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 14: Recovery

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Jesina pressed a hand against the bacta patch on her bicep and looked around the room. The "safe house" was, like their staging area, a small warehouse. The difference was that this place was outfitted with extensive medical supplies that were now being put to good use.

The mission had had one fatality, in the form of Elassar Targon. As she had learned upon reaching the safe house, Elassar had been in the speeder with Runt and Shalla Nelprin, until he'd been hit. He'd fallen from the speeder and Shalla had gone after him. But he'd been dead before she got to him, and the approach of Imperials had forced her to flee.

Other than that, there were several injuries. There were those that her team had sustained – herself and Inyri, and Wes and Corran, who were both in need of more advanced medical care than they could get here – and Hobbie's team had taken a few hits. Tyria had an injured shoulder, and Face had a broken ankle. He was lucky, though. He'd broken his ankle in a nasty fall that could have killed him.

The other four members of the ground team were in one piece, and Jesina had no idea of the status of the air team.

She returned to the center of the room and sat, cross-legged, beside the blanket on which Wes now lay, his body warm from fever. "How do we get out of here?"

"I've contacted Elscol Loro. She says she has a way, which is good, because I have no idea," Face replied. "She'll be here within the hour, presumably with help."

She'd better," Jesina said softly, eyes locked on Wes. "I don't know how much time we have."

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"One of the planetary officials is working with us," Elscol told Face and Jesina. "He doesn't want to see the Imperials take over Zhar. He'll help me get you out aboard my ship. I can't take all of you, though. I can manage five, six at the most. In an emergency, I could take more, but that's a risk I'd rather not take."

"Take everyone who's injured," Hobbie said from behind Jesina. "Wes, Corran, Tyria, Inyri, and the two of you. The rest of us can stay here until either we have a way out or until we have something else to do, like work with you."

"All right, I can do that. Excuse me for a moment." She walked away and spoke on her comlink, returning momentarily. "He'll be waiting for us. I'll need a couple others to come and help get Horn and Janson aboard."

Jesina looked up at Hobbie. "Tell Gavin and Tainer that they're coming with us. We'll take two speeders, and they can drive there and back." She turned back to Elscol. "We leaving now?"

"Now," Elscol confirmed. She shifted her attention to Hobbie as he returned with Gavin and Kell in tow. "You're going to be in charge down here while she's gone?" When he nodded she continued, "I'll be in touch as soon as I get back. Stay here and lay low."

"Will do." He took a deep breath. "Good luck. Tell Wedge we'll be all right here."

"I know you will," Elscol said softly. She glanced uneasily at Jesina and then turned away.

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They made it to hyperspace without incident and for that Jesina was eternally grateful. Incidents meant delays, and they couldn't afford delays. Delays meant keeping Wes and Corran from getting medical care. Delays meant keeping Elscol away from where she needed to be – organizing on Zhar. Delays meant that the remaining Rogues and Wraiths stayed on-planet longer than they needed to be – and longer than was healthy for them. Delays meant it was that much longer until she could tear Cracken limb from limb for playing games with them once again.

She shook herself out of her thoughts and wandered into the main section of the freighter. There she found Tyria, Face, Inyri, and Elscol. "How long until we rendezvous with the task force?"

"About twenty minutes," Elscol replied. "How are you holding up?"

"I'm all right." Jesina sat down so that she was facing Tyria and Face. "How are you two?"

Face shrugged. "It never gets easier to lose someone."

"Consider that a good thing," Jesina said softly. "The moment it does, it's time to leave the business." She looked away but then returned her attention to him. "Why didn't we have a way off-planet?"

"We did," Face said. "It fell through." His eyes narrowed. "Someone didn't want any of us to get off Zhar alive."

"Cracken?" Jesina asked.

Elscol shook her head. "He knew that something might happen. He had Winter and Iella ask me to help you out if anything went wrong."

Jesina shook her head, frustrated. "This is why I left Intel, you know."

"This is why I left the Alliance," Elscol countered. Then she shrugged and changed the subject. "How are Janson and Horn?"

"Corran's okay. Looks to me like he was drugged and beaten, for the most part. It's Wes I'm worried about. His fever is still up."

Inyri reached over and placed a hand lightly on Jesina's knee. "He'll be all right. Janson may be a jerk sometimes, but he's one of the strongest people I've ever known."

"I know," Jesina said, as Elscol rose to head to the cockpit. "But sometimes being strong isn't enough." She, too, rose and followed Elscol to the cockpit.

The woman didn't look up from the instrument panel. "Stop blaming yourself. Tainer and Forge told me everything that happened down there. You did everything you could to keep your people alive and in one piece. And you did a pretty good job of it. Injuries happen. The only loss wasn't related to you at all. Wes is going to be all right."

"I lost track of the fight," Jesina said simply, dropping into the copilot's chair.

"No. You relied on well-trained military and intelligence personnel to do their jobs. You ran the show until things went bad, and then you focused on keeping yourself and those directly under your command alive. Forge, Janson, Tainer, Darklighter – they were your responsibility. Hobbie was more than capable of taking care of his people. The same for Slane and Wedge. You didn't lose track. You counted on other people to do their jobs and you did yours." She finally turned to face Jesina. "Trust me. If I thought you screwed up, I'd tell you. Ask Horn." Then she shrugged. "But if you don't believe me, wait and talk to Wedge. You know he'll tell you if you messed up."

Elscol stopped talking and shifted her attention to the instrument panel. "Twenty seconds to reversion."

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Wedge stood in the doorway and watched Jesina. She was sitting beside Wes' bed, where she had been from the moment he came out of the bacta tank. She'd fallen asleep about half an hour ago, and he was glad.

Before she'd left, Elscol had told him about Jesina's concerns over her actions on Zhar. After she'd gone, he'd spoken to Inyri, who'd told him in as much detail as she could remember, everything that had happened. Based on what they'd said, he was convinced she'd done everything right. Watching her now, he strongly suspected that her guilt was tied directly to one particular person's injury.

A movement from the bed caught Wedges attention as Wes, finally awake for the first time since the fight on Zhar, waved him over. "Is she okay?" he asked hoarsely.

"She's been worrying about you for the last fifteen hours or so. She's exhausted."

"Worrying? Why?" Wes looked confused. "What happened?

"You were shot, and then cracked your head in an explosion." Wedge spoke softly, not wanting to wake Jesina.

His effort was to no avail. She jerked her head up and released Wes' hand. "You're awake!"

"So it would seem. How you doing?"

"Worried about you. It was pretty close for a while.

Wes rolled his eyes and tried to shrug it off. "You know me. It takes a lot to get me down."

Jesina smirked. "Yeah, well, they threw a lot at you. If Elscol hadn't been around, we wouldn't have gotten here in time."

"Speaking of here, where are we?"

"On the medical frigate, near Tatooine."

"So we all got out okay, then?"

"For the most part," Jesina replied. "Injuries, and Elassar Targon was killed." She saw a look or remorse cross his face and was reminded that he'd served with the Wraiths at one time. "We got Horn out, though, and they tell us he's doing just fine.

"It really is him?" Wes asked. He remembered Jesina telling him it was Corran, right before things went to hell. "How?"

"That's what we're trying to find out," Wedge answered. "He hasn't woken up yet, but he should soon. In the meantime, Cracken's arranging a way to get us all on planet. There's something big going on. Once we're all on Zhar, the rest of the task force will move into the system. We're hoping that that will discourage the Imperials from moving on the planet. If it doesn't, we'll be ready."

"Will Elscol?" Wedge nodded. "When will we all be heading for Zhar?"

"As soon as Cracken comes up with a plan," Wedge replied. "It should be within the next thirty-six hours."

"Will everyone be okay to go?" Wes asked. Then he held up a hand. "Wait. Scratch that. How many of us are up here?"

"The entire air support team, plus us, Inyri, Tyria, and Face," Jesina replied. "And Corran. Basically, everyone who was injured."

"How's everyone doing?"

"With the exception of you and Corran, everyone is fit to fly now," Wedge told him. "Face's ankle is tender, but he can manage with it. Corran won't be able to go with us, but you should be."

"I will be," Wes corrected him, but Wedge shook his head.

"No. You should be. The only way you're leaving this ship is if the med staff okays it. Not only were you badly hurt, but your body's been fighting a fever. That takes a lot out of you."

"He's right," Jesina agreed, much to Wes' chagrin. For some reason, he felt more than comfortable defying Wedge, but he didn't want to challenge her.

"Fine, I'll cooperate," Wes gave in.

Wedge watched his acquiescence in shock. "I have never, ever, gotten him to agree to anything that easily – even things he wanted to do!"

She grinned at him. "Power of women, Wedge. A beautiful – or even slightly attractive – woman can get a man to do just about anything – provided she knows how to play the game."

"And very few play the game as well as you do, Dreis," a voice said from the doorway.

Jesina looked up in surprise. "Vayl? What in the galaxy are you doing here?"

"I really don't know. I was in Mos Eisley. My first vacation in six years, and I came all the way to Tatooine to AVOID this happening. They contacted me and told me to rendezvous with the medical frigate." He shrugged. "I get the feeling something big is going down."

"Yeah, looks like it," Jesina replied, disconcerted. "Ah, Vayl, my old friends Wedge Antilles and Wes Janson. Wedge, Wes, this is Vayl Lonciez. He's, ah, my old partner."

Wedge frowned at the strange look in her eyes but nodded and reached out to shake the man's hand. "You're NRI?"

"Yeah. I was sorry to lose Jes to Starfighter Command. Can't blame you for wanting her, though. She's a great girl. And I can't blame her for going. Who would pass up the chance to fly with Wedge Antilles?"

Jesina frowned. Vayl knew the circumstances under which she'd left Intelligence, and it had nothing to do with Wedge wanting her in Rogue. Why was he acting like this?

Wedge seemed to sense that something wasn't right. "Actually, Mr. Lonciez, I need to speak to Jesina about something. If you'll excuse us..."

"Of course. Dreis, come find me when you get a chance. I'll be in the lounge trying to figure out why I'm here."

She managed a weak smile. "I'll...stop by." He nodded and disappeared, and she breathed a sigh of relief.

Turning, she saw that Wedge and Wes were both staring at her. "What, exactly, was that all about?"

She opened her mouth to try to explain, but closed it again. Finally, she simply shook her head. "I really have no idea."

"Does he know why you left Intel?"

"Yes, he does. That's why I'm so confused!"

Just then there was a knock at the door. Wedge and Jesina turned to see Face stick his head in. "Am I interrupting anything?"

Jesina sighed. "Nothing important. Did you need something, Face?"

"Tell me Lonciez isn't on board with this?"

Jesina got a sinking feeling in her stomach. "Why?"

"Because I swear I just saw him.

"No...why don't you want him involved?"

Face looked uncomfortable. "Can I speak to you privately?"

She sighed. "There's no need. What's on your mind?"

He hesitated. "Since you left Intel he's...strange. He's a loose cannon, and I don't entirely trust him."

"Face, you've got to give me more than this."

"Colonel, he's obsessed with you."

She sagged against the bed, burying her face in her hands. "Tell me your joking."

"Sorry." Face paused. "He's had three partners since you left, and they all applied for transfer away from him. One left Intel altogether, though no one seems to know why."

Sensing her distress, Wes put his hand on the small of Jesina's back. "Is he dangerous?"

"I honestly don't know." Face shook his head, frustrated. "I would hope Cracken wouldn't keep him around, much less assign him to us like this, if he was, but I really don't know."

"Your professional opinion, Face," Wedge said wearily.

The Wraith looked extremely uncomfortable. "I think he could be, yes." He shrugged. "Let's just say, the sooner Cracken comes through with a way to get us to Zhar – a way that doesn't include him – the better I'll feel about this whole situation."

"Terrific," Wedge muttered. "Because we didn't already have enough to worry about." He sighed. "Jes, go with Face and tell everyone we're having a meeting in the conference room down the hall. Rogues and Wraiths, I want them all there. Pash Cracken and Iline Jesmin too. And whatever you do, do not leave her alone. For any reason."

Jesina's eyes narrowed. "Wedge," she began, but Wes cut her off.

"He's right, Jes. That guy's NRI-trained and that makes him dangerous. Do us all a favor and give us one less thing to worry about, huh?" He gave her an imploring look.

Face grinned as he saw her resolve melt. "Don't worry, sir. I won't let her out of my sight."

"Oh, really?" she countered. "Planning on following me into the women's refresher?"

"No," he replied quickly, "but I'm sure Inyri or Tyria will be more than happy to accompany you, ma'am."

She glowered. "You're a dead man, Loran."