Luke has finally returned to the fleet but it may not end up being the joyful reunion that Biggs had hoped it would be. Luke has a dark secret that he fears could change his future.

"Sir, there's a vessel approaching. It just came out of hyperspace."

Admiral Ackbar strode quickly to the defense console where an ensign had a ship tracked on her monitor. The chance of a random ship happening across the fleet's secret location in open space was almost nil, and they weren't expecting the arrival of any Alliance ship either. "Can you identify it?"

The officer ran a scan on it. "No, sir. It has an Alliance code, but the system doesn't recognize the ship's signature. It appears to be a Corellian freighter."

Ackbar's Mon Calamarian face made it difficult to read his expression but he was stunned by this news. He was almost certain it was the Millennium Falcon. "Hail them."

"Yes, sir. A channel is open."

"Corellian freighter, this is Admiral Ackbar. Identify yourselves."

After a brief static, a female voice was heard over the channel. "Admiral? This is Leia Organa aboard the Millennium Falcon. Sorry we're late."

Ackbar gave a Calamarian smile under his rubbery whiskers. "Quite forgiven, princess. Welcome home."

"Thank you, admiral. Commander Skywalker is with me. For now he's stable but he's going to need medical attention when we land."

Yet more good news, despite Skywalker's apparent injuries. Ackbar felt tremendous relief. "Understood. I'll have a medical team sent to the aft main hangar."

The warning alarms sounded in the hangar, announcing that a ship would be docking. Maintenance crews and pilots cleared the area and stood aside as the Millennium Falcon cleared the hangar doors and made its landing. Its repulsors hissed as the landing struts touched the ground, and the boarding ramp lowered.

A group of pilots near the back of the hangar recognized the ship and started talking excitedly. One of them shouted, "Get Biggs!"

Within seconds Biggs came running, heart pounding. The Falcon returning was wonderful news but it could mean any number of things. Hopefully Princess Leia and Captain Solo both made it back safely… and Biggs fiercely hoped that they at least knew Luke's whereabouts. He even dared to entertain the tiny possibility that they'd brought Luke home with them.

He noticed there was a med team taking a repulsor stretcher up the ramp. That didn't look good. It meant someone on board was injured. Biggs stepped as close as he dared, craning his neck to get a glimpse inside the Falcon. He felt excitement but also a sick dread. What if they brought news that Luke had been killed?

Finally, someone was coming down the ramp. Biggs' heart nearly leapt out of his throat but he quickly felt disappointed when he saw a man he didn't recognize. The princess followed him and as she stepped off the ramp she turned to watch the medical crew bring the repulsor stretcher. Biggs wanted to run over to Leia and asked her a million questions but he was afraid of getting in the way. For now he could only watch.

He assumed that Han would be on the stretcher, or maybe yet another person they picked up somewhere. Biggs still had no idea where they'd been. Then, as the stretcher cleared the ramp, the person laying on it became visible.

It took Biggs a moment to recognize Luke, he was so bruised and dirty, but it was definitely him. He couldn't help himself. "Luke!" The amount of relief he felt was indescribable and he forgot all protocol as he sprinted for the stretcher. "Luke!"

Luke's head turned when he heard his name. He was clearly conscious and at least somewhat mobile, Biggs was relieved to see. Other than being a little beaten about, his injuries didn't look too bad. Luke held out his arm to Biggs as he ran over, giving him an exhausted smile, "Biggs…"

As he approached Biggs grinned broadly, though he couldn't help but feel a bit emotional. He gripped Luke's outstretched hand when he was close enough and stepped up next to the stretcher. "Luke! I don't believe it. What—what happened? I—"

Luke started shaking his head. "I'll tell you later. It's a long story."

Right, of course it was. Anything that kept Luke away from the fleet this long must be quite the story and Luke looked far too exhausted to regale him right now. Biggs nodded. "Fair enough. I'm just—" He couldn't properly convey the joy he felt and some of the words he wanted to use didn't seem appropriate in present company. Biggs glanced around at the other personnel, the princess, the med team, the stranger whose name he still didn't know, and felt a bit self-conscious. He'd have to tell Luke how he really felt later, when they were alone.

"Sir, we're going to transfer you to the Redemption for treatment," a member of the medical team said to Luke.

Luke nodded as if he'd been expecting it.

Biggs was confused. The Redemption was a medical frigate used for things like surgeries and bacta treatment and more serious ailments. Luke must be worse off than he looked. As the stretcher was pushed towards the lift that would take them to the shuttle hangar, Biggs worriedly searched Luke for an injury he'd missed and then he saw it, the autotourniquet device on his right arm. His entire hand was missing.

As the stretcher was pushed away from him, Biggs released his grip on Luke's remaining hand and watched him sadly for a moment. Luke must have really been through something. Even though he had returned, alive and safe, Biggs felt a bit of sorrow for him. There was just something about all of this that felt… sad.

Biggs suddenly realized he was standing in the middle of the hangar and staring forlornly, while the crews around him went about their work, occasionally glancing at him and muttering to each other. Most of them knew he and Luke were close. Over by the lift, several higher officers had gathered, including General Rieekan. Biggs approached him determinedly.

"Sir."

"Commander." Rieekan looked almost like he already knew what Biggs was going to ask him.

"Requesting permission to board the Redemption and leave this afternoon's drills to Lieutenant Antilles."

Sure enough, Rieekan wasn't surprised. He did, however, glance over Biggs' shoulder.

Biggs followed his gaze and saw Wedge standing nearby. He gave a thumbs-up, as if to say that he could handle it no problem. He knew how important this was to Biggs.

After a pause to consider the request, and likely thinking back to the last conversation he'd had with Commander Darklighter, Rieekan finally, reluctantly nodded. "Granted."

Biggs let out a breath he'd been holding. "Thank you, sir."

It was several hours before Luke was released from initial surgery. The main implants for his prosthesis had been installed but it would take nearly a week for the synthflesh to grow into place and cover the joint where synthetic limb met real skin. For now the prosthesis was offline and his arm had been bandaged to keep out infection.

He was set up in a recovery room and looked far better than he did before. He was cleaned up and his other, minor wounds had already been healed with bacta spray. Leia had gone back to Home One to handle some debriefing and other important matters. Luke was left alone in the room, reclined on a recovery bed.

They'd given him drugs for the pain and he felt much better physically, but worry still clouded his mind. He wasn't left to his thoughts for long before a mechanical swish told him that someone had just entered the room. He turned his head to see Biggs approaching him somewhat hesitantly. Concern was plainly visible on his face, but there was also immense relief.

Luke smiled at him as genuinely as he could, but he was very tired. He still hadn't gotten a chance to sleep, though right now he doubted he'd be able to.

Biggs sat on a stool next to his bed, looking like he wanted to ask a million different questions. Luke could only imagine how he was feeling, so before he could ask anything, Luke started out. "I know. I know, Biggs. I'm so sorry. I couldn't tell anyone where I was going."

Biggs let out a small breath and seemed to relax a bit. Maybe he was grateful to hear Luke initiating this discussion. "You could have at least told me you were going away for a while."

Luke shook his head. "No, I couldn't. I couldn't have you looking for me if something went wrong."

This put tension back into Biggs' shoulders. He sat quietly for a moment, then finally said, "You went to the Dagobah system."

Luke's eyes went round in surprise. "How do you know that?"

"You talked in your sleep." Biggs smirked.

Out in the storm, Luke guessed. That was the last night he and Biggs had spent together, after Ben spoke to him. He sighed, somewhat disappointed in himself. It really said something about Biggs that he knew where Luke was but still didn't go after him. He must have realized that it could ruin Luke's plans. After all these years, the trust between them continued to grow. "I found a Jedi Master there. Yoda. Apparently he's been in exile for years. I learned a lot from him but I don't know if it'll be enough."

"That's why you went." It wasn't a question. Biggs knew how anxious Luke had been over the fact that his Jedi training had been at a standstill for three years. He didn't understand much about it, but he was supportive anyway and Luke always appreciated that.

"Yeah. I couldn't miss that opportunity. It was too important, but I knew going there on my own would be dangerous. That's why I didn't say anything."

Biggs nodded. He gestured to Luke's arm. "How did that happen?"

Luke glanced down at the bandages and felt a tinge of dread. There were certain things he didn't want to talk about yet; he wasn't ready, and he still hadn't decided how much he was going to say. Admitting his mistakes might be a good place to start, though. "I found out Han and Leia had gotten themselves into trouble on Bespin, at a mining facility called Cloud City. Han apparently had a friend there. I—made some bad calls. It turned out to be a trap. The Empire had taken over the city and Vader used Han and Leia as bait to draw me there."

By now Biggs looked alarmed. "You faced Vader? On your own?!"

At first Luke assumed that Biggs was admonishing him. "I know. Believe me, I know. I wasn't ready and I almost didn't make it out of there. I learned my lesson about a thousand times over, and now I'll have a permanent reminder." He held up the lifeless prosthetic hand.

"No," Biggs said as he leaned closer, his voice low and sounding somewhat awe-struck. "No, Luke… that's incredible."

He was obviously impressed but Luke didn't feel worthy of such praise. Even if it wasn't luck that had gotten him out of there alive, Luke now knew who had passed those powers onto him. It left a bad taste in his mouth and he felt as if he was now carrying around a dark shadow that he had to hide. Eventually he would need to tell someone, need to tell Biggs, and that terrified him.

Biggs tilted his head at Luke, watching his expression closely. He seemed to notice his somber manner. "Luke, what else happened?" It was inevitable that Biggs would figure out that he was hiding something. Biggs knew him too well.

Luke stared across the room at the wall, feeling numb. What was he supposed to do now? Just refuse to tell Biggs and hope that he left it alone? It seemed that was his only option. Biggs usually respected his wishes but if this became a problem somewhere down the road, he might push some more. "… I can't tell you."

He didn't have to look over to tell that Biggs was hurt. All of this keeping secrets and running away and now that Luke was back, he had to hide things from Biggs yet again. He felt terrible but there wasn't any other option.

"Why not?" Biggs sounded like he was asking that question reluctantly, like he could tell this was difficult for Luke but his morbid curiosity was winning out.

"I'm just—… I'm not ready to talk about it yet."

More silence followed. Luke finally dared to glance at Biggs and saw him staring at the floor listlessly. He met Luke's gaze and then nodded, at least pretending to be satisfied with that answer. "Then you take all the time you need."

It was only a marginally comforting response. Biggs was good at hiding his feelings and Luke knew there was likely some disappointment in there. They sat in yet another moment of silence but soon Biggs was moving slowly and his hand came up to stroke the back of Luke's neck, fingers threaded through his hair.

Instantly, Luke was filled with conflicting emotions. He wanted his touch so badly, had desired it for years, but something else inside him wanted to plead with Biggs to run far, far away from him. He was bad news, tainted, and Biggs deserved so much better. Luke knew that wasn't true, but that voice in his head was a loud one. At the very least, he couldn't justify letting someone get involved with him while his life was such a mess. Biggs deserved to know who he really was, but he wasn't ready to disclose that information yet. Luke wasn't even sure who he was himself.

He would need to do a lot of digging and soul-searching before he felt stable enough to allow someone to be this close to him, especially someone he cared for as much as Biggs.

"For a while there, I didn't think I'd ever see you again," Biggs told him quietly.

Through his stronger connection to the Force, Luke could actually begin to feel some of Biggs' emotions. There was immense care, deep attachment, and… love.

Luke met his gaze—those kind, searching eyes—and was nearly drawn in, but he had to hold back. "A few times, I thought the same thing," he replied, trying to keep the sadness he felt out of his voice. In the past two months, there had been multiple occasions where Luke had been sure he was a goner.

Biggs leaned forward slightly and slowly moved his hand, stroking the backs of his fingers along Luke's jaw.

Finally Luke had to pull away. He turned his head and looked at the floor. He couldn't watch Biggs' expression. "Biggs—I can't."

This time there was complete silence. Biggs never responded, though Luke saw him lower his hand out of the corner of his eye.

"… Just—for now. I'm sorry." Luke tried to soften the blow as much as he could but he knew it wouldn't help. "There's too much that I—I need to figure out." He searched desperately for a way to explain it better than that, but panic was beginning to rise in his throat. The fact that he was having to do this was tearing him to shreds.

Next to him, Biggs made a small sound, an exhalation of air, and he ducked his head. Luke still couldn't bear to look him in the eyes. Biggs was confident, strong-willed, and he trusted Luke, but there was only so much even he could take before his resolve started to crumble. Without a word he rose from the chair and started to head for the door.

Everything in Luke screamed at him to stop Biggs, to call him back, but right now that would get both of them nowhere. He had to let Biggs walk away.