A/N: so beautiful people of the KOTOR fandom, instead of working on my summary and response paper, I elected to write this chapter. Please excuse any craziness in this chapter, I'm running on green tea and Nyquil (though point them out so I can correct them). I was listening to Coldplay while writting this, so I apologize for some of the darkness in this chapter.

I'm pretty bummed out after writting this chapter. Please cheer me up with your comments. (haha. You don't need to.)

~PlaguedPorcelain

Chapter 10: Everything Burns

And now, that plan was not as convincing as she thought it was. It was her, Mission and Zaalbar cornered in the Lower City Sewers by a bunch of Gamorreans. She couched as she reloaded. "Focus your fire on the soft spots in their armor!" she screamed in Twi'leki, unconsciously, to Mission over the sounds of blasters.

"And where is that?" Mission shouted back.

"Neck! The neck!" The blaster ammo she had was damaged and was not fitting into the gun. "Damn it!"

Zaalbar tossed her a different magazine. "They have no necks," he laughed.

She laughed at his joke and thanked him. Rising, she added her fire to the fight. She took down two before she realized that they were completely outnumbered. Ducking behind some rubble, she started to think. All of the different options she had, only one could actually save them. "Mission!"

The Twi'lek ran to her and crouched beside her, leaving the Wookiee to hold his own. "Yeah?"

"Run. Go find Carth and Canderous. Zaalbar and I can hold them off. You're faster than both of us." She turned and took a couple a shots at the Gamorreans as she felt Zaalbar was letting them advance.

"Who's Carth?"

"Corren. Never mind that. Just find them." She launched a flash grenade at their enemy and saw Mission dart from the corridor. As soon as she left their sights, Landyr stood and fired at the Gamorreans, hoping to draw their fire away from the fleeing Twi'lek.

She dropped to her knees again, checking the magazine. "Force! Really? Zaalbar, any more mags?"

His roared 'no' resonated throughout the room deafening the sound of the blaster fire. She yelled out in the disgusting Gamorrean language. "We surrender to you!" She waited until all of the enemy fire had stop before standing again. She motioned for Zaalbar to come out from behind the pillar where he took cover. She raised her hands in defeat and calmed her breath as they surrounded them.

As they lunged at Zaalbar with an axe, she ran and tried to block their hits on him with her Echani techniques. She caught the handle of one of the axes and plunged it into the chest of a Gamorrean. One of the brutes grabbed her about the waist and turned her towards him. He snorted in his vile language. "You kill many of good men, human female. You pay." He lifted her and with huge force threw her against the nearby wall, knocking her unconscious.

Zaalbar growled at the slavers as they stripped her of her clothing and placed a neural band on her head before she could wake.

X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X

Just as they had fought off the rakghouls, they saw the form of a blue female Twi'lek sprinting towards them. She looked panicked and could barely catch her breath when she stopped before them. Carth lowered his raised blaster as he recognized her from the cantina, the one who had told him where Landyr had been. Canderous scowled and asked gruffly, "What do you want, Mission?"

"You have to help them! The… the Gamorreans… they have them! Please! She told me… you need to come and help me save them! Please!" She stumbled through her words, being out of breath, frustrated and confused.

"Slow down, kid," Carth calmed her soothingly. Coming up to her, he reached out a hand to her, grabbing her by the shoulder. Looking into her frightened eyes, he tried to quiet her nerves. "Start from the beginning."

Gulping down a full breath of air, she started slowly. "Zaalbar, Lhare Jast and I went down into the sewers because we were going to break into the Black Vulkar base through the sewers and retrieve the prototype accelerator so that we could win the big swoop race that Bastila is going to be the prize at so that we could give her to Davik so that Lhare can get her medicine back…" She inhaled greatly after her long, continuous sentence. "So we went down into the sewers, but we ran into some Gamorrean slavers and Lhare told me to run and get you guys while she and Zaalbar held them back. I think they were captured! Please, you have to help them!"

"Damn it! I told her to stay put. I'm going to kill her when I get ahold of her," Carth fumed. "Lead us."

Mission led them into the sewers, only having to fight off a few Rakghouls and one Gamorrean patrolman. Right as they rounded the corner to where they had been fighting, Mission whistled. Hearing no growl from Zaalbar, she peeked around the corner. There were four dead Gamorreans and no sign of Zaalbar or Landyr. As she reentered the room she spied a line of blood on the left wall, like a body had crashed into it and slid down. She went to where they had taken cover and found the two empty magazines that Landyr had used, the blaster she had been using, and the damaged magazine. Picking up the blaster, she pushed it into her belt. Zaalbar's crossbow was not there, so the Gamorreans had taken it as well.

"They were here…" she whispered as she watched Carth touch the blood on the wall.

"Landyr," he mumbled, smearing the blood on his fingers. "Where is their encampment?"

"Not too much farther down, I think." Mission ran from the room and took the left. Backing out quickly, she took cover behind a pillar that jutted out from the wall. Blaster fire followed. The huge Gamorreans waddled out from the room with an angry swagger. Canderous and Carth let loose their fire upon the brutes and soon the slavers were dead.

Carth checked his leg, feeling along the singed hole in his pants that was created from blaster fire. Coming to the conclusion he was okay, he looked around and immediately asked, "Everyone okay?"

'Yes' came from both of Canderous' and Mission's mouth and he led them forward into the room to the left. Neither Landyr nor Zaalbar was there. Looking around in the damp, dark room, Mission pointed to the door on the left.

"This is an old lock. They are probably behind this door. Banging on the door with her gun, she tapped out a pattern. Hearing a roar from Zaalbar, she set about opening the door. It took her the same amount of time it took for Carth and Canderous to check the Gamorrean bodies and collect anything valuable.

Zaalbar launched himself at Mission as soon as she got the door open. As soon as their reunion was done, Zaalbar told Mission, "The human female is unconscious." He led them back into the room.

As they came in, there was a shout from the man in the ugly colored jacket. "Morgana!" He didn't even realize he had shouted his wife's name. He was by Landyr's side immediately, pulling the neural band from her head. Her nakedness was creating lust within him, though his worry for her completely defeated it. She had no visible wounds and there didn't seem to be many bruises. He took her face in his hands and lightly slapped her. "Hey, Kasra. No sleeping on the job."

She moaned, trying to move away from him. He hit her a little harder. "I know you can hear me, sweetheart. Don't even try to pretend you're asleep." To his relief, she opened her eyes. They registered his appearance and she cracked a smiled.

"Whoops. Busted." He let her lean against the moist wall of the room and sat down next to her as his knees were aching from crouching. "So," she breathed out in a rattled sigh, "How's it going?"

Canderous swaggered over, pointing his gun at her head. "You are an idiot. Next time I'll shoot you before you worry your boyfriend to death," he gestured to Carth.

"We aren't dating." They replied in unison, voices low and serious.

"Right…"

Zaalbar had finished telling Mission about how Landyr had stood up for him even when they were surrounded and her bravery. Mission crouched down next to Landyr and spoke in Twi'leki. "He's declared a life debt to you for your courage. He says you faced five armed Gamorreans unarmed. He said you are a practitioner of the Echani Arts."

Replying, she nodded. "I understand his commitment he has made to me…though I think it foolish. He is right about my Echani..." Returning to Basic, she addressed Zaalbar. "My friend, I am honored you would do such sacrifice." He growled at her in appreciation. He was like a child too.

X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X

Carth supported much of her weight and heard every stifled moan of pain. Her shoulder was dislocated and her ankle was turned. Both happened from being tossed against the wall. Both were made worse by having three seizures. They were so violent; she was the ground in less than a second when they struck. Carth took it upon himself to hold on to her so that if she did have another seizure he could try to prevent her from damaging her brain further.

They didn't speak as they moved their way through the sewers towards the force field Mission spoke about. Every time they'd slow up a bit for Carth and Landyr, Carth would lean her against the walls of the sewers and check her injuries. He'd ask her soft questions. He'd give her that look. The concerned one.

As soon as they made it past the force field, Carth sat Landyr down and motioned for a group meeting. He sat and pulled Landyr into his lap, holding her tight against him, trying to stop her seizures from injuring her. He thought nothing of it and he could not see her blushing face. "I'll put the field back up. Landyr and I will camp here tonight. You guys can scout and kill the rakghouls and Gamorreans or whatever that lie on our path ahead. I have to help her."

As if taking a cue, she stiffened and shuddered in his arms as a seizure rocked through her body. Slumping against him in unconsciousness, she was defeated. He ran a hand through her hair, trying his best to comfort her.

"You're staying here too, Mission," Canderous ordered. Zaalbar backed him up with a roar. Surprisingly to the Wookiee, she didn't protest. The Wookiee and Mandalorian headed out and Mission set about putting the force field back up.

Carth leaned his forehead on her uninjured shoulder and listened to her deep breathing, waiting for her to wake. Deciding it wouldn't be anytime soon, he set her ankle, massaging it to relieve some of the pain. Injecting her system with a kolto shot, he was happy to see the swelling diminish. Then, he set about repositioning her dislocated shoulder. Grimacing, he quickly righted it, earning a moan from her and fluttering eyes. "Mornin', beautiful."

With a shudder, she reached for him and pulled him against her. "Carth…" Nuzzling into his neck, she breathed in his scent. "I saw the truth!" Her voice was timid and frightened.

He pulled her in tighter. "Slowly. Think slowly."

"I saw fire everywhere. Fire I started… And then the Shadows consumed the land and the fire. Birds plummeted from the air to the earth, having the air strangled from their throats. The planet was fractured and burnt and broken; I could smell it. And then I could see them. Countless ghosts of those I've killed. Their screaming does not stop. I can still hear them. I hear the words they scream: Mass Shadow Generator." She cried in his arms, shaking so badly her teeth rattled. "What did I do?"

Carth was taken aback. The one who had built the Mass Shadow Generator was a Zabrak. The one who had ordered it being built was Revan, who was now dead. And the one who ordered it to be used was Karia Sveron. He knew the Zabrak and Karia personally and Revan was a male… Why was she having such nightmares? "Do you remember anything about Malachor V?"

"Why would I? Bastila told me I served in the war, but I don't know if I served on Malachor. If I did, I'm lucky to have survived." She hung her head low, whether it was in pain or in shame was debatable.

Carth shifted his weight as he sat down again, moving so that his arm went around her and she laid her head on his chest. "You described the battle on Malachor V. You could only know such horrors if you had been there. Hardly anyone talks about Malachor for it to be common knowledge. We just know that terrible things happened there because of Revan. That is where he was corrupted. That was his 'birthplace'." Carth smoothed a curl away from her face, adoring the cute curls that created a little afro.

"Who am I?" She wept silently. "Why can't I rememb – ah." She shook as another seizure took over and she collapsed onto his lap, where he let her stay. It broke his heart to see her like this. She was doing well on the medicine: she didn't have as many nightmares, certainly she had no seizures, and she was more confident in herself and acted more maturely. He had seen the decline to her infantile behavior that had occurred over the last month, give or take. Had it really been a month?

Mission came back from fixing the force field. It was back up and working well to keep the rakghouls out. She sat against the far wall, fiddling nervously. Piping up, she asked, quietly, "What's her name?"

Carth did not stop his ministrations on her head, continuing to play with her hair. "Landyr Kasra."

"You're Republic, aren't you? That's why you want the Jedi. I know she isn't just some ordinary officer. I've heard the name before. She's the one who defeated Darth Revan." Mission brought one of her lekku over her shoulder to softly play with the end of it.

"Yes. We're with the Republic and Bastila is the Jedi that defeated Revan. Earlier, you said that Landyr wanted to give Bastila to Davik? That's not going to happen. She knows that Bastila is very important. She also realizes that she will not sacrifice someone else to save her own skin. Landyr is better than that."

"Then, she'll keep having seizures like that. She needs the medicine and Davik is the only one who has control over the production of medicine on Taris." Mission stopped playing with her lekku to fidget with her splicer. "I don't see why you'd want to make her suffer."

Carth's hand stopped. He sat up a little straighter and lowered his voice. "She's not my wife."

"I never said she was. Though, it seems like you care a lot for her."

Neither Carth nor Mission was aware of Landyr waking up. She didn't open her eyes as she heard the words spill from Carth's mouth. "I could never think of her as being my spouse. I only care for her because it gives me a goal to achieve. I abhor her morals. She'll sleep with anyone under the sun for personal gain, but she finds it bad to leave a dead man or woman without saying a prayer or at least closing their eyes. There is an imbalance, I think. The fact she extorts her sexuality and manipulates people makes me sick. I don't see how she is helpful what-so-ever to the Republic or why the Jedi would even pick her to assist Bastila. I can't trust her." As he looked down, ashamed he had to dispel any feelings he had for her, he looked straight into her jade-colored eyes.

"I'm sorry, Carth." She sat up, grasping at her head as it spun. She got to her feet shakily, and bolted down the corridor.

Mission let Carth chase her down, not bothering to stop either one.

"Landyr! Landyr, stop! You're not well enough!" He could almost catch up with her; she was just out of reach.

"Not enough for you, you mean!" Yelling at him slowed her down. She closed her eyes in horror as he caught her and spun her around so that he could back her up against the wall. As her back pressed into the dampness behind her, she glared at him. "Don't I make you sick?" The venom and hurt in her voice tore at his heart. "Oh, that's right. She's a whore. She doesn't really have feelings."

"I didn't mean any of that," he whispered harshly to her.

"It seemed to me you damned well did. What is your problem with me?" She struggled in his grasp, but he held her steady.

Tears formed in his eyes, but he quickly dismissed them by blinking rapidly, though his voice was still raw and rough. "I keep seeing Morgana in you. Your stubbornness, courage, perfection," his voice was barely audible. "I keep comparing you to her to make me feel better." She did not resist him as he rested his forehead on her shoulder.

Sensing something, she calmed her anger and hurt and asked, "What did she do to you?"

Carth raised his head and she could see his dark eyes cloud over with tears again. "She had an affair with my best friend and mentor. My son, Dustil… Admiral Saul Karath is Dustil's father." Clearing his voice, he murmured, "Every time I see you with another man, I think of her. I don't want her to ruin you…"

Landyr had lost all of her anger as she picked through everything he had said since she had woken. He had thought of his wife and taken it out on her. That's the mantra she had to tell herself to feel slightly better. Leaning forward, she positioned her face close to his. She spoke gently. "I won't let her ruin me."

The day before, she had kissed him, though it was unaffectionate in both parties. The one they shared there in the damp sewers drove cold thoughts and hurt feelings far from their minds. Though it lasted for a mere breath, they felt cleansed.

Hurt flooded her eyes again with a slight glisten of amusement. "That was your only free-be, jacket." Darkly she thought, And it is the last kiss. I cannot love you.

A/N: The title is taken from a very good song by Anastacia. I challenge you to listen to it.

Serious Inquiry: Those of you have followed this story or favorited or even read this before, why do you not leave comments? I'd love to hear feedback from you as well! Though, you do not have to review. I will not make you.

Coy questioning: How was this chapter? Was it too dark? By escalating her brain condition, have I backed myself into a corner? Do you think Landyr will be willing to trade in Bastila for her medicine? Was a confused and angsty Carth too much in this chapter? Did you catch my teaser for the next story in this chapter?

BIG QUESTION: What do you think about what I've done with Morgana and Dustil? Do you really hate me?

~PlaguedPorcelain

Please review. I'd love to hear your opinions: big and small, kind or not so... I challenge you to review! It even rhymes.

PS: If you are the first to review, I shall review one of yours: a nice lengthy review. If you are the first to catch the teaser in this chapter, then I will feature your username, for a week, on my profile with the note: I here dub thee 'Knight of the Old Republic teaser-finder'. Your reward for such courage is this moustached smiley. :K