There never had been, maybe that was why Layla had prolonged this whole cat and mouse game much more than she should have.
She didn't want to hurt him. Not to an significant extent. She may no longer be in love him, not in any significant sense but he was still important to her.
This was been the both of them.
So in stead of ruing disappearing in one of the alleyways and taking of, likely leaving him in after over the fact that someone knew his city better than him. she just moved it one of the few roofers this city had to offer that weren't likely to expose both of them to prying eyes, and wanted.
I was funny how that went. She had tiled her sled a couple of years ago she would never do that again, wait for him. But she did anyway, even if this was a very different context to what once had been.
The thought of the part distracted her for a moment to long. The fist colliding with her jaw was painful, but not enough to knock her out. To be honest she had had worse, even if it had been a while.
She still stumbled a few steps back and only barely avoided the next hit. Layla had forgotten how rash he was. No sens for banter in that man at all. No sense for a bit of fun. Not in moments like this, hardly when he was at home.
The hits came fast and precise, but he was not the only one with years of experience and some brutal training under his belt. If one would compare the two she produced had more of both. but she had spent most of her live killing, to harm her opponent as much as possible. She wanted to avoid herding him, which nullified some pf her experience. He also wore better body armor than her.
So the fight dragged on far longer than she was strictly comfortable with. Luckily she didn't have to win, not to day, not yet. She just needed a moment to Beach to talk. To get him to stop for a second.
And then finally.
'How is Lydia doing?" She missed her daughter, It had been a couple of weeks since she had seen her personally. They had talked on the phone of cause and Video-chatted when it had been save to, but still.
That was not the reason for her to ask though, not in this moment. Ciaran had many flaws but he loved his children, he loved his daughter, and he would do everything to protect them. Including being very diligent about separating his nightly activities form his personal live.
So her mentioning his daughter should get him to stop for a second.
"What do you want with my child" he still kept up the gruff facade how adorable. Despite that scared undertone that she likely only Capital because she has spent years of her live with this man.
"I would like to take her out to eat on Saturday actually. Considering I still have 50% custody." That through him of. Of course i did.
"What?"
Layla hadn't been all to open with he past during their relationship. She has States out of his city for the most part. He had known some of it of course. They had met on one of these roof Tops, but she had also stopped doing her job while they had been married. He had had more than enough money to support them both and Layla herself hadn't been to found of the blood on her hands.
Not that she had let him know that, when they had met she had been in a phase of her live in which she had tried her best to leave her past behind, to become something other than the beautiful weapon she had been made into. She still had had to pay Bills though, while lacking any evidence of an Education or even her own existence beyond blurred pictures on the front pages of papers all over the world. That had made finding a legal job hard. She had had the skills for burglary though, getting into places had been a vital pat of her live before the only different then had been not leaving a dead Body behind.
She hadn't killed until after the divorce, Had tried so hard to leave the blood behind. But sometimes people had to die. Pimp that abuse his working girls, that forced them into that live, deserved a cut thought. Sometimes there was a Rich man that the law didn't want to catch because the player them to well. Sometimes there was a whole organization making children into pretty little weapons, breaking them over and over again taking their humanity, their agency form them. Ingrained the killing so deep in side them that even if they tried to be different they couldn't.
"Do you remember when i told you you could keep your secret because i had my own, this is one of them dear."
The divorce hadn't been because she couldn't leave a live of Crime behind. Or because the blood was still hinging her Dream. It was a rather normal reason actually, she had been tired of eating for him, in between his day job and what he did at Night. He had been tired of her secrets, of her not allowing him to help to save her form what was obviously still hounding her.
It was a rather peaceful divorce as far as divorce went, some hearts were creaked, some fights were had. But in the end they had left each on relative friendly terms.
Showing him this now, this truth she had kept so far from him, because she had cared, because she in a way loved him even when everything Fell apart, could chance so many things.
Could end with her having to Break out of a prison and never see her child again, cold end with a fight.
But no matter how he would reacted there would be no good end.
Note:
Hi I’m tired and super surprised I actually wrote a story for today.
I spent most of my week either traveling, recovering from traveling or writing for Whumptober.
This is certainly not my best work note really good but it is something
CONGRATULATIONS ON 212 VOD! I am absolutely fascinated with the idea of a Batman Kanera AU, so I would love to see that! 😁❤ Thank you so much!!
THANK YOU SO MUCH VOD!!! I'm so glad to hear it-- but fair warning. This ate my brain. Like, multi-chapter fic level ate my brain. I've been working on it for many weeks, hence this taking so long. So here's the first little bit and the rest you'll have to read on AO3!! I've only published the first three chapters, I'll get the others out within the next couple of days
Pairing: Hera Syndulla/ Kanan Jarrus
Word Count: 1,408
Warning: Attempted mugging, some violence and blood
The city of Lothal was something of a contradiction in terms. The area itself was beautiful, surrounded with golden prairies and mountains that often were capped with snow. At first glance, the buildings and the city seemed to shine, full of wealth and beauty.
But a closer look or more than an hour in the city would shatter that notion in seconds. Poverty and crime filled the streets, and corruption had claimed the leaders of the city. The people were in constant danger from gangs that were allowed to run rampant throughout the city, and Mayor Pryce did nothing to stop it— and was handsomely compensated to stay that way.
There were a precious few who resisted this regime of deception. A handful of the police, the new district attorney, ordinary citizens— and of course, the Spectre.
It has been said that you create the things that bring about your destruction. In this case, it’s true. The Spectre rose up out of the depths of Lothal, clad in armor and a mask and wielding a sword that he rarely used. He fought back against the criminals of the city— before his arrival, the Pykes and Crimson Dawn had run rampant, unchecked by the police. Now they had something to fear. Some of the citizens called him a hero. Others preferred vigilante madman, or other less charming terms.
The only thing anyone could agree on was that they had no idea who he was. Theories flew fast and thick, ranging from a mystery swordsman who traveled here from distant lands and would only use his sword when he met the enemy it was intended for, to a member of the underworld who’d been turned by one of the police, to the commissioner himself.
Not one of them gave any thought to the unreasonably rich grandson of the now retired Mace Windu, who’d been an incredibly successful business man before he retired and moved several cities away to live out his life in peace. Not one of them suspected Kanan Jarrus.
Which was exactly what Kanan wanted.
Crouching on the top of a building, he surveyed the dark city beneath him for a moment. It had been a busy night— he’d handled an armed robbery, one drug exchange, and surveilled the police commissioner's house yet again. If I can get Commissioner Tarkin replaced, it’ll be less of an uphill battle, Kanan mused. But then we still have Mayor Pryce to deal with.
There was just too much, too many crime syndicates and corrupt members of the government. Kanan refused to limit himself— if he had to, he’d take them all down by himself, one by one. But he could use a little help, more than the few people who were helping him at the moment.
He shook his head as if it could physically dislodge the thoughts, bringing himself back to the present. The night was barely half over, and while Kanan Jarrus might be tired, the Spectre still had work to do.
He leapt from the rooftop, vaulting to the next one with ease, his long cloak fluttering behind him. He’d been skeptical about the idea of wearing one at first— it seemed too likely that it would get in his way and hamper him while fighting. But he could free himself of it easily if it turned out to be a problem, and the hood gave him the advantage of looking distinctly ominous to any criminals.
He made good time, leaping from rooftop to rooftop quickly— one of the few perks of being a vigilante in a metropolis. As Kanan paused at the edge of a building, scanning to find his next goal, he heard it.
A voice. Feminine, warm and stunningly beautiful, the likes of which he’d never heard before. Kanan had been a hundred places, met a thousand people, and he already knew that whoever had a voice like that was someone he had to meet.
The words she was speaking, however, were in direct contrast to the melodic tone she spoke in. “You don’t want to do this.”
“Oh, I think we do.” Another voice, this one decidedly more male and less alluring, replied. “A pretty little girl like you might have something of interest to us, don’t you think, boys?”
The sneering menace in the other voice immediately put Kanan on alert, and he heard a few other men chuckle. He was already moving towards the source of the noise when the woman let out a sigh. “You can’t say I didn’t warn you, then.”
Kanan reached the edge of the building and looked down in the alley, taking in the scene swiftly. Five men had the woman surrounded, pinned against a dead end. As Kanan looked on, one of them moved closer, grinning nastily as he reached for her. Oh, I don’t think so, Kanan thought, preparing to jump as his heart thrummed in readiness for a fight.
The woman moved first. Grabbing the man’s arm, she pivoted, twisting it sharply before he could react. There was a nasty pop that was only just drowned out by the man’s howl of pain. Holy kriff, Kanan thought as the man slid to the ground, clutching his shoulder.
The woman didn’t hesitate, though. She left the first man where he lay and moved forward in a quick vicious attack. Kanan watched, stunned and more than a little impressed, as she took out the rest of the gang efficiently in a matter of minutes. Whoever she is, she’s more than prepared to live in Lothal, he mused as she delivered a sharp kick to the chin of the last man, sending him crumpling to the ground.
Dusting off her hands briskly, the woman bent to retrieve what seemed to be her jacket from the ground. And in doing so, she completely missed the first man she’d taken out rising to his feet, an ugly snarl twisting his face as he reached for what was probably a weapon.
Without stopping to think, Kanan leapt from the roof, landing behind the man. A swift blow to the back of the head sent him to the ground, fully unconscious.
The noise caught the woman’s attention, and she spun around to face him. Kanan took in her appearance— dark skin, vibrant green eyes, hair twisted back into two braids that hung over her shoulders and no-nonsense, simple clothing. With a jolt of surprise, Kanan realized she was holding a gun in her hand. And she didn’t even bother to take it out until now, he thought.
She didn’t shoot him, though. Instead, she narrowed her eyes at him. “You were here the whole time, and you only just now decided to drop in?”
“I would have, but you seemed to have it well in hand,” Kanan replied, his words echoing against the inside of his mask— a side effect that added to his anonymity.
“Impressed?” the woman said with a small smile— was she teasing him? Kanan felt a return smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.
“Words fail me,” he told her.
She gave him an amused look that quickly turned into one of curiosity. “You’re the Spectre, aren’t you? The vigilante I’ve heard so much about since I moved here.”
Kanan briefly considered asking who would be crazy enough to move to Lothal willingly, but instead said, “Planning to have me arrested?”
“No,” she said immediately, which surprised Kanan.
“You seem fairly confident about that. Surely you’ve heard the stories about me.”
“I’ve heard enough to form my own opinion,” the woman said matter-of-factly.
Curiosity flickered inside him, and Kanan stepped a little closer as he said, “And what’s that, Miss…?”
“Hera,” she said, giving him a smile that made his heart skip a beat. “And my opinion is that you’re a hero. No matter what else people see you as. You’re fighting for what’s right. In an unorthodox way, I’ll admit, but in this city… that’s all a person can really do. For now.”
“Are you expecting to see some changes?” Kanan asked wryly. “Because that would be a first around here.”
“You were the first,” Hera corrected him. “But in answer to your question… no, I’m not. I’m planning on making some.”
She gave him a nod, then turned and headed out of the alleyway, slipping her gun back under her coat. For a moment longer than he strictly should have, Kanan watched her go.