Harm's Way (Joy)

[Cadmon Geller]

Cadmon had decided to take a more proactive approach to finding this vigilante. His gloved fist smashed hard against the cheek of some low level enforcer, blood spurting from a broken nose and dripping onto Geller's coat as he lifted the man up by his neck against the wall of the alleyway. "I'm gonna ask one more time, the feth do you know about this vigilante?" He snarled, his modulated voice coming from the faceless helmet, the image of a skull flashing briefly on the display.

"H-e-he's just some psycho I swear! I don't know chit about him man! Just that he's wiping out groups!" The man stuttered fearfully, struggling against the commando's grip. It was a commendable effort at least. Cadmon drew the man off the wall before promptly slamming him against the wall. "Look all I-I know is we've got some new ordinance, heavy duty chit, and we're gonna wipe him out." He stammered.

"Where?" Geller questioned, his free hand sliding down towards the weapon on his hip as the crook groaned in protest, eyes looking desperately to the broken military grade blaster rifle on the ground. He'd tried his best to take down Cadmon, but it had been pointless and ultimately a bit embarrassing.

"Two levels down, old warehouse on 443rd, that's all I know I sw-" Cadmon's weapon fired, a magnetically accelerated slug punched clean through the man's head and his body went limp and hit the floor of the alley. It would be the last time he tried to strong arm anyone, and that was fine by Geller.

Now he just had to get down to this warehouse.

[member="Joy Erantes-do-Nascimento"]

 

[Joy Erantes-do-Nascimento]

Coruscant, Lower Levels, Undetermined Time | The Beautiful & Damned

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Joy raised her travel mug and took a sip, scowling briefly afterwards, "Eugh, lukewarm. Gross." Her squad car was set to drift near a stream or two of traffic, imagine it, a homicide detective on glorified traffic watch. A couple more minutes and she'd be relieved, and then this whole punishment charade would be over with, and she could return to her cases, her partner, her life. Just a few more minutes of watching.

Suddenly a hovercar wooshed by, the odometer strapped to the hood letting our a shrill squeal as it clocked a speed far in excess of what was acceptable at this level. Someone was in a hurry. Cursing loudly in a foreign language, Joy set her mug back down in a cupholder and slammed on the accelerator. The sirens roared to life along with the engine and her car launched into the Coruscanti night, after the speeder who was recklessly endangering others. It was to be a chase, then. Even if this wasn't as vital as stopping a killer, she'd still be getting a skug off the airways.

Little did she know of the target painted on her back.

Someone, lining up a shot, heavy ordinance tracking the vehicle in pursuit. The night sky was alive with twinkling lights, nobody would notice this one blinking out. And suddenly Joy felt everything jolt forward as something-- Something strong --smacked into the back of her car. Various systems began to blare alarms, a sheet of sparks shooting out of a particularly broken sensor and she instinctively raised her hand to cover her face. What the feth just happened? Smoke was spewing from the engines of her car, and she could only imagine what could have possibly been done to cause that. Either way, something quickly became apparent to the detective; she was losing altitude and losing it fast.

Her squad car streaked through the air ever-downwards, passing by levels faster than she could count them. She was fighting the controls to get it level, to not be on such a violent angle with the quickly incoming ground. Crashing was inevitable now. The wheel was slick with her sweat and it was difficult to keep a grip, but she finally got the car to be a bit more level. At least now this might not kill her.

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Spoiler: Interacting With

[member="Thane Danson"]

 

[Cadmon Geller]

He'd barely made it down a level when boom, he caught site of a CSF squad car taking a nasty hit from what he could only suspect was the 'heavy duty chit' the recently created corpse had been speaking of. Cadmon grunted in frustration, if they started making noise before he got there, the damned reaper might show up and wipe them out before he got there.

And there was the nagging concern for the well being of the officer. Damned sentimentality. A part of him for some reason found himself more concerned with that than the vigilante. Especially if it concerned one [member="Joy Erantes-do-Nascimento"]. Was the chance it was her in that car a billion to one, yes it was, but she seemed to be one of the few truly good cops on the force, the planet couldn't afford to have her go out in a ball of fire.

He ran down the nighttime street towards where he assumed the car would be going down, but all around him he noticed others racing forwards, converging on the spot where the officer seemed to be going down. The gun was already in his hands, he already knew he was going to have to kill them all, might as well get started.

 

[Joy Erantes-do-Nascimento]

Coruscant, Lower Levels, Undetermined Time | The Beautiful & Damned

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Delirium had set in soon after the crash. There were aches all over, her harness having dug into her shoulders and chest from the force of the impact. It had kept her from flying out the windshield, but it also hadn't done her any favours. Nothing remained of the squad car's hood except a crumpled heap of metal buried deep in a streetcorner's pavement. Red trickled down from a gash on her forehead, from where she must have hit it in the crash. Her legs felt fine, but that didn't necessarily mean it was true.

Her vision briefly danced away as she saw double, raising a hand to her forehead with a loud grunt of pain. Her second hand moved to the harness' release clasp, bruised fingers fumbling with the broken switch to free herself. If the fuel in the car ignited before she could escape, well... That'd be one hell of an ending, and one hell of a light show for Coruscant.

It seemed that something was on her side tonight though and the harness released after a precious second or two of struggle, but that was still time lost. Tossing the mesh strapping aside Joy focused then on the driver-side door, which was partially twisted like the front of the wreck. Scowling at that, she tried to pull her legs out from under the dashboard, and use them to help in forcing the door open. There was no chance in hell she'd smash the glass, that was transparisteel, helpful in riots but useless now.

Bright lights momentarily distracted her. There were approaching hovercars, maybe it was some help, good samaritans and all. Or, she thought bitterly, I'm down so deep in Coruscant's rotten core that not everyone here's glad to see CSF sirens.

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Spoiler: Interacting With

[member="Thane Danson"]

 

[Cadmon Geller]

The first shot rang out, Cadmon had drawn out a sidearm and put a blaster bolt through the skull of a thug who'd run up to the door of the downed squad car, a scattergun hanging in his free hand before it clattered to the ground alongside its dead owner. Heads turned to face the masked figure, only for two more two go down as a magnetically accelerated round to punch through the chest of one, and blaster bolt scorching the throat of another.

Guns akimbo, Geller made his approach as fast and as brutally efficient as possible. Other thugs struggled to raise their blasters, a few getting off several quick shots before being put down as well. In the thirty or so seconds it took him to close the gap between himself and [member="Joy Erantes-do-Nascimento"]'s squad car, five of Coruscant's vilest had left the realm of the living.

Hovercars were coming in fast, way too fast. Holstering his weapons Geller scooped up a tool one of the thugs had been carrying about, some sort of energy tool meant for scrapping speeders, or cutting into cars alternatively. "Cutting the door, try not to shoot." Came the modulated voice as he began cutting away at some of the metal keeping the door in place.

Inside, he saw exactly who he had/had not wanted to see. Joy. She wouldn't recognize him hopefully, what with the mask and all, but he'd never been one to take certainty in things. So he prepared himself for the possibility of being kicked in the face as he finished cutting, the door falling from its hinges and onto the ground.

 

[Joy Erantes-do-Nascimento]

Coruscant, Lower Levels, Undetermined Time | The Beautiful & Damned

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Blaster fire confirmed her second theory. Anything they could take from the speeder would make a couple credits on the market, but she hadn't expected it to be worth a shootout. Still, she couldn't quite get the door open with her wobbling strength. And, even if she could, it sounded as though the only greeting she'd get would be a barrel under her chin. Fate seemingly kept smiling on her. A masked hero, not exactly a sight she'd been banking or even hoping to see. Still he seemed helpful enough, and for now, Joy resisted the urge to kick like an angry mule once she got a shot at her mysterious would-be savior. Unless, of course, he just planned to shoot her the moment he got passed that bulletproof exterior.

As the door disconnected with it's hinges and slid to the ground like a heap of slag, Joy pulled herself up to try and scramble out of the wreck, like a buck learning how to walk for the first time, legs shaky and unsteady and she inevitably fell first against the scorched side of the car, then him, her wounded shoulder on his side -- Curses flashed through her head like warning bells, and she spat out one word, born out of sheer annoyance, in his general direction. How the mighty fall.

"Help."

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Spoiler: Interacting With

[member="Thane Danson"]

 

[Cadmon Geller]

The slightest of smiles crossed his face as she fell against him, his hands quickly shooting up to steady her as she forced herself to ask for his assistance. Wordlessly he put the detective's arm over his shoulder, keeping the woman upright as he helped her towards an abandoned store, hopefully out of site temporarily for the oncoming thugs. "Can you still shoot?" He questioned as he helped her along, withholding any snarky jabs for another time.

He knew that the chances of them making hostile contact within the next five minutes was by all means certain. He was ready, for that eventuality, but he wasn't sure if the officer fresh off of being in a crash was. Then again, [member="Joy Erantes-do-Nascimento"] struck him as the tough type, as a fighter, so he wouldn't count her out of anything.

"Thanks for not shooting me." Geller grumbled, debating if removing his helmet would be a move which got him shot.

 

[Joy Erantes-do-Nascimento]

Coruscant, Lower Levels, Undetermined Time | The Beautiful & Damned

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"Yeah, kriff, I think so."

In reality, she wasn't sure or confident. Her upper body certainly faired better than her lower half from the crash, but her shoulders still felt bruised and her neck ached from the whiplash. And her fingers were especially stiff, but, she knew that if she had to, she could squeeze the trigger of a blaster and take out assailants if need be. And that need would be soon.

A hoarse laugh left her as her strange saviour thanked her though, and she shook her head a little limply, "Day isn't over yet." It was nothing but a lighthearted jab. For the moment the officer and the masked vigilante were on the same side, which meant all threats of arrest or true violence were to be stowed until needed, "Where are we? What- What level?'

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Spoiler: Interacting With

[member="Thane Danson"]

 

[Cadmon Geller]

“Then get ready, company’s coming. Military grade ordinance.” Responded the helmeted figure, a blurb of text sprawling across his faceplate ‘KILL KILL KILL’. Geller didn’t have much in the way of controlling what the gear projected exactly, supposedly it was linked to his mind through some neural bantha-chit he’d never bothered to have explained, he was a man of dark thoughts, so whatever it cooked up was suitable for the work he was doing.

Reloading the revolver, loading in more slugs to be spun up and hammered into the criminals coming to attempt a scalping of a CSF officer, he let out a soft chuckle at the jab. He’d have thought of some sort of counter if time hadn’t been of the essence.

“We’re on 1316, square between Feshio Cartel and Sons of Dengar territory.” Cadmon answered the woman’s inquiry, readying the hand cannon as the wild enforcers of the aforementioned cartel piled out of their airspeeders, an assortment of Sith Empire standard issue arms primed for use. Geller had lived his entire life throwing the first punch, ending fight before they could even start, stamping out the sparks of rebellion before they managed to so much as cast a shadow.

Today would be no different. He hefted up the gauss weapon and squeezed the trigger, the weapon kicking against his grasp as it speared a round through one thug and into another, the text on his flaceplate flashing and being replaced with a single line of basic.

Hello Darkness

[member="Joy Erantes-do-Nascimento"]

 

[Joy Erantes-do-Nascimento]

Coruscant, Lower Levels, Undetermined Time | The Beautiful & Damned

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Her standard-issue blaster pistol had, by some miracle, gotten out of the attack relatively unscathed. 1316, right between two karked off syndicates. Just her luck. Joy scowled and took partial cover behind the shopkeeper's counter, the barrel of her blaster sticking out and it didn't take long for her to start taking shots at the approaching enemy.

The masked man, meanwhile, was on a true offensive even as she kept back. That, she could tell, was a real soldier. It was the way he held himself, it was the way ex-military who went into the CSF held themselves. Who, on Coruscant, was he? Such questions could wait. One of her shots was well-placed and smacked into an enemy's knee, downing one without being necessarily lethal. That alone was enough to show a different -- He killed, she disabled.

What a team.

"Did you say military grade? What are we dealing with here?"

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Spoiler: Interacting With

[member="Thane Danson"]

 

[Cadmon Geller]

She was holding back, not going to finish the job, which simply meant he'd have to finish the job later. Ammo wasn't cheap, but he wan't about to start an argument with the woman who he was trusting not to shoot him in the back at present. He squeezed of another shot before ducking down, a particle beam from a Sith standard LMG strafing the surfaces within the small store, tearing apart some of the two's cover.

Eager not to die, he popped back up and shot the offending Twi'lek squarely in the chest, blowing out their ribcage before any more attacks could be made. "Sith Empire standard iss-!" He was cut off when a magnetically accelerated round from one of the rifles nicked the side of his helmet, flooring him and rendering the helmet useless until he could get suitable repairs.

In spite of the throbbing in his head, it wasn't the pain, or the two or so remaining shooters that worried him, it was that the helmet was now going to have to come off, at least until he could reboot it properly. "Please refrain from shooting me," He grumbled as his hands went up and pulled the helmet away from his face. "until after the firefight is over." Cadmon finished, his voice no longer modulated and identity no longer concealed by anything other than the dim light of the room. He then promptly rolled out of cover and took the head off of the shooter who'd just inflicted a nasty headache and possible concussion upon him.

[member="Joy Erantes-do-Nascimento"]

 

[Joy Erantes-do-Nascimento]

Coruscant, Lower Levels, Undetermined Time | Heaven On Hold

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"It's you."

A stream of quiet curses left her mouth in an alien language, and she mentally kicked herself. Of course, it was. Who else? Who else would be so brazen and stupid and--

And, admittedly, a little heroic. Just a bit. Joy's scowl was one that would make even a Knight of Ren cry as those Nyraanian eyes could easily pierce the veil of darkness to make out those annoying facial features of his. No mistaking it, it was him, the one she had followed into a burning building, who she was still responsible for arresting. A new white-hot flame of wrath was stoked inside, "No fethin' promises on that one, Geller! This chit all better not be just for your sorry ass." Still, she tried to cover him, even as the particle beam sliced away at the counter she was trusting with her life. A comrade down was a comrade down, and Joy tagged the one who had hit him square in the gut, and he dropped like a stone. Now that one would hurt.

"Have we considered getting out of here?"

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Spoiler: Interacting With

[member="Thane Danson"]

 

[Cadmon Geller]

"It's me." Cadmon shot back, raising his eyebrows in faux surprise, then squeezing the trigger and dropping the last of the attackers with lethal precision. Rolling onto his knees he grumbled something about 'this being all for her sorry ass since she was the one who got shot down' before reaching over to his helmet and inspecting the damage. Holstering the pistol he rose up his feet and let the helmet hand at his side in one hand as he walked out of the store, his other hand holding a blaster pistol. "It's a pleasure to see you too detective."

Callously, he executed the wounded [member="Joy Erantes-do-Nascimento"] had left behind in a blur of motion and crimson blaster bolts. Last thing he needed was living witnesses chalking him up to be the vigilante, and portraying Joy as a collaborator of some kind. That scenario ended badly for both of them, probably with them strung up like that swoop gang on 1313. Prepping himself for the verbal accosting he was sure would follow his termination of the living garbage, Geller let out a harsh sigh.

"1316 is crawling with thugs this time of night, and as of right now they've got our quickest method of karking off locked down." He sighed, jutting a thumb to the bent and broken wreckage of Joy's squad car. "Walking's the only option right now. We make it to 1313, Coratanni territory, and we should be fine." The aforementioned cartel had made a brutal statement against any rivals who dared operate on their turf, and had likely paid the CSF enough to where a lone officer wasn't going to be cause for concern.

That was what passed for safety down here, and at present it was their best chance.

 

[Joy Erantes-do-Nascimento]

Coruscant, Lower Levels, Undetermined Time | Heaven On Hold

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Joy's face twisted as she watched the heartless ends to those she thought to have spared, a growing pain in her midsection from the rekindled rage forming there. Or the fact that the combat adrenaline was beginning to cycle out of her system was starting to take its toll on the detective's battered body. Either way, she did something a little more unlike herself and didn't rebuke him verbally, but that disappointed and angry look she gave him spoke far louder than she ever could.

His plan was admittedly solid. She didn't work organized crime-- Nor did she plan to, that was a side of this planet Joy didn't want to see --but she couldn't argue with anything Cadmon had said. Burying a sigh and stumbling around the shredded cover she had taken, she slid the blaster back into it's holster and offered him a callous nod, "We do it your way then. For now. Just until we're safe."

Nothing more, nothing less.

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Spoiler: Interacting With

[member="Thane Danson"]

 

[Cadmon Geller]

"Course, once we're out of harms way feel free to go back to hunting the big bad Blackblade." He remarked callously, clipping the broken helmet to his belt and approaching the stumbling officer with hands raised. Carefully, he put [member="Joy Erantes-do-Nascimento"]'s arm over his shoulder to provide her with some support. "You'll slow us down otherwise." Cadmon stated matter-of-factly to excuse his helping the officer along. He really hoped she didn't just place her blaster in his side and pull the trigger. Wouldn't have been the first time, Cipher's had been a complicated lot.

If she allowed it, Cadmon would lead them through a winding maze of alleys as Cartel speeders zipped overhead, armed to the teeth and eager to avenge the recent massacre. Thankfully they weren't thinking to look in the back alleys of 1316, expecting the downed officer to duck and run in the first available speeder. As he'd been taught from a young age, playing to expectations was a good way to get oneself killed.

The silence between them was awkward to say the least, but Geller's heavy eyes remained set forward, his lips seal, and the essence of anger hanging over the old stormtrooper. What was there to say anyway? She was an Allaince-loyal cop, he was the embodiment of what she stood against, of what the people of Coruscant, the people she swore to protect and serve, hated more than anything. There was likely nothing to be said at all. Not a single thing.

"The hell were you doing in a squad speeder this deep?"

Damn it.

 

[Joy Erantes-do-Nascimento]

Coruscant, Lower Levels, Undetermined Time | Heaven On Hold

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"Like I had a choice in that, some chithole was speeding and I was on traffic watch. He just so happened to be taking off down here, then, you know, kaboom..." Joy trailed off, not exactly able to deny his help with walking. She would slow them down otherwise. Gritting her teeth, a slight and gentle whine leaving her throat and she spoke hoarsely, "Didn't expect that. Guess CSF isn't too popular in these parts. Is that common?" A hint of humour had seeped into her final question. Yes, the silence had been awkward. Her stubborn streak had always burned bridges instead of building them, but maybe for once, for this mad night of shootouts and fumbled chases and the cops and robbers versus the world, she could just put that aside. Just box those feelings up and store them somewhere else for the evening.

Joy did, however, half-expect some deprecating remark on why a homicide detective had been put on, of all things, traffic watch, but she couldn't care less. Once she reported back to the station she doubted any officer in the room would turn their nose up at her. And if they did she'd break it. Simple. Dog eat dog world. Her hand had normally been coiled around her holster but now moved to her side where a pain had sharpened, applying minimal pressure to try and relieve some of it, "A-Almost there?"

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Spoiler: Interacting With

[member="Thane Danson"]

 

[Cadmon Geller]

"You'd know better than I, I only got on world a few weeks ago." Geller answered, eyes scanning the skyline as they neared a lift that would hopefully bring them up at least one level. Then she began to waver, and any thoughts of a quip about traffic duty escaped his mind. She was hurting, not in such bad condition that she needed to be in a hospital or anything of that sort like he could tell, but some time to rest her leg might be of benefit.

Looking down on the Nyrinnian woman, a hint of compassion hanging in his gaze. "Lift to 1315 is just up ahead, got a spot we can sit tight at for an hour or so until you're good to move." Cadmon informed the detective, extending a metaphorical hand to his enemy. Was that the right word? Adversary? Slightly agitated acquaintances one of which wanted to arrest the other? He wasn't sure.

Regardless of her answer he'd lead them over to the lift, having scanned the area the same way he'd have checked for rebel snipers not so long ago. Quickly getting them inside, he'd place a thumb to the control, and send the lift upwards before looking out over the sublevel. Neon light painted the two of them from the fluorescent signs below, the colors glinting in his eyes as he looked down on the sprawl below.

Flashes from his memory reminding him of when he'd seen it burn.

[member="Joy Erantes-do-Nascimento"]

 

[Joy Erantes-do-Nascimento]

Coruscant, Lower Levels, Undetermined Time | Heaven On Hold

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Her own quip was buried under another, smaller wave of pain but it had something to do with going out to dinner first before heading to his place. She couldn't recall it, much less speak it, her brain clearly prioritizing other things than sass. Survival, probably. Joy's eyebrows pushed together after a period of quiet and all she managed out before they entered the elevator was, "You too, took a shot to the head n'all... Those are bad, you know."

Awkwardly, Joy re-adjusted her posture as much as she could in the turbolift. Their considerable height different didn't help with that, if he moved too quickly for her to keep up she'd get swept away or flat-out dragged, and she was limited in how much she could move with her arm around his neck and shoulder like that -- Too much of that, and she'd be left on the tips of her toes, or even just picked up. Irritating. He had the advantage, as usual.

For a moment she joined him in watching but soon found more value in observing Cadmon himself as opposed to the cityscape. She definitely didn't trust him still, not by a long shot, and definite parts of her distressed mind questioned why he'd chosen to continue helping her. They'd had something happen at that explosion site, definitely, but prior to that they had been the hunter and hunted. A cop looking for another tally to her arrest count, and a perp desperately avoiding. Then the blood roared in her ears and Joy winced again, her voice a little dimmer now, "And what sort of 'spot' are you taking us to?"

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Spoiler: Interacting With

[member="Thane Danson"]

 

[Cadmon Geller]

Truth be told the safehouse wasn't much, just a dingy old room where they'd have to keep their voices down not to alert the army of thugs that prowled the nighttime streets. "A safe one." He managed to say, the snark in his response fading away as his head hammered. She'd been right, hits to the head were generally bad and meant to be avoided, and while the new helmet was practical enough, it didn't hold up compared to the gear he'd once known.

Careful not to drag or outright pick up the officer, he lead her towards the holdout, the two failing to raise any eyebrows as they moved past junkies and enforcers alike. To them they looked like nothing more than other down-on-their luck residents of these slums, likely some who ran afoul some local muscle, but not enough to warrant another beating.

He quietly opened the door to the small apartment complex and lead [member="Joy Erantes-do-Nascimento"] to the last door, slowly easing it open and revealing a fairly nondescript room. A few empty bottles, a mattress lying in one corner, and little else. Stopping by the bed he waited for the detective to sit herself down on it, he had a small military issue aid kit stashed away which he'd pass to her accordingly, then he supposed he'd ensure she was alright before leaning back against the wall and making sure he didn't fall asleep.

"Guess I'll have to torch this place." Cadmon remarked, it had been compromised by the officer after his arrest after all, after tonight it wouldn't be a safehouse anymore.

 

[Joy Erantes-do-Nascimento]

Coruscant, Lower Levels, Undetermined Time | Heaven On Hold

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Joy rolled her eyes at his comment, reclining slightly on the dingy mattress with the kit in her lap. Painkillers were the first things in order, popping a small white pill without hesitation before she began topical bacta treatments. Slowly, the sharpness began to ebb away as she spoke in a voice that was less shaken by the pain, already sounding back to her old self just like the cocky cop from the bar, "It's Coruscant. I suppose you'll find somewhere equally as dirty to hide out." But behind her words, there was a touch of gratitude. Just enough to be noticeable, but the majority of it was buried under the recovering pride.

The following silence festered her mind. Now that pain wasn't an issue, she could focus on everything that had happened. And finally she looked up to him, crossing her arms a little defensively before she started talking again, almost a bit warily, "So, since we're here... Since you're here..." Clearing her throat briefly, Joy mustered a shred of courage before staring him down, the interrogator in her starting to awaken after quite a long rest, "That bombing. The investigation hasn't been going well, I hear." It was her own metaphorical hand being extended. She'd taken his, now Joy could only hope that Cadmon would respond in kind, at least without biting her head off.

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Spoiler: Interacting With

[member="Cadmon Geller"]