Keelta the Hutt's word was good. He'd sent the info he (or really, his employees) had gathered and bid them farewell. It wasn't good news. The Hutt had said the bounty hunter was being paid by an Imperial, a Moff Rowan, who had interests on Corellia as well as a handful of Outer Rim worlds. Which, given Advantages current number of mission projects on Corellia, made a lot more sense than any other intel they'd found. Aric paced around the office, thinking about how to keep their families secure and still continue to be assets to the Republic. Corso joined him, and they talked about what the next step might be. They finally decided to let Garza handle it, since her resources far outnumbered theirs in terms of soldiers. Aric sent their entire file to her, but not to her military holonet. He was still concerned about leaks and sent it instead to her personal account. When it was done, he sat back in his chair and looked at Corso across his desk.
"Okay, that's done. We're caught up on the missions we're paid to do. Want to drive me into town? I still have to talk to the constable and I'd like to make sure Brock is gone." Corso bristled at that name, he figured he always would. They let the sisters know where they were headed, and started the hour's drive, Aric still moving stiffly but at least moving.
Maura took the twins to Miriah's house, feeling like they needed some catching up time. The kids were all playing, Devin pulling himself up on things after crawling only a week or so, which had Maura laughing. "You'll be running all the time once he starts walking, Mir. But he's just so cute." She made faces at Devin, which had him giggling, in turn making the women laugh. They were sitting out on the deck, the twins playing with the toys out there. They were enjoying the sun and the kids, when Akaavi came running up to the house.
"Get the children inside, quickly! There's a shuttle landing out in the field, no markings." Maura herded the twins and grabbed Devin up.
"You go with her, I've got the kids," she told Miriah, tossing her a relay from the counter in the kitchen. "Here, let me know what's going on." Miriah hesitated, kissed Devin, and took off with Akaavi at her heels. They grabbed speeders and took off to the south.
When they were within a quarter mile of the supposed landing site, they stopped the speeders and stashed them in the tree line, electing to walk from there. Miriah patted her hip, reassuring herself that Grace, her blaster, was there and ready. They made their way stealthily forward, noting the spooked ronto that met and passed them. They had just come over a small rise when Miriah spotted the shuttle, just sitting there steaming. It looked damaged but not disabled. Akaavi stopped beside her, pointing to the port door. The short ramp slowly lowered and the women got their blasters ready, hitting their stealth generators at the same time. The shuttle pilot was slowly coming into view, and Miriah was tensed, ready to shoot. They watched then as a large wookie came around the end of the shuttle. Miriah sighed in relief.
"Bowdaar!" she called, as she rushed forward, forgetting she was still stealthed. She clicked the generator off as she reached him. "What on earth are you doing landing way out here?"
"The shuttle was having trouble; I figured if I couldn't land it properly, at least if it crashed out here no one would be hurt." He grabbed his captain in a hug. "I heard there was someone causing trouble here and it wasn't you." He greeted Akaavi, who'd joined them once she was sure of the wookie's identity. Miriah keyed her relay, telling Maura who was aboard the shuttle, and they started back toward the house.
"So, you're here to offer your services as bodyguard?" Miriah teased him, but the wookie was very serious.
"I am here to make sure that whoever is coming after you will have to come through me first," he grunted. When they entered the house, Devin's eyes went wide at the huge furry being. Akaavi had stopped at the guest house to ready a room for her friend. Maura greeted him warmly; glad to see that he was doing well. Miriah told him where Corso and Aric had gone, and he nodded.
"I will check outside the house and close buildings to see if I spot any problems, but between Akaavi and myself, we can keep an eye on your family." She was grateful, and sent Bow to rest from his flight. She turned to Maura and had to smile.
"At least we're not bored, not being who we were before we had kids." Maura nodded, holding Devin.
"I could do with a little more boredom, sis. Aric seems to be healing well, but this last few days have been exhausting. Calleigh has ended up in our bed every night, and I found Colin on the top step asleep this morning, a toy blaster in each hand." She sighed. "Tanno has been beating himself up, too."
Miriah nodded. "I've been having nightmares about finding him. Several times a night, but I haven't told Corso, he'd worry." She put Devin in his chair and gave him a cookie, getting more out for the twins. They sat with them at the worktable.
"So Aric is doing okay then? All this isn't keeping him up at night?" Miriah figured he was still pretty sore, but then Cathar had rapid healing rates. She grabbed a cloth to wipe Devin's hands and face and prepared his bottle.
Maura snorted, "The biggest worry he has right now is that when he's healed enough for s-e-x, which, by the way, he thinks is now, that Mags will know what he's doing."
"She will," Miriah told her, grinning at her sister. "She's told me she blocks me out." They both laughed hard at that, the thought of their Jedi sister being in their heads at intimate moments. "She sure better get that blocking thing increased, I'm thinking." That set them off again, and they continued to laugh when Miriah wondered out loud, "Wonder what she does in the middle of the night?" Their laughter was cut short with the holo chime.
Miriah answered, still grining, and almost broke out again with laughter when she saw her oldest sister's image. "Mags! We were just talking about you!" Both sisters laughed as Mags smiled at them.
"I could feel a good bit of joy from over there. Aric is doing well?" she asked Maura, waving at the kids. She was assured he was, but neither of them had the courage to ask about her blocking abilities.
Corso pulled up to the constable's office and walked in with Aric. They weren't there long, the constable assured them there was no problem on his end, and they made their way over to the cantina that they'd put Brock in to clean up. He had gone, the bartender told them, and they'd had no trouble out of him. They also didn't know where he was headed, but Aric had an old army buddy over at the spaceport, they'd check with him before they left. They decided to eat lunch at the cantina first, though. Corso laughed as he picked up the menu, which proudly stated that they only served ronto from the Riggs Ranch, his place. "Kinda like having lunch at home, but the company's not as pretty," he told Aric. Aric agreed, ordering a light lunch, not wanting to stress any healing points. They ate, and when they finished, Aric pulled his holo out of a pocket to call Maura.
"Hey, honey. How are things there?"
"Good, everyone's fine. And Miriah's wookie friend came in today, wanting to help watch over us all."
"That's great! Bowdaar's a good fighter, and between him and Akaavi, they'll keep a good eye out. All is good here, we should be headed home in about an hour, okay?"
Maura took the twins home to nap, where Tanno was standing watch. While they slept, she went to speak to him. "Tanno, you gotta let this go. You can't single-handedly watch everything out here and work, too." The large man was shaking his head.
"No, no I can't, but since Aric got hurt I can't not be here either." He sighed. "It would have been easier to take if he'd been hurt on an op somewhere in Havoc Squad, but to be almost killed within minutes of his home, and unarmed? I just can't get it out of my mind." He fumbled with his gear, not looking at her. "If anything happened to my favorite little people, I wouldn't be able to take it. I have to be here."
Maura understood his compulsion, and patted his arm before going back in to check on the twins. She was just picking up toys when she heard shouts from outside, then a blaster rifle. She ran to the rear of the house and looked out, not seeing anything. It was only when she went back to the front of the house that she saw Tanno dragging a blue Twi'lek around, already shackled in stun cuffs.
"Found this guy sneaking through the trees on the path. Says he knows you guys," Tanno grunted, tossing his prisoner up on the porch. "You know him, boss?"
"Well, I've never met him but I think I know who he is. Mr. Brock, is it?" The Balmorran nodded, trembling at the Weequay's feet. " I believe you were asked to leave Dantooine, several days ago, correct?"
Again, the prisoner nodded. He tried to sit up, only to be struck back down by the butt of the blaster rifle Tanno was holding. Maura looked him over, scanned him for electronics and told Tanno to call Aric and see if he was still in the town and could get the constable out. She took the rifle and trained on the Twi'lek. "One move, mister, that's all it'll take." His face was beginning to swell where Tanno's fist had connected with it, and one of his lekku was bent at an odd angle, but he didn't even twitch. Vik returned and hauled him up.
"Boss 2 said take him to the office lockup, and stay there for the constable. And not to let Corso in, at least not yet."
The prisoner finally spoke. "I wasn't trying to do anything but get help. I'm going to be killed, either by the Senator whose daughter is now pointing at me as the father of her child, or by Corso when he gets here." The man sobbed, pitiful in his seemingly doomed situation. Maura sighed, and thought of her own children and wondered how she could explain not helping his person.
"What, exactly, do you need help with?" she asked him. "What is it that you want us to do here?"
"I just want to get back to Balmorra. I can't access my accounts without alerting the Senator, but if I can get back there, I have friends who will hide me until I can figure out the next step. Please. Corso will kill me, and I haven't even tried to find his captain."
"Good thing, too, she and their son are well guarded. Her Mandalorian would have gutted you on sight." She watched as he paled further, and grinned. "Take him, Tanno. We'll try to keep Corso on a leash until we figure out what we're going to do with him." She turned and went inside, thankful the twins were still napping.
Aric turned to Corso, who'd heard Vik's call. Aric figured he'd be racing to get back, to shove a blaster in Brock's face again. Instead he seemed almost calm, thinking. Finally, when he said nothing for a few mintues, Aric asked him outright what he was thinking.
"Well," Corso drawled, "I figure the waiting is tearing him up as much as me being there, and I told Miriah I'd try to keep a cool head about Brock." Aric nodded thoughtfully.
"Let's get started back," he told Corso, "and see what he's got to say." They arrived at the office just as the constable was escorting Brock out. They stopped and Brock visibly flinched when he saw Corso.
"I don't want any trouble, I was looking for work and trying to get back home. That's all." Brock talked to them, looking at his feet.
The constable asked them if they were pressing charges, and they declined. As he was being put in the speeder car, Tanno Vik slipped a cred stick into his pocket, unseen by the other men, with enough to get the guy back to Balmorra. When Brock looked up at Tanno, he gave him a slight nod, but said nothing. When he was gone, Corso blew out a breath.
"Maybe that's over now," he said, turning to go home. "See you two tomorrow." No one saw the package at the front of the office, just sitting at the door.
