Private Dropped In The Deep End

[Alek Thorne]

Dropped In The Deep End

(Somewhere in Hutt Space)

Valery Noble​

Alek leaned against the bar, drink in his right hand. Alek by all traditional senses of the word was quite handsome. However, a month of being in the field had hidden this underneath a layer of dirt and stubble. He wore a leather jacket, black shirt, jeans and a pair of combat boots. In these boots was a pair of switch blades and on his hip was a not so well hidden DL-44 blaster. He had this in case things went hot and needed to shoot his way out. But this would be a last resort.

The SIA had trained him well mentally and physically. Mentally they had interrogated him for weeks, isolated him and psychologically tested him to the point of breaking him. His sociopathic traits and lack of empathy were noted and seen as assets to the spooks that made up the SIA. Physically he had been put through the ringer to qualify to their standards, training sleep deprived and constantly being put in life threatening situations in training to gauge how he would respond to certain stressors. This, on top of the hours of combat and weapons training had honed him into a raw killer that just needed to be refined by experience in the field.

Alek looked down at his watch every fifteen minutes or so just to take a break from periodically scanning the crowd in the disgusting night club he found himself in. It was a centre of hedonism and criminal activity. Smugglers, arms dealers, slavers and those that dabbled in even more depraved business all intermingled with one another here. It reminded him of where he grew up on Coruscant and he hated it. He was supposed to meet an underworld contact here. This had been the time and place that they had agreed upon, and his contact was late. Not good. He was currently posing as an arms dealer (under the fake name Miles Turner) in Hutt space and had been trying to work his way up the criminal ladder as his superiors had informed him that they had heard chatter that there was going to be a major attack on the Alliance using unlicensed weaponry. The Alliance wanted him to sell trackable weapons to whoever the buyer was that was planning this attack and to destroy any weapons cache's they might have.

So far he had made a good amount of progress without blowing his cover and had managed to get many of the low level gangs to trust him. This had given him a reputation for supplying reliable arms, which had resulted in an offer from a more prestigious client who refused to use a name. He only had an alias, Cypher.

Another 15 minutes passed and Alek saw little activity to suggest that his contact was here. The rookie trainee decided to relax and took a sip of the drink in his hand that was there purely for the appearance it portrayed. He immediately regretted it as he could only compare the taste in his mouth to that of cat piss. He left the drink on the bar top and walked over to an open booth, taking a seat inside. A server came by and he handed her a few credits to reserve the table for a few hours. If his contact wasn't going to show, perhaps he could find something or someone to make the night enjoyable.

​

​

 

[Valery Noble]

​

Outfit: Smuggler Outfit
Weapons: Blasters

The bass throb of the nightclub pressed against the walls like a second heartbeat — thick, relentless, pulsing with sweat, synth, and sin. Light flickered through the haze of smoke and spice like artificial lightning, catching on reflective fabric, metal implants, and too many eyes that watched for the wrong reasons.

And then the door opened again.

She stepped through like she'd done it a hundred times — boots hitting the floor with quiet confidence, hips rolling in a slow rhythm that didn't need attention but earned it anyway. Valery didn't scan the room. She didn't need to. The Force painted the tension on every table, every shadowed booth, every bad decision waiting to happen in the dark.

The outfit she wore said everything it needed to — snug leather harnessing toned curves, white shirt laced tight against her chest, rolled sleeves exposing faint scars and flexing forearms. A sidearm rested low on her hip, just loose enough to be a warning, not a promise. And her hair was tossed into a high ponytail that had definitely seen the inside of a few back alleys, but still fell like a fighter's crown.

Valery made her way to the bar without hesitation, weaving past bodies like they weren't even there. Her gloved hand tapped the counter once — crisp, deliberate.

"Corellian whiskey," she said to the bartender, voice low and velvety.

Her eyes didn't drift from the mirror behind the bar. Not yet. There was something... someone... she could feel it. Something stirring in the dark like a storm testing its edge. Not her target, but close.

She leaned against the counter with casual elegance, letting the room ripple around her. Her drink arrived and she wrapped her fingers around the glass without flinching.

To anyone watching, she looked like a woman on the hunt. But not the kind that got hunted back.

Alek Thorne ​

 

[Alek Thorne]

Valery Noble​

The music pounded in his ears as he observed the club keenly. He was still half hoping that his contact would show and that this whole night wouldn't be a complete waste of time. It was then that he noticed her, that long brown hair and curvaceous figure would be enough to catch many an eye, and it certainly caught his. She moved with a grace through the crowded club, expertly avoiding unwanted contact as she made her way towards the bar. She had a confidence about her that intrigued the young agent and he wondered for a brief moment if she was his contact. He watched from his booth as she ordered a drink from the bar, his brown eyes inquisitively studying her body language and looking for any tells as to if she was the person he was supposed to meet.

It was then that he felt a hand on his right shoulder.

He looked up to see a grizzled white haired old man with one ear missing. He was dressed in a dark leather jumpsuit and looked like he been working in a warehouse all his life. He stank of oil and Alek did his best not to immediately recoil from the old man. He felt like a deer caught in the headlights with the way this man had been able to sneak up on him. The SIA agent did not like the fact that he had been distracted momentarily and in that time he had let his guard down enough for someone to approach him from behind.

"What is always coming, but never arrives?" The old man asked throatily. His voice sounded like his vocal chords were laced in sand paper.

"Tomorrow." Alek responded quickly and flatly. This was the question and answer that Cypher and he had decided upon to identify one another upon meeting.

Cypher smiled, a disgusting yellow toothed grin. He walked around the booth and slipped into it across from Alek. "So you must be Miles. I must admit I was expecting someone with your reputation in the criminal underworld to be a little older." He said, almost muttering to himself. Alek remained quiet studying the old man in front of him. Ready for any sign of movement that indicated that he might be a threat. "Our friend speaks highly of you Miles. He says that you are a reliable source for untraceable weapons. And that you are looking to offload a large shipment is this correct?" Cypher asked getting straight to business.

Alek sat back into the booth cockily, his shoulders relaxed. He knew that this old man was no threat and was simply the messenger for a much larger operation. "I do, I have 150 blasters stolen from a Galactic Alliance weapons cache." He said simply.

"How much?" Cipher asked leaning over the table clearly eager to make the deal.

"10,000 credits now, and a further 10,000 credits upon delivery." He said flatly, his voice not showing any sign of emotion.

Cypher chuckled at that. "You drive a hard bargain Mr Turner, very well." He said with a smile and Alek couldn't help but feel this old man knew more than he was letting on. Something was not right at all. It was almost too easy, but he wasn't going to question it. Cypher leaned over the table and Alek leaned over to hear him, "there is a warehouse 5 clicks south of here. It's abandoned, meet there with the weapons and we will take them off your hands." He whispered, before leaning back and sending the coordinates to Alek's transponder along with confirming a transfer of 10,000 credits.

"Understood." Alek responded with a nod and was about to get up from the booth to head towards the bar.

"Just... One question before you leave Mr Turner." Cypher said, his mouth once again bearing his disgusting teeth. "How is it that you came across such a large number of unmarked weapons?" He asked, probing Alek and knowing that his response would tell him everything he needed to know.

"None of your business. Are we done here?" Alek asked, his tone taking on one that had undertone of a threat. This was a mistake and little did he know, it labeled him as a hostile in the eyes of Cypher.

Cypher simply nodded. "Yes. Yes we are." He said as he watched Alek leave the booth. As Alek turned his back Cypher sent one simple message to his superior, "We are compromised." He waited a few seconds and there was a response to his transponder.

"I'll make the appropriate arrangements."

Turned his back on Cypher and made his way down from the booth, a bead of sweat dripping down the side of his face. Partly due to the extreme heat of so many bodies being crammed into one place, but also the fact that he couldn't shake the feeling that he had just been compromised. That final question from Cypher had caught him off balance. He inwardly scolded himself for such an abrasive response as he meandered his way through the crowd of bodies that pressed up against one another on the dance floor as he made his way towards the bar. He had been in control of the situation up until that one question.

"Dantooine tonic." He told the bartender, turning his back towards the bar. He didn't want to be caught off guard again. He looked towards the booth where he and Cypher had been speaking, the old man was gone. He heard the sound of the drink hit the bar top and he picked it up, taking a sip of the tonic before looking over to his right, where, to his surprise, the woman he had seen earlier was standing a few feet to his right. He could see her eyes were scanning the crowd like a hunter looking for something or someone.

"I doubt you'll find what you are looking for in a place like this." He said taking a long drink of the tonic he had ordered before sliding over the bar towards the brunette. "Unless you are looking to make an alcohol induced bad decision of course." He continued with a cheeky boyish smile. Alek knew he was a charmer but this woman may just be a bit outside of his range. However, he knew that the likelihood of him seeing this woman again was practically zero. This was the great thing about being undercover, he was living a fake life with a fake name and as a result the consequences of a few non mission related bad decisions couldn't hurt.

​

 

[Valery Noble]

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Outfit: Smuggler Outfit
Weapons: Blasters

Valery didn't answer right away.

The throb of the club pressed in around them, all synth pulses and grinding bodies. Her eyes were still locked on the mirrored wall behind the bar, tracking the movement of too many shadows that looked like trouble dressed in synthleather. But when the voice slid in beside her — low, smooth, and laced with something that tried to pass for charm — her lips curled into a slow smirk.

She turned. Fiery eyes met his with quiet amusement, flicking first to his face, then down to the thin line of sweat trailing along his jaw, "You look like you just found something you weren't ready for," she said, tilting her head slightly. Her tone was easy, dry, and laced with just enough flirtation to be felt without forcing it. "Trouble on the dance floor? Or trouble in the booth?"

She didn't need the Force to smell tension. It clung to him like heat — not just from the bodies around him, but from something else. Something recent. Her gaze dropped to his drink, then slid back up, unhurried. She shifted her weight against the bar, one hand still wrapped around her whiskey.

"So." A beat. "What kind of bad decisions are we talking about here?" She let the question hang for a breath longer than needed, her voice dipping just enough to flirt without committing.

"Because I've found…" she continued, lifting her drink to her lips with a lazy smirk, "Those are usually the most fun."

Alek Thorne ​

 

[Alek Thorne]

Dropped In The Deep End

(Somewhere in Hutt Space)

Valery Noble​

Alek waited, his words hung in the air and he could see the older woman taking her time to answer. He couldn't quite place her age, mid to late 30s maybe? She was certainly older than him, the silence hung between them only filled by the music of the club. Alek wondered for a brief moment if he had made a mistake.

When she turned and those fiery eyes aligned with his, Alek couldn't help but feel like she could see directly into his soul. His chocolate coloured eyes averted from her gaze and he took a drink of the tonic hoping for some liquid courage to kick in. His eyes darted down her figure once more until he found himself looking at the floor before bringing his eyes up so once again they were looking into those fiery pearls.

"Trouble follows me wherever I go so you could say both? It's part of the job." He responded with a shrug trying to play it cool, as he leaned back against the bar, his right hand resting on his blaster. He put his drink down on the bar top, his left arm resting there as he smirked at her rather bold but flirtatious question. The implication of her words obvious, even for the rather naive young man on the receiving end of them.

"Well..." He paused for a moment, needing to gather his thoughts. He could feel his cheeks getting rather hot, as he began to get a tad flustered. This woman had him on the back foot rather quickly, he wasn't used to that. "The kind of trouble I had in mind was the sort that you were allowed to forget ever happened when you wake up the following morning." He said, once again flashing her that cheeky smile. "If you think you can handle that kind of trouble that is?" He said cockily trying to put it back on the brunette who had so easily caught him off balance with her flirtatious response.

​

 

[Valery Noble]

​

Outfit: Smuggler Outfit
Weapons: Blasters

Valery arched one brow slowly, the smirk never quite leaving her lips as she watched him stumble his way through confidence like it was a borrowed jacket — just a little too loose in the shoulders. Cute. Brave, even. And completely out of his depth. She let the silence stretch for a beat longer than needed, just long enough for his cheeks to stay hot.

Then she leaned in. Not enough to touch. Just enough for her voice to reach him under the noise, low and smooth as Corellian whiskey, "Oh, I can handle that kind of trouble," she said, letting the words drip with velvet assurance. "Question is — can you?" She tilted her head just slightly, eyes never leaving his. "Because I don't play soft. I don't do 'kind-of' bad decisions. If it's worth the regret, it's worth doing right."

A pause, eyes narrowing just slightly—not cold, but sharp.

"And as for forgetting…" Her voice dropped a note deeper, all heat and implication. "That depends. A woman likes her privacy. Likes to know that when she disappears in the morning, she stays a ghost."

Valery let that linger for a heartbeat, then tipped her glass up for a sip, gaze sliding back to the mirror like she'd already moved on.

"…You still sure you're built for that kind of fun?" she added casually, her smirk curling again at the corner of her lips. "Or are you just playing dress-up with a blaster and a fantasy?"

Alek Thorne ​

 

[Alek Thorne]

Valery Noble​

Alek had definitely bitten off more than he could chew with this woman. But he was in far too deep to stop where this was going now, so he decided to roll with the punches. As she leaned in Alek resisted the instinct to shift backwards and get some space away from the woman. It wasn't his fault, the SIA had ingrained certain instincts into him and this was one of them. Never let someone get too close. He also couldn't shake the feeling that he was very much the prey in this scenario and she the predator. She had managed to turn the tables on him.

He was well and truly struggling to come back with a witty response. He was becoming more and more awkward by the second. He could feel the heat in his cheeks increasing as she read him like a book. He was technically playing dress up with a blaster, after all that's what being undercover meant. He was just a tad surprised that the woman in front of him could see through the facade so easily. Alek also knew that he was very green for an SIA agent. Hell, he hadn't even killed anyone yet. And clearly all of this information was very clear to the woman looking him up and down with those fiery eyes.

"You want discretion? I can do that." He said simply before holding out his hand. "Miles Turner, and you are?" He asked, unsure as to whether she as going to slice his hand off or shake it as he offered it to her.

[Outside the club]

Four men stood in a circle listening to a holo transponder. The holo image was blurred to disguise the man's identity. However, the four men listened intently like their lives depended on it. "[SKKZT] He cannot be allowed to leave alive, he will compromise the entire operation. See to it that he is dealt with." The figure said before the holo shut off. The leader of the group stuffed the holo into the side of his leather jacket.

"We need to this quietly. Wait until the target has left the club, from my understanding he his armed. We will need to disarm him. I'll take the left side of the entrance you three take the right side. We will ambush him as he exits" He said simply as the three men simply nodded at his instruction and moved towards their respective positions.

​

 

[Valery Noble]

​

Outfit: Smuggler Outfit
Weapons: Blasters

Valery tilted her head as he offered the name, and the hand. There was something about the way he said it — not quite confident, not quite casual. More like a man throwing a lifeline and hoping the current didn't drag him under. She could feel the hesitation still clinging to him, tight like a second skin. It wasn't fear exactly. But it was the awareness of someone who knew he was one wrong move from things going very, very wrong.

Still, she took the hand.

"Lyn," she said smoothly, her grip firm and warm. She let her fingers linger a beat longer than necessary before stepping in just close enough for a final whisper — one meant only for him. "Let's go find somewhere a little more private. Discretion, right?"

She didn't wait for a response. Just turned, slow and smooth, her hip brushing lightly against his side as she stepped past him toward the exit. Her boots struck the sticky floor in steady rhythm, echoing beneath the synth pulse still vibrating through the club's bones.

As they neared the entrance, the air shifted.

Valery felt it before she saw it — the wrong kind of stillness outside the club's flashing threshold. That moment when the predators stop pacing and start preparing to pounce. Too much tension in the dark corners. The bouncers had vanished. No loiterers. Just shadows.

She slowed her stride, subtly placing herself half a step ahead of him, her voice dropping low and measured without looking back.

"Walk cool," she murmured. "But keep your eyes open. Something's not right." They were nearly at the door now. Her left hand hung casually by her side — but her thumb traced along the strap of her holster, the familiar weight of her blaster a comfortable presence.

Valery didn't know who Miles Turner really was yet. But if someone was out there waiting to make him bleed?

They were going to have to go through her first.

Alek Thorne ​

 

[Alek Thorne]

Valery Noble​

Alek felt the heat of Lyn's breath against his ear as she leaned in, after taking his hand. Somewhere a little more private eh? Alek wasn't going to think twice about that offer. He watched as she smoothly turned away from him and gracefully took a few steps towards the exit. The young agent found himself following her almost instinctively. He did a little skip and run through the crowd so he caught up to her and was now side by side with her as they approached the exit.

"Jeez you're eager huh?" He said cheekily as he caught up to her.

Alek's brow furrowed as he noticed her body language change before she spoke. Her jaw had tightened and he couldn't help but notice that she had taken a protective half step in front of him.

He nodded in acknowledgement, as his own hand dropped to his holster as they approached the exit. He could feel his heart rate rise, the familiar pounding in his chest that he experienced during training. He took a breath trying to calm his breathing as they exited the club.

[AT THE EXIT]

Either side of the exit were two men, they were posing as bouncers but were simply waiting for Alek to exit the club. They were large and imposing thugs. And while they may not have had the training that working with the SIA would give you, they certainly made up for it in experience and sheer size. They each had a blaster on their hip along with a knife in case things got messy. They had adjusted their plan while waiting for him to leave and had decided to simply let him believe that they were part of the club's security detail and shoot him in the back of the head upon him leaving. Simple and clean, if it all went to plan.

Alek exited the club in step with Lyn. He noted the four rather large men anchoring the door. Were they there before? He wasn't sure. The alcohol he had drank inside the club clouded his memory. He took a few more steps forward out of the club, beginning to walk down the steps. Lyn still protectively in front of him. There was definitely more to this woman than met the eye. How could she be so sure that there was danger ahead? Everything seemed fine to him...

CLICK!

Everything stopped. The world felt like it was moving in slow motion. The sound echoed around the entrance of the club. Alek knew the sound of a blaster jamming when he heard it and it had come from directly behind his head. In that instant his training kicked in, he spun around grabbing his assailants blaster arm by the wrist and twisting it forcing his assailant to drop it. The large thug then attempted take his head off with a haymaker using his free hand. Alek gracefully ducked under the punch and slammed his own fist into the man's ribs with a right hook, before spinning and landing an elbow flush against his jaw causing him to stagger. This created enough space for Alek to finally pull his blaster from his holster and fire one shot off into the man's chest dropping him... Permanently.

This all happened in the space of a few seconds. There was silence as the three other thugs stood there shocked, blasters in hand by their sides.

It only took a second for them to break out of their momentary shock before raising their blasters towards him and Lyn.

He had been compromised...

​

 

[Valery Noble]

​

Outfit: Smuggler Outfit
Weapons: Blasters

Valery didn't flinch when the first shot jammed behind them. She didn't need to. She felt the intent ripple through the Force — crude, sudden, aimed like a dagger between shoulder blades. She moved just enough to give Alek space, trusting him on instinct before she even saw the blur of motion at her back.

Then came the sound — fists, a grunt, the report of a single blaster. Clean. She turned as Alek dropped the first thug. Her amber eyes lifted, catching the three others as they raised their weapons.

"Wrong move," she said quietly.

Then her hand rose. No saber. No theatrics. Just one breath drawn in and one hand clenched into a tight fist. The air around the attackers warped, the Force rushing out from her in a focused pulse that hit like a thunderclap without sound. The three blasters buckled mid-aim — crushed in their owners' hands, the metal twisting inward with a groan of warped alloy. Fingers broke. Sparks jumped. One screamed and dropped his ruined weapon as it sparked against his hip.

The others froze.

"Drop the rest," Valery said, voice low and commanding. Her eyes burned gold now — not with rage, but with clarity.

They hesitated.

Alek Thorne ​

 

[Alek Thorne]

Valery Noble​

Alek watched the three men in front of him break themselves from the shock of seeing their compatriot killed with such clean and cold precision. As they raised their blasters at him and Lyn he felt a lump forming in his throat. He was confident in his own abilities, but avoiding the blaster fire of three, even untrained men, would be borderline impossible for him.

Lyn spoke and raised her hand. The young agent watched in shock as that same hand became a clenched fist and the three blasters succumbed to an invisible force that was exerted against them. Alek could only assume that the metal had succumbed to Lyn's willpower and use of the force. He had been exposed to the feats of the Jedi during training. However, this had only been through video footage. He had never seen the force used in person before. He had to admit it was impressive but also a tad creepy.

"Drop the rest" Those words echoed in his ears. Lyn had disarmed the thugs and now Alek was their executioner. As the thugs were still groaning in agony at their crushed hands he raised his blaster and let off three shots. All of them landed centre of mass and went straight through each assailant. The smell of burning flesh engulfed hit his senses, he felt the urge to vomit but kept it in as the lifeless bodies of the three thugs dropped to the floor.

He had never killed anyone... Ever. Now in the space of a minute he had taken the lives of four men. He expected to feel something, remorse perhaps? Anger or maybe sadness? But he felt nothing. He felt completely empty. The psychologists had been right, he was perfect for the role, a cold blooded killer with little to no empathy for others.

He looked over at Lyn who appeared to be studying him. He holstered his blaster and looked around, most of the people that had been around them had scattered and those that exited the club knew better than to get involved. His dark eyes studied Lyn carefully as he approached her, very much aware that the woman in front of him was far more dangerous than she let on at the bar.

"H-how did you do that? I thought I was finished for sure." He asked. His voice was dry and hoarse. The shock of the last five minutes had clearly not worn off yet.

​

 

[Valery Noble]

​

Outfit: Smuggler Outfit
Weapons: Blasters

Valery turned slowly, her hand lowering to her side as the final shots rang out. Three clean hits. Center of mass. No hesitation. When the smoke settled, and the bodies slumped in silence, she let the moment hang — just long enough to measure the look on Alek's face.

He wasn't panicking but he wasn't unaffected either. Good, she thought. He still feels something… even if he doesn't want to. Her eyes studied him carefully, sharp and knowing. She caught the slight tremor in his voice when he asked how she'd done it. Not fear — not exactly. Just the realization that he was playing a game with pieces he didn't fully understand.

Valery smiled. A small, crooked thing that didn't quite reach her eyes.

"Little trick of mine," she said, casually brushing a fleck of ash off her jacket. "I'll explain more sometime." She stepped a bit closer, her tone lighter but her gaze still razor-edged. She tilted her head slightly, reading him like an open datapad.

"You okay?"

A beat.

"First time's always the hardest. You breathe through it, or you bury it. But either way..." She paused, just long enough to let the weight land. "You move." She glanced down at the bodies one more time, then back up at him. "C'mon. We should go before someone decides they want revenge or a bounty."

And as she turned, the smirk came back — sharper this time.

"You coming?"

Alek Thorne ​

 

[Alek Thorne]

Valery Noble​

"You okay?" Those words ran through his head. Was he okay? He felt empty and needed something to distract him or fill the gaping void he felt in his soul. He looked over at Lyn and saw her lips moving, however he wasn't registering what she was saying he was far too lost in his own thoughts. It took him a couple of seconds to realize what she had said.

"Coming? Yeah we should probably go." He said, still a little spaced out at the violence. That cheeky smirk on the face of the brunette making him smile inwardly and distracting him from the events of a minute ago. Lyn was right that they needed to get out of here. Who knows who might have been watching, and the last thing he needed as a field agent was someone putting a bounty on his head, or the local authorities making him a wanted man.

"You got somewhere I can lay low? Or perhaps a way I can get off world?" He asked quickly following behind her as the two picked up the pace. "I can't really tell you much but those men and the organization they work for won't stop until they have me." He said through ragged breaths as they ran through the streets. Alek was unsure where she was leading them but decided to follow. No doubt his small hotel room that he had been staying in was being monitored and would be the first place they would expect him to retreat to.

​

 

[Valery Noble]

​

Outfit: Smuggler Outfit
Weapons: Blasters

Valery didn't say much as they moved — just kept her pace quick, her steps quiet, and her senses tuned for trouble. The underbelly of Mar Shaddaa buzzed around them, a city of neon veins and steel bones, full of too many eyes and too few truths. But she knew the back routes, the blind corners, the doors no one watched.

Eventually, they climbed a stairwell carved into the side of an old refinery — five flights up and through a code-locked door that hissed open at her signal. Inside, the air shifted. Still. Quiet. Safe.

She stepped aside to let him in first.

The apartment was… surprisingly nice. Industrial bones, but softened by sparse but tasteful furniture: a long couch, a low table scattered with datapads and a half-finished bottle of something dark. A modest kitchenette in the corner. One large bed tucked into an alcove with soft sheets. The lights were dim, casting the space in golds and shadows.

Her eyes drifted toward Alek — still rattled, still wired. She let him take it in.

"Temporary place. I'm renting it out for the duration of the job," she said casually, as if they hadn't just stepped over corpses half an hour ago. "No one knows I'm here. No registry. No tracking beacons."

She gestured toward the couch. "Sit. Breathe. You're not bleeding, so that's already a win." Then she crossed to the small counter, grabbed two glasses, and poured something strong and amber into both. She handed him one.

"You can crash here tonight. Tomorrow, I'll get you off-world. But you need to be clearheaded when you go. That means food, rest, and maybe…" She smirked faintly. "…not staring into the void for the next six hours." She took a sip from her own glass, then leaned against the counter, watching him over the rim.

"You're lucky I was there tonight." The hum of the city pulsed faintly beyond the window. For now, they had time. But the game was only just beginning.

Alek Thorne ​