Falling For You
Author's Notes: Guess he needs rescued, huh? I know Malak's reaction to torture may seem to some to be a bit unrealistic... but it's how I react to pain (I know pain - believe me, I know pain), so :p ... and for the record, a lot of the human medical knowledge I spout in this fic is first hand (not that I've suffered exactly what Malak has... I still have a jaw, thankyouverymuch... what I lack are functional kidneys). Oh, and this chapter is the reason the fic is R-rated (well, the first chapter that shows it, anyway... later on there should hopefully be more graphic material)... ok, so I cheated a bit, but there's enough implications here to warrant it :p (that and I keep the word "fuck" out of my PG-13 material). If I were you, I'd keep my eyes open for a very literal interpretation of the Sith Code in the first scene. Oh, I almost forgot - chocolate products go to anyone who spots a certain movie-reference (should be pretty blatant, really... but telling you the movie title would just give it away).
ether-fanfic: Karath's defection... I haven't written it yet, and I'm on chapter 10 right now. Though, hopefully it should be in chapter 11.
Darth Arachne: Only 7 Jedi, because... you try convincing good little Jedi Knights and Padawans to disobey the Council, with no proof your mad scheme will work - not an easy task, and Revan delegated it to Malak, which makes it even more of a challenge. Only three colours... this concept is based in Earth mythology - white for innocence - and yes, it ends with black. Yay, you did the maths - yes, Ysalamiri - I deliberately didn't say that last chapter, because I wanted to see who would guess it... though I heard the Forceless bubble was anywhere between 1 and 20 meters for one creature, depending on its health/size.
Rascarin: Thanks.
Noop-Ni: Well, Saul is going to be the Admiral of the Sith fleet... it makes sense, therefore, that Revan and Malak knew him well enough to trust him (well, in so much that Sith Lords trust anyone)... besides, I'm featuring a few random Republic mooks we don't see in the game... and at least Saul's not the Admiral of the Republic fleet when we meet him, or anything ridiculous like that.
Trunxluvr82190: Actually, most of the Republic soldiers don't assume Revan's a guy... they just aren't certain what gender she is... it's the few Mandalorians Malak meets who just assume Revan is male... though they're Katzof, you've heard my Canderous' opinion of their clan, and it's not pleasant.
Niliav: If his place is the brig... then yes. I like to think Malak deals with him better, both here and in chapter 6.
snackfiend101: Haha! I love doing that! I absolutely love making people say/think/believe something they never thought they would! ::bows graciously:: thank you. And who else would rescue him, if not Revan? I'd consider suggesting Carth, but unfortunately, that's too plausible... he is stationed on the Defiant, at the moment ::shifty look:: ... short answer, of course Revan will save him, and yes, it was great fun to write, both the torture scene and the um, aftermath ::grins:
yeth: Ahhhhhh! Yoda-speak! ::hides under the bed, and tentatively offers you the chapter, waving it like a white flag of surrender:: lol, you know I'm kidding, right? It's not easy to portray sarcasm and jest in written text.
RollingSkull: Um... he looked, otherwise he'd not have noticed the way she dressed ::gives Skull a "duh" look:: ... besides, wait till chapter 9, then you'll see that Malak definitely knows that other females, besides Revan, exist. These misfits are Revan and Malak's "friends" (if you can call Derrin that) from the Jedi Temple, that's the only reason Malak could convince them to join him and Revan.
Prisoner 24601: Yeah, it shows how close friends they were as kids, doesn't it? Even if Calo hadn't killed Kenny then, she would have died in the Sith War - Sith Lord Revan (I'm doing my damnedest to avoid using the title "Darth", since I've discovered that Revan and Malak predate Darth Bane) would make a point of hunting her old Master down. It's crueller to Revan, and kinder to Kendra, this way. :p about the nitpicking - minor detail, too lazy to fix it - though I do appreciate mistakes being pointed out to me. Yeah, but you saw how that Force wave exhausted her - she put all her strength into it, and she has no plans to try it again in a hurry. Revan has a great deal of self-confidence... Malak doesn't know this, but she actually told off the whole effing Galactic Senate, to get them to allow her to skip the paperwork involved in joining the war.
whisper524: lol :: takes the sugar and syrup, but pointedly leaves the cookie dough where it is:: is this soon enough for you? Romance starts this chapter... and do you like my song quote?
"And maybe I'm crazy,
Oh it's crazy and it's true,
I know you can save me,
No one else can save me now but you,
As long as the planets are turning,
As long as the stars are burning,
As long as your dreams are coming true,
You'd better believe it,
That I would do anything for love."
-Meatloaf, I Would Do Anything For Love.
x x x
Chapter 4 - Love
There were no windows where he was being held. He didn't even know what time of day it was, now. He had no idea how much time had passed. But he did know that he had sixteen new scars... those, he had made a point to keep count of. He can't have been there very long, if that's all the damage his captor got around to so far... it felt like forever, though.
Every time he was cut, Rangar gave him a dose of some kolto compound - it had enough healing properties to stop the bleeding, but not enough to ease the pain. He got the feeling there was some narcotic element to the compound, as well - whenever he was given the shots, he couldn't stop himself from talking.
It annoyed the hell out of Rangar, because all he ever talked about, when asked Revan's secrets, was the list of rules she broke at the Jedi Temple, and never got caught for, when she was ten. Well, technically those were secrets... kept from the Jedi Council... but it didn't hurt her to tell them now - they had only been big important secrets when they were children. He never mentioned Mr Fuzzems, though - that one, Revan wouldn't forgive him for if he told anyone.
His captor returned to the room - for the first time, now, he had removed the helmet from his armour. Rangar's face wasn't as butt-ugly as Malak had expected... then again, that wasn't saying much - he had short brown hair, and his eyes were so dark they were almost black - a couple of scars on his face, but nothing particularly disfiguring - he looked like an average soldier/warrior type, really. Certainly not the hideous monster Malak had liked to imagine hid behind that helmet - he looked human.
He was holding the dagger, which was shining silver, once again. Malak got the feeling this man was more finicky about keeping his weaponry clean than Revan was about her appearance (even though no one saw her face but him, she was at least as vain as Cassie)... every time he finished questioning Malak, he left, and when he returned the dagger was sparkling as good as new. If it wasn't such a morbid situation, Malak might have laughed at the idea, but he learned the hard way that laughing in this man's face only made matters worse.
So far, the wounds were all surface cuts, mostly on his chest and arms. He was topless, now, because the top half of his Jedi Robes had been shredded by the dagger.
He watched Rangar walk into the room. "Why can't I use the Force here?" Malak asked coldly.
"Ah, yes. I wondered when you would notice." Rangar said smugly.
"I noticed the second I stepped into this section of the building, you rancor's ass." Malak snarled, "I only got around to asking it now, because I was screaming in pain before."
Rangar smirked at that, "That's true, I suppose. Very well, you do deserve to know." he walked over to one of the walls, and pressed a button. The wall slid back to reveal a glass enclosure containing a small lizard-like creature clinging to a potted tree. Malak recognised it instantly, though he had only ever seen pictures of these creatures before.
"Ysalamiri." he said quietly. Ysalamiri are native to Myrkr. They create a bubble around them in which the Force cannot be used. It was a natural defence against their Force-sensitive predators, and it was the reason the Jedi avoided them.
"Correct." Rangar said, smirking, "They are incredibly difficult to acquire. Expensive, too... unless you kill the middle-man."
"The smuggling ship from Myrkr... you offered them a big payoff, then just killed them." he didn't word it as a question - he knew, even without the Force to tell him, that he was right.
"That's right, yes." Rangar said calmly, "So, what do you think of my pet? His name is Bill."
"I think I'd like it better with pepper sauce and a side-salad." Malak said coldly.
"Ha!" the sharp laugh was sincere enough, though it didn't sound it, "You have a good point, Malak. I haven't fed you, have I?"
"Drop dead." Malak said with false congeniality.
"If I did that, who would you have to insult?"
"You've never met Derrin, have you?"
"No. Tell me about Derrin."
"He's a git."
"That is so informative." Rangar said sarcastically. Malak just smirked. "All right, back to Revan, then. Tell me his plans."
Malak raised an eyebrow. There was a reason that question hadn't worked before, even when Malak had been drugged - Revan wasn't a man, so Malak wouldn't answer to that wording. He would try not to answer, anyway, but those drugs brought it down to that sort of logic, rather than any sense of loyalty, however strong. "I don't know what you're talking about." he said, feigning naiveté.
Rangar rolled his eyes, "You are incredibly stubborn, you know that?" he asked.
"So I've been told." Malak said. He sounded calm, but he knew Rangar was going to cut him again for refusing to talk - he was terrified. The first time he had been cut, during his captivity, he had screamed. After that, he had gritted his teeth and remained silent. But every time, he was terrified... the pain was always excruciating. A lesser person would beg for it to stop, but Malak had too much pride to do that.
Rangar held the dagger up for Malak to see it, "You seem quite resistant to this particular form of torture... so this will be the last time I cut you."
"You give up easily." Malak said coldly.
"Are you a masochist, or something?" Rangar asked - the thought seemed to only just have occurred to him. Malak had never even considered the possibility. He did not in any way get off on pain... he just had a high tolerance for it. His obnoxiousness and flippant attitude to it had certainly disconcerted Rangar, but it hadn't been an act... even though he had been in pain.
"No. I'm not." it only struck him after he'd said it, that if he'd said he was a masochist, Rangar might not have cut him again.
"Ah, good." Rangar said, smirking, "Then this-" he thrust the dagger deep into Malak's gut, just to the left of his stomach - Malak was too surprised to stay silent - he screamed very loudly, "-should really bother you."
Malak grit his teeth, biting off the scream, as quickly as he could, "Understatement." he groaned. The wound certainly hurt more than the others, but surprisingly it wasn't bleeding as badly as he'd expected. It didn't do any permanent damage... proof that Rangar really did know what he was doing with that thing.
Rangar chuckled darkly, then pulled the blade back an inch, twisted it slightly and shoved it back into Malak, up to the hilt. Malak screamed again.
After about half a minute, when Malak caught his breath again, he looked up at Rangar and growled, "What are you trying to do with that dagger? Stab me or fuck me?" he snarled.
"Oh, now there's an idea." Rangar said, smirking.
Malak did not like that smirk at all. He tried, for the umpteenth time, to pull his wrists free of the chains that bound him... and as always, they held firm.
"Is that fear I see in your eyes, Malak?" True enough, it was the first time Malak had failed to keep his fear concealed. "It is." Rangar said, grinning, "Does that thought scare you?" he twisted the dagger again, and Malak's eyes rolled back into his head as he groaned from the pain. He didn't answer the question.
Rangar laughed, and leaned closer to Malak. Contrary to some of the comments Malak had made during previous torture sessions, Rangar's breath did not smell like a rancor's. Malak tried to back away from him, but considering he was already pinned to the wall by the dagger Rangar held in his gut, that really wasn't possible.
"It does scare you, doesn't it?" he was so close to Malak, now that their noses almost touched. Malak could see that Rangar's eyes were actually an incredibly dark shade of green. The scar over his right eyebrow left that eyelid slightly lower than the other... and that made the leer on his face even more disconcerting, right now.
Malak swallowed nervously, "What, exactly, are you implying?" he asked innocently. Malak had a fair guess what the answer would be - he wasn't blind, deaf or stupid, and you'd need to be all three not to figure it out - but he was still relatively innocent, all the same.
Revan had once told him there were three types of innocence. Malak had killed, and he was currently being tortured... but he still had some innocence left... the thought that that could be changed like this terrified him.
"Oh, I don't think you're that naive, Malak." Rangar said, still leering. Malak swallowed fearfully, trying not to panic... struggling wouldn't work when he was chained like this... he couldn't use the Force, thanks to that damnable pet of Rangar's... he needed to stay calm and think of a way out of this situation.
"What do I have to do to talk you out of this?" Malak asked quietly.
"Tell me Revan's plans." Rangar said calmly.
Malak could still feel the blade in his gut... but his fear had reduced the pain to a dull ache. He turned his head to the side, and glared viciously at the Ysalamiri. He had thought, when Rangar had started torturing him, however long ago that was now, that he had nothing to lose but Revan - he loved her and he wouldn't give her up.
But he didn't want to lose what innocence he had left to this Mandalorian. He'd rather die. Yet, in spite of this, he still wouldn't give Revan up... not even for that. He couldn't betray her.
"Go to hell." Malak said coldly.
Rangar grabbed him by the hair, forcing Malak to face him. Malak bared his teeth in threat. Rangar laughed, and pressed his lips violently to Malak's. Malak made good on his threat, and bit Rangar's lip, viciously. He tasted blood, and he felt flesh rip as Rangar backed away from him sharply.
"You son of a kinrath!" Rangar snarled, backhanding him across the face, much harder than the first time... his other hand over his mouth, trying to stop the bleeding. There was blood dripping from both their lips.
Malak's head snapped to the side, and he didn't try to turn back to face Rangar. He spat out the other man's blood, as he clenched and unclenched his fists several times, seething with anger. If only he could touch the Force, he would have wrapped it around Rangar's throat, and throttled the vile Mandalorian slowly to death.
But then something caught his attention. Lights flashing through the crack in the door. Bright colours, yellow, blue, green, and red. The sound-dampeners on the door, designed so those outside the room wouldn't have to hear Malak's screams, prevented him from hearing the source of the light, but he had a guess.
"Tell me Revan's plans, Malak." Rangar snarled, "Or I will make good my threat!"
Malak looked up at him, "I'm pretty sure Revan's plans include kicking your ass." he said bluntly.
Rangar took one step towards Malak before the door burst open.
There stood Revan, bearing two lightsabers, one emerald the other ruby, her voluminous near-white cloak concealing her face, as usual, but she was unmistakable. Flanking her were Tyr, his sapphire lightsaber raised aggressively, wearing black heavy armour that made him look almost like a Mandalorian himself, if his face hadn't been visible. And Cassie, her golden saber held almost lazily at her side, she wore a yellow Republic-issue flight-suit, smeared with blood from the fight to get to Malak's prison... and probably the reason Tyr wore black, so as not to show the bloodstains. Now Malak thought about it, Revan's cloak was perfectly spotless, which surprised him.
"About bloody time you got here." Malak said blithely.
"Couldn't leave you here to be molested by Mandalorians, now could we?" Cassie asked. Malak winced at her wording. That woman had an uncanny ability to hit the nail on the head, with painful accuracy.
"Cassie... kill." Revan said coldly, pointing to the Ysalamiri.
"With pleasure." Cassie skittered across the room towards the Ysalamiri's cage, her lightsaber raised, snake-like, to strike. Tyr swung his own lightsaber at Rangar, distracting him from Cassie. Rangar dodged, and bolted to Malak, wrenching the dagger from Malak's stomach, causing Malak to yell in pain again. Blood started pouring out of the wound and an alarming rate.
Rangar now had a weapon, which he held defensively against Tyr. Tyr attacked with a vicious flurry of blows, which Rangar barely managed to dodge or block.
"I want him alive, Tyr!" Revan snarled. Tyr could be heard to sigh, before changing tactics drastically, aiming for legs and arms instead of the torso. Rangar still defended himself.
Cassie smashed the Ysalamiri cage, and sliced the creature's head off cleanly, killing it instantly. Malak felt the Force return to him, enveloping him and embracing him like an old lover. He reached for it, desperately, still deadly angry for what Rangar tried to do to him... with a nearly feral snarl, the Force fed on his anger, gave him superhuman strength, and he pulled his wrists away from the walls, breaking the chains that held him. He was free.
He turned on Rangar, taking the short length of chain still attached to his right wrist, and while Rangar blocked a blow from Tyr's lightsaber, Malak threw the chain around Rangar's throat, and pulled it sharply.
"Malak!" Revan yelled. Malak looked up at her. "I want him alive!"
Malak growled, and let the chain fall from his left hand. He grabbed the dagger Rangar had dropped, "Let's see how you like it, rancor." he growled, and then he shoved the blade through the left side of Rangar's back, just below the ribcage. Assuming he was human, it would just shred one kidney - it wouldn't be fatal. Rangar yelled in pain, and fell to his knees, his arms wrapped around himself, as if trying to shield himself from the pain.
"That was totally unnecessary, Malak." Revan said coldly. She walked quickly over to Malak, and placed her hand over the wound at his stomach. He felt her touch through the Force as well as physically. The Force soothed the pain, and he could feel the flesh knitting itself together under her hand.
He had barely noticed the wound, in his anger and bloodlust. But now, he felt light-headed. The pool of blood - his blood - on the floor was quite spectacular. As Revan finished healing him, Malak collapsed into her arms, unconscious.
x x x
He woke in what had to be a medbay. He'd never been to any of the medical facilities in the Republic fleet, so he wasn't sure exactly where he was, but the clinical atmosphere was unmistakable. He looked around the spotless durasteel walls... the fluorescent lights imbedded in the walls and ceiling... the inactive medbot in the corner... the tables laid out with various medical tools, many of which could probably be classified as torture devices in their own right.
There was no one here. He sat up slowly. His head hurt, something awful. Like the time he and Revan had gone to Coruscant undercity and he'd gotten drunk... the next morning, he'd had a headache like this. The fluorescent lighting did not help matters. He rubbed his temples gingerly. There was a disgusting taste in his mouth... water, he decided, would be his first priority.
He slowly swung his legs off the table... or was it supposed to be a bed? It looked and felt more like a table, so that's what he'd call it. The floor was ice-cold, and his feet were bare. That was when he realised what he was wearing. A medical gown. One of those backless atrocities that even the most fashion-blind granite-slug wouldn't be seen dead within a mile of. Right, as soon as he found some water, decent clothes would be second on the list.
He stood up, shakily. His legs were a bit wobbly, as if he hadn't walked in weeks. He sincerely hoped he hadn't been out for that long. He didn't even know how long he'd been tortured by Rangar, though it couldn't really have been more than three days, if you think about it logically. He wasn't given anything to drink during that time, and the human body can't survive more than three days without water.
Once he was sure his legs would support his weight, he walked - limping slightly - over to the sink. He turned on the tap, and was grateful to see that it was pure water, and not some undrinkable sterilising fluid for cleaning bedpans, or anything equally vile. He splashed the water over his face, then cupped his hands, held them under the tap and took a grateful mouthful of water.
The sound of running water reminded him of other human bodily functions that needed attending to. Clothing suddenly went down to number three on the list, as he turned off the tap and made his way to the 'fresher attached to the medbay.
When he returned to the medbay, he found Revan sitting idly on the table he had woken on, the hood of her cloak around her shoulders, so her face was visible. She looked up at him and smiled faintly as he walked over to her. He was no longer limping, now, as his legs had become reacquainted with the subtle art of walking.
"Hello, handsome." she said brightly, "How are you feeling?"
"Hungover." he said bluntly, stifling a yawn.
She laughed, "Well, you lost a lot of blood." she explained, "That causes low blood-pressure, and can create a similar headache to a hangover. It can also make you yawn like that, too. And it's why you passed out in the first place."
Malak nodded, idly wondering how she knew all these facts she could spout at a second's notice. Still, he stored that information for future reference, anyway. "How long was I held prisoner? And how long was I then unconscious?"
"You were held prisoner for seventy hours, according to Fawkes' report on the original mission." she answered smoothly, "And you have been unconscious for forty-eight hours. You were given an intravenous saline infusion, and the medbot just sent me a report half an hour ago that you were physically fit to be released as soon as you deigned to wake up."
He nodded slowly.
"So how do you feel? Besides hungover." she asked, her tone deadpan as she mentioned the hangover comparison.
"I feel... all right." he said slowly, "Relatively speaking. I mean, I have just been tortured for three days straight." he smiled faintly, "Thanks for rescuing me, my Knight in shining armour."
Revan laughed, such a beautiful musical sound, "Cute, Malak." she said, "Should I call you my damsel in distress, then?"
Malak pulled a face, "Hell no!"
She laughed again, and he couldn't help but smile as he watched her, "Well your fashion sense certainly is in distress at the moment, Malak."
"I'm aware of that. It was on my list."
"List?" she asked, arching a single eyebrow delicately.
"Yeah... I woke up... first on the list was water... then-" he nodded towards the 'fresher from which he just came, "-and finding something decent to wear was next."
She smiled, amused, "Your thought process is so complex and unpredictable, Malak." she said sarcastically.
Malak stuck his tongue out at her.
"Oh, that's mature." she muttered, with even more sarcasm.
He sniggered, and scanned the room, looking for something to wear, "Please tell me you brought me clothes?"
"And here I thought food would have been more of a priority?" Revan asked innocently.
"I need to be dressed decently to go to the mess hall, don't I?" Malak asked bluntly.
"Hmm..." Revan stood up leisurely, and circled him, examining his attire... taking plenty of time to look at his ass, since the medical gown left it exposed. "You're right... I don't want Cassie getting that eyeful." she grinned brightly, as he blushed at her blunt statement, "I'd much rather keep you to myself." there was a mischievous twinkle in her eyes as she looked up at him.
He couldn't help but smile back at her, "Oh yeah, angel?" he asked, taking a step towards her. She backed into the table, and he placed his hands on the table, one on either side of her.
She seemed surprised. Malak knew perfectly well that they were both physically attracted to each other, but neither had admitted it to the other openly. There were subtle insinuations, and the odd lewd joke passed between them, but neither had ever acted on it before. But his latest ordeal had scared him. He was pretty certain what he felt for Revan was love, and he wanted to be with her. No one else.
"I'm not sure this is the appropriate place for this sort of behaviour, Malak." she said, her voice a little on-edge. She glanced around the room, giving the impression of a gizka in headlights.
He immediately took a step back, giving her room to breathe. He certainly wasn't going to try to push her into anything. "Whatever you want, angel."
She smiled, "I think there's some clothes over there." she noted, pointing to a small pile of dark blue fabric on one of the tables lining the walls.
Malak nodded and made his way over to retrieve the pile of clothes. He was acutely aware of the fact that Revan's eyes were on him the whole way... and while he couldn't swear to it, he was pretty sure she was staring at his ass, again. He picked up the clothes - they were some of his own Jedi robes - and idly considered getting changed right in front of Revan. But pretty much anyone could walk in through that door at any point, so he decided modesty would work better, and made his way back into the 'fresher to shower and change.
x x x
"I've seen Wookiees eat less than you, right now." Revan noted bluntly. She and Malak were in the senior officers' mess on the Defiant - only those of Commander rank or higher, and the Jedi, were allowed in here.
Revan's hood concealed her face, but Malak could still feel her eyes on him as he shovelled food into his mouth. He swallowed his current mouthful, "Have you ever even met a real live Wookiee?" he retorted, before continuing to devour the food in front of him.
"I've seen them on holovids." Revan protested, her tone slightly whining, "And I studied their language and culture. Wookiee mythology-"
"Oh please, not mythology again!" Malak complained, around a mouthful of food.
"Don't talk with your mouth full, Malak." Revan chided, grinning, "Now as I was saying-"
Malak quickly swallowed the food he had been trying to chew, only just avoiding choking on it, and said, "Come on, Revan. Please, talk about anything but mythology!"
She laughed, "All right, Malak. Anything you want." she said brightly, "We've been interrogating the Katzof general."
"Please tell me you hurt him." Malak said hopefully.
"You did that quiet effectively yourself, Malak." Revan said pointedly.
"He deserves worse." he said coldly.
"What did he do to you?" she asked, "I saw the scars on your chest... and that knife-wound in your stomach was terrible... but if a few injuries are all he did to you, you wouldn't be quite this vicious towards him."
He examined the plate in front of his for a minute... then decided he'd lost his appetite. Good thing he'd eaten enough food to last him for the next week or so, already, anyway. "He threatened me with worse." Malak said quietly... very quietly, "I almost told him what he wanted to hear because of it." he slowly looked up at Revan, "I am eternally grateful that you showed up when you did." he ran his hand subconsciously over his mouth.
Even though he couldn't see it, he could sense Revan's eyes widen, as she did the math. "The blood on your lips..." she whispered... horrified, "That honourless Hutt-spawned rat-bastard will suffer, Malak. Don't you worry about that."
Malak smirked darkly, "Thank you, angel."
Revan reached out a hand, and rested it on top of Malak's hand gently, "Anything for you, Malak." she said quietly, "I should never have sent you on that mission in the first place. I was a fool."
"You didn't know what he had planned." Malak said. He had cursed the mission he had been sent on... and he had cursed his Mandalorian captor a thousand times (many of them in quite fluent Mandalorian, Twi'leki or Huttese - he didn't have Revan's flair for languages, but he could swear in at least a dozen different alien dialects)... but he never even considered blaming Revan for sending him on that mission.
"I should have known." she said morosely, "It's my job to know what's going to happen and make it go my way. I failed you."
"You can't predict everything, Revan."
"I should be able to!" she snapped. She was angry as hell... but at herself.
Malak frowned and shifted his chair around the table until he was sitting next to Revan, rather than opposite her. He placed a comforting arm around her shoulders, "I'm all right, Revan. A few scars... nothing serious happened. Don't beat yourself up over it."
She sighed. He had expected her to shrug off his attempt at comforting her, but instead she leaned against him. He suddenly felt calmer... "Damn it, Revan." he laughed, "I'm trying to comfort you, why do you think you need to make me feel better?"
She smiled faintly, but didn't stop the waves of psychic comfort that washed over him. He had to admit, it did make him feel better.
"Revan, I'm fine, really." he protested.
"Are you sure?" she asked, looking up at him.
"Yes." he said quietly. He had gotten over the torture relatively well... as soon as the pain had gone, he had put it behind him. The threats had really scared him, though. "So tell me what I've missed of the war."
"Nothing much. The Mandalorians tried to take Talravin, two days ago... Sam's fleet stopped them, wiping out half of Dragor clan in the process. While we were distracted by their fleet over Siraun, however, Toreador and Ordo clans invaded Blemcor. That wouldn't have happened if I hadn't sent you into the trap in the first place."
Malak winced. Now that was a good reason to feel guilty. He was actually surprised his personal safety was the first reason she stated for feeling guilty over the trap. He had expected her to care more about an entire planet than one individual like him. "I'm sorry." he said quietly, "I should have been more careful."
"I shouldn't have sent you in the first place." she repeated sadly.
"It was a mistake, yes... but everyone makes mistakes... you're only human, Revan." Malak said softly, he wrapped both arms around her, hugging her protectively. This time she did shrug him off.
"I'm a Jedi. I should be better able to avoid that sort of mistake! It cost thousands of innocent lives, not to mention the fact you were tortured horribly!" she wasn't shouting, but her tone was emphatic enough that to Malak who was sitting right next to her she may as well have been. The way she said it sound like she thought his pain was the more important of the two.
"What's done is done. If we could undo it we would, but we can't, angel." he said quietly.
She sighed, "You're right. I need to focus on the present." she nodded determinedly, "We will retaliate, and the Mandalorians will pay for all the lives they have taken." she looked up at Malak, "And you can interrogate our prisoner personally."
"Thank you." he said, genuinely grateful. He would enjoy eviscerating Rangar... and being able to use the Force to heal his wounds would mean he could do much more damage than the minor cuts he sustained himself.
x x x
Revan escorted Malak back to his quarters. She was still concerned for his welfare, and she wanted to make sure he was all right.
He opened the door to his room, and made a gesture that invited her in. She gave him a quizzical look, but then smiled and stepped into his room. He closed and locked the door behind her.
He hadn't learned much about maintaining his living quarters since he was at the Jedi Temple. His room was still a bit of a pit. There was a clear path across the floor to the bed and to the desk... but the rest of the floor was covered in various types of junk, clean laundry included.
Revan wrinkled her nose as she lowered the hood of her cloak, looking around. "Malak, do you even know how to keep your room tidy?"
"I've heard rumours that some people do that sort of thing... it's not my style, though." he joked.
She grimaced, but then turned her full attention to him, "Just assure me those clothes in the corner are clean."
"They are." he answered immediately.
"I suppose I can live with that." she smiled faintly, "Why did you invite me into your room, Malak?"
"Well, you said the medbay wasn't an appropriate place..." he said. He took a step towards her, and brushed a lock of her hair behind her right ear.
The half-smile on her face showed surprise... this wasn't what she'd expected... though she did realise she probably should have expected it. She also seemed nervous. "The medbay lacks any sense of privacy." she said bluntly. A sure sign she was nervous, if she was trying to be evasive like that.
He gently placed the tips of his fingers under her chin, and tilted her face up towards his. She didn't try to stop him. Slowly, afraid of either scaring her off or making a fool of himself, he lowered his face to hers. Their lips met, for a moment.
Then she threw her arms around his neck, and returned the kiss eagerly. Startled, he wrapped his arms around her waist, still kissing her. Even through the layers of clothing, he could feel her body press against him. He was surprised that she had so suddenly changed her attitude to the idea.
He broke the kiss and whispered against her lips, "Eager, all of a sudden, aren't we?"
"Well..." she answered, looking up into his eyes carefully, "You surprised me in the medbay... but I've had time to consider the idea since then... and I decided I want it."
He raised one eyebrow, "That's good to know." didn't take her long, did it? That incident in the medbay was just a couple of hours ago.
She grinned, and kissed him again. After a couple of minutes, he broke the kiss again, for need of oxygen. He reached up and unfastened her cloak, letting it fall to the ground... but she turned quickly, and caught it before it hit the floor, "Do you have any clothes hangers?"
He blinked and stared at her.
"What? I don't want to get my cloak all creased."
"You really are vain." he muttered, "And if I had any hangers, do you seriously think I'd leave my clothes in piles on the floor?"
"Yes." she answered without hesitation... though she grinned as she said it.
He rolled his eyes, "I don't have any hangers." he said pointedly.
"Oh..." she threw her cloak at a nearby chair, which it miraculously landed neatly folded over the back of, "Then that'll have to do, I guess." when she turned back to face Malak, he had his arms folded and was giving her a sceptical look. "What?" she asked innocently.
"You are so... picky."
"And I picked you." she noted brightly.
He laughed lightly, "That's true, I suppose." he ran his hands down her arms, then reached to undo the belt of her Jedi robe.
She tilted her head to one side innocently, not trying to either stop him or help him. The way she was looking at him made him incredibly self-conscious. She didn't try to catch her Jedi robe as it fell to the floor... leaving her wearing only her off-white sleeveless undershirt, and trousers.
He gestured towards the bed. It was small, only designed for one person, but it would most likely be better than the floor... at least the bedsheets were changed regularly, the floor had yet to hear of the concept of a cleaning droid.
Revan, however, wrinkled her nose at this, "You expect me to lie down on that?" she asked prissily.
"What's wrong with it?" Malak asked defensively.
"Do you even know of the mythical theory of making a bed?"
"I've heard of it... don't see the point, since the second you lie on the bed it's un-made, anyway." he retorted.
She laughed, "Ok, you win." she said, giggling. She sat on the edge of the bed, looking up at him.
He sat next to her, and ran his fingers through her hair... it reached just past her waist, and he had always wanted to know what it felt like... it was as smooth as silk. She tilted her head slightly towards his hand, and his fingers traced down the back of her neck, until his hand rested on her shoulder.
She calmly and methodically removed his Jedi robes, under which he only wore trousers, leaving him topless. She spent some time staring at his chest, before tentatively running her fingers over where the scars had been. He wasn't sure if it was the medbot, or Revan herself... but the scars had been completely healed, and there was no visible trace of them left, not even where he had been stabbed.
"I... can't believe we're actually going to do this..." she whispered.
"If you don't want to-"
"Oh, I do." she interrupted him quickly, "I've wanted to for the last five years. I just... want to savour the moment."
x x x
Malak woke up the next morning, with Revan in his bed... her arms wrapped around his waist, and her cheek resting on his chest. Both their clothes were scattered around the room. She radiated an aura of pure contentment that he hadn't thought possible since this war started. Just looking at her made him smile.
He also felt something else... something he had felt the previous night... something inside his mind.
He gently ran his hand up from Revan's waist to brush lightly over her breast... she shivered, and quickly startled awake, immediately looking up at him, her eyes wide, "Nice wake-up call, Malak." she said, a note of laughter in her tone.
He grinned, "I thought you might like it."
She laughed lightly, and shifted slightly, still leaning against him. In the confined space of a single bed, they really couldn't have slept without making some physical contact, but Revan had seemed to like to 'snuggle' - that's the only word for it - a lot more than he had expected.
'Oh, I definitely liked it...'
Malak looked at her carefully... he was sure he'd heard her voice, but she hadn't opened her mouth. "What the-?"
She laughed again, "I was wondering when you'd notice that." she said brightly.
"Care to explain it to me?" he asked pointedly, propping himself up on his elbows, although he didn't move enough to shift her off him... and he didn't want to, either.
"We studied it in History class..." she noted.
"That doesn't mean I'm ever likely to know about it, now does it?" he asked, trying not to smirk.
She rolled her eyes in an exaggerated gesture of annoyance... the smile on her face, however, showed she was more amused than annoyed. "It's called a Force Bond, Malak. Ever heard of it?"
"Vaguely... what is it?" he asked.
"There are three types of Force bond. Parental... sibling... and lovers. Last night, I formed a Lover's Bond with you."
"Details." he said bluntly.
"A Lover's Bond can only be formed in the height of sexual ecstasy, when both partners are in love, and willing." she paused for a second, then added, "When I say willing, I mean both physically, and mentally... you had to let me into your mind as willingly as I let you into my body."
He raised an eyebrow at the way she had worded that. He remembered her telling him to look into her eyes... and a psychic sensation as he had stared onto the deep sapphire pools of her eyes... her choice of wording now was highly accurate... she had literally penetrated his mind... and he had gladly let her.
Now a part of her mind would always be there, where he could reach out and touch her. He liked this idea. He liked it a lot.
"A Force Bond can only be broken by deepest betrayal." she informed him calmly, "Even when we die, we will be together within the Force."
"Fascinating." he told her.
"There is a vague reference to Lover's Bonds in the Sith texts I took from Master Kendra's office after she died." Revan added.
"Sith texts?"
"Well the other Masters would just have thrown them out. And they had some interesting information in them." Revan said defensively.
She decided, correctly, that distraction might add to her defence, and her fingers traced a light pattern on Malak's thigh. This certainly distracted him. It also made him shiver, in a good way.
"Anyway, as I was saying..." she purred, smiling too innocently, "The Sith texts refer to it derisively as a 'Mind Fuck'."
Malak laughed out loud, "You could easily call it that, Revan."
"I know... that's why I mentioned it." she retorted, smirking.
Malak rolled his eyes, and opened his mouth to say something... but...
An explosion shook the ship. "All hands to battle stations! We are under attack!"
"Oh bugger!" Revan snarled, leaping out of the bed.
Malak sighed dramatically, "No thanks." he muttered. He couldn't even be bothered sitting up, and instead rolled out of bed and grabbed his clothes.
"Lazy." Revan chided.
He stuck his tongue out at her.
"Don't stick your tongue out at me unless you plan to use it." she retorted. She had dressed incredibly quickly, and was now making her way across the room to put her cloak on.
He repeated the immature gesture of sticking his tongue out at her, for that.
The ship shook again. "I hate Mandalorians." she growled. She stood stock-still for a moment, her eyes rolled back... then she grinned darkly, and threw her cloak on.
"What did you just do?" Malak asked.
"Realigned one of their lead ship's engine stabilisers." she said, throwing up her hood, "Much easier than Force wave in a vacuum, but not enough to totally cripple them."
Malak stood up, now fully dressed, "Impressive."
"Let's just get to the bridge." she focused through the door, "There's no one out there... which is a good thing, it means less awkward questions... let's go."
x x x
Author's Notes: Guess he needs rescued, huh? I know Malak's reaction to torture may seem to some to be a bit unrealistic... but it's how I react to pain (I know pain - believe me, I know pain), so :p ... and for the record, a lot of the human medical knowledge I spout in this fic is first hand (not that I've suffered exactly what Malak has... I still have a jaw, thankyouverymuch... what I lack are functional kidneys). Oh, and this chapter is the reason the fic is R-rated (well, the first chapter that shows it, anyway... later on there should hopefully be more graphic material)... ok, so I cheated a bit, but there's enough implications here to warrant it :p (that and I keep the word "fuck" out of my PG-13 material). If I were you, I'd keep my eyes open for a very literal interpretation of the Sith Code in the first scene. Oh, I almost forgot - chocolate products go to anyone who spots a certain movie-reference (should be pretty blatant, really... but telling you the movie title would just give it away).
ether-fanfic: Karath's defection... I haven't written it yet, and I'm on chapter 10 right now. Though, hopefully it should be in chapter 11.
Darth Arachne: Only 7 Jedi, because... you try convincing good little Jedi Knights and Padawans to disobey the Council, with no proof your mad scheme will work - not an easy task, and Revan delegated it to Malak, which makes it even more of a challenge. Only three colours... this concept is based in Earth mythology - white for innocence - and yes, it ends with black. Yay, you did the maths - yes, Ysalamiri - I deliberately didn't say that last chapter, because I wanted to see who would guess it... though I heard the Forceless bubble was anywhere between 1 and 20 meters for one creature, depending on its health/size.
Rascarin: Thanks.
Noop-Ni: Well, Saul is going to be the Admiral of the Sith fleet... it makes sense, therefore, that Revan and Malak knew him well enough to trust him (well, in so much that Sith Lords trust anyone)... besides, I'm featuring a few random Republic mooks we don't see in the game... and at least Saul's not the Admiral of the Republic fleet when we meet him, or anything ridiculous like that.
Trunxluvr82190: Actually, most of the Republic soldiers don't assume Revan's a guy... they just aren't certain what gender she is... it's the few Mandalorians Malak meets who just assume Revan is male... though they're Katzof, you've heard my Canderous' opinion of their clan, and it's not pleasant.
Niliav: If his place is the brig... then yes. I like to think Malak deals with him better, both here and in chapter 6.
snackfiend101: Haha! I love doing that! I absolutely love making people say/think/believe something they never thought they would! ::bows graciously:: thank you. And who else would rescue him, if not Revan? I'd consider suggesting Carth, but unfortunately, that's too plausible... he is stationed on the Defiant, at the moment ::shifty look:: ... short answer, of course Revan will save him, and yes, it was great fun to write, both the torture scene and the um, aftermath ::grins:
yeth: Ahhhhhh! Yoda-speak! ::hides under the bed, and tentatively offers you the chapter, waving it like a white flag of surrender:: lol, you know I'm kidding, right? It's not easy to portray sarcasm and jest in written text.
RollingSkull: Um... he looked, otherwise he'd not have noticed the way she dressed ::gives Skull a "duh" look:: ... besides, wait till chapter 9, then you'll see that Malak definitely knows that other females, besides Revan, exist. These misfits are Revan and Malak's "friends" (if you can call Derrin that) from the Jedi Temple, that's the only reason Malak could convince them to join him and Revan.
Prisoner 24601: Yeah, it shows how close friends they were as kids, doesn't it? Even if Calo hadn't killed Kenny then, she would have died in the Sith War - Sith Lord Revan (I'm doing my damnedest to avoid using the title "Darth", since I've discovered that Revan and Malak predate Darth Bane) would make a point of hunting her old Master down. It's crueller to Revan, and kinder to Kendra, this way. :p about the nitpicking - minor detail, too lazy to fix it - though I do appreciate mistakes being pointed out to me. Yeah, but you saw how that Force wave exhausted her - she put all her strength into it, and she has no plans to try it again in a hurry. Revan has a great deal of self-confidence... Malak doesn't know this, but she actually told off the whole effing Galactic Senate, to get them to allow her to skip the paperwork involved in joining the war.
whisper524: lol :: takes the sugar and syrup, but pointedly leaves the cookie dough where it is:: is this soon enough for you? Romance starts this chapter... and do you like my song quote?
"And maybe I'm crazy,
Oh it's crazy and it's true,
I know you can save me,
No one else can save me now but you,
As long as the planets are turning,
As long as the stars are burning,
As long as your dreams are coming true,
You'd better believe it,
That I would do anything for love."
-Meatloaf, I Would Do Anything For Love.
x x x
Chapter 4 - Love
There were no windows where he was being held. He didn't even know what time of day it was, now. He had no idea how much time had passed. But he did know that he had sixteen new scars... those, he had made a point to keep count of. He can't have been there very long, if that's all the damage his captor got around to so far... it felt like forever, though.
Every time he was cut, Rangar gave him a dose of some kolto compound - it had enough healing properties to stop the bleeding, but not enough to ease the pain. He got the feeling there was some narcotic element to the compound, as well - whenever he was given the shots, he couldn't stop himself from talking.
It annoyed the hell out of Rangar, because all he ever talked about, when asked Revan's secrets, was the list of rules she broke at the Jedi Temple, and never got caught for, when she was ten. Well, technically those were secrets... kept from the Jedi Council... but it didn't hurt her to tell them now - they had only been big important secrets when they were children. He never mentioned Mr Fuzzems, though - that one, Revan wouldn't forgive him for if he told anyone.
His captor returned to the room - for the first time, now, he had removed the helmet from his armour. Rangar's face wasn't as butt-ugly as Malak had expected... then again, that wasn't saying much - he had short brown hair, and his eyes were so dark they were almost black - a couple of scars on his face, but nothing particularly disfiguring - he looked like an average soldier/warrior type, really. Certainly not the hideous monster Malak had liked to imagine hid behind that helmet - he looked human.
He was holding the dagger, which was shining silver, once again. Malak got the feeling this man was more finicky about keeping his weaponry clean than Revan was about her appearance (even though no one saw her face but him, she was at least as vain as Cassie)... every time he finished questioning Malak, he left, and when he returned the dagger was sparkling as good as new. If it wasn't such a morbid situation, Malak might have laughed at the idea, but he learned the hard way that laughing in this man's face only made matters worse.
So far, the wounds were all surface cuts, mostly on his chest and arms. He was topless, now, because the top half of his Jedi Robes had been shredded by the dagger.
He watched Rangar walk into the room. "Why can't I use the Force here?" Malak asked coldly.
"Ah, yes. I wondered when you would notice." Rangar said smugly.
"I noticed the second I stepped into this section of the building, you rancor's ass." Malak snarled, "I only got around to asking it now, because I was screaming in pain before."
Rangar smirked at that, "That's true, I suppose. Very well, you do deserve to know." he walked over to one of the walls, and pressed a button. The wall slid back to reveal a glass enclosure containing a small lizard-like creature clinging to a potted tree. Malak recognised it instantly, though he had only ever seen pictures of these creatures before.
"Ysalamiri." he said quietly. Ysalamiri are native to Myrkr. They create a bubble around them in which the Force cannot be used. It was a natural defence against their Force-sensitive predators, and it was the reason the Jedi avoided them.
"Correct." Rangar said, smirking, "They are incredibly difficult to acquire. Expensive, too... unless you kill the middle-man."
"The smuggling ship from Myrkr... you offered them a big payoff, then just killed them." he didn't word it as a question - he knew, even without the Force to tell him, that he was right.
"That's right, yes." Rangar said calmly, "So, what do you think of my pet? His name is Bill."
"I think I'd like it better with pepper sauce and a side-salad." Malak said coldly.
"Ha!" the sharp laugh was sincere enough, though it didn't sound it, "You have a good point, Malak. I haven't fed you, have I?"
"Drop dead." Malak said with false congeniality.
"If I did that, who would you have to insult?"
"You've never met Derrin, have you?"
"No. Tell me about Derrin."
"He's a git."
"That is so informative." Rangar said sarcastically. Malak just smirked. "All right, back to Revan, then. Tell me his plans."
Malak raised an eyebrow. There was a reason that question hadn't worked before, even when Malak had been drugged - Revan wasn't a man, so Malak wouldn't answer to that wording. He would try not to answer, anyway, but those drugs brought it down to that sort of logic, rather than any sense of loyalty, however strong. "I don't know what you're talking about." he said, feigning naiveté.
Rangar rolled his eyes, "You are incredibly stubborn, you know that?" he asked.
"So I've been told." Malak said. He sounded calm, but he knew Rangar was going to cut him again for refusing to talk - he was terrified. The first time he had been cut, during his captivity, he had screamed. After that, he had gritted his teeth and remained silent. But every time, he was terrified... the pain was always excruciating. A lesser person would beg for it to stop, but Malak had too much pride to do that.
Rangar held the dagger up for Malak to see it, "You seem quite resistant to this particular form of torture... so this will be the last time I cut you."
"You give up easily." Malak said coldly.
"Are you a masochist, or something?" Rangar asked - the thought seemed to only just have occurred to him. Malak had never even considered the possibility. He did not in any way get off on pain... he just had a high tolerance for it. His obnoxiousness and flippant attitude to it had certainly disconcerted Rangar, but it hadn't been an act... even though he had been in pain.
"No. I'm not." it only struck him after he'd said it, that if he'd said he was a masochist, Rangar might not have cut him again.
"Ah, good." Rangar said, smirking, "Then this-" he thrust the dagger deep into Malak's gut, just to the left of his stomach - Malak was too surprised to stay silent - he screamed very loudly, "-should really bother you."
Malak grit his teeth, biting off the scream, as quickly as he could, "Understatement." he groaned. The wound certainly hurt more than the others, but surprisingly it wasn't bleeding as badly as he'd expected. It didn't do any permanent damage... proof that Rangar really did know what he was doing with that thing.
Rangar chuckled darkly, then pulled the blade back an inch, twisted it slightly and shoved it back into Malak, up to the hilt. Malak screamed again.
After about half a minute, when Malak caught his breath again, he looked up at Rangar and growled, "What are you trying to do with that dagger? Stab me or fuck me?" he snarled.
"Oh, now there's an idea." Rangar said, smirking.
Malak did not like that smirk at all. He tried, for the umpteenth time, to pull his wrists free of the chains that bound him... and as always, they held firm.
"Is that fear I see in your eyes, Malak?" True enough, it was the first time Malak had failed to keep his fear concealed. "It is." Rangar said, grinning, "Does that thought scare you?" he twisted the dagger again, and Malak's eyes rolled back into his head as he groaned from the pain. He didn't answer the question.
Rangar laughed, and leaned closer to Malak. Contrary to some of the comments Malak had made during previous torture sessions, Rangar's breath did not smell like a rancor's. Malak tried to back away from him, but considering he was already pinned to the wall by the dagger Rangar held in his gut, that really wasn't possible.
"It does scare you, doesn't it?" he was so close to Malak, now that their noses almost touched. Malak could see that Rangar's eyes were actually an incredibly dark shade of green. The scar over his right eyebrow left that eyelid slightly lower than the other... and that made the leer on his face even more disconcerting, right now.
Malak swallowed nervously, "What, exactly, are you implying?" he asked innocently. Malak had a fair guess what the answer would be - he wasn't blind, deaf or stupid, and you'd need to be all three not to figure it out - but he was still relatively innocent, all the same.
Revan had once told him there were three types of innocence. Malak had killed, and he was currently being tortured... but he still had some innocence left... the thought that that could be changed like this terrified him.
"Oh, I don't think you're that naive, Malak." Rangar said, still leering. Malak swallowed fearfully, trying not to panic... struggling wouldn't work when he was chained like this... he couldn't use the Force, thanks to that damnable pet of Rangar's... he needed to stay calm and think of a way out of this situation.
"What do I have to do to talk you out of this?" Malak asked quietly.
"Tell me Revan's plans." Rangar said calmly.
Malak could still feel the blade in his gut... but his fear had reduced the pain to a dull ache. He turned his head to the side, and glared viciously at the Ysalamiri. He had thought, when Rangar had started torturing him, however long ago that was now, that he had nothing to lose but Revan - he loved her and he wouldn't give her up.
But he didn't want to lose what innocence he had left to this Mandalorian. He'd rather die. Yet, in spite of this, he still wouldn't give Revan up... not even for that. He couldn't betray her.
"Go to hell." Malak said coldly.
Rangar grabbed him by the hair, forcing Malak to face him. Malak bared his teeth in threat. Rangar laughed, and pressed his lips violently to Malak's. Malak made good on his threat, and bit Rangar's lip, viciously. He tasted blood, and he felt flesh rip as Rangar backed away from him sharply.
"You son of a kinrath!" Rangar snarled, backhanding him across the face, much harder than the first time... his other hand over his mouth, trying to stop the bleeding. There was blood dripping from both their lips.
Malak's head snapped to the side, and he didn't try to turn back to face Rangar. He spat out the other man's blood, as he clenched and unclenched his fists several times, seething with anger. If only he could touch the Force, he would have wrapped it around Rangar's throat, and throttled the vile Mandalorian slowly to death.
But then something caught his attention. Lights flashing through the crack in the door. Bright colours, yellow, blue, green, and red. The sound-dampeners on the door, designed so those outside the room wouldn't have to hear Malak's screams, prevented him from hearing the source of the light, but he had a guess.
"Tell me Revan's plans, Malak." Rangar snarled, "Or I will make good my threat!"
Malak looked up at him, "I'm pretty sure Revan's plans include kicking your ass." he said bluntly.
Rangar took one step towards Malak before the door burst open.
There stood Revan, bearing two lightsabers, one emerald the other ruby, her voluminous near-white cloak concealing her face, as usual, but she was unmistakable. Flanking her were Tyr, his sapphire lightsaber raised aggressively, wearing black heavy armour that made him look almost like a Mandalorian himself, if his face hadn't been visible. And Cassie, her golden saber held almost lazily at her side, she wore a yellow Republic-issue flight-suit, smeared with blood from the fight to get to Malak's prison... and probably the reason Tyr wore black, so as not to show the bloodstains. Now Malak thought about it, Revan's cloak was perfectly spotless, which surprised him.
"About bloody time you got here." Malak said blithely.
"Couldn't leave you here to be molested by Mandalorians, now could we?" Cassie asked. Malak winced at her wording. That woman had an uncanny ability to hit the nail on the head, with painful accuracy.
"Cassie... kill." Revan said coldly, pointing to the Ysalamiri.
"With pleasure." Cassie skittered across the room towards the Ysalamiri's cage, her lightsaber raised, snake-like, to strike. Tyr swung his own lightsaber at Rangar, distracting him from Cassie. Rangar dodged, and bolted to Malak, wrenching the dagger from Malak's stomach, causing Malak to yell in pain again. Blood started pouring out of the wound and an alarming rate.
Rangar now had a weapon, which he held defensively against Tyr. Tyr attacked with a vicious flurry of blows, which Rangar barely managed to dodge or block.
"I want him alive, Tyr!" Revan snarled. Tyr could be heard to sigh, before changing tactics drastically, aiming for legs and arms instead of the torso. Rangar still defended himself.
Cassie smashed the Ysalamiri cage, and sliced the creature's head off cleanly, killing it instantly. Malak felt the Force return to him, enveloping him and embracing him like an old lover. He reached for it, desperately, still deadly angry for what Rangar tried to do to him... with a nearly feral snarl, the Force fed on his anger, gave him superhuman strength, and he pulled his wrists away from the walls, breaking the chains that held him. He was free.
He turned on Rangar, taking the short length of chain still attached to his right wrist, and while Rangar blocked a blow from Tyr's lightsaber, Malak threw the chain around Rangar's throat, and pulled it sharply.
"Malak!" Revan yelled. Malak looked up at her. "I want him alive!"
Malak growled, and let the chain fall from his left hand. He grabbed the dagger Rangar had dropped, "Let's see how you like it, rancor." he growled, and then he shoved the blade through the left side of Rangar's back, just below the ribcage. Assuming he was human, it would just shred one kidney - it wouldn't be fatal. Rangar yelled in pain, and fell to his knees, his arms wrapped around himself, as if trying to shield himself from the pain.
"That was totally unnecessary, Malak." Revan said coldly. She walked quickly over to Malak, and placed her hand over the wound at his stomach. He felt her touch through the Force as well as physically. The Force soothed the pain, and he could feel the flesh knitting itself together under her hand.
He had barely noticed the wound, in his anger and bloodlust. But now, he felt light-headed. The pool of blood - his blood - on the floor was quite spectacular. As Revan finished healing him, Malak collapsed into her arms, unconscious.
x x x
He woke in what had to be a medbay. He'd never been to any of the medical facilities in the Republic fleet, so he wasn't sure exactly where he was, but the clinical atmosphere was unmistakable. He looked around the spotless durasteel walls... the fluorescent lights imbedded in the walls and ceiling... the inactive medbot in the corner... the tables laid out with various medical tools, many of which could probably be classified as torture devices in their own right.
There was no one here. He sat up slowly. His head hurt, something awful. Like the time he and Revan had gone to Coruscant undercity and he'd gotten drunk... the next morning, he'd had a headache like this. The fluorescent lighting did not help matters. He rubbed his temples gingerly. There was a disgusting taste in his mouth... water, he decided, would be his first priority.
He slowly swung his legs off the table... or was it supposed to be a bed? It looked and felt more like a table, so that's what he'd call it. The floor was ice-cold, and his feet were bare. That was when he realised what he was wearing. A medical gown. One of those backless atrocities that even the most fashion-blind granite-slug wouldn't be seen dead within a mile of. Right, as soon as he found some water, decent clothes would be second on the list.
He stood up, shakily. His legs were a bit wobbly, as if he hadn't walked in weeks. He sincerely hoped he hadn't been out for that long. He didn't even know how long he'd been tortured by Rangar, though it couldn't really have been more than three days, if you think about it logically. He wasn't given anything to drink during that time, and the human body can't survive more than three days without water.
Once he was sure his legs would support his weight, he walked - limping slightly - over to the sink. He turned on the tap, and was grateful to see that it was pure water, and not some undrinkable sterilising fluid for cleaning bedpans, or anything equally vile. He splashed the water over his face, then cupped his hands, held them under the tap and took a grateful mouthful of water.
The sound of running water reminded him of other human bodily functions that needed attending to. Clothing suddenly went down to number three on the list, as he turned off the tap and made his way to the 'fresher attached to the medbay.
When he returned to the medbay, he found Revan sitting idly on the table he had woken on, the hood of her cloak around her shoulders, so her face was visible. She looked up at him and smiled faintly as he walked over to her. He was no longer limping, now, as his legs had become reacquainted with the subtle art of walking.
"Hello, handsome." she said brightly, "How are you feeling?"
"Hungover." he said bluntly, stifling a yawn.
She laughed, "Well, you lost a lot of blood." she explained, "That causes low blood-pressure, and can create a similar headache to a hangover. It can also make you yawn like that, too. And it's why you passed out in the first place."
Malak nodded, idly wondering how she knew all these facts she could spout at a second's notice. Still, he stored that information for future reference, anyway. "How long was I held prisoner? And how long was I then unconscious?"
"You were held prisoner for seventy hours, according to Fawkes' report on the original mission." she answered smoothly, "And you have been unconscious for forty-eight hours. You were given an intravenous saline infusion, and the medbot just sent me a report half an hour ago that you were physically fit to be released as soon as you deigned to wake up."
He nodded slowly.
"So how do you feel? Besides hungover." she asked, her tone deadpan as she mentioned the hangover comparison.
"I feel... all right." he said slowly, "Relatively speaking. I mean, I have just been tortured for three days straight." he smiled faintly, "Thanks for rescuing me, my Knight in shining armour."
Revan laughed, such a beautiful musical sound, "Cute, Malak." she said, "Should I call you my damsel in distress, then?"
Malak pulled a face, "Hell no!"
She laughed again, and he couldn't help but smile as he watched her, "Well your fashion sense certainly is in distress at the moment, Malak."
"I'm aware of that. It was on my list."
"List?" she asked, arching a single eyebrow delicately.
"Yeah... I woke up... first on the list was water... then-" he nodded towards the 'fresher from which he just came, "-and finding something decent to wear was next."
She smiled, amused, "Your thought process is so complex and unpredictable, Malak." she said sarcastically.
Malak stuck his tongue out at her.
"Oh, that's mature." she muttered, with even more sarcasm.
He sniggered, and scanned the room, looking for something to wear, "Please tell me you brought me clothes?"
"And here I thought food would have been more of a priority?" Revan asked innocently.
"I need to be dressed decently to go to the mess hall, don't I?" Malak asked bluntly.
"Hmm..." Revan stood up leisurely, and circled him, examining his attire... taking plenty of time to look at his ass, since the medical gown left it exposed. "You're right... I don't want Cassie getting that eyeful." she grinned brightly, as he blushed at her blunt statement, "I'd much rather keep you to myself." there was a mischievous twinkle in her eyes as she looked up at him.
He couldn't help but smile back at her, "Oh yeah, angel?" he asked, taking a step towards her. She backed into the table, and he placed his hands on the table, one on either side of her.
She seemed surprised. Malak knew perfectly well that they were both physically attracted to each other, but neither had admitted it to the other openly. There were subtle insinuations, and the odd lewd joke passed between them, but neither had ever acted on it before. But his latest ordeal had scared him. He was pretty certain what he felt for Revan was love, and he wanted to be with her. No one else.
"I'm not sure this is the appropriate place for this sort of behaviour, Malak." she said, her voice a little on-edge. She glanced around the room, giving the impression of a gizka in headlights.
He immediately took a step back, giving her room to breathe. He certainly wasn't going to try to push her into anything. "Whatever you want, angel."
She smiled, "I think there's some clothes over there." she noted, pointing to a small pile of dark blue fabric on one of the tables lining the walls.
Malak nodded and made his way over to retrieve the pile of clothes. He was acutely aware of the fact that Revan's eyes were on him the whole way... and while he couldn't swear to it, he was pretty sure she was staring at his ass, again. He picked up the clothes - they were some of his own Jedi robes - and idly considered getting changed right in front of Revan. But pretty much anyone could walk in through that door at any point, so he decided modesty would work better, and made his way back into the 'fresher to shower and change.
x x x
"I've seen Wookiees eat less than you, right now." Revan noted bluntly. She and Malak were in the senior officers' mess on the Defiant - only those of Commander rank or higher, and the Jedi, were allowed in here.
Revan's hood concealed her face, but Malak could still feel her eyes on him as he shovelled food into his mouth. He swallowed his current mouthful, "Have you ever even met a real live Wookiee?" he retorted, before continuing to devour the food in front of him.
"I've seen them on holovids." Revan protested, her tone slightly whining, "And I studied their language and culture. Wookiee mythology-"
"Oh please, not mythology again!" Malak complained, around a mouthful of food.
"Don't talk with your mouth full, Malak." Revan chided, grinning, "Now as I was saying-"
Malak quickly swallowed the food he had been trying to chew, only just avoiding choking on it, and said, "Come on, Revan. Please, talk about anything but mythology!"
She laughed, "All right, Malak. Anything you want." she said brightly, "We've been interrogating the Katzof general."
"Please tell me you hurt him." Malak said hopefully.
"You did that quiet effectively yourself, Malak." Revan said pointedly.
"He deserves worse." he said coldly.
"What did he do to you?" she asked, "I saw the scars on your chest... and that knife-wound in your stomach was terrible... but if a few injuries are all he did to you, you wouldn't be quite this vicious towards him."
He examined the plate in front of his for a minute... then decided he'd lost his appetite. Good thing he'd eaten enough food to last him for the next week or so, already, anyway. "He threatened me with worse." Malak said quietly... very quietly, "I almost told him what he wanted to hear because of it." he slowly looked up at Revan, "I am eternally grateful that you showed up when you did." he ran his hand subconsciously over his mouth.
Even though he couldn't see it, he could sense Revan's eyes widen, as she did the math. "The blood on your lips..." she whispered... horrified, "That honourless Hutt-spawned rat-bastard will suffer, Malak. Don't you worry about that."
Malak smirked darkly, "Thank you, angel."
Revan reached out a hand, and rested it on top of Malak's hand gently, "Anything for you, Malak." she said quietly, "I should never have sent you on that mission in the first place. I was a fool."
"You didn't know what he had planned." Malak said. He had cursed the mission he had been sent on... and he had cursed his Mandalorian captor a thousand times (many of them in quite fluent Mandalorian, Twi'leki or Huttese - he didn't have Revan's flair for languages, but he could swear in at least a dozen different alien dialects)... but he never even considered blaming Revan for sending him on that mission.
"I should have known." she said morosely, "It's my job to know what's going to happen and make it go my way. I failed you."
"You can't predict everything, Revan."
"I should be able to!" she snapped. She was angry as hell... but at herself.
Malak frowned and shifted his chair around the table until he was sitting next to Revan, rather than opposite her. He placed a comforting arm around her shoulders, "I'm all right, Revan. A few scars... nothing serious happened. Don't beat yourself up over it."
She sighed. He had expected her to shrug off his attempt at comforting her, but instead she leaned against him. He suddenly felt calmer... "Damn it, Revan." he laughed, "I'm trying to comfort you, why do you think you need to make me feel better?"
She smiled faintly, but didn't stop the waves of psychic comfort that washed over him. He had to admit, it did make him feel better.
"Revan, I'm fine, really." he protested.
"Are you sure?" she asked, looking up at him.
"Yes." he said quietly. He had gotten over the torture relatively well... as soon as the pain had gone, he had put it behind him. The threats had really scared him, though. "So tell me what I've missed of the war."
"Nothing much. The Mandalorians tried to take Talravin, two days ago... Sam's fleet stopped them, wiping out half of Dragor clan in the process. While we were distracted by their fleet over Siraun, however, Toreador and Ordo clans invaded Blemcor. That wouldn't have happened if I hadn't sent you into the trap in the first place."
Malak winced. Now that was a good reason to feel guilty. He was actually surprised his personal safety was the first reason she stated for feeling guilty over the trap. He had expected her to care more about an entire planet than one individual like him. "I'm sorry." he said quietly, "I should have been more careful."
"I shouldn't have sent you in the first place." she repeated sadly.
"It was a mistake, yes... but everyone makes mistakes... you're only human, Revan." Malak said softly, he wrapped both arms around her, hugging her protectively. This time she did shrug him off.
"I'm a Jedi. I should be better able to avoid that sort of mistake! It cost thousands of innocent lives, not to mention the fact you were tortured horribly!" she wasn't shouting, but her tone was emphatic enough that to Malak who was sitting right next to her she may as well have been. The way she said it sound like she thought his pain was the more important of the two.
"What's done is done. If we could undo it we would, but we can't, angel." he said quietly.
She sighed, "You're right. I need to focus on the present." she nodded determinedly, "We will retaliate, and the Mandalorians will pay for all the lives they have taken." she looked up at Malak, "And you can interrogate our prisoner personally."
"Thank you." he said, genuinely grateful. He would enjoy eviscerating Rangar... and being able to use the Force to heal his wounds would mean he could do much more damage than the minor cuts he sustained himself.
x x x
Revan escorted Malak back to his quarters. She was still concerned for his welfare, and she wanted to make sure he was all right.
He opened the door to his room, and made a gesture that invited her in. She gave him a quizzical look, but then smiled and stepped into his room. He closed and locked the door behind her.
He hadn't learned much about maintaining his living quarters since he was at the Jedi Temple. His room was still a bit of a pit. There was a clear path across the floor to the bed and to the desk... but the rest of the floor was covered in various types of junk, clean laundry included.
Revan wrinkled her nose as she lowered the hood of her cloak, looking around. "Malak, do you even know how to keep your room tidy?"
"I've heard rumours that some people do that sort of thing... it's not my style, though." he joked.
She grimaced, but then turned her full attention to him, "Just assure me those clothes in the corner are clean."
"They are." he answered immediately.
"I suppose I can live with that." she smiled faintly, "Why did you invite me into your room, Malak?"
"Well, you said the medbay wasn't an appropriate place..." he said. He took a step towards her, and brushed a lock of her hair behind her right ear.
The half-smile on her face showed surprise... this wasn't what she'd expected... though she did realise she probably should have expected it. She also seemed nervous. "The medbay lacks any sense of privacy." she said bluntly. A sure sign she was nervous, if she was trying to be evasive like that.
He gently placed the tips of his fingers under her chin, and tilted her face up towards his. She didn't try to stop him. Slowly, afraid of either scaring her off or making a fool of himself, he lowered his face to hers. Their lips met, for a moment.
Then she threw her arms around his neck, and returned the kiss eagerly. Startled, he wrapped his arms around her waist, still kissing her. Even through the layers of clothing, he could feel her body press against him. He was surprised that she had so suddenly changed her attitude to the idea.
He broke the kiss and whispered against her lips, "Eager, all of a sudden, aren't we?"
"Well..." she answered, looking up into his eyes carefully, "You surprised me in the medbay... but I've had time to consider the idea since then... and I decided I want it."
He raised one eyebrow, "That's good to know." didn't take her long, did it? That incident in the medbay was just a couple of hours ago.
She grinned, and kissed him again. After a couple of minutes, he broke the kiss again, for need of oxygen. He reached up and unfastened her cloak, letting it fall to the ground... but she turned quickly, and caught it before it hit the floor, "Do you have any clothes hangers?"
He blinked and stared at her.
"What? I don't want to get my cloak all creased."
"You really are vain." he muttered, "And if I had any hangers, do you seriously think I'd leave my clothes in piles on the floor?"
"Yes." she answered without hesitation... though she grinned as she said it.
He rolled his eyes, "I don't have any hangers." he said pointedly.
"Oh..." she threw her cloak at a nearby chair, which it miraculously landed neatly folded over the back of, "Then that'll have to do, I guess." when she turned back to face Malak, he had his arms folded and was giving her a sceptical look. "What?" she asked innocently.
"You are so... picky."
"And I picked you." she noted brightly.
He laughed lightly, "That's true, I suppose." he ran his hands down her arms, then reached to undo the belt of her Jedi robe.
She tilted her head to one side innocently, not trying to either stop him or help him. The way she was looking at him made him incredibly self-conscious. She didn't try to catch her Jedi robe as it fell to the floor... leaving her wearing only her off-white sleeveless undershirt, and trousers.
He gestured towards the bed. It was small, only designed for one person, but it would most likely be better than the floor... at least the bedsheets were changed regularly, the floor had yet to hear of the concept of a cleaning droid.
Revan, however, wrinkled her nose at this, "You expect me to lie down on that?" she asked prissily.
"What's wrong with it?" Malak asked defensively.
"Do you even know of the mythical theory of making a bed?"
"I've heard of it... don't see the point, since the second you lie on the bed it's un-made, anyway." he retorted.
She laughed, "Ok, you win." she said, giggling. She sat on the edge of the bed, looking up at him.
He sat next to her, and ran his fingers through her hair... it reached just past her waist, and he had always wanted to know what it felt like... it was as smooth as silk. She tilted her head slightly towards his hand, and his fingers traced down the back of her neck, until his hand rested on her shoulder.
She calmly and methodically removed his Jedi robes, under which he only wore trousers, leaving him topless. She spent some time staring at his chest, before tentatively running her fingers over where the scars had been. He wasn't sure if it was the medbot, or Revan herself... but the scars had been completely healed, and there was no visible trace of them left, not even where he had been stabbed.
"I... can't believe we're actually going to do this..." she whispered.
"If you don't want to-"
"Oh, I do." she interrupted him quickly, "I've wanted to for the last five years. I just... want to savour the moment."
x x x
Malak woke up the next morning, with Revan in his bed... her arms wrapped around his waist, and her cheek resting on his chest. Both their clothes were scattered around the room. She radiated an aura of pure contentment that he hadn't thought possible since this war started. Just looking at her made him smile.
He also felt something else... something he had felt the previous night... something inside his mind.
He gently ran his hand up from Revan's waist to brush lightly over her breast... she shivered, and quickly startled awake, immediately looking up at him, her eyes wide, "Nice wake-up call, Malak." she said, a note of laughter in her tone.
He grinned, "I thought you might like it."
She laughed lightly, and shifted slightly, still leaning against him. In the confined space of a single bed, they really couldn't have slept without making some physical contact, but Revan had seemed to like to 'snuggle' - that's the only word for it - a lot more than he had expected.
'Oh, I definitely liked it...'
Malak looked at her carefully... he was sure he'd heard her voice, but she hadn't opened her mouth. "What the-?"
She laughed again, "I was wondering when you'd notice that." she said brightly.
"Care to explain it to me?" he asked pointedly, propping himself up on his elbows, although he didn't move enough to shift her off him... and he didn't want to, either.
"We studied it in History class..." she noted.
"That doesn't mean I'm ever likely to know about it, now does it?" he asked, trying not to smirk.
She rolled her eyes in an exaggerated gesture of annoyance... the smile on her face, however, showed she was more amused than annoyed. "It's called a Force Bond, Malak. Ever heard of it?"
"Vaguely... what is it?" he asked.
"There are three types of Force bond. Parental... sibling... and lovers. Last night, I formed a Lover's Bond with you."
"Details." he said bluntly.
"A Lover's Bond can only be formed in the height of sexual ecstasy, when both partners are in love, and willing." she paused for a second, then added, "When I say willing, I mean both physically, and mentally... you had to let me into your mind as willingly as I let you into my body."
He raised an eyebrow at the way she had worded that. He remembered her telling him to look into her eyes... and a psychic sensation as he had stared onto the deep sapphire pools of her eyes... her choice of wording now was highly accurate... she had literally penetrated his mind... and he had gladly let her.
Now a part of her mind would always be there, where he could reach out and touch her. He liked this idea. He liked it a lot.
"A Force Bond can only be broken by deepest betrayal." she informed him calmly, "Even when we die, we will be together within the Force."
"Fascinating." he told her.
"There is a vague reference to Lover's Bonds in the Sith texts I took from Master Kendra's office after she died." Revan added.
"Sith texts?"
"Well the other Masters would just have thrown them out. And they had some interesting information in them." Revan said defensively.
She decided, correctly, that distraction might add to her defence, and her fingers traced a light pattern on Malak's thigh. This certainly distracted him. It also made him shiver, in a good way.
"Anyway, as I was saying..." she purred, smiling too innocently, "The Sith texts refer to it derisively as a 'Mind Fuck'."
Malak laughed out loud, "You could easily call it that, Revan."
"I know... that's why I mentioned it." she retorted, smirking.
Malak rolled his eyes, and opened his mouth to say something... but...
An explosion shook the ship. "All hands to battle stations! We are under attack!"
"Oh bugger!" Revan snarled, leaping out of the bed.
Malak sighed dramatically, "No thanks." he muttered. He couldn't even be bothered sitting up, and instead rolled out of bed and grabbed his clothes.
"Lazy." Revan chided.
He stuck his tongue out at her.
"Don't stick your tongue out at me unless you plan to use it." she retorted. She had dressed incredibly quickly, and was now making her way across the room to put her cloak on.
He repeated the immature gesture of sticking his tongue out at her, for that.
The ship shook again. "I hate Mandalorians." she growled. She stood stock-still for a moment, her eyes rolled back... then she grinned darkly, and threw her cloak on.
"What did you just do?" Malak asked.
"Realigned one of their lead ship's engine stabilisers." she said, throwing up her hood, "Much easier than Force wave in a vacuum, but not enough to totally cripple them."
Malak stood up, now fully dressed, "Impressive."
"Let's just get to the bridge." she focused through the door, "There's no one out there... which is a good thing, it means less awkward questions... let's go."
x x x