Thorn woke up slowly to an uncomfortable feeling in his body, a gut feeling that there was something wrong. He kept his eyes closed where he was laying, but listened closely, trying to ascertain if there was something in the room with him but everything was silent. Still, he couldn't help the sinking feeling that he was being watched, that something was there lurking in the shadows, watching him. Which is creepy but also dangerous, depending on what it is. He hesitated before slowly opening his eye.

"Oh force, what the kark," he yelped, jumping up and shooting back against the wall as he saw the face directly in front of his own. He tried to slow his heart rate down and quickly flicked the light switch, lighting up the room and allowing him to see the person who was sitting right beside the end of the bed.

"Bacara, what the kark," he yelled.

"Hello little brother," Bacara said.

"H-Hi. But like, what the kark are you doing," Thorn asked, relaxing as he realised he wasn't in any danger. Or, he hoped he wasn't in any danger. Bacara is dangerous and could probably kill him easily but he hoped that wasn't why he was here.

"I was watching you sleep," Bacara said with a shrug.

"For how long," Thorn asked. Bacara looked down at his watch and was quiet for a second as he thought before looking back up.

"Four hours," Bacara said with another shrug.

"You've been sitting there for four hours, watching me sleep," Thorn asked.

"Yes," Bacara said with a nod.

"Why," Thorn asked slowly. He's never really understood Baraca, even as cadets, he was always sort of an outlier. Neyo was similar but not as pronounced.

"I came here to talk to you," Bacara said.

"Right, so you wanted to talk to me and instead of waking me up, you decided to sit creepily by my bedside watching me sleep," Thorn said with a raised eyebrow.

"That is correct. You move a lot in your sleep still, you should probably fix that because it isn't good in a warzone," Bacara said.

"I will be sure to remember that, thanks. How did you even get here," Thorn asked.

"General Mundi was told to come back to Coruscant for an important meeting and we came with him. We were in the barracks and I heard you were on this cruiser so I stole a ship, docked and tracked your comm to this room," Bacara said and Thorn sighed. He honestly doesn't know what he was expecting, nothing would surprise him when it comes to Bacara.

"Okay, cool, now go away I don't want to talk to you," Thorn huffed, laying down and turning so his back was to Bacara.

"Uh, Thorn, I'm still talking to you," Bacara said, patting his shoulder.

"I don't care, go away Bacara," Thorn said, refusing to turn around.

"But I want to talk to my little brother," Bacara said.

"Don't care," Thorn huffed.

"Thorn," Bacara said, shaking Thorn's shoulder but he still refused to turn around.

"Thorn," he said with a huff. It was quiet for a few seconds and there was some shuffling and Thorn thought Bacara had finally given up which was odd, because he doesn't usually give up so quickly and Thorn wasn't sure how to feel about it. That was until there was a sharp zap to his side and he shot up with a yelp, spinning around to see Bacara holding some sort of small device.

"Did you just karking taser me," he gasped out, rubbing the area it had pressed against.

"Yes. I was talking to you and you weren't listening," Bacara said.

"So your next thought was to taser me," Thorn asked.

"Well yeah, it worked didn't it. I mean I turned the setting down so it wouldn't really hurt you. Did it hurt you," Bacara asked.

"Well, kind of. I mean not badly but it was still uncomfortable," Thorn said with a frown.

"Oh, I'm, sorry," Bacara said, his eyes furrowing slightly.

"It's fine, just don't randomly taser people," Thorn said with a sigh. Bacara didn't say anything, just continued to watch Thorn who rolled his eyes.

"You tasered me to talk to me but now you aren't talking to me," Thorn pointed out.

"Right. Come sit down next to me," Bacara said. Thorn sighed but slipped out of bed, sitting down next to Bacara and leaning against the bed.

"How are you," Bacara asked and Thorn snorted.

"I'm guessing you heard about what has been happening to the Guard and that's why you came here," Thorn said.

"Yes. You're my little brother so I thought I should come and check on you," Bacara said with a nod.

"Yeah, well you didn't need to. You haven't checked on me the entire time since I came here," Thorn said.

"Well I didn't have a reason to, for all I knew you were fine before this," Bacara pointed out.

"I mean, that's true I guess. You still could have commed to check in though," Thorn said.

"Maybe, but so could you," Bacara said with a shrug. And he had Thorn there. Because Thorn used to comm Doom and Faie and occasionally Neyo but he rarely commed Bacara because he wasn't the type for small talk usually.

"Am I right," Bacara asked.

"Maybe," Thorn said with a sigh.

"Good. So how are you Thorn," Bacara asked again.

"I'm fine I guess," Thorn said.

"You guess," questioned Bacara.

"I'm fine," Thorn huffed out.

"Are you hurt right now? They said you were abused," Bacara said, glancing at Thorn inquisitively.

"It feels like I'm always hurt but right now I really do feel fine. They have a lot of bacta here so most of my injuries have healed up," Thorn explained.

"That's good. They said the Senators raped you, is that true," Bacara asked and Thorn tensed, his shoulders raising slightly.

"Yes," he said curtly.

"That sucks. Did it hurt," Bacara asked.

"I don't really want to talk about it Cara, they aren't good memories," Thorn said quietly.

"Oh, okay. Um, the Chancellor is dead," Bacara said, scratching at the back of his neck awkwardly.

"Yeah, he is. And apparently he was playing both sides and the war is pretty much over, I think the separatists are asking for a peace treaty," Thorn said with a nod.

"Have you seen any of the others lately," Bacara asked.

"No, I have not. They all kind of just stopped talking to me," Thorn said.

"Did you try to reach out," Bacara asked.

"Neyo was pretty much a lost cause, he's as hopeless as you. I tried a few times with Faie and a bit with Doom but they just stopped answering," Thorn said with a shrug.

"Oh, so it's been a while," Bacara asked.

"Yeah, it's been a while," Thorn said with a sigh.

"Do you want a batchmate hug," Bacara asked, shifting to face Thorn more. Thorn raised an eyebrow at that. Bacara despises hugs, he always said they were a show of weakness and pathetic.

"You hate hugs. We have literally never hugged," Thorn pointed out.

"I know, but everyone always says hugs make you feel better and you look sad. You were abused and that's not nice so I thought you could do with a batchmate hug, but the others aren't here so I'm the best you'll get. Sorry," Bacara said with a shrug.

"Are you sure," Thorn asked slowly.

"Yes. Why would I say you could if I didn't mean it, that's just stupid," Bacara said with a frown. Thorn rolled his eyes but shuffled over and hesitantly leaned over to rest his head on Bacara's shoulder. Bacara grunted and shouldered him off, making Thorn's heart clenched and he went to pull away but Bacara was suddenly yanking him over and man-handling him until he was sat in between the older Commanders legs, his back resting against Bacara's chest. Bacara was a bit stiff but his arms locked securely around Thorn's waist and compared to the bed he slept on in the barracks, it was nice. Thorn let out a breath and relaxed back against Bacara.

"Is this right? Gree said you need to have a firm hold for comfort or something," Bacara said.

"It's fine," Thorn said, letting his head drop back to rest on Bacara's shoulder.

"Just don't taser me or some shit," Thorn said.

"I won't. You were just ignoring me earlier and I wanted to talk to you," Bacara said and Thorn chuckled softly.

"I forgot how weird you are," he said.

"Thank you," Bacara replied. It was quiet for a bit before Bacara shifted slightly.

"So, do we just sit here like this? Or should I be talking," he asked.

"No talking, just, here, run your fingers though my hair," Thorn said, grabbing one arm and tugging it up so Bacara's hand was in his hair.

"Why," Bacara asked.

"Because it's very comforting and relaxing," Thorn said. Bacara let out a quiet, oh, before he started to run his fingers through Thorn's hair. Thorn released a breath and let his eyes slip closed as he relaxed back into Bacara's hold. This is the first ever time he has hugged Bacara, has cuddled with him so it's a momentous occasion. He was going to savour it but Bacara didn't have his upper armour on and he was a solid, warm body so before he realised what was happening, he was drifting off to sleep.

~~~~~

Bly sighed to himself as he walked through the halls. Fox had asked him to check on Thorn after they'd eaten because he had been sleeping for a while and Fox wanted to make sure everything was okay. Truthfully, Fox wanted to go check on him but he was supposed to be having a checkup in medical and they all realised he was likely trying to get out of it so Bly offered to go. Plus he would get a nice walk out of it and be able to drag Thorn from the room if he was awake, or if he was asleep, Bly could take some photos with his holopad. He was secretly hoping Thorn would be sleeping like a baby so he could take some pictures. He got to the room and slid the door open, stepping inside and freezing as he heard a click. He turned to the culprit and was shocked to see it wasn't Thorn holding the gun, but Bacara. Wait, what. Bacara? How the hell did Bacara get here? When the hell did Bacara get here.

"Uh, Bacara, hi," Bly said slowly, holding up his hands to show he wasn't a threat.

"Commander Bly, state your business here," Bacara said, his gun still held up.

"Uh, well this is my ship. I was looking for Thorn cos this is his room. Where is-oh." Bly blinked in surprise as he looked closer and realise Thorn was there, in his blacks, curled up against Bacara and sleeping peacefully. Now this was a turn of events he never saw coming and he seriously needs to get photo or even video proof of this or else no one will believe him.

"Bacara, are you protecting Thorn right now," Bly asked slyly as he leant against the doorway.

"Yes, I am. As he is sleeping and taking comfort, it is my duty to take watch and keep an eye out for any hostiles to protect him in a vulnerable state," Bacara said with a nod.

"That quite sweet for you, never clocked you as the protective type, or the cuddly one," Bly said.

"What are you doing here? Why do you want Thorn," Bacara asked.

"Fox was worried about him because he's been sleeping for quite a while, so he wanted me to check up on him to make sure he's okay," Bly explained. Bacara nodded at that, lowering his gun and placing it on the floor before he begun to run his fingers through Thorn's hair. Bly squealed internally at how cute of a picture it was, despite Bacara's blank look. Thorn was cute.

"Whatchya doing," he asked as he sauntered over to the bed and sat down.

"Thorn said I should do this, that it was comforting. He would usually go to Doom for comfort, but Doom isn't here and as the big brother, it's my duty to step up," Bacara said.

"I don't get why to be honest, but apparently laying on someone is comforting," Bacara said with a half shrug.

"It is comforting, even if you don't think it is. It's nice that you're doing this for him. The other Guard members have slowly been gaining batchmates but Thorn hasn't talked to anyone yet. Actually, he was pretty adamant he wouldn't talk to any of you but here he is. How did you of all people managed to change his mind," Bly asked.

"I came here to talk and he was asleep so I waited. When he woke up, he freaked out because apparently watching him sleep is creepy. Then he was ignoring me so I tasered him and he talked to me," Bacara said with a shrug and Bly snort out a laugh. Force, it was so Bacara.

"Why did you taser him. And also how long were you watching him sleep," Bly asked.

"So he would stop ignoring me and about four hours," Bacara replied.

"Vod, four hours, that is so creepy. How did you even get onto the ship? I'm the Commander for this cruiser and I'm supposed to be notified whenever a ship docks aboard," Bly said.

"I stole a ship, docked it in one of the back hangars and snuck on board, finding Thorn by tracking his comm," Bacara explained simple.

"Right," Bly said slowly.

"And how long have you been sitting here with Thorn," he asked.

"About two or three hours I think. I wasn't really keeping track," Bacara replied.

"Right. Well I'm sorry but I so have to do this," Bly said, pulling out his pad and snapping a picture of the two curled up together while Bacara scowled. Bacara's hand moved quickly and picked up his gun, aiming it at Bly and firing . Bly yelped and hurriedly threw himself off the bed and onto the floor, out of harms way.

"BACARA YOU COULD HAVE KILLED ME," he yelled, making Baraca giggle. He karken giggled.

"It was on stun you baby and that's what you get for taking photos," Bacara said with an evil grin. Like seriously, evil.

"Brother, stop trying to shoot people," Thorn mumbled as he stretched out and blinked his eyes open sleepily.

"It's Bly, he's an idiot," Bacara said, making Bly frown.

"You're the one who just tried to shoot me for taking a photo," Bly pointed out.

"Your fault for taking the photo," Bacara said.

"Is everything okay Bly," Thorn asked, waking up more and realising there had to be a reason why Bly was there.

"Apart from Bacara trying to shoot me, it's fine. Fox just wanted me to check on you," Bly said, frowning at Bacara who frowned back.

"Ah, yeah. Well if it helps, Bacara tasered me earlier, so..." Thorn trailed off with a shrug.

"Bacara, you have some serious issues," Bly said standing up.

"No, you're just soft. Thorn didn't complain so much when I tasered him," Bacara said with a frown while Bly rolled his eyes. Thorn sighed and slipped away from Bacara, standing up and stretching out.

"Well, I'm going to get changed and head to check up on my men, make sure everyone is still doing okay," Thorn said as he headed over to his armour.

"Alright, I shall leave you to it. And Bacara, please don't go around shooting anyone," Bly said with a sigh of exasperation.

"I won't if they don't give me a reason to," Bacara said with a shrug and Thorn chuckled.

"I'll keep an eye on him Bly, promise," Thorn said.

"Sure," Bly said with a nod. He glanced to make sure Thorn wasn't watching before turning to Bacara behind his back to sigh.

Protect him. Watch him. Your duty.

Bacara frowned slightly but nodded firmly.

"I shall head off, enjoy catching up," Bly said with a grin before slipping out the door and heading to the nearest empty room. He went in and sat down before pulling out his holopad.

The Ultimate CC Chat

Bly: image.png

typing...

Gree: Holy kark is that bacara

Doom: When was this taken

Ponds: Wow it is. Who is with him. Is that Neyo

Neyo: No its not

Doom: @Bly when was this photo taken

Grey: Who is that. @Faie is that you

Cody: There is no way that's Faie. Faie has a lot more bulk to him

Fox: It's Thorn

typing...

Cody: Fox? Vod'ika are you okay

Doom: Bly when was this taken

Wolffe: Cody leave it

Cody: I haven't talked to him since the incident and I just found out my vod'ika has been hurting for years, don't tell me to just leave it, I deserve to know

Stone is typing...

Gree: Oh shit, here we go

Grey: Gree shut up

Stone is typing...

Doom: @Bly why won't you answer me

Fox: Not long ago, sometime today Doom but please leave it for now. He's okay

Doom: Thank you

Doom is offline

Stone: @Cody respectfully shut the kark up and go get eaten by a bantha. You don't deserve anything, absolutely nothing from Fox. You think just because you now know the shit we went through that you can come crawling back and everything is okay. Rex could have killed him and you encouraged that. You came to Fox when he wasn't in a good mental state, yelled at an already traumatised shiny to force your way to him and then proceeded to call him dar'vod and kick him from the batch group chat. What you deserve is to come find either Thire, Thorn or me so we can kick your shebs until you can't sit down for a week, you piece of shit

Ponds is typing...

Gree: Uh, I feel like I missed something and am seriously out of the loop...

Neyo: You and me both but this is entertaining so please continue

Stone is offline

Ponds: @Cody @Wolffe @Bly @Fox we need to have a batch chat as soon as possible but until them lets not go airing dirty laundry in a group chat filled with other Commanders

Cody: Stone did that, not me. I just wanted to make sure Fox was okay

Fox is typing...

Ponds has muted Fox & Cody for 24 hours

Neyo: Damn I was wanting to hear the gossip

Doom: Neyo shut up

Doom is offline

Bly sighed and switched off his holopad, setting it down on the table. That wasn't exactly how he thought that was going to go, but at least Stone clearly got some stuff off his chest and Cody may have gotten a bit more of a reality check.

~~~~~

"E-Excuse me Sir." Thorn glanced up from his food with a frown of confusion as he saw Winter standing in front of him looking very unsure.

"Win'ika, is everything okay," Thorn asked worriedly. Winter hasn't ever seemed so afraid around him so it was weird.

"Um, y-yeah. I just wanted to um, to ask if it was okay if- Eek," Winter yelped and ran off quickly, not finishing his sentence. Thorn frowned in confusion before glancing to the side to see Bacara leant back in the chair, his arms crossed over his chest with a frown on his face.

"Okay brother, seriously, you're scaring the shinies," Thorn said with a groan.

"I'm not even doing anything," Bacara said.

"Yes you are. You're glaring at everyone who is walking past, not to mention they're already scared of you because you're a Marshall Commander who stands on business and is a cold-hearted killing machine," Thorn pointed out.

"I'm not cold- okay maybe I might be. But I'm just sitting here, not even doing anything. You can't blame me for scaring them, shouldn't they be more you know, tough," Bacara said, raising an eyebrow.

"Just stop looking so gruff, seriously," Thorn said.

"I'm not though," Bacara said.

"Why don't you try to smile. Like you know how to do that right," Thorn asked slowly.

"Smiles are for weak people, it's silly," Bacara said. Thorn groaned and dropped his head onto the table, making Bacara roll his eyes.

"I don't remember you being this dramatic as cadets," he said with a sigh.

"I'm not being dramatic Cara. We've been through hell in a place where we should have been fine, safe. We were abandoned by everyone, including you. Not that you ever really cared though, you don't do the whole emotions things. But unlike you, we feels things and we remember all of that pain. So yes our shinies get scared when they have a Marshall Commander glaring angrily at them considering what we've been through with our authority figures. So if you aren't even going to try to pretend to care, then just leave like you always do," Thorn spat, angrily stabbing his fork into his food. Bacara was quiet for a few seconds before he stood up and Thorn felt tears spring to his eyes. Was it really that easy to abandon him, to leave him?

"Come with me Thorn," Bacara said, grabbing Thorn's wrist and dragging him up gently. Thorn was caught off guard as he was tugged to his feet but quickly pushed back his tears and followed Bacara out of the mess hall. Bacara was right, crying is weak and crying over something so small is just silly.

"Where are we going," Thorn asked after they spent a few minutes walking through the halls.

"I didn't technically steal a ship. Well kind of, but not really," Bacara replied.

"Yeah, that doesn't really answer my question," Thorn said slowly.

"It's my ship, or well my squads ship. We use it for missions where we only need a squad for infiltration," Bacara explained.

"Okay, so we're going to your ship," Thorn asked.

"Yes, I'm going to show you something," Bacara said with a nod. Thorn left it at that, just walking with Bacara, curious to know what exactly he wanted to show him. They got to a door that Bacara opened and showed a tunnel to what Thorn assumed was the ship. When they got inside, Thorn found that it wasn't the small ship he thought it was but it was definitely not a large ship. It had a few rooms and Bacara lead him over to one, opening the door and ushering him inside. It was exactly like he expected, dull and neat, nothing special. Bacara, ushered him back before pushing him over to sit on the bed. Thorn watched curiously as Bacara moved his desk to the side and fiddled at something behind it before standing back up with a small box. He walked back over to Thorn and sat down on the bed beside him.

"What's in the box," Thorn asked curiously.

"Before I show you, you need to promise that you're not going to tell anyone okay," Bacara said. Thorn was surprised because Bacara seemed to be serious, but not in his usual way.

"I won't," Thorn promised.

"Not even Neyo, Faie or Doom," Bacara said.

"You haven't shown Neyo," Thorn asked in surprise.

"Contrary to popular belief, Neyo and I aren't besties who tell each other everything like little girls," Bacara said with a scoff.

"Okay, but I don't talk to them anyway so it's not a problem," Thorn said. Bacara sighed before handing Thorn the box and crossing his arms, staring off to the side.

"And this doesn't change anything, I'm still me," Bacara said gruffly. Thorn was even more curious now. Bacara almost seemed, embarrassed and that is unheard of. He pulled the lid of the box and glanced inside, seeing what seemed to be a bunch of random objects. He reached inside and pulled out the first object. It seemed oddly familiar to him. It was a small plush toy in the shape of a, tooka-. Thorn gasped as the dots connected in his head.

"This was Doom's, when we were cadets. He couldn't sleep without it for the first five years after we were decanted. He eventually outgrew it and I thought he threw it away," Thorn said, glancing at Bacara curiously.

"He did, technically," Bacara said with a shrug. Thorn put the tooka down before looking back into the box. There was an old blue pen that Faie had used for years and refused to get rid of until it broke. It was in the box, roughly taped together. There was also Neyo's pin ball. It was a ball he used to constantly poke with pins whenever he was bored or angry, which was, often so it was quite torn apart. Thorn actually thought that Neyo used to go through them monthly and just replace it without telling anyone.

"This doesn't even look anything like what it was originally supposed to," Thorn said with a fond chuckle.

"Yeah well, Neyo did have some rage issues," Bacara said, glancing over at the cushion and shifting a little closer to Thorn.

"I think you heavily influenced that. You know, with you being the eldest and him being one of the youngest. He looked up to you," Thorn said.

"Perhaps. But you're the youngest and I didn't seem to influence you much," Bacara pointed out.

"That's because Doom was the one I looked up to, no offence," Thorn said.

"None taken, I know what our cadet years were like. Faie was always a bit of a wild card but he just fit in with everyone I guess," Bacara said.

"That is true," Thorn said with a nod.

"You're um, you're missing something," Bacara said, scratching at the back of his neck awkwardly.

"Oh, right," Thorn said quietly, reaching back into the basket and pulling out the last item. His breath caught in his throat and he put the box to the side, to look at it.

"Y-You kept it," he whispered, running his fingers over the fabric gently.

"I never really understood why you liked it so much but you were really happy when we all made it and then you cried when the Kaminoan's took it away so I got it back for you. Only well, I never actually gave it back to you," Bacara said quietly. It was a shirt, Thorn's old one from when they were six standard years old. He remembered it because he had a particularly rough training session with priest and he was crying afterwards. Usually Bacara and Neyo would try and tell him to suck it up but Doom asked if anyone wanted to have some fun. Bacara and Neyo had surprisingly jumped at the opportunity and agreed. So they had all snuck into a maintenance room and together they painted their right hands and pressed them to Thorn's shirt. It cheered him up and he cherished that shirt, often sleeping with it until the Kaminoan's found it and took it away.

"I don't get it, why do you have these," Thorn asked, glancing back to Bacara who was just watching him.

"I don't know, it reminds me of you guys. I know every thinks I don't have emotions but just because I am professional and am a good soldier, doesn't mean I don't care about anything. Sure I don't really understand why everyone else is so emotional but I do have emotions too. I do what needs to be done, no matter what. But you're still my vod'ika Thorn. I didn't mean to make you feel abandoned but I don't really bother with comms or anything, I don't find it necessary. I care about you guys but I'm not going to dwell it or let it stop me from doing my duty. If you died, I would be sad so I'm glad you're not, you know, dead. I don't know if this is really getting my point across, I definitely do not do heart to hearts," Bacara said with a shrug. Thorn smiled softly at the use of vod'ika. Bacara never liked speaking mando'a, he always found it to be a waste of time so it meant a lot that he used the word.

"So what you're saying is you're still a cold-hearted asshole but you still have feelings and want us to be okay," Thorn asked slowly.

"Yes, kind of, I think. Again I don't do the heart to heart things. I just, I don't want to upset you," Bacara said with a huff. Thorn sighed and put down the shirt.

"You haven't upset me. Or at least, not as much as the others. I always knew it would be a lot different with you, less you know, cuddly and mushy you know," Thorn said.

"I feel like I have been far to cuddly and mushy today and I really don't like," Bacara said with a groan.

"Bacara, you creepily watched me sleep for four hours, tasered me when I ignored you and tried to shoot Bly when he took a photo of us," Thorn said with a raised eyebrow.

"Okay, it was on stun. I wouldn't actually hurt a brother," Bacara said, rolling his eyes.

"Still, you haven't changed," Thorn said with a shrug.

"Right. And don't you ever tell any of them what I just showed you because I will deny it vehemently and burn everything, including the ship," Bacara said firmly. Thorn chuckled and rolled his eyes, pushing his luck by dashing forwards and hugging Bacara tightly for a second before hurrying away.

"Okay, and that's the last time you ever do that. Touch me again and I will drop you," Bacara growled.

"Wow, nice Cara is gone I see," Thorn said with a grin.

"You can keep the shirt by the way but you should probably head back to the mess. I need to get back to the barracks before one of the boys blow something up," Bacara said.

"Do they do that often," Thorn asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I meant to say do it without me but sure," Bacara said with a shrug.

"Well, you can keep the shirt. It's yours now anyway," Thorn said with a shrug.

"Right, cheers," Bacara said with a nod. Thorn figured he was pushing his luck so he left the room and made his way to the exit, Bacara trailing behind him.

"Oh and little brother, one last thing," Bacara said, making Thorn pause halfway through the doorway.

"Doom misses you." Thorn clenched his hand around the doorframe before continuing out and into the cruiser, not looking back.

A/N

Translations:

Kark - Swear Word
Vod - Brother
Vod'ika - Little Brother

I had so much fun writing this Chapter, my friend and I were cracking up while I was writing Bacara, especially at the start so I hope you enjoyed it