Title: Inner Demons, Outer Evils

Summary: A tragic event sets Rogue Squadron on the path to the truth...and sends one of the Rogues on a collision course with himself.

Disclaimer: Star Wars is, quite clearly, not mine, and no copyright infringement is intended. This story is not written for profit.

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Chapter 5: "Easier Said Than Done"

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Jesina and Wedge were sitting side-by-side in the front of the squadron's briefing room the next morning, waiting in silence as the pilots filed in one or two at a time. Despite the fact that they'd been asked to arrive between 0800 and 0830, by 0730, everyone was there. Everyone, that was, except Tycho, whose absence did not go unnoticed by the rest of the squadron. "Where's Tycho, Wedge?" Wes asked softly.

"That's what this is about, Wes. I'm sorry there was no time to tell you and Hobbie privately. Go sit down." He was worried that Wes would be offended. But the other man seemed to hear the strain in Wedge's voice and nodded and sat down quietly.

Wedge took a few deep breaths, pacing back and forth across a couple of meters of floor space. He'd had a lot of difficult tasks in his time as Rogue Leader; this was going to be, quite possibly, the worst. "I have an unfortunate announcement to make," he said once all eyes were on him. He didn't have to wait very long – everyone had sensed that there was a problem and, with the exception of a few brief remarks to each other trying to figure out just what, exactly, WAS wrong, everyone had been paying close attention to Wedge and Jesina.

"This morning, at approximately 0600 hours, Tycho Celchu was removed from active duty. Late last night, he was admitted to the psychiatric ward in Corusca Naval Hospital." There was a formal tone to his words and he felt badly for that, but it was the only way he could keep his emotions completely in check. "We...there is...he'll remain there until his doctor, currently a woman named Ishana Lur, believes that he is capable of returning to duty – and there is no guarantee that that will happen. This is partly due to Corran Horn's death last week, but there are additional factors involved."

"Who admitted him?" Wes was the first to break the silence that followed the announcement, and Wedge knew exactly what he was asking. He wanted to know if Tycho was in the hospital of his own volition, or because something had happened.

"Tycho came to us last night," Jesina responded. She brushed her dark hair out of her eyes and looked away for a moment, drawing a deep, calming breath. "He had considered suicide and requested help. Leia Organa-Solo is the one who made the arrangements, but Tycho signed himself into the hospital. However, he did sign his rights to release over to the doctor. He can't sign himself out of the hospital against medical advice."

Inyri was resting her elbow on the table, chin in the palm of her hand. "Wedge, you didn't want anything said about Tycho's...problems...the drinking, and the removal from command. But now that Leia knows, what's going to happen? And are you going to get in trouble for covering it up?"

"I don't much care if I get in trouble for covering it up," Wedge said honestly. "I did what I thought was best. Tycho's going through a rough time, as a direct result of doing his job. I wasn't about to ruin his career over something I thought he could get through. Maybe I was wrong. Maybe I wasn't. I don't know, and I'm not going to."

Jesina answered the rest of Inyri's question. "Leia's going to do everything in her power to protect the Rogues – and Tycho especially – from the fallout from this. It is going to hit the sludgenews. Of that, Leia is certain." She shook her head at the irony. Tycho absolutely hated the sludgenews. "As for his career, that's entirely up in the air. Provided that Dr. Lur comes to the conclusion that he is capable of returning to duty, there should be no adverse affects on his career. If she thinks that returning to the squadron will cause him more harm than good, his career is over, starting now."

"Can we see him?" It was Hobbie who asked, but the rest of the squadron nodded, indicating that he was speaking for all of them.

Wedge shook his head. "No. That's one thing that Dr. Lur was firm about. She thinks that as long as there are people around who he's close to, he'll be unwilling to let his guard down enough for her to get to the root of his problems. Which, as I mentioned earlier, is not just the ordeal with Corran. According to her, it's normal procedure for someone admitted under the circumstances Tycho was."

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Wedge was surprised to see Leia appear in the Rogue HQ. "What are you doing down here?"

"I wanted to let you know a couple of things. First of all, no one's going to try to prevent Tycho from returning to the squadron, provided he gets clearance from Dr. Lur. The other is that General Cracken has arranged for Winter's return, and, because she and Iella were working together, he's reassigned her – to lead a team to try to find out what happened with Corran."

"I'm a little afraid to find out what happened with Corran," Wedge admitted, shaking his head. "It reminds me of Tal'dira. I know that that was brainwashing, and I'm hoping that's what the situation was with Corran. But..." He sighed and shook his head again. "I don't know what I'd do if it wasn't. If that was really Corran, and he just went over the edge, and now with Tycho in the hospital..." He trailed off.

Leia pulled a chair over to Wedge's desk and sat down. "Wedge, there was nothing you could have done to prevent Corran's death. Whatever happened there – an Imperial trick, some warlord's game, or Corran's own problems – it wasn't your fault. He'd tell you that, just the same as you told him after Tal'dira. And as for Tycho, that's been a long time coming."

"He's been my best friend for years, Leia. How did I not see this coming?"

"You tried to get through to him after Corran was killed, didn't you?"

"I got nowhere."

"But you tried. And that was all you could have done. And it did pay off, because he came to you that night. There's every possibility that if you and Jesina hadn't tried to talk to him, he might not be alive right now. Don't beat yourself up over this."

"Easier said than done."

"I know. But Mirax and the kids need you, and so does Tycho. And the squadron needs some sense of stability. If you can't get it together, you're not going to be any use to anyone." The words were a little harsher than she'd intended, but she hated to see Wedge like this, and she'd known him long enough to know that he didn't respond to coddling.

He nodded. "I almost wish we had an assignment right now – it'd make it easier to get back to normal, even without Tycho."

"You will soon enough. A few weeks and Lusankya will be back. And then you'll be leaving with that envoy. I don't know exactly what it entails, but it sounds like it'll be relatively simple – which is good since you may still be short staffed – but it'll be enough to get you back into the routine."

Wedge laughed bitterly, echoing his earlier comment. "Easier said than done."