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 EIGHT

The luxury of a fully working temperature controlled armour, had been disposed of years ago, meaning living in the desert was uncomfortably hot; Wolffe missed the armour more and more.

They had just caught their second small Joopa having been out in the desert six standard weeks and Wolffe had realised something.

He had brooded on it.

He didn't like it.

He was going to try and talk some sense into his brother.

"You can be a shabla di'kut, at times, Rex."

Rex didn't answer.

"You have no intention of going back to her have you?"

Still no answer.

"That woman has been the best thing that happened to you since Mandalore."

Rex turned, glared but still didn't say anything.

"Fek it, Rex. She loves you, she wants to be with you."

Rex turned slowly, "I didn't promise anything."

He saw the look in Wolffe's eye and waited for the outburst, the real reason. "You didn't even give her your real name at the beginning, did ya." Wolffe said, jabbing him in the chest, it was all coming out now. Wolffe didn't like how he had left Ana.

"She found out and I told her who I was."

"And?"

"She accepted it."

"Fek it, Rex."

"She offered. I took. They owe us."

Wolffe looked at his brother searching for the Rex he had served with, the honourable man; the one who had saved him.

He didn't recognise not the man standing in front of him.

He'd spoken to Ana, spent time with her; she was a good, thoughtful woman, saved his friend's life and made both him, Gregor and Jesse more than welcome, as his brothers, his friends.

"She told me that we could all stay there anytime, just because we're with you."

Rex shook his head and turned to leave, Wolffe pulled him around to face him again.

"I haven't finished."

"Yes we have, Wolffe, leave it."

"No, she deserves better than that. She was in tears, when you left."

"And how many tears, have we shed over lost brothers." An image of Waxer came into his head as he said those words

"That's not her fault."

Rex looked at his brother, he'd seen him like this before, but never over a woman.

"If you want her, go get her."

Wolffe's fist shot out faster than he thought he could still manage and connected with Rex's jaw; whose head snapped back but his years of training had ensured that he had already launched himself at Wolffe, who then parried his counter attack.

Gregor stood leaning against the door frame, watching with an amused look on his face; then he realised that this was getting serious, after Rex had put Wolffe in a headlock, he decided to intervene.

"Fek an all, Ner Vod. It's a skirt."

That stopped them both.

"Leave it Wolffe. She means nothing to me. A distraction. A means to an end." And with that he turned on his heel and entered his quarters, leaving Wolffe to stare at his disappearing back.

He didn't get it, didn't believe that for a moment; he'd seen them together. Something else was behind this. He turned his glare on Gregor, who shrugged his shoulders and went to monitor the Joopa.

There was now an uneasy truce on the tank.

.

Wolffe checked the data stream again, yes, there it was, Someone trying to contact Rex again and it wasn't Ana. He deleted it immediately and flung the data pad across the desk, in slow motion he saw it slip and slide down the gap at the rear.

"Kriff." he muttered and bent underneath the desk to retrieve it, as he stretched his hand out, he felt a piece of flimzi that appeared to have been jammed against the wall seam. He pulled at it and it came away easily, manoeuvring himself backwards he came out from under the desk and had a good look at the paper, a holographic image.

"Kriff." he muttered again; the subjects of the image came into focus.

"Fekking Barve!" He stormed to the back of the tank, where he knew Rex would be and met Gregor, standing in his path. Rex was at the back facing them both.

He needed to see Rex alone.

"Let me get at him." He growled to Gregor.

"Rex?" He motioned to Rex to go somewhere private. Rex nodded and touched Gregor on the shoulder he moved aside silently.

"I believe this is yours" started Wolffe and handed over the flimzi picture he held. Rex snatched it off him and looked at it, taking it all in, in a few seconds.

"Where did you get this?"

"It was jammed in one of the wall seals." He paused, "You both look...happy." It was his opening move and standing close to Rex, with his face millimetres away, he continued. "Now tell me she means nothing to you." Rex stared at the image, lost in thought.

"You're right. She meant, means a lot to me and for those months, we were happy, and I wanted it to stay that way... for her." Rex paused, he was thinking through his phrasing carefully. "I wanted to stay. I don't know why I said what I did"

"She loves you." Stated Wolffe.

"Yes and I love her …...that's why it's best I leave now and stay away. She'll only get hurt, the longer I stay with her. Look at us Wolffe, we're old men and we'll die early from haran knows what and I would be leaving her alone." He paused. "This kriffing accelerated ageing." He clenched his fist and took a deep breath. "This way, she won't be tied to an old man, who'll die years before his proper time."

Wolffe shook his head, calmer, his brother was back, "Rex, this should have been her decision to make, not yours and you've taken that choice away from her. You should know better." And with that accusation, he turned on his heel and stalked off.

Gregor had been watching the exchange, closely. "He's right Rex, you should have given her the choice. Its what we fought for, why we left. Being free to choose, and that means everyone." he had made his point and left it at that.

Rex sighed, despite what his brothers had said, he knew he had done the right thing; he and Ana, had strong feelings for each other, especially after what happened with her ex-husband. The longer it went on the more attached she would become to him, the deeper those feelings would become and the more it would hurt her, when he died sooner than her. He didn't want to hurt her. This was for the best, better to let her go now, let her hate him. She would recover and she was young enough to find someone else, someone her own age.

Jesse had been right.

This was right.

He kept telling himself that this was the right choice.

Rex turned his attention to that big Joopa that had been waiting for them and that Gregor was determined to get. He went into their living quarters, Wolffe was working on the datapad, when he heard Rex enter, he closed it off and glared at him, leaving without saying a word. Wolfe was prone to lengthy silences; he would get over it. Rex shook his head and sat down to check the recent activity himself; they still had to keep vigilant, as the Empire was everywhere and although the others were decommissioned, he was still a deserter.

All that was to change, when the Phantom, and its crew landed looking for 7567.

.

"We've got company lads, let's deal with it. Wolffe you Ok?" He muttered something but agreed reluctantly because he knew Rex was right. Wolffe was still seething, he had always thought Rex was an honourable man; he had managed to save himself and Gregor by getting them to remove their chips, even though it was the most outlandish story you had ever heard. But it was Captain Rex doing the telling and it almost cost him the 501st. It was only Skywalker's intervention and Mandalore that had saved him from reconditioning due to battle fatigue.

That outlandish story had proved to be true.

So now they were three old men scouring the desert for Joopa, as they still needed large amounts of protein because of their metabolism.

And Rex. Rex gets himself a decent woman, who loves him, even Wolffe could see that but then he leaves her because of some fear of dying before her.

It suddenly dawned on Wolffe what Rex's problem was.

"Haar'chak!"

It was Rex, who was frightened, who didn't want to lose her, just like he had lost Ahsoka and all his men who had died needlessly.

Well not entirely.

Rex was scared of losing someone he was fond of again; he had lost men and he always took it badly, especially the Citadel, Umbara, Tup, Fives and finally Kix's disappearance, after he had been investigating Fives chip theory. The medic just vanished. Then Rex came to them with the chip story. He first convinced fGregor and then himself and was just about to go through his old company, Torrent, in the 501st when Mandalore happened. Now he was obsessed with protecting him and Gregor, and he can't protect everyone, so he leaves her and tells himself it's for her own good.

"Shabuir!"

Now someone was looking for Rex and he knew who it was.

.

Rex swung the gun around to face the walker; he was content to go out fighting. It was as it should be for a clone bred to fight. He pulled the holo out of his breastplate and took, what he expected to be his last look at it. He'd put Ana's scarf on under his armour. He was ready.

Ana.

This was even better, if he could keep the Imperials from messing up Seelos as they had other worlds. He pushed the flimzi back in his breastplate and started his bombardment of the walker.

.

Well that had been interesting, invigorating, with these young people; now they were on their way to the Rebellion. It had been a unanimous decision, even Wolffe, although he wasn't sure exactly what they could do to help but it was as Gregor said, pay back time.

The Tank, their home was destroyed beyond redemption and Wolffe found Rex going through the few items he wanted to take with him; each of them had only a few possessions even after all this time. He was gazing at the holo on flimzi, that Wolffe had found earlier.

"You could still go back; we could swing by her place and…." Wolffe got no further.

"No Wolffe, she's better off without me. I can't go back now and turn her world upside down again. It's too late." Rex closed his eyes and made a noise that sounded like the nearest thing to a sigh Wolfe had ever heard from his Vod. He looked very much like he did after Fives had died and when his retrieval of Echo brought it all back.

Almost defeated.

It was only ever almost with Captain Rex.