THE BUTTERFLY

"Here they come." Riyo watched from the window as the ISB speeder pulled up to the Senate building and two women got out. One was tall, with icy blonde hair and a hellish cybernetic eye. The second was shorter, with dark hair, and she wore a field uniform compared to the other's starched dress whites.

"Do you know why they're here?" She asked the woman in her office.

"No," Mon Mothma said, all while her eyes said yes. "I suppose you don't either."

She absolutely did. With first Lux and then Tural exposed, ISB would have to be stupid not to investigate the Senate. And the ISB was anything but stupid.

Riyo knew she should run, and probably would have if she wasn't smack in the middle of a defection. This time it was a reactor tech hidden under her floor, and there was no way she could make it back to her apartment, grab the defector, and get to a ship before the ISB stopped them. No, her defector's only chance was for Riyo to stick it out and hope she could avoid the agents.

Why wasn't Mothma running? She was elbow-deep in the rebellion, that much Riyo knew without being told. Was she also holding out for something important?

She couldn't dwell on it. She needed all her wits to make it through this alive.

"Oh well, life goes on," she said like she wasn't internally screaming. "Are you working on Ghorman today?"

"No, I'll most likely be answering calls from constituents. And you?"

"The same," Riyo lied. "I should probably get started. Good talking to you, Mon."

And then she hurried to her office to ensure, once again, that she hadn't tracked fragments of her handler life into her workplace.

…

The agent with dark hair didn't look like she wanted to be at the Senate building any more than Riyo wanted her there. Her name was Agent Divo, and there was no love lost between her and her colleague Agent Beck. When they weren't accosting security droids or interviewing senate staff, the women kept busy slinging death glares at one another.

Riyo thought she was hallucinating it until she was unfortunate enough to be close enough to hear them speaking.

"You're wasting time here," Divo said. "Mollymauk isn't a fool; do you think she would really recruit three handlers from the same place?"

Yes. Yes she would.

"I believe the handlers are recruiting one another. Bonteri brought on Tural, and someone else brought on Bonteri. Find that person, find a direct link to Mollymauk."

Divo looked heavenward. "Have you considered that Bonteri, perhaps, is the direct link?"

She wasn't wrong. Riyo couldn't decide whether that was a good or bad thing.

Fortunately or unfortunately, Beck wasn't amused. "I didn't ask for your speculation, Divo."

"Maybe we should observe the cafeteria, then. I do my best work there," Divo retorted in a tone practically dripping with insider knowledge. Okay, those two had a history.

Beck confirmed it with a glare that Divo promptly returned. "Just stay out of my way," she snapped and stormed off.

Divo, who did not seem bothered in the least, followed her down the hallway with a satisfied smile.

What was that about? And why would ISB send two agents who clearly hated each other? Riyo wasn't sure how to leverage this, but she would take what she could get.

"Something on your mind?" Mothma startled her out of her thought process.

"No, just watching our guests."

"Ah, yes. They're certainly memorable," Mothma said, paired with the and that's the understatement of the century expression that all politicians knew. "I thought I might get some caf. Would you care to join me?"

It wouldn't be good if they were seen together. "I'd love to, but I'm a bit busy. Maybe next time."

"I'll count on it." She winked and set off for the caf machine.

And not a moment too soon, because mere moments after Riyo chose a direction of her own, she heard someone call out "Senator Chuchi!"

Beck approached, with Divo bringing up the rear.

"I've been looking for you," she said, her cybernetic eye casting a red glow on her skin. "Might we have a word?"

…

"Senator, it's come to my attention that you worked closely with both Lux Bonteri and Nadea Tural." Beck sat at the head of the table in the meeting room ISB had commandeered, a thoroughly unimpressed Divo at her side and Riyo sitting across from them like a child in the principal's office.

"I could count on their votes," Riyo replied, refusing to let herself sweat. Was this how Dalla felt, running around under the Empire's nose? If so, she was definitely a smoker.

"And you were Tural's neighbor as well. You lived on the same floor in your apartment building?"

Of course they lived in the same apartment complex. The Empire had practically forced all the non-human senators into that building when they jacked up the rent everywhere else. Riyo calmed herself. Whatever became of her, she couldn't let Beck search the apartment while her defector was inside. "We did, yes."

"Were you friends?"

We were best friends, you witch. "More like friendly neighbors. She would accept my packages if I was out; that sort of thing."

"It's good to have a neighbor looking out for you," Divo interrupted. "I have one myself; it's pretty common from what I hear."

This earned her another look from Beck. "What did you two discuss?"

"Nothing much. Work, the weather, muffin recipes."

Beck cocked her head and her cybernetic eye whirred. Could that thing see in multiple light spectrums? Thank the goddess she was wearing long sleeves to cover her tattoo.

"Why so nervous?" Beck asked.

Kriff, she could see in infrared. Riyo prayed that ultraviolet was out of her purview. "I'm sorry, but I've never been interviewed by law enforcement before. Not like this."

"You're not in trouble, Senator," Divo said. "We're here to ensure that nothing was missed during the initial investigation."

Yeah, right. They definitely weren't looking for handlers. Riyo couldn't dwell on the woman's intentions. She had to focus on evading the makeshift lie detector attached to Beck's face.

"Thank you," she said neutrally. She might not be able to tell overt lies, but lies of omission were still on the table. "I appreciate diligence."

"As do I." Beck brought the interrogation back to order. "Did Bonteri or Tural ever discuss their treasonous activities with you?"

"We hardly had time for that at work."

"After work?"

"After work I crash into bed."

"Did you notice any suspicious activity? People coming and going from Tural's apartment, perhaps?"

"You didn't even wring that much out of her?" Divo muttered, earning herself another visual dagger. "No wonder Yularen called me in."

Riyo's mouth dried up. She knew Tural had been tortured by the ISB, and that Beck was investigating Defections, but she hadn't connected the dots as a matter of survival.

She knew a rebellion agent had given Tural mercy. Dalla assured her that her death was painless. But Agent Beck had put her in that position and made her last days a living hell, and it took all of Riyo's willpower not to lunge across the table and relieve the woman of her other eye. If she didn't have a defector under her floor, she would have done it anyway without a second thought.

But she was a handler. Her defectors came before everything, and that included her own desire for revenge.

"I didn't notice anything out of the ordinary," she replied.

"Senator, you're aware of the consequences of assisting the rebels or their allies."

More than you know. "Of course, ma'am."

"Then why are you lying to me?"

Both Riyo and Agent Divo stopped in their tracks. Riyo recovered first. "Excuse me?"

"Don't bother; I can see it." She leaned forward in her seat.

"You're reaching Alecia; I don't see anything," Divo protested.

Beck ignored her colleague. "What are you hiding?"

"I – I don't know what you're talking about," Riyo sputtered. "I'm not lying, I'm just, I'm just – I was just taking a break from my comms when you called me in here, and now you say I'm lying."

What was she doing? She shouldn't say anything, but the words kept pouring out like word vomit. She could actually feel them rising up in her throat.

No. Not word vomit. Actual vomit.

Riyo grabbed the edge of the table and projectile vomited toward the agents.

Divo dodged with a speed Genna had only seen from Genna and Francesca. Beck wasn't so lucky. She could only watch in horror as the vomit splattered across her immaculate white uniform.

For a second all three of them were suspended in shock. Then Divo broke the silence. "That would be what you were seeing."

"Oh my gods, I'm so sorry" Riyo babbled. "! I didn't mean to – my stomach was off, but I didn't think I would …"

"It's alright," Divo said with a raised hand and barely concealed glee. "Perhaps a pregnancy test would be a good idea."

Beck made a sputtering sound, frozen in place and staring at the vomit.

"Thank you for your time, Senator." Divo hopped up and escorted Riyo out of the room. "Not to worry about the mess. If it is pregnancy, then I hear it's quite common to be caught off guard."

Was Agent Divo giving her an out? Why would she do that? Riyo had to admit it tracked with her behavior all day, but why? Did she hate Beck so much that she didn't care if the Empire won out, as long as Beck lost?

Whatever her motives, choosing pregnancy as her excuse was an interesting choice. A stomach virus could be faked, but pregnancy could be disproven and it wasn't a possibility for Riyo. The last time she and Echo were together was the night before Tural's arrest, and she always took her medication.

…Except when she was sprinting out of her apartment because the ISB was raiding the building.

Had she taken it the next night? No, she had been too busy tossing her apartment to make sure the Empire hadn't left listening devices. And she hadn't gotten her courses since…

Riyo's eyes went huge and Divo gestured down the hallway. "Have a nice day."

"You…you too." She ran for her speeder as quickly as she could.

…

"Thank you so much for making an emergency appointment, Miss Genna! I don't know if my hair could wait another minute." Riyo whisked Genna into her office.

"Of course." Genna set down her stylist's bag and took out products and tools. "I've actually just wrapped up one of my other jobs."

Tural's defectors. Even if they weren't in the very senate building, it would be far too dangerous for Riyo to ask after them. "They were surely lucky to have you."

"Well, on to the next. I brought that special product you wanted." She handed Riyo a box of pregnancy tests.

"Thank you." She stuffed the box under her shirt. "I'll pop into the 'fresher quick if you don't mind, and then I'll be all ready."

Here went nothing. Thank goodness the refresher was only a few rooms away from her office, so no one saw her sneak away to take the test.

"We have ten minutes," she whispered and tossed it onto her desk before getting in Genna's chair.

"I'll set a timer." Genna took out her spray bottle and used the sound to cover the sound of her voice. "I can't believe you waited this long to get a test!"

"I bought one on the way home yesterday but it was inconclusive. The box said you're supposed to use it in the morning, so I asked you to bring one." Riyo wrung her hands. She couldn't be pregnant. She'd gotten this far by being same old, dependable Senator Chuchi, but a baby would change all of that. Not to mention that there was no father in sight! There would be speculation, and speculation led to attention. Attention could and would kill her defectors.

"I'll have to withdraw from the Senate, go back to Pantora…"

"Right now you need to keep your head still so I don't give you a crooked cut. I'm sure everything will work out just fine." Still Genna gave a sideways look to the processing test.

Maybe it wouldn't be all bad if she had to quit the Senate. She could devote herself entirely to handling. Avi Singh was doing well for himself in exile, the last Riyo heard he'd smuggled three stormtroopers and a Moff's aide to safety by dressing them up as monks, and Lux was rolling up extractions left and right. There were more defectors every day, and going full-time would help to fill the sucking wound Tural's death left.

She'd have to wait until the attention died down but Echo would be waiting. And then, once she was set up and working from her new location…

Riyo startled and almost wrecked Genna's careful work.

She could marry Echo.

Marriage had been out of the question for them for so long, she'd almost forgotten about it. But she and Echo had been together for over a decade. They could have a home, wake up by each other's side, and have petty squabbles over dishes and laundry. Somehow, even chores sounded great if she got to do them with him.

"What's got you smiling?" Genna asked.

"I just had a happy thought."

The hairdresser leaned in and smiled. "It must have been very happy."

Riyo met her eyes in the mirror and they let their expressions do the talking.

And thank the goddess they did, because a moment later there was a chime at the door and Mon Mothma walked in.

"Mon." Riyo turned as best she could without interrupting Genna. "May I help you?"

Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted Genna nudge the pregnancy test behind a bottle of hairspray.

"I'm sorry to interrupt," Mothma said. "I was coming by to see how you were doing since you left abruptly yesterday."

"No problem." Big, huge problem. "As for yesterday, there's not much to report. I had an upset stomach and it's better now."

"Good to hear." Mothma stepped in further and took a closer look at Riyo's hair, and by extension Genna working on Riyo's hair. "Your hair looks lovely."

"Thank you, but my stylist deserves all the credit. She's a true artist."

"You flatter me, Senator," Genna said and made a few more snips.

"No, she's right. Your work is beautiful," Mothma said. "Ms…?"

"Genna, ma'am."

"Ms. Genna, how would I go about booking an appointment?"

Genna's normally expert combing turned into a tug on Riyo's hair and Riyo allowed her grimace to shine through. She shouldn't have called Genna here. Mothma was up to something the Empire wouldn't like, that much was obvious to her experienced eye, but she wasn't about to let her get the network stylist alone. Not when Genna, who had made over every defector and knew every handler, was second only to Dalla as an information goldmine.

"I'm afraid I don't have my business card with me and my schedule is pretty packed," Genna replied. "But if I have a cancellation, I'll be sure to let you know."

"You can use this comm code." Mothma produced her own card and handed it to Genna. "Good to meet you, ma'am. And Riyo, I hope you get just the result you're hoping for."

And then she looked at the bottle hiding the pregnancy test.

Riyo's throat ran dry and her impassive mask snapped on automatically.

Mothma's own gave nothing away. She took her leave without another word.

"I need to find out where she gets her hair done. Not even a split end," Genna mused.

It would be nice to have a passion to lose herself in, even for a moment. Instead Riyo focused her attention on Genna's handiwork; the combing and cutting wrapping around her and becoming her whole world.

"Riyo."

All too soon she was back in reality.

"I'm sorry to bother you, but the timer went off. It's time to look."

It was either full-time handling and marriage to Echo, or business as usual while dancing out of Mothma's suspicions and dissecting whether Divo's statement was a trap, a power play, or something more complicated.

She picked up the pregnancy test, held her breath, and flipped it over.

"What does it say?" Genna jockeyed to see.

"It's negative." She relaxed and her arm dangeld at her side, the test hanging uselessly in midair.

"Oh." Genna searched for the appropriate response. "I guess you won't have to find a new apartment in that case."

"No, it'll be far less complicated." But was it? She could feel the weight of her responsibilities settling back on her shoulders. They had never felt heavier.

Genna cocked an eyebrow. "Are you okay?"

If she was still here, it was for a reason. She just had to figure out what that was.

Riyo brought a smile to her lips. "Yes, thank you."