Disclaimer: All belongs (sadly) to Lucasfilms and co, and Troy Denning…
Setting: End of Dark Nest- imagine Jaina were captured by Jag instead of Leia... with some twists involved, of course. Be warned though- very AU.
Characters: Primarily Jaina and Jag, with Han, Leia, Zekk, Saba & some Chiss OCs.
Warning: This will be rough on Jag fans during parts 1 and 2 (out of 3)...
Also- borrowed some dialogue from The Swarm War, just used in slightly different situations...
Rating: T for torture-related violence and strong innuendo
Interrogations and Infiltrations
Part I
The low hum that always accompanied being on a ship, however big or small, was the first thing she noticed; she was a pilot at heart, a pilot by nature- it would be the first thing she noticed.
The second thing was a gentle whir that suggested the operation of nearby machinery.
The third thing was the ache in her head, dissipating by the second, but still strong enough to blur her memories, cloud her thoughts.
The fourth thing was that she couldn't move, save to wriggle her fingers and blink her eyes, and she wondered if she'd been paralyzed in the crash.
Crash?
Vague images of a dogfight in Tenupe's atmosphere came flooding back; dozens of Clawcraft sacrificing themselves to the missiles that she and Zekk sent towards the defoliator ships…
Zekk. She reached out, sensed him distant but alert, and relief spilled through their bond that was part-Joiner and part-battle meld, as he felt her return to consciousness. They were much too far away to share thoughts now, but his worry was clear, and a questioning sense, wondering where she was…
With his help, she fought the lingering haze, tried once more to more her arms or legs, found she couldn't… tried to turn her head, nothing… and finally blinked her eyes several times, trying to focus on the dimly lit room around her.
It was small and barren; dark permacrete walls and a durocrete floor; one wall that her Jedi senses suggested was for one-way observation, and that thought gave her pause. Her eyes swiveled in their sockets, trying to take in as much as possible as Zekk's sense of worry increased, and her own mind began to catch up with the implications of what she was seeing and feeling…
An interrogation chamber- or a torture chamber. Or both. She wasn't paralyzed, she was strapped to a chair, even her head so securely fastened as to prevent motion. Her arms were bound in multiple, strategic places, leaving only her fingers mobile.
This would have seemed horribly inconvenient, if she hadn't already realized that a quick nudge with the Force at each of the restraints would have her free in seconds. For now though, it seemed prudent to ascertain just where she was, which meant trying to better remember how she got here…
Zekk's presence pressed harder, urging her to focus, to remember… and one image came clear above the others- her StealthX diving closer to the planet, following a spinning Clawcraft as she frantically urged the pilot to eject on the open channel, breaking all sorts of comm silence protocols for the stealth fighters.
Why had the Clawcraft been crashing? Oh, right- because she and Zekk had shot it down.
Had shot Jag down.
And she had followed, unable to bear the pain of seeing him crash to his fiery death, not when there might still have been a chance to save him. They were over, but she still cared for him, had never wanted him to die, despite being on opposite sides of a devastatingly bloody war that had already claimed millions of Killik lives and tens of thousands of Chiss.
That still didn't explain how she got here- or where this was.
A snarky wave from Zekk ordered her to refocus, and she got the sense that he was… with other Jedi? Her parents maybe? It was difficult to say, and she didn't linger on it as she recalled the sudden, startling pull up that the Clawcraft had executed at the last minute, swinging up over her fighter and pushing her towards the surface as other ships emerged to flank her sides, eliminating the possibility for escape… her yelling at Zekk to steer clear, that nothing would be accomplished by them both dying or being captured…
Captured then- by the Chiss, she supposed. Jag had tricked her, though she supposed that she couldn't allow this to surprise her much, he'd been more than willing to try to kill her since the first time they had engaged in battle on or over Tenupe.
Well, there could be worse spots- this was the Chiss. They were firm people, but honorable, and didn't hold with unnecessary cruelties… and in either case, she would tolerate an interrogation only exactly as long as she wanted, and surely they realized that? Why they even bothered to strap her in was beyond her wildest imaginings, they knew she was a Jedi…
To save her life, she couldn't remember what had happened as she was pushed closer and closer to the jungle canopy… clearly she hadn't careened to a fiery death. Ejected perhaps? Or… had she surrendered?
Zekk gave her a clear image of her StealthX re-ascending through the Tenupe atmosphere, flanked and missile-locked by six Chiss fighters, another two squadrons above and below them… Zekk finally veering away from the haze of turbolaser fire at her insistence…
But she had no clear memories after that, after she had vanished from Zekk's line of sight, after their link had dissipated due to distance… had no recollection of how she had fallen unconscious and how she ahd gotten here…
The glimmer of approaching presences caught her attention, and she tensed against the restraints, trying to count them… five, she thought, though two stopped approaching distantly… and one felt different from the other four- and familiar…
A whir indicated the opening of a door behind her, but the three figures walked with surprising softness. Gliding smoothly, one grey-uniformed Chiss male, red eyes blazing, came to a halt directly in front of her, about two meters away from the edge of the chair. Pushing aside the last remnants of groggy pain, she met his eyes evenly, relaxing her face into cool indifference.
His glowing eyes slid up and down a few times, lingering over key places and designed to put her on edge, make her uncomfortable. Rather, she quirked a brow and spoke in a deadpan voice.
"The 'undressing me with your eyes' routine is a little old; but if you're really that interested, why don't you just ask Commander Fel? He's standing right over my left shoulder." Only a slight contraction of his pupils indicated his surprise, or consternation. "Oh, sorry; that whole 'sleeping with the enemy' thing is frowned upon, isn't it?"
A low chuckle- familiar, but dark and cold- sounded from behind her, and the man in question stepped into view and considered her, eyes calculating. "It's Captain Fel now, actually," he murmured, letting his own eyes drift over her body. Oddly, from him… it unsettled her so much more than it had from the interrogator.
"Ah," she masked her discomfort with her wry tone. "Well- flying with a fighter squadron, overseeing prisoner transport and interrogation… lowly work for a command-grade officer, isn't it, lover boy?"
"Do not call me that," he hissed. The interrogator's eyes glanced quickly towards Jag, either confused or annoyed, and Jaina guessed that Jag wasn't really supposed to be here. Trained interrogators never let it get personal, and would never have displayed that level of emotion at a captive's response.
She continued without pause, eager to exploit their weakness they had displayed by bringing Jag in here in the first place. "You know, Jag, you really shouldn't take this whole Killik thing so personally; you and I were long over before Zekk and I met Taat."
Something in Jag's aura shifted, gave her pause. Then, a slow, cruel smirk spread across his face and he leaned down closer to her, making her consider snapping the restraints right now just to make him recoil in surprise.
"You think I care whose antennae you rub, Jaina?" he murmured lowly. "Not at all; I must confess though, I suddenly realized something about the mission you young Jedi went on back during the Yuuzhan Vong incursion; Zekk was there with you, right?" She frowned and said nothing, not sure where this was leading. "Well- maybe if you'd been more focused on your mission, rather than getting a little private action, you wouldn't have let your younger brother die and your twin get captured."
The fact that there was no truth to it did nothing to prevent the wrenching of her heart. She felt a sudden flare of anger from Zekk and knew that he had ascertained enough to know that it was Jag who was antagonizing her, and that it had something to do with Anakin- always a devastating subject for her and, consequently from their bond, to him. Hot tears stung her eyes and she blinked furiously, willing herself to calm down and not snap, not do something irrational and stupid…
"Captain Fel?" the interrogator murmured, beckoning him to the other side of the room. "A word?" They walked to the far side of the room and spoke in low tones- too low for a normal human to hear, perhaps. Not too low for a Jedi. "Captain Fel, this is an intelligence interrogation, not an airing of personal grievances and histories. If you cannot conduct yourself in a professional manner, I will have no choice but to remove you from the session."
When he spoke, Jag's tone was soothing, persuasive. "Lieutenant, I am here precisely due to my superior knowledge of and acquaintance with the prisoner; it has been cleared with your commander. And might I remind you that you are dealing with a Jedi; your normal routines will not work on even the weakest of them, and this one…" he glanced over at her, a predatory smirk on his face, probably full-well aware that she could hear him. "This one would run your men in circles."
Hesitatingly only a moment and sounding mildly resigned, the lieutenant said, "Yes, sir. Then we are proceeding with your… plan?"
That caught her attention, made her frown and wonder. Jag simply nodded though, and approached her again at a brisk pace. "Well, Jagged," she said, voice cool, "war has hardened you; you were always a little grim for my liking, but never cruel."
He stared impassively. "It's a hard galaxy we live in, Jaina. Get used to it." The lieutenant disappeared behind her chair and she fought the urge to follow him with her eyes. Instead, she steadied her gaze on Jag as he once more leaned in close to her. "Jaina…" he murmured. "We could have been so much more, you and me… but then, you had to side with them again…" he leaned his mouth in close over her ear, murmuring softly, putting her more on edge than ever before. "Tell me, Jaina," his voice was husky, "do you think about me when you're with him? Does he hear your thoughts as you remember the nights we used to spend together…?"
She felt him reach for something behind her, sensed the motion of his hand as he brought it back around. Tensing, sensing a sudden danger tingling up her spine, she jerked painfully in the restraints, unlatching those on her left side almost by accidental impulse than through clear effort. He was fast and strong though, and in a better position as he pinned her arm with the weight of his body just long enough to press an injector pen and depress the spring, shooting a fast, biting pain into her upper arm. She swung her arm around, sent Jag stumbling backwards with a shove through the Force, sensed Zekk's sudden confusion at her panic…
"What was that?" she demanded, staring at the pen still clasped in his hand. "What did you… ahh…" a low but fiery pain was starting in her shoulder.
"Leave us," Jag barked at the two men behind her. "Send in the package." He slowly approached her once more. "I'm sorry," he murmured. "It'll all be over in less than a minute. The worst part will be in about… ten seconds."
The pain was spreading and growing more intense, and it took all of her willpower in the Force to suppress it as it spread into her chest, crept along her neck and into her head. As her abdomen and legs erupted in pain though, the whole sensation intensified. Reflexively, needing to escape the chair as though it were causing it, she wrenched the restraints away with the Force but was paralyzed, unable to move. Vaguely, in the back of her mind, she sensed Zekk panicking, sensed her mother reaching out for her in worry…
"Impressive," Jag murmured, peering into her wild eyes. "You almost look unaffected. I can see it in your eyes though; and you're starting to sweat," he cupped her face and smiled sadly, then made a motion towards someone, or a door, or a camera, she couldn't even bring herself around to look, so intent she was on stopping the torturous pain, a vague part of her feeling betrayed…
She sensed a coldness in the next room, registering distantly in the back of her mind. It was growing closer though, and she heard footsteps rather than felt them in the Force, and the terrifying implications of that made her stare, gasping at Jag, mouth working but making no sound. He just shook his head sadly, kneeling in front of her.
And then the coldness was on her- at the same moment, she lost the ability to keep the pain at bay and the fiery heat stabbed at her every nerve ending and she wanted to die then, wanted nothing more than to escape this suffering that she didn't understand. She heard a cry and detachedly realized that it came from her own throat, a keen wail of sharp pain, felt hands on her, heard a door close…
And as abruptly as it came on, the pain ceased. "Shh," Jag was murmuring, hugging her to him, stroking her hair. "I'm sorry, Jaina, we had to… it was the only way…"
Her small hands shoved at him roughly. "Get away from me!" she yelled, falling forward out of the restraining chair as he complied. Her mind worked frantically as she stared at the 'package' that had been brought into the room. "Jag!" she exclaimed. "What have you done?"
"It was the only way, Jaina," he repeated. "I'm sorry that we had to hurt you."
"But…" she paled. "Ysalamiri, Jag? Don't you understand…? My mother, my uncle... Zekk… they'll think I'm dead! They'll come after you!"
He looked at her sharply, though a slow smile was spreading across his face.
"I'm counting on it."
X-X-X-X
A/N: Just a little piece I've had sitting around for a few weeks… only 3 parts long. :-)