Imagine Fox being a ray of sunshine as a cadet. Him being the literal definition of innocence, the most that someone can be on Kamino. He never tries to think on the negatives too long because it makes him sad. He believes that if he’s there for everyone, is smart enough, or just good enough, then maybe he can make people hurt less inside. (Ending the war would be an added bonus since it causes most of the hurt to begin with.)
He loves caring for his batch mates and siblings, would die for any of them. Would search high and low if they ever got lost, calling their names until his throat was sore and he’s lost his voice. Would give himself up to the bullying instead, leaving his skin changing into multitudes of colors from bruises; his body so sore he can barely get up in the morning. Anything is worth it for them.
And while his batch is more on the loud side, he’s more quiet and keeps to himself. He’s disappeared into the white walls, the barracks, the mess, and the training rooms as his batch does what they usually do. They don’t talk or interact with him much, but whenever they’re hurting, he’s one of the first ones to comfort, holding them close and using his words to soothe.
He doesn’t like getting into physical fights; it’s his last option if the words coming out of his mouth do nothing. He’s more of a pacifist in that regard, a somewhat complete opposite of Wolffe who would fight anyone anytime for a single syllable uttered.
Words are the only thing he really has. He knows them like a good friend, someone who’s able to help him while his vode forget he’s there. Comfort, hurtful, or tactical, he’s used them in any situation he’s been thrown into.
Despite being the pacifist of his batch, he’s a good fighter, easily able to detect weakness and use it to any advantage he can. He’s not the strongest, but he’s the most strategic. He has and will put every single cadet he’s up against down, and will not hold back. Because if he doesn’t, if he fails, he’s weak. A defective clone that should’ve been decommissioned long ago for his hair.
He spends most of his time with other cadets due to being left out or by simply being left behind because they hadn’t bothered to look back to see if he was there; it’s how Fox was adopted into Cody’s batch. They constantly include him in things, asking for his opinion or just simply existing with him. It’s a different experience, being seen and actively acknowledged, being remembered. He ends up crying after a few weeks only to then be immediately embraced in a cuddle pile with him laying near Cody’s heart, Neyo at his back rubbing circles into his shoulder, Lock playing with his hair, and Bly laying on top of his legs so he’s unable to move, and it all just makes him cry harder.
He was integrated into the batch not long after, his own not even noticing he was gone.
Imagine all of this, and imagine him now. A seemingly cold and calculating commander of the Coruscant Guard. Troopers gossiping saying that a smile has never once graced his face. His walls so high and thick that they’re near impossible to infiltrate. He’s always busy and tired despite having one of the easiest positions of the entire clone army, and seen by many as weak for it.
His eyes are accompanied by deep eye bags that show of days where no rest was taken. And a white streak of hair that hangs boldly in the front of his face said to be from early signs of stress, even though it’s actually due to a genetic condition called poliosis. Despite these being the high gossips of the elusive commander, most of the clones spreading them, or just the clones of the GAR in general, never see these things for themselves due to the commander rarely taking his helmet off.
While the GAR sees him as more a thoughtless droid than a clone, emotionless and blindly taking orders, the Coruscant Guard sees him as something else.
They see him as a caring and selfless leader who cares deeply about those under his command, even if he tries to hide it behind his mask. They see someone who always tries to deescalate a situation, unless it puts a vod in danger. Someone who protects them from senators and natborns alike, who always has an ear open and an open shoulder to cry on.
They see someone strong, someone who doesn’t crack under any pressure and can get up every time he falls. They see someone who would die for them with zero hesitation, and they would do the same for him. (Which some do)
Fox is similar to his past. He’s not the naive or small kid that he once was. He looks at things realistically, even the negatives. He refuses to let his own emotions show, digging them deep within himself so not even his batch mates see. But, he still loves with all his heart, he still refuses to allow a vod to suffer in silence, and he still refuses to leave them to defend for themselves.
If something or someone comes after them, he will protect them until the last breath leave his body. It will be the last thing he does.
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Eeth Koth/Jon Antilles, Eeth Koth & CC-4142 | Lock
Characters: Eeth Koth, CC-4142 | Lock, Jon Antilles, Durge (Star Wars)
Additional Tags: Hurt/Comfort, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Trauma, Whump, Aftermath of Torture, Implied/Referenced Torture, Angst, Crisis of Faith, Fix-It of Sorts, Febuwhump 2023, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD
Summary:
The appearance of a mysterious forest that springs up overnight, right in the spot where Grievous fled to after his escape, drives Eeth to investigate. But it's a long trek to the heart of the forest, and Eeth has more demons to face than just the physical.
I can’t find the og post (please link it to me if you do have it) but the person who raised Captain Lock as the batchmate of Rex, Keeli, and Howzer...might I also drop Captain Styles into the Captain Gang?
Have some EethLock, I’m yeeting it into the void in case anyone else wants something soft:
The sound of his own footsteps echos back at Lock as he makes the familiar trek to his General’s quarters. He consciously controls his breathing the way he does when he spars with the General.
He raises a gloved hand to knock on the door, and startles when it hisses open before his knuckles meet the metal. “Sir?” He calls hesitantly as he steps into the space.
“Come in, Captain,” The Zabrak’s voice is warm, and brightens in amusement as he continues, “have a seat, I’ll be right with you.”
It isn’t like him to make Lock wait long, and as soon as familiar footsteps approach, Lock makes to stand before looking up and freezing at the sight that greets him.
Mirth quirks one of his General’s eyebrows, and he continues the steady task of braiding his hair, naked from the waist up. “What brings you to my quarters, Captain?”
“Not ship’s business, Sir-”
His General cuts him off, “Then I insist that you call me by my name.”
“Eeth.” Lock obliges him, just this once, “I’m not here on ship’s business. It’s not my place to ask…” He trails off, mesmerized by elegant fingers working quickly through long dark hair.
“Would you like to?” His General answers the unasked question, “Would you like to braid my hair?”
Lock immediately stiffens, caught, but he relaxes when Eeth pinches the section he’s working with in one hand and reaches out with the other to take one of Lock’s and guide it to continue the pattern.
“Over and under, then over and under again,” Eeth’s voice reveals how relaxed he is under his Captain’s care, “that’s it, Lock, pulling it right will make it easier to tie up later.”
The rhythm of weaving his General’s hair brings him comfort, and when he looks down he can’t help but smile softly as Eeth half dozes.
[ Captain Lock and commander Ponds are guarding the closed door of the command post ]
Ponds: What is taking generals Windu and Koth so long? It's freezing out here
Lock: [ shoves him with an elbow ] Oh c'mon, commander, let them have their huggy time, don't be so grumpy
Ponds: Ugh, I'm not trying to schold them! General Windu can have secret affairs with whoever he wants. But hugs and kisses aside, I'd prefer to move on to the attack plans discussion now, you know?
Lock: Ah! I see
Ponds: And why are you so chill?
Lock: [ chuckles ] Nothing. It's just we agreed that the longer time my general spends behind the door, the more off duty hours in the 79's I can ask from him later
Note: Just wanted to make a really quick point of saying that I’m trying my best to stick with a nice mix of Legends and Cannon - especially where chronology is concerned but I am taking poetic liberties as well. For example I’m giving Neyo more direct involvement in events from the series cause he deserves some more attention (Mr Filoni, I’m looking at you). Also, you may notice when I finish chapter 4 that I’ve made Echo and Fives ARCs a few months earlier than originally as well - and obviously I’ve shoved quite a few OCs in this.
Warnings: Neyo’s potty mouth so swearing as usual, much cheesiness.
Word count: 3065
Chapter 3: The Short Straw
Month 4, 21 BBY
Despite the previous evenings antics, this morning had started just like any other. Neyo woke up at o-five-hundred and donned yesterday’s blacks. He made his way to the training room and practiced circuits. At o-six-forty-five he returned to his own quarter’s, spent a total of three minutes in the ‘fresher, dressed in fresh blacks and deposited the old set into his wash-pile. He combed and slicked his hair, he armoured up and by o-seven-hundred he was making his way to the mess hall.
Everything was practiced, concise and executed with precision. There were no anomalies in Neyo’s routine – mostly.
WAC had been promptly kicked back to the cargo hold as punishment for last night’s excursion, not that the droid minded – to be honest if he’d protested Neyo might have gave in and let him stay, he really did let the little shit get away with far too much. Still, he must have known just how tired his commander was because he hadn’t decided to meet Neyo in the hall this morning and skip around his heels as he was sometimes inclined to do.
As he marched through winding corridors, the security of Neyo’s omnipresent bucket allowed him to smile softly as he thought of his relationship with the tiny pest. A constant companion, WAC wore his metaphorical heart on his sleeve, it was endearing really but Neyo often found himself in a state of internal conflict around the droid. On one hand he felt at ease, as though he could relax and truly be himself when just the two of them are together. On the other, he was always apprehensive as to how long the little guy would stay charming before he started causing disruption. It was complicated.
[Break]
Striding into the mess, his men echoing a chorus of greeting as he passed, Neyo swiftly grabbed his morning rations and situated himself opposite his Captain, Chaos. Chaos had been named by Neyo because he was. Literally. Prior to his promotion he’d served with the Sky Corps and it was obvious to anyone that he idolised Marshal Commander Cody - he was as disciplined as any clone but he tended to get overly excited in battles; literally launching himself at the enemy, punching droids instead of blasting them and once Neyo had watched him ride a rolly. Pure chaos.
Bacara thought he was perfect. In fact, Bacara would offer to recruit Chaos into the Nova Corps every opportunity he got but was always met with polite refusal. Chaos, despite being the antithesis to Neyo’s sanity, is loyal to a fault.
Now helmetless, Neyo had been updating Chaos on the week’s schedule when he felt a presence in his peripheral vison. He didn’t even have to raise his eyes to meet the stupidly stunted woman in an engineer’s jumpsuit, she was nervously clutching a datapad and looking between him and Chaos. The Captain questioned her teasingly, easily picking up on her discomfort and Neyo almost did a double-take when he realised it was the same girl from last night. She looked more…presentable now. Good, no more hysterics.
Astrid, that was it. Astrid had apparently been sent to get approval on the new stock requisitions from her line manager – always needing a signature from a military rank of Commander.
“Sooo they sent the newbie to old grumpy over here, don’t worry he can only smell fear during a full moon.” Chaos jested before taking the tablet off her and handing it to Neyo.
“Di’kut” was all Neyo offered in response as he began scrolling through and amending pages of mechanical stock, adding his designation number where necessary.
“Seriously though, don’t let them make you do all the menial work just because you’re new.” Chaos advised.
“No actually, I ended up here fair and square” was her meek reply, accompanied by an infuriatingly sheepish smile.
Oh for fucks sake. Great. She probably thinks we're friends now. She must have offered.
This was why Neyo only dealt with people when he had to. He’d given her a tiny bit of comfort last night, sat with her for a few hours while she stupidly wept from those smudged eyes and now here she was; volunteering to spend time with him and naively assuming they had an understanding. He’d have to deal with this but not here, later, he’d pull her aside and tell her under no certain circumstances was he to be sought out – he’d….
“Fair and square?” Chaos pried with a sly grin now.
Now she looked embarrassed, looking to the side, to Neyo as if to confirm his suspicions, then back at Chaos.
“We drew straws, shortest straw has to speak to you Sir.” She answered, fully turned to Neyo now.
Well. That was something he did not know.
At least his assumptions were false but – ouch? No, they were scared of him, Good.
Chaos was loving this though, unable to quell his laughter and soon had Astrid smiling again.
Neyo, against his better judgement, found himself looking at Astrid more fully now. Her smile was nauseatingly enthralling – all teeth and white sunbeams. Her face, clear of the horrendous black slap from last night and painted properly was…she looked...
Mesh’la
He must have been staring because she turned from Chaos to cock her head at him in confusion, “is something wrong Sir?”
“You look different without all that shit on your face” he uttered, handing back the now signed datapad.
Bravo Neyo, bravo – all you had to say was “no”.
Chaos looked mortified but it wasn’t in Neyo’s nature to voice anything other than the bluntest of truths when questioned – and he certainly wasn’t about to tell her she looked pretty. At the very least he supposed if he offended her, he could be further reassured she wouldn’t try to latch onto him.
“Oh” was her shocked reaction, taking back the datapad and thanking him. She’d turned back to Chaos, let him know how lovely it had been meeting him and made to leave before quickly spinning back on her heels and facing Neyo once more.
“Thanks for last night by the way. It - won’t happen again” Neyo acknowledged her promise with a stern nod and watched her hurriedly make her exit.
He was still watching the door when Chaos began demanding his attention by shoving his face into his vision, “chances of you telling me what that was about Sir?” he tested with a raised brow.
“Nothing.”
It was nothing.
[Break]
Month Six
He couldn’t escape from her. He tried, he really kriffing tried but it’s not as though he could avoid the hanger during the day; his normal shifts mostly consisted of developing schematics and new tactical measures with the occasional need for deck supervision and briefings with his General. He quite enjoyed the former part of each day but he couldn’t make a very good job of charting BARC developments without inspecting them regularly. He’d just have to get used to her.
Neyo couldn’t place why he found her presence so irritating, she hadn’t spoken to him since that morning in the mess – if she ever looked up from her work and noticed him, she’d quickly look away. The fact of the matter was, through no fault of her own, she bothered him just by existing.
It wasn’t her voice, though the soft giggle she emitted when joking with her colleagues would cause him to clench his teeth in an effort not to look over. It wasn’t the way she tripped over thin air while walking or even that she had a habit of almost dropping everything she touched. It was that he’d seen her vulnerable and when she had no one to turn to he’d been there, unwillingly yes but he’d become a source of comfort in that moment and – and it made him feel…itchy. Thinking logically, he was being unnecessarily paranoid; she hadn’t mentioned the incident further and neither had he but what else could be causing his unease? That had to be it.
Nevertheless, no matter how painstakingly Neyo was able to avoid her, WAC would seek out Astrid as often as possible, gouging much more information out of her than he could possibly fit into that rusty head of his. The diminutive shit was enamoured with her and wanted to know every trivial detail of her inconsequential life. What was worse is that the bastard liked to ferry every bit of intel he gained straight back to Neyo: that she missed Naboo, her mixed-race heritage, the fact her mother was her best friend, that she and her roommate liked to watch cheesy holovid dramas in their downtime, that when she next rotated the same roommate had insisted she join her and her wife for dinner, her love of snow of all things. The list was endless and it was so unbelievably insignificant to Neyo that he thought he might tear his hair out. Which is why he’d prepared himself for the worst today as he went to program some new maps into the nav on his speeder.
Bucket tucked under one arm, scowl barely concealed, Neyo rounded the corner to the engineering station and – she wasn’t there.
WAC trotted over with Neyo’s tools and said that Astrid had been rotated for her next stint of leave that morning so the “lucky” Commander had WACs “wonderful company” all to himself. Neyo should have been relieved but he felt, dejected? No. It was just the adrenalin he’d amassed from the fear of having to deal with her again leaving his body. That was all.
[Break]
The upgrades to the nav had taken longer to install than anticipated so Neyo found he had only a spare few moments to engage in some back and forth banter with WAC before he was packing up his tools and making his way to a briefing. He’d arrived in the war room promptly regardless and took his place at the holo-table besides General Adi Gallia with a respectful greeting. The Tholothian was easy to work with – she wasn’t unlike Neyo in her strategics; preferring a level-headed approach and had the same disdain for ostentatiousness in combat that he did. Gallia genuinely cared for her troops too and Neyo was grateful for the value she attached to the lives of his men, he was sceptical of most Jedi – far too whimsical in their reliance on superstition to guide them but Gallia had proven herself capable time and time again.
The briefing went as well as could be expected where Jedi were concerned, the general public liked to view Jedi as reserved warrior-monks; tranquil in their serenity and desire for peace. In reality they were like an unconventional, ever-bickering family. Tuning into the comm channel Neyo and Gallia were met by the flickering holograms of Jedi Generals Koth, Kenobi, Windu and Mundi alongside their respective commanders – Captain Rex was also present, growing increasingly perturbed at his lack of General.
Good start.
Fifteen minutes later, Rex was in the midst of apologising profusely to the bulging vein in Windu’s temple when Skywalker finally waltzed up alongside him, looking entirely unapologetic as he conjured an excuse involving his young Padawan. Windu simply fixed a glare before opening the brief; begrudgingly congratulating Skywalkers joint success with General Unduli to destroy the separatist droid factory on Geonosis, and their consequential capture of Archduke Poggle. At this point Kenobi had politely interjected on behalf of his Commander; Cody made a request that he and Rex be allowed to formulate an investigation into the rumours that Poggle may have been in the midst of developing a “super-weapon” of sorts.
And then it began.
General Mundi was quick to object, claiming that it would be nothing but a colossal waste of time to launch a full scale investigation into mere rumours, Kenobi began to respectfully disagree but was soon interrupted by Skywalker’s tactless accusation that Mundi was being overly cynical.
Cody cringed. Rex turned pale. Bacara exhaled. Neyo blinked. Captain Lock looked ready to cry.
The next thirteen standard minutes saw the five clones present flit glances at each other in a mutual state of embarrassment and distress, while simultaneously willing their respective Generals to put an end to the ceaseless hurling of sarcasm and slights - poorly veiled as constructive criticism. Thank the maker Bly wasn’t here Neyo had thought to himself, he actually would cry if Secura was in the middle of this; the Commander of the 327th was so protective of his General that it remained a mystery to Neyo how they managed to partake in any fighting at all.
Neyo did not care to remember who eventually ended the “discussion,” but when it was finally shut down under the agreement that Commander Fox of the Coruscant Guard be tasked with the investigation, he was grateful all the same. Swiftly moving onto the next stage of the agenda, Windu announced that due to new GAR procedure; the use of prototype equipment would need to cease immediately in order for accuracy and uniformity to maintained within the Sky Corps.
Kenobi raised a brow. Skywalker opened his mouth.
Fuck.
[Break]
Neyo had been forcefully rubbing his temples, with two fingers against each side of his head, since returning to his quarters three minutes ago. He was sure if he tried hard enough he could reach inside his skull and rip out any trace of the past hour and just as he was internally debating the logistics of doing this, his comm beeped. Bacara:
[CC-1138 is active]
[CC-1138]: Fuck me.
[CC-8826]: Not tonight darling I have a headache.
[CC-1138]: Hilarious.
[CC-1138]: Seriously though, what the kark was that?
[CC-8826]: I thought it went rather well.
[CC-1138]: Just because I’m the only person in the galaxy who gets to see your sense of humour doesn’t mean I enjoy it.
[CC-8826]: ?
[CC-1138]: Fine.
[CC-1138]: I’ll admit this only because I haven’t seen you in seven months; you’re not bad.
[CC-8826]: Thanks tat. You’re less not bad.
[CC-1138]: <3</p>
[CC-8826]: How long do you think before that vein on Windu’s head finally ruptures?
[CC-1138]: Can’t be long now, I swear the things actually started to tick by the second.
[CC-8826]: My money is on the Chancellor being the one that finally does it, Fox says he summoned Windu to the Senate four times last week.
[CC-1138]: Unless Fox cracks first, his blood must be 90% caf by this point.
[CC-8826]: And now he gets Cody’s pet project.
[CC-1138]: Don’t remind me.
[CC-8826]: How was Mr Cynical after the brief then?
[CC-1138]: He’s still bitching to Windu, they stayed on the link.
[CC-8826]: Nice.
[CC-1138]: Gallia?
[CC-8826]: “Meditating.”
[CC-1138]: Breaking stuff?
[CC-8826]: Yes.
[CC-8826]: That being said, I do plan on bashing my head against the wall for a few hours before I give the boys the shortened version. Speak soon?
[CC-1138]: Ha, I might try that.
[CC-1138]: Course. Comm before you’re next due to check in at Coruscant, might get lucky and see you there.
[CC-8826]: Will do, I’ll be the one in plastoid.
[CC-1138]: Go fuck yourself Neyo.
[Break]
She was back.
She, oh Jango preserve him, she’d brought kriffing cookies this time. Seriously – how the ever-lasting-karking hell was he supposed to maintain discipline and procedure when half of the shinnies had a sugar-rush?
He had to spend a good chunk of his day watching his men, his men sheepishly taking their pick from her home-baked goods and perhaps even more disrespectfully; going for seconds. Okay fine, they weren’t strictly doing anything wrong and most of them would take one, thank her and get back to work and only a few lingered for chit-chat but urgh - it bothered him. Before Neyo knew it he was storming over, noting his troopers scatter as he did so, and asking her what the actual kriff she thought she was doing.
She looked like a startled porg in the light of his controlled anger, quickly blabbering apologies “Oh, force I’m sorry, I didn’t even think. I had no idea it was against regulation – I’ll get rid…”
“It’s not” he interrupted, ultimately coming to the conclusion that he was fabricating an excuse to talk to – no, to reprimand her.
She gave him a victorious smile at that, realising his admonishment was unjustified. “Would you like one Sir?” She was holding out the tin to him now, coquettish smirk turned feral.
Sceptically, he took one of the smaller ones from the centre of the tin. It was crumbly and the sediments stuck to the rough fabric of his gloves so he thought it best to shove the whole thing into his mouth and be done with it.
Fuck me that’s sweet.
Neyo did not do sweet. They didn’t really have treats on Kamino and if there was ever a dessert it was always fruits or some sort of paste, occasionally his ration pack would include a high fibre cracker but that was it. This was clinging to every taste-bud in his mouth and coating his teeth – he felt as though they would rot from all the sugar but he hid his grimace anyway; an unexpected act of kindness on his part.
“You can finish the rest if you want” she offered, he wanted to tear that stomach-churning sun-beam from her mouth and stamp on it.
Fuck no.
“No. Thank you.” He declined against the unanticipated protests of his newly awakened taste-buds. Shit, now he might like sweets. Kriffing great. She simply smiled again without offense and tidied the damn things away with a promise that the offer still stood, as long as there were more. Luckily the tin was mostly empty now and from what he’d seen, the huge Devaronian she worked with would soon deplete the remaining supply anyway. Twat.
Neyo, realising that he had nothing else to say, promptly excused himself and resumed his work. He noted with a twinge of, well he didn’t know what, regret? That he hadn’t been quite ready for the conversation to end, gazing back over to Astrid, he could see her now immersed in her labour – smile absent to make way for concentration. He missed it.
No. He still found it annoying.
Later, much later when her shift had apparently ended, Astrid had approached him and gently wished Neyo a “goodnight Commander.”
