In the Middle of a Sith Facility in the Outer Rim, Wednesday Morning

"There's less of them than I thought," Mira observed.

The lightsaber in Atton's hand shut off with a hiss. "Still plenty of them," he said, "But no, you're right. We're definitely dealing with the dregs here."

He stepped past her, towards the massive console that took up most of the cave wall. "This system's ancient, too," he said, his fingers sliding over the controls. He'd barely even need to slice this, it came apart so easily. "Is it just me, or is there something off about these Sith?"

"Like they're not real Sith?" Mira leaned casually against the back wall, but Atton knew what she was doing: taking stock of their surroundings, counting entrances, bodies, and sounds. "Yeah. If these people are actually Force sensitive, I'll eat my jacket."

"Well, I'm in," Atton said. "Downloading data..."

Then there was silence. Or for as long as there could be in a room with him and Mira in it, anyway.

"Why are you even here?" she asked, after a few minutes had passed. "You haven't come back for anything besides emergencies and whatever it is you do when you're doing your me-time laps on the border of known space." Beat. "I don't want details about that last part, so don't even think about it."

Atton's brow creased in a frown. "That's a great way to talk to the guy who came out here to save your ass," he said.

"To back up my ass," Mira returned. "It didn't need saving. I plan ahead."

A loud sigh filled the space. "I'm here because you need me."

"Since when do you do anything for anyone else?" He could hear Mira's jacket crinkling as she crossed her arms. "Wait, wrong question. Since when do you let on when you do something for anyone else? I've never seen you do anything helpful without doing a big song and dance about how your arm's getting twisted into it. If we're not actually twisting your arm."

"Fine, next time I won't do anything," Atton said irritably. "It's not like I'm having the time of my life, listening to Mical guide everyone though oh-so-grave Council meetings about Padawan toilet training."

"I think you just don't know what to do with yourself," Mira volunteered. "You're in a holding pattern. And coming out here is one of the things you know how to do."

Atton jabbed a file at random. Angrily. "You know, if I wanted a shrink, I'd go to the really creepy one back on Fandom who probably strangles kittens in his spare time."

He could just about hear the eyeroll. He ignored it. "Whatever," Mira said, pulling away from the wall. "Just do me a favor? When you implode again, keep me out of the splatter zone."

She didn't mean that.

Probably.

Atton yanked the storage device out of the console. "We're done."

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