A/N to Reviewers: Cliffy? That was nothing. Give me about 4 or 5 chapters for a big one. ; )

Carth sat against the wall trying to keep his shoulder in a position that didn't cause too much pain. They had decided to keep the armor on. Removing it may have increased his blood flow, hence spreading the disease further.

He heard a rustling sound coming towards him and steadied his blaster in that direction. Why couldn't it have been my left shoulder? He trained his eye on the shadow coming around the wall and then the gray creature that came into site. He fired three shots and the creature went down. Three more came running in. He kept firing until his charge was spent, taking down two. Fortunately the other was taken out by one of the mines.

Carth breathed a sigh of relief as he replaced his energy cell. He wondered how many more he was going to encounter before Sage got back. If she comes back, he thought. He got an uneasy feeling in his stomach. He wasn't sure if it was from the venom running through him or the thought that he was currently at her mercy.

The two females explored the area outside the village thoroughly. They searched every body they came across. Sage could tell that Mission was getting antsy. Their search was taking a long time and she was worried about her Wookie friend.

"It's just…we haven't been apart…since we met," Mission finally spoke.

"So how did you guys meet, anyway?" Sage asked.

Mission went on to tell her the story of the first time she saw Zalbaar. It seemed to lift her spirits a little to talk about him. Sage half-listened and continued searching. Mission prattled on for quite a while, which helped pass the time. However, when Sage asked about the brother she mentioned, Mission clammed up real quick stating, "Let's just get back to the business at hand, okay?" Sage smiled to herself, Carth's going to like her.

Sage felt relief when she spotted a Sith patrol. She looked over at Mission who saw them too. Mission nodded her readiness.

They stepped out of the shadows and one of the troopers spotted them. He immediately came over to ask them to state their business. Sage told him they were just trying to salvage stuff from the escape pods. The Sith scoffed in mild disgust. He warned them to keep a watch out because they had already lost a patrol that day.

Sage pondered her options. This patrol probably had the serum on them, but there was another one down somewhere. She checked out her odds…four Sith troopers against her and Mission. She glanced at the young Twi'lek standing next to her and then addressed the trooper, "Thanks for the warning." Maybe if Carth was here, but not Mission.

She hoped she made the right decision not to attack the patrol and headed in the direction the trooper mentioned.

To their relief, they found the slain Sith. Sage ripped through the armored corpse and found the serum, "Thank the force."

Carth tried to rest his head in his hand to quell the dizziness. He had already shot a few rodents and an imaginary enemy. His shoulder was on fire and it felt like it was burning the whole way down his arm. He couldn't think clearly and his ears were ringing.

He heard another sound and quickly fired in the direction it came from. Sage quickly jumped out of the way of the blaster bolt fired her way. She stood behind a wall and yelled out, "Carth, it's Sage…you don't want to shoot me again, do you?"

Mission snapped her head to look at Sage in alarm. Sage shook her head and waved her hand as if to brush it off. "It was a misunderstanding," she whispered. Mission didn't seem convinced.

"Carth?"

"What," he mumbled.

"Can I come out?" she asked.

He muttered something that she didn't understand, but figured it was safe. She and Mission walked towards him and deactivated the mines that were still active. She glanced around the area and noticed the dead forms lying about, "I see you've been busy."

He harrumphed.

She studied him for a moment before approaching, "How are you feeling?"

"How do you think I'm feeling?" he snapped.

She knelt down in front of him. She could tell he was exhausted and highly agitated. "I found the serum, but we need to get you back to the village before I can give it to you. Mission said there's a healer there that may be able to split the dose so we can hopefully use it on more than one person."

He didn't respond. "Carth, did you hear me?"

He nodded. He waited for a moment and moved to get up and winced from the pain. Sage and Mission rushed to his sides to help him up without putting pressure on his shoulder.

Once inside the village, they waited while Mission ran off to find the village healer. She returned with a tall woman with dark hair who introduced herself as Esala.

"Is it true, you really have the serum?" she asked hopefully.

"Yes, is there somewhere he can rest?" Sage asked.

The woman led them to a small dwelling with a pallet on the floor. They helped Carth down to it. Sage lit a glow stick and worked with the healer to divide the serum.

Sage said, "I'm going to have to take some with me to give to Dr. Forn. He should have the means to reproduce it."

Esala looked up, "Do you mean Zelka Forn?"

Sage nodded, "Yes, do you know him?"

Esala looked away, "Yes…but it's been quite some time since I've seen him."

They continued working.

Esala spoke again, "How is he?"

Sage looked over at Carth who had his eyes shut and a rather unattractive scowl on his face, "Hard to say, he always looks like that."

Esala smiled, "No…I meant Zelka, Dr. Forn…how is he?"

"Oh, he's fine. He's helped us out a lot since we arrived. He's a very nice man."

Esala looked almost wistful, "Yes, he always has been."

They finished up the injectors and approached Carth. Sage helped him sit up and unfastened his armor. She and Esala worked together to get the armor off without moving his shoulder too much. Sage reached to unbutton his tunic and he smacked her hand away. "I can do it," he insisted. She shook her head.

Once they helped him out of his shirt, Esala injected the serum and a pain suppressor into his right arm. The area immediately around the wound was white. Outside of that, his skin was gray half way down his bicep. Esala cleaned the wound and covered it with a kolto patch.

Carth closed his eyes and sighed, "I think it's working."

He started shivering and swayed a little. Then he slumped forward and passed out. Sage and Esala caught him and gently laid him back down. They covered him with a blanket that Mission had found and tucked another under his head and shoulder.

As they emerged from the dwelling, Esala addressed Sage, "I'm not sure what you did to get that serum, but he and the rest of us are very grateful."

"Mission mentioned that you had a quarantined area."

Esala sobered, "Yes, we do…but it's way too dangerous to go in there. They've been affected longer than he has. There's no telling when they'll turn."

"How many are in there?" Sage asked.

"Five," Esala replied.

Sage looked at Mission, "You up for it?"

Mission shrugged, "Sure."

Esala objected, "Oh, no, I can't let you in there…certainly not with a kid."

"Hey, I ain't no kid," Mission almost yelled.

Sage smiled and looked at Esala, "Don't underestimate her."

Mission gleamed at that statement.

Esala gave in and showed them to the quarantine area.

Three of the infected villagers turned just as Sage was about to inject the first one. Sage quickly jumped back and she and Mission were barely able to defeat them. They were able to get to the other two in time.

Some other villagers helped get the now passed out victims to another dwelling close to Carth's so that Esala could watch over them.

"Thank you for keeping an eye on him. I have to warn you though, he can get feisty," Sage said. She handed Esala an injector from her bag, "If he gets too bad, give him this. That should put him out until I get back."

Esala eyed her warily, "What is it?"

"Just a little something Dr. Forn gave me to help me sleep," she explained.

"How long will you be?" Esala asked.

Sage thought for a moment, "Hopefully not more than two hours."

On their way out of the village, Sage stopped by Rukil's tent and handed him the datapad she found. "I'm afraid your apprentice didn't make it." She started to walk away.

Rukil called after her, "Wait, I must speak to you."

Sage said over her shoulder, "Sorry old man, I have to go."

Rukil tried to catch up and yelled, "Please, upworlder…there are two more journals."

Sage and Mission kept walking.

"Ok Mission, let's go find your Wookie."

"Finally."

Sage and Mission headed towards the entrance to the sewers. On their way they ran into the Mandalorian Sage saw before. He introduced himself as Canderous Ordo. They talked briefly about the activities in this part of the city. Canderous told them that most of the escape pods have already been picked apart by the Vulkars.

One of the men with Canderous looked to be in his late teens. He moved closer to Mission, looking her up and down. "Hi Mission," he said with a breathy voice. Mission fought down the bile that rose in her throat, "Ugh, Doeman."

Before long, a pack of rakghouls approached. The large group defeated the creatures, but not before one of the Mandalorians men was killed. After that, Canderous wasn't interested in talking any more.

Before he left, Sage stopped him. "Hey, if any of your men would be interested in earning a few extra credits, we could really use the help."

Canderous thought for a moment and turned to his men, "Shifts over boys, you're free to join her if you want."

"I don't think so. I'm ready to get out of here," one of them said.

"I'll go!" Doeman enthusiastically replied. Mission groaned.

Canderous snorted, "Fine by me."

Sage thought for a moment. She really didn't like how the kid was looking at Mission. She walked around him as if circling her prey. She stood directly in front of him, "If you even think about laying a hand on her, I'll feed you to the fiends."

He swallowed hard, but he didn't back out, "Understood."

Sage pulled Mission to the side, "Are you okay with this?"

Mission shrugged, "Hey, as long as he keeps away from me…"

Sage nodded, "I think it's best he doesn't know what our plans are after we find Zalbaar. Carth should be better in the morning, so we won't need this guy after tonight. As far as he knows, we're looking for our friend."

Mission nodded in agreement.

The three departed towards the sewers. As they entered, Sage told them, "Datapads and weapons are mine…you guys can split the credits. You got that Doeboy?"

He snorted derisively, "I got it." Mission snickered.

They searched every corner of the sewer systems in search of the Wookie. They met with gamorreans, rakghouls, and even a few droids along the way. Even Mission was thankful that Doeman came along to provide the much needed extra firepower. Doeman, for his part, kept a respectable distance from Mission.

All three were wet and dirty. It was very late at night and they were tired. They encountered a force field that nobody could hack through. Mission said the Sith put it there and even the gamorreans wouldn't be able to get through it. She felt confident that Zalbaar wouldn't be in that direction.

Soon after, they entered into a large room with a couple of doors off of it. One door had an old lock on it that Mission started working on. When the door opened, a gang of gamorreans rushed out swinging their axes. The threesome was surrounded. Mission and Doeman fired their blasters and Sage slashed her way through their opponents. She tried to help the other two, but was unable to break free from the two gamorreans she was fighting. A towering Wookie came rushing out and threw the gamorreans aside that were surrounding Mission. Sage finally defeated her opponents and rushed to Doeman's aid. She distracted one, and thrust at another a little too late. Doeman fell to the ground with an ax lodged in his back.

After the rest were defeated, Sage squatted next to the young man. She sighed and reached down to close his vacant eyes, "Sorry Doeboy."

Mission approached, shaking her head, "Davik's not going to like this?"

"Why?" Sage asked.

"That was his nephew," Mission explained.

Sage moved her mouth in a silent, 'Oh.'

Zalbaar stepped up to thank Sage for rescuing him. In exchange, he swore a Wookie life debt to her.

Sage rebuffed, "Oh, no, I can't accept that."

Zalbaar insisted.

"Look, you don't even know me," Sage said.

"/That doesn't matter, Marin Sage. You have proven your worthiness by freeing me from my oppressors./"

"The fact of the matter is that I only did it because I need Mission's help," she explained.

"/Your reasons matter not/" he insisted.

"Look, it's late and we're all very tired. Let's get back and get some rest. We'll discuss this in the morning," Sage told them.

Carth's not going to like this.

By the time they made it back to the Outcast village, it was very late. Most everyone had retreated into their dwellings. Esala was asleep against a crate outside the dwellings she was tending to. Sage placed a gentle hand on her shoulder.

"You're back. Did you find your friend?" she asked.

Sage motioned toward Zalbaar, "We did. Would you have a place they can rest for the night?" She shrugged out of her armor.

"Of course," she replied.

Sage looked towards the opening to Carth's dwelling, "How is he?"

"Well, you were right about him being feisty. He woke up very agitated and half delusional. It was everything I could do to keep him in there, let alone give him the sedative. I gave him more pain suppressor and he passed out again."

Sage thanked her and went to see Carth while Esala found a place for Zalbaar and Mission to sleep.

After the last shot from Esala, Carth was feeling no pain. He had been asleep when he heard voices outside. The voices subsided and a figure appeared in the doorway, illuminated by the dim lights from outside.

When the figure stepped into the light of the candle next to his pallet, he sighed. Beautiful. He watched her kneel down by his left side with a weary smile.

"You came back," he said.

She said something, but it didn't register. He studied the features of her face…the arch of her brow, the line of her jaw, the color of her lips. She leaned over him to examine his wound. She pulled back the patch and apologized if she hurt him. He didn't feel it.

He didn't notice the smudges on her face, the dampness of her clothes, or the odor that emerged from them. All he noticed was how the light of the candle danced in her emerald eyes that were just inches from his.

She replaced that patch with a fresh one and when she went to pull back, he grabbed her arm to stop her. She looked at him with a questioning look. He moved his hand to the back of her neck and gently pulled her forward to brush his lips against hers in a soft kiss.

"I was dreaming about you," he said as he laid his head back down. He smiled lazily, closed his eyes, and passed out again.

Sage was stunned. She slowly backed away from him, never taking her eyes off of him. She was looking at him like he was a vornskr ready to attack. She stumbled over her bag and nearly fell to the ground. She stood outside the entrance trying to make sense of what just happened. She touched her fingers to her lips, remembering his lips on hers. Did flyboy just kiss me?

He did kiss me, she thought. What the hell was that? He was dreaming about me? When was that? Just now? She thought of that morning when he was having a seemingly enjoyable dream. Her eyes grew wide. No, he couldn't have been talking about THAT dream. Her head was buzzing and she started pacing about. But he practically hates me. Just two days ago he accused me of sabotaging the Endar Spire. He hasn't stopped watching me since I woke up from the crash. She stopped pacing and swayed a little. Damn, I'm tired. , she thought. was She thought of that morning when he was having a seemingly enjoyable dream. Her eyes grew wide. Her head was buzzing and she started pacing about. She stopped pacing and swayed a little.

"Sithspit!" she spat. I have to get some sleep. She looked around. Where the hell am I supposed to sleep? She looked over at the dwelling Carth was in. Ohh noo, she groaned to herself. She took a deep breath and grudgingly walked into the small abode.

She kept one eye on the sleeping form as she dug a bedroll out of her bag. She laid it out as far away from the pallet as she could. She removed her boots and laid down facing him. She watched him a little longer before sleep claimed her…nerfherder! was her last thought.