Disclaimer: Star Wars belongs to Disney and is the intellectual property of George Lucas; he created the sandbox. I'm making no money off of this and am simply destroying the sandcastles.

SPOILER ALERT! THIS VIGNETTE CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR SEASON 7, EPISODE 10 OF TCW. IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO BE SPOILED, DO NOT READ!

Title: Taken

Author: Jade_Max

Characters: Captain Rex, Ahsoka Tano

Genre: Missing Moment Vignette

Era: The Clone Wars

Summary: Season 7, Episode 10

Taken

Ahsoka looked away from the tunnel and back to Stirling. "Thank you, Stirling. Medic?"

"Sir?"

"Carver, right?" The medic nodded. "See that this man is taken topside. He needs a bacta tank."

"I'll... be okay... Commander."

Ahsoka cracked a faint smile and shook her head. "I've been thrown around by Maul a time or two myself, trooper. I'll make it an order if I have to."

"But-"

"Medic."

"Sir?"

"At least a bacta patch, alright?"

"Yes, Commander." The medic joined her and together they got the injured trooper to his feet.. Ahsoka was quickly replaced by another of the men, drawing Stirling away and towards the triage centre.

Ahsoka stayed by the conduit that Stirling had indicated, knowing a visual search for any sign of the ARC would be futile, but unable to stop herself. Jesse was family and her concern for him was a tight band about her chest.

Around her, troopers began fortifying the position again and, certain Maul wasn't about to come back when he already had a prize worth keeping, for the moment, her eyes closed. Reaching out to the Force, she extended her arm to the conduit and took a deep breath, centering herself. Looking for the distinct life force that was Jesse, she sighed softly, his name on her lips.

"Jesse."

Life forces swirled about her and she could feel the life of the clones, the men she'd served with and so many men she was only now getting to know. She picked through them quickly, passing by the newer, lighter energies and digging deeper. Digging for the heavier life forces of men who had been through years of battle, through years of suffering and pain, searching... seeking...

Rex.

Coric.

The familiar life forces of the veteran team members surrounded her through the various tunnels and through to the surface. Reassuring, focused and determined, the men were tending to their various tasks. Surrounded by brothers, Mandalorian warriors and civilians.

She passed by them, seeking through the crowds and going deeper, past the army; past the populace. Past the clones in the tunnels and the renegades and stretching her senses wide, through the very bowels of the planet. Not looking for an exact location, but simply seeking Jesse's distinct signature, tinged with the brashness, that had always...

There.

Ahsoka let out a soft sigh of relief, feeling Jesse's determination and frustration, his anger, bubbling about him like a volcanic chain reaction. And with him-

Her eyes snapped open as the connection was lost, Maul's presence cutting her off after that seemed like a deliberate moment of allowing her contact. As if he wanted her to know Jesse was-

Alive.

Just as Stirling had said.

Her comm beeped. Opening her eyes, Ahsoka let out a long, relieved breath, the band around her chest loosening. Glancing down, she keyed it on. "What is it, Rex?"

"The fortifications for "C" deck are almost complete, Commander," Rex informed her succinctly. "It won't be long now."

Ahsoka was certain she could hear a wry note in his voice; as if their Commander and Commander banter was something he found amusing. Which wouldn't surprise her in the slightest; Rex had a wickedly dry sense of humor and this would have appealed as much to his sense of the ridiculousness as hers.

"Thank you. Meet me top side as soon as you can."

"Roger that, Commander."

Clicking off the comm., Ahsoka turned from the tunnel to find that, while she'd been immersed in her search for Jesse, fortifications had sprung up around her. Tunnels had been sealed in three directions and the men worked around her in near-silence.

Apparently her little sojourn into the Force had taken longer than she'd planned. A standard hour, possibly two.

Lifting one hand to the men, and nodding when they responded with respectful "Commander"s, she headed for the lift that would take her topside. Unexpectedly finding herself alone, she took the few minutes to organize her thoughts.

Leaning against the side of the lift, she turned over what she knew and examined it carefully in her mind's eye. Maul had captured Jesse to ask about her. But what about her? What could the Sith possibly want to know about her? He'd known her name when they'd met in the tunnels, but seemed to know little else.

He'd spoken eloquently, almost elegantly, about things that had seemed beyond his possible knowledge... and yet Maul had seemed so sure about them. About Darth Sidious and a certain moment that was coming to pass; a change in the galactic rule. After Obi-Wan's revelation that this Darth Sidious had orchestrated both sides of the Clone Wars, it made even less sense to her as to what Maul was hoping to learn from the ARC trooper.

True, Jesse was a veteran of Torrent Company; he'd been with them almost as long as she had - longer, actually, despite having left to attend ARC training. Jesse knew how she planned her assaults, he'd been through enough of her briefings, but other than surface details about her career, what Maul could possibly glean that would be of use from Jesse was beyond her.

Now, if Maul had captured Rex...

She shuddered, pushing that thought aside. Ahsoka didn't like to think she favored the men, but Rex wasn't just one of the men. He was more; mentor and friend as well as confidant and companion. Rex knew her better than Anakin and if Maul had captured him-

But he hadn't; Maul had captured Jesse.

And while Jesse wasn't as close to her as Rex, Jesse was still a friend and one of her men.

"Commander?"

Ahsoka looked up as the lift came to a stop to find Rex waiting for her and she smiled unbidden; she found she couldn't help it. After being denied his company for over a year and now finding herself back in it almost constantly, it left her feeling... whole again. "Maul caught Jesse, Rex," her smile died as she spoke, stepping off the lift and sending it back down. "He took him alive."

Rex flinched. "Alive."

"Yeah." Ahsoka exhaled. "Stirling said he went through the men one by one and found the eldest to interrogate."

They shared a look and Ahsoka knew Rex was thinking about the time he'd spent with Asajj Ventress trying to mind control him on Teth. It had been years before, back before they were really friends, but any time one of his men was subjected to any kind of mental manipulation, Rex was the first to offer his support. "You're sure he was taken alive?"

"Yes." An arch of one brow as they fell into step together was her answer and she couldn't blame him; she did sound almost smugly certain. "I can feel him, Rex; his life force. He really is alive."

"Then I don't envy him."

"I just hope we can find him before Maul gets what he's looking for."

"And what's that, Commander?"

"Information about me - apparently."

"You?"

Ahsoka nodded.

"That's smart, anyway," Rex sighed. "I hate it when they're smart."

"Obi-Wan never said Maul was stupid."

"He never said Maul was this crafty either." Rex returned dryly. "ARC training will have prepared him to resist; just not from a Sith."

"Jesse being Jesse would resist without the training," Ahsoka told him with a smile, one that swiftly died. "I only hope we can find him before Maul is done with him."

"There... may not be much left to find."

"I'm not so sure about that," considering how... civilized Maul had been, Ahsoka wasn't certain the Sith would risk killing Jesse if he wanted to finish the parlay they'd started. Something about Maul's manner was off. "Killing Jesse would end any chance he had of... of... whatever he's trying to do."

" Any idea what that might be?"

"Other than being lost?" Ahsoka shook her head. "He was very talkative... for a Sith."

"Do they not normally like to share their evil plans?"

"He wasn't sharing more like... confused. As if he was trying to make sense of why I was here and not Obi-Wan or Anakin; why he wasn't important enough to warrant their attendance. He didn't even have his lightsaber drawn until you and the boys showed up."

"Taking Jesse for intel is a good plan in theory."

"I'm under no illusions, Rex; I know how hard it was for you to resist Asajj. Knowing what I know about Maul, I can only guess that he's better at prying information out of the unwilling than she was, no matter how strong. Jesse isn't going to be able to resist him; not for long."

Rex was silent and Ahsoka could practically hear his thought process; trying to put together a rescue plan to get Jesse before Maul could do anything permanent to his brother. The problem was, they didn't know where Maul's base was and without that information, there was little chance they'd be able to do anything.

For all she could sense him, it was simply him and not his location.

If Maul was after information, there was a chance he'd keep Jesse alive to get information beyond what he wanted about Ahsoka. Their best chance to free Jesse would be to prevent Maul's escape. Reaching out, Ahsoka placed one hand on his forearm. "We're not giving up on him, Rex."

"I know, Commander." He shook his head. "I also know we can't plan a rescue without our own intel."

"Then maybe we should get some." She grinned at him. "Bo was talking about interrogating the pretender Almec. If we can get Maul's escape plan, we might be able to track him back to his base."

"Even if we can't, we can set an ambush to catch him before he boards his craft," Rex agreed. "If you're right, it might be our best chance at getting Jesse back alive."

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Ahsoka flashed him a smile and picked up her pace. "Let's go get what we need to get our boy and bring him home."

Several Hours Later

With Almec's death, Rex was left to scour reports for any signs of Maul's underground hideout, his determination to find Jesse as strong as when Ahsoka had told him the ARC had been taken. Yet, even as determined as he was, he found his hope waning. Without intel, you couldn't create a battle plan; no intel meant no rescue. Jesse was just one soldier, but Rex was determined to do everything he could to bring him home. At the moment, however, there was little he could do.

Reluctantly, he turned his attention to other matters, going through several reports from the city where unrest was still strong. Flipping from one report to the next, he noted that Bo Katan's opposition was determined, but the GAR's soldiers were holding them in check; for the moment. The next series of reports noted that the fortifications on the various decks and at the loading docks were almost complete. He was gratified to see that if Maul attempted to use any of the decks to cross their lines, he'd be met with heavy resistance. The city was well on its way to being locked down as best it could be in such a short period of time.

If they had another twenty four hours-

"You know, Rex," Ahsoka's tone was conversational, almost teasing, and a welcome distraction as she drew him from his reading. "I thought helping Bo would be like old times."

His eyebrows arched in surprise. "It hasn't been?"

"Sure it has; all the best times. Like jumping out of a perfectly good LAAT."

"Without a jetpack."

"Who needs a jetpack?" She grinned. "I still beat you to the ground."

"You always do." He flashed her a grin, the one that was normally hidden under his helmet. "Having you at the vanguard to protect our landing zone is something I've missed."

"Me too; there's something about knowing you've got my back, Rex."

"And you mine." He set the datapad aside.

"I've missed that the most you know." She sighed and then her look turned sly. "It's also made me remember all the things I didn't miss."

"Really?" Having her back into battle with Torrent Company had felt so right, nothing had seemed wrong to him. "Like what?"

"Like the bad guys having secret tunnels or exits that let them escape."

Ah. So that's what she meant. Rex decided it was relatively harmless to play her game. "And being unable to track them after the fact?"

"And don't forget being surrounded by enemies and not knowing if help is coming soon enough."

He chuckled. "I think Maul's met his match in you, Ahsoka. Even with the Mandalorian rebels, you had him on his heels."

"Until he used you as a blunt object to stop my forward momentum," the look she slanted him was amused, arching her brows. "You're still as heavy and hard as I remember."

"If I have to be thrown into anyone, you'd be my first choice," he teased in return, "despite all those Jedi muscles, you make for a good, soft landing."

They shared a look and then a brief chuckle, which quickly died. The atmosphere between them changed.

"I don't miss watching our men die, Rex, or having them taken hostage. That part... that part I could do without."

"It's hardly a battle without casualties, Ahsoka."

"I know... but that doesn't make it any easier."

"No - it doesn't."

"I'm worried about Jesse, Rex; the long Maul has him..."

"I know."

The silence between them was loaded and heavy; they both knew Jesse had little chance of resisting the Sith and, the longer he was in the Sith's hands, the more their hope at getting him back in some semblance of himself waned. Sith weren't known to go easy on their captives. It was disheartening that they couldn't go chasing after him as they wanted, but without the proper intelligence or even a glimmer of where Maul was located, they'd just be wasting resources.

They shared a long look, acknowledging that, no matter how much they wanted Jesse to come home safe, each minute he remained as Maul's captive, his chances decreased that much more.

Jesse didn't have much time... and there was very little they could do.

fin