Disclaimer: Anything you recognize belongs to George Lucas/Disney. Anything you don't recognize probably also belongs to them.

Avoidance

Luke sat back and huffed slightly as he wiped his synth-oil stained hands on the pants of his maintenance coverall. When the blonde was satisfied that his blackened hands were at least dry - even if they remained just as grimy as before - he reached for his canteen and twisted the top off. He tilted the canteen back and took several thirsty gulps, his eyelids sliding shut as the liquid relieved his dry throat.

Once he finished Luke released a satisfied breath and opened his eyes again before he closed the container with a quick twist and tossed it lightly to the side. It landed near him with a clang on the durasteel floor, though the sound was muffled in the busy hangar. With his thirst now sated he turned his focus back to the project he had been working on and eyed it with satisfaction. With a few deft motions he returned power to the rocket booster he had been repairing and woke the small droid from its low-power mode.

"Pretty sure I got the left booster fixed if you want to run a diagnostic check on it bud," Luke said with a light grin.

The blue and white droid that was nearly his height when he was sitting trilled merrily and rocked side to side on its treads, text scrolling across the screen of Luke's datapad that was currently hooked to it, "There appear to be no problems Master Luke."

Luke's smile broadened, "Good to hear. I'd rather not end up with a cloud of black smoke to the face like yesterday."

The astromech made a downward shifting whistle and rotated back and forth slightly, distinctly reminding Luke of a pouting child as text crossed the screen, "How was I to know my exhaust vents had build up in them?"

Luke chuckled and patted the little droid's dome fondly, "The same way I should've realized it probably."

Artoo appeared to eye him for a moment quietly before the next text scrolled across the screen, "Can I try them out Master Luke? I've missed flying."

Luke grinned in excitement, "Of course bud. I've never seen an astromech fly before." He paused momentarily then joked, "Just let me get out of the blast range this time."

The droid squawked indignantly, "You're the one that fixed me, do you not trust your own handiwork?!"

"After getting coated in soot yesterday? No, not particularly," Luke pointed out.

The droid released a short gust of air that sounded decidedly like a scoff, "It's not that hard to clean up."

"Ha," Luke rolled his eyes after he read Artoo's response, "Maybe if you're made of metal. My coveralls are never going to be the same."

"Your coveralls are made to get dirty Master Luke," the droid quipped with a noise similar to a human clicking their tongue in disapproval.

"Oh hush," Luke snorted, "Are you planning on checking the boosters today or not?"

The droid whirred in amused annoyance and detached itself from the holopad with its clawed manipulator tool before it wheeled itself away from Luke. Luke heard a slight whir as the boosters extended, and a click that indicated the droid was initiating its boosters without pausing. The small noise was followed immediately by the woosh of igniting flames. In less time than it took to blink bright blue flames shot towards the floor and began lifting the little droid into the air.

The R2 unit released a sound that Luke could only describe as joy with a hint of smugness, and Luke whooped with it, basking in their success. Artoo shifted its stabilizers back and forth to test its balance before it proceeded to dart around the hangar eliciting yelps and various other sounds of shock from the others spread across the space, reminding Luke that they had an audience. The droid rocketed towards him, flying parallel to the floor, before it righted itself with a swift swivel and lowered itself smoothly in front of Luke. As the boosters extinguished Luke heard a single person applauding.

He turned and saw Wedge watching with a grin, "You know, when you said Artoo could fly I thought you were crazy. Whoever modded that thing before Captain Antilles got it is either a genius or is kriffing insane." He crouched over and looked at the boosters with a low whistle, "Very nice." He drew out the first word easily emphasizing how impressed he was, "Are you sure Artoo isn't an espionage droid in an astromech shell? I certainly wondered it often enough and that was before I knew the little dude could fly."

Luke felt an odd twinge of what might have been pride for his father's work, but he quickly quashed it. That was his father from the past. He couldn't even image Darth Vader bothering with droids now; the idea was just too incongruous with what he knew of the Sith Lord.

He focused back on the moment not allowing his straying thoughts to ruin his good mood, "I'm sure, I've seen the schematics. Artoo's too strange to be an espionage droid," he laughed brightly, "You should see some of the stuff that's been added in."

"Oh? How'd you manage to get a look at the schematics? Can I see them?" Wedge asked, his curiosity plainly visible.

Luke struggled to keep himself from shifting awkwardly. It had been two days since the events in the hangar at Haven base, and this was the first time he had mentioned anything from the day to anyone. Artoo saved him from answering by warbling a negative. Relief that he didn't want to admit to rushed through him and Luke lifted his eyebrows in confusion at the droid's response. The small droid rolled over to him as if prompting him for something. Luke quickly realized the droid wanted to speak to them and reconnected Artoo with the holopad.

Text immediately began to fill the screen and Luke skimmed the aurebesh characters as his eyebrows rose further, "What do you mean only I can view the schematics? I thought you unencrypted it?"

The droid made an offended blat sound and more words appeared, "I un-encoded the simplest part. The rest of the encryption encodes it so that only your biometrics will allow access. If Master Ani wants something hidden it stays that way."

Luke barely had time to wonder how in the hells Vader had managed to allow R2D2's coding to allow for this when he realized what the droid had done, though it was likely unintentional.

"Master Ani?" Wedge asked and Luke couldn't help it, he cringed.

He schooled his features into a placid façade as quickly as he could and spoke in a blasé tone, "Ah yeah, he owned Artoo Captain Antilles did."

"Oh? I never heard about that. As far as I knew he had been wiped after the Death Star's blueprints were retrieved from him; sly little thing isn't he?" Wedge said, a calculating look in his eye as he observed the droid.

The droid whirred nervously as it realized its mistake and Luke forced a sigh. If he didn't act quickly the droid would be in trouble, "Artoo's been avoiding a memory wipe for a while. Can't say I'd blame a droid for that honestly."

Wedge gave him an odd look, "If you say so." He didn't say it, but Luke could almost hear him think that droids got wiped all the time and wonder what the big deal was, "Do you know who the mysterious Master Ani with the insane coding skill and modification ideas is?"

Luke stiffened and his mind raced. Did he tell Wedge the safer part of the truth? He was his friend, but he found he had a hard time trusting information about himself to others these days.

What if they start making connections?

'They would never trust you again. They might even kill you,' the voice he had only heard once before crackled across his consciousness and he felt his skin crawl before he shoved the voice away.

No. He wouldn't believe it. He had friends here. In a sudden burst of stubborn recklessness he spoke, "Anakin." He gulped dryly as he realized what he had done, then set his jaw and spoke again, "Anakin Skywalker. My father." A warm feeling rose in his chest at finally getting to tell someone, and he couldn't tell if it was a good one or a bad one. It somehow made everything seem more real.

Wedge's jaw dropped, "Anakin Skywalker? As in the Jedi General that died during the coupe at the end of the Republic?"

Luke winced at the last part, "You've heard of him?"

"Of course! I mean, not much obviously since everything pre-empire is heavily censored, but I know that much at least," the other man paused, "Though I didn't think you knew who your father was." He shrugged and another thought seemed to snag his attention, "Who would have thought that out of everyone in the known galaxies you'd be related to him." He grinned, "Though I guess I should have figured that out. It would certainly explain the weird Jedi stuff," he waggled his fingers and chuckled.

Luke's jaw tensed and he forced himself to relax as he drew on the soothing comfort of the Force. Wedge hadn't meant anything by it. A lack of understanding was normal. It should have been expected.

"People will always fear anything they do not understand," Irys' accented voice taunted him and he shoved that down too.

He really needed to meditate. His mood had been completely irregular lately, and he felt like his own mind was turning against him.

If only he could do it properly. It had been so much easier on Dagobah. No sentient minds and emotions to distract and influence him. It was only his own mind and Yoda's wise and calm presence.

The other presences in the hangar - in the entire base really - began to feel like they were pressing in on him calling for his attention, and Luke felt a sudden an irrational and almost primal need to lash out at the other presences and just make them shut up.

His body hummed with energy that cried for release, and it was only the pain of his fingernails digging into his clenched left palm that allowed him to think clearly enough to realize where his turbulent thoughts were taking him. He abruptly turned away from Wedge and scrubbed at his forehead with the heels of his grease blackened hand while he fought to settle his emotions and the Force that thrummed through him like adrenaline.

Strength. Wild and untamed.
Like a current.

He felt the Force ripple around him and he abruptly turned to snatch Wedge's hand from its path to his shoulder and immediately shoved the hand away even as Wedge cried out in pain, energy arcing between them even with the short contact.

"Don't touch me right now," Luke hissed in what might have been worry or animosity, his voice cracking from the feel of the untamed waves of energy surging to crackle over his skin. Oddly it didn't hurt, but he knew he needed to stop it because it had hurt Wedge. Whatever it was.

"What the hell is going on Luke?!" Wedge scowled, "What are you doing?" He shook his hand and flexed it with a wince.

"Not my fault," Luke grit out and focused on his ragged breathing in an attempt to ignore the gathering crowd and its chaotic emotions in favour of the tempest that his own had become.

It was all their fault he couldn't meditate. Too many emotions. Too close.

He could make it all stop. He knew it. He knew. It would be easy.

He WANTED to.

His nails dug deeper into his palm and it was barely enough to pull him back from an edge he didn't know how he had reached.

No. He was better than this.

He tried desperately to reach for some semblance of calm but the current spiked through him and his back arched, the sudden intense pain making him scream, though no noise left him.

The agony continued in waves for what felt like eternity. No thoughts, just painful sensory overload.

Then...

'You shouldn't bottle up your emotions Luke dear. You know better than that,' Aunt Beru's soft voice somehow loud as it echoed through his mind from the past, but instead of filling him with sorrow it just made him angry.

He nearly felt the vitriol climb up his throat and his next thought lashed across his consciousness causing his face warp into a snarl, "Shut up you kriffing farm-bitch!"

Suddenly everything felt like it screeched to a halt. Roaring filled his ears as the energy abruptly drained out of him leaving him feeling weak.

His eyes widened.

Oh Force.

His breathing sped up and he twisted his fingers into his hair and pulled harshly. Why had he thought that? Had he said it aloud? He couldn't even tell. Distantly he felt a tentative hand touch his shoulder and pull back quickly before it returned and settled down on his shoulder. After a moment the hand shook him gently.

A voice swirled into his thoughts, "Luke? Luke, can you hear me?" He looked up haltingly and focused.

Wedge. Loyal, good Wedge.

Luke pulled his hands out of his hair without untangling it, yanking strands free as he did so, and gripped at Wedge's shoulder desperately, "Something's wrong with me. Stars. Oh stars, oh stars," he mumbled weakly, his voice small, like a youngling's.

Wedge pulled him closer, supporting him awkwardly and hushed him, "It'll be alright Luke. Whatever it is it'll be okay."

Luke's frantic breathing gradually slowed into hiccups making him laugh bitterly, "A wanna-be Jedi with hiccups. You've gotta be kidding me."

Luke looked over at Wedge as the man took on a faux serious expression and spoke, "It's a good thing we're the only ones here, imagine what hiccups would do for your reputation as a mystical Force user."

Luke barely managed to crack a smile at the man's attempt to lighten the situation as he looked around the hangar. He realized his friend must have cleared the hangar of onlookers at some point.

How had he doubted his friend?

He avoided thinking of the implications and sighed as he shifted away from the other man uncomfortably, "Thank you."

Wedge shrugged, "Scaring off the masses is one of the many skills I have to offer with my friendship."

Luke huffed lightly feeling the ghost of amusement as he attempted to stand with a groan, "Force, whatever that was I feel like bantha fodder,"

The older pilot frowned, "We should probably get you to a medic. Are you sure you should be standing?"

Luke's eyes widened at the mention of a medic, the last thing he needed right now was for this to be on his health record before leading a squad in a mission, "I'll be fine, I just need to meditate."

Wedge's frown deepened, "Call me crazy, but I don't think that was just a Force thing. Come on, I know a medic. She'll be discreet."

Luke swallowed dryly, unable to meet his friend's gaze. He hesitated for a moment and licked his dry lips before he nodded jerkily, "Fine, if it makes you feel better."

Wedge made a show of rolling his eyes as he clasped Luke by the shoulders and half supported, half pushed Luke in the direction of the hangar door, "Believe me, it does. We don't need you going around and shocking people on accident."

Luke worried at his lower lip with his teeth, oddly twitchy despite feeling grim, "Yeah, that was new. I don't know what happened." A muscle in Luke's leg spasmed and he barely kept himself from falling as he caught himself on a wall.

"Karking hells," he breathed as the spasm stopped and Wedge helped prop him back up.

"Don't even try and say you don't need a medic now Skywalker," Wedge said, his voice serious, "Whatever happened, something is obviously wrong."

Luke grimaced and nodded, his left hand spasming slightly as they continued down the ship's halls. As they drew closer to their destination Luke tentatively reached out to the Force to help support himself, but his focus quickly faltered as tremors started going through his body.

Wedge looked at him, his worry clear in his expression, and cursed, "Come on Luke, just a bit further."

Luke nodded, his teeth chattering as chills danced across his body. By the time they reached the medic's wing Luke was being wracked with spasms, and his body felt heavy. Luke was barely aware of being dragged into a room and being put on a cot before Wedge suddenly reappeared with a middle aged Mirialan, her green skin and facial tattoos standing out to him even in his current state.

The woman took one look at him and shot questions at Wedge rapidly, though Luke wasn't able to understand what she was saying. He was distantly aware of her as she checked his vitals and even more distantly he felt the sting of a hypospray.

Suddenly his muscles un-tensed and he drew in a deep grateful breath realizing that he didn't know when he had last been able to draw in air. As whatever she had injected him with kicked in he felt like his body was becoming a limp puddle even as his muscles screamed in pain from the abuse they had been put through. For several long minutes he focused on nothing but breathing and the slight tremor that remained in his limbs. Finally he opened his eyes to see a clearly agitated red-headed Mirialan standing beside his black-haired friend who looked like he had aged from worry somewhere between the hangar and the medbay.

The woman clearly noticed he was finally lucid, "How in the Nine Corellian Hells did you get electrocuted?" she snapped, "And twice in the recent past for that matter?!"

Luke winced at her tone and tried so speak around the weak feeling that permeated his body, wincing at the stab of pain that indicated he had bitten his tongue at some point. It hadn't swollen badly yet, but he knew it would get worse, "Ah, my droid kind of electrocuted me the othe-"

She cut him off abruptly, "Your droid did what?! Droids aren't supposed to harm their masters! That thing should be scrapped if its programming is that skewed." Luke could feel her indignant irritation radiating off of her accompanied by a building pain.

He snatched himself back from the Force with a wince before he shook his head, "No, it was trying to help me."

She crossed her arms across her chest and glared at him, her violet eyes flashing, "And electrocution helped you how?"

"I have Force visions I can't get out of sometimes," he muttered cagily.

"Right. And somehow electricity is the solution? You're lucky you didn't have a heart attack then because you certainly appear to have had one today, and you nearly went into shock on top of it!" she snapped. Luke cringed as she turned to Wedge, "And you have no idea how he was electrocuted today?"

Wedge shrugged helplessly, "One second he was fine, the next he went sort of quiet. I tried to check on him and he freaked out." A brief flicker of what might have been fear crossed his expression, "Luke only touched me for a second and the shock made my hand go numb for a few minutes. I've never seen anything like it."

Luke cringed under their questioning gaze, "It was the Force. I don't know what happened though, it's never done that."

The woman sighed, "Well that's just bizarre. I don't claim to know much about the Force, I was raised away from my people's home planet, but I know it's pretty dependent on the user's state of mind. What were you thinking about?"

Luke immediately clammed up, "Just stuff."

The woman snorted, "Right, and I'm going to grow fur and turn into a wookie. I know evasion when I hear it." She continued to glare at him until he finally spoke.

"Nothing good," he muttered and she nodded with a tisking sound.

"You're the one that joined right after his parents died and immediately blew up a million Imperials then proceeded to jump right back into the fighting," she stated bluntly.

Luke felt as if he was shrinking in on himself, "Um… pretty much. It was my Aunt and Uncle, but I guess you're right otherwise."

She shrugged, "They raised you though, right?" He nodded and she continued, "I've seen my fair share of people like you and almost every single one of them has Post Traumatic Stress. It's dangerous enough for them, and for those around them when they get sent out to fight. If you mix the Force with that?" She shook her head, her short bobbed hair rustling with the motion, "What you really need is a psychological evaluation."

Luke blanched, "I'm sure it's not that bad. I just need to meditate. I haven't had the chance to lately."

She eyed him, her sharp violet eyes seeming to look into him and read his emotional state like a book. He wondered if she might be Force sensitive in her own species' way, "Somehow I doubt you haven't had the time," she muttered and sighed as she ran her hand across her brow. "Look, I get that you're not exactly in a position that you can take a break from, especially not when we're starting a mission in just over two days, but between now and then I need you to take some time to relax. Hang out with some friends, watch a holodrama, meditate, whatever you think will help you, because if the Force is damaging you when you're stressed that can't mean anything good."

She turned to Wedge, "If he gets worse you better make him go see someone. I don't care if he wants it or not, you're his friend. Take care of him or I will."

Luke felt a flicker of irritation and chastised himself, she was only trying to help. A ghost of the earlier pain echoed through him and he suppressed a moan.

Wedge smiled grimly, "Thank you Tululi, you're the best."

The woman clicked her tongue in disagreement, "If I were the best he would be on bed-rest and seeing a mind-healer within the day. War makes things less simple." She sighed and returned her attention to Luke, "You're going to be sore for the next few days, but the muscle relaxer I included in the hypo should help with that. You're lucky whatever happened didn't last longer. The readout didn't show any serious damage to your organs or bone decalcification, but if this happens more than once I wouldn't be surprised if it started to cause damage of that magnitude."

Luke nodded seriously, "Thank you for this Miss Tululi. And thank you for not telling anyone."

She pursed her lips in disapproval, "Don't thank me for that, I'm stepping over the line into malpractice here. I'm staying quiet because Wedge is a good friend of mine and because there might be some Jedi solution to what's wrong with you. Do not make me regret this." She looked at him sternly, "Now get going before you get seen. If you need anything Wedge knows my comlink frequency."

Luke nodded and slid gingerly off of the cot, "Sorry to cause you trouble ma'am."

She rolled her eyes, "Go on before I think better of all of this and put it in the records." She paused and smiled in an almost wolfish manner, "Or strap you to the bed and treat you properly."

Luke recoiled from the idea, "Right. Let's get going Wedge." He turned and exited the room with Wedge trailing behind him, both silent and on edge for several minutes as they made their way to the residential part of the base.

As they neared his room Luke spoke quietly, his voice subdued, "Thanks Wedge, you probably saved my life."

Wedge tried for a smile, "Oh good, that's one less I owe you."

Luke managed a slight smile as well at the man's attempt to lighten the mood.

Wedge really was a good friend.

"By the way I'm not letting you out of my sight for at least a week," the older man pointed out with a smirk.

Luke stared at him blankly for a moment feeling the sudden urge to bang his head on the wall, "Sithspit."


Irys Arr'ojia stepped quickly away from the medbay, her booted feet barely a whisper on the metal floor despite her species' enhanced hearing, as she made her way smoothly towards the forward section of the Corellia's Luck. She made several turns before she arrived at her destination and hit the door chime alerting the person behind the door that she was there. Her posture subtly shifted and straightened to match her contact's expectations of professionalism as she waited.

When the door slid open it revealed the sharp features of the blonde ex-imperial officer turned Alliance Supreme Commander, and she nodded at him in greeting. He returned the nod and spoke, his voice kurt, "Come in Agent Iris. I take it you have something that needs to be passed along to the Council?"

"Indeed," she replied with a tone that matched his, a slight rippling in her fur the only sign of her nerves as she stepped inside his quarters and the door shut behind her. She stepped no further than the entryway and fell into a loose parade rest as his piercing eyes watched her.

"And what precisely is it that you wish to pass along? It wouldn't happen to have anything to do with the rumours already spreading about an incident revolving around Lieutenant Commander Skywalker in the hangar would it? I was considering having it investigated."

Irys nodded crisply, "You are correct Sir, it is information about that occurrence. I have been passively observing him as I was instructed and was in the vicinity when it happened. Visually it appeared as though Commander Skywalker was having something similar to a seizure, however when Wedge Antilles touched him momentarily it appeared to injure the other man. In addition Skywalker's reaction to Antilles' attempted contact was far faster than the normal reflexes expected in a human. He appeared to react before Antilles had even begun to reach toward him, likely preventing Antilles from further injury due to prolonged contact. At that point Antilles began clearing the hangar and I was forced to relocate to a distance that would not attract attention. At one point Skywalker yelled something, but the hangar distorted his words.

"When I next saw both of them leaving the hangar Skywalker appeared to be physically weakened and agitated. I followed them discreetly to the medical bay, though I was unable to get close during the interaction that occurred in the room without risk of detection. The room is assigned to a Mirialan female medic named Tululi Jifu. Upon slicing into her system it became apparent that she had not logged anything in relation to the interaction, however the most recent readings registered in the bio-scanner showed evidence of recent electrocution and a likely Myocardial Infarction, known colloquially as a heart attack."

The information seemed to spark something in the stoic man's eyes and though he did not allow his expression to change Irys easily identified it as a satisfied determination. Given what she knew of the man's history and personality she doubted that her information was going to make it back to the High Council. She filed the information away in her mind passively. The possibility was to be expected and now was not the time to appear distracted by her thoughts.

The man inclined his head slightly in a nod before he spoke, "This is certainly something that will need to be considered. Given what you know do you believe he is capable to continue functioning as the Commander of the Rogues for this mission?"

Already expecting the question Irys spoke, her answer planned prior to reaching the man's cabin, "Given what I know of Jedi regenerative abilities combined with modern medicine he has sufficient time to recover before we leave hyperspace. The only unknown that requires consideration at this time is the cause of the incident; I strongly suggest investigation to determine the cause, the likelihood of repeated occurrences, and ways to prevent such an occurrence from happening again. I feel confident that barring another incident such as this Lieutenant Commander Skywalker will be fit for duty."

The man appeared to contemplate her words before nodding again, "In that case we shall proceed as planned with the mission. Continue to monitor him and attain what information about today's events that you can. Your new assignment to his squad should aid in your information gathering capacity."

"Yes Sir, it will allow for my investigations to be far more in-depth," she affirmed. "I will take full advantage of the situation to gather useful information."

The serious man smiled slightly, his eyes giving away that was clearly forced, "Thank you for the information and your discretion as always Agent Iris."

Irys brought her feet together and bowed slightly at the waist before straightening her stance again, "As you are aware I do no more than what my duty to my people and my clan has required of me in my interactions with the Alliance. Any thanks that you may have shall be conveyed to the Bothan Council should you wish it." She saw a definite flash of distaste towards the way her species functioned and knew it was because he believed her people had no loyalty to anything aside from money - much like mercenaries and bounty hunters. She did not allow it to bother her; few cared enough to learn about the society she was born into.

"You may pass my compliments on to your Council," he stated dryly. "If that is all then you may go Agent."

Irys executed a smooth about-face and strode out of the room as soon as he had palmed the sliding door open. The door hissed shut behind her and she walked off in the direction of her assigned quarters, her brisk stride taking her deep into the bowels of the vessel. The further she moved from the man's hallway the more her stance relaxed, though her footsteps remained inaudible to human ears.

She smiled slightly to herself. That had gone well.

AN: As you can probably guess I've been busy. I'm moving and it's thrown a wrench in the works of… well… everything.

Anyway, I hope this chapter turned out well since I wrote the rough-draft for the beginning of it all at once and the later parts quite a few days (read: weeks) later.

As per usual I remain un-beta'd.

Edit: 02/23/16 I would like to thank the lovely Virodeil for pointing out several things that needed help in this chapter. I had assumed (wrongly) that Captain Antilles and Wedge Antilles were related. We all know what happens when you assume. I changed this and it will have little to no bearing on the story. I also attempted to clean up the beginning to make it flow more smoothly. Hopefully I succeeded.

In addition, due to Virodeil and MugetsuPipefox's reviews I realized that part of what I had written in the scene in the hangar (you know the part) was not fully conveying what I intended it to and I edited that as well though not overmuch. It IS intended to be vague after all.

Random Info:

- Yes, Irys and Tulilu are both OCs

- R2-D2 apparently has a head-dress detangler, a flea remover, an inflatable mattress, and a jukebox included in his many strange "enhancements" over the time of the EU (now Legends)

- Hyposprays span across more than just the Star Wars universe, and in fact appear to originate from the Star Trek universe to avoid the use of hypodermic needles on television (for two fandoms that appear to be at odds so often it's just an interesting tidbit)