Lana blinked in the bright sunlight of Odessen, the ramp gently landing on the snow. She had taken one step when Nico pulled her roughly against him, crushing her mouth with his. When he finally let her stand up again, she impishly tugged on the brim of his hat. Neither said a word, but their eyes made each other promises for later, and when Lana strolled down the ramp, her eyes sparkling and her hair swinging, several of the ground crew stopped what they were doing to watch her, only snapping back to work once they realized who they were drooling over, aware she could have their heads if she wanted. Warm air greeted her inside the hangar and she stopped to speak to Admiral Aygo, who was looking a little worse for wear. When he explained he was just not feeling well, she turned and called someone to use one of the power sleds to take him to the medcenter, just in case.
That done, she sauntered through the war room, her sensual presence in the force affecting both force sensitives and non sensitives alike. She was oblivious, concentrating on her report for Miriah, whom she knew was waiting for her. She glided into the office and slumped in the chair, shooting a grin at her boss. "You were so right," Lana said, and Miriah studied her face before grinning back.
"Great sex fixes a whole lot of things," Miriah agreed, and surreptitiously glanced a Corso. His face was flaming red, but the look in his eyes was one of longing, and she purposely didn't look at him directly, not wanting to encourage him so soon after yesterday's session. Which, she had to admit, had made her whole day better. "Now, what did you find out?"
Lana switched immediately to her work persona. "Not a whole lot. Senya says they're still tracking down the group, but they did retrieve an image," she pulled our her datapad and sent the file to Miriah. "She's got several agents out there, but nothing solid yet."
"We may have an angle," Miriah said, and went on to explain Missy's connection to Theron, and how she had volunteered to go to Zakuul. "I want you to verify her SIS involvement, if you can."
Lana looked thoughtful. "I can definitely find out about her service record. What exactly did she do? I mean, at her age and exotic looks, I can well imaging what she might have been assigned to, but.."
"Don't let Aric hear you say that," Miriah said, her face serious. "I gather there was some non-work contact between Missy and Theron, so it's already a sore subject."
"Understood," Lana replied, her eyes narrowing and her sensual spark replaced with ice. "I'll see what I can do. Meet first thing tomorrow?"
Miriah held her laugh. "Sounds good, say mid morning though," she replied, seeing the look of relief on Lana's face. When they were alone, Miriah turned to her husband, who was instantly on his feet and at her side, tenderly cupping her face with his hands and kissing her until they both needed air. "Whew," she whispered, as Corso planted kisses down her neck. She'd forgone the tunic today, and the rose colored top she wore left her neck bare. In only moments, they'd gone from merely enjoying each other to increasing need, and finally Corso stepped back.
"Not going to do this in the office," he growled, and with her nod, took her hand and they made their way to the detail, who hurried to keep up with the couple.
Missy ventured out of the apartment and into the shops, now located inside instead of out on the promenade sidewalks. Here she picked up some items she thought she might need if she got to go to Zakuul. She wondered how the weather was there, if it was as cold there as here. She picked up some personal items and when she was making her way to the mess hall for lunch, she let herself people watch, one of her favorite pastimes. She observed the Cathar she'd talked to, the one with the new baby, now in military uniform, and she correctly noted the rank, smiling to herself. Surely a General here would know Aric, she thought, but then again, she couldn't fault caution. She saw the Commander's daughter and daughter in law, taking advantage of the calm, sunny day to take the babies outside for a bit, walking along the courtyard, meeting the tall, dark haired Jedi. She'd remember all the names, one day, she promised herself. As she grew cold, she made her way inside, the warmth of the dining room making her eyes water a little. She gathered food and found Aric and Maura, who had just finished their meal and waved her over. It's good to be wanted, she thought happily, and sat down, basking in Maura's smile.
Corso shifted Miriah to his side, still gazing into her silver eyes as they caught their breath. They hadn't made it past the sofa in the family room, and now, Corso reached up to the soft throw and covered them, their bodies cooling down now. "So much better than food," Miriah murmured, and Corso only kissed her in reply. They were content, so much so that the sound of voices at the door startled them both. Corso looked at his wife with wide eyes, and jumped to his feet, scrambling for their hastily discarded clothes.
"What do we do?" he asked, and hopped, trying to pull his pants on. Miriah had already dressed, leaving off her under things, and pointed to the kitchen. She was heading to the front of the apartment to slow down whoever had arrived, and looked back to see Corso pointing at her hair. She stopped and smoothed her hair and strode forward again, a smile on her face. Caly and Mia were in the hallway, with the babies, and Miriah hugged her daughter.
"I want to hold the babies, but let me go wash my hands. Can't be too careful!" she called as she made her way to their bedroom. That was close, she admitted to herself, and wondered how Corso was faring. She couldn't feel sorry for it, though. They'd managed to please each other, and that was all that counted. With a grin, she shimmied into fresh clothes and brushed her hair, washing her hands and face before returning to the grandchildren.
Aric and Maura had gone back into the base to do a little surveillance, and saw the detail in the tunnel area. "Mir must have gone home for lunch," he said to Maura, and took her hand. They strolled along the military wing, and when they made the circle, they went back to the spare office they sometimes used to talk privately. "I don't see anything going on, did you?"
"Not at all. Everyone seemed to be just working," Maura confirmed. "Where are the other detail troops?" Aric outlined his troops movements and saw Maura nod. "Seems solid. What else did we learn from Senya?"
"Don't know. Everybody disappeared," Aric said in a grumpy tone, but he wasn't really upset. He knew if anything important had been discovered, they'd have been notified. They worked together on the next week's plans, and when they heard the detail coming toward them, they gathered their datapads and stood, waiting to talk to Miriah. When they saw her, she was beaming, Merida in her arms, the baby's black hair showing above the pink blanket.
After putting Merida in the back of the stroller, and getting a hug and kiss from a sleepy Declan, they waved goodbye to the children and Miriah looked at Maura with a dreamy smile. "She's such a cutie, and Declan is growing so fast," Maura said, feeling the calm radiating from her sister. They were talking about the children and grandchildren when Aric saw a moment of panic cross Corso's face.
"I don't like that look, Cor. Need to sit?" Aric's usual booming voice was very quiet, and with a nod, Corso followed his friend into the office and to the small sofa. "What can I get you?"
"Nothing. I'll be okay in a minute," Corso replied, but Aric could see that his eyes were slightly unfocused and instead of waiting, he pulled out his holo and got Mags, who said she was on the way. Miriah saw the holo of her other sister and her eyes flew to Corso, who gave her a weak smile.
"Sugar, just breathe, okay. Relax and breathe," Miriah told him, and knelt beside him, seeing the sweat pour from his face. "Maura, I have some juice in the small cooler over there, would you get one?" Maura brought the juice over and Miriah opened it, helping Corso take a sip. Only a few moments later, his color improved and he seemed more able to communicate, but he still had an erratic pulse, Miriah noted. As Mags sped into the room, she took in the situation and nodded.
"Good, got some sugar into him, let's see what else is going on," she murmured, and before Miriah could look away, Magdalane's force aura exploded around them, bathing the immediate area in blinding light. No one moved while she worked, and only a few minutes later, she slowly let the light recede. "I can't see anything structurally that's wrong. Are you keeping to the one cup of caf a day?" she asked, looking deep into Corso's rich chocolate eyes.
"I promise, Mags. One cup. I even waited until mid morning and grabbed it from the mess hall," he told her, and something registered within Mags mind, but she couldn't place what it was.
"How are you feeling now? Your heart rate is steady and regular."
"Fine. A little weak, but otherwise okay." He took Miriah's hand in his and felt her relax. "It seemed like the juice helped, made me feel stronger."
"Did you have something to eat today?" Mags was doing a mental checklist as she asked, eliminating diagnoses.
"Just breakfast," he admitted, and glanced quickly at Miriah, who looked abashed.
"Can't do it, Cor. You have to take better care of yourself. You're so focused on taking care of Miriah, use that same focus on yourself," Mags scolded, but she was smiling. "Aric, can you bring in some food?"
"On it," Aric replied, fast walking down the corridor. As he went, Miriah took Mags by the arm and asked her about their midday activity. Mags bit back her laughter and told her sister that no, sex wouldn't have anything to do with causing the arrhythmia, that it would happen whenever the conditions were right for it, whether Corso was exercising, or sleeping.
"I still feel like it's primarily something environmental, but we'll continue to keep on his restricted caf and diet. Just make sure he's eating and not … something else," she giggled, and patted Corso's hand before she left.
Caly was in her pod with Torian, listening to music and studying for her final exams. She only had three weeks left in school, then a two week break before she was supposed to start her internship. Now, she worried that wouldn't happen, with the current situation of staying inside the inner base. She tried to let it go, remembering her dad's words of advice only hurting her, and not changing anything, but it was more difficult than she had imagined. She was daydreaming of herself in chef's whites when Torian spoke to her. "We need to talk through some things," he told her, and her eyes grew large.
"What's going on?" she asked, and moved to sit beside him.
"Everything is kinda crazy right now, but you know eventually we'll go back to our lives. You, learning and working in the cafe, me getting assignments and working whatever shift they have me on. Have you thought about the craziness that is military life? I could get posted on another planet, or have a remote assignment that you won't be allowed to move to. You might be pulled away from your family, your job. I know one of your dreams is to have your own restaurant." He took her hand. "I just want you to have all the information you need to make a lifetime decision."
"It would help if we could all know the future," she finally said, taking a couple of minutes to think about her response. "But then, where would all the excitement and wonder be? I know, we'll both be asked to compromise, Torian. That's what being in a relationship is all about. My mom gave up her life in the stars for my dad's dream of being a rancher, and they managed. He's given up his quiet life on Dantooine to be here with Mom. Through it all, they'd rather be with each other, no matter where they are. Dad nearly died when Mom was frozen in carbonite for all those years, just from missing her." She stood and took his face in her hands. "I want to be with you. If that means I compromise, so be it. If that means that you make concessions, I'd hope that would work out, too. If you have doubts, now is the time to make those known."
"I just wanted to make sure you'd considered all the different things that could happen, sweetheart. I have no doubts that you are my soul mate. I will ask your father for our formal engagement soon, and I wanted you to be sure." She answered only with a kiss, and they both settled, Torian feeling more sure than ever that his decision was the right one.
Mags examined Admiral Aygo again and pronounced him able to return to his quarters, but not duty until tomorrow. She considered his symptoms, which had been similar to Sarai's, and wondered if there was another virus that had made its way to Odessen. She requested a battery of tests on Aygo's blood, and let herself drift in the force for a few minutes, asking for guidance and knowledge. Before she left the medcenter, she made a request of the staff. From this point on, anyone who came in with the same symptoms she'd been seeing would be asked about their food intake from the last twenty-four hours. If it's not viral, then there's something at play here, she mused. She washed her hands carefully and smiled up at Felix, who had come to walk her home. We'll figure it out, she vowed to herself, and took the offered arm, leaning her head on her beloved's shoulder. We will figure it out.