I've been here before

But I've never ever felt this sure

And now I know I've been dreaming

And your actions

Have inspired me, so...

Let's end it on this

Give me one last kiss

"Excuse me," Dalla huffed in annoyance. "But the dramatic entrance is my thing."

Hunter was similarly unimpressed with Tech's outburst. "Please go away, the adults are talking."

Tech resisted the urge to point out that the "adults" consisted of a genetically enhanced clone who'd only existed in the galaxy for ten standard years and a girl who barely looked old enough to drink. There wasn't time for that.

"Fine," he spat. "I'm going to look for Genna with or without you!"

"I'd hurry if I were you," Dalla said. "If she wants to disappear, there are plenty of ways to do so and I would know."

"Any other suggestions?" Tech asked through gritted teeth. Like it or not, she was the expert at shuffling around lost things.

"Your girlfriend has property in Iziz, correct? She'd have to do something with that to raise credits for her escape."

It all seemed so obvious now! He keyed in Genna's ID on his comm unit but only received an unavailable message.

"She's still not answering her comm," Tech growled.

"Maybe if she thinks it's us who came back and killed her brother she doesn't want to be found." Hunter commented unhelpfully.

"And maybe Crosshair came and abducted her so she couldn't answer it if she wanted to," Tech argued back.

Wrecker gasped at the idea. "How would Cross even know to nab her?"

Tech threw his arms in the air, wildly. "Maybe he decided last night would be a great night to catch a limmie match on the holonet and saw us in the crowd holding hands!"

Echo's input was more sensible. "Maybe she just went home to think things through. You did offer to get her the surgery she needs. That in itself would be totally life changing."

"Maybe you're right." Tech left off pacing only to sit on a crate with his knee bouncing agitatedly.

Omega was in tears. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to tell her like that. I thought she already knew since she said something about Gerrera when we arrived."

Tech rose again with a sigh and walked towards her. "It's not your fault." He laid his hand on her head and then flinched when she wrapped her arms around him. "We'll find her. I just need to go and search."

"We can take my speeder," Sloan, the one-eyed sailor offered.

His red-haired girlfriend smiled at him. "You always were a romantic."

Sloan bowed to her but before she could kiss him goodbye and waste more time, Tech stepped between them. "Yes, let's be going. We can check the house first. As Echo said, perhaps she just went back there to consider her options."

"Well," Hunter huffed as soon as the two men had made their exit. "At least he's not here driving us all insane while we're attempting to negotiate terms. Everyone else," he eyed the rest of his squad. "Stay put and hopefully soon we'll be able to be done with this and report to Cid."

He followed Dalla back into the office and shut the door on further interruptions.

…

"Genna?" Tech called into the house after he made short work of the door he had watched her lock mere hours ago. What could have gone so wrong in such a short period of time since he had woken up beside her that morning?

He should have guessed by the locked door that she wasn't here but still he hoped that there would be some clue to her whereabouts. Now that he was inside it was obvious she hadn't even come back here. Everything was exactly as they had left it.

Her hair cutting kit was still laid out on the end table in the living room and the clothing they had discarded was strewn across the floor. He could have checked the other rooms but he knew it was useless.

Sloan entered hesitantly behind him. "So, no luck? Well, don't let that get you down, it's only the first place on our list to check."

"Yes." Tech spun on his heel back toward the entrance. "If she didn't come back here, she would have at least had to conclude her business transactions."

"Now hold on there," Sloan reached out an arm to halt his progress. "You might want to change into something a little less eye-catching before we go barging into the public market place."

Tech glanced down at the Katarn armor he was still wearing from his squad's 'assault' on the museum. He scanned the room quickly for some replacement and then immediately set to work removing the arm and chest plating and under armor.

The sailor whistled in approval when he saw the soldier's tattoo. "I hope she got a chance to admire your ink last night."

Tech shot him a glare and grabbed the first item available to cover himself. It was the University of Onderon tunic she had taken off him after his haircut. It was a little itchy with the trimmings that clung to it but he didn't care. "Let's go!"

…

The girl with the red hair, called Sidhe or just plain Ellie, paced the museum gallery. Her movements were balanced and graceful from growing up on the swaying deck of a sea going ship and Omega was walking behind her trying to copy every motion.

Ellie suddenly stopped and Omega ran into the back of her but she didn't seem to notice, other than to turn and look at the smaller girl and ruffle her short blonde locks. "You know, I had a little sister."

"Do I remind you of her?" Omega asked.

"Not a bit." Ellie was in motion again, unable to keep still. "Miranda had long dark hair and ivory skin and was always running headfirst into things regardless of the consequences, especially when boys were concerned. But one thing she always had going for her was that she was very memorable."

"Memorable?" Echo frowned. He and Wrecker had left off looking at the painting and were now in the full thrall of the redhead, just like Omega. If Ellie's sister was anything like herself she must have been memorable indeed.

"Aye, if she ever ran off I would never go looking for her where I thought she might have gone. That would be a wild mollymauk chase." She grinned. "I would always go to the last place I knew she had been. There was bound to be someone there who had seen her and could point me in the right direction."

Echo caught on. He tilted his head and then nodded. "You think that's how Tech and Sloan ought to go about finding Genna."

"She is very rememberable," Wrecker mused.

"Aye, and it's not just that fancy chair she rides around in. These are her stomping grounds." Ellie shrugged. "So to speak. People around here watched her grow up, followed her athletic career. And she's known around the marketplace for being kind and generous."

She turned on Echo suddenly. He had been on the verge of sending a message to the searchers who were out in the field, and he stopped dead, his pale eyes widening.

"I'll have you know, I was against it from the beginning, letting her get mixed up in the middle of this thing between your squad and Mollymauk," she told him.

"We were too," he glanced sideways at Wrecker and Omega, disconcerted by the Sidhe's stare. "It's just she and Tech…"

"They are adorable together." Her lips quirked in a smile but she reached out a hand to stop him from sending the message he had been about to activate. "Now let's consider this. If she truly is concerned that the members of your squad were directly or indirectly responsible for her brother's death, would it not be wise for someone other than your brother to find her first and explain the misconception?"

"Er… yeah."

"So." Ellie clapped her hands, spun on her heel, and then dropped down to Omega's level. "You were the last one to see, Genna, correct?"

Omega nodded fervently. "In the lobby at the hotel. She left the party room and said she was going to the fresher, but I didn't know where that was to go and look for her." She was on the verge of tears again, remembering her mistake.

"Hey," Ellie encouraged. "You've given us a great place to start searching."

"Us?" This time it was Wrecker who caught on rather remarkably. "Hunter told us to stay put."

Ellie had already taken Omega's hand and the two of them were ready to get going. "Don't you think that Genna would prefer to hear the truth from a couple of fellow females than a bunch of rough and ready soldiers?"

"She seemed just fine hearing Tech explain anything and everything until a few hours ago," Echo grumbled.

Ellie produced the commlink that her boyfriend had taken from Omega seemingly out of nowhere and began to reattach it to the girl's arm. "We'll be in contact the whole time and the two of you can cover for us until we find out something useful."

Omega bounced in excitement. She keyed in the private comm ID to just the two of her brothers who were now present. "We'll be just fine. Over."

Echo huffed and looked to Wrecker who shrugged. They both glanced with apprehension at the door behind which their superior officer was closited. Finally he gave in. "Alright, but you check in regularly and let us know immediately if you need any help."

"I'll protect her as if she were my own little sister." Ellie grinned.

"What happened to your sister?" Omega asked once they had skipped out of the museum loading dock and Ellie set her on the back of a speeder bike, observantly placing a helmet on her passenger's head.

"She died during the war," Ellie smiled sadly. "But it wasn't on my watch and I'm not going to let that happen to you."

…

"I need to know everything about Crosshair's visit. Why he was here, what you discussed, everything," Hunter demanded.

"You pretty much know everything. He showed up here before he and his squad took out that partisan outpost in the jungle. Wanted to know if I knew anything about them since I was part of the original rebellion." Dalla gestured to the voodoo poster. "That thing helped, believe it or not. I played up the crazy ex angle and he walked away without any problems. I doubt he knows about my network; it wasn't his problem and he didn't seem concerned with anything that wasn't partisan related."

"So that places him here a few weeks ago?"

"He took off right after. In fact with him and Commander Torrance both gone, I'm making up for lost time. The fishing equipment I shipped in the muja crates was supposed to go out last week."

"Speaking of the fishing equipment, I haven't figured that out. Why all the secrecy for a bunch of nets?"

"Because one of the biggest costs of rebellion is feeding the recruits, especially when you have to buy behind the Empire's back. A cell that can feed itself not only saves credits, but has a secure source of food."

Of course. Hunter kicked himself for not thinking of it before. "So you're willing to cut your profits to fight against the Empire."

"I'm willing to do whatever it takes to keep the Empire away from my home." Dalla clarified. "Everything I do is for the north and the network and nothing will change that. If that means running fishing equipment or staying off Cid's toes, then so be it. You can tell your boss she has no threat from me."

"Former boss." Hunter replied automatically and when Dalla raised her eyebrow, elaborated. "We're no longer indebted to Cid."

"So you could go your own way," Dalla mused. "Why don't you come work for me?"

"Excuse me?"

"I'd pay you what I'm paying Sloan and Ellie, which I'm sure is more than what Cid's coughing up, and you'd be fighting the Empire. I've been looking to set up a second base of operations but staffing hasn't permitted."

"We're fugitives. If we stay in one place like you're asking the Empire will find us before the week is out."

"Not up north," she insisted. "It's so remote, I could hide one of those ISB agents up there and no one would notice."

A note of desperation crept into her voice and Hunter took a step back.

"How old are you?" He asked not unkindly.

Dalla exhaled, the bravado leaching out of her body and for the first time Hunter realized how small she really was.

"Seventeen."

Seventeen and alone, at the helm of a fledgling operation dedicated to hindering the greatest power in the galaxy. No amount of credits or dramatic antics would take away the fact that Dalla Blackwell was very young, very exposed, and very aware of it.

"Take care of yourself, kid," he said and left the office.

…

Ellie and Omega hopped off the speeder bike at the hotel entrance and then raced into the lobby. It was quiet other than the fountains and some murmured conversations and the clink of dishes and flatware from the direction of the restaurant.

Omega began to worry that none of the few beings milling around would have been present earlier that day when Genna passed through. But then Ellie grabbed her by the sleeve and focused her attention on the front desk. Two young women were standing there talking, and the subject of their conversation seemed to be attractive limmie players.

Ellie sauntered up to them as if she were one of the group. "Do you get many of them staying here? I mean the famous ones from off world."

"Well." The girl held out the word suspensefully. "We're not really supposed to share any information about guests but since they've already checked out."

Ellie joined in their giggling and Omega stood back to watch. Her brothers certainly couldn't have gathered information from a subject this way. Maybe she could learn a thing or two.

"Didn't you say they actually paid the fee for the later checkout time?" The other girl across the counter gossiped.

"That's right." The first girl announced knowingly. "Of course Nathon Skelari isn't really from off world. He grew up right here in Iziz and did his first year of college at University of Onderon. He's been at Kuat since then and that's where he picked up the girlfriend ." She sneered the word.

"He's so gorgeous!" The other girl moaned. "Why couldn't he have come home and picked a nice Onderonian girl, like me?"

"I know, aye?" Ellie joined in the lament but she glanced back at Omega with a wink. "But he's always had a thing for blondes, hasn't he?"

"That's where it gets interesting." The first girl motioned Ellie and the other one closer as she whispered dramatically. "Nathon and the Kauti fiancee were supposed to check out this morning. But my friend Prasca who works the shift before me said she got a comm that they were going to pay the fee for the later checkout."

"So they slept in and needed a little extra time?" Ellie asked.

"Well, that's what I would have thought too." the desk girl confided. "But my other friend Choshka, who works up in housekeeping, she said that they were all set to clean their room when Nathon and the fiancee and some girl in a hoverchair came barging in at the last minute, took a couple of towels and locked the door!"

"No!" The other girl gasped.

"But I thought you said they had checked out?" Ellie fished for the conclusion of the tale.

"They did." Desk girl had replaced her smug, knowing expression. "All three of them came right past here to return their key cards on their way to the space dock to his private transport."

Ellie was in motion before she had finished the sentence. She snagged Omega and the two of them were mounted back on the speeder bike and on their way to the space dock almost before Omega could blink. After that she was too busy hanging on to the driver to bother about sending a comm to her brothers.

…

Tech removed his goggles and rubbed the bridge of his nose. Then he replaced them and rechecked the translator on his datapad. He was certain the words he was hearing from the Togruta male must be incorrect.

"What did he say?" Sloan asked.

"It seems," Tech answered resignedly with a sigh. "That Genna or someone claiming to be Miss Carid commed here earlier this afternoon and arranged for Mohan and his family to purchase all of her holdings, including the house we just left, the orchard, and this market stall."

"I thought it sounded rather strange as well," the cheese seller took off his hat and worried it in his hands.

"But you assisted her to complete the transaction?" Tech asked him.

"She said she needed to make a new start, with her brothers all being gone and all. I sort of thought she meant to run off with you by the way the two of you were acting yesterday evening, if you'll pardon me."

Mohan rattled off several phrases in his own language that amounted to a similar translation of the Onderonian man's words.

Tech answered each of them in their own languages in turn. "No, she did not make plans to leave with me. I was hoping that one of you might have an idea of where she had gone." His regularly steady tone was close to breaking. "I have to find her and explain a misunderstanding that I ascertain she has come to believe."

Sloan squeezed his shoulder and addressed the men. "You don't happen to have any other ideas where she might be thinking of relocating?"

"Well there was the ID she commed me from. It was a foreign code. I almost didn't answer it. Thought it might be about speeder insurance," the cheese seller offered.

Tech perked up. "Do you have the ID saved on your unit?"

…

"And you let her go!?" Hunter's bellow shook the museum's priceless artifacts on their pedestals and the artwork rattled against the wall. "The two of you saw fit to send Omega away with one of the people who kidnapped her?"

"Technically we didn't kidnap her. She came to us." Dalla mentioned with a shrug as she followed him out of the office to see what the fuss was about. "But if she's with Sidhe she'll be fine."

Hunter turned on the little fence and appeared about ready to do the empire a favor and go ahead and take her out.

Echo held up his mechanical appendage. "Omega hasn't commed to check in yet, but she did leave her tracking beacon on. She and the network operative were at the hotel where they said they would be and they are now headed toward the space dock."

Hunter ground his teeth and still stared down Dalla who had the grace to look a little worried at being left alone with these men. "Your operative wouldn't be planning on taking our sister off world to sell her to the highest bidder?"

"No! She wouldn't!" Mollymauk squawked.

Echo defused, "I'm comming them again. They probably couldn't answer while they were in transit."

…

It was an annoyance that they couldn't leave the planet as soon as they reached the transport at the space dock. Of course Genna understood. Nate couldn't have known ahead of time that his transport, or Vivian's rather, it had been a gift to the couple from her parents, would need to be made accessible to his ex-girlfriend's mobility vehicle.

It was incredibly kind of them to take the time, not to mention the expense, to allow for her to travel with them back to Kuat. While they waited for the necessary modifications to the ship, Nate attempted to pass the time by talking about their childhood. "Do you think you'll miss it? The house? The orchard? The marketplace?" He nudged her with his elbow playfully. "The limmie pitch?"

She tried to smile even as she noticed he didn't mention his old dorm room. All of the places he did include however, now had the unfortunate taint of memories with Tech, the way he had smiled at her that first day in the marketplace, his help translating her questions to Mohan in the orchard, his nervous agitation at the limmie pitch, and at the house…

She must have appeared indecisive because Nate reached out and took her hand. "You don't have to do this, you know? Onderon is your home. I know you said you hardly remembered Mandalore. If you don't feel safe we could alert the authorities, make sure you have some kind of protection…"

"No," she said softly. "It really is best for me to go. I just… I can't thank you and Viv enough for making this possible."

"It's no trouble." He squeezed her hand and left her alone with her thoughts.

…

Omega's comm unit had been beeping for about the past three standard minutes but she didn't dare let go of Ellie's waist while they were flying through traffic. When they made it to the section of the space dock where the private vessels were parked she reached one hand to point out the one where a hoverchair was just about to be pushed up the loading ramp. It looked as though the sleek transport hadn't been built for accessibility and had to be modified at the last minute.

"There!"

Ellie brought the bike to a halt and Omega jumped off. The little girl tore off her still beeping comm link and thrust it into Ellie's hands. "You tell them what's going on!" And then she ran yelling, "Genna wait!"

Sidhe composed herself while she kept a close eye on the reunion happening a short sprint away from her position. Then she answered the incessant beeping calmly. "'Evening. Meg's unit. How can I help you?"

She was forced to hold the unit out at arm's length while the tirade of Hunter's response spewed forth.

"Salt gods and brylks below, she's probably better off with Ellie than your distracted bunch," Dalla argued.

Ellie let them go on for a few more standard seconds until they both simultaneously paused for a breath. She took that moment to activate the visual function of the comm, waved as the image came into focus, and then spoke. "Allow me to show you something."

She directed the cam towards the reunion that was happening a few yards away. "We found her."

" We should tell Tech! " Wrecker pushed his way into the image.

Just then an alert from Echo's device made it clear that placing a comm to their absent brother would be unnecessary. They all heard Tech's determined tone as he activated the unit.

" We've been to Genna's house and the market place. It seems that she has liquidated her assets here on the planet and from a comm she placed to a fellow merchant I have been able to discern that she had made some sort of alliance with her former… friend who is now situated off world. The… Siren and I are on our way to the space dock to attempt to dissuade her from this course of action. Please do not… This is something I must do alone ."

…

Tech keyed off the transmission before any of the others could argue. He gestured for his driver to move forward. He was going to find Genna at that space dock before she could fly out of his life forever. He was going to tell her everything and then if she still wanted to leave the planet, so be it. Even better in fact if she was out of the Empire's crosshairs. No pun intended.

As they drove he rehearsed in his mind what he would say, until Sloan broke his concentration.

"Were you really serious about getting your boss to find a way to get Genna that surgery?"

"What?" Tech considered the question. "Yes, of course. I would still like to give her the opportunity to walk again, even if she is not interested in pursuing a relationship."

"She must have seemed pretty interested in pursuing the relationship last night if you stayed over at her place." His voice betrayed a smile but he kept his eyes on the road while he drove.

Tech's eyebrows rose behind his goggles. "I don't see how the events that transpired last evening are in any way your concern."

"Fair enough." Sloan shrugged. "However." He lifted one hand from the steering column to raise a finger to make his point. "You should be aware that if our Miss Carid was to, say, turn up pregnant, it might hamper the surgeon's ability to do their good work."

The clone's face flushed with color and he kept his gaze fixed on the road before them. "I am perfectly well aware of the method of human procreation and I would not think of putting Miss Carid at risk of delaying her chance at freedom from her mobility device."

"And…" Sloan gestured again with his hand, inquiring, with only a glance in Tech's direction to witness his level of embarrassment. "There has been no action up to this point to opportune that risk…"

"No," was the short answer.

Sloan nodded with a grin and let the silence ring for a few moments before he broke it again. "You know there are methods of preventing the untimely outcome if things should go very well when we find the girl. And I'm completely optimistic that we will find her before she leaves the planet and the two of you will get the chance to make up your row…"

"Look there!" Tech pointed through the wind screen. "We've reached the space dock and the private transport docking seems to be off to the left."

"Aye, aye, navigator. Veering to port."

…

"... and they all had these inhibitor chips implanted in their heads," Omega continued her explanation as rapidly as she could in hopes that Genna would accept her word.

Genna lifted her hand and touched her own temple. She remembered the scar she had noticed under the newer growth when she had cut Tech's hair and evened out the lengths. "They were being controlled?"

"All of the clones were, but the Bad Batch, that's what they call themselves, had these mutations. They thought their chips weren't active, except for Crosshair's. And then they did activate but Rex helped them to remove the chips before…"

"Genna!" The sound of Tech's voice made her heart clench.

Nathon stepped forward from where he and Vivian had been closely observing the previous conversation. "Do you want us to…" He didn't seem to know what exactly he would do against a soldier who was determined to speak to his ex, but he at least wanted her to know that he would try.

"No, it's okay. Give us a minute, please." She was willing to hear him out after everything Omega had told her.

Omega herself retreated towards Ellie while Vivian also dragged Nathon backward to give the couple some privacy.

Genna turned her chair in his direction as Tech advanced and fell to his knees before her.

"Not her boyfriend, my shebs," Vivian mumbled but Nathon was focused on something else, "Is he wearing my old tunic?"

Neither Genna nor Tech seemed to even register that any of the observers were present.

"We, our current squad, didn't have anything to do with Ret's death," he began with the most important point.

"I know, Meg told me." She reached out her hand, hesitated for a fraction of a second and then overcame her doubt to run her fingers through his hair. "She told me your brother is alive but you lost him to the Empire as surely as I lost mine."

He took her hand in his and pressed it to his lips.

"Tell me about him."

There were other things he would have rather discussed with her in this short amount of time that they had left together, but she was asking and he had promised himself that he would tell her everything. So he did.

And she listened, though some of it was a rehashing of what Omega had already quickly explained to her. It was more real coming from his own lips. She tried not to interrupt while she studied his features, memorizing every expression and inflection of his voice. How she wished they could start that day over again from the beginning.

His normal hesitation of physical proximity and actual contact with any being, seemed to be nonexistent with her as he leaned closer, craving her nearness.

She in turn welcomed him into her forgiving embrace.

"I am so sorry that we brought this danger to your doorstep. If we hadn't gotten you mixed up in all this…"

"I would have been stuck behind that fruit stand alone for the rest of my life. Tech I…"

For two very talkative people they were surely having a difficult time completing their sentences. A snatch of a line from a Bard's play came to her mind, something about how it was better to have loved and lost, but she didn't want to be the one to bring up losing each other.

One thing was abundantly clear, she did love him, and she read the same emotion deep within his brown eyes behind the lenses of those adorable goggles.

"I wasn't being mendacious when I suggested the finding of a surgeon to make you whole again for your birthday gift."

It was still her birthday wasn't it. "I guess my arguments earlier about not leaving Onderon don't matter anymore." She whimpered a laugh but a tear spilled down her cheek when she did so.

Neither of them even seemed to notice when the Havoc Marauder pulled into the parking area not far from their current position. The circle of observers that was gathering around them also went largely unheeded until the small young woman with partially pink hair thrust herself forward.

"I'll cover the cost of the surgery," she announced.

Another laugh burbled out of Genna's lips as she first gaped at the woman, then gazed in amazement back at Tech for this seeming miracle he had performed and then looked in some confusion back at the diminutive donor. "Who even are you?"

"She's Mollymauk!" Both Omega and Wrecker informed her.

"The muja girl?" Genna caught Tech's eye again and he smiled.

"They were very good and will feed a lot of people," Mollymauk replied.

"Surgery?" Another unlikely benefactress stepped forward in the form of Vivian. "You mean the spinal nerve repair? I was going to suggest that I knew someone at the Kuat University teaching hospital who specializes in that sort of thing."

The entire assembled company stared at her.

"What? My own area of study is orthopedics. That's how Nathon and I met when I was shadowing the team's medic in the locker room." She gave him a private smile. "But I've done rotations in lots of different areas and have plenty of contacts to whom I could make a referral."

"Before or after you give me a referral to the beauty school?" Genna laughed again in disbelief.

Once again the crowd sort of backed off or perhaps she and Tech just chose not to notice them in favor of focusing on each other.

"I did promise that you would dance again," he said softly.

"I had hoped you meant that we might do that together."

"So did I."

"None of this could have happened without you, the arrangement with Mohan, and going to the game and seeing Nate again, and meeting Mollymauk."

"But we have also placed you directly in the line of fire…"

She touched his lips to stop him speaking. "I have gained far more in the time I've known you than I lost in the years before we met."

"Still you will be safer on Kuat or wherever you choose to go on from there."

Genna nodded, knowing what he said to be true. "And you and your squad should get back and deliver your information so that you can go somewhere the Empire won't find you." Even if it meant it was somewhere she couldn't find him either .

She wiped tears from her eyes.

His goggles were also fogging with the moisture behind them. "I suppose that means this is ret'urcye mhi ."

She knew that Mando'a phrase. It was the word for goodbye that was literally translated as, 'maybe we'll meet again'.

"Just one more thing." Her hands grasped at the fabric of the tunic he wore. "One last kiss?"

It was a request he would never presume to deny.

You didn't really think I would end it like that?! one more chapter coming soon! and then after that check out Lux's Sister's story (that i co-authored) "Mollymauk" and you just might see some familiar faces!