#dev morgan

Dev never thought he would go undercover. His talents had use elsewhere. Besides, while he always obeyed the Empire, he had always done so out of necessity than loyalty. Undercover work was the last thing he could’ve been trusted with. And yet here he was, dressed in simple civilian clothes and pretending to be a rebel. The mission a simple one, in fact it could mean the destruction of the rebellion once and for all, but it was still odd walking pretending to be someone he wasn’t. He had to pretend to be nice to others, had to force smiles or laughs to try to get the rebels to trust him. The only times he managed to be very convincing though were when Tala was around. He knew the Empire had chosen both of them because of their age. The rebels would be more sympathetic to those who were younger, especially when paired with a sob story. It was an effective strategy, and Dev would be lying if he said he wasn’t happy to be working with Tala. Out of everyone in the Empire, she was the only one he truly felt equal with, at least when it came to their beliefs. They both had their disagreements with the Empire, and they had both once been disconnected from Imperial life. Of course, they would never think of turning back on the Empire, but they also didn’t believe that everything the Empire did was entirely practical. And while no one knew that’s what they thought, Dev thought it made this mission quite suitable for them.

A cough interrupted Dev’s thoughts as he made his way towards the rebel’s control room. He smothered a groan, ready to force a smile once again, but as he turned, he saw Tala. She tilted her head towards a small room then walked in.

Glancing around to make sure no one saw them, Dev followed her into the room and closed the door.

“You have more orders?” he asked, making sure to keep his voice low. For some reason, while he outranked her, she had been doing most of the direct communication between them and their superiors. Maybe Dev’s disregard for protocol hadn’t gone unnoticed. Or perhaps the commanders felt more at ease talking with an officer, not a sith. A smart choice in general, but Dev knew Tala wasn’t much for sugarcoating things either. Most of the times she was even more blunt than him.

Tala nodded. “We are supposed to get the location of as many of the rebel’s sources as possible. Where they get their supplies, money, etcetera. The includes sympathizers. If the Empire can squash their support, the rebellion will get weaker and more desperate.”

“Makes sense,” Dev said. “So we just need to keep an ear out for any contacts.” In reality, he could’ve just read the minds of the leaders and gotten all of the information they needed. There had been a few times he had been tempted to do so. But some people were more alert to their thoughts being read than others, so that was a last resort.

“Yes, but we could also move things along. If we can ‘accidentally’ destroy some of their supplies-”

“They will have to find more,” Dev finished the sentence, not even having to read her mind to tell what she was thinking.

A frown formed on her face, and a glimmer of annoyance shone in her eyes. “Yes, but next time don’t interrupt. Now, I know how to rewire a blaster to explode, so I just need you to keep any busybodies”-

Just then the door slid open. A rebel stood in doorway, his gaze fixed on the datapad in his hands. Dev lifted his hand, ready to ‘convince’ him that he hadn’t seen anything, but then Tala grabbed his shirt. And she kissed him.

Dev’s froze, his mind short-circuiting at the feeling of her lips against his. His heart sped up and his eyes slowly started to close even while his mind was telling him this was just a ruse.

“Oh…uh…sorry!” the rebel stammered and then the door closed again.

As soon as it did, Tala pulled away and glanced at the door. “That should buy us a few more minutes,” she said, her face as stoic as ever, but the smallest hint of a blush touched her cheeks. Or maybe that was just Dev’s imagination. All he knew was that his face felt like it was on fire. As much as he tried to ignore it, to tell himself he was being foolish, he couldn’t deny that he had admired Tala for a while now, and not just her battle tactics and training capabilities. All the times they had been together had been the most enjoyable days of his service to the Empire, and as much as he told himself it was just friendship – which in and of itself was looked down upon – he knew there was more to it.

A hard punch to his shoulder jerked Dev out of his musings and the slight adrenaline rush that had come over him as a result of the kiss.

“Focus, Morgan!” Tala snapped, using his last name for the first time in a while, as the mission called for them to act more casual.

Shaking his head, Dev, forced his thoughts away, though he could still feel a slight warmth in his cheeks. “Right, sorry.”

Rolling her eyes, Tala glared at him for a moment, then spoke again. “As I was saying, you have to keep any nosy rebels out of my way while I set the charge. Can you do that? Or do you need another punch to help you focus?”

“No, I’ve got it,” he said, scolding himself for allowing himself to get so distracted, even if it was because of a kiss.

“Good,” she said, straightening the collar of her worn out jacket, one that didn’t quite seem to suit her, and yet she still managed to pull it off. “We’ll plan on it tonight. Now we should go and see what these rebels have in store for today.”

“I sure hope it’s something useful this time, there’s not much we can learn from training exercises,” Dev said, as he stepped back and opened the door.

“We learn enough,” Tala said, her voice carrying more depth than she let on. “You just don’t like getting beat, that’s all.”

“Hey, you know that’s only because-”

“I’ve had more training than you,” she cut him off before he could finish his sentence as a rebel walked by them.

Dev mentally hit himself for almost slipping up again. It was so easy to be himself around her, he tended to forget when he could and couldn’t say exactly what was on him mind. “Right…well, I’m still hoping for an actual mission.”

“Too bad newbies, you’ve still got some more training to do.”

The voice of one of their new ‘friends’ almost made Dev roll his eyes. This particular rebel, Listra, was a little too upbeat for his liking. He was looking forward to the day when he didn’t have to put up with her happy smiles and bubbly personality.

A hint of a smirk formed on the corner of Tala’s mouth – she seemed to have perfected acting just friendly enough, while still seeming mostly like herself. Dev wished he could find that balance.

“Great, I can beat Dev up some more then.”

“Oh, so that’s how it’s going to be? It’s on.” The smirk that grew on Dev’s face was real. Only Tala’s remarks seemed to make him genuinely amused, even if he was determined not to let her beat him this time.

Dev groaned as he hit the floor once again. His back was sore from being thrown so many times. And unlike the last few times, his body didn’t seem to want to cooperate with getting up again. Sure, he could channel the Force to help him, but he was determined to beat Tala without it. However that had proven much harder than he had thought.

“Do you yield?” Tala said, standing over him, a smirk on her face.

“Never,” Dev said, forcing himself to sit up.

“Alright, I think that’s enough training for one day,” Listra said, stepping in between them. Dev frowned at her back. Wimpy Rebels, this was nothing compared to the training he had gone through…granted he had been channeling the Force then, but he still hadn’t stopped until he was bloodied and bruised. Right now he was bruised and slightly humiliated.  

“We are just getting started and you already want us to stop?” Tala asked, disapproval lining her voice. Clearly she was used to rougher training as well.

“Man, you guys really like beating each other up don’t you?” Listra said, shaking her head in disapproval as she headed towards the door. “Well, I’m in charge and I say you guys are done, go take it easy for the rest of the day.”

As soon as she left the room, Dev rolled his eyes and looked at Tala, who was frowning at the door.

“No wonder their side is losing,” Tala muttered as she walked over and offered Dev a hand.

Dev looked at her hand for a moment, knowing he should just get up on his own, but he found himself accepting it. “That’s good for us though,” he said as Tala helped pull him to his feet.

Tala shrugged. “I guess so. It’s still pathetic though. Now, ready for another round?” She asked, stepping back and lifting up her hands, ready to fight once again.