Disclaimer: Star wars franchise belongs to many people and companies from Gorge Lucas to Disney, however I'm not among them.

Conditioned reflex

By your-biohazardous-friend

"You've seen one, you've seen them all"

*que Star Wars: the clone wars theme*

There was a naked clone on her left… and her right. Ahsoka was surrounded by naked male bodies. She sucked a breath, trying, with all her might to, somehow, narrow her field of vision. It wasn't helping. She was, all in all, in communal bathroom during rush hour, following her master like a shadow. Her eyes peeled to the chosen one's shoulder blades.

Skyguy didn't warn her about this.

"I need to talk to Rex" it was all he said few minutes earlier. "You wait here"

She though no better of it, why should she wait on the deck? She always accompanied her master in matters like that and Anakin's voice didn't indicated anything confidential.

"I'll go with you" Ahsoka replied stubbornly.

Her master just shrugged his shoulders in reply.

Now the commander knew why. Oh, Force! was it Hardcase? No, no, it wasn't him. who was it then? It was hard for Ahsoka to tell apart clones by their bodies alone. Of course, there were certain distinctive traits, like heavy gunners had wider shoulders to waist ratio for example. However, tattoo-wise most of them kept their bodies clean of ink, as anything below their necks was impractical to tag. However she caught few ink-covered shoulders, legs, arms, and even, in the corner of her eye, she spotted a phrase trooper from womb 'till tomb written in Aurebesh on someone's chest.

"Fives!" Anakin exclaimed, trotting to one of the naked, soaped bodies.

The clone turned around. It was Fives all right, in all his glory of the small 5 tattooed on the side of his temple and goatee. How Skyguy guessed it was him?

"General!" the man almost saluted in response.

"why so formal?" Anakin laughed and slapped the clone on the shoulder "seen Rex?"

"With Kix, sir" Fives replied, pointing at the back of the room

"Serious?"

"few cuts that have hard time healing, sir."

Anakin nodded in polite, Jedi fashion and continued his stroll down the sterile white room. Clones didn't mind the chosen one that much. They were even less formal with him, than they ever were on the battlefield, asking him to strip down and join in or plea to use the Force to pick up bar of soap from the floor. Anakin bursted out laughing each time, catering to the men's cries of anguish –the bar of soft soap shoot up from the middle of the floor to someone's opened palms. Even though prison jokes were irrelevant at GAR, they were clones' favourites nonetheless.

The troopers reacted differently toward Ahsoka. It was understandable; not only was she female but also a minor. However their reactions seemed… superficial, cartoonish as if their reactions were methodically taught, not socially developed. Still, it was entertaining to watch those men trying to find a balance between shying in the corners and respecting her rank.

As every clone trooper, Fives was off the mark with his description. Yet, even knowing that perfectly well, it didn't prevent Ahsoka from shock when the scene unfolded before her eyes. Rex was sitting on a small stool butt naked. Nothing would seem extraordinary for the circumstances if not for her best friend had a ghastly white face, whiter than walls surrounding them, with circled, glossy eyes and weariness written allover and Kix kneeling in between the captain's legs.

The few cuts that had hard time healing were deep gunshot wounds oozing with puss and blood. The skin around them was inflamed while the swelling made it glisten sickly. The clone medic was currently probing an area of the other man's inner tight, literally cramming this finger to the other man's flesh, then wiping the spot with bacta-moistened cloth to eventually rinsing the blood soaked skin with scorching water and repeating the process. The captain was fighting his instincts to flight from Kix's hands by clutching the edges of the stool so hard, it made his knuckles white; Rex's muscles were visibly spasming, throat involuntary emitting grunts and moans of discomfort. Ahsoka hissed at the sight. Those kind of injuries weren't suppose to be crammed into the tight fitting armour to chafe.

"I was wondering what made you so sloppy, Rex" Anakin said flatly, leaning on the nearest cabin frame "but that explains everything"

The sudden voice startled the clones, Kix shoot up from his post, saluting with one hand, while the other one was pinning the captain in place.

That dick was unavoidable. Ahsoka though, waging her options between covering her eyes from something she already saw or… no. She was a commander for crying out loud! her rank was above childish embarrassment.

"captain... errrrrmm- commander?" It was then when both clones finally acknowledged the padawan learner.

Just as the rest of the clones, both Kix and Rex did not blush upon realization of her presence. Still standing to attention, the clone medic's eyes glanced from one side to the other in search for any form of censorship. Finding none, he slowly, most likely to not to be noticed that he was breaching the protocol, moved his free hand from Rex's shoulder to his front, while Rex, just like Kix, had an opportunity to censored himself, awkwardly shifting on the stool. They weren't really covering themselves up out of modesty, but out of some sort of conditioned reflex. As if someone at Kamino flash-trained them to behave in such a way, rather than it was their natural inclination to do so.

"how, on Force, you're able to run, Rex?! Walk even!? Unless-" Anakin approached his right-hand man in few strides and grabbed the clone's by his jaw and looked Rex deep into his eyes.

"Already wore off, sir" Kix admitted with a heavy sigh, it was his was of confessing to participation in the crime.

The general turned toward him, eyes narrowed. The medic braced himself for an earful; it was common among clones, especially among five-oh-first, to be brave beyond stupid. More often than not, the clone medics had it the worst with being thrown between endless guilt trips of their brothers and Jedi's bending their ears for letting wounded men fight. They were a shining example of a loose-loose situation.

"it was my idea, general-" Rex begun.

"I've never said it wasn't" Anakin cut in.

"it's actually better!" the captain continued.

He tried to get up to prove his point but with every move, the muscles trembled, forcing the captain to grind his teeth from pain.

Ahsoka's presence was long forgotten with Kix, out of sheer reflex, caught his superior, shaking his head – don't make the matters worse. Rex aborted the idea.

"so, it was worse?" Skywalker asked flatly "you've went to the battlefield with a limb literally screaming amputate me! I don't want to be attached to this body anymore?"

Rex swore under his breath, now remembering that as an amputee himself, general Skywalker was especially vicious toward anyone who took those issues lightly.

"it's salvageable, sir" Kix chimed in, trying to seize the situation "it just need more sophisticated assistance and rest"

"and how, Kix, are you going to do that in the middle of a battlefield?" Kix sucked a breath. "make a miraculous medicine out of spit and moldy bread?"

"Rex, I'm pulling you out of the campaign," Anakin decided. "Snips!" for the first time since entering the bathroom, Skywalker acknowledged his apprentice's presence, "Get Appo, fill him in on the situation"

"Right away, master" Ahsoka nodded, immediately run along the rows of showers.

The room was now empty. The rush was over. Ahsoka was still, somewhat, mindful of stray clones and might be around, although her montrals were not focused on hearing pitter-patter of male bare feet but on Anakin's raised voice, ordering the clones to dry up and put their clothes on.