Senna walked through the abandoned Venator, the only sound her bootheels clicking against the durasteel floors in the darkened corridors. She didn't know where she was going, but she knew what she'd find, no matter how many twists and turns she'd make. It was always the same. She gripped the hilt of her lightsaber a little tighter.
Finally, she turned the last corner and came face to face with what she'd been dreading. Rex's hands were bound behind his back, his head hanging limply against his chest. His armor was spattered with blood that flowed from a wound on his head. The only illumination in the room came from the emergency lighting on the walkway and the red glow of her opponent's lightsaber blade.
"Hello again, Master Aven," the Grand Inquisitor greeted her, his voice dripping with venom.
Senna walked towards him calmly. "Please. You don't have to do this. I'm the one you want."
"You would trade your life for his?"
"Gladly." She tossed her lightsaber to the ground, and it skidded to a stop in front of Rex's knees.
The Inquisitor appeared to ponder this, and for just a moment, Senna thought perhaps the outcome would be different this time. But it was not to be so.
With a wicked grin, the Inquisitor drove his saber through Rex's back, the red blade slicing easily through his chest plate. Rex gasped and shuddered, his eyes finding hers before he mouthed her name using what breath he had left. Senna screamed, racing forward as the Inquisitor deactivated his saber, letting Rex's still form slump forward onto the floor. Senna was on her hands and knees, pulling him towards her and cradling his head as she sobbed.
"Rex. Rex, please. No. No, please don't leave me."
She felt the Inquisitor raise his blade for the fatal blow and she closed her eyes.
Senna sat up, gasping and whimpering in the darkened bunk. It took her a few seconds to remember where she was. I'm on a ship with Rex. We're heading to Pantora. With trembling hands, she cracked the door of the bunk open just enough to see the cockpit. Rex's back was to her, rigid as always, his hands gripping the controls. She watched him for a few more moments to cleanse her mind of the recurring nightmare. His shoulders rose and fell with his breathing, and when he turned his head to glance at something else on the control panel, her eyes traced his cheekbones and the sharp cut of his jaw.
She laid back down, clutching her chest as she inhaled and exhaled deeply, trying to steady her racing pulse.
I am one with the Force, and the Force is with me.
Senna had repeated the mantra often enough to recover from her nightmares, but this time, she only mouthed it, not wanting Rex to hear her. He'd know what it meant. He'd held her plenty of times as she tried to calm herself from her nightmares.
Finally, she felt her body relax as her breathing steadied. She stared at the ceiling of the bunk for a few more moments before she felt the ship shudder. Peeking out once more, she noted that the blue and white streaks of hyperspace had faded to the black of space. We're there. Quickly, she threw her boots back on and re-braided her hair before stepping out into the hold of the ship, carefully closing the bunk doors behind her. I should have made the bed for him.
He glanced over his shoulder. "We're coming up on Pantora now."
She nodded. Too late to make the bed now.
"You alright?" It was the first question he'd asked about her, the first sign that perhaps the ice was melting slightly.
"Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine," she lied. He appraised her for another moment before apparently deciding her answer was satisfactory and turning back to the controls.
The planet of Pantora loomed in the viewport as Senna munched on a ration bar, trying to hide her face of disgust. This tastes like vaguely protein-flavored chalk. How the kriff does he eat this? She suffered through without complaint as Rex brought the ship down to the capital city's main port. Turning, he stood, and it was then that she noticed he'd changed into civvies. He wore a dark brown shirt tucked into tan pants, a DL-44 like the one he'd used on Lothal strapped to his hip. He'd rolled the sleeves of his shirt up his forearms, and Senna watched his hands smooth the creases on his stomach before bending down to tighten the straps on his boots.
"You're staring," he commented flatly without looking at her, and she flushed, turning away quickly to hide the heat in her face, pretending to be looking for something in the kitchenette. Finally, she yanked a water packet out of the storage container and drank from it.
"I don't know how you eat those ration bars all the time," she muttered, trying to change the subject. He just grunted in response. She rolled her eyes as he straightened, finally meeting her gaze.
"So, where to?" he asked.
Senna pulled her datapad from its holster. "Last known report of the clone matching Wolffe's description was near the weapons depot by the Imperial barracks. Unfortunately, there's not a whole lot of information to go on. Reports vary as to what happened, but it sounds like he was involved in some sort of scuffle with an admiral, and shockingly, the officer didn't take kindly to that. Fortunately, there's an Imperial cantina in the vicinity, and we all know everyone loves to gossip, particularly if they've had a few drinks in them. I had planned on sneaking into the cantina disguised as an Imp and seeing what I could dig up. Someone around here has to know what the protocol would be for that type of punishment."
Rex was scowling at her. "That's your plan? You dragged me all the way to Pantora to get a bunch of Imperials drunk on the off chance that they might know where a clone was taken after starting a fight?"
Her cheeks felt warm, but she stood firm. "And what, pray tell, is your brilliant alternative idea? I hate to remind you of this, but you didn't even know he was here in the first place."
Rex stood, and for a moment, Senna realized she'd forgotten how large he was. She wasn't a small woman by any stretch of the imagination, only standing a few inches shorter than Rex, but when he was angry, he loomed, and she had to fight every instinct she had to take a step backwards as he glared down at her. The two of them stared at each other for a few seconds before he plucked the datapad from her fingers a little too forcefully for her taste, scrolling through the map of the area. Finally, he spoke.
"The barracks are here. I should be able to break in and grab a uniform. Then I'll head to the cantina and see what I can find out."
"You seem to think you're going to be doing this alone."
"You stick out like a sore thumb. How many Imperials do you know with a cybernetic limb? Nothing about you screams 'military.' They'll know in a second."
"I'm going Rex."
"Senna-"
"I said I'm going," she snapped, her emotions finally getting the best of her. She hoped she came across angry rather than hurt, but his indifference was finally wearing her down. "I need information from Wolffe that's critical to the rebellion. You're not sidelining me."
She could feel his frustration rolling off of him in waves, but she didn't back down. Finally, she snatched her datapad back, flinging her cloak over her shoulders and storming out of the hatch before he could stop her.
---
Rex watched her for a moment, his blood pounding in his ears. She's still as stubborn and reckless as she always was. Not a damn thing's changed. He hated how much his heart was betraying him. He'd heard her thrashing and whimpering from her nightmare, and it had taken every ounce of restraint he had to not go to her and rip her out of the dream. Maybe he should have, maybe it was wrong to stay in his seat and listen to her fear, but he couldn't give in. Not again. I won't set myself up for failure again.
Senna wasn't walking fast enough to outpace him. She knew he'd come after her, and he added that to the list of things he currently hated. She knows I'll follow, just as I always have. Still wrapped around her damn finger. He continued to war internally as he fell into step next to her, pulling the hood of his cloak up, and they made their way quietly through the back alleys until they were closing in on the part of the city the Imperials had commandeered for their base of operations. He followed her through a few winding dark alleys until they were standing near an outer wall surrounding the barracks.
"Now what?" he muttered.
Senna leaned against the wall and closed her eyes, turning her head this way and that before appearing satisfied. "No guards near the wall. We should be able to get up and over."
"How exactly do you propose that?"
She raised her hands and he immediately regretted the question as he felt himself lift off the ground. "Senna, NO!" he hissed, but she just smirked at him.
"Try to land on your feet."
He floated over the wall, trying to keep his arms from flailing in an undignified fashion, but he knew there really wasn't any way to look dignified when you were getting chucked about by the Force. To her credit, Senna did manage to keep him mostly upright before she dropped him from a meter up. Rex landed in a crouch, straightening just as Senna leapt over the wall and landed softly next to him.
"See, I knew you could do it. I'd be surprised if you couldn't stick the landing after having Anakin and Ahsoka as your commanding officers," she teased, and he fought down the grin threatening to erupt across his face.
"Next time just tell me to jump."
He shook his head to clear the memory, dusting the knees of his trousers off and pulling the hood of his cloak a little lower. Senna was already jogging towards the barracks, pressing herself against the wall as she peered around the corner towards one of the entrances. Rex slid into place behind her as she crept towards the door, pulling her datapad and some cables from her hip pouches.
"Really wish I could have gotten that scomp link in this arm," she muttered to no one in particular, and Rex rolled his eyes, drawing his blaster and keeping watch as Senna pried a maintenance panel open and began working at the door lock. He kept his eyes scanning the area, finger tensed on the trigger of his DL-44 as troopers and officers moved about, apparently unaware of the two figures breaking into their barracks.
Finally, he heard Senna mutter something under her breath as the door lock disengaged with a low thunk. She stood, tucking her tools back into her belt just as the door slid open and they came face to face with two officers, a man and a woman.
The four of them stared at each other for a moment before Senna stepped forward, waving her hand.
"You're happy to see us."
Rex watched as their eyes glazed over slightly before they repeated the phrase back to Senna.
"We're happy to see you."
The Jedi let out a small huff of relief before waving her hand again. "You're going to give us your uniforms and then go back to your bunks for a night in."
The two officers stepped back to allow them in and immediately began undressing. Rex shot Senna a glance but didn't say anything as the two Imperials carefully folded their clothes as they removed their outer layers. When the two officers were done undressing, they handed off their uniforms to Senna before heading back off down the hall in their undergarments. Senna watched them until they both turned into their rooms, and then handed the man's uniform to Rex. Wordlessly, she began slipping her boots off and undoing her tunic, and Rex turned away from instinct. He heard her pause as he turned his back, but only for a moment before he heard her hesitantly shuffle to face away from him.
The two of them dressed quickly in silence, stepping back out of the barracks and stashing their clothing behind a few waste bins. Senna handed Rex the woman's cap to hold before smoothing her hair back into a military-grade bun low on her neck. Something about seeing her like this made Rex's skin crawl. It was about as diametrically opposed to the wild-haired, sloppy technical specialist he'd fallen in love with, but he had always been amazed and somewhat surprised by Senna's ability to inhabit a role when required. Once she'd tucked her fly-away hairs under her cap and pulled on her gloves to hide her cybernetic, the two of them started making their way towards the cantina.
"So...you manipulate minds now."
"I don't like to. Feels invasive. But when the time calls for it, I do what I need to," she replied stiffly.
"You ever do that when we were together?"
She whirled on him. "You know damn well I didn't. I could barely move a kriffing wrench."
"It's just a question."
"Don't be coy, Rex. It was loaded, and you meant for it to be."
He could see he'd hurt her, and he felt a small pang of satisfaction that he didn't particularly like. Instead of examining that, he shouldered past her and kept walking. Her crunching footfalls resumed behind him a moment later, but she stayed half a step behind him until they reached the cantina.
Pushing through the door, Rex felt infinitely more glad they'd grabbed some Imperial uniforms. The entire place was crawling with soldiers of the Empire, all in various stages of drunkenness. I suppose it is later in the evening. With the lights low enough, he could almost mistake it for the 79s. A loud baseline pounded from the rear of the establishment, and he could make out flashing colored lights through the calmer crowd hovering near the bar. I'm surprised the Imps let them have this much fun. Seems rather below them all.
Suddenly, there was a shout to his left, and Rex whipped around in time to dodge the surge of bodies rushing towards him. A fight had broken out between a few drunken stormtroopers, and things were quickly spiraling out of control. Instinctively, he reached back him for Senna, pushing her behind him as an elbow collided with his shoulder. One of the troopers was thrown to the ground near his feet, and Rex's heart all but stopped in his chest.
His own face was staring up at him from the floor, beaten and bloodied. The production of clone soldiers had been halted shortly after the fall of the Republic, and for the most part, the clones had been decommissioned. He'd heard rumors of some re-enlisting, unsure of what else to do without something to fight for, and here he was staring down at one such soldier.
"COME ON, YOU TUBE-BRED FREAK! GET UP!" the clone's assailant called, and the trooper was already rolling to his feet to get back into it, not even noticing Rex's look of shock.
"You'll be breathing through a tube in a bacta tank when I get through with you!" the clone soldier growled in response. Rex reached out to grab the clone's shoulder, but he felt gloved fingers clamp around his wrist. Whirling, he was staring into Senna's eyes, and his anger flared again.
"I have to help him."
"If you do, you'll just get arrested with them," she hissed, her eyes urgently begging him to not get involved. He knew she was right, and out of the corner of his vision, he could see a squad of security troopers pouring in to break up the spat. He felt Senna's thumb stroke the inside of his wrist, and he wrenched his arm away violently. I don't need her to coddle me. Rex clenched his fists and watched helplessly as the clone was pulled off of the man that started the fight, dragged away shouting while the other trooper was gently reprimanded. He started it. He should be getting hauled away too. He was no fool, he knew clones were treated differently, but it didn't lessen his anger as he watched the scene play out.
"Let's get a drink," Senna said quietly in his ear, and he didn't respond, turning to the bar in a haze. Senna was already flagging down a bartender, who returned with two whiskeys. She slipped one into his hand, but Rex's stomach was revolting. He tried to take a sip of the amber liquid, but it tasted like ash in his mouth, and he had to focus on swallowing.
"Rough night, huh?" Senna was already engaging an officer standing next to them.
"Yeah, that's been known to happen from time to time. I don't mind working with clones, but there are some that hold certain...prejudices," the young woman replied. Rex thought it best to not involve himself, letting Senna work her magic as he eavesdropped. "You new here? Haven't seen you around," the young woman observed.
"Yeah, just transferred in today. Name's Lena," Senna lied.
"Nice! I'm Adi. Been here a few months. It's a pretty cushy posting, and the amenities are nice, like this place! Although, it can get rowdy at times. Obviously."
Rex leaned his back against the bar behind Senna, and he felt her lean back against him slightly. He didn't budge, trying to find a bit of grounding in the feel of her pressed against him. As much as he wanted to pull away, he could feel himself spiraling. What happened to that trooper? What will they do to him? Obviously, nothing will happen to the natborn, but the other's a clone. He doesn't stand a chance.
Rex. Breathe. It's alright. He heard Senna's voice in his head, and he stiffened. It's ok. We'll figure it out. You can't help him right now. Just breathe. I'll get the info and we'll get out of here.
He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. Her back was still to him, but he watched as one hand drifted back slowly, coming to rest against his thigh and giving it a reassuring squeeze. I know it's jarring. I'm sorry. But I can feel your unrest. Just relax.
He didn't like this. Not at all. Could she hear his thoughts? He'd have to ask. No, not ask, demand to know. Talk about invasive.
Senna's conversation was continuing uninterrupted to his left. "You get many fights like that? Or is it just when clones show up?"
"There are always one or two fights when everyone gets paid. Guess credits turn to liquor pretty quickly those days, and then people get rowdy. If a clone shows up on payday, it's almost a guaranteed thing. Had one a few weeks back outside the weapons depot that got nasty. Put an admiral and a few troopers in the hospital. They should have known better than to mess with a guy with a cybernetic eye. He clearly knew his way around a tussle."
The grip on Rex's leg tightened, and he felt a sweat break out across the back of his neck. Wolffe.
"Oh yeah?" Senna pressed, keeping her voice even above the din. "Punched out an admiral huh? I have to imagine that earns you a one-way ticket to a court martial and likely some prison time."
Adi laughed dryly. "Yeah. The CC seemed nice enough when I worked with him, but he had a rough side. Always seemed like something was bothering him, but he never said what. Anyway, they whisked him offworld. Last I heard, he was headed for a prison. Not sure where. A damn shame if you ask me, losing someone with that much combat experience."
"I'm sure. But, rules are rules, and duking out a superior officer is a pretty big one to break. Must have had some balls."
Adi laughed. "He did. I'll give him that much."
Senna returned her mirth before clinking her glass against her new companion's. Rex heard her voice in his head again. Act like you're my drunk date and let's get out of here. Don't let her see your face. He hesitated, and as if she could sense it, she pressed. Physical intimacy will make her uncomfortable and let me extricate myself from this situation. We'll be able to slip out easier. Or would you rather we just make an awkward exit? Rex rolled his eyes, tossing the rest of his drink back before setting the glass down on the counter.
I can do this. Just play the part. You've done this before, he thought. His hands were still sweating in his gloves. He slipped his arms around Senna's waist from behind, resting his chin on her shoulder and nuzzling into her neck, obscuring his face from view.
"There you are," he slurred. "Been lookin' everywhere for you, darlin'."
Senna leaned back against him, letting her hand drift up to cup his cheek as naturally as can be. "I was wondering where you'd wandered off to, Lon."
Her use of the alias he'd used on Lothal with her tugged at his chest. He buried his face further against her neck, and his knees almost buckled as he smelled her skin, the slight taste of her sweat coating his lips. "Think we can get out of here?" he rumbled, and he could have sworn he felt a slight tremor race up her spine.
Senna giggled, glancing apologetically at her newfound friend. "I hate to cut this short, but he gets insistent when he's drunk."
Adi rolled her eyes playfully. "S'alright. I understand that. I need to track down my girlfriend anyway. Don't be a stranger, Lena!"
"I won't. I'll see you around!" Senna turned in Rex's arms, laughing lightly as she wrapped her hand around the back of his neck. "Ready to get out of here?"
"Yup." He struggled to keep the gruffness out of the one word response, and her smile faltered slightly.
"Alright. Let's go." She slipped her gloved hand into his, leading him back through the crowd. Rex ached.
The moment they were outside, he pulled his hand away, storming off in some direction. He had no idea where he was going, but he needed distance between the two of them. Of course, Senna followed.
"Lon, wait. LON!" He ignored her, turning down an alley. She followed him, finally grabbing his arm. Rex whirled, gripping her by her shoulders and roughly pushing her against the wall.
"Don't you ever do that to me again," he snarled in her face. He saw hurt in her eyes, and that feeling of satisfaction he'd been nursing in his gut flourished, spreading through his veins like a poison. Good. He wanted her to hurt, to know what he had felt all that time he'd looked for her. How can she just act as though nothing's happened? Just fall back into my arms like it'd all be alright? How could she? His anger flared in his chest.
Senna wet her lips. "Don't do what, Rex?" she asked quietly.
A valid question, but one he didn't even know how to begin to answer. Ask me to hold you like that. Invade my thoughts. Read my mind. Leave me. He struck the last one from the list, shaking his head violently.
"Can you hear my thoughts?" he asked, keeping the grip on her arms.
Her eyes widened. "No, I don't do that."
"Can you do it, though Are you able to?"
Her brows knitted. "I can. Feeling your emotional state is different. I could feel your unrest, your internal struggle. I'd only read your thoughts if you directed your them towards me. I've done it before to communicate when I couldn't use a commlink. But I'd never do it without permission, Rex. Surely you don't think that little of me."
"I don't think of you. Or at least I didn't until you showed up on Takodana. And now here you are, manipulating people's minds and invading my thoughts and asking me to play the part of your lover. Somehow, that was the most manipulative part of all of this."
Senna's eyes fell to her boots. "I just didn't think-"
"No, you didn't. You don't when it comes to others."
"That's not fair."
"Not fair is leaving in the middle of the night, Senna."
She nodded, almost imperceptibly, her eyes fixed on the ground. "You're right," she said quietly. "I'm sorry."
Rex knew Senna could have thrown him off of her at any point in the altercation. She was a former Jedi Master; shoving him away, even with her arms pinned, would have been child's play to her, and yet here she stood, taking his berating. He released her, stepping back and running his hands over his face. "Let's get our clothes and get back to the ship to plan our next move," he growled. With that, he turned and stalked off back the way they'd come.
Senna watched him go, swallowing hard before following behind, hands in her pockets and head down.