Kix's breath came fast and hard, anger burning brightly inside him. The door closed behind Echo after he had kicked him out of his medbay. He had been startled when Dagger had burst through the door just minutes ago. She had run straight to her cot and started crying.

Kix had looked at Cobalt who was closer, the man was just as startled as he was. He was glad that everyone had left the medbay for the day, all healed enough to go back to the barracks.

Cobalt had gone to her side immediately, offering words of comfort and gently trying to figure out what had happened. Kix made his way over to the pair and he sat on the cot on Dagger's left side.

He rested his hand on the small of her back, he spoke gently, "Hey, what happened kid?"

Dagger threw her arms around Kix's shoulders and buried her face in the crook of his neck. She trembled but the sobs he had heard earlier had already stopped. She hiccuped slightly and he could tell she was trying to push down her emotions.

He wouldn't push her, so he just wrapped his arms around her and rubbed her back. She sniffed and pulled back. Dagger wiped her face with her fingertips, "I'm sorry. I don't mean to cry."

"What happened? One minute you went out to go get some food with Echo and the next you are back crying your eyes out. Did he do something to you?"

She shook her head, "It's not a big deal. I shouldn't be this upset about it anyway, I just-"

She couldn't finish her sentence so she just trailed off into silence. Cobalt stepped forward and put a gentle hand on her shoulder, "If it upsets you then it isn't something that can be pushed aside. Is there anything we can help with?"

She shook her head. She looked down, "He didn't mean it, he was just trying to help. Please don't be mad Kix."

The medic clenched his jaw but nodded to her, "What did Echo do?"

She choked back another sob, "Someone came out of the office behind us in the hallway, my hood was down and it surprised us. Echo was just trying to protect my secret. He kissed me. I-I had never been kissed before."

Kix sucked a breath in through his teeth and he saw red. He fought the urge to track down Echo right then and there. He had to remind himself that Dagger needed his help more than Echo needed an ass kicking.

Cobalt on the other hand had no problem walking out right now. Kix had to grab him by the collar and give him a hard stare to make him stay put. He sent the newest medic a look that promised they would deal with him later.

Dagger was staring blankly into her palms which lay face up in her lap. Kix sat back down, "I'm sorry Dagger. That should not have happened that way and Echo knows that."

"I know. He apologized immediately. I just wish it had been someone else. Don't get me wrong, Echo is amazing. But he's my best friend, I don't think of him like that," her voice was small.

"And there is nothing wrong with that. If that is how you feel then he is going to have to respect your decision."

"If he doesn't he'll have me to deal with," Cobalt said, grinding his fist into his palm.

Dagger looked even more uncomfortable now, so Kix tried to steer the conversation away, "You said you wish it was someone else? Who's that?"

"I- I can't tell you," she stammered.

"It's ok kid, you don't have to tell me. Here, I got a present for you," he got up to go grab said item, "Well, actually Captain Rex got you a present."

Dagger perked up at the name, a slight redness on her cheeks. Kix couldn't quite tell if it was from crying or something else. He handed her the helmet, visor up.

Dagger gasped and reached to grab it immediately, "Is this my helmet?"

"It's new. Your old one was destroyed. Rex painted it for you, look at the back."

Dagger looked up at him skeptically. What could possibly be on the back of the helmet? Rex had done this for her? The thought made her heart skip a beat. When she turned it over her breath caught in her throat.

Beautiful wings spanned across the back of the helmet. Her dagger copied perfectly in blue paint on the white armor. It was amazing.

Dagger looked up at Kix, "He- he did this for me?"

The medic smiled as if she had just told him a secret, "He did. He also asked if you were doing ok. He was really worried about you yesterday."

"Oh."

"Worried?" Cobalt asked, incredulous, "Homeboy was grieving for you. He thought you were dead. Captain looked half dead himself until Kix told him you were alive."

"Rex thought I was dead?"

The medics nodded, "And now he is going back down to Ryloth with the rest of Torrent?"

Another nod. Dagger thought for a moment, "Kix did you, by any chance, get another voice modulator for the helmet?"

"Already installed," he said with a smile.

"Do you think it would be too late to call him? I haven't been able to talk to him since I woke up."

"He might still be on the gunship down to the surface so if you are going to call him you should do it sooner rather than later," Cobalt said. Kix gave her shoulder a pat and then pulled Cobalt away.

Dagger was too busy inputting Rex's code into her comm to see the dark look that the two medic's shared before leaving her on her own. She didn't even notice as they walked out the door shoulder to shoulder.

"Captain Rex, do you copy?" she asked into the communicator.

"Go for Rex," was his response.

"This is Dagger, I know you are on your way back to Ryloth right now and I don't want to distract you, but I just wanted to thank you for the helmet."

There was a pause, "Dagger, how are you feeling? Are you getting better?"

She sniffed slightly, a smile painting itself on her face, "Yeah I'm feeling a lot better now. Kix fixed me up real good."

"Good! I'm glad to hear that. And you like the helmet? If you don't like the design on the back I can fix it, or I could paint something else, anything you want."

"No! It's beautiful, I love it. Thank you Rex. Please be safe on your mission, I have something I want to show you when you get back, ok?"

"Roger that, I'll be back as soon as I can. Take care of yourself Dagger, please."

"I will."

The communication shut off and her heart raced. She hadn't consciously decided that she would show Rex when he came back, but now that the words were out there she knew it was what she wanted. She wanted to tell Rex who she was.

If he was going to reject her and kick her out of the unit she would rather it be now rather than later. She wanted him to accept her with all of her heart, but she was still uncertain of what his reaction would be.

She took off the helmet again and gazed at the design on it, she could see the careful brushstrokes he had taken to create it. Dagger smiled, maybe he would be happy to see what she actually looked like. Maybe he would accept her for who she was.

~B~

Kix and Cobalt walked together in full armor minus their helmets. Anger shone bright in their eyes. They strode through the hallways, which were mostly empty at the time. Anyone who was in their way was wise enough to give them a wide clearance. No one wanted to get in the way of two angry medics who were set on a mission of their own accord.

They pitied the poor soul who they were looking to find. Kix's wrath was legendary, most of the stories of people escaping his clutches in medbay did not end well for the escapee. And Cobalt? Well, no one knew what he was capable of just yet.

Their first stop was the barrack. The door slid open and they took a quick glance over the mostly empty bunks to confirm that Echo wasn't there. The only ones in the barracks were the recently injured, including one snoring Hardcase.

Cobalt and Kix moved as a unit searching the observation deck, the mess hall, and the common room. They didn't even have to speak to know what the other was thinking.

Kix felt bile rise up in the back of his throat. How dare Echo do something like that to his sister? To Dagger? To one of them? Echo knew better than that. He knew better than to take away a vod's first kiss. He didn't understand what could have possessed Echo to act in such a way.

Cobalt's hands twitched. He had been in the unit for less than a week and he was already fiercely protective of the members of Torrent. His team leader on Kamino had always accused him of getting too attached to his unit. Cobalt didn't see that as a weakness, he saw it as a strength.

He had been lucky enough to be assigned to the only unit with a sister. He was lucky enough to have met her and be able to help save her when she was injured. Already, he would do anything to protect her, even from one of their brothers.

Cobalt had no problem with pounding Echo into the ground for kissing Dagger without her consent. As soon as he got his hands on the Arc trooper he would show him just how easily he could hurt instead of heal.

They entered the training room and heard the thudding of fists on a punching bag in the back corner. Kix and Cobalt exchanged a nod before moving quietly into the large room, bootsteps quiet on the duracrete floor.

Echo had fled straight to the training room. He couldn't stand to go anywhere else. It was the one place he knew no one else would be right now. He felt his skin crawling across his nerves.

He punched the bag as hard as he could, he hadn't even bothered to wrap his knuckles and wrists. It wasn't like he deserved to protect his hands anyway. He had sworn to protect Dagger and then been the one to hurt her. He had stolen from her. He had broken the taboo, he had disrespected her in one of the worst ways a clone could.

"Fuck!" He yelled punching the bag hard enough to split the skin on his knuckles. Why did he have to be a stupid clone? He would do anything to go back in time right now and undo what had been done.

He didn't even notice the two approaching behind him. Too caught up in his thoughts and anger at himself. How? How could she not hate him for what he had done?

Echo hated himself. He had half a mind to go tell Rex what he had done and let the Captain beat him to a pulp. Rex had never allowed such crimes to go unpunished in his unit, he certainly wouldn't start now. Especially since it was Dagger.

He knew he deserved to be torn a new one, the only thing stopping him from going to Rex right now was the fact that the man was on another planet. Stars, he just wanted this nightmare to stop.

There had been so much pain and Echo only made everything worse. He saw the look in her eyes and his shattered heart crumbled a bit more at the memory. She didn't love him. She didn't want him as he wanted her. He had always wanted her, even before he knew she was a girl. He just wanted to love Dagger, and he did. But he wasn't the one she wanted love from.

He could see it in her eyes, there was someone else. He didn't know who, but he had a pretty good guess. Dagger would never be his and his heart ached at that realization. He had only succeeded in pushing her further away.

He might have even ruined their friendship. The best friendship he had ever had, he just ruined it in one fraction of a second. In one flash of a moment he severed the bond that they had. Now she might never look at him the same way again.

His fists pounded even harder into the punching bag, red splotches blooming on the canvas. A tear streaked down his cheek, hot with self hatred.

Suddenly, the air was knocked out of him as a shoulder connected with his ribcage, strange arms wrapped around his torso. He let out a shout of surprise as he was tackled backwards, skidding across the floor until his back hit the wall. His head snapped back to crack against the durasteel.

Echo's eyes went wide as a face pressed into his space, he was pinned to the wall. Angry, familiar eyes, stared into his soul, a telltale tattoo on his temple. Cobalt? He quickly glanced behind the man and saw Kix standing with his arms crossed and looking just as angry as Cobalt.

"You think you can just take whatever you want because you saved her life?" Cobalt growled, voice spitting in his face.

Echo cowered back as far as he could, "No! No! I didn't mean-"

"You didn't mean to steal from your vod? I didn't think you would be a chakaar."

Echo hung his head forward, "I didn't mean to. I didn't think. I had no idea she hadn't had her first."

Cobalt's hand slammed into the wall next to Echo's head, the other fisted into his shirt, "You didn't even ask? Do you have no honor at all? Is there a shred of respect in your heart? You were supposed to protect her!"

Echo let out a sob, "I was trying to protect her! He was going to see her! Dagger's hood was down! I was trying to protect her secret!"

"By stealing a muryeca?! How could you?" Cobalt's voice was trembling with anger. He was desperate to understand what had possessed this vod to act as he did.

"I- I was-"

"You don't care about her at all! Do you?" He roared in his face.

Echo finally snapped and looked up at him blazing eyes, "I LOVE HER!"

The medic recoiled at that and Echo shoved him off, "I love her and I was trying to protect her. You think that I don't regret my actions? You want to know what I saw after I kissed her? Horror. Disgust. She doesn't love me! She doesn't even want me!"

Tears streamed down his face as he yelled. His voice was trembling with the effort, "She doesn't love me and I was the worst vod in the universe to her. She should hate me! Not forgive me! I don't deserve to get away with what I did to her! Please!"

He moved forward and grabbed Cobalt's shirt, balling it up in front of him, "Please! Don't let me get away with it! I can't stand what I did to her! I just want to take it back, I don't want to feel like this anymore. Please!"

His eyes were begging and Cobalt was frozen for a moment. He took the moment to truly look at the other man. His eyes were rimmed red, cheeks wet. His right eye was already starting to turn purple to match the wound on his nose. One that Dagger had no doubt given him.

The trooper deserved a whole lot more than a bruised nose and from what he had said he knew that he deserved worse too. Cobalt was more than happy to give him what he asked for, what he deserved.

The medic wound back and sent his fist into Echo's jaw with a satisfying crack. Echo let out an involuntary cry and his head snapped to the side. He let go of Cobalt as his balance was shifted suddenly and he went down on his knee.

Cobalt unleashed a series of punches at Echo only to be stopped abruptly by an arm around his neck. He choked at the sudden lack of oxygen. He felt more than heard the hissed whisper in his ear, "That is not how we do things here! We do not beat our own men!"

"What the fuck else did me come here to do Kix?" As far as Cobalt was concerned he had done nothing wrong.

"We are medics! We don't beat people up, we yell at them! That is your vod, Cobalt! He knows what he did was wrong. Nothing you do to him could be worse than what is going on in his mind."

"Kix," Echo let out a hoarse whisper from where he was kneeling on the ground.

The medic released Cobalt and squatted down in front of him. His fingers were gentle on his jaw as he examined the fresh injury, "Echo?"

"Why did you stop him? I deserve to feel pain after what I did," His voice was broken and small.

"Because it's not what Dagger would want. I think she has already been through enough the past few days," Echo looked down at that, "I'm going to need you to do something, ok Echo? Something for Dagger."

The Arc looked up with pleading eyes, "Anything."

"You need to go apologize to her. You know what you did wasn't right. You know what a first kiss means to us clones and you need to tell her how sorry you are."

Echo nodded furiously, "Yes of course!"

Kix stood and offered his hand to help Echo stand up. The man wobbled slightly as he stood and a guilty expression was painted on his face.

"I still think you should have let me knock some sense into him," Cobalt grumbled, "But I guess an apology will do."

"You can always beat me up when Kix isn't around," Echo said darkly.

Kix pushed the man's shoulder, "Stop that you self deprecating jerk. This isn't about you, it's about Dagger."

They began the walk back to the medbay as Echo responded, "And I hurt Dagger. Not physically but I still hurt her."

"And you got a broken heart out of it," Kix retaliated, "There isn't much worse than that Echo. I truly am sorry for that, but you will respect her if she doesn't want to be with you."

"I will, I promise."

~B~

"Roger that, I'll be back as soon as I can. Take care of yourself Dagger, please."

"I will."

Rex shut off the communicator and looked around the gunship. Jesse's helmet was staring right at him and his HUD lit up with a private comm channel from the trooper, "What's up Jesse?"

"Who were you talking to Captain?"

"Dagger."

"Ahh, so that's why you have the stupid smile on your face," he laughed.

"You can't even see my face," Rex rolled his eyes at him.

"Au contraire my Captain, I know you well enough to know when you are smiling. What is going through that head of yours?"

"Dagger liked the helmet I got him. I painted it special for him before we left and he said he loved it," Rex felt his cheeks heat up at the admission. It really did make him happy to know that Dagger liked it.

"You know you need to tell him right?" Jesse asked.

"I know, I know. I just don't want to rush anything or force him at all. I don't even know if he feels the same way."

"Either way, he deserves to know. You almost lost any chance to tell him at all."

Jesse was right and once again the thought of losing Dagger sent a wave of anxiety up Rex's spine, "Wait, how do you even know Jesse?"

He saw the trooper's shoulders shudder with a laugh, "Aside from the fact that you didn't deny it just now?"

The trooper was openly laughing at him now. Rex shut off the communication channel and cursed himself quietly. Was he really that obvious?

The light in the gunship went red and he ordered his men to prepare for the battle, "Red light! Standby."

The sound out blasters being switched off safety rang out and they were raised to point at the blast doors. Ready to fire as soon as the doors opened.

General Skywalker ignited his lightsaber and Rex's body flooded with adrenaline. Any thoughts that were not about this battle were pushed from his head. He had no room to think about anything other than the present moment.

The lights flashed green and the blast doors opened, "Go! Go!"

Torrent soldiers flooded out of the gunships that were all landing simultaneously. Red bolts flew through the air as they rushed for cover, trying to set up a line of defense. They needed to get into position before they could push forward. The walls of the gorge they were in made for good cover.

Seppies had mobilized the last of their forces on the planet to attack one of the main cities of Ryloth, but to get there they had to go through this path. It was up to the 501st to stop them. Rex followed behind General Skywalker closely, determined to watch his back.

"Rollers!" someone yelled from near the front lines.

Sure enough, there were droidekas rolling up from the back of the droid forces, obviously released by their cyborg overlord General Grievous. Rex gritted his teeth, did they really need to make things this difficult for them?

"General?" He asked.

"I see em' Rex," the Jedi replied, lightsaber swinging in what looked to be random strokes. Rex knew, however, that the General was anything but random as he deflected all blaster bolts that came his way.

"Do you remember Cristophsis?"

"You mean that first battle when you were assigned Commander Tano?" Rex asked, confused as to why he had brought it up.

"Yeah, so Snips and I got the rollers to chase us and then sliced 'em while their shields were down. Maybe we could do that again," the jedi suggested as the troops took cover from the ray shielded death balls.

Rex quickly relayed the information to his men, "Fire on those 'dekas when they start to move."

Anakin, much to Rex's dismay, powered down his lightsaber and ran back the way that they had just come from. The droidekas immediately started to roll after the jedi, as that was their primary target.

"General!" Rex exclaimed. He was too reckless, he was going to get himself shot!

The Captain, as well as the rest of Torrent company opened fire on the rollers. They were shot to smithereens before they could even get two meters down the gorge.

Anakin turned with a smile and Rex just shook his head. That man was going to give him a stroke one day. There were a few short cheers when the droidekas were eliminated, but everyone quickly focused on the remaining forces which had not paused their assault on the clone lines.

"Tankers, move forward. I want those cannons taken out!" Rex ordered.

He heard the dull thuds through the ground as the heavy mechs moved forward. There were a few shouts to take cover as the tanks opened fire. Missiles were launched into the air and found their marks on the enemy cannons.

The droids started to retreat back into the gorge, where there was more cover. The Republic forces pressed forward to keep them in sight. Soon enough the rock walls were too close to keep the tanks firing.

Rex ordered them to hold fire, there was too much risk of a rock slide if one of the rounds missed. He surveyed the remnants of the droid forces, which were rapidly dwindling. He looked to the General for orders.

"Let's take out that last tank, gimme a grenade," Skywalker said.

He quickly handed over a grenade and readied a second for himself. He felt his muscles bunch in anticipation, ready to spring as soon as necessary.

Rex rushed forward, following closely behind General Skywalker for the second time this battle. They sped towards the last tank as fast as they could manage.

The Jedi jumped onto the barrel of the cannon with height that would have been impossible for Rex to replicate. He ran up the cannon and cut through the upper hatch of the tank with his lightsaber.

Rex went for the lower hatch, sliding onto the hovering tank. He blasted the latch and swung it open. The droid yelled out in surprise and grabbed at Rex to try and shove him away. Stupid droid forgot about its blaster entirely.

The droid grabbed onto Rex's ankle just as he shot it in the face, instant kill. Grabbing a grenade from his belt, he armed it and looked up to see the General doing the same. With a practiced synchronization they tossed the grenades into the tank and made to jump away.

Skywalker leaped free with an impressive backflip. Rex, on the other hand, preferred the haul ass approach and started to run back the way that he came. Except he had forgotten about the droid that had grabbed his ankle.

Even deactivated, the mech's grip on his ankle was tight enough to cause him to trip. He fell onto his back with a thud. He knew the timers on the grenades were short, he didn't have time to run. All he had time to do was let out a panicked shout, "GENERAL!"

The jedi looked back in horror to see his Captain lying face up on a tank that was about to explode. On instinct he reached out with the force to grab Rex. He pulled him away as quickly as he could.

Just as he was lifting the Captain, the tank exploded and sent the soldier flying into the rock wall, just out of reach of the fire of the blast. Anakin shouted out in shock, "Rex!"

He sprinted over to where the man was crumpled against the rock wall. His armor was still intact and his force signature was still strong. Yet, there was no movement from the man. Anakin crouched over the Captain and removed his helmet, "Rex?"

Rex's eyes were closed and Anakin had to put a hand to his face to make sure he was still breathing. He frowned, "I'm sorry my friend, I wasn't quick enough this time to keep you from getting your bell rung. Rex, you gotta get up."

The Captain let out a low noise of pain and he could see his eyes moving beneath his closed eyelids. Skywalker looked at the back of the blond's head and already saw a bruise starting to form where his skull had connected with the helmet, "On second thought, maybe you should just stay down. That is gonna hurt like hell when you wake up."

Rex let out a moan of pain that indicated some level of comprehension of what Skywalker was saying. But to what degree, the General had no idea.

The Jedi put Rex's helmet back on and lifted the man over his shoulder. Holding him secure with a hand over his back he turned to survey the battlefield. Since the last tank had been destroyed the troopers of the 501st were making short work of the remaining droids.

Good. The sooner they were done with these small remnants of the Separatist forces the sooner they would be able to leave this rock. The General carried Rex as gently as he could back to the gunships where Corric was waiting with a gurney. Apparently, he knew that Skywalker was coming.

"I'll take it from here General," the medic said.

"He has a pretty bad head wound. You'll be able to patch him up right?" Anakin was confident in the abilities of his men, but there was always that worry that it wouldn't be enough.

"Shouldn't be a problem sir. The Captain has had a lot worse than this in the past."

Anakin nodded before turning back to the last stretches of the battle. He raced back to the front lines. Can't let the boys get all the fun now could he?

~B~

Rex's head pounded. Almost as if his brain was trying to beat it's way out the back of his skull. He let out a groan of pain as he felt himself be picked up and deposited face down on some sort of surface.

There was noise around him. Were those voices? Was he still on the battlefield? His thoughts were fuzzy and he couldn't quite tell where he was. Everything was a lot quieter now.

Someone was trying to touch his brain, of that he was sure. They were touching the back of his head and trying to force their finger through his skull to touch his brain. It was the only explanation for the shooting pain he was feeling.

He had to get up. If he was still on the battlefield, he couldn't just lay around and let a clanker poke his brain. So he made a plan, very simple. Get up and run. He could do that.

Slowly as he pulled his arms up so they were under his chest. His heart raced and his muscles twitched in anticipation.

Quick as he could, he pushed himself up off of the surface he was laying on and got his knees under himself. His eyes flung open and he was blinded by bright lights. The shouts of surprise were deafening to his sensitive ears.

Rex flung his feet off the cot and tried to stand, except his balance was way off and he overshot by a mile. His feet hit the ground but the rest of him also wanted to be on the ground.

Before he knew it he was falling and a pair of hands caught him under the armpits. The Captain had no idea where he was or who was holding him, which caused him to thrash violently in their hold.

"Oh for the love of- would you calm down Captain?"

He stilled at the familiar voice. His mouth felt like cotton but he still managed to croak out, "Kix?"

The man sighed and sat him back on the cot, laying him on his side to make sure there was minimal pressure on the back of his head, "Yes, Captain. You are in the medbay aboard the Resolute. So if you could please refrain from trying to escape that would be great. I'm already at my tracking limit for the day."

"Battle report?" He asked, as if he would actually get that information.

"Not right now Rex. You got hit pretty bad on the head while you were down there. Gonna need to keep an eye on you for at least the night if not the next day or two."

"Medbay?"

Kix rolled his eyes, he really shouldn't have expected any intelligent conversation with him right now considering the head injury that Rex had. He just laughed to himself, it was kinda funny the way that Rex was trying to keep his eyes open to look at him. He couldn't keep himself from making fun of Rex, "You couldn't wait to see Dagger could you? Had to go and get yourself a ticket to the medbay just to see him again."

A dopey smile crossed Rex's face at the mention of Dagger. Kix almost wanted to coo at the Captain for it, but he refrained himself so he could listen to what he was going to say.

"Sharp boy," was the brilliant thing that the Captain came up with, "He has a trusty stab."

There was a laugh from behind Kix and the medic turned to see Dagger, with her new helmet on, standing behind him. Once acknowledged, she stepped forward, "You going to be ok Captain?"

"Anything for you," he said with a lazy smile on his face. She could tell by the searching look in his eyes that he couldn't quite see her.

She laughed at that and moved forward. Dagger placed a hand on the side of his face and he unconsciously nuzzled into her warm palm. Her heart did a funny jump at the action.

His eyes were closed and she snuck a glance at Kix to gage what his reaction was. Kix, to his credit, had a pretty neutral face, but he still couldn't keep the smirk off of his mouth. Dagger tilted her helmet at the medic, "What is he doing?"

Kix just shrugged, smile growing, "It's cold in here and you are probably warmer than he is."

As the medic spoke, Rex's hand snaked up Dagger's wrist to hold her in place as he turned his head and pressed a kiss into her palm. Dagger made a small choking sound, her brain was stalling. Was he? Did Rex just?

Kix let out a snicker and Dagger just looked at him, trying to figure out what was happening. Because this could not possibly be happening. That was not something someone did because they were cold.

Rex was murmuring quietly into her skin, eyes closed and body slowly relaxing into the cot. Dagger leaned in to try and hear what he was saying. It took her a moment to realize the jumbles of syllables was actually a string of mando'a. He spoke too quietly, too slurred for her to understand.

"Kix, what is he saying? Is he in pain?"

The medic leaned in closely and smiled, "He's doing just fine. His head hurts a bit but that isn't what he is talking about."

"What is he talking about?"

"I'm sure he'll tell you when he wakes up, but for now I bet he would appreciate it if you kept him company. He would never admit it but he doesn't like sleeping alone. That's why he sleeps in the barracks with us."

"I know," Dagger said, Kix gave her a funny look but let it slide. Dagger pulled a chair closer with her free hand and sat down close to Rex's bunk. She twisted her hand until she was holding his. She could feel his breath ghosting across her knuckles softly.

She smiled at the sleeping blond, he looked so calm like this. Examining her hand in his she noticed the difference in size. His hand practically engulfed hers due to its larger size. His fingers were rough but undamaged, the gloves had protected him well during the fight.

Her fingers, on the other hand, had multiple small cuts and her knuckles were split from when she had punched Echo earlier.

Dagger shuddered at the memory. Her fist had landed with a sickening crunch on Echo's nose. She had been so angry at him that she hadn't been able to control herself. Her anger had since turned into a numb betrayal.

Echo had come back to the medbay with a few extra bruises that neither of them acknowledged. He had kneeled in front of her and apologized. She saw the hurt welling up in his eyes, the desperate was he had pleaded with her. He was afraid that she would reject him. As if she could ever shun her best friend.

Dagger made it perfectly clear that what he had done was not ok and he had agreed with her wholeheartedly. But then she had dragged him into a hug and forgiven him. Echo had cried into her shirt at that, hands grasping her back tightly. He kept saying he was sorry over and over again.

She shook her head and focused back on the man in front of her. A sense of longing washed over her. She wondered what it would be like to feel his lips on hers instead of on her hand.

She wondered if he felt the same thing that she did. No. There was no way the Captain liked her, he had never even seen her face. He would probably kick her out of the unit as soon as he found out. She already promised herself that she would tell him no matter what his reaction might be and she would. She just wasn't expecting a positive response from him about the situation, about lying to him.

Part of her had hope that he wouldn't mind that she was a girl. Hoped that he did feel the same way about her. She had the clues right in front of her, like the way he had kissed her palm. But her brain refused to accept it.

He had just been hit on the head hard enough to rattle his brain. He had no idea what he was doing. Rex was just looking for comfort wherever he could find it. It made no difference if it was her or anyone else. At least, that is what she was telling herself.

Dagger propped her feet up on the side of the cot and leaned back in her chair. Her hand never once let go of his, it made her feel better to be able to tell he was still there.

Hand in hand with Rex, she followed him into sleep. Passed out in a chair in the medbay, a small smile on her helmeted face. The future may be uncertain, but for this moment everything was going to be ok.