Day 19 prompt: sleep deprivation
Time to take a break from hurting Ahsoka and OCs

Rex's eyes groggily blinked open as he lifted his head, looking at his surroundings. This was the third night he had stayed in his office, working on documents, new transfers, and shipping orders nonstop. The cup of coffee sitting on his desk rested coldly, having sat there for the whole night. He slowly got up, his vision a little dizzy, but he brushed it away, causing his hand to come in contact with the mug, knocking it onto the floor. It shattered, the coffee making a puddle and he sighed frustratedly.

"Great way to start my morning."

He crouched down, picking up the glass shards, and immediately, his hand was nicked, a sharp pain tingling as a small drop of blood expanded against his skin.

"For the love of-"

He kicked away the cup pieces and cursed as he made his way to the washroom, turning on the water faucet. He grabbed a few rolls of paper towel and went back to his desk to wipe the floor with his foot, but he slipped, falling on his back, a throbbing pain vibrating through his tailbone.

Now he was pissed.

He growled as he sat up, aggressively rolling up the wet towel in his hand and throwing it in his bin under his desk much harder than necessary.

He looked at the workload on his desk, the flimsi piles much less than he saw yesterday.

He wasn't done with it. He still had to continue until it was all finished.

He stumbled out the door, immediately regaining balance. His mood was dampened, and his frown forced shinies to stay silent and walk quietly instead of wave excitedly.

Rex wasn't usually like this. The amount of work was the problem (no it wasn't; it was the nightmares, but he wasn't going to admit it). At least, he thought, at least he used his time wisely. He was completing everything much faster, tuning out to his thoughts. If an unwanted idea came into his head, he would just focus on the task at hand and it would fade away. It was alright. Everything was perfectly fine. 

He took a sharp turn and something slammed into his chest, the breath heaving out of his lungs as he tripped back a few steps. A trooper backed away, his widened eyes looking at him in fright. 

"Sorry, sir!"

He just gave a curt nod, continuing on his way. His brows furrowed as he halted in his footsteps. Where was he going again? He racked his brain, trying to remember, but nothing came up. He yawned for what seemed like the eighth time that day, and he only woke up thirty minutes ago.

He turned around in a circle, and shook his head, walking in the direction that seemed to lead to the mess hall.

"Rex!"

He recognized her voice and turned his head to see her running up beside him. She took one look at him and her eyebrow markings furrowed.

"Rexster? You okay? You don't look too good."

He scrunched his nose in irritation. He gave a low sound of affirmation, his focus on walking in a straight line.

"Are you su-"

"Yes commander," he interrupted, rubbing a hand over his face. her eyes widened in surprise. Rex was usually much more patient, never showing his annoyance.

It was silent as they walked side by side. She then attempted to start another conversation, but he didn't answer her questions, just nodding. She continued her jabber, and Rex's fist clenched in exasperation. He just wanted some peace and quiet, but it was interrupted. He wasn't in the mood for this.

"Rexster? Rexster, you don't seem alright."

He gave an obvious shake of his head, saying that he was okay, but she continued with her questions. 

"I'm not sure, I should get-"

He turned towards her, his hand scruffing through his hair, his annoyance finally reaching his peak.

"I said I'm okay!"

She halted, unintentionally stepping back from his outburst. His eyes widened and he immediately sought to apologize.

"I-I'm sorry commander, I didn't-"

She held up a hand in silence and his mouth snapped shut. She didn't seem angry or hurt in the silence, just searching his eyes. He shifted uncomfortably and she blinked.

"I get it. Come with me."

He looked at her in confusion and followed her, going outside of the Resolute, out in the cold morning, into the Jedi temple (he tried to ignore the padawans' stares and whispers like Ahsoka did). They stopped in front of a room, and she took out a key, unlocking the room, and he realized it was-

"Why are we here?"

She didn't answer, motioning for him to come inside, and he reluctantly stepped in after her, looking around her room.

It was...bare. Sure, it was bigger than his office at the Resolute, but there were almost no possessions visible.

"I brought all my stuff to the ship since I'm usually there now," Ahsoka said, answering his unspoken question. 

She pointed at the couch and he stiffly sat down, patting it. He bounced twice and Ahsoka smiled, then she disappeared into the kitchen. Rex closed his eyes and found that it was much easier to just float in his head. Apparently too easy, as he fell asleep.

~

In Rex's dream...

He wasn't sure where he was, but all he knew was that he couldn't move.

"Rex."

He turned around, and he gasped. There was Echo, in his ARC-trooper armor, perfectly healthy.

"Why did you leave me?"

Flashbacks ran through his head. The Citadel. The silence coating the air when they were rescued, but with men lost. Fives' quiet mourning, his faint sobs loud in the quietness of the barracks.

"We had to. We had the mission!"

"Mission?"

Rex whirled around to the other source of the voice and there was Hardcase, a grim sneer smearing his face. It looked so wrong on his face, replacing the usually joyful smile.

"You put orders over your own brothers?!"

There were millions of faces crowding his vision, the people that were known to be dead. All of them were glaring, blaming him.

"I had to!"

It's what he was trained to do for his whole life.

"Then you are no vode."

~

Ahsoka had floated to the kitchen, her hand drifting to the drawer to get two mugs. They were mismatched but perfectly functional, one of them designed in a blue flowery pattern while the other was covered in black polka dots against a white background.

She poured water into a pot, setting the temperature on high and letting it sit as she grabbed a pack of her favorite tea flavor. She pulled out a chamomile bag and took Obi-Wan's instructions in her head.

As she placed it in the mugs, pouring the boiling water, she felt a cold shiver through the force. She almost dropped the pot from the pure guilt and sadness closeby, and she did her best to hurry up, placing the hot water down (some of it sloshed onto her hand but she didn't feel the burn) and ran into the living room.

Rex's fists were clenching the grown hairs on his head. He screamed incoherent pleas, and her heart broke as she raced to his side, trying to calm him down.

"Rex! Rex, you're safe!"

He didn't hear her, and she delved into his mind, about to ask permission to enter.

But she was immediately taken into the nightmare, and she gasped in horror.

~

She saw the familiar dead faces of brothers that had died from previous missions, wave after wave heading towards a pinpoint in the middle of wherever she was. She pushed them aside and they paid no mind to her, as she scouted the area for a familiar blonde man.

A hand made free through the crowd, desperately grabbing at the air, and she spotted it, hauling the hand up.

The nightmare shattered.

~

Rex's eyes snapped open as he fell off the couch, breathing heavily as he regained his surroundings, giving time for Ahsoka to get the tea mugs.

As she came into the living room, her eyes widened, sympathy pooling in her gaze, he looked away, ashamed. He wasn't in top shape because of that, and now, his commander would think less of him.

He heard her set down the cups, and a hand came in context with his shoulder as she sat down at his side.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

He shook his head. She nodded in understanding. She wasn't going to push him until he wanted to speak, and she leaned forward to grab a cup, handing one to Rex. He hesitantly took it, examining the liquid inside.

"What's this?"

She smiled.

"It's tea."

"Tea?"

"Try it."

He lifted the cup to his lips, inhaling the scent, and his shoulders relaxed. His tongue came in contact with the warm liquid and his eyes widened in surprise at the sweet soothing taste it gave. Beside him, the commander watched him, drinking from her own mug.

"How do you feel?"

A small smile made his way on his face.

"Better."

They sat in comfortable silence, the sun shining through the window. Rex's eyes felt droopy as the past days' exhaustion caught up to him, and although he tried to hide it, Ahsoka noted it immediately, ordering him to sleep for the day, even when he weakly protested against it.

She didn't take no as an answer, saying that she could handle the men for the day, and she sent him off with packets of the same tea flavor (chamomile, he learned), telling him to drink that instead of his usual coffee for the rest of the week. He thanked her, and she smiled, patting his shoulder.

"This was the least I could do."

As he shuffled into his quarters, he was out before his head even touched the bed, the dreamless darkness mercifully taking over.