Chapter Nine: A Way Out
Caleb watches Depa as she stares back at him in disbelief.
"I … I tried to find you earlier," Caleb says, fumbling with the broken restraints. They fall from his hands after he sees her expression hasn't changed a bit.
He quickly reaches around to the back of his belt and pulls the vibroknife from its sheath, dropping it to the ground next to the wall.
"I didn't know that was you … I'm sorry."
Say something … please!
When she takes a small step forward, he winces and braces himself for a punch to the face, or at least a shove.
But Depa throws herself at him, wrapping her arms around his shoulders as she hugs him tightly. The force of the movement makes Caleb hold onto the sides of the wall to keep from falling down.
"I missed you so much!" Depa exclaims, muffled by the fabric of her jacket.
Caleb's eyes widen, gaining the same incredulous look she had had just a second ago.
She's not mad? At all?
She releases him, only to leave her hands on his shoulders.
"I haven't seen you in forever!"
Caleb shakes his head a little, clearing his mind. When his vision focuses, he sees Depa's watery eyes.
"I … I've been here …"
How … I almost killed her!
His thoughts quieten once she hugs him again, squeezing him for a second before backing off. He stands frozen as she wipes the tears from her eyes.
Depa shakes her head, but the grateful smile is still on her face. "I …"
As she stutters with her speech, Caleb notices the reflection of light from a small object peeking out of the top of her shirt.
"You kept it?"
"Hmm?" Depa glances down, pulling the chain up for both of them to see.
That's my necklace …
He'd made it a week before he finally snuck out of the Ghost. It had been terrible then, just the thought of leaving his best friend possibly for good. Leaving his family. So he knew that he had to leave something behind.
Depa examines the charm, a miniature version of the starbird that his mother used to paint all the time before she left.
"I found this on the table next to my bed … I knew you left it as soon as I saw it."
Her expression falls as her fingers wrap around the charm.
"That's when I knew something was wrong …"
Depa …
"I'm sorry. Really. But I had to look … nothing was the same after Mom left."
Kanan talked less … Hera avoided the subject with me … and Zeb and Chopper just outright didn't want to talk about it with anyone.
"I know … but you could've told me. Then we could've both asked for them to look again."
Caleb's gaze lingers on the necklace in her grasp. "You know they would've said no. And then you would've begged for you to go with me, and that would've made it a whole lot worse if Hera and Kanan found out we were both missing …"
"It was already worse, Cal. We spent weeks looking for you."
Caleb hesitates at the use of his old nickname, the one she'd given him when they were old enough to talk and used since then.
"I said I'm sorry —"
"They couldn't have gotten far … find them!"
Caleb instantly shuts his mouth and pushes Depa back into the shadows, grabbing his helmet off the floor.
They wait in silence as the sound of footsteps grows increasingly louder.
"If you see Wren again, shoot him."
The trio of bounty hunters walk right past their hiding spot, and Caleb frowns after seeing the condition of the leader.
Kain always could take a hit. He's gonna be a problem.
A problem that he could deal with later, he knew. He had to get Depa somewhere safe first.
A few moments of silence later, Depa steps out from the darkness and peeks around the corner.
"They're gone."
"We need to leave. Kain will have his whole clan out looking for us," Caleb says, moving to stand next to her.
"Who?" Depa asks, glancing at him over her shoulder.
"Tell you later. After we get out of here," Caleb says, turning to move the opposite direction.
He smiles a little when he notices that Depa immediately follows him. Even after all this time apart, she could trust him.
— — —
"All right … who were those guys?"
Caleb freezes in the middle of the room, about the same size as the one he'd found her in.
She sounded just like Hera.
Caleb found out that Hera didn't like being kept in the dark about certain things, especially when he and Depa would sneak out without asking anyone. Depa seemed to have the same attitude.
He sets his helmet down on a small table before taking a seat next to it. He props his feet up on the tabletop and leans back in the chair.
"A bunch of nerf herders who think I owe them credits," Caleb finally answers, eyes closed.
"Owe?" Depa repeats, moving over to stand next to his chair.
Caleb opens his eyes and glances at her, seeing the concerned look on her face. He sighs. "I might've … stolen a few things from them a while back."
"You stole from somebody?" Depa repeats again, hand on the table.
What do you expect me to do?
"It was medicine that they weren't even using. Kir — my partner and I gave them to people who needed them … like the Resistance," Caleb defends himself, eyes narrowed.
Depa's gaze shifts to his helmet. "Partner?"
"Former. She's dead." That's the only answer he's willing to give, even for her.
He sees the sad look on her face and frowns.
"I know," Depa says quietly, rubbing her arm. "I heard about what happened."
What? How? She wasn't there … she didn't see it.
"Explosion?"
Caleb looks back at her with a confused expression. "Yeah …"
"A Resistance soldier told me about the attack. He said it was —"
"A massacre," Caleb finishes. He runs a hand through his hair and exhales. "We lost everything … Rau … our freedom."
The Imperials publicly executed the survivors … to make examples. Kriffing monsters.
"I'm sorry," Depa says, looking at him. "But if you can help me, we can fix this. The Republic can send a fleet. Mom still has connections in the military …"
"They should've came months ago. One of their people didn't come back, so that should've made them think something had happened," Caleb snaps, kicking the table in anger.
Depa flinches at his sudden change in behavior. He notices and sighs again.
"Sorry." He looks up at her from his seat and raises an eyebrow. "What do you need help with?"
There's a pause before she says anything.
"I need to get in the Imperial Complex. Without the um … assault," Depa explains, sitting on the edge of the table. "If I can find some useful information, I can deliver it back to Coruscant … and we can go home."
Home.
He'd waited four years to be home. Now his best friend was offering him a way back.
"What do you need to find?"
Depa smiles a bit, almost like she's trying to stay optimistic. "Well, it's more like who do we need to find …"
Where is she going with this?
"Fenn Rau."
So I had Chapter Nine done before last Sunday, and somehow it got deleted. It was like five thousand words, too. That's why this is so short. Basically I forgot some of the stuff I wrote and I wanted to go ahead and put a chapter up since I missed a date. Hopefully the next one will make up for it in size. Please review! (And thanks if you do!)
