Last time: Sasha and Cien caught up in the mindspace.

Now: Op goes to get a drink.

Chapter 13- Sharing a Drink

After they'd dropped the truck off at the motorpool, the four of them had gone their separate ways. Viran and Sasha went back to their quarters, Kait had gone off to hers, and Oppie had gone back to his room as well. But after a while he was restless. Annoyed that he had snapped at J'onz. A Jedi wasn't supposed to do that. And yet he had. He found himself oddly wishing Cien was here to talk about it with him.

It was later into the evening but not too late. The events at the club had taken place fairly early, and, unfortunately, finished up early as well. It was late dinner time, and even if he wasn't hungry he felt the need to not be in his room. He stood up, grabbing his jacket. His blaster was still strapped to his hip, and his sabers still jangled from his belt. He stepped out into the corridor, and exited the lobby, going across the street.

The bar was a little subdued, less crowded, though there were still some embassy staff as well as locals enjoying a quiet night out for drinks and bar food. He looked around for a good place to sit, and tried to remember what they had on tap here that he might like. Then he stopped. Over in the far corner of the bar counter was Kait. She had changed so she was just wearing a simple leather jacket and comfortable pants, and she was nursing a dark ale while she sat with her face in her palm. She still had her hair made up from before, and most of her makeup was still intact. She must have just changed quickly and then come down here.

He looked at her for a moment before taking a deep breath and walking over to her. "Mind if I join you?" He asked as he came to her side.

She opened her eyes and looked at him, "sure." She replied.

He sat down, and the bartender looked up at him. He just made a gesture to bring him one of whatever Kait had.

"Why did you say all that to J'onz?" She asked after a moment, still looking down at her drink.

"Because he…" Oppie started, and then grimaced slightly. "Because I lost my temper, when I shouldn't have." He said contritely.

"He was right." Kait said, "I put everyone in that night club in danger because I did a sloppy job. We got made, and Sasha and I were almost killed because of it."

Oppie looked over at her. "You weren't sloppy. We were listening in along with you guys, it seemed to be going well until that guy turned the tables on you."

Kait took another sip of her ale as the bartender brought Oppie's over, and she glanced away.

"I said those things to J'onz because he was being a bully, and he was threatening Sasha and... You." Oppie said, as he took a drink. It was a very dark ale, not what he usually had.

"So you stepped in because you didn't think I could handle myself?" Kait said with an annoyed tone.

That brought Oppie up short. "No." He said with a furrowed brow.

"I don't need a 'knight' to come in and rescue me." She stated, her tone continuing to be annoyed. "I can handle J'onz, It's part of my job." She said, taking another drink.

"I know you can handle him." Oppie stated, "and I am sorry if what I did implied anything other than that." He said contritely.

Kait took another sip of her drink and kept looking annoyedly ahead.

"Ever since I met you back on Nivon, both back then and a few months ago, and even here, you've been one of the most capable people I ever met." Oppie stated quietly. "I lost my temper at J'onz for the way he was speaking to Sasha, my little sister, but also because he was threatening you." He swallowed. "Not because I thought you couldn't handle it, but because he was using his position to bully you. Threatening your career when you had no way to handle it except just stand there and take it because of his position over you. Especially after the way he recklessly sent the team in there, and you guys were caught in the crossfire. I've spent my entire life protecting Sasha and Viran. And having her in danger," he paused, "having anyone that I care about in danger or being threatened, is something I just can't stand by and watch." He finished quietly.

She glanced over at him but said nothing, just looking down at her glass again.

"I worked in a lot of offices over the years." Oppie started, just looking into his own drink. "I met a lot of people in our line of work. I've met the lazy, the corrupt, the bad and the inept in our line of work. I've met too many people like J'onz and had to bite my tongue. And beyond that, I've faced down some pretty awful people. So I have no stomach to stand for that anymore, it is a very particular pet peeve of mine."

"But I also met a lot of good investigators." He continued after a moment, "the ones who try, the ones who care." Oppie continued, taking a sip, "and you're where you are because you're one of the best people I've met in that regard." He said carefully, "you got those glowing recommendations because of your own merits, and you got through the marshal program because you're good at your job. And I don't want to see one of the worst cops I've met take down one of the best I've met." He finished.

Kait kept looking down at her drink. "Thanks," she said after a quiet moment.

"You're welcome." Oppie said, looking down into his drink.

"You guys are really strange." Kait said after a moment, taking another sip of her drink.

"We are, yes." Oppie said with a hint of a smirk.

"It has been nice to spend the last couple of days with you guys though." Kait said after a moment, "ever since I arrived it's been a big change. I used to be the captain of my precinct, and now I'm back down to a raw recruit. Under an investigator that seems to have his own methods I can't understand. And who seems to loathe me, even though he specifically requested me here. You guys arrived and it feels like progress is finally being made. And it's nice to be around people that appreciate me." She admitted. She wiped her face with her free hand. "And I have to go in tomorrow and deal with all of that, I'm sure he'll be in a fine mood." She grumbled.

"I'm sorry that I made things worse." Oppie said quietly, looking into his glass.

She looked over at him, then down to her own glass which was almost empty. "Don't be, I appreciate it." She said quietly.

Oppie just nodded and took a sip as they sat together in companionable silence.

"So what do you guys do, anyway, when you're not taking down cartels?" Kait asked after a while, "you guys are marshals, and Viran said you get requested since you're Jedi?" She asked.

"Sort of." Oppie answered, answering her question. "Kind of an offshoot of when Kyr used to do private military contracts, but we do private contracts to go help people out. Negotiations, investigations. Some of Kyr's military stuff sometimes. The marshal status is something we only use every now and then when it weighs on the situation." He answered.

"Sounds pretty interesting." Kait said.

"It is." Oppie said, taking another drink. "It's a nice break from saving the galaxy and stuff."

She looked at him with a wry, sideways glance. "Do they train you guys to have a weird sense of humor like that?" She asked.

"Like what?" Oppie asked.

"Like jumping two stories. Or being able to lift a gantry weighing hundreds of kilograms. Or saving the galaxy." Kait said.

Oppie looked over at her. "No, not... Really." He said, not sure if she was kidding or not.

"Well you and Sasha are so deadpan with it I thought maybe it was a Jedi sense of humor or something." She said.

"Uhh... no?" He said. Not quite understanding what she was getting at.

She looked at him sideways and took another sip of her ale.

"Are you okay here?" Oppie asked her.

"What do you mean?" She asked, still looking down at her glass.

"You don't seem very happy here on Caranas." Oppie observed with a slightly worried tone.

"Oh, no I love it here." She said wryly. "It's such a beautiful garden spot, aside from the murderous gang running everything, a boss that loathes me and the constant excitement of report reading."

"Sorry." Oppie replied.

"It's fine." She said, "in all seriousness… I don't like this very much. I thought being a marshal I might encounter more people that were less apathetic than the cops on Nivon. I thought I could make a difference on a bigger stage." She said tiredly. "I guess that was naive of me to think that."

"It's not." Oppie replied. "And I think you're making a difference here. Colonel Ceros seems to appreciate our efforts here, at least." Oppie said. "And from what Sasha and Cien described, this place is slowly rebuilding into something better. And you'll get your next assignment and meet better people."

"Yeah, if I don't get fired." She said sourly.

"You won't get fired." Oppie replied.

"I hope not." She said. "I feel like we're close here. Something in my gut is telling me we're at the cusp of breaking this thing wide open, we just need one more break." She said. "And someone once told me to trust my instincts." She said, taking another sip.

Oppie glanced at her, "you have good instincts."

"Thanks." She said.

"You're a natural at it, if your dad was a cop I guess that makes sense." He mused.

"I wasn't going to be a cop." She said, looking down into her glass. "I wanted to be an actress." She admitted. "I took several years of classes for that before my brother was killed." She said quietly.

Oppie digested that for a second. "Did you get closure on that?"

"Not really." She said, "just a random thing. He ended up living a hard life. Spending time with the wrong people. And it just caught up to him one day." She said, looking down into her glass. "And the cops on Nivon, the investigators just didn't really care that much. And it bothered me." She said.

"I'm sorry." He said quietly.

"That first year, it made a difference though." She said, taking a quiet sip. "Seeing the cases you worked on, you and Roose. Having you guys as senior investigators that were actually trying to solve cases instead of just getting them over with. It made it feel like it wasn't so impossible a task to make a difference if there were other cops and investigators out there like that." She said quietly.

"I liked Roose." Oppie said, remembering him now that she mentioned him. "What happened to him?"

"He became captain a year or two after you guys left. Mentored me quite a bit before he finally retired, and I took his slot as captain." She said, "he retired and went home, bought a fishing boat on Mon Cala."

"I could see that. He seemed like a fishing boat kind of guy." Oppie said with a slight smirk.

"Yeah." She said, also smirking a little. "We still keep in touch a little, he seems happy."

"That's good." Oppie said.

"Can I ask something?" She spoke after a moment.

"Sure?" Oppie replied with a questioning tone.

"Cien said you lost seven years somehow, what's the deal with that?" She said, looking up at him. "I remember when you seemed a lot older than me."

Oppie looked down at his drink, trying to figure out how to explain. "There was a Sith lord that was trying to take over the Empire from Palpatine. He captured Sasha and Viran and I went to save them, and the only way I could think of was to use a new power I had learned to send him someplace impossibly far away. And I had to push him through to do it. I didn't realize how far away it would be, though. I spent the better part of a year there, even though it was only a week or two from my perspective. Then after Sasha and Viran got me out, the same Sith lord broke out as well, and we had to stop him. We followed him to the same place and defeated him. We spent maybe an hour or two fighting him until he was finally sent through a portal someplace where he could never return. And when we ourselves went through a portal to come back, it was six years in the future for us." He finished, looking down in his glass. He glanced up at Kait, and she was looking at him with incredulity. "What?" He asked.

"Nothing." She said with a shrug and a slight laugh. "I am not sure I'll ever understand your guys' humor."

"It's the truth," he said, but he couldn't help but chuckle a little bit at her reaction.

"Oh, sure." She said with a 'knowing' look. "I'll admit I couldn't believe what I saw Sasha doing with her plasma sword in the night club. I didn't think anyone could move that fast. But next you'll be telling me you guys can fly or something." She said with a slight roll of her eyes.

"Sure we can." Oppie said with a smirk. "With a good ship anyone can fly."

She laughed at that. "Okay, you got me there." She said, swallowing the last of her ale. "I think I might call it a night. It's been a long day." She said, fishing a few credits out of her pocket.

Oppie glanced down at his mostly finished ale. "Same." He said, also standing up as he pulled some credits out as well. "Mind if I walk you back?" He asked.

"Not at all." She said.

As they turned to leave the bar she thanked him for holding the door for her as they left. "So after you guys are done here what will you do?" She asked as they walked along in the subdued night back towards the embassy gates.

"Go home." Oppie said, "relax." He said as he walked along beside her. "I spent the first years of my life fighting in the Clone Wars, then after that on the run from the Empire." He said quietly. "That gave me an appreciation for being able to relax somewhere and enjoy being safe." He admitted.

"I can imagine." Kait said.

"It is. The house we live in is on the side of a mountain, and when it's not covered in snow the forest is beautiful, especially with a nice sunset. And when it is covered in snow, the double moons make everything so brilliant." He said a little wistfully.

"That does sound nice." She said.

"What about you?" He asked as they flashed their badges to get through the embassy gate.

"Hopefully another assignment." She said quietly.

"But after that? Where do you want to go?" He asked.

"Not sure." She said, "my parents' new house," she admitted after a moment, "they sent me pictures of it. It's a nice little cottage next to a beautiful ocean, I guess. I've never seen an ocean, I wouldn't mind visiting them there, and being able to sit on the beach and just listen to the surf." She admitted.

"That sounds nice." Oppie said in agreement as they walked through the quiet lobby space to head towards the section for personal quarters.

"It does." She said, "they seem happy there." She observed.

They walked in silence past a few doors until she stopped at hers. She keyed the door open from the panel and looked back at him. "I'm glad we were finally able to get drinks, Op. I wouldn't mind doing it again."

Oppie blinked a little, "me too, Kait."

"Have a good night." She said as she stepped into her room and closed the door.

Oppie stood there for a moment before continuing on back to his own quarters.

FINALLY THEY GOT DRINKS!