Private Model Citizen

[Sam Sheridan]

The flames grew in size and intensity, with hot wind blowing through the place from secondary explosions as drugs and other substances caught fire. Sam watched him for several seconds, savouring the moment she would get her revenge. "The kark you doing, Sheridan? You got a death wish." the brute growled, trying to sneak his hand closer to his blaster. But he didn't get far as Sam blew a round into his arm. She put two more holes in both for good measure, totally immobilizing him. "Ending this karking hell once and for all." she answered as she knelt beside him. "Your stupidity cost me Kaa. Then you sent kriffing hunters after me whenever you heard of me. I should have shot you the day we got back to base from that heist." she muttered coldly as she watched him try to use his damaged limbs.

Sam rose from her feet and raised her pistol as she felt a rush of some type of force brush against her. She spotted Cas as he fell to one knee, clearly struggling with what they were doing here. Her bloodlust stopped her from even calling out to him, but something was creeping up in her more and more. He was in trouble. He needed help. Part of her wrote it off as him being weak, too pathetic to make good on his big words. But another part wanted to get him out of the situation.

Her thinking overtook her senses as she bit her lower lip. She suddenly cried out in pain as a blaster bolt tore through her calf. Ulrich held his blaster with both hands, incapable of bringing it any higher. "YOU COWARD!" she roared as she emptied her blaster into him with horrid accuracy. He squirmed and grunted as each bolt hit him in a spot that only hurt him more and more. Her leg burned and screamed at her as she scooted to crawl on top of him. She dropped her empty blaster and drew her vibroblade, raising it and plunging its blade into his chest. With enraged grunts and cries she withdrew the blade and struck him again, and again, and again. She ended the man's suffering finally as she drove it through his skull, finally ending him.

She rolled off the General, staring up at the burning warehouse around her. Her leg refused to work with her...but that was okay. She felt fine. She did what she wanted to do for years now. She ended her old gang and she exacted her revenge. Nothing else in the galaxy mattered more to her than this moment. She dug through her pocket and produced an old, crumpled picture with her bloody fingers. The picture of her and her ex, sitting on a swoop they built together. But as she stared at it, her senses came back to her. The realization of how selfish she was, how sickening her thoughts were. She was willing to let her friend die and let her boyfriend never find out what happened to her. She laid her head back and gave it a hard smack against the duracrete floor in frustration. She sniffed as she felt her eyes grow watery and a lump form in her throat. She chalked it up to the smoke and heat. She didn't cry. She refused to give people the satisfaction of seeing her weak.

She let the picture fall into the pool of blood next to the General and forced herself to get up. "Cas! Where are you?! We need to get out of here!" she shouted as she holstered her weapons and limped towards him with a grimace on her face.

Cadere

 

[Cadere]

Regaining his strength, Cas attempted to take a deep breath although almost immediately began coughing "That was a bad idea... considering all the smoke." he said to himself waving away near his face. Getting up to his feet, he began scanning the area as the flames grew and smoke thickened "SAM!" he called out, he could feel her presence still but had no idea where she was.

He heard her voice cry out followed by her yelling out to.... someone? He followed the direction of both her cry and her voice through the smoke, coughing and gagging as he made his way through the burning facility. After nearly getting lost, he heard her voice call out to him again which he promptly followed - rushing toward the sound of her voice once more.

Finally finding her, he immediately spotted the wound on her leg "What--?" he started before stopping, glancing over to the body of who he assumed was the General. Returning his gaze back to Sam, he said nothing and promptly scooped her up into his arms "My turn to save you this time." referring to their misadventure on Tatooine some time ago. The smell of the smoke was starting to get to him but, in the midst of the smoke and flames Cas could see the smoking remains of the speeder truck that crashed into the facility. Using that as reference, the Jedi Knight would use that to find their way out.

Sprinting passed the sprawled out bodies across the facility, Cas kept his eyes focused on the truck - refusing to set eyes on the damage he, regretfully, helped cause. Finally arriving at the truck, he turned his head in the direction of its previous trajectory and used the Force to leap outside and into safety. Once they were out, Cas began coughing violently before letting Sam onto her feet. The Jedi bent over, holding his knees before letting out deep breaths "Aw man, can we just play video games and watch holofilms?" he quipped before rising back up to his full height and turning around to gaze at the burning facility. Placing a reassuring hand on her shoulder, he continued watching the fire "We even now? Can't wait to brag about this to your boyfriend when we finally meet... saving your life, of course."

Sam Sheridan

 

[Sam Sheridan]

Cas quickly found her amidst the chaos and, before she could even protest, scooped her up in his arms like some damsel. But she said nothing. She merely held on as he carried her to safety.

In no time at all they were outside and safe from the burning facility. More explosion erupted as swoops were burned along with ammunition and substances. Sam stared at the burning building with wide eyes, seemingly mesmerized by it. She didn't even blink once until a few moments passed. "I did it." she muttered, finally blinking and looking at him. "I killed him. she said to him as the first truly genuine smile in years crept onto her face. " I'm free, Cas. He's finally gone!" she shouted with joy as she cheered at the burning facility. This was something she would never forget.

She looked to him and threw her arms around him in a powerful hug. She didn't let go for several seconds as she laughed into his chest. "Thank you. Seriously, thank you. You got no idea what this means to me." she said as she pulled back and looked up at him. "I avenged him. And now...I can finally live a normal life. she said as she looked at the building again.

She started to limp back to where they parked the speeder, using Cas as support along the way. She felt lighter, better, on top of the galaxy. A bright grin was stuck on her face as she limped back to the speeder. Once they reached it, they flew them back to her ship and got back on board.

"Help me out, will ya?" she quipped as she tossed him her medpack. She dropped onto the couch and stretched out her injured leg. "We did it, Cas. We did it. I know you don't like it, but thank you. You helped me out in a way you'll never understand." she spoke softly as she leaned her head back, breathing deeply.

Cadere

 

[Cadere]

Cas shot Sam an uncomfortable look when she abruptly mentioned killing Daughtery, although his hand remained on her shoulder. Returning his gaze to the facility, he spoke up "Yeeeeeeah, I kinda figured that. Big guy lying in a pool of his own blood gave it away." he chuckled - it might've been the adrenaline or the shock keeping him relatively calm, but the way Sam had killed the guy made the Jedi slightly uncomfortable. He'd be seeing that in his dreams for a couple of days. There was one good take away from all this though, to see his friend actually smile.

"Whoa!" he exclaimed as she attacked him with a surprise hug, although, he quickly reciprocated as he gently folded his arms around her lower back - she thanked him but had also mentioned someone, was she referring to the person she mentioned before? Regardless he happily responded with "What are friends for?"

After helping Sam back to the speeder, they returned back to her ship where they could treat her wound. "I got you." he assured her as he caught the medpack with her gloved hand, opening up the compartment he approached and stopped, standing in front of her on the couch. His face was serious "Since you got shot in your leg, I'm gonna have to take your pants off." he stated as he continued to stare at her for a few seconds, then he broke out in a quick snicker lowering his head slightly "I'm kidding. Roll up your pant leg." he requested with a smile. Once she did, he got down on one knee and got closer to her calf, as he cleaned her wound his eyes were focused on what he was doing but he spoke to her "So who was he?" he asked vaguely, referring to the person she had avenged.

As she explained, Cas would put a bacta patch over her wound before taking out some bandage wrapping and rolling it around her calf. Cas raised his hand to playfully tap it before stopping mere inches from her calf, realising he didn't wanna anger the mercenary. Once he was done, Cas would stand up and sit next to her on the couch, throwing his head back on the couch's back rest and running both hands through his dreads. If she was still explaining, he'd continue to listen.

Sam Sheridan

 

[Sam Sheridan]

Cas caught the medpack and stood in front of her...however his little quip made her scoff. "You'll probably enjoy that thoroughly, won't you?" she jested back with a daring smirk. She chuckled as she carefully rolled up her pant leg with slight hisses escaping her. "Karking mudscuffer. This was my good jeans as well." she muttered as she looked off into a corner, waiting for Cas to patch her up. She looked back to him as he asked his question, a sad smile forming on her lips.

"His name was Kaa. A Zabrak guy a year or two older than me. He was my first boyfriend." she admitted softly, instinctively reaching for the photo in her pocket before realizing what she did with it. She sighed and leaned back again. "We met when I was seventeen or so. It wasn't a perfect relationship, we were both gangsters after all. But we were tight. We both loved souping up our swoops, trying to see just how stupid we can get with mods for them." she admitted with a chuckle. Cas finished up and Sam carefully lowered her leg and watched him as he sat down next to her. "He was the one that convinced me to try and get out. We would have ran away together, but we wanted to do one last job to get some extra creds before we did. Our outfit was supposed to hit a train carrying refined coaxium. Big money for us as you can imagine. We were both part of the vanguard, getting into position to jump the train and sneak onboard. But then that kriffer Ulrich charged in guns blazing. It was a hard fight but we got the shipment. As we were making our escape, he got shot in the back." she explained softly, staring into the distance.

"I never got to give him a solid goodbye. All I could do was watch as he fell into the lower parts of the level. If Ulrich never intervened, we would have gotten that shipment without the need to shoot once." she finished, turning to use him as a backrest as she propped her injured leg up on the couch. "Since then I wanted to get back at him. I only hated him more when he sent bounty hunters after me after I ran away." she admitted to Cas, taking a deep breath and letting it out.

She turned to look at Cas and gave him a smile. "But now he's gone. And I finally get a chance to start a normal life. The only thing keeping that gang together was Ulrich. I'm free by all accounts." she spoke as her smile grew more and more. With a chuckle she laid down onto his lap and gave his chest a light punch. "All thanks to you." she finished as she looked up at him. "If I weren't with Matt I could karking kiss you." she quipped, flashing him a wink.

Cadere

 

[Cadere]

Cas listened to her explain all about Kaa and their relationship, how they had planned to run away together, only for it to end in tragedy. While he felt completely sympathy for Sam, he couldn't help that logical part of his brain knowing that... it was bound to end that way, although he dare not mention it to her. When she laid on him, concluding her recount, Cas reassuringly wrapped an arm around her as he gave his condolences "I'm sorry, Sammy. I can't imagine how terrible that must have been." he truly sympathised "I'm happy you could avenge him." he admitted, although the method it was carried out was not really up to his speed.

"Any idea why he sent bounty hunters after you? Was it a personal thing or to set an example?" he questioned, using his free hand to scratch his temple. He returned a smile, happy to see her genuinely happy for once. When she credited him for escaping the target on her back, he snorted and waved the air "Nahhhh, that was all you. I was just there to support you." he humbly responded, lightly punching her back. Cas shyly smiled and averted his gaze at the prospect of kissing her, before shaking his head to get such fantasies out of his head.

"Don't get me excited. With the current state I'm in, I'm in serious need of a rebound." he joked, chuckling but after mentioning that - the memory and feelings of the break up came rushing back, Cas' smile quickly faded and was replaced with a sorrowful expression as he turned his head to look off into the distance. Then he threw his head onto the back of the couch before sighing in annoyance "Dammit..." he muttered to himself.

Sam Sheridan

 

[Sam Sheridan]

"It was a combination of stuff. For the most part...you don't just walk out of a gang. Plus I was always challenging him if he did something stupid. Comine all that together, you get more than enough reason for your old gang leader to send hunters after you." she explained to Cas as she looked up at him. She smirked when he asked her not to make him excited, but his mood quickly shifted. The smirk faded from her face as she sat upright, carefully turning to face him. "Listen, I ain't gonna suck you off or anything, that's not happening. But I'm here if you need to talk." she explained with a hint of humour, though she was clearly being serious.

She bumped his shoulder softly, looking him in the eye. "This breakup is clearly messing with you. You need to unload or anything...I'm here for you. It's the least I can do for you after today." she assured him. She kicked her one good leg up on the booth table and sat back next to him, staring at nothing in particular.

She looked back to Cas with a bored expression. "Liquor's over there. Let's get wasted then we can mope about all our issues through the night. I need a drink anyway after this whole mess." she ordered him as she sank back into the couch, waiting for him to get the liquor.

Cadere

 

[Cadere]

He nodded at Sam's answer regarding Ulrich with an expression as to say 'makes sense' to her before continuing on with the conversation. Cas' eyes met hers when she sat up to face him, his traditional happy face drooped in heartbreak as he listened to her. What she said about 'sucking him off' forced the Jedi Knight to quirk the corner of his lips slightly, it was genuinely funny but he didn't feel like laughing... or smiling.

Not resisting at all, his body lazily moved along with the force of Sam's playful bump but her assurance did finally bring a small smile to his face "Thanks..." he said softly, although it didn't sound like it he truly meant it. Cas' gaze trailed off to the direction of the liquor, a weak grin formed on the Jedi Knight's face as he glanced back to Sam "What problems? We just solved your biggest one." he argued before getting up to get the drinks.

While Cas was initially wrong in thinking a quick adventure with Sam would cure his heartbreak, maybe simply talking about it with a friend was a good first step. Despite everything, he was at least happy that Sam's life seemed to be going in a better direction following today's events, he was excited to see where she'd be in life when he next saw her...

/END​

Sam Sheridan