Sister - Part 2
Hours later, through gritted teeth and heavy breaths she was left slumped against her cell wall, the silence purveyed even after the echoes from their footsteps had long faded. Her breathing had slowed, she let out a cough, blood splattered her pale chin.
"Oh God- you're alive!" gasped one of the clones, she thought it might have been Gizmo.
"Did I startle you?" she whispered, her voice ragged from having suppressed so many grunts and groans of pain.
"A-a little," he replied and she chuckled.
"We thought they killed you," this one sounded like Skillet.
"Dik'ut, we could hear her breathing!" Hatchett scoffed.
"Yeah but… y'know, it's not like we can see from here," Skillet snapped back. She smiled, a tired smile, but it was nice to hear friendly voices. There was a slight gap between the cells, a tiny window almost, she was not sure of the function, but she managed to shift over to it. This time she did groan in pain, her muscles burned and ached from the strain they'd been under. She moved to lean on the panel beside the main door, and they could see her through that little gap. She ran a hand over her braid, she was sure she was dishevelled and looked tired as all hell, but it was better than talking to a wall.
"I'm fine," she rasped, one side of her mouth curling upwards.
"You don't look fine…" Gizmo, his eyes seemed to be lighter than the others, she could only see a little of him, but his eyes were a warmer, reddish-brown compared to the almost black-brown eyes of his brothers. Hatchett had a bit of a goatee growing, and Skillet had some tattoos down one side of his face. Skillet nudged Gizmo in the ribs.
"You're not supposed to say that to a woman!" he hissed. Zaiya shook her head slightly, the attempt at chivalry was kind of cute actually.
"Relax, soldier, I've had worse, this is nothing," she shrugged and the three looked at each other. She flicked her gaze between them, picking up on the shift in mood. They seemed to understand this pain… They must have been in her position before she arrived. It only made her more determined to keep the Neimoidians' attention on her instead.
"There will be people coming for us now, ma'am," Hatchett offered in an attempt to be helpful or comforting. Zaiya frowned.
"Now?" she asked, "what do you mean?"
"Well, with you being taken and all, they'll send someone," he said as if it were simple.
"They weren't sending someone for you?" her question was spoken slowly, she wasn't sure she wanted the answer.
"No, we're expendable," Gizmo shrugged. It was as though she were hit with the bolt of electricity again. Such a defeatist statement. It physically hurt.
"You listen to me Gizmo," she growled, "If I ever hear you say that again I will smack you in the mouth. You are not expendable. You are not replaceable." Gizmo's eyes widened.
"Y-yes ma'am," he blurted.
"I see why Bacara calls you Ver'alor," Hatchett murmured.
"Well, don't start getting sappy yet, wait 'til we get out of here, then we can think about giving each other cute names," she chuckled. She would have to take action soon, waiting around for the Republic to send someone to look for them - "expendable" clones and an outsider. She didn't like those odds. Just hearing Gizmo say that got her blood boiling again. She was getting them out of here, one way or another.
Her eyes trailed around the edges of the cell, she couldn't see a weakness or fault in the construction. Her best bet was still to wait until they returned and let her out. She'd be able to overpower them at least. If they were intent on torturing her from outsde the cell, she would have to give them a reason to enter.
Her first task was to work on these stupid binders. They seemed to be the source of the shocks. If they delivered shocks, they needed power. A battery? How long did they hold a charge? Or perhaps whatever receiver was in the cuffs could be disabled? If she could disconnect it, or sabotage them, they would have to physically enter the cell to fix it. That might be her chance.
From there of course was the matter of escape and finding the way out, avoiding guards and getting to a ship.
One step at a time.
He was alone.
It was not unusual to be alone as he drifted through this strange place. But to not hear from her for so long? Maul could not even sense her presence, usually he could at least feel where she was. Not precisely, but he could not feel her at all now. An ache formed in his chest. Where was she? She would not abandon him? Not like-
"She has found your usefulness lacking…" a voice spoke to him. A familiar croaking rumble. His blood turned to ice and he could not move.
No. It's not true. After everything…
"She left you behind, Apprentice."
No! She hasn't! Something must have happened! He wasn't even sure that was his voice speaking back… that was, the child? The child version of himself, that believed in friendship, and was still so innocent and foolish. He shouldn't listen. He knew better. He knew that people turned on their friends, that she was capable of it too.
"I taught you the true power, this… compassion for her, it is your weakness -was it not she that called out to distract you that moment in the fight against the Jedi?"
That- but it was true wasn't it? In that moment he had fallen from grace… Now he depended on her. Was it part of her plan? To make him reliant on her? Syphon his power? Make him weak? To make him need her? The Sith in him raged. He would rely on no one! He needed no one! He would not be used!
Not again.
But… had she not helped him? Dragged him from the darkness, healing his mind, healing his body…? She did not have to do that.
If she was foolish enough to spare him this weak compassion then it would be her own undoing! He owed her nothing! She should not expect anything in return!
What if she doesn't? What if she did this just to help?
Then she is a fool!
What if she doesn't come back? That thought stopped him in his tracks. No, no she had to return. She would.
"You do not need her," that voice rasped. It fought against the child and the hiss of bitterness. "You do not need anyone."
He didn't need her. He didn't…
The image of her appeared before him. He could see her, her hair in the setting sunlight, hanging free in loose white curls. Clad in a dress of fine shimmersilk and standing on the balcony. It was a room similar to the Queen's Chambers on Naboo, though it was swathed in deep blues and golds. She… she belonged in this environment. She looked elegant. Regal. This suited her. Had he not told himself that before? That she should be in a place like this? That he should be the one to find a place like this. A palace of their own.
He didn't need her. The voice whispered in his mind.
She turned to face him.
Her smile brighter than starlight, eyes filled with affection, with- Did she always look at him like this or was it just his mind projecting such a look onto her face? She spoke, but it was muffled. He knew it was because it wasn't really her. It was his memories… He saw a flash of fire behind her, reminded of the dance among the Nightsisters. The way her body had moved to the music. She had seemed one with it. So graceful, wild yet elegant, free yet controlled… He had been so enraptured. And afterwards…
The vision of Zaiya changed, in a blink the room was dark, and she stood between his legs where he was seated on the huge, plush bed. She was right there, and… completely nude.
He could see all the tattoos, and lamented he had not spent the time to explore them last time. Though he had not rushed… perhaps there was more he could have done. More to touch, more to test… what other places would have her making such lovely sounds…?
His hands brushed her hips and slid upward, fingertips skating the surface of her cool skin. She was always so cool and comforting to touch, so soothing. She had made him dependent on her, hadn't she? Whether it was her plan or not… He could not discard her. He felt cool fingers slide between his horns and a low growl escaped him. It was featherlight, a ghost of a touch. A memory.
It wasn't real.
He tilted his head up to look at this dream-Zaiya, but she leaned in, her full, plump lips pressed against his mouth. Even a phantom of a kiss and his spine turned to jelly. She had the most beautiful lips, the way the tattoo extended her top lip at the corners, the lush softness of them. He melted against her mouth. Even watching her speak, the way she carefully chose her words so often… Maul had no idea when he had become so enamoured, so addicted to her touches.
How pathetic. Unravelling to whispers of touches, imaginings of soft breaths, the idea of her. She wasn't even here and he was lost in this craving. This ache. He tried to convince himself it was just the procedure. Whatever was happening, it was to do with the healing process. This place… He was not so weak. It was just a dream. At least she was not here to witness him like this.
What must she think of him? What would she say to see him in this state? Would she scoff? Laugh? Look upon him with pity? Or… or would she join him here… so that he didn't have to imagine anymore…?
Any of these thoughts alone were dangerous, he couldn't let himself become so undone. The anxiety that bubbled beneath the surface was more prevalent now. He was alone. Vulnerable; and in more ways than one. He had learned to rely on himself. It was what he was taught. But it did nothing to quell the thoughts. Soothe the ache. The deep pit in his gut, knowing that despite these figments, despite this luxurious room, the picturesque scenery beyond the windows, despite the stunningly beautiful figure before him…
He was alone.
It had taken longer than anticipated to be able to properly sabotage the electrified binders. Three days of torture sessions… acting a mix of defiant and defeated in order to convince her captors that she was broken. The worst was when Gume turned on the clones. She tried to stop it, though it was hard to maintain her disinterest.
"You're wasting your time. They're just soldiers from a laboratory, just numbers, what would they know?" she'd spat, though it did get Gume's attention and he had hit her with a shock in response. As soon as they were alone however, she was quick to check on them, though Skillet called her out on her behaviour.
"Why do you care? You were fine with it before, what would we know, right?" he snapped, positioning himself between her and his brothers. Her gaze dropped.
"If I show compassion, they will increase the torture on you in order to encourage me to talk," she explained. "I will say what I must to ensure the three of you will be as safe as possible. I will not ask forgiveness for the lies that come from my mouth, but know that they are lies." There was silence, and Skillet looked away, from what she could see of him through the gap.
"Thank you, then," he said with a nod.
"Thank me when I get us out of here," she mused, and shuffled closer to the gap between the cells, instructing on what to do to best assist Hatchett and make him more comfortable. There was little she could do without stims, painkillers or bacta, but she could let them know a few things she'd learned from her time in the clinic, like signs to watch for if he got worse. She was relatively confident he would be alright, but she didn't want to risk it. She had to get out of there now.
Though it was still another day before she would have that chance. By the time Gume was due to return, she had successfully managed to disconnect the receiver using a piece of wire she'd pried from the cuff using her teeth. It had not been easy but she could not risk using the Force whilst here. She had no idea whether Ventress was nearby and may sense her, nor did she want the clones to witness it… On top of all of that, she was still weak from the blast and kept here with minimal food and water, she was in no condition to risk losing control of the Force and accidentally inflicting damage she could not undo. The binders being sabotaged would do the trick.
Finally, the Neimoidian returned, flanked by two B1 Battledroids and a smug look on his slimy face. He stopped in front of her and smirked.
"I am getting tired of these conversations, girl." It took a good deal of effort to keep her lip from twitching. She was crouched, looking up at him with big eyes, feigning fear. These types seemed to enjoy that sort of thing.
"Tell us what we want to know, or I will have to use more aggressive methods!" He dramatically raised the remote to press the button and she flinched away, hiding her face behind her arms. Waiting. Sure enough, nothing happened. A smirk of her own formed on her lips.
"What-?" Gume sneered, and Zaiya peeked out from behind her fingers as he demanded one of the droids go in to fix the cuffs.
[Maintenance and repair is not part of my programming,] the droid droned, but the Neimodian just screeched at the droid to obey. The door opened. Now, she should be able to-
[WARNING. INTRUDER ALERT.]
The incredibly loud alarm system blared and startled the captors. That was all she needed. With them distracted, she leapt up and in one movement, twisted the head of the droid inside the cell and landed in the doorway. A second later the other droid was disarmed and it too was in pieces on the floor.
Now for the Neimoidian. He cowered and wailed, backing up frantically as she stared him down with murderous intent. Her tattooed lip curled and she shot forward, her bound hands went for the remote in his hand, while she swung one leg out to connect with his knee joint, or about where she guessed it to be. Sure enough, he went down like a sack of torng root.
All the clones would have heard beyond the alarm were screams of agony that were quickly silenced by wet thuds.
Over and over. Then a clatter as her binders were finally unlocked. The emergency lights still flashed and Zaiya took up the keycard and two blasters, letting the troopers free of their confines and handed them the weapons. Hatchett was still weak, and she helped him up and out of there.
"We need to keep moving," she said with a frown, she didn't like the way he was limping.
"What did you- oh God…" Gizmo paled as he looked back to where the Neimoidian lay, nothing left of his head other than a mess of viscera and blood.
"Best not to look." Zaiya tugged on Gizmo's arm and had him help Hatchett along the corridor. She went ahead, leading the clones away from the detention cells and towards where she thought the hangar might be. She had no knowledge of this place, but allowed the Force to guide her through, passively tapping into it should not draw the attention if Asajj were nearby. Just in case.
Surprisingly they encountered little resistance, whatever intruders had arrived were taking most of the attention of the Separatists, and she was grateful for it. There were noises, blaster fire and shouts ahead, and she knew she was going in the right direction. She gestured behind her for the others to follow. She heard footsteps thundering their way as they reached a corner and before she even registered what was happening, there was a blaster in her face. Instinct kicked in and she twisted the arm holding it to wrench the blaster away and pointed at the helmet of the man aiming for her.
She didn't pull the trigger. She knew that helmet.
"Ska'dansa, Commander I nearly took your head off!" she spat, and released the clone she had disarmed. The intimidating Commander Bacara loomed tall over her, his helmet reflecting her own haggard face back at her. There was a long pause as he took back the blaster she handed to him.
"You look like hell," was all he said.
"Really? Because I feel amazing," she retorted flatly, then gestured to the clones behind her. "I believe you were missing something?" she asked. There was hardly time for a tearful reunion, but she could feel Bacara was glad to see the men.
"What are you doing here? We'd gotten a tip about hostages…" he shook his head and she shrugged.
"Must be your boys then, there's no one else, just droids and one Trade Federation flunkie but… he won't be giving you anything anytime soon," she smirked.
Things were a bit blurry after that, she was tired, dehydrated and starved. The medic had tried to fuss with her but she deferred him to the other troopers first. Then there was the Jedi to deal with.
She kept it curt and polite, but general Ki-Adi-Mundi was not someone she wished to have an extensive conversation with. Luckily it was only about five minutes to tell him that his information was semi-correct, though she did not require a rescue, just a transport back to Kamino. When he stated she would have an escort she tried to protest though she was still weak and finally gave in when she was told Bacara himself volunteered to escort her and the injured troopers. If the other men needed to return and Bacara was supporting them, well that made sense then. Once the others were tended to, the medic returned to try and interfere with her again, she had to keep waving him off.
"Ma'am, you're injured!" the medic snapped at her. She frowned, no she wasn't, the blood on her wasn't even the right colour, let alone her own.
"I'm fine Trooper- what was your name?"
"Stitches, ma'am,"
"Please don't call me ma'am," she sighed with a gloved hand to her face. "I-"
"Ver'alor." Bacara's sharp tone interrupted and she tilted her head to look up sideways at him. "Are you ready to depart?"
"I was ready three days ago, Commander, thank you." She nodded and Bacara turned away to the transport. She moved to follow but stopped and glanced at the medic who seemed intent on following her. "I have some training, leave me with a kit and you can stay here where you'll be needed more," she suggested, gesturing to the rest of the battalion.
"I need to check you over, you've been-"
"I know what I have been," she replied with a small sigh, "and I am perfectly fine." He made a face and she petted his pauldron twice. "You've done an excellent job, Stitches, but I am fine, I just need to get back to Kamino and back to work." He stared at her for a short moment before exhaling out of his nose.
"If you are sent back to Kamino and it is reported that I have not treated you, then I will be reprimanded…!" She paused mid-step and looked at him.
"They would reprimand you for something so-?" she scoffed, of course they would. Her eyes rolled and she gestured with her head to the transport, no point in causing more trouble than was unnecessary.
She was tired. She felt like her energy was draining from her as she sat on the transport, now on their way through hyperspace to Kamino. She was glad she was sitting down, else the cabin might spin a little more than it already was. She just needed a nap. Zaiya was looking forward to getting back into a routine, contacting those she regularly spoke to - and seeing Maul of course.
As she leaned back in her seat she became aware of something bothering her on her side. She shifted uncomfortably as the other three Troopers were laid down around her. The other occupants of the transport were Stitches, Bacara and their pilot of whom she had not been introduced.
"Lieutenant…?" Zaiya turned to look at Gizmo, he was sitting up now, not as injured as Hatchett was, but he was staring at a spot down near her boots. She followed his gaze to a small puddle of dark liquid. She blinked in confusion, what was that? It seemed to be coming from her seat?
"What the-?" Bacara stood as the Nightsister did. She looked to the seat, she couldn't see the origin, but then whatever it was bothering her on her side twinged again and her hand went to her right side. There was something hard there and she pulled, feeling her whole body shudder. She stared down at a bloody knife, small and thin, but now she had pulled it out from where it had been concealed by her jacket, the blood flowed more freely now. She heard curses but no one seemed able to move.
"Ah," was all she said.
Well this wasn't good. The cabin seemed to tilt on its axis and she grabbed the nearest object with her free hand. Which happened to be the Commander himself. "It appears… my body is going into shock," she told them, and while strained, her voice was eerily calm. Stitches let out a soft curse and pulled out his med kit immediately as Bacara pushed her, rather easily to lay back.
"Why didn't you get treated?" the Commander hissed at her.
"Didn't think I was injured…" she shrugged - and Stitches scolded her for moving. He had to pull her jacket off and her shirt up, looking at the wound carefully.
"How do you not notice being stabbed?!" Bacara growled, his eyes ablaze with anger. Zaiya in comparison felt a little lightheaded, the sharp pain made her tense as Stitches sprayed her with a Bacta solution, but otherwise she remained still.
"I was busy," she scoffed, though her voice was strained. "I've had worse," she added.
"You always say that," Bacara retorted.
"Well… I'm still alive and I haven't lost half my face," she responded dryly, a slight raise to her brow as she looked up at Bacara's upside down face.
"Point taken," he huffed, looking entirely unimpressed.
"We don't have any sedative," Stitches said, poking and prodding her wound.
"Good," she replied.
"But you need-"
"If you try to put me under you will be the one stabbed, just do as your name says, stitch me up and a bacta shot and I'll be fine," she snorted, waving a dismissive hand. However it was belied by the extra pale pallor and light sweat that had come over her.
"Is she always so stubborn, Commander?" Stitches asked and she let out a chuckle.
"You don't know the half of it."
"How did you even get stabbed without noticing?" it was more gently asked this time.
"It was probably the Neimoidian… I was too busy- well…" she trailed off but Skillet was happy to pitch in.
"She turned his head into paste," he explained and it was an apt description, so she didn't argue.
"Good," Bacara grunted.
After some time, Stitches was indeed able to stitch her up, though her body was tiring. Days with no food and water, tortured and then injured, she was struggling to stay awake, only half aware of the other three clones talking about their time in captivity, and from what snippets she heard, they where being ridiculously generous about her exploits. She would have to correct them later. For now perhaps she could get a little sleep.
Just five minutes should do.
Notes: Hello my friends! And Happy birthday to me! By the time this goes up, it will be the the morning after my bday but YOU will be gifted with a SECOND chapter right away! How special! (Its taking me a bit as Idk how to queue posts on here so I am fiddling)
That aside, I hope you enjoyed! Let me get Downtime Part 1 ready, you guys might like this!
