Like Light to the Flies...

[Barton Henning]

How had it come to this, Barton wondered. He stood in front of the bathroom mirror - in his shoe-box apartment - and tilted his head left and right, checking to make sure that he hadn't missed a bit. Satisfied, he set his shaving razor down. It was the first time in a while that he'd taken a blade to the growing shadow on his chin and although he felt better for it, the gesture did nothing to calm the butterflies in his stomach.

There was a flier on his desk, it said in garishly bright letters: Casino Cumulus. It was his destination for the evening, and the sole reason he was wearing a shirt and tie. Well, perhaps not the sole reason. There was also Harlequin. It was at her request that he had agreed to a 'night on the town'. It had been decided, by the staff of the clinic, that Doctor Henning was sorely in need of some TLC and who better to give it than a beautiful woman like Harlequin?

It was a long walk and a repulsor-lift ride to the casino, so Barton decided to set off ahead of time. He didn't want to be late.

[Harlequin]

She was waiting for him when he stepped out of the repulsor-lift. Her dress shimmered as lights from a thousand different directions hit it, picking up the silver thread woven expertly into the clingy black material and giving the fabric a life of its own. Long, luxurious hair fell over her shoulders contrasting beautifully with the healthy glow of her tanned skin. She looked fabulous, and she knew it. Every head turned to admire her as they passed, but Alex took no notice. She had eyes for one person here tonight and he'd just exited the lift infront of her.

She couldn't believe he'd agreed to accompany her to the Cumulus tonight. She was living a dream she'd harbored for all of her teenage years, and even beyond if she was honest. Barton Henning. Well, hello Doc.

Harlequin stepped forward flashing Henning a brilliant smile. "Well, dont you scrub up nicely" she said, threading an arm through his and leading him forward. She felt the heat of his body through his shirt and felt almost delirious. "I think this is going to be my lucky night" she said, as they each accepted the 50-cred complimentary Sabaac chip token handed out by the doormen.

[Barton Henning]

“Wow.”

What else was there to say? Barton had gotten so used to seeing women in traction or elbow-deep in viscera, that he'd almost forgotten how stunning they could look. Sure, he saw a fair share of pretty girls – most of them, sadly, looking to make it big with the less savory inhabitants of Cloud City – but never anything like Harlequin. Nevermind that he wasn't eloquent at the best of times, now it felt like his tongue had vanished. A chip token was pushed into his hand as the lights and sounds of the casino came to life before him in all its neon glory.

[Harlequin]

The lavish interior of The Cumulus was dazzling - as the majority of casinos are - but without that cheap glitzy feel so many of them tended to generate. Sure, there was the constant background noise litter of chimes and bells ringing from the one-arm bandits declaring their plays, but they weren't as intrusive as most places. The Cumulus focused more on high-stakes tables of chance and the mechanical gambling was more for novelty effect than actual gambling. Most patrons preferred to win or loose their money in the more pampered and upscale setting of subtly lit sabaac or dice tables, sipping Merenzane Gold or Sullustin Gin and betting their fortunes with careless archings of their eyebrows.

"Isn't this place amazing" Alex remarked, a little breathless. She was feeling a little giddy from her rising excitement - Barton's proximty and the intoxicating surroundings of the casino were combining to put her senses on high octane. It had been quite a while since she'd enjoyed a night on the town in such attractive company. She needed to reign herself in a little, she cautioned herself inwardly. "Maybe we should get a drink?" she suggested, "An Ice Blaster sounds pretty good right now, dont you think?"

[Barton Henning]

“An Ice Blaster?” Barton dipped into his mental reservoir of knowledge on alcoholic beverages. After all, you didn't spend years in Cloud City, pumping stomachs, without getting to know just what it was that was sending the local booze-hounds over the edge. Ice Blasters were potent and had a kick that sent shivers down your spine. It wasn't the Doctor's usual drink of choice, but as they say: when in Corellia...

“Sure... this is a special occasion,” he said, not entirely serious. “We owe it to ourselves to drink something suitably flashy.”

[Harlequin]

Alex's smile lit a notch brighter, pleased at Barton's willingness to get into the spirit of the evening. They crossed together to the crowded bar.

Ordering for them both, Harlequin then turned the conversation to old times.

"I had a crush on you, back in the day" she said, proudly. "All of us did" she added, laughing, "but mine was serious. It lasted many, many weeks" She leaned closer so no one could hear, "It used to give Master D'An fits and he lectured me endlessly on the Jedi code.."

[Barton Henning]

Talk of the old days brought a bashful smile to Barton's face, and his cheeks gained a faint flush of color as Harlequin leaned in closer. He found himself glancing away, wondering if anyone might hear them talking – yet there was really no way that anyone listening could have known that they were discussing something so taboo.

“I had my fair share of those too,” he said, then added hastily, “Lectures, I mean.”

[Harlequin]

"I bet" she swaggered, tipping her glass against his with a clink. "The old days" she said, her eyes at first playful, then shifting subtly to a sincere determination that could not be mistaken, "May they never come again"

An understanding moved between the two of them. Harlequin, in one short phrase, had expressed her intentions completely to Henning. The good old days had turned into terrible times for Force Users, Jedi hunted and destroyed by Imperial command. She was joining the fight that those days would never, ever come again.

She tossed the Ice Blaster back in one voracious gulp, and bringing the glass down, her dancing smile was back again.

"Drink up Henning" she grinned, "I plan to get you very drunk tonight"

[Barton Henning]

Barton glanced down at his glass – it was still almost full. He took a big gulp, in earnest, and felt the back of his throat burn. Alcohol hadn't factored a lot into his life, aside from the occasional tumbler of Bespin port after a hard day at work.

“That won't take long.”

He smiled and took another sip, glancing around at the casino. He'd spent so much of his life looking out for other people, either training in the Temple or working in the hospital, that he was having difficulty getting into the spirit of having fun.

[Harlequin]

Alex tipped the bottom of Henning's glass with her fingers, forcing the good doctor to gulp quickly in order avoid unmanly spillage down his shirtfront. "Thats the way, Henning" she endorsed brightly before pulling him by the arm towards the dice tables. "We'll have another round" she called to the waiter as she cut a wake through the milling patrons, Barton gingerly in tow.

"No time to waste you know Henning, all we got's tonight" she said, maneuvering him into a chair and then taking one beside him. Alex tossed her hair, not to be flirty but in order to get down to business. "Chips are on the the blacks and fives" she said, placing her markers on blacks 5 and 55, "Let 'em roll and roost" she grinned broadly to Barton, who was distractedly taking the new drink being pressed into his hand.

[Barton Henning]

Barton watched, bemused, as other bets were placed. When it came to games, his understanding went about as far as chance cubes. Sure, they had played some in the Jedi Temple – but he doubted that any of them would be making an appearance in a casino. Struck by a sudden thought, a worry, he looked to Alex.

“I hope you're playing by the rules,” he said quietly, smiling to show that he didn't truly believe she would cheat.

[Harlequin]

"There are rules?"

She laughed wickedly and watched as the dice stopped on black 9 and 5. Henning gave her an uncertain look, however both of them had their attention drawn away by raised voices from three tables over.

Someone over there was definitely not playing by the rules.

A glass being swept to the floor made a resounding crash, indicating an escalition in the conflict and Alex was on her feet in an instant. She felt Barton place a cautioning hand on her shoulder and for the moment, she stayed where she was.

[Sasseeri Reeouurra]

Sasseeri jabbed a finger at the bank of holoscreens in the main security office. "Do jI need to fjind morrre competent perrrsonnel? They should have that cheaterrr underrr wrrraps alrrready. Look at the scene they'rrre makjing jin my casjino!!" You could almost hear the second exclaimation mark as she shouted.

On the screen closest to her, Sasseeri scowled and watched players scatter as the sabacc player who'd been caught with a skifter tried to make a run for it as security closed in on him. The dealer whacked an enterprising being on the wrist as it tried to scoop chips off the emptied table, and the two guards rounding the table to grab the cheater nearly ran into each other while he broke towards the rows of slot machines.

Angry players were shouting and shoving each other, and any moment now someone was going to remember their hold out blaster and wreck her beautjiful casjino! Sasseeri shouted at her head of security, but there was nothing she could do but watch the drama unfold on the screens. Everything was probably well in hand. Probably. At the very least, the cheater wouldn't be able to leave the casino - the exits had been immediately covered by security officers.

[Harlequin]

Harlequin was torn, she could feel the heat from Henning's palm against her skin and it more than distracted her from the present situation. In what was only seconds, her mind had played out a very nice scenario that moved rapidly from his hand on her shoulder to them sharing breakfast on the tower balcony.

She probably would have done a rework on this scenario in her mind, ending it with an afternoon rather than a morning, but the outbreak of gun-play preempted this indulgence.

The cheater, as was now the obvious reason of the disturbance, was making a run for it, neatly being blocked by the casino security. However, the cheater had not come tonight to play alone. He had atleast two partners who revealed themselves in the subtle manner of blaster-bolts to the head and chest of the two burly guards and before one could shout "refresh the martini's!" lasers were criss-crossing the room with chaotic abandon.

[Barton Henning]

A stray blaster shot screamed over and, on instinct, Barton pulled Alex down into the shadow of the game table. There were cries of surprise and fear, though a handful of voices cut above them all, commanding compliance at the risk of blood-shed. His hand still with a firm hold on Alex's wrist, Barton felt frantic, his breath tight in his chest. A claustrophobic sense of fate pressed heavy on his shoulders, something which he hadn't felt in a long time.

He looked to Alex, only to see that her eyes were darting here and there. He could almost see the mad, daring plan forming in her mind, and the vision of it made him tighten his hold on her wrist. The casino security would deal with this problem... he hoped.

[Harlequin]

"People are gonna get killed!" Alex shouted to Henning, glancing at him quickly then back to the fracus. More security will be on the way, and if she'd thought of that, so too would the gunmen. Harlequin could see the situation escalating to a very deadly level.

"We gotta stop these shutta"

Henning responded by strengthening his grip to keep her down behind cover. This angered Alex who was anything but passive in most situations, and even less so in a conflict.

And then the gunmen had a revelation. More Security would be on the way and the only way they were getting out of this Casino alive was with hostages. They started to grab a body-sheild each. The one's who resisted where quickly shot and exchanged for new ones. Any resistance was short-lived.

Alex didn't think, didn't pause. She just reacted on impulse and stood, wrenching herself from Barton's restraining hold. She stretched out her hand and, engaging the force, threw its energy at the assailants. What she lacked in experienced ability, she made up with passion and the gunmen, and their unfortunate body-sheilds, were thrown back violently across the Casino room. Every onlooker who had been cowereing behind the gaming tables or underneath the plush seating booths drew in an audible gasp. Time seemed to stop. Fear for their lives disovled into terror of seeing such a display of power many had felt had long been eradicated from the galaxy.

Harlequin was breathing heavy, but well-satisfied at punishing the wrong do-ers. Henning was standing beside her, he was breathing heavy also, but the look on his face was nothing like her own. He turned to her slowly, eyes wide and Alex looked from him to those in the room about them.

It was then that the full weight of what she'd done dawned on her and she wasn't quite sure what to do next. "Barton, I--" She found her voice had deserted her suddenly, and she wished very much that he would stop looking at her like that.

[Barton Henning]

Barton felt the swell of terror. It was difficult to distinguish the fear of those around him from the panic rising up inside of himself. All eyes were on them – not just her, but them. Had they marked him guilty by association?

There was no going back now, he knew it. Hundreds of them had seen her, what she'd done, and it'd all been captured on the casino's security cameras, without a doubt. Now, with the doors still on lock-down, they were trapped!

Suddenly, someone else had pulled a gun. Barton wasn't aware whether it was one of the men Alex had 'hit', but it didn't matter. The blaster was aimed at her, from only a matter of feet away, and in a split second it would fire. Barely realizing what he was doing, Barton pushed her to the side and threw one hand up towards the gun-man – the Force tore the weapon out of his hand and threw him backwards with such strength that when he hit the floor all the wind went out of him.

[Harlequin]

It was a mixture of thrill and shock when Alex saw Henning use the Force. He had acted before he had even really processed the tought of doing so, that much was clear by the semi-stunned expression on his face, like he couldn't quite believe what he'd done either.

She scrambled to her feet, even as everyone was reacting and pulled the blaster from the floor into her own hand.

"Aint no going back now, Henning" she called to him, and shot the second gunman with his partner's blaster even as he was bringing his weapon up to fire.

She grabbed Barton's shoulder, pulling him forward by his shirt. He appeared momentarily lost, like he was a holovid image who's soundtrack was just slightly out of sync with the picture so that his movements were disembodied from his thoughts. Alex realised he was looking to the man she'd shot. She couldn't tell if he was dead or not. Lord, he wasn't planning on playing medic right now was he? "Henning! We gotta go!" Yet, still he dwaddled. Alex became more forceful and took hold of his hand, pulling him physically toward the exit "Henning - we dont have time. Its done"

She fired a couple bolts into the door control panel, fritzing its wiring and hoping the failsafe would automatically open the doors. It did.

Cole dragged Henning out, more than a little annoyed that he was looking back as if he might actually not want to leave.

"Where to?" she demanded.

"What....?"

"Geez, Henning, snap out of it. Where can we go? We gotta get outta here!"

Without waiting a reply, she took off down the hall to the stairwell, no use attempting the turbolift down.

"Henning! Come on!" she screamed back to him, having checked the way was clear.

Again, she had to come back for him, but this time he moved when she went to grab his hand and though he pulled it roughly away from her, he did follow her as the ran to the stairs.