Murphy's Law

[Evan Christianson]

Evan laughed, but felt his face grow a little hot. This was--he could already tell--going to be an interesting family affair. His cousin was dating the brother of the woman who had been the wife of the man Raife had worked for. And now Evan had a crush on that same ex-wife. He wondered if everything having to do with the Yeh's was so complicated.

"Yeah, well Raife's always too uptight to be a player," Evan said, giving his cousin a sideways glance. But he could tell Raife was no longer with them. He was off in his own world, his eyes focused on his hand and the cigarette he held, his brow furrowed a little. Evan knew that look. It was the look of a man putting two and two together. Evan would have to ask him about it later.

Evan laughed at Lok's comments and then glanced at Mei-li. She was so cute, he couldn't take it anymore. She and her brother resembled each other strongly. Evan could see why Raife found Lok attractive. Even though Evan wasn't gay, he could definately tell an attractive man when he saw one. Apparently, it ran in the Yeh family.

"Sister-in-law?" Raife said suddenly. Evan glanced at him. "You mean, Jesimae, then?"

[Lok Yeh]

Lok and Mei-li glanced over at Raife and his sudden outburst. Lok frowned and glanced over at Mei-li who was alert, no longer embarassed, but no longer playing nice. It was seen, the fire in her eyes, something was going on that Lok was not involved in. Something that Mei-li will definitely fill him in on the second they had a moment alone! Which, he figured, would be soon if anything bad was to be said! Lord knew, looks sure were!

[Mei-Li Yeh]

"Excuse me?" Mei-li frowned as she glanced over at Raife Christianson, the sudden metaphorical thorn in her side. She snapped. She saw Lok open his mouth to protest what was about to happen, but she quickly interrupted.

"Might I ask where that came from and why you are concerning yourself with her well being? Never seemed to be cause for concern prior to our meeting! Matter of fact, if I recall correctly, you were the one who kept her away from my husband. Also, I remember you telling me that she was dead when all that time you knew she was good and well looking for Jabari! You helped him find her! You helped him try to kill her!" Mei-li stood up and pointed at him. Something just clicked inside of her. It were as if she were blaming him for her condition now, but it only seemed right!

The man probably wanted Taro dead because he was, in fact, the man who pulled the trigger! He also was probably planning her demise as well since she had been blamed for her husbands death and was under high suspicion from those who were still in the mob. Perhaps this man was the new boss?

[Raife Christianson]

Raife stood up just as swiftly, and, though he was not tall to start with, he was certainly taller than the little Asian woman. He stared her down, biting his tongue so hard he tasted the sharp pang of blood. His jaw clenched tightly. He was holding himself because this was Lok's sister, and as God was his witness, he wouldn't do anything to upset Lok, or put any rift in their relationship.

But several things had just clicked in his mind.

If Mei-li's siser-in-law was in the hospital, she must mean Jesiame. And if she did mean Jesimae, then Taro must be around somewhere. And Taro was the one who had murdered Jabari.

"I beg your pardon, Miss Yeh," he purred dangerously. "But no matter how bad of a man your husband was, he was still my best friend. And I would do anything to avenge him..." he paused. Raife was trying so hard to keep a reign on his temper. He had an awful one--as did Lok, which was why they had gotten into near knock down, drag outs before. He swallowed hard and clenched his teeth.

He glanced at Evan, and threw down his cigarette pack down in front of Mei-li.

"You were so anxious for one. Keep them. Lok, I'm going back to the ship, you know where I'll be."

Raife turned without another word. If he didn't go somewhere else to vent his anger, he would hit someone. His temper had exploded so quickly. He knew that Lok would probably yell at him later for it--or now, if he took the mind to--but Raife just needed to get some air. Somewhere.

And then...he needed to visit Jesimae.

[Lok Yeh]

"Mei...." Lok stood up and looked down at her, pointing at her and keeping the true feelings inside for fear he'd be thrown into jail for some unknown rule that they would create after the curses began to fly. He shook his head and pointed at her with a hard jab.

"You had no right-"

"I have every right! You are dating a man who wants me dead! Who wants Jesimae dead! Wants Taro dead! I'll be damned if I sit here and watch this!" Lok pushed a chair out of the way, his anger going over the edge and all he saw was red. He grabbed her small arm and jerked her up out of her chair, her hair swinging around her.

"You do not disrespect anyone, Mother never raised us like that!"

"Mother never raised us at all, Lok! It was Papa!" Lok raised his hand as if he were ready to knock her down for the count, but refrained, simply because he never hit women nor his sister! Especially not in public at least.

"Mei-li, if I didn't love you as much as I do...don't you think for one minute I wouldn't allow what you are accussing my husband of, to happen! I don't have any ties to those people! But because I love you...I will calm him downm but you never disrespect him like that again!" He jerked her hard at the end of that sentence. She, of course, squirmed to get out, but it was to no avail.

"You better wise up, otherwise, I won't be here to protect you any more than I already have to! Keep pushing those buttons, Mei-li Yeh, and we'll see who comes out of this alive." He let her go and raised his hands in the air, glancing at Evan.

"Nice to meet you." With that he turned and jogged after Raife.

[Raife Christianson]

Raife could barely think anymore. The more he walked the angrier he got. He had barely heard Lok yelling, but he hadn't listened, nor had cared.

He hurled his comlink at the opposite wall of his ship as he entered it. The small communicator crashed against the metal of the wall. Peices of it chipped and flew off as it hit the ground with a force almost harder than that which it had hit the wall with. He needed to cool down, and God knew he was trying, but the longer he thought about it, the worse it got, and all he saw in his head was the casket closed over Jabari's face because there wasn't enough left of it to look at.

All he saw was that picture of Taro Lawson's smug face, the thought that he had blown Jabari's head off of his shoulders, over, and over, and over. Jabari wasn't perfect, no one could boast that they were. But he was Raife's best and most loyal friend, and he would not step down from killing the man who had murdered him, just because the sister of his lover wanted him to.

That was too much to ask.

[Lok Yeh]

"You shouldn't have done that!" Lok sighed out uncrossing his arms as he walked over to the million little pieces of the com he had hurled at the wall, his anger always getting the best of them.

"That is the fifth one in two months. Gotta stop that." He sighed out and picked them up and tossing them into the garbage can nearby. "Is it true?" Lok questioned as he scooped up the pieces as best he could, gnawing on the inside of his cheek as if this task were in need of severe concentration.

"You want to kill my sister?" Lok sighed out as he bent down and tossed a few more pieces away, leaning up and looking over at the beautiful man, who looked even more gorgeous when he was angry. "I can't stop you from doing whatever it is you want to do, but I do have to give you a word of warning, honey..." He leaned against the wall and crossed his arms, all business.

"You can't touch my sister." He knew that Raife would scoff and be like 'says who' but then again there always was that part of him that had somewhat of a conscience, although he knew that vengance might overpower it since that was all he saw since the man's death.

"Kill whoever, I don't care, if you have a list! Fine! Go for it! But I need to know...where does my sister come in?"

[Raife Christianson]

Raife didn't look at Lok. If he did, he would probably want to hit him too. He crossed his arms over his chest and set his jaw, staying quiet for a long moment, staring down at his shoes, getting his anger together and stuffing it back inside, where he kept it most of the time.

After a long time, he turned back to Lok and leaned his hip against the opposite wall of that Lok was leaning against. He watched the Asian man for another moment before answering.

"She doesn't, Lok. She never did," he knocked a piece of hair out of his face before continuing. "Mei-li thinks I'm after her because Jabari was always after her for something, and I happened to be the one to execute those plans. He relied on me to 'punish' her, I-E, lock her up in the upstairs bedroom until he could go up there and 'deal' with her..." he paused. Raife didn't like telling Lok about his time in the Phoenix mansion. He hadn't ever told him anything.

But he really thought that now called for him to tell the truth.

"The only one I care about is Taro Lawson and his brothers. They're the ones that killed him..." he clenched his jaw, turning around and relaxing his muscles just a little, but unable to look Lok in the face for a reason he couldn't figure out. He looked down at his feet.

"But there's a bounty out for Mei-li too...because she knows so much about the underground dealings Jabari and I pulled off...actually, about the whole mob operation. Her and the kid both..."

[Mei-Li Yeh]

Mei-li, biting through the embarassment and the pain in her left arm, sat down and became a professional chain smoker within seconds. After the first initial shock, it ran smoother down her throat now and it was more calming than anything she had ever had, which wasn't a whole lot!

So Lok was in love with the man who hated her and love her husband, goodie! Her mind went crazy mad with thoughts. She needed to figure out a way to tell Taro that some guy was here to kill them all, but she knew that wouldnt be a very good way to start off a friendship with her brother's husband, as he so claimed. She wanted to smack him so hard in the face! She hadn't been treated that bad since...well...a long time.

She ran a hand over her eyes and tried to not cry, but she and her brother hadn't fought like that in ages. It was sickenning to think one man would drive them apart, again. The same man in fact. The whole fall out was because she loved Jabari and got pregnant, now it was because she hated Jabari and was glad he died. Why did this whole thing seem wrong!? She wanted to just wish the whole day away and wish that she had actually left before meeting Evan's cousin.

Mei-li was faced with a dilemma, she had to make a choice between her brother or her sister-in-law. Was she going to tell Taro? At least give him a heads up? God knows that if Taro found out and the two were confronted someone wouldn't make it out alive and either way Mei-li felt like she'd be to blame. If Taro died, Jesimae would say it was her fault because of her assosciation with Jabari, and if Raife died...Lok would be after her head. He already made that quite clear.

[Evan Christianson]

Evan chewed his lip quietly, watching Mei-li suck down the cigarettes like a pro. Well. The meeting had not gone quite as planned. Raife hated Mei-li, Mei-li hated Raife, Lok was mad at Mei-li...and Evan? Well...he wasn't exactly sure where he fit in. It was sort of his fault they met and found out about each other in the first place.

For a long time, he didn't say anything. He just watched Mei-li, hoping she didn't contract lung cancer while he sat and watched her. He smoked a lot, but he hadn't seen anyone smoke that much or that fast in a long time. He looked down at the ground before looking back up at her.

"Raife shouldn't have said those things to you," he said, shaking his head. "I know I don't know anything about...well...anything. But still...he was wrong..." Evan paused, unsure if he was being comforting like he was trying to be, or if he was just being a nuisance. He glanced down at Mei-li's arm, and his brow furrowed at the red marks on it from where Lok had grabbed her. He reached out to touch them a little.

"Are you okay? Do you need something?"

[Mei-Li Yeh]

Mei-li looked over at him and sighed out, why the hell was he so nice to her? Why the hell was she so attracted to him? Why the hell did all this have to happen? Why the hell did any of this had to happen? She bit her lower lip seeing the nice imprint of Lok's hand then the nice dark skin from Evan's hand that gently touched the red mark. It didn't hurt anymore, but it was probably going to get a little bruise, Lok sometimes didn't know his own strength! She remembered when she was a little kid and they had a pillow fight. She had a black eye for weeks! She grinned a little at that thought. She figured all families, no matter how hard they tried, had dysfunction.

"No. I think it is going to be fine, Evoon." She sighed out annoyed at herself. "Ev...AN!" She was not having a good day, she knew. She let out a laugh that was bordering a desperate cry. Life sometimes had that beautiful way of just crashing around you. She looked over at him and smiled.

"I guess you think we are all nuts, huh?" She shook her head and took a drag off of the cigarette she was smoking. "Jabari was my husband and your cousin was his right hand man." Mei-li turned slightly to look at Evan, he was definitely in need of an explanation.

"Jabari was abusive, a mob boss, Raife kept Jabari's needs and commands met. Jesimae, my sister-in-law, thought he was dead, but Jabari faked his death when she was little so he could be some big shot guy. He was the largest mob boss in the galaxy. So, when she found out he met her, things didn't go well. He being verbally, physically, and emotionally abusive Taro killed him.

"I'm glad, too." Mei-li crossed her legs and let out a sigh of severe torment. How come all of this was finally catching up to her? "Anyway...people thought I killed my husband and they want me dead because of that and because of what I know...which is nothing. I was never involved with his affairs! I just kept his money. I moved to escape people who are mad, but, as you can see with Raife, I don't have very good luck." Mei-li blew out a line of smoke, taking a moment to relish in the toxin. She glanced at Evan and shrugged.

"You are the only good thing that has happened to me in a while." She felt herself get scared for saying such a thing, but she figured nothing bad could happen for she had nothing to really lose. She smiled and tossed the cigarette away and stood up. She grabbed the pack of cigarettes and smiled, putting them into her pocket figuring she could keep this habit for a while, at least until she was off this colony.

"I think I keep these." She laughed lightly and pushed the cafe chair under the table and figured now would be a good time to exit, but she kinda didn't want to. She leaned down and put a hand on Evan's shoulder, smiling at him. "My brother was right!" Mei-li wasn't really sure where her nerve came from at that point, it was probably the cigarettes screwing her judgement, but like she figured...nothing to lose!

"You have a fan. A very....big...fan!" She let out a laugh and she shook her head, dropping her hand.

[Raife Christianson]

________

Raife browsed the 'Net, looking over the posted bounties, hacking into police sites. He wanted to know everything he could about Taro and Jesimae before he killed them. He wanted to know exactly who he was killing.

He'd locked himself up in one of the sleeping rooms--he was still angry--and he'd preched on the edge of the bed, his laptop balancing on his knees as he typed in passwords, and went around firewalls. So far he hadn't figured out much more than that Taro had been a big drug runner in his day, and had also partaken in prostitution.

Everything about the man made Raife skin crawl. He hated the way he looked, everything he did seemed to be dirty in some way or another. Raife understood the incentive with which Taro had murdered Jabari. But...Raife couldn't forgive what he had done. Couldn't forgive what had happened. And he never would.

Raife didn't hold grudges, not so badly as did his husband, but he wouldn't ever be able to forget what Taro Lawson did.

"Wait..." Raife muttered as he stopped scrolling. Ah. So Taro had murdered before. Strangled a man to death, but not before he had beaten him. This was interesting...he had a record apparently, he and his elder brother, both.

Raife would do away with them all. And he would still only inflict a fraction of the pain on them that they had to Jabari.

[Lok Yeh]

Lok sighed out as he laid on the bed, staring up at the ceiling wondering what in God's name Raife was doing locking himself up in a room. He hated when he went on those tirades whre he felt it was necessary to board himself up and think, sort things out...whatever it was he did when he went anti-social.

Lok couldn't blame him though, after being put out in front of everyone and certain things being said at a meeting that, apparently was long past due..he'd want to be alone to figure things out as well. Lok set his jaw as he continued to stare at the ceiling, his left hand laying on his stomach while he twisted gelled strands of his hair with the other. It was his way of thinking things out, and at that moment it was all about Mei-li and Raife and the apparent bad blood between them.

Lok had known Jabari pretty well, known what he had done to his niece and his sister, and how he abused the two. It was unsettling for one to become a financial overseer of the personal estate, but it was for a good reason. However, he had not intended on falling in love with the man who was next in line to take over a corrupt business should anything happen to the head of it all. What had started out as a working relationship turned into an emotional affair that lasted even through the times when Lok Himself had planned on killing Jabari, especially after certain incidences that left Mei-li in a coma and Hana with a broken arm. For some reason, he didn't do it because of his love for Raife. He put his lover in front of his family and for that he still felt guilty, but now he would never do such a thing, not after they had patched up stupid fueds and feelings. He and Mei-li were close, closer than most, and he wanted to keep that relationship going.

Lok let out a disgruntled and unsettled sigh as he switched to another strand. Lok hated being alone, it gave him too much time to think to himself and to have those deep soul searching moments. That made him aggravated for it caused him to see how he really acted at times. He realized how horrible he could be, which was why he enjoyed not having to tread into those muddy waters!

"Damn it." He said as he sat up, tapping his feet on the floor glancing around. He should go talk to Mei-Mei. They had some unfinished business.

[Raife Christianson]

Raife shut his laptop with a long, irritated sigh. He was preoccupied again. Except this time, it wasn't because of the Lawsons, or Mei-li, or Jabari, or killing anyone, or anything. He was preoccupied with Lok.

Raife found that anymore when he tried to have his moment alone, they become disrupted with thoughts of the boy he loved so much. Not that Lok had ever been a disruption to him, ever. But he couldn't think straight when he was obsessing over the wellbeing of the younger man. Which he was doing...all the time.

Raife tossed his laptop onto the bed and picked up the peice of paper where he had written down everything he thought he needed to know. He folded it up and stuck it in the pocket of his jeans as he stood. He made his way to the door, typing in the unlock code and going out in the hall. He looked up and down the hall, moving some hair out of his face as he tried to guess where Lok was.

"Computer?" he asked quietly.

"Yes, sir?"

"Where's Lok at, please?"

"Third quarter room from the front, Sir. Five down from you, Sir."

Raife turned and began down the hall, eyeing the quarter doors, looking for the one that his computer was talking about. He blew hair out of his face. He knew an apology was in order. He had no right to treat Lok's sister that way, no matter what she said to him. Hell, he barely knew the woman. He'd only met her a handful of times while still with Jabari, and his dealings with her had been less than gentle.

Raife stopped at the door his computer had indicated as being the one his lover was inside of. He leaned on the frame, hesitating slightly. Now that his anger had ebbed, he felt stupid for acting the way he did. He always did. And he felt bad for treating Mei-li the way he had. Raife hadn't never felt bad for doing anything before he met Lok. He'd had no conscious. And now, he felt like crap just because of a few bad words.

He guessed that's what love did to people.

"Hey, Lok?" he asked quietly, knocking lightly on the door. "Babe, are you in there?"

[Lok Yeh]

Lok lifted his head at the sound of his lover's voice, smiling at the door, but only for a moment. He figured it would be best to wander over and open the door to with a smile rather than calling out the answer Raife already knew. He stood up and walked over to the small detector by the door and pushed on it, watching the door slowly move to the side, exposing Raife slowly, like a grand prize unveiling after Lok had correctly picked the winning door. He smiled at the sight of him and titled his head.

"Yes? What can I do for you, my precious?" He gave him the once over, making sure nothing had been lost in his deep thought, the time having passed since the two last saw one another always giving Lok another reason to stare him up and down, Lord knowing it was one of his favorite...distractions.

[Raife Christianson]

Raife couldn't help but smile. Lok had that way of making him laugh when he didn't think he could smile anymore. Raife leaned on the doorframe, his hands in his pockets. For a long moment he looked down at Lok's feet, chewing on his lip and thinking to himself.

After a long moment, he looked back up and sighed.

"Look. I'm sorry for being such a stupidass to your sister," he said, his voice dipping down as if he were surrendering to another army. Raife wasn't used to saying sorry, and didn't like doing it. But he knew that no matter what Taro or any of his family had done, Mei-li hadn't done anything to him personlly...except attacked his trustworthiness. But that was something he and Lok would have to discuss later. He titled his head a little.

"Forgive me?"

[Lok Yeh]

Lok looked at him and raised an eyebrow. Did this man actually have to ask this question after all those years they had been together? Lok was a man who held grudges, but when it came to Raife it seemed he got immunity from it all. A smile graced his face and he rolled his eyes.

"Duh! You know I forgive you," he sighed out and walked over to Raife nad out his hands around his waist, leaning into him. "besides I love you too much to ever be mad. Also you had a right to be angry. Mei-li somtimes brings out the worst in people." He gave the man a kiss and then shook his head looking into his beautiful eyes.

"You should ahve stuck around. She'll have a bruise on her arm from me I am sure." Again he planted another kiss, looking at his face before brushing a piece of his chocolate brown hair out of his eyes. "She needs to know when to keep things private. She made me mad for flying off the handle like that." Lok stood there for the longest moment just staring at Raife, admiring his beauty like he did almost every time he turned around, oh well the man was probably used to it by now.

"I apologize myself," He began leaning his head on the man's shoulder. "I didn't mean to come back to bitch at you."

[Raife Christianson]

Raife smiled, wrapping his arms around the small shoulders, kissing the top of Lok's head. Raife was lucky to have a guy like Lok. A guy who could somehow look past all of Raife's flaws--and were there a lot of them--and forgive him for the vast numbers of mistakes he made.

"Hey, you're cute when you bitch," Raife teased, leaning down to better kiss the younger man. He leaned up a little, massaging in between Lok's shoulder blades, his mind still at work. He looked back down at Lok and smiled.

[Mei-Li Yeh]

Mei-li bit her lower lip standing in line at a small make-shift thrifty store waiting in line to buy a pack of cigarettes. She had gone to a rental dorm for the time being, not really wanting to impose on Ren and his kindness more than she already had. Plus she just didn't feel very comofortable with things at that moment. She had smoked all of what Raife had thrown at her and she was glad she had picked up the habit quickly for it kept her mind at ease instead of picking and pulling things apart.

She was fearing for her safety, but more than anything she was fearing for Taro and Jesimae's. Not only was her mind stuck on their safety, but more than it should have been it was stuck on the man with the electric blue eyes that had aided her addictions. Well, helping her get headed in the correct direction more or less.

She was now feeling like an idiot for even saying she was a fan of that man after her brother's quirky little statement, now mortified with her decision she had hoped she wouldn't see him anytime soon, but this place was small, smaller than she had wished at that moment.

"Give me a pack of Red Apples." Mei-li had to pause breifly when the woman behind the counter had questioned what she needed. Mei-li could already taste the intoxicating nicotine before she had even been given the pack. But when she tossed a few creds down and took it out of the store, she had opened the pack quicker than she had ever opened anything.

[Evan Christianson]

Evan had been a little upset to part with the cute little Asian woman. But he had to get back to his ship--needed to go see Raife--and Mei-li had needed to go back to her sister-in-law--or...ex-sister-in-law?--and didn't need to hang around a kind stranger who meant nothing.

Her line about being his "fan" had stuck with him, but he knew that neither of them would probably ever see each other again. So, he had gotten a coffee, drunk it and then headed back to the docks to where the mechanics were still working on his ship. At the rate they were going, they would never get it done.

Evan glanced at Raife's ship, but didn't bother to go in and interrupt Lok and his cousin. They were probably talking, or...not talking. Either way, Evan didn't want to see him right then.

He was feeling sorry for himself, and regretting that he hadn't gotten Mei-li's com number or...something.

He lit up a cigarette and began to smoke as he took a walk.

[Mei-Li Yeh]

"Sweet necture of life." Mei-li sighed out, closing her eyes and tilting her head back a little, the smoke billowing from her mouth and forming small patterns and circles around her. She opened her eyes and realized that smoking was not half as bad as she had figured it to be. Although she was going to preach to her baby girl that she was to never touch such an object if she wanted to see the next day, but she realized that this habit had to be temporary for it would be hard to convince a hard headed and stubborn girl to not smoke while the mother puffed away in hypocrasy.

She breathed in and looked around wondering if she could go wander around and find something interesting to get into, her mind needing be to be taken on another course other than the collision course it was on at that moment in time. She puffed again on the butt of the cigarette as she put the pack in the pocket of her slim fitting jeans, tugging on the satin v-neck floral shirt she wore trying to put herself together from practically sprinting full dash to the store to get some more smokes. She could use a cup of coffee, but she knew that cigarettes reminded her enough of Evan. Coffee would only make things much worse. But she wasn't getting tired of thinking about it, just annoyed that she had been highly attracted to him.

"Stop it!" She said to herself as she blew out smoke. Although the cigarettes, she recently discovered, curbed her hunger it did not halt or slow down the thoughts of Evan Christianson.

[Evan Christianson]

Evan puffed happily on his cigarette as he picked up a magazine from a stand and began to read. It was in Huttese--the second most spoken language next to Basic--and was about matters in which he was uninterested. But he figured as long as he could read it, it would preoccupy his mind.

He wasn't wandering anywhere in particular, although, unknowingly, was wandering back in the general direction of the cafe in which he had met Mei-li. He supposed he knew in his subconscious somewhere that Mei-li wouldn't be there. But he figured he could hang out there and read until someone called him about his ship.

[Mei-Li Yeh]

Mei-li dilly dallied at a small trinkets shop and saw nothing of importance, scanning through some holograms and what not to send to people on other planets or colonies. It was a high tech shop and it was was very interesting to see on such a colony, but it was allowing her mind to stay occupied from the face that had literally haunted her since the moment they met.

She bit on a straw from a drink she had purchased to stifle the burn in her throat from sucking those two cigarettes down so quickly. She wasn't sure why her body was responding so orgasmically to the cancer stick, but she just really loved it. Perhaps because it reminded her of...

God, she didn't even want to think of his name or face. She was too embarassed by the situation and the scene she had caused and it was not something she was easily able to live down. She glanced up in between a few slats of a hologram rack and saw the familiar man walk by, smoking and looking around. Suddenly her heart jumped and she was ready to go on the defensive and hide...but...she just couldn't find herself doing that. Instead she moved around the store sneakily peering at the man through slats and objects. She could at least admire him from afar.

[Evan Christianson]

Evan took up residence at a table outside the cafe near to a little technics shop. He smoked quietly, reading the Huttese magazine and glancing up every now and again when he heard someone going by.

He wished his ship was finished. He had more cigarettes there, but he didn't want to go get them while the mechanics were there working on it. So instead, he decided he would smoke this last one and then buy another pack so he could suck that pack down. He wasn't a chain smoker, but at the moment it was keeping his mind preoccupied, along with the magazine.

Evan glanced around. He had that funny feeling he was being watched, but on a place so crowded as this, it was entirely possible everyone was looking at everyone else. So he simply ignored it and went on smoking and reading.

[Mei-Li Yeh]

Mei-li moved all around that store and keeping herself hidden behind many things. She felt like a stalker, but she couldn't help it! Look at the man! He was so beautiful that it was just hurting her to watch him sit there reading. God, he was hot when he read. A man who showed signs of intelligence made her extremely...turned on? Perhaps that wasn't exactly the best way to describe the feeling. But at that moment it seemed rather fitting.

Mei-li moved behind a woman who was blockign her view. At first she wanted to tell the full woman to move out of the way, but figured she could move around the display table, but she realized if she did so she'd be easily spotted Thinking quickly she walked over to a small sitting station where one could read magazines. She couldn't see because of the stand to her right, but she made do by leaning back in the chair. When he'd turn his head ot look around she'd quickly sit back correctly in the chair. Her heart was pounding and she was getting an exciting rush from doing something so wrong! She leaned back again and saw him reading. She loved it. Every single moment of his brow furrowing to it raising she loved his face. His voice. His smell. Although she barely knew him the love that resonated was just superficial, but deep and emotional.

Mei-li sighed out and leaned forward in the chair when a few people walked by giving her a look like she were nuts. She bit her lower lip and figured she was safe to look once they wandered away. Mei-li drew in a breath and leaned back, peering over the shelfing. She smiled when she saw him, pushing her tip toes on the ground to lean back and see him. She looked at his face, his arms, his hands, his expressions, anything and everything that was in view she was making sure to take in. She wondered what he was reading and she pushed back as far as she could but that was a big mistake.

"Oh!" She squealed, the chair flying backwards, bumping a few shelfs and knocking them down, her feet in the air, her legs sprawled open. If things couldn't get any worse, the shelf she had been peering over tilted and suddenly crashed on top of her.

[Evan Christianson]

Evan's entired body seized at the sound and he jumped a foot out of his chair, the magazine sliding down and to the ground. He twisted in his seat to see what had happened and saw that someone had tilted backwards too far and had fallen back. And the stand hand fallen overtop of them.

The owner of the stand was peering down over the person, bawling them out in some language that Evan didn't know. Plenty of people were gathering around. Why were they helping?

Getting up, Evan ran over, pushing through the slowly growing crowd and grabbing the lightweight stand, pulling it back with all his strength. It tilted back and crashed to its original position. The owner swooped in and began yeling into the person's face. Evan leaned over, quite surprised to see...

"Mei-li?!" he exclaimed. The shop owner looked up and glared at him. Evan grinned in his face and leaned down, righting Mei-li's chair, crouching down a little to look up and her and wink. He glanced at the shop owner. "I'm sorry, sir, she belongs to me!" he said, taking the woman's hand to help her up.

"I'll pay for whatever was upset if you like?" Evan said. The shopkeeper flung up his hands and made a movement as if all he wanted in this world was for them to leave. Evan looked down at Mei-li, leaning down to her ear as he urge her forward so they could wade out of the crowd and away from the angry shopkeeper, who wasn't pressing charges...yet.

"Are you alright, Mei-li?" he asked, then grinned good-naturedly. "I seem to keep finding you in painful situations, hm?"

[Mei-Li Yeh]

Mei-li felt horrified that this had happened, but in the end when she saw the man standing above her with a grin, she felt like dying. But when he had helped, claimed she belonged to him, then whispered in her ear she was ready to faint, that or fall into his arms whichever came first which she figured might be both!

"I am so sorry." She felt her face burn red and she put a hand over her face as people laughed, sneered, and gossiped about what had just happened. "I am so...clumsy!" She couldn't help but find the grin contagious and as she walked over a few books she knocked over she steadied herself by putting a hand on the small of his back feeling the strong base under the shirt he wore. It wasn't actual skin on skin contact but she was sure the reaction would be the same. She bit her lower lip, her face grew red, and she became weak in the knees.

"Sorry." She said again, retracting her hand after a moment of thinking what would be best. "Perhaps I want to be in those situations just to see you again!" She smiled as she looked up at him. It was friendly flirtatious thank you, but it would have been more sexy had she not been so....girly and embarassed.

[Evan Christianson]

Evan laughed as he lead her out of the dispersing crowd, and down the makeshift street out of the sight of the people and the shop owner. He sat her down at an outside table outside of a bookshop. He glanced around and then sat down across from her, looking her over to make sure nothing was hurt. Then he grinned again.


"Well, I can't say as I am disappointed you are getting into these situations..." he said, reaching over to tilt her head up a little so he could look at her and smiled. "Nothing's hurt is it? Can't have that." He dropped his hand.

Okay, he was flirting, it was true, but he wasn't too old to flirt yet.

[Mei-Li Yeh]

Mei-li felt that place where he touched catch on fire when he let his hand drop. She wanted to feel that sensation all over herself if she could have her way, but he would not know that anytime soon. But it was still a great thing to think of when given the certain circumstances.

"No." She said shyly, childishly, looking down at the table too embarassed at the contact that had been shared. She looked up and grinned. "Nothing is hurt on me." She wanted to just...she didn't know what! Attack him? Give him a hug? Oh, that was a nice thought! She looked at his body, perhaps too obviously, but was under the impression his hugs were long and strong. Oh she could use a hug or two! She hadn't had one since she left Hana crying at the ship port with a nanny she had hired.

Sadness clouded her mind for a moment, but those blue eyes clashing with her own quickly drew her happiness back in.

"I guess you should be put in an awkward situation so I can return the favor and save you."

[Evan Christianson]

Evan laughed, leaning back a little. Here they were again, talking after something bad had happened. Ah, he didn't care. He liked her. He liked talking to her, and being around her. Screw Raife and his ship.

"Well, let's think of something then," he said, winking. He couldn't help but smile at how clumsy she seemed to be. Honestly, he didn't know her all that well, but still he thought she was the cutest, sweetest girl he had met in a long time. He got hit on a lot, especially by female clients, and he hated it. But in this case, he didn't think he would mind if she hit on him. Or vice versa.

After a moment or two, he sobered a little.

"Did you see your sister-in-law? How's she doing?"

[Mei-Li Yeh]

Mei-li sat there smiling like an idiot, staring at him, taking him in like a sponge in water. He was adorable and it was probably very easy to read through her body language and her actions. If he knew she had been stalking him from that small shop where she caused chaos he'd probably think she is weird and keep his distance. His question slightly caught her off guard, but she was happy that the two had ended up at that cafe again sitting together, again, staring at each other, again. This, she figured, she could do for a living!

"My sister?" She frowned as if she didn't even know who the hell he was talking about, but then it hit her and she showed her true ability to pay attention. He must have thought her brain was all over the place. "She is okay. I saw her for a moment. I didn't want to be intrusive so I left and got a dorm." She drew in a deep breath and glanced down at her jeans, pulling out the pack of cigarettes.

"I didn't say anything to her about my brother or his husband." She laughed and shook her head as she pulled out the cigarette. She looked up at Evan and offered the opened box to him. "I cannot seem to tell my only extended family that they might be in danger. They already know that because of the situation they are in."

[Evan Christianson]

Raife accepted the proferred pack and tapped one out, taking it out with his teeth. He handed the pack back and lit his before sticking the lighter back down in his pocket. After a moment, he blew the smoke out through his nose and then shrugged shaking his head.

"Raife sucks at life, he hates people, he's a weapons freak, he collects blasters like bottle caps, and he's under the impression that work is--or can be--more important than everything else..." he paused, tapping ashes off his cigarette. "But, I don't think he's dangerous, really. He might talk big, but he got his fill of death a long time ago I think. Plus, the way he's talked about your brother, seems like Lok straightened him out quite a bit..." Evan paused again to take in another toxic lungful of the smoke, sighing out a moment later.

"I'll have a chat with him about it all, but I wouldn't worry about it, honestly," he said. Then he shrugged. "Anyway, he'll probably be gone before anything goes down anyway. I can't imagine him staying away from work for too long."

[Mei-Li Yeh]

"Perhaps." Mei-li stated in response, her mind giving the notion to think how sexy he looked when he smoked and tapped his ashes away. She couldn't help but grin.

"No need to chat to him." She said as she breathed in the cigarette smoke. She didn't want a stranger sticking up for her, but then again it was something she very much enjoyed. She felt like a damsel in distress but in a way that was not very annoying, or at least she hoped she wasn't being annoying considering bad things seemed to happen while they were together. She felt a chill run up her spine as her brain made that connection. Together. It was nice to think, very nice indeed, but the fact that they were just two people who happened to cross paths after a few misfortunes she didn't think it was necessary for him to keep fighting all her battles.

"I am sure I can straighten this out." She said with a light hearted laugh and a smile. She wasn't too sure of herself, her brother was a dangerous guy, more so than he let on, but he had a way of keeping it under control. but one wrong move or word...all hell could break lose and controlling the anger inside was not an option. "Did you speak to your cousin?" She blew the smoke out of her mouth and watched Evan do the same. Attractive, she thought. Very, very attractive.

[Evan Christianson]

Evan glanced at her, then shook his head.

"Naw. He was so mad when he left, I didn't want to have to deal with him," Evan said. He grinned. "I'll bet he and Lok have gotten into it before. I don't know anybody with a worse temper than Raife, but it looked like Lok could probably stand him when he's like that..." Evan paused, switching his cigarette from one hand to the other. "Anyway. I'll talk to him once my ship is fixed which should be sometime while I'm still young!" he said, looking down at his watch. He shook his head before looking back up.

"How long you here? Do you know exactly?"

[Mei-Li Yeh]

Mei-li raised an eyebrow at his question and looked away for a moment before shaking her head.

"I don't know." She tapped the cigarette and watched the grey and white ashes fall before she brought her attention back up to Evan. "Jesimae and Taro came here for some ungodly reason. Her getting attacked I don't know how long it will take for her to recover or if they are even going to go back to Coruscant." She sighed out and rolled her eyes.

"The secrets and the drama are so confusing I cannot keep up!" She smiled and leaned back in the chair. "You said something about your ship before. When will it be fixed? And what will you be doing after?"

[Evan Christianson]

Evan nodded, glancing around him as if he were waiting for someone. After a moment, he took another deep breath of his cigarette and sighed it out in a long line of fuzzy white.

"Well, I'm not exactly sure when it will be fixed. It wasn't too bad off when I pulled in here, but the mechanics seem to be stumbling over little things, so your guess is as good as mine," he said with a shrug. After a moment, he flicked away the butt of his cigarette and looked back up at the little Asian woman sitting across from him. He smiled. "Then after it's fixed, I'm heading back to Coruscant."

He crossed his arms over his chest and crossed his legs as well, watching Mei-li closely. As he sat there, thinking about it, he began to realize that even though he and she would be parting after he left the colony--and if Raife didn't screw things up--he might be able to see her again sometime. Her brother being his cousin's husband. He smiled a little to himself and laughed a little. After a moment, he leaned forward on his knees, nodding around.

"Uh, I know...this probably isn't the time, but, uh...if you'd like to get out of the hospital later on, my ship has a great kitchen and I'm a pretty good cook," he said, bobbing his eyebrows playfully. He grinned. "Bring the whole family if you like. I'll take something to the injured sister-in-law too."

He smiled warmly at her. He wished he could ask her out, to a nice dinner at a nice restaurant, but around here there was nothing. Maybe she wouldn't think him cooking for her was too...old. He hoped she said "Sure! Why not?"

But then again..."Absolutely not" was a possibility too.

[Mei-Li Yeh]

Mei-li almost caused herself to catch on fire, of course her cheeks were already on fire when her brain finally assessed the sitaution to conclude that he was in fact asking her on a date; However she had dropped the cigarette in shock and suddenly she felt heat.

"Pu nia bho!" Mei-li jumped out of her seat, patting her jeans where she had felt the cigarette cherry hit. She watched it fall to the ground and quickly she put it out with the toe of her boot. She sighed out and looked over at Evan who was highly alarmed. She frowned and then felt her face turn red yet again. If she were to spend anymore time with this man, she figured, she best paint her face a bright red so it would not be so easy to see when she was embarassed.

"Sorry!" She said pushing a piece of her hair out of her face. The small phrase of obscenities coming out of her mouth before she could stop. She felt embarassed for saying it, but she knew he would not understand. So, again, she apologized. "So sorry." She said with a light hearted laugh realizing that she was making so many mistakes and not being cool and calm like she normally was. Dear lord what was this guy doing to her?

"I...so clumsy." She felt her english fail her for a moment. "I'm sorry." She sighed out and looked at him. His blue eyes almost coming as shock to see, but not as much as the sudden pain in the palm of her right hand. She frowned and glanced down to see a small oval shape of red. A burn from the cigarette. She wanted to scream some obscenity, but refrained and dropped her hand, looking at Evan.

"Dinner? "She said as if she just now got the question. "I....tonight?" She was being stupid. She can't honestly be this forgetful. But through the confusion that she had created for herself she blurted it out.

"Okay!"

[Evan Christianson]

Evan had never seen a more clumsy person! Certainly, he had his moments, but for poor Mei-li it seemed like one thing after another. He couldn't help but think it was the cutest thing he had ever seen. He stood when she did, glancing around her to make sure the cherry of the cigarette fell off of her and didn't burn her.

After a few moments of her apologizing--she also said sorry much more than she needed to--she finally look up at him and smiled, answering in the affirmitive. He let out a breath he hadn't known he had been holding.

"Well!" he said, laughing loudly. "Great!" he laughed again. Then he motioned towards the hospital wing of the colony. "Your family? Would they want me to bring them something to eat?" he grinned. "Hospital food tastes like rocket fuel."

[Mei-Li Yeh]

Who was her family? What was rocket fuel? She didn't know what she was thinking, but she was so disoriented by the string of events that started out by stalking a man that eventually led to dinner. She sighed out and her brain snapped to it, the laugh and the smile on his face just so darn cute that she wanted to just tackle him right then and there and give him a hug. She furrowed her brow. Where the hell had that thought come from? Why would she want to takle him? Either way it was entertaining.

"Oh, I...." She glanced at the ward and frowned. Suddenly a little sting of happiness hit her. Yes. If he brought food that he cooked and Jiro was there she could somehow get back at him. But why would she do that? She wasn't that kind of person! But...it will still feel kinda good to let Jiro see that she still was in need of someone, too.

"That would be very nice." She smiled. "I am sure Jesimae would love that."

[Evan Christianson]

Evan smiled and nodded. He put his hands down into the pockets of his jeans.

"Alright then, I'll be sure to make a lot extra," he said, glad that he could help out. He wasn't exactly sure when Mei-li would want to eat. He chewed his lip for a moment before nodding. "Alright, um, how about I go get started and I'll come by and grab you around..." he glanced down at his watch and shrugged. "Seven?" he grinned. "I'll count the family members too, so I know how much to bring back."

[Mei-Li Yeh]

Mei-li suddenly felt this flip in her stomach. What was that feeling? Excitement? Nervousness? Liking? She didn't want to jump onto the love wagon too early, but she didn't want to pass it up either. If this guy was asking her on a date, romatic date that is, she had to play her cards right. She bit her lower lip and tried to stifle the big smile, but knew it wasn't possible.

"Seven. Sounds great." She didn't want to jump up and down with the excitement and anxiousness she flet, but then again she didn't want to make him think she wasn't excited. She laughed lightly at the inner conflict.

"Meet you here at seven. I will be outside of the hospital ward, okay?"

[Hitomi Lawson]

________

Hitomi leaned languidly on the wall of the hospital ward. She'd been standing there for ten minutes watching who went in and came out while Dove made a round about the building to be sure all--ore most of--the Lawson clan was inside. Her job to make sure none of them left without she or Dove following to find out where they were headed.

So far, the place had been fairly quiet. She'd watched Dove for as long as she could see him, until he went inside to case the place. He hadn't come out yet.

The situation had gotten so bad that she was no longer sure if she and Dove could handle it. If she hadn't been such a coward the first time, and had just knocked Jesimae off when she could, none of this would have happened. She and Dove would have been off this Godforsaken place and on their way to an assload of money.

But no, here they were, trying to clean up after her.

Hitomi had always been told it was a bad idea to have a partner, especially in this business, that is was so easy to be offed, to have your money taken, have everything crumbled down around you because your partner got greedy. She was also always told never to fall in love with your partner. Because when they did betray you, it would hurt even more.

Hitomi didn't think Dove would betray her, she hadn't ever thought that. But still, she couldn't help but wonder how annoyed with her he had been and probably still was--regardless of everything that had happened--about not doing her job to begin with. Now they were in trouble up to their necks, and when it was all over with, they would be the ones left with blood on their hands.

Hitomi sighed, shaking her head and glancing over as two woman walked out of the hospital ward, speaking something other than Basic. It was no one she needed to worry about. She looked back ahead of her, wondering what Dove was finding out inside.

[Dove Goldman]

Dove raised an eyebrow, pretending to be busy inside the even busier hospital. He hadn't realized that a whole family tree had been invited to come visit a woman whose life was expendable and very troubling to the pair being paid to get rid of her. Surely, he had thought to himself as he wandered around talking to a nurse nearby to keep his cover as a caring family or friend. Something had changed, he wasn't sure exactly what, but something had.

He frowned as he looked up from a little pamphlet on some disease going around and how to prevent it. Something he had b-essed to a nurse who ended up giving him the informative sheet of paper. He saw more people in that room holding the Lawson woman. He had located that there were the three brothers. Check. The wife. Check. The girlfriend that came in with Hruko. Check. But then there were more faces he had not really identified.

An older asian woman. Was she a friend of the family? Or a mother? Also, there were new characters. More women had arrived. A flame haired woman, a spicy hispanic woman, and a very...flowery asian girl. Then there was another man. A curly haired looker who hung around with one of the younger siblings. Who the hell were they? Dove figured he deserved to update Hitomi and he figured he'd rather look at her right then than a boring scene of a slumbering wife in a hospital bed with family sleeping in uncomfortable chairs. He tossed the pamphlet over his shoulder and rolled his eyes and moved towards the exit, looking into the room better seeing Taro was sleeping in a chair right next to the bed, his hand holding hers. The mother, he called her, on the other side reading something and holding Jesimae's hand. The two brothers goofing around and talking quietly amongst themselves with the three women.

"God." He barely muttered as he walked out into the busy street seeing Hitomi lounging against a wall looking too good for her to realize. He had to give his mind that satisfaction and ease for a moment. "We got trouble, babe." He said lowly and deeply, quickly leaning next to her and looking around.

"We have a few new visitors. I counted four." He looked down at her and shrugged. "What are we gonna do?"

[Hitomi Lawson]

Hitomi glanced over at him as he came up, a slightly worried expression on his face. She furrowed her brow moving a little closer to him so that their conversation could be kept private, and go unheard by passerby and people sitting outside of the hospital. She licked her lips.

"Four?" she asked, looking over at him. She wracked her brain. She couldn't remember all the people they were connected to. There were so many. She looked back over at Dove...oh...he looked sexy when he was worried...oh, mind back on track. "Well...what did they look like? Who were they associating with? It's possible they are just significant others of the whole Lawson dynasty..." she paused to tuck hair behind her ears.

"And the only thing I can figure is that we either kill the girl and leave them, or kill them all and see what we get out of it..." she said. Then she shook her head. "But I don't care how good we are, I doubt we can take on half the galaxy that knows the Lawson family..."

[Dove Goldman]

Dove sighed out, crossing his arms and slightly leaning into her shoulder a bit as they stood smushed together, perhaps not as professional as previous times they had stood beside one another, but things were a bit different now and he actually felt better, like he could think clearer. Thank god he hadn't been shot down or else he would have probably been the loser he was and jsut kill everyone out of rage. Luckily he hadn't had that problem. A slightly smirked was tempted to cross his face, but he concealed it out of seriousness of the situation.

"Well," He started, but was lost in thought as he glanced across the way to see the asian woman he had, at that moment, dubbed 'flowery' make her way to some other destination. She was in a hurry, but he took no mind to it. She was probably having 'lady troubles' as he so liked to call the monthlies. That or she was going home or to her ship. Eat, perhaps. Who cared! His mind wandered back to what he was originally wanting to say.

"We can try to take them all out, but I don't think we brought the kind of equipment for it, nor the resources to get such equipment." He sighed out and shook his head, slitting his eyes. "We can't do it. Not all of 'em. Maybe the wife and the husband. I say he would be the one to stay with her all night while others went home." He looked down at her and waited on a response, but he didn't stare at her long, he wanted to keep an eye out and lucky for it.

Two unfamiliar men were lurking around across the way, staring at the hospital and then over to them. They looked suspicious enough to get him riled up and get him a little bit...nervous. A small asian man next to a taller man. They were dressed quite nice and seemed to be wealthy. That was the first time he had seen them since they arrived and there they were hanging around and staring at he and Hitomi.

"Look." He said to Hitomi. "Seen them before?"

[Raife Christianson]

Raife was smoking like a frickin' chimney, and had been since that morning. His stomach was killing him--it always did when he smoked too much--and his head hurt like none other. He was in the worst mood ever, and now, he and Lok were hanging around outside the hospital wing, and had spotted two suspicious persons loitering right outside the hospital, whispering.

It annoyed Raife.

Besides Lok, Raife had the worst temper of anyone he knew. When he was in this kind of mood, everything made him angry, and got on his nerves and made him want to hurt someone. And the way that guy looked at him--and at Lok, more importantly--certainly did nothing for his disposition.

Raife leaned his shoulder blade against the building he and Lok loitered by, lifting his chin a little as he watched the other man, making damn well sure he knew that he saw him. Something about him put Raife off. Very off. He nodded to the man, and the then looked down at Lok, tilting his head a little to see more of the smaller man.

"See them?" he asked, his hand rubbing over Lok's gently to get his attention. "How much you wanna bet me their after the Lawsons?"

[Dove Goldman]

"They are talking about us." Dove stated on beat with the man smoking and rubbing the other to gain attention. That was fine with him, the look that was being tossed was not pleasant, nor even meant to be. Dove undertstood the laws of bountying and murdering and if that man was wanting the goods he and Hitomi had been after....he would definitely not like that. He scowled slightly.

"They are after the same gold we are." He might have been jumping to conclusions, but he could tell a snake when he saw one. He was slithering like one as well, even the curl of his mouith could let Dove know what exactly what ws going on. Dove and Hitomi were, apparently, putting their hands in that man's cookie jar, but if only he knew that it was the other way around.

He and Hitomi didn't traipse all over the universe for Jesimae Lawson for nothing! He'd be damned if that slithering S.O.B. with the shady side-kick stepped in in any way. If they wanted to play hardball, then by hell, Dove was game.

"It is apparent," He stated lowly as if he were wanting to keep his voice lower than it already had been in case they were sharp at hearing. "We are not wanted here."

[Hitomi Lawson]

Hitomi looked over at the two good looking men standing across from them, one of them smoking and talking quietly to the smaller Asian. She chewed her lip and then looked up at Dove. She gave a shrug.

"Welcome to being a bounty hunter," she stated flippantly. Those guys looked big and bad, and probably fancied themselves to be, but they didn't scare her, and she was sure that they didn't scare Dove. But on the other hand, she and Dove probably didn't scare them either. She leaned off the wall a little to wink at the little Asian man. It was not a flirty wink, or even a friendly wink. It was a warning.

Hitomi hated it when someone got to a bounty at the same time as she and Dove. It meant they had to use more blaster packs just to kill them off so that they didn't have to be dealt with. She smiled at the two men before looking over at Dove.

"They look friendly, hm?" she said cynically. "Let's see them make a move for our bounty. I could take that little boy with one hand tied behind my back."

[Dove Goldman]

Dove sighed out, uncomfortable. HE didn't like them already and he could see they probably gave them the same kind of respect in return. He heart Hitomi speak about taking the little boy with one hand behind her back, he just looked at her with a look that simply said 'Yeah, right!' He grinned at her persitance and her view of the situation, made things a little less stressful for him.

"Overly friendly, if you ask me." He stated in return after a moment. "We can go see what they are up to. I am sure that they aren't here to enjoy the scenery." Dove knew that might not be such a bad idea, but those two didn't look like the talkative type, especially with the way they continued to stare, smoking away as if they were observing a piece of fine art.

"Or we can wait till they come to us."

[Raife Christianson]

Edit!!!!!!

[Hitomi Lawson]

Hitomi flung up a hand.

"Hey, nothing ever gets done if you don't make the first move!" she said, winking at him. "Why not go make a couple new friends? Can't hurt to scout out the situation."

[Dove Goldman]

Dove clenched his jaw, he wasn't good at making friends, especially with others who didn't play nice, but he figured it wouldn't hurt to go see if they were after the same pot of gold they were.

"Sounds like you and I are going to have to be on our best behavior." He winked at her and grinned.

[Lok Yeh]

"If there were any way to rub me wrong....I think they've just discovered it." Lok wasn't very hard to keep friendly, he was a good guy with just a temper that could endanger lives! However, that had nothing to do with what he was feeling right then. Those two people, two tall beautiful people, staring back at them with eyes of suspicion made Lok go insane with anger. He kept it well hidden, he was very good at that, but one wrong word and he would have no problem showing how he truly felt. But for the sake of his freedom right then he knew it was going to be a very controlled feeling, especially when they began to close the space between them.

"I'll be damned." He said with a light laugh. "We must be too pretty for our own good because we've just drawn to people to us like a moth to a flame." He sighed out. Friends were nice, but he didn't see anyone there worthy of his friendship.

[Raife Christianson]

Raife turned slightly and leaned off the wall when he glanced over at his lover's words and the two people were heading straight for them. Raife didn't do as well at hiding his anger and annoyance as did his little lover. He spat out his cigarette and stepped on it with extreme prejudice.

"That little Asian girl thinks you play her feild," he tossed over his shoulder to Lok as he stepped forward a little. "She'll be disappointed, hm?" he said, sliding his hands in his suit pants pockets diplomatically as the woman and her friend approached. Something about the way they walked, the way they acted, and just the way they were made him uncomfortable.

[Lok Yeh]

Lok couldn't help but grin at his words. How cute it was when he got angered over a simple confrontation, then again the two of them had been hacing some issues earlier that evening and he suspected Raife did not want any more problems than he had already incurred.

"Jealous?" He teased to Raife as he turned slightly to let his smile fall as the two grew closer, so close that he could smell the tall man's cologne. Spicy, sensual, something women would probably want to rub all over their clothes or body. Sadly, he was not impressed.

"How are you this evening?" He decied to call out simply because it was untelling how Raife would greet the newfound visitors. "What can we do for you?"

[Hitomi Lawson]

Hitomi put a hand on Dove's arm because she was afraid he would just jump on them about staring at them. And she didn't exactly want him to get into it with the long, tall drink of water to her right. He smelled of cigarettes and cologne. She glanced over and up--up, up, up--at him before looking back at the Asian man.

Chinese she could tell because of his proununciation being lighter than that of a Japanese speaker. Sadly, she did not speak Chinese. She glanced back over at Dove before smiling forcibly.

"We're perfect..." she said sweetly. "Or were until your big friend here decided he wanted to eat us for lunch," she said, giving the tall man less than sweet smile. Then she looked back at the Asian man. "So, I think the question is what can we do for you gentlemen this evening?"

[Lok Yeh]

Okay. Gloves off. No holds barred. No playing nice. This bitch was his! He contorted his face and he was ready to just start throwing punches and pulling hair, he could even hear the stiffening of joints and muscles to his right. Raife not one who enjoyed being called out like that. If he wanted to knock her down, by all means, he was ready to watch and enjoy. But, he realized he needed to be the peacemaker, Raife not being very....in control of his anger when someone had already pushed buttons that evening.

"Well, I don't think so. You approached us. Why should we be in need to speak with you? Besides, we are busy men. We go along the lines of....act now...ask later." He looked up at Raife and was waiting for something to happen, he was probably clenching his jaw to a degree that his own jaw might break in two.

"We are birdwatching." Lok continued, glancing back to the asian woman and the wonderful ornament hanging on her arm. "You happen to be in our way." He nodded at the hospital where you could see perfectly into the Lawson room. If that didn't answer her questions, then this was going to be a long and distracting moment.

[Hitomi Lawson]

Hitomi's eyes slid to her left where she could see the hospital slightly. Oh, okay, so he wanted to play it like that. That was fine with her. But the Lawsons were hers and Dove's and no one else's. Certainly not this, and definately not his huge boyfriend. She moved slightly, parting she and Dove a little and putting a hand on her hip, being sure to keep one eye on the big guy next to her.

"Well, let me move out of your way, cupcake," she said, every bit of molasses dripping from her words. She tucked hair behind her ears. "And as it so happens me and my friend were...birdwatching also," she paused. "And we don't like sharing our burrow. Especially not with a--" she tossed a look at the taller man. "Prick, and his chink boyfriend."

[Raife Christianson]

Raife didn't need much encouragement to become furious. It could take just about anything to set him off. But call him what she would, leave Lok out of it.

His hand had moved faster than he remembered telling it to move, and he had it clamped over the woman's shoulder, his grip so tight on her collarbone that he could feel it almost bending under the pressure of it. His jaw was clenched to breaking point and his blood boiled under his skin.

Jabari had not hired him because he was merciful. He had hired him because he didn't care who he killed to get what he wanted. And this girl had handed him the stone that broke his arm with her comment. She didn't say anything or make any noise--she was too well-trained for that--but Raife didn't need a noise to know he was hurting her as he began to back her towards where she and her friend had been standing before.

"Keep talking and you'll find yourself giving my blaster a blowjob," he purred. "Just keep moving that pretty little mouth."

[Dove Goldman]

Dove moved to strike, but the little Asian man had more strength than advertised. Before he knew it he was against the wall with a nice blaster in his side.

"Wrong move." The boy said. Dove never backed down when he was to make a move, but the sudden surprise rendered him powerless. Who the hell were these two and what the hell did they want? Obviously the same thing they wanted.

"Any part of you that touches me..you'll lose." Dove still figured he was able to make threats that were as full as a glass of water. He didn't care if he got in trouble for a little brawl in the downtown area of the drifter colony, but murder was still out of the question, at least until night. The man laughed, his fist clutching the blaster so hard his fists were white. Apparently these two men were having a very bad day and their surprise visit just made it worse.

"What's your beef with the Lawson's?" He asked fearlessly, not giving a damn if they were blowing a cover, which at this point there was no cover since these two were affiliated in some way with their findings. "All I wanna know!"

[Raife Christianson]

Raife pressed the girl's shoulders into the wall as hard as he could without breaking skin. He glanced at the man Lok had pinned to the wall. The girl was easy, she was strong certainly, but not a match for Raife who was physically bigger than she and would win in a fist fight with her any day.

He licked his lips and reached over, running his finger down Lok's gun, jabbing his thumb into the younger boy's throat. He smiled a little.

"That, my friend, doesn't concern you," he said, wedging his elbow against the girl's throat to keep her stationary. He smiled a little. "But I'm warning you that they do belong to us, and we can and will take care of you if you get in our way..." he paused. "Find another bounty, this place is crawling with them. But the Lawson's are not for sale."

[Dove Goldman]

"Which is why we already bought them!" Dove spat in quick response, sadly a nice punch to the stomach winded him far greater than he had expected. He hunched over, trying to catch his breath.

"One more word and it will, I promise, be your last. You heard him. The Lawson's...our bounty." A curse escaped him and drew attention to the scene for the asian eased up slightly on the blaster pushing hard into his side. He laughed lightly and patted him on the shoulder like an old friend coughing. When a few onlookers walked away he went back to that hard exterior from a second before.

"We've been here longer, we've got more means, we have been scoping them for ages. Like hell you'd know what you are doing with them. We aren't backing down from something we've personally taken amongst ourselves to find. How'd you find them? Luck?"

[Raife Christianson]

Raife reached over, taking the boy's jaw in a stone grip. He jerked his head around to look him in the eyes.

"You address me," he purred. The girl struggled underneath him and with one swift motion, Raife shoved her face against the hard exterior of the building. He looked back at the boy. "Bounty hunters don't know the meaning of loyalty or devotion. I'll pay you ten times the bounty to get out of here. You get what you want, and we get what we want," he said, his hand moving down to help disguise the blaster shoved into the boy's side. People were beginning to wonder what was going on and were staring more than Raife was particularly comfortable with.

[Dove Goldman]

"No deal." He responded in sheer anger. When he watched the man push Hitomi like that something inside of him snapped and he wwas no longer in the mood to stay under the radar. He elbowed the asian man in the jaw and grabbed his arm and quickly turned the tables. He pushed his right arm and elbow against the back of his neck and quickly the asian's chest was against the wall where Dove was prior. He looked over at the tall man who had a hold of Hitomi.

"Are we going to have to cause an even bigger scene? Or are we going to let the lady go?" He moved his coat back showing the exterior showing he had multiple gun harnesses on and his free left hand held Lok's and pointed the gun at the man. "I had no need to get rid of you, but you've given me one too many reasons by touching her. Let her go, or you will have a hole in your side bigger than a goddamn crater. Take your pick...friend." He looked at him with deep dark eyes, seriousness on his face, his jaw clenched, his stance big and bulked up. He was on the defensive and he was not at all flinching.

[Raife Christianson]

Raife immediately responded with his own weapon, except he only had a long serrated knife on his own person. The small woman was spun with one flick of his wrist and her back was pressed against his chest, her hands secured in one hand the long knife pressing into the soft flesh of her neck. He smiled at the young man. He clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth as if scolding a child who had put his hand in the cookie jar before dinner.

"Are we going to cause a bigger scene, boy?" he asked. "Or would you like me to slit her throat? She'd look pretty bleeding to death, wouldn't she?" he asked, chuckling. "I can assure you that the moment you hurt him is the moment I hurt her. And then where would be?"

Raife was good at hiding fear and worry. He imagined it came from years of being able to turn those emotions off totally. He leaned languidly into the woman, pressing the knife into her throat a little harder, hearing the satisfying suck of her breath as he broked skin, just a tiny bit at the tip of the knife.

"So. If we haven't a deal, then here is another offer for you, my dear," he purred. "You give me back what is mine--" he nodded to Lok, "--I give you back what is yours--" he dug the knife harder into the woman to make her clench her teeth, "--we call it even, and let the best man win the Lawsons."

[Dove Goldman]

Dove looked at Hitomi, although fear was something he was able to hide at that moment he ws sure the guard went down and his eyes flashed full of fear. He looked over at Raife and that anger boiled back inside. So the two had more in common than he had ever intended. Both were there for the Lawson's and both were thre with the only person who probably gave a damn about their poor souls.

"You got it....Precious!" He shoved Lok with all his might at the tall man and quickly grabbed Hitomi's arm in a swift jerk. He felt it pop, but he was sure it wasn't anything she couldn't handle. The second he felt her against his side he automatically felt better. "This is not over!" He said in a threatening tone. "If you and me cross each other again...mark my words only one will be walking away and I don't foreshadow it being me." He looked at the hospital and nodded.

"My dealings is with the woman," Dove figured nowwould be a better time than any to go ahead and at least let the man know what they were exactly after, he didn't need more strife and rifts in the plan than there already had been. A deal had to be made sooner or later. "You want the husband? The mother? The brothers? Fine! Have at it!"

[Raife Christianson]

Raife's arm went around Lok's middle with a posessive snarl as the smaller man was pushed into him and Raife secured him at his side. Lok could take care of himself, Raife knew that, but he felt so much better when he had Lok back next to him.

He eyed the man for a long moment. He was after Jesimae. Huh. Interesting. Raife would tell the boy what he wanted to hear, but it didn't mean he would stick to it.

"Have her. She's nothing to me," he said. "But I'm warning you, you're foreshadowing might wind up being quite wrong if you don't watch your back and that little girl of yours," he said, sheathing the knife under his jacket again. He knocked a stray peice of hair out of his eyes, his body automatically wanting to hide Lok from view. He pointed at the boy.

"You stop at Jesimae, love," he said. "Taro and his entourage belong to us."

[Dove Goldman]

Dove was so tempted to lunge at the man and kick him as hard as he could, but somehow managed to refrain from that.

"Take your own advice." Dove stated as he gripped Hitomi like the jaws of life, protecting her against anything that could harm her, which seemed unlikely right then for he could tell none of them felt like getting hauled of to a holding cell to be interrogated on the activities that they had just been through. He glanced around at a few people making their way away from the scene of high tension and possessive men. He glanced back at the man and nodded.

"We'll see. If opportunity knocks...don't think I won't answer that door." He scowled slightly and took his leave, not once looking away from the love birds clutched together just as he and Hitomi were. At least he knew the man was just as protective as he was when certain goods were stolen and threatened and, although he didn't want to, it caused for a moment of admiration. Apparently they both knew when to stop. Sorta.

[Raife Christianson]

Raife watched the boy back away, the small girl held as close to him as Raife was holding Lok. It was a long tense five minutes as he backed away, never looking away from them, until, finally, they disappeared and were gone.

Raife watched the spot where they disappeared for a long time as if he didn't really believe they were gone, and his grip on Lok did not loosen until he was absolutely sure that the two young bounty hunters were not going to come back.

Raife let out a breath as his slightly arched back straightened, his hackles slowly lowering as time proved that his only important posession was no longer in danger of being stolen from him. He was still eyeing the corner behind which the two had disappeared, and his arm was still around Lok as if to signify to any other contenders he would go to any measure to protect the smaller man.

How animalistic they became when protecting their mates.

"Are you alright?" he asked gruffly, his eyes finally turning down to Lok, automatically surveying his body for any injury that would need looking after.

[Lok Yeh]

"How diplomatic." Lok stated with annoyance. "Boys with their toys and their need to be heroes." He lightly figited with his coat and shirt, fixing what had been roughed up by the two foreigners who were quick to make their acquaintance.

"I'm fine." He said after a moment after searching the entire area with his eyes making sure no more surprises were to come this evening. "You?" He questioned after a brief moment.

"Man took you on a run for your money, that was for certain." Lok glanced around and then turned back to the hospital to see that everyone was still in their state of deep slumber. "No way in hell can we take on everyone in that room!" Lok, being the opportunist pointed at the ward. "I don't care how talented you and I both are with weapons and plotting multiple killings and ambushes..whatever the hell you want to call this task!" He could feel his blood pressure rise with every passing moment the more he thought of what had just occured and what was going to occur.

"We could have split everything in the middle. They take half, we take half. We all are good and jolly in the end, as well as the authorities having one hell of a time tracking the people responsible for their deaths down." He didn't know if he was just talking to himself, but it sounded like a good plan to him at the time however he wasn't sure if Raife would be so receptive.

[Raife Christianson]

Raife flung a hand, he wasn't in the mood for this right then. He looked back at the hospital.

"And had him force feed you three blaster shots? No thanks," he snorted. He shook his head. "And don't be stupid. I'm not going in there after all the Lawson boys. I want Taro specifically and if I happen to shoot two or three others, so be it," he said, brushing off the front of his clothing, running a hand through his hair to push back the stray strands that had fallen in the way. "If I hadn't secured a territory--like he offered to--I wouldn't have you standing here anymore, and then where would I be?"

He paused, crossing his arms and staring hard at the hospital, his jaw clenching and unclenching as he thought. If he could just lure two or three of them out, or catch them alone--as long as Taro was in the group--they'd easily be able to kill them, no trouble. Three pops and it would be over.

[Lok Yeh]

Lok snorted in slight defeat, Raife never being the one for compromise when in a bad mood, although it was more anger than anything. Which he understood, but Lok still saw opportunity at that little....meeting, if one would so call it that.

"Fine." He said as he followed his lustful gaze to the ward, his thoughts being expressed on his face. Lok knew that he was trying to figure out a way to get to Taro, but Lok figured it was going to have to happen some other way because it seemed that man was not going to be leaving that woman's side anytime soon. So that left him to question the plans of the bounty hunters. How were they going to go about killing the Missus?

How he wanted to catch up and see if they had a game plan for he and Raife were fresh out at the moment. He bit his lower lip and looked around lazily, wondering if they were going to stand there and gawk all day long and gather more attention than they already had.

"I think you should figure out how you are going to do this. Before those two would be most appreciated." Lok sighed out and brushed against Raife and walked in the opposite direction of the hospital. "Come on. Lets go back to your ship. Unwind a little."

[Evan Christianson]

__________

Evan found out after he had gotten to his ship that his repairs would be finished the next morning around nine o'clock. He had been given the option of letting the mechanics stick around and finish that evening, but he decided agaisnt it. He didn't want them banging and scratching around when Mei-li got to the ship.

They had left an hour earlier, giving Evan plenty of time to shower, change, clean up and cook a big meal. He listened to music while he cooked, drinking wine, and watching the clock to make sure he wasn't going to be late going and getting Mei-li.

He packed food aside enough for an army of people--it wasn't quite that much, but it would certainly feed her family--and he figured he would go on and take it up there when he went to meet Mei-li.

Evan was a little nervous. He hadn't really been on a date since his wife died, and he was a tiny bit out of practice. He was glad he cooked on a regualr basis and he wasn't rusty on that. He hoped she liked what he made, he tried to cook according to the impressions he got of people, so he had made a lot of light foods. He couldn't imagine her being the type to eat heavy, one-bite-and-you're-full foods.

At six forty-seven, he gathered up the food he had set aside, put the rest in the warmer to keep it warm, and headed out towards the hospital. He would still need to heat one more thing when they got back, but it wouldn't take long.

He was glad the docking bay wasn't too far away from the hospital wing of the colony, it only took him ten or fifteen minutes to get there. He was slightly overdue--it was seven o'five when he got to the hospital.

He went inside, glancing around to see if he saw Mei-li anywhere. He certainly saw plenty of other people. An Asian boy sat in the waiting room playing solitaire, and several women sat in the corner, two chatting quietly to eachother. Another Asian boy sat near to the women, holding hands with a curly haired man who was just kissing his head when Evan came in.

Even though Evan didn't know who they were, the way they regarded eachother told him they all knew eachother. Perhaps this was the extended family Mei-li had been talking about? There were certainly enough Asians to go around.

[Jesimae Lawson]

Jesimae stood after the shower looking at the large circular bruises that had turned so purple it was almost black. What typically would have been thin fit stomach was swollen, colors she had never seen present on her body. She had bawled in the shower, her hard exterior not really something she could keep up anymore. Luckily nobody would see her break down and cry, not even Taro had seen her cry yet and he was the main reason she wanted to stay strong.

She sighed out and let her hands fall from her stomach and pull on her lilac colored tank top followed by hospital provided pants which were thin and nearly see through. She could even see her black polka dotted underwear, but she didn't think anyone in that room would care. She sighed out and tossed her matching bra in a small bag of clothes Taro had brought for her, no bra was necessary either. She bit her lower lip and unlocked the bathroom door, a shiver going up and down her spine as the warm moist air escaped in a cloud into the cold room.

She stepped out towards her bathroom but was quickly caught off gaurd by someone in the corner of her eye. A tall, muscular, tan, rough, good looking man staring at the scene in the room. He didn't look like a doctor who had helped her before, nor nurse, nor any staff member and he was definitely not dressed like somsone who worked in that environment. A signal went off in her mind. This man was a stranger in her room. ATTACK!

Jesimae, despite the pain, walked up behind him and jumped on his back, her left arm wrapped around his neck, her right over his head and pushing hard to the right, a sleeper hold on him and a good way to break a neck.

"Who are you!?" She screamed. Apparently everyone else in that room couldn't see he was not a friendly person! She didn't know him! She had instructed everyone that strangers were not permitted to visit without good reason! She watched everyone jump up and rush over to her, more to the aid of the man than Jesimae, calling out at her.

"Jes! Let him go! Orange had stated sternly. Akasha simply stood back not in the right place to be demanding orders. Asher, too, stood by.

"NO!" Jesimae screamed loudly, looking at the sea of people reach her. "I don't know him! He is suspect!"

"Jesus, Jesimae! You are gonna break his neck!" Orange stated as the new visitor grimmaced slightly with discomfort of the situation and placement his head was probably in.

"Oh well!" Jesimae spat back. "Who are you, damn it?" Jesimae jerked his head again.

"For Chrissakes!" Orange said pointing at him. "He can't respond your damn arm isn't allowing much room for speech! Or air!" Orange grabbed her arm and had a moment of struggle.

All of her strength was put into holding the man as tightly as possible, but Ren had more energy than her and was easy to just grab her by the waist and pull her off of him like a piece of lint on a sweater. He sighed out as he carried her a little bit away from the man and set her feet on the ground, while the others pulled the man aside and gave him twenty-questions in a more diplomatic way.

"Ask him who he is! What he wants!" Jesimae was winded, the pain too great to keep up that tough-girl act. Orange and Ren both shushed her as they tried to give the man a moment to explain and if his answers weren't good enough, they'd all let Jesimae lose on him.

Orange glanced down at contents unknown to her in a food container and saw that it looked like really good food. She frowned and looked up at the man and shrugged. "Well? Might who you be?"

[Evan Christianson]

Evan choked hard after the psychotic woman was plucked off of him. He backed away from the crowd of people slightly with his hands up placatingly. He had just been attacked in a public area and by someone he didn't even know. He looked at the little orange haired girl and swallowed, straightening his green sweaters.

"My name's Evan, I'm here to pick Mei-li up..." he said gruffly as he looked around at everyone. They looked suspicious. "We're eating dinner together. This--" he motioned to the food he had brought, "--is for...her family and the injured sister-in-law..." he said, his brow knitting defensively. He held up his hands.

"Do I have the wrong family?"

[Jesimae Lawson]

"What?" Jesimae spat out befoer anything else could be said. Was he serious? Mei-li and...well...Mei-li wasn't the girl who had dates. She was prim, proper, she and Jiro had slightly broke up in a hush-hush sorta way and she didn't think that Mei-li would be so quick to jump back on that dating wagon.

"What?" She said again out of confusion. "I think he's lying!" She pointed at the man as Ren blocked her, like she was going to kill the man or something! Everyone in that room knew she wouldn't be able to hurt anyone, just blow on her and she'd fall over!

[Mei-Li Yeh]

Mei-li saw that she was running late and in order to make it up, she herself ran to catch up with the time. She sighed out when she saw the hospital ward a few feet ahead. She had felt dirty and wanted to go and clean up before she and Evan went to eat, feeling a bit better now she was wearing the nicest thing she had brought, a black skirt and red sweater top. She was starving, yet she was afraid to eat because her stomach was turning with nervousness. She hadn't had a date in so many years. Not even she and Jiro went out on a date. Well, except when they bumped into one another on Naboo.

Mei-li looked around and didn't see him anywhere and she figured he, too, would be running late. To kill time she figured she could go check on everything in the hospital. She had walked in and suddenly the sickness in her stomach got worse. It appeared Evan was there being introduced to the family, but by the way everyone crowded around him-

"Oh no!" She said to herself, whining that this day was already off to a bad start by her flying out of chairs and burning herself. Now this. She jogged into the hospital ward to hear Jesimae screaming that someone was a liar, pointing the finger at Evan.

"What is going on?" She said with a heavy frown. "What did they do to you?"

[Evan Christianson]

Evan scowled at the woman who was screaming at him and then looked over. How relieved he was to see Mei-li. He shook his head and smiled good naturedly. He waved his hand in the direction of the furious woman.

"She slide-tackled me, and I am being interrogated," he said. "Just par for the course."

[Mei-Li Yeh]

Mei-li, unaware of her actions, stepped next to Evan, as if she wer protecting him from the wild beast to the left of the room, and put a hand around his waist.

"Jesimae!" She said sourly, frowning at her and watching her eyes bounce between her and the man she stood beside. Her eyes grew wide and she pointed.

"Look! I am sorry, but I didn't know him! I....came out of the bathroom and he is there!" Mei-li sighed out, tension already building in the room. She waved a hand at Jesimae.

"Don't apologize to me! And wait...you slide-tackled him?" Jesimae let out a sigh of releif that he wasn't going to kill her, but she still wasn't happy without a warning or something. "Nevermind! Look, um..." She looked up at Evan and she felt her face grow warm. She moved away from him when she realized that he probably didn't want her to touch him like that. Plus she didn't think it was very safe for her to touch him like that.

"Everyone, this is Evan, Evan...this is the Lawson family." In unison almost they all just muttered 'hi' and gave little waves. Mei-li was ready to die.

[Evan Christianson]

Evan smiled at all of the people in the room. He put his hands in his pockets and flexed his neck a little--it would be sore later.

"Hi," he answered. He glanced at Mei-li. "Sorry, I didn't know heading in here would be a terrorist move."

[Mei-Li Yeh]

Mei-li sighed out and felt utterly embarassed. Nothing normal ever happened with this family! Nothing! Ever! It had just been thrown full force in Evan's face and it was something she wished she had warned him of, more extinsively, ahead of time.

Jesimae was soon feeling bad and apologized for the tackle and the choke hold and the finger pointing, sincerity written on her face. Mei-li was ready to die, especially when she looked over at Jiro, that little tug hitting her hard in the stomach when she looked at he and Ren. To make herself feel better she looked at Evan and smiled.

"The one who tackled you, that's my sister-in-law Jesimae." She looked at the food and took the container and handed it to her. "He made this for you all." Jesimae took it and sighed out. She smiled at Evan and opened her arms as a peace offering hug. She muttered a shy 'thanks' and looked inside the container. The smell effecting Mei-li. She looked at Evan and smiled, not wanting to tell him to hurry and get out of there although she wanted to, she shrugged.

"You ready?"

[Evan Christianson]

Evan smiled and looked down at her. He nodded emphatically, pressing the palm of his hand into the small of her back. He smiled around at the people he had just..."met". He looked back down at Mei-li.

"Nice to meet you all..." he smiled and lead Mei-li across the room and out of the hospital before he let out a long sigh. "Sorry about that. I didn't know everyone was so uptight. I would have just waited outside and let you take that in. I didn't mean to cause a problem."

[Mei-Li Yeh]

Mei-li felt like she could breathe once she walked out of that wretched hot room where all eyes were on them. She smiled and shook her head as they walked together after making it out of the hospital ward, Mei-li looking around every so often.

"It's okay." She said looking up at him. "They are just uppity, good reason to be, there is a killer out here trying to kill Jesimae, her husband, too. Heck I wouldn't be surprised if they are after the entire family!" She laughed lightly, but she realized that Raife and Lok were there to kill Taro, her sisters husband. The only family that woman had was in that room and if anyone was to get hurt...everyone would jump in to save each other. It'd be a massacre.

Mei-li saw what Raife did, as well as Jabari's counterparts, and it was horrible. They killed whoever got in their way and they had no conscience, so to him killing Jesimae, Jiro, Haru, her...it was all collateral damage to someone on a mission.

"Thank you for inviting me to eat with you." She changed her tone and blushed when she realized that this could be considered a date, but she wasn't sure if that was a safe thing to call this dinner invitation.

[Evan Christianson]

Evan smiled, but he was thinking about his cousin. He didn't know anything about what Raife had done when he worked with Jabari. Raife didn't like to talk about it with him. He would brush off any questions about it that Evan ever asked him. It bothered Evan because he never knew what exactly Raife had done with that man, never had known what had been done to him.

Evan knew that Raife could be a dangerous person. He'd been present on more than one occasion where his cousin had beaten people to within an inch of their lives just because they hit him the wrong way. And he frightened Evan sometimes. Evan didn't want his cousin to be a source of fear for anyone else.

After a long moment, he looked down at Mei-li and smiled.

"Well, no problem," he said, laughing a little. "I didn't want to leave you quite yet."

Okay, so he was flirting...but hopefully she wouldn't smack him and tell him he was being to forward. After all, how could she not be used to men flirting with her? She was so gorgeous, and so fun, and funny, and smart, and he liked being around her. She was probably used to it.

[Mei-Li Yeh]

Mei-li let out a lightly laugh and put a hand over her smile, shy at showing him how much she liked that he was paying attention to her. She looked up at him, facve hidden behind her mouth. He was so cute! What on earth was he doing inviting her to dinner? She never would have expected someone like that to have ever paid attention to her, it was unlike most things. However she was not at all complaining.

"Perhaps that makes two of us." She decided to let down her gaurd and enjoy the moment for what it was, which she hoped she wasn't misinterpreting as just a friendly thing.

[Evan Christianson]

Evan smiled and nodded. Good, she hadn't had a totaly cow. That could only mean good things were going to happen. Or at least, that she didn't mind a little flirting to and fro.

_______

By the time they got to his ship, Evan was hoping that his food had not gotten cold.

He slid his key card and typed in the code, his ship opening up. He proferred the ramp to Mei-li and followed her up, directing her to the kitchen. His ship wasn't huge, but it wasn't small either, it was just the right size for what he needed it to be. He motioned for Mei-li to sit down while he brought everything out.

"I'm sorry the place is kind of small..." he said apologetically. Then he glanced over his shoulder as he pulled a warm plate out of the heater. He smiled. "And you aren't allergic to anything are you?"

[Mei-Li Yeh]

Mei-li took a seat as he had suggested and she was in absolute awe of how nice his ship was. Much nicer, homier really than any other ship she had been in on in recent months, and that had been quite a few! More so than she had imagined.

"It's very nice." She said to him genuinely happy. "I like it. I could live here." She smiled and then felt her face grow red so she looked away as if she were looking around. She had just insinuated to the man she'd live with him merrily on his little abode and eat his food! She smiled out of ignorance and looked over at him.

"Hmm?" Had he said something to her? Suddenly she realized. "Oh! No. I eat lots of everything." She smiled and crossed her leg, staring at him get things together. She watched, particulalrly, the muscles in his arms flex and his back tense when he picked up certain objects. Everything about him was perfectly sculpted like a marble statue. It was just beauty all around.

"What are you planning on doing when you leave here?"

[Evan Christianson]

Evan glanced over his shoulder as he pulled out the last couple of things and set them out on the table. He looked at her and smiled, shrugging.

"Well, I'm gonna head back to Coruscant," he said, going to the cooler and proferring her wine, pouring them both a glass. He set them out and got utensils as he talked. "I'm trying to move my business to Coruscant," he said. "It was on Naboo, but, uh, a few years ago I started hating it there. So, I am in the process of moving everything to Coruscant. I think it'll be better for business, y'know?"

He waved his hand and grinned as he sat down, shaking his head. He motioned to the food.

"Help yourself, I don't know how much to give you, otherwise I would have served you," he said, winking good naturedly.

[Mei-Li Yeh]

Mei-li followed his every move, her eyes not once moving from his body and what he did. She liked what she saw and she wasn't about to stop looking, yet. Unless of course he pointed it out. She smiled and thanked him and quickly dug in, grabbing at least four large scoop fuls of salad and put it in a bowl, poured dressing over it, quickly grabbed some soup he had made and lots of bread. She quickly began to scarf it down, the last time she had a hot meal had been forever and a day ago! She hadn't had a hot meal since she had Hana, her meal always coming after the girl had finished. She smiled and looked up at Evan, suddenly she thought perhaps she had gotten too much. But she really didn't care.

"It's good!" She said after a moment, pigging it down quickly, simply because it was hot, it smelled good, looked good, tasted good....it made since considering a man with everything good had made it!

"I live on Naboo when I was married. It was very beautiful, but Hana loves Coruscant." She smiled after taking a gulp of wine that tasted very rich and very delicious. "I live on Coruscant, maybe we will bump into each other sometime." She smiled. That idea was probably the best thing she had heard in a while because she liked him a lot both in look and personality. Plus, he loved kids! That, right there, was what made her melt.

[Evan Christianson]

Evan grinned when she said she liked it, and he helped himself when she finished. He got soup, salad, and bread and began to eat. He was surprised to hear she lived on Coruscant. He somehow pictured her living somewhere more exotic. Then he smiled.

"Well, it looks like we were meant to meet. We both lived on Naboo, and now we live on Coruscant, we keep running into each other," he smiled and took a drink. He set his glass down and nodded. "So what do you? Do you work?"

[Mei-Li Yeh]

Mei-li smiled, her left cheek full of food. She nodded as she chewed and quickly swallowed.

"I teach chemistry." She felt self conscious for a moment, like her job wasn't really all that good. The man across from her was a business man and probably rich, she was barely getting by...sorta. That is if she didn't count the money she stole from her husband. That felt bad to think., a woman who ended up stealing income from her dead husband...oh well she figured she deserved that much.

[Evan Christianson]

Evan nodded. He had always thought about teaching when he had been younger, his love of children being something he had wanted to make a living in. But he knew he couldn't make a good living on it, so he had taken his second love--business--and run with it.

"A friend of mine teaches on Naboo. He loves it," he said, swallowing, and taking a drink. He furrowed his brow. "What age group do you teach?"

[Mei-Li Yeh]

Mei-li smiled at him as she drunk her wine, talkin like this was very refreshing! She hadn't had an adult conversation in forever it seemed. All she ended up talking about were science projects due, family meetings, homework...things that grown-ups particularly don't talk about. Yet here she was hundres of miles away from her child acting like an adult! Even drinking wine! Which, by the way, was fantastic.

"I teach 8 year olds up to 14 year olds..." She bit her lower lip and reached across to touch the tall bottle of wine. "Do you mind?" She wasn't sure if he responded with a nod or a head shake, whatever, she retracted her hand and grabbed her cup, but unfortunately her not being very graceful she knocked her for off her plate and it was sliding dangerously close to falling off the table. Reacting she grabbed it, but with that action was a very....drastic effect!

She watched her wine glass bobble and suddenly...it crashed on its side spilling out the contents what had remained. Although it hadn't even been half a glass, it was still enough mess, big mess that was, to go all over her wonderful host.

"Damn it!" She screamed in response, seeing his pretty sweater soak up the liquid like a sponge. "Oh, GOD! Evan!" She said loudly, standing up, only to knock over a few more things. She grabbed her paper towel and wiped up what remained on the table. "I'm so sorry!"

[Evan Christianson]

Evan stood up quickly as most of the wine missed his jeans but hit his sweater. He couldn't help but laugh about it. He grabbed a rag from behind him to helpd clean up the table, soaking a little bit off of him. He shook his head.

"Don't worry about it!" he laughed. They quickly cleaned off the table and he tossed the rag into the sink and the paper towels into the trash. He laughed, looking down at his stained shirt. He held up a hand grabbing the hem and pulling it off without thinking. He walked towards the door.

"Let me go change," he said, shaking his shirt a little. "Did it get you? The bathroom's down that way if you need it."

[Mei-Li Yeh]

Mei-li stood up, hunched slightly because of the table hitting her legs. She helped clean up the spill she had caused but was taken aback when she glanced up to see the damage only to find nothing but...skin...sexy tanned...toned...skin. She stood there staring at his chest as if it were some unknown marvel of the universe, wet napkin in one hand, the other on a glass...her mouth practically coming unhinged and drool spilling out like a fountain. Had he just taken his shirt off or was she just seeing things? Wonderful, wonderful things?

"Huh?" That was all she could muster as she stared. Could one tell that she hadn't touched a man physically or sexually in over 8 years? She cleaned her slobber and looked up at him and frowned. "Oh. No. I..." She looked up at him seeing him walk towards the door. "I guess I could go wash my hands.." and wipe off the drool! She watched him disappear, sadly, but she needed to breathe. She walked to teh bathroom he had directed her too and she closed the door and almost felt her knees buckle underneath her. The sex he radiated was dangerous and she had just been there to see it first hand.

She sighed out and walked over to the sink and looked at the cabinet. She didn't get soaked or anything, she had nothing to do. She figured now would be a view into a man's very private life. She felt a bit guilty, but she did it anyway. She bit her lower lip and opened the cabinet door just to see what kind of toiletries he used. As if that really mattered! She just always seemed to snoop.

She saw nothing of importance, shaving cream, cologne, toothpaste, comb, amonst other oddities, but the last item her eyes found.

"Oh..." She frowned and took a small square dark navy package. What was that? Ointment? Alcohol swab? She flipped it over and she gasped, dropping it into the toilet. She stomped her foot. "Damn!" She said seeing the nice face of a highly reguarded, and highly used, condom brand. Apparently this mans sex life was not on hiatus as hers.

She looked at the door and sighed out. She had to get it! She couldn't just...leave it floating in the toilet! It would be a dead giveaway that she'd been snooping. So, biting the bullet she bent down and picked it up. She tossed it in the sink with a litle squeal and turned the water on hot. She washed it off and dired it on a piece of toilet paper and put it where she found it, then she gave her hands a good scrubbing. Hopefully he took a while to put on shirts.

[Evan Christianson]

Evan tossed his shirt in the hamper and grabbed out a blue t-shirt with the faded number seventy-two on it. He rifled around on his desk, before going back out into the hallway and glancing up and down. He didn't see Mei-li in the kitchen, so he assumed she went to the bathroom.

He made his way back to the kitchen, beginning to clean up their empty plates and putting them in the sink. He ran the water over them and rinsed out the wine soaked rag, watching the purple liquid rinse down the drain.

He couldn't help but smile to himself. He had never met anyone with such bad luck as Mei-li had. She had gotten into everything since he had met her. She was adorable, he couldn't help but think so.

After a few moments, he glanced over his shoulder, wondering what was taking her so long in the bathroom.

[Mei-Li Yeh]

Mei-li looked at herself in the mirror and tried to gather her composure. She turned the light off and quickly walked out seeing he had already begun to clean up the dinner plates and the general area of where the mess had happened. She smiled, looking at the sink, putting her hands behind her back in a shy action. She felt so bad! If she were to stay around him any longer she was going to ruin something very important to him.

"Sorry about the shirt." She said taking action by grabbing an empty plate and putting it into the sink. "I am a walking piece of destruction, yeah?"

[Evan Christianson]

Evan grinned, watching as she put a plate in the sink and he took it, beginning to wash it. He shrugged.

"It's no problem. That thing was old anyway," he said, turning to get the wine glasses and put them in the sink. He gave her a sidelong look. He couldn't help but think that she was the cutest piece of walking destruction he had ever seen.

[Mei-Li Yeh]

She felt him look at her and she blushed, God how the temperature went up whenever he looked at her like that, and he had done it even if unwillingly! She bit her lower lip and looked over at the sink watching him wash the dishes.

"Want some help? I mean...I think I owe you that much!" She was half tempted to push him out of the waysince it'd give her an excuse to touch him, but she refrained and went the route that played it safe. Like always.

"I want to help you in any way."

[Evan Christianson]

Evan smiled and moved a little to give her room.

"Alright, how about you rinse?" he asked, sliding a clean dish into her side of the sink. Evan couldn't help but think about how this was an activity married couples participated in, not people who had just met each other. But he still felt quite comfortable standing next to her--their shoulders pressed together a little bit.

"Thanks."

[Mei-Li Yeh]

Mei-li smiled at his openess for allowing her to help him out, and she was to be rinsing! Her favorite!

"Hana likes to wash dishes." She stated mindlessly as she took a suds up plate and put it underneath the water. "She likes to get dirty, I on the other hand...like to wash the dirty stuff away." She looked up at him and smiled, perhaps like a woman who loved being a mother too much and enjoyed doing things that reminded her of Hana. She looked away for a moment and put the dish on the strainer and brushed shoulders with him as she took her spot back.

"See...beautifully clean!" She laughed lightly and looked up at him.

[Evan Christianson]

Evan watched her as she did such a simple thing as rinsing a plate off. She was so beautiful. Even in doing such a monotonous thing. No matter what she did, she seemed to get more beautiful to Evan. Even when she was messing up--choking on cigarette smoke, burning herself on the cherry of a cigarette, falling out of a chair, spilling wine on him. Her smile, her shyness, her everything was more than perfect to Evan.

He wet his lips and smiled a little, looking away for a moment before looking back at her and nodding.

"Beautiful."

[Mei-Li Yeh]

She smiled. She didn't know why but her face grew red, as it always did. Was he talking about the dish? Or something else? Her? She looked down at the water and smiled to herself. Why had this been so easy for her? Its like he fell out of the sky somewhere and everything abut him pointed to all things perfect. Perfect for her at least.

"How long have you been a widower?" She figured it wasn't too pushy or personal. "Have you...dated anyone recently?" She didn't know why but in the back of her mind she was thinking about that condom and the last time he had...play time.

[Evan Christianson]

Evan glanced over at her and smiled. He hadn't been on a date in a long time. In fact, he never even met any women that he found remotely attractive. And the ones he did like were already attached or weren't interested in a man his age. He smiled.

"My wife died seven years ago," he said, glancing over at her, sliding another plate into her sink. "I haven't been on too many dates. I've been so busy I haven't really had time to take a breath and look around for anyone."

[Mei-Li Yeh]

Mei-li nodded. So she figured those condoms were just there for either emergencies, or were someone elses, or were....from seven years ago. She bit her lower lip, her eyes intensley focused on the water pouring out from the faucet. She wasn't sure if she should press on that subject anymore, but he had been slightly vauge on the details of his wife's demise, unlike her however.

She looked up at him and smiled when they made eye contact. Sheepishly she looked away to the plate he handed her. She lifted her sudsy hand to grab the corner, it slipped slightly due to the wetness and she felt their hands brush against one another. She laughed lightly and took the plate and washed it clean. She liked Evan. He was very nice, fun to be around, really cute to boot. A business man as well. Those qualities, although highly reguarded, were slightly rare these days. Especially in Coruscant.

"Do you think you'll ever...get married?" Okay so she couldn't help it! She had to push the matter a bit further. This was an insightful conversation, but she felt she was overstepping her means. "Sorry. I don't need to bother you and your dating life." She glanced up at him and smiled. She wanted to then question if this was, in fact, a date.

[Evan Christianson]

Evan smiled a little bit, a crease forming on his brow. Would he ever remarry? It was a question he had been asking since he had finally been able to move on with his life after his wife died. It was a question he couldn't answer really. He didn't actually know. He laughed a little.

"Well," he said, not offended at all by Mei-li asking him questions like that. He would have been bothered had it been anyone else. "I suppose if I find someone I want to get married to, then I will get married..." he said, looking over at her and sliding one of the wine glasses into her sink. Then he smiled.

"And don't worry, I have to have a dating life for you to bother it."

[Mei-Li Yeh]

Mei-li laughed at him and nodded.

"Understandable." She giggled and turned to see a few dishes on the table she bent over andn grabbed a few and held them out for him to take. For some reason this was something she could find herself doing almost every night. She liked standing next to him, doing dishes, talking, laughing, enjoying each others company. It was something she had never done before, never in her life! The only other person was with her daughter and it was a long and tiring task, but this....this was so relaxing and so much more fun.

Mei-li's mind slightly travelled to the land of 'What-ifs'. What if this were a routine she and Evan did? What if this was a normal night after a family dinner? What would he do after washing dishes? Would he go read Hana a bedtime story? Would he be a sucker for her big doeful eyes? Would he tell her to brush her teeth? Would he be what Mei-li and Hana needed? She sighed out and shook her head. Why did she torture herself so much? This was just a dinner! Nothing else!

So why did she keep praying it was!?

[Evan Christianson]

Evan took the plate she offered and laid it in the sink, washing it methodically and handing it to her. He didn't have too many more dishes to do, so he slowed a little. For some strange reason, he didn't want this little moment to end. He wished that they could just...stand here forever.


It was a stupid want he knew, but it didn't mean he couldn't wish that they were...

"Almost finished," he said, smiling, sliding her the last glass. "Let me get a towel and I'll dry the last couple of things."

He wiped his hands on a paper towel and slid in behind Mei-li. He squeezed between her and the island, standing on his tip toes to grab a towel hanging on the cabinet. He absentmindedly put a hand on her wasit to steady himself as he grabbed it.

[Mei-Li Yeh]

Mei-li didn't want to be finished! She was quickly thinking if she needed to go puke it all up and go back and eat more just so they'd have dirty dishes to keep doing this. She grinned and looked at him wipe his hands, but then she wasn't prepared for what he did.

Sliding behind her like that...she could, for a moment, feel his heart beat against her back and she smelled his manly scent, whatever it was she closed her eyes for a moment and smelled. But her eyes flew open when a hand went on her hip. She frowned and looked down at where it was. Normally she would turn around and sock the guy one in the jaw, but not right then. It felt...right. Out of some deep inner longing or something she couldn't control, automatically at sensing his hand, Mei-li put her own on top of his as if to help continue to allow him to be stable.

[Evan Christianson]

Evan grabbed the towel, but he stopped moving when he felt a small, warm hand over his own. He realized where his hand had rested--quite on its own in his defense--and he felt like dying.

He didn't move, just stood behind her for a long time, wondering if he should move, apoligize, or...what? He didn't feel uncomfortable here, in fact he hadn't felt so comfortable this close to a woman in a long time. He felt his heart speed a little out of natural reaction.

Slowly, he lowered himself back to standing, his other hand dropping to his side. He wanted to put it on her other hip, wrap his arms around her waist, kiss her...but he refrained. He would definately get smacked if he did that.

He wanted to apologize to her, but he couldn't seem to make the words. They got to his throat and stopped, his tongue and mouth not wanting to form them.

[Mei-Li Yeh]

Mei-li cleared her throat when he moved back to the spot next to her, his hand dropping slowly. She felt a bit of tension, her mouth went dry, and her mind went blank. So, that was as far as that was going to go apparently. Although she was grateful he didn't try to do anything, in a way she was slightly disappointed. She looked at him and smiled, pointing at a plate they both had overlooked.

"Looks like we got lucky. Forgot one." She smiled at him. How bad she wanted to experience that sudden rush of emotions again! If there was an addiction she wanted...that was it!

[Evan Christianson]

Evan smiled, but he was still trying to calm his heart and mind down. He reached down and washed it quickly, sliding it to her and then grabbing the last couple things that wouldn't fit in the drainer. He wiped them dry and then put them in their places.

When Mei-li finished the last plate, he smiled and took it, drying it and putting it with the others. Evan hung the towel over the sink as the water was turned off and he offered Mei-li paper towels to dry her hands.

"Thanks for the help," he said with a grin. "I appreciate it."

[Mei-Li Yeh]

Mei-li breathed in deeply, unsure where to go from there. Was she to go home? Was she to give him a hug? What? She looked at him and smiled as she dried her hands with the paper towel.

"Oh, don't thank me!" She said in a modest tone. "I enjoyed it." She nodded at him and looked around trying to find where the trash bin was, luckily he took it and tossed it away for her.

"I really enjoyed dinner, Evan. If you want...I can return the favor when you come to Coruscant." She was trying to think of a way to see him again already, she didn't even know when he was planning to leave. As far as she knew his ship might be ready to go tomorrow! Then what? She'd have nothing left but a good memory with him and she didn't want that.

"I like you..." She bit her lip and let out a laugh. "I mean I would like for you to."

[Evan Christianson]

Evan smiled. He couldn't help it. He nodded at her as the moved around the island. God, how he wished he didn't have to leave tomorrow. He would do anything not to have to leave. He might just make up an excuse and stay anyway.

When they reached the door of his kitchen he looked down at her and smiled. He smiled a little wider and reached up, wiping a drop of water off her face that had splashed up onto her.

"I'd love that, Mei-li," he said, pausing as he dropped his hand and chuckled. "I really enjoyed having you over here. I'm sorry it was so crowded in here."

[Mei-Li Yeh]

Mei-li stood there ready to leave, although she felt like she had just arrived a few minutes ago! She laughed when he wiped something off of her face and she couldn't helo but get this warm and fuzzy feeling inside of her.

"Good. I guess I will go on home. I should see you tomorrow sometime, somewhere. Just look for the girl causing havoc." She smiled at him and looked down at the ground. "Thank you so much, Evan." She nodded at him.

"You are good company. I want to do this again with you. That okay?" She felt silly for asking, but she knew that if she didn't persue him she'd feel like she'd lost something.

[Evan Christianson]

Evan grinned. He couldn't help it.

"You too. We'll see each other on Coruscant," he said, smiling. Leaning down, he gave her a kiss on the cheek and hugged her tightly. "Thanks for spending the evening with me. Take care, okay?"

[Mei-Li Yeh]

"Okay." Mei-li smiled and turned out of his ship, it was much easier finding her way around than when Ren had docked. The complete mass hysteria everyone had been in didn't allow her enough time to really notice where she was at or where she was going. But now..it was like she had made a map of the way to his ship and she didn't want to leave him just yet so she made sure to relish in the night that had just ended, quicker than she had wanted, but it was because of the company. He was the best date she had ever had, not meaning to disrespect Jiro, but he hadn't actually been so...husband-like?

Mei-li's face burned due to rethinking of that little peck she had received before leaving. She also felt her body catch on fire due to the touching, the accidents, what she found in his cabinet. Everything wonderful about that man was almost too good to be true, but she knew it was. That man was everything she had ever wanted and it slightly made her feel a bit like a stalker for thinking that. She looked over her shoulder with a grin as she wandered out of the dock yard into the community again, wanting to just go back and glue herself to him.

"So cute." She said to herself as she shook her head and wandered towards her dorm apartment. She figured she should stop by and see Jesimae for a moment and express her newfound excitement and crush she had on Evan Chritianson.

[Raife Christianson]

Raife was hanging around in the shadows outside the docking bay. He'd been smoking like a chimney since their encounter with the two bounty hunters earlier, and he wasn't in the mood to hang around in his ship--he was getting claustrophobic in there.

He glanced around as he tossed the still hot butt of his cigarette. As his eyes scanned over the few people that were still out, he spotted one he knew quite well, and one that still struck an annoyance in him.

Leaning off the wall, he smiled as she approached. She was lost in her own world and didn't even see him come up behind her as she walked, sauntering next to her as she walked, as if they were walking jovially together.


"Good to see you again, Miss Yeh," he muttered to her. "How are you this evening?"

[Mei-Li Yeh]

Mei-li gasped at the voice that was all too familiar, the feeling of fear, all too familiar, everything about that man and this kind of meeting all too familiar and it was something she had thought had gone away as easily as the death of her husband. She stopped and turned to face the man head-on, trying to act like she wasn't scared as she truly was. She looked around and swallowed the lump of fear in her throat and then found his shady eyes. The only thing she hated about these stupid colonies was they tried to make it as real as possible by dimming the lights and allowing the shops around to glow.

"I am doing quite well. Might I ask what you are doing loitering around here at night and sneaking up on people?" She should have known he would be doing something sneaky. After all, why else would Jabari have hired him?

[Raife Christianson]

Raife smiled, putting a hand on his hip and knocking hair out of his face. He could see Lok in that defiant face of hers. Maybe it was why he could hit her face and wipe it off.

"Last time I checked, this was a free colony. Don't ask, don't tell, eh?" he chuckled. He licked his lips, wetting them as he glanced around at the shops and places, lit up in the now dark "streets". After a moment, he looked back down at Mei-li. "How about this, Miss Yeh. You do something for me, and I forget that I was going to kill you?"

[Mei-Li Yeh]

Mei-li's jaw slightly dropped and her heart skipped a beat.

"Bribes, Mister Christianson? My Husband would be very displeased!" She clenched her jaw and looked around. Nobody was nearby and had they been nobody would help her at all. Not now. Not at this time. Dangers lurked and this man was practically the worst of them all.

"I don't make deals with liars, cheaters, and even more so, murderers!" She turned to walk away from him before things got worse. She did not want to be there with him at this late an hour. Not when she was so far from safety. Damn her for not asking Evan to take her home!

[Raife Christianson]

Raife grabbed her arm and jerked her around to face him--she was light--his face never changing from the light amused smile. She could scream if she wanted. The only thing living here were murderers, liars, cheaters, everything she had just named.

"Obviously, Miss Yeh, you didn't know your husband very well..." he purred to her, his hand like a vice around her upper arm. "Now. I don't think Lok would be very happy with me if I slit your throat. But if I slit your throat and throw you off of this hunk of trash, he'll never know. And, you know what they say. What he doesn't know won't hurt him." He paused to look her up and down. She was dressed rather nicely to be just out on a stroll through a dumpy colony.

"On a date, Miss Yeh?"

[Mei-Li Yeh]

Mei-li grunted and let out a very odd noise, a noise she hadn't made since she got beaten up by her husband. It was more of a slightly cry of pain that she had hoped to never make again. She looked up at him with wide eyes. Of course he had grabbed her right where Lok had grabbed her, the bruise deep in the muscle and hurting even worse when the large man in front of her grabbed her just as hard.

"Let...go!" She tried to jerk it out of his death grip, but he squeezed making his point well known and her attempts in vain. She clenched her jaw and stared as he spoke, the evil in his eyes practically glowing the darkness. She was half expecting to see red eyes and horns, but evne though his eyes were dark it was just as threatening.

"I might not have known him, but I could have cared less. I married him out of convinience and out of being bullied!" She tried to jerk and look around for help, but anyone nearby turned a blind eye to what was going on. People on those colonies had street smarts and they knew never to get involved with anyone after a certain hour.

"I am doing what I should have been doing while I was with Jabari! Being happy! Now you let me go you jerk!"

[Raife Christianson]

Raife only squeezed harder at her struggling. He had a mind to kill her then, but he thought better of it. He was putting together plans in his mind, but he didn't have anything down quite yet.

He couldn't help but laugh, long and deep and dark. He shook his head before jerking her close to his face and staring deep into her eyes.

"You'd better watch your back Miss Yeh, or you might have to be collateral..." he paused. "And tell any of your family about this little interlude, and you'll be holding your voice box in those pretty little hands of yours." He threw her down with all the force he could muster, watching her fall to the ground, then turned and strode back towards his ship.

[Mei-Li Yeh]

"You....bastard!" Mei-li yelled at him as she gathered her composure and watched his tall sexy back tense. "You try and hurt me!" Mei-li was on the verge of tears. "You cannot..touch me!" She screamed and turned on her heel much faster than she had intended. She wanted to get as far away from that man as possible because after that little outburst she wouldn't be surprised if he was rushing after her with a twelve inch knife.

[Raife Christianson]

Raife turned to look at her over his shoulder at the woman's retreating form. He clenched his jaw and let out a deep breath. He needed to get ahold of himself. He was going over the deep end pretty fast, and he knew he needed to reign himself in.

Raife made his way back to his ship, leaning against the outside of it and sliding down to sit on the metal walkway. He leaned his head against his ship and rubbed his face.

He shouldn't have ever come here and gotten himself caught up in his own revenge and anger.

[Mei-Li Yeh]

Mei-li ran for what felt like hours, but in reality it had been only minutes. She somehow managed to find her way back to the dock yards and she was very cautious about whether or not Raife was still around, Lord knew he was probably on the lookout for her to finish what he had intended to start.

God, what if he succeeded? Lok would never leave his lover their bond was probably more deep than what she had with him. Either way she couldn't help but feel her life was in grave danger. Being threatened to not tell her family was one thing she could respect, no need to go alarming them, but someone he hadn't known about or even mentioned...

"Evan!" She screamed with more vocalization than she had intended. She had nearly tripped on her shoe and went flying like a bug headed towards a windsheild. She caught herself with her hands as she hit the hull of the mans ship. She grunted and quickly made her way to the door she had exited from. She banged on it as loud as she could, looking around the entire time waiting for Raife to tell her to back away from the ship, holding a gun or some weapon that could kill her within seconds. And for him to be as experienced in murder as he was...seconds was too long.

"Evan." She said exasperated, hitting the door a little lighter, her strength leaving her now for a moment as she tried to catch her breath when she realized she might be alone for a moment.

[Evan Christianson]

Evan jumoed when he heard the banging on the door. What the hell? What whacko would be banging on his door at that time? He grabbed an undershirt to pull on over the grey exercise pants he had donned, and pulled the tight shirt on as he jogged towards the hatch.

Reaching it, he flipped up the control panel.

"Hang on a minute!" he yelled from inside, typing in the unlock code and listening as the airtight door hissed and opened. It rose slowly and he leaned on the door, peering out to see who was banging on his ship so damn hard.

When he saw Mei-li nearly suffocating and leaning on his ship, he was immediately alarmed. He jumped down out of his ship and grabbed her--gently but firmly--and pulled her up into the ship, closing the door behind her in case someone was out there that she was afraid of. He looked her up and down, she didn't look hurt.

"Mei-li!" he exclaimed. "What happened?!"

[Mei-Li Yeh]

Mei-li had never in her life felt more safe than at that particular time. She literally flew herself ontop of him and hugged him so tightly as she tried to not be so damn irrational, weak, and girly. But she had to at least allow one little moment of soul bearing when she figured she was in the safest place in that entire colony.

"Evan." She said lowly as she hugged him so tight that she felt her body just mold into his own as she literally held onto him with every single muscle. "Evan, thank you." She was so washed over with relief to be just so safe. It was unbelievable how attached she had grown to this man in over a day or so. It was even worse than she had thought before when noramlly shed gone to family first. Not strangers.

"Raife..." She moved away from him and felt a few tears of joy and relief fall down her face. She sighed out and ran a hand over her slightly sweaty face. "He...oh...I did something I shouldn't have." Suddenly the reality hit her as hard as a sledgehammer to the stomach.

"Evan, please! Don't tell Raife what I am going to tell you! Please!" She kept saying please and she put her hands on his face and with all seriousness bit back the tears. "He is going to kill me yet! He told me not to tell anyone, but I went from here...towards hospital! He...came out of nowhere! He wants to make a deal of some sort. He wants to kill me! Evan! He is going to kill me!"

[Evan Christianson]

Evan furrowed his brow as he stared at her. Raife?! His cousin?! Were they talking about the same person? And was she really asking him not to say something.

After a moment, he wrapped his arms around her shoulders and held her for a long moment, thinking to himself. After a moment or so, he leaned back and looked at her squarely, seriously.

"I won't tell him you told me. I'll tell him I saw it. But Mei-li, he can't be allowed to do this. If your brother can't stop him, then by God, I will," he said, clenching his jaw. His eyes softened and he reached up, brushing tears off her face with his thumb, then tucked some of her hair behind her ears. He nodded at her.

"Look, if it makes you feel safer, you can stay here on my ship, there's no way he gets in here. I need to go have a chit chat with him."

[Mei-Li Yeh]

"Now?" She asked with wide eyes. "You talk to him..now? I don't...Evan...he is more dangerous than you think!" She frowned and wondered maybe she shouldn't have really come to him to tell him, but who else could she tell without having severe problems occur?


"You could tell him and he could ... snap!" She was having trouble finding her words, especially under duress. She was trying to think and put words together but her first language was making things hard. "He will kill you, if you show any threat to him, Evan."

[Evan Christianson]

Evan shook his head as he slowly helped her to her feet and looked her over again.

"Raife won't hurt me," he said, his mind going through all the tortures he could put his cousin through. He sighed out through his nose, leading her back down the hall to the kitchen where he sat her down and turned around to the tea he had made after she had left and was fixing to drink when she came back.

He poured a mug and slid it across the table to her.

"He might think he can kill me with a flick of his wrist, but he isn't nearly as God-like as he makes himself out to be..." he paused to look at her. "Drink that. I'm gonna go throw on a jacket and shoes. Stay right here."

[Mei-Li Yeh]

Mei-li sat down, her heart was going so fast she thought it might implode deep within her. She drank what he gave her and she was so happy to have had it. Well, so far she had been experiencing the horrible things with him, utter embarassment and now he was being her savior. How like her to have the worst of the worst to happen when just trying to get to know someone and get close to them without any problems. Why did life suck? She sighed out and ran a hand over her forehead, trying to get rid of the negative thoughts. She should be lucky to have someone who actually cared enough to help her out, and as far as sleeping there tonight? Definitely.

She heard him shuffle in the other room and she wondered if she could just go back to her dorm and gather some clothes, but she actually didn't feel like walking all the way back there and to have to continuously look over her shoulder for Raife. Perhaps he wouldn't mind allowing her to have a shirt for the night?

"Evan?" She said looking up to where he had gone to. She was wanting to accept his offer, so badly! But she was afraid to, afraid that would be too damsel-in-distress like. She bit her lower lip and sighed out. "Be careful."

[Evan Christianson]

Evan looked up as he got to the hatch of his ship. He smiled warmly at her and nodded.

"Don't worry, I'll be back in no time, promise," he said, zipping up the greay hoodie, and opening the hatch. He peered out and then looked back at Mei-li. He nodded back to his room. "If you get cold, the heater in my room is working, and if you get tired, go ahead and sleep in there too. If you need a change of clothes, or a shower, or anything, its all in there. And help yourself to anything. I don't think I'll be too awful long, but just in case I decide to pull off his ear," he said, smiling and winking. "Be back."

And with that, he stepped outside and shut and locked the ship behind him. He knew where Raife had docked--halfway across the world from him, or so it seemed--but it would only take him a minute or two, jogging, to get there.

He ran through the ships for a few minutes, dodging ships and sliding through spaces, seeing Raife's ship not far away. It was big and silver and pretty, and as he came closer and closer to it, he saw his cousin sitting on the ground next to the ship. The door was open, it looked like he was fixing to go inside.

Evan's jaw clenched as his anger bubbled again. He sped up. As he came up, Raife was going into the ship. Evan stopped him in his tracks.

"Don't you dare!" he snarled, grabbing the younger boy by the scruff of the neck and pulling him back. Raife made a sort of grunting sound as Evan turned him around and slammed him against the side of the ship, his head hitting it with a sort of hollow sound. Evan slammed his elbow into his young cousin's neck.

"What's up, Raife, hm?" he asked, his anger boiling below the surface. "I saw that little stunt you pulled with Mei-li."

[Mei-Li Yeh]

Mei-li wanted to just get up before he left and give him a big hug and kiss for being so gracious to her and being a very good friend when it was limited here on that colony. She sighed out, feeling even better than before. She put the mug into the sink and walked into his bedroom, taking up his offer on that shower and those clothes. She figured if she could wash what had happened away, it would all be okay. Plus her arm was killing her and a little hot water would be best.

[Lok Yeh]

He had been in the bathroom relieving his bladder of the heavy task he'd been holding for over an hour just because he had gotten caught up in his work. But now that he was done washing his hands the loud sound against the hull had been very alarming. He frowned as he stepped out of the WC and into the hall, towards the front of the ship, calling out for Raife.

"You home?" He had remember Raife wanting a cigarette and wanting to go for a stroll. Not unlike him at all, but he figured he should go alone and figure out whatever it was he had wanted to figure out. He sighed out and frowned. "Hey? Babe?" When he heard nothing he sighed out and scratched his head for a moment, then he heard another thump.

"What the..." He wandered towards the cockpit and saw outside of the window Evan, the man's cousin, and Raife pinned and in pain. "Damn it!" He turned on his heel and jogged down the corridor to the hatch, quickly running down the ramp to find the two.

"HEY! HEY! Let go! Let him go!" Lok, although not the most manly of all men, was strong and very understimated. He grabbed Evan by the arm, trying to wedge in between the two, but he had trouble, Evan was much stronger than he had implied, stronger than Dove Goldman. "C'mon, man! Ease up a little!"

[Evan Christianson]

Evan tossed a glance to the little Asian, but only pressed harder against his cousin, using his other to push the man away a little. He had no desire to hurt Lok. He just wanted to knock some sense into Raife. And Lok was in the way of family bonding.

"Step away, Lok, I didn't come here to have you protect him..." he muttered, staring into Raife's deep brown eyes. He was choking a little, his face flushed a little, his eyes begging Evan to give him a little air. Evan clenched his jaw.

"Perhaps, you ought to tell this most beloved boy of yours what you've been pulling when he's not looking?" Evan huffed, his anger causing him to be out of breath. Raife tried to swallow. Evan was fixing to choke him to death. After a long moment, and when Raife finally looked like he might actually suffocatem Evan stepped back suddenly.

Raife dropped to the ground like a rag doll, gasping in breath, his body shaking slightly from the lack of air. Evan watched him a moment breathing heavily. He looked at Lok. "You better keep a goddamned leash on him, Lok, or it might come down to it that you'll be in the market for a new lover."

[Lok Yeh]

Lok went over to Raife and put his arms around his shoulders to pull him upright in his slumped position, the warning from the man standing above the two causing concern. What the hell?

"What?" He said with a heavy frown. "What the hell are you talking about, man? Look..I think you've misunderstood something!" Lok looked over at Raife and ran a hand over his face, then looked back up to Evan, then he stood leaving Raife to take care of himself.

"Look, I don't know what is going on, but I think it would be best if you just left." Lok wasn't being mean or trying to, he just thought in order to get to the bottom of this...encounter...someone would have to leave and that person was him. "Please."

[Evan Christianson]

Evan watched Lok for another moment, before sliding his eyes down to look at his still wheezing cousin. He shook his head.

"It'll be worse next time, Raife. You aren't blowing Jabari anymore, stop acting like you're invincible. Its your lover or mine that will suffer from this, Raife, and I don't percieve it being mine..." he paused, shook hair out of his face, and pivoted, beginning back to his ship.

[Lok Yeh]

Lok wanted to come up with a threat of his own, but the cleverness being sidetracked by his harmed husband. He hunkered to him and touched him.

"You all right?" He heard him panting for breath. "What was that about, huh? What did you go and do?" He glanced over to where Evan was exiting. He didn't look long, but he did wish he could hink of something to say in return but he came up empty handed. He looked back at Raife.

"What does he mean 'lover'? Who is he loving on?"

[Raife Christianson]

Raife rubbed at his neck where his cousin's sharp elbow pressed into it. He held onto Lok's arm for support as he watched Evan disappear through the ships, like he was never there. He shook his head and coughed a little, clearing his throat to speak.

"Your sister, I guess..." he wheezed. He wiped his forehead of a little sweat that had gathered there during the encounter. "I saw her while she was walking back from a date they were on...I...I didn't touch her."

Raife was good at lying.

[Lok Yeh]

Lok sighed out and scratched his head, helping Raife up to his feet after the whole ordeal he had been unaccomplished in stopping. He grunted slightly when the two came to their feet, Raife's weight having shifted for a moment.

"What?" Lok said in response. He shook his head and sighed out, letting Raife go and stand on his own. "My sister was dating that guy? They don't even know each other!" That aside he figured it didn't matter how he viewed the guy, but at that moment he didn't like him simply because he ended up beating on Raife. He didn't like people who hit others, although he did, he was kind of biased.

He muttered a curse.

"I guess that man must have bad eyesight, Raife! Why would he come after you like that if you didn't touch her?" Lok was aggravate. He didn't know who to believe, the man who almost killed his husband for touching his 'lover', which that alone made Lok's skin crawl to think of Mei-li getting one, or the man accused who said he didn't. He figured it was easy to know who to trust, his sister.

"Look, come on inside before someone else decides to beat you up." He looked around again and pointed with his finger at his ship. "I'm, uh, gonna go make a phone call." Lok gave Raife a hesitant smile and he turned up the ramp and headed to his room to grab his com. Within seconds he was on the phone, biting his lip in anxiousness waiting to hear his sisters voice, and when he did he felt a wash of relief almost as if he had been expecting her to be dead.

"Wei?" She sounded groggy and for a moment he wondered if it was even her, but he had been worrying about her since he found out that certain men were trying to get rid of her in connection with the murder of Jabari Phoenix.

"Sister." Lok said in their own native language. "How are you?" He asked with a smile. He could hear her yawn on the other end and he realized she was about to go to bed.

"Okay. Why the late call?" Lok shifted and sighed out.

"Did...did anything happen to you tonight? Anything at all? You don't have to tell me who did it or what they did...just...yes or no." He could hear the confusion, or at least that is what he thought. Little did he know that she was nervous in telling him anything, which was why she simply laughed.

"Lok! You must need sleep! I am fine. I just got out of the shower and I am heading to bed." Lok felt immense relief. So nothing had happened after all. Good.

"I guess so." He chuckled. "I hear you went on a date!" If she was in an honest mood then he figured a little personal prying wouldn't hurt.

"Yes. Why?" Suddenly the happy grin turned into a sour face. Damn it, she was with that guy! Who attacked his baby, who did nothing! So far...it was a very bad spot for Raife's cousin to be in. Lok didn't have many enemies who lived to tell the tale.

"Thought I saw you with someone. Okay. I will let you go to bed. Good night!" He heard her sigh and say 'wan an', good night in their language. He smiled and hung up. He figured he owed Raife and apology for doubting him.

[Raife Christianson]

Raife slumped over at the table/island in their kitchen complex. He coughed a little as he rubbed at the soreness on his throat. He would be fine, but he was just slightly hoarse from having his voicebox crushed.

Raife didn't make it a habit of lying to his husband. In fact, it was quite possibly the worst feeling in the world. He'd never lied to Lok before, yet when faced with the fact that he'd threatened his lover's sister, the lie had just sort of...fallen out.

Raife coughed again and got up, going to their cooler and getting out a bottle of water. He snapped it open and took a long drink, the cold water feeling good on his injured throat.

If the truth be known, and all honesty up front, Raife really didn't feel a driving need--or want--to kill, or even hurt, Mei-li. It was only because he would die without Lok, and if he hurt Mei-li, he would lose Lok.

But the woman was his only link to Taro and company, and without her, it was doubtful he'd be able to get close enough to Taro to do what he wanted.

And if Mei-li was collateral...

Raife recapped the water bottle, glancing down the hall where Lok had gone to make a phone call. He tilted his head a little as he thought about the younger man.

Amidst everything--from the moment they met--Lok had always been more important than any job, or any other person. Even when Raife had thought he'd finally gotten rid of his feelings, Lok had always been there, made him remember he was still human, and that he still needed the kid. That even he couldn't deny that he loved the boy.

Raife didn't want to lose Lok, not after everything that had already happened. But no one would ever understand how important revenge was to Raife.

As bad as Jabari was. As evil, and cruel, and cold, and calculating...he had still been Raife's best friend. Raife had known him when he had still smiled and meant it. It was still a friendship that Taro had murdered. And Raife wanted him to pay for it.

It was sad that Mei-li might get stuck in the middle. And, yeah, it sucked that Evan might have to pay, or that Taro's friends could get caught in the cross-fire. But revenge had no conscious, no mercy, no tears to shed for innocence lost, or hand to close dead eyes. It was cold and heartless and saw only its target.

Anyone who got in its way...

Raife stuck his water back in the cooler and rubbed his forehead. He needed to decide what revenge was worth. He wasn't going to lose the only man he had ever loved to a bloody rage. But he couldn't let this opportunity for revenge pass him up.

But he couldn't have them both.

With all his vengence and anger, he sat back down at the table and took a deep breath, sighing it out heavily, and watching the steam fog up the table surface breifly. It melted away a moment later, leaving a slightly samp spot under his arms.

[Mei-Li Yeh]

Mei-li sighed out as she tossed in the bed, her feet feeling like blocks of ice. It was cold, very very cold and it was making her extremely uncomfortable. She had gone to bed almost immediately after Lok had given her a ring and had a highly unusual conversation in Chinese, something they had not done in quite some time. Either way she had been excited to use her language. But despite being able to enjoy the usage of their language, the topic of conversation had not been one she wanted to have. She sighed out and kicked off the blankets out of good measure considering she had nothing better to really do, but that was mistake and she paid for it dearly by shivering and sitting up. What the crap? It was so cold! Why?

Mei-li bit her lower lip and with a disgruntled sigh she stood up and wandered to the door, luckily she had no accidents involving crashing into something in the dark and destroying things. She had somehow made it the door and she walked out and looked around wondering if perhaps Evan had come back. She didn't even know what time it was. She bit her lip and sighed enjoying the warmth of the hall. Damn the room for being so cold. She slowly wandered down into the kitchen and towards the back room where Evan had previously told her to go if things got to chilly, which that was an understatement of the century.

Mei-li figured it wouldn't hurt to take him up on that offer. She had figured out his room and she slowly crept over to the panel and watched the door slowly slide open, the light from the kitchen pouring in a small amount of orange. She felt the heat and she got chills of satisfaction at the temperature. She smiled to herself and glacned at the bed. Was he in it? She couldn't tell, but she figured he wouldn't mind her staying there for just a little while, right?

Mei-li tipped toed over to the bed when the door shut. She found the bed and slowly moved herhands around to find the top of the blanket. She pulled it down slightly and gingerly fell into the soft cushion of the matress. She sighed out feeling relief creep across her body when the warmth of the room consumed her, but it was the body to herleft that also made her feel good. She didn't know this man, not really well, but she somehow didn't find this little adventure of hers too awkward.

Mei-li was so tired that she didn't really care at that point, if she was going to do it for a little while she might as well take full advantage of the situation. Mei-li slowly slid over to the naked back facing her and she slowly watched his head hoping he wouldn't wake up from what she was going to do. Sure this was kinda stupid but in all honesty she hadn't held someone in so long it was a thing she was absolutely willing to do without a willing participant.

She put her arms around his waist and held onto him, putting her head right behind his neck, a grin of satisfaction slid across her face. Hopefully he'd never know.

[Evan Christianson]

Evan had returned some time ago, to the warmth of his ship, wondering at first--as he wandered into the kitchen complex--where Mei-li had gone. He figured after standing there for a moment or two that she had probably gone to bed.

He went into his bedroom, stripped down to his boxers and laid down on his mattress heavily. Raife, cousin or not, was a psychopathic lunatic. Evan had known him all his life, and he had always been the way he was. Antisocial and dull. He had collected weird things--knives and weapons now, bionic eyes as a child--and Evan had always found him to be illfit for society. He'd never gotten along with anyone unless they saw eye-to-eye with him, and Evan had eventually tired of the behavior.

Sure, Raife had eventually grown out of the worst of it--at least he could carry on a normal conversation now without getting distracted by something shiny. But he was still not fit for human consumption yet. At least not for anyone normal.

That Lok boy was another issue entirely. Hanging around Raife long enough would make anypne as crazy as he, but to marry the man? That was something Evan couldn't fathom.

His bed was warm and cozy when he crawled into it, and he quickly made a little cocoon in which to sleep. But he found himself unable to do said sleeping. He was tired enough, sure, but every time he close his eyes, they opened again of their own accord.

By the time he heard the door to his bedroom slide all-but silently open, he had only dozed once or twice. The light spilled into his room for a short time and then the door shut again. The sound of padding footsteps made him wonder if maybe Raife--or his little lover--had found a way into his ship and was fixing to murder him in his half-sleep.

But the small body that slid under the blankets did not belong to either Raife or his boyfriend. It was a woman's. And the only woman Evan knew that would be getting into the bed with him was Mei-li, who was sharing the ship with him.

Call him old fashioned, but Evan didn't make it a habit of having women randomly in his bed with him. His wife had been the last woman he had shared his bed with. So his spine stiffened just a little when her arms wrapped softly around his waist, not enough to be noticed, however.

For a long moment, he didn't move, he simple lay there, trying to decide if he should ask her to leave. Then again, she had just been attacked by his cousin...

Turning over silently in her grip, Evan awkwardly lifted his arms to wrap them securely around her shoulders. He didn't say anything, in fact, he didn't open his eyes. He knew if he did he would lose his nerve to do what he was doing.

[Mei-Li Yeh]

Mei-li hadn't expected him to actually respond so quickly, let alone at all. She opened her eyes and immediately she felt uncomfortable, but that still didn't really stop her from continuing holding onto him like she were some lost child. She liked Evan, a lot, and she wasn't sure if that feeling had been requited, but she knew what she was doing was rather out of character and very inappropriate. But besides her brain knowing and understanding this she still wanted to stay there, still wanted to be held, still wanted to be, well, wanted.

She wanted to ask him if he was okay with her doing what she was, she hadn't truly been one who jumped into men's beds, but she was cold, lonely, and feeling very adventurous in her desperate need for some sleep. She was making excuses. She should leave. But why wasn't she leaving? Better yet, why wasn't he kicking her out?

Mei-li wanted to stop thinking, close her eyes, enjoy this little moment that was awkward, yet not at the same time, but she didn't. She stared at his face, his arms, everything seemed right about doing this, but she was unsure if he was feeling anything remotely like she. Mei-li stared, lovingly, perhaps a bit too affectionate than she should, but she liked him and she didn't know what to do or how to go about it. This man was the perfect age for her, they could easilytalk to each other, he loved kids, oh god he loved kids! That was something she had always wanted, a man who loved children! But she was judging everything too quickly, she knew.

She wanted to kiss him at that moment, too. She didn't know why, she just felt the urge to do so because this would have never been a better opportunity. But it was all up to what Evan would do. Her heart sped up to an abnormal beat. God, she didn't know what it was about him, but she was ready to just marry him tomorrow.

[Evan Christianson]

______

When Evan woke up the next morning, it was to a neck cramp, and the uncomfortable feeling of having a hang over...but...he hadn't been drinking the evening before. He didn't even really like to drink that much. His neck was jarred in an unnatural position on his pillow--probably because he had his arm jammed up under the pillow in an awkward way, and his neck was only slightly in line with it.

He groaned as he felt pain in his neck, shoulders, back, and legs. He was getting too old...he could feel it. Literally.

He laid in his bed for a long moment, trying to decide if it was healthier to stay put and let someone come in and pry him off with a spatula, or to get up and try to regain some feeling in his left foot. He contemplated, turning his head this way and that to try and see if he could work out the stiffness.

Suddenly, he heard a little tone coming from somewhere in his room. It was loud enough to be obnoxious, but not so loud as to make him want to get up and answer the thing. He hated the tone his com made. It was high pitched. He listened to it for a long moment, waiting for the voice answering system to kick in.

Finally, he heard it click, and then a voice echoed through the room. It was his coworker, Taal, a Twi'leck with a major attitude problem.

"Evan? Evan! I know you're there. You get up at the asscrack of dawn every day, no way you're still asleep..." he paused a moment, before sighing heavily. "Look, we have some suits here looking for you. Apparently you have some unpaid-for shipments."

Evan had never moved so fast in his entire life.

He rolled over in the bed, and ran right into a body. He jumped and yelled out, trying to remember who it was. But he didn't have time, he needed to get to his com. He kicked wildly at his blankets, pulling them off of the bed, and tried to jump up on the mattress. He stood halfway up, lost his footing, fell over the other body in the bed and fell onto the hard floor with a huge "THUMP!!!!", the blankets rolling off with him.

"Damn it!" he yelled, tossing articles of clothing out of the way as he grabbed his com.

"Anyway, I'll talk to you later," Taal finished, just as Evan pressed the speak button.

"Taal?!" he exclaimed. Nothing. "Taal!?" Still nothing. "Damn it!" Evan threw the com down on the floor and dropped his head onto the floor, laying there like a beached whale, staring at the ceiling. After a moment, he glanced over, trying to see who it was he had just trampled. Who the hell would he have had in his bed?

Oh...now his head hurt too...

[Mei-Li Yeh]

Mei-li was having such a good dream. Beaches of Naboo, her daughter's laughter in the distance, and the sound of crashing waves amidst a beautiful symphony of tree leaves rustlting together. It was a perfect evening as the sun was beginning to set the warm sun drowning the beautiful beach in orange, cascading that euphoric feeling, but in an instant her dream was abruptly ended before she could even make her way down to the cold water to the person standing with their back turned to her. She groaned and realized that something had hit her, hard, and then hit even harder on the ground. She heard yells, muffled to her because she was still halfway awake and seemingly stuck in the slumber, but when she heard the man say a curse her eyes flew open.

Oh god, Mei-li thought, holding her breath, clutching what was left of the blankets on the bed. The man....wherever he was...wasn't expecting her to be there. She knew that last night was a bad idea, but now she knew it was absolutely mortifying. But they didn't do anything except snuggle so that couldn't have proposturous repercussions...right? She bit her lower lip and barely breathed, her heart was goign so fast that it would implode if she were to move an inch, so she laid there stiff as a board staring at the ceiling, sensing the body on the floor.

The floor! her brain snapped. She frowned and sat up, looking over the edges of the bed to see a small heap of flesh sprawled out on the ground. What happened? Why had he fallen on the floor? Why did she even care? She could have pretended that all was well and that she was still sleeping to spare herself anymore discomfort, but no...she was staring down at him, holding the blanket to her chest, hair everywhere, startled at his new position.

She realized he was looking over and immediately all strength in her to see if he was okay fled. She gasped lightly, eyes opened wide, and quickly she fell onto her back and closed her eyes tightly. Right, she thought. you just happen to sit up and look around when you sleep! Smooth. Her face burned red as her mind spoke to her, like her mother would have had she been there. She lifted her hand and slapped her forehead and wanted to groan, but she was too mortified. She had to pretend to be sleeping.

[Evan Christianson]

Evan blinked his eyes, trying to clear the sleep from them as he saw the woman sit up and then lay qucikly back down as if frightened. Soon enough, the images of the evening previous came back to him. He sighed heavily, glad he wasn't remembering steamy promiscuity, but only snuggling and the warmth of another human body close by.

He sat up with a groan, scratching his chest and pulling his necklace back around to the front from where it had skewed over his shoulder in his fall. He was sure he looked a frightful mess, his hair sticking up in unlikely places, his exercise pants all but not covering him. He shook his head, and wiped his forehead before looking back over to the bed.

"Mei-li?" he rasped in his morning voice. "Are you okay? Did I kill you?" he paused a moment. "Are you still with me up there?"

[Mei-Li Yeh]

Mei-li kept her eyes tightly closed. If she just..played dead....she knew that was stupid. She didn't want to answer, she was scared to death and she had no idea why. The thought of what they did last night made her want to smile so bad! She hadn't been touched like that in so long and it made her feel...oh ALIVE! She couldn't help it anymore, she let out a little chuckle, but it soon rolled into a laugh that was deep inside of her throat, that morning voice always making her sound worse than she already did! She bit her lower lip and let out a sigh, laughing lightly at the entire situation in general.

"Yeah." She said after a moment of regaining what little composure she had anymore. She was slowly going insane. She was sure of it. However she figured that it was all due to the man she had met just a few days ago. Her face burned red, but out of liking, out of kiddish puppy love. Remembering his smiles last night....it just made everything go away.

"More importantly," She finally gathered the nerve and sat up and looked over at him, putting a hand over her mouth to stifle the laugh at his wild and crazy hair. Oh he looked good in the mornings! That was the first thing she thought. He had that 'oops I forgot to shave' sexy-stubble-look going on, matched with that hard voice, those tired eyes....it was delicious! She let her hand fall.

"More importantly...is the floor okay?"

[Evan Christianson]

Evan laughed outloud, dropping his head back and taking a deep breath as he stopped laughing. He shook his head, looking back up and examining the floor. He gave a shrug, pulling himself up into a stand.

"Eh, I think he'll survive..." he groaned, stretching and pulling up his pants. He didn't exactly want to flash anyone this early in the morning. He rubbed his face and leaned down, picking up his com and holding onto it, smiling at Mei-li. "Sorry I trampled you just then. There was a call, and I sorta forgot you were there...I didn't hurt you, did I?"

[Mei-Li Yeh]

Mei-li's eyes, when he stood, did the longest run over of his body and registered rather quickly how much she would definitely enjoy seeing this every morning. She bit her lower lip and glanced away when she watched him readjust his pants, knowing it would be very rude to actually stare at anything exposed, despite her brain wishing for an accidental 'drop'. She felt her cheeks grow red when she saw in her peripheral vision he was adjusted and ready.

She looked up at him seeing him holding his com and giving her a devilish smile. Oh her heart was racing a few minutes ago...but after that look it was now of the charts of a normal heart rate. She smiled back, unable to do much of anything else. All thought processes were clouded and confused simply because of that good looking man in front of her. She couldn't take it, she had to look away to the sheets and the composure of her slinky and baggy shirt that he had given her the night before. She readjusted herself, making sure nothing fell out as well. She cleared her throat with a frown and nodded.

"I understand." She said, unsure whether to apologize for sneaking into his room or to keep the conversation going. "I am fine." She looked up with a smile and bit her lower lip and slowly moved off the bed, realizing she had no pants on she grabbed the sheet puddling on the floor and put it over her as if she were cold. Surely he wouldn't offended she didn't want to show him her bare behind this early in the morning!

"I..." She pointed over her shoulder with her thumb to the door. "I'm going to go. Let you...do whatever it is you need to." She laughed lightly and before anything else was exchanged she bolted out of the door, as it closed she felt safe and felt like she could breathe. She didn't think any air was thicker with tension than what was in that room. Mei-li was two feet from the door when she felt the sheet being jerked out of her arms. She turned to see it had been caught in the door. Of course it would catch! She sighed out and pulled the tail of his shirt over her bottom, feeling quite a draft. She shook her head and jogged as fast as she could down the hall and back into the guest room to properly dress herself.

Who knew that being lonely and freezing would have lead to that rude and uncomfortable awakening.

[Evan Christianson]

Evan watched her leave as quickly as was absolutely possible for her to do, and shook his head, running a hand through his hair and looking down at his com. Of course it would ring the one morning he didn't need it to ring. He sighed out and pushed his excercise pants down and off, walking into the bathroom.

He turned on the shower, dialing Taal's com number as he got in, and listeneing as it beeped. For a long moment as he began to wash his hair, he wasn't sure if the Twi'leck would answer. After all, if there were officials there, he would probably be wrapped up trying to deal with them.

But finally, the com clicked and the man answer.

"Speak to me, tell me something good," Taal said, his voice sounding annoyed and angry. Evan stuck his head out of the shower to be heard better.

"Your call made me fall out of bed and get a huge bruise on my body that hurts like hell," he said, grinning. Taal sighed, seemingly releived.

"Thank God, something went right this morning," he said. "Look, those guys are still here, they think I've got you hidden somewhere."

"Did you tell them I am on a colony about a week's fly from Coruscant? That I'll be back whenever these degenerates get my ship fixed?"

"Yeah, I told them. They're looking at your travel records now, they'll figure out soon enough you haven't even been here yet..." Taal said.

"Good," Evan confirmed, rinsing the soap out of his hair. "You know who I met up with here?"

"Couldn't tell you."

"Raife. The bastard was hanging around here with his boyfriend, a skinny Chinese kid. Seems they are after somebody up here, and they are getting me and someone I care about involved," he explained.

"Isn't that what Raife does best?" Taal said. "Look, just don't let him kill you, get here in one peice and get us out of this mess. You need to be worrying more about yourself than about Raife and his Chink boyfriend...look, I gotta go, they are making a mess of things. I'll talk to you later."

There was a click and the call ended. Evan finished rinsing himself, and got out, drying and dressing in jeans, an undershirt, a blue pinstriped dress shirt and a brown jacket. His boots were in his room and once he left the bathroom, he donned them and headed out into the hallway. Evan glanced down the hall to the guest room where he assumed that Mei-li had gone. He figured she was too embarrassed to come out. He smiled a little, heading down the hall towards the kitchen. He was starved, he hoped Mei-li was too, because he was going to cook enough food for them both.

He was hoping he'd get a chance to see what Raife was up to. He needed to have a talk with the boy. He was feeling guilty now for having attacked him yesterday, but he needed to get his messege across to him. Raife was the most hardheaded man he had ever known, and now with his lover hanging around, Evan was sure some of it was a macho act. At least, that's what he hoped.

He prayed Raife wasn't as psycho as his former employer.

[Mei-Li Yeh]

Mei-li paced back and forth unsure whether to go out, to leave, to apologize, to even look at the man. The more time passed the more humiliated she felt. Why had she done that last night? Was she some slutty woman who hopped into mens beds half dressed? She had always been the one to over analyze, after all scientists were trained mentally to do that kind of thing, she asked more questions than neccessary and it got her into hot situations in reality. She knew she was probably blowing this out of proportion because more than half of her would blush, burn up, and smile at it all...then that other half would worry what Evan was thinking. What did he think about that anyway?

Nothing too bad, apparently. She bit her lower lip as she answered herself mentally. He hadn't kicked her out, that was good, he had hugged her back...that was even better...there her face started to get red. She laughed lightly, feeling so stupid for actually enjoying the feeling of getting embarassed. She sighed out and plucked her collar trying to get some air flow. This room had been colder than ice last night and here it was hotter than three hells. She was beginning to wonder if it was all in her head like some psychological ploy to get into that mans bed and out of her clothes. She sighed out with relief when she heard her com buzzing underneath the man's shirt that still smelled like him. Something she had smelled over a million times in two minutes!

She made a circle to find the shirt and when she found it she put it up to her nose as she opened the line on her com. She pulled it away from her nose and smiled.

"Wei." She heard a quick curse and she felt her stomach flip. What did he want now?

"Yeh Mei-li! Where in God's name have you been, huh? Do you know I have been trying to find you since our conversation last night? Do you!" It was Lok, he was angry, and she had no idea why.

"What?" Was all she could manage between panicked breaths and Chinese curses. "Lok what is it?" Suddenly fear coursed through her body, was something wrong? Were her other brothers hurt? Was her Mother finally dead? What?

"Mei-li! Shut up, let me talk!" He was definitely not in a good mood today. "I went to your apartment last night, you weren't there! I was wanting to see you!" Mei-li moved her mouth to explain, but his agitated and angered voice allowed no space for it. "You didn't answer your com, you didn't answer your door. I went down to the hospital to see if you were there...no! You weren't!"

"Why did you-"

"Shut up! Listen! I spent all night looking around this damned colony! You weren't anywhere! I had to file a missing persons report last night because I couldn't find you! Where the hell are you? By God if it isn't a good answer I am going to ring you a new-"

"Are you keeping tabs on my whereabouts now?" Mei-li didn't know why but she felt incredibly insulted by having her borther seeking for her in all hours of the night while she was having one of the best sleeps of her life. Lok didn't like that one bit.

"Get to my ship, now! Do not make me ask twice! Tell me, where were you?"

"Are you my mother now, Lok?"

"Shut up! Tell me! She wasn't sure where he was, but screaming shut up like he just did could have been heard in the darkest holes in the galaxy. Why was he so angered? Mei-li, for some reason, grew angry as well simply because he was injecting himself into her personal space. So, what better way to have this, already soured, conversation go?

"I stayed with Evan." She wasn't sure why, but her chest bulked up, like she was incredibly prideful of being able to say that to her brother. To anyone who asked. The silence on the other line was not a good sign and suddenly all pride fell to complete fear. Her heart raced and she couldn't breathe.

"I-I'm sorry. I think our connection isn't very good, I could have sworn I heard you say you-"

"I did. We slept together last night." Oh why did she have to go and throw that one out there? It was neither false nor completely true. Sure they actually slept together, but they didn't sleep together. But, Lok wouldn't dare think of it as the innocent sleep it actually was.

"You..oh...you...oh...oh!" Mei-li sat down on the corner of the bed and rubbed her temple. "You...hooker!" Mei-li raised her eyebrows. Did he just actually call her that? Sure, it was not meant in malice but simply out of anger and nothing else to actually say about the situation. Lok was always bad for being able to find good words in arguments such as these. "I think you have just ruined everything. Raife...oh wait until Raife and I get a hold of you two!"

"What is that supposed to mean?" She frowned heavily at this. What did he mean by that? Why was Raife suddenly becoming invloved in their personal affairs.

"Your boyfriend...oh...Mei-li you have made such a big mistake! I always made it a point to care for your well being, even inside the Phoenix estate's walls, but you have betrayed me in a way I could never have fathomed. I cannot take care of two people and worry about whether they are protected." Mei-li was highly confused. What was he talking about?

"This relationship between us...it is no longer as cherished as I had anticipated. We are no longer on the same sides. I am protecting what is mine, my energy with you is over. Take care of you and yours as I will do for mine. From now on, we are not siblings. We are enemies."

"Where is this coming from Lok?" Mei-li was exhausted already at everything she didn't see coming.

"Mei-li...I think it is in your best interest to watch your back."

"Are you threatening me, Lok?"

"Good bye." Mei-li heard the connection close and immediately she tossed the phone at he wall. What was that? Why was Lok suddenly choosing her to be the enemy? Why was he picking sides when-- suddenly she realized that something had happened last night with Raife and Evan. That little shark was calling her for information last night! She knew how he would choose lovers over brothers and sisters, he did with Jabari and Raife, now he was doing it again.

That sinking feeling in her stomach made her realize how hungry she was. Raife and Lok were no longer her friends and she knew the only person she had left to count on was Evan.

[Raife Christianson]

_____

Jesus Christ did he hate it when Lok yelled. He was the screamer of the two...in more ways than one. Although Raife could scream pretty good when it came right down to it, Lok always had the louder voice, and tended to drown Raife out when they had screaming contests.

And he could hear that all the way outside while he smoked. He knew that eventually he would feel really crappy for causing such a riff between family members, although he wasn't sure whatever happened to blood is thicker than water. Not that he didn't appreciate having his lover on his side. Lok was more important to Raife than anyone. And somehow Raife always dragged him into knock down, drag outs with Raife's ancient history.

Licking his lips, he flicked the cigarette away from him and glanced over his shoulder at the ship, hearing Lok's voice finally dying down. Raife's eyebrows went up a little as he looked at the ship, cocking his head a little, trying to hear if Lok was gonna come out, or if Raife was gonna have to go in.

After a long moment of silence, Raife walked up into the ship and down the hall to where he suspected Lok to be, the cockpit. Raife walked lightly to the door, and leaned on the frame, watching Lok's back--which was turned to him--and sticking his hands in his pockets. He licked his lips and waited for a moment, knowing that speaking at this moment would probably earn him either a punch, or an earful. Or both.

But he spoke anyway.

"What was that about?"

[Lok Yeh]

Lok stiffened. He wasn't in the mood to talk about it, he wasn't in the mood to even be associated with his sister. Why did she have to go and do that? Staying with that guy who could have hurt Raife. Bastard. He didn't care how irrational he could be at t imes, but this was a long time coming anyhow. Eventually, he and Mei-li, would have been separated in the long run. At least now he could focus on what he came there to do with Raife, the only person he trusted and loved anymore. He sighed out and looked over his shoulder before turning completely to lean on the control panel, titling his head to one side.

"Mei-li," He sighed out with the most agitated tone. "I don't think we'll be seeing much of her. She has just gone beyond my expectations." He looked at his com before tossing it into one of the empty chairs nearby. This was hard, but at the same time he liked it. Not having to worry about her was a great way to make his shoulders feel less weighed down. Thank God she was finally out of the picture.

"In all that may come to pass, this I want you to know," He pointed at Raife. "My love for you will never faulter, never sway, never decrease..." He drew in a deep breath and let his hand drop to his side. "Do what you want with her. I don't care. She has betrayed my trust and discarded my warnings to allow her to lead a better life. If she won't listen to anyone, then what purpose does she have anymore." He leaned off the control panel and turned to look out the large window, his eyes finding every ship in the dock.

"It would be in her best interests, as well as everyone elses, to just get rid of her."

[Taro Lawson]

____

Taro's life had fallen apart in a matter of days. It was ridiculous how much had happened. He was beginning to wonder if he and Jes would ever get themselves out of the hole they had dug out for themselves.

Taro had come to the point where he was beginning to accept the baby thing. Sure, it hadn't been number one on his list of must-do's, but now that he thought about it, he was actually a little bit happy. But it was everything else occuring that he just couldn't get his mind around.

Jiro, Ren, Akasha, Haruko, Asher, and Orange were in the waiting room. His mother was still in the room with Jesimae, and he was hanging around outside the hospital, smoking like a chimney, thinking about all the hell that had gone down, and what their plan of attack was going to be. He didn't have any ideas. He just wanted to get Jesimae off of this colony, and away from those damn bounty hunters, give them a little time to think...

Speaking of, where was Mei-li? Jiro had been asking about her nonstop--Taro could tell it was beginning to annoy Ren--but no one seemed to know where she was. Taro suspected she was still with that guy she had met...but he could be wrong.

Tossing the butt of his cigarette onto the ground, he crunched it with his heel, and looked up and around him. Taking a deep breath, he turned and headed back inside the hospital wing, glancing around at the extended family.

God, the Lawsons needed to downsize...

[Jesimae Lawson]

Jesimae bit her lower lip in concentration. She felt herself beginning to sweat as she sat there. WHile Taro was outside, with everyone else, she had heard some disheartening news. For some reason, as horrible it was and how hard she had cried, it seemed like a relief. There would be no babies anytime soon for this family. She was so glad that Kyoko had been there to comfort her when she heard the news. She was ambivalent on how to take this information. She was surprised at first, unaccepting, accepting, happy, sad, now...she was scared.

She was trying to think whether or not she should say it to Taro in front of everyone, but luckily she saw him wandering back into the wing, happy to see him in that single moment of when she knew that she needed to be with him most and needed to tell him this awful news. As she thought about it, she figured Taro would be relieved, as she was ultimately, but for some reason she couldn't help like she was letting him down in some way.

The doctor told her it wasn't her fault, that she had suffered too much blood loss, too many kicks and blows, it was the other party who was to blame for the awful predicament they were now in. It had been a survival tactic, as the doctor had put it with an empathetic smile. She looked over at her in-law and asked her if she could see Taro alone. The woman understood and was happy to oblige. Jesimae was up and moving and she was feeling very good, the only thing left of that attack was memories and fading bruises.

[Taro Lawson]

Taro walked down the hall when he was told Jesimae wanted to talk to him by the doctor. He made his way through the people he was associated with--they were all looking at him as if they had some right to go into the room with him and know the information that was to pass between he and his wife.

Taro ignored them instead, and went to the door of Jesimae's room. He knocked slightly, pushing the door open and sliding inside. He turned a little to push the door shut behind him, and looked over his shoulder at Jes, who seemed to be standing and moving okay. He smiled and turned, walking over to her. Taro sat down heavily on the bed next to her, putting an arm around her shoulders.

"Hey, babe...what's up?"

[Jesimae Lawson]

Jesimae was so happy to feel him, hear him, smell him, see him. The newfound privacy made her feel safe as she had before all of this had happened. She smiled at him and took his hand and played with it for a moment, unsure of how to tell him, after all she hadn't really been the kind of person to have such drama occur. She let it register, she licked her lips and looked up at him ready to give him the bad news, or good however he would perceive it, but suddenly her strenght left. She sighed out and shook her head, ultimately leaning it on his shoulder, still playing with his fingers in her hand and noticing that they were both wearing wedding bands. She smiled. She still couldn't believe that they had finally married one another.

"Taro," She started. "I am unsure how your religion views things, but in my learnings we are taught that everything, sometimes, happens for a reason." She didn't know why she was throwing that one out there, to soften the blow perhaps? But she knew there really wasn't anyway to make this sad news sit well with anyone. She squeezed her eyes shut for a moment when she felt the sting of realization hit her. She was so excited to finally be a mother, but to have it taken away just as she was becoming comfortable with it...was not healthy for one.

"Uh, the doctor said that, uh, we...we lost it." She sighed out. She leaned her head up and looked at Taro. "We aren't going to be parents, Taro. Not yet."

[Taro Lawson]

Taro looked down at her for a moment as if there were more to her statement. But when Jesimae didn't say anything, Taro realized there was nothing else. There was no baby, no being parents. Inside of him, he felt relieved, yet not at the same time. He had just been getting used to the thought...he had even been able to smile and feel his stomach flutter at the thought of holding a baby, and knowing it belonged to him and Jesimae. That Jesimae was going to be the mother of his child.

Taro's brow furrowed, and with a wilted sigh, he wrapped his arms around Jesimae. He kissed her head, and then her shoulder.

"Oh, baby..." he whispered. He didn't know what to say. There wasn't anything really to say. In some ways it was a relief, neither of them was ready for a child yet...but still...Taro couldn't define his feelings at that moment. Their emotions were everywhere right then, and there was no way any of them could think straight about anything.

[Jesimae Lawson]

Jesimae was so happy to feel that hug and the kiss. It was probably the best thing in the long haul, but inside she was beginning to feel a certain emotion she hadn't felt since she was attacked. Rage. She was enraged that something harmless and something so precious had been lost all because of that woman. As evil as Jesimae could have been, harming an innocent child was something she could have never fathomed. Knowing now that she was ready to take matters into her own hands and seek out the woman who had hurt her it only seemed to be fuel for the fire having lost a child.

Jesimae hugged Taro because she felt it was the right thing to do. She was so glad that she was there with him and nobody else.

"This might be an inappropriate time to say this," She clenched her jaw as she rested her chin on his shoulder, near his ear. "But I am going to kill whoever did this."

[Hitomi Lawson]

_______

Hitomi had been on her computer nonstop, trying to find out what she could about Raife Christianson and Lok Yeh, so she knew who they were dealing with.

She hadn't seen Dove in nearly two hours, he had gone to figure out the whereabouts of absolutely everyone on that colony who had anything to do with the Lawsons. If left up to him, he'd just kill the lot of them, but Hitomi only cared about Jesimae now, killing her and blowing dodge. They'd get enough money as it was out of the woman, they didn't need to get in the middle of a family fued.

Hitomi was highly considering making this her last job. With her feelings for her partner out in the open, now, she knew any other job they took, she'd be worrying more after where he was, what he was doing. And she was sick to death of killing people. Eighteen years old and with thousands of deaths on her hands. She didn't like it. Not at all.

Hitomi hit the print button and grabbed the papers from the printer sticking them into a file folder. Fumbling with her bag, she stuck the folder into it and pulled her satchel over her shoulder, getting into her boots and donning a jacket. She didn't worry about her shorts and tank top, she just needed to go hunt down Dove.

If they played their cards right, they could be in and out of that hospital without any distractions or problems and be off that colony in under twenty-four hours. But she didn't know how much time they really did have. Jesimae was not harmed badly enough to keep her in the hospital wing for more than a day or two, she was already up and walking around. Soon enough, they'd all be heading off-colony, and she and Dove would lose this prime opportunity to do what they came here to do.

And, hell, she'd forgotten about Christianson and his lover/cohort. They would most certainly be a problem. If she could find the window that she did, then there was no way they hadn't found it.

[Dove Goldman]

Dove frowned as he looked down at his data pad, the sleek little technological device that fit so perfect in his hand. He was chewing on his cheek as he quickly made it a point to figure out who was who and where they all were, which was quickly drawing to a close in his task that had taken far longer than he had anticipated. He was on the brink of just saying 'to hell with it' and going in there with guns blazing, killing anyone on sight just so he could get the hell outta there with Hitomi, alive.

He sighed out as she wrote with the electric pen, recording that Lawson and co. were all inside the hospital, staying in the rental dorms, all side by side, the only person he had missed was that of a miss Mei-li Yeh. However, he had recorded that the newfound friends he and Hitomi had made a short few days ago, were shipped and staying in the ship. Their beef was with whom? He was unsure, actually didn't really care to remember, but he just remembered that if this was going to go down, two people were not really going to be able to take out one girl who had an army of a family.

Almost everyone who was staying there to see the well-being of Mrs. Lawson, they all had some background that made him uneasy. Almost everyone involved was a killer or dealt with weapons on a daily basis. All were threats, all were to be taken out. It had to be that way. He couldn't figure a time when Jesimae would be alone ever again. Hitomi was just going to have to deal with this fact.

[Hitomi Lawson]

Hitomi hurried down the stairs of their hotel and ran through the streets to the "downtown" area where Dove had set up shop near the hospital. He was still fiddling with his little data pad, recording everybody and everything. They needed to know where everyone was or else, they would be in a world of hurt...not that they weren't already...

She jogged to the table he was sitting at, and dropped her bag, sitting down across from him. He didn't look at her, he was probably used to the sound her heavy boots made by now. She didn't care if he looked at her or not. She didn't even care if he listened.

"Dove," she said. "Mr. and uh...'Mrs' Christianson are after the mass quantities of other Lawsons we are dealing with...if you and I can lay low and wait on them, keep tabs on them, we might be able to take care of Jesimae without having to deal with the other family members. They'll go to great lengths to protect each other, right? Well, if one of them's in danger and the other isn't, why would they need protecting?" Hitomi said. She laid down the folder of papers she had gotten. It was the hospital security schedule. She tapped it.

"If I got a hold of this, no way Christianson and his Chink haven't got it. Not that I put any faith in the deadbeats they call security guards, but the less we get them involved the better..." she paused a moment to look down at his data pad that he was so interested in. "Where is everybody?"

[Dove Goldman]

"We have the Lawson's all located in that little area. We have all their partners in there as well. I counted eight, no nine, people in there. One, Mei-li, is somewhere else. I can't find her right now." He looked up, finally, to see her sitting there with a hand on the folder she had tapped a few seconds ago. He barely glanced at it. He tilted his head and frowned.

"Raife and Lok, our newest problems thrown into this equation, are stationed in their ship. Apparently, Raife has a cousin here named Evan Christianson." He raised an eyebrow, unsure if she already knew this. "I am betting my money that Mei-li has made acquaintances and has shacked up with him. It would explain her disappearance." He shrugged and put the data pad down and leaned back into the chair and sighed out.

"Look, that is eleven people not on our side. Eleven people who are all here for one woman. Look, give me everything you got, okay? But I am telling you we are not going to go in there and get Jesimae without taking out a few others. I have the guns, I have the smarts, I have everything it takes, but what I don't have is more than one pair of eyes. I am not gonna go in there and not watch your back and my own at the same time. I am not going at it alone, Hitomi, I'm not." He leaned forward and raised an eyebrow.

"Yell, fuss, I don't care, I am not backing out of this. That is a lot of people. I've watched how they operate for quite some time, there is never less than four people in that room with her at all times. It is usually the mother-in law, damn it!" He sighed out realizing he left Mother Dearest out of the picture. "Okay, make that twelve people total. Anyway, Mom is there, Taro is there, Jiro, and Haru...always there. Always. Whenever they aren't there we have millions of females running around that room like this is some god damned dressing room. Still...Hitomi..." He let out a laugh and shook his head.

"We don't have the resources to take on that many people. I am saying...those two jerks who want to take out...whoever...we are gonna have to involve them. The might have better things, more weapons, who knows. If they scratch our back, we can scratch theirs. We all can work together and get this thing done and we can all walk away with our lives." He stopped talking after all of his thoughts had been spilled. Hitomi just sat there looking at him and he was almost ready for her to smack him. He looked down at her hand and he leaned forward and took it.

"Come on, work with me here."

[Hitomi Lawson]

Hitomi shook her head and retracted the folder. Dove was so bullheaded. She stuck the folder back into her bag, and leaned back crossing her legs and her arms. She watched him for a long moment taking in everything he had said. Finally, she waved her hand.

"Okay, smartass, how do you figure we're gonna get them to scratch our back, as you so eloquently put it?" she said, lifting an eyebrow, and wetting her lips. "Last time I checked, they were highly against even seeing our faces, now you guess they're gonna help us?"

Hitomi leaned forward again, crossing her arms on the table. She considered Dove's face fo a moment, before glancing off to the people walking around them on the makeshift streets and through the shops and markets. When she looked back, she sighed.

"Look, you should know me better than to think I'm not gonna help you with whatever plan you've cooked up...I just...can't say I think it's the smartest..." she paused, grabbing her bag and putting it over her shoulder. "But I need you to work with me a little too. As few people as we can leave in there alive, I'd like to try and shoot for..."

[Lok Yeh]

Lok frowned tryin to make sense of what he saw. Beads of swear were pouting form his skin, his stomach churned with disbelief, fear, which was something he wasn't accustomed or partial to feeloing, let alone acknowledge.

He had been staring at the screen for over an hour always finding comdort in his work after an argument. Sure his conversation with Mei-li had really been his decision and maybe later on he'd feel bad for it, but it was a long time coming. Since the family had a falling out, not thanks to Mei, the brothers kept their distance as well as their mother. Having tried to put bad choices and immoral "accidents" behind him, his love was always stretched thin for his long time bond with his mother and brother was wearing thin. Why? Because of Mei-li.

Strange, all bad things somehow made their way back to his beautiful sister. God, how she would pay for all of this.

Now, that feeling of fear...

Lok rubbed his face as he sighed out trying to figure out how this happened. He hadb een getting up, finding foldrs, receipts, forms, anything he lept for Raife's banking and his estate. He had over six papers, thousands of post-it notes, many programs up and running allowing him to calculate all that he had. However, no matter how many times he took paper documented accounts and calculated, the computer did not add up.

"Damn it!" Lok yelled as he sat back in his chair trying to get some air flow going. What was going on? How could such a thing happen?

"A glitch!" Lok said in response. But glitches were not a problem, everything had been filed many times and in many ways. Paper, two computer systems, and a small system he had installed. But all were correct except those he had written by hand.

"Damn it." He said again, his shirt sticling to his body as he stood up to pace. "Gah," He said wiping his brow. "It's so hot!" He sighed out and stormed out of the office and down the hallway to see what the temperature was. To his surprise it wasn't even nearing sixty. He shook his head and leaned on the wall trying his best to think of how this all occured. How did he not see it? How?

Lok clenched his jaw and rolled over against the wall to lean his head back. He closed his eyes and tried to image anything he had done, but he had thought all was well. But an accident of this magnitude wasn't something that one could mess up, especially Lok Yeh. He loved numbers, math, anything dealing with his work so it was unfathomable to him to understand such a gap in his spreadsheets and information.

"How did Raife drain almost all of his money?" It was the only thing Lok could think of to explain it, but there wasn't any receipts or record transactions. "What did I do?"

[Dove Goldman]

Dove smiled at Hitomi, if only she didn't underestimate him so much!

"Lovey," He said with a sideways grin. "I have deleted some very important numbers that will get one man on our side to take some people out." Dove cleared his throat and scooted towards her.

"Lok is, by now, in a position that makes him realize Raife's money is being drained. Tight for cash and under pressure to save his own butt, Lok will do some sweet talking to his husband for two reasons." He smmiled.

"One, get money they need by allowing me to give half the bounty of Haruko Lawson to them and two...to get their money back to where it was." He sighed out and shrugged. "Simple. I have Raife's money. If he wants it back, he'll have to help us. If not...he isn't getting it."

[Evan Christianson]

____

Lok Yeh was not the only one who noticed the drop in Raife's finances.

As any good family member did, Evan kept track of Raife's finances, checking up on them now and again, just in case the kid needed help. And as he sat at his lap top, listening as the mechanics made the finishing touches on his ship, his brain was trying to process the low numbers on Raife's tickets.

Evan recieved tickets a little later than Raife and his husband would, but this money activity was recent. Much too recent to have been anytime before he had been here on this colony. Evan didn't have permission to look into his cousin's accounts--he had access to codes in his business that allowed him to hack into the system--so he couldn't stick around long or Raife would get a heads up there was someone hacking into his accounts.

Shutting down the computer, he sat back a little thinking. What was his cousin into? He didn't think Raife's boyfriend would exactly be welcoming to Evan after he tackled Raife over Mei-li, but Evan felt the urge to know what Raife was into.

Moving up off of his bed, he walked out and down the hall to where Mei-li's room was. He knocked lightly. Maybe if she could tell him anything about her brother, Raife's lover, then he could find out what his cousin was into. He feared the kid would get himself into a situation he couldnt' get out of. Then Evan, Lok, and Mei-li would have to pay for it.

[Mei-Li Yeh]

Mei-li couldn't have prayed for better timing! The small tapping on the door brought her attention back to reality instead of staying in the cloud of confusion over what to do about Evan and more so over Lok's sudden disliking towards her and who she saw. He had always been that way, but then again he was always seeming to find a reason to control her and rule her in some how. So much like her mother. And husband. She tossed the com onto the guest bed that was barely even messed up. She sighed out and crossed the room over to the door where she quickly pressed for the door to be opened. She saw Evan standing there in all his immaculate flory and she couldn't help but smile.

"Hi." She said out of nothing better to say, the brain fart that occurred from seeing such gorgeous eyes making her seem like an even bigger fool than she already had been.

"Evan," She said with a discontent sigh, furrowing her brow gently as she kept rubbing her hands together. She had practiced this a few times before her mind kept traipsing back to the situation boiling with her brother. She licked her lips and put her hands behind her back.

"I want to apologize for being so..." She forgot what she was going to say. It was not going as well as she had hoped. "Last night I was just really silly." God, that sounded like something she'd say to her damn daughter. "I was just, I guess, confused." Even worse. She was making it worse. What she really wanted to tell him was how much she loved being next to him, even if it were just cuddling. How happy she felt in that moment when she woke up late at night to find him sleeping and still having her arms around him. How much she would love to do it again after a long night of just making love.

Her face flushed. She could feel the heat rising throughout her body. How attracted she was to this man and she barely knew him at all. Well, she knew enough to know that she had carnal thoughts about him when she went to the bathroom. She sighed out and twisted her hands behind her back.

"I don't know." She finally said. "I just wanted to apologize in case it made you uncomfortable. I am sure it did. It was rude of me to do that to you. Sorry."

[Evan Christianson]

Evan was surprised a little by her apology. He looked down at her for a long moment, before smiling, chuckling and shaking his head. He put a reassuring hand on her shoulder and shook his head a little more emphatically.

"Mei-li, don't worry about it," he said, grinning. "You made me a little uncomfortable, but I'm a big boy, it didn't bother me...I don't want you to feel like you imposed yourself on me," he said, smiling trying to make her feel better. "You didn't do anything wrong."

After a long moment, he squeezed her shoulder a little to indicate that he was going to say something else.

"Look...Mei-li. I have something to ask you..." he paused, leaning against the door frame. "Can you tell me anything about what Lok does?" he stopped, thinking for a split second that she would know why he was asking. He shook his head, furrowing his brow. "I was looking in Raife's accounts and...his money--which is quite a lot--and it has drained very fast...I was wondering if it might have something to do with anything they did jointly...but I don't know anything about Lok...so I was coming to ask you about him..."

[Mei-Li Yeh]

Mei-li was a bit relieved at his reassurance that she didn't do anything wrong, however she felt incredibly stupid for making him feel uncomfortable. Hell, she was uncomfortable just thinking that she made him uncomfortable, but she let it slide when his quiestion made her mind go back to her older brother. The little snobby brat who had just cut off ties.

She took a deep breath and sighed out, shrugging a shoulder and finding a comfortable spot to lean on the door frame, mirroring Evan's actions.

"He is an accountant." She frowned and thought for a moment. "He oversee's personal accounts, a business man he is. He handles every piece of money that goes in or out of an account. They could have been buying something, re-evaluating something, moving it around, adding more...Lok is good with it. He is so smart when it comes to numbers." She looked up at him after pausing breifly to stare at the floor.

"You aren't implying that Lok has done something, are you?" She wasn't sure what Evan was really stating. "He just called me a little while ago. He and I are no longer on speaking terms apparently." She let out a laugh. "There isn't much to know about him, other than he is smart, good with money, good at intimidation...good at being a criminal."

[Evan Christianson]

Evan listened to her words. Well, if he was such a good accountant, then why was Raife's money going down the porcelain pisshole so damn fast? It didn't add up to Evan. It seemed that Raife--who had always been sucky at money matters anyway--would have left his accounts in capable hands with his husband. If Raife was alone, the sudden out rush of his money would not have been so unbeleivable. But with a good accountant flanking him, it seemed unlikely that his husband would have let him drain his assets so quickly, to almost nothing left. He waved his hand a little.

"No, no, I'm not saying Lok did anything...but if he is so good with accounts, it seems highly unlikely he would have allowed my cousin to buy anything so expensive that it might send him into a devastating downfall. At the rate he's going, he won't have enough money for food, let alone anything else..." he paused breifly. "I'd go see them myself, but I don't think Lok would exactly want to see me after my skiff with my cousin," even though it wasn't his business, Evan finished in his mind. He drew in a long, unsatisfying breath. He hated those, when he took in as deep a breath as he could manage, and it just feel short of filling his lungs.

"Anyway...it might have to do with the crap he's in anyway. Who knows what all he's gotten into, I could just be overreacting, and probably am..." he paused again, chuckling a little. Without thinking, he reached up and moved a long strand of soft black hair from Mei-li's face that must have fallen in her discussion with her brother. "How are you holding up? I'm sorry about Lok..."

[Mei-Li Yeh]

Mei-li tried her best to keep focused on why Lok would be a very irresponsible being and do something with Raife's money, lord knew how much that man probably enjoyed it with such elaborate and expensive items she remember seeing he and her ex-husband purchasing.

Then it hit her like a ton of bricks. Nothing dealing with those two, mind you, but the feeling of shivers being sent down her spine like a spiral. He was touching her in a way she hadn't been touched. She looked up at Evan smiling shyly by the way he moved her hair daintily and softly, as if he had done this so many times before. She cared for him in a way she herself wasn't expecting in such short time slots. But she liked it either way.

"I am fine. Lok and I were always on the outs." She sighed. "But other than that, I don't know what is going to happen or what is going on. I just know that if Lok hates me, that means Raife's wrath will be much more I am sure."

[Evan Christianson]

Evan's face turned cloudy, and he shook his head. Raife was an irrational being. He always had been. Happy, and he was your best friend. Angry, and there was no stopping him. He could only go forward, only swing blindly. Evan could remember, growing up with him, how much it hurt when Raife got mad and took it out on Evan.

But Evan was bigger than Raife nowadays. Bigger, physically, at least. But when it came to the little Asian man he lived with, Raife was nothing but an animal. If you threatened Lok, Evan was sure Raife would no longer be a human being. He would cease to have higher thought than the animalistic instinct to protect his mate. It was the way Raife's brain had always worked, since he had been young.

But by God, Evan wasn't a a creature to back down from a fight either, especially when it involved people he cared for. He didn't give a damn about the people Raife was after. He didn't give a damn about anybody but Mei-li, who seemed to be alone in all of this.

But Evan--as much as he didn't understand how it could have happened-- he cared for Mei-li. In a deep way. A way he couldn't quite yet explain, and one he wasn't willing to forget about just yet.

"Raife gets right ugly when he's pissed, there's no escaping that," he said, matter-of-factly, shaking his head a little. "But you know, he's never seen me pissed. And I can get downright ugly..." he paused, looking down at Mei-li for a moment. "Look. If I can avoid it, I'm not gonna get into anything with Raife or Lok. They aren't our business," he said. Then he held up a finger. "But. If they step foot anywhere near you with anything remotely threatening, that's when it becomes our business, and that's when I get pissed off..." Evan slowly dropped his hand, sighing a little.

"Let's just hope they don't come to pick a fight."

[Mei-Li Yeh]

Mei-li listened like she never had before. Something about Evan made her want to listen and actually not wait for her turn to talk. It had been an odd occurence, all of this, but it was something she was really happy to get used to. This man had turned her feelings into a whirl. Funny, when her entire world was thrown into upheaval, Evan was somehow there to keep her from going along with it and she was so excited to have found him. Whether or not this was more than friendly, she wasn't sure, but she was hoping on the inside it wasn't for her feelings for him developed ever so quickly, quicker than her short romance with Jiro Lawson.

She sighed out and shrugged.

"Well, if anything does happen I swear you will be the first to know." She looked up at him after glancing briefly at nothingness over his shoulder. "I don't think I'll ever do anything again without letting you know ahead of time." She laughed lightly. Was that flirting? If so it was a horrible way to flirt. Why had she never had such a good gift to flirt so easily? Lok had, well, look who he ended up with!

"I can be ugly too, however in physical fights I lose horribly. Mind fights, however, I always know what Lok is doing before he even does it."

[Evan Christianson]

Evan grinned.

"Good, cause I ain't so good in the mental department," he said, winking and tapping his forehead. Then he sighed and nodded. "Anyway, I think Raife's too wrapped up in what Lok wants to do to worry about you and I. He's too wrapped up in his own business to worry about anybody else but he and Lok. He's got a pretty one track mind, so he shouldn't cause too much trouble. If they did just leave this hunk of scrap metal without hurting anybody, it would be a miracle from God himself..." he paused, then smiled. "And maybe if you know what Lok's going to do before he does it, you can be my hand in keeping track of them until they take off..." then he stopped.

"My ship's almost ready to fly though..." he said. "I'll have to take off soon myself..."

[Mei-Li Yeh]

Mei-li's smile faltered so quickly and her heart right along with it. It sunk so deep she could taste it in her stomach. That news was certianly something she didn't want to hear anytime soon, especially now when her feelings seemed to be hitting their peak at this time.

"What?" She said almost in a breathless manner. She realized how silly and desperate that might of sounded, perhaps it was barely audible and a wimper, but still she couldn't help but show her desire for that line to have been erased from her mind completely.

"So, so soon?" She frowned and stepped forward slightly, as if she were trying to connect with him and make him stay like some lost puppy. "I mean..." She stepped back. Damn it, she liked him. Damn it, she wanted him. Damn it, he was leaving her so fast. "No...I don't mean anything." She sighed. "That is sad news."

[Evan Christianson]

Evan was surprised by the pang of guilt and pain in his chest at the sad expression on her face. What was it with this woman? He hadn't felt like this about anybody in so long, it was a little scary. He glanced away, his mind working. He sighed, looking back and smiling a little.

"But I don't think I'll take off before you guys do anyway."

[Mei-Li Yeh]

Mei-li looked at him with a tilted head. Slowly a smile pursed her lips.

"You flatterer." She laughed lightly and gave him a playful push on his rock hard shoulder. That, she thought, was solid and could probably inflict severe pain when put to good use on beating something. She couldn't help but find that thought perversly entertaining.

[Raife Christianson]

____

As for Raife, he was desperately searching his bedroom--indeed, his entire ship--for his records of Jabari's codes. They were nowhere to be found and he was crazy trying to find them. Without them, he couldn't access the panel underneath his ship where Jabari had stocked heaven knew what, but probably weapons he would be able to use. He hadn't bothered learning the codes, since he had thought he wouldn't need them.

But if they were missing, it was possible they had fallen into anyone's hands and they had access to the stuff stockpiled underneath his ship.

Moving out into the hallway he pounded on the hall metal.

"Lok!" he yelled, listening. He had no idea where his husband was, he hadn't seen him in several hours. The last time they had spoken, Lok had been on his way to take care of some of their account business. Raife hadn't seen him since. Which was a little weird. It didn't generally take Lok long to go through their accounts and set things straight.

"Lok, goddamnit! Where are you..." he muttered, checking through the rooms and the kitchen, clunking down the hall towards the cockpit. "Do you know where Jabari's codes are?! Did you take them out of the room?!" he called, loud enough for his husband to hear no matter where he was in the ship. Raife's voice carried. "If we've lost them, we're screwed, honeybee!" he called, annoyed.

[Lok Yeh]

The agitation and anxiousness was well heard, processed, and taken into consideration at that point. He sighed out and figured he could fix this problem within a few moments. What was he really wanting? He hadn't been able to heard exactly where what was, but he had heard the last bit about the two being screwed, and not in a very good sense either.

"What?" He called out as he shut the door to his office and headed down the hall towards the calls of his lover. "What are you looking for, sweet?" He sighed out and found his husband in disaray, searching all over the place for something he had yet to repeat.

"I didn't take anything so don't blame it on me. I am the organized one in this relationship, hun." He laughed lightly, trying to make a situation funny, also in an attempt to keep his own fears well hidden.

[Raife Christianson]

Raife purred as he spun on his heel to look around at Lok. Okay, he had to note that Lok looked so sexy when he was a little dishevled. And he was at that moment, his hair a little messy and scruffy from what looked like where he had run his fingers through it. Raife sighed.

"I'm not blaming anything on you, yet," he pointed out. Then he swept his hand around and scratched his head. "Babe, those file folders of mine, the ones with all the account numbers, everything...did you see where I stuck them? I can't access them on the computers, I think we've gotten a bug from this hellhole of a place..." he paused, glancing around him. His karma was so off, it was ignorant. He rubbed one eye.

"Something is amuck around here, Lok, I just don't know what it is..." he paused to flop back in a chair, and cradle his temple in his hand. He couldn't help but wonder what he was getting his lover into. He had a mind right then and there to give it up. But he couldn't. He could never let things go...ever. He leaned back and looked up at Lok. He immediately knew that half of his bad karma was coming from his little boy. He cocked and eyebrow.

"What's wrong, doll?" he asked, his voice quieter now than it had been, now that he could sit down and catch his breath. "Did you go through the accounts?"

[Lok Yeh]

Lok's stomach sank. Something was missing? Files that were vital and important to security breeches. Where was the last time he had seen that damn inventory paper? He thought hard and furrowed his brow, pacing slightly as he did when he tried to think, trying to keep his mind off of how well this could all go or how horrible it could end up. Raife's voice brought him out of his daze.

"Huh?" He sighed. "Oh, yeah I was fooling with some things. Look, I don't know what you did with them, hun." He bit his lower lip and tilted his head. "They'll turn up soon. We just need to both take a moment to rest and relax." Lord knew Lok did after all that jaw grinding and heart stopping he did while working around.

"We must have a bug in the system." He said with a frown, taking a seat next to Raife. "Some things were out of place in the accounts. I am fixing them now." He looked over at his husband and smiled, if anyone could make him feel better it was him. He leaned over and gave him a kiss.

"We need a vacation."

[Raife Christianson]

Raife blew a strand of hair out of his face and smiled over at Lok, nodding emphatically.

"Say that three more times..." he said, looking around absentmindedly, as if the papers would just show up somewhere at his feet. "I need two weeks of nothing but your naked body and the sound of your voice..." he said, throwing Lok a wink as he got up and crouched down to go through a stack of papers he missed when he had first come into the cockpit. He searched through them, but his mind was now elsewhere. "Naboo's gorgeous this time of year..." he said, a little more to himself than his lover.

After a moment, his mind seemed to catch up with what Lok had said. He turned, standing straight, his brow furrowed. He walked back over to where Lok was, and crouched next to his chair, giving his hand a kiss before looking up at him.

"A bug in the system?"

[Lok Yeh]

Lok lauhged at that thought, highly entertained. Why not, after all this mess was done with, go to Naboo and have a little fun of just doing nothing but exploring each other and spending elaborate amounts of money on nothing but fancy foods and wines. It sounded great, so great it made him forget all about that little problem, until Raife forced its return.

"Oh, nothing." He said waving a hand trying to downplay the problem. "Some money is being counted as absent. I have done the math, though, it is fine. We can just get some guy to come fix it and we'll be back to normal again." He looked at Raife and smiled reassuringly, although he himself wished he could have been fooled.

"Nothing that a little time can't fix. It'll be fine."

[Raife Christianson]

Raife raised an eyebrow. For a moment he didn't believe him, but he trusted Lok. He smiled and stood, leaning down over the other man, his hands anchored on either side of the man on the arm rests. He gave him a kiss and then nodded.

"Alright, then, I trust you know what you're talking about. I suck at math. I'll get on finding somebody to fix it. And I'm sure those files are around here..." he said, glancing over his shoulder. "I'm just out of it recently...I swear I'm so off it's weird..." he said. He chewed his lip for a moment before turning back and kissing Lok once more before standing straight.

"I'm gonna go take a breather and have a smoke. I'm gonna get to work on the statistics of this whole mess this evening. God willing, this will be over with and we'll be on for that vacation by tomorrow evening, okay, Doll?"

He smiled, turning and heading back down the hall. He sure hoped Lok was not lying about a bug in the system. Of course, he didn't know why his lover would lie about it. Then again, there were a lot of lies going around recently, between everyone.

[Lok Yeh]

Lok smiled, feeling so bad for lying to him about the money situation, but he didn't want Raife to be worrying about it or getting mad at him had he done something incredibly stupid. Not when tension was already high. He wanted to, for a split second, to blame it somehow on that little thug Evan and his stupid sister, but they weren't equipped with doing such things like stealing files and erasing money.

So, who was? His mind hoarded with faces and names, nothing stood out, until he remembered those two they had crossed paths with prior to this incident. That guy and asian girl, both stalking out prey that was already marked for Raife and Lok.

He sighed, angered that it very well could have been him. The little....he heard his com in the other room ringing and he stood.

"be back." He stated before jogging down the halll to retreive it. The voice on the other end sent shivers down his spine. That little coniving man he had ran into. Dove Goldman.

[Hitomi Lawson]

Hitomi had been against contacting the Chink and his uglyass boyfriend. But Dove wanted to. She thought it would have been better to let them squrim for a little longer before contacting them to tell them how to get the money back. Of course, neither of them really wanted to hang around here any longer than they had to.

She was standing on the other side of the room, listening as the com connected with the Chinese boy's. She was listening, wanting to hear Dove be all big and bad because she thought it was hot.

Hitomi wished they weren't here anymore. She wished they were on their way to collect the bounty and could just leave this whole nightmare behind them. But no, she had to get scared and make things more difficult than they already were. She glanced over her shoulder. Sure, their extended stay had allowed her to get her feelings for her partner off her chest, which felt much better. But still, this had been nothing but a hardship since they had gotten there.

[Dove Goldman]

"Yes. I have it. You can get it back, too. Just give me and my girl a little help and you can have extra on top of what I stole." The man on the other end quickly flew off the handle speaking quickly in Chinese, which he figured were swear words, and it made him grin to know that the man couldn't do a damn thing about this situation except, accept.

"Now, now! Be good and you will get it back. If you refuse, well, you aren't getting a penny." More curses. "I take it that is a yes? Good. You tell your husband the problem, tell him we all go into the hospital ward, guns blazing, take what we need and get the hell out. It can go smoothly or can go badly. Your pick." With that he hung up and sighed. Stress levels were out of the roof and he was ready to get this done with. He was feeling so old.

He turned and looked for Hitomi, his sexy kitten, and wanted to tell her the good news that they were all in business.

[Hitomi Lawson]

Hitomi listened to the conversation and grinned to herself, looking at herself in the mirror, observing her curves in the t-shirt and shorts she was wearing. It was a half-hearted attempt to look preoccupied until Dove felt the urge to share with her what had gone down, if everything was going to go as he planned.

She clipped her hair back and walked out of the bathroom in to where Dove was. He smiled and leaned her hip against the doorframe, crossing her arms across her chest and lifting an eyebrow.

"And?" she said, watching him. "Everything going down like you wanted, dear?"

[Dove Goldman]

"As always. He is going to go tell his little lambikens the plan. Lok is either going to die at the hands of his husband or we will be hearing from them a bit later on." He moved close to her and almost towered over her, pushing himself against her to lean down and give her a kiss, enjoying the fact that he no longer had thsi sick secret desire to be with her. It was out in the open and she had actually felt the same way.

For a man who always got what he wanted, whether it be by fate or intimidation, he was still a bit surprised that she had felt the same feelings in return. But he wasn't complaining, not one little bit.

[Hitomi Lawson]

Hitomi couldn't help but laugh against his mouth, leaning away a little, her back pressed against the doorframe as he pressed up against her a little. She couldn't believe how much taller he was than she. She hadn't ever realized it before--probably because she was always trying to see him as a best friend. But now that the skunk was on the table, and they didn't have to pretend like they didn't like each other, she realized his more manly properties.

She was particularly fond of his chest.

"You're so talented, Dove," she said, sarcastically. "I'm betting we'll be hearing from them in no time, hm?" she said, pulling on his shirt a little to pull his lips down her to hers. After a moment, she leaned back away. "So when were you thinking we pull this rabbit out of our hat? If they are going to be in on it all, we'll all need to do a little joint planning."

[Dove Goldman]

Dove moaned deeply as they parted, he loved being taller than her, bigger than her, it made him feel powerful and made him realize how much he was going to enjoy taking care of her every need.

"That, my love, is my next plan. Whenever he calls, we will set up a meeting and we will all figure out how to kill the pain in my behind. Those Lawson's...their time is almost up." He grinned.

"I am sure this will be a grande adventure."

[Conner Laurey]

__________

Her goal was not this ratty colony, nor the strange things that had been going on. She didn't like it here. Not one singular bit. It was dirty, and smelly and raunchy in every sense of the word. The bars were no good, the people in them even worse. Not one thing about this place was appealing. Not one person in this place was appealing.

Conner Laurey was a person who didn't expect much out of her surroundings. Honestly, she wasn't a high maintainance person, she could usually find a way to live anywhere. She lived on her ship, The Titan most of the time anyway, and it certainly wasn't anything special. But a place like this, even for the young bounty hunter, was just a little too on the cockroachy side for her.

Her best friend, and co-worker, Atticus Abe, seemed to fit right in, as he was a little on the weird side himself. He'd been running all over the place since they had all-but crashed there that morning. The worst morning of Conner's life.

Her ship, though nice and reliable, had some sort of inner working problem that she had been staving off for quite some time. No mechanic seemed to be able to identify the problem specifically. Oh sure, they had found other minor problems surrounding it, but they hadn't yet hit the nail on the head and gotten down to the big problem.

The mechanics here were the just the same. They had been giving her "educated guesses" all damn day, but none of them were seeming to help anything. Her ship was still dead on his feet.

Throwing a glance over her shoulder as she took a drink of her alcohol, Conner watched a few drunk patrons be escorted out of the small establishment. She snorted a little, knocking some blonde hair out of her face. There weren't even any attractive women to stare at. Conner knew that if the mechanics at the dock couldn't figure out what was wrong with her ship, she'd have to find someone else. She groaned.

Who she'd find...she wasn't sure...

[Orange Diren]

Orange, for the lack of a better word, was going through cabin fever. She was bored, agitated, tired, really tired of looking at Jiro and Ren, and even more so she wanted to go out and have some fun. She had the other girls, but there was something setting her apart from them. They were happy-go-lucky, had no problems, and were seemingly enjoying their time in the hospital. Orange, however, was just wondering if she should have even come here to check up on her friend knowing that she was strong and would get through all of this mess. The others just seemed to cling to her as if she were going to die at any minute.

Orange sighed as she pulled her dangerously low black cargo pants up above her sparkly pink thong. She didn't know why she still wore those things, Jiro wasn't around to show appreciation, but for some reason she liked having the thing straps riding high above the pants. She grabbed her room key and walked out of the room. She was needing a drink, a good time, and something to do while on this ridiculous station. She hated it. Hated everything about it.

Being of the moody type, not having something to do was very aggravating. Sitting around looking pretty was not something she was fond of doing and since she wasn't working at the moment considering she came here...she was definitiely needing something good to happen, which was why she had been scowering the place to find some bar. Thankfully she had found one and that was where she was going now despite her tank top and cargo pants apparel. Dressing up for a bar was not of great importance to her anymore.

She sighed out as she wandered throughout the station and finally managed to find the bar and walked in. Dark lights, clouds of smoke, blaring music, adn loud voices made her feel refreshed. Thank God there was a good drinking haven here because had there not been Orange would literally end up killing people.

[Conner Laurey]

Conner took the last swig of her drink and laid down the money for another one. She watched the bartender walk down the row with her glass to get her more. For a long moment, she stared into the mirror, not seeing the reflections, just staring through them.

Until she saw a bright red mop of hair. Her eyes came into focus and she observed the thin woman walking through the door. Furrowing her brow a little, she turned to look over her shoulder a little to peer at the small redhead coming through the door. She looked harried, yet pretty at the same time. She walked slowly into the bar and Conner watched her, noting that her cargos were riding so low on her hips that Conner could see a little of her pink underwear on her. Conner's eyebrows popped a little and she averted her eyes, afraid her mouth might drop open.

She glanced at the bartender as he gave her her drink and then went to help the young woman who came through. Conner discreetly looked at the redhead in the mirror on the back wall.

[Orange Diren]

Orange sighed out as she walked over to the bar, not finding anyone or anything of importance except a lot of drunkards who were in need of a good strong drink, much like herself. She pulled out a few bills from her pocket and she slid onto one of the high stools, glancing around the room to try and find someone who looked interesting enough to stare at or talk to, but she didn't see anything, except when a large Twi'Leck moved out of the view of the bar, which lead her eyes to the thin, buxom blonde bombshell having a drink by herself, at least she looked alone.

That was odd, why the hell was that woman so special all of a sudden? Perhaps it was because she was a knockout and Orange did appreciate sexy looking people. She sighed out and pursed her lips as she looked at the tender standing in front of her.

"Uh, whiskey, please." She smiled lowly and leaned on her elbows, sitting dangerously close to the edge of the barstool, a small draft causing her to resituate her pants. Why did she actually want to be looked at? Perhaps it was her lack of sexual activity. For one who used to make a living doing it one did begin to miss it after several years, in her case months, of abstinence.

[Conner Laurey]

Conner drank slowly and languidly, keeping her eye on that redhead in the mirror. She could have just looked over at her, but looking in the mirror was a little more discreet than just all out gawking over at her.

Conner couldn't imagine having that haircolor on herself, yet somehow it worked for this young woman. She was petite, with nice legs, and and a beautiful face. Conner couldn't really see much else, but from what she had seen when the woman walked in, she was definately a looker.

And probably straight as an arrow.

[Orange Diren]

Orange grabbed the drink and smiled, thanking the man lowly, sighing out as she took a drink of the liquid fire. She hissed at a small sip and slowly turned on the stool to look around, people watching something she highly enjoyed, plus it was an old habit on trying to single out who was a threat and who wouldn't wanted to be messed with. Last time she did that, well she had the scar to prove it. She suddenly became aware of it and slightly pulled her tank top over it, covering the almost visible crack of her hiney. She sighed out and leaned back, elbows on the edge of the bar, scowering the room with her eyes. Although she saw many people of importance, her eye kept traveling over to the woman at the bar. She was hot, ridiculously so and it was bothering Orange. But she figured a sexy female friend would get more attention than just one sexy single female. She suddenly craved a cigarette and also gave her the excuse to go chat with the woman.

Orange grabbed her drink and slowly scooted off the chair and looked behind the bar. Damn, she thought, she was so short. She sighed and made her way to the empty stool next to the woman.

"Anyone sitting here?" She questioned, taking a seat anyhow. "You wouldn't happen to have a smoke, yeah?" She raised an eyebrow, her english accent popping out more than usual. She had begun to lose it while living with Jiro and the other family, but for some reason it came out ridiculously noticeable.

[Conner Laurey]

Conner jumped a little when the small woman came over and took a seat, giving her no time to say whether anyone was sitting there. Though, in fact, no one was. Conner turned towards her a little before smiling.

"Yeah, right here, mate," she said, digging in her back pocket. Conner had been born and raised in the Stonehenge District of Coruscant, meaning her British accent was thick and spot on. She pulled out the cigarettes and tapped one out, proferring one to the woman before sticking one in her own mouth. She fished her lighter out and tossed it to the redhead.

Conner watched her as she lit her cigarette and gave it back, allowing for Conner to do the same. Conner lit hers and stuffed her lighter back into her pocket, taking a drag of her cigarette and then a drink of her alcohol. After a moment, she nodded and stuck out her hand.

"Name's Conner."

[Orange Diren]

Orange liked the way she talked, it was so nice to hear someone with a common accent. She had been getting agitated with the Spanish accent from Asher, the Japanese accents, sadly, from the Lawson's, it was just good to hear someone with the same voice. Although herse was sexier. She was sexier. For a moment Orange paused in her thought process, did she just think that? Orange felt the right side of her mouth curl and she couldn't help but find that thought highly enjoyable.

"Ah, Conner." Orange looked at her hand and kept the cigarette on the edge of her lips and took her hand, shaking it firmly. "Nice to meet you, Conner, my name is Orange." She laughed lightly and pulled the cigarette out of her mouth to blow out a thin line.

"Thanks for the smoke. I have been trying to quit, needless to say...didn't work." She smiled. Was she flirting? Again she laughed. "Thanks for helping me aid my addiction." Her eyes went from her eyes to her mouth, then, on reflex, to her boobs. Which, she noticed, were nice.

"What are you doing in a place like this, hmm?" She frowned softly bring her eyes back to where the belonged, her beautiful eyes.

[Conner Laurey]

Now, Conner had been a lesbian for a really long time. And if she wasn't mistaken, this woman had just checked out her boobs! Conner wanted to laugh out loud and say, "You can have a squeeze if you want!" But instead, sucked sucked in a breath of smoke and then sighed it out away from the woman's face so she didn't blow it in her eyes or up her nose.

"My ship broke down finally. Got 'im hooked up at the dock...mechanics tryin' to find out what's wrong with him," she said, waving vaguely in the direction of the dock. She paused in her speech to watch a man walk in, appearing as if he were looking for someone. After a moment, she looked back, tilting her head.

"Orange is an interesting name...you get that from a family member...or?"

[Orange Diren]

Orange smoked away, loving the taste of the cigarette, it had been so long and it was worth savouring. She dashed her ashes and blew out a line of smoke and glanced up at the woman, raising an eyebrow.

"I got it when I was little. My hair. It was a nickname and it stuck." She laguehd lightly. "I am an orphan, so no true name to be quite honest." She smiled and drew in a deep breath of the cigarette and enjoyed the smoke that ran into her body. Hey, she figured you gotta die of something. She nodded her head in the direction of the port she had waved her hand at indirectly.

"Ship, huh?" She frowned and felt the sting of smoke in her eyes when she moved her cigarette down. "You know, people here are incompetent." She laughed mildly, looking at the woman. Damn, she was so hot. Orange had always considered herself straight, but if she be damned if this woman wasn't making her want to just turn the other way around. Then again, with Orange, it would have been expected considering of her inability to stick with things for very long. Rash decisions being her middle name.

"I hate it here. It is just beyond my comprehension as to how horrible it is." She continued, "I don't work here, but back on Coruscant I am head mechanic. If you would like," Her eyes went right back to her body and it's sexy figure. "I can...check it out for you." Now, normally this tactic was used to get a man into bed and get her money, but for some reason she was using her perversions on this woman, it was like second nature, and she hadn't meant it the way it came out, but it was still amusing to her.

"I am good with my hands."

[Conner Laurey]

Conner had heard it all. In her life so far, she had heard things she never would say herself. But in her years, she had not yet heard quite that tactic.

"I'll just bet you are," she muttered to herself, crushing her ashes in the ash tray and smiling at the bartender as he came around and got her empty glass. She didn't pay for another one. Atticus would be mad if she was smashed that evening. Leaning back a little, she watched the woman closely for a moment.

"Head mechanic's hard to ignore..." she paused. "And you're right, these people here are..." she stopped not wanting to go into the cursing rage she had pulled on Atticus that morning when they were literally falling out of the sky. Instead, she shook her head. "Anyway, that'd be fine if ya got the time..." she paused. She popped an eyebrow.

"What are you doing here, anyway? Here for vacation?"

[Orange Diren]

Orange, surprisingly, felt incredible that she had accepted the offer, however she realized it didn't sound much like a professional job, more like a pick up. She hissed mentally and figured if she didn't catch it then great. Although, inside, she felt a little pang of disappointment. Orange couldn't beleieve what she herself was thinking. There was no way in hell she was attracted to this woman and was trying to pick her up without really knowing it. She began to ponder, she had, in the past, played around with bisexualism, but never got a huge grasp on it, then again she had met Haruko at that time and was servicing him and then became obsessed with him. Now, she was single, perhaps it wouldn't be a bad time to pick up another old habit.

She grinned at the woman, not even halfway done with her smoke considering the lenght of time it had been since she had one. Much like the lenght of time it had been since she had "relations".

"Bah," Orange waved a hand in front of her face, annoyed that she was so annoyed with the dire situation. "A friend of mine is hiding here for, God knows what reason, and I wanted to see how she was. I am beginning to think that idea was rather stupid on my part." She looked around with a half interested glare, her interest mainly on that woman sitting right in front of her.

"She has an entire army of people here looking after her, husband, in-laws, friends, acquaintances, I think I am wasting my time here." She laughed and looked over at the woman, trying her best to keep her eyes in one place, but it was too hard to just not stare at her. She was a fox. Orange wanted to kill herself. What the hell, if she wasn't more in a mood to be in a lesbian than what the hell....

"Bloody hell," She laughed, finally putting out her cigarette. "I sound like a horrid person, don't I? A friend who would rather be somewhere else than by my friends bedside?" She smiled. "Guess I am not much of a friend."

[Conner Laurey]

Conner listened closely. Hm. She wondered if this army of people and the people looking for this person was the reason that all this chaos was occuring around here. It had been non-stop since they had gotten off the ship. People running around, everyone seeming to know one another. It was like one tiny disturbance had the whole place in emotional upheaval.

Conner could relate to Orange's need to be away from here. In all her life, Conner had never had that attachment to anyone to stick around by their bedside. Besides her brother and Atticus, all bets were off. She had few friends, it seemed hard for her to make any. Besides she was an advocate for tough love. Either you got over it, or you were alone. She had always been that way. It was why some of her relationships had ended so badly.

They had needed someone to take care of them. And she couldn't.

"Eh, don't worry 'bout it, mate," she said, crossing her legs. "If she has an army, ain't no point in you being here, I think."

[Orange Diren]

"Glad to see I am not alone." She smiled. That, in Orange's mind, was an incredible record for smiling. She had done it too many times with this woman. Somehow it was absolutely fine to her as well.

"So, aside from landing in this crap hole, where were you headed? I cannot imagine anyone being destined to come here. I would rather take a cigarette cherry in my eye." She took a drink of her whiskey and frowned, that burn being harder than she remembered.

"Are you here alone? With a boyfriend?"

[Conner Laurey]

Conner watched her cringe a little when she took a drink. Conner crossed her arms and laughed, waving a hand.

"No, I did not mean to land here. Like I said, we have a ship issue that we have been sidestepping, and we were on our way back to Coruscant when it finally caught up with us," she explained. "We happened to crash here in hopes the mechanics could get rid of our problems..." she paused and then smiled. "And as for a boyfriend...I'm just here with my best friend, Atticus Abe. I haven't had a boyfriend since I was little." She smiled cordially.

"So you say you're head mechanic? You own the shop?"

[Orange Diren]

Orange nodded, understanding the woman's disposition. How bad that sucked to be there. Orange looked around out of relfex, trying to keep her mind on thoughts other than the attractiveness of this woman, plus at how weird it felt to actually be acknowledging that she had thought of the gorgeousness, even more so the fact that she wasn't borhtered by it. Which, when had she ever felt weird about finding poeple sexy? Never, so, there. SHe needed to stop thinking about it, yet at the same time she didn't want to.

"Me?" She looked back at Conner and smiled, playing with the rim of her glass by tracing her left index finger around it. She shook her head and scrunched her nose. "No, I haven't been that lucky. I work independently for a high price, but I recently took a job on Coruscant as the head mechanic during nights, since I was dragged there after a bad love life decision." She raised her eyebrows and let out a slightly laugh.

"Let me say bad decision a little more." She smiled and looked at her cup then the bartender and waved her hand for another, despite it only being half full. But, on that note of reminscing about Jiro, she grabbed the cup and quickly downed it. Sighing as it slid down her throat. She gave Conner a sideways glance as she sat the, now delightfully empty, tumbler glass down.

"Love is a biotch."

[Conner Laurey]

Conner smiled. How true it was. Although, Conner's recent relationships had been short flings that didn't last too long. Not for lack of trying either. Conner had just never been compatible with the people she seemed to draw--clingy women, who needed someone to taek care of them.

Conner noted the slight change in the woman's eyes. She was obviously thinking of her most recent boyfriend, which seemed to be a painful, or angering memory. Though which, Conner was not quite certain and was sure she would never be. Shaking her head, she watched Orange down the rest of her drink and then smiled.

"Yeah. It sucks," she said, shrugging. "Why I've been out of it so long."

[Orange Diren]

Orange nodded, she should have been but the need to be with someone seemed ot keep her hghly motivated.

"Understandble. Rightfully so," She grabbed the new glass of whiskey and smiled. "I am sure a fox like you has to take time off from dating, you probably ever have time to breathe whenever in a relationship." SHe stopped there. Stating the fact, openly, that Orange found her ridiculously hot...that would still need another drink before those words, that word really, slipped out her lips.

Speaking of lips...Orange was loving her mouth. Actually anything and everything.

[Conner Laurey]

Conner's eyebrows popped a little, before she grinned. She hadn't expected that, but getting that sort of a compliment from a woman as pretty as this...Conner wasn't complaining!

"Ha," she said, waving a hand and sliding down off of her chair. She pulled her pants up on her hips so that nothing fell out when she headed out. She glanced at the bartender and smiled. She wanted to go hunt Atticus down so she could make sure he hadn't gotten banged yet by one of the guys hanging around here. She glanced at Orange.

"You up for a walk, dear?"

[Orange Diren]

Orange watched her slid off the stool, not checking her out of course.....not. She sighed out and took a quick hit of what was left in that glass and figured she'd be feeling the effects very soon, so it was untelling what in the hell she would state to this woman now. Not that she wasn't enjoying being this open with her, it was a nice change of pace in her life. Adventurous and fun, too.

"Walk." She repeated as she, too, slid off the table and pulled her pants up, as far as they'd go before sliding past her thong again. Dam, she should have worn a belt. But she couldn't help but feel a bit good about herself by the stares she got. That was just Orange. Attention is what she loved and what she loved giving.

"Absolutely." She stated with a smile, a bit annoyed at her shortness when she realized how tall the woman was. Well she was average, but still, to Orange it was like a giant. Needless to say, she kind of liked it.

[Conner Laurey]

Conner grinned and nodded, flipping back a long bit of hair that fell down into her face. She walked towards the door, assuming that Orange would follow if she desired to.

Walking out into the makeshift street, she stepped out of the way of two people who didn't bother to excuse themselves and just wafted past her briskly. She paid them no mind, just slid her hands down into the pockets of her pants and glanced around.

She glanced over her shoulder to see Orange coming up behind her and she began to walk again, tilting her head back a little so that the other woman could hear her.

"So you fly in here on your own ship?"

[Orange Diren]

"Ah," Orange frowned, trying her best to keep up with her long strides, short legs weren't very good to walk with. Plus, her pants were trying to fall and that was just not working for her. "No, actually. I hitched a ride, so to speak, with my ex-boyfriend and his lover. Amongst others." She looked up at the woman and skipped slightly to be beside her.

Wasn't that little bit too personal? Information that she didn't need to be giving out to complete strangers? Oh well, it wasn't like these two would ever see each other again after that ship of her's was fixed and, although Orange didn't want to gloat, if she had anything to do with it, it'd be done in two days.

[Conner Laurey]

Conner nodded, looking around her nonchalantly. In fact, it may have been too personal a question, but Conner had just been fishing to see if the woman owned her own ship. Besides, Conner didn't really care, she was trying to make small talk. She figured if she was going to have this woman fix her ship, then she might as well talk to her a little.

Sliding her hands all the way down into her pockets, she quieted and continued to walk, her direction vaguely pointed towards the port. Her mind was everywhere at once. She was wondering where exactly Atticus was, whether or not the mechanics had made any headway with her ship, when exactly she'd be getting off this ignorant colony.

Her ears pricked a little when Orange said she had come here with her ex-boyfriend and his lover. It was a strange way to put it. Why hadn't she said, her ex-boyfriend, and his new girlfriend? She glanced over curiously, but didn't ask. It wasn't exactly her business.

She was just nosey.

[Orange Diren]

Orange looked up at the woman and smiled, the look on her face told her all.

"His old, new boyfriend." She said with a grin. "Yeah, you might not give a flying rats behind, but he and I broke up and he went back to his old boyfriend. Should have known." She shook her head and sighed out, hooking her thumbs in the belt loops of her pants and looked around. She was highly enjoying this conversation.

"I have bad luck with men. I am thinking about just giving them up completely!" She laughed lightly, half of this statement being true. She figured women would be more understanding, caring, what not...but she never actually thought about it. If she were ever propositioned she wondered how she would react. Certainly this woman would be a perfect specimen to try it out on, however the way she swung was most definitely towards the male species. She had to have been. Look at her!

[Conner Laurey]

Conner grinned at the volunteered information. Ahh...the old boyfriend-going-gay trick. It happened sometimes. Obviously if he was an old-new boyfriend, then the guy was gay before he met Orange, and it just took Orange to make him realize this...which didn't say much for Orange. Although, Conner couldn't imagine why anyone would leave Orange. Not only was she just...hot, she was pleasant to be around, seemed like a spunky, sweet girl. Perhaps a little hotheaded--if Conner read people right--but what could you expect from a redhead? Conner liked her.

"Men?" Conner said, waving a hand. "Gave up on them years ago. Sounds like your ex was the winner of them all. She said, glancing down at the woman. She laughed out loud. "Give them up, honey. They are much more trouble than they are worth!" she said, winking.

[Orange Diren]

Orange wanted to laugh, but didn't. What the hell? Normally she would be in stitches, but it went to prove her wrong, this woman...yeah....totally lesbian. Somehow, that actually made Orange happy.

"I should." She stated lowly, frownign as if this were trivia. "I just never thought that I would ever come to this point in my life where I was actually considering that something was wrong with me." There, she started to laugh. That little side swiped information that was abundantly clear about Conner's sexuality, it was easier to handle now that she took a moment to process it.

"I dunno," She shrugged her shoulder. "I just haven't found satisfactory things. This guy, my ex, cheated on me, I cheated on him, needless to say we weren't meant to be, thank god!"

[Conner Laurey]

Conner nodded, watching her as she talked. Conner understood that releif of being away from someone. Her ex, a waitress at a high end restaurant on Coruscant, was one of the hottest women Conner had ever dated. Skinny with legs that never quit, she was tan and brownheaded, with the most stunning blue eyes. An absolute knockout, Conner had thought she'd hit the jackpot with that woman.

She was sweet, funny, smart, and the sex was amazing. But the woman was so clingy, it had gotten to the point that Conner couldn't just get some alone time. The woman always had to be there, she was suspicious of where Conner was going, what she was doing and who with. It had gotten to the point where they hated each other so badly, they were looking for stupid things to fight about, just so one or the other of them would finally end their misery.

When it finally had ended, Conner had never been so happy in her life. She could understand that total releif of never having to see that person in a romantic way ever again. Never having to deal with the things about them that you hated.

"I hear you, mate," she said, nodding over at Orange. "Well, you're free of him now. You should explore being single."

[Orange Diren]

Orange laughed. How the options were limited with that phrase.

"I should. I think I need to be a little more daring!" She looked at the woman and gave her a soft smile. This woman, as little as she knew about her, was a very good acquaintance. She thought she was wise, beyond her years perhaps, and offered good advice, as far as Orange's love life was concerned. How she wanted to explore. ANything, everything! She needed to get back into old habits that she used to enjoy before she threw it all away for Haruko, although it was willingly tossing things aside, she figured she deserved a break from her dull routine life.

"I say, this is probably the most exciting thing I have done since I've been here on this God foresaken place."

[Conner Laurey]

Conner laughed out loud. She nodded emphatically.

"Yeah, you're the most interesting person I've met here," she said, waving her arms vaguely around, indicating the whole colony. She smiled and looked back ahead of them. They were rounding the corner into the ports. Grabbing the door into the main office--Conner hated having to go through it to get to the ships--she opened it up for Orange and waited for her to go through before following her in.

Crossing the room, she opened the other door too, allowing Orange through first. When they made their way into the noisy port, she scanned the ships for her own, The Titan, a sleek blue ship she had bought and fixed up with her own money. When she spotted it, she pointed it out to Orange.

"That's the old boy you'll be working on."

[Orange Diren]

Orange looked over at Connner, raising her eyebrow, looking around before spotting the sleek blue ship that called to Orange like a siren. She smiled and quickly walked over to it just so she could run her hand along it. That, by far, was the sexiest piece of machinary she had seen in a while.

"Ah," She said in approval. "He's gorgeous. I think he and I will have a nice time together." She laughed lightly and turned around to face the powerhouse walking towards her. The sexy woman she had become quite fond of.

"I think, if all else fails," She jerked her head back indicating the ship behind her. "I'll always have machines to pleae me." She winked that statement meaning to be as perverted as possible. If she was needing to open her options she needed to let a few old habits jump back into her life, perversion was the frontrunner in it all, but she knew she should control it until she knew her limits. Offending the wrong people wouldn't be the wisest of things at this place

[Conner Laurey]

Conner laughed. The statement was perverted in a very nonperverted manner. She loved it. Being perverted was one of her favorite pasttimes. Especially with Atticus. She nodded at Orange and leaned against the hull of the ship.

"I'm afraid he's already lost his virginity to me, and Atticus raped him a couple times," she said with a grin.

"Raped whom?" came a voice from behind her. Turning, she saw the tall, black haired, black cloaked, skinny man leaning out of the door of the ship. Looking extremely heterosexual today, he was grinning like a Cheshire Cat. Conner turned a little, waving at Orange.

"This is my friend Atticus Abe," she said. "Atticus, this is Orange. She's gonna fix our love child," Conner said, patting the hull. Glancing back at Orange, she beckoned to her. "C'mon, I'll show you to the engine room, and then tell you about the issues we're having."

Moving up the ramp and past Atticus, she turned to her immediate left towards the lift to the engine room.

[Orange Diren]

Orange laughed at the statement, the image of somehow losing virginity to this woman was a very welcomed offer, too bad she had already been deprived of her V-Card for quite some time now. She looked over at the new pleasant face and said hello before following Conner up the ramp to be shown the issues. She was excited, for many reasons, she was with people who actually made her smile instead of agitated, she was going to get to work with her hands, and was definitely going to get to do it on this wonderful ship, which looked rather expensive. If Orange had ten minutes in the engine room she could roughly estimate the price of the ship.

"Sounds like a plan." She stated lowly, looking at the ground breifly to walk up the ramp, the moment she looked up the only thing she noticed being the nice round behind going from side to side with the woman's steps. Hmm, Orange was definitely finding new horizon's in short time. She just might have to try out a new kind of species of love before this night was over if she wasn't careful.

[Conner Laurey]

Conner, unaware of the intentions on her body, lead Orange down to the engine room. The engine was off now, but there were still a few hums from the things that did continue to run even when the ship was off. It was still hot as hell down there--Conner couldn't think of a time it wasn't--and she thanked God, she had worn a wifebeater instead of a good shirt so she wouldn't sweat on it.

"Right...in here," she said, ducking under some of the railing to hop onto the cylinders that were giving them problems. She moved over to give Orange room to get in there, and then she crouched down. "I like ships, and I'd like to fancy myself knowledgable on them, but these things have got me stumped..." she paused to look up.

"I can have Atticus rev the ship up, considering you can only tell the problem when the ship is running."

[Orange Diren]

Orange followed, happily so as well, a new ship was like having sex with a new person and she always fancied sex with someone new considering she wasn't exactly sure what they would like, or want, crave or demand, it was exhilirating and rush that Orange never wanted to replace. Any moment, with all these wires and pipes, she just might scream out with joy. But, she refrained, at least until people were out of earshot. This thought made her grin as she squatted next to Conner, smelling her scent that was very feminine. She wasn't sure if this was perfume or natural smell or just shampoo. Either way, it smelled good, soft, supple, much like the woman herself.

"Hmm," She said slitting her eyes, glancing around at the engine seeing nothing visibly wrong. She knew that it could, and most likely was, internal. "Sure thing. It'll get extremely hot in here, I must warn. If you want, I can go ahead and take off the panel covering and take a look inside if you have tools handy?" She looked over at Conner and smiled. Damn it, she didn't need to get hotter than she already was. She was about to be set ablaze by Conner's face and the fact that she was thinking carnal, but either way she wasn't trying to stop it so she must quit mentally complaining.

"I mean, unless you are busy. I would just love to get my hands a little dirty, afterall it has been sooo long." She sang the end, shaking her head slightly with a seductive grin that she herself didn't realize she was giving the woman. Ultimately it was becoming clear, Orange wanted this woman hot and wanted to see her sweat. Surprisingly, this thought, was beginning to cause her to sweat as well.

[Conner Laurey]

Conner just laughed, unhooking her com from her hip and dialing up her friend. Atticus answered a moment later, speaking to her in Huttese--their preferred language--after Basic it was the most widely spoken--and she asked him to start the ship up.

After whining a moment, he was out and Conner hooked the com back on her pants. She shifted her weight from one foot to the other, looking back over at Orange.

"Well," she said, moving by the other woman. She reached up in the cubbyhole above the engines, usually reserved for oil rags and a few tools. She pulled out a toolbox and dropped it onto the engine. "We have a few tools here. Enough to pull the panel off. Anything else you'll need, we have to move up and get them out of the tool room around the catwalks," she explained, pointing up above them.

Suddenly, the engine roared to life underneath them. It growled so loudly, Conner could suddenly barely hear herself think. Her legs trembled underneath her as the engine quivered and made them feel like jelly a little. Once she finally got her bearings, she covered the ear that was not pointed towards Orange and pointed down to the engine.

"Hear the squealing!" she called over the roar of the engine. It was making the same God-awful sound it had started when they nearly fell out of space and into hell. She shook her head. "I can't tell what chamber it's coming from!"

Conner stood straight, watching as Orange bent to dig into the tools. Observing every movement of her body, Conner took that moment judge Orange's looks.

Honestly, she didn't look too bad. Short though she was, her skin was flawless, smooth and light, completely touchable. Her eyes, a green like Conner had never seen, clashed fashionably with her bright red hair. Her hair, in fact, seemed to be an entity of it's own. Silky and long, it was obvious she wasn't a girly girl by the fact that her hair was slightly messy and didn't look like she styled it much.

Her body was in such good proportion, her shoulders and hips the same size as a woman's should be. Her waist was small and sloped gently into full, robust hips and legs that wouldn't quit. Conner couldn't help but notice the perfect shape of her breasts, round and full, neither big or small, a perfect handful. Whoever her ex had been was ignorant for leaving all of that perfect beauty for a dick and pecs. But then again, a lesbian was always partial.

Conner smiled a little.