Chapter Title: Stuck
Series Title: Unlikely Brothers
Author: Obi the Kid
POV: Tanner (Tanner is 18, Dashen is 24)
Chapter Summary: While on a job, things do not go according to plan for the boys.
Summary: A series of non-chronological stories taking place in the world of my OC's Dashen and Tannerlin.
Rating: PG
Characters: Dashen Lesedi and Tannerlin Vai (Jedi)
"Not part of the plan."
"Yes, thank you, Mr. Obvious. Now get us out."
"What do you mean, get us out?"
"Use your hocus pocus Force crap and zap us out of here."
"Dash, have I ever zapped us out of anywhere before?"
"No, but what's the point in having it if you can't zap people out of metal cages?"
"Would you just…stop talking for a minute please?"
"Good. You need quiet to figure out how to get us free. Got it. I'll shut up."
I shook my head and tried to think. It's true this wasn't part of the plan. I wasn't part of the plan…not originally. I'm not a runner. Not like my brother. I dabbled in it, if only to know enough to save his butt now and then. I'm actually studying to be a teacher. Another two years and I'll have my own students to teach. For now, I'm still taking my own classes, studying and assisting several veteran teachers. School is out for the season though; for the next two months. I need something to fill that downtime. And that's when I help out my brother and join him on some of his runs. It helps me keep in practice…and it also reminds me how much I hate doing it. For Dashen's sake and safety though, it's tolerated.
This time however, turned out to be a bit more involved. Colton was running the game and thieving the prize. Dashen was supposed to be a distraction. The plan evolved from there until Colton decided we needed a bigger distraction than just my brother. Hence, my reluctant involvement. We'd gotten the party invite, dolled ourselves up in our best clothes and for an hour, we were socialites. Then Dash and I caused the planned commotion, security was called and we were escorted out of the mansion. We would quietly escape arrest and then vanish unseen back into the mansion, upstairs, and steal the object of the job. Sneak out, meet up with Colton after the fact and done! It all seemed simple enough except for the fact that instead of simply being put into often-used run-of-the-mill hand shackles – which I could get out of easily enough – we were tossed into a six-by-six iron-barred cage. Tough stuff. Without the aid of a light saber, I wasn't strong enough or trained enough to get us out of this mess.
As I said, not part of the plan.
We were officially stuck.
"Hey Dash?"
"Whatcha got, Mouse?"
"I got nothin'."
"That's helpful."
"Sorry. I can't bend, melt or move iron; even if I was fully trained. Now, if I had my light saber…"
"If, if, If. So, what you are telling me is that we're stuck."
"It would appear so. You think Colton will know that the plan has fallen through?"
"He will when he doesn't see our signal in twenty minutes. How about the lock? Can't you just levitate something with your mind and pick the lock with it?"
I tried not to roll my eyes. All these years and Dash still didn't really understand the Force or how I could use it. He never really got that it wasn't just some magic where I wave a hand and something good happens. Honestly, I wasn't anywhere as capable as I could be at my age. Had the Jedi not all been killed; had I been able to continue my apprenticeship with Master Ayden, I'd have a much stronger grasp of my powers. Instead, I was somewhat erratic, discovering abilities and then not having the knowledge to hone them. I'd worked hard to learn from the lessons I'd had with Master Ayden in the two years that I was his apprentice. But he'd died when I was nine. All the Jedi did. More lessons I'd gotten from a veiled Master Jedi that we'd discovered by accident on Tatooine. Ben Kenobi. Unfortunately, I wasn't a frequent visitor to his home for fear that my presence might lead to one of both of us being discovered. During our twice-a-year training sessions, he would move me forward, teaching as much as our time together permitted. It was a slow process, appreciating, devouring and employing the Force all within a few weeks per year. I was confident however, that using the Force pick locks was not on the list of intended uses.
"Dash, I've never had a reason to pick a lock before. How would I even know how to do it? And isn't this a laser powered lock?"
"Well, yeah, but it's got a manual component to it too. And if it's a lock, it can be picked. That's my motto."
"You have a motto? Since when?"
"Shut up, Tanner. Now, find something to pick with."
I looked around. The room we were in was peculiarly clean. Just what we needed, a neat freak's holding cell. There didn't appear to be any scrap objects lying around. Except… My eyes closed and I focused on the physical matter of the item hidden in the furthest corner of the room. Reaching forward with my right hand and stretching it outward between the iron bars of the cage. I felt Dash next to me…cheering me on.
"You got it, Mouse. You can do it. Careful. Easy now. Go nice and slow and…"
I hushed him with an irritated bump from my shoulder to his.
"Sorry," he whispered. "Just got excited. You and your hocus pocus and all."
I bumped him again, harder this time.
"Sorry. I'll shut up now."
Eyes were still shut as I puffed out a noisy breath in his direction. Then, refocus. The small metal pin I'd found wasn't difficult to move. There wasn't much to it weight or size wise. The Force was my ally at the moment and I opened my eyes to see the pin floating towards us. The lock of the cage was beyond arm reach, so I'd have to try and manipulate it without utilizing my hands. I didn't think I could do it and even if I could, I didn't believe the lock would be broken this way. Despite what Dash had said, there really was a laser component to this thing. This task appeared to be unattainable. My past though, it nudged me differently. Long ago Master Ayden was fond of saying that even if a task seemed impossible, that I shouldn't treat is as such until I'd put every effort into it. He said that failure was failure only after you had tried your best. So, I tried my best. And…I failed. Actually, I half failed. The pin did trigger the manual part of the lock, but when that went, the laser component doubled in strength. So, now we were really stuck.
"Well," Dashen said, "I told you."
"Yeah, Dash, you told me all right. I can't defeat lasers. Any other brilliant plans?"
He sat back, leaning against the bars. "Nope. That was it. I guess we just sit here until they let us go?"
"That would be two days from now. They can't hold us any longer for disorderly conduct, at least not legally."
"Do they have to feed us?"
"Yes."
"Provide a toilet?"
"Yes."
"Good, because I've gotta go."
I sat down finally, giving up after another escape scan around the room. "You'd better figure out how to hold it, Dash, because until the party is over, security will be busy with surveillance. We're secure down here; they don't need to worry about us."
"Wonderful. Thank you, Mr. Positive Outlook."
I shrugged. "You asked."
Dashen discovered that the best way to 'hold it' was to yap my ears off. The less he thought about the urge, the less urge there was ; so he said. Lucky me. Thankfully, I didn't have to see what may have come about once he stopped babbling as a few hours later we were freed. Virgil Colton's tall, broad form entered the prison area, flanked by several of the house's security. With a firm hand, he asked them to stop and approached us alone. His tone was low and inaudible to anyone outside our personal space, and that meant only one thing; Colton was fuming. This was confirmed when he collared us and pulled us forward into the iron bars -our faces smashed against the cold metal.
"Idiots. Both of you! I give you a job. One simple job. And you screw it up."
Dash made the mistake of talking. "But Colt…"
He was crushed further into the bars. "Don't but anything. You are fortunate that my ability to lie far exceeds your ability to steal. I managed to convince Flynnis that such petty criminals such as yourselves weren't worth the effort, time and money of prosecution and that the two of you would be better off with me, putting you to use in some other fashion. Tatooine still functions a slave planet, yes?"
I gulped. Dashen went silent; an immense achievement for him by the way. Colton released us and motioned for the guards. Watching as they undid the lock, I smacked my brother in the head after the fact and after the guards had left us in Colton's custody.
"You idiot! See how they managed that lock? It not only had two first level lasers, but four to follow. You and your 'Can't you just levitate something with your mind and pick the lock with it?' idea," I mocked.
He got me back with a swat of his own. "Well, if you knew you couldn't do it, why the hell did you even try it? Who's the idiot now, huh?"
"I was trying to do what…ouch! Colt, that hurts!"
He grabbed us again, this time by our ears. "Both of you shut up. See the bad habits you're teaching the kid, Dash? Even he can't keep his trap closed. No more talking. Either of you. When we get home, you both are banned to your bedrooms for two days. You can exit to use the bathroom and to retrieve food. That is all."
"Colt," Dash began, unable to get the message, "You can't confine me to my room. I'm an adult, well past the age of maturity."
"Maturity is in the eye of the beholder, my boy. Now, if you'd like to make it three days – or more – test me again."
We didn't. We kept quiet, although we spent the trip home taking it out on each other as best we could. Silently, of course. Head smack here. Ankle kick there. Finger poking jabs to the ribs. Just enough to annoy ourselves and Colton without actually breaking his enforced rule of no talking. Once home, we retreated to our apartment and flopped onto the couch.
I said to my brother, "Think he's serious about the confinement to rooms thing?"
"Not sure, but at some point shouldn't we take a stand? I mean, I'm twenty-four. You are eighteen. We're much too old to be bossed around by some giant blond mansion-owning master criminal. Right? I mean, he can't just stick us in there and lock us away to rot."
"Well, technically Dash, we wouldn't rot. It's only two days. It takes a lot longer than two days for a body to decompose. Depending on temperature, humidity…"
"Would you shut up, Tanner! I really don't need to know these things and I'm not sure why you actually do know them. And if you tell me it was part of your Jedi initiate training…"
Shaking my head, I flashed him a sideways grin. "No, that would be disgusting. I learned it from watching all those crime vids you are always raving about. They give me crazy dreams, but they are strangely addicting. I can't help myself."
Dash made a face and was about to put his foot down and tell me no more watching creepy nightmare-causing vids, when we sensed the authority behind us. Colton. Hands on hips. Dead serious. Ready to repeal our preference for freedom. Dashen and I slunk closer together, made a quick decision and then split.
"See you in two days, little brother. Bye!"
"Back at you, big brother."
We vanished into our bedrooms.
Stuck.
Again.
The end.
