Chapter 5 - Rescue

"No way. No. Way." Atton was adamant. "I am not staying behind again while you guys go play hero and rescue her."

It had been decided that it would be best if only two people were to go up to Goto's ship to look for Jena, in an effort to sneak around unnoticed. It had also been decided that these two people would be Mira and Mical. Atton, who, until that point, had managed to keep his temper in check, felt that that was the last straw. He got the distinct impression he was purposely being kept away from the mission.

Bao-Dur and Mical glanced at each other, both appearing to be thinking the same thing. Mical cleared his throat. "Look… Atton… don't you think—"

"No. Not you. You do not talk to me right now, because I don't know what I'll do to you."

Bao-Dur stepped in. "Atton, I think I speak for everyone here when I say that it would be a bad idea for you to go on Goto's ship to rescue the General. Please hear me out," he quickly added at the first sign of hostility from Atton. Atton closed his mouth, crossed his arm and mumbled, "Fine."

"The General needs our help. She is stranded on Goto's ship, and she needs us to help her out quickly. You and I both know that this will require a rescue team that is slightly more… um… emotionally detached from the situation."

"What do you mean? I'm as emotionally detached as any of you!"

Almost everyone turned their eyes away and avoided his gaze. Mira, however looked at him square in the face and was quick to bluntly point out, "Right… and that's why you're freaking out over the thought of not being the knight in shining armor who gets to rescue the damsel in distress. That doesn't sound very emotionally detached to me."

Atton turned toward her. "Look… Mia…"

"Mira."

He shrugged. "Mira. Whatever. You've been with us what, five minutes? And last I checked you were trying to cash in on the bounty Jena has on her, so I really don't think you have much to say in this matter."

"While that may be so, the bounty hunter is right," said Kreia. "And if you stopped to think for one moment, if that is not asking too much of your abilities, you would realize that your presence would only be endangering the mission, 'Atton'… the mission, and her. This rescue mission calls for people with their wits about them, stealthily boarding the ship, not for headstrong fools to come barging into the place furiously."

"Please, Atton," pleaded Mical. "Do not endanger her further by insisting on accompanying the rescue team. She needs our help, and we are not helping her in any way by bickering amongst ourselves."

Dammit, I know he's right… why did he have to say that… now I'm going to have to agree with him. In public.

"Fine," conceded Atton. "Fine. I guess you guys make a good point. Will I at least be able to fly the damn ship there?"

"Well, there isn't really anyone else to do it, now is there?" shrugged Mandalore.

Atton sat restlessly in the Ebon Hawk's cockpit. Mical and Mira had been gone for quite some time. How long does it take to rescue one Jedi? She's probably sitting in a room, just waiting for them to come get her. The ship's not that big… What are they doing in there?

He tried his best to remain angry at Mical, because he knew that if he didn't, he would simply worry himself sick about Jena. Everyone else had stayed behind on Nar Shaddaa, so there wasn't even anybody to harass to pass the time – well, except for T3, and he wasn't about to go there.

He happened look up and saw, outside the window, about half a dozen ships aim straight for Goto's ship. What the…? Atton frowned. That did not look like a good sign. About five minute later, he heard some noises on the ship. He was about to get up to investigate, when Mical's head popped into the cockpit, yelling, "Atton, we have the Exile. Goto's ship is exploding. Get this thing running and get us the hell out of here!

Did Mical actually just say "hell"?

Atton quickly got the Hawk moving and pulled away from Goto's ship, just in time, it would seem, as he could see parts of the ship starting to blow up. He set the course back to Nar Shaddaa, at which point someone came in to see him. He knew it was Mical before he even turned around.

"How's she doing?" Atton couldn't stop himself from asking. Damn! Why couldn't he just wait and see? Clearly she was okay; otherwise Mical would have already said something. But no, he had to ask.

"She's fine – just fine. She doesn't have a scratch on her. Well, maybe one or two – we did run into a rather large collection of bounty hunters once we shut down the ship's cloaking device."

"Is that what that was – I was wondering why all these ships showed up all of a sudden. So um – where is she?"

"She's in medbay right now… resting… Just get us back to Nar Shaddaa. I'll get her to come see you when I release her."

Atton's words, "That really won't be necessary," got caught in his throat on their way out. He coughed and opened his mouth to try again. Mical was already gone. Well, that's just great. The entire ship thinks I'm lovesick with Jena. Especially after my little scene earlier… even I don't even know what that was about… but I couldn't help it, I was so worried about her! Atton laughed at himself. Worried about a Jedi… thinking I could get her out of a scrape she couldn't deal with herself… what an inflamed ego I have. Why do I always want to save her? …To protect her?

He landed the ship back on Nar Shaddaa. She hadn't come to see him yet, but he had a feeling she would very shortly. He pulled out his pazaak deck. Gotta look busy when she comes… don't want her thinking I'm just sitting here pining… bad enough everybody else does…

"Hey stranger!" a sweet voice called out from behind him. He almost got startled into dropping his pazaak deck again. How did she keep doing that? He could sense it when anyone else came up behind him, but she always surprised him. He got up and turned around. She looked so… pitiful. Her left hand sticking out from her robe was completely bandaged up… and she had a pretty bad bruise and a few minor cuts on her face. A wave of relief swept over Atton, and he found it hard to resist the urge to run over to her and hold her.

Why?

"I'm… I'm glad they got you out okay," he said, sounding a little strangled, and wondering what was wrong with his voice today.

They stood silently looking at each other. Why are things so uncomfortable now? He frowned slightly, looking away. Right. Of course. She knows about your past, moron! You managed to forget about it when you were scared for her life, but of course she didn't. She's probably here to—

His thoughts were interrupted when he noticed Jena had sneaked up next to him. He was once again startled. She has got to stop doing this to me. His stomach started feeling a little funny… was he… nervous? Well, I suppose I am… she's probably going to start badgering me with questions… or maybe she'll just kick me off the ship without—

"You've been avoiding me," she stated, matter-of-factly. It wasn't a question.

"No, I haven't!" he protested. "I—" He stopped. Oh, who was he kidding? He didn't fool anyone… least of all a Jedi. He paused and sighed. "I'm sorry," he told her in earnest. He sighed again, bracing himself for the question that would come next. Great. Now's where she asks me why I was avoiding her. He grew even more nervous.

"I hear you were worried about me," she said calmly, a little distantly.

Atton's nervousness was immediately replaced with surprise. At the back of his mind, he recalled something she had once told him, laughing at the time, "I never do anything that's expected… keeps people on their toes!" He felt a little relieved that she wasn't going to start pestering him with questions right then and there. However, once the surprise had subsided, he felt embarrassment and disbelief. Someone had told her about his little outburst before boarding Goto's ship. W-why? Who would do such a t—? He stopped, and then he understood. He did his best not to roll his eyes, but he couldn't help but sneer a little.

Mical.

"Yeah, well, we all were…" he said clumsily, blushing heavily, trying to repair the damage.

She smiled playfully. "You know, it's okay to admit you were worried about me. It doesn't make you any less of a 'manly mynock'." Was she teasing him? He had started to forget what that felt like… It felt good… "Look," she continued, "if it makes you feel any better, I was a little worried about me, too. No clue how I was going to get off that ship… or even out of that room, for that matter."

"Yeah, well, I'm not the one who got you out," he said bitterly.

"Hey, someone had to fly the ship. And for the record, I'm really glad it was you. Can you picture Mical trying to figure out what all these controls do?" she said with a twinkle in her eyes, motioning at the panel. She laughed and Atton joined in. This was definitely the Jena he knew. He felt relieved. He had wondered if things would ever be the same between them. It had been all so uncomfortable ever since Dantooine. Ever since—

Jena suddenly grew sober. "Look, I have to go… Mical wanted me to check in about these cuts I have on my face… I told him it was nothing, but he's fussing over me… over me! Silly boy," she added, shaking her head and chuckling a little. Atton laughed a bit as well, scrambling to determine whether it had been a good or a bad thing that she called Mical a boy; a silly one at that. "Anyway," she continued soberly, "there's some… stuff… I wanted to talk to you about." She saw Atton's face grow somber, and quickly added, "Don't worry, it won't be an interrogation. I just want some… information." And, as if to soften the blow, she hurriedly walked up to him, flung her arms around his shoulders, and hugged him tightly. He tensed up for a second out of sheer surprise, but then started to relax, and tentatively, and somewhat clumsily, wrapped his arms around her. Her hair tickled his chin; he always seemed to forget how short she was. He closed his eyes and sighed blissfully. For a moment, he managed to forget who he really was and felt almost at peace.

"Thanks for worrying about me," she said, her voice muffled by his jacket. She then made a sound that almost sounded like a sob. But it couldn't be – not her. He grew concerned, but she squeezed him a little harder, and he forgot all about it, squeezing her back.

Atton felt he could easily have stood with her that way all day. He was the happiest he had been since… since… well, since the last time he had felt his arms around Jena. And his lips on hers… and—

Murderer.

Kreia's voice had resounded in his mind, clear as a bell. As though she had heard it too, Jena immediately let go and backed away from him. "I should… go…" she muttered awkwardly. And just like that, she ran out the door. Atton sighed. The sight of Jena bolting from the cockpit after any kind of physical contact with him was starting to become a little too familiar.