Essie's Apartment.
Coruscant.
Essie stood in the shower, her shoulder still ached at times, although it had been a few weeks since the stabbing. She rolled her shoulder, the movement still a little restricted but it would get better, Jab said so.
Del was fine; he hadn't seen what happened to her, Sol had kept him away and he had thoroughly enjoyed seeing the Clone troopers, especially Jab who was equally fascinated by him and played with him for ages.
Jab was nothing like she expected, looking like Maze and with some of this foibles but also totally different. His expectation that you would do exactly what he said, without question made her smile; he was unlike any Doctor who had treated her before.
"You okay in there? Need any help." Maze called.
"Not your kind." She replied, hearing his full laugh in response, then the door closed. So far tonight, he had taken Del to Sol's and Nat's, fed her, following a recipe online, which tasted good, although a little too spicy for her liking and tidied up. She heard him tutting and cursing at her pile of holo books and clothes. She turned the water off, stepped out and caught her refection in the mirror. There was a scar, despite Jab's best efforts. It had jagged edges, when the man had twisted the knife. She was unsure what Maze would think. She dried herself and dressed; it was part of her now.
Walking into the bedroom, he was already in bed waiting for her, having stayed with her several times since the incident; she had flashbacks. He put the datapad down. The bedclothes one side turned back ready; she slipped in and pulled the bed clothes up, as his arm slid under her pulling her closer to him.
"Are you okay? Does it hurt anywhere."
She shook her head.
He studied her face before leaning over. "There's something wrong, isn't there? Tell me."
"No nothing."
He leaned nearer.
"Essie…..Let me see." He carefully pulled her strap down, there was a crescent shaped scar, still slightly pink around the edges but healing.
"It's healed well." He placed a kiss on it; he watched, as she closed her eyes. "I think it's beautiful. It's you. And I love it. Cyar'e." He didn't know why he used that Mando word.
"You don't think it's ugly?" She asked.
"No!" He replied, astonished she would even contemplate that.
"Thank you. For what you did and calling Jab." She curled up against him, "I'm lucky to have you." She kissed his jaw. He made her feel wanted and after Giddean, Maze was the perfect antidote.
Maze didn't know how to answer; he could be difficult and didn't necessarily have the best social skills. He pulled her tight to him and kissed her till she could barely breathe.
"You ignore my scars." he said, as he pulled away from her.
"I didn't like to say anything…"
"In case I took offence? I'm a bloody soldier, I should have more than this."
"In case it brought back bad memories."
"We were engineered, not to have battle stress."
Now she sensed, she had upset him.
"Do you want to go and fight?" she asked, remembering, how he looked, and felt, at The Boiler Room.
"It's what I was made for." now there was an undercurrent of anger. "But I wouldn't want to leave you."
"I'd wait for you."
She kissed along his jaw, before he could reply; his arms slid around her, his hold gentle, despite his bulk. She wanted to say how much she loved him because she did but wasn't sure of his reaction and how it would affect their relationship.
He wasn't romantic in the traditional sense but she had that before and it hadn't worked out well; him being here with her now doing what he had done, was more than enough.
He kissed his way along her shoulder; he admitted, that he missed the sex, so had she. They were young and it was part of their life. She relaxed into him, her hand drifting down the hard planes of his stomach, she felt his muscles twitch underneath her touch. This man worked on his body, not from vanity but from necessity, from the need to be ready to fight at a moments notice, that need ingrained in him since he was brought into being. She had interrupted him one morning doing his mental check; she thought he was ill.
She could not understand the mentality of cloning someone and treating the results as objects …. Slaves.
"You sure you're okay?" Maze voice brought her out of her thoughts, "Let me know if anything hurts."
"Yes," she stroked down his face. "I'm sorry."
"If you're not ready….."
"Try again?" She kissed him, harder this time and pulled her top up, wincing as she reached shoulder height, then over, dropping it at the side. His hands reached under her back pulling her up to him, before he found her breasts, his mouth moving between both. She felt the pleasure building; he kissed his way down her torso stopping to suck just under her ribs. He slid further down the bed, his hands moving to her backside, before lifting her legs over his shoulders.
"Maze?"
"Shh." He looked up at her, eyes narrowed, "Don't tell me this is your first time." He pulled her down further.
"I won't then."
The tone of her voice, with underlying anxiety, told him it was something she had never done before.
He watched her face, "This is in chapter Five."
She leaned back.
"The teacher becomes the student." He murmured, a phrase he had read somewhere.
Essie had already shown him, what gave her pleasure, letting him take control, realising he needed that. She read him, like a Jedi.
He kissed his way across her stomach, then sucked gently on the skin covering her hip bones. He liked that she had a covering over her muscles and bones; he would have been afraid to touch her if she had been a skinny little thing. Occasionally, he wondered how Ordo was getting on. He listened to the gossip in the Barracks, and there was a lot, apparently he was seeing Agent Wennen but Maze had assumed that; he'd seen the look on his face at the CSF Social Club. Maze was certain he was included in the gossip but he'd kill Jab if anything came from him. He stopped, for a few seconds, to recall the instructions in the book, one hand reaching up to Essie's, threading her fingers in between his.
He felt her move up to him, her hand squeezing his, when he got the rhythm and depth right. It fascinated him, how this made him feel, when he gave her pleasure and saw her enjoying it.
Finally he heard her cry out, as he gave her the ultimate pleasure; he crawled up, and always felt some satisfaction seeing her lying there, looking thoroughly satisfied, hair disheveled and flushed. She was breathing hard.
"Ready?" He asked, she tugged him to her and kissed him, her tongue fighting with his, as he lined himself up and pushed in easily. He cut off her moan with his kiss.
Gods! This feels good.
Her legs wrapped themselves around his waist and her arms his neck, pulling him as close to her as possible.
He kept going until, he found his release, his last few thrusts becoming erratic, before his final push, just as Essie stiffened underneath him and grunted into his neck. He felt her hand slide up through his hair, as they lay catching their breath, sweat cooling on their overheated bodies.
Eventually, he rolled off her, laying to one side, his hand still entwined with hers.
"You're like an iceberg." She murmured in his ear, he tensed, not sure what she meant, "in the best possible way. On average only 1/10th of an iceberg is above the surface of the water. That's you Maze. People only see the 1/10th you let them. There is so much more to you." Her lips stopped him speaking, so he answered the only way he could at the moment. He kissed her back. She surrounded him, engulfed him and he knew it was right. From the very first time, he had known it was right.
.
ARCA Barracks
Sev watched Captain Maze as he moved around the briefing room, distributing datapads to everyone, checking off his lists. He always had lots of lists; Sev couldn't understood how the ARC coped with this work, this mundane assignment. He must have an outlet somewhere. A fight club, like Priest and Reau had on Kamino. Either that or he's going slowly insane and that would be bad for everyone, an insane ARC on the loose, if you ignore the Nulls. He pulled that thought back. He was thinking too much nowadays, ever since Corufresh. But there was something different about the Captain. About the way he walked, the way he talked to the Commandos. He used the same words, the same gestures but he was different.
I know he's different.
Sev first noticed it when they came back from their last mission. Sev couldn't put his finger on it and he mentioned it to Scorch who told the others but they said he was still the same. Still Captain 'I've got a stick up my arse' Maze, but Sev knew there was something different with the Alpha brother that was their link to HQ. Not that they needed the link but it still worried him, just in case they did. He didn't like it when brothers changed. That Darman from Omega had changed and Maze was just like that.
The General stopped in front of him.
"Have you got a problem trooper?" The General asked
"Sir, no sir." He didn't like being singled out by the General, he preferred Boss to deal with any Jedi stuff.
"Good. I thought you weren't with us for a few moments then."
"It's just his usual sir." Scorch answered for him, Sev replied by clipping him round the head, when the General had turned away. He'd get back at him further later.
The General turned around, ignoring them, and faced back to the electronic board he was using. Sev paid attention, except for that niggling thought about Maze that was running around his mind like one of those brain worms from Geonosis. He liked things nice and tidy. This wasn't nice and tidy; it was as bad as having a Null in the room, or Fi. He frowned and concentrated on the board. The General liked doing all this. They humoured him.
He watched the Captain again. Yes, there was definitely something different about him.
They filed out of the briefing room and that Fekking null was waiting outside. Leaning against the wall, not a care in the galaxy. Sev looked away.
"Problem Sev?"
He stopped and faced Lieutenant Mereel. " No sir."
"You sure?"
Lieutenant Mereel never talked like a superior officer, not recently any way.
"Why does everyone think I have a problem?"
"You appear troubled."
"I am not troubled."
"And I'm not the most handsome Null. We ignore Jaing." He smirked at Sev.
Sev snorted. He didn't have time for this Mando brother, family crap.
The Null slung his arm over Sev's shoulder; Sev looked at it and dropped his shoulder letting it slide off. Doing that was risky at any time.
"But is there a problem ner vod?"
Sev grunted. "I am not your brother. I have my own brothers. My squad."
"And good brothers they are."
Sev sighed, then narrowed his eyes.
"So what is it?" Mereel asked
He didn't normally confide in the Nulls but this was really niggling him. "Captain Maze."
"Maze?"
"Yes. He's different."
"Different. How?"
"I don't know but there's something different about him."
Mereel hadn't seen him recently, not since the CSF party and then he had left early, after aggravating Ordo again. Ordo said something about him kissing Agent Wennen. If anyone else had said that, he would have laughed in their face but it was Ordo and he never made jokes about Agent Wennen, ever.
"Leave it to me vod. I'll look into it." He clapped the Commando on the shoulder, ignoring the glare he received in reply.
If Sev had seen something then there was usually something there. He was a sniper, ultra observant and Mereel had a few hours free time.
.
It was Mereel's first time in the Advisor Operations room. They were all busy monitoring all the potential variants that could affect the current live missions, that they knew about. That's where the Nulls came in sometimes, providing that intel. Recently returned from Kamino, that was one not on their 'live' list but very, very interesting and disturbing; Mereel hadn't told Kal'buir just how disturbing it was but the nightmares hadn't started until he came back.
Kal'buir had been impressed by the Advisors efficiency and Mereel couldn't argue with him. Maze was here checking in on them. He took his role seriously, even though he was a wasted asset where he was. It must be driving him crazy, perhaps that's what Sev has seen, another crazy ARC.
Mereel watched him. Sev was right but then it was nothing less than Mereel expected, Sev was one of the best snipers and there was definitely something different about the good Captain. The proverbial stick up his shebs was bending— imperceptibly bending. Probably only noticeable by a brother. A brother who was ultra observant or nosy, and not frightened by that surly exterior. He walked out of the room, nodding to Maze as he left; the ARC glared at him. Mereel's curiosity was piqued. He tapped his com, as he walked along the corridor.
"Ordo! Anything planned for me for the next few days?"
"No." There was a pause, a conversation in the background; he was talking to Buir. "You're going to make me ask why, aren't you?" He came back.
"Of course, ner vod."
"Why?"
"I'm going off grid in Triple Zero."
"Anything I should be worried about?"
"I don't know yet. I'll let you know if I find something. If you need me..."
"'Lek. Buir says be careful."
"Always am."
He heard his brother sigh at the other end, before he closed the link.
"So Maze what have you been up to here, all alone on Coruscant?"
.
University Library
The tall handsome, blond man with green eyes looked around. It was old, very old. Similar to the Jedi temple in architecture and very quiet. He could see just a few people browsing and had walked in looking around, as any one did when entering for the first time.
"Can I help you?"
A young Coruscanti man approached him, Mereel looked at his name badge.
Johl.
"The Chancellor's Exhibition, I'd like to see it please, Johl."
"This way sir." Mereel followed, obediently, as the young man took him around the corner. He loved that everywhere on Coruscant there were signs. 'Reading Room', although it was open, 'Archives – Authorised Access Only.' and finally the Chancellors Exhibition. There were a couple of people already looking at it and a young woman describing the items and giving them information on the back ground. A recording could have done that but she seemed to enjoy what she was doing.
"You can either join now or wait till Ms Devro is free to go through them all with you. She's nearly finished apart from the question and answer session."
"Thank you. I'll wait."
A personalised tour; he liked that idea. He also liked the idea of the personable Ms Devro, she had a lovely smile among another things.
.
It hadn't been too difficult to find out where Maze went in his downtime, or even in his not down time. Zey was pretty lax about that, although thinking on how much slack he cut Kal'buir, Mereel wasn't surprised. Lots of the staff knew that Maze went to the Library to 'read'; looking at the staff here, what Mereel wasn't sure of, was Maze's definition of 'reading' and what it entailed.
The young woman finished with her tour and came over to him; good figure, brown hair put up in a bun, which it was desperately trying to escape. Nondescript business suit. Grey eyes but lovely smile and she turned it on him.
"I'll be five minutes if that's okay. Just getting some water. Is it just the Chancellor's Exhibition you want?"
"Why is there more?"
"I can give you a tour of the whole Library, if you wish."
"Yeah. Why not?" He might learn more; why this library, for instance.
He wandered around for a few minutes until she returned.
"We'll go through the Chancellors Exhibition first." She smiled, not quite sincerely enough, this time and took Mereel through the Exhibition detailing the background of each item. With his knowledge of Mandalorian history, he understood some of the items were Sith but he was unsure if she did. And if she did, what they actually meant.
They moved onto the Library and then she came alive. Giving him all the information with infectious enthusiasm. The history of the Library and it's architecture. Detailing the types of documents it holds and it's current function. Her smile positively glowed.
He made a few jokes and she laughed at them.
"Thank you very much, Ms Devro. Most informative." He smiled his best smile and leaned closer, touching her forearm, "I have one question."
"Yes?"
"What are you doing for dinner tonight?"
.
Mereel lounged on one of the seats in front of the library; people were coming and going in front of him and he looked like any other person taking time out from his day to wait for someone. He read his portable datapad intently. Then he saw him. Striding across the walkway, the other pedestrians avoiding him. Maze headed straight into the Library. The area where Mereel sat, was thinning out; he moved to an alley. He still had a good view and would be able to see him exit the building, as far as he knew, there were no others.
Mereel checked his chrono; Maze was certainly getting his money's worth of reading, unless he was staying until it closed. Mereel's stomach growled in protest at the thought. Then he saw him exit.
"Shab! He's in civvies." He looked again, he was loitering. Alpha's didn't loiter, not without intent. He was waiting for someone; Mereel watched, as the librarian joined Maze, leaned up to kiss him, then they walked arm in arm, away from the building. She was chatting away to him and he was nodding. They stopped at a Caf stop, for a couple of takeaway cafs and a couple of cakes; Maze was obviously hungry.
"Way to go Ms Devro." He watched them for a little longer, "So that's why you refused my invitation to dinner so kindly."
He didn't follow the couple onto the EasyRide train; it would have been too easy for either of them to spot him. So he checked into her personal records.
"Hmm. Bit sparse. Maze have you been up to something here?"
.
Mereel found the address easily enough and built himself a nest in the empty apartment building opposite hers; he was now in his CSF uniform, which was proving very handy. He had one standard week to obtain more information on her, from this place, before the building droids were due in to remodel it, unless of course Kal'buir needed him. He sent the probes in to set up the nano cameras. You would have to be very observant to spot them. Then he sat down and set up his receiver, switching on the motion activated cameras. He covered nearly the whole of the apartment.
"Mmm. Nice resolution" he commented as he studied the images, "Well done Bard'ika."
Another one of Jusik's new items from R and D.
He needed to clear this up; it wasn't unheard of for clones to betray the Republic, even the 212th had a traitor and troopers went missing all the time. He didn't blame them but an Alpha ARC, in SOB, that was a little too close to home. He wanted to be sure.
There wasn't much information on Ms Devro. Her background was sketchy to say the least. Jaing would have built up a much better backstory, if hers was fictional.
He checked his feed again it was all working well; he compared the images to the building plans, he obtained from the Coruscant Building Control Dept. The building was regulated so everything was above board and available to the public. He settled down for a long night just to check that everything worked, then he could leave it to record.
.
He had been there all night and Maze had not showed; there was just the woman and a child, which surprised him. He did wonder if he was on the right track. If there was anything between the two and where the child fit in. He left it to record again.
A/N: Reviews are always welcome. Thank you for reading.