This chapter was, hands down, my favorite to write. I adore Vette and looking at things from her perspective was a blast.

There is some unavoidable overlap in conversation since this is taking place at the same time as the previous chapter and Vette and Jaesa were both in the room at the same time. I tried to keep it from being too repetitive.

Vette's musings on the relationship between Quinn, Baras, and the Sith are actually my own before I got to that point in the game.

oOo

Something was wrong. Vette wasn't Force sensitive by any means, but she knew something had been off onboard the Fury since the Sith and Captain Fancy-pants had returned from the transponder station in silence. She hadn't actually seen them as she had been trying to clear Talz fur out of the air filter in the passageway. Why Broonmark had to set up shop across from her was a puzzle, a really irritating puzzle. He freaked her out to be honest, and Vette had come across some freaky things in her life. And he shed, constantly, to the point she wondered if he had any hair left actually on his body. Not to mention he kept messing with the temperature regulator and turning that half of the ship into an icebox.

The ship was silent, which wasn't exactly unusual. Most of the crew relaxed during the jumps. There wasn't anything to do, and staring out the viewport at hyperspace could really do a number on your mind after a while. Vette knew this one from experience, she and Risha had dared one another to try it as kids. It hadn't been pretty.

That being said, Vette really wasn't one to just sit around and twiddle her thumbs either. She was long overdue for pulling a prank on that irritating Lieutenant and she owed the furry nuisance for clogging up her filters as well. She frowned at that last thought, 'furry nuisance' made the Talz sound like something small and cute, but slightly annoying. He was anything but small or cute, and more than just slightly annoying. She sighed, why was she editing her own thoughts anyway? Oh, right, because there were two people on the ship who could read them. Well, if they wanted to. Vette was fairly sure her thoughts were not that interesting to anyone else.

But, a prank war with the lieutenant could be fun, or deadly, he might not take pranks as well as Quinn had, and that was saying a lot. Though he had eventually thawed out and gotten her back. Vette could respect when she'd been beaten and she declared an informal truce with the captain. Jaesa she had yet to get the drop on. The former Jedi was unmatched at sensing Vette's mischievousness and stopping it before it happened. But Vette liked Jaesa and knew that the few times she'd managed to play her pranks it had been because Jaesa had allowed her to. She wasn't even going to try with Broonmark though. Nope. Not even going there.

As she was leaving her quarters, her com beeped. Vette pulled it out in annoyance. The only people who could com her while they were in hyperspace were on the ship. It was Captain Quinn, at least she thought it was. The image was oddly blurred and his voice was not as crisp and clear as normal when he requested she come pick up some medical supplies to take to the Sith Lord in her quarters. Vette frowned at the request. Why couldn't he do it? She had important things to…well, maybe not important, but still…

Heaving a long-suffering sigh, the former slave tossed her lekku over one shoulder and wandered over to the door of the medbay. She raised her hand to knock and then noticed the pile of supplies sitting by the door. Quinn's behavior was very strange today. Even for Quinn. But she picked them up and headed to the Sith's private quarters.

The door was open when she arrived, but the lights were so dim she couldn't see what was going on. Squaring her shoulders, she walked right into the room, soon finding the Sith curled on a chair and Jaesa kneeling on the floor next to her. They were talking in low voices. Jaesa seemed concerned about something but the Sith sounded dismissive.

She took a breath, "I brought these!" she chirped brightly. Both women jumped and Vette realized neither of them had known she was in the room, "Wow! I snuck up on both of you? I must be better than I thought." She had been practicing, of course, but still to sneak up on both a Sith Lord and a former Jedi…She must have some special power that even she didn't know about.

"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 crack of the warrior's voice let the twi'lek know that this was not the first time her name had been said and she trailed off into silence, "I am in no mood to listen to your inane prattling. Do not make me find your shock collar."

As it happened, Vette knew exactly where the hated collar was, "Well, actually, it's…" a slight tightness clenched around her throat, just enough to get her attention and send a cold chill down her spine. She was fairly confident the Sith wouldn't Force choke her to death, but it was the scariest thing she had ever felt anyway.

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

"I don't need those," the Sith snapped. Vette saw Jaesa move away as lightning flickered over the Sith Lord's body. Something Vette was fairly sure she'd never seen happen in the time she'd known the Sith.

Jaesa spoke for the first time since Vette entered the room, her voice quiet but firm, "Yes, master, you do. You're injured."

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

"She's injured?" Vette wondered why Quinn wasn't here, "Then shouldn't we get—"

"Get out! Both of you!"

Vette and Jaesa retreated to the doorway and exchanged a glance. Jaesa's expression was as bland as ever, Vette had asked Jaesa once in a fit of pique if they taught an "Enigmatic Expressions" class on Tython, but her brown eyes looked worried, and they pleaded with Vette to do something since she knew the warrior the best out of all of them. 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. She was going to help, somehow.

She didn't see Jaesa leave, but had a feeling the woman was going to find Captain Quinn and try to get some answers. She stood silently beside the Sith's chair for a long moment trying to decide what she could say that was least likely to get her killed.

"Vette, I told you to leave."

"I know."

"Then you shouldn't still be here."

"My lord, I don't know what's going on, but Jaesa said you were injured and Captain Quinn sent me—"

"He sent you?" the Sith demanded, her face hard as she stared the twi'lek down.

"Well, yeah, he commed me, and who does that? Who coms someone during a hyperspace jump when you're on the same ship? Like he had somewhere else to be and he couldn't just walk over? But he did and told me to bring these to you, but he wouldn't even let me into the medbay, just had the supplies sitting by the door, and I know something happened, but I don't know what and it's bothering me." Vette finished speaking and sat with a thump on the floor, the supplies falling into her lap like a broken doll.

Finally, the Sith broke the silence, "It's not something I want to talk about, Vette. I don't even want to think about it."

Vette looked up, her violet eyes were curious, but the serious expression on her blue face was so out of place it was almost comical.

The warrior sighed, "Fine. I'm going to need help reaching some of my injuries. I guess it would be best if I lay on the bed."

Vette watched from the floor as the powerful Sith stripped off her armor, which she now noticed was covered in scorch marks, and lay down on her bed in just the light tunic and pants she wore underneath. The former slave stood and approached her master, who had become her friend, almost her sister. She could see the tension in the woman's frame. Not just from the pain of her injuries, but from some emotional pain she was unable to put a name to.

Vette started to clean and dress the wounds. She couldn't help but recognize the source of most of them, "Droids?" she asked quietly.

The Sith nodded, "Two of them. Specially designed to kill me." Her voice was quiet, emotion simmering beneath the surface.

"So, it was a trap."

"Yes."

"Baras?"

Hesitation, "Yes."

"I wondered…" Vette trailed off.

"Wondered what?"

Vette hesitated. She wasn't nearly as flighty as everyone thought she was. She paid attention, and she knew how people worked. She had also been around Sith long enough to know that at some point the master and the apprentice would fight it out. If the master won, they would eventually take on a new apprentice, if the apprentice did, they took their master's place. Baras' betrayal was hardly a surprise, and she didn't think her master had been particularly shocked by it, more disgusted that she hadn't caught on earlier. Because Vette knew that one day her master and Baras would end up at odds with each other, she had wondered what would happen with regards to Quinn. He was fiercely loyal, and believed he owed Baras a great debt. On the other hand, he loved their lord devotedly and was just as loyal to her. He was going to have to choose, and Vette had a feeling that's exactly what had happened.

"Vette?"

The twi'lek smeared some kolto over an obvious knife wound. She had seen enough to know that this wound had come from a knife exactly like the one the captain carried, "It was Quinn, wasn't it?" she asked finally.

The way the Sith stiffened answered her question, but the woman responded, "I should have known you'd figure it out. Was I really so blind?" she asked abruptly, her voice turning desolate, "How did I not see it?"

Vette considered her answer, she was doing that a lot more today than she was used to, "I don't think you were blind. As for not seeing it, you love him, why would you suspect him?"

"I still should have sensed something," she growled. Vette watched the Sith's expression turn inward and she gasped suddenly.

"My lord?"

She shook her head, "He told Jaesa. She's furious…"

Vette heard the surprise in her voice, "Why are you so shocked? Jaesa cares about you, you must know that."

"I took her away from her master, from everything she knew and loved. She should hate me."

"Yeah, well, you're a very likable person. We all like you. Maybe not Broonmark, I'm not sure he likes anyone to be honest."

That earned her a laugh, a short, sharp bark of laughter, but a laugh, "He may not, but he does have his uses."

"Yeah, clogging up air filters." Vette examined the wound on the edge of the Sith's ribcage more closely, "I don't think I can do much for this one. You should have…someone else look at it."

The warrior caught her pause, "You mean Quinn."

It wasn't a question, but Vette answered, "Well, yeah, I mean I barely know what I'm doing here, but from what I know of knife wounds, that one needs suturing and I can't do that."

The Sith lay quiet for a long moment, "Jaesa believes him." She stated suddenly, "She feels he's telling the truth now."

"She…told you that?" Vette frowned, could they talk like that? She wasn't sure.

"No, not really, but she's calmed down." The woman sighed, "She nearly gave into the Dark side. Because she cares about me…"

"Jaesa? She'd be terrifying if she turned to the Dark side. You'd have to put a leash on her."

The Sith looked amused, but thoughtful, "I hadn't thought about it but you may be right. Let's go."

"To the medbay?"

"You said I needed sutures, that's where we'll find them."

They reached the medbay only to find the door locked. Vette glanced down the passageway and saw Pierce leaning out of his quarters curiously. She bit her lip, "I think I can slice this, my lord, but we may want to be more discreet." She tilted her head to the side to indicate where the lieutenant was watching.

The Sith glanced at him and waved her hand irritably. Vette watched in amusement as the former black ops soldier's eyes rolled up in his head and he slumped to the ground without a sound. "He won't remember seeing anything."

"Neat trick," Vette commented. She focused on the lock. It was a simple one fortunately or her meager slicing skills would not have been sufficient. She moved slicing to the top of her list of what to practice next. The door slid open silently and she saw Jaesa talking quietly to Quinn as she helped him wrap a bandage around his torso.

They both entered and the Sith closed and relocked the door. Neither of the other two had noticed them yet and they heard the end of their conversation.

"Yes. But I'm not sure you could have." Jaesa was saying. Vette wasn't sure what she was referring to but guessed it had to do with Quinn obeying Baras' orders. Frankly, Vette thought Jaesa had a point. Baras was not the type to leave things to chance and there was no way he'd condone Quinn not doing what he wanted him to.

"What do you mean?" Quinn asked with a slight frown.

"Captain, Baras is a member of the Dark Council, right?" Quinn 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."

Vette grinned as both humans jumped at the sound of the Sith's voice. Quinn's eyes immediately dropped and he was studying the tips of his toes very intently. Jaesa looked nonplussed, "I…I thought I locked that…"

"You did. Vette has many talents. Slicing locks happens to be one of them." Vette grinned again at her master's praise. At least someone thought she was useful.

Vette tuned out as the Sith showed Jaesa the injury and they discussed it. She saw Quinn finally approach the women and tentatively offer to help. The twi'lek had always found she learned more from watching body language than listening to what people said, so she carefully observed the three in the room with her.

Jaesa's posture screamed how uncomfortable she was and how desperate to do something to help make the situation less painful for everyone involved. She eagerly turned from one to the other, as if her undivided attention would help make peace with the couple.

Quinn was miserable. Every line of his body declared defeat, fear, and loss. He didn't think he would ever be forgiven and his posture showed it. More than that, he didn't think he should be forgiven, which meant he was going to argue if he was told he had been.

The Sith was harder to read. She was very good at controlling what those around her saw, and Vette was no exception to her influence. She was, however, more familiar with the Sith than the other two and knew most of her tells by now. Her master was devastated. She played nonchalance, treating Quinn no differently than she ever had when they were with the other crew members, but Vette saw the slightly different tilt to her head that indicated she wasn't as confident as she was acting. Her smiles were just a shade too wide, nothing that anyone else was likely to notice. And she kept flicking at the nail of her right pinky finger. Vette had learned quickly that this was a sign she was uncomfortable.

Vette tuned back in briefly when the Sith mentioned the Voss, explaining about their mystics and the visions they had. She didn't seem to want to share the details of exactly what the mystic had told her though. This told Vette that it had been rather specific and the Sith knew it would be painful, for Quinn at least, to hear it. The fact that the warrior was hesitant to cause the captain more pain spoke volumes to Vette as well.

The Sith was currently talking about Baras, "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 immediately, for once completely serious.

Jaesa nodded, her pretty face was stern, "As will I."

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

Vette thought now would be a great time for a group hug, but she had a feeling that wouldn't go over too well if she suggested it, so she kept quiet.