Rex takes things into his own hands.
DISCLAIMER:I only own my OC's every other character is owned by Disney, Lucas and everyone else who has ever written anything for Star Wars. This is for entertainment only. My own and anyone who cares to read it.
CHAPTER TWENTY
The lights of the town were dim compared to the brightness of Seelos largest Moon, it was a clear, chilly night and it had lit up the road, as Rex pulled up on the outskirts of the town and parked up the speeder; he had thought about going and seeing the aunts but decided against it. If all this went to Haran, then he didn't want her family involved in it; he didn't want any of them involved. He could disappear, he had done it before.
Walking through the small town at this time, it seemed such an innocuous place; he was known here now and linked to a long-standing family. If everything went as he hoped, he would be able to stay and take up Ana's offer for all of them. He still couldn't believe she had made that offer and they were checking through the logistics of it all. If he failed…..he stopped walking at that thought. Had he really thought all this through?
He needed to sort this out with Raif, find out what he actually wants; Rex entered the Cantina. As he scanned the room, he realised it was nearly empty; nodding to a couple of old timers sitting playing Sabac at one of the tables, they had been there whenever he dropped by, and again to the younger men throwing arrows at the board on the wall. They seemed to be there most of the time; he walked slowly up to be bar.
"Ale please, Jax." He requested from the bartender. A dark ale, in a glass, was pushed in front of him, as he leaned against the bar; they even knew what his preferred ale was. He would have liked a good Corellian Brandy but he needed to keep a clear head.
He took a few swigs from the glass and scanned the cantina. He remembered exactly what the men had looked like especially Raif; he would recognise them anywhere. He took another swig and realised he had actually emptied the glass, turning to the Barkeep, he was going to ask for another one they weren't that strong but the Besalisk said, "They're gone."
Rex stared at him, with narrowed eyes." Who?" He enquired.
"Her ex and his mates." He said calmly, continuing to clean the two sets of glasses he was polishing simultaneously. "They were here, asking about you. Nobody said anything. He's not well liked around here. Not sure where they were going, but he, the ex, was angry. Especially at you. You really upset him, being older n'all."
Rex pushed his glass back towards Jax , who retrieved it and put it for washing. "Did you notice the direction they headed?" Rex enquired, nonchalantly.
"Course." Came the reply, "they headed west, into the forest."
"All of them?
"All four, on speeders"
Rex finished his drink, there wasn't enough alcohol in it to affect his judgement, as he left he heard.
"Careful Rex." The accent brought back some unpleasant memories that he immediately pushed down, they were the last things he needed.
By the time he reached the Forest he was focused; when he was coming up to the house he could see from a distance the lights had been switched on. He hoped that all that had happened was that Ana had woken up and decided to get a drink; he contemplated comming her but that could give him away, if they were there. He slowed his speeder and retrieved his macrobinoculars to check for visitors. He scanned the surrounding areas and checked the perimeter alarm; the nearest had been destroyed, by a blaster from the look of the damage. There was no sign of them, he carried on, with reduced speed; the speeder grumbling along.
Stopping on the outskirts of the property, he attempted to camouflage it with offcuts from the undergrowth. The result was rough but it would suffice; it would have to as he didn't, or rather couldn't afford the time to do more, they were probably expecting him. Upon reaching the house, he saw the lights were on in the kitchen; he distinctly remembered turning them all off, so as not to wake Ana. If there was someone inside, they may just be waiting to set a trap for him.
.
Ana woke up suddenly, almost jumping out of her skin and reached for Rex but all she found was a cold empty space beside her; her adrenaline spiked as she listened for him in the fresher or kitchen but could hear nothing. Her skin crawled as her instinct told her something was wrong; she didn't know what had woken her. She had slept more soundly with Rex by her side than she had in years and she had gotten used to it. Rex didn't normally leave her at night unless he was going to sort something outside and she feared that 'something' was Raif. She slipped out of the warm bed, into the cold bedroom and shivered, not sure if it was the cold or the current situation that caused it. She found her soft indoor shoes, pushed her feet in them and pulled her wrap on and headed for the kitchen to look for Rex.
He's usually in the kitchen. She tried to convince herself. Or has he actually left like I asked. He said, he couldn't.
She couldn't believe he would, not without saying anything. Opening the door she stepped into the kitchen, as she did so, Bonnie hissed and shot out, Ana watched her and then turned her head to come face to face with Raif. She gasped and retreated.
"Hiya, babe, happy to see me?" He pushed his way through the men in front of him to stand in front of her, "Took my advice has he, and left?" He pulled at Ana's arm, not hard but firm, "kriffing coward leaving you to deal with everything." He firmly dragged her back to the kitchen. Ana didn't believe Rex had left, she caught sight of his helmet in the dining room, he had been working on it, trying to link it up to his brothers, now that was something he would never leave behind, she knew that and smiled. She knew what she had to do now.
.
Rex crept up to the house; the ten years of training on Kamino, honed in three years of the bloodiest battles the Republic had seen in thousands of years, was ingrained in him and was still second nature, and he was able to get to the kitchen door before he was noticed. He had thought it a little lax that there was no look out but then just as he was about to burst in, the man came from the side of the house, realised who he was and tackled him like a professional boloball player; Rex hit the floor, with the younger man on top of him. Rex felt the wind being knocked out of him but he was still strong and fit and his instincts kicked in. He pushed the younger man off him long enough to get a headlock on him. Rex squeezed, he wasn't going to risk anything, this headlock was going to be lethal.
Then the pain exploded behind his eyes and blackness followed.
.
No, not Rex. Thought Ana as she saw him dragged into the kitchen; she desperately tried to keep calm. She had an idea of what she was going to do; something she should have done years ago but for that to succeed she had to be calm.
Regular breaths. Not too deep but regular. Stay calm.
She watched as they had him kneeling but unconscious on the floor.
The coldness of the stone floor was creeping into his legs from his knees, then he felt the pull against his biceps and he realised his arms were being held behind his back. When he opened his eyes, the picture he saw churned his guts, Raif sat with Ana at the table his right arm around her and his nose in her hair, nuzzling her. He lifted his head from hers and stared at Rex;
"She smells good, don't she...Clone… better than you've ever smelt, eh." He sniffed again. "Yeah...she always smelled good, too good for you, eh?"
He motioned to the two men holding him up to drop him; Rex slumped to the floor as he looked up he caught Ana's eye, and the fractional shake of her head.
What was she doing?
She turned to her ex husband. "Raif, What are you going to do with him?"
"Not decided yet, babe. What do you think?"
"I think you could just let him go."
"You're too soft Babe." He twirled his finger around a curl of her hair again and pulled her in for a kiss. It took all Ana's self control not to gag but she couldn't let him know that, in case he took it out on Rex.
"He helped me a lot with the smallholding, doing fences and repairs."
"You got me now, babe. You don't need him." He stroked her face down to her chin.
She needed to play him.
"Raif, it would really please me, if you let him go." She said in a wheedling voice and snuggled into his neck.
Raif seemed to consider this."It would please you? How much?" He looked closely at her. "Enough to do to me, what you did to him?" Ana blushed at the memory and the fact that she knew everyone in the room had seen that holovid but she nodded, slowly. If it helped Rex she would do it; she nodded and sealed it with a whisper into his ear, "That and anything you want." And a kiss that she forced herself to do.
"See lads, Ana's the perfect wife, cooks like one of those chefs from Galactic Centre and fucks like a high class whore. Just what you need." He removed a small brown box from his pocket, opened it, took a pinch of the orange powder out of it and sniffed it up alternate nostrils. Some deep inhales finished his actions.
Rex watched her intently; he could see that her eyes didn't confirm her actions. He scanned the room. Raif was high on Spice by the looks of it and the thought of Ana…..; the latter churned at Rex's gut but he needed to keep a lid on that emotion. He watched the men, mentally calculating his odds; he could probably take the three with him but Raif was an unknown quantity and was now unpredictable. He hated this thought but was hoping Ana could keep him occupied for a little while, as he had an idea what was going to happen next.
"Get in the bedroom babe I'll be there soon. It'll be just like when we first got together." And he finished the order with a bruising kiss, pulling Ana in tight. It was all Rex could do not to react.
Ana pushed it with Raif. "You promised, Raif." She said, looking over her shoulder, as she was heading to the bedroom.
Ana sashayed towards the bedroom, her hips giving a promise of more, much more and Rex had never seen her walk like that before but it kept Raif's eyes on her, whilst he managed to pick a small knife from the boot of one of his assailants and slid it in his instead.
"Well, That was easier than I thought, old man. She must be tired of you. Tired of that old body."
Rex started to snarl a reply but the arm around his neck cut it off.
Raif walked up to him, face in his face. "I thought I may have to do some forceful…...persuasion with her. But that can come later."
Rex broke free this time, "You hurt her, you Shabuir and I'll…."
"You'll Do What old man? Tell me!" He sneered, "because from where I'm standing you can do kark all."
Rex knew now he needed to bide his time and hoped Ana would understand.
Raif continued, "Besides, she always liked it rough."
Ana's voice came through from the bedroom, "Raif, I'm waiting."
He turned to Rex with a self satisfied grin on his face, "Get rid of him boys and toss the body in the forest."
He headed towards the bedroom.