Oct 2002
Disclaimer: I don't own any of this, all the characters (Except for Tasha) are property of Lucasfilm etc etc.
Hide Your Love Away
Chapter 24
Padmé was lost. She grimaced, looking at the dead end in front of her and held her glow rod high. She hated this place. It was dark, it was damp and it was creepy as all hell. It reminded her too much of the living walls on Geonosis, and there she'd had big bad Anakin watching her back. She grinned, remembering her thoughts walking down -that- particular tunnel. They'd been focused on Anakin and his sexy leather jerkin... and how to divulge him of it. Not that she'd ever reveal that memory to him. It was all she'd been able to do to keep focused on their mission.
Bringing her mind back to the present, she turned on her heel and began retracing her steps. Her feet hurt. The boots were too small and pinched her heels, making it difficult to walk very far. Not that she had a choice. By the end of this she expected her feet to be a bloody mess. Concentrating on the path, she came across the intersection she'd just crossed a few minutes earlier and turned right. She'd already been left and she'd come from straight ahead so she really only had one choice left. She sighed. It would help if she didn't feel she was walking around in circles. Holding the glow rod in front of her, she began walking down the last corridor. Silently hoping her luck wasn't so terrible as to lead her down the third hall to end in a dead end, she listened carefully. Still nothing.
She was several feet into the corridor when the sound of a boot scuffing on stone sounded behind her. Spinning around, her blaster leapt into her palm. The man who stood before her wasn't familiar.
His black hair was disheveled, his eyes barely focused above a nose that was smashed flat against one cheek. "Who are you?"
She felt her mouth go dry. "I'm lost."
"I'm... I'm..." he blinked, his eyes unfocused. "I'm... Rykezzk. You have a very unusual... Wait a minute, you're Skywalker's wife."
She paled, but her aim never wavered. "Give me one reason why I shouldn't shoot you."
"Because you're already dead. Aren't you?"
She saw him grab his head, as if in pain, and fought down her natural concern for injured people. He was an unstable threat and she couldn't chance feeling sorry for him.
She felt a tug on the weapon in her hands and increased her grip. So he was a Force Sensitive. Lovely. Where was Anakin when she needed him? She froze. Hold that thought, she was self-reliant, she didn't need her Knighted husband to take care of her problems for her. Force Sensitive or not, she knew enough about their tricks to be able to avoid or anticipate most of them.
"I wouldn't try to pull it away from me in your state, Rykezzk. I'm liable to shoot you if you try something else."
He smiled, meeting her gaze and she saw scattered focus and intelligence. Whatever blow he'd taken to the head had rattled his senses. "You're going to shoot me? Oh no, oh my, whatever shall I do?"
Her lips tightened in a firm line as he mocked her.
"You can't hurt me, Lady Skywalker. I have the Force on my side."
She shot him.
He didn't even extend one hand, just took the stun bolt straight in the chest and then grinned at her, the light in his eyes fading slightly. He finally pointed one hand at her and she recoiled. Three of his fingers were missing down to the knuckle, their stumps still smoking slightly. Her gut roiled as she realized what kind of weapon must have caused those wounds. The thought had barely crossed her mind when a single streak of Force lightening struck her.
She bit the inside of her cheek as pain raced along her nerve endings, making her hands spasm and her body shake. She shot him twice more before the blaster fell from her fingers. Excruciating pain continued to slice through her body, ruining her motor functions and rendering her helpless as she collapsed. On the verge of blacking out, she focused on the Jedi and his powers, desperate not to give him the upper hand.
He continued to jolt her with lightning, showing her no mercy and laughing manically. It was the last sound she heard as the pain rendered her unconscious.
"PADME!"
Anakin felt her sudden pain, saw the flash of an image in her mind. Rykezzk had found her. Not thinking, he began to run. He had a flash of sense 30 seconds later and began to slow. SMACK. He groaned as he hit a wall at a jog. Stuck in pitch blackness, not even the Force had been able to map the area. His head pounded, a goose egg beginning to swell on his temple. Ouch. He slowed his breathing, focusing on his heart and working his way outwards. Think! He had to think if he was going to find her. Running around in the dark slamming into walls wasn't going to help. Wait a second. Walls. He placed his hands on the wall and closed his eyes, ignoring the throbbing in his temples.
Removing his lightsaber from his belt, he ignighted it and slammed the blade through the wall. The light flickered and died. He frowned, running his hands over the weapon and checking the power cells. It seemed fine. He shrugged and ignited it again, the blue blade casting eerie shadows on the uneven, flaking substance he was pressed against. He thrust the blade into the wall and, again, it shut down. He slammed his hand into the wall and jerked back in surprise. A section of the wall was made of brittle ore. He tried again, adding the strength of the Force to his punch and his hand went through the other side. He began to tear the wall down, digging a hole for him to climb through as he stretch his senses out towards Padmé. He had to wake her up. He'd never get to her in time and she'd have to get out of this one on her own.
Padmé's return to consciousness was a painful one. Her whole body ached, pins and needles of pain racing along her nerve endings. Her mind registered her physical body as a large ache and something was groping her backside. Groping? Her mind cleared slowly. No, it was a hand. A male hand, and it was simply holding her in place. Her eyes opened carefully as something sharp stabbed at her midsection.
A view of rocky ground, barely visible in the dim light, registered and she fought to keep herself limp. She was being carried over someone's shoulder. How undignified. What had woken her up? Surely not the pain or the position, regardless of how uncomfortable she was.
A presence in her mind, a very familiar presence, made itself known. Anakin. He'd helped her awaken but could do little else. The sense of apology she received made it perfectly clear it was up to her to save herself. Lying limp by sheer force of will, she took stock of her progress. A large hand firmly clasped her posterior ensuring she didn't fall or shift. His free hand held the extra blasters, still in their holsters, the two bundles of clean clothing and the blaster carbine she'd scrounged. Her captor seemed to have misplaced his sense of balance, and was having difficulties walking a straight line. As a consequence their path was extremely erratic and her head almost hit a wall as he fell against it.
She continued to breathe shallowly, unable to take in a deep breath while her diaphragm was being punished by the man's shoulder. A plan lowly formed in her mind. It was a slim chance, but it was all she had. As the man began to stumble again, she grabbed him around the hips, flipping her legs up into his face. Something crunched and snapped as her feet connected, then continued around. Flipping her to her feet she brought him up and over her shoulder as she landed.
Padmé staggered and fell, going down atop him as his weight became too much for her to hold. She scrambled to her feet and prepared to jump away if he grabbed for her again. His eyes were closed, his breathing non-existent. She carefully checked his pulse and pulled her hand away as if burned. His neck was snapped. She could tell by the angle of his neck to the right that his spine had been snapped by her kick. She shuddered. The man, Rykezzk, may have been trying to kill or hurt her, but nobody deserved to die like that. She collected her things, tying them around her body again and then looked around. Where was she?
The sound of something scratching at a wall somewhere down the hallways brought her around to that direction. Without thinking, she leveled the blaster and backed away. Rounding a sharp turn, she holstered it and began to run. Whatever was behind that wall was not something she wanted to encounter.
Disclaimer: I don't own any of this, all the characters (Except for Tasha) are property of Lucasfilm etc etc.
Hide Your Love Away
Chapter 24
Padmé was lost. She grimaced, looking at the dead end in front of her and held her glow rod high. She hated this place. It was dark, it was damp and it was creepy as all hell. It reminded her too much of the living walls on Geonosis, and there she'd had big bad Anakin watching her back. She grinned, remembering her thoughts walking down -that- particular tunnel. They'd been focused on Anakin and his sexy leather jerkin... and how to divulge him of it. Not that she'd ever reveal that memory to him. It was all she'd been able to do to keep focused on their mission.
Bringing her mind back to the present, she turned on her heel and began retracing her steps. Her feet hurt. The boots were too small and pinched her heels, making it difficult to walk very far. Not that she had a choice. By the end of this she expected her feet to be a bloody mess. Concentrating on the path, she came across the intersection she'd just crossed a few minutes earlier and turned right. She'd already been left and she'd come from straight ahead so she really only had one choice left. She sighed. It would help if she didn't feel she was walking around in circles. Holding the glow rod in front of her, she began walking down the last corridor. Silently hoping her luck wasn't so terrible as to lead her down the third hall to end in a dead end, she listened carefully. Still nothing.
She was several feet into the corridor when the sound of a boot scuffing on stone sounded behind her. Spinning around, her blaster leapt into her palm. The man who stood before her wasn't familiar.
His black hair was disheveled, his eyes barely focused above a nose that was smashed flat against one cheek. "Who are you?"
She felt her mouth go dry. "I'm lost."
"I'm... I'm..." he blinked, his eyes unfocused. "I'm... Rykezzk. You have a very unusual... Wait a minute, you're Skywalker's wife."
She paled, but her aim never wavered. "Give me one reason why I shouldn't shoot you."
"Because you're already dead. Aren't you?"
She saw him grab his head, as if in pain, and fought down her natural concern for injured people. He was an unstable threat and she couldn't chance feeling sorry for him.
She felt a tug on the weapon in her hands and increased her grip. So he was a Force Sensitive. Lovely. Where was Anakin when she needed him? She froze. Hold that thought, she was self-reliant, she didn't need her Knighted husband to take care of her problems for her. Force Sensitive or not, she knew enough about their tricks to be able to avoid or anticipate most of them.
"I wouldn't try to pull it away from me in your state, Rykezzk. I'm liable to shoot you if you try something else."
He smiled, meeting her gaze and she saw scattered focus and intelligence. Whatever blow he'd taken to the head had rattled his senses. "You're going to shoot me? Oh no, oh my, whatever shall I do?"
Her lips tightened in a firm line as he mocked her.
"You can't hurt me, Lady Skywalker. I have the Force on my side."
She shot him.
He didn't even extend one hand, just took the stun bolt straight in the chest and then grinned at her, the light in his eyes fading slightly. He finally pointed one hand at her and she recoiled. Three of his fingers were missing down to the knuckle, their stumps still smoking slightly. Her gut roiled as she realized what kind of weapon must have caused those wounds. The thought had barely crossed her mind when a single streak of Force lightening struck her.
She bit the inside of her cheek as pain raced along her nerve endings, making her hands spasm and her body shake. She shot him twice more before the blaster fell from her fingers. Excruciating pain continued to slice through her body, ruining her motor functions and rendering her helpless as she collapsed. On the verge of blacking out, she focused on the Jedi and his powers, desperate not to give him the upper hand.
He continued to jolt her with lightning, showing her no mercy and laughing manically. It was the last sound she heard as the pain rendered her unconscious.
"PADME!"
Anakin felt her sudden pain, saw the flash of an image in her mind. Rykezzk had found her. Not thinking, he began to run. He had a flash of sense 30 seconds later and began to slow. SMACK. He groaned as he hit a wall at a jog. Stuck in pitch blackness, not even the Force had been able to map the area. His head pounded, a goose egg beginning to swell on his temple. Ouch. He slowed his breathing, focusing on his heart and working his way outwards. Think! He had to think if he was going to find her. Running around in the dark slamming into walls wasn't going to help. Wait a second. Walls. He placed his hands on the wall and closed his eyes, ignoring the throbbing in his temples.
Removing his lightsaber from his belt, he ignighted it and slammed the blade through the wall. The light flickered and died. He frowned, running his hands over the weapon and checking the power cells. It seemed fine. He shrugged and ignited it again, the blue blade casting eerie shadows on the uneven, flaking substance he was pressed against. He thrust the blade into the wall and, again, it shut down. He slammed his hand into the wall and jerked back in surprise. A section of the wall was made of brittle ore. He tried again, adding the strength of the Force to his punch and his hand went through the other side. He began to tear the wall down, digging a hole for him to climb through as he stretch his senses out towards Padmé. He had to wake her up. He'd never get to her in time and she'd have to get out of this one on her own.
Padmé's return to consciousness was a painful one. Her whole body ached, pins and needles of pain racing along her nerve endings. Her mind registered her physical body as a large ache and something was groping her backside. Groping? Her mind cleared slowly. No, it was a hand. A male hand, and it was simply holding her in place. Her eyes opened carefully as something sharp stabbed at her midsection.
A view of rocky ground, barely visible in the dim light, registered and she fought to keep herself limp. She was being carried over someone's shoulder. How undignified. What had woken her up? Surely not the pain or the position, regardless of how uncomfortable she was.
A presence in her mind, a very familiar presence, made itself known. Anakin. He'd helped her awaken but could do little else. The sense of apology she received made it perfectly clear it was up to her to save herself. Lying limp by sheer force of will, she took stock of her progress. A large hand firmly clasped her posterior ensuring she didn't fall or shift. His free hand held the extra blasters, still in their holsters, the two bundles of clean clothing and the blaster carbine she'd scrounged. Her captor seemed to have misplaced his sense of balance, and was having difficulties walking a straight line. As a consequence their path was extremely erratic and her head almost hit a wall as he fell against it.
She continued to breathe shallowly, unable to take in a deep breath while her diaphragm was being punished by the man's shoulder. A plan lowly formed in her mind. It was a slim chance, but it was all she had. As the man began to stumble again, she grabbed him around the hips, flipping her legs up into his face. Something crunched and snapped as her feet connected, then continued around. Flipping her to her feet she brought him up and over her shoulder as she landed.
Padmé staggered and fell, going down atop him as his weight became too much for her to hold. She scrambled to her feet and prepared to jump away if he grabbed for her again. His eyes were closed, his breathing non-existent. She carefully checked his pulse and pulled her hand away as if burned. His neck was snapped. She could tell by the angle of his neck to the right that his spine had been snapped by her kick. She shuddered. The man, Rykezzk, may have been trying to kill or hurt her, but nobody deserved to die like that. She collected her things, tying them around her body again and then looked around. Where was she?
The sound of something scratching at a wall somewhere down the hallways brought her around to that direction. Without thinking, she leveled the blaster and backed away. Rounding a sharp turn, she holstered it and began to run. Whatever was behind that wall was not something she wanted to encounter.