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Chapter Text

Star Wars: Voyage of the Heroes (Jedi Order in SHIELD)

Chapter One – Departed

It was a bizarre feeling standing over his own grave. Even with two others keeping him company, Fury couldn’t shake the uneasiness that pooled at the bottom of his stomach. One day this would actually happen. He wouldn’t walk away from it to start over. Someday there would be no coming back.

Steve Rogers stared down at the headstone that read ‘Col. Nick Fury’. Sam Wilson was trying to look anywhere else but the empty grave before them. Fury wanted to chuckle, but thought best to let it go. If only the others could see him now, they would never allow him to live this moment down. Some of them might even call it a cowards way out. But things were different here then back home. When one needed to disappear it is necessary to fake ones death. Especially with the situation he had gotten himself into.

Honestly, he should have known better.

Clearing his throat he turned to the Captain. “So, you’ve experienced this sort of thing before.”

With a shake of his head, Steve let a small smile grace his face at the comment. “You get use to it.”

“We’ve been dating mining HYRDA’s files.” Fury explained. “Looks like a lot of rats didn’t go down with the ship.” He cast a quick glance off to his right, looking for teat slight bit of movement to let him know that he was still there, waiting for him. “I’m headed to Europe tonight. Wanted to ask if you’d come. ”

The Captain shook his head sadly, getting that far off look in his eyes whenever his past came to light. “There’s something I got to do first.”

Fury nodded in agreement. He understood the responsibility that Steve felt for his lost comrade in arms. There had been many times where he too had done something similar to save his own friends. It was a word he hadn’t used in a long time though, friend. Here he didn’t have friends, he had subordinate. Coulson and Hill were probably the closest he had come to having someone he could truly trust with his back and secrets. And even then he never really had to because Fury didn’t come here alone.

Even though he wanted to simply slip away unnoticed Fury couldn’t help but give the Paratrooper the same offer. “How about you Wilson? Could use a man with your abilities.” A smirk creased his face at this.

The young looked at him disgruntled. “I’m more of a soldier than a spy,” he snapped.

“All right, then,” Fury laughed. “Anybody asks for me tell them they can find me, right here.” And with a nod at the empty grave he began to turn away just as Natasha walked towards them.

“You should be honored,” she called after him. “That’s about as close as he gets to saying thank you.”

Fury smiled as he left the three of them behind. They’d be fine without him for a while or at least he hoped so. He had really come to like this place and hoped it would still be here when he returned in a few months at a time.

“Is the empty grave really a necessity, General?”

He smiled at the man that stood waiting behind a tree a hundred meters or so away. His dark brown hair was cut in a military styled, cropped short to his head. It remained Fury of the first time they met. Surrounded by all of his brothers in arm during the battle that started this blasted war. Unlike many of his other brothers, his friend decided to keep his appearance the same.

“Unfortunately yes.” The other man fell in line behind him as Fury walked past. “It’s harder to slip away seeing as we are stuck on a single planet verses an entire system.”

Brown eyes crinkled slightly as a shallow laugh filled Fury’s ear. “You are a capable and creative person, I’m sure you would have thought of something else eventually.”

“You’re funny, Alpha.”

“I try, Sir.”

“Is the ship ready to leave?”

“It was loaded and ready hours ago, I’ve been waiting on you, Sir.”

“I’d stop while you’re ahead, Commander.”

“Of course, Sir,” Alpha was still smirking as Fury looked over at him though. He was always a smug bastard and the banter was so familiar, Fury didn’t feel he needed to reprimand his commander.

“So, how fucked up are we back home?”

“I haven’t heard anything from the council as of late. So it’s safe to assume that it’s probably bad.”

With a snort, Fury climbed into the passenger side of a black SUV. Alpha made his way around to the driver seat and soon enough they were on their way. They sat in silence the entire ride to the airfield. When they got there a transport was already waiting for them. Standing before it was Agent Hill.

“Nice to see you both are still alive,” she teased.

Fury hadn’t made Maria Hill his second in command for nothing. She could be ruthless when need be yet when it came to getting down to business, she was better than most of the men he had worked with during the start of the war. If he could’ve have taken her with them to help finish this fight, he would have but she was needed here on Earth.

“How did the interview with Stark go Agent Hill?” Always courteous Alpha was.

“It went perfectly,” she smiled back at him. “I start next Monday.”

Within minutes, the few bags they had between the two of them were stored away and they were airborne. The three of them fell into an easy rhythm of exchanging pleasantries, none of them really wanting to talk about what was going to happen now.

“Mace,” she began.

With a sigh he began. “I know what you’re going to say Maria and I don’t need it from you too. I’m getting enough of it from him.” He thrust a thumb in Alpha’s direction.

She gave him a sad smirk. “I guess I’m just wondering when I can expect you back.”

“Soon, I hope. The last transmission we received was showing us that the Battle of Coruscant was a success and now one of our generals has found out what hole Grievuos is has slithered into. He is either on his way or already there with his troops as we speak.”

“Sounds like you won’t be gone long then.”

Alpha nodded at her response. “That is the plan.”

“I wish you the best of luck, but from I know of you two, you guys won’t need any of it.” She fell silent as she looked out the window at the clouds that streamed past them. “Does Clint or anyone else know you’re taking off again?”

“We told who mattered and have received a hand of messages to relay to loved ones,” Alpha began. “I know that a few of them are ready for this war to end so their lives can go back to normal especially a certain Senator of ours and her husband.”

All three of them broke into small grins at the thought of the petite brunette and her pig-headed husband. Even though Maria had never meet the young knight, she had been a part of many conversations with him and his master and had quite familiar with his mood swings. To her is seemed that only a small handful of people were able to calm him, his own student and wife being the main two.

The rest of the time passed in idle chat chit and before any of them realized it they had reached the Hellicarrier that was stationed just outside of New York’s harbor. No one else but the three of them were on the ship deck when they landed, everyone had been order below till they took off. After quick good byes to Maria. The two man loaded themselves and their meager belongs into the ship. They left Maria standing behind them, waving frantically as they made their way into space and to their Hyperdrive Booster Ring was waiting for them a little past Jupiter. After what felt like ages, they were finally going home to the Sky River Galaxy.

~

Anakin tore down the hallway of the main hanger of the Jedi Temple. He had to tell someone what he had just learned, only there were no masters anywhere to be found. He was conflicted. His soul seemed to be tearing in two over what he should do. Palpatine’s words had made sense to him, yet he couldn’t forget everything the Council had done for him. They were his family and he trusted them with his life.

How he wished that Padme or Ahsoka were near so he could confine in them. They had continuously been his voice of reason and both of them were nowhere to be found.

People milled about all around him, each of them doing the same tasks they always did but Anakin wasn’t sure who he could trust. A couple clones worked on ships and checked the supplies coming and going. Even a few Jedi Masters and their Padawins were readying themselves for missions. But none of them belonged to the Jedi Council. He had to find someone from the council.

Only he knew that they all happened to be off world at the moment with their own assignments.

People scurried about as a ship came in to dock. Sadly, the markings weren’t of the fighter Rex had taken in his search for Ahsoka. Though it they did belong to someone he had not seen in a long time. He rushed forward as the ship was brought in and stood waiting for the hatch to lift.

“What do you need Skywalker?” Mace snapped at him as soon as the Jedi Master caught sight of Anakin.

“You don’t know how good it is to see you Master Windu.”

Mace’s face went from slightly annoyed, the usually expression found marring his features, to one of great concern. “What’s happening?”

With a deep breath, Anakin spoke. “It’s Palpatine sir.”

“I thought he was saved during the battle?”

Sighing, he tried to continue. “He was but that’s not the problem.”

“Then what is?” he sneered.

“He’s the Sith Lord,” Anakin finally shouted, earning a few heads to turn in their direction and a couple of the other Masters to begin walking towards them.

It that moment Alpha popped his head out from wherever he had been hiding. “That’s not possible.”

“Unfortunately it is.” It was with a heavy heart that Anakin continued to recount everything that had happened up till now to Mace. “He told me in confidence, knowing full well that I would bring the news to someone on the Council.”

Mace fell silent. A frown crossed his lips as he thought on the situation. Kit Fisto was the first to come to their side, his face deep with worry.

“Did I hear something about the Sith Lord and Palpatine in the same sentence?”

“I’m afraid so old friend,” Mace muttered before snapping back to attention. “We need to strike fast and soon if we are to still catch Palpatine unnoticed. We leave now.”

With a single nod between the four of them, the small band consisting of the two Masters, a Knight and a clone took off. Mace and Alpha jumping back into their speeder with Anakin and Fisto hopping into another.

The ride to the senate was quicker than usual and with the adrenaline pumping through their system it only seemed like a matter of seconds before they reached the hanger for the senate building. It was quiet when they landed. There were no guards patrolling the deck or at the check in desk. The hallways were silent, like the factories of Geonosis. Every little creak had them whipping about, ready to strike down anyone who would come at them. Everyone that usually occupied the space was gone. They didn’t know who had all turned against them and sided with Palpatine now. Mace was still trying to figure out how he had never caught on to the Chancellor’s deception when the man had been playing both sides since the beginning. He felt like a fool. It was Hydra all over.

Three lightsabers and a blaster were all raised at the ready when they finally came to door leading them to the Sith Lord. As they came closer the door opened, beckoning them inside. Taking point, Mace led them in with Alpha trailing behind watching for any last minute assaults.

Standing calmly behind the desk was Palpatine. His back was to them as he stared out at the bustling airways of Coruscant. Slowly he turned around and eyed each of the three Jedi in turn as they spread out before him. Alpha was ignored and hung out at the back encase someone came through the door.

“Why, Master Windu. What a pleasant surprise,” he smiled though it never reached his eyes.

Taking step forward, Mace addressed the man before them. “In the name of the Galactic Senate of the Republic, you’re under arrest, Chancellor.”

The smile vanished instantly. “Are you threatening me, Master Jedi?” His face now stern and darkening with each passing second.

“The senate will decide your fate,” Mace responded, raising his lightsaber so it was chest level with the Chancellor.

“I AM the senate,” the man growled, eyes flickering to yellow. Mace could sense Anakin taking a step back as the man he once trusted showed his true colors.

“Not yet…” the dark skinned Jedi Master found himself sneering.

With a flick of his wrist, a lightsaber dropped into Palptine’s hand, it was so subtle that Mace almost missed it. The man was eerily calm as he spoke, eyes narrowing as he took a small step forward. “Its treason then…”

Red bleed into the room as Palpatine surged forward, flipping over his desk to attack them. Using the force, the Sith Lord knocked both Alpha and Anakin out of the way as he commenced a siege of attacks on Kit and Mace.

Mace easily kept up with the Sith, blocking his attacks easily and efficiently, looking for an opening. Kit, for all his experience, was no match for the more experienced sword master Palpatine was proving to be. Even with both Kit and Mace pressing in on him, Palpatine was still on the offensive while the two Masters were on the defensive.

Anakin didn’t know where to jump in, feeling torn between his duty to the Jedi and his loyalty to a man he counted as a friend. He activated his blade but remained out of the fight, uncertain of what to do. Alpha had his own blaster up, but didn’t fire, fearful of hitting one of the Jedi in the ever quickening battle before him.

Mace finally saw an opening and lunged forward, bringing his lightsaber under Palpatine’s and flicking his wrist upward, trying to force Palpatine off balance. The Sith Lord let the momentum of the push send him away from Mace and spun towards Kit. The Nautolan caught Palpatine’s blade on his own and shoved back, but misjudged his thrust, sending him past Palpatine as the Sith sidestepped. The error of the Jedi gave the Sith the opening he needed and he buried his red blade in Kit’s back. He only had a couple seconds to revel in his victory before Mace was on him, driving him back towards the giant window that spanned the length of the office.

Mace disarmed Palpatine as they drew level with the window, shattering it as the red blade crashed into the glass. Anakin stepped in, standing side by side with Mace. Both of their sabers were pointed at the now ex-Chancellor.

“Anakin, help,” the old man crooned. “You know this is wrong. You know what you must do. What must be done so this war may come to an end and bring Padme home!”

“You have no right to say her name!” the Knight growled.

In a last ditch attempt to gain control, Palpatine shot streaks of blue lightening at Mace only to have Anankin swing his own saber, deflecting them. Realizing his own defeat, Palpatine filled the entire room with his force lighting, blinding the two Jedi. More glass crashed all around them as the man Anakin once trusted escaped through the window. The two Jedi were left in the Chancellor’s office to clean up the mess left behind.

~

She simply sat there staring out the front window of the cruiser, not saying a word as they readied themselves to land on Coruscant. Ahsoka had been unusually quiet the entire ride from Lothal and it was something that Rex was not use to. He wasn’t even sure how to break the awkward silence that had taken over of the ship since she had boarded. It was maddening. He always knew what to say, even if it wasn’t the right thing, Rex always had something to say. But right now, he could barely make eye contact with the ex-Jedi Padawan, not that she ever looked at him.

In a sense, he maybe had forced her to come with him. It seemed like she was still holding that tiny detail against him at the moment and probably for the foreseeable future. The war just was not the same without her fighting beside him.

Who was he kidding! No one.

Life overall was no longer the same with Ahsoka not in it. She made everything just a tad brighter and the war a touch more bearable. Truthfully, she had given his life a bit more meaning to it. He had begun noticing her impact on his after the encounter with Cut back on Saleucami. The deserter had taught Rex something that night. Between sharing a meal with his family and helping to protect them from the droids, the words he spoke to his brother when they parted were true. Rex did have a family and she was a part of it. A major part of it in reality.

Even though he no longer leading the 501st, he still had a certain responsibility to those that he consider family. And he wanted her to be a part of his personal family again, expect maybe more than a sister.

It was now or never, so he spoke up. “What are you thinking about?”

Ahsoka didn’t turn to face him. “What my life would be like if I had never become a Jedi.” Her voice was low and monotone.

“I know mine wouldn’t be the same if you weren’t here.” A small grin creased his features. “I’d probably died by now if you hadn’t been around to save me stupid ass time and time again.”

“I’m sure someone else would’ve saved that stupid ass of yours.” Rex wasn’t sure if he heard a slight smirk in her voice or not.

“You’re glad to have save my stupid ass,” he teased. “It’s a nice ass and you would’ve missed it.”

She laughed. A deep laugh that reached out from her belly. It was the first time she had shown emotion during this trip. The back of her glove wiped at the tears the prickled at her eyes, threatening to spill down her now flush cheeks. It was clear that she hadn’t laughed like this in a while.

“Feelin’ better?”

“Quite,” she answered. “Surprisingly, I am.” For the first time since they boarded, she turned towards him and gave him a shy smile. Fingers twitched in her lap, as she eyes began to shift about, never actually looking at him.

Still it was a start and Rex would take it. “Good laugh will do that.” He smiled back.

Her blue eyes met his own brown ones but quickly shifted to look up at his forehead. Even after three years of wielding a lightsaber and blusters, she hands were still soft on his skin. They inched along his jaw, up his cheek before stopping at the small scar that now adored his right temple. That glorious smile of hers faded to that concerned pout she would wear during debriefings and after battles.

“That’s new,” she whispered, finally looking into his eyes again. “Where did this come from?”

With nothing for him to do at that moment as they descended, he allowed himself to grasp her hand and pull it towards his lips. Lightly brushing them against the back of her hand, Rex witnessed a small blush creep across the bridge of her nose.

“It was something I did to myself,” he said with a sheepish grin.

Aghast, she stared into his brown eyes, delving so deep she seemed to touch it. “Why?”

“There was something in there, put into my head when I was created to help me do something, though I don’t remember what. Only, I don’t think I want its help anymore…”

“What was it?”

“A chip of some kind.”

The comm beeped at him, flashing red to indict it was now all clear for him to land on the surface below. With reluctance Rex released Ahsoka’s hand. It was an easy landing. After coming to a stop in the Jedi Temple hanger the two of them simply sat there, neither wanting to ruin what they had started moments ago. People were running all over the place; clones, Jedi and other military personnel. It was clear that something had happened while Rex was away. Quickly standing, he made his away off the ship with Ahsoka tailing close behind.

Despite not being in charge of the 501st, Rex still held the position of captain and thus was required to wear his uniform. Appo was now leader, serving under Anakin while Rex lead a smaller group of his bothers on more dangerous mission that took them behind enemy lines. He had gain even more of a reputation during the time Ahsoka was gone for being a bit unorthodox. Now he was known for taking risks and putting himself in the line of fire, must like his General.

Rex’s communicator began being from inside his pocket. All around them the high pitched ding echoed, causing all of his fellow brothers to pull their devices out. He was in the process of digging his own out when small blue lights from the holograms filled the hanger. A single cloaked figure appeared. They couldn’t hear what was being conveyed, only the slight nodded as the orders were acknowledged. Rex opened his open comm to show the hooded figure.

“Commence Order 66,” the voice crooned.

“Order 66,” Ahsoka questioned.

His mind froze. He knew that term, had heard it once a long time ago. Only he couldn’t remember the when and where or what Order 66 all entailed. A sense of foreboding pooled in the pit of his stomach.

“Rex?”

Looking up, Rex saw his brothers pulling out their blasters. Everything seemed to slow down then. All of them slowly raised their weapons till they were chest level. Their eyes seemed vacant. Jedi and the other military members cast confused looks at the men they served with. Rex and Ahsoka could hear the Jedi ask questions as a few of them walked towards the clones while other personnel raised their arms in surrender.

“Rex!?”

Before either of them could act, burst of blue beams shot out of the ends of the blasters. Each of them connected with one of the Jedi present on the deck.

Without even thinking Rex grabbed ahold of Ahsoka’s hand and dragged her out of hanger.
Shouts of ‘traitor’ and other cruel words followed after them. After sealing the door and dismantling the panel with a blast, he continued to pull her down the corridor.

“Rex wait!” she demanded, forcing him to stop with her. “What is going on?”

“Something I didn’t think possible till now,” he shuddered. “Clone troopers turning on their generals.”

“What?!” Her entire frame sagged in defeat. Cries from the hanger reached them causing her to wince as she listened to her fellow Jedi and those that tried to help them die at the very hands of their comrades. Ahsoka wanted to go and help, but Rex’s firm grip kept her in place.

His own body was drawn tight and face pinched in disgust at what was happening. “It’s a preprogramed order on a chip we are all implanted with at birth,” he started, his eyes turning from her as it all came back to him. “It is to eliminate all traitors of the Republic and in this case it’s the Jedi.” At that very moment Rex was ashamed to be a clone, the thing that he once held pride in.

“But that’s insane,” Ahsoka cried, finally breaking free of Rex’s hold.

“I know that…”

Fear crept into her eyes. She found herself stepping back, wanting to put space between him and herself. “Why aren’t you attacking me then?” Ahsoka wasn’t sure if she handle it if he turned on too.

“I took mine out.” Before she can response, Rex continued. “It was during a mission I was on with Artoo, he had to do a scan of me and found something on that didn’t seem right with it. I thought it had just malfunctioned, so I took it out.”

“You knew it was there?” She couldn’t help the surprise in her voice.

Rex turned away from her. “We all knew the chip was there and thought you Jedi knew too.”

Closing her arms around herself, she took a step towards him. After a few moments of silence, she spoke up. “What do we do now?”

“Try to keep you alive.”

~

Obi-wan wondered what he must look like to the clones, racing through the streets of Pau City on his dragonmount, covered in dust and grim and what possibly might be some burned remains of Grievous still clinging to his armor. He wondered if they didn’t think anything of it, used to him being covered in all manner of grim from long days in the trenches. Cody’s men were dependable like that, unflappable to a fault at times. Possibly had something to do with the commander himself, never bothered by the ever-higher demands put upon him as the war went on. With Grievous dead, Obi-wan hoped all the clones could now get a break.

He knew the war wasn’t over yet, even with a key general dead. There were still other leaders of the Separatists that still needed to be hunted down. That was a matter for another day though, they still needed to secure the city.

He pulled his mount to a sharp stop right next to where Cody was kneeling on a landing pad, giving the man some much needed cover. The clone looked up at him and Obi-wan could just feel the amusement rolling off him, “General Kenobi, glad you could join us.”

“Commander Cody,” Obi-wan nodded down at the man, sighing inwardly. The man was infuriating, especially in moments like this when he just knew Cody had something up his sleeve, “Did you contact Coruscant with the news of the general’s death?”

Cody pulled his helmet off, throwing a crisp salute that still felt like it was mocking him, “As ordered, sir. Erm, sir?” Obi-wan frowned down at him, raising an eyebrow at the slight laugh in Cody’s voice. The clone at least looked a little sheepish, “Are you alright, sir? You’re a bit, well, a bit of a mess.”

Obi-wan sighed and wiped a bit of gore and dust off his face with the corner of his sleeve. He looked down at it, frowning at the charred edge, “Ah. Well, yes. It has been a…stressful day.” He looked over the city before them, “But we still have a battle to win.”

“Then I think you’ll be wanting this,” Cody said, holding up the lightsaber Obi-wan had dropped during his fight with Grievous. “I believe you dropped this, sir.”

Obi-wan felt his face heat up a bit, “Ah…ah, yes.”

He lifted up his hand and the lightsaber floated up to it, the familiar weight an instant relief to the Jedi. He let out a sigh and smiled down at Cody, “No, ah, no need to mention this to Anakin, is there, Cody?”

The grin on Cody’s face told Obi-wan he was going to have a high price to pay for the man’s silence, “Is that an order, sir?”

Obi-wan shook his head tiredly, his smile growing fond, “Let’s go. You’ll have noticed I did manage to leave a few droids for you.”

“Yes, sir, I did,” Cody looked like he was going to say more, but a buzzing from a storage compartment on his wrist drew the clone’s attention. “Go on ahead, General. We’ll be right behind you.”

“Of course, Cody,” Obi-wan nodded before snapping the reins against his mount’s neck and the beast leapt forward. He caught a glimpse of a commlink before he was racing back up into the city. He reached out in the Force and guided his mount up a pathway that cut up the rock face towards a hot zone. He sensed a flash of regret from Cody before his world was exploding around him, his mount screaming in pain as the wave of heat dragged them both down towards the water below.

Back down on the landing pad, Cody stood watching the scene unfold before him. Ordering his men to fire left a sour taste in his mouth, but the sense of guilt he felt he should be having right now wasn’t there. He sighed, glancing at some of his nearby men, “Would it have been too much to ask for the order to have come through before I gave him back the bloody lightsaber?”

The men laughed, sounding just as hollow as he felt before they focused back on the battle at hand. Cody looked down at the blaster in his hands, his heart fluttering but he couldn’t place why. After all, hadn’t he just killed a traitor? A sharp pain cut through his head but Cody shook his head and tightened his grip on his blaster. He still had a battle to win, after all.

~

Obi-wan pulled himself up over the lip of the cliff face and rolled into the cavern, chest heaving. What the hell had just happened? One minute he was racing up towards the upper galleries of Pau City, the next he was falling from the cliff face as an explosion rocked the air around him. The screams of his dragonmount still echoed in his ears and the smell of charred flesh would be with him for some time. What he didn’t understand was where the shot had come from. He knew it wasn’t the droids, positive in that in fact. What he couldn’t wrap his mind around was that the clones, his own men, had fired the shot. Had tried to kill him.

Why would they try to kill him? What had changed between the time he had talked to Cody back on the landing pad and having one of their cannons try to blow him to smithereens. Had Cody ordered it? If so, why? What had he done to deserve this? Why was this happening?

Obi-wan was about to roll to his feet when something slammed into his chest with the force of a rancor. It was as though hundreds of voices had cried out in fear and pain before they were cut off violently and mercilessly. It was as though the Force itself was under attack, strings snapping in the web that connected all of the Jedi. It left him feeling weak and hollow and it didn’t stop. He could feel the tears streaming down his face as he felt souls reach out to him, souls he knew. Plo, Luminara, Aayla and Shaak Ti all reaching out blindly, not just to him but to everyone as fear gripped at their senses. Young padiwans, younglings Obi-wan hadn’t even met crying out as something dark bore down on them. All these lives, gone in seconds.

Chapter Text

“How in Sithspawn did this happen?” Vos snarled.

All around him eyes shifted uncomfortably, no one really meeting anyone’s gaze. They still sorting through the bodies, Jedi and clone alike, that littered the hallways of the Temple. Bodies were also starting to come in of those who had been killed off world. The numbers were staggering, only a small fraction of the Jedi had survived the execution of Order 66. The same could be said of the clones as well, many being killed in the aftermath. The galaxy was reeling and there was still more damage being taken into account.

“The last numbers are coming in from those situated in the Outer Rim,” Plo ran a hand over the top of his head, leaning forward heavily in his chair. “It’s not any better than anywhere else.”

“That’s not answering my question, now is it?” Vos retorted from his position by the window, his body still heavily bandaged from Kashyyyk.

“We don’t know why, Vos,” Bail answered tiredly. “We’ve looked through his files, through everything he has ever owned, here and on Naboo. There is nothing to explain why we were massacred.”

“Then why not ask them?” Anakin thrust a finger towards where the clones were located. Wolffe and Alpha were seated in two of the empty chairs. Cody stood by the window, back to them and arms crossed over his chest.

Mace broke his silence, “Palpatine started this all.” His voice grim as he continued. “It’s clear Dooku and he had been working on this years, carefully planning each step so we would never be able to tie it together till it was too late. I have a feeling that they had a hand in many of the events leading up to the Clone Wars too.”

“Like what?” Anakin snapped.

“The placement of Senator Amidala as Queen of Naboo, not as random as first believed,” Yoda spoke up. “Nor attacks made by the Separatists, clearly Palpatine had shared information.”

Anakin took a deep breath, clearing his head. “With the recent events, it is safe to say that Palpatine had been at the core of the Separatist movement from the start,” he stated. “He was Dooku’s master and thus was the one behind everything.”

“But we still don’t know how this whole bloody mess started,” Vos shouted in anger. He tried to stand, only to have Plo Koon ease him back onto the mat he was stretched out on.

“It all goes back to the creation of the clones,” Cody finally spoke, still with his back to them. “The man who ordered our creation, Sifo-Dyas or whomever it was, had very clear instructions on our purpose and functions. Chips were placed in our brains at our creation, located in the cerebrum to better access our motor functions. The chips were loaded with data that could only be activated by key phrases spoken by the Supreme Commander. Once activated, a clone could only complete the given order even if they didn’t want to. The chips were designed for complete control with orders ranging from the simple to the complex. The higher ranking the clone, the more orders there would be on their chip. In some instances,” here Cody paused, shifting slightly, arms falling to be gripped behind him. “In some instances, more than one chip was required.”

“What was the order he gave you that made you attack us?” Shaak Ti leaned forward, asking the question for everyone else wanted to ask.

“Order 66,” Wolffe finally chimed in, eyes still down casted.

“What in Sithspawn is Order 66?” Vos bit out.

Cody reached into a side pouch and pulled out a holo-transmitter. Without a word he turned it on. A small blue image of Captain Rex appeared before them, his stance was strictly military but the lines on his face were deeper than normal. From the angle of the hologram it was clear that someone else had been holding the device for the Captain.

“Commander, I hope this transmission gets to you are able to carry it out, but Fives was right. The chips in our brains are not there to help us, they have a dark purpose. I do not know what they all entail but there are orders on the chip. Order 66 comes directly from Chancellor Palpatine. Its aim is to eliminate all traitors of the Republic. And according to the Chancellor, the Jedi were planning a coup to overthrow him and take control of the Senate. You need to get that chip out before you see General Kenobi again…”

The transmission suddenly cut off and Cody shoved the holo-transmitter back into its pouch, shoulders rigid, “I received that transmission from Captain Rex shortly after the order was given. By then it was too late to respond other than to remove the chips themselves. It did not go as smoothly as was hoped.”

Obi-wan snorted from where he had been sitting quietly by Yoda, focused on the ground, “A lot good that did.”

“We’ve just gotten confirmation that all the chips have been removed,” Alpha simply stated. “Of those who we were able to remove them from. We lost a good portion of our forces in the aftermath due to resistance.”

“Karma’s a bitch, isn’t it?” Anakin scoffed, glaring at the clones.

“Anakin!” Shaak Ti reprimanded, looking horrified.

“What? They killed our friends! They murdered the younglings and suddenly we’re back to being friends with them?” Anakin threw his hands up, clearly frustrated.

“Look here, you little punk,” Wolffe leaned forward, looking murderous. “Not all of us had our chips in when the order came through. We personally had to kill our brothers to protect you. We had to watch as our brothers were driven mad by those chips.”

Cody cut in before Wolffe actually started yelling, “Enough. We’re dealing with it. We’ve sent a task force to Kamino to aid the forces stationed there.”

Mace held up a hand before anyone else could chime in, “Why were your chips out?”

“Cody still had his in,” Alpha shook his head sadly. “Wolffe and I had ours out because Rex gave us a heads up a couple months back, after Trooper Fives was killed. It wasn’t any great number of us, but it was enough.”

“Too good to have your little chip out, Commander?” Anakin focused on Cody now.

“Chips, sir, in the plural. I had a duty to the Republic and as we were first ordered not to remove our chips under any circumstances, I did not see the harm in leaving mine in,” Cody finally turned to the group. The right side of his head was shaved in a rectangular patch, with a bright pink scar running down the middle.

“How is the relief effort going with the aftermath of Order 66?” Shakk Ti asked, hoping to draw the attention away from the clones. “Also, have we found Palpatine yet?”

Yoda was grim in his response. “Not good, it is looking.” With down casted eyes he continued. “Fifteen escaped, many lost there were.”

“Palpatine is still missing,” Mace added, leaning forward as he looked around the room. “From what I saw, Mas Amedda was waiting for him and helped him escape. To where, we don’t know.”

“He would have been prepared for if he couldn’t turn Anakin to his side,” Alpha spoke up and the Jedi looked at him, eyes wide in horror. “What, you didn’t see that coming? Sorry to burst your bubble, but Palpatine put a lot of time and effort into you’re little Chosen One here.”

“Oh my stars,” Obi-wan covered his face with his hands and Cody made an aborted move forward, hands clenched at his sides. Alpha rested a hand on his arm, glancing at his brother before focusing on the Jedi around them.

“He had a bigger plan here, you know. Removing all of you meant he had a clear path to controlling the whole galaxy. Having Anakin as his apprentice was a clear choice, seeing as he is the most powerful and most promising of the younger Jedi Knights,” Alpha dropped his hand from Cody’s arm. “Obviously he has failed.”

“He will look for another apprentice now, which may give us time to track him down,” Mace nodded, collecting himself first. “Master Yoda, orders?”

“Myself, Master Shaak Ti and Master Vos, focus on Order 66 we will. Gather what and who we can, we shall,” Yoda nodded sagely. “Master Koon, Senator Bail and Commander Wolffe, focus on the Senate you shall. Order to galaxy must be brought. Knight Skywalker and Commander Cody, join you in the hunt for Palpatine they shall. Master Kenobi and Commander Alpha, special mission for them we have. For now, separate we must.”

“Thank you for including us in this,” Cody inclined his head at Yoda as the others stood. “We don’t….we are grateful, Master Yoda.”

“Important to our future you all are, Commander Cody,” Yoda gave the clone a small smile before inclining his head to the door. Cody nodded back, glanced at Obi-wan and followed Wolffe out the door when the Jedi continued to ignore him. Shaak Ti helped Quinlan out the door as Anakin clapped Obi-wan on the shoulder and left with the others. Yoda and Mace stayed seated, watching the troubled Master.

“Some time away, Master Kenobi needs,” Yoda looked at Mace meaningfully as he stood. “To Earth, he should go. Needed there, he will be.”

“Yes, Master Yoda,” Mace inclined his head at the elder Master as Yoda left the room.

“What’s on Earth?” Obi-wan broke the silence, one hand dropping to his leg while the other ran through his hair.

“Padme. With Palpatine now in the wind, we’ll need to up her protection detail,” Mace folded his hands together. “I have a former Jedi on Earth right now keeping an eye on her, but I’m going to need someone assigned to be Padme’s bodyguard.”

“I can’t just run away from this, Mace,” Obi-wan sighed and met Mace’s eyes.

“Its not running away, Obi-wan, it’s a tactical retreat. Some space will do you both some good,” Mace cracked a small smile. “Plus, I need someone to help me torture some poor Earthlings.”

“I don’t think I’ll go alone,” Obi-wan looked thoughtful. “If you’ll allow it, I’d like to take Ahsoka with me.”

~

Classes were boring, that was the one thing she had come to learn in the nine months of living on Earth. Granted there were a couple she genuinely found interesting and enjoyed going to, but the majority of the generals she was forced to take were exhausting. Especially the man she was forced to listen to at the current moment. It was all a part of the ruse she was assigned to play to make herself appear normal or at least normal.

Normal, it was a funny word that she still wasn’t use to. With a quick glance down at her wrist, she thumbed at the bracelet that adorned it. The slick black gun metal would have looked better with her natural orange skin, but was decent enough against the dark caramel tone she now wore. She flicked her wrist over and watched the dim glow of the battery life fade in and out. It was hard to believe that this tiny device, which could break so easily, was all that was keeping her real appearance secret.

Next to her someone grunted. Looking over, she found her roommate slumped over his desk, clearly asleep from their Professor’s droning voice. His tousled brown hair covered his eyes with his arms folded under his head. He looked so cute laying there, unaware of what was happening around him.

The thought of another sleeping man came to mind. A drowsy grin spread across Ahsoka’s face as she shifted gears. Images of her fingers running over the soft fuzz of his bleached hair, that cocky grin he would get when things went his way or how his furrowed brows when he became confused over ‘human’ relationships and emotions. He was still out cold when she had left for classes this morning, sprawled out across the bed when she returned from the shower. The past nine months had been amazing, being able to live together as a couple. She wished things could go on like it forever.

“Miss Tano,” a voice called out, pulling her from her fantasy. “If you could so kindly poke Mister Parker for me?”

With a sheepish grin she jabbed her elbow into his side, digging it in deep. She was truly sorry for it, but Peter really need to get in earlier from his patrols so he could stay awake for classes. Yes, she knew about his daily and nightly excursions around New York City. Only he didn’t know Ahsoka was aware.

He jolted awake, eyes still glazed over with sleep as he looked about the room. All around students stared and chuckled at the two of them.

“Glad you could join us again, Mister Parker,” the professor sneered.

Azkanc, how Ahsoka hated this man. Granted it wasn’t at Palpatine or Grievous level of hate, but he was only a couple steps below. Their professor was a vindictive little man that enjoyed tormenting his students with pop quizzes on information they would have just covered or were presumed to know for that day’s lecture. He would also expect them to stay after all tests for further lectures. He was the worst, yet the most knowledgeable in his field and the only one that taught the class at the university. She was coming to hate anything to do with sociology. Unfortunately it was a subject she would become well versed in as Ahsoka had chosen Political Sciences as her major of study while on Earth. She couldn’t help but wonder why she had ever thought it was a good idea to take the subject up. She could just hear the others laughing at her, especially the one she had come to call boyfriend.

With a quick glance to the clock located behind the Professor, Ahsoka began to count down the seconds till the end of class. Excited to get out of here, her stomach had been rumbling for the past two hours. She had skipped lunch and was now starving for a nice, juicy burger piled with cheese. Her mouth watered slightly at the idea.

Soon enough students were packing up their bags. Shoving her own belongs in the knapsack at her feet, she tapped her foot impatiently for Peter.

“Will you calm down,” said person snapped as he gently placed his things in his book bag.

“I require food,” was her only response before walking out the back door of the lecture hall.

Peter simply laughed at her. “Not my fault you ran out of time to grab food.” He was a good half a foot taller than she was so it was easy for him to catch up to her shorter strides. “What does the cannibal want today?”

“I was thinking burgers, head down to Five Guys on Fourteenth Street?” she found herself suggesting. With a single nod back at her, the two were off.

Ahsoka couldn’t help but wonder what the others were up to as they left Empire State University. Mace was still in the Galaxy with Anakin and Cody hunting for Palpatine, so they had their hands full at the moment. Kenobi’s plane had to have landed already, bring both him and his precious charge back to the East Coast after a quick stop over in Wisconsin. Her own man just finished with a rescue mission in Sokovia and most likely was now repairing the vehicles that had been damaged by Ultron and his robots. She should be nice and grab him something to eat for dinner.

“Ready for finals next week?” Peter piped up.

She stopped dead in her tracks as her face fell. “Azkanc!”

~

He wanted to be back in bed at his apartment in the East Village, under the warm blankets and soft pillows that covered the queen sized bed that took up the entire room, ignoring the world in favor of a certain warm body of orange skin. Sadly he had been given only a single day of reprieve after Sokovia and he hadn’t been able to spend it with her because of approaching finals.

Buildings, cars and people zoomed past as he sped through the street of down town Manhattan. Though it was nowhere near as hectic as Coruscant and the airways, New York was still its own monster of energy with its citizens constantly on the go at all hours. Luckily all he had to do was sit back and watch the chaos around him and the black SUV he was currently in.

“Will you stop with the kicked puppy look,” the driver of said vehicle scolded.

Glancing over, he eyed the man that looked exactly like him sharply. The only real difference was the hair, he preferred the bleach blond buzz cut to his brother’s shaved head, full bread and bristling mustache. The man looked like a some of those drill sergeants some of the military guys on base complained about. 

“I’m serious, Rex,” The older looking man snapped, never taking his eyes off the traffic.

With a grimace that Ashoka had dubbed his personal look, he shot back at his brother. “Sorry if I don’t feel like going to work on cars today, Alpha.” Rex slouched in his sit slightly. “I was leading a whole battalion of our brothers just a year ago under General Skywalker, the Five-O-First was one of the best units in the Republic and now look where I am, fixing equipment that is obsolete in our Galaxy…”

The rest of the ride fell into a rough silence. Alpha had adapted quickly and easily when he had gotten here. The going between of the two galaxies was simple for him because his position never changed. Rex, on the other hand, had gone from being somewhat important in the Clone Wars to basically no one, having to climb back the ladder all over again. It was something he wasn’t looking forward to again.

Foot tapping in a steady beat, Rex waited for the elevator to stop at their floor. After consistently being on the frontlines for the past three years, he had come to hate waiting and had grown impatient while on Earth. Their fast pace simply wasn’t fast enough for him. He felt like a slug. It didn’t help that the elevators on Earth always seemed to take forever to go anywhere, even with what was considered a fast elevator was still slow to him.

Rex looked towards Alpha and broke the silence they had fallen into after Cody’s call in to update them on the situation back home, “What are the orders for today?”

“Continue fixing the shuttles that were damaged in the rescue mission,” Alpha typed away on a tablet, his eyes never leaving the screen. “We are also scheduled for time in the training halls.”

“Oh fun.”

The elevator came to stop, only it was still eight floors from where they needed to be. Doors opened slowly to reveal a grim looking Tony Stark. He took a step forward before looking up. His face brightened up when Tony caught sight of the two clones standing before him.

“If it isn’t my favorite pair of odd twins! I missed you two the other day,” he cheered before his smile dropped to a thoughtful pucker. “Only you two aren’t the only odd twins I know. Still the only dog boys. But then again she isn’t a twin anymore. She was but now…” he trailed off as he rambled on under his breath. Rex assumed he was talking about the Maximoff twins.

“Can one of us help you, Mister Stark?” Alpha stepped in, interrupting Tony from his usual downward spiral of thoughts.

“No, no, no,” he muttered, waving a hand at them. The small space is silent for a few seconds before he turned on the two clones. “Will you stop with the Mister stuff?” he retorted.

Alpha gave him a small smile. “Unfortunately, no.”

The shorter man snorted as he rolled his brown eyes at them. “And why not? Does your programming dictate other ways?”

Rex couldn’t help but groan. “If only…” Straightening up, he looked down at the human better known as Iron Man. “We have stuff we need to get done today, Stark. Is there anything you need from us?”

Tony’s eyes lit up at that, inching closer to Rex. “What kind of stuff? Is it secret SHIELD stuff?”

“Just stuff…” the blond clone stammered as the smaller man broke into his personal space. He tried to back away from Tony, but was met with the steel wall of the elevator.

Alpha stepped in to save his younger brother, “We are supposed to go through some training procedures today, Sir.” Forcing Tony to put distance between him and Rex.

The billionaire chose to ignore the ‘Sir’ and just gave them a smirk, not able to help himself with his run off mouth. “That sounds like fun, but what kind of training would you two auto goons need? Not like you guys are on the frontlines like we Avengers are. If anything you two just go from point A to point B.”

“We’re still SHIELD agents, Stark, and are expected to know the same as everyone else,” Rex snapped before turning away from him. He had had an enough of this.

“And what exactly is the same as everyone else?” Every time Tony cornered one of Hill’s agents he always interrogated them, even the lower workers like the twins before him. Even after working with SHIELD for three years, there were still things he didn’t know. And Tony, being true to himself, wanted to know everything. Especially when it came to people that seemed to appear out of nowhere which is what the two men before him had done.

“It’s just regular weapons testing,” Alpha stated.

At the same time Rex muttered under his breath, “To learn how to destroy all your toys…”

Tony casted an evil eye at Rex before grinning at Alpha. “Well, dogs, this is my floor. I hope you two have fun playing with the toys I supply you and remember to heel when your Masters say so,” he chirped as the doors opened. With one last wink, he stepped out, standing there with that cat ate the canary/I know something you don’t grin as the doors closed on him.

They stood there in silence till the elevator began to move. Rex was the first to crack. “Son of a Bantha, I am really starting to hate that man!”

“I know, I know,” Alpha consoled.

Rex fumed till they got to their floor. In reality is was Alpha’s floor as it housed the man’s office and the helipad, but Rex kept most of his things there instead of the small locker he was given in the garage. Going through the motions, the clones moved around each other as they got ready to head back down to the training center. Rex usually dressed in easy to move clothes while his older brother had to change out of his slacks and dress shirt most of the time. By the time they got to the gym, a small crowd was gathered.

Agent May stood in the middle of the floor, Triplet was on his back under her. It was a sight Rex had grown use to in his time at SHIELD. It never mattered who it was, whenever May come into the training room, she would take down anyone who was dumb enough to oppose her. She nodded in their direction as she made her way to where Skye had been watching.

The crowd started to disperse leaving a huge, bulking man standing at the center of the mat. Despite the full beard the man wore, his head was completely bare of hair. It shined brightly under the artificial lights of the underground training rooms. They also helped make the tattoos that adorned his skin pop out.

That was one thing neither Rex nor Alpha got into, tattooing. Many of their brothers’ used the permanent ink as a way to distinguish themselves, but the two of them were fine with simply changing their hair. Though Rex could appreciate the craft and intricate art work, Alpha had a tendency to turn his nose up at them. And Grey’s were no different.

Curling above each ear was the body of a dragon. Its wings were raised in midflight, the tips meeting at the top of Grey’s head. It detail was crude in design with thick black lines starting at his hair and weaving their way to the nap of his neck. Though it was the black Ouroboros on the back of his skull that really drew people in with its red triskelion and hollow triangle spiraling out at the center. The entire design was rugged and childlike.

He nodded at the two of them as they neared. “What’s up for today?”

Rex shrugged, “The usual. Some hand to hand, plus FitzSimmons wants us to do some weapons testing for them.”

“Which we are very grateful for!” Fitz announced as he walked over to them with a cart full of weapons. Tony looked erratic as he trailed behind the young scientist. None of them had seen him or Tony walk in which was odd in Tony’s case. “We just finished primary testing and last minute adjustments last night.”

“Thanks to me,” Tony boosted.

Fitz grimaced at the man’s outburst. “Of course, Mister Stark.”

“Enough with the Mister stuff.” Tony waved at the other nonchalantly. “Let’s get this show on the road! I want to see these puppies make something go boom!”

There was a polite cough disrupting them. Standing behind them was Hill with Simmons vibrating with excitement two steps behind her. “This is a little more than things going boom, Stark.” She walked forward till coming to a stop at the cart, a hand running along the new guns. “Not only are we testing the new model for the Night Night Gun, Rex will also be getting evaluated to be cleared for active duty.”

Tony spun towards the blond clone. “You’re not…but I thought you…wow! You two got one past me, impressive! I could have sworn you were already part of the team.”

Rex shrugged. “Probation with Alpha as my handler.” Like that explained everything.

“Not really fair with him being your twin.”

“We thought it best to have a familiar face with Rex transitioning from a war front to something a little lower key.” Hill explained before either of them could even speak.

“Right, Seals,” Tony

“Yes,” Rex

“We going to get going or just stand here all day.” Grey snapped. “I have other things I need to do besides supervise these shits.”

Alpha and Rex made quick eye contact before reaching down for a gun. Before anyone could even more, the two of them were at the range and unloading the clips into the targets. One hand on the trigger and the other on the butt of the handle. They each had three targets that were riddled with holes in only two locations, the head and chest.

Tony let out a whistle. “I can see why you two were stolen from your respective fields.”

Rex gave the billionaire a smug grin as he picked up the next weapon for testing. Only he grabbed the one assigned for Alpha, too. It felt right holding two pistols again instead of the lonely one. Alpha rolled his eyes at his brother as the captain took up his place. The targets had been replaced and soon enough there was nothing left of the six sheets of paper.

“That was a little unnecessary,” Hill scolded despite the grin tugging at her mouth.

“He just wanted to show off,” Alpha countered.

“So sue me,” Rex snapped as he threw the pistols back onto the table.

Alpha grabbed one of the Night Night Guns and tossed it to Rex before picking one up for himself. The thin sheets of paper were gone and in their stead were ten marble busts. Without even looking at each other they began firing. Their bullets passing over each other as they hit targets on the other’s side till nothing but rubble remained. Tony let out another whistle at the efficient damage the two of them had created.

Hill stepped forward. “Now time for the rest of Rex’s evaluation.”

~

He had his arms crossed over his chest as he rode the elevator up to Command One on the eighteenth floor of the SHIELD building. It was a leisurely ride, allowing him plenty time to reflect on what he wanted to report to his superior and other important members involved in his mission. The past year had been both interesting and a little hard, but he treated it as a deep undercover mission.

The elevator dinged as it came to a stop on the sixth floor. As the doors opened, a petite red head and a short blond man stood waiting at the doors. Both of them nodded at him as they entered the shaft.

“Kenobi,” the man said as he turned towards the panel of buttons. He simply nodded and the elevator started back up again. “Off to see Hill again?”

“Yes, apparently she needs to discuss the outcomes of some of my missions.” Kenobi grimaced as he spoke.

The blond man, Clint, shared his agony while the woman, Natasha, smirked at them. “She’s all bark and no bite,” she teased.

“You would know,” Clint shot back with a toothy grin. The red haired assassin glared at him as the elevator came to a stop at one of the two floors dedicated to the Avengers.

“Well, take it easy and don’t let the boss lady get to you,” Clint shouted at him as the two left the small space.

Kenobi smiled. “I’ll try not to.”

And with that it was quiet as he rode the elevator up to Agent Hill’s office. There were only a couple agents walking between the main office area and the few that were tucked away in the back. Hill’s was a couple turns and a few straight corridors down from the elevator, but to him it was still a short walk compared to some of the offices he was use to back home.

With a brief knock, he entered without waiting for an answer. Hill sat with her back to the window and head bent over a pile of papers. Not even bothering to acknowledge him, she briefly motioned to one of the chairs before her as she continued to read through the documents and signing, what he assumed, her life away. For three minutes it stayed like this. Him sitting there in front of Hill’s desk and her ignoring him for her work. Finally she put the pen down and looked at Kenobi.

“Ready for this?”

He nodded.

If he had been anyone else, Kenobi wouldn’t have noticed her hand slip under the desk and push the small button that was concealed in the framework. Instantly the room dimmed as metal blinds covered the windows. A loud klatch sounded as the door locked itself. They were sealed in. A blue light shined down from the ceiling, forming a cylinder in the center of the room. There was nothing within the hologram at first but a few fuzzy images slowly began to take shape. Soon a single face could be made out clearly before zooming out to show an entire body.

Hill spoke first as she acknowledged her former boss. “Fury.”

“Mace,” Kenobi added.

“Hill, Obi-wan,” he responded curtly.

“What is the news?” Kenobi questioned, coming closer to the hologram.

“So far there has been no sign of Palpatine, or should I say Darth Sidious…” his voice grim and face aged from worry. The sudden appearance of the eyepatch did not help his weather worn look of late. “As of right now we have combed through twelve systems and have plans for another eight, but we have only come across the ghost of his trail. It would seem that he is about three moves ahead of us.”

“We are simply chasing rumors now, Master.” Anakin came into view, looking as raged as Mace. “We are no closer to finding him than we were a half a year ago, or what would have been a year ago for you.”

“This makes me wonder where he could be hiding.”

“Would he make his way here?” Hill piped in, trying to make sense of some of the things they were saying.

“It is quite possible for him to make his way to Earth, what with Hydra in ruins,” Mace pondered. “He might try to gain support through them. He could try even the Kree or Chitauri. There are many out there that would eagerly join him in order to bring their enemies down if they were to aid him in destroying us along with.”

“Then we should go to the Andromeda Galaxy,” Anakin proclaimed. ”If he is not here then he must be somewhere.”

“But what if he does come to Earth?” Kenobi sought to bring the discussion back to focus. “What plans should I put into place if he does or even has made his way here?”

Even though he was blue, it was clear that Anakin’s face paled by ten shades. “Padme…”

Kenobi nodded. “That was one of the many things that had come to mind. We will need to trend carefully if we are to maintain that her true identity is secret.”

“I believe Stark has offered her a position as a research partner at the Tower,” Mace offered.

Anakin made a face at the idea. He had heard of the man quite a bit over the past few months and from what he had gathered was not inclined to meet him anytime soon. The idea of Padme staying with that drunk flirt scared him. He knew she could take care of herself, but still. He wasn’t keen with it. It was her choice in the end and he would stand with whatever she choose.

“Then it’s decided,” Kenobi announced. “I will consult with Padme tomorrow on her options but I have a feeling we all know what her decision will be.”

Hill couldn’t help but smirk. Despite being told to keep her head down and stay out of trouble, Padme had found a way to get herself into the thick of it with their own Norse God.

“I’ll start the paperwork for Kenobi’s transfer to the Tower. Tony won’t like him coming in after Coulson but they have been needing someone else in there to keep an eye on things.”

“Generals,” a voice popped in. Kenobi froze at the sound. “It’s time to roll out to the next location.”

“Copy that, Cody,” Anakin responded, stepping out of the hologram.

“We must go,” Mace continued. “I’ll try to make contact in a couple of days on our progress but I fear it will stay the same. I have a feeling that Palpatine has left the Galaxy for another. Till next time.”

Hill took a step forward. “Take care of yourself and see you soon.”

“May the force be with you two,” Kenobi countered.

“And with you, Kenobi.”

With that the transmission was cut leaving Hill and Kenobi standing in the dark. Neither really moved as they processed the information that had been thrown at them. Palpatine was still missing and possibly on Earth for all they knew.

Chapter Text

If Mace never had to deal with lovesick idiots ever again, he would be more than happy to trade in his eye patch and his lightsaber. Cody at least made an effort to only pine after Kenobi on his own time, but Skywalker tended to get snippy whenever he was thinking about Padme. It was bad enough Skywalker didn’t trust the clone and found every moment to remind the man of Order 66, but now he was trying to drag Mace into it.

“For the love of the Force, Skywalker, if I hear my name come out of your mouth one more time, I will put you on sanitation for a week. I don’t care we’re on a time sensitive mission, either,” Mace growled as he shoved between the two. Cody was tense, back rigid and hands white where they clasped his arms behind his back. Anakin’s scar was ticking and his lips were in a tight line.

“I was just reminding the good Commander here of the chain of command, Master,” Anakin shot Cody a glare, as though it was his fault he’d been caught. How Kenobi had dealt with him, Mace would never know.

“Then do I need to remind you, Knight Skywalker, that Marshall Commander Cody is technically of the same rank as you as well has more expertise in this area than you. At least he has been offering valuable opinions in our search for Palpatine as well as helping with the negotiations,” Mace paced to the other side of the holotable Cody and Anakin were standing by and braced his hands against the edge of it, looking hard at the younger Jedi. “Commander, you wanted to see us?”

“Yes, sir. I spoke to Commander Alpha and Captain Rex earlier today,” Cody shifted away from Anakin, his face blank as he hit a button in the holo table so that it showed not only their galaxy but the Milky Way and Andromeda galaxies as well. Through the three galaxies ran red lines, starting at Courasant and branching out. “As far as they’ve heard, Palpatine has not been sighted in the Milky Way. However, there has been some suspicious activity within an organization called Hydra. They’ve somehow gotten support from an unknown entity. They haven’t found a paper trail for the entity on Earth but Alpha fears that it might be a supporter of Palpatine. He’s monitoring the situation for now. Rex has made inroads in Shield, but he hasn’t found anything that might point to a leak at that level.”

“I fear that something is coming to Earth, something that Palpatine has nothing to do with,” Mace sighed. “Those humans are too curious for their own good. Hydra, however, we can keep an eye on from here. We’ll get some droids to do some overtime to do a deep retrieval on all of their files. All of them.”

Cody typed that into a datapad and handed it off to a nearby aide, “We also need to figure out a plan of action for Mulastare. The Dugs have been particularly vocal about the cruisers we have in orbit right now.”

“The Dugs have always been difficult in the past,” Anakin scoffed, crossing his arms. “I think its more than reasonable for a few cruisers to be in orbit if they are as loyal as they say they are.”

“They aren’t the only ones to complain. The Wookies have been tolerant about the small garrison we have stationed on Kashyyyk, but the Geononsians, Sullustans and the Corellians are heading a petition to get the army pulled back to the primary and secondary bases until they can find a reasonable way to disband the clones,” Mace frowned at that, his eyes tracing the lines. “Except they don’t want to grant the clones the rights as an acknowledged and respected race in the Republic and all of the human planets are split on accepting them or not.”

“Yes, well, we clones are grateful for the parties that are interested in keeping us from the incineration chambers on Kamino,” Cody grimaced, shoulders tense. “But until then we need to figure out how are we going to approach the talks on Mulastare.”

“Incineration chamber? That’s a new one. Is that right next to the sarlacc pit and just down the hall from the garbage compactor?” Anakin scoffed at Cody. Mace could see the vein in Cody’s forehead twitching and knew he was in for trouble. It was rumored that Cody had never once lost his cool in the now four years he has served as a marshal commander. Mace had a feeling he was about to witness something no mere mortal should ever see.

“I’m sorry, sir, but I feel there are more important things to discuss than my imminent termination right now. There is a planet waiting for us to come and secure a treaty with the Galactic Republic so that we can insure the stability of the economy for multiple systems,” Cody snapped, looking like he was restraining himself from strangling the younger man.

“Imminent termination? I didn’t know you’d been programmed for dramatics now. Must’ve got that from 3PO before you shipped out, huh?” Anakin laughed, a cruel and hollow sound even to Mace’s ears even as he was focused on the commander so as not to miss the man jerking back as if he had been slapped. Great, now the man wasn’t going to say anything without sounding like a robot for the rest of the day.

“Enough, Anakin! Unless you have something useful to say, I suggest you shut your trap and let the adults have some intelligent talk for once,” Mace slapped his hand into the holotable, drawing all the attention to him. Cody let out the breath he had been holding, visibly relaxing while Anakin at least looked a little guilty.

“Apologies, Master, I should not have risen to the bait,” Anakin folded his arms, focusing back on the map.

“There was no bait to raise for, boy,” Mace sighed before focusing on Cody. “Is there a suggested plan of action for today?”

“There was, sir, until new intel came in. That’s why I called for an earlier meeting,” Cody nodded, tapping a few buttons in the table so that the map zoomed in on the Andromeda system and one of the red lines turned blue. “That transmission you two caught the tail end of but couldn’t trace two planets back? We’ve been able to crack the encryption on that droid you brought back. It’s been sending information to dozens of dummy sites all over the three galaxies.”

“So are we now running after these dummy sites? Wasting even more time while Palpatine amasses a new army?” Anakin growled, glaring at the screen before him as though it was the cause of all the problems they were having.

“It wouldn’t do us any good. There’s enough waves being made in the Milky Way for us to never find a solid lead there,” Mace stroked his chin thoughtfully. “What about Andromeda?”

“That’s where it gets interesting. Did a deep retrieval of its memory banks and turns out that the droid has made a trip out to Andromeda with at least a cruiser full of its friends,” Cody pointed to the end of the blue line. “As far as we can tell, this is the course it took.”

“What does that mean though? So the droids are in the Andromeda system. Where does that leave us?” Anakin groaned. “We’re already stretched thin as it is.”

“We couldn’t move a ship into Andromeda in secret anyway,” Mace shook his head. “The Nova Core may be incompetent when it comes to taking action before its too late, but they won’t take kindly to us rushing in and making a mess of their space.”

“Do they even know that there are droids within their borders?” Cody glanced at Mace, thoughtful.

Mace’s frown deepened, “Possibly, but they won’t tell us. They don’t like us much. Yoda was the last one to step into their borders and they didn’t like him much. I know what you’re thinking, Commander, and the droids might have gotten away with it, but we won’t. Not if we want them to help us in the future.”

“What about a small taskforce? I’m sure through the right channels we could ok it,” Anakin countered, flexing the fingers on his bionic hand.

Cody snorted, “The right channels don’t mean aggressive negotiations. No, the Nova Core won’t even let a task force in. Are they still letting in the occasional merchant ship?”

“Yes, we do still have a trade agreement with them. I don’t see how that’s relevant,” Mace raised an eye at him.

“The merchants have been upping the mercs they’ve been taking with, due to the tensions in all three galaxies,” Cody snapped his fingers towards an aide and gestured quickly to him before the other clone took off. “We could get one, maybe two men in. They jump ship once they’re in port, happens all the time. They blend in and follow the trail.”

“We have no one to spare. We’re all so busy chasing shadows and keeping the peace to think about letting anyone with the necessary skills take off for even a month,” Anakin shook his head. “There’s no one left for us to send who we trust.”

“I’ll go,” Cody glanced at each Jedi quickly before focusing on the holotable. “I have the necessary skill set and if I get captured it won’t be any great loss.”

Mace jerked his head up, eyes hard, “That’s a lie, Commander, and you know it.”

“You can’t afford to lose anymore Jedi and the longer he’s near me, the better chance I have of losing my head,” Cody jerked his thumb at Anakin. “I’ll look into Thanos as well, see if he’s still got his plan for galactic ruin still moving forward. He might be a powerful ally to Palpatine if so.”

“I really hate saying this, but he’s right,” Anakin looked like it pained him to say it. “Commander Cody has proven in the past to be quite skilled at adapting to all sorts of situations and if half the rumors from the 501st are to be believed, he can give any decent smuggler and mercenary a run for their money.”

“I don’t like it. We’ll run it by the council first,” Mace pointed a finger at Cody. “They ok it and you can go. You check in at least once a week though.”

“We’ll have time to set up a code system, in case something comes up,” Cody nodded before focusing back on the holotable. “We still have Mulastare to think about.”

~

Cody had been in the Andromeda system a little less than two months and he’d been in the dark for about two weeks when he finally made head way on his lead. It didn’t help that this was the first time since having his chips out that he was completely alone. He hadn’t had time to dwell on the now silent part of his brain he was so used to being quite vocal. He hadn’t even noticed how much he had depended on the chips till they were gone and he had tried to go through a sim. Needless to say it hadn’t ended well but Rex hadn’t teased him about it because he knew exactly what was going on in his brother’s head. Or at least, understood a little. None of them had really talked about the chips afterwards, but Cody knew that the others had talked it out a bit with each other behind closed doors. Having one chip out wasn’t anything terrible from what he had over heard. Having to correct some judgments here or there wasn’t too difficult for them. Cody didn’t know of anyone else in the army who had two chips, sadly, so he wasn’t quite ready to explain to a head doctor why he spent most of his nights with music playing loudly while he cleaned his weapons.

Music was something entirely new to him. He’d heard a few pieces when he and Obi-wan had worked in the Jedi’s quarters. He still had his own copies of those songs that Obi-wan had given him when the Jedi had decided to celebrate the clone’s birthday. He listened to them often, finding it helped filled the void that the chip’s removal had left. Here, Andromeda, he discovered even more music. Colorful and bright or dark and somber, but still music. There were devices he could use to listen to the music while he was out searching for a trail that had gone cold before he’d even gotten past the system’s borders. He had a list taped to his ship’s main console of songs that he wanted to share with Obi-wan, songs that he thought the Jedi would enjoy.

So far he had successfully avoided the Nova Core while searching for any leads, which was pure luck on its own. They were everywhere, searching through ships and buildings looking for something that Cody feared might be related to Palpatine. Something had happened prior to him coming to Andromeda that had everyone on high alert. He had pieced together that some lunatic had tried to destroy a planet and failed because some assholes had managed to work together long enough to defeat him. Oh well, not his problem.

Of course, the real problem was his inability to actually contact anyone outside of Andromeda. He’d even tried Rex on Earth in a fit of desperation. Nothing, radio silence. He still sent what he could over their secure lines, but he never got anything back and so far Mace and Anakin hadn’t made their weekly check-ins. He’d thought about just abandoning the search and going back, but just as he was about to turn his shuttle around, he’d gotten a ping on his search parameters.

He knew he was being reckless, staying on his own with no way to call for help if something went wrong. Yet there was no way he could just drop this. He’d made it clear when he left he wasn’t coming back empty handed. It’d only been two weeks, anyways. He needn’t worry yet. It might just be something the Nova Core was doing. He could still contact people within Andromeda so he wasn’t too concerned yet.

The ping turned out to be an abandoned base on an asteroid that had a few disabled droids lying around. There was also evidence of weapons he recognized that the Nova Core used. So they were hunting the same prey. If he wasn’t worried he’d be locked up for being in the system illegally, he’d go to the Core right now. He made a stop at a nearby outpost, his ship blending in with the others of its kind in dock. He made sure she was secure and that the ship would be restocked and refueled by the time he returned before he headed deeper into the remains of an old mining town. He figured he could pick up some local gossip and see if anyone knew what went down on the asteroid.

The outpost was called Khana and it had once been one of the most profitable mines in the sector. It ran dry about a century back but because of its location to trade routes, it stayed in a somewhat decent condition. There were a few more seedy creatures hanging around than Cody liked, but he just made sure that they all had a clear view of the pistol on his hip. Guns in this galaxy were actually quite impressive although a little too flashy for his liking. Still, he would lead with the knife up his sleeve versus the pistol on his hip. Pistols were Rex’s thing, not his.

There was a commotion up ahead and a large, shirtless man stormed by, tattoos or scars swirling all over his exposed skin. Another man appeared out of the crowd, calling after him, “Drax! Come on, it was a joke!”

“I do not see how insulting my mother was a joke,” the shirtless man, Drax, yelled over his shoulder, not slowing his stomping in the slightest.

“I wasn’t insulting her! I was trying to introduce you to humor!” the other man threw up his hands as a woman appeared at his side.

“I still do not understand your need to add ‘yo mama’ to all your phrases and why it is funny,” the woman, skin very green, looked confused as the crowd continued to move around them. Cody slowed as he moved abreast with them, quickly scanning them over. The woman had a gun on her hip and possible a sword attached on the opposite side. Her outfit, skin-tight and looking to be some sort of synthetic leather, showed her muscling very clearly. She was a fighter, but Cody figured if he went for her male companion he could get both of them in under 30 seconds. The man in question had a messy mop of blonde hair and wore a red leather jacked over a loose shirt and synthetic pants. He had two pistols on his thighs and although he looked relaxed, Cody knew he could probably be a bigger problem than he appeared to be.

“It’s a Terran thing,” the man sighed, turning to the woman. Cody caught him watching him out of the corner of his eye as the clone stopped to scan one of the stands along the concourse. “We say stupid things because it’s funny and lightens the mood. You guys have been super serious lately.”

“Nova Core reached out to us for help, Peter. Its very serious,” the woman crossed her arms and Cody forced himself to keep moving down the concourse. As much as he wanted to hear the rest of that conversation, he knew better than to remain in one place for too long. He was right in thinking those two were trouble. If they were in contact with the Nova Core, they were definitely going to be on his watch list. Just from a distance.

“Yeah, I know its serious, but Nebula hasn’t been sighted in weeks,” Cody’s step faltered at the mentioning of the assassin’s name. She’d come up in some reports he’d managed to pull form the base’s hard drive, a new ally for Palpatine. He’d been picking up her name in the reports from the droids since he crossed into Andromeda. If they were hunting her too, they could be helpful. Or they were baiting him. Before he could think more into it, something ran into his leg.

“Something interesting, buddy?” Cody looked down to see a furry rodent looking up at him, holding a nasty looking weapon on his shoulder.

“Don’t know what you’re talking about,” Cody grunted back, lowering his hand to his pistol, keeping his face blank.

“Eavesdropping isn’t very nice, fleabag,” the rodent snapped and Cody tensed, really getting sick of the dog jokes.

“I’m not the one with the flea problem, rodent,” Cody snarled before brushing past the creature before running into a tree.

“I am Groot,” the tree actually spoke. If Cody wasn’t used to walking rugs and an army full of brothers who looked exactly like him, he would probably have freaked out. Instead he looked the tree up and down and smiled cruelly.

“It’s been a while since I played with fire,” he looked down at the rodent, knowing he’d played his cards right at the outrage on its face. He let his smile slip away as he became serious again, “Keep the tree on his leash or I’ll show you how much fun fetch is to play out an airlock, furball.”

“Whoa there, friends!” the man, Peter, appeared him and the rodent, crouching slightly to catch the gun the rodent was bringing to point at Cody. “No need to be hostile.”

“Keep your pets under control, Terran,” Cody focused on Peter, stepping closer to the man and forcing him to stand up, the rodent behind him. “Or you’ll have a bigger problem than hairballs in the drain.”

“There’s no need for this,” the woman appeared out of the crowd, glancing around. “We apologize for Rocket and Groot.”

“He was the one eavesdropping on you two,” the rodent, Rocket, jabbed a finger at Cody.

“You shouldn’t have been talking so loud out in the open,” Cody glanced between the woman and Peter before leaning in close to Peter, keeping their faces inches apart as he whispered harshly. “Nebula isn’t going to be your only problem here real quick so I suggest you tell Nova Core to back off before anymore of their people show up dead.”

“How do you know about that?” Peter drew back slightly, looking surprised.

“None of your business,” Cody took a step back, scanning the concourse. The crowd kept moving, but too many were watching them right now. They were too exposed, “I got my eyes on you and your pets. Stay away or I know where to get a decent price for all of your heads.”

With that he strode off, brushing against the tree as he went, quickly blending into the crowd and keeping his head down. He’d go spend a few hours at the bar the refueling chief had recommended before heading back to his ship. Maybe he could figure out where the group was bunked and see if he could get some info from their stuff before taking off.

He was two hours and three drinks in at the bar before the man, Peter, dropped down onto the stool beside him at the bar and waved the barman over, “You are one hard sucker to follow, my friend.”

“We aren’t friends and I didn’t want you to follow,” Cody kept his eyes on the news screen behind the barman. He’d gotten all the information he could from the man, knowing that the Nova Core hadn’t stopped by in months but that word was going around that a weird looking cruiser had been spotted near the base just last week. He was getting close now, hopefully not too close.

“Well, I didn’t really follow,” Peter pointed at the drink that Cody had before turning to the clone, too cheerful for the his liking. “Me and the others each decided to try to find you on our own. Rocket and Groot are down at the docks looking for your ship, Gamora and Drax are trying some of the more unsavory parts of town and I chose to bar hop. Only took five to find the right one.”

“Why are you following me?” Cody narrowed his eyes but didn’t take them off the screen.

“It seems we have a similar interest. Possibly could be beneficial for us to work together, maybe split the payout 25-75,” Peter shrugged casually.

“What I’m getting out of this is not what you think you’ll be getting out of this, kiddo,” Cody finally turned to face Peter. “And like I said earlier, you should back off. It’s going to get ugly real quick around here. No need for you or your crew to get hurt.”

“I think you underestimating our friend here, Scar. Mind if I call you Scar? You haven’t told me a name, so I’m going to call you Scar,” Peter took a swig from his drink as the barman dropped it by his hand.

“All I know is your name is Peter and you’re annoying so how about you back off and go back to chasing whatever treasure you were after before Nova called you to heel,” Cody dropped a some coin on the bar before standing and quickly striding out of the bar. He was a ways down the street before Peter caught up.

“You move fast, don’t ya?” Peter quickly fell into step beside Cody, who growled at the other man. Peter held up his hands, smiling harmlessly, “Easy there, big fella. Just wanted to have a nice conversation with you back there.”

“You aren’t getting that I’m trying to keep you away from danger, are you?” Cody glared at the younger man.

“Please, danger is my middle name. Peter Quill, aka Starlord, at your service,” Peter smiled brightly. “This is where you tell me your name!”

“The less you know about me, the less a chance you get me in trouble,” Cody snapped, turning quickly down a side street. Peter took a second but he corrected his course, following after the clone.

“Look, I don’t know who you are or why you’re looking for Nebula, but we can help each other,” Peter was proving to be more persistent than expected. Not something he had planned on.

“No, I don’t think you can. Nebula is a lot more dangerous than you think she is,” Cody finally stopped, turning to face the human.

“I know how dangerous she is. I’ve faced her before,” Peter scoffed, not looking impressed. Cody raised an eyebrow at that one.

“And you lived?”

“Well, I didn’t personally face her. Gamora did the fighting. Ya know, when we took down Ronan. Well, not just us. Nova Core helped us as well,” Peter shrugged. Cody just continued to star at him, having no clue who this Ronan was. Peter’s smile slowly fell, turning to confusion, “You really have no clue.”

“Am I suppose to?” Cody scoffed, crossing his arms.

“He nearly destroyed a planet with an infinity stone. How the hell don’t you know about that?” Peter looked almost angry at the fact that Cody didn’t know. “Literally everyone knows about that. Ronan, crazy blue dude hell bent on destroying the galaxy. Ravagers and Nova Core teaming up to protect Xander from him.”

“Is that suppose to mean something to me?” Cody sighed, looking un-amused. He had places to be and people to find.

“Yeah, it should. Who the hell are you?” Peter’s hands fell to his hips, looking suspicious now. “Cuz unless you aren’t from this galaxy, you should know.”

“Now you’re talking crazy,” Cody let his hand drop as well. “Where would I have come from if not from Andromeda?”

“The Milky Way. But last I checked, I’ve never seen someone from around there looking quite like you,” Peter took a slow step back. “So how about you tell me a little about yourself.”

“So you can call the Nova Core?” Cody snarled, but before he could answer, Peter was dodging to the side as a knife flew threw where he had been standing to imbed itself in the wall. Cody spun around, pistol up and pointed at the woman balanced on the roof of a nearby building.

“He said someone might be looking for me, but I didn’t think they’d send the hounds out to do the dirty work,” Nebula, looking exactly like she did in her pictures, kept her gun pointed at Cody. “Which one are you, cloney?”

“Not the fun one,” Cody snarked, pulling the trigger quickly and dodging as she returned fire. He ducked behind a crate and pulled out one of his knives, throwing it at the woman. Nebula dodged it and landed in the alley, running towards him. Before Cody could react, a shot was going back and Nebula was stumbling back. Cody glanced back at Peter, who’s gun was smoking.

“What’d you do to piss her off?” Peter kept his eyes on Nebula as the woman straightened, her inner wires sparking from the hole in her shoulder.

“Might have stolen something that belonged to her,” Cody shrugged casually, turning back to Nebula. “She might want it back.”

“I could care less about the data you’ve obtained, but my Master isn’t very happy about it,” Nebula snarled. “I didn’t realize you were making friends here. Thought your mission was to stay low.”

“Boy wonder doesn’t know the meaning of no,” Cody brought his pistol up. “And we’re not friends.”

“More like acquaintances. Like the guys you have a relationship with because you made eye contact in the clothing store while your girl tries on 30 dresses,” Peter added from behind him.

“You’d be smart to but that thing down before it can turn on you, Quill. They can’t be trusted,” Nebula smiled evilly before rushing forward again. She dodged Peter’s shot, but Cody was right there to slam his fist into her stomach, pistol hastily holstered as he had run forward. It had a little give, so not all of her was a robot at least. She grunted and swung her foot around, but Cody dodge, swiping her other foot out from under her. She dodged his other foot slamming down towards her and rolled to her feet, knife in hand. Cody let his drop out of his sleeve, twirling it in his fingers before gripping it with a confidence born from holding weapons his whole life.

“You’re tougher than I thought you would be,” Nebula hissed at him.

“Your source doesn’t seem very reliable,” Cody lunged forward, slashing at her waist. Nebula dodged to the side and struck out with her blade. Cody caught her wrist on his and twisted his arm to grip her’s, squeezing tight.

“That suppose to hurt, clone?” Nebula laughed as she swung her other hand at him. He twisted around and behind her, bringing her wrist with him.

“Can robots feel pain?” Cody snarled at her before squeezing hard, feeling the metal give under his grip. She snarled in pain, bringing her foot around his ankle and jerking forward, flipping them over. Cody rolled away and came up in a crouch to see Nebula crouched as well, holding her mangled wrist close to her chest, eyes wide.

“You’re just a clone!” She hissed in horror.

“Better check with your Master about that one,” Cody smiled coldly. Nebula’s eyes got wider before she actually turned tail and ran. Cody stood up, actually confused. They normally didn’t do that.

“Holy shit,” Peter’s startled voice from behind him reminded Cody that he wasn’t alone. He turned around, knife still in hand but held at his side. Peter had his pistols at his side, face slack in surprise, “She ran away.”

“Yeah, that’s a new one for me, too,” Cody shrugged casually.

“Who the are you, seriously? Cuz this just got really interesting,” Peter holstered his pistols, taking a step forward. “She kept calling you a clone. There’s a story there.”

“Not one I really want to tell, to be perfectly honest,” Cody slipped his knife back into his sleeve, feeling exposed again.

“How about we got back to my ship and we swap stories. See who is crazier, because I have a feeling you might have me beat,” Peter offered a cautious hand. “Promise I won’t turn you in.”

Cody looked down at the hand and sighed before taking it, “It won’t be much from me.”

“Keep your secrets,” Peter shrugged. “A little mystery always interests the occasional lay.”

“I don’t see how secrets are interesting to being able to lay down,” Cody kept his face straight and Peter looked horrified for a second before he caught the smile in the clone’s eyes.

“Oh, you will be fun,” Peter smiled brightly before turning back towards the main concourse.

~

“Mace,” Mace looked up at the sound of his name. Anakin strode towards him across the bridge, looking grim.

“Did you find something?” Mace straightened, thinking of the call he was putting off making to Earth. It had been a little over a month and he was do to check in with Hill. He didn’t want to have to let her know that there was a hitch on their end. He especially didn’t want it getting back to Obi-wan that Cody was missing on a mission to track down Palpatine. If the man was still alive, that didn’t mean a lot of good for them.

They’d been getting data packages from Cody for the first two month, but he hadn’t called in for about the last two weeks of that time. Then, he had gone completely silent after reporting a major lead on an assassin named Nebula. He’d tracked her to an outpost and nothing since. Anakin had agreed, a week ago, to go check the comm buoy they’d set up before Cody had crossed the border to see if maybe something was wrong on their end.

Anakin leaned against the console Mace was sitting at, looking exhausted, “Its been tampered with. Looks like two separate times. Both with time charges. I brought the buoy back for the techs to go over.”

“What did you find?” Mace leaned back in his chair, afraid of what he was going to hear.

“The charges had been there for some time,” Anakin looked saddened by this. “I know I said a lot of things about him but…”

“I was hoping it wouldn’t come to this either,” Mace ran a hand over his eyes. “We still don’t know the whole story. It might not have been him. It just proves that we have a leak in our system.”

“Master, I know you want to think the best of the Commander, but we have to examine all of our options,” Anakin glanced at Mace. “I don’t want to see Obi-wan hurt again, I really don’t, but Cody might be compromised.”

“Compromised?” Mace raised an eyebrow. Now, that was something. He was expecting him to say Cody had betrayed them.

“I have let my feelings cloud my judgment towards the Commander,” Anakin looked like it hurt him to say that. “He has been trying very hard to atone for what happened with 66. As much as I want to hate them, the clones aren’t evil and never were. For Cody to betray us and to betray Obi-wan again, he would either have to be a better actor than he appears to be or he’s been compromised. If he hasn’t betrayed us and someone else has, then he might still be compromised.”

Mace nodded, knowing where Anakin’s thoughts were going, “If Palpatine’s forces have him, Cody may already be lost to us. I’ve been putting off a check-in with Earth. I fear that if we tell them what’s happened, Obi-wan may demand a search and rescue.”

“We can’t, though,” Anakin rubbed his face with his hands. “Even if we got permission to send a team in to search for Cody after we admit to placing an agent without letting the Nova Core know, we wouldn’t know where to start looking. They could have taken him anywhere by now.”

“Which is why we won’t be. We’ll have to hope that Cody can get out of where ever he is or they send him to us,” Mace stood, moving to the holotable. “I’ve sent for Wolffe. He’s been briefed on our mission, so he’ll be stepping up to help us. We’re running out of time and I fear we have less than we thought we had.”

“How long have you had that planned?” Anakin followed him, moving to stand at his side.

“Since you left. I’ve been filling him in all week. I just sent him a message, so he should be on his way to prep the shuttle,” Mace tapped a command into the holotable. “We’re going to make a push for Earth. Hopefully we’ll get there before something happens.”

“And how long have you had that part planned?” Anakin crossed his arms, looking a little amused.

“Since we started this search mission,” Mace tapped one last command out before turning to Anakin. “Hill will be waiting for us when we get there. I’ll fill you and Wolffe in more on the way there. Normally we’d give you some time to acclimate to Earth, but we’re going to have to skip over that. Obi-wan and I figured early on that the battle would come to Earth. We’ve pushed Palpatine out of our galaxy and Andromeda hasn’t been that much of a problem for him. The Milky Way has been resistant to us and him over the years. I would be worried about bringing our fight to them, but they were making waves well before we got involved.”

“What are you thinking here, Mace? What are we looking at?” Anakin tilted his head to the door and Mace nodded. The two turned together and head out into the hall.

“We’re looking at an untapped resource. The Milky Way happens to have an unlimited source of untapped Force users. They have enhanced and mutated humans as well as aliens. What we’re risking is jumping them well ahead of what they’re ready for. We need to plan this carefully or we risk losing allies before we’ve even gotten them.”

“When are you going to tell them about Cody?” Anakin stopped in front of the elevator, hitting the button to take them down to the hanger.

“As soon as we get there, we’ll tell everyone. I’ve already contacted Hill and Alpha about this. They’re running facial recognition for him, but it’s hard. It keeps pinging Alpha and Rex,” Mace sighed. “As long as nothing happens between now and when we get there, everything should be fine.”

“So we’re pretty much screwed,” Anakin stepped into the elevator as soon as the door opened.

“We’re putting a lot of faith in a group of people who don’t get alone on a good day,” Mace closed his eyes. “We may very well be screwed.

Chapter Text

It was always unnerving for him whenever he was called into the SHIELD headquarters, even if it was Hill’s office here in New York, especially with what happened last year in Washington DC. They were still trying to sort out all the bugs that had crawled their way into the woodwork. In front of him Agent 13 was leading him through the maze of hallways that took them to their superior’s personal control room. When he had first meet the young woman, moving into that apartment in the Capital near SHIELD, he had been drawn to her. Now that he really looked at her, studying her face, he could see the similarities between the two of them. Her and her aunt, his beloved Peggy Carter. How he missed her laugh and youthfulness. Even on her dying bed she still teased him relentlessly and poking into his business.

“She’ll see you now,” Shannon declared, breaking Steve out of his thoughts.

They had reached Hill’s rooms and she had announced their arrival. The door was open and Hill stood in front of her desk waiting for him. A slight smirk lining her face, she probably had somewhat of an idea on what he was reminiscing about.

Without a word Shannon left them.

Steve closed the door as he entered. “What’s with the sudden call?”

The smile dropped from her face, serious matter then. “I’ve heard about Sam’s and yours little side adventures, mainly Sam’s.” He tried to speak up, but Hill held her hand up. He could talk after she was done and only then. “You’ve had him do some digging around, playing detective while you have been saving the world. Force the world and government’s attention on you so Sam can sneak around unnoticed. Clever really, unfortunately not clever enough seeing as SHIELD picked up on it.”

“Maria…”

“Don’t done,” she snapped as she went back behind her desk to take a seat. “Lucky for you the right people found out and brought it straight to me to sort out instead of taking it to the Board.”

Steve felt the life drain out of him. The one thing he had tried to prevent was coming true. People found out about Bucky and now his best friend’s life was at risk. He was defenseless and at her mercy. There was nothing he could do but run, again.

“What are you going to do to him?”

“I’m going to help you Steve,” she words and face genuinely concerned for him.

“How?”

There was a double knock at the door and without pause it opened. One of the twins, Rex he believed the man was called, appeared in the doorway. “I’ve brought him like you requested.” Opening the door wider, he showed that Agent Ben Kenobi was also with him.

“Thank you Rex, if you’ll wait outside for now.” With a nod, the man did as Hill requested, leaving the three of them alone. Steve just looked at Hill like he had grown a third head. “I had him come in from the Tower to quickly talk with you. He may be of some assistance with our current problem.”

“It was originally one of my men that caught onto what Mister Wilson was up to and brought it to my attention. I then gathered my own information and brought that to Hill for her own analysis. We agreed it best not to bring this to the Board.”

“I’m sorry but how can you help us?”

“I have a way to make sure this does not make its way back to Stark. And that’s who you want to keep in the dark the most, correct? Put your faith in me and my men and I can promise you that no harm will come your Bucky.”

Steve found himself turning towards Hill. He had known her for a few years now, she was still Fury’s most trusted Agent and had both Clint and Natasha’s seal of approval. There was a reason she had become the head of SHIELD with Fury stepping down and not Coulson. “What would you do?”

“Trust Kenobi and Rex with everything, they have the skills and means to keep Sergeant Barnes safe from both Hydra and anyone else that would exploit him.”

Turning towards Kenobi, he heaved a heavy sigh. “Then I trust you too.”

~

This was getting ridiculous. The late nights and never knowing when or if either of them were coming home. She was hoping coming to Earth would change that, but it didn’t. It just added a whole new level of stress to her life that she didn’t need after what she had already gone through.

So here she was stalking through the street of downtown Manhattan in the middle of the night. Rex at least called to let her know that he would be late due to work at SHIELD. That left Peter out and about doing who knows what. Originally Ahsoka was just going to leave him to his own devices, let Peter do what he wanted and let him bare the consequences. If only not for Aunt May she wouldn’t even be on the streets. It was through the older woman’s persistence that she keep an eye on her nephew, not allow him to lose himself in his work whether it be on the streets or in the lab.

That was why Ahsoka found herself heading towards the only place she knew Peter would be at two o’clock in the morning, especially seeing as he wasn’t picking up his phone. She had come to realize that even when he was swinging from skyscraper to skyscraper he still answered thanks to the Bluetooth he received from Gwen last year before the girl’s death. There was only one place that he forgot about the outside world and his responsibilities as the neighborhood friendly Spiderman, Stark Tower. Or more commonly known as Avengers Tower these days.

Ahsoka found herself coming to a stop and looking up at the sky. How she missed seeing the stars. Even with the bright lights of Coruscant she could always see the stars and other planets from the Temple gardens and balconies. If she could Ahsoka would just lay through and trying to catch glimpses of a twinkle, some thousand lightyears away. She couldn’t help but wonder if this was the same sort of sky Gwen saw or if perhaps, she caught that faint glimmer in the heavens. It was a depressing thought and Ahsoka was ashamed of herself for it.

She knows that’s the reasoning behind Peter moving out of his aunt’s house right before school started and why he jumped at the chance of moving in with Rex and her no questions asked. It was too close to the year beginning and with no rooms on campus available, he needed something close by and in the central hub of New York for his nightly actives. Both Aunt May and he had suffered a deep blow with Gwen’s death. His aunt was considering moving further out of the city herself because of all that had happened and was happening.

With a sigh, Ahsoka made her way down the street till she came to a small food stand she frequented weekly due to these nightly ventures of hers. The man that ran the stand was readying her usually order as she walked up.

“Fetching Peter from the work again,” the man questioned in a thick Eastern European accent that matched his demeanor, gruff and aloof. His head was shiny and darker in the neon lights of New York City, he kept his head smooth verses Rex’s buzz.

She smirked. “What else would I be doing out here Sergei?” Looking at the man, she saw that his white apron was still white despite probably having made hundreds of sandwiches. Ahsoka wasn’t sure how he managed to stay so pristine.

“Coming to visit me, my little lady?” One of his hands going up to scratch at the tidy beard the man had going on. While Rex was getting a bit shaggier the more time pasted, he still had nothing on Sergei in the beard department. The European’s as bristling and very full yet tidy. According to the European man, he trimmed it once a week to maintain the look he was going for, whatever it was.

“You know I’m spoken for,” she said with a sigh which ‘caused Sergei to raise his arms in defeat and thus allowed Ahsoka to catch a glimpse at the tattoos that peeked out from his sleeves. No matter the season, he always had on a button up flannel, with it rolled up to his elbows.

“Alas, you continue to break my heart my exotic flower,” he sapped at her. Thick braids of ebony flounced about her face as she laughed. Ahsoka rummaged through her pockets for money while he continued to throw cheesy lines her direction and wrap up her sandwich. “No, no! I stopped excepting your money months ago. It’s on the house and tell Rexy I say hello.”

“Sergei, you have to stop that,” she complained with a grin.

He simply grinned back at her. “Fine, next time come with the boyfriend and he can pay!”

Ashoka gave up. She grabbed her food and gave him a two finger salute as she backed way. Shoving the tightly wrapped Ruben with peppers and onions into her coat pocket. It as a gross sandwich in her opinion but it was Peter’s favorite. The young superhero probably hadn’t eaten anything since breakfast when Rex had cooked them eggs and sausage before heading to work himself. They had been on their way to lunch like usual between classes but a single call from Tony had Peter running towards the Tower the rest of the world forgotten.

Without breaking stride, she pushed through the revolving doors of Avenger’s HQ and walked past security without so much as a wave or hello. That said something to how much she was here dragging Peter’s ass back home to sleep. Many of the employees and other residents swore that they were dating, Peter and her. The idea honestly grossed her out. It would be like dating Anakin or even Cody in her books, they were her bother. She shuddered at the thought.

Stark’s newest AI greeted her as soon as she entered the elevator. The smoky, female Irish accent different from the smooth, male British one she had gone use too. The AI informed Ahsoka that Peter was in the lab with Tony. The ride was quick. It was the closest thing to the elevators on Coruscant she had found yet. Even Kenobi agreed with her on that.

The moment she stepped off the elevator Ahsoka knew something had happened. Usually the place was an organized chaos, stacks of papers piled onto of counters and tucked into corners. Only now everything thrown about the room.

“What in the Sith?” she cried out as she stepped fully into the room. Her eyes were wide at the mess before her. “Peter, what is happening in here?” Tip toeing carefully through papers and other bits and pieces of equipment laying around on the floor, Ahsoka made her way towards the back of the room.

“Peter?” she called out again.

Something went ‘squish’ under her foot. She was scared to look at what she had just stepped in. Whatever it was detached itself from the floor with a slow, antagonizing ‘pop’. “Gross…” Gum most likely from the pale pink color and rubber like shine. Ahsoka found herself leaning up against the table, on one foot looking for a scrap piece of anything to remove it with when something black and fuzzy caught her line of sight.

“Tony?” she said but there was no response. With a grimace the young Togruta cast a glance around the table for something to hit the man with. She had half a mind to stick the gum in his hair. He deserved, probably. Peter didn’t chew gum. That much Ahsoka knew.

Wadding up some of the papers within reach, she took carefully aim before lobbing them at the scientist’s head. All that accomplished was him rolling over with a groan. In one last ditch attempt, she chucked her last ball as hard as she could. He jolted awake, looking about wildly.

“I’m not late for the meeting, I swear,” he pleaded.

“Don’t care about your meetings,” she muttered. “I just came for Peter. Where is he?”

Brown eyes narrowed before going wide as Tony realized where he was and who she was. “Ahsoka, my exotic flower, what are you doing here?”

Hands on her hips, she gave him what had been dubbed the Pepper glare. She really regretted telling Peter about Sergei and the older man’s harmless flirting. “I’m here for Peter.”

Never let it be said that Tony Stark could lie. Truth be told, the billionaire was horrible at it. Those bushy brows of his always gave him away. It was just that many people didn’t know that about him, only those that actually knew him could tell when he was or on the verge of fibbing.

“I know he’s here,” she quickly countered before Tony could say anything. “He isn’t answering his cell, so he has to be here with you!”

Pushing himself to his feet, he beckoning her to follow him till they came to another door.

Before opening it, Tony turned towards her. “Don’t touch anything, okay?”

She nodded. “Got it! Just give me back Peter.”

He looked at her one more time carefully. “Are you sure you two aren’t dating?”

Ahsoka mustered up another Pepper Pott’s glare for the man. “I have a boyfriend that I love very much and his name isn’t Peter!”

“Whatever.” And with that, Tony walked into the second room. “Peter, your mother is here to pick you up from our playdate.”

Glasses sitting askew on his face and hair even more disheveled than usual, Ahsoka just stared at the haphazard state of his clothes. Panic seeped into his face as Peter realized why she was there. A quick look at the clock on the wall confirmed the time. That it was well past midnight.

“I swear,” he pleaded. “I was going to come back on time tonight, it’s just that…”

“We had a break through,” Tony stepped in.

“…On?” she left herself hanging, hoping one of them would pick it up.

Peter did and he rushed towards an item on the desk before him, lifting it up for her to see. It glowed a bright, pale blue, very much like the one seeping through Tony’s t-shirt. An arc reactor.

“I don’t understand.” Ahsoka walked closer to look at the tiny device before turning back at Tony. “You have one, why make another?”

“This one isn’t for me,” he answered honestly. “But its top secret, so shh.”

War Machine then, she concluded. Without really thinking, Ahsoka raised her hand towards the glowing beacon. It was a bad idea, especially after Tony’s warning of not touching anything. But Peter held it out towards her, offering it up. She hesitated though.

“It’s just warm,” Peter reassured.

She smiled as her fingers came within millimeters of it. But that was as far as she got. Something akin to lightening leapt off the device and ran up her arm. The pain was immense as Ahsoka felt her entire body seized as the electricity coursed through her small frame. She could just faintly hear something beeping at her. Something that shouldn’t be beeping. Without a choice the world went black on Ahsoka as she collapsed to the ground.

Tony and Peter didn’t move. The two of them stared at the ground with Ahsoka had fallen, her body still jerking at the current. Neither of them moved for a good couple minutes as they looked down at the girl. Finally Tony broke the silence.

“F.R.I.D.A.Y. erase the last ten minutes of surveillance video,” he ordered, the AI calmly inquiring if there was anything else for her to do after the task was completed. There wasn’t.

Peter jerked his head up at him. “What are you doing?”

“I don’t know…” He kept thinking back at Ahsoka’s stiff form, her appearance flickering in and out between what Tony had thought the young woman looked like and the red skinned creature that lay at his feet. “I don’t know…” He didn’t want to deal with this anymore, all the aliens popping out of nowhere.

Thor was one thing, at least he looked normal at first. It was only when the God opened his mouth that people learned otherwise.

But this, she had gained his trust and the others at the tower too with her coming and going with Peter. For chirst sake Peter lived with her.

Tony turned on the young man. “Did you know?” he screamed. “Did you know about this?” He didn’t know why he was screaming, but he couldn’t help it.

Peter just shook his head, shell shocked by Tony’s switch of emotions.

Functioning on autopilot, Tony grabbed, what he assumed was still a girl, and dragged Ahsoka towards a different door than the one they had just entered from. It opened with a swoosh before he reached it. He pulled her inside and exited, hitting a few keys before turning back to Peter.

“You just locked her up…” the young man stammered. “You just locked up my roommate.”

“I don’t think she’s your roommate anymore Peter.”

“Fuck,” Peter cried out at the realization. “Rex…”

~

The meeting was just wrapping up. Hill had pulled Rex in so he could help with the process of setting up Captain America’s friend in a secure location away from SHIELD, Hydra and Tony Stark. Kenobi was talking a little bit more about the place that they would be taking the man called ‘Bucky’ and was in the middle of coming up with a place for the transfer when the clone’s comm. went off.

It was high pitch shrill meant to get Rex’s attention no matter the situation. Only this was the first time it had ever gone off in their year of living on Earth. It could only mean one thing.

His usually tanned complex went white. Looking up, he saw that both Hill and Kenobi had also gone paler too. With no regard to Steve, Rex opened the hologram map of New York to track the location. He heard the Captain’s small intake of breath at the display but the man said nothing.

Avenger Tower.

Figures.

“Sorry,” Rex said as he rushed out the door.

“Hill, confirm the location of the drop for us and I’ll let you know how bad the situation is as soon as I get there,” Kenobi spewed out before taking after Rex. He could hear Steve Rogers questioning Hill about it as he ran down the hall. “Hold the elevator!”

He just managed to squeeze in before the doors shut. “I said hold.”

“I don’t have time to wait,” Rex snapped.

“You need to calm yourself,” Kenobi tried to reason. “I’m sure she’s fine. We have gone over every situation with her and what do if the cloaking bracelet should fail.”

“Something just doesn’t feel right.” He whipped out his cellphone and tried Ahsoka’s number. “No answer,” he muttered darkly before trying again. It went to voicemail again.

Kenobi slipped out his own cellular device to call the one person in the Tower they could trust. “Hello, Padme. Sorry about the rude awakening so late in the evening but we have a situation on our hands…”

~

Like the queen and politician she had once been, Padme Amidala now more commonly known as Jane Foster on Earth, marched into Tony’s lab without so much as a warning and her head held high. All around her F.R.I.D.A.Y. was informing her she wasn’t allowed to enter. She ignored the A.I. calmly giving it a series of numbers given to her by Mace to override the system. She entered the lab, glaring at the two men that stood in the center of the room.

“Jane,” Tony cried out. “What are you doing here?”

She wasn’t playing this game, not tonight. “Where is she Tony?” Her voice perfectly composed, the opposite of what she usually acted like around him. Both men startled back, unsure of how to react to this new ‘Jane’.

“Who?” His brows twitched, giving him away. “There is no one here but Peter and myself, unless you’re talking about F.R.I.D.A.Y.? She’s everywhere then!” His voice was getting higher with each passing second as Padme’s glare deepened. This wasn’t the bumbling Jane he met and had opened to his home too. This wasn’t the overly enthusiastic astrophysicists that geeked out over every new discovery.

That was it. She was putting her foot down. “I demand to know where Ahsoka is now, Tony!” she screamed. Peter broke first and pointed at the door opposite her. “Thank you.” Her voice a whisper as she crossed the room with a grace she didn’t have before.

Again she used the same codes as before to gain access to the small room.

“How,” Tony blabbed as the door opened, only to stop talking when she held her hand up to him.

The sight before her broke Padme, her dear friend was laying in the dark and shaking uncontrollable. Ahsoka’s full features were twisted in pain even though the poor girl was unconscious. Her fingers twitched as she neared the young Togruta, her knees giving out as she came to her young friend’s side.

A small shuffle from behind broke Padme out of her thoughts. Turning she saw Peter hovering at the door.

“That is Ahsoka, right?” Peter’s voice was small.

Padme nodded as she reached down to wipe her hand across the teeth still embedded along the line of her montrals. Her attention focusing solely on Ahsoka.

“I need to get her out of here.”

Without a second though, Peter quickly entered in behind her and gathered his roommate into his arms. Standing, he waited for Padme’s next command.

“Let’s take her to the sitting area.”

Just as they were leaving Tony finally regained control over his brain. “Wait a minute! What in the hell is going on here?” he demanded as he chased after them. “She’s an alien, right? And how did you even get in, let alone unlock that room? How did you know she was even here in the first place? I demand some answers!”

She spun on him, stopping the billionaire just before he cashed into her. Hand raised, she tried to will herself to punch him with everything she had, but she just couldn’t bring herself to do it. Fingers cracking with tension at her side, Padme took a couple slow breaths. Peter had left with Ahsoka like she’d hoped. All that was left to do was deal with Tony and try to keep the idiotic genius alive once the others arrived.

“Yes,” she answered calmly, her eyes never leaving his. “Ahsoka’s an alien, a Togruta to be precise. They are a race of war loving carnivores that start training at a young ago. Plus her military boyfriend is on his way here as we speak. And while she doesn’t need his help to possibly kick your butt, he is someone that can make mincemeat out of your precious suit.”

Padme was raging by the time she was done with Tony. She left him there speechless as she went to catch up on Ahsoka’s condition. Peter had her resting on one of the couches and wrapped in a blanket by the time Padme got there. Immediately she went to her knees, hands stroking the orange and white skin. The Togruta’s slight frame still shook, the spasms had lessen considerable since Padme had found her. Only there was no sign of her waking any time soon. Peter took a seat nearby, waiting and watching.

There was a commotion coming for the hallway, causing Padme to turn her head in that direction. F.R.I.D.A.Y. was blaring the alarm and a chorus of voices yelling. Peter stood up, putting himself between them and whoever was coming in. Padme placed herself right behind him, hand resting on his shoulder.

“Where is she?” an accent voice screamed over the ruckus. It was a voice the Padme knew well.

Peter made a grab for her, as she pushed past him, going towards the doors. She got halfway there before the doors burst open to reveal Rex in all of his angry glory. A couple of the standard SHIELD agents that Hill had stationed on the lower floors came running in after him. Ever the definition of calm, Kenobi waltzed in after the others. The Jedi Master made no move the help Rex with their fellow SHIELD agents and went straight for Padme.

“What happened here?”

Padme heaved a sigh. If this would’ve been a couple years ago, she would’ve had no problem using her words. But with the lack of political prowess needed on Earth in her day to day life had dulled her usually sharp tongue.

After staring at Kenobi for a couple more seconds, Padme forced herself to concentrate and talk. “I’m don’t know all the details but the basics are that Ahsoka got shocked & Tony freaked out.” Padme closed her eyes as she thought back to the billionaire. “The situation has gone from bad to extremely bad, I’m afraid.”

Before Kenobi could speak, Rex stormed over to them. “What did he do to her?” he demanded.

“The shock was completely accidently,” Peter shouted, pushing himself into the conversation. “He freaked out afterwards and with what’s happened here on Earth, especially with what’s happened to him specifically.”

“Don’t care…a lot more shit has happened to me too but you don’t see me losing my mind over it,” Rex sneered.

Kenobi placed a calming hand on the clone’s shoulder. “Tony wasn’t trained for warfare like you and I were. He has had a cushioned life for the most part till just recently. His acts were harsh but just.”

Rex continued to seethe but dropped the subject, instead he went to Ahsoka’s side, picking the small Togruta and cradling her close to his chest.

Padme was the first to speak up. “What now, Master Kenobi?”

“Nothing at the moment,” he responded. “For now we wait.”

~

Anakin looked around in amazement as he stepped out of the small shuttle that had brought them down to Earth from the base. The landscape reminded him of Naboo in a sense, metal and plants mixed together in a way that wove them into perfect cohesion. It was a unique trait that Anakin rarely saw in his galaxy as very few planets could support this sort balance.

“It might be small,” Mace started. “But this planet really is impressive, isn’t it?” The Jedi Knight nodded as he took a deep breath. “If they keep up with what they have been doing in recent years with the green energy movement they will be on par with planets such as Alderaan and Naboo.”

There was a sudden cough behind them causing Anakin to whirl around, his hand going straight for his saber. His shoulders visibly eased up at the sight of Mace’s second.

“Didn’t think we’d see you till later tonight,” Mace commented as he took a couple steps towards Alpha.

“Unfortunately we do not have that luxury at the moment.” His voice and stance grim as he stepped closer. “We have a situation, Sir. Stark has found out.”

“How.” Mace’s single eye narrowing at this eye.

“Ahsoka was shocked when she walked in on an experiment,” the clone explained. “He doesn’t know much, but he’s on eggshells and has called in the rest of his team. And Master Kenobi can only do so much to keep the tension at bay with Rex out for blood.”

Wolffe banged around behind them as he finally pulled himself out of the cockpit, arms full of heavy duty containers and loaded up the transport that was waiting for them.

“Where too now?” the trooper questioned as he came up to the Jedi, having missed the conversation. He looked between the two Jedi and his brother, waiting for one to answer.

Mace started for the car, climbing into the passenger side. Anakin and Wolffe followed, getting into the back. Alpha took his place behind the wheel and soon enough they were on their way.

“I know this is sudden,” Mace said as he turned around to two in the back. “Usually you two would have more time to acclimate to this world, learn of its cultures and norms. But with the way things are going it might be better to just throw you into the mix and see where the pieces fall. Might even be fun to watch the outcome.”

“Don’t worry about us, Master, I’m sure Wolffe and I will be fine.”

~

“How are you feeling?” Padme inquired as soon as Ahsoka walked into the room.

The young Jedi was back to her disguise of a tanned skin and coarse, black haired human. It felt weird after being out of it for almost a week. To her, it was like putting on an itchy wool sweater even though she couldn’t actually feel a difference. Though she had grown use to it over the past year, it unnerved her that she had become so use to its image that every time she saw true self in the mirror it was like looking at a stranger. But while she had waited for Peter to fix her bracelet, she had welcomed the reflection of her natural form like an old friend and the lack of it now broke her a little.

“It’s been a week, Padme,” she smiled. “I’m doing fine. Just trying to get use to this skin again.”

A grunt sounded behind her. “I prefer the real you, people be damned,” Rex muttered, coming up to wrap himself around her. “This one isn’t you, doesn’t even smell like you.”

Ahsoka couldn’t help the smile that crossed her features. “Oh yeah, what did I smell like before?”

“Metal, electricity and rain.”

Someone coughed behind them. “I hate interrupt but the other Avengers are arriving.” Kenobi walked past and took a seat to the right of Padme.

She looked over to at the Jedi Master. “Does that mean?”

“Yes, Thor will be here too.”

“I finally get to meet the man that declared you his lady love?” Ahsoka exclaimed, wiggling with excitement in Rex’s arms.

The clone let the young Togruta free to run over to her friend. Immediately the two of them began to gossip, causing the men to roll their eyes. At least her mind was off the events of the previous week.

“Why the sudden bombardment of superheroes?” Rex sat across from the others. Allowing him to watch the hallways while Kenobi covered the elevator.

“Tony called them.”

“Did he tell them what happened?”

“I wouldn’t put it past him, but I’m not positive.”

Kenobi looked up as the elevator dinged, Natasha walked through the doors with her usual practiced ease. Clint followed close behind. Both of them stopped short at the sight of the extra bodies in the living room. The confusion on their faces clear.

“Rex,” Clint called out, breaking first. “Didn’t realize you had excess for this place.”

“Don’t,” the man chimed.

Natasha strode forward. “Then why are you here?”

“It’s complicated and above your clearance,” he smirked.

The female assassin’s eyes narrowed, as if trying to burrow daggers into his skull. “There is nothing above my clearance.”

“Apparently that’s not true…”

“Children, please,” Kenobi butted in before Widow could respond and the blood bath started. There was something about the Jedi Master that commanded everyone to listen to him, despite their rank or position. It was probably why he had come to be known as the Negotiator.

Clint smirked as he went over and sat in the chair next to Rex. The room fell into an uneasy silence with Rex and Clint exchanging a few words here and there about weapons and new tactics they’ve come up with.

Ahsoka moved away from Padme, now back into her Jane Foster persona of a scattered brained scientist, to curl up next to the clone captain. His presence this past week had helped her ease back into this skin. It was comfort to know that she was still herself despite the fact she no longer looked the same. Without pausing in his conversation with Clint, Rex swung an arm across her shoulders, causing Natasha to raise an eyebrow.

“I wasn’t aware you two knew each other.”

“We’ve known one another for years actually,” Rex smirked, clearly trying to get a raise out of her. Well the team and a few others knew them, no one besides Peter had ever seen the two of them together. It wasn’t some great secret. People knew that they were dating someone just not that it was each other.

Before Natasha could respond the elevator chimed and opened to revealed Steve. He cast a quick look at Kenobi and Rex before shooting a small smile at Natasha. The assassin caught the look between the three. It amazed Ahsoka the amount of things that the woman caught without anyone ever realizing. It was clear that she knew something had happened. She could see the gears turning in Natasha’s brain, trying to figure out the cause of the reaction seeing as the three man only ever ran drills and exchanged pleasantries.

“How did the rest of the meeting with Hill go?” Kenobi turned towards Captain America, proving Natasha’s point correct.

“Fine,” Steve exclaimed a little too quickly and loudly. He blushed as he noticed the rest of them were looking at him, causing Kenobi to smile. Ahsoka wanted to bust out laughing at the awkwardness that was filling the room.

“That’s good. I hope it all works out in the end.”

Steve sighed, “me too.”

Thunder and lightning crashed directly above them, while the rest of the city was blue and cloudless. The God of Thunder had appeared. With one final strike connecting with the landing pad outside the communal living space, the storm disappeared as quickly as it rolled in. It was a flashy appearance, something that was quite common for the God of Thunder.

At the same time Thor walked in, Tony ran into the room covered in oil stains and hair standing on edge, the exact opposite of the pristine shine of the Asgardian armor the God was wearing. Tony looked around the room quickly, noting that not everyone one was here, but enough to satisfy were. The billionaire marched to the center of the group, with Thor moving to join the others by the couches, taking over the spot Ahsoka had left behind next to Jane. He flashed a bright smile at her, while she gave him the uneasy one everyone was familiar with. Ahsoka couldn’t help but feel sorry for her friend.

“I’ve called you all here today because we have a problem on our hands.” Tony announced. “We have another alien among us, with unclear intentions. And I don’t know about you but I rather not have a repeat of Loki, no offense big guy. But I feel something must be done now before this situation spirals out of control like every other time aliens show up here.”

“Stark, stop your rambling this instance. No one wants to hear it anymore,” a voice snapped as heavy footfalls came into the room.

They had all been so focused on Tony that no one had noticed the elevator opening. Except for Kenobi, Ahsoka noticed. The Jedi Master was looking straight at Nick Fury, who was back and with company.

Behind him was a tall young man with shaggy dark blond hair and a scar across his right eye. The other looked similar to Alpha and Rex, only a little buffer, a clean shaven head, a rugged bread and blind eye with a scar running through it. Clearly two men were not something to trifle with and Natasha couldn’t help but wonder where Fury had found them.

“Ani!”

Jane was the first to shoot up to greet them. Running past Fury to throw her arms around the tall blond. The look on the man’s face was that of pure joy and he embraced her. No one in the room moved as Jane cupped his cheek. To them, they were the only ones in the room now. Bracing the back of her neck, the stranger placed a kiss upon Jane’s lips, accelerating to something a little more.

Ahsoka broke out into giggles while Rex groaned, casting an arm over his face to cast the image before him from his sight. Kenobi could only smile at their reunion. The Avenger’s on the other hand stared openly at their affection, each of them baffled. Except Clint, he simple shook his head.

Fury coughed before speaking up. “Alright you two. I realize it’s been a couple years but can you please wait so I can explain what’s happening.”

Jane jumped away, looking sheepish at everyone else, embarrassed that she had allowed herself to get caught up in her emotions.

Tony was the first to speak. “What the hell just happened? I mean, we all saw the same thing right?” The other Avengers present all nodded while Clint burst out laughing.

Thor rose and walked over to the couple. “Jane?”

“Jane?” The man looked down at the women in question.

“It’s the name I was given when I arrived on Earth.”

“Dare I ask what is was before you ‘arrived’ on Earth?” Tony piped up.

The woman they knew as Jane took a step away from the tall blond. Her hands were clasped in front and her head was held high, a stance that was unfamiliar for their Dr Foster.

“My name is not Jane Foster and I am not a scientist. I am not even from this galaxy. My real name is Padme Amidala and I am a representative from the planet Naboo.” She gave a sorrowful stare at Thor before she grabbed the hand of the man behind her. “And this is my husband, Anakin Skywalker.”

No one spoke as they looked between Padme, Anakin and Thor. The later stood there with wide eyes.

“I’m sorry,” Padme cried out. “I didn’t mean to lead you on and I tried to make you understand that I only ever wanted friendship.” Tears brimmed at her eyes. Anakin placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. “I never meant to hurt you.”

“Why?” Tony shouted. “Why are you all here?” he motioned to the others on the couch. “Clearly you are all from the same place. At least I think…” The Billionaire looked at the two SHIELD agents he had come to know over the past year. “I mean, he has a twin, but you.” He pointed at the other unknown, bald man.

“Names Wolffe and yes, Alpha and Rex are my brothers.”

“Did you mother have a thing for dogs?!”

Wolffe’s hand fell to the weapon strapped to his thigh. Everyone in the room that didn’t know the clone commander gasped for they hadn’t realized the gun was there. “Who are you calling a dog you, mir’osik.” Rex snorted at this while Kenobi rolled his eyes.

Natasha stood up. “Can we get back to the topic at hand? Who is an alien in the room?”

Ahoska ignored the question and fixed her gaze on Fury. “Does this mean I can go back to looking like my normal self more often?”

“Let’s get them use to the idea of you not being Terran before we throw the orange skin and montreals at them.”

Pouting, she slumped back against her boyfriend, who rubbed her arm in reassurance.

The female assassin looked at Tony. “Your freak out was true.” He just glared at her.

Kenobi raised an eyebrow at Fury, smile gone. The light atmosphere that had settled over the space was gone as the oldest person in the room grew grim. The trio knew that Mace wasn’t supposed to arrive on Earth for a couple more month. Mace was to have come alone too. His sudden appearance with Anakin and Wolffe instead of Cody at his side was a clear sign that something wasn’t right.

Mace affirmed their darkening thoughts. “We have a bigger problem.”