Howzer might seem a bit OOC in this, but that's because we haven't seen a lot of him. I'll try my best, but I don't have a lot to work with.

Also did I mention yet that this story's gonna get a bit dark?

Tw: Violence, language, sexual references, gaslighting, blood, death.

Howzer was a curious man. He didn't question his orders, but he mulled them over in his head. It was something he prided himself on. He liked solving puzzles.

The one puzzle he didn't like, was Leila. 

How did she know how to fight so well? Why did she have that knife?

And why did she get so defensive when he questioned her about it?

Those were the questions that swam in his mind as he walked home.

Perhaps it was nothing though. Perhaps he felt so helpless with the Empire, he was trying to find something to obsess over. He was just trying to find the next puzzle to solve.

Yes, that was it. He just wanted a puzzle to solve.

He didn't have feelings for her.

He just liked the sense of accomplishment after solving a puzzle.

Whatever the reason was, Howzer went to the Imperial information site and searched Leila's name and description. 

There was no record of her.

It wasn't that she didn't have a criminal record, it was that there was no evidence of her existence at all. Leila didn't exist to the Empire.

Howzer's brow pinched together as he stared at the screen.

This couldn't be right. Maybe he spelled her name wrong? 

No matter how he spelled her name, her face didn't pop up. So either she went by a false name...

Or she had worked very hard not to be noticed.

The screen glitched for a second, the search bar flashing red. As quickly as it had appeared, though, it was gone.

Howzer turned the device off and frowned.

Everything in him screamed danger.

"Hello, Howzer."

Howzer's hand shot out, trying to find his blaster in the dark. His fingers closed around nothing, and he tensed. 

"Your blaster's gone, isn't it?" Whoever is was 'tisked', and he could hear a pistol's safety being clicked off. "Poor thing..."

"Who are you?" Howzer asked, sitting up. The blankets tumbled off him as he tried to find the button to turn the lights on.

"Sit down."

Howzer slowly lowered himself onto his bed, poised at the edge. "Where are the others?"

"The ones who share this room with you?" They tapped their fingers against the wall. "They're not dead, if that's what you're wondering."

Howzer's shoulders relaxed slightly, and he began searching for his helmet. It would help him see in this darkness.

"I just stopped by to tell you to stop searching. Nothing good will come out of trying to find her. Either forget about it now, or I'll make you disappear."

"Who are you?" Howzer asked again, fingers grasping his helmet.

"Doesn't matter. Do you understand what I'm telling you?" 

"I understand." Howzer began to lift his helmet, ready to see their face.

It was knocked out of his hand and he was pinned to his bed. He could feel their weight on his chest with their legs on either side of him.

They pressed a blaster to his forehead. "I don't think you understand, if you're pulling shit like this."

Howzer struggled and managed to get a hand up to their face, grasping soft hair. His hand was forced beside his head, before he could pull them off.

"Goodbye, Captain."

They shoved his head back into the pillows before their weight disappeared. The lights turned back on and Howzer blinked at the ceiling as light flooded his senses.

His blaster was on the ground next to the door.

"Hey, Howzer," Tic said as he waltzed inside. "What're you doing up so late? I just got off a shift."

"I- Did you see anyone on your way here?" Howzer sharply asked, tucking his blaster into its holster.

"No. Why?" Tic frowned as he stripped his plastoid off.

Howzer rolled out his shoulders. "No reason. But be careful, okay? I have a bad feeling."

"Bad feelings are never good." King grinned as he sauntered into the room. He elbowed Tic. "Unless that's what you're into."

Tic wrinkled his nose and pushed King. "Don't look at me when you say that. It freaks me out."

"I'm not saying anything." King put his hands up teasingly. "But I've seen you do some things..."

Tic glared at him. "I told you, I didn't know she had a knife!"

"You didn't look terribly upset when she stabbed you." King dodged the punch Tic aimed at him.

"Because I was busy trying to shoot her!" Tic's voice went pitchy as his face went red with fury.

King gave Tic a patronizing smile. "Sure."

"Stop it," Howzer ordered. "King, we've discussed this. Just because Tic likes some weird things, that's doesn't mean you can tease him."

Tic's face flushed even more. "Howzer!"

"I'm joking." Howzer placed his helmet off to the side. "Tic, we all know that you were busy trying to shoot her. King's just trying to get under your skin."

"Yeah, vod," King said. "Just joking around."

Tic crossed his arms. "I won't forget this."

King hummed. "Sure."

Howzer arrived at the school, going to demand some answers from Leila. He knocked on her classroom door.

An elderly Twi'lek opened the door, smiling at him. "Can I help you, sir?"

"I'm looking for Leila," Howzer told him, glancing past him. 

"Leila?" He frowned, wrinkles deepening. "I'm afraid I don't know who you're talking about."

Howzer pasted on a strained smile. "She's the teacher here, right?"

"I'm the teacher in this class. There's never been anyone named Leila here." He started to close the door.

"Thank you for your time," Howzer said before the door closed completely.

He sat outside on the dried dirt and stared at the patched up wall. There's no way he could've imagined her, right?

Howzer fiddled with his bracelet.

"Howzer?" Tine cautiously approached.

Howzer glanced up, smiling at the young boy. "Tine! Shouldn't you be in class?"

"Ms. Carson is dead," Tine blurted out. "I heard the adults talking about it. They found blood in her house."

"Thank you, Tine." Howzer stood up and dusted himself off. 

"I don't think she's really dead," Tine whispered. 

Howzer smiled at the child. "I'll figure it out, okay? Don't worry about it. And hurry back to class."

Howzer mulled it over as he walked to Leila's house. He didn't think she was dead, either. He'd seen her fight, and there's no way she would've gone down easily.

Her house wasn't locked down or anything of the sort, so he walked right in.

Blood splattered the walls and her furniture, and chunks of pink hair were in a pool of blood. A shattered glass made Howzer wary of where he stepped.

"Leila," Howzer softly called out, even though he knew he wouldn't get a response. He tilted his head at the splotches of blood.

Howzer's hand went to his blaster at his waist instinctively when he heard a beep. He curiously opened a drawer to see a datapad with a new message.

"I told you to stop looking."

Putting the device back where it came from, Howzer raised his voice. "You made your point! You're watching me! I get it! But I won't just stop looking! A murder happened!"

Leila stepped into the house, blaster raised at him. She sneered, and he took in her hair which had been cut to just pass her chin. "Why won't you just go away?"

"I don't give up," Howzer calmly said whilst taking out his own blaster. 

Leila rolled her eyes, shutting the door behind her. "I have to kill you now. No one can know I'm alive."

"You faked our own death?" Howzer realized. "Why? Why would you do that?"

"You looked me up in the system. I had a virus in it, where anytime someone tried to find me, it would alert me. I worked very hard to have no one find me." Leila blew a stray hair out of her face. "I have to start a new life again..."

"It was you in the middle of the night?" Howzer discreetly pressed his comm, signalling his need for backup.

Leila grinned. "Obviously. I thought I could scare you off, but you're too stupid to leave it alone, aren't you?"

"Why, though? What are you running from?" Howzer questioned, stalling for time.

"I was a bounty hunter. I helped a quarry escape, so my employers tried to kill me. They're ruthless, so I had to hide." Leila stepped closer, still having the blaster levelled at his chest. "This is my third time starting over. I'm tired of running."

"The Empire could-"

Leila cut him off with a laugh. "Who do you think I'm running from? People like you! The Empire tried to kill the one I let free!"

"Who'd you let go?" Howzer curiously asked.

"A child!" Leila spat out. "The Empire wanted a child! But my partner and I didn't like it. We went our separate ways after that."

Howzer wracked his brain for another question. "Leila... Why'd you come here?"

She smiled wryly. "I know you're waiting for help to arrive."

Howzer stared at her. "Leila-"

She suddenly lunged at him, knocking his weapon from his hand. He tried to punch her, but she blocked it and let a knife slide from her sleeve. She pressed it against his throat, smirking as a drop of blood came to the surface.

"Howzer?" King asked as he and Tic entered, holding their blasters. 

"Ssssh," Leila crooned to Howzer, pouting her lips slightly. "You don't want them to find us, do you?"

Oh, how Howzer hated her. If he could, he'd turn her in right now.

She roughly forced him to his feet just as Tic and King slipped outside again. Still holding the blade to his throat, she made him walk out the door.

"Howzer!" King shouted, whipping around.

Tic tried to aim at Leila, but she was hiding behind Howzer, us using him as a shield.

"You're going to let us pass, and I'm going to go to my ship. If you don't," Leila paused to pull down the collar of Howzer's blacks even more, "I'll slit his pretty throat."

Mando'a translations:

Vod~~~~~ Brother