Saga What's a Pretty Girl Like You Going to Do With All That Boom? (Kanan, pre-Rebels, AU)

Thank you so much! I've been enjoying your work as well, so I'm really thrilled to have you following mine. I'm afraid real life has been cutting into my fantasy/writing time, but I'm hoping that will clear up soon. There should be more up here shortly.

 

Still following this and enjoying the combination of antics and banter, and general Kanan-ness. I only wonder -- really, what are they going to do with all that boom anyway?

 

This honestly made me laugh out loud! You'll have to wait until Part II to find out the answer to that, but don't worry; I'm working on wrapping up part one now and it should be ready soon.

 

Coming Together

“Somehow I expected your ship to be… classier,” Kanan said as the stolen freighter touched down outside the mouth of an abandoned mining tunnel on the outskirts of the city.

The ship in question was a hulking mass of dusty metal. Its dented shielding had obviously seen better days and several laser canon marks scorched its sides.

“It’s not my ship,” she replied, “it’s a loaner provided by the buyer. My ship is being held as collateral”.

The freighter touched down with a slight bump on the lip of the mining tunnel, sending up great clouds of rust colored dust. Illia didn’t even bother powering down before jumping up from the pilot’s seat.

“We need to start moving the cargo fast. It won’t take long for the authorities to start searching this sector and I’d like to be far away before they get here”.

“Fine by me,” Kanan replied heading with her to the cargo hold, “the sooner we get this done, the sooner I get paid”.

Grabbing one of the antigrav carts on her way, Illia punched in the command to lower the loading ramp and headed off at a quick trot to the waiting ship. Kanan was close behind her with several more linked carts. As they entered the other ship, lights began to blink on casting a yellowish light to the cargo hold. The area has been adapted to hold the baradium carts. Reinforced cages had been welded to the floor of the otherwise empty hold with makeshift shelving within them.

“I see they spared no expense,” Kanan quipped, “You sure this shelving is going to be secure enough to hold the baradium as you leave orbit?”

"I’ve been assured that they will, but in case you’re wondering; no, that’s not originally what the cages were intended to hold. This ship has held many cargos”.

“So you’re working for smugglers,” Kanan said, more as a statement then a question.

“Not entirely,” she answered evasively before turning to him, “I need to get this ship prepared to take off, can you handle loading the rest of the cargo and then turning on the tracking beacon on the ship. I don’t want to leave the pilot and copilot stranded out here for too long”.

“Didn’t realize I was going to be your loading droid as well,” Kanan grumbled, but she had already left the loading bay.



“Alright, the baradium’s loaded. I’ve activated the tracker on the transport freighter like you asked, so those pilots should be getting a pick up any time now. All that’s left is for you to pay me the rest of my credits and drop me at the next nearest spaceport,” Kanan said as he reentered the cockpit duffle bag in hand and came to stand just to the side of where Illia was sitting in the pilot’s chair.

“I think you’re forgetting something,” Illia said rising from her seat and planting her hands on her hips, “the jobs not over”.

“Maybe not for you,” Kanan retorted with a bit of a snort, “but I’ve held up my end of the bargain, now it’s time to pay up”.

“The deal was that you would get the rest of your payment after the cargo was delivered. We still need to make it to the buyer”.

“This is not what I signed up for. You don’t need me to contact your buyer,” Kanan’s tone turned hard as he crossed his arms in front of his chest and stared down at Illia.

Now that they were each standing at their full heights, the size difference was quite noticeable, as Illia’s natural eye level rested at his chest. Illia squared her shoulders and lifted her chin to return his unblinking stare. Gently, she reached out with The Force to read the emotions swirling around him. Uncertainty, Frustration, Uneasiness, and something else. Kanan’s feelings rolled and boiled around him in a seething mass.

“Stop that,” he said quietly, his voice stern and cold.

“You don’t have to be afraid of getting involved in this, Kanan. You’re already in. All you need to do is accept it. Maybe this is how The Force is guiding your life right now”.

Kanan flinched visibly at her words, before snorting rudely, “You think this is The Force? You have no idea what you’re talking about. The Force has nothing to do with me”.

“You can’t expect me to believe that. Come with me, Kanan. Come with me and be a part of something again. There’s nothing for you here,” Illia’s voice was calm, almost lulling, but her unflinching eyes bore into his, “Your life can be more than just your own again”.

“And who says I want it to be?” he answered stubbornly, finally breaking the eye contact as he lowered his gaze to the badly scuffed floor.

“You do, Kanan. Everything about you says so,” she answered softly.

Kanan’s body seemed to erupt with emotion as he flung his hands up and then back, seeming to lunge towards her without having taken a step.

“You know what I’ve given up, what we’ve given up, but who we were in the past doesn’t have to decide who we are now!” he shouted angrily at her. Illia was surprised to see him so riled and to hear him allude to his Jedi upbringing or her own.

“It doesn’t mean that we have to give up on it either!” she shot back, “I know that this life of high risk jobs and near empty worlds isn’t enough for you. We can never be what we once were, but it doesn’t mean that we have to settle for nothing. There are other alternatives to running and hiding!” Illia could tell she had struck a nerve with that last comment, but it was too late now not to stand her ground.

“Don’t assume that you know me,” Kanan said quietly, but with no less steel in his voice, “just because you got a peek inside my head, doesn’t mean that you know who I am. You don’t know what I’ve been through”.

“And I’m not asking you! All I’m asking is that you consider the possibility of living a fuller life then what you have going now. Come with me Kanan, you don’t have to be a front runner in sticking it to the Empire, but at least have a good view,” her voice remained strong, but her eyes pleaded with him to consider her offer, “We need people like you”.

“I highly doubt that,” he scoffed, but his tone was much milder. Arms crossed once again against his chest he leaned towards her, “this doesn’t mean that you don’t have to pay me”.

“Of course,” she replied.

“And you’re right, I’m not taking a front seat to any of this”.

“Understood”.

Kanan sighed and uncrossed his arms, “I suppose this makes me a… what did you call it? An intermediary,” his mouth turned up at the corners with the ghost of a smile.

“I can live with that,” she smiled back at him, “but you know, if you’re hoping to get paid then we’re going to need to get this cargo to the buyer before we get caught by the local authorities. I’d also like to get my ship back”.

“All right,” he said, “where to?”

“Nu-uh,” she shook her head at him, “that’s front seat information”.

“OK, then I guess you can fly,” Kanan flopped into the copilot’s chair and leaned back, raising his arms to rest behind his head, he crossed his legs at the ankles and leaned the heels of his boots on the edge of the control panel.
“You are so not doing that once we’re on my ship,” Illia said casting him a withering glance.

“We’ll see,” Kanan said closing his eyes and smiling slightly to himself.

Illia rolled her eyes and then typed in the ignition sequence. Now that the recruitment part of her mission was over, she was hopeful that the hard part had already been won. Glancing at Kanan’s resting form, she wondered if either of them really knew what they were getting into.




End of Part !

Tags: Gemma

 

Foxtrot_97 - I loved loved that! Illia is a great persuader. Kanan was like: I'm done. Can I get paid now?

Your Kanan/Illia are absolutely themselves, but this all still had that fantastic, undeniable, nothing-else like feel of Han/Leia of the OT. Which I love!!!!

And am loving again in two great novels - taking place between ANH and ESB. Woohoo!

 

I read this just before going to bed, and because it's late and I'm tired, I can't really leave a smart comment right now, but I'll say the one thing that caught my attention. "The recruitment part of her mission was over." Hmmm. So all that boom was just a secondary target?

 

Chyntuck LIke I told Kahara, you'll have to wait until Part II to find out what all the boom is for, but yes, that line was intentional, well spotted.

Nyota's Heart Thanks! I'm thrilled, but also shocked (in a good way!) to hear Kanan/Illia compared so favorably to Han/Leia!!!

 

For some reason I always like it when someone's spaceship is trash (or trash-looking, in the Falcon's case.) It's just amusing in that touch of reality way. And Illia's quickness to point out that it's not her junkheap, just borrowed, somehow makes it even funnier.

Like Ny mentions, the vibe here is a little bit like early Han/Leia. And I like that we got to see a slightly more in-depth conversation between them. The first adventure was the hook, but if they're going to be partners in rebellion (sort of) they need to start sorting out things. Or maybe they'll just snark at each other.

Side note, but I really enjoyed how you've incorporated Kanan's rather expressive posture from the cartoon into this with details like these:

Oh, and this exchange was one of my favorite moments:

 

I love this it reminds me of the many times Luke made Mara Jade say this to him - her phrase was 'get out of my head, Skywalker'.

I like it when Illia tells him he won't be putting his feet up on the control panel her ship. This reminds me of Han/Leia very much.

 

Kahara Thank you so much! I had a lot of fun writing that last dialog between the two of them.

Gemma Thanks! That's one of my favorite lines from Kanan, although I can't exactly figure out why. I'm not too familiar with Luke/Mara (something I will have to fix soon) and I love the line she uses to tell him to respect her mental space.


Thanks to everyone for reading! Part II is slowly coalescing in my head, but I'm hoping to get something worth posting soon. For what it's worth I have a one shot ready that takes place many months after "All That Boom". Anyone interested?

 

Anyone interested, you've got to be kidding, post it, please and tag me. Those of us who love Rebels will follow it.

 

Cool stuff, FoxTrot. It will be fun reading about Illia/Kanan some months afterwards and wondering about all the stuff in between.

 

Yes please!

 

Out After Curfew, a short fic about Kanan and Illia is up here: http://boards.theforce.net/threads/out-after-curfew-kanan-oc-pre-rebels-au.50030424/

The story takes place after "All That Boom", about 6 months or so into their shenanigans.