DonoSlane Excursions – Revenge with Style

Dramatis Personae:

Kirney Slane Donos (human female from Coruscant)
Myn Donos (human male from Corellia)
Alina Donos (human female from Corellia – OC – their daughter)
Selan Donos jr. (human male from Corellia – OC – their son)
Selan Donos sr. (human male from Corellia – OC – Myn's father)
Jaleela Donos (human female from Corellia – OC – Myn's mother)

Timeframe: ~ 32 ABY - two weeks after "Coming Clean"
World: Legends (possibly AU)

Author's Note: This story deals with a topic all too many of us are all too familiar with - harassment/bullying. But sometimes the tables get turned … *evilgrin*

Coronet City – Tekahel District
House of the Donos Family
7:35 p.m. Corellian Time

Kirney was sitting on the couch next to her father-in-law, the two of them watching the simulcast of the galactic smashball quarterfinal match between the teams of Mirial and Ord Mantell.

Selan looked faintly irritated when the players in yellow ignored an obvious opening in the defensive line of their opponents and opted for passing the ball among themselves. "And these idiots beat the Chieftains to advance to the quarterfinals?"

That drew a smirk. "I told you they are totally dependent on Marvus as a center," she retorted. "With him out due to his three match ban their offensive play has lost any semblance of structure."

He glared. "You do know that analytical streak of yours is pretty annoying at times, don't you?"

Kirney grinned. "I know." Right then the front door was smashed open and then slammed shut again. She exchanged a glance with Selan and arched an eyebrow.

"I'm going to ream her a new one," the unmistakable growl of her daughter Alina drifted over from the anteroom. "That bicce is so dead. When I'm through with her she's going to wish her parents had decided to abort her sorry existence before she was even born."

Selan senior winced. "Looks like someone has displeased that granddaughter of mine."

"Displeased is not the term I'd have used," she disagreed and heaved a sigh. "Alina," she called out loud, "come to the living room, please."

A few seconds later 17-year-old Alina Donos marched into the room dressed in her habitual black pants and the dark motto shirt of her favorite Heavy Isotope band, her black hair tied back into a ponytail except for the single swaying curl she had dyed blue, her eyes full of barely suppressed fury. The effect was truly frightening, especially when she barked, "What?"

Kirney didn't even flinch. "What is it this time?"

Her daughter sighed - even though that sounded more like the warning hiss of a poisonous reptile - and flung herself into a nearby armchair. "You remember that stupid ex-boyfriend of mine?"

Selan groaned. "Don't tell me that idiot wants you back!"

Alina glared at her grandfather. "I'd rather dunk myself into a barrel of boiling shrimp oil than letting that Slizhak get anywhere near me again, thank you very milking much." She shook her head, disgust obvious on her face. "No, he doesn't want me back. He and his friends have gone out of their way to rub the split in my face. I thought he was pissed that I got over him so quickly, but today I found out that he's being manipulated by that new girlfriend of his."

Kirney frowned. "Huh? I can't follow you here."

"Denellia Picus," Alina spat, "the epitome of a shallow, self-centered and brain-dead dumb cheerleader blond if there ever was one. Turns out that vacuum-sucking bicce decided to make me her personal enemy and stole my ex only to hurt me!"

Her grandfather frowned. "What kind of sorry creature is that one? And why did she choose you as her personal foe?"

"I have no idea," Alina huffed. "Maybe because I don't adore her like so many of the other stupid girls in my class just because she's Head Cheerleader for our smashball team." She rolled her eyes. "Or maybe because I don't engage in that brainless gibberish about oh-so-cutesy holostars, fashion and the school's relationship rumor mill."

Kirney groaned, her face buried in her hands. "Tell me you're joking."

Alina snorted. "Unfortunately not."

"How did you find out?" her grandfather asked.

Another snort. "I overheard some other girls talking in the women's refresher. They had no idea I was there, so they were quite generous with providing details I really didn't want to know."

Selan arched an eyebrow. "Such as?"

"Apparently this has been going for quite a while already," his granddaughter said with a sigh. "I know I'm not everybody's darling at school ..." She looked up, her gaze showing a shadow of pain. "But I never had any idea that some despise me just because I don't play their petty games."

Kirney regarded her daughter sympathetically. "Outsiders are often targets for sniping from within a group," she said gently. "And it doesn't matter what real or perceived difference there is, some people will form alliances simply by designating those without and turning their environment against them."

Alina looked at her curiously. "I never knew you were a shrink."

That drew a chuckle. "I'm not. But psychology was a big part of my Intelligence training." Her smile died. "And I've been that outsider ... because of what happened to my parents. I was the child of traitors and therefore an easy target."

"Oh."

Kirney waved her daughter's concerns away. "It's okay. I didn't let them get to me then, I won't now."

"Good philosophy," her father-in-law remarked, "but that is easier said than done, isn't it?"

Something in his voice gave Alina pause. "Do you speak from own experience, Grandpa?"

Selan shook his head. "Not directly. But when I was a cadet at the Corellian Armed Forces Academy a group of rich kids decided to bully a student because he came from a poor family and had earned his stay at the Academy through good marks and a scholarship. They kept harassing him for months until one morning they found him hanging from a noose in the communal lavatory."

Alina and her mother cringed both at that revelation. Selan senior, his eyes glassy and his gaze turned back to a distant past, didn't notice.

"After that the Academy initiated a very thorough investigation," he continued his tale. "The perpetrators were caught, publicly demoted and dishonorably discharged and the entire class, all of whom had known about the bullying but hadn't reported it, were set back for a year and banned from the next round of promotions that were due."

"You, too?" Kirney asked, but her father-in-law shook his head.

"No, I was a year behind them, but the Commander of the Academy had all classes assemble on the parade square and made clear that harassment and bullying would not be tolerated and those who knew about such practices without reporting them would be considered to be complicit in the act." He shook his head and his gaze returned to the here and now. "The entire affair caused quite a stir, some of the kids who drove that student to commit suicide were children of well-known and important families on Corellia, so the press did have a field day with this. As far as I remember one of them was even disowned by his family and cast out."

That drew a snort from Alina. "Served them right. I even think they got off lightly."

"Well, yes …" Kirney regarded her daughter curiously. "So what are you going to do about your problem?"

"I don't know," Alina ground out and threw up her arms in exasperation. "Part of me wants to pummel that stupid bicce until she stops squeaking, but …"

"… that would merely provide the 'bicce' with just the kind of feedback she's seeking, wouldn't it?" her grandfather finished for her.

"You think so?" Alina's skepticism was etched on her features.

Her mother nodded. "He's right, you know? The more you react, the more you fight back the more they will think that their actions manage to get to you and hurt you. And that means they would simply go on playing their stupid little game with you."

The raven-haired girl let out a growl of frustration and buried her face in her palms. "What would you do in my place?"

Kirney smiled. "Normally I'd prescribe a tactic of complete and utter non-reaction. If you don't give them any feedback whatsoever they'll tire of their scheme." Her smile faded away. "With you, however …"

Alina looked up. "What? You don't think I could pull this off?"

Both her mother and her grandfather merely raised an eyebrow at her.

The hurt in Alina's voice was impossible to miss. "You don't think I have that kind of patience."

Kirney stood up and drew her daughter into an embrace. Alina leaned into it, trying to draw comfort from her mother who went on in what she hoped to be a soothing tone. "Honey, ask yourself if you could really avoid any reaction whatsoever, day after day, week after week, month after month. Believe me when I say that they will up their provocations again and again, trying to get a rise out of you, trying to make you snap."

The girl looked up at her mother in astonishment. "Months?" she croaked.

Kirney nodded. "In my case they tried to get a rise out of me for almost a year, more than eleven months. Only then they gave up in frustration."

Alina groaned and buried her face in her mother's shoulder. "This is not what I wanted to hear."

Kirney laughed silently, stroking her distraught daughter's hair in a gesture of comfort. "I know it's not, but it's the truth. Such was my life for almost a year … And believe me: it was anything but easy. There were times when I was half a micron away from clawing out someone's eyes."

Her daughter sighed. "You're right. I couldn't keep this up for months."

"Alternative tactics." The two women looked at each other curiously, then turned to look at Selan senior who was still seated on the couch. And again his eyes were unfocused, as if he was lost in a memory, but this time he was scratching the small scar on his chin as he always did when he was engaged in heavy thinking. Suddenly his gaze cleared. "You know what demoralizes like nothing else? When your opponent is beating you in areas where you consider yourself so strong that you're virtually invulnerable."

Kirney raised a dubious eyebrow. "You think we should play their game? Harass them back?"

"No." Her father-in-law shook his head adamantly. "That's not what I was thinking of. For starters we shouldn't stoop so low as to descend to their level. That's beneath us. And secondly I think that wouldn't make anything better in this case. Remember – they have numbers, resources and networks on their side. We don't."

"So … " Alina frowned in obvious confusion. "So what exactly am I supposed to do? How can I 'beat them at their own game without playing it'?" She shook her head. "That is a contradiction in itself."

"Not necessarily," her mother disagreed, the flicker in her eyes giving away that she was thinking heavily. "Not necessarily at all."

Selan was watching her curiously. "What do you have in mind?"

Looking at her daughter Kirney let a smirk appear on her face. "Honey, are those girls who are giving you a hard time as superficial and competitive as I remember those of my class when I was your age?"

Alina looked at her mother with undisguised suspicion. "What exactly are you getting at?"

The smirk on her mother's face became wider. "I was wondering if they were all competing for the title of 'Queen of the Ball'," she explained, gesturing at the calendar on the wall where the date of the annual End-of-the-Year School Ball was marked in red.

That drew a snort. "Sure they are. The head bicce is favored to win it for the third time in a row." Suddenly Alina's eyes widened and she raised her hands in a defensive gesture. "No. No! Under no circumstances. Absolutely not!"

Her grandfather was casting confused looks at the two women in the room before finally demanding an explanation. "Care to tell me what exactly you two are talking about?"

"I will absolutely not participate in this ridiculous contest just to get back at Denellia. You hear me, Mom?"

"Keep your hair on, honey," Kirney responded with a chuckle. "I was not thinking about that." She shook her head. "I mean, if you were to do that you'd be playing their game, you'd compete with them. It would also provide the kind of feedback they are looking for, wouldn't it?"

Indignation was replaced by utter confusion as Alina's expression changed. "Then what are you talking about?"

"Well, tell me if this makes sense to you. Imagine it's the evening of the annual end-of-the-year ball and all those girls taking part in the contest have invested considerable time and effort into preparing for that evening. You know – a dress, hairstyling, makeup." She looked at her daughter expectantly. When the girl nodded, incomprehension still etched on her features, she went on. "Now imagine that suddenly another young woman appears, a very pretty woman who doesn't participate in the contest but yet steals from the contestants what they desire most: the attention and admiration of all those present, especially of the boys. Can you guess what that would mean for such attention-addicts?"

Her daughter frowned. "I imagine they would … Oh!" Her eyes widened again. "You mean …?"

Selan let out a chuckle as he caught what Kirney was hinting at. "They would turn green with envy, start pulling out their hair, scream in impotent rage … and that title would be meaningless. It would be a hollow victory."

"Exactly." Kirney's smile became malicious. "And if the 'head bicce' were to try and turn the opinion of the class against this young woman in an act of revenge she would simply reveal herself as the sore loser and manipulative witch that she is."

Alina nodded but didn't smile. Instead she moved to the window, threw her arms around herself and stared out at the city's skyline for a moment. When she turned back to look at her mother and grandfather insecurity was written across her face for all to see. "You think I could do that?" she asked in subdued tones.

Selan rose, put his hands on his granddaughter's shoulders and waited for her to meet his eyes. "You don't think you're a beautiful young woman?"

Her gaze dropped from his. "I don't know," she admitted quietly. "I don't think I could compete with Denellia."

That drew a chuckle and she looked up in surprise. "You may not be thinking that," Selan said quietly, "but I do see a very beautiful young woman here. And don't say that I'm biased, I know I am biased in your favor. You're my granddaughter, after all." He grinned at her and was heartened to see her smile. "Beauty, my child, is always in the eyes of the beholder. What one considers beautiful another may not and vice versa. Besides …"

Alina arched an eyebrow. "Besides what?"

He chuckled again. "You're like your grandmother in this respect. She also never liked to 'doll up' as she calls it. You know, that hairstyling and makeup marathon so many other women went through for every possible happening. She's a natural beauty and never tried to hide that under layers of makeup, mascara and lipstick." His smile turned wistful and his gaze turned glassy. "Except for this one day … our wedding day. There she went the whole distance of a hairstyling and makeup marathon and ever since I've known that I married one of those mythical angels supposedly living on the moons of Iego."

Gazing at her grandfather in wide-eyed surprise and awed by the reverence she could hear in his voice and see in his face Alina felt her smile widen. "Wow."

Selan's grin morphed into something mischievous. "So, yes – I am absolutely convinced that, if you really want to do this and we pull out all the stops, then you, my dear granddaughter, can and will blow all those male attendants out of their suits, socks and boots."

Feeling her cheeks redden Alina gave a sigh of mock resignation and hoped her grandfather wouldn't notice her momentary unease. "And what would 'pulling all the stops' entail?"

Her mother smirked at her. "Well, it's pretty simple. First we would have to get a dress for you. Not just any dress, mind you. No, I'm talking about the dress."

"And we will find that where exactly?" the teen asked, her mind sifting through her shopping experiences in various Corellian malls.

"Not off the rack," her mother returned casually, tapping her chin as if she was contemplating possible sources. "I think we should seek some professional help for this. How do you feel about going to Crevon's on Coruscant?"

Alina's stomach flipped, crashed to the floor and bounced. Crevon's was one of the most exclusive fashion temples of the galaxy, its creations constantly on the covers of various holozines and the list of female holostars being regular customers was longer than the New Republic's Senate membership list. "Mom," she gasped. "Don't joke on this, please. We could never …"

Kirney held up a hand to interrupt her. "I was totally serious about that."

"We can't afford that."

"Don't worry about it. I've known some of their lead designers for years. Some of them still owe me a favor or two." She shrugged. "Besides, it's only money. The happiness of my child is invaluable."

Alina was beginning to feel lightheaded as events began to spin out of her control. "And what else?"

"That's easy – hairstyling and makeup. And again I'd say we should hire professionals for that."

Selan gave a snort of amusement. "Let me guess – you happen to know some of those and they also happen to owe you a favor or two. Right?"

"Of course." Kirney grinned at him before becoming somewhat serious again. "But there is one last item on that list and that is probably the most difficult one."

Her daughter felt the tiny hairs on the back of her neck raise. "Why do I get the feeling that I should escape to my room right about now?"

Her mother chuckled at that. "It's nothing nefarious or embarrassing, don't worry. It's just that, to achieve the desired effect and outcome, you will have to adopt a certain behavior throughout the evening. I mean, it wouldn't do for your to stumble through the evening and turn scarlet at every admiring glance you receive from your male classmates, would it?"

"No, not really. So what exactly are you getting at, Mom?"

Kirney laughed, threw an arm around her daughter's shoulder and gave her an affectionate squeeze. "Just a little bit of coaching. Don't worry, it's nothing too difficult and I'll show you what I mean. And we will start with something very simple … Unless you decide that's all over the top. I don't want to pressure you into anything, honey."

Alina remained contemplative for a few seconds, then she straightened and looked at her mother, her eyes blazing with newfound resolve. "That bicce has had it coming for a long, long time and I do want to be the one to administer that lesson. What do we start with?"

"Walking in high heels," her mother answered with a smile of patently false innocence.

Alina blanched, Selan choked back a laugh and Kirney allowed herself a triumphant smirk.