In Command (#1 Post-Order 66 Series)

In Command - Part 14

Brak smiled and gestured at Senna. "See, you two managed to miss all the fun while you were out on your honeymoon."

Senna laughed "It would seem that way."

"How long were you two gone for?" Fisk asked, the question setting off even more alarms in the back of Rex's brain.

"Oh, around a week. We just got back a few rotations ago."

"Exactly how many rotations ago?" Fisk asked, and the tension at the table grew.

"Alright, Wen, we don't need to interrogate them about their honeymoon now, do we?" One of the other officers joked, sloshing his drink in his glass. Fisk shot him a withering look, but remained silent after that.

Following dinner, the party moved to the dwelling's living space as the couples and officers continued to chat while sipping on their various drinks. Rex slipped his arm around Senna's waist and kept himself between her and Fisk as much as possible to avoid confrontation. The warning bells had softened slightly in the back of his mind, and he was trying to evaluate whether or not Fisk was actually becoming suspicious of them or not, when he felt Senna gently tug at his wrist.

"I think I'm going to go refresh my drink," Senna was saying, gently shifting away from his grasp. He felt the bandages under her shirt as she moved, just barely perceptible against her skin under the fabric. She'd been moving with significantly less difficulty in the last little bit, and Rex knew the wound should be close to healing. She'd been very good about swapping out the dressings, and the bacta patches she was using were fairly fast acting. He knew she'd gotten lucky with the place the blast had hit her, and he was grateful for at least that much. "Anything for you, Lon?" she asked as she slipped from him.

"No, I'm good. Thanks."

She smiled disarmingly and moved away towards the kitchen where Zea had laid out all of the open bottles of libations for their guests. Rex watched her go, noting Wen followed her shortly after. Keep calm. She's not in there alone. He won't try anything. He felt fire burn in his stomach as he tried to pay attention to the conversation going on around him, but the alarms in the back of his mind were ringing again.

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Senna uncorked a bottle of wine she'd been drinking from throughout the evening and began to fill her glass when she felt a hand slip around her waist. She immediately knew it wasn't Rex and her entire body stiffened as Wen quietly spoke in her ear.

"Well, it sounds like you all had a lovely time on your trip."

She steadied her breathing as she looked around the small room. There were a few other people in the kitchen chatting with each other, but no one had seemed to notice Wen's proximity to her. She moistened her lips, turning to look him in the eye. "Yes, it was wonderful. A much needed trip for both of us, I would say."

She felt his fingers dig into her hip and she bit back the panic rising in her throat. The last few couples had exited the kitchen, and they were alone. I'm on my own. Gently she turned to face him, brushing his arm away as she did so, which only seemed to enrage him more.

"I could tell him, you know," he practically spat under his breath.

"Tell him what, Wen? That you and I had dinner a few times and that you misunderstood my intentions? Good luck with that." She tried to brush past him, but he pressed a hand against her abdomen to keep her pinned against the table. She sucked in her breath at the sudden pressure on her healing injury, and she saw a look of confusion cross his face as he felt the bacta patch under her shirt.

He stepped closer to her, his mouth centimeters from her ear. "Hurt yourself, Valla?"

She put her hand in the middle of his chest, pushing him away. "It's a heat patch, if you must know. I'm on my blood moon, and I'd appreciate it if you'd mind your own business," she snapped with all of the fervor she could muster.

He pushed harder and she bit the inside of her cheek as his thumb dug into the wound. "Funny, the patch doesn't feel very warm to me."

"Is there a problem here?" Rex asked, placing his hand on Wen's shoulder. His voice was quiet, but the threat was apparent.

"Oh, no problem at all, Lon," Fisk grinned. "Just telling your wife how lovely she looks this evening." He released the pressure on her waist and Senna did everything in her power to not gasp at the sudden relief, staring him down as he stepped back.

"Valla, I think it's time to go," Rex said firmly. "I've got a lot of work to get to in the morning."

"Oh I'll bet you do," Fisk muttered under his breath.

Senna saw the anger flare in Rex's eyes, and before she could do anything to stop him, Rex had Fisk pinned against the wall by his collar, his feet lifting off the floor a few centimeters. Fisk's eyes bulged as he grabbed at Rex's wrists in panic.

"Quiet, wouldn't want to upset the other people here," Rex hissed into his face. "Now, I'm going to tell you this one time, so listen well, Commander. You won't get a second chance. Do you understand?"

Fisk squeaked out an affirmative, nodding his head in confirmation.

"Good. You are to stay away from my wife. I know men like you, and they don't survive long when I'm around, so unless you want your Imperial career to be vastly shorter than it already promises to be, you'll keep your distance and never speak to her again. Have I made myself clear?"

Fisk nodded again.

"Excellent." Rex released him and he dropped to the floor, scurrying back into the living room.

Turning to Senna, Rex saw fear in her eyes. "Are you alright?" he asked.

"We should go," she said quietly. They made their way back through the crowd, bidding farewells to their hosts as Fisk sulked in the back of the crowd.

As soon as the front door of their dwelling closed behind them, Rex gently took her arm. "Did he hurt you?"

"A little, but I'm alright. He felt the bacta patch under my shirt, and I think he suspects it might be from the incident at the capital. I told him it was a heat patch for my blood moon, but I'm not sure how much he bought that."

Rex released her arm, his brow furrowing with concern. "We should alert Senator Organa. I think it's time we go."

She nodded in agreement. "How fast do you think we need to get out of here?"

He thought for a moment. "Fisk will have to run this up his chain of command, and even then, I don't think he's got enough to go on at the moment. They won't authorize a military operation against a civilian couple unless they're sure they're correct. The Empire may be ramping up its control, but I think even that may be one bridge too far."

"Are you sure?" she asked.

"No, but it's not like we've got a lot of options until we hear back from the Senator. I've got an emergency beacon, but that's a last resort," he said, rubbing the back of his neck as he thought.

Senna took a deep breath. "I think you're right. We'll stay put, at least for tonight. We probably won't hear from the Senator until then anyway."

Rex nodded, pulling out his hologram pad as he walked towards his room. "Yeah, well I'm going to let him know anyway. Just in case."