Chapter Eight – Not Your Average Targeter
Kell glowered at the device he'd planted next to the wall outside Face's office. Without it, nothing could be heard. With it, soft mutterings could be heard. Not much of an improvement. Silently he cursed Face and Adra for talking so quietly after Adra's snappy outburst. Behind him, he could hear Ryok and Cloud bouncing on the balls of their feet with anticipation. Kell's glower deepened as the voices extinguished.
A sudden "Are you serious?" came through loud and clear. Immediately Kell wished he could've heard what Adra had said that had caused Face's reaction to be as it had been. Silently he fidgeted with the device, wondering if the equipment was faulty. It certainly had been much easier to hear during Face's proposal. Another few moments of silence came, in which the only thing Kell thought he could make out was 'didn't plan this, but'. As he scowled at the contraption some more, he heard Ryok give a sigh. All of a sudden, Adra's voice was able to be heard, as if she'd moved closer to the wall they were on the other side of.
"Face, do you honestly think I've been holding out on telling you? It's not like I'm three months pregnant."
He nearly dropped the device in shock. A very slow, very mischievous grin began to spread on his face as he made out what had to have been sarcasm in the last bit. So there was something Adra wasn't telling everyone, eh? Well, there would be no secrets between the Wraiths when he got done with it.
* * * * *
Adra kissed Face's cheek before speaking, her voice hardly more than a whisper. "Thank you for understanding."
Face returned the kiss, and then led her towards the door. Before he hit the controls, he looked at Adra again. Adra felt a bit of tension and trepidation rise in her, but found that it wasn't necessary for her to worry.
"Just one more question, Adra, okay?" Adra nodded quickly to him, eyes never leaving his face. "How long do I have to get used to the idea of being a father?"
Adra laughed openly, playfully swatting him on the arm. Then she hit the controls to the door as she answered. "Oh, you're safe for another eight months and a week or so."
She saw Face flash a grin, but was out the door before he could reply. She walked towards the lounge, Face following her. Adra spotted Nicola standing at the door, an inquiring look on her face. Adra flashed her a grin in similar fashion to one Face had just sent out and Nicola grinned back. Her friend stepped aside as Adra arrived at the door, but Adra quickly reached to hug her.
"Thank you," she said softly into Nicola's ear before pulling away. Nicola nodded to Adra then led the way to a couch in the lounge. Face sat down next to Adra, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. Her hand reached up to cover his as she rested her head on his shoulder. At this point, Kell, Cloud and Ryok stalked into the room. Adra watched in semi-interest as Cloud and Ryok sat down in chairs by the bar, then with a bit more interest as Kell crossed the room to stand in front of Face and her.
The pilot stood there, hands on his hips, with something like a disapproving expression on his face. Of course, Adra realized as Kell spoke, disapproving probably was an understatement.
"Alright Adra, I've got a bone to pick with you. Care to enlighten us? I'm sure the rest of the squadron would love to know whatever Imperial secrets you told Face," Kell's face darkened. Adra saw Cloud playing with a small device on the table and immediately understood.
Rather than grace the eavesdropping Kell with an answer, she stood up and allowed her right fist a meeting with his gut. As he doubled over, gasping, she elbowed his shoulder and kicked his feet out from under him. As Kell gasped in air, Adra used the Force to keep him on the ground. Behind her, she felt the shock radiating in streams off both Cloud and Ryok.
"Actually, Kell, I've given all my Imperial secrets, as you call them, over to Iella. Before you go accusing me of keeping Imperial knowledge from you by whatever you heard in your eavesdropping, I'd suggest you be a little more of a detective. Oh, and another thing. Don't forget that my best friend is Targeter next time. Got it?"
Adra watched as Kell managed a nod, and then let him up. She turned around to look back at Face to see him holding a slightly concerned expression at bay. At once she knew it was not aimed for Kell, but rather for her sudden physical exertion. Nicola was standing behind Face with a hand over her mouth in shock. Adra couldn't help grinning at their expressions.
"Nicola, are you okay?" She asked her friend, all innocence. Nicola grinned broadly at Adra, her hand dropping from her mouth to her side.
"Yep, I'm fine. So, where'd you manage to bangle those moves from, Adra? Anyone I know?" Nicola asked with a grin.
Adra pretended to contemplate for a minute, then grinned right back. "Why yes, actually. She used to go by the name of Inyri, but I believe she goes by Targeter now. The first one wasn't hers though, I learned that one from an old...acquaintance by the name of Toviel Ail'man. It was reintroduced to me by a wonderful Yuuzhan Vong Goddess called Yun-Harla. Have you heard of any of them?"
By now she had Cloud, Ryok, Gaeriel and Nicola laughing. Nicola pretended to be thinking, just as Adra had done, but came to her conclusion much quicker. "Why yes, I believe I've had the pleasure of meeting a few of the people you've mentioned."
She and Adra exchanged another grin before Adra felt the Force presence coming off Kell shift. Quickly she spun about, just as Kell launched into an attempted attack of tackling her. Adra's left foot whipped around to connect with the point her fist had earlier knocked the air from. Kell met the floor once more as Adra flipped her braided hair over her shoulder. Tyria looked up from her table and shook her head at Adra.
"Was that really necessary?" She asked her hacking partner.
Adra glanced at Tyria, raising an eyebrow, her temper beginning to rise. "It was just as necessary as his assumptions of my withholding Imperial information and then accusing me of it. I'll leave you to weigh the differences."
Quickly as she had departed from the couch, Adra moved back to sit where she had been before Kell had found the need to provoke her into making him pay for it. Face raised an eyebrow, waiting for her to comment, it seemed. She shrugged in a silent reply and instead rested her head on Face's shoulder once more. She heard a slight laugh escape him, but didn't bother making note of what it was to. Through the corner of her eye, Adra caught sight of Nicola kicking Kell's prone form out of the way and then crossing over to sit with Bror. The two bent their heads together, Nicola obviously telling Bror something she didn't feel the need to enlighten the rest of the group to. When Bror's eyes shot up from resting on his wife's face to instead search her own, Adra would've bet all the riches she ever had that she knew the subject of the conversation.