Bounty

fifteen

Carina sits back on her couch with her eyes trained on the floor as she processes the story Calista and Kix had shared. All this time, her uncle had been in an induced cryogenic state?

Her thoughts then linger on the red-skinned woman beside her, the bounty hunter who had found and saved Kix. She can't seem to wrap her mind around why a bounty hunter would protect such a valuable person of interest. That is, until she remembers her own parents.

As a young girl she'd sit and watch as her mother would make dinner for the family of three. It wasn't long before her father would slip into the room and pull her away from the stove to dance with her. There was no music playing, no reason for it, for any of the crazy things they did, but the love in their eyes during all of it was enough of an answer.

Carina lifts her head to look at Calista. She could be blunt with her question regarding her feelings towards Kix, but she's much more interested in the Zeltron herself.

"Did you ever have a family?" Carina asks.

Calista's face drops at the question. She looks towards Kix to find him curiously waiting for an answer as well. "Uh, well.." She swallows her nerves. "I was taken from my home planet at a very young age and brought to some sort of combat school." Calista shifts awkwardly.

"I can't remember if I had any family on Zeltros, all I remember is being trained day and night—they used me to.. enhance... others in different ways." She continues. "I'm not sure what their plans were for me, but after a few years of me being there, a group of pirates raided the facility. One of the pirates found me while scavenging and took me with them."

"Is that why you were a pirate after that?" Carina asks.

"Well yes, and no. I was only about 15 years old." Calista presses her lips into a thin line. "The 'pirate' that found me is Maz Kanata. She brought me back to her castle on Takodana and gave me a home. Maz is the closest thing I ever had to a mom, or a parent in general."

Kix notices her glossy eyes and leans forward to hold her hand. Calista looks up at Kix with a soft smile and that's when Carina sees it—the same look her parents shared all those years ago.

"Once I turned 20, I wanted to venture out and start my own life. Sidon and his crew came to the castle while I was still bartending for Maz and after that day, I was a pirate." Calista continues, now sharing her story moreso for Kix rather than for the girl who asked the question. "Sidon and I had an interest in one another. Because of my abilities I could feel that his interest was more of a romantic one, whereas my own was more of an interest in how pirates function and how to be a good Captain."

"You didn't love him?" Kix asks, furrowing his eyebrows as he slowly puts everything he knows about her together.

"After knowing someone for so many years, you learn to love them in a way I guess." Calista shrugs. "But I could never reciprocate how he wanted me to, how he expected me to. I cared for him, of course. I just never truly felt anything more than that... Until the day I met you." She admits, looking into Kix's eyes.

Kix's eyes widen as he looks back at her. He glances over at Carina, who has a smug look on her face as she gathers the empty bowls.

"Not to ruin your moment." Carina speaks up as she walks into the kitchen to place the bowls in the sink. "But those people that took you and trained you, do you remember who they are?"

Calista pulls away from Kix ever so slightly and his heart sinks as his focus remains on her. "It was never clear, they wore white suits and never really spoke to any of us. They'd leave us in a room with weapons and another subject and expect us to know what to do, or they'd drag us to a room to run tests on us."

Carina hums as she sits back down on the couch. Before any other words can be said, radio chatter can be heard outside of the villa.

"Yes sir, I've traced their ship to the planet Raydonia but there's no sign of life."

Carina's eyes turn stoic as she rises from the couch. She catches a glimpse of a white helmet through the window and clenches her jaw. "The First Order."

Calista's eyes widen as she looks to Kix.

"Carina, I swear we didn't know they were tracking us." Calista speaks quietly.

"I know you didn't." Carina assures her, confusing both of her guests.

"They couldn't have gotten far. Spread out." The stormtrooper orders, meaning that there must be multiple of them present.

Carina closes her eyes for a moment before they shoot back open. "We need to get out of here." She rushes, quickly grabbing her pistols and heading for the back of the villa.

"I don't have my blaster." Calista stops the girl, remembering that Kix made her leave the weapon behind.

"We'll get you another one. Let's go." Carina gestures for them to follow her as she pushes the kitchen table over to open a hatch on the ground. "Follow the tunnel all the way to the end, there's a ladder that leads up to the riverbank on the outside of the forest. I'll meet you there."

Calista nods before climbing down into the tunnel. Kix however, grabs Carina's arm.

"I'm not leaving you behind." He says as his heart beats rapidly.

"I need you to make sure the area is clear." Carina hands her pistols to him as they hold eye contact. "I'm just grabbing a few datapads, I'll be right behind you."

Kix wraps his hands around the pistols and takes a deep breath. "You'll be right behind us?"

Carina smiles up at him. It takes everything in her to fight back her tears at the familiarity of his face. "Right behind you." She nods.

Kix secures the two blasters and climbs down the ladder to meet Calista. He looks back up just as Carina secures the hatch.

"She'll be okay." Calista assures him.

Kix releases a worried breath as he hands a pistol to Calista. "I really hope you're right."

Carina slides the table back into place so that it's covering the hatch and grabs a jacket. She takes one last look at her childhood home and she seals the front door.

The sound of the troopers talking to one another gets louder as they approach and she quickly climbs out of the window. She takes a deep breath and puts her hood up before sneaking around the side of the villa. As the two troopers knock on the sealed door, Carina slips into the trees and runs towards the rendezvous point.