"What's going on here?" Lux demanded as he stepped forward, the words low and cold. Ahsoka felt her eyes widen. Could she make some sort of excuse and get him out of the way before he made a mess of things? She really doubted it.

"That's the Lord Imperator's son, ain't it?" the brigand furthest from her hissed nervously. His teeth and gums were blackened by years of glitterstim abuse.

"Yes." She tamping down an unexpected upsurge of anger at even such an offhand reference to Lux's rank – he was more than some silly, entitled boy. Pitching her voice so high it squeaked and trembled with relief, she added, "He's my master."

Lux met her gaze for a split-second as he stepped forward, his every muscle coiled and ready to spring beneath a façade of austere rigidity.

"Jek, let's get outta here, or there's gonna be trouble with Lord Noreino," one of the two former sentinels croaked. There were some murmurs of agreement from two others – and then, quickly enough to make a smile nearly break through her carefully crafted look of fear, they began backing away.

"Cowards!" the Human woman shrieked, and threw her flask after them. As it clattered to the floor, she stumbled closer to Lux and jabbed a finger at his chest. "Someone's gotta teach this sniveling sonuvabitch a lesson, anyway. His father's always saying it, that he's gotta man up and– and learn how the galaxy works."

A muscle jumped in Lux's jaw. "Watch your mouth."

The woman pushed a few stringy locks hair out of her face and leaned closer to him. "In fact, Lordy Zakhan'd probably thank us for showing this here pup who he needs to be in this new Empire."

Lux hesitated, his posture tightening, but at the critical second when Ahsoka was certain he would raise his hand, he went lax. His eyes flashed up to meet hers, and when she saw something like an apology there, she understood. He was banking on her fighting skills to get them out so he wouldn't be forced to strike the first blow – never mind that she'd said she wasn't a fighter. The woman's words had created an impasse where no one could move for fear of attack now or retribution later.

Damn your ethics, Ahsoka thought for the umpteenth time. Forsaking the old formality of a snippy one-liner, she snapped her arm up with all the power she'd been holding in reserve. Thanks to some last-minute calibrations with her montrals, her aim was as true as ever, and her elbow struck the Twi'lek squarely on the nose.

He fell back with a howl of pain, letting go of Ahsoka completely to cradle his injured face. Before he could get too far out of range, she shifted her stance and kicked him in the ribs hard enough to send him sprawling into the Human woman. They collided gracelessly and landed in a dazed, misshapen pile at Lux's feet.

"Contemplate the morality of the situation later, would you?" Ahsoka called over to him when she didn't hear him move. "I can't take them all on my own!"

That was a lie, of course. But even if this little incident forced her to show her hand, she could still stuff a few cards up her metaphorical sleeve to keep them out of sight. Let Lux believe what he wanted to about her fighting ability – if he stepped in, she'd have to do little that might confirm her true level of skill.

Besides, as she noted with a wince, the three defectors were rushing back to avenge their fallen compatriots, and the one other remaining nearby was hurrying to join their ranks and make the charge with them. Lux had his work cut out for him, and he'd be too busy to monitor her all that closely.

"How do I stay in the moment, like you told me to?" he whispered suddenly, moving closer to her. She turned to snarl a comment about how he could possibly think this was the right time. His raised guard, low stance, and sharp focus on the incoming brigands made her hold her tongue.

He wouldn't back down. He'd go into this with or without advice, but here he was, asking for it – asking how he could best use what skills he had to serve her.

"You're full of surprises," she murmured, and he smiled at her through his look of intense concentration. "Your senses can deceive you if you put too much emphasis on one or two–" they sprang apart as a bottle was hurled between them, "–so you need to cycle through them all to get a complete picture. Sight is good, but your ears will help you judge the distance and speed of blows you can't see. So will changes in the air that you feel on your skin." Angling her chin toward the bottle, she added, "The smell of drink will be a pretty good indicator of position, too."

"Right," he said as the first two reached them. This time, he struck first.

Ahsoka had learned after a few bad fights early in her tour of duty in the war not to go on autopilot when there was a conflict at hand, even one far beneath her skill level. Where one felt the most confident was where they were most prone to slipping up. Nevertheless, as she kneed the nearest man in the groin and knocked him down by the shoulders when he caved, she kept a close eye on Lux.

She'd suspected after his display in the training arena that Lux was simply a slow learner in disciplines he was less keen on. His reaction time now proved her wrong. His footwork was clumsy and the way he blocked brought his guard dangerously low, but he reacted to every blow that came his way. He'd taken her advice to heart, and if he wasn't profiting by it, at the very least it was keeping him from getting knocked down.

It was satisfying to see, but Ahsoka was by no means an optimist. Considering there were still another two to go, he shouldn't have been having so easy a time of it. What had happened to them?

Ahsoka shot a glance down the hallway. All clear. That was strange.

Leaving Lux to incapacitate his opponent, she moved to the nearest junction on silent feet. Her efforts were quickly rewarded: quiet, disoriented mutterings and the clicking sounds of plasticoid on metal reached her as soon as the scuffle was behind her. She peeped around the corner, and she found their two missing people trying to load a power pack into a blaster with as much efficiency as they could muster. Given the drink in their system, that was not a lot.

Could she send the power pack into overdrive from here, using the Force to press the right buttons and catch them off guard? The scorching heat of the plastic would startle them long before it could explode, and make it useless in a blaster. But then again, she had no way of knowing if they had a spare.

Lux jogged to a halt behind her, his green eyes bright and hair tousled. His breath was warm on her shoulder when he opened his mouth to speak. Thankfully, he nodded in understanding and kept quiet when she held up a hand. Instead, in one smooth gesture, he reached for the back of his belt beneath his jacket, drew a tiny blaster from it, and clicked the safety off.

One warning shot at the two brigands' feet sent them scrambling back with shouts of surprise, the power pack clattering to the ground between them. When they caught sight of Ahsoka and Lux standing there unharmed and unperturbed while their friends were nowhere to be found, they turned tail and ran.

Ahsoka crossed her arms as she watched them go. Something like relief was rising from her gut, but so strangely angry she hadn't the heart to keep a sniping note from her voice. "Are you going to let them get away?" Then, belatedly, "Master."

"I'm good with faces," Lux said, more levelly than she would have expected. "Trust me, I'll remember these guys. And when my security detail runs a holo-trace from the cam system, it will all but confirm their identities. It's all under control."

It was absolutely not – least of all for you, she thought, but she knew saying that would be too bold of her. Instead she gestured to the blaster and shot back, "You didn't think that might've been useful earlier?"

Lux gave a nonchalant shrug. "I figured I could use the practice."

Ahsoka snorted. "That's bantha poodoo if I've ever heard it!"

"Well, most of them weren't armed."

"You didn't know that." Ahsoka gestured sharply to the fallen power pack. "If I hadn't gone after these two, it could have ended badly for you."

"But you needed my help taking them out, no? So technically," he purred, with a twitch to his mouth like he was struggling to keep his lips from sinking into a smirk, "I just rescued you."

Ahsoka crossed her arms again and turned round, heading down the hallway again. The anger was washing away now, dropping off with every heartbeat that came slower than the last. She wasn't eager to find out what lay beneath it. Already her stomach was spinning like a loose crate in zero gravity.

"Cheap move," she managed to force out, and picked up the pace.

Lux beamed and scrubbed a hand through his hair, chirping a quick "You're welcome," that Ahsoka ignored as pointedly as the rest. She had a bad feeling...

Lux was offering compliments on the speed and strength of her attacks – things that normally would have been a flattering and welcome reminder of her skill. But Ahsoka heard his soft tone of voice and none of the words it carried.

She could still feel the imprint of the man's hand – Jek's hand – on her hip, flaming hot like it had been branded there. She'd knocked him out good and proper, she knew that, but how long would it be before he got up? Would he come after her? Did he know where the slave quarters were? Of course a sleemo like that would; it was only a matter of time before he came back for her or someone else did, because for all the strength and speed Lux could compliment, Ahsoka was vulnerable. She was weak. She deserved this, for having let herself be captured on Felucia and brushed off every opportunity for escape since then.

You deserve this. You brought this upon yourself. This is all you'll ever get, now, because Anakin is surely dead and you–

"Alynna!"

Anakin would hate you now, for growing this complacent.

Lux had taken her by the shoulders – how had she not noticed? – and was staring at her with fear in his eyes. "Alynna, please, talk to me. Are you all right?"

For a second, Ahsoka stared blankly up at Aluxsidrian Noreino, her purpose, her mission. Then, her eyes began to fill with tears she couldn't blink away. Lekku burning with shame, she lifted a hand to wipe them into oblivion.

Understanding dawned on Lux more quickly then. "This has happened before, hasn't it?" he whispered, his expression growing pained around the edges.

"Of course it has," she snapped. "This and more. You know why me and the others were given as a gift to your father – what sort of a regime he's supporting. You know why you had to choose me. Don't insult me."

Lux nodded and let his hands fall from their places on her shoulders. Though she felt lighter the second she was free of them, a tiny part of her missed the solidity of his hands on her skin. But any thoughts on the subject fled when the man who was meant to be her master took a step back and bowed low.

"Then you have my deepest apology for any insult I have caused. I'll do better in the future. You have my word."

Ahsoka pressed her lips together to keep them from trembling. She felt like a droid whose circuits had been so taxed and fried processing any more information would send her over capacity and prompt a breakdown. "This... please, this was too much, right now. I just need..." She shrugged.

"Of course," Lux said, straightening up again. "Let's go back to my rooms."

"I'm not hurt, and honestly I'd rather skip the psych eval, right now." There was nothing of Alynna Taari about the statement or its delivery, but Ahsoka didn't care enough to soften it. The tears were still too close. "I just need to sleep it off."

"I'm not sending you back into the belly of the beast after what happened tonight. You'll sleep in my bed from now on."

The only thing that stopped Ahsoka from punching Lux in the throat and fleeing was the pressing memory of his comment about the cam system watching them. One again, she was trapped, perhaps worse than she'd been before with the six brigands surrounding her. Repressed reflex gave way to emotion, and awareness of the break in the budding trust between them rose in its place; its stinger wormed in deep, and instantly the poison of betrayal seeped into her bloodstream.

His warm, unperturbed smile only drove the barb further through her. But then, he said, "I'll take the couch in the parlor, all right?" Stinger, toxin, broken trust – all of it evaporated.

Still, Ahsoka's guard had not dropped a fraction. She wouldn't be getting much sleep tonight, though it wasn't for the same reason as most pleasure slaves. Even with the Force to defend her, she would've felt a lot more at ease with her lightsabers just under her pillow... But those were long gone, lost in the same defeat on Felucia and subsequent capture that had cost her everything else she held dear.

"All right," she murmured. Then, at Lux's insistence, as they picked their way through the carnage and down the hallway back to his rooms, they walked not with him in the lead, but side by side.

Thanks to Ahsoka's quick thinking and Lux's timely intervention, a tense situation has been defused. But Noreino House is full of dangers, and now one of Ahsoka's secrets is out. What will Lux do now that he's caught her in a lie and seen proof that she's a trained fighter for himself? The group that accosted her brought back a lot of old trauma, and now that it's all out in the open, how will Ahsoka adapt? Only time will tell...

Well, this chapter and the last were difficult to write, probably for obvious reasons. One criticism I got with the last iteration of SOTE was the way I wrote Ahsoka, oscillating between implying she had trauma and needed help, and then implying that she was fine and unaffected. I wanted to change that now that I've got a bit more first-hand and second-hand knowledge on the subject so it's more cohesive – or at least as cohesive as a one character's individual response to triggering situations can be.

She's got scars on multiple fronts, and she's gotten good at suppressing them. But now that she's made the decision to go to the belly of the beast for information on Anakin, a lot of other emotions and memories are coming back to her. Sometimes it's in the moment she sees something triggering, sometimes it's after the fact. She can't hide behind numbness anymore, and sooner or later that will mean dealing with what's on the other side.

I think she can manage it. She's got someone who has her back now who'll follow her cues and adjust do what he can to put her at ease through it, after all, even if he makes mistakes along the way. And maybe, as a fellow sufferer, she'll be able to do the same for him.