Chapter Seven:

Luke sighed, rubbing his abdomen where she'd hit him. The woman was slumped in a sitting position, obviously having used up what energy she had to deck him.

"You sure have an interesting way of showing gratitude," he murmured, but without any ire.

She frowned up at him, clearly still trying to puzzle him together. Just as he was trying to figure her out… but that would have to wait until they were free and clear.

"We need to get moving if we're going to get you out of here tonight." Luke bent down, careful to stay clear of her range this time, and grabbed the things he'd haphazardly thrown under the bed. He handed her the clothes again, and then bit his lip. "Um… can you get dressed on your own?"

She lifted a brow. "I think I can manage. However, we cannot just walk out of here."

Luke nodded. "I know: we'll have to do it covertly."

She shook her head. "No, I mean, I cannot just leave."

It was his turn to frown. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, Garris implanted a kill-chip in my neck," she answered cryptically.

Luke gaped momentarily before he caught himself and he blew out a sigh, sitting on the edge of the bed.

"Well, that will complicate things," he admitted. "Can it be deactivated?"

"I believe so, but Garris has the remote," she told him.

He pursed his lips in thought, and as he ran a hand through his dyed hair, his gaze fell on the unconscious guard. Inspiration struck, and Luke got to his feet.

"I think I may have a plan…" he said as he felt the man's pockets for a comm. link.

He felt her eyes on him and when he finally fished the communications device from the unconscious guard, Luke turned to face her.

"Are you okay, um, role-playing a little longer?" he asked cautiously.

Her eyes narrowed. "What do you intend?"

"I'm going to call Garris in here, and tell him there is an issue with your neck." Luke explained. "I need you to pretend your chip is malfunctioning."

She looked thoughtful. "How do you know he won't just activate its function?"

Luke snorted. "Because that man is desperate to keep business going. Trust me, he will come."

He caught a flicker of something cross the lady's face, and she smirked sardonically. "You're right about one thing: he'll do anything to bring in more money." She sighed. "Okay, call him in. And hide the guard in the corner so he's harder to see."

"Right." Luke dragged the heavier man into the corner behind the door so that when Garris entered, he would have to close the door to see his fallen man. "We'll need to hide the clothing again. Don't want him to get suspicious."

"Fine."

00000

Mara watched the man— her supposed rescuer— as he called Garris up to her room in the guise of the guard. As they'd suspected, he informed the man he was on his way, and the stranger shut down the comlink.

When he turned to her, she was struck by the blue of his eyes, and Mara found herself inexplicably mesmerized. Somehow, she couldn't escape the feeling that this man was familiar to her.

But where had she seen him before?

He was still shirtless, no doubt to sell their act again, and she had to admit that of all the men who'd entered her 'domain', he was by far the best-looking. His torso, chest, and arms had the look of someone who kept in shape, but who wasn't a body-builder. His muscles were lean, yet powerful, and very well built. He had obviously seen his share of action.

But there were other things about him that she noticed, now that she had the time to do so. It was clear he was not a natural black-head, something her practiced eye could pick out in the way the hair was unevenly dyed. Her training also enabled her to pick up the artificial accent he was using, and every once in a while his false voice slipped to reveal an outer rim accent.

But it was his eyes and his dampened Force-sense that encouraged her to trust him… at least for now. Because Mara could see in his eyes the truth of his being here to help her. He had no intentions of sleeping with her in such a way as their circumstances would allow.

And he had been nothing but gentle and open to her… apart from his name.

She cleared her throat to get his attention. "So, I get that you want to remain under cover, but what can I call you for now?"

He looked slightly surprised, as if he'd forgotten she had asked his name before.

"Oh, sorry." He shrugged. "Call me Treg." His gaze traveled to hers. "And you?"

"Arica."

He cocked his head, and she distinctly felt he knew she'd lied, but he didn't call her on it. He instead smiled softly.

"It's nice to meet you, Arica. I am sorry we had to meet like this, though." He waved at the room.

Mara opened her mouth to reply, but at that moment the door opened, admitting Garris. He stopped warily when he didn't see the guard, but he spotted an angry-looking Treg and decided to brave the waters. He glared openly at her, and then turned to Treg.

"I do apologize for the interruption," he said with a professional smile. "I can assure you I will find out what is wrong with her chip, and then you may resume your activities."

Luke snorted contemptuously. "You gave me your word that this establishment had its customers' best interests at heart. Well, I am not satisfied so far, and I expect that to change soon or I will demand a refund."

Garris blanched at that, but settled onto the bed beside Mara, who was grimacing enough to sell her 'pain'. While his back as to Treg, he sneered dangerously at her.

"This had better not be another of your acts, Penelo, or so help me I will feed you to my pet neks," he growled in a low tone.

Mara saw Treg tense behind her, and she felt his flash of anger that was instantly controlled. Fighting the urge to lift an eyebrow at her accomplice, Mara waited for Garris to bring out his remote.

The idiot never noticed Treg's silent approach from behind, nor did he see the 'customer' watching discreetly over his shoulder. Garris muttered a few curses as he scanned her neck, and then waited for the display to register the information for her chip.

"Finally," he muttered, and then frowned. "This readout says there is nothing wrong with the chip. You stupid wretch!"

He went to backhand her and Mara tensed in readiness, but his blow never landed. Treg caught Garris's fist in his own and yanked him from the bed. He then backed Garris forcefully into the wall at the head of the bed, making the dust rattle from the crevices.

Garris's eyes were wide as Treg snatched the controller from his grasp and tossed it back onto the bed. Then he landed a right-hook to Garris's face, and the man went down. Next Treg pulled something from his right boot.

Mara caught the glint of a knife's blade, and thought for a wild second that Treg planned to stab Garris. But instead he flipped the blade over and slammed the hilt into the base of Garris's neck, knocking the man out.

Mara watched Treg step back before he dragged the greasy owner into the same corner as his guard. He then turned toward her and lifted a hand.

Mara frowned; about to ask what he wanted when his bag steadily levitated to his outstretched palm. She gaped, watching with growing respect as the man tied up both her harassers.

Finally he stood with a sigh and returned to the bed, taking the device from her slackened grasp.

He noticed her expression and tilted his head. "What?"

She finally found her voice."You weren't kidding when you said Force-user."

He thinned his lips. "I promise to explain later. We don't have much time if we are going to pull this off." He picked up his shirt and began to dress again, snatching his jacket when his tunic was tucked in.

Mara had to agree, though she wondered where this man had learned to use the Force. She didn't see a lightsaber on him, something she knew a Jedi was supposed to wear.

Blast it, Jade. You know this planet hates Jedi. Of course he wouldn't wear it openly here. You fool, you're going lax!

But was that such a bad thing? Maybe she could actually make a friend by not being the cold-hearted killer she used to be.

She refocused on the man, who was packing his gear into the backpack. Again, those eyes… and now with his Force abilities, she knew she'd seen this person somewhere. But with his Force-signature being carefully shielded, she couldn't get a good read on him.

Mara had her suspicions as to the identity of her rescuer, but didn't know for certain. And she didn't want to assume, in case she was wrong. Because if this man was who she thought him to be, Mara didn't quite know what she would do.

With a sigh, Mara accepted the clothing he handed her for the third time now, and carefully pulled the shirt on over her head, wincing as the fabric brushed her bruised and aching body. Her back stung from the lashings Garris had recently given her in exchange for her attitude.

When she tried to put her pants on, however, she discovered she was unable to do so.

Great, I'm an invalid. Mara groused to herself, looking up at the man, who had his back to her.

She smiled softly at his chivalry.

00000

Luke turned away while she dressed to give her some privacy, mentally going through the rest of his newly-hatched escape plan. Once the receptionist figured out what was really going on, however, they would be in deep waters.

So it was imperative that once they were in the open that they make good time to his ship, which was, regrettably, docked a fifteen minute walk from here. But it had been the closest hangar he could find that was relatively trustworthy.

She cleared her throat behind him, and Luke turned to find her blushing.

"I need help please," she admitted as she held up her pants…though it was clear she'd rather do it herself.

"Of course." Luke knelt before her, ready to assist.

"But you'll need to find the key to my chains." She added wryly.

He blinked, having forgotten about Arica's shackles. "Oh, let me get that."

He used the Force to break the cuff, and it fell to the bed with a muffled clink of metal. She hissed as her eyes settled on the raw skin on that ankle, a hiss that turned into a full-on grimace as the moved her gaze to her broken one.

"Shavit," she growled. "I will also need help walking... please."

"No worries," he assured her. "I had planned for that. I just need you to follow my lead."

He stepped up to her, holding out the hat the guard had been wearing, and she eyed it with open disgust.

"I am not wearing that!" she snapped.

Luke frowned. "You need to look like him somewhat."

She glared, making him swallow in sudden apprehension. "No."

Luke sighed. "Alright, we'll do this another way, then. But you will have to stay silent, and you will need to restrict your movements to walking while I support you."

Arica lifted a brow, and Luke felt a slight twinge of annoyance. "Look, we really are running short on time. It's one or the other, so choose."

Her eyes flashed at his tone, but he held fast, and eventually she sobered. "Option 'B' please."

"Okay."

He helped her into the rest of the clothing he'd brought, though she would have to go without her left shoe for now. Then Luke hoisted her to her feet, called his bag to him again to sling over his shoulder and walked her from the room.

The halls were mercifully empty again, and so they met with no resistance as he led her slowly down the hall, using the Force to hide her identity. When they entered the turbolift, Luke sent it to the lobby.

As the indicator got to the desired floor, Luke whispered to Arica. "Do you trust me?"

A moment of silence was followed by a single, cautious nod.

"Okay." Luke went on. "Stay calm, and don't speak."

"Fine," Arica whispered back before the doors opened.

The front desk was being manned by a male tall enough to give Chewbacca a run for his money, though Luke had no idea how a human could be that tall. But he pushed aside his curiosity and trudged onward.

The receptionist frowned at the sight before him.

"What's going on here?" he asked suspiciously. "Who is this you're with?"

"It's one of your guys' guards." Luke panted for show as he shifted Arica's form slightly, being careful to keep her Force-disguise in place.

"Why is he limping?"

"That red-head's crazy!" Luke put just enough fear in his voice to sound convincing. "The woman beat this guy up pretty good when he came in to protect me from her. She tried to make me sing in the soprano if you know what I mean."

The man winced in sympathy, and Luke saw him shift on his stool to protect his groin in a subconscious response.

"Where are you taking him?" the receptionist asked with narrowed eyes as the duo continued onward.

"To the medical center," Luke replied, not stopping. "The least I can do for him in return is to get him to a doctor. Garris lost his comlink because she smashed it: he needs help in her room!"

The receptionist cursed, not stopping them, though Luke heard the man grumble to himself as he pulled out his comm. link to call security.

"Yeah, I don't understand why we still have that wretch. She's more trouble than any woman is worth."

Luke gritted his teeth, offended on Arica's behalf, but her gnawing pain kept him focused. He breathed an audible sigh of relief as they finally broke through the front door to the shop that disguised the second business.

"Phew, I thought we'd never make it out of there." He murmured to Arica, again shifting to take more of her weight, dropping the Force disguise.

When he caught sight of her face, it was ashen both with pain and dread.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

She nodded, not looking at him. "Yeah. Let's just get the hell out of here. Once they find out they've been played, it won't be pretty."

Luke smirked in satisfaction. "Well, then I guess it's a good thing I still have that remote."

She jerked her head to face him in surprise as they picked their way down the street. "What? You kept it?"

Luke nodded. "Yes. I don't know if he can access your chip from long distances, and I don't want to find out."

He felt her comprehension, followed by a pained wave of gratitude. "Good thinking."