For Thea

[startarebellion]

Sometimes there wasn't any need to let the Force guide him to find ways to help. Not that Galen was looking for ways to help people. He'd actually been trying to find a way out of Darrow when he'd come across the girl leaving the warehouse. He was up on a nearby rooftop when he'd seen the group of men that were closing in on her. They'd actually changed directions from where they were walking once they saw her and from the way they held themselves at least two were armed and all of them seemed on edge. He could practically feel the aggression coming from them.

Leaping from one rooftop to the next Galen jumped down and landed between the group of men and the girl, who hadn't even seemed to have noticed the men behind her.

"What the fuck!" one of thugs shouted, pulling out a pistol. With a snap-hiss Galen's lightsaber was out and sliced the gun in half just past the man's hand.

Another one pulled out a gun as well and fired of several shot. Galen held his hand up and wrapped the bullets in the Force, slowing them to a stop before letting them drop to the ground. Another use of the Force sent the gun flying away, the man staring at his hand with eyes wide.

"Go," Galen barked, waving his hand at the group. Three of them took off immediately, probably not needing the nudge of the Force that he gave them. The rest that stayed he just picked up and threw down the street. He didn't want to bother with this, didn't trust himself not to just cut them all down where they stood. That seemed to be enough to convince the rest of them that they should leave as they scrambled to their feet and took off running.

Reaching out he pulled the gun that he'd thrown out of the hand of the attacker and grabbed it out of the air. Turning it over he inspected it.

"Not a blaster, but not bad."

Comments

[queenspeedy]

Thea can handle herself against most situations. A group of five is a few too many, but she's ready to give it a go. She'd slipped her hand into her coat to pull out a short wooden staff that she carries when the man drops down and does... something.

Something crazy and insane and she's pretty sure that he pulls out a lightsaber. Thea is left staring at him as the last of the idiots flees, having only gotten off a few kicks and punches when someone had got too close.

"Who are you?" She stands over him, her guard still up. The guys could come back, and she doesn't know or trust him for all that he's saved her butt.

[startarebellion]

"I was just passing by," he said, turning to scowl a bit at her. He hadn't exactly wanted to be thanked for what he had done but he didn't expect her to be so demanding either. And the way she held herself let him know that she knew at least a little of how to defend herself. Getting a better look he could see how strong she was, lean but balanced as well. Definitely knew more than a little about protecting herself.

"Hope those weren't friends of yours."

[queenspeedy]

Thea's not ungrateful, but she's also not inclined to immediately trust anyone who comes to her rescue. Especially when they appear out of nowhere and seem to be some kind of Jedi.

"Not my friends. I'm guessing not yours either." They haven't come back yet, and she starts to relax her soldiers and loosen her stance into something more comfortable.

"I should say thanks. I would have had a hard time with five of them."

[startarebellion]

"Never seen them before," Galen said, tucking the weapon into his belt for the moment. It wasn't really the weapon of a Jedi or a Sith but he wasn't stupid enough to think he should just leave it laying around.

"You fight groups of people often?" he said, the question genuine. He knew better than to judge on appearances. "How many could you have handled?"

[queenspeedy]

She nods, a perfunctory jerk of her head. "Three would be fine, if I could get the gun off him. Four would have been a stretch."

Five would have been out of her area of comfort when there were guns and she had no real weapon. She holds her hand out to him to help him up, not that he needs it. "I'm Thea. Can I buy you a drink? To say thank you, properly."

[startarebellion]

"I'll keep that in mind for next time," he said, ignoring her offered had as he pushed himself up. It wasn't that he meant to be rude, he just wasn't used to accepting help from anyone. It had been beaten into him that that sort of thing was a sign of weakness and some habits were hard to break.

"I'm Galen. And sure, I guess I could use a drink right now."

[queenspeedy]

When he doesn't take her hand she expects him to say no to the drink too. It's a surprise that he doesn't, but not an unpleasant one.

"Okay. There's a pub two blocks away." She doesn't know him, or she'd invite him back into her bar. But it's not open yet, and being there alone together seems like a bad idea.

"Do you do this a lot? Save people with your, um, laser sword?"

[startarebellion]

"It's not a laser sword. I mean, it is but it's called a lightsaber. And the saving thing is... pretty new," Galen admitted. He hadn't even set out to help people, not really. To be honest he didn't know what he was doing here other than trying to find a way out.

"I figure it's the least I can do while I'm here though."

[queenspeedy]

She was pretty sure it was a lightsaber, and having her that confirmed sorta makes her want to punch the air in victory. She resists, barely, just like she resisted when she met Harry freaking Potter. "Yeah, well you better watch out. It can be an addictive habit."

Thea stops in front of the pub. It's not upmarket, but it's also not a complete den of iniquity. Usually it's filled with working men and women, finished with work and wanting a drink or a few before heading home. She opens the door. "Can I at least hold it open for you?"

[startarebellion]

"I don't plan on being here, or around people, enough for that to happen," Galen said. As much as he had to redeem for, and it was a lot, he needed to get back to his world first. Galen wasn't here to play hero. He didn't know why he was here, but it wasn't for that. That didn't mean he would just completely ignore people like Thea who had needed help when he was around.

"Sure, if you want," he said, stepping inside and looking around. It was probably one of the nice bars that he had ever been in. It didn't seem like anyone was going to kill him here.

[queenspeedy]

"Yeah? You have a way out of here?" She smiles as if she hasn't heard that a dozen times already. Yet they're all still here, and they all want to find a way out.

Thea walks up to the bar, leaning over it. She's short enough that her feet barely touch, stretched up on her toes. She knows that her ass looks amazing in these jeans, an the guy is kinda cute. Showing it off means she has a chance to gauge if he's interested.

"Jack and coke, and whatever he's having."

[startarebellion]

"Not yet. But I'm still looking, which is more than most people here."

Galen glanced over at her as she ordered, the way she stretched herself out. She was attractive, something he probably wouldn't even have considered before Juno Eclipse other than something objectively to note. She had a fighters muscles, strong but lean.

"Same," he said, glancing back at the bartender with a nod. Galen didn't have a lot of experience drinking and even less with the sorts of alcohol that were available here. If she could handle one drink like that though he could too.

[queenspeedy]

He looked, which she appreciated more than she'd expected. Thea pushed cash over the bar in exchange for drinks, taking them to a corner table far from the door. She sits, looking up at him in interest. Light saber, hot, and a new arrival. He was interesting, at least.

"Cheers," she says, holding her glass up to him. "To finding a way out of here. Let me know if you do."

[startarebellion]

Galen sat down in the booth and took his drink, appreciating that it was away from the entrance and had good sight lines. Even if she didn't do that on purpose it made him feel a bit more comfortable. Just because he had the Force didn't mean he was reckless.

"So long as it isn't open for a limited time, sure. Cheers," he said, holding his glass up before taking a drink. "It's no Corellian Brandy but it's not bad."

[queenspeedy]

"Honest too," she says before sipping her drink. Thea's pretty sure if she found a way out that she'd get her brother and Felicity out as well as Molly. Anyone else would be a bonus.

"So where are you from?"

[startarebellion]

"There are things that I was in the middle of back home, important things, that I can't risk not getting back to," Galen said. While he understood that is moral compass might not be as accurate as some else he didn't feel bad about that. He had gotten Kota and the others into their mess, it was up to him to get them out.

"And I'm from... space? I was... kidnapped by a religious fanatic as a kid so I grew up on a ship or space stations for most of my life. What about you? You from one of the places with an Earth?"

[queenspeedy]

"Tell me about it." She's learned so much about her life since coming here, and so much about her city and how it's all falling apart.

"Earth, but not the earth a lot of people here seem to be from." No one here knows about Starling, or Metropolis, or any of the other places that are so important to her. "I was kidnapped by a fanatic, but it didn't last too long."

[startarebellion]

"Is that why you learned to fight?" Galen asked. He didn't think it was where she had learned to fight, not if it didn't last long. Someone like her who could take on a couple of guys didn't learn to do it in an afternoon. So if she didn't learn to fight while being kidnapped, maybe she learned because she was kidnapped.

[queenspeedy]

"Partly. I got sick of not being able to take of myself and I learned it's better to not depend on people," she answers him truthfully. Thea knows it tears her brother up and how much it had upset Roy too. But they were the ones who left her.

[startarebellion]

"That's a pretty good reason to learn," Galen said. He had learned pretty early on that he only had himself to rely on, although that was mostly by design. Lately he'd come to depend on people, Juno and Kota... even Proxy.

"Do you train here? You look-" Galen wanted to say like she looked like she still did but wasn't sure how that would come across. "You look like you keep up with it. Your reflexes were good."

[queenspeedy]

"Which means you haven't found our fight club." It was the best way to answer his question, though it meant she needed to lean over the table to say it quietly. "Every couple weeks we train. Magic against no magic, styles we're not used to. You should come."

[startarebellion]

"A club. For fighting."

It wasn't like they didn't have things like that in his world, he'd just never considered that they would be here too, in such a small place. This place never stopped surprising him. They were usually places filled with gambling and crime, which made him look at Thea in a different light.

"Where is it? I might try making it to one," he said, although he knew he would. Fighting was the only life he really knew.

[queenspeedy]

"It moves around. Sometimes at off the wall, sometimes at our club." She pauses, considering him and what he could offer. Thea understands lightsabers, but those aren't allowed. "Weapons aren't allowed."

[startarebellion]

"I don't need it to fight. And it's not exactly a weapon you can use for casual sparring," Galen said. You only really fought against someone with another lightsaber, someone who was trained in the Force or someone like Proxy who was designed for it. "You can't really tap someone with it to score a point without burning a hole in them or cutting something off."

[queenspeedy]

"Probably better to keep it out of the mix," she says, shifting around the booth until their close enough that their legs touch. It's flirting, but he seems decent and she likes the freedom of not being known. "What have you been up to since you got here?"

[startarebellion]

Galen wondered why she was sitting so close and instantly felt himself on alert for an attack. Was everything in the alley some sort of set up for this? Only he didn't get a sense of danger from the Force and if she had wanted to attack him there were a lot better times to do it than now.

"I've been looking for a way out," he said after a moment. "I built a house out in the woods near the river but other than that I've been trying to find a way to get home."

[queenspeedy]

"You built a house?" That's amazing to her even after all the work she's done on the bar, even knowing (though she shouldn't) that he has to be some kind of force-using person. She's impressed, and it shows. "How?"

[startarebellion]

"I cut the bricks out of stone and then used the Force to fit them together. I made them so they only fit together one way. When i'm using the Force I can... feel the right things to do," Galen explained, hoping that didn't sound like he was crazy or just making it all up. "I know how things to supposed to fit together, how to push or pull or press, for the right reaction without really thinking about it."

[queenspeedy]

"Seriously? You can do that?" It's impressive by any means, Thea can't imagine that, even having watched all the movies about the Force. She touches his leg, her hand flat and warm against his thigh. Hopefully he gets the meaning. "That's awesome."

[startarebellion]

Galen opened his mouth to reply when he felt her hand on his leg. It was so random and casual that he had no idea how to react to it. He didn't think he'd ever really had any casual touch like that before.

"I- it's- I wasn't sure I was able to do it," he finally said after a moment. "But with the Force half the time just believing you can is good enough."

[queenspeedy]

When he doesn't react she pulls back some, not wanting to be over the top and drive him off. He's cute, yes, but he actually seems like an alright enough person too. Plus there's the whole force-using Jedi thing. "What's that like? Being able to just believe something to make it happen?"

[startarebellion]

"It's not... quite like that," Galen said, frowning thoughtfully as he tried tried t figure out how to explain it. If you just had to believe then there'd be no strong or weak Force users. He understood what she meant though.

"By it's strange. Because you can know all you need to do to move something is believe yo can and still... not believe."

[queenspeedy]

"You're right, it is strange." Thea finishes her drink and signals for the bartender for another. She leans on the table, resting her chin in her hand to look at him seriously. "It sounds like magic."

[startarebellion]

There was something about her attention that Galen couldn't pin down. It felt like all of it was focused on him but it wasn't in a bad way. It was kind of nice actually, to have someone interested in what he was saying without being suspicious or critical. It was just an unusual thing.

"I guess, although I've met people here with magic and it doesn't feel quite the same. And I definitely can't... turn anyone into a frog? That seems to be a thing that people with magic can do? At least people say it is."

[queenspeedy]

She barks out a laugh at that, trying to imagine turning anyone into a frog. "You might want to worry. I think I have a friend who can do that. Not that she would. I mean, I hope that she wouldn't."

[startarebellion]

"I've met someone like that too. It took some getting used to, seeing someone do things that I knew weren't possible with the Force," Galen said, although now that he said it he wasn't so sure about that. Who was he to put limits on the Force?

"Does your world have a lot of stuff like that? Magic and people with powers?"