Anakin Solo (anakinsolo) wrote in thedoorway, @ 2014-12-12 21:32:00 |
|
|||
Entry tags: | !log, anakin solo, rikki barnes / nomad (616) |
Log; Anakin Solo & Rikki Barnes
Who: Anakin Solo & Rikki Barnes
When: Friday December 12, late evening.
Where: Somewhere on a rooftop in New York City.
What: Anakin's good at running, but Rikki has skills at finding this particular Jedi.
Rating: IDK. Solo angst, talk of evil brothers, nothing too terrifying so low to moderate?
Status: COMPLETE.
The New York City skyline never seemed quite right to Anakin - as bright and as tall as it was, it was neither as bright, nor as tall as home, but at times when he'd glance at it quickly - it gave him the mirage of Corsucant. Windows in tall towers, the sense of life everywhere, the streets in places just as gritty as certain levels of Coruscant, but just as New York City was not as bright, neither was it quite as gritty as the darkest under levels of the planet Anakin had called home for a good portion of his life. At least nothing he had seen thus far had mirrored that leaving him to believe that this place would never be quite as dark as home. And he'd been decidedly alright with that. He'd put aside everything he'd learned about home, about himself, about Tahiri, about his brother, and when he'd found something that was here, and new, and different, he'd just ran towards it. Maybe a little too hard. Maybe a little too fast. Tonight, his hands dug deep in his coat pockets, he stared across at the windows he and Rikki had spent a lot of time watching together aware in the vaguest of ways that he was still running and that he didn't quite know how to stop. Anakin Solo, once the shining hope of the new Jedi Order, and right now all he could come up with was a numbed anger that he just kept trying to push down because he had no intention of following in his grandfather's footsteps, or his brother's for that matter, no intention of becoming that type of monster, no intention of failing in this reality, or of giving in to allow his emotions the better of him. But intentions or no, the anger still burned just waiting for something to fuel it so it could shine a little brighter. The desperate desire to put it out, suppress it, or just let it go, seemed only to make it harder to do any of those things. Anakin sank to the rooftop under his feet, sitting down on the cold surface of it. He closed his eyes and swallowed and let out a breath, purposefully releasing tension in his shoulders as he did so. The breeze, the cool of the air on his cheeks and his ears, every noise in the city, the sense of life everywhere - the coal of anger dimmed as Anakin focused away from it. And with that dimming, the awareness of other things strengthened, including the realization that he wasn't alone, and that he hadn't been for some time. Anakin sat still, eyes still closed, focusing on her movements, putting all of his awareness into where she was in relationship to him, but he didn't speak. A siren sounded not so very far away and as it faded away from them shifting further into the city, he tilted his head in the direction of that presence. "I know you're there." It was supposed to be a congratulations. No matter what little fights might have happened, tonight had been what Rikki would have qualified as a success. The whole reason any of them did this was to protect people, to save them when life put them in situations where they needed that extra bit of help. Sure there were the big fights, the villains that sometimes were too big and powerful to even believe. But people like the allies found each other to help, not just to fight. So there had been no raid to turn over to the cops, no arrests, but there was a guy who was living and breathing still because of them. That was a win in Rikki’s book any day. But something went wrong between yesterday and today and Rikki wasn’t exactly sure what it was. Awkwardly knocking on Anakin’s door hadn’t returned anything and while Rikki was still getting a handle on this whole force thing she knew that he would have known it was her. Something just felt wrong. While she didn’t have the force to rely on there was no denying the Barnes’ gut and it said something was up. There were three New York Cities that ran through Rikki’s mind at any given time. Each of them was like an imperfect copy. The general layout was the same but there were always differences that popped out when you would expect something else. But this city was hers just as much as Philadelphia had been. It helped that she knew exactly what parts of the city Anakin knew, having been his guide through most of the city recently. People, even spontaneous people, were creatures of habit. If left to his own devices Rikki had a solid enough guess of the few places he might have ended up. After all a leader had to know her people. And maybe Rikki paid more attention to Anakin than she would admit to. Sneaking up on him was not exactly what Rikki was planning. Granted she had no sure way of knowing that Anakin wanted her there to begin with. But he didn’t react when she set foot on the rooftop. Sure Rikki was trained in stealth by some of the best people in the world without powers and the vibranium boots always helped. Except Rikki knew that he could feel her, even in the short time they’d known each other he had been annoying enough with that. It was more than the prickle on the back of her neck that she got when she was being watched. And instead of reacting to her arrival Anakin sat there, staring out into the city and Rikki felt that pit twist in her stomach as the picture looked far too familiar. Change the roof of the city and slap some red hair on him and Anakin looked painfully like her staring out hoping that Gramps and Widow might be looking back. And she hesitated, wondering if maybe she should leave and following had been a bad idea. But the jig was up and Rikki pulled her goggles down to hang loose around her neck. “I know.” There was no going back now so instead she simply took her place next to him, legs folding cross easily. “You know I’m actually pretty good at the whole sneaking thing. Usually.” "Yeah, you are," was Anakin's almost automatic response. And she was. She had training enough that she was probably better at it than he was. He'd never usually had to be quite so quiet. His trek across Yavin IV on the way to rescue Tahiri notwithstanding, but it had been a different situation altogether, and he knew she'd had way more training and was really good at being stealthy. Anakin could get by, and could rely on the Force to help him know when to keep still - when to move - when to blend into the environment - all of those things worked together, but it wasn't really knowledge of the thing itself. He'd always assumed some day he'd get really good at that, like Aunt Mara had suggested - learning what you could do without the Force, not relying on it and he'd only had a year to really explore what that truly meant. He fell quiet for a moment both glad of her company and uncertain exactly what to say all at the same time. He obviously wasn't here for any sort of information gathering. They'd done some good this week already, but here he was avoiding everyone and the network and everything. Anyone else and he probably wouldn't have said anything, but this was Rikki. The problem was he didn't know what to say or where to begin exactly. They'd talked circles around basic things, and he knew enough of her family to know that him having a brother get involved in not so great things wasn't going to make her think less of him. She had the same problem after all, but it wasn't just that - it was so much more than that. Things he'd chosen to ignore about Tahiri, about how he felt about Tahiri and how she felt about him, and none of this was stuff he'd talked about with Rikki before. He swallowed, his jawline tightening as he stared at the windows for a moment longer before he turned to look at her, his eyes softening as he did. "Hey," he said finally. It said nothing except that he was okay with her being there. Watching Anakin was a little bit of a pastime. Which Rikki always rationalized away but even with them being teammates and the move to recruit him they hadn’t known each other long enough that she should have been so tuned in to small gestures. Maybe she was just getting better at reading people in general? That seemed like a good enough lie to tell herself. Granted it hardly took a genius to realize something was wrong. But the way that fell back just a little bit when he finally looked back at her had her heart flutter just slightly in her chest. Like when Benny smiled. Shit. “Hey.” Rikki offered up an awkward smile, slight and not at all comfortable to the tone of what this place was. Granted last time they were here had been a little more heated. Focus, Barnes, focus. Something was bothering him. Was it that they didn’t get what they had been after? Maybe. They hadn’t been on enough missions together for Rikki to really know what Anakin was like after. This seemed a little overkill but maybe it was like a thing. “You know, you did great. No one even got shot. That’s always a good thing. Getting shot is generally, you know, not fun.” She was babbling and it was a shot in the dark but Rikki had no idea what else this could be. Unless it was her? Was the fight really that bad? She wasn’t even that mad at him. No that seemed stupid, it definitely wasn’t her. It had to be the mission. Anakin offered a half-smile, characteristically Solo, but muted a bit. It was good that no one had got shot, and things had been pretty decent, and dammit, he really should be more upbeat right now. But he was definitely struggling with pulling and holding onto any decently positive emotion. Except that Rikki was here and sitting next to him. She'd followed him, or tracked him, one of those two things, maybe a mixture of both and the smile grew a bit more genuine as he realized that it meant she cared enough to take the time to do so. "Getting shot, definitely not fun," he managed to infuse some light into his tone there. "So I'm glad we avoided that and would recommend we also forgo it in the future. Or amphistaffs, or blasters, or swords, or lightsabers, or really any weapon interacting with our bodies, generally good to avoid. My brother's here." The tone changed so drastically that Rikki had difficulty for a second keeping up with what he had just said. Rikki had done her best to not completely given into her snooping nature when it came to Anakin. If there were things he needed to tell her he would tell her. So far he had been pretty upfront when she asked questions and there had not been a reason to go around that. But he had been upfront, which meant she knew a little about just why they were not on this rooftop instead of celebrating with the rest of the allies. “Your brother, that’s. Oh.” Rikki’s voice dropped along with any pretense of excitement. The flutter in her chest calm to the stark cold realization of just what that meant. She didn’t have details but they had talked about evil brothers before. It was part of how they had started talking at all outside of Rikki just being annoyed with him. On impulse she reached out, taking his hand in hers. She didn’t take no for an answer. Maybe he had the force and could predict what she was about to do but Rikki was far more stubborn than Anakin even knew yet. Too many thoughts were running in her head. She needed to ask questions but she knew the shock was still too new. Coming up with contingency plans wasn’t most people’s way of coping with situations like this. And the fact that he was here and not with his family told her more than she would have known otherwise. Anakin didn't pull his hand away when she took it just letting it rest there and he stared at the corner of the building across from them absently counting the stones along the edges mostly because it gave him something to think about that wasn't trying to explain everything to Rikki. He wanted to, but he honestly had no idea where to start. Maybe there wasn't a magic place to start, maybe it was just starting wherever he was and going from there because there wasn't any magic to this place any more than there was at home and he wasn't going to solve anything by running away or slapping a Jedi meditation on it. "You know, for years I was afraid that it'd be me. I was the one named after the golden Jedi who became a Sith Lord, you know? I was the one that had that legacy attached to me, staring me in the face every time I signed my name, or got called to dinner. I know what Mom was trying to do, and I think probably my Grandfather had some good in him. He had to, he had my Uncle and my Mom after all, but it still was something I carried for a really long time. And then I get here- "And that's not the worst of it. The worst of it - I don't know. I just, I don't get it, Rikki. I don't understand. The Yuuzhan Vong invaded, and my brother thought the Jedi shouldn't even be fighting them. Like our galaxy is being taken over by aliens that enslave or kill huge portions of our population, that worship pain, and he's going on about peace and non-violence? You don't stand down a monster with non-violence on principle. Not - when there are so many lives at stake. And I don't know how to reconcile that with the brother that's here right now." He finally did turn to look at her again, brow furrowed. "I don't even know what to say. He's not the brother I knew, but he's still my brother. Just promise me you'll stay away from him, okay?" Not knowing your own brother, that was something Rikki was too familiar with. She had sat in on John’s trial when he was finally turned over. Watching the nazi sitting there mocking the court and get handed his life sentence was different from the brother who had picked her up when she fell or stole cookies for her off a high counter. It was hard looking into the eyes of the man trying to kill you attached to a rocket with all that either. People changed and a lot of the time it wasn’t for the better. Jacen had lost his brother in addition to all the other pain they had gone through in this war she only heard bits and pieces of. People broke for less reason all the time. And Rikki wanted to comfort Anakin, she wanted to reassure him. But lying to his face wasn’t something she could do, not about this. If Anakin knew her at all he would see right through it and an empty promise wasn’t a promise at all. “Anakin, I.” her voice caught for a second as she frowned. This was completely reasonable and she knew that. Fight a jedi? Rikki barely knew what Anakin could do let alone his Sith Lord brother. But she had faced down Onslaught, she had count countless super villains. And she would never stand back if someone was a threat, even if they were bigger than her. “I’m not going to promise to stay away from anyone.” she said, squeezing his hand tight to keep him in place and to keep him from talking. “If he’s going to hurt anyone, if he’s going to hurt you, I’m going to help stop him. And if it comes to that then I will. And until then we’ll learn what we can to prevent that from happening.” Anakin knew Rikki well enough that her answer should have been expected, but what Rikki didn't know and what he couldn't find the words to explain to her was that his brother's actions felt like a personal betrayal. He didn't know how to face his brother knowing what he did about Tahiri. He hadn't even really told Rikki about Tahiri so to tell her about everything else seemed completely impossible in the moment. He just knew he had no desire to be used as a tool in his brother's arsenal to ruin someone else's life - especially someone he cared about - again. He shook his head, words impossible and scattered as he tried to figure out how to put them into some framework that would explain anything to her. "That's not what I meant," he said finally. He'd wanted nothing more than to introduce her to his family and suddenly he just wanted her as far away from them as he could manage. Just in case. Probably far away from him too just to be extra safe. That idea almost immediately was marked off as ridiculous, and not necessary, and maybe they should just leave New York… Another idea marked off as unlikely. "We should do stuff. Like, drills and things. You should know how to fight a Jedi, or a-" the word caught in his throat and he let it go, not ready to say it aloud. "Uncle Luke is here," he added. But Uncle Luke had been at home too. “So’s Gramps. And we have Widow on our side too.” Maybe Rikki needed to talk to them about training sessions again. They weren’t Jedi but there wasn’t a spy alive better than the Black Widow and the Winter Soldier was right up there with her. They had been busy with their own projects but maybe they would have something that was helpful. Jedi had that mind trick thing and both of them knew about stuff that could mess with memories. Not that she was exactly excited about the thought about asking on how to resist that, but they would know best out of anyone she knew. “We could even ask Captain America to train with us. They’re not force sensitives but add in your Uncle and that’s a definite starting point.” But laying out training regimes and plans really didn’t add up to much if she didn’t know who they were fighting. And Anakin really didn’t either. All of this happened after, he had even said that the brother he knew was completely different. “But we were already planning to do that.” Rikki added quietly. “Is it because he’s your brother? Anakin, I know it’s. I locked my brother up for the rest of his life for what he did. If you have to do that with yours, you shouldn’t be alone. And I’d want to be someone you’d trust to help you.” "You are," Anakin turned to give her a serious look. "You absolutely are, it's not that, it's -" His free hand reached for her other hand and he laced his fingers through hers and stared at the hands between them. "I didn't expect this. I should have, Mom and Dad aren't married, and Uncle Luke remembers me about nine years old, and why wouldn't someone from the future show-up? I didn't think I'd have to-" He blew out a breath and tried to pull a stable, non-emotional, professional tone even out of his body despite wanting to just punch something. "I'm not being rational about this. I know I'm not. Maybe tomorrow I can be more objective. It just - wasn't supposed to be like this. None of this. We were a team. We were a good team. Jaina, Jacen, and I? When we actually could get past our differences and work together? It was - there were so many things I wanted to try. Things the Jedi Order needed to learn. Maybe I was wrong to - push all of us… I just didn't know what else to do. People were dying - Jedi were dying. I couldn't stand by and do nothing about that. But what good does my dying do if it's the thing that twists Tahiri? What good was any of it? I don't even know what I'm doing here. Or why you're here. I'm so angry, Rikki. I can't be this angry." There was way more than Rikki could even begin to know how to deal with in that. Anya was the one who knew how to talk to people. Rikki tried, she could do the speeches when she put on her best Steve impersonation but this? How did she even start? Of all people she was the last one to say not to blame yourself, it’s what she did constantly to herself. It was easier somehow, to blame herself. As if somehow if she had done something differently the world would change. “People make their own choices.” She started, the words stumbling out and they belonged more to Gramps than her. That day she hadn’t even known who he was, just someone in Steve’s costume watching over her at John’s grave. Without even knowing her grandfather had looked out for her one last time. “The reason I’m here? It’s because I made a choice to be here. Your brother made choices too. And you made yours. You can’t blame yourself for what other people do.” It was a nice speech and one she had more than enough trouble with herself. Guilt ate away and some days it was almost impossible. But even if talking wasn’t something she could do there was something else. So she got up and pulled Anakin up to his feet to follow her. If he was angry Rikki could deal with angry. She took a moment to put her goggles back into place and then fell easily into a defensive stance. “So I’m here, making my choice. And you’re going to try to hit me. No force, just you.” Anakin knew that she was right. And truthfully, he could blame himself less for Jacen's choices, than he might for Tahiri's - if he'd been there, Jacen couldn't have used him, after all. That Tahiri might have allowed herself to be used was there in the back of his mind, but it wasn't something that was easy to believe always - or at all. But he didn't really have time to try to think about it because he was pulled up to his feet and it took a moment for him to really figure out what she'd said. And for a moment he just stared at her, and then despite himself a smile crossed his lips. The first hint of a real one since he'd found out about his brother. "You're crazy." But he had just said they should do drills and practice together. “Not really.” Rikki gave him a cheeky grin because this was a bravado she could deal with. It was like putting on a mask, the confidence that came from fighting. The world could stop making sense but Rikki Barnes knew how to throw a punch and how to take one. There was only so much she could do about his anger. Dealing with his brother was something Anakin was going to have to do. But right now they could put his anger towards something else. So she shrugged and motioned for him to join in. “The way I see it is without the force I’m faster. So you’re going to have to actually work for it to even land a hit.” She cocked an eyebrow up to dare him. “Unless you think I’m wrong. By all means prove it.” Anakin was smart enough to know what she was doing, but it was also working. He'd watched her long enough that he wasn't stupid enough to think it would be an easy win, but he could probably make it happen. Maybe. He was suddenly very grateful that Aunt Mara had once pointed out that it was important to know his abilities without the Force, to be able to better judge other people's abilities who couldn't tap into the Force, and that was going to make this easier. If not easy. "You're way overconfident," he shot back, with a typical grin to punctuate it. "And I can do plenty without the Force, are you sure you really want to start this here?" “If you’re worried, I can carry you home when I win.” Rikki tilted her head back, all bravado and confidence. Distraction and aggression, it was a perfect combination. Space and a little bit of time would help him process through the shock of all this. But right now Rikki was interested in the fact that there was an honest smile on his face. A smile that made her feet feel a little light. And one that she was planning on making eat concrete in about 60 seconds. As loose as she seemed, she was watching Anakin like a hawk, running every move that she had seen him use over in her head. His preferences and habits that she had picked up so far were cataloged. Her side would be all defense which made strategy easier. “If you manage to land a hit you can even sleep over. I won’t even put you on the couch.” Anakin raised an eyebrow at the last, the prize had been set and it was a prize that he really, really wanted, as it turned out -- something he no doubt, annoyingly knew. But something in his eyes changed, and it was all determination - backed generations of Corellian stubbornness. "I'm worried you'll be the one that needs carrying, but don't worry," he grinned, teasing as he considered the best place to start this. "The Force should make that easy, and I'll take you home to bed and curl up with you to make certain you get to sleep all right." The punch to her right arm was more test than anything else - where was she anticipating and how quick would she move - answers Anakin knew-ish, but he was okay with her gauging him lower in ability than he actually was. If he was going to try and win this match through stubbornness, Rikki had Barnes and Carter genes to spare in that category. The smile fell from her face as she fell into concentration. As much as this was to make him feel better Rikki knew that it was also a good gauge for the future. When people were emotional their reactions changed. While Anakin had calmed down that edge was still there. No one needed special powers to know that. But she had given him something he wanted and it was in his reach. She dodged, moving to the side before falling back into position. The board was reset. Try again. “Going easy on me isn’t going to get you a spot in bed, Solo.” even though her smile was gone, the amused tone stayed. A tone that pretty much made Anakin just want to kiss her right then and there. Which would happen - plenty, but later, after he'd actually got a hit in. Which he knew he could do, and then they could go back to Potts Tower and he could go back to her apartment, and - focus, Anakin. "I don't want you to bruised up when I get you there," he threw back and this time gave her absolutely no warning as he moved his left shoulder quickly, before twisting his body to send his right hand back at her arm following it with a punch from his left - if one of them didn't get it, the other one hopefully would. Better, he wasn’t trying to gauge her this time. Hesitation wasn’t about to get him what he wanted and it was better that Anakin know that. The quips were a distraction and they were ordinarily good ones. But Rikki trained against super heroes and villains. One-liners were practically part of the regimen. Focusing on one part of his body would have meant he could have landed a hit. But instead of moving to the side, Rikki jumped back, arms falling back and making herself as small as possible as she landed out of range. It had been so long since she had run pure defense. She made a quick note to put more practice drills in effect for herself. “I don’t think that’ll be an issue.” she said, moving back into position. She was quick and Anakin could appreciate that, but he appreciated it a lot more when it was operating against someone other than him. Right now he really would have been happy if she was a lot less quick - and it was reminding him that he needed to do more of this. He'd not been working really, he'd gone from running and just trying to stay alive, to running in a different way, but this way hadn't given him nearly as much training as it would have been nice to have in the moment. "Keep talking Barnes," he said simply, not allowing her a lot of time to recover before he swung once more - tighter than he had before. She could have kept talking, there was enough room from when she noticed where the punch was going. But instead Rikki had a better idea. Instead of dodging Rikki fell into the offensive. Reaching out she grabbed his wrist and forced his fist out of the way. In an actual fight she might have twisted it behind him, forcing him down to the ground and into the pavement just to prove that she could. Instead she went with up, closing the gap between them. He was angry, he had every reason to be angry. They could stay on this rooftop while she wore him down till he was able to fall asleep just from exhaustion. Instead Rikki kissed him, letting his hand fall down but keeping a hold on his wrist, keeping him in place. Anakin had determinedly set aside the Force, and his instincts were still good, but less trained than they could be so dependent was he on the intuition the Force usually granted him. So when Rikki chose this particular method of blocking him, an initial rush of uncertainty was followed by surprise that melted into the warmth that was connected with kissing Rikki Barnes. The physical intensity he'd been channeling into the fight was easily rerouted into the kiss he was getting. It was a distraction even more welcome than Rikki's first idea. Anakin twisted his arm in her hand, working his hand out to find her hand if he could. He closed any remaining distance between them and he brought his free hand around to slide around her waist. "This is cheating," he murmured into her kiss, but there was no real complaint behind the protest. Laughing softly, Rikki broke the kiss and rested her forehead against his. “It’s the only way you’d get a hit in.” she teased gently as she squeezed their hands together. But this was better than pensive Anakin and much better than freaking out Anakin. Eventually they were going to have to talk about, well, any of this. Avoiding it for tonight seemed like a good idea though. In the morning maybe they would have leveler heads and they could talk without having to resort to hitting things. They could plan as well as brief the rest of the Allies about this. And all of that could be put off till tomorrow. “Let’s go home.” Rikki kissed him again lightly. “My place is nicer anyway.” |