The hangar was blissfully quiet as Rielay moved around the remaining cargo that had yet to be loaded back onto her ship. It was just her and the boxes, the soft inhale and exhale of her breath on top of her footsteps the only noises alongside the power systems of the spaceport. Her tears had dried, leaving her cheeks and eyes red; the panicked horror she had felt faded to a hollow nothing. Hugo was gone, she was alone and had no out. It weighed heavy on both her mind and heart.

The hiss of the turbo lift shattered her mind numbing routine, immediately snapping her to high alert. She pressed her back to the crates she had been taking inventory of, thanking the stars that the stack was tall enough to hide her. Her hand drifted down to the blaster at her hip, closing around the grip and resting lightly on the trigger. As the footsteps padded closer she held her breath.

"Perfect flying condition?" A voice muttered as the footsteps stopped. "Bullshit."

She let out her breath in a huff, whoever this was had nerve. Rielay glanced over at the Promise; if this was where she was going to die, she might as well do it with at least her ship's dignity still intact,and slid out from behind the boxes. "Talking shit about my ship, stranger?"

Her blaster was pointed at the stranger's chest, prepared to be met with the brawn of a bounty hunter. But, she blinked and let her blaster drop down to her side, there was only a lanky young man stuffing a datapad back in his jacket.

At her voice he started, looking around wildly and taking hurried steps back towards the door until his eyes caught on her as she stalked closer.

Oh stars. She scowled, the young man towered over her by at least a head and she had to turn her chin up just to glare at the surprise and very faint amusement playing across his face. She should have stayed behind the crates, at least then she'd still have the idea of being threatening. At least, it it came down to a fight, he was more than likely going to judge her skills on her height. He'd have to learn the hard way that that wasn't anywhere near the truth.

Whoever this was though, definitely was not a bounty hunter. Not like any other bounty hunter she'd come into contact with. Compared to the types like Nalan he was a kitten, visibly unarmed and dressed in the light clothes of a civ. He looked as though he'd never left the upper levels. "Did ya get lost or something?"

The kid ran a hand through his hair, digging around in his pocket for something when she crossed her arms and continued to stare at him with a deep rooted suspicion. "No, but are you Captain Taqq?"

"I might be." She hedged, snatching the piece of flimsi he held out and quirking an eyebrow when he swore, shaking out his hand. There were scrawled numbers across it, the access code to the hangar. In her own handwriting. That had only been given to one person other than Hugo, and the young man in front of her definitely wasn't Chridan Deryn. A quick shot of panic iced her veins and she cast her eyes around, scanning for any unfamiliar shadows, any rifles that could be trained on her, any sign that Chixi's hunters had finally caught up to her. "Where'd you get this from?"

He opened his mouth to answer, but not fast enough. There was too high a chance he was a distraction for an ambush, far fetched as it would have seemed a few weeks ago. That chance, that gut feeling, was not something she was going to ignore. Not again. Her blaster was whipped up again to be trained on his chest and he held up his hands, backing away with wide eyes. "Who are you, where did you get this from and what do you want with my ship?"

"Get that thing away from me." The kid had guts, snapping at her like that when she had a firearm within shooting distance. One movement of her finger and he'd drop the ground like a rock, silent as one too. "If you'd listen, captain-"

"I don't want to listen." She brought her other hand up to steady her blaster, it had begun to quake with her hand. "Not if you're some distraction just waiting for me to drop my guard enough to kill me!"

This, finally, gave him pause and she took a breath. Utter bafflement crossed his expression before settling into irritation. Admirable, she thought. She could be about ready to pull the trigger and he had yet to qail. Either he was an idiot or he wasn't a bounty hunter. She wasn't yet ready to choose which.

He blinked at her, scrubbing a hand across his face and narrowing his eyes at her. "Are you…? Bounty...what?" He shook his head and muttered something she couldn't catch. "Look, crazy lady, I'm Emeldir Deryn, my father sent me to look at your ship. For installations, I think."

Oh. Deryn. She looked at him inquisitively, thoughts clearing enough so she could start to see the resemblance. Same red-brown hair, same bright eyes-though narrowed at her in irritation. A small giggle threatened to force its way out and she dropped her blaster back down again, clapping a hand over her mouth. Stars he wasn't…

A snippet of conversation from the Senate Tower flashed to the forefront of her thoughts. The gossip of a group of senators, talking about a young man with an attitude causing chaos in that day's Senate meeting. She had been too preoccupied to focus in on the details but Deryn had definitely come up.

"Emeldir Deryn?" She couldn't keep the laughter out of her voice. "Not the Deryn that had the old senate geezers throwing a fit?" Desperately she tried to reign in her fraying composure, but he looked to uncomfortable now, rubbing a hand across the back of his neck as it turned beet red, creeping into his face. It sent her back into a fit of giggles and she grabbed onto one of the cargo crates, dropping her head down onto her arm. She must look insane to him, but stress was one hell of a drug and of all the kriffing people to work on her ship…

"I'm not a senator." He muttered defensively, pale eyes meeting her own watering ones with such awkwardness and defiance that she had to clamp her hand over her mouth again, shoulders shaking.

"I mean, you aren't the only one that's bad at their job." She offered with a lopsided, half hearted grin. Teasing the son of the person she had thought could do work on her ship wasn't the best idea she had ever had, but he wasn't even meant to be here. And he was so easy to nettle. She straightened, shaking her head and quieting her laughter. Unprofessionalism wouldn't get her anywhere. And it wouldn't do Emeldir Deryn any good either, except maybe make him leave faster. Now that was an idea. There wasn't any more reason to waste the kid's time. "Look, kid, as great as it is to have company you don't need to be here."

"What do you mean? My dad sent me here-"

"Your services aren't needed. She won't be my ship soon enough and I don't have the credits to spend." She motioned towards the hangar door. "So don't let me waste your time."
"Why would you want your ship looked at if you're selling?" He really wouldn't take the hint, would he? She wasn't here to spin him a wild tale about the details of her bad decisions and even worse actions.

"Circumstances change." Rielay said, gesturing towards the door again, more firmly this time. "Now please, leave."

Yet still, he lingered, looking at her ship with a look of deep concentration. His shoulders rose and fell once in a sigh and when he looked back at her he had an eyebrow raised. "I'll assume you ran short on the credits you thought you had?"

Now, now, that tone implied that she hadn't thought this through. And she hadn't, but that was a small details that she could afford to leave out. "Are you implying I'm of the rough and tough smuggling type?" Rielay knew she should be offended and quite probably very worried that he could read her easily after only half a meeting, but she found she could only tilt her head and eye him with incredulity. He looked at her with his other eyebrow creeping up, thoroughly unimpressed.

"Captain Taqq, do you know how many smuggling vessels I've worked on? I know you're not a 'businesswoman'." He made air quotes around the fake title she had given herself. "XS freighters aren't exactly warships or pleasure vessels."

She most certainly should be angry with him. She'd be lying if she didn't have a soft spot for guts and sarcasm and instead she held up a hand, shaking a finger. "That's where you're wrong. I am a businesswoman, just no the legal kind." This banter took the weight off her shoulders, the familiar quips and retorts falling easily to mask her stress and almost hid the looming fate of her and her ship.

The corners of his mouth quirked up in the barest hint of a grin. "In any case, if a businesswoman type like yourself were to, say, need a few jobs I may know where to find some."

Either she was definitely going out of her mind or he was looking just over her shoulder, glancing in her direction as though the words that had come out of his mouth made any sort of sense. Maybe that was even more than the hint of a grin pulling at the corners of his mouth. "You...what?" She held up a hand when his mouth opened. "No, I heard you."

"Then I suggest we take a look at your ship, before it gets too late."

So he was serious. Rielay turned slowly, shaking her head slowly. "I...well, sure." She finally stuttered out, regaining her wits enough to stride ahead of him, spreading her hands out in a grand gesture when she reached the ramp. She wasn't about to shoot a gift Bordok in the mouth. If this kid was serious-and his eyes read serious like a lit up billboard-then she may have some use for him after all. "Well, this is the Promise. She's got to be one of the fastest and most nimble freighters you'll ever see."

She caught his eyes straying to the dents and spray paint and hopped up on the ramp, growling; Even if he would help her, he wasn't about to get away with insulting her ship twice in one sitting. "Hey! Eyes up here kid, it's been a rough trip."

`"I'm sure." Emeldir's eyes scoured the metal one last time before he shook his head. He was unruffled by her sharp tongue now. She glanced at him sideways before stepping into the airlock with the young man close behind. To find someone completely unbothered by her, to even return it in kind was a rare thing. She hadn't expected to find it in the stuffy upper levels of this rock. "Do you fly solo?"

"I had someone. Things didn't work out as planned. Just as the installations on my ship didn't."She looked around, a frown pulling at her mouth and listened for any the familiar sounds of another body moving around her ship, But it was quiet. A small sigh escaped her lips. She was lonely already and it showed, this was information that this kid had no reason to know.

"What do you need to see here kid?"

He rattled off the information like he had done it several times before. The engine room, or wherever the systems in her ship were kept. For wasting his time, at least he was professional about it. His casual offer still caught her off guard, if he could pull through then this could change everything. But if it was just a cruel joke...well, she wasn't sure she'd be able to help it if her blaster accidentally misfired.

Two engines stood still on either side of them when they stepped inside the engine room, controlled by a panel in the middle. "The hyperdrive is over there." She pointed to another removable panel, surrounded by the entrances to her crawlspaces. Hopefully nothing he needed was in those crawlspaces, she had made them for her use only and she doubted he could fold himself small enough to fit. "I don't know what you're looking for but the engines have been modded for maximum power and the hyperdrive has been upgraded multiple times. Not necessarily with all standard parts for this model."

Emeldir went to the left engine, examining it as he spoke. He moved as she had in the shipyards of Coronet City, confident and with ease as though he could do this in his sleep. Impressive. "I need to see the power your vessel is holding," He noted something to himself under his breath. "So that when installing the new defenses we don't overload the system or accidentally redirect power from the engines or the hyperdrive. The last thing I want to do is damage your ship." Another sideways look with the slightest of smirks. Well, wasn't he just having a field day making subtle jabs at her and her kind. Who knows how many smugglers he had met with an unhealthy attachment to their ships. She was no different and he was taking no small amount of pleasure in needling her about it.

Maybe it was payback for her own teasing of him.

It shouldn't be this easy for some teenager to so quickly shift her suspicion to good natured irritation. It shouldn't have been this easy for her to work a favor out of him. He had to be playing a game and Rielay needed to figure out what it was so she could put the power back in her hands. For now though, she'd play along.

"Right..so what'll be the cost for this system I want. Chridan Deryn didn't seem too keen to tell me right away." She asked as Emeldir replaced the panel he had taken out and stood back to his full height. "And tell me more about this offer of yours."

"Your looking at a lot of credits." Emeldir looked over his shoulder at the ship's systems, working his lower lip between his teeth as he did the math in his head. He just ended up shaking his head, drawing a hand slowly across his jaw. "I can't tell you the exact amounts, not with the small ecosystem of brands you have growing in here."

If she hadn't seen his brow wrinkle or his eyes narrow while he tried to calculate all the different costs needed to work around the parts she might have called him out right then and there for trying to cheat her. His doubt appeared genuine, as did his apologetic look. She didn't peg him as the kind to be a stellar actor and liar. She'd take this chance.

"Okay..so your deal." She raised her chin and looked up expectantly. "You said you had a work around for a captain in a tight situation?"

He dipped his head, leaning his shoulder against the wall. "I do, though it may not be exactly the work a smuggler is accustomed to."

She was quick to answer. "Anything is better than the situation I'm in now." Her fingernails drummed on her arm in a quick, nervous beat. "Though I must say I don't know what a young kid such as yourself would have for connections."

Casual, but if he was lying he would catch on it. She hoped, at least, that if he were lying he wouldn't be able to think fast enough to skim over her tripwire.

Emeldir answered smoothly, crossing his arms in a mirror of her own. If he weren't an upper levels specimen he could have just as easily fit here, in a smuggler's ship. His mannerisms, if she looked over the accent and refined politeness, wouldn't look out of place on Nowhere. "You'd be surprised at the people I meet through my father's business and my mother's career," He pushed himself off the wall to pace in the small space, gesturing as he spoke. Despite his smooth answers Rielay could tell he was pulling this plan together as he went, the slight pauses and expressions crossing his face were telling enough.

"There are a lot of senators looking to regain support among the people for the next election but none of them actually want to go down and get their hands dirty enough to help the people that aren't supporting them. I'm confident most of them will agree to have a..third party do the work in their names, especially since it isn't fully legal." A sideways glance was sent her way. She gave a slight nod, waving her hand from him to continue. "Or, depending on how many credits you'll need there are a few high paying locals that want gang trouble taken care of."

Gang deals and slightly illegal work? That was her job description in a nutshell. "I'm in. Send me the details and I'll report back to you in a few days."

"I'll give the details, but I have one requirement." Rielay stiffened, eyes immediately narrowing and her jaw setting.

There it was, the catch in this miracle. What would it be? A cut of the payment, something else? Her voice was clipped. "Oh? And what's that?"

His brow furrowed in the first sign of doubt she had seen from him in this whole exchange and he looked away briefly before meeting her eyes, To his credit whatever doubt was there was gone, replaced by a firm confidence. "I want to come with you."

Oh of course-Rielay blinked at him before barking out a strained laugh, "Come again?"

Significantly less sure of himself he shrugged, rubbing a hand over the back of his neck. "I..want to go with you. On the missions."

She most certainly was not going to take an untrained, unarmed kid through the underlevels of Coruscant. She wasn't going to risk a senator's son by even taking him in the mid levels of this planet. Whatever game he was playing at she wanted no part of. She was having a hard enough time winning her own. "Absolutely not." Come to think of it, why would he even want to tag along? Most Coruscanti civilians were allergic to the idea of danger. "Why would you even want to?"

"I don't want to try and get elected as a senator, I don't even want to finish learning how. I want to help people and you're the one that can help me do that."

That was almost laughable and Rielay would have snorted in derision had he not been looking at her with all of the excitement of an akk dog pup. He didn't know what he would be getting into. But, if these were to be multi-step jobs it may not be so bad to have an extra set of hands.

"You're looking at the wrong woman if you want a means to help people. I don't help people, I help myself." She tried to put as much gruffness into her voice as possible. All she had to do was ignore the very story behind Hugo joining her crew and she could almost believe her own lie. "And this isn't easy work. It gets dangerous."

It did the exact opposite of her intention, it seemed to solidify his resolve even more. "I understand and I won't get in your way. It's a duly beneficial agreement. You get your credits, I don't have to play at being a senator for a few days."

Stars why was she even thinking of agreeing to this? She had to pause, think about what was more important; the credits this would surely bring her, or the threat that Emeldir may pose? It took only one glance around her ship for her decision to be made. He was right, as long as he stayed out of her way they wouldn't have any trouble. Even if he was trying to trick her she could rely on her skills and reflexes to get her out. It was enough of a chance to make her decision the only correct one.

Maybe, she silently thought, he could even use that persuasive tone of his and that boldness to put a few more credits into her hands. She looked up at the ceiling, breathing out in a chuckle before sticking out her hand and meeting those akk-puppy eyes. So this is what rock bottom felt like, shaking hands with a teenager on a deal that had the high chance of getting her arrested for killing a senator. "You've got yourself a deal, kid. I expect you back here by six sharp tomorrow morning."

"I'll be here. Thank you, Captain Taqq." Emeldir smiled at her before stepping away and disappearing out of hangar.

No, thank you Emeldir Deryn. Rielay watched him go, waiting until the sound of the lift faded before she spun to face her ship. A grin of her own split her face and she bounced on the balls of her feet before giving in entirely to excitement and leaping into the air, pumping her fist. The Promise could stay hers, these easy credits would guarantee that. Noble men and woman with political careers at state wouldn't dare back out of a deal. All she had to do was drag the young Deryn around for a few days and then she could get off this rock and get the hunters off her trail.

Rielay looked into her ship from the bottom of the ramp, then down at her chrono quickly. It wasn't too late for all the shuttles to have left. If she moved fast enough she could find Hugo and bring him back here...back home.

She was on the main floor of the spaceport faster than she could plan, having practically sprinted to the lift and punched the button. By the time she hunted down one of the spaceport employees that worked the shuttle tickets she was nearly out of breath. Her hands whacked the desk as she skidded to a stop. "Is someone named Hugo around here?" She asked quickly. "Tall, blond hair, scars-" She gestured around her face and neck, blinking hopefully up at the employee with a beaming smile to match. "Probably would have approached you a few hours ago. I'm a...close friend and need to talk to him."

The employee, human, gave her an odd look, taking a step back from the desk to scan through a database listing ticket transactions. She frowned, scrolling before pausing and looking over at Rielay before looking back at the screen. "The shuttle he bought tickets for left a little while ago."

It felt like Rielay had been punched in the gut and the smile slipped off her face. "Oh..do you know where it was headed? There was a miscommunication, I need to contact him!"

"I'm not authorized to tell you that, ma'am." The look sent her way might have been sympathetic but Rielay looked away before it could register. She knew what this must look like, something ridiculous that might have come from a romance holo-vid. Two partners have a fight, one leaves.

That wasn't the case and she barely acknowledged the information that there were halo terminals around she could use to contact him, muttering a thank you before wandering back towards the lift in a daze.

A little bit. She had missed him only by a little bit. On the floor of the hangar she tried to pick up his comm signal, but all she received was static. She threw the piece of technology across the floor, running a hand over her face. A split second decision had ripped the man that had cared for and protected her for years away from his home, turned him out on the streets...just for it to be false alarm.

Five years of loyal service and she had repaid him by throwing it back in his face. Taking out her panic on him just as...Rielay's hand clamped over her mouth to muffle a cry...just as Zav had taken her anger after the Sacking of Coruscant on her. There would be no apology chance now, no chance for Rielay to tell him she was wrong. No chance for him to come back to her ship as Rielay had been allowed to remain on the Resolution.

Her new line up of jobs that had looked like a perfect miracle had lost some of its shine now that her excitement had been dashed. Saving her own hide, though it had been her goal all along, seemed like less of an achievement with her failure to take care of her crew. Hadn't she said that crew was family and should always stick together?

If she couldn't raise his comm signal now he would be long gone from Coruscant by the time she did. She should have thought damnit, let Hugo help her instead of trying to take this on alone.

Her datapad beeped from where she had discarded it on a pile of boxes, drawing her hand away from her face. With leaden steps she trudged over and picked it up. A message flashed across the screen from an unidentified source.

Here are the details you asked for. -Emeldir Deryn

There were several documents attached and she clicked the datapad off, curling her fingers around it. She may not be able to get Hugo back but she could still fix the rest of the mess she had made. And perhaps that could ease the guilt chewing on her heart.

If she could get her ship she could go get Hugo...if he'd even want to return to the Promise. Maybe, at least, she could help him find new work. But first she had to make it through her jobs. One step at a time.