They did, in fact, not end up eating ice cream after breakfast. Instead, Dagger just about fell asleep eating her eggs. Rex laughed softly as her head drooped and she had to pull it back up quickly, trying to keep herself awake. He let her keep pretending to be fine until the food was gone.
Once he had washed and put away the dishes, without incident this time, Rex made his way back to where Dagger was trying very hard to remain awake. With quiet words he managed to get her up and walked with her back to their cabin. Inside the cabin, he turned the lights on to a comfortably low light and watched as she tucked herself into her bunk, still claiming that she wasn't tired.
He hummed in agreement, "How about you lay down anyway and we can go from there."
Rex smiled as he watched her fall right asleep. After he was sure his quiet steps wouldn't wake her, he made his way to his dresser and pulled out the dress pants that he had shoved inside of it sometime in the early morning when changing into more comfortable clothes.
Fishing around in the pocket his fingers brushed a piece of metal, he pulled out the data chip and looked at it for a moment. Jask was right, as much as he hated to admit it. The mission was too risky for what it was worth. Amidala was too high visibility to be a good target and Rex was glad that she hadn't been there. She would have recognized Rex immediately.
However, with this failed attempt of capturing the senator came with some successes, whether Jask knew it or not. Rex wasn't about to enlighten the man. He flipped the chip in his hand, Dagger had been able to translate the data that she had gotten from the prison computer.
He let out a breath of laughter, the General had picked Dagger for the mission because she looked different and was therefore good for undercover work. Little did he know how clever and well suited for it she was in other ways. More clever than even him sometimes.
Placing the chip on his data pad he started to transfer the translated documents onto it. Looking at the progress bar it seemed like it was going to take a minute. He set it to the side, standing he took one last look at Dagger and headed for the door. The ship was quiet, not much going on in the mid-morning. The low hum of the hyperdrive told him that they were traveling, likely to their next destination.
Rex made his way to the front of the ship and towards the cockpit. The door slid open and the current pilot turned in their seat to see who had come in. Rex nodded his head in greeting which Neems returned before turning back to watch the stars streak past.
He took that as enough of an invitation to continue as any. Stepping up and beside the empty copilot seat he asked, "Mind if I join you?"
"Go ahead," was Neems' quiet reply.
Rex settled into the seat and just watched the stars for a moment, trying to think of how best to phrase what he wanted to say. He frowned, frustrated at how many times in the past few days he hasn't known how to say what he wanted to say. Why did he seem to have such a hard time with words?
Eventually, he settled on, "Thank you Neems."
They peered over at him, eyebrow raised, "For flying the ship?"
"No, for saving Dagger," he explained, "I'm sorry for not trusting you."
Neems thought for a moment, "You were trying to protect her. I understand that, it's a normal reaction, especially when you don't know us all too well. Don't worry about the way you reacted, no one blames you for it. And there is no need to thank me, I just did what I could to help my teammate."
"Well thank you all the same, I don't know what I would have done if I lost her."
"I understand the feeling," Neems agreed, "And look, I know you don't trust us much, especially not Jask. But you should have seen him when he realized that someone had intentionally poisoned her."
Rex inclined an eyebrow and Neems continued, "He flew off the rails. He was ready to go out and track down whoever had done it and rip 'em to shreds. Raybin had to pick him up and shake him just for Jask to listen to anyone."
Rex couldn't help the snort of laughter that was forced out of him at the mental image. Neems perked right up at the noise and smiled, "You should have seen it, Rex. He had him around the chest and just shook him like an angry loth cat that was in the middle of a hissing fit."
Rex let out a bark of laughter and Neems even giggled, pleased to have been able to elicit the reaction out of Rex, "I wish I would have been able to see that."
"You had more important things to attend to," Neems reminded softly, "I just want you to know that Jask will do anything he can to keep the crew safe. Including you and Dagger."
"Thank you Neems," and he meant it.
Neems waved a hand in his direction, "Yeah yeah, now go away and check on your girl or something, you are impeding on my voluntary solitary confinement."
Rex huffed, "She not my-"
Neems laughed, "Get out of here before you finish that sentence."
"Alright, alright I'm going," Rex acquiesced. He pushed up from the seat and left Neems alone, amused by their words. He reentered the cabin as quietly as possible, but from the boneless state Dagger was still in he shouldn't have worried.
The data pad shone lightly on the bed, it had finished transferring. He sat down and propped himself up against the wall. With a few taps, the data was pulled up and able to be read. He couldn't contain a loud sigh when he realized that the document was seven hundred pages long and didn't seem to be in any particular order.
Dagger hadn't been able to be selective about the files that she had collected and just got a mix of prison records and building schematics and all kinds of other things. He started to read page one, a supply request form, and wondered if there would be a way to get this information to General Skywalker without the crew knowing. The idea was dismissed almost instantly, it was too risky. Should the crew, any of them, find out the transmission was sent and what it contained there would be too many questions that they would not be able to answer.
If they were on a planet, they might be able to get a signal out like when he had contacted Thorne, but the ship's communications were too risky. And risky was the last thing Rex wanted at the moment.
He glanced up at Dagger's sleeping form, a pang of fear raced through his heart like an aftershock from last night. He had been so close to losing her. The relief that he felt was just as strong. She was still here, still alive and doing well. There didn't seem to be any lasting effects of the poison, just her body needing time to recover from it.
He frowned, Kix would be better at this than he is and he really didn't know much in the way of poisons, but Gilleny was typically used for political assassinations across the galaxy. It was a common enough poison that it should have shown up on the scanner, common enough that Neems had known the poison just by seeing its effects.
He scrubbed a hand over his face. She should be dead right now. She wasn't, but she should be. He looked at the data pad that he was supposed to be reading. They had a ton of data; they had the location of the prison. They knew that the bounty hunters were working for one employer.
Maybe that was enough, maybe that was enough information for the GAR and the jedi to find out who was kidnapping senators. Maybe he should just comm Thorne the next chance he got and try to get them out of this mission before anything worse happened. He hated thinking that they had to stay here, in harm's way.
Being in the GAR, they were always in harm's way, but at least they usually had backup. He lifted his head with a deep sigh, they still didn't know who the employer was. There was no guarantee that it was the same person running the prison and no guarantee that the information was even in their documents.
They needed more information. They didn't know enough. That was a simple fact that he really didn't like at this moment. They needed more if the GAR was to stop this, especially if they were trying to kidnap anti-war senators like Amidala. Information like that could mean the end of the war, or at least something close to it. Maybe with the senators released they would be able to get more bills through the senate to get more support and end the war quicker.
He didn't like it, but they had to stay. Rex had to admit that he was more concerned about unknown factors than the crew turning on them for any reason. Aside from finding out that they were essentially spies, he couldn't think of any reason that they would turn on them. Which was saying something, two weeks ago he never would have afforded these bounty hunters an ounce of trust, but after last night he had to reconsider his analysis of their character.
They saved Dagger's life. They forced Rex to let them help and didn't hold his words against him. They helped because they were teammates. Jask refused to go after the same target for a third time because he didn't want the team to get hurt. They cared for each other in a way that Rex never would have predicted.
Obviously kidnapping Senators is illegal, but for bounty hunters they weren't bad people. He shook his head, not believing his own line of thinking. But he couldn't deny that they could have been a lot worse. They were just doing their jobs, just trying to make some money in the middle of a galaxy that was tearing itself apart. People do far worse in times like these. Like making a clone army for the sole purpose of fighting…
He let out a deep sigh. He was glad that he was alive and happy where he was, but he wished that his brothers had a choice. That they could have a life outside of the GAR if they wanted it. Just that bit of freedom was all that he wanted for his brothers, for Dagger.
He wanted them to be able to choose, to choose not to be in this war and be killed fighting in the endless battles. For the first time in a long time, he thought about Cut and his family. When he first met him, all he could think about was how he had deserted the GAR and betrayed his brothers. Then Rex realized that Cut had wanted something more out of his life and had taken it upon himself to get it. He had a family, one that he would do anything to protect.
He still didn't think it was right to leave the army, but he understood now. If he had the opportunity to get any of his brothers out, if he could get Dagger out. Somewhere they would be safe from this war, he might just think twice about it.
The lurch of the ship as they exited hyperspace jarred his thoughts. He had to focus on this data before he could be thinking about the end of the war. Requisitions reports. Supply lists.
A mass shipment of food. Ok obviously to feed the guards and the prisoners. He flips to the next page. Fuel consumption log, for transports maybe? He looks for any record of what the fuel was used for. Rex huffs when it is for gas stoves.
There better be some good information in this data or they were going to be back at square one again. He flipped to the next page, a contract of employment. He sat up a little straighter, finally something worth reading. He groaned when the signature of the employer was little more than a first initial with a squiggly line.
He looked over the contract more closely. This wasn't just any contract of employment, this was the contract that Jask had signed and what he assumed that they were operating under. Rex already figured that the name started with an 'm' when Jask had referred to the employer by that, he didn't need this contract to let him know that. But having the terms under which they operated was good information to have.
If he could just interpret the signature, he might be able to figure out who was running this prison. He would be able to find out where their allegiances lied and how they could be stopped.
A knock on the door called his attention. He clicked off the data pad just as the door swished open. Jask stood in the doorway, "C'mon we are meeting with the employer. Bring a jacket, it's cold out."
"You want me to come with you," Rex asked, a bit skeptical about why after all these weeks, almost months now, he wanted Rex to come now.
"Part of the crew," Jask answered, as if it were that simple, "Unless you would rather stay with sleeping beauty here."
Rex looked over at Dagger. Of course, he wanted to stay with her, but being able to meet with the employer was an opportunity that they had not been presented yet, and it may be just what they needed to get a clue and get that much closer to getting out of this mission and back into the GAR. If the employer was anyone of at least a little importance on either side of the war Rex would be able to recognize them. If he didn't, but they gave him his name then he would be able to find a way to find out who he was anyway.
So, Rex nodded in agreement and stood. He grabbed a jacket on his way out and with one last look at Dagger he followed Jask and Azariah.
The ramp of the ship lowered and he could hear the howl of the wind outside. White flurries of snow reflected in the sunlight. He zipped his jacket up against the cold. It wasn't the best jacket for this weather but as long as they weren't out here for too long he should be fine. Rex's bootsteps crunched on the snow as they walked out into what seemed like a barren plain of snow and hills.
"I guess there is a first time for everything," Azariah said wryly.
Rex shot her a look, she caught his eye and explained, "He's never late, but we beat him here today."
He nodded in acknowledgement. They stood away from the ship and Rex turned when he heard the rumble of engines coming from behind them. A shiver went down his spine at the first glance of the ship and it had nothing to do with the cold.
It was a Coruscanti ship, and an expensive one at that. He had a bad feeling about this one, he tried to be as nonchalant as possible when pulling up his hood. He forced a visible shiver as he did so, hoping that they would think it was because his head was cold and not because he was trying to hide his face as much as he could in the deep hood.
Jask and Azariah seemed completely unfazed by the ship and started walking towards it before it had even touched down. Rex followed a half step behind. The ship landed, but the engines didn't cut off. The ramp lowered and Rex's heart hammered in his chest.
If Rex had a fraction less training, just a bit less experience, his steps would have faltered. But he did have that experience and his steps remained smooth and unaffected. One figure walked down the ramp towards them. Jask crossed his arms over his chest and set his feet, Rex on the other hand stuffed his hands in his pockets and was glad that he wasn't wearing any of his gear.
"Jask, it's good to see you and your team again. What is this that Azariah tells me about not being able to catch Senator Amidala?"
"That mission killed one of my crew and almost took out a second on our last attempt. We won't be going after her again," the figure said as he came to a halt in front of the group.
"Now that is unfortunate to hear, Amidala is one of the most important targets on the list. If you are unable to bring her in, I will have to find some other use for your team and their talents."
"My team is perfectly capable," Jask shot back, "I'm not sending them on a suicide mission."
The man turned to Rex despite his best efforts to remain out of his gaze, "Speaking of your team, is this one of the new members that you have picked up?"
Jask slanted his body and gestured towards him, "This is Rex. An ex-soldier, great in a fight and surprisingly good with faces.
The man seemed to try and peer under his hood. Rex stepped forward while dipping his head and extending his hand, "Like Jask said, I'm Rex."
He took his hand and shook it, "Well then Rex if you are good with faces surely you must know who I am."
Rex released his hand and stepped back, "Can't say that I do sir."
"Well then," the man almost seemed relieved, "My name is Mas Amedda and I am your boss."
"Very well," Rex responded, his heart racing in his chest and all he wanted to do was bolt. Jask was right, he was good with faces and he knew exactly what the Vice Chancellor of the Republic looked like. There were so many questions swarming through Rex's head but the most important thought was a warning to not let this man know that he was a clone. If anyone was going to be suspicious of him being a spy it would be the person who had the most to lose by someone knowing his identity.
He kicked at the snow with his boot as Amedda and the bounty hunters discussed the next mission, trying his best to keep his face out of view and not talk at all.
"Since you are seemingly unable to capture any targets at the moment, I suppose I have a less intense mission for you."
Jask let out a snort of protest but didn't say anything as he continued, "There is a smuggler who has been providing illegal goods to planets under blockades. His ship is one of a kind and is nearly impossible to catch. A completely retrofitted XS freighter, much like yours. I don't care about the smuggler or his supplies, I want the ship destroyed."
"You got it," Azariah responded.
"His name, ship code, and last known location have already been transmitted to your ship's comm. Do not fail in this mission or I will have to find someone to replace your little bounty hunter group."
Jask's lip curled into a snarl and he opened his mouth to say something. Rex stepped up next to him and grabbed his arm leaning into him. Not to move him or even applying any pressure, just a silent warning. Jask's angry expression quickly morphed to one of concern as he looked at Rex. The captain just shook his head as subtly as possible and was glad when Jask didn't vocalize his concern.
Amedda seemed to miss the interaction, but Azariah did not. She slid them a look before responding, "It will be done."
Amedda nodded and turned back to his ship. As soon as the ramp was sealed the engines engaged and the ship was lifting up into the atmosphere. Rex could breathe just a bit better once he was gone.
He dropped Jask's arm and didn't wait to head back to their own ship. He stomped up the ramp and made his way around the hallway. He looked into his cabin and saw Dagger still sleeping and closed the door. He continued down the hallway, unsure of where he was heading.
Mas Amedda was the employer. The Vice Chancelor of the Republic was sanctioning the abduction of Republic and Separatist senators. His hands shook as he tried to unzip his jacket, suddenly too hot to be able to wear it anymore. His chest felt tight as he thought about what this meant for the mission, what this meant for the war.
Fox was on his list. Fox was being targeted by one of the people he was directly in charge of protecting. He was so lost in his own thoughts and his blood roaring in his ears that he didn't hear the footsteps approaching from the opposite end of the hallway. He still couldn't get the jacket off, he let out a panicked noise as he realized it was getting harder to breath. He just needed to get his jacket off.
He needed to get it off. He couldn't get a grip on the zipper as his hands shook and his breaths became increasingly short. His heart rate skyrocketed and he flinched violently when a gentle hand landed on his shoulder.
"Rex?" came the concerned voice.
With wide eyes and with barely there breaths, he turned and saw Jask looking at him in concern, "Rex, what's wrong?"
A pained noise forced its way out of his throat and he couldn't get in a breath, he couldn't get the jacket off. He needed- he needed it off. His mouth opened, trying to explain but nothing came out. The panic was setting in, he couldn't keep it together, he couldn't focus. He couldn't even get the jacket off.
Jask looked down and realized he was shaking and grabbed Rex's hands, "Hey man, just hold on. Grab my hand."
His voice was full of understanding and a calm that Rex couldn't even think to replicate at the moment. He tried to gasp but his chest was too tight he couldn't get any air. Jask held his arms tightly, "We are just going to sit down, ok?"
Rex nodded in a jerk of his head and his knees all but buckled under the suggestion. His grip went bruisingly tight on Jask at the feeling of falling. The devaronian wasn't about to let him get far as he grabbed Rex under the arms and lowered him to the ground, leaning him back against the wall. Rex clawed at the jacket, it was the only thing he could think about, that and the fact that he felt like he was going to die if he didn't get it off.
Jask made a soothing noise at the back of his throat as he kneeled in front of Rex to the side of his legs. He pulled Rex's hand away from his collar. He gently grabbed the zipper and without making any sudden movements he pulled down the zipper in a fluid motion. Once it was detached, he placed a hand behind Rex's head and leaned him forward until his head was leaning on his shoulder. He took Rex's weight as he gently pushed his jacket off of his shoulders and extracted his hands from the sleeves.
Once the jacket was off, he gently leaned Rex back against the wall with a hand on his shoulder and one behind his head. The calm but concerned look was still in his gaze as he looked in Rex's eyes, "Just the jacket or do you need the shirt off too?"
Rex shook his head, breaths coming a little easier now that it was off. Jask nodded, "Ok good. You're doing good. You are safe here, Dagger is safe too. Nothing here is going to get you, ok?"
Rex squeezed his eyes shut, that wasn't true. He wasn't safe, Dagger wasn't safe. With Mas Amedda hiring bounty hunters none of his brothers in the GAR were safe either. He had to do something, he had to protect his brothers. Fox. He had to do something. He had to-
"Breath," Jask commanded softly, like an order Cody would give him when they were still training on Kamino. Gentle but still with enough force to get him to listen, "I can practically see the thoughts storming in your head. Let them go. You can come back to them later, but right now you need to breath."
He moved his hand from Rex's shoulder to his sternum. He lightened the pressure as he said, "Breath in."
A slight increase of pressure once his chest was filled, "Now breath out."
He repeated the motion, then again, and again, "Good just keep breathing, just like that Rex. You're doing great."
Rex let out a sound of frustration, he needed to be doing something, anything. Anything other than collapse in the middle of the hallway and panic uselessly.
"Hey," Jask said in that same softly stern tone, "Look at me. Stop thinking about it. No one is in any hurry. Nothing is going to happen. I promise that you have time to calm down, nothing is going to happen until then."
He took in a deep breath and closed his eyes again tightly and leaned his head back into Jask's hand. He took another deep breath, Jask wasn't going to hurt him. Jask was helping him. Jask wasn't going to hurt him and that was a good thing.
He opened his eyes with another breath and looked the bounty hunter in the eyes, vision getting clearer by the second. Jask waited patiently as Rex calmed down. He didn't rush him or look at him as if he was judging him. All Rex could see in his eyes was true concern and patience.
Rex swallowed thickly as his breath evened out. He looked down at his hands as they trembled in his lap. He clenched them into fists and then released, no more trembling. A few more breaths and he looked at Jask and nodded.
The devaronian nodded in return and took his hands off of Rex. He sat back on his heels but didn't go far, "Getting better?"
"Better," Rex agreed with a raspy throat. He cleared his throat before continuing, "I'm sorry, I didn't think that-"
"Hey, don't be sorry," Jask interrupted, "Are you ok?"
Rex nodded. Jask gave him a little smile, "Good, c'mon let's get you off the floor."
He stood and hauled Rex up with him as if he weighed nothing and to the devaronian he probably did. Rex let out a small sound of protest at being manhandled, but it did little to deter Jask.
He was pulled into the living room and then placed on the plush couch. Jask pulled up a chair and sat in front of him so Rex was forced to look at him, "This ok?"
"I recognized him," Rex blurted out, he had to tell Jask. He had to tell someone; he couldn't keep it in.
"You said that you didn't know who he was."
"I know almost every member of the senate. I know who the Vice Chancellor is," Jask sucked in a breath of surprise, "I'm a deserter of the army that he helped create. My brothers are fighting in the war that he is trying to prolong by kidnapping anti-war senators. I- I didn't expect for him to betray my brothers like that."
"But the GAR betrayed you."
Rex looked away, "The GAR did, not my brothers. They don't deserve this; they don't deserve to be betrayed by one of their highest commanders. Jask, I don't know if I can do this. I don't know if I can betray them like he does. I don't know if I can work for him."
"I didn't know that he was the Vice Chancellor of the Republic. He never told us that, I never thought to look."
"Jask he could kill me if he found out I was a deserter. He could have me decommissioned and Dagger is-" he took a breath, "I can't leave her."
"No," he leaned forward and grabbed Rex's shoulders, "Nothing is going to happen to you or Dagger. I won't let it. I don't care who he is, he will not be taking any member of my crew."
"My brothers-"
"You don't have to betray them Rex," the look in his eyes showed that he meant it, "If I had known I wouldn't have taken the jobs that we have from him. I didn't know that he was playing his own side like that."
"What- what do we do?"
"One last job, just do get a payout, ok? The target isn't Republic or Separatist. One last job and the crew is going to walk away from Amedda, ok? You can come with us if you want or you and Dagger can split with no hard feelings."
Rex blinked. That was a perfect out, a perfect way to get out of the mission clean, just one last job. They could make it one more job, he nodded in agreement, "Thank you."
"I'm sorry about your brothers Rex."
"You didn't know either, you're doing your job."
"I'll make it up to you and all of your brothers," he said it with such conviction that it forced Rex to look up at him suddenly.
"How are you going to do that?"
"I'm going to take down Mas Amedda and figure out how to end this war," he met Rex's gaze with a surety that made Rex question everything he ever knew.
Jask said it like it was easy. As if the war that the GAR had been created for could just be ended by one group of bounty hunters. He said it like he already had a plan. As simple as that and Jask had just changed the mission of his own group to align with Rex and Dagger's mission.
"You are going to what," came the question, almost forced from Rex's throat by the shock of it. This day really needed to stop surprising him.
"After this mission, we are going to end this war. Starting with Amedda," Jask responded, "I understand if you and Dagger want out. You have already been close enough to this war for far too long. We won't drag you back into danger like that. No hard feelings either. Just one last mission and we can split, but I mean it, we will end this war."
"Thank you Jask."
The devaronian's hand came down on his shoulder in a comforting gesture. With a final pat, Jask stood and made his way out of the common room leaving Rex all on his own. Rex's gaze unfocussed as he stared at the middle ground in front of him, he let out a deep breath. He worked on keeping his breathing level and his thoughts in check. He really was going to have a heart attack if he kept this up.
A/N:So this is really where shit starts to hit the fan (as if it hadn't been already). I hope no one was expecting this to be cannon compliant because umm... Anyway if you have thoughts let me know! Also this website has been giving me some trouble so if anything ever happens to this story here, head over to AO3 where I have my other account under the same user name.