Chapter Twenty-One

About an hour later, Rex had showered and changed into a fresh body-glove, given his armor a good cleaning, and made his way back to his office to catch up on what work he could. To give him a bit of a boost – he hadn't gotten much sleep last night – a hot cup of caf rested at his elbow, but as he worked over the duty roster his thoughts inevitably turned away from his task and back to Brenna.

Last night had been a whirlwind of unexpected, harrowing and fantastic. The knowledge that he had begun his day on the battlefield and ended it in Brenna's arms was entirely strange to him, but – he realized – not unwelcome in the least.

What was even more incredible in his mind was the fact that she'd offered him something that he didn't think he'd ever truly experienced: a haven. With her, he was not just a soldier and certainly not just a clone, he was a man. To Brenna, he was not CC-7567, not even Captain Rex, just Rex, and it was...nice. Even with Ahsoka, he'd never experienced this kind of closeness and he had to admit...he liked it. A lot.

In a way, the new development to their relationship was a bit frightening, because he was well-aware that one of them could be ripped from the other at any moment by the turbulent nature of the times in which they lived, but overall it was a welcome feeling.

As for what had developed between them physically...well, Rex was a hot-blooded male and there was no doubt that he enjoyed the new level their relationship had reached, but even if she hadn't chosen to share her body with him, Rex thought that he'd be just as pleased with the way things were progressing.

Kriff, he just really liked Brenna and he hoped he'd be able to see her again - in any capacity - very soon.

A chime at his door indicated that he had a visitor and for one moment he thought it might be her, but he shook the idea away – she had a shift at work – and called out, "come in."

When Fives entered, neither man said anything for a moment. Rather, the ARC crossed his arms over his fatigues and leaned back against the wall, studying Rex with an unreadable expression. Just as Rex was about to ask him what he was doing, his brother gave a rather satisfied nod. "You look...different."

Rex had been in the act of lifting his mug to take a sip. At this he gave a sharp exhale and set the mug down on his desk with a slight thunk. Fives grinned at him, the expression making him appear much younger than he was. "Good for you, vod. If anyone in this crinking army deserves to have a bit of fun, it's Captain Rex."

"For kriff's sake..."

"Now, don't worry," the ARC added, raising his hand in a gesture meant to pacify. "Jess and I have got it all worked out. We even took a look at the regs dealing with 'civilian interactions,' and you'll be pleased to know that you're free to spend your off-duty time with a civvie, provided that they have no problem with your presence, so I think you're covered, there. Unless she wasn't happy with the way you charged up her loading ramp-"

"Fives." The curt tone, accompanied by one of Rex's steeliest glares, silenced that particular bout of words from the ARC, and for another moment the two men regarded each other. Finally, Rex sighed and reached for his caf again, giving his brother a careful look over the rim of the mug as he considered all the ramifications of the revelation. "So...there's nothing explicitly permitting any of us from spending time – off-duty, of course – with a civilian? Unless the civilian doesn't want us to, that is."

Fives nodded, then cleared his throat. "You saw your decoy?"

"Yeah, about that..."

"Well, it should be the first and last time," the ARC added with a chuckle. "Spur-of-the-moment...it was the best we could do on short notice. After that, Echo and I went over the regs and-"

The flow of words was abruptly cut off, and Rex caught a faint tightening of his brother's eyes before Fives continued. "After that, Jesse and I looked at the regs and learned all that stuff about the civvies. So, you're covered. I know that eases your mind."

The tone of Fives' voice indicated that he had no wish to discuss his slip of the tongue, but Rex could see the lingering pain in his brother's gaze over Echo's death. Though the ARC could be childish at times, he was a good brother. "Thanks, vod," Rex said after a moment. "For...everything. Especially for not drawing hair on the medbay pillows."

At least Fives had the decency to look mildly embarrassed. "Yeah, well...Coric and Kix were probably right about that. Guess I got slightly carried away. You know, if you wanted to repay me, you could always put in a good word with that blonde roommate of Brenna's. Jess said that he's not interested."

Outwardly, Rex chuckled, but his mind was working over the information, as an idea was forming. He'd have to run it by Brenna, of course, but he thought that she'd be pleased.

The captain was lifted out of his thoughts when the other trooper coughed into his fist and spoke his next words in a rush. "We all want you to be happy, you know. Despite what you may think, you really do deserve to be happy."

Rex didn't know quite what to say, so he gave his brother a faint smile and a nod of acknowledgment. Again, there was a moment of awkward silence between them before Fives straightened, a curious look coming over his face. "Does she?"

"Does she what?" Rex asked warily.

"Make you happy."

A series of images played themselves over in Rex's mind and only some of them were definitely private. But, he realized, he didn't have to shut them away and not think of them, because he was free to savor them until he could see her again and make some more memories. After a moment, a slow smile came to his face and he nodded once. "Yeah, she does. And I think it's going both ways, too."

"Really?" Fives' brows shot up in mock-astonishment. "Huh. You should get her checked out...she might be defective, or something. Not sure how it works with civvies..."

"Don't you have somewhere you need to be?" Rex arched his brow and regarded his brother with his third-most commanding glare. "Because if you don't, I know a few floors that are in need of a good scrubbing...with a toothbrush. Cody taught me that one."

"Oh, no...you can't pull that on me, Rex," Fives chortled "I'm an ARC trooper...technically, I'm not under your illustrious command."

Rex laced his fingers together and ensured that his voice was pitched just right, so that the trooper would have to lean forward to fully comprehend his words. "Is that so?"

After Fives had scurried out of his office – and it gave Rex no small amount of satisfaction to know that he could still make the trooper scurry with just a few words – he glanced back at the duty roster, thinking to return to his work, but again his mind wandered far afield of what he was supposed to be doing.

For once he found that he didn't mind so much.

One afternoon, about a week after he'd first spent the night with Brenna, Rex was called to the bridge; at the time, he'd been mired in training sessions with the Spaartis, trying to get all the new guys up to par, so he had not been pleased to be pulled away, even at the request of the general. However, duty was duty, so after assigning Sergeants Coric and Silver – along with Lieutenant Appo – to complete the session, Rex hurried to meet the Jedi.

Helmet bumping at his side, he strode across the threshold that led into the broad room where command was waiting and cast his mind back to the Spaartis. There were a number of exercises that he thought would be most suitable to facilitate unit cohesion, while also ensuring that the new guys were given the necessary resources to handle any contingency situations that might-

The train of thought ended abruptly when he saw Brenna, standing between General Skywalker and Ahsoka, her brown eyes on him and her entire body keeping unnaturally still as she clutched her datapad. Dressed in her customary jacket and trousers, she seemed out-of-place among the Jedi and the uniformed clone personnel who were working nearby; the sight contrasted with the memory of when he'd last seen her: that very morning, as they kissed goodbye after spending another night together in her cabin, and she'd been wearing a lot less clothing...

Because of all this, Rex froze in his tracks and for a fraction of a second he and Brenna simply stared at one another, before Skywalker – who'd been furrowing his brow at his own datapad – glanced up at the captain and inclined his chin, urging him forward.

No, it wasn't against any regs to have a personal relationship with a civilian woman, but Rex figured that discretion was still a key factor in keeping things that way. As he approached, it was an effort not to look at Brenna, and even more of one to keep his thoughts from fixing on her, but Rex managed.

Mostly.

As her master began to speak, Ahsoka inclined her head towards Rex, and out of the corner of his vision he watched her eyes flick between himself and Bren. However, the Padawan said nothing, nor made any indication that she'd noticed the fact that Rex's ears were getting a bit warm, or that the brown-haired Human woman was suddenly quite interested in a spot of floor between the two Jedi.

"Good, you're here," Skywalker was saying, frowning at the datapad as if he were heedless of all other things taking place before him. "We have a situation. Damaris uncovered a pretty heavily encrypted transmission from the Separatists."

He shot a look at Brenna, who straightened her shoulders and nodded, her eyes flickering to Rex before she explained. "It's a fresh transmission, by the looks of it. There's talk of a potential interception of a transport that's returning from a peace-summit on Chandrila. From what I could gather through Republic intelligence, the transport contains a large number of senators, including some who've been previously targeted by the Separatists."

Something clicked in Rex's mind, so he glanced at Brenna, who met his eyes. "Were there any names given, Miss Damaris?"

Spots of pink appeared on her cheeks at his use of her formal name, but she glanced down to her 'pad, her eyes skimming across the screen. "Quite a few, actually: Garm Bel Iblis, Mon Mothma, Bail Organa, Padmé Amidala, Orn Free Taa, Jollin Resbin..."

"That's quite a list," Ahsoka said, her eyes wide. "Wouldn't that many senators already have an escort? A really big one?"

"They're about to have one more, because we're on a course to intercept," Skywalker added with a nod to the viewport ahead of them, where they could all see that the Resolute had slid into hyperspace. "I can't take the risk that something will go wrong."

The mention of Senator Amidala's name had confirmed what Rex thought he knew; what he didn't know was a suitably tactful way to point out that it was unwise to divert their resources to rescue the object of his general's affections. After a slight pause, Rex glanced at Ahsoka and saw that she looked pensive as well; her master's proclivity towards the senator was something they'd both noticed in the past.

"With respect, sir," he said in his most neutral voice. "We were heading to Tanaab to offer support to General Mundi and his men."

"He's right, Master," Ahsoka added. "And...isn't someone else available to protect the senators' transport? Someone closer?"

The Jedi's face darkened, but it was not a look of anger. It was fear.

Rex had seen fear on many a sentient's face, so he knew the expression well, but for one moment the force of the emotion radiated from the other man, such that even without the Force it was plain to see that Skywalker was terrified.

"We must help...them," he said with a shake of his head, his eyes falling on the blur of hyperspace beyond the viewport. "There's too much at stake."

Rex could see that Brenna was paying close attention to the exchange; the look on her face suggested she knew that more was going on than she understood, but she kept silent. He watched as her eyes flickered to his for one moment, curious. While he knew there was no way that Bren could discern exactly what was happening with regards to the Jedi and the Senator, the glance his way was enough to spur him into further speech.

"With respect, General, this seems a bit premature," he said. "Have we made contact with the transport? Are they aware of the situation? General Mundi and his troops are in need of our support...they could be overrun if we don't reach them in time-"

Skywalker shook his head, the movement almost violent in its strength. "Lives are at stake, either way, Rex. But these senators are essential to the Republic...we can't let anything happen to them."

"At the expense of Master Mundi and his men?" Ahsoka asked, her eyes fixed on her master.

There was a pause, during which the oxygen in the area immediately surrounding the Jedi Knight seemed to be sucked away and his eyes turned strange and hard. "Sometimes that's the price we have to pay, to keep important lives safe."

With that, he turned and stepped away from the three of them, his gaze fixed on the shredding stars beyond the transparisteel window. There was silence for a moment as Rex and Ahsoka looked at each other, then the Padawan gave Brenna a warm smile. "Thanks for letting us know about this right away, Miss Damaris."

Brenna nodded but said nothing, clearly still uncomfortable with the entire situation, and Rex had a desire to set her at ease. At first he automatically brushed the inclination aside, but then he shook his doubt away. There was no rule to keep him from her, no regulation that would prohibit them from being seen in one another's company.

So he glanced at Ahsoka. "If I'm not needed here, I'd be happy to show Miss Damaris back to her sector. "

Brenna's cheeks colored again and he could have sworn that Ahsoka was fighting back a chuckle as she nodded. Apparently he'd not kept his thoughts as controlled as he would have liked. No matter; he thought that her expression indicated she was happy for him, which suddenly made the entire bridge experience worthwhile and the general's words not quite as disturbing. "Sure, Rex. That sounds good, thanks."

On a whim he offered Bren his elbow and she accepted; he had to bite back a grin as she flushed harder, which had – of course – been his goal. Together, they made their way off of the bridge.

The moment that the door slid shut behind them, Brenna cast a glance his way. "That was...interesting. If I didn't know better, I'd say it looked like you and Commander Tano were trying to convince the Jedi not to abandon one mission for another."

Around them the corridors that led to the nearest series of turbolifts were empty, so he dropped his hand to the small of her back, savoring the movement of her body as she walked. The feeling mitigated some of the uncertainty he felt about his own response to her observation. "No, you have it about right."

Her response was to stare at him with wide eyes, so as they entered a 'lift he elaborated. "Skywalker is an incredibly powerful Jedi, and he's a good soldier. He's tough, smart, capable...but sometimes he gets...distracted from the task at hand."

As the turbolift shivered beneath their feet, Brenna cast him another speculative look. As much as he wanted to kiss her right now, there was a question in her eyes that she wasn't voicing, and he felt he wanted to know. "What is it?"

"Before I met you, I thought that I had a pretty good understanding of the Jedi," she said after a beat as the 'lift began to slow. "I've served on ships with a few of them since I started working for the GAR...but I guess I didn't know them as well as I thought."

"You and me, both."

The 'lift doors opened with a hiss and the two of them stepped out; it was a bit more populated on this level, and for a few steps Rex found that he was warring with conflicting desires.

However, he made his decision in an instant, so he guided her from the main corridor into a nearby maintenance closet, then shut the door behind them. It was a tiny, dim room with hardly enough space for two adult Humans to stand amidst shelves of cleaning supplies, but he was past caring about anything like that and hoped she was as well.

To allow them more room to move, he unclipped his bucket from his belt and and set it on a nearby shelf. When he looked back at her, she gave him a smile that made his heart pick up a bit. "This isn't my office," she said as her smile broadened.

"Isn't it?" he asked, tilting her face up to his so that they were only a breath apart. "My mistake. Will you accept my apology?"

The murmur of her reply was lost as he closed the gap with a kiss, and for some minutes he forgot pretty much everything else except the feel of her body leaning into his own. He kissed her mouth, her earlobes, her jaw, all while delighting in the way that she shifted herself closer to him and attempted to work her hands beneath the armor at his chest.

After a few breathless minutes she pulled back and shot a glance at her wrist-chrono. "I'm pretty sure that Marliss isn't in our cabin, and I'm not expected back at work right away. You?"

Rex cleared his throat, because her words had made his blood leap through his veins. "Being in charge has its advantages, sometimes...I have a little while before anyone will miss me."

"How long is 'a little while?'"

He lifted his brow at her. "Long enough, hopefully."

As usual, Rex thought that the journey to Brenna's cabin took far too long, but eventually they made it. Within a few minutes after shutting the door he'd managed to shed most of his armor; in between kissing her senseless and working to help her slide out of her pesky jacket and unbutton her shirt, he was trying to remove his body-glove. Just she was pulling the top half of the black fabric away from his chest and he was considering ripping off the shabla buttons at the front of her shirt, the door to the cabin opened with a hiss and Marliss stepped into the room.

Immediately, Rex's ardor snapped back and morphed to embarrassment and – if he were honest – irritation at the interruption, though the sight of Brenna's blonde roommate working to fight back a snort of laughter reminded him that the cabin wasn't Brenna's alone.

It was a lesson he wouldn't soon forget.

"Mar..." Brenna was breathing a little heavily as she stood beside him next to her bunk, her fingers already beginning to work her shirt closed. "Sorry...I thought you were working..."

"Me too," Marliss replied, palming the door shut behind her before looking back at the couple. "I guess we need to work out a system or something. This is pretty awkward...though not as bad as it could have been, I guess. At least I caught you guys in the early stages."

Although her gaze was only thoughtful and in no way inappropriate, Rex suddenly felt far too exposed in just his body-glove, so he followed Bren's lead and began to collect his armor. "I probably should leave," he said, glancing between the women. "My apologies, Miss Menin..."

But Brenna shook her head and put a hand on his arm, effectively stilling him. "At least stay and put your armor on." Her voice dropped in pitch so that only he could hear her next words. "Unless you want to go running naked through the halls."

Despite himself he chuckled. Marliss' brow lifted but she said nothing, instead taking a seat on her bed and removing her boots, scuffed and dirty beneath her navy-blue jumpsuit, which was splattered with grease-stains. As he began to replace his armor, Brenna cleared her throat again and nodded to the 'fresher. "I just have to step in for a moment, but I'll be right back. Marliss...can we talk about this, later?"

The blonde woman nodded in reply, but once the door was closed, Marliss looked up at him. There seemed to be a question in her gaze, and as he fastened his chest-plate, he spoke. "Miss Menin, again, I'd like to apologize for-"

But she'd started rolling her eyes at his words. "I think at this point it's safe to say we should be on a first-name basis, Rex. Call me Marliss."

"Marliss-"

"And you don't have to apologize for anything," she added, cutting him off again. "Lately, Brenna seems really happy and I think most of it's your doing."

Now that most of his armor – save the gauntlets and gloves – was replaced, Rex felt a bit more at ease, so he straightened and gave a swift nod. "I'm glad to hear that you think so, because the feeling is mutual."

"She's a good person," Marliss replied. "Kind, loyal, generous..."

A warning pinged in the back of his mind, so his answer was perhaps more wary that it would have normally been. "I think so, too."

Nodding, Marliss continued. "You know she's been hurt before...badly."

"I know," Rex replied, his voice growing dark at the thought of Irini's father. How any man could walk away from his own child – not to mention a woman like Bren – was utterly beyond him. "She's told me enough. But you should know that I'm not looking to add to her troubles."

Marliss pursed her lips, then crossed her arms before her chest and fixed him with a sharp stare. "Good to hear. And you should know that if you hurt her in any way, I'll make sure you regret it. You have my word on that, Rex."

It wasn't what he'd been anticipating from the slender, blonde woman, but in retrospect, Rex thought he should have. There was a gleam of protectiveness in Marliss' eyes and even though he wasn't thrilled about receiving threats from a civilian, he admired the fact that she'd approached him in this way: direct, forward, to the point.

"If Brenna is ever hurt by any actions of mine," he said at last, measuring his words. "It would not be because I did so on purpose, and I have no doubt that I'll regret it. Immeasurably. You don't have to worry about that."

Still, the blonde woman's eyes remained locked onto his and he held her gaze in return, willing her to understand the truth behind his words. Finally she nodded – a small movement, as if to herself – and uncrossed her arms. "Then I guess you need to learn the lock-code," she said, indicating the door to the cabin. "Maybe we won't have this issue again."

For a second he was stunned into silence, because her words had been completely unexpected, but before he could do much more than nod the 'fresher door opened again and Bren stepped back into the room. Rex immediately met her eyes with his and smiled to himself when she blushed.

"What were you two talking about?" she asked as she came to his side.

"It's fine that Rex is here, Bren," Marliss said as she moved to the 'fresher. "I was just telling him that I don't mind if he has the code to our room, either. I know how these things go."

She paused, then gave a smirk. "Just...make sure that you lock the door before you get frisky. And...you know...send me a message or something next time, so I don't walk in on you lovebirds again."

As the blonde woman shut the 'fresher door behind her, Rex looked back at Brenna and felt a smile creep across his face even though he knew that their earlier plans had been altered, the new development more than made up for the fact.

She tilted her chin, a question in her eyes. "What are you grinning about?"

In response, he pulled her close and murmured in her ear. "Just thinking of next time."

Marliss began life as a pretty static character; it was in the editing process that she really came into her own. :)

As for our dear ARC trooper...he makes me giggle way too much. Despite (or perhaps because of) his often juvenile nature, Fives was a blast to write. I know he may seem a bit childish, but as it was mentioned early on, Fives' acting out is a way of coping with the events of Umbara, not to mention Echo's death. Rex keeps things inside; Fives puts them all outside, if that makes sense. It was a difficult choice not to go into Fives' character a bit more than I did, but in the end I decided to keep the bulk of the story's focus on Rex and Brenna.

The toothbrush comment that Rex makes is a teensy nod to the fanon (is that the correct term?) that I established in a couple other fics of mine, namely Warning Signs and (possibly) another one I can't think of at the moment.

Thank you for reading! Please leave a review and let me know what you think so far, or just that you're reading and (hopefully) enjoying. ;)

Next time: another day, another battle...