Maura was up, still, in the middle of the night. Aric, his painkillers kicking in, snored softly beside her. She just couldn't stop thinking about the day, picturing her strong, handsome husband lying in a pool of his own blood. Every time she closed her eyes, she could picture it. She turned on her side, then back, trying to just rest, but she knew it was pointless, so she sat up, and saw Calleigh looking at her from the doorway.
"Mama 'sleep?" she said softly. Maura held out her arms and Calleigh ran to her, hugging her tightly. "Love you, Mama." Maura kissed her daughter and sat her in her lap, rubbing her back. And then Maura knew. This is why we do what we do, so our kids can grow up in a safer world, maybe even one without war. When Calleigh fell asleep, Maura shifted her to the outside edge of the bed. Calleigh was a kicker and Aric didn't need that. She slipped down to lay closer to him, his body heat comforting her. He grunted, and rolled on his side to pull her close to him. "Aric," she whispered, "you'll hurt something."
"Just want to feel you, that you're here," he whispered back, tucking her head under his chin.
Corso lay holding Miriah, who was finally asleep. After her tears, she'd napped, but soon woke him, her passionate kisses telling him exactly what she wanted. When he would have been gentle and slow, she wanted fire and roughness, riding a razor's edge of need and fear. He met her need with his own, glad her screams hadn't woken the baby, because he wasn't sure he could have put Devin's needs before his own at that point. That last time, he thought, when she was wearing down, her words of love to him would forever be branded on his heart. He wasn't afraid anymore that she would take off on a vengeance hunt of her own. She was relaxed, as much as she ever got, stretched on top of him, her hair cascading down over his chest.
In the morning, Aric was feeling almost normal. He opened his eyes to his wife in his arms and his daughter looking at him with Miriah's eyes over her mom's shoulder. He grinned at the little girl, who put her finger on her lips. "Mama sleep," she whispered, and she slid over the edge of the bed to go potty and get her brother up. Aric shifted Maura over and gingerly got up to see to them. He wouldn't go in today, but he was determined to find whoever was responsible for all of this. He went down the stairs slowly, but he did it. The stiffness and soreness were all that remained, and the thin, angry looking line that traced the path of the vibroblade.
He made breakfast for the kids, letting Maura sleep. He thought yesterday had been harder on her than him. When she charged into the kitchen, the twins were eating eggs and he looked at her with an innocent smile. Her words, however, made him break out in laughter. "Aric Jorgan, if you think you're going to the office today, you are sadly mistaken!" He rose and went to her, her face torn between relief that he was moving well and anger that he was ignoring the scare he'd given her. When he hugged her and felt her arms go around him, he knew they'd be okay.
Corso walked into the office, Devin on one hip. He'd parked the speeder inside, no use in being foolish, he thought. Miriah had assured him she'd be there shortly, she'd wanted to soak away some sore spots, she'd said with a wicked smile. He called Maura, wanting to check on Aric and how he'd made it through the night. Aric himself answered the call.
"Hey man, thought you'd be kicked back in bed, taking advantage of a day off," Corso joked with him. Devin waved at his uncle and tried to touch the hologram, which made them both laugh. "Seriously, how're you feeling?"
"I'm good, a little sore but nothing I can't get over. Has Miriah settled down?"
"She has, but Aric? Don't tease her about it, okay? It was a rough night."
"I won't, I promise. I owe her my life, and you, too. I'm going to resume the Hutt chase from here, and send anything I find out to you guys. Can you forward my datapad info to me? "
"Sure, but don't push things." Aric agreed with him, and he closed the call. He put Devin on the floor and walked to the vault, getting the datapad and forwarding the files to Aric's home terminal. When he returned to his desk, he sat and worked on an updated request, checking on Devin every few minutes. When the holo chimed, he jumped, picked up the baby, and walked to answer the call. It was encrypted, and when he connected, he saw General Garza before him.
"Hello, Corso. We're now secure here, but check your end to make sure." When Corso had looked at the programming for a few seconds, he returned to her view and nodded, telling her to continue. "We heard about Jorgan being attacked, and I wanted to personally check on him."
"He's doing well, fortunately Miriah found him and Magdalane was on planet. What we don't know, though, is who the attacker was and why he was here."
"We think the 'why' is the op we were going to start next week. The 'who' is a small time bounty hunter, we're running down his associates now. I'm thankful he wasn't very proficient with a vibrosword." Corso agreed, and told the general he'd pass along her news. He'd just ended the call when Miriah came in through the multi-purpose side.
"Why is Tanno outside looking like he's ready to hit the front lines?" she asked, reaching for her son.
"He's testing some new armor designs, as well as keeping an eye on the security to see if they're doing their jobs." The Weequay was devastated that he'd been off site working on this armor test when everything had gone down yesterday, and vowed to never let his guard down again. He went back to his workstation, preferring it when he was at the office over a desk, Miriah following. He'd just sat when he heard her "OH!" behind him. She was touching his neck, red with embarrassment, when he turned to look at her.
"I'm so sorry, sugar, I left marks on you. I didn't mean to." He blushed a little but more from thinking about how he'd gotten the bite mark than the fact it was visible.
"It's nothing, really, " he told her, grinning. "You can mark me anytime you want, love." They were sharing smiles and sultry looks when Maura came in. Miriah went to her sister, hugging her with one arm, Devin in the other.
"Hey, you two. Aric sent me for some stuff to work on at home. He's already restless, but he's doing well." She took her nephew, grinning at his smile, and snuggled him to her. "This is the cuddliest baby I've ever known. He just loves to snuggle, doesn't he? He must get that from you, Cor. Miriah was definitely not cuddly as a baby."
Corso laughed, "He just does that with pretty women, he's a baby genius. Right, Dev?" His son looked at him with happy eyes, lying on his aunt's shoulder. They laughed and gathered the stuff Aric had asked for. When Maura was done, Miriah took Devin home to nap, Corso telling her to nap, too. He was bent over his terminal, looking at a photo of Aric's attacker, when the victim himself walked in.
"Hey man, how did you get away from Maura? I'm sure she said you'd be at home today."
Aric walked to his desk, "I would be if I'd had everything, just needed this smartboard to work with and got Maura to drive me. She's outside with Vik, who, by the way, looks bizarre in that armor." He chuckled, "Has to be hot as hell, too."
"Might be perfect for Hoth or Ilum though," Corso observed. He recounted his call with Garza, and Aric nodded.
"I've located the Hutt that Brock owed on Quesh, part of the Three Families. We did some missions there but it's been quite a while ago. I've asked Broga, the one we primarily had contact with, to tell me more about this Hutt, whose name is Keelta, by the way. I'll forward the holonet mail when I get it." He turned to look at Corso, who'd returned to his workstation and had his back to the Cathar.
Aric asked, "Where's Miriah? She took Devin home already? I wanted to thank her."
"She did," he replied, not looking up. "I told her to take a nap, too. Not sure she'll come back up here today." Aric snickered softly, and turned to the door, wanting badly to tease Corso about the bite mark. Well, he thought, if Miriah had to work out all that mad she was carrying around yesterday, at least they had fun with it.
Corso was locking his things up a few hours later, having finished the goal he'd set of reviewing all the plans currently in progress to make sure the weaponry was up to date, when another call came in. He walked over to the holo and absently hit the switch. The first thing he saw was a massive Hutt with a tiny hat on his head, which would have been funny if he hadn't been screaming something at him. He hit the translation button about the same time the Hutt stopped yelling, and Corso realized he'd been yelling at a subordinate. Keelta, the Hutt, began to speak.
"My name is Keelta and I have no idea why you are trying to get in touch with me. Who are you?"
"Corso Riggs, of Advantages. The company you sent a bounty hunter to break into. He's dead now, by the way." Corso reached down and hit the record button.
"I have no knowledge of a bounty hunter. Is there a bounty on your head? No? Why would I have use of your company?"
"I don't know myself. We're a consulting firm. Are you perhaps running for office? Or planning a coup of Hutta?"
Keelta shook with laughter, unable to speak for a few seconds. "I have no plans other than to throw a party of my friends this evening. I only loan money, nothing more." He got closer to the terminal. "You have heard otherwise?"
"I know you loaned money to Numem Brock, and that he paid you with information that he got on our company. " Corso looked intently at the Hutt's face, trying to tell if he was hiding something.
"Yes, I did, and I won't again. I did get the files he uploaded, they were quite valuable to a mercenary group. I have not given them the files yet, would you like to bid on them before I offer them to the Consortium?"
"No need. Everything your friend stole has been changed, so your files are useless to them."
"Hmpf. Do not tell them they are useless until the credits are transferred, yes? You can be sure I won't. I still had no reason to send a bounty hunter. I already had the information. True?" Corso nodded, seeing the logic. "I like you, Corso Riggs of Advantages. I will ask around, discreet of course, to see where the hunter might have gotten paid. I can call this frequency, yes?" Corso nodded again, and the call was cut off. He got the recording off the holo and sent it to Aric and kept a copy to show Miriah, then made his way home. Why did Hutts always wear such small hats, he wondered. He shook his head, it had been a strange few days.
When he got home, he gathered Miriah and Devin and set out for Aric's house. He wanted to go over the holo recording, and Mir had cooked for them all instead of napping this afternoon. They unloaded the food and the baby, and made their way inside. Calleigh squealed and ran to Miriah, who sat down with her niece and son, to listen to Calleigh chattering away. Corso went into the kitchen with the crate of food, which Maura gratefully pulled out and got ready to serve. Aric made his way into the kitchen, clapped Corso on the shoulder, and exclaimed over all the work Miriah had done. When Miriah finally came into the house with Calleigh and Devin, Aric made his way over to her, took Devin and handed him to Maura, and then enveloped his sister in law in a hug, his eyes bright.
"Thank you," he whispered to her, "Thank you for bringing me back to my family." Miriah's own eyes filled, but she fought back the tears. She simply nodded, unable to speak. His fingers brushed the blaster on her hip. "Good idea, Spitfire." He released her and took a deep breath before turning to Corso. "I got the holorecording. Strange. Why do Hutts wear such small hats?" He had such a quizzical look on his face that Corso just started laughing, and couldn't stop. When everyone joined in, he just laughed harder.