A/N

I had it in my head that Rex would have a Tattoo and there was only one he could possibly have.

The Tattoo

Rex pulled the bed sheet over their naked bodies, the nights were chilly and they both had a sheen of sweat covering them after their exertions. His heart was still pounding, as was hers, he felt it. He couldn't resist a smile as the woman in his arms pushed herself to him, her arms snaking around his back.

He had never in all his wildest, or erotic dreams, expected to end up in the bed of a woman like this. When he was half conscious, being pulled along by that Nexu, he was certain he was a goner, an unfitting end to a soldier's life. But now. His smile went wider.

"What's the joke?" The now familiar female voice asked.

"Just…how the two of us ended up like this."

He felt her chuckle against his chest and waited for the response. She had finally come to trust him and he was learning more and more about this woman. The more he learned, the more he liked.

"You dragged me in here after a good dinner, ripped my clothes off and made mad passionate love to me."

He snorted; he done nearly all that but she knew that wasn't what he meant.

"No, how we ended up together." He corrected her.

"If I remember rightly, I saved your life."

Her hand ran up and down his spine; he shivered.

"And you liked what you saw?"

She snorted softly in response to that.

"I also repaired the fences for you."

"And took your shirt off whilst doing that."

"It was hot." He remembered her watching him from the kitchen.

"And you posed at the same time."

"Posed?"

"So that I could see you."

"You watched."

"Only because you posed."

It was his turn to snort now, before placing a kiss on her forehead.

"You wore nightwear that left nothing to the imagination."

"You didn't have to look and it was hot."

"So you said."

She chuckled again.

"You kissed me first." He reminded her.

"I apologised— then you came after me, and kissed me…harder."

"You didn't stop me."

"Not until you pushed me into the counter top."

He remembered, his clumsiness. "You pulled me onto the settee."

"It was more comfortable."

"It was." He admitted.

"You were passionate…."

"What can I say, I like your breasts." He dragged his knuckles down one for good measure, and waited for the response.

He got it in the form of a chuckle.

He remembered his surprise, at the kiss, he hadn't been touched like that in years; not since the Twi'lek. As a clone soldier, the only touch he and his brothers in arms normally had was from medics, or those same brothers helping, or the Jedi. Faces similar to his, faces he recognised, swam in front of his eyes.

"Hmph."

He had, to his own disgust, not even admitted to her, who exactly he was and his real name, until later; she had found out herself and yet she still accepted him. They were here now because of her.

"Rex? You okay?" Concern laced her voice.

"Just thinking." She read him so well.

His hand found its way to the small of her back, keeping her close to him, in response her lips met his, pressing softly, "Nothing bad, I hope." Her voice was low. Her fingers had moved to his tattoo, stroking the Jaig Eyes; she had taken to doing that recently. He sensed a question.

"Why have you got blue Tooka ears tattooed on your arm?"

He smiled, people always asked about tattoos, or commented on them.

"I can see that it matches your helmet."

Now it was his turn to chortle at her response.

"Well, I have never heard them called that before."

"They're not Tooka ears?"

"No."

"They look just like Bonnie's ears."

"She's locked out isn't she? I swear that Tooka is a voyeur." He often saw luminescent eyes staring at him, from the corner of the room, when they were in bed.

"She likes you."

"You could've fooled me. Those claws are lethal."

"So...what are the ears then? They are ears aren't they?

He really did not want to get into this but he couldn't suppress his memories forever; he had to face them. Some were good, he admitted to himself. He placed a kiss on her jaw, then another, and another. Her eyes closed, then she pulled away.

"Stop that." There was no malice in her voice.

"What?" He couldn't help it, as his eyebrow arched.

"Trying to distract me." She continued.

"Osik!" He swore; he thought, he had succeeded, when her eyes had slowly closed.

He rolled her easily onto her back.

"What about now?" He always felt enormous compared to her when he was on top and she wasn't a tiny person. Just small compared to him.

She rolled her eyes.

"It's an old Tattoo. So you must have had it done when you were young."

"Seen many tattoos have you?" It could be a loaded question but that would depend on how she took it.

"A few, in my time. But nothing like that."

He smirked, she was mellow tonight.

A barely suppressed giggle finally came out.

"What?"

"The ears wiggle when your muscles twitch."

Now his eyes rolled.

"I like it. It suits you."

He rolled over again, so she was on top. Ana pushed herself up, so she straddled him.

"Hmm. Nice view." He watched her breasts bounce, as he steadied her.

"Is that all you think about?"

"I'm a man and you weren't complaining fifteen minutes ago."

Slipping off him, Ana leaned on her elbow, cupping the side of her face in her hand. "So what's the tattoo's story?"

She was persistent, like an Ack dog with a bantha bone.

"First. You tell me something." He had never truly asked about her past. He knew her husband had been abusive and she had given him the push, but she never mentioned anyone else. "The first time….when we got together…..you said it had been a while."

"Are you really asking me how long or….if there was someone else?"

Rex had the good sense to look sheepish.

"There was no one else involved on my side of the divorce; I didn't cheat on my husband. Since the divorce there has been no one else. Not even casual. It had been years. Until you." The playfulness had gone out of her voice now.

He regretted the question.

"Is that what you wanted to know?"

Rex nodded, he didn't even know why he asked.

"The Tattoo is Mandalorian. They're called Jaig eyes, which is shortened version of - jai'galaar'la sur'haii'se in Mandalorian or shriek-hawk eyes in Basic."

"So do you get them for doing something? Or just for being a Captain or something?"

He liked how she was sometimes vague about military terms; it was so different to being with Wolffe and Gregor. She was listening intently now.

"I was in ARC training with a few of my cohort, some Commanders." he leaned his head back on the pillow, one arm behind his head, the other around her, as he remembered.

All those young men, millions. He, his cohort, the select ones were picked out as having more desirable characteristics for leadership. The Kaminoans, try as they might could not control everything. The human genome always won out.

"And…" Ana prompted him as he had gone silent.

"It was hard, strenuous, not just physically but mentally as well. We had to have the mental resilience to resist torture and other things." His mind went to The Sickener invented by one of the Mandalorian trainers, that was gruesome but after years of war, he appreciated the need for it.

"So, you get them for doing ARC training?"

Rex shook his head, "No they're awarded by Mandalorians as a mark of honour, for particular acts of bravery."

Ana was silent now; he watched her but couldn't decide what the look on her face was.

"What did you do?" She whispered.

"Nothing. Any one of us would have done it. I was just the nearest."

He was surprised she was silent, perhaps she could see he didn't want to relive that particular action.

"Besides that wasn't how I got the tattoo." He continued before she could ask anything else.

"How did you get it? No—don't tell me you got drunk with your squad and they got it done for you."

"How did you guess?"

"What?"

"It was Cody actually. We'd got pretty close during the training. Became good friends. We did go out to celebrate, a real dive, and in addition to the drink, he slipped something in mine. He must have been planning it, then he and Wolffe dragged me to a Tattoo artist. I didn't know until I woke up the next day with a raging headache and a Bacta patch on my arm."

Ana just watched him, he actually had a smile on his face remembering that.

"This Cody was your friend?"

"Yeah. He was." Rex stared into space, more memories.

Ana interrupted the silence, it had gone on too long.

"And then?"

"Whenever I met any of the Commanders, they would want to see it, and then I just got used to having it."

She laid back and smiled; when she smiled, it made him feel good, better than he had in a long long time.

"So Cody didn't get one?"

"No."

"Did he get punished for drugging you?"

Rex shook his head. "What happens in ARC Training stays in ARC Training."

A mischievous smile split his face.

"He got promoted to Marshal Commander. I suppose you could say that was punishment enough."

She chuckled at his joke and while she was distracted he rolled them both, moving back to cover her. "Now where was I." He muttered, before he nipped at her neck.

He was going to pay for all this exercise tomorrow but he didn't care; he had new memories to make.