-Carth-

Half way back to the Academy, Revan nearly passed out, resulting in my having to carry her back to her room. I walked through the dimly lit hallways, praying that no one was around, as quickly and quietly as I could.

I didn't like how light she felt. Which made me remember that Mission had told me she hadn't eaten anything since before the Leviathan. I made a mental note to force her to go to the mess hall before we continued our search for Dustil and the Star Map.

When I finally reached her room, I shifted her in my arms to open the door. I glanced around to see Canderous still snoring away in the corner of the room. Good, I thought, I'm not in the mood for any sexual jokes right now.

I used my foot to close the door, then brought her over to the bed, placing her onto it gently. I pulled off her boots and pulled the rough sheets over her. I stood there watching her for a moment, then brushed a strand of hair off of her forehead.

Her eyes fluttered open when my fingertips grazed over her forehead, causing me to recoil my hand. "Carth?"

"I'm here," I whispered, giving a gentle squeeze to her shoulder.

She smiled and closed her eyes again, but the smile was only temporary. "My head hurts."

I snorted. "Yeah, well, it should."

Revan nodded, but winced. "Guess I deserved that."

"Yeah," I looked at her and frowned. "you do." I paused, and pulled up a chair next to her bed. "Just what were you thinking?"

She sighed. "That's the point. I was trying to stop thinking for once." she paused and looked me in the eye, but didn't continue. Just laid there, staring at me, those eyes of hers piercing into me.

I averted my eyes and leaned back in the chair. "You can't do things like this."

She bit her lip. "I know. " A heavy sigh escaped her lips. "And I know you hate me for the things Revan did. I don't blame you. Hell, I hate myself for the things she did."

It pained me to hear her say those words. "I never said that."

Revan smiled a little. "You didn't have to. I can see it in your eyes. I can sense it from you." she paused and moved to sit up before returning her gaze to mine. Her face was full of regret. "I'm sorry, Carth. For everything."

I pinched the bridge of my nose. I was too tired to have this conversation. She was making it very difficult to continue on with my plan.

When I didn't respond, she sighed again. "I don't blame you for wanting to leave. I don't." she paused, leaning her head back on the headboard of the bed. "I just want you to know I'll miss you." she laughed a little. "I don't think we could have made it this far without you." she turned her head to look at me, sadness in her eyes. "I hope you and Dustil will find a way to be happy."

I sat there and stared at her, dumbfounded. Before I knew what I was doing, before I could stop myself, I leaned over and kissed her fiercely. My hands found their way into her thick hair. I could taste the sweetness of the alcohol still lingering on her lips.

I knew this was going the plan, but at that moment, when she started to respond to my kiss, I didn't care. I would figure something else out later.

A loud snore from Canderous broke us apart. I moved away from her quickly, breathing heavily. When no other sound came from him, I turned back Revan and rubbed the back of my neck. "You should, uh, get some rest."

Disappointed, she nodded. "Yeah..." she looked at me once more before she reached up and turned the light above her bed off.

I stood from my chair and headed over to the couch, which was way too short for me. I only prayed that I would find sleep.

-------------------

I kneeled before Saul, watched him take in ragged breaths of air. Blood seeping from the corners of his mouth. The gurgling he made as he spoke made me ill.

"You...didn't know, did you?" his laughter turned into harsh coughing. "The one...that you have risked your life for...held in your arms...is the reason...your wife is dead."

I stood then, an eerie calm settling over me as I raised my blaster at Saul Karath's head and fired. His eyes rolled into the back of his head as his last breath escaped his lips.

"Damn you, Saul. Damn you!"

I turned at her voice. My eyes searched her from head to toe. Saul had to be lying. How could this beautiful creature, who had been so kind and caring throughout this entire mission, be that monster Revan?

I closed my eyes and when I opened them, Alora was no longer there. instead, her beautiful face was covered with a black and red mask, her Jedi robe faded into a black, flowing one. My breath caught in my throat.

It was true.

I had fallen for a Sith Lord.

I snapped. "Bastila, it's true isn't it? You and the whole damn Jedi Council knew this entire time!"

I watched as fear cascaded over the younger Jedi's face. "Carth, please. You don't understand-"

I couldn't bring myself to look over at Alora. She wasn't Alora anymore. In the past few minutes, my world had crumbled around me again. Just when I thought that I was rebuilding a life that I had long forgotten, it was taken from me again. I was betrayed again.

I awoke with a start, sweat streaming down my face. I sat up and placed my feet on the floor. It was going to take a long time before I could get that image out of my head.

I glanced over at Revan's sleeping form. She looked peaceful.

With a heavy sigh, I stood and headed for the refresher. I figured sleep wouldn't come easy again for the rest of the night.

-Revan-

After the three of us left The Valley of the Dark Lords, we were all exhausted, covered in dirt and mud. But even exhausted, Canderous was in high spirits. He decided to go to the training room to work out a bit.

And it turned out that the thug from the cantina the night before, Shardaan, had been waiting for me in the tomb of Ajunta Pall, after I retrieved the sword of the dead Sith Lord. The lazy bastard had tried to steal the sword from me. But with the help of Carth and Canderous, he wouldn't be bothering me again.

On the way to meet Master Uthar, we must have missed the turn. We ended up in another dorm hallway, just as a young man was heading out from his quarters. He turned to us.

"You take a wrong turn somewhere?"

"Yeah, actually we-" I started.

"Dustil?" Carth's voice came up behind me, cutting off my sentence.

I looked at the young man before me, and almost kicked myself for not seeing the resemblance. Dustil was almost a carbon copy of Carth. I imagined that this is what he would have looked like around the age of sixteen or so.

"Oh great. It's father. What are you doing here? I hope you're not here in a rescue attempt, because I'm perfectly happy where I am now. No thanks to you."

"Dustil, what are you talking about?" Carth demanded desperately. I took a step back.

Dustil frowned. "Did you actually think I would be happy to see you, Father? After you abandoned Mother and I on Telos?" he laughed. "I don't think so."

"Son, the Sith are what took me from you and your mother. The Sith destroyed Telos!"

The boy scowled. "You're a soldier, Father. How many mothers have you killed?"

"Now wait just a damn minute-" I interrupted but Carth sent me a look that told me to back off. So I did.

Carth sighed. "They're evil."

He snorted. "I...don't believe you."

"Dustil, if I failed you, then it...it's my failure. But don't become a part of something evil for revenge!" Carth pleaded, taking a step closer to his son.

"Prove it! Prove that the Sith are so evil and, I might listen. But until then, I suggest you leave." he paused and lowered his voice. "I won't tell anyone that you're here. But don't mention anything about me. If I hear you ask anyone about me, or do anything to jeopardize my position with..." I couldn't help but note the doubt in his voice.

Carth held his hands up. "Alright. We'll find something." he lowered his head. "I promise you."

We watched in silence as Dustil headed down the dark hallway, not bothering to give us a second glance.

I turned to see Carth start down the hallway, but I gently grabbed the material on his jacket to stop him. "Do you want to talk?"

His face hardened and his eyes narrowed. "No, I don't want to talk. I want to get moving. I want to find proof for Dustil that the Sith are evil."

I nodded. "I know...and we will." I gave his arm a reassuring squeeze.

"Thanks."

-------------------

After we spoke with Master Uthar again, I learned I had gained enough prestige to face the final trials. To become a Sith in full. And the thought made me shudder.

Earlier during the week, Yuthura Ban came to me with an offer. She was planning to over-throw Master Uthar, and wanted me to help. At first, I was just going to ignore it, but after finding Dustil, I got an idea.

I went to her and accepted the offer. She gave me the passcard to his sleeping quarters and a vial of poison to slip underneath his mattress.

Afterwards, I went to Master Uthar and informed him of his apprentice's treachery. I ignored the strange looks Carth and Canderous exchanged from one another.

I again returned to Yuthura to let her know that Uthar was aware of her plan. She had eyed me suspiciously, but with the help of the Force, I assured her that I had nothing to do with his knowledge.

I guess the way of the Sith wasn't completely lost in me after all.

We waited until nightfall to execute my plan. We headed to Master Uthar's chambers, poison vial in hand. I glanced around to make sure no one saw us enter the room.

Canderous nodded, indicating that no one was around, and we made our way inside.

"There," Carth whispered excitedly. "that footlocker probably contains some kind of proof that we can give to Dustil."

I put the poison under the mattress before making my way over to the footlocker. I groaned. "Of course it would be encrypted."

"Can you get it open?" his voice was almost pleading.

"I knew I should have brought Mission." I whispered under my breath as I inspected the lock. I pulled a pin out of my hair and started working on the lock.

Carth rolled his eyes. "Ya know, my blaster has a silencer..."

"Yeah, but I want to cause as little noticeable damage as possible, flyboy."

"It's called a security tunneler..."

"Do you have one?" I asked, placing the pin between my teeth.

"No..."

"Okay then let me pull one out of my ass, then."

Canderous snickered.

Carth wrinkled his brow. "That's a little crude."

I shrugged. "I do what I can." Finally, the lock popped open. "Yes!" I began to search the footlocker, then my eyes settled on a datapad.

Carth leaned over. "Found something?"

I nodded and held the datapad up for him to see.

He stared at me "Well, what are you waiting for? Read it!"

I skimmed through the datapad until Dustil's name caught my attention. "Jackpot."

"What?"

I snorted and handed it to him. "Wonder if Dustil knows his friend was disposed of like that."

"This may be just what we need..." He looked over at me. "Thank you."

Canderous cleared his throat. "Okay, lovebirds. If you got what you need, let's get the hell outta here before Sithface gets back."

-------------------

We headed back to Dustil's quarters. When he answered the door, he seemed a little surprised to see us.

"You returned?" He glanced around and ushered us into his room quickly before anyone could catch us. "So, did you find your proof?"

Carth nodded and pulled the datapad out of his pocket and handed it to him. "Did you know someone named Salene?"

Dustil frowned when he accepted the datapad from his father. "Yeah, she's the one who convinced me to come to the academy with her, why?" he began to read through it, and his frown only deepened. "They told me she was lost on a mission..." his voice trailed off. "They lied to me."

"Superiority at any cost, Dustil. They killed her because they thought she was hindering your progress."

He remained silent, rereading the words over and over.

Carth tensed. "Will you come with us?"

Dustil sighed. "I...no. I can't. You do what you have to, father. But I have other friends here. They need to know about this." he paused and looked Carth in the eyes for the first time. "After this, I'll head back to Telos. You can find me there. I'm still not sure about...us. But I'll listen. And maybe, I can find some information here, from the inside."

I watched Carth smile. "I guess there's no way I can talk you out of this, is there? I mean, you're not going to do anything half way." he laughed a little. "Sounds familiar." He placed a hand on his son's shoulder. "I'm proud of you, son."

Dustil extended his hand. "Goodbye, Father."

Carth's grin widened as he shook his son's hand. "Goodbye, son. Take care of yourself and I'll see you soon."

He gave one last smile to Carth before taking off out of the room.

-Carth-

Revan turned to me and gave me a worried glance. "You think you'll really see him again?"

I nodded. "I think so. I know Dustil, and if he's anything like he used to be, he hates being tricked." I turned to her and placed both hands on her shoulders. "Thank you. For all that you've done."

She looked me in the eye. "So, are you going to go to Telos after this and wait for him?"

I took a step back and looked at the floor. "Yeah. I would cancel it, but, um, Admiral Dodanna has already sent a ship to escort me back to Telos."

She nodded, looking at me once more before leaving Dustil's room. "I need to go prepare for my test."

When she was gone, Canderous came up to me, crossing his arms over his chest and gave a snort of a laugh. "Gotta hand it to you, Republic. You're pure evil. You should be proud."

I nodded. "Yeah." I sighed. "Then why do I feel so lousey?"