Get Your Butt Home

[Kurt Meyer]

Corellia
[member="Kaileann Vera"]

He'd made a deal, and he still wasn't entirely sure about it.

Kurt had traveled half the galaxy now. From Tatooine to Fondor, from Fondor to Sullust, and now from Sullust to Corellia. He had slipped his way up hyperlanes and cut through star systems within seconds of entering them. Kurt never stopped, never took time to rest, and certainly never saw any sights. There was one thing on his mind and one thing alone, getting back his roommate.

That was what the deal had been about, why he had made it and why he would keep to it. The Toydarian had told him that Kaile could have her old life back, that she could come live with him on The Messa again as long as Kurt was well aware of the circumstances, those Circumstances of course being that Kaile was a Galactic Alliance agent and she had certain responsibilities to fulfill. Responsibilities that Kurt would now become a part of, would have to get involved in.

He knew that, had known it since the very start.

Kurt was okay with that.

He was okay with doing this for Kaile, was okay ferrying her about the entire galaxy and even working with the Alliance if he had to. That's how much she meant to him. She was his only friend, only real friend anyway. For four years he had been alone, Kaile changed that, Kaile had stormed into his life and made it better, even if he hadn't always agreed with all of her decisions or decorating choices.

Kurt wouldn't go back to life without her, at least not in the way that it had ended.

 

[Kaile Vera]

Talus
Derik'hur Highlands
[member="Kurt Meyer"]

Much had changed in the Corellian Sector ever since the Netherworld spewed its dead and brought with it the splitting halves of Corellia. Where it had once been a major trade and focal point of the 'Verse, Corellia was now a shell of its former glory. Slowly brought together piece by piece, the half of Corellia that remained met with that of the Yuuzhan Vong world. There were scattered biomes throughout the Southern Hemisphere, all constructed and maintained by Arceneau Trade.

Surrounding it lay the enormous asteroid field most considered to be more of a last resting place of the dead than a mere slowly rotating ring. The bulk of the trade had been funneled to the nearby Twin worlds of Tralus and Talus. It was here that Kalie, as Neia Karr came to be. Corellian bred, the last of her line, Neia Karr owned a farm that grew barley and wheat, along with several other crops that would be collected by the One Sith for tariff. Her position allowed her to keep an eye one One Sith movements, while ensuring that there was a connection tied in with the Corellian Underground Resistance.

Fingers lightly would brush against the feathery tops of wheat. A stroll through the wheat field, the bright glow of the sun. It was a warm day, a beautiful day really.

Staring up into the sky, Kaile -- no Neia -- came to the crest of the field to peer over to the distant city below.

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Kaileann Vera"]

Kurt had her exact location, part of the deal that had made with the Toydarian. It was all pretty straightforward really, he would go and collect her, ask her if she wanted her old life back...and if she did, well then she would come with him. It was like he was fitting a noose around his own neck, willingly slipping the rope around him, but he did it happily.

He didn't know if that made him a hero, or a complete idiot.

Though it didn't really matter much.

The Messa cut out of hyperspace with a sudden rocking jolt. Kurt let out a curse, realizing that he had dropped out too close to the planets gravity well. The Messa began to violently shake, Kurt chomping down onto his lip as he wrestled the controls and flipped a small switch on the board in front of him. There was a sudden stuttering sound as the duplicate thrusters kicked in, then suddenly a haze began to form over the ship in front of him. Within seconds The Messa completely disappeared, the engines going cold and the ship stabilizing.

A sigh of relief poured over him.

It wouldn't be good if the One Sith traced a ship that burned through the atmosphere, especially since Kurt was picking up a secret agent.

The Courier cringed at that thought, being the one to get Kaile caught. That would have been an embarrassment and a half. The cloaking device that he and Kaile had installed worked well however, and in theory all of the systems that Kurt had engaged wouldn't be able to get detected by any stray sensor systems. Now all he had to do was get to the farm. His hands pushed the controls to the left sending Kurt flying towards the east.

 

[Kaile Vera]

Talus
Derik'hur Highlands
[member="Kurt Meyer"]


It was quiet here.

Nice.

Really, the farm. Talus. Everything. One couldn't have a single form of a complaint about it. It was everything anyone who wanted a simple life would desire. The home built within the land was several centuries old, build to last the test of time. Perhaps due to some level of stubbornness bled into the foundation by Corellian hands.

It was beautiful. Peaceful really.

It wasn't home.

A gust of wind would flare Kaie's dark brown hair up into the air. Her dress would flutter, the skirt clinging to her legs as she'd squint out into the distance. Yeah. It just wasn't home.

Kaile was getting used to the area. Scouting really. She had to familiarize herself for precaution. A speeder sat beside a large oak tree, one just past the edge of the wheat fields. With a sigh, Kaile pushed her hair back. Alright, time to review the updates.

There was talk that the Alliance just might come to Corellia. Before they came here, they'd need to be ready.

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Kaileann Vera"]

The cloaking device that he and Kaile had created worked surprisingly well. It wasn't based on any of the traditional methods, not Stygium, hibridium, or any of that. Instead it utilized almost the exact same features as the Shield Generator, albeit, along with the sensor systems located on the Mess. The system was really quite simple, it took in sensory data, converted that sensory data to information and fed it to the shield generator. The shield generator then produced a 'bubble' around the vessel, creating an orb that reflected light out and away from the ship, making it impossible to see with the naked eye.

This of course didn't fool sensor systems, but thats what the other modications had been for.

All they really needed was some tibx, but that stuff was far too expensive to purchase. Kurt had wanted to talk to his father about synthesizing something similar before leaving Tatooine, but that particular subject had never really come up.

Either way, The Messa traveled above the planet, cutting through the atmosphere until eventually it neared the location of the farm.

There was a lull in the air as the Horizon began to change in front of Kurt. Hills becoming massive fields of some kind of plant, one or two people among them until eventually it all turned to the same thing over and over again. He dipped The Messa down lower, cutting the cloakign device and soaring above the fields at an almost impossible low level. "I'm coming, Kaile."

Just a few more minutes.

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

The walk back to the speeder wasn't too long.

Her skirt picked up a few burrs and all, but she couldn't complain much about it. It was well worn cotton. Light as a feather and airy too. It was a dress. Not as frilly as she'd like, but honestly... that thought didn't really linger much anymore. She had other thoughts in mind.

"You ready Bobo?" Kaile would sing out to the tiny lizard, who had sat perched on top of the Lorrdian's satchel. She had taken to practicing moving in and out of the Force Null bubble. It had been painful at first, but slowly... slowly she was getting used to it. The dizziness was gone, and she didn't feel as if she was about to keel over.

It was something to do to keep her self busy. Busy from thinking. From wondering. From wishing.

From being a damn fool woman and knowing it.

Hopping on to the speeder, Kaile turned the ignition. With a roar of the engine, the old girl took off.

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Kaileann Vera"]

The farm came up over the horizon, Kurt's heart thumping in his chest.

There was something that felt wrong here. He wasn't quite sure what, he wasn't quite sure why. There was a sensation in the back of his head, like needles jabbing into his brain. His skin slowly began to crawl, his pupils growing to the size of pinpricks. He began to feel uneasy...almost...dark. His head shook from side to side, his hands readjusting onto the controls. What was that? Lips thinning, Kurt tried to shake the feeling away, remembering that he was about to get Kaile back, that things were about to go back to normal.

That's what mattered.

That's why he was here.

"Right." Kurt said to himself, as though he were trying to reassure himself of his own thoughts. That feeling slowly went away, but there was still something else in his mind, like a dark and slummy tide on a normally clean beach. "Where to land."

Kurt didn't really want to crush any crops, and from what he could see there wasn't really enough space for him to land The Messa anywhere nearby. Another grimace crossed his face, and slowly he pulled his ship to just behind the farmhouse. He could have sworn he heard the crunching of plants as he touched down, though obviously that would be impossible through the hull of the ship.

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

There was plenty of acreage on this farm. One of the few things that differentiated Corellia from most of the other occupied systems is that here, Corellian titles remained. Land deeds as far back as a milienia remained. There was something rather awe inspiring about that. Folk say that it was Kuhn and Arceneau's interference that managed to protect the system from being overrun by the One Sith and the Yuuzhan Vong.

They could be right. They could be wrong. In the end, Corellians wouldn't have let their land go so easily. They'd have fought tooth and nail and that would have been a great bloody war.

Kaile was glad that it hadn't ended so.

The whine of the speeder and her idle thoughts would prevent her from catching another hum in the distance. As it was, Kurt would land the Messa behind the great farmhouse without Kaile paying any mind to it.

Coming up along the front, a little dust trail in the speeder's wake, her hair flowing in the wind, one would imagine her being carefree. Not really. Not likely.

It was just another day. A play pretend.

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Kaileann Vera"]

Kaile wasn't here. For half a second he thought that the Toydarian had lied to him, that the little Alien had simply weaseled out of the deal and tried to get him gone. Instant anger flared at the thought, indignation, rage, all emotions that boiled within half a second of the thought.

He felt that wisp away however, almost instantly drain as he spotted a small bag on the porch of the farmhouse.

It wasn't anything that he should have noticed, not normally anyway, but the thing was familiar. A broad smile pulled over his lips, quickly turning into a wide grin. it was Kaile's bag, the one that he usually carried around. Bobo was mostly contained in there, but she had another one that she sometimes took. If the bag was here? It meant that Kaile had been here, and that she was coming back. The grin on his lips outright turned into a smirk, his feet taking him over to the porch almost in a sprint.

He wanted to go inside.

He wanted to jump.

Instead he simply sat down on the stairs, smiling and staring at the road ahead of him like a little boy about to get candy.

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

What was that?

Kaile gave a frown, the dark slash of her brows furrowing together. A squint. Someone was on her porch. Confusion took her. That didn't make sense. that didn't make sense at all. She wasn't supposed to meet her contact until a few days from now.

It was too early -

A sense of forbearing came to her then. Briefly she wondered if she'd been caught. She had to quickly calm herself down. Being careful, she began to slow down. Can't slow down too much, it might look suspicious, she reminded herself. The distance cut, and Kaile drove the speeder up the driveway. The figure began to take shape. Brown hair, young. Lanky and --

She immediately hit the breaks.

The speeder skidded a few meters, the sudden stop picking up a cloud of dust that rose and spiraled around her. It felt as if ice ran down her spine, shot through her veins. Her heart jump straight at her throat and threatened to leap out of sheer shock.

No. It couldn't be. Her mind was playing tricks on her again. It had since she left.

There ain't no way Kurt could be sitting there right now.

The mind was a terrible thing, and it had brought Kurt's ghost to haunt her at by showing up at the corner of her eye. At the edge of her peripheral. She'd seen his little boy smile, the glow in his eyes, the way he'd talk come her way time and again, only to disappear. It wasn't right.

It wasn't fair.

That was just cruel.

So Kaile shut her eyes. Shut them as tightly as she possibly could. With a white knuckle grip, she clung to the wheel, taking a deep breath and yelling at her self in her mind that she had to stop it.

Stop it.

He wasn't there.

Once she opened her eyes. He'd be gone.

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Kaileann Vera"]

But he wasn't.

He wasn't gone.

He hadn't run away.

And he was no figment of her imagination.

Kurt was still there on the porch, was still there with a smile on his face and a slight slump to his shoulders. He had stood up when her speeder had come to a stop, his height accented by the odd beige paint of the house behind him. His clothes seemed to contrast with his environment. He looked tired, his hair all over the place, his eyes sunken, bruises still covering half his face and body.

But he was there.

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

Okay.

One. Two. Three.

The lids of her eyes drew open, lashes fluttering slightly to blink away the fine grit of dust. This time, he wasn't just sitting. No, he was standing.

He looked a wreck.

There were bruises all over his haggard face. A few butterfly patches over his temple. There were dark crescents under his eyes that matched hers, and oh stars... he looked as if he'd been dragged through the Nine Hells and back.

A fine trembling took Kaile, only to grow as that knot at her throat grew.

There wasn't no way. Ain't no way...

Lips trembled, and Kaile felt her eyes sting. A burn that grew as the sight of him began to blur with the influx of growing tears.

"...K-" she stuttered, stumbling over his name.

She managed it next as a hoarse plea.

"Kurt."

The next few seconds were a blur. Kaile didn't know how she managed it, but she never shot out of that speeder as fast as she did then. All her emotions were rent across her face, every bit of heartache, guilt, and desperate need. Her arms reaching to wrap around him with the desperation of a thirsty man throwing himself into an oasis after being lost in the Western Dune Sea.

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Kaileann Vera"]

Kurt could only smile. His arms wrapped around Kaile as she basically threw herself into him. The Courier nearly fell over at the force of the blow, flailing slightly but managing to catch himself by raising his leg and bracing himself against the stairs that were behind him. A wide smile passed over his lips, his arms tightening around her in a squeeze. He wanted to say something to her, he wanted to make some sort of comment or drop a witty joke, but he was speechless.

It hadn't been that long.

Not longer than two weeks, actually, but he...

Everything that he had gone through. The Explosion in The Messa, the trip on the carrier, the meeting with the Toydarian. Everything that had happened to him and everything that had threatened his chances at getting Kaile back...it just seemed too perfect for it not to be ruined. He wondered if the Sith were going to show up, if he would get a call from the Alliance that told him they were just kidding. He was expecting something, just anything to ruin this moment for them.

Yet nothing came.

Kurt simply embraced Kaile, hugging her tight and holding her. "You're coming home."

Was all that he said to her.

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

That was all he had to say to get her to break.

Face buried against his chest, her arms snaked around his torso, Kaile shuddered. It was him. It was Kurt. He was real. It wasn't her imagination and it wasn't a dream. Oh stars, let it not be a dream...

Tears fell in earnest then. "I- I'msorry. Ah didn't mean to lie to you at all. I swear. I didn't" it all came pouring out then, an intelligible insistence that she never meant to trick him or put him in any harm. Especially his parents.

The back of her hands would rub at her eyes, trying to wipe the water works away. She couldn't even go into wondering how he got here to begin with. How he was here. How did he find her and all that.

No, her focus was on him and him alone.

So when she blinked away some tears, for a few seconds of clarity she saw the damage that littered his face. Immediate concern for him sober her, her hands rushing up to cradle his face as she searched it over.

"Wh.. what happened to you?" shock filled her, and her thumbs trembled as they lightly hovered over what had been his shattered cheekbone.

"You need to get to a medic."

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Kaileann Vera"]

"It's fine." Kurt said quietly. "I'm fine."

There was authority to his tone.

He had seen a medic, and then a doctor, a very nice doctor that he was almost entirely sure that he had seduced without even trying. Briefly he wondered just how Misha was doing now on that ship, though that thought was quickly pushed away by the reminder that he now had Kaile here. He wasn't really worried about himself anyway, though he was more than glad to find out that Kaile herself was perfectly fine. He had half expected them to send her to Coruscant for "screwing up", but as it turned out a farm on Corellia was where she had landed.

Best place he supposed. "There was an accident with The Messa. Mostly fixed now, but that doesn't matter."

It really didn't.

"You're coming home with me." Kurt said with a bit more authority in his tone. She had a choice in the matter of course, but he even winced slightly as her thumb neared his shattered face, probably giving him a bit of sympathy points. "I made a deal with your boss so you can live with me again."

A boss that he was sure he'd regret in the end, not because he got Kaile back, never that, but because of new strings.

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

Large, brown eyes blinked away the remaining tears. Confusion rose, and she sniffed, her nose red from the sudden influx of emotions.

Wait what?

An accident with the Messa?

Confusion turned to shock. All the more when he dropped the notice that he had made a deal with her boss. Wait a deal with the Big Guy? With Retii?

Kaile's jaw fell, and she could only stare at him, trying to process it all. "Wh... How?" was really all she could say. Her mind was wrapped around Kurt's well being, on the fact that the Messa had an accident. On the befuddled hot mess that begged the question on how Kurt had managed to even get in contact with any of her chain of command. Yet most of all, it was this deal.

"What deal?"

A sense of panic rose rise in her again. A wariness. Perhaps even a chill in fore-bearing. Deals usually meant a give and take.

That worried her. That worried her something fierce.

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Kaileann Vera"]

Kurt's jaw tightened. This should have been the easy part really, the part where Kaile simply came home and didn't argue or say anything. That would have made all of this much more simple, and it would have meant they could simply keep on moving and get things done. He frowned slightly, grimacing as he looked down at her. The deal had been worth it. It would be worth it. He knew that confident in his heart, he didn't have to second guess it.

"Easy." He tried to make his voice more relaxed.

"You come live with me again, take your old assignment." Kurt wanted to sigh, but instead kept talking. "This time though, I know about it."

That of course left out the implication that Kurt would be partaking in some missions and helping Kaile do things more openly. Kaile would likely guess that, but she could also see by the language of his body that he was more than prepared to follow through on his end of the bargain. There was no argument or surge of rebellion in him towards that, no way to take back what he had already said. Kurt would complete his side of the deal, until Kaile moved out of her own volition or the Galactic Alliance fired her.

It was that simple.

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

Kaile could only look at him in stunned silence.

What that meant. To her. To him. That's when she rocked back, attempting to pull away from him.

That meant to a degree, his freedom. That wasn't what she wanted. She knew that how he felt about the Navy. About the Galactic Republic. She knew what it meant about him enjoying his freedom. To go where he pleased.

The strain in his voice, the tension in his body.

Her head began to shake from side to side.

"But you'd hate that." the statement came out rather hoarsely. "Kurt I couldn't ask of you to do that." that was going against who he was, and she didn't want to change that. She didn't want to challenge that.

There were things he had to come to his own accord. Forcing them because of her own situation wasn't right. It wasn't fair.

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Kaileann Vera"]

"It's already done." He probably shouldn't have said that, mostly because it wasn't true, but Kurt didn't care.

He had made this deal.

He would stick to it.

"No arguing." His tone was once again authoritative. Taking control. Kurt had been on the run for most of his life, he had either tried to run from Tatooine, tried to run from the Navy, or tried to run from some other sort of problem. He knew that, he'd always known that. The courier had admitted it to Jamie, and in a way he had admitted it to Kaile too. That run was a lonely thing, it was something that one did alone, something that you couldn't have company on. Somehow though, somehow Kaile had become his company. "It's done."

Kaile wasn't on the run, but Kurt was.

Maybe he would always be, but as long as he had Kaile with him, as long as she came with and stood beisde him, at least he wouldn't be so alone.

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

There was something that glittered in Kurt's eyes then. It was something different. Something she hadn't seen before. It was in the flex of his jaw, the straightening of his back.

Decisiveness.

He meant it.

Kaile gave a bite of her lower lip. The Lorrdian wasn't quite sure how to deal with this, and right now.. right now... The slender digits of her hands came up to rest along his chest. Her lids fell, watching her trembling hands find purchase against the wall of his chest. She felt the warmth of his body. The beat of his heart. The right and fall with every breath.

Was it too good to be true? Likely. Did she have the fear that he would come to hate her and regret his choice? Definitely.

Could she let him go regardless? Could she step away? Tell him no, say that she couldn't risk him or his family? It was an internal battle that fought with the desire to latch herself to him.

She had no right to. No right to stay at his side.

For a moment, she felt as if they were standing at that space port a year ago. Mirroring that exact moment in time when he had offered for her to stay at his ship. Until she was back on her feet. How she had denied him then, told him it was okay.

How different were they now? How different since then?

What had changed?

Slowly, Kaile would lift her head, the dark brown hair falling away from her face. The hair color may be different, but it was Kaileann who stood in front of him.

What had changed?

Her shoulders rose as she took a deep breath, staring up into the blue eyes she'd come to know so well.

I don't want to go. I don't want to leave him. I want him to stay with me.

It wasn't love. It, perhaps, went beyond that. It was the base desire of needing someone to be there. To have and hold. To keep the loneliness of the 'Verse at bay.

And right now? kalie thought to herself, falling forward to rest her forehead against his chest, needing his presence.

He was all she needed. For however long it would last. Where it might lead. She was happy with this, being by his side.

The reply was short. Simple, but would intertwine them together, with the good and the bad that the future brought their way.

"Okay."