In Too Deep

[Amz]

Nar Shaddaa

With a roar of the thrusters and a gentle bump, the small shuttle settled to land on Nar Shaddaa. The moon was rotten, even from a distance. No blues or greens, just rust and a spattering of light. It wasn’t her first time being on this particular planet, but it was one that she’d never been fond of.

Gathering her belongings, Magena descended down the ramp once the landing pad rested on permacrete. Stepping into the atmosphere, she fought against her natural instinct to take a deep breath. Already the smell of urine, smog, and death was starting to make her throat tingle.

The planet smelled the way it looked, like chit.

She sighed, removing her blaster to turn the setting off from stun. Did she expect trouble? Yes and no. She certainly wouldn’t take the family on a Sunday stroll here. Not in any corner of this side of the galaxy, really.

As she headed in the direction towards the Fluffy Nexu, she pulled out her datapad to send out an alert to let her contact know she was there, assuming he’d want to know of her arrival.

Magena had not seen Judah Lesan in a long time, and their history was sordid enough that she tried to stay out of his way and visa versa. It was only out of desperation that she arranged to meet with him, after all this time. And Magena asking for help? That was never good. There was no telling how deep in trouble she was when that happened.

So, what precisely was the problem? Well, the answer to that had to do with her kids. All was not well with her children, and her oldest, in particular, had gotten himself in deep with a man that she and Judah shared a past with. Judah being a Jedi and all, she figured he’d have access to intel that she wasn’t privy to.

Not the best reason to call for a reunion, but her options were just that slim.

Exhaling, she took a moment to gather her thoughts and pushed through the doors of the Fluffy Nexu Cantina, sauntering at a casual pace until her eyes focused on the familiar face she was searching for.

“My, my…” she said in her approach, giving a smile, albeit small. “Haven’t changed a bit, have you?”

[member="Tiberius Riggs"]

 

[Judah Lesan]

How long had it been, twenty years, more? More! The one person Judah had turned his attention away from was the one person who had reached out to him for help. He’d helped her on and off after they had parted ways. Judah had just barely been twenty and Mags, well, she wasn’t. That was it though, just a few months during a time when Judah was unsure of his own path shortly after the death of his master. Mistakes had been made in those days, but Mags hadn’t been one of them. Dothan, he had been.

Dothan was the reason he agreed to meet up Magena. It wasn’t said, but strongly implied, that something from their sordid past was coming to bite them in the butt, and Dothan was the only thing that linked them. Aside from the fling they’d had, where Judah had wanted more than she could give, they had nothing else linking them.

His datapad chimed with her message. Judah motioned the bartender for some rum. The woman had been a pirate at some point after all. Just because they hadn’t been together for a long time didn’t mean he hadn’t run into her, on the wrong side of his lightsaber at that. For some reason he’d always let her go.

He sighed as he poured the glasses. It wasn’t long before the playful cantor of her voice danced on his ears, and it drew a smile from him.

She was gorgeous as ever. He didn’t need her pheromones to be attracted to her, and considering the fact his wife had passed, Judah welcomed what he was considering a sight for sore eyes. Mags had always been a strong empath, beyond what was natural to her species. There would be no hiding the pain of his loss from her, and she would likely pick up on the tan line where the ring had sat just several months before.

“Just the wear and tear of the past twenty or so years. You are flawless as ever though,” he said pushing a glass of rum her way. It would have been rude not to after all. “I was shocked that you reached out. It seemed urgent and desperate. Everything okay?”

Of course it wasn’t. They were meeting on Nar Shaddaa, no one ever met there if things were okay...

[member="Magena Dray"]

 

[Amz]

“Seventeen years in carbonite will keep you young.” Magena smirked, kicking out one of the stools enough to plop down on. “Twenty years though? Has it been that long?” a hand shot out to grab the drink sliding to her, giving a short nod of thanks to Judah. Magena didn’t drink it yet, gazing into the golden liquid as his emotional state settled around her slender shoulders.

Maybe once everything else was out of the way, she’d ask him what it was about. And she’d only be asking because they were friends. As a general rule of thumb, Magena stayed out of others personal problems unless they immediately concerned or affected her in some way.

“Yeah, well. About that, thanks for coming on short notice. Things aren’t great, not by a long shot. I’ve had a bit of a...situation...with a mutual friend of ours.” she let the silence sit only long enough to shoot her drink, placing the glass back to the counter and tapping for a refill. “My son went and entered a business relationship with Dothan. I wasn’t there to warn Aspen about him,” Magena felt that confession stick in her throat and swallowed it down with another gulp from her freshly filled glass. If there was anything she regretted in life, it was not being there for her kids in the way a parent was expected to be. She knew the fault laid squarely on her shoulders.

“He’s got grit, and more confidence than he should. And well, things’ve gone about the way you’d expect from one of my kids. Long story short, I need your help rescuing him. Waddya think? Think you can quit playing Jedi for a day?"

[member="Tiberius Riggs"]

 

[Judah Lesan]

Seventeen years in carbonite... It was the only thought in Judah's head that was the loudest right now. Sure he had wondered what had happened to Magz, after all she was the first person he remembers ever truly being in love with. It was a toxic and very misguided relationship, but Judah had not been making good choices in those days. When he had met Katara there was no reason for him to even think about her. The Corellian did more than her job in keeping his attention, or from straying. She had passed though, and now Judah felt as a part of him was missing. That naturally made him think about his past, present, and future all at once. What he had dreamed of, and what was reality no longer lined up.

His brow did quirk at the mention of a son. Judah knew from what interactions he had with her, or Kestrel, that Magz had daughters, but no one mentioned a son. This was news to him, and he gathered it would be news to the rest of children as well. He often wondered if any other knew about the other, but this was one dysfunctional mess that Judah was glad he had no part in. It wasn't like Judah was the father to any of her children.

"Dothan!?" Judah nearly spit out his drink at the mention of the name.

That was one thing Judah wanted to do over again. The man should have died, and Judah should have killed him. It wasn't something that he should have been thinking as a Jedi, but it was what needed to happen. What had stopped Judah was that he knew someone worse would just take his place, and that was something he didn't want to be party to. Judah hated that leaving the man alive had been the right thing to do, and now that Dothan was meddling with them again, or Magz in a way, Judah was less than happy.

"Well it the whole carbonite thing can be argued, and I'm not going to lecture you on the things you could have controlled. There is no point in that..." Judah gulped back the rest of the rum that was in his glass, and way easier than Magena would ever remember him being able to do. "You know I'm not going to tell you know. Between this being your son, and the fact Dothan is involved. There is something you need to know though. Kestrel, your daughter, is my student, and she will come looking for me when I turn up missing... likely bringing my son in tow with her. They're smart, so if you involve me, you will be involving them, which is something we can use to our advantage if we are smart about it."

Judah refilled their glasses.

"Kes may or may not be thrilled about this, especially when she sees you. Just a fair warning."

[member="Magena Dray"]

 

[Amz]

Magena watched Judah's reaction to the news about Dothan and sipped her drink. She'd had a similar reaction. They each had their different reasons for disliking that man, he'd cost them much in their youth. She sighed, feeling the shadow of something unseen press on her, a persistent worry that she couldn't seem to shake.

"If you started lecturing me, I'd be leaving your shebs here. It doesn't help. I know my sins, and I'm not out lookin' for salvation."

Already this was becoming a reminiscent play-by-play of past scenes between them. He would try to talk reason into her, she wouldn't listen, and one of them would leave. It seemed the only thing they could do was go their separate ways. What surprised her was that he was dropping the topic, at least for the time being. Good. This was going to be difficult enough without them bickering the entire time.

She shook her head, sighed, and propped her elbow on the counter. Her chin dropped into the palm of her hand, her gaze set on Judah as he downed the contents of his glass. Again she wondered what was going on with him. Either Judah changed more than realized, this was connected to what she felt earlier, or she really just had that effect on others.

"Well, well, well. I'm impressed! You finally learned how to drink!"

Tapping the side of her own empty glass and holding it up so he could refill it. The corners of her lips slowly drew upwards into a smirk, a hint of playfulness in her tone. She sipped the contents down so that the liquid wasn't lingering across the lip of her glass, and a small hiss escaped her teeth as the liquor burned its way down her throat. Maybe she was the one getting rusty.

"Kestrel's been with you? You've...been taking care of my daughter?" Magenta eyes widened. From the way her features rose, to the tone of surprise in her voice, it was obvious that this was news to her. Did he know where Kenara was, too? No....he would have mentioned her other daughter if that were the case. She'd gone back to find them after being released from carbonite, only to discover the two of them were gone. She should have known better, these were her kids after all.

"Right, so they're enough like their parents to be getting involved in things they'd be better keeping their noses out of, hm? I was hardly there for her growing up...kept her waiting for how long? I'd wonder what was wrong with her head if she acted happy about any of this." there was a momentary pause, another deep breath.

"So? What do you have in mind?"

[member="Judah Lesan"]

 

[Judah Lesan]

"Right... because you just don't ever want to admit that I could be right about something," Judah said as he stuck his tongue out at the pink woman that he was sitting next to.

Things were already seeming like no time had passed since their last meeting, when in reality that was not the case at all. Whether Judah wanted to admit it or not there had always been an undeniable chemistry between them, one that Judah had spent years trying to forget and deny. Clearly as of the this moment, he had miserably failed.

A grin spread across his face when she complimented the fact he had finally learned to drink.

"Married a Corellian redhead... you can't not learn how," he said, though his eyes didn't light up like the usually did, and the smile on his face dimmed a bit. Magz would know because she knew Judah that something had happened, so before she could ask, Judah just got it out there. "She died last year, unexpectedly. I still have the winery we started on Naboo, but I don't go home often... and yes.. I'm okay."

The following shot said otherwise.

"Kestrel... I found her looking for you, ironically. Told her I could help, and that I could help her use the force. Yes, it was a selfish move, and I don't what she knows about our past, but I haven't told her that we... She can take care of herself though, and she's too damn smart for her own good, so I suggest we move it before she catches up with my son in tow. And yes, they happen to be exactly like us in that regard. Let's hope they don't share the other side of things too..."

Judah wrote something down on the napkin without Magena seeing it and handed it to the barkeep. He actually did want them following, because this was Dothan. Magz just didn't need to know he was leaving breadcrumbs.

"My ship, not yours, and we leave now. The guest quarters are ready, though I doubt you'll want to use them."

Judah smirked as he walked off toward the direction of his ship. Once they arrived it would be a matter of time before they were off on another misadventure for the ages.

[member="Magena Dray"]

 

[Amz]

One shapely purple brow arched, "That's because if I started agreeing with you, then we'd both be wrong." bee-stung lips twitched into a smirk.

Her mouth opened to say something more, but closed again, thinking better of it. Anyone that knew her, was well aware that the Zeltron could be a mouthy little firecracker. But perhaps she'd grown in that area since the last time Judah saw her, even if only marginally. With how much time they were going to be spending together, now that they'd agreed to go on this mission together, she had a feeling they'd both find out how much each other had changed through the years. Though...she doubted Judah changed much, from the boy she once knew. She'd always been able to see him for who he really was.

"I'm..." she sighed, the smirk disappearing as the mood took a somber turn. She'd always seen marriage as being quaint and didn't understand the appeal of being so possessive of one person. She was like other Zeltron in the sense that she'd often had multiple interests at one time. But that didn't mean she couldn't sympathize. Grabbing the rum bottle by the neck, she emptied more into his glass, simultaneously releasing a bit of her pheromones into the air. Enough to help take off the edge. "I can't say that I know what it's like to lose a spouse, but you have my condolences none the less." Try as he might, he couldn't fool her with his words.

"If you haven't told her anything, then she doesn't know anything. Kes was too little when I left her on Tatooine to discuss things like that. But, regardless of your reasons for it, thank you for taking her in and keeping her from making a stupid decision. Trying to find me? That's the worst thing she could do. I don't want her knowing about this, you understand? I don't want her getting involved in the kind of trouble that follows me." she stood from the barstool, smoothing the wrinkles from her shirt. "Let's go before they get here."

She followed him out of the bar and down the path to his ship, shrugging when he mentioned not taking hers. That was fair. She supposed it was likely to be more easily recognizable than Judah's. When he mentioned that she might not want to use the guest quarters though, the smirk from before came back. "You've never been one for subtly, have you? Maybe I should take the guest quarters, keep things interesting."

[member="Judah Lesan"]

 

[Judah Lesan]

"Oh... right. I forgot that you're not just miss right, but miss always right," Judah quipped back with a fondness that spoke to how much he missed their banter. "And we couldn't have you wrong could we."

Judah appreciated her condolences, but he was also well aware that he did not have her sympathy. For what he knew of Magena she had never loved anyone to the depth of making a monogamous commitment. He didn't hold it against her, nor was he angry with her over it. Naturally when they had been together when they were both much younger, and before Katara, Judah had attempted to see if she would. He often wondered if that was the reason she left, because he was asking for too much. It was not a mistake he would repeat, and he was happy for any amount of Magz he could have in his life.

"She knows nothing about why I left, and she is going to assume I'm in trouble when I am not there to meet with her. All she knows is that I am investigating something, but she will try and find me. Kes is good at tracking someone down. I know because I taught her. We have to stay one step ahead."

Which Judah could do, but he was leaving a trail of breadcrumbs anyway. Judah wasn't about to run into a mess involving Dothan and Magena without backup. He knew what the possibilities were, and they were not exciting things if it was just the two of them. Magz never allowed him to develop her force sensitivity, and while she had other talents that made her a formidable opponent, Judah wanted a card up his sleeve.

Judah was not subtle in the least, not where Magena was concerned. His wife had passed away, and Judah was not going to argue that he still harbored feelings for the Zeltron, feelings he was free to pursue because his promise to Katara died with her.

"With you, never."

Walking up the ramp, Judah went right to the pilot chair. They needed to get in space, and they needed to get off the planet. Dothan was moving about these days, and they had to get a location. To do that, Judah needed to go to Telos IV, Dothan's last known location. Once the ship was on autopilot he turned and looked at Magz as his harness was shoved off.

I think the guest quarters are a very bad idea," he said as he scooped her up and threw her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. He was certainly feeling playful, he knew Magena well enough to know that she was more than playful when she wanted to be. Besides, this wasn't just because they were flying together. It was Judah's way of making sure that Magz knew he was more than ready to move on from being the old widower. Her condolences were appreciated, but they were not needed.

[member="Magena Dray"]

 

[Amz]

“Is that so? Then it must be a gr----ooof!” Magena yelped in surprise, followed by a laugh. “Perhaps you are more pirate than Jedi, after all!”

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

“How many was that?” she asked absentmindedly after they’d laid in comfortable silence for a long moment, grinning up at the Jedi, face flushed and lavender hair a mess. She held his gaze a moment and leaned up to pepper kisses along his neck, nipping at his collarbone. “You know, I’d forgotten what this was like...you haven't lost your touch.” she admitted, still feeling wanton but coming back down to herself, her pheromones lingering in the air. Her head fell back to rest against the pillow, staring up at the ceiling above them. Part of her wished they could stay here, wrapped in each other and the sheets, pretend it was only them for a while longer and forget all of the in-between. But, she knew that they didn’t have that kind of time.

With a sigh on her lips, the pink vixen peeled from his side, moving to the edge of the bed where she stretched unabashedly, the covers fallen away from her lithe form.

She peeked over her shoulder to glance at him, smiling softly. “I’m going to jump in the fresher… we’ll need to discuss our plan…” she looked over at the chrono hanging on the wall. “Only five hours left until we reach Telos.”

Five hours to figure out how to bring Dothan down, once and for all.


[member="Judah Lesan"]