Title: Shadows
Author(s): FelsGoddess
Timeframe: This takes place shortly after page 122 in Outcast after Jaina speaks with Kenth.
Characters: Dab Hantaq, Jaina Solo, Jagged Fel
Genre: Missing scene
Keywords: observers
Summary: Jag finds out exactly who is Jaina's observer.
Notes: Written for the holiday fanfic challenge at The Lomin Ale Cantina
Jaina parked her speeder across the street from the Imperial Embassy. She could see Dab Hantaq unbuckling his restraints in the corner of her eye. She threw open the door of her side, climb out and slammed the door with irritation. It wasn't enough that her observer looked like Anakin. No, he had to follow her everywhere.
She paused by the speeder to wait for another to pass by. Dab closed his door, and moved around the nose of the vehicle to stand next to her. She ignored him and crossed the street. She would prefer to ignore him all together. She was somewhat pleased that he had to rush to keep up with her.
"What are we doing?" he asked as they approached the main entrance to the embassy.
She whirled around as she responded, "You are staying out here."
"My orders-"
"I will be in Imperial Embassy on personal business. I don't need you there to witness it," she snapped, ignoring his hauntingly familiar blue eyes.
Dab eyed her, and then the building. His shoulders drooped in defeat as he said, "Fine. I'll wait out here."
Jaina smirked at him, "There's a tapcafe over there. You can see the main doorway. You can meet me in front of the embassy if you feel the need to conduct one of your checks."
"How do I know you won't just leave another way?" he challenged.
"I thought researched, Dab. You should know that I wouldn't leave my speeder," she said over her shoulder as she turned and walked into the embassy. She went through the security measures as fast as she could. She felt somewhat relieved to be away from Dab, even if only for a little while.
The turbolift ride gave her time to collect her thoughts. Tomorrow she was going to assign a specific answer tone for Dab's calls to serve as a warning. She absent-mindedly smoothed an invisible crease on the front of her Jedi robes. She glanced up at the lights at the top. A ding sounded, indicating her arrival. She waited impatiently as the doors slid open. She stepped out, approached the door to Jag's suite a few meters away and entered the code. She slipped inside. Jag stood up from one of the chairs off to the side of the room as she entered.
"What is it?" he asked without preamble. When she called him to tell him she was on her way over, she hadn't gone into much detail. It had been clear by her tone, however, that something was bothering her.
"Do you remember that Tarc kid on Borelais?" she asked as he wrapped his arms around her.
He paused in thought before he answered, "The boy your parents took with them from Coruscant who looked like-"
"Anakin," she confirmed. She blew out a breath, and then said, "He's my designated observer."
Jag stiffened; Jaina didn't need the Force sense his anger. He stepped slightly away from her and asked, "Is he here?"
"I left him outside of the embassy."
She took his hand and led him to the couch that sat adjacent to the chair. She pulled him to sit next to her. He didn't speak. Aside from anger, Jaina had a feeling he was not only thinking about her well-being, but also if the situation was reversed it were one of his deceased siblings following him around. He stared down at her hand, running his thumb over her palm.
When Jag finally spoke, he had a slight mischievous gleam in his eye, "I suppose his presence guarantees we won't be leaving."
Jaina shot him a wry look. Between the insults thrown her way and now this, any desire either one had had to go out in public had been severely dampened. As annoying as the comments were, Jaina was able to ignore them, for the most part. Jag's reaction was much stronger, as one would expect it to be.
"And he has to wait for you," Jag stated.
"Mhm," she nodded, not that she needed to. He already knew about the observers.
"Another reason for you stay here tonight," he commented. He tilted her chin up to face him and asked with concern, "Are you okay?"
Jaina nodded. She certainly wasn't happy about Dab, and was determined to put a stop to his presence. As she had told Hamner, she was going to contact someone in Daala's office about it. There was nothing she could do about it now, however, and she wasn't about to let it spoil her evening. She and Jag both has the evening free, something neither were going to waste.
She placed her hand on the back of his head and pulled him down to kiss him. He wound his arms around her and pulled her on top of him, Dab completely forgotten.