Chapter 6

- Bound

She did not know where, exactly, she was. She did not know how to get back to where she had come from. She only knew that she was living on stolen time.

Indis shivered as a blast of cool air rushed in from the large open window and ruffled the newly replaced sheer skirt. She let Togos's body fall again to the floor, careful to keep it in the shadows, his usefulness over after having donated his handprint to open the window.

The terrified dancer stepped out onto the balcony, out into the Coruscant sky. She was relieved to know that she was still on her adopted homeworld, though, looking down, she might as well have been on Duros or Raman for how far up she was. As Indis approached the railing she allowed herself a moment to catch her breath and appreciate the beauty of looking at the durasteel world from above. The multitude of speeders and cloudcars, glowlamps and night revelers lit up the darkened sky in a myriad of colours. Florescent signs related the temperature, time, economy, and services for the wealthiest members of the elite upper-class. But as Indis gazed down past the columns of housing and business, she felt an overwhelming sadness accompanied by desperation induced panic.

'What have I done?' she breathed, trying to fend off the thousands of futures rushing in all at once. She reached up to shield her head from the flood of visions as she squeezed her eyes shut. 'Not again,' she sobbed in a barely audible whisper, begging whatever forces could hear her. 'Please.'

'You all right, ma'am?'

Indis's head jerked up and her wide eyes caught a glimpse of an air taxi, its driver leaning out of the window. The driver, a middle-aged humanoid, repeated his question as Indis backed further away from the railing.

'I...' she stammered.

'Did someone hurt you?' the driver asked.

Indis stopped breathing. She looked at the man for a moment and quickly considered her options. She nodded meekly, deciding to take a chance on the stranger.

'Can I get you outta here? Take you somewhere?' he asked, his lip curling back in a snarl.

Indis bowed her head, smiling in relief inside. 'I don't have any money,' she said just loud enough for the man to hear her.

'That's okay, ma'am,' the driver said. 'I ain't gonna ask for nothin' from you.'

She looked up, the gratitude beaming in her eyes completely genuine as the air taxi turned around and the driver helped her inside. Indis glanced back at the Black Sun fortress as the vehicle sped away into the night.

'So where am I taking you?' the driver asked, glancing over at the girl next to him.

Indis quietly gave him the location of the club she called home, keeping her eyes downcast and her hands clenched on her lap.

The driver whistled through his teeth. 'That's at least an hour west of here,' he commented, more to himself than to Indis. He seemed to second-guess the wisdom of ferrying his passenger for free while other paying customers waited on corners to give him money for a short ride. But when he looked over at the girl again, her eyes squeezed shut to fight back tears, shivering in the cold night air, so small and so frightened, he turned up the heater and set his course for the lower levels.

'It's okay,' he reassured, gently patting her hand. 'I'll get ya' home.'

Indis looked up at him briefly, considering that, perhaps, there were other genuinely good people out there aside from her small circle of friends.

There is a certain thrill when riding on the edge of danger, enough to delay fatigue and strengthen the weary. It was exactly what Kavan needed in place of the respite that was forcibly delayed. It was nearing twenty-four hours since all of this had begun. Indis could be on a slave ship half way to the outer rim by now. Jax prayed she was still on Coruscant.

The night sky was lit up with multi-coloured neon lights ranging from lewd advertisements to boasts of potential fortune as they ascended the levels of the city. Jax felt his heart banging against his chest as they neared their destination. Following Kavan's dictation of directions, Jax banked sharply to the right, putting the speeder bike nearly horizontal in the process.

Indis was obviously not at Kahn's palace, but it was the last place she had been seen and the only thing the two men had to go on. Jax did not know what exactly they would find in a dead man's fortress, but a glance at the determination in his friend's eyes made him open up the throttle and speed even faster toward the new Black Sun acquisition.

'It's just around the next column,' Kavan hollered above the icy wind.

Jax checked his speed and turned, glancing solemnly at the dark palace as they passed. 'It looks vacant,' he commented.

Kavan stared at the large entrance with his jaw set. 'It sure as hell wasn't this morning.'

'Yesterday morning,' Jax corrected as they reached the end of the front wall. He turned gently, looking for a place to park. 'It's almost one.'

Jax settled for a small niche that could have been mistaken for a narrow alley were it not for the brick wall only a few meters in. 'Think anyone's home?' he asked as Kavan pushed himself off the bike.

'Why don't we just knock.'

Two young Humans lounged at the security station on the top level of the Black Sun HQ. The light hared boy was leaning back on his chair, dozing with his mouth open part way while the darker Human tried to land small grains of rice inside the opening. Just another normal night on the job. No one was foolish enough to try to, or cunning enough to succeed in breaking past the lower level securities to get to Togos. The security station on this level was for room-to-room surveillance, boasting several different monitors on a rotating sequence that panned each of the many large rooms. There was one camera, which could be manually activated or deactivated depending on orders, that was located in Togos's inner chamber. The night shift almost always had orders to leave it off.

'Ya! Score,' the dark Human yelped as he landed several grains inside the other boy's mouth, waking him up and prompting a series of aggressive attacks.

'What do you think you're doing, man?' he muttered, throwing a wild fist over the other Human's head.

The dark one laughed, throwing a handful of grains in the boy's face and subduing any further attacks. The two settled down as the pale boy tried to brush the grains out of his short hair.

'I'm bored,' the dark boy answered after a long time of staring at the changing screens.

Sporting a sly grin, the pale boy leaned over toward the consul and toyed with a few buttons. Noticing the motion, the dark boy's eyes grew wide and he reached out and grabbed the other boy's arm.

'Are you crazy? If we get caught peeking we're rancor meat!' the dark boy hissed.

Shrugging him off, the pale boy rolled his eyes. 'You woke me up. I blame you,' he stated as another screen came to life.

Both young men watched it intently as the image came into focus. For a moment they sat silently, confused.

The bed Togos was supposed to be in was empty.

'Move over,' the dark boy commanded, shoving his way in front of the pale boy to gain access to the camera controls. Hitting a few controls he panned the camera around the room. Vacant.

'Over there,' the pale boy alerted the other one, pointing to an area on the dark screen.

The camera zoomed in to an open window leading to a balcony.

'Well where the hell?' The dark boy whispered, cutting himself off abruptly as his eye caught the shadow of a hand at the bottom corner of the screen.

'Alert the sentries,' the pale boy snapped, jumping into action and grabbing a blaster rifle from under the consul.

'I blame you!' the dark boy called after him, hitting a large button which sent an alarm throughout the Black Sun HQ.

The armour clad bounty hunter slumped into the pilot's seat in the cockpit of his ship, Slave I. His retro-burners were fried, and repairs had taken longer than he had anticipated. He could have let the droids at the landing pad repair the damage while he went about his business, but he would be damned if he let a droid the work he could do better.

Fett took off his helmet and set it on the seat next to him. He glanced for a moment at its scarred and pitted surface. And to think that could have been his head, although half of the damage had been done by the armour's previous owner. Fett almost laughed when he thought of what his father would say if he saw the sad state the armour was in.

Mandalorian armour is made from a stronger compound than any other armour in the galaxy. Even the Kaminoans can't reproduce it. Respect it, and it could save your life.

Almost laughed. But not quite.

He had not slept in days, and sitting down strengthened the seduction that tried to lure him to unconsciousness. It would have won were it not for the quiet tick of a blinking light that suddenly activated. Fett reopened his eyes, which he had not noticed were closed, and scanned the consul before him. Blinking the weariness away, he leaned forward and entered the code that would play the Black Sun's radio communications through the speakers in Slave I's cockpit. He listened for a moment, gathering scattered bits of information before an amused smirk played on his lips.

Looks like Xizor got his wish, he thought dryly as he turned off the channel and donned his helmet.

Indis was dozing in the taxi, completely exhausted by her trial. The hot air being pushed through the cab soothed her muscles and helped her to relax, giving her some semblance of security in her dreams.

The driver glanced over at the sleeping Human. She looked so peaceful in her slumber, her eyes gently closed and stray hairs falling softly across her face. He did not care what had happened to her, the idea that someone would dare harm a child infuriated him. By her clothing he could only imagine what she had gone through. Though he was uncomfortable in the heat, he was glad he could help keep her warm until she got home.

He had just returned his eyes ahead of him when he heard a small yelp to his side. Indis woke up suddenly and was grasping her ankle and cringing. A quick glance revealed a thick band clasped to her ankle, buzzing with electric current and flashing a small red light.

'You're a slave,' he whispered.

Indis stopped, ignoring the pain the anklet was causing her. Her chest heaved as she struggled to get enough air into her lungs. Her eyes filled with tears she was too exhausted to fight.

The driver looked at the road, his conscience telling him to keep driving. Slowly he shook his head and sighed.

'I'm sorry,' he whispered to the terrified girl. He could not bring himself to look at her again. 'I can't take ya' any farther.'

Indis closed her eyes in a futile attempt to stop her tears.

'I can't risk it,' the driver explained, more to try to convince himself he was doing the right think. 'I've got a family back home. I'm terribly sorry.'

Indis could feel the taxi slowing to a halt and opened her eyes, glancing at the driver. 'Thank you,' she whispered as she climbed out of the taxi and stood on the walkway at the side of a wide building.

Cringing, the driver forced himself to look at her. He opened his mouth to say something but was cut off by a blast of sirens coming from behind. Looking quickly into a mirror he saw several security vehicles speeding towards them, flashing red lights and scattering civilian crafts.

'Run,' the driver commanded.

Indis looked at the lights in panic.

'Run, ma'am!'

The driver took off into the middle of the flying zone, capturing the attention of the security vehicles and drawing them down through the levels of Coruscant. Left alone and exposed on the walkway, Indis ran as fast as she could, running around the corner of the building and nearly colliding with a tall young Human leaning back against the paneled side.

Not pausing to look, Indis turned around quickly and sprinted back the way she came. She could hear the man's booted footsteps pounding behind her, gaining on her. The band on her ankle numbed her foot and made running difficult and painful. Suddenly a large hand grabbed her forearm, spinning her around to face its owner and pulling her into a tight embrace.

Indis struggled against the man, screaming in panic and beating her fists against his chest.

'Indie!' the man's voice called above her screams. 'Indie, it's me!'

Breaking free of his grasp, Indis stepped back and looked up at Kavan through tear-blurred eyes. 'Kavan,' she whispered as she gasped for air. Closing her eyes she clung tightly to him as Kavan wrapped his arms around her and gently stroked her head, trying to sooth her fear.

'I killed him,' Indis whispered, grasping the front of Kavan's shirt frantically and burying her face in his chest. 'He's dead. I didn't mean to. I...'

'Shh,' Kavan soothed, holding Indis to him tightly, fearing to let her go ever again. 'I'm here, Indie. It'll be ok.'

Suddenly jerked away from Kavan. 'No,' she choked, tears streaming down her cheeks. She looked away from her lover, terror choking her as her thoughts scrambled in her head. 'No. You can't protect me this time, Kavan.' Her fear overcoming sense and emotion, she took a step away from the man she loved and turned around. Kavan watched aghast as she peered over the edge of the permecrete walkway, into the depths of Coruscant's underbelly.

'Get away from me,' she whispered, closing her eyes and trying to force herself to not feel. 'They'll kill you too,' she added as a few more tears escaped her guard.

Dashing forward and grabbing her arm, Kavan spun her around and pulled her back toward the relative safety of the buildings. 'Dammit, Indie, we're in this together!'

The look in Kavan's dark eyes, undying love mixed with a fraternal impulse to protect the woman in his charge, broke down Indis's feeble defenses and she fell willingly back into his strong embrace. She held onto him with all that remained of her strength as he locked his arms around her, determined not to let her pull away again.

'I'm not loosing you again, Indie,' Kavan whispered into her hair. 'You've trusted me all your life, Indie. Please, don't stop now. We can beat this. We can beat it together.'

Indis looked up into his dark eyes, letting their strength add to her own, comforted by his assurance.

'Jax -' Kavan started, cut off by the roar of a speeding engine next to him.

'Kavan, get on!' Jax hollered from his speeder bike as he pulled forced it onto the walkway. He glanced nervously past the couple where four Black Sun troopers ran toward them. Kavan and Indis followed his gaze. Not giving Indis the time to argue or struggle, Kavan lifted the girl onto the bike, swinging himself up behind her as Jax opened the throttle and released the hover controls, careening them into the black depths at breakneck speed.

Wyatt cleaned his bar in silence as Olimpiu pushed the customers out the door, all the while muttering angrily about his bouncers walking out on the job and completely ignoring the two remaining men still on duty. Dima sat on one of the bar stools, nervously fingering the rim of a glass as she watched the clock mark the third hour of the new day. Kari stood next to her sister, her arm entwined around Dima's waist and her head resting on the other woman's shoulder. One of the janitors paused in his duties to look at the somber employees at the bar curiously.

'What do you think I'm paying you for!' Olimpiu hollered, shifting his bulk to make himself more intimidating. 'Get back to work or get the hell out of here!'

The scared young boy quite literally jumped at his boss's harsh barking, bowing to the creature in compliance.

'NOW!' Olimpiu roared, swatting at the boy who was, fortunately for him, quite a bit faster than the large hand moving toward him. He ducked quickly and ran to complete his assigned tasks.

Wyatt watched the encounter from his station, still idly emptying his countless stack of glasses. Normally he would have said at least something to his boss in the boy's defense, but this morning he only sighed and closed his eyes. He did not bother to look at the clock, only cast his sympathetic gaze upon the twins. He wanted to say something. He was good at comforting people. It was part of his job, to listen to the life stories of the street-folk as he served them drinks to ease their woes and offered advice to keep them paying. It was his life, and he did not mind it all that much, but his heart ached for the young people whose vitality was being sucked dry by this vampiric nightlife.

Olimpiu glared at the bar's occupants, his face contorting into a look of disgust. 'I want this room cleared out in five minutes, am I understood?' he demanded.

Wyatt looked at Olimpiu, his quiet demeanor simmering with anger, and nodded in silent obedience. Dima continued to watch the clock mark off each minute as Kari prayed to whatever controlled the galaxies living beings that her three friends would come home safely. Noting Wyatt's gesture, Olimpiu exited the club proper and disappeared into his quarters backstage.

'You'd best be off to bed,' Wyatt said quietly, catching Kari's eyes. The Twi'lek nodded, gently encouraging her sister to retire. When they had exited as well Wyatt nodded to the janitors and said, 'Just leave the rest, it'll fine.'

The boy who had so recently been scolded by his boss eyed the large bartender warily, not wanting a repeat of that encounter. 'Just go home,' Wyatt encouraged. 'You guys, at least, deserve a good rest before tomorrow. I'll take care of the chairs.'

As if a heavy weight had been suddenly lifted from the room, the three janitors exhaled in unison and scurried to put their supplies away. In mere minutes they were out the door, leaving Wyatt alone with just the sound of running water in the machines around him. With a heavy sigh he left his not quite tidied station to turn the chairs bottoms-up on top of the tables. He went about the task with slow, almost strained movements, and, when he was finished, he left one down and sat on it, resting his head on one of his hands. He had not wanted to show any of the kids how worried he was about Indis, especially not Kavan. Although he sensed that she would be safe, the way this situation had played out, the way the players were positioned filled him with a sinister sense of dread. No, little good could come of this.

Wyatt sighed again, resigning himself to the long wait before hearing news of any of his three kids, but the wait was far shorter than he anticipated. There was a sudden pounding on the door to the club, the urgency of which only served to deepen Wyatt's concern. As fast as his body could move he reached the door and released the electronic locks. Nearly bowling the large creature over in his haste, Kavan burst through the door, carrying Indis like a child.

'Wyatt, get me something to cut this, fast,' he ordered, gently setting Indis down in the chair Wyatt had so recently vacated. Holding her face near his, Kavan whispered soft words of comfort and encouragement, running his free hand up and down her bare arm to warm her. 'Hurry Wyatt,' he begged.

Indis's face was scrunched in pain. Countless pin pricks danced through the tissue of her leg, sending shocks of pain up through her body at even the lightest brush of her skirt over the affected skin. She was trying so hard to swallow the pain, but each passing second made it harder to bear. She cried softly against Kavan as Wyatt knelt down next to her.

'Her ankle,' Kavan said, resting Indis's forehead against his as he watched Wyatt handle a small electron tool. 'Wyatt, just cut the damn thing off!'

Continuing his intricate work, Wyatt disregarded the boy's hoarse plea. 'It's a tracer, son. If we break it they'll still find her here.'

Kavan took a shaky breath, bile rising in his throat from anxiety-induced nausea. He cursed, pulling Indis into a full embrace and holding her until Wyatt was able to remove the anklet. After a few minutes more of Wyatt's concentrated effort the anklet fell free from Indis's leg. The large being caught it in his hand and passed it off to Kavan.

'Get rid of it,' he ordered, scooping up the warm bundle from the chair and carrying her off toward the hallway.

As Kavan bolted back outside Olimpiu stalked into the room, catching site of his dancer in Wyatt's arms. 'Take you long enough?' He barked, blocking Wyatt's path.

'Get out of my way,' Wyatt growled, his small ears pressing flat against his head in an uncharacteristic show of aggression.

Olimpiu was mildly taken aback by this insubordination, and it was not as if he could bully the bartender like he could the humanoids in his employ. 'How dare-'

'Can it, Olimpiu,' Kavan growled, slamming the door behind him, Jax now at his side. 'We're finished taking your crap.' Without another word or glance at his employer, Kavan strode up to Wyatt and brought Indis down from his arms. Wrapping his arm around her waist, Kavan helped her to stand, and the two began to walk slowly toward the hidden entrance to the hall.

'I'm not finished with you, boy!' Olimpiu bellowed, his deep voice resonating off of the walls.

Kavan stopped with his back to Olimpiu. Holding back a snarl of fury Kavan turned his head enough to see the creature in his peripheral vision. 'Well it's a good thing that I don't really give a damn then,' he hissed, his voice low and threatening.

Looking like a pot boiling over, Olimpiu roared, 'You're both fired!'