769. Behind You - Raezyr

Sorah Kavel swiped the keycard closing the big overhead door behind her. She was tired and beat. Literally. The sun was almost mid-way in it's journey across the sky. She was already late to pick up her daughter. That wouldn't be happening now; not for a while longer, anyway.

She walked quickly down the deserted alley toward the street. First thing, she had to find out exactly where she was. Second, she needed to get in contact with her old friend, Marla Greywick. If anyone could help her out, it was her old friend with whom she had escaped their old gang life. Besides, someone may be coming after her next.

They had decided it would be best to go their separate ways in order to be less conspicuous when starting their new lives, but they had agreed upon a way to get each other a message in the case an emergency should arise. Sorah decided this would probably qualify.

She made it out to the street, and within a few blocks, was able to hail a taxi to take her back to her apartment.

--------------------

Marla Greywick sat at the computer terminal of her security station checking the daily reports. She had been able to turn her acquired skills from her former gang life into a job working for a small security firm. Luckily enough, she had been low key enough in the gang that she had never accrued any wants or warrants for her arrest and thus had a clean enough back ground check to be hired in this line of work.

She enjoyed it, and it payed fairly well. Many of her skills were in the area of computer slicing, but in her security training she had proved more than competent in hand-to-hand fighting and small weapons combat. She let the instructors "teach" her and by the end they thought she was their prize pupil. She never let on that she probably could have kicked their tails on the first day of class.

After graduation, she quickly became one of the top security agents in the company. At the moment she was between assignments and in the office catching up on the paperwork end of her job. But the first thing Marla did each day was to check for messages from Sorah. It had been a habit she had gotten into early on. Even though there was never any communique, she checked it anyway. She didn't want to miss something if there was.

As she checked the secure message box, she sat bolt upright in her chair. She couldn't believe her eyes. One new message in the inbox. She opened it. It was short and sweet. "MG- Need advice - SK."

The slim security agent deleted all traces of the message, then calmly erased any trace of having accessed the message box as she did every day, just to be on the safe side. She calmly stood up, straightened her short waisted black jacket and walked toward the door. She made her way to the back corner of the parking garage where various speeders, swoop bikes and shuttles were parked before she pulled out her comm.

She punched in a number and waited. She didn't have to wait long. A familiar female voice came over the ear piece in Marla's ear. "Go ahead."

"Are you okay?" Marla asked.

Silence for a moment, then, "How did you get my comm frequency so fast?"

Marla bit her lip, now it was time to fess up. "I hope you're not mad, but... I've been keeping tabs on you."

First a sigh, then a chuckle. "I don't know why I was surprised. I should have known... it's so good to hear your voice... I've missed you."

"I've missed you too... You know I... well, I missed you... very much," Marla stammered. Emotions came flooding back as she listened to her friend's voice. Quickly she pulled herself together. "But what's going on? You didn't contact me to tell me that."

Sorah Kavel filled her friend in on what had been happening. She spared no details and told her of her suspicions and even what had happened last night, and Marla let her explain without interrupting. Finally she finished by asking, "What do you think I should do now?"

"First, get out of your apartment. Don't let anyone see you. Meet me at the place we spent our first night... away," she told her friend, referring to the first night after they had fled from the gang. "The Security Police could be looking for you if they're investigating that speeder crash, and if they find you that could spell a lot of trouble, not just for you, but for your daughter as well. I'll meet you there as soon as possible."

"Thanks," came Sorah's voice on the other end.

"You know it's nothing," Marla responded, and cut the connection.

Quickly she went back into the offices. She hadn't taken any personal time since she was hired, and she had some leisure time coming to her. Since she was between assignments, now would be a logical time to take it.

First she sat down at the computer and made her way through the electronic world to the Security Police computer systems. Any slicer worth their pay could get in if they really wanted to, and Marla was better than most. It didn't take her long to find and scan the reports from the crash investigation. At the moment it appeared their preliminary ruling was that the crash was an accident due to mechanical failure of the speeder, but until they had completed a detailed diagnostic and analysis of the speeder, they wanted to determine the identity of a female eye-witness who reportedly fled the scene in case she had any other information to add.

She made not of the information, then closed it out, erasing all traces of her indescretion. On her way toward the door, she popped her head into her bosses office on the way toward the door. "Taking some leisure days, chief."

"Um, okay..." the Bothan male who was her boss said, looking up from his computer. He just had time to catch sight of the slim, dark-haired woman exiting his office. "... but ah, when will you be back?"

The only answer was the whoosh of the doors closing as Marla left the building.

768. Behind You - Raezyr

"If you won't tell me, then I guess we'll have to do this the hard way," Sorah managed to tell her attacker as his grip tightened on her throat.

"Ooh. I like the hard way," he replied, a creepy grin on his face.

The man was twice Sorah's size, but she had no choice. She knew if she ever wanted to see Karla or any of her family again, it was going to be up to her. Up until now, she had played the victim, hoping to get some easy answers. In the holodramas, the bad guys always liked to talk and spill the chorga beans after he thought he had won.

She stopped trying to pry his hands from her throat, and shot her fist straight out, catching the man in the throat. It took him by surprise and he released his grip and let her go, backing up and fighting for his own breath now.

Sorah didn't let up. During her time in the gangs she had learned early on how to handle herself in a male dominated world. Nobody had handed her anything, and she sure as bantha poodoo didn't ride his coat tails. She moved straight into a martial fighting stance and launched a series of kicks, aimed at the stranger's midsection.

She hadn't allowed any time for him to recover, but he was good. Better than she'd hoped. Still gagging from the blow to his windpipe, he blocked her kicks and backed up. It was clear he hadn't been ready to deal with this. Apparently he had assumed she was some helpless waitress. He had been wrong.

Sorah didn't let up or give him time to recover. She rained a quick succession of punches and kicks, driving him further back.

Spinning, she threw a round house kick, heel aimed at his head, but this time he didn't block or duck, he stepped in and caught her leg. With pure brute strength, he swung her, using some of her own momentum from the kick to send her flying.

She slammed into the wall with a dull thud and crumpled to the floor. Quickly she tried to pick herself up, but he was on her too fast. Halfway to her feet, she caught a boot the ribs which slammed her back into the wall and back down to the floor.

He grabbed her by the hair, and jerked her to her knees, forcing Sorah to look up at him. "Oh, you don't know how I'm going to enjoy this. You can't imagine the pain and suffering you just added to your already horrible death."

"Please, no." Sorah begged, struggling to speak through the pain. "What if I'm good?"

"Good?" the man chuffed with contempt.

"Yeah, I'm sure there's... something... I can give you to convince you to end this quickly."

"There's nothing you can offer me that I can't and won't take from you," he sneered, then through his head back and laughed.

It was the opening she needed. Sorah drove her fists upward with all her might.

The stranger crumpled to the ground, moaning.

Sorah scrambled to her feet as the creep tried to do the same, but he was done. Over and over Sorah rained kicks and fist strikes on the stranger. He was able to block a few, but not enough; too distracted by the pain in his groin.

This time her round-house kick ended it, connecting solidly with his jaw. His head snapped back like it was on a hinge and the rest of his body followed in slow motion, tipping backward until he hit the floor like felled tree.

Sorah kicked him in the ribs for good measure.

------------------

The stranger woke up to the shock of being drenched with cold water. His head was still groggy from the fight and he struggled to make sense of what was happening. He was still in the warehouse room, but he couldn't move. Looking down he noticed he was now seated in the broken chair, but his hands and legs were lashed in place.

A hand grabbed his hair and jerked his head backwards and he found himself staring into the face of a very angry woman whom he was beginning to suspect might not really be a waitress.

"Now you're going to tell me what I want to know and I'll kill you quickly," she said. He noticed she had a length of durasteel re-bar in her other hand.

He smiled. "I'm not giving you any information."

She smiled a smile that had no humor. "I was actually kind of hoping you'd say that. You see, when I'm done with you, there's no relevant information in that brain of yours that I can't and won't take from you."

He heard the crack of his kneecap shattering when the re-bar struck.

767. Behind You - Raezyr

Sorah's feet pounded on the pavement as she struggled to see through the tears. She knew she wasn't crazy anymore. There was no way this was an accident. That speeder was meant for her and the stranger with the even stranger hat knew something about it.

Still, something was nagging at the back of her mind.  Ignoring that, she ran onward, thankful she had worn a pair of lace-up, flat-heeled boots tonight. He quarry was fast, but not fast enough. Slowly, she was catching the human as he ducked through back alleys and deeper into the city sector known as the Vista, which was anything but.

Most of the buildings in this sector were run down; ancient, out of business factories; unused shipping warehouses and tenements that were falling apart at the seams dominated this sector of the city. Sorah guessed it was no accident he had run this direction.

She turned hard and followed him down a dark alley. She had closed the gap to about fifteen meters when he turned and ducked into a building through a wide open door. She didn't hesitate for a second, but the instant she was inside, she knew what had been bugging her.

The man had kept looking back, almost as if he didn't want to lose her, almost as if he were trying to lead her somewhere specific. She tried to stop, to turn back, but the door slammed shut behind her.

Mentally she berated herself. She had been so blinded by her grief and rage that she hadn't been thinking clearly and had let herself walk straight into a trap.

But it wasn't like she had any option. She couldn't have stayed with Drae and waited for the authorities. They would have started asking questions, questions she'd have to answer, and in her old life, she hadn't always operated inside the law. She had no idea if she might end up in prison. She couldn't take the chance that they would take Karla away.

No, even had she realized it was a trap, she'd have had no other option but to spring it anyway.

The building had gone pitch black once the door shut, and she stood stock still, listening for anything, for any movement to give her a clue where the stranger was.

Suddenly a single overhead glow rod clicked on, it's meager light illuminating what appeared to be a storage room of some sort. The only exits were the overhead door she had run in from the alley, and another walk-in door on the opposite wall about ten meters away. The room itself was about ten by ten meters and other than a broken chair, a few abandoned pallets and bits and pieces of discarded trash, the room was empty.

Except for the stranger with the oddly shaped black hat. He stood near the interior door, his hand on the room controls and with the other he pushed the hat back on his head.

"It's time for you and I to get acquainted a little bit better," he said with a creepy grin on his face, then slid the keys to the controls into his pocket.

A cold feeling grew in the pit of Sorah's stomach, yet she pushed it down. "Who are you, and what do you want with me?"

He shook his head slowly and began walking toward her. "You misunderstand. When I that we'll get acquainted, I don't mean we'll be answering questions. No, no, no, no. I mean that you'll be dying a slow, torturous death, and I'll be learning how best to make you suffer."

Sorah backed up, looking around futilely for somewhere to run, yet she knew she was locked in with this animal, and the only way out was with the key in his pocket. Finally, he had her backed into the corner. "Just tell me why."

"Oh, where would the fun in that be?" he said, then lunged the last couple meters. He grabbed her by the throat and slammed her into the wall. He leaned in close and whispered in her ear. "No, this will be so much more terrifying for you if you don't know why it's happening.. and so much more satisfying for me."

766. Behind You - Raezyr

Tomorrow she'd go get Karla. It'd been four whole days and she'd done everything she could think of to entice the man in the hat into appearing again, but to no avail. She'd made sure that she took a new route to work each day, hoping he'd follow her. She'd wandered the streets by herself long after it was considered safe to do so in this area of the city.

There was always the possibility that she had scared him off by changing her routines, yet at the same time she'd offered so many chances for him to act on whatever he had planned that he would have done it by now. Hell, she'd even left her apartment unlocked, as crazy as that was.

Still, nothing had come of it. She'd never admit that she was paranoid. For someone escaping from the kind of life she used to lead, a bit of paranoia was a good thing.

Still, she had to admit that she might have over done it. Not on Karla's end. There were no boundaries to the measures she'd take to make sure that the precious gift her former boyfriend had given her was safe from harm. What she was beginning to worry about was Drae.

Since the night at the club, she'd had little contact with him, even at work. She didn't want the would-be, and probably imaginary thug to hurt him just to get to her, but she could tell it was taking it's toll on Drae. He was a good guy, and with no explanation for her distance, she could see he was beginning to get frustrated.

But that was done now. Tonight she'd make Drae take her to a show, and afterward, maybe breakfast if the guy played his cards right.  It was time to reward him for his patience and to see if this this relationship could make the leap from potential to kinetic.

She walked into the Stardust a few minutes before her shift was to begin and headed into the back room to hang up her jacket. Drae was there, just pulling a clean apron from the shelf. He slipped the loop over his head and looked over at the dark haired waitress. "I'm not really sure what's going..." he began, but was interrupted when she pressed her lips on his for a brief second.

"What's going on, if you were about to ask, is that tonight you're taking me to supper and a holomovie and afterwards... we'll play it by ear," she said with a coy smile, then slipped out.

Drae stood there, still mid sentence, watching her leave. "Just when I think I'm about to figure females out..."

The owner, a portly green Ortolan named Meejor poked his head out of the office from around the corner. "If you think human females are a pain, try an Ortolan."

Drae chuckled as he headed toward the kitchen. "Yeah, not today, boss."

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It was dark by the time Sorah Kavel and Drae Takoto left the holotheater, yet the foot and speeder traffic on the street was as busy as ever, which was just business as usual for a city this size. Together they walked down the street, Sorah's arm tucked through his.

"Drae, I'm pretty lucky I found you," she said leaning her head on his shoulder. "I'm sorry that I've been acting a bit weird lately."

"It's nothing," Drae said.

Sorah stopped and turned to him. "No, it's something, and before this... whatever this is, goes any further, you have to know what you're getting into."

The young man shook his head. "If you're going to try to tell me about your past again, I don't want to know. They're your secrets, and secrets of the past should be kept hidden away, especially if they have no bearing on today."

"That's just it," she continued. "Maybe they don't have any bearing on today; maybe they will have no bearing ever. The thing is that they could just as easily have an impact right now, and that's why I will always have keep looking behind me."

Drae leaned in and kissed her. For a moment, they stood there, together, alone on the busy street. Finally she pulled gently away. "I'm serious, Drae."

"Fine... tell me, but not tonight," he said. "Tonight, let's be in the moment and not think about the past."

Sorah looked into his eyes. For a brief moment, she almost told him she loved him.

Suddenly, he grabbed her and threw her sideways as the world exploded around her with a loud bang and the sound of shrieking metal.

Instantly she rolled to her feet, spinning to see what had just happened. It was a moment before Sorah's mind could wrap itself around the image before her. A speeder, blood-covered, crumpled, mangled, smashed against the building in the exact spot she had been standing just a moment before. Drae. Where was he? Frantically, she looked around.

Like a wave it hit her and her mind went numb. Drae was wedged in between the crumpled durasteel speeder frame and the permacrete wall of the building behind him.

"Nooo!" she screamed, and reached for the young man. Clambering across the twisted metal she grabbed at his body. She pulled his face into her hands. "Drae, look at me!" she shouted. "You look at me, damn it!"

His eyes were open, but she didn't need a medic to tell her he was already gone.

Sorah looked around at the gathering crowd. "Someone, help me, please!" she screamed, begging. Suddenly her eyes locked onto one onlooker in particular.

There stood the man in the hat. He was in the back of the crowd, speaking on a comm and shaking his head 'no.' Almost as if he could feel her gaze, he looked up and their eyes locked.

"You!" she said and pointed. Several in the crowd turned to see what she was pointing at.

The man in the black hat bolted.

765. Behind You - Raezyr and Trychon

It was a local band playing a local bar. Coruscant Skyes, they called themselves. It wasn't the most original name, but they were popular in the area and at least their music was danceable. Sorah glanced up on stage and wondered if any of the band members had ever even been off-planet, let alone to Coruscant.

The thought started her mind drifting to some of the places she'd been in her lifetime. Quickly, she pulled those thoughts back in. They were exactly what she was trying to take a break from.

She looked at Drae and smiled. He was a terrible dancer, but he was giving it a good try. She admired him for it, at the same time trying not to feel sorry for his lack of rhythm. He smiled back, blissfully unaware of his own awkwardness.

Sorah laughed. It felt good to let go. To let the rhythmic beating of the bass flow through her, moving her body almost involuntarily, to feel the alcohol slowly numbing her senses. She grabbed Drae by the waist and pulled him close, hoping to lend him some of her timing. He slid his hands down onto her hips, moving and swaying as she was.

The dance floor was packed, and beings from all over were packed together, all moving to the sounds, but Sorah wasn't noticing them anymore. The man in her arms, moving in time with her body, bent his head down to the spot where her neck met her shoulder, and she tilted her head ever so slightly, making room for the lips that were brushing her neck.

Suddenly something caught her eye. Way in the back of the bar. Drae noticed the sudden stiffness in his dance partner. "What is it?" he asked in her ear, trying to look in the direction she was.

"It's him!" she yelled back, just loud enough to be heard over the music.

"Him, who?"

"The guy from today, the man with the hat," Sorah said.

"So?"

"Well, he's not a regular. Why would he be here if he's not a regular?" she asked.

Drae wasn't convinced. "We're not regulars either."

"But at least we're local... that guy isn't!" she stopped for a second. A second ago it seemed logical and dangerous, but now that it was spoken aloud, it seemed ridiculous. She said as much.

Drae put his hands on her shoulders. "No, if you think it might be a problem, let's go talk to the guy." He turned and started looking for him. "Where is he standing?"

Sorah looked to the back corner where she had seen the stranger, but he was no longer there. Frantically she searched the crowded room, but was unable to locate the man. "I... I don't see him now."

She wondered if she ever had.

----------------------

“No, I know you said that.”  Sorah tapped her foot impatiently as she listened to her cousin on the comm the next morning.  “I’m sure it’s nothing, but I want to be careful.  Karla’s everything to me and you know that.” 

“Thank you.”  She hung up the call.  Her cousin was great, but she did like to give her a hard time.  She loved Karla too, and was ecstatic to have her for a few extra days, despite her tone on the call.  Anyone else, and Sorah wouldn’t have been honest and open about her paranoia… but she trusted her cousin.

Now that she didn’t have to worry about her daughter getting caught up in this mess she may have weaved for herself, she felt a lot better.  Whether she was imagining it or not, she could take care of herself.  She just couldn’t live with herself if she endangered her daughter.

That drove everything now.  Her budding feelings for Drae, her seemingly indestructible feelings for her ex and how they complicated things, her own life… all of that was trivial next to her daughter’s safety.

If she wasn’t imagining things, those responsible were in some serious trouble for even coming within distance of her daughter.  Then she’d have to come to terms and deal with her own part in it, after she took care of everyone else involved.

Her boiling rage over the potentially imaginary creeps was beginning to subside and she was calming down as she walked the streets clearing her mind when she saw the hat again.

She did not have to take the time to think before she jumped into action.  His back was turned to her, looking into a shop window a block and a half away.  She didn’t care if he saw her sprinting at him.  If he reacted, that would only prove him guilty.

She was on him in a matter of seconds.  He was still pretending to stare at the mannequins through the transparisteel when she got to him.  She allowed the full force of her body to slam into him and push him into the solid barrier as hard as she could.  She was a fairly petite woman, but it was not a horrible disadvantage if you knew how to deal with it.

As she listened to the sound of the man’s head rebound off the window, only slightly muffled by his odd hat, she knew she’d already more than evened out her ‘disadvantage’.  She had to be quick though, in case he wasn’t alone.

She grabbed the man by his coat and pulled him to turn him over to look him in the eye and ask him who was after her and why.  She would get her answers, and then this man would pay, and whoever sent him would pay even more.

Only it wasn’t him.  It wasn’t the same guy from the diner.  Or the club, if that was real.  She’d never even seen this man before.  He was just an man with an apparently odd sense of fashion.  She panicked.

She hurriedly pulled him up and began apologizing profusely, while making rude gestures at the man walking away from her, whom she explained had pushed her into him.  He bought it, or was too dazed to think about it.

When the man was able to stand on his own, albeit somewhat shakily, she jogged off towards home.

She was going crazy.