Part Two: Assassinations

Location: Carth Onasi's Quarters, VIP Wing

He felt dirty. The shower had helped some, but not as much as he'd hoped. He didn't need to be a Jedi to figure out where all the innuendo that had been laid down at the debriefing was going. Was Revan really gone? Did Brenna show any signs of even possibly being power hungry? Not that they came out and said anything. Nobody was going to overtly insult the Savior of the Republic and the most powerful Jedi to date. But at the same time, all the higher ups who'd been at the debriefing seemed to be angling for something like leverage to use against her.

Carth stepped out of the bathroom, clad only in a towel, scratching his neck, wondering if he'd managed a good enough Pazaak face to fool the politicians. His off-duty life was his own, and Brenna sure as hell wasn't the enemy…

"Oh my… Maybe I shoulda buzzed first?"

The words pulled Carth out of his reverie, and he found himself staring at Brenna, who was now dressed in sleek, tight-fitting, black trousers and a blue silk tunic that hugged her curves, with only of the lightsaber at her belt to belie her civilian dress . She was also flushing an interesting shade of red, and seemed to be having trouble breathing. Her reaction did wonders for his own dark mood.

He crossed his arms over his bare chest, stood a little straighter as if to preen, and asked, "Something you looking for, beautiful, or just browsing?"

"Ah…well… I…that is…"

Payback! He thought with a grin. There'd been far too many times over the past months she'd had him off balance for him not to take advantage, but both the grin and the thought softened as he studied her. "I like the new outfit, but I have to ask what was so important you had to slice the door lock rather than wait?"

"Oh! The Jedi… They… I can stay!" And with that inarticulate pronouncement, Brenna hurled herself at him, hugging him tight enough to cause him to gasp for breath.

She finally let go, and Carth looked down at her with a boyish grin, "And here I thought it was seeing me in a towel that made you so unusually inarticulate…"

Brenna flushed again, causing Carth to laugh. It felt good, just to hold her, no having to run to the rescue, no daring escapes to worry about. He reluctantly let go, ducking back into the bathroom to dress, so they wouldn't get… distracted.

"So," he called as he dressed, "are you going to tell me what you have in mind?"

"We're going to go out, stuff ourselves on food that's terrible for us, wander around Coruscant's shopping district, and if you're a really good boy…" Brenna let the words hang in the air, and he stepped out to see the brilliance of her smile.

"And what if I'm a bad boy?" Carth retorted as he slid an arm around her waist.

"Then it'll be even more fun."

Location: Coruscant

Time: 1945 Hours RST

"…So the damn thing stalls on me, and I'm falling towards the atmosphere like a meteor, Jax still on my six, the repair droid nearly frying itself to get the ship's engines back on line… Then I pulled out, jack knifed and was in perfect firing position to finish Jax off." Carth was smiling broadly as he illustrated the last point with an expansive hand. "My droid didn't talk to me for a month, and my instructors told me if I ever pulled a stunt like that again in a training session, the only unit I'd be flying for would be the reclamation and recycling squad. But I graduated the Academy at the top of my class."

Brenna clung to his left arm as they left the café, happily listening to Carth's Academy days. They were just two of the throng of people taking advantage of the warn evening to enjoy a walk. It felt… normal, like there'd been no Revan, no Star Forge, no saviors of the Republic. They were just regular people, doing the things regular people did when they're in love.

Carth must have realized it was unusual as well because he looked at her "So how are you doing it?"

"Doing what?" she replied, trying desperately for an innocent tone.

"First of all, I just realized we weren't mobbed as soon as we stepped out onto street level. And whatever you may think, I'm usually a bit quicker on the uptake then that." He smiled at her "But I'll admit the company I'm keeping at the moment is rather distracting, so I'm figuring you aren't using the Force on me. Which brings me to my second question: what exactly are you doing to keep us from being mobbed?"

Brenna rubbed her hands together and shot him a wicked smile, "As to the former, I see my evil plan is working!" She indulged in a bit of overdone maniacal laughter, and a few people who walked past looked at her for a second, blinked and then moved on. "The latter, I have to admit I am cheating a bit." Her smile softened as she continued, "it's no big deal, really. Most people don't expect to run into celebrities on the street, so I'm just… encouraging that a bit, though anyone who either knows I'm here or is specifically looking for me will cut through that…"

Before Carth could say anything, she caught an odd glint from a lower rooftop. Brenna reached for her lightsaber, though before she could bring it up to deflect the bolt, Carth rammed her to the ground. Brenna felt the blaster bolt hit Carth dead on, and instinct took over as grief and anger poured over her. Somehow she managed to rein herself back in, and grab Carth as he fell. The bolt had hit him in the side, where she sensed massive internal damage. Brenna also recognized the blast pattern of a Sith sniper rifle.

Damn you, Carth, she thought, Don't die on me! Brenna realized she couldn't risk using the Force to any great degree. She was far too angry to risk letting the Dark Side twist what she was trying to do. So she stretched out the smallest thread of the Force she could manage and began to pour into Carth the flame that was her life. Carth's breathing deepened, and his pulse calmed. Brenna could feel the terrible damage begin to repair itself, but he was still bleeding internally from blood vessels that had burst in the heat of the blast. On and on she pushed, giving of herself, praying to the Universe that help would arrive soon. Her vision began to gray, then blackness took her…

Location: Medical Center: Coruscant

Time: 1032 Hours RST

Bastila watched Brenna stir from the healing trance she'd been put in. It had taken several days for the newest of the Jedi Knights to recover her strength after doing the impossible… again. Brenna's anguish had touched every being in a ten-mile radius, Jedi or not, and yet she'd somehow managed to find the presence of mind not only to stop channelling the Force, but do something that had never been done in the annals of the Order. All living beings were connected to the Force, of course, but no one had ever managed to channel the living Force within them without channeling the Force in general, and it had nearly killed her in the process.

The padawan took another cleansing breath, one of several in the past few hours, and tried once again to swallow her anger. Brenna had become family in the months of searching for the Star Forge; annoying, uppity, sarcastic family, but family nonetheless. There had been days where it was hard to even remember who she truly had been, as there was no sign of the Dark Lord in Brenna's words or deeds.

Bastila exhaled as Brenna's eyes fluttered open, ready to be brutally honest, because if she couldn't be honest with family, then who could she be honest with.

"Would you care to explain this most recent piece of insanity on your part?" Bastila asked before Brenna could open her mouth.

"We were attacked… Carth took the shot for me…" She started looking around, sounding anxious. "Is he….?"

"He's fine. You managed to stabilize him until the medics were able to get him into a bacta tank, but why didn't you call for help?"

Brenna shrugged, looking uncomfortable, "I wasn't thinking clearly, I guess."

"'Wasn't thinking clearly?'" Bastila threw her hands up and began to address the ceiling. "Did you hear that? She wasn't thinking clearly!" The padawan sighed in exasperation, then looked at her friend. "If you can do such things when you're not thinking clearly… Brenna, you nearly killed yourself doing something no one ever thought possible."

Brenna looked ashamed, "I'm sorry, but I was too angry to call on the Force, I couldn't risk my anger twisting the healing."

"And yet you thought using your own life force was safer?"

"What I couldn't ask of the Force, I asked of myself," Brenna said with a seriousness that was all too rare.

Bastila smiled, "Now you're starting to sound like the Masters; we may make a Jedi of you yet."

The seriousness broke, and Brenna's customary sarcasm reasserted itself. "Oh no! Anything but that! Speaking of which, I need to talk to Carth."

"I expected as much, but I told him I wanted to yell at you first… You scared us all with that stunt."

"I am sorry, Bastila…"

"I know. I'll go get Carth, but don't say or do anything rash when you speak to him!" Bastila admonished before she left the room, not giving Brenna a chance to comment that she wasn't going to be rash when she took Carth apart and put him back together backwards. She'd been planning to be rather methodical about it.

The target of her ire stepped into the room moments later, looking concerned, but not the sheepishly contrite she'd been expecting. She knew he was smart enough to realize he'd done something galactically stupid, so she had to wonder what was going on behind those lovely eyes of his. He held up his hands in a gesture of conciliation before she could take a breath.

"There was another sniper, sweetheart. I caught his reflection in the one of the windows. They were expecting you to deflect the first blast, and then hit you in the back. I thought I could get us both out of the way, but I guess I'm not as young as I use to be."

Her anger at him melted away, "Thank you for saving me… again."

He smiled, "You're welcome… And it's mutual, you know."

"We need to stop nearly getting killed trying to save each other, you know?" she said, making a failed attempt to smile. Now that the anger was gone, she studied him with concern, "Should you even be out of bed?"

"You've got to love kolto. A day and a half in the tank, plus whatever you did to me, and I'm good as new." He studied her with concern in his eyes. "You, on the other hand, still look exhausted."

"I'll be fine. I just need to get out of here. We need to regroup, and we need a plan. And I think I have both…" She stood up, gesturing at the hospital gown, "So are you going to help me find my clothing, or do I walk out in this thing?"

"I think Bastila took possession of your clothing until," and he dropped into a fair imitation of Bastila, "'Brenna has the bloody sense not to go haring off half-cocked.'"

Brenna shook her head, walked to the doorway and caught Bastila's eye "Either I get clothing, or you get to explain to the Jedi Council why there's a Jedi roaming around in only a hospital gown."

End part 2