Star Wars The Bad Batch: The Runaway

Chapter 55 - Why do Things Have to be Complicated?

Who me, posting twice in a couple months?? 🤭 I know I said I'd post this on the release day of Season 3, but I'm just a procrastinator who needed to also recover from that three episode premiere! Plus I hadn't finished it in time like I'd hoped.

This chapter is kinda unique because it'll briefly have Jace's POV, which was really fun to write then it goes back to Calli.
Warning, the boys are kind of asses in this chapter. Life ain't always sunshine and roses unfortunately.

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Jace stood outside his shared quarters with his master, hyping himself up for their reunion since his leaving for the unapproved mission. He knew Master Windu would not be pleased, but then again they were at war and as a Jedi Master and General, perhaps the man with all on his plate hardly noticed Jace being missing. They'd hardly had time to train since Jace became his padawan, and the teen wondered if this arrangement would last.

He really didn't want to be pawned off to another Master if that was the case. But the teen didn't have a say in the matter, to his frustration.

Jace quickly buried those frustrated feelings so his master wouldn't sense it and finally pressed the button his hand had been hovering over for too long at this point.

Might as well get this over with.

Mace Windu sat at the edge of his bed, doing something or the other on his datapad but stopped when the door opened with a whoosh and Jace walked in.

"Master." Jace greeted formally, following with a respectful bow. It was technically protocol for a padawan to do this, but an unspoken rule was after a little while the etiquette would be dropped as Master and Padawan became more familiar with each other. Jace and his new Master hadn't reached that level of comradeship yet, and he wondered if they ever would.

Growing up, his fellow youngling companions would joke about whomever would be unfortunate enough to have the stoic, no nonsense Jedi as their Master. Jace, ever the one to try and stay out of trouble, ignored the rumors and jokes and didn't join in. After all, Mace Windu was a great and powerful Jedi, he deserved all the respect in the galaxy and anyone would be lucky to be chosen to be his padawan.

Though as Jace straightened his posture and now met the cold, emotionless gaze of Windu, Jace was starting to wonder if his friends had been right. Maybe a transfer wouldn't be the most terrible thing in the world....

It seemed like a milenia passed before Windu finally spoke. Jace wondered if the Jedi Master enjoyed watching him squirm. "I see you've made it back in one piece." The teen nodded. 

"Yes Master. And the mission was successful." The Master Jedi's lips turned downward as he set his datapad aside.

"Yes, Skywalker informed me you found a clone the Techno Union had been holding hostage." Standing, Windu stood, clasping his hands behind his back, all the while holding Jace's nervous gaze. It was hard to know what the man was thinking and made this all the more difficult. "He made sure to tell me you did an excellent job defending the Poltecs." Something then shifted in Windu's expression, "And that you managed to stop a blaster bolt in mid air."

Jace nodded. He'd spoken to Skywalker about it on their way back to Anaxes, needing help to process what had happened. "It was a split second decision." Jace revealed, recalling the event with a grim expression. That moment had scared him for more than one reason. The amount of power he'd felt go through him had been overwhelming and he'd never in his entire career up to that point had done something like that. "I'd seen my Master do it once before, I almost felt like he was there helping me." Some of the grimness washed away at the thought, and for the first time he didn't feel pain when thinking of his deceased master. Instead his chest filled with warmth that maybe through the force Master Vyn had somehow worked through him and helped him.