Cozzizzie and TGP212TH: ~_~

CaptainReb: Thank you :)

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Trust and Hatch

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Trust parked the speeder in the building's attached parking area and he and Hatch stepped into the lobby through the main entrance, the two large doors hissing behind them as they glanced around. The interior still had patches of construction going on and various maintenance-dressed crew and workers were clicking paths across the tiles. Around them a number of patients and medical professionals alike made harried courses to and from their destinations. The whole place seemed to be in a loop of rushed motion, although remarkably orderly given the circumstances.

The two troopers pressed their way through the others, making a beeline for a small indoor cafe to the right. They looked around briefly, studying the patrons for a moment before claiming an empty table by the window and taking seats. Hatch bent to the side to snag a holozine from the rack beside them and Trust sat watching the passers by outside the window, fingers drumming against his thigh.

After a short while, a young woman in nursing attire stepped into the cafe, her eyes locking onto them and she smiled as she approached their table.

"Trust and Hatch?" Her gaze was kind, but tired. "Net told me you had some questions?"

"Yes ma'am." They both rose and Hatch pulled out a seat, which she took.

"Please, call me Emilie ok?"

They inclined their heads briefly in acknowledgment and she watched as Trust pulled out a holopad and stylus, taping the screen a few times before nodding to Hatch. They both sat, and Hatch removed his helmet before looking at her.

"We're just looking for anything that might give us leads on the bombing. The CSF is conducting an investigation on it and put in a request that we do a little investigating from a military standpoint as well." Emilie caught herself watching his hands as they moved about. He gestured a lot, and in an animated way as he spoke, although his gaze was steady on her. "There've been a lot of security issues planetside lately, and anything Mandalorian-related is running a red flag right now."

"I see." She looked between them. "I'm not sure if I'll be of much help in that regard."

"That's fine, Miss emilie, anything you could give us is more than we've got."

"What would you like to know?"

"The Lieutenant said you recognized the marking as a Mandalorian clan mark, and Net said you mentioned growing up on Mandalore. Is there anything you could tell us from a Mandalorian perspective? Is there anything we should expect? Any chance of another attack?"

"Ah..." They watched as she let out a breath and stared out the window, her eyes skitting back and forth for a few moments before returning to rest on them. "I'm only guessing, but I would say no. Unless there is someone else they're after. The person in the room they bombed is...gone." A sad look came across her face. "I'd say they did what they came to do."

Hatch nodded. "That's what we figured. Think they'd stick around after?"

"You mean here at the hospital?"

"Just lingering around Coruscant. We've hit some matches of similar symbols to the ones at the bombing, on the lower levels. We're not sure if they're new or old, or who made them."

Emilie tapped a finger against her chin in thought.

"There might be a ring of them based here. Maybe it was a side effect of a turf-war?"

"That's the general concensus. Do you know any way of...getting their attention, Miss Emilie? We're looking for ideas to draw these guys, if they exist, out into the open."

She laughed. "Round up a rival of theirs and issue a challenge?" A shake of her head and she looked up at Hatch again,a slight discomfort in her eyes. "Sorry, I have no ideas other than the obvious. Clan politics are...why my mother and I ended up leaving."

"Net mentioned that. I'm sorry." He said, and Trust stopped tapping his 'pad to glance at her. They both had genuine sympathetic expressions that she couldn't help but find endearing, as much as she disliked the probing. She let out a breath before rising, fingers spread across the tabletop and leaning between them with a smile.

"I could use some caf. Is it ok?" She gestured to the counter and Trust gave her a thumbs up, eyes falling back to the datapad and he scratched out something.

They watched her step up to the counter and place an order before moving to the end of the counter to wait.

"I was hoping she could tell us a little more. This trip feels...unproductive." Trust said, looking across the table at Hatch. He set the holopad down and rested his elbows on the polished top, glancing at the nurse. Hatch shrugged.

"Can't tell what she doesn't know. And, it's not a total loss." He stole a glance at Emilie, a tilt to his head. . "We get to be in the company of a lady for a bit. I like her." He looked back at Trust. "She's pretty...and" he leaned in closer to whisper "she smells nice."

Trust gave him an odd look. "I'm not even going to ask how you know what she smells like."

Hatch sat back and crossed his arms, quirking an eyebrow in disbelief. "It's called a nose. You should try using yours some time."

"I do. I just don't go around sniffing women. Krinking weirdo."

Hatch closed his eyes and smiled smugly, a finger pointing to the ceiling. "Your loss. I'm telling you, she smells nice."

Trust was shaking his head at him when Emilie returned. She placed a drink carrier between them somehwat shyly.

"I hope these are ok. I wasn't sure what you guys liked. I should've asked."

She parced out the drinks and placed the carton to the side before taking her seat.

"No...we didn't...thank you Miss Emilie." Hatch reached for his cup as Trust removed his helmet and placed it by his feet. He gave her a smile of thanks as well.

She grinned and blew across her drink a little before taking a sip. They did the same, and they all drank for a few minutes in silence. After a short time, Emilie set her drink down and clasped her hands beneath her chin, elbows on the table and seemed to think about something deeply for a moment. When she looked up they were both staring at her curiously and she pointed to the 'pad, eyebrows knitting and frowning slightly.

"Do you have any pictures of the marks on the lower levels?"

Trust tapped the holopad back to life and pulled the images up. He slid it over and she flicked through them slowly. After studying them for a short while she glanced up at him.

"Can you show me where they were found?"

He nodded and pulled up a holomap of the area, with the mark's locations labeled and eyed her hopefully. Maybe she had something after all? He watched her as she stared hard at it, and Hatch leaned in as well.

"Anything stand out to you?"

She purse her lips in thought before shaking her head.

"No. I dont know the mark, and the perimeter formed by them doesn't seem to have any sort of pattern. It doesn't even look like turf markings to me. I'm not sure what the meaning is, if there is any." She kept her gaze on the map as she drank, eyes flicking from mark to mark, but said no more.

Hatch observed a frown finding its way to her face again and he made a point of looking around, then gestured to their surroundings.

"So, how're the repairs going around here?"

Emilie drew in a breath and peeked up at him as though pulled from a memory. She smiled. "Good. Very well. Things are calming down and getting back to the way they were. A lot of rearranging and running around but we're making progress. Got some crazy shifts going on right now. " She rubbed a hand over her eyes, which gave evidence of her story by the shadows beneath.

"Thanks for the break."

Trust nodded and Hatched winked, which made her laugh.

"So, have you guys and Net known each other...long?"

"No. He's a later batch than us. We met recently, in the medbay back at the complex. Not too long ago. After the riot."

Emilie scrunched up her face. "I heard about that. People really are nuts sometimes..." She looked at them with concern. "Was everyone ok after? I mean, all of your friends?"

"I think everyone got some licks, but we all pulled through."

"I'm glad." She looked it, and she gave them a warm glance as she drank the rest of her coffee. She fiddled with the empty cup for a minute, staring at the holomap again while she did so, before finally shaking her head and standing.

'I have to get back now. Sorry I couldn't be of more help."

"No problem Miss Emilie."

"Thank you for meeting with us," Trust tapped off the holopad and clipped it to his belt.

She nodded and leaned over to retrieve his empty cup from the table, her own clutched in her hand. Her hair slipped across his arm as she did so and he caught himself subconciously inhaling the light flowery scent of her curls. She snagged Hatch's after, then straightened and gave them both a tired smile.

"See you guys." She began walking but seemed to rememeber something and spoke over her shoulder at the edge of the cafe. "Say hi to Net and Fetcher for me, ok?"

They both nodded and watched her go. Hatch gave a small wave. He turned back to Tust, pointing a finger at him.

"I saw you. You totally smelled her!" He crossed his arms and gave a smug look. "She smells nice right?"

Trust gave him a smack upside the head as they headed back to the parking lot.

...

That night they were performing reconnasiance in the area of the markings, walking the perimeter and keeping eyes out for anything noteworthy or out of place. The whole sector was a shady place, grimy and alight only with faint overheads that illuminated the shabby buildings and gutters overflowing with refuse. Trash and broken glass and other things Hatch had no desire to identify.

"Ick." He lifted a foot that had come down on something slimy in the darkness. He wiped it begrudgingly on the curb, which looked marginally cleaner.

"Don't get prissy on me." Trust's voice came through the comm in Hatch's helmet from two streets over. There were sounds of a few speeders racing by in the background and the muted laughter of adjacent citizens.

"Dare you to take a dandy roll across the next cross-walk, vod." Hatch let his gaze pan the catwalks of the building he was scoping before tracing a path along the roof.

He was stepping the narrow confines between one structure in the next when Trust spoke again. A whispred hiss through the filter.

"Got something." Hatch could make out the familiar notes of his movements beyond his voice. The sound of plastoid against the permacrete as he kneeled, the clack of a blaster being gripped tighter across a chest plate.

"Heading your way." Hatch's pulse quickened and he followed Trust's icon on his HUD. "What've you got?"

"One target. Mando. In pursuit."

Hatch could see his icon was in motion, although moving very slowly, indictaing he was merely following, not chasing.

"He hasn't noticed you."

"Not yet. I'd like to keep it that way."

Hatch could see the grid of streets underlaid beneath the blips on his HUD and turned a sharp corner, nearly colliding with a bewildered man who jumped out of the way with a startled screech.

"I can head him off at the next left. Get ready."

"Copy."

He rounded the corner at a run and sprinted down a side street, slipping into place and cutting off the target from the rest of the four way with a half slide just in time.

Hatch got a look at the target, a Mandalorian wearing plain grey armor, who came to an abrupt halt at the sight of him and stood frozen in place for a moment. He leveled the blaster at the figure and called out firmly across the glint of alloy in the darkness.

"Hold up. We need to ask you a few questions."

Trust came down from the rooftop behind, swift and silent by cable, and had detatched it and raised his weapon by the time the target had turned to flee.

Catching sight of the second trooper, the Mando's helmet flicked bewteen the two for a desperate moment. The two sidearms at his sides remained undrawn, although both troopers could see the beginings of thoughts in that direction forming with the slight twitch of his arms.

"Don't do anything stupid. We just want to talk." Hatch heard the soft click of Trust switching his blaster to stun before the figure sprung to life, triggered by the sound.

Before he could respond, Hatch found himself doubled over from a blow to the stomach, then laid out with a swipe beneath his legs. The Mando leapt over him, swiping the decee from his hands and sending it skittering into the shadows. Trust darted past in pursuit as he scrambled to retrieve it, and he could hear the sizzle of stun rounds in the air as the other trooper fired off shot after shot.

They were too far to be more than shapes against the street by the time Hatch had joined the chase and he pulled up the overlay as he ran, seeking anything useful.

The city turned out to be working in his favor, or the target was unfamiliar with it because he bolted into a passage that was undeniably a dead end.

Either that, or it was a trap.

Trust had come to the same conclusion, but wasn't keen on calling it a loss on the chance of any foul play on the Mando's part. He followed without hesitation, buoyed by the fact that he was gaining ground. The Mando was half a head shorter than he, and though swift, not as fast as the trooper who followed.

"Got him!" He called out. They had reached the end of the line, the Mando only a few bounds ahead. Trust expected the figure to slow, but he didn't, in fact he sped up his approach and took a good leap up the wall before him.

"Kriff, don't tell me he's a jedi!" Trust's stun rounds peppered the surface of the wall, just a half-step behind as the figure flipped off the wall and landed back on the ground with a grace not in tune with the appearance of his armor.

But he drew no lightsaber, just knelt and kicked off the ground in a direct charge at Trust. And before the trooper could fire another shot he was snared by the need for deflection, dodging the barrage of kicks and blows that missed by hairbreadths.

The trooper had two advantages at that moment which kept him from going down immeditely: his greater size, and the anticipation of the method of attack gleaned by watching Hatch be taken down by such moves only minutes prior.

Trust dropped his blaster in favor of deflecting the blows, and they wrangled and grappled with eachother for a few tense moments, with him managing to hold his ground, just barely.

But he was a fast learner and though his opponent was quicker and more nimble, his strength was greater. He managed to grab hold of the other man just long enough to fling him to the ground, although the Mando caught him whilst falling and they both toppled.

The Mando's back connected hard with the permacrete beneath them from the fall, and then Trust's helmet came down upon his shoulder as he crashed to the ground on top of him, which elicited a cry of pain from him.

No, her, Trust realized. The sound had been female.

He rose to his knees quickly and raised an arm with the intention of knocking her out, but halted suddenly with a jerk, pausing to regard her from behind the dark visor in disbelief.

It was only a hearbeat of a hesitation, but it was enough. She brought up a knee which connected with his side, sending him rolling off her with a sharp inhale. He rose to his knees again, breathless and saw his blaster laying before him. He made a lunge for it and jumped to his feet with it raised, spinning on his heel.

A single shot rang out in the night and Trust fell to the ground, decee dropping with a clatter.

"Ahhhh!" Hatch had finally caught up with them just in time to see his brother fall and screamed as he opened fire on the figure, who froze at the sound. Several of his shots rang high and wild, but one caught her arm and she cried out, returning a shot and making Hatch swerve instinctively.

She used the opening to slip past him in a dash and disappeared into the night.

Hatch had to choose at that moment to stay or pursue and he threw a desperate look over his shoulder before running to his fallen friend.

Trust rose to his elbows with a groan and clutching his chest just as Hatch fell to his knees beside him.

"You alright?" Hatch sounded incredulous and relieved, like he hadn't thought he as alive.

Trust grunted. "Fine. Just knocked back." He looked to his decee which lay smoking in front of them, a singed ring right through the barrel.

"She's one hell of a crackshot."

"She?"

Trust nodded.

Hatch turned his gaze down the street, in the direction she had run. "Well, she's gone now." He looked back at Trust, running his eyes over him once more as though double checking before rocking back to sit and shaking his head. He chuckled dryly. "I'm a little embarassed. She did a number on us."

Trust was quiet, and sat staring at the smoking remains of his blaster.

Hatch rose and offered him a hand, shaking his head in disbelief. "I can't believe we lost her." He said in disappointment, although there was a slight lilt of amusement there as well.

Trust finally looked up and took his hand and let himself be pulled to his feet. He stood staring down the street in the direction the Mandalorian woman had taken off in for a while before turning to Hatch.

"I know how to find her."