A Cut or Two

[Subject 37]

[member="Asha Hex"]

Nikolas had no idea where the girl was leading him.

A part of him thought that was a mistake, but what other choice did he have? His intelligence was so limited on this that he might as well have walked in blind. It was his own fault really, he hadn't done his true due diligence with this. This mission should have taken him days, properly staking out the target, watching him, seeing where he went and what he did, but instead he had simply gone in and asked a random information broker. It wasn't right.

His father would be disappointed. Nikolas shook his head, taking his mind off of that and tightening his grip on the girl. "So Doll."

He asked her.

"What's your name?" He realized that the only way he was going to come out on top of this was if he knew more of the angles. He had rushed in and tried to do something stupid, and now he was paying for it. Nikolas would have to play catch up for a bit, and that included finding out who the hell this girl was.

In the end he'd also need to decide what to do with her, though they weren't there yet.

 

[Lief]

The silence which had fallen over them was in some regards soothing, and in others intimidating. While she wasn't exactly a social butterfly at heart, made in part by the fact that she was raised in the presence of just one constant individual, she had grown accustomed to conversing with her traveling companions, or those that belonged to the Order she served. It weighed down on her now, making the shackles she bore and the intrusive hand on her neck all the more prevalent.

What she wouldn't give to shake it off without consequence.

Her unwanted companion seemed lost in thought, which gave Asha more time to think on what was happening. The Force continued to swirl around her as she focused on the way forward, the route through the offices, and a way to notify the Jedi before their arrival. Part of her felt stupid for not having met with him before now. She had been on Nar Shaddaa for several days, and it wasn't as if he was a complete stranger, she had met him as a child. That would've opened up the possibility of telepathy, if nothing more, and given that the man at her side had not yet sensed the shifting of the Force she doubted he was at all sensitive to it.

Most people didn't take kindly to their prisoners using the Force, after all.

Alas, such was not possible. Not for Asha, at least.

A break in the silence had her turn her head slightly, a gentle frown marring her previously docile expression. He wanted to know her name? She didn't understand why such even mattered, she doubted he intended for her to live past the day. She didn't want to divulge too much information, nor take too long thinking up a false pseudonym, so she went somewhere in the middle.

"Keoz" she muttered, it was a partial truth after all, a name she had been known by for some time now, and it rolled effortlessly off her tongue. She supposed she had one particular Zabrak to thank for that...

She might have asked him for his own name, only in that moment she was honestly in some regard afraid to hear it. Ignorance was sometimes bliss, though her Father would likely think her a fool for believing that in this moment.

[member="Slevin Thawne"]

 

[Subject 37]

[member="Asha Hex"]

"No it's not." Nikolas said the words almost as soon as she gave her answer. There was no tell of course, not in her voice, not in her body language, nothing. Felix might have noticed something, but Nikolas wasn't a Lorrdian like him. He was simply a student of human psychology, or rather the psychology of a being under duress. He knew that she hadn't given her real name because he would not have given it, and from her demeanor he could tell that she had been through something like this before.

An ordinary person would be crying, bubbling, screaming, but she was calm.

It was almost...pleasant really. Nikolas had taken so many hostages over the past few months that he had expected her to start begging for mercy at any moment. When none of that usual emotion came however he knew that there was something...more to this little girl. The way she carried herself, the way she spoke and talked to him, Nikolas could see it all.

It made him intensely curious.

He suddenly came to a stop, the grip on her neck forcing her to halt as well. "What did I say about lying, Doll?"

His voice rang out within the hallway, something sinister laying beneath the tone of his voice. The fingers around his blasters tightened just a little bit, and the temptation to end this little game of hers rose within him. He still needed her if he didn't want to search this entire place by himself, but...his patience only went so far.

 

[Lief]

"I'm not lying" she said, her voice a little more assertive this time, body tense given the circumstances. She could feel the muscles in his body begin to tighten, knew what lay within the grasp of his other, and slowly closed her eyes. Breathing in through her nose she did all that she could to remain calm, agitating the situation would not help, she learned that quickly with Aellin. She would not lower herself to be a bumbling mess, to beg for mercy or reprieve.

It didn't work, anyway. Whatever was happening was going to happen, even if she got to her knees and groveled.

"My name is Keoz" she said yet again, an honorary name to be sure, one that would only be recognized within one specific Zabrak clan, but that did not matter to her. There was significance behind it, and not even this psycho could take that from her.

"What do I have to gain by lying? I could tell you I was the Princess of Atrisia and you wouldn't know any better." She grit her teeth, feeling her own frustrations bubbling to the surface, and given the situation it was difficult to retain the calm demeanor she had become known for over the years. The happy go lucky Hex girl... Not at all like her Father, yet that had always been for the better.

A very slight shiver ran down her spine, by now she was regretting not just taking the short route and hoping that the Jedi could handle this himself. Wasn't that what they were trained for? To deal with the unexpected?

You are not a coward she had to remind herself, You were raised better than that.

[member="Slevin Thawne"]

 

[Subject 37]

[member="Asha Hex"]

He paused for a second, doubting himself.

Nikolas had been entirely sure she was lying, or at leas that she was partially lying. Yet the confidence inside of her voice now, the way that she spoke to him, it was all too...sure of herself. For a few seconds he said nothing, he simply stood in the hallway, one hand on her neck and the other still wrapped around his blaster. For a few seconds he weighed everything within his mind, and then slowly he brought the blaster up.

"It's a shame, Doll." There was no sympathy in his tone, but perhaps a hint of regret.

His father had always taught him that if you were going to do something then you had to actually do it. Nikolas had always believed in that, had always tried to emulate his father as best as he could. It was something that he thought of now as he slowly brought up the barrel of the blaster to the back of her head. The cold dallorian alloy of the weapons tip slid between her hair, parting it directly in the center until the weapon was resting upon the top of his hand.

Nikolas held it there.

His finger fell onto the trigger.

 

[Lief]

Apparently that wasn't good enough.

She felt the cool steel of the blaster pressed against her head, through her hair, and slowly inhaled a breath. By this point she ought to have been freaking out, and honestly she herself was wondering why it was that she wasn't. It could all end right here, trying to prevent harm to an individual she didn't even know, who was likely going to face such a fate even if she did.

In fact, she felt certain he would.

Yet all she felt in that moment was pure serenity, the Force came over her in waves, keeping her mind free from the terror she had shown at the hands of Aellin. How far she had come, how strong her faith in the mystical energy which bound all within the Galaxy was...

"You don't have to do this."

She knew that it wasn't about the name at this point, she could fling out another and he'd be none the wiser, and perhaps he knew that, in fact he probably did know that. Establishing a presence, perhaps? Asserting himself? If he shot now, he'd alert the Jedi. One life having been snuffed was bad enough, but two? And one with a weapon such as this?

Did he even care if that was the case?

Thoughts flashed through her mind over just a few seconds, during which time she felt the hand which held the blaster shift, sensed the position of his finger on the trigger. Did she call his bluff?

It wasn't worth the risk.

Though she had done all that she could to avoid it, in that moment Asha drew upon the Force for more than simply seeing purposes. Finding it best to keep things subtle, lest he did not in fact fire off the weapon, the young girl tensed in anticipation, and allowed the Force to slowly flow through her, her focus entirely on the trigger, any indication that it was about to be pulled. Blocking out any and all other distraction save for his voice, and the weapon in his hand.

If she missed her chance, it would spell disaster.

[member="Slevin Thawne"]

 

[Subject 37]

[member="Asha Hex"]

"Oh but I do." His voice was that same sinister sternness that it had been before. It was different than the tone of a Sith, different than the tone of an evil man. There was almost an odd sort of practiced calm to the way that he spoke, a demeanor that spoke volumes about just who Nikolas was.

What he could still become.

"I'm a very selfish man." He told her as his finger gently wrapped around the trigger of his blaster. "I like getting what I want."

That was just the way it was. In the Thawne household, if it could be called that, it had always been a constant competition. Not necessarily a nefarious one of work, but his mother and father had so many children with so many talents that there had always been a few that stood out, Nikolas had been one of them. He didn't consider himself especially better than any of his siblings, but he knew that he was good at what he did, and that was enough for him.

It brought him entitlement, and right now, he was entitled to her. "And If I can't get it..."

He shrugged his shoulders.

"Then what's the point?" Nikolas began to squeeze the trigger.

 

[Lief]

"And what is it that you want?" she asked, with a practiced calm.

It was odd, as though she was stood having a conversation with one of the students back on Aurum, as though she wasn't bound or held at gunpoint. Her voice had always held a soft lilt, and even now that shone through. It had kept the children from freaking out on Neelgaimon, despite all that had happened to them there, and in some way hearing herself so calm made her begin to believe it herself.

Even if internally she was quaking.

His finger curled and then slowly began to squeeze at the trigger, and Asha's focus shifted to the exact point at which the blaster touched her head. Drawing upon it, waiting with a very slight tremor.

"Surely you don't just want my name" she said, without much thought put to the words themselves, her mind as elsewhere, and the rest of her was acting on autopilot at this point.

[member="Slevin Thawne"]

 

[Subject 37]

[member="Asha Hex"]

The words were apparently enough to spare her life, his finger suddenly coming off the trigger.

A thought passed through his mind, as sinister as could be, though it quickly left him. There was a job still to do before he did anything else. His mother and father would not abide by failure, and he really didn't want to go through one of their lectures. "I want a lot of things."

Nikolas told her, his voice suddenly sounding more chirpy as another thought came to him.

He suddenly pulled the blaster away from the base of her neck, his tongue floating across his lip for just a moment as he backed up just a bit. The grip on her neck was still there, but she would be able to sense through the force that his mood had suddenly changed on a dime.

"I'll tell you some of them." He whisper as he leaned into her. "And show you some others."

Suddenly she would feel a pressure at the back of her knees, forcing her onto the ground. "But first things first, Doll."

 

[Lief]

Though she sensed the lessening of pressure, and the removal of his finger from the trigger, Asha was not quite so foolish as to let down her guard. Her focus remained on that spot on her head, where the Force was converging, though when she heard his words she realized her time had not yet come. As with Connor, she had somehow managed to talk her way out of an early grave.

Whether she would end up digging it anyway remained to be seen.

He sounded different, his whole demeanor had shifted, and in a way that was more terrifying than the blaster which had just removed itself from her head. She tried to think back to what she had said, what might have caused this shift, but nothing came to mind. Banishing the frown before it could fully surface, Asha tried yet again to keep herself as calm and neutral as she could, a poker face she had practiced countless times since gaining her freedom.

The next string of sentences caused an involuntary shudder to run along her spine. Again his words were whispered, just as sinister in tone as the others, even with the chipper intonations, and a sinking feeling entered her stomach.

Then she was forced down to her knees.

Opening her eyes, this time Asha chose to look up at him instead of avoiding him all together. There was just enough confusion behind her eyes to lessen the effect of her mask, just a touch of fear which she had been deftly hiding from him. Had he forgotten his reason for being here? Or was she still going to face reprimand for whatever wrong he felt she had done to warrant a close shave with death?

She didn't know, nor did she want to find out.

"He won't be in his office much longer" she whispered, of the Jedi, and she knew it was true. It was inching toward midday, and as dutiful as the man was he did enjoy taking his lunch in the gardens, not his office, not that she was going to tell him that much. They were closer to the gardens than the office, after all.

Rather they got back on track, than give him any excuse to do anything stupid. He still had that blaster, after all.

[member="Slevin Thawne"]

 

[Subject 37]

[member="Asha Hex"]

He smiled down at her. "I know doll."

The blaster that had been weighing so heavily in his hand was offered a glance, and then slowly he flipped the weapons safety. He shifted his weight and slipped the weapon into the back of his pants, hiding it behind his suit jacket and then quickly pulling something free from within it.

A second later Asha would hear the loud flick of a knife opening.

"Which is why." He took a step forward, moving in closer behind her and squatting down. He was still taller than her, especially since she was on her knee, but he managed to lower his head enough so that his lips were right by her ear. "I want you scream as loud as you can."

A second later his arm would loop around her, knife coming to rest against her stomach. "For me."

There was a sinister implication in those words and the knife at her stomach. She could either do as he said, or she would be made to do it.

 

[Lief]

She realized then and there that the plan she had been formulating before her brush with death was never going to be played out. He had changed tactics, which left her with a bad taste in her mouth. She despised uncertainty as much as the next person.

Watching as the weapon was first put into safety, and then slid into the back of his waistband, Asha could not help but feel selfish relief. Whatever was going to happen, at least it did not involve the blaster. Yet it would seem as though such was short lived, when moments later the sound of a knife graced her ears.

Closing her eyes, the young Hex once again tried to keep her cool. While blasters were decidedly more permanent, knives could provide pinpoint damage that would last an agonizingly long time, far more precise and torturous in the right, or she supposed wrong, hands.

Then he asked her to scream.

Even with the circumstances as they were, Asha did not know if she could simply scream on cue. Her physical composure broke, however, a very deep blush setting over her cheeks though whether brought about by embarrassment or frustration could not be said. She could feel a slight shake to her body, one continual tremor that refused to be abated no matter how hard she tried.

His arm was around her, she could feel the knife against her stomach, and the words which accompanied it only brought about more confusion. For him? Why would she do anything for him?

"I can't" she whispered, though by this point it was honestly more of a whimper as her composure continued to flicker out of existence, and try as she did she could not for the life of her make herself scream without cause. And she had the sickening feeling that such a cause was about to present itself.

This wasn't a blaster bolt... She couldn't simply dissipate it out of existence.

[member="Slevin Thawne"]

 

[Subject 37]

[member="Asha Hex"]

"Tsk tsk." He clicked his tongue beside her ear, though there was no real disappointment in his voice. In fact there was only amusement. His thoughts on her before had been correct. There was something...different. Half a dozen others would be screeching their lungs out by now, yelling as loud as they could or trying to claw and get away from him.

But her? No. She was calm.

Perhaps she had been broken already, though if that were true it had not been by him. For a moment Nikolas did nothing, but time was running out. The Jedi would leave soon, and he just couldn't have him escape. That meant this girl would have to suffer.

"I'm sorry, Doll." Nikolas said softly, the knife slowly lower as his hand slid low. "I guess I'm just going to have to make you."

Suddenly she'd feel the cold durasteel touch her skin, sliding beneath her shirt and pressing against her belly.

 

[Lief]

The cold steel of the blade against bare skin drew a sharp breath from the girl knelt under the weight of it all.

What would have happened if she had hidden in the courtyard, upon first hearing his approach? If she had used the Force to escape before the cuffs could come into the equation? What if, what if, what if... But none of that had happened, instead her choices had led her here, to this very moment in time, a psychopath at her back and a blade at her belly.

"Forgive me" she whispered, though the words were not intended for him, moments before she felt the sharp press of the blade. Try as she might she could not hold it back, and a pained scream escaped her. Though it was not the loudest, it seemed to carry itself well within the hallways which echoed under the smallest of footfalls. It resonated through the structure, even after she bit down hard on her lip to avoid making any further noise.

And she realized how futile her efforts now were.

She attempted to bring her hands around, to lay a hand over her stomach, but all that she was greeted with was the sound of rattling cuffs and a sharp pain in her wrists. A slight jolt overcame her body, before she bowed her head and grit her teeth. She had faced far worse than this, immeasurable wounds both physical and intangible, she had learned how to block it out but it felt like an eternity since she had last had to.

[member="Slevin Thawne"]

 

[Subject 37]

[member="Asha Hex"]

The scream echoed throughout the building, resounding off the walls and bouncing in his skull. Nikolas didn't wince though, instead he stayed exactly where he was, inches from her face, his feature frozen in a mixture of pleasure and joy. The thin smile that had been hanging on his lips turned into a smirk as he felt the warmth of blood slowly drip down the blade of the knife and cover his hand.

He had not cut deep, not deep enough to kill her, but enough to make her bleed quite a bit. It was what he had needed, what he had wanted. Her lungs emptied themselves and Nikolas slowly withdrew his hand from beneath her shirt, moving the blade away from her. She would survive the wound, though the loss of blood would likely make her woozy in a few moments. The smirk stayed on his face, and then slowly he pressed his lips to her cheek. "Thank you, love."

With that Nikolas slowly rose.

The blood dripped from his hand, the other palm that had been holding her neck slipping free and reaching for the gun that he had earlier put in his waist.

His ears perked up slightly, hearing the sound of bootsteps ring out in the hallway behind him. There was someone coming, his footsteps light and swift, his gait taking him directly towards Nikolas and the girl. A wide cheshire grin formed on Nik's face, and slowly he turned towards where he knew the man was coming from.

 

[Lief]

She wanted to scream again, this time with a purpose, to warn the oncoming Jedi, but all that escaped her was one word, spoken so softly that even her own ears barely heard it... Though perhaps that was down to the loss of blood.

"Trap..."

During her brief time among the Silvers, learning from them as she had each Order her Father had visited with, she had been taught the basics of curato salva. It had saved her ass countless times upon the Graveyard, but without her hands free she did not know if she had focus enough to direct the Force to the wound. She hadn't ever tried without physically touching.

Her mind became a little more blurred with each passing second, and she realized soon enough that she felt the vibrations of footsteps against her head, at some point she had slumped down to the ground.

Withdrawing her focus from what was happening around her, knowing that she had no way of altering what was going to happen next, Asha oncemore drew upon the Force and directed it through her body. There was a dull ache where the knife had cut her, a subtle burning sensation similar to the burn on her thigh, and she used it almost like a beacon to guide the mystical energy toward.

With any luck she could stem the bleeding, though she doubted it would make much of a difference. She had already lost more than enough blood to be headed toward unconsciousness.

[member="Slevin Thawne"]

 

[Subject 37]

[member="Asha Hex"]

The Jedi turned the corner, but Nikolas didn't pay attention to him yet.

Somehow, some way, he heard her. His ears twitched, and Nikolas spared Asha a single glance. Even with her face in the ground she would see the smile on his lips, the chesire grin that suited him so well. There was something taunting about that, something terrifying. He spoke to her, his voice quiet but loud enough for her to hear. "Don't worry my little Doll."

His words resounded just as the Jedi turned the corner.

Nikolas did not wait to strike, he did not hesitate, and he most certainly did not allow the Jedi to make the first move. As soon as he saw the Man Nikolas fired his blaster, three bolts soaring through the air towards the Jedi. A lightsaber erupted, the loud snap-hiss ringing out in the hallway as all three bolts were deflected. Each one was just a distraction however, and Nikolas fell upon the man within a blur.

It was here that he shone.

Nikolas was no ordinary man. His mother and father had put him through extensive treatment. Genetic modifications that had made him stronger, faster, better. It was impossible to tell just how long the fight went on, and to Asha it would be even more so. Yet she would see flashes of a blade, splashes of blood, and then she would feel the thud of a corpse landing beside her.

 

[Lief]

She felt cold.

Part of her became aware of that same unstoppable tremor, it was taunting her, trying to draw her away from her mind and back to the present, to keep her from doing what little she could to stem the bleeding. She could feel the warmth of said blood pooling around her stomach where she lay, and compared to the rest of her it was almost unbearably hot.

It was a sensation she had hoped she'd never experience again. It reminded her all too much of Thule, and what came after. The scent which permeated the air made her sick to her stomach, and in that instance she was glad for her waning consciousness. She had done all that she could, both for the Jedi and for herself, she needed time to mend if he did not choose to end her before then.

The familiar snap-hiss of a lightsaber igniting brought her crashing back to reality, torn from the comfort of her mind, and though her vision was blurred she could see the faint traces of a blue light flickering this way and that. Clashes rose, a clamor that was set upon an otherwise silent blanket, and for a time that was all that she knew. That light, that sound, that smell, and the differing temperatures across her limp body.

She tried to push up, but her arms could barely support her weight. Soon after, though it felt like an eternity since, a body slumped down beside her, and she felt its presence fleeting in the Force. Slowly snuffed from existence.

But whether it was stranger or Jedi she could not tell.

[member="Slevin Thawne"]

 

[Subject 37]

[member="Asha Hex"]

Nikolas slowly stepped in between Asha and the dead Jedi, kicking the mans lightsaber out of the way. The hilt began to bounce once or twice before rolling down the hallway. He had no interest in Jedi weapons, they were an odd sort of thing, difficult to use and near enough impossible to actually carry around without someone trying to gank you. There was no other noise within the hallway, no one moving, no creature slinking about. There was only Asha's shallow breaths.

He squatted down besides her, his hand reaching out to push some of the hair from her face.

She was still breathing, her chest gently pushing against the ground. His eyes wandered to the blood that had pooled by her stomach, though had strangely enough stopped. Nikolas perked and eyebrow, his hand reaching to slowly pull up her shirt. Lips thinned as he saw the cauterized wound, a scar running down the length of her belly where he had sliced. "Aren't you interesting, Doll."

He mused for a second, glancing at the Jedi's corpse.

His job was done here, he had nothing else to do.

Mother and Father would be pleased with the result and that meant he had time to indulge in whatever he wanted. For a moment Nikolas rolled back on the balls of his feet, and then slowly he reached down and grasped Asha. With a muted grunt he pulled her up and over his shoulder, beginning to whistle as he carried her out of the building.