Lift Each Other Up
by Amy L. Hull
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Written for gondalsqueen in the JediFest AlienApril 2018
Many thanks to for beta-reading and cheerleading to oldtoadwoman, kianraidelcam, LaJulie, and Alphie.
~o~
1.
Hera draped an arm over the back of the barstool and tossed one lek back.
The turn let her glance at Kanan through the dim light of the tavern. He slouched in a chair near the fireplace, his ragged and grungy clothes obscuring his physique, hood shrouding his face.
Near him a raucous group of Imperial contractors shouted for another round of drinks, complaining about their schedules, their workers, their bosses, the Empire's expectations, and any number of things.
Kanan tapped steadily against the cup he held.
Sabine's voice was clear through Hera's headphones. "The micro-comm in Kanan's cup is still picking up information clearly."
Hera nodded thanks for the glass on a folded napkin in front of her. The barkeep nodded back, face unchanging.
"Hera, there's no sign of anyone taking notice, is there?" Zeb asked.
Hera sipped her hubba juice, saying, "Hmm-mmm" into the glass.
"So everything's all right still?" Sabine pressed.
She hummed "Mmm-hmm" then swirled her juice. Picking up the napkin, she patted the corner of her mouth. Juice moistened the napkin and she pinched the damp corner as she set it down.
She rolled her head, stretching her neck and scratching her shoulder, letting her index finger slip beneath the square collar of the local-style fitted blouse she wore. She slid the data chit into her basics and against her breast.
She sighed, yawning audibly, and risked another glance at Kanan. He rocked his head and shoulders side to side.
They had developed that signal together...Hera remembered it from children on Ryloth who grew up blind after bombings or chemical exposure. After a moment of dizziness, he had said it was surprisingly helpful at triangulating sound and space.
It enhanced his disguise and persona...and telegraphed, "No. Not yet."
Hera coughed. "Message received."
She forced a relaxed posture, hoping it wasn't visible that she was coiled for action under the facade. The haze from the smoke helped disguise her actions, but she couldn't wait to shower when they got back. Everything here stank. She sipped her drink, monitoring the room.
The Empire wanted them all and had upped their bounties again recently. This might be an under-resourced inner rim moon, but someone could still recognize them. That meant surveillance...without looking like she was doing surveillance.
Just a random Twi'lek woman, relaxing in a tavern, not wanted for sedition, not smuggling, not selling her body. Happened all the time. Nothing to see here.
She drained her glass and held it up, catching the barkeep's eye. Another, her raised eyebrows signaled, and the woman sighed. She flicked her eyes toward Kanan, who was still swaying and tapping his cup.
If she kept a log-she wasn't that foolish, but if she was-she'd have to call this the Non-Verbal Mission.
Sabine continued her commentary, "Kanan's getting good information on the materials factory. If these guys worked directly for the Imperial Navy, they'd already have been court-martialed."
"Hmm."
"These factories produce key products. You should have let me send explosives," Sabine groused.
Hera sipped her next hubba juice. They did serve a good drink here, and even without alcohol, the tart-sweet liquid was a nice change from reprocessed rations.
Patrons entered more rapidly than earlier. They needed to go. She sipped and glanced at Kanan. He sat straight now, hands on knees. His meditation stance.
Just as Hera drained her juice Sabine's voice, tinny through the comm, continued, "Kanan just signaled he's got all we need. Be careful."
"Thanks," Hera said, raising a hand to the barkeep, whose dour expression twitched only slightly.
Kanan walked toward the door, one hand extended before him holding a cane she knew he wasn't using for anything but a prop. She'd suspected since Malachor that things would be easier if he would use such a device as assistance. Even these months later, when he wasn't fighting, he still moved more slowly, more cautiously. He slept more than he had...before. Just using the Force had to be utterly exhausting.
A couple of steps outside the door, an arm around her neck interrupted her train of thought.
She let out a tiny yelp before her air supply was cut off. She tucked her chin, and grabbed the inside of his elbow with both hands.
His other arm pressed against the back of Hera's neck as he dragged her backwards.
Her head was pinned. Her attacker's grip squeezed her lekku more painfully every second. His stench-body odor and alcohol-surrounded her, but she couldn't tell if her eyes were watering from the pressure on her throat or the odor.
She scrambled to get her feet back under her, boots slipping on the mud as she pulled down on his arm and bent forward as hard as she could.
Vision starting to dim, she kicked backward. She hooked her foot behind his leg and pulled her elbows and knees together, bending at the waist.
That threw his balance, and they went down together. He flailed out to catch himself, letting go. Hera rolled with the momentum and came up on the balls of her feet, fists raised and ready.
"Hey!"
She didn't turn to Kanan's voice or his footsteps. The man swung at her and she blocked him. Arms went around her, pinning her upper arms against her, her back against another huge man.
"Watch out!" she shouted to Kanan as the first man turned.
Kanan dodged the man's punch, but a third man kicked him in the back, knocking him into the mud.
The man behind Hera ground his pelvis into her ass and licked her lek with a revolting, stomach-turning groan of pleasure.
She stomped on his instep, grabbing his arms and leaning forward to throw him. He jerked her back so her feet dangled. Force, he was densely built. She kicked and twisted.
He bit her lek, and she grunted, startled.
"Stop!" The thickly accented voice demanded attention.
She stilled instantly. Sabine shouted in her ear, demanding their status. Hera focused all her attention on Kanan.
The first man had his boot on Kanan's neck, a blaster against his temple.
Kanan's right hand straightened.
"No! Not here!" Hera called. They had agreed that being seen using the Force here made the danger of recognition too great. They would wait. She forced herself to droop, feigning submission. "Don't hurt him."
The man shoved her to her knees, scoffing. "Beggar might be useful in keeping her controlled. Maybe we won't just kill him."
One yanked back Kanan's hood. "He's blind!" one chortled.
"What a waste. A Twi'lekki woman-on her knees even-and he can't see her?"
Hera felt more than heard the growl deep in her chest. Sabine sounded slightly shrill, perilously close to panic as she barked orders at Zeb and Chopper, interspersing them with reassurances that the Ghost was going to be there for them.
The man yanked off her headphones, dropped them, and stomped them into fragments. He shoved Hera face-down onto the ground. Her head hit Kanan's, and a boot pressed into her back.
"Wait for it, love," she breathed. Somehow she could just hear Sabine's voice, and she saw Kanan's ear-comm on the ground. She lifted her chin, got her tongue on it, and tucked the comm into her cheek. Stars, but mud and human ear excretions tasted awful. She thought she heard a tiny sound of "coming for you" from inside her mouth.
A loud crack shook the air and huge raindrops splashed against Hera's cheek. It had rained off and on since they landed.
One of the men stepped on her forearm and fixed a wide, metal cuff around her wrist then yanked on her arm. From his growl, she knew they were doing the same to Kanan. Her hand brushed his as the cuffs joined them.
A crackle sounded, Kanan yelped, and a charge ran through Hera.
"See, either of you give us any trouble, we shock the other," the accented man gloated. He stepped on Hera's free arm. "If we need to, we'll kill him. You won't get anywhere attached to a corpse."
"Still waiting," Kanan murmured.
Hera squeezed his fingers.
One of them poked her lek. It stung. "Hey, you damaged the merchandise!"
The other scoffed. "It'll take us a couple of weeks to deliver. It'll heal."
The accented man chuckled, "They'll fix her up. That's why part of our contract includes sampling the goods."
Kanan's grip tightened and Hera squeezed back. He was quivering with rage. They would get out of this, but he needed to keep control.
One man grabbed the neck of Kanan's shirt and his arm. Another grabbed Hera's arm and bitten lek. They hauled them to their feet.
It was time.
Kanan and Hera spun in unison, bracing back to back and kicking the slavers away from them. Kanan added a Force-push, sending them farther than the kicks alone would have done, but avoided attracting undue attention.
Hera peered through the increasing downpour while taking down the men.
She pulled Kanan's hand, "This way!"
The rainfall grew louder, pounding on the ground, the roofs nearby, pinging off her cap. Their feet slapped against the expanding puddles.
"The way ahead is clear," she shouted over the storm. Their hands were intertwined, their running synchronized.
Blaster bolts sizzled past, turning raindrops to steam. Hera twisted her hand as a guide for when to dodge, and they zig-zagged in a practiced pattern. If they hadn't done this a dozen times before, it would never have worked.
"Oh, no!"
"Wanna share?"
"We're running out of ground!" She had no idea what was past the line she could just glimpse through the deluge, but it wasn't land.
"We'll jump!" Kanan shouted. "On your count!"
She tightened her grip on his hand. "Three! Two! One! Go!"
The moment they cleared the edge she felt suspended in the air, then she fell, and Kanan fell with her.
She caught a glimpse of a frothy river below, trees and debris teeming through its raging movement. A split second before the water, she felt their descent slow. They cut through the surface like they'd stepped off the river's edge rather than cliff fifteen meters above.
They sped immediately back up as the river yanked them along. The cuff cut into her wrist as she lost hold of Kanan's hand.
A log spun past and she jerked away. She tried kicking and stroking like her father had taught her in pools deep in the tunnels of Ryloth, but reaching with her right arm pulled Kanan's with her, and she went under.
He was working at cross purposes, stroking against her as they struggled to keep their heads above water. The fast-moving current kept sweeping them under.
She swallowed a mouthful of water and came up gasping. Barely catching a breath, she saw Kanan's mouth move, but the rushing water was too loud for her to hear him.
He pointed and yanked at her cuffed hand, but she didn't duck deeply enough. She glimpsed a log in her peripheral vision an instant before it hit the side of her head.
Her last thought around the exploding pain was that he'd better not drown with her.
ooo