Citadel Station isn't moving as fast as I'd like, but they should be meeting Bao-Dur soon, and then things get interesting again. More Atton abuse ahead. It's so fun to pick on him. There is a purpose, though.

My chapters will probably get a little longer from here on in.

Liran

I want my hermit status back.

Sharing a room with the ancient undead and the jailbird is not conducive to a peaceful night's sleep. I had no trouble falling asleep. Staying there was another matter.

Kreia didn't give me any problems, I didn't get any of her thoughts or dreams.

Atton, on the other hand... Nothing disturbs your REM cycle like a man shouting 'It's your turn to draw first, frag it!' in the middle of the night.

Put on my armor plates, Kreia is meditating again, Atton is still sleeping. Give him a light kick in the side.

"Zaaa-whazzit?"

"You talk in your sleep, schutta. Loudly."

"Really?" He sits up, blinks at me. "Never had any complaints before."

Since it is too early in the day for mocking, I will be generous and ignore that statement. "I'm off to help the Ithorians. Don't let Luxa steal a lung."

"Have fun. Don't get captured by a slimy bounty hunter. And don't forget to eat something."

"Yes, Mother."

There's time to stop on the way at a shop and buy myself a cheap hooded cloak, and a ration bar. Don't want to bother with food at all, but Atton's constant nagging must be leaking into my brain.

Keep an eye on the security cameras, avoid those I can, casually walk past the rest, chewing on my bar. The Sith war sword is slung over my shoulder, shift it away from view. It's more likely to get recognized than me. A few people stare at it, but most don't care. They have normal lives to capture their attention.

I envy them.

The Ithorian at the docks greets me with a whining rasp, beckons toward the Restoration effort's personal hanger. "Thank you for your assistance, Master Jedi."

Grit my teeth. Ignore the title. "You're welcome. Where's the droid?"

He takes me to the storage room in the hanger, past the shuttle.

I could steal it, but Kreia and Atton aren't here, I'd have to pick them up before making my escape. The TSF would be on me before I had the chance.

Back to the solid plan of kissing Chodo Habat's shebs. Joy.

"Greetings, sentient." The protocol droid jerks towards me, it's way of walking looks more like a seizure than HK-50's almost graceful steps.

Am I really getting nostalgic over that homicidal bounty hunting scrap heap?

"You will follow me to the Ithorian Compound. Do not leave my side, unless I engage in combat. Then you will retreat to a safe distance and wait for the threat to be eliminated. Got it?"

"I will follow your orders, Mistress."

I can't believe how irritating servile droids are.

"Are you coming?"Ask the Ithorian.

"I do not believe I could be of use to you, Master Jedi."

My jaw makes a popping sound.

Ouch. Must remember not to clench so hard.

He (or she, I have no idea, which somehow makes this moment even more awkward) hands me a datapad. "This is the fastest calculated path back to the compound. The droid might overheat if it goes too far."How cheap is the thing?

He seems to read my mind. "Funding is greatly reduced right now." He sighs. Well, it sounds like a sigh.

Look at the route. It takes a few back corridors, likely not under TSF surveillance. If Czerka plans to steal this piece of kek, they'll probably try there, but I can deal with hired mercs, and I won't have to worry about being seen.

"Tell Habat I'll be there soon." Put on my new cloak and walk out, the droid on my heels.

It's perfect. I'm tall enough (and, as Atton oh so tactfully mentioned, have little in the way of 'assets') to pass for a male in the cloak.

More people give me funny looks, but after I duck into the alley-like shortcuts through Citadel, it's almost abandoned.

The lighting is the same kind as the rest of the station, so the seedy undercity atmosphere is ruined, but I'm still getting shivers.

I feel like I'm being followed.

Stretch out my senses, probe for hostile intent or a large group of sentients.

Nothing catches my attention. Hm.

The droid's feet clink clink click behind me.

"Stop."

The corridor goes silent, except for a single pair of footsteps. A woman brushes past me.

"Keep your sensors tuned for someone behind us."

"Yes, Mistress."

Start walking again.

I see the dark spot long before we reach it.

Looks like someone removed or covered the lighting in a short strip of the corridor. It screams 'trap', at least now I know where I'm going to get mugged. In about twenty meters-

Duck. Feel the instinct and act on it at the same time. Knuckles skim the back of my neck.

Reach up, where the fist should be. My hands don't touch a thing.

The next blow catches me on the temple. My vision darkens around the edges, but I sense a finishing uppercut soon enough to dodge it. Fling an elbow out randomly, it connects with something in apparently empty space.

Hsssshhh. A sound like moisture leaving the air.

Sithspit.

My opponent grabs the hem of my cloak and yanks. I slip out of it before it catches me around the neck, pivot to face my enemy head on.

The Force guides my blow, fist moving on it's own will, before I even see his face.

Atton

Crunch.

If Liran doesn't like my nose, there are subtler ways to tell me.

That's what I plan to say. What actually comes out is something about her mother. Fortunately, I'm kind of hard to understand, since I sound like a Selkath.

As usual, when I'm in pain, Jaq shuts his imaginary mouth and absorbs most of it.

Liran gets over her shock quickly and stands there, arms crossed, watching me spew curses and blood.

And, oh, is she pissed.

She draws the double-blade. I never saw it under that fragging cloak."When you're done choking on your own vital fluids, please explain yourself." She sounds... very un-Jedi-like. Like she might sell my kidneys to Luxa unless I speak very carefully.

My face throbs. By the way, breathing through a broken nose makes this awful noise.

It would really suck for that to be the last sound I hear.

"You fweeee didn't suucccc tell me fweeeee about the suuucc droid." Give up on talking. I'm half blinded by reflex tears, but she looks a little less angry.

"Let me fix it." She slings the sword and steps up.

Jaq braces for more pain.

Liran holds my head in place with one hand and grabs my nose with the other. This is going to-

"Fierfek!" The bone grinds back into place, I can hear it scrape across my skull. It doesn't hurt as much as I thought it would.

Jaq swallows the agony without comment, but I can almost feel him shuddering in whatever dingy corner of my mind he lurks.

Suddenly it's gone, replaced by the vague soreness of a day-old bruise. Force healing.

Liran removes her death-grip from my face and backs away, one hand over her back, touching the Sith war sword. "Talk." Suddenly I wonder if she thinks I sold her out to Luxa.

"I heard in the cantina that Czerka hires mercenaries and sends them to Telos' surface in their shuttle. So I spoke to the rep, Jana Lorso. She said they needed the droid, hired me to bring it to her. I found out which path the Ithorians planned on taking and... you know the rest." Point at the darkened part of the hall.

"Mistress, may I resume accompanying you?" A prissy humanoid clanker wobbles back to her.

Liran's hand slides off her blade, and her expression relaxes a little. "Let's get this droid where it belongs."

"You're bringing it to the hammerheads? Czerka will give us credits. And they have a shuttle too." Probably shouldn't argue with her right now. Oh well.

"You plan on taking out a shuttle full of mercs? The Ithorians would give us a shuttle. Less hassle. And I don't want to deal with Czerka. They're slimy as Hutts, and just as greedy."

After a few minutes bickering that I'm only half paying attention to, Liran growls and gestures for the accounting droid to follow her. "Stop being difficult. If you want the droid, you're going to have to take him from me."

Stay quiet. I don't care that much, but there's no way I was just going to give the droid up without causing her a headache first.

It's really fortunate for her I decided to only knock the droid's guard unconscience, or else I'd have caved her skull before seeing her face and stopping in time to be a punching bag.

You're going soft. I told you we should have just killed the guard.

Yeah, then Liran would be dead.

No more comments from him. Surprised that even worked.

Now I'm following her, wiping blood off my nose. Sound familiar?

Liran

It bothers me that I didn't feel Atton coming.

My fist hurts, but I'm not going to think about the reason until I leave the Ithorians. They're pretty perceptive to human emotions. Anger might cause a miscommunication that I can't afford.

Chodo Habat thanked me quite enthusiastically.

I'd rather have a shuttle.

Atton waited outside. With two fresh black eyes, it might give a passivist Ithorian the wrong impression. Unless I plan to chalk it up to a 'friendly dispute between companions'. By the way, those bruise suit him in my opinion. Looks like he's wearing a mask.

"Have you already met with Luxa?" We're walking away from the compound.

"No." He hasn't spoken since the Great Accounting Droid Debacle. "Did you get the shuttle?"

"No. Just an invitation to tea this afternoon." Sigh. Tea. "I should be running from homicidal Sith, and I'm sitting around drinking burnt plant leaves."

"Hm."

"What's eating you?"

"Nothing. Speaking of eating-"

"I'm not hungry!" Force, I sound like a five-year-old. Calm down. "Do I really look that bad?"

He studies me for a minute. "If you want to survive, you have to take care of yourself. Like the hag said, this is war."

Take the bag of fruit hanging off my belt, pop a chunk in my mouth. Atton has a point. War. Again.

And it's the closest he's getting to an apology. He hasn't said sorry about going behind my back with Czerka. Schutta. For a minute, I thought he had cut a deal with Luxa and sold me to the Exchange.

"Putting the entertainment value of breaking your nose aside, we need to coordinate our efforts."

"Thanks."

"Well, it made a lovely crunchy noise. Very therapeutic."

"Rein in the Sithish glee, Angel. I don't think you'd look good with yellow eyes. While you're having teatime with the hammerheads, I'll see what I can wring out of the purple schemer."

Not sure if the term 'wring' is literal or just a phrase. Kind of hard to tell with Atton. "Do you think Luxa is lying about the Hawk?"

"Probably. But I doubt the TSF broadcasted the theft, so if they found out we didn't leave with the Hawk, and who you really are, they might know something we can use to track it down."

"If the Exchange has a foothold on Citadel, where do you think they're based?"

"Not sure, but there's an office called 'Bumani Exchange Corporation' with a Rodian guard outside somewhere around here. Seems a little suspicious. You'd think they would be more subtle. Want me to ask Luxa?"

"Define 'ask'."

"The most roundabout, sleazy, under the table way possible. I'm good at sleazy."

Shocker. "Go ahead. Want a chunk of dehydrated mango? It looks disturbingly like what came out when I cleaved that Sith assassin's skull on the Harbinger." Hold it between two fingers.

"The resemblance is uncanny." He takes it. "Although I think the mango has more smarts."

Awkward as our conversation feels, it's probably the most calm and civil we've been to each other since I met Atton. Kreia would heartily disapprove.

We're wandering through the residential sector. No TSF in sight, but I'll keep an eye out. My double-blade is getting a few funny looks, but it's not too noticeable with the cloak, so most don't see it.

"Angel, can I ask you something?"

Shrug. "Shoot."

"On the Harbinger. What happened?"

Great, I'm not sure I know the answer myself. "That Sith Lord... he tried to... connect with me."

"Connect." It's not a question.

"Yeah, a sort of... Force bond. You can exchange memories, emotions, sensations, knowledge."

"Sensations." Why is he doing that?

"He... it... hurt." There's nothing else to say, no way to explain it to someone who has never had a Force bond. "That medic talked about how he shouldn't be alive, but he is. It's pain. The pain is keeping him alive. I think he's drawing power from it, somehow."

"So he transferred some of this pain through the connection?"

"A little. At least, I think he did."

"Why would he try to bond with you?"

"I don't know. Maybe he wanted something from my mind, maybe he wanted me paralyzed, maybe-"

"Maybe he wanted you to feel his pain." His face is blank.

Focus on his presence, not close enough to invade privacy or attract attention.

Most non-Force-sensitives fade into their surroundings, their auras mixing and blurring together. Jedi, and Sith, draw the Force to themselves, leaving a sharper edge between themselves and their environment.

Atton's is sharp and contained, his emotions drowned out by something like background interference, seemingly random feelings clouding my senses.

Wonder if this has anything to do with my not sensing him in the hallway. Or maybe it's just my ineptitude.

"What about the fuel line? Was it Dry Rot again?" He interrupts my spying.

"He cut off Kreia's hand."

"And you felt it." He has that sharp look again, the one that makes him look much smarter than usual. "You have a Force bond with Kreia."

At least I didn't have to explain that to him.

"It isn't supposed to be that strong of a reaction... right?"

"No, it's not."

There's a sort of awkward silence now, less of a 'what can we talk about now?' silence and more of a 'what can we talk about not involving Sith?'

Probably nothing. Besides, we're overdue for another argument, unless bone-snapping has satisfied the Gods of Uncomfortable Relationships for today.

Doubt it. If my life is a meter of their hunger, they are insatiable.

"Did they have anything besides dried fruit?" This seems a safe subject.

"It was on sale. I'm a sucker for paying less that the standard price."

Exile.

"Sithspit!" Has she been listening in on our conversation?

If you are done attempting to explain things to the fool that are beyond his comprehension, I wish to speak with you.

Yes?

I do not approve of this... alliance with Chodo Habat.

Why not?

You are wasting your energy on him. His problems are his own, and pale beside yours.

I agree, but we need his resources.

She's quiet. That satisfied her, apparently.

"Hello? Are you still in there?" Atton waves a hand in front of my face.

"I spoke with Kreia."

"She's in your head?" The mere thought seems to make him queasy.

Come to think of it, me too.

Atton

After a few semi-relaxed hours, it's back to shady Exchange meetings in bars and afternoon tea with pacifists.

Funny, I think Liran got the short end. At least I get alcohol out of the deal. Although, who knows what's in that tea. Some cultures get a 'spiritual experience' out of that kind of thing.

Heh. Try to imagine Liran stoned...

Nope. Can't do it.

Enter the cantina, look for Luxa. She's in the same spot as yesterday, the same little smirk on her lavender face.

"You're back."

After a good dose of my special meds, I can't tell if she's using pheromones.

Unfortunately, no pheromones means no sleepy Jaq.

Potential trouble with that knife on her belt.

He's in droid hound mode again. It's irritating, but could be useful if this turns ugly.

The Gamorreans are too slow to be much trouble. A pair of face shots would do.

I'll keep that in mind.

I'm talking to Jaq while exchanging casual greetings/veiled threats and false smiles with Luxa. She has pointy yellow teeth.

Bite hazard.

Now you're just being ridiculous. Relax. She won't risk taking us out here, and we could handle her anyway.

Ominous silence from Mad Jaq. Now I can concentrate on the Zeltron.

"You wouldn't happen to work for the Bumani Exchange Corporation, would you?"

She stops, mid complaint about her boss, a Quarren named Loppak Slusk, who is a 'chuba-faced schutta', from what I've been half hearing. "That depends on why you're asking."

"I might have business with them. If they can locate a certain bird for me."

"That might be arranged." She returns to a close-mouthed smirk, much less disturbing than the sunny fangs. "For the right price."

"I'm a bit low on funds right now."

"Credits aren't in question. Yesterday you said you were... capable." There's the creepy pause again.

"I don't recall that, but, yeah, I am. What can I do for you?"

"Loppak Slusk is a slimy shabuir." She spits. The Gamorreans don't even shift their beady little eyes from their plates of... whatever they're eating. "The Exchange doesn't allow breaks in the chain of command."

That's a lie, but who cares? "And these two points are connected how?"

"If I were in charge of the operations on Citadel, I could give you the Ebon Hawk... assuming the Exchange has the Ebon Hawk, of course." She winks.

Luxa is lying through her sharp little teeth.

She's a good liar, has no obvious tells I can see, but I can feel it. It's like a twitch in my brain, one I've come to recognize over the years, but wasn't able to understand where it came from... until the Empath, of course.

"I need to consult my friend before agreeing to anything." After this morning, I'd ask Liran before sneezing. My head feels like a lump of tenderized raw meat.

Your head is a lump of tenderized raw meat. A few years ago, she wouldn't have landed that hit.

Luxa keeps smirking, but it's hard now. She's got something snide to say, so I cut her off before she can start.

"There's no way I'm going in without backup. Trustworthy backup. I don't trust you as far as I could throw you."

Judging by her weight, mass, and our muscle quality, 10 feet. You'd only trust her 3.5 feet.

Funny. Your math is wrong.

Jaq's voice sounded weaker than usual. The pills are wearing off.

"I'll go hunt her down now and get right back to you." Take a step back. "After all, Slusk isn't going to drop dead to save us the trouble."

She doesn't look offended in the least. A little disappointed, maybe, but I don't think she expected me to slit Liran's throat for her either.

"Maybe you should bring her back with you. Let us talk face to face.

Face to pheromones is more like it. "We'll see."

Liran

"Would you like more tea, Ilexe?" Habat passes me the teapot.

The Ithorians are starting to grow on me. That might just be their tea, though. "Thank you."

I'm not used to social niceties anymore, but it's coming back with every polite phrase Habat and Moza hiss at me. And I'm getting more patient about Habat's whining. He's moved on the Exchange, who keeps trying to steal some of their botanical specimens.

Maybe next time, the Ithorians shouldn't try to restore a planet with some weeds you can get high off after a little chemistry.

We're sitting in the greenhouse, and the plants seem to whisper to me through the Force. Well, it's less of a communication, and more of a comforting presence, like I can feel the life, hear the breathing of them all.

And a familiar presence at the entrance of the compound.

Sigh. Back to work.

"Is he here for you?" Habat asks. Must have sensed Atton.

"Yeah. Sorry."

Moza hands me a large thermos. "It is rare to find a human fond of our tea. You are welcome here anytime, Ilexe." They won't call me Liran, some respect thing, and Jedi is out of the question, so my last name is it.

Say goodbye to both and leave the greenhouse.

"Have a good tea party, Angel?" Find Atton in the main room waiting for me.

We walk out. "Habat isn't so bad when he isn't complaining about Czerka or talking about my 'wound'."

"Wound?"

"He can sense my... war injuries. Keeps asking if I'll let him heal them."

"That's a little creepy."

"I think he means well." Try not to let it bother me that a casual Force User like Habat can see my scars. I don't understand them myself. What if they mean I'm-

"Luxa wants to meet you." He interrupts. "She's lying about the Hawk, but still might know something useful."

"Does she plan on turning me in for the bounty?"

"Definitely. But I don't think she'd attack us in the cantina. Too many witnesses, surveillance cameras everywhere. Most likely, she wants to see your face so she knows who to shoot first when she comes after us. Or make sure I didn't invent you to get a foot in the Exchange."

"Hm. Does she want me now?"

"Yeah. About that." He hands me pills. "They aren't as strong, or last as long, as the ones you took on Peragus. I had to cut a few hard-to-get ingredients. And with your absorption rate..."

"Oh, I won't need a long time for this meeting."

Lui: Thanks for the honest review of that awful parody, it was really helpful. I'll edit the thing until it screams for mercy and eventually repost it. (And I'm glad you like Accidental Hero anyway)

Daim: Flashbacks coming up ASAP. Thanks for the input.

If anyone else has requests, go ahead and speak up. Cut content, dialogue, plot, anything. I can't promise to use them all in Accidental Hero, but I'll do my best.

And maybe they'll show up somewhere else...

Thank you for all the reviews!