"What are we going to do?"

"It'll be alright. We'll think of something."

Caeryn clutched Paddington tighter to her chest. "Well, what kind of something is going to be good enough to divert Emmy from the prospect that her diamond mine is worthless?"

Diebin stood up from her chair. "I'll go talk to the General, I'm sure he'll have a good plan."

"Hold it," Caeryn said, jumping in front of Diebin and blocking her path. "First of all, we can't tell him about Xanatos. And secondly, I know damn well that you're not going to see the General to work out a plan."

"Yeah, so?" Diebin said, side-stepping Caeryn and still not tripping on her stiletto heels. "It'll make me feel better."

"But what about Emmy?"

Diebin made a "ppphhhhh" kind of noise and gave Caeryn a disinterested flap of the hand. "She'll deal like we all will."

~*~

"Oh! Coach boutique!" Emmy squealed as she sauntered down the sidewalk several paces ahead of Shana and Jael.

The two Ho's bringing up the rear rolled their eyes as they watched the Diva try to sashay through the door, her entire body weighted down with a multitude of shopping bags swinging awkwardly from her arms.

Shana sighed and followed Emmy into the store. "Em, we're supposed to be finding Darry, remember?"

"Of course I remember," Emmy said. "And where else are we going to find Darry but in the most exclusive shopping district in town?"

Shana paused for a moment. Emmy did have a point. "But Darry already has a Coach bag," Shana finally said.

"One can never have too many Coach bags," Emmy said.

Suddenly Shana and Emmy turned toward the window, seeing Jael pounding on it and pointing frantically down the street.

"What's her problem?" Shana asked.

Emmy shrugged. "I dunno."

Outside, Jael growled and stomped her foot. How thick could these Ho's be? She grabbed the door and swung it open. "Darry. I found Darry."

"See," Emmy said to Shana. "Told ya."

Shana rolled her eyes yet again and followed Emmy out of the store. The Ho's walked quickly toward the Gucci boutique…all except for Emmy who had to remain graceful yet determined with all her shopping bags weighing her down.

"Shit," Darry said under her breath as she glanced out the window and saw the Ho's approaching. "What the hell are you doing here?" she asked as Shana and Jael entered the boutique, the door shutting in Emmy's face as soon as she approached it.

The Ho's ignored Emmy's muffled, "Hey!"

"We've come to rescue you!" Jael said.

"Rescue me from what?" Darry asked very slowly.

"From…well…hmmm…." Shana said. Then she raised her eyebrows. "Can we buy you lunch?"

Darry shrugged. "Sure. Why not."

~*~

"He followed you here?" Emmy laughed as the waiter brought over the second round of margaritas.

"Yes, he did!" Darry said. "No thanks to you!"

"I didn't tell the little brat where you were," Emmy said defensively.

"Mmm-hmm," Darry said, taking a sip of her drink.

"Well, I'm glad we found you," Jael said. "Whether you wanted to be rescued or not. We were worried about you taking off like that."

"Aw, that's sweet," Darry said.

"And I'm gonna expect some PAYBACK for getting stuck on that frozen wasteland of a planet with Cal and Crow," Jael suddenly growled angrily, jabbing her finger at Darry. Then Jael took a breath, sat back, and happily ate chips and salsa.

Darry, Shana, and Emmy all exchanged wary glances. And then they drank their margaritas.

~*~

"Are you sure he won't mind?" Shana asked as Darry led them up to the Senator's penthouse.

"No, of course not," Darry said.

"You mean he's actually going to be there?" Emmy asked a little nervously.

"Well, I don't if he's home. But he won't mind if I show you around," Darry said.

The Ho's stepped out of the elevator as it opened to the small foyer. Darry fumbled around for her keys a bit, her dexterity a bit dulled by tequila. The other girls gasped when the door finally opened, each of them most impressed with Darry's home away from home…or was it the other way around?

"So…bedrooms, bathrooms, kitchen, deck, bar, secret office in which to concoct plans for galactic domination," Darry said, sweeping her arm around. "Usual stuff."

"Cool," Jael said, snapping a few pictures.

A moment later the door opened and Anakin came bounding in with the Senator behind him. "Hello, Angel!" the mighty misfit chirped.

"Get bent," Darry growled, reaching for the martini shaker. Then she eyed Palpatine. "You two have been out all day?"

"Oh yes," Palpatine said. "We had a splendid time."

Darry seethed and shot him yet another look of death.

"I see we have company," he said.

"Ya know," Emmy said, putting her hands on her hips. "I'm not sure I like you."

"Pardon me?" Palpatine asked.

"Oh great," Darry said.

"I don't like the idea of you messin' with the Jedi. In particular, MY Jedi," Emmy said.

"What do you mean, YOUR Jedi?" Shana asked. "He's not YOUR Jedi."

Emmy sighed. "Whatever. My point being that I'm not too pleased with your penchant for off'ing our boys."

"My dear," Palpatine said to Emmy. "What happened to Obi-Wan's Master was most unfortunate."

"Well, actually, it wasn't," Jael said.

"Pardon me?" Palpatine asked again.

"Yeah, she's right," Emmy said. "He dissed our boy. We weren't too fond of him."

"Hey," Shana said.

"Well, some of us anyway," Emmy said. "My point is that you've established a pattern here." She crossed her arms and tapped her foot.

"I assure you that I merely wish to keep your General distracted. I mean him no harm as I'm sure Ms. Willis can attest," he said.

"Yeah, sure," Darry said.

"Oh," Emmy said. "Well, alright then."

Palpatine smiled. "Would you ladies like a tour?"

"Oh yes!" Jael said. "Can we see the secret office in which to concoct plans for global domination?" she asked greedily.

"Why, certainly," Palpatine said.

~*~

"And then I set my glass down and said, 'Sir, not only do I not care for Bantha wool, but your nephew is a lousy caddy," Palpatine said as Emmy, Shana, and Jael burst out laughing. Palpatine shook his head as he chuckled and wiped the corner of his eye. "Oh, you really had to be there I suppose. It was remarkable."

Darry slowly chewed an olive as she sat at the bar, the anecdote losing its humor the twelfth time she heard it. Her chin rested in her hand as she watched the jubilant scene through narrow sideways glances.

Meanwhile, Anakin ran around the penthouse, arms spread out to the sides as he imitated rocket engine blasts and laser canon noises.

Palpatine stood from the sofa. "Would you ladies care to join me on the deck? We have a remarkable view."

"Yes, absolutely," Shana said, walking toward the back door.

"Are you coming, my dear?" Palpatine said to Darry as she remained bored at the bar.

"Seen it," she said. Damn, these Ho's. They out-angst each other at HSU, and then they come to Coruscant and suddenly become engaging, witty, and likeable. Darry sighed as the back door clicked shut, sticking out her leg to trip Anakin for the fourth time.

"Sorry, Angel," the wee wanker quipped before continuing his play.

Darry sat for several more minutes, grousing and cursing to her martini. And as another burst of laughter sounded from the deck, a sudden brilliant idea occurred to her. She quickly stood up, grabbed her purse, and walked unnoticed out of the penthouse.

~*~

"I think we'd better call the General," Shana said, as she, Emmy, and Jael lounged on the sofa in their hotel suite. They had searched briefly for Darry before leaving the Senator's home, but they didn't know Coruscant well enough to determine where Darry might go after shopping. And the Senator, although concerned, seemed a little distracted by Anakin.

What the Ho's did know was that Darry was not the type to storm off like Emmy…or Diebin…or--

"So who's going to call him?" Jael asked.

"Fine," Emmy huffed as Shana and Jael looked at her.

~*~

Darry cursed as the dark blue '92 Thunderbird sputtered up the hill. The windows didn't work, so she couldn't even give herself from fresh air to combat the filthy interior. "Dammit," Darry growled again as she squinted into the rear view mirror, unable to see out the back window as well. She hated rentals, but she figured the "SID" license plate would be a dead giveaway. And given that it was a holiday weekend, she had to go to three rental agencies before she found an available car.

Well, at least the radio worked. Darry listened to the strains of "Hungry like the Wolf" as she finally came to the top of the hill and pressed on the brakes, rolling to slow stop as she looked down at the piece of paper next to her. She squinted again, unable to roll down the window to see if the address matched. The Naboo treasury was useful for many things, funding a university, keeping her well-dressed, and bribing corporate grunts for personal information on their CEO.

And then something in the driveway caught her eye. She pressed her nose up to the window, but only succeeded in fogging up the glass. So she carefully opened the driver's side door, that easily weighed 500 pounds, and slipped out of the car, crouching behind the door and peeking up over the frame.

"Bingo," she said, verifying that it was a silver Kawasaki ZX-12R motorcycle with laser canon sitting in the driveway. Darry smoothed down the skirt of her little black Calvin Klein dress and shut the ridiculously heavy door as it creaked loud enough to alert the entire block to her presence.

Darry flipped her hair out of her face and rang the doorbell.

~*~

Diebin muttered unintelligible words as something tickled her ear.

"Time to wake up."

Then she giggled softly as she felt gentle, wet suction on her earlobe.

"I think I'm going to have to punish you for being lazy," the General purred, slowly turning her over and sliding his body on top of hers.

"Punish me?" Diebin asked, blinking innocently.

"Oh yes," he grinned. "You've been a very naughty girl."

Diebin eep'd as the General nibbled at the soft skin under her ear.

And then the phone rang.

"Arrrrrgh," Diebin growled.

"Now, now," the General scolded. "I'll get rid of whoever it is." He reached over and picked up the phone. "I'm sorry Diebin isn't here ri--"

"I *knew* I'd find you there," Emmy said, giving Shana and Jael a thumbs up.

"Emmy," the General said with some surprise. He hadn't seen her or Shana for quite a few days. Or Jael, for that matter. Or Darry.

"Oh GREAT," Diebin said.

"Oh, tell her to cool her jets," Emmy said.

The General sighed. "Emmy, where are you?"

"Coruscant."

"Coruscant? Why?"

"Well, it's kind of a long story, but--"

"Have you been arrested again?" the General asked.

"No!" Emmy huffed. Emmy looked over to Shana and Jael. "He thinks we've been arrested and locked up!"

"What?" Shana said.

"Geez!" Jael said.

The General, overhearing the background chatter, rubbed the bridge of his nose.

"They're in jail?" Diebin asked excitedly.

"Do you have *no* faith in us?" Emmy asked.

"Well…." the General said.

"Anyway," Emmy said, not bothering to hide her annoyance. "We need you to come here and find Darry."

"What happened to Darry?" he asked with concern.

"Well, as I´m sure Diebin told you, she received an email from Darry saying she was leaving for Coruscant because you were spending too much time on all our angst fits," Emmy said.

The General turned his head toward Diebin. "Darry is on Coruscant?"

"Oopsie," Diebin said.

"So you need to come here, find her, and give her lots of makeup sex," Emmy said.

"I see," the General said. "Do you have any idea where she is?"

"No, not really," Emmy said. "We could get some help I suppose. We ran into some of your friends at the Temple who--"

"You went to the Temple?" the General asked abruptly.

"They went to the Temple?" Diebin asked.

"Long story," Emmy said. "Anyway, get here as soon as you can. We're at the Four Seasons eating and shopping and stuff. See you soon."

"I'll be there as soon--" the General stopped talking as he heard the click and the line going dead. "Well," he said, swinging his legs over the side of the bed. "Looks like I'm going to Coruscant."

~*~

"What do you mean he's not here?" Darry seethed at the smarmy little man who answered the door.

"I mean, he's not here. He is out of town."

"Where out of town?" Darry asked, leaning closer to the annoying butler.

"I'm afraid I am unable to disclose that information. If you would like to leave your name and--"

"Listen," Darry said, grabbing his lapel. "You tell me where Xani is right now, or I'll…I'll…."

She called him Xani. So she was one of *those* people. "Or you'll what?"

Darry released his lapel with an annoyed sigh and shoved her hand into her purse. "Alright, how much?"

"Two hundred will do nicely," he said.

Darry growled as she flipped through her money. "Here," she said. "Now where the hell is he?"

The butler shoved the money into his pocket. "In a place called Estrogen County or some such thing."

Darry's mouth dropped open. "No shit."

~*~

"My dear, I am so pleased to see you. I was worried," Palpatine said as Darry marched through the door.

"No need," She answered in a rather chipper tone as she walked quickly toward the bedroom.

"Hi, Angel!"

"Bugger off!" Darry grabbed her suitcase and began throwing clothes in it.

"What are you doing?" Palpatine asked as he patted Anakin on the head.

Darry scowled. "Going back to HSU. Have some things I need to take care of."

"I see," Palpatine said. "Can I arrange a flight for you?"

"Oh, I'll go back with the girls," Darry said.

"Oh. Well, in that case…." Palpatine eyed Darry, then Anakin, then Darry again.

"Keep him," Darry said, grabbing her suitcase. "Please, keep him."

"Yippee!"

~*~

"Oh," Shana said when she opened the door and saw the General standing there. "Well, Darry's on her way over, so I guess the rescue is off. Canapé?" Shana asked, gesturing to the fabulous array of appetizers set out on the room service cart.

Emmy and Jael smiled as the General swaggered into the room. It had been a good several days since they'd had appointments. But suddenly Shana yanked his arm, dragging him toward her room. "Ya snooze, ya lose, girls," she called out as she slammed the door.

Emmy and Jael sighed and then went back to eating themselves silly.

~*~

Darry pounded on the Thunderbird's steering wheel as she turned the key again, the engine refusing to turn over. She grabbed her cell phone and attempted to dial the hotel, but she couldn't get a signal this low to the ground. She opened the heavy door with a huff and promptly sent a bicyclist hurling toward the ground.

"Watch where you're going!" Darry yelled at the man as he groaned and slowly rolled around on the pavement.

~*~

"She's not here yet?" the General asked, finally sauntered out of Shana's room, his hair slightly rumpled.

"No," Emmy and Jael responded simultaneously as they finished the last of the bruschetta as they watched reruns of Battlestar Galactica.

"How late is she?" he asked.

"No," they responded again, entranced by Starbuck and Apollo's latest adventure.

The General sighed, noticing that he had been doing that quite a lot lately, and walked toward the door. "I'll find her."

"No."

~*~

"Okay," Darry said in a barely controlled tone. "This time it's going to start. It. Will. Start." She turned the key, and the engine suddenly flipped on. "Yeah!" And then it died again. Darry began to growl very loudly as someone tapped lightly on her window.

"WHAT?" she yelled, shoving open the door since she was unable to open the window. As she got one foot out of the car, she stopped. "Well it's about DAMN TIME you showed up."

"I'm sorry," the General said, extending his hand to help Darry out of the car.

"How did you find me, anyway?" she asked, flipping her hair.

He reached forward and cupped her head with his hands, lightly stroking her cheeks with his thumbs. Touching his forehead to hers, he said, "I will always find you. You're too much a part of me for me to lose track of you for very long."

"Yeah, but--"

"And of course I knew you had left campus. Since when have I intruded on your space or made possessive demands on you?" he said.

"Well…"

"In situations of normal sanity, of course," he smiled. "I've missed you." He placed a light kiss on her forehead. "Will you return with us?"

"Yes, I was on my way to the hotel," Darry said.

"I'm glad to hear that." The General then reached around her and opened the car door.

"It's dead," she said.

He reached down and hit the seat lever. "It appears that one can't actually see in the windows of this car," he said as a smirk crept across his face.

Darry flipped her hair with great interest. Then she climbed into the back seat, pulling the General inside as the door crashed shut behind him.

~*~

"Do they care that I actually have to use the restroom?" Emmy asked with great annoyance.

"No," Shana said, looking up briefly from Darry's Cosmo as she reclined on the luxurious seat of their charter cruiser. "They don't."

"Well, they could at least not do it against the door," Emmy said.

"Yes, I'm sure they're doing that just to bait you, Em," Shana said as she studied the sex tips article.

"Of course they are," Emmy huffed, twirling around with a flourish before sitting down.

Space Dog barked.

"What are you looking at?" Emmy growled.

~*~

The General picked up the phone that had been knocked off of Darry's desk during the latest athletic event of their makeup marathon. He picked up the receiver to make sure it still worked.

"Well," Darry said, buttoning up her blouse, "I suppose I should actually get this place open for business."

The General stepped up behind her, winding his arm around her waist. "Are you sure?" he purred against her neck.

Darry smiled and leaned back into him. But then something outside the window caught her eye. A red shirt. A flash of leather pants. And black, black hair. She quickly turned around in the General's embrace and gave him a quick peck. "Sorry. Gotta run." She hurried toward the door and disappeared.

The General placed his hands on his hips. He was confused. Yet again. "Well," he said to himself. "Looks like everything is back to normal."