[MillietheWarrior]

Prudii could hear someone saying his name. He groaned slightly, his eyes flickering open and giving him a start. Madeline was staring him in the face, her own face merely inches away from his. His eyes snapped wide, and he looked at her almost frantically, hissing in pain as he moved forward a little. “Maddi,” he muttered softly, his hand reaching out to touch her shoulder. His eyes roved over her body for a moment, before landing on the wound at her side. He reached down to gently touch his fingers to the wound, knowing that it must’ve hurt her pretty badly.

“You got him?” he almost seemed amazed by it, his bleary eyes staring up at her. He seemed to sink lower against the tree, his breathing slowing down and evening out slightly. “I…” His eyes drifted closed for a minute, but Maddi’s arms on his shoulders jerked him back into consciousness. “You need to…” He looked down at his hands, his eyes blurring and focusing. “My gauntlet…A code. Type in a code. They’ll come get us…”

He felt his body relax a little more, the pain his shoulder sapping his strength. “The base…11436.…” He jerked himself awake, trying to stay in the land of the living. He hissed in pain as he pushed himself up a little, straightening his back against the tree. “Tell them…Null-5 and a civilian request immediate evac. Wounded officer. Our coordinates are…” His eyes screed shut for a moment as he lifted his arm, barely able to type something into his gauntlet. “North 65, South 46. They’ll know what it…What it means.” He closed his eyes then, leaning against the trunk, his breathing shallow and labored.

[37]

[Kallile]

A hiss rose in her throat as he touched the still-fresh wound, though she could only imagine it was fair payback for making him an easy target to get shot. “Yeah,” she replied weakly. “Even brought you a ‘get well soon’ present.” The dark sarcasm in her voice was very evident, but Maddi wasn’t sure how else to react. He was dying in front of her eyes.

She took his arm before he could let it fall back, typing in the code he had given her a quickly as possible. There was a fuzzy sizzle, and Maddi supposed that meant that she was on.

“Null-5 and civilian requesting immediate evac. Wounded officer. Coordiantes North 65, South 46.” She said, pausing a moment as she frowned to herself. That didn’t sound quite urgent enough…perhaps they needed to know the full length of the situation. “I don’t care if you’re not used to a woman’s voice over this but you had better listen up. If you aren’t here pronto I’m going to find you and knock you to next year for letting this man die.” She brought the gauntlet close to her mouth, hissing venomously into it. “And trust me, I know how to use a blaster and I won’t be afraid to use it on something other than those freaking droid things. If you can’t tell, my day has been bad enough…don’t make it worse.”

She placed Prudii’s arm down, going back to forcing pressure onto his wound. “I swear, if they don’t listen to me…” She snarled, already afraid too much time had passed. This would be all her fault. She distracted him—just like he’d joked about. She’d moved too slow. Her aim wasn’t true enough. Now he was paying the price for it all and Madeline hated herself for it. “I should have moved faster, I should have shot better….I’m…”

She stopped herself, moving to lean slightly again Prudii to be able to apply more pressure. “Just…don’t leave me yet.” She said, her voice sounding defeated. “Even though I might have let you down.”

[41]

[MillietheWarrior]

Prudii’s eyes remained closed through the transmission. But he distantly felt Maddi press against him. A small smile quirked at  his lips. “Not your fault,” He whispered. “It was mine…” He tried to lift a hand to reassure her, but found he no longer could. “You did great…Not gonna…Not gonna let you live this down, you know…” He smiled lightly, his eyes still shut. “You didn’t let me…Down. You did fine. Don’t beat yourself up…I won’t leave yet…” Then, a sudden burst of white noise sounded from his gauntlet, and a heavily accented voice cut through.

“This is a secure channel, civilian. How did you get through?” it barked. There was suddenly silence, and then the sound of scuffling. A few rather choice cuss words cut through the speakers, and then the sounds of someone yelling something that sounded distinctly like “Osik, Kicks! I’m gonna tear your shabla head off!” before another voice crackled through, this one lighter, and not as heavily accented. “Coordinates marked, scary sounding civilian lady. We’re nearby. We’ll be there to pick you up. ETA, 2 minutes.”

Prudii managed a soft smile, his head rolling to one side. He cracked open on eye. “My squad…I’d know those voices anywhere,” he said, despite the fact that they sounded just like his. “They’ll be here soon…Don’t worry…” His eyes shut, and he leaned his head back, no longer having the strength to hold the wound closed on his own and relying on Maddi to do it for him. A few minutes passed, before the sound of a speeder’s thrumming engine sounded in the distance. After another minute, the speeder appeared over the crest of the hill, pulling to a stop beside the two. Two Clones jumped out of the cockpit, one wearing red and white armor, while the other sported grey and white.

“Howdy, ma’am,” the red and white clone chirped. His helmet tilted down as he caught sight of his lieutenant and both Clones shared a look before rushing forward to kneel at their sides. “What happened?” the second one demanded as the first took vitals and inspected the wound. The red armored clone smacked his brother upside the head. “He was shot, you di’kut. What do you think happened?” Grey armor growled. “Well, I wasn’t sure. Let’s get him back to base.” Red armor shook his helmeted head.

“No, we gotta take the scary civilian lady with us. That’s what the transmission said.” Gray armor growled again, displeased, before he grabbed his lieutenant’s ankles. “Fine!” he barked. “Let’s hurry this up.” Red armor chuckled slightly, flashing a thumbs up at Maddi before picking up Prudii by the back of his armor. The two of them carried Prudii to the speeder, laying him across the back seats. “Hop in, ma’am,” Red armor chirped again, pointing to a stop beside Prudii.

[38]

[Kallile]

Maddi leaned her head against Prudii, using the fact she could and was listening to his heart rate to mask the fact that she was beating herself up about it and wanted to be close to him right now. She didn’t know why—maybe it was because she was watching his life slowly slipping away—but she just needed it. She glared at the voices that sounded from his arm, but nodded when it seemed to brighten his spirits a little. She closed her eyes. Two long minutes…she would just have to make it work.

The chipper voice roused her from her waking sleep, and Maddi glared daggers at him for a moment and laid a hand on one of the blasters until she recognized the armor. She glared from red to grey, equally unimpressed with both at the moment. “It doesn’t matter what happened, just get him help.” She snarled, directed more towards Grey than Red.

Before Red spoke, Madeline had already staggered to her feet as they lifted Prudii, her hands still pressed firmly on either side of the wound. She could care less that she was more than skimpily clad in front of these strange men, they would be making a terrible mistake to pressure her on the issue. She was fully focused on Prudii, and anyone who wanted her to focus on something else was in for a nasty shock.

She brushed past Red, climbing in and onto the backseat, placing Prudii’s head on her lap carefully and still holding onto his wounded shoulder. She glared towards Grey now, her attention to Red seeming much friendlier. “Where he goes, I’m going. I don’t care who I have to tell that to, but I’ll make sure to get my point across. Just get us there.”

She looked down at Prudii, ignoring her own injuries that numbered more highly than his, but were much less severe. They could bleed and seep all they wanted, Madeline knew they weren’t going to kill her. Likewise, she fell silent and began ignoring the two Clones opposite her. She didn’t know them, right now she didn’t care to. So long as they got Prudii the help he needed, she’d tolerate them for now.

[42]

[MillietheWarrior]

Kicks looked over his shoulder as he squeezed into the pilot seat. “Yes ma’am,” he said, all traces of his chipper personality gone as he realized how grave the situation was. “Don’t worry. We won’t let our lieutenant leave us hanging like that.” He flashed a thumbs up sign again, before turning to power up the engines. Recoil, meanwhile, had leaned over the side of his seat, running some kind of scanner over Prudii’s prone form. “Heart rate is elevated. Must be working overtime. And his breathing is shallow and erratic. He’s lost a lot of blood. Kicks, I think you need to step on it.” Kicks nodded in affirmation, his foot pressing the pedal to the floor as the speeder roared off to the base.

“We’ll be there in a jiffy,” Kicks mumbled. Recoil, on the other hand, was looking at Madeline with a distasteful expression. He was glad she couldn’t see his face. “Who are you?” he asked, clearly not afraid of her or her temper. “Lieutenant Prudii wouldn’t just pick up some random stranger and have them call in an evac. What were you two doing here anyway? Prudii was supposed to be six miles north of your previous location.” His eyes turned suspicious, but Kicks, eyes still focused ahead, reached over and smacked his brother on the helmet. “Stop bothering her, Rec. She’s been through as much as the lieutenant has.” He tilted his helmet slightly, so it seemed as though he was looking over his shoulder at her, even though his eyes were straight ahead.

“Don’t worry ma’am. He’ll be fine, I promise. And we’ll get you fixed up too. Mind telling us your name?” Recoil sat back in his seat, typing something into his gauntlet. A crackling voice came over the comm, and Recoil began speaking. “Solus. We’re coming in. We’ve got the lieutenant and a civilian here who will need immediate medical attention upon arrival ETA, 8 minutes.” He turned slightly to glance at Madeline. “How did this happen?” he asked, his voice stronger this time. “Lieutenant Prudii is the best. This has never happened to him before.” His voice was accusatory, as his t-shaped visor stared her down.

[39]

[Kallile]

The hair on the back of her neck bristled as she listened to Kicks, or Red, as she was thinking of him as. Leave them hanging? She didn’t understand military, but she was pretty sure that if he didn’t get a lead foot fast, he was the one who would be leaving Prudii hanging in the balance. She watched defensively as Recoil scanned Prudii, looking ready to turn into an offensive attacker at any moment. She didn’t like this one bit.

She gained just a grain of respect back for Recoil when he instructed the other to step on it and got results. Her eyes flashed back over to the grey and white clad Clone as he began questioning her and she narrowed her eyes in distaste much akin to what he was feeling for her. “Why, it bother you to have a stranger in your midst?” She snapped, equally put off that he wasn’t at least mildly put off by her. What was it with these soldiers? “I’m not a random stranger, I’m his girlfriend. We were on our way to you because we were attacked yesterday by these big walking tanks. Some sort of droid, he said.”

Her eyes darted back up to Kicks, the friendlier of the two at least. Though that put her off just as much as Recoil did. “Madeline.” She grumbled, listening to Recoil taking to the gauntlet on his arm. She let out a sigh, for a fleeting moment wishing for the easy peace that they had had in the spider-infested shack. The spiders she could at least squish. These guys were not quite so easily dealt with, though they didn’t cause her to cling to rotten windowsills.

“A sniper on the path we were taking.” She answered shortly. She didn’t feel they needed to know that just moments before the shot they had been spilling about themselves and their lives in a competitive ‘get to know me’ contest. She glared up at him, tempted to stand and get in his visor-covered face. She was not in the mood. “Yeah? Well maybe I’ve never happened either, huh? Some connection you’ve got going.”

“What are you going to do about it, if you’re so suspicious? Kick out the lady who took out the sniper?” She growled darkly, now wishing she had kept a closer hold on the blasters.

[43]

[MillietheWarrior]

Prudii could faintly hear them in his near unconscious state. He tried to lift his hands, willing himself to be able to wave off his squad and stop the unwanted questions. Wanted to tell them all to knock it off. He groaned softly, the small effort of even trying to move made a sharp pain shoot through his arm. Instantly, Recoil’s gaze was on his lieutenant, and his brows creased slightly. Even if he didn’t like this new ‘Madeline’ woman, he wasn’t about to reach out to his lieutenant and get his hands bitten off. He managed to glare in her direction. “A sniper?” he asked, narrowing his eyes. He turned his helmet to Kicks, who gave a discreet jerk of his head, as if signifying something between the two brothers.

Then both seemed to have startled looks on their face, oozing an air of confusion as they stared between one another. “ETA, 2 minutes,” Kicks said slowly, before Recoil let his head turn back around to stare at Madeline. “You’re his what?” he asked, his voice low. “Look, Madeline, or whoever you are. I don’t think you understand the serious-ness of that allegation. If someone were to hear you say that…Let’s just say it wouldn’t end well for the lieutenant here. I don’t know what happened between you, but I hope, for both of your sakes, that it’s something that can be ended fairly quickly.”

He looked her up and down, raising an eyebrow behind his helmet. “I really hope you weren’t expecting anything permanent,” he said, an implication of what he thought of her as hidden in his words. “Judging by your clothing, I’d say you weren’t.” Kicks immediately smacked him upside the helmet, growling softly. “Shut it, Rec. If she wants to be his girlfriend, then who are we to say no? Besides, if she was able to take out that sniper, and save the lieutenant, than who cares? She can be whoever she wants. He’s Prudii, after all. He doesn’t play by the rules anyway.”

Recoil shot a look over his shoulder, the base already in sight. “Yeah. Just don’t want to know what she did to make Prudii keep her around.” His words were harsh, biting, and obviously he didn’t care what she thought of him. The speeder jerked to a stop, and Kicks pressed a button in the cockpit. The hatch opened, and immediately, two other clones appeared, a repulsor trolley between them. They made it to the hatch, but froze upon sighting Madeline. One was wearing light gold and white armor, and the other sported brown and white armor. “Ma’am?” the white and gold one said, his voice surprised. “Can you move please? We need to get the lieutenant out.”

[40]

[Kallile]

Her attention swept down to Prudii, her eyes narrowing curiously as she tried to decipher what he wanted. He shouldn’t be moving at all, though if he had any good judgment like she assumed he did, he would want to shut up the grey-suit too. She rose her eyes back to meet the black visor of Recoil’s helmet.

A part of her was ready to rip Recoil apart, if only because she already didn’t like him and now she had a good reason. The other part felt like Prudii had already signed his own death sentence. But her eyes only darkened on the matter, and she resisted the urge to lean forward threateningly. “Look, you,” She growled softly. “I don’t care what your little rules are. If you want me to keep my mouth shut about it, fine, but let me tell something. If I kept a sniper from taking him away…do you really think I’ll let anyone else?” There was a new expression—a smug, venomous smirk. “If they want him, they’re going to have to come through me.”

Though right now she didn’t look the part, she was sure of herself and what abilities she did have. There was seriousness in her eyes as she watched the emotionless visor. His next words, however, brought an audible growl to her throat. The speeder was lucky to come to a stop when it did. At the two new Clones who appeared, Madeline cast a sour look and carefully lowered Prudii’s head onto the seat as she stood up, not seeming to mind at all that there was a good amount of bruised and scratched up skin showing. She moved out of their way, keeping an eye on them as she took a stalking step towards Recoil. Grabbing the back of the headboard where Recoil sat, she leaned in close to his helmeted face. “Now, you had better listen to me now, because I’m not saying this again because you might say I've had a bad day and I'm not in the mood.”

“I don’t care what you think about me, and I don’t care why you think that way. But you will give me some respect for not abandoning your lieutenant.” She leaned to the side slightly, mocking whispering in his ear. “Besides, I’ve never met an escort who cared about anything but money and a good time…so you’d better think fast about changing your opinion why I’m here.”

As she stood back to walk after the stretch and the Clones in gold and brown, she happened to let an arm go astray and whack the grey and white helmet as she stalked off.

[44]

[MillietheWarrior]

Solus, the clone in the gold armor, and Trinket, the one in the brown, gently lifted their lieutenant from the seat, lowering him onto the trolley. Prudii grunted in pain as he was lightly laid onto the repuslor, his hand falling across his stomach. Trinket and Solus exchanged looks, before Trinket began assessing the wound as Solus guided the trolley along. Their voices were soft, barely a whisper as they pushed the trolley through two large door panels. Kicks and Recoil, meanwhile, were left to deal with Madeline. Recoil made true to his name; he recoiled away from Madeline, shrinking back in his seat until he stepped out of the speeder. The sharp smack to the back of his head nearly sent him stumbling out onto the ground, and he let out a loud, annoyed growl as Kicks came around, snorting in barely suppressed laughter.

Both Clones removed their helmets at the same time. Kicks lifted his off to reveal two sets of close cropped red Mohawks and a strip of red beard down his chin. Recoil, meanwhile, had dark, nearly gray hair, and a large scar running from the tip of his hairline, to the bottom of his jaw. His face was less than pleased. Kicks, meanwhile, had a huge grin on his face. “You got served, vod,” he chuckled, patting Recoil on the back. He turned to Madeline. “Look, Madeline. We don’t care what you are to the lieutenant; your secret is safe with us. And don’t mind Recoil; he’s an idiot.” Said idiot took offense, and smacked the red-hair clone upside the head. Kicks shot him a glare, before he motioned for Madeline to follow.

“Come on, we’ll take you to the infirmary so you can watch over your lieutenant and get yourself taken care of.” He turned and the two began to lead her down a short twist and turn of pristine, perfectly white hallways. Panels and doors were shut along the way, although they passed a few Clones who gave Madeline odd looks. As they reached a large door, Kicks palmed a panel beside it and it hissed open. Rows of beds lay unoccupied along the walls. One or two, though, held a sleeping Clone. There wasn’t much use for the beds; mostly for Clones who got sick or injured in training nowadays. Prudii lay at the back, and Trinket and Solus stood outside the white curtain that’s surrounded him and presumably whatever was in there working on his wound.

[41]

[Kallile]

She eyed the nearly matching armored Clones with strong dislike, but let them take Prudii away. He eyes trailed them for as long as they could, ignoring the fits of hidden laughter coming from behind her. It was Kicks who broke the silence, and Maddi was quite surprised to see the red mohawks and small goatee. She was, however, not surprised by the more grey hair of Recoil. He certainly seemed like the stick in the mud of the group.

“If you insist, then I won’t.” She said, giving a smirk over her shoulder at Recoil in a sort of ‘hear that, I’ve been given permission to ignore you by one of your own’ kind of way. She followed them willingly to the infirmary, though seemed less interested in getting herself taken care of. Her eyes scanned the mostly empty sea of white, finding the two who had taken Prudii away. Not really waiting for Kicks and Recoil to guide her there or catch up, she stalked past them and stood there, looking up at the new visor covered faces. This was getting monotonous.

She sized each one up, despite the fact that they were one in the same, really. Cocking her head to the side, she peered at the white curtain they stood in front of. “What’s going on now?” She asked suspiciously, glaring at Solus. Call her crazy, but painting your outer shell part gold just screamed for attention.

[45]

[MillietheWarrior]

Kicks and Recoil followed Madeline to the back, not seeming to mind that she pretty much ignored them immediately. Solus, who still wore his helmet, tilted it down to look at her as she stomped up to him, arms crossed over his broad chest. Trinket leaned around the second in command, eyeing Maddi with a small, mischievous smile. His helmet was clipped to his belt, swinging against his hip as he leaned forward to poke Kicks in the side. His hair was cropped short, nearly buzzed completely off, but there were definite orange streaks zigg-zagging through his dark, chocolate hair. “Who is she?” he asked, glancing at his second leader, and then at Kicks once more. The red-haired clone shrugged, before his gaze shifted to Solus, who had unfolded his arms and unclasped his helmet from his head.

His hair was a deep, rich black, smooth and curly. It was crew-cut, cropped extremely short; a soldier’s haircut. Solus had what looked like a scar running down and over his eye, crossing across his face and lips to end at the back of his jaw. The top of his jumpsuit concealed even more scars, a few visible over the neck of his armor. He had brilliant blue eyes, but they were anything but soft as he gazed down at Madeline. He clipped his helmet to his belt, and re-crossed his arms once more. He ignored Trinket. “Now,” he rumbled in a low, deep voice. It was deeper than his brothers; throaty, gravelly, almost a growl in comparison. Perhaps the deep scar running across his throat had something to do with it. “He’s getting treated for his wound.” His eyes shot to Kicks, who had a large smile on his face. It instantly disappeared when Solus’ gaze landed on him. “I will require details later. For now, it’s best to just…Not ask questions.”

His eyes flickered down to Madeline, and he tilted his head slightly. He looked as if he was about to speak, but was immediately interrupted by a loud ’clank’ behind the curtain, and the sound of someone cursing under their breath. All eyes snapped to the side, and each Clone seemed a bit anxious about seeing what was going on behind the strung up white sheet. “Sir?” Solus called, his face awash with confusion. Prudii’s low, growly voice came from behind the curtain, obviously very, very annoyed. “Tell this shabla piece of tin to stop poking at my shoulder, or I’m gonna turn it into kriffing scrap metal!” There was a disgruntled clicking sound, and a med droid reversed out from behind the curtain at high speed. Trinket and Kicks jumped aside to let it pass as it zig-zagged out of the ward, mechanical arms thrown up in exasperation.

Solus ignored the scene, stepping forward to pull the curtain back with one, fluid motion. Prudii was sitting up in bed, shoulder wrapped and bound tightly, armor removed (His belt and the spider sat on the floor, safe and sound), and the top half of his body suit hanging around his waist. He was leaning against the back of the bed, sheets pulled up to his waist, and a scowl crossing his darkening face. There was an IV drip in one arm, and what looked like a tube of blood hooked to the other. His skin and face were very pale, but slowly, he was beginning to regain his color. Prudii’s gaze landed on Solus, and he growled. “You know I hate those things,” he muttered, leaning back tiredly against the bed frame. Solus snapped off a salute, looking slightly apologetic. “Sorry sir,” he said, dipping his head slowly. Kicks took the initiative to push Madeline forward by the small of her back, a wide grin on his face.

“Look what we brought you, sir!” he chirped, practically bouncing on his heels. “She’s super scary…I like her. Where’d you get her?” Prudii’s face twisted into what could be an amused smirk, before his gaze landed on Madeline’s disheveled and scratched up state. Instantly, his eyes darkened, and he looked to Trinket. “Care to explain why she still hasn’t been tended to?” he asked, his voice a dangerous growl. Trinket seemed to give a little bounce, as if remembering he was the squad medic, and hurried away to retrieve a small med kit. He immediately returned, and motioned for Madeline to sit in a chair beside the bed. Prudii’s gaze, however, had not left Madeline.

“What did you tell them?” he asked, sounding curious, and a bit anxious at the same time. He glanced up at Solus and nodded his head in a short jerk. Solus nodded back, and strode through the room to shut the large paneled doors that separated the Intensive care ward from the rest of the infirmary. Prudii waited until they were shut. “Madeline, did they explain anything to you? About us?” he asked, suddenly very serious. He winced slightly as he leaned forward, his face scrunching up in pain before he settled back down again. “By the way…Good job with the sniper. Mandokarla.” He winked at her, smiling slightly. "But...Onto business. Welcome to the base. There's a few things you need to know. And I'm surprised my squad is still in one piece."

He lifted his arm, his face looking slightly pained as he did so, and gently touched her hand. "Your gonna be stuck here a while...cyar'ika." He had never called anyone that before--ever. His squad all had equally shocked looks on their faces, but wisely hid them behind nonchalant expressions. Prudii ignored them. "There's a few things I think you need to know about me...About all of us. And now's as good a time as ever." He wasn't looking forward to telling her any of the things he'd kept hidden from her. He glanced at Trinket, silently willing him to hurry up and treat her wounds. Once she was stitched and patched up, the squad would wisely make a hasty retreat.

[42]

[Kallile]

Her face still dark and humorless, Madeline sent a softer glare towards Trinket. He reminded her slightly of a puppy, for whatever reason, and she couldn’t bring herself to give him a full glare for the question. Her eyes followed his gaze to Kicks, and she arched her neck slightly in a pleased manner that he had the common sense to keep his mouth shut. “Your new house guest.” She grumbled, focusing on Solus once more.

He seemed more imposing than the other three, but Maddi wasn’t so easily put off. It only irritated her more the way he was looking down at her. Dang, why were all these guys so tall? Despite the icy stare and the frightening voice, she stepped forward so that she was directly in front of him and glaring up at him with daggers in her eyes. “You require nothing from me. I’m tired of answering questions around this place…it’s high time I start getting some!...”

The speech was cut short by the ‘clank’ that caught the attention of all. Looking confused and deeply ticked off, Madeline watched the scene and instantly bristled as the medic droid whirred past is something like fright. She quickly sidestepped it, her hands fisting as it fled. She was really starting to hate all these fancy mechanical things, but hearing Prudii awake again quelled her urge to race after and dismantle the thing that had annoyed him. She nearly whirled around and punched Kicks for the sudden hand low on her back, and the fact that she was using every inch of willpower not to was showing on her face. When she did finally turn, she grabbed the hand that had pushed her forward and dug her nails into the skin lightly. “Talk about me like an acquisition one more time, and I’ll be sure you have scars to remember it by.”

She nearly tossed his hand at him, and stalked over to sit in the chair. She glanced up at Trinket coldly, then to the med kit he held. Reluctantly she turned her head to look at Prudii—her silent permission for Trinket to go ahead.

The group become suddenly very secluded, and Maddi could feel all the eyes on her. She growled uncomfortably. “I told them we were attacked, by those big tank-droid things and then the sniper. I also told them I was your girlfriend.” Her eyes darkened dangerously at this and she made a face at Prudii that should have told him she was far from finished with the subject. She didn’t need an audience when she brought up her feelings about it, however. “Yeah, they explained one helpful little tip to me. We’re talking about that later…”

She raised an eyebrow at what he called her. She’d never thought to questions the weird language he had spoken up until now. “What?” She said, possibly in the gentlest tone thus far since meeting the squad. He was smiling, so it was either a cruel joke or something sincere. “I’m too tired to deal with them right now.” She said, mocking a whining voice as she touched her temple tenderly. “Except for Grey over there…” she motioned to Recoil. “But I think we’ve come to an understanding….right?” She growled at him.

Another one of those words, but this time there was a shift in the atmosphere around them. Casually Madeline glanced to the faces of the squad surrounding her, and though they looked placid enough, she knew there was something not genuine about them. She let her gaze return to Prudii, nodding wearily. “That much I’ve figured out. I don’t know how much of an audience you want—because it’s time everything comes out on the table.” She glared slightly at Trinket with much the same willing nature in her gaze; though he was supposed to be treating her it bothered her that it required him to hang around so close to her. She felt like some exhibit on women to a clan of men who had never laid eyes on one.

[46]

[MillietheWarrior]

Kicks didn’t seem perturbed by Madeline’s hand on his wrist, nor the fact that she’d dug his nails into his skin. His face didn’t show an ounce of hostility, anger or pain; instead, he only smiled wider. “See?” he said, glancing over her shoulder at Prudii. “She’s cool.” He nodded to himself, as if he’d just discovered some great secret and was sharing it with the world. Solus, behind him, managed to roll his eyes and look annoyed at the same time. He took one glance at Prudii and Madeline, and grabbed Kicks by the back of his armor.

“Time to make scarce,” he growled, hauling the protesting commando away by his armor. Recoil shot Madeline a look that clearly said ‘we’re gonna finish this later,’ before he followed the two out the doors. Only Trinket remained, and he managed to spray bacta on Madeline’s wounds and patch them up in record time; she was freaking him out with her glaring. He just wanted to get away as fast as possible. Packing up his kit, he very nearly sprinted towards the door, hurrying after the rest of his squad as they disappeared through the panels.

Prudii watched them go with something akin to amusement in his eyes, before he turned back to Madeline. “I know it’s been a weird two days. And it just gets weirder.” He sighed heavily, leaning back and closing his eyes. The IV dripped steadily through the tube linked to his arm, supplying him with precious fluids and keeping him conscious. “Time for me to tell you everything I can possibly think of. Your probably going to rethink staying here after everything comes but it’s your choice.” His eyes remained closed, though there was an anxious note in his voice that said he probably wouldn’t take it well if she left. “Here goes…”

He took a deep breath,  before plunging into the sketchy details of all the things he felt she should know. “I’m a Clone, as you have already guessed. Physically, I’m twenty-four years old. Numerically, I am twelve. I was the among the first small batch of Clones created, called the Nulls. We were deemed unfit for service; uncommandable, untrainable, psychotic, dangerous. We were scheduled for termination at the age of one and a half because we weren’t ‘up to standards.’ The only thing that saved us was my father, Kal Skirata. After that, we were trained by him, brought up as Mandalorians. My five brothers and I were avoided by the other Clones. When the wars started, we were all sent on individual missions; my specialty is sabotage. I blow up droid factories.”

Here he lifted his head, grinning lightly as though it was some great joke. And maybe to him it was; Prudii enjoyed his job. It was what he was good at. He took another breath, and continued on. “That was Shadow Squad, my squad. They‘re Republic Commandos, and some of the best there is, even if they don‘t look it. I run this base; I‘m a lieutenant. I’m a trained soldier, and I kill for a living. I know that probably doesn’t bother you, but I feel you should know. There isn‘t much more about me that you don‘t already know…Except…” He fell silent for a moment, his eyes suddenly opening as he gazed at his lap.

“Us Clones…We don’t have very long lives. I just think you should know that. Before you even get your first gray hair, I’ll probably already be dead. My father, Kal, is searching for a cure, but…Well, there’s no guarantee that he’ll ever find one. So I’ll die far before my time; I doubt I’ll ever reach anything that even resembles old age.” He let his gaze wander back up to her, golden eyes almost unreadable.

“The reason I asked you if you told the squad about us is because…Relationships are something of a taboo in this army. Clone soldiers aren’t supposed to have lives of love anyone or have families. It can get you killed; or worse. If they ever figured out what your relationship with me was, there is probably little I could do to save you from them; short of forcing you to hideout with some member of my family and hoping the Republic isn’t smart enough to find you. But if anyone finds out about us, we’ll both be on their hit list.” He shook his head slowly, his gaze drifting back to his lap. “My squad won’t say a word; they know what it’s like to want a life outside the army. So…”

Prudii sighed softly. “To sum up, I’m a psycho, a killer, going to die very early, and in a relationship that is completely forbidden. If you…Don’t want to stay with me after all that, I don’t blame you. If you leave now, you could save yourself a lot of trouble…And probably be a lot safer.” He seemed to fall silent, closing his eyes for a moment before another smile lit up his face, if only for a second. “And cyar’ika means ‘sweetheart.’”

[43]

[Kallile]

Watching the squad leave, Madeline couldn’t say she wasn’t thrilled. With Trinket being the last to go, she smirked widely as she watched him sprint after his squad-mates. She’d remember to torment him later—he seemed the easiest target.

She didn’t say anything for as long as Prudii spoke, her eyes just wide, curious, and at points stunned. So much information flooded her tired mind and she could feel key points sticking like glue to the foremost part of her mind. Even after he had finished, she looked as if several buses had just ran her over. Blinking at him a few times she flexed her hands from fists to relaxed. The last part, no matter how sweet, couldn’t quell the storm that was brewing in the horizon.

She gripped the chair arms as she nearly doubled over, pulling at the black locks of hair on her head. When she sat up and looked to Prudii, her eyes flashed a dangerous shade of purple. “I…am dating a twelve year old? A twelve year old!?” She barked at him, nearly leaping up to grab his face somewhat roughly. It wasn’t a malice act, more one to see if he was actually still there. The answer was yes, he still had the face and body of a twenty-four year old. She released him, pacing restlessly around the room as she continued to periodically pull at her hair in blind fury. “Great, only children are attracted to me. A twelve year old got me shot at, got me beaten up, kissed me…”

She stopped her pacing, looking at him again. Nope, still twenty-four.

“Sorry, but that kinda trumps the ‘I die young’ and ‘this is a forbidden love’ thing, don’t you think?” Her voice was simply seething with anger and embarrassment. If Prudii had wanted to see her squirm, he was certainly getting plenty of that. All in one fluid motion Maddi crossed her ankles and let herself drop to the floor with a soft ‘whump’. She sat there, Indian style, digging her nails into her skull.

She stayed there for a long moment, before she leaned her head back and threw her arms up in defeat. “You know what….I don’t care.” She announced angrily, still sitting on the floor. “I don’t care how old you are, how young you’re going to die, or how forbidden this is. No, no I don’t. Screw it all, because these last two days I don’t know what the heck to think anymore!”

There was a pouting expression on her face, still one of defeat over having a child like her. She pushed herself off the floor, and gripped the side of Prudii’s bed. “So, you know what? I give up.”

She left it at that for a minute, pacing towards the paneled doors. It looked as if she may walk out, before she spun on her heels and looked at Prudii again. “I give up on trying to understand any of this. I’m going to do this my way—because I’m not letting a pre-teen take the reigns in a relationship. I have dealt with so much, whoever might even think of taking us out because we’re seeing each other has another thing coming.”

She stalked over to his bed again, her eyes toning back down to a dark green from the purple they had become. She touched the side of his face that she had earlier grabbed, but this time more tenderly, and looked at him. She leaned closer, so close their lips nearly brushed together. “Mark my words, sweetheart” she growled in something between self-loathing confusion and playfulness, “no one here is going to tell me what I can or can’t do, and what I can or can’t have. I’m going to rule this base.”

[47]

[MillietheWarrior]

Well, he brought this on himself, he supposed. Prudii really had no idea how to handle Madeline' meltdown. He'd expected something like this, but not to that extent. He laid there on the bed, his face awash with helplessness as he watched her try to come to grips with what he'd just said. When she leaped out of her chair and grabbed his face, Prudii blinked in shock, instinctively craning his neck backwards to get away from her. "Look, I'm sorry," he tried, wondering if apologizing would help.

"I don't think I can change who or what I am. I didn't choose this life; if I had a choice, I would have never been created. Do you think I wanted to have my age accelerated? Do you think I wanted to grow up to live to the ripe old age of thirty? Yeah, thirty. I'll probably be dead before I turn thirty-two. There's nothing I can do about my age, anymore than you can. If it bothers you so much, then you don't have to stay with me. You can just go." The last sentence was said in something that could very well be classified as a whisper. He looked down at his lap, trying not to watch her pace restlessly about the small room.

"I'm not a child," he growled, a bit angry by all the accusations and insinuations; he might be numerically twelve, but he was, for all intents and purposes, twenty-four years old. And even if his life had been short, he'd seen and done far more than she ever could have in her longer life. He tried to sit up, his anger getting the better of him, but felt something tear in his shoulder. He looked down to see the once pristine bandages slowly staining into a dark crimson from the middle outward. Ignoring the pain and his reopening of the only minutes before stitched up wound, Prudii leaned forward a little bit, as if trying to reach out to her.

"I'm the same person. I could have kept this from you if I had wanted to, but I felt you deserved to know. It doesn't make me any different; I'm still me. I am not a child. What do you want me to be? I can change, if that's what you want." He kept saying the last part, as if he had to reassure her he was indeed not the child she seemed to think he was and he could be something different. He cursed the IV drip in his right arm and reached over to pull out the tube in his left arm connecting him to the bag of blood being pumped back into him to replace what he'd lost. He swung his legs over the edge of the bed, and the bag of saline stretched slightly on it's poll, pulled by the intravenous tube attached to his arm. Prudii growled and ripped it out, ignoring the pain.

He just wanted to get to her, and he couldn't very well do that with a bunch of tubes holding him back. His progress was halted when she threw up her hands, declaring that she no longer cared. His eyes went slightly wide; did she mean she didn't care about him either? He figured he was trumped into the category of 'not being cared about.' His eyes fell to the floor, and he put a hand to his head, slightly woozy after all the blood loss and pulling out the two things keeping him stabilized. Maybe it was the wooziness, or may be he was just insane, but he felt a flood of sadness and fear overwhelming him; he wasn't wanted because he was imperfect. It was Kamino all over again. "Fine," he mumbled. "If you don't care then..."

He was startled when he felt her hands touch his face, and looked up to meet slowly softening dark green eyes. Hadn't they been purple a moment ago? He felt her breath tickle his cheeks, and he frowned slightly. "I thought you didn't care," he growled, sounding hurt by what she had said. "You said you didn't...I figured it meant about me too. And I'm not a child." He seemed almost confused, hurt by her words, and torn between being angry and upset at the same time. His head felt fuzzy, and the room seemed to be spinning out of control. He didn't know what he was saying anymore, but then, he almost didn't have to.

"Are you staying? I can change, be something else. I can't change my age...or make myself older or...Or anything. I can be perfect, if that's what you want. I...I can change. I know I can..." That's what you got when you told a bunch of children they'd be 'terminated' for being imperfect; emotionally unstable, messed up shabuirs who just wanted to be accepted by any means necessary and absoloutely feared failure.

[44]