"Uh huh, broom closet. Well, that would have been my next guess. Wait...don't tell me. You're my new assistant."

The droid beeped affirmatively, swiveling his large round head side-to-side.

"Well, good to meet you, R3-G20T. I'm not even going to *ask* how I ended up with an astromech droid for a job like this." The droid beeped a response. "Fifty-percent-off sale. Right. Of course." Liz had already deduced from her job interview that the Jedi Council was less than thrilled that Sith were actually a money-making part of Ziggy's successful Rent-a-Jedi enterprise, and were therefore determined not to actually spend any extra money on such luxuries as a protocol droid for the newly installed Manager of the Rent-a-Sith division of Rent-a-Jedi. Or, she thought glumly, an office that really was intended to be an office. Still, she considered, the pay wasn't all *that* bad, and the perks... Liz smiled to herself as she set about organizing the disarray. Weirdest ad she'd ever seen, she reflected. "Well-rounded, organized, customer-oriented manager needed to assist general manager of Rent-a-Jedi, Inc. Must have excellent managerial skills, attention to detail, not be easily intimidated, and must generally have the proper demeanor to get along with Sith Lords."

"Oh, I'm looking forward to this," she said to the little droid as she hung up several sets of keys.

R3 let out a long string of bleeps and blurbles, the last one sounding very sarcastic.

"Don't mess with the employees, right. I wouldn't even think of it, I *need* this job," Liz said emphatically. Though I *am* curious, she thought as she turned around....right into the cold metal mask of Darth Vader.

"Yeeeaaagh!" she shrieked, jumping in surprise. "Don't bloody sneak up on me like that!"

"Ah, I see the Jedi have deigned to give us a new manager," Vader said in his deep, booming baritone. "Perhaps *you* will understand the power of the Dark Side," he boomed, his voice sounding incredibly loud in the little office-closet.

"Yeah, whatever," she said, "I'm Liz. What can I do for you?"

"My room is cramped," he snarled, "my bed is too short, I must share a restroom with that sloppy Freedon Nadd, and now my ceiling..." his voice rose sharply..."is LEAKING!" His fist came down sharply on the desk, making the piles of papers (not to mention Liz herself) jump wildly. "WHEN will I ever get this fixed? I have already put in NINE maintenance requests!" he ranted, barely able to get in his characteristic deep mechanical breaths.

"Yeah, yeah, don't have a systems failure on me," Liz muttered irritably. "The money *has* been a little tight", she started. Vader sucked in his breath ominously. "Alright, I understand that the Sith wing is lacking a few...upgrades", she said, trying for diplomatic. Vader snorted. Liz sighed, and said brightly "Well, the good thing about R3 is that he should be pretty good at fixing the plumbing..." R3 beeped encouragingly and headed toward the lift. Vader shook his fist at her. "He'd *better* be," he threatened and stomped off after the droid.

Liz turned and started sifting through the box of maintenance requests. "I just bloody got here," she grumbled, roughly tossing the papers into piles. "He doesn't have to be such a damned rude, overbearing, booming pain in the ass!" she raged. "Who'd want to *pay* to sleep with him anyway? He's lucky the Jedi even let him *have* a bed, the inconsiderate...." she broke off in mid-rant, belatedly feeling a presence behind her.

"Excuse me," a voice purred, about a half-inch behind her ear. She turned quickly, and nearly stumbled into the hooded Sith.

Maul caught her easily, steadying her with his leather-gloved hand. He looked intently at her, amusement flickering across his tattooed face. "I *did* knock, he said in his soft, controlled voice, "but I don't believe you heard me."

She sucked in her breath, all too aware of the heat of his body against hers. She tried in vain to speak, her tongue feeling like lead in her mouth. "I....uh...", she said lamely, her eyes taking in his feral features, his glowing eyes, the elegant curve of his obsidian neck, the lithe, combat-sharpened body, and the tight waist encased in its wide leather band. She swallowed, and pulled away from him, breathing deeply to try to center herself. "I'm Liz, the new Sith Manager", she said in what she hoped was a properly professional tone. "What can I do for you, Lord...?"

"Darth Maul", he said quietly, but with a Sith Lord's confident menace. "And I actually came to see how *you* were." His eyes raked hers with focused intensity.

"What...do you mean? I'm fine...", she stammered, a bit confused.

"Are you now?" Maul said, clearly enjoying her discomfiture. "I felt your rage carry across the building. It was... unexpectedly strong."

Liz blushed, much to her annoyance, and tried to speak. "Well, I didn't mean....I mean, Vader was...." her frustrated voice trailing off into silence.

Maul's golden eyes bored into her. "*Don't* apologize", he said fiercely. "Like fear, anger can be an ally. You have much to learn about the ways of the Sith..." he broke off, studying her intently. "Liz is not a proper name for a Sith", he said, looking at her questioningly. "Perhaps....Elisabieta?"

The new name sounded like royalty when said in Maul's soft voice, and she shivered involuntarily. She smiled at him. "Perhaps", she said, her voice sounding unusually shrill in the small room.

He turned toward the door, stopping only to bow his head slightly to her. "Until next time then, Elisabieta," he purred, closing the door behind him.

********************************

Liz smiled and stepped back to admire the new wallpaper R3 had hung in her office. "Not..bad", she said, considering. The room did look infinitely better, and considerably less like a broom closet. She grabbed a framed blow-up of her first ad for Rent-a-Sith in the "Darkside Quarterly" and hung it on the wall, nodding at R3 in satisfaction. R3 bleeped at her and headed off to have a look at Vader and Freedon Nadd's clogged drain (again).

She sighed, enjoying the first break in her hectic first week at Rent-a-Sith. Between Vader's endless complaints and some eccentric rich chick that hired out *all* the Sith (including Vader, strangely enough) for two days, it hadn't exactly been a breeze so far. She quickly proofed the blueline for a Sith-focused brochure for Rent-a-Jedi, and corrected the unsightly orangey tone the printer had inadvertently given the Darth Maul- ish double-bladed lightsaber logo. "Get your Dark Side Here!" _indeed_, she said with a smile, amused at the copy she'd written. She emailed the proof back to the printer and picked up the scientific journal she was hopelessly trying to write abstracts for-- Rent-a- Sith didn't pay *quite* well enough, and this freelance abstracting work for the Galactic Psychological Association helped narrow the gap a bit. "The psychosexual effects of gamma-interleukin-y in the Corellian postpubescent zebra mollusk." Liz groaned aloud as she read the article title and tossed the journal aside. I just *can't* concentrate, she thought irritably. Her mind kept resting on Maul's ferocious golden eyes, and quickly traveling downward despite her halfhearted attempts to resist thinking about him, or wondering about how far down those damn tattoos went. She shook her head fiercely to dislodge the clinging thoughts, and sifted through the pile of maintenance requests, looking for one that her limited skills could accomplish without R3's help.

Hmmm, she thought, picking a software-error problem out of the pile and noting the name on the request. This I can do, and I *would* like to finally meet the infamous Exar Kun, she mused. As she headed for the door she nearly collided with T, Ziggy's protocol droid. T "ahem"-ed and stepped back, handing her a large bouquet of interesting, odd-smelling herbs. "This.came for you", T said nervously, quickly handing it to her and looking around as if he expected Sith to drop out of the ceiling on him, then scuttling at top speed down the hall toward the Jedi side. Liz looked curiously at the bouquet, her passing interest in herbs picking out wolfsbane, henbane, foxglove, belladonna..all incredibly poisonous. Very *interesting* taste, she thought, picking up the card sticking out of a hellebore stalk. "I offer an opportunity to learn, and dinner, tonight at 8. A speeder will pick you up. Come alone", the card said. Liz scratched her head absently, trying to figure out the identity of her mystery dinner host, and realizing to her irritation how much she hoped it was Maul. Well, she thought, I live with Sith, might as well live dangerously! She tossed the card on the desk for later and headed upstairs to fix Kun's software dilemma.

She knocked at his door, somewhat disappointed not to receive a reply. Shrugging, she pulled out her keys and unlocked the door. She looked around the room, somewhat surprised. While the room was fairly spartan, it was also littered with papers and tomes and assorted data crystals, all in a curious angular script that she assumed was the Sith language. She moved a stack of books on the desk and unearthed Exar's computer, sitting down to take a look. The error was a simple one, and easily corrected, but she couldn't resist looking at one of Kun's Sith philsophy files. She was so completely engrossed in Kun's take on the Dark Side that she didn't hear the door open.

"What the *hell* are you doing in here?!?" a voice snarled from the doorway.

Liz jumped, spilling a pile of papers, and turned around guiltily. She started to speak and stopped short as her eyes took in the sight- Exar Kun wet from the shower and utterly naked save for a *very* small towel around his waist. Younger than she expected, his muscular, lithe body was easily Maul's equal. Anger flared from his blue- grey eyes as his glare raked her up and down. "Well?", he growled, impatiently.

She stood quickly, cheeks flaming as she remembered how quickly Maul had disconcerted her the other day. She was determined not to let *another* Sith get the best of her that easily. "I'm Liz, your new manager, and you *did* ask to have your computer fixed", she snapped, brandishing the maintenance request.

Kun looked her up and down again, slowly examining her. "That I did...", he said, grinning. He walked toward her, avoiding the piles of paper on the floor. His body brushed against hers as he stepped behind her, and she shivered involuntarily. He leaned in close to her, his breath hot on her neck, and whispered in her ear "but I don't believe I had any trouble with *this* particular file..."

"I used it as an example," she said, turning her head to face him, "so that I could make sure..." her voice fading away as he reached across her to take the paper from her hand, lightly brushing her nipple in the process.

"In fact," he said, setting the paper on the desk, "I believe I specifically mentioned that the problem was with the Web software, not the word processor." He looked at her, amused, a ghost of a smile playing across his face. "Not, of course, that I have a problem with your desire to learn more about the Sith," he said softly.

Exar brought his hand up and caressed her jaw, tilting her face toward his. "Indeed, I am truly *quite* pleased," he whispered, tangling his hand in her hair and pulling her to him. His lips brushed hers softly, experimentally, then harder, more demanding. She ran her hands along his smooth skin and wrapped herself around him, opening to his touch. His tongue lightly probed her mouth, then thrust into her, his hand reaching down to cup her ass. She moaned, ramming her tongue into his mouth, her senses reeling. He pulled her shirt up, his hands fondling her breasts through her bra, his tongue lightly flicking the fabric covering a nipple as he reached for the clasp in back. She leaned her head back, giving herself over to his expert ministrations. Oh, gods, this was good! Suddenly she remembered R3's warning about messing with the employees, and reluctantly pulled away from him with a frustrated whimper.

"WHAT," he growled, his eyes darkening with anger, "is the problem?"

"It's just...." she tried to find her voice again, and to adjust her shirt and her dignity. "I could get fired for doing this", she said reluctantly, her body on fire and every molecule desperately wanting him to continue.

"Are you truly this willing to allow the Jedi to dictate what you may and may not do with the Sith?" he spat, furious.

"Please, Exar, I need this job....especially so I can continue to explore the ways of the Sith", she finished, realizing belatedly that she meant it. She truly was curious about the Sith, and about more than Kun and Maul's incredible bodies and smoldering glares.

Kun's expression lightened somewhat at her response, and stepped toward her, running his hands down her back. "All right", he said, "I will respect your wishes...for now. But do not allow the Jedi to manipulate you," he whispered, cupping her face in his hand, "you *are* one of us, even if you have not yet realized this." He sighed, and reluctantly released her.

She shot him a look that perfectly conveyed what she would *like* to do, and turned and ran from the room, lest she let herself *act* on any of those things.

******************************

Liz grabbed a towel and morosely began mopping up the water on her bathroom counter. After her abortive encounter with Exar Kun, she'd run to her sink and proceeded to splash half the contents of Coruscant Reservoir #12 on her face in a futile attempt to try to calm down.

"Gods, what was I *thinking*?!?" she muttered, stabbing at the countertop with the towel. She'd certainly worked with attractive men before, and she'd had a few offers, but she'd *never* just fallen into the arms of someone she just *met*, for crying out loud, and someone who could get her fired, at that!

She sighed, wringing the towel in the sink, her rational side desperately trying to get a word in edgewise. "Alright, Liz", her practical side argued, "admit it. The Sith *are* different. You knew that when you took this job."

"Yeah, yeah", she muttered aloud, hoping nobody would walk in and notice the fierce debate between Liz and Liz. She had to concede this one, though. She was generally a pretty sensible person and didn't think much of ephemeral things like the Force. She also had little use for the Jedi, who, she thought, act as though they're the answer to all the world's problems, with egos sized to match. Accepting a job where the Jedi Council paid her salary wasn't on the menu of things she wanted to go out and do-- but this job was different. Like most ordinary, non-Force-using people, the most she knew of the word "Sith" was something your mother used to scare you into brushing your teeth before bedtime-- "watch out, or the Sith will get you!" The fact that there were truly people who called themselves Sith out there, and that women were intrigued enough by them to pay for "enlightenment" from them was curious indeed. And Liz had always been, much to her endless detriment, terminally curious. She sighed, thinking that she was starting to learn exactly *why* people would pay for these Sith to enlighten them, and that, once again, her curiosity would land her in a heap of trouble.

"Well," her emotional side tried to reason, "you do have the right temperament to work with people that embrace the Dark Side," (read: perpetually pissy), "and you *do* find that welcoming your anger keeps you from feeling like a victim-- perhaps you truly identify with these Sith." Liz liked that idea. It was much better than thinking that she was simply destined to become a pile of quivering Jell-O every time she saw Darth Maul or Exar Kun. (She was also steadfastly ignoring her rational side, which was currently jumping up and down yelling "DENIAL! YOU'RE IN DENIAL!!" at the top of its lungs.)

Having declared the debate over, she locked her door and plopped on the bed, determined not to run into any *more* interesting people for a while. She grabbed her laptop and the next lucky psych journal, and proceeded to lose herself in a study of psychoanalytic treatment methods for Huttese subjects with body-image disorder (i.e. Jabba on a diet). She tried to ignore the fact that her apprehension was steadily increasing as 8 pm came closer. She slammed the journal closed and forced herself to think about the dinner invitation. Go, or don't go? She was still debating as she walked over to the closet and started pulling clothes out and tossing them on the bed. She sighed, aware that she'd already mentally decided to go. Liz looked critically at the two outfits she'd laid out, trying to choose between the one that said "I don't trust you at all and want to be ready to run away really fast" (black pants, long black sweater, running shoes, vibroblade concealed under the sweater) and the one that said "I trust you to entertain me with a fancy dinner but am still suspicious of the ride home" (long slinky black stretch velvet dress, velvet shoes, velvet purse with small blaster pistol). She put on the black velvet dress, brushing out her shoulder-length black curly hair, and pulling back the dark purple wave in front with an amethyst hairclip.

She tried not to be nervous as she waited on the landing pad, watching a sleek, black, low-slung sport speeder gracefully touch down. She popped the side hatch and got in, feeling her heart leap as she noticed that the driver wore a black hooded cloak and leather gauntlets. He lifted his hand and pulled his hood back, revealing the familiar tattooed face and crown of sharp, hooked horns. She sighed with irritation, determined not to let him get to her. "What is this about?" she asked, "what do you want from me?"

"I cannot simply be interested in taking you to dinner?" Maul asked in that maddeningly soft voice of his. Liz frowned at him. He nodded to her and expertly guided the speeder off the landing pad into the flow of traffic. "In this case," he said, pausing, ".your perceptions are correct. My master wishes to speak with you."

"Your..master?" Liz said in disbelief.

"I *do* have a life outside of pleasing your clients, Elisabieta," Maul said wryly. The speeder lurched alarmingly as he jinked it upward into the faster stream of traffic. He noted her disturbed expression and grinned at her. "Does my driving unnerve you?" he asked, clearly amused, as he hit the throttle and deftly maneuvered around the other ships. She gripped the handle on her door hatch, grimacing at him. Maul merely smiled at her, and drove faster. She thought she'd managed to adjust to the unmentionable speed and the sideways, between-building shortcuts (she had to admit, his reflexes were truly amazing.) when he suddenly nosed the speeder into a steep, near-vertical dive.

"Yeeeeeep!" she shrieked as he pulled out of the dive and whipped the speeder into a narrow landing bay. Maul cut the engine and turned to look at her. "Hmmm...I believe I have disturbed you," he purred, leaning in close to her. "Perhaps I will proceed more slowly..." he ran his gloved hand slowly down her thigh..."from now on." There was a mocking tone to his voice, yet still it sounded like aural ecstasy. She closed her eyes as a shiver ran up her spine.

Damn it all, she thought, I'm giving in again! She struggled to catch her breath, the fear of the tight landing and the sheer sensation of Maul's presence dueling within her. Gods, but the man was delicious! She stiffened as he ran his hand very slowly along her jaw, moving patiently across her neck and down her back. "Is this a more... acceptable... speed?" he whispered, his breath hot on her neck. Ah, hell with the warnings, she thought recklessly. She realized she'd never wanted anyone quite *this* badly, if she resisted now she might forever regret it. She smiled at him, leaning into his arm, and titled her face toward his. Maul bent his head toward her, but didn't kiss her as she had hoped and expected, instead running his tongue along her neck and following with his lips, leaving a trail of hot fire against her skin. He pulled back and held her gaze with his frighteningly intense golden eyes. Her lips slighty parted, her skin tingled with anticipation as she stared into his eyes, lightheaded from his presence. He smiled faintly and opened the door hatch. "We must go now," he commanded softly, unfolding himself from the speeder and heading toward the door to the inside, "We are expected."

Liz swore under her breath and yanked herself from the speeder, unsteadily following his retreating form and far too conscious of how dizzy she still felt from their brief encounter.

Liz followed Maul through the doorway, still glaring daggers at his back after his treatment of her in the speeder. She wasn't so distracted, though, that she didn't notice the sumptuous surroundings of the apartment. The flat was large for this part of the city, and decorated by someone with austere, stark taste but also with a great deal of money. Her eye picked up a large Corusca gem sculpture in the center of a rare Qw'hara wood table, several Oolinean tapestries, and a group of odd statues in the corner. Despite their obvious value, Liz found them all a bit unsettling. The sculpture had wicked jagged edges, the tapestries depicted a hunt in gruesome detail, and the statues.. Liz shuddered and quickened her pace to catch up to Maul.

Rubbing her shoulders, Liz also realized that the place was freezing. As if he sensed her thought, Maul turned and looked at her. "Something wrong?" he asked, his tone mocking her.

"Nothing", Liz said acerbically. "Your master is just a little..weird.in his decorating taste, if you ask me," she added.

Maul just smiled faintly at her clear discomfort and pressed a door panel, revealing an elegant dining room with a long table currently set for two.

She stopped short and looked at Maul. "You *said* I'm here to meet your Master. What's up with the cozy little table for two?" she demanded.

"Don't worry, I won't be joining you. I have other business to attend to.", Maul said curtly, and disappeared through another door.

She stared after him, suddenly filled with uncertainty and more than a little fear. She walked into the dining room and stood uncomfortably behind a chair, wishing she'd never decided to go along with this. She tried to distract herself from her growing anxiety by wondering if Maul lived here, and what his quarters would look like. Whether they would show the same chilly taste as his Sith master. She decided that they wouldn't.whatever Maul was, *cold* he was not.

"I am pleased you could come," said a gravelly voice from about a foot behind her. Liz yelped, leaping nearly a foot off the floor. She couldn't imagine that she'd been so distracted that she didn't notice the hiss of the door.

She turned to face her mysterious host, slowly taking in the long, dark robe and deeply cowled face. This figure had none of Maul and Kun's fierce, seductive magnetism-- he was pure, undiluted menace, as old and dark and cold as the objects he surrounded himself with. She repressed a shiver, suddenly aware that he was not only conscious of her discomfort, but reveled in it. I'm here to have a meal, not to *be* one, she thought angrily.

Liz noticed the corners of his mouth quirk with amusement as he looked her over. "Join me", he commanded, taking a seat at the head of the table. Liz warily took a seat at the table, stuffing down for the moment her many misgivings about what her cursed curiosity had gotten her into this time. The door hissed, noticeably this time, and a sleek, polished silver droid entered with several plates. Liz examined the salad and bread--she had to admit, they looked delicious, but.

The cowled figure cackled loudly. "No, I didn't add any of my .special.plants to our evening dinner. You are quite safe, my dear."

Damn, she thought, angry at being so obvious in her fear. "To what do I owe the pleasure, Lord." she asked pointedly.

"Sidious", he said, his voice hissing like he held a mouthful of hyperactive snakes. "I asked you here to discuss your little..endeavor.with Madam Selah."

She couldn't be certain, but Liz thought she detected a certain sarcasm in the "Madam Selah" business. She blushed furiously. "I don't like the way you put that, Lord Sidious, and our little "endeavor" is doing quite fine, thank you."

"You are clearly quite mistaken", he said shortly, and she realized she'd angered him. "The Sith are treated with quite a bit of disdain by your employers", he stated, his lip curling on the "disdain" bit. "I merely wish to .rectify.. the situation-- or are you adverse to extra funding?" He spoke slowly, persuasively, well aware that he had her with the business about "funding."

"I don't think we need.", she started, breaking off in mid-rant. Alienating Maul's master would do her little good, on any level-- and he wasn't wrong. The Sith wing was badly underfunded, and she *could* use the help. She sighed. "What have you got in mind?"

The plan was a good one, and Sidious listened carefully to her thoughts and details about the operation. To her surprise, she felt herself relax a bit as dinner went on. The food was excellent, and once you got past the feeling of incipient menace, Sidious could be a fascinating host. He was clearly brilliant, and they chatted unexpectedly amiably about a wide range of subjects. She was holding forth about her opinions of galactic taxation when she felt a pair of eyes boring into the back of her head. She broke off, turning to meet Maul's intense gaze.

He nodded briefly at her, and whispered something in Sidious' ear. She had a strange feeling that Maul was angry at her, but she shook it off-- why should she have regrets that the master was clearly a better conversationalist than the apprentice?

Sidious nodded at Maul, and rose. "I am sorry to leave our conversation, my dear, but there is something that demands my attention", he said apologetically.

Liz nodded after his retreating form, feeling the silence descend like a blanket as she was left alone with Maul. She turned to him. "Your master has *quite* the interesting mind, Lord Maul", she said playfully. Maul's golden eyes flashed red with fury, which he struggled to control. "He can be very persuasive", Maul stated flatly.

"What is the matter?" she asked, taken aback by the obvious anger in his voice. She thought for a moment, and slowly grinned at him. "You can't possibly be.jealous., can you, apprentice?" she asked, with obvious relish. She was starting to enjoy his discomfiture. Two can play *this* game, she thought.

He glared at her, clearly fighting to say something but finally mastering the impulse. "It seems the droid failed to serve dessert", he said quietly, taking several dishes off the serving table. He placed a bowl of large Alderaanian raspberries and a pitcher of cream in front of her, taking a second bowl for himself and sitting in an empty chair.

He caught her eyes with his ferocious gaze and held them, slowly feeding himself a raspberry. Her eyes widened in surprise at his hands-- this was the first time she'd ever seen him without the ubiquitous gauntlets. They provided some clue about the maddening tattoo question, the tops of his obsidian hands were laced with jagged designs of red, snaking up his wrist like lightning. And he had beautiful hands, damn him, she thought. Although clearly very strong, his long, slender fingers were also elegant and even somehow delicate. Perfect for both lightsaber combat and..

She broke off the thought as she found him staring at her, smiling faintly in amusement. He slowly picked up another berry, carefully sliding it into his mouth.

Gods, she thought. I really would like it if.. she began, ending the thought as she caught Maul's soft grin. He rose and stepped over to her.

"Hmmm.you don't seem to be enjoying your dessert", he purred, picking up a berry from her bowl. "You really ought to try one, they're quite good", he said softly, bringing the berry to her lips. Liz smiled and caught the berry with her teeth. They really were quite good..

Maul smiled and picked up another berry. She took this one more slowly, letting her tongue dart over his fingertips as she took it from him. She reached out and caught his hand before he could grab another berry, slowly bringing it to her lips. Liz ran her fingers up his hand, tracing the design. She kissed his knuckles lightly, and slowly sucked on a fingertip, rewarded beyond measure by Maul's soft moan. She reached for another finger and.

.nearly bit him as a low cackle from behind jolted her firmly out of her reverie.

"Excellent, my young apprentice", Sidious snickered, "you seem to have her eating out of your hand."

Maul sat back down in his chair. "It wasn't difficult to follow her thoughts", he said offhandedly. "You read my *mind*???" Liz shrieked.

Actually, I needed little mind reading.your thoughts were quite obvious, came Maul's soft voice in her mind.

Liz shot up from the table, knocking the chair to the floor. She glowered at Maul, her face red with fury. "How *dare* you humiliate me like this, you...you.." she spluttered. Her rage suddenly filled her with fire, and she glared at him. "Damn you, you motherfucking son of a bitch, GET OUT OF MY MIND!!!" she screamed, thrusting a hand out at him. She gasped in astonishment as a wave of force picked him up, shattering the chair into the wall and sending Maul sprawling to the floor.

"Good, goooood," Sidious cackled, his eyes bright with pleasure as he drank in her rage. "Your anger has made you powerful", he said huskily to her. "The Force is indeed strong with her, my apprentice", he then said to Maul, who fluidly untangled himself from the chair bits and rose to his feet.

"Wait a minute." Liz gasped, "the Force? *I* am Force-sensitive? *I* did *that*??" she gestured in amazement to the smashed chair.

"Very much so", Sidious said with evident pleasure. "My apprentice sensed it, we only needed a small.test.to see how easily you would come to the Dark Side."

Liz stood, stunned, as her mind started adding up the, by now, rather unpleasant-looking pieces. She looked at Maul. "It was *all* a manipulation, wasn't it? Not to control me, but to force me to lash out at you. So *he* (she gestured furiously at Sidious) could turn me to the Dark Side before the Jedi realized I'm Force-sensitive", she said, her voice rising in anger.

Maul looked at her intently, refusing to confirm or deny her suspicions.

"Shit", she said angrily. "I *won't* be manipulated, you understand me?" she growled at Sidious. She turned and suddenly launched herself toward Maul, grabbing him by two front horns and pinning him to the wall, kissing him deeply, her tongue probing his mouth. To her complete surprise, Maul wrapped his arms tightly around her, pulling her to him, returning her kiss with equal passion.

She broke away from him, looking with shock at the desire and hunger.and seemingly despair. clearly etched on his face. But it had all been manipulation ordered by his master, hadn't it? Her thoughts were in turmoil. She shot Maul a look of confusion and betrayal and turned on her heel, running out of the apartment.

She heard Maul running after her, but he was too late, left to stare after her as she flew his sport speeder out of the landing bay and into the Coruscant evening sky.

DISCLAIMER: This story is a work of fiction written in appreciation of Star Wars; to promote the franchise and to keep it alive. All characters and settings original to Star Wars are copyright to Lucasfilm, Ltd. The rest is copyright to the author.