It was late and the ship was quiet. Even Tessy was sleeping. But Andronikos couldn't. He kept replaying the events of that morning in his head. He had suspected, even if he hadn't known for sure, that he had any number of half siblings roaming the galaxy. He'd never expected to meet one of them.

He turned the chip over in his hand, wondering for the hundredth time if he should call her. Nik'khe. His sister. That sounded so odd, and yet so natural. His little, half Pureblood, all Sith, sister. She was a character and a half from what he'd seen. Nia'ree had mentioned quietly that her friend, Shay, wasn't a huge fan of the Sith in general so the fact that the woman was apparently traveling with Nik'khe was a point in her favor.

Screwing up his courage, Andronikos entered the holo frequency into his personal holocom, knowing that would give the Sith his contact information as well, and waited for the call to connect.

oOo

Vette gave up on Nik settling down and just curled up into a ball, grabbed a pillow and dropped into sleep. Whatever had happened on Alderaan, that Nik hadn't felt inclined to share yet, was keeping her up and restless.

Nik pulled on a thin robe and went to the ship lounge and poured herself a drink when her holo beeped. Sitting in the lounge she looked hopeful and opened the holo. 'Hawk disheveled, a thin shilky robe wrapped around her, without the layers of trappings that made up a Sith's wardrbe. She looked like a girl, a young one, vulnerable even. Her face blossomed into a smile when she saw it was who she'd been hoping was on the other end. "Hello there. You couldn't sleep either?"

The fact that her voice didn't sound remotely tired, relaxed him slightly. He had realized after placing the call how obscenely late it was and had a moment of panic about the consequences of disturbing a Sith's rest. Andronikos was surprised, now that he took a moment to really look at her, how many similarities he could catalogue between them. His old man had some dominant genes apparently. Offering the young girl a tired smile he answered her, "Nah. Mind's been going at light speed since, well, this morning. And it didn't really register how late it was until after I placed the call…I guess I didn't wake you though?"

Nik laughed and shook her head. "Patience is not exactly a strong point with me…so sleep was eluding me." She sipped her drink and looked down. "And the speaking before thinking thing gets me into trouble more often than not. Was afraid I mucked it up a bit. Dad claims I'll outgrow it, I dunno suppose we'll see. Your pretty lady asleep? Bet that's an interesting story how you met."

"If by my 'pretty lady' you mean Nia'ree, yeah she's sleeping. She's got a lot on her plate, but I'm sure you know what that's like. Sith business and all, which is how we met to be honest. I got pegged to help her and just decided to keep doing it. Not sure how interesting it is," he shrugged.

"I'll bring my Vette along to Alderaan if you're still over there. You can meet my girl. We met up on Korriban in my trials; she's a twi'lek, hell of a shot too. I'm rattling, this is me being nervous. I talk. Ruins the whole Sith mystique thing. Best to keep it under wraps." Nik winked with a wry grin on her face. "I'm much better at…well, killing things. That…I'm good at." She grinned a bit self-consciously. "Slice, dice, shoot, slam, all-purpose mayhem. But I'm good at it." Shaking her head she chuckled and took a drink. "You talk some. Maybe I'll find a way not to get myself in trouble if I think."

Andronikos shook his head in amusement at her chatter. "Just a minute. If you want me to talk, I need a drink too," he gestured towards the drink she was holding. She responded with a grin, and he made his way into the galley, the holo in one hand. Setting it on the counter, he pulled a bottle from the refrigeration unit and plopped himself down on a stool facing Nik'khe's image. "So, let's see. What can I tell you?" He took a drink and considered. Finally, he said, "Well, I grew up on Tatooine, left of course as soon as I could, but I always end up back there," he shrugged, "Ma still lives there. One of these days I'm gonna find a way to get her out of there. Anyway, don't need to worry too much about offending me or whatever. Skin's as thick as a bantha, and according to ma, head is as hard too, working on that one though. The all-purpose mayhem you mentioned sounds frighteningly familiar, and it's not always deliberate," he paused again and studied her, "What do I call you anyway? Just Nik'khe? Or do I need to bow and call you 'my lord'?" He was only half kidding when he said that. Nia'ree didn't stand on ceremony much, but he was well aware that plenty of Sith did.

Cocking a half-grin at his image in the holo she replied. "If you call me 'my lord' I might mistake you for an Imperial. Quinn calls me 'my lord.' It's necessary, annoying but necessary. I don't like it."

"Last thing I want to be mistaken for is an Imperial. Not that I much want to be associated with the Republic either, but…I'm going to hope you know what I mean there."

She laughed, "Nik is what my family calls me, and my friends. What about you? Andronikos is Daddy. And trust me I don't need two of those. One is plenty. He didn't much approve of my choice of training on Korriban. And Mother refused to take sides. So there was much um, finagling to get around being chained to a wall until I gave in, ignored my Force powers and became a bounty hunter like he wanted. Still took a while when I got back, alive, before he stopped threatening to kill me. Not that he meant it. But still….the hard head part apparently runs in the genes." Nik grinned, "What about Drew? You object to a nickname?"

"Never had a nickname to be honest, but I can see where you would prefer using one. Ma always calls me Andronikos and so does Nia'ree. Sildrest has a tendency to call me Revel when he's not completely pissed at me. When he is he tends to fall back on his native tongue and I honestly have no idea what he calls me," he chuckled, "Drew, huh? I think I could get used to that." He sighed and scrubbed one hand over his shaved scalp, "So, the old man objected to you training to be Sith. Can't say I blame him there, Nia'ree's hinted at some of what you lot have to go through. Sounds like a nightmare. Think I'd object in his position too," his thoughts automatically went to Tessy, she wasn't his but he shuddered to think of her going through some of what Nia'ree had told him about.

"Well it's not like I had a lot of options. Force power. Not exactly something you hide. Sith training or Jedi. Even Nanna couldn't convince me that whole 'there is no passion' thing would work for me…ever. The 'you die if you fail' part of the trials on Korriban is mostly what he objected to."

"I can imagine," he murmured. Looking for a change in subject, he suddenly grinned cheekily at her, "Okay, you mentioned your twi'lek girl, but you've also mentioned an Imperial, and I know what I was like at your age. So, I'm going to be an annoying older brother and quiz you about your love life."

"Um, love life. Yeah. I think the way Daddy puts it is 'I have the attention span of a gnat.' It's not something I try to do, but seems to work out that I'm better at being a friend than a lover. Quinn's the Imperial. Annoyingly proper, hung up on rules…" a crafty grin crossed her face while she raised her eyebrow, "he's pretty though. He's about your age. Think he objects to my…youth too," She laughed. "Well his mind does, body not so much. Blasted self-control. So much fun to break down though."

Andronikos burst out in raucous laughter at that, "Pretty does tend to catch the eye, doesn't it? And I hear ya, nothing like seeing control crumble and knowing you did that. Real rush there," he grinned wickedly, "Almost as good as the end result. Ma used to say the same thing about my attention span though. Made her real mad and then she'd always get this real sad look on her face when she thought I wasn't watching. I eventually realized," he paused and held Nik's eyes seriously, "I don't want you to take this the wrong way, kid, I can tell you love the old man, but to me he's just some guy who I happen to look like that left his girl to raise his kid alone at the ass end of the galaxy. I understand," he held up one hand to forestall any objections, "that Ma never told him. She made that perfectly clear to me. But seeing the sadness in her eyes made me decide I never wanted to be that guy who went through his life not knowing that there was a woman with sad eyes somewhere raising a kid that looked like him," he looked away from Nik'khe's image and took a long drink, "I grew up a lot the day I realized that."

"Well I won't argue with you when your mind is set. Probably about as useful as arguing with me then. But I think you'd change your mind a bit if you met him. You get what you see with Daddy and well, sometimes it's hard with Mother she's not so good at showing her love. It's all those layers upon layers of plots and plans she has to go through. Constant balancing act being on the Dark Council, if you want to live anyway, and she….and her family…have lived far longer than most on the Council. So, you just have to know, and understand. It's never a question with Daddy though. If he loves you, you know it. He'll do whatever it takes to keep you safe, whether you want him to or not. I don't remember a time he wasn't there holding me, telling me 'totally inappropriate for a child' to quote my Nanna, bedtime stories, teaching me to fly the ship, use a blaster, just hold me when I cried. Always there for me. He'd walk in a fire knowing he wouldn't survive if that's what it took to keep you safe. Not saying that's always been his way, but that's who he is now," Nik grinned, "And you really haven't lived till you've seen one of Mother and Daddy's fights. Spectacular fireworks, lightning, blaster bolts, lots of fun. Nanna was always such a spoilsport though, never let me watch much, always hustling me off to the cargo hold and stationing Uncle Talos by the door so they wouldn't 'make up' in the hallway outside the door." She giggled. "As if I didn't know, but whatever, it's that Jedi thing. I suppose it taught me a bit more restraint in choices of places at least."

Andronikos watched condensation drip down the side of his bottle while he listened to Nik'khe's earnest explanation. He knew without being told that he was being given a rare gift by being allowed to see her as a real person and not just a Sith Lord. The sound of Nia'ree's voice trying to calm Tessy, who sounded like she was fussy, interrupted his thoughts and the conversation with Nik. He turned on the stool as the Chiss Sith entered the room carrying the eight month old.

"Here you are," she sounded relieved, "Tessy has been fussing for an hour. All I can get from her is she wants you," her gaze moved to the holo, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt."

"Not a problem," Andronikos held out his arms and the baby almost lunged at him. With a final gurgle, she settled against his chest happily, one little thumb hooking into her lower lip.

Nia'ree's eyes darted anxiously between her baby and the Sith on the holo. She cast a worried look to Andronikos as well, but only forced a smile, "It seems that did the trick."

"I'll get her back to her bed before I crash, don't worry," Nia'ree nodded again and walked out of the room with one final glance back. Andronikos turned back to Nik'khe, "I don't think I need to spell it out to you that this little girl's existence isn't well known and needs to stay that way. She ain't really mine, but…what you said about your dad walking into a fire to keep you safe…Nik, that's…that's pretty much how I feel about this little one."

"Well, then I'll make sure she stays not well known. And…well I'm not Daddy by any means, but you need me, I'll be there. And I have no problem with adding a niece to the 'protect at all costs' list. Yeah, total mushiness. Just don't tell anyone. I'm supposed to be a brutal, killing machine, who has no idea her Master is going to turn on her any second and start trying to kill her. And hey, that's only the START of the fun life of a Sith." She grinned and wrinkled her nose. "Really, you don't want to miss the action. I'm quite certain my life is going to start getting very interesting, very soon."

Combing his fingers through Tessy's soft, black curls, Andronikos returned Nik's grin, "Believe me, I'm learning quickly how NOT boring the life of a Sith is on a daily basis."

oOo

Vette sat up cold and alone and grumbled. Wrapping a sheet around herself, she headed towards the sound of Nik's voice. She blinked at the open holo and the vague view she had of Andronikos' profile. "Oh Lord and Master, are you planning on sleeping tonight? And what are you doing talking to Daddy Andronikos at some ungodly hour of the morning?" Once she got close enough to actually see the image she blinked. "Ok not Daddy Andronikos. Clearly he has a younger, cute clone. Regardless, bed, now…or…" biting her lip for something to hold over Nik, "or I'll tell Quinn you didn't get any sleep, and he'll go all Imperial regulation on you. Yeah that's it."

A yawn caught Andronikos by surprise and his jaw cracked in protest. As much as he wanted to stay up and get to know his intriguing little sister better, he also had to go with Nia'ree in the morning and if he wasn't at the top of his game one of them could end up hurt. "Sorry, Nik. It's been a long, very emotionally draining day. I think I need to get this little one in her bed and call it a night myself," he smiled at her, a face that he wouldn't have known a day ago, he'd never forget now, "I'm not sure yet how I feel about telling anyone else about us being related, but I'm not sorry to have met you. I didn't even know I was missing a little sister until today, but I don't want to miss her anymore." He paused when the little twi'lek appeared at Nik's side.

Nik snagged Vette's hand as Andronikos was saying goodnight and pulled her into her lap. "You're cute when you act all bossy, little bird." She leaned in to Vette and slowly traced her fingers down her lekku with a smile while Vette giggled and leaned into her, loosening her grip on the sheet. Nik grinned wickedly and pulled the sheet from her grip. Vette let out a little shriek and covered her breasts while turning a lovely shade of burnished amber and scooting out of holo range.

Andronikos chuckled at their antics and gave Nik a cheeky grin, "Go find your little twi'lek girl and keep her warm, or go scandalize your Imperial, whichever. And know that the familial offer of help works both ways. You need me, you call. You have my holo now. No excuses." Shifting Tessy to his shoulder he met her eyes squarely, "I'm glad we ran into each other. Have a good night, kid."

Nik chuckled. "Night Drew. And I'm glad I met you too. I'll be right to bed Vette." She held up the sheet to the fleeing twi'lek. "Want the sheet?"

oOo

After ending the call with Nik'khe, Andronikos carried Tessy carefully back to her bed and tucked her in. As he turned to leave, he caught Nia'ree's eye, she was curled on her side in her bed, "Hey," he wandered over and sat on the edge of the bed, "you don't need to worry."

She shifted until she could rest her head against his thigh, "Are you sure?"

"Nia'ree, look at me," her red eyes tilted up to meet his brown ones, "I admit I don't know everything about her yet, and I think she's got a violent streak like I do at times, but she as good as told me that if I considered Tessy family then so did she, and I believe her when she says she will not hurt Tessy, or let anyone else hurt her."

Nia'ree nodded slowly, "She doesn't have as much darkness in her as many Sith I've met, but she's far from serving the light either. If you say you trust her, then I will too."

"I do trust her. Weren't you the one telling me you didn't sense any deception?"

"That was regarding wanting to know her brother. It had nothing to do with my baby."

"All right, I see your point," he made to stand up, but Nia'ree tightened her hand in the fabric of his pant leg, "You're going to have to let go of me. I'm exhausted and need to get to bed."

"Do you have to leave?" her voice was small, but her eyes had a mischievous twinkle to them.

Andronikos smirked, "You minx. If you want me in your bed, you can just say so."

Nia'ree pushed herself up higher so she could nip at his lower lip. He groaned when the sheet fell away revealing the expanse of smooth sapphire skin. He felt her teeth run down the side of his neck, "If I say that, you might think that's the only place I want you, and think of what we'd miss out on if that happened."

oOo

Nik smirked and headed to her quarters holding the sheet. Tossing it on the bed she grabbed Vette by the shoulders and turned her around. "Oh uncross your arms and stop looking mad. You like it when I tease you."

Vette bit her lip and looked peeved. "Who was that person you just casually stripped me in front of? Hmmm?"

Her eyes sparkling with mischief Nik leaned in and caught Vette's waist and pulled her close. She placed her lips possessively over Vette's and slid her hands down her sides and gripped her hips hard against her own. After a few minutes of very thorough kissing she lowered her lips to the pulse point in Vette's neck and set her mouth lightly against the rapid fluttering there.

"A new friend. Whom we are not going to discuss in front of Daddy. His name's Drew."

Nik's eyes took on an evil gleam. "Let's see if we can make enough noise to wake up Quinn, little bird. Wouldn't that be fun?"