Bly had barely waited until they were in hyperspace for the first part of the journey before he obtained permission to leave and went hunting his officers.

He found Captain Tyto on his way to the officer’s lounge.

“Commander Bly,” Tyto said, saluting.

“Captain,” Bly said. “are you busy?”

“Preparing for battle inspection,” Tyto replied.

Bly considered, “I need a moment of your time.  Please round up the other officers and have them meet me in the officer’s lounge.”

“I’ll take care of it sir,” Tyto said with a quick salute.

Bly found the lounge empty, but it didn’t take long for the Captains and Commanders to join him. “Before I begin, please note that I will be having this conversation with the officers on the other ships.”

“What’s going on sir?” Deet asked.

“There are rumors going around about our General,” Bly said, meeting each man’s eyes pointedly. “Rumors stating that the relationship between her and myself is against regulations and highly inappropriate.  I am aware that General Vos has made his own opinions on the matter exceptionally clear, but that is no excuse.  If I hear any man in this battalion in any way sharing, spreading, or creating those rumors, I will take action.  You will do well to remember that if the High Council decides that General Secura is too close to us, they will reassign her.”

“They wouldn’t,” Tyto blurted out, then flushed when everyone looked at him, “Sorry, sir.”

“They will,” Bly replied. “General Aylixa was reassigned last month because there were too many rumors going around.  That’s how the 721st ended up with General Krell.”

They all winced. Krell was known for victories, but at a high cost.

“We’ll take care of it,” Grin said quickly.  “No more rumors.”

“Good,” Bly replied pointedly.

“Sir,” Tyto said carefully, “won’t people, uh, won’t they still think that?  Like, like how people thought that, uh, Cheer and Reese were.”

“They can think what they want,” Bly said, “as long as our people aren’t doing anything to fuel the rumors, that’s all we can hope to do.  Unfortunately, as I said, General Vos has some strong opinions on the matter. All we can do is hope that nobody takes him seriously.”

“Do you think that likely sir?”

Bly shook his head slightly. “Not so long as there isn’t anything solid following it up, Gyer.”  He stepped back, “Now, we have a battle coming up, so finish getting ready.  We’ll assemble for a full briefing after the course correction.”

That done, Bly went to double check his own armor before heading back to the bridge.  He wasn’t surprised to find the General there, although he was a bit surprised to find her talking with General Vos.

“Seriously Quin, it wasn’t funny when you started this, and it’s definitely not funny now,” Aayla was saying as Bly came to stand behind her.

“I don’t know, Aayla,” General Vos drawled, “I thought it was pretty funny.  You weren’t hurt, were you?”

“No,” Aayla said, “not this time, but need I remind you that there are rules about these sorts of relationships, and if someone who didn’t know you took it seriously then I could pay the price.”

“Aayla,” General Vos began.

“Quinlan Vos,” Aayla snapped, loud enough that some of the others looked up.  “This is serious, Master.  Please stop trying to help.”

General Vos smiled at Aayla, the kind of smile that Bly had once seen Fett give to Boba, a look he’d once wished he could earn.  Bly cleared his throat, “General?”

Aayla turned, “Everything taken care of, Commander?”

“Everyone is preparing as best they can, sir,” Bly said.  “I intend to hold the more specific briefings after the course correction, when we have the longer wait.”

“Good,” Aayla said. She looked back at the hologram, “I’ll speak to you later, Master.”

“Keep yourself safe, Padawan,” General Vos replied.  He pointed at Bly, “Keep her safe, Commander.”

“Yes sir,” Bly said, and saluted.

As the hologram closed, Aayla snorted, “That man.”

“Sir?”  Bly asked.

“It’s all right,” Aayla said.  “Now, I’ve been looking at the information we have already received, have you had a chance to look over it?”

“Not yet,” Bly admitted, “there were things that needed to be taken care of.”

“I understand,” Aayla said. She turned to the communications board and began to input commands, “I’m forwarding the information to your datapad. Why don’t you review it over lunch? We’ll have a conference with General Kenobi after that.”

Bly wanted to demand to know when Aayla would eat, but he did know better.  His general was well able to feed herself when needed.  It was one of those things they had long since worked out, the trust that Aayla would and could take care of herself.

After lunch, Bly found himself sitting in on the meeting between Aayla and General Kenobi.  He wasn’t surprised to see Cody there as well, but this wasn’t the time for a personal conversation.

“Obi-Wan,” Aayla said after the greetings were out of the way, “I am worried.”

“About what?”  Obi-Wan asked.

“Nar Shaddaa,” Aayla said, “it makes no sense for Ventress to be there.  The Smuggler’s Moon isn’t exactly a Separatist target.”

Obi-Wan stroked his beard for a moment before leaning forward, “You’re right, Aayla.”

“I am?”  Aayla asked.

“Nar Shaddaa is not our actual destination.”

“But, the Council,” Aayla began.

“There is a concern that our assignments are being leaked,” Obi-Wan said, “this is a test of that. We will be going to Nar Shaddaa, as a transition point to another engagement.  If we are ambushed, we will know the truth.”

“Where are we really going?” Aayla asked.

“Beyond Hutt Space,” Obi-Wan replied, “Quinlan’s information indicated that there are things out there we need to see.”

“Beyond,” Aayla trailed off, “but shouldn’t this be a, a small task force?”

“Not according to Quinlan,” Obi-Wan said.

Aayla nodded slightly, “So we’re pretending to go to the Smuggler’s Moon on bad intel, when in fact we’re going somewhere else on good intel?”

“Yes,” General Kenobi said.

“What can we expect then,” Aayla asked.

“Trouble, and a lot of it,” General Kenobi said.  “Quin wasn’t able to give a complete report in person, because of the worries about a leak, but at our next course adjustment, we’ll be meeting up with Fett long enough to get the information from him.”

Aayla nodded, “Okay, I can get that.”  She turned to Bly, “Any questions, Commander?”

Bly shook his head, “Not at the moment sir, although I might after we get the additional information.”

“All right,” Aayla said.

“With your permission, I’d like to reissue my orders to the men,” Bly added, glancing between Aayla and General Kenobi.

“Go ahead, Commander,” Aayla said.

“Cody,” General Kenobi said.

“Of course,” Cody said, standing up.  “General Secura.”

“Commander Cody,” Aayla replied.

“Mind if I walk with you, brother?” Cody asked.

“Not at all,” Bly replied.

They left the Generals and Bly led the way down to the closet-like ready room that was set aside for his use.

“New orders?”  Cody asked as the door closed behind him.

“Preparing for boarding parties requires different orders from landing parties,” Bly said, “I need to redeploy my men, warn the Captain, make sure that the irreplaceable supplies are located in the inner holds and not the outer.”

“Well, if you and General Secura had been,” Cody began.

Bly snarled, the sound coming almost unbidden, “We did not ask to be locked in that room, Cody.  No more than we have at any other time that General Vos has decided it necessary. I wouldn’t do that to Aayla.”

“Aayla, is it?”  Cody said.

“Don’t,” Bly said and sat down at his desk.  “Not you too. Remember, I met Aayla when they came to Kamino, she gave me permission then to call her Aayla, in private. We’re not, not together like that. I won’t.”

“Why not?”  Cody asked, “Everyone can see how you feel about her, and Kenobi seems to think it’s mutual, if the hints he’s dropped are anything to go by.”

Bly glanced up at his brother, “Excuse me for having trouble thinking about getting in bed with someone I tried to kill.”

“This again?”  Cody said, easing down on the crate that was currently serving as Bly’s guest chair.

“It’s always been this,” Bly replied.  “You don’t know, Cody.  That chip, what it did, I can’t put that on Aayla.  She has enough burdens to be dealing with right now to add codling me.”

“You say that, but what if she wants too,” Cody asked.

Bly pressed his hands down on his desk in a futile attempt to hide his overwrought state.  “Aayla told me that she had something similar happen to her, being mindwiped like that.  I adore her, yes, because she’s an amazing woman, and incredibly strong to boot. I can’t imagine what she had to do to overcome what was done to her, and I’m not going to be the nerf herder who shoves more of the same burden on her.  I’ll deal with my feelings on my own.”

“You don’t have to,” Cody said, “If you ever, and I mean ever, need to talk about it, you know you can talk to me, or Wolffe, or any of us.”

“I know,” Bly said, “but I can handle this.”

Whatever else Cody was going to say was interrupted by the beep of his communicator.  “Commander Cody,” Cody said.

“So, how long do you think we’ve been in here?”

Aayla opened her eye and glanced up, “Not as long as you think, Bly.  Sit down and relax, help’s coming.”

“Sorry, General,” Bly muttered, carefully easing down against the wall across from her.

“You know,” Aayla said, “if ever there was a moment you could call me Aayla, I think it would be after the, what, fifth time my Master has managed to lock us in a closet?”

“Sorry General,” Bly said, then winced, “Aayla.”

Aayla grinned at him, “We’ll get you there eventually, Bly.”

“If you say so,” Bly said, “So why is he doing this?”

“Quin?  Who even knows,” Aayla shook her head slightly, “He’s got some ideas about me and my chosen companions.  This might be his odd way of expressing approval.”

“Approval, for what?” Bly asked, “We aren’t…”

“I know Bly,” Aayla said, “although there are rumors.”

“I’ll talk to the men,” Bly said, lifting his chin stubbornly.  “They should know better than to tell stories about you.”

“I don’t mind, Bly,” Aayla said.  “There are worst people to be linked with than you.”  She reached over and rested her hand on Bly’s knee, making him jerk slightly and look from her face to her hand and back several times.  “Or is it that you don’t want to be linked to me.”

Bly swallowed and blinked, “I, uh, it’s not, ma’am, it’s not that.  I, I would be, honored, if I were linked to you.”  He shuddered slightly as Aayla leaned a little closer, “It’s just not proper, to be gossiping like that.  Not about you, Aayla.”

Aayla smiled and pressed a quick kiss to Bly’s cheek, “Don’t be too hard on the men, Bly.  It’s not like there isn’t some truth after all.” She set back and removed her hand, half closing her eyes moments before the door slid open.

“An interesting meeting place, you have found,” Master Yoda declared.

Aayla stood up, “It was at Master Quinlan’s suggestion, Master Yoda.  The door locked unexpectedly behind us.  Thank you for opening the door.”  She bowed.

“General Yoda,” Bly said as he stood up, “thank you, sir.”

“Welcome, you are, Commander Bly,” Master Yoda said.  “A meeting, we are called to.”

Aayla nodded, and twisted slightly to pointedly offer the diminutive Master her back, “We should get moving then.”

Yoda leaped up to settle on her back, an easy burden compared to the packs she’d carried in the field, but from the look on Bly’s face, it was slightly more scandalous than her carrying her share of food and shelter.  She could practically hear him claiming that if anybody was going to be Master Yoda’s living hoverchair, it should be Bly, or any other Clone, because such a thing was beneath a General’s dignity.  It would probably take Master Yoda himself to convince Bly that it was a Jedi’s role to be humble, not dignified.

Or, she amended to herself as they started up one of the lesser staircases, she could just have Bly be there the next time Obi-Wan came back to the Temple and get him started on some of his stories about being a Padawan under Master Qui-Gon Jinn.  All she’d need was three stories about the hairy things with teeth that adored Master Jinn, but considered Obi-Wan everything from scratching post to dinner, and Bly would stop going on about dignity.

They reached the War Room and Aayla paused to let Yoda down by the door, then grinned at the sight of Obi-Wan waiting inside with Cody.  Master Windu was also there, speaking to Agen Kolar over a hologram while two Knights that Aayla didn’t recognize bent over other screens and talked softly.

“Master Kenobi!” Aayla said, walking over to rest her hand on Obi-Wan’s arm.

“Aayla,” Obi-Wan said, “it’s still Obi-Wan, you know.”

Aayla gave him a grin with her teeth showing, “Oh, I know, but not when I want to ask you for a favor. After the meeting, perhaps?”

“Of course, my dear,” Obi-Wan said, patting her hand lightly.

Master Windu cleared his throat, “Knight Secura, Master Kenobi, we’re assigning the pair of you to a campaign on Nar Shadda.  We’ve received word that Asajj Ventress has been spotted in the area and we would like you to capture her.”

“We’ll need to leave immediately,” Obi-Wan said.

Master Windu inclined his head, “Do you anticipate any problems in getting underway?”

Aayla glanced at Bly, who was looking back, and she knew he was thinking what she was thinking. “When is Master Quinlan leaving Coruscant?”  Aayla asked.

“He left this morning,” Master Windu said.

Aayla pushed her lekku over her shoulder gently, “Then I don’t have a problem.  Commander Bly?”

“Resupply finished yesterday, ma’am.  The 327th is ready to head out.”  Bly replied promptly.

“The 212th is as well,” Obi-Wan said after exchanging a look with Cody.  He nodded to Master Windu, “With your permission.”

“Go,” Master Windu said.

Aayla bowed and followed Obi-Wan out of the war room, keeping her stride even and her position just behind and to the left of Obi-Wan exact.  Once they were in the lift, however, Obi-Wan turned to her and gave her a smile.

“Was there something you wanted?”

Aayla smiled slightly, “Nothing that can’t wait, Obi-Wan.  Were you waiting for us long?”

“Not that long,” Obi-Wan said, which could mean they were waiting for fifteen minutes to the long hours they’d been trapped.  “Quin up to his tricks again?”

Aayla tilted her head, mindful of the Commanders standing behind them.  “You know Quin, he’s always up to something.”

“You know that he does worry about you, right?”  Obi-Wan asked, “he wants you to be happy.”

“I am happy,” Aayla said. “I wish he’d just leave it be, you know? What happens will be the will of the Force.”

Obi-Wan nodded as the doors opened and they stepped out of the list.  “Cody, Commander Bly, would you go ahead?  I need to speak with Aayla in private.”

“Yes General,” Commander Cody said.  After a look to Aayla, Bly followed him down the hall to the shuttle bay.

“Aayla,” Obi-Wan said, “Quin’s just happy for you.”

“Quin doesn’t know what’s going on,” Aayla pointed out, “he’s building up this imaginary relationship between me and Bly.”

“Well, it’s the first time you’ve really shown an interest in anyone since,” Obi-Wan hesitated.

“Yes, and if you insane meddlers manage to scare off Bly, then it’ll be the last,” Aayla said bluntly, aware of, but not even bothering to contain her lekku’s angry movements.  “Bly and I, whatever we could be, or that we are? We’re working at our pace, and what feels best for us, not for you or Quin, or anyone else.  This is not a relationship to be built on guilt, grief, and regrets, Master Obi-Wan Kenobi, this is a partnership intended to save the lives of as many men as possible.  Whatever so-called romance is involved?  It will always be second to my men and keeping them alive.  Now, I believe we’re to be heading to Nar Shadda, no?”

“My apologies,” Obi-Wan said, with a half-bow, “I didn’t mean to push so hard.  We should rendezvous at Naboo for a final strategy meeting before going on to Nar Shadda.”