Post 24

Jade went to stand up, but her legs had other ideas and she lost her balance. Kyp's arms caught her and she threw her arms around his neck, clinging to him.

"You ok?" He whispered, not wanting to let go, but knowing that they weren't done.

She nodded and leaned back to look at him. He gave her a smile and a quick kiss, then turned to hand her to an agent. Kyp watched her progress to the far wall for a minute, then turned back to the task still left. Iella's men had surrounded the small office, with Jedi backing them up. Jag and Kyp were the only ones left who were not in place.

"You ready for this?" Jag asked him quietly and smiled when Kyp nodded. He actually felt sorry for these people. They hadn't even realized the huge mistake they had made in pissing Kyp off. This might actually be fun.

/____________________________________\

"What?!" Edward's voice screeched and Shaw rolled his eyes. The urge to push the man out the door and hope he got shot was strong, but he still needed him. His presence would need to be tolerated a little longer. Shaw glanced at his captain and nodded. His men spread out in a line just in front of the door and brought their weapons up.

Most of them had blaster rifles, but there were a few that had surprises in store for the group outside. Shaw stood towards the back of the room, his hand rubbing the weapon at his side unconsciously. He sent a nudge through the force to his captain, then his men fired.

/____________________________________\

Kyp felt the nudge and immediately moved into action.

"Incoming!" He screamed and brought his lightsaber up as he hit the ground. The other jedi had felt it too, managing to get the others out of the way before a sheet of blaster fire ripped through the windows of the office. Glass rained down over Jag and Jaina, who were the closest to the room. Jaina used the force to deflect as much of it as she could from hitting them.

An abrupt silence brought Kyp's head up and he groaned when he saw a small silver cylinder roll out of one of the broken windows. Standing quickly, he grabbed Iella and one of the agents near him and urged them towards the back wall. A few seconds later a wave of light filled the room, followed by an ear-piercing scream. Kyp managed to create a small force bubble around himself and the other two that filtered most of the noise, but what got through still hurt.

Opening his eyes he saw that a couple of the agents had been knocked out by the sonic grenade, but most of them were still standing thanks to the jedi. Their quarry however, had managed to blow a hole in the back wall of the office and disappear down a darkened staircase.

Cursing loudly, Kyp's gaze traveled over the rest of the room making sure everyone was ok. His eyes finally rested on Jade and he found himself walking towards her, where she was talking to Jag. Not caring if he was being rude, he pulled Jade into a hug and buried his face in her neck.

"I'm fine Kyp." She told him quietly as she tightened her grip on him.

"I just needed to hold you for a minute." He whispered, raising his head to place a small kiss to her temple.

"Go." She told him quietly when he looked torn between staying and going after Shaw. "He needs to be stopped." Kyp searched her eyes for another second then kissed her briefly and turned, running in the direction that Shaw and his men had taken.

/____________________________________\

Unbeknownst to the group, most of Shaw's men had circled back around to take out as many of them as possible, per his orders. The less people who could follow him the better. The five cronies, armed with their rifles and some more sonic grenades crept into the shadows that were now forming in the building. Evening was slowly stealing all the light and no one had bothered to see if the lights still worked in the derelict building.

Jade was standing with Valin over near the destroyed office, listening to Kelvin as he directed the rest of the security force. She tuned the man out, knowing she wouldn't be participating in anything they were doing and felt a tingling in the back of her head. She felt Valin grab her arm and pull her towards him, but the blow landed on her neck before she realized it. Jade fell forward as another blow smacked her in the shoulder, forcing her down to her hands and knees. Pushing the pain aside, she rolled to her right and saw that Valin had also been attacked, but she didn't have time to think about him. Coming back to her knees she shot up and listened to her instincts this time, ducking to avoid another hit.

Distantly she heard the rest of the group start to take action, but focused on her own attacker. It was one of the men that had been with Shaw earlier and she suddenly wished she had a blaster to shoot him with. Guess she was going to have to put Jag's training to use again. He lunged at her and she twisted as she jumped back, his fingers brushing against her stomach as he moved through where she had just been.

The man regained his balance and she stood on he balls of her feet, ready to bounce out of the way again. This time when he came at her she didn't run. Jade planted her weight on her right foot and brought her left leg up into a roundhouse kick, smacking her foot into the man's head. Apparently, he hadn't been prepared for that as he fell to his knees temporarily dazed. Her reprieve didn't last for long though as he shook his head and stood back up, coming in her direction again.

Knowing she didn't have the arm strength to do any damage with her fists she prepared to kick him again, when someone grabbed her from behind and threw her against part of the flimsy office wall that was still standing. With the breath knocked out of her, Jade struggled to get free when she suddenly gasped at the fire that errupted in her stomach. The last thing she saw was the satisfied smirk of one of the cronies as he hit her upside the head.

/____________________________________\

Kyp was running down the hall, when the wave of pain hit him. He knew instinctively it was her, but shut down the connection knowing he needed his wits completely right now. The master concentrated on the life forms in front of him, not realizing that Jade's pain had made him miss one of his quarry separating from the pack.

Rounding a corner, Kyp stopped short when he saw a figure illuminated in the brief lamplight. He hadn't felt Shaw in the force and now he suddenly realized where Bela had learned his shielding from. The two men stood, eyeing each other for a few moments when blaster fire came from behind Shaw in Kyp's direction. He brought his lightsaber up to deflect it back towards the other man and was surprised to see him bring his own saber up to send the shots into a nearby wall.

Acting on instinct, Kyp stepped forward, his weapon still ignited and slashed at Shaw. The man was surprisingly agile despite his size, but Kyp pressed on. He had to see just how well trained he was. They slashed and chopped at each other, trying to find a weakness in their opponents for a few minutes, when Kyp stepped back and disengaged himself from the fight, thumbing his saber off in the process and plunging the room back into semi-darkness.

"So you're a force user." Kyp said to the man now blocking his path. "You obviously have some skill with a saber. I'm curious who taught you." He questioned as they circled one another.

Shaw grinned. "No one. I taught myself Master Durron."

"That would explain why your form sucks then."

"I took care of the owner of this fine weapon, Jedi. My form must not be that bad."

Kyp snorted. "Yeah, well now you get to try and take care of me." He taunted as he reignited his saber, keeping it pointed down at his side. He feigned a serenity he didn't feel at the moment. Jade's pain had been a kick in the chest for him, but he hadn't stopped to make sure she was ok. He could still feel her, so she was alive. His trust in Jag and Iella would have to satisfy him until he could bring Shaw down.

Worry about everything else could happen later. If there was a later. What the man lacking in finesse he made up for in brute strength. Shaw was a head taller than Kyp and had a good 34 kilos on him in weight.

Shaw narrowed his gaze and ignited his own weapon, launching himself towards Kyp.

/____________________________________\

"Kyp's going to need help." Jade told Jag as he pushed her back down to the floor. He ignored her as he ripped her shirt open to see how bad her wound was. There was a seven-inch gash that ran from her ribs down to her opposite hip and it was a little too deep for Jag's liking. Ripping the bottom of her shirt the rest of the way off, he balled it up and pressed it against the injury. Jade closed her eyes in pain and laid her head back on the floor, realizing Jag wasn't going to let her up.

"He'll be fine." She finally heard him say, and cracked her eyes to look at him. His gaze was concentrated across the room where Iella and Ben were tending to Valin. The knight had been injured worse than Jade and he hoped he would be all right. Jaina and Zekk had taken off after Kyp, to make sure he didn't need help. It never hurt to have witnesses either.

"Valin needs a medic." She whispered and he looked back down to find her eyes closed and her breathing heavy.

"Yeah, well you'll be getting one too. Last thing I want is Kyp coming after me for you getting hurt."

"It's not your fault. I should have been paying attention. I didn't realize vibroblades hurt so damn much." She sucked in a breath, as Jag pressed the tattered remains of part of her shirt a little harder against her. A small smile came to his face and she raised an eyebrow in question.

"You did good Storm." His approval washed over her and she felt a little better. She had done well, even though she'd gotten her butt kicked.

/____________________________________\

Jaina felt Kyp's intensity through the force as they ran towards him. When they finally reached his position she realized why. She sent him a nudge to let him know they were there, but neither she nor Zekk moved to help. Kyp wanted to do this on his own and she was just here for back up.

The two men danced around each other in a flurry of moves, Kyp's purple saber in sharp contrast to the green one his opposition held. In the little light that there was, she saw a look of intense concentration on Kyp's face. While Kyp had the superior skills, the man was making up for it by pushing his strength every time their weapons connected. She could feel Kyp draw on the force to refresh himself, and wondered how long he could keep it up.

/____________________________________\

Flipping backwards to give himself a short reprieve, Kyp desperately wracked his brain to find a weakness in Shaw he could exploit. He couldn't keep up this pace for very long. Shaw came rushing at him again and he gritted his teeth as his arms shook from the impact. Extending his hand he sent a force push to Shaw, which didn't knock him down but did make him take a few steps back.

"What's wrong Durron? Getting tired?" Shaw taunted as he came at the master again.

"Yeah, of you breathing on me." Kyp gritted between clenched teeth as they made contact again. Drinking deeply of the force, Kyp pushed back and stepped up his attack. This was going to be over soon, if he had anything to say about it.

They fought for what felt like hours before Kyp finally found an opening. Shaw overextended himself just a fraction too much and Kyp pounced on the opportunity, not liking what he was about to do. A flick of his wrist and Shaw's right arm was severed, just below the elbow. To his credit, the big man didn't cry out or fall to his knees. He simply looked at Kyp in shock and clenched his teeth in pain.

"It's over Shaw."

/____________________________________\

Jade was getting sick of looking at the ceiling in the med ward. They had taken her out of the bacta tank an hour ago, but hadn't released her yet and it was starting to irritate her. She knew nothing of Jared's condition, nor did she know how Kyp was. He had closed off their bond not long after she had gotten hurt, and while she understood why, she hated it.

The door swooshed open, and her head turned to see who it was. She returned her father's smile, and tried to stamp her anger down. Dark side. Dark side. She chanted to herself, trying to calm the turmoil roiling through her.

Michael came over and placed a kiss on her forehead and she opened her eyes, smiling at him. He unconsciously smoothed her hair back from her face and sighed.

"I'm fine dad." She said, trying to comfort him.

"No more bacta dunks for a while, ok?" A huge grin lit her face and she nodded, sitting up to hug him. Michael held his daughter, thankful that she hadn't been seriously hurt.

"How's Jared?" She mumbled from his chest and got a little scared when he sighed.

"He's ok." Michael responded, pulling back so he could look at her. "He's still in a tank. It was pretty serious, but the doctors seem to think he'll be ok."

Jade nodded and pulled her father back to her, basking in his comfort. They sat there for a few minutes, before the door opened again. Pulling out of her father's embrace she practically vaulted off the bed to throw herself at Kyp.

/____________________________________\

"What do you mean she can't have visitors?!" Kyp roared at the medical droid. He felt Jag's hand on his shoulder and fought to control himself. It wasn't working. He was getting in that room if it killed him. Or someone else.

He heard a snicker from beside him and turned to glare at Jaina.

"Laugh it up Solo." Kyp threw at her and resumed his pacing of the room. It was packed, but he didn't care. Four hours had passed since he had last seen her and all he wanted to do was hold her to reassure himself she was all right. Huffing, he looked up and found Jade's mother smiling at him.

"Have a seat Master Durron." She said quietly, patting her husband's vacant seat next to her. Kyp quietly obeyed and reached over to smack Corran who snickered in the seat next to him. He heard Gabriella chuckle and again tried to rein in his fury. She reached over to take his hand in hers and put it between both of hers.

Slowly, he felt his anger dissipate, then turned to stare at her in confusion. She simply smiled and turned back to watch the door, leaving him in shock. He shook his head, as she leaned over to whisper to him.

"Where do you think she got it from?"

"You're…" he started, appalled that he hadn't noticed it. Of course, he had had other things on his mind.

"Actually, empathic. But close enough. Jake inherited that too, but Jade apparently got a little more."

Kyp nodded absently, noticing she was still holding his hand. Leaning back in his chair he rested his head on the wall and closed his eyes. Five minutes later, he noticed the medical droid had gone down the hall and he hastily stood and walked over to palm the door.

/____________________________________\

Michael slipped out quietly, as the two stood there locked in an embrace. Pulling back, Jade ran her hands over him making sure he was ok. Kyp chuckled and grabbed them, pulling them into one hand and settling them against his chest.

"I'm fine. No scratches or anything." He whispered, cupping her face with his free hand. "You on the other hand…" he joked, kissing her nose.

"Made up for it apparently." Jade added. They stared in each other's eyes for a few moments, when Jade frowned. "Aren't you going to kiss me?" She whispered.

A devilish smile came to Kyp's face. "Eventually. But once I start I'm not really going to want to stop. So I thought I'd wait a little while."

Jade nodded and moved to wrap her arms around him again. Kyp put his chin to the top of her head and sighed.

"What happened?" She asked quietly, sensing his reluctance to talk about it but knowing he needed to.

"Shaw won't be trading slaves anytime soon. Edward however, disappeared." He said, his hand rubbing her back, comforting himself more than her. "Iella said the DA is going to see if Bela will turn against Shaw." He heard her groan and became confused. Pulling back he held her at arms length.

"What?"

"I'm not looking forward to this trial." Jade confessed, turning to walk a little ways away.

"You did nothing wrong Jade." Kyp didn't move, knowing she needed a little space right now.

"Bela's lawyer will try and drag me down with him. I'm just not looking forward to having my dirty laundry aired."

Walking up behind her, Kyp wrapped her up and buried his face in her neck. "We'll get through this. Together."

/____________________________________\