Being escorted through the corridors of some vaguely familiar building would have been off putting enough if it wasn't for the foreboding feeling in the back of his mind that he couldn't shake. Horatio had been detained by the Paneau on several of his visits to the Outer Rim world, but this particular trip had angered him more than anything. He had landed himself in another of their cells, again for several days without a word from anyone, all thanks to a promise he'd made long ago that had involved him in something he knew he should have left well alone. As much as he wanted to believe they wouldn't hold him indefinitely, lingering doubt was taking hold the longer the three Paneau guards marched him through a maze of empty halls.

The heavy binders at his wrists pulled his arms forward at an awkward angle, aggravating his left shoulder that was still mending from the blaster bolt he'd taken a few days prior. He shifted his arm position a number of times but found no relief, irritating him further. The guards beside him wouldn't offer any help; had he been a few years younger, he might have tried to take them by surprise in a close hand-to-hand brawl and make his escape, but his energy was sapped. He remained at their mercy, then, wherever they were taking him, and his foul mood would instead be his weapon of choice.

He had lost track of how many lifts and turns they'd taken, but they finally seemed to be nearing an end as the two guards in front stood at attention on either side of an open doorway, silently ushering him through. The room on the other side was open to the early morning air, and Horatio warily stepped out into a covered veranda with one lone oval stone table at its center. Purple vine flowers spiraled around the ornate railings along its perimeter and gave the area a fond, familiar fragrance, but even the lush greenery couldn't conceal the picturesque scene beyond its edges. A serene lake, bordered by rich, calm fields for kilometers in almost every direction, reflected a bright pink and orange wash of color over the room, and briefly, just briefly, Horatio forgot where he was and felt...peace.

The third guard circled around him and stood before him, studying him sternly a moment before he suddenly reached out and released Horatio's bound wrists. He clipped the open binders to his belt as he swiftly stepped back and rejoined the other two without a word, leaving Horatio alone in a bewildered state of shock as he rubbed his irritated skin. Was this his new cell? He saw no security cams, no monitors, no shield or containment field generators, so...could he escape?

His aching shoulder, though, reminded him just how little he was going to be able to do on his own for another week or so. He gripped his arm, lifting it to relieve some muscle tension as he aimlessly stepped about. He felt like he was being watched, but he couldn't quite determine why until he turned to the far corner and spotted a small furry creature, calmly sitting in place as if it had been waiting for him. Instantly on edge, Horatio froze where he stood, having only ever seen similar beasts as feral carnivores on open grassland worlds. This one hadn't yet moved, though, seeming to study him with its dark eyes as he watched it in turn. Its light brown coat had darker stripes and spots along its torso, and its thin legs and paws, perfectly positioned together, drew dark brown lines down its belly. It twitched its fluffy striped tail behind itself a few times before it stood on all fours and made slow strides towards him, its gaze never leaving him.

In mere seconds, the creature had positioned itself between Horatio and the door he'd come in through, where he saw the three guards were no longer standing. His only option, then, was to backpedal to the open railing behind him, if he could make it there before it reached him first...

Though he had only glanced backwards a half second to judge the distance he still had to travel, he suddenly felt a warm body earnestly rub against his legs, paralyzing him in place once more. The creature had already wrapped itself around his feet before he'd had a chance to react, before he could even breathe -

"Phantom," called a familiar voice from the open doorway, "go on. Leave him be."

Her casual tone as she addressed the animal was the last thing he would have expected from his former partner. But it obediently followed her command, looking up at him and giving him a friendly mrrow before it scampered away and disappeared down the hall behind Mand. Finally letting go of a breath he had been holding, Horatio met her gaze with a glare, awaiting more scathing, angry words from her, a continuation of her assault on him a few days prior...

...but her expression was nothing but calm and composed, even somewhat reticent, completely opposite how she had left him in that med center. "Hello, Horatio."

His jaw clenched reflexively, still wary of her. "Kil."

"I'm sorry about Phantom," she continued after a moment, stepping closer to him. "I thought she was still on the other side of the Retreat. She's a very curious little tooka; she must have followed you out here."

Uninterested in her apology, he narrowed his eyes as his only response. A lengthy, heavy silence hung between them as Mand stood perhaps just a meter away from him, putting him on edge. He remained unconvinced she wasn't going to attack him again; why else would she have had him brought to a secluded area with limited exits and access to very little that could function as a makeshift weapon? She had the Force, but he had a weak arm.

Mand finally spoke up once more, her voice rendered faint. "Thank you...for staying."

Horatio blinked, unsure if he had properly processed her words. For staying? The longer it echoed in his ears, the angrier it made him. "The binders on my wrists and the cell I've stayed in for the past week didn't exactly make me feel like I had much of a choice."

"I know," she countered sympathetically, "and I am sorry for my part in that."

Another apology made him roll his eyes, prompting her to plead her case further. "I needed to be sure I'd be able to talk to you before you disappeared again. You are a rather hard man to find, a fact I know you take great pride in. I do regret that it was so...forced, but I had to do something to keep you from leaving."

"Didn't have it in you to ask nicely?"

She returned his sarcastic tone just as expertly as he had wielded it against her. "Like you would have stayed if I had simply asked you to."

He'd had half a mind to lie, but...she knew how to read him better than anyone, and his silence earned a faint triumphant grin from her; he couldn't prove her wrong. He crossed his arms over his chest, his indignation concealing a grimace as his wounded shoulder muscles protested the sudden movement. Mand's expression relaxed as the moments passed, though, and she briefly glanced at his left shoulder as if she had sensed his discomfort. She met his gaze once more and said nothing of his injury, instead thoughtfully reverting to the topic that had brought them together in the first place.

"Horatio," she breathed softly, "I wanted to talk to you because...I needed to thank you, for what you did for my daughter." She paused, searching his eyes. "...you saved her life."

Uncomfortable with her praise, he looked down and away from her, but she continued anyway. "She had just been freed from carbonite, as you figured out, and her entire body was dangerously out of balance. She might not have recovered if you hadn't gotten her to that medical center in time. I can't even begin to tell you how profoundly thankful I am that she found you, and that you took her where she needed to go. She still has some...mending to do, but she'll be okay...thanks to you."

Horatio was unsure how to respond beyond a weak nod; he had long dreaded his involvement in Cordira's wellbeing getting back to Mand for this very reason. But a promise was a promise.

Mand's voice had begun to tremble. "I will forever be in your debt. There's no way I could repay you in just one lifetime, but that won't stop me from trying. Kaydee?"

As she looked back toward the doorway, he watched as a chrome-plated protocol droid ambled toward them on cue, tugging a cargo crate along. Mand smiled kindly at the droid, taking the crate to set it at Horatio's feet. He didn't move to help her or open it, though, already extremely wary of it all.

"Is there anything else I may do for you, Mistress Mand?"

A brief catch in Mand's voice earned Horatio's attention once more. "Just what we discussed earlier, Kaydee."

"Of course, Mistress Mand," the cheery droid turned around immediately, "right away."

Mand watched Kaydee leave the room, but Horatio studied her expression instead, curious what she had just set into motion and how it involved him. He didn't dare share his suspicion with her, even as she returned to him and gestured towards the crate beside him. "I want you to have this."

He shrugged. "What is it?"

Her voice faltered the slightest bit. "Supplies. Repair tools. Food rations, and...some credits for the fuel you used to leave Myrkr with Cordira. Your ship is here on Paneau now; we retrieved it from the medical center yesterday."

He took in and released a slow breath as his brows furrowed, again uncertain how to react. As far as he was concerned, the fulfillment of his promise he had made to Deilia Rys'tihn was the end of the arrangement; he had no need of Mand's debt to him. Even though it was a welcome change of pace from her usual malice and aggression towards him, he didn't feel that it was something he had truly earned.

"Kil," he shook his head, "I don't ne- "

"Please," she interrupted him with sudden strength. "It is the least I can do. You brought my daughter back to me...when I had almost given up hope of ever seeing her again. If there are things in there you don't need, you can sell whatever you want, I don't care. Just...take it."

Knowing full well it was an argument he wasn't going to win, his shoulders sagged in defeat as he nodded, reluctantly agreeing to the exchange. It placated Mand, allowing her to breathe a sigh of relief, but as she continued to gaze at him for several moments, her expression eventually morphed into one of deep contemplation, equally perplexing him.

"...I'll take the crate, Kil."

"I'm sorry, I know," she shook her head to dismiss his assumption, her thoughts following an entirely different path. "Just when I think I've got you figured out...you're still a mystery."

He had no idea what she meant until...

"Why did you help her?"

Another topic he'd just as soon avoid. He looked to the floor so he wouldn't have to suffer her scrutiny, and she only pressed further. "You had nothing to gain. You didn't have to, and I know you certainly wouldn't have wanted to, so...why? Why did you, of all people, save my daughter?"

Her questioning of his motives touched a nerve deep within him; if the dark look in his eyes wasn't warning enough, his furious tone was. "I didn't do it for you."

She seemed only more confused by his response, but after a brief silence, a wave of realization lightened her expression into amazed disbelief, and she could hardly find her voice.

"...Deilia asked you to."

Had she just read his mind? How could she possibly have known! Incensed, he shut himself off, turning from her to step over to the outside rails. He heard her slower footsteps following behind him, but he gave her no further information, keeping his back to her.

"It fits," she breathed incredulously. "And, it was you who warned the Jedi about the Darkmyre labs starting back up... You were their informant."

He clenched his jaw. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Horatio... I... I don't know what to say."

"I'd prefer that you just not say anything."

Her steps closed in on him even more, and though he knew she was just behind him, he still noticeably flinched when he felt her gentle hand on his shoulder.

"I know what Deilia did for you, how much she meant to you..."

Despite the dark glare he turned his head to give to her, she continued softly. "Garran told me...how she patched you up, how she cared for you for weeks while you recovered... She saved your life, and I know you two became close."

He stared out into the lake beyond the veranda's boundary, desperate to find something to distract him from those memories. "Kil, that was almost twenty years ago. She probably doesn't even remember me."

"Horatio... Deilia died. She's been gone for sixteen years."

He knew. A part of him had always known that she hadn't survived whatever mission she had set herself on, but denial had kept him from actively seeking out any confirmation that she had indeed perished. His right hand reached up to the left side of his chest reflexively, a subconscious response he'd developed where he massaged his scar that reminded him of her tender care, her gentle touch...

"I'm so sorry."

Returned to the present, he snapped. "If she's gone, then why do you keep bringing her up? Do you want to blame her death on me, too?"

Mand only responded to his venom with warm sympathy. "No, I don't. She died protecting Cordira from one of the Darkmyres, one that I had failed to best. So for that, the blame falls on me. I bring her up because...that's another thing that I needed to talk to you about. I had to know."

"Know what?"

The look in Mand's eyes was difficult to decipher. "...if she had told you."

He had begun to demand a straight answer out of her when a new pair of footsteps echoed out onto the veranda as if on cue, and looking back to their new visitor, Horatio immediately felt his heart stop beating altogether, nearly bringing him to his knees.

"Master Natiyr, you wanted to see m- ...oh."

A young man in his late teens stood breathless before them, his gaze already locked with Horatio's. Under thick, light brown hair, his shock swiftly transitioned into a bright smile, and he anxiously patted his deep purple and crimson shirt to perfect his appearance. It was his distinctive hazel eyes, though, that told Horatio exactly who he was without any further information, and Horatio couldn't have been less prepared for such a blow.

"Wil, this is Horatio Sheridan," Mand introduced them gently, standing just beside the boy with an arm wrapped around his shoulders supportively. "Horatio," she breathed, "this is Wil Rys'tihn...your son."

Wil extended his hand to him, trembling ever so slightly with excitement. "I've been waiting a long time to meet you."

Locked in place, Horatio didn't move. He couldn't move, completely immobilized by fear and disbelief. The boy had Deilia's kind smile, her gentle features, but his eyes...they were unmistakably Horatio's, escalating his fear into panic. Every principle of solitary life he'd abided by, every relationship he'd shied away from, every potential partner he'd pushed away, they'd all been tactical moves to keep anyone from getting hurt because of him, because of his past mistakes. He hadn't been able to protect his sister or either of his two nephews after all these years, so how in the galaxy was he supposed to protect a teenaged son? Overwhelmed with anxiety, the only thing he could process was the urge to flee. With only a brief, blank glance at Mand, he turned and left, making his way down the lengthy hall as he ignored her repeated calls to him.