Not Alone (Captain Rex x Reader)

─ ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─ 𝐌𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓 ─ ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─

A/N: A birthday present for my best friend @consultingwalkerslayer! You’ll always be Rex’s Girl to me! 💙

I’m usually very dialogue-focused for my opening sections, so I really dove deep into some juicy backstory for this one. 

Description: Rex x Jedi Fem!Reader, met formerly, developing relationship, hurt+comfort & slow burn fluff | Warnings: grief and loss, Order 66 related trauma | Setting: Bad Batch era + Season 7 flashback | Word count: 1,486 | Gif credit: user unknown (if you are or know the maker, please lmk)

Imagine being a Jedi, who after being saved from execution by Captain Rex, is on the run after the fall of The Republic

The stars had never looked so cold. What used to be distant light full of hope and wonder had faded away. They seemed as lost and afraid as you were.

You pulled you knees up to your face, disappearing into the seat of the cockpit. A single word surfaced in your mind over and over: gone.

It was all gone, in one way or another. Everything and everyone you loved. Your home. Your former master. Your squad. Your friends.

All you had left was the clothes on your back, your ship, your lightsaber, and Rex.

Captain Rex. You knew, that without him, you would be gone too. How he’d managed to survive all of this, you had no idea. From the day you met him all those years ago, you sensed there was something special about him. The 501st had been called in to assist with the siege that gone sideways on you and your squad. Fighting alongside him and his troops had been an honor. They really were as spectacular as their reputation had implied. The battle was won the very next day, and you even saved the captain from a stray bolt or two, for which he was most grateful. The Grand Army of the Republic had no shortage of exceptional, stalwart soldiers, and the clones had never been anything less than your brothers in arms, but Rex stood out to you from then on. Maybe it was the Force, maybe it was a gut feeling; you were a firm believer in the power of both. Whichever it was, your connection with the clone captain was the only reason you were still alive.

It was nearly two months ago, although it felt like a lifetime. You’d just returned from your council-mandated meditative retreat. The war had started to take a toll on your mind, and losing two of your best clones hit you harder than you had expected it would. Master Yoda thought it best that you step away for a while, saying ‘heal your connection with the living Force, you must.’ That one last piece of wisdom from the Jedi Master would ultimately save you; your squad wasn’t with you when the order was given. Order 66. That one command that turned the greatest men you’d ever known into cold, impervious machines, executing every Jedi in their path without remorse. Of course, you didn’t know that at the time, returning to the temple on Coruscant after being unable to make contact with the Council or any member of your squad. You’d sensed the growing shadows of evil on your return journey, but nothing could have prepared you for staring down the barrel of your clone commander’s blaster. They’d been waiting for you, setting up an ambush in the barracks knowing you’d come looking for them.

Your commander said you were to be executed for treason. All the life in his eyes was gone. There was nothing left of your friend. You’ll never forget his only reply to your pleas: “Good soldiers follow orders.”

The chant still haunted you to the core.

You had closed your eyes, preparing to become one with the Force. Blasters fired, but it wasn’t laser bolts. The Empire hadn’t been the only ones setting a trap. The clones around you had dropped to the floor, having been stunned by none other than General Skywalker’s most trusted captain.

“Rex, what are you doing here? What’s going on?” you’d asked, feeling more fear than you ever had in your life.

“There’s no time to explain, Y/N. The clones have been ordered to hunt down all the Jedi. You have to come with me. We have you get you out of here,” he’d replied quickly, holding out your confiscated lightsaber.

With one tearful gaze into his eyes, you knew this was the only path to take. You reclaimed your weapon and followed him, narrowly evading the onslaught of troopers sent after you, all of them shooting to kill. Even when a blaster bolt grazed your leg and you started to limp, Rex clasped your arm tight and kept you going, continuing to covering you as you stumbled into the shuttle. When you escaped the planet with him that night, you left the only life you knew behind.

Rex was true to his word. Once you were safely away near some desolate moon in the Outer Rim, he explained it all. How the clones had chips that forced them to turn on the Jedi and act against their will. How the war had ended, and how the Republic was the final casualty. How Chancellor Palpatine was now Emperor, and he was forcing every world to join his Galactic Empire. How some were complying, and how some were rebelling. How you would have to hide the rest of your life as long as The Empire was the ruling power in the galaxy. Many tears were shed that night.

Now, huddled in your ship day after day, you waited for news. Good or bad, anything was better than the unknown. Rebellion had already begun, and you wanted to join the fight, but Rex was adamant that it wasn’t safe to do much just yet. After the night of the Purge, you and he had stayed together. You’d gone on a few supply runs with him, and assisted with the rescue of some “prisoners” of the Empire, but things were getting worse. He barely left the shadows himself, both of you moving from camp to camp, and only moving when it was as under the radar as possible.

Of all the people in the galaxy, he remembered you. He risked his life to rescue you, and that was a debt you could never repay. Rex didn’t give up on anyone. Yet, one question had plagued you ever since that day: why you?

An alert rang out, awakening you from your somber daze. Incoming transmission. You rub your stinging eyes and sit up, pressing the button to answer.

“Y/N,” Rex greets.

“Rex. I’m glad to hear from you. Where are you?”

“I had an unexpected run-in with some old friends,” he answers, a bit vague for your liking, “How are you holding up?”

“As well as I can be, I suppose. Rations are running a bit low,”  you shrug, hoping you don’t sound ungrateful.

“I was intending to have returned by now. I have our resupply, I just have to get it to you,” he sighed, “I’m sorry, I know orbiting a moon is not ideal, but after what happened on Dantooine, I don’t think we should be taking any chances until I can find somewhere better to lie low. The Empire is still on your trail.”

“I know, you’re right,” you nod, “I’m thankful for all that you’re doing for me, Rex. I truly am. I just-”

“What?” he questions, raising an eyebrow.

“Why are you still helping me?” That wasn’t what you really wanted to ask.

Confusion immediately took over his expression, “What do you mean?”

What else did you have to lose? You needed the answer. “Why did you come back for me? Out of all the surviving Jedi, out of all the victims of The Empire...why me?”  

The question clearly caught him off guard.

“I don’t leave anyone behind,” he states firmly.

“But you risked your life to save me. Why would you do that?”

His gaze drifts downward a moment before he speaks, “I’ve lost so many people. When I intercepted the transmission that you were still alive, I couldn’t...”

You stare at him, almost disbelieving what he was saying.

“I couldn’t stand to lose someone else,” he says, meeting your gaze.

“Rex,” you breathe, your heart swelling as you being to understand his meaning.

“I know it feels like it’s never going to end. We’ve both lost so much, and we carry that pain with us, for the ones that are gone. But I am with you,” he promises, his voice softening, “You’re not alone.”

You smile, tears blurring your vision, “Neither are you.”

“And you don’t have to worry. I won’t leave you,” he smiles back, “We’ll fight this fight as we did before. Together.”

“Together,” you repeat.

The look you shared was unlike one you’d ever exchanged before. Your heart skipped.

“I’m almost done here. I’ll return as quickly as I can, and we’ll find a new place to set up camp for a while. No more floating in space," he assures, his resolve restored.

“Be safe,” you say, giving him a little salute.

He returns the gesture with a chuckle, “Always.”

The transmission ends, but the smile remains on your face. For the first time since your whole world shattered, you could see it. You could see that hope that the stars had once given you. It was Rex. He was your hope. As long as you had each other, you would be able to find the light once more.