His voice sounded like a sticky poison and Rex had to suppress a shudder. Instead, he squared his shoulders and looked the Mandalorian in the eyes, "Pre Vizsla, what a surprise."

"You aren't quite the person I was looking for but you will do. If you are here I have to assume that your General is as well. Where can I find Skywalker?"

"I wouldn't be able to tell you that even if I wanted to Vizsla."

"On a separate mission then. What brings you to Horuz, Captain Rex?"

"I'm not a Captain anymore. No longer part of the GAR, I work for someone else now."

"Ah I see," he stepped closer, forcing Rex to back up until his back hit the wall, "Well then maybe you can help me find the person I am looking for."

"The answer is still no," he responded, "But I do want to ask how you got out of that mess we left you in last time. Your fleet seemed pretty out of sorts; how did you even survive?"

"It doesn't matter how it happened, but the fact remains that my goals are still the same and your Republic keeps getting in my way. I just want to find someone, someone that I think you know."

"I'm not helping you Vizsla," Rex growled the words this time, shoving the man in the chest and made to leave.

Before he could get far, Vizsla planted a hand on his sternum and shoved him back against the wall forcing the air out of Rex's lungs. He drew a small blaster from his pocket and levelled it at Rex's head. The captain froze, he didn't dare to move as he spoke.

"I don't know who you are looking for, and even if I was still with the Republic I wouldn't tell you. I don't even see what you would get by killing me, why bother?"

The Mandalorian smirked at that, "You don't know who I'm looking for? You mean you haven't figured it out yet?"

"What are you talking about," he gritted out.

Vizsla laughed, a sinister and sickly laugh, "Of course you haven't figured it out, stupid soldier. Even if you don't know you will find out soon. I don't know where they are but I will fi-"

"I think I would consider your words carefully from this point on," came a voice from behind Vizsla. Rex saw a familiar dagger pressing tight against his throat and a breath of relief came out of his throat without his consent.

"And who are you?"

"I'm no one, but you should know that you are holding the person I care most about at gunpoint and if you hurt him, you will die where you stand."

Pre Vizsla chanced a glance downwards, his eyes catching the glint of her dagger, "My now isn't that a fancy blade?"

"You should know, murderer. You killed the man and family that this blade belonged to. Now lower your gun."

He did as he was told and Rex slipped out of his grasp, he stood by Dagger's side as she still stood behind the leader of Deathwatch with a Mandalorian heritage blade to his throat. He went to say something else but she tightened the blade to his throat.

"We have no business with you, no issue. You leave us alone and I won't kill you here and now. Do we have a deal?"

He nodded and she shoved him forward into the wall. It took him a few seconds to get his bearings again, but by the time he had done so they were already gone. Dagger pulled Rex back into the ballroom and the relative safety of the crowd before turning to him with wide eyes. They kept moving until they were lost within the throws of people and were sure that they weren't being followed.

She looked him over quickly, her eyes scanning for injuries, "What happened?"

"I was just making friends," he responded.

"With a terrorist? What did Vizsla want?"

He paused, "How do you know who that was? You've never met Vizsla before."

"No," she agreed, "I haven't ever met him before. But he comes up in the data pad I have on the Kotep'an family. You know as the one that murdered the last of them. It's kind of hard to forget the face that is responsible for that."

"Oh, right," he rubbed the back of his neck, "Sorry."

"What did he want?"

Rex looked over his shoulder before turning his wrist in her grasp. He maneuvered the appendage until he was holding her hand and he gently led her to where the crowd thinned, "I don't really know. He said he was looking for someone, you came in before he had the chance to say who."

"Should I have waited for him to put a whole in your skull," she asked with a huff.

"That's not what I meant and you know it," she settled at the words and he couldn't help but smile at the defensive way she had puffed up, "Thank you Dagger, I'm not sure how far that man is willing to go to get what he wants."

"Does he know who you are?"

He nodded, she continued, "Then we need to make sure he doesn't blow your cover, if the group finds out that we are working for the Republic I don't know what they will do."

He nodded in agreement before raising their joined hands and offering his other arm, "It seems like the ball is starting to wind down. One last dance?"

"One last dance for the night," she agreed with a smile.

He took a deep breath, feeling the adrenaline from the conflict bleed out of his system. He couldn't spot Vizsla anywhere and he let himself marginally relax. At least enough to be able to focus on Dagger. He didn't want to think about anything else as they made their way back to the dance floor.

He knew that it was just a temporary fix, something to distract them both from what was going on in the world around them. He just wanted another moment to hold her in his arms. When he thought about it, this was probably the closest that he had ever been to her for a long period of time. He liked how she seemed to relax when she stepped into his personal space, he would have her stay there all night long if she wanted.

Even though they started off of the dance floor he gradually led them over to it so that they could dance without dodging the people around them. Instead, they turned and swirled with the people around them. Rex let out a breath to calm his heart that was still trying to race from the residual adrenaline. It didn't matter how many times it had happened; the fear of a gun being pointed to his head was an instinctual one. There was no good way to get out of that situation when it was an actual living being holding the gun.

He hated that Vizsla had gotten the jump on him like that, he hated that he had been unprepared. He knew that he couldn't possibly be blamed for not expecting that situation. Afterall, how would he have known that Vizsla would choose now to resurface. It still felt like something that he should have known, or at least handled it better.

Instead, he had let himself get backed into a corner, literally. He hadn't had a way to disarm Vizsla without risking his own life and he wasn't willing to make that sacrifice at the moment. Not when he still had so much to do, so much to say.

His eyes refocused when Dagger squeezed his hand, pulling him from the thoughts he had gotten lost in. She smiled up at him and he squeezed her hand in return, pulling her just a fraction closer with is arm around her back. There were no words exchanged, not this time, but there didn't need to be.

As Rex looked at her, he felt like someone was pouring warm honey into his heart. So slow and so sweet, like nothing could go wrong. Affection bubbled up in his chest and he was once again reminded of the way that he had felt. He cared about her and she cared about him. This beautiful woman in his arms, he never would have expected to feel so strongly about anyone, but the way that she was just resonated with him.

The way that she worked, loyal to her brothers. The way that she trained, dedicated to getting better. The way that she smiled, like she didn't care who saw. All just parts of the reason that he felt this way.

He knew that he had promised himself to wait, to let her make the first move if she wanted. But at this point he was slipping in his resolve. He didn't have a lot of words to explain the feeling but he wanted her to know anyway. He wanted to tell her so that at least she knew.

He opened his mouth to say those words that he had been trying to tell her all day, but the way that she looked at him made them catch in the back of his throat. His breath stopped at the way that her eyes caught the light. She looked amazing and she was looking at him, the expression on her face was just-

It didn't even matter that they were in a room with at least a hundred other people. She was the only one he cared about out of the lot of them. He tuned out the rest of the noise in the room as his hand moved up her arm to hold her neck gently. His thumb brushed along her jawline and her soft smile returned.

"Rex," she whispered.

He just hummed in response. Now would probably be a good time to say those words, he chastised himself mentally. He tried to find them but none were coming and he was sure that he didn't want to ruin this moment anyway, not with the way her head tilted into his touch.

It turned out that it didn't matter anyway as someone else decided to ruin the moment for him. A random party guest that had a bit too much to drink all but rammed into them as they stood on the dance floor having unintentionally come to a halt. The man blundered past and Rex shouted after him to watch where he was going.

Then his attention was ripped back to Dagger and she stumbled, letting out a startled sound. Not one caused by the run in, but a noise of shock and what might have been pain. His eyes met hers and he instantly knew something was wrong.

Her hand dropped his and came up to grab her shoulder, she moved so quick it was like something had stung her. Rex gently pulled her hand away and sucked in a breath when it came away bloody. There was a gash on her upper arm.

His head whipped up as he looked around them and saw a bald head retreating from where they stood. His brow furrowed in anger; he should have known better than to think that Vizsla would leave them alone.

His fists clenched and he took a step, "I'll be right back."

Dagger's hand latched onto his suit in a tight grip, "Wait, Rex!"

The tone of her voice and grip on his jacket stopped him in his tracks. When his eyes landed on her again it looked like she was holding onto him for dear life. Her face was red and her eyes hazy.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. What's going on?" Rex asked, worry creeping up his spine.

"Rex." she breathed, "I don't- I don't feel so good."

As if to emphasize the point, her legs buckled and she started to fall. Rex's arm shot out and caught her before she got far. He pulled her up against his chest as he felt her grip onto his shoulders. She tried to pull her weight up and support herself but it seemed like her limbs were not responding to her at all.

"Hey," he tried to reassure her, "It's ok, you're ok."

He slipped his arms behind her back to support her. Her head rolled onto his shoulder and her words came out mumbled, "Rex I think that guy did something."

Rex grit his teeth against a retort of, oh you think so? He knew that she was struggling right now and he had to do something. He had no idea what it was, poison was likely, but the kind was completely unknown.

Her eyes weren't focused on anything and he wasn't even sure if she could see him anymore. He pressed his hand to her forehead and felt that she was burning up. As her eyes started to droop and he could feel her getting heavier against him. Her entire body was shaking.

He leaned down and pulled her into his arms. Her head lolled against his shoulder as he tucked her against his body with an arm behind her back and the other under her knees. She felt so small in his arms.

"Dagger, stay with me, ok? We have to get back to the ship. You stay with me," Rex took one last look around the hall for Vizsla and when he didn't see him Rex raced for the door. He didn't pay any attention to the gasps of people around him who were startled by the scene he was making, he didn't give a shit about all of them. He couldn't stay here, not with Vizsla nearby.

"REX! Rex what happened?" came the shout from behind him. He knew it was Jask and the sound made him run even faster.

Not safe, not safe. The ball, the bounty hunters, nothing was safe. He had to get Dagger away so that he could figure out what was wrong. Treat the presumed poison that was coursing through her system. As he ran, he heard a small whimper of pain.

"I'm sorry Dagger," he apologized, he didn't want to cause her any more pain, but he had to get to the ship that was parked blocks away. He didn't know anything about this planet, no backup or any safe house. The only defensible position he could think of that would have a med kit was the ship. The cabin would lock and he could take care of Dagger there. He would treat the poison there.

His legs burned as he sprinted down the sidewalk, earning all kinds of looks from everyone on the street. He didn't know where the others were right now, but Rex didn't give a shit about the bounty hunters. Dagger was the only thing that was important. The poison was sinking into her system. Whatever it was had to be fast acting as it had affected her almost immediately. She was trembling and sweating all over. He needed to get to the ship. He had to get something to help with the symptoms, he needed an antidote.

He pressed a button on his vambrace to lower the ship ramp. He sprinted on board and towards his shared cabin with Dagger. He snatched the med kit from the wall on his way.

Rex laid her as gently as he could on the bed. Her eyes were glazed and her body was burning up and she was shaking like a leaf in a hurricane. He took a half second to brush the hair off of her forehead before turning to the med kit.

"Rex, Rex it hurts," she gasped before her eyes squeezed shut against the pain.

He squeezed her uninjured shoulder, "I'll fix it. I promise I'll find a way."

He wished Kix was here, or Cobalt, they would know exactly what she needed. A shiver of anxiety crawled up his spine at the thought of not being able to save Dagger. How could he have let this happen? How could he have been so blind?

He found the scanner and quickly turned it on. The green laser floating over her body to identify what was wrong. His attention was called away by the sounds of heavy footsteps on the ramp of the ship. The others were back, they had followed him.

Rex did not have time to deal with them and he didn't trust them to be near Dagger while she was defenseless. He didn't have time for a fight right now. He tapped another button and the door to the cabin slid closed and locked. He could hear the knock on the door, but he ignored them.

The scanner came up with a result, the screen read "Error: Illness Not Found" He let out a growl of pure frustration, tears pricked at his eyes. Scanners were supposed to work, dammit! How was he supposed to save Dagger if he couldn't even figure out what the poison was? He scrambled through the med kit to try and find anything to help.

The door flew open as Jask punched in the override code. Rex stood quickly and leveled a blaster at the bounty hunters, "Stay back!"

Jask held up his hands, "C'mon Rex let us help."

"You stay away from her!" he roared. His voice was crackled with emotion, it was hard to tell if he was trying to scare them away or plead for them to listen. He had to protect Dagger, he had already failed once tonight and he would not do it again. He couldn't do it again. Not again, not again. His hand was steady but his breath trembled on the exhale. Fear was coursing through his veins, constricting his chest.

Neems appeared in the doorway, holding something, "Boss, I got it."

Rex looked away from Jask for just a second but that was all the devaronian needed to rush Rex and knock his blaster aside. He stepped forward and grabbed Rex. The captain shouted at him again as he was grappled into submission.

It wasn't often that Rex was overpowered but the size difference was to his disadvantage. Within moments Rex was in a headlock with his own blaster pressed to his skull.

He jerked violently and Jask dug the barrel into his temple, "Hold still you moron. We are trying to help."

The Devaronian nodded to Neems, the small human stepped towards Dagger. Rex let out an animalistic growl and they flinched back, but continued forward after seeing that Jask had a good hold on him. Rex forgot all about the blaster to his head when Neems pulled out a small syringe.

They were going to kill Dagger! No, no! He couldn't let this happen. He had to get out, he had to save her. The grip on his neck tightened as he thrashed violently. Raybin came in front of him and effectively blocked his view of Dagger. He pinned his arms to keep him from fighting back.

He screamed and yelled and cursed. Tears of desperation fell down his cheeks. Panic had taken over his senses in a way that it had not in a very long time. He couldn't think clearly. All he knew was that they were going to kill Dagger. She couldn't fight back and he was helpless to do anything about it. All of the strength he had was failing him. His voice was hoarse with strain as he finally begged, "PLEASE! NO! DON'T! You can't, please, don't take her from me! You can't! Not again! YOU CAN'T DO THIS!"

The arm around his throat tightened again and he gasped for air as he saw stars. A gravelly voice hissed in his ear, "Trust me, Rex. We are not going to hurt her. If you would calm down, I wouldn't have you in a headlock right now."

Rex clawed weakly at the devaronian's arm; he could barely see straight right now. The words of the bounty hunter did nothing to calm his spiking anxiety. His voice was small, "Please, please. Dagger."

Neems stepped back after emptying the contents of the syringe into Dagger's arm, just above the gash. Jask loosened his hold on Rex, and held him against him by the shoulders. Rex should be grateful because without that support he would have fallen straight onto his face as air rushed back into his lungs. Raybin stepped back towards the door.

Rex coughed violently and Jask petted his blond hair, "Do you really think we would let a member of our crew die? Much less kill her ourselves? It's like you don't know us at all Rex."

The soldier was shoved toward the bed and he fell to his knees, hands catching the edge of the mattress. He looked over Dagger and found that her breathing had steadied and that she wasn't trembling anymore. They had given her the antidote to a poison that Rex didn't even know. They- they had saved her when Rex couldn't.

His mind was reeling. The signals were all firing against each other. The bounty hunters were the enemy, their mission. They were dangerous. He had truly believed that they were going to kill her. And yet at this moment none of those things seemed to be true. They had saved her, they had helped.

He looked up at Jask from where he kneeled on the floor with wide eyes, "You saved her?"

The Devaronian smiled, "Of course. Part of the crew, we're a team now. This is what we do."

Rex was stunned, he had misjudged them. Misjudged all of the bounty hunters. It was hard to realize in this moment that this group was actually the enemy, they were his mission. They had just saved Dagger's life, "Thank you."

He just waved off Rex's thanks and herded the others out of the door, "Yeah whatever, she'll be fine. Just needs to sleep it off at this point. Gilleney poison is no joke, but with the antidote Neems gave her, Dagger will be fine."

Rex turned back to Dagger. He stroked her short brown hair back with one hand while the other settled on her cheek. He looked at her face, searching for any signs of pain. He was relieved when he didn't find any.

Jask paused in the doorway, "You love her. Don't you?"

Rex looked up at him with fire in his eyes, even without his blaster he looked deadly. His body arched up over her protectively and he bared his teeth as he snarled, "You touch her and I will kill you."

"I'll take that as a yes," he responded smoothly not at all intimidated by his words, "Don't worry mate, we'll protect her. You don't have to worry about a thing."

The door slid closed behind the bounty hunters and left the two soldiers alone in the small cabin. Rex looked back to Dagger and he wanted to cry. The extreme adrenaline high was still racing through his body with nowhere to go.

Everything had happened so fast. Dagger had been poisoned and given the antidote so quickly it made his mind spin. He was used to long battles with extended adrenaline highs and multiple dumps. His body had no idea what to do with such short bursts of action and quick saves. He still felt like there was an enemy to face, someone he needed to fight.

He kneeled next to the bed and pulled her into his arms. He sighed into her hair and just held her. He could feel her chest rise and fall with steady breaths. Having her here next to him was the reassurance that she was still alive, that he hadn't lost her.