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freesia-writes · 3 days

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Ch 26: Confrontation

Master List ~~ Previous Chapter ~~ WC: 2.2k

Song: “Already Gone” by Sleeping At Last (Cover)

The afternoon was beginning to lose its battle against evening as Hunter wove his way through the trees, his gut protesting each step along the familiar path. His mind was racing so quickly that he was utterly lost in it all, instead trying to simply focus on where he was going rather than what he would do when we got there. He pushed up the sleeves of his flannel shirt, then pulled them back down, then tugged at the waistband of his brown pants. As the sound of the sea grew louder, he emerged from the densely wooded forest into the meadows that sloped toward the cliffs above the ocean. The rickety white fence greeted him with its crooked posts grinning in a cruel smile, and he pulled the gate open with more force than he intended, stalking toward the cottage and trudging right up to the front door.

He knocked, three hard blows that sounded as angry as he felt.

No response.

He listened intently for any trace of motion or sound within.

Nothing.

He turned abruptly and walked around the side of the house, scanning the backyard and garden until his eyes settled on her form, bent over some vegetable plants as she pulled weeds without a care in the world.

Without a care in the world.

Hunter took a deep breath, setting his jaw with deliberation to avoid letting his emotions get the best of him. Strategy, he reminded himself. Everything came down to strategy. There was no point in abandoning reason, no matter how relentlessly the pain churned his stomach. He approached slowly, making a point to step on some dry twigs to announce his presence. Lyra stood up, shifting the basket on her arm as she glanced around the yard. Her brown hair was in a loose braid, her soft form covered by a rather shapeless cream-colored dress with a long brown cardigan on top.

Then she saw him.

The basket almost slipped from her elbow, but she caught it with a white-knuckled grip as she stared at him, mouth falling open slightly as a myriad of emotions flashed across her face. Hunter was surprised to see how they mimicked his own, and the sheer amount of thoughts and feelings attacking all at once created a sudden wave of nausea. He came within a few paces of her and stopped, keeping a healthy distance between them as his hands fidgeted at his side before he stopped them with tightly-crossed arms.

“What are you doing here?” he growled, a million critical thoughts besieging him immediately at his question.

“I live here,” Lyra pointed out, eyebrows drawing together. “But you’ve got a lot of nerve just tromping right into my backyard… after what you did.” Her anger felt brittle, a thin veil over the sadness that threatened to spill out along with the tears in her eyes.

“What I did?” Hunter echoed, dropping his arms to his side as he stared at her in disbelief. “What I did?! That’s rich. Why didn’t you just turn me in from the start? Why drag me to some other planet? Why just me, and not all of us?” The questions were flowing freely now, and his frustration at his own lack of control made it all feel that much worse. “You call it in and then disappear, like a coward… Couldn’t stand to watch the consequences of your own actions?”

“What?” came her dumbfounded retort, and the shock in her eyes gave him pause before the dragon in his chest rose again.

“Now you’re going to play dumb?” he challenged, relishing her flicker of hurt before charging onward. “Came back to finish the job and you’re still pretending like you don’t know what’s going on?”

“Hunter, you left me!” she exclaimed, eyes glistening. “I cared for you, let you in… And you turned around and sold me out without even knowing all the facts!”

“Sold you out…”

“Were you just waiting all along until you could get both of us? How long did you know?”

“About what?” he challenged, anger and hurt battling for center stage as he stared at her beneath hard brows.

“Never mind. I can’t believe you’re turning this around on me,” Lyra said, voice cracking with emotion. She turned away, shoulders hunched in despair as she quickly wiped her eyes.

“Are they coming here next?” Hunter continued, taking a step closer.

“Who?” she asked, whirling back to face him.

“Whoever you thought you could make a quick buck from,” he muttered, fighting back the lump rising in his throat, furious at its mere existence. “Is that why you came back? The Empire isn’t very forgiving when you don’t deliver. Must have been a real bummer that I got away, eh?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” she said, face contorted with despair. “I came back to the hotel to find it swarming with Imperials. They were looking for us. They knew I was there. Breslin, too. I heard one of them say ‘they’ll be back, he said so.’ What does that sound like to you?”

He took a breath, mouth open and mind racing, but the words didn’t come, so he snapped his jaw shut, pressing his lips together in a thin line as he stared at her. The complete impassivity on his face hurt her more than his sharp words ever could, and Lyra turned away again, throwing her basket on the ground nearby. Hunter’s brows furrowed more deeply, and he rubbed his face with a hand before starting again.

“You’re a traitor to the Republic,” he said quietly, every word laced with vitriol. “It’s not my fault they found you – you probably gave yourself away trying to turn me in.”

“Turn you in for what?!” she yelled, kicking the basket before whirling back to face him.

“Why are you still pretending to be innocent? That you don’t know?” Hunter said, voice rising to match hers. All sense of strategy had flown out the window, and he found himself wanting to hurt her, to exact revenge for every single moment she’d tricked him into thinking he could be happy. “That we’re clones, wanted by the Empire, harboring fugitives, on the run?” Each inflection was a verbal stab, but instead of any kind of dark revelation at being exposed, Lyra’s expression grew increasingly shocked with each admission.

“Clones…?” she repeated, face scrunched in disbelief. Her befuddlement seemed so authentic that Hunter was beginning to feel as though he were the crazy one. But what other explanation was there? He continued to glare, emanating rage and indignation as he watched her like a hawk, scrambling to make sense of the conflicting information from her words and the events that had transpired.

“Why else would the Empire have called an entire squadron on our hotel room, right after you conveniently disappeared? After you…” his voice broke, and he swallowed hard. “After you kissed me on the forehead and said you were sorry. Sorry for what?” The pain was threatening to overtake the anger, but he clenched his fists at his sides.

“Sorry for keeping things from you,” she whispered, tears spilling down her cheeks now. Her resolve was melting by the second, chipping away at his own fortified defenses. “About my past… About Breslin… The truth about all that had happened. I thought I could leave it behind.”

Hunter took a deep breath, glowering at her as though it could drive the answers out into the open. It didn’t. The two of them stood in the garden, each one rooted in angry confusion and insulting misunderstanding. Lyra was slowly wilting, unable to look at him. When the discomfort grew to an unbearable pressure, she began to speak, exhaling her story in miserable resignation.

“I thought I was working for a simple political office on Coruscant. But I found out they were doing some weird experiments. Totally unethical and downright cruel… something about cloning or DNA stripping… I tried to expose it; I gathered some evidence and took it above my boss’s head. I thought I was doing the right thing… But I went to the wrong people. They were in on it too.”

She stopped, grief overtaking her for a moment as she sniffed, looking to the sky and willing the tears to stop. Hunter waited, motionless.

“So they threw me in prison to make sure I wouldn’t talk anymore, spun some story about how I was a traitor, and the Republic became the Empire overnight. I’d given Breslin the evidence and made escape plans for her with a friend before they took me away. I was in jail for weeks, and I started to see how other inmates would just vanish without a trial or anything… So when some shady pirate dressed as a guard came by and offered me a chance to get out and disappear, I took it.”

Now it was she who paused for a shuddering breath and wiped her eyes again, still unable to meet his gaze.

“I tried to find Breslin, but her transport had been attacked. Our friend was killed, and I had no idea where she ended up. The pirate conned me out of almost everything I had, talked me into some ‘deluxe package’ to keep me safe. Turns out it was a load of Bantha fodder – a pile of cheap weapons and explosives. What was I supposed to do with that? But he found a safe place for me to live, and I was able to get some long-range communications equipment so I could keep looking for her.”

“What, so you could get the evidence back?”

“No,” Lyra said, finally looking up at him in offense. “Because Breslin is my daughter.”

Hunter stared wordlessly.

“I had her when I was young and dumb. We almost grew up together. Then all of this happened. I felt horrible for dragging her into it. I never should have given it to her. I put her in danger too. And then I lost her… for years,” her voice cracked, and she clamped her mouth shut, turning away as her shoulders shook with irrepressible grief. “I would change a million things about it if I could. So many stupid decisions. I don’t know what I was thinking.”

Seconds ticked by.

“Apparently, Breslin settled down on Keytoll,” Lyra continued, lifting her chin to the horizon. “She changed her name to Neon, shaved her head… Made some friends, got a good job in data encryption. When she dug into the evidence I’d given her, she realized it was nothing she wanted to be caught up in, so she hid it and moved on. Claimed that her hobby was playing around with radios, technology, and communicators while she tried to reach me. But we hadn’t had time to set up any kind of code or whatnot. She was the smart one who broadcast a message with some childhood memories disguised as an audioholo that I picked up. Anyway… I found her… I thought we could come back here and be safe… just live simple lives without the constant fear of looking over our shoulders…”

Hunter hated how much that same yearning resonated deeply with him.

“I don’t know how they found us, if it wasn’t you,” she said softly, turning back to face him with a scrutinizing expression. “We hid on Keytoll for the last few months, came up with a plan. Well, Breslin did. She had some contact that turned out to be the same pirate who helped me escape from prison. He had quite a... bold... personality. Tried to con us again, but she was smart enough to catch it. So with his help, we faked our deaths, published it to the right sources… Then I came back here in the hopes of moving on once and for all.”

“And Breslin?”

“Somewhere safe.”

“More secrets?” His eyes narrowed.

“Why would I tell you?” Lyra retorted, her anger returning.

He remained silent, the deep hurt of betrayal and loss of trust muddied by the utter confusion and sheer overload of information.

“Besides,” she continued, advancing on him now. “What’s all this about you? You’re a clone? A fugitive?”

Hunter shifted on his feet, furious at himself for having revealed his hand in a moment of recklessness. He still wasn’t sure what to believe anymore. It sounded like a plausible story, but he’d been so shamefully fooled by her entire facade that it could be yet another cover-up, a ploy to let his guard down again for whatever else she needed. Perhaps she wanted to protect her own place of safety by taking him elsewhere for capture. He shook his head, rattling the thoughts out of the way, and met her gaze. Two pairs of brown eyes locked in hurt and outrage.

“There’s all kinds of stories out there. Same as you… Lies of the Empire to get rid of any opposition.”

“Oh, now you’re gonna be vague?”

“Yes.”

They stared at each other.

Lyra looked down at her basket, its contents strewn across the ground, then wrapped her arms around herself as though barely holding it together. She glanced back up to him with a single, profound look.

“Take care, Hunter.”

And with that, she turned toward the house, picking her way through the garden beds with slow, defeated steps. Hunter’s eyes darted back and forth across the ground in front of him, lips twitching, then he crossed his arms again.

“Just giving up and running away?” he called after her, despising every word as it came out.

Lyra stopped, head hanging low, and he watched her shoulders slump beneath the weight of his cruel accusation. She began to turn, but hesitated, tightened her arms around herself, and continued into the house, disappearing inside without a backward glance.

Song: A Great Big World & Christina Aguilera – Say Something Lyrics | Genius Lyrics

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freesia-writes · 21 hours

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Ch 27: Reactivity

Master List ~~ Previous Chapter ~~ WC: 2.1k

Song: “Young and Beautiful” by Lana Del Rey

“Well that’s interesting,” Phee remarked, leaning back in her chair. Hunter had been unable to hide his “fuss face”, as she called it, and had been goaded into sharing what was bothering him. After recounting the tale of Lyra’s return, as well as her side of the story, he stared at his plate of food to avoid meeting the multiple pairs of eyes fixed on him. Omega was still on Plata, but the rest were gathered for family dinner as usual at Tech and Phee’s house.

“That does appear to be quite a number of unfortunate misunderstandings,” Tech agreed. “Anyway, remember that blossom you received in the cave?”

“Smooth transition,” Phee said with a smile.

“Apologies for any insensitivity,” he muttered, trying and failing to stifle the urge to roll his eyes. “However, Hunter is no stranger to things not going as anticipated.”

“Low blow,” Crosshair chipped in.

“Alright, well, I am sorry for your pain, Hunter. As for the blossom, Phee and I worked on deciphering its runes for quite a while, and then, to be honest, it was somewhat forgotten as we tackled a new endeavor together.”

“Is that what you’re calling it nowadays?” Echo asked with a suggestive eyebrow.

“If you are referring to intercourse,” Tech answered, unfazed, “the answer is no. We call it intercourse.”

“He really knows how to set the mood,” Phee murmured, winking at Echo as he choked on an ill-timed sip of water.

“Anyway,” Tech continued, exasperated at the repeated derailing of his train of thought. “We consulted one of the Xyloan elders, who responded to the somewhat supernatural news of its origin with virtually no surprise, and she read the message on the petals with ease.”

“And?”

“It is still somewhat cryptic, but it describes a pool here on the island that feeds into a waterfall, and if the blossom is placed into the waters and its owner bathes in the cascade below, he shall receive insight into his deepest fears or conundrums.”

“Sounds like some weird Dathomir tale,” Wrecker muttered.

“Perhaps, but the unique circumstances in which Hunter received the flower, reminiscent of our adventure on Skara Nal, suggests that there may be more to it than a simple children’s fantasy,” Tech said.

“Well? Gonna check it out?” Wrecker asked, looking at Hunter as he glowered in the corner.

“Yeah, maybe,” he evaded.

“Well. I shall determine its precise location and provide specific coordinates, should you find the proper impetus to pursue it,” Tech nodded, lifting his finger in the air as another thought arrived. “Ah, also, I thought you should know… I did find a narrowly-published article regarding the death of Lyra and Breslin, which we now know to be feigned.. It seems they were successful in removing themselves from the Empire’s list of known traitors, therefore any bounty that may have been on their heads would have been canceled.”

“Clever,” said Hunter.

“It was effective. However, I did dig further into the records regarding Lyra’s imprisonment, and there do seem to be some inconsistencies as to the precise nature of her crimes… I found it fascinating that–”

“I don’t really want to hear it, Tech.”

It wasn’t open for discussion, and the bespectacled clone studied his angsty brother for a moment, then nodded and turned to Echo to change the subject to the training academy’s expansion. Wrecker waited for their conversation to pick up, then leaned over to Hunter and spoke in a low voice.

“You’re really torn up about all of this, eh?”

“I’m fine, Wrecker,” Hunter insisted, face hardening slightly.

“Alright,” his brother conceded, sitting back a little. “I mean, I get it. It’s a lot of back n forth.”

“Yeah, and I’m tired of it,” Hunter admitted. Wrecker lowered his gaze to the table at the vehemence in his voice.

“Well, you seem happy enough with Luci?” he offered inquisitively. “So maybe it’s just a lesson learned…”

“Yup.”

Wrecker reclined in his seat, considering Hunter with a thoughtful expression, then resumed eating his dinner. Crosshair, having watched the exchange from across the table, rolled his toothpick from one side of his mouth to the other, noting the curve of Hunter’s shoulders and the tension in his eyebrows. He exhaled softly through his nose, face revealing nothing, then nodded at whatever Tech had been saying.

* * *

Luci squealed in delight as Hunter hung on for dear life, his arms wrapped around her waist as they shot through the waves on the ocean. She had borrowed a jet-speeder and invited him to straddle it behind her, cranking the handlebar and sending them careening out into the open sea. The wind was loud in his ears, nearly drowning out the sound of the engine, and he pressed his head against hers to hold her wild curls from smacking his face repeatedly.

A large wave approached, curling out of the water below with an imposing swell, and Luci lined the jet-speeder up, rocketing them along its rolling barrel and out the other side as it crashed behind them. She whipped them around, perpendicular to the next wave, and hit the throttle again, shooting up and through it before slowing, soaked and exhilarated, on the other side.

“You’re insane,” Hunter yelled in her ear, earning a full-bodied laugh as she angled the speeder to roll with the waves in a slightly calmer approach.

“You love it,” she called back, releasing the handlebars with one hand to give the top of his thigh a squeeze. “You want to steer?”

“Alright,” he agreed, surprising himself. But he knew a thing or two about piloting, and he had a feeling she would appreciate his skills. She carefully rose to her feet, straddling his side for a moment as he scooted forward, then nimbly swung her leg over the seat behind him and fit every inch of her body along his own, tucking her arms around his middle. She was an intoxicating mixture of warm and strong, and the sensation of their wet skin touching gave him a bubbly feeling in his core. “Hold on,” he said, and her little “ooh” in response to his authoritative tone made his chest swell just a tiny bit. He needed this.

They tore across the ocean again, lost in the sheer delight of speed and thrill, and he navigated expertly through the waves until they were both completely tuckered out. Slowly cruising in toward the docks, they secured the jet-speeder and walked, arms around one another, up to the stairs leading into town, laughing freely as their wobbly sea-legs caused a few stumbles along the way. They emerged onto the stone sidewalk at the bottom of The Cobbles, the business district that consisted of one long street that rose in a steady incline across the side of the island, and paused, regarding one another with exhilarated fondness.

“I’m starving,” Luci admitted, her thin wrap fluttering around her swimsuit. “Is it pasta time?”

“Apparently it’s always pasta time,” Hunter said wryly, flinching as she took a sudden, giggling swat at him.

“Damn right!” she cheered, looping her arm through his. “Let’s go change – I have extra clothes at my house.”

“My extra clothes?” he asked, tilting his head quizzically.

“No, just generic extra clothes. You never know when you might need them,” she answered without the hint of a joke in her voice.

“Do naked people show up at your apartment on a regular basis?”

“They don’t usually show up naked,” she grinned, giving him a coy wink as they wove their way through town.

“Hmm.” He had nothing to say to that. She’d been completely transparent about who she was and what she enjoyed, and her unapologetic way of embodying herself without shame or regret was a refreshing change from most anyone else he had met throughout his life. It was clear that she wanted him and would go as far as he’d let her, but she also never pressed, and he was grateful for that. He didn’t know what was holding him back – their kisses were as incendiary as they were satisfying – but he wasn’t in any hurry to dive in, even despite his recent decision to try to “go with the flow”.

She did indeed have some clothes in her apartment that fit him well, and as he rolled up the sleeves on the light blue linen shirt, she peeked around the doorway from her bedroom, catching his eye. He held his hands out to the sides, showing her the result, and she gave him a thumbs up before stepping out into the hallway and mimicking his position to show off her own ensemble. She wasn’t wearing much – he couldn’t tell if it was underwear or lingerie or a dress or what – but his mouth was immediately dry and he found himself taking a quick deep breath due to the sudden lack of oxygen he seemed to be experiencing.

“Just for you,” she winked, vanishing again to finish getting ready. She came back out a while later, her hair falling in gentle waves down to the neckline of a dark blue satin dress that nearly reached her toes. He discovered that it had slits up either side when she approached with a dark look in her eyes, leaning into him and lifting up a leg to rest against his hip. He instinctively placed a hand on her thigh where the silky fabric had fallen from it, and as she ran a hand up his chest before pulling his head down for a deep kiss, he felt every nerve in his body light up. She stepped back, brushing the front of her dress and pulling her breasts up into perfectly-cupped cleavage, then turned to get her shoes.

Hunter couldn’t believe the life he was living.

They tucked into their table at the restaurant, greeted warmly by the server that had come to recognize them both in their semi-regular visits, and Hunter relished the adorable look of surprise on Luci’s face when his order of drinks arrived – not the usual bottle of sparkling wine, but some fancy cocktails made of much stronger stuff.

“Oh, you’re looking for some trouble tonight, are you?” she gasped after taking a large swallow that left her nearly coughing from the liquor blazing down her throat.

“Never,” Hunter grinned, unfazed by his own sip.

They ate and chatted, laughed and flirted. Dinner led to dessert. Luci dipped a dainty finger into the whipped cream between them, then slowly licked it off as she lifted her emerald eyes to his. Hunter felt a sudden need to cross his legs. She told stories of her adventures, asked him questions about his favorite foods, and the night drifted by in contented enjoyment. Beneath a velvet sky peppered with twinkling stars, he walked her home, weaving through the last vestiges of the nighttime market in the Town Square. His arm hung loosely around her shoulders, possessive yet relaxed, and she toyed with his waist as they watched the vendors putting away their goods while the few remaining customers finished their transactions.

Luci stiffened suddenly with a small gasp, and Hunter followed her gaze to a stall across the square, feeling a sinking in the pit of his own stomach as well. Lyra was tucking something into her canvas bag, nodding in thanks to the owner and handing him some credits. She waved goodbye, dipping her head with yet more gratitude, then continued on her way.

“She’s back?” Luci said, more dumbstruck than Hunter would have expected.

“Guess so,” he muttered, steeling himself against the feelings that began to fester.

“Huh,” she said thoughtfully, a million more thoughts beneath that single word as she seemed to recover quickly from her disproportionate shock and vehemence.

They made out in an alleyway that night, then again on the doorstep of Luci’s apartment building. She teased and challenged, offered herself freely, appreciated every bit of him. It was a heady rush, and he felt intoxicated by the simple bliss of it all. The way she tugged on his shirt, the look in her eyes as she gazed at him, the little bite of her lip when he could hear her heart racing… It all invited him to let go. To be present. To leave the past behind.

He extricated himself from her arms, his hair rumpled in every direction from her desperate hands roving through it, and stepped back with a shuddering sigh.

“You’re gonna kill me,” he whispered, his voice hoarse.

“Quite the opposite,” she purred, straightening herself as well. “You sure you don’t want to come up?”

“Yeah…” he said regretfully, confused at his own answer.

“Okay,” she said softly, fingertips brushing along his cheek. “Hey…” Her eyes sparkled as she smiled at him. “Let’s take a little trip. Want to?”

“What do you have in mind?” he murmured, leaning back in to press his lips to her neck. She was absolutely irresistible at times, and his entire body was alight with warm desire.

“Hunter,” she whispered, sending a chill straight to his core with the breathy way she said his name. “You’re such a tease.”

“I thought that’s your job.” He smiled against her collarbone, pulling away with one last kiss. “Alright. Where do you want to go?”

“Let’s just go to Plata for a few days. There’s a big music festival. Good food. Pop-up nightclubs. Lots of people. It’ll be a blast.”

“That sounds awful,” he admitted, and yet somehow it didn’t sound awful at all, but represented an escape of sorts from the relentless tumult within. She giggled, nuzzling her face into his neck now as he shivered involuntarily.

“It’ll be absolutely terrible,” she said, stroking the side of his face before resting her hand on his chest.

“Deal.”

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