Sympathy For The Devil

[Daz Solus]

Daz walked along the roads to the field hospital where his sister was being treated. She had sustained some sort of injury in her duel with another of their clan. Archaic rites of passage and all that. He wasn't really that impressed or surprised that she'd won. That was kind of just her thing. Take and take always for herself. He hadn't been at the huge meeting, of course. Even for the biggest events, sometimes necessity and one's job took precedence. He had been one of the few who remained to monitor Mandalore local space and make sure that spies hadn't decided to take advantage of the very public meeting that Daniel Solus had called.

That was another reason he'd stayed behind. He knew Daniel, good kid...not really the best example of a Mandalorian. He'd probably called everyone together to announce a new location for the bakery he'd worked at for so long. Or a new video game release. How he had achieved the rank and prestige of a Marshal, Daz would never know.

Mired in his dark thoughts, the walk to the hospital was over quickly and a nurse showed him to Raz's room. She stopped at the door, ushered him in and left quickly. Maybe she knew that they weren't on the best of terms and didn't want to witness a family argument. Daz didn't care, he let himself in without knocking and threw aside the drapes around the bed.

He stared at his sister for a few moments, one arm still holding the drapery aside and furrowed his brow. "What's this?" He said, teasing gently. "Our illustrious new Mand'alor holed up in a hospital bed with a big old gash in her leg? Too bad I didn't bring a camera...new outlets would pay dearly for those photos." He sighed and pulled up a chair beside her bed. Not too close though. Raz sometimes did her talking with her fists. He'd learned that the had way when they were kids.

When they had been close.

He still cared for his sister, though it would take a lot for him to admit it, but he didn't trust her. He dropped the act of teasing big brother and looked at her directly, all manner of emotions running across his face. "So. How long before you run away from Mandalore next time someone kills a family member?"

@Sreeya

 

[Raz Solus]

Raz was crushed from the events that transpired. She had become Mand’alor, but it had come at a great cost. She couldn’t get the image of Wyatt’s body being carried away out of her mind. He had great aspirations and goals, and he rose through the ranks so quickly. He possessed the coveted jaig eyes, a feat even she hadn’t managed yet. In the end, however, she won simply because she got the jump on him in their fight. Did she truly deserve it? Raz had been left alone, and she had broken down, tears streaming down her face.

She had purposely asked to be left alone, and the nurse had been good about waving people away. However, when it came to her brother, she was put in an awkward position and let him through. By the time Daz had entered, she wasn’t exactly prepared. As he moved the curtain, he would be met with a Raz with red and glossy eyes, and it was clear she hadn’t gotten any sleep. Her leg was wrapped up and had kolto all over it, the gash running down a huge portion of her leg.

As soon as she spotted him, her jaw tightened and she wiped her eyes with her intact arm. When he began to speak, she simply sighed, having expected nothing else. It was a wonder he was even here. She hadn’t seen him for months now, and here he was already grating on her. His last question caused a sharp intake of breath, “Give it a rest,” She said flatly, not bothering to look at him, “The only family member likely to be killed at this point is me, so go ahead and start celebrating early.”

Raz crossed her arms over her chest with some difficulty, still not used to the cybernetic. She finally tilted her head to look at him, “Did you come here just to be a dick or is there a point to you being here? Make it fast and get lost. I lost a brother today," She narrowed her eyes at him, "A real brother."

@Lucid

 

[Daz Solus]

Daz bit his tongue, hard. He wanted nothing more than to slam her with the reality of their awkward relationship, how their father had kept him from going to save their Mum. He wanted to tell her straight that it wasn't his fault, that he had tried and tried. But it wasn't the time or the place. For he didn't like Raz, he still loved his little sister. Always would and always had. She'd been put through the wringer and it wouldn't do to slam her with more baggage.

Instead he pulled a small toolkit from his belt and stood up and moved closer to the bed, bending over her with a look that said 'if you try to strangle me, you'll be shortest lived Mand'alor ever'. The cybernetic arm had been a bit of a shock; there was a story there that he'd probably have to pry out with tongs and a red hot poker but he was still curious. He pulled out a couple of small tools and bent over her shoulder and elbow, turning this there, loosening that there; he'd always loved mechanics and cybernetics...even as a kid. As an adult he'd had far too much experience with them and the men under his command who needed them. When he was done he sighed and moved back to his chair.

"There ya go, Razberry," he said, using a childhood nickname to hint that for all their troubles, maybe there was still something there. It would irk her just the same though. "You're supposed to go back for adjustments every nine days for three months following installation. I'd heard that you'd been hurt, but not this badly. I wish you would have said something sooner." He winked at her. "It's not perfect, but it should be a lot easier to use, give it a shot. It'll be much easier to kill whoever did it now that it's easier to use." He poured himself a glass of water from a pitcher on Raz's bedside table as she tried it out. It was, indeed, much more fluid and natural a motion now. He grinned at her for a second before his face became serious again.

"I came here to say congratulations," he said evenly. It was partly true, he had indeed wanted to come and tell her congratulations but it was too unlike him for it just to be that. It wasn't like they'd had no contact.

Their last meeting had ended in a shouting match. It had been shortly after Raz returned home and declared herself A'lor. Daz hadn't believed for a second that she was doing it for the betterment of the Clan. Part of it was out of jealousy and hurt, their father had passed that title to her, not him. Why? He knew everything! He and Daz had been on fine terms after he left with Raz. Why had he picked her?

Another part was out of simple suspicion and mistrust. Why did she suddenly care? She'd turned her back on their people years ago while he'd stayed and done everything he could for them. She came back and everyone suddenly thought she was the second incarnation of a god.

"Look, I'll be honest," he said. "I still think you're after this for something personal; it's too strange for me that you'd stay away for twelve years and then one day decide to come back. Opportunistic is what I call it. Same with killing Wyatt. Screw tradition there were other ways for you to get the same result. At any point you could have stepped up and declared yourself Mand'alor and everyone would have gone with it. It's not like poor Danny actually stood a chance to take the position from you. Instead you waited until you could humiliate one clan member and kill another. For what? For show?" He fixed her with the kind of look that scorches and held up a hand to hold off her rebuttal for a second.

"I'm not saying it's wrong, Berry, I'm just saying that it just doesn't add up to me." She, if nothing else owed him an answer. "Nobody else is asking it, I know...but they're not a real brother."

@Sreeya

 

[Raz Solus]

Raz was about to make another snarky response when he walked over. She half expected him to punch her right in the arm where the stump ended. However, instead he took out some tools and got to work tweaking things here and there. Raz’s eyebrows furrowed together in confusion as she watched him. Some little adjustment sent waves of pain, and she gritted her teeth through it. Her fingers on both hands curled into fists instinctively, but she remained soundless the entire time. After he stepped back and spoke, she could only stare at him suspiciously.

“You make no sense,” She said flatly after he had finished, shaking her head. She was entirely too proud to thank him, but he would know that her huff and staring off in a different direction was body language for begrudging gratitude. It would take someone that had known her for a long time to read subtle clues and look past her stubborn mannerisms. Daz didn’t need to know the extent of how far she would go for him, or how her sentiment towards him were more from routine grudge than actual facts.

When he mentioned coming here to congratulate her, she rolled her eyes. She watched him casually help himself to her water and make himself right at home. When he finally voiced all his concerns, she was more than a little surprised. She wanted to yell at him for it, but it was the most he had actually explained himself. For once, she was spared the judgy looks and snarky commentary here and there. He laid everything out on the table and she had to process it all.

Her jaw tightened when he mentioned it had been for show, but she controlled the rage. Raz stared ahead of herself for the longest time before she began to speak, “And what’s your excuse? You could have stepped up during that time too. You stayed behind, as you so love throwing in my face. What the kriff were you doing? Cleaning up bantha shit?” She tilted her head to look at him, “Someone had to do it, Daz. Someone had to. I didn’t want it, and you know why? Because I didn’t believe in myself. Dad believed in me, mom did, but I was the only one that didn’t. I led my life as a bounty hunter and I was perfectly happy with it. Then I found out about Medriaas,” She sighed, shaking her head, “And then Solus continued to remain in the shadows, always ready to do a whole lot of jack shit as we always have. I was angry… I was mad and just done being kicked around. I came back, I broke my back trying to build this clan up,” Her voice was slowly raising, “If you were around to see any of it, you would know.”

Raz glared at him now, “If I could have stepped up and declared myself Mand’alor with everyone backing me, what’s wrong with that? It means I have rallied them. You know our people. They openly voice their displeasure,” She laughed bitterly, “Oh wait, you don’t know, because you weren’t kriffing there when Dan actually tried to go for it. He was torn to shreds and it wasn’t till the people called for me to step up that I… not even, actually. Narir had to push me,” Raz paused, biting her lip, “It was at that moment that I believed in myself for the first time. And I looked out to a sea of people looking at me expectantly. Looking at me with hope, looking to me for courage and guidance. I couldn’t turn back from that. I couldn’t let them down. So I stepped up to the plate and….” She knew Daz knew the story from there. By then, the tears began to form again. They were angry, hot tears, and she took shuddering breaths.

“Maybe it is wrong,” She said quietly, “Because I always thought it was supposed to be you, you stupid bastard.”


@Lucid

 

[Daz Solus]

Well. That was more than he was expecting. Her silent thanks not the least of it. "Raz..."

It was Daz's turn to gather his thoughts and remain silent. She'd hit him right at home; maybe was supposed to have been him and maybe he had totally missed it. He had stayed behind for his people but missed the mark. He huffed and looked away. It wasn't a gesture of defeat, not from him. It was simply him thinking and she'd know it. He stayed like that for a long moment. He could hear Raz's muffled, angry sobs from the bed and he wanted to do something, grab her hand, hug her...something. But he couldn't.

What if she was right? That scared him more than a little. He had thought bigger picture before the foundation was in place and he was beating himself up over it. Raz was torn apart and he was just...here. But he hadn't been absent, or idle like she thought. Solus would have died when she and their father left. He had been only sixteen at the time, a man by the measures of his people but still just a kid by the measures of his species. He had tried at first, tried so hard to make something of the Clan. As a heartbroken, confused teenager he had done his best. He had kept them together in the years following until they had gotten back on their feet just enough to stand alone.

After that he hadn't found the strength. At twenty he had entered the planetary defense force. He thought that, with the clan back on their feet it was enough and he could move on. He had given the Clan what the needed at one of their darkest times but nobody remembered, it seemed. It was a cruel twist of fate, but she was right, he could maybe have done more...but his interests had been for the Mandalorians as a whole. Fractured and broken though they may have been. "Raz," he said, looking back to her. "You're right, I wasn't there for it. I have a duty to this world, you know? Dan called everyone, publicly and very obviously. Someone had to stay behind to make sure that something that big wasn't taken advantage of by our enemies."

He flipped a hand towards her. It wasn't an excuse, it was just an awkward truth. "And don't tell me what our people are like. I've lived with them for so much longer than you have. I was sixteen when you and Dad left! Everyone expected me to be a leader for them but I was barely more than a kid. I did my best and kept the Clan together, strong enough to avoid being eaten by a larger one. I didn't know what I was doing but I knew what I had to do. If I hadn't stayed, there would have been no Clan Solus to return to. To make something of.

"If the Clan had died out while you were gone, then what? Hunh? So what if they were still doing nothing at least they were there. I...ran out of steam. It took everything I had to keep our Clan together after Dad left. They believed in me at that time and it kept them united enough to at least remain together. I'm glad you finally did something with it, but don't fucking tell me that it was Clan pride that brought you back," he didn't doubt that she hadn't wanted the position. Maybe she had pride for her Clan now, but it had taken her bloody long enough to get there. Raz doing something rash and drastic out of frustration was very her. One thing had given way to another and then another and now they found themselves here.

He steeled himself and grabbed her living hand. He looked at her, really looked at her for the first time in a very long time. "Raz I wouldn't have expected you to turn away. I was just asking for your reasons," he squeezed her hand gently. "If I had though that, for one second that Daniel was going to do what he did and start all this, I would have been there."

@Sreeya

 

[Raz Solus]

Raz remained silent during his tirade, even through the bits of commentary that made her want to jerk up and react. In the end, she knew it was no use in keeping their anger going. There was surprise when he grasped her hand, and she didn’t recoil away. She waited until he finished speaking until she decided to parse through it all. She collected her thoughts, gazing ahead and not looking at him, “It wasn’t Clan pride,” She muttered finally, “It was pride for our people,” She finally turned to look at him, “It was my sights being set to something that went far beyond Solus, Kryze, Vizsla or whatever else. It took me looking into it from the outside to see how much stronger we could be united. When I remained within the clan, that’s all I saw. I only saw the people within a bubble and I only saw how much we hated the Kryze.”

She shook her head, “I’m here now, and I’m the one that will lead the people. The who’s, the what’s, the why’s, none of that shit matters anymore. The people look to me, and I’ll guide them to something better than what they have today. Towards something they deserve. I want us to set aside our petty differences and come under one banner,” Raz paused for a moment, “And I need everyone together on this,” She looked him in the eye for a moment, “And that includes you. I need you with me. It no longer matters who was meant to do what. Mom is gone - she will never come back. It doesn’t matter if it was your kriff up or mine or dad’s.”

Raz grasped his hand back, raising both of them together, “We have no choice anymore. We don’t have the luxury of being divided and fighting amongst ourselves.”


@Lucid

 

[Daz Solus]

Daz was still holding his sister's hands when he burst out laughing. Man she was a trip sometimes. Still laughing he threw her hands back down on the bed, a look of complete exasperation making its way across his face. "God above you can be so dramatic," he said to her, running a hand over his face and leaning back in his chair. "I know there's no choice, I mean...that's why I'm here. That and I wanted to make sure you didn't off yourself like the heroine in some ancient tragedy."

He wanted to say something more, tell her the truth about that night...but, as she said, it was behind them now. He'd tell her eventually, of course, but it wasn't the time. They had work to do and, if he knew his sister, she'd start bossing him around any second now...now that they had finished being overly sentimental. Neither of them was very good at it and even the short exchange was enough. If Raz wanted to bury the hatchet for the time being, then he could as well. Her reasons seemed well enough and as far as he could tell, she really did have the best interests of their people in mind.

"Well, I don't think there will be much more infighting. The vast majority of people are scared shitless of you, not the greatest character trait but one that will serve you well going forward," his eyes sparkled a bit as he teased her. It was good to have her back, even if they had avoided the most pressing issue that had come between them. It would be sorted out eventually. Probably in the middle of a fight somewhere while cleaving the heads from the shoulders of some Sith. "You've done it, everyone is excited that we have a leader at long last. So what's the plan?" He asked. "Imperial Hutta space is looking pretty juicy. So's Kashyyyk..." the mention of Kashyyyk triggered something in Daz's mind. His eyes narrowed and he looked intently at Raz.

"Which reminds me," he said as though he was discussing the weather. "How much longer are you going to keep this idiotic alliance with the Rebellion going?"[/COLOR]

@Sreeya