Hot on my Heels
Author: Rochelle B
Fandom: SWtOR
Characters: Various from the smuggler, trooper, and Jedi Consular story quests.
Pairings: Fem!Smuggler/Corso Riggs, Fem!Trooper/Elara Dorne. Male!Consular/The Jedi Code
Notes: Just my take on 3 characters as they move through their storylines.
Warnings: Language, Racism, mentions of past slavery/abuse, lesbianism, and a handful of deeply dysfunctional people.
Summery: Tial Chraya is a lot of things: Loud, a crackshot, smart mouthed, and full of attitude. But now, shipless and reunited with the siblings she likes to pretend don't exist, she's forced to reevaluate her life.
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Chapter Four
I Won't Cage It
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Tial glared at the control panel then looked down at blaster on her hip. Back at the panel. Blaster. Panel. Blaster-
"Don't." She narrowed her eyes at Corso who didn't even both looking at her. "If you shoot it it'll just alert who ever is inside that we're coming. No point in stealth generators if you're going to announce you're at their front door."
Screw him for having a good point. "Fine. What do you think we should do?"
Corso shrugged. "Find someone with an access card and liberate it from him."
Tial wanted to argue since she knew shooting the control panel would be way more satisfying, but she couldn't deny his idea was solid. Besides, while they looked around for someone who had a 'I'm important enough to have a passkey' look to them they could stop in at the club and see about Ria. The club was on the level above them, which was lucky indeed. She could hear the music coming from inside as well as the patrons who seemed to have little concern about the fact they were at some sleazy club in the middle of the day.
They walked up the ramp leading to the next area, doing their best to look like they belonged there and weren't on a rescue mission. They passed through the small front hallway, careful to not make eye contract with the Trandoshan bouncers standing on either side of the plush blue carpet, into the front room. The walls were lined with couches and, other than the pole in the middle of the room and women in dancer's costumes, there wasn't anything overly sleazy about it.
She knew better than to fall for that though, the further back you went the less 'classy' these places tended to get.
There was a blue skinned Twi'lek swinging around the pole and, seeing that she was the only girl in the front room not chatting up a costumer Tial made a beeline for her.
"Hey honey." Something grabbed her wrist and she pulled back hard while turning to face the source of the voice. Her hand clenched into a fist unconsciously, glaring down at the human who'd touched her. He was an ugly overweight thing, in a suit that screamed both 'expensive' and 'tacky'. If he noticed that he'd pissed her off (And Corso as well, if the way her companion was glaring at the man was any indication) he didn't show it.
"How much for a dance?"
Tial blinked slowly then looked down at herself, momentarily confused. She was wearing a long sleeved white shirt under a black vest with black pants and desh-toed boots, her dark red hair was pulled back into a braid that hit her between the shoulder blades and she'd forgone makeup for this little trip. She didn't look anything like a dancer, in her opinion. She looked over her shoulder at Corso who just shrugged and then back at the man, who was leering at her.
"More than you can afford."
The man scoffed. "I'm a Guild Underboss sweetie, I can afford anything I want, including you." His eyes narrowed dangerously as he said the last part, a clear threat, but Tial was focused on his first comment. She put a finger to her lip, pretending to consider his words while, in fact, celebrating her luck. She smiled slowly, allowing herself to be pulled closer and perched on the man's knee.
He reeked of cologne, so much so that her eyes watered. Still she kept her smile in place, willing herself to not heave. "Perhaps we can work something out after all. Not here, of course. You seem like you could afford a private dance."
He smiled, clearly pleased with his victory and the shift in her attitude. She could all but read his mind; he figured that flashing his rank and the promise of credits had changed her tune, as it probably did with most women he met. And, Tial was willing to bet credits on this part, those who didn't fall in line where forced to do so.
"Of course beautiful. I've never had one of your kind before." He touched rough fingertips to the tattoos beneath her left eye. "Is it true that you all get tattooed all over?"
"You'll just have to wait to find out." She felt the bile rising in the back of her throat but wasn't sure what was more disgusting; his smell or the way he was reducing her people's rituals to something to get hm off. "I'm sure you've got a real nice place close by. Maybe...I could send my associate ahead with you, to make sure everything is ready for me, while I change."
The man looked over at Corso, who was keeping his face totally blank. The thug turned his attention back to her and Corso's expression became just slightly murderous. "This your muscle? Doesn't look like much. What's a pretty girl like you need muscle for anyway?"
Tial giggled, mind racing for a moment. "Oh you know. A girl can never be too careful. People are always looking to take advantaged of my...kindness."
He nodded, accepting that. He pushed her back to her feet, hands lingering on her backside far longer that needed, then gestured to Corso. "I've got apartments two blocks over. Your man can check them out then holo for you."
"Sounds great." Tial was all smiles, but more because she was thinking about the long bath she'd be taking to wash away the fat oaf's touch. She leaned towards Corso, talking softly around her pasted on smile. "I need a shower."
Corso's lips twitched into what may have been a smile. "I'll break his fingers for you."
He really said the sweetest things. In spite of what an utter embarrassing disaster the previous evening had been she found she couldn't really be mad at the human. He'd been doing what he thought was right (and may have even been right) and Tial had been letting her hormones get the better of her.
Between all the fighting they'd done on Ord, the fighting they'd done getting to Coruscant, and the crap with Skavak she was amped up and thoroughly on edge. That combined with the fact that the life of a smuggler trying to make a name for themselves didn't leave much time for relationships had left her wanting and she'd clearly overstepped her bounds. She'd thought Corso was willing but he'd politely turned her down.
Tial could see that it was better that way. Corso Riggs was a good guy, a rare breed really, and she'd learned the hard way that dealing with good guys just got complicated and messy.
Now, Darmas Pollaran, on the other hand, was right up her alley. He was a little older than she usually went for but then Corso was a little younger and she'd practically thrown herself at him. Guys like Darmas were easy and utterly transparent. They knew what they wanted and weren't afraid to make it known. Darmas spoke fast and said just the right thing, so smooth that Tial could almost believe he was sincere. He was the kind of man who professed love to a dozen girls a month and broke hearts just as often.
He wasn't the sort of man a girl could take home to her mother, since he'd probably try to sleep with her mother, but that was only a problem if you were stupid enough to fall for his charm. Tial wasn't, not at this stage in her life anyway, but she appreciated the sort of man that he was. Easy, fun, and low maintenance. That was what she needed in her life, not cute farm boys who said the wrong thing half the time, stood in front of blaster fire to protect her, and...
Tial sighed, banishing those thoughts. She had a job to do and she needed to get a move on before Corso came back from his little adventure. She walked to the dancer, catching the woman's eyes and nodding slightly.
The dancer smiled at her and hopped down from her place on the pole nimbly. "Hello, how can I help you today? Putting in an application maybe? We haven't had a Mirialan girl in a long time."
Tial shook her head. She didn't see much pole dancing in her future. "No, I'm a friend of Ria.I was hoping to talk to her."
"Oh." The Twi'lek's smile faded slightly. "Well she just got in, not even suited up yet. You want to wait for her to change?"
"I'd rather not, if you don't mind."
"Not a problem." The dancer's smile was back and, without another word, she headed down the hallway that lead deeper into the club.
It didn't take long for Ria to appear. She spotted Tial right away, probably having been informed by the Twi'lek that a Mirialan woman was looking from her, and her eyes turned suspicious. Still she offered her hand and Tial shook it, noting the other woman's strong grip.
"I'm Ria. I was told you were looking for me?" She didn't say the words but the look on her face made it clear she wanted an explanation for why Tial was there, claiming to be a friend.
"Tial." She looked around, making sure no one was in earshot, then dropped her voice to an urgent whisper. "I'm going to get you out of here."
Ria's face went from confused to totally blank. "Why would I want to leave? I love it here."
Tial frowned slightly. "You don't have to lie. I understand how these places can work; they offer to take you on, or force you to dance, then promise to let you go once you've made some arbitrary amount of credit but you never make it and they just hold on to you until they've got no use for you anymore."
Ria stared at her unblinkingly (Nautolans didn't blink, which made talking to them kind of unnerving) and the tendrils on her head moved, shifting like thin snakes. Finally she frowned and reached out to touch Tial's shoulder, pity obvious in her large eyes. Tial felt her face heat up in embarrassment as she realized she may have said a bit much. She had a soft spot for shit like this and had, more than once in her life, gone out of her way to try and help decent people caught in bad situations. She was probably projecting a little bit.
"This isn't some Hutt's club Tial. I'm here because I want to be and that's all there is to it." The Nautolan paused for a moment then sighed. "Nik sent you didn't he? I knew I shouldn't have told him the Guild was forcing me to dance but it was all I could think of. I didn't know how to tell him I was leaving him."
Tial pinched the bridge of her nose and let out a heavy breathe. "You weren't kidnapped."
"No. This is the happiest I've ever been. I feel...amazing. Powerful, even, when I'm on stage." Indeed Ria's eyes brightened in obvious pleasure at the very thought. Tial supposed she could understand that; even at the worst of times knowing you had people hanging onto your every movement was the sort of thing that could go to a girl's head.
"You know what I mean." Ria smiled as if they were sharing some kind of secret. Tial nodded, a strange tendril of shame worming its way into her stomach. She knew. "So you won't try to make me leave."
"As long as you're sure this is what you want." Who was she to force someone to return to an unhappy marriage? Tial hated places like this, or at least the sleazy ones that held their dancers captive and slapped slave collars on those who forced to comply, but she wasn't one to let her hatred totally blind her. "You should tell Nik the truth Ria. At least to stop him from hiring someone else to come after you."
Though, really, she'd volunteered her services after overhearing the conversation. That wasn't really the point...was it? No. The guy still deserved to know the truth, even if it hurt.
"I'll...I'll talk to him." Ria agreed haltingly. Tial could see the lie all over her face. She didn't call her out on it, instead just giving the other woman her holo frequency and making her swear to call if she needed anything at all, ever. Ria agreed then hugged her, seemingly uncaring that Tail went stiff as a board instantly, then ran back to get ready for her 'show'.
Tial rubbed at the bridge of her nose again, a nervous gesture she'd picked up from Tymar when they were young. She was an idiot. Worse than an idiot, she was a sucker! She had too much of a soft spot for hard luck cases and, at this point, had given her holo to no less than twenty dancers, a handful of prostitutes, and a few of those separatist kids.
At the rate she was going she might as well have just started a hotline or a charity.
"That was nice of you Captain."
Tial jumped, yelping, at the familiar voice in her ear. She turned, hand instinctively going for her blaster, and swore at Corso. "A little warning next time Riggs! I swear..."
He just laughed while making a gesture with his hand, indicating that they should head for the entrance. She grumbled under her breath but followed nonetheless. Her little outburst had caused a few heads to swivel in their direction and it wouldn't be a good idea to start drawing attention now.
It wasn't until they were outside that Corso's words registered in her head. She frowned suspiciously; how much had he heard anyway? He didn't seem inclined to say anymore so, rather than charge headfirst into yet another uncomfortable moment, Tial resolved to put it out of her mind and forget all about it. They walked back to the lower level, once again doing their best to look inconspicuous.
They'd crept past the worst of the fighting, thanks in no small part to the stealth generators. She couldn't imagine why she hadn't been using one of them before; it was great. According to Darmas, the member of the Guild gang often shot those they couldn't readily identify and while she didn't have a problem fighting most of the time, today she was focused on the task at hand. With the promise of getting closer to Skavak and her ship being dangled in front of her she couldn't allow gang disputes to slow her down.
They stood in front of the control panel once again, this time however Corso produced a data card from one of his pockets. He considered it for a moment then smiled. "It sure was nice of that Guild guy to let us have this, don'tcha think?"
Tial snorted. "I'm sure he just couldn't resist your charm."
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