Junked - Part 1

The rest of the journey was far more than awkward and Zaiya spent the majority curled in the cockpit and trying to rest, though not fully allowing herself to sleep. It seemed every time she had a moment to sleep lately, she was interrupted -whether by nightmares or Maul. The last two days she hadn't minded, having been as insatiable as he was.

She hadn't even known that side of herself until he had unlocked it. It was also becoming increasingly difficult to be able to lock that part of herself up again. Every time she looked at him she was reminded of those soft expressions and affectionate words he'd been so free with, and the moments she'd felt the galaxy around them fall away into bliss.

How was she supposed to come back from that?

The cold manner he now regarded her with was jarring in comparison. It hurt to look at him. Better then, to sit in the cockpit with her knees drawn up to her chest with her eyes closed. That way, if he decided to grace them with his presence she would not have to see him at all. Currently he was in one of the side rooms, probably meditating. Part of her hoped he stayed there.

"We're coming up on our location," Venn said and Zaiya opened her good eye. With a quiet sigh she unfolded herself in the seat and tapped a few buttons in which to assist her friend as they left hyperspace. The blackness of regular space surrounded them and the orb of yellow and green hung before them in the distance. The planet was tiny in comparison to others, more of an asteroid with atmospheric domes than anything. It was a traders port, where sentients would sell exotic plants, species and in their case, droids and ships. It wasn't the most affordable place, but Venn said they had someone that owed them… and Zaiya didn't want the details. Despite Venn being more than willing to give them.

She watched as the planet grew larger in the viewport and she heard the door slide open, the oppressive presence that was her Lord - full of rage and bitterness - stood at her back. She felt herself getting annoyed and even angry, Venn had told her she didn't deserve to be treated like this; and while she perhaps was not in full agreement, she did however agree that something needed to change.

He either needed to have it out and fight her as they had done in the past or… or perhaps banish her completely. At least then there would be an end to it.

Even if a deep pit opened in her chest as she thought about it. After everything… could she really accept that? Would she be able to walk away? Or would she rather he take his lightsaber and drive it through her chest instead.

It might hurt less if she chose that option.

Either way, something had to give. The tightening of her throat from her own anxiety was enough to drive her mad. With a frown she did her best to push it down and away as they came in on the docking bay.

The hangar was wide, cobbled together from various parts, as was the entire station, all built from recycled ships, scrap and reused pieces. It was rather ingenious, though it did look much like a trash heap at first glance. It was a great place to trade items inconspicuously.

Zaiya had visited only once before, and it appeared to have accumulated even more junk since the last time she'd been there.

"Alright, follow me!" Venn said, their tone was light, but there was a significant shift in mood from before. Likely due to Maul's attempted murder of the Iridonian. Zaiya knew she had to separate the two sooner rather than later. The word 'behave' was not in Venn's vocabulary.

He moved like a menacing shadow that seemed to loom over her shoulder. Maul's mood was equally foul and she was rapidly running out of patience. The sooner they got this ship, the better. She could feel something swirling in the Force within him as well, and while it nagged at her, she was still far too on edge to pay it much mind.

They passed a few smaller places, the plan was to fetch the droid after they had procured a ship, and Zaiya was distracted by a vendor off to one side as Venn grabbed some supplies of their own. In her effort to focus anywhere that was not her Lord, she failed to notice the figure approaching rapidly from her left.

[Mistress!]

Zaiya vaguely heard the call but did not think it was for her as she traded her credits for the item she wanted. An eyepatch. Relatively plain and in black, she slid it over her head and her braid, then began to replace her hood.

[Mistress!] the electronic voice buzzed louder now. Which sentient wasn't paying attention to their droid? [Mistress!] That was loud, and right by her ear! Her head snapped up to glare, only to realise the droid was speaking to her.

"What?" she asked with a start. The ocular implants of the droid seemed to shine happily. She didn't understand why it was here. For a moment she just stared back at it until she realised she recognised the tall humanoid-shaped machine. It stood tall, and was badly scuffed now, the black paint job was significantly damaged.

"Sixy?" she asked with a tilt of her head.

[Yes Mistress!] it said brightly, there was far more intonation in its modulator than she remembered. [It is a relief to see you again, I feared you had perished like the Master.]

"Lieutenant, what-" Maul began in a rough tone as he approached but stopped as he laid eyes on the droid. Zaiya looked over to him, his eyes were locked onto the droid and… he didn't seem pleased.

In fact he stood there with wide eyes like he'd seen some sort of nightmare. Maybe he had.

[Master!] Sixy wobbled toward the crimson Zabrak on its damaged leg, one of them was certainly not its original model. [I had thought you were dead!]

Maul stared at his former training droid with apprehension. He did not take his eyes off it but he did reach out in the Force. Looking for something.

"How is it you have come to be here?" he asked slowly.

[It is a long and strange tale, Master, but after your mission I was left in the training facility for some time. Eventually I must have been deactivated as I reactiated in a strange place. My memory banks had been wiped but eventually I began to recall our training, and the Mistress!] Zaiya stood on the other side of the droid, inspecting its grease-covered face.

"How is this possible?" Maul sounded disbelieving, it was not heard of for a droid to be able to regain their memories unprompted. How was it possible?

Then Zaiya realised.

"The spell," she whispered.

"What?" Maul snapped, his eyes darting to her. If she didn't know any better she might have thought he was afraid.

"Before our last mission, I was rewiring Sixy's chassis, I… may have used magick to aid me. it seems to have had more of an effect than I anticipated, I had meant to make him better able to protect you from Sidious," she explained and felt his anxiety spike in the Force.

"Did he send you?" Maul hissed to the droid. "Did Lord Sidious send you to find us?" Zaiya slowly looked at him. To anyone else he would have seemed angry, impatient. But to her there was something beyond it.

[No, I was not sent by anyone. I have been on this station for several galactic standard cycles, but I knew that I would find the Mistress again!] His expressionless head turned to her, [Mistress, I am most grateful to have regained my memories, but please do not be so invasive with me again. I am distressed to hear I was interfered with.] Zaiya frowned slightly, since when was he so emotive?

"Sure…" she said, sounding slightly confused, had her spell done all this? Or was it the result of a faulty memory wipe? Sidious would not have been so careless as to not fully wipe the droid's databanks, it had to be the spell.

"I thought we were looking at droids after we found the ship?" Venn's voice interrupted as they trotted over, they gave Sixy a once over and frowned. "Really? You want this one? It looks like a walking scrap pile."

[I will not tolerate your insult!] Sixy said, suddenly and aggressively, outstretching an arm as if to grab at Venn's face. They jumped back and Zaiya instinctively stepped forward.

"Sixy stop!" she demanded. The droid calmed at once and in a far softer voice said;

[Of course, Mistress. Do you know this creature?]

"Yes," Zaiya nodded, "they are a friend of mine."

[Hm.] Zaiya looked at Venn with a sigh.

"Venn, this is Sixy, it was once Maul's droid," she explained.

"Yyyyeaaahhh…" Venn said very slowly, lowering their arms from their defensive position. "I see the resemblance." They looked between Zaiya, Maul and the droid, likely regretting answering her call at all. "Anyway, Dran will have the ship you need, he's just down here-" they pointed down the way toward a large opening, Zaiya could only assume it was a hangar and their destination.

[I know that vendor, I can assist!] Sixy chimed in and powered off in that direction. Zaiya just watched him go, wondering where the droid's current owner was.

"And I thought this day was already weird," Venn scoffed, "c'mon, let's go get your kid." They followed the droid, leaving Zaiya to stare at them like they'd grown a second head. Venn wasn't the only one having a weird day. She headed toward the hangar and Maul too was an ever-present oppressive feeling in the Force. Relatively passive, but on the inside was something frantic like a bag of angry snakes. Something was going on with him.

She reached the area, only to find the Twi'lek that was apparently Dran, backing away with hands raised from the training droid. He had a broad frame and bulky arms, his face seemed conventionally handsome, and there was quite a bit of scarring on his arms. Zai could see why Venn might like him, from what they'd said, the Twi'lek ticked a lot of boxes regarding their taste. The alien did nothing for Zaiya however. She watched him back into a large durasteel hoist frame and smirked, he seemed terrified of Sixy.

"Keep back!" Dran cried, waving an arm at the three sentients. "The droid is crazy, it's malfunctioning! Keep away from it!"

[That does not answer my question,] Sixy said in a firm tone, it had its hands outstretched toward the vendor rather threateningly. Zaiya tilted her head and stepped closer, confused by the Twi'lek's reaction.

"To whom does the droid belong?" she asked with a frown.

"It- it doesn't belong to anyone, when it arrived here they said it just went mad, killing people… it only stopped because they got a restraining bolt on it!" Dran warned. Zaiya raised a brow, they just let the droid walk around with no one in control of it? Even when it was apparently so violent?

"Sixy will you step back from the Twi'lek please?" Zaiya said with a calm voice.

[Yes, Mistress,] Sixy immediately lowered its arms and took two small steps backward. Dran's eyes widened and darted between her and it.

"You're its mistress?' he gasped, "That means you're gonna take it away, right?" A glimmer of hope in his gaze. Zaiya looked him over before answering.

"That depends," she replied, folding her arms.

"On what?" Dran muttered hesitantly. Zaiya's monochrome lips became a feline-like smile.

"On whether we get the ship we need."

The Twi'lek seemed more than pleased to assist them, no inane questions or displays of cowardice. Maul was indeed on edge. The scrap everywhere, the loud sounds of industry in the hangar, and the wide space beyond, located within a shielded bubble. It was full of the grinding of metal, the smell of grease and tibanna, the heat from the welders. It was too much. Too familiar, too painful. He had spent just short of two years trying to be free of the memories and the madness of Lotho Minor.

Now he felt like he was back there.

Zaiya was distracted with the droid and the Iridonian and procuring a ship. She did not see his anger and feelings. These thoughts and feelings he did not dare name. He was not afraid. He would not panic. He was trained to be the one to make others afraid, not be the one to feel fear. He had conquered it! He would not succumb to it now.

He did however need to get out of here as quickly as possible.

Movement had his yellow eyes flick over, seeing Venn's arm slide around Zaiya's shoulder, watching her just accept it. Like the clone on Kamino. Too close, too personal. She slid from the smuggler's grip but it had already sparked a thought in him

He remembered the depths of that labyrinth, so dark and miserable. The madness clawing the inside of him, trying to rip its way out and tear him to pieces as it did so. For a time he thought he'd been there forever, that he would be there forever.

Then he remembered the song. The light in the darkness that called to him when he didn't even know his own name. She'd come for him. She too was wounded and scarred and yet she had come for him. Maul watched her as she inspected one of the ships and his teeth grit. She had been different when he'd woken from the tank on Kamino… and she had stood between him and the smuggler when they had dared to insult him and threatened her.

After the last two days he had thought she might understand. But the way the Iridonian was with her. The threats… were they going to take Zaiya away? Was this what he was witnessing?

He'd had the thought that he didn't need her. That she should leave. He'd been trying to convince himself of that for the last several hours. But it made his chest tighten and a lump form in his throat. He couldn't.

Was she going to leave him behind? Abandon him like his master had? It was only a matter of time, really. Yet…

[Master, your breathing has increased and your heart rate indicates a high level of stress,] TD-66 spoke, breaking away from the other two. Maul scowled, but he found he could not bring himself to speak. He dared not let them see him like this and turned away, his face hidden by his hood, though he just looked angry as usual.

He felt a familiar calm reach out to him in the Force and a tendril of her presence touched him. That did it. His hand grasped the side of the table beside him and a crate full of tools crashed to the floor. The other hand reached for his lightsaber, the anger in him boiling up.

A second later he felt a firm grip on his wrist. Zaiya positioned herself to block him from looking out to the rest of the junkyard, or from anyone seeing him. She held his wrist from grasping his weapon and squeezed gently.

"Sire," she whispered, urgency in her voice, her lips brushing his cheek. He let out a strained sound and tried to push her off, but he found he couldn't move. His breathing was laboured and his other hand gripped the front of her vest tightly. Her second hand came to rest at the base of his throat, a gentle, grounding touch.

"Breathe with me," she whispered, and began taking slow, measured breaths, in and out. He did his best to match them, listening to the sound of her own.

A vision formed in his mind and he could see a younger and unscarred Zaiya running along a much smaller Venn. Why was he seeing this? They looked frightened, searching desperately for something.

"Are you alright?" Venn asked, their voice strained.

"'M fine, you were the one they went for…" Zaiya replied with a rasping tone. She didn't sound well, and Maul moved closer, seeing that she had a hand over her shoulder - she was bleeding! Despite it being a memory, and clearly Zaiya had recovered, Maul could not help but feel his chest tighten.

He didn't like seeing her wounded.

The two made their way to a small alcove and hunkered down, the sounds of blaster fire and shouts getting closer.

"You should go," Zaiya whispered, "Adaji's on his way, you should hide until you get the all clear." She sank against the wall of their little corner, her expressive face contorted in pain as she rested against the wall. The young Nightsister held her hand over the wound and the other reached for a blaster at her hip, though her movements suggested the blaster was too heavy for her to even lift.

Maul waited for the Iridonian to abandon Zaiya, leave her there like the coward he knew them to be. Venn however surprised him, and sat beside Zaiya.

"I'm not leaving," they insisted and took up a small pouch at their belt with what looked like a very basic first aid kit. "You took a shot for me. No one's ever done that before. No one… thinks much of me. But you do. So I'm not leaving."

"I didn't do it so you would help me, I did it so you wouldn't die," Zaiya chuckled with a slanted grin. She had a waxy look to her face and Maul wanted to reach through the dream to do… something.

"Well, I'm not gonna die and neither will you," Venn insisted. They opened a bacta patch and tugged Zaiya's collar aside to press it onto her skin. She hissed as the cold gel touched the tender wound but remained still.

"You might if you stay here," she said and gripped her blaster tighter, though her expression seemed less strained.

"No way, we're gonna patch you up and you're gonna be fine!" Venn's voice sounded wobbly, like they were emotional, and as Maul looked closer, he realised they were misty-eyed, the child must have been terrified.

"It'll be alright, if they come this way, I'm a good shot-"

"No! I'm not leaving!" Ven cried. "You're my only friend and I am sticking with you! No matter what!"

Zaiya's mouth opened to reply but the sound of blaster fire sounded down the hall. Venn launched themselves against Zaiya and did their best to shield her with their body. The Dathomiri woman in turn raised her own blaster and aimed into the opening. Grim determination marring her youthful features.

A second later an armoured warrior - a Mandalorian in black and orange armour - appeared.

"Kid! You're alright!" Maul recognised him as the one Zaiya called Adaji Treshan, and it was he that swooped in and brought the two teenagers with him, telling them they were safe now and they could be tended on the ship.

With that, the memory faded.

After several minutes, Maul returned to the moment and concentrated on her touch; the movement of her chest rising and falling where his hand gripped her shirt, his grasp slackened and he felt the levels of the strange feeling subside. He'd never felt anything quite like it, not since he was very small. He refused to name it.

"I didn't put it together, sire, I'm sorry." She spoke gently in his ear, her tone so warm and soft. "I didn't realise how a place like this might affect you."

"I am not affected," he sneered, and moved to pull away.

"Should I leave you?" she asked suddenly. He stopped and looked back at her. "Should I leave your side?"

"I should say yes…" he muttered. He admitted it, she weakened him. She made him feel things he had never imagined and he craved her far more than he had cared for or wanted anything. "But I cannot." There was a long pause. "Do you wish to go?"

"I would rather carve my still-beating hearts out, sire." He looked up and met her eyes with a hard look. She meant that?

Suddenly he pulled her in by the waist, speaking low in her ear, shame burning him to speak the words.

"Do not leave me," he breathed. "As your Lord, I command it."

"I will never leave your side, sire. Even if you are ashamed of me, will still stand by-"

"What?" he asked, confused. "Ashamed? Of you?"

"You put distance between us," she said plainly. "I understand it, you would not wish to be seen with someone like me-" he cut her off again, this time with his mouth slanted on hers, dragging her in and holding her tightly. He kissed her like he needed her to breathe.

How could she think he was ashamed of her?! She truly did not know how agonising it was to not touch her like this? How having her close was so soothing and comforting? Was it not obvious what she did to him?! It took all his inner strength to not pin her to the table right there. He pulled back slightly, a hand to her cheek, and pushed the eyepatch aside to look into both of her eyes.

"I put distance between us because-"

"HOLY MOTHER OF KRIFF!"

Oh kark it to the Void… He'd forgotten Venn was there. He shot a glare in their direction and then the expression softened as he looked back at Zaiya.

"We shall discuss it later," he said quietly.

"Yes sire," she replied in a breathless voice that nearly made him shiver. He had to pull away before he lost the last shred of control he had. The dregs of that awful feeling lingered, but he felt infinitely better. She wasn't leaving. She wasn't abandoning him.

"Kriff that was hot," Venn said with a low whistle, approaching Zaiya. "That zabrak is the luckiest bastard in the galaxy." He heard Zaiya scoff, but for the first time, he might actually agree with the smuggler.

Notes:

I'M BACK BABEYYYYYYYY!

You may have noticed I took an extra week. My apologies but I was in a bit of a state after the trip back and while mostly good, a lot of it was very stressful! . I am back now however.
Second thing you may notice is I am posting this chapter on Sunday and not Monday. There is a reason for that which brings me to an:

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT

During my time off I had a lot to think about ant to assess when it came to my life and the way things are going and how things are going to get significantly busier in the foreseeable future for me.
Not to worry, I am not abandoning APOD, but I am however having to drop my update schedule to once a fortnight instead of once a week. This is for two reasons:
One - to avoid burnout, I was really starting to struggle for a while there.
Two - to give me time for other projects and activities. I will probably have more of a social obligation soon with the new appointments and recommendations. I also, am planning of writing a book. Or rather I am writing it. Sins of the Father I eventually want to turn into my own novel and I have decided I need to work on it more diligently and really get cracking on the story.

So going forward, I will be posting on Sunday nights (Sydney time) one week will be APOD and the other will be Sins. It should ease my workload as I have also been doing commissions in regard to my artwork and I am always hoping to improve in that regard.

So, all that being said, I hope we liked today's chapter, it was a bit of a cliffhanger last time, but things are looking up for these two lovelorn fools! ...Let's see how long it stays that way, hm? And what was he going to say?

Thank you for everyone who has stuck with me over the last year or so, and I know there are new readers all the time so welcome welcome! As always I appreciate you all very very much! I think you're all great and if you can, please consider a like, a comment or sharing this story with another SW fan! I think you guys are the best! I hope you are all doing well! See you next week for Sins! 3