They left Manaan as quietly as they'd arrived, the Ebon Hawk sliding off into the sky with the effortless grace she was made for.
Carth spent a lot of time in the cockpit, pulling extra shifts, and when he finally tumbled into his bunk each night he was tired enough that he didn't dream. Much.
He avoided her as much as he could, and if the others noticed, they didn't say anything. She didn't try to seek him out, just watched him with those calm, assessing eyes whenever he was in the room.
It made him feel hunted, and that made him angry.
He found himself, very late one night when sleep just wouldn't come, pacing around the swoop hangar impatiently. He realized he was going in circles and forced himself to stop.
"Statement: The master enjoys sparring when she is unable to sleep," HK said, "Experience would suggest that an exhausted meatbag succumbs to sleep more easily than a rested one."
"You know, HK, it's a wonder you haven't been invited to join the Jedi yet with wisdom like that," Carth said under his breath.
"Query: Would you like to spar?"
Kirre usually practiced with the droid for a couple of hours each day, claiming it kept her on her toes. He shrugged, finally. "Why not?" he said, and accepted the offered sparring stick.
It took him a while to realize that the droid wasn't working to capacity.
"You're going easy on me?" he said, leaning on the stick, panting a little, as he sized up the droid. "Nice of you."
"Statement: The master would be most displeased if you were to be damaged by accident," HK said unemotionally. "I myself have no preference either way."
Carth had to shake himself. For a moment there, he'd almost been flattered that the droid didn't want to kill him, as it seemed to want to kill almost everyone they encountered. "You know, HK, I think that was the nicest thing I've ever heard you say about anyone."
"Can't even handle a droid," a rumbling bass voice said from the aft hatch. "Exactly what I would expect from a Republic coward."
Carth spun, stick up. Canderous stalked through the doorway, obviously dressed for sleep.
"If I recall my history, we 'Republic cowards' handed you Mandalorians your asses during the last war," Carth said, his temper flaring.
Canderous grinned, an unpleasant sight. "Then why don't you show me what you're capable of without a Jedi to hide behind," he suggested, and dropped into a fighting crouch.
Carth couldn't deny it. He'd wanted this battle since they'd first met the Mandalorian on Taris, and he welcomed it.
They circled each other warily, each looking for a weakness to exploit. Carth knew he was at least a half-dozen years younger than the other man, but Canderous had height and reach on him.
The Mandalorian swung a massive fist that, had it connected, would have laid him out for good. Carth ducked, and came back with a swing of his own that whistled past the larger's man's face.
Canderous grinned again as he waded into the fray. They moved around the bay, connecting as often as not, while the droid watched on impassively.
Carth felt his vision darkening as his endurance started to flag. His legs were starting to feel like jelly, and the other man showed no signs of fatigue.
He spotted what he thought might be an opening, and took it, putting all of his weight behind him as he lunged forward and drove his shoulder into Canderous's gut.
The Mandalorian doubled over, and Carth brought his locked hands up to meet the other man's chin. Only it didn't work out quite right.
Canderous somehow got an arm up in time to catch his wrist, then flipped him over onto his back on the cold steel floor of the hangar, hard enough to knock the air out of him completely.
The Mandalorian reached down and hauled Carth to his feet, then held him up by the front of his shirt.
The room was spinning, he could taste blood from his split lip, and he could feel one hell of a bruise starting around his left eye.
With blood trickling out of his nose and a nasty looking gash across one cheekbone, Canderous didn't look much better, but he didn't seem to notice his injuries.
"You're a fool, Republic," he grated out, and slammed Carth against the bulkhead. The room was starting to go dark around the edges.
"Why she wants you, I'll never know." Another impact with the bulkhead, and then he was dropped unceremoniously to the deck.
When the stars cleared, he was alone.
Wearily, he pulled himself to his feet and staggered back to his quarters. He didn't bother to clean up, just collapsed backwards onto his bunk with a low exhalation of pain.
He derived a small measure of satisfaction from the knowledge that the Mandalorian would be hurting just as badly as he was tomorrow. A very small measure.
He barely registered the door to his quarters cycling open again, and groaned. "I know you haven't come to finish me off, because that would be a mercy at this point," he pointed out to the ceiling.
"Flyboy, you are a mess," a gentle voice said, and cool hands brushed the hair away from his heated forehead and gently explored the bruise around his eye. His nose relayed the faint scent of Dantooine orchids to his spinning mind.
He winced, but couldn't quite make himself insist that she leave.
"You are such a baby," she scolded. "That didn't hurt at all."
"Hey," he said, trying not to move his lips too much, "Which one of us is feeling this, anyway?"
She snorted, most impolitely. He closed his eyes, the faint rustle of cloth echoing in his ears for a moment, and then she stretched out on top of him.
"What are you-" he started, eyes flying open, and she put a finger to his lips.
"Ancient Jedi healing technique," she said solemnly, and he discovered that it hurt when he laughed, even a little.
He closed his eyes until the worst of it passed and then cracked open an eye to find himself staring into her green ones.
"You knew the charge on that enviro-suit wouldn't hold," she said, and it wasn't a question. "You knew that you wouldn't be coming back."
He couldn't deny it, and she suddenly looked frustrated, and very, very human.
"I hate you," she said, and kissed him.
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I finally have something to write an author's note about! ::dances with glee:: I'm putting it down here so it hopefully doesn't distract from the story too much.
Okay, here goes:
Thank you for the kind reviews! J
Daeana: I can't figure out why I only have two reviews either. ::looks all modest and stuff:: I think it probably has something to do with ff.net not archiving my story into the search engine properly. That *must* be it.
Krazed Kaioshin Fangirl: I picture Carth as tougher than I usually see him portrayed, because I figure that not only has he had pretty poor luck in the personal life department, he's also a soldier and a war hero. Plus he has trust issues. *Serious* trust issues. But I think it just makes him sexier. ;)