Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Hold it…don’t make a move. Put your hands where I can see them and turn around. Slowly.” She stood as straight as she could in the air duct, both hands gripping the blaster she had pointed at the man. Her aim was steady, ready to fire if he made any sudden moves. The man took his time, but, eventually, he slowly moved both hands out to the side and twisted his body to face her. She stared at him for a moment, then her heart started to pound. “Oh shit! Fuck, fuck, fuck!” She lowered her blaster, waving it around in one hand as she cursed to herself.

When she looked back at the man, he was watching her warily, one eye still on the weapon in her hands. He was lying down in the duct, propped up on one elbow, and why he was there was becoming abundantly clear to her. The anger and disbelief on his face just confirmed it. She holstered her weapon and dropped to her knees beside him. “You’re not going to rat me out, are you?”

The man thought for a moment before he responded. “That depends on who you are and what the shab you’re doing here.”

“Probably the same thing as you.” She pulled a small leather wallet from her tac belt and flipped it open to reveal a badge. “Lieutenant Aysa Denn. CSF.”

The man pushed himself up to a sitting position, leaning out to check something before looking back at her. “How do you know what I’m doing here?”

“My boss told me. He also told me to stay away. And if he finds out I was here, he’ll bust me back to traffic so fast it’ll make your head spin.”

“Obrim?”

“Yeah.”

The man resumed his position, lying on his stomach, just back from the edge of the duct. “So, why are you here then? You usually disobey direct orders?”

“Well…yeah. I mean, he won’t necessarily be surprised, but he will be very disappointed. This was my case before you all got involved. I’ve been running surveillance for months.” She lay down on her stomach beside him, her body pressed against his in the cramped space. “How many of them are in there?”

“Four.”

“How long?”

“Three hours.”

“Hmm.” She leaned out to peer through the grimy window. “You didn’t tell me your name.”

The man gave her a disbelieving look, then shook his head. “This is black ops. You think I’m going to tell you who I am?”

“Well…I know you’re with Spec Ops. I know Sergeant Skirata is running this op. And I know Fi…he’s working with you, right?”

“You seem to have everything all figured out then.”

“Not quite everything. I don’t know your name.”

The man gave her another look, as though double-checking her credentials. Her ID could be fake, but she knew enough details to be legit. And she was fully kitted out in a dark blue CSF uniform with their standard issue blaster holstered on her hip. He turned back to the open vent, eyes on the target. “Boss.”

“What?”

“Boss. That’s what I go by.”

“Oh.” She managed to free a hand from under her body and held it out to him. “Aysa. You can call me Ace.”

Boss ignored the hand. “Now that we’ve established who you are and that you’re not supposed to be here, you can get out. I’ve got a job to do.”

Ace withdrew her hand and looked shrewdly at the commando. “Do you know who they all are?”

“I don’t need to. I’m just tracking their movements.”

She peered at the shadowy figures that were visible through the window. “The tall one’s the leader in this group. He bumped off his predecessor. It was pretty messy. Our crime scene guys had quite a job trying to put him back together enough to ID him. He was splattered all over the place by the time I got there.”

Boss gave her a brief glance but didn’t comment. He wasn’t interested in her police work. But he did file away her intel for later, hoping she would leave now. But she didn’t leave. Instead, she pressed closer to him, pointing to a smaller window on the second floor of the old warehouse. “See that tubby one up there? He’s their stooge. If this all goes to shit…when this all goes to shit, he’s taking the fall.”

Boss peered into the darkness. He hadn’t seen the man she was pointing at. He swore under his breath, watching the second-floor window as the shadowy figure moved around. “I’d see more if I had my bucket.”

She made a sympathetic noise. “Yeah, I know what you mean.” She shuffled around, reaching a hand under her stomach to retrieve something from her tac belt. Boss watched expectantly, assuming she would pull out a set of binocs. But, instead, she held a small, pink plastoid tube. Baffled, he watched as she unscrewed the lid, pulled out a wand and dabbed something pink and glossy onto her lips. “I don’t think our HUDs are nearly as good as yours, but they make the job a whole lot easier.”

She stayed quietly where she was for several minutes, then shuffled to her hands and knees. “I guess I’ll leave you to it, then. Umm…if you could keep this to yourself, that would…” She trailed off as several speeders arrived, parking at the only exit point they had, unloading half a dozen more people. “Damn. That’s going to complicate things.”

Boss leaned out to get a better look. “Shab. Any other way out of here?”

“Not that I know of. I’ll have to think of something…”

Boss wanted to laugh at her. The idea of her saving the day was bordering on ridiculous. She was slim and petite and didn’t look anything like a cop other than her uniform. Her auburn hair was pulled up into a ponytail that bounced when she moved. Her pale skin was comprehensively freckled, and her bright blue eyes were framed by long, dark lashes. Not to mention the now bright pink lips. He wasn’t quite ready to let her rescue him. She wasn’t even meant to be there. But she was already pulling something out of a pouch on the back of her tac belt, opening her hand to reveal a small thermal detonator.

Boss looked sceptically at the small grenade. Not much explosive capacity. “What are you hoping to achieve with that?”

“Just a little distraction.” She was already crawling back towards a junction in the ducts. “If I can get it in the right place, we can draw them away from our exit.”

Shaking his head, he crawled along behind her. “You think that firecracker’s going to distract them?”

“It’s more impressive than it looks,” she said back over her shoulder. “The downside is they have an automatic detonator switch. Thirty seconds till boom.” She grinned at him then, and he saw she had a noticeable gap between her two front teeth. “Trust me.”

Boss was feeling a lot of things right now, but trust wasn’t one of them. He didn’t know this woman. He didn’t know what she was capable of, if anything. “We can just wait them out.”

“They could be here for days.”

“Then I’ll call for an extraction.”

“What, and let them know you’ve got them under surveillance?”

Boss grunted irritably. She was right. “Okay. We’ll try it your way. But if it doesn’t work—”

“It’ll work. Don’t worry about it. I’ve done this loads of times!”

They reached the junction, and she lowered her legs down into a duct that was running at a forty-five-degree angle down the outside of the building. As she slipped down into the duct, she grinned back up at him. “Be ready to move.”

He cursed under his breath as he watched her slide down into the duct until she was out of sight around a slight bend. He didn’t like this mission. He didn’t like working without armor, without his HUD. He felt exposed. Vulnerable. He peered down into the duct, wondering how far she was planning to go. Too far and she wouldn’t make it out in time. Not far enough, and they could all blow. He ran a hand over his chest. At least he had the light body armor under his fatigues. It was better than nothing, as long as he kept his head down.

He listened carefully for a moment. Nothing. She’d gone further than he expected. She was going to have her work cut out climbing back up the incline in time. Thirty seconds wasn’t long when you were climbing uphill. He crouched in the duct as he waited, stretching his neck out. He hadn’t stood upright for over six hours. He’d need to push his legs when it came time to move.

He looked towards the junction then when he heard a noise, a metallic clank. This was followed by more banging, a steady rhythmic sound. She was coming back up. He started counting the seconds in his head. She had about twenty left. He kept counting down, worried when he got to ten, and there was still no sign of her. Swearing again, he leaned down into the duct to look for her, seeing nothing but the silver metallic tube. But then he heard her voice. “Move, move, move!”

Boss didn’t move. If he left, she wouldn’t make it. Five seconds. He saw her then, her auburn ponytail bouncing as she frantically scrambled up the last stretch. She managed to get her fingers over the lip of the junction, and Boss reached in, grabbing her around the waist to haul her out. Acting on instinct, he shoved her back into the duct they’d come from, throwing himself in after her as the blast ripped through the cooling system. He grimaced when he felt pieces of shrapnel bounce heavily off his lightly armored back, gritting his teeth until the rain of sharp metal stopped.

He looked down at Ace. Her blue eyes were wide as she looked back at him. Then she winced. “Ouch.”

“You hurt?”

“No, you’re just…really heavy.”

She gave him a shove and crawled out from under him. “We need to move before we lose our distraction.”

Moving fast, they crawled back through the duct to the end, and he waited for her to swing out and find a foothold to start clambering down the wall. He followed her quickly down into the alley between the two warehouses, past the parked speeders and out into the street. Looking around at the curious faces, she thought quickly, whipping a set of binders from her belt. She shoved Boss up against a wall and pulled his hands behind his back. “Play along.”

“What the—” He had to suppress the urge to fight back as the binders tightened around his wrists, and she grabbed his arm to lead him to where her speeder was parked.

“Nothing to see here, folks,” she called out to the gawking onlookers. “Just one of our brave troopers having a little bit too much fun on leave. We can do without the rubbernecking. Move along!”

Boss forced himself to relax his taught muscles as she gave the impression of strongarming him to her speeder. The idea of that was ridiculous. He could snap her neck in an instant if he wanted to. They made it to a quiet side street where an unmarked speeder was parked, and she looked around cautiously before deactivating the binders. She linked them back onto her belt, then gasped. “Shit, you’re bleeding!”

“Bleeding where?” He couldn’t feel anything, not yet, with the adrenaline still wearing off.

“Back.” She popped the speeder hatch and gave him a shove. “Hop in, and I’ll have a look.”

“I don’t need you to—”

But she shoved him harder, climbing in beside him and closing the hatch. “You’d better take this off,” she said, tugging on the shirt he was wearing – part of the collection of civilian clothing they’d been given to wear. He contemplated arguing with her, but he didn’t particularly want to bleed out in her speeder. So, he pulled the shirt off, the light pieces of body armor dropping to the footwell. He still had his back to her, so he didn’t see her wide-eyed, open-mouthed expression as she was presented with his heavily muscled back and broad shoulders.

Ace swallowed dryly, forcing herself to focus as she assessed the bleeding wound. She stretched over to pull a medkit from the back seat, digging around for a clean folded cloth to put pressure on the wound. She used both hands to press down, trying to ignore the warm, smooth brown skin. There were some scars, she noticed, but somehow they just added to her desire to run her fingers over his back. She jumped when his voice interrupted her reverie. “Well?”

“Well what?”

“How bad is it?”

“Oh.” She lifted the cloth to see the bleeding was subsiding, but he had a decent-sized gash down over his lats down the left side. Large, but not deep. “I don’t think it’s too bad. Not deep enough for sutures.”

Boss just grunted. Despite not being able to see the wound, he had to trust her opinion. She was a cop. She’d know what she was doing when it came to basic first aid in the field. He sat silently while she used sterile wipes to clean the cut and sealed a bacta-infused dressing over it. “There you go. That should keep your insides in.”

She tried not to stare when he turned to face her, but it was hard to ignore the muscles flexing and contracting as he tried to pull his shirt back on in the cramped speeder. She ducked as one of his arms almost connected with her head, and found herself inches away from his chest, close enough to count the black hairs scattered across the broad, muscular expanse, tapering down to a trail that led beneath his waistband. She felt the heat rising from her chest up to her face, and she knew she would be turning red.

Mortified, she reached into a compartment under her seat and retrieved two water pouches, handing one to him. “Here, rehydrate, and I’ll drop you back to wherever your base is.”

“We’re getting picked up in two hours.”

“We who? And you can’t hang around here for two hours, can you?”

“There’s another commando posted on the other side of the warehouse. Probably wondering what the hell’s going on about now.”

“Yeah, probably,” she agreed. “Well, let’s go pick him up, and then I can confess my indiscretions and take my punishment on the chin.”

“From Obrim?”

“And Skirata. He’s going to be mad. Ever seen him blow up?”

Boss shrugged. He didn’t owe Skirata any allegiance outside this mission. “Not if you share your intel with him.”

“Maybe. I guess we’ll see. You’d better direct me.”

Boss gave her directions to the RV point and sent a message to his fellow operative. Within two minutes, another commando in plain clothes ducked out of an old, disused watchhouse and jogged to the speeder, smoothly sliding into the backseat. “What the hell is going on, ner vod?”

“Change of plans,” Boss said shortly as Ace got the speeder back into traffic.

The other commando leaned over from the backseat, looking surprised. “Lieutenant Denn?” Aysa turned around and shrugged with an apologetic smile. “Darman,” the man offered. “From the spaceport.”

“Oh, right.” She grinned brightly then. “Fi’s buddy. Nice to see you again.”

“Sarge didn’t mention anything about you being in on this.”

“Yeah…about that…”

Darman caught her eyes in the rear-view mirror. “Oh, you’re going to be in deep dwang.”

“Probably.”

Darman noticed the blood on the back of Boss’s shirt. “You injured?”

“Not badly.”

“I heard an explosion. Was that you two?”

“It was her,” Boss said, indicating the woman driving. “Distraction to get us out.”

“Ah.” Darman leaned over again. “How’s life in Anti-Terrorism? Did Obrim take you across from the Senate?”

“Yes. He told them I was crucial to his leadership. He’s probably going to change his mind after this.”

“He doesn’t seem that hard-nosed. Maybe just a warning and relegation to desk duty for a decade or two.”

Ace gave him a look in the mirror. “Don’t give him any ideas!” She brought the speeder down on the obscured platform at Qibbu’s Hutt. “Nice location. Classy.”

Darman chuckled as he climbed out. “Wait till you try the food. You’d better come in and talk to the Sarge. Maybe he can soften Obrim up for you.”

Ace sighed heavily as she climbed out. “Maybe. Or maybe Obrim will have to soften him up.”

She followed Darman inside, head down as she anticipated how this was going to play out. Boss watched them go, then bent stiffly to retrieve his body armor from the footwell. He straightened with a wince and closed up the speeder before heading inside. This was going to be interesting.

Chapter Text

“Jaller and I had an agreement that he’d pull his officers off this until we were done.”

“Yes…” Ace was chewing on a fingernail nervously, watching Skirata pace.

“Then you’d better have a very good reason for dropping in on my surveillance, Ace. I thought Obrim was a man who kept his word.”

Skirata had calmed down from his initial shock and anger, but he was still demonstrably very unhappy with the CSF officer. Boss watched from the side of the room, curious as to how she was hoping to get herself out of the mess she’d made. To his surprise, she offered Skirata a winning smile. “I just thought I’d stop by and see if you needed a hand! You know the boss-man would never break his word.”

“So, he doesn’t know?” Skirata was growing exasperated now.

Her bright smile was wavering. “Not yet...”

“You’re banking on me not telling him?”

Ace smiled sweetly again and shrugged. “I’d be super grateful if you didn’t.”

Skirata shook his head and scrubbed a weary hand over his face. “Shab, Ace, I don’t know how he puts up with you. I know why, but the how mystifies me.”

Ace wisely kept her mouth shut as Skirata thought, pacing up and down in front of her. She glanced over at Boss, somehow able to pick him out amongst the other commandos there. Finally, Skirata stopped in front of her. “What have you got for me?”

“Pardon?”

“I’m assuming you’re scoping out the same joint as Boss and Dar for a reason, so, what have you got?”

Ace chewed a thumbnail nervously for a moment, then she pulled a datastick from a pouch on her tac belt. “This is everything from the op I’ve been running with OCU. I’d say they’re on the periphery of what you’re doing, but if it helps…”

Skirata took the datastick and passed it to one of the commandos, who downloaded the intelligence onto a datapad. “Got anyone on the inside?”

“In a way. She has…access to inside information.”

“Meaning? That’s a little vague.”

Ace looked around the room at the assembled commandos and Jedi, then leaned closer to Skirata and lowered her voice. “She’s my CI. Has been for over six months. I’m not giving her up to you or anyone else, so don’t bother asking!”

Skirata gave the woman one of his warning looks. “This thing is a little bigger than you trying to protect your flow of intel.”

“It’s not about that. It’s about protecting her. If you want to know anything, you go through me. And don’t go thinking you can put a tail on me, because you know I can shake it.”

Boss watched this situation unfold. He didn’t know what a CI was, but he figured law enforcement probably had as many acronyms as the army. And he had to admit, she had gett’se giving Skirata orders. But she was an officer. She’d be used to giving orders, even if it did mean going up against the tough-talking sergeant. Skirata’s face went through a range of emotions before he seemed to concede. “I want you available day and night. I call, you answer. Got it?”

Ace looked nervously around the room. “Are you going to tell the boss?”

“Not yet. But you’re kidding yourself if you think he won’t find out.”

She smiled brightly at him again. “I’m only keeping it from him for his own good. Thanks, Sarge!” She turned to leave, letting out a surprised gasp when she almost ran into one of the commandos. “Fi! I didn’t see you when I came in because, well…you know…” She waved around the room at the identical faces.

“You were blinded by my dazzling good looks?” Fi offered.

“Yeah, that’s what it was,” she grinned. Then, to Boss’s utter confusion, she made finger-guns at Fi and winked at him on her way out. “Stay safe, won’t you, Fi? I owe you a drink or ten!”

Once she’d gone, he headed for his room to grab clean fatigues to shower. But Scorch was right behind him. “She seems uh—”

“Crazy? Yeah. If that’s what’s protecting this city, they’re in trouble.”

Scorch chuckled. “Isn’t there some kind of minimum size standard to be a cop?”

“Doesn’t look like it. If there is, I’d say she just scraped in.”

Scorch watched as Boss gingerly pulled off his bloodstained shirt. “You injured?”

“Shrapnel. Nothing serious.”

“At least you got a little excitement in your day. We were stuck here wading through intel.”

Boss just grunted as he shoved past Scorch to get to the fresher. He liked action as much as any of them. It’s what they were made for. But he could do without perky, cheerful cops who blew things up.

Ace stopped dead in the hallway when she saw a sight that made her blood run cold. Jaller Obrim, arms folded across his chest, wearing the most disapproving expression he had in his extensive repertoire. He waited for her to reach him, silently looking her up and down. She was covered in dust and grit that she’d clearly tried to clean off, no doubt intending to shower and change before reporting in. But he was a step ahead of her. “Lieutenant Denn. Care to explain yourself?”

“Who me, sir? Just coming back from patrol.”

“I see. Patrol of what?”

“Just...the usual…”

“Interesting. Not even an attempt at a lie. My office as soon as you’ve cleaned up. Hustle.”

She watched him turn on his heel to go back to his office, then shuffled the remaining distance to the locker room, rolling her eyes when she saw who was in there. Her day just got worse. “Dovel.”

“Denn.” He looked her up and down. “Get into a scuffle?”

“No. Why do you ask?”

“Obrim’s going to have your ass on a platter.”

Ace raised an eyebrow at him before turning her back to one of the full-length mirrors, looking back over her shoulder. “Well, it’s not a bad ass if I do say so myself.” With that, she grabbed a towel from a shelf, got a clean uniform from her locker and went through to the showers.

Fifteen minutes later, she was standing in front of Obrim’s desk as he tore strips off her. “Did you honestly think you’d get away with it? That I wouldn’t find out?”

“Well—”

“I don’t want to hear it, Denn. You’re on your final warning.”

“But—” He gave her a warning look, and she shut her mouth, waiting to be dismissed.

Instead, he waved her into a chair. “What’s your assessment?”

“Sir?”

“Don’t play coy with me, Aysa. Tell me what you’ve got.”

“I’d say the people they’re dealing with have got a few mutual acquaintances with my OCGs. I honestly didn’t intend to bust into Skirata’s surveillance, but you know how important timing is.”

“I also know how important following orders is,” he said pointedly. “How much did you give Skirata?”

“Enough to get him off my back.”

Obrim sat back with a sigh. He almost laughed at the idea of Denn trying to play Skirata. “I want you to give him the rest of your intel.”

Ace sat up straight. “What? I’m not doing that! I’ve been working on this for months!”

“You’ll do as you’re ordered for once. Skirata’s offering you first go at whoever’s left once they’ve been through.”

She stared incredulously at him. “But you saw what they did at the spaceport! There won’t be anyone left!”

“Well, that’s a risk you’ll have to take.”

“Boss, this isn’t fair! You know how hard I’ve been working on—”

But Obrim held up a hand to silence her. “Right now, you’re lucky I’m not suspending you for deliberately disobeying orders. I want you to go to their base and give Kal what you have. Don’t wear your uniform, and make sure you’re not followed.”

Ace rolled her eyes at the warning. “I think I can manage not to pick up a tail.”

“Good. I should hope so. Now get moving.”

She sighed dramatically, as she left the office. She knew she’d gotten off lightly. This time. Walking briskly, she went back to the locker room to get her gear. She’d made a couple of arrests around Qibbu’s, and she knew the clientele. She’d need to change.

“Hey, soldier, buy a girl a drink?”

Boss almost choked on his drink when he looked at the woman who’d sidled up to the bar beside him. It was her. She was out of uniform, her hair out, but it was her. “What are you doing here?”

“Play along," she whispered. "You’re supposed to be good at this covert stuff.”

Boss looked her up and down. She was wearing a tight-fitting pink dress that was low cut enough to put her cleavage front and centre and clashed badly with her hair. Her hair that was a riot of large curls framing her freckled face. The freckles that couldn’t quite hide behind the heavy make-up she was wearing now, her lips an even brighter shade of pink than before, smacking together as she chewed gum. She wasn’t as small as he’d first thought. She was fit and well-toned – not scrawny and frail-looking like Tur-Mukan. He still wasn’t convinced she was a cop, though. She looked more like…well, he didn’t know what she looked like, but law enforcement officer wasn’t in the running. “Why are you here?”

She rolled her eyes at his blunt question and lack of covert behaviour. “I’ve got something for you. Well, something from my boss to your boss…Boss.”

Boss stared at her for a confused moment, then nodded across the bar. “He’s over there.”

But Skirata had seen her before she saw him and was crossing the bar to head her off. “Ace, glad you could make it.”

“You told on me!” She exclaimed, surprising Boss, but seemingly not Skirata. “You said you wouldn’t tell, and you went behind my back!”

Skirata didn’t react to her outburst. “Frustrating, isn’t it?”

She scowled at him for a beat, then dug into the small purse she was carrying to toss a datastick at him. “There. That’s everything.”

“Everything?”

She was petulant now. “Yes!”

“Good. I’m glad you came round. And like I told Jaller, if there’s anyone we don’t need, they’re all yours. We’ll keep you in the loop.”

“Fine,” she said sullenly. “I’d better get out of here before I stick to the floor. It’s disgusting in here.”

She turned on her heel to leave, and Skirata nodded at her retreating back. “Go make sure she gets to her speeder. You know what it’s like around here.”

Boss stared blankly at him. “She’s a cop.”

“She’s also a young lady who’s unarmed going by the fit of that dress. Just do it.”

Boss grumbled under his breath as he followed the pink-clad woman from the bar. She turned back as soon as she sensed she was being followed. “What?”

“Sarge wants me to see you out.”

“I don’t need an escort.”

“He made it an order.”

Ace stepped out into the street. “Well, I outrank him. Go back inside.”

Boss bristled and folded his arms across his chest. “I don’t take orders from you.”

“I outrank you as well.”

“You’re a cop. You have no jurisdiction over me.”

She smiled brightly at him, and his eyes straight away went to the gap between her two front teeth. “Actually, I do when you’re on Coruscant. Look it up.”

He opened his mouth to argue, but noticed her eyes following a man slipping through the shadows. Before he got a better look at the man, Ace shoved her purse at him and sprinted after the man as he broke into a run. “Freeze! Police!”

Boss stared incredulously as she quickly caught up with the man despite the heels she was wearing. She tackled him from behind and sent them both sprawling on the filthy ground. She quickly straddled the man, her tight dress bunching up over her thighs. “Hand me my purse,” she called back, so Boss jogged over with her purse as she twisted the man’s hands behind his back. “Honestly, Leebo, why do you even bother trying to run? I can’t think of a single time when you’ve outrun me.” She took the purse with one hand and pulled out a pair of binders, slapping them around her detainee’s wrists.

Satisfied he was restrained, she stood and straightened her dress before hauling the man to his feet. The man didn’t fight. Instead, he looked sheepish and embarrassed, as though he’d been in this position before. Ace looked back over her shoulder at Boss as she hustled the man towards her speeder, flashing him another one of her cheery smiles. “Thanks for the assist. See you later.”

Boss watched as she shoved the man into the speeder and disappeared into the evening traffic. Holding a purse was hardly an assist. And it seemed as though she didn’t even need that. Maybe he’d underestimated her.

Ace groaned inwardly as she walked through the front door and saw her brother sprawled on the couch watching a holovid. The burst of laughter was exactly what she was expecting when he looked her up and down. “Nice hair.”

“Shut up,” she scolded, trying to smooth down the over-the-top curls. “I had to do an intel handover.”

“Where? The circus?”

She scowled at him and threw her purse at his chest, unsurprised when it bounced harmlessly off. Her brother was annoyingly built like a tank. “Obrim made me hand over all my intel to…well, I can’t even tell you who to. All my work down the drain.” She flopped dramatically onto the couch and kicked her heels off. “How was your day.”

“Long. Gas leak down on the lower levels. Way down. So, we had to worry about security and securing the scene. Folks down there would rather go up in a ball of fire than let any kind of authority in.”

“Really? They love it when I go down there.”

“You mean when you go down there in a full suit of armor and with a variety of assault weapons?”

“Well, you get to cover up too.”

“So I don’t catch fire. It doesn’t help if someone’s shooting at me.”

“Pft, no one down there has enough ammo to take down someone your size.”

“That’s comforting,” he said, looking her up and down again, noting the grime on her knees and dress. “Get into a tussle?”

“Oh, I brought Leebo in again.”

Matthias snorted as he switched off the holoscreen. “At this point, he’s pretty much your longest relationship.”

Ace gave him an unimpressed look. “I can’t help it if I chose the less sexy emergency service. I take my civic duty more seriously than you.”

“I literally save lives every day!”

“And I don’t?”

“Not every day,” he said, giving her a shove as he got up “Hungry? I saved you dinner.”

She looked at the chrono on the kitchen wall and yawned. “Nah. It’s late. I’m going to shower all this off and hit the sack. She went to her room and peeled the tight pink dress off, shaking her head at her appearance in the mirror. She’d been hoping she might see that commando again, but not looking, as her brother had described, like a clown.

Jaller Obrim looked up as a familiar figure slid into the booth across from him. “Morning, Kal. I took the liberty of ordering for you.”

“Thanks.” Skirata reached for the pot of caf to pour himself a cup. “Got anything new for me?”

“Not since last night. I take it my lieutenant delivered what was promised?”

“Yeah. She wasn’t happy about it, but I wouldn’t be either.” He shook his head as he thought about the woman. “Where did you even find her? She looks like she should be working behind the counter of a candy store.”

“That’s what makes her so effective. People underestimate her. And they quickly come to regret it. She joined Senate security straight out of the academy. It wasn’t difficult to see her potential.”

“She’s your personal project?”

“Something like that. She needed mentoring. And she needs a strong hand on the reins. Poor impulse control.”

“I noticed. Still, what she gave us is good. I’ll see if we can save her a few to make all that work worthwhile.”

“I’d appreciate that, Kal. She’s a good kid. And she’s my best officer, despite her outrageous insubordination.”

Kal chuckled, giving Soronna, the waitress, a wink as she delivered their breakfasts. “Unfortunately, I’ve got a history of that myself. I’d be a hypocrite to judge.” He dipped a piece of bread into a greasy egg yolk, savouring the richness. “We were all young and reckless once.”

“Here’s to that,” Jaller said, raising his caf in a toast. “Oh, speak of the devil.”

Skirata looked around, following Obrim’s eyes to the doorway, where the woman in question was talking to a tall, hulking man in a CRO uniform. Coruscant Rescue Ops. “Boyfriend?”

“Brother.”

As they watched, she kissed the man on the cheek, sending him on his way before entering the diner. Spotting her captain, she made her way over and slid into the booth beside him. “Morning, boss.” She scowled across the table at Skirata. “I’m still not speaking to you.”

“You just did,” he said, waving Soronna back over. “Let me buy you breakfast. Peace offering.”

“Oh, fine,” she relented, pulling her cap off and dropping it on the table. “How’s your commando?”

“Which one? I’ve got a few.”

“Boss. He caught a bit of shrapnel yesterday.”

“He’s fine. He didn’t mention you got him injured.”

Ace scowled at him again. “I got us out of there, didn’t I? And it wasn’t a bad cut.”

“Good. Hopefully, you don’t get any more of my boys banged up.”

“I didn’t do it on purpose! I—”

Skirata held up a hand. “I forgive you. Your intel’s good. Now eat your breakfast and stay out of trouble, and you might get back into Jaller’s good books.”

“She’s still got some work to do on that front.”

Ace turned her scowl on her superior. “Well, pardon me for trying to be a good cop.”

“Being a good cop means following orders,” Obrim reminded her.

“You also told me being a good cop means following your gut, using your instinct.”

“Well, maybe I should have added some caveats. Eat up, and you can ride back to the office with me. I’ve got a new case for you since Sergeant Skirata has been kind enough to unburden you of your previous one.”

She smiled at the waitress as her breakfast was delivered. “Thank you, Soronna.” Then she scowled back at the two men. “You’re both being very mean, ganging up on me like this. I might start being the kind of person who holds a grudge.” She took a large gulp of caf to wash down her greasy mouthful. “How’s Telti?”

“Fine. She wants you to come around for dinner again soon.”

“Does your family know what a grump you are at work?”

“Probably not. You’re welcome to tell them, though.”

“I’ll keep that up my sleeve for later.” She finished chewing a mouthful and pushed her plate away. “That’s disgusting. We should get to the office so you can brief me.”

Obrim nodded his agreement and pushed her out of the booth. “Kal, see you later. Let me know what you need. Ace can be a go-between.”

“I’m a lieutenant, not a go-between!”

“You’re whatever I tell you to be. I’m your boss. Now move.”

Ace rolled her eyes as she jammed her cap down over her bright auburn ponytail. “See you later, Sarge. Thanks for nothing.”

“Anytime, Ace.”

Chapter Text

“Dayn, I need you to run a licence plate check for me. Transmitting now.”

“Copy that, ma’am.”

Ace sat back with an eye roll. She hated being called ‘ma’am’, but Dayn was new to the squad and eager to please. After a few minutes, the disembodied voice came back. “That’s registered to an Elo Gram. CoCo Town address.”

Ace exchanged a frown with the grizzled old Sullustan sergeant squatting beside her. “CoCo Town?”

Sergeant Jae Niuv looked back at her and shook his head. “Doesn’t add up.”

Ace nodded her agreement and went back to Dayn. “Residential?”

“This address is in the heart of the industrial zone. That’s all commercial, but this registration isn’t a business one.”

Ace looked at Niuv with a grin. “Bingo. Okay, Dayn, we’re on our way back.” She started the long crawl back across the rooftop, wincing at the rough surface. “Let’s go organise a warrant, and we can bust him.”

“Have we got enough for a warrant?”

“Depends which judge is on duty. If it’s Wikken, I can charm the socks off him.”

Niuv shook his head as he crawled behind her. “I hope I never get called to testify at your disciplinary hearing.”

“What disciplinary hearing?”

“There’s bound to be one.” He cursed as the roof surface gave way to hard durasteel. “I’m too old for this.”

They crawled all the way back to the other side of the roof before making their way down the fire escape to Ace’s unmarked speeder parked below. Niuv climbed into the passenger seat with a weary sigh as Ace started the engine and took off at speed. She reached over and patted his knee. “You tired because you missed your afternoon nap, Grandpa?”

“Don’t knock it till you try it. Are we taking Dayn with us?”

“Why? Do you think he’s not ready?”

“I still don’t think you’re ready. It makes no difference what I think, though. No one listens to me. After all these years serving the community, I—”

Aysa shushed him as a call came through. “Lieutenant, Captain Obrim wants you to stand by. He said you don’t have enough for a warrant.”

She made an exaggerated frustrated face at the speeder comlink. “Tell him that’s ridiculous, Dayn. Tell him—”

“Tell me what?” Obrim’s voice cut in, and Ace sat up straighter in her seat, even though he couldn’t see her.

“Oh, hey, boss. I just wanted Dayn to let you know I think we have enough for a warrant. We have proof he’s got a private vehicle registered to a commercial address. And that address is turning over a hell of a lot of income for a speeder parts business. It’s a front. He’s laundering. And if I can get him, we can follow the trail. He’s the little fish.”

“You don’t have enough, Ace. I want you back here to review how we approach this. And I’ve got another job for you as well.”

“Another job? Boss, I’m flattered by your confidence in me, but I don’t think I can pick up another case when—”

“It’s not another case. It’s related to the other matter you were working on. And I’m aware that Niuv is there with you and agrees with me that you need more evidence than an ambiguous registration address.”

“It’s not just the address, though. That just confirms what I already suspected.”

“Aysa, feelings and intuition are all very well, but that’s not the stuff that gets us warrants, and it’s not the stuff that holds up in court. Get me more, and we’ll talk. Right now, I need you back here.”

Ace sighed dramatically. “Fine…”

“I beg your pardon?”

“I said, yes, sir. On our way, sir!”

“That’s what I thought you said.”

Ace unwrapped a stick of gum and shoved it in her mouth, chewing distractedly as she thought. “We could just go and—”

“No, we couldn’t. You heard the boss.”

“But—”

Niuv frowned and wagged a finger at her. “Now look, young lady, you need to—”

“Honestly, this force is such a boy’s club,” she huffed as she started the speeder. “I’m surprised you’re not keeping me back at HQ to make the tea.”

Jae Niuv gave her a shove and an incredulous look. “You’re the ranking officer in this vehicle. And you’re less than half my age.”

“You’re right,” she agreed as they travelled back to HQ. “I’m a prodigy.”

Jae shook his head at her. “That’s not the word I was thinking of. But if it makes you happy…” He watched her out of the corner of his eye. She’d quickly moved on from her disappointment. That’s just what she was like. Relentlessly cheerful, rarely deterred for long, and in some ways, she was right. She was a prodigy of sorts. She had razor-sharp instincts and a natural aptitude for the job, rising up the ranks faster than anyone else he’d ever worked with. And the look on the bad guys’ faces when the sweet-looking, bubbly redhead threw them down and cuffed them never got old. He couldn’t imagine her as anything other than a cop. She made his twilight years of policing a pleasure.

“Captain.”

Ordo raised his head at the soft, feminine voice. The smell hit him next. A sweet fruity smell. He glanced down to see it was the gum she was chewing. Some pink, berry flavour. “Did you bring what we need?”

“No, I’m just here for the atmosphere.”

Sarcasm. No one was here for the atmosphere. “Come upstairs, and you can show me what you’ve got.”

“Why, Captain,” she giggled breathlessly, “aren’t you even going to buy me a drink first?”

Ordo eyed her suspiciously. “Are you thirsty?”

She rolled her eyes with a frustrated sigh as she pushed him towards the lift. “You know, for covert operatives, you boys are really bad at flirting.”

Inside the lift, Ordo looked down at her, quickly raising his eyes again to avoid looking at her cleavage. She was dressed like a lot of the women who frequented this place, and it occurred to him that anyone who saw them leaving together would think— “This isn’t the kind of undercover work we usually do. You’d probably struggle to infiltrate a droid factory.”

“I bet I could,” she grinned. He couldn’t help but notice the gap in her teeth. He’d noticed it when he first met her at the spaceport months earlier. She’d been Senate security then. An unlikely officer, but Obrim seemed to rate her.

“I don’t think so.”

Still grinning at his back, she followed him out of the lift, down a short corridor that led to a large open area, shabbily furnished. A number of clone commandos were there, relaxing on the grotty old chairs or couches, reviewing intel, cleaning weapons. And Skirata was there. He looked her up and down, amused by the lengths she’d gone to to blend in. Her hair was a mess of curls around her made-up face again, and she was dressed in a tight black strapless dress. A quick glance around the room told him his boys had noticed, too, so he directed her to a chair. She was there to do a job, not to be ogled by a group of men with little to no experience with women. “What have you got?”

“Hello to you too, Sergeant. How lovely of you to invite me to this delightful establishment on my one night off this week.”

He raised an eyebrow at her and held out his hand, waiting patiently for her to open her purse and slap a datastick into it. He handed it to Ordo, who slotted it into the projector. Across the room, Boss stopped cleaning his Deece to look at the projection. He’d been carefully ignoring the woman since Captain Ordo brought her in, but now, he couldn’t help but look at the comprehensive chart illuminated over the table. It was names, dates, places. Everything was colour-coded and laid out to make the data instantly clear and concise. Just how he liked it. Even Fixer seemed impressed, sidling closer to look at the chart.

“Boss got me to put this together for you. It pulls everything together that I’ve been doing the last few months.”

Boss blinked at the mention of his name, but then he realised she was referring to Obrim. Her boss. He stood back, watching as she continued.

“The ones I’ve put in pink are the ones I can cross-check with your people. Explosives aren’t their only hobby.”

Skirata nodded thoughtfully, head tilted as he took in the array of names and dates. “Most of these are irrelevant to us.”

“I know. But you need to be aware of all the players. OC in this town is a complicated business. And it’s a big business. You never eliminate it. You take down one, two more step up. Nature abhors a vacuum. They’ll all be watching and waiting for their chance.”

“She’s right.” Ace looked up to see a tall man in black armor step out of the shadows, his hard face inscrutable. “It’s simplistic to think we can just focus on our targets and not be concerned with the potential fallout. Or other interested parties.”

“I don’t care about potential fallout,” Skirata said. “Or other interested parties. We won’t be here to worry about it.”

“But I will be,” Ace said. “And I need to be able to keep doing my job. You saw what happened to Izhiq. This is a dirty business.”

Skirata folded his arms across his chest and scrutinised her. “Are you talking about threats to your personal safety?”

“No. I’m on at least half a dozen hit lists that I know of. It’s the great circle of life. I hunt them, they hunt me.”

Boss frowned at that disclosure. His job was dangerous. There was always a risk of getting killed or injured. But it was never personal. None of his targets ever knew who he was. He was the one doing the hunting. There was something unsettling about the idea of being the specific target, and it seemed strange that she was so matter-of-fact about it. And it seemed strange that the ridiculously made-up redhead was considered such a threat that criminals would go out of their way to bump her off. She looked at him then, and gave him that gap-toothed grin that was almost as unsettling as the idea of hired assassins. He ignored her and went back to cleaning his Deece. She wouldn’t know him from any other commando here.

He kept one ear on the conversation as Skirata sat next to her. “So, what is it you recommend?”

“I’m not recommending anything, Sergeant. This is your op. I’m simply asking that you try and let me know if you’re planning to incapacitate any of these players. Because if that happens, I’m caught in the middle of a very big mess.”

Skirata nodded again as he looked over her chart. “I can’t promise anything.”

Ace gave him one of her best, sweetest smiles. “But you’ll try…won’t you?”

He shook his head in exasperation. “No promises. What security have you got at your place?”

“Oh, he’s about a foot taller than you and built like a brick—well, you get what I mean.”

“Yeah, I get what you mean. The one I saw you with the other day?”

“That’s him.” She stood and fluffed her hair. “I’ll leave you with that. Try not to send the Coruscant underworld into a full-blown turf war.”

She was on her way to the lift when she recognised one of the two commandos coming in from the landing platform. “Hey, Fi, fancy seeing you here!”

“Chances were pretty high,” he said with a grin. “You on your way out? I’ll come down with you, I’m starving.”

“You’re a brave man, eating here. Makes throwing yourself on a grenade look like child’s play. Hey, Captain Ordo said I can come and infiltrate a droid factory with you once this is all over.”

“I did not say that.”

“Well, words to that effect.” She was still grinning at Ordo’s irritated face as the lift door closed. “How hard can it be?”

“We could train you up pretty quickly,” Fi offered.

“I wouldn’t mind having a go at those rifles you use. They’re the business.”

“I think I’d get in a lot of trouble if I let you.”

Ace grinned at him as they stepped out of the lift. “You’re thinking about it, though.”

“Not going to happen.” He shoved his way to the bar to order a meal from Laseema, who was already looking beyond him for Atin. “Want anything, Ace? I’m buying.”

She perused the offerings with a screwed-up nose. “Nope, I’m buying. I owe you. I’ll just have a beer. May as well get some enjoyment out of my night on the town.”

Fi laughed as they found an empty table. “How do your male officers dress for ops like this?”

“Same as me. We all look great in a little black dress.”

Fi laughed again and took a sip of his own ale. “And we get stuck with boring old armor.”

“You mean that boring old armor that stopped a grenade? That’s the stuff of my dreams!”

“Me, or the armor.”

Ace laughed and tapped her glass against his. “You need to teach the others upstairs how to flirt and interact like humans.” She looked up as three more commandos came out of the lift and headed towards them. “Speaking of…”

One of them shoved Fi in the shoulder. “You ordered yet?”

“Yeah.”

“What’s on the menu.”

Fi held his hands up to make air quotes with his fingers. “Nerf.”

The other man snorted and made his own air quotes. “It’s a step up from ‘roba’.” He offered his hand across the table. “I’m Scorch.”

“Ace,” she said, shaking his hand.

“You know Boss,” Scorch said, pointing at his sergeant. “And that’s Fixer.”

Fixer nodded at her as he took a seat. “Good chart up there. Clear.”

“Oh…thanks.” She smiled at Boss as he sat. “How’s your back?”

“Fine. Healed.”

Not knowing what to do with the short answers, she looked back at Fi. “See what I mean?” She gulped down the rest of her ale before standing and adjusting her strapless dress. “As much as I’d love to stay and enjoy the atmosphere here, I have work to do. See you all later, maybe.”

Boss looked around the table, then stood. Skirata had made it clear that women dressed the way she was were potentially vulnerable. But he’d seen her chase down a criminal and make an arrest last time. He wasn’t convinced she really needed an escort, but at least he wouldn’t have the sergeant on his back. “I’ll see you out. Standing order.”

“Still don’t need it,” she said back over her shoulder. But she didn’t try and stop him. Outside, she turned left, walking towards the lane she’d parked her speeder in. She took several steps, then stopped and turned around. “Have you got a date yet?”

He eyed her suspiciously. “A date for what.”

“A date to blow this thing sky high? Just so I can start preparing.”

“That’s confidential.” He frowned at her for a moment. “Are you really on a hit list?”

“I’m on six that I’m aware of. I don’t make a lot of friends in my line of work.”

“So, there’re assassins out there trying to kill you?”

“Yes.” She smiled brightly at him. “They haven’t succeeded yet, though.”

“You’re a pretty easy target going around like that.”

“Like what?”

“Dressed like that.”

She grinned as she ran her hands over the dress. “Maybe I should get this thing armored.”

“It’s still not covering much of you.”

“I didn’t know you’d noticed.”

Boss flushed. “That’s not what I—”

“Shit!” Ace grabbed the front of his fatigue tunic then, dragging him close so that she was pressed with her back against a wall, his much larger body obscuring her. He tried to pull away, but she held onto him. “Just…play along for a minute…”

He was shocked when he felt one of her legs twine around his, and she pulled his head down so that she could whisper in his ear. “A target I’m watching is over the road. I can’t risk him seeing me.” She yanked him closer, and he had to slam a hand against the wall to stop from crushing her. Her breath was hot against his ear as she dragged her foot up and down the back of his calf. “It would really help me out if you could—”

“If I could what?”

She chanced a look over his shoulder before looking up at him. For a fleeting moment, he thought she was going to kiss him. Her lips were close enough that he could feel her breath against his own. And that foot was still restlessly wandering up and down his leg. He could throw her off easily. But something was keeping him there, and it wasn’t just her hands holding onto him. She parted her lips, and he caught a waft of something fruity. Gum. Her whispered voice brought him back. “If you could just…put your hand on me…make this look real…”

“What?”

He started to pull away, but she held on, grabbing his free hand and placing it on her thigh. On the leg that was currently wrapped around his own. Her dress had hitched up, and he saw that the skin on her leg was as freckled as the rest of her. Her skin was soft and smooth under his hand, and he could feel the toned muscle beneath. She looked apologetically up at him. “Sorry…”

“How long do you expect me to stay here for?”

“Just until he’s gone.” His eyes met hers, and to his surprise, one of her hands crept up to the back of his neck, keeping his face close to hers. “If it helps, this isn’t the weirdest thing I’ve done to keep my cover.”

It didn’t help. Boss glanced casually back over his shoulder, not sure which man she was worrying about. “Why don’t you just slot him? Get it over with.”

She stared up at him, horrified. Then her body shook with barely suppressed laughter. “I wish I could. But I got roasted today for not even having enough evidence for a warrant. So, I think a public execution would be out of the question. We do things a little differently to you.”

“Yeah. No kidding.”

He felt her fingers slide up into his hair as she peeked over his shoulder again. “I think he’s gone.”

Boss stood for a moment as she released him, then he realised his hand was still gripping her thigh, and he let go quickly and stepped away from her. She straightened her dress and pulled a code key out of her purse. “Crazy, huh?”

“You?”

“No. Just…in a city this big, to run into a target down here.”

“Why are you watching him?”

“Money laundering. Pretty low-level stuff, but it always leads me higher up the food chain. Don’t worry, it’s not connected to what you’re doing.” She popped the hatch of her speeder and tossed her purse in before offering him what was becoming her trademark grin. “Thanks again for uh…helping me out tonight. See you later!”

He stood back, watching as the speeder until it disappeared into the night. He frowned as he realised the smell of her gum was lingering…or maybe he was imagining it. Shaking his head, he went back to Qibbu’s. He’d need to explain why he was out there so long, and the truth was too ridiculous to be believed.

Chapter Text

Sergeant Jae Niuv approached the speeder, alarmed when he saw it rocking from side to side. As he drew closer, he peered in to see his superior officer dancing in her seat, gesticulating wildly and belting out a song into an invisible microphone as she sang along to the radio. It was hard not to smile. He could almost remember being that young. But, as he came up alongside the speeder, his smile became a pained wince as he was reminded that his lieutenant was utterly tone-deaf. He used his elbow to knock on the windscreen, waiting for her to pop the hatch. He passed her a takeaway caf as he slid into the passenger seat. “Having fun?”

Ace leaned over to flick the radio off. “Always. You should try it sometime.”

They sat back to enjoy a brief morning caf break, watching the citizens of Coruscant pass by, going about their business. “Maybe I’m wasted in law enforcement,” she mused. “Maybe I should have pursued a career in music.” She looked over at her sergeant to gauge his opinion, frowning at his carefully moderated expression. “What? You don’t think I could?”

“I’m not saying that. I’m just saying that as a singer, you make a terrific cop.”

Ace looked outraged. “That is so sexist! I can’t believe the harassment I have to endure in this job!”

“How is that sexist?”

“Would you tell the boss he was a terrible singer?”

“If he sang as badly as you? You bet I would! It’s my civic duty to protect citizens from themselves sometimes.”

She flopped back with a dejected sigh. “It’s not fair. In my mind, I’m an amazing singer.”

“Well, don’t let it get you down. You can still enjoy it. On your own. Quietly.”

Ace tried to scowl at him again, but instead, she laughed. “At least I’m an amazing dancer.”

“So you say. I’ve got no evidence to prove or disprove that.”

“Well, maybe if you come out one of these nights, you’d get to see me in action.”

“Me? Go out after dark? Thanks, I’ll pass.”

“You know, one of these days, Jae, you’ll look around and whoosh! Life will have passed you by.”

“I remember that day. It was about twenty years ago.”

Ace stared at him, horrified. “Am I going to be like you in sixty years?”

“Hey! Just how old do you think I am?”

“I don’t know… Eighty-something?”

“Watch it, whippersnapper. I’ve still got a kid in school. Just.”

“Which is perfectly possible for a man in his eighties.” She tossed her empty cup into the back seat and started the speeder. “Ready to go down.”

Niuv tapped his armored chest. “Let’s do this.”

It was early afternoon when Ace got a call. She and Niuv were trying to subdue a suspect. A serial blackmailer who’d left a clumsy trail this time. Breathless from chasing and tussling with the struggling man, she tapped the comm button on the side of her helmet. “Denn here.”

“Lieutenant. Need to see you.”

Ace rolled her eyes at the familiar voice before throwing herself on the man’s back as he tried to flee. “I’m a little busy right now. Can it wait?”

“No.”

“Okay…fine. I’ll be there as soon as I can.” She put her knee in the man’s back and held his hands together so Jae could cuff him. “I have to make a stop on the way back.”

“What kind of stop?”

“A kriffin’ annoying one. Want to come? Or go with this guy?”

“I’ll come with you and keep you out of trouble. Transport’s about five minutes away.”

In the main room at Qibbu’s, Boss listened as Skirata spoke to the CSF officer over comms. He could hear the scuffling and swearing in the background. Familiar sounds to someone used to taking in the unwilling. He heard Denn’s exasperated, breathless voice as she spoke to Skirata, and remembered what she’d told him the night before. They had processes to follow, which meant she’d be taking whoever it was back to HQ for questioning, or arresting them. A protracted, drawn-out process that he imagined he would find frustrating. No finality. No end result. No one slotted.

He finished cleaning his Deece, did yet another inventory of the other weapons stashed there, and was pulling apart one of Skirata’s Verpines for cleaning when the door to the platform opened and Niner ushered two people in. He saw the look on Skirata’s face. Angry, frustrated. Curious as to how it would play out, he stayed to observe. Lieutenant Denn had another officer with her, an older Sullustan man. Both of them were in armor, though it was nothing like the Katarn he wore. It was grey with yellow trim. Drab and cumbersome looking. It had large shoulder pauldrons, and high cowling around the neck that a helmet obviously attached to.

She looked different in armor. More like a police officer. But then she looked at him and grinned, and he saw she still had her tinted lip gloss on. Skirata shoved past him with an irritated click of his teeth. “We could do without the extras. You selling tickets or something?”

“I think you’re wildly overestimating how interesting you all are,” she shot back. “You remember Jae. He’s my partner now.”

Skirata nodded to the Sullustan. “I can only wish you luck. We could do without the police speeder out there.”

“Mine’s unmarked. And if you want to demand my presence in the middle of a shift, this is what you get. What do you need?”

Skirata handed her a datapad with a list of addresses. “What can you tell me?”

Ace held the ‘pad, so Niuv could read it as well, both of them frowning as they scanned over the addresses. They stopped reading about halfway down the list and exchanged a look. “That’s our HQ.”

Skirata nodded, watching both their reactions carefully. “Explanation?”

Niuv gave him a look. They were about the same age, world-weary and experienced. Niuv had seen enough in his policing life not to be cowed by the Mandalorian. “That depends on what the rest of the addresses are.”

Skirata looked at Ace. “How much does he know?”

“Everything. Boss needs to keep a few of us in the loop so we can manage the lower downs.”

Across the room, Boss felt himself react again to the mention of his name. It would be a lot easier for him if she called her boss Obrim, or Captain. He watched as Skirata pulled up the holochart and pointed at the series of coloured dots moving around the map of Coruscant. “This is everyone we’re tracking. One of them went into your headquarters.”

“Well, what did the boss say?”

“OCU. You’ve been working with them. What have they said?”

“That boy’s club? They keep me in the dark as much as possible.”

“Meaning?”

Ace and Jae exchanged a cagey glance. “Look, I’m ATU. If the lines cross-over, I work with them, or they work with us. But the flow of intel is far from transparent. They tell me what I need to know, and vice versa. We all protect our patch.”

Vau stepped forward then. “Perhaps we can find someone in OCU as willing to…share intelligence as you have been.”

Ace gave Vau an unimpressed look. “Good luck with that. They’re all assholes. And besides, I’m an unwilling party here. I’m just following orders. I’ve been known to do it occasionally.”

Boss watched his sergeant’s reaction, surprised to see he was almost amused by the woman’s response. He could count on one hand the number of times he’d seen Vau amused by anything other than the misfortune of others.

Skirata gave an irritated huff. “Jaller’s warning them off. I guess that’s the best we can hope for.”

Niuv was still surveying the list of addresses. “What about all these other locations?”

“We’re watching them. Once we have a time and place for an exchange, we’ll be handing this over to you. Officially. You get what’s left.”

Ace rolled her eyes. “Great. Leftovers.”

“Sorry, ad’ika. That’s the best I can do.”

She just shrugged and handed him back the datapad. “Got a date yet?”

“Not yet. You’ll know when we know.”

“Okay. I’ll have my team on standby. Come on, Jae. Time to hit the armory and get the big guns out.”

Skirata gave her an exasperated look and tilted his head towards her sergeant. “Try and keep her under control.”

Boss saw the Sullustan bristle defensively. “She knows what she’s doing.”

She was in front of him then, smiling brightly. “Hey, Boss. This is Sergeant Jae Niuv. He’s my second in command. Jae, this is Boss. He’s…” She frowned at Boss. “Sorry, I don’t know your rank.”

“Sergeant,” he said, shaking the other sergeant’s hand.

“There you go! You two have lots in common! Except you don’t have kids. Jae’s got about twelve.”

“I’ve got three,” Niuv said, shaking his head at her in exasperation. “Still just three.”

“Well, they look like a lot when they’re running around.”

“My eldest is your age.”

“Really? Weird. They seem younger.” She leaned in to take a closer look at the rifle Boss was stripping down. “That looks like a nice piece of kit. What is it?”

“Verpine shatter gun.” He looked over at Skirata, who gave him a nod, so he passed her the weapon. Skirata was a little protective of his Verpine arsenal.

Ace handled the rifle almost reverently, letting out an impressed whistle. “Oh my, what a beauty. Look at those lines…”

“You’ll have to excuse her,” Niuv cut in. “She’s got a thing for expensive weapons. We’re a government agency. We don’t get nice toys.”

“I’ve heard about these,” Ace said, ignoring her sergeant. “Can they really fire any projectile that fits in the chamber?”

“Within reason,” Skirata said, reaching over her shoulder to take the rifle back and hand it to Boss. “If you cooperate, I might let you have a go.”

“I am cooperating!” she huffed in an exasperated tone. “What more do you want?”

“I’ll let you know if I think of anything.”

Ace pulled a face at his retreating back before looking back at Boss, her eyes tracking his hands as he cleaned the rifle’s barrel. “Well, we’d better go. I need to get out of this kit and then we can question Gurd. Nice to see you again, Boss!”

Boss watched them leave, surprised she could even stay upright under the heavy armor. But then, he’d seen her tackle a man and subdue him. She was stronger than she looked. Shaking his head, he beckoned to Fixer as he went to the lift. “Let’s go eat.”

“You’re asking for trouble.”

“What?” They were back in the speeder, heading for HQ. “You’ll have to be more specific, Jae. You say that to me several times a week.”

“That commando,” Niuv clarified. “I saw the way you looked at him.”

Ace shifted uncomfortably in her seat. “What are you talking about? What way did l look at him?”

“I don’t think that’s something I can say in mixed company.”

She pulled a face at him. “We’re not really going to discuss my sex life, are we? Because I don’t think either of us will benefit from that.”

Jae gave an amused snort. “Given my fatherly relationship to you…no. We are not discussing your sex life.”

“More like grandfatherly.”

“I’m not even sixty yet! And leaving that aside, those commandos are off limits.”

“All of them?”

“Don’t be a smartass.”

Ace sighed dramatically. “Jae, you know how hard it is for me to get anyone to hang around longer than a few dates. Men think I’m weird.”

“You’re not weird,” Jae said, giving her knee a comforting pat. “You’re just…well, you’re unique.”

“Unique? That sounds like a slightly less offensive way of calling me weird.”

“No, I mean unique. You’re a cop – that’s already a negative for a lot of people. And you’re not just a cop, you’re a young woman who’s a senior officer. A lot of men find that confronting. Intimidating even.”

“But—”

“But, there are plenty of men out there who’d jump at the chance to be with you. You just need to find the right one. Trust me.”

Ace looked down at her bulky, drab grey armor. “Form an orderly queue, boys.”

“That’s the spirit.”

“Thanks, grandpa.”

Ace was making dinner when her brother came in from work, exhausted, his face covered in black dust. She looked him over quickly. “Injured?”

“Nope. Just filthy. And not in the good way.”

She gave an amused snort as she turned the heat down. “Go shower. Dinner won’t be long.”

By the time Matthias came out of the shower in clean clothes, Ace was putting dinner on the table. “Dad called. He said Mama wants us to go home for a visit.”

“What’d you tell him?”

“That I’d talk to you. That buys us a bit of time.”

Matthias muttered something under his breath as he got them both a beer from the conservator, so Ace wrapped her arms around his waist from behind, holding onto him tightly. “I can fob them off for as long as you want. You know they won’t come here. And we don’t have to go home.”

“You should. They approve of you.”

“I’m not going without you. We go together or not at all. It’s you and me against the galaxy.”

Matthias snorted as he tried to walk to the table with Ace still clinging onto him, her legs trailing limply along behind. “You’re an idiot. But I’m glad I’ve got you as a sister.”

“Big sister,” she corrected, getting her feet beneath her.

“By eight minutes. You’re reaching.”

“Well, I’m used to reaching at my height. Someone else stole all the height genes.”

Matthias pulled the caps off the beer bottles and handed her one, smiling as she took several large gulps. “Long day?”

“Always.”

“Anything you can divulge?”

“Not really. Sorry.” She hated not being able to share with her brother, but rules were rules. “Hey, Matti, do you think I’m weird?”

“Yes. Why?”

She gave him an exasperated look. “Not that kind of weird. Just…Jae said I’m unique, not weird. He said men can be intimidated by a woman like me.”

“They can,” Matti agreed around his mouthful. “The heterosexual male can be a very fragile being. You’re an intelligent, competent, talented woman. Also weird. Of course they’re intimidated.”

“You forgot beautiful.”

“You’re my sister. That’s gross. I think you look like a little freckled, red-headed gremlin, but I may be biased.”

“At least I don’t look like a walking family-sized conservator.”

“You say that, but I pick up way more than you.”

Ace got up to get two more beers. “I guess I’m just stuck being weird and lonely.”

Matti frowned at her. “What brought all this on?”

“Oh…I don’t know. I met this guy, but—”

“What guy, where?”

“I can’t even tell you! It’s all confidential. But it doesn’t matter. Jae said he’s off limits, and he’s right. It’s a bad idea. And he probably thinks I’m weird.”

“Want me to beat him up?”

Ace blinked. “What for?”

“For thinking you’re weird.”

“But you just said I’m weird!”

“And that’s my prerogative. My birthright. But if you think I’m going to stand by while some stranger goes around thinking you’re weird…”

“Well, I appreciate you’re freakish overprotectiveness, but I don’t think we can start enforcing 'thought police' powers just yet. Besides, you’re not likely to ever meet him. This op will all be over soon, and life will go back to normal.”

Matti raised an eyebrow at her. “This op? He another cop?”

“No. He’s a mob boss I’ve had my eye on for a while.” Ace tried to hold her deadpan expression, but quickly dissolved into a fit of giggles.

“You’re an idiot,” her brother said, reaching across the table to whack her. “I mean it though. I won’t tolerate people upsetting you. You and me against the galaxy, remember?”

Chapter Text

“Boss, I think they’re moving.”

Obrim didn’t look up from his terminal screen. “It’s customary to knock.”

“So is not murdering someone in cold blood, in broad daylight, in a crowded area.” Ace held her datapad up to read out the report of a body at GAR logistics. “Hela Madiry. Fifty-eight. Admin. No criminal history. No possible reason for her to be assassinated mid-sandwich.”

Obrim stopped what he was doing. She had his attention now. “Hmm, sounds like them. Get down to the crime scene and get it silenced. Tell them it's an anti-terror matter, and if they have any issues, they can take it up with me.”

“Are you implying I’m not threatening enough by myself?”

“Just offering you back-up. Take Niuv with you. We don’t know who might be sniffing around, and you’re a potential target.”

“Sir, yes, sir!” Ignoring Obrim’s exasperated sigh, she sauntered from his office and made her way to the lift, calling Jae as she went. “We’ve got trade, Grandpa.” She cut the comm off before Niuv finished his colourful expletive and went out to her speeder. Niuv arrived just behind her and slid into the passenger seat.

“What’ve we got?”

“I think our commandos just made their first move. Assassination at GAR logistics. We need to go and smooth things over.”

“Oh, good. Nothing like a little police cover-up to start the day.”

“The day’s half over. Did you miss your nap or something?”

“You know, age catches up with all of us, young lady. I used to be young and overly enthusiastic like you.”

“Is this a morality tale?”

“Just a friendly warning. Don’t go too hard, or your knees will creak like mine.”

Ace laughed as she flicked the lights and sirens on to get them to the scene. “You could just let me enjoy my youth; you know. You don’t have to keep bringing the mood down.”

“This is policing, young lady, not a mood.”

“I know, I know. Now don’t worry, I’ll park nice and close, so you don’t have to walk too far.”

She brought the speeder down at the edge of the courtyard, flashing her badge at the uniformed patrol officers securing the scene. “What have you got?

“Not much at all,” a homicide sergeant she’d encountered before said with a worried frown. “Three shots. Two point blank to the head. Definitely an assassination.”

“Well, we’ll be the judge of that. This is an ATU case now. She’s known to us. Once the rest of my team arrives, we’ll be taking over the scene. Any security footage?”

“Nothing. And that doesn’t make sense either. There was no obvious disruption to the feed, even if someone did get access to it somehow.”

“Interesting…” It was interesting. She knew the commandos had skills, training and kit that she could only dream about. She made a mental note to find out how they’d managed to make themselves invisible. She looked around the scene. “Keep things secure until my team get here, then you can sign it over to us.”

Ace had just stepped out of the shower that evening when her comlink beeped, and she ran dripping wet to answer it. “Denn.”

“Ace, I need you back here. We’re on for tonight.”

“Damn! They don’t waste any time. I’ll be in as soon as I’m dressed.” She quickly threw on clothing, not even paying attention to what it was. She’d be changing into assault gear at HQ.

Thirty minutes later, she was geared up and in a briefing room with other officers as Obrim apprised them of the situation. “We have a number of locations to hit tonight, and it needs to be synchronised to the second. I’m calling in as many officers as I can, but this is short notice, so you may be spread thin. Full tac gear. We don’t know what we’re dealing with, and I’d rather be overprepared. Make sure your squads have drawn additional ammo from the armory, as well as rapid entry kits. Assignments will be on your datapads. If you cannot reach me for some reason, contact goes through Lieutenant Denn. Any questions?”

There were no questions, and the officers filed from the room to round up their squads and start assembling gear and loading vehicles. Obrim called her back before she left. “You’re the only one apart from me and Niuv who’s fully across what’s involved here.” He transmitted a series of coordinates to her datapad. “Make sure no one goes anywhere near this location. We don’t want witnesses.”

Ace frowned at the coordinates. “This is—”

“Keep it to yourself. Go get your squad and move out. Good luck.”

“Thanks, boss, you too.”

Ace parked her speeder a block from their target location. This residential sector wasn’t bad as locations went. Plenty of spots to get her team into position. She climbed out with Jae to pull their weapons from the back. R-88 Suppressor rifles, stun grenades, along with additional ammunition clips for their blasters. She glanced up when she saw the squad vehicles settling nearby. She and Jae jogged down to meet them, keeping a watchful eye on the team as they geared up. Once everyone was ready, she rounded them up. “Target location is around the corner, second house. Fourteen of us might seem like overkill, but we’re relying on intel that’s been passed on to us. We don’t know how many are in there. There’s a chance that this location is a facility for bomb-making, so keep blaster fire to a minimum and look before you shoot. Mission objective is to take all suspects in alive. Any questions?”

“No, ma’am!”

“Good. You’ve all got a floor plan of the dwelling. Jae, you take the rear. I’ll take the front. Let’s move into position and wait for the command.”

She took the point as she led the strike team down the street, pausing as Jae split off with his squad to cover the rear. At the front of the house, they moved slowly, silently, officers moving in to cover all the windows and doors. Ace waved Dayn over. He was the most junior member of her regular squad, but Obrim had moved him across from beat patrol because of his aptitude. “Stick with me, okay? I know it’s scary doing your first raid, but you’re here because you’re up to the job.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

She flipped her visor down, using her HUD to check for occupants. At the back of her mind, she wondered where the commandos were at. CoruFresh would be deserted at this time of night, other than them and their buyers. No one to witness or interrupt. Her HUD picked up six heat signals moving within her scan radius. She used her comm earpiece to connect with Niuv. “Jae, how many are you getting?”

“Six downstairs. I’ve just sent Ado onto the balcony upstairs, and he’s picking up four more. They’re moving around a lot.”

“Yeah. Okay, strike team, switch to night vision. Stand by.” She looked at Dayn, who was crouched down on the other side of the front door, and he looked back at her, his eyes just visible through the screen of his HUD. She winked at him and gave him a thumbs-up before checking her chrono – 2221. Almost time. She pulled her blaster and set it to stun, nodding at Dayn to do the same.

They waited silently, poised to move if anything spooked their targets, then Obrim’s voice came through on her earpiece. “All units, move in. Go, go, go!”

“You heard the man,” Ace commanded. “Seren, kill the lights! Strike team, move! Go, go, go!”

Within seconds, the house went dark, and she nodded to Dayn, who kicked the door in and covered her as she burst through into an open living room. “Armed police! Everyone on the floor, now!” She used the night vision on her HUD to follow the panicky figures in the dark room, grabbing one and throwing him to the floor before he made it to the door. As she cuffed him, she glanced across to see Dayn had the second target down and was cuffing him. Pounding and scuffling upstairs told her Jae and his squad were hard at it.

“Ace, behind you!” She turned just in time to catch a booted foot to the shoulder, swearing as she grabbed at the leg, pulling the man to the floor with her. She scrambled to subdue the man, wrestling with him until she was sitting on his chest with her blaster pressed to his forehead. “You know, that really hurt!”

She kept her weapon aimed at him as Dayn helped her roll him over and cuff him, then she was on her feet again. “Strike team report in!”

“Four subdued upstairs.”

“One subdued in the kitchen.”

“One made it out, but he’s cuffed to the back stairs.”

Counting the two she and Dayn had pinned, that meant that there was one more still unaccounted for. “Okay, people, we have one more to bring in. This is a big house, so we go room by room. In pairs. Whoever they are will be jumpy, so exercise extreme caution. Move!”

She beckoned to Dayn, and they left the front room, moving down a short hallway, blasters drawn. They reached a closed door and took up positions on either side. Ace pressed the button, and the door opened with a soft hiss. She edged into the room, blaster first, using her HUD to scan for life forms. Nothing. She backed out, and they moved to the next door, repeating the process. This time, as the door slid open, there was a soft noise, something shifting. She scanned the room but didn’t pick up any life forms. Frowning, she switched to a heat sensor, swearing as the droid appeared from behind the shower cubicle, firing at them. She flew backwards as a bolt hit her visor, clamping her eyes shut as it exploded into shards. She fired blindly in the direction of the noise, using her free hand to try and brush away the visor fragments so she could open her eyes. When she did, the droid was lying prone on the fresher floor, smoke curling out of its torso as Dayn holstered his blaster. He offered her a hand up. “Ma’am, are you okay?”

“Yeah. Nice shooting.”

Pounding boots announced Niuv’s arrival in the room. “What the hell happened?”

“Droid. Nine life forms, but ten heat signals. Dayn took it down.”

“Good work, son.” Niuv patted the junior officer on the back before eyeing Ace up and down. “I’ll call in paramedics.”

“Why? Have we got injured?”

Niuv grabbed her shoulders and turned her to face the mirror before illuminating the reflection with his torch. Her face was covered in blood from the many tiny nicks the exploding visor had caused, thin trickles merging together to create a gruesome visage. “That’s why?”

“I’m fine. It hit my visor.” She yanked the now-useless helmet off, turned the tap over the sink on and used her hands to wash away as much blood as she could. “See? Good as new. Any other injuries?”

“No, just you looking like a slab of freshly sliced nerf steak. Transport’s on the way to pick up this lot.”

“Okay. I’ll go and report in while you take care of that. Good work, Dayn.”

She went back through the house, checking in with her team members as they rounded up the detainees to get them ready to transport back to HQ. The cells were going to be crowded tonight. And she’d be right there with them writing up reports. She tapped her earpiece to connect her to Obrim. “Boss, all tucked away here. All targets detained; no causalities.”

“Good. I need you to get down to CoruFresh. Sounds like things are a little…messy over there.”

“But I thought—”

“CRO are on site. I might need you to muddy the waters until I can get there.”

“Shit! How bad? Matti’s on duty tonight.”

“Nothing terrible. A warehouse fire. The sprinklers activated, but it triggered the alarm. And I imagine there will be a number of causalities to explain.”

“Okay. I’ll get over there now and check in once I’ve got things secured.”

She went back to yell into the house. “Jae, you’re in command. I have to go and secure another site.”

“Copy that.”

She jumped in her speeder and made her way over to CoruFresh, thankful that the late-night traffic had eased off. She saw the smoke before she saw the depot, hovering briefly over the warehouse before parking nearby. She looked through the responders until she spotted her brother’s looming form as he directed his team. “Hey, what have you got here?”

“An extinguished fire and a whole lot of dead bodies.” He pulled his helmet off and gave her a penetrating look. “I’m guessing that’s why you’re here?”

“Yeah…”

“What do I need to know?”

“Anti-terror joint op. Do what you need to do, leave the bodies for us, and don’t ask any tricky questions.”

“Can do. Now what the hell happened to your face? Do you need a medic?”

“My visor got shot.” She looked around the scene. Matthias wasn’t exaggerating. There really were a lot of dead bodies. “How much longer do you need?”

“I’d say another ten minutes to secure the site. Then it’s all yours.”

“Great, thanks.” She grabbed the small datapad off her belt when it buzzed with a message. “I need to go do something. I’ll be back before you go.”

Boss straightened up when he saw a speeder approaching, quickly reaching for his Deece. But Skirata waved a hand at him. “Stand down, boys. It’s just CSF.”

He was surprised to see Ace climb out of the speeder, kitted out in tactical assault gear. But he frowned when he saw her face. The uniform obviously didn’t include any kind of head protection – her face was covered in tiny nicks and cuts, some of them still bleeding. As she walked towards them, she unwrapped a stick of gum and started chewing. She grinned at the Omega boys as she drew closer. “Hi, Fi! Jump on any grenades tonight?”

Fi stared in horror at her face. “No. Did you?”

“No, just—"

“What the hell happened to you?” Skirata interrupted, staring at her in disbelief.

“Why does everyone keep asking me that? My visor got shot and exploded in my face, okay?”

“Well, maybe you need to get your people to work on some better head protection.” He nodded to Ordo, who stepped forward to hand her a datastick. “This is everything from our surveillance. It’s all yours now.”

Ace looked at the stick for a moment before shoving it into a secure pocket. Then she looked around the strike team. “Everyone okay here?”

“Fine. What about your team?”

“Just my exploded face. I’d better get back down there and start calling in the meat wagons. How many bodies?”

“Twenty-four here.”

“Here?”

“Don’t worry, I’m sure the other two will be called in by concerned citizens.”

“Great. I look forward to it.”

She turned to leave, but Skirata grabbed her arm. “Any of those firefighter boys know what happened here tonight?”

“Firstly, they’re not all boys. And secondly, no. As far as they’re aware, it’s a confidential anti-terror op. I’m going back down to take over the scene from them.”

Boss tracked her as she walked back to her own speeder, seeing her wince as she flexed her shoulders. Her assault kit wasn’t much better than the light body armor they’d been wearing the last couple of weeks. Enough to protect the torso from blades or indirect blaster bolts, but that was about it. She turned and noticed him then, and to his surprise, she offered him that bright, gap-tooth smile, despite the state she was in. Then she winced, reminded of the tiny cuts dotting her face. She veered towards him, eyeing his armor up and down. “I could do with something like that.”

“Yeah, you could.”

“I guess all the Republic funding is getting funnelled to you boys.”

Before he could stop himself, Boss reached out to pick a shard of her visor that was still embedded in her cheek. “What was this made of?”

“Toughened plastoid. Not tough enough, I guess.”

Boss shrugged. “It kept you alive.”

“Good point!” She grinned at him again. “I’d better get down there and start counting bodies. See you round, maybe.”

“Yeah. Maybe.” They’d left a mess back at CoruFresh, and for some reason, he felt a pang of guilt that she got the job of cleaning it all up while they got to go back to base and sleep. She’d already had a tough night. He looked down at the shard of plastoid in his hand, still tinted with a drop of her blood. A direct shot to the face like that would probably have killed her without the visor or, at the very least, caused severe injuries. She was lucky this time. And, despite being shot in the face, she was still relentlessly cheery and good-natured. She was definitely an odd one. But there was something about her…

Chapter Text

Ace rolled back and forth on the exercise ball at her desk, eyes feeling gritty as she typed up reports. She tried to smother a wide yawn as Obrim came into her office with a large mug of caf. “Thanks, boss. They’re going to need to call in extra judges to do all the preliminary hearings.”

He nodded as he sat on the other side of her desk, reversing their roles. “Fortunately, that’s not our problem.”

“Except for the overcrowded holding cells.”

“Except for that.” He watched her worriedly as she went back to typing. “Have you had your face looked at?”

“Well, everyone looked at it, but I don’t think that’s what you mean.” She paused to take large gulp of caf before grinning at him. “I’m fine. It’s nothing terrible. Just a bunch of tiny cuts.”

“We need to talk to procurement about that. I don’t want my people kitted out in gear that’s not fit for purpose.”

“I wouldn’t mind a rig like those commandos wear,” she said wistfully. “Can you imagine?”

“Can I imagine you routinely throwing yourself on grenades or off buildings? Yes, I can, unfortunately.”

“But I’d be immortal!”

“Ask Fi just how immortal he felt after impact. You’ll get a chance to later this week.”

“I will?”

“Drinks upstairs. On us.”

“Oh. All of them or just Fi?”

“All of them. Why?”

“No reason. You should go home, boss. Telti will be worried.”

“I’ll go home when we’re done here. Was Matthias okay with—”

Ace grinned at him again. “He’s always fine. I think he was just relieved they didn’t have to clean up the bodies this time. He’s probably fast asleep by now.”

“We should be too. Let’s get these reports done and try a get home for a few hours. We’ve got a lot of work ahead to tie up all these loose ends.”

Ace was left alone again, rolling idly on her ball as she sipped her caf. She hadn’t thought she’d see the commandos again. Not unless they did another op with them, which was unlikely. She raised a hand to touch her cheek where Boss had pulled the piece of shrapnel out. She pulled a face at all the tiny wounds starting to scab over. She looked a mess. But he hadn’t commented on that. He didn’t really say much at all. She could almost count on both hands the number of words he’d said to her. But there was something about him that she was drawn to, and it wasn’t just looks. He was a clone and looked more or less the same as his brothers. But she had quickly figured out ways to tell them apart when she’d first worked with Omega months earlier. Different hairstyles, scars – they all had subtle differences. Boss didn’t have anything remarkable to make him stand out, but somehow she could still pick him. Something about his posture, the way he held himself. Confident, self-assured. Sturdy.

She almost snorted caf out her nose. “Sturdy…”

“What’s sturdy? How is that coming up in a report?”

“My visor was not very sturdy when shot point blank with a blaster,” she said, pretending to read from her screen.

Niuv snorted. “That’s an understatement. You about done here?”

“Two more perps to log, and that’s it. What about you?”

“Finished. I sent the others home.”

“You should follow them, then. Your kids will be wondering where you were at bedtime.”

He gave her an unimpressed look. “My youngest is eighteen, Ace. He’s not a fan of bedtime stories anymore. And he’s the only one still living at home.”

“Well, go home to your wife. She must be missing you.”

“I’ll wait.”

“Don’t wait, Jae. I promise I’ll go as soon as I’m done. Then a luxurious three hours sleep before we start it all again later this morning!”

“Don’t remind me. Sleep well, and I’ll see you in a few hours.”

“You too.” She turned her attention back to the screen, forcing herself not to groan out loud at the blank form waiting to be filled out. She took another large gulp if caf and pulled out the perp’s paperwork. Start at the beginning.

Boss sat back and sipped his ale, his mind only half on the conversation his brothers were having with the two CSF officers at the table with them. The club was large, and there were a lot of people there, but he was confident he’d spot someone with red hair in the crowd. But she wasn’t there. He wasn’t sure how that made him feel. Disappointed? Maybe. But he didn’t know why. Even if he did see her tonight, he was unlikely to ever see her again. He didn’t exist in the same reality as Skirata’s boys. He didn’t have the same freedoms and access to the real world that they had. He had a job to do, and this mission was an anomaly.

He downed the rest of his ale and slipped out of the club to walk down the corridor, looking for the fresher. An officer in the hall directed him, and he found the door right at the end. He relieved himself after the numerous glasses of ale and was washing his hands when the door hissed open. He glanced briefly over to see if it was one of his men, surprised to see Lieutenant Denn stumbling in, blood running down her face. She fumbled her way to the sink next to him and turned on the tap to stick her face under the running water. She straightened up and opened her eyes, yelping when she saw him there. “Shit! You scared me! What are you doing in here?”

“What are you doing in here? This is the Men’s’.”

“Oh…whoops. I couldn’t see through the blood. Must have got the wrong door.”

Boss passed her a wad of paper towel. “What happened to you?”

“Nothing. I’m fine.”

“You’re bleeding from two head wounds.”

“Oh…” She looked in the mirror, wincing at the two wounds in her hair, two slow trickles of blood running down her forehead as she tried to clean it up.

Boss watched her reflection in the mirror. “You got a medbay in this place?”

“Yeah. No one’s there at night, though.”

He grabbed her arm and shoved her back out through the door. “Which way?”

She directed him back down the corridor, past the bar and into a room at the other end of the hall. A small, neat medbay with basic first aid supplies. He pushed her towards the bed before rifling through the cabinets to find a bacta spray and clean gauze. “What happened?”

“Just bringing in an unwilling suspect. He’s down in the lock-up screaming his innocence.” She held her hand out for the gauze, but he ignored her, pressing the folded pad to her head to stem the bleeding. “You don’t need to do that. I can manage.”

He raised a disbelieving eyebrow at her before lifting the gauze to check the bleeding. “Any risk of concussion?”

“No. The cuts are from the blade he was waving around. He only punched me once.”

Boss looked more closely. She had a swollen split lip where a fist had caught her. And her face was still marked by the shrapnel that she’d taken several days earlier. Clearly, policing on Coruscant was more dangerous than he’d thought. She looked up at him then, her blue eyes slightly bloodshot. Maybe from being punched, maybe from exhaustion. “I can take it from here. You’re supposed to be getting drunk with the others.”

“No one’s getting drunk. We could be deployed at short notice. And you shouldn’t be trying to manage head wounds alone.”

She grinned at him. “I could make it an order.”

“I’m off duty.”

“Well, maybe I can boss you around some other time…Boss.”

Boss blinked, wondering what she meant by that. He lifted the gauze again to distract himself. “Bleeding’s stopped.” He misted bacta over the two cuts. They weren’t deep, but head wounds tended to bleed a lot. “I can’t put any dressing on them, though. Not without shaving your hair away.”

“I’ll go without a dressing.” She grabbed the bacta from him and gave her split lip a spritz, pulling a face at the taste. “There. Good as new!” She slid down off the bed and went out into the corridor. “I’m just going to change into a clean uniform. I’ll buy you a drink if you’re still around.”

He saw her stumble as she went for the lift, and caught up with her to grab her arm. “He may have hit you harder than you thought.”

“Yeah. Maybe.”

He released her arm but stood close enough to grab her again as the lift took them down several floors. She led him to a locker room, not unlike the communal areas of the Arca barracks. As he kept an eye on her, she opened a locker and pulled her belt and officer’s bars off her tunic before unfastening it and tossing it into the locker. She was wearing a short sleeved top underneath, and his eyes were drawn to her left forearm, clearly red and swollen. “What happened there?”

Ace looked down at her arm, seemingly surprised. “Good question.”

Boss grabbed her arm and held it up to the light, surprised to see what looked like the impression of a boot print on the pale, freckled skin. “You don’t remember being stomped?”

“Well, things were moving pretty fast.” She pulled her arm free and put on a clean tunic, before reattaching her bars and fastening her belt and holster back on. She looked into the mirror that was fastened to the inside of her locker door and tried to arrange her hair over the two cuts. Once she was done, she turned to face him. “Can you tell?”

“Yeah. You can tell.”

She sighed dejectedly. “Oh well.” She leaned up to kiss his cheek, wincing at the pressure on her split lip. “Thanks for helping anyway.”

Boss didn’t have time to react before she was on the move again, and he caught up with her at the lift. “Does it matter if you can tell?”

“Oh yeah, I’m going to be in all kinds of trouble.”

When they got to the club, she peeked in first before sidling in and trying to disappear into a cluster of officers talking by the bar. But Obrim had seen her. “Ace, about time you showed up. Your shift finished over an hour ago.”

She kept her head down, looking anywhere but at her commanding officer as she answered. “Well…I just had a few things to tidy up, and—”

Obrim folded his arms across his chest. “Look at me.”

Boss winced. He was familiar with that angrily disappointed tone. He’d heard it a lot growing up. Ace raised her head, and he heard the indrawn breath the captain took when he saw the state she was in. His expression was one of quiet rage and deep concern. “What have I told you about calling for backup?”

“Sorry, boss. There just wasn’t time. I was on my way back and—”

“Then you should have called it in and followed from a distance! The way you were trained. Remember?”

“Yes, sir.”

Seeing that she was suitably chastened, Obrim softened his tone. “Go and get yourself a drink. We’ll discuss this in the morning.”

She slunk away to the bar, and Boss rejoined his brothers. That was that, then. But he could still see her as she joined a man at the bar. A CRO officer. He’d seen a few of them mingling in the club. This one was tall and heavily built, beating the commandos for both height and weight. He looked unstoppable; someone he’d think twice or three times about going up against. And he had his arms around Ace, consoling her, looking worriedly at her injuries. He handed her a drink, and she soon seemed to be back to her usual self, laughing and talking. He saw Fi join them, shaking hands with the large firefighter. He wondered if Fi would disclose the fire safety plans they’d liberated through Ordo’s slicing. Possibly. Fi had a big mouth.

He helped himself to another glass of ale from the collection on the table and nudged Scorch. “We should get back soon.”

“We barely got here! Can’t you just relax for five minutes and have some fun? Niner is.” Niner was. He’d joined some of the other officers in a contest – hurling their knives into the carved wooden panel behind the bar.

Fi dropped heavily into a chair next to him, drink in hand. He was having a good night. “I’ve just had the strange experience of feeling small and inadequate. Ace’s brother. He’s a human tank.”

Scorch looked at the man Fi was indicating. “That’s her brother? Weird. They don’t look much alike.”

“They’re not clones,” Fixer piped up from across the table.

“And that’s why you’re the brains of the operation,” Scorch said, rolling his eyes.

Boss got up and went over to join Niner and the CSF officers. Maybe Scorch was right. Time to relax for five minutes. “What’s the objective?”

“The throw before yours. See if you can dislodge it.”

Boss pulled his own knife, lined up and threw, knocking the blade of one of the officers to the floor with a clatter. “Next…”

He glanced over at the bar every now and then, eyes on Ace as she mingled. He saw her with her sergeant, Niuv, who joined her and the man Fi said was her brother. After ten minutes, or so, he saw her grab her drink and head for the door that led to the balcony. She was alone now, so he holstered his knife and followed her. He wasn’t sure why, but he’d figure that out when he got there. Out on the balcony, he spotted her in the far corner, back to him as she looked out over the city. She turned when she heard him approach, quickly putting her right hand behind her back.

Boss cocked his head at her nervous expression. “What are you doing out here?”

She looked around innocently. “Nothing...”

“Your hand is smoking.”

“Oh.” She sheepishly revealed the cigarette in her hand. “Technically, I’ve given up. But it’s been a long week.” She balanced her drink on the rail and dug a crumpled pack from her pocket. “Do you want one? They’re a bit old and stale, but—"

“I don’t smoke.”

“Oh, shit! Sorry.” She tried futilely to wave the smoke away from him, eventually stubbing it out and tossing it in the nearby bin. “You’re right. I shouldn’t smoke. They’re very bad for me.”

“I didn’t say anything.”

“I see disapproval in your eyes.” She dug a stick of gum out of another pocket and started chewing that instead. “Don’t worry, though; everyone disapproves. I’m used to it.”

He leaned on the rail beside her, enjoying the break away from the noise inside as they watched the traffic whiz by. “Is Obrim busting you back to traffic?”

“Not this time. I’m on pretty thin ice, though. Not the hero of the hour like you boys.”

“You get the credit in the news, though.”

“Yeah, that’s pretty unfair, isn’t it? This was all you.”

Boss shrugged. “Not all of it. Besides, that’s how we operate. We do the job and leave. No one’s meant to know it was us.” He glanced over at her. “Who was the man you brought in tonight?”

“Arms dealer. I’ve been watching him for a while. I had no intention of bringing him in yet, but I caught him threatening my CI, so…”

There was that acronym, she’d used before. “What’s a CI?”

Ace turned to smile at him, the split on her lower lip threatening to reopen. “If I teach you some police acronyms, will you teach me some army ones?”

“If you want.”

“A CI is a confidential informant. Someone on the inside.”

“A double agent?”

“No. Usually, it’s one of them or someone close to them that’s prepared to inform. They get police protection or immunity from prosecution in return.”

“And you trust people like that?”

“More or less. I trust mine. But one of these days, I’m going to have to pull her out and put her into witness protection whether she likes it or not. Right now, she won’t go. It’s complicated.”

Boss pondered this. It was complicated. Ace had a lot more responsibility than he did. He commanded his squad, but at the end of the day, they followed the intelligence and orders of others for the most part. Once a job was over, they moved on to the next one. Just like they would do now.

As though she’d read his mind, Ace looked over at him. “Will you be leaving again soon?”

“Probably. We never get long back at barracks. We haven’t got a new op order yet, though.”

“So…you’re not on TripZip very often?”

“No.”

“Oh. That’s a shame.”

Boss didn’t know what to say to that. Was it a shame because she thought they deserved more free time on Corrie, or some other reason? Was he imagining that she was hoping to see him again? Was he imagining that he wanted to see her again?

“We go together.”

“What?”

Ace tapped on his right pauldron. “Your armor and my hair. Not a bad match.”

Boss looked at her hair. It wasn’t really the same colour as his armor. Her hair was a bright, shiny auburn, and, looking closely, he could see the almost golden strands mingling with the ginger. There were also the patches plastered to her head with dried blood and bacta. He didn’t really have a response. The silence was interrupted when the door hissed open, and Etain Tur-Mukan stepped out. She stopped short when she saw them huddled side by side against the rail. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt.”

“You’re not,” Ace said with a smile, the moment broken. “Enjoy the view. I have some work to do.”

Boss watched her leave, then he saw the general was watching him. “I’m sorry, Boss. I didn’t realise that… I didn’t mean to disturb you.”

“You didn’t.” He gave her a respectful nod before going back inside. Time to get his boys back to base.

Ace sat at her desk, rolling back and forth on her ball as she entered data. It was a tedious necessity. Boring, but it had to be done. She uploaded the file she already had on her perp and sent it in a holomail to the prosecutors. It was in their hands now. But she needed to get a good statement from her CI to back it all up, otherwise he’d be back out in days. She frowned when she heard the large double doors to the bullpen open, followed by heavy footsteps. She stepped out of her office to see who it was. It should only be the cleaning droid at this hour, but cleaning droids didn’t make footsteps.

She blinked when she saw Boss there, the low light illuminating the white of his armor. She stood in the doorway of her office, watching as he walked towards her. “How did you find me here?”

“You said you had work to do. It wasn’t hard to find the right floor.”

“Oh.”

“We’re about to leave.”

“Oh.”

Boss frowned, wondering why she wasn’t saying anything more. “I don’t know when we’ll be back, so—”

“Can I comm you?”

He felt the tension in his shoulders relax. He wasn’t making a complete fool of himself then. “Yeah. Messages only, though. I can’t always take calls.” He took the comlink she grabbed off her desk and tapped his code into it before handing it back. “I don’t know how…if…well—”

Ace grabbed the front of his chest plate and stretched up to press her lips to his, taking him utterly by surprise. It must have been written all over his face because she looked sheepish when she released him. “Sorry. Was that too forward?”

“No.” This time he made the move, putting his arms around her to pull her closer. When he kissed her, she sighed against his lips, her body going soft in his arms. Eventually, he released her, feeling guilty when she winced, prodding gently at her split lip. “Sorry.”

“It’s fine. It was worth it.”

“I have to go.”

“Okay. Take care out there, won’t you?”

“I’m not the one covered in cuts and bruises.”

Ace grinned at him. “Fair point. Okay, I’ll promise to try and be careful if you will too.”

Boss nodded and allowed himself to smile back at her. “Deal. I’ll uh...I’ll be in touch.”

He turned and strode for the door, still tasting her gum on his lips, and was just stepping out into the hall when she caught up with him, grabbing his arm to stop him. “I mean it, Boss. What you do is a lot more dangerous than what we do. Be careful.”

She looked genuinely worried, so he pulled her into a dark corner to kiss her again. “I said I would.”

Down the other end of the long corridor, Jaller Obrim exchanged a stunned look with Kal Skirata. “Well, that’s unexpected.”

“You’re telling me. Vau will have a fit if he finds out.”

Obrim gave the other man a stern look. “Do I need to step in before this becomes a thing? I don’t want her getting hurt because—”

“Don’t worry. I’ll make sure nothing gets out. Those boys are entitled to a bit of real life as much as anyone else. Even Boss.”

Chapter Text

“It’s one of those commandos, isn’t it?”

Ace blinked at her brother across the table. “What? What are you talking about?”

“The guy you met.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“I can read you like a book, Ace. A children’s book. With pictures.”

She pulled a face at him and finished her caf. “Look, it’s not anything. He gave me his comm code and I probably won’t ever see him again. Just a little post-raid hysteria.”

Matti gave her a long, thoughtful look. “Which one? One of the ones in black?”

“No. The sergeant of the other squad. Boss.”

“Boss? You already doing kinky role-play stuff?”

“That’s his name!” she said defensively. “They’re clones, Matti. They didn’t have parents to lovingly choose their names for them.”

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” Mattie said placatingly. “I take it all back. Parents are overrated anyway.”

“Well, ours are,” she agreed, getting up to take her cup to the sink. “I’d better get going. OCU is still on our hammer after everything. They think we knew in advance and kept them out of the loop.”

“You did know in advance and kept them out of the loop.”

“Yeah, but they don’t know that. They’re just fishing.”

“What about breakfast?”

“I’ll grab something on the way.” She bent to kiss her brother’s cheek. “Have a good day, won’t you.”

It was still early when Ace slipped into the Kragget. She scanned the diner, too slow to avoid her boss seeing her. He waved her over, and she slid into a booth by the window next to him, face-to-face with Kal Skirata. “Aren’t I a little young and pretty for your old man breakfast?”

Skirata raised an eyebrow at her. “Your face still looks like a plate of minced bantha steak.”

“Single are you, Sarge?”

He chuckled as he reached for the caf pot to pour her a cup. “Better for everyone that way.”

“Yes, I’m sure the ladies are beating a path to your door. Now what do you want?”

“What makes you think we want anything?”

Ace looked at Obrim. “He knows I’m a detective, right?”

“I’m sure it just slipped his mind,” Obrim said. “And I want to check in with you after last night. I was going to tell you to stay home.”

“Why?”

Obrim grabbed her arm and shoved the sleeve up. “This boot print on your arm, for starters. The fact that your head and face are covered in scabs...”

“Well, I’m fine. I don’t need a day off. I’m bacta’d up and ready to hit the streets.”

“You won’t be hitting the streets. We’ve got some intel to work through. This week’s events have led to some, shall we say, interesting leadership changes in the hierarchy. We need to sit back and observe for a bit.”

“But—”

“Ace, you’re on desk duty until I say otherwise. Clear?”

She sighed loudly. “Yes, sir.”

“Good. Have you eaten?”

“No.”

“Well, order some breakfast and relax for five minutes. The city can survive without you for a while.”

“Fine.” She scowled at Skirata across the table. “Are you planning on hijacking my next case as well?”

“No, I’ve got something else to take care of. I’ll be away for a while.”

“Oh, good,” she said, cheering up. “Where are you going?”

“Nowhere you need to know about. I trust I can leave Coruscant in your capable hands?”

Ace scowled at him. “Don’t be patronizing.”

Boss sat on his bunk reading through the op order. Deploying tomorrow for Skuumaa. That sharpened things into focus. He’d spent several days at Arca barracks arriving at the conclusion that he was an idiot for giving his comm code to Ace. The mission on Triple Zero was over, and he wasn’t going to see her again. How could he? He was rarely on Coruscant, and, when he was, he was at barracks. He wasn’t one of Skirata’s boys, given the freedom to pursue relationships in the real world. He was angry at himself for letting his guard down, for letting her get under his skin. And he felt something resembling guilt that he hadn’t bothered to get her comm code so he could tell her this was all a bad idea. She deserved that, at least. He didn’t know much about relationships, but he knew he liked her enough not to want to hurt her. And there it was. He liked her. “Shab.” He tossed the datapad aside and went to find his squad in the mess. Maybe he’d think better on a full stomach. As he strode down the corridor, he saw Skirata coming the other way. He nodded politely and was almost at the exit when the old sergeant called his name.

“Boss, a word?”

Boss sighed to himself before turning around. “Sarge?”

Skirata checked the small window of one of the training rooms and ushered him inside. “Where’s your squad?”

“Eating.”

“Well, I won’t keep you long. Skuumaa tomorrow?”

Boss eyed the man suspiciously. “You’ve seen the op order.”

Skirata nodded. “I’ll get to the point then. You and Ace.”

Boss gave him one of his signature blank stares. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Skirata studied the young man for a moment. And that’s how he saw him, as a young man. A young man who deserved what any other young man wanted or desired, despite his obvious posturing and defensiveness. “Here’s the thing, son…I saw you together the other night.”

Boss just shrugged dismissively. “Doesn’t mean anything. We’re deploying tomorrow.”

“Does she know that?”

“How would she?”

Skirata tried to contain his exasperation. Vau had really done a number on these boys. “Look, son, I’m not Vau. You know I’m not like him. If you want to have something outside of all of this, knock yourself out. I won’t be getting in your way. Ace is a good kid, but you should tell her you’re shipping out.”

Boss stared down at the older man. This was all incredibly uncomfortable. “I don’t have any way to contact her.”

Skirata shook his head and pulled out his own comlink. This time the exasperation was harder to contain. He copied a code onto a scrap of flimsi. “Here. Let me know if you need anything else.”

Boss stared down at the code in his hand as the sergeant limped out of the room. “Thanks, Sarge.”

Boss checked his chrono as he approached the coordinates. Just after 9pm. He could be back by lights out. He checked the coordinates on his HUD again, frowning at what appeared in front of him. A bright flashing neon sign announcing The Boys’ Club. Through his helmet, he could hear the music every time the door opened for someone to leave or enter. He stood back and watched for a while, wondering if he’d made a mistake. But he didn’t make mistakes tracking devices. He was a professional. He wondered what she was doing there. Surveillance maybe. That made things difficult. He didn’t want to bust in on her the way she’d busted in on him. He was about to return to his speeder bike to go back to base when someone he recognised came out. He was out of uniform, but Ace’s brother wasn’t difficult to recognise. He was dressed in an outfit almost as tight as the black bodysuit the commandos wore under their armor. A sleeveless shirt that showed the bulging muscles in his arms, and skintight pants that clung to his thighs. He saw Boss and sauntered over with an easy smile. “You were at the club the other night.”

Boss pulled his helmet off and clipped it to his belt before holding out his hand. “Boss.”

The man shook his hand. “Matthias. Ace didn’t tell me you were coming tonight.”

“She doesn’t know.”

“How did you find her then?”

“I tracked her comm.”

Boss watched the other man’s expression change from genial to something darker, and then he found himself slammed up against the wall, his feet barely touching the ground. Ace’s brother was as strong as he looked. Boss knew how heavy he was in full armor, and Matthias wasn’t even breaking a sweat. “What are you doing following my sister around?”

“Matti, what are you doing?” Ace was there now, looking bewildered at the sight in front of her. “What’s going on? Let him go!” Matthias released him, but stayed close, eyeing Boss threateningly until Ace pushed him back towards the club. “Go back inside and stop embarrassing me!”

“He’s tracking your comm.”

“Well, I can deal with it.”

Matthias reluctantly backed away towards the club before going back inside. Boss looked at Ace. She was dressed for a night out in the same pink dress she’d worn to Qibbu’s the first night, but her hair and makeup was less over the top, except for the bright pink lips. Pink didn’t go with her hair at all, but somehow, she made it work. The cuts on her face had mostly healed, and the bruise on her arm was fading. She was frowning at him. “Tracking communication devices is a criminal offence.”

“I’m a commando.”

“That doesn’t mean you’re exempt from the criminal code. There’s stalking, unauthorised surveillance…”

Boss folded his arms across his chest and gave her a challenging stare. “You planning to arrest me?”

“No, not this time.” She went over to a nearby shop that was closed for the night and sat on the steps of the doorway alcove, waiting patiently for Boss to join her. “So, why did you track me here?”

“We’re deploying tomorrow. I wanted to let you know.”

“You could have just called.”

“Yeah, I could have.”

She reached for his hand, her skin pale against his black glove. “I’m glad you came to tell me in person. I wasn’t sure when I’d see you again.”

“I don’t know how long we’ll be gone.” He let his fingers wrap around hers. “I don’t know how this can work…or what this even is…”

Ace shrugged and shuffled closer. “It doesn’t have to be anything. It can just be…something.” She sighed. “I don’t know what I’m trying to say. I know my job isn’t exactly like yours, but I get it. It’s difficult.”

Boss thought about that. He’d done a lot of things that were difficult. Most involved risking his life. But none of them compared to sitting in a dark doorway with this girl, trying to figure out what happened next.

“Where are you going?”

He shouldn’t tell her. All op orders were confidential. But she probably understood the importance of that more than most. “Skuumaa.”

“Back to fighting droids again?”

“Something like that. What about you?”

“Just the usual. Fighting crime and saving the city.”

He released her hand so he could check the chrono on his forearm plate. “I need to get back to base.”

Ace followed him back to the GAR speeder bike he had parked nearby. “You can call me if you want to. I can usually answer unless I’m getting my arm stomped on or my face shot at.”

“You might not have time then. Seems like those things happen to you a lot.”

She grinned at him, and something in her smile lifted his spirits in a way nothing had before. She rapped on his chest with her knuckles. “If they gave me something like this, I wouldn’t have to worry about it.”

Boss grabbed her wrist before she could withdraw her hand, putting his other arm around her waist. “I’ll call you if I can.”

“Okay.” She looked up at him as he shuffled them out of the glow of the garish nightclub lights. It was a dark, dank alley. The smell of waste and detritus was prevalent, and he caught sight of a borrat scrounging away at something in a dark corner. But Ace was gazing up at him, her bright blue eyes shining even in the dark. “You should probably kiss me goodbye then.”

“Yeah.” When he kissed her, he was surprised at how enthusiastically she kissed him back, wrapping her arm around his neck and pressing her body against his. For the first time since they’d finished the undercover op, he wished he was back in his fatigues again, just to be able to feel the way her body felt against his. He felt her fingers on the back of his neck, in his hair, and he realised his hands had slipped lower, his fingers digging into the soft flesh of her bottom. But she didn’t seem to mind. If anything, she seemed to move closer.

Eventually, though, he had to pull back. “I need to get going.”

She nodded, wrapping her arms around herself against the evening chill as he mounted the bike and started the engine. He slid his helmet on and touched two fingers to it in salute to her. Ace grinned at him and returned his salute. “Go get ‘em, hotshot.”

Back at base, Boss signed the bike back in and made his way quickly back to barracks via the less traversed corridors. He wasn’t strictly breaking any regulations, but he’d rather avoid awkward explanations if he could. But when he got to their quarters, Scorch was sitting on his bunk, Deece in pieces around him as he cleaned it. “Sarge, where’d you get to?”

“Why? Did something happen?”

“No. Just wondering.”

“Where’re the others?” Boss asked, carefully sidestepping Scorch’s question.

“Raiding the armory. No such thing as too much.”

“Yeah.” Boss opened his locker and started stripping his armor to shower. When he slammed the door closed, Scorch was there, eyeing him suspiciously.

“So…you and that lieutenant…”

“What lieutenant?”

Scorch looked unimpressed. “The cop. What’s going on?”

“Nothing.”

Scorch looked even less impressed. “We’re not Kal’buir’s good boys, you know. Sergeant Vau trained us, just in case you’ve forgotten. And he trained us to do our job without distraction.”

“I’m not distracted, Scorch. And there’s nothing going on.”

He was almost at the door when Scorch spoke again. “Then what’s that pink stuff on your face?”

Shab. Boss dragged the back of his hand over his mouth, catching the sparkly pink residue of her lip gloss. He was distracted. “It’s nothing you need to worry about. I’m going to shower and hit the sack, and you should do the same. We’ve got an early start tomorrow.”

He stood under the shower, trying to make the tepid water make him see sense. Scorch was right. Delta Squad didn’t get distracted. And he owed his squad his full and undivided loyalty and protection. They had to come first.

Chapter Text

Ace stood silently and watched the man for a while, her head tilted to the side as he tried on a riot helmet. He was clearly surprised when he turned and saw her there, and she felt smugly satisfied at how quiet she could be. But her expression quickly turned to one of shock when he pulled the helmet off. The man was a clone. But instead of looking ashamed or concerned at being caught, the man smirked at her. She remembered this one. She sauntered closer and folded her arms across her chest. “Can I help you?”

“Yeah.” He held the helmet out. “Got this in a bigger size?”

“That’s right. You’re the one with the big head.”

“I’m one of the ones with a big head. Have to fit all that brainpower in somewhere.” He offered her his hand. “I’m Mereel. I know you’re Ace.”

Ace shook his hand, frowning when she saw he’d already liberated most of a uniform. “What’s all this for?”

“Probably best you don’t ask.”

“You’re stealing from our stores. Of course I’m going to ask.”

Mereel offered her a charming smile. “Let’s just say it’s for the greater good.”

Ace just rolled her eyes before using a keypad to unlock a cabinet and toss him a helmet. “Try that on for size. Word of warning, don’t get shot in the face.”

He gave her an apprehensive look before trying the helmet on. “Sound advice, thanks.”

“Anytime. I suppose you want a speeder as well?”

He grinned at her. “Only if it’s not too much trouble.”

She reached up and flipped the visor on the borrowed helmet down. “Follow me. Try and act normal.”

Mereel followed her back through the building, along the busy corridors to a parking bay at the rear. She went into a small booth to scan through the available vehicles on the terminal before grabbing a code key and leading him to a patrol speeder. She handed him the code key and flipped his visor back up to give him a stern look. “I want this back without a scratch. It’ll be signed out in my name.”

“You have my word.” He climbed into the speeder and snapped off a sharp salute. “Pleasure doing business with you, Lieutenant. I owe you.”

“Yeah, you do. And don’t do anything illegal!”

“Wouldn’t dream of it…other than impersonating a police officer.”

He started the engine and was about to close the hatch when Ace grabbed the side. “Hey…do you know anything about Delta? Where they are or…”

Mereel eyed the woman thoughtfully. He’d heard the rumours about her and RC-1138. He hadn’t missed Boss following her out onto the balcony at the CSF Social Club. But it seemed like she hadn’t heard from him in the three-plus months since they’d last deployed. She looked worried, so he took pity on her. “Last I heard, they were on Mygeeto. All fine.”

“Oh…okay. Well…that’s good then.” She looked around nervously. “You’d better get out of here before the cameras spot you.”

He held up a disruptor stylus. “Already taken care of, cyar’ika.”

Ace eyed the stylus suspiciously, then looked back at him. “That’s how you killed those cams at GAR logistics!”

“I can neither confirm nor deny. Thanks for your kind assistance, Ace. I’ll see you around.”

“Here. Drink!”

Ace blinked when the large cocktail appeared in front of her. She examined the glass. There were colours in there she was sure she’d never seen before. “What is it?”

“A Rainbow Glo-worm. You don’t want to know what’s in it.”

She took a tentative sip, wheezing and coughing as it went down. Her brother laughed at her before taking a swig of his own drink. “Lightweight!”

“I literally am!” she protested, smacking his arm. “Everyone is a lightweight compared to you!” She took another sip, smaller this time, as she surveyed the dancefloor. “Any likely contenders?”

“Not sure,” Matthias mused. He pointed to a tall Zeltron man dancing with a shorter Twi’lek. “What about him?”

Ace studied him with a frown. “Hmm…nice pecs. But do you really want to risk that whole pheromone thing?”

“Good point. What about the guy he’s dancing with?”

“Not bad. Nice blue. What if they’re together though?”

“Then I’ll keep looking. What about you?”

Ace gave him an unimpressed look. “Well, I’m not going to find anyone here, am I?”

“I don’t know. There’s a few potential options… What about that commando? Did you stay in contact with him?”

She shrugged dejectedly. “I didn’t want to bother him when he was deployed. And he hasn’t contacted me. I guess he wasn’t interested. He’s okay though. I saw one of the others yesterday, and he told me.”

Matti put his arm around his sister’s shoulders and gave her a squeeze. “He’s a commando on active duty, gremlin. Don’t write him off just yet.”

Ace eyed him sceptically. “It’s been over three months.”

“Well, stranger things have happened. Either way, drink up and relax. Forget about him for a night.”

She sneezed loudly. Twice. “I shouldn’t have come out with this cold.”

“There’s enough alcohol in that thing to kill any virus. Drink.”

Taking her brother’s advice, she pulled the straw from the glass and took a large gulp, swallowing with difficulty. “Okay, let’s dance!”

Boss stopped the bike in the lane near the club. The same club from last time. A regular haunt, maybe. He shut down the engine and checked the tracking beacon. She was still there. Her comm was anyway. He pulled his helmet off and clipped it to his belt as he approached the club, the heavy bass of dance music hitting him as the door opened to let a customer out. The quick glance he got before they swished closed again was of brightly coloured lights, people dancing, tables and booths scattered around. Straightening up, he pressed the door control and walked in. He’d been in a lot of places he wasn’t meant to go, but nothing that felt like this. He was out of place here where young people were dancing, drinking, and having fun. People his own age.

He shook off his discomfort. He was a highly trained commando. Elite. A little discomfort was nothing. Ignoring the curious eyes on him, he scanned the crowded venue, looking for Ace’s red head in the mass of bodies. It wouldn’t be easy, he realised. Most of the patrons were taller than she was. And, as he looked closer, it occurred to him that most of them were men. Men dancing together, drinking together…

He spotted her then. A flash of pink and silver, topped by red hair as she was thrown into the air and caught by some man, biceps bulging as he set her safely on the floor. She was having fun. Dancing. Laughing. Tolerating another man beating out a drum riff on her shebs. The man grabbed her hand and twirled her out, and Boss met her eyes as she spotted him through the dancers. Her eyebrows shot up, and she stumbled, held up only by the man holding her hand. She leaned up to say something to him, and then she was coming over, edging her way through the dancers.

When she finally reached him, she stumbled again, and he saw she was more than a little intoxicated. Her cheeks were flushed, and her eyes were a little glassy, but she looked happy to see him as he grabbed her arm to steady her. She was dressed in tight pink satin shorts, a floaty silver top with thin straps, and silver heels. And she was still dancing, her body almost unconsciously moving to the beat. It was loud in the club, the bass beat underpinning everything. He leaned down so she could hear him. “Can we talk somewhere?”

She nodded and grabbed his hand to lead him down a tight corridor, past the doors to the freshers, stopping outside a supply room. It wasn’t silent, but he wouldn’t have to raise his voice too much to be heard. She didn’t let go of his hand, he noticed, and she was still dancing on the spot. “Were your ears burning?”

“No. Why?”

“Matti, my brother, was asking about you. He wanted to know if I’d kept in touch with you.”

Boss leaned back against the wall, pulling her closer to him as an employee edged past them to get into the room they were blocking, stopping to eyeball the armored man curiously. “I haven’t had much free time. Sorry.” That wasn’t strictly true. He could have called or sent a message. But he’d been trying hard to move on and forget about her. But being back on Coruscant brought everything back. He knew Vau was safely off Mygeeto now, and he could think about other things. Like Ace.

She grinned at him; her gap-toothed smile framed by sparkly pink lips. “That’s okay. I get it. Well, maybe I don’t one hundred percent get it…but…well, it’s fine. Are you okay?”

“Yeah.”

“I saw Mereel yesterday. He said you were on Mygeeto. But here you are.”

“Just got back this morning.” He didn’t tell her he’d been helping his sergeant rob a bank. She was a cop. She didn’t need to hear that.

“Will you be in town long?”

“No. Deploying again soon.” They shifted again as the man came back out of the supply room. “Can we go outside?”

Ace nodded, letting him pull her back down the corridor. As they passed the heaving dancefloor again, he caught a snippet of the lyrics – It’s raining men. Hallelujah! He looked at the men dancing again. Many of them were skimpily dressed, or wearing figure-hugging outfits like her brother had been last time. Shaking his head, he kept his grip on Ace’s hand until they made it outside. She blinked a few times as the cool air seemed to sober her up. “Did you track my comm here again?”

“Yes.”

She sneezed then, smiling sheepishly. “Sorry. I’ve got a bit of a cold. Matti’s trying to flush it out with alcohol.”

“Is it working?”

“I don’t know. I’m pretty drunk already and still sneezing…”

“You could try wearing more.”

Ace looked a little surprised by his comment. She looked down at herself. “I have a jacket inside. I get hot when I’m dancing. Besides, you’re the one who wanted to come outside.”

Boss nodded, looking back towards the club. “There’s no privacy in there.”

She grabbed his hand and pulled him over to the shop doorway they’d sat in previously. “It’s private here.”

“Yeah.” He looked at her. She still looked a little glassy-eyed, the smell of liquor hovering around her. “You come here often?”

“Often enough. It’s a good place to let off some steam. And I can play wingman for my brother.” She rapped on his armored chest. “If you were a little more…casually dressed, you could come in and dance with me.”

He grabbed her wrist and slid her closer. “Not my kind of thing.”

“What is your kind of thing?”

Boss thought about that. He didn’t have a thing. Nothing outside of being a soldier. “Covert operations,” he said wryly. “Sabotage, assassination, close combat…”

“Well…those are all fun hobbies too. You forgot surveillance.”

“That’s not really my thing either. It’s necessary.”

“It’s not all bad. You get to meet people you might not otherwise meet.”

“People that aren’t supposed to be there in the first place?”

Ace grinned at him, sliding closer so her lips were almost touching his. “That’s my MO. You never know where I’ll turn up.” She gently ran her fingers down his cheek and along his jaw. “I haven’t seen you this bristly before.”

“You’ve only seen me a few times.”

“Yes, but they were all meaningful.”

He could almost hear the rasp of her fingertips on his stubble. “Sorry. I need a shower and shave.”

“Don’t apologise. I like it.”

Boss closed the distance, pulling her close as he kissed her. When they parted, he could still taste the lingering alcohol on her breath. “What have you been drinking?”

“Everything. All the colours.” She twined her arms around his neck to kiss him again. “If we do this long enough, you might get drunk too.”

Boss wrapped his arms around her, wishing again he wasn’t in armor. After the op on Triple Zero, he never thought he’d wish to be without his armor again. But here he was with Ace pressed against him, a hard layer of plastoid between them. Her fingers were dragging through his hair, and he wondered if he really was getting drunk from her breath alone. He'd never been even slightly intoxicated before, but maybe this was close. He frowned when her tongue brushed against his, pushing her away slightly. He tapped on her lower lip with a gloved finger. “Open.”

Confused, Ace parted her lips, surprised when he took the lump of gum from her tongue and flicked it away. She grinned sheepishly at him. “I could have you up on a littering charge, you know.”

“Are you going to?”

“No. Petty crime is beneath me now. Otherwise, I’d have to arrest myself for public indecency.”

“What—” Boss’s question was cut off when she kissed him again, her alcohol-soaked sighs against his lips starting to intoxicate him. She was flush against him, pushing him back into the dark alcove as the kiss became more heated, and he was dragging her even closer until she was straddling one of his armored thighs and he was gripping onto her satin-clad bottom.

They both jumped when someone loudly cleared their throat, and Ace turned to see her brother, arms folded across his broad chest and an unimpressed expression on his face. “Maybe next time you could tell me if you’re sneaking out to canoodle in the street like a teenager. I’ve been looking everywhere for you.”

Boss quickly removed his hands from her bottom, but had to grab her arms to stop her sliding off his leg. Once she was safely on her feet, he stood behind her as she smoothed her hair down. “I wasn’t out here that long, Matti.”

“Long enough.” He nodded at Boss. “You on leave?”

“Not for long.”

“Ah. Well, that explains the lewd display out here.”

“Oh, shut up!” Ace said, shoving her brother back towards the bar. “Go back inside and worry about your own lewd behaviour!”

Matthias shook his head as he sauntered back to the club. “Pickings are slim tonight…”

Ace looked sheepishly back at Boss. “Sorry about that.”

“It’s fine. I need to get back anyway.”

“Oh…okay.” She walked him back to his bike, the disappointment clear on her face. “Maybe you’ll have time to call me this time?”

Boss mounted the bike. He felt guilty about not making contact with her when he said he would. “I’ll call you.”

She grinned happily at him, looking back over her shoulder at the bar before leaning in to kiss him again. “I’ll understand if you can’t. Take care, won’t you.”

“I will. You too.” He pulled his helmet on and started the bike, quickly lifting off into a skylane. As he rode back to barracks, he thought about the interaction. It had gone well. Better than he’d expected. He hadn’t offended her or said anything inappropriate. Maybe he could do this. He ran his tongue along his bottom lip, still tasting the sweet liquor, a pleasant reminder that he, too, could have something outside the squad. Something outside what he was made for. He could definitely do this.

Chapter Text

Boss looked down at his datapad. They had another night on Triple Zero. Deploying at 0700. He was alone in Delta’s quarters. Sev was on the range, Scorch was eating, and he didn’t know where Fixer was. It was good to split up every now and then, to have some breathing space. A break from each other. But now, without distraction, he was stuck thinking about Ace. He’d tried to ignore his squad’s questioning looks when he’d returned the previous night, but he knew they knew. There was no other reason for him to be leaving barracks.

Frustrated, he got up to put the datapad away. He opened his locker and shoved it in next to his helmet. It connected with something soft before hitting the metal back, and he frowned as he reached in, his fingers finding the clothing he’d worn for their mission on Coruscant, shoved up the back, out of sight. The outfit he’d been wearing when he met her. It wasn’t anything special, but it was the only thing he had that wasn’t his armor or fatigues. Skirata hadn’t asked for anything back, so he’d kept it. Maybe he could put it to use now. He checked the chrono on the wall. It was still early. He had time.

Thirty minutes later, he was standing in front of an apartment door, datapad in hand, as he checked the tracker. Everything checked out. For a moment, he contemplated turning around and leaving. This was a terrible idea, and he was a di’kut to even be considering it. If Vau found out, he’d tear strips off him. Possibly literally. But then he remembered the way he’d seen Darman and Tur-Mukan acting with each other. Atin and the barmaid from Qibbu’s. Didn’t he deserve a chance at that?

Exhaling loudly, he pushed the door chime, waiting patiently until he heard the sound of footsteps approaching the door. He suppressed the impulse to reach for a weapon he wasn’t even carrying – his usual response to standing behind a closed door. The was a silent moment, then the sound of several locks being deactivated. When the door hissed open, Ace was there, dressed in a short, pink satin nightie, pink fluffy slippers, and with something pale green smeared all over her face. And in her hand was her police-issue blaster. She was staring at him, bewildered. “Boss? What are you doing here?”

“What’s that on your face.”

Ace blinked at him. “I asked you first.” She stepped aside to let him in, carefully locking up behind him and laying the weapon on a nearby table. “Give me two minutes.” She shuffled off up the hall in her fluffy slides, reappearing moments later with a clean face. “Sorry. I’ve got the place to myself tonight, so I’m catching up on some self-care.”

“By smearing green slime all over your face?”

She grinned at him. “Why, what do you do?”

He shrugged, looking around the apartment. “Sleep. Who lives here with you?”

“Matti. My brother.”

When he looked back at Ace, she was releasing her hair from the messy bun on top of her head. Her face was flushed from being scrubbed. Or from the green goop. The nightie she was wearing was short, with green lace straps. It didn’t leave much to the imagination. Not certain what to say, he looked at her door, surprised to see a video monitor next to it. “I didn’t see cameras out there.” He’d checked. That was the kind of thing he did without conscious thought.

“Installed in the corridor lights. The boss is always on at me to move somewhere more secure, but I like it here.” When he turned back around, she’d moved closer. Close enough to touch. “What are you doing here? I thought you were deploying.”

“We are. Got another night here, though.”

She sneezed then, still sniffling from her cold. “So…you came to see me?” She stepped closer, running a finger down the front of his shirt. “I see you wore your casual clothing. Does that mean you’re up for some dancing?”

“No.”

“Oh. Well…can I get you anything? Caf? Tea? Me?”

“What?”

“Nothing...”

Boss was eyeing her up and down. The flimsy nightie left her arms and legs bare, her neck and shoulders exposed. “Is there any part of you that doesn’t have freckles?”

Ace grinned at him again. “I can think of one way to find out. How long have you got?”

“Not long.”

“Long enough to—” Boss kissed her then. Hard. Pushing her up against the wall. Ace grabbed the front of his shirt, kissing him back just as hard. She got the message. Time was of the essence. There was no finesse, no romance. Just a frantic desire. She pulled away briefly to take a breath. “My bedroom’s up…” She waved her hand vaguely up the hall, and then Boss was backing her in that direction, kissing her again, half carrying her as they stumbled up the hall. By the time the door closed behind them, he looked down to see Ace had somehow unfastened his shirt and was trying to drag it off him. He lifted her onto something, a dresser maybe, putting them eye to eye, surprised when she wrapped her arms and legs around him, pulling him closer. Without his armor, without his gloves, he could feel her. Really feel her.

Ace was still tugging relentlessly on his shirt, so he released her long enough to pull it off and toss it aside. His hands were gripping her thighs then, and she pulled him in again, her fingers travelling over his bare shoulders and chest as they kissed. She didn’t taste of gum or alcohol this time, but there was a minty tingle around her lips – perhaps from whatever the green goop was.

She grabbed one of his hands then, dragging it up to her breasts, and he squeezed the soft flesh over the slippery satin. Wanting to feel her, he shoved his hand down the front of her nightie, and they both froze at the sound of ripping fabric. Boss yanked his hand free and saw the delicate fabric had ripped down almost to her navel. “Osik, sorry.”

Ace was gaping at the tear, her eyes wide. Then she laughed. “I never like this one much anyway.”

Seeing he was still mortified, she dug her fingers into his hair and kissed him again. “Bed...”

“What?”

“Bed. Behind you.”

“Right.” Boss lifted her up again, turning to put her on the bed.

Ace quickly scrambled to her knees and worked at the fastening of his trousers, dragging them and his underwear down. She blinked, eyes wide as she tried not to stare too openly. Boss was an impressive specimen. She knew that already from seeing his upper half bare, but this was something else. “Oh boy…”

“What?”

But Ace didn’t answer. She was wrapping her fingers around his erection, stroking gently as she watched his reaction. His jaw was clenched, and she smirked to herself. She was used to tough guys who tried to withhold their reactions. She waited until he was looking at her, then swirled her tongue around the head before wrapping her lips around him. She had ways of breaking a man. She slid a hand around to grab a muscular buttock, pulling him closer as she sucked, using her other hand to keep stroking. She felt his whole body tense up and heard the strange sound he made. It was working. Then she felt his hands in her hair, holding on almost too tightly as his breath came faster. But she was shocked when a moment later, he pushed her away, panting openly now. Worried she’d done something wrong, she sat back on her knees, keeping her hands to herself. But Boss held up a hand. “I just…need a minute.”

She waited patiently as he kicked his trousers off and climbed onto the bed, and then he kissed her again as he slid a hand under the torn satin to squeeze her breast, running his thumb back and forth over the hardening nipple. After a moment, Ace grabbed his wrist to stop him. “You may as well finish the job.” Boss gave her a querying look, and she indicated the ripped garment. Eyes on hers, he knelt over her and grabbed both sections of the torn nightie and yanked, easily separating the flimsy fabric the rest of the way. Ace grinned at him as she sat up and shrugged the garment off her shoulders before pushing Boss back on the bed. “That was kind of exciting.”

She straddled his hips, grabbing his hands and returning them to her breasts, his access now unfettered. She sighed loudly as she lost herself in his touch, almost unconsciously grinding down on him. Growing impatient, she leaned down to kiss him and bite at his jaw. “Since we don’t have long…” Boss didn’t have time to ask, because she was already shifting, positioning herself, sinking down on him with something between a sigh and a moan. She sat for a moment, her freckled skin flushed pink as she caught her breath. She opened her eyes, her gaze holding his as she began to move, watching the way he gritted his teeth. His hands slipped down to her hips, gripping her tightly as he rolled his hips to meet her, soon finding a rhythm that worked. Boss watched, almost transfixed, as she caressed her own breasts, pinching at the nipples as she moved her hips up and down, back and forth. Her breath was coming rapidly now, and she braced her hands on his chest, grinding against him as she moved faster. Boss planted his feet on the mattress, thrusting so hard that she was jolted forward with a yelp, bracing her hands on either side of his head to catch herself. He felt her breast mashed against his chest; her breath hot as she panted in his ear. “Go hard, hotshot. I can take it.”

Boss faltered for a beat, then he wrapped his arms around her, keeping her pinned to his body as he began to thrust hard and fast. Ace’s lips were still close enough to his ear to hear her harsh panting, her escalating whimpers, and then the half-cry half-moan as she came. Close now, Boss moved quickly, flipping her onto her back and thrusting back in. He dragged her so her bottom was resting on his thighs, her arms flung back, her eyes closed. It didn’t take long, this new position giving him the leverage to move even faster, his eyes fixed on the way her breasts bounced with each thrust. He came with a groan, hunched over her, breathing hard. After a moment, he felt Ace’s hands stroking his thighs, and when he opened his eyes, she was watching him. He relaxed his hard grip on her hips, wincing guiltily at the red marks his hands had left. He pulled out and flopped down beside her to catch his breath, staring at the ceiling when Ace rolled over to walk her fingers over his chest. “That was pretty amazing, Boss. I mean…right up there…”

Boss frowned at her. “Really?”

“Yes. Why? Was I disappointing compared to—”

“Compared to what? What would I compare you to?”

Ace stared at him, eyes wide, her mouth opening and closing silently as his words hit home. “Are you telling me that…are you saying that was your first—” She jerked away from him, scrambling to her knees on the other side of the bed. “Oh, shit. Oh, fuck! Shit, shit, shit! I can’t—”

“What’s the big deal?” Boss was staring at her, bewildered. “I thought you said it was good.”

She exhaled loudly with puffed cheeks. “Well, it was…just…if I’d known, I wouldn’t—”

“You wouldn’t what?” Boss sat up, feeling like this night was all about to go horribly wrong.

“Well…I wouldn’t have acted like such a sex maniac. We could have moved a bit slower…made things a bit more romantic…”

“I don’t have time for slow. I’m deploying tomorrow, and I have to get out of here soon.” He grabbed her and pulled her back down, so she was half lying on him. “I don’t need you to treat me any differently, just because I haven’t had the opportunity to—”

Ace put a finger on his lips to silence him. “Boss, you don’t have to explain anything to me. I know you boys haven’t had the same life experiences that we regular folk get. And I meant what I said before. That was amazing. And I’m sorry if I was a bit…too much.”

Boss rolled her onto her back, running a hand down her side as he kissed her. “I’m a commando; I can handle you. And I’m open to further instruction. From you.”

“Just from me?”

“Who else would I need?”

Ace felt her breath catch. She’d never been with someone so willing to be open and honest with her. She couldn’t imagine Boss being flirtatious, or flippant with his words. He didn't say much, and she got the feeling that whatever he said, he meant. She reached up to smooth her fingers through his hair, almost scared by the way he was looking at her. Serious. Intense. But she liked it. She stretched up to kiss the tip of his nose. “I refuse to believe that was your first time. It’s not possible for someone to be that good right out of the gate.”

“Why would I lie?”

“You wouldn’t.” She stretched her legs, enjoying the feel of sliding them against his. His body was all hard muscle and brute strength and it felt good. “Maybe next time we can go a bit slower…take our time.”

“Next time?”

“When you get back…” She reluctantly wriggled out of his arms and struggled off the bed, loose-limbed and relaxed. “I’ll be back in a minute.”

Boss watched her leave, sitting up sharply when he caught sight of her bottom. “What the hell is that?”

Ace slapped a hand over her left cheek, looking back over her shoulder with a sheepish expression. “What’s what?”

“On your shebs.”

She frowned at him, confused. “On my what?”

“Shebs. Ass. Backside.”

She sighed dramatically and lifted her hand to reveal a tattoo of red lips, pursed ready to kiss. “Look, let’s just say what happens at the academy, stays at the academy. There was a lot of drinking at graduation, and…well, this is what happened.”

Boss almost laughed. He rarely laughed. He rarely even came close to laughing. But something about Ace brought him close. She was clearly a good police officer, sharp-witted and good at her job. But she was also cheerful and funny and very self-deprecating. He liked being around her. She made him feel lighter. While she was in the fresher, he got up to check the time on his datapad. He’d need to leave soon to make it back before lights out. When Ace came back into the room, her hair was smoothed down, but she was still naked, and it occurred to him that this was so far from anything he’d ever expected. A relationship with a woman. A physical relationship with a woman. He was learning this on the fly.

“How soon do you have to leave.”

“Soon.”

She took his hand and led him back to the bed. “Five minutes more?”

He nodded, letting her drag him down. It was nice to lie on a soft, comfortable bed. A big bed. He looked around and saw the room was draped in strings of tiny lights casting a warm glow – like Felucian fireflies. And everything else was dominated by pink, offensively so. She obviously liked the colour, but it was unsettling to be so immersed in it. Ace was crowding up against him, so he put his arms around her, letting himself have this moment. It would be over too soon. Ace’s fingers were trailing restlessly over his chest, her foot smoothing up and down his leg, and her hair was soft against his cheek. When he twisted his head to kiss her, she responded eagerly, slotting a leg in between his to get closer. “I thought you had to go soon.”

“I can stay a bit longer.” He rolled her onto her back again, taking a moment to just look at her. She was pretty, he realised. Out of uniform, and not made up to fit in at Qibbu’s. Maybe it was subjective, but he liked the way she looked, freckles and all.

She was looking up at him, watching him as he watched her. “No one’s ever looked at me like that before.”

“Like what?”

“Well…like this actually means something.”

Boss frowned at her. “It does mean something. To me, anyway.”

Ace’s face relaxed. “It means something to me too.” She sighed blissfully as he ducked his head to kiss at her throat. “Do we have time to go a little slower?”

“No. But I don’t care right now.”

Two hours later, Boss slipped back into the barracks. He’d managed to log the bike back in without any drama, but now he had to face his squad. Not something he was looking forward to. Taking a fortifying breath, he opened the door to Delta’s quarters. They were all there. Fixer was in bed, eyes fixed on his datapad. Sev was sitting on his bunk cleaning his Deece, and Scorch had just come from the showers. All three of them stopped what they were doing to watch him as he entered the room. He narrowed his eyes at them. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

“About what?” Scorch knew exactly what he was talking about but took the opportunity to have a dig.

“You know what I mean. Just…keep your opinions to yourself.”

Scorch shrugged indifferently as he rubbed a towel over his head. “It’s your gett’se on the line if you get caught.”

“I won’t get caught.”

Sev stood and crossed the room. His sharp sniper’s eyes had spotted something. He plucked a long, red hair from Boss’s shirt and held it up to the light. “You might if you don’t cover your tracks better.”

Boss glared at Sev before pulling his fatigues from his locker. “I’m going to shower. Early start tomorrow, so hit the sack.” He left the bunkroom to go and shower, guilt creeping up on him. He’d let his squad down, and that didn’t sit well with him. He was their sergeant. They were his first priority. Everything else needed to come second to that. Even Ace.

Chapter Text

“For fuck’s sake, Boss. Where did you even get a cold?”

Boss glared at Sev. “It’s a virus. Could’ve come from anywhere.”

Scorch raised a disbelieving eyebrow. “I think I know.”

Boss glared at Scorch as well. “You can keep your medical opinions to yourself.”

“Just joining the dots,” Scorch said with a shrug. “My understanding is that that kind of virus is transferred by close contact. If you know what I mean.”

“What part of keeping your opinions to yourself are you not understanding?”

“Scorch is right for a change,” Fixer said, breaking his usual silence to contribute to the discussion. “The common cold is usually transmitted via close contact with a carrier, through the exchange of bodily fluids like saliva. Sev will back me up.”

“I’m a field medic,” Sev grunted. “A cold doesn’t fall under the category of battlefield injuries. And I don’t care how Boss caught a cold, I just don’t want to hear it in my bucket all day and night.”

Boss gave them all a glare, challenging them to keep on at him, but it seemed they’d all said their piece. He stomped into the TIV and dropped into the pilot’s seat. “Can we get back to the mission at hand now? We’ve got aiwha-bait to catch, and sitting here talking about nothing isn’t getting us any closer.”

Scorch was the last aboard, sealing the hatch behind him. “You’re the boss, Boss.”

Ace was waiting in the speeder for Jae and Dayn when her comlink beeped. She tapped the button on her shoulder-mounted device. “Denn here.”

“Ace, it’s Boss.”

Ace sat up straighter in her seat. “Hey, I wasn’t expecting to hear from you so soon. Everything okay?”

“Yeah, just…I said I’d call.”

Ace grinned to herself. This was different from last time, the months with no contact. “I can’t talk long. Jae and Dayn are just getting lunch.”

“Dayn?”

“My protégé. Only don’t tell the boss I said that. He said I’m a bad influence, and I had to let Jae do the mentoring.”

“I’m a long way from your boss right now.”

“Oh…” She tried not to let her disappointment be too obvious. She was hoping he was on Coruscant. “Where are you then?”

“Classified. Sorry.”

“That’s okay. I get it. Conversations might dry up pretty quickly between your job and mine.”

“We don’t have to talk.”

Ace grinned again. “No, I guess we don’t. Hey, Boss, I have to go. I can see Dayn heading back. Do you know when you’ll be back on TripZip?”

“No. Could be a while.”

“Boss, are you okay? You sound a little—”

“Got a cold.”

“Oh… Oops. Sorry about that. My fault.”

“It’s fine. No big deal.”

“Right, well, I’d better go. Thanks for calling. It’s nice to hear from you.”

“I’ll call you again if I can. No guarantees.”

“No, that’s okay. I get it. Take care, okay?”

“I will. You too.”

Ace ended the call as Dayn popped the hatch and slid into the backseat, handing her a flimsi-wrapped package. “Roast nerf and salad.”

“No caf?”

“Jae’s bringing it.”

Ace looked around, seeing no sign of her sergeant outside. “Well, where is he?”

“Still in the diner. He and the guy are talking about the old days.”

“Oh god, we’ll be here for hours,” Ace groaned, unwrapping her sandwich before taking a large bit. She chewed and swallowed and looked at Dayn in the rearview mirror. “It’s Jae’s favourite subject!”

Dayn gave an amused chuckle as he tucked into his own lunch. “They were on the subject of ‘kids today’ when I left. It could be a while.”

“Oh, great. Do you think he meant us? Or kids more generally?”

Dayn hesitated before answering. “Well…I think he meant you. He was muttering something about working for a child lunatic. But he also said you were one of the best cops he’d worked with…”

“Sounds accurate,” Ace shrugged. “I am a lunatic. Remember to do as I say, not as I do.”

“Copy that, ma’am.”

Jae popped the hatch and slid into the passenger seat, shoving a takeaway caf at her. “Here, got you a double.”

“Why? Are you feeling guilty for gossiping about me behind my back?”

“Not in the slightest. Caf just seems to keep you on a more even keel. We should go out to CoCo Town and check out that warehouse. The surveillance gear will need new batteries anyway.”

“Good idea. It’s been suspiciously quiet there. You don’t think they’re onto us, do you?”

“I doubt it. How could they be? Not unless we’ve got a mole. And we don’t. You know what these things are like. One minute a place is crawling, then it goes quiet for months.”

“Yeah, you’re right. Dayn, have we got battery packs back there.”

“Affirmative.”

“Okay, let’s get that sorted. Then back to base for caf and cookies.”

“She says around a mouthful of sandwich,” Jae muttered, making Dayn laugh. “How I long for your metabolism.”

“I’m sure yours was like this once,” Ace said as she started the speeder and lifted them up into a fast-moving lane. “Sixty years ago…”

Boss stepped away from the TIV, leaving the others to the jobs they’d set themselves. Twenty minutes before Jusik was due back, and he’d probably be late. He walked across the platform and pulled the comlink off his forearm plate. It took a while for the call to be answered, and when it was, it was by a whispered voice. “Denn here.”

“Ace…you in the middle of something?”

“Boss? Yeah, just watching an address. I don’t think anyone’s around, though. Just me and Jae. Where are you? Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. We’re at base, but we’re going back out in about twenty minutes.”

“Oh…bummer.”

“Yeah. We might be gone a while this time.”

“Oh. Double bummer.”

Boss was silent for a moment before he responded. “Ace…we haven’t…well, we don’t know each that well, so… you don’t need to—”

“Boss, are you telling me not to wait for you?”

More silence. “I suppose so.”

“Is that because you really don’t want me to? Or because that’s what you think you should say?”

There was another long silence. “Look, I don’t really know how these things work. But I—”

“I’ll wait then.”

Boss hoped she didn’t hear the relief in his voice. “I’ll try and call you when I can. Might not be often, but…”

“That’s okay. I’m at work about thirty hours a day anyway.”

“Standard hours? There are only twenty-four of those on Coruscant.”

“And that just goes to show you how hard I work. I never sleep!”

He had to wipe the small smile from his face when he saw Sev watching him suspiciously. “I hear sleep’s overrated.”

“Yeah, that’s what I tell myself when I’ve been on surveillance for two days straight. Only we’re up to day three here.”

“Who are you—”

“Shit, shit, shit! Jae, he’s moving. Back in the speeder!”

Boss winced at the other end as Ace tossed her comlink into the speeder, making out the sounds of slamming hatches and the engine starting. They were moving fast; he could hear the rapid acceleration. He listened, not sure whether to end the call or not. She was clearly otherwise occupied now. He heard a male voice. Jae. “There! I see him.”

Then Ace. “Okay, hold onto something. I’m going to get in front of him.”

He heard the sound of a police siren, then Ace’s breathless voice yelling almost from out of range as she drove. The comm device was obviously floating around the speeding vehicle somewhere. “Boss? I’m sorry, I have to take care of something. I’ll…well, call me, okay?”

She wouldn’t hear him if he answered, so he ended the call and typed a short message. “I’ll call you. Drive safely.”

In the rapidly accelerating police speeder, Jae looked at his lieutenant as he kept a white-knuckle grip on the dash. “Boss?”

“Not the boss. Boss. You know…”

“I thought those commandos were off-limits.”

“Well, that’s your opinion, Grandpa. No one said I couldn’t.”

“I did. I specifically said that!”

Ace turned to look at her sergeant. “I thought that was just advice! Not a hard and fast rule!”

“I don’t know why I even bother. You never listen to me and—eyes front! You’re gonna get us both killed.”

Ace laughed as she gave it more throttle. “Hold onto your stomach, Grandpa!” The words were barely out of her mouth when she dropped the speeder vertically down through several lanes into a less congested one, ducking and weaving through the more sedately moving vehicles until she’d moved ahead of their target. She swung the speeder into a vertical ascent, spinning around and slamming on the brakes in front of their target’s speeder with a flash of police lights. They hovered there, windscreen to windscreen, watching the man as he debated whether to make a run for it. Eventually, he threw up his hands, and Ace locked onto his speeder with her grappling hook to tow him in. “He looks kind of mad.”

“Yeah, he really does,” Niuv agreed, still looking a little queasy from the rapid ascent. “Nice work, Ace.”

“Thanks.” She was quiet as they towed the vehicle to the nearest platform to meet a patrol squad. “Jae, do you really think it’s a bad idea?”

“Do I think what’s a bad idea? You’ll need to be specific.”

“Boss. Do you think I should steer clear?”

Jae looked at the young lieutenant. She looked genuinely worried, and he felt instantly guilty for putting that on her. “No, not necessarily. I just didn’t want that op to get complicated for you. But it’s over now, so…” He gave her a suspicious look. “Have you been seeing him secretly?”

“Only a couple of times. He’s hardly ever on Corrie. I really like him, though, Jae. He doesn’t give me grief about my job or any of the stuff guys usually get hung up on. No demands of my time or attention. It’s a nice change. It just feels…right.”

“You want my advice?”

Ace eyed him warily. “Maybe. It depends.”

“Tell the boss. Be upfront about it. Don’t go sneaking around. You know how close he is with that Mando sergeant. If he hears from someone that isn’t you…”

“Yeah, you’re probably right. Skirata does like to disclose things about me behind my back.” She leaned over to kiss Niuv’s cheek. “Thanks, Jae. I didn’t want to have to give him up just yet. Let me tell you, that man has got some moves in bed, and—”

Jae slapped a hand over her mouth. “Not another word. I don’t want to hear it!”

Ace was still laughing as they slowly let the target’s speeder down onto the platform where Dayn was waiting with a squad to pick him up. “We should meet them back at base and start questioning him before he thinks up too many lies.”

Jae nodded his agreement as they followed the patrol speeder back. “Take it easy, won’t you? With that commando. Remember, they haven’t come from the same background as you or me. He’s got some things to learn about—”

“Oh, he’s a quick learner! Take my word for it.”

Jae shook his head with an exasperated sigh. “I don’t know why I bother.”

Ace stood with Matthias, waiting patiently for the security check before they went up to the Obrim’s apartment. Telti was already at the door to welcome them in, kissing them both on the cheek. “When were you two last here? It’s been too long.”

“Or not long enough if you ask your husband,” Ace cracked.

“Oh, don’t be silly. You know you’re his favourite.” She ushered them into the dining room where Jaller Obrim was pouring wine into four glasses, handing them to his guests and his wife. “Glad you could both make it. It’s nice to have a night when we’re all available.”

“I’ll drink to that,” Ace said, raising her glass. “Matti and I have just been passing each other at odd hours for a while.”

“Only now I get to assign my own hours,” Matthias said.

“Congratulations on your promotion,” Obrim said as they all sat at the table. “Well deserved.”

“Does that mean I get a promotion, too?” Ace asked with a sweet smile. “We could be Captains Denn. Plural.”

Obrim chuckled as he topped up his glass. “You and I both know we have a different chain of command from CRO. One day though. Maybe.”

“Maybe?”

“Maybe. If you calm down a little.”

“She’ll calm down,” Matti said confidently. “She’s just getting that youthful enthusiasm out of her system.”

“I’m older than you!” Ace argued. “Don’t go acting like you’re the wise big brother.”

“I am wise. And I’m bigger. I win.”

“You know we could have just eaten dinner with our kids if we wanted to hear this kind of bickering,” Telti admonished with a smile.

“Where are the brats?”

“Takeaway in the living room. They’re happy.”

“And speaking of food,” Obrim said, “Ace, you can help me bring everything out.”

“Sir, yes sir!” she said with a smirk, jumping to her feet to follow her boss to the kitchen. She squatted down to open the oven, inhaling deeply. “Mmm, smells good!”

“Well, you know I married the best cook on Coruscant.” He patted his stomach ruefully. “It’s starting to catch up with me now.”

“Aww, Telti loves you, no matter what. I think you’re punching above your weight there, boss. Don’t you?”

“I agree. But somehow, she puts up with me and the life I’ve inflicted on her. I hope that someday, you find someone as worthy.”

Ace used oven mitts to pull a large tray out and lay it on the counter. “Actually, there’s something I wanted to discuss with you…speaking of my personal life—”

Obrim’s comlink beeped, interrupting her, and she waited patiently for him to take the call. “Obrim.” He was silent for a few minutes, listening to whoever it was, then he ended the call and beckoned to Ace. “We’ve got a job to do.”

Ace looked down at the dress she was wearing. “I’m not really ready to roll.”

“Neither am I. We’ll stop by HQ. I need you to get Jae and a few squads to meet us there.”

They went back out to the dining room, and Obrim bent to kiss his wife’s cheek. “Duty calls. You might need to get the spare room ready. I’ll call you with details.”

Ace shrugged helplessly at Telti and Matthias as she followed Obrim out. “See you at home, Matti.”

Ace waited in the corridor, Jae at the other end, blocking access from the onlookers as Obrim dealt with the treasury agent. They were all in assault gear and heavily armed. Sending a message. After several minutes, the paramedics brought Fi out on a gurney, and she flicked the safety off on her rifle to escort him to the lift with Dayn and the others covering them. She covered the door to let Obrim and Agent Wennen in, and only once the doors closed did she allow herself to look at the injured man. Fi was the reason she was still alive. She owed him more than just a drink. She was grim-faced as she stood over him, ready to kill anyone or anything that threatened him. Once they made it to the speeder bay, she let the paramedics load him in through the rear hatch as she pulled her helmet off and studied the blonde treasury agent. Captain Ordo’s girlfriend. She looked a little rattled. “You okay, miss?”

The woman nodded unconvincingly. “Yes, thank you.”

Obrim surveyed the area as his officers climbed into various speeders and mounted bikes. “Straight back to my place, Ace. Full security. We don’t know who the hospital might be alerting.”

“Got it.” Ace waved her squad over. “Jae, you drive. Dayn, shotgun. I’ll take the back.” She squeezed into the rear of the speeder with the paramedics. She’d be the last line of defence if anyone came for him. She kept her rifle ready, trying to keep out of the way of the paramedics monitoring Fi’s condition. Peering out the small hatch, she could see they were flanked on all sides by patrol speeders and bikes. Obrim didn’t do things by halves.

Obrim made it to the building just before they did, escorting his team through the usual tight security to get up to his apartment, where Telti was waiting with a med droid. “It arrived a few minutes ago. Everything’s ready in there.”

Ace waited for Fi to be settled in the room, standing with Obrim as the paramedics gave him a final check before handing over to the droid. She waited for her boss to follow his wife and Agent Wennen to the kitchen for caf, then went to stand by the bed, looking down at the injured man. He looked peaceful enough. No visible injuries. But she knew he had a brain injury so severe that the hospital med droid was going to euthanize him. As though he had no value. As though his life was meaningless. She sank into a chair as it came to her. He was like Boss. He looked almost exactly like Boss. He’d been injured in the line of duty, and it could easily have been Boss. She didn’t even know where he was. For all she knew, he could have been where Fi was – injured or dead. She didn’t want anything to happen to Boss. She could almost count on one hand the number of times she’d actually seen him, but she knew she wanted it to be something more.

Sighing unhappily, she leaned over to kiss the unconscious commando’s forehead. “Don’t worry, Fi. Nothing’s going to happen to you here.”

Chapter Text

“Ace?”

Ace looked up at her brother. “What…”

“I’ve been talking to you for the last five minutes. What’s up?”

She shrugged unhappily. “I don’t know…just…just down.”

She was more than down. She was worried, anxious. She’d tried to make contact with Boss, but he hadn’t responded to her messages. It was as though he’d ceased to exist, and she couldn’t bear to think about that.

“I thought you said that Jedi was making progress on Fi’s brain injury. That’s good, isn’t it?”

“Yeah.”

“But? Ace, you know I know it’s more than that. Talk to me.”

Ace looked at her brother. He was worried about her. She’d have to tell him eventually. It may as well be now. “You know that commando…Boss?”

“The one you’ve been lusting over?”

Ace nodded. “He came here a couple of months ago, and we… Well, I haven’t heard from him, and now—”

“And now he’s blown you off? What kind of asshole move is that? You want me to—”

“No! No, it’s nothing like that! We talked a few times after…it was good. He’s been gone a while…he said it would be a long mission. The last message I got was that he’d call. That was weeks ago. Before Fi…”

Matthias swore under his breath. “You think something’s happened to him?”

“Maybe. I don’t know. He does a dangerous job.”

“So do you. So do I. But that doesn't mean anything has happened to him. If you’re that worried, why don’t you ask that little Mandalorian Jaller’s so chummy with? He’d tell you, wouldn’t he?”

“Maybe. I don’t want to get Boss in trouble, though.”

“So, you’re just going to sit here and worry yourself to death until you hear any different?”

“Well…it’s a plan.”

Matti gave a frustrated sigh as he carried his dishes to the sink. “Honestly, gremlin, I don’t understand why you don’t just ask.”

Ace just shrugged again. “I really like him, Matti. And that makes me feel scared for him.”

Matti squatted in front of her and waited patiently for her to look at him. “Ace, you don’t know anything right now. He’s a commando. That means he could be out of contact, blacked out comms. Completely out of range. Not everything has a bad ending. And he obviously likes you – he went to a lot of trouble to track you down at the club, despite it being a criminal offence.”

“I know.” Her voice was small when she answered, and Mattie pulled her into a tight hug.

“I get why you don’t want to ask after him. But try not to worry, okay?”

“Okay.”

“Give me a lift to work? I’ll tell you all about the guy I met last night.”

“Ugh, I don’t need you to tell me all about him. I heard you going at it all night.”

“It wasn’t all night. He left around two…”

Ace snorted as she pulled her tunic on and found her cap. “At least one of us is getting some.”

It was still early when Ace walked into the Kragget. Jae wasn’t there yet, so she headed for an empty table up the back. She slowed when she passed a booth occupied by two faces she knew. “Sarge, fancy seeing you here.”

“Ace, how are you?”

“Oh, fine. How’s Fi doing?”

“Improving every day. You remember Bardan?”

Ace nodded, smiling at the Jedi. “The man with magic fingers.”

Jusik laughed as he slid across the bench seat. “Join us?”

“Well, okay. Just for a minute. My sergeant’s meeting me here.”

Soronna arrived and put a large mug of caf in front of Ace. “You look like you could use this, sweetie.”

Skirata studied her with sharp eyes. “Everything alright, ad’ika? You do look a little off.”

“No, I’m fine.” She wanted to ask. She desperately wanted to ask. But after what had been done to Fi, she knew how few rights the clones actually had, and Boss’s safety meant more to her than her own anxiety. She looked down when her foot bumped into something under the table. “What’s in the bag?”

Skirata looked her dead in the eye. “A Kaminoan head in a box.”

Ace rolled her eyes at him and took a large gulp of her caf. “You could just say if you don’t want to tell me. I’m not that desperate to know what’s in your boring old bag.”

Skirata gave a wry chuckle. “Then I’ll keep my boring old business to myself.” He soaked up the last of his egg yolk with a piece of bread. “I’m seeing Delta after this. They just got back.”

Ace felt her heart skip a beat. She frowned at the old sergeant, wondering why he was telling her. “Oh…well, that’s good. Are they all okay?”

“Fine, as far as I know. They’ll probably get a few day's leave after such a long time away.”

“Why…um…why are you telling me this?”

“No reason,” Skirata shrugged. “Just making conversation. Isn’t that your sergeant over there?”

Ace saw Jae at the counter and raised a hand to get his attention. “I’ll leave you to it then. See you later.”

Jusik looked at Kal once she’d gone to meet her colleague. “What was that about?”

Skirata looked amused. “Your Jedi radar must have shut down already. She and Boss have got a thing going on.”

“She and Boss? Boss?”

“Yeah, that was my reaction. Keep it to yourself, okay? They don’t know anyone else knows.”

Jusik pushed his empty plate away. “That’s a complication I’m not sure he needs.”

“Maybe. But it’s his choice, and that’s the point.”

It was late when Ace finally made it home. As she descended over the landing platform for her apartment, she spotted a bike parked there, almost out of sight. A GAR bike. She landed her speeder and climbed out, spotting the familiar orange and white armor where Boss was leaning against the wall, waiting. He stepped into the light when as she approached him. “Hey. Sorry I haven’t—”

Ace threw herself at him, and his quick reflexes caught her before he stumbled back. She was clinging onto him, taking him by surprise. But he held onto her, reluctantly acknowledging to himself that he’d missed her. “I thought something had happened to you,” she managed finally. “After what happened to Fi.”

Boss pushed her away slightly. “You heard about that?”

“Skirata told me.” That’s all she said. She didn’t want to lie to Boss. But as far as everyone else was concerned, Fi was dead. Only a handful of people knew what had really happened to him, and she was one of them.

But Boss didn’t look convinced. “Fi’s not dead. That might be the line Skirata’s running, but he’s not fooling any of us.”

Trying to avoid the subject, Ace unlocked the external door and pulled him inside. “Are you okay? I was worried when I didn’t hear from you.”

“I’m fine. There just wasn’t much downtime.”

“Your squad…they’re okay?”

“Yeah.”

They stood looking at each other in the dimly lit living room, then Ace threw herself at him again, kissing him hard, her fingers digging into the back of his neck. Boss kissed her back, holding onto her, but he was aware that he’d travelled a long way back and probably didn’t smell as fresh as he could. He pushed her away gently after a minute. “I haven’t even showered yet.”

Ace grinned at him. “Neither have I. We could save water and do it together.”

Boos looked at her. She was already unfastening her belt and pulling off her tunic as she went to her bedroom. He followed her, the smile she offered him over her shoulder making him shake off his crushing exhaustion. In her overwhelmingly pink room, he dropped his helmet on a chair and started detaching his plates, stacking them in the order he liked. He peeled the top of his bodysuit down and turned around to find Ace watching him. She was naked already, pulling her hair free of its ponytail. She shook her hair loose and trailed a finger down his chest, stopping when it met the bunched-up black fabric. “You don’t smell too bad to me.”

Boss eyed her sceptically. She was probably lying. But maybe he didn’t care anymore. “Neither do you.”

“I’ve been on duty for twelve hours straight, and I chased a man for almost an hour down on the lower levels.”

Boss tried hard to ignore the fact that her hands were slipping beneath his bodysuit, sliding it down over his hips. “Did you catch him?”

“Of course I did! Then I had to sit on him and wait for Jae to pick us up.”

He almost smiled at the mental image of Ace sitting patiently on a prone criminal, waiting for a lift. He grabbed her wrists to stop the fingers that were edging beneath his underwear. “Shower?”

She stepped closer, pressing her naked breasts against his chest. “I mean…we’re just going to get all sweaty again…”

“Yeah.” Boss hoisted her into his arms, pressing her back against the wall. “Shower later, then.”

Ace woke from her doze with a start, taking a moment to remember where she was. But the warm body next to her was a good reminder. The chrono on the side table told her she’d only been asleep for twenty minutes. She rolled over to find Boss was awake, running a hand over his stubbled jaw. “Do you have to get back?”

“Not for a while.” He didn’t tell her that Skirata had told him to take the night. That he’d cover it with Zey. That was all well and good, but it wouldn’t help matters with his own squad. Blocking that out of his thoughts for now, he looked at Ace. “Why were you so upset about Fi? I didn’t think you knew him that well.”

“I didn’t.” She was careful to use the past tense. Boss wasn’t meant to know Fi was still alive, despite his suspicions. “But I’m alive because of him. “When he threw himself on that grenade, I was the closest officer. Me and Jae. We’d both be dead or very incapacitated if it wasn’t for Fi.”

Once again, Boss had an insight into the risks involved in policing. He looked over at his armor. Other than his training, that was the main thing that kept him alive. That was what had kept Fi alive at the spaceport. And that was what had kept Fi alive on Gaftikar. He was sure of it. But Ace rarely wore armor from what he’d seen. She went out and did her job relatively unprotected. He had a flicker of understanding now for the way she’d greeted him. She’d been scared for him. She knew what could happen. But she didn’t know that Delta wasn’t Omega. They were better.

“I was glad I ran into Skirata this morning. He told me you were back, which was weird. But he’s a strange man. Odd sense of humour.”

“What?” Boss knew Skirata was easier going than Vau, but still not the joke-cracking type.

Ace pushed him onto his back and straddled him. “He had this bag with him – told me he had a head in a box. I mean, I know he’s a Mandalorian, but a head in a box?”

Boss swallowed. The head in the box they’d handed over to Zey earlier that day. He was distracted by Ace’s fingers trailing over his chest, circling around his nipples. “Should we have that shower now?” she asked, leaning down to bite at his throat. “Or should we get all sweaty again?”

Boss grabbed her bottom, grinding up against her. They were both sweaty and sticky and exhausted, but this was an opportunity. He didn’t get many of those. He looked up at her, illuminated by the dozens of tiny lights around the room, making her messy red hair look like a fiery halo. She was looking at him with desire. Lust. And it was irresistible. “Shower later.”

Boss finished towelling himself dry and pulled his bodysuit back on. He needed to get back. He wasn’t ready to risk staying out all night, despite Skirata’s assurances. Ace was wrapped in a fluffy pink towel and running a comb through her wet hair. She winked at him in the mirror as she pulled out a small handheld device. “Just need to dry my hair. Go help yourself to whatever you find in the kitchen.”

He was hungry. He squeezed her hip as he slipped past her and went barefoot to the kitchen. He was browsing the contents of the conservator when the front door hissed open. On guard, Boss turned to see Ace’s brother, Matthias. The other man recovered from his surprise and strode over to shake Boss’s hand. “Good to see you again, Boss. Ace has been worried.”

“Long mission,” Boss said with a shrug. This was uncomfortable now. He hadn’t thought about the fact Ace lived with her brother, and he’d be stupid not to know what they’d been doing.

But Matthias just joined him in front of the conservator. “If you’re as hungry as I am, I’ll throw something together. It’s been a long shift.”

Boss got out of his way, watching as the other man pulled some containers out and started reheating things. He frowned when he heard a sound coming from the fresher where Ace was drying her hair. Singing. But it was bad singing. Very bad. Boss knew nothing about music. He knew less than nothing about music. But he knew that she was a terrible singer. He didn’t even recognise the song, but he knew her rendition was awful.

Matthias saw the look on his face and burst out laughing. “It’s not too late to run away.”

Boss chuckled. He was warming to Ace’s brother. “I’m a commando. I‘ve been trained to withstand torture. And I can always use my helmet to block out sound.”

“You might be her perfect match, then.” The singing grew louder for a moment as Ace moved from the fresher to her bedroom, then muffled again behind her closed door. Matthias tilted his head towards the hall. “Go ask her if she’s hungry. I assume she’s worked up an appetite.”

He figured it out then. Resigned, Boss went up to Ace’s room and slipped in to find her singing into her hairbrush. She stopped when she saw him and grinned sheepishly. “Matti said I sound like a nerf that’s being tortured.”

Boss nodded thoughtfully. “That or a Geonosian dying. I’ve heard that sound a few times.”

Ace’s expression turned serious. “Were you at Geonosis?”

“Yeah. First deployment.”

She picked up his helmet from the chair. “Wearing this?”

Boss nodded, watching as she held it up to examine it. As she raised her arms, the towel slipped from her body, and she lowered the helmet onto her head. Her voice was muffled as she exclaimed, “Wow, there’s a lot going on in here!”

Boss swallowed dryly. Seeing her naked in his helmet was testing his restraint. She was waving her hands in front of the visor, testing the field of vision. “You don’t see much.”

“We’ve got a three-sixty-degree view in the HUD. And I can see whatever a squad member is looking at as well. It’s a whole information system.”

“How does it all work? Our HUDs have about three operations, and they’re button-operated.”

“Eye movement, blinking things into operation.”

Ace pulled the helmet off. Her eyes were wide. “Seriously? God, what I’d give for some kit like that.”

Boss watched her as she frowned into the helmet, trying to make sense of it. Everything about her disarmed him and left him nonplussed. She was feminine and soft-spoken. Petite and girly. But she had an appreciation for good weapons and kit. She was good at her job. He knew that now, and not just from the brief glimpses he’d had. Obrim rated her. Skirata too. She looked back up at him and grinned, carefully passing him the helmet. “You’d better take this back before I steal it.”

“I’d have to call the cops.”

“You’re lucky I have a direct line.”

Boss put the helmet back on the chair, grabbed her face and kissed her. Hard. Ace responded eagerly, pulling him back towards the bed until she fell backwards onto the mattress, taking him with her. He managed to catch himself with one hand before he crushed her, but she still let out a soft ‘oof’. “Sorry.”

“Not the first time you’ve landed on me.”

“No.”

“Not the last either, I hope.”

She tried to kiss him again, but then he remembered why he was there. “Your brother sent me to see if you were hungry.”

“I am for you,” she said, her teeth nipping gently along his jaw.

“That’s not what he asked.”

“I’m starving,” she conceded. “But Matti won’t mind waiting a few minutes. I don’t want to waste the time I have with you.” She tugged on the tight fabric of his bodysuit. “Take this off.”

Ace smothered a yawn as she entered the Kragget. She looked around, tiredness forgotten, when she saw Sergeant Skirata sitting in a booth with the blonde Jedi and the young Twi’lek woman who worked there now. And a baby. Curious, she made a beeline for the booth. “Who’s baby?”

“My grandson,” Kal said, sliding along to make room for her. “Kad.”

“You’ve got kids?”

“A few.”

Ace looked surprised. “So you did manage to snag a woman back in the day?”

“Yeah, back in the day,” Skirata chuckled. “You okay, Ace? You look a little tired.”

“Oh, you know me…just work, work, work.”

Skirata said nothing but gave her a knowing look. Laseema checked the chrono on the wall and stood. “I’m on duty. Usual all round?”

Skirata and Jusik both nodded. “Thanks.”

“What about you, Ace?”

“Caf. Strong. Big.”

While she waited, she studied the baby curiously. “He doesn’t look anything like you. That’s something, I suppose.” The baby started crying then, and she leaned away from it, wincing.

Skirata tried to soothe him, rocking him gently. “Any good with babies, Ace?”

“What, me? You think just because I’m a woman, I have some kind of innate ability to care for a baby? God, sometimes men are just—”

“Okay, okay, forget I asked.”

After scowling at the old man for a moment, she held out her arms. “Fine. Give him here then.”

Skirata passed her the baby, and she mimicked what he’d been doing, rocking and bouncing and making soothing noises. Within a minute, the baby stopped crying, blinking up at her curiously. “You’re a natural.”

“Well, that’s just my personality. I win everyone over whether they like it or not.”

She didn’t see Skirata and Jusik exchange an amused glance over the table, too focussed on the baby. Laseema returned a placed a large caf near Ace. “Oh, you look perfect with a baby in your arms!”

Ace looked mortified and tried to pass the baby back, but Skirata was drinking his caf. “I don’t want a baby! What would I do with a baby?” But, as she looked down at the baby in her arms, the idea seemed slightly less abhorrent. It was just a small human. Maybe one day. But not now. She had a career. Aspirations. A new love interest. Babies were the last thing she wanted to think about.

“I leave you alone for one day, and you steal someone’s baby?”

Ace looked at her sergeant, who’d appeared from nowhere. “I didn’t steal it! Here, you take it.”

Niuv took the baby without hesitation, rocking it easily with the assurance of a man who knew what he was doing. “He’s a fine boy. Yours, Skirata?”

“Grandson.”

“Huh. My eldest just told us last night she’s pregnant. First grandkid. It’ll be nice to have a baby around again.”

Ace stared at Niuv. “You mean you’re really going to be a grandpa?”

“I really am. Not for a little while, though.”

“But…Jadda’s only my age…”

“Yeah. And she’s been with her boyfriend for a few years now. She didn’t want to wait. They’re ready.”

Ace eyed the baby again. She’d never been in a relationship that lasted longer than a couple of months. She was a long way from settled. And the closest thing she had to a relationship right now was with a commando who wasn’t even allowed to stay over on the odd occasion he was in town. It wasn’t a good start.

Chapter Text

“Are you really sneaking out again?”

Boss stopped, exhaling loudly before he turned around. Fixer. “I’m not sneaking out. We’re on leave. So, I’m leaving. Then I’ll come back.”

Fixer’s expression didn’t change. “Scorch thinks you’re going to get busted.”

“Busted doing what? I’m not breaking any regs.”

Fixer shrugged. He was just the messenger. “What if Vau finds out?”

Boss fixed him with a long, hard look. “Is he going to?”

“Not from me. Come on, Boss, you know none of us are going to sell you out. Just…watch yourself.”

“I am.” He left the room before anything more could be said, mind racing as he made his way to the main gate. He knew he was taking a risk. He didn’t need reminding of that.

He tapped the exit code into the gate, taken by surprise when it opened to reveal Captain Maze on his way in. The ARC gave him one of his signature unpleasant looks. “Three-Eight. Where are you going?”

“Just getting some R and R on leave. Sir.” Boss held the Alpha’s unflinching gaze. He wasn’t breaking any regs. They were allowed off base.

Maze looked him up and down, noting the casual outfit. “Make sure you’re back before light’s out.”

Boss nodded. “Yes, sir.” He hesitated before stepping past Maze; something about the way the captain was behaving struck him as unusual. He was trying to end this engagement quickly rather than grilling him on where he was going or with whom. Boss felt a sudden surge of self-confidence. He wasn’t a squad leader for nothing. “Been out yourself, sir?”

Maze glared at him for a long, silent moment, but Boss was unyielding. Eventually, Maze grunted as he shoved past. “The library.”

“The library, sir?”

“Reading. You should try it sometime, Sergeant.”

“I’ll give that some thought, sir.” Boss saluted the Alpha, slipped through the gate and walked out of the compound to where a speeder was parked on the street waiting.

He slid into the passenger seat when the hatch opened, met with Ace’s bright smile. “Hey, hotshot. Good day?”

“Yeah. You?”

“Pretty good. I need a shower, though.” She indicated the dark stains on her assault uniform.

He peered at the stains in the dark speeder. “Blood?”

“Not mine,” she said with a grin. “That kind of makes it worse.” She threw the speeder into reverse and got out of the military zone and into the evening traffic. “Nothing quite like a shootout on the lower levels to get the blood pumping. But not mine.” She glanced over at him. “Want to see?”

“See what?”

“Hold on.”

Hold on, why? Boss didn’t get a chance to ask before she tipped the speeder into a steep descent into the lower levels. He braced his feet in the footwell until she levelled out in a part of Coruscant that didn’t at all resemble the surface. He’d not seen much of Coruscant, despite the op they’d done there. That wasn’t a sightseeing visit. That’s when he’d met her. He looked out the viewport – Ace was hovering the speeder over a complex series of lanes that converged on a cluster of derelict-looking buildings. “We were scoping this place. Not for very long, mind you. Today a rival operation turned up and all hell broke loose. Normally, we’d just leave them to it, but that building there was packed to the gunnels with weapons and explosives. Bomb disposals are still securing the sight so we can go in safely tomorrow.”

Boss looked over at her. She was genuinely excited to be sharing this with him. “Did you get them all?”

“Yep. I’ve got a good team.” She moved the speeder again, but instead of going back up, she continued going down, stopping by an apartment building further down. “This is where I picked up my first murder. Joint op with OCU. Perp was sending a very loud message to get a rival gang off his turf.”

“What kind of loud message?”

“Well…it took us almost a week to find all his bits. Forensics had to piece him back together like a jigsaw puzzle. Messy.”

“How many murders have you seen?”

“A lot. I’ve lost count. There’s a lot of crime in this city. Boss keeps telling me to make sure I see the staff psych to debrief, but who has time for that? I know he doesn’t!”

Boss looked over at her. “I feel like I need to change my name to avoid confusion.”

“Oh, don’t worry,” she said with a grin. “There’s no chance of me getting the two of you mixed up.”

He almost smiled at that. “What’s the next stop on your crime scene tour?”

“Sorry,” she said sheepishly. “I’ve never been with anyone who let me go on about my work before. I just…well, I didn’t think you’d mind.”

“I don’t. It’s different from what we do.” It was very different. Boss was no stranger to death or bodies. Or to bodies in pieces or in an almost unrecognisable state. But he was almost always the reason for it. Him or his squad. That was their job. To eliminate targets. He wondered how many cops in far reaches of the galaxy had been on hand to clean up after Delta. He looked over at her. “We left a lot of bodies behind at CoruFresh.”

“That’s an understatement,” she laughed as they started heading back to the surface. “Even for TripZip, that was a lot of stiffs all in one place!”

“How did you write that up?”

“Creatively. Poor Matti, I don’t think he’s ever seen anything like it before.”

“Your brother?”

“Yeah. He was the first responder with his team.”

“How did he write it up?”

“Well, he just got promoted, so he’s got some artistic license these days.”

Boss snorted, amused by the idea of emergency responders trying to officially account for over twenty dead bodies. “Is he older than you?”

“Younger. But he thinks eight minutes doesn’t count.”

“Eight minutes?”

“We’re twins. I was first, though.”

Boss stared at her, baffled. “Twins?”

“Not identical,” she clarified.

“Yeah, I worked that much out.” He kept looking at her as they travelled the remaining distance to her building, docking on the private platform. Twins. The difference between her and her brother was remarkable. He’d estimate Matthias weighed at least twice what she did, if not more. And he towered over her by more than a head. The only real similarity he could recall was blue eyes, and her brother’s hair being a darker version of her own.

She grinned a him as they climbed out of the speeder. “We’re like clones!”

Boss shook his head. “You’re nothing like clones.”

Ace just shrugged and grabbed the front of his shirt to push him up against the wall, kissing him hard. She pulled away breathlessly and unlocked the door. “Sorry. I really need that shower.” Inside, she pulled two bottles of beer from the conservator and tossed one to Boss before taking a long pull of her own. She passed him a bag of moss chips and started pulling her uniform off as she went up the hall. “Won’t be long.”

Boss leaned against the kitchen counter, drinking his beer and eating the occasional chip. Her brother obviously wasn’t home. The apartment was silent. He thought about all the things he’d learned about Ace. The hired assassins on her tail. The objective physical risk she faced every day. The closer he got to her, the more that bothered him. Troubled, he gulped down the rest of the beer. That bothered him as well. Relaxing here with civilian comforts while his squad were stuck at Arca. But he didn’t have time to agonise over that, as Ace reappeared, dressed in a huge CRO shirt that hung to mid-thigh on her. Her brother’s, he guessed. Her hair was pulled up loosely on top of her head, and she smelled fresh and clean as she brushed by him. “Hungry?”

She didn’t wait for an answer as she started pulling containers out of the conservator. Batch cooking. She’d told him that she and her brother took turns cooking when they had days off, so the freezer was always full for the odd hours they kept. He watched her for a few minutes, wondering how she was so relaxed around him when she barely knew him. He liked the way she looked now – more than the way she looked in a dress or in her uniform. It was her stripped back to who she really was, and she was sharing that with him.

She looked up then and caught him watching her, smiling quizzically at him. “What?”

“Nothing.” He moved closer to her and put his hands on her hips, the slide of the shirt on skin telling him she was naked beneath it. “I’m not really hungry.”

“But—”

“I can eat any time.”

“Oh, good point…” She let him half-carry, half-drag her up to her bedroom before she managed to shove him back onto the bed. Boss didn’t have time to say anything before she was jumping on him and scrabbling with his clothing. Somehow, she seemed able to undress him without him even realising. She was fast. He could appreciate that kind of efficiency. And in all honesty, it felt good to be wanted. Desired. By the time he’d had that thought, she already had his boots, trousers and underwear off, so he sat up and yanked his shirt off, watching as she did the same.

She was about to crawl over him, but he stopped her. “What the hell is that?”

Ace looked down to where her dark auburn pubic hair was trimmed into a small, neat heart shape. “Oh…I thought you might like it…”

“Why would you think that?”

She shrugged. “Just a bit of fun. I could do yours if you want?”

“No thanks.”

“Suit yourself! Don’t say I didn’t offer. Wanna be the boss tonight?”

He didn’t have time to answer, because she was on him then, grabbing his erection and sucking him into her mouth so fast he didn’t have time to stop her. Not that he wanted to. Nothing in his short life or training had prepared him for how good this was. He wondered if Ace was just particularly good at it. She could make him lose his mind in a matter of minutes, and she seemed to genuinely enjoy it. She was kneeling on the bed with her shebs near his shoulder, so he reached out to trace around the ridiculous tattooed red lips, anything to try and distract himself to hold out a little longer. His hand slipped lower to where she was wet and warm, and he felt her moan around him as she pushed back against his fingers. Inspired, he reached over and grabbed her thighs, lifting her lower half so she was straddling his head. Fair’s fair. He was relatively new to this equipment, but she’d instructed him well in the use of hands and fingers. She gasped loudly at the first stroke of his tongue. She sighed loudly at the next one. Okay then. He wrapped his arms around her hips to pull her closer, determined to make her break before he did.

Boss lay on the bed, pleasantly exhausted. Ace was lying beside him, her legs raised in the air as she seemed to be doing dance moves with her feet. After a moment, she rolled over to face him. “Is your squad okay with this?”

“With what?”

“With you and me…you know. Squad dynamics can be tricky, especially when an outsider’s disrupting things.”

Boss thought about the best way to answer. “They’re not not okay with it. It’s just different. None of us have ever been involved with someone outside.”

“Oh…” She stretched up to kiss his cheek. “I’m glad you think I’m worth it. I don’t want to make things complicated for you.”

“You’re not. I can handle it.” He tried to ignore the way her foot was softly trailing up and down his leg. He had to go soon. Another round would probably make him late, and he wasn’t sure he had it in him. “Why don’t you have a boyfriend?”

Ace grinned at him. “I have you, don’t I?”

Boss didn’t answer that. He wasn’t sure he was ready to be called anyone’s boyfriend. “Before me.”

“I’ve had a few. Nothing serious for a while, though. No one wants to date a cop. Not a girl cop, anyway.”

That didn’t make sense. “Why not?”

“I don’t know. I guess because I don’t fit any kind of stereotype for being a girl. And I take my job seriously. A lot of men don’t like competing with that.”

He sat up and dragged his hands through his hair. “What you do is important. I have to put my job first as well.”

“I know. Maybe that’s why this works. We’re both realistic about what’s possible.”

Boss wasn’t so sure about that. Every time he saw her, he felt as though he was being unrealistic in his expectations. He was a clone. A man with no rights, no money, no prospects. But that didn’t seem to bother Ace. She seemed happy to keep things low-key. He flinched unconsciously when she gently pinched his nipple, and he felt her foot sliding higher up his leg, astonishingly able to get a rise out of him again. “Ace, I—”

“If I’ve worn you out, we can get the big guns out.”

“The what?”

She leaned over him to open a drawer in the side table, revealing a collection of plastoid items in various shades of pink, some of them glittery. He pulled out a phallic object that was larger than him in both length and girth, raising an eyebrow at Ace. She just grinned at him and pressed a button on the thing that made it vibrate in his hand. “A girl’s gotta have some fun.”

Boss stopped what he was doing as something hit his backside and clinked to the floor. A credit chip. He looked back over his shoulder at Ace, who was grinning at him. “Just wanted to see if it would bounce off.”

“And?”

“It did. You have a very nice…shebs? Is that right?” She grabbed both cheeks and squeezed. “Tight enough to bounce a credit chip right off them.”

Boss almost laughed as he finished dressing. She was ridiculous. But it was something he almost understood. She had a tough job. She clearly saw a lot of bad stuff. Maybe this was just her way of keeping work separate from everything else. He sat on the bed to pull his boots on, watching as she pulled baggy CSF training gear on over bright pink lacy undergarments. She slipped her feet into runners and held out a hand to him. “Ready?”

They climbed into her speeder to make the trip back to Arca. He might be a bit late, but no one would notice, or even care. Zey wasn’t a rigid martinet. Not usually. They were close to Arca when Ace leaned forward to peer out the viewport. “Oh boy...”

Boss looked. All he saw was a man talking to a skimpily-dressed blonde woman. It looked like they were arguing. Before he had a chance to say anything, Ace was dropping the speeder down with a flash of lights and sirens, landing heavily on the street. She jumped out and the man took off running. Swearing, Ace ran to the back of the speeder and pulled out a rifle. Setting it to stun, she braced it against her shoulder. Boss climbed out of the speeder, ready to help, but it seemed she didn’t need it. She adjusted her position, squinting down the scope before she squeezed the trigger. Boss winced. The man had to be out of range by now, and even if he wasn’t, it was a difficult shot to take down a running target at that distance. But the shot hit its mark, and the man dropped in his tracks. Even Sev might have been mildly impressed.

Ace grabbed the woman and shoved her into the back of the speeder. “You stay put, Daizi, or I’ll stun you too!”

The blonde woman sat in the back looking surly while Ace called for a patrol to pick the man up. As they waited, she looked apologetically at Boss. “Sorry, Boss. I wasn’t planning this diversion.”

The woman, Daizi, stuck her head out of the speeder. “Is he your boss?”

“In a manner of speaking. Now get your head back in there.”

Confused, Boss pulled her aside. “Who’s that?”

“That is my CI. Only her informing days are over. I’m sorry. I’ll drop you back on the way to HQ.”

A patrol speeder landed nearby, and Ace jogged over to speak to them before leaving them to transfer the unconscious man to HQ. They said nothing on the trip to Arca, mindful of the woman in the back seat who didn’t shut up anyway, chattering on about needing to get home. Ace parked the speeder outside the military zone and turned around. “You not going home, Daizi! It’s over. I told you to keep your head down, and you kept ignoring me!”

“But—”

“We’ll discuss this later. If you move from this speeder, I’ll arrest you!”

Boss almost smiled. He liked seeing Ace in work mode. He liked the command in her voice. But that was gone when she pulled him away from the speeder. “I’m really sorry about this.”

“It’s fine. Duty calls.”

“At the most inconvenient times. Will you let me know when you get back?”

“I’ll let you know. And I’ll call you when I can.”

“Okay.” She looked around. There was no one around this late, but kissing Boss seemed inappropriate out in public so close to his base. But Boss didn’t seem to think so, leaning down to press his lips to hers.

When he pulled away, he smiled at her. “Thanks for tonight. I’ll see you later.”

“Yeah.”

Boss jogged around the corner, typing in the code to access the base. Only the night guards around. He slipped between the buildings until he was at their quarters. “Boss, it’s late for you to be out and about.”

Shab. He turned slowly. “Sarge, what are you doing here?”

“Well, I was concerned for your well-being. No one in your squad seemed to know where you were.”

“Just out. We’ve got leave. Deploying tomorrow morning.”

“Out?” Sergeant Vau’s expression was worrying as he eyed him up and down, taking note of the civilian clothing. “I didn’t know you had such an interest in Coruscant nightlife.”

“Just blowing off some steam, Sarge. No big deal.”

“I hope not. And I hope that blowing off steam does not become a distraction for you. You’ve got a job to do. The job I trained you to do.”

“And I’m not distracted. Is that all?”

“That’s all. Get some sleep. You’ve got an early start tomorrow.”

Boss waited for Vau to leave before leaning against the side of the building. He sighed heavily. He’d been worried Vau would find out somehow, and he should have known it would be sooner rather than later. He didn’t even know what he knew, but Vau had expectations for his men, and enjoying the local nightlife wasn’t one of them. Neither were interpersonal relationships outside the army. Maybe Vau was right. Maybe he was distracted.

Chapter Text

Ace sat staring at the comlink in her hand. She wasn’t crying or distressed. But she had that feeling as though she’d been kicked in the guts – something that had happened to her literally on more than one occasion. Boss’s message was brief. This isn’t going to work. Sorry. That’s it. Shortest break up ever. No reason. No pathetic excuses. Nothing. Bewildered, she hit the code to call him, but there was just silence. He’d blocked her code. That was that, then. The first man she’d come close to caring about in a long time, and he’d dropped her almost as quickly as the others.

Angry now, she yanked open her closet and dragged out her strapless black dress. She shimmied it on and grabbed a pair of heels before going out to the living room. “Matti, I’m going out.”

Her brother stuck his head out of his room, looking surprised at her outfit. “You meeting Boss somewhere?”

“No.” She threw the comlink at him, watching his reaction as he read the message.

Matti looked up at her. “Oh, ouch. Sorry, gremlin. You okay?”

“Yes. I’m fine.”

Matthias gave her a sceptical look. “Well, that’s good. For a minute there, I thought you were upset.”

“I am upset! Are you blind?”

Matti sighed and found a pair of shoes under his bed. “I’ll come with you.”

“No, thank you. I’m going somewhere where I might get lucky.”

“Do you really think that’s a good—”

But Ace was already sailing out the door. “Don’t wait up!”

Ace leaned on the bar, sipping her martini. She hated martinis, but they were a good way to get drunk quickly. She was on her second one. She shuffled over as someone came up to the bar, casting a cursory glance at the man. A Twi’lek man. Tall, skin a deep, rich indigo, eyes an even deeper blue. And he smelled good. He looked over at her, and she could feel his eyes raking over her body. Then he shuffled closer. “Buy you a drink?”

Ace gulped down the rest of her martini in one swallow and pushed the empty glass across to the man. “Yeah.”

One hour later, she was in the man’s apartment, dragging his clothes off him as he did the same to her. She moaned as he shoved her up against the wall, kissing her as one hand pulled and pinched at her nipples. He pulled Ace to his room, tossing her on the bed before climbing over her. “I always like fucking human women. No risk of pregnancy, and no transmissible diseases. Win, win.”

Ace stared at him for a moment, wondering if it was the alcohol. Then she dissolved into giggles. “That’s one way of looking at it.”

But her giggles turned into breathless sighs and whimpers as the man spread her thighs and kissed his way up the inside of one. “I don’t even know your name…”

“I don’t know yours either. That’s what makes this so hot.”

Ace moaned her agreement as she rammed her hips up into his chin, her fingers trailing over and caressing his sensitive lekku. “You’re hot,” she breathed. That was definitely the alcohol. But who cares? She was here to have fun and forget, not engage in serious discussion. And right now, the nameless man’s mouth was too busy to say anything.

“You can stay, you know. You don’t have to rush off.”

Ace shimmied her dress back up. “Probably not a good idea. I have work in a few hours. And besides, I wasn’t really looking for anything uh…longer term.”

“Me neither. But I like you...umm…”

Ace smiled wryly as she sat to pull on her shoes. “Not so hot in the morning, is it?”

“The whole anonymous sex thing? Not so much.” He struck a pose, still lying naked in the bed. “I’m still hot, though, right?”

This time, Ace laughed. “You are. Very much so. But I need to go. Thanks for a fun night.”

“Anytime. That bar’s my usual, so if you ever want to find out my name…”

Ace grabbed her bag and blew him a kiss before she raced out to find a taxi. She needed to sober up and get a couple of hours sleep before work and she didn’t have long to do it.

“Ace, everything alright?”

“Fine, boss.” She sighed as the word left her mouth. That was going to get old pretty quickly.

“How is Boss?”

She blinked, almost rolling off her fitness ball. “Pardon?”

“Well, I did expect better from you when it came to concealing a relationship. But I suppose it’s your private life.”

“Not anymore,” she muttered.

“Meaning?”

“He dumped me. All too difficult, I guess.”

Obrim leaned in his lieutenant’s doorway, worried by the expression on her face. Perhaps some wise counsel was called for. He closed the door and took a seat. “Ace, those boys do a difficult job. You know that. And you know how things were for them growing up.”

“I know all that. I just thought…well, I do my job, he does his job, and somehow we’d meet in the middle. No demands, no expectations. No drama.”

“Well, maybe that was still more than he was able to manage.”

“Yeah, you’re probably right. I have no way of knowing though. He blocked me.”

“He what?”

“He blocked my code. Sent me a six-word break-up message and blocked me. So that’s that. I don’t even have a way of knowing if he’s okay…alive or dead…and I still care about him.”

Obrim took a deep breath as he studied his junior. She was hurting. He knew her well enough to know that. She was good at compartmentalising and getting on with things. They all were. They had to be to be good at the job. But he could still see this was hurting her. He stood and beckoned. “Let’s go grab a late breakfast. My blood is moving all too comfortably through my arteries.”

Ace looked up at her boss for a moment, then nodded. “Yeah, okay. That sounds good.”

“How’s Telti?”

“Fine. How’s Matti?”

“Fine.”

Ace stirred another sweetener into her caf. She’d lost track at four, still feeling hungover from the night before. “How long have you been married?”

“Almost twenty-five years. I made sure to trap her before she found out how terrible this job really was for family life.”

“So that’s your secret? You keep her locked up at home?”

“Not a literal trap.”

Ace just shrugged as she mindlessly stirred her caf. “I don’t think I’m going to find anyone like that. Someone who’s prepared to stick by me no matter what. I just don’t think men are as prepared to make that kind of commitment.”

“Well, in Boss’s case, maybe it’s just because he can’t. You know those boys are as good as owned by the Republic.”

Now, she felt guilty. “I know. But I would have done whatever it took to make it work. I really felt like he was the… Oh, that’s just great.”

Obrim looked back over his shoulder to where Ace was looking. Skirata had just arrived. Skirata and Ordo. Ace slunk down in her seat, but it was too late; they’d already seen them. She slid across the bench as Skirata sat beside her. “How are you, sweetheart.”

“Hungover. You?”

“Sober. Maybe I should try hungover.”

“I wouldn’t recommend it.”

Ordo nodded politely at her. “Lieutenant Denn.”

“Captain Ordo.” Ordo was ridiculous. Always wanting to stick to protocol. “You know you can just call me Ace.”

Ordo narrowed his eyes at her. “Fine. Ace.”

Ace sank back into the bench. It felt weird hearing Ordo say her name in a voice so similar to Boss’s. “Actually, let’s just stick with formalities.”

Ordo shook his head as he looked for Laseema or Soronna to take their order. Ace, or Lieutenant Denn, or whatever she wanted to call herself, was slightly irritating. He could ignore that, though.

“How are your boys, Kal?” Obrim took a sip of his caf, ignoring the pointed look Ace was giving him.

“Depends which ones you mean.”

“Omega?”

“All fine. In transit back here for a short leave.”

“And Delta?”

“Somewhere on the Outer Rim.”

“The Arkanis Sector,” Ordo clarified. “They’ll probably be out there a while.” He stole a glance at Ace. He’d heard about her and Boss, but he found it to be an unlikely match. Lieutenant Denn seemed a little…unhinged to him. Although he knew people saw him as unhinged. They were probably right, but he didn’t care what they thought. “I can’t tell you anything about their mission. It’s classified.”

“Understood,” Obrim said. “It’s just nice to keep up with the boys we know. How’s Fi?”

“Walking unassisted from all accounts,” Kal said with a smile. “It’s slow progress, but it’s progress. Got himself a girl, too.”

That finally brought a smile to Ace’s face. She liked Fi. She owed Fi. And Fi was a sweet, funny man who deserved all the good things in life. Maybe I should have set my sights on him instead. But she never felt that attraction to Fi, just like she didn’t feel it with Ordo. They might be clones, but they were all individual men as far as she was concerned. She sighed wistfully. “Maybe Fi will get married and have babies and live happily ever after.”

Skirata gave her an odd look. “Maybe. I’m not sure they’re quite at that stage yet. You okay, Ace? You seem a little off.”

“Just this hangover.” She gave him a shove so he’d stand up to let her out of the booth. “I’m going to head back, boss. Captain. You take the speeder; I could use the walk.”

Skirata resumed his seat, watching Ace jam her cap onto her head as she shuffled out the door. “What’s going on there?”

“I thought you might know. Boss dumped her via text message and then blocked her code.”

Skirata winced. “Ouch.” He’d had his share of break-ups. He’d initiated a lot of them himself. But never like that. He prided himself on conducting himself with some integrity when it came to romantic affairs – in person and kindly. Not that he’d had to deal with that for a long time. Not since before Kamino. “I haven’t seen Delta since they last deployed. I didn’t know anything was amiss.”

“I don’t think Ace did either. It blindsided her.”

“That bad, huh? I didn’t know things were that serious.”

“Neither did I. But she’s really taken it badly.”

“Well, that’s Walon Vau for you,” Skirata lamented. “He set those boys up to fail in every aspect of life except soldiering. If I’m honest with you, I’m still surprised Boss was even interested in any kind of relationship. Shame Ace had to get hurt by Vau’s shu’shuk.”

Obrim raised an eyebrow at the Mando’a. “I think I can translate that one for myself. Still, they’re both adults. Best to let them sort it out themselves.”

“Agreed.”

Obrim gulped the last of his caf and waited for Ordo to stand to let him out of the booth. “Good to see you both. Ordo, pass my regards to Miss Wennen.”

“I will.”

Ordo sat back down. He was hungry, and they still hadn’t ordered food yet. “Delta is back in barracks in four days.”

Skirata raised a curious eyebrow. “You were keeping that to yourself?”

“It’s classified.”

Skirata smiled into his caf. Sometimes, he wondered how Ordo had managed to hold down a relationship, let alone Boss.

Boss sat on a crate, leaning back against the bulkhead. He shifted uncomfortably, mentally cursing whoever designed their armor. It’s as though they were never meant to sit down. The truth was, they rarely did. Not long enough for it to count, anyway. He raised his head when he heard Scorch call his name from the cockpit. “What?”

Scorch peered around the hatch, eyebrows raised. Boss sighed. He knew he’d sounded unreasonably snappy. He’d been in a bad mood for days, and he knew why. But no one else knew. It’s not the kind of thing he felt warranted a squad announcement. He made a concerted effort to soften his tone. “What is it, Scorch?”

“Sev and Fixer are on the way back. No luck.”

“Great. Well, we’ll have to work with what we have. What’s their ETA?”

“About forty minutes.” Scorch came through and sat on one of the other crates. “What’s going on?”

Boss knew what Scorch was getting at, but he decided to be obtuse. “We’re waiting on Sev and Fixer. Then we strike the target.”

Scorch looked highly unimpressed. “Okaaay…now that we’ve reiterated the mission parameters, what’s really going on?”

“Meaning?”

“You’ve been a miserable shabuir all week.”

“I’m still your sergeant, you know.”

“Yeah. Which means it’s your job to lead the squad. That includes morale.”

Boss folded his arms across his chest defensively. “What do you want, Scorch? Should we all sit around in a circle and talk about our feelings? We’re commandos. We have a job to do. So how about less talking, and more focusing on the mission?”

Scorch was undeterred. “Do you stay in touch with that cop?”

“What cop?”

“Well, now you’re just embarrassing yourself.”

Boss sighed irritably. “Look, you were right, okay? It was an unnecessary distraction. It’s over now, so can we please stop talking about it?”

Scorch shrugged amiably. “Sure. I mean, it’s obviously solved all your problems. Now you’re focused and in control – cool, calm, and collected.”

“Scorch…” Boss’s tone was warning.

Scorch held up his hands submissively and went back to the cockpit. “I think I preferred distracted.”

Boss glared at his brother’s retreating back, then dropped his head back against the bulkhead with a thunk. What a shu’shuk.

Chapter Text

“Denn here.”

“Ace, I need you to round up any available squads and get over to GAR Special Ops. We’ve got protestors out the front, and it's starting to look ugly.”

Ace swallowed dryly. “Special Ops? Can’t someone else—”

Obrim’s response was firm but sympathetic. “Look, I know this isn’t ideal for you, but I don’t have anyone else to lead. Dovel is down on a stakeout, and you’re the only other available officer on duty. I’m trying to round up more riot squads, but this is on us because they’re targeting a military base. It’s politically motivated.”

“Okay. On my way.”

She threw the speeder into reverse and turned around to head back to HQ. Niuv watched her thoughtfully from the passenger seat. Obrim had tactfully told him what had happened. “Special Ops? Shouldn’t that be secure enough so that your average protestor can’t locate it?”

“You’d think so. Maybe they got some intel somewhere. Some of these anti-war groups are pretty hardcore. Can’t say I blame them. You’d better start calling in the troops. All available to assemble at HQ to gear up and be briefed.”

“On it.”

Boss stood with his squad and a number of other commandos who were at Arca between deployments, watching the protestors outside the perimeter. He estimated there to be around one hundred and fifty or so. Enough to make themselves heard as they shouted anti-war slogans and waved their placards around. They weren’t very smart, clearly. They could protest all they liked, but he wasn’t sure what they expected anyone here to do about it. They had no say in the war. They went where they were told and followed orders the way all armies did. Why weren’t they protesting at the Senate?

He saw Zey come out of the admin building, Maze in tow. He watched as the general approached the fence and looked out through a gap, a worried frown on his face. Was he going to use the Force to disperse them? Unlikely. Niner came and stood beside him, confusion on his face. “What are they hoping to achieve?”

“You tell me. Not like we can do anything to stop the war other than keep fighting it.”

Some of the protestors had spotted them through the gaps now, and were trying to get closer to the fence, despite the external wall. It was unlikely that any of them would make it. The base was highly secured. But they were becoming agitated, louder, starting to scream obscenities at the gathered commandos. Killers! Murderers! Boss shrugged indifferently. They weren’t wrong. That was their job description.

A group of them were shaking the front gate now, trying to climb up it. Unsuccessfully. He saw Zey lean down to say something to Maze, and the captain jogged back inside, reappearing ten minutes later. They all stayed outside watching, keeping an eye on things. It was difficult not to be distracted by it all.

The afternoon rolled on, and the protestors became louder and more aggressive. Boss looked out and saw the media had arrived, with hovercams floating over the action. As though performing for the cameras, the protestors ramped up their efforts, shaking at the front gates, screaming louder. He heard sirens then and got close enough to a gap in the fence to see over half a dozen large CSF vehicles arriving, hatches opening to reveal several dozen officers in riot gear with large shields. He squinted when he saw a female officer take control of the riot squads, directing them to fan out around the protestors. The woman turned around then, and he caught a flash of red hair under the helmet. Shab.

Darman came over to watch with Boss and Niner. “Is that Ace?”

“Looks like it,” Niner agreed. “I hope she’s got some more squads coming. This lot’s starting to get ugly."

He was right. The arrival of police had fired up the protestors, and they were now turning on the armored officers, screaming at them, jostling them. He saw Ace stumble when someone deliberately shoulder-checked her, and he felt himself bristle. He went to where Zey and Maze were watching. “Sir, shouldn’t we be out there dealing with this?”

Zey shook his head. “This is a police matter. Civil ordinance. We’re not in a state of martial law.”

“But, sir—”

“They’re protesting against us, Sergeant. How do you think they’d respond if we went out there?”

Boss swore under his breath in frustration and kept his eyes on the scene as it unfolded. He saw Ordo and Mereel out of the corner of his eye, both carrying rifles. They looked at Zey, who gave them a nod. They took aim at the two media hovercams that were floating dangerously close to the base perimeter and took them out, sending them plunging to the ground in pieces. His focus back on the ground, he saw Ace approach the man who seemed to be leading the hoard. He was a big man, a head taller than Ace, and bulky. He was already red-faced and angry when she approached him, and his body language showed his agitation increasing as Ace spoke to him. She held up her hands placatingly to try and calm him, but he was having none of it as he used the bulk of his body to push her backwards.

Boss went back to Zey. This was all getting out of hand now. “Sir, permission to assist CSF with—”

“Permission denied, Sergeant. This is not our circus.”

Boss clenched his jaw. Yeah, but one of the monkeys is mine. CSF was struggling to hold the crowd back now, and he spotted Niuv on his comm, hopefully calling for backup. He felt, rather than saw, his squad come up behind him. Things were getting tense now. Scorch stared. “Is that—”

“Yeah.”

The man was screaming in her face now, and if it weren’t for the visor on her helmet, her face would probably be covered in spittle. He saw her tilt her head to her right shoulder to answer her comm on her shoulder, and that’s when the man struck, swinging his fist hard to catch her jaw just below the visor. A brutal punch. He could almost hear the crack. The helmet flew off her head as she was thrown backwards by the force of the blow, then all hell broke loose. Boss felt a hand gripping his arm. Sev. He realised he must have taken a lunge forward when Ace was hit. But she was outside the perimeter, and he was in here.

As though given a green light, the protestors erupted into violence, lashing out at police as the officers closed ranks, using their shields to push the crowd back. Boss tried to locate Ace in the melee, finally spotting her struggle to her feet. As the crowds began to disperse into smaller clusters, he got a clearer view of her. She was wiping blood from her face with the back of her hand; then she pulled a black cylinder from her tac belt. With a flick of her wrist, she held a telescopic baton, wielding it to move protestors aside as she went for the man who had hit her. He wheeled on her, but she was quicker, slamming the baton across the back of his knees to throw him off balance. As he tumbled forward, she was on him, yanking his arms behind his back and slapping binders around his wrists before he knew what was happening. Fixer nodded approvingly. “Nice move.”

As the man lay there swearing and screaming, a number of the protestors were starting to leave. Possibly the ones who had turned up for a more peaceful protest. Several more police vehicles arrived with more riot squads, and officers were soon securing the scene and loading cuffed detainees into transports. Boss saw Niuv and a younger male officer haul the struggling ringleader into a vehicle, taking care to rough him up along the way. Good.

Zey nodded towards Ace. “Captain, go and see if the lieutenant is able to see me for a few minutes.”

Maze nodded. “Yes, sir.”

By the time Maze had made it through the two sets of gates to reach the scene, most of the prisoners had been loaded up, and Ace was issuing orders to the officers on site. Boss watched as Maze spoke to her, and she nodded and held up her hand, fingers splayed. Five minutes. Maze stood back to wait for her. She was coming in. Now what?

Zey turned to address the assembled commandos. “Alright, gentlemen, the excitement’s over now. Back to whatever it was you were doing.”

Boss rounded up his own squad and waved them towards the barracks. “You heard the man.” Back to what he was doing, then. Sitting on his bunk being a miserable shabuir.

Ace followed the ARC captain along the corridor and into an office. A large, luxuriously furnished office. A large, bearded man was seated behind the desk, and he stood when she entered, offering his hand. “I’m Arligan Zey.”

“Aysa Denn,” she said, shaking his hand. She sank gratefully into the comfortable chair he indicated. The adrenaline was wearing off, and the excruciating pain was kicking in. Her head was still ringing from the punch, and the taste of blood lingered in her mouth. “What can I do for you, General?”

“Those protestors. Can you tell me anything more about them? They went from simple protesting to violence very quickly.”

“I don’t know much at this stage. But rallies like this often attract what we call professional protestors. They turn up just to make trouble. They get off on it. The cause is irrelevant to them. I can send you what we get once I’ve completed my investigation. It might take a while; I’ll have to crosscheck everything with intelligence agencies.”

“I’d appreciate that. I fully support their democratic right to protest, but this went beyond that. My men have enough on their plate without that kind of harassment. And I’m curious to know how they located us. This base is not commonly known.”

Ace nodded, a wave of dizziness making her blink. “That’s what I’d like to know. We’ll be looking into it.”

Maze gave her a look. He could see her eyes struggling to focus. “Lieutenant, do you need a medic?”

“No. I’m fine. If there’s nothing else, I’ll get back and start questioning our ringleaders. I’ll let you know what I find out.”

Zey pulled a card from a small container on his desk and handed it to her. “These are my direct contact details. Thank you for resolving the situation out there so effectively. Maze will see you out.”

“Anytime, General.” She stood, taking a moment to get her balance before following the captain from the office. “I can find my own way out, Captain. I’m sure you have better things to do.”

Maze nodded and held the door open for her to exit the building. “Thank you for attending so promptly, Lieutenant.”

Outside, Ace sucked in a few deep breaths, willing the dizziness to pass. She really didn’t need a concussion right now. She leaned against a wall, looking out over the parade ground. It was pleasant enough. Neat gardens. Space. She swallowed back the bile that was threatening to rise, looking down to see her hands were shaking. She needed to get out of this place. She straightened up and stepped out onto the gravel.

“Ace?”

She stopped in her tracks, then turned slowly. “What are you doing here?”

Boss frowned at her. “This is my base.”

“No, I mean…oh, it doesn’t matter what I mean.” She unwrapped a stick of gum with trembling fingers and started chewing, wincing at the ache in her jaw. She started patting down the various pockets and pouches of her assault gear. “I really need a smoke.”

“No, you don’t. They’re bad for you, remember?”

Ace looked up at him, the hurt and pain clear in her eyes. “You don’t know what I need.”

She turned on her heel to leave and made it two steps before she was doubled over, emptying her stomach into the neatly manicured garden. Boss grabbed her before she toppled over completely. He’d seen this before—many times. The man had hit her harder than he thought. He kept her upright as he pulled her back towards the building. “I know you need a medic.”

“I’m fine.”

“No, you’re not.” He gave her a moment, then put an arm around her waist to take most of her weight as he took her back inside.

Maze was just coming out of Zey’s office. “Sergeant, what’s going on?”

“Concussion, maybe. She got hit pretty hard.”

Maze nodded, taking her other side to get her to medbay. “I offered her a medic. She said no.”

“Because I’m fine,” Ace mumbled. They got her into the nearby medbay and onto a treatment bed, where she promptly lay down on her side and closed her eyes.

“No, you don’t,” Boss said firmly, hauling her back up. “Not until you’ve been checked out.”

She muttered something under her breath as a medical droid came into the room to examine her. Maze checked his chrono and backed towards the door. “I can’t stay here. Sergeant, can you—”

“I’ll take care of it, sir.” I’ll take care of her.

He kept Ace sitting upright so the droid could run a scanner over her head and check her pupils and pulse. “You have a mild concussion. What caused the head trauma?”

“That fucker out there,” Ace muttered.

“She was punched,” Boss clarified. “No loss of consciousness.”

“Then you should rest and have another check-up in two days.”

“Fine, I’ll see you in two days.” Ace lay down and closed her eyes when Boss loosened his grip on her.

Boss watched the droid bustle about the room, preparing a hypo-syringe to jab into her neck. “This is a painkiller and anti-inflammatory to reduce the swelling. She will be fine after some rest.”

The droid left, and Boss was left alone with her, watching her as she slept. He already felt guilty about what he’d done to her. But seeing her like this just made it worse. She probably hated him. Probably for the best. Once he knew she was okay, he’d get her out to her speeder, and that would be that. For now, he would just wait.

He didn’t have to wait long. After ten minutes or so, Ace opened her eyes, confusion filling them as she looked around. She saw Boss sitting by the bed, watching her. “What are you doing here?”

Boss gave her a worried look. “Do you know where you are?”

“No…” She tried to sit up, so he grabbed her arms and pulled her upright, giving her a moment to get her bearings. She looked around the room, trying to remember, and he could almost see the pieces fall into place. “I’m at Special Ops…”

“Yeah.” He studied her carefully. Her eyes were clear now, pupils not dilated. She seemed fine. She raised a hand to prod at her jaw, wincing. Then she slid off the bed, ready to go. “What are you doing?”

“I have work to do.”

“The droid said you should rest.”

“Well, the droid doesn’t work for an understaffed, underpaid, overworked police force.”

“Ace—”

“I’m fine, Boss. I need to get going.”

“Can we talk?”

She stopped at the door, not turning around. “About what?”

Boss grimaced. He wasn’t good at this. “Us.”

“There isn’t an us, Boss. You made that abundantly clear in your message.”

“That’s not what I want, though.”

She froze, her hand hovering over the door control. Then she turned slowly. “Boss, I—”

“Look, this is…difficult for me. I don’t have the experience, or the freedom, or—”

“I know all that. Maybe you could have told me that instead of shutting me out.”

“Yeah. Maybe.” He stood watching her. She looked bedraggled, blood staining the front of her uniform.

“Boss, I know that life away from your job is challenging for you. I know you all grew up differently from the rest of us. But you could have talked to me about it. Maybe we could have worked something out. I would have done whatever it took because…well, because I really like you, and I wanted to make it work.”

“I like you too.”

Ace gave him a wan smile. “So, now what?”

Boss crossed the room, gently took her face in his hands and kissed her. When he pulled away, Ace was eyeing him warily, wrinkling her nose. “Do I taste of blood and vomit.”

“Yeah.”

“Gross. I guess I know you mean it then.”

“I do mean it. But I understand if—”

“We can just pretend it never happened,” she offered. “I’m pretty good at being delusional.”

“Yeah, okay. That works for me.”

She looked at the chrono on the wall. “I’d better get going. Everyone will be wondering what happened to me.”

“I’ll walk you out.”

He led her back down the corridor and out onto the parade ground to head for the main gate. As they passed the building that housed the command rooms, someone exited the building and fell into step behind them. “Lieutenant Denn, nice to see you again.”

Ace looked back at the man. “Mereel?”

“At your service. Although I don’t think you need my services. Nicely handled out there, subduing the great unwashed.”

“Thanks.”

He nodded at the black baton hanging back on her belt. “I wouldn’t mind one of those. They look fun.”

“They get the job done.”

“In the right hands.” He winked at her and turned left at the next path. Then he paused and looked back. “Got a sister?”

“No. But I’ve got a brother who’s into men.”

Mereel pondered that for a moment before he went on his way. “I’ll give that some thought.”

They made it to the main gate before Boss turned to her, a curious frown on his face. “Your brother’s into men?”

“Did you not figure that out yet? The nightclub, the outfits…”

“I guess I’ve got a bit to learn about civilian life.”

Ace managed a grin, despite the pain in her jaw, and he realised how much he’d missed it. “I’m a pretty good teacher. And you’re a fast learner. You could come around tonight for a quick lesson?”

“Not happening. You’re recovering from a concussion. I’ll call you later to check on you.”

“Okay. Fine. Is this where you start to get bossy?”

“If I need to.”

She grinned again. “Maybe that’s not a bad thing. I’ll talk to you later then.”

Boss watched as she went through the two sets of gates and climbed into her speeder, where Niuv was waiting in the driver’s seat. He watched until they were out of sight. He might not be a civilian, but he hadn’t completely cocked things up.

Chapter Text

Ace lay on her side, gazing beseechingly at Boss. “Pleeeease?”

Boss was lying on his side, looking back at her. “No.”

“But why not?”

“You’re recovering from a head injury. You’re supposed to be resting.”

Ace pouted. “I don’t know why you even bothered coming over.”

“You said you wanted to see me.”

“But I meant naked and on top of me. Or behind me. Or under me…”

Boss gave her an unimpressed look. “If you don’t stop, I’ll leave.”

“No, don’t go!” She shuffled across the bed, so her front was pressed up against his. “We could watch something?”

“Like what?”

“I’ll find something.” She grabbed the remote control for the small holoscreen in her bedroom and began flicking through the channels. “News…sitcom…gameshow…bolo semis…” She glanced at Boss to gauge his interest, but he was giving her nothing, so she kept looking. Eventually, she settled on a holodrama she’d seen before. “This one isn’t bad.”

She flicked the lamp off, fluffed the pillows and made herself comfortable, pleased when Boss let her settle against him, her head resting on his chest and his arm around her. “Do you ever watch holos in your downtime?”

“What do you think?”

“I think you exclusively watch romantic comedies.”

“You’re wrong.”

Ace grinned as she snuggled in closer, wrapping her arms around him. “This is nice though, isn’t it? Or do you only like it when I’m naked and on top of you?”

“This is fine.”

“We could make it better by—”

“Shut up and watch.”

She lay contentedly against his chest, paying little attention to the holo as she idly traced patterns on his abdomen. It was a wall of solid muscle, and he wasn’t ticklish. Taking advantage of his distraction, she managed to slide her fingers under the top of his black bodysuit. It was tight, and she realised she couldn’t move her hand around at all. He grabbed her wrist and pulled her hand out. “What are you doing?”

“Nothing. Just…you’re all wrapped up like a present I can’t have.”

“Watch the holo.”

She turned her eyes back to the screen, smirking when she saw the scene that was unfolding. A very explicit sex scene. Her eyes flitted between the screen and Boss’s face as the sights and sounds intensified, letting her fingers trail lower, over the waistband until— “You did this on purpose.”

“What?”

He grabbed her wrist to pull her hand away from his crotch. “I told you no. And if you don’t stop playing games, I’ll go back to base.”

“Okay. Sorry.” She flicked the screen off and lay back with a huff. “I hate being off work.”

Boss sighed and rolled onto his side to look at her. “Even we have to stop for a head trauma. You need to be patient.”

“I’m not very good at that.”

“I noticed.”

“Is it endearing?”

“It’s something. I haven’t put a name to it yet.”

Ace grinned at him. “You’re quite funny when you let your guard down.”

“I’m a commando. I’m trained not to let my guard down.”

“I’m glad that you feel like you can with me.”

Boss looked down at her. It was dark in the room now with the lamp and the screen off. Just the light from the strings of fairy lights bouncing off her red hair and made her eyes shine. He didn’t just feel like he could let his guard down with her. He wanted to. He bent down to kiss her. “Me too.”

Ace kissed him back eagerly, twining her arms around his neck to pull him closer. But Boss stopped her. “I warned you—"

“It’s just kissing, Boss. That won’t rattle my brain around.”

“It might, the way you get carried away.”

She tried to put on her best serious face. “I promise I’ll behave.”

“Fine, but you’re on your final warning.”

Boss opened his eyes when he heard noises in the apartment. He’d dozed off on Ace’s bed, but he never slept heavily. Ace, on the other hand, was fast asleep, her head tucked in under his chin. Despite her protests, she was tired and needed the rest. He heard voices out in the living room. Her brother and another man. Satisfied it was nothing to worry about, he relaxed. He’d need to get back to base soon, but he could lie here a little longer. It was nice. But Ace must have heard the sounds as well, shifting in his arms. “What time is it?”

“Just after ten.”

“Oh…” She stretched slightly, then snuggled in closer. “You’ll have to go soon.”

“Yeah.”

They lay there quietly together, then Boss heard something that sounded decidedly like a moan. Then the sound of a piece of furniture scraping along the floor. Then more moaning. He tried to sit up, but Ace held onto him. “Don’t go…”

“What is th—”

More moaning, gasping, a cry of, “Oh yes, right there!” He looked at Ace, and she couldn’t help but laugh at his shocked expression. “Matti brought someone home. Don’t worry, they’ll go into his room in a minute.”

They waited, and sure enough, the sounds grew quieter, soon becoming indistinguishable muffled sounds beyond the closed doors. He gently extricated himself from Ace’s grip. “I’d better get back.”

Ace watched him as he pulled his boots on and started armoring up. “You’re not bothered by that, are you?”

“No, I just don’t want anyone hearing us in here.”

“Oh. So, it doesn’t bother you that Matti has sex with men?”

Boss thought for a moment as he attached his leg armor. He honestly couldn’t think of a reason to be bothered about it. He wasn’t completely naïve about things. He knew some men were into men, and some women were into women. And many things in between. And he knew it was often met with disapproval. But he really didn’t care. What people did in their private life was up to them. He had more important things to worry about. He had a war to fight. “Doesn’t bother me at all. Why would it?”

“Well, it bothers a lot of people. Our parents, for example.”

Boss frowned at her. “Why?”

“Because they’re old-fashioned and conservative. Matti left home young because of it, so I came with him. We stick together. I have to look after my baby brother.”

Boss gave an amused snort at that description of her hulking sibling. He appreciated her loyalty to her brother though. “Where’s home?”

“Hosnian Prime. We came here seven years ago. Matti got accepted into the CRO training academy straight up. I had to try a bit harder for the police academy.”

“Why?”

She grinned at him as she struck a pose in her short, pink pyjamas. “Do I look like cop material to you?”

“No, not at first impression. You’re a good cop, though. Everyone thinks so.”

“Even you?”

“Even me.”

He attached his final plate and grabbed his helmet. “Make sure you keep resting. I’ll try and see you tomorrow if we’re not deployed.”

Ace stood on her toes to kiss him. “Thank you for staying with me tonight. It was nice.”

“Even though you didn’t get what you wanted?”

Ace grinned at him again. “What makes you think I didn’t?”

He kissed her again before he slipped out of the room. “Go back to bed. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Boss…baby…”

“What?”

“Nothing…just…keeping doing that…”

Boss had her in his arms, her back pressed against his chest as he slowly moved, gently thrusting in and out. He’d relented to her pestering, but had quickly taken control of the situation, utilising one of the many positions she’d shown him on a holovid during what she’d called ‘training exercises’. Whilst she’d complained initially, she’d soon come round. And he had to admit, he was enjoying it too – dragging it out with no end in sight, just a slow, steady build up. And it was close and intimate and everything he never thought he’d experience. Sex with Ace was usually fast, and energetic, and almost explosive. But forcing her to take it easy had brought them to something completely different.

He had her arms pinned to her chest with his own, but she managed to wriggle one free to reach up and dig her fingers into his hair, tugging gently. “I’m not going any faster,” he murmured into her ear. “It’s this or nothing.”

She whined petulantly, breathless despite the fact that she was lying motionless. “Is this how you got your name?”

“Not from this specifically.”

She tried to grind her bottom back into him, but he just clamped his arms more tightly around her. “You could be a little less bossy.”

“This is for your own good. That’s why I’m the boss. Experience, intuition, leadership…”

“This isn’t leadership; this is torture. I’ve created a monster! You didn’t even have experience, and now you’re using my teachings against me!”

“Do you want me to stop?”

He started to pull away, but Ace held onto his hair. “No! Stay, stay, stay. I’ll behave.”

She felt his breath hot on her shoulder as he began to move again, the same, almost rhythmic back and forth as his lips travelled along her shoulder, in behind her ear, stopping to suck at the back of her neck. She was becoming desperate now, squirming in his arms despite the grip he had on her. “Boss…please…”

He let go of the tender flesh on her neck. “What do you need?”

“More…just…something…”

He kept one arm around her, keeping her flush with his body as he felt behind himself for the drawer, feeling blindly for what he wanted. He started moving a little faster, and Ace let out a guttural moan of relief when he flicked the switch, and the familiar toy buzzed to life. “Yes! God, that’s what I need, I—" She cried out, climaxing almost as soon as he pressed the plastoid shape between her thighs, on edge after so long.

Boss dropped the toy and kept her cradled in his arms, doing his best not to jostle her too much as he thrust rapidly several times to reach his own peak, keeping her limp body pressed close to his. He fumbled for the toy to switch it off, then relaxed with Ace held close. “Happy now?”

She nodded, sliding her hand from his hair down to his cheek as she caught her breath. “You were supposed to be looking after my brain, but I think you blew it up.”

“Don’t exaggerate.” He smoothed the hair back from her forehead. “Are you seeing the doctor tomorrow?"

“Yes. It's just a formality, though. I’ll be fine to go back to work.”

“If the doctor clears you.”

“God, have I got two bosses now?”

“No. I know I can’t stop you. I just want you to look after yourself.”

“I know.” She wriggled around in his arms, so she was facing him. “There’s something I want to tell you…just in the interests of being up front.”

“Go ahead.”

“I had sex with a man…a few weeks ago.” Boss shifted back from her slightly, a frown on his face, but she looked him in the eye. “I’m not apologising. I’m just telling you. I was upset when I got your message. I went out and got drunk and went home with a guy. That’s it.”

“That’s it?”

“That’s it. I don’t even know his name. It was just a one-night thing.”

Boss’s frown grew deeper, and he let her go and sat up. “Why would you… I don’t get it. You fucked a man, and you didn’t even know his name?”

“I didn’t need to know his name, because it didn’t mean anything.”

He got up and started gathering his clothes. “And what about me? Does it mean anything with me?”

Ace sat up and glared at him as he started dressing. “Firstly, you dumped me! I didn’t owe you anything! So, you don’t get to stomp around my room acting like a giant baby! And secondly, of course it means something with you. That’s what I’m telling you. I was devastated when you sent me that message. Getting drunk and fucking a stranger wasn’t the most mature response, but that’s what I did.”

Boss sat back on the bed. He’d managed to pull his trousers on, but that’s it. He looked over at her, feeling bad about his reaction. He hadn’t expected to feel so jealous at the idea of her with another man. And she was right. He’d pushed her away. “Why were you devastated?”

Ace shrugged, looking around the crumpled bedding for her brother’s shirt to pull on. “Because I really wanted things to work with you. I know I don’t know you very well, and we both have jobs that take priority. But I really like you, Boss. And I would never cheat on you. If I’m with someone, I’m with them one hundred percent. But I wasn’t with you then.”

Boss sat silently for a moment. Then he exhaled loudly. “You’re right. This is my screw-up. I know you don’t owe me your loyalty. Not when I fucked things up like that.”

Ace knelt up and put her arms around his neck. “You have my loyalty…if you want it. We can make this work. You just need to tell me if you’re in or out.”

“I’m in,” he said, pressing his forehead against hers. “And I’ll try not to mess things up again.”

She grinned at him and kissed the end of his nose before tugging on the waist of his trousers. “Good. Now take these off and come back to bed. You owe me now.”

“Are you trying to guilt me into more sex?”

“Would that work?”

“Absolutely not.”

“Then no, that’s not what I’m doing. How about a snack and a holo?”

“Yeah, okay. But I’ve only got an hour or so.”

“That’s long enough.” She slipped off the bed and walked to the door, stopping halfway there to pick something up off the floor. She bent from the waist, letting the shirt ride up over her bottom to expose herself to him. “Who left this shoe here.”

Boss rolled his eyes at her antics and tossed a pillow at her as she slipped out of the room. “Di’kut.”

“Ace, what are you doing here?”

“Medically fit for duty,” she said, waving a document under Obrim’s nose. “Read ‘em and weep, boss.”

Obrim snatched the document from her evading hand to quickly scan over the report. “Desk duty today then. You can go back on shift properly tomorrow.”

“Okay.”

“Okay?” Obrim eyed her suspiciously. “You’re never okay with desk duty. Are you still concussed?”

“No. Just really tired. Boss is in town, so…”

“I thought you two were no longer an item?”

“Well, now we are an item again. Boss and Ace – power couple.”

Obrim gave an exasperated sigh as he added more sweetener to his caf. “I’m sure he’s delighted with the title. Everything’s okay then?”

“I think so,” she said, her tone serious now. “He just had a wobble. His old sergeant said something to him and freaked him out a bit. You know what sergeants are like.”

“I do. Speaking of which…” He nodded towards the door, and she glanced back over her shoulder to see Skirata coming in with one of his boys—not Ordo, though. This time, it was Mereel.

The ARC trooper grinned at her and snapped off a sharp salute. “Lieutenant.”

She rolled her eyes at him. “Lieutenant.”

Skirata took a seat at the table. “You okay, Ace? I heard about what happened.”

“Cleared for duty,” she said, waving the document at him.

“Must have been Boss’s healing touch in the medbay,” Mereel said with a sly smirk.

Ace scowled at him for a moment, then pulled the baton off her belt and passed it across the table. “Here, why don’t you go outside and play with this like a good boy while the grown-ups are talking.”

Mereel took the baton and stood beside the booth, flicking it out to its full length with an approving nod. “I need to get myself one of these.”

Amused by his son’s interest in a new weapon, Skirata leaned over to speak to Obrim. “Any luck finding out how those protestors knew where HQ was?”

“We’re looking into it. I’ll get Ace on it today.”

Ace reached for her datapad. “I did a little homework while I was on leave.”

“Surprised you found the time,” Mereel observed, tossing her baton back.

Ace kicked him under the table before continuing. “The guy that decked me has no known political affiliations. None. What he does have is a link to a spice runner I’ve crossed paths with a few times. He’s a professional troublemaker. It may or may not be related.”

“Jae and Dayn tried to question him yesterday,” Obrim said. “He’s lawyered up and sealed up tight as a Mon Cala clam.”

“Well, I’ll have a try when I go in. Maybe he’d prefer to speak to a lady.”

“Ace, he decked you and gave you a concussion.”

She just shrugged as she gathered up her things to leave. “I’m also a lady who knows a thing or two about some of his associates. That might shake him up a bit.”

She was about to leave when Mereel spoke up. “Nasty bruise there, Ace. Is that from the other day?

Ace slapped a hand over the back of her neck, then tugged her uniform up to cover the dark bruise Boss had sucked into her throat. She looked Mereel dead in the eye. “I must have hit something hard when I landed.”

“Oh, undoubtedly,” he agreed with a smirk. “Hopefully, you got plenty of rest at home.”

“I did. Thank you for your concern.” She turned on her heel to leave, a smile crossing her face as she ran her fingers over the bruise. She didn’t get as much rest as she should have, but she wouldn’t change a thing.

Chapter Text

Boss walked into Delta’s quarters at Arca barracks. The other three were there, all looking up expectantly as he entered. “We got trade?” Sev asked.

“Not yet. But we need to talk.”

His squad looked at him, not saying what it was they all clearly wanted to say. There was a long, uncomfortable silence, then Scorch spoke up. “About your girlfriend?”

“She’s not my – look, just sit, will you?”

Scorch sat on his bunk, giving Boss an unreadable look.

Boss sat on his own bunk. “You all know I’ve been seeing Ace. And I want to keep doing that. I’m not asking your permission. But if you think it’s distracting me, tell me, and I’ll end it. The squad comes first.”

Scorch looked confused now. “But—”

“Ace will understand. She’s a cop. She knows the deal.”

His brothers were silent for a while as they contemplated his disclosure. “She seems okay,” Sev said finally. “At least she’s not a Jedi.”

The other two nodded their agreement on that. Darman’s relationship with Tur-Mukan was the worst-kept secret around. And a very bad idea. Fixer frowned in that way that meant he had something to contribute. “Just don’t get her knocked up.”

Boss felt the air leave his lungs. “What? What are you talking about?”

“Just be careful. You can’t have a baby.”

“Great advice, Fixer,” Scorch said sarcastically, shoving his brother’s shoulder. “Always the man with the wisdom.”

They’d all seen Skirata’s grandson when he’d brought him into the barracks recently. A small helpless being that none of them wanted anything to do with. The baby didn’t look much like Skirata, but none of them knew what his kids looked like. Anything was possible.

“I’m not going to have a baby,” Boss gritted out. “Why would you even say something like that?”

“Just a warning.”

“Well, I don’t need it. Get changed, and let’s hit the gym. This isn’t a holiday.”

Boss changed into his gym gear and followed his squad to the gym. He hadn’t given a second thought to pregnancy prevention. It hadn’t even occurred to him, and a mild panic was setting in now.

It was late when he parked the bike near The Boy’s Club. He’d called Ace to see if she was free, and she’d told him to meet her there. Inside, he let his eyes adjust to the lighting, squinting until he located her sitting at a table alone, sipping on a cocktail while she watched the action on the dance floor. She spotted him as he approached and jumped up to greet him with a delighted grin on her face. “I thought you were leaving today.”

“Delayed. First thing tomorrow. Can we talk away from the music?”

She nodded and let him lead her out to the corridor where the freshers were. The corridor they’d spoken in before. “Everything okay? You look worried about something?”

He looked around, making sure no one could overhear them. “We haven’t been…taking precautions.”

“Precautions? Like…security? Don’t worry; I always carry a blaster with me. Can’t be too careful in my line of work.”

He closed his eyes for a moment. He was struggling with this conversation. It was well out of his comfort zone. “Not security... Pregnancy.”

“Pregnancy? Boss, I don’t want to get pregnant! I don’t want a baby!”

“Neither do I,” he hissed.

She stared at him for a confused moment, then her bewildered expression morphed into a grin. “Don’t worry, hotshot, I’ve got it all under control. Implant.” She tapped her arm to illustrate her point.

Boss felt his body sag with relief. “Sorry. I…we should have talked about this before…”

“Hey, it’s okay,” she said, seeing how rattled he was. “I look after myself. You don’t have to worry.”

“Okay.” He exhaled loudly, leaning back against the wall. “Sorry. Still getting used to all this.”

“You don’t have to apologise.” She wrapped her arms around his neck, pressing her body against his. “I know you’re not like other guys.” She trailed her fingers up into his hair, pulling his head down to kiss him. “You’re way better.”

He knew he probably shouldn’t be kissing her in such a public place, but she was hard to resist when she was like this – soft and clingy and touching him everywhere. She’d been drinking something sweet, the alcoholic residue lingering on her tongue as she pressed him back against the wall. He grabbed her hips to try and keep some distance, but she was persistent, trailing a hand down his front, skimming along his belt. “Ace, this is a bad—”

She sucked hard on his lower lip, edging him sideways until the wall gave way behind him, and he was in the ladies’ fresher, Ace groping at his crotch as she pushed him towards a stall. “Ace, what are you—”

“What does it look like?”

“We can’t…you can’t be… You’re a cop!”

“No one’s coming in here,” she argued. “The only other woman here tonight is staff. It’ll be fine.” Her hands were already undoing the front of his trousers, and he felt his body betraying him as he gave up trying to fend her off.

He made sure the stall was locked, then grabbed her as she tried to sink to her knees in front of him. “Not in here.”

He kissed her again, shoving her back against the door as they fumbled with each other’s clothing in the cramped space. Somehow, she had his trousers yanked down below his hips, stroking his growing erection as he tried to navigate her tight, stretchy dress. He gave up after some struggles and just dragged it up to her waist, sliding his fingers beneath her flimsy lace underwear as she whined into his mouth. After some more jostling, he turned her around, those tattooed red lips appearing as he yanked her underwear down to her thighs. She bent forward and braced herself against the door, pushing her bottom out enticingly. Sighing at his own lack of self-control, he had to bend his knees to accommodate the height discrepancy, failing the first two times before finally sinking home. Ace let out a guttural sound, and he dropped his head down onto her shoulder, taking a moment. He realised how tightly he was holding onto her hips and forced himself to relax his grip. He drew back and thrust in again, pressing his lips to her throat to stop himself from moaning. There was something about this situation that made everything better. Maybe it was the ridiculous taboo risk of it all.

Mindful of their precarious position, he picked up the pace, holding onto her hips as he straightened back up to get some leverage. He smoothed a hand over her bottom, squeezing the soft flesh before moving around to the front of her dress, dragging it down to expose her breasts. Ace was panting out encouragement to him as he pinched and tugged at her nipples, pushing back frantically to meet his thrusts. Knowing what she liked now, he shoved his other hand between her thighs, keeping her pinned against him as he used his fingers on her. He was fast running out of self-restraint. It didn’t take her long to come undone, her hand gripping his between her legs and shoving it harder against her. Boss kept thrusting, holding her in place until he came with a low, breathless grunt, pulling her upright to kiss and bite gently at her throat as they caught their breath. She was almost boneless in his arms, letting him hold her up until she had her wits about her again. Boss smoothed a hand over her breasts, enjoying the way it made her shiver before he helped her hitch her dress back up. When they parted, he stood back as much as he could in the small stall to give her space to clean up and rearrange her clothing as he did the same. Once she was done, she grabbed the front of his jacket and leaned up to kiss him. “That was fun.”

“That was shabla idiotic. Are you sure you’re not still concussed?”

But she just grinned at him as she unlocked the stall and sauntered out to wash her hands. “I don’t need a concussion to act a little crazy.”

Boss gave his own hands a quick wash. “Are you sure that wasn’t illegal?”

“It’s a private venue,” she shrugged. “It’s wildly inappropriate, and they’d probably throw us out if they knew, but no, it’s not illegal. I don’t think it is…” She grabbed his hand and pulled him back out into the hall once she’d checked it was clear. “Do you have to get back?”

“I can stay a little longer.”

He followed her back into the nightclub, spotting her brother now sitting at the table she’d vacated. He spotted them as they approached and stood to shake Boss’s hand. “Good to see you, Boss. I was wondering where Ace had got to, but now I don’t think I want to know. Buy you a drink?”

“Ah, yeah…beer. Thanks.”

Boss sat back to watch the dance floor. It was educational, if nothing else. All the dancers were men – human, Twi’lek, Pantoran, Togruta, Zeltron, and even Zabrak. And there was a lot of bumping and grinding going on. He looked around the club. Ace was right. As far as he could see, all the patrons were men except her. He tapped her arm. “Why do you come here?”

“To be with my baby brother. And to dance without getting my tits and ass groped all night.”

Boss bristled. He didn’t want her getting groped by anyone. “No one gropes you here?”

She grinned at him and leaned closer to press her breasts against his arm. “I don’t have the right equipment.”

Matthias came back to the table with a round of drinks, rolling his eyes at the way Ace was draped over Boss. “Give the poor man some space, gremlin, or he’ll be desperate to get back to the frontline.”

“He doesn’t mind, do you, Boss?”

Boss shook his head. He didn’t mind. He’d gone from tolerating her touching him all the time to enjoying it. It was nice to be touched gently, with desire, with affection. And here, it felt like it didn’t matter who saw them. He slipped an arm around her waist and took a sip of his beer. “Ace told me you got promoted.”

Matti nodded. “Captain of my precinct now. It was a little daunting at first, but I’m finding my feet.”

“As if you could lose your feet,” Ace scoffed. “They’re enormous. Your shoes are like small boats.”

Boss couldn’t help but glance down. She was right. Matthias’s feet were proportionally large like the rest of him. It still didn’t make sense to him that they were twins. But then Matti reached across the table to pinch her, and she pinched him back even harder. Boss shook his head. There was no doubt in his mind they were siblings. He leaned closer to Matthias as he explained the way his precinct operated, and in the background, he heard Ace humming along to the music as her feet tapped to the beat under the table. Then a new song came on, and she started singing. Boss looked at Matthias, almost laughing at his pained expression. But when he looked at Ace, she was happily singing along, off in her own world. She had a hand resting on his thigh, and she was content. So was he. He tried to contain his wince when she reached for a particularly high note. He could learn to live with the awful singing when everything else was so right.

Ace slipped her hand into his as they left the club. He wrapped his fingers around hers as they waited for Matthias to say his farewells. This was all still strange and new, but it wasn’t that daunting now. As they walked to where he’d parked his bike, several men came out of a club further down the road. The Uscru District was lousy with clubs and venues, some good, some bad. The men spotted them at the same time and drunkenly veered off their course as they started yelling in a menacing way. Boss poised himself for a fight. He knew they were yelling slurs, and he knew why. He wasn’t that sheltered. He let go of Ace’s hand and pushed her behind him, although he was fairly certain she’d dart past him into the fray at the first sign of any trouble. He wondered if he should let her lead – she was a cop. This was her domain. But she was off-duty, and these men didn’t look like they were sober enough to listen to a warning.

As the men drew closer, he saw their expressions change slightly. They were faltering in their confidence. Boss wasn’t sure quite how intimidating he was out of armor. He could handle himself and was confident in his own ability. He’d been well trained in hand-to-hand combat, with or without armor and weapons. But it was Matthias they had their eyes on, and it looked like they’d just realised how big the man was. Matthias towered over Boss by several inches and was all bulging muscle in his tightfitting clubbing gear. He glanced over at Ace and saw she’d quickly sobered up, her eyes keenly focused on the men. She’d just told him she always carried a blaster, and he wondered if she had a tiny one tucked into her purse.

He watched the men. They’d lost confidence. It was written all over them. There were five of them, but they seemed to think better of a confrontation. But one of them was still posturing, shoving his chest forward. Boss took another step towards them, And Matti stepped up beside him, folding his arms across his chest in a way that made his biceps bulge. Bewilderingly, the man charged at them, all flailing fists and shouted slurs. Boss rolled his eyes at the display. He remembered Vau telling him the ones that shout and carry on are usually the ones with the least to back it up. He tensed his muscles and took another step forward, but Matthias beat him to it, blocking the man’s swing and decking him with a single blow to the jaw.

Giving her brother an irritated look, Ace squatted down and checked on the unconscious man. She pulled her badge from her purse and flashed it at the men. “Get your friend out of here before I arrest you all for assault and hate crimes. You should all be ashamed of yourselves! What would your mothers think?”

The men looked utterly bewildered as two of them grabbed their friend by the arms and hauled him away, looking back occasionally to make sure they weren’t being followed by the unusual trio. Once they were out of sight, Ace turned on her brother. “Couldn’t you hit him more gently?”

“That was gently!”

Boss watched on as the siblings bickered. There was something comfortingly familiar about it. It made him feel more ‘normal’. Siblings were the same; however, they were created.

“I’m not apologising,” Matti declared, giving her a shove. “Go say goodbye to your boyfriend, and I’ll get us a cab. Night, Boss. See you next time. And thanks for the backup.”

“Anytime.” Boss took Ace’s hand again as they walked to his bike. “Why are you mad at your brother?”

“Oh, I’m not really. It’s just that if they decide to make a report, I’ll have to do a whole lot of paperwork, and that’s my least favourite thing in the world to do.”

“Right.”

She grabbed his other hand as they stood by his bike. “Thanks for stepping up back there. It means a lot.”

Boss just shrugged. “They were di’kutla shabuirs.”

“Dumb fuckers?”

He chuckled at her translation. “Something like that. I’d better get out of here. Early start.”

“Okay. Will you call me?”

“When I can. I’ll let you know when we’re back.”

Ace grabbed the front of his shirt and leaned up to kiss him. “Take care out there. Blow up a droid factory for me.”

“That’s not in this op order.”

“Oh well. Next time.” She gave him a final kiss before letting him mount his bike. “Go get ‘em, hotshot.”

Boss was smiling to himself as he lifted the bike up into a skylane. Somehow, she brought it out in him. He never laughed or smiled much generally. He was fighting in a war; there wasn’t much to laugh about. But being with Ace gave him a reason to smile.

Chapter Text

Boss sat up straighter when the message icon on his HUD flashed. He was sitting on a crate on a landing platform as they loaded supplies onto the TIV. They’d been away from Coruscant for a couple of weeks and needed to restock. He blinked to open the new message, wondering if it was an update to their orders. But it was from Ace. She’d messaged him a couple of times since they’d deployed, benign messages just to check in and make sure he was okay. But this one had an image attached—Ace’s unmistakable freckled hand with her police-issue binders dangling from one finger. I’ve been looking at these and thinking of all the fun we could have with them. You could cuff me to the bed and— He blinked quickly to shut down the message. He could look at it later on his datapad. Privately. But, when he looked up, Scorch stuck his head out the hatch of the TIV, pulling his helmet off to reveal a mortified and slightly embarrassed expression. “You might want to adjust your privacy settings, Boss.”

Boss thought about the best way to keep his dignity intact, but he had nothing, so he just grunted something under his breath and grabbed the crate he’d been sitting on to load it onto the ship. He’d need to talk to her about the kind of messages she sent. He was already on thin ice with his squad. He got the crate stowed away, ignoring Scorch’s smirk as he climbed into the cockpit with Fixer. “We set?”

Fixer mumbled something under his breath as he studied his datapad, so Boss ignored him as he started the drives. “All strapped in back there?”

“Affirmative,” Sev called back.

“No need to come and cuff us to our seats,” Scorch added.

Boss tried to ignore the sniggers coming from the cabin as he lifted the ship off the platform. He could deal with them later.

Ace stood in the turbolift, watching the numbers on the floor indicator fly by. It was fast, but not fast enough for her liking. She looked around at the other passengers. Other businesspeople moving up and down through the floors of the towering office building. None of them gave her a second glance despite the uniform. She knew this building well. They’d done a few raids here. CSF presence wasn’t entirely unusual. Sighing, she leaned against the wall, perking up slightly when a song she knew came over the speaker. It was the terrible elevator version, but she still found herself singing along, not concerned about the looks the other passengers were giving her. An older Pantoran man turned to look at her over his shoulder, but she just grinned at him. “I love this one, don’t you?”

The man gave her an unimpressed look and pressed the button to get off at the next floor. Shrugging, she continued to sing along. His grumpiness wasn’t going to bring her down. Life was good. Boss had messaged her to say they’d be back in two days, so she had something to sing about. She had to stop, though, when a soft voice came through her earpiece. Dayn. “Ace, we’re in position. Jae’s on the roof, and I’m on the platform. He’s in there. A couple of admin staff, too.”

She tapped a short code into her comlink. Message received. When the door opened on her floor, she stepped out, waiting for the lift to leave before pulling her blaster. She crept along the corridor until she reached the door she was looking for – Canett Logistics. Unimpressed, she rolled her eyes at the sign. Yen Canett was a dodgy dealer from way back and adding ‘Logistics’ to his name was laughable. Logistically dealing with whatever scheme he was involved in now. They’d had a tip-off that it was weapons this time, though, and that was a step into the big leagues for him.

She pulled her cap off and released her hair, fluffing it out around her face before facing the security camera and pressing the buzzer, careful to keep her uniform out of frame. “Yes?” came a disembodied female voice.

“Oh, I have a delivery for Mr Canett,” she said in her best Outer Rim drawl. “Something special for his wife.”

There was a long silence, and Ace kept her beaming smile fixed on the camera until she heard the click and the door hissed open. She flipped her badge out and made sure her weapon was visible but not aimed at anyone. “CSF! We have a warrant to search the premises.”

Keeping the receptionist in view, she unlocked the door to the platform to let Dayn and his team in. “Go for it. Turn this place inside out.”

While Dayn’s team started the search, Ace pulled out her datapad to let the receptionist scan a copy of the warrant. “Where’s Canett?”

“Uh…he’s not…he went to lunch…”

“At 10am?” Chuckling, Ace went past the desk to the office beyond. “Unlock this door.”

“I don’t know the code.”

“Are you sure about that? Look, you seem like a nice lady, and if I was in your shoes, I’m not sure I’d want to go down for something illegal my boss was doing.”

The receptionist was a young woman, naïve maybe. But she got the message and quickly unlocked the office. Inside, Yen Canett was busy trying to shred documents as an assistant tried to push some small crates into a cabinet. Ace shook her head theatrically. “Really?”

Dayn followed her through, and she nodded to Canett and his assistant. “Cuff ‘em. You’re not under arrest yet, boys. Let’s see what we find in all these boxes.”

While Dayn restrained the two men, Ace dragged the small boxes out as she called her sergeant. “Jae? Come on down. We’ve got things secured in here. Leave a squad up there and put some people on the door.”

“Copy that.”

She examined the first box. It was rough-looking with an old-fashioned key lock. Large enough to hold a rifle. “Where’s the key?”

Canett just looked at her, lips clamped shut. Rolling her eyes, she dug through the top drawer of his desk, pulling out a ring of various keys. “Smooth, Canett. Very smooth.”

She tried several keys until she found the right one and lifted the lid. What happened next was a blur, but she could hear the shouting, the shots, and she could feel the searing pain as she fell to the floor. The last thing she remembered was Jae’s face hovering over her, out of focus and floating around. Then everything went black.

Boss was walking down the barracks corridor with his squad when his comlink beeped. Ace, probably, checking to see if he was back yet. He checked the incoming code; it was her. “We just got back, Ace. I need to clean up before I—”

“Boss, it’s Matthias.”

Boss stopped in his tracks. He didn’t know Matthias well, but he could recognise the tone in his voice. “What’s happened?” His squad stopped as well, alerted by the tone in his voice.

“Ace is in RCM,” Matthias said, getting straight to the point. “She’s in intensive care. She got bitten by a snake.”

“She what?”

“Yeah, that’s what I said. Look, they think she’ll be okay, but it’s still too early to say for sure. So, if you want to—”

“I’m on my way.” He exhaled loudly. The shower and meal he’d been looking forward to would have to wait. His squad was waiting expectantly. “I just need to—”

“We’ll cover for you,” Scorch said. Zey would be wanting a report, and that was normally Boss’s job. “I’m sure Zey would rather see my face than your ugly mug.”

“Yeah…probably. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

Thirty minutes later, he was approaching a room within the large intensive care unit, where he saw Matthias and Jaller Obrim waiting outside. Obrim spotted him first and came to greet him. “She’s stable for now.”

“Can I see her?”

“Through the window,” Matthias said, worry written all over his face. “She’s in isolation while her body leaches the toxins.”

Boss looked through the large window into the isolation room. Ace was on a bed, hooked up to a variety of machines that were monitoring her, an oxygen mask on her face. Her skin was red and flushed, and she looked hot and sweaty. Her eyes were closed, and he didn’t know if that meant she was asleep or unconscious. He looked over at Obrim. “What happened?”

“She and her team were executing a search warrant. We had a tip-off that they were dealing weapons, which they were. But they were also running a side hustle in exotic fauna. It’s not what any of us were expecting.”

As they watched, a med droid entered the room to change the fluid bag attached to a drip. That was one benefit of a droid: they couldn’t be infected. The droid then drew blood from a cannula in her arm and took the syringe for testing. “How often are they doing that?”

“Hourly. They’re tracking the levels as they drop. The venom went straight into her bloodstream, so she got a big dose.”

“When will they know if—”

“Soon,” Obrim said. “Once the toxin level in her blood drops below a certain point, they consider her out of the woods. More or less.”

“More or less?”

“Then there’s all the residual stuff,” Matthias said. “Neuro-function, organ function…”

“Shab.”

Obrim patted him on the shoulder. He didn’t know Boss beyond a brief introduction at the Social Club. But he knew the risk he was taking to be with Ace, particularly knowing what Kal had told him about Walon Vau. That counted for a lot in his book. “We’ll be here with her, son, if you need to get back.”

Boss checked the chrono on his forearm plate. “I can stay a bit longer.”

He took a seat with the other two men. The window was floor to ceiling, so he had a clear view of her. There were warning signs to alert staff to the hazardous patient within. This was new. He’d dealt with injury before, he’d seen a lot of things he’d rather not see. But no member of his own squad had ever been seriously injured – nothing that a night in bacta couldn’t fix. Nothing that was life-threatening. Nothing like this. He could feel his frustration creeping up. He’d have to get back to base soon; they could be deploying again at any minute, and there was nothing he could do to prevent it. He belonged to the army – he went where they wanted him to go, no matter who or what was waiting for him here.

It was late when Boss slipped back into Delta’s quarters, surprised to find his squad all awake, keeping themselves busy with weapons maintenance and other tasks. All three looked up when he entered the room, but it was Scorch who asked. “How is she?”

“Still unconscious.” Boss sank onto his bunk, almost relieved to be able to unburden himself. “They’re monitoring the toxin level in her bloodstream, and she’s in isolation because whatever is leaching out of her is still toxic to others.”

“Nasty. How’d she manage to get bitten by a snake in Galactic City?”

“Conducting a search. The shabuirs were smuggling animals as well as weapons.” He got up to start removing his armor, muscle memory forcing him to order the plates neatly in his locker, despite his distractedness. “It’s a neurotoxin, so they need to test all of that once she comes round.”

Behind his back, the other three members of Delta exchanged a look. “We’ve got new orders,” Fixer said. “Shipping out in two days.”

Boss tried not to let his shoulders slump noticeably before grabbing his hygiene kit to go and shower. “Well, there’s nothing I can do about that. It’s out of my hands.”

It was the following evening before Boss made it back to RCM, making his way quickly to the Intensive Care unit. He went to the room Ace was in, stopping in his tracks when he saw the room was empty – nothing there but a pair of cleaning droids giving it a thorough clean and decontamination. Trying to keep his panic under control, he found the nearby nurse’s station. “Where’s Aysa Denn? She was in isolation down there.”

A harried nurse seemed too busy to even look up from the terminal screen. “I’m afraid she’s no longer with us.”

“What?” Boss felt his heart stop for a moment. She was gone. But no one had told him. Surely Matthias would have—

“She’s on the third floor,” the nurse clarified, looking up to see the stunned expression on his face. “She was moved to a ward this morning.”

“Right.”

Shaking his head at the nurse’s delivery, he made his way up to the third floor, almost running into Matthias as he stepped out of the lift. “Ah, Boss, just the man I was looking for. I was about to call you and tell you they’d moved her. She didn’t want me to bother you during the day. I have a night shift, so can you—”

“I can stay a while.”

“Good.” Matti clapped him on the back as he slipped past him into the lift. “She’s a tough nut, my sister. Pretty much back to her annoying self. Room twelve.”

The lift doors closed, and Boss walked down the corridor to room twelve. He knocked on the doorframe before going in to find Ace sitting up in bed, a bright grin lighting up her face when she saw him. “Boss!”

“Hey, hotshot. I saw your brother out there. He said you were a lot better.”

She looked remarkably better. Her colour was almost back to normal, she’d clearly showered and washed her hair, and she was dressed in a pair of pink pyjamas he’d seen before. She looked a little tired and frail but otherwise okay. When he reached the bed, she grabbed his hand and pulled him down to sit on the bed beside her, frowning as she tried to manage the drip and monitor cables she was still connected to. Pushing her hand down, Boss carefully arranged the various leads and tubes and sat beside her on the narrow bed. “No one ever told you not to stick your hand into a box?”

“I didn’t!” she protested. “It jumped out and bit me!”

“The snake jumped out?”

“You know what I mean. Our tip-off did not mention venomous fauna, otherwise I would have been a little more careful. Stupid OCU and their stupid intel.”

“You should be more careful anyway. You don’t wear armor.”

“Sometimes I do.”

“Not this time.”

“No.” She raised her left hand, still swollen under the white dressing covering the bite. “I’ve been injured on the job before, but nothing that hurt like this.”

Boss examined her hand turning it gently to see her fingers were red and puffy, the skin tight and hot. “What did the doctor say?”

“I can go home tomorrow after a final blood test. Then back to work in a day or so if the neurological tests all come back normal.” She saw the way he was frowning at her hand. “That should be back to normal soon.”

“Okay. Good.”

Ace looked up at him with an apologetic smile. “I’m sorry for ruining your leave.”

“You’re not. I’m just glad you’re okay.” He leaned down to kiss her forehead, surprising himself with this newfound softness. He barely knew Ace, but he knew he cared about her, and he didn’t want anything bad to happen to her. He put his arm around her shoulders so she could lean into his side with a contented sigh. “Your boss was worried about you.”

“I know. He was in here earlier telling me off for going in with less than perfect intel, and telling himself off for approving me going in there with less than perfect intel.”

“Perfect intel is a myth. I’ve never seen it.”

“Ain’t that the truth…” She reached for his hand with her good one. “I’m glad you came to see me. I was scared I might die and not get to see you again.”

Boss frowned down at her. “You’re not going to die.”

“I almost did. Matti said my heart stopped a couple of times before the anti-venom started to work. This is the closest I’ve come.”

“That’s part of the job,” he said, trying to cover the real and genuine worry he felt about Ace dying. “You and I both do jobs that are high-risk.”

“Yeah. I’m not ready to go yet, though. You and I are just getting started, and I want to make the most of that.”

Boss gave a frustrated sigh. “That might have to wait. We’re deploying tomorrow.”

“Oh.” Ace tried to cover her disappointment. She knew Boss had no say in where or when he was deployed, and she didn’t want him to feel guilty. “Do you know how long?”

“No.”

She struggled to sit up higher in the bed so she could kiss him. “I can be patient, hotshot. You’re worth waiting for.”

Chapter Text

Boss looked up when he caught something out of the corner of his eye. Black armor. Omega. He’d heard they were in the sector. He watched as they piled trays high with food and made their way over, then shuffled along the bench to make space at the table for them. “Heading back to Corrie?”

“For now,” Niner said around a mouthful of food. “That could change.”

It could. Boss knew that. It wasn’t unusual for commando squads to end up on the same destroyer between missions or in transit somewhere. He watched Omega eat. They were hungry. No time to exchange pleasantries. That suited him. He downed his caf and was about to stand when Corr spoke up. “What about you? Heading back?”

“For now.”

“We could have stayed out,” Corr said with a sly grin, “but At’ika’s missing his girl. Isn’t that right, ner vod?”

Boss raised an eyebrow. Corr was embracing his new Mando identity with relish. He stole a glance at Atin, expecting him to look angry or annoyed, but he didn’t seem to be overly bothered by his brother’s ribbing. He knew they all saw Corr as a brother now. He was one of them, and he’d risen to the challenge. He wondered how he’d feel if one of his squad members had to be replaced. It was difficult to even imagine. He’d been with his brothers since day one, raised, trained and deployed as a unit. It’s all he knew. Having someone new come into that would be intolerable. But Niner had done it. He kept the squad together no matter what, and he deserved some credit for that. He felt a twinge of guilt for the way he’d treated Niner on Triple Zero. Deep down, he knew it wasn’t Niner’s fault he’d lost men. This was a war. Deaths were inevitable, and Delta was one of the few squads that was still intact. But Niner somehow managed to keep a functional, effective squad together.

“How’s Lieutenant Denn?”

That was Darman asking. Boss looked at him across the table, ready to pull him into line, but there was no malice or teasing tone. He was just asking. Of course they’d all know. Word got around. He took a moment to think about his response. There was no point denying it. “She’s fine. Got bitten by a snake, but she’s back at work now.”

“She got bitten by a snake? On Coruscant?”

Boss nodded. “Hazard of the job. She’s okay now.” He hoped she was. She’d sent him messages to tell him all the medical test results were fine, and she’d been cleared for work. And another message to tell him all the things she wanted to do to him in bed once he got back. He’d never gotten around to having that conversation with her. Instead, he’d changed his settings to make sure any messages from her were set to private. But he could deal with that later. It seemed less important now after almost losing her. He looked around at the members of Omega. He’d always seen them as ‘soft’, too preoccupied with life outside the squad. But now he was like Darman and Atin, trying to manage a romantic relationship. Trying to have a little more. He grabbed his helmet and stood. He needed to round up his squad and check for any new op orders. “See you boys later.”

“Ace, where are you?”

Ace was out of breath when she finally answered. “Boss! You’re back early!”

“Yeah. You said you’d be home.”

“I am. Come down to the basement.”

Shrugging, Boss got back into the lift and went down to the basement, surprised to find the lift opened up onto a small gymnasium for the use of residents. Inside, he found Ace and her brother working out. He watched for a moment. Ace was wearing low-slung, baggy training pants and a cropped bra top; her hair pulled into a loose ponytail that bounced as she moved. She was flushed and sweaty as she punched the protective pads Matthias was wearing on his hands. He saw Ace was punching hard, but her brother wasn’t even flinching. She grinned when she saw Boss watching and stopped what she was doing to dance around him, jabbing at him with a fist occasionally. After indulging her for a minute, he put up a hand to stop her, letting his palm absorb the punch from the lightweight boxing gloves she was wearing. Still grinning, she wrapped her gloved hands around his neck and stretched up to kiss him. “Sorry. I thought I’d have time to go up and shower before you got here.”

“It’s fine. Is this where you usually work out?”

“Usually. Matti likes to crack the whip.”

Matthias rolled his eyes as he pulled off the pads and went to the weights in the corner. “Like you listen to me.”

Boss watched as Matthias loaded up a barbell, surprised at how many weight discs he was sliding on. But, when he bent to lift it, it didn’t seem to be much of a challenge. He sidled closer and read the numbers. He could probably lift that. Just. Maybe. But Matthias wasn’t even straining. Shaking his head, he let Ace drag him over to a series of graduated parallel bars, where she gave him her sweetest smile. “Lift me up?”

Boss grabbed her around the waist and hoisted her up so she could grab the lowest bar and start doing pull-ups. “This is it. Then I’ll be done for the day if Matti lets me go.”

“Far be it from me to stand between you and your nocturnal activities.” Matthias wasn’t even out of breath as he continued with his set of weights. Boss stayed close to Ace, ready to catch her in case she slipped. He didn’t need to; the floor was padded, and she wasn’t very high up. But he still didn’t want her to fall. She seemed more fragile to him now. “Don’t just do pull-ups,” Matti added. “See how long you can hold yourself.”

Rolling her eyes, Ace pulled herself up, her biceps straining as she held herself in place, her chin level with the bar. She glanced down at Boss. “See what I mean?”

Boss pulled his jacket off. He wasn’t dressed for working out. In fact, this single civilian outfit of his was starting to annoy him. He reached up for the bar above Ace’s and pulled himself up, taking the same position she was in. “It’s not that hard. See how long you can hold it.”

Ace gritted her teeth and held on, determined not to let Boss win. But she found herself distracted by the bulging muscles stretching out his shirt sleeves, the ease with which he held himself there. Growing weary, she managed to switch to an underarm grip. She was running out of stamina, and her muscles were burning. Looking over at Boss, she lowered her voice to a whisper. “Did you get my last message?”

Boss glanced over to make sure Matthias couldn’t hear and lowered his own voice. “Now is not the time to be talking about that.”

“You mean talking about the way you could cuff me to my bed and—”

“Ace…”

Ace grinned at him. She could see she’d broken his composure. His focus was gone. “If you’d rather, I can cuff you to the bed and—”

“Stop talking.”

Seeing that Matti was focused on his weights, she stretched a leg out, trailing her bare toes over Boss’s crotch. “So, you don’t want me to—”

“Right, that’s it!” Boss released his grip and dropped onto the mat, grabbing Ace to yank her down. “What the hell’s wrong with you?”

“Nothing. I just missed you.” She grabbed his jacket and dragged him to the lift. “See you upstairs, Matti.”

Once the lift doors had closed, she was all over him, groping and pressing against him as she kissed him. “I really did miss you, Boss…”

Annoyed at his own inability to resist her, Boss kissed her back. It had been a while. But he shoved her away quickly when the lift stopped, and the door opened. An older woman stepped into the lift, smiling fondly at Ace. “Hello, Aysa, dear. I haven’t seen you for a while.”

“Oh, you know me, always busy.”

“You work too hard.” The woman eyed Boss thoughtfully. “And is this your young man?”

“If I can pin him down long enough. Pretty hot stuff, huh?”

Boss gave Ace an incredulous look, but she was busy giggling with the older woman, who was now eyeing him up and down lasciviously. “If I were a few years younger…”

Mercifully, the woman got out several floors later, winking at Boss as the doors closed. “I think she likes you,” Ace said, pinching his bottom. “If she was a few years younger…”

“If she was a few years younger, she’d still be ancient.”

“Maybe you’d like being with an experienced older woman.”

Boss shoved her into her apartment, relieved when the door closed behind them. “You’re already older than me.”

“Not by much. And you’re catching up. Your skills in the bedroom exceed those of men twice your age.”

Boss hustled her to her room and pushed her down on the bed before yanking his shirt off. “Have you fucked men twice my age?”

She propped herself up on her elbows to watch him undress. “I don’t like to kiss and tell.”

“Good. Because I don’t want to hear it.”

He grabbed the waistband of her training pants and dragged them down her legs before tossing them aside. Ace started to sit up, but he pushed her back down to pull her underwear off. “Boss, I should have a shower.”

He shook his head as he climbed over her, pressing her into the mattress. “I’ve already waited too long. I’m not waiting for that.”

Boss lay awake in Ace’s bed. It was late. Later than he’d ever stayed. But he didn’t want to leave yet. And he didn’t want to wake her. She was fast asleep, draped all over him, her hair tickling his nose. He didn’t mind. Leaving last time had been hard. She’d still been hospital recovering. But she was fine now, and he wanted to make the most of the time he had with her. He brushed her hair off his face and stretched his hand out to grab his comlink from the side table. Typing one-handed, he sent his squad a message to tell them he’d be back before dawn. Then, he lay back and closed his eyes, tightening his hold on Ace, smiling to himself when she burrowed into his neck.

When he opened his eyes again, it took a moment to get his bearings. He was in Ace’s bed, but she wasn’t. He checked the time. Just after 2am. As good a time as any to get dressed and head back to barracks. As he dug through the pile of clothing on the floor for his things, he heard Ace in the kitchen, heard the tap running. He pulled his trousers on and reached for his shirt when he heard a different noise from the kitchen. A thump, scuffling, then a cut-off yelp. He bolted out to the kitchen, hesitating only briefly when he saw Ace pinned down on the kitchen counter, a shadowy figure standing over her with both hands around her throat. She was struggling valiantly, kicking and thrashing, scratching at the man. But the split-second assessment Boss made told him she was flagging, running out of oxygen.

He was on the man in an instant, hauling him off Ace and punching him hard. Then he punched him again, not giving him a chance to regroup. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Ace struggle upright, coughing and wheezing as she tried to get her breath back. As the man dropped to the floor, Boss was on him, slamming his fists into the attacker’s face until blood started to spatter. He didn’t care. This man had attacked Ace in her own home. He was going to pay. He didn’t hear the voices or the yelling; he was so enraged. But then strong hands were pulling him away, holding him back. Matthias.

He took a few deep breaths to calm down, satisfied to see the man unconscious on the floor, his face a pulpy mess. He shook off Matti’s hands, holding his own up to show he was done. He went to Ace and tipped her chin up to examine the red marks on her throat. “Are you okay?”

She nodded, wincing when she saw the blood on his hands. “I’m okay…” She went to where her brother was squatting over the prone body. “Is he alive?”

“Just. You’d better call in the cavalry.”

Her hands trembling, Ace grabbed her comlink and went through to the living room, pulling Boss through with her. “Boss? We’ve got a problem. I need you to come over.”

While they waited, she sat on the couch, pulling Boss down beside her. She was dressed in the oversized CRO shirt she often wore to bed, a few blood spatters visible on it. Still shaking, she pulled Boss’s hands into her lap to examine them. His knuckles were grazed and swollen, covered with the other man’s blood. “You hurt yourself.”

“I’m fine. Who was that man?”

“I don’t know. I have a few sworn enemies, but none of them have ever gone this far before.”

“Then you’re not safe here.”

“I don’t know yet… Boss…” She trailed off, not knowing what to say next. This was the point where their two different worlds met.

But Boss was watching her. He knew. “You think I went too far.”

“Boss, if he dies… I’m the police. I’m accountable.”

“He tried to kill you. He came into your home.”

“I know. But we do things differently to you.”

Boss was getting angry now. She wasn’t making sense. “You could be dead if I hadn’t been here! Is that how this works when you’re the police? You just have to sit back and let someone kill you?”

“No. It’s just—"

Boss pulled his hands from hers and was about to get up, but she grabbed him and wrapped her arms around his neck. “Thank you for protecting me. I’m glad you’re here.”

He hesitated before pulling her into his arms, holding onto her tightly. “Sorry. We don’t usually take prisoners.”

“I know. I’ve seen the results before. I just wasn’t expecting it in my own home. You did what you were trained to do.”

Frowning, she pulled him back into the kitchen and turned on the cold tap, forcing him to put his hands under the running water. As the water turned from red to brown to clear, he felt relief as the coolness hit his inflamed knuckles. He was drying them on paper towel when the door buzzed, and Matthias went to answer it. Boss heard the muffled voices, and then Captain Jaller Obrim was in the kitchen, dressed in civvies as he surveyed the scene. “Well, I think I can hazard a guess as to what happened here. Any idea who he is or who sent him?”

“Not yet,” Ace said. “I’m not sure he’ll be saying much for a while.”

Obrim winced as he examined the mush of the man’s face. “No, I think you’re right. Matti, have you called it in yet?”

“Not yet.”

“Good.” The older man turned to Boss. “You weren’t here. Got it? Get your squad to back you. I assume they will?”

Boss nodded, not sure where this was heading. “They’ll back me. But how are you going to—”

“You leave that to me. I have enough contacts in this town to make this go away. In fact, that could work in our favour to find out who he is. If whoever paid him doesn’t get the results they want, they’ll show their hand. But in the meantime, Ace, you’ll need to come and stay with me. You too, Matti.”

Ace looked down at the body. “What are we going to do with him?”

“I’ll get our paramedics to take him in as a vehicle accident. We’ll keep him locked down until he’s ready or able to talk.” He studied his lieutenant closely, frowning at the red marks around her throat. “Are you alright? Do you need checking over?”

“I’m fine. Boss was there right when I needed him.”

“Well, right now, Boss needs to get out of here so we can get this ball rolling.”

Boss took the hint and went to Ace’s room to finish dressing. He felt a little guilty for causing so much trouble. But as he sat to pull on his boots, he reminded himself that he didn’t ask for any of this; he just reacted the way he was trained to. And Ace was alive and okay. Obrim appeared in the doorway as he was pulling on his shirt. “I owe you.”

Boss gave him a confused look. “For what?”

“For protecting Ace. I’ve been trying to get her to move somewhere more secure for a while. Hopefully, this will be the push she needs.”

“You think they’ll keep coming after her?”

“Probably. We don’t make many friends out there.”

“Neither do we.” He shook the hand that Obrim held out to him. “Sorry for making it worse than it needed to be.”

“Don’t worry about it. Ace’s life is worth a lot more to me than some hired assassin. Sometimes, I wish we could take such decisive action.”

Boss shrugged and pulled on his jacket. “Rules are rules. I’d better get out of here.”

He went out to the living room, where Ace was waiting by the platform door. She followed him out, still dressed only in her brother’s old shirt. “I’m sorry about all this, Boss.”

“Don’t be. It’s not your fault.”

“Well…it kind of is. Working in this job…”

Boss grabbed her shoulders and made her look at him. He wanted to tell her that he would kill anyone who tried to hurt her, that he would do anything to protect her. But those words didn’t come easily. “I wouldn’t do things differently…if it happened again.”

“I know.” She wrapped her arms around him, pressing her cheek against his chest. “I’m sorry I seemed ungrateful. I just saw a big bloody mess on the kitchen floor that needed to be explained. But I’m glad you were there for me.” She checked his hands again. “Make sure you put some bacta or ice on those knuckles.”

“I’ll be fine.” He leaned down to kiss her, struck by how fragile their lives really were. “I’ll call you later.”

He mounted his bike and took off into the early morning traffic, his heart beating a little faster as the impact of what he’d done sunk in. He’d almost killed a civilian. A criminal, but a civilian, nevertheless. He might still die. It wasn’t part of an op order. It wasn’t in the line of duty. But he’d still done it. He needed to find a way to manage existing between two worlds. But he thought about how he’d felt when he saw Ace struggling beneath the man. He’d do it again in a heartbeat.

Chapter Text

Ace sat on the floor, surrounded by boxes. She and Matti had been in the same apartment since they’d come to Coruscant, and now she knew why. She hated moving. Packing and unpacking. Getting to know things all over again. But it wasn’t all bad. This place was bigger. Nicer too. And most importantly, it was secure. Two floors down in the same building at the Obrims. She’d resisted at first, but her captain was insistent. And he was right. She was too big a target to go on living like ‘regular people’.

Sick and tired of unpacking, she went out onto the balcony. The view was nothing to write home about. Not that she ever really wrote home. Every time she did, it ended with her parents expressing their disappointment with Matti, and then she didn’t contact them for months. It was a cycle that needed to break eventually. Frustrated, she dug a crumpled pack from her pocket and lit up an old cigarette. She’d been trying hard to quit completely, but every time she was almost there, something happened in her life to drive her back. In this case, being attacked in her own home and being forced to move. She took a long drag, sighing as she exhaled. It was nice just to take a moment.

She took another long drag, startled when the door buzzer went. She still wasn’t used to the new sound. She quickly stubbed out the cigarette and ran to the video intercom, smiling when she saw Boss’s face. She pressed the button to let him in. “Come on up, hotshot.”

“What about this security scanner?”

“Oh…hold on, I’ll come down.”

She ran out to the lift and went down to the ground floor where Boss was waiting to get through to the actual building. She entered a code to override the system and let him through, then grabbed his hand to pull him to the lift. “You’re early. I’m still unpacking.”

“I can help. How’s the new place?”

“Bigger. Nicer. All in all, it hasn’t been a bad thing.”

“Not a bad thing that a hired assassin broke in and tried to kill you?”

“Well, you know…silver linings and all that. Are you okay? I thought you’d be later.”

“Yeah. We picked up a ride back, so we didn’t have to wait. We spend a lot of time in transit.”

Inside the new apartment, Boss looked around. It was bigger. As for nicer, well, he didn’t have much to go on there. It was definitely nicer than barracks. He turned to ask Ace what needed doing, but she was already on him, arms wrapped tightly around his neck as she kissed him. Frowning, he pushed her away, then patted down her pockets until he retrieved the cigarette pack. Ace looked guiltily at him. “That’s an old pack. I don’t know how they got there.”

Boss gave her a disbelieving look. “You expect me to believe that?”

She gave a dejected sigh. “How did you know?”

“I can taste it on you.”

“Really?” She pulled a disgusted face. “Sorry. I didn’t realise.”

“I thought you were giving up.”

“I’m trying… It’s just…when I get stressed, I—”

Boss grabbed her and pulled her close, squeezing her bottom before bending to kiss her. “Maybe you need a different kind of stress relief.”

She grinned at him and pulled her towards her bedroom. “Maybe I do.”

In the bedroom, Boss looked around to see it was a jumble of half-unpacked boxes, clothing draped over every surface. He didn’t envy civilians having so much stuff in their lives. He pulled off his jacket as Ace grabbed bits and pieces and shoved things aside to make room on the bed. He grabbed her as she passed. “Hey, is everything okay after—”

“Everything is fine,” she assured him with a bright smile. “He survived, and we’ve got him locked up while we question him.”

“And?”

“And what?”

“What did he say? Did he say who sent him?”

Ace turned her back as she shoved a bundle of clothing into the closet. “Not yet. We’re working on him.”

“And this place is definitely safe?”

“Boss, you have to stop worrying. I’m fine. Everything is under control.”

“But..” He trailed off when Ace turned back, humming something in her badly off-key voice as she started to undress. He watched, bewildered, as she danced around him, peeling items of clothing off one by one and tossing them across the room. Security forgotten, he sat back to watch her ridiculous display, an unwilling smile crossing his face. She knew how to change a mood. Somehow, she always knew how to make him smile.

He grabbed her as she shook her naked breasts in his face. “You’re an idiot.”

She wrapped her arms around his neck and pushed him back on the bed. “You’re not the first person who’s told me that.”

“And I won’t be the last.”

She shoved her hand down the front of his trousers. “Shut up and fuck me, Boss. We don’t have long before dinner.”

“Dinner? What are you—”

Ace kissed him until they were both breathless. “I said shut up.”

Boss stood awkwardly between Ace and Matthias as they waited for the door to open. Finally, Jaller Obrim appeared to let them in. “Welcome. Come in.”

He let Ace drag him into the apartment, where he shook hands with the CSF captain. “Good to see you again, sir.”

“Jaller is fine. You’re our guest here tonight.” He led Boss to a woman just coming from another room. “This is my wife, Telti. And the two oblivious heads in front of the gaming console through there are our sons. I’ll introduce you later if they make an appearance.”

Boss shook Telti’s hand. “Nice to meet you, ma’am.”

“It’s lovely to meet you too. Ace has told me all about you. Now, come through and get a drink and something to eat. I imagine army food leaves a lot to be desired.”

Boss looked back over his shoulder at Ace as the older woman pulled him through to the dining room. Ace had to smother a laugh at his expression as Telti dragged him away. “I’m not sure if Boss is ready for mothering.”

Obrim chuckled as he closed the door to the living room to give his sons some privacy. “I’m sure he’ll survive. Have you told him about your assailant?”

“I told him he lived.”

“And the rest?”

“Well…I don’t want him to worry.”

“Ace, you can’t keep that from him,” Matti said. “Not if you want this to be a proper relationship.”

“It is a proper relationship,” she argued. “But Boss has enough on his plate without worrying about me. I just want things to be…relaxed when he gets a chance to visit.”

“I’m not sure almost beating a man to death on our kitchen floor was particularly relaxing.”

“And if you’d gotten there first, you probably would have done the same.”

“Probably,” Matti conceded. “But I still think you should tell him.”

Ace just shrugged and followed Boss and Telti into the dining room. She probably should tell him. But having to disclose that one of Black Sun’s leading players on Coruscant had taken out a hit on her wasn’t really a discussion she wanted to have. Not yet, anyway. Now, she just wanted to enjoy the limited moments she had with Boss.

Later that night, after dinner, Boss was back down in Ace’s apartment, watching some mindless holovid on the large screen in the living room. Matthias had gone to work a night shift, and it was just the two of them. Ace was tucked into his side, her eyes drifting shut. He knew how that felt. But he also knew that clones bounced back faster from crushing exhaustion. The fact that she hadn’t even dragged him back to her bedroom told him just how tired she was. “Hey.” He pushed her into an upright position. “You need to go to bed. Get some sleep.”

“But I want you to stay,” she whined, wrapping her arms around his neck and pressing against him. “I’m awake now.”

Boss gave her a dubious look, and she grinned at him and leaned in to kiss him. She sighed happily, and then her sigh turned into a wide yawn against his lips, which she tried desperately to stifle until he pushed her away. “You’re being ridiculous.”

“Sorry.” She started to get up when there was a sharp rap on the door. Boss was instantly on his feet, trying to stay between her and the door as she got her blaster. Checking the camera, she gently pushed Boss aside and opened the door. “Boss, what’s up?”

“We’ve got a situation,” Obrim said, still trying to fasten his uniform tunic. “Bombing in a club in the Uscru District. CRO is on sight, but things are getting out of hand.”

“Gimme five.”

Ace darted back to her room to dress while Boss found his jacket. Obrim offered him an apologetic smile. “Sorry about this, son. Duty calls.”

“Yeah, I get it. I was trying to get her to go to sleep.”

“I’ll make sure I give her a day off to recover after this.”

Ace came back in, mostly dressed, carrying her tunic, belt and holster. She stopped to kiss Boss on the cheek. “Sorry, hotshot. Stay as long as you want. I’ll call you.”

Boss watched them leave, then pulled his jacket on and let himself out to collect his bike from the underground parking bay. He needed sleep, too. They’d be deploying again soon.

Ace was jumping out of Obrim’s speeder before he’d even landed, eyes scanning the crowd for her brother. Spotting his head above the others, she jogged over. “What have we got?”

“Chaos,” Matti said, pulling his helmet off. “I’ve got recovery teams inside. Fifteen dead so far. And crowds from the other clubs turning rescue ops into a spectator sport.”

“Well, we can deal with that,” she said, taking the tac gear Obrim handed her. “We’ve got squads incoming. We can focus on crowd control and securing the area. Boss?”

“I’ll get Crime Scene down here. As soon as you give us the all-clear, Matti, we’ll get in there.”

Ace left Obrim to talk to her brother as she assessed the scene. Nightclubs were clustered together around here, and it looked like the patrons had poured out of every one of them at the sound of the explosion. She slid her helmet on and tapped the comm on the side. “All units, I want a cordon around this area. We need to keep rubber-neckers away from the scene, but we also need to be looking at the onlookers. One of them could be our bomber sticking around to admire his work.”

She looked up as a CSF vehicle descended nearby and jogged over to help unload the bollards. Jae climbed out and put his helmet on. “If we can secure folks here and block the access to the north and east, we can filter them out one by one and scan IDs.”

Ace nodded as she called in the order. “Dayn, I want you down here with a team to scan IDs. Gear up; we don’t know what we’re expecting.”

“Copy that, Ace.”

She squinted up as she saw Dayn’s vehicle coming in to land near Jae’s. “Set up over there,” she said, waving in the direction of a narrow road. “Everyone gets scanned. No exceptions. I don’t care about underage kids out for a good time. We’re looking for a bomber here.”

Dayn nodded and waved his team into place. “Don’t worry, Ace. I’ve got it.”

“I’m not worried, Dayn. I know you’ve got it. I’ll get squads covering other potential exits so they all get pushed through to you. I’ll be inside with Crime Scene once they’re on site.” She left the squads to set up and ducked under the cordon CRO had set up, squinting as she stepped carefully into the still-smouldering nightclub. The acrid smoke made her eyes water as she spotted firefighters still putting out spotfires. Another team was working on restoring power, and paramedics were dotted through the space working on the living. But from where she stood, it looked like there were more dead than living. It was just after midnight. The club must have been busy. She found Matti again, squatting in a corner behind the bar, examining some twisted bits of durasteel. “Have you called the coroner?”

“Yeah. They’re sending the trucks to remove the bodies. You might want to do your site plan before they get here.”

“Yep. What’s that?”

“This is our explosive, I think. What’s left of it.”

Ace squatted to examine what was left. Just some shards of metal to the untrained eye. But she spotted the remnants of the timer. “We need to find out who has access to behind the bar. It doesn’t really narrow it down, though.”

“No. You’ve got a job ahead of you.”

“Yeah…” She coughed as she stood. “Can I go upstairs? I need to see what we’ve got on camera.”

“Affirmative. Good luck.”

Ace stepped carefully through the rubble, saddened by the devastation. Young people just out for a fun night, their families expecting them to come home. She’d need to get a team to do notifications as well once they’d managed to ID the bodies. She found Obrim by the entrance, speaking with the Crime Scene team. “Boss, I’m going upstairs to check the cameras.”

“I’ll come with you.”

Upstairs, they found the office, using torches to locate the security monitors. Ace looked for the power switch. “Let’s hope they’ve got backup batteries.”

But, as she sat down, the lights came back on, and the system powered up. She and Obrim sat side by side, scrolling through footage of the entrance and the bar itself. Obrim pointed to the bar staff. “We’ll need to run checks on all of them.”

“If they’re still alive.”

“Yeah.” Obrim shook his head in despair. “My boys are almost old enough to be coming to places like this.”

“We should fast-track identifying the casualties.”

Obrim stood to go back down. “I’ll get that organised. We need to look at droid staff as well. Who has access to them and when.”

Ace stayed watching the screen. They had hours of footage to study, potentially days’ worth if they couldn’t establish how long the device had been there. She dug a datastick from her belt and inserted it into the terminal to strip the recordings. She could get a team looking at that back at base, using their high-resolution screens. She scanned the office again with a frown., trying to consider all the options. A potential insurance job? But you’d have to be insane to do that during happy hour. A business rival? A political statement? All paths needed to be investigated.

She went back downstairs, pausing at the bottom to pull out her personal comlink, relieved when the call was answered instantly. “Ace, what’s the sitrep?”

“It’s not good. We’ve got a lot of casualties. A lot of injured. And no motive or suspect.”

“Shab.”

“Yeah. Sorry, Boss. I’ll be stuck on this for a while. It’s a big case.”

“I know. I get it. We’re deploying tomorrow night anyway. Probably for a couple of weeks.”

“Oh.” Ace tried not to let her disappointment out. They were both hampered by the jobs they had to do. “Well, maybe I can get a minute to see you before then. I’ll see what I can—”

“Ace, it’s okay. You need to focus on this. I’ll call you, okay?”

“Okay… Sorry, Boss. This isn’t how I thought your leave would go.”

“It’s out of our hands. You should get back to it. Take care of yourself and get some sleep when you can.”

“Yes, sir. You take care, too, hotshot.”

She put her comm away and stepped out the front entrance where Crime Scene had set up, slipping past them to check on Dayn’s progress. She was halfway across the street when a blaster bolt whizzed by her ear, close enough to feel the heat. She pulled her own blaster as she ducked for cover, waving the night clubgoers down. “Get down! Down! Take cover!”

She looked up and spotted a single shooter running across a nearby rooftop. She knew this neighbourhood well, and she knew they had very limited ways out with the cordons they’d set up. She jumped up and started running, calling orders into her comm as she sprinted through the narrow alleys that connected the buildings. “We’ve got a shooter heading west in the lane to the rear of the Outlander! Jae, I need you to grab a speeder and try to head him off. I’m in pursuit.”

“Copy that, Ace.”

Making sure her weapon was set to stun, she took a sharp left and raced down a lane she knew met up with a street that had an EasyRide route and skylanes. She couldn’t risk letting them get to any kind of getaway. Her lungs were beginning to burn, but she pushed on, bursting out onto the street just as Jae’s speeder dropped down in front of the shooter. Jae jumped out, weapon drawn. “Freeze! Armed police!”

Ace sprinted up behind. “We have you surrounded. Put your weapon down and put your hands up.”

The shooter turned to face her, and she saw at once it was a droid. An assassin droid dressed in a long coat with a hood. Shit. She held her position despite the tremble in her hands. She knew she was vastly outgunned up against this kind of droid, but more backup would be here in a moment if she and Jae could hold out. The droid stood staring at her with whatever it used for eyes; then it dropped its weapons. Ace took a step closer. “Who are you working for? Who sent you? Did you plant that bomb?”

The droid’s head spun three-sixty degrees before settling back on her as several police speeders landed nearby, officers spilling out to surround them. Then it cocked its head at her. “They sent me for you. You know who.”

She opened her mouth to ask what the hell it was talking about, but then the droid pressed a button on its chest plate, and a red light started flashing. Oh, fuck. “Down, down! Everyone down!” She threw herself down, covering her head with her arms as the droid exploded into shrapnel, pieces of metal pinging off buildings and vehicles. Once the shards of shrapnel had stopped raining down, she raised her head and looked around, checking her team over. They all seemed fine. Far enough away to avoid damage.

Jae ran over to help her up. “You okay?”

She nodded, looking down to check herself over. “I think so.”

Obrim jumped out of his speeder as he parked nearby. He looked around to make a quick assessment. “Well, this just got interesting.”

“Yeah,” Ace agreed, wiping grit and dirt off her cheek. “You’re telling me.”

Chapter Text

Ace sat nursing her caf as she looked vacantly into the middle distance. She was tired. Exhausted. And she was scared. As much as she tried to put on a brave face, knowing that she was being watched and hunted… was taking a toll. She saw Laseema come out from the kitchen, carrying the baby, Kad. She knew that Skirata’s grandson was cared for by whoever was free and available. But then she saw Laseema take the child over to a booth, and it took her a moment to register that she was passing the baby to General Tur-Mukan. Etain. She only knew her in passing from the op the commandos had done on Coruscant. She seemed nice enough. From a distance, she watched her interact with the baby. There was almost a desperate sadness to it, as though she was almost clinging to the time she had. And she wasn’t just holding the baby; she was talking to it and singing to it – fully engrossed. It seemed odd, but maybe she just really liked babies.

Ace finished her caf and grabbed her cap to leave. No point delaying the inevitable. She stopped by the booth where the Jedi and baby were sitting. “General?”

The woman looked up, offering a small smile when she recognised her. “Hello. Ace, isn’t it?”

“Yeah. Have you got baby duty today?”

“For a while.” She moved over and patted the bench. “Have you got time to…”

“A little.” Ace took a seat and pulled her cap off again. “Are you on leave, General?”

“It’s Etain. And yes, I have a couple of days. So does Boss. He came back on the same transport.”

Ace felt her heart lift. He was back. But then she looked nervously around. “You won’t tell—”

“Of course I won’t tell. Boss is under my command. I look after his secrets, and he looks after mine.”

Ace remembered what Boss had told her about the general and Darman. “I’m not sure who has the most to lose.”

“I’m not sure there are any winners here. Not yet, anyway.”

The baby started to grizzle then, and Ace held out her arms. “Here, give him to me. I’m magic with babies.”

Etain handed her the baby, watching on as Ace rocked him gently, making soothing noises unto Kad settled. She smiled wanly and smoothed her hand over the baby’s head. “You really do have the magic touch.”

Ace looked down at the baby. She had to admit he was getting even cuter as he grew older. And there was something familiar about his dark eyes and dark hair. She could only assume he didn’t take after Skirata’s side of the family. She looked back up at Etain, stunned to see unshed tears in the woman’s eyes, and suddenly, the pieces all fell into place. “He’s yours…isn’t he?”

Etain nodded. “You need to keep that to yourself, though.”

“Yeah, of course, but…how does this all work? Is he Darman’s?”

“Yes, he’s Dar’s. And I wouldn’t exactly say it’s working. But it’s the best we can do for now.” She looked around to make sure no one was listening. “Ace, Dar doesn’t know. You can’t say anything. Not even to Boss.”

Ace stared at her. “But how can you…he doesn’t know he’s got a son?”

“Not yet. He will…when the time’s right. But not now. Not when he’s out there fighting. It’s a distraction he doesn’t need.”

Ace thought about the things she was keeping from Boss. He didn’t know about the assassin droid. He didn’t know who was after her or why. And she kept it from him for the same reason. She didn’t want him distracted. She didn’t want him to worry. And she knew there was stuff he didn’t tell her. It was mutually unspoken. She carefully passed Kad back to his mother. “I hope the right time is soon. I’m sure Dar will be a good dad.”

She grabbed her cap and slipped out of the diner, almost running into a man coming in. She looked up at him as he removed his helmet and scrutinised her. “Lieutenant Denn.”

“Sergeant Vau.” This was Boss’s former training sergeant. This was their bump in the road. She didn’t know if he actually was a sergeant now, but she wanted to be respectful. She gave him a polite nod and was about to go to her speeder when he spoke again.

“Are you seeing Boss while he’s on leave?”

Ace wanted to tell him to mind his own business, but that wouldn’t help Boss. So, she chose her words carefully. “I haven’t spoken to him. I only just found out he was back.”

Vau’s face was inscrutable as he studied her. He was trying to get a read on her. That much was obvious. “You’re a good police officer, Lieutenant, so I won’t sugarcoat this. You need to stay away from Boss. He’s got a job to do, and he doesn’t need the distraction of…whatever it is you two have going on. It won’t end well for either of you.”

Ace tilted her chin defiantly at him. “How do you know that?”

“Call it an educated guess. My boys were not made for the life civilians lead. It over-complicates things.”

Ace thought about the conversation she’d just had with Etain. She would end things in a heartbeat if she really believed it was harmful to Boss. But she was still as focused on her job as she always was, and she knew he was, too. “Do you think Boss has been particularly distracted over the past few months?”

“That would be difficult to quantify.”

“Hmm. Well, in that time, I had an attempt on my life in my own home, and a near-fatal snake bite. So, if you didn’t notice anything, then he wasn’t distracted.”

“I don’t think that—”

“Look, you and I are just going to have to agree to disagree. Boss isn’t a child, and neither am I. We’re both very aware of the limitations of where we stand right now. And it’s not like we’re getting married and having babies, so I don’t know what your problem is.”

Vau stared blankly at her for a moment, then he exhaled loudly through his nose. “Then I suppose you’re right. We’ll have to agree to disagree. But I hope you understand the ramifications.”

“I do. Thank you for your concern.” With that, she turned on her heel and went to her speeder. Safely inside, she took a few deep breaths. That hadn’t been how she expected her morning to go. Worried, she pulled out her comlink and made a call.

“Ace, I was just about to call you. We got back this morning, but I just got out of a debrief. I can see you tonight if you’re free.”

She felt herself relax a bit at the sound of his voice. “Yeah…yeah, that’d be good. I’ll be home around six. But Boss, there’s something I need to tell you.”

It was almost 7pm when Ace let herself into her apartment. Boss was there to meet her, and she fell into his arms with an apologetic smile. “Sorry.”

“For what?”

“Being late. And telling your sergeant to mind his own business.”

“It’s fine. I can handle him.” He wasn’t sure if he really could, but after the last few months, he knew he’d do his best. Ace was worth it. “I saw Matti on his way out.”

“Yeah.” Ace pulled out of his arms to take off her uniform tunic. “Night shift.”

“He told me it’s your birthday.”

Ace blinked. “Oh, yeah…”

“I thought birthdays were a big deal for civvies.”

“I guess,” she shrugged. “It’s always good to make it through another year. If Matti wasn’t working, we’d go out.”

Boss followed her as she walked to her bedroom, stripping off as she went. “Do you want to go out? Do something special?”

She started the shower in her ensuite, a luxury of the new apartment. “Boss, we don’t have to do anything special. It’s okay.”

“I’d like to take you out.” He had a pocket full of cash credits Skirata had shoved at him, mumbling something about ‘having your own means’.

Ace pulled her hair up into a bun on top of her head before stepping into the shower, leaving the door open to speak to Boss. “Really? You mean like a date?”

“If that’s what you want to call it. You deserve something for going up against Vau.”

She grinned at him as she rinsed off and wrapped a towel around herself. “He wasn’t that bad. I just didn’t want you to get into any trouble. Where should we go?”

“I don’t know many places. Qibbu’s?”

Ace snorted as she started rifling through her closet. “One of these days, I’m going to shut him down. How about something a little less organised-crimey?”

“Fine. You choose.”

He sat on the bed, watching as she pulled on a stretchy hot pink dress that clashed with her hair, and black heels before sitting at her dressing table to put makeup on. Once she was done, she stood to face him. “Okay?”

“Yeah. You look pretty.”

Ace’s eyes went wide. “Pretty?”

Boss felt suddenly cornered. “Is that not okay?”

“No, it’s just…no one’s ever really said that before. I get cute…but not pretty.”

“Right. Well…I think you look pretty.”

She gave him one of her beaming grins before looking back in the mirror. “Do I look twenty-seven?”

Boss caught her gaze in the mirror. “I’m not sure I’m the best person to answer that.”

Ace looked guilty when she turned and slipped her arms around his waist. “Sorry. Stupid question.”

“It’s not stupid. It’s just…when I’m twenty-seven, I’ll be old. If I live that long.”

Ace was heartbroken when she looked up at him. “Boss, don’t say that. You don’t know how things will—”

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you.”

“It’s not your fault. It’s just not fair. I wish things were different for you.”

“It’s out of my hands, Ace. I just have to make the most of what I can, when I can. So, let’s pretend I never said anything and go out. I don’t want to ruin your birthday.”

“You haven’t ruined it,” she said, holding him tighter. “Having you here makes it a special one.”

Ace stood waiting as Boss paid for their dinner. She knew he was a fish out of water here, but she also knew he wanted to learn. And he was managing perfectly well without her. He came and took her hand as they left the diner, and she leaned up to kiss his cheek. “I don’t want to know where you got the creds, but thank you.”

“I don’t mind if you know. Skirata.”

“Him? Why would he give you credits.”

Boss shrugged as they walked back to the speeder. “He’s got some di’kutla idea in his skull about all of us having normal lives one day.”

Ace stopped walking. “You don’t think you will?”

“I don’t know. We were created to be soldiers. What else is there?”

“You have me.”

Boss gave her what he hoped was a reassuring smile. He knew that what he saw as just the plain reality of things, she saw as something to be distressed about. And that was pointless because it was beyond his control, and it was beyond her control. They were just players in a bigger picture. He leaned down to kiss her. “Yeah. I have you.”

Happier now, Ace pulled out her comlink and opened the camera, holding it out in front of them. “We should get a photo to commemorate this momentous occasion.” She pulled Boss’s head down, mashing their cheeks together before taking the shot. Boss indulged her. Things that he would have rejected before didn’t seem nearly as objectionable with her. They were about to start walking back to the speeder when she heard whispers from a group gathered nearby. Loud whispers.

“Is that a clone?”

“I think so. I saw one once. I didn’t know they were allowed to be out in public.”

“Can you believe they all look the same? That’s so crazy. Why would she be with one?”

Ace stopped walking, a cold anger filling her, but Boss tugged on her hand. “Ignore them. They’re di’kuts.”

But she shook her head angrily before wheeling on the group. “Is there a problem?”

A young woman in the group giggled. “No problem. Just your taste in men.”

“Yeah, baby,” a young man added. “A girl like you could do a lot better. Like me, for example.”

Ace gave them a chance to enjoy themselves as they all laughed and congratulated each other, then she whipped her police badge out of her bag and flashed it in their faces. “I’ll give you one minute to get out of here before I arrest you all. And I will call in backup, and it will be loud and embarrassing for you. I might even call in the media.”

“Arrest us for what?” The young man who’d propositioned her was puffing his chest out, posturing for his friends.

“I’m Anti-Terror. You’d be very surprised by the criminal charges I have at my disposal.”

“But—”

“I said one minute. You’re running out of time. And maybe while you’re running away, have a good hard think about the soldiers who are putting their lives on the line to keep you safe. Imagine if we had to rely on slack-jawed cowards like you to protect us.”

The young man opened his mouth to argue with her, but his friends started to pull him away. “She can’t arrest us! We haven’t committed a crime! This is corruption—”

“Oh, shut up and move before you get us in any more trouble!”

Once they’d disappeared up the street and around the corner, Ace went back to where Boss was waiting for her, arms folded across his chest and an amused expression on his face. “Corruption?”

“Well, there’s a fine line between corruption and bending the rules a little. Sometimes, we do what we do for the greater good. Like covering up your op here way back when.”

“It wasn’t that long ago.”

“A year’s a long time.”

“Yeah, I guess it is. Especially for me.”

“Boss—”

“Sorry. Didn’t mean to go back there.” He took her hand again as they wandered along the brightly lit street, looking in shop windows. “Would you really have arrested them?”

“I’d do anything for you, Boss, but no. I don’t need that kind of paperwork!”

He chuckled as she stopped to look in the window of a clothing shop. “I appreciate the thought, though.”

Suddenly serious, Ace wrapped her arms around his waist and pressed her cheek against his chest. “What would you do, Boss? If you could do whatever you wanted with your life, what would you do?”

“I don’t know. I never really thought about it. It’s academic, isn’t it?”

“Maybe…” She thought about Etain and Darman’s baby. All day, her thoughts had drifted back to the small being. He was undeniably cute, and she’d started wondering if maybe she’d want kids one day. Not now. Now, she had her career to focus on. But maybe one day when life was a little calmer…a little more certain.

Boss gave her a gentle shove towards the speeder. “Come on, let’s get out of here before you threaten to arrest any more innocent citizens.”

“Okay. But we should stop and get a cake. Something luscious and creamy that I can smear all over that extraordinary chest of yours and—”

Boss put his hand over her mouth as he pulled her into the speeder. “Save that thought for later.”

Ace was already grabbing at the front of his shirt, searching for bare skin. “I’d rather share it now.”

He pushed her hands away and slid to the far end of the seat. “Home. We’re not doing this here.”

She grinned at him as she started the speeder. “But we are doing it at home?”

“It’s your birthday. It needs to be a night to remember.”

Chapter Text

Ace pulled her cap off as she followed Matti into the Kragget. She looked around and spotted Skirata sitting in a booth, back to her. Sauntering over, she leaned down to grab his head and plant a kiss on the top. “Thanks.”

Skirata recovered from his shock quickly. “For what?”

“Giving Boss some independence.”

“Happy to help.” He looked up at the huge man now towering over them. “This your brother?”

“Uh-huh. This is my baby brother, Matthias. Matti, this is the man responsible for all those bodies at CoruFresh.”

“Kal,” Skirata said, shaking Matti’s hand. “I also have other skills. Have a seat.”

Ace and Matti sat on the bench across from Skirata. Ace signalled to Soronna to bring caf over before turning her attention back to Skirata. “Any update?”

“On?”

“Where Boss is. When he’ll be back.”

“Finishing up something in the Perkell Sector. Should be back in a couple of days.”

“And the others?”

“They’re all fine. Omega should be back soon as well.”

She took the caf Soronna passed her with a grateful smile, then turned her attention back to Kal. “We should get you all around to the club for another party.”

“Maybe with fewer corpses this time,” Matti suggested. “One small fire and twenty-something bodies took some explaining.”

“Sorry about that,” Skirata said. “We do what we need to do. I’m sure you’ve seen worse.”

“Many times. That’s the world we exist in. You get used to it.”

Skirata eyed Ace shrewdly. “What about you, sweetheart? Jaller told me about your situation.”

She gave him an innocent look. “What situation is that?”

“The situation that saw Boss almost beating a man to death in your kitchen. Have you forgotten already?”

“No, I hadn’t forgotten, thank you. But it’s under control.”

“Is it? Black Sun is spread all through the galaxy. Once you make an enemy of one of them…”

“I make a lot of enemies, Kal. That’s the job. Right now, somehow, Djenez is managing to get messages out of prison. We’re working on that. Once we shut that down, things will settle again. I arrested him, and my intel put him away. It’s personal.”

“Does Boss know?”

“No. I’m letting him think it was a one-off thing. So, keep your big mouth shut.”

“I’m not sure my big mouth is the issue here. He won’t like it if he finds out some other way.”

“He won’t find out. I don’t want him to worry.”

Kal drained his caf and shuffled out of the booth. “If you need my boys to help with finding your mole, you only need to ask.”

“Thanks, Kal. But we’ll be fine.”

Once the siblings were alone, Matti turned to his sister. “Will you?”

“Will I what?”

“Be fine.”

Ace pinched his arm hard. “All under control, baby brother.”

“She’s adorable!” Ace was sitting in her speeder, looking at baby photos on Jae’s datapad. She looked at her sergeant, smiling at the absolute delight on his face. “Talk about proud grandpa!”

“I am proud! I’m not apologising for that.”

Ace looked at the next image of Jae’s daughter nursing the newborn. Human babies were pretty cute, but Sullustan babies were really something else. “Look at those eyes! When do I get to meet her.”

“We’ll set something up. Maybe I’ll bring into the office to show her off.”

“You should definitely do that,” Ace agreed, leaning over to turn up the volume as a call came through.

“Ace, we’ve got a situation. A bad one.”

“Go ahead, boss.”

“A siege. Hostages. Still getting details through. I’m coordinating a response from here before I head down, so you’ll be SO on site.”

Jae flipped the lights and sirens on as Ace started the speeder. “Where are we going?”

“University Junior School.”

“What? A school?”

“I’m afraid so. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

Ace hit the accelerator and started darting through traffic. “What kind of motherfucker starts a siege at a school?”

Ace was waiting outside the school when Obrim arrived. “What’s the sitrep?”

“Waiting on comms to be established. Then we can find out what they want. We’ve got five that we’re aware of. But, boss, we really need to manage crowd control. This place is going to be swarming with terrified parents once the word gets out.”

“I’ll get a few blocks cordoned off and get liaison for the families. How many staff and students made it out?”

“Most of them. We’ve sent them over to the university for containment. It sounds like our perps are bailed up in a classroom with the kids and teacher.”

“Casualties?”

“Not yet. But that’s all we know until we talk to them.”

“Right, that’s a priority. I’m still waiting on a negotiator, so we’re it until then.”

Dayn came jogging over, pulling off his helmet as he reached them. “We’ve got communications in. He said he wants to talk to Ace.”

Ace blinked. “Me? How would he—”

“Fuck!” Obrim swore loudly. “This is Djenez. He’s set this up.”

“Boss, we don’t know that—”

“Ace, who else would do something like this? He’s got an endless supply of lackeys on the outside ready to step up and do his bidding.” He looked around, frustrated at the lack of a negotiator. “You need to stand down. Stay in the background. I’m not offering you up on a platter.”

“But, boss, if he’s asking for me… We can’t just wait. There are little kids in there.”

Obrim swore again. He didn’t have many options. “Fine. But you are on a very short leash, and you back down as soon as I say so. Got it?”

“Affirmative.” She pulled on the armored tac vest Dayn handed her and took the comlink he was holding. “This is Lieutenant Denn. I understand you want to talk to me?”

There was a long pause, and then a male voice. “The only conversation we’re having is the one about getting Djenez out of jail.”

“Okay…well, my priority is getting those kids out. And their teacher. We don’t need to be involving innocent children in all this, do we?”

“That depends on how willing you are to negotiate.”

Ace exchanged a look with Obrim. “Go ahead. I’m listening.”

Boss looked up when Skirata strode into the mess hall. He meant business. For a small man, he could be a large presence. He watched as the man made a beeline for the table where Omega was eating, leaning down to speak with them. Within seconds, Niner and his squad were shovelling in the last of their food and heading quickly for the door. He caught Dar glance furtively at him and jumped up to head off Skirata. “What’s going on?”

“Just offering support to CSF.”

“What kind of support?”

“They’ve got a hostage situation. Omega have handled this kind of thing before, so—”

“Omega just touched base an hour ago. We’re fresher. Why aren’t you sending us? You think we can’t handle it?”

Skirata hesitated, looking over to where the rest of Delta were watching this exchange. But Boss was persistent. “Sarge? Why aren’t you sending us? You know we’re better at—"

Skirata gave a frustrated sigh. “Because Ace is one of the hostages, and I don’t want you messing things up.”

Boss stared at him for a beat, his face blank, then he turned back to his squad. “Gear up. We’ve got trade.”

“Boss, you’re not doing this one. You’re too close.”

But Boss was already striding for the door. “We’re doing it. Try and stop me.”

Skirata gave up and broke into a jog to catch up with them. “I’m still bringing Omega. You might need backup.”

Boss jumped out of the CSF gunship and jogged over to Jaller Obrim, reaching him well ahead of Skirata. “Sitrep?”

Obrim stared at him. “Son, I don’t think—”

“We’re dealing with this, sir, so I need a sitrep.”

Obrim nodded reluctantly when he saw Kal’s pointed look behind Boss’s back. “We’ve got five perps that we know of. They’re working for a Black Sun operative we put in jail. He’s using Ace as leverage. We had seventeen children and a teacher in there. Ace exchanged herself for them. But they kept two of the children back.”

Boss looked at the high-rise building. “What else is in there?”

“The school is the first four floors. Then it’s apartments. We’ve evacuated everyone else.”

Boss stood silently for a moment, running plans through his head. “What’s your bottom line?”

“Bottom line? I want Ace out of there, and I want those children out of there. Beyond that, it’s in your hands.”

“Sir?” Jae came up with a palm projector. “We’ve just picked this up off cameras.”

The two commando squads gathered around to watch the grainy, flickering image. Boss clenched his jaw when he saw an unknown perpetrator backhand Ace as she put herself between him and the children. She was wiping blood off her face as she squatted to try and calm the two distressed youngsters and keep the man at bay. “Have we got audio?”

“No. They’ve taken all her devices. Jae can show you which room they’re in.”

Boss nodded at his squad. “You know what to do.”

Fixer jogged over to the building with Dayn to get an audio feed in while Boss studied a projection of the floor plan. Niner came up beside him. “Plan?”

“I’ll go in above. They don’t know we’re here. They probably won’t be expecting more than police.”

Niner nodded. “Where do you want us?”

“Down here for now. We need to establish exactly how many there are and where they are.”

“Shame we can’t talk to Ace.”

“Yeah. She’s smart, though. She’ll play along.” He went back to Obrim. “I need a ship to get me onto the fire escape above them.”

Obrim nodded to the Sullustan sergeant waiting anxiously nearby. “Jae.”

Niuv sprang into action, leading Boss back to the CSF gunship that had transported them here. He used the comm in his helmet to instruct the pilot, then jumped in after Boss. “She’s an idiot.”

Boss tilted his helmeted head down at the man. “What?”

“Handing herself over. She should have waited.”

Boss didn’t have a response to that. He knew waiting wasn’t really in Ace’s vocabulary. “I’ll get her out.”

He leaned out of the side hatch as the ship got him over the fire escape, grabbing onto the rail to swing himself onto the platform. He opened a channel that the two squads would hear. “Fixer, we got ears?”

“Affirmative. Patching it through.”

Boss squatted on the fire escape platform, listening to the patchy audio feed. Ace was calmly negotiating with whoever was in the room with her, trying to secure the release of the remaining two children. He heard a thump, then a gasp. She’d been hit again. “We got visual yet?”

“Still just the classroom camera,” Niner said. “We can’t get close enough to get strip cams in without being seen.”

Scorch cut in. “Boss, we’re pinging them all with heat signals. “Looks like they’re spread out, so we won’t have any trouble taking them down.”

Boss used his HUD to scan the schematic Scorch was feeding him. The first one was two floors below him, on the top level of the school. No problem. Whoever was patrolling on four was moving back and forth by the lift and stairwell. “Fixer, how are we going with the system override?”

“I’m in. What do you need?”

“Send the main lift to four. Tell me when you’re ready.”

As he waited, Sev checked in. “Boss, I’ve got eyes on a target. Second floor. On your mark.”

“Where are you?”

“Balcony across the way.”

“Stand by.” He checked the positions of the others on his HUD. Everyone was in place. He was glad now to have Omega there. They were good. They were intuitive. They did what needed to be done without needing to be told.

“Boss, standing by on the lift.”

Boss slipped into the emergency stairwell. “Do it.”

As he moved swiftly down the stairs, he listened to Fixer tracking the lift as it went up. He knew that would spook them. Hopefully, not so much that they did something drastic. But enough to move things along. He stopped on the landing on four, waiting for Fixer’s mark, and when it came, he burst through the door and took the man down with a single shot, satisfied to see him slump lifeless into the empty lift. “One down.” He checked the schematic again. They were moving. Converging on the ground floor except for one on the second floor. “Sev, you still got eyes?”

“Affirmative.”

“Take him down.”

He waited for a moment, then Sev’s voice came back to him. “Target eliminated.”

Three more. But they were all on the ground floor with Ace and the kids. He tapped into the audio again. Ace calmly asking them to let her get the kids out. Calmly telling them they were surrounded. That there was no way out now. That was an understatement. He ran down the remaining stairs, waiting in an empty corridor where the walls were decorated with children’s artwork. “Scorch, you set?”

“Ready when you are.”

“On my mark, in three…two…go.”

He heard the charges go off, heard the commotion. He kicked the door in to see Ace struggling with bound hands to shove the two children out the window as he fired at the two men closest to him. But when he swung his Deece around, he froze when he saw the last man standing had Ace with an arm around her throat. But that wasn’t what stopped him. It was the flashing red light on a device strapped to her chest that filled him with cold dread. He’d missed it when he’d watched the low-resolution camera footage. They all had.

Ace looked at him, her eyes on his helmet visor. She was scared, and he hadn’t seen her scared before. Not like this. Her hands were bound in front of her; she was helpless. Then she shook her head. “You need to leave…this is—”

“This is going to blow in ten minutes unless I get a shuttle waiting for me on the roof and safe transit out of here.” The man held up a device in his hand. A timed detonator, the flashing light in sync with the device on Ace.

Boss switched to his internal comm. “Did you get that?”

Skirata answered. “Loud and clear. Obrim’s on it. Let’s just let him get away and deal with him once we’ve secured Ace.”

“Sarge, I can—”

“Negative, Boss.”

“He could be bluffing.”

“And if he’s not?”

Shab. Reluctantly, Boss lowered his Deece, and the man dragged Ace out of the classroom, down the corridor to the lift. He held back as the man shoved Ace into the lift. Her eyes were still on him, and he wished he had a way to tell her it was going to be okay. As soon as the doors closed, he was running to the lift at the other end of the building. He needed to get up there and fast. When he burst out onto the rooftop, there were several CSF gunships hovering, and one looked like it was getting ready to touchdown. That was the getaway. But he wasn’t moving towards that. He was dragging Ace across the roof towards the far side. She was kicking and swearing and desperately trying to fight back, but she was hindered by the binders around her wrists.

“He’s taking her to the edge!”

“Stand by…”

But he couldn’t stand by. This man was done with her. She had no bargaining value anymore, so she was as good as dead. Not today, shabuir. Boss ran. He sprinted across the rooftop, flinging his Deece aside as he grabbed for her. He skidded onto his chest, grabbing her arms as she stumbled back over the edge with a shriek. In the split second before he grabbed her, he saw the man had lost his balance as she fought back, and was swinging as well, clinging onto her. He gritted his teeth and held on, but he knew he couldn’t hold two people. “Sev! I need you!”

He tried to focus on his HUD to locate Sev, but all he could see through the jumble of scrolling data and icons were Ace’s terrified eyes looking up at him. Her voice was hoarse as she begged him not to let her fall. “Boss…please…don’t..”

He couldn’t tell her it would be okay. He was barely managing to hold onto her. He felt her slipping and grabbed onto the binders around her wrists. They cut into her flesh and drew blood, but it was a better grip. He knew barely a couple of seconds had passed, but it felt like minutes. Hours. His muscles were burning, his arms were shaking with the effort, and he was starting to feel the weight drag him across the duracrete. But then there was a shot, and the weight was gone. Ace cried out again as the man’s grip on her released, and he plunged to the ground below. Somehow, Boss struggled to his knees, never loosening his grip on her. With a grunt and a mighty heave, he managed to haul her up over the ledge, both of them sprawling on the rooftop, gasping for breath. Boss quickly pulled her back from the edge. “You’re okay, hotshot. I’ve got you.”

But the flashing red light on her chest reminded him it wasn’t over yet. She tried to move away from him. “Boss…you need to—”

“I’m not going anywhere.”

He was about to call for Scorch to disarm it, but Corr was already sprinting across the rooftop, dropping to his knees beside her. “Lieutenant, I’m Corr. Don’t worry, you’re in safe hands.”

Ace was still breathless, still stunned, as Corr pulled a selection of tools from a belt pouch. “Aren’t you the one who—”

“Now’s probably not the time to talk about my previous hands.”

Boss stayed close, watching Ace as Corr carefully removed the cover of the explosive device, muttering quietly to himself as he methodically disconnected wires until the light finally stopped flashing. Boss released the breath he’d been holding and pulled his helmet off before helping Corr unstrap what was left and lift it off over her head. Ace sat for a moment, stunned, and then she crumbled, her whole body shaking as Boss tried to calm her. He put his arms around her, pulling her against his armored chest. “You’re okay, Ace. It’s over.”

She tried to speak, but she was struggling to get a full breath in, as though the shock of everything had caught up with her all at once. Another ship appeared overhead, a CRO tactical vessel appeared. Boss was relieved when Matthias jumped out with several paramedics. He knew he had to let her go now. She needed medical attention. She was in a state of shock. Her wrists were bleeding around the binders that were still there. And her face was showing the signs of the beating they’d given her. He pulled the disruptor probe from his belt to deactivate the binders, letting one of the paramedics carefully ease them off. Matthias clasped his shoulder as the paramedics loaded her into the vessel, his eyes saying more than words ever could. “Thanks, Boss. I’ll call you from the hospital.”

Still kneeling, he watched the CRO ship take off. He wanted to go. He wanted to make sure she was really alright. But that wasn’t for him to do. Corr was still kneeling beside him, and he held out his hand, grasping Corr’s forearm, Mando style. “Thanks, ner vod.”

“Anytime. Glad to see I haven’t lost my touch…if you know what I mean.” He stood and offered Boss a hand up, and Boss gratefully accepted. Everything hurt, as though he’d used every muscle in his body to stop her from falling.

He looked around for his Deece as they walked back to the lift. “Those kids okay?”

“Yeah. Scorch and Dar grabbed them as she shoved them out. She moved fast once they blew the windows out – like she knew we were giving her an opportunity.”

“She knew. She’s a good cop.” He rolled his shoulders back with a wince as they stepped into the lift. “Better go debrief then.”

As the lift took them down, he opened a private link with his brother. “Thanks, Sev. I owe you, ner vod.”

Chapter Text

Boss quietly let himself into Ace’s bedroom. She was sleeping. He smiled when he saw she was dressed in her frilliest pink pyjamas under her pink blankets. Her wrists were bandaged, and her face was bruised, but she looked otherwise okay. The hospital had let Matti bring her home once she was cleaned up and checked out, so he knew she’d probably had a decent night’s sleep. Unlike him. He sat wearily in the chair beside the bed. His shoulders were still aching, and his arms felt like they’d been stretched, but he was fine as well. He smoothed the hair back from her face and bent to kiss her forehead, surprised when her eyes opened. “Boss.”

“Hey. How are you feeling?”

“I’m okay.” She threw the blankets off and crawled from the bed onto his lap, wrapping her arms tightly around his neck. Boss held onto her. This was what he needed: to know for certain that she was okay. They sat in silence for a long time, holding onto each other, then Ace raised her head. “How did you end up there?”

“Your boss called in the cavalry. He said once you went in, he knew you weren’t coming out.”

“Oh… Boss…they had kids in there. I couldn’t leave them.”

“I know. And you got them all out.” He held her hands up to examine her wrists. “Bad?”

“They’ll be fine,” she shrugged. “Some interesting scars to talk about.”

He gave her an unimpressed look as he smoothed the messy red hair back from her face, frowning at the black eye, the scabbed lip. He was used to seeing injuries; he saw them all the time. But he didn’t like seeing her like this. He’d spent most of the night replaying the events in his mind. In some of those replays, he dropped her; he couldn’t hold on. She’d been a split second away from death, her life in his hands. That was a feeling he should be used to as a squad sergeant. But it was different with Ace. She wasn’t meant to die. It wasn’t as inevitable for her as it felt for him or his brothers.

She was watching him with a worried look on her face. “Boss? Can you stay for a while?”

He nodded, shaking himself from his trance. “Yeah, I can stay for a little while.”

Ace slid back onto the bed, pulling Boss with her until they were both comfortably arranged. She tucked herself into his side, resting her head on his shoulder. “You have to keep me now.”

“What are you talking about?”

“You saved me, so now I’m yours.”

“According to who?”

“Oh, I don’t know,” she said tiredly. “I’m sure I heard that somewhere.”

Boss held her tighter, resting his chin in her head. He didn’t mind keeping her. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Tell you what?”

“That the man in your kitchen was just the first. Why didn’t you tell me what was going on?”

“I just…I didn’t want you to worry. I think your sergeant is right in a way. I don’t want to be a distraction. I don’t want you worrying about me when you should be worrying about yourself and your squad.”

“I can worry about more than one thing at a time, Ace. You told me when you’re with someone, you’re with them one hundred percent. You need to tell me this stuff. You’re…”

Ace frowned, pulling her head from under his chin when he trailed off. “I’m what?”

Boss took a moment to think about what he wanted to say. “You’re important to me. I don’t know how to tell you…”

“You don’t have to tell me,” Ace said, tucking her head back in. “I know.”

Boss pulled his helmet off as he slipped into the back of the hall. He was trying to be unobtrusive, but it wasn’t easy in armor. He spotted Ace’s head. She was sitting in the front row. He found an empty chair and watched as a senior CSF officer stood at the podium to address the small gathering. There was a lot of talk about bravery, going above and beyond the call of duty. The man then introduced a politician. Some security minister he’d never heard of. The minister, an elegant-looking Mirialan woman, gave a similar speech alluding to the sacrifices made by security forces. He folded his arms across his chest and leaned his head back against the wall. Matthias had warned him it would be tedious.

After another ten minutes or so, the presentations finally began. One by one, members of the various Coruscant security forces filed up onto the stage to be presented with medals. He saw Jaller Obrim sitting up on the stage in what must be his dress uniform, and finally, Ace’s name was called. He sat up straight again to watch Ace climb up onto the stage in her dress uniform. She nodded to the minister, then turned to salute Obrim, who’d stood to present the medal to her, as the politician described Ace’s bravery in the face of overwhelming odds, her dedication in putting her own life on the line to save the schoolchildren. The politician then smiled at Ace and said, “We really must stop meeting like this.”

And when Ace turned to grin at the woman, he saw her dress tunic was covered in medals in various shapes and sizes. He was surprised they weren’t weighing her down. He saw her wink at her brother as she climbed back down off the stage to resume her seat, and twenty minutes later, the ceremony was over. He slipped outside and waited in the corridor, ignoring the curious looks he got as the guests filed out. He saw Ace’s eyes light up when she saw him. “Boss! What are you doing here?”

“I got a tip-off.”

Ace looked at Obrim, but he just shook his head. “Not me.”

“Me,” Matti said, reaching past her to shake Boss’s hand. “Although it should be you and your squad up there getting medals as well.”

Boss shrugged. “That’s not really how we do things.”

Ace linked her arm through his as they went outside. “Are your boys still coming tonight?”

“Yeah. They’ll meet us there.” He looked down at her emblazoned chest as they walked. “What the hell did you do to get all those?”

“Oh, you know…this and that…”

“This and that?”

“Well, I don’t like to brag.”

He pulled her aside as they walked to her speeder. “Hey, I’m proud of you.” He ran his fingers over her bandaged wrists. “I’m not sure it was worth it.”

“All those families would probably say differently. Those kids were terrified, Boss. And I feel so guilty because it was all about me in the end. They laid the bait, and I sprung the trap.”

“They didn’t win, though. They didn’t take you down.”

“No. Not this time. Thanks to you.”

“What was your plan if we hadn’t come?”

She shrugged sheepishly. “I don’t know. I was making things up as I went. But I had a feeling the boss would get Skirata in. I didn’t know it would be you, though.”

“It wasn’t going to be us. Skirata thought I’d mess things up.”

“But you didn’t.”

Boss wasn’t convinced, though. “We only just got you out. If Sev hadn’t made the shot, or if I’d dropped you—”

“But you didn’t. That’s not what happened.”

He nodded, looking down when she winced to see he was gripping her fingers tightly. “Sorry.”

“It’s okay. Boss, I’m okay. Everything worked out in the end, and I got a new medal for the collection. You have to let it go.”

“I know. And I will.”

She kept a hold of his hand as they walked back to her speeder. Neither of them cared now who saw. “Boss is making me see the shrink at work. He said I can’t go through something like that and not debrief properly.”

“Sounds like a good idea. Make sure you go.”

“Yes, Boss.”

He gave her an unimpressed look. “I mean it.”

“I know. I’ll go. Scout’s honour.” Inside the speeder, she unpinned the new medal and passed it to Boss. “I want you to have this.”

“What? I’m not taking a medal you earned.”

“I want you to. I wouldn’t be here to get a medal without you. And as you can see, I’m only little, and this jacket can only hold so many.”

“I’m not taking—”

Ace grabbed his hand and folded his fingers around the medal. “Please? For me? It would mean a lot to know you have it with you.”

Boss relented with a frustrated sigh. “Fine. Just…tell me when you want it back.”

“I don’t want it back. It’s yours now.” She slid across the seat and took his face in her hands. “You saved my life, Boss. I can’t ever repay you for that.” She kissed him before sliding back to the driver’s side. “Now, let’s go get drunk!”

At the CSF social club, the rest of his squad was already there, along with the Omega boys. He steered Ace towards the table where Scorch, Fixer and Sev were waiting. He’d been quietly dreading this encounter, but it was happening now whether he liked it or not. He was about to re-introduce them all when Ace tossed her cap on the table, pulled off her grey gloves and reached for Sev’s hand. “Thanks, Sev. I really owe you.”

Sev looked surprised and a little uncomfortable as he shook her hand. “Wasn’t a difficult shot.”

“For you, maybe.”

Boss sat beside her. He didn’t know why he was surprised that she remembered who everyone was. She was a cop. A detective. She knew how important it was to listen, to hear the details. And she’d obviously listened to and remembered everything he’d told her about his squad. His brothers.

Ace shimmied out of her dress tunic and was about to hang it over the back of her chair when Scorch grabbed it. He made a show of examining the array of medals before pointing to a round silver one hanging on a red ribbon. “Is this the one for aerial team gymnastics?”

Ace stared at him for a beat, confused, but then she realised he was referring to Boss holding her and her hostage-taker suspended over the city, and she burst out laughing. Boss relaxed. His squad seemed to like her. She liked them.

“You laugh,” Matthias said, laying a tray of drinks on the table, “but maybe you should actually tell them what that one’s for, gremlin.”

Ace scowled at him. “For my exemplary and dedicated service to the Coruscant Security Force.”

“In other words, she threw herself off a balcony onto a moving speeder bike.”

“Same thing,” Ace shrugged, miffed by the way the others were laughing at her.

Scorch tapped his glass against Matthias’s and took a long sip of his beer. “I think I’m going to enjoy tonight. You tell me your embarrassing sibling stories, and I’ll tell you mine.”

“I like your brothers…”

Boss stilled his hips, raising his head from Ace’s neck. “Do we have to talk about them right now?”

“Sorry, my mind is wandering.”

“Want me to stop.”

She shook her head, reaching back to dig her fingers into his thigh. “Keep going.”

So, he kept going. He liked this position. Out of all the positions she’d insisted they try, this was one that he favoured. Lying on their sides, Ace’s back pressed against his chest. He liked the way her body just seemed to fit into his despite their size discrepancy. He liked the way he could hold her. And he liked the way he could slow her down. Sometimes, she really needed to slow down. And after recent events, he saw her as more fragile. Vulnerable. It was a difficult thing to come to terms with when he was away so much. He just had to leave her here to do her job and hope for the best.

“Sev’s funny.”

He stopped again. Now, he really was losing focus. “Sev. Funny?”

“Hmm…” She wriggled back against him, clearly dissatisfied that he’d stopped moving. “He has what I’d call a dry sense of humour.”

“That’s one word for it.”

Ace wriggled again. “Why did you stop?”

“Because you seem like you want to talk.”

“Well…I can do two things at once. I can talk and fuck!” Her last word was gasped out as Boss adjusted his position and gave a particularly hard thrust.

He chuckled as whatever she’d been planning to say dissolved into incoherent babble. Ace had taught him a lot about sex. But he prided himself on the way he took that knowledge and applied it. Having her squirming in his arms and moaning breathlessly was something special. He was nothing if not committed and diligent.

Walon Vau bailed Kal Skirata up in a quiet corridor at Arca barracks, looming over him menacingly. “Why did you task Delta with that hostage situation?”

Skirata didn’t even skip a beat before answering. He’d been expecting this. “Delta was available.”

“So was Omega. They have more experience handling this kind of matter. They’ve worked with CSF before, so why send Delta?”

“They were fresher.” Boss had been right about that. But Vau didn’t need to know that this had been Boss’s idea. “And I thought you trained your boys to handle anything.”

“You know I did. I trained them to be the best. But they can’t be the best if they’re distracted. They can’t be the best if they’re busy thinking about some civilian back here.”

“Or maybe it gives them something to fight for. Motivation to stay alive. They’re men, Walon. They deserve to—”

Vau shoved him up against the wall. “They’re my men. I trained them. I trained them to survive, and they don’t need a sweetheart back home to achieve that. This isn’t a holovid, Kal.”

“No, it’s real life, and you’re treating your lads like droids. They don’t have—” That’s all he got out before Vau punched him, and his head smacked back against the wall. He yanked himself free and wiped the blood from his mouth. “You really don’t see it, do you?”

“See what?”

“Just because you’re a cold, heartless shabuir, doesn’t mean those boys deserve the same fate. Otherwise, they may as well be droids.” He turned on his heel and strode off down the corridor, leaving the other Mandalorian to watch his retreating back.

Vau watched him leave, flexing his fingers. It wasn’t the first time he’d hit Skirata, and it doubtless wouldn’t be the last. If anything happened to Boss or any other member of Delta, he’d be holding Skirata personally responsible.

Chapter Text

Boss had pulled on the lower half of his bodysuit and was looking around the bedroom for wherever Ace threw the top half when he heard a shriek from the kitchen. Not again. Not stopping to think, he bolted out to the kitchen, skidding to a halt when he saw Ace was alone. She grabbed his arm and pushed him in front of her as she cowered behind his body. “Ace, what the hell?” Her fingers were digging painfully into his arm, and he had to forcefully disengage them, making her look at him. “What’s going on.”

Wordlessly, she pointed frantically to a corner of the kitchen counter beneath an overhanging cabinet. Puzzled, he gave her a confused look. “What?

“Spider…” The word was barely more than a whisper, and she seemed genuinely scared.

Baffled, Boss moved closer and peered into the dark corner, finally spotting the source of her fear. A small spider, about an inch across, including its legs. He looked back at Ace, bewildered, and she gave him a sheepish look. “Matti always takes care of them.” She turned to go back to her room. “I’ll get my blaster.”

“You’re not blasting a spider in the kitchen,” Boss said, exasperated. “I’ll deal with it.”

Shaking his head that someone in her line of work was cowering in the face of such a tiny creature, he grabbed a cup and a printed document lying on the counter, containing the spider to carry it over to the balcony. “Get the door.”

“You can’t put it out there,” she argued. “It’ll just come back in!”

“Not if you lock the door.”

Scowling at him, she sidled past him to unlock and open the door before darting back to watch from a distance as Boss let the spider go in one of the potted plants outside. “It’s just going to come back inside, Boss. It got in here somehow…”

He came back in and made a show of locking the door and closing the blind. “If it comes back in, I’ll deal with it.”

“Not if you’re on the other side of the galaxy,” she grumbled.

Boss grabbed her hand and pulled her to him. “I’m not always on the other side of the galaxy.”

“It feels like it.” Ace wrapped her arms around him and rested her cheek against his chest. “I miss you when you’re away.”

“I know. It won’t always be like this, though.”

“Won’t it? It feels like it sometimes.”

Boss pulled her back to the bedroom so he could finish dressing. She perched on the edge of the bed, watching as he put his armor on. “What would you do, Boss? If you could do anything…what would it be?”

He shrugged as he sat beside her to pull on his boots. “I don’t know. I’ve never given it any thought. I’ve never really thought much about the future.”

“What about now?”

“Now?”

“Now. Us. What will happen to us?”

Boss dropped the boot he was holding, looking worriedly at her. She’d been different since the siege. More thoughtful, less cheerful. As though she’d finally faced her own mortality. And she had. Brutally. And now she was watching him, waiting for him to respond. “What do you want to happen? I can’t do much more than what I’m doing now.”

“I know…I just…I guess I’ve been thinking a lot about things lately. The future.”

“And?”

“And, well…I don’t know. I think I want to have a family one day. Kids. I see Skirata’s grandson a lot, and now Jae’s got his new granddaughter. It’s just got me thinking.”

Boss exhaled slowly. That was that, then. “Ace, I can’t do those things. I barely get any opportunities to see you as it is. You know that this is all it can be.”

“But…maybe not always.”

“Ace, there aren’t any other options for us. If you want to settle down and have kids, well…maybe you need to find someone else to do that with.”

She looked up at him with unshed tears in her eyes. “Are you breaking up with me again?”

“What? That’s not what this is about. I just don’t want you to waste your life—”

“But that’s not what I meant!” she said. “If I could do those things with you, maybe I would. And maybe one day we can… I was just thinking out loud, I guess. I don’t want things to change, and I’m not letting you break up with me.”

“Ace—”

“I mean it, Boss. Just forget I ever said anything!”

“Forget? You want me to forget you have a whole life planned out that I can’t give you?” He stood to finish putting his armor on. “It’s not going to work, Ace. This whole thing has been a bad idea if—”

“Boss, shut up, will you? I don’t need you to give me a life! I have a life. I made it myself, and I worked damn hard to get it. And right now, I’m not even thinking about changing that. I know you and I do things differently, and we have different expectations. But that doesn’t mean we can’t be together right here and now, does it?”

“Maybe. Where do we go from here?”

“We don’t have to go anywhere. I’m not in any hurry. But if you’re looking for an excuse to dump me again…”

“I’m not. But I don’t want you to settle for me when you could have—”

Ace backhanded his arm, wincing when her knuckles hit plastoid. “Don’t be so stupid. You really think I’m settling? Boss, I want to be with you, and you’re crazy if you think otherwise. I don’t want anyone else. Just you.”

Boss took her hand, frowning at the reddened knuckles. “You just called me stupid, and crazy, and told me to shut up.”

She smiled sheepishly at him. “But I meant it nicely.”

He put his arms around her and pulled her close. “I wouldn’t let anyone else speak to me like that.”

“Well, that’s what makes us so perfect together.”

Ace sat rocking the baby in her arms, ignoring the breakfast that was getting cold. She couldn’t help but smile when the baby’s eyes drifted shut. “She’s so adorable, Jae. Nothing at all like you.”

“Gee, thanks,” the grizzled sergeant said, sipping on his caf as he observed his lieutenant. “You know you’ll need to give her back when Jadda gets here.”

“I know. But for now, she’s all mine.”

Dayn came to sit with them, stealing a piece of toast from her abandoned plate. “We on patrol today, or just babysitting?”

“Just babysitting,” Ace said. “Patrol can wait.”

But Jae was looking out the window, waving to someone before he stood and gathered up the baby bags. “Nice thought, but Jadda’s here.”

Ace pouted as the baby was taken from her. “Tell Jadda I’m happy to babysit.”

“I will. Maybe once we know Black Sun isn’t still on your tail.”

“Oh, yeah…” Ace pulled her plate back from Dayn to resume eating her now-cold breakfast. “So, Dayn…performance review time.”

Dayn looked at her worriedly. “Good or bad?”

Ace made a show of shaking her head dramatically. “Well, I’ve tried to dress it up as best I can…”

“Oh.”

She threw a piece of toast at him, laughing as he ducked. “Don’t be such an idiot. I’m giving you an excellent review because your performance has been excellent. All boxes ticked.”

Dayn grinned at her as he tossed the toast back. “I knew that.”

“Uh-huh. Sure you did.”

“Alright, let’s put a stop to the food fight and go and do some policing.” Jae was back from handing over his granddaughter. “Don’t make my last year difficult.”

“Oh, Jae, we all know you’re not really retiring. It’s just a cunning ruse to hit the boss up for a bigger salary.”

“We work for a government agency, Ace. Doesn’t work like that.”

“Doesn’t it? It worked for me!” She gave him an exaggerated wink as she slid out of the booth, waving to Laseema as she left. She was in a good mood. Boss was away, but it felt as though they’d moved things to a new level. A more serious level. Commitment. Something solid. And that felt good.

Boss sat up and tried to stretch. Surveillance. He hated surveillance. Long stretches of time stuck in one spot. Motionless. Not doing anything but watching. He glanced over to where he knew Scorch was tucked away. Invisible. But Boss knew he was there. He switched off his external speaker to stay silent. “Scorch, you good?”

“Oh, just grand. Hey, I had legs when I crawled in here, didn’t I?”

“As far as I can remember. Why?”

“I haven’t felt them for about an hour. I’m not sure they’re still there.”

Boss tried to flex his own legs in the cramped space. He knew the feeling well. “Hopefully, we won’t be here much longer.”

“Famous last words.”

They fell into silence again, but after a few minutes, Boss heard the familiar static in his helmet, then Scorch’s voice. “So…how’s Ace?”

Boss grimaced. This wasn’t the conversation he wanted to be having. He didn’t talk to his squad about Ace and did his best to keep his relationship with her separate from his job. It was easier that way. On a mission, he kept thoughts of her parked at the back of his mind and focused on the job. Things ran smoother that way. But since the school siege, her name would come up occasionally. His squad had taken an interest in her…in them, and he wasn’t sure how he felt about that. He rearranged his body in the cavity he was occupying. “She’s fine.”

Scorch was silent again for a while, which worried Boss. That meant he was thinking.

“A lot of medals…”

“She’s a good cop.”

“Yeah… Boss, what’s going to happen, though? It’s not like you can settle down, get married and raise a family.”

Boss tensed in his hiding spot. How could Scorch know about the conversation he’d had with Ace before they deployed? The conversation that reminded him of how futile his relationship with her could end up being. “We’re not planning to settle down and raise a family. Where’d you get that from?”

“Just thinking out loud. We’re Republic property. That makes things difficult.”

Boss tried not to sigh audibly. Scorch was stuck in thinking mode. It happened when he was waiting for something to happen. “Yeah, I hadn’t forgotten.”

“Does she know that? Does she know that you can’t ever—”

“Scorch, do we have to talk about this?”

“Just asking a question, ner vod. I like Ace.”

“She knows.” He thought back to their conversation. She was prepared to wait and see. She was prepared to put her life on hold to a degree for him because she wanted to be with him. It was still something he was getting his head around. But it made him feel like there was some hope for the future. It gave him something to look forward to. “She knows,” he repeated. “She knows what she’s signed up for.”

Ace quickly swallowed her mouthful of cookie before answering the alert. “Denn here.”

“We have reports of an active shooter at the Core Plaza. Lieutenant Dovel has responded, but he’s requesting backup.”

“Copy that. We’re on our way. ETA five minutes.”

She flipped on the lights and sirens and began to weave her way at speed through the early evening traffic. “Dayn, get Jae there with a few units. Might be more than one shooter, and we’ll need some crowd control.”

“Copy that.”

As Dayn made the call, Ace tried to focus on the traffic, but she was nervous. After the school siege, everything seemed more daunting, and she worried that every call was another set-up with her as the target. But she swallowed back her anxiety as they approached the plaza. Shoppers were already starting to pour out of every available exit, frantic and terrified. She swore to herself as she and Dayn jumped out and quickly pulled on the assault gear they carried in the vehicle. She looked around at the fleeing shoppers as they fled from the area. “Let’s hope he’s not one of them.”

Dayn caught the rifle she tossed him, pausing as a volley of shots rang out from within the retail mall. “Doesn’t sound like it.”

They jogged towards the plaza, meeting up with several other squads who were just arriving and gearing up. Ace pulled her helmet on and opened up her comm. “Dovel, you receiving?”

“Affirmative. We’re tracking him through the big department store at the east end. That place has got at least three external exits, but he doesn’t seem in any hurry to leave.”

Ace nodded to Jae, who sent officers off to cover the exits. “How many civvies are still in there?”

“Dozens. Shops have all put down their shutters, but there are still a lot of shoppers trying to get out.”

“Copy that. We’re coming in.” She turned to the officers still with her, including Jae and Dayn. “We need to focus on getting the shoppers safely out. They’ll all be panicking, but just try to get them to the nearest exit without a stampede. Jae, I want you and Dayn with me to back up Dovel.”

Ace led the assault team as they approached the plaza. It was a tricky site to secure with so many access points. “Dovel, are we sure it’s just one shooter?”

“Affirmative. I spotted him as soon as we came in. We haven’t been able to get a clear shot with so many people running around.”

“Copy that. We’ll get as many out as we can, then move in on the target.”

She raised her rifle as they entered the plaza. She straight away clocked two bodies and felt that fury she often felt when she saw innocent victims. That was the reason she became a police officer – to help people. She waved her team forward, and they converged on the department store, shooing shoppers outside as they went. She knew base would have more units arriving as they became available. She pressed the button on her comm to connect her with base. “We’re going to need multiple ambulances and the coroner. Two deceased so far.”

As they drew closer, she spotted Dovel with two other officers, crouched behind a large planter box. She jogged over to join them, ducking down behind the cover. “Sitrep?”

“I wish I knew. Male. Thirties. He hasn’t made any demands. Doesn’t have any hostages, as far as we can tell. Once the exits are secure, we can storm the shop, but I don’t know how many shoppers are trapped in there.”

“Well, maybe we don’t storm.” She looked around the assembled group. “We’ve got enough good shots here to take him down quietly without a big scene.”

“That’s a risky strategy. He could be watching us on camera…tracking our every move.”

“And he might not be.” Ace pulled her helmet off to address the other lieutenant. They often disagreed over tactics, but this time, it was different. Usually, she was the more gung-ho one, and he was more reserved. “Look, Dovel, you said it yourself. We’ve got an unknown number of civilians in there. We can’t just go charging in and risk hitting the wrong person. If he doesn’t have any demands, that means he’s got nothing to lose. And that means we have nothing to bargain with.”

Dovel thought for a moment. “Alright, we’ll try it your way. I don’t want any more bodies here.”

“Okay.” Ace shoved her helmet on and waved the team forward again, all of them keeping low and utilising the cover of benches and planters until they reached the front entrance. She commed the external team. “Exits secure?”

“Affirmative, ma’am.”

Ace nodded at Dovel and slipped into the large shop, rifle raised and charged as the others did the same. Moving carefully, they fanned out through the shop, and she cursed the fact that they were in the fashion department. So many places to hide. She almost tripped on something as she crept along, wincing when she saw the outstretched arm of a woman protruding from beneath a rack of coats. She squatted to check for a pulse. Nothing. Swearing to herself, she kept moving, eyes scanning the shop. She couldn’t use the HUD in this situation and risk taking out an innocent shopper or one of her own officers.

She rounded the outerwear section and spotted a cluster of shoppers cowering behind a counter. She raised a finger to her lips to silence them and waved them back down. She still didn’t know whether this was going to turn into a firefight or not. The shop was eerily silent as she moved through it, unnerving her. Sliding into the eveningwear department, she spotted two employees cowering behind a display. One of them pointed with a trembling finger towards the fitting room. She opened up her comm and used her softest whisper. “We might have him bailed up in the fitting rooms.”

She crept slowly towards the fitting room, throwing herself to the floor when a blaster bolt whizzed by her head. Sliding closer on the floor, she called out to the shooter. “We have you surrounded! Come out with your hands up where we can see them!”

The response was several more blaster bolts, and she saw her team take cover as the shots rang out. She crawled over to where Dayn was positioned, sliding in behind a display. “At least there’s plenty of cover here.”

“Yeah.” Dayn risked peeking over the edge of the display of mannequins showcasing the latest formal gowns. “There must be over a dozen cubicles in there.”

“And one narrow entrance. We’d be like target practice for him.”

Dayn was looking thoughtfully up at the high ceiling. “What if I got in over him?”

Ace looked up at the ceiling. It was the standard type for this kind of complex, made up of large tiles to conceal the complex system of vents, ducts, and cables that controlled the heating, cooling, and power. She could see what Dayn was thinking. If they could get over the fitting rooms, they could try and locate the shooter without his seeing them. They might be able to take him down without a firefight, possibly even alive, if they caught him by surprise. But they also risked being caught in a position that was difficult to get out of. “Let’s give him a little longer. He might be getting bored.”

But he wasn’t bored. A new volley of shots rang out. Loud. And slugs peppered the racks and displays around them. Ace slithered down lower. He’d come heavily armed then. She looked over at Dayn and gave him a nod. “Let’s go.” As they crawled towards a storage room, she quietly advised the team of their plan. “Dayn and I are going in overhead. We’ll be on comm silence. Jae, take your team and cover the entrance in case he makes a run for it.”

“Copy that.”

Dovel’s voice popped into her helmet. “Denn, I’m not sure this is a good idea. It’s too risky.”

“We can’t wait all day, Dovel. We’ve got dead in here and probably injured. We need to secure the site for paramedics to get in. We don’t have time to wait him out.”

“There was a long pause, then Dovel came back to her. “Okay. But if it doesn’t work, he could have you pinned up there.”

Ace glanced at Dayn again, and he winked at her beneath his visor. “We’ll be fine. Going silent.”

She and Dayn crawled as quietly as they could to the storage room, locking themselves in as they assessed the access. It was high, but there were enough shelves to climb up. She took Dayn’s rifle from him and watched as he clambered up the shelving unit. He pushed the nearest tile up and slid it aside, then stretched a hand down to take the rifles from Ace. He then hauled himself up into the ceiling cavity and carefully balanced himself on the framework. Once he was settled, Ace climbed up the shelving, taking the hand Dayn offered to pull her up. They lay quietly for a moment, catching their breath, then she nodded in the direction of the fitting rooms.

Moving cautiously across the ceiling, they tried to stay as quiet as they could, sticking with the grid of framework. The tiles could probably hold them, but it wasn’t worth the risk. It was a challenging task, crawling on their bellies, carrying rifles and trying to stay silent, and it took them several minutes to reach a point above the fitting rooms. Ace lay flat, peering down through the minuscule gaps in the tiles. If they were fast enough, they could slide a tile away and incapacitate him.

They slid silently along the cramped space, hoping that the hum of the ducted air was enough to muffle any sound they made as they checked each cubicle. At the fourth one, Dayn held up a hand and mouthed ‘got him’ at her. Glad she’d had the foresight to make sure her squads had some basic hand signals in their repertoire, she gestured to Dayn that she would slide the tile away for him to take the shot. He got his rifle into position, lying flat on his belly, ready. He raised a hand and counted down with his fingers – three, two— But that’s as far as he got when a volley of shots rang out, slugs piercing through the ceiling tiles they were lying on. She threw herself back, quickly switching her comm back on. “Shots fired! Shots fired!” She checked on Dayn, horrified to see him lying prone over the framework, blood welling from a wound in his neck. Ignoring the threat from below, she scrambled over to him, using her chin to activate the comm on her shoulder. “Officer down! Dayn’s down. He’s been hit!”

She heard more shots, thuds and scuffling below as she knelt over Dayn with her hands pressed against his neck, trying desperately to stem the flow of blood. His eyes were already defocused, but she was determined to keep him alive. “Stay with me, Dayn! Come on, you can do it.”

But, even as she stared into his eyes, she could see the life drain out of them as the blood pooled beneath her knees. Still unwilling to give up, she pressed harder on the wound, still willing him to stay alive. But it was already too late.

Chapter Text

Jaller Obrim entered the locker room, peering into the dimly lit space to find his lieutenant. She was slumped on a bench in front of her locker, head down, as she stared at her hands. Her hands were covered in blood. Dayn’s blood dried into her skin, under her nails. Blood on her uniform, too. He walked over to her, worried by the state she was in. “I thought you were coming here to clean up.”

“Yeah. I’m getting there.”

He sat beside her with a weary sigh. “You know there’s going to be an inquest. Then an internal inquiry.”

“I know.”

“Maybe you should tell me everything now while it’s still fresh in your mind.”

She shrugged dejectedly. “We assessed the situation. We needed to shut the shooter down quickly to get paramedics in there. Dayn thought going in overhead could work.”

“And what did you think?”

“I thought it was worth a try.”

Obrim leaned his head back against the lockers. “It was a risky strategy. Dovel’s already told me he disagreed with it.”

She nodded sadly. “It’s my fault. Dayn’s dead because of me. I shouldn’t have gone along with his plan. It was high risk. I should have come up with something else.”

“What was your plan B?”

“We didn’t have one. He was bailed up with god knows how many weapons, and we had an unknown number of dead and injured that needed help.” She finally looked at him. “What would you have done?”

“I wasn’t there. And the one thing I know is that hindsight is a wonderful thing. That’s when we come up with the perfect plans. But in the moment…well, it’s never that simple.” He patted her knee before getting to his feet. “Get cleaned up, go home and get some rest, and we’ll talk more tomorrow.”

Ace watched him leave, then stared back down at her bloody hands. Suddenly exhausted, she started to pull her tac gear off before grabbing a towel and clean clothes from her locker. She was about to toss her comlink in when it beeped. Looking at the screen, she saw it was Boss. Again. He’d called several times and left several text messages and voice messages, but she’d been avoiding him. She was filled with guilt and shame and couldn’t bear the thought of having to tell him what had happened.

Boss sat on the shuttle that was taking them back to Arca, eyes on Scorch. Scorch was more or less back to normal after his ‘episode’ on Haurgab, more so now that they were heading back to base. But he wasn’t okay. None of them were. And he should have been more aware of where his squad members were at. He should have known how close Scorch was to snapping. That was his job. He was the sergeant. He felt guilty for not seeing it. And he felt guilty because maybe he would have been more tuned in if he wasn’t thinking about himself. About Ace.

As they drew closer to base, he pulled his comlink off his forearm plate to check. He knew she hadn’t called or messaged, but he still needed to check. She hadn’t responded to any of his messages, and it was starting to worry him now. He knew Matthias would contact him if anything had happened to her. Even Captain Obrim might get a message to him. But nothing.

“Seeing Ace when we get back?”

He looked up, surprised by Scorch’s question. “Probably.”

“Got plans?”

“No. I’m not sure where she is.”

Scorch looked at Sev, who just shrugged. “Well, there’s a lot of crime on Trip Zip.”

“Yeah.” Boss gathered up his backpack and helmet as the shuttle docked. Report in, shower, food. Then what?

Boss waited for several minutes after pressing the door chime, but when no one answered, he let himself in. He looked around. Nothing seemed amiss. Frowning, he went up the hall to Ace’s room. Looking through the open door, he saw her lying on the bed, her back to him. “Ace?”

When she didn’t answer, he pulled his jacket off and sat on the bed, leaning over to see her eyes open. She was awake. He rolled her onto her back, his eyes meeting hers. “What’s going on?”

She sat up, pushing her hair out of her face. “I didn’t know you were coming back.”

“I called. Left messages.”

“Sorry…”

He grabbed her arms and hauled her up so she was sitting. “Something’s going on, so spill it.”

Ace turned her face away from him. “Dayn’s dead. Killed in the line of duty, and it’s my fault.”

Boss took a moment to process this. He’d met Dayn at the social club. He was a good kid. Ace was very fond of him, and he clearly looked up to her. She’d lost a valued member of her team. She was hurting, and suddenly, he felt out of his depth. He wasn’t good at expressing emotions. He didn’t have the skills it took to comfort someone. People died around him all the time, but you just had to get up and keep going. And he’d never had to deal with losing a member of his own squad. After what happened on Haurgab, that somehow seemed closer…more possible. And maybe he’d snap like Scorch did. He looked at Ace’s wan face, not certain what to do next. “Do you want to talk about it?”

She shrugged unhappily. “It won’t bring Dayn back.”

“No.” He pulled his boots off and lay down beside her. “Why do you think it’s your fault?”

“I let him talk me into a high-risk strategy. I didn’t think it through properly, and now he’s dead.”

He put his arms around her when she rolled into his side. “What you do is already a high-risk job. Dayn knew that.”

“This isn’t a war, though, Boss. Our job is about minimising casualties. We don’t go in expecting to die. I should have had another plan…or maybe we could have waited for more backup, or—”

“You know that doesn’t help.”

“What doesn’t help?”

“Trying to think of all the things you could have done differently. It won’t change anything.”

“Won’t it? Maybe it’ll prevent something like that from happening in the future.”

“Maybe.” He slid a hand under her shirt to rub her back. He’d discovered that was something that always calmed her. “Why are you home on a workday?”

“I’m on leave until they finish the inquiry. I’m not allowed to work.”

“An inquiry?”

She nodded. “It’s standard procedure when an officer is killed. A board of people who weren’t there get to decide if I keep my job or not.”

“You could lose your job? What kind of shabla system fires someone for doing their job?”

“That’s just how it is. I was in a room all morning getting questioned by five administrators, only two of whom have ever done any active policing.”

“Sounds stupid.”

“Well, apparently, it makes them impartial.” She sighed unhappily. “Sorry. It feels like every time you’re back, I screw everything up.”

“It’s fine. Do you want to tell me what happened?”

“No. I’ve been talking about it all morning.”

Boss kept rubbing her back as he thought. “Why didn’t you answer my calls or messages? Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I don’t know… I just felt so ashamed that I let this happen to one of my team. I should have been keeping him safe, not letting him put himself at risk.”

“Tell me what happened, and I’ll tell you what I think.”

“What?” Ace looked up at him, bewildered.

Boss was looking intently at her. “Tell me what the plan was and what went wrong.”

Grimacing, she sat up, dragging a hand through her hair. “We had an active shooter in a shopping plaza. We had him cornered, but only one way in or out. We had an unknown number of dead and wounded, and we needed to get paramedics in ASAP.”

“And?”

“And Dayn suggested going in overhead. Those places have big, open ceiling cavities. So that’s what we did. But the shooter clocked us before we could act and fired up through the ceiling. One freak shot to the neck…right in the gap between tac vest and helmet.”

Boss was silent as he tried to visualise what she was telling him. “Did you take the shooter down?”

“Jae did. He got in there somehow in the chaos.”

“So…mission accomplished?”

“Well, yes, but—”

“But this is what you all sign up for, isn’t it? You all go into it knowing the risk involved. I’ve seen what’s happened to you since I’ve known you.”

“But—”

“Ace, if you hold onto this, you’ll go back on the job and doubt yourself, and you can’t afford to do that.”

“I know. But I might not be allowed back on the job.”

“You will be.”

She sighed as she flopped back down on the bed. “Maybe. We’ll see.” She felt her body relax as Boss pulled her back against his chest. “I’ve been seeing the shrink at work.”

“Did they tell you you’re crazy?”

“Not yet. I’ve only had two sessions, though.”

“Hmm…I knew it the first time I met you.”

She managed a soft laugh at his joke. “Well, you’re superior stock. You’re smart.”

“Yeah, I am. So, stop beating yourself up and stop thinking the worst.”

“Yes, sir.” She nestled closer into him. “Boss…I don’t really feel like sex right now… Sorry, I don’t want your leave to be—”

“Ace, stop being an idiot. That’s not the only reason I’m here.”

“Even though I’m amazing in bed?”

“There are other reasons.” There were other reasons. Now. At first, it had mostly been a physical attraction. No strings attached. But now? Now, it was more, and that worried him and made him feel good all at the same time.

She rolled over to face him. “Like what?”

“Are you really going to make me tell you?”

“You could just write me a list if that’s easier.”

“Great. I’ll get right on that.” He found the remote control on her side table. “Find something to watch, hotshot. I can stay overnight.”

Ace tucked herself into his side again and flicked on the holoscreen. “Thanks, Boss.”

Ace was brewing caf the next morning when her comlink beeped. She glanced over to see who it was, then went back to what she was doing. Boss frowned at her. “Aren’t you going to answer that?”

She just shrugged as she dug cups out of a cabinet. “It’s nothing important.”

Suspicious, Boss grabbed the comlink just as it stopped beeping. One missed call. Boss. “Well, it wasn’t me, so I’m guessing it’s the other one? Why didn’t you answer it?” Ace didn’t answer him as she busied herself pouring caf, carefully not looking at him, but Boss was not easily deterred. He took the caf pot from her and grabbed her shoulders. “What the shab’s going on?”

“Nothing.”

“I can tell you’re lying, Ace. So why don’t you want to talk to Obrim?”

She looked down at the floor, not able to meet his gaze. “Because I don’t want to hear him tell me I’ve lost my job.”

“But you don’t know you’ve lost your job. And you won’t know if you don’t talk to him.”

“But—”

Exasperated, Boss shoved the comlink into her hand. “Call him.”

“I will after I—”

“Now.”

Sighing defeatedly, she took the device and called Obrim. “Boss, it’s me. Sorry I missed your call. I was in the shower.”

Boss rolled his eyes at her lie, watching her closely as she listened to what her superior officer had to say. Her face didn’t give anything away, and she said nothing to Obrim. She just listened. After several minutes, she ended the call and laid the comlink on the counter. Boss gave her a moment, waiting for her to speak. When she finally looked at him, her expression still didn’t tell him anything. As the worst-case scenario went through his mind, he wondered what it would mean for her. She loved her job. And she was good at it. It’s all she knew. And he didn’t know what she’d do if she were stood down. It still felt a little strange to care so much about what happened to a civilian. But Ace wasn’t just any civilian. She was someone he cared about. He grabbed her hand and pulled her closer. “Bad?”

“No. The review panel agreed that we acted appropriately under the circumstances. They said Dayn’s death couldn’t have been reasonably foreseen and that we acted to try and protect the public in a difficult situation.”

“So you keep your job?”

“Yeah.”

Boss frowned. She didn’t seem relieved or happy. “That’s good, isn’t it?”

“Yeah…”

“But?”

“Well…it won’t bring Dayn back, will it? And what if they’re wrong? What if I really fucked up, and it’s my fault he’s dead?”

“You just said that’s not what they found. Ace, you need to get back to work. The longer you stay out, the harder it’ll be to go back.”

She gave him a look then, the kind of look he hadn’t seen from her. Frustration. Anger almost, from the perennially good-natured woman he was used to. “You’ve never lost a squad member, Boss. He died in my arms. You don’t know what it’s like.”

Boss almost took a step back from her as Niner’s words echoed in his head. You have never lost brothers. Back then, he’d seen it as another reminder of Delta’s superiority over Omega, Vau’s training over Skirata’s. But now? Now, it felt like a reminder of how lucky they were to still be intact over two years into the war. His mortality seemed more real and palpable since Ace came along. She was a constant reminder that he was a man, not just a weapon. And now that fear of death had crept its way into his psyche. “You’re right,” he said finally, “I don’t know what it’s like. We’ve been lucky. And this time, you were unlucky. You lost a man. You need to listen to what they said – that it couldn’t have reasonably been foreseen.”

“Maybe.”

“Ace, you’re a good cop. And you need to get back on the job. You can’t just lie around in bed feeling sorry for yourself.”

“That was working okay,” she shrugged.

“No, it wasn’t. What did Obrim say?”

“That he wants me back on board tomorrow.”

“So…?”

“So, I guess I’ll be back at work tomorrow.”

“You could say it with more enthusiasm.”

She leaned against his chest as he put his arms around her. “Give me some time to get used to the idea. Then I’ll be bouncing off the walls like I usually am.”

“Maybe not that much enthusiasm.”

Chapter Text

Ace murmured groggily as something dragged her from sleep. Beeping. Incessant beeping. She tried to ignore it, burrowing further into Boss’s side, but he was pushing her away. “Move, Ace, I need to get that.”

Grumbling under her breath, she rolled over to let Boss get up and find his comlink, and she heard him talking as he answered the call. But the beeping was still going. She sat up to catch her own comlink when he tossed it to her. “Denn here.”

She covered her other ear so she could hear Obrim without Boss’s voice interrupting. “Ace, sorry to wake you. I’m calling squads in. We’ve got a rogue Jedi on the run. GAR has asked for assistance.”

“A rogue Jedi? Wait, do you mean the one who killed that woman?”

“That’s the one. She’s escaped detention.”

“Right, I’ll be there as soon as I can.” She ended the call and started pulling on clothes, just as Boss ended his own call. “I have to go, Boss. Jedi hunt.”

He stared at her for a beat, then started looking for his bodysuit. “Then I guess you can give me a lift. We’ve been called in to assist.”

“Ooh, that’s romantic! Working together again. Do you know anything about this Jedi?”

“Nope.”

“She’s not going to turn me into a frog or something, is she?”

Boss gave her a look as he quickly attached his armor. “You’re thinking of witches.”

“Oh, right. Well, hopefully, she’ll turn herself in, and we can come back to bed. Ready, hotshot?”

Boss grabbed his helmet and followed her to her speeder, calling his squad to arrange an RV point as they travelled. It was quicker than going back to base. As they travelled down into the lower levels of Coruscant, Ace patched her comm in with the open CSF channel as officers and GAR troopers tracked the rogue Jedi. “Why would she run?” Ace asked. “Why not just go to trial?”

“No idea. She’s Skywalker’s padawan. He’s a bit of a…”

“A bit of a what?”

“A bit of a loose cannon. Hopefully, she’s not.”

He leaned out and spotted his squad on a platform with several other commando squads and Coruscant Guard troops. “There.”

Ace swerved down and let Boss out. “Good luck out there. Happy hunting.”

“Yeah. Be careful, hotshot.”

She grinned at him and saluted as the hatch closed, then sped to the point where the padawan had last been spotted. She groaned as it started to rain heavily. “Oh, great. That’s just what we need.” She made it to the RV point Obrim had sent her, grabbed her rifle and ran to jump aboard one of the GAR gunships that were about to take off. “Hi, I’m Ace.”

“Thorn,” the commander on board said, touching his fingers to his helmet visor. “Nice to have you aboard.”

“Oh, I’ve been on one of these babies before. What’s the latest?”

“Ground troops are in pursuit. She’s heading for the industrial pipeline.”

“Oh, boy. If she makes it there, it’s pretty easy to disappear.” She activated the comm on her shoulder. “This is Denn. I want all units to head for the pipeline. Monitor all the usual spots.”

Thorn pulled his helmet off and ran an appraising eye over her. “Usual spots?”

“She wouldn’t be the first fugitive to use that area for a getaway. My team is across all the access points and exits. We’re not usually in pursuit of a Jedi, though.”

“Neither are we. Orders are to bring her in alive.”

Ace relayed the order to her team. “Who’s in charge down there?”

“General Skywalker. He’s got Commander Fox with him and his captain, Rex.”

She nodded thoughtfully as she tried to imagine where a young padawan on the run might go. “Can you let me down to join them?”

“If you want.”

Ace waited for him to relay the order to the pilot, stretching up to grab an overhead handle as the ship swooped down to the surface. It hovered briefly to let her jump out, and she was surprised to see Thorn jump out after her. He gave her an enigmatic look before sliding his helmet on. “Can’t let a little thing like you go out there alone.”

Ace snorted as she jogged across the concourse to join the others on the hunt. She went up to the Jedi leading the group. “General Skywalker? I’m Lieutenant Denn, CSF. What do I need to know?”

“Ahsoka’s fast, and she’s scared. She didn’t do this. I know she didn’t.”

Ace just shrugged. “Don’t care. I need to know what kind of risk she presents to my people or the public.”

The Jedi general looked angered by her request. “She’s not going to hurt anyone.”

He strode off to talk to someone on his comm, and the senior Coruscant Guard commander, Fox, approached her. “She’s already killed some of my men. She’s armed with two lightsabers, and she’s dangerous.” He pulled up an image on a palm projector. “This is her.”

“Thanks.” Ace stepped aside to comm her team. “All units, suspect is a Togruta female. Dark red dress. She should be considered armed and dangerous and has already killed troopers. Move cautious. The order stands to bring her in alive.”

“She wouldn’t have hurt those troopers. I know she wouldn’t.”

Ace turned to see the clone captain, Rex. He sounded genuinely upset, and she felt more kindly disposed to him as a clone than she did to the Jedi general. “We have the same orders as you, to bring her in alive. But I have to do my job.”

The captain nodded at her and went to join his general. While they waited, she commed Boss. “Hey, hotshot. Anything?”

“Negative. You?”

“Nothing. I’m with her master now. He’s a little…mad…”

“Just stay out of his way,” Boss advised. “We’re with Obrim down here securing the pipeline. If she comes down this way, we’ll head her off.”

“Hopefully, we can herd her down towards you. Stay safe.”

As Boss disconnected, she heard yelling and saw the Jedi and his captain take off running, followed by Commander Fox. Squinting through the rain, she saw the renegade padawan running through the rain. A squad of Coruscant Guard troopers was in close pursuit, firing stun blasts at her. Ace pushed her wet hair off her face and tracked the girl’s progress. She knew this city; she knew all the ins and outs. And she knew where to head her off. She tossed her rifle at Commander Thorn and took off running, heading in the opposite direction. She heard Thorn yell something to his men, and then he was catching up with her. “Where the hell are you going?”

“I have a plan,” She panted out. “Trust me.”

“Trust you? You’re going the wrong way!”

“No one asked you to follow me. I hope you can keep up!”

“I can keep up.”

Thorn stuck with her as she sprinted through a complex series of tunnels and industrial complexes, then he realised all the subtle turns were taking them back. Within minutes, the Jedi was back in sight again, only this time, she was heading right towards them. Thorn stopped and pulled his blaster. “Commander Tano! Stop!”

The padawan froze for a beat, almost surprised to see them in front of her, then she bolted, leaping over them with both lightsabers ignited. Thorn fired, but she deflected the bolts back at him, two of them hitting him. He dropped to the ground with a cry, and Ace stopped in her tracks. “You okay?”

“Yeah. Don’t wait for me.”

“Wasn’t planning to.” Ace took off again. She had the padawan in sight now, and she was gaining ground. She was dimly aware of GAR gunships flying overhead, tracking them. As she ran, she almost felt admiration for the girl. She wasn’t going down without a fight. As they headed for the central viaduct, the gunships closed in, troopers leaning out to fire on the Jedi. A blast from a missile launcher sent her flying, the two lightsabers knocked from her hands. Ace jumped onto the pipe that ran parallel, her lung burning now as she tried to keep up. Ground troops were catching up with them now, surrounding the fugitive. She saw Skywalker arrive on the scene with his clone captain and Commander Fox and stopped to take a few deep breaths. They had her now. She pulled her own blaster and kept it aimed from her position, waiting for the others to take her in. But then it kicked off again as the padawan used a lightsaber to cut a hole in one of the huge pipes and drop down into it. Ace swore loudly and ran for the nearest manhole in the parallel pipe she was on. She slid down the ladder and ran, hoping to head her off at the first junction. The water rushing through the bottom of the pipe made running difficult, and she was starting to flag. She was soaked through and exhausted. But she had a job to do. She found a burst of energy and swung into the junction of the tunnel, coming face to face with the fugitive. Both of them were breathing hard, but Ace had enough in her to raise her blaster. “Ahsoka Tano, I’m taking you into custody. I need you to come quietly. You’ve already caused enough chaos for one night.”

The girl stared at her with large blue eyes as though trying to make a connection. “I didn’t do it!” she said desperately. “I didn’t kill that woman, and I didn’t kill those troopers!”

Ace just held her blaster steady. “I don’t care! Now put your hands up!”

There was a silent standoff, broken only by the sound of running water, the distant beat of pounding footsteps coming closer. Then, an invisible force threw Ace back into the duracrete wall, and she landed with a pained gasp in the flowing water. She took several minutes to get her bearings, looking up when a pair of red armored boots appeared in front of her. She took the hand Commander Thorn offered so he could pull her up. “Okay?”

“Yeah.” She looked down at herself. Now, she was filthy and wet. And the back of her head was pounding from hitting the wall. “Where is she?”

“She jumped.”

“She jumped?”

Thorn shrugged. “Jedi. She got away for now.”

“Fuck.” Ace rubbed the back of her head, wincing when she saw blood on her hand. “I’d better go meet up with my boss and see what he wants to do.”

She followed Thorn back through the maze of tunnels, picking up Guard troopers along the way until they were back out in the open. She climbed into a gunship with Thorn and his men. “Can you take me down?”

“No problem.”

Thorn pulled his helmet off as the ship took off. “You should get your head looked at. I can have a medic check you over.”

“Oh, it’s fine. I’ve had worse than that.”

Thorn gave her another appraising look. She was soaked through, dirty and bedraggled. But there was something about her. “You know your way around this city.”

Ace flashed a gap-toothed grin at him. “I wouldn’t be much of a cop if I didn’t.”

“I guess not. What department are you in?”

“Anti-Terror. We like to call it the Fun Squad.”

Thorn chuckled. “I’m surprised we haven’t crossed paths before. I would have remembered you.”

“Yeah, people usually remember me. That can be good or bad!”

Thorn laughed again. “Hey, if you're not doing anything later this week, we could—”

The side hatch slid open as the ship landed, and Ace jumped out to speak to a senior CSF officer. Her boss, he guessed. As he climbed out to speak to his own men on the ground here, he saw there were two commando squads with the CSF teams standing by to assist with the hunt. But his eyebrows raised when one of the commandos, a sergeant, approached the red-headed cop, pulling his helmet off to check the back of her head, a worried frown on his face. He saw her lay a hand on the commando’s armored chest, reassuring him. She was taken then. One of his own men sidled up behind him. “Commando, sir. I’d say you were outgunned.”

Thorn checked out the commando again. He was solid, grim-looking. Not someone he’d want to tangle with voluntarily. “You could be right. Even I’d think twice about taking on one of those boys.” He banged the side of the hull. “All aboard, men, let’s get out of here and regroup.”

Ace jogged over as the Guard troopers were loading up. “We’re off the trail for now, but we can come back on if you need us.”

“Oh, I’m sure we’ll be fine,” Thorn said, mindful of the commando’s vaguely threatening eyes on him. “It’ll be up to the Jedi Council now.”

“Okay. Thanks for the ride.”

As the gunship took off again, she went back to Boss, who was watching her carefully. “Who was that?”

“Commander Thorn. He gave me a lift.”

“A lift?”

“Yeah.” Ace started to walk towards the CSF VAAT/e, looking back with a frown when Boss didn’t follow her. “What’s wrong?”

“I don’t like the way he was looking at you.”

“So?”

“What do you mean, so?”

“Boss, I’m too tired to deal with you being jealous or whatever it is you’re being. My head hurts, and I want to go home and get out of these wet clothes. So, are you coming back with me, or are you going to go back to barracks and sulk there?”

“I’m not sulking.”

“Well, whatever it is, stop. You know I’m not interested in anyone else. But you don’t own me. He can look at me however he wants, and I’ll deal with it if it’s a problem. Got it?”

Boss climbed into the ship with her, waving his men back to their own speeder. “Fine.”

Ace leaned tiredly into his side, and he put an arm around her shoulders to support her. They were common knowledge amongst the CSF team now. They had nothing to hide.

It was almost 2am by the time they made it home after stopping to collect her speeder. Ace went straight to the fresher to start peeling off her wet clothes. Boss quickly shed his armor in her bedroom, then went to check on her. In the fresher, she was struggling to get her wet trousers off, so he knelt wordlessly in front of her to tug them down. Her skin was cold and damp, and he rubbed his hands up and down her thighs to warm them up. “Sorry.”

“For what?”

“Being jealous.”

She wrapped her arms around his neck, letting him rest his head against her stomach. “You don’t have anything to be jealous of. I only have eyes for you. And sometimes all the men that look exactly like you…”

She yelped when he pinched her bottom before shoving her under the hot water. Then she sighed as the water warmed her chilled flesh. Boss stripped his bodysuit off and squeezed in beside her. He didn’t strictly need another shower, but he liked being that close to her. He liked the noises she made when he pulled her back against his chest, smoothing soapy hands up her body, over her breasts. Satisfied they were both clean enough, he shut the water off and pulled her out, tossing her a towel. She quickly dried herself and wrapped the towel around her body before pressing up against him as he tried to dry off. “Wanna warm me up inside now?”

Boss snorted at her suggestion. “You’re an idiot.”

“Is that a yes or a no?”

Instead of answering, he wrapped the towel around his hips and hoisted her up over his shoulder so she was hanging down his back. But Ace slapped his bottom as he carried her back to her room. “Kitchen. I need a snack.” Shaking his head at her, he diverted to the kitchen, backing up to the counter so she could rummage through the fruit bowl and pull out a jogan fruit. Then she slapped his bottom again. “Bed.”

Just as he turned around, the door to the apartment opened, and Matti backed in, wrapped up in the indigo-blue arms of a Twi’lek man, kissing him passionately. The Twi’lek man opened his eyes, blinking when he saw Boss standing there with Ace draped over his shoulder, quickly pulling away from Matthias. Ace raised her head to try and see what was going on, swearing when she saw the stranger. Boss lowered her to the floor, confused by the way she was staring at the man as she made sure her towel was still wrapped securely around her body. And he was staring back at her. Matti looked between his sister and his date. “Anyone want to tell me what’s going on here?”

Ace swallowed. “We uh…we’ve met before. Kind of.”

“Kind of? What does that mean?”

The Twi’lek man was looking horrified now. “Is…is that your sister?”

“Yeah. Ace. Ace, this is Doran. And that’s Boss. Now, how do you two know each other?”

Ace looked around the room, the awkwardness and confusion so thick you could cut it with a knife. Best to get it out in the open. “We hooked up one night. It was months ago, and it was just once. And we didn’t even exchange names.”

Matti stared at her. “Well, this is awkward.”

“I didn’t know,” Doran said. “I promise you… I wish I had, I—”

“Well, obviously, no one knew,” Matti said, trying to bring some dignity back. “If I’m honest, this isn’t the weirdest thing to happen to us as twins.”

Doran’s eyes grew wider as he looked between Ace and her brother. “You’re twins?”

Ace looked apologetically at Boss. “That was the time you—”

“Yeah, I figured that out.”

She looked back at her brother. “Look, I think I can speak for Doran, now that I know his name, and say that it was a one-off thing. I don’t want it to get in the way of anything or…”

Matti was still looking bewildered and slightly horrified. “Kind of takes the whole twin thing into new territory.”

“I guess.” She pushed Boss back towards her room. “We’ll give you some privacy to talk things through.”

She closed the bedroom door, watching Boss as he sat on her bed. She sat beside him and took his hand. “Sorry, that was pretty weird.”

“You think?”

“Well, I couldn’t have predicted that would happen.”

He gave her a confused look. “If he hooked up with you, why would he be with your brother?”

“I don’t know. I guess he plays both sides. I mean, I experimented a bit back in the day…” Boss lay back on the bed. Civilians never failed to perplex him. Ace crawled over him. “You’re not mad, are you?”

“No. I’m not mad. And I’m not jealous. I know you’re loyal to me.”

“I am,” she said softly, trailing her fingers over his chest. “I don’t want anyone else, Boss. I only want you.” She leaned down to kiss him, letting the towel slip away so her naked chest was pressed to his. But Boss pushed her away after a moment, and she pouted at him. “You are angry.”

“I’m not angry. You’re dripping blood on me from that head wound.”

He lifted her off him and pushed her into the fresher again, looking through her hair for the wound. He clenched his jaw as Ace ground her bottom back into him, smirking at his grimace in the mirror. “We could just do it in here, then it won’t matter about the blood.”

“Don’t be an idiot.”

She caught his eyes in the mirror as he pressed a small suture strip over the split. “I’m your idiot, Boss. No one else’s.”

“Great. I’ll add you to my collection.”

Chapter Text

“Ace, there’s a clone out front wanting to see you.”

Ace looked up from her terminal with a confused expression. “Boss didn’t tell me he was coming in.”

“I didn’t say it was Boss,” Jae pointed out, leaning against her doorframe.

“Is it Captain Ordo?”

“No.”

“Mereel?”

“No. You know you could just stop the guessing game and get off your lazy ass to see for yourself.”

“I am not lazy!” she said with an outraged gasp. “I may be many things, but I’m not lazy.”

She followed Jae out through the bullpen, surprised to see the Coruscant Guard commander she’d met the week before, Thorn. He smiled when he saw her approach. “You look different when you’re dry.”

“Better or worse?”

“Hmm, I’m not sure I’ve seen you enough to make a judgement.”

“Well, I’m sure you’ll see me again with the amount of crime in this city. What brings you here? Another runaway Jedi?”

“No, came to return this.”

He held her rifle out, and she took it with a sheepish smile. “Thanks. I thought I’d lost it. I’ve been working up the courage to go and confess to procurement.”

“I tossed it to one of my men. It turned up in one of the gunships during a clean-up.”

“Oh, well, thanks for bringing it back. I could have picked it up.”

“It’s not a problem. Gave me an excuse to swing by.”

“Swing by?” She edged him back to her office, ignoring the look Jae was giving her. “What for?”

“To see you again. I’ve been thinking about you a lot since last week.”

Ace swallowed nervously. She hadn’t given the clone commander a second thought since last week. “Um…that’s very nice of you, but I’m—”

“Taken? Involved with a commando?”

“How did you know?”

“I saw you.” He glanced back to make sure no one was outside the door. “How serious is it? I mean, commandos are hardly ever here. That’s the job for them.”

“We’ve been together a while now. It’s pretty serious.”

He gave a long, thoughtful look, then he shrugged good-naturedly. “Well, can’t blame a man for trying. But I can take no for an answer. I’d still like to work with you again, though. You certainly know how to make things interesting.”

“Well, that’s nice of you to say,” she said with a grin. “My boss tends to use words like crazy, irresponsible, reckless…well, you get it.”

“I get it. I respectfully disagree. Now, I should get out of here and let you get back to work. Take care, Lieutenant.”

“Yeah, you too.”

Still bewildered, she sat back on her fitness ball, rolling back and forth as she played things out. She looked up when Jae appeared in her doorway. “What was all that about?”

“He wanted to ask me out.”

“And?”

“And, I said thanks, but no thanks. What is it about me that has clones falling over themselves to be with me?”

Jae laughed as he took her visitor chair. “Two! Two out of how many million? I think that’s lower than men in the general population.”

“Look, I can’t help it if you’ve forgotten what it’s like to be young and sexy, Jae. I obviously still have it despite being taken.”

“And what about Boss?”

“What about Boss?”

“Does he know about this fella?”

Ace shrugged. “He saw Thorn checking me out last week, and he wasn’t happy about it. I’m not sure telling him about this is going to help the situation.”

“Probably not. Does Boss know how you feel?”

“What do you mean?”

Jae rolled his eyes at her. “I mean, have you told him how you feel about him? This has been going on longer than any other fling you’ve had. It must be serious.”

“It is serious, but—”

“But what? Boss is probably going to leave again soon. You know as well as I do how much risk is involved in his job. If you’ve got something to tell him, you should tell him.”

Ace tossed a crumpled-up document across the desk at him. “Is this your sage, fatherly advice?”

“Call it whatever you want. But you and Boss are good together. Be upfront with him.”

When Ace got home that night, she unlocked the door, stopping in the doorway when she saw what was going on. Boss was there, leaning on the counter with a bottle of beer. And Doran was there, stirring something on the stove. For the first time in a long time, she found herself lost for words. She was worried at first, but then she realised there was no tension in the room; Boss and Doran were chatting. So, she plastered a smile on her face. “Something smells good! Where’s Matti?”

“Not home yet,” Doran said back over his shoulder. “I’d already offered to cook, so he gave me all the codes to get into this fortress. And Boss was here waiting for you.”

She looked between the two men. “Please tell me you haven’t been comparing notes.”

This time, Doran turned around. “Absolutely not. We’ve all moved past that. I really like your brother. And I think he likes me. So, we’re all going to be grown-ups about it. Got it?”

Ace grinned at him as she pulled her tunic off and tossed it over a chair. “Got it. I hope you made enough for four and a half.”

“Four and a half?”

“Boss has a very healthy appetite. Actually, Matti does too. Just make sure you cook a lot.”

“Hmm.” Doran eyed her up and down and pulled a face. “No one’s eating anything until you’ve showered. What is that stain?”

“Umm…blood…probably…”

Boss grabbed her arm and pulled her up to her room. “Let’s go, hotshot. You heard the man.”

She stood tiredly as Boss helped her undress. “This is all kind of weird, isn’t it?”

“I don’t know. He seems alright. Weird isn’t anything new.”

“I guess…” She pulled him towards the fresher. “Come shower with me?”

“I showered before I came here.”

“Are you really turning me down?”

But Boss was already undressing, squeezing in under the hot water with him. Ace leaned against him, sighing happily when he wrapped his arms around her. “Do you know when you have to leave?”

“Yeah. Tomorrow.”

“Where?”

“Kashyyyk.”

She held onto him tighter. “What if you find a Wookiee you like better than me?”

He thought for a moment. “Some of them have red hair like you.”

Ace pinched his bottom. “Shut up. No one has red hair quite like me. I’m unique.”

“Yeah, you’re unique, alright.” He squatted slightly, wrapping his arms around her hips to hoist her into his arms. “We could be out there a while.”

“Do you know how long?”

“No. No one ever tells us that.”

Ace wrapped her arms and legs around him, resting her cheek against his. “I miss you when you’re away.” Boss didn’t say anything, so she tugged his hair. “Do you miss me?”

Boss held her tighter. Of course he missed her. Every time he had to leave, he struggled with those feelings. He didn’t know how to manage them. Ace’s face was level with his own, so he pulled back enough to look at her. “I try not to think about you when we’re away.” He half expected her to be angry at his admission. Offended. But he saw nothing like that. She was just waiting for him to continue. So, he did. “It’s easier that way. I focus on the mission…on my squad. But I always miss you.”

Ace looked into his eyes, blinking away the water from the shower. “Did you think we’d last this long?”

Boss shook his head. “I never thought I’d ever be with someone at all…it’s just not how we were brought up. But I’m glad I met you.”

“I’m glad I met you, too.” She frowned at him. “This is all sounding a bit fatalistic, isn’t it?”

He shrugged and lowered her carefully back down so she could finish washing. “It’s just how it is for us.”

She ducked back under the water to rinse the soap off. “For now.”

Boss handed her a towel before drying off, trying not to sound too doom-laden. “It might always be like this, Ace. It doesn’t look like things are changing anytime soon.”

“It doesn’t matter,” she said, a determined look on her face. “I’ll always be here waiting for you when you come home.”

“What about those other things you wanted? A family?”

“I don’t know,” she shrugged, going back to her room to pull clean clothes on. “Maybe those things are stupid to think about in the job I do. How many times have I nearly died since you met me?”

“Too many.”

“Exactly. I can’t have a kid, Boss. Not while I’m doing this job.”

“And if you change your mind?”

Ace grabbed Boss’s hands, looking intently into his eyes. “Boss, right now, I just want to be with you. I like the way things are, except for you going away. What we have is good, isn’t it?”

“Yeah.” He didn’t want to upset her. Not when he was about to go off-world for who knew how long. “We should go and help with dinner, shouldn’t we?”

“We should. God, it’s so embarrassing. He seems fine about it now…and Matti. Maybe exposure therapy’s the key. Spend so much time with him that the past doesn’t seem so weird.”

“It’s always going to be weird, hotshot. No matter how much time you spend with him. He’s alright, though. I don’t mind him.”

“Well, I have good taste in men.”

He smacked her bottom as he pushed her back to the kitchen. “Don’t push your luck.”

Over dinner, Matti kept looking between his sister and his new boyfriend. “I can’t believe you didn’t even ask each other’s names.”

Ace kicked him under the table. “Do you have to keep talking about it? It’s embarrassing!”

“Well, for Doran, yes. Hooking up with a crazy little freckled gremlin.”

Ace looked at Boss. “Are you really going to let him talk to me that way?”

Boss looked at her like she was crazy. “I’ve seen how much weight your brother can lift. I’m not taking him on.”

“Well, how come everyone’s making fun of me and not Doran?”

“I cooked dinner,” Doran said, seemingly perfectly at ease in the unlikely group. “No one insults the chef.”

As they ate, Boss rested his arm across the back of Ace’s chair, rubbing the back of her neck. He would miss her. He knew they’d be on Kashyyyk for a while. Possibly longer than any other mission they’d had. But he didn’t want to tell her that. It wouldn’t help. He knew she’d been digging earlier, trying to get some kind of declaration out of him. But he wasn’t ready for that. He didn’t even know what he’d say. All he could do was stay tonight, then tomorrow he’d be gone. And hopefully, he’d be back here again in the not-too-distant future.

Neither of them slept much that night. Boss was caught between worrying about the prolonged mission ahead and worrying about leaving Ace. Ace was lying awake worrying about the things they hadn’t said to each other, the things they never said to each other. Boss was a man of few words; she knew that. And despite her feelings for him, she was struggling to put it into words. She’d never been this deep in a relationship before, and it was scary. She yawned as she rolled over to rest her head on his chest, snuggling in when he put his arm around her to pull her close. She raised a hand to play with the hair on his chest. “Will you call me or message me while you’re away?”

“I’ll do my best. If I can’t, Ordo will always know where we are.”

“I don’t think I want to send my private messages via Captain Ordo.”

Boss thought about all the explicit messages she’d sent him over the time they’d been together. “Maybe keep those messages to yourself for a while.”

“Well, okay, but it’ll be a lot for you to deal with when you get back.”

“I can handle it.”

“I know you can. That’s what I like about you, hotshot; you can handle anything I throw at you.” She stretched up to kiss him, freezing when she heard noises from the other end of the apartment. Sex noises. Her brother and Doran were— “Okay, well, that’s a mood killer.”

Boss chuckled as he rolled her onto her back. He propped himself over her, placing his hands over her ears. “Better?”

She nodded, holding onto him as he kissed her. Tonight needed to be special.

Chapter Text

Ace was distracted as she wandered into the Kragget, and she almost ran head-on into Etain Tur-Mukan on the way out. The Jedi’s eyes looked watery, but she quickly composed herself and smiled at Ace. “I’m heading out to join Delta if you’ve got a message for Boss.”

Ace thought about all the usual messages she sent Boss – nothing that she’d want to inflict on a third party. “Umm…just tell him I’m okay…and I’m thinking of him. I’d ask you to give him a kiss for me, but that would be weird.”

“It definitely would be,” Etain agreed.

Ace studied her thoughtfully. “It must be hard for you…leaving your little boy.”

“It is. But Dar knows now. He’s with him back in the apartment. Everything’s a little easier now.”

“How did Darman take the news?”

“Badly. But he’s fine with it now. He’s a very devoted father.”

“I knew he would be. We just need this war to be over so you can get on with being a family.”

Etain nodded. “Kashyyyk is ramping up to be something big. Maybe a turning point.”

“I hope so.” Seeing that the Jedi was still looking bereft, Ace pulled her into a tight hug. “Look after yourself out there. And don’t worry, we’re all looking after things back here.”

“I know. I know Kad’s in good hands. I’ll give Boss your love.”

Ace stood stunned for a moment as she watched Etain leave. Love. She cared for Boss more than she’d cared for anyone, but love? Suddenly, Jae’s words made sense to her. Tell him how you feel. That’s what he meant. So, everyone else was seeing it except her. And except Boss. She couldn’t imagine hearing Boss tell her he loved her, and she couldn’t imagine saying it to him. She’d only ever said those words to her parents when she was little, and to her brother. Never to a romantic partner. But now…maybe…

She jumped when someone touched her arm, turning to see someone looming over her in black armor. Darman. “Shit, you scared me!”

“Sorry. You looked like you were a million miles away.”

“I was. I just saw Etain. She said you knew about your son now.”

“You were in on it too, huh?”

“I’m in on a lot of Skirata’s ridiculous schemes,” she said. “Mostly, it’s for good reasons, like getting Fi out. But it was Etain who asked me to keep it to myself.”

“Yeah. I get it now. I know why she did it.” He gave her a confused look. “You didn’t even tell Boss?”

“No. I gave her my word. And I didn’t want to complicate things for Boss. Are you heading to Kashyyyk too?”

“No. Fostin Nine. Recon.”

“Oh. I was going to ask you to give Boss a big kiss for me. Next time, maybe.” She winked at him as she slipped past him into the diner. “Stay safe out there.” Inside, she slid into a booth up the back, her face creasing into a frown again. She had a lot to think about.

Ace swore when she looked at the alert that had just come through on her datapad. A warrant for the arrest or capture of Kal Skirata. Dead or alive. She held it out for Jae to read, and the old sergeant shook his head. “What the hell has he done this time?”

“I hate to think.” She was about to comm Obrim, but her comlink beeped before she got the chance.

“Ace, I take it you’ve seen the warrant?”

“Just got it. What do we need to do?”

“I’ve got a few squads on the way to clear out the apartment. I want you to get the ladies and the baby and get them to my place, then we need to find Kal.”

“Got it.”

Twenty minutes later, she and Jae were loading Laseema, Besany and baby Kad into her unmarked speeder. It was cramped in the back, but they had no choice. Jae loaded their bags of personal belongings into the back, and then they were off.

At the apartment, Telti welcomed the women and the toddler as though it was just another day. “Ace, do you and Jae have time for a caf.”

“Nope, sorry, Telti. Gotta go.”

She stopped to see Laseema and Besany on the way out. She felt an affinity with the two women, as they all tried to manage their relationships with clone troopers. “Good luck to you both. If I don’t see you again…” She knew vaguely of Skirata’s plan to bail. But that’s all she knew. No details.

“Good luck to you, too, Ace,” Besany said, still in a state of shock after their dramatic removal from the apartment. “Seems like we’ve all got a lot to manage.”

“Seems that way. Take good care of Kad.” She waved at the toddler before joining Jae to race back to the speeder. “We need to find Skirata before any other agency does.” She tapped Skirata’s registration into the onboard computer. She knew he was registered under a fake name with fake documentation. It was just another thing they all turned a blind eye to. But now, it would help to be able to scan registration as they moved through the city.

Jae gave her a worried look. “If we don’t find him?”

“He’s as good as dead, and that family’s fucked.”

Boss checked his comlink again. Nothing. He was trying not to worry but knowing that Coruscant was under attack wasn’t helping his stress levels. It hadn’t been that long since Grievous’s forces broke through, and there wasn’t much getting back to them yet. He’d tried calling Ace but got no response. That didn’t surprise him. She was a police officer. Despite being in Anti-Terror, he knew she’d be playing a part in the planet’s defences. She’d likely be involved in civil ordinance, search and rescue, crowd control… It would be all hands on deck. But he worried about her. She always gave her job everything; she took risks. And this wouldn’t be like anything she’d ever done before. This was war.

Ace stared blankly at Skirata. “You want what?”

“A police escort. Something to add credibility.”

She snorted. “You? Credible?”

“Look, I know it’s a stretch, and I know you’re busy.”

Ace looked up at the chaos in the skies overhead. “No kidding. Why do you need a police escort? Do you want to hand yourself in dramatically? Are you not getting enough attention as it is?” She heard Walon Vau, Boss’s sergeant, give an amused snort but kept her eyes on Skirata. “I thought the plan was to keep things on the down low until you bang out of here.”

“Lieutenant Denn is right, Kal.” Vau stepped forward to offer his opinion. “Do you really want to call more attention to yourself?”

Ace looked at Vau this time, surprised by the approving nod he gave her. “Look, just tell me what you need, and I’ll tell you if I think it’s a good use of our valuable time and resources.”

Kal gave a frustrated huff. He didn’t want to be disclosing anything more than was absolutely necessary, even to Ace. “I have to break someone out of Valorum. A couple of marked patrol speeders parked out front will probably make things go a lot smoother.”

Ace gave him a long look, then she sighed and shook her head. “You should be checking yourself in, not breaking someone else out.” This time, she almost thought she heard Vau chuckle. “Fine. You can have two speeders for one hour. That’s my final and only offer.”

“You got yourself a deal. Come along if you have time. Fi’s back.”

“Fi? Well, why didn’t you say that in the first place?”

Two hours later, she was parking her speeder outside the gates of the Valorum Centre alongside the other one she’d called in, both of them badged up with CSF livery. She jumped out to greet the landing gunship, a broad grin on her face when a trooper in plain white armor stepped off. “Fi?”

The trooper removed his helmet, his grin as wide as hers. “Why, Lieutenant Denn, fancy seeing you here.”

“Yeah, well, that’s the crazy old fugitive over there. You look good, Fi. Strong.”

“I’ve been lucky,” he shrugged. “Who knew dying would have so many perks?”

Jae came over to slap Fi’s back and shake his hand. “Good to see you again, son. We thought you were a goner there for a while.”

“Good to see you too, Sarge. Where’s your number three? Dayn?”

“Killed in the line of duty…a few months ago.”

“Shab, sorry,” Fi said. “I didn’t know.”

“You couldn’t know,” Ace said, not wanting to bring the mood down. It was already bad enough with the battle in the sky going on overhead. “How’s your girlfriend? I heard you finally got one on the hook.”

“Wife,” Fi corrected. “I’m officially off the market, so you can stop asking.” He leaned down to speak quietly to Ace. “Is it true, though? You and Boss?”

“Depends on what you heard.”

Fi just grinned at her. “Boss, huh? Well, there’s no accounting for taste.”

Ace shoved him towards the gate with a laugh. “Go and do your thing. I don’t have time to hang around here all day!”

Boss shuffled back into the vines when he saw Ace’s message come through on his HUD. Finally. He’d been trying to get through to her for days. They weren’t under fire, so he took the opportunity to open it. Boss, I miss you. That was it. He frowned, scrolling up and down to see if there was more—a naked image of her, an explicit suggestion. But there was nothing. Still frowning, he double-checked to make sure his comm was set to private and called her code, relieved when it actually went through. “Boss?”

“Ace, you okay?”

“Yes, I just…you got my message?”

“Yeah, I did.”

“How are things going out there?”

“Under control for now. Wookiees make good allies.”

“Well, I wou… for…emy…”

Boss swore under his breath. Comms were patchy at best out here. Now, all he had was static. He ended the call and typed a message he hoped would get through. Talk later. Stay safe.

Tur-Mukan sidled up beside him. “Boss, everything okay?”

“Yeah. Comms are a shabla mess.”

“Tell me about it. Don’t worry; once we break through here, we should be able to get a call home.”

Boss was glad he was wearing a helmet so the general couldn’t see his face. She’d been chummier with them since she’d disclosed she had a child. A child with Darman. That was a surprise to all of them, but at the same time, it wasn’t at all. It certainly explained the baby Skirata was parading around at barracks. He wondered if Ace knew. He knew she had more of an insight into what Skirata was up to. Her boss was close to the old sergeant. He knew she kept stuff from him, but it didn’t particularly bother him. They both understood the importance of keeping confidential intel secure, even from each other.

He’d been glad he was wearing a helmet when Tur-Mukan first came to join them on Kashyyyk, passing on Ace’s love. Whatever that meant. A civilian turn of phrase. She could have said, ‘Ace sends her regards’. But she hadn’t. She’d said love, and he was pretty sure that’s not what Ace would have told her to pass on. Love. That was a big word for whatever he and Ace had going on. It didn’t really have a name, but love wasn’t something they’d ever discussed. He shifted in the undergrowth. He didn’t want to talk to the general about Ace, but he felt like she wanted to have that conversation. Like they had something in common. But they didn’t. “Back home’s a mess. They might recall us soon.”

“Maybe,” Etain agreed. “I wouldn’t mind getting out of here sooner rather than later.”

“I think we can both agree on that, ma’am.”

Ace looked around as she parked her speeder at home. It was still chaos. The skies were filled with fleets from the Republic and the Seps. And the battle on the streets was just kicking off. She hadn’t slept in two days and was under strict instructions to get some rest before going out again. When she went in, she was relieved to see her brother there. And Doran. Despite the initial awkwardness and discomfort, he and her brother had hit it off and seemed to be taking things pretty seriously Seeing her bedraggled state, Matti wrapped her into a tight hug. “You look like shit.”

“Thanks, so do you.” And he did. He’d been working as hard as she had, and they’d barely seen each other since the attack began. She extracted herself and removed her top layers. “Doran, you should stay here for now. Our place is a lot better protected than yours.”

“Already under control, gremlin,” Matti said. “Go shower.”

“I’ll make you something to eat,” Doran offered.

Ace turned to give him a grateful look. “Thank you. How did you get to be such a good cook?”

“Three years at hospitality college. I’m a chef.”

“Oh, well, I guess that would do it.”

Matti grabbed her shoulder before she left the room. “Any word from Boss?”

“No. Comms are bad where they are. They’ve pulled a lot of the commandos back in, though. Maybe he’ll be next.”

She went to her room and sank tiredly onto the bed with her comlink in her hand. Talk later. Stay safe. There hadn’t been a later. All she knew was what Walon Vau had told her before she left Valorum several days ago. Delta is fine. That’s all he’d said, but it had been a big acknowledgement from him that she and Boss were an item whether he liked it or not. And his tone had been almost kind, as though they were all in this together. And, in a way, they were—all fighting to just keep going.

Chapter Text

Ace jumped onto the CSF VAAT/e and lowered her visor. She leaned out to yell at Jae, who was still coming over. “Come on, old man! We’ve got work to do!”

“Don’t get impertinent with me, young lady. I’m old enough to—”

“Be there when the galaxy began?”

Several of the other officers on board tried to stifle their laughter as Jae gave her a filthy look. “If you weren’t my senior officer…”

Ace ignored him as she addressed the other officers, grabbing a handrail as the ship took off. “Okay, people, this is search and rescue. We’ll be assisting Rescue Ops on the ground and in the air. Republic Commandos and Coruscant Guard are scattered around as well – mostly guarding resources. I think the 501st is down there too. Anyway, the point is that we’re assisting where needed and tracking through the most affected areas to assess for damage and requirements and keep looting under control. Clear?”

“Yes, ma’am!”

Ace rolled her eyes at her team. “Pardon?”

“Yes, Ace.”

“That’s better. Remember, no stupid risks. CRO are the best people for the job. If you see something, call it in and they’ll delegate accordingly. This is their specialty, not ours.” She looked down at the CSF akk that was snuffling at her boots. “Back, Jossie. Now isn’t the time for cuddles!”

Boss shuffled from the larty onto the cruiser that would take them back to Coruscant. He pulled his helmet off and looked over at Scorch. But Scorch kept his helmet on, stubbornly refusing to look at Boss or even engage with him. Fixer pulled his helmet off, looked at Scorch and shrugged. “He’ll come round. And we’ll go back for Sev.”

Boss stayed in the hangar, watching as the last of the ships were recalled. Following Scorch wouldn’t help. It would likely make things worse. Scorch was angry at him, and he was right to be. Boss was the sergeant; he’d made the call. Whatever happened to Sev now was on him, and him alone. He should have gone after his sniper. Fuck orders. But it was too late now. Despite Fixer’s belief that they would go back for Sev, he wasn’t sure how realistic that really was. They didn’t get to decide where they went or why. They had no power or say over their own destiny. That was their lot in this life. No reason to hope. Nothing to live for. Except for him. He had Ace. And that just made him feel guilty. He had her to go back to. He had her to make him feel better about his existence.

Tucking himself into a quiet corner, he pulled the comlink off his forearm plate. He might actually get a call through away from the chaos of scrambled signals on Kashyyyk. He tried Ace’s code. It beeped several times, then stopped with a loud crackle of static. He sighed frustratedly. Comms were still screwed. Giving up, he made for the lift. They still had a long trip back, and he needed to eat.

Ace peered out through the dust as the ship touched down near one of the large power stations in the city, a grin lighting up her face when she saw the two commandos waiting. “Well, look who we have here! Actually, I’m not sure…”

“Dar and Niner,” Darman said, taking his helmet off to give her a tired smile. “You okay, Ace?”

She nodded as the officers on board shuffled around to give the commandos space to climb aboard. “So far, so good. You?”

“Could do with some sleep,” Niner muttered, taking the opportunity to remove his own helmet in the relative safety of the patrol ship.

“And something to eat,” Darman added.

Jae was already digging into a locker to pull out a selection of packaged snacks and electrolyte drinks to pass to the two weary troopers. “Vil likes to treat this thing like his home away from home.”

“And now you’re all grateful!” Vil, the pilot, called back from the cockpit. “Where to, Ace?”

Ace looked at Niner. “Back to base for you?”

“For now,” Niner said around a mouthful of a candied nut and chocolate bar. “Then we can clean up and meet up with the others and see what’s next.”

“Well, at least we’re not under attack anymore.” She looked out through the open hatch as they travelled. The Seps had only just pulled out, leaving the city in disarray. First priority was search and rescue, then focus on civil ordinance. It still surprised her just how willing people were to break the law when they thought they might get away with it. She stuck her head into the cockpit and tapped Vil on the shoulder. “Over to Arca HQ, then let’s circle around Uscru.”

The patrol ship changed direction, and she looked back at Niner and Darman. “You boys heard anything from Delta? I haven’t been able to get a call through for days.”

Darman and Niner exchanged a glance, and Niner stepped up as sergeant. “We haven’t heard from them directly, but they’ve been recalled from Kashyyyk.”

Ace looked between the two commandos with a frown. “But? There’s something else, isn’t there? Is it Boss? Has something happened to him?”

Darman was quick to reassure her. “No, no, it’s not Boss. It’s Sev. He’s MIA. They had to leave him behind.”

Ace was momentarily stunned. Boss’s squad meant everything to him. More than she did. She knew that. He’d be devastated about leaving a man behind. She looked down at the comlink on her shoulder, and Niner glanced at Dar again. “He should be back in range again soon.”

Ace nodded and tried to focus back on the commandos. “Dar, what about Etain? Wasn’t she on Kashyyyk?”

“She’s on her way back as well. Won’t be long now.”

Ace managed a smile. She knew what that meant. They’d be going with Skirata and the others. It was time. She ducked back into the cockpit when Vil called her, peering out through the viewport where the pilot was pointing. There was a man on a rooftop, waving frantically at them. She looked the building up and down. “Can you land, Vil?”

Vil studied the damaged building. It was a high rise that had clearly taken a few hits, but the rooftop platform looked reasonably stable. Vil was cautious, though. “I’ll hover over. I don’t want to put down fully.”

“Good enough,” Ace said, ducking back into the cabin. “We’ve got a pickup to do. Won’t take long.”

Vil brought the ship down low so it was hovering over the rooftop, and Ace jumped out and ran to the man, Jae not far behind. The man was injured, blood trickling down his face from a head wound, and he was barely able to stand. “My wife,” he panted breathlessly. “My kids…they’re still in there. The lift’s broken and—”

“What floor?”

“Two down.”

“Okay, don’t worry. We’ll get them out.” She pushed the man to Jae. “Get him out of here. I’ll do a recce and see what we need.”

Jae grabbed the man and held him up. “Be careful down there.”

But Ace was already moving, running across the rooftop to the door to the stairs. She ran down the first floor, swearing loudly when she reached the door, finding the frame crushed and warped. Inaccessible. As she smashed out the window in the stairwell, she used her chin to activate her comm. “Stairwell’s blocked. I’m roping down the outside one floor. Stand by.”

She attached her line securely to the heavy, durasteel stair railing and backed out the window, using the hoist drive to control her descent to the floor below. Once she reached the window directly below the one she was hanging from, she swung back and used her booted feet to smash it in. She made a point of not looking down as she clambered in through the window. She wasn’t a fan of working at height, but sometimes it was unavoidable. There were two apartments on this floor, and one of them was open. She disconnected her line and ran to the open door. “CSF, anyone in here?”

A frightened-looking woman appeared, holding a baby and with a toddler clinging to her leg. “My husband?”

“He’s fine,” Ace assured her. “He’s waiting for you all to join him.” In the apartment, she saw the living room had a large balcony overlooking the city and activated her comm. “Vil, I need you to come down the east side of the building. I’m bringing the family out onto the balcony for a pickup.”

“Copy that, Ace.”

She turned and saw the woman’s horrified face. “Don’t worry. I’ve got a great pilot, and we’ve even got two Republic Commandos on board. You’ll be safely out of here before you know it.”

She picked up the toddler and led the woman and baby out onto the balcony, relieved to see Vil descending towards them. When the ship reached them, she saw Darman and Niner had taken up positions in the open hatch, ready to help. She looked at the small boy in her arms. “I’m going to pass you to my friends up there, okay?”

The boy nodded, wide-eyed, releasing his grip on her as she stretched up to hand the boy to Darman as the ship hovered as close to the building as Vil could get it. One down. She turned back to the woman and held her hands out for the baby. “Let’s get this little one out, and then you.”

The woman nodded shakily and reluctantly handed over her baby. Ace didn’t stop to peek, she just waited for the arms in black armor to reach out and safely take the bundle from her. Once the two children were safely with their father on the ship, Ace grabbed the woman’s hand. “Your turn. I’m going to help you up onto the railing, and then the boys up there are going to pull you in. Just trust them. And don’t look down. Okay?”

The woman was pale, her eyes full of fear, but she let Ace pull her to the railing and climbed onto the chair that had been quickly dragged to the edge. Ace kept both hands firmly on the woman as she carefully stepped from the chair onto the railing, and then Dar and Niner grabbed an arm each and hauled her aboard, quickly handing her back to Jae and the others. They held their arms out for Ace next, but she shook her head. “There’s another apartment on this floor. I’m just going to check.”

She was gone before anyone could argue with her, racing back out, across the hall to the other door. It was locked, so she pounded hard on it. “CSF! Anyone home?” There was no answer, and she should have turned and left, but she knew she couldn’t leave it at that. Breathing hard, she used her blaster to disarm the lock and kicked several times until the door burst open. Inside, she’d just started looking around when a loud creaking noise stopped her in her tracks. She felt the floor move beneath her feet and stood motionless. The next noise was louder, and the building shuddered, sending her stumbling to her knees. Her comm blasted to life. “Ace, get out of there! Now!” Frantic, she scrambled to her feet and ran for the door, crying out when her vision was filled with dust and rubble and then she was knocked to the floor by a weight so heavy she was helpless to stop it. She lay stunned, unable to get a breath in, trapped. She couldn’t feel anything, she couldn’t see anything. Her chest was being crushed; she couldn’t breathe. She was trapped and too weak and badly injured to try and move. She felt tears welling in her eyes as she realised the seriousness of her situation. She might not make it this time. She managed to tilt her chin enough to activate her comm, holding the button down until the automated voice told her it was Boss’s code. As she listened to the beeps, she began to weep in earnest. She knew she was in trouble. She almost sobbed in relief when the call connected, but it wasn’t Boss’s voice; it was just another automated voice telling her to leave a message. Despairing now, she tried to suck in enough air to get a few words out. “Boss…I…I…” She coughed weakly as the dust settled in her throat. “…love you…” Her vision went blurry then, going black completely as the last breath left her.

In the mess on board the cruiser, Boss sat with Fixer and Scorch, mind elsewhere as he went through the motions of eating. Eating was never a particularly inspiring activity at the best of times unless he was eating with Ace. She and her brother were both good cooks, and now Doran seemed to be there a lot, too, and he was exceptionally talented in the kitchen. Once they got back, though, he wondered how different things would be. Without Sev, they weren’t whole anymore. He needed to be completely present for his brothers, especially Scorch. Scorch had calmed down a bit since they left Kashyyyk, but losing Sev was still hurting him. Boss was hurting, too, but he still needed to be in control for the sake of all of them. He was about to reach over to top up everyone’s caf when his comm beeped on his forearm. They’d just dropped out of hyperspace to collect troops from an outpost, and he heard other comlinks beeping in the mess as messages dropped. He pressed the button to listen to messages as he poured caf. One from Zey telling them to report in immediately on arrival. Another one from Maze reiterating this. But the third one made his arm shake, and Fixer took the caf pot from his hand before it dropped. It was Ace, but her voice was so quiet he could barely hear it, hoarse as though she was struggling to get the words out. “Boss…I…I…love you…”

He looked up. Fixer and Scorch were both staring at him, but not with humour or amusement. They’d both heard what he’d heard. “Something’s happened.”

“Ace!” Jae was calling her desperately as the top floors of the building collapsed. “Ace, answer me!” But there was no answer—just the noise of the engine as the ship hovered near the building. Jae was frantic now. “Vil, get us in there! Now!”

“It’s not stable, Sarge. I can’t get too close.”

“Just do it!”

Vil brought the ship back in as close as he could to the next balcony down. Niner put a firm hand against the Sullustan sergeant’s chest. “We’ll go.”

Helpless, Jae watched as the two commandos swung onto the balcony and kicked the windows in to access the apartment. He pressed a button on his comm. “This is Sergeant Jae Niuv. I need CRO and paramedics to respond immediately. We’ve got an officer down. Coordinates following.” He sent the coordinates through and went back to the open hatch, peering into the apartment, anxiously waiting.

Darman and Niner switched to night vision as they ran through the apartment. The power was out, and dust was billowing down from the floor above. They moved fast. Two floors were already down; they didn’t want to be trapped by the next one. They had their armor, at least. But Ace didn’t. They ran up the stairwell to the floor Ace had been on, looking for the door of the apartment she’d been in. Some of the external walls had gone, and the shafts of daylight helped as they located the door, crushed to half its normal height. Together, they kicked hard at what was left of the duraplast walls until a gap opened up, and they could crawl through. Darman used his heat sensor, panning around the rubble-filled space until something appeared on his HUD. “There!”

The two men shoved rubble and furniture aside to get to Ace, shocked when they found she was completely covered by a huge section of the ceiling with a durasteel framework. They managed to create a space to stand and assess the situation. Niner shook his head. “This isn’t good, Dar.”

But Dar was already dragging any loose pieces of the ceiling away. “Then we need to move fast.”

Niner dropped to his knees and used his Deece to melt through the durasteel frame, sectioning off pieces they could drag aside until they finally saw her—just her feet. Motivated now, they moved with urgency until they were down to the final section, heaving it aside with a mighty effort. Ace was motionless, and Darman pulled a glove off to check for a pulse. “Nothing.”

But Niner was looking worriedly around them. “We need to get out of here before the whole thing goes down.”

Darman nodded and shuffled around so he could lift Ace into his arms in the cramped space. He knew it was the wrong thing to do. He wasn’t a paramedic, and if she had any kind of spinal injury, he’d be exacerbating it. But right now, they didn’t even know if she was alive, and if they didn’t get out now, they could all be crushed. So, he stood and followed Niner, who went ahead to make the path as clear as he could, struggling through the rubble until they were back to the balcony. Niner climbed onto the railing and got a foot onto the patrol ship as Vil came in as close as he could. Jae was there hanging out with another officer as Niner and Dar somehow managed to manoeuvre Ace up and into their safe hands. The two commandos jumped aboard as the building began to creak again, and Jae yelled through to the cockpit. “Vil, get us out of here!”

Vil darted the ship away from the building as the floors began to collapse, one on top of the other, sending a cloud of dust and rubble up into the air. Two blocks away, he landed on the road where several CRO rescue vehicles were waiting. Darman glanced out and recognised Ace’s brother, Matthias. Everyone got out of the way as paramedics climbed aboard to assess her, and Matthias looked to Jae. “What happened?”

“She was checking an apartment when the roof came down.” He nodded at the two commandos. “The boys pulled her out.”

Matti turned to Niner, who pulled his helmet off. “She was under a lot of rubble. It was heavy. No pulse, and we didn’t have time to make any kind of assessment. We just got her out.”

The colour drained from Matti’s face at the mention of no pulse, and he saw the paramedics were performing CPR as one of them set up a defibrillator. Everyone watched on as the paramedics worked frantically to get Ace breathing again. Darman checked his chrono. Every second counted here. A person could only last so long without oxygen. He pulled his own helmet off, watching on anxiously until the third attempt with the defibrillator yielded results. “We’ve got a pulse. It’s weak.”

Matthias took over then, barking out orders. “Straight to RCM emergency. I’ll call ahead. Jae?”

“I’ll get an escort in the air.”

Matti looked at Niner and Darman. “Thanks for getting her out.” Then he was climbing into the ambulance, and the small group of vehicles took off.

Darman looked at Jae, who was trying to stay calm. “Will you let us know how—”

“I’ll let you know,” Jae said. “Looks like we owe you boys all over again.”

Once the patrol vehicle had gone, Niner and Darman were left alone to find their own way to base, so they liberated a speeder bike that had been abandoned nearby. As Niner hotwired it, Darman stood off to the side, thinking. “We should tell Boss.”

Niner straightened up. “He just lost Sev.” Despite Boss’s gruff exterior, he knew the loss of a man would be hitting him hard. He knew how that felt as a squad sergeant.

“I know. But he’d want to know. We can’t keep it from him.”

“Dar, we’re not going to be here for much longer. Ace’s brother will tell him.”

But Darman was adamant. If anything happened to Etain, he’d want to know straight away. He knew how it felt to have something kept from him. “He’s our brother too, Niner. We need to tell him.”

Niner sighed defeatedly. “You’re right.” Darman raised his comlink, but Niner stopped him. “I’ll do it. We’re both sergeants.”

That didn’t make sense to Darman. Not really. Niner didn’t know what it meant to have a girl. He didn’t understand the way that pulled at you. But as he listened to Niner deliver the news to Boss in a calm, factual manner, he knew his sergeant was right. It was better coming from him. The call ended, and Niner looked at Dar. “They’ll be back in two days. Their cruiser got diverted to pick up more troops from the Outer Rim.”

“We won’t be here.”

“Nope. That’s the plan. Let’s get back to base and get things secured. The sooner, the better.”

Chapter Text

Boss sat slumped on his bunk in the barracks. They were still on Centax 2, waiting to be transferred back to Coruscant. Coruscant, where everything had gone wrong. Matthias had managed to get a call through to him to tell him what was happening to Ace, but he had no way of getting to her. Not without going AWOL. A part of him wanted to do it. He was a highly trained commando. He could get off the base, liberate a ship and get back to her. But then what? She might not even be alive. Matti had told him she might not make it. She was in bacta, but there was no guarantee. And now all their communications had been overhauled. He had no way to contact Matti or Jaller Obrim. And not knowing was worse than knowing. He didn’t know if Sev was alive. He didn’t know if Ace was alive. He was just stuck. He went to his locker and reached to the back, pulling out a small, wrapped item. Ace’s medal. He’d kept it with him all this time, everywhere he went. It had felt sentimental at first, but then it became a touchstone, a bit of her on every mission. It had been the first thing he’d transferred from his old armor, and it was all he had until he could get back to Coruscant and try and see her. He looked up when the door opened. Scorch and Fixer. All that was left. Scorch put a tray of food on the table. “You need to eat, Boss.”

Boss nodded, putting the medal away to go and eat. Scorch had come round. He didn’t hold Boss responsible for Sev anymore. He knew orders were orders, and once they knew what was happening with the new Empire, they could try and push for a retrieval mission. But then there was Ace. He still felt sick when he thought about what had happened to her – crushed in a collapsing building because she was trying to help people, trying to do her job. His thoughts turned to Niner and Dar. They were both here. Niner was just out of medical, walking again. Niner and Dar were the ones who pulled her out. Niner had made sure he knew she was injured. Niner and Dar were alone here now. Half a squad. No Skirata. No Nulls. Even Vau had gone. It was hard not to feel abandoned. Forgotten. He knew it must be worse for Niner and Darman. They’d lost their family.

Scorch waited for Boss to finish eating before passing on his news. “Scuttlebutt is that we’re being moved back to Trip Zip. New Special Ops under new command. “

“To do what? War’s over. The Jedi are gone. What’s the plan?”

Fixer dropped down on his own bunk. “Maybe we’ll be the peacekeepers now.”

“As stupid as that sounds,” Scorch said, “maybe Fixer’s right. They have to deploy us somehow.” He hesitated before asking his next question. “You going to try and see Ace?”

Boss nodded. “If I can. That depends on who our new CO is, doesn’t it? Things will be different.” That was an understatement. Things would be very different.

Boss stood in the corridor outside his new CO’s office. Previously, it had been Arligan Zey’s office, but Zey was dead as far as he was aware. Most of the Jedi were dead except the ones they were tasked with finding. Their whole world had been turned upside down, but all they could do was to keep following orders. He looked down at the dark armor he was now clad in. It was fine. It would do the job. He couldn’t find it in himself to care anymore. Fixer and Scorch didn’t care for the new kit. And all three of them were trying to get used to a new squad member. Ram’ser. He was trained by Wad’e Tay’haai—a sniper to replace Sev. But no one could replace Sev. That’s not how Delta Squad operated. But they had no choice in the matter, and neither did Ram’ser. He seemed fine. A good marksman. But he wasn’t Sev.

He looked up and down the corridor. It was the same but different. Every commando that passed by was in the same dark armor, and the non-clone officers were in different uniforms. It felt strange. And it felt strange to be back on Coruscant and not be heading out to see Ace. It hurt to be so close to her now, but helpless to do anything about it. The door opened, and he straightened up, pushing thoughts of Ace to the back of his mind. Niner came out, helmet tucked neatly under his arm. His face gave nothing away. Commander Melusar was meeting with every squad sergeant, but he wasn’t sure why. Suspicion? Something else? He waited a beat, then entered the office, saluting as he stood to attention. “IC-one-one-three-eight reporting, sir.”

Roly Melusar looked up from behind his desk. “At ease, Sergeant. Have a seat.”

Boss hesitated. This was new. General Zey had always been respectful and polite but always somewhat detached. He certainly never invited them to sit whenever they debriefed. But Melusar was looking expectantly at him, so he sat, helmet perched on his lap. Melusar studied him for a moment. “You’re Boss?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Delta Squad has an impressive record.” Melusar held up the datapad he’d been studying. “Very impressive.”

“Yes, sir.”

Melusar sat back in his chair. “This isn’t a formal briefing, Sergeant—just an opportunity for me to get to know the men under my command. You’ll find that I’m a reasonable and approachable man. I realise this has been a challenging time transitioning to a new regime, but things are more settled now. How are you finding your new squad member?”

“Ram’ser? He’s a good sniper.”

“I’m aware that Delta was intact right to the end of the war. It must be difficult to accommodate a new team member.”

He’d done his homework then. But Boss didn’t give much away. “He was trained the same way as us, by a Mandalorian. We get along fine.”

“Good. I’m glad to hear it. I want all of my squads to be the best they can be. That means no disharmony. No friction.”

Boss took a chance then. This man seemed as reasonable and approachable as he claimed. “Sir, about Sev…”

“Sev?”

“He was our bro—our sniper. Any chance of a retrieval mission? I know it’s been a few weeks, but if anyone can survive holed up out there, it’s Sev.”

Melusar nodded thoughtfully. “Leave it with me. I’ll see what I can do. As I said, I want you all to be at your peak – physically and mentally. “

“Yes, sir.”

“Good. That will be all, Sergeant. Any problems, any concern - my door is always open.”

Boss stood, pausing before he went for the door. This would be a risk. “Sir…there’s something else.”

“Go ahead, Sergeant.”

“I’d like to request permission to leave base, Sir. There’s someone I need to see at RCM. They were injured in the invasion.”

“A friend?”

“Yes, sir. She’s with CSF.”

“I see.” Melusar thought for a moment, eyes on Boss. “Sergeant, I have no issue with my men having a life outside this base. I will be issuing new guidelines very soon. A good soldier is a well-rounded soldier. As long as you comply with the regulations, I see no reason for you to be restricted to base. Permission granted.”

“Thank you, sir.”

Boss saluted and left the office, stopping to take a deep breath out in the corridor. He strode quickly towards the exit. He needed to get out of here now in case Melusar changed his mind. But as he stepped outside, Niner was there waiting for him. “I saw Obrim the other day.”

That stopped Boss in his tracks. “Saw him where?”

“Imperial security. We had to drop off some intel.”

“And?” It was a big question. He had no idea what was going on and no way of finding out.

“Ace is still in bacta. He said there was no change.”

“Shab.” Boss was filled with relief and despair. She was still alive. But still in bacta after several weeks. He looked back towards the admin building. “Melusar’s just given me permission to go and see her.”

“You told him?”

Boss just shrugged. “Nothing to lose now. I’m going before he changes his mind.”

“I’ll let your boys know,” Niner offered. “Good luck.”

“Thanks.”

Boss broke into a jog, eager to get out of there. He signed out a bike and was soon landing at RCM. He checked in with a reception desk and was soon stepping out of the lift in the intensive care unit. The same place she’d been brought for her snakebite treatment. That seemed insignificant now. He went to the room the receptionist had directed him to. Looking through the door, the first thing he saw was Matthias slumped tiredly in a chair, Doran by his side. Both men looked up as he entered the room. Matti stood and pulled him into the room before closing the door. “You made it. I couldn’t contact you and even Jaller couldn’t find a way.”

Boss nodded. “Everything’s different now.”

He let himself look at the tank then, his heart sinking when he saw her there. Her pale, freckled body was suspended in the bacta tank, a breathing apparatus over her nose and mouth. The blue tinge of the viscous gel made her skin appear a sickly greenish blue. He couldn’t see any visible injuries, so he looked at Matthias. “How bad is it?”

“She’s in a medically induced coma. She came around briefly before she went into the tank. She was completely out of it…no idea what was going on. All the bruising and lacerations have healed up. It’s just the internal injuries now.”

“Which are?”

“Significant damage to her spine and pelvis. There was a large internal bleed. So far, she hasn’t responded to any nerve stimulus.”

Boss swallowed. He knew what that potentially meant. Paralysis. Permanent damage. “But they won’t know for sure until… How much longer in the tank?”

“Till the end of the week if her vitals stay stable. They won’t pull her out until she’s breathing for herself. Then they’ll bring her out of the coma.”

Boss pressed a hand up against the side of the tank. He hated feeling this helpless. He was letting his squad down. He was letting Ace down. He couldn’t do enough for anyone. He suddenly felt all the stress and exhaustion hit him and leaned his forehead against the tank to take a few deep breaths. After a moment, Matti took his arm and shoved him into a chair. “There’s nothing we can do except wait.”

Boss looked at Ace’s brother. He looked exhausted. And Doran didn’t look much better. “Have you been here the whole time?”

“More or less. Dor and I take turns sleeping. I don’t want her to be alone.”

Boss exhaled loudly. “Sorry. I wish I could have been here. It’s out of my hands. I—”

“Boss, it’s okay. We know. And Ace knows. With everything that’s going on, we weren’t sure where that left you.”

“Things are pretty much the same but different. Our new CO let me come here. I guess that’s something. We’re tasked with hunting down surviving Jedi and deserters. It’s not what I thought we’d end up doing.”

“I’m not sure any of us thought we’d end up living under an Empire,” Doran said. “It doesn’t make sense.”

“What about the others?” Matti asked. “Your squad…Omega…”

“Half of Omega deserted. Niner and Dar are still here. My squad…we lost Sev on Kashyyyk. I’ve requested a retrieval mission. He’s MIA for now.”

Matti slumped back in his chair. “Sorry, Boss. That’s rough.”

“Sev’s tough. If anyone can survive there, it’s him.”

Matti looked at his sister, trying to summon a smile. “The little gremlin’s pretty tough as well. She’s getting good care here.”

Boss nodded. He sat watching Ace hang lifelessly in the tank. Ace, who was always so upbeat and chirpy to the point of almost being annoying. He would give anything now to hear her awful, off-key singing. He thought back to the message she’d left him. That message was gone now, lost when the new Empire reset all military communications. She’d told him she loved him. He’d barely given that a second thought in the chaos and confusion of the past few weeks. He hadn’t let himself think about it. He knew if he did, that would be what broke him. But now he let himself think about it as he looked at her unconscious form. He loved her, too, and he was struggling with the thought of losing her. She’d come into his life, turned it upside down and shown him what was possible. She’d shown him that he was someone who could be loved.

He straightened up, blinking back tears when the door opened. He expected to see a doctor or med droid, but it was Jaller Obrim in his new Imperial Security uniform. Obrim looked tired, grim-faced and saddened by the situation. With him was Jae Niuv in civvies. Obrim came straight to him and grasped his hand. “Good to see you, son. I saw Niner and Darman. Niner filled me in on everything. Any word on Sev yet?”

“No.” Boss shook Jae’s hand. “You off duty?”

“I took my retirement. I’m too old to be changing systems and changing uniform. And I’m too old to work with a different partner. No one could fill Ace’s shoes.”

He was right about that, Boss thought. Ace was irreplaceable. There was no one who could ever take her place in his life. No one could ever be what she was to him. He looked at the four men currently pulling chairs across the room to sit. At least she had people who cared about her, people who would be here. He had no way of knowing how often he could come or what he could even do. But at least he wasn’t leaving her alone. A lot of people loved Ace, and he was one of them.

Chapter Text

When Boss was able to get back to the hospital a week or so later, Ace was still in bacta, but several doctors were in the room, heads together as they conferred. Matti was there with Jaller Obrim, watching the doctors carefully for any kind of information. He went to join the two men, pausing briefly to look at Ace. She didn’t look any different. Nothing seemed to have changed. “What’s going on?”

“They’re talking about pulling her out,” Matti said. “Apparently, there’s no value to keeping her in the tank any longer.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“That’s what we’re waiting to find out,” Obrim said. “They’re being a little cagey about what they tell us.”

After several more tense minutes, one of the doctors came over. “Which of you is next of kin?”

“Me,” Matti said. “I’m her brother. This is Ace’s boyfriend and her boss. They can hear whatever you need to tell me.”

The doctor nodded, his expression grave. “We’re getting ready to pull Aysa out. She’s gotten as much benefit from the bacta as she can, and the respirator is doing less work. Once we’ve run a complete scan, we’ll bring her out of the coma. Most of the smaller injuries are well on the way to healing.”

“But?”

“There’s still the issue of her spinal damage. She had a significant fracture to her pelvis. That’s fused now, but she’s still not responding to any nerve stimulus. We need her conscious to find out if that’s the drugs or something else.”

Boss swallowed dryly. “What’s the something else?”

“Possible nerve damage.”

“Paralysis?”

“It’s possible, yes. I’m not going to sugarcoat this for you. There is a possibility that Aysa won’t regain her full mobility.” He gave the three men a moment to process the news, then pointed them towards the door. “I need to bring a team in to get Aysa out of the tank. Go and get a caf and come back in an hour or so. We’ll know more then.”

Boss walked with Matthias and Obrim to the cafeteria two floors down. He stuck out like a sore thumb in his dark armor, but right now he didn’t care if people stared at him. He frowned at the caf Obrim put in front of him. “What happens if…if she’s…if she can’t go back to work?” He didn’t want to say it. Ace and paralysed didn’t belong in the same sentence.

“We have a pension plan for officers injured in the line of duty. I assume that carried over from the previous iteration. I’ll make sure she’s looked after, Boss, one way or another.”

“But, what if—”

“Boss, you don’t need to worry,” Matti said firmly. “We don’t even know if that’s going to happen. We just need to wait and see what happens.”

Boss nodded and took a sip of the bitter hospital caf. He knew Matthias was right, but it didn’t help ease his mind. Even as he sat there, his mind wandered to different scenarios. He could desert, try to get a job to look after her. But he’d be quickly caught and court-martialled, probably executed for desertion. It would never work. Feeling so helpless didn’t sit well with him. He was a man who had a plan for every scenario, but not this one. Despite all his skills and training, there was nothing he could do here.

“Have you told your parents?” Obrim asked Matthias, and Boss looked at Ace’s twin. They had parents—that had never occurred to him—parents who would be concerned about their daughter’s well-being.

“Not yet,” Matti said. “I’ll see how she goes out of the tank. I’m not sure having them here will help her recovery.”

Like me, Boss thought. There’s nothing I can do to help her recovery. I’ve got nothing to offer here.

The three men finished their caf and went back to Ace’s room. The tank was gone, and she was lying in a hospital bed, covered in a white blanket. She was connected to a drip and a monitor that showed him her heartbeat was steady and strong. That was something. A thin tube was feeding oxygen into her nose, but she looked otherwise peaceful, if thin and pale. The doctor was standing by the bed, reading the screen of a medical scanner. “Everything’s looking as good as can be expected. We’ve eased off on the drugs that were keeping her sedated, so she should start to come round soon. Then we can run some tests.”

Boss went to the side of the bed. He could still smell the lingering odour of bacta, despite the fact that she’d clearly been bathed. It had permeated her skin and hair. He reached for her hand, surprised to find it warm. He’d expected her to feel cold and clammy after being in the tank, but the warmth reassured him. She was alive. Matti took a position on the other side of the bed, while Jaller Obrim hovered nearby. They waited.

It took over an hour, but eventually, Ace’s eyelids flickered, blinked rapidly several times. She looked disoriented and confused. Her mouth opened to say something, but nothing came out. The med droid on duty buzzed for the doctor and went to the monitor to check her vitals while they waited. Matti leaned down so she could focus on him. “Ace, it’s me, Matti. Can you hear me?” She stared at him for a confused moment, then she nodded weakly. Her eyes were moving around, trying to understand where she was and what was going on. “You’re in the hospital. Do you remember what happened?”

She shook her head, and this time when she opened her mouth, she was able to speak. “No… I remember…” She frowned as she searched through her memories, then a look of panic crossed her face. “Boss…where’s Boss…”

Boss squeezed her fingers, getting her attention. “I’m right here, hotshot.”

Ace struggled to turn her head as her body slowly woke, but when she saw Boss leaning over her, tears slipped free and rolled down her cheeks. “I thought…scared you’d…”

“I’m okay, Ace. It’s you we’re worried about.”

Obrim came into her field of vision. “We’ve all been waiting for you to wake up, Ace. It’s good to have you back.”

“Everything feels…weird. How bad…?”

“Pretty bad,” Matti said. He knew his sister well enough to know she’d want to hear the truth, not some sanitised version. “You were crushed trying to look for survivors. You weren’t breathing when Niner and Darman pulled you out. You’ve been in bacta for a few weeks.”

“I…weeks?”

“They put you into an induced coma. The doctor’s coming now to run some tests.”

“Tests? For what?”

This time, Matthias hesitated. “You had a fractured pelvis…some spinal damage. They need to test your responses.”

Ace’s freckled face seemed to go paler than it already was. “You mean…I can’t…”

“We don’t know anything yet. That’s what the tests are for.”

“That’s right,” the doctor announced as he entered the room. “Aysa, I’m Doctor Seth Darian. Call me Seth. I’m going to ask your visitors to leave for a few minutes while we get started, okay?”

Ace nodded wordlessly, and Boss had to reluctantly let go of her hand to follow the others from the room. As they waited in the corridor, he looked at Matti and Obrim. They looked as worried as he felt. No one wanted to entertain the thought of Ace not being able to walk again. Footsteps made him look up, and he saw Doran walking down the corridor carrying a bag that Boss suspected was loaded up with home cooking to sustain them. “What’s going on? Why are you all out here?”

“She’s out of the tank and awake,” Matti said, leaning down so Doran could kiss his cheek. “The doctor’s with her now, running tests.”

“Stimulus?”

“Yeah.”

Doran put the bag on the floor so he could wrap an arm around Matti. “At least she’s awake and out of that infernal tank. Does she remember anything?”

“She doesn’t remember what happened,” Obrim said. “But otherwise, she seems lucid enough.”

The doctor came out of the room and made a beeline for Matthias. “Are you okay with others hearing?”

“We’re all here for her,” Matti said. “Tell us.”

“It took a few tries,” Darian said, “but we finally got a response. It’s not much, but it’s promising. It means the nerves are still functioning below the waist. Injuries like this can be complicated and cause a huge shock to the system. It could take a while, but it’s not unreasonable to think that Aysa has every chance of regaining her mobility.”

“Fully?”

“It’s too early to say. But it’s looking promising. We won’t know that until her body’s recovered more.”

Boss felt his body almost sag with the relief. She wasn’t out of the woods yet, but at least it looked like paralysis was off the table. “Can we go back in?”

“Help yourself. She was asking for you.”

“You go, Boss,” Matti said. “You need some time alone with her, and I need to call our folks.”

Boss gave Matti a grateful nod and slipped into the room. The head of the bed had been propped up, and Ace looked slightly more alert. She held out her hand for him, more tears falling. Boss pulled his gloves off and smoothed the damp hair back from her face before kissing her forehead. “I’m here, hotshot.”

She held onto his hand tightly, trying to wipe away tears with her other hand. “Things are starting to come back…it’s weird…all out of order. Did something…Sev?”

“Sev’s still MIA on Kashyyyk.”

“Oh…” She looked him over. “Why are you wearing that?”

“New armor. Palpatine’s taken over as emperor. Everything’s different.”

She took a moment to digest what he’d told her. “Sorry…about Sev. What will—”

“Don’t worry about Sev. Leave that to me. We’ve got a new CO, and he’s trying to get a retrieval mission approved. Right now, I’m more worried about you.”

Ace looked down at her legs under the blanket. “I can’t feel anything. I can’t make them move.”

“But the doctor said there was a nerve response.”

“Yeah…” She looked fearfully up at him. “Boss, what if I can’t…what if it never comes back?”

“It will,” he said firmly. “You’ll be fine. You just need to rest and let the doctors do their job.”

She nodded tiredly. “I know. This is a lot…” She frowned as more memories came back to her. “I remember Niner and Darman were with us…”

“They pulled you out.”

“Are they…what happened to them?”

“They’re still here. Out on a mission.”

“But…”

Boss gave her a look. He’d had a feeling she knew what Skirata was up to. A part of him felt offended that she didn’t trust him enough to tell him. But at the same time, he understood. “They didn’t make it out with the others. They’re still here.”

“Oh… Will you thank them?”

“I already did. But I will again.”

She sank tiredly into the pillows. “How long can you stay?”

Boss checked the chrono on the wall. “A few more hours.”

Ace ran her fingers over the dark plastoid on his forearm. “Can you…take some of this off?”

She didn’t need to ask twice. Boss quickly stripped the plates from his arms and torso and wrapped his arms around her, holding onto her gently, scared of hurting her. But he had the chance to hold her again, and that’s what he’d been holding out for. Ace pressed her cheek against his chest, holding onto him as best she could. “I love you, Boss. I tried to tell you…I remember now…”

“I got the message. It scared the hell out of me.” He pulled back slightly and tilted her head up to face him. “I love you, too, Ace. I don’t know what happens now, but I’ll do my best to be here for you when I can.”

“I know you will.”

Jaller Obrim peeked through the small window in the door and decided against entering the room. Boss and Ace were wrapped up in each other, and he wasn’t needed. But he had a feeling he would be soon. They faced a rocky road ahead as a couple, but he would do what he could to smooth the way. He owed it to Ace, and he owed it to Boss. And he knew if all else failed, he was in a position to call in reinforcements. Hopefully, it wouldn’t come to that.

When Boss slipped back into his quarters late that evening, the rest of his squad was still awake. Scorch, Fixer, and Ram’ser. Ram’ser had somehow slotted himself into Delta, despite their previous closed ranks. He’d been trained by Wad’e Tay’haai, so he was Mando through and through. He was easy-going, relaxed…not like Sev at all. He was more like Scorch, and despite Scorch’s dismay at leaving Sev behind, and his resistance to bringing in a new member, he’d found himself drawn into an easy relationship with the new sniper. They all had. They needed to, to make things work.

Scorch gave him a curious look. “Any news?”

“Yeah. She’s awake.”

“Awake and?” Fixer asked.

“Awake and starting to remember what happened. Things are still a bit hazy.”

“What about the injuries?” Ram’ser had been brought up to speed on Ace. If Holy Roly knew, there was no reason to keep it from the new sniper. And Ram’ser was not trained by Vau – he was more like Skirata’s boys. He didn’t seem to see a problem with a commando having a relationship.

“She can’t feel anything. Not yet. But the doctor got a nerve response to stimulus. It doesn’t mean much yet, but it’s better than nothing.”

“So, she might make a full recovery?”

Boss sat tiredly on his bunk. “Maybe. Maybe not. It’s too early to say.”

“Niner’s walking around after a broken back,” Ram’ser pointed out. “Anything’s possible. And he’s not just walking around, he’s back on deck as a commando.”

“Yeah. We just have to wait and see.”

Fixer finished reassembling his Deece and got up to return it to his locker. “Have you eaten?”

“Yeah. Better than I get here.” That was true. Doran continued to supply the visitors with his excellent cooking. He liked Doran. Despite the extremely unusual circumstances around his inclusion in the family, he’d shown himself to be loyal, kind and practical thinking. Just what was needed right now. He was keeping Matti going through all of this, and Boss found himself comforted by the man’s presence. He stood and started pulling off his armor, stacking the plates in his locker. “Ace knew about Skirata’s plans. She was surprised Niner and Dar were still here.”

Scorch stared at him. “She kept that from you?”

“She had to. For our sake and theirs.” Boss looked at Ram’ser. “Would you have gone? If you’d had the chance, would you have bailed?”

“Maybe,” Ram’ser shrugged. “Maybe I still will, one day. Not sure ‘enforcement’ is really my thing.”

“Hmm.” Boss grabbed his hygiene kit and was about to go and shower when he saw the other three were looking at him oddly. “What?”

“Holy Roly called us in,” Scorch said.

“And?”

“And…they’ve approved the retrieval. We’re going to Kashyyyk.”

“When?”

“Tomorrow. It’s now or never, ner vod.”

Boss stood for a moment. He didn’t want to leave Ace just when she’d woken up. But he had a duty to Sev. A responsibility. And this was an opportunity they wouldn’t get again. Scorch was right about that. “Just us?”

“No. He offered us a second squad. I suggested Forty.”

Squad Forty. That was Omega’s new iteration. Niner, Darman, Ennen and one of the new clones, Rede. Three he could rely on, and one unknown quantity. Niner had already lost a new squad member and quickly regrouped. “Good. I’m going to shower and hit the sack. We’ve got a job to do.”

Chapter Text

Ace lay in her hospital bed, staring at the ceiling. The physiotherapist had just left, and now she was on her own. She still couldn’t feel anything from the waist down, but not for lack of trying. The therapist came in twice a day to work her through a series of exercises to try and keep her muscles active and healthy, but she often found herself wondering what the point was. She didn’t really believe she’d ever get out of this bed again. Stimulus response didn’t mean much when she couldn’t even wriggle a toe.

She looked at the datapads stacked on her side table. Matti and Doran had made sure she was well-stocked with reading material and a datachip loaded with holovids to watch. But that all took effort, and somehow, staring at the ceiling just seemed easier. She hated being alone in this place. All she wanted was to go home and be in her own room, in her own pink bed. But she knew she wasn’t going anywhere–not for a long time. Outside, life was going on without her. The entire CSF organisation had been remodelled and reformed under the new Empire. Maybe she wouldn’t even have a job anymore. Not that it mattered. Law enforcement didn’t usually employ people who couldn’t walk.

She reached for her comlink and checked for messages again. Nothing. She was waiting to hear from Boss. He’d been on Kashyyyk for over a week now, and she still hadn’t heard from him. She knew communications were sketchy out there, but that didn’t stop her from worrying. She’d read the news – Kashyyyk was teeming with Trandoshan slavers. It wasn’t a safe place to be. But she had to remind herself that Boss was a commando. He’d spent the last three years in unsafe places and always come back to her.

She looked up when the door opened, expecting it to be a nurse or med droid to do the interminable checks on her, but her jaw dropped at the face she saw. “Dad?”

“Aysa, you’re looking better than we expected.”

“We?”

“Your mother is downstairs buying flowers.”

“Oh…” She fidgeted with the blankets covering her useless legs. She was trapped here, unable to get away. “I didn’t know you were coming, Dad. Matti didn’t say anything.”

“He didn’t know. We just booked tickets as soon as he told us what happened.”

“Well…you didn’t need to rush here. There’s nothing you can do.”

“Oh, there’s plenty we can do,” her mother said, sweeping into the room bearing a huge bunch of flowers. She stopped to kiss her daughter’s cheek before laying the flowers on the side table. “We’ve come to take you home.”

Ace stared at her parents. “You’ve come to take me… I’m not going anywhere! This is home!”

“Now, Aysa, calm down,” her father said in the patronising tone she remembered so well. “Think about it. You can’t look after yourself here. Matthias has a full-time job with irregular hours. How are you planning to take care of yourself?”

Ace felt herself becoming more and more distressed at the thought of leaving. Coruscant was home. She’d lived here all her adult life. She had friends here, family. Boss was here. “You need to leave,” she got out, using her arms to push herself more upright. “I don’t want you here. I need you to—”

“What’s going on in here?” Jaller Obrim strode into the room, a worried frown on his face when he saw the state Ace was in. “Ace, are you alright? Do you need me to get a nurse?”

She shook her head, grabbing onto his arm. “I don’t want them to be here. My parents…trying to make me leave…”

Obrim turned his stern captain’s gaze onto the middle-aged couple. He’d heard all about them from Ace, and he knew why the twins had left home. “Mr and Mrs Denn, I’m Jaller Obrim. Ace’s boss.”

“Her boss?” Ace’s mother asked. “She won’t be needing a boss anymore. How can she possibly go back to work?”

“Ace is still recovering,” Obrim said firmly. “We’re all confident we’ll see her back at work soon.”

“That’s ridiculous,” Ace’s father said dismissively. “She can’t even walk. How can she hold down a job?”

Obrim looked down at his favourite officer. Tears were running down her face, and she was becoming increasingly distressed. He gave her fingers a squeeze, then ushered her parents from the room. “I’m going to have to ask you both to leave. Ace’s doctors have been very clear that she’s not to be upset. She needs to be resting.”

He closed the door behind them and flicked the lock before going back to the bed to hug Ace tightly. “I’ll deal with them later. Don’t worry, Ace, no one is taking you anywhere. I’ll call Matti and we’ll get this sorted.”

Boss squatted down on a wide branch in the canopy. They weren’t far from the point where they’d lost Sev. He wouldn’t be there now. But it was the best chance they had to track him. It had been about ten weeks. Sev had as good a chance as anyone at surviving out here. Better than most. He was strong, fit, highly trained and well-versed in survival skills. But he could still be dead, and he needed to be realistic about that. This was as much a search for a body as it was for a living man. There was a crackle in his helmet, then Scorch’s voice. “Nothing in this quadrant.”

“Or here,” Fixer added.

There was a long silence before Ram’ser checked in, and for a brief moment, Boss wondered if he’d lost another sniper in this jungle. But then the fourth man checked in. “Boss…I might have something.”

“What kind of something?” He didn’t want to ask if it was a body or a part of a body.

“You need to get down here and see for yourself.”

Filled with foreboding, Boss swung down from the tree canopy to reach the ground and make his way to Ram’ser’s position. What he saw in his new sniper’s hands made his heart skip a beat. A helmet. It was covered in mud and moss and slime, but he’d recognise a Republic commando helmet anywhere. He approached Ram’ser almost in slow motion, scared of what he’d see. He took the helmet and used his hand to wipe away some of the mud and slime. He swallowed, the helmet almost slipping from his fingers. Scorch and Fixer had just arrived, and Scorch took the helmet from him, running his fingers over the chipped red paint. “Shab…”

Ram’ser looked between the three men as they all took their helmets off to take a breath in the humid jungle air. “Is it his?”

Fixer nodded grimly. “It’s his.”

Rather than dwelling on the implications, Boss was looking around the immediate area. “Anything else? Have you turned this area over?”

“Not yet. I wanted you to see the helmet. Now that I know…”

Boss stopped to think for a minute. It wouldn’t do for them to scatter around the area. They needed something better than that. “Let’s do a perimeter search. Fan out.”

“How far?”

“Not far. If he doesn’t have his helmet, he won’t have made it far.”

“Not voluntarily.”

Boss looked at Scorch, the gravity of his words hitting him. Sev could be dead, his body dismembered by scavengers. But then there’d be other bits of armor, other evidence of that. Or he could have been taken by the slavers currently trawling the area. Or his helmet could have ended up here by some other means. Anything was possible. “He wouldn’t have gone anywhere without a fight. This is Sev we’re talking about.”

“And this is Sev’s bucket,” Scorch said grimly. “You really think he’s alive out here without it?”

“I don’t know. But as long as we’re here, we’re going to keep looking.”

Ace held tightly onto Matti’s hand. He was on one side of the bed; Doran was on the other with a comforting hand on her shoulder. Her parents were at the foot of the bed, disapproving expressions on their faces. Her father broke the stand-off. “You’re both being ridiculous. There is no way Aysa can stay here in her condition. We’re your parents; we know what’s best.”

“Do you think we would have left home so young if we thought you had our best interests at heart?” Matti was growing angry now, protective of his twin.

“Matthias, we made it very clear that you were welcome to stay. All we asked is that—”

“That I fundamentally change who I am?”

“That you make different choices,” their mother said, trying to smooth things over. “You’re almost thirty now. You could have found a nice girl, settled down…”

“I don’t want a nice girl, Mother. I have Doran, and he makes me happy. I love him.”

Both parents had studiously ignored the Twi’lek man, instead focusing their displeasure on their children. “You don’t know what you want,” their father said dismissively. “You never did. But the fact remains that your sister can no longer take care of herself. She needs to come home.”

“I can speak for myself,” Ace gritted out. “And I already told you, I’m not going anywhere.”

“Speaking is about all you can do,” her father said, his cruel words finding their target. “How do you intend to take care of yourself? All the day-to-day things?”

“We’ll be with her,” Matti declared. “Dor’s going to move in with us, and we’ll work our shifts around her. She won’t be on her own.”

Their father looked distastefully at Doran. “That’s your plan, is it? To get some…some…person you barely know to take care of your sister.”

Matti squared his shoulders. “Doran is my partner. He’s my family. He’s Ace’s family. And there’s no way in hell you’re taking her anywhere.”

Ace swallowed dryly. “I’m not going home. I already told you that. This is home now. And just because I’m stuck like this, it doesn’t mean it’ll be forever. I have a life here. I have someone I love here. I’m not leaving.”

Ace’s mother looked shocked. “What do you mean, you have someone you love here? Why is this the first time we’re hearing about it?”

“Maybe because of how narrow-minded and judgmental you are. Why would I want to share that with you?”

Her father was suspicious now. “Who is he? If he loves you so much, why isn’t he here by your side?”

“He’s a soldier, and he’s been deployed. That’s all you need to know.” There was so much more she could tell them about the risks Boss had taken to be with her, about the fact that he was currently searching for his missing brother. She could tell them that he saved her life. But none of that would matter to her parents. She already knew that. She wondered which would be more disappointing for her parents – Matti having a boyfriend, a Twi’lek one at that, or her being with a clone commando. Using her grip on Matti’s hand to lever herself straighter in the bed, she looked her father in the eye. “It’s time for you to go home now. I don’t need you. I don’t want you here. Matti and I can look after ourselves and each other.”

Their father gave them a final look, one of disapproval and disappointment. “Fine. Don’t think you can come running back when you want something.” He grabbed his wife and swept from the room, leaving a heavy silence hanging.

Doran was the first to break the silence. “Well, that went quite well.”

Matti sighed heavily as he sat in the chair next to the bed. “Sorry about that, Dor. For all their worrying about appearances, they can be astoundingly rude.”

“Eh, doesn’t bother me,” Doran said. “I kind of wish you’d told them about me and Ace hooking up. Hospital is probably the best place for that kind of disclosure.”

Ace stared up at Doran, horrified, then she looked at her brother, who looked equally horrified. Then, for the first time in a long time, she laughed. She laughed at the absurdity of her situation, at the challenge life had thrown at her, she laughed at the idea that her parents thought they knew what she needed better than she did. Matti looked at her, worried that she was finally cracking up, but he eventually joined her, along with Doran. When they’d calmed down, he took her hand again. “I meant every word, gremlin. We’re going to look after you. No matter what.”

The door opened, and they braced, worried that their parents had returned, but the face that greeted them was a welcome one: Jae Niuv, a container of something in one hand, and a baby in the other. “Well, looks like everyone’s here. I’m on baby duty today, so I thought a visit was in order.”

Ace beamed and held out her arms for the baby. “Oh, she’s grown so much, Jae!”

“She sure has. Jadda’s expecting number two.”

“Already?”

“Yeah. She always wanted a couple close together.”

“Oh, I’m so happy for her. Make sure you tell her.”

“I will. Did I just see your folks leaving downstairs?”

“For good, hopefully,” Matti said. “We just had it out in here.”

“Ah, that’s a shame.”

Ace blinked at him. “A shame?”

“A shame that you’ve got two parents who don’t realise what great kids they’ve got. I’m as proud of you two as I am of my own kids, and it’s a shame your parents don’t see that. Their loss.”

“Yeah.” Ace carefully passed the baby back to him. “Want to see something?”

Jae gave her a wary look. “I’m not sure. You’ve asked me that before, and it’s never been good.”

“Well, this time, it’s not a dismembered body.” She pulled the blanket off to reveal her legs, clad in bright pink pyjama shorts. “Watch.”

Jae watched, astonished when he saw her toes move. It wasn’t much, but it was definitely something. He looked back at Ace, smiling at the pleased look on her face. “When did this happen?”

“The other day. I was so upset at the thought of my parents dragging me home, I just sent all my bad thoughts to my foot. The physiotherapist said it’s just a coincidence, but I’m not so sure.”

Jae laughed as he pulled a seat over to the bed to sit with his granddaughter on his lap. “Whatever it is, it’s good news!”

“It is,” Matti agreed. “They said it’ll take time and hard work, but they think all the feeling should come back. It’s just vital to keep those muscles strong in the meantime. Lots of physio.”

“Well, I’ve got nothing else to do here,” Ace shrugged. “What’s in the box, Jae?”

“Donuts from that place down in CoCo Town. I figured you probably hadn’t had any for a while.”

Ace opened the box to reveal at least a dozen of her favourite sweet snacks. Doran peered over her shoulder, nodding approvingly. “I’ll go get caf. Matti, you’d better help.”

Once the two men had gone, Jae watched with a pleased smile as Ace munched her way through her first donut. “Go easy, you’re not burning many calories lying around here.”

“I know.”

“Heard from Boss lately?”

Ace shook her head and swallowed her mouthful. “Not for a while. He’s still on Kashyyyk looking for Sev, and the comms are still bad there. I don’t know when he’s coming home.”

“Well, hopefully he comes with good news. And now you’ve got some good news for him too.”

“Yeah. Won’t be long before I can take him out dancing again.”

“Are you trying to tell me you took that boy out dancing before?”

“Well, no. But it’s the thought that counts. He can watch.”

Jae chuckled as he broke off a piece of donut for his granddaughter to chew on. “It’s good to see you smiling again, sweetheart. And I never thought I’d be so excited about seeing someone’s toes wriggle!”

“Me neither. I really need to get out of this bed!”

Niner squatted and dug into the dank undergrowth. Something had caught his eye. Ennen came to squat beside him. “Find something?”

“Maybe.” He passed his Deece to Ennen and crawled into the dense foliage, finally managing to get his hands on the item. He backed out on his hands and knees, swearing as a vine wrapped over his backpack. He felt Ennen lift it away so he could continue his crawl out.

Darman jumped down from a tree he’d scaled to check an abandoned Wookiee dwelling. “Niner, what have you got?”

“I don’t know yet.” He pulled his helmet off and passed it to Rede to hold while he pulled the foliage away and wiped off the mud and moss. He heard the collective indrawn breath. They were all commandos. They all recognised commando armor. But it was Niner and Darman who recognised the vambrace streaked with red paint. Niner pulled the canteen off his belt and trickled some water over the plastoid to wash away more of the mud. Now he was certain. “Okay, everyone, fan out. Search this area. Look everywhere. There has to be more than just this. I’ll tell Boss.”

Chapter Text

Boss slipped quietly into Ace’s hospital room. It was late, but he’d managed to bypass the security and nursing stations to get in. He didn’t get a choice in his hours, and he needed to see her. He closed the door behind him and let his eyes adjust to the low lighting. She was sleeping peacefully. She looked as though she’d put some weight back on, and all the tubes and cables were gone. It was just Ace asleep in a bed. But he knew it wasn’t that simple.

He put his helmet down and went to the bedside, leaning down to kiss her forehead. With everything that had happened, it seemed ridiculous now to think there was a time when he feared showing his affection for her. He’d been scared of even feeling anything at all for her. But she’d been persistent and patient and shown him that he could have something for himself. They’d been through a lot together.

He sat tiredly on the chair beside the bed, wincing at the noise it made when plastoid hit plastoid. Ace’s eyes flickered, then opened. Then she saw him there. “Boss?”

“Hey, hotshot. Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you.”

“That’s okay. I wake up all the time in this place.” She used her arms to push up into a sitting position. “When did you get back?”

“Just now. I came straight here.” He stood when Ace reached for him, holding her tightly. She felt good. Something that could ease the pain. When he finally released her, he sank back into the chair, holding one of her hands in his.

Frowning, Ace squeezed his fingers. “Boss…what happened? Did you find Sev? Or any leads?”

Boss took a deep breath and released it slowly. “We found his helmet…and some of his armor.”

Ace gripped his hand tighter. “Does that mean—”

“I don’t know what it means. It’s Sev. He wouldn’t leave his gear like that. Not voluntarily. But there was no sign of a body or remains. Nothing.”

“Are you going back?”

“No. That’s it. As far as the army’s concerned, he’s gone from MIA to KIA. It’s over. They won’t approve another mission.”

“Oh, Boss, I’m sorry. I wish there was something I could do. I could ask the boss to see if he can pull some strings, or—”

“It’s okay, Ace. It’s over. There’s nothing more we can do.”

He turned his face away before she could see the tears, but she didn’t miss them. She shuffled over in the bed so she could wrap her arms around his neck. “Boss, you don’t have to hide anything from me. I love you. And I know how much you’re hurting.”

Boss held onto her, his face tucked into her neck, breathing her in until he could compose himself. When he finally pulled away, he pulled his gloves off to wipe away the errant tears. “Sorry. I didn’t come here to put this on you.”

“I’m pretty tough, Boss. You can put anything on me. We’re Ace and Boss, power couple – nothing we can’t handle together.”

“Yeah. How are you? You look good. Not hooked up to every machine in the hospital anymore.”

She pulled back the blankets to reveal her legs. She’d lost some muscle tone being confined to the bed for so long. “Watch this.”

Boss watched, stunned when she lifted each leg off the bed one by one and moved her feet around. Then she used her arms to lever herself higher and slowly swung her legs around, so she was sitting up on the edge of the bed facing him. It took a moment for Boss to find his voice. “That’s…were they expecting things to move so fast?”

“No, but you know me. I always move fast. I can’t put any weight on them yet, but that’s next. I can go home as soon as I can move myself around in a chair or walker.”

Boss felt the tears coming again. Relief this time. “Shab, Ace, that’s…shab…”

Ace patted the bed beside her. “Take your armor off and lie down with me for a while. It’s been a long time.”

“What about hospital rules?”

“Screw hospital rules. I’m still the police. I’m not afraid to use my power inappropriately. You’ll have to help me move my legs back, though.”

Too tired and emotional to argue with her, Boss stripped off his armor and boots and climbed onto the narrow hospital bed with her, pulling her into his arms to hold her close. She was dressed in one of her short, frilly pink nightgowns, and she felt good in his arms. Familiar. She pressed her cheek against his chest, holding onto him. “I’m sorry about Sev. It doesn’t mean it’s too late, though, Boss. It’s never too late.”

Boss sat with his squad in Melusar’s office. It still felt strange to have a commander who was so relaxed when it came to protocol. He gave them more trust and autonomy than Zey ever had. He treated them like soldiers who were there of their own free will, even if they weren’t. He treated them like men. He looked at Boss first. “Sergeant, how is your friend?”

Boss blinked, cornered. He hadn’t expected Melusar to take such an interest. And that could be good or bad. “She’s doing well, sir. She’s starting to get feeling back in her legs, and she's able to use some of her muscles.”

“Good. I’m glad to hear it. Will she be joining ISB when she’s recovered? I believe that unit has absorbed CSF.”

“I’m not sure, sir. It’s still too early to say.”

“I see. Well, keep me posted. I like to stay across goings on.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Good. Now, as for why I’ve called you hear, I have a mission. It’s something I’m not sure I can trust another squad with.”

“Sir?”

Melusar leaned forward. “This is strictly in-house. And it gives me no pleasure to have to do this, but I have some concerns about Squad Forty.”

Boss’s face remained blank, but inside, he was churning. He had a feeling he knew where this was heading. What used to be Omega Squad was inadvertently under a cloud of suspicion. Two of their members had deserted at the end of the war. Whilst Melusar had given no indication that he suspected Niner or Darman of any wrongdoing, he would understand if he did. It made sense. He straightened up in his chair. “What do you need from us, sir?”

“For now, I want you to keep an eye on them. Nothing overt. They haven’t done anything wrong, but I would still like eyes on them when I’m not around.”

Boss didn’t dare look at Scorch or Fixer. They knew. They all knew. They knew Atin and Corr had deserted with Skirata and his Nulls. And they knew there was a good chance Niner and Darman would still try to join them. They also had strong suspicions about where everyone had deserted to. Mandalore. It was an obvious choice. But Melusar wouldn’t be hearing about that. Not from him or any man in his squad. Despite their new commander’s affable nature and respectful attitude towards them, he was still an unknown quantity. He turned his helmet on his lap. “Will that be all, sir?”

“For now. I expect to be briefed if you hear anything or see anything.”

Boss stood and led his squad from the office, straight down the corridor and out into the parade ground. Scorch was the first to break the tense silence. “Did you see that coming?”

“No. But I’m not spying on brothers. None of us are.”

There was a murmur of agreement. Non-clone officers rarely understood the bond shared by clone troopers. They couldn’t. But it was more than that. Despite Skirata’s boys being a little more gung-ho about it, they were all Mandalorians. Vode An. Brothers All. That went a lot deeper than the chain of command.

Boss checked his chrono as he exited the lift on Ace’s floor. Bad timing. She usually had physio at this time of day. He peeked into her room, unsurprised to see the bed empty. He kept walking down the hall to the door at the end. She was in a ward for patients with similar issues, so there was a dedicated physiotherapy room to serve the patients. He looked through the panel in the door and spotted Ace’s red hair, so he knocked and let himself in. Ace’s eyes lit up. “Boss! You’re early.”

“Yeah, sorry. I need to get back in a couple of hours, though.” He looked at the physiotherapist – a middle-aged Mirialan woman named Leyla. “Sorry to interrupt.”

“Not at all,” Leyla said with a kind smile. She’d met Boss before and knew the outline of their circumstances. “We’re just about to get Aysa out of the chair so you can help.” She steered Ace’s chair over to a set of parallel bars and stopped it at one end. “Alright, Aysa, grab a bar in each hand and see how much you can pull yourself up. Don’t expect to be able to pull yourself all the way up. That’s where Boss and I will step in.”

Ace gripped onto the two rails, and Boss saw the determination in her eyes as she planted her feet on the floor and pulled herself up off the chair. He followed Leyla’s lead and stepped up, ready to support her, but Ace gritted her teeth and hauled herself fully out of the chair, the muscles in her arms straining to take her full weight until she was able to use the bars to hold herself up. Leyla gave her a disapproving look. “You know, there is such a thing as moving too fast here.”

Ace took a moment to catch her breath. “I know. I just really want to go home.”

“I know you do,” Leyla said kindly. “We’re all on the same team here. Now, you know the drill. One foot in front of the other. You need to remind these muscles that they know how to walk. Take your time.”

Ace nodded, and that determined look came over her face again as she put her first shaky leg forward. Boss and Leyla walked alongside as she slowly made her way along the length of the bars, one tenuous step after the other. It was difficult to watch. Boss was so used to Ace being fit and strong. Capable. He’d seen her chase down a criminal in high heels and tackle him to the ground. It was hard seeing her reduced to this. But at the same time, he felt such enormous pride and admiration. She wasn’t letting this take her down, and he needed to remember how far she’d come from floating unconscious in a bacta tank. When she reached the end of the bars, she stopped to catch her breath and turn around. Then she looked at Boss and winked. “Race you back.”

Boss shook his head at her, staying close as she readied herself for the return trip. “Don’t overdo it, hotshot.”

“Who me?”

She stopped halfway along and removed her left hand from the rail, managing several slow steps with just one hand to support herself. Leyla nodded approvingly as Ace kept going. “You should go into physiotherapy, Aysa. That was the next step anyway. Keep doing that; I want to try something.”

Leyla disappeared into a supply cupboard, and Ace stopped walking, using her free hand to drag Boss closer so she could kiss him. “Are you okay? You look stressed.”

“I’m fine. I’ll fill you in later.”

Leyla came out of the cupboard carrying a pair of lightweight metal crutches. “I was going to try you on a walking frame next, but I think you’re more than ready for these. You’re a lot stronger than most of my patients.”

Ace flexed a bicep, almost losing her balance. “I have to be strong to keep up with this hunk of muscle.”

Boss grabbed her arm to keep her upright. He wasn’t embarrassed by her public declarations anymore. He loved her, and he’d almost lost her. Those little things didn’t matter anymore. He stood by as Leyla adjusted the height of the crutches and instructed Ace in their usage. Ace slipped her arms into the brackets and tested her balance. Then she took a step forward. Then another step. Leyla followed behind, ready to grab her, but once Ace got the hang of the crutches, she was unstoppable. She walked around the perimeter of the large room, testing herself on the small step climber once she grew in confidence. She grinned at Boss as she hopped past. “Not bad, huh?”

“Not bad at all, hotshot.”

“You’re a natural,” Leyla agreed. “A couple more days of practice with them and I think I can recommend you as ready to go home.”

“Really? You mean it?”

“Absolutely. You’ve worked harder than most of my patients, Aysa, and it’s paid off. You’ll get a few aches and pains in your upper body from the crutches, and you’ll still need to see me regularly for treatment so we can get you off them completely. But I think you’ll be fine to go home.”

Ace grinned widely. “Leyla, you’re the best! If I ever have a kid, I’m naming her after you.”

Leyla laughed as she tidied up the exercise equipment. “That’s the first time anyone’s ever offered that.”

Ace grinned again. “Can I walk back to my room?”

“Of course. As long as Boss goes with you.”

“He’ll go with me, won’t you, hotshot?”

“You bet.” Boss turned to the older woman. “If I don’t see you again…thanks. Thanks for looking after her.”

“Oh, it’s been a pleasure. We have a lot of laughs down here. Just try not to let her overdo it.”

“I’ll do my best.” He caught up with Ace at the door and opened it so she could hobble through. “You heard what she said. Take it easy.”

“I know. It’s just so nice to be able to move myself independently again, even if it is with these things.”

“They won’t be forever.”

“I know.” They made it back to her room, where she hobbled to the bed and sat with a loud exhale. “I need to build up my stamina.”

“You’ll get there.” Boss helped her slide the crutches off her hands and propped them up by the side of the bed. “I could sneak you onto base for some commando training.”

Ace snorted as she lay back against the pillows. “Not likely. Is everything still okay with Melusar?”

“Yes and no. He’s fine with me coming to see you. We get more time off. But…”

“But what? What’s going on?”

“He wants us to spy on Niner and Dar. He thinks there’s something going on.”

“And is there?”

“Probably. You know more than me about what happened.”

“Well…a little. But you said all the comms had been overhauled. Do you think they’ve got a way of getting messages in and out?”

“I don’t know. Anything’s possible when Nulls are involved.”

“What are you going to do?”

“Nothing. I’m not spying on brothers. Not after what Niner and Dar did for you.”

Ace grabbed his hand and pulled him down beside her. “Seems like I’ve always got a commando around when I need one.” She swung her legs off the side of the bed, still amazed that she had control over them now. “Would you have gone, Boss? If you’d had a choice, would you have gone?”

“No. I wouldn’t leave you. And I wouldn’t leave my brothers. I already left Sev.”

Ace rested her hand on his stubbled cheek. “I’m glad. I don’t want you to be owned by the army…you or your brothers. But I couldn’t have done this without knowing you were around. You kept me going.”

“You’re strong enough to do it without me.”

“Maybe. But I don’t want to. I love you, Boss. I don’t want to live my life without you in it.”

She leaned up to kiss him, and Boss put his arms around her, pulling her close. She dug her fingers into his hair, biting gently at his lower lip as she kissed him more passionately. Boss responded eagerly, one hand sliding down her back to grab her bottom and pull her closer. When he pulled back to take a breath, Ace was flushed and looking at him lustfully. “It’s been a while, Boss…”

“Yeah…but are you…can you…”

“I can feel a lot down there now,” she breathed, dragging his other hand up to her breast. “It’s been driving me a little crazy.”

“Ace, we’re in a hospital.”

“I know. But I’ll be home soon.”

“Home then. Not here.”

“Spoilsport,” she pouted, flopping back on the pillows.

Boss leaned over to press his forehead to hers. “It’s not negotiable.”

“I know. I love you, Boss.”

“I love you, too.”

Chapter Text

Ace turned the water off and pushed her wet hair out of her eyes. She’d done it. She’d showered alone without the chair to rely on, and she was still standing. But her legs were tired, still unused to supporting her weight for long periods. It was then she remembered she’d stupidly left her crutches in her room to stubbornly limp into her ensuite. It wasn’t far, and she had furniture to balance on. But now she was stuck in the shower, flagging and with nothing to grab onto. Setting her jaw determinedly, she braced her hand against the tiled wall and took a shaky step forward. But the tiles were wet, and she was leaning a lot of her weight on her hand, and as she tried to take another step, she lost her tenuous footing and slipped, landing hard on the shower floor with a pained cry. She lay there stunned for a moment. She was screwed now. She didn’t have the strength yet to get herself up. She managed to push herself up with her hands, wincing as the hard impact made itself known. She saw blood on the tiled floor and prodded her lip – she’d accidentally bitten it as she landed. Angry at herself, she tried to slide towards the shower door, but her arms were shaking, her body still reeling from the fall. She managed to lean against the wall, tears rolling down her face at her predicament. She hated this. She hated everything about it. She hated being helpless. She hated having to rely on others. She hated not even being able to do something so simple without it turning into a painful ordeal. As she huddled in the shower, cold and wet, she wept. The thing she hated most of all was feeling sorry for herself.

Boss sat in Melusar’s office, grateful for the training Vau had given him. In a way, this was easier than lying to General Zey. Melusar had no ability to sense whether he was telling the truth or not. But Vau’s training had taught him to be outwardly impervious to anything that was thrown at him. Melusar frowned as he sat back in his chair. “You’re sure? You haven’t overheard any conversations alluding to their former squad mates?”

“No, sir. Nothing. I haven’t tried to start a conversation about it. I figured it was best to just let them talk and let something slip. They don’t have a reason not to trust us.” That much was true. Omega – Squad 40 now – could trust him and the rest of Delta. They were all clones; they were in this together. He looked Melusar in the eye. “Orders, sir?”

The commander thought for a moment. “Stay your current course. You’re right. Don’t give them anything to be suspicious about. Let’s just monitor the situation. You’ll be getting new orders this evening once details have been confirmed. One of our missing Jedi may have been spotted in the Corva sector. I’m sending you to investigate.” He hesitated for a moment. “Tell me about your friend, Sergeant. How is she?”

Boss froze for a moment, confused. “Sir?”

“Well, I’m guessing you’re more than just friends. What’s her situation now?”

Beneath his emotionless face, Boss’s mind was racing, wondering why his commander was digging for information. But in the months he’d served under this man, despite his natural suspicion of people he didn’t know, he felt Melusar was honest with them. Up front. He didn’t feel as though he was being played. But he still chose his words carefully. “She’s been allowed to go home. She can walk with mobility aides and mostly take care of herself.”

“And a return to the security forces?”

“Too early to say, sir.”

Melusar sat back in his chair with his hands clasped over his chest. “And what are your plans?”

“Sir?”

“Sergeant, I’m not immune to the difficulties faced by you and your fellow clones. I’m well aware of your lack of legal status in the galaxy. Some of us had thought that might change under the new Empire – part of Palpatine’s unity and security. But perhaps he’s been too busy…rebranding everything with the stamp of the Empire.”

Boss said nothing. This conversation was bordering on treason.

Melusar went on. “You men will be phased out eventually, replaced with…I don’t know what. Perhaps I will be as well. That remains to be seen. But for now, I hope that we can continue to build a strong brigade here. For me, that means mutual respect. If there are ways I can assist you to make things easier, you only need to ask. I realise you don’t have a choice but to be here, but I appreciate your commitment and service. It doesn’t go unnoticed.”

Boss shifted in his chair. Phased out. That was new. “Sir, what do you mean about us being phased out?”

“As far as I know, the Empire is working to rebuild all armed services. Security services as well. You’ll likely be tasked with training new recruits and other lower-level jobs. I shouldn’t be telling you this, and it’s not something that’s a formalised plan. But that is my understanding. As I said before, Sergeant, anything I can do to facilitate non-military matters, let me know. You’ll get your new orders soon.”

Boss stood and saluted the commander. “Thank you, sir.”

As he walked down the corridor, he let himself react to the news that he was going to be phased out. Not just him – all his brothers, all the clones. Phased out. That was a term that shouldn’t apply to men. That was terminology reserved for outdated tech or weapons. Not men. Shab.

Ace shivered again, wrapping her arms around herself. Her skin was mostly dry now, but her wet hair was sticking to her shoulders, and her skin was covered in goosebumps. She’d lost track of how long she’d been stuck in the shower. Her legs hurt from being in the cramped space, and she was struggling even to flex her muscles to keep them moving. But she reminded herself that feeling pain in her legs was better than feeling nothing at all. Despite her current predicament, she was still better off than she had been several months ago. She shivered again, then blinked when she heard something. Someone was home. She had no idea what time it was, but someone was home. She managed to sit herself up straighter and stick her head out of the shower. “Matti? Help, I need you! Matti!”

But it wasn’t Matti who ran into the ensuite. It was Doran, home from work. “Fuck, Ace, what happened?”

“Oh, I slipped and couldn’t get up…”

She tried her best to obscure her naked body from her brother’s boyfriend, but Doran just rolled his eyes at her. “Have you forgotten I’ve already seen what you’re trying to hide?” He dropped to his knees by the shower, yanking a towel from the rail to drape over her cold body. “How bad? Do I need to call paramedics?”

“No, I’m just…everything’s all cramped up and I didn’t bring my crutches, and…. I’m just an idiot.”

“You’re stubborn,” Doran corrected, looking around to assess his options. “You should listen to Leyla when she tells you to slow down.” He pushed the shower door as wide as it would go, then managed to get an arm around her waist. “Put your arms around my neck.” Ace did as she was instructed, and Doran carefully stood, pulling her upright. He gave her a moment to get her bearings and helped her wrap the towel around herself before walking her to her room. Her legs were still slow to work after being cramped up in the shower, so he took most of her weight, carefully lowering her onto the bed. He found her pink fluffy robe and helped her pull it on before taking the towel to dry her hair better. “We should call the doctor to come and check you over.”

“No, I’m okay,” she said, snuggling gratefully into her warm robe. “Just cold and stiff. I’ll be fine once I warm up.”

Doran frowned at her lip. What happened there?”

“Bit my lip when I fell. It’s fine.”

Doran kept frowning at her. He cared deeply about Ace. But not just because she was his boyfriend’s sister. Ignoring the intimate night he’d spent with her, Ace was truly a good person. She was warm, kind, and funny. She was clever, brave, and highly regarded as a law enforcement officer. It broke his heart to see her like this. Reliant on others, unable to work, and struggling gamely not to feel sorry for herself or inconvenience others. He wrapped his arms around her to warm her up. “You need to promise not to push yourself so hard, Ace. You could have really hurt yourself.”

“I know. I just feel like the more I can push myself to be independent, the sooner I can get back to work.”

Doran winced inwardly. No one really knew whether returning to work was on the cards, or in what capacity. But he knew that whatever happened, Matti would take care of her, and so would he. Ace was his family now as well. Forcing himself to smile, he got her back on her feet. “Let’s get you out to the couch and put on a holovid, and I’ll make you a hot chocolate to warm up.”

“One of your special ones? With the whipped cream and winter spice?”

“Of course!”

“And a shot of brandy?”

“Now you’re pushing your luck.”

“Aww, that’s not fair.”

“You’re right, it’s not.” Doran carefully lowered her onto the couch and got her comfortable before laying a warm blanket over her. “You’ve had enough of unfairness. You can have a shot of brandy just this once.”

Ace beamed at him, still managing to surprise him with her good humour and capacity to bounce back. “Thanks, Dor, you’re the best.”

“Yeah, I’m not bad, am I? Not bad at all.”

Boss dropped his helmet on his bunk and started stripping off his armor. Shower, shave, then out to see Ace. That was pretty much his routine now. Every time he came back from a mission, he went to see her as soon as possible. She was always there for him, always waiting. And the smile that lit up her face when he walked through the door was always something he looked forward to. He grabbed his hygiene kit and went to the freshers to shower and shave, quickly returning to his quarters to pull on a clean set of fatigues. He didn’t particularly like going out without armor, but it was easier for visits to Ace. He didn’t bother to let his squad know. They all knew where he’d be. They were more interested in eating and relaxing on base between missions. He felt that flare of guilt again that he had somewhere else to go – someone else to be with, but he knew there was no resentment there.

As he crossed the parade ground, heading for the gate, he spotted another commando exiting the admin building. Niner. He waited for the other sergeant to draw closer to him, then tilted his head towards the garden area, away from the buildings. Niner picked up the silent cue and casually diverted. Just two commandos talking. But it was more than that. It was two commandos talking in an area they couldn’t be monitored or recorded. “Successful mission?” Niner asked.

“Negative. Bad intel.”

“Well, some things never change.”

“Yeah. I spoke to Melusar before we left for Corva.”

“And?”

“And…he said we’re being phased out. Not yet, but that’s the plan.”

“Phased out? What the hell does that mean?”

Boss looked grim. “We’re approaching our use-by date. All clones, across the board. They’ll stand us down to training roles…other minor stuff.”

Niner swore quietly to himself. He should have seen something like this coming. “Any timeline?”

“No. He’s speculating about the details, but it makes sense, doesn’t it? They’ll want a new army of men who don’t age out at twice the normal rate. Men who pledge their loyalty to the Empire.”

“This soon, though?”

“Holy Roly didn’t have details on that. It could be years; it could be months. So, if you boys have got a plan…”

Niner looked blankly at Boss, the walls back up. “What are you talking about?”

“I know you were meant to go with the others, Niner. I’m not stupid. If you’ve got a plan to follow them, you’d better get moving.”

Niner contemplated arguing, denying. But there was no point. Boss was right; it wasn’t difficult to figure out. “Comms are gone. We don’t have a way out.”

“I can talk to Ace. Obrim might have something.”

“No. Don’t do that. No one else needs to get involved. This is for us to figure out. How is Ace?”

“She’s okay. Back home and able to look after herself. Desperate to get back to work. Work isn’t the same, though. Obrim’s looking to retire, but she doesn’t know that yet.”

“Nothing’s the same anymore. You on your way there now?”

“Yeah.”

“Tell her hello from me and Dar.”

“I will.” Boss hesitated before he moved off. “Niner, there’s something else.”

“What?”

“Melusar tasked us with something else a while back. He wanted us to tail you…to keep an eye on you and Dar. He’s watching you.”

Niner eyed Boss warily. “And what are you reporting back to him?”

“Nothing. I’m not doing it. None of us are.”

“You’re disobeying orders?”

“I’ve about run out of loyalty. You’re our brothers. And you saved Ace’s life. I owe you. I’ll help if you need it.”

Niner still wasn’t entirely convinced. “Well, like I said. We don’t have comms. I don’t know what’s going on. Tell Ace to keep up with the physio.”

Boss waited until Niner was out of sight before heading to the parking bay to pick up a bike. He wasn’t convinced Niner didn’t have a way to communicate with Skirata and the Nulls. He’d just have to wait and see.

“Boss!” Ace limped over to the door to throw her arms around him. “I didn’t think you’d be back so soon.”

“Bad intel,” he said, enjoying the luxury of holding onto her. “Chasing ghosts out there.” He frowned at her. “Where are your crutches?”

“Bedroom. I’m not bad at hobbling around the apartment now.”

He frowned again at the almost healed scab on her lip. “What happened there?”

“On, nothing you need to worry about.” She tugged on the fabric of his fatigues. “New?”

“Yeah. Took procurement a while to realise we’re not always on duty.”

“Not sure about the grey. I think I liked the red better.”

Boss looked down at the dark grey fatigues. He couldn’t care less what colour they were. “You home alone?”

“Yes. Matti’s at work and Dor’s visiting friends.” She stretched up to kiss him. “We have the whole place to ourselves…”

“Ace—”

“You promised!” she argued. “When I was in the hospital, you said once I got home, we could—”

“Ace, you’re only just walking again.”

“But I don’t need to walk to make mad, passionate love to you.”

Boss stared at her for a beat, then shook his head. “You’re still a di’kut.”

But Ace was already pulling him towards her bedroom. “Come on, Boss, aren’t you even a bit curious about what’s going on down there?”

He let her pull him along. He was curious, but he didn’t want to admit that to her. He’d missed sex with her a lot more than he was prepared to admit. It made him feel guilty at first. Ace had almost died. But in time, he realised it was the intimacy he missed. The closeness. Not just the physical act.

In the bedroom, Ace sat on the bed and looked expectantly at him. But Boss did nothing. This would normally be the part where he climbed onto the bed to pull her clothes off her. But he didn’t move. Seeing his hesitancy, Ace grabbed his hand and pulled him onto the bed. “Boss, I’m not going to break. I’m not expecting us to just go straight back to how we were. We can just take it slow…see what happens. And I promise to tell you if anything hurts or doesn’t work properly anymore.”

Boss studied her carefully, smoothing her hair back from her freckled face. She looked the way she used to look – fit and robust. She’d been working hard to put on weight and muscle and get her strength back. “Promise you’ll say something?”

“You have my word. I’ve missed you, Boss.”

Boss lay her back on the bed and leaned down to kiss her. “I’ve missed you, too.”

Chapter Text

Ace wrinkled her nose as she smoothed down her new uniform tunic. It was a sickly tan colour that made her hair look dull and blended in with her freckled skin. Nothing at all like the old dark blue uniform, which was rather flattering to her colouring. But that was then, and this is now, and she knew she was lucky to be going back to work in any capacity at all. Jaller Obrim had called in favours and mounted a convincing argument to bring her back on board. Desk duties only, though. It wasn’t ideal, but it was better than what she’d been doing for the seemingly endless months of her recuperation. She grabbed her cap from the dresser and put it on, pulling a face again at the drabness of it all. She slotted her hand into the single crutch she used now and left her bedroom to grab her bag. As she was checking through the contents, the door control panel beeped, and the door hissed open. “Boss? What are you doing here?”

“Our deployment got delayed. Thought you might like a lift to work.”

Ace beamed at him, feeling her anxiety dissipate. Her confidence had taken a hit with the accident. She knew she still had a lot to offer in policing, even from behind a desk, but she was going into a new organisation – Imperial Security. Things would be different. She slung her bag over her shoulder and stretched up to kiss Boss. “Thank you. This means a lot, Boss. Boss wants me to meet him at the Kragget so we can go in together.”

“Fine. You direct and I’ll drop you there.”

He tried to take her bag, but Ace pushed his hand away. “I can do it. You didn’t bring a bike, though, did you? Because I can’t do that yet.”

“Got a speeder.”

Out on the platform, Boss opened the hatch of a newly badged Imperial speeder and helped Ace in. As independent as she was trying to be, she still had some restrictions on her mobility. But she was improving, and every time he came home, she was better than the last. He slid into the driver’s seat and closed the hatches. “Which way?”

“Down.”

Following her directions, he drove them down through the lower levels to a grimy-looking diner – the Kragget. Ace had talked about it before. It was a place frequented by CSF officers, and she’d told him Skirata had lived nearby. He helped her out of the speeder, then let her make her own way into the diner. But they both stopped in the doorway at the sight before them. The diner was full of officers in Imperial uniforms. But a quick scan around the room told Boss they were all former CSF; he recognised most of the faces. Obrim was there, and they all stood and applauded and cheered as Ace hobbled in. Boss looked over at her, spotting the tears in her eyes as she looked around the familiar faces. Obrim stepped forward. “Welcome back, Captain Denn.”

Ace stared at him. “Captain?”

Obrim reached into his pocket and pulled out a set of bars that he pinned to her tunic. “You’ve been promoted. So have I.”

“But…I haven’t even been at work for months…”

“And you were already in line for promotion before any of this happened. We’re just picking up where we left off.”

Overcome with emotion, Ace passed her crutch to Boss so she could salute her commander and the surrounding officers. “You have no idea how good it is to be back!”

Obrim pulled out a chair for her as the other officers resumed their seats. “Quick breakfast and then we can get to work. Boss, can you stay?”

Boss checked the chrono on the wall. “Yeah, I’ve got another hour.”

He was about to sit when another arrival caught his attention. He grabbed another chair for their table, making room for Jae Niuv to sit with his toddler granddaughter. “Heard there was some kind of party here this morning.”

Ace grinned delightedly and held out her arms for the infant. “It is now! Hey, Jini, look how big you are now!”

The little girl babbled excitedly, chewing on a piece of bread Ace handed her. Boss took the mug of strong caf Obrim handed him. It was good to see Ace back to a semblance of who she had been. She looked genuinely happy for the first time in a long time. What happened next was anybody’s guess – all he could do was be there for her as much as he could, and he knew she’d do the same. For now, they had each other.

Boss grabbed his datapad when he saw the message icon flash. Ace. He still worried whenever he got a message from her, scared it might be bad news. But it wasn’t. It was a photo of her cradling a tiny Sullustan baby. She was grinning her gap-toothed grin, delighted by the baby in her arms. Scorch peered over his shoulder. “Cute baby. Yours? Fixer warned you about this.”

“Very funny. Niuv’s new grandkid, I guess.”

“Hmm. Is that the new uniform?”

Boss nodded. Ace was wearing her new Imperial uniform, just like he was. Their whole world had flipped upside down, but at least they’d come out the other side. The uniform was awful, and he knew Ace hated it. And he knew she hated being trapped behind a desk. But she was a senior rank now, overseeing a team of subordinates in the surveillance bureau. It was the kind of thing she was good at – gathering intelligence and making sense of it. But it was still a desk job. Matti was in the photo too, and she’d captioned it: Captains Denn with the newest arrival. It still amazed him that she had her sense of humour. That positive outlook could only be suppressed for so long. Ram’ser came up behind his other shoulder. “Is that Ace?”

“Yeah.”

“Not her baby, though,” Scorch clarified. “Or Boss’s.”

“You never told me this guy was such a genius,” Ram’ser said, shoving Scorch as he sat back in his seat in the cockpit. “I feel really stupid now.”

“As you should, ner vod,” Scorch joked. “We set the bar high in Delta.”

Boss closed the message down to reply to later. Some of the weight had lifted from his shoulders. Ace was okay, more or less. His squad was functioning well despite the loss of Sev. They weren’t as busy now without a war to fight. They were more involved in matters of security, putting down insurrections, and tracking the odd rogue Jedi who still managed to be at liberty in the galaxy. Under the circumstances, things weren’t too bad. He still thought about Sev all the time. Not a day went by that his brother wasn’t in his mind at some point. He didn’t believe Sev was dead. Neither did Fixer or Scorch. One day, if they ever got the chance, they could try to find him again.

Ace leaned on her crutch as she used her free hand to smooth down her tunic. Meetings. That’s all she seemed to do these days. Organisations were being pulled apart, reorganised, rebranded. CSF no longer existed – everything now came under an Imperial banner. She glanced over at her boss, now Commander Obrim, as he had been in Senate Security years earlier. He looked about as excited as she felt. He gave her a reassuring look. “Ready?”

“Yes.”

Obrim pressed the buzzer, and the door opened quickly. Inside the lavish-looking foyer, an admin droid ushered them to a waiting area. “The colonel will be with you soon.”

Obrim took Ace’s crutch from her and helped her sit on the low couch before sitting beside her. There was money here. This wasn’t like the utilitarian precincts of CSF. Care had been taken here with the decorating, the bespoke furniture, the lighting. They both considered themselves to be experienced, active, front-facing police officers operating on a limited budget within a government agency. This was different. The credits spent decorating this office could have been spent on resources, wage increases, and community safety. But neither of them could say anything. Not here. They didn’t know why they were here. They didn’t know who was listening. Ace looked up at the ceiling. “Nice chandelier…”

Another door hissed open then, and a tall, grey-haired man in a smart white tunic came over to them. Obrim stood, and Ace tried to do the same, but the man waved a hand at her. “As you were, Captain. I struggle to get out of those couches myself at my age.”

Ace knew who this was. Wullf Yularen. Former admiral in the Republic Navy. A man highly regarded by the clone troopers who’d served under him. She took the arm Obrim offered her and got to her feet. “I’m alright, thank you, sir.” She leaned on her crutch to salute the man as Obrim did the same. Yularen had been appointed to a senior role in the new Imperial Security Bureau – ISB. It was the umbrella organisation they all worked under now. They were still trying to understand what that meant, though. Maybe this meeting would help with that.

Yularen held an arm out towards his office door. “I have proper chairs in there. I’m sure we’ll be more comfortable.”

Ace went first. She knew what the coded words meant. They could speak freely in his office. It was secure and free of listening devices. Or maybe it wasn’t. Maybe she and Obrim would be encouraged to speak freely in an effort to catch them out. They didn’t know who to trust anymore. They trusted each other, and the former CSF officers still working under them. But the new Empire had ushered in an era of mistrust. Eyes were everywhere, looking for evidence of sedition or treason. Yularen took a seat behind the large, ornate timber desk and nodded at them to do the same. He waited for Ace to prop her crutch up securely on the side of the desk. “Your return to active duty is quite remarkable, Captain. Given the extent of your injuries.”

“Well, I’m not as active as I used to be. But it’s good to be back on the job.”

Yularen nodded his agreement. “I feel the same. But I’m getting too old to be commanding a destroyer. I have skills that can be used elsewhere. We all do. Caf?”

Ace looked at Obrim, who nodded. “Thank you, sir.”

Yularen pressed a button on his desk to call for caf, then sat back in his plush leather chair. “I imagine you’re both wondering why you’ve been called here, so I’ll get right to it. As you no doubt are aware, security is the biggest issue facing the Empire. Our forces have quelled the insurrections in outlying sectors, which means for now, the risk comes from within.”

Obrim sat up a little straighter. “Within, sir?”

They both knew what that meant, and it felt very uncomfortable. Suspicion and mistrust had no place in policing or security. Not within the ranks. If you couldn’t trust the man or woman next to you, the system failed. That trust wasn’t blind; it was earned. But it was still there. They’d previously worked for a non-partisan government agency, and now politics was creeping its way into places they couldn’t have imagined. The door opened, breaking the uncomfortable silence, and the droid brought in a tray of caf which it laid on the desk. Once the droid had gone, Yularen took a sip of caf and studied them both thoughtfully. “We’ve been checking through records of serving officers.”

Ace didn’t blink, and she knew Obrim would be equally stone-faced. This could go one of two ways, and neither of them knew which. They both had secrets. Skeletons. They’d both used their positions to operate outside the scope of their duties. Now they would find out if somehow, this information had become public. Obrim was the one to broach it. “Should we be concerned, sir?”

“Not at all,” Yularen assured them. “You both have exemplary records of service. The fact that Captain Denn was so badly injured in the line of duty confirms that for me.” He looked directly at Ace. “What you did showed a great amount of bravery and went well above the call of duty, Captain. It shows the kind of commitment and courage we’re looking for. And Commander Obrim, your long career has revealed many examples of great leadership and brilliant tactical calls.”

“Thank you, sir. Perhaps you can shed some light on what it is you’re looking for.”

Ace watched Yularen’s face surreptitiously. He wasn’t affronted by her commander’s bold question. But she knew Obrim had little time for games, especially at this stage of his career. Ace wasn’t as brazen. She still had a lot of working years ahead of her, and she knew she needed to toe the line. Despite any opinions she had about the Empire, that’s who she worked for now, and she needed to play her cards right. For now, that meant keeping them close to her chest. She had to wonder if her relationship with Boss had been revealed. It wasn’t necessarily bad or good, but it could present an issue.

Yularen set his cup down carefully on the fancy desk. “We need senior officers to lead new teams. We need officers we can trust. I believe you can be trusted. I know you’ve been working together for a number of years now, and your record speaks for itself.”

Ace put her own cup down. “What is it we’d be doing?”

“I need good, reliable officers in security. I know you were both in Senate Security. That means you already have an understanding of the…delicate nature of political allegiances and the risk this poses to galactic security. And your work in Anti-Terror has given you experience that is most valuable. We need eyes and ears everywhere to monitor any risk of insurrection. The Empire offers the galaxy strength and security. It cannot be undermined.”

“Do you have a target list?”

“We do. And that is likely to grow. Not everyone willingly accepts that which is good for them.”

They were words that made Ace feel uncomfortable. She wasn’t naïve enough to believe that the Republic didn’t operate similarly. She’d seen it at work in her brief time at the Senate with Obrim. But something about this seemed more sinister. Almost too organised. Too oppressive. She glanced over at Obrim. She could read him, despite his blank face. Just like he could read her. He was thinking about how they could do this job and stay safely under the radar. He was getting the same message she was getting. You don’t have a choice. “Would we have free rein to choose our own team?”

“Of course. We can see that part of your effectiveness stems from a well-trained and unified team. It’s all about trust. Assuming you’re agreeing to my offer, I’ll send through all the information you’ll need. I see no reason to move you from your existing headquarters. I’ll ensure all necessary resources are delivered. Will that be satisfactory?”

“Yes, sir.” Obrim stood and shook the hand the colonel offered him, before helping Ace with her crutch.

Ace shook Yularen’s hand as well, and the colonel held onto her hand a moment longer. “I’m extremely glad to have you on board, Captain. You have a long and promising career ahead of you. And Commander, I hope that you’ll delay your retirement for a few more years. I’ll be in touch.”

Obrim stood back to let Ace leave the office ahead of him, and they were silent as they took the lift back to the ground floor. Obrim took the driver’s seat, and they were soon back at the building in Rampart Town, where they both lived. Inside Ace’s apartment, she got them both a beer, and they sat at her dining table. Obrim took a long pull on the bottle of beer, then he looked at Ace. “We’re in trouble

Chapter Text

Boss walked into the Kragget and looked around for Ace, spotting her up the back, in a booth with Obrim. He slid into the booth across from her and took the mug of caf Obrim shoved at him. “What’s going on? Why here?”

“Security. That’s the word of the moment.”

“Security?”

“Boss and I have got a new role,” she clarified. “We’re still figuring out what that means for us. And for you.”

“What’s it got to do with me?”

“Maybe nothing. I just didn’t want you to come over until you knew. They’re probably watching my place. And me.”

Boss eyed her worriedly. “Okay…tell me what’s going on.”

“We met with Wullf Yularen yesterday,” Obrim said. “Ace said you knew him.”

“Yeah. He’s alright. The 501st boys I know rate him. He’s navy, though.”

“Not anymore. He's taken a new role at ISB. And so have we.”

Boss looked between Ace and Obrim. “What are you talking about?”

“He made us an offer we couldn’t refuse,” Ace said. “Literally.”

“So…what does that mean for you? For us?”

“I don’t know yet. I don’t know if he knows about us, or even if it would be a problem. You’re a loyal Imperial commando. Maybe it’s a good thing.”

“If he doesn’t know yet, he will, Ace. Melusar knows. It’s not a secret anymore.”

“I know. That’s why I wanted to see you here. I need to make sure you understand what you’re getting into. What we’re both getting into. I wanted to give you a chance to—”

“What? Leave you? Not going to happen, Ace. Not now. Not after everything. Whatever happens, I’m sticking with you.”

Ace looked relieved as she reached for his hand across the table. “I’m glad you said that. I don’t want to do this alone.”

“You won’t be alone. They haven’t retired me yet,” Obrim added. “We’ve got some free rein to set things up the way we want. We can add our own layers of security. This old cop still knows a thing or two.”

Ace managed a worried smile. “We might need more than that.”

Obrim was worried too, as he waved Soronna over to order their breakfast. Ace and Boss had somehow managed to stay together through the war and beyond. They’d made it through life and death experiences. But now…now they might have a real challenge ahead of them. And there was only so much he could do for them. His time in a position of influence and power was coming to an end. They had a rough road ahead.

Boss stood back as Ace unlocked her apartment and led him inside. “You really think they’re watching this place?”

“I don’t know. The whole meeting was really unsettling. We’ve been headhunted for this security task force, but it’s hard to shake the feeling that we’ll be under the microscope as well. No one trusts anyone anymore.”

Boss took her bag and crutch from her and pushed her into a chair. “I’ll make you caf; you look tired.”

Boss kept an eye on her while he made caf. He knew his way around the kitchen now, enough for the basics. Ace did look tired. That was to be expected. She’d probably gone back to work sooner than she should have. But it was more than that. Her face was showing the strain of worry. He sat beside her and rubbed the back of her neck. “Maybe you went back to work too soon.”

“Maybe. But I don’t think it’s that. Work isn’t there anymore. Not the way it was. And now Jae’s gone. Boss’ll be retiring soon. And the job is completely different. Everything’s changed, and I’m not sure I’m ready for that.”

“So, what are the options?”

“I don’t know. All I know is work. I lived for this job. But the job doesn’t exist anymore.”

“Maybe it’s time for something different.” Boss didn’t really know what that meant. He didn’t come from a world in which one got to choose their own path in life. It seemed ridiculous to say it.

“I don’t know what that would be, Boss. I’m almost thirty and I don’t have much to show for it.”

“Like what?”

“I don’t know. Sometimes I still think about having a family…kids. I’ve been spending a lot of time with Jae’s granddaughters, and—”

“Ace, we talked about this. It’s not happening.”

“Well…we talked about it a long time ago…before any of this happened. Things are different now. Boss, I want to try and make a good life here with you. I know it won’t be like other people make a life together, but I want to try. I deserve to have this, Boss, and so do you.”

Boss stared at her. “Are you seriously telling me you want to have a kid? With me?”

Ace nodded as she took his hand. “Yeah, I am. I love you, Boss. I want us to be a family. A real family. Or as close as we can come to that under the current circumstances.”

“Ace, you don’t know what you’re asking. We can’t do this. I can’t do this. I don’t even have control over where I go or what I do. How can I have a kid?”

“They can’t control everything, Boss. You have some choices. You could choose this, and they wouldn’t have a say. You could have some ownership over your own life.”

“And what about you? You’ve only just recovered from almost dying. How would we make this work?”

“The same way we make everything else work. With our brilliant brains and sexy bodies.”

Boss gave her an unimpressed look. This wasn’t the time for her jokes. “Ace, it’s not just a baby – it’s a kid to raise. Look what happened to Dar. His kid’s being raised by someone else a long way from here.”

“I know. But I don’t think that will be forever. And that won’t happen to us. Boss, I…I don’t want to waste the life I have left. You’re right, I almost died. That gave me a lot to think about. It made me realise what’s really important. And it’s not just that I want to have a baby. I want to have a baby with you. I love you, Boss. I want us to create something together…to be a family.”

Boss sighed and pulled Ace into his arms. Despite his immediate resistance, she made a compelling argument. This was his life. He might be owned by the Empire, he might not have a lot of choices, but he could choose this. He loved Ace, and somewhere in a corner of his mind, he sometimes wondered about making a life with her. A real life. A life of their choosing. It seemed farfetched and unrealistic. But she was right – they couldn’t waste the time they had. He bent to kiss the top of her head. “I’ll think about it.”

Ace sat across from Colonel Yularen. Despite her initial mistrust, she’d grown to respect the man, even like him. He was respectful and kind, and he oozed competence. It was easy to imagine him commanding a destroyer crewed by thousands of men. He was unflappable. She wondered just how much he believed in this new Empire, or whether he was just like the rest of them – doing his job as dictated by those higher up. They were all doing things now that seemed ethically dubious. She was spying on previous Republic officials; Boss was hunting down Jedi. Nothing seemed right. But they were both stuck in the system. At least Matti’s job had stayed more or less the same, and Doran’s. There was some stability.

Yularen finished reading the data printout she’d brought him, then he laid it carefully on his large desk. “This is comprehensive, Captain. Impressive.”

“Thank you, sir.”

“Senate security risks are at an all-time high. Many Separatist planets are refusing to concede to the Empire, and many former Republic worlds are doing the same. We have our work cut out keeping tabs on all the insurrections.”

“It’s still early days for a new regime, sir. Perhaps things will settle with more time.”

“Perhaps, but in the meantime, keeping the emperor safe from any threats is a priority. Unfortunately, that means keeping close tabs on formerly loyal senators. They have access and can present a greater risk than some random dissatisfied reprobate.”

Ace leaned forward in her chair. “Do you really think someone would attempt an assassination from within?”

“An assassination, an overthrow… Anything is possible in times like these. That’s why we need people like you to be on side. We cannot be too careful.”

“Well, intelligence is our best defence. Know your enemy.” She didn’t really believe that the planets reluctant to come under the rule of the Empire were the enemy, but it seemed like the kind of thing she should be saying about now. “Perhaps some of these governments don’t really see the benefit of an empire yet.”

Yularen gave her a long, enigmatic look, then he sat back with his hands clasped in his lap. “And what of your home, Captain? You’re not from Coruscant.”

Ace didn’t blink. She knew he was likely testing her. “No, I’m from Hosnian Prime. My brother and I have been here a long time. I don’t really have strong ties to home anymore.”

“Your brother is with CRO?”

“Yes. He’s captain of his precinct. Very highly regarded.”

Yularen nodded thoughtfully. “His reputation has not gone unnoticed.”

Ace tried not to let her panic show. She didn’t want her brother dragged into this mess. “Sir, I—”

“No need to be concerned, Captain. You must know that you were thoroughly vetted before we approached you?”

“Yes, but—”

Yularen reached across to fill her glass with water from the carafe on his desk. “Now is probably as good a time as any to discuss your other significant relationship.”

Ace swallowed hard. “Sir?”

“Come now, Captain. You work in intelligence. You must know that our vetting would be thorough. You’ve been involved with a clone commando for some time.”

Ace looked warily at the man across the desk. He didn’t appear to be playing games with her. Perhaps he was testing her. There was no point lying, though. So, she nodded. “Yes, sir. But I don’t see what that has to—”

Yularen sat up straight again. “There’s really no need for alarm, Aysa. May I call you Aysa?”

“I prefer Ace.”

“Very well, Ace.” Yularen offered her a small smile. “I commanded the Resolute during the war. I had almost ten thousand men under my command, most of them clone troopers. I’m very comfortable in telling you that they were the finest men I’ve ever had the privilege to serve alongside. They were, and continue to be, superior soldiers. I was fortunate to serve with one of the best – Captain Rex. He was killed in action at the end of the war.”

“I met him briefly,” Ace said, still uncertain as to where this was all leading. “I’m sorry.”

“I’m sorry too,” Yularen continued. “We lost many good men, and the prospects for the clones now are not good. Their time is finite. I assume you’re aware?”

“I’m aware.” She was more than aware. She’d known Boss for three years. She’d seen the changes in him during that time. She knew his clock was ticking faster than her own.

“Unfortunately, there seems to be no solution to this, and the emperor will have no use for the clones as they age. They’ll be relegated to training roles, low-level duties.”

“And then?”

“Then? That remains uncertain. I’m sorry, I wish I had something different to tell you, but this is out of my hands. If it were up to me, well…things would be different. Those men deserve better.”

“Colonel, why are you telling me this?”

“Because I like you, Ace. You’re an exceptional officer, and I look after the people under my command.”

“So…you don’t have a problem with me continuing to see him?”

“Not at all. But you need to be aware of what lies ahead. I trust you to conduct yourself appropriately with the intelligence in your possession.”

“I always have done, sir. We’re both trained well enough not to talk shop. There are no blurred lines there.”

“I didn’t think there would be. I met with Commander Melusar the other day. He’s an unusual man. Very driven. Perhaps a little too personally driven.”

“Personally, sir?”

“He’s taking his hunt for rogue Jedi very seriously. I’m not sure it’s warranted. I would be very surprised if the Jedi were to regroup in any meaningful way. There can’t be many of them left.”

Ace studied him thoughtfully. He seemed almost wistful. “You must have worked with Jedi, sir? During the war?”

“I did,” Yularen confirmed. “Anakin Skywalker was my second in command. And his padawan, Ahsoka Tano. I know you’ve crossed paths with them before.”

“Yes. I chased Ahsoka Tano through a drain. She got away from me.”

“I’m not surprised. She was always very fast.”

Ace took a risk. She could see Yularen was warming to her enough to show some emotion. “Sir, do you believe the Jedi really posed a risk to democracy? Do you think an empire is a better option?”

“I’m not here to speculate.”

“I know. But I’d like to know what you think. I’m still not sure. What we’re doing seems so…draconian. Too much, too soon. We’re not giving people a chance to get used to things before we start stamping them as traitors.”

She held her breath, waiting for Yularen to reprimand her or call in his guards to have her hauled away and locked up for her treasonous thoughts. But he didn’t. He thought quietly for a moment. “I appreciate your frankness, Ace. And I’m glad you feel comfortable enough to speak freely with me. I agree with you. Things have moved quickly. Perhaps too quickly. But you and I are both part of the security service. We live to serve. I’m not sure it’s our place to question why or if. I do my best to be fair and just, as I always have. We all need to work together to keep the galaxy safe. All of us.”

Ace nodded as she gathered up her documents to return them to her file. “You’re right. We all have our role to play.”

The colonel stood to help her with her crutch as he always did. He wasn’t the kind of man who seemed overly concerned with pulling rank. He was a gentleman. Always polite and considered. But still not someone she was prepared to trust wholly. He walked her to the door and pressed the button for her to exit. “Thank you for coming in, Ace. I’m once again impressed with your outstanding work, and I’ve appreciated the opportunity to chat more casually. I’ll be in touch.”

“Thank you, sir. I assume you’ve received word from Commander Obrim regarding his retirement?”

“I have. I expected it, but it will be a great loss to the service.”

Ace nodded her agreement. “Jaller’s done more than his fair share over the years. He taught me everything I know.”

“As I said, he will be sorely missed. Take care, Captain.”

In her speeder, Ace sank into the plush leather seat. She was a senior officer now, with a speeder to represent that. She leaned her forehead against the steering yoke. She was being absorbed into this empire, whether she liked it or not

Chapter Text

Boss sat in the mess at Special Ops, eyes on Squad Forty as they ate a few tables away. They’d lost another man – Ennen. Now they were a squad of three with the Spaarti clone, Rede. A part of him was still surprised to see them there. It had been a long time since the others deserted. The Nulls would usually have moved a lot quicker to get them out. There must be a reason why they were still here. Maybe things had gone wrong. Maybe the Nulls were all dead. Maybe Skirata and Vau were dead. Maybe there was no one else out there. He focused on Darman. Ever since Ace had asked him about having a baby, he wondered about Darman. Dar had a baby – a kid of his own. He never talked about him, never mentioned him. If he were still alive, that kid was now being raised by others – people who weren’t his parents. His mother was dead, and his father was stuck here. It seemed a strange concept to him – being a parent. He didn’t have much to go on. He was raised by Walon Vau, who could never be accused of being a father. Not like Skirata. If he had a kid of his own, how would he know what to do with it? How would he know where to start? There was no doubt in his mind that Ace would make a good mother, despite the poor relationship she had with her own parents, but he worried about his own ability. As he watched Darman, he felt a twinge of resentment for the upbringing he and his brothers got compared to Skirata’s boys. Bralor, Gilamar, Tay’haai – they’d all treated their cadets as family. But not Vau. And now he was sitting here, seriously contemplating having a baby with Ace and wondering if he’d completely lost his mind.

But then Darman stood with his squad and walked towards Boss as the others returned to barracks. Surprisingly, Dar slid onto the bench across from Boss. “How’s Ace?”

“She’s okay. Why?”

“Just asking. Heard she’s working in ISB.”

Boss gave Darman a hard look. “So?”

Darman shrugged. “Not trying to start anything. None of us has much say in what happens to us anymore, even Ace.”

Boss gulped the last of his caf and studied Darman. The other man looked like he had more to say. Boss grabbed his helmet and stood. “I’m heading back to barracks. You coming?”

Darman nodded and got up to follow Boss from the mess. As they crossed the parade ground, Boss slowed down. “Something else on your mind?”

Darman hesitated before answering. “We’re going to Mandalore.”

Boss stared at him for a beat. “You’re what?”

“Holy Roly’s approved the mission.”

“A mission to do what?”

“Meet up with some old contacts.”

Boss tried not to let his racing thoughts show in his expression. He knew exactly what Darman was getting at. He wasn’t surprised as such. He’d been expecting them to bail eventually, but the how and when was a mystery. But this didn’t make sense. “How’s that going to work out for you? He’ll know exactly where to start looking.”

“We’ll figure something out.”

“You’ll figure something out? Good luck with that.”

Darman didn’t seem to be particularly fazed by Boss’s derision. “Just letting you know, in case…you know. It wouldn’t be too difficult to convince Melusar to take another squad.”

Boss shook his head. “What, and spend the rest of our lives on the run? No thanks. What about your Spaarti?”

“We’ll take him. He’ll be okay.”

“Sounds like a bad plan all round. Even if you make it, how do you stay hidden?”

“Like I said, we’ll figure something out. But I have to try. My boy needs me.”

That took Boss by surprise. Darman and Etain’s son was never mentioned. Not by Dar, anyway. They all knew, they just didn’t talk about it. “He’d be safer without you bringing the Empire to the doorstep, wouldn’t he?”

“He needs me,” Darman reiterated. “It’s time now.”

Boss wondered what he really meant by that. He assumed that wherever the kid was, he was safe, being fed and sheltered. That’s all anyone really needed. But that’s not what Darman meant. Dar’s son needed his father – that’s what he was getting at. He glanced around to see that they were still alone out on the parade ground. “Why did you even have a kid? None of us was ever in a position to raise a child.”

Darman shrugged. “I didn’t know about it until he was older. But I’m still his father. I’d be with him now if…”

If. It was a big if. If Niner hadn’t been injured. If Etain hadn’t died. They all knew now how Etain had been killed, and he couldn’t imagine how it must have felt for Darman to see it happen. But he knew how it felt to have to get up and keep going, despite anything else that might be going on. He felt sympathy for Darman. Empathy. “How old is he now?”

“Almost three. I need to be with him again before…before he forgets who I am. I’m all he’s got left.”

Boss frowned. Unless he was mistaken, that kid would have his grandfather, uncles and a variety of other people looking after him. Darman wasn’t all he had left. But maybe that’s not what he meant. Maybe this was what being a father was about – a step up from having a partner and centring someone else in your life. He could see it was hurting Dar to be away from his son. “Do you regret it? Do you regret having a kid?”

Darman thought for a moment, then shook his head. “No. He’s pretty amazing, Boss. I’m lucky. I’m lucky Etain did this for me. Now it’s on me to take care of him and keep him safe.”

Boss flipped his helmet in his hands and started walking back to the barracks with Darman. “If you need anything…if we can help, we will.”

“Thanks, ner vod. I appreciate that. And if you and Ace…if you ever get the chance…don’t waste it. You never know what’s around the corner.”

Ace stepped off the shuttle, gratefully taking the hand Colonel Yularen offered her. She was still a little unsteady on her feet on anything other than a flat surface. But she made it through her day-to-day existence without a crutch now, and it felt good. Almost as though things were back to normal. But things weren’t back to normal. She was dressed in a neat white tunic with her rank bars pinned to her chest, hair neatly tucked under a black cap, and she’d just returned from a flying visit to several planets to meet with agents stationed in various systems to monitor potential insurgency risks. Things were very different. She walked with Yularen to the bay where their speeders were parked. The colonel offered her a hand again as she climbed into her speeder. “Take a couple of days, Ace. It’s been a busy trip.”

“Are you sure?”

“Very. I might do the same. I need to remind my wife of what I look like.”

Ace smiled at the older man’s joke. “How long have you been married?”

“A long time. Over thirty years. Suffice to say she’s used to me being away for long periods, although there was supposed to be less of that in this job.”

“Well, maybe next time you can send me while you stay here. I don’t have a husband waiting at home.”

Yularen leaned into the hatch with a worried frown. “You know it’s unlikely that you and your sergeant will ever be able to—”

“I know. I know all that. But I still think he’s worth it. Sometimes the right person just comes along.”

Yularen nodded. “Sometimes they do. I admire you, Ace. You have the courage of your convictions. It’s sadly lacking in today’s world. If there’s ever anything I can do to help, you only need to ask.”

“Thank you, sir. I’m sure we’ll be fine. I’ll see you in a couple of days.”

Once the hatch had closed and she was alone, she pulled her cap off and tossed it across the cabin. She still wasn’t sure how she felt about Wullf Yularen. He said all the right things, and he seemed sincere, but she’d need a lot longer before she allowed him any deeper into her private life, especially under the current political climate. Sighing tiredly, she dug her personal comlink from her bag, smiling happily when she saw a message from Boss. Hey, hotshot, we’re waiting for you. She started the engine and drove out of the base, stopping impatiently at the security checkpoint. There was still a lot to be happy about.

At home, the apartment was busy and crowded. And it smelled good. The living room looked small with four commandos in it. Boss was by her side in an instant, kissing her discreetly as he took her work bag from her with a worried frown. “Okay?”

“Yeah. Just a long few days. We covered a lot of territory.” She saw the other members of Delta Squad eyeing her off and quickly unfastened her crisp white tunic to remove it. “Sorry, I’m not usually this formal.”

Scorch nodded at the rank bars. “Keeping all the medals put away?”

“Something like that.” She gave Scorch a tight hug. “It’s good to see you again. I’m glad you made it.”

Bemused, Scorch returned her hug. “Made it here? Or something else?”

“Both.” She went to hug Fixer, but he offered her his hand instead, so she took it and hugged him anyway. “You too, Fixer.”

Flustered, Fixer pulled away and shoved the fourth member of the squad forward in his place. “This is Ram’ser.”

Ace shook the man’s hand. “Welcome. It’s nice to meet you.”

“You too,” Ram’ser said, eyeing her up and down. “You’re really doing the ISB thing then?”

“I’m afraid so. For now.” She saw his drink was almost empty. “Get you another beer?”

“Yeah, thanks.”

In the kitchen, Ace found Doran busy at the stove, preparing dinner for their guests. She gave him a noisy kiss on the cheek. “Hey, Dor. Thanks for doing this.”

“My pleasure. It’s always nice to have more say in what I cook, and those boys look like they’re not fussy.”

“Well, you’ve seen Boss eat. How far away is Matti?”

“On his way. Stopping for more beer.”

“Oh, good, we might need it.” She grabbed more beer from the conservator, opening one for Doran, before precariously carrying five more out to the living room. Ram’ser grabbed one just as it slipped from her grasp while the others quickly took the remaining bottles from her.

Boss handed an open one back to her. “Here, you look like you could use this.”

She gave him a grateful smile before clinking her bottle against everyone else’s. “Glad you could all make it.”

“What about me?” She turned to see her brother coming through the door, easily carrying a large carton of beer under one arm. “I made it too.”

“Matti, this is Ram’ser,” she said, indicating the new squad member. “Ram’ser, this is my baby brother, Matthias.”

“You’re baby brother?”

“They’re twins,” Scorch elaborated. “If you can figure that out, let me know.”

Ram’ser looked between the two siblings and elected to keep his thoughts to himself. “Nice to meet you. Thanks for having us over.”

“Our pleasure,” Matti said, cracking open a beer for himself. “I’m glad your new boss lets you out for social engagements.”

“Yeah, Mon Cala Opera tomorrow night,” Scorch said, taking a swig of his beer, “then the ballet later this week.”

Ace laughed at Scorch’s deadpan delivery. “I can see you in a tutu. Now, if you’ll all excuse me, I’m going to go change into something a little less ‘secret service’.”

Boss followed her up to her room, watching as she tossed bits of her uniform around the room. “How was the trip?”

“Okay.” Ace turned to face him, and the smile had gone, replaced with a strained expression. “Okay if you like travelling around the galaxy collecting intel on people who are daring to not immediately submit to the Empire.”

Worried by how worn out she looked, Boss pushed her into the ensuite, starting the shower while she finished undressing. She sighed loudly as she stepped under the hot water, then gave him a hopeful look. “Join me?”

He gave her a look, then tilted his head in the direction of the living room. “Maybe later.”

As she towelled off in the bedroom, Boss sat on the bed to wait. “Need a painkiller?”

“Why?”

“Because you move stiffer when you’re tired. You limp more.”

“I’m okay,” she said, sitting beside him to wrangle her legs into pink lounge pants. “You notice everything.”

“So do you. That’s why you’re a spook.”

“Boss, I didn’t want to—”

“I know. I’m pointing out that you’re good at what you do. They saw that.”

She leaned tiredly into his side while he massaged her lower back. The residual effects of her injury cause frequent muscular aches and pains, and he knew how to help ease them out now. “I don’t know how much longer I can do this, Boss. I’m doing what needs to be done, and I’m good at it, but my heart’s not in it. My moral compass is going in all the wrong directions.”

“So, what options do you have?”

“I don’t know. I’m not sure there are any unless I resign completely. But then what do I do? Go and waitress at the Kragget?”

Boss was stuck for a response. He didn’t know what to tell her. He didn’t have any choices at all, and sometimes that was easier. You knew what you were dealing with. But that lack of choice was also holding him back from a real life with Ace. He pulled her closer and kissed the top of her head. “You’re a little overqualified for a waitress.”

“I know. I wasn’t really serious. I guess I just have to see how this all plays out. I like Yularen, but I still don’t feel like I can let my guard down around him. It’s hard to shake the feeling that he’s keeping me close for a reason.”

“Maybe the reason is as simple as you’re the best person for the job. Your record says a lot.”

“Yeah, I’m pretty amazing, aren’t I?”

Boss chuckled. It was good to see a glimpse of the old Ace, after everything they’d both been through, sometimes it was hard to find things to laugh at. “Yeah, you’re pretty amazing, hotshot.” He thought for a moment before changing tack. “I saw Darman the other day.”

“How is he? Are he and Niner any closer to getting out?”

“Sounds like they’ve got something in the works. He offered to take us.”

Ace stared up at him. “Boss, you’re not going to go, are you? I can’t do this without—”

“I’m not going anywhere, hotshot. I’ll be right here. He needs to go, though. His kid needs him.”

“That must be so hard. They’ve been apart for so long, and he’d barely even found out Kad was his.”

“He said he didn’t regret it, though. And he said that if you and I…”

Ace’s eyes went wide. “Boss, you know that—”

“I think he’s right. And you’re right. I need to try and make something of what I have with you. It might not work out, but I won’t know if I don’t try.”

“Boss…are you saying…”

“I’m saying that if you still want to, then I do too.”

Ace threw her arms around him, holding him tightly. “We can make it work, Boss. I know we can. I love you.”

“I love you, too, hotshot.”

She pulled back enough to raise her eyebrows suggestively. “Should we get started now?”

“Yeah, I’m sure no one will notice us missing.”

“Oops. I forgot about them.” She got up and tugged on his hand. “Come on, let’s go eat before it’s all gone. You’re going to need all your energy.”

Boss let her pull him back out to the living room. He’d been going over Darman’s words for days and agonising over a decision. But now that he’d said it out loud, it felt right.

Chapter Text

“They’re gone.”

Boss looked up from reading the orders on his datapad. “Who’s gone?”

“Forty,” Scorch clarified, dropping onto his bunk. “Overdue. No comms.”

Boss felt his heart stop for a beat. They’d done it. They’d finally made it out. But it wouldn’t be over for them yet. Not by a long shot. “How’d you find out?”

“Just saw Holy Roly out in the grounds. He’s sending us to find them.”

This time, his heart stopped for two beats. “He’s what?”

“Apparently, we’re the best squad to go and find out what happened. I honestly don’t think he suspects what they’ve actually done. Dar had him so pumped up by the idea of finding more Jedi that he forgot what we all are.”

Boss looked around the small room. “This isn’t where we have that discussion, Scorch.”

Scorch nodded. “I know. He wants us in his office for a briefing ASAP.”

Boss exhaled loudly and stood. “Let’s go then.”

Fixer and Ram’ser stood to follow them. Out in the yard, Ram’ser got close to Boss. “I’m not turning any brother in. Vode An, ner vod. That means something.”

Boss nodded grimly. “I know. Let me do the talking.”

In the admin block, he knocked on Melusar’s door, opening it when they were called in. Melusar waved them all into chairs, then sat back to study them thoughtfully. “Squad 40 has not made contact for several days. They were in transit to Mandalore when we lost communication with them. There has been no emergency beacon. Nothing. They’ve simply vanished.”

Boss responded the way he might in any other similar situation. “An accident, sir? Crash?”

“We’ve had no intelligence to suggest this. I’m sending you to find them. Any thoughts as to what contacts they may have on Mandalore?”

Boss shook his head. “We had different training sergeants, sir. Last I heard, there’d been no sign of Skirata.”

Melusar nodded with a frustrated sigh. “The Empire has lost interest in the deserters. ISB seems to believe there is little to no risk from the few stragglers unaccounted for. I’m not so sure. Mandalore is an important asset. Any hint of insurrection will need to be dealt with.”

“Do you really think Squad 40 deserted, sir?”

“I hope not. They’re good men. I’d hate to lose them. And I’d hate to have to follow through if we find out they did desert. I’m trying to improve the situation for the clones under my command, not make it worse.”

Boss nodded again. He agreed with his CO on that point. “Orders, sir?”

“You’ll leave for Mandalore as soon as you have supplies and kit ready. I want you to find them or find out what happened to them. Desertion is not the result I want. Do I make myself clear, Sergeant?”

“Yes, sir. I understand. Will that be all?”

“For now. Keep me posted as you go, and if you need further resources, they’ll be at your disposal.”

The four members of Delta stood and saluted their commander before filing out of the office. They were silent as they walked down the corridor, outside and into the open space of the parade ground. Fixer was frowning to himself. “What did he mean, desertion isn’t the result he wants?”

“I’d say he means cover it up if that’s what we find. Or get them back here. He says a lot without saying it at all.”

Ace pulled the comlink off her belt to answer it as she fumbled through the door of her apartment. “Boss?”

“Hey, hotshot, got a new mission.”

“You’re leaving?” She dropped into a chair and unfastened the black belt over her tunic. “When?”

“Tonight. Just kitting up now.”

“Oh, so you won’t have time to…”

“Sorry. We just found out.”

She bent down awkwardly to pull her boots off. She wasn’t as flexible as she was before the accident, and it annoyed her that so many simple jobs were more challenging now. She relaxed back into the chair. “Where are you going?”

There was a long pause before Boss answered. “Mandalore.”

“Mandalore? Boss, I don’t understand. Why are you—”

“Niner and Dar bailed. Took the new boy with them. Melusar wants us to find them.”

Ace felt her heart racing. This was bad. She didn’t know for certain that Skirata and his family had gone to Mandalore, but it was a reasonably safe guess – he was a Mandalorian. And if that’s where Niner and Darman were headed, that was as good as confirmation. “Boss, this is—”

“Bad. I know. But it’s orders. We still don’t know what’s actually happened to them. For all we know, they could have been hijacked or ambushed or something.”

“What if you find them there? What then?”

“We’ll figure that out if and when it happens. If we find them…any of them, we won’t be giving them up.”

“Boss, you’ll be careful, won’t you? You know what Skirata’s boys are like. If they’re out there and they see you as a threat…”

“We’ll be careful, hotshot.” He hesitated for a moment. “You okay? Sorry we have to leave. I don’t have much say in all this.”

“I’m okay, Boss. You know me. Somehow, I’m still kicking.” She thought for a moment. “I can see what’s in the system…see if there’s any spooks on them.”

“Ace, I don’t want you doing that. I don’t want you putting yourself in the firing line.”

“That’s what I do, hotshot. That’s what I’ve always done. Don’t worry, I have a high enough clearance that it won’t seem suspicious.”

Boss sighed loudly. “You’re going to do it whether I like it or not, aren’t you?”

“That’s top secret,” she joked, trying to lighten the mood. “Be careful out there, Boss. And call me if you can, okay?”

“I will. Don’t do anything stupid.”

“I won’t. I love you, Boss.”

“I love you, too.”

She sat back in the chair and tossed her comlink onto a side table. Despite everything that was going on, she was happy. Boss no longer hesitated when he told her he loved her. It came easily to him now, and it felt better than she could have imagined. It would be better if they were both free to live their lives together, but she held onto her optimism – her accident hadn’t driven that from her.

Boss was first off the ship, pausing to check his HUD for any lifeforms or electromagnetic signals. Nothing beyond the animals living in the dense woods. The others gathered in the clearing, looking around to assess the situation. Fixer had managed to slice into Niner’s comlink code remotely. It hadn’t been turned on for days, but the last known ping was in this area. At least they had a starting point. He glanced over at Ram’ser. “How’s your tracking?”

“You mean, am I as good as Sev? Probably not, but I do okay.”

“That’ll do.” He looked around again. “This should be home to us.”

“Home?” Scorch scoffed, pulling off his helmet to take in the sights with his own eyes. “We don’t have a home. You’re getting soft in your old age.”

“Do you think he’s done it yet?” asked Fixer. “Skirata?”

“Done what?” Ram’ser asked. “What are you on about?”

Boss pulled his own helmet off. “Skirata was trying to find a cure for our aging. You know what he’s like.”

“Yeah, I remember,” Ram’ser laughed. “A cure, though? How did he think he was going to administer that? ‘Line up, boys. Don’t mind me, Palps, just a few million more and I’ll be done.’”

“He was probably going to put it into the drinking water on Coruscant,” Scorch said. “He’s crazy enough to try something like that.”

“I won’t hold my breath then,” Ram’ser snorted. “So, where do we start? Do we follow through, or just spend a decent amount of time here before reporting back that we found their bodies or whatever osik you’re concocting to tell Holy Roly?”

Boss gave Ram’ser an appraising look. He hadn’t expected to like his new squad member so much, but his new sniper had just the right amount of humour and cynicism to fit in. It didn’t hurt that he was an accomplished sniper. And Ace liked him. They’d been back a few more times for dinner, and it felt good to be able to share a little bit of what he had with his squad – a life outside. “We’ll spend some time trying to find them. We can’t tell Melusar they’re dead – he’ll want evidence. It has to be something different. Disappearance or something. And if we find them, well…then they’ll know he’s after them.” He looked over at Fixer, who was squatting nearby to set up a long-range scanner. “Will that still pick them up if they’ve shut down the ship fully?”

“There’s always a signal,” Fixer murmured distractedly. “No matter what you think you’ve shut down, there’s always a signal. If you really don’t want to be tracked, you need to change your mode of transport – several times.”

“If the Nulls are involved, they’ll be two steps ahead of us,” Scorch offered. “Three, probably.”

“Those guys,” Ram’ser said, pulling a face. “They always made me feel uncomfortable.”

Scorch laughed as he put his helmet back on. “They live to make people uncomfortable, ner vod. Fixer, anything?”

“Give me a minute…”

The other three men waited patiently while Fixer made some adjustments to his device, then he took several steps forward and turned, pivoting slowly before pointing east. “Picking up something about two klicks that way.”

Boss shouldered his pack and grabbed his rifle. “Let’s move.”

Ace sat at her desk, tapping her fingers on the timber surface. Her office was next door to Yularen’s. Not as large, and not as luxurious, but it was a long way from the office she’d had at CSF, where resources were stretched. She rolled her plush leather chair back and forth, sometimes wishing for her fitness ball. Something about rolling back and forth helped her focus. She'd read through the current file on Kal Skirata – he was still a wanted man, him and all his associates, but their status had dropped to low priority. No one was actively looking for them anymore. Focused now, she scrolled through the lists, looking to see who else was on there. A number of clone troopers were still unaccounted for. She knew what that meant – they were most likely dead and no one had sighted the bodies, or they’d deserted when the war ended and were at large in the galaxy. Others on the list were civilians, civil servants, and political agitators. She transferred this information to her datapad and went to the office next door. She knocked on the door and went in after a few seconds. Yularen looked up from his terminal, his stern expression changing to a pleasant smile when he saw it was her. “Ace, what can I do for you?”

Ace sat on one of the visitor chairs and held out her datapad. “I’ve been going over the status of some of these targets, sir. Some of them haven’t been reviewed for a long time.”

Yularen took the datapad and scrolled through the list, frowning when he saw how long it was. “You’re right. Some of these go right back to the end of the war. What are you proposing?”

“We’ve got a lot of feet on the ground chasing ghosts. Potential ghosts. I think it’s time we reviewed the lists. Start with the names that have been there the longest and assess whether or not they still pose a threat to the Empire, and go from there. If someone’s been on this list since the end of the war and we haven’t heard a peep out of them, then they either pose no risk, or they’re playing the long game. Either way, we’re stretching resources too thin trying to stay on top of all of them.”

Yularen sat back with his hands clasped on the polished timber desk. “You constantly remind me that bringing you into this division has been one of my better decisions. This is excellent work, Ace. And I think you’re the best placed to manage the project. We’ll be a lot more effective if we’re not looking for people who may not even exist anymore. I’ll leave it in your capable hands. Keep me posted on your progress.”

“Yes, sir.” She grabbed her datapad and stood. “Are you going for lunch soon?”

Yularen shook his head. “I wasn’t planning to. I have a mountain of files to get through.”

Ace paused at the door. “I could get something and bring it back. Then we can get through those files a lot faster.”

Yularen sighed with a smile. “Ace, you’re fast making yourself indispensable. That’s an excellent idea. Put it on expenses. If we have to work these hours, they can at least pay to feed us.”

Ace smiled to herself as she went back to her own office to get her bag. She still did not place her complete trust in Yularen, but he was impossible not to like. And she felt comfortable with what he knew about her private life. He respected the clones and was sympathetic to what they had endured, and continued to endure. He was an inherently decent man, and under the circumstances, she was lucky to have landed on her feet after everything that had happened. If anything, she felt a little guilty that she was about to tinker around the edges of misusing her position for personal benefit. But he wouldn’t find out. She’d laid her groundwork well enough.

Boss was glad for his new armor as they slipped through the trees. He understood now why Omega had favoured their matte black armor. It didn’t make you invisible, but it helped you blend into your surroundings a lot better. But he could still remember hearing about their mission to Fest – the way the black made them stand out like beacons on the snowy planet. He remembered Fi finding it an incredibly amusing story to tell in the barracks. He often wondered about Fi. He could be close to their current position for all he knew. He had no real way of knowing where Skirata was holed up, but he was confident Fi would be with them, whatever shape he was in now. Ace had told him she’d seen Fi during the invasion and that he was well, and for a man who’d been as good as dead, that was a pretty good outcome.

Ram’ser came up beside him. “Fixer’s getting a stronger signal.”

Boss nodded wordlessly, then switched his helmet audio to internal only. “Delta, with me.” He waited for Fixer and Scorch to come in from their positions. Rifles armed, they slipped silently through the trees, sticking to the rippling shadows. As the foliage began to thin, he caught a glimpse of something. He checked his HUD and saw what Fixer had picked up on his scanner. And electromagnetic pulse. It might not be anything of significance, but it might be exactly what they were looking for. He raised a hand to stop the others, then crept forward a few more meters, always obscured by the trees, rifle charged and ready. He saw it then. It was covered by huge branches and foliage, but not enough to fully disguise what it was. A small Imperial shuttle. The kind they took on recon missions. Big enough for a hyperdrive but not carrying any weapons system. He saw the rest of his squad icons on his HUD as they came up behind him. “Fan out. Stay sharp.”

The four men spread out through the trees as they approached the hidden ship. It was obvious they weren’t trying to make the ship disappear – just be invisible to any kind of aerial recon or flyover. It was locked up, ramp sealed, with no sign of activity. Boss aimed his rifle as he approached, relying on the others to cover him as he knew they would. He used one hand to drag branches away from the hatch, then used an Imperial override code to open it. He stepped back, rifle aimed at the hatch as the ramp lowered with a hiss. Inside was dark, no emergency lights, nothing. He paused for a moment to listen, then stepped onto the ramp. Scorch came up behind him. “At least we’ll have something to tell Holy Roly.”

“Yeah. That they abandoned ship and did a runner. He’ll want more than that.”

“A lot of unhappy people on Mandalore since we started dropping garrisons everywhere. Maybe they fell victim to some rebel cell. You know what unhinged Mandos are like. We were trained by one of them.”

Boss nodded thoughtfully as he sat in the copilot’s seat. “That could work.”

“We’d have to stage it,” Fixer added, taking the pilot’s seat to start the system. “That won’t be difficult, though.” Once the system came online, he opened up the trip computer to see what coordinates had been entered through the journey. “Nothing. They’ve wiped it.”

Boss pulled his helmet off and looked around. “Niner knows what he’s doing.”

Scorch was flipping lockers open to check the contents. “What do you think their plan was? They must have known they wouldn’t just be able to disappear, no questions asked.”

“I think we’re about to find out the answer to that question,” Ram’ser said, pointing through the viewport.

Boss peered out, his heart pounding when he saw what was coming through the trees. “Shab!”

Chapter Text

Ace finished reading the file on Kal Skirata. It hadn’t been updated in over a year, but there was still plenty to read. It had taken her all day to wade through the intel, and she began to wonder if even Jaller Obrim knew just how many fires Skirata had his irons in. Despite the trouble he’d caused, she had to admire the man’s tenacity and ingenuity. He knew how to make things happen, and he knew how to get people to help him – including her. Somehow, he’d managed to disappear himself and all of his sons and assorted hangers-on without a trace. There was nothing. Despite early initial searches, no trace had been found. Wherever he was, Boss had told her that Walon Vau was likely to be with him, along with two other missing Mandalorians. And they were likely to be on Mandalore. But Mandalore was a big planet, and despite the Imperial garrisons there, she knew that no one would readily give up a fellow Mando. That’s just how things were. She printed out some documents and collected them from the printer before going to knock on Yularen’s door.

“Enter.” Yularen looked up as she entered the office, a smile crossing his face. “Sit down, Ace. You look like you have something to share.”

Ace took a seat as Yularen poured her a glass of water. She took a sip, then indicated the stack of documents. “I’ve been trawling through all the reports and warrants from several months before the war ended.”

“And what do you conclude?”

“Well, if I were in the finance department, I’d be very worried about the resources going into finding some of these targets.”

“I had a feeling you might say that. Any examples?”

Careful to leave the Mandalorians until last, she pushed the file on several missing clone troopers across the desk. “Alpha ARC-26. Two-six disappeared during the invasion. No sign of either of them since. I think it’s safe to assume he’s probably dead by now. And if not, he doesn’t present a kind of threat. Is he really worth any kind of targeted pursuit?”

Yularen skimmed through the file, then looked up at Ace. “You know as well as I do that one ARC trooper is the equivalent of a squad of men. They’re dangerous.”

Ace nodded. “Yes, I’m aware. But if he’s out there, I imagine that hiding is more of a priority. Staying under the radar. Clone Commander Levet, too – disappeared at the end of the war. If they deserted, well, is it really worth the effort to haul them back here for a court-martial and execution? What’s the point of that?”

“You could be right. It’s pulling resources away from areas that could be better utilised. What else have you got?”

“Mandalorians.” She gave Yularen a chance to scan the file. “I won’t hide the fact that I knew Skirata during the war. He was involved in a couple of siege ops with us. But I can tell you pretty confidently that wherever he is, finding him is unlikely. If he’s alive, he’ll be deep in hiding, and Mandos know how to hide.”

Yularen gave a frustrated sigh. “And these others? The Null class ARCs? The missing commandos? They could be regrouping out there.”

“I don’t think so. What would they gain from that? They can’t take on the Empire. They’re a small group. And I’m not saying we remove them from the list completely. But I think all the names I’ve given you can go to low priority.”

After a moment, Yularen nodded and stacked the documents neatly. “You’re right. Send me the complete list and I’ll endorse it.”

Ace hesitated briefly. She knew she needed to be up front, or she’d be caught on the back foot. “Boss is on a mission to Mandalore currently, sir. Another squad of commandos has gone missing, either there or in transit. Insurgency could be a reason for concern, but the garrisons there should keep that under control. I can see what he finds out when he gets back.”

“And if Skirata and Co. are part of that insurgency?”

“Then I’ll be proved wrong, sir. But I don’t think I am. The one thing I know about Kal Skirata – he cares about himself and his family above all else. He’s not interested in politics.”

“Very well. Let me know what Boss finds out. I’d be interested to debrief with him myself.”

“I’ll see what I can arrange.”

Ace took her files and went back to her own office, sinking into her plush chair with a relieved exhale. Mission accomplished. Everything was going according to plan.

Boss exited the ship with his squad behind him. The first man in Mandalorian beskar’gam pulled off his helmet. Niner. “They sent you to find us?”

Boss nodded, eyes scanning over the others. There were four others with Niner, all armored up and carrying Verpine rifles. He said nothing, waiting patiently for the other men to remove their helmets. Three Nulls that he thought he recognised – A’den, Prudii and Ordo. And the other man was someone who should be dead. “Fi. Heard you came back from the dead.”

“Did Ace tell you?”

“She confirmed it. We all had our suspicions.”

Ordo lowered his rifle slightly. “Boss, what’s your op order?”

“To find out what happened to Squad 40 after they mysteriously disappeared. We need something to report back. So, you’d better have a good story.”

“We can’t let you go back and—”

“What? You think I’m turning you in? You really think we’d do that?”

“He wouldn’t,” Niner confirmed. “We knew Holy Roly would probably send someone, just not you.”

A’den stepped up beside Ordo. “You can stay, vode. You don’t have to report back.”

“If we don’t, you’ll have more Imperial troops down on you. Is that what you want?”

“We can put them off the scent.”

“Like you did here?” Scorch asked. “Because it didn’t take much effort to find the ship.”

“There’s always a way,” Prudii said. “If you want to stay, we can—”

“I’m not staying,” Boss reiterated. He looked around at his squad. “You boys can make up your own minds.”

Nobody moved or said anything. They stayed firmly by his side. “That’s your answer then.”

It was Fi who broke the tense stand-off. “How is Ace? Dar said she was badly hurt.”

“She was. She’s okay now. She's with ISB.”

“So, you’re just going to go back to Coruscant and tell your spook girlfriend there’s nothing to see here?”

Boss glared at Prudii, and his voice lowered to something ice-cold. “She’s been covering for you and your buir for years. So, if there’s something you want to say, say it directly.”

“Okay, Udesii,” Ordo said, putting an arm between Boss and Prudii. “No one’s saying anything. We came back here to move the ship off planet and junk it. Your story will be that they never made it here.”

Fixer looked back at the Imperial shuttle. “Where are you moving it to?”

“The Crymorah Syndicate’s been pretty active since the Empire took hold,” A’den said. “Destabilisation makes a good breeding ground for piracy. We could pick any planet on the Outer Rim and make it look like pirates. If you follow us, you can take back evidence and images.”

“An empty ship’s not evidence of much,” Ram’ser said, finding his voice around the Nulls that had always so unnerved him. “Even if you do junk it.”

“We can add a body. Maybe two more if we can acquire them.”

Boss looked at Ordo. “What body?”

“The Spaarti. Rede. He didn’t want to stay.”

Boss looked at Niner, but Niner wouldn’t look back at him. Guilt. He gave Ram’ser a look, and he and Scorch went to collect their helmets and weapons from the abandoned ship. “Send me the coordinates and we’ll follow you there.”

He was about to follow his squad back to their own ship when Niner stopped him. “Boss, you don’t have to go back. You can stay here. All of you. Vau’s here.”

Boss stopped in his tracks. Vau. He hadn’t factored him into this. Vau had left them and run. He’d abandoned them. He didn’t owe Vau anything. Vau had been the closest thing he’d had to a father growing up, and the man had left them without a second thought. “I’m not staying here. I’ve got a reason to go back.”

“Ace? She can—”

“She can what, Niner? Give up her own life and family to come and hide out here? We’ll take our chances with the Empire.”

“And when they phase you out?”

“I’ll deal with that when it happens.” He shoved his helmet on and turned on his heel. “Delta, let’s move.”

Even as they walked away, he half-expected a Verpine round to hit him in the back. He wouldn’t put anything past the Nulls. But there was no shot, and they were soon back in the woods, heading for their own ship. After a few minutes, he stopped and pulled off his helmet. “I meant what I said back there. If any of you want to stay, say the word.”

“Maybe one day,” Scorch said as he headed off through the trees. “But we’re soldiers, ner vod. And I’d rather be doing that right now than hiding.”

The others murmured their agreement as they moved through the woods. For the first time in a long time, Boss felt as though things might be okay. They were making their own choices now. Even if they were the wrong ones, at least they had some say in what their lives looked like. He was proud of his squad. Proud of them for sticking together, proud of them for not backing down to the Nulls. They were all stronger than he thought.

Ace smoothed down the front of her dress, then leaned forward to apply her lip gloss in the mirror. She hadn’t seen Boss since he left for Mandalore, and tonight they had plans. Small plans, but plans, nevertheless. She sat on the bed to pull her shoes on. Flat shoes – no longer the heels that she’d always felt so confident in. She knew her balance and stability would never be what it was before the accident. Sometimes the occasional nerve twinge would see her doubled over with a pained hiss or stumbling on her unsteady feet. But she knew how lucky she was to be walking at all. She was walking out to the living area when the door buzzed, and she unlocked it to let Boss in. He’d only been back on Coruscant for half a day, but he’d had time to debrief, shower and shave. He looked tired, though. She wrapped her arms around him and held on tightly, glad when he did the same. These were the times she lived for. This made everything else worthwhile. After a moment, she looked up at him. “Did Melusar buy it?”

“I hope so. He doesn’t give much away either way, but he’s easier to lie to than a Jedi. What about Yularen?”

“He agreed with me that resources were being wasted on targets that were no longer a credible threat. Skirata and Co. go to the bottom of the list.”

“Well, hopefully it stays that way. I’m about done covering for him.”

“You and me both. You ready to go?”

“Yeah.” He looked down at his dark grey fatigues. “You sure this is okay?”

“Of course it is. You look perfect.”

Boss grabbed her hand as she passed him to get the door. “They’re all out there. All the Nulls, Skirata. Vau. They asked me to stay.”

Ace looked up at him, searching his eyes. “Did you want to?”

“No. I didn’t even have to think about it. You mean more to me than—”

“Than freedom?”

“I don’t think that’s what they have. They can’t make a move without looking over their shoulder. They’re not free. Not completely.”

“What about Scorch…the others?”

“They chose to come back. They made their own choice.”

“I’m glad you came back,” she said, leaning up to kiss him. “I know things aren’t perfect, but…well…things change. Who knows what’s around the corner?”

She took his hand, and they took the lift up, stepping out on the Obrim’s floor. Jaller Obrim was already opening the door for them. “I heard the lift. Amazing what you can hear when your life depends on it.”

“What you?” Ace said, kissing the older man’s cheek. “Those days are behind you, aren’t they?”

“I’m not sure they ever are,” he lamented. “Ask Telti.”

“They’re not,” Telti confirmed, coming to greet them. “Once a cop, always a cop.”

“And once a cop’s wife…” Obrim added, escorting them through to the dining room.

“Well, at least now you know where he is at night.” Ace sat at the table next to Boss. “Where’re the boys?”

“Out. I allow them a little more freedom these days.”

“That’s code for we can’t stop them,” Telti said. “They’re pretty sensible, though. We trust them. Wine or beer?”

“Water for me,” Ace said. “Early start tomorrow.”

“Boss?”

“Beer. Thanks.”

Telti went to get drinks, and Ace reached for Boss’s hand under the table. “Boss is just back from Mandalore.”

Obrim looked at Ace, then at Boss. “And?”

“They’re all there,” Boss said. “Skirata, all the Nulls. Vau. And now Niner and Dar.”

Obrim sat back with a sigh, accepting the glass of wine his wife handed him. “I assumed that’s where they’d all be. I’m glad to hear they all made it. How’s Fi?”

“He’s fine. Got a wife now, apparently.”

“Things have worked out then?”

“Yeah. Melusar seemed to buy the story we gave him. All dead in a pirate raid. I’m not sure he completely believed it. I just don’t think we matter as much anymore.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Ace demanded, offended on his behalf.

“I think he’s accepted that we’re not the future. We’re the old guard. We still have value for now, but I think he expects to lose a few along the way.”

Obrim shook his head dejectedly. “After everything you lads have given…and given up…”

Boss just shrugged. “There are still a few politicians pushing for rights for us. It’s not over yet.”

The door chimed, interrupting the sombre mood. “That’ll be Matti and Dor,” Ace said. “They were about ten minutes away.”

Telti got up to answer the door, and Boss stood to greet Ace’s brother and his boyfriend. They were his family now as much as Delta squad were. Ace reached for his hand again as dinner was served, and he laced his fingers with hers, holding onto her. All the things they did together, everything they shared, gave him a semblance of what a ‘normal’ life looked like. Dining with family and friends, quiet evenings together, watching holovids. It was all important to him – every little moment.

Back in the apartment after dinner, Matti and Doran went to bed to be up for early shifts, so Boss sat on the couch, pulling Ace down onto his lap. They sat quietly for a while, content just to be together with no interruptions or distractions. He rubbed her back distractedly, his mind still wandering back to Mandalore. He still wondered about life there. He wondered where they lived and what they did day to day. He couldn’t imagine a life without soldiering. That’s all he knew. But a few years ago, he couldn’t imagine having a romantic relationship. And now he couldn’t imagine a life without Ace. He blinked when she tugged on his hair gently. “Where are you, Boss?”

“Sorry. Just thinking.”

She snuggled closer, resting her head on his shoulder. “Do you wish you’d stayed?”

“No. It’s just strange to think that they’re out there. Vau went, but he never said anything to us.”

“I’m glad you didn’t go,” she said, reaching for his hand. “I want you here with me, even if it’s selfish.”

“It’s not selfish. I want to be here. With you.”

She ran a fingertip over his hand, tracing over the knuckles, the scars. They were big hands compared to hers. Safe. Reliable. Comforting. “Boss, there’s something I need to tell you.”

The hand rubbing her back stopped. “What is it?”

“Well…the other day, just for no reason really…I did a pregnancy test. I’m not late or anything, and I don’t have any symptoms…”

Boss felt his heart start pounding. He could almost hear it. “And?”

“And…it came back positive. It’s too early to test, though, so it might not be right, but—”

“You’re pregnant?”

She nodded against his neck, her hair tickling his chin. “I think so.”

He tried to will his heart to slow down. But this was big. This was the thing that would make all of this real. “When will you…how soon until you know for sure?”

“In a week or so. Then I’ll check with a doctor.”

“Shab… We’re really doing this, then?”

“Yeah. Are you scared?”

“More than anything.”

“Me too. But we can do it, Boss. I know we can. And I can’t think of anything better than making a family of our own.” She moved his hand, so it was resting on her stomach. “Ace and Boss – power couple. Ready to tackle anything. With a little baby hotshot on the way.”

That made him smile. Laugh almost. Despite the changes in their lives, despite the losses and trauma, the old Ace was still in there. “You’re a di’kut, Ace. I love you.”

“I love you too, hotshot.”

Chapter Text

“Pregnant?” Wullf Yularen sat back in his plush leather chair, his face doing little to hide his surprise.

Ace tried not to wince at his expression. He was even more shocked than she’d expected. “It was planned,” she hastened to add. “This is something we want to do.”

“Planned? That seems…unwise.”

“I know. But you know as well as I do, sir, that my time with Boss is more limited than I’d like it to be. We don’t have time to wait for a better opportunity.”

Yularen’s expression seemed to soften somewhat. “Well, yes, I suppose that’s one way of looking at it.”

“I wanted you to know early. I don’t plan for this to be an impediment to my work here. I’ll stay at work as long as I can, and manage things as best I can after…if that’s something that—”

“I’m sure we can figure something out. It’s still early days. I don’t believe the organisation has a policy on family leave drawn up yet. Perhaps you can be influential in that.”

“Three years off on full pay?” Ace suggested hopefully.

Yularen managed a tight smile. “I’m not sure we can stretch to that. But I’m sure we can find a middle ground.” He poured Ace a glass of water from the carafe on his desk. “How will your sergeant balance his duties with fatherhood?”

“Boss will work it all out. He always does. They bred those commandos smart.”

“Is Commander Melusar aware?”

“I’m not sure. Boss is out on a mission. He’s planning to tell him when they get back.”

“If you’re in need of anyone to help with that, let me know. Although knowing what I know of Melusar, I don’t imagine he’ll be particularly bothered, but one can never tell. It might be wiser to keep it from him.”

Ace shook her head. “No. We agreed to do this the right way. No sneaking around.” She didn’t tell him that she and Boss were already sneaking around, lying, changing intelligence reports, covering up for deserters. They were well past doing things the right way. But right was a subjective thing now. For all intents and purposes, she did her job well and was fully immersed in what the Empire required. But to those who really knew her, she was going through the motions, keeping her enemies close and doing what she could to protect those she cared about. Hoping to change the subject, she handed the colonel the datapad she’d brought in with her. “I’ve gone through the intelligence the operatives on Takodana sent in. We might need to send a team to address things there.”

Yularen took the datapad. “How bad?”

“There are reports of a growing cell of dissatisfied former Separatists, unhappy with the way things are now. They’re small now, but they’ll only get bigger if we don’t nip it in the bud.”

“A couple of dozen,” Yularen mused. “I’m loathe to use force on such a small group. I’d rather find a way to make them change their minds.”

“I agree,” Ace said. “As far as I can gather, they have two leaders and a big turnover of followers. Once people see how hardline they are, they tend to leave again.”

“Then we need to get rid of the ringleaders.”

Ace nodded. “That’s the kind of thing commandos are tasked with doing. You could see if Commander Melusar has any available squads. We can’t keep acting as separate organisations. We’re all in this together.”

“Roly Melusar is aware I have authority over his operations. But I’ll put in a polite request and see who’s free.”

Boss sat tense in his chair, back ramrod straight as he waited for his commander’s response. Holy Roly’s face had gone through a number of expressions since he’d been made aware of Ace’s pregnancy. Finally, he composed himself enough to speak. “Sergeant, you must know the difficult situation you’ve put yourself in.”

Boss nodded. “Yes, sir.”

“How are you planning to manage this? You’re not in a position to raise a family. And despite my own personal feelings on the matter, I don’t have any authority to change that for you.” He sighed heavily. “Well, I suppose it’s done now. There’s no going back.”

“No, sir.”

Melusar sat back in his chair. “I’ll do what I can to allow you more freedom on Coruscant. But I still need to assign you to missions that will take you away. There’s no avoiding that. You’re still in the army – that’s where your first priority lies.”

“I know that, sir.” He did know that. The army had been his first priority since he was first decanted. The army owned him. They always had, and they probably always would. But they couldn’t own his feelings, and they couldn’t own his thoughts. “I’m not asking for any special treatment. I just thought you should know.”

“Well, I appreciate your honesty. I’ve come to trust you a great deal, Sergeant. Don’t let me down.”

“I won’t, sir.”

“Good. You have a new mission. You’ll need to report to ISB for a briefing?”

“ISB, sir?”

Melusar nodded. “Colonel Yularen has requested a squad for some specific targets.”

“Did he ask for—”

“He did not ask for you, and I don’t imagine Captain Denn would be so unprofessional as to recommend you. He asked for my best squad, and Delta is my best squad.”

“Is that all, sir?”

“Yes, you’re dismissed.” Melusar shuffled some documents into a neat pile, stopping Boss before he stepped out into the corridor. “Sergeant, I hope you know what you’re doing.”

“I do, sir. Thank you.”

“I can’t believe we’re doing this. Isn’t this blurring the lines between personal and professional for you?”

Boss looked at Scorch. “I didn’t get any say in it. Yularen wants a squad, so we’re it. Nothing to do with Ace either.”

“It’s still weird.”

The four men stepped out of the lift into a luxurious foyer. Ace had told him it was over the top, but she really hadn’t done it justice. They walked along the corridor, through a set of large double doors. They were in a waiting area furnished with expansive couches. Ram’ser looked up at the ornate chandelier hanging from the ceiling, then down at the couches. “Do we sit, or…”

Boss shrugged. They were very out of place here in their armor. Laughably so. Even Holy Roly’s office was not as luxurious as it had been under General Zey. Melusar was a more pragmatic man, less interested in presenting a front. Sitting seemed to be the wrong thing to do here. So, he stood, indicating to his squad to do the same. After a few minutes, a large timber door opened, and he felt himself relax when Ace came out. She offered them all an apologetic smile. “Sorry. I know this is a little weird.”

“Yeah, I did mention that,” Scorch said. “This is where you work, huh?”

“This is it. Sit. The colonel’s on a call, so he could be a while.”

Ram’ser looked at the expensive-looking leather couches. “Are you sure?”

“Of course I’m sure. Sit.”

Ram’ser, Fixer and Scorch sat themselves on the couches, while Boss waited for Ace to sit on a chair before sitting himself. “You okay?”

She nodded. “I’m fine. Good.”

He reached over to squeeze her knee. She looked fine. So far, pregnancy was agreeing with her. She hadn’t had any of the usual symptoms he’d read about. She looked good. And he could notice the slight swell of her stomach under her white tunic. He hadn’t seen her for a few weeks, and the change was noticeable to him. She gave him a nervous look. “Have you told—”

“They know.”

“Yes, we know,” Fixer said. “It’s a bad idea.”

Boss gave him a warning look. “Fixer…”

“What? It is. It’s a bad idea for both of you.”

Scorch elbowed his brother. “Give it a rest, di’kut. You’re going to be an uncle whether you like it or not. So, learn to like it.”

Ram’ser went at Fixer from the other side. “Scorch is right. Every other man in the galaxy has the right to do this; why shouldn’t we?”

Fixer sighed and shook his head. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

“We don’t need a warning,” Boss said. “And now’s not the time for this.”

The words were barely out of his mouth when the other large door opened and an older man in the same uniform as Ace came out. Yularen. Boss had seen him briefly when Delta had been picked up by the Resolute during the war. He knew the clones under his command rated him highly, and Ace liked him. He quickly stood and saluted, as did the rest of his squad, but Yularen waved them back down. “At ease, gentlemen. Relax.” He pulled up a chair to sit near Ace. “Thank you for coming so promptly. I’ll brief you out here. My office is a little small for such a gathering. Captain, have you had a chance to tell them anything?”

“No, sir. Not yet.”

“Fine. Gentlemen, we have a small insurgent cell growing on Takodana. It’s nothing of consequence just yet, but it could be in the future. They have a leadership problem, though. They’re hardline and taking rather extreme measures to make a point. I want them dealt with. I’m sure I don’t need to elaborate.”

No, he didn’t need to elaborate. Boss knew exactly what ‘dealt with’ meant. They’d dealt with many enemies during the war. It’s what they were trained to do. “A permanent solution, sir?”

“Yes. We cannot afford to take prisoners in this case. We need to set an example. Ace will make sure you have all the intelligence you need.”

Boss looked discreetly at Ace. He didn’t know she and Yularen were on a first-name basis. He looked back at the colonel. “Commander Melusar said we’re to report directly to you for this op?”

“That’s correct. Either to me or Captain Denn.”

“Understood, sir. Will that be all?”

“For now. I appreciate you coming to meet with us here. And you’ll understand the need for discretion.”

“Of course, sir.” Boss stood and nodded to his men to do the same. “We’ll get underway as soon as we have the intel.”

Yularen stood and held out his hand to Boss. “Thank you, Sergeant. And good luck.”

Once the colonel was safely back in his office, Boss looked at Ace. “Guess you’d better give us that intel.”

“Yeah.” Ace went into her office and came out a moment later with a datastick. “Everything’s on there. Names, images, contacts. It shouldn’t be too difficult. We’re not talking about organised geniuses here. Very much fringe lunatics.”

Boss tucked the datastick safely into a belt pouch. “We’ll get going as soon as we’re kitted up and get transport arranged.” He pulled her aside, away from his squad. “You sure you’re okay? We’ll be gone for a week or two on this.”

“Boss, I’m fine. Not even any morning sickness.” She looked down at her stomach. “I’m going to have to upsize the uniform soon, though.”

“Yeah, I noticed.” This was awkward. He wanted to touch her, to hold her, to kiss her goodbye. But this was her workplace, and it wouldn’t be appropriate. This was a highly secure Imperial facility where everyone had a high level of clearance. It definitely wouldn’t be appropriate. He reached out and gave her wrist a squeeze before backing away. “If we’re still here tonight, I’ll come over. Might take a while to secure transport.”

“Okay. I’ll be home. Let me know.” She looked at the other members of Delta as they got ready to leave. “Good luck out there. Don’t do anything crazy.”

Boss ushered his men back out into the corridor, where they took the lift back down to their transport. He climbed into the speeder next to Scorch, who took the driver’s seat. He was about to pull his helmet off when the message icon flashed. Focusing on the icon, he blinked to open it. It was Ace. A short message. Love you, hotshot. He smiled to himself. She was the thing he could count on. Ace and his squad were the things he could truly rely on to stay consistent through all of this.

“I need someone to rub my feet!”

Matti stopped what he was doing in the kitchen and looked over at his sister. “Twin or not, rubbing your feet is crossing a line for me.”

“You’re the worst little brother in the world!”

“Look, I don’t make the rules, gremlin. But foot rubbing is solely the domain of the romantic partner. Back me up here, Dor.”

Doran pulled a dish out of the oven and laid it on the counter. “If that’s the case, how come you never rub my feet?”

Matti rolled his eyes. “Great, thanks for the support.” He took a glass of juice over to his sister, who was flopped dramatically on the couch. “You know you have over five more months of this, right? If it’s bad now, it’s only going to—”

“Oh, it’s not bad. I’m just being melodramatic. I miss Boss, and I want a hug.”

“Well, I can do hugs.” Matthias sat and wrapped his arms around his sister. “He’ll be back soon, won’t he?”

“Yeah. I think I just underestimated how much impact all these new hormones would have. No one tells you this stuff.”

Matti exchanged a look with Doran. “Didn’t you read through that baby book we got you? It’s all in there.”

“I don’t have time for reading, Matti. I have to keep up with this ridiculous job and try and make sure the people I care about are safe, and—”

“And you need to look after yourself. Ace, growing a baby isn’t a little side hustle. It’s a big deal for your body. You need to slow down.”

She let herself lean tiredly into his broad chest. “I know. But I don’t think I can. There’s too much at stake.”

“You must have known this was going to be a challenge.”

“Yeah, I knew. But I almost died, Matti. I did die. Now I have a second chance. I don’t want to waste it. And I want to make something with Boss. I want him to have a chance at something real. He deserves it.”

Matti exchanged another look with Doran. “Then maybe it’s time to step back from the job. Find something less stressful that you can manage.”

“I don’t think I can, Matti. This is it. There’s no stepping back from the kind of security clearance I have now. You’re either there, or… Well, I don’t think there’s another option.”

Matti studied his sister. She was probably right. She’d been dragged along into ISB and was now too valuable an asset to let go. She was stuck. But it was taking a toll. She looked tired. She’d never quite bounced back to herself after the accident, but this was something different. And now pregnancy on top of that. “You’ll be okay, gremlin. Dor and I will be here. And Boss will too. We’ll make it work. We’ve all got your back.”

Sighing, she looked down at her slightly protruding belly, sitting over the top of her unfastened pants. “It’s my front that’s causing me problems right now.

Chapter Text

Ace tapped her fingers nervously on the desk, then checked the chrono on the wall again. Almost time. They’d be here soon. Delta had been away for almost three weeks to complete the Takodana mission, but they were finally back. Too anxious to wait in her office, she went out to the waiting area and was about to sit when the large doors opened. A relieved smile filled her face when she saw Boss there. She watched his eyes as he looked her over, stopping at her now difficult to disguise belly. She was about four months along now, and things had progressed in the time he’d been away. She saw him struggle to think of what to say. But it was Ram’ser who filled the silence. “Whoa, look at you. Is it kicking or anything yet?”

“Not yet. Soon, though, if those books know what they’re talking about.”

Fixer pulled a face as he pulled his helmet off to look at her properly. “Is that the normal amount of…” He waved his hand vaguely at her belly, not certain how to phrase his question.

Ace looked him in the eye. “Are you calling me fat?”

“No. No, I’m just… Never mind.”

Scorch pulled his own helmet off to give his brother a look. “You really have some things to learn, ner vod. Even if Ace does look fat, you shouldn’t say anything.” He waited for Ace’s outraged expression, then laughed. “Kidding. I’m the funny one, remember?”

“Well, I’m still waiting to see evidence of that.” She shoved him towards Yularen’s office. “The colonel wants to see you all and debrief personally.” She knocked on the door, waited a moment, then opened it. “Sir, Delta is here.”

Yularen looked beyond her to the waiting commandos. “Come in, gentlemen.”

The four men filed into the office and stood at attention in front of the large desk. Yularen indicated the four chairs set up. “At ease, gentlemen. Have a seat.” As they sat, he looked up at Ace. “Captain, I’ll handle this. Thank you.”

Surprised, Ace managed to keep her composure. “Yes, sir. Do you want me to send caf in?”

“No, I don’t think we’ll be that long.”

After a final look at Boss, Ace slipped back into her own office. Nervous now, she pushed her fancy leather chair aside and rolled her fitness ball up to her desk, perching on it to roll back and forth. It helped give her something to channel her nervous energy while she waited. All she knew was ‘Mission accomplished’, but no details, and now she didn’t know why her boss was excluding her from the debrief. It wasn’t above her security clearance, so there must be another reason.

As she rolled back and forth on the ball, her mind went through a dozen different reasons for her exclusion, but she knew none of them were likely. Whatever it was, Yularen didn’t do anything without a good reason. After fifteen minutes or so, she heard the colonel’s door open and quickly went back out into the waiting area to find the four commandos. She looked worriedly at Boss. “Well?”

He looked furtively around the room, uncertain as to what he could divulge there. “I’ll fill you in tonight, okay?”

“But—”

“It’s okay, Ace. It’s nothing bad. Just…complicated. I’ll see you at home.”

None the wiser, she went back to her office and sat back on her ball. As she rolled back and forth, she checked the system to see if the mission report had been uploaded yet, but there was nothing. She contemplated going next door to ask Yularen, but she was reasonably confident he wouldn’t appreciate that. So, she tried to busy herself for the rest of the day. She’d just have to wait.

“Well?” Ace was already waiting when Boss let himself into the apartment that evening.

Boss raised an eyebrow at her. “Not going to say hello?”

“Sorry.” She let him pull her into his arms, holding onto him. “I missed you. I’m just…I’m all over the place at the moment.” She pulled away and raised her shirt. “Look how fat I am.”

Boss looked. He hadn’t realised just how much could change in a few short weeks. Ace’s previously flat stomach had been replaced with a noticeably round one. He reached a hand out, then stopped. He’d read somewhere that pregnant women didn’t always appreciate being touched. “Can I?”

“Of course you can.” She took his hand and laid it on her belly, and he felt the taut skin now stretched to accommodate the growing baby. Their growing baby. Her waist had all but disappeared, and she was wearing her pink lounge pants sitting below her belly. Everything was different, and that was just the beginning.

He withdrew his hand and carefully pulled her shirt down. “You’re feeling okay, though? Everything’s—”

“Boss, I’m fine. Other than a little tired. Textbook pregnancy so far.” She took his hand and pulled him over to the couch. “Now, can we talk about what’s going on?”

Boss nodded, putting an arm around her to keep her close. “We got the targets. The intel was a little out of date, so it took a bit longer to find them.”

“Do we need to deal with our agents there?”

“No. The intel was accurate. Just not quite up to date. Sometimes targets move fast. No big deal.”

“Okay… So, why did Yularen want to talk to you all? And why couldn’t I be there?”

Boss thought for a moment. He was still trying to get his head around it. “He uh…he made us an offer.”

Ace stared at him, panicked. “An offer? What kind of offer?”

“I think…a good one. Unless he’s got something else in mind. He said he wants some squads dedicated to ISB. Squads he can deploy himself for higher-level targets. We’d be the trial run.”

“So…you’ll be working for us?”

“If we accept the offer.”

“Boss, I’m pregnant. I can’t cope with ridiculous jokes right now, so—”

“It’s not a joke, Ace. He didn’t bring you in because he wants to maintain some separation between us and you professionally. We’ll report to him, not you.”

“So…what does that mean…outside missions… Where do you…”

“He hasn’t figured out the details yet. Whether we still operate out of Special Ops or move us to ISB. But we’ll be a lot freer to manage our own time between missions. And he’s looking into going further if he can.” He saw tears in Ace’s eyes and frowned at her. “What’s wrong? I thought you’d be happy.”

“I am. It’s just a lot all at once. And now I’m angry that someone could have done this all along, but no one did.”

Boss put his arms around her and pulled her close. “We were in a war, Ace. Things were different. Now, we’re not. Now, I guess there’s time to look at things differently.” He rested a hand on her belly. “It means that maybe this di’kutla idea we had might work out better than we thought.”

Ace nodded tiredly against his neck. “I hope so. I don’t know who to trust anymore. Yularen seems so…so decent. But I still feel like I can’t fully trust him. But now he’s done this…”

“You shouldn’t fully trust anyone. But I think this is on the level. He talked about bringing more squads under ISB. Melusar won’t be happy, but it’s a big start to changing things around here.”

“Yeah, there’s a lot of big changes happening.”

Ace lay back on the pillows, waiting for the technician to finish setting up. She checked the chrono on the wall. He wasn’t going to make it. She watched the technician smear some gel on the wand they were holding. “Ready?”

Ace looked at the time again. She forced a smile. “Ready.”

The technician turned a monitor so she could see as the wand was slowly moved over and around her expanded belly. She was several weeks overdue for this scan and had been putting it off, waiting for Boss to come back. But he hadn’t made it. Logically, she knew it wasn’t a big deal. It was just a scan. Every pregnant woman had them, often without their partners. But after everything she and Boss had endured to get to this point, she wanted him there, as much for himself as for her. The technician fiddled with some dials, and a noise began to emanate from the monitor. A rhythmic whooshing sound. “Is that…”

“That’s the heartbeat,” the woman smiled at her. “A nice strong one.”

Ace watched the screen, shocked when she could actually make out the shape of her growing baby. It seemed to be mostly head, but then she saw a tiny hand, almost waving at her. She felt the tears fill her eyes. This was magical, and all she wanted was to have Boss here with her. She wiped her tears away as the technician collected a series of measurements and data and made some printouts. “Everything looks exactly how we want it to look, Aysa. Do you want to know the sex?”

Ace hesitated. She hadn’t thought about that. It didn’t make any difference to her whether they had a boy or a girl, but she hadn’t thought to ask Boss. He might want to know, and this was the opportunity. “I don’t know. I—”

She looked over when the door hissed open, and the receptionist poked her head through. “Got a late arrival for you.”

“Boss!”

Boss slipped into the room, conspicuously dressed in his armor, helmet tucked under his arm. “Sorry, we just got back. I came straight here.”

Ace beamed, taking his hand as he sat beside the bed. “Boss, look! That’s our baby.”

Neither of them noticed the surprised look on the technician’s face as they looked at the screen, and Ace pointed out the baby’s hand. “And listen… That’s the heartbeat.”

The technician gave them a few minutes, surprised by the emotion shown by the large, brutish-looking soldier. “We were just discussing sex – whether you wanted to find out or not.”

“We didn’t talk about that,” Ace told the woman. “Boss?”

Boss looked cornered. “I don’t know. Does it matter?”

Ace shook her head. “Not to me. We’ll wait till the big day, thanks.”

The technician handed Ace a wad of paper towel to wipe the gel residue off her stomach. “I’ll let you clean up. This will go back to your doctor. Good luck with everything.”

“Thank you.” Ace wiped her belly down, stopping to pat it happily. “Everything’s perfect in there, Boss. Finally, something’s going our way. How was your mission?”

“Long. Melusar’s getting everything he can out of us before he lets us go. Sorry I wasn’t here earlier.”

“That’s okay. You’re here now. I didn’t want you to miss out.”

Boss grabbed Ace’s arm to help her off the bed. “I only just made it. Are you sure everything is definitely okay?”

“I’m sure, Boss. You don’t need to worry. I mean, look at us. How could we not be creating the most perfect baby ever?”

Boss grabbed her bag as she fastened her white tunic. “Do you have to go back to work?”

“No. I’m up to date on everything. I’m going to have to pace it up a bit, though, so I can take some time off in a few months. Then…well, we’ll make it work. I got us onto the waiting list for the daycare that’s near work. We’ll be fine.”

They took the lift down to the ground floor, and Ace stopped in her tracks when she saw three large, armored bodies in the parking bay, leaning on an Imperial speeder. “Boss?”

Boss rolled his eyes. “What are you all still doing here?”

Scorch pulled his helmet off with a shrug. “Just being good uncles. How’d it go?”

Ace recovered herself and lifted her white tunic to show her belly. “They said that both babies are doing just fine!”

Scorch stared at her, gobsmacked until he saw the look on her face. “Very funny, di’kut. And here we were, trying to do the right thing.”

“No one asked you to stay,” Boss said. “I only needed you to drop me off.”

Ace dug into her bag and retrieved the printout they’d been given. “Here – since you’re so keen to be good uncles.”

Scorch took the image and studied it with a frown on his face, before making a show of turning it upside down. “What am I looking at here?”

Fixer snatched it off him with a muttered curse. “It’s the baby. See? There’s the head.”

“And a hand,” Ram’ser observed, pointing at the image. “It’s human, then?”

“As far as they can gather,” Ace said with a grin, happy to see Boss’s brothers taking an interest. She knew it bothered him that they weren’t necessarily fully behind the decision. “We’ll just have to wait and see. Do you boys want to come over for dinner? I think I can round up enough even for you.”

Scorch looked to Boss for approval, then nodded. “We can do that. Need to go back and debrief with Holy Roly first, though. And shower and change.”

“That goes for me too,” Boss added. “Where are you parked?”

Ace pointed across the parking bay. “Just over there.” She leaned up to kiss his cheek. “I’m glad you made it. It’s pretty real now.”

“Yeah. I’ll go back with the boys and see you in a couple of hours.”

He watched Ace walk through the parking bay until she was safely in her speeder and driving away. He didn’t miss the way her limp was exaggerated now. He’d seen it deteriorate through the pregnancy as the baby grew and put more pressure on her body. Despite her reassurances that everything was fine, he wasn’t so sure, and he hated that he wasn’t around as much as he wanted to be to take care of her. When he turned back to his brothers, they were all watching him. Fixer frowned suspiciously. “Problem?”

“Why?”

“Because I know that look. Even Ram’ser knows that look.”

Boss tossed his helmet into the speeder and climbed into the driver’s seat. “She’s limping badly. Things are going backwards.”

“She’s carrying some extra weight there, ner vod,” Scorch said, sliding in beside him. “She’ll be fine again once it’s all over.”

“All over? There’s a baby at the end of this that needs looking after. What if it gets worse and I can’t be there?”

Fixer shook his head disapprovingly in the back seat. “This is why I said it was a bad idea.”

Scorch twisted up on his knees to reach over and smack his brother’s chest. “That’s not helpful.”

“It wasn’t meant to be.”

Scorch glanced across at Boss as they travelled back to base. “She’ll be fine, Boss. Nothing’s taken her down so far.”

Chapter Text

Ace stood side on and looked at herself in the mirror. She wasn’t as enormous as she felt, but it was still such a change from the petite, fit body she was used to getting around in. She hadn’t ever regained her full strength after the accident, and she was feeling it now. Her back hurt, her feet hurt, the growing baby was pushing against her lungs, and her hands looked puffy. But the most challenging thing was the pain in her hips and her difficulty getting around. Everything the doctors had warned her about was coming back to bite her on her now much bigger ass. She’d recovered from a fractured pelvis and spinal injuries. They’d told her pregnancy was a bad idea, but she’d gone ahead with it anyway. And she’d kept the warnings to herself. If Boss had known, there was no way he would have agreed to it. But the doctors didn’t know everything. They didn’t know how it felt to look your own mortality in the eye. They didn’t know how it felt to love someone who would never live as long as you would. They didn’t know that kind of desperation. No one did. Sighing, she fastened her new, upsized white tunic and grabbed her boots. Out in the living room, she perched on a dining chair and looked beseechingly at Boss. “Can you help with my boots?”

Boss quickly gulped down his caf and got on his knees in front of her to help. “Ace, you can’t keep doing this much longer.”

“I’m fine, Boss. All I do is sit at a desk all day. I’m not chasing down the bad guys on the lower levels anymore.”

Boss looked up at her. “Do you miss it?”

“Every day. But there’s no point looking back, is there?”

“No. I guess not.” He fastened the second boot and sat back on his heels. “I’m worried about you. I can see how tired you are…how bad your limp is.”

Ace pulled a face. She’d given up trying to hide the limp and was now relying on her crutch again to walk any kind of distance. “I’ll be okay, Boss. Once little baby Hotshot is here, everything will settle down again. Only another six weeks.”

“You know things aren’t going to get easier then? You…we’ll have a baby to look after.”

“I know. But you’re practically always here now. We’ll be okay.” That much was true. Boss was around a lot more. The missions Yularen wanted Delta for were more specific and less frequent. They weren’t chasing runaway Jedi or deserters anymore. That was partly down to her recommendations. But mostly it was Yularen. He saw the true value of a squad like Delta. He sent them on missions that had comprehensive intelligence available – the higher targets. Delta went after the targets that could conceivably present a risk to the Empire. They pursued the political insurgents, the groups that could organise and fund a backlash.

Boss stood and helped her to her feet. “When are you going to stop work?”

“I don’t know. There’s so much going on right now. And Yularen wants to send you to Jabiim soon, so I need to get that intel in order and cross-check everything.”

“After that, then?”

Ace gave him what she hoped was a reassuring smile. “After that, I should be able to back off a bit.” She limped over to the table to grab her bag while Boss got her crutch. “Ready?”

Boss nodded, but he didn’t look convinced. “Ready.”

“Have a seat, gentlemen.”

Boss sat along with his squad. “We’re ready to go as soon as we have the intel.”

Yularen nodded. “Ace is just finalising some details now. I wanted to see you personally before you leave. This mission is an important one.”

Boss looked at the older man. “They all are, aren’t they?”

“They are. But Jabiim is a mess. We had things somewhat under control by the end of the war, but it was always going to be tenuous. Currently, they’re fighting each other, but I want things under better control.”

“Meaning, sir?”

“I’m not looking for a…quick result here. The raw minerals on Jabiim are of great importance to us. But I don’t want to enforce a martial law situation. The Empire is not about taking over governments and enforcing its desire. We want voluntary cooperation where possible. I’m looking long-term here. I want a government in place that we can work with. Collaboration, not domination.”

Boss glanced over at his squad. This wasn’t what they normally did. They were commandos, not diplomats or politicians. “What are you getting at, sir? You’ll need to be explicit.”

Yularen nodded his agreement. “Yes. I want Nolan Gillmunn brought in. Alive. He’s leading the Jabiimi Loyalists. He’s getting in the way. But he’s too motivating to his followers to just eliminate him. I don’t want a martyr; I want him on side. Thorne Kraym is leading the Nationalists, and he has pledged their allegiance to the Empire. We either send troops to support Kraym, and this turns into a full-blown war, or we deal with the issue at its source.”

Boss took a slow, even breath. “We don’t usually take prisoners.”

“I’m aware. But in this instance, I need him alive. He’s no use to me dead. Do I make myself clear?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Good. You’ll have any resources you need. Just let my team know. That will be all.”

The four men stood and saluted, then turned to leave, but Yularen called Boss back. “Sergeant, a word?”

Boss waited for the others to leave, then looked back at Yularen. “Sir?”

“I’m putting Aysa on enforced leave starting tomorrow. I don’t expect her to be happy about it, but I’ll be making it an order. She’s exhausted, and she’s no good to anyone in that state.”

Boss found it difficult to disguise his relief. “Thank you, sir. I appreciate that.”

“I’m sure she’ll make her discontent known, so I’ll give her some work to do from home.” The man’s face softened slightly. “My children are adults now, but I remember how difficult those last few weeks were for my wife. Ace is a valued member of this team. I want to see her back here healthy and fit when she’s ready.”

“Probably sooner than she should.”

“I’ve no doubt. That will be all, Sergeant.”

Boss left Yularen’s office and went next door, where he found his squad in Ace’s office, relaxing on the comfortable couch she had there. She looked up when he came in. “What’s going on?”

“Nothing. Just additional orders.” He didn’t want to be the one to tell her she was about to be sent home until well after she’d given birth. “What’s going on in here?”

“Oh, I don’t know. They all just wandered in like they own the place. I’ve given Ram’ser the intel because he hasn’t called me fat.”

“We didn’t call you fat!” Scorch argued. “Fixer and I were just observing that things had…moved along a bit.”

Ram’ser tossed the datastick to Boss. “I know where the nice food and beer comes from.”

Boss tucked the datastick into a belt pouch. “You boys wait for me on the platform.”

Ace said her farewells to the three men, then stood to go around to Boss. “Everything okay?”

“Yeah. I just don’t like leaving you like this. Not now.”

“I’ll be okay, Boss. We’re still a few weeks out. I’ve got plenty of people looking after me.” She wrapped her arms around him as best she could with her belly in the way. “You be careful out there. Things are unstable on Jabiim.”

“Is the intel good?”

“I hope so.”

“Then we’ll be fine.” He pushed her back slightly so he could look at her. “I want you to promise me to take it easy. Rest and let other people take the load.”

Ace opened her mouth to argue, but then she saw the look in his eyes. “I promise. You’re right…things are starting to catch up with me.”

He leaned down to kiss her before he reluctantly released her. “I’d better get going. I’ll call you when I can.”

“I’ll be waiting. Love you, hotshot.”

“I love you too.”

Boss opened his palm projector to bring up the map of Choal, Jabiim’s capital. He didn’t like working in urban environments. There were too many variables. He couldn’t control the environment in a city full of citizens, vehicles and buildings. But the intelligence had brought them here. Gillmunn was in hiding somewhere in this city or its surrounds. They had an address to start with, but he knew it was unlikely the man would still be there. Anyone trying to hide either needed to secure themselves somewhere undiscoverable or keep moving. He knew which one he’d choose. He zoomed in on the sector they’d target first. “Let’s hit this address first. I don’t expect him to be there, but you never know.”

Fixer studied the chart. “We’ll need to recce it first. This is urban. We don’t know the movements around the area. Who’s coming? Who’s going? We’ll need a couple of days.”

Boss nodded. “Let’s insert tonight. A full night and day might tell us enough.”

Scorch pulled a face at the thought of a prolonged reconnaissance. “Good time to have dark armor. I always thought Omega was onto something.”

“You always thought the black was boring,” Boss reminded him.

“But it has its uses.”

Ram’ser smirked at them. “Rainbow Squad reduced to monotone.”

“Better than grey like you boys used to wear,” Scorch retorted. “And who called us ‘Rainbow Squad’?”

“Everyone. Not when you could hear, though.”

“Alright, that’s enough,” Boss muttered as he studied the chart. “Gear up and we’ll insert at dusk.”

Ace blinked back tears as she hauled herself out of bed. She’d been devastated when Yularen had informed her she was on leave commencing immediately, but she was more devastated that he was so right. Four days later, she was struggling to heave herself out of bed. The pain in her hips was sharp and unrelenting, a constant reminder that her body was not up for this pregnancy. She sat on the edge of the bed, trying to work up to standing. Exhausted, she rested her hands on her belly. “You know, if you want to come out a little early, I wouldn’t mind.”

As though it heard her, the baby responded with a series of sharp kicks that made her wince. “Okay…message received. You stay in there until you’re good and ready to come out.”

She was getting ready to lever herself off the bed when there was a knock on the door, and Matti poked his head through. “Gremlin, I’m heading off. Dor will be here…” He trailed off and pushed the door open fully. “Are you okay?”

“Yes, fine. Why?”

“Because you’re so pale even your freckles are washed out and you’re gritting your teeth so hard I can almost hear it from here.”

Ace gave up on trying to look fine and exhaled with a broken sob. “Everything hurts…”

Matti sighed and came to sit beside her. “You need to go and see the doctor.”

“But I’m not booked in until next week. I’m—”

“Ace, you’re pregnant. You’re in pain. Trust me, they’ll fit you in. I’ll call for you and get Dor to take you today, okay?”

Ace nodded tearfully. “Okay.”

Matti put an arm around her shoulders to hug her. “If I’m honest, I’m surprised the surgeon didn’t advise against pregnancy after your injuries.” He looked down and saw the look on his sister’s face and sighed loudly. “He did, didn’t he?”

“Well…I thought it would be fine. I’ve worked really hard on my fitness and… I just wanted to make the most of life, Matti. I’m scared of how close I came, and I’m scared of losing Boss.” She rested her hands on her belly. “I want there to be something good to come from all of this…from us.”

Matti leaned down to kiss the top of her head. “I can’t believe what an idiot you are sometimes. I’m going to call the doctor right now and take you in myself. Work can wait.”

Ace held onto her brother, relieved to finally be able to cry openly and let some of the fear out. “Okay. Thanks, Matti.”

“When’s Boss due back?”

“I don’t know. Soon, I hope.”

“You should call him and—”

“I’m not calling him. He’s on a mission. His safety is more important than me having a cry because my hips hurt.”

“Fine, okay. We won’t call Boss. But get back into bed, and I’ll go call the doctor. No arguing.”

Ace lay back down with her brother’s help and gave him a grateful smile. “Thanks, Matti. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

“Well, that goes both ways. And despite all of this, I’m proud of you. And I’m happy for you. You’re going to be a family.”

Ace lay back on her pillow, trying to get comfortable. “It’s going to be tough. I know that. I might have made a huge mistake, but I won’t know if I don’t try.”

“I don’t think it’s a mistake. It’s going to be hard, but Dor and I are here to help, and Boss will be around as much as he can. Try not to worry. Everything’s going to be okay.”

Boss used the drive in his line to lower him slowly down the side of the cliff face. It was dark, late at night. They’d tracked their target to an old shack in the middle of nowhere. There was no moon, no stars. All they had were the night vision filters in their helmets to guide them. He used his HUD to check his team’s position, but that was all they needed. Ram’ser was with Scorch. He would provide cover for Scorch to blow the door. Fixer was moving in to cover the window on the east side of the shack. It wasn’t a big window – not a particularly viable option for an escape. But desperate men did desperate things. He landed on the ground with an almost silent thud behind the building and crept the final twenty metres until he was at the rear of the shack. The other door. The only real escape, with Scorch and Ram’ser coming in the front. He used his HUD to run a final scan of the area. No one else around. “Scorch, how’s it looking?”

“Just a boring old door. Want me to make it more exciting?”

“A low-key entrance will be fine.”

“Suit yourself. Stand by.”

While Scorch set charges around the front door frame, Boss assessed the back door. There wasn’t so much that a good, hard kick wouldn’t take it down. He checked Scorch’s POV to see that he had the charges in position. “On your mark, Scorch.”

“Copy that. In three, two…”

On one, the door blew out in a small, controlled blast, and at the same time, Boss kicked in the back door and burst into the house. There was silence at first, then light filled his visor, and he was flying backwards until he landed hard. He tried to scramble to his feet, but something was stopping him. He blinked rapidly, trying to find his squad’s icons on his HUD, then Scorch’s helmeted head appeared in his line of vision. “Boss! Boss can you hear me? Don’t worry, ner vod. We’ve got you!”

Don’t worry? This was a simple op. Why would he be worried? He felt hands grabbing him, his body being jostled. Then a pain so sharp his vision went completely black.