Disclaimer: not mine

Flora and Fauna

It was the day after Memorial Day, and Rex was visiting his friends like he did every year. The day before he had seen all their families, as was his Memorial Day tradition. They'd talked and told stories, and as always, he'd apologized to each family, only to have each rebuff him and remind him once more that he'd done everything he could, and at least he'd personally ensured that they at least got the bodies back. He was kneeling with Jesse, talking to him about his daughter, and how much she'd grown since he'd left. When Jesse had left, she'd just started walking; now, she was just finishing kindergarten and was going into the summer before her first grade. He was telling Jesse about the picture she drew on the last day of school when his phone rang.

"Rex Hall," He said by way of greeting.

The voice that was on the other end was one he'd probably never forget.

"Rex, it's Obi-Wan. It's been a while."

"Obi-Wan? It's been like five years. How are you? How's the teaching job?"

"It's fantastic, Rex. I'm really enjoying it. How are you?"

Rex inhaled, then, "I'm well. I don't know if you heard, but I got invalidated out, so I'm back in the real world now."

"Well, I was speaking to one of my students and she mentioned you, so I knew you had to be in the area. Satine and I were hosting a dinner event for some of my students and a few others from the international relations department and I was wondering if you would come? It would be a bit of a formal affair, I'm afraid, but I promise the food will be good and we'd love to see you."

"I'd love to. When is it?"

"Thursday night, 1830. I'll send you my address, if you want to come."

"Yes, please do. I'd be delighted to see you again."

Ahsoka looked up as the bell rang and saw Rex. She looked at her watch and frowned. Rex was here, and it wasn't Friday. It wasn't the anniversary, either- that had been two weeks before he had introduced her to his men. So why was he here?

"Hey Rex, you forget the days of the week there?"

Rex played at frowning and said, "Wait, it's not Friday?"

He couldn't keep up the pretense however and just laughed at himself.

"Nah, 'Soka, I'm not here for them. Obi-Wan invited me to his house for a dinner party so I need to bring some flowers for his wife. Already got the good liquor for him, you see. Of course, I'm pretty sure she can drink him under the table, but she likes to play dignified and thinks that that's beneath her."

"Wait, wait, wait. Wife? Professor Kenobi has a wife?"

"Yes. Why?"

"Well, he's just so damn reclusive and he never talks about her so I never realized he was married. I kinda just assumed he was a bachelor. I don't know, he just seemed to zen for love, you know?"

Rex was just looking at her, and she was starting to feel like she was missing something.

"You are on level one of knowing Obi-Wan. Around level three or four you begin to realize he's not zen at all, is an absolute disaster and utterly incapable of human function. By the way, did he invite you to the party tomorrow night?"

"Yeah, I'm really looking forward to it!"

"So you'll see. Two quick questions: do you have a vase in here somewhere for sale, and do you want to carpool?"

His question about the vase made her realize he had somehow collected all the flowers for a very nice host gift without her even realizing it.

"Yeah, of course, want to hand me those so I can prep them and put them in it for you?"

"Uh, yeah, sure," Rex handed the flowers to her a little absently.

Ahsoka went to the back to grab the vase, yelling over her shoulder, "Also, to answer your carpooling question, yes, please."

"Text me your address, then. How far are you from Obi-Wan's place?"

"Like thirty minutes?" Ahsoka ballparked, handing the flowers back to him and taking his card to swipe.

"Then I'll pick you up tomorrow night at five-forty."

Rex hated suits. Sure, he worked in an office now, and rode a desk, but it was an informal office, and the dress code was always pretty casual, polos and khakis, that kind of thing. But wearing a suit just made him sad. It reminded him that he was out now, medically retired when he still had a promising career ahead of him. The suits were the ones who had screwed his friends, too. So putting on a tie always felt a little too constricting, suits were just too stiff, what if he had to run? The therapist told him this was part of his trauma, the anxiety about what ifs, the need to be ready to deal with the situation again, because "they might come back for me."

Despite his absolute detest for what he considered the garment from hell, he put his on dutifully, knowing that getting to see his old friend again as well as Ahsoka would be worth it. Once he was done, he checked himself in the mirror, made sure his tie was straight and grabbed his keys.

It took about fifteen minutes to get to Ahsoka's apartment, the navigation system dutifully telling him where to turn as he went. He parked alongside the road and sent her a quick text to let her know he was there.

She came out about five minutes later, looking absolutely gorgeous in her black evening gown. Rex was taken aback. She was stunning. Her hair was in an elegant braid-bun thing, like it had been stitched to the back of her head, and she was carrying a small black clutch that matched her gown. It was the clutch that made him realize something was missing- she had no host gift.

"Hey, 'Soka, you gonna bring them a host gift?"

A look of panic crossed her face. "Fuck, I don't have anything. You already got them flowers, so I can't do that, shit, he just said to bring ourselves and I didn't think. Fuck, fuck, fuck."

"Well, we have a few minutes, hop in, let's go to the liquor store and you can get them a bottle of wine."

"Thanks, Rex. You're a lifesaver."

When she went to check out, Rex stopped her.

"Why shouldn't I check out?"

"Just go put that one back and get a nicer one. I'll pay the difference. If you want to make a good impression on Satine, you'll want nice wine. She can be a bit of a wine snob."

Ten minutes later and with a better wine procured, they were on their way. They were a couple of minutes behind, but Rex wasn't worried.

Thanks to Rex's casual disregard for traffic laws, they arrived at Obi-Wan's Fairfax brownstone with three minutes to spare. Rex deftly parked in the relatively narrow streets before they walked up to the door. Rex readjusted the bottle of scotch in his left hand as Ahsoka rang the doorbell.

"Rex, Ahsoka, so glad you could make it!"

"M'lady," Rex said, nodding his head at her.

"For your hospitality," he continued, extending the bouquet of orchids, canterbury bells, and Queen Anne's Lace to Satine, whose hair was done up in some elaborate headdress that made Rex's head hurt just to think about how she had gotten it into it.

"Ah, Rex! Ahsoka! So good of you to come! Thank you for getting the door, darling," Obi-Wan said, with a kiss to his wife's cheek.

"I brought a gift for you as well, Obi-Wan," Rex said, winking at Satine to let her know he was joking as he gave the bottle of Oban to Obi-Wan.

"Well, come in, it wouldn't do to stand here all night," Satine said, ushering them in.

The party was alright, Rex supposed. Obi-Wan's students were bright, but not bright enough to avoid the trap of thinking his military experience gave him so special insight into the ongoing conflicts around the world. That or they thought he was some dumb grunt they could outsmart, nevermind that he was their professor's friend and held an advanced degree. But the food was good, and people were nice enough to his face, and he got to be with Obi-Wan, Satine and Ahsoka, so he wasn't complaining. And speak, or think, Rex mused, of the devil, Obi-Wan appeared with someone he didn't recognize.

"Jonathan Rogers, please meet Major Rex Hall, USMC, former Raider. Major Hall, Jonathan here wants to be a Foreign Service Officer," here he paused to give Rex a dark look, "Like Mr. Skywalker was."

Rex immediately picked up his meaning. "Like Anakin, eh? Well, Mr. Rogers, you'll have your work cut out for you. Are you studying any languages?"

Rogers responded, and the conversation ranged, covering the many things he was doing to prepare himself for entry into "the Foreign Service." Rex found the whole charade pretty amusing. One look at this kid and you could tell he had not interest in the Foreign Service, but this was the way the game had to be played, and he obeyed the rules. They were discussing Rogers' running hobby when it happened.

The first explosion rattled him to his core. His hand flew to his sternum, where his sidearm had been in combat. In its absence his hand ended up patting his upper stomach. The second explosion was louder, and the whistling after saw him crouch and shelter under the table, looking around frantically.

"Everyone, please, if I may have your attention, Satine has dessert ready in the kitchen. It would be a shame to let it go to waste," Obi-Wan said loudly, though Rex hardly heard him.

After everyone shuffled out of the room, Obi-Wan came over to him, Ahsoka trailing behind.

"Rex?" He said, placing a hand gently on his shoulder, "Come on out, now. You're not in the mountains anymore. You're home. It's just the hooligans down the street."

Slowly, as he spoke, Rex came out from under the table, and started to seem to come out of the flash back. Ahsoka handed him a glass and he took it, drinking deeply.

"Thanks, Obi-Wan. Thanks for the water, 'Soka."

"Of course, Rex. Would you like me to explain to Mr. Rogers?"

"Yes, please. In broad strokes."

"Of course. I'd do nothing but."

With that, Obi-Wan departed to the kitchen as well, leaving Rex sitting with Ahsoka in the dining room.

"Rex? Are you okay?"

"Yeah, Ahsoka, I'm good now. Thanks," Rex said, smiling weak at her.

"Hey, Rex? I know now may not be the time, but can I ask you something about your service? I promise it's not about the war or anything, just ranks."

Obi-Wan returned now, holding a glass of amber liquid that he offered to Rex, who took it and ventured a sip.

He hummed in appreciation. "That's the Oban I gave you, isn't it."

"Well, I figured now was as good a time as any to break it out."

"Hmmm. What's your question, 'Soka?"

"Well, the other day, when we were at Quantico, we talked about you having been a captain, but when Professor Kenobi introduced you to people, he addressed you as major. I was just confused because you had mentioned you left the military very shortly afterwards, that you'd been medically invalidated out, so I thought you were a captain?"

"I was. That was my last real rank. Oh, yeah, I had a real promotion to major, a reward along with the medals for valor, but it never felt real. I held no command as a major, served no line purpose. So yeah, I was a captain when I met Obi-Wan, and while I was in-country. But I retired as a major. That's the rank in my file and that's the proper address for me, technically. Personally, I never felt like a real major. Still feels kinda wrong, since my promotion was so shortly before my departure. But it sure beats being 'mister.'"

Ahsoka just looked at him for a minute before saying, "Rex, that's ridiculous, but okay."

"C'mon, 'Soka, let's go see what Satine has for dessert."

"Okay, but then we're going home. And I'm driving. You've had liquor tonight and I haven't. All I've had is a single glass of champagne."

"Okay, fair enough, but how are you gonna drive in those heels?"

"I think you'll find I'm resourceful enough."

The dessert had been a delicious chocolate cake. They had mingled for a bit longer, talking with people and just enjoying themselves. Rex had apologized to Jonathan, who just waved it off. Finally, as the party started to break up they headed for Rex's truck.

"You gonna give me the keys, Rexster?" Ahsoka teased.

"Yeah, here," Rex said, absently tossing them to her.

They climbed in the truck and Ahsoka started the engine. She had to adjust the seat a lot to reach the pedals, and by the time she was done, when she turned to ask Rex his address, he was already asleep in his seat.

"Fuck," she swore softly, "well, I guess I can sleep on my couch tonight. He looks like he needs sleep."

Author's note: I've been gone a while. Whoops. Sorry. Still working on the next chapter of The Silent Service, which has been a very long time coming. I wish you all well and a happy holiday season. Please review.

Very respectfully,

Charles Basilone