It’s been a long several days. Sagitta was falling asleep on the way to the Voidbreaker II and had to be woken up by the stop when they arrived. “Thank you,” murmured Sagitta while paying the driver some credits. Exiting, Sagitta grimaced softly. Her bandages were starting to become stained with red. Her arm was in a sling and the same arm was also in a cast. Her pink hues glanced up at the ship. She could not wait to get into her hammock and go to sleep. She hasn’t been this exhausted in so long.
The Mirialan made her way in and headed inside the medical bay first.
Diagnosis: Mild concussion. Recently healed right leg. Bruises throughout the entire body. Set nose straight. Black eye. Scratches throughout the entire body. Few slash wounds. Cleaned up and added more bacta. Redressed. Broken right forearm. Set the right shoulder back. All swellings had reduced.
Sagitta was too tired to listen properly as the medic went on a rant about how the other medic clinic did a poor job. It didn’t surprise Sagitta. That planet was… dirty and shady by all means.
A few hours went by and she had fresh bandages. Stepped out of the bay. Her hair was down and free-flowing. She didn’t want to deal with it. She wore only her Mandalorian pants and boots. Her left arm was holding the top, gauntlets, and helmet and she was struggling a bit. Her torso was covered in bandages.
Thank kriff they didn’t use blasters. Knife and their martial arts knowledge was bad enough.
“Sagitta, wait,” a medic staff called out. Sagitta stopped and turned to look at her and see her handing her some bacta.
“Ah. Thank you.” She softly smiled. She turned her right shoulder and was able to use her hand to hold the bacta. Her arm hurts, frack.
“Apply that in a few hours if you wake up in the middle of the night and see us in the morning.”
Sagitta nodded in compliance as she started to make her way to the elevator. She hopes that Castor was safe. She tried to heal his head as much she could without completely healing him and had to heal her leg to be mobile. Now all she can do is to wait for him to message her confirming he’s safe.
Cole had come down for food. It was a bit earlier than he usually bothered to, but he’d been hungry and kriff it.
Stepping out, the Human hadnt expected to see Sagitta. She had left a day or so ago for something, leaving him a note. The note was now buried in the bottom of his backpack in a pocket. He didn’t know why really, but it was.
These things barely even registered in Coles mind however as he looked upon the Mirilain. She was covered in bandages.
He hesitated, it wasn’t his place. She was coming out of the med bay. It was already handled.
its not your place, leave it, too many strings no matter how much you say there isn’t-
He stepped forward towards her, “Sagitta?”
Sagitta stopped at hearing his voice. Her heart skipped a beat. ‘Kriff.’ So much for hoping to sneak into an empty room and sleep it off. And out of all people she had to run into, it was Cole. She turned to the Human with a smile. “Hey! How are you? Got your sight back?”
“Yeah its fine.” He hesitated, noting the fact her arm was in a sling as well.
“What happened to you? If- you don’t have to answer that if you need to rest. I just didn’t think you were going on a job like that.”
idiot
Sagitta shook her head and grimaced. Right. She’s sore. Her head hurts.
“Oh! It’s nothing, really! Let’s walk and talk though?” She gestured the best she can with her left arm carrying her stuff. “Got a tip about my dad so went to follow it. Dead end, or so I thought. Ended up finding my brother instead! He looks so good and so fracking huge! We reconnected. He informed me that it was originally a trap, planted by our dad. Castor, my brother, basically forced volunteered to be an inside man. We had to fight as if it was real to convince our dad that he did try his best to kill me. I’m okay though. We held back on the knife a bit..” She muttered, knowing full well that the slashes could be a lot worse if they didn’t hold back. “It wasn’t a job. I mean, it was. It’s-It’s more of a … personal job.” At the elevator, she gestured to Cole, “Will you please push the button? I’m glad you are doing better!”
They walked. Cole did his best to process the information. Her father was.. one of her parents. The original ones that mistreated her terribly. To set up something like this…
Cole pressed the button, frowning as the elevator started moving up.
“At.. least it turned out well. That was…” he sounded like he was struggling with himself. And the Human was. He didn’t want to scold her for being reckless, even if following an anonymous tip was incredibly reckless. But she was freshly back, injured. And.. Happy.
“You should change your comm codes. If they’ve managed to send an anonymous tip to you then they at least have the code and depending on how they got it, potentially more.”
There. Not direct. But at least helpful.
He shifted in place, uncomfortable. Why was he even doing this?
Sagitta thanked him as they stepped into the elevator.
Though, his struggle to even spit out words was concerning. And unlike Cole.
“Ah. Yes.” She sighed. “I’m getting another one and keeping that one actually. We need to make sure he doesn’t know that I know,” explained Sagitta. “Castor already told me what he knows so far. Luckily, he doesn’t know much except the fact that I was raised by a Mandalorian but they don’t know who.” She was relieved by this information.
Her eyes glanced at Cole. “A… are you okay?” She asked. “I mean, usually you’re pretty direct. Maybe I’m just imagining things. It seems you are holding back. Is there something?”
Well shit.
Well now what should he do. If he was honest she want to know what he said. If he lied, he had a chance of her spotting it and being mad and if he pulled it off he’d never be able to say it. He looked mildly stressed, stepping out of the elevator once the doors opened. Kriff it, be honest.
“Yes.”
Yes.
Yes. What.
Sagitta’s brow furrowed and it spiked her headache so she relaxed her facial expression.
“Cole… yes what? Yes, you are okay or yes is there something? Oh, I’m going to take one of the empty rooms for the night. I rather fewer people know about this.” And she sure as hell doesn’t want to hear it from L'ara right now.
“To both?”
He sighed, already sick of dancing around the topic. Why did people ever do this?
“I was going to re out line what you did. The fact that you got an anonymous tip regarding a known hostile, didn’t consider the possibility it was trap from the fact you mentioned it that late in the story, never mind that you went to face a known hostile alone without letting anyone know.. anything. It was reckless. I thought you wouldn’t like to hear that right now.”
The last sentence had the tone of a man preparing to be yelled at. He knew from the experience of the one being reckless that it wasn’t easy to hear it.
Sagitta stopped walking while she listened. This was so confusing. Was he annoyed at her because she was reckless? Or was there something more? She resumed walking to the empty room, 611.
Can’t be the latter. Don’t fool yourself.
“I am doing this alone.” She started to explain. Her voice was exasperated. Her smile was gone. Her jaw was tight. Sagitta dropped her stuff onto the floor. She punch in the numbers in one of the spare rooms that she got from the medic staff with their help. It was empty save for the cot that she could use for the night. Along with the desk and chair. She used her feet to kick her stuff inside and off to the side. Left the door open for Cole if he wished to step in. She’s too tired to be angry.
But he sent her on a rant.
“Think about it. I’m not supposed to be doing any of this. I could get into trouble for it. But he put a target on my back to any bounty hunters and mercenaries that would love the credits. I needed it removed. Buir is now part of the Dajorran Marshals and I am not going to have him break the law. He’s finally happy. I’m not even sure if they know that my father is still alive. We thought he was dead.” She sat down in the middle of the cot and exhaled sharply before continuing.
“So none of my family from Clan Armis can come and help me. I am not dragging them into something that isn’t theirs to deal. Clan Erinos is also not another option, too many connections to the higher-ups. The fact I’m telling you all this makes it risky. You could report me to-” She stopped.
Why was she telling him all this? Great. Now she’s a bit paranoid about him reporting her.
Frustrated and confused, she removed her arm sling and slipped out of the cast. Her face grimaced while she steadily controlled her breathing. The medical staff had it already cut in half for her to remove easily so she could use the Force to heal it. Her hand glowed over her arm. “You’re not wrong about one thing. I didn’t think about the trap. It… was an odd trap. And I was too focused. But I learned. And now with Castor’s help, I’ll get heads up on future traps. Going forward.” She said calmly, unable to face him.
“If you want to keep calling me reckless, go ahead. I am not stopping until he’s dead or the target on my back is removed.” She didn’t want to mention that the removal of the target on her would mean her own death. Cole would know though. They both were no fools.
He had hesitated but her rant had continued and he wasn’t just going to walk away from a conversation mid word. Cole stepped in, closing the door behind himself. And almost laughed at the notion of him reporting anyone for something to the law. Kriff. He didn’t approach her though, not wanting to get into her space. Or would she like that?
what
He ignored that fleeting thought and leant on the wall beside the desk. The room was eerily familiar to his own bar the backpack in the corner with his guns.
She was alone in this. Her reasons stood as strong as they could to someone who had little clue into her family dynamic. He wouldn’t pressure her to tell anyone.
Blue eyes watched as Sagitta fixed her arm.
“The recklessness was more at going alone.”
Why did he say it again. Sure, he’d like to go with her but.. what the kriff was going on with him? This was strings.
“If you have Castor then so long as they don’t suspect him for treachery, then its not as reckless though its still…” Cole grimaced. “Buddy system. Very rare that there’s ever a job where two people make any negative difference than one. You have to have someone you can trust with…” he trailed off, agitated. “If this had been a real trap you would be dead. That is what I’m trying to get across.”
Kark. Why was he staying so calm? Get angry. Yell at her. Anything! Him being calm makes it so difficult to be around him. She removed her hand when her arm was healed. Eyes glanced up back at him.
The rant had helped subside her anger. She sighed softly. She hopes they would never find out about Castor. With his family on the line she was sure he’s being careful.
“Yes. I didn’t want to ask- Everyone I thought of, I care too much to-“ Sagitta couldn’t finish the sentence because one of people she really cares about was in this kriffin room with her.
“What would you do? Would you ask someone you care about so much and can’t stand seeing them getting hurt to come with you? Risking that it would be your fault if they get hurt or die? Or would you risk it all and attempt it by yourself?”
Cole sighed softly. He stayed where he was, and started speaking, in a tone a touch softer than his usual direct and pointed monotone.
“Once.. yes. I would have asked my brother to go with me. I never had such a.. specific vendetta with someone so I can’t speak exactly to your situation. So, this should probably be taken with a grain of salt. But we had plenty of missions where we could have gone alone. We rarely did. Even though it frustrated our father that it’d risk the other as well. Even though it was a risk. Yet we’d always have the same argument when one of us went alone. That you shouldn’t have gone alone, what if-”
He stopped suddenly, swallowing hard. His eyes averted from hers. Coles expression didn’t change, the mask held firmly in place as it so often was. It was a moment, one he let himself have before continuing. It felt like there was a ghost at his shoulder, but there wasn’t anything there. There never was.
“What if something happened and you died. That’d be how it’d start before whoever had gone alone would shout back, what if you died because you came with me. It’d go back and forth, we never..”
He hated that he’d stopped again, but Cole couldn’t finish that sentence. Not out loud. They’d never truly found a answer to that argument together. Their father would hear the shouting and interrupt them. Or one of their friends would, or they’d fight till one of them won and that’d be it till the next time. Graham never found that answer. He had.
He closed his eyes for a moment, refocussing onto the point before looking back to Sagitta, the softness fading as he forcibly put the pieces back into the box, hoping that it gave her some answer to the question. “People are more likely to survive together, than alone. And you.. your family would miss you. Alongside everyone you did think to ask but didn’t.”
Cole wasn’t sure if he was one of them but… He certainly would care if she died. It felt weird to think that of someone again.
His brother.
‘Cole didn’t follow me but his brother did. I killed Graham. He was trying to kill me…’ Zuza’s voice echoed in her mind. She could tell that he really loved his brother. Her heart dropped. He couldn’t even finish the sentence. She wanted to get up and hug him. Touch his arm. Reach out. Something.
Yet, she stayed seated on the cot as if she was concreted into it.
‘People are more likely to survive together, than alone.’ Her jaw tightened. He was right.
Why did he have to be kriffin’ right?
Silence followed. Emotions waged war inside Sagitta. Unable to take this headache anymore, she buried her face into her hands which glowed before pushing it back through the strands of her head, healing up her face and taking care of her concussion. She started to tremble as her heart was pounding against her chest.
“You’re right.”
It hurts being close to him. Her eyes burned as she cleared her throat as a way for her to fight her tears back. The pain in her head eased and exhaustion really settled in. She rose from the cot and walked to Cole. Stopped about a foot before him, her hands rubbing her arms for a moment.
Habit.
She needed touch and she was aware that Cole may not be comfortable. But still, she had to ask, “Will you hug me?”
At first he’d been worried she was starting to cry. But then her hands glowed and any movement that he may have been about to make was put to a close.
When she got up, he straightened. There was no joy to being correct here. Just.. a hollow sensation. A echoing his chest as if everything had been ripped out and left somewhere he couldn’t reach to put himself back together. She was tired, nervous. Closer. His gaze turned up slightly to continue meeting hers. She looked worse, despite the joy she’d had this had been weighing on her.
The words stuck in his throat, but his answer was clear enough as Cole closed the gap, raising just slightly on his toes to wrap one arm around her upper torso and the other around her waist, pulling Sagitta close against him.
No answer. Sagitta gasped softly when he pulled her close and she did not hesitate. She seemingly melted into his embrace as her arms went to wrap around his torso, her hands gripped on his shirt tightly. Her head lowered into his shoulders. The pain hurt but it faded quickly in his embrace. One by one, she could feel her muscles relaxed and the stress washed away.
‘Kark. No strings.’ Then she bitterly chuckled out loud by accident. Still, she was going to wait. This could be some stupid puppy love. That’s all. He’s the only one showing her attention in his own odd way around here. That’s all it was.
“I’ll contact my family and let them know,” she started before gently pulling away but her arms were still around his torso. Her throat caught as she looked at him in the eyes. “Will you come with me next time I get another lead?” Her breath held. This would hopefully click to Cole that she intensely cares about him.
Does he feel the same way?
He’d leant his head on hers slightly. Her hair was in his face but he didn’t mind the fruity scent. He rubbed her back slightly, in those quiet moments, stopping when she chuckled. It was random and Cole had no idea what to do in response to it so just didn’t. Some things were better left unquestioned.
She pulled away. He didn’t draw away both his arms, only one returning to his side as the other remained around her waist.
He nodded, at the notion of her informing her family but didn’t get to comment before she’d continued. He’d been one of the people she’d thought of. They were still very close. Blue gazing up into pink.
“Yes. I’ll be there.”
A part of him wanted to lean up. To have their lips meet. They both cared for each other. It wasn’t like they hadn’t done anything similar before yet… He didn’t want this seem like it was contingent on things like kisses. Cole wasn’t sure if that’s what she’d take away from it but the logic won over any desire. Caring for people didn’t require this and.. no strings. Neither of them had wanted complications or committment. He was the worst person on the ship she could attach herself to.
He smiled though, the relief of her decision to ask allowed to show.
‘Yes. I’ll be there.’ Sagitta’s lips curved into a bright smile. It had returned. Without thinking about it, she pulled him into a hug. Just those words made everything alright. As if he was the sun in her storming days.
“Ah!” She gently yelped, “S-sorry I forgot to ask.” She stammered for a moment before looking at him again. With a playful smirk, she took a step to the left and hopped onto the desk, and sat at the edge. With a raised eyebrow, she wondered. Her cheeks slowly changed over to her muddy red color.
“Want to help make sure I sleep well today? No strings?” The moment she said those words it hurt. As if someone had taken her heart and twisted it. But if she can’t have him, then she’ll take advantage of every little moment for her to cherish and hold onto.
He didn’t mind. Well, their arms had still been round each other. When Sagitta stepped away it was odd. Like a missed oppurtunity. Regret.
And then she sat beside him, on the desk.
No strings. Cole almost laughed. He wasn’t sure what was going on in her head but… It was too late for no strings.
He turned to face her, placing one of his hands on the desk beside her hip, the other raising to hold her cheek. They were close again. Her legs were either side of him.
“I think there’s some strings.” Cole smiled, amusement colouring his voice. “If you still don’t want any strings, I can do that but…”
He let himself trail off. It wasn’t something he liked to do ordinarily but he didn’t want to finish that sentence.
His energy changed when she mentioned those two words. Without hesitation, her legs wrapped around his waist but she was shocked at the gentle caressing of his hand on her cheek. Her hand rose to be placed on top of his. Her brows furrowed in confusion.
Her face became hot. Really hot. So she wasn’t imagining things! “No!” She blurted out loudly. “I-I meant I don’t want- I-” Holy frack. Her heart was racing. Was this really happening? She can’t even coherent a kriffin’ sentence together for Cole. Her brain was more scrambled than the eggs on a hot Tatooine day.
Besides, she was more action-girl vs words. She leaned forward and kissed Cole deeply for a good long while before pulling away. “Please tell me that answers your question…” chuckled Sagitta while nervously biting her lower lip.
Was she really doing this?
This is such a bad idea. A mistake, with the consequences waiting. Another person to lose.
But it felt right.
He’d returned the kiss, the hand on the desk moving to her waist. Cole wasn’t quite ready to stop when she pulled away but he let her, quiet for a few moments after she spoke before sticking to the same method of answering the question she’d used. He leant forward, kissing her once more as his fingers slipped from her cheek to the back of her head, tangling into her hair.
He’d worry about everything that could go wrong later.
~Fade to Black~
Beep. Beep. Beep.
Sagitta groggily groaned as she sat up and slightly crawled over Cole’s chest. She figured he can take her weight for a bit. Though her muscles were tensed and ready to move in case Cole doesn’t react well. Leaning over the cot, her hands fumbled while looking for her wrist comm. When she found it, she rolled back to the side to let Cole breathe. Sagitta checked the message over quickly.
“It’s Marick..” She mumbled softly, “Wants to see me for a mission. I have to go to his office.” Placed the comm on her belly her hands went up to her eyes as she started to rub it and was trying to wake up.
He’d jerked up slightly at the beeping, disorientated at the sudden awakening. His hand started to go for the underside of the mattress on instinct but a moment later there was Sagitta crawling across his chest sufficently pinning him enough to make the Human pause. He grumbled, already letting himself sink back into the pillow by the time she rolled off.
Cole sat up, rubbing the sleep from his own eyes though already quite alert. “Did the bacta finish it’s job?”
Sure she’d fixed all the major injuries, but the black eye and various bruising she had across her body was still visible. It didn’t mean it was still a problem but. Well. Not his… Was she was his worry now? Cole wasn’t really sure to what extent that meant he could comment. Some strings.
They couldn’t be making this more difficult for themselves, he knew that. But kriff. It wasn’t a simple situation.
Sagitta grimaced at hearing him. Kriff. She would have to do the thing she was trying to avoid. “I’ll have to use the Force to finish up.” She glanced at Cole, wondering how to explain to how it won’t tire her. “Not all Force users can do it but I do have the ability to … charge my Force batteries pretty quick. To put it in technical terms.” Talking about this was odd. Even more odd when she was trying to put it in terms like that. Her hands started to glow as she rested them on her torso.
A blink. She stopped. “Yea. The bacta is done.” With confirmation of her injuries, she rolled on top of him, and pecked him on the lips, before slipping out of the cot as gently as possible. She started to get dressed and paused for a moment. The Mirialan turned to face Cole, she smiled warmly, “I’ll visit the medic bay before I leave to double-check.” She wanted to put his mind at ease.
“Right.” He wasn’t gonna question the Force. It wasn’t his area of expertise except in self defence from it.
He smiled at the peck, getting up once she’d stopped using him as a rolling matt to get dressed himself.
“Good. Best to be sure on these things. I’m guessing if it’s Tyris assigning you the mission its with the Envoys?” He asked, curious more than anything. He’d heard that they did a variety of missions, it was… interesting.
Sagitta nodded as she started to put her pants on. “It is. My first mission with the Envoys..” She sounded nervous but then gave him a reassuring smile. “I adapt well. So I believe I’ll be okay. I met Marick a few times. I feel he would have a good reason to assign me.”
Then she paused realizing something. “Oh, you know Marick?” She sat down on the chair and grabbed one of her boots. She checked the hidden dagger in it. One time she didn’t, she cut her leg. Satisfied, she pulled up her boots.
“His brother more, Wyn. He had some contacts with us, very distant ones but that contact is why I’m here. And Marick helped me when I started in Arcona. We have only met once, but he made sure I ended up here rather than planet bound. Safer.” Cole explained, his pants already on and starting to button his shirt up.
“If he’s picked you out, there’ll be a reason. A good one.”
“I’ve heard of Wyn!” She smiled softly while she listened. Ah. So Marick was the one that helped Cole. And to be safe here. She was finished getting dressed save for her helmet. The Mandalorian walked up to Cole, she fixed his collar a bit. “I’m glad he’s the one that helped you.” She paused for a moment with a smile before leaning in and kissing him gently.
It’s so weird. What are they?
“You coming or?” She asked after pulling away and grabbing her helmet.
“So did Wyn. I’m their debt.” He murmured once the kiss broke, though he had returned it. The same question came to his mind. There was no definition to what they were, but they were something.
“Sure. Not all the to Tyris though. I’ve got training to do.”
Sagitta nodded as they made their way to the elevator. She was still double-checking her equipment and her weapons. Habit.
When they got to the medic bay, Sagitta had to take off her gauntlets, gloves, and shirt cause she forgot the whole point was to check on her wounds. They cut the bandages and saw that she was fully healed. Just a few new thin marks. Most of them have disappeared from her skin with the help of the Force. After a few more minutes, Sagitta got the all-clear to go on the mission.
Putting on her gloves, she smiled at Cole. “Well um-” She stopped. This was really weird. W-what should she say to him? She didn’t want to ruin this. Or impose more than needed. Did not want to make him run away.
“Be careful, okay?”
He chuckled.
“You as well.”
He was relieved that the medics confirmed she was okay for it. He was still nervous, but Cole gave her a small nod and a smile before starting to step away. Too public for anything else. Liabilities.
He hated that it sometimes, but it was right.
She heard his chuckle which in return made her laugh before playfully rolling her eyes. “Yes, yes I know. I’m the clumsy one.” She stepped away at the opposite direction and put her helmet on.
Now. It was time for her first Envoy mission.