General Disclaimer: I don't own Star Wars.
If anyone ever wanted to get the jump on the Exile, now would be the time to do it, as she was walking through a Nar Shaddaa market and not giving her surroundings enough attention. Unfortunately for Cassandra Shandu, two someones did want to get the jump on her and were presently tailing her…Fortunately, she had another someone watching over her…
Cassandra was glancing at the scavenge for sale as she made her way to the flophouse, thoughts about her missions running through her head. Someone told her there was a crazy Bith there, and someone else told her it was a group of crazy Mandalorians. She was wondering how anyone could mix those two up, when a familiar set of eyes caught hers from down the walkway. What was Atton doing here? She started to call to him, but his eyes widened and he looked away. Staring at a wall, he shook his head no. He looked back toward her and abruptly walked into the wall. What the hell? She started toward where he disappeared and realized that there was, in fact, an alley there. Her curiosity piqued, she followed. The alley twisted not far ahead, and Cassie blithely strode around the corner, only to be shocked when she was yanked sideways into a nook in the wall.
"Who—" Cassie started to sputter as she pulled her hand up to defend herself. Then, she realized the identity of her attacker and relaxed. "Oh, it's you, Atton."
"Sweetheart, how you managed to survive by yourself on the Rim for so many years, I'll never know," he chuckled, shaking his head at her. Before she could give her indignant reply, however, he continued in a more business-like tone, "You've got two tails. Bounty hunters form the looks of them. Fight or hide?"
She blinked at the sudden change in attitude.
"Bounty hunters. After you." He spoke very slowly, as if she were a child. "Do you want to kill them or hide from them?"
"I guess that depends what kind they are," she answered, finally processing what he was saying.
He raised his eyebrow. "Human. One heavily modded pistol apiece. One tricked-out rifle. Other has a vibrosword."
"I actually meant if they were the killing kind or honorable kind." She squinted and bit her lip, weighing her options.
"How should I know? I didn't exactly have time to interview them." He rolled his eyes, and his gaze darted over her shoulder. "Hurry up, Cassie."
"Fine, fine…we'll hide," she decided on a hunch that she hoped was rooted in the Force.
Atton met her eyes with an unreadable expression for a long moment before starting to move. He spun her around, pulling off her outer robe in the process. Her brain was so busy remarking upon his speed and efficiency that his hands were already working to let her hair down before she realized that he had dropped her favorite robe into the muck; any thoughts of protest were cut off as she found herself being spun around again. She saw him tugging a bandana or scarf of some sort from his jacket and looked up into his face as he used it to cover her hair, tying the ends together behind her head. He looked her up and down with critical eyes; the corners of his mouth came down, and she heard him mumble something that sounded like "damn robes," but she wasn't sure. Now he was shrugging out of his beloved ribbed jacket and swinging it around her shoulders. She slipped her arms into it as he produced a knife from somewhere on his person and proceeded to—
"Atton! What are you doing?" she hissed incredulously, stopping his hand before he did more than cause a tear in her cream-colored inner robe.
"Changing your clothes and style of hair," he hissed back, easily freeing his hand and continuing to cut off any robe that could be seen below his jacket, "That's what they'll have been following. Listen, if they haven't found us in 15 minutes, we continue down the alley. If they do go past us, we leave immediately the way we came." As his eyes raked over her face, Cassie abruptly realized that she was now pinned between him and the wall, and she felt a telltale heat creep into her cheeks. However, Atton didn't seem to notice her blush and continued his instructions, "Amateurs won't have memorized your face, but I couldn't tell how green these two were. If they do come by here, I'm going to kiss you. Best way to hide our faces. Okay?"
As her brain whirled to comprehend both his instructions and the un-Atton-like way he was acting, she nodded jerkily. The way he reported on the bounty hunters was eerily like hearing her scouts report during the war, and the way he seemed to know exactly what they were looking for and what to do bespoke experience that came from training and study. Needless to say, this new soldier persona didn't mesh well with her image of the slightly drunk, pazaak-obsessed scoundrel…Wait! He said he was going to kiss her?
"Wait! You said you're going—" She stopped abruptly as he held up a hand, not even looking at her. She frowned and listened. Concentrating, she could just barely hear faint footsteps. Had he seriously picked up on those? Her senses were augmented by the Force, and she hadn't even noticed—
She abruptly lost her train of thought. Atton's gloved hand had come up to cradle her cheek, and his lips were moving over hers. Her eyes closed; he smelled so good. They always talked about how kisses taste in all those dramas, but, Force, she just wanted to breathe him in. She realized that her hands were sliding up his chest and snaking around his neck seemingly of their volition. She shouldn't be—a hand drifting down her side startled her into a small gasp. As their lips came back together, she pressed harder, and he took a step closer. He caught her bottom lip and she felt his teeth graze over it, eliciting a shudder that ran down her entire body. She tightened her hold on him as the sensations began to blur together. She was getting overwhelmed by the sheer intensity of…well, everything; she'd been kissed before, but it was nothing even close to this. Never mind, she didn't care—at all. Cassandra leaned into the wall and enjoyed heaven while it lasted.
Too soon, she felt him pull away and step back. Eyes still closed, she breathed in and breathed out. Blinking, she opened her eyes to see Atton staring at her. His face didn't betray much, but she could feel surprise, shock, and reluctance emanating from him pretty clearly. Feeling rather shocked herself, she said the first thing that came to mind, which was probably not a good idea.
"I, uh…that wasn't exactly what I imagined." Even as she was regretting saying that, she was realizing how true it really was. The way he had kissed her was controlled, gentle, and sweet. Hell, it was downright romantic. There wasn't any of the unrestrained lust, groping hands, and urgency that she had come to associate with the spacers she had occasionally involved herself with during her exile.
She watched a mischievous smirk develop on Atton's face while the shock she felt from him dissipated. "Really? So, you've been imagining what kissing me would be like, huh?"
Her emotional control back in place, she resolved not to stroke his ego too much. After all, the whole stunt was just a disguise, right? She rolled her eyes and looked around the alley. "They gone?"
"For about two minutes," he answered.
There went her control again; she realized that the look on her face probably gave away her feelings pretty easily. Why the hell had he kissed her that long then? Then, she closed her eyes in realization. This was Atton Rand. Duh! Had she truly expected anything else? The small smile that had been developing turned into an outright laugh.
"Of course." She shook her head and opened her eyes to see a flash of relief cross his face. She smirked and added, "Well, come on then, lover boy. Places to go, people to see." Again, her senses registered shock from her pilot. A quick glance towards their feet told her that her robes were unsalvageable, so she strode off, heading back to the market. She slowed slightly when he called.
"Hey, can I get my jacket back?"
She stopped and turned around, propping her hand on her hip, to see him following a few feet back. She smiled sweetly. "Sure, you can, Atton dear. As soon as you find me some robes to replace the ones you just ruined." She watched his eyes rake up and down her body in a very different way than they had earlier. With a hidden smile, she turned and headed toward the market again, this time deliberately letting her hips sway just a little. If he was going to watch her, no reason she couldn't enjoy it.
A/N: A Pleasant Reader here. I hope you enjoyed my first foray into writing fanfiction. Happy Writing!