Fic: It's Just Pretend, Chapter 6
Title: It's Just Pretend
Author: kaladhwen, aka Mia, aka Alliana, aka...well, you get the idea.
Fandom: Star Wars, post-NJO
Rating: PG, pretty much.
Characters: Jaina Solo, Kyp Durron, OC
Genre: romance, humor
Keywords: K/J, romance, humor
Summary: Jaina is forced to take interesting steps to avoid unwanted attentions from a visiting politician's son.
Author's Notes: Yay, my first SW EU story I've written all by myself. The Steiners are mine, everyone and everything else belongs to Lucas.
Thanks to sparrows_girl, kasdie, and darthishtar for betaing and offering encouragement and feedback, as well as others in my FanForce. :) Also posting this on the JCF here.
Previous chapters on LJ
It's Just Pretend
Chapter Six
Jaina stared in complete shock, feeling her feet rooted to the floor as the door hissed shut behind her. "How did you get in here??"
The figure on her couch across the room from the front door stretched languidly. "Well, sometimes state emergencies require releasing petty information such as door codes."
Jaina's jaw dropped partially open. She was slowly feeling the beginnings of panic as she realized she had grossly underestimated him. "You can't do that."
"Why not?" he asked, not sounding very interested in hearing or believing her answer.
"It's illegal, for one thing. You can't break into people's apartments just because you feel like it!"
"But I didn't break in. I used your own code, obtained with very legal reasons."
The most frightening thing to Jaina was that Rune made it all sound so logical, like he'd spent a lot of time thinking about it and reasoning it all out in his head. "I don't care how you got in, just get out," she snapped.
He stood up. "You don't want to tell me to do that."
Instinctively, Jaina placed her hand on her lightsaber. "Get out of my apartment, now." Her voice was a low growl.
He nodded to her lightsaber, sounding amused. "And just what are you going to do with that? I can see it now: 'Jedi uses lightsaber against son of political appointee, Jedi...expelled.' Or even better, exterminated."
Jaina froze. "You wouldn't do that. You can't."
"But I can, and I will. Don't make this harder than it has to be, Jay. And don't think about using any of those Jedi mind tricks on me. How would you like the headline, 'Jedi uses mind control on politician's family'? Or 'Jedi are out to control the government'?" He spoke matter-of-factly, as if the headlines were done deals, and knowing he had her cornered.
"You wouldn't get away with that." Her words sounded hollow, even to her.
"Says who? I think I know enough influential people who would be willing to listen to my story. Politics is a messy business, little girl," he said condescendingly. "And just in case you're thinking of calling for help..."
He held up a small cage Jaina hadn't seen before, but what she saw now made the blood drain from her face.
"How did you get that?" Her voice came out in a hoarse whisper.
"As I said... I have many resources. Now, the way I understand it, when this gets within three meters of a Force sensitive, it blocks them from using the Force, am I correct?"
"You sithspitting little--"
"Ah ah, language, Miss Solo." He wagged one finger at her.
She opened her mouth to retort and instead gasped as Rune moved the ysalamiri in range of her. Jaina felt her mind and body slow down and become dull, felt her connection to the Force snuff out in an instant. It was like being blind, deaf, completely senseless in every way. She stumbled back and hit the door, then leaned gratefully against it for support. Rune only moved that much closer. He held the cage out towards her, smiling faintly.
"I'm sure by now you're feeling the effects. Come on, Jaina, let's be friends," he said, as if they were old acquaintances who'd only had a small tiff. "I want to take you to the reception tomorrow night."
"I told you," she forced out, trying to just breathe and not give in to panic, "I have a boyfriend."
"I haven't seen him around, have you? Or is that only because he's on Csilla?"
"He doesn't stalk me everywhere and break into my apartment, if that's what you mean. Now get out!"
"Or you'll do what? Call the authorities on me?" Rune snickered. "Just face it, Jaina, there's nothing you can do, and nowhere you can go. You know you want me."
"Not even in your dreams. I don't care who you are, or what kind of connections you have, this time you've crossed the line!" Just the thought of him being in her apartment made her feel sick and violated, not to mention very alone. It was her space, her private space away from the military, the Jedi, everyone and everything demanding her time and attention. It was her sanctuary, and Rune had now spoiled that. Even if she was able to get him out, it would always be tainted by the memory of him forcing his way inside.
Rune still smiled and advanced slowly towards her. She couldn't sense ahead what he was going to do, she could barely think or move, even breathing seemed more difficult -- let alone trying to form a plan of action.
Jaina considered fighting him, knocking the ysalamiri away. She was fair in hand to hand combat... but that had always been with the Force on her side. She'd never trained much while being blocked from the Force and she didn't think now was a good time to start. Especially since she had already underestimated Rune once; she wasn't going to do it again. He had somehow obtained her schedule, followed her around, gotten her door code, and found a kriffing ysalamiri. It was very possible after all that he was with the Peace Brigade somehow. She had no idea if Rune could fight or not, but in her current condition, if he was trained at all, he just might be a match for her. And she had no intentions of letting him get close enough to touch her.
Comming for help would take too long. She couldn't call for help through the Force until she got out of range of the ysalamiri. She couldn't slice Rune, couldn't shoot him, couldn't fight him. She couldn't do much of anything until she got out of range, so she did the only thing she could think of.
She ran.
First she had to enter the code to get her door open, which cost her precious seconds. Rune realized what she was doing and lunged for her, nearly dropping the cage. He was too late and grabbed only thin air.
Once in the hallway, Jaina felt the Force come rushing back, felt her senses become alive again. She gasped in air, now using the Force to enhance her speed as Rune pursued her down the hallway. He still carried the cage, which made it imperative that she stay out of range of him.
She made it to the lift and ran inside, punching the button for the first floor. She watched with wide eyes as the doors slid shut just before Rune reached them, his face angry. Through the transparisteel window, Rune watched her with a dark look and then hurried away.
As the lift started downward, Jaina soon realized why. Rune was heading for the stairs -- hoping to beat the turbolift to the first floor and catch her down there. Oh kriff. "Come on, come on, come on," she muttered to the lift. The trip down three stories had never seemed so interminable.
She couldn't see Rune or where he was on the stairs, since they were in a separate hallway. She closed her eyes to concentrate. Jaina could sense the lack of the Force in an area that was moving down the stairs; that had to be him. Her eyes jerked open as the turbolift slowed far too early and came to a stop.
The doors opened and a tenant in the building stepped inside, but he surprised Jaina by holding the doors open. As Jaina watched with horrified, wide eyes, the tenant's wife and small, rambunctious children hurried from their apartment door to the lift. She growled inwardly, cursing at them to hurry faster. Rune would most definitely beat her to the ground floor now.
She gripped the handle of her lightsaber and wondered if it was all right to use it on him now, ysalamiri or not. One politician's child dismembering another? Right, that would make great headlines.
Plus, if she attacked him, regardless if he lived or died, it was too risky. If he was telling the truth about those contacts he had, he probably had a safeguard in place so that a story would get distributed on the holonet if he didn't show.
The doors finally closed, and the lift once again descended. Jaina swore, suspecting Rune was probably Peace Brigade and his father might well be in on it -- the same man who now sat with her parents and aunt and uncle.
All too quickly, the lift reached the ground floor and the doors to the lobby opened. Jaina stepped to the side, basically hiding herself in the corner where the buttons were, and gave a fake smile as she gestured for the family to exit first.
They did so, rambunctious as ever, and Jaina stayed hidden in the corner of the lift. Sure enough, there was that void in the Force again, out in the lobby waiting. She willed Rune to believe she wasn't in the lift anymore. Jaina held her breath, staying completely still, feeling every muscle go rigid, while convincing herself that giving into anger and taking her lightsaber to Rune would not be a good idea.
Author: kaladhwen, aka Mia, aka Alliana, aka...well, you get the idea.
Fandom: Star Wars, post-NJO
Rating: PG, pretty much.
Characters: Jaina Solo, Kyp Durron, OC
Genre: romance, humor
Keywords: K/J, romance, humor
Summary: Jaina is forced to take interesting steps to avoid unwanted attentions from a visiting politician's son.
Author's Notes: Yay, my first SW EU story I've written all by myself. The Steiners are mine, everyone and everything else belongs to Lucas.
Thanks to sparrows_girl, kasdie, and darthishtar for betaing and offering encouragement and feedback, as well as others in my FanForce. :) Also posting this on the JCF here.
Previous chapters on LJ
It's Just Pretend
Chapter Six
Jaina stared in complete shock, feeling her feet rooted to the floor as the door hissed shut behind her. "How did you get in here??"
The figure on her couch across the room from the front door stretched languidly. "Well, sometimes state emergencies require releasing petty information such as door codes."
Jaina's jaw dropped partially open. She was slowly feeling the beginnings of panic as she realized she had grossly underestimated him. "You can't do that."
"Why not?" he asked, not sounding very interested in hearing or believing her answer.
"It's illegal, for one thing. You can't break into people's apartments just because you feel like it!"
"But I didn't break in. I used your own code, obtained with very legal reasons."
The most frightening thing to Jaina was that Rune made it all sound so logical, like he'd spent a lot of time thinking about it and reasoning it all out in his head. "I don't care how you got in, just get out," she snapped.
He stood up. "You don't want to tell me to do that."
Instinctively, Jaina placed her hand on her lightsaber. "Get out of my apartment, now." Her voice was a low growl.
He nodded to her lightsaber, sounding amused. "And just what are you going to do with that? I can see it now: 'Jedi uses lightsaber against son of political appointee, Jedi...expelled.' Or even better, exterminated."
Jaina froze. "You wouldn't do that. You can't."
"But I can, and I will. Don't make this harder than it has to be, Jay. And don't think about using any of those Jedi mind tricks on me. How would you like the headline, 'Jedi uses mind control on politician's family'? Or 'Jedi are out to control the government'?" He spoke matter-of-factly, as if the headlines were done deals, and knowing he had her cornered.
"You wouldn't get away with that." Her words sounded hollow, even to her.
"Says who? I think I know enough influential people who would be willing to listen to my story. Politics is a messy business, little girl," he said condescendingly. "And just in case you're thinking of calling for help..."
He held up a small cage Jaina hadn't seen before, but what she saw now made the blood drain from her face.
"How did you get that?" Her voice came out in a hoarse whisper.
"As I said... I have many resources. Now, the way I understand it, when this gets within three meters of a Force sensitive, it blocks them from using the Force, am I correct?"
"You sithspitting little--"
"Ah ah, language, Miss Solo." He wagged one finger at her.
She opened her mouth to retort and instead gasped as Rune moved the ysalamiri in range of her. Jaina felt her mind and body slow down and become dull, felt her connection to the Force snuff out in an instant. It was like being blind, deaf, completely senseless in every way. She stumbled back and hit the door, then leaned gratefully against it for support. Rune only moved that much closer. He held the cage out towards her, smiling faintly.
"I'm sure by now you're feeling the effects. Come on, Jaina, let's be friends," he said, as if they were old acquaintances who'd only had a small tiff. "I want to take you to the reception tomorrow night."
"I told you," she forced out, trying to just breathe and not give in to panic, "I have a boyfriend."
"I haven't seen him around, have you? Or is that only because he's on Csilla?"
"He doesn't stalk me everywhere and break into my apartment, if that's what you mean. Now get out!"
"Or you'll do what? Call the authorities on me?" Rune snickered. "Just face it, Jaina, there's nothing you can do, and nowhere you can go. You know you want me."
"Not even in your dreams. I don't care who you are, or what kind of connections you have, this time you've crossed the line!" Just the thought of him being in her apartment made her feel sick and violated, not to mention very alone. It was her space, her private space away from the military, the Jedi, everyone and everything demanding her time and attention. It was her sanctuary, and Rune had now spoiled that. Even if she was able to get him out, it would always be tainted by the memory of him forcing his way inside.
Rune still smiled and advanced slowly towards her. She couldn't sense ahead what he was going to do, she could barely think or move, even breathing seemed more difficult -- let alone trying to form a plan of action.
Jaina considered fighting him, knocking the ysalamiri away. She was fair in hand to hand combat... but that had always been with the Force on her side. She'd never trained much while being blocked from the Force and she didn't think now was a good time to start. Especially since she had already underestimated Rune once; she wasn't going to do it again. He had somehow obtained her schedule, followed her around, gotten her door code, and found a kriffing ysalamiri. It was very possible after all that he was with the Peace Brigade somehow. She had no idea if Rune could fight or not, but in her current condition, if he was trained at all, he just might be a match for her. And she had no intentions of letting him get close enough to touch her.
Comming for help would take too long. She couldn't call for help through the Force until she got out of range of the ysalamiri. She couldn't slice Rune, couldn't shoot him, couldn't fight him. She couldn't do much of anything until she got out of range, so she did the only thing she could think of.
She ran.
First she had to enter the code to get her door open, which cost her precious seconds. Rune realized what she was doing and lunged for her, nearly dropping the cage. He was too late and grabbed only thin air.
Once in the hallway, Jaina felt the Force come rushing back, felt her senses become alive again. She gasped in air, now using the Force to enhance her speed as Rune pursued her down the hallway. He still carried the cage, which made it imperative that she stay out of range of him.
She made it to the lift and ran inside, punching the button for the first floor. She watched with wide eyes as the doors slid shut just before Rune reached them, his face angry. Through the transparisteel window, Rune watched her with a dark look and then hurried away.
As the lift started downward, Jaina soon realized why. Rune was heading for the stairs -- hoping to beat the turbolift to the first floor and catch her down there. Oh kriff. "Come on, come on, come on," she muttered to the lift. The trip down three stories had never seemed so interminable.
She couldn't see Rune or where he was on the stairs, since they were in a separate hallway. She closed her eyes to concentrate. Jaina could sense the lack of the Force in an area that was moving down the stairs; that had to be him. Her eyes jerked open as the turbolift slowed far too early and came to a stop.
The doors opened and a tenant in the building stepped inside, but he surprised Jaina by holding the doors open. As Jaina watched with horrified, wide eyes, the tenant's wife and small, rambunctious children hurried from their apartment door to the lift. She growled inwardly, cursing at them to hurry faster. Rune would most definitely beat her to the ground floor now.
She gripped the handle of her lightsaber and wondered if it was all right to use it on him now, ysalamiri or not. One politician's child dismembering another? Right, that would make great headlines.
Plus, if she attacked him, regardless if he lived or died, it was too risky. If he was telling the truth about those contacts he had, he probably had a safeguard in place so that a story would get distributed on the holonet if he didn't show.
The doors finally closed, and the lift once again descended. Jaina swore, suspecting Rune was probably Peace Brigade and his father might well be in on it -- the same man who now sat with her parents and aunt and uncle.
All too quickly, the lift reached the ground floor and the doors to the lobby opened. Jaina stepped to the side, basically hiding herself in the corner where the buttons were, and gave a fake smile as she gestured for the family to exit first.
They did so, rambunctious as ever, and Jaina stayed hidden in the corner of the lift. Sure enough, there was that void in the Force again, out in the lobby waiting. She willed Rune to believe she wasn't in the lift anymore. Jaina held her breath, staying completely still, feeling every muscle go rigid, while convincing herself that giving into anger and taking her lightsaber to Rune would not be a good idea.