Sanctuary

[Sam Paige]

Serreno​

​....after​

She'd stolen the speeder without hesitation. Pushing it to the limits, she'd never gone so fast. Everything was a blur- of pain, the fire that cut across her back- of terror, that at any moment they would be behind her. She had not once fully given up on the hope that she would escape, but now the creeping sensation plucking at the back of her neck was dread that this was all a game. That he had let her go, and at any moment, there he would be over her shoulder, tutting softly at her flight. That was so much more terrifying than his fury, after all.

In his fury, the worst he could do was kill her.

She slowed down once she reached the city again, abandoning the speeder blocks away from where she had left her ship. In truth, she had no idea how much time had passed. She had lost track once she had lost consciousness. She didn't know how long she had been out. By the time she reached the city, the light was much the same as it had been when she was taken. A full day? Two days? Surely not three. The late afternoon sun, far closer to horizon than zenith, burned through the haze above the city, over looking the hunch redhead hurrying through the streets. Always looking over her shoulder. Barely keeping her pace below a run.

If she could reach her ship-

My name is Sam.

It was the mantra that had let her make it through. The reminder to herself that she belonged to her alone. Not him. Never him. That she was not his Rose. She was her own Sam.

Occasionally someone she passed would pause, eyes following her. Some surprised, some merely curious. Because the seeping red through the back of her shirt offered a hint of the most beautiful flower... etched in blood it wept, aggravated by her escape, the climb down to the ground.

Relief tried to flood in when her ship came into view, but she shoved it down, looking with wide eyes over her shoulder. She hurried up, slapping her hand on the pad that would open the hatch. She moved more by sheer force of will than any particular strength, and she sobbed, shoulders shaking, as the door opened and she stumbled up into the ship.

[member="Benedict Ortega"]

 

[Hira Mitsae]

[member="Sam Paige"]

The ship was empty.

His back burned.

Fire.

It had not stopped pulsing against his skin from the moment it started and his concern only magnified because of it. The Force was less than clear in the best of days, now? It told him nothing- her presence minimized, small, sobbing somewhere in the farthest reaches of his mind without anything that Ben could do to reach her.

Empty.

He had checked the ship for clues three times and still nothing. The next step would be to case the starport, then the city, retrace every single step until he came up with something of substance.

Ben almost touched the controls that opened the hatch, when it suddenly hissed open by its own accord. Eyes widened, but before he could step away or do anything... his world froze. Sam, tears, lines in her face, she stumbled and their eyes met, widened more, he caught her and she slumped against him.

"S-sam?"

 

[Sam Paige]

For a moment, all she saw was the shadow, silhouetted against the light from inside the ship. A whimper caught in her throat, no, and her knees started to buckle. She didn't know how but they'd gotten here before her. Just with every new hope ripped and suffocated, this one too-

But then his arms were around her, his voice in her ear, and her heart started again as she looked up in a mix of confusion, elation.... and terror.

"B-Ben? How.... what are you-"

Her eyes widened and suddenly she was scrambling, pushing them both into the ship fully and slapping her hand against the control.

"We have to go. Now. We have to-"

His hand brushed her back and the world caught fire. Her hands tightened on his arm and she groaned in pain, knees almost going out from under her.

"P-please," she whispered. "Get me to the cockpit and away from this place."

In the background, the mouse droid, Pinch, hid in the shadows. He warbled softly, relief clear in the tone. He didn't know what had happened, why she had disappeared. But the arrival of Ben had produced, as if by legerdemain, his human friend. That counted for a lot to the suspicious droid. Maybe next time he wouldn't ram Ben's ankles when he showed up.

Maybe.

[member="Benedict Ortega"]

 

[Hira Mitsae]

[member="Sam Paige"]

Different people would have had different reactions to her.

Some might not have taken her seriously or demanded an explanation. But Ben took one look at her, his hand already leaving her back, before nodding seriously. "OK, we can do that, Sam." Supporting her gently, while taking the weight off of her back - bloody, cuts, Ben scowled but kept it in. There would be another time to get at the bottom of this.

Didn't take long before they settled, him carefully lowering her in the seat and helping with strapping her in, once it came out that even reaching out to get the straps was difficult for her.

They were silent from there, but his hand was on her shoulder, softly, not applying too much pressure while still reaffirming that... he was here. But it was too late, wasn't it? When Sam had needed him most he hadn't been there for her... And that had consequences. She kept looking, sneaking in looks, between the operations as she got the ship into the air.

Wondering if he wouldn't suddenly disappear again?

"I am sorry."