I firmly believe that the clones gossip like nobody's business. 

Tw: Sexual references, blood, injury

Kara felt like she was being rocked, gently swaying back and forth. She let out a small sigh, before opening her eyes.

And screamed.

Rex dropped her in surprise, making her crumple to the floor in an undignified heap. 

"Why did you scream?" Rex demanded, clutching at his chest.

"Because I woke up in someone's arms!" Kara exclaimed, slowly standing up, dizzy and tired. "Why were you carrying me anyway?"

"You need medical attention!" Rex gestured at her head, blood still oozing from a cut. He pointed up ahead, where the medical bay doors were open. A man with lightning bolts shaved into his hair was staring at them in confusion.

"And why didn't you drag me along on the floor?" Kara hissed out, touching her fingers to her forehead. They came back, glazed in red.

"Rex?" The man called, hesitantly stepping into the hallway. 

"Can you fix her? I need to put her back in her cell." Rex gave Kara a push towards the man.

"I'm fine!" Kara insisted, smacking his hand away from her. She wobbled in place for a moment, taking a deep breath.

"You need to get that taken care of," the man interjected, looking at her wound in concern. "It could get infected, or you might have a concussion. It's best to just get it looked at."

"I'm fine!" Kara snapped, though the way she swayed in place said otherwise. "I don't need help! Much less from someone who wants to kill me!"

The man's face softened. "I don't want to kill you. I don't even know who you are."

"I'm General Madden." Kara lifted her chin, expecting the hate to appear in his eyes. 

"So? I don't know who you are." The man shrugged. "I'm Kix."

"General Skywalker captured her on the battlefield and brought her here. She escaped while having tea with me, poisoned herself or something, and passed out. She hit her head on a rock," Rex clarified.

Kix raised an eyebrow. "You were having tea with her?"

"Just put some bacta on her or something!" Rex pinched the bridge of his nose. "I'll get in trouble if she dies on my watch."

"Wait, you said she got poisoned?" Kix frowned. 

"Just treat her head injury!" Rex pushed Kara forward again.

"I can't treat her if she's poisoned! I need to take care of that first!" Kix grabbed Kara's arm and pulled her into the medical bay. "What poisoned her? How did she get poisoned? Wait, you said she was drinking tea with you? Did you drug her?"

"She was going to drug me first!" Rex nudged a reluctant Kara toward an exam table. 

"I'm fine!" Kara wrapped her arms around Rex's neck, strangling him with the binders on her wrists. "See?"

Rex spluttered as the cuffs pressed against his wind pipe, his back to Kara's chest. "Kix! Don't just stand there!"

Kix rummaged in a drawer, not an ounce of urgency in his movement. "I'm looking for a tranquilizer."

"I'm perfectly fine!" Kara began to walk to the exit, holding Rex hostage.

"You have a blaster!" Rex angrily shouted. "Use the stun setting!"

Kix sighed but held up his blaster, aiming at Kara's head which was peeking out from behind Rex's shoulder. "I usually don't recommend stunning an injured person, but this is my exception."

"Put the weapon down or he gets it!" Kara threatened, jostling the cuffs which were still pressing against Rex's throat.

"Listen, Kara," Rex reasoned, keeping a level tone with her. "Where are you going to run? You're in a Republic cruiser that crash landed on some random planet. The best thing for you to do is to release me, get treated by Kix, and go quietly back to your cell."

Kara momentarily lowered her arms, giving Rex enough room to snap his head back against her nose. When she cried out in pain, he ducked out from her grip, shoving her into an exam bed. 

Kix let out a heavy sigh. "You probably just made her head injury worse."

Rex shot him a filthy look. "Then we're lucky there's a medic here."

Kix rolled his eyes but grabbed a bag, setting it down next to Kara, who appeared to be unconscious. "Tell me what happened."

Rex rubbed at his neck, no doubt sporting a blooming bruise. "After we captured her, we put her into a holding cell, then she-"

Kix shook his head, making Rex stop taking. "I meant, how did she poisoned? And how did she escape? And why did you carry her all the way here instead of just having someone else do it?"

"She tried to poison me so I switched our cups. She escaped because... I let her. I wanted to see what she would do. It was a mistake, okay? And I carried her because there was no one else around." Rex bristled. "Why are you smiling like that?"

Kix wiped the grin off his face and put a politely interested expression on instead. "I was just interested. No other reason."

Rex grew suspicious. "Kix, you're acting odd."

"I told you, it's nothing," Kix breezily said.

Rex crossed his arms. "Kix."

Kix pursed his lips before putting down the bandages he had in his hands. "Fine. You didn't hear this from me though, alright?"

"Fine," Rex agreed. "Now tell me."

"So I was talking to Fives, who spoke to Hardcase, who-" Kix began to explain, only for Rex to cut him off.

Rex rubbed at his temples. "I don't care how the gossip travelled, just tell me what everyone's talking about!"

"Tup was walking past the cell and heard her say something about foreplay to you," Kix blurted out. "And you know how we gossip so..."

Rex's eyebrows went up as he paled. "Maker! How bad is it?"

"People believe that you're... having an affair with a Separatist general."

Rex facepalmed. "Has General Skywalker heard yet?"

"No. But you might have a bigger issue," Kix carefully said, cleaning the wound on Kara's forehead.

"How can it get worse?" Rex demanded.

"Someone forgot to say who you were talking to, so... a large portion of the 501st thinks you're having sex with Grievous." Kix winced.

Rex let loose a string of curses, lifting his gaze to the ceiling. "At least General Skywalker hasn't heard about it."

Kix hummed and wrapped the bandages around Kara's head. "So, is there anything true to the rumour? I mean, she was talking about foreplay, right?"

"Nothing is happening! General Skywalker asked to me interrogate her and she was trying to get under my skin!" Rex said and sat on the edge of Kara's bed. 

"She's good to go," Kix announced, stepping back. "She didn't have a concussion, don't ask me how, and just needs to take it easy for a while. I have no idea what to do about the poison thing. She probably knows though if she tried to slip it to you."

"Thanks." Rex smiled tiredly. "And I'd appreciate it if you tried to set the record straight on what happened, okay? I don't need General Skywalker hearing that I'm having an affair with Grievous."

Kix snorted. "Yeah, that would be bad. Anyways, take her back to the cell and tell her no escaping for a couple rotations. She needs to rest."

"Yeah, I'll make sure to tell her not to escape for her health." Rex rolled his eyes as he got to his feet. "Is she going to wake up soon? I don't want to have to carry her again and have her scream. I dropped her, which I don't think was good for her head."

"Well if you let me tranquilize her, I would know." Kix put his supplies away. He walked to Rex's side and peeled back Kara's eyelid before shaking his head. "She's out cold."

"Fine. I'll carry her again," Rex grumbled.

Kara let out a scream, causing Rex to drop her in surprise again.

"Maker!" Rex muttered, heaving Kara up. "Will you stop doing that?"

"Then stop carrying me!" Kara shot back. "I can walk!"

"Not when you're unconscious!" Rex argued. 

"Then don't knock me out!" Kara angrily shouted. She was seething in anger, both frustrated that she kept waking up like that, and that she was captured in the first place. 

"You were strangling me!" Rex snapped. He took a deep breath to calm himself. "Let's just get you back to your cell so you can let the poison wear off."

"It already has," Kara mumbled. "I designed it to wear off quickly."

Rex escorted her back to the cell, where he locked her inside. She shot him a filthy glare before remembering the head injury. She lifted her hands up and touched the bandages there. 

"Kix told you not to escape for a little bit. No extraneous activities," Rex told her, making his way back to the hallway. 

"Wait!" Kara called after him. 

Rex paused, turning to face her. "Yes?"

Kara opened her mouth before changing her mind, returning to glaring at him. "I didn't ask for your help."

Rex shook his head and sighed, leaving her in silence.