The New Recruit

Knight Bonni had just returned from her two months Outer Rim assignment and she was looking forward to some days at least of peace and reflection in the Temple. She had volunteered for the assignment right after her ill-fated recruitment mission in an attempt to get some perspective on how she had slipped up in that situation. The charged, violent atmosphere had certainly done little to help her. So she was putting all her hopes on self-meditation and guidance from the old Master.

The alternative was a full confession and that was not something she was looking forward to.

So imagine her shock and dismay when she was strolling through the Gardens of Serenity, passed old Master Rey leading the new recruits, and spotted a horrifyingly familiar face amongst the new set of Padawans.

No. No way.

He caught her horrified gaze and gave her a smirk, before ducking his chin and obediently following Rey past her.

He had told her he wasn't coming! He had been adamant about it! Otherwise, there was no way that she would have… That they would have…

The first chance she got, she cornered him outside a meditation room. From the way he lingered before she caught up with him, she knew he had sensed her approach, felt the clash of their auras against each other.

"What are you doing here?" she hissed.

Kai - former bounty hunter, now Jedi Padawan – looked at her with dancing eyes. "You offered me a job, remember?"

"You said no."

"I changed my mind. It's not only a female's prerogative, you know."

She stared up at him with helpless fury while he kept smiling down at her with that mocking gaze. And something else, running under the surface. She felt it, acutely. And after a while, his smile slipped away and she tore her eyes from his face.

"Jedi aren't allowed attachments, you know," she bit out. "This is not a good idea."

"For whom?" he said, mildly enough but she could hear the edge in his voice, feel the spike of emotion inside him.

"If I had known you were coming, I'd never have-"

He moved towards her, and she backed up immediately. "Snuck out of my bed in the middle of the night? Because I sure could have used a ride getting to this place."

She glared at him as her back hit the wall, and he came one inch closer to crowding her. Her hand shot out, ready to shove him across the hall – and she didn't care if she got reprimanded for it - when he slapped his palm on his forehead dramatically.

"Oh you mean, seduced me in the first place. Well, I can see how that would make things awkward for you-"

"I did not seduce you!"

"-but how do you know that's not what made me change my mind?" And he did crowd her then, both his hands resting flat against the wall, trapping her.

"You should leave," she breathed. "You don't fit the profile, at all. Even before you gave me an answer, I could tell. I knew before I…"

"Seduced me?" he offered helpfully, and once again, she heard that edge in his voice, felt the dark emotion that accompanied it.

He was close enough now that she only needed to stand on tiptoe to touch his mouth with her own. It was a good thing that the hall was completely empty now.

His lashes fluttered, his gaze turning heavy as he stared pointedly at her mouth. Bonni felt her breath catch in her throat, that pull – the same one she had felt before with him – drawing her inexorably towards him.

So she shoved him, not hard enough to smash him into the opposite wall, but certainly hard enough to get her breathing space.

"You should leave," she gasped. "Whatever you hoped to find here, you won't. What happened between us was a one-time thing. I'm sorry it meant more to you than it did to me."

He eyed her from where he landed, sitting on the floor. Emotions churned through him – hurt, anger, darkness – and finally, settled on determination. That was when he smiled, slow, sinful, and despite herself, a flush went from her head all the way down to her core and she could tell from the way his smile broadened that he had sensed everything.

"I like this place. Good food. Clean clothes. Not having to worry about someone slitting my throat in the middle of the night. Hot babes." He leered at her and she had to fight not to reach for her saber and run him through there and then. "You're just going to have to deal with me because I'm not going anywhere, Jedi Bonni."

She stared at him helplessly for a long moment, while he smiled back up at her.

She had a bad feeling about this.

Wordlessly, she turned on her heel and walked away, feeling his eyes on her all the way down the hall.

Fin

A/N: Reviews welcomed and loved! :)