This was inspired by a comment Lt. Pierce made about not trusting Quinn during one of his companion quests and I had to explain to myself how the rest of the crew found out what happened.

I play a very light side warrior, so in my head she and the other girls are very close. I tried not to give any physical details about the warrior so it suits nearly any PC.

This is my first fanfiction, I normally stick to original characters so I'm a bit nervous about sharing this.

First up is Jaesa.

oOo

"Master?" Jaesa Willsaam kept her voice quiet in case the Sith didn't want to be disturbed.

"Yes, Jaesa, what do you need?" The other woman's low voice sounded rougher than usual. Almost as if she had been…crying?

"I was worried about you," Jaesa admitted.

"I am Sith. Why would you worry about me?" The Sith was trying to sound scornful, Jaesa knew, and if she couldn't feel her master's pain screaming through the Force she might have believed it.

Jaesa had never had cause to enter the Sith's private rooms before, and wouldn't have dared under any circumstances other than these, where she could feel the agony pouring off the other woman. She stepped into the darkened room. Once her eyes had adjusted to the gloom, she saw the Sith Lord curled up on a chair in the corner. Her head raised as the former Jedi padawan approached and Jaesa gasped. She had seen her master injured, angry, even frightened. She didn't think she'd ever seen such an empty, desolate look on anyone before though.

"Master," she breathed, dropping to her knees next to the chair, "Master, what happened? What's wrong? I can feel your anguish, but I can't find the source. Please, let me help you."

For a moment, she thought the Sith's pride would win out. Then, the façade broke. Fresh tears ran down her face. Without even a thought that this was a Sith she was trying to comfort, Jaesa rose from her knees to wrap her arms around the other woman.

"I can't…I can't…" Jaesa listened to the broken sobbing, her own heart hurting at her mentor's obvious pain.

A shadow blocked the light from the passageway, and Jaesa looked over to see Captain Quinn standing there, slightly hunched over. She frowned when he turned and hurried off. Why wasn't he the one holding the Sith? After all, they were married, or something like it. Jaesa wasn't terribly clear on the details other than they were crazy about one another.

Jaesa shifted and the Sith hissed in pain before pulling away. "I'm fine," she snapped before her apprentice could question her.

Jaesa frowned. The Sith Lord was obviously injured and she realized then that Quinn had been moving more stiffly than usual, as if he were also.

"I brought these!" Both women jumped at the cheery tones of the new voice. Vette's head cocked curiously, "I snuck up on both of you? Wow, I must be better than I thought."

"Vette…"

"You must not have been paying attention, but I thought you'd "feel" me through the Force anyway. Not that I know how…"

"Vette!" The warrior's voice cracked like a whip, stunning the twi'lek into silence, "I am in no mood to listen to your inane prattling. Do not make me find your shock collar."

"Well, actually, it's…" she trailed off, and Jaesa saw her throat clench convulsively.

For a Sith, their lord was remarkably laid back and Jaesa didn't think she would ever actually Force choke one of her crew. She had clearly given Vette a warning though, one the former slave seemed to be taking very seriously.

"Sorry, my lord," the twi'lek held out the items she had brought. Medical supplies.

"I don't need those," the Sith snapped. Jaesa moved away as the lightning flickered over the other woman's body in response to her emotional turmoil.

Gathering her courage, Jaesa spoke, "Yes, master, you do. You're injured."

"It's nothing," she turned away from them.

"She's injured?" Vette piped up, "Then shouldn't we get—"

"Get out! Both of you!"

Jaesa and Vette retreated to the doorway and exchanged a glance. The twi'lek's expression became resolute and she marched back into the room, blue lekku twitching nervously, medical supplies still clutched in her hands.

Of all the crew, Jaesa thought Vette probably had the best chance of making it out of this conversation alive. The Sith and former slave were very close, closer than Jaesa would have ever expected considering how their friendship started. The former Jedi left the room and its silent occupants to hunt down the only person who might actually be able to tell her what had happened.

She found Captain Quinn in the medical bay as she had expected. He didn't turn when she entered and she used the Force to shut the door and lock it. She had seen Lieutenant Pierce peeking out into the passageway and the last thing anyone needed right now was the contentiousness he seemed to thrive on.

When the lock beeped, Quinn turned, "I suppose you wish to know what happened on the transponder station."

Jaesa was able to suppress her shock at his appearance just enough to note that he hadn't asked a question. Still, she nodded mutely, her eyes trailing over the gashes and bruises that seemed to crisscross his entire body.

His tunic was in tatters. The normally immaculate captain looked like he had been the loser of a free-for-all in a cantina on Hutta. "I won't tell you everything," he said flatly, as he began carefully removing his jacket so he could treat the wounds, "It is not your right to know. At least, not yet."

"Who did this to you?" Jaesa finally managed to whisper, her horror at his injuries apparent.

The reserved captain grew even colder and more distant as he said the words, "My wife."

Jaesa stared, "She…no…why would she…" as one part of her mind tried to reject his statement, another part was noticing the burnt edges on the clothing, the cauterized wounds. There was very little blood for the number of injuries he had. It was unmistakably the work of a lightsaber. One wielded by someone very proficient in the art.

"I deserve every wound, Jaesa, and more. Do not waste any pity for me." The man's Force sense reeked of self-loathing and despair. And pain. The same deep, heart-wrenching pain she had felt from the Sith.

Jaesa fixed her eyes on the captain's pale, expressionless face. How did he hide such turmoil behind that mask? "What did you do?" She managed to keep her voice controlled. He was the source of the pain. Both in himself and the Sith. He had done something. Something that was possibly unforgiveable.

He met her eyes then, and she reeled from the anguish that hit her as he did, "I conspired with her most hated enemy to end her life." He said it so matter-of-factly that if she had not been able to feel the torment the words caused in him she would have thought he was completely heartless.

"You helped Baras?" her voice was harsh, "How could you?"

"That is all I will say," he replied quietly, "Other than I obviously, thankfully, was unsuccessful and for reasons I do not understand, she did not choose to kill me." His eyes closed, "I deserved death. I still do."

Jaesa fought down the maelstrom of emotion rising in her, tainted with the Dark side. She never thought to say it about a Sith, but her master was a good person and did nothing to deserve what Baras was doing to her. She had done everything the Darth had ordered to perfection and her reward was betrayal and constant attempts on her life.

Jaesa could feel the Captain's piercing eyes studying her as she fought to contain the fury that was trying to engulf her. She had been hunted across the galaxy and had not fallen to the Dark side. She had seen her master, Nomen Karr, crumble before her eyes, his inner demons finally overcoming his control, and she had not fallen to the Dark side. She would not fall now. Gritting her teeth at the effort, she met Quinn's gaze. He had stopped treating his wounds and was watching her warily, "Will you now kill me?" he asked quietly, clearly his familiarity with the Sith had allowed him to recognize the emotions she was fighting.

Jaesa shook her head to clear it, "If my master wants you alive. You will not die by my hand."

He relaxed minutely, "But you want to."

She took a deep breath, centering herself again in the Light, "No. I don't want to kill you. I want to help my master. The others, however…" She winced at the thought of how Lieutenant Pierce would react. The man hated Quinn. Jaesa suspected it was because he harbored feelings for the Sith and she had made it clear she was not remotely interested in him. Quinn might have slightly lorded that fact over the lieutenant as well. Broonmark's loyalties were a bit murky. He followed the Sith, but as far as Jaesa could tell, the Talz was just psychotic and thought this would be the path that brought the most bloodshed his way. Vette was flighty, but when it came down to it, she was fiercely loyal to the Sith as well. Her method of revenge was more likely to come in the form of snarky comments though.

He nodded, "Yes. She said we weren't going to discuss it with everyone just yet. I imagine it will come out. It can't help but do so." Jaesa saw his expression cloud over. She wondered if he was running through the same thoughts she just had. She saw him wince slightly and realized he probably was.

"Pierce, Broonmark or Vette?" she asked with a faint smile.

"I'm sorry?"

"Which one worries you the most? As far as what their reactions would be, I mean."

He sighed as he slathered the kolto onto his torso. Jaesa handed him the bandaging materials, "Honestly, I don't know. Broonmark would simply split me up the middle, which might actually be preferable. Vette…Vette would subject me to incessant commentary, and possibly shoot me," Jaesa smiled slightly at the addendum, "Pierce will increase his efforts to woo her, and likely be successful now where he wasn't before, at which point he would make sure I knew every detail. That would be the worst, I think. To be honest, I was concerned about your reaction as well."

Jaesa smiled grimly at him, moving to help, "You're forgetting I can feel you in the Force. I know you're remorseful and sincere. That may be why she didn't kill you. Though I think it more likely that she let you live simply because she loves you."

Quinn's head drooped, "She doesn't. Not anymore. I destroyed her trust in me. Why would she give me her heart again when I betrayed her so deeply?"

Jaesa paused as she wrapped the bandaging around him, "I admit I haven't known her as long as you, or Vette, but I think I have a pretty good idea of how she works. The past is the past as far as she's concerned. You attack her, she beats you, she doesn't kill you even though she can because there's no purpose to it. She could have killed me on Hutta, she chose not to. She certainly hadn't given me a reason to attack her the way I did. She treated everyone fairly while searching for me, and I know they did not extend her the same courtesy. My mother told me how their Jedi bodyguard treated her. But she didn't kill him. My father was abominably rude, but she arranged a good life for them. Master Yonlach deceived her and tried to kill her, and she let him and his apprentice live…"

"Jaesa, I understand where you're coming from. She doesn't kill unless someone gives her no other choice. But none of those you've listed were in the same position. I'm her husband. I should never have even considered Baras' plan. I should have told her as soon as he approached me."

"Yes. But I'm not sure you could have."

"What do you mean?"

"Captain, Baras is a member of the Dark Council, right?" He nodded, "That makes him one of the twelve most powerful Sith in the galaxy as I understand it. Do you think you had a choice? I've never met Baras personally, but Vette has told me about him. She said he could Force choke someone by holo from across the galaxy. Do you really think that someone that powerful couldn't have prevented you from saying anything or from doing anything other than exactly what he wanted?"

"Jaesa is right."

They both whirled around in shock to face the Sith Lord. How she had entered the medical bay without either of them noticing was a mystery to Jaesa, but she was standing near the still closed door, Vette leaning against the wall to her right.

"I…I thought I locked…"

"You did," the Sith replied, "Vette has many talents. Slicing locks happens to be one of them."

The twi'lek grinned slightly at the praise.

Quinn had gone stiff and silent, refusing to meet anyone's eyes. Jaesa turned back to him and finished wrapping the bandaging around his torso. Striving for a light tone, she addressed her master, "Did you need something, master?"

"Vette refuses to leave me alone until I have this one injury looked at. She claims it is beyond her abilities and beyond the supplies that she brought." As she spoke, the Sith hopped lightly onto the exam table. She watched Jaesa for a long moment before speaking again, "How are his injuries?"

"Mostly superficial. The bruising is probably going to lead to stiffness for a few days and the burns are going to hurt, but there was minimal bleeding and the Captain should recover fully within a week."

The warrior nodded, "That is what I expected. I didn't know your medical training was so complete, Jaesa."

The former Jedi smiled slightly, "I learned many things at the academy. All Jedi are taught the basics of healing," she shrugged. "Which injury is Vette concerned about?"

The Sith tugged her tunic up to reveal a wicked gash along her ribcage. "Ironically, I think this particular injury was not deliberate."

"It looks like a vibroblade," Jaesa said, "Those are rarely accidentally shoved into someone." She felt Quinn wince at her words.

"True, but in this case I believe it was during an attempt to return it to its sheath or place it on the ground and I slammed into it. Otherwise, it would not have gotten under the edge of my armor like it did."

Jaesa nodded in understanding. Quinn had surrendered but the Sith had either been mid attack or angry enough to hit him one more time and his blade had slipped up under her armor. "Well, it looks like it needs stitching, master, and I'm afraid my medical skills don't cover suturing." She studied Quinn's pale face. Would he be able to stitch up an injury he had inflicted?

As if sensing the tenor of her thoughts, the man finally raised his head. He didn't quite meet the Sith's eyes as he said, "If you will permit me, my lord. I will tend to the injury."

"Of course, Captain. I would not have come here otherwise." She paused, and Jaesa saw her gaze roam over her husband's dejected form, "I meant what I said earlier. And Jaesa was right about Baras. The Voss warned me, and I should have listened closer."

"The Voss?" Vette repeated blankly.

"Their mystics have extremely accurate Force visions about the future. And they warned me. I didn't listen."

Quinn had moved over to examine the Sith's wound. Jaesa saw his face tighten at the sight of the gash in his wife's skin, a gash he put there. He was shaking his head at her words, as though to deny any responsibility that did not rest squarely on his shoulders.

The warrior could read his thoughts as well, and her hand caught his wrist as he started to turn away to get the materials he needed. "It is Baras' fault. No one else's," The fierceness in her voice caused him to raise his eyes to meet hers finally, "He uses people. He used me to get revenge on Nomen Karr. He used you to get to me. It's what he does. He's a coward. And one day, very soon, I am going to make him pay for everything he has done. To all of us. I ask you to stand with me. Will you?"

"I will stand with you, my lord." Vette said, for once completely serious.

Jaesa nodded, "As will I."

Captain Quinn's face hardened in determination, "Yes. I will stand with you. No matter what happens."