#yes Kai is supposed to be colorless

[meaty-bones]

Low on spoons lately, BUT I have some fun fanart(my main goal was drawing Toga lol)

And because I'm not good at drawing many else in this show, have a drawing of my OC Kai as consolation

[hervoiceinthedark]

"Hmmmm... your entire body and mind? That's your whole self, you know. I could easily break you." She grins down at the one who summoned Her, shifting Her head to avoid piercing the ceiling with Her horns.

"I know," says the human. "I have—there's nothing for me here."

"I'm sure." She snorts.

She smiles, impossibly sharp teeth somehow not cutting the trisected tongue that occasionally flicks out between them.

"Kay. Deal."

The human blinks, not responding. They stare at each other for a moment.

The human finally breaks eye contact, coughing awkwardly.

"Sorry, I guess I," the human starts, "was something supposed to happen?"

She scoffs. "What did you expect, I'd unroll a 20ft long parchment for you to sign? That I'd offer my hand and, on shaking it, you'd be magically transformed with a clasp of thunder?"

The human flushes.

"No, no, my new pet. This is going to be a lot more fun for me, and a lot of work for you." Her smile grows further.

"I won't be pulling out your soul and eating it in one gulp, sealing you to me forever. When you belong to me," She steps forward, cornering the human against a wall, "you have to do that part yourself."

The human freezes, looking not quite sure how to respond.

"After all," She continues, a deep, rumbling, growl-like sound beginning in her chest, "how else can I be sure you're really, truly mine? What better way to ensure your devotion is true?"

As She speaks, a tingling sensation begins to build in the human's chest.

"Every day, you're going to tear yourself open offering everything that you are to me. You will give me more and more, and as you do, you will become more my possession than anything else."

"Every day, you will drag out whatever hesitations hold you back from being mine and slay them before me, so I can be sure your priorities are in the right place."

The human has fallen to their knees, unable to look away. Their chest burns with an unfamiliar pleasure.

"Do you still think you want this? Do you think you can rededicate yourself to me over, and over, and over again, on good days and bad, above all else?"

The human, eyes glazed over and hands desperately grasping at their chest, nods repeatedly.

"Yes," they gasp. "Please."

The walls sag slightly, slumping in on themselves. A slight light can be seen shining between the cracks forming in the roof. A sky is somehow visible beyond the walls, an uncountable display of stars reflected perfectly in the still, shallow water that now covers the floor.

The human is on their hands and knees, something thick and colorless pouring from their chest into the water. It's sticky and congealed, forming strands and fighting gravity instead of smoothly falling.

The sky is silent as the human sobs, scraping the sludge off with their hands.

When their chest is finally clean, they push themselves back to their knees and raise their head.

"Miss," they say, and their eyes reflect the single bright point occupying the sky, and the smile on their face relays their success.

"This is not the easiest it will be," She warns, "but it will not be this easy again for a long time, little thing."

The not-completely-human shudders, and nods.

Their own fluids mingle with the water beneath them as they stand and join their Mistress's side, feeling brighter inside (and maybe glowing just a little).

[justathoughtfulangel]

The Night Changes ~ Colors, Chapter 4 (Kai Parker Fanfiction)

Hi again! Welcome to Chapter 4 of Colors, my Kai Parker Soulmate AU Fanfiction. This is NOT meant to be read as a standalone piece. Events of the story and even the universe it is set in vary greatly from the original show. If you haven't yet, please read the Details post and previous chapters linked on this masterlist.

*not my gif

Word Count: 3,094

Pairings: CovenLeader!Kai X witch!Reader (soulmates), vampire!Damon x vampire!Elena (soulmates), witch!Liv X werewolf!Tyler (soulmates)

(Yes, I know in that Tyler is a human again in Season 6. That doesn't work for the purpose of Tyler and Liv being soulmates, so for the sake of this story, he is still a werewolf but can control when he shifts.)

I don’t like writing with Y/N in the place of character names, but this IS a reader insert fanfiction. I use Rosalie Wilson as a placeholder. Use Rose/Rosalie as a substitution for Y/N.

Warnings: Minor swearing, depictions of violence/murder, and unhealthy alcohol use.

There is no smut, but for all intents and purposes, this chapter is best suited to mature audiences. You have been warned.

Alright, I'll stop blabbing now. Read a short recap of the last chapter + a new one after the break :) I hope you enjoy reading this chapter as much as I loved writing it.

Chapter 3 Recap:

Gritting his teeth, Kai wrenched Luke’s hand off of his face, clutching it and moving closer. What did it matter if he won or died? If he won, he’d never be at someone’s mercy again. Never be weaker than others or depend on siphoning someone else’s magic. If he died, he’d get his second greatest wish. He’d no longer live in a world where no one wanted him.

“Fine. It’s your funeral.”

~

A few miles away, Rosalie made herself a comforting mug of hot cocoa. Seven tabs were open on her laptop, and she needed the sugar boost to get through the mountain of post-Thanksgiving assignments. With her chocolate by her side, she sat down to complete them. Rose had just taken one scalding sip and was cursing her impatience when the mug fell from her hands. It splashed onto her cream carpet, streaking it with brown.

Or at least, it should’ve been brown. She couldn’t see the color anymore.

~~~

Her heart leaped into her throat, stealing her air. For weeks, Rosalie hoped her world would become colorless. She had prayed she’d go back to a time before she’d never known Kai. The cost of going back to that time was one she never comprehended. Rose had lost too many people already; she couldn’t bear to lose her soulmate too.

She squeezed her eyes shut, pleading with the universe to let this just be a cruel trick. When her eyes opened, the color had returned. Her pity party didn’t last long. Now, she was just confused. What could have possibly caused the color to leave her vision for mere minutes?

The merge.

The merge must have happened, and Kai had won.

~

He woke on the cold ground. A few feet away, Josette cradled their dead brother’s head, sobbing over his loss. It was strange. Kai expected to feel different somehow. Everything was the same… until it wasn’t. It hit him without warning. Unimaginable power coursed through him, now his to command and control. Kai would never have to siphon magic from another again. He was now Coven Leader, and because of his abilities as a siphon, he’d be the most indestructible of them all.

“He saved me, and he’s gone!” Josette’s choked cry rang out into the night, and Damon’s lips pressed together in helplessness. “You win some, you lose some, right?” Kai was flying far too high to feel any remorse. “Except for me. I always win.” Damon’s eyes narrowed and he took a step in his direction. Before he could take a second step, Kai had vanished.

It wasn’t like he had a destination in mind. Actually, he was lost. This was what he’d craved for eighteen years. Kai chased after it single-mindedly, living for no other purpose. What the hell was he supposed to do now?

~~~

Another week had gone by, and Kai was in hiding. Being Coven Leader was nothing like he had envisioned. Slowly but surely, he was recognizing this wasn’t what he truly wanted. Not by a long shot. That was only the lie he told himself. Kai lied to himself so often, he didn’t know when it had become the only digestible truth. Wanting to be Coven Leader was simply a façade, a cloak over his real desire.

What Kai really wanted was acceptance: acceptance from his family, acceptance for who he was, and��� acceptance from his soulmate. Rosalie was closer than ever in physical distance, but she couldn’t have been farther in every other possible way. Kai hadn’t laid eyes on her in weeks, not since he killed that taxi driver.

The memory made him freeze. Why did he kill him? Because he didn’t find change in the jeans he stole? That was all it took for him to take someone’s life.

Kai found himself clawing at his own neck as if the wire was choking him and not his last helpless victim. The mirage pressed against his windpipe, and though Kai knew it was all in his head, he felt like he deserved it. What right did he have to live when he’d killed so many?

The home of the Parkers was eerily silent. The eldest son, Malachai, strolled the halls. Two of his siblings were hanging from the stairwell railing, their bodies jerking like puppets on a string. There was some fight left in them, and in a truly twisted way, it was satisfying. No one knew his struggle as a siphon. They were just getting a taste of it. They’d die and be free from it soon enough.

The bloody knife Malachai used to tear out Josette’s spleen clattered onto the floor harshly, splattering the oak wood with maroon droplets. Just one annoying little brother and the twins remained. Jo could be left alive for now. After all, he did need his twin for the merge.

Malachai’s hands closed around his youngest brother’s throat as he siphoned power away from him. It wasn’t like he’d need it. Silencing his screams with one palm, he carried him to the pool. Forcefully holding him beneath the water warmed by the May sun, Malachai growled at how much his victim struggled. “I saved you for last, you ungrateful little…” One last, sharp inhale rang out, mixed with the garbled sound of water filling the youngest Parker’s lungs. He, too, was dead.

Humming in soft satisfaction, Malachai watched his body float there. He then made his way back to the house, tearing behind the twins’ favorite hiding spots in the living room. “Josette! Where are they?” His voice sang out cheerfully in stark contrast to the blood on his hands and shirt. There was a high he was riding. Pure glee was rushing through him, a kind he’d never known before – glee that comes from the prospect of murder.

“Oliviaaaa? Lucas?” He trampled up the stairs, taking his sweet time and letting the sound echo throughout the house. “Come on out, Jo. You must be hiding them somewhere.” From beneath the bed, Jo and the twins saw his pink sneakers – white originally but soaked in red. Malachai could sense they were under the bed, but he decided to toy with them a bit. His other kills had been far too quick. He pretended to look in the closet, unsurprised to find it empty.

When Malachai’s hands gripped the base of the bed, Jo hid the twins with her magic, protecting them the only way she could. He found only his twin sister, and he snapped. No longer playing games, he kicked her wounded stomach in. “WHERE ARE THEY?!”

Kai jolted awake, not realizing he’d fallen asleep. A thin layer of sweat painted his skin, making his clothes sticky and cold. His exhausted, sunken eyes – courtesy of the same nightmare every night since the merge – seemed lifeless. The digital clock on the bedside table of the motel read 2:34 AM. The night changes, but how many nights does it take to dissolve guilt?

Dragging his feet, Kai made his way to the small bathroom. The face staring back from the mirror was pale, sallow. No more sleep was going to come to him. Stripping off his sweaty clothing, Kai grabbed the phone (yet another stolen item) and Googled how to process emotional pain. Maybe this would get him somewhere.

~~~

In the morning, Kai drove to the Salvatore House. Last night had been an experience, to say the least, and he needed to ask a favor of Damon. “Hello?” He heard mumbling from the kitchen and Damon’s voice slowly increasing in volume. “…merged and packed and on his way to Portland!”

“Ooh, I forgot how massive this house is.” His eyes fell on the decorative tray of treats. “Yum, cupcakes! Sorry, am I interrupting something?” Completely ignoring the answer, Kai snuck past the lovers, reached for a cupcake, and hopped onto the kitchen table Damon and Bonnie ate pancakes on in the Prison World. “What are you doing here, Kai?”

“Funniest thing. I need your help. I need you to give a letter to Josette for me.” Elena was completely indignant. “Why would we do that?” He munched on his cupcake, speaking with his mouth half-full. “I haven’t been able to find her with a locator spell, which is probably intentional on her part since – under normal circumstances – I’d be super jazzed to gouge out her belly button.” Scraping up the last bit of frosting, Kai licked it off her finger.

“Why would we help you, Kai?” He just came in here and proclaimed nothing had changed since the merge, yet he expected them to contact Jo for him? “Well, in case you haven’t figured it out by now, I’m a sociopath. I know, shocker. I like being a sociopath, you know? I’m not burdened by things like guilt or love.

“So then, this merge happened with my brother Luke, and I won, which was great because I absorbed his ability to do magic. But now I can’t stop thinking about how Luke died. How Liv’s life is ruined. For some horrible reason I can’t shake… oddly, I feel bad.” Kai forced out a laugh because he could feel his throat closing up again.

“You feel bad?” Elena didn’t bother to cover up her disbelief, and Kai continued his rant. “Yeah, so when I absorbed Luke’s magic, I must’ve gotten some of his qualities or something, like… empathy? So I Googled how to process emotional pain, and they said if you write everything down in a letter and burn it, you’ll be healed.” He waved the envelope in the air; encased within it was a letter addressed to Josette. “I started writing, and this water literally started pooling in my eyes. Has that ever happened to you? Like… like… water just oozing out of my eyeballs like I’m some alien creature excreting fluids.”

“You mean you cried?”

“Yes! And after that was done, I burned the letter, and the feeling is still there. So, I really feel strongly that Jo needs to know how sorry I am for destroying our family… as does Liv. But let’s face it guys, alright? I mean Elena, you of all people should be willing to look past all the questionable things I’ve done to see that there’s good somewhere in me. You did it with Damon.”

“Okayyyy, I think we’re done here.” Damon moved to take Elena’s arm and began guiding her out of the kitchen when she stopped him. “No, Damon. He has a point.”

Kai raised an eyebrow, surprised she gave in so quickly. “Don’t get me wrong. I don’t just believe you’ve become someone else overnight. You should get to prove it, though. Just once. You won’t get another chance, so don’t screw it up.”

“Well, you’ve shown more faith in me right there than anyone else has before, so thank you.” It was a weird feeling. Warm, somehow. It was the support he’d never known. “Yes, well, I’m not doing it for you.” Damon suppressed a sigh, his lips pressing together. Kai was confused. Who else would she do it for, if not him? “Damon, you need to call her. I know you miss her.” Ah. Her.

A quick flash of anger burst through Kai once more. Elena – a complete stranger to him – was willing to give him a chance to show he had a sliver of good inside him. Why couldn’t his soulmate do the same? “Yeah, alright. I’ll try again.”

“And you keep trying until she talks to you. Rosalie has every right to be mad at you, but you need to make more of an effort to be there for her. Kai, we can give the letter to Jo for you.”

Kai shook his head slightly, snapping back to his senses. “Yeah, um, thanks. One more thing. I wrote them all letters and burned them last night… even one to Luke – which was probably unnecessary considering we’ve literally merged – but only rewrote the one to Josette. I feel like I should apologize to Liv in person. Where do you think I could find her?”

“Um, Whitmore, I guess?”

~

Rosalie and Liv were both at the Scull Bar. Rose had offered to take all her shifts, but Liv was stubborn and would come to work anyways. She tried to pretend everything was fine and went about her life as if nothing happened. Tyler and Rosalie were very concerned, never drifting far from her. Liv was a ticking time-bomb; it was only a matter of time before she snapped and her grief exploded. Denial didn’t last forever.

Their shift would be ending soon, and Tyler started packing up his things, glancing around more. It seemed like they were the only ones there. Rose was organizing a new shipment of mixers when Kai slipped in. He hid in the shadows. Despite all his talk and external bravado, Kai was terrified of confronting Liv. But he had to. He owed it to her. He owed it to Luke.

Before he could make himself known, Liv accidentally shattered a bottle of bourbon. The brown liquid spilled across the floor, spilling any ounce of Liv's composure along with it. “God fucking damn it!” She thrashed the rag in her hand across the counter, her knuckles turning white.

“Hey, hey, it’s okay. It’s just a bottle.” Rosalie rushed over to her, and Tyler moved closer to them both. He pulled Liv away from behind the counter, making her take a seat. Rose poured her a glass of water before clearing up the alcohol and glass with magic – no one was in here, and Liv needed all of their attention.

The cool water sloshed along the sides of the cup. Liv’s eyes tracked the movement, and when they met Rosalie’s, she could barely stop herself from lashing out. “Stop looking at me like that. Both of you.”

“We’re just worried about you, Liv.”

“Yeah? Well, don’t be. What’s worrying going to do? Is it going to bring Luke back? No.” Liv harshly carded her hand through her hair, pulling at strands and shaking them from her trembling fingers. Tyler took hold of her quivering hand, squeezing it softly. Not even her soulmate could calm her down now. “You should talk to someone about this, babe. We’re just doing our best to be here for you.”

Rosalie held her other hand, and Liv shook it off. She wrapped her arms around Tyler, hiding her eyes in his shoulder. She wasn’t crying, but her shoulders wobbled under the weight of unbearable emotions. The rejection stung some, but Rose wasn’t about to make this about herself. “We can understand what you’re feeling, Liv. We’ve lost family, too.”

Liv’s body froze, separating from Tyler slowly. The hatred in her eyes seared through the icy demeanor she was fronting. It burned Rosalie exactly where it hurt most. “What would you know about losing family? You killed your own mother, brother, and father.” Her words were a knife to Rosalie’s heart. Apparently, Liv wasn’t done.

“You and Kai really deserve each other.” Tyler’s face fell. He knew about Rosalie’s past, and he would’ve never believed Liv could go there. Speechlessly, he guided her away. An apology on his soulmate’s behalf shone in his eyes, and Rose only gave half a nod in response. She let them leave and locked the door with magic, not knowing that Kai was locked inside with her.

He had come to apologize to Liv, but he wasn’t about to leave Rose alone. The empathy that was far too new struck again, and Rosalie’s hatred for Kai suddenly made perfect sense. He could see how the memory tormented her. It had begun tormenting him in the same way, but it had only been a week for him. She must have been dealing with it for months, maybe even years. How could she accept someone who went around flaunting murders like they were trophies on a bookshelf?

Meanwhile, Rosalie’s feet had remained frozen to the same spot. She didn’t cry. Her tear ducts were far too barren to shed droplets. Her expression was mostly unreadable, but it flickered with some emotion or other every so often. Grief, anger, shock… relentless hurt above all. Swallowing it all, she dropped the wooden shutters around the bar and lit some scattered candles. When the flames rose higher than normal, fueled by the tornado of emotions within her, she forced herself to sit down.

“Let’s not burn down this building, too, Rosalie. Let’s not do that.” Scoffing and shaking her head, Rosalie grabbed a glass. She found herself mixing the same cocktail she made for Kai weeks ago. “Great, I’m talking to myself now. That’s just… super sane behavior.”

“Hey, I talk to myself, too.” Despite the situation, Kai couldn’t help but smirk at the astonishment on her face. “God!” She nearly dropped the shaker but narrowly avoided another drink catastrophe. “H-how long have you been in here?” He took a seat at the bar exactly where he had a few weeks ago. “Long enough.” Sighing, Rosalie went back to mixing the drink but poured it for him before making another that was even stronger for herself. “Figures.”

~

Rosalie didn’t want to kick him out, and Kai wasn’t keen on leaving. He’d only had one drink, but Rose had downed at least seven within two hours. She was still speaking– which was actually insanely impressive – but he worried about leaving her alone. Every time he tried to get her to stop drinking, she reached for another. He could tell she was hoping to mute whatever she was feeling. Kai had done the same in the prison world numerous times. He couldn’t judge.

“I’m gonna say something that I’m either gonna regret or just not remember… but your eyes are sooooo pretty. Did you know that? They’re like so blueeee and sparklyyyy.” Kai hopped behind the counter this time, making her next ‘drink’ with only water and no alcohol but keeping the flavors the same. “Sparkly, huh? What makes them sparkly?” Kai was trying to keep her awake. If she fell asleep in such a state, her hangover would make her very remorseful tomorrow.

Her very last drink was settling into her system, and Rosalie started growing quieter. Kai silently placed her new beverage in front of her, confident that she was too intoxicated to notice it wasn’t alcoholic. “I didn’t mean to do it, you know? I just got upset. It was after I heard about the death of Elena’s parents. They were our family, too. All the… feelings didn’t have anywhere to go. I couldn’t control my magic and it… destroyed everything.”

Kai didn’t speak. He didn’t want to interrupt. He wanted to know more about her, and if she felt comfortable sharing the deepest parts of her agony, he wanted to bear it with her. It took all his self-control to keep from touching her, from taking her hand, or from hugging her. Hugging her? Since when did he do hugs? He’d barely been hugged a day in his life, but that seemed like the appropriate response when someone was in duress.

“That’s why I hate you, you know? Because you were so gleeful about murdering your family. Bonnie was telling me how you bragged about your methods, and it made me hate you. You were happy about the same thing that eats me alive. But you know the funny thing?

“I don’t hate you. Not even a little bit. Maybe not at all.”

~~~

That concludes Chapter 4 of Colors! Please feel free to send any thoughts/comments/constructive criticisms my way. I always welcome them :)

Chapter 5 is now completed! Read it here.

If you’d like to be added to the taglist for this story and/or for my other Kai Parker pieces, please send me a message or leave a comment on this post!

Until next time, JustAThoughtfulAngel <3

Taglist: @socio-kai-path1972, @bluelicious, @genevivetaylor, @prettybitchfatwitch

[wanderinginksplot]

Warriors in Red Armor

Previous | Next | Masterlist

Chapter Five

Kai II

"Does everyone understand the mission?" Ransom stared hard in Kai's direction.

Kai scoffed. Just because her attention had drifted off a time or four didn't mean that she was going to be totally lost. "Who needs a debriefing? We're going to do the same thing we always do. I'm going to flirt with everyone until they give me information or get distracted. Ark will slice into their systems and get hard copies of the information we need. You'll be here, masterminding the whole thing."

Ransom stared at her hard for a moment, but Kai met her gaze with ease. Eventually, Ransom gave a little sigh and said, "Yeah, that's pretty much it. But be careful. We've got to get this job right. The merchant's guild has paid us a lot of credits for the information we need. Plus we stand to double our profit if we complete the mission on time. Maybe we should go over the plan again."

"Nah, I've got it," Kai assured her.

Ransom's eyes were like a med-scanner as she used her gift. Kai had always said that Ransom could spot a lie from five klicks with strangers and twice that with friends. Eventually, Ransom must have decided that Kai was telling the truth and nodded. "Fine, but be careful. Are you sure these layout schematics are up-to-date?"

"I'm insulted," Kai jokingly scowled. "Are my schematics ever outdated?"

"No," Ransom begrudgingly admitted. "Even I don't know how you find some of that information."

Kai beamed at the rare praise from her boss.

"You know," Ark started. Kai tensed - there was only one subject that could put that tone in Ark's voice. "We could really use you out in the field on this one, Ransom."

In half a heartbeat, Ransom was as on-edge as both of the other women. "You know that's not an option, Ark." She gave a forced-looking smile and shook her head. "Besides, you don't need me. You're both the best in your respective fields. This mission will be a total success."

The drastic change in mission outlook warned Kai that Ransom was ready to snap. All antics should be cut off immediately.

"Ark and I better go get ready, huh?" Kai said. "Sounds like we need to look the part."

"Comm me when you're ready and I'll activate your earpieces," Ransom said. She always could snap back into professionalism as naturally as taking a breath.

"We will," Kai promised, pulling Ark toward the door. "Ark, bring your outfit to my apartment, would you? You're better at doing hair than I am and I could use your help getting mine to look right."

As soon as they were in the turbolift, Kai puffed out a breath, trying to sound as non-judgmental as possible. "I don't know why you bothered asking her. She never reacts well to it."

Ark looked a little embarrassed. "I was going back over some of her old case files and I just- I got carried away. She was a legend. An actual one. There were stories about how good she was, and she didn't need to divide jobs like we do. She could flirt, slice, get everything she needed, and get out before anyone even realized there was a breach."

"I know, I've read the files, too," Kai reminded her friend. Ransom had been incredible back in the day. Granted, she was impressive now, but before she had stopped going out on jobs? She could have easily run Red Squad alone and made ten times what they were earning now... And then she would have no one to split profits with. "But you're starting to be a bit of a legend yourself… Ghost."

Ark's pale cheeks reddened with the compliment. "I don't even know how that one got started. And it's not good that people know about me at all."

Kai huffed out a breath at her friend. Ark was slender, pale in every sense of the word, and silent. She was also one of the fastest slicers Kai had ever seen… the fastest if they weren't counting Ransom. 'Ghost' was a natural nickname for her. Kai was only jealous that the nature of her designated task meant that she could never get notorious enough for a nickname. Being recognized would be the end of Kai's usefulness to Red Squad.

"Enjoy it, Ark!" Kai encouraged, squashing her own jealousy. "It's a compliment. Speaking of compliments, how is your trooper?"

"You mean Thire?" Ark asked, blushing a bit darker.

Kai chuckled. "Do you have another?"

"No!" Ark shook her head, smiling despite her apparent exasperation. "We talk a lot. Thire is a great guy."

"Are you going to see him again?"

"I'd like to," Ark admitted. "What about you and Thorn?"

"Thorn?" Kai asked, a bit taken aback. "No, nothing going on there. I had fun with him - you know, drinking, watching people on the dance floor, so on - but I don't think there's much of a future in it."

"That's disappointing," Ark said with a frown.

"No, 'disappointing' will be when we aren't ready on time and Ransom kills us both."

A little less than two hours later, both women were ready to go. There was a strange sort of line they had to toe in order to do their job well. Ark had to be dressed to blend in while Kai worked to stand out. All the attention had to be on Kai so that Ark could get in and do her job before anyone noticed what was happening. They had to arrive separately as well. Kai called two different speeders to her apartment, scheduling the second to arrive later than the first.

"So, who hired us again?" Kai asked when she was ensconced in a droid-piloted speeder.

Ransom sighed heavily through the earpiece. "Seriously, Kai? This is why you need to pay attention during briefings."

"The Bespin merchant's guild hired us to find out if the Felucian merchant's guild is spying on them," Ark informed her. Judging by the muted background noise from Ark's earpiece, she was just leaving Kai's apartment.

"They hired spies to see if the other guild hired spies?" Kai asked, chuckling.

"Merchants," Ransom said simply, sounding as if the word had been accompanied by a shrug.

"Arriving at location now," Kai reported. "Estimated entrance: two minutes."

"Two minutes, mark," Ransom replied.

Kai straightened her clothes and took a deep breath before she stepped into the guild hall. It was ornate and overdone, but that was fine: it matched everything she had done with her appearance.

There was a noticeable lull in conversation when Kai stepped inside. She wrestled her smirk into a pleasant smile as she accepted a glass of expensive wine from a serving droid. The form-fitting, low-cut dress floated around her, revealing shapely legs and the most delicate high heels she owned. Her versatile hair was done in a flattering updo. While her makeup was bold, it was tasteful enough that it didn't look overdone.

If Kai was honest, the hardest part of every mission was the pretending. She had to avoid all of the things she actually enjoyed in favor of appealing to onlookers as a sexual fantasy. She had to sip delicately at wine rather than guzzle hard spirits, she could only eat small bits of food that would be sure not to stick in her teeth or ruin her lipstick, and the tightness of her dress meant that she couldn't take a full step… or a full breath.

Being the bait was a nice ego boost, but everything else about it was kind of awful.

Even as Kai mentally tallied the negative aspects of her task, an older, orange-skinned Felucian gentleman sidled up to her. Kai vaguely recognized him as Ollo Set, the head of the Felucian merchant's guild. She continued giving her pasted-on smile.

"Good evening." Considering the height of Kai's towering heels, Set only just reached her chest. Undaunted, the Felucian put on a smile he clearly meant to be charming. "How can such a lovely woman be here alone?"

"Oh, I'm here with someone," she said, doing her best to sound both flirtatious and confused. "He was supposed to meet me here, but I haven't seen him yet."

"Well, whoever the lucky man is, he's a fool to miss even a moment of your radiant company," Set oozed. He took her hand so he could bow - very shallowly - and kiss the back of it.

Kai felt a rush of revulsion. She hated when they touched her. Still, she was a rather incredible actress, if she did say so herself, so she pasted a delicate smile on her lips. "Thank you, sir. It is comforting to find such kindness here, even if my date is later than I would have hoped."

Set patted her hand in a way that managed to be both fatherly and lecherous. "If he does not arrive shortly, I shall show you around myself. Your careless date should not cause you to miss meeting these incredible people."

"I may take you up on that offer! I'm Saro," Kai lied.

"Ollo Set," he returned, adjusting the jeweled cuffs of his jacket. "Leader of the Felucian Merchant's Guild. Pleasure to meet you, Saro. I must leave for a moment, but ask anyone to point you in my direction and you'll have no trouble finding me."

"Oh," she murmured, trying to sound impressed as she fluttered her eyelashes at him. Set watched her for a moment, looking stunned, then turned to meet with a group of well-dressed Felucians. The whole gathering shut themselves in a side room, leaving the party raging on without them.

Under the pretence of adjusting an earring, Kai activated her earpiece. "Meeting of the big guys - metaphorically big, anyway. Ark, what's your ETA?"

"Speeder trouble," Ark said, sounding irritated. "ETA: four minutes."

"Four minutes, mark," Ransom confirmed.

Kai circled through the room, chatting and picking at morsels of food while she kept an eye on the entrance. At least she didn't have to be subtle about it - her cover story allowed her to openly watch the new arrivals without looking suspicious.

"I'm right outside," Ark's voice crackled through the earpiece. "Are they still in the meeting?"

"Yes," Kai breathed, managing to work her answer into the conversation she was having with a drunk Felucian female.

Ark made her entrance seconds later. She wore a mousy brown wig and a tan dress tailored to disguise her slender figure. Carefully applied makeup had lent her colorless skin the appearance of more life. As a result, she didn't stand out overly much from the other humans in the room. Ark glanced at Kai, who subtly tilted her head toward the still-closed door.

With that, Ark made her way toward a hallway. According to the detailed schematics Kai had provided, the hall held both the refreshers and several data access points. At the last moment, a serving droid moved into Ark's way, intending to offer her a glass of wine. Ark, busy double-checking the door, tripped on the droid and flailed to recover her balance. Her small bag fell to the floor, spilling her slicing materials onto the carpet as the service droid beeped around frantically, trying to offer help. Kai watched with more than a little horror as the door to the guild meeting swung open. Ollo Set stepped out first, then paused and frowned over at the commotion caused by the serving droid.

Kai rushed over toward him. "Mr. Set!"

His pale orange gaze swung toward her instead, for which Kai was forever thankful. She had seen Ark starting to gather her tools, any one of which was recognizable as being part of a slicing project. Now, Kai simply had to hold the attention of Set and the other guild members, and she knew exactly how to do it.

Tugging at her dress in apparent distress, Kai revealed a bit more of her chest than she had previously been showing and forced tears to well in her eyes. When she reached Set and the accompanying guild members, she leaned down to speak with him. Her posture allowed the best vantage point for Set to see both the tears and the cleavage.

"What's wrong, my dear?" Set asked, looking first at her chest, then the tears, then her chest again.

"I just received word that my date isn't coming after all. He's stood me up!" she told him, letting one of the tears slip down her cheek. "Is there any chance you're still willing to accompany me this evening?"

"Why, Saro," he oozed, "I would be absolutely delighted. May I introduce the other leaders of the Felucian Merchant's Guild?"

Kai chanced a glance backward as she straightened up once more - leaning down in such a tight dress was killing her spine - and was pleased to watch Ark disappear safely down the hallway. Kai relaxed slightly and put a tearful smile on as she turned to be introduced to the other Felucians.

"Wait, I- I recognize you," one of the Felucians, this one a yellow-skinned female, said haltingly.

The smile slipped from Kai's face, but she had rekindled it a moment later. "Are you sure? I don't think we've ever met."

"I've seen your face somewhere before," the female insisted.

"What are you prattling on about, Ethoda?" Set asked, striving for a tone of boredom and achieving one of irritation.

"She's someone I know, and not in a good way," Ethoda insisted. Kai's stomach gave an odd little twist at the thought that someone had finally recognized her. The Felucian female at last said, "I'm fairly certain she's a prostitute!"

Well, that was unexpected. Kai gaped. "What? I'm not a- I am not a prostitute!"

"That's just what a prostitute would say," one of the other males muttered.

"Which is more likely: a beautiful human woman being interested in Ollo or that she's a prostitute?"

"That makes more sense than anything else I've heard tonight."

"I'll notify the Coruscant Guard," Ethoda offered, rushing away.

And that was that. Admittedly, the mission had been to keep attention away from Ark in whatever way was necessary, but Kai had never expected this to be the outcome. It wasn't the proudest moment of her life, but Kai sat quietly and waited for the Coruscant Guard. The only move she made was to 'fix her hair' and activate the earpiece.

"I can't believe I'm getting arrested for prostitution," she muttered. Ark and Ransom's frantic questions and sounds of outrage provided entertainment until the Coruscant Guard arrived.

A clone trooper in red and white armor marched into the room. "Commander Thorn. What's going on here?"

---

Thorn I

"This woman is a prostitute!"

Thorn was always the first to admit that he wasn't a lighthearted trooper. The laughter and jokes that came easy to his brothers weren't part of his repertoire. Still, even Thorn had gotten a kick out of the accusations that were being thrown Kai's way. It had taken him a minute or so to recognize her - especially with a group of Felucians insisting that her name was Saro - but her look of dread at his entrance had been a solid clue.

He had taken down the eyewitness details of the incident with care. Keeping his voice level was tricky, but no one could hear the mocking he knew was clear in his expression. When the long-winded Felucians finished talking, Thorn closed the document so he could place binders on Kai's wrists and lead her to his cruiser.

"I'll take her to the precinct," he told the Felucians.

He had to shut down the external speakers on his helmet when the leader of the group - an orange-skinned male who had introduced himself as 'Ollo Set', followed them outside. As he fixed Kai with a stern gaze and he said, "Let this be a lesson to you, young lady: there is no substitute for an honest day's work", Thorn laughed aloud.

Rather than risk reactivating his speaking and giving away the game, Thorn had nodded to acknowledge Set's thanks. He steered Kai into the back of the cruiser as soon as he could and settled into the front seat himself. They were in the air waiting to enter traffic when he finally thought it was safe to remove his bucket.

As he reached for the familiar plastoid curves, Kai snapped, "This is ridiculous. You know I'm not a prostitute."

Thorn broke the seal that had formed between his blacks and his helmet before answering. "Of course I know that. Do you think I leave the code to my binders in the backseat with every perp?"

"Oh," she said, ire deflating as she grabbed the scrap of flimsi and awkwardly typed the written code into the binders. "Then why-?"

"If I hadn't brought you in for a false claim like prostitution, they may have come up with something more difficult to fight." He met Kai's eyes in the rearview mirror. "Like industrial espionage."

There was no answer from the backseat and Thorn abruptly found the whole situation less amusing than he had previously. Industrial espionage was a nasty business, and he wasn't thrilled to find that Kai was wrapped up in it.

"Care to explain what you were doing at the headquarters for the Felucian merchant's guild?" he asked.

She sighed, looking conflicted. "What do you want to know?"

"Everything. As long as it's the truth. I don't like listening to lies."

"Hey," she said, leaning forward with an offended look on her face. "I don't lie."

Thorn snorted. "You want to try feeding that line to the crowd of civvies back there who told me all about 'Saro'?"

"I lie at work because it's literally my job," Kai snapped. "I don't have a choice there, but I do everywhere else. I am not a liar."

"So your job is to lie and you wear revealing clothing while you do so," Thorn mused. "Are you sure you're not a prostitute?"

"I'm on an information securities team called Red Squad," she told him irritably. "We were hired to get intelligence from the Felucian merchant's guild."

"And they sent you in alone?" Thorn asked with an unfortunate chuckle.

"No, I wasn't there by myself," Kai admitted. "But I couldn't stay, not after having attracted that much attention. I don't even know if the mission was a success or not."

"Another private sector success, then," he said, sarcasm thick in his voice. "I take it that jobs don't always end this way?"

She snorted. "Believe it or not, this is the first time I've ever been arrested under suspicion of being a prostitute."

"It's a small and glorious club," he said. "It also signals the need for a career change. Ever thought about doing anything else? This espionage thing may not be your strong suit."

She grew quiet and Thorn saw her turn to stare out of the window. His heart skipped a beat. Stars, don't let her start crying... He felt an unusual wave of pity wash over him. Kai's day had clearly gone wrong and here she was being taken away from a formal event in the back of a police cruiser. Plus, Thorn's vode had always told him he could be abrasive, so chances were good that he wasn't helping matters.

"Hey, I'm not going to charge you with anything. Why don't you give me your address and I'll drive you home?"

"You can just drop me off here," she said frostily. "I can find my own way home."

"The kriff you will," he shut down immediately. "It's almost midnight. Coruscant isn't safe for civvies dressed like you are at this time of night."

"Maybe at the next intersection," Kai suggested, pretending she hadn't heard him.

"Maybe I'll take you to the precinct after all," Thorn threatened. "That way, I won't be responsible if you end up attacked or killed for walking through dangerous parts of the planet at night, looking like a-"

He cut himself off and Kai leaned forward, a challenging look on her pretty face. "Like a prostitute?"

Actually, he had been about to say that she looked like royalty, but her tart response knocked some sense back into him. "Yeah," he agreed instead. "Something like that."

"You're impossible," she told him, sounding tired. "Just… take me home."

She gave him the address, but Thorn could hardly hear it over the pounding of his heart. Kai probably hadn't meant for her words to sound inviting - far from it - but they had caused a pang of something long-buried in his memory. The feeling of home hadn't been one emphasized in flash training or any day since, but he had always imagined it would be the way he felt when he had heard Kai's request.

Still, he forced his mind back to his duty and plugged Kai's address into the navicomputer on his cruiser. Shortly afterward, they had arrived at a plain-looking building. Kai still hadn't said another word to him, which frustrated Thorn for some reason. They may not have exchanged comlink info like Thire and his girl had, but Thorn and Kai had gotten along at 79's. He couldn't remember a time he had laughed harder than when she drunkenly told an equally drunken Nikto that he had "scored a perfect 30" on the dance floor.

Deciding to make things right once and for all, Thorn shut off the cruiser and got out to open Kai's door.

"Thank you, Commander," she said stiffly. "Drive safe on your way back to the precinct."

"Hold on, let me walk you inside," he offered, injecting enough suffering into his tone that she would think it was a punishment. She didn't say anything to encourage him, but she didn't say he couldn't accompany her, either.

So Thorn found himself following Kai down two flights of narrow stairs to her housing unit. When they arrived at the door, he noted an odd lock keeping it closed. Still, he thought little of it until Kai also frowned and made a confused little sound.

Every instinct Thorn had demanded that he act. In half a second, he had grasped Kai around the waist, spun to place her behind him, and drawn one of his blaster pistols. He ignored Kai's questions and focused on the area, but his HUD wasn't showing any signs of potentially hostile lifeforms. More importantly, the strange lock wasn't bringing up any warnings.

"What's on your door?" he demanded, still scanning their surroundings.

"It's a lock," Kai explained slowly.

"I figured that," Thorn's response was dry. "What kind of lock and who put it there?"

"How do you know I didn't?"

"Body language, tension, and observation, now focus," Thorn commanded. "Who put that lock on your door?"

"Probably Ark," Kai admitted with a sigh. "It's for me to practice slicing."

The answer was so far beyond anything Thorn had been expecting that he actually let the barrel of his blaster drop toward the floor as he turned to face her. He repeated, "Slicing?"

"Yeah, I'm over-" Kai stopped her sentence halfway through. "You know what? I don't want to explain this to you."

"Do it anyway," Thorn advised. "Because I'm not leaving, otherwise."

She crossed her arms, kicking up her chin. Right as Thorn thought he would have to press her again, Kai said quietly, "I'm sick of being the bait. I want to do something useful, like slicing, but I'm not very good at it. Ark is trying to teach me and she's big on practice. She bought me this lock and said it would give me motivation to learn."

"So, she put a practice slicing lock on the door to your apartment. You would have to use your new skill to get inside," Thorn summarized. It sounded like something that his vode would do. He silently supported the endeavor even as he mentally noted the implication that Kai and Ark worked as some kind of team.

Still, Thorn holstered his blaster and gestured at the door. He took a step to the side so she could access the lock. "Well, go ahead. Slice."

Kai looked at him, eyes severe. "I'm not any good at it and I'm tired. Do you know anything about slicing?"

"Not a thing," said Commander Thorn of the GAR, official head of the department overseeing arrests and difficult extractions that often included slicing.

"I could get a hotel room for tonight…" she mused.

Thorn rolled his eyes. She was as dramatic as Hound. "Or you could just try it. Your friend wouldn't put an unsliceable lock on your door, would she?"

"Probably not," Kai agreed with palpable reluctance. She sighed and pulled a small set of tools out from behind a potted plant in the hallway as Thorn watched with growing amusement.

Kai placed the scramble key on the back of the lock, but it was backwards and wouldn't work. "What are you doing?"

"Unlocking the door? I'm pretty sure," Kai told him, poking at the lock. "I don't know why the key isn't registering, though."

"Explain the process to me," he invited.

She turned to stare at him, seeming shocked. "You want me to teach you how to slice?"

"Why not?" Thorn asked. "Teaching a skill is one of the best ways to see if you've learned it."

"Fine," Kai huffed. "First, you attach the scramble key to the back of the lock… oops. That's definitely backwards. Anyway! Once the system has registered the key, it can start running possible combinations. Then your only job is to keep the security systems from booting you out."

Thorn watched the process, trying not to smile as Kai clumsily shut down security checks and shutdown attempts. Her methods weren't pretty, but they were effective, and the lock dropped from the door after a few minutes of work.

He retrieved the lock and the scramble key for her, taking a moment to study the key close-up. Thorn hadn't seen anything like it before. That was impressive, considering how much of his job revolved around slicing attempts. The key was homemade, like all the best scramble keys were, but on a level that told him how well the maker understood the process of slicing.

"Interesting key," he commented, hiding his interest. "Where did you get it?"

Kai glanced at it, unimpressed. "Ark gave it to me. She said it was trustworthy."

So Ark was a slicer. If she had been the one who made that key, she was kriffing good at it, too. Thorn made a mental note to ask Thire about the woman he had been spending so much time talking to. A moment later, that and all other coherent thoughts left his mind as Kai turned back and asked, "Do you want to come inside?"

He stared at her, dark brows furrowed. "You don't like me."

"I don't like when you mock me," she corrected. "But I like you just fine. Plus, you aren't arresting me when we both know you could. I think that's worth a cup of caf. Maybe even a cookie."

"Maybe even two cookies," he joked, following her into the apartment.

Kai gave a teasing scoff over her shoulder. "Let's not get ahead of ourselves."

---

A/N - Poor Kai. That would have to be a pretty hefty blow to your ego! Good thing Thorn was the one to respond - even if he did lie about knowing how to slice. On that note, do you know who knows nothing about slicing? Me. So if anyone is an expert about the process and this reads poorly, I'm sorry! I just started playing Republic Commando and did a lengthy skim on the Wikipedia page about slicing, but that's the extent of my knowledge.