Chapter Text
Bode lunged, pulling the distracted Jedi to his chest with his forearm wrapped around his throat. Cal wrestled the stronghold as he lifted his lightsaber, the familiar orange glow humming near their noses. Bode swiped the weapon, deactivating the blade before throwing the hilt a good distance away. As he tightened his hold on his companion's neck, Bode noticed a flash of the nightsister's green magic before he raised his free hand and squeezed.
Merrin, now dangling in the air, suffocated against his dark powers, knife falling from her grasp as her fingers clawed at her throat. Her fight grew labored, knees jerking sporadically. Cal paused his own struggles as he watched what remained of his family sag in the deathhold.
"Bode–please! Stop! We'll leave! Just don't–don't kill Merrin!"
The older man lightened his grip on the witch. Before she could regain her senses after near death, Bode sent a heavy command of sleep though the tangled mess of the Force, causing Merrin's muscles to ease and her head to drop forward in unconsciousness. He dropped her just as the young redhead renewed his fight with a pained roar.
"She's not dead–just asleep. Keep fighting and I will kill her, Kestis." The words had an immediate sedative effect on the scrapper. Bode felt Cal take a deep breath as his hands dropped away from the arm at his neck. Bode noticed the blaster he had gifted his friend in his holster, now within handreach, and he unhooked the gun and sent the weapon a similar distance as the lightsaber. The Jedi barely seemed to notice as he continued to take slow inhales, the steady movement somehow helping Bode relax himself. He glanced up as his daughter kneeled down next to the fallen nightsister, her small hands shaking her shoulders to no avail.
"Okay, now that we're all a smidge calmer–let's revisit what you just said. You'll leave? And won't come back with reinforcements?"
Cal started shaking against his captor's chest as his weak, shallow laughter caused Bode's heart to twinge.
"The arrays were only a one-way ticket. We'll need the compass to navigate us back through the Abyss."
His dulled anger reared its head as Bode spun the Jedi around and down onto his back, large hand at his throat as he sat on the young man's thighs to keep him down. He allowed his fingernails to dig into the sides of Cal's neck as his grip grew more fierce. When the small droid on the Jedi's shoulder started spurring to action, Bode took hold of the machinery and swung its small body off the path and down deep into the temple. His hand at Cal's throat shortened the redhead's cries following the downed droid.
"Convenient, scrapper. Offering to leave when you know you can't without this." Bode patted the compass in his jacket, watching the young man follow his movements with his mossy eyes.
"You–you were going to kill her. I had to st–stop, ah!" Cal rasped what he could before the force on his windpipes constricted his voice. Bode knew his anger was making his hold stronger than he meant, but he couldn't stop the power. He redirected his rage to another suggestion to rest, and Cal's gaze fluttered before his head fell sideways, body lax.
"Dad? Are…are you still mad?" Bode tore his glare away from the Jedi under him to his approaching daughter. Kata halted her movements a short distance away, but her father still saw her fear as her small body trembled, and he hated himself.
"No, baby. I'm not mad anymore. I was never upset with you, sweetie." Bode waved his daughter closer, pulling her into a strong hug once she was within arm's reach.
"Are…are you done fighting with your friends? I couldn't get the lady to wake up." Kata was crying, so Bode held her closer, putting one of his large hands on top of her mat of hair.
"They will be fine, Kata. We're done fighting. They just needed a little nap after our argument."
"Go–good. Are they going to stay with us?" She sounded hopeful as she pulled away from her dad's heavy embrace, her small hands shaking as they rested on his sweater's sleeves. Bode looked down at Cal still underneath him, teeth clenching at the red rings beginning to bruise his friend's pale throat.
"I'm not sure. Maybe…maybe one of them will. Why don't you go explore a bit while I talk to their pilot?"
"Okay–I'll try to find a present for your friends! Since you're done fighting!" Kata gave her dad a weak smile. Bode briefly returned her happy expression. Sure to be gentle, he floated his daughter up near the temple's exit. She gave her dad a small wave when she landed on her feet before scampering off.
"Just don't go too far! I love you, sweetheart." Bode's voice cracked with his words, but his daughter in the distance didn't seem to notice. She repeated her dad's words of affection and she disappeared through the large doorway.
When Kata was out of sight, Bode dropped his dark gaze first to the fallen nightsister, then back to the unmoving Jedi. He allowed himself a heavy sigh before he reached for his knapsack from the level above using the Force, bringing the worn leather to his fingers. He winced as he pulled out the Force restrictors, his own connection to the universal energy stinging at the cold metal's bite.
"Sorry, pal, but you forced my hand."
Bode drew the redhead's wrists to his lower back and secured the cuffs, leaving nearly no room between the shackles and Cal's pale skin. Going back to his bag, he drew out his medicine kit, locating the serious set of sedative syringes (precautionary in his line of work). After dosing the downed Jedi, Bode made his way over to the witch and gave her a heavy fill. He also kicked her in the head for good measure, creating a gash on her face that glared with crimson.
"Let's go chat up old Greez."
Bode heaved Cal over his shoulder, being more gentle with the Jedi than he expected. He reached out to the nightsister and dragged her behind the two, up and out of the temple and into Tanalorr's eerie light.
—
When Greez heard the hangar door open, he rushed to the middle of the ship as his four arms fussed around him. Bode walked through the tall entrance, Cal folded over his shoulder and Merrin limp at his feet. The latero fell backwards, sets of fingers grasping for anything to fight the intruder on his ship, but he felt his form freeze as he was slammed back against the holotable.
"Don't make this any harder than it needs to be. It's over."
Bode's words were not contested. Greez held up what hands he could, long mouth mustering the best grin he could, ending up more of a grimace.
"Okay, okay–yeah, sure. No problem."
The pressure on his limbs lessened, but Greez still felt resistance when he lifted one of his right hands to comb over his flat head. The dark haired human watched him coolly as he took another step into the Mantis.
"I understand that your ride home relies on retrieving the compass. Unfortunately, these two failed in their mission." The arm wrapped around Cal appeared to tighten around the young man's prone form almost in a delicate fashion. Bode pulled Merrin's body further into the spacecraft with a wave of his hand, nowhere near as gentle as he flung her off to the left near the seating area.
"I gathered." Greez tried to keep the sarcasm out of his words, but the bitter smile Bode indicated he had been as successful as his comrades on that front.
"Luckily for you, I want you gone. I will help the three of you back through the Abyss, given some…conditions."
"Of course, conditions. Do those conditions get us back home alive, you recon?"
Bode heaved a sigh, releasing his hold on latero. Greez stood up slowly, ignoring that his full height barely reached the man's torso.
"Hopefully, for your sake. How many escape pods does your ship have?"
"Uh, three–but only two ever functioned properly. Why? Wanting to make a quick escape once we're topside?"
Bode barked out a laugh as he shifted positions, keeping a strong hold on the Jedi.
"Not quite. Sounds like you and the witch are going to have to share."
Greez felt his whiskers stiffen. He shot a glance over to the still nightsister before looking back into Bode's stone features.
"No. You are not ejecting us into space and then taking my baby–"
"Not up for debate, Dritus. Either you go in of your own free will or both of you will be unconscious for the ride." For emphasis, the tall human pushed the pilot backwards with another wave of Force, free hand lingering in front of him, fingers tensed. Greez barely kept his feet under him as he stumbled back against the round table, metal arm catching the rim for support.
"Now? Don't you want me to get us through the Abyss first?"
"I'll manage. Start walking."
Another push had Greez heading for the back of the ship. He heard the drag of Merrin's body accompanying a pair of heavy footsteps. The latero managed to not fall down the spiral ladder leading to the lower level despite his legs shaking with each step forward.
Once the four were in front of the escape pods, Bode noted the blocked entrance for the middle pod before he punched the first door open. He flung the silver haired witch into the craft before nudging Greez closer to the door with a small wave of Force.
"Okay, yeah, I got it–thanks, Akuna. What about Cal? You know, he shouldn't be in one of these alone, especially while he's out. Probably best to put him in here with us–"
Before Greez could finish his sentence, the pod door snapped shot behind him, the empty space humming with the pressure change. He cursed, rushing to the door's controls just in time to hear the dull click of a lock forced into place.
Bode heard the faint knocking on the enclosed pod as he walked to the remaining working unit. Once the door breezed open, he stepped into the unit and knelt to place Cal's lax body down. He carded his fingers through the man's short, red hair, hand slowly traveling down the Jedi's cheek and to the bruises on his neck. The spy clicked his tongue as his face scrunched before he stood back up tall, eyes still not leaving those dark circles marring the man's pale throat.
"Fuck; why wouldn't you just listen, scrapper? Maybe then…"
Bode gave himself a quiet moment before he shook his head and got out of that confined compartment, closing and locking the door behind him. He ignored the near constant beats and muffled yells from the first pod as he made his way up and out of the ship to retrieve his daughter before takeoff.