Captured (hearts and smugglers)
She listened to the slow beeping of the console as the ship travelled through Hyperspace on the way to Tatooine- a fairly regular trip for her, that had become a regular trip for her and Teen as well as it was fairly safe, efficient and familiar: she trusted Alice, and her buyer, as much as she could under the circumstances. Teen probably trusted them a little too much as a result of his sheltered childhood, which was of course her fault, she reasoned with herself, but she hadn’t wanted him to see what she had.
Carefully placing the ship on autopilot, she stood up, walking over to the main room, where Teen was playing about with the holo-table.
“You winning?” she asked, picking up a few strips of leather and beginning to methodically bind them round her wrists and lower arms.
“No,” he complained dramatically, turning the board off and leaning back. “What are those for?” he asked curiously.
“If you think it’s some fancy Jedi stuff you’re going to be sorely disappointed,” she replied, taking it in his facial expression and laughing lightly, while securing the edges of the leather with dull silver buckles and flexing her wrists slightly to check the compression. “They just mean that If I punch someone, it damages them a little more, and me a little less.
“Huh,” Teen said, surprised, “I thought you were going to say they helped you control the force of whatever.”
“Told you, kid, remarkably boring. Fancy compression bracelets dont help you lift shit, Teen,” she explained, trying not to laugh at his disappointed expression.
“Let a boy dream Agatha,” he replied, frustratedly.
“The only way you’re going to improve is if you practice,” she pointed out, not for the first time.
“Okay then, help me practice, we’ve got time,” Teen eventually answered.
“Fair enough,” she agreed, running through possible practice drills from her early Jedi years, before disregarding you all. “Lifting small rocks isn’t generally helpful in reality, so try this,” she said, pulling out her lightsaber, though not drawing the blade, and holding it out on her open palm. “Lifting one of these has saved my life several times, so it’s a good trick to know,” she explained, deciding to take a different approach than the Jedi would: she had her own, far more dangerous and effective, methods after all.
She watched him close his eyes and try to clear his head.
“Stop,” she eventually said, evenly. “You’re getting nowhere. Forget everything you know about the Jedi, their methods will only hold you back,” she said slowly, sharing the tiny fact that she had discovered over the years.
“Feel the chaos, the emotions, the uncertainty, and harness it,” she explained further, dropping his lightsaber behind her and drawing her own. There was only one really effective method to get a feel for the whole thing, she figured, letting purple light flicker across her face as she slowly walked towards him.
“What are you doing?” he asked warily, as she stepped forward. “Agatha-” he said, panic showing in his eyes.
“Stop panicking and defend yourself!” she snapped, sounding angry but fully in control, now standing less than a meter away from him. Several seconds later, his blue lightsaber met hers with a low buzz, and she broke into a grin, stepping back and struggling to conceal her pride in him as she closed her blade again, reattaching it to her belt.
“I did it,” he said, slightly shocked, breaking out into a similar grin as he held the weapon out in front of him.
“You did, Teen, Well done,” she said, unusually warmly, making up for her previously harsh tone.
“You pointed a weapon at me-” he then stated, his brow furrowing.
“It worked didn’t it?” she asked, tilting her head to the side.
“How did you know it would?” he asked curiously.
“The answer to picking these things up quickly lies in the chaos, and pressure: doing things the classic Jedi way of ‘emotionless harmony’,” she mocked, “It works, but it fights against the nature of the force. Never mistake balance for emptiness: control lies in harnessing the chaos, not forcing it into tranquility,” she explained.
“And never make others feel guilty for using your power to protect yourself: their idea of ‘good’ is merely what allows them to control you,” she added, sincerely, a piece of advice she wished she’d been told when she first set out on her own, at war with the guilt of her actions.
“We’re nearly there,” she said, getting up as she noticed where they were. “I’m going to drop us out of hyperspace,” she said, heading back to the control room.
——————————————————————————————————————————
The moment they dropped out of hyperspace, her ears were filled with the clashing alerts coming from the console.
“Blast it,” she muttered. “Teen,” she yelled into the back of the ship.
“What the hell is going on?” he asked, his voice panicked.
“Okay, don’t panic,” she said slowly, “But we’re being tractor beamed in.”
“We’re what?” Teen asked, tone bordering on a screech.
“I’m honestly surprised it’s not happened with you here before,” she explained calmly, “But you can’t lie for anything, so hide in one of the smuggling compartments, and do not come out until I explicitly tell you to, got it?”
“Got it,” he agreed nervously, the warnings still filling the air with tension.
“We should be back on track within the hour, but do not under any circumstances move,” she added, in an attempt at comfort.
“What if something happens, or the figure us out, or we get separated or-”
“Teen,” she said firmly, in her best no-nonsense voice. “This has happened hundreds of times,” she pointed out, “I can handle it, so just sit tight until I do, now go before you get us both caught,” she said, pushing him gently in the direction of where he should be hiding.
Once he had left, she let the expression of worry slip onto her face: not that she doubted her ability to handle it, but the ship currently beaming them in was a Republic heavy star cruiser, which was a touch bigger than the ships that normally bothered her. She was also on edge because it was moving strangely for a Republic ship, planting a light anxiety in the back of her head. She watched as the engines failed, and the ship systems went down, as they were drawn towards the larger ship, and left the controls- which were now pointless, in favour of the main cabin. There she strapped two extra blasters to her belt, concealed by the dark cloak she put on, which fastened at the front with a purple crystal clasp. Hood concealing her face, she stood in the loading bay, waiting for the door to open and reveal her opponent.
——————————————————————————————————————————
The door opened automatically, revealing a large, fairly empty, cargo bay and a group of people standing waiting: one obviously in charge. A woman, dark haired, wearing an elaborate corset top of winding green branches, stepped forward, with an air of confidence: challenging everyone around her to step out of line- so of course she did, walking forward, slowly, in a controlled manner until she reached the end of the ramp.
“What the hell do you call this?” she shouted at the group, her voice angry and biting. “Can a woman not travel across the galaxy without being beamed in? If you know what’s best for you, you’ll let me leave now before my family gets involved,” she snapped at them, angrily, putting on her usual persona, a look of impatience displayed on the small section of her face visible to the group.
“You’re good,” the Woman in charge said slowly, twisting a strand of hair around her finger as she walked closer. “If I didn’t know who you were, you’d be on your way to Tatooine by now…” she continued, pausing as she continued her approach, stopping a few inches away from Agatha’s face. “I’ve got to ask,” she paused again, “What is Agatha Harkness doing near Tatooine?” she revealed, reaching up to Agatha’s face and slowly lifting back her hood, fingers gently brushing through her hair, causing her to jump back, barely covering her surprise. That makes things a little more complicated, she realised, running through ideas for a new plan.
“Well,” she said, pausing, “I guess that secret is out,” she said slowly, tilting her head back and feigning boredom. “Now that we’re sharing, what’s a pretty girl like you doing in this part of the galaxy?” she asked, biting her lip slightly, taking the victory that the woman’s eyes flicked down to her mouth slightly, before reinitiating eye contact, a light flush on her cheeks.
“Rio Vidal,” the woman introduced herself, “ I’m out here tracking down smugglers and the like out here, you don’t happen to know of any?” she asked in a challanging voice. Agatha broke into a grin. I know who you are, she thought to herself, but saved the information for the right moment.
“No, these parts are normally clear of those types, I’m just visiting an old friend,” she said in an entirely suspicious manner, daring Vidal to prove that she was indeed smuggling.
“Cuff her and search the ship,” Rio ordered, remaining in front of her for a moment, as one of the guards bound her wrists.
“Wow sweetheart,” she said in mock offense, “at least buy a girl drinks first,” she teased, making that delightful flush appear on the other woman’s face once more, just visible as she turned and marched onto Agatha’s ship. Rude of her, she thought, irritated, as she decided to wait, knowing the woman wouldn’t find anything.
The guards roughly grabbed her arm, dragging her out of the cargo bay, and she gave them the illusion of control: she could easily break free, but it really didn’t fit the narrative she was trying to build, so she waited. Waited for the inevitable: the other woman wouldn’t find anything, and after trying to get Agatha to talk, she would lever her way out of the situation, like she always did, and continue the run to Tatooine. Nonetheless, it took all she had not to punch one when they started patting her down and removing the blasters from her belt.
“What do we have here?” one of them mocked, as he pushed her cloak back to reveal her lightsaber.
“You touch that and I will kill you,” she said, her voice low. She hadn’t wanted this to go down like that, but if they gave her no choice? She wouldn’t bat an eye.
One of them laughed, and grabbed the saber, drawing its blade carelessly. “What have you got a Jedi’s weapon for lovely,” the guard cooed, swinging it around clumsily.
“I warned you,” she said in a low voice, looking up at him, before sending him flying up to the corner of the ceiling, struggling to breathe, summoning her lightsaber to her hand, where she gracefully closed the blade and reattached it to her belt, stepping forwards as she eased off on the pressure at the mans through: enough to be painful, but not quite enough to kill, before dropping him to the floor in a crump mess. Killing him wasn’t worth the explanation.
“Any of you speak a word of this outside this room and you will all be dead,” she threatened, meaning every word of it.
“Everything okay in here?” Rio asked, talking to the guards, as her eyes scanned Agatha closely, making her cheeks feel a little warm.
“Perfect, thankyou,” she answered, knowing full well the question wasn’t directed at her. “They didn’t offer me anything to eat or drink, but I'll forgive that slight on their part,” she continued, smiling sweetly, and looking up at the other woman through her lashes before delivering the killing blow. “I’ve been a good girl ma’am,” I promise, she said innocently, holding her handcuffs out in front of her and leaning back suggestively.
It seemed to do the trick, because Rio’s light flush turned bright scarlett. It was a shame she didn’t get to keep this one, she was more fun that the usual.
“You’re coming with me,” Rio said, grabbing her by the shoulder and pulling her up off the floor.
“You like it rough?” Agatha asked, teasingly, “I can go along with that.”
Rio didn’t make eye contact for the entire trip through the ship. Boring, she thought, but probably fair. Flirting with captives was something the uptight republic types avoided. Repressed, the lot of them. What was interesting was that the ship really wasn’t laid out like a typical Republic cruiser. Non-regulation. She categorised the detail for later, turning her gaze back to the woman in front of her, leading her towards her own ship, and walking into the cargo-hold, sitting down on an empty crate and gesturing for Agatha to do the same.
“So…,” Rio began, “Triple Goddess? Covenless witch? Infamous smuggler? Agatha harkness? Which are we going by today? I know who you are.”
“Real sweet Rio,” she drawled, looking intensely at the other woman, then grinning. “You did your research and now you think you know who I am… Any smuggler in the galaxy could give you those details- ‘infamous’, remember,” she joked with a wink.
Rio looked a little annoyed that her tactic hadn’t worked, but dismissed Agatha’s comments. “What I want to know,” is what such a high profile woman such as yourself is doing in a rundown place like Tatooine.
“Can’t a girl enjoy a little vacation time?” she asked, innocently.
“On Tatooine…?” Rio asked, eventually, almost lost for words. “That’s your play? Vacation on Tatooine?” she continued in disbelief.
“The thing is, Doll,” Agatha explained, looking bored, “ that I don’t need a plausible excuse. You have absolutely zero evidence that I’m not a law abiding citizen. It’s more fun this way,” she pointed out, biting her lip in thought.
“You know I’m guilty, and I know I’m guilty and yet there's absolutely nothing you can do,” she grinned, jumping up off the crate. “So if you’d be so kind,” she asked, gesturing for Rio to unlock her handcuffs, I’ll be on my way.
“You realise I can follow you,” Rio pointed out. “The moment you leave Tatooine, I’ll be waiting here for you, to throw you in chains and transport you to Coruscant, with enough evidence to make sure you never see this line of work again.”
“I did think about that, but you see, then you would be stuck explaining exactly what you were doing in this corner of the galaxy, Senator Vidal.”
The other woman’s eyes flashed with surprise.
“What? Didn’t expect me to recognise you? Please,” she scoffed. “Here’s the deal,” she proposed, “You leave this quadrant of the galaxy, and stop following me, and I won’t report your little vigilante games to the senate.”
Rio looked about ready to murder her on the spot (not that she’d succeed), but nodded defeatedly, unlocking her cuffs, and stepping back. “Don’t think this is the last you’ll see of me. Harkness,” Rio warned. “The next time you step foot in my jurisdiction, you’re mine.”
“It’s a date,” Agatha teased, from her ship, beginning to close the cargo-ramp as she blew a kiss to the Senator, walking towards the controls to begin take-off.