Author's Note: Star Wars and all trademarked characters/places/etc. are the property of Lucas (now Disney, I suppose), and Bioware. The only things that are mine are the original characters and the crazy ideas contained in this story.

Additional Note: This one's for clicketykeys, for the constant encouragement.

Aboard the Void Dancer

Ship's registry: Corellia (please verify)

In hyperlane transit from Corellia to Coruscant for refit and repair

Corso scratched the back of his neck and looked a little sheepish. "Captain, they want us to go to Balmorra."

Everything inside Eladari froze. The Void Dancer's cockpit seemed to fill with white noise, a rushing that filled her head. "No." The word dropped to the deck like ice and shattered.

Corso's puzzled frown began to take on distinct overtones of worry the longer he looked at her face. "Captain?"

"No. I said no, Riggs. I'm not going back there." Eladari knew she'd gone pale, knew that her panic was starting to show. She turned on her heel and stalked out of the cockpit. She needed to get away. Maybe she needed a damn drink. Several.

Corso caught up with her at the lounge, both hands reaching for her shoulders, and that worried look went full-blown when he felt how she stiffened at his touch. "'Dari, what's wrong?" He lowered his voice to that smoky croon he knew she found so irresistable. "Come on, honey, talk to me." He sat down on the couch, pulling her down with a little more force than he was happy with when she resisted. "You know I'm willin' to take the hit for ya, but I gotta know where it's comin' from."

She refused to look at him. "Balmorra isn't... it isn't good for me, Riggs. Wasn't the last time, but now it's worse."

"Was it that delivery we made for Laryn-Ki? I knew I shoulda come with you." The hand that cupped her cheek was gentle. The look in his eyes was anything but. "Why didn't you tell me you'd been hurt, darlin'?"

She closed her eyes, unwilling to look at him any longer. He was so honest about everything. So pure in his convictions. She didn't know where she stood anymore. On anything. "Corso, sometimes life just hurts. You can't take that hit for me."

He thought to himself that he could damn well try. "I know. I know that. I just... hate it." He stroked her hair carefully, feeling big and clumsy and ineffectual. "That I can't help you. Watchin' you in pain and not bein' able to do anything about it... that's the worst."

She dropped her forehead to his shoulder, nuzzling into the curve of his neck to anchor herself, sighing a little when his arms came around her. Maybe she didn't need that drink. Maybe what she needed was right here. And dammit, she was starting to cry. She never cried. But her eyes were stinging and she could feel the tears starting to roll, and there was nothing she could do about it except give in.

"Do you want me to leave you alone, Captain?" Corso murmured against her temple.

It was strange to realize that she didn't. If anyone had to witness her crying like a baby, she was glad it was him. "Can we just sit for awhile? Just... be?"

Corso got that queasy, knotted feeling in his gut, same as when he'd cradled an unconcious Captain in a frozen wampa cave on Hoth, and he tightened his hold on her as much as he dared. "Darlin', we can sit here until the stars go dark if that's what you want."

Bowdaar had come through the lounge once on some errand or another, but it had only taken the Wookie one look at the couple on the couch to know that they needed space. He'd gone through the ship, warning the rest of the crew in no uncertain terms that they should stay out of the lounge. Risha, of course, had ignored the warning and gone to poke at the captain, which had resulted in Bowdaar picking her up bodily and removing her to engineering. Her Majesty hadn't appreciated the treatment, but Akaavi had passed by and glared at her hard enough to silence even the imperious crime princess.

"Something is bothering the captain. She needs to grieve." Akaavi folded her arms across her armored chest and leveled one of her slightly less lethal glares at Risha.

"Grieve what? Let me guess; another wasted trip to some planet that won't or can't pay her a tenth of what they should for some impossible mission?" Risha snorted inelegantly. "They never do send us to some resort planet or center of galactic civilization. It's always some battlefield or hellhole without a single decent cantina, much less a spa. My complexion is suffering."

"Risha Drayan," Bowdaar growled, "some things cannot be laughed away."

"I don't see why not; it's always worked for me. Sneer, snark, or laugh."

"It has not always worked for you."

Risha glared up at her crewmate. "Since when are wookies supposed to be such great philosophers?"

"Always," Bowdaar replied simply. "No one ever asks us about our philosophical theories, though. It's the fur."

Corso had long since lost track of time. He couldn't see the lounge chrono from where he was sitting but he thought it'd been hours. Eladari was finally still and quiet against him, tears still drying on her pale cheeks. "Come on, darlin'. Let's let you sleep somewhere comfortable for once."

She didn't argue when he scooped her up with a lot more care than Bowdaar had shown Risha earlier and carried her to their cabin. Didn't say anything when he pulled off her boots and his, and tucked her into bed fully clothed. He hovered for a moment, torn between climbing in with her and giving her the space she seemed to crave.

"Don't go." It was a whisper, but it was enough.

"Never gonna." He lay down next to her, surrounding her with his arms, his warmth. He kissed her temple, chaste and sweet. "You'll have to fire me out the airlock first."

That got a watery chuckle from her. Then... "Corso? I met my sister."

"You have a sister?" He blinked. "Hey, that's great! Or... not, right? 'Cause you're real upset. Is she in trouble?"

"She's a Sith lord."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

"Wait." Alarm sleeted through him, chilling him, and he shot upright. "You said you met her. You met a Sith? Alone?"

She rolled over to look at him. "On Balmorra, when I did that drop. And it wasn't like that. I delivered the package to the Voss, and then I felt this... this thing. This whisper. I'd felt it on Voss during those trials they had us do and... I just had to follow. She was waiting for me in an alley."

"A sith lord," Corso said flatly, his hands knotting into fists in his lap. "In Republic territory. And nobody noticed."

"Yeah, kinda scary, huh?" Eladari scrubbed at her face with both hands. "But I knew I was safe. Not I-am-the-dark-side-and-I'm-controlling-you fake safe. Really safe. And I felt... I felt this thing, tying me to her. Something I couldn't see. I've felt it before, usually when I'm asleep, but when we're close, I guess it's... I dunno. Stronger."

"You're soundin' like Guss, 'Dari. Guess it makes sense, if you got a Force sensitive sister, you might have a touch of it yourself."

"I don't think I want to think about that right now, Riggs. I really do not want to think about Force bonds with a dark side relative."

"Fair enough." He ran a fingertip down her nose, mostly to see if he could make her wrinkle it. That usually made her laugh. "Your sister. Tell me about her."

It took her a minute to start talking, and when she did, her normally perky voice was abnormally flat. "She looked a lot like me, actually. Same red hair; she wears it up but it looked long. Longer than mine, for sure. Same brown eyes. Looks like I got the freckles; she didn't. Scar on her face. I don't know what from. She didn't hurt me. I expected her to, when I realized... I mean, we've put a hurt on the Empire, right? She should have wanted me dead. But she was... kind. She was kind."

He didn't quite believe her, and he knew it showed on his face. "A kind Sith? Think I've heard everything, now."

"Yeah. It was... yeah. Funny part was, I could feel she wasn't lying when she said she'd never allow anyone to hurt me."

"You don't remember her at all?" Calmer, because he had to be, Corso lay back down next to her so he could stroke her hair. His captain wasn't the only person who could stand a little comfort after that little bombshell. "From when you were little?"

"No. I mean, it's hazy. Like a dream of a memory. I was so young when Balmorra fell. Grew up in the orphanages, like half the planet did. Always had this feeling, though, that I wasn't really alone. I always felt someone... just someone. No one I ever saw, but sometimes, there were these dreams... "

He couldn't stand the sorrow he saw in her dark eyes. "Did your sister tell you how she went Sith? Not that that's a topic for a family reunion or nothin', but ya gotta wonder."

"She said she was six when Balmorra was invaded. I was a baby. Our parents... well, you can figure it out. She'd made it out of the house with me when an Imp patrol came by. One of the soldiers pointed a blaster at me, and she killed him. Took off his head with lightning or something. The Imp in charge dragged her to Dromond Kaas, ended up adopting her. Guess she was young enough that he figured she could be molded into the perfect little Imperial. It's a big thing to have a kid go Sith; maybe she looked like his best chance to move up in the world, y'know? Me, they left." She looked away. "Guess I was just garbage."

Corso put a hand on her cheek and made her look at him. He kept his voice low. "You are Captain Eladari Umali. You are the smartest woman I know, the most beautiful woman I've ever seen, and you are, absolutely, the only woman I will ever love. I may be just a hick Mantell farm boy, but I know you ain't garbage, Captain. Hell, even your Sith sister knows that. She'll apparently kill anyone who treats you poorly." His voice deepened, drawl thickening. "And so will I."

Eladari stroked a hand down his arm, feeling the tensile strength of the muscles and tendons that were like iron, even at rest. Corso was so fun-loving, so enthusiastic in a fight that sometimes she forgot how strong he had to be to wear all that armor, tote all those weapons. He downplayed his strength, just like he hid the scars from his family's murder, and he did both so often that even she had started to believe the lie.

Corso, on the Esseles, bleeding and more than half dead, looking across the room to see her in close combat with an Imperial. The Imp is mostly dead, but determined to share the favor. She's on the ground. Can't get up in time. Can't move fast enough...

He has a blaster to her temple. Suddenly there's a roaring sound. Engines? No, too small. Jetpack, maybe. Riggs is suddenly there - how is he there? - smashing his rifle into the Imperial's skull... Sickening sound of bone cracking, the Imp goes down, and as he does, Riggs drops the barrel of the his blaster rifle with one easy motion and shoots the Imp between the eyes. Smoke curls from his forehead, smoke and there's the smell of charred meat, and the man does not get up again.

The look in Riggs' eyes is not the blank, careless look of a professional killer. It's dark and seething. It's rage. But the hand he holds out to her is gentle as he helps her up off the floor. His dark eyes warm as he looks at her. "Close one, Captain. You gonna be OK?"

Sometimes, she knew, the accumulated pain of living leaked out around the edges of the mask you wore to the universe until it bled over everything, distorting everything about you until you didn't know yourself anymore. Eladari bit her lower lip. "Corso... I don't want this to change me again."

His arms tightened around her at her whisper. "You ain't alone. A man protects what's precious to him. And I will protect you with my last breath." His kiss whispered across her forehead. "I ain't got nothin' in my life more precious to me than you."

Even in the gloom of the cabin, she could see the old, half-healed pain in the dark eyes that met hers. She brushed her fingers along the scars on his cheek, then reached up to free his hair from the tie that held it back. "Show me," she whispered.

He would have given her anything. His mouth brushed over hers. Her lips were so soft, like velvet, but she tasted like tears, and it broke his heart. "Eladari. Don't cry, darlin'."

"I love you." She couldn't seem to speak above that whisper, like everything in her had gone quiet ever since the Mantellian government had asked them to go to Balmorra. She buried her hands in his dark hair, twining the locks around her fingers.

"I love you, too." He whispered kisses across her lush, soft mouth, stroked careful fingertips across her forehead, the pert line of her nose. "Let me love you." Corso's voice was thick. "Let me have you."

Eladari closed her eyes on a shivering breath. "Yes."

Without sight, her other senses magnified. The whisper of clothing being removed; the way the bed dipped as Corso rose to his knees, the firm, warm brush of his fingers against her bare skin.

She reached for him, wanting the familiar, quick pop of sex to smother the tangled mass of sorrow and pain she felt. Corso inhaled sharply when her hands found him, her clever fingers wreathing around his erection. "No." Desire made his voice tight.

"No?" She made sure her own voice held more than a reasonable amount of teasing. "You sure about that, farm boy?"

"I'm sure I don't want you turnin' this into something it ain't, 'Dari. This ain't scratchin' an itch." Corso captured her restless hands and brought them to his mouth. "This is tellin' you in every way I know how that you ain't alone." He nipped at the pulse point in her wrist with his teeth, then soothed the mark with his tongue. "This is an I love you, no matter what. I aim to see you believe that."

"Why did I ever believe you were uncomplicated?" Eladari's breath caught in her throat as he laved the palm of her hand with his tongue, then sucked her index finger into his mouth. Her toes curled against the sheets.

"You didn't know me, Captain." He nipped the tip of her finger as he stretched out on the bed beside her. "But I'm going to know you. Inside and out." Corso's mouth came down on hers, a soft caress that teased until she parted her lips to breathe, then his tongue swept into her mouth, filling her with his taste, his hunger.

Eladari couldn't help groaning. She clutched at his broad back with her free hand, nails tracing light furrows in his skin. Muscles coiled and shifted under her touch, and Corso did a little groaning of his own. "Dangerous woman," he murmured against her swollen lips. "Think I need to take a different approach."

She whimpered a wordless protest when he left her, moving with him, needing the heat of his mouth on hers, his hands on her skin, to anchor her. There was a moment of disorientation when he simply picked her up with that easy strength of his, then settled her facing away from him on his lap as he knelt on the bed. "Corso?"

"Easy, darlin'. I got your back. Always." His quiet voice rumbled against her ear, and the loose locks of his hair brushed her shoulder when he lowered his head to bite at her pale throat. Eladari shuddered at the soft pressure of teeth, rolling her head back against Corso's shoulder. In this position, straddling his lap while his arousal burned hotly against her backside, there was nothing she could do with her hands that could turn the tables on him. "Why aren't you letting me touch you?" she whispered in mounting frustration.

Corso's broad, work-roughened hands slid down her arms, his fingers circling her wrists before twining with her own, more slender fingers. He bit her shoulder gently, then kissed the mark. "Because I'm going to let you touch you."

Shock jolted through her, making her gasp, and Corso took full advantage, taking her mouth in a kiss as gentle as it was thorough. His hands, still covering hers, slid up her torso to her breasts, cupping their soft weight in their joined palms, tracing the warm curves. He brushed their joined fingers over her nipples, smoothing and rolling, and Eladari moaned helplessly into his mouth.

Corso broke the kiss, resting his cheek on the top of her head. "You are my world, Eladari Umali, " he whispered harshly. He slid their joined hands down the center of her body, ran their fingers into dark red curls, and teased the wetness there. "Show me what you want, darlin'. Let me learn you."

The cognitive part of her brain had three seconds to wonder what happened to the shy, stammering farm boy she'd thought she'd known, before shutting down with utter finality. Eladari's world narrowed down to Corso; his hands guiding hers - or were hers guiding his? - pleasuring her, his lips against her throat, burning, the heat and hardness that showed how much he wanted her beneath her, tantalizingly close but still denied. The slow, open writhe of her body on his lap, legs splayed wantonly, head thrown back against his shoulder, his hot whispers in her ear of how beautiful she was, how much he loved her, how much he needed to see her come apart for him.

"Corso!" It was a sob, a plea, a threat. There was a light growing and burning inside her, a flame that promised pleasure and demanded unity. "I need you. Be in me. Be with me."

"Anything you want, captain." She felt him smile against her mouth, just briefly, before he was kissing her again. His tongue swept into her mouth at the same time that he shifted slightly, his erection rubbing against her. Eladari nearly wept in frustration before Corso slid their still-joined fingers lower, cradling his thick arousal together. Their groans came in unison.

She tilted her hips at the same time that he lifted his, hilting himself inside her with one smooth push. "Ah, 'Dari." For the first time, Corso let go of her hands, putting his on her hips and holding her to him as he pumped slowly. "Darlin'. How can you do this to me so damn easy?"

Eladari reached back over her head, wreathing her arms around his neck, her fingers tangling in his long locks. The light she saw behind her closed eyelids expanded, chasing away memories of the dark, expanding and intangible and reaching out into the universe, riding a wave of pure pleasure. "I love you, Corso."

"Good." The word was so low it was very nearly a growl, and the fingers of his right hand rubbed insistant circles around that delicate knot of nerves between her legs.

She went rigid, a tiny shriek escaping her, her hands locking around his neck, her body a pale, beautiful arch in the gloom of their cabin. Corso shuddered as he felt her ripple around him, shuddering hard, so tight and wet and incredibly hot that he thought he'd lose his mind. And then he did, the orgasm coiling low in his belly and exploding through every nerve he had until he'd given everything he was to the woman he loved.

When he woke, Eladari was already dressed and sitting on the side of the bed, meticulously checking Flashy's power cells.

He shoved his hair back out of his face. "We're goin' back." It wasn't a question.

"Yeah. I'll set the course." She blew out a short, sharp breath. "We're going back."

His big hand rested warmly on top of her thigh. "Together."

She looked at him, warm from sleep, covers tangled around his lean waist, the muscles of his shoulders bunching and sliding under smooth, tan skin as he reached out to her. He'd always reached out to her, even in the beginning. Eladari smiled, and it was a soft, gentle smile that looked more like the one Corso usually wore than any expression she habitually used. "Yeah. We're together."