Coruscant I: Transition

Shuttle to Coruscant from Ord Mantell

Captain Tannith Tainn was exhausted, but sleep refused to come.

Eyes closed, she leaned her head against the bulkhead and tried not to inhale. It wasn't just that the crowded shuttle smelled unpleasant – though it most certainly did – it was that it smelled different from her beloved Lucky Strike. There was no acrid tang of coolant from that hyperdrive leak she could never quite find; there was no trace of smoke from her favored brand of Corellian cigarras that she indulged in upon occasion; there was no rich dark scent of Kor Vella caf, brewed to perfection and piping hot.

There was only the body-odor from half a dozen species, some kind of overripe fruit smell that she didn't want to mull over, and the stink of standard, low-grade industrial caf that seemed to be everywhere.

She'd grown so accustomed to the Strike's scents that not smelling them only served to remind her just how much she'd lost, and it wasn't just the material things that she used on a daily basis. Tannith knew she could buy new clothes, food, and medical supplies. The loss of those items hurt, but it was a pain she could cope with.

Her ship, though, had been everything. Home. Safety. Freedom.

All of it gone.

For the umpteenth time since the job had turned sour something hard formed in her throat, so she pushed it down and tried to rein in her emotions. Sorrow was pointless; sorrow would do nothing but slow her down. Anger was more constructive. Anger would help her focus, keep her sharp and strong enough to get her shipback. With any luck, once her ship was hers again she'd have no more cause for sorrow and everything could go back to normal.

But she was too tired even for anger. Instead, knowing she'd regret it, Tannith inhaled deeply, trying to sink into that place of cool calm that would allow her to play her role and do what was necessary to get her ship back. The scent of body-odor made her nose wrinkle but she pushed past her reaction and focused, breathed.

Slowly, she felt herself relaxing. Beneath her head she could feel the faint vibration from the hyperdrive, and the steady hum was something of a comfort. She was in the stars, at least. She was on the move. That was always a good feeling.

Another breath. The scents were less bothersome now, especially as she turned her concentration away from within and focused it outward, to those around her. At least the shuttle was only crowded and not completely packed. Two Bothans were chatting to her right, perhaps three meters away, and she knew enough of their language to catch that they were debating politics. Sitting between herself and them, she heard a Twi'lek speaking in a singsong lilt, likely to a child, as he seemed to be reciting a nursery rhyme.

Tannith felt herself relax a little more. Just a little, though. She knew she wouldn't be able to sleep for a while, perhaps not even until she had the Lucky Strike back. Though of course it hadn't always been this way, lately it'd become next to impossible to sleep anywhere but on her beloved ship, no matter how tired she was. It didn't matter that she'd not slept more than a few minutes at a time since that slimy mudcrutch Skavak had stolen-

Think about something else, she chided herself, squeezing her eyes shut to mitigate pricking burn that had begun to form behind them. Anything else.

The Force must have been with her, for in that moment a throat cleared above her head. When she looked up, Corso was holding out a cup of steaming caf and a protein bar. "Here, Captain; you looked like you could use a pick-me-up."

"Thanks, Corso," she said, accepting the cup and the bar, setting the latter on her lap while she sipped the former. It was watery and not nearly hot enough, but it left a pleasant trickle of heat down her throat and into her belly, and despite the taste she felt a little better.

Seeming satisfied, Corso took the seat beside her and thumbed towards the front of the vessel, where the pilot-droid was located. "I heard someone say that all shuttles going to Corrie are delayed, so we might be stuck here longer than we planned." He offered her a somewhat apologetic smile. "Sorry to be the bearer of bad news."

Fragging fantastic. Tannith tried to force away her annoyance, but failed. It shouldn't have been this way. She hated having to rely on public transportation so she couldn't help but glare at the caf. When she spoke, she knew her voice was dark. "Of course the shuttle is delayed. Not like we have anything better to do than sit in hyperspace and wait for the traffic-controllers to finish their sabacc games."

Corso was silent for a moment, seeming to study the other passengers, and she found herself wondering what he was thinking. Everything had happened so quickly on Ord Mantell, but already she felt as if she could maybe grow to like his steady presence at her side. He was a skilled fighter and seemed to be a decent sort of man – and he was, she had to admit, nice to look at. More than nice, actually. Warm brown eyes, dark hair, lips that looked soft despite the rugged appearance that his scars gave...

Stop that, she told herself, turning her attention back to the drink in her hand. You barely know the guy. No matter what else he says, he's probably here just to get his darling blaster back. Once he has what he wants, he'll leave.

They didn't know each other that well at all, and though she detected no trace of dishonesty within him, she'd seen enough of the galaxy to know that it was dangerous to let someone else get too close. Besides, she'd learned a while ago that she was better off on her own because she was one of those people who was apparently ill-suited to the company of others.

Beside her, Corso shifted into his seat and gave a single, determined nod. "We'll find your ship, Captain. Skavak may have a head-start, but we'll catch him soon."

In a direct contrast to the caf, his optimism was refreshing, even if she didn't feel the same way. In any case, Tannith was too tired to voice any disagreement, so she only nodded and blew over the rim of her cup out of habit. A few minutes later, Corso's throat cleared again and she glanced his way, brow lifted in a silent query.

"You should eat something," he said, indicating the protein bar. "Maybe try to get some shut-eye. I'll keep a look out."

"I thought I was the one in charge?" Whatever kind of alliance that had formed between them was new and by necessity, but she couldn't help her teasing nature. He hadn't run, so far. Maybe she could push her luck a little bit.

The corner of his lips twitched in a smile even as he ducked his head in acknowledgment. "Fair enough. But in my defense, you looked like you were about to keel over a second ago."

She was tired; that wasn't the issue. The issue was that she knew there was no way in the nine Corellian hells she could fall asleep right now, maybe ever again. Letting her guard down was, as she'd so recently seen – again – an abysmally stupid thing to do, but it was apparently a lesson she still needed to learn.

The flare of levity she'd felt faded, and she sipped her caf again, more to give herself something to do than because she liked the taste of it. "Looks can be deceiving."

"Sometimes," he agreed, stretching his boots out a little and resting his hands in his lap. "But sometimes things are exactly what they seem."

The words struck a little too close to that guarded place where her heart was, so she did what she always did and tried to change the subject. "What about you? Aren't you hungry?"

His eyes slanted in her direction; she thought he seemed a little pleased that she'd asked about him. "Don't worry about me, Captain. I'm good."

"You ate something?"

"Yes, ma'am."

Tannith wrinkled her nose as she braced the caf cup between her knees and began to peel away the wrapper from the protein bar. "For Force's sake, Corso, we're the same age. It's bad enough you won't call me by my name...don't 'ma'am' me, okay?"

The grin he gave her was courteous but somehow completely disarming, just like the subtle twang of his accent. "Anything you want, Captain."

She blamed the faint bloom of heat in her cheeks to her tiredness, and didn't reply as she busied herself with eating the bar while he sat quietly at her side. It wasn't a filling meal, but she did feel a little better once she had something on her stomach.

She'd barely finished the bar when Corso offered to discard the wrapper, and as he threaded his way through the shuttle to the disposal unit at the other side she tried not to think that the place beside her felt empty. Silly. That was a silly thing to think, on top of everything else already on her mind.

Sighing, Tannith sipped her caf again and leaned her head back against the bulkhead, thinking to at least close her eyes for a few minutes. Her lids actually felt a little droopy, and she wondered if she'd be able to drop off, after all.

When he sat back down, it was not the light jostle of the seat that made her eyes open but the sudden reappearance of the warm, solid presence that she'd found herself growing accustomed to. Blinking, Tannith glanced around the shuttle in sleepy surprise, instinctively assessing the area for danger, then looked at her traveling companion.

"Sorry 'bout that, Captain," he said with a sigh. "I tried not to wake you."

"You didn't." She swirled the last of the caf in her cup but did not drink. Damn, her entire body felt heavy, weighed down with exhaustion, but she didn't think she could rest like she needed to. "I wasn't sleeping."

There were a few beats of silence before Corso spoke again. When he did, the pitch of his voice had dropped to a quieter register. "I meant what I said before, about keepin' an eye on things. I'm not goin' anywhere."

The words themselves were casual, but the meaning behind them resonated. It was not a plea for her to let her guard down, which would have instantly set her on high alert. It was not a request for her trust, or even her affection, though Force knew most other men would have asked both of her by now. Neither one would she give easily; perhaps he understood that on some level.

Throughout the chaos of the last few days, Corso had remained at her side while also somehow keeping enough distance to make her feel like she could breathe. I'm not goin' anywhere. Tannith turned the words over in her mind. He had stayed with her so far. He had asked for nothing and given everything, and a very, very tiny part of her heart whispered that it was a pattern that would continue.

Some of the tension in her shoulders eased and she sank into her seat a little more. After all, she was a light sleeper and she had every confidence that if anything did go wrong, she'd be awake in an instant.

And she was so tired.

Tannith inhaled again, but this time the smells of the shuttle were less obtrusive because they were overlaid with the smell of nerf-leather and blaster-polish that clung to Corso like a second skin. It was not, she realized, an unpleasant smell. New, but...nice. Though we both need a shower.

She did not reply to him, but when her eyes closed again she realized with some surprise that sleep was indeed approaching, and she decided to welcome it. Maybe it would be brief, maybe it would only help a little, but she would take what she could get.

Her head was heavy, her hands loose and relaxed, and she felt the caf cup being gently lifted out of her fingers; she idly thought he'd had to shift closer to do so, for she was suddenly very aware of his shoulder and how close it was to her cheek.

Just a few centimeters away, really. Hardly anything. All of the distance was within, anyway. He was closer than she liked people to be, but it'd happened so naturally she hadn't thought to be alarmed. Rather, Tannith felt her body sink into sleep a bit more, felt her cheek rest against his shoulder, which tensed slightly, then immediately relaxed.

Her final thought was that it was a warm shoulder and she could do a lot worse right now than fall asleep upon it.

A/N: I'm always hesitant to write dialect and tend to believe that "less is more" in that instance. I did my best to capture Corso's distinctive Southern accent without going overboard, but I'd love to hear your thoughts. :)

Thanks for reading! Next time: Arrival on Corrie and one of my favorite cut-scenes from the game.