brothers.

An hour later, she woke up to the sound of someone talking in their sleep. Raising herself up on an elbow, she checked on Thorn first, but he was still sleeping like the dead. Blinking tired eyes, she turned to Fox.

The commander’s face was twisted in pain, sweat glistening on his forehead. “No,” he mumbled, “don’t take her.”

Carefully, Erin grasped his shoulder. “Fox.” When he didn’t wake up, she shook his arm. “Fox, wake up. You’re having a nightmare.”

His eyes flew open, chest heaving as he looked wildly around the room. Finally seeing her, he breathed a sigh of relief. “Kid.”

“I’m okay, ori’vod.”

She gave him her wrist, unsurprised when he felt for a pulse. Finding one, he dropped his head back onto the pillow. “Sorry for waking you up.”

“It’s okay. Everyone has nightmares.” Laying back down beside him, Erin put the stuffed fox under his arm. Fox huffed when he noticed what she was doing.

Pointedly pushing the fox further in place, she said, “You need him more than I do. It’ll help with the nightmares.”

“Really?” he asked, sarcasm dripping from his voice.

Erin shrugged, closing her eyes and drawing the blanket up to her chin. “It definitely doesn’t hurt. Now go back to sleep, I’ll be here when you wake up.”

Fox sighed as he resigned himself to holding onto a stuffed toy for the rest of the night. But when the sound of his vod’ika’s breath finally lulled him back to sleep, he didn’t have any nightmares.

When he realized it the next morning, he glared at the thing, which of course didn’t do anything but stare back. Silently, he slipped it under Erin’s arm and left the room, mentally adding ‘stuffed animals’ to the list of things that he should try and get for his troopers. After all, it was like the kid said, everyone has nightmares.

Chapter Text

Erin didn’t think she’d ever be able to close her eyes without seeing her brothers bleeding out on the table in front of her. Chancellor Palpatine had decided, for some unknown and probably idiotic reason, that a zillo beast should be brought to Coruscant. Getty was so excited about it, kept talking about how rare it was, and how its scales are lightsaber resistant. And now he’s dead, like over 100 of her brothers.

“Erin,” she jumped as a hand gently touched her shoulder, “you should really get some sleep. Battle’s over.”

She shook her head, refusing to look at Stitches. “Can’t sleep. Someone may need help.”

“That’s what I’m here for, vod’ika,” he said, voice gentle. “You did an amazing job tonight. Go wash up and try to rest.” He looked over the medbay. “They’re going to need you tomorrow.”

“Alright.” She didn’t remember walking to the sink, but in a blink she was there, trying to get the blood out from under her nails. No matter how hard she scrubbed, though, it wouldn’t come off.

A calloused hand stopped her from rubbing her skin raw. “That’s enough, kid.”

Fox looked like she felt, dark circles under his eyes and ribs wrapped from where a crowd trying to get away from the zillo had trampled him. Grabbing a towel, he dried her hands. “Stitches said you did better than he would’ve at your age.”

“Could’ve done more.”

The commander lifted her chin, forcing her to look him in the eyes. “Erin, there is nothing more you could’ve done. You saved so many lives tonight. Don’t think that those don’t matter.”

When she crashed into him, sobs finally breaking free, he immediately brought his arms around her, even as he winced at his ribs being crushed. “It’s okay, vod’ika. We’ve got you.”

Erin barely noticed when he picked her up, carrying her towards the barracks. When they made it to the commander’s bunkroom, Thire had already gotten the mattresses ready. He glanced at Fox as he pulled the blanket back. “How is she?”

“Not good. The attack hit her hard.” Fox set her down on the makeshift bed, brushing a strand of hair away from her face. “I’m going to call Skirata, see if he has any suggestions." Watching the rise and fall of his vod'ika's chest, he sighed and began to strap on his kit. “Kamino didn’t cover this.”

“Are you going back out?” Thire asked with a raised eyebrow.

“I have to. The senators and reporters are all running around like tookas on spice.” He grimaced as his chestplate hit his bruises.

“The kid’s gonna freak out if you’re not here when she wakes up.”

Fox adjusted his bracer before moving towards the door. “I’ve called Hound. He’s going to stay with her.”

“Hound’s not you, ori’vod.” The younger commander frowned, even as he laid down to get some sleep.

Fox opened the door, giving his vod’ika one last look. “She’ll understand.”

It took the commander an embarrassingly long time to realize that he wasn’t alone in the hall. “The kid will understand what?”

He jumped to attention, holding back a groan as his muscles screamed in protest. “Sergeant Skirata.” Ordo stood behind his sergeant like a wraith, silent and watching.

The man took off his helmet, brows furrowed. “At ease, son. Is the kid okay?”

“Physically, she’s fine. Sleeping right now.”

“And mentally?” Ordo crossed his arms, helmet tilted in a way that expressed displeasure to any vod.

Fox sighed. “Not great. I was actually going to call you for some advice, Sargeant.”

Patting him on the back, Skirata slid his helmat back on and started to lead him through the halls. “I know you’re a busy man, so we can walk and talk. I assume you’re headed to the senate?” At Fox’s nod, he continued, “We’ll go with you. What did the kid see?”

“She was in the medbay, helping with surgery.”

The sergeant cursed. “You put her in surgery?”

“She put herself there,” Fox argued. “Stitches said that she rammed her way in with the first injured vod and refused to leave.”

“Kid has mandokarla,” Ordo muttered.

“That’s an understatement.” Skirata rubbed his forehead. “How many did you lose?”

“112.”

He cursed again. “The best thing you can do for the kid is to be there for her.” When he saw Fox gearing up for an argument, he added, “I know that your schedule is crazy, but as long as someone stays with her, supports her, she should be okay. But don’t forget about yourself, either.”

Ignoring the last part of the sergeant’s statement, Fox began to send out orders from his comm. “I’ll get a rotation going. It shouldn’t be too hard considering she’s training with someone most of the day.”

“Add us to that roster,” Ordo said, hand resting on his belt. “We can watch the kid for you.”

Fox fought the urge to roll his eyes. He was way too tired to be dealing with nulls and this weird adoption thing they had going on with the kid. “Teach her how to destabilize a planetary government, you mean.”

There was a smirk in the null’s voice when he said, “Actually, Jaing covered that last week. This week we’re going over how to run a successful coup.”

“I’m raising a future war criminal, great.”

“Future warlord, you mean.” Oh great, Mereel was here, too. “Dropped those supplies off in the medbay, Kal’buir.”

It took Fox’s sluggish brain a few seconds to catch up. “Supplies?”

“We thought you boys might need some more bacta,” the sergeant answered. “Looks like we were right.”

Mereel started a direct comm line to the sergeant. “It’s worse than we expected, Sarge. They’ve run out of beds.”

“Kark,” Skirata answered. “And the kid was in the middle of that.”

“I heard. Is there anything more we can do to help?”

“All we can do is be here in case they need us.” Turning his external comms back on, Skirata said, “If there’s anything else you need, commander, let us know. We’ll get it for you.”

They had reached the speeder bay. Rain poured down on the city-planet, promising to drench anyone that dared to step outside of the bay’s overhang.

Fox was silent for so long that Skirata had begun to think that he wasn’t going to say anything. But finally, he sighed. “Kid needs more clothes.”

Well, that was easy enough. And while they were at it, they could get the kid her some armor. She was already fourteen, an adult by Mandalorian standards, and if this didn’t count as a Verd’goten, Kal would eat his buy’ce. “Consider it done.”

“And some more stuffed animals?” Fox asked, almost too quietly for Kal’s audio receptors to pick up.

“Of course, son, as many as you want.”

Without another word, the commander stalked off into the night, leaving the others standing quietly in his wake. “They’re messed up, aren’t they buir?”

“We all are, Mereel. But yeah, they’re more messed up than most.” He patted his son’s shoulder. “Keep a close eye on the kid, and the commander. Understood?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Good.” Hands on his hips, Kal stared off into the rain. “We’re not going to leave a verd behind. Not if I have anything to say about it.”

--------

The sergeant returned a week later, carrying more medical supplies, two crates of stuffed animals, and a smaller crate that he refused to let anyone but Erin open. While they waited for her to get out of her slicing session, Fox passed out the toys, making sure that there was at least one for every squad.

Hound, however, leaned against Erin’s crate, Grizzer sitting happily at his side. “What did you get the kid?”

“You’ll see soon enough,” Ordo grumbled.

Hound looked like he was going to continue the argument, but fortunately for everyone Erin picked that moment to enter the bay. There were still bags under her eyes, and she was more clingy than usual, but she seemed to be slowly recovering from the zillo.

“Hi,” she said, “I heard that you guys got me something?”

“We did, ad’ika.” If Fox didn’t know any better, he would say that Ordo sounded excited for some reason. There must be a bomb in the crate, or maybe the decapitated head of a planetary leader and they were here to give the kid her own planet. “Open it up.”

She shot him a thin smile as she pulled off the lid, gasping when she looked inside. “Is this?”

“Armor.” Skirata crossed his arm, a pleased expression firmly on his face. “It’s not beskar, but durasteel was easier to get on short notice.”

“Armor?” Fox repeated, staring at the blank breastplate Erin was holding.

“We all know you’re willing to run headfirst into danger if you think someone is in trouble, so we thought you should at least be protected when you do. There are some blasters, droid poppers, and low-level dets, on your belt, too. Extra charge packs are on the bottom.” Mereel looked almost as happy as the kid, bouncing on his toes.

“Thank you!” She took the time to give each of them a bone crushing hug before pulling out a flight suit. “I’ll be right back.” She rushed out of the bay to change, leaving several flabbergasted vod behind her.

Kal shrugged at the shocked Corries. “The kid’s old enough by Mandalorian standards, and I think it’ll make her feel better, knowing that she can help you if necessary. Hope you don’t mind.”

Fox’s brain had short-circuited. His vod’ika was getting armor, and it was tougher than his. She was going to be protected.

“Commander?” Kal asked. “Are you alright?”

“Thank you.”

Before he could say anything else, Erin ran back in, expertly throwing on the plates with the skill of someone who had helped her brothers do it a thousand times. When she slid the bucket on, Fox had to choke back a gasp. She looked like the verd he had always known she was.

She bounded up to him. “What do you think?”

Fox couldn’t say anything, so Hound answered for him. “You look great, kid, but you’re gonna need some paint.” He took her by the shoulder and steered her towards the door. “Come on, I’m sure that Zero can find some for us.”

“Are you okay, commander?” Kal asked again as soon as they were alone, the nulls flanking him on either side.

“I’m not going to be able to keep her safe, am I?”

The sergeant patted him on the shoulder. “That’s the hardest part about raising a kid, Fox. You’ve got to let them go, and you have to come to terms with the fact that sometimes, the only thing standing between them and marching on is the training you gave them.” He shook his head. “To be honest, I’m still trying to figure it out, myself.”

“You’ve done a good job with her, Commander,” Mereel said, a small grin on his face, “and we’re not finished yet. By the time we’re done, she’s going to be able to handle anything that the galaxy can throw at her.”

Fox thought about the blackouts that had started right after the zillo beast attack. How he’d wake up with blood on his hands and his blaster pack drained. Something dark was happening on Coruscant, and deep down, he knew that he wouldn’t be able to keep his vod’ika away from it.

The sergeant was right. The only way to truly keep her safe was to train her and train her well. “Yeah, yeah she will.”

-------

There was a knock on his office door a few hours later. Praying it wasn’t Vos, Fox said, “Come in.”

The door slid open revealing Erin in all of her kit. She had painted the base white, to match the rest of her vod’e. The symbol of the Coruscant Guard decorated her right pauldron, and a medic’s insignia rested on her left. Stripes that looked suspiciously like Hound’s were painted on her thigh plates, and her boots were red. But what drew the most attention, though, was the fox’s head on her chest plate.

She stood in front of his desk at parade rest, nervously shifting her weight from foot to foot. “So?” she asked. “What do you think?”

Fox tried to ruthlessly bury the emotions that had started to rise, but was only partially successful. He stalked around the desk, grabbing his vod’ika’s shoulders and pulling her into a keldabe. “I think that we should start ARC-training tomorrow.”

Chapter Text

6 months later….

“You guys have a mascot now?”

Erin slowly looked up from where she was studying. Stitches wanted her to know the antidote, side effects, and mortality rate of every common poison. Unfortunately, there were a lot of them. But that didn’t seem to matter to the drunk clones in front of her.

Judging by the color of their paint, they were from the 501st, and one of them was an ARC trooper. Great.

“I’m covering for someone.” Mince, who was supposed to be on duty right now, was injured at a prison riot earlier in the week, and Fox had decided that drunk tank duty wasn’t too dangerous.

“The Guard lets a nat-born man the desk?” The ARC wasn’t as drunk as the rest of them, but that wasn’t saying much. Especially since the one with a republic cog tattooed on his face was trying to flirt with a wanted poster.

Rocky, who had brought the drunks in, pushed them towards the cells. “What the Guard does and doesn’t do is none of your business.”

Once they were safely locked up, Rocky came back and leaned against the desk. “Sorry about them, vod’ika. Where’d Cardshark go?”

“Fox had to send him to Level 24, something about an exotic pet getting loose. He’s down there with Hound.”

“Hmmm.” She could tell that he was frowning. “Are you sure that you’re okay to stay here by yourself? It looks like it’s going to be a busy night.”

Erin stood on her tiptoes, bringing their foreheads together in a kedalbe. “I’ll be fine, ori’vod. What’re they gonna do? Sing me to death?”

One of the drunk troopers, who had been doing just that, yelled out, “Hey!”

“You know it’s true, Hardcase!” his brother yelled, trying to slap Hardcase on the shoulder. Unfortunately, his coordination was gone and he missed, winding up on the floor in a gangly heap.

“Yeah,” Erin said, watching the clone try (and fail) to stand, “I’ll be fine.”

“Alright then. Comm someone if you need any help.” He picked up his blaster, giving her shoulder one last squeeze before heading towards the door.

“I will. Stay safe.”

Shooting her a two-fingered salute, he nodded. “I’ll do my best.”

Then, she was alone with a squad of very drunk clones. “You guys are 501st, right?” she yelled back towards the cells.

“Have you heard of us?” the one with the cog asked, leaning against the wall.

“Of course she has, Jesse, we’re the 501st! Best legion in the galaxy!” Hardcase spun around, running into the ARC and nearly sending them both careening into the cell’s bunk.

“I’m asking so I know who’s going to pick up your sorry shebs.”

Putting her study materials to the side, she pulled up the 501st’s contact info on the tank’s datapad. Captain Rex. Fox had mentioned him a couple of times, mostly to tell her to not spin her pistols like him or else she would get “shot like a di’kut, and I don’t train di’kuts”. She also knew that he was basically the commander’s youngest batchmate. That was going to make this…interesting.

She typed out the standard ‘we have your drunk guys, come pick ‘em up because we don’t want them’ comm. Message sent, she leaned back and grabbed her other ‘pad, determined to memorize the side effects of the red death before the next group of drunks came in.

By the end of the night, the drunk tank was a riot of color. 212th gold, wolfpack grey, and 327th marigold were only a few of the legions represented. Each of them had questioned her presence at the desk, and one had even flirted with her (the less said about that sad attempt, the better). Now, all that was left was for their commanding officers to come and pick them up. Then, Erin could go back to the barracks, sleep for four hours, and then get to her first training session of the day.

Cardshark was still looking for the escaped nexu, so that meant that she was going to have to handle everything by herself. Fortunately, it was a simple process. The CO would come in, sign a form, and leave. There would probably be questions about her identity, but a quick call to whoever was manning dispatch tonight would fix that. At least, that was the plan.

The first few pick-ups were uneventful. She had to call dispatch each time, and although the commanders seemed confused, they took Green’s word for it and took their troopers away.

By the time the last four COs came to collect their men, someone in the cells had convinced the others that it would be a great idea to start singing very loudly and off-key. Erin had turned off her audio receptors, content to let them sing themselves into unconsciousness. But when she saw the door open, she knew that her reprieve was over.

Commanders Cody, Bly, Wolffe, and Captain Rex marched in like angry rancors. Not even bothering with pleasantries, Wolffe slammed his hands down on the desk and growled, “I didn’t believe it when Grey said a nattie was running the drunk tank. Who are you?”

Reminding herself that these were Fox’s batchmates and she couldn’t kill them, Erin met the commander’s glare. With the blandest voice she could muster, she replied, “I’m CT-5453. Please sign here to take your men.” Fox had decided months ago to give her a fake CT number, just in case something like this happened. It was the best way to stay anonymous.

“You’re not a clone,” Commander Cody said, steadily assessing her armor.

Wolffe crossed his arms, teeth bared. “Where’s the Guard that usually mans the desk?”

“CT-4335 was called to deal with a disturbance somewhere else. I was asked to fill in.” She pushed a datapad closer to the commanders. “Sign here, please.”

“We get called to the drunk tank on our one night together, and now we have to deal with some delusional nat-born the Guard picked up?” Bly leaned against the wall. If he had known what had been on that wall just a few hours ago, he would be on the other side of the room. Actually, one of his men did it, so he got what he deserved.

“This is ridiculous.” Cody leaned across the desk, getting into her personal space. “Get me a clone. Now.”

“No.” Before the commanders could start to argue, she continued, “I’m the only Guard free right now. If you have a problem with that, we can call dispatch and they’ll verify my credentials.”

Suddenly, Rex snorted. His cheeks were flushed, and it was clear that he had a few drinks before coming. “Look at her paint.”

Well, that’s not what she expected him to say. He must be more drunk than she had thought. Eyes narrowed, Erin asked, “What about it?”

The captain gestured towards her. “There’s a fox on it!” He grinned. “You must be the little nat-born that’s been following Fox around. We thought you were a rumor cooked up by drunk shinies.”

“Well I’m not.” Her voice dripped with venom, not like the captain noticed it. He was too tipsy to understand something as complex as knowing when to shut up.

“Why do ya hang out with the Guard, anyway? There are plenty of better battalions out there.”

Her gloves creaked as she clenched her fists, reminding herself that she can’t kill Fox’s batchmates. He’d be sad, and she hated it when he got sad. It was weird and unnerving, much like this conversation. “You’re wrong.”

The captain scoffed. “Anyone’s better than a paper pusher.”

And that was it. She had been up all night dealing with insults thrown at her and her brothers. There was still blood on her gauntlets from where she had bandaged Wildbreak, and there was no way she was going to let Fox’s own batchmates talk about him like that.

She leaped over the desk, crashing into the captain and sending them both to the ground. Fist colliding with his nose, she was able to get in one good shot before the other clones pulled her off of him.

“What the kark is wrong with her?” Bly asked, holding one of her arms.

Wolffe held the other. “I have no idea.”

That was when Erin’s ARC training took over, and she went limp, pulling her arms out of the other’s grasp as soon as there was a little bit of slack. Sweeping her leg out, she brought Wolffe down before tackling Bly at the knees.

That was when Cody tried to pin her. “This ends now.”

She threw her head back, hearing the commander’s nose break with a loud crunch. “Not yet.”

The other clones piled on top of her, eventually dragging her snarling and cursing into a cell. Raising the barrier, Cody tried to wipe the blood off his face. “I’m calling Fox.”

“Go ahead,” Erin grinned, blood coating her teeth. “See what happens.”

As soon as they left, she ignored the yelling from the drunks and pulled off a panel from the wall. Yanking out two wires, she grinned in satisfaction as the shield went down. Creeping down the hall, the commanders and captain soon coming into view.

They were on the comm with Fox, his small holo form flickering the light. “You did what?”

“We threw her in the cell,” Cody said, crossing his arms. “She attacked Rex.”

Mini-Fox rubbed his forehead. “Why did she attack your CT?”

“No reason.” When Fox glared at Rex, he blushed. “Well, I may have called you a paper pusher.”

The commander sighed before looking back at his batchmates. That was when he saw something move in the background. “I’ll be there in ten minutes, so don’t kill anyone.”

“What?”

That was the only thing Cody was able to say before he was stunned with the rest of his brothers. Erin bounced up to the comm, cheerfully waving to mini-Fox. “Hi, ori’vod!”

“Hi, kid.” He shook his head, sounding fond. “Are you hurt?”

“I’m fine. What do you want me to do with them until you get here?”

“Just leave them. Serves them right for trying to fight my vod’ika.” He gave a quiet chuckle. “Let the drunks go, we’ll deal with my idiot batchers then get you back to the barracks for some sleep.”

“Sounds like a plan. See you soon.”

Ending the comm, she dropped it on Wolffe’s unconscious body and walked back to the cells. “Alright, boys. I’m gonna let you out. Don't try to get your COs, Commander Fox wants to talk with them. If you try, I will stun you. Go straight back to your barracks.” She used her best Ordo impression to add, “If you don’t, I’ll know. And I will find you. Understood?”

They all straightened up under her glare, and when she let the shield down, they all ran out like scared tookas. For a minute, it looked like she was going to have to stun the ARC, but when he saw her hand on her blaster, he thought better of it and followed everyone else outside.

Trash taken out, Erin returned to her chair and picked up her datapad. Maybe she could get a little more studying done while she waited for Fox.

True to his word, the commander walked in ten minutes later. Nudging his batchmates with his foot, he said, “Good work, vod’ika.”

“Thanks, ori’vod.” She pulled him into a keldabe. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, but these guys are going to have one hell of a headache when they wake up.”

When the others began to stir, he crossed his arms, falling into what Erin called his ‘disappointed’ stance. “Why are you four messing with my lieutenant?”

“Lieutenant?” Cody asked, rubbing his head as he sat up. “What lieutenant?”

“He’s talking about me.” Erin had returned to her seat, studying Naboo’s poisons.

“So let me get this straight.” Wolffe frowned, his cybernetic eyes flashing in the light. “You tell us you’re too busy to meet up at 79’s. Then, this nat-born makes us come pick up our troopers, attacks Rex, breaks out of her cell, stuns us all, and you’re going to take her side?”

Fox answered without hesitation. “First, I was on-duty when you wanted to go to 79’s, and it’s not my fault your idiots don’t know how to stay out of trouble. Second, you shouldn’t have insulted me in front of the kid. And third, you definitely shouldn’t have underestimated her. Add that to the fact that she’s my vod’ika, and I’m always going to take her side.”

“Your vod’ika?” Rex asked, incredulous. “She’s a nat-born!”

“She’s a Guard.”

“And I’ve been trained by the nulls,” Erin added helpfully from the desk.

Bly looked between her and Fox. “Vod, this is crazy. You were always the one that said we can’t trust anyone who isn’t a clone, and now you have a nat-born running your drunk tank. Did she mind-trick you or something?”

Erin moved to stand, but a signal from Fox stopped her. “She’s proven herself time and time again. She belongs to the Guard, and no one’s going to take her away from us.” He raised an eyebrow. “You have your nat-born jedi.”

“Our jedi are trustworthy. Do you even know where she came from?”

“Of course I do,” Fox asked, bucket tilted, “and I’m tired of repeating myself. Treat the lieutenant with respect or deal with the consequences.”

“Let’s go, vod’e,” Wolffe growled, making for the door. “It’s clear that Fox cares more about his nat-born than his actual brothers.”

Cody frowned as he followed his brother. Giving Fox one last look, he said, “I hope your happy.”

When the door shut behind the last of them, Erin threw her arms around her ori’vod. “I’m so sorry, Fox.”

He was still looking at the door. “It’s not your fault, vod’ika.”

“They’re di’kuts.” When he didn’t answer, she did her best to crush his ribs with her hug. Looking up and wishing that he wasn’t wearing his bucket, she asked, “Can we go home?”

“Yeah,” he said, putting an arm over her shoulders. “Let’s go home.”

Chapter Text

Something was wrong with Fox. Erin watched as he rubbed his eyes, the dark circles under them becoming more and more pronounced each day. Not only that, a sense of hopelessness hung around him, and it was becoming harder to get through it.

“What do you think?” she asked, pushing her datapad across the desk towards him.

The commander was teaching her large-scale battle tactics today, and she was going to take advantage of his attention. Palpatine was calling for him more frequently now, and he always left those meetings beaten and bruised, if they were lucky.

Fox scrolled through her plan. By the time he was finished, Erin was fidgeting in her seat. “So?”

He looked at her from over the top of the ‘pad. “This is good, vod’ika. Tomorrow we’ll go over water-based assaults.”

Her smile lit up the room, and it was almost enough to make the corner of Fox’s mouth curl. Almost.

“Thanks, ori’vod!” She dashed around the desk, wrapping him in a hug. “I’m not letting go till you hug back,” she whispered.

Fox sighed before bringing his own arms around her. “You’re a menace.”

“But I’m your menace.” Pressing a gentle keldabe against his forehead, she tried to show him how much she cared, since he had always preferred action over words. “And you’re stuck with me.”

“I guess I am,” he huffed, and Erin silently cheered in victory. “Now it’s time for your class with Mereel. Get going before he starts poking his nose into things he shouldn’t.”

Erin saluted sharply, immediately catching the small smile on Fox’s face before it vanished just as fast. “Yes, sir!”

Her mind was still on Fox when she entered the training room, and it didn’t take long for Mereel to notice. “What’s up kid?”

“I think I need your help.”

That got his attention. He stopped setting up the rappel gear he had brought, instead patting the ground beside in. “What’s wrong, vod’ika?”

“I’m worried about Fox.” She tugged on her kama, a gift from the Corries on her 15th birthday. “There’s something he’s not telling me, and I think it’s big.”

“Hmm.” The null pulled out a datapad. Mereel had taught Erin about surveillance, so if she thought something was off, he was going to trust her instincts. “What have you seen?”

“Every time he comes back from meeting with the chancellor, medical supplies go missing. Nothing crazy, but some bacta and bandages are always taken from the cabinets.”

Mereel glanced at her, frowning at the implications. “And the only people that have the codes to those cabinets are the medics and Fox.”

“Exactly.” Erin took a deep breath, running her fingers through her hair before continuing. “And it’s not just that. He’s gone missing several times in the last few months. We can’t raise him on comms or anything. Fox always comes back beaten up, and he refuses to tell us where he’s been.”

“So you want me to find out where he’s been?”

Erin pulled out a datapad of her own, quickly pulling up a page of recorded files. “Nope. I’ve already done it. I need you to figure out why he’s doing it.”

Taking the ‘pad, Mereel examined the footage, quickly realizing that the kid was right. There was definitely something wrong with the commander. He moved like a droid through the streets of Coruscant, never stopping or flinching, even after getting shot.

And he wasn’t the only one getting shot in the recordings. Mereel watched as Fox took out politicians, reporters, and seemingly random citizens.

He copied the files to his own ‘pad, sending them to his brothers for good measure. “Have you found a connection between the victims?”

“Yeah.” Erin pulled up a new screen, this one showing Fox’s comm logs. Mereel would be proud of the kid if not for the seriousness of it all. “Fox’ll get an audio message from the chancellor, or he’ll go to see the chancellor, and then he goes off the grid. The messages are deleted right after they’re opened, so I haven’t been able to see what’s said, but I know that it all connects back to Palpatine.”

“I’ll see what I can dig up, vod’ika.” He ruffled her hair, ignoring her aggravated huff. “But for right now, you just keep watching the comm logs. If Palpatine’s involved, I don’t want you to get any more involved. Understand?”

Erin didn’t answer.

“Understand?” Mereel repeated.

“Understood.”

“Alright, then.” He clapped her on the shoulder. “We won’t be able to solve this mystery now, and you need to learn how to rappel off of slippery buildings. You ready?”

There was a glint of something dangerous in Erin’s eyes when she stood. “Ready.”

---------

A few weeks passed, and the nulls hadn’t found anything. Mereel was convinced that the chancellor was a separatist traitor, but that was pure speculation.

They hadn’t given up, though, and neither had Erin. Which was why, in the middle of the night, her comm lit up. She groaned before slapping it, adrenaline rushing through her veins when she read the notification. Fox had left the building, and he had opened a message from the chancellor just three minutes ago.

She quietly kitted up, careful to not wake up anyone else in the bunkroom. They all deserved their rest. Palpatine had them all running themselves ragged after Ahsoka Tano escaped custody, and if Erin was a betting woman, she would put all of her nonexistent paycheck on the jedi’s escape and Fox’s mission being related.

Activating the tracker that she had put in the necklace she had given Fox, she ran out of the building and into the streets of Coruscant. She couldn’t see the commander, but that didn’t matter. Jaing had told her that the tracker would be in-range no matter where on the planet Fox was.

Speaking of the nulls, Erin activated her comm. “Mereel?”

“Kid, do you know what time it is?” The clone sounded half-asleep, but Erin refused to let herself feel bad.

“Fox is on the move, and I think he’s going after Ahsoka Tano. I need you to find her first so I can get her out of the way.”

He was definitely more awake now. “Where are you?”

“Level 37, and heading lower.” She spotted Fox in the crowd, just barely able to jump on the same lift. “And there’s definitely something wrong here.”

Erin could hear the sarcasm in the null’s voice. “Other than the fact he’s probably going to try and kill a jedi?”

She looked back at where Fox was standing. The other citizens gave him a large berth, not wanting to be anywhere near the clone. “I’m on the same lift, and he hasn’t noticed.”

There was muffled cursing on the other side of the comm. “What the KARK do you think you’re doing? He could kill you!”

“No he won’t. He’s Fox.”

Mereel groaned. “Kid, you’re going to be the death of me.”

There was silence on the line for a second before the null continued, “Tano’s on Level 57, at a warehouse. I’ll send you the coordinates and meet you there. Don’t go in there without backup.”

“Thanks, ori’vod,” she said, with every intention to go in without backup. “I’ll see you there.”

“Kid, I’m seri-”

Erin cut the connection before he could say anything else.

The warehouse was huge, but thanks to the thermal sensors in her bucket, that wouldn’t be too much of a problem. And she should have enough time to get Tano out of there, since she saw Fox get out of the lift two levels above her.

She wanted to pull out her blaster, but that probably wasn’t the best thing to do when confronting a rogue jedi. Instead, she nudged open the door. “Hello? I’m here to help.”

Erin’s voice echoed through the room, but there was no response. Unfortunately, the warehouse reminded her of where the Crimson Runners had captured her, and she jumped at every sound and shadow. With a cynical laugh, she thought that might be a good thing. There was no way the Guard would send a terrified nat-born to find a jedi.

“My name’s Erin, and I think you’re in danger. We need to leave.” She swung her helmet around, quickly finding the heat signature of a togruta.

Sensing that she had been found, Ahsoka Tano stood from where she had been hiding behind a crate. “Why should I believe you?”

“My brother’s on his way to kill you. Use the force or whatever to see if I’m telling the truth.”

After a minute, the togruta scrunched up her nose. “Why would you help me?”

“Someone’s controlling my brother. Now come on, our best chance is the sewers. Once we’re down there, we can meet up with my contact and get you a new identity.” Erin began to walk towards the back entrance of the warehouse, not looking to see if Ahsoka was following.

“I don’t want a new identity! I want everyone to believe that I’m innocent.”

Erin checked Fox’s tracker. Kark. They were running out of time. She turned around, starting to pull the jedi behind her. “I know you’re innocent. That’s why you don’t have a blaster shot in your forehead right now. Now come on. It won’t matter if your innocent or not if you’re dead.”

Finally, Ahsoka started following her. “How do you know that I didn’t kill Letta?”

“Hacked the cameras. There was a masked force user in a nearby hallway. They’re the ones who killed my brothers.” Erin poked her head out the door, breathing a small sigh of relief when she didn’t see Fox.

“Your brothers?” Ahsoka asked, lightsabers ready in her hands. “You’re a clone?”

“Adopted.” Erin continued to scan the street. According to the tracker, Fox was going to be here any second. “There’s a manhole cover fifty yards to our left. When I say move, we run to it. Don’t stop for any reason.”

Not waiting for Ahsoka’s acknowledgement, she burst into a run. “Go!”

Even with the head start the jedi ran past her, using the force to yank off the manhole cover. But when Ahsoka looked up to her new ally, her eyes widened, and Erin knew they had run out of time.

“Get in the hole and be ready to catch me!” she yelled, even as a blaster shot ripped through her arm. Cursing, she set her blasters to stun as Ahsoka jumped into the sewer.

Her comm crackled to life. “Kid, what are you doing?!?” Mereel nearly shouted. “He’s going to kill you and I don’t have a clear shot!”

“Don’t shoot him!” she yelled back. “Just get him somewhere safe when I stun him. Can I take the jedi to ba’vodu Skirata?”

“Whatever, just get out of here!”

She was almost at the hole. She shot her rappel line into the building on the other side, letting the cord pull her into the air. While flying, she turned, sending a few shots at Fox. The third one hit him, but she didn’t hang around to see if she had knocked him out.

Erin released the line, praying she had timed everything right. Her back collided painfully with the edge of the hole, and she hoped that Ahsoka was ready to catch her. Because she was about to drop.

Chapter Text

Erin felt herself free fall for a moment, but then something was cradling her. She floated down, watching Ahsoka use the force with a look of concentration on her face.

As soon as she her feet were on the ground, Erin immediately set off. “Come on, let’s get out of here.”

“Are you okay?” the jedi asked, jogging to catch up. “I thought I felt you get shot.”

“Just a graze.” Erin ignored the wet spot growing on her sleeve. Instead, she commed ba’vodu Skirata.

He picked up immediately. “Mereel’s already told me, and Ordo’s headed your way. Were you hit?”

“Grazed my arm, and I think I probably bruised my back.” She reached back, only to yank her arm away as the touch sent a wave of pain shooting through her.

Kal cursed under his breath. “Kid, what were you thinking?”

“That I didn’t want Fox to have to deal with the knowledge that he killed a jedi in cold blood. Or worse, that he would be killed.”

“So you’d rather he kill you?”

Erin shook her head even though she knew he couldn’t see her. “I knew he wouldn’t. I have to believe that Fox is still in there somewhere, and I’m going to trust him.”

“You’re going to get yourself killed with your schemes.”

“Are you going to help or not?” she growled, tired and hurting.

“Of course we’re going to help you, kid.” Kal tried to calm her down, but it wasn’t working. “We just want you to realize that you took a really big risk tonight.”

“What’s the point of my training if I don’t use it to help my brothers?”

Silence rang through the comms. Then, Kal sighed. “Ordo’s five minutes away from your position, verd’ika. We’ll get you patched up, but you’re going to have to come up with your own excuse.”

“Thanks, ba’vodu.” Erin cut the comm, only to be left with a very curious jedi.

“You’re the Guard’s nat-born, aren’t you?”

Erin raised an eyebrow. “And if I am?”

Ahsoka crossed her arms, her outfit doing nothing to stop the chill of the sewers. “Rex told me about you. Said you broke his and Cody’s nose.”

“He deserved it,” Erin replied, hand resting on her blaster. “The di’kuts insulted Fox.”

The jedi just hummed. She didn’t say anything else, but a few minutes later she tensed, hands flying to her sabers. “Someone’s coming.”

Erin put a hand on the jedi’s. “Ori’vod?”

An angry growl echoed through the tunnel as Ordo appeared around a corner. “What the ever-loving kark were you thinking? No, I’ll answer that for you. You weren’t. Do you realize what could’ve happened tonight? You could’ve-”

Whatever the null was about to say was forgotten as Erin crashed into him. “Thanks for coming to get me, ori’vod.”

Careful to not touch what was sure to be horrific bruising, Ordo cupped the back of her neck. “Just don’t do anything like that ever again.”

The adrenaline that had been keeping her upright disappeared, leaving her feeling tired and drained. “Alright.”

He turned back to where he had come from, arm resting over his vod’ika’s shoulders. “Come on, jedi, you’re our problem, now.”

Ahsoka would’ve been more scared of the giant clone if she hadn’t been able to sense the fear and affection that had been pouring off of him. She was still wary, but she walked on his other side. “I’m Ahsoka.”

“I know.”

By time they had made it to Kal’s apartment, Erin was dead on her feet. But unfortunately, she couldn’t pass out just yet.

Mereel stood in the middle of the room, arms crossed and murder in his normally happy eyes. “I hope you didn’t think that we were done with our little conversation. And before you ask, Fox is with Stitches. He’s going to be fine.”

The null took off her bucket and pretended to look inside. “What are you doing?”

“Inspecting your audio receptors, because I could’ve sworn I told you to wait for me.”

Erin sighed. “I’m sorry, ori’vod.”

“You’re not going to ‘ori’vod’ your way out of this one, kid.” He looked at her, the anger bleeding away. “You scared me.”

“I’m sorry, but I couldn’t let someone else get hurt.”

Skirata emerged from one of the back rooms, a medkit in his hand. “I think the kid’s learned her lesson and her injuries are punishment enough. Now let’s get her patched up and back to the base before anyone notices she’s missing.”

He sat down on the couch, leaving room for Erin to sit on the table in front of him. “Take off your kit, let’s see what we’re dealing with.”

Ahsoka sucked in a breath when she saw the dark bruise already growing on Erin’s back. Hearing it, Erin shrugged. “I’m sure it looks worse than it feels.”

“Doubtful,” Skirata said, carefully lathering on some bacta. He looked to Ahsoka. “You any good at force healing?”

The jedi shook her head. “Sorry.”

“That’s fine.” Kal finished up with the bacta and moved on to the bandage. “Mereel, get her another shirt. It’d be hard to explain the blood on her old one.”

“Sure thing, Kal’buir.”

“So,” Ahsoka asked, blushing a little, “what’s going to happen to me?”

Kal didn’t take his gaze off of Erin. “You have two choices. One, we give the courts our evidence proving your innocence and you take your chances with Tarkin. Option two, you stay here and fight the real war.”

“Real war?” The skepticism was dripping off her voice, making Ordo snort.

“You thought war was black and white? We think that someone’s playing the republic and separatists like a flute, and we’re going to find out who.”

“We already know who,” Erin grumbled, holding back a wince as Kal tightened the bandage.

Ordo raised an eyebrow. “True, but we don’t know if he’s answering to someone. There could be a third party involved.”

She rolled her eyes. “Fine. I still want to shoot him, though.”

Kal chuckled, moving on to the blaster graze on her arm. “I’m afraid you’re going to have to get in line, verd’ika.”

“Would I be able to see the 501st?” Ahsoka asked, biting her bottom hip.

“Too dangerous.” Ordo started to reheat some leftovers. The kid deserved a treat after nearly executing a nearly flawless plan. Did he approve of it? Of course not, she almost got herself killed, but it was a good plan, nevertheless. “We’re gonna have to get you a new identity, and you’d stay with us.”

“We’d help you reconnect with them after the war,” Kal soothed, giving Erin the new shirt Mereel had found, “but this is bigger than the 501st. It’s bigger than all of us.”

“Are you sure it isn’t just a conspiracy? Where’s your evidence?”

Mereel handed her a ‘pad and watched as she scrolled for the next few minutes. By the time she was finished, Ordo had given the kid her snack and she was almost finished eating.

The togruta looked at them, something dark in her eyes. This was definitely bigger than anything she had ever imagined. Corruption in the highest positions of leadership, leaked battle plans and strategies. It hurt her to say it, but this was something that not even the jedi would be able to solve, considering how closely they were tied to the senate. “I’m in.”

“It’ll be good to have another force user on our side,” Mereel said, nudging Erin’s foot. “But now it’s time to get this troublemaker back to the barracks.”

Erin rolled her eyes but stood, putting her dirty plate in the sink. When she turned back around, Ahsoka was waiting. “I don’t think I ever thanked you for saving me.” The former jedi bowed. “I am in your debt.”

“Don’t worry about it.” Before her brain could catch up to her mouth, she asked, “Could I have your comm code?”

“Aw, did our vod’ika make a new friend?” Mereel ignored Erin’s glare as he laughed. “We’re gonna have to get her a new comm, kid, but I’ll be sure to get you the code.”

Erin looked back to Ahsoka. “I mean, only if you want to.”

“I think it would be nice to have another girl my age to talk to,” she answered, looking around the apartment. “I have a feeling I won’t be seeing a lot of other people around here.”

“You won’t,” Mereel cheerfully agreed, holding out Erin’s helmet. “Now come on, vod’ika, I don’t want Fox to wake up without you on base. He’ll string me up and hang me outside the drunk tank as a warning to anyone dumb enough to mess with you.”

She huffed, sliding the bucket on. “Fine. See you later, Ahsoka.” Erin turned to Ordo. “Be nice.”

“Please,” the null replied in a voice as dry as a Geonosian desert, “I’m the nicest one here.”

The door shut as Erin laughed, and soon she and Mereel were walking back to the barracks. “So, what are you going to tell the others?”

Erin shrugged, wincing when the motion pulled at sore muscles. “I’m not going to tell them anything.”

“Really? You think you’re just going to waltz around with a blaster burn and a beautifully bruised back among the most overprotective shabuirs in the GAR?”

“I’ll tell them it’s a girl thing. Works every time.” She started to mentally plan how she was going to change her bandages without anyone noticing. It would be hard, but not impossible.

“A girl -. Wait,” he stopped, hands on his hips, “when you told me you couldn’t train last week, was that really a girl thing or were you karking with me?”

Her silence spoke for itself. “Aw, come on, kid! What was that for?”

“I didn’t want to rappel off the senate dome,” she said, trying to hide her blush. “I thought it would give Fox a heart attack.”

“But that’s half the fun!”

Erin shoulder checked the null, but he didn’t budge an inch. She huffed in frustration as the barracks loomed in front of them. “Thanks for taking me home, Mereel.”

“Anytime, vod’ika.” He patted her uninjured shoulder. “But I don’t think you’re going to keep your injuries a secret for long.”

She frowned, crossing her arms. “Why? Did you tell them what happened?”

“No, but the Guard tends to have a sixth sense about you. I usually can’t get within 6 ft of you without one of them knowing.” He nudged her towards the entrance. “Go get some sleep, kid. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“See you tomorrow, ori’vod.” She breathed a sigh of relief as soon as she was inside, but unfortunately, the relief was short-lived.

“Just where have you been, young lady?” Stitches stood in the middle of the hallway, arms crossed and murder in his eyes. Hound and Grizzer were right beside him, looking just as angry.

“Nowhere.” Erin tried to scoot past them, but Stitches grabbed her arm. “AH!”

The medic yanked his hand back like she had slapped him. But then, his eyes narrowed. “What happened?”

“Nothing!”

Hound frowned, worry replacing the anger in his eyes. “Kid, do I need to get Grizzer to sit on you?”

Her back flared in pain just thinking about it. “No!”

“Then tell us what happened.” Stitches looked almost ready to drag her to medbay, and considering that was probably where Fox was, she was almost willing to let him.

Erin sighed, realizing that Mereel was right and this was a hopeless battle. “Fine, but only in your office.”

Neither of them looked too happy, but they moved to the medic’s office. Once Erin had gotten as comfortable as she could on the hard metal visitor’s chair, she told them everything. “But please don’t tell Fox. He’d feel awful.”

“Of course we’re not going to tell him.” Hound fell silent for a minute, rubbing his forehead. “How did you find out about the blackout missions?”

“I’m not an idiot,” she said, a little frustration bleeding through. “You guys trained me well enough to notice when something’s wrong. And I’m going to figure out how to fix it.”

“No.” Stitches’s voice was firm. “Stay away from this. We’re not going to risk your safety.”

“Why?” she asked, anger building. “Because it’s spreading?”

“Because you could get killed!” For the first time since she had known him, Stitches yelled, pointing towards her injured arm.

“You’re my brothers!” she yelled right back, eyes filling with unshed tears. “I’m willing to take that risk!”

And that’s what it really boiled down to. The Guard were her family, and they were in trouble. For a moment, Stitches looked like he had been shot. Then, he sunk back into his chair, head in his hands.

That was when Hound spoke up. “We know you are, vod’ika, but that’s why we need you to stay out of it. If Palpatine finds out you’re here, he could use you as a bargaining chip. We already risked a lot by letting Vos and the nulls know. Please,” he said, “we can’t let you get hurt.”

Erin turned towards the door. “You can’t stop me.”

“Yes, we can.” Hound typed out a message on his comm, looking haggard. Pressing send, he looked back up at her. “You’re grounded. We’ll tell Fox you snuck out tonight and got into some trouble with some thugs. But you’re not leaving the base until we say so.”

Her heart froze in her chest. “You wouldn’t.”

“To keep you safe, we’d do a lot worse.”

Erin rushed out of the medbay, slamming on her bucket so that no one would see her tears. And she ran to the one place that she knew no one would look.

The roof was quiet tonight, like it was every night. Fox had shown her this spot a month after she joined the Guard, and as far as she knew, he was the only other person who knew about it. She sat down on the edge of the roof, legs swinging over the edge as she began to make an escape plan. They weren’t going to keep her locked up, that was for sure. She had promised herself long ago that she’d never be trapped again, and she wasn’t going to let overprotective brothers stop her.

-------

It was about an hour later when she heard footsteps. With a sigh, Fox sat down beside her, looking a little tired but otherwise unharmed.

She looked up. “I thought you were supposed to be in medbay.”

“Apparently my vod’ika ran away while I was unconscious, so I had to go and find her.” He raised an eyebrow. “Thugs, kid? Really?”

Erin shrugged, refusing to look in his eyes. “I just wanted to help.”

Gingerly, the commander wrapped his arm around her shoulders. “You are helping, by just being you.”

“But I can do more,” she said, leaning into him.

“I know.” The easy admission shocked her, but Fox continued on before she could say anything. “But I don’t want to see you hurt. You’re my vod’ika, and although I can’t keep the others out of harm’s way, I can keep you away from anything that could hurt you. Please, vod’ika, let us guard you.”

Not willing to give up so easily, Erin asked, “But who guards the Guard?”

“We protect each other, just like we always have. And you can do your part by staying safe and helping Stitches in the medbay. That’s you’re role, vod’ika, and there’s no shame in it.”

“Alright,” she said, shoulders slumping as the events of the day finally caught up with her. “But I don’t like being locked up like this.”

“It’s only temporary, vod’ika. And Hound’s already beating himself up about grounding you in the first place.”

“I’ll talk with him tomorrow.” Erin closed her eyes, smiling slightly as Fox’s arm tightened around her. “But you should know: if someone’s in trouble, I’m gonna go help, whether you like it or not.”

Fox sighed, but then he remembered what Skirata had said months ago. They had trained her as much as they could, and to be honest, he wouldn’t be able to stop her if she ever tried to leave the base.

So instead, he held her close for one more night, waited for her breaths to even out in sleep, and murmured, “You wouldn’t be a Guard if you didn’t.”

Chapter Text

It had been four months, and she was still grounded with no end in sight.

When she brought it up during a training session, Mereel just laughed. “I told you they’d find out, vod’ika. Just be glad they haven’t stuck you with a full-time babysitter.”

“They would if we had an extra man,” she said, rolling her eyes.

He clapped her shoulder before putting away the slicing tech. “Small mercies, kid.”

Tonight, her punishment weighed on her more heavily. A clone had tried to kill the chancellor, and unfortunately for everyone, they didn’t succeed. Now the Guard was on high alert, and anyone not in the medbay was out scouring the streets for the rogue ARC trooper.

Erin was doing what she could from the dispatch center, relaying information to the teams on the ground and doing some digging of her own. Something didn’t sit right with her. The Guard had plenty of reason, but why would someone from the GAR want to kill the chancellor? She also had the nulls looking at the data, and apparently the trooper was one of Ahsoka’s former men, so she was out searching, too.

A few hours later, a call came in. The clone had been spotted going into a warehouse on level 347. Erin relayed the information to Fox and hacked into the cameras on that level to watch the Guard’s back.

She also had the comm channels of every squad leader open, just in case she needed to send backup somewhere. That was how she knew Fox was getting a comm from the chancellor. She cursed under her breath, wishing that the commander would ignore the call but knowing that he would never break protocol like that.

Fox would never approve of her listening in on his conversations, but since he wasn’t here to stop her, she turned the volume up.

“Commander,” the chancellor said, voice dripping with venom, “execute order 37. Leave no prisoners.”

Before Erin could figure out what the kark order 37 was, Fox responded, “Yes, my lord.”

Her heart started racing as she used a camera to focus in on Fox. He was walking more fluidly, like the drain and exhaustion of the past few days had no effect on him. There was also something else, something that Erin couldn’t put her finger on. Whatever it was, it was bad, and she needed to get to Fox. Now.

She slammed on her helmet, knowing that what she was about to do was going to get her grounded for life. But it didn’t matter, Fox was more important.

As she ran down the halls of the barracks, she commed Mereel. When he picked up, his voice was tired. “Still haven’t found anything, kid, but I’ll let you know when I do.”

“This isn’t about that,” she said as she skidded around a corner, almost running into Gearshift. “I’m sending you a file. I think it’s Palpatine causing a blackout mission.”

“Kark.” His voice was immediately more alert, and she could hear things being shuffled around. “When did it happen?”

“Now. He called Fox and told him to execute order 37, whatever that is.” Her brothers were shouting at her now, but she didn’t have time to stop and explain.

The cursing on the other end of the line grew louder. “What is it, Mereel?”

“Order 37 is an emergency order. It deals with the capture of a wanted individual by any means necessary, including taking hostages and killing civilians.”

“Kark.” She made it to the speeder bay, jumping on a bike and sending it careening into the airways of Coruscant.

“Kid,” Mereel said, “please tell me you’re not doing what I think you’re doing.”

Erin responded without hesitation. “I’m not doing what you think I’m doing.”

“I hate that I taught you how to lie. That was almost convincing.” He sighed. “If you go find Fox, and he ends up hurting you, he’s never going to forgive himself.”

“It’s not like he’ll remember, even if he did.” Horns blared as she changed lanes, but she ignored them and accelerated.

“That’s not the point and you know it.” She could imagine Mereel’s eye roll, but even that wasn’t going to stop her.

But what the null said next almost did. “Oh no.”

Her heart clenched as she pushed the bike to its limit. “What?”

“The ARC is dead. Fox shot him.”

“Watch Fox,” Erin ordered, knowing that her ori’vod was not going to take this well.

“How far out are you?” There was definitely something going on around Mereel, the muffled sounds of shouting were being carried over the comm.

“Two minutes.” She pushed the bike into a steep dive, ignoring the curses being thrown her way. “Where is he?”

The line was silent for nearly a minute as the null watched the commander. “Sending you his location now. I assume you still have your tracker?”

“Yeah.”

“Use it. We’re gonna go find Tano and explain everything to her before she goes off the rail and does something she’ll regret.” The comm transferred from Mereel’s bracer to his helmet, signaling that he was on the move.

“Thanks, ori’vod.” Erin was only a minute away from Fox’s last known location, and she only hoped that he would stay put for once in his life.

“Stay safe.” Then he was gone.

It felt like a lifetime had passed before Erin made it to the coordinates, but of course he wasn’t there. But a squad of Guardsmen were. Thorn crossed his arms as she pulled up. “What the kark are you doing here, vod’ika?”

“Looking for Fox.” There was so much hidden in those three little words, but Thorn had always been good at reading between the lines.

After a moment, his shoulders slumped. “Go. We have to stay and clean up here but let me know when you’ve got him.”

“Yes, sir.” She jumped off the bike, walking it beside her and following the tracker.

It didn’t take her long to catch up to the commander; he had only made it a few blocks before going into an alley. Erin found him at the end of it, sitting in the corner of two buildings with his blaster in hand.

“Ori’vod?”

“Get away,” he said, voice shaking. “Don’t get any closer.”

Erin took a step forward, anyway. “Why not?”

He choked on a sob before answering. “I’ll hurt you.”

“No, you won’t.” She slowly crept forward, Fox’s posture becoming tense the closer she got.

“I killed a brother.”

Carefully, Erin put a hand on his pauldron. “I don’t know what happened, but I do know that you would never kill a vod on purpose.”

She took off her helmet and kneeled in front of the commander. “It was another blackout mission, Fox.”

His visor snapped back towards her. “How do you know about the blackout missions?”

“I’m not an idiot, Fox,” she said, mouth curling in a small smile. “And because I know about the blackouts, I know that Palpatine is the one responsible, not you.”

“Then you also know that he could make me kill you.” Fox’s breaths were becoming harsher, the vocoder doing nothing to hide his rising panic. “You need to get away. Stay with the nulls before he finds out about you.”

Kark. If Erin didn’t do something soon, Fox was about to hyperventilate. “Ori’vod,” she said, slowly taking off his helmet to reveal bloodshot eyes that would look at anything but her, “I’m not going anywhere. Now I need you to focus on me.”

Tired eyes met hers. “Take a deep breath for me, ori’vod.” This was how he comforted her after a nightmare, so she hoped that it would work for him. “Good. Now tell me five things you can see.”

“Not…having a panic attack,” he grumbled.

“Humor me.”

The commander grumbled, hands clenching at his sides as his eyes squeezed shut. Taking a shuddering breath, he opened them again. “You, trash, wall, helmet....blaster.”

“Good.” Erin slipped the blaster out of Fox’s hand. “Four things you can touch.”

“Ground, armor, plastic bag,” he reached a shaking hand to cup her face, “you.”

She leaned into his touch, breathing a sigh of relief. “Two things you can smell.”

“Garbage, sweat.”

“Almost done, ori’vod. Tell me one thing you can taste.” She bent her forehead in a gentle keldabe.

“Blood.”

“Blood?” She frowned, immediately scanning him for injuries.

Fox looked away. “Bit my lip.”

Hesitantly, Erin slotted herself into Fox’s arms. He hesitated for a moment before squeezing her, silent sobs wracking his body. “It’s not your fault Fox, I promise.”

“Rex said I’m dar’manda.” The words were quiet, but they seemed to echo in the alley.

“Rex is a di’kut.” She burrowed her head under his chin, trying to give what comfort she could. “You are the best ori’vod and commander that anyone could ask for, and if he’s too blind to see it, then it’s his own fault for being an idiot.”

Erin could feel Fox shake his head. “I’m dangerous. You’d be safer if you stayed away.”

She chuckled quietly. “Fox, I’ve been trained by you and the nulls. You’re not the only one who’s dangerous, and I don’t care about being safe. I care about you and the rest of my brothers.”

Fox almost sounded broken when he admitted, “I don't want to see you get hurt.”

“Then I’m safest with you.” She put as much conviction into her voice as she could. “Who else is going to keep me out of trouble?”

That got a quiet laugh out of the commander, and Erin silently cheered in victory. “Good point, vod’ika.”

She waited a moment more, just until his breaths became less harsh. “Fox?” she asked, pulling away. “Can we go home, now?”

His voice was quiet. “Yeah.”

The commander stood on wobbly legs, keeping an arm on Erin as she led him out of the alley. She sat in the pilot’s spot on the bike, and Fox took the seat behind her without comment. Knowing that he would get upset if she broke any traffic laws, the flight back to the barracks was slow and uneventful.

Fox leaned more heavily on Erin as they began to stumble through the halls. “Almost there, ori’vod, just a little bit further.”

Most of the Guard hadn’t made it back from searching the city, and those that had left them alone, knowing that there wasn’t anything that they could do to help. Erin slapped the door pad of the commander’s bunkroom, half dragging Fox in behind her.

He all but collapsed on his bunk, letting Erin take off his armor and stack it neatly beside the bed. Looking up, Erin frowned at the vacant stare in the commander’s eyes. All of the progress she had made in the alley seemed to have disappeared. “Fox, it’s time to get some sleep. You’re no use to anyone dead.”

He didn’t say anything. Erin sighed before taking off her own armor and gently nudging Fox until he laid down. But he didn’t close his eyes, instead just staring off into the middle distance.

Stepping out of earshot, Erin activated her comm. “Stitches, it’s me. I’ve got Fox in his bunk, but he’s dissociated.” She ran her fingers through her hair. “It’s bad, ori’vod.”

Muttered curses erupted from the other end of the comm. “You’re going to have to deal with it, kid. A squad got ambushed on Level 35, and I’m gonna be in surgery with them for at least another four hours.” She heard the sound of running water as Stitches scrubbed up. “You’ve done this before, remember?”

She had, but helping shinies was one thing. Fox was her ori’vod, the one that she always turned to. It felt wrong to need to be the one comforting him. “I remember.”

“You’ve got this, kid.” Someone started shouting in the background. “I’ve gotta go.”

Taking a deep breath, Erin knelt in front of Fox, making sure that she was in his line of sight. “Ori’vod, how do you feel about a vod pile?”

He didn’t say anything, but Erin didn’t expect him to. She grabbed her red blanket and draped it over the both of them, snuggling as close as she could. A few minutes later, Fox brought his arm around her. After that, she felt something wet hit her blacks, but she knew better than to ask about it.

“It’s okay, Fox.” Erin rolled so that she was facing him. “It’s not your fault.”

She wasn’t sure how long she murmured meaningless platitudes, but eventually, the commander’s breaths evened out in sleep.

Pulling the blanket up higher over his shoulders, she finally closed her own eyes. “I’ve got you, ori’vod.”

Chapter Text

“Kid, something’s about to happen.”

Erin frowned, looking up from the tangle of wires in her hands. “What do you mean?”

“We’ve been hearing things, and all of our force-users are on edge.” Mereel’s hands were clamped onto his datapad. “They can’t give us anything specific, but they know it’s going to be bad.”

Immediately, her mind began running through contingencies. “What can we do?”

“We can’t do much. You, on the other hand, need to have an exit plan.”

“What do you mean?” she asked, eyebrow raised.

Mereel ran his fingers through his hair, for a second looking much older. “You remember that ARC that Fox shot a while back?”

“Yeah,” Erin answered slowly. “What does he have to do with anything?”

“Turns out he had information about slave chips which he claimed were put into every clone. That’s why Palpatine had him killed.”

Her heart froze in her chest. “And you think that the bad thing that’s about to happen has something to do with the chips?”

The null looked at her with sorrow in his eyes. “I don’t believe in coincidences, vod’ika.” Sighing, he continued, “Nulls and Alpha-class troopers don’t have chips, but everyone else does.”

“How do we get them out?”

Mereel grabbed her arms, shocking her enough to gasp. “We can’t, kid. There’s no way to get them out in time.”

A red hot flame ignited in her chest. “So you’re just giving up? I thought you told me that vod’e always stick together!”

“We do!” If Erin didn’t know better, she would say that Mereel was almost pleading with her. “But there’s no way for us to find out how to disable the chips en masse before whatever happens does.”

She tried to wiggle her way out of his grasp, but the null only gripped her hareder. “Why are you telling me this?”

“Tell Fox you’re going with us on a trip. Tell him that you’re having a sleepover with Ahsoka. Tell him anything, but you can’t stay here any longer. If they hurt you, they’ll never forgive themselves.”

Erin was finally able to escape, dashing towards the door. “I’m not leaving them. Nothing else matters. I’ll find a way to stop the chip.”

“Kid, this isn’t something that they can fight.” Mereel moved to stand but stopped when Erin moved closer to the door. “Please listen, vod’ika!”

Hair fell in front of her face, hiding the tear that fell down her cheek. “I am, ori’vod, but I can’t leave them.” She looked at the null one more time. “Are you guys going to figure out how to stop them?”

“I promise, and then we’ll come and get you.” The words were heavy, but Erin could tell that Mereel meant every one.

She nodded. “Then I’ll see you soon, ori’vod. I assume you’ll be using your special comm?”

“Yeah, kid.” The null was at her side in an instant, wrapping his arms around her. “If you need anything, comm us. We’ll come and get you.”

“Not without my brothers.”

He gave her a small chuckle. “If I weren’t so worried, I’d be proud.” Bringing their heads together in a gentle kedalbe, he said, “Stay safe, stay sharp, and survive.”

“You, too, ori’vod.” She closed her eyes, savoring the contact before pulling away. “I have to go to my next class now. Stitches will be worried if I’m late.”

Giving her one last squeeze, Mereel let her go. “I’ll see you soon vod’ika.”

She smiled gently. “Love you.”

As the door shut between them, Mereel whispered, “Love you, too.”

Erin couldn’t get Mereel’s warning out of her mind, even as she worked her shift in the medbay.

Stitches jolted her out of her thoughts. “What’s wrong, vod’ika?”

She wanted to tell him everything, but it’s not like he would be able to do anything about it. Even with the nulls helping, they would never have enough bacta to get the chips out of everyone in time. “Just worried. Mereel thinks that something bad’s about to happen.”

“Hmm,” the medic answered, putting on a new pair of gloves. “I wouldn’t worry about it too much, You know how the nulls can get; he’s probably just being paranoid.”

“Sure.”

That’s when every comm in the medbay went off, except for hers. “That’s weird.” Stitches frowned, pulling out the comm.

Fox’s voice rang out through the room. “Execute order 66.”

Everything went still. Stitches’s face went slack, and all the troopers answered in unison, “Yes, commander.”

Stitches looked up. “You are not authorized to be in this area.” There was no emotion in his voice, and no light in his eyes. It was like he had been replaced by a droid.

“Stitches, it’s me.” Erin began to back towards the door.

“My designation is CT-8429. You are in a restricted area.”

She couldn’t leave them, but it didn’t look like they were going to give her much of a choice. Erin bolted out of the medbay, her brothers hot on her heels. Skidding around a corner, she could think of only one safe spot.

She nearly busted her head open as she slid into the cleaning closet, but this was one room her brothers would never think to look. Holding her breath, she waited for the sounds of thundering feet to fade.

What was she going to do? She couldn’t hide here forever, and she wasn’t going to be able to help her brothers in a closet. Putting in a familiar comm code, she tried to call Mereel to see what he thought she should do, but he didn’t answer. The null was probably busy. At least, that was what she told herself. No one was dead until she saw the body.

Plan, soldier. A voice in her head rang out. It sounded suspiciously like Fox, but Erin couldn’t focus on that or else she’d break down.

So the entire Guard was on a blackout mission, and they would kick her out of the barracks if they caught her. Mereel didn’t answer her comm, but he would return it later. Until then, she was going to have to fend for herself.

That was when she remembered, Fox kept a small bag of credits in his office. It was money that they had saved up for emergencies, and she couldn’t think of anything that qualified more than this.

Now, she just had to get to the office. Pulling out her datapad, she hacked into the barrack’s camera feeds. Seeing that the hallway was empty, she made her way out. She could only hope that her training was going to be enough to get her out of here.

-------

A few minutes earlier….

Something was wrong, and you didn’t need to be force-sensitive to realize it. The senators, at least, the good senators, were tense. It made Fox fidgety, but fortunately Alpha-17 had beaten that out of him a long time ago.

The halls of the senate were silent, most of the senators having gone back to their apartments for the night. But the chancellor was still in his office, meeting some Jedi, so that meant that Fox was stuck in the rotunda until they left. Palpatine had been more liberal with his punishments lately, and Fox wasn’t going to risk one of his vod’ika. No, he could handle anything that old Palpy threw at him. He had to.

Speak of the devil. “Commander,” the small hologram of the chancellor said, “report to my office immediately.”

“Yes, sir.” Fox hurried through the building, slowing down when he began to see blaster burns on the walls. What had happened here?

He stopped at the chancellor’s door. The bodies of dead Jedi were spread out on the ground, some of them still smoking. Behind them all, looking out of a destroyed window, was the chancellor.

“Ah, Commander. Thank you for coming.” The man turned, revealing wrinkled skin and yellow eyes.

“What happened?” Fox had never dared to speak out of turn before. But these were the jedi, they were the reason that the clones existed. For someone to kill a jedi was unthinkable, especially since it was beginning to look like the chancellor himself was responsible.

Palpatine sneered. “The jedi have meddled with my affairs for the last time. The age of the jedi is over. Now begins the reign of the Sith!”

They didn’t cover much about force philosophy on Kamino, but Fox knew that Sith were bad. And if the chancellor was a Sith, that would mean that he had been playing both sides of the war against each other.

“Traitor.” Fox said, subtly trying to hide the shaking of his hands. “You’re under arrest for treason and murder.”

“Oh am I?” Palpatine raised an eyebrow, drawing that grandfatherly persona around him like a cloak. “It’s true that you’ve been useful, Commander Fox, but I’m afraid that I don’t have need of your services in my new empire.”

“What?” Nothing was making any sense, and for the first time in his life, the commander was struggling to keep up.

The chancellor said his next words so easily, like he was ordering breakfast instead of overriding a person’s free will. “Execute order 66.”

And with those three little words, everything made sense, and Fox disappeared.

CC-1010 remained. “Yes, Lord Sidious.”

The commander pivoted, striding out of the emperor’s office with a new purpose. Nothing else mattered but orders and that they were carried out as quickly as possible.

The 501st were responsible for clearing the traitors from their temple, but that didn’t mean that the Guard would be bored. No, the traitors might try to run into the city. And that’s where CC-1010 and his men would be waiting for them.

1010 repeated the new orders to the rest of the Guard, feeling nothing when his men’s emotionless voices responded. For a split second, he thought he was forgetting to alert someone, but he shrugged it off. He had notified every trooper under his command, and they would do their duty. The niggling feeling returned, but 1010 ignored it. If it didn’t affect his ability to follow orders, then it didn’t matter.

When he marched into his office a few hours later, he froze in the doorway, hand on his blaster. There was an intruder. No, he thought with a shake of his head. Not an intruder. But who were they? Not a clone. Vod’ika, his mind supplied, the kid. But that wasn’t right, clones weren’t allowed to have families. It was against regulations.

1010 was interrupted from his musings when the intruder whispered, “Fox?”

“My designation is CC-1010.” He barreled on, oblivious to the intruder’s shocked gasp. “You are in a restricted area.”

“Fox,” she started, voice cracking, “it’s me, Erin. I’m your vod’ika, remember?”

“Where are your guardians?”

The intruder looked like she was about to cry. “You and the Guard take care of me. You have for years.”

Taking out his comm, 1010 typed out a message. “The Coruscant Guard does not accept guardianship responsibilities for any citizen of the Republic. I have contacted the CRB. They will be here shortly.”

“No.” The intruder sank onto an old, battered couch, holding her head in her hands. “Mereel was right.”

The couch was not regulation, 1010 thought disinterestedly. He would have to get rid of it.

“Please,” 1010 looked back at the intruder, tilting his head when he saw tears welling up in her eyes. “You said that I was one of you. That I was a Guard. Don’t you remember?”

“Only clone units are designated as a part of the Coruscant Guard. No citizen of the Republic has been conscripted into the Guard at this time. The Child Relocation Bureau will be here in 15 minutes. Please remain here until the proper authorities arrive.” Something in 1010 was screaming at the thought of letting the intruder leave with the CRB, but he squashed that thought quickly. Nothing mattered more than his duty.

The girl’s eyes began to dart back and forth, finally landing on the lone window. She stood and slowly made her way there. 1010 frowned but didn’t say anything, assuming that she was just going to look at the view. Run, the traitorous part of his mind whispered. Run and don’t look back, vod’ika.

Within one heartbeat and the next, she was gone. 1010 rushed to the window, frowning when he saw her crouching on the top of a passing speeder. He sent a message to the CRB, updating them on the change of status and sat down at his desk. There was still work to do, after all.

Chapter Text

Fox was going to kill her. At least, he would if he remembered that she jumped out of a window and landed on a speeder she may or may not have known would be there. Maybe he wouldn’t. Erin held onto that hope with both hands, because she really hated the idea of surviving for this long only to be killed by her ori’vod for doing something dumb.

Two clicks from the base, she jumped off the speeder, landing with a roll on the sidewalk below. Never stopping, she began to run through the streets. The nulls were probably off of Coruscant by now, but that didn’t mean that she was helpless.

Finally reaching her destination, she sauntered in like she owned the place. “Gren,” she said, leaning against the counter, “I need a room.”

Gren, a tall nautolan, smiled. He had operated his bar and hotel for decades in the undercity of Coruscant, and this was the first place Cardshark had taken her to when she was still learning how to play sabaac. “And hello to you, little Guard. Are you here to cheat all of my patrons out of their dishonestly-earned money?”

“Maybe later. Right now I need a room.”

The man frowned. “Are you okay? Do you need me to call one of your brothers?”

“No!” Erin answered quickly. Maybe too quickly if the look on Gren’s face was anything to go by.

“No,” she repeated, more calmly this time. “Something’s happened.” The words were choked, and she was holding back tears, but she knew that she needed to be strong for just a little bit longer.

“I know.” He gestured towards one of the holoscreens scattered throughout the bar. “It’s the only thing anyone’s talking about.”

Erin couldn’t take her eyes off of the screen. The Jedi temple was in flames, clones from the 501st marching on the steps like a swarm of ants. And at the bottom were a few Guardsmen. “Oh no.”

Gren leaned against the counter, sending a glance her away. “Do you have any idea what happened? They’re saying that the jedi are traitors, but I can’t believe that.”

“I can’t tell you everything,” she said, finally pulling her eyes away from the destruction, “but I do know that the clones are not in control of themselves right now. They’re being forced to do this.”

There was a knowing look in the old man’s eyes. “And you have a plan.”

“I do.” She readjusted her kama, hands resting on the painted designs. “But I need more time.”

Gren reached under the counter, pulling out a key card a moment later. “Consider it done, and don’t worry about paying.” Before she could argue, he put up a hand. “You and your brothers have kept the undercity safe, which is more than any of the fools at the CSF have done. The least I can do is give you a room. Stay as long as you need.”

Erin’s shoulders slumped in relief. “Thank you, Gren.”

“Of course, little Guard.” He raised an eyebrow with a smirk. “And if you happen to keep all of my upstanding patrons from causing trouble, then all the better.”

“You’ve got a deal.” Erin grabbed the keys before making her way to her new room.

It was small, but it wasn’t like she could be picky. All she really needed was a roof and a bed, and now thanks to Gren, she was going to have enough money for food, too.

She slid off her helmet, blowing a few strands of hair out of her face. “Let’s see what Fox left us.”

Dumping the bag of credits on the bed, she was happy to see that she had enough for at least three months of food, if she rationed. And that was assuming that she wouldn’t gamble or play sabaac.

Immediate concerns addressed, she put her money back and pulled out her pad. Getting into the Guard’s frequency was child’s play, especially since her brothers hadn’t bothered to restrict her access after the blackout.

She created a simple algorithm and connected it with her bracer. It would let her know when one of her brothers was in trouble. She’d stick to the shadows and help where she could, but she wasn’t going to leave them alone. Especially now when it seemed like they would do anything to complete the mission, even it meant sacrificing their own lives.

Her comm rang as soon as she finished with the program. “Erin here.”

“Kid? Are you okay?” Mereel sounded panicked. “Where are you?”

“I’m fine, ori’vod.” She could’ve melted in relief to hear that at least one of her brothers was free from Palpatine’s control. “I’ve got a room at Gren’s bar. He said that I could stay here for as long as I’d like.”

“What about the Guard?”

It took Erin a moment to get her emotions under control. “They didn’t recognize me, called the CRB.” Her voice broke. “I had to run.”

“Oh vod’ika.” The null sighed. “You did good getting out, and I hate to say it, but it’s going to take us at least three months to get the chip deactivator ready. We can come and get you sooner, though, and take you with us to Mandalore.”

She checked the charge on her blasters. They were full, but she was going to have to figure out a way to buy blaster packs if she was going to be stuck on Coruscant for three months. “I’ve told you already, I’m not leaving the Guard.”

“I had a feeling you would say that.” There was silence on the other end of the line. “Look, I have a feeling you’re going to do something crazy, so just promise me that you’ll be careful, alright?”

“Promise.” Erin began checking her knives and rappel lines, making sure that they were ready in case she needed them. “Do you happen to know where I can get some supplies? It’s not like Fox can requisition them anymore.”

Mereel gave a small laugh. “Yeah, you’re definitely our vod’ika. There’s a goran in Little Kedalbe named Tomas. Tell him that Kal Skirata sent you, and he’ll get you what you need.”

“Thanks, ori’vod.” She wasn’t sure how much weapons cost, but a few nights of sabaac should cover the basics.

“Just stay safe, alright? I refuse to be the one to tell Fox that you got yourself killed while I was off-planet.”

That was a promise that she wouldn’t be able to make, so she did the next best thing. “I’ll do my best, ori’vod.”

“See you in three months.” And the call disconnected.

---------

2 months later….

“The suspect is armed and fleeing east towards the neon district.” Fox’s voice rang out through the comms, emotionless as a droid’s.

Erin’s feet pounded the pavement as she ran. This was clearly an ambush, and the fact that her brothers didn’t realize that worried her. She just had to make it there before them. Easy peasy.

She had been tracking this particular smuggling ring for the past few weeks. They had been getting bolder, trying to gain more territory in the upper levels. Of course, the Guard didn’t appreciate this, and small blasterfights had been breaking out with increasing frequency.

The smuggler’s headquarters rose before her. It was a warehouse, which brought up bad memories, but she shoved them aside. Her brothers were more important.

She leapt off a roof, rappel line shooting out to sink into the warehouse’s wall. Then, she braced herself as she crashed through a second-story window, taking out two of the smugglers before they realized anything was wrong.

Throwing one of her smoke grenades, she grinned ferally as the smugglers began to curse and shoot blindly into the fog. Some of them even hit each other, making her job much more manageable. She activated the heat seeking feature on her HUD and began her target practice. Taking out the rest was almost too easy.

Two of them were smarter than the others and had taken cover behind some barrels, but a well-thrown detonator blew up their plans of winning. Literally. She laughed quietly, thinking that Hound would’ve loved that joke. The smoke began to settle, dust raining down on her armor as she quickly finished off the last of the smugglers.

It was a good thing, too, because as soon as the last sha’buir dropped, her brothers burst through the door. They apprehended their suspect without trouble, and the confused man was swiftly thrown back into the street. All while their younger sister watched from the rafters, trying to see if anyone was injured or breaking free of the chip.

Mereel had told her that the chips had begun to wear off in some of clones that they ‘forcefully liberated’, but she hadn’t seen anything like that happen with her brothers. And she was always watching.

Erin sighed as Green closed the door of the warehouse, leaving her alone with ten dead smugglers. Brushing off her pants, she stood up and began to make her ways towards her exit route. Time to go cheat some pirates out of their credits, and then probably break up two or three barfights before hitting the rack.

As she climbed out of the window, she looked down at her brothers. Dagger was trying to hide a slight limp, and Fox couldn’t hide his, but everyone else looked fine. Well, as fine as someone could be when they were brainwashed and probably running on too little sleep and half rations.

She would have to see about sneaking in some more supplies. It was more difficult these days, the Empire kept better records than the Republic ever did, but Slice and the nulls had taught her enough to break through the different firewalls. After that, it was a simple matter of falsifying requisition forms and sneaking crates into the landing bay. Just a little light treason to spice up her boring routine.

The supplies she had been sending them were never thrown out, which she counted as a major win. Especially since she was also sneaking in some nonessentials, like blankets, chocolate, and Fox’s favorite brand of caff.

Even if her brothers weren’t in control of themselves, she was going to make their lives as happy as possible. And if that meant scouring three different grocery stores for Fox’s caff, than so be it. She would do much worse for her brothers. Looking at the cooling bodies of the smugglers, she guessed that she had.

Money wasn’t an issue, especially since Gren had hired her on as a bouncer. Now all she had to do was bide her time and keep her brothers alive until the nulls got their machine working. Easy peasy.

That’s when Zero’s voice rang through the comm. “We have an angry mob forming in the senate district.”

Erin sighed, shoulders slumping before she pulled them back. Checking the charge on her blasters, she plotted the fastest route to her brothers. Yeah, easy peasy.

Chapter Text

One month later….

Erin all but collapsed on her bed. She had broken up three bar fights and helped her brothers with four different emergencies during the night. Deep inside, she knew that she couldn’t keep this up, but there was no way that she was going to give in. She would push herself until she dropped to keep them safe.

"Stubborn." Fox’s voice said in her head.

“Well, you’re not here to stop me,” she answered. Yanking off her bucket, she rolled onto her back. Not even bothering to get up, she pulled out her blasters and some of her knives, blindly putting them on the bedside table. She thought for a second about taking off her armor before ultimately deciding against it. Too much effort.

Now it was Hound’s turn to give unnecessary advice. "You’re going to get a crick in your neck, kid. I taught you better than that."

She groaned at the imaginary voices. “Once again, you’re not here, and I’m tired.”

It was becoming harder and harder to stay ahead of her vod’e. They were being forced to go outside of their regular patrol routes into more dangerous areas. Sometimes, she would stop one catastrophe only to hear about another about to happen twenty levels away. It was exhausting. If Erin didn’t know any better, she would say that the chancellor was trying to get them killed on purpose.

She snorted, the old chakaar was probably disappointed that they were all still alive. And they were going to stay that way if she had anything to say about it.

Letting her eyes fall closed, she could almost imagine her ori’vod’s hand resting on her shoulder, and she fell into a restless sleep. Unfortunately, it was the sound of her comm that woke her up a few hours later. It was Zero. “Rogue clone spotted on Level 243, Sector 65.”

Erin sighed, pushing herself up and sliding all of her weapons back into place. She hacked into the cameras in that area, immediately spotting the clone. What did this guy think he was doing? A poncho was not a disguise, especially when you were wearing armor underneath it.

Rushing down the stairs, she waved at Gren. “Be back soon!”

“Stay safe!” he yelled back as she burst through the door.

Hopping onto her tactically acquired speeder bike, she raced through the undercity. Calling a familiar comm code, she heard Zero answer, “Coruscant Guard, how may I help you?”

She pitched her voice higher. “I’ve just seen a clone in funny-looking armor on Level 246.”

“Thank you for the information, citizen. We’ll look into it.”

His monotone voice almost killed her, but she tried to answer cheerfully. “Thank you!”

That should give her some time. Although she hated to send her brothers on a wild bantha chase, it wasn’t like they gave her much of a choice.

Speeding through the streets of Coruscant, she kept an eye on the rogue’s position. He had entered a run-down garage and hadn’t come out. Well, Erin thought, at least finding him was going to be easy.

She parked her bike two blocks away from the garage, engaging the anti-theft measures she had installed. Just because she had acquired the bike through less than legal means didn’t mean that she was going to lose it to some random criminal. Also, she wanted to show Green the modifications she had made to it. Can’t do that if it’s stolen.

Keeping her head on a swivel, she carefully approached the garage. Knocking on the door, she waited for an answer. When none came, she grabbed some tools out of her belt and picked the lock.

This was where her armor really came in handy. At first glance, most people thought she was a bounty hunter and immediately looked anywhere else. The others that continued to look didn’t get the chance to do so for long.

Cracking the door open, she slid inside. The room was dark, the only light coming from a few unbroken lights. “I know you’re in here,” she called. “I’m here to help. The Guard are on their way, and you don’t want to be here when they arrive.”

A voice came from the darkness. “Lieutenant?” She had found her man, and he had apparently remembered her from the drunk tank. Amazing.

“That’s me.” She took her hands away from her blasters. Her HUD showed three heat signatures, two of which were trying to circle around her. “Now why don’t you tell me who you and your friends are?”

The men froze. “Why should we trust you?” a voice asked from her left. Another clone.

“Because I’m here to help. My ori’vod’e are being controlled and I want to make sure that they don’t hurt anyone that doesn’t deserve it.” She shrugged. “That includes you.”

The vod she followed in stepped into the light, followed by the other two. Blond hair and blue paint made it easy to tell who it was.

“You,” she growled, daggers immediately in her hands.

“Woah,” the clone in teal said, hands up. “What happened to helping us?”

“I don’t know, Howzer, I’d like to tussle with the little Guard.” The other vod was a commando in gold armor. He laughed. “She looks like she’d put up a fight.”

Erin ignored them both, focused on Rex. “What are you doing here, Captain?”

For a moment, she didn’t know if he was going to answer. Finally, he sighed. “Look kid, I’m sorry about what happened with Fox. It’s clear that there were other things going on, but we’re on the same side now. I promise.”

“You called him dar’manda.” She bared her teeth. “You hurt him.”

“And I wish I could apologize.” The captain took off his helmet, revealing tired eyes and a haggard face. “But I can’t. The only thing I can do is free as many brothers as I can.”

Erin hesitated, her grip shifting on her blades. “So you’re here to free the Guard?”

Howzer spoke up this time. “No. They’re too hard to get to.” Before she could argue, he continued, “We may be able to get to them eventually, but right now it’s not possible.”

“Nothing’s impossible.” She sheathed her daggers. “You’re just not willing to try.”

Erin turned to go, stopping only when Rex grabbed her arm. “You could help us. I know you’ve been trained by Fox and the nulls. That would make you a valuable asset in our operation.”

“An asset?” she repeated, voice dripping with venom.

Rex barged on, unconscious or uncaring of the time bomb he had just set off. “You could help us free more of our brothers, get them away from the Empire-”

She threw her fist, breaking the captain’s nose for the second time. “My brothers are here and may the ka’ra help anyone that tries to take me from them.” Her eyes flashed. “Set your brothers free, I don’t care. But they’ve never been mine.” Pushing his chestplate, she sent him stumbling backwards. “Where was the GAR when we were running out of food and bacta? When we were being abused and tortured by senators and every other citizen? Where were you then, captain?”

Erin turned, stalking towards the door. “You have maybe five minutes before my brothers get here. If you’re not out by then, I will help them take you down, and you won’t see me coming. That’s a promise.”

She hesitated for a moment before sending a message to Rex’s comm. “Oh, and here’s Ahsoka’s new contact information. Tell her I said ‘hi’.”

Before the door slammed closed, she heard the commando say, “Wow. She really is Fox’s kid, isn’t she?”

She disappeared into the streets, happy to see that the clones leave the garage a few minutes later. One problem solved, and hopefully they wouldn’t be that sloppy again.

Erin almost growled when her comm rang again. "What?"

“Vod’ika.”

With one word, her anger was replaced by pure joy. “Ori’vod?”

She could hear the smile in Mereel’s voice. “We’re here, kid. Can you meet us at these coordinates?”

Her comm pinged. They were at the hanger bays on Level 23. “I’ll be there in 15.”

“We’ll be waiting.”

-------

Erin crashed into her ori’vod, nearly sending them both tumbling to the ground. “Easy there, vod’ika, it’s alright.”

Ordo huffed from where he was standing safely out of hugging range. “Just be glad the Guard didn’t adopt a besalisk.”

“I missed you too, Ordo.” Erin peeled herself away from Mereel to throw her arms around her other brother, smiling as she felt his arms come up to return the hug. “So what’s the plan?”

Letting her go, Ordo gestured towards the landing ramp. “Let’s discuss our treason inside the ship, please.”

Ignoring Erin’s laugh, the null made his way into the small dining area, where Kal and the others were waiting. The sergeant smiled as he saw her enter. “It’s good to see you, ad’ika.”

“You, too, ba’vodu.” She buried herself under his arm. It had been so long since she had been hugged. Her time with the Guard had definitely made her more tactile, and Order 66 had stripped her of the familiar comfort of vod piles, shoulder slaps, and hugs. So she was going to make the most of having her aliit around.

Mereel held up his datapad. “We’ve found a frequency that deactivates the chips, but only in a certain radius.”

“How close do they have to be?” Erin asked, tugging on the end of her braid.

“A mile.”

She nodded. “We’ll just have to initiate the containment protocol.”

“What’s that?” Jaing asked, eyebrow raised. “That’s not a plan I’m familiar with.”

“You wouldn’t be,” Erin explained. “Fox came up with it just in case the Guard got exposed to a disease. They’d all be recalled back to base until the quarantine period was over or a cure was administered. I think it’s our best shot of setting everyone free at one time.”

“And after that we’ll sneak them into the hangar bays to catch a ride back to Mandalore.” Kal nodded approvingly. “Good plan, ad’ika.”

“Thanks.” Erin gave a small smile. “I’m just lucky that Fox has a plan for everything.”

“Man’s paranoid,” Ordo murmured. After seeing the glare Erin shot his way, he shrugged. “I’m not saying it’s a bad thing, vod’ika. Put the daggers away.”

“Sorry,” she said, flipping her braid over her shoulder. “It’s been a rough couple of months.”

Kal put an arm over her shoulder. “It’s going to be okay, ad’ika. We’re gonna get them back.” He waited for her to nod before continuing. “Do you have an idea for getting into the base?”

“Do you guys still have that old armor Mereel used? My ori’vode aren’t as observant under the chips, so you should be able to get in without a problem.”

The null frowned for a moment, rubbing his chin. “I don’t have that set anymore, but I can get my hands on one, no problem. What about after that?”

At least their questions were easy. Erin was afraid this was going to be complicated, but the mission was turning out to be a walk in the park compared to the sims that Fox had put her through. “You should disable the chips from the dispatch hub. There’s only one vod on duty at a time, and you’d be able to send out a Guard-wide message about where to meet for evac.”

Ordo made a note on his datapad. “Alright. And where will you be?”

“With Fox.” Before they could argue, she held up a hand. “He’s going to take it the worst, and…I need to be there when he wakes up.”

Hearing everything that was going unspoken, Kal hummed. “Can you get to him undetected?”

She huffed. “Of course I can.”

“Then you make your way in five minutes after Mereel and Ordo. Everyone else will stay here, looping the camera feeds in the city and making sure that the ships are ready to go. Understand?”

“Elek,” they all replied.

As Erin slipped her helmet on once more, Kal stopped her. “Remember ad’ika, they’ve been forced to do some terrible things. That leaves a mark, one that can’t be patched up with bacta.”

“I know, ba’vodu.” She readjusted her belt, the weight of the kama settling comfortably on her waist. “But Stitches had me studying trauma before the order went out, and I’ve found some stuff on my own.” Sighing, she added, “It’s going to take time, but we’ll be okay.” Under her breath, she murmured, “I know it.”

“Stay safe, alor’ika.”

Erin looked up in surprise, only to see a proud smile on her ba’vodu’s face. Before she could say anything, he nudged her towards the landing ramp. “Now get going, your ori’vod’e are waiting.”

Chapter Text

“Alright, kid. We’re in, and we’re about to initiate the contamination protocol.” Mereel sounded focused, his usual jokes set aside for the mission. “Are you ready?”

Erin grinned ferally from where she hung outside Fox’s window. Who knew that her rappel line would be so useful? “Ready.”

Within the next minute, she heard the alarm blare out, calling every Guard back to the base. Mereel contacted her again a few minutes later. “We just got word from the last squad. They’re going to be here in ten minutes. Are you okay to wait that long?”

A particularly strong breeze blew by, making her gently bump the wall of the building. “Yup, I’m just hanging out.”

There was silence on the other end of the comm. “You’re dangling outside of his window, aren’t you?”

“Maybe.”

Ordo sighed. “She definitely gets that from you, vod.”

“Says the guy that once free climbed the domes on Kamino,” Mereel immediately shot back. “And let’s not forget-”

“Guys, can we focus on the chips?” Erin rolled her eyes as she kicked at a passing bird. “You can argue about what I inherited from who later.”

There was a pause before they both answered, “Fox.”

As Erin groaned, Mereel laughed. “Just joking around, vod’ika. You’ve got four minutes.”

“Understood.”

The four minutes passed by like a small eternity, and not just because the bird had come back. Finally, her comm crackled to life. Ordo spoke, voice tight with tension. “Ten seconds. I suggest you get up there.”

“Moving in.” Erin climbed her way to the window, carefully looking inside.

Fox was facing away from her, sitting at his desk. He still had his helmet on, and he appeared to be working on his pad. Probably trying to figure out what triggered the contamination protocols.

Suddenly, he froze, hand reaching towards his head. Erin held her breath, hoping that whatever the nulls did had worked. The commander shook his head like he was trying to get water out of his ears before sliding off his helmet.

Unwilling to wait any longer, Erin tapped on the window.

Fox spun around, eyes immediately finding hers. “Kid?”

She almost sobbed in relief. Fox opened the window, unprepared to be bowled over by his vod’ika. “Kid?” he asked, unsure of what was wrong but unwilling to let her go for some unknown reason.

“I’ve missed you.”

That didn’t make any sense. He had just seen her a few minutes ago, right before his meeting with the - . “Erin, what happened?”

“Blackout mission.” She kept her head firmly pressed under his chin, her helmet pressing uncomfortably into Fox’s neck. But he couldn’t bring himself to move. “Palpatine did it to every clone except the nulls and Alphas.”

“The Jedi didn’t stop him?” There was no way that Cody or Wolffe’s Jedi would just let them be turned into meat droids. Not without a fight, at least.

When Erin didn’t immediately answer, Fox frowned. There was something he was forgetting. Something that he should know, that kept slipping out of his reach. “Where are the Jedi?”

“Dead. Something called order 66.”

Order 66. It said that all jedi were traitors and that they were to be killed immediately. Whatever Fox had for breakfast was about to come back up.

Somehow sensing this, Erin disappeared, only to come back just in time with a trash can. When he had finally got his stomach back under control, he looked up. “How did you stop it?”

“The nulls figured it out. We initiated the contamination protocols to get everyone in range, so every Guard is now free of Palpatine’s control. We have ships waiting at the hangar bays, and ba’vodu Kal has something built for us on Mandalore.”

Her helmet tilted, her nerves showing for the first time since climbing through the window. “Is that okay?”

Fox didn’t answer, letting the bone-crushing hug that he pulled her into speak for itself. “Thank you, vod’ika.”

“I should’ve done more.”

“Naas,” he said. “There was nothing else you could’ve done. We’re free thanks to you.”

Anything else he was going to say was lost when the other commanders, Stitches, and Hound burst through the door. Ordo and Mereel followed leisurely behind.

“See?” Mereel began. “We told you the kid was fine.”

Stitches ignored him, opting to pull Erin away from Fox and scanning her. “You’re dehydrated, haven’t been sleeping enough, and why is there a stim shot in your bloodstream?”

“Because I took a stim shot?” Erin said, accepting her fate.

The medic looked like she had slapped him. “I told you to never do that!”

She shrugged. “It was either that or pass out from exhaustion.”

Stitches turned on Fox, pointing angrily. “I blame you for this.” Just as quickly, he pulled Erin into his arms. Her head barely fit under his chin (she had gone through a growth spurt while they were gone), but she made it work. “I don’t remember missing you, but kark do I feel it.”

“Alright, vod. You’ve had your turn.” When Erin looked, Hound had a frown etched on his face, but it disappeared as soon as he had his vod’ika in his arms. He sighed, shoulders slumping. “I’m so glad you’re okay.”

“I had the best trainers.”

“I hate to break up this reunion, but we need to get to the hangers.” Ordo was busy coordinating the Guard, directing squads to the ships they’d be taking. “None of this is going to matter if we get caught.”

“He’s right,” Erin said, forcing herself away from her vod’e. “We can catch up on the way to Mandalore.”

“Cameras are looped.” Mereel slid his helmet back on. “This is your operation kid, lead the way.”

Erin nodded before making her way to the door. “Let’s go.”

The other Guards joined their small group, some looking shell-shocked while others looked like they wanted to burn down the senate dome. Not that Erin could blame them.

Without fail, each vod they passed made sure to squeeze her shoulder, hold her hand, or give her a hug. It was like her presence was as much reassurance as the info packet that had been sent as soon as the deactivating frequency was.

Their trip to the ships was made in relative silence. The citizens they passed were too stunned to do anything about their mass exodus, and it wasn’t like Palpatine could do anything about it, considering he was currently on Naboo.

Her closest vod’e joined her on Kal’s ship, the rest spread out through the rest of the small fleet. As soon as they entered hyperspace, the spell was broken. “I thought I was going to die on Coruscant.”

Erin looked to Fox, reaching out to hold his hand. “Well, now you get to live on Mandalore.”

He chuckled. “Yeah, we do.”

The commander squeezed her hand then froze, seemingly noticing the state of her kit for the first time. “What happened to your armor?”

She looked down at herself. Sure it was scuffed, and the red was chipped in a lot of places, but it was still fine. Nothing a little buffing and a few coats of paint couldn’t fix. “Didn’t have time to touch it up.”

Mereel spun around from where he had been sitting at navigation. “Yeah, kid. Tell your ori’vod’e what you’ve been doing.”

She shrunk under her brother’s raised eyebrow. Slowly, telegraphing his movements, Fox took off her helmet, gasping at what he saw underneath.

“Kid…” Stitches said.

Erin rubbed at the bags under her eyes, knowing that there was nothing she could do to hide them from her vod’e. “Like I said, I’ve been busy.”

“You look like Fox.” Thorn turned her face towards him. “How much sleep have you been getting?”

“As much as I can.”

“That’s not an answer,” Thire said, rolling his eyes fondly. He turned to the nulls. “What has she been doing?”

Ordo looked to Erin. “Are you going to tell them?”

“You probably need to,” she admitted, resigning herself to her fate.

Without another word, the null led them back towards the dining room. Turning the game table on, he pulled up a holo. “Wait a second,” Erin began, stopping when Ordo held up a hand.

“You wanted them to know, vod’ika. And we’ve been watching.”

He then proceeded to have absolutely no mercy. Pressing the play button, he left her alone with a roomful of protective ori’vod’e as they watched holos of her sneaking into the barracks, fighting smugglers and criminals, and breaking up bar fights. To be honest, Erin wasn’t even sure where some of those videos had come from.

When the holo stopped, everyone was silent.

“What. The. Kark.” Hound was still staring at the table, like it would somehow turn back on and tell them it was all an elaborate prank. That he didn’t just watch his vod’ika kill six smugglers while the Guard ran headfirst into an ambush. That she didn’t regularly break up barfights. That she didn’t karking JUMP out of Fox’s window to escape when order 66 went out.

Erin gave them all a little grin. “Surprise?”

“What were you thinking?” Thorn nearly yelled, running his fingers through his hair. “You could’ve been killed!”

“So could you!” She yelled right back. “Do you think I could’ve just left you there to die? You’re my brothers.”

“Fox?” Erin and Thorn immediately stopped their argument when they heard the worry in Stitches’s voice. “Fox, I need you to sit down for me.”

The commander’s face was pale, and Erin was by his side in an instant. “Ori’vod, what’s wrong?”

His face crumbled immediately. “Ni ceta, vod’ika. Ni ceta.”

“Fox,” she said, taking his hand, “none of this is your fault. In fact, you and the Guard are the reason I survived. Don’t apologize for that.” She forced him to meet her gaze. “Don’t ever apologize for giving me the chance to help.”

“You shouldn’t have had to.”

“And you shouldn’t have been controlled with brain chips,” she immediately shot back, “but here we are.”

Sensing that someone should break the tension, Stone chuckled. “Did you see the look on that one guy’s face when the kid came busting through the window?”

Erin looked up, Stone’s wink all the confirmation she needed for the plan. “You should’ve heard him scream. Worse than Senator Lee when that spider showed up in her office.”

“Really?” Thorn leaned against the counter, subtly watching his commander. When Fox’s fists began to unclench, he sighed in relief. “I didn’t know anyone could sound worse than that.”

“Just be glad those videos didn’t have any audio attached. Sometimes, I can still hear it.” She gave her brother a real grin.

Erin slid a little closer to Fox and asked, “What do you think?” A small shake in her voice betrayed her nerves, but no one except a Guard or null would’ve noticed it.

She had wanted to talk to the Guard about her missions for so long, to see what they thought about her technique, what she could’ve done better. And now she was getting that chance. Of course, they were probably going to ground her for the rest of time, but it was a small price to pay if it meant that she could be with them again.

“About what?” Fox asked, eyes closed and rubbing his temples.

Erin huffed, tugging at the end of her braid. “About everything. Did I do okay?”

“Did you do-” Stitches stuttered. His mouth dropped open as he looked at his vod’ika. “What kind of question is that?”

The medic’s surprise quickly turned into exasperated fondness as he shook his head and made his way to Erin’s side. Kneeling so that she would be forced to look at him, he took her hand. “Kid, you’re the reason that the Guard survived. Even before order 66 you did your best to keep all of us safe, and afterwards you took on impossible odds to make sure that we were okay. Do I like that you put yourself in danger? Force’s sake, no. But do I understand why you did it.”

Hound shook his head. “Somehow, when we weren’t looking, you grew up, vod’ika.”

“Yeah,” the sound of Fox’s voice, had Erin turning so fast she almost gave herself whiplash, “she did.”

“Ok,” Stitches said, pushing himself to his feet and ending the moment, “I don’t know about all of you, but the kid has a sleep deficit that is rivaled only by the commander’s. So both of them are going to hit the rack.” He gave them a pointed glare. “And if you do not comply, I will sedate you.”

“Stitches-” Fox began.

“No ‘buts’, commander. You are going to get some rest if it kills you.” The medic looked to Erin, who was busy trying to subtly inch closer to Fox. “And I think the kid would like to stay with one of her ori’vod’e for a while.”

Fox immediately turned his eyes to Erin, who blushed. “Yeah, I would.”

“Then it’s settled,” Thorn said, pulling them both out of the booth and beginning to shoo them down the hall. “You two get some sleep and we’ll wake you up before we reach Mandalore.”

Erin rolled her eyes. “We shouldn’t sleep that long, ori’vod.”

“Sure, kid.” He shot her a cheeky grin. “Now go get some shut eye.”

As soon as the door slipped shut, he sat down with a huff. “Well, that was karked up.”

“You can say that again.” Stone frowned. “Why didn’t the nulls take her?”

“You think we didn’t try? Kid refused.” Mereel sauntered back into the dining area, holding a bag of mantel mix. “What?” he asked when the others glared. “You’re not the only ones that want to keep a close eye on her.”

“We’re just lucky that she didn’t get hurt.” Hound rubbed Grizzer’s head absentmindedly, trying to keep his mind away from the millions of ‘what-if’ scenarios that kept popping up.

Ordo huffed from where he was pouring a fresh cup of caff. “Luck had nothing to do with it.”

“Really?” Thire frowned, leaning against the counter. “What makes you say that?”

The null looked at the rest of them like they were particularly idiotic cadets. When he realized they weren’t going to reach his conclusion on their own, he sighed. “She’s our kid, of course she was going to be okay.”

Stitches looked towards where Fox and the kid had disappeared, the ghost of a smile on his face. “Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

Hound gave a low chuckle, the events of the day finally catching up to him. He and his vod’e were free, and it was all thanks to the little spitfire he had pleaded with Fox to keep like a stray tooka. “Our aran’ika.”