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CHAPTER Forty Five
Gregor looked at Wolffe and Ana; he definitely felt like a spare part on these occasions. Ana seemed uncomfortable in his presence. He always had the feeling she didn't like him but just tolerated him because of Rex and Wolffe.
Humm! Now there was a problem. Rex had gone dark and couldn't be contacted. Gregor had an idea where he was; when he spoke to him last he said he had found Garrera and his band of partisan rebels, but Saw was a difficult man to pin down and was getting more and more paranoid. More recently had been the call about Spec Ops training, he was waiting for more intel on that, as Rex had taken charge of the first intake; Gregor was looking forward to the Spec Ops Training. It was his area of expertise, even though technically Rex was an ARC. Gregor was a Clone Commando fully bred and trained solely for that role, not a 'reg'.
Rex was away, Wolffe had moved in. He couldn't blame him in part, he knew Wolffe had fancied his chances with Ana ever since he first saw her; they had had little in the way of life's comforts, when they were with the GAR and ACR (after chip removal), so they took it where they could. She wasn't his type, too needy, but both Rex and Wolffe had been smitten by the Damsel in Distress Syndrome; he was a Commando bred, born and trained, so it didn't wash with him.
Both Wolffe and Ana had said that Rex told her it was over, that she shouldn't be here but he didn't buy that. Rex…...well, Rex was Rex and wouldn't just say that; there would be a reason. Gregor watched Ana, as she looked at Wolffe and he remembered how she had looked at Rex. She had worshipped him, Gregor saw it and that would not be over in a few minutes, or a few days.
It would take years, if ever.
Ana wasn't looking at Wolffe like that, no matter how much he deluded himself.
Fek! He could almost feel the tension in the room and Wolffe was already giving him his 'leave us alone' stare.
He ignored it.
"So, how's it goin, Ana?"
"Better, Thanks Gregor, much better. Missing the Joopa?" She asked.
"Yeah, always." Despite what he thought of what she was doing, she was still good to talk to, she remembered things about you. She wasn't pushy and didn't treat you like dirt.
"I'm trying to get some dried fruit to bake you one of the fruit loaves you liked."
"Mmm," he remembered the taste, they were good, "bribery?"
"Of course?" She laughed.
Wolffe's face was a picture, he looked fit to explode, as he was obviously desperate to get her alone.
"Ana, I need to ask you, me backs hurting something bad, and Rex says you're good at massage." He glanced at Wolffe, as he said this and Wolffe's face darkened, even more, especially at Ana's reply.
"Course, you'll have to come to med Bay though, it's where I have all my oils and equipment. Is it hurting you now?"
"Nah, just the occasional twinge at night, just like Wolffe." She didn't fall for the bait, either she didn't get it or she deadpanned with the best but Wolffe was getting past his control.
"Gregor, don't you have some planning to do, Ner Vod?"
"Nope, don't think so, Wolffe, all done."
"Harrumph." Wolffe snarled at him. "Well I do, so go." And with that he pushed him out of the door. Gregor sniggered as the door closed behind him; he always enjoyed winding Wolffe up. Whistling, he headed jauntily down the corridor. He hadn't whistled in years.
.
With the door closed Wolffe leaned on her back and pulled her to him, his arms closed around her. Gregor always made her think of Rex; she didn't know why. He didn't look like him, any more than any other clone but there was something in the way he insinuated things. She knew Wolffe wasn't Rex but he distracted her; She had needed Rex but had Wolffe instead and she had been using him.
Did he know?
He was perceptive, so probably yes.
He enabled her to cope.
She leant into him and he responded by pulling her flat against him; his breath felt hot against her ear and his mouth was working it's way down her neck and her shoulder. He knew exactly what to do for her. She felt him hard against her back, just feeling him, resting there, made her want him; she turned around to respond to the kiss and Wolffe started her undoing.
.
Finally, Rex had returned, she could see him striding across the hangar, the remains of his clone armour looking even more scuffed and scratched. Her heart missed a beat, as he headed towards her looking straight at her, the blush spread from her breasts upwards and the realisation of it made it worse. "Rex" she breathed, as he reached her. He pulled her to him, surrounding her like he always had, making her feel safe, like nothing could hurt her; he wouldn't let anything hurt her. "Rex?" She gasped.
Wolffe felt the pain, from that name, as sure as if he had been physically kicked in the stomach; he let her go and swung his legs off the bunk heading for the fresher. Leaning against the small sink, he took some deep breaths before splashing the ice cold water on his face, he took more deep breaths to try and calm himself. All he had tried to do was to comfort her when she was dreaming but the name she called out just reminded him, that he was her second choice, second best, never good enough.
Just like he felt when he failed his general.
The touch of her hand was soft on his back, gently rubbing the scar that he knew was there but never saw. It soothed him, it always did.
"Wolffe?" It was a question, he turned his head, composure regained; "I'm sorry." she was looking up at him and he could see the concern on her face but it still wasn't how she had looked at Rex.
He smiled at her, "I'm fine." He continued to delude himself, that he could cope with being fine, with being second, after the one and only Captain Rex. Ana needed him at this moment, he knew that and he would always be there for her; he wouldn't let her down like he had his General. He had failed to protect his Jedi. Her hands snaked around his waist as she leant against him, he felt a warm kiss in the middle of his back, "Come back to bed, love, it's cold."
He growled a negative reply.
"I'm cold." She continued, "You're always warm." that was it, he was going back to bed.
.
They hadn't immediately gone back to sleep but he knew what she was doing, distracting him from the name she had called out; trying to make him forget, making amends.
"So you were pulled from the front line to do some relief work following an Earthquake?"
He had only mentioned it, in passing, to her earlier that night.
"Yes, the Aleen. General Plo Koon had said it was urgent that we get the supplies to them and then Senator Amidala lent us her Droids, to help expedite it."
"Droids but I thought you were fighting Droids, or should I say Clankers?"
"These belonged to a Senator, an astromech, a bit like Chopper; same kind of attitude as well, feisty."
Ana giggled, he felt her vibrate against his chest, where she was plastered to him.
"But the other one, the Gold one; he was just a pain in the shebs. A protocol droid for feks sake."
She always knew when the Clones were upset or angry, they reverted to some Mandalorian words, interspersed with basic.
"All they had to do was get the Aleen's computers working but no that was too easy, wasn't it? They had to go and Fekking disappear down a shabla hole, me'ven?"
She sniggered.
"What? Do you think it's funny?"
"Wolffe, they were just Droids."
"No they weren't just any Droids, they were Senator Padme Amidala's Droids, and she was a friend of both the Jedi, And the Chancellor."
"Oh. So you couldn't lose them?"
"Definitely not."
"So what happened to them?" Ana was now propped up on one arm and listening intently to him. He smiled, "Do you really want to know?"
"Of course, it's a good story. I like a good story..." she looked as if she was going to say something more but changed her mind. She nibbled at his stubbly chin, "Go on."
"It insisted on telling me in great detail, but I think it'd blown a few circuits along the way and then picked up some holovid and imprinted it in its memory."
"Why?"
"What it said was unbelievable."
"Go on." she was intrigued.
"He said that in the Aleen tunnels they saw speeding, sparkling lights that chased them and then they stumbled into a strange cave that was inhabited by tree-like beings called Kindalo."
Wolffe sighed, he had never, in all his wildest dreams thought that he would be in bed with a woman, with Ana, telling her the story of the two Droids.
"Go on, go on. What happened next?"
"The Droids were told by the Kindalo to leave, as surface dwellers "destroy the peace." Apparently the shiny gold one convinced them that they were there to actually help with the earthquakes."
Wolffe paused, "Can you believe that? It couldn't persuade a Mandalorian to fight. So I know it has some glitch in its processor."
"Has it got a name this shiny Droid?"
"C-3PIO."
"Oh ...I expected something more...exotic."
"So the Kindalo send the droids to Orphne, an amphibian-like humanoid with mystical powers, who explained that a mutual balance existed between the Aleen and the world underground. This was unsettled by surface dwellers who breached the Underground's most vital sanctum. The Underground dwellers depended on the soil of the planet filtering the surface air, making it fit for them to breathe, otherwise it would be toxic to them; the Underground dwellers set off earthquakes in an attempt to seal the opening."
Wolffe was on a roll now and was enjoying telling the tale to Ana, who was lapping it up like a schoolgirl. She looked years younger.
"The Droids offered to fix the damage, and before she dissolves into a swarm of flying fairy sparks, Orphne asks the droids to find their true purpose and gives them a riddle to solve:
"You can run but cannot walk
You have a mouth but cannot talk
You have a head but never weep
You have a bed but never sleep
Ask yourself, who are you?"
"How can you remember all this?" Ana asked
"Because the gold shiny droid, was allocated to me for the whole of the remainder of the journey and it insisted on telling me the story, again, and again, and again."
"Ah, poor you." she snuggled closer.
Wolffe grumbled under his breath.
"What was that?"
"Nothing. Any way C-3PIO attempts to solve the riddle but, and this is the best bit, the little astromech finds the answer instead," Wolffe chuckled at this. "A river, and then it activates a waterspout which pushes a central floor plate—with both of them aboard. They end up going through the ceiling back to the surface, right into the middle of the chanting Aleen."
Ana smiled, "I like that story, although you're right, it is a bit like a child's fairy story."
"I've not finished yet."
"Oh, there's more?"
"Poisonous air from the Underground leaked to the surface through the tunnel, and because they were droids and don't need to breathe, they are the only ones who can close the breach; the droids put the seal back into place, ending the earthquakes."
Wolffe grunted.
"I tell you, it's a holovid and imprinted on its memory circuits."
Ana yawned, "it's still a good story." She snuggled up to him, even closer.
"Yeah I suppose it is" agreed Wolffe and yawned himself.
.
Rex stood on the hilltop hidden from his trainees; this was the last part of their training. They had only lost three out of the cohort, so far and they were due to stupid injuries that the trainees had sustained on some of the training circuits they had done. They would redo them. He crossed his arms on his chest feeling the fold up holograph under his armour. Ana should be home by now; he hoped she had gone. He knew he had hurt her; he had meant to, not maliciously but enough to make her leave, without a second thought. He couldn't think of any other way and he needed to have words with Wolffe and Gregor when he got back. They should have known better.
"Shab." Rex muttered, Arick had slipped and her time was going to be slow now, "Hope she can catch up, she's a good soldier. Sniper material."
"Yes, Sir." Replied the Sergeant at his side.
He looked at his chrono; so far Barrell was first, as always. He was a good man, good all round soldier with leadership potential.
They were heading out now to the forest area, where Rex and the Sergeant had put a few obstacles in their way; they headed out in the speeder to the end of the course.
