Gonna Read After My X-ray Brb
Gonna read after my X-ray brb
Inspired by @paperback-rascal ‘s prompt and glorious artwork where Crosshair, after being left on the landing platform on Kamino, suffers from sunstroke, I wrote this fic!
Sun-Kissed
Hot, sunny days were rare on Kamino. However, as the sun beat down and Crosshair began to feel faint, he stared up at the cloudless sky and realized that he had made a mistake. Perhaps the Empire wouldn’t come for him after all.
Characters: Crosshair, Wrecker, Tech, Hunter, Echo
Wordcount: 3,303
Chapters: 1 of 3
Warnings: Blood, vomit, talk of death, descriptions of heat stroke, descriptions anxiety and feelings of betrayal.
Hours ago, (Days? Weeks? Years? The time seemed to slip through his fingers like sand) Crosshair had watched the Havoc Marauder become smaller and smaller until it was nothing more than a single point of reflected light, far, far away, and he’d been certain that the Empire would come to retrieve him. He was important, after all. He was a commander. They needed him. Didn’t they need him? Wasn’t he important? Did he matter at all? Or was he nothing more than a dark stain on a pinprick of light, so small and insignificant that nothing in the great vacuum of space could hear his tiny cries for help?
After hours and hours and hours, the skies remained silent.
Yet Crosshair, ever the good soldiers, persisted. He had used his com to alert the Empire of his escape from the ruined Tipoca City; he’d given them his coordinates and tipped his head towards the sky, certain that, at any moment, Rampart’s star destroyer would emerge from hyperspace and appear at the zenith to take him home.
The skies, however, remained silent, and Crosshair’s requests for rescue remained unanswered. Crosshair, however, was steadfast and waited patiently. He had been loyal to the Empire. Surely, they would come for him. He had earned that right—the right to be rescued, the right to be needed. He had proven himself worthy.
Did they know that he had disobeyed orders? That he had turned his gun on the TKs in order to protect his old squad? Did they understand the depth of his failure, as his brothers did?
Crosshair’s armor was thermo-regulated, designed to withstand any weather. He could spend hours in the sweltering heat, crouching on burning sand; he could endure sub-zero temperatures, buried in the snow and ice for as long and the mission required; he could brave hail the size of his fist and comfortably wait out torrential downpours, all without consequence—
But this black shell was not his armor.
As with every faulty simulacrum the Empire attempted to recreate in a more “perfect” form—like his squadron of conscripted soldiers; like the medical treatment he’d received after Bracca; perhaps even like Crosshair himself—Crosshair’s fancy new imperial armor was nothing more than a cheaper, poorly-designed, less functional recreation of something the Republic had done right.
As the hours ticked by, heat began creeping into his dark armor until his sweat-soaked blacks were plastered to his back. At some point, to wipe the sweat out of his eyes, he removed his helmet with trembling fingers, and it slipped from his weakening grasp, tumbling off of the platform and disappearing into the dark waters below. He cursed and dug the heels of his palms into his eyes to keep himself from screaming in frustration.
Where was the Empire? Weren’t they coming for him? Hadn’t he proved he was worth-while? He felt stupid and childish and jealous and afraid. What if the Empire never came for him? Would the Batch come to his rescue, if he cried out for help?
Tech and Echo and Wrecker had pointed their blasters at him. In the pods, when he had lifted his rifle to rescue the girl, they had pointed their blasters at him, as if they thought he had intended to slaughter Hunter or the child. Why would they think that? Hadn’t he proved, over and over and over again, that he was unwilling to kill them? Even under direct orders and the heavy influence of the chip, every shot he fired missed. In the end, he had picked his brothers over his sloppy TK squadron; he had murdered them to rescue his brothers. He had sided with them. His loyalty, as fierce as it was for the Empire, had always been to his brothers first. Hadn’t they seen that? Hadn’t he proven himself worthy of their trust?
They had turned their blasters on him.
Crosshair’s fingers dug into the side of his head, pain sparking across the length of scarred flesh. Their lack of trust was understandable, he supposed. Perhaps they hadn’t known about the inhibitor chip. Perhaps, when he shot Wrecker, they assumed he had done so of his own volition, and their trust in him had shattered in an instant. He hadn’t wanted to shoot Wrecker. He hadn’t wanted any of this. Did they know that? If he told them, would they believe him? Would they rescue him if the rains came and the violent waves threaten to swallow him whole? Had he earned that right?
The heat was becoming unbearable. The platform was small and there was not place to take shelter from the rare, sweltering sun. His legs hurt. His head began to swim. He began to pace to keep himself concentrated on his objective.
...what was his object, again?
Right. To be rescued.
So Crosshair waited. The Empire was coming for him. Somebody would come for him. Right?
Why would they? His traitors thoughts asked.
Crosshair’s chapped lips curled into a snarl. Because I am a commander. He answered. Because I am important.
You are expendable. His thoughts replied. You have always been expendable.
When he was a child, he had struggled in social situations. He lacked Wrecker’s sense of humor, compassion, and good nature; he lacked Tech’s inability to be effected by the cruelty of others; he lacked Hunter’s rationality and empathy. He didn’t consider himself an enjoyable person to be around and, for the most part, kept to himself for fear of further ostracization. Unfortunately, his lowered self-esteem began to effect his team-mates during training courses. It was easy to become so consumed by his fears that he was somehow a burden on his teammates, that he lost focus on his objective and his accuracy suffered. Like a self-fulfilling prophecy, his worst fears began to manifest: his team began to fail because he couldn’t keep up.
So he trained. He trained and he trained and he trained. He spent hours on the shooting range, forgoing sleep and food to refine his craft. He wasn’t created to be somebody’s brother or friend, he was created to be a sniper. It was in his DNA. It was, in his head, the only reason that people kept him around. During those long, sleepless night, as he set into the routine and his mind began to wander, anxiety festering like an abscess, it was easy to imagine his three older brother barring the door of their barracks and refusing to let him enter unless he proved his worth.
Hunter was an incredible leader, wise and dedicated, and his senses were incredibly sharp; Wrecker was strong and kind and gave good hugs; Tech was intelligent and witty and he could fix anything;
And Crosshair was angry and rude and he could shoot good.
A drone could do his job.
So he practiced. He practiced and practiced and practiced until he was better than everybody, and he was certain that he had proven his worth and secured a place in Clone Force 99-
And they abandoned him.
The taught the girl to shoot. They gave her his com. They replaced him.
They turned their blasters on him.
Crosshair’s face began to hurt. The skin that stretched across his cheeks and forehead began to burn, as if they had been pulled too tight. He knelt at the edge of the platform, hoping the spray of salty water would cool his sunburnt face, and his legs gave out from under him, nearly sending him plummeting into the water, where he would be swallowed up and forgotten.
“Expendable. Adjective. First definition: describing an object of little significance when compared to an overall purpose, and therefore able to be abandoned. Second definition: describing an object designed to be used only once, and then abandoned or destroyed,” Tech recited. His voice came rolling in on the waves, and Crosshair propelled himself to his feet, twisting around frantically in search of his brother, but nobody was there.
“That’s why we never came back for you!” Wrecker’s disembodied voice boomed over the nothingness. “Because you don’t matter at all!”
“Actually, we were pretty happy to get rid of your sorry ass. Things are better now that you’re gone,” Echo’s voice made Crosshair stamp his foot and clamp his hand over his ears.
His head was pounding. His heart was racing. Suddenly, he pitched forward and vomited into the ocean. With such desperation that his fingers dug into the sharp edges of plastoid and bled, he pried off his armor and stripped off the top half of his blacks, practically throwing it into water with the hope that the wet material would cool down his sweltering skin. But the water-logged cloth was too heavy for his heat-weakened grasp and was eventually tugged away by the current.
Crosshair laid there, on his stomach, for a long time. The sun kissed his back until it blistered. The skies remained silent. Nobody was coming for him. His lips cracked and oozed blood. His mouth hung open and his dry tongue felt too heavy and made swallowing painful. At some point, he stopped sweating, and his skin dried in the sun like leather.
He wanted to go home. He wanted his brothers. He didn’t care if they never trusted him again. And... of course they wouldn’t- they held him at blaster-point. They came back for Hunter, but not for him. Never for him.
They abandoned him.
He was expendable.
Crosshair laughed, almost hysterically. He wanted to cry, but there wasn’t enough liquid in his body to produce tears. Would they forgive him if he apologized? Would they rescue him if he begged them to come back?
Forcing himself up onto his hands and knees, he vomited again. There was nothing left in his stomach, so the convulsions brought up only bile until his stomach was empty of that substance as well. It was liquid he couldn’t afford to lose. Unfortunately, the spasm didn’t stop. He heaved and heaved until his sides ached and his throat burned. When, at last, the cramping stopped, he collapsed onto his side and gasped for air.
He was frightened. He was dying.
Moving as if on auto pilot, he retrieved his com and inputted the Marauder’s frequency—he knew it by heart.
He said something into the com, but he wasn’t sure what. He couldn’t hear himself speaking anymore. He felt like he was standing above himself, watching his body bake in the sun.
Slowly, slowly, he once again tried to push himself onto his hands and knees, but the effort proved to great, and he lost consciousness.
- - -
When Crosshair woke, he was laying on his bunk in the Marauder. He didn’t even need to open his eyes to know where he was—the smell was pungent and familiar. Slowly, he cracked his eyes open. The room was dim. Pain coursed through his head—he could feel his pulse pounding behind his eyes—but the bed beneath him was soft and cool, and he felt so relieved he wanted to cry.
“Hey there, Cross. How’re you feeling?” That was Hunter’s voice. Crosshair squeezed his eyes shut, afraid that, if he turned his head, nobody would be there.
“Cross?” Hunter asked again, voice gentle, and the sniper felt a firm hand rest on his chest.
Crosshair cracked his eyes open. There he was, right beside him. There they all were, playing a round of sabaac on the floor beside his bed. He wanted to cry, but no tears came. He couldn’t help but think of all those hours he’d spent alone, on the shooting range, and he was happy. They’d come back for him, hadn’t they? Had he proven his worth?
“There he is! We thought you were never gonna wake up!” Wrecker boomed with a grin. There was no greater sight in the galaxy.
“You look like shit,” Echo said with an equally warm smile, and Crosshair allowed the corners of his mouth to twitch upwards.
“I feel like shit,” he agreed, his voice hoarse.
Wanting to be with his brothers, Crosshair rose from the bed slowly. His body was numb and his head felt hazy, like he was hungover, or waking up from sedation. It was hard to think straight. His skin hurt. Once upright, he paused for a moment as a wave of nausea rolled over him. His mouth suddenly tasted tangy and Echo, scowling, passed him a rag.
“Here. You’re getting blood everywhere and I just cleaned the floor,” he grumbled.
Blood?
Crosshair knit his brows together as confusion welled up into his throat and his stomach twisted with worry. He pressed the cloth against his nose and his eyes widened in surprise when it came back coated in blood. His nose was bleeding. Why was his nose bleeding? Should he be worried? Should the others be worried?
There was a heavy, uncomfortable pressure that suddenly swelled in his abdomen, and he groaned, doubling over and pressed a hand to his hip. A sharp, hot pain spiked across his lower back and, for a moment, he thought, with some panic, that he was dying. However, after a moment of labored breathing, the pain subsided (or grew distant and numb) and his fear eased.
“Acute renal failure,” Tech surmised, pushing up his goggles with one finger. “Your body is too hot, and it’s lost too much fluid. Your brain is swelling and your kidneys are shutting down,”
Too hot? No, no, no, that wasn’t right at all. He was on the Marauder, wasn’t? They’d rescued him, they’d cooled him off. He was home, he was forgiven, he was safe. Right?
Crosshair grit his teeth as panic flashed through him. As usual, he attempted to stuff the more vulnerable emotion away, hiding it behind a thick layer of anger. His brothers were watching him, but nobody moved towards him. They didn’t seem to care. Why weren’t they doing anything?
“Help me!” he snarled, stepping towards his brothers, and Tech merely quirked a brow.
“Crosshair, we can’t help you,” he said, as if the fact was obvious. “This isn’t real. You betrayed us. Surely we wouldn’t give you this much autonomy if you were actually on board the ship with us. Don’t you remember? You commed us for help, and nobody answered,”
“You’re lying,” Crosshair’s voice was tight and practically dripping with vitriol.
“Why would I lie? How would that benefit me? Or you, rather, as I’m not really here. Thiis,” Tech said, gesturing to the room around them. “Is just your brain, processing what it feels like it needs to,”
“What?” Crosshair cried, sharp and indignant. Blood continued to stream down his face. He tried, with great irritation, to wipe it away, but it always came back and the flow only grew heavier.
“You probably just wanted to pretend like you weren’t going to be alone when you died!” Wrecker exclaimed with a hearty laugh.
The panic, in that instant, was blinding. Something tugged on his leg and, when he looked down, he immediately wished he hadn’t: the room was filling, ever so slowly, with tar. Crosshair grasped, nearly choking on the breath as it caught in his throat, and tried, desperately, to pry his legs out of the muck.
“There’s no use fighting it, you know,” Echo said gently, moving forward and resting a comforting hand on the sniper’s shoulder, just as the sniper had done for him when they’d rescued him on Skako Minor. “It’s going to be okay,”
Echo’s words of comfort sparked a wildfire of furious, blind anger in Crosshair, who violently shoved the ARC trooper backwards.
Crosshair twisted around, as if he could find somewhere else to escape. Behind him was a white, sterile hallway—like the ones in Tipoca City—so impossibly long that he couldn’t see the end of it. One by one, the lights began to switch off, and darkness began creeping up the hallway.
“A clever analogy,” Tech said, intrigued. “Your organs are shutting down,”
“Fuck off,” Crosshair spat and Tech merely shrugged.
“Hey! Leave ‘im alone! He’s only here ‘cause you want him here!” Wrecker bellowed. He was still sitting on the floor, unbothered as the tar swallowed up his legs and continued to climb.
Crosshair squeezed his eyes shut. “What’s going to happen to me?” he croaked, his voice hoarse from the dryness of his throat.
Hunter knit his brows together and put a heavy, comforting hand on Crosshair’s shoulder. “You’re going to die,”
“And when high-tide comes, you’re body will be swept away and eaten by the aquatic life. Eventually your armor and bones will sink to the bottom and falling sediment will collect on them until you’re buried. If you’re lucky, over millions of years, you might be fossilized,” Tech explained. “So, at least your life won’t be a total waste,”
The pressure in Crosshair’s abdomen was mounting. Behind him, the lights continued to flip off, one by one. “How pleasant,” he sneered. Then, suddenly, his shoulders slumped. “Will you remember me?” he asked his brothers.
Hunter smiled. “Of course we will,” he said.
Crosshair’s eyes narrowed and flickered over to Tech. “Will you really?”
Tech smiled. “Not likely,”
“What d’you want, Cross?” Wrecker asked.
The sniper’s eyes drifted shut and he swayed; one hand gripped his abdomen, and the other hand gripped his head. “I want... I want to go back home,” It was a horrible, frightening thing to admit, but he was so tired. He didn’t want to be angry anymore. He didn’t want to fight. He wanted to go home.
When he opened his eyes again, he was no longer on the Marauder. Instead, he was in their barracks on Tipoca City. His brothers were small and dressed in red and blue outfits they had worn as cadets.
Everything was so much easier back then.
Tech looked up from his workbench, his goggled a little too big for his head. Hunter, who sprawled out on his bunk reading a holo-novel on his datapad, sat up and grinned.
“Cross! You’re back! Where were you?” he asked.
Crosshair stepped closer on wobbly legs. “I... was at the shooting range,” he explained, and Tech frowned, sticking out his bottom lip.
“You spend too much time there. You’re not getting enough sleep,” he tutted.
“Yeah! And we miss you!” Wrecked exclaimed. His face was not marred by any blast scars. He had a full head of curly, dark hair and two big, brown eyes.
“You missed me?” Crosshair echoed, almost in disbelief.
“Of course we missed you. You’re our brother,” Echo protested. Echo... Echo wasn’t supposed to be there. He was small and healthy and whole, and Crosshair was glad he was there.
“What if I can’t shoot good enough?” Crosshair asked, and his bottom lip quivered.
“So what?” Hunter asked. “We don’t care how good you can shoot. We’re just happy you’re here,”
Crosshair took another wobbly step forward and rubbed his eyes. His vision was starting to blur around the edges. He looked to Tech, expecting the clever young clone to tell him not to fall asleep, but he merely smiled.
“It’s okay, Cross. We’ve got you,”
“Are you sleepy?” Wrecker asked. He wiped his sticky, jam-covered fingers on the bedspread and rose from his bunk. The gesture was disgusting and so, terribly familiar. Crosshair wanted to cry.
“Yes, Wrecker. I am extremely exhausted,” he croaked.
“Aww...! Come here!” His older brother exclaimed and outstretched his arms.
The sniper stumbled forward, desperate for the comfort and safety of his big brother’s embrace. He felt awful. Wrecker would make him feel better. Wrecker always knew how to make him feel better.
Crosshair collapsed, alone, on the landing platform in the middle of the Kaminoan oceans. Far above him, the skies came to life as the Havoc Marauder emerged from hyperspace and appeared at the zenith.
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I BEG YOUR PARDON
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I know I was picking you’re an amazing writer and so excited to see where this story is going!! UwU you’re the sweetest human I swear.
Chapter 5 - Push the Limits
Nocticulent: a Hunter love story
Previous
Next (coming soon!)
Chapter List
Read it on AO3! Or here below the cut
Summary: Just when things seem tolerable, Hunter and Lav find themselves in a difficult position as things seem to only get worse after they've gotten better in regards to the Empire.
Tags/Warnings: Lots of angst in this one. I know that’s not typical in my writing but this story kinda requires it (oopsie!). Mentions of slavery and undignified treatment. Mentions of execution, canon typical violence. So sorry for all the angst in this chapter, I promise the next chapters will be a lot lighter!!!
Word count: 9.5k
Notes: this chapter (and the story in general) was inspired by this post right here.
(taglist at the bottom)
That was the first time Lav actually noticed the way the stars shone on Geonosis. It wasn’t the breathtaking, pure glow from Daro, partly due to the emissions from the factories as well as the dust that lingered in the air, but they had something. That combined with the debris rings surrounding the rusty-colored planet gave the stars and any celestial bodies a similar orange hue while the sky had a purple undertone to its midnight blue. In all the nights prior to that one, Lav hadn’t bothered to focus on the sky’s beauty. Only one person had occupied her mind, though it had been with worry. Now, Hunter occupied her thoughts similarly, but in a note of relief and satisfaction as well as the longing to feel his lips on hers again.
Her room was still silent, but its solitude was more comforting than it had been the previous nights. Hunter was okay, he was healthy and recovering quickly, and most important, he not only returned her feelings, but he’d agreed, like her, to finally foster them. It seemed as if things were somehow falling to place; much as Lav still wasn’t infatuated with the Empire, Hunter did help out a lot with that. Working with him made things bearable, made them have a purpose, and she refused to think about things that could change that.
Hunter. She cared about Hunter at the moment. The memory of the sweetness in his eyes when he parted from that first kiss they’d shared had her smiling at nothing as her gaze rested gently on the wall, perched on her bed and not quite bringing herself to sleep yet. She had half a mind to run back outside, go to the med bay, and spend the whole night with Hunter. That would put them both at risk, of course, she’d barely managed to reboot the medical droid attending to him before medical personnel wanted access to the room just before she left. She’d take what she had, and she’d cherish it with her heart.
Her heart… Lav’s hand instinctively went up to her chest, where the folded picture of her family still rested safely inside her blouse. At least now being where she was wasn’t as heavy of a burden. She was confident that the purpose she had with her family and Hunter’s feelings for her would keep her afloat, and she felt faithful she could keep that up. For the first time in a while, Lav began to feel like something better than she imagined was in store for her.
She reached out to turn off the already dimmed lights, leaving her room mostly in darkness except for the faint light that peeked in through the outside. With those memories in mind, she drifted off to slumber, noticing how quiet the barracks were, and her sleep didn’t take long to deepen.
Several buildings away, in the med bay, Hunter also lay in his bed as the lights of the room had also been turned off for the night and it was empty except for him. Though his eyes were closed, his mind continued to wander. Her lips had left a print on his in the form of a faint tingling sensation, and Lav’s scent had also remained on his skin, of which he could catch whiffs of from time to time, further comforting him and lulling him to peaceful sleep. He couldn’t help his smile at the thought of her and how she’d gone to see him, to kiss him. He couldn’t wait to be out of the med bay to see her; just looking at her would suffice. Lavender had engrained herself in his heart, and he was ready to merely stand next to her if that was all he’d be allowed to do from that moment on. He’d take it gladly.
With those thoughts, Hunter didn’t even notice the moment he fell asleep, and the next time his eyes opened, the lights of the med bay were on again and there was movement of personnel up and about as well as the typical morning greetings. He’d had a full night’s sleep, there were no nightmares, no interruptions, not even insomnia. Hunter had slept through the whole night for the first time in ages.
Thanks to a fast recovery and state of the art medical procedures, Hunter was told he’d be able to return to his duties that day, so long as he stayed clear of intense activity. He was confident he wouldn’t need to do any of that, and he found he actually looked forward to getting back to his regular schedule. Of course, the only reason for that could be summed up in that faint, flowery scent that still lingered on him, one that fit all too well with her name, just as delicate as she was.
He gathered his things and left the med bay, not without thanking every doctor, nurse, and even medical droid who had cared for him. He scoffed. Hunter had never visioned himself thanking a droid, but he had the premonition some things could change for the better. He had no trouble finding his way around the compound despite having been wounded the first day he was there and not having had much chance to go around it like others had, and he knew where to go since he was told from the beginning where he would be required. No new orders had been given to him, anyway. He was free to make his way where he’d been told to in the first place.
And there she was. Lav was up and about, her hair braided down her right shoulder like it always was, a datapad in her hand and her clear voice guiding her peers around what had to be done in the factory. She was shorter than the other engineers, and yet, she was clearly the one in charge. Hunter could not have been prouder of her, and she was so dazzling that he didn’t even notice the reinforced security within the factory. He walked over to her and the smile returned to his lips, and he silently cleared his throat when he was behind her, catching her attention and making her turn around.
A smile instantly appeared on her face too and her eyes seemed to gleam when she looked at him, and Hunter barely held enough composure to not fall to his knees or take her in his arms and spin her around. Instead, he stood upright, making Lav’s smile widen a bit more as she addressed him with a light bow.
“Captain,” she said softly. “It’s good to see you around here.”
“It’s good to finally be back.”
“Are you sure you’re up for it?” The concern was evident in Lav’s eyes. “I know you’ve had a good recovery, but maybe you should take some more time. We’ve been making good time and everything’s going well, you can really take more time if you need it.”
Hunter smiled at her. “I appreciate it, but if I can manage moving around, I’d prefer to be here than stuck another whole day in the med bay.”
“Yeah, I get it,” she said, her grin tilting a bit more. “I’d rather you were here too. But only if you can manage it.”
“I would never lie to my star engineer, would I?” His smile remained. “Now go on, tell me how you’ve progressed. Don’t let out any details.”
“Right,” she led Hunter back to the squad, who was running daily maintenance checks on the machines before starting them up fully. “The first couple of days were all about adapting the factory to our current needs and implementing the processes I came up with for our multiple products. The next couple of days were for optimization; reducing startup and idle times, increasing quality ratio, and even monitoring where we could implement some automatization.”
“Hm,” Hunter eyed the machines. “Impressive.”
“It’s standard industrial engineering,” she replied as she tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear.
“No, you make it sound standard,” Hunter said. “I’m sure it’s far more complicated than it seems.”
“Well, there are a lot of operations to get to the end result, but you get the point.”
“And can I assume you’re making good progress?”
“We’re ahead of schedule,” Lav replied proudly. “So you see, you really could have stayed in the med bay another day to rest.”
“Let me worry about my health,” he told her with a subtle smile.
“You know I can’t do that,” she answered. “I’m sorry, Captain, but you’ll need to give me a different order.”
Lav turned around and continued to type away in her holopad while Hunter continued admiring her. Back on Daro, Lav hadn’t had much of the spotlight put on her. Her former teammates were the ones with all the attention with their explicit military training while she worked in the labs, hidden from most eyes. It wasn’t until that moment that Hunter noticed what a leader she could be, a swift one who led with charisma, whose kindness motivated people to work with her. While observing her, he also noticed some of the looks she received from the engineers under her jurisdiction. Many of them were legitimately shocked one of their higher-ups, essentially Imperial, could have such a kind and delicate demeanor while getting so many things done.
For a while, even Hunter seemed to be taking orders from her. He didn’t mind; in his own squad, he was never the one who knew about machinery. All he did was direct and rush droids head on. He probably could have done more heavy lifting, but Lav denied any request he made, still concerned for his well-being. In short, Hunter spent most of his time next to her, and Lav mostly just directed the operation.
Still, there were a few small, almost unnoticeable moments in which the two were able to make eye contact, and Lav would direct a tiny smile at Hunter, a detail so small it almost made him love it even more. Every time, despite the obvious risk, Hunter couldn’t help but smile back at her.
In the middle of one of those gestures, the two were surprised by their admiral coming into view. Whether he had seen it or not was irrelevant to them at the moment, the two simply stood up straighter and greeted their Admiral the way they should have, purposely giving off the image that everything was going smoothly.
“Admiral,” Hunter said.
“Captain, good to see you out of the medical bay. I trust you are in condition to be out here again.”
“I am, sir,” Hunter answered. “Though I’m pleased to see Lavender has made good progress in my absence.”
“Indeed,” Rampart acknowledged Lav with a nod. “This is the fastest we’ve seen a factory become adapted to our current necessities, and it’s remarkable given how particular these processes will be. Your engineer has truly done a great job.”
Though never having been the biggest fan of the Empire or many of the things that happened within its walls, Lav allowed herself to feel some pride with what Rampart was saying.
“Thank you, admiral Rampart,” she answered.
“In fact, that is why I am here,” Rampart continued. “I wasn’t counting on you being out of the medical bay, captain, but your presence here only makes things more efficient.” Rampart turned around and began walking towards the exit of the factory that would lead them to the area outside that had been adapted into a hangar for drops and deliveries, and Lav and Hunter followed. The sunlight soon hit them, bright and almost scorching under the Geonosian sky.
“Had it not been for your efforts, the Geonosians probably wouldn’t have been so keen on accepting any deal on our part,” Rampart said. “The only reason they agreed to take a risk was because every design, every process was so thoroughly laid out,” he stopped walking and faced Hunter and Lav again. “That was you, Lavender.”
“Thank you, Admiral,” Lav said again. “Though I wouldn’t want to take all the credit. A lot of hours, days even, went into the work. At times, I was exhausted,” she looked over at Hunter, “but it was my captain who helped keep me on track.”
“I’m aware,” Rampart said, eyeing them both. “Well, the virtue of a good leader is to keep their followers on task. You both are to congratulate. Both of you are held in high regard by the Geonosians and the Empire. I believe it is safe to say you will be part of the Empire for a long time to come.”
Lav mustered a smile of approval in a way that she almost seemed please. Almost, as Hunter could see differently. His enhanced eyesight could allow him to pick up on details others couldn’t, and he could almost hear the way Lav’s muscles went cold when Rampart mentioned staying there.
“I’m honored to hear that, Sir,” Lav said with a subtle stammer.
“As am I,” Hunter agreed, both to follow up and to remind Lav he was still beside her.
The roaring of jet engines filled their ears as a large freighter ship began descending upon the bay. It was just another ship to the uneducated eye, but it had Lav looking in doubt at her holopad, instantly knowing it was a bit off.
“What’s in that ship?” She asked, her eyes still on the holopad. “I don’t have any more arrivals scheduled for today?”
“Ah, this is for a matter of workforce scheduled to arrive today,” Rampart answered.
“Oh,” Lav lit up. “Well, if it’s for the factory, I’d be thrilled to show them around—”
“That will not be necessary,” Rampart cut her off. “I will see to this matter, for now, you two see to the factory itself.”
“Yes, Admiral,” Lav said, stuttering a bit again. She guessed she’d simply grown used to being notified of everything, but she remembered she wasn’t in charge of everything. Somehow, that brought her comfort.
It did except for what Rampart had said about being there for a long time. Yes, it guaranteed good results, it guaranteed everything her family would ever need, but what was it she wanted? For starters, she’d love to not have to sneak around with Hunter. She was positive Rampart had seen the way the two had been smiling at each other, and if he didn’t tell them anything, a thorn nagged at her letting her know it wasn’t a good thing. Rampart wasn’t the type to keep things to himself for purely benevolent purpose, or in this case, letting two people be in love. No, it just didn’t fit him.
“Well, that is all I wanted to tell you,” Rampart said. “That and to congratulate you once more on this achievement. However, I’m afraid I am needed elsewhere at the moment. I suggest you get back into the factory to keep up current momentum.”
“We’ll see to it, sir,” Hunter said.
They saluted and Rampart was off, and in that time, the freighter had just finished up its landing procedures. As they walked back into the factory, they could both hear the steam coming out of the ship’s exhaust ports, and they were inside the factory before its rear door fully opened.
Still, a few steps into the factory, Hunter’s pace began slowing. Lav looked at him, worried he might be feeling bad from his wound, but her concern grew when she noticed the look in Hunter’s eyes. He looked like he was wary of imminent danger, like something was terribly wrong.
“What is it?” The fear in her voice was evident.
Hunter didn’t answer immediately. He focused every one of his senses on that ship. He knew the sudden dark feeling he’d gotten had been from that ship, but why would it be if it was simply workforce? Concentrating, he was determined to find any signs that would point him to an answer: a stale scent, the wave of heat that moved around the already scorching Geonosian air, the very few hushed voices, almost weak, contrasted by loud shouts of command.
“I have a bad feeling about that ship,” Hunter said.
“What about it?”
Hunter continued looking in that direction, after which he looked around their area to see if they weren’t being watched. When the coast seemed clear, he took Lav’s hand and tugged her alongside with him as he made his way back outside, discreetly staying behind the doorway and only looking enough to get a sight of what the ship was.
A small sight was enough to get a glimpse of how awful it was. The freighter was large and could hold many people, but exiting it were too many people. Humans, Twi’leks, Rhodians, males and females of countless species, most of them young with the exception of a few who were older, and all of them frail. Dark spots of dust and dirt covered their skins in patches, and those who had hair wore it messy and tangled. They all walked slowly, only keeping a certain pace due to the Imperial officers shouting at them to keep moving.
Lav felt a mix of horror and dismay at the sight. They were all slaves, there was no questioning it, and the fact that Rampart had described them as workforce now seemed morbid to her. Those people were meant to work at the factory—a factory she had conditioned, enable to produce in the first place, brought it up to working standards enough to require said workforce. She tried convincing herself it wasn’t her fault. She hadn’t ordered the capture of people who had the right to remain free, but that didn’t help her much. Someone else in the Empire had, along with several others who agreed with them, and now those people were condemned to a life of arduous work in less than dignified conditions.
“We have to do something,” Lav said quietly as her tension grew, and Hunter could hear the way she was trembling. She stepped forward and went onto the hangar, suddenly realizing there was nothing she could do at the moment. Instead, she looked disoriented standing there, gawking at the sight, her holopad hanging loosely beside her.
“Is there a problem?”
Probably the last voice she wanted to hear at that moment, Lav turned around to see Rampart, his gaze on her harder than it had been before.
“I only came to verify the shipment, sir,” she said, refusing to appear intimidated by him. “Just procedure. I wasn’t expecting this.”
She realized that last statement slipped out on accident, but there was hardly anything she could do about it now. All she could do was keep her back as straight as possible and her body as still as she could manage, but the horrendous sight paired with Rampart made it far harder for her to achieve that.
“Well, perhaps having stuck to your actual duties would have helped,” Rampart said, his voice deceptively calm as he went to stand next to Lav and also looking at the crowd of slaves before them, not looking at her for a moment. “I meant what I said. Do not make me regret it.”
Lav couldn’t bring herself to look at him, not even in the light of that obvious threat. “I wouldn’t dream of it, captain—”
“It’s Admiral.”
She went cold. At last, she had no choice but to look at Rampart, aware this time she’d failed her initial intention. She was afraid, and she was showing it.
“But perhaps you’re right,” Rampart said, his voice now smooth like it always was. “You should return to your captain,” he emphasized the last two words and there could only be one explanation for it.
“Right away, sir,” she answered. Doing her best to keep protocol, she stood up straight, saluted, and went back into the factory, not once daring to look over her shoulder. Hunter greeted her and walked discreetly beside her; he would have taken her hand, made any gesture to comfort her, but he’d seen and heard everything. All he could do at the moment was look at her from time to time and try to keep stable around her as she continued, or rather tried, to keep her fellow engineers working and making good time. But she was off, and everyone noticed. The one thing Hunter knew about her was that she wasn’t one to hide emotions.
The day could not have felt longer for both of them, with the occasional friendly smiles and cute comments completely gone. The whole time, Lav felt a hole in her chest that was already pounding with her heartbeat, a swarm of thoughts devastating her mind, and her trembling barely easing up with time. Like a good captain, Hunter oversaw any operations she led and stuck by her even after downtime, when he found himself walking her back to her room.
The hall was dark, quiet, and empty. Given the events of that day, it was no longer comforting to have a place be so alone. As Lav stood in front of her room door, she looked up at Hunter with wide, sad eyes.
Being aware that no one else was in the hall at the time, Hunter took her hand and squeezed it as he tried to comfort her with a soft gaze.
“Try to get some sleep,” he said.
She averted her eyes. “Hunter…”
He took both of her hands as though he’d be able to make everything right with that gesture. Lav took a deep breath and cleared her throat enough for her voice not to break whenever she spoke.
“I can’t,” she said with a gentle shake of her head.
“What?”
“I can’t let it happen.”
Hunter sighed, his eyes growing sad as well. “There’s nothing we can do.”
When he noticed her lips trembling, it all but broke his heart, and he took a hand to cup her cheek and wipe away any tears that fell.
“That’s what this is,” he told her. “The reason I’m here.”
“And so am I,” she said.
A bitter silence hung among them as Hunter tried to find more words, but he didn’t settle on anything that could improve her mood much.
“Rampart knows,” Lav broke the silence.
Hunter began to take his hand away from her, but she reached for it and set it back on her cheek, leaning into his palm to feel any sort of comforting warmth rather than the suffocating heat Geonosis offered.
“Don’t,” she said. “That’s not what I meant. I don’t want to stop, it’s just…” She trailed off, sighing and feeling pathetic. “I don’t know, Hunter… it’s all so messed up, it’s too much! It’s awful…”
“Hey,” he pulled her into an embrace where she could weep.
“It’s my fault,” she said.
“No,” Hunter managed firmly and looked her in the eyes. “Listen to me, this isn’t your fault, you hear me? You didn’t bring those people here, and you’re not capable of hurting a fly. It’s not your fault.”
“They’re here because of my work.”
“If it hadn’t been your work, it would have been someone else’s. It was not something you could control.”
She leaned her head on his chest again and let a few more tears drop out of her eyes while Hunter gently stroked her hair.
“What now?” She asked him.
Lav felt his chest slowly move up and then down with Hunter’s deep breath.
“I hate to say it,” he answered.
“But?”
“But we go on,” he told her, hating the fact as much as she did. “There’s nothing we can do or say to anyone.”
She parted slightly so that she could look him in the eyes. “It just feels wrong… and if Rampart knows I’m not on board with the idea, he’s going to be on me like a hawk. What if I don’t do enough and I’m thrown out? What if he takes it out on me, or you, or us?”
“Lav,” Hunter spoke with a soft, low voice, its deep hum somehow calming her down. “You’re going to be fine, alright?” He paused to kiss her forehead and resumed stroking her hair. “I promise you’ll be fine. You won’t be thrown out. Do your best with the factory, keep it in good conditions for whoever will work there. And regarding us, if Rampart does know and he hasn’t done anything about it by now, I don’t think he will. He cares about results, and that’s what we’ll give him. You’re in charge of that factory, Lav. It’s in your power to give those people better conditions.”
“He’ll see right through my efforts,” she told him.
Hunter gently stroked her cheek and had her look up at him. “Just do your best.”
Lav sniffled and wiped her eyes dry, all so that she could look at Hunter’s gorgeous, honey-brown irises in the darkness.
“Kiss me,” she whimpered quietly.
With a sad smile, Hunter acknowledged her request. Holding her firmly, yet sweetly, he pressed his lips to her, hoping desperately he could make her feel any better. With his hand, he secured the back of her head, almost molding her body into his, and Lav kissed him in return with strength as a couple of moans escaped her lips. They both needed this, they needed each other. They knew they’d be the only thing to pull them through that entire mess.
When Hunter began to pull away, Lav chased his lips and wrapped her arms around his neck to pull him in for another kiss, this time more craving than before. Hunter knew she was vulnerable, and while her passion grew every second, he firmly took her shoulders and held her in place, opting to press a soft kiss to her forehead instead.
Lav sighed, knowing it was right. Her eyes looked at his again as she set her feet back on the ground and settled on one conclusion.
“I don’t want to stay here a long time,” she whispered, afraid unwanted ears would hear her.
Her eyes were wide, hopeful even, and Hunter knew what she meant. The memory of Daro returned to him, of that night in the forest when nature and night wildlife had treated them so well. He’d wrapped his arms around her, pinned her to a tree, been so close to kissing her for the first time. He’d proposed to run away together, to forget the Empire and everything that held them back.
And for every logical reason, neither one of them had acceded to such an illusion. Yet there was Lav, all but pleading Hunter to put that possibility back on the table, and he knew she had every reason to want to leave. Still, she also had reasons to stay, and so did he. He feared what it would take to get them both to agree to leave.
No, he wouldn’t allow himself to think of it at the moment.
“It’s what we’ve got for now, Lav,” he said, leaning down to kiss her cheek. “Try to rest, okay? You need to clear your mind, but if you need anything, contact me.”
Her heart sank, but she knew he was right. Her thoughts were on a similar line as his, and the realization that they’d both be stuck there for a while slowly spread through her like an illness. He was right, the best they could do was their best. To remain in good terms with the Empire so that they and their own could be safe.
Lav then nodded and squeezed Hunter’s hands. “I’ll see you tomorrow, then.”
He tried his best to smile comfortingly at her, and after one more kiss on her forehead, Hunter was off down the hall while Lav entered her room and closed the door behind her.
Mindlessly, she took off her armor. The room was so hot that she turned on the air conditioning and took her blacks off, only left in a silk top and her panties, not even bothering to put any socks on. All the lights turned off, she crawled into the bed to try to sleep, but she couldn’t. It seemed she’d been lying awake for hours with visions and flashes of images she’d seen of the people leaving the freighter. There would be no way for her to sleep if she didn’t take it out somehow, and if she was sleep deprived, her mood would worsen, so would her attitude, and who knew what would happen if she was so irritable that she was at risk of disrespecting a higher up, further putting her in a bad image…
She stopped. She sat up and realized there was a storm in her mind, one that wouldn’t get her anywhere. She looked out the small window of her room and was no longer in love with the rusty look the stars had in contrast to the purple night sky. Pacing around the room, Lav tried her best to think of a way to do something. About what, she didn’t know. She just wanted to do something that would make her feel a little less condemned.
After a loud sigh, her eyes drifted to her armor and blacks on the floor, through which the corner of the picture was barely peeking out. She bent over and grabbed it, looking at the picture, barely making out the silhouettes of her Grandma and little sisters in the dark. It then hit her how much she missed them, how long it had been since she’d heard from them and they’d heard from her. With a new spark of determination, Lav went to sit on her bed and pulled the holopad from her nightstand, powering it up and setting it to write a message.
No words came to her at first. Most of the messages she’d written to her Grandma had been in high hopes, talking with optimism about her work if only to try and convince herself even further. But things were hard for Lav, so much harder, and she felt guilty for wanting to leave. She felt guilty for not doing things gladly for her family’s sake, when she knew the right thing would have been otherwise. She thought of all her grandma’s sacrifices when she’d been growing up, all the hard work she had to do that she probably didn’t enjoy, but that meant bringing Lav and her sisters up. But then again, that work didn’t have to do with slavery.
Before she drowned in her guilt, Lav’s fingers began moving instinctively on the holopad, finding words unconsciously as she began writing the message.
Hey, Granny.
I’m sorry I haven’t written sooner. To be honest, things have been really busy since we arrived on Geonosis. Things have been going well, or so it seems. I don’t even know anymore. I know you might get mad at what I’m about to say, but sometimes I don’t see the point of being here. Not because of you guys, though. Believe me, you and my sisters are on my mind constantly. I know I’m doing this for you.
But (and don’t tell anyone about this, please) we had a shipment of slaves come in today. Slaves, Grandma. You know it’s not right. None of it is right, and yet I’m managing the very operation they’re going to work in. I just don’t know what to do anymore. I’m lost. Just when I was starting to feel like something good was going on, like I could keep up the good work here, this happens. And I can’t do anything about it without there being bad consequences either. I just feel trapped.
I’m sorry this message is so downcast, the last thing I want is to upset you with any of this. I just really needed to talk to you, to hear from you, and know that you’re okay. I feel like that’ll sure keep me going longer. Because honestly… I don’t like being here. I never did. The Empire’s awful, they do everything with such a tough hand that I fear, sooner or later, everyone will get a taste of how terrible they can be. I’ve lost sight of a lot of things.
But well, I know a big part of that is just me complaining and I don’t want to bring down the mood with you, you’re free to just not pay attention to my rambling. There has been some good too, honestly. Because you’re still my Grandma, I won’t go into much detail, but I’ve fallen in love with my captain and I really think he returns my feelings. He’s really handsome and strong and protective, I think you’d like him. And don’t worry, we’re being careful and everything—about not being caught, not about… what you’re thinking. (Please don’t get a heart attack).
Anyways, I hope you’re doing well. Say hi to my sisters for me, and tell them to behave in school. If they’re anything like me, they’re around the age when they’ll like talking back to their teachers, and while I’d be proud of them, I don’t want them getting into trouble. And I hope you’re doing fine as well, Granny. I miss you.
With love,
Your little Lavender
Lav debated whether or not to send the message. It was dark near the beginning, but that was the way things were. Was it right to let her Grandma know of everything going on, or should she just scratch the message entirely and rewrite it with a simple everything’s fine! Nothing bad’s happening here! and be safer? She sighed. She figured the worst that could come of it would be Granny worrying for her, and that being the case, Lav could really use someone else listening to her.
Without much more thought, Lav hit the send button and turned the holopad off, putting it on the nightstand again and lying back down on the bed, twisting and turning for another long while before finally sleeping.
The morning following that was neither easy nor difficult. Lav simply put on her blacks and armor after showering quickly with cold water to get her mind in the world, and she strutted down to the factory to get working.
She’d expected there would already be slaves working there, and nothing could prepare her mentally for that. To her surprise, though, there were no slaves in the factory when she arrived. It was just the squad of engineers she’d been working with, and soon, even Hunter arrived. His presence at least soothed her a bit, and she figured maybe there was some hope. Of what, she wasn’t certain. Hunter simply made her feel not everything was lost yet.
She did notice one thing though, which was the absence of the increased number of Geonosians in charge of looking after security. None of them were there, and it was then that she realized the factory was too quiet. Hunter had noticed it too, as he could often hear the clicking and fluttering of the Geonosians. He and Lav exchanged a look, both of them concerned, both still way on edge from the events of the day before. Despite that, Lav continued working, even if the hole in her chest made an appearance again.
A couple of hours went by and it seemed things were going relatively well. Lav made sure to increase ventilation in the factory as well as light intake from the outside, hoping those efforts would keep the factory in humane conditions. It may not have been a lot compared to the bigger picture, but she was satisfied with her little something for the time being. Barely allowing herself to feel positive for the first time that day, she and the others heard the heavy doors of the factory opening, and in came a group of Geonosians led by an Imperial officer.
Nobody knew what was up with them, but somehow, they all agreed their presence couldn’t be a good thing. The officer scanned the group with unfriendly eyes and then spoke, his voice booming and echoing around the factory.
“Lavender Earthapple,” he said.
She became worried instantly upon hearing her name, and she looked back at Hunter hoping maybe he had answers. Still, when Hunter seemed as worried as she did, she began to lose some hope. Summoning all her courage, Lav stepped to the front of the group.
“That’s me,” she said. “What can I help you with?”
“Arrest her,” said the officer, turning around and barely looking at Lav from the corner of his eye as though she were merely dust.
“Wait, what?!” Hunter stood between her and the Geonosians. “She’s not going anywhere.”
“That’s not up to you, captain,” the officer spit the word out. “Miss Earthapple has been found guilty of treason and is to be taken to the Geonosian Arena. An example has to be made of her.” He then pulled out his blaster to threaten Hunter. “Now step aside and don’t make more trouble, your presence is requested alongside Admiral Rampart to witness the execution.”
“Execution?!” Hunter questioned, trying to appear menacing above the crushing fear he felt.
“Don’t make me repeat myself,” the officer loaded the blaster.
Hunter realized how powerless he was. Two Geonosians circled around him and went towards Lav, whose eyes were already filled with tears and wide as they looked at Hunter in terror.
“There’s a mistake,” she said as the Geonosians began cuffing her, and she resisted on instinct but only earned a sting from a shocking device they were carrying on them.
“Don’t hurt her!”
“Hunter!” Lav wept as she began to be carried away by them. “Hunter!”
“Lav, it’s going to be alright!” He called as the Geonosians took her away from the factory, still haunted by the sound of her cries that faded painfully slowly as they got farther.
Everyone in the factory remained silent; Hunter was outraged, afraid, helpless. He wanted nothing more than to go after her, but he already had a blaster pointed at him. Who was to say the officer wouldn’t find a way to take it out on him too, or on the other engineers who were just as terrorized by the scene they’d just witnessed?
Hunter only knew he was disgusted at his inability to do anything.
“You all must be there too,” the officer commanded. “That is an order. Captain, I will not ask again.”
Hunter raised his hands slightly in surrender, and he followed the officer out of the factory, not even being able to look back at the other engineers.
He had to find Lav. He had to figure out where she was and why they’d suddenly charged her with treason. She hadn’t done anything wrong, looking at the slaves and appearing horrified was only a human reaction, there was no treason in that. Or perhaps it was because of her relationship with him—but in that case, he would have been taken too. Or perhaps there was something planned for him he didn’t know about. The possibilities were horribly endless.
Rampart. Hunter knew that, for better or for worse, Rampart could be an answer to their problem. He had to talk to him, appeal to his better nature and get him to spare Lav. Whatever it took, he had to save Lav…
Away from the Imperial compound, Hunter was taken to a large structure embedded within one of the large Geonosian mountains. Its halls inside were dark, and even from there, he could hear the roaring of a crowd, and the sound of clicking and fluttering returned. In little time, Hunter arrived at a balcony that overlooked an arena where large pillars were set, surrounded by cages and with one Imperial guard in each of its cardinal directions, four total.
“Captain, you have arrived,” Rampart began speaking.
“With respect, what is going on?” Hunter asked, the worry unmistakable in his voice.
“Your engineer has committed treason.”
“Admiral, whatever relationship goes on between us, it has not hindered her work. That’s hardly a reason for—”
“That is not why she’s being prosecuted,” Rampart interrupted with a dismissing wave of his hand. “I in fact don’t much care for whatever it is goes on between you and her. You’ll find out the reason for her betrayal soon enough.”
“Sir,” Hunter insisted. “I know Lavender. She wouldn’t hurt anyone or anything. Whatever reason, it must be a mistake. I’m begging you to reconsider, don’t let her be executed. Look at her work, she’s done so much.”
“She can be replaced,” Rampart said without an ounce of care. “We already have everything we needed her to do, the rest can be picked up by other workers.”
Hunter was speechless, indignant at how disposable Rampart regarded her to be. Of course, that was how the Empire saw those loyal to them, and even more so those who weren’t. Even as a clone, Hunter had never heard something of the sort, and he’d been bred to go to the battlefield and possibly die, all for the Republic. It disgusted him.
“Captain,” Admiral Rampart faced Hunter. “You have done a good enough job not caring about those close to you enough for it to step between you and your duties so far. Don’t let that change now.”
Rampart then walked forward to the edge of the balcony and caught the crowd’s attention. “Bring in the prisoner.”
*
She’d barely processed anything. Lavender felt her body shaking, her legs about to give out beneath her. The Geonosians stripped her of her weapons and uncuffed her only to throw her in a cell that smelled like it had been rotting for years. She couldn’t see much, but she heard the roaring of a crowd as well as occasional banging and growling from behind the adjacent walls. Nothing would make her calm down or even see a glint of hope.
She didn’t even keep track of how long she was in there until she noticed the door opposite to the one she came in through began opening, revealing a second door made of bars that began lifting. A guard came in with a spear and began urging her out; the sunlight blinded her the moment she stepped into the sandy ground and she took a while to process her surroundings. The seats of the arena were filled with thrilled Geonosians while the balconies hosted Imperials, and at one section of the seats, the slaves and even generic Imperial workers were hosted.
Lav was forced to walk to the center of the arena facing south, and her heart sank. Next to Rampart stood Hunter, and even from that distance, Lav recognized the agony he was going through. Then, Rampart raised his hands and the crowd quieted down, leaving enough silence for his voice to be amplified and hear by everyone.
“The former Imperial engineer Lavender Earthapple has been found guilty of treason through words that came out from herself,” Rampart began. “Last night, a message sent from her to her family in which she states herself how much she is against the Empire.”
“What?” Lav said quietly, but all for show, her voice was amplified as well.
Rampart then read from a holopad: “None of it is right, and yet I’m managing the very operation they’re going to work in. I just don’t know what to do anymore. I’m lost. Just when I was starting to feel like something good was going on, like I could keep up the good work here, this happens. And I can’t do anything about it without there being bad consequences either. I just feel trapped.
“I’m sorry this message is so downcast, the last thing I want is to upset you with any of this. I just really needed to talk to you, to hear from you, and know that you’re okay. I feel like that’ll sure keep me going longer. Because honestly… I don’t like being here. I never did. The Empire’s awful, they do everything with such a tough hand that I fear, sooner or later, everyone will get a taste of how terrible they can be.”
Lav was disgusted by the dramatization Rampart had given, the laughter and fake shock coming from Imperials and Geonosians alike, and the fact that her message had been intercepted. Rampart had clearly distrusted in her since the ship disembarked, it was the only explanation—and only proof of what lengths he and the Empire itself would go to in order to silence anyone with a mind of their own.
“You had no right to go through that message,” the way Lav’s voice broke betrayed her strong intention to fight back.
“You no longer have any rights,” Rampart said. “We take you in, grant your family everything it needs to thrive and give you high regards within the Empire given your work, and this is the loyalty we get from you?” He looked up at the rest of the crowd. “Let this be an example. The Republic is dead. Its weakness killed it. The Empire is what thrives now, and if you are naïve enough,” he pointed at Lav, “to try and digress from us, you will burn.”
His eyes fell on Lav again, almost in mockery. “Do you have anything more to say?”
She tried her best to steady herself, and while she was still on the verge of tears, Lav knew she had to speak up. “I no longer put anything beneath the Empire. Do what you want now, you’re the one who’s going to burn.”
Rampart seemed almost amused by Lav. “How wrong you are.”
From the center of the arena, Lav continued locking eyes with him. She couldn’t possibly bear looking over at Hunter. Her eyes were still full of tears and her lips trembled as she tried to grasp what was coming, and all she had left now was hanging on to the hope that one day, the Empire would go up in flames.
“Such a waste,” Rampart said dismissively, giving the guards the go ahead to open the rest of the cages.
That final statement tipped Hunter into despair, and he also knew that if he didn’t do anything now, it would be too late after that. As he looked at Lav in the center of the arena, his mind raced. The woman he loved was put in grave danger, and he wasn’t willing to let anything happen to her. He remembered every time she’d smiled at him, how soft she still was, how warm and gentle her touch was, the sweetness of her kisses. He remembered the promise he’d made to himself, to keep her the way she was. Soft. Warm. Hopeful.
He wasn’t arrested, being prosecuted, or anything of the sort. He still had his own weapons. The blaster would do him well and so would the blade, if he played things right, he wouldn’t need anymore. Though, he did realize he was running out of time. Two of the cages opened, one of them revealing a nexu while the other one held a small rancor, most likely one in its early years, but still quite the threat.
Hunter watched as Lav’s eyes widened in horror as she looked back and forth both animals, each one eager to strike at her, baring their teeth and growling. Hunter needed to act now.
He grabbed his blaster and, positioned behind Rampart, he had an opening since everyone’s eyes were on Lav as she was threatened by both creatures. It was then that Hunter aimed the blaster at Rampart and fired it, stunning him and making him land unconscious on the ground. After that, Hunter jumped off the balcony, positioned low enough so that he could survive the fall and land relatively safely.
The crowd roared when they noticed what had happened, but in the middle of the arena, Lav hadn’t noticed any of it. Petrified by the creatures, she barely found it in herself to move before either of them reached her, managing to dodge them and making them crash together, only prompting them to fight each other while she finally found the opening to run away and hide behind one of the pillars. Her chest heaved up and down, shocked that she was still alive, but she was still running out of options. Then, the roaring of the rancor caught her ear and she heard its heavy struts charging toward her, and it then crashed onto the large stone pillar and sent it crashing down.
Once more, she managed to dodge it and get out of the pillar’s trajectory. Its impact on the ground lifted a cloud of light brown sand, making her cough and compromising her vision as well as the rancor’s. When it cleared enough, she noticed the tiny rocks that had split from the pillar after its fall, and she stocked up on several of them to at least have some sort of weapon. While the rancor was busy rampaging and knocking down the other pillars, Lav noticed from the corner of her eye that the nexu was now charging at her. Intimidating with its agile figure, sharp teeth and razor claws, Lav felt she was cornered, and barely saw her life flashing before her when she noticed a figure tackling the nexu away after which she heard the slash of a knife.
“Hunter?!”
“Run!” He yelled in a gruff voice, baring his teeth as he wrestled the nexu relying only on his strength and his knife to keep it away from her. In a split second, he dropped the blaster and Lav took it and tried to find a good angle to shoot the nexu without risking harming Hunter.
Meanwhile, the rancor continued to rampage, and it hit Lav with an idea. The rancor wasn’t targeting her. It was angry, yes because it was in its nature, but because the reason these creatures were extra aggressive was because they were starved and tortured to be conditioned that way. While the rancor continued destroying whatever obstacle it saw, the guards approached it to sting it with their spears, and the rancor had no choice but to defend itself.
Lav knew how to find a way out of there. Running, she caught the attention of the nexu as she made a beeline for the guards and began throwing rocks at them to catch their attention, but also to have the rancor see she was against them as well. The rancor noticed, and the two began fighting against the guards.
It all made the crowd go insane. The rancor had mighty fun fighting the guards, and while Lav ran out of rocks, she pulled out the blaster and stunned the remaining guards, finally clear to go back and help Hunter. Shocked as she was to see the scene, Hunter was still holding his own against the nexu, having successfully kept it away from her and the rancor while they took out the guards. His armor was scratched, but it was nothing too serious, and now, Hunter and the nexu were staring at each other, facing each other like it was a showdown.
Hunter, growling and frowning menacingly at the nexu, held out both of his fists, ready to fight. One of them held the blade, his only means of defense, and while the nexu was getting ready to leap at Hunter, Lav repositioned herself and knelt on the floor to stabilize herself, shooting the blaster and hitting the nexu. The stun mode of the blaster wasn’t enough to take it down, but it did interrupt its leap and it fell limply on the ground, dazed for a moment before it realized Lav had been responsible for its failure. Baring its teeth, it prepared to leap again only to be tackled by Hunter, who finally had an opening to hold the nexu down on the ground.
Lav approached them a bit more and continued firing stun bolts at the nexu. It took at least five more consecutive bolts to finally make the nexu unconscious as its body went limp and it relaxed onto the ground. Hunter sheathed his knife again and ran over to Lav, taking her hand as the crowd began to roar again.
“We have to go!” He yelled.
Just then, Lav noticed more Geonosians were making their way into the arena, unwilling to let them escape. The rancor, still angry and rampaging, helped give them an opening as it threw off any Geonosian who approached. With that opportunity, Hunter and Lav ran into the cells; Hunter slammed into one of the doors and brought it down while Lav stunned any remaining guards. Holding her hand again, Hunter ran at top speed and led her down the halls and outside to the hangar, luckily deserted for the most part as most Geonosians were still in the arena.
That wouldn’t be for long, though, as they heard the sound of wings swarming toward them. Without looking back, the two continued running until they reached the shuttles in the hangar. They entered the first one they saw, a small yet luxurious ship that clearly belonged to someone in the higher ranks. With the door closed, they were at least secluded from the outside.
Lav sat in the pilot’s seat and ignored the way her hands were shaking as she powered up the ship, making sure the engines were at full thrust. By then, Geonosians were already crawling on top of the ship in a fit to prevent their escape, but Lav applied full thrust and got the ship in the air, eventually having it go fast enough to blow off any Geonosians who’d tried to cling to the ship. Soon, they were in space, and Hunter was punching in coordinates and making calculations to jump to hyperspace.
“Make the jump now,” he said, his voice still shaky.
Lav tapped the final controls in order to authorize the jump to hyperspace and finally pushed the lever to the bottom, and in front of them, the stars seemed to displace themselves before they finally made the jump and were surrounded by the white and blue gleam of hyperspace.
Silence then reigned, as if nothing had happened. Lav’s eyes were still wide, and she wasn’t even blinking; from beside her, Hunter watched her, afraid to reach out to touch her in her state of shock. He thought back to everything that had happened and processed what was going on now.
In the most twisted way possible, their idea of running away had come true. They were both alive, that much was important, and what happened after that would be determined on its own. Hunter wasn’t willing to push things anymore, not until he knew Lav was alright.
After a while, Lav finally began blinking, and her breath began to shake. She looked around at the ship, its dashboard, its controls, the flickering lights of hyperspace.
“The tracker,” she said quietly, almost to herself.
“Lav,” Hunter tried reaching her, but she was making her way below the console and dismantling its hull, revealing a bunch of wires and controls. Lav scrambled through them and, while she tried to be careful with most of the controls, she set her blaster to kill and fired at one of the devices inside, ultimately disabling it.
“Lav, what are you doing?” Hunter’s voice was soft.
Lav set the weapon back to stun and locked it, handing it back to Hunter before she hugged her knees on the floor.
“I had to destroy the tracker,” she said quietly. “Now we won’t be followed.”
In silence, Hunter went to sit down next to her. Lav’s eyes were trailed on the ground and she didn’t speak a word, but not long after that, she began to tremble and her eyes filled with tears. On the spot, Lav began to weep, and she instantly leaned her body towards Hunter, who received her in a tight embrace, hoping he could make her feel safe somehow.
“It’s alright,” he calmed her down. “You’re safe, Lav. You’re safe. It’s over.”
Lav continued crying and she wrapped her arms tightly around Hunter and he held her even closer to him, shifting around to cradle her figure in his arms. He pressed kisses to her forehead and temple and stroked her hair while rocking her back and forth, repeating those words over and over until finally Lav’s sobs quieted down.
And they sat together, on the ground of the shuttle’s cockpit, while Lav’s tears flowed quietly down her cheeks and onto his armor. Closing her eyes brought back images of the events on Geonosis, but she found that looking at Hunter’s ingot necklace calmed her down.
It took long, but she finally stopped crying. Hunter’s low, smooth voice whispered soft and comforting things in her ear, until at last he convinced Lav she wasn’t in danger anymore. She was safe, in the arms of her Hunter, the man who’d protect her with his every breath. Pressing her body tighter onto him and with her hands balled up into fists, she finally dared to close her eyes until she became so tired she dozed off.
Feeling her body relaxing, Hunter leaned back on the wall and closed his eyes too, falling asleep with Lav in his arms.
-----
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my plan was to go to sleep at midnight but then I found this and read all 4 chapters. Now about to go to sleep at 2:20am I love this so much I regret nothing and would do it again gladly.
Chapter 4 - Divergence
Nocticulent: a Hunter love story
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Read it on AO3! Or here below the cut
Summary: The expansion to Geonosis throws a cloud over Lav and Hunter's evolving relationship as their own reasons for being with the Empire keep them for expressing how they truly feel for each other.
Tags/Warnings: light angst, mutual pining, some mentions of injury, but fluff at the end!
Word count: 9.5k
Playlist: Breeze by tysu and Spencer Hunt
(taglist at the bottom)
Just like that, Lav was about to be shipped off to another planet. Barely any time to let her Granny and younger twin sisters know of the change; she hadn’t caught them on live holo transmission and she wasn’t even sure they’d read the message yet. For all Lav knew, they’d hear the news when she’d already be on her way to Geonosis.
Lav had gone to pack her personal belongings while the team was completing their last sessions of training before their first assignment outside of Daro, an ironic indication of how they’d be split after being presented as an ideal team. That was just the way Lav figured it would be from then on: the Empire quickly making its plans and using the people they had available, oblivious to any promises they’d made, any needs those people had. If there was anything the Empire taught you, it was never to take anything for granted.
Her glasses were safe in the compartment in her belt, and the picture of her family was even safer in one of the inside pockets of her blouse, pressed right up against her heart as Lav was desperately reminding herself of her reasons for being with the Empire. Having said the briefest of goodbyes to her team, those three other soldiers who she’d known so little yet she knew were good at heart, Lav was now heading to the shuttle where troopers, CTs and TKs, were boarding to be taken to the Venator that would ultimately transport them to Geonosis. With every pace, Lav replayed Kaisa’s kind eyes in her mind, Kayn’s nonchalance, Warwick’s chattiness, things she had a hunch she wouldn’t find in Geonosis. It occurred to her that she hadn’t thought to ask them what their plans would be now, but it was now to late to ask, anyway. She’d heard they’d been running several intense training courses, most of them led by Hunter, but he was going to Geonosis too and Lav was lost as to what her former team would do now…
Hunter. Just a mere five paces from the shuttle, Lav finally looked up from the ground her eyes had been trailed on, feeling as the tension left her momentarily when her eyes landed on those of Hunter. She knew by that moment his eyes were transparently expressive, never seeming to hide any emotions, from the disgust he’d had at the terrible officer the other day to the desire he’d felt to kiss her out in the forest. Still, when Lav looked at Hunter standing outside that shuttle, his eyes had a look she hadn’t seen before. It looked like dread, but as he looked at her, Lav knew he was concerned for her. She felt her lips tilting up just a bit, flattered that the captain would insist in putting her well-being first.
“How are you?” Hunter asked her, his voice quiet and husky, and with his eyes a faint gleam asked Lavender if she wanted to seize the chance to make a final run for it. The truth was, it was starting to no longer sound like a terrible idea, but Lav had to shake her head subtly to push that thought away.
“I think I’m ready,” she admitted. “I’m just still processing everything. It doesn’t feel quite real yet.”
“You’re nervous,” Hunter affirmed.
“We’re relocating to Geonosis, Hunter.”
The captain snickered, her ironic humor distracting her from the fact that he could hear her accelerated heartbeat as well as see the faint tints of red painting her fingertips, her cheeks, even the tip of her nose, indecisive as to it was because of him or Geonosis.
“Yeah, you have a point,” was all Hunter could say before pausing and examining Lav carefully. “Look…” he stuttered. “I’m going to be there with you, a-and I don’t intend on splitting from your side or being relocated elsewhere. If we stick together, we’ll be fine.”
If she hadn’t already been nervous, Lav would have just begun to blush the moment he said those words.
“Hunter…” She spoke softly just as a final array of twelve TK troopers entered the shuttle for their uniformed commander to look over at Lav and Hunter’s direction, practically dissecting them both with her gaze.
“Captain, Trooper, you must board now,” the commander said.
Both Lav and Hunter could pick up on the droplet of venom in her voice as she spoke their ranks, suddenly unable to ignore the way her eyes narrowed, particularly at Lav. In turn, Lav straightened up and tightened her arm’s grip around her helmet as she stepped inside the shuttle with Hunter following after her. Being the last two on board, they were at the edge of the shuttle looking towards the door with the commander behind them in the middle, as though she didn’t want to retrieve her watch from them.
The door finally closed and they felt the ship taking off; Lav suddenly felt upset she had no windows nearby, no way to take so much as a last look at the endless forest on Daro. In spite of the hardships, Lav was fond of the planet. The forest, the light rain, the clear sky at night, the bunnies, all those were things she cherished dearly, some of them for the mere memory of having shared them with Hunter. She wished she could direct a gaze at Hunter or a touch, anything to let each other know they were alright, but she couldn’t as long as she still felt the commander’s prying eyes on her. She didn’t deem it fair, though. That commander wasn’t even who she answered to, Hunter was the one for that.
But the commander outranked Hunter and, more importantly, she could relay any suspicion to others, something neither Lav nor Hunter wanted.
“Are you the head engineer?” The commander then asked Lav.
Lav turned slightly, enough to face the commander, her eyes casual as always. “Yes, ma’am, I am.”
“You will remain upright when you address me,” snarled the commander.
Quickly, Lav shifted and faced the door once more, straightening up and pointing her chin slightly upwards. “Sorry, ma’am.”
Despite her apology, Lav felt a rolling boil inside her. She could never understand the fuss behind ranks rather than mere organization, and she hated that people would let a simple word get to their heads, and further, make them treat others like insects. Though Hunter couldn’t read her thoughts, he did know whenever Lav was getting upset, and still standing as upright and professionally as possible, he managed to side-eye Lav, wary of whatever words would follow from the commander.
“It would appear your captain has not enforced that sort of protocol,” said the commander.
Lav was indecisive as to what to do or say. She knew that a simple “with respect” as a preamble wouldn’t be enough for her to speak her mind and shove the commander away. Luckily, the Venator was orbiting just outside of Daro, and that shuttle ride wouldn’t take very long. Plus, that commander was clearly in charge of the troopers she’d escorted rather than a more important operation in the expansion like Lav and Hunter were. This commander, as they were both aware, wouldn’t be involved closely with them. She was just looking for someone to pick on for any flaw, as too many people in the Empire had grown fond of.
“My head engineer spends most of her time in front of computers and machinery,” Hunter intervened. “She has designed key operations and obtained essential data for the Geonosian expansion to be possible. The least I can do to thank her is allow her to stand at ease in front of her difficult work rather than force her to salute me.”
The commander found herself at a loss for words, knowing that Hunter was right even though she disliked being outsmarted by someone she outranked. Lav, personally, found herself struggling with the need to smile, not just at the way Hunter had put the commander in her place, but at everything he’d just said about her. And, though Hunter couldn’t turn around and see Lav due to the commander’s need for protocol, he once again felt her heartbeat accelerate, imagining the way her cheeks would redden any moment now.
“Thank you, captain,” Lav took her right hand up to her temple in a salute. “I feel fortunate to be a part of this expansion in such an important way as you say.”
Hunter felt, for the first time since being with his own brothers, that he was also holding in laughter in front of higher-ups. Once again, Lav had made him feel alive, nostalgic. All he could do at that moment, however, was stick to the imperial protocol that was demanded from him.
“At ease, soldier,” he spoke in his sergeant voice.
No more words were spoken during the shuttle ride. The commander, at least, learned not to pick on those two, but she did know better than to keep her guard down around them. Something about those two was too dynamic, too familiar. Of course, neither Lav nor Hunter were oblivious to that fact, and for the remainder of the shuttle ride, they didn’t so much as gaze at one another, ultimately shutting down the commander’s expectation for any spicy drama she could gossip about with the admirals.
The shuttle landed in the Venator’s hangar and its door opened upon touchdown. Lav and Hunter were the first ones down, both of them exhibiting military discipline as they were greeted by Admiral Rampart, saluting him while Hunter began to address him. As the rest of the soldiers left the shuttle, Lav noticed the commander from the corner of her eye directing a final look at her and Hunter, convinced (much to her distaste) that there was nothing to say on the matter. At long last, she disappeared into the crowd of TK troopers while leading her squad.
“Right on schedule, captain,” Rampart said and addressed Lav. “I must admit, Lavender, I am as pleasantly surprised with your work as the rest of the committee in charge of the expansion.”
“I am honored, sir.”
“Geonosis is far away from Daro; it will be quite a long voyage from here,” Rampart continued. “You will reside on the medium level of the barracks. Head there and unload, I will need you in half an hour on the bridge for the general briefing. Captain,” Rampart addressed Hunter now, “your orders are the same.”
“Yes, sir,” Hunter said.
Rampart nodded and left them both at ease to then make his way across the hangar. Exchanging a quick look, Lav and Hunter made their way to one of the nearby elevators, somehow being lucky enough to be the only two in there once the door was closed.
Giggles coming from Lav engulfed the elevator as they descended to the medium level of the Venator, followed by the sound of Hunter’s own laughter.
“I seriously wish I could have seen the commander’s face when you stepped up,” Lav said.
“I shut her up, didn’t I?” Hunter smirked. He then sighed as the laughter died down. “I only told the truth, though.”
Lavender looked at him, finally able to freely turn and face him. “Really?”
Hunter only nodded, focusing closely on Lav as she bashfully blushed and tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear.
“That’s very kind of you,” she said quietly, the shade of pink on her cheeks threatening to drive Hunter to his knees.
There in the elevator, both of them alone, their minds began to wander to the same place, the tension that was inevitably building between them as they shyly looked each other in the eyes. Behind closed doors, with no cameras in the elevator through which indiscreet eyes could see, it would be very easy for them to lean in, press their lips up against each other, finally feel what they’d been longing to for so long. Hunter scanned every detail of the young engineer, nearly finding himself pushing her against the wall, caging her with his arms and finally claiming her as his. Before he could pay mind to such an impulse, they both felt as the elevator slowed down, both of them knowing their time alone would be over in seconds.
Though Lav’s cheeks were still fairly tainted, she kept an upright composure with serious eyes and her arms firmly at her sides, as did Hunter, when the door of the elevator opened to reveal a group of commanding officers waiting to get on. They parted to let Lav and Hunter go through to that they could later get on the elevator, a scheme that was executed wordlessly in a silence that was chafing for the captain and the engineer. They both looked back at the closed elevator door as they stepped away from it, only for their eyes to meet with a blend of relief and disappointment, after which they were left not quite knowing what to say.
“Which room is yours?” Hunter broke the silence after a series of heavy walking down the corridor.
“M-231,” Lav answered as she verified the detail on her holopad. “It shouldn’t be far from here. Which one’s yours?”
“M-212,” he’d been told before leaving Daro. “Not very far from yours if you were to need anything.”
Lav’s mind wandered again. What would she need in a Venator when everyone was sleeping? She knew she’d have all necessary things in the room. The only circumstance in which she’d leave her room to go find Hunter was if she needed him.
As he eyed her from the side, Lavender’s blush was intensifying again.
“Is something wrong?” Hunter asked her.
“N-no,” Lav stuttered back. “No, nothing’s wrong. Just thinking.”
When it finally hit Hunter, his eyes widened. “Oh, I didn’t mean anything like that—”
“Of course not!” Lav yelped. “Like that, like what? I didn’t mean anything like that either…” She trailed off, merely relieved nobody was around to hear her ridiculous response. Fantastic, she thought. She’d probably just made a fool out of herself in front of Hunter, after which all she could do was make sure nobody had heard. Sadly, it seemed that was routine whenever she was around Hunter, and having to hide or reprimand everything would begin weighing on her very soon.
“I’m sorry,” Lav said, her eyes becoming sad.
“Don’t be,” Hunter reassured her even though his eyes reflected the same emotion, after which he finally sighed. “It’s going to be complicated, isn’t it?”
Hearing him say that made Lav aware of the situation between them as well as the way Hunter saw it. The fact was they hadn’t kissed yet, but they both knew of each other’s feelings. Hunter had made it obvious that night in the forest of Daro, having almost kissed her out there, in front of her barracks, only to then settle for a kiss to her hand. With each of those gestures, Lav had all but melted in his arms. After all of that, Lav and Hunter knew they were an item, though sadly for both of them, not enough had transpired between them in that aspect, and the only reason for that was the Empire’s strict regulations on comrade relationships.
“Considering the fact that we’re both considered somewhat important for this operation and that we’ll be surrounded by troopers most of the time for who knows how long…” Lav began.
“Right,” Hunter said quietly as they both walked a bit more.
“Hypothetically,” Lav began, “what would… happen…?”
He raised an eyebrow at her. “If we… were to show it?”
She nodded, suddenly thinking it was a dumb question.
“Well, anyone working for the Empire by pure free will would simply be laid off and replaced,” Hunter said. “But in my case, I have no choice but to be here. Either I’m threatened or my brothers are.”
“And I kind of have to oversee the implementation of my work,” Lav continued, “but we’ve seen that’s as much importance as I’ll be given before I’m easily replaced or relocated. Once that’s done, I’ll be laid off, my sisters will lose their education, my Granny will lose the money.”
“You might just be warned and transferred elsewhere.”
“Yeah, away from you.”
Hunter thought his response carefully, dying to hold her in her arms for preferring to be with him rather than anywhere else, but knowing it would be the most inappropriate action given the conversation they were having.
“Wouldn’t it be worth it?” He said. “If your Granny and sisters were alright?”
“Or your brothers,” Lav said, her voice now tinged with a sad creak as they both stopped in the middle of the brightly lit hallway, only able to look at each other as the weight slowly crushed them a bit more.
Lav sighed. “Is it a bad idea?”
Hunter’s immediate answer would have been no. No, it was not a bad idea. He hadn’t felt for anyone what he felt for the young woman standing in front of her, with her big eyes, her braided hair, her full lips, her intelligence and kindness. But the events of the past months had made him a hesitant man, always cautious and, though he hated it, afraid. He was always the protective one, always the one making sure those around him would be okay despite their occasional recklessness. Lav was similar to him; she had too much at stake, and he couldn’t, wouldn’t allow himself to be the reason for everything to go wrong for her. Still, he wanted to speak some sort of comfort to her, but he couldn’t seem to find any words.
But Hunter’s silence answered Lav’s question, and her eyes trailed away from his figure. The blend of melting for Hunter upon laying eyes on him and feeling her heart breaking wasn’t something she wanted to feel much of. Lav’s eyes landed on a familiar number on the wall next to a gray door, her sadness growing just a bit more despite knowing it was probably best to end the conversation there.
She looked straight at him first, her eyes on his armored chest as the moved up, scanning the ingot necklace he wore before finally looking him in the eyes.
“Here’s my room,” she said quietly.
Hunter looked at the door over his shoulder before gazing back at Lav. “Right. Go in and unload, try to relax a bit before the briefing.”
She nodded in response. “I guess I’ll see you there.”
Hunter didn’t need enhanced senses to pick up on the dismay that flooded her voice. Being the hardened soldier that he was, he kept it to himself despite wanting to do something to help her, but that was the catch. The one thing he could do to ease Lavender’s sorrow was forbidden.
“I’ll see you at the briefing,” he said in an effort to bring their relationship to a military level.
Lav smiled softly at him hoping it would convey the message that she had no hard feelings against him. She never could have them. With a brief nod, Lav walked past Hunter and made her way into her room, barely looking back at him before the door closed between them. She leaned back on the wall trying to get a hold of herself; she knew that if their kissing or holding hands didn’t give them away, her silent yearning and sad eyes would. With a long sigh, Lav did as Hunter asked of her and unloaded, trying to relax and prepare for the briefing, hoping a while surrounded by admirals and officers would help her get back into the role of engineer as opposed to that of a love interest.
*
Lav wasn’t the last one to arrive to the briefing, but there were already plenty of officers and crew filling up the bridge, including Admiral Rampart. Despite the turmoil that had cast a shadow over her and Hunter earlier, she couldn’t help but scan the room to see if he’d arrived yet, which, much to her dismay, he hadn’t. Pushing all the thoughts away and suddenly becoming aware of the folded picture that was still pressed up against her chest under her armor, Lav realized there were chairs set out on the eastern side of the holoprojector in the middle of the room designated for the engineering crew, and she assumed her place was there. Not wanting to call attention to her, she sat down on the seat furthest to the right, remaining in silence as her eyes scanned the room and heard soft voices speaking about many different subjects, but all of them having something to do with Geonosis. The factory, the few Geonosians left, those of which most were on board with the expansion, as well as their savage ways, all of them things she assumed would be treated in the briefing if they were actually important.
The door to the bridge hissed every time it opened and closed whenever someone new entered. Lav’s eyes drifted to the door just when Hunter walked through it, his helmet secure under one of his arms. His mere presence was imposing, and she noticed several pairs of eyes turning to look at him as he made his way inside. As she looked at him, Lav felt like a schoolgirl waiting anxiously in the cafeteria for her crush to arrive, and suddenly she reminded herself to look away from her captain so as to not make trouble.
Hunter walked across the bridge to where he was supposed to be, directing a short look of reassurance to Lav. She smiled back as confidently as he could, no one would suspect of that, right? Regardless, they’d agreed not to do anything now. It wasn’t like there was anything else to hide. After Hunter, only a few more people arrived before Rampart made his way to the holoprojector, sending a signal to everyone present that the briefing was about to begin as all the people took their places and quieted down.
“Officers, troopers, engineers,” Rampart began, a total speaker whose presence flooded the room, “all of you minds comprising this team. The time has finally come for one of our most important expansions: Geonosis. The system is key to fortifying the Empire’s military and make it worthy of its name as well as what it represents.”
That which the imperial army represented was exactly what Lav feared.
“To provide weaponry and munitions to our troops is one of the first steps necessary to take, and the factories on Geonosis that once served the Separatists during the barbaric Clone War fueled by the extinct Republic, will not only help support our troops and provide them directly, but it will also serve as a refinery to put some of our Emperor’s own plans in progress.”
Wondering what those plans of the Emperor could be wasn’t as important to Lav as looking over at Hunter at the way the Republic had been disregarded as well as the Clone War, the very reason Hunter existed. It seemed insulting to Lav and she wondered it might have had the same effect on Hunter, but when she looked at her captain, he didn’t seem bothered. If he felt anything toward it, Hunter was good at hiding it, but something told her his mind had gone places with that statement.
“The initial terms of our negotiations with the Geonosians still stand,” Rampart continued. “We will not only provide with a percentage of raw material which will be extracted from planets already occupied by us as well as those we will occupy in the future, but we will also provide technology to acquire and process these minerals prior to the manufacture of weaponry.” Rampart then turned to Lav. “For that, one of our engineers has developed and successfully used this technology, and with her efforts, has made this expansion possible. Miss Earthapple, if you could please give us a general explanation of their formality,” he gestured to the holoprojector as he powered it on to display images of Lav’s devices.
She went cold. She was aware her work had importance to the whole Geonosian operation, but the way Rampart put it exceeded her expectations. She didn’t expect to be held in such a high regard, much less speak in front of so many big shot officers during a briefing of the expansion itself. Still, Lav was good at speaking in front of crowds, and she was able to hide her nerves as she stood up from her chair and approached the holoprojector. The devices were all hers, she’d developed them, she knew them front and back.
“Thank you, Admiral Rampart,” Lav spoke, her voice loud and clear, unwavering even with the countless pairs of eyes currently on her. “Iron and copper are the two main minerals that will be used as well as trace amounts of other metals in order to manufacture the alloy of durasteel required for our weaponry. Back on Daro, we first monitored how much of each element we had using this drill,” she amplified the image of the drill in the center. “What it does is go below ground; I’ve designed it in a way that it can adapt to different types of soil, making it functional on different planets. It will dig down and send out electric signals, after which it will measure how fast they travel through different elements in the ground. Once it matches these speeds to those already programmed in its database, it will let us know which elements are nearby as well as how much of them.”
While speaking, she addressed most of the room, turning and facing each direction for brief periods of time so as to not exclude anyone. She was surprised, rather pleasantly, that everyone was paying close attention to her, not just the engineers who had to know this, but troopers and officers as well. It was one of the times in which she wasn’t undermined or mansplained, or simply treated like a girl. These people believed every word she said, and she didn’t know what to make of it.
“This process can also work with gaseous elements; however, it does take longer,” Lav successfully kept from stuttering at the memory of that night on Daro in which Hunter was the one to track the helium gas with his enhanced senses, something Lav chose not to bring up. “Helium gas will be one of our main sources of fuel; there are still reserves on Geonosis and there are also amounts of it being transported from Daro, as well as iron and copper. In terms of extraction,” Lav minimized the image of the small drill and amplified those of a laser beam and a gas pump with its own tube system and canisters, “raw mineral and metal ore is extracted quickest with a laser beam. Elements like helium gas can be extracted using a pump which will deliver it to canisters through pipes. This process could help with liquid elements as well should we ever need them, all that would be necessary would be to make a few alterations to the pump for it to process liquid. This is the general idea of the machinery used to obtain the raw material the Geonosians require and hold up our part of the negotiation. There are more specific details which the engineering teams as well as our commanding officers will be aware of in order to guarantee this operation’s success.” She then minimized the images of the holoprojector making them all small, signaling her explanation was over, after which Rampart made his way beside her.
“Thank you, Engineer Earthapple,” Rampart said, gesturing at her to take her seat again. The briefing room remained silent, but she heard a few mutters of approval here and there.
Hunter, sitting across from her and the holoprojector, felt like he could have clapped for her. The way she’d dominated that explanation despite being told at the last minute she’d have to give it, the way she had everyone’s attention, simply her. He wasn’t just proud of his engineer, he was mesmerized by her, utterly starstruck. While Hunter was good at hiding most of his thoughts, his eyes did soften at Lav as his gaze caught hers and he gave her a smile, a discreet one just to let her know she’d done well.
After that, Rampart went on to explain the main phases of the operation as well as the program for the first day there. On arrival, he and a selected few officers and engineers, those of which included Hunter and Lav, would attend the factory with the Geonosian leaders for a sort of tour. Since they were scheduled to arrive upon sundown, it would be the only activity of that day, and the day after the engineering team would prepare the factory for the arrival of the first shipment of raw materials, the same way other departments would have their own programmed tasks. It seemed like a good plan overall, Lav simply hoped it would go smoothly. The fact that it would be a huge load of work was obvious already.
The briefing ended on that note and everyone was dismissed to head to their downtime. Lav acknowledged Rampart before leaving and exited without waiting for Hunter, something she figured she might as well get used to. To her surprise, Lav was greeted by nods and even some smiles and salutes by others who had been at the briefing, but she felt more awkward than proud of herself. Sure, she was confident in herself and glad to be seen positively for her knowledge, but the whole rank and saluting thing just didn’t get to her the way it did for other imperials. Even so, she kindly thanked anyone who wanted to greet her, intent on making her way directly to the dormitory and getting some sleep before everything Geonosis would bring.
“You did very well,” Hunter’s voice came from behind her.
She could never not turn around and recognize his presence. As Hunter caught up to her, he had a soft smile as his gaze met hers.
“Thanks,” she said. “But I didn’t know Rampart was going to ask me to do any talking. It caught me off guard.”
“You handled it perfectly, Lav,” he said. “I’m proud of you.”
And that was the difference for Lav. No amount of imperials saluting or even bowing down would make her pride budge, but when it was Hunter complimenting her, she felt her skin crawling with goosebumps and her cheeks flooding red.
“Thanks,” she said. “Captain.”
“Anytime,” he said, and the two kept walking down the corridor. “Will you head to your dorm now? The mess hall is the other way.”
“I’m not very hungry right now,” Lav answered. “Plus, I’d like to get as much sleep as possible before we land on Geonosis. When we do, we’re all going to be very busy, I feel like I need to stock up on hours first.”
“Sounds wise,” he said. “But will you be okay on an empty stomach?”
“I’ll be fine,” she smiled softly. “You can go if you want to, not that you’d ever take orders from me.”
Hunter snickered. “I know better than to disregard your concern.”
“Right. Well…” Lav trailed off, not knowing how to go about the next part of the conversation. Should she leave? Should she stay with him? What was it that Hunter preferred to do? They’d agreed it’d be better not to do anything regarding their feelings for one another, but they still had to be together, right? They were part of the same team, and maybe being apart too long would raise even more suspicion than if they had gone through with a relationship.
“If you want, I’ll leave you to it,” Hunter said in a sad tone, tell-tale of his thoughts being similar to Lav’s.
“Yeah,” she answered. “Let me know if anything comes up. I’ll be in my dorm all night anyway, so…”
“Of course,” Hunter said. “Sleep well, okay?”
“You too,” she answered with a soft smile before turning around and leaving, and Hunter was left in the middle of the corridor watching her go, but careful not to linger his gaze too much on her. He had to admit he disliked that arrangement far more than what they had before.
Meanwhile in her dormitory, Lav removed her armor until she was down to her blacks and climbed onto the bed, her single braided hair now done into two braids comfortable enough to sleep in. She had been there for about an hour now and was simply in her cot, half covered by the blanket while reading up on her holopad with her glasses on. The first thing she read was a message from her grandmother that had arrived not long back in which she and Lav’s younger sisters wished her luck and safety on her new journey. As Lav pictured them smiling, safe and not lacking anything, she found a sensation of peace that motivated her to go through with the Geonosian expansion despite how much it intimidated her deep down. She wondered if one day it could ease the thorn wound left by the situation with Hunter, but it seemed pretty far-fetched.
A light beeping came from the door, drawing Lav’s attention to that direction. She turned off the holopad and put it on the small bedside table and she headed to the door, wondering what could be happening. Hunter hadn’t contacted her at all, neither had any other commanding officers, so she assumed nothing had gone wrong. All her work-driven thoughts vanished when she opened the door to a rabbit droid not much smaller than she was that was carrying a tray with a plate of food and a drink from the mess hall.
“Miss Lavender Earthapple?” The droid said. “Delivery for you.”
“I didn’t order this,” she said.
“You did not,” the droid confirmed. “It was sent by an officer.”
The droid was simply there to perform its task and it handed Lav the tray of food, after which the door closed and it was on its way. Meanwhile, Lav examined the tray and found a note underneath the glass of water, a simple folded gray paper that had neat handwriting in it.
One of my brothers wouldn’t stop rambling one time about how the thought process burns calories. He’d insist you have something to eat, and so do I. Enjoy.
H
Lav couldn’t help the smile that took over her lips. She folded the note once more and put it right next to the picture of her family, after which she finally decided to indulge in the food Hunter had sent for her, mixed with gratitude and an odd sensation of butterflies she wouldn’t get rid of even with her strongest will.
*
The sky on Geonosis was a deep orange color as the sun was going down on that side of the planet when the Venator arrived right on schedule. Groups of troopers and officers were transported to the ground level by shuttles, and all the while, Lav had her chest fluttering with nerves. Hunter noticed the amount of times she inhaled deeply in an attempt to relax, though what exactly made her nervous, he wasn’t aware of. He imagined it would be lots of things.
Oh, to be able to take her hand and help her relax… he wondered how much exactly he’d give to be able to do that.
The doorway of the shuttle opened upon touchdown. Admiral Rampart was the first one out followed by Lav and Hunter, backed by a squadron comprised half of TK troopers and the other half of engineers and technical workers. They were greeted by five Geonosians, all of them much taller than Lav had pictured and with an insect aesthetic, the one in the middle clearly being the chief of the operation, and Lav assumed the other four were the equivalent of politicians.
Welcome, spoke the chief in his native tongue. Your arrival has been most expected.
“All of us in the Empire have been greatly looking forward to this day, General,” Rampart answered. “Preparations have been seen to in the most exhaustive of ways to ensure that this alliance turns out in success.”
The Geonosian council looks forward to our factories operating again under the eye of the Empire. We expect you have held up your end of the negotiation.
“The first supply of raw materials is scheduled to arrive tomorrow early,” Rampart said. “As for the technology, we have one shipment available with us to get started on its implementation first thing tomorrow. We also have the means to continue providing with commodities and more of these devices.”
Good, good, the General said and rubbed his chin while his wings flapped behind him. That being the case, we shall proceed with the tour of the factory. We believe it is important for you and your troops to be familiarized with it, but also, let this be a welcome to this new alliance.
“I could not agree more, General,” Rampart bowed slightly. “Let it be a welcome and a celebration. We will follow you.”
The General nodded and turned around, followed by the other four accompanying him, and they led the group into the mountain that had been adapted into a factory from the inside as many Geonosian constructions were. Upon advancing, Lav and Hunter donned their dark helmets, as did the rest of the troopers behind them, mainly for security inside the factory. In any case, it helped hide the small looks Lav and Hunter would shoot at each other at times, unbeknownst even to them.
The Geonosians eloquently led them through the factory, thoroughly explaining every area, every important piece of machinery, every process, even the factory’s history. It used to be for assembling droids, the kind the Separatists used during the Clone War. Its operational capacity was remarkable back then, but in the years the war had lasted, the factory had evolved and adapted to new necessities, thus being able to manufacture what the Empire needed now.
“A remarkable metaphor, isn’t it?” Rampart said as the group stopped at a high catwalk that had a view of most of the conveyor belts in the assembly line. “Geonosis was home to a key event in the start of the Clone War. Now, it is aiding in the Empire’s beginnings. Wouldn’t you agree, Captain?”
Beneath her helmet, Lav’s eyes widened as she looked at Hunter. “You were in the battle of Geonosis?”
“I was,” Hunter replied, his voice deep and almost tainted with sorrow. “It is quite the metaphor.”
Lav figured it’d be hard for him to witness. To be there on Geonosis, probably remembering the early days of being a soldier, surrounded by clones, probably even by his brothers. Well, in a way, they were all brothers, not just his squad. She wanted to do something, anything that would help him feel better, or at least to not think of memories that would upset him. Regardless, the tour was set to go on.
The catwalk they were on seemed to be fragile; it was barely made of steel floor and railings and it shook with all the people stepping on it. Lav made up her mind to fortify it if she ever got the chance to do so. From the corners of her eyes, she could see some Geonosian workers whose curious eyes fell on the tour group from various spots of the factory, some close, some farther away. For a while, the tour was silent, making Lav grow weary of the surroundings. There was something she didn’t trust, something lurking around, but she couldn’t quite put her finger on it.
Every few meters, there was a platform attached to the catwalk with ladders leading downwards to the main floor of the factory, and in those spots, the steel laminated floor had a division that had been welded thinly. Upon crossing one of the platforms, Lav noticed to her right that there was a worker who had two controls, one in each hand, the one on his right bigger than the other. With wary eyes, he held up the switch on his left hand and pressed the yellow button in the middle.
Just as the worker was pressing the button down, Hunter reacted quickly. He pushed Lav forward so that she’d be on the other side of the division while holding his other arm out behind him, preventing any of the other troopers to advance. That way, when the worker pressed the button and the small bomb that was planted underneath that spot of the catwalk was detonated, Hunter was the only one to fall through the breached division to crash onto the machines below, only to then land painfully on the ground while the rest of the troopers were able to hang onto the railings and keep from falling.
“Hunter!” Lav’s alarmed voice filled that side of the factory. Her eyes rushed to the worker guilty of the incident, and she noticed he was about to press the button on the second, bigger detonator. Thinking quickly, Lav took out her blaster, which she always had set to stun, and fired at the worker without thinking twice. The stun bolt went through his body and he fell limply on the ground; Lav threw herself onto the platform and caught the detonator before it fell to the ground, keeping it from detonating whatever bomb was still hidden around the factory.
“What is the meaning of this?” Rampart questioned the Geonosians.
The General groaned. We have been dealing with rebellious workers, several of which do not wish to comply with the Empire’s philosophy and way of work. We’ve known of their inconformity, but never caved to their threats.
“There were threats?” Lav questioned from the platform, too altered by Hunter’s state to take any excuses, angered by the fact that not enough care had been given to preventing such a problem. Their negligence now meant Hunter’s pain. Still, she tried to calm down, to not seem too angry in front of Rampart or the Geonosians. “That might mean our problem isn’t over yet.” After correcting, she looked around, well-aware that any industrial factory with that much prestige had to have some sort of security system. Near the roof, she found a cable in a pulley that had a hook in the end, clearly designed to hold up the catwalk in emergencies. She climbed up the pillar that secured the ladder and grabbed the hook, quickly coming back down to attach it to the catwalk’s railing.
“That should hold it,” Lav said, her voice shaking as she looked down at Hunter. Panting, she then scanned the group of troopers. “Is there a medic in here?”
“Yes!” A tiny voice came from the back. A medic began squirming her way through the frightened crowd of troopers holding onto the rail. Lav nodded when she saw her and, without asking permission, slid down the ladder and ran to Hunter, kneeling down next to him and holding his hand.
She took her helmet off, setting it beside her to take Hunter’s off too. As the medic arrived, she examined Hunter for injuries, all while the captain weakly opened his eyes and looked at Lav.
“Are you okay?” He asked her.
She snickered, flattered and angry at the same time. “How dare you ask that about me?”
Hunter groaned as the medic examined a wounded part of him. “It’s all I care about, Lav.”
She sighed, her eyes filled with sadness as her only concern was also his well-being. Hunter’s lips faintly curved up into a smile and their hands tightened around each other.
“His back is injured from the fall,” the medic stated.
“His back?” Lav was alarmed. “Will he recover?”
“He will,” the medic said confidently. “I’ll patch him up a bit here but I’ll need to take him to the med bay. Here,” the medic removed Hunter’s ingot necklace and handed it to Lav so she could begin to bandage Hunter’s back. “Hang onto this. He’s your captain, right?”
“Yeah,” Lav said, shocked at feeling the ingot necklace in her hands.
“Don’t worry,” she told Lav. “He’ll be taken care of. Besides, everyone up there owes a lot to him. He really saved us all.”
Lav smiled sadly at Hunter. “That’s just who he is…”
Hunter felt the pain immensely erupting over his torso, but the sound of Lav’s voice calmed him down, even if he didn’t understand everything she was saying due to the pain. He always felt it stronger than others due to his heightened senses, but in spite of that, Hunter looked at her with a dreamy smile.
A few more medics arrived as the medic finished wrapping Hunter’s torso in a thick bandage. He was set on a portable bed and taken away from the factory; Lav was about to follow when she felt a hand on her shoulder, holding her back.
“He’s in good hands, Lavender,” Rampart said. “I need you here at the factory to evaluate the damage and restore as much as you can. We have an investigation team looking into the case.”
Lav struggled to hide her anxiety. Orders from Rampart were orders, after all, but she felt she should be with Hunter. He’d saved her from falling too, as well as all the others. She needed to be with him.
“Y-yes, Admiral,” she said. “Right away.”
They saluted each other and Lavender regrouped with the engineers and technicians to begin evaluating the factory’s situation. She quickly took charge of them, giving them instructions and guiding them through what needed to be done. Lav was fast and efficient in her work, she knew that the sooner she got it over with, the sooner she could go check on Hunter. That was her sole motivation at the moment.
Once Rampart was done handling matters with the Geonosians, he inspected Lavender from afar. Her reaction had been quick, precise, and quite obviously aimed at ensuring the captain’s well-being. He’d been the only one wounded, and truly any course of action would have led to him, but something about the way Lavender did it stood out. There had been no questions from her, no protocol. She simply made her way to the captain, and the way she’d held his hand afterwards couldn’t be interpreted any other way. The two had certainly grown close to one another.
Still, Lavender was currently getting things done, and Rampart assumed that would suffice for the moment.
*
It had been hours since Lav had finished up at the factory. It was the middle of the night on Geonosis and most of the imperials were asleep except for those who had night shifts. Though Lav had every right to be in bed getting her rest, she couldn’t close her eyes without thinking of Hunter. She should be with him, making sure he was progressing well after such an injury.
At times like those, Lav couldn’t help but overthink. Her brain automatically went into overdrive, wondering if he’d be fine, what could have happened if things had turned out worse, if she hadn’t stunned the worker, if the worst possible scenario had come true. No, none of it was real; the factory was now secured thanks to her quick action, and Hunter was being taken care of by medics.
But she couldn’t help but think that, had things gone worse, she would have regretted every decision she’d made against showing her true feelings for Hunter. She’d never forgive herself if something happened to him, or her, and they never truly expressed how they felt. She put regulations aside, that could be taken care of. Everyone kept secrets; she found it impossible to believe there wasn’t a single couple within the Empire. All that Lav knew, all she gave importance to, was the fact that she needed to see Hunter.
Two rotations she spent away from the med bay, not being able to get in even if she tried. Most of the time she was at the factory, always keeping an eye out for rogue workers who didn’t want the Empire on Geonosis, but the workers at the factory already knew who she was. She was the one capable of shooting them down if they stepped out of line.
Despite the fact that she hadn’t killed that worker, merely stunned him, they feared her, and Lav got the terrible premonition that their fear of her didn’t stem directly from her. No, it came from whatever was done to shut down any more threats. That thought, mixed with the suffocating need to see Hunter, threatened to make Lav explode on the job.
By the end of the second day, Lav had decided to try to sneak past the med bay’s security. One way or another, she had to see him, they had to let her in. In previous times, they’d told her he was still too delicate to receive visitors, but Lav wasn’t willing to hear that anymore.
Much to her fortune, her comm began to beep that night, well past midnight as she was pacing back and forth in her room. Quickly and without question, she picked it up.
“Come in,” Lav said.
“Miss Earthapple!” Lav recognized the voice belonging to the medic who had helped her after the incident. “I’m very sorry to bother you so late at night but I figured you’d want to know. The captain is progressing well, we’ve performed all necessary operations and now he just needs to rest and recover.”
Lav sighed. “Thank you so much, that’s such a relief. Um… do you know if I may be able to see him now?”
“Yes,” replied the medic. “He’s strong enough to receive visitors now. But it’s late, would you rather come by in the morning?”
“No thank you, I’ll go now.”
Lav put the comm away and rushed out of her room, practically running toward the med bay. It didn’t take her long to get there, and she was pleased to see that no one tried to stop her this time. Still, as she ran, all her thoughts were of Hunter. She was nervous about seeing him, nervous about being with him, but she wanted that. She just wanted to be around Hunter.
The number of the room Hunter was in had been told to her in the med bay’s lobby and she remembered it well. Still somewhat shaking, she made her way to it and nervously stood in front of the door, not knowing why she was hesitating. Hunter was fine, there was no reason to fear the state she’d find him in. If he was sleeping, she’d stay with him a bit. If he was awake…
If he was awake… Lav didn’t know what she’d do.
She opened the door and found Hunter sitting up on the bed, his bandaged upper body resting on a pillow against the bed’s headboard. He didn’t have any clothes on his upper body, but the thick bandages covered most of his torso, only leaving his arms bare. Inside the room was a protocol droid who was simply arranging some of the supplies it would no longer use.
“Lav,” Hunter said, his eyes widening at the sight of her. “Why are you here? It’s so late, you should be getting some rest.”
“What do you mean why am I here? I’m here to see you,” she began walking up to the bed, still shaking, and the sight of the droid only distracted her.
“Is there anything you require, ma’am?” The droid asked her.
By that point, Lav knew what had to go down. She felt it. She wouldn’t have it any other way.
“I…” she said, eyeing the room quickly. “I could use a glass of water.”
“Right away, ma’am,” the droid answered, turning around and heading to the sink on the other side of the room. Lav walked up to it and quickly opened its rear controls, switching the droid off as it whined while it powered down.
“Lav, what are you doing?” Hunter asked, all but confused at her actions. She was usually so calm, but now she seemed determined. Nervous, but still willing to fulfill an intent she had.
Not speaking, Lav went to made sure the door was closed before she faced Hunter once more, her cheeks beginning to flare as her eyes looked at him with concern. “Are you sure you’re alright?”
“Yes,” he answered. “I’m fine, I promise. I’ve been under good care and I’m recovering.”
“So… you’re not that delicate anymore?”
“No, I just need some rest. I’ll be fine, Lavender. I promise.”
“Good,” she nodded, letting out a long, shaky breath. She couldn’t believe she was making her way closer to Hunter, but her feet carried her over to him and she sat on the edge of the mattress. Before going through with her plan, she hesitated. It just seemed too strong, and all of a sudden she decided not to go through with it, opting to just sit with him, be with him, thankful he’d be alright.
But then Hunter’s hand landed on one of Lav’s fists, softening it up to the point where she opened it, revealing to have been hanging onto his necklace. Hunter chuckled when he saw it, his faint movements causing the strands of his hair to move around as well. “You came to bring that back to me?”
She blushed. “Yes and no…”
It felt foolish now. It continued to feel foolish until Hunter gently took her fingers and once again closed them around his necklace, not quite wanting to take it from her yet. His other hand traveled up to her neck, his fingertips slightly brushing on her thin skin sending shivers down her spine. Lav nervously looked him in the eyes, those beautiful honey-glazed eyes that always showed his emotions. She could always read his eyes, and they were telling her how happy he was to see her.
“I know what you’re thinking,” Hunter whispered.
“D-do you?”
He smiled. “I thought the same.”
“I don’t know what you mean,” she looked away, embarrassed to have come onto him so strong after the conversation they had on the Venator, but Hunter went to cup her cheek and have her look at him again.
“You do,” he said. “I wouldn’t have forgiven myself either if something worse happened and we… well, we stayed the way we said we would.”
Lav sighed as her eyes began getting watery. “Hunter… I was so worried about you…”
He smiled softly at her. “I was just relieved you were safe.”
They looked deeply in each other’s eyes for a moment before Lav shyly looked down only for Hunter to catch her attention again as he gently ran his thumb over her cheek. The hand that was holding hers went up to cup the other side of her face and, holding her like a precious artifact that would break, he leaned in carefully to let his lips brush against hers, feeling every bit of the overwhelming sensation as he gradually pressed his lips into a kiss.
Hunter heard Lav’s heart get faster and felt her skin getting warmer as she began to kiss him back, at first still shaking from her nerves and from the excitement, mixed with disbelief, of being held softly in Hunter’s grip while their lips moved together. Her giddiness softened gradually as Hunter’s presence made her feel safe, and soon the rhythm of their kissing was perfect. Smooth, longing. Nothing short of perfect.
One of Hunter’s hands went to secure the back of Lav’s head, his fingers kneading softly into her scalp. She moved her hands up his arms carefully, afraid she’d hurt him, but the more confident she grew, she wrapped an arm around his waist and used her other hand to run her fingers through his thick dark hair. Immersed in one another, their kiss deepened, finally releasing all the tension they’d had after all that time they’d spent slowly dying for one another.
Hunter remembered that night on Daro when his lips barely brushed hers and he’d envisioned what actually kissing her would be like. It exceeded his expectations; Lav’s lips and her scent drove him to a point of bliss and passion, but there was also peace, safety, warmth. He could feel now more than ever the softness that was at Lav’s core, her kindness and the strength with which she could love, and Hunter wanted no less than to love her with that same strength regardless of any circumstances. He bowed to himself he would.
Parting the kiss, Lav and Hunter rested their foreheads on each other, looking into their eyes with smiles and quiet laughter. He continued to cup her face and occasionally kissed her again. Though it would be difficult at times, both of them could agree on one thing: their feelings weren’t worth hiding from each other, and whatever they could do and share together was worth it.
In each other’s arms, Hunter and Lav remained for another good while there smiling at each other while no words needed to be spoken.
------
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Why am I even on this hellsiteShe/her18 years on this planet
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