Chapter Text
(Listen to Buckshot Roulette OST - General Release (extended) for better immersion.)
Year 18 BBY, Coruscant, Lower Levels.
Exhaust fumes came from the vents, rising in the air and clung to the fabric of your cloak like a second skin. You moved through the streets, trying to get home as fast as you could to finally get some well-deserved rest after a long shift. After all those years you already adapted to the Lower Levels, to its heavy air, filled with chemicals, to all the dark pathways, to its claustrophobic almost oppressive atmosphere.
You were trying to make the ends meet while the city was slowly crushing you. The light was slipping away. Each day seeming duller and duller as your senses went numb, as poison filled your lungs, as the city drained the life out of you. You were used to this numbness at this point, it became inseparable with you. Only thing that kept you going was a dream of escape. You just needed to stay a bit longer, earn a bit more money and then you would finally leave.
You were dreaming about running away that night and leaving everything behind, but you knew you couldn’t. You had some unfinished business here and you would not leave until you deal with that matter.
You snapped out of your thoughts when you heard footsteps. When you turned around you saw a group of Stormtroopers walking behind you. You thought that they just happened to walk in the same direction as you and nothing else, but you quickened up your pace regardless. You couldn’t trust their intentions.
“Ma’am please slow down, we have a couple of questions we have to ask you.” - one of them said.
Oh, no, that meant no good. You knew exactly what they were up to. You began walking even faster, while looking for any routes for escape.
“Ma’am, please stop and show us your documents. It will only take a moment.” - another one of them said as the men quickened up their pace.
You picked up your pace even more and so did they and soon you broke into sprint. They chased after you as you ran through the alleyways, hoping to lose their trail, but they were relentless. They were hot on your heals, their voices getting louder as they were getting closer. You frantically looked around for any means to hide, when your eyes suddenly fell on an unassuming abandoned building. You wasted no time, you jumped through the window, and ran up the stairs to the second floor. This place was dirty and dim, metal plates had fallen off the walls, trash was lying on the floor and there among the trash something caught your eye. Was it just a piece of fabric covering a pile of trash? No, it seemed like a person? You slowly and cautiously walked through the trash and when you got closer you saw a man lying unconscious on the concrete floor. His shirt was torn, gore tainted his clothes. A deep gashing cut speeding across his chest. The hood that was supposed to hide his face, was pulled back. You kneeled to get a closer look at him and his injury. The stranger’s face was covered in tattoos, horns crowned his head, dust clung to his red skin. Could it be that..? No, there was no way it was him.
Your hand reached out to touch the cut, when suddenly you felt iron grip close around your wrist. You froze in pace as a pair of yellow eyes stared back at you in a glare, his chest was heaving.
“It’s okay, it’s okay. I’m not going to hurt you. I was just trying to help.” - you spoke softly like you were trying to soothe an animal that got caught into a trap.
He didn’t seem to like it very much, a low growl escaped his lips, his grip tightened before he let go off your wrist and stood up.
“What were you doing here in the first place?” - he grumbled, dusting himself while still glaring at you.
His shadow fell on you, he seemed quite intimidating from this angle. You swallowed hard.
“I found you lying like this. I’m here because I’m hiding from Stormtroopers.” - you replied as you also stood up.
Suddenly a familiar sound of footsteps echoed through the building, which followed by several voices. You began frantically looking for any kind of exit.
The man’s eye fell to the corridor to his left. The footsteps were getting closer. He grabbed you by the arm and led you down the corridor, but as soon as you reached the end you both saw a Stormtrooper.
“I found the tar-”- the Stormtrooper said, but he couldn’t even finish his sentence when suddenly a gunshot rang out. His body fell limp to the floor, his blood painting the concrete floor beneath him. Smoke curled upwards from the barrel of your blaster.
The glass shattered and the next thing your companion saw was you crawling out of the window, he followed suit. You both ended up on top of the roof, you wasted no time and started running while Stormtroopers had already spotted you and began to shoot at both of you. A flash of red light pierced the darkness as you saw him blocking all the gunshots with his lightsaber. You didn’t waste any time either and shot at the Stormtroopers.
Soon they began to fall one by one, the more fortunate once hid behind the walls of the building. But as you thought that things were tipped in your favor, more Stormtroopers appeared and they began to shoot at you with renewed vigor. Seeing the situation getting worse you ran towards the edge of the roof and jumped, landing on another rooftop with a loud thud. But suddenly you felt your body sliding down, you desperately gripped onto the surface of the roof, only for it to be made out of smooth steel. Out of nowhere you heard a whistle of a gunshot behind you getting louder, soon it was ringing right next to your ear but suddenly you heard a familiar sound of a lightsaber. You looked up you saw him standing above you, with his double bladed weapon in hand. Its red light was almost blinding. He reached out his hand, you took without hesitation. He pulled you up roughly and you both began running as soon as you got on your feet.
“Thank you!” - you shouted as you kept running. Your companion said nothing. Soon you reached the edge and both jumped, landing on another rooftop. There at the rooftop you saw a door that could lead both of you into the building. You both rushed to the door, but as you pulled on the doorknob, the door didn’t open.
“Kriff” - you said as you kicked the door, but it did little to help.
“Step aside” - he ordered, as he swung his lightsaber. The blade of the weapon went through the small opening in the doorway. The lock fell apart with a metallic click. The door opened ajar, showing you both a dark staircase. He walked inside, you followed through, closing the door behind you. He carefully descended down the stairs while using his lightsaber to light the path ahead. After going down a few flights of stairs, an elevator appeared in the distance. The button on the operation plate glowed, indicating that the elevator was working. You pushed the button, the elevator moved to the 20th floor, the floor where you were at. Heavy doors opened, the light from the elevator shining on the staircase. You both walked inside, the doors closed behind you. Silence fell between you two, after you pushed the button, only thing you could hear was the elevator going down the shaft. The silence wasn’t necessarily oppressive, yet you were uncomfortable nonetheless. Maybe it wasn’t the silence that was making you uncomfortable, but this man’s presence? When you looked at him he was calm, resolved, but there was something hiding under that composed facade. His posture was tense, his fingers gripped the lightsaber tightly. His muscles were coiled; you could see it by looking at his arm. It felt as if he was going to lunge at his next enemy at any moment.
The man who was accompanying you seemed to have noticed you looking at him. He glowered at you, his piercing yellow eyes boring into you. Not being able to handle the eye contact, you looked down, but even then you felt his eyes on you, although not for too long, only for a moment. You stared at the floor for the rest of the ride, avoiding his gaze.
The doors of the elevator opened and you finally felt the weight lifted off your shoulders. You weren’t stuck with him in this tight space anymore. You both entered the dimly lit lobby, with the door at the end. As you reached the end of the lobby, you cautiously opened the door and looked to the both sides half expecting for Stormtroopers to show up and attack you. Luckily for you, the path was clear, but it didn’t mean you were safe. You had to stay vigilant and keep your blaster ready if anything would go down. The man in black who was accompanying you shared the same sentiment. You quickly exited the building and hustled down the street.
Your partner decided to finally break the silence to ask you a question.
“Where are we going?” - he said, his voice was stern and his question sounded more like a demand.
“There is a subway station nearby. If we hurry up, we can catch a train and then go our separate ways.” - you answered.
“Good. Hope nobody will be waiting for us there.” - Maul answered
“Yeah, I hope so too.” - you replied, - “don’t wanna start a shootout in there”
“Me neither”
You both hurried towards a subway entrance. You were running down the stairs when suddenly he slipped and almost fell down if it wasn’t for you. Your quickly shot out as you grabbed him tightly by his cloak. He quickly got back on his feet and you two ran to the subway station. Luckily the train had just arrived and you both ran inside just in time before the doors closed.
The subway train was empty, which wasn’t surprising. Who would board a train at such late hour except from you two?
You both sat down, he sat on the opposite direction from you. You two sat in silence, mainly because you didn’t know what to say and your companion didn’t have a need to say anything. You sat like this for a good minute or two with him occasionally glancing at you. Whenever it happened you felt your body tense up, there was something about his gaze that made you uneasy. There was something in general about him that made you want to clutch your non-existent pearls, but you couldn’t put your finger on what exactly was making you feel this way. You sat there, avoiding his gaze until you couldn’t handle it anymore, so you mustered up some courage and decided to break the silence.
“So.. where are you going afterwards?” - you spoke hesitantly, expecting him to dismiss you or not answer at all. However, to your surprise, he actually bothered to answer.
“I get off at the last station.” - he stated coldly, making you wonder if you should have asked him a question in the first place. Despite feeling unsure, you kept the conversation going.
“I’m leaving there too. My house is like five minutes away from the station.”
He nodded.
“By the way, how is your chest feeling? Does the wound still hurt?”
“It does, but I have been through worse. Think nothing of it.”
“You sure about that? Maybe you need painkillers? I have some in my pocket, I just have to take a look.”
“It’s fine.” - he interrupted you, his voice was stern.
“Oh. Well, if you need one, don’t hesitate to ask.”
“Thank you.” - he replied rather drily. Silence fell between you two again, but you didn’t want to sit in it.
“So it seems like we both have issues with the authorities.”
“As you have seen, yes.”
“And how long have you had issues with them, may I ask?” - you inquired.
“Long enough for it to be frustrating”
Judging from his reaction, this was a sensitive topic to him. And that was understandable, not everybody wanted to discuss how they were being targeted and hurt. It was an unpleasant topic for you too, after all, and since you didn’t want to dwell on it too much, you decided to not press the matter any further. He glanced at you, his yellow orbs piecing through you, making a shiver run down your spine, yet in his eyes you saw something resembling gratitude.
“I suppose they’ve been after you for a while now too.” - his voice was measured now. It was clear that he was choosing his words carefully. Although the subject was unpleasant for him, he still tried to discuss it delicately.
“Yes, they were.. ever since it all went down.” – you answered, your expression becoming pensive.
Your vague response seemed to have caught his attention. His eyes trailed back to the lightsaber, which you now tried to hide behind your cloak. It didn’t take him long to connect the dots and when he did, you felt the atmosphere between you two change. It suddenly felt cold, except you didn’t feel your fingers getting numb or your skin prickle. No, it was a different kind of sensation. It felt as if the cold itself gripped your heart, later setting in your stomach.
“Go on” – he demanded.
“I would rather not to.” – you said as you felt your mouth becoming dry.
You averted your eyes and started fidgeting your fingers. You still felt his eyes on you, when you mustered up some courage to look back at him, he was standing right in front of you. You flinched.
The subway train pulled into the station. The doors of the wagon slid open with a hiss. You wasted no time as you stood up and left. To your growing unease, he was after you already.
“I’m not done talking to you” – he stated calmly, his calm set your nerves on edge.
You gave him no answer and quickened up your pace, but so did he. You hurried towards the steps, while he strode towards you. You felt a chilling presence behind you as you ascended the stairs. Your heartbeat picked up as you hustled towards the exit. Meanwhile his steps were slow and purposeful, his heavy footsteps reverberated off walls of the hall. He pursued you in a way a hunter would stalk his prey. The scent of fear was heavy in the air. He inhaled it, tasted it on his tongue. This familiar smell brought back old memories of his Jedi-hunting prime, making a smirk show up on his lips. A sick thought appeared in his head – Maybe I should kill her? It didn’t sound like a nonsensical idea after all. You witnessed too much already and who knew what you would do with that information. It would be much easier to not take any risk and just get rid of you. In addition to that, a prospect of experiencing that old high again was inviting.
You broke into sprint the moment you left the station. You ran as fast as your legs would carry you. You could hear his footsteps in the distance getting louder. You needed to get away from him as quickly as possible, so as soon as you saw the nearest alleyway, you sprinted inside. You were looking around for any means of escape whether it was a door that would lead you into a basement or a ladder that would help you to get to the roof. Anything would suffice, even a simple window, but there was nothing. You were met with a wall at the end.
“Is this how you treat people who try to have a conversation with you?” – his voice reverberated through the alleyway. You spun around and saw him standing at the edge. You immediately reached out for your lightsaber and activated it as he approached you.
“Don’t get any closer!” – you shouted at him, but your command fell on deaf ears.
He approached you, activating his lightsaber. Your heart was beating in your ears, your palms got clammy from sweat.
You hollered as you swung your lightsaber, but before even having an opportunity to lay your first hit, you felt your body freeze in place as an invisible force closed around it. Air left your lungs as you felt something enclosing around your neck.
It was so sudden, so brutal, the grip was getting painfully tighter to the point that you felt as if it was squeezing your lungs too. Your limbs went numb, your vision swam, dark spots appeared in the corners of your eyes. Your fingers let go off the handle of your lightsaber, as it scattered across the floor. All of a sudden the grip disappeared just as quickly as it appeared, making you drop to your knees as you gasped for air with greedy gulps. When your vision had cleared, you looked up and saw him standing over you, with his foot on your lightsaber.
You stood up with shaky legs while holding onto a wall. He watched your every move with his burning gaze, he was ready to extinguish any attempt of your attack. You reached for your blaster only for it to get shattered the moment your finger touched the trigger. He took a slow step forward.
“If you want to kill me go ahead, I won’t beg for my life!” – You spoke clearly while looking him straight in the eyes.
Your posture was upright, there was steel in your eyes even when you looked death in the face. In his eyes, you saw fire that did not even fade in the darkness of the alley, but you were not afraid to get burned. You stood before him unarmed, but not defenseless. You refused to tremble, you refused to show him any semblance of weakness. When he saw it, for a tiny second his eyes widened in intrigue, but he quickly schooled his feature. He was impressed in a way, impressed that you were willing to go down like a person with your dignity intact and not tremble before him like a pathetic animal. That was not something he would see every day. Was it an act of bravery or just plain foolishness? He didn’t know, yet he was eager to find the truth.