"I don't know why she does that," Kanan grumbled, pointing back to Sabine's lovely interpretation of him and Rex that she painted on the back of the cockpit.

Rex wasn't sure either, honestly. "I believe it's called artistic expression," he guessed. Some people used the same term when talking about the paint designs on clone trooper armor. This was pretty similar, right?

It didn't seem to matter to Kanan. "Yeah? Well, my expression is wrong. I'm not happy about being on this mission."

"Really? That wasn't clea-"

Rex was interrupted by a blast of air blowing in his and Kanan's face. "What the- hey! Chopper!" Kanan groaned, but Chopper wasn't plugged into the shuttle. He backed away, pleading innocent.

"Well, if you didn't turn on the air, who did?" he asked. He might have guessed that Rex did it, except there was no reason he would interrupt himself.

"It's probably exhaust coming from the vent. Calm down." Rex rolled his eyes. "It's a bit of wind, not a bomb."

"Why would there be a bomb in the shuttle?"

"I'm not saying there is, I'm saying there's not!"

"I know there's not! No one said anything about a bomb! Not until you did."

"Easy! You'd think that-"

The wind kicked up again, blowing harder this time. It came at an angle to both of them, pushing the two apart.

It was so startling that they forgot that they were supposed to be arguing. "Okay, that wasn't the air vent," Rex realized, examining the dash. "There's nothing here, though. It's like it's coming from thin air."

Kanan shook his head. "Forget it. Once we board this thing, Chopper will plug in, find out where they have our people, and we get them out of there," he instructed, making sure to include hand movements, so there was no confusion.

"We've got to disable this weapon, whatever it is," Rex added, sitting back in his seat. The freak wind thing wasn't important anyway. "If the Empire is able to intercept our ships in hyperspace, this rebel movement won't last long."

"I hear what you're saying, but remember, this is a rescue mission, first and foremost," Kanan insisted. "We're coming up on Ezra's last known position."

"Let's just hope we can find that ship fast."

They dropped out of hyperspace and indeed did find the ship fast. It was right in front of them. "Uh oh," Kanan muttered. He didn't like the look of the Imperial vessel, especially now that he could see the gravity wells Sabine had mentioned.

Rescue mission... something about that was ringing a bell with Kanan. He had gone on plenty of rescue missions, but there was... maybe it was from the Clone Wars. It probably had to do with being with a clone.

~

Grinning just a little bit to himself, Ezra tossed the handcuffs that used to be around his wrists into the cell with the stormtroopers that used to be escorting him. He shut the door and locked them in, but more footsteps were coming around the corner.

He raised his weapon and hit two stormtroopers with stun pulses. Ezra was pretty proud of himself until he saw a familiar C1 unit come up behind them, cackling. Despite the black paint job, he knew who it was.

"Chopper?" Indeed, Chopper was laughing at him, taunting him with guessing who he just shot. "Oh... oh no." He pulled the helmet off the guy on the left, revealing Kanan, groaning but thankfully alive. The other was Rex. This wasn't good. "Kanan!" He shook his master, even so much as slapping him to get him awake. "Rex, Rex, come on!"

It took a moment, but the two veterans finally snapped out of it. "What just happened?"

"Oh, uh... did you see them? We were so outnumbered. There was a firefight. A big firefight, actually! You guys fought great!"

Rubbing his head, Kanan bought it. "Thanks. All I saw was you."

Chopper had other ideas. Projecting between Kanan and Rex's shoulders, he showed them what actually happened on loop.

After a few replays, Kanan got the idea. "You shot us! I can't believe you shot us!"

"I mean, y-you were dressed like stormtroopers!" he objected, trying to defend himself.

"Yeah!"

"You shot us," Rex laughed, grinning. He stood up, not looking nearly as offended as Kanan did.

"I set it to stun."

Which Rex appreciated, however: "You should've used kill."

"WHAT?"

"Well, just in case it wasn't us, I mean."

Kanan looked down at his uniform. "Aurgh, this armor doesn't protect you from anything!"

"I told you!"

"Now's not the time!" Ezra groaned, interrupting them. "We gotta find Sato and sabotage this ship. They have this gravity weapon thing that... you know all this," he realized, and he awkwardly stopped talking.

Rex didn't mind. He just kept the conversation moving. "So, what's your plan?"

"Well, we should probably split up," he reasoned. "I'll take Chopper, and he can get me to the reactor that powers this thing. You two bust out Sato."

That didn't sit well with Kanan. "Woah, woah, woah, woah, woah. We are not splitting up," he argued, shaking his head. "Let's get Sato and get out of here."

"The kid's right. We have to destroy this ship."

"Do you know how many stormtroopers are heading this way?"

"It doesn't matter."

"Can't afford to separate."

"We have to protect the fleet."

"Will you two quit it already???" Ezra yelled, this close from stunning both of them again. "Part of the reason I took this mission was to get a break from this!" He shoved past both of them, pushing them apart. "Okay? Chopper and I will meet you at Sato's ship."

As he walked away, warm wind blew in both veteran's faces, just like before. The message was clear: what he said.

Well, that definitely wasn't Chopper this time, Kanan reasoned, although he still didn't know where the wind was coming from. Looking back at his apprentice, he told Rex, "He takes after Hera sometimes."

~

"Gentlemen, my crew and I owe you our gratitude," Commander Sato said later after they were flying away to safety. "All three of you."

"Thanks, Commander," Ezra said, happy to finally have a bit more trust. Looking back at Kanan and Rex, he commented out loud, "You know, when you two aren't fighting each other, you fight really well together. Jedi and clones," he mused. "Now I get it."

Chopper laughed as the two of them left, and Kanan raised an eyebrow. "Kids. You know, crazy ideas."

Rex didn't need telling twice. He had plenty of experience with teenage soldiers. "Yeah. You know... thanks."

"Yeah, yeah, I know," he assured the commander, cutting him off. After a moment, he remembered what he had thought about earlier. "I finally remembered where I'd seen you before. The Lokori Extraction."

It took a moment, but the memory resurfaced in Rex's mind too, and he finally made the connection with the bright-eyed human Padawan that had led the ground squad for that mission and the man standing before him. The same guy that had been so reluctant to trust the remaining clones in the Seelos system was the same kid that had laughed with Jesse before fighting on the battlefield beside him. "That was quite a long time ago."

"But it hasn't changed, even if we have," Kanan insisted, and in an act of humility, he saluted. He nearly surprised himself, but it surprised Rex more. The commander returned it, acknowledging the offer. The respect was there, even if all bets about friendship were off the table. Maybe someday, if they got more chances to stand together.

Kanan released and nodded, walking over to talk to Ezra again. Rex watched him go, then looked out the bridge windshield at the hyperspace tunnel. If Kanan had been on the Lokori Extraction, then he had known Ahsoka too. Maybe there was something to that. If there was a convenient time, Rex wondered if he should ask him about it. Kanan would remember her, he was sure.

The wind from earlier came back, but it didn't fly up into his face this time. It settled around his shoulders, making Rex relax. "Yeah, you happy now?" he asked absentmindedly, glancing at Kanan.

It never occurred to him to wonder what might have been so concerned about his and Kanan's cooperation. Or rather, who.