I WILL SURVIVE
"What are you talking about?" Dalla demanded, now fully awake despite it being 0300. "My people managed to defuse their situation, literally. If someone tried to blow up Kallus, it wasn't me."
"The party we were invited to, for the anniversary of Lasan," Yularen replied. "It's all over the news. Someone else didn't think it was a reason to celebrate."
…
Genna did not like surprises. She had chosen to view that little SNAKU with Eve's tracking chip as a happy accident since it had resulted in their impromptu visit to see her old friends on Kuat, but now she was more than glad to be coming home to her regular day job and more importantly, her girls.
When her commlink buzzed in her pocket as she walked down the long hill from the dock to her salon and apartment, she looked at the ID and groaned. "Yeah?"
Riyo's cheerful voice answered. "I'm sorry. I know you just got back."
"What is it now?" She did attempt not to sound too sulky.
"I've got one small tailoring job for you."
"Is it urgent? Because I was hoping to spend some time with the twins before…"
"It's not exactly urgent. They'll think he's dead until they investigate the bombing and don't find his body."
That at least piqued her interest. "Bombing?"
"The defector sort of detonated a bomb in the middle of a celebration for the anniversary for the battle of Lasan, to cover his escape." Riyo gave a sort of nervous giggle.
Now what happened on Lasan wasn't really public knowledge. Those connected to the network knew more than most because of Mollymauk's contacts, but what was known was that it was more of a slaughter than an actual battle and definitely something that shouldn't be celebrated. Obviously their newest defector felt the same.
"Good on him," Genna whistled. "But they're still investigating so I have some time to…"
"He's already on Pabu. And he's kind of recognizable so the sooner you can modify his image the better."
"Riyo," Genna was about to launch into a strongly worded complaint when she saw something that completely diverted her attention. "I'll have to comm you back."
She cut the connection and sprinted toward the park that was across the road from the salon over which she lived with her two daughters.
"Kind of recognizable, my shebs!" She knew him at once and now he was here?
The defector, if that's truly what he was now, was squatting down next to Kebiin holding out a bolo-ball and demonstrating some kind of limmie pass. Saviin ran over as well to see and their mother's heart nearly stopped in her chest.
"Girls, get away from him! Come to me, now!"
"Buir!" Saviin changed her trajectory mid run, happy to see her mother after her long work trip but Kebiin took a moment longer to accept the bolo-ball from the stranger before she joined her sister.
"He was just showing us some moves."
Genna knelt and checked both the twins over for any sign of injury. She hugged them and kissed the top of each blonde head.
"What have I told you about talking to strangers?"
Kebiin looked abashed but her sister pointed towards the other side of the park where several adults were coming their way. "Auntie Riyo said it was okay."
Cut Lawquane crossed his arms over his chest. "Is something wrong here?"
Riyo was a step behind him.
Genna stood up to them both, pushing the little girls behind her. "I have made it very clear from the beginning that my daughters are not to have anything to do with defectors."
…
Genna ignored the insistent pounding on her door. No doubt it was that dema'golka crawling back to spout more lies, and she didn't want to hear it. She'd just gotten the girls squared away watching a vid so she could fix up the salon downstairs and get her own head in order.
The pounding continued and she almost jumped out of her skin when Dalla bellowed "Genna, I know you're in there!"
Dalla was on Pabu?! She thought the fence would have to be dragged from Onderon kicking and screaming.
"Miss Genna?" Called the adorable voice of the one and only Sandor Wullf Wallace. He was here too? Dalla never brought her son on business.
Dalla was done with politeness. "Open the door now or I'm coming in!"
She would too. Genna hurried to unlock the door. Sure enough Dalla and Sandor were on the stoop holding hands like they were Benduday callers and not members of a highly illegal syndicate.
Dalla put away a key which undoubtedly went to the salon door. "Hi, Genna. Beautiful weather you're having."
"Come inside." She swept them in before anyone could see. "Sandor, my girls are upstairs watching a vid. I'm sure they'd be happy for you to watch it with them."
Sandor looked up at his mother and Dalla nodded to him. "Go ahead."
They waited for the little boy to leave before speaking.
"You usually don't bring him on business." Genna gestured to the door where Sandor had gone.
"Bernard has the flu and Sloan couldn't watch him," Dalla explained. "I got a call from Riyo."
And there it was. Genna bristled. "I won't work on him."
"What's the matter with Beroya? You've worked on dozens of other defectors, even defectors from Lasan. Why is this one different?"
"He was talking to the girls!"
"He's a former limmie player and he was teaching them to play. Cut and Riyo were watching the whole time; it was totally innocent."
Genna wasn't about to go down. "He blew up a kriffing anniversary celebration. That doesn't sound mentally stable to me. Why don't you just ship him off to the Partisans and be done with it? They'd probably be thrilled to have a recognizable icon they can rally behind."
"You know as well as I do that the Partisans don't take defectors, and Beroya was carefully vetted. We know he doesn't have any ill intentions."
"You couldn't know that."
Dalla shrugged. "How would I know? I'm just a career criminal who sorts bad shuuras out of my client list and defector pool for a living."
Genna huffed and deposited herself in the nearest chair, silenced for once.
Dalla pulled up a seat beside her. "Look, I'm a mom too. I wouldn't react well if I saw a stranger playing with Sandor. But Demgar Beroya is as honest as they come. He's a good person who got caught up in the Empire and now he needs our help to repair his life. Sound familiar?"
"I never inserted myself into others' lives."
"No, we can blame that on the Batch. But we still gave you the help you needed, especially when … well, in your darkest hour."
She couldn't really argue with that. She rubbed her lower back where her shirt covered her new tattoo. Genna didn't care if it made her a hypocrite, she wasn't budging. "I won't kriffing work on him."
"Wait. You played limmie. Do the two of you have some kind of history?"
Genna scoffed. "We were never officially introduced."
Dalla sighed. "Look, I didn't want to have to say this because I respect you, but I'm your cell leader, which makes me your boss. And as your boss, I'm telling you to work on him."
"Is that an order?"
"Aye, Genna. It is."
…
So she followed orders, but that didn't mean she had to like it or that she didn't have her own conditions. The most important of which being that the girls were away for the day with their uncles. And over in the corner watching the goings on here in the salon was Phee, although she may have been there more for the defector's safety than the stylist's.
After all, Genna was the one who was holding the clippers precariously close to the man's throat. She was doing the trim first as it made the most sense to get rid of the length before she did the color that she would just be cutting off anyway.
His hair was naturally as thick and blond as she remembered from Mona's poster and from seeing him on the pitch and in the stands that day. She had no idea how he had been allowed to let it grow this far beyond regulation while he was with the empire.
She made short work of buzzing the mop into a completely different yet still flattering design. Not that there was much she could do to make him not look like some sort of deity from the moons of Iego but there was also her own reputation to consider.
She couldn't help but notice that no one said a word until she set down the potential weapon and turned her back to mix the hair dye she intended to apply next. She had expected it would be Phee who broke the silence as resident peacekeeper, not the client sitting submissively in her chair.
"They told me you were Mandalorian and that you had played limmie. I thought you might have been someone I had known before but I never expected…" His gaze followed her in the mirror as she made her way back from the prep station. "Blonde is your natural color?"
"I have a little experience with dye jobs."
Phee was intrigued. "So you two know each other?"
Genna may have grunted while she worked.
Demgar responded. "I had the privilege of seeing her play once, for Onderon."
"The privilege, eh?" Phee prodded.
Genna rolled her eyes and continued to work in the dye with her gloved hands.
"Gen, have you ever gotten to see Demgar play?" The pirate continued in her sing-song tone.
She shrugged and pushed a strand of her own hair out of her face with her forearm. "Might have seen him lose to Nate and the guys once."
He bristled, which gave her some satisfaction. He seemed to be calculating, perhaps subtracting what he judged was the age of her daughters from her own early retirement. "I guess your boyfriend was not good enough to be recruited by the Empire."
"You mean Nate?" He must have seen the promotional holos of the two of them together.
"Kriff, as if he wanted to be," Genna scoffed. "His invite probably got lost in the mail when he transferred off planet. And he wasn't my boyfriend."
"You looked them up?" Phee asked the defector, sharing a look with her friend in the mirror.
"There was no one from Onderon involved in the program." He answered, stiffly.
Genna snapped off her gloves and set the chrono on the counter. "Well, it doesn't matter now does it. You're leaving all that osik behind. New look, new name. Do you get to choose that or does Defections just assign you a new one?"
She directed the question at Phee who, if not actually this guy's handler, had been in the game long enough to know the procedure. It should have been Riyo who was looking after 'The Hammer' and it probably would have been if Genna hadn't spoken quite so unkindly to her sister-in-law.
"We let them pick if there's enough time." Phee tried to keep this conversation more pleasant. "Have you thought of anything you might like to be called?"
"I thought perhaps Samson, as it is my middle name and I could grow used to it more quickly." He didn't take his gaze off Genna as she rattled around in a drawer for the eye color injector.
"Not dema'golka? Cause I mean…" She slammed the drawer shut with her hip and gave him a sneer.
"I didn't fire at the Lasats," he asserted, his knuckles going white as he gripped the arms of the chair.
"Hey now," Phee stood up.
"I didn't follow the order and I will never follow their orders again."
Genna took a breath and shrugged. "Elek, whatever you say." She loaded the color cartridge into the injector and stepped closer to her victim. "Just hold still."
She raised the instrument to point it at his eyeball. Generally she was more considerate with her defector clients but she didn't feel like making the effort today.
"Is this really necessary?" he asked a moment before she pulled the trigger.
"You'd be surprised how many people are recognized more by their eye color than their hairstyle." And she activated the injector before he could make another move.
Demgar blinked several times before he focused on her face again. "You never changed yours. They are still kebiin tracinya as I remembered."
For the moment he resembled one of those akk pups with one eye light blue and one dark brown.
"Huh." She averted her gaze, concentrating once again on the tool in her hands and recharging it with another cartridge. "You think I wanted to take the chance of blinding myself with this thing."
She took advantage of his moment of surprise to inject the second eye and then turned away to return the injector to its regular place among her supplies.
"I don't think you've made me blind but I can't quite tell in this light. What color have you given me?"
She didn't answer.
"I have always wondered what I might look like with - brown eyes."
Phee who had sat back down now sprang to her feet. "I think you two have got things under control here. I'm gonna step out and get a breath of air. Don't kill each other while I'm gone."
Genna waved her compliance but Phee was out the door before she saw it.
…
Hunter stepped forward from his perch across the street from the salon as soon as she emerged. "Is everything okay in there?"
"You know, I think so, but you could cut the tension in there with one of those knives of yours."
…
He could never be sure when their heated argument had given way to kissing passionately. All he knew was that he was out of his seat and pressing her against the counter as soon as they were alone and they were both suddenly, frantically removing the clothing that stood in the way of their coming together.
Manda! Her body felt like home and family and belonging. Things he had once taken for granted and never thought he would feel again. And she had to be feeling something similar because she held nothing back.
And then as he held her, hearts still hammering, breathing only beginning to slow to a normal rate, he stared at her face. Her eyes were closed but a small smile of satisfaction touched her lips.
He had been the one to put that smile there and Manda help him but the one thing he desired more than anything in the entire galaxy was to keep that smile on her face for the rest of his life.
As her eyelids fluttered open however, her countenance fell. She pushed him away and wouldn't meet his gaze. "You should leave."
She immediately began to straighten her clothing and the items on the counter that they had toppled over in their desperate tryst.
He looked at himself in the mirror in an effort to do the same. "I am afraid I can not."
At that moment the chrono on the counter indicating the timing of his haircolor began to chime.
"Kriff," she swore quietly and then motioned for him to go back to the sink so she could finish the job she was ordered to do.
…
Genna wasn't terribly surprised when she heard the knock on the salon door at this time of night, nor of who it was standing outside. She hadn't been able to sleep and had come downstairs so she wouldn't disturb the girls. She had known the salon could be seen from the apartment where he was staying.
It would have been easier to see him as a war criminal rather than the subject of her daydreams back when she was in her hover chair working at the fruit stand in Malgan Market and wondering what might have been.
"Su cuy'gar." She gave him the Mando'a greeting as she opened the door and he gave her a coy smile in return.
She wondered how long it had been since he had been able to speak the language with anyone. It had certainly been a long time in her case.
He however stuck to plain Basic when he said softly, "I saw your light on. I hope I'm not disturbing you."
"Not at all. I was just about to get myself some shig because I couldn't sleep. Would you like a cup?"
"I…" he faltered before accepting her invitation. He obviously hadn't expected the interview to proceed like this. "I would appreciate a taste of home."
Genna nodded, allowed him in, and locked the door behind him, before leaving him at the entrance to heat up the hotplate she kept in her business office.
"I really just came to apologize," he called after her.
She took a breath and put the water on to boil before turning to face him once again. "You can't tell me you're truly sorry for what happened between us earlier."
She honestly wanted to know, since she couldn't really find it in herself to be sorry that she had kriffed him right there in the middle of her place of business.
"Uh, no." He chuckled. "I guess I'm not."
She liked his laugh and well, why shouldn't they enjoy one another's company? They were consenting adults.
Still… "I don't want you to think I just do this all the time."
"Of course not." He had the grace to look affronted at the very idea.
"I have my daughters to think of and I don't want them mixed up in any network business."
"Ru suvarir." He answered in Mando'a, understood, and he approached her slowly.
"I don't date defectors," she announced more clearly, maybe to him, maybe to herself as she also cut the distance between them.
"It's not really a date and I'll be gone as soon as the network finds a place to send me." His gaze slid from her eyes down to her lips.
"So it wouldn't really matter if we…"
He stopped her with a kiss that very quickly led to other things, all thoughts of that cup of shig forgotten.
…
She hadn't seen him all day. Of course she was busy with the salon and the girls, but she was fairly sure he hadn't left the apartment at all. Not that she was watching to see if he did. And she didn't think that any word had come down about a rebel cell that would consider accepting a slightly less recognizable defector.
It was late. Once again she couldn't sleep. She wondered if he would come to her. She paced and looked out the window. His light was on.
"Kriff it," she mumbled and grabbed a jacket heading out the door and down the street towards the defector's apartment.
He opened the door before she had really gotten the chance to knock. "Is everything okay?" He asked her. "The girls?"
It touched her that he thought of them first. "They're fine. Suu and Cut are there if they wake up while I'm gone."
He took a breath and then he smiled. "You're here."
"I just…" she faltered and then shrugged. "I'm usually the one who gets the apartment ready before the new defectors need it since I live so close and I didn't get the chance so I was just wondering, do you need anything?"
"I can't think of anything that I really need, but if you wanted to come inside and take a look for yourself…"
She didn't need to be asked twice and heard rather than saw him close the door and lock it behind her before he joined her in the bedroom portion of the little studio apartment.
"I was hoping you'd come." He stepped up behind her as she pulled her shirt off over her head without preamble. "I was hoping to get a chance to see more of the beautiful artwork with which you have decorated your body."
"Well, if that's what you're interested in, that's the showstopper there." Genna pointed over her shoulder at the image that was etched across her lower back. She lay down on her stomach on his bed and let him take in the view.
"It is a Ruping. I should have known. You are loyal to your team."
"It's not just that." She looked at him over her shoulder. "Do you see the ridge there on the wing?"
He ran his fingers over the spot and she shivered.
"It's the scar from my surgery."
"You were injured. Is that why you stopped playing meshgeroya?"
He continued to rub her back and she closed her eyes as she answered. "Well the school forfeited before it happened but it wasn't just some simple injury. I couldn't walk or feel my legs for over a year. I got the tattoo as a reminder that I would never take it for granted if I could fly again."
"You are a true inspiration." He rolled her over and leaned down to kiss her deeply.
…
Genna was not the sort of person who indulged in pillowtalk. Generally she satisfied an itch and then returned to the real world where she was a mom and had a business to run. She didn't know why then she felt so content just now to lie wrapped in this man's arms while he brushed a kiss over her forehead.
Finally she spoke. "I did love my husband dearly."
He froze and then answered her slowly. "I did not believe you to be one who would give your vow flippantly."
"I just…" She didn't know exactly how to say it so she just let the words flow out of her. "When I met him I was alone, all my brothers had died, I couldn't walk, I had no future and he gave me my life back... and the girls."
Sam caressed her arm, tracing the stylized locks of hair that were tattooed in a swirling pattern from her elbow to her wrist. He spoke softly. "And now you give others their lives back or at least a chance to start over." You have given me mine, he wanted to say but did not give voice to the thought.
She had never thought of it like that. Perhaps the work she did to change the defectors' appearances did make a difference.
But that was beside the point. She was trying to explain. "We flew away from Mandalore and our parents when I was four. I- I can barely remember their faces now. And then my brothers died in the war and I lost the ability to walk. And then I thought I got something back again, a new family, when I met my husband. We weren't together long; long enough, I guess, judging by the girls."
She chuckled and sniffed. Sam wiped a tear off her cheek but let her continue.
"And then he was taken away from me, too. The girls never met him. I felt like I'd lost everything again but I had to go on living for them."
"You are a wonderful buir." He held her even tighter.
"Vor entye," she thanked him softly in Mando'a but shook her head and raised herself up on her elbow to look down at him. "When I saw you in the park playing with the girls, I was reminded of all the things I've lost and… and I couldn't bear the thought of losing what I have now. I can't go through that again."
His face was buried in her hair when he answered so she could barely make out the words. "I would do anything to protect you from that."
…
Phee opened the door of the salon and let the girls run in ahead of her.
"We're home, Buir!" Kebiin exclaimed.
Genna's voice spoke up from the back room. "Did you have fun with Auntie Phee? Well, go on up to your room and get yourselves changed."
The twins did as they were bid, trampling up the stairs like a herd of bantha, and Phee was almost ready to turn to leave, figuring that Genna was too busy at the moment for a chat, when she heard another voice in the back room, a male voice.
Phee didn't catch what he said but Genna laughed and then she said, "So we'll be at the park tomorrow around lunch and if you want to come by and kick the old boloball around?"
"I would like that." Demgar Samson Beroya stepped out of the back room with a wide smile on his face. He nodded to Phee respectfully when he noticed her there. "Good day, Ms Genoa." and then he walked out of the salon as pretty as you please, as if he made regular calls there every day.
Phee watched his back as he retreated down the curved Pabu street. Then she turned and stared flabbergasted at Genna. "What in seven Corelian hells was that?"
Genna assumed a defensive posture with her arms folded over her chest but there was something in her uncontainable smile Phee hadn't seen there for a long time, maybe ever. "I just decided that since he's not going to be here long before the network ships him off to some cell in the outer rim and the girls are young enough they probably won't remember him in a month or two, it would be better for me just to not make a big deal out of it."
"Uh-huh. But what was he doing here?"
"Cleaning, if you can believe it. 'Scuse me." Genna pushed past her and began to straighten some bottles on the counter that didn't really need straightening.
"Cleaning?"
"Yeah, I was as surprised as you are." She continued to busy herself. "The other night I couldn't sleep because I remembered that I hadn't done the regular pre-defector prep of the apartment since I was with you and Suu on Kuat, so I went over to see if he needed anything and the place was immaculate. He said he didn't mind because he didn't have anything else to do and he actually likes to keep things neat and tidy. I joked that I should have him come over and work on my place and he said he'd be glad to. So he came over today while you had the girls and… cleaned."
Phee leaned back against the counter and studied her friend. "And was cleaning all that went on while I had the girls this afternoon?"
"No." Genna sighed. She had never been able to lie to Phee. "We kriffed. Again."
"You seem to be making this a habit."
"I know! The sex is really good!"
"Better than with…" Phee began and then thought better of it. "On second thought, I don't want to know."
"To be fair, when I met Tech I was paralyzed from the hips down and after the surgery I still hadn't gained full mobility."
"You've been back to full mobility for some time now."
"I guess."
"But this time it was different," Phee observed. "This time it was in your own home, in your own bed?"
Genna groaned the affirmative.
"Has that ever happened before?"
"No, the others have always been at their place or a hotel."
"Someplace you could leave when it was over and come home."
"Manda! I have always said, no defectors, nothing long term, and I would absolutely never involve the girls!"
Phee placed a hand on her shoulder. "Well, you know this can't be long term because he's gonna have to leave as soon as Dalla finds a place for him to go."
"Yeah," Genna swallowed and gave a decisive nod. "And then we can all go back to normal."
But Phee was not completely convinced. "Are you sure you want everything to go back to normal?"
"That game he said he saw me play?" If she couldn't unload this to Phee who could she be completely honest with. "It was my last. I watched him play earlier in the day and I knew he was in the stands for the second match. I told Dalla we had never been formally introduced which was technically true but if it hadn't been for the rebels taking out the power generator that night we probably would have hooked up after it was over. And then if I had been able to play in that tournament I might have been off world when that wall came down in the market square and been seen by all those pro scouts."
Phee held her tongue and let her friend continue.
"Even if our chemistry back then had been like…" Genna looked towards the door where he had exited and blew out a breath. "We would likely have been sent to opposite sides of the galaxy when the Empire came recruiting, and then I would have been no better off than Romana or Daz or any of the other poor souls we've sent on their way."
"That's an awful lot of what ifs."
"But don't you see? That's what I thought I wanted and if I had gotten my wish I might have never injured my back, but I also would have never met Tech or had any cause to get help from Mollymauk or gone to beauty school or have my girls. I wouldn't have a job that I love, working with friends who I consider family, and I wouldn't get to help people get out of that kriffing haran of an Empire."
Genna shook herself. "When I saw Sam there in the park that day I was reminded of the way my life might have gone and I was so kriffing glad that I hadn't got what I thought I wanted. So, sending him on his way, that will be better for everyone, won't it?"
Or it could be the galaxy bringing two people back together again for a second chance. But Phee didn't say that. "Alright. I'll have a word with Dalla and see what the holdup is with his placement. If anyone can shout a cell into line, she can."
"Good. Elek. Better for everyone." Genna turned away and went to her scheduling book to look up when her next appointment could be expected.
"You know," Phee pushed just a little further. "Wherever Sam ends up you really should talk to Riyo and patch things up. Defectors come and go but family you have to live with."
"I know. And I will. As soon as I get the chance."
…
It was rather ironic how much work Genna put into making her clients feel at ease when she had them in her chair. She had been known to play music that was not at all her own style, or roll long sleeves down over her tattoos if she thought it might be offensive, and most difficult of all was perhaps curbing her language around those with sensitive ears. But the truth of it was that no matter what she did to tweak the environment for the other person just getting her hands into a head of hair, cutting, styling, arranging gave her a sense of calm that she got from nothing else.
That was more than anything else was why Genna thought of offering to give Riyo a conditioning treatment and trim. She needed to be at her most level headed to ask forgiveness for the way she had behaved when Riyo brought Beroya to the island.
And so as Genna shampooed and worked conditioner into the silky pink tresses and then rinsed and snipped off a few almost unnoticeable split ends, she poured out her heart to her practically sister-in-law. She hardly let the Pantoran get a word in edgewise.
Finally Riyo put her foot down, literally, so that she could spin the chair to face Genna and take the cream colored hands in her own blue ones to still them.
"Gen," she smiled her most diplomatic smile. "Of course I forgive you. I understand completely. I don't know if Echo and I will ever be able to have children of our own, but Francesca's little boy is our godson and if anyone ever approached him who I didn't know or didn't trust…" She closed her eyes and shook her head as if the very idea was unthinkable.
Genna sighed with relief and collapsed into the chair beside her. "You don't know how good it is to hear you say it."
"It's no problem at all." Riyo spun her chair back a little so that she could look at herself in the mirror admiring the work that had just been done. "And you won't have much longer to worry about Mr. Beroya. We've found a place for him. The Klonoid cell is very remote. They won't have heard of him because they don't follow limmie."
She wasn't looking at Genna to see her reaction but she heard a sound something like a squeak that came from the direction of the stylist.
Genna hopped up from her chair and busied herself with something at the business desk. "H-how much longer will it be till he leaves?"
"We can have a transport ready for him tomorrow."
"Tomorrow." Genna repeated.
"Genna," Riyo got up from her seat. "Are you alright?"
"Yeah, of course. You did your job perfectly and it's really the best thing for everyone." The stylist sniffed and then smiled. "How do you like your hair? I didn't have to do much."
Riyo glanced back but didn't really look at herself in the mirror. "It looks great and it feels…" she ran her fingers through the strands but then focused again on Genna. "Are you quite sure you're okay? You were so eager to have him gone before."
"Yeah, yeah that's it. He'll be gone and everything can go back to normal."
"Okay." Riyo still looked a bit confused but she picked up her purse and made her way towards the door. "Since the case is almost closed I'm going to be going back to Coruscant soon. I guess I should take advantage of the time I've got here with Echo."
"Yes! You should absolutely do that!" Genna encouraged her and once the Pantoran was out the door, Genna thought that perhaps she needed to make the most of the time she had left as well, with someone else.
…
"They found a place for you!" Genna ran into the apartment and into his arms without preamble.
"Elek, I got a comm as well."
She stepped back away from him slightly, fidgeting in place. "Well, I mean, that's great. You'll have a place where you can plug in and be useful to the cause."
"It is the desired outcome and- and what I expected, when I left the Empire." He took a step toward her again, reaching out a hand to touch her arm.
"Yeah." She looked up at him and willed a sudden flood not to pour down over her cheeks. "So, I guess we won't be seeing each other again."
"Gen." He whispered her name as he wiped away a rebellious tear with his thumb and bent to kiss her.
After that there wasn't much to say. They let their hands and lips and bodies do the talking.
…
That evening as Genna sat the girls down for supper she tried to explain to them. "Auntie Dalla and Auntie Riyo have found a new home for Mr Beroya."
Manda, she made it sound like he was some kind of stray tooka.
"He won't be able to come and play with us anymore?" Keb moaned.
"Or teach us limmie?" Sav pouted.
"Or make our house all clean?"
"Eat your dinner," Genna turned away from the table trying to master her emotions.
Maybe she should have invited him over. It was only nerf nuggets and cheesy pasta shells but it was home cooked and how long would it be till he had something like that again? She said to the girls as much to herself, "we knew he couldn't stay forever. We should be happy for him to find a nice place so quickly."
"I would be happy for him to stay here." Sav obediently took a bite but she looked to her twin for agreement.
"We have a nice place." Keb pushed her nerf nugget around her plate before picking it up and nibbling at it.
Genna drew both of her girls into a hug. "We do have a very nice place here, don't we?"
She dropped the subject and returned to eating her own meal hoping that they would forget and not bring it up again as much for them as for herself.
As much as she wanted to, she couldn't go to him that night at the apartment and she knew that he would not come to her because she had asked him not to. She left her light off even though she paced, wide awake, across the floor of the salon.
It would be better when he was gone. She told herself again. Everything would go back to normal. She didn't believe herself.
Genna dressed the girls in the morning, put the closed sign in the window of the salon, and walked them over to the park.
"Will we get to say goodbye to Mr Beroya before he leaves to go to his new nice place?" One of her daughters asked.
"I don't know. They might have wanted to get an early start and already left Pabu." She did know. She'd been watching all night and morning and had seen no movement from the apartment. Still she didn't want to get their hopes up. Or her own.
She had to admit that her attention was divided between tossing the ball with the twins and watching for when the short-term resident of the apartment would emerge. She tried to work herself up to appearing nonchalant for when Riyo would come along to collect her charge and see him on his way, but again she knew that she was probably fooling herself.
It was Saviin who first noticed the door open and the man who stepped out with a travel bag thrown over his shoulder containing all of his possessions and conscientiously locking up as he had been instructed.
"Mr Beroya!" The little girl called, waving both arms in greeting.
"He hasn't left yet, Buir." Kebiin pulled on her mother's arm.
"I see that," Genna breathed.
He jogged towards them and dropped to one knee in front of the twins. "Jate vaar'tur, ad'ike."
"Do you have time to play with us?" Saviin held up the ball.
"I think I could spare a few minutes." He set down his bag and stood, coming eye to eye with Genna. "If it's alright with your buir."
She swallowed, almost not trusting her own voice. "Why don't we all play?"
"Kids against grownups!" Kebiin grabbed the ball from her sister. "Come on, Sav!"
Beroya smiled at Genna and shrugged. "How can we say no to a challenge like that?"
"We absolutely cannot," she agreed.
He extended a hand and she took it and the two of them ran together after their opponents.
Genna couldn't remember when she had played a game that was quite so full contact but she didn't really mind when her teammate's hand settled on her arm or shoulder or the small of her back.
He had of course already explored the rest of her body behind closed doors as she had done her own exploration of his person. This was definitely a more chaste contact but that didn't make it any less meaningful for either of them. And when they scored a goal and he picked her up and swung her around it was a moment before they remembered that they had an audience.
A little senatorial clearing of the throat and Genna was back on her own two feet with over a meter separating her and the former imperial whom the handler had come to collect.
Riyo smiled awkwardly, "Congratulations Mr Beroya, the transport to your new life awaits."
"Uh Elek. I just have to get my bag." He stopped in his tracks on the way to pick it up and stared at Genna.
"I-," her voice cracked and she looked away.
He moved past her to grab his luggage.
The twins looked from each other, to their mother, to their aunt, and then to the man who made their mother smile more than they had ever seen her smile before.
"You can't go!" Kebiin ran towards him.
And Saviin ran to their mother. "Buir, don't you want him to stay?"
The twins grabbed the two adults and dragged them closer together.
Just then Phee walked up, she wasn't about to miss this for any amount of liberated treasure.
"Savi, it's not my place to say what I want or don't want." Genna tried to tell her daughter gently.
"But, what do you want?" Beroya said softly.
Genna looked around at the newcomers and then back at the man. "It doesn't matter. It's not up to me."
"But let's just say it was up to you." Phee jumped into the conversation.
"What do you kriffing want?" Genna threw back at him and then bit her lip looking down at the girls and cursing herself for cursing in front of them. Not that they hadn't heard her before.
"Who is it up to?" Phee looked to Riyo.
Riyo looked to Echo who had stepped up beside her. He shrugged. "I guess the credit stops with Dalla."
"There is that." Phee winced remembering how Dalla had chewed them out after the mess with Romana and Eve. But even that had turned out alright.
Riyo attempted to be the voice of reason. "The aim of the defection network is to place former imperials in positions where they can be of use to the rebellion."
"He could be of use here." Genna practically spat. "When I was away on that mission I didn't have time to get the apartment ready. Sam had it sparkling and he actually likes doing that sort of thing. If you gave that responsibility to him I could be free to do other things."
"Sam?" Riyo looked to her defector, curious both at the name that was used to identify him and also the occupation that Genna had suggested.
"Samson's his middle name." Phee filled in those who didn't know.
Sam looked at Genna and then at his handler. "I do like to keep things neat and tidy."
The twins watched the conversation bounce back and forth between all of the adults.
"Was I not invited to the party?" Dalla approached next "We have a transport waiting?"
Riyo took point as the handler in charge of the case. "We were just discussing if Sam," she said the name deliberately, honoring his chosen moniker, "might be more useful here on Pabu rather than sending him all the way to the outer rim."
Phee's expression spread into a grin as she added, "If Sam could stay here to clean and maintain the defector's apartment that would allow Genna more freedom to come along on pickups and do image transformations on site."
"And it would be someone else to watch the girls while I was away," Genna was looking determinedly away from her new lover. But the twins gasped in delight and jumped up and down.
Dalla's mouth fell open and then she closed it again. "I thought you didn't want him to have anything to do with them."
Sam stepped closer to Genna in an attempt to regain her attention. "She is free to change her mind."
She glanced in his direction, but painfully aware of all of those watching them, looked down at the girls instead.
Echo smirked. "Should somebody tell the transport they aren't needed for this run?"
"Who was supposed to be flying the transport?" Genna asked, just in case they needed a place to stay if the schedule was changed at the last minute.
"Do you even need to ask?" Riyo went to Echo's side and he put his good arm around her shoulders.
Down from the space dock at the top of the island marched Wrecker, Hunter, and Omega.
"What's the holdup?" Wrecker asked.
"I don't think you boys are going to need to worry about that trip to Klonoid." Phee passed along the intel.
Even Hunter smiled. "I can see what you mean about the tension."
"What is he talking about?" Genna turned on Phee.
"Just that cleaning might not be all Sam is sticking around for." Phee answered her.
"I suppose that means that I will need to find another place to stay." Sam looked at Genna but she returned the look with one of her own which made it clear that moving in together was not going to be an option at this stage in their relationship.
He turned back to the rest of the assembly. "I did of course leave the apartment clean but it'll need to be resupplied with toiletries and kitchen items for the next occupant."
"I can help you out with that. I'm usually the one who gets assigned to the supply runs." Echo offered, which earned him a swat from Riyo.
Phee spoke up as well. "And there are some nice apartments down in lower Pabu that are available now. We could probably get you settled in one of those fairly quickly."
"I thank you all for everything." Sam dipped his head in acknowledgement but then his gaze returned to Genna and she felt as if everyone else was looking at her too.
"Well, I'm glad that's settled because some of us do actually have jobs to do." The stylist took her daughters' hands. "Come on, I've left the salon closed long enough this morning and I have appointments in the afternoon."
The girls held back. "Can't we play with Auntie Meg?"
"Yeah," Wrecker agreed like the big kid he was. "We've hardly gotten to see them and we don't haveta go to Klonoid now."
"Oh, fine." Genna watched her girls run for their aunt and uncles. "Just have them back in time for supper and don't fill them up on Mantell mix!"
She turned to go but found Sam in her path.
"Are you pleased?" He asked her softly. "I'll be able to stay."
"Elek," she answered but anything more was still too jumbled in her mind. That and she couldn't express half of it in front of a famously nosy pirate, a shrewd politician, a clone with genetically advanced hearing, and the galaxy's most notorious fence. "I'll see you around." And then she hurried on her way.
Dalla finally shook herself out of her state of shock. "Before everyone else flies away, we need to have a network meeting."
There were a couple of groans and someone swore but Dalla couldn't be sure of exactly who it was. "It doesn't have to be right now, but before any of you leave the planet. We'll meet at the apartment since Mr Beroya has been kind enough to have it ready for our use. The rest of you should be ready to report on your most recent operations. This case may be closed, but there are still defectors who need us."
Then she turned on her heel and marched toward her own ship to sort out her thoughts before she would have to confront the motley crew again.
…
"So, how did it go?" Sloan asked mock cheerily, seeing her perturbed expression as Dalla stepped back on board the Bad Decisions.
"The defector is not going to Klonoid." And it took three days to convince Klonoid to take him, too.
"What? After you worked so hard to find a place to put him?"
"No, he's staying here because it seems he's gone and fallen in love with our stylist."
That got his attention. "What? She doesn't feel the same way about him, surely?" Sloan had been there for Genna's entire sordid tale and he knew as well anyone how she felt about getting serious with someone new. They were on the same page. It was the same way he felt about getting involved again after losing Ellie.
"Well, she seems to have changed her tune about letting him near the twins if that tells you anything." Dalla fell into her regular copilot's seat. She had some comms to place both to the Klonoid cell and their other contacts, and she was not looking forward to them.
Sloan on the other hand was out of his seat before she could enter in a single code. "I'm gonna get some air. Don't wait up."
…
Sam arrived at the door of the salon at a reasonable hour of the morning. It was slightly earlier than Genna would generally open her doors for business but he thought that she would have to be up and about readying the place for her first customers or getting the girls up and ready for their day.
He wanted to tell her about the apartment he'd found in lower Pabu and his new job maintaining the network's rental property. It wouldn't be enough to support a family at this point and he would have to get a second job if he ever hoped to be the Mandalorian Buir he dreamed of becoming, but he was on his way and he would prove his honorable intentions to her.
"Good morning, Mr Beroya!" The voice of one of the twins cut through his thoughts as he approached the salon.
He waved in return. He had forgotten that the girls had gone to visit with the young woman whom they had called Aunt Meg. Sam still had yet to understand all of the relationships among the defection network family. He knew they also called Phee an aunt, though she was in no way a blood relative.
This Meg was blonde like the girls and had similar golden brown eyes so, he suspected, there might have been a closer connection than that which they shared with the handler.
One of the twins skipped towards him. Kebiin he guessed. He was still trying to learn to tell them apart consistently but she was the one who had seemed more outgoing in his limited experience.
She stopped before him and grinned. "Did you find a house to live in?"
"I did." He dropped down to her level. "Right here on Pabu. So I'll be able to see you everyday as long as your Buir says it's alright."
She giggled and clapped her hands and then ran back to inform her sister.
Along with 'auntie Meg' returning the girls to their home was the hulking uncle? whom Sam had heard referred to as Wrecker. It seemed an apt moniker.
"Were you hoping to look in on Genna this morning?" The uncle inquired menacingly.
"I- elek, I did hope that…"
"Wrecker, of course he's come to see Genna." Auntie Meg rolled her eyes good-naturedly. "She's the whole reason he decided not to go to Klonoid."
The big guy grinned and scooped up a twin in each arm. "And for these two, I'll bet."
"I could never leave them out," Sam agreed, relieved that they had only been teasing him.
The door to the salon was still closed and locked and the interior lights had not been turned on. This did not seem to deter Aunt Meg in the least as she pulled out a key and let them all in.
Sam hesitated for a moment in crossing the threshold but he was propelled forward by Wrecker. "Come on. Gen won't mind."
Sam was unsure of this assessment. Genna, after all, had left him rather abruptly the day before. He realized that since the girls had spent the night with their aunt and uncle that he might have come sooner to have a private chat with Genna about what their new arrangement might look like. But going on their previous meetings up to this point there might have been very little talking before a more nonverbal congress commenced.
His face flushed slightly at the thought and he was glad of the darkness in the stairwell they were ascending. If he had come to see Genna last night he certainly would have preferred not to be disturbed first thing in the morning by her two impressionable young children and an aunt and uncle who had the look of military trained soldiers.
Sam was about to say something about the questionableness of appearing unannounced when Auntie Meg threw the door open at the top of the stairs and uncle Wrecker placed the girls gently onto the floor inside.
Almost as soon as the twins' feet touched the floor they both took off at a run and tackled a poor figure who was lying on the couch.
"Papa!" They cried in unison.
"Papa?" Sam blanched.
"Aye, aye. Let me breathe. Here's my two favorite girls." The man on the couch laughed. He had dark hair – but the girls might have gotten their blonde genes from the Mandalorian side of the family – and a patch over one eye and he looked considerably rumpled as if he had slept on the couch. But that didn't mean that he had not shared a bedroom for some portion of the evening.
Sam held back at the top of the stairs, unsure what to do next. "I thought… I thought their father had passed away," he said mostly to himself but Meg heard him.
"He did," she said softly. "Sloan Murphy is their godfather."
"Their godfather?" He repeated letting the knowledge soak in. "They seem very close."
"Well they don't get to see each other often since he lives back on Onderon, but he lost his wife around the time that the twins were born so they have always sort of filled that place in his life."
So this man's wife had died and then Genna's husband and her girls called him Papa. Perhaps Genna would have no interest in an imperial defector from Mandalore now that her old friend had reappeared in her life. Sam considered just walking back down the stairs and returning to his own new apartment or perhaps it was not too late to locate that Dalla person and tell her that he would like to go on to Klonoid after all.
But then he looked down and saw that a small hand had taken his and he could not resist the tug further into the room.
"Papa Sloan, this is Mr Beroya. He's going to stay on Pabu right in the lower city so we can see him every day."
The two men studied each other intently. And then the one with the eye patch laughed and wrapped the other in a rather surprising embrace. "So you're the one who's got everyone in a right little tempest."
"Don't listen to a word he says, Sam. He's nothing but a drunk shebbed pirate.'' Genna came around the corner from what Sam knew to be her bedroom. She looked like she might have also done her share of the imbibing of alcohol the night before but at least it appeared that the sleeping arrangements had been separate.
She crossed the room passing by the others until she reached Sam. "Did I hear them say you found a place?"
She grabbed his arm and pulled him into the kitchen, relaxing visibly when they were out of earshot. "They can be a bit much. And I'm sorry about Sloan. He's really more like my brother. The girls call him Papa. It's an Onderonian thing, kind of a joke, to differentiate since they have so many other uncles."
Sam smiled at her rambling and then chose to answer her first question. "Elek, I found a place."
"I am glad you're staying." She reached up and cupped his cheek with her hand and initiated a kiss.
And then, he wasn't sure what made him say the words, they had only really known each other a short while, but it was often the Mandalorian way to make strong attachments very quickly. "Marry me."
She shook her head no but she was smiling. He would hold onto the hope of that smile.
