Yes, you get another update today. The reason for that is these next two chapters were the very first thing I wrote about this story. I start in the middle and work out from there. I'm weird I know. Um, yeah this chapter is kinda angsty so just giving you a fair warning. Hopefully next one will be up tomorrow.

Enjoy!

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One week later…

They left the restaurant in good spirits. Kyp was joking around again and even Jag was laughing out loud as they made their way down the street. Jaina should have known it wasn't going to last.

"She is considered very sick and in need of medical attention. If you see her, please contact the local authorities. There is a reward for her safe return."

They were traveling on one of the moving walkways in the capital city when Jag heard the announcement. Usually he didn't care about these announcements. Human cargo was too much trouble and he didn't feel like investing that much emotion and time in them. The money was in goods. But something made him look over at the massive screen that hung in the square. His brain took a moment to register the holo he was seeing, but when it did he cursed. Loudly.

The crew all turned to look at him then Kyp followed his gaze and cursed too. To her credit, Jaina remained composed, not making eye contact with anyone. She took a deep breath to try and calm her nerves but it wasn't helping. The food they had just eaten sat like a rock in her stomach and she waited for his response. This would not go well.

"Reports say that the nefarious Captain Jagged Fel had something to do with Ms. Solo's abduction. Any information as to his or his crew's whereabouts should be directed to your local law enforcement personal."

All eyes moved to her and she closed her own waiting for the tirade. When none came, she cracked one eye open and saw a myriad of looks on their faces. Amusement seemed to be the most common one. Knowing she couldn't avoid it forever, she finally met Jag's eyes and flinched. His face showed nothing, but she knew he was pissed.

"Was there something you forgot to tell us?" Coran asked her nicely, sending her a small pity filled smile.

"No." She answered drawing herself up to her full height and tipping her chin up.

"Really. Well, in that case no worries." He responded, his gaze leaving hers to scan the immediate area. Before anyone else could speak, Jag grabbed her arm painfully and pulled her close.

"Everyone back to the ship." He ground out.

"But Jag, what about…"

"Now." Even though he spoke the word quietly, the power that one word possessed almost made Jaina cry. No one spoke as they subtly change direction. Jaina tried to pull away, but couldn't budge his hand from her arm. "Even you, love. I think you have some explaining to do." Jag whispered menacingly into her ear.

He didn't speak or release her as they made their way back to the Doom.

"You lied to us." He told her as he jerked her into the common room and pushed her away from him.

"I never lied." She said bravely. "You never asked." Jag felt Kyp come up behind him and he tried to temper his anger.

"Don't play semantics with me, Jaina. You're a fugitive. That's a trifle important to keep to yourself if you ask me." He knew that Zekk's mention of medical issues was just to keep the heat off of Jaina as far as the public was concerned. Zekk would try to paint her in a good light and make Jag look bad to help ensure she was brought back to him.

"Oh, and you're a saint?!" She yelled at him, willing herself not to cry. He would only think she was using it against him. Somewhere in her mind, she knew she shouldn't be pushing him right now but her fear was making her stupid.

"We're not discussing me at the moment, or my place in the afterlife. What we are discussing is your blatant disregard for the safety of others." At her confused look, he lost it. "You have endangered my crew on some petty, selfish journey to make your lover jealous!" He roared as his hands fisted at his side. Had she been a man, he would have beaten her to a pulp already.

Her shock was evident and it caused him to pause, but only briefly. Pushing his indecision aside he grunted and glared at her. He would not be susceptible to her games anymore. "Set us a course for Coruscant." He told Kyp without turning around.

"Jag, are you sure you want to do this?"

Jag remained silent, his eyes blackened in anger still centered on her. Kyp didn't have to wait for his answer he simply glanced at Jaina then nodded. He and Jag moved to leave the room when she spoke.

"Please don't send me back there." Her voice pleaded, thick with emotion. Kyp turned around to look at her, but Jag did not. "Please."

Jag's lips twitched, then he moved to walk past Kyp. The older man gave her an apologetic look, then followed his friend. Wrapping her arms around herself, Jaina fell to her knees and wept. She had failed her family. They would take her back and Zekk would make her pay for making a fool of him. Sobs welled in her throat and she didn't fight them. If she cried in front of Zekk he would only torture her more so it was best to get it out now.

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Kyp sat silently in the copilots seat, trying to figure out what the hell was going on. How had everything gone to hell so quickly?

"Hey." The soft voice behind him brought his head up and he found he couldn't even smile at Jysella and Coran as they walked in. She sat in Jag's seat, but turned it towards Kyp as Coran settled in behind his daughter.

"Have you talked to him?" Coran asked quietly.

He shook his head and rubbed a hand down his face.

"He locked himself in his room after he told me to change our flight plans." Kyp offered leaning back into his seat heavily.

"Kyp, there's more to this story than what we know."

Looking over at Jysella, he nodded.

"I know. I've felt that for awhile. But she hasn't offered any explanation and he's beyond reason at the moment. I'm not even sure Cem could calm him down right now."

"So we're just going to hand her over to that bastard?" They all turned to find Tenel standing in the doorway, a look of indignation on her face.

"Unless you're all planning mutiny, yes." Kyp snapped back as he turned his seat back around.

"He's warring with himself right now." Tenel offered, her tone a little softer but you could still hear the anger in it. "I know he's been denying his feelings for her and looking for an excuse to get her gone. I never thought he would stoop this low though."

"Jag's just trying to protect us." A snort met Kyp's weak argument and he closed his eyes knowing that it was a weak excuse.

"More like he's trying to protect his own pathetic ass." Jysella said her voice tinged with anger. Kyp smiled to himself. Apparently Jaina brought out the mother hen in both women because he'd never seen them defend another female before. "He's going to ruin the best thing that ever happened to him." She added.

Coran had remained quiet throughout the women's tirade and his voice startled Kyp.

"He's going to be impossible after this. Once he lets her go, I'm afraid there will be no way to repair him."

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He threw the sip of whiskey back and welcomed the pain as it ran down his throat. The last thing he wanted to think about right now was her. But he couldn't get her pleading out of his head. He could have sworn he heard fear in her voice when she had begged him not to take her back. His certainty wavered momentarily and he poured himself another drink to silence the doubt. There was no way he was going to get caught in her obvious game that she played.

Just the thought of her entwined with someone else soured his gut. She had gotten entirely too far under his skin for his liking. His brow furrowed as his consciousness warred with itself. She didn't carry herself like someone who'd had a lover. Everything about her screamed innocence and those were the ones he stayed away from. They came with more complications than he wanted or needed. He'd even entertained himself with a few married women, but this…Jag shook his head and took another drink.

He put the cap back on the bottle and stood determined stick by his original decision. Jagged Fel didn't change his mind, for anyone. So why then did he feel so guilty about it?

Before he could change his mind, he slapped a button on the console and finished off his drink.

"How can I help you today?" Came the disembodied voice into the eerily quiet room.

"I need to speak to Zekk."

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Zekk sat back in his padded chair and smiled to no one in particular. He would have her soon and irony of ironies it would be thanks to Captain Fel himself. To say the call had surprised him would have been an understatement. He frowned when a thought occurred to him. She obviously hadn't told him the story behind her disappearance because he knew Fel would never have returned her if she had. He might try to act like a big bad pirate, but he was nothing but a pushover underneath that façade.

It would be a couple of hours before they arrived. Plenty of time to visit his future in-laws he thought to himself.

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One hour later…

The clanking of the door at the end of the hallway caused the two brothers to look at each other briefly before they turned their attention back to their own door. It had been a while since the King had visited them and Jacen had a bad feeling about this visit.

Heavy footsteps neared their position and he felt Anakin reach over to grab his hand. Another clang greeted their ears and Jacen surmised that whoever it was had entered their parent's cell. His guess was answered by the voice that spoke.

"I have news for you, Solo."

"Good for you. What do you want, a stuffed Ewok?" Their father's response was followed by an umph and Jacen could only deduce that Zekk had hit their father. Closing his eyes he prayed that his fears were not going to be realized.

"Your daughter is coming home. Isn't that wonderful news?" He could only imagine the glare the King was receiving right now. Han wouldn't chance speaking out again in case Zekk decided that hitting Han wasn't enough. Jacen tried to ignore the twisting in his chest as he thought of what was going to happen next.

Zekk would make Jaina pay for embarrassing him and he would either do it by hurting her or the rest of the family. Neither option was the desired outcome but it looked like they didn't have any choice. He knew if it came down to it that his father would take the fall for their family but he also knew that it would be much worse than that.

He wondered if he would ever see his sister again.

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Tenel Ka found her in the same position, having not moved since Jag had made his decision. The protectiveness that had plagued her since Jaina had stepped on the ship was screaming at her right now to do something. She was not okay with turning her over to Zekk and it seemed neither was anyone else. Her respect for Jag was unwavering but she really wanted to pummel him right now.

Had he come out of his room in the last two hours she probably would have done it, but he was laying low and licking his wounds she was sure. It took a lot for Jag to trust anyone and he had trusted Jaina not to endanger his crew. But he was scared. He had already suffered at the hands of Zekk's family and the man himself for most of his life. She was sure he saw it as a small price to pay to hand over Jaina to rid himself of the chance he might get hurt again.

Understanding where he came from didn't help much, but she had pledged to follow him and she couldn't go back on her word now. No matter how much it hurt. She was surprised that Jag was letting his emotions rule him right now. That wasn't like him. Then again, she'd never seen him react this way to a woman before either. It was obvious he found something about her he liked or he never would have taken her onboard. Regardless of Kyp's promise.

Having known him for years she knew his reputation was something he hid behind and that it was for the most part false. Beneath his roguish persona, he was a good man who had been dealt a bad hand. But he was captain, and his word was law aboard the Doom. Sighing, she kneeled down in front of the woman and touched her shoulder gently.

Jaina's head sprang up and Tenel found herself offering the woman a small smile. She didn't envy her having to go back to the Prince. She wouldn't wish that on her worst enemy…well maybe not all of them.

"We're here. It's time to go." She told the woman softly, her heart constricting as Jaina nodded mindlessly. Tenel watched proudly as the woman stood and brushed off her pants then proceeded to walk down the hall, head held high. The little spitfire had grown on her in the short time she had been with them and she would be sad to see her go.

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He sat next to his best friend as they made their descent into the airspace around the palace. Kyp glanced at Jag quickly wincing at his blank look. For all intents and purposes, he and Jag were more than friends. He wouldn't hesitate to say it was more of a brotherly relationship than anything and he couldn't believe he was about to test just how strong that bond was.

"I think you're making a mistake." Kyp said quietly as he kept his gaze focused on the control panel in front of him.

"I really don't give a kriff what you think right now Durron." Jag responded, his voice low and rough. He was extremely irate right now and Kyp knew he should stop. But he couldn't.

"Obviously. Tell me, are you protecting the crew right now or your own ass?" Kyp moved to turn his head and meet the glare he knew was coming but was thrown back against his chair with a hand to his neck. To say he was surprised at the malice in his friend's eyes was an understatement. He didn't flinch away from the gaze Jag was leveling on him, but met it head on. Behind the anger he could see pain swirling in his green eyes.

It wasn't that he didn't sympathize with Jag, because he did. He knew what it was like to lose your family and be alone in the universe. They'd both been orphaned about the same age and the reasons were similar. But Jag had kept his emotions inside, trying to hide the fact he was hurting and in pain. It was almost like instinct with him and Kyp had waited for him to explode each time a new hurt was added on the already vast collection he had amassed in his short life.

He also knew that Jag would regret this decision for the rest of his life. In protecting his heart he was condemning himself to live the rest of his life in more misery because there would never be another woman to touch that part of him.

"I don't need your approval for my decisions, nor do I want to hear it. I'm doing what I need to do to keep everyone safe." The younger man seethed as he fought to control his emotions.

"Whatever helps you sleep at night, Fel." Came Kyp's response as he felt Jag's grip tighten on his throat. He couldn't find it in himself to be mad at the man. Understanding his reasons made it easier, but he knew that when the smoke cleared, Jag would be mad at himself. "Just remember what Zekk does to his women. Then picture that happening to her. You and I both know it will be tenfold since she probably made an ass out of him. If you can live with yourself after picturing all that, then you've achieved your goal Jagged."

He felt his friend's grip loosen and knew that his comments had caught him off guard. Doubt started to show in Jag's eyes and Kyp took a jab that almost hurt him to deliver.

"If you can live with that, then you're finally the heartless bastard you always strived to be. Congratulations. Your parents would be proud."

Kyp took no satisfaction in the pain that glazed Jag's eyes. He just needed to keep it together until he could get away from him. Jag solved that problem when he turned and left the cockpit.

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I promise it will get better...