Think Twice

Chapter 4

            He hopped from rooftop to rooftop as he explored the city. He'd meet with the queen soon enough, for now he just wanted to get a feel for the place. He was tired of getting assigned these easy missions. But for whatever reason Sidious and Dooku were adamant they had to prolong the war as long as possible until the Jedi were spread too thin to stop the final play. He didn't care at all for their politics or war, but he was hungry for more action than they were giving him. He swung down onto a balcony and watched people wander the streets. He glanced to the side when he sensed her. Or he was hungry for something else entirely...

            She was covered from head to toe in a dark cloak, the only things visible were her eyes, the white markings that crowned them and a hint of jewelry around her horns. Around her were three men, two clones and her Jedi master, Kenobi. The four of them, despite being dressed to blend in, stood out. He shook his head and ducked behind the column next to him when she looked his way. He peeked back around after a few minutes and saw that they'd continued down the road, stopping further down at the slave pens. This ought to be interesting. 

            He leapt across the street to the roof of another building and ran along the short stone wall, launching himself to the empty pathway normally patrolled by guards, to get a better angle. Kenobi directed the clones and Ahsoka to stand watch when he jumped down into one of the pens. She wandered a little way away when she saw another slave being whipped and he shook his head. He assumed she was wearing that getup because she was supposed to pretend to be one, but she didn't act like one at all. 

            He heard shouting and saw that the others had been noticed trying to rescue the governor of Kiros. She turned around like she was going to run back to help them. He sighed and leapt off the wall, grabbing her arm before the guards noticed her too. "Unhand me!" she demanded the moment he touched her. He glanced around to make sure nobody was paying attention and jerked her down a side street and pushed her back against the wall putting his other hand over her mouth. 

            "Slavery is a state of mind, Snips, not just an outfit," he growled. "If you're going to pretend to be one, you have to act like one. Unless of course you want the entire city to know you're a Jedi. Another outburst like that and your game of pretend will end up being real."

            She looked like she was going to say something but managed to stop herself. Instead she brought her hand up and tried to peel his off her mouth. "I have to help them," she said after studying him for a moment. 

            "It's too late for them. But you still have a chance to finish your mission. I can take you to the queen, but try to be convincing this time," he muttered. He liked the way she felt up against him. 

            "Why would you help me?" she asked in confusion.

            "Because I have nothing better to do at the moment," he smirked. "Besides, I like the idea of you being my slave."

            "You're crazy," she said in annoyance.

            "We've established that." He took her by the arm and pulled her back out to the main street. They walked in silence towards the palace. Every so often she'd forget her place and he'd pull her roughly, so she stumbled a little. He could tell she wasn't happy about this at all, but he was enjoying the fact that she was going along with it anyways. It was a welcome change to always having to clash blades with her. Especially since he was running out of excuses as to why he didn't finish her off. It wasn't like he could tell his master that he liked playing with her. And that at the moment, she wasn't enough of a threat to worry about.