Safe and Sound (Star Wars: The Bad Batch AU)

Chapter 10

Omega was curled up, sleeping on a gray padded office chair. She stirred, the plastic arm of the chair digging into her arm made her really uncomfortable. She tried to adjust herself, but her arms couldn't move freely. She woke up in a frustrated panic. She looked down at her wrists. They were duct taped. Confused, Omega sat upright and started to bite down at the tape.

"Oh, look here. Our little friend is finally awake."
Omega looked up to see where the voice came from. It came from the other end of the room. They seemed to be in an old, unused deli shop. The owner of the voice was over by some empty shelves past the nearby counter. It was an old guy.
"Who are you?" Omega asked him as he approached her.
"You could say that I'm your father's friend. You may call me Tarkin," the old guy went around the counter and sat in a chair across from Omega.
"Where am I?" Omega asked him.
"That's none of your business," Tarkin replied.
"Why am I here?"
"Let's just say that your father stole something from me, and so I took someone from him," he said casually.
"My dad doesn't steal," Omega said confusedly.
"You want to go back home, don't you?" Tarkin snapped.
Omega nodded.
"Then type in your father's number," Tarkin got up and handed Omega his phone. Omega typed it in and called. He held the phone up to her ear, the loud ringing hurting it.
"Who is it?" Her dad said.
"Dad?" Omega asked, confused and worried.
"Omega? Are you okay? Are you hurt?" He asked, sounding worried and concerned.
"I- I'm okay," Omega replied.
"Where are you?"
"I'm not sure," Omega said as she glanced around the room. She was behind a white counter, to her right was the front of the deli, and to her left was more rooms (such as the kitchen).
"It looks-No!"
Tarkin took the phone from her.
"It appears that we both have something the other one wants," Tarkin spoke coldly.
"I'm not a thing, I'm a person," Omega said as bravely as she could.
"Quiet!" Tarkin scolded.

Why is he so angry? Omega's throat felt dry and started to hurt.

"She has not been harmed," Tarkin assured, "If you want your daughter back, then I suggest that you give us the spice as quickly as possible."

My dad stole spices from him? Why would he do that? And why can't he just go back to the store to get some more?

Tarkin snapped, "Then consider it your problem. Either you give us the spice or you give us half a million in cash by Friday."

What does he want with so much spices? Omega wondered. Well, we are in a deli shop so maybe-

"Have a Merry Christmas," Tarkin hung up.
"What's going to happen on Friday?" Omega asked nervously.
"Let's just say that the presents under the Christmas tree won't be the only thing in a box this Christmas Eve," Tarkin got up, "Fox!"
Fox looked up from the kitchen, "Yessir?"
"Make sure that Omega doesn't leave the back rooms  while I'm gone. I'm going to pick up a few things."

Fox grabbed the arm of the chair and dragged it behind him. The plastic wheels clattered and rolled along the concrete floor of the kitchen. To her right, there were metal tables with plastic crates and cardboard boxes filled to the brim with random objects like masking tape.

They went around the table, went right and entered into another room. This room had grey walls and light coming from a window. They went left and went into a square room with 3 doors, including the one they came through. There were metal tables and racks along the walls and a rusty metal drain in the middle of the floor. They went straight across the room, Fox rolled the chair in front of him and toward a dark room.
"No!" Omega tried to fight back, but Fox was able to shove her through the doorway and close the door, locking her in. As she yelled and kicked the door, Fox closed and locked the metal doors of the square room. Before closing the last door, he went over to the door keeping Omega. He heard her sobs, muffled behind the thick door. He unlocked it but left it closed, and left the square room, locking the large metal door.