Admiral Carth Onasi sat in the temporary office he used within the Republic Headquarters on Coruscant. The single window behind him looked out over the city, but the view was not spectacular. The office was small, almost cramped, but Carth didn't really care. The desk seemed to groan under piles of paperwork and reports, but he couldn't seem to focus his mind on any of it. He heard the door open and glanced up as his secretary stepped in. Her face was framed in short, blond curls.

"Excuse me, Admiral?"

"Yes?" He looked up to meet her bright green eyes.

"There is… someone to see you, Sir."

"Oh? Who?"

"Uh, she refused to give me a name, Sir, but she's carrying a lightsaber, so I would assume she's a Jedi."

Even after all these years, his heart skipped a beat, wondering, hoping…

"Send her in, please."

A moment later, the cloaked figure strode into the office and closed the door behind her. As she pulled the hood back and looked at him, he couldn't help feeling his heart sink seeing only the Jedi Exile standing before him. She tilted her head, and arched one eyebrow, apparently reading his expression.

"Don't look so disappointed, Admiral, although I know you must have been expecting someone else."

Realizing his lack of manners, Carth shook his head and stood up. "I'm sorry."

She chuckled, "Don't be, that's actually why I'm here. Though… you might want to sit back down."

As she spoke, Carth felt a sense of dread wash over him, as though he knew he was not going to like what she had to say. He nodded and sat down as she moved closer and took a seat across from him.

"I've found Revan."

"You… found her?"

"Yes, but she's been badly injured, I'm not even sure how long she'll survive. I suppose I could have saved time just sending you a message, but I figured that you'd rather hear this in person, in case..."

His breath caught in his chest as he tried to swallow the lump that formed in his throat. It had been ten years since Revan had left, but he had never given up hope of finding her again.

"Where is she?" He finally managed.

"She's at the medical facility on Telos. It was the closest place I could find once I got back in known space with her."

He nodded, although the coincidence wasn't lost on him. His home world, Telos, had been through so much, and now held the one thing that meant everything to him. He stood up again.

"Were you planning on going back to her?"

"Of course, I was planning on you coming, just let me know when you're ready."

"Thank you. I just have to deal with some stuff first, let people know I'm leaving."

The Exile nodded, "My ship is in docking bay 54, I'll be waiting."

She stood and left the office. Carth leaned against his desk, his thoughts a swirling chaos as he tried to focus on what had to be done. He was an Admiral now, and couldn't just take off without taking care of things first.

It took him an hour to finally finish the last of what needed to be done, but finally he was on his way to the docking bay the Exile had mentioned with his pack slung over his shoulder. Upon reaching the docking bay he stopped, staring at the ship. Some part of his mind had half expected to see the Ebon Hawk sitting there, but this was a different ship.

"She's not the Hawk, but serves well enough." The Exile had moved over beside him, and again appeared to be reading his thoughts.

He looked over at her, "Am I that transparent?"

"Not really, I'd still be flying the Hawk, if… well, never mind that, are you ready to go?"

"Yeah, I'm ready."

She nodded and headed for the boarding ramp and he followed her onto the ship. It was similar to the Ebon Hawk, a slightly newer model of the same class.

As the ship lifted off and she turned it spaceward, the Exile looked over at the Admiral. She had taken her place in the pilot's seat, and he was uncomfortably settled in the co-pilot's chair. She laughed.

"Relax, Admiral, I really do know how to fly this thing."

He sighed, "I'm sorry, it's just…"

"You're used to being the one in control. I understand."

He forced himself to try to relax, although his mind kept churning as his thoughts tumbled over themselves in his mind. He felt a small bit of relief when he saw the star field in front of the ship blur as the ship lurched into hyperspace. The agonizing thought kept stabbing at his thoughts, What if we don't get there in time? His mind, his heart could not accept that, and a single fervent prayer echoed in his mind. Please, Revan, hold on.

The Exile flipped a few switches, putting the ship on autopilot for a while. Even in hyperspace, it was a long trip to Telos. She stood up and looked over at the Admiral. "I'm going to fix a drink, you want anything?"

"Huh? Oh, no, thank you." Realizing that he should try to distract himself from the worry gnawing at his soul, he got up and followed the Exile out of the cockpit. "I did have some questions though."

"No doubt, we've got plenty of time till we reach Telos. So ask away." She poured herself a drink and sat at the small table in the ship's galley.

Carth settled down across from her. "Well, you never said what this ship was called, or what happened to the Ebon Hawk."

She chuckled, "True. I named this one Drifter, seemed to fit." She paused to sip her drink, and then continued. "As for the Hawk, well… we had a bit of an overly rough landing on one of my trips out past the Hutt worlds. Someone decided the Hawk didn't have enough holes in her, so proceeded to ventilate the ship with some heavy laser cannons. The damage forced us down, and the hard landing did even more damage. The ship just was too banged up to save. The Hawk looked worse than it had after my trip back to Malachor, and I never thought that would have been possible."

"Who shot you down?"

She shrugged. "I have no idea, never found out, and I wondered if they'd just shot to be shooting, since no one came after me when I crashed. Hutt space is crazy that way, I usually try to avoid it, but I'd been following a lead there. Anyways, after having T3 help me to rip the navicomputer out of the Hawk, I sold what was left to a Toydarian salvager. I spent a few months just hopping ships from one place to another. I got lucky one night though, won the Drifter in a rather heated game of pazaak. "

"Wait a minute! You won this ship in a pazaak game?"

She laughed and nodded, "Yep, although I'm not sure who was happier, me or HK-47."

The mischievous gleam in her eye caused him to shake his head, "Why's that?"

"I had put him up as my stakes, well, him and T3, but T3 didn't mind as much since he figured I was sure of winning. HK didn't share his confidence. Needless to say, I spent the next week listening to him complain, even though we won and I got the ship."

Carth laughed, "I can imagine. Speaking of the droids, where are they?"

"With Revan. Honestly I don't think anything short of blaster fire would have moved HK, and T3 asked to stay too, probably to keep HK from blasting anyone out of aggravation."

"Hm, I can see that. He was always devoted to her."

"Yeah, I never held any real illusion that he considered me his master for any reason beyond the fact that Revan had left him behind. No matter who technically 'owns' him, I don't think he's ever truly accepted anyone else as his Master."

"I'd have to agree with you on that. I don't think he ever really liked me."

"Admiral, HK-47 doesn't like anyone, except Revan. "

"Point, it was often a toss-up as to which one was the more trigger happy, HK or Canderous."

"Well, there's a fundamental difference. The Mandalore has mellowed a bit over the years. HK's only gotten worse."

"Worse? Is that even possible?"

"Oh, yeah, it's possible."

The Exile emptied her drink, "Come on, we should probably head back up front. I trust my autopilot, but not completely."

When the Drifter's control panels beeped and flashed, indicating the imminent return to real space, Carth's mind snapped back sharply to the reality of the present. His fervent, heartfelt prayer echoed constantly in his mind again. He hoped that Revan would be able to hold on, that they would arrive in time. The Exile glanced over at him, and said her own prayers. She could already see the anguish in his heart, the thought of what he would face if Revan was truly gone was more than she wanted to consider.

The ship shook and dropped out of hyperspace, and Carth couldn't help but smile fondly as his home world came into view. Telos had been through so much, suffered so much at the hands of the Sith. It brought him hope; the planet had a strength to it, a will to survive. It was beginning to prosper, much of its surface had been healed enough to be inhabitable again. Maybe the planet's strength could help Revan to hold on until he could get there, to be at her side again.

They landed and Carth was heading down the landing ramp even before the thrusters had fully shut down. The Exile hurried to catch up with him and she could imagine that it was taking every bit of control he had not to burst into a full run.

Carth's mind raced as they made the walk to the Hospital where the Exile had left Revan. To him, it felt like the walk took forever. The Exile checked in with the staff, and then led him through the facility to Revan's room. Relief washed over him at the news she was still alive, and upon entering the room he could think of nothing else.

He moved to the bedside and sat beside her. She was unconscious, and looking at her made his heart ache. Here was the woman who had helped the Republic win the Mandalorian War. As a Sith Lord she had held the galaxy in the palm of her hand. Even in their time together after the Endar Spire, he had been constantly amazed by her strength, courage, and determination as she pushed forward and eventually defeated Malak at the Star Forge. As she laid there now, her body badly broken and battered, he was struck by how very fragile she looked.

Leaning down, he gently kissed her cheek and whispered softly. "Hey, Beautiful. I know somewhere in there you can hear me. I'm here now, and I can't lose you again, not after just finding you. So please, Revan, don't you dare leave me again, ok?" He ignored the tears streaming down his face as he closed his eyes. "We've been through too much, and I'm not about to give up. I never gave up, Revan, I've been waiting for you all these years. Now don't you give up on me, either. I need you. Please come back to me."

Slowly, Carth stood and wiped his face, trying to regain his composure. He turned and walked over to where the Exile and the doctor stood. He looked at the Exile, and then at the doctor.

"So, what's the prognosis? How is she?"

The doctor's expression was grim. "Honestly, Admiral. In all the years I've served in the medical field, I have never seen anyone sustain the amount of damage she has, and survive. The fact that she is still alive at all is amazing."

The Exile chuckled slightly, "Well, doc, I told you she was tough."

He nodded, and then continued. "We've been able to get her condition stable, but for how long, I can't say. What she really needs now is beyond our means. There is little more we can do for her here."

"Could she be safely moved to Coruscant?"

"Possibly, though it would be risky. Much of the equipment keeping her stable isn't portable. We have some systems that are, but I can't guarantee that they'll be able to keep her fully stable all the way. As I understand it, it is a long way to Coruscant, even in hyperspace."

Carth nodded and looked back at the Exile. "What do you think?"

She shook her head, "It's your call, Admiral. You're the closest thing to family Revan has, unless you want to count the psychotic bucket of bolts over there." She pointed to HK-47. "He's not exactly known for rational thought, so it's up to you."

The comment about the assassin droid brought a smile to Carth's face, despite the severity of the situation. He nodded, "Alright. Doctor, do what you need to do, get her ready for the trip to Coruscant. "

The doctor nodded and headed off to see to the preparations. Carth looked back over to Revan, hoping and praying that everything would work out. He called to the two droids.

"HK, T3, come on, let's get back to the ship. The doctors need to be able to work, and we can wait for them to bring her to the ship."

T3 beeped and whistled worriedly, but obediently rolled over to where Carth and the Exile stood. HK-47 did not budge. The rust-hued assassin stood motionless, his photoreceptors focused on Revan's still form. Carth glanced over at the Exile, and she shrugged.

She stepped forward, "HK?"

"Irritated declaration: I have excellent hearing. I heard you the first time."

"Then come on, let's go." Her voice showed some hint of frustration.

"Refusal: No."

"HK, you can't stay here, you'll just get in the way."

For the first time, HK's head turned in their direction, his photoreceptors glowed a vicious shade of reddish orange. "Statement: I will remain with my Master." The emphasis on the last word was unmistakable.

The Exile sighed, her feelings had proven true. "Alright, fine. If you stay here, just don't get in the way and by the Force, don't blast anything!"

The droid walked over to where she stood, towering over her by a good foot and a half in height. He handed her the heavily modified blaster rifle he carried. She accepted the weapon, standing in shock. She could only blink as HK-47 silently returned to his position near Revan. She turned and handed the weapon off to Carth who also having difficulty believing what he just saw. He glanced back at the droid with a shake of his head and then turned to leave. The two humans left the room, with T3 following close behind as they headed back toward the Drifter to wait.

The trip back to Coruscant was tense. Carth paced restlessly, HK-47 stood guard at the door of the ship's med bay, T3 wandered around the ship beeping and whirring worriedly, and the Exile tried to shove it all out of her mind and focus on flying the Drifter. As they entered the planet's orbit, she had transmitted a message to the major hospital, relaying the information from the doctors on Telos. They assured her they would be waiting and ready when she and Carth arrived with Revan. She whispered a silent prayer that they would truly be able to save Revan.

The Drifter touched down and she was pleased to see a medical team standing by to take over moving Revan to the hospital. HK-47 growled and fumed over being forcibly denied the chance to stay by his Master's side. The Exile tried to console him, but he remained pointedly silent as he followed her and Carth as they made their own way to the hospital. Fortunately, his blaster rifle remained locked safely in the ship's weapons locker. Although she was aware that he still had other weapons built into him, it was a momentous occasion for the assassin droid to remain voluntarily 'unarmed'.

By the time they reached the hospital, the doctors were busy working and they weren't allowed to see Revan. Sighing, the Exile settled herself down on a bench in the waiting area and tried to shut out the restless pacing of the Admiral and the angry hissing voice of the assassin droid as he argued with himself. Finally Carth stopped pacing and stood in front of the droid.

"HK, I'd like to ask you something."

"Irritated response: What do you want, Meatbag?"

"Well, you were with Revan, before I arrived, did… was she conscious at any time?"

"Answer: No. The Master remained in her nonfunctional state the entire time."

Carth nodded sadly, "She took you with her though, when she left all those years ago…"

The rust-hued droid's photoreceptors flashed angrily and he turned his back to the Admiral in a pointed dismissal. Carth stifled a chuckle.

"Touched a nerve, eh? I'm sorry, HK, I know she eventually left you behind too. Hell, she left all of us behind. Oh, never mind." Carth sighed heavily and turned away from the droid.

Behind him, he could hear the hissing wheeze that was HK's version of a sigh. "Resignation: She did not want to, but she felt that she had to leave everyone in the end; to protect us. She always missed you, Meatbag, though I still fail to understand why."

Carth smiled weakly, "Thank you."

HK turned slightly, "Observation: We should go shoot something, to cheer ourselves up."

"Maybe later."

Pacified for the moment, the assassin droid returned to his personal musings and Carth returned to his pacing.

It felt like an eternity crawled by, one agonizing moment at a time. Finally the doors to the waiting area slid open and a weary looking doctor stepped into the room. Immediately locked in the gazes of two humans and a dangerous looking droid, he wiped the sweat from his forehead before speaking.

"I have to admit, I'm not really sure what was keeping her alive. We've managed to repair most of the damage, though there will be some permanent effects from it. I believe she'll pull through. Right now we're just waiting for her to regain consciousness. It's up to her now; we've done all we can to help her body heal."

Carth's heart and mind were doing flips and his voice cracked slightly as he spoke, "Can we see her?"

The doctor nodded, "However, I must warn you. Some of her body had been damaged beyond hope of repairing the natural parts, so just keep that in mind. She won't ever fully be back to what she was before, but she's alive." With that, he led them through the halls to Revan's room.

Carth nearly melted beside her bed as he looked down at the woman he'd come to love so deeply. Dark hair spread over the pillow beneath her head, softly framing her face. His mind brought forward the memory of her deep, sparkling sapphire eyes. He could see the scars, faint, but visible. One crossed from her left temple, down across her cheekbone. Other scars laced across her shoulders. It didn't matter, to him, she was still beautiful.

Revan's right hand had been replaced by a prosthetic, and her left hip had been shattered beyond repair. While they had been able to repair most of the damage, replacing the damaged joint and connecting bone, there was a good chance the injury would leave her with a permanent limp. A few of her ribs had also been replaced where the originals had been too badly damaged to fix. Her vital signs were steady however, and that gave Carth hope. She was still alive, and if she would just come to, he'd be happy.

No amount of urging would get either the Admiral or HK to move from Revan's bedside. The droid stood on her right, while Carth had pulled a chair over and sat at her left, gently holding her hand and praying. Shaking her head, the Exile slipped out of the room. She wasn't needed there. Whenever Revan did wake up, it was only fitting that they have some privacy. She returned to the Drifter to get some long overdue sleep of her own.

Hours, days, weeks, time had blurred together and Carth no longer thought about how long he'd sat there beside her bed waiting for her to wake up. He had waited ten years to find her; he would continue to wait, no matter how long it took. Somewhere along the way he had fallen asleep, his head resting against her shoulder, his hand still holding hers.

HK-47 noticed it, a slight movement where there had been none. Focusing his photoreceptors, he wondered if he'd only imagined it, if droids could imagine anything. There! The slight flutter of her eyelids caused his gears to quiver with excitement.

"Master?" He spoke as quietly as he could, and was rewarded with another flutter and Revan's eyes opened slowly.

She blinked; everything in her mind was fuzzy, disjointed, and unfamiliar. Her last conscious memory was not reconciled with the images her mind was seeing now. Her body ached all over, and she felt horribly stiff. Slowly she tried to focus the haze in her mind. She became aware of the rusty visage looking down at her. HK-47, her foggy memories told her. Becoming aware of another feeling, she noticed the slight weight against her left shoulder and turned her head slightly, although it hurt to move. The slight waves of brown hair with a few strands of silver mixed in, the ragged orange leather jacket, and the gentle touch of the hand holding hers told her all she needed to know.

"Carth?" Her voice was barely a whisper after being unused for so long. Still it reached deeply and his head snapped up at the sound, his warm brown eyes searching her face.

"Hey, Beautiful. Glad you came back."

She smiled weakly, "Silly Flyboy, I told you I would be back."

He leaned in and kissed her gently before leaning back to look at her again. He noticed her gaze didn't sparkle as bright as it once had. Clouds seemed to hover against the sapphire of her left eye, but he brushed it off. None of it mattered. She was alive, and she was back.

"Statement: Master, I must admit, it is very good to see you functional again."

She laughed, and hissed slightly at the pain from it. "Good to see you still in one piece, HK. I don't think I would say I'm fully functional yet, but I'm alive."

Reaching out, she gently caressed Carth's cheek. "I am sorry, Carth. I never meant to take so long coming home."

"Hush Gorgeous, it doesn't matter now."

"How did you find me?"

"The Exile found you, and brought me to you."

"Ah, always knew there was a reason I made Kyshara my General. She was the only one who could think like I did."

"I'm very grateful to her."

"I am too. It's good to be home again." She tried to take a deep breath and realized, painfully, that such a thing was not a good idea. "Ugh, I feel like I've been used as a chew toy for a Krayt dragon. I suppose I probably look about that bad too."

"I don't see anything wrong, Beautiful. You just need to finish healing."

"Carth?"

"Yeah?"

"Thank you for not giving up on me."