Ambassador

Chapter 16: Free Will

"She is valuable to us, unlike Lama Su. She knows it."

"Very well. Keep me informed of any out-of-place behavior."

Alanja gave a tiny grin. "What better place to do so than here?"

Rov stepped forward, pulled his blaster from its holster, and handed it to her. Her whole being tensed when he forced it into her hands. "Do what you have to do. If Nala Se or any of the others seem like they will be trouble, execute them."

Now fully the cold admiral again, Rov gave her a nod of his haughty chin and left her. Scared that he believed her enough about the danger of the situation to leave his weapon, Alanja cradled the pistol and pulled Crosshair's blanket over her as she curled back up at his side. "Wake up soon, friend. We need you."

That night, a hand brushed her arm in the gray darkness of the infirmary twilight. She startled awake, but when she saw no one, she groaned and hid her face against the side of Crosshair's bare shoulder. A pair of dimmed, nurse-droid eyes floated in beside them. Alanja's felt like shooting it. The last time it came in, it took all her willpower not to blast it to bits with Rov's pistol. That insistent hand was back on her arm. The droid came in closer, running a scan over Crosshair, the movement fully jolting her upright, the pistol clinking against the droid's head.

"Back away," she ordered the droid.

Her head swiveled back when Crosshair let out a grunt of pain. He was clutching his ribs, his face contorted in a snarl. Suddenly, she realized the hand on her had been his. He was awake!

"Crosshair," she breathed.

His bleary eyes blinked as she slid out of the bed and brushed down her gown. Crosshair wheezed her name. "Alanja."

Abashed, she hugged the pistol to herself. "Hello, friend."

He smirked, painfully amused by her timidness. She dropped the pistol to her side when his gaze flickered to it. Unable to tell if he thought she looked like a fool or if he was glad to see her, she broke the awkward silence with "How do you feel?"

He snorted weakly in response, his eyes still considering her face and the weapon. "Alive."

She smiled at him and took his hand, drawing it over her heart.

His gaze was suspicious. "What are you doing here?"

The question stung. "I couldn't just leave you here alone."

He scowled as if he was angry with her. No, not anger, trepidation and confusion that he was using to wall her off from a spike of vulnerability towards her. "Why not? You don't owe me anything?" He looked down at the blaster again.

Still holding his hand tightly, she said. "You're my friend."

"You keep saying that."

"Would you rather that I not?"

His eyes narrowed, and he shook his head, no.

"She's been here night and day," the medical droid complained. "She has kept me from doing my duties."

"Shut up, you," she said as she angrily waved the pistol at the droid.

His brow rose at her wild brandishing. "Hiding from the regs?" He sounded as if he genuinely thought the joke would divert her attention back to him.

Her cheeks reddened. She shrugged with a timid smile, sheepishly taking a step back from the med droid. "Maybe."

Crosshair gave a pained laugh, the sound filling her loneliness with hope.She held his hand tighter. "I was so scared."

Her answer seemed to rankle him. Again, that vulnerability surfaced before he could crush it with his curt, "Why?"

The question stung as if he was completely oblivious, though it was worse than that. He was outright shunning Alanja's fears as if she was being absurd. She huffed bitterly. "Are you trying to make me angry?" she spat incredulously.

He gave that awkward laugh again. "No."

Stressed, she hugged his hand even tighter. "I was scared of losing you, Crosshair. Maybe you are oblivious to our friendship, but I am not."

His throat bobbled, and he pursed his lips as if he missed his toothpick. His brown eyes were vast pools in the dark as he considered her. He had not been expecting her to be so persistent. Crosshair narrowed his eyes and prepared to deflect. "I see you're still trying to think up nice things to say to me?"

Getting frustrated, Alanja finally let go of his hand. There was a flicker of disappointment in his gaze when she released him. "Don't act like you don't know I care about you," she scolded with her hand on one hip and the pistol on the other. "It's absurd at this point, don't you think?"

He relaxed his head back in his pillow and gazed at her with a strangely peaceful look on his gaunt, burned, and bandaged face. "You're right, Miss Rampart. It is absurd you care." He smirked when she scowled at his jab.

"Then I will be absurd, CT-9904," she said in the hardest voice she could muster. "Things for you will be different now because I have given you a great gift."

He was a little slow to respond, hiding his suspicion behind a snide tone, "What's that?"

She held her head high and replied, "I made Nala Se remove your inhibitor chip, CT-9904. You are no longer her property, Commander Crosshair."