Title: HSU - Unfinished Business
Author: Emmy
Rating: CG (Comfort General)
Archive: Please
Disclaimer: Why should I?
Notes: Die likes angst! That's my only excuse. And thanks to Dande for the fabulous ideas for her scene in this one (and for her scenes in Pay Dirt).
Timeline: Right after Die's 'A Few Screws Lose.'

The General looked out the window as the storm crashed in the night sky.

"She's not back yet?" Caeryn asked.

He simply shook his head. "I'm going out there."

"No you're not."

The General turned around to see Emmy dressed in Gore-Textm. Emmy never dressed in Gore-Textm. Even during her jammie episode. He didn't even know that she owned Gore-Textm. When it rained, she just didn't go outside without a giant golf umbrella.

Except during rugby practice when it was acceptable to get wet and dirty.

Or during a nice summer rain. The General smirked as a rather....humid memory returned to him.

"She kicked you," Emmy said. "Which means she wants to keep brooding. I think she's addicted." Emmy marched toward the door as she zipped up her red Gortex, Thinsulate-lined parka. "Twelve-step diva program on the way."

"I'm not going to let you go out in this storm as well," he said.

Emmy gave him a look. "I should hope by now that we have firmly established that you don't 'let' me do anything."

"It is dark, and she is quite a ways out in those woods," he protested.

"Then you can stand there in the window and watch with your little Force eyes or whatever," Emmy said. "I'll handle this." She put her hood up and opened the front door. "And if you're still standing there when we come back, you'd better make yourself scarce before we walk in. Understood?"

Then the General gave Emmy a look.

Emmy sighed and slammed the front door. "Do you want her to run off and join a convent again? Or perhaps get re-hired on at Hooters?"

"Of course not."

"Then let somebody else handle this. This situation calls for a Disa," Emmy said. "And you are not one."

"Disa?" the General asked.

"Damsel in shining armour," Caeryn said. "Or, in this case, Diva."

"I may be a flake, but I'm well-versed in the murky depths of the female psyche," Emmy said. "I'm on it." She opened the door again.

"Be careful," he said. "And I would never call you a flake," he called out as she walked out the door.

"I would," Darry said, snapping her gum as she flipped through her Cosmo.

~*~

Diebin shivered under the tree, her skin soaking wet and cold as the rain picked up and pounded down on her. The water fell like tiny streams down her plastered-down hair and into her eyes. Then she gasped as she heard a noise. It sounded like twigs snapping. Oh, this was it. It was either a bear coming to eat her or a witch who was going to drag her off, cut out her tongue, and make her stand in a corner.

As she focused her eyes, she saw the dancing beam of a flashlight. Then she sighed as the figure approached.

"I kicked him," Diebin said.

Emmy shone her flashlight right in Diebin's eyes. "I heard."

"I freaked."

"I don't care." Emmy finally took the light off Diebin's eyes. "You gotta knock off this shit, girl. I mean, the convent was one thing, but HOOTERS??"

Diebin groaned. "Well, what the hell am I supposed to do now that I'm out of a job?"

"Ummm, okay, first of all," Emmy said impatiently, "nobody ever said you were out of a job. Secondly, when I was feeling all warm fuzzy and crap I made a list of alternative jobs for you. Thirdly, if you would do what I say, you wouldn't have any problems at all. Fourth--"

"Uh, how high are you gonna count?"

"Fourthly, in case you've been asleep for the past week, we have a DIAMOND MINE in the back forty, which I'm sure the General will take an active role in, which means you will still be working for him. Fifthly, even if that weren't the case, there's no way in hell we'd get rid of him so, once again, you'd still have a job. Sixthly...."

Diebin sighed.

"...as I mentioned before, WE HAVE A DIAMOND MINE, which means we're all gonna be filthy stinkin' rich, and you won't need a job anyway. And finally, seventhly, I never had a job 'til a couple weeks ago, and I never had any problem staying around here."

Diebin exhaled with exasperation. "Yes, but if it weren't for me, none of these bad things that have happened around here would ever have occurred."

"Um." Emmy shined the flashlight in Diebin's eyes again. "Hello, McDie! You are not the all-powerful creator of life and all its problems."

Diebin shifted her eyes away.

"And besides, that Ginsu bitch was the one responsible for a lot more mayhem than you were."

Diebin rubbed her eyes in frustration. This was all making fairly decent sense, but she couldn't just let go of her angst.

"Listen," Emmy said, "I know you're the angst queen and all."

Diebin smiled weakly. "Haven't you ever gone just a little crazy, and you didn't know how to get out of it?"

Emmy shook her head. "No, I haven't. I've only smashed my tiara into tiny bits in front of the entire campus and then paraded around in my jammies while dragging Pooh Bear behind me."

Diebin chuckled. "That was a really brilliant psychotic episode."

Emmy smiled. "Listen, Die. You know I enjoy my angst, too. However, the bottom line here is do you wanna get some nekkid, writhing, moaning General action or not?"

Diebin looked up at Emmy.

"It's really quite that simple," Emmy said matter of factly.

"So you're not sleeping with him yet, either, are you?"

Emmy sighed and kicked the dirt. "Okay fine, but the point is that I got dragged off by that wacky Ginsu, bit by that slobbery Mastiff, and have continued to feel great shame and mortification for actually leaving my room dressed in khaki. After all that, I really don't feel like standing out here in the rain waiting for some witch to come along and cut my tongue out and--"

"And make you stand in a corner," Diebin chuckled. "Yeah, you've stolen my brain again."

Emmy tapped Diebin's boot with her Gore-Textm trail boot. "He's worried. And I'm not going back there without you. So I'm going to stand right here until you do and make you feel guilty for me catching hypothermia." Emmy tried to wipe the water out of her face as the wind blew the rain horizontally and right inside her hood. "And I know you won't kick me because you know that I'll pull out a can of whoop ass on you if you do."

"Well if he's so worried, why didn't he come? I know I kicked him, but--"

"Okay, straight up. I didn't come out here for a pity party. You remember back when I was upset when you guys informed me that I wasn't a staff member?"

"You were upset about that?"

"Well, I stormed out didn't I?"

"Well, you always storm out, Em."

Emmy sighed. "The point is, I walked all the way out here, too. Sat here all afternoon and into the night."

"You did?" Diebin asked with foreboding guilt.

"Yeah," Emmy said. "And you know who came out here to rescue me?"

Diebin ran through her memory of the dessert topping party in the General's lounge, trying to remember who wasn't there besides Emmy. "Uh...who?"

"Space Dog and Wicket."

Diebin cringed.

"So I think I am a much better deal. I'm your Disa, baby. Now get off your ass, I'm getting cold."

Diebin stood up, her muscles chilled and achy. "Alright. Thanks for the rescue, Emmers."

"Ah well, I figured it was better than sending Darry out," Emmy said.

"Still hasn't found a cigarette, has she?"

"Nope."

Diebin sighed. "I'm going to feel like an idiot when I see him."

"I told him to make himself scarce tonight."

"Thanks."

"Anytime. I like ordering him around," Emmy quipped.

"That's why you're a Ho."

"You know it."

~*~

"You see," Emmy said as they finally arrived at Diebin's door, her voice shakey as her chilled body trembled. "No grand humiliating scenes."

Diebin shivered and chattered her teeth.

"Now, go inside," Emmy said as her drenched hair dripped on the hardwood floor, "and take a hot shower."

Diebin nodded and walked into her room. She waved at Emmy with trembling fingers and then shut the door quietly.

Emmy sighed and turned to squish the rest of the way down the hall to her room.

"How is she?"

Emmy rolled her eyes and looked over her shoulder. "I told you to stay scarce."

"I am scarce," the General said.

Emmy gave him that 'whatever' look. "She fine. Wet and cold, but she'll be fine. Just let her sleep, okay? She'll get over it. It's a brooding thing. You understand that."

The General bit his lip. "I.... I don't brood."

Emmy laughed. "Sure, whatever," she said as she continued to squish down the hall to her door.

Suddenly he was in front of her. "And are you alright?"

"Fine," she said.

He slowly raised a hand and pointed at her face. "Your lips are purple."

"I'm going Goth," she said.

The General raised his eyebrows.

"Just gonna go dry off now and get warm," she said. "Good night."

The General stepped out of the way and let her enter her room. "Good night. If you need anything--"

"Thanks," she said as she closed the door.

The General sighed.

~*~

"Okay, shall we put this to a vote?" Shana said.

"Right, let me just run down what we have here for the record," Caeryn said. "The General, as President, will be in charge of enforcing policy as set by the Board and proposing any new policies or policy revisions that will then be presented to the Board for approval. Any staff members who wish to propose any policy issues to the Board will do so through the President. He will also be in charge of the mining operations, providing weekly reports to the Board. The Board will oversee the President's duties in this capacity, but the President has full decision making leeway related to the mining operations. The President will also work with staff on day-to-day campus and business issues as they arise." Caeryn looked up from her notes. "Any questions, additions, deletions?"

"Can we add something in there about the President having to make appointments with us instead of us making them with him since, in effect, he's our employee now?" Emmy asked quite seriously.

"Uh, I don't think that actually needs to go on record," Caeryn said. "We'll let each staff member set up their own policies, how's that?"

"Sure. Fine. Whatever," Emmy said.

"Okay," Caeryn said. "All those in favor?"

All hands were raised.

"Good," Caeryn said. "Diebin, can you call the General in, and we'll let him know what we've decided."

"Do I have to?"

"Well, you are his secretary."

"I know, but--"

"Shit, I'll do it," Darry said, standing up to walk to the phone mounted on the wall next to the door. She dialed the General's extension.

"Yes?"

"Get in here." Darry hung up and sat back down.

"That was rude," Emmy said.

"Oh, like you aren't," Darry said, popping a bubble and flipping her hair.

~*~

"Good," the General said. "It sounds like you have everything figured out the way you want it."

"And are you alright with this?" Caeryn said.

"Of course," he said. "This gives us a good start for the new semester."

"Speaking of which," Caeryn said. "Emmy, I have received quite a few phone calls from parents wanting more information on Hestia State University. Do you know anything about this?"

"Well...." Emmy said. "It's like this, see--"

"Oh, this ought to be good," Darry said, snapping her gum.

"Many parents, and I can tell them a mile away, just have a big problem with that whole Ho business...so I just sort of thought that Hestia sounded much more respectable. She is the goddess of family and peace, and she embraces all aspects of womanhood. They really seem to like that," Emmy said.

"Uhhh.... Em, you just can't go changing the name of the school," Shana said.

"Look, kids will tell their parents lots of made-up stuff about their school so their yuppie parents have something to brag about to their equally yuppie neighbors. We don't exactly advertise the more...questionable academics that we provide. For the parents who are highly involved in their children's education - and I can spot them a mile away, too - I handle it differently because I figure they're going to examine us with a fine tooth comb anyway. It all depends on the situation," Emmy said.

Caeryn sighed, "But still--"

"And I think that since I have generated more serious inquiries from parents in the past week than most of you have been able to drum up in the past several months, that there really isn't any need to make a big deal over this. After all, it is a business we're running, right?" Emmy said.

All Ho's and the General looked at her like she'd been body snatched.

"I knew none of you thought I could do this. Too bad for you, eh?" Emmy said non-chalantly, smoothing her hair away from her face.

Caeryn smiled. "Well then, I guess we are adjourned."

~*~

Emmy walked back into her office, happy that she had made them all speechless at the board meeting. That would teach them a good lesson in underestimating the diva.

"So where do I fit into the grand scheme?" Servo asked.

"You don't. You're my secretary," Emmy said.

"Well, Diebin is a secretary, and she--"

"Don't EVEN try to compare yourself to Die, okay? Do NOT even go there with me, Hoover man." Emmy said.

"Oooh, vacuum joke," Servo said. "Like I've never heard one of those before."

"Don't you have work to do?" Emmy said.

"Don't you?"

Emmy put her hands on her hips. "Listen, I'm not going to fire you no matter how annoying you get, so just get to work."

Servo sighed, defeated again.

Emmy sat at her desk and began figuring out how long it would take her to become a millionaire given her share in the mining operation. They'd paid Indy off since he'd put so much work into finding it, much to Emmy's chagrin. Still, just with what was found in the surface chamber, there was enough to replenish Ban's opera house fund and get Darry cleared with her senator.

Emmy felt around on top of her desk in search of her calculator. Having no success, she began rifling through drawers. She reached to the back of her second drawer, pulling her hand back suddenly when she felt something move. She pulled the drawer all the way out and then screamed loud enough to wake the dead.

Emmy scrambled to the top of her desk. Servo followed suit, lifting himself off the floor on to the top of his desk, the shrill scream being more than enough to convince him of the necessity of being off the floor.

"What? What? What?" Servo said.

Emmy jumped on top of her earthquake-proof desk. "What the hell is that?!"

"What the hell is what? Tell the Bot!!" Servo yelled. Shana's office was so much calmer than this.

The door flew open with a crash, the General rushing in to investigate. "What is going on?"

"There is a THING in my drawer!!"

The General walked over quickly and then stopped as he reached the corner of the desk when he felt the Force void.

A moment later Caeryn came running in with a small box. "Sorry, sorry, sorry," she repeated as she ran in.

Emmy clutched at her own fingers. "What???" She watched as Caeryn reached into the drawer. "Oh my GOD, she's going to TOUCH THEM!!"

"It's alright," Caeryn said. "They're perfectly harmless...well, to us anyway." She flashed an apologetic smile to the General who had backed up next to Servo's desk.

Emmy put her hands over her eyes and stomped her foot, "Get them out of my office!!"

"Okay," Caeryn said. "They're all boxed up. I'll get rid of them"

"WHAT are those, and WHY were they in my desk?"

"Ysalamiri," Caeryn said. "Force blockers," she added sheepishly.

Emmy huffed and put her hands on her hips. "You put Force-blocking slugs in my desk??"

"They're not slugs," Caeryn said. "They're ysala--"

"GET THEM OUT OF MY OFFICE!!"

"Going," Caeryn said as she hurried out the door.

"Has everyone lost their mind around here?" Emmy said.

"It's alright," the General said, walking toward her.

"No, it's NOT alright," Emmy said. "Everyone freaks out on me cuz I creatively improvised a good 'H' word to replace Ho, but Caeryn plants Force-blocking slugs everywhere and that's just hunky dory?!"

Servo made a note to hook up a web cam. This was good stuff.

"Just calm down and come down from there," he said, reaching his hand up.

Emmy considered caving as she looked into those soft, lovely eyes of his. But not with the Bot there to see it. She turned around and climbed down herself, flopping into her chair, grumbling, "I never did anything that dastardly." She reached up to mess with her hair. Damn, she missed that tiara.

She sighed and looked up at the General. "I'm fine now. You can go."

"Do you want to talk?" he asked.

"About what?"

"Whatever you want," he said.

Emmy looked at him. Something had changed, even though the diva in her had returned. "I have work to do," she said.

"You can't avoid this forever," he said softly.

Despite the fact that her quivering, neurotic self was now safely tucked away again, Emmy's nerves flinched, and she bit her lip. "Please excuse me," she said. "I have a lot to catch up on here."

He nodded. "Certainly," he said and exited the office.

~*~

Dande happily climbed the stairs to her room. She had just returned from town with Dorotea, having scored at the used book and music store, garnering 'The Big 80's, Volumes 1 and 2,' 'Duran Duran's Greatest Hits,' and 'Rebel Yell.' She was still trying to live down that whole Titanic disaster, and she hoped the Ho's would be far more happier with her newly excavated musical tastes.

Having finally made it to the top stair and slightly out of breath, she reached forward for the doorknob.

"Dande."

She turned around at the sound of the low growl to see a rather diminutive character in an orange frilly frock. "Hmm?"

He lowered the hood. "I am Darth Maul."

Dande snorted.

"And I killed your Master."

"So the story goes," she snapped.

"And now I am your Master," he seethed, his yellow eyes commanding her submission.

Dande put her hand on her hip. "Um, that is a HELL NO."

Maul jerked his head back in surprise.

"Aren't you a little short for a Sith lord?" Dande quipped, marched into her room, and slammed the door in his face.

"Grrr."

~*~

He had given her plenty of time and space to be alone and to do what she needed to do. He wasn't in the habit of invading their privacy by searching out their minds or by tracking them down. But he knew she was hiding someplace in the building, as he could sense her familiar presence in the Force around him. It was time to for them to talk and straighten things out. He hadn't even given her the car yet.

He let himself be guided through the building, all the way up to the attic. Her spirit radiated even through the cracks of the door. He was sure she had no idea how luminescent she was in the world. Perhaps he would have to tell her that.

The General opened the door slowly and walked inside. He could see her curled up in the far corner asleep on the floor behind.... He leaned back with surprise when he saw what her fortress was composed of. He had heard the others speak of her cloning activities back before they had met him. But he had no idea she was actually storing them in the attic. He looked upon the multiple sleeping faces of his former master, and he was impressed by the resemblance, although somewhat unnerved by their uncanny likeness.

He stepped around the dusty clones and pushed the cobwebs aside as he made his way to her. He knelt down when he reached the corner, brushing a few stray locks of hair out of her face as she slept. He knew that she didn't have the easiest time sleeping, but he certainly couldn't let her lay there on the hard, dirty floor. He carefully slid his arms under her body, reaching into her mind to keep her asleep, and then lifted her up and carried her out of the attic.

~*~

"Oh God," Darry said, snapping her gum and flipping her hair. "She ran off into hiding again?"

"Well, she ran like a bat out of hell out of the conference room," Emmy said.

Darry tossed her Cosmo on the coffee table. "Why does he put up with that anyway?"

"Same reason he puts up with you trashing the clinic every other hour in search of nicotine," Emmy said.

"He's really got it that bad for us, eh?"

"Apparently," Emmy grinned.

"Good," Darry said, waggling her eyebrows and blowing a bubble.

"So how are things on the political front?" Emmy asked.

"Oh, they'll be fine. Discovering this diamond mine was certainly a fortuitous event."

"For you and the General," Emmy said.

Darry laughed. "Yeah, I was waiting for Ban to smother him in his sleep."

"So the debts are paid?" Emmy asked. "No need to return the Chanel?"

Darry grinned. "Honey, nobody ever returns Chanel."

"Right on," Emmy purred.

"I'm gonna head out to Coruscant for a few days," Darry said. "With the start of the new semester, everyone will be busy enough not to question my absence, if you know what I mean."

Emmy snorted. "Like he ever could question you."

"Well, it just saves me from needing a good cover," Darry said.

"So does that mean you won't be here for his birthday?"

"Of course I'll be here. You have something planned?"

Emmy grabbed the Cosmo and began to flip through it. "No, not really."

"So you guys did...ya know....make up and all that," Darry said.

"Yeah, sure," Emmy replied.

"Liar," Darry laughed.

~*~

Hearing the voices in the lounge, the General quickly made his way to the inner corridors behind the walls. He didn't want to wake Diebin, nor did he want to encounter anyone. He wanted to get her alone so she couldn't escape this time.

Reaching out with his senses to guide him to the right doorway, he pressed his back to the wall and pushed. Much to his delight, the wall gave way, opening with a muffled creak into Diebin's room. He slipped inside as quickly as he could to avoid trailing the dust and cobwebs into her room. He pushed the door shut and then walked over to her bed, laying her down on top of the covers.

Diebin mumbled quietly and rolled over onto her side. The General stepped back from the bed. He removed his belt, carefully setting it down on the floor so as not to disturb her with the usual noisy thud of his light saber hitting the floor in more frantic moments. Then he sat down on the edge of the bed, removed his boots, and then scooted up next to her. He wound his arm around her waist and then stretched his leg over hers, pulling her closer into him.

That's when Diebin's eyes popped open. She tightened her body and tried to move.

"Don't," he said. "I'm not going to let you run away. And if you try to beat me off, I shall be forced to restrain you. Just lay here quietly with me for a moment." He leaned his head forward and brushed his lips against the curve of her ear. "Please."

Diebin shivered. "I'm sorry."

"Shhh."

"I feel like such an idiot," she said, wriggling around until she broke free enough to sit up.

The General sighed and pushed himself up, shifting his body to face her, keeping one leg over her lap and his other leg, bent at the knee, behind her back to keep her there. He reached forward and grabbed her head in his hands, forcing her to look at him. "Do you have any idea what went through my head when I saw you working in that...place," he said with disgust. "Wearing barely a stitch and every man ogling at you."

Diebin shifted her eyes away in shame.

"It was the same thing I thought when I found you with George."

Diebin's breath hitched in her lungs. She closed her eyes and prepared for his anger.

He squeezed her hair in his hands and pulled her forward, pressing his forehead against hers. "I thought I had lost you. For good."

Diebin swallowed hard. It wasn't quite what she had expected.

"I could never be an honest man and at the same time demand that you give yourself only to me. And while I was most unpleased that the...incident occurred in my office--"

"I'm sorry, I--"

"Let me finish," he said. "I will not allow you to continue to beat yourself over the head about it. And given what has happened here in the past few weeks to all of us, I am willing to forgive everything if you can forgive me for my rather outrageous behavior."

Diebin took a deep breath as his fingers massaged the back of her head with a marked desperation.

"But that you felt you had to sell yourself out and hock bad food to desperate men nearly broke my heart." He brushed away a renegade tear from her cheek and squeezed his legs around her. "I sat there in that Board meeting and told them that I would never agree to anything that would leave you out in the cold. And I meant it."

"I'm sorry," she whispered again.

"You mistake my worry for anger," he said. "They are not the same. Perhaps I didn't express myself appropriately. My first instinct was always your protection, and anything I said or did was motivated by that. The only negative emotion I have felt toward you, if you could call it that, is frustration that you wouldn't think yourself more worthy." He sighed and kissed her forehead. "Look at me."

Diebin hesitantly lifted her eyes to meet his.

"I could never bear to lose you." He smiled. "Do you know what I see in you?"

Diebin shook her head and sniffled.

"I see life and laughter and light." He chuckled at her surprised expression. "Yes, despite your brooding, I see all these things in you. And you give them so freely that you don't even realize their effect."

Diebin raised an eyebrow at him and scowled playfully. "You're not trying to tell me that I´m a happy person, are you?"

He smiled. "Sorry, I didn't mean to offend you." He pulled his legs back, kneeling in front her. " Promise me that you won't run from me anymore."

Diebin nodded.

"And that you will at least consult me before joining a nunnery."

Diebin slapped her hand over her face. "Can we just pretend that never happened?"

"Of course," he said.

"And maybe not spread around that whole happy on the inside business," she said.

He smiled. "Very well. But for now," said moving to set his knee next to her calf, straddling her legs, "let me show you how much I've missed you." He moved forward, capturing her lips in a sweet, slow kiss, gently pushing her back down to the bed. The only contact she felt were his warm, hungry lips on hers, his body looming over her for a moment and then finally lowering on top of her, his weight pressing her into the mattress and his heat seeping through her skin to warm and awaken the very core of her being.

She whimpered as his tongue slipped around hers with tender desire, and she pulled the tie from his ponytail (grown immediately just for her) and plunged her fingers into his soft hair. He pulled back slightly, sucking her lower lip for a moment and then gazing into her eyes as the tip of his tongue wetted his lips.

And then he gave her a devious smile and said, his voice thick with desire, "Shall I tie you to the bed so you can't run away?"

Diebin's heavy eyelids fluttered open. "Eeep."

~*~

Darry and Emmy both looked up as the suddenly of rumble of rapid footsteps on the stairs echoed in the hallway. Diebin bounced through the lounge in her catsuit and stiletto boots. "I got a car! I got a car! I got a car!" she babbled all the way to the door shaking the keys to her new VW Beetle in the air. She ran through the door, leaving it hanging wide open as she bolted up the driveway.

The Nurse and Diva looked at each other when they heard Diebin's joyful, "WOOOO!!"

"Guess she got some," Darry said.

"Yeah, guess so," Emmy said still flipping through the Cosmo.

"There's a nice article in there about National Masturbation Day," Darry said.

"Bite me."