Disclaimer: same as chapter 1

I'd like to thank everyone who wrote reviews for my first chapter. You were all so nice:) Anyway, I hope you like this part also (and yes, I will be adding more; I'm working on other stuff as we speak). Please let me know what you think!

Chapter 2 – Dxun

Atton was annoyed. He had the vague impression that he had been feeling annoyed quite a bit recently. Especially since that Mical character had joined them. After days of unfounded suspicion, he had finally caught him transmitting messages to Telos, to the Republic. Of course he claimed it was because he had to check in with his superiors every once in a while, lest they sent patrols after them to make sure they were all right, but Atton didn't buy it. Mical was spying on Jena; he just knew it… He however admitted he had no idea why the Republic would be spying on her.

But the source of this latest annoyance was, surprisingly not Mical, but the fact that they had changed course on the way to Nar Shaddaa. He had rather been looking forward to hitting the Pazaak Lounge on Nar Shaddaa, and getting a few shots of juma juice while his fearless leader and her loyal peons would try to find that Jedi whose name he could never remember. Something with a "Z"… and a hyphen. However, the Mandalorians has contacted them, saying something about a message from Master Kavar, and the queen of Iziz being in danger. The details he had were sketchy at best, especially considering he wasn't even fully aware of what had come about the first time they were on Onderon. He had been busy fixing the ship most of the time, and frankly, he wasn't along for the storyline. He only concerned himself with doing what Jena asked him to, playing pazaak and sitting in the cockpit while envisioning lewd images; that was enough for him. Let the others worry about what was going on.

But most of all, he was annoyed at himself. He had been staying away from Jena ever since what he referred to as "that little trash compacter on wheels"had interrupted their moment in the cockpit. He found he simply didn't know how to act around her anymore. He felt she needed to know about his past, but every time he had wanted to bring it up, something would make him change his mind – sheer panic, for the most part. He was convinced that if he told her, she would likely send him packing, or worse, keep him around but never want to have anything to do with him again. He felt that the latter was the worse one of the two options, as if she just dropped him off on a planet somewhere and left without him, he would at least not get a daily reminder of what he had lost. And besides, with the sudden change in destination, Jena was busy planning things out with Mandalore and Kreia anyway, so he couldn't talk to her even if he wanted to.

Upon landing on Dxun, the entire crew immediately headed to the Mandalorian camp to find out what was happening. The dampness of the jungle made Atton's clothes stick to his skin. He had fondly hoped that the last time he was on Dxun would in fact be the last time. Not that he had left the ship much during that visit, with Kreia's veiled threats keeping him on board. He had gotten out just long enough to know that he hated it there. In a way, he was almost glad he had been forced to stay on the ship that time. Chasing those cannoks around in the jungle and gutting them to find spare phase-pulse converter parts to help out some Mandalorian was not his idea of fun. At least this time around no gutting of any kind of beast was involved; but the dampness certainly was there with a vengeance.

"I can't believe we're going to Onderon again," he muttered sullenly, as he flicked a rather large, winged insect off his sleeve. "Well, this time, I'd better not be staying on the ship. Dantooine was bad enough."

After a long trek in the jungle, they eventually arrived at the Mandalorian camp, much to Atton's relief. At least it was somewhat less damp there… although the attitude of some of the Mandalorians rather made him long to be in the jungle rummaging through cannok guts.

There was a quick debriefing at the camp, and it was determined that two parties would be acting simultaneously… one on Dxun, and one on Onderon – because Kreia said so, or so it seemed to Atton. Apparently the enemy was doing something on Dxun that had to be stopped, something involving energy. She didn't really explain what, but then again Kreia was always very cryptic.

"Very well," said Jena. "I'll lead the group on Onderon. Atton, you can stay—" He jumped up when he heard her say his name, blushing slightly. It was the first time she said his name since he kissed her. He then furrowed his brow. Wait a minute… I can see where this is going.

"Oh no, you don't… I am not staying on the ship this time. No way." He spoke vehemently. "No. Way."

Jena smiled. "That's fine Atton. We can use your help."

Atton looked smug. Ha! Atton Rand gets results. He gets what he wants!

"As I was saying, Atton, you can lead the party on Dxun." Back in the jungle… that's not exactly what I had in mind… Jena continued, "Mandalore and Mical will go with you."

Mical. Really. Was she trying to punish him? It was payback for avoiding her, wasn't it? A biting retort came to mind, but he decided it might be wiser to keep it to himself.

"I will go with Kreia and Bao-Dur," she continued. Oh sure… their party gets three people with lightsabers. I get the Mandalorian with no sense of humor and the kid in a dress with a glow stick. I just hope we don't run into any real trouble. "You guys might want to get going. We'll see you when you get back. Good luck!" Atton looked up at her hesitatingly, vaguely hoping she would have something else to tell him, but as his party was starting to move out, he ran out after them.

As Atton walked out, Jena threw a sidelong glance in his direction and repressed a sigh. She suddenly became very aware of Kreia closely watching her. Jena haughtily met her stare and without a word, turned and headed toward the hangar where their transportation to Onderon awaited them.

During that time, Atton, Mical and Mandalore were headed back into the jungle, behind a Mandalorian guide. After a few encounters with cannoks, which Atton was very thankful they did not have to ransack because their aroma was decidedly anything but pleasant, they eventually found their way to a cave. They quickly noticed a number of mines toward the end of the cave, which Atton deftly disabled. What he did not manage to disable, however, was the sensor at the end of the cave, which gave their presence away immediately.

"Oops," he casually commented as a siren blared off. Mandalore rolled his eyes from beneath his helmet. They headed outside the cave and quickly spotted a small Sith camp. Atton attempted to sneak into the camp to try and use their computer. It turned out to be rather useless, and as an added bonus, they managed to spot Atton leaving the camp. He started firing back at them as bolts flew around him everywhere, but there were too many of them.

"Guys? GUYS?" he called out desperately as he retreated. While Atton was struggling trying to get healing packs out, Mical ran past him and single-handedly managed to take out three of the Sith that were in the camp. When the fight was over, and they were surrounded by Sith corpses, Atton whistled admiringly. "All right, Mical! Who would've guessed you could actually fight?"

Mical looked mildly embarrassed, but pleased.

They rested for a bit, trying to patch themselves up as best they could. Mical's medical expertise made that chore much easier. Somehow, their presence had still not been fully alerted, so they took advantage of the cover they were given to rest properly for a few more minutes.

"So, Mical," began Atton lightly. "I'll bet you get all kinds of girls now with that Jedi get-up. I hear chicks really dig guys in robes."

Mical's face turned a deep crimson.

"Atton, the path of a Jedi—"

"Right… I forgot… you don't go for that whole carnal love thing… right…" dismissed Atton, unconvinced. "Yeah… you wouldn't really think so to look at you… Right, well, I'm ready to go if you guys are," he added, in an effort to blatantly drop the subject.

Mical looked uncomfortable. Mandalore looked at one, then at the other, sighed, rolled his eyes and reflected that it didn't take a Force sensitive to know what would be happening next. Getting up, he mumbled something about scouting out the entrance to the temple to see what they were up against. As soon as he left, Mical turned to Atton. "Atton, the feelings between the Exile and I…"

"Will you people stop calling her that?" he said with a sudden burst of violence. "She has a name, you know. It's Jena. Jey-nah. Maybe if you actually used her name once in a while, you'd learn how to pronounce it properly."

"Very well… the feelings between Jey-nah and I..." He spoke very deliberately, over-enunciating the name in an effort to appease Atton.

"And what feelings would that be?" jealously interrupted Atton.

"That's the point, Atton. There are none. At least none other than that of master and student."

"I don't buy it. You're saying you spend all this time with her… talking to her… looking at her… meditating with her… and you feel… nothing?"

Mical looked slightly flustered. He deeply blushed again. "Well, maybe not nothing…" he admitted, looking greatly embarrassed. "I am still human after all… but what I feel for her is irrelevant."

"Oh yeah? And why is that?" demanded Atton, his temper rising again.

"Because," patiently explained Mical, "I only want to help her. That's the only reason I'm here… At some point, she will need my help… and your help… and we both will be there for her. All I ask of her is that she let me help her when she needs it most."

"Oh." Okay, so he's got a bit of a crush on her, but he's not expecting anything to come of it. That's… good, I guess…I think…

"Besides," Mical added as an afterthought, "she feels nothing for me."

Atton frowned. "How do you kn—"

"I just do, Atton."

"Yeah, but how do you—"

"Oh, come on! Do you really need me to say it? Isn't it obvious?" exclaimed Mical with sudden unusual violence. He immediately recomposed himself and Atton could hear him mutter part of the Jedi Code – "There is no passion… there is only serenity." He opened his eyes, took a deep breath and looked at Atton. "How can you not know?" he asked calmly, but with a slightly pained intonation.

Atton was becoming uncomfortable. There was no way to have a real conversation with all those damned manic-depressive Jedi. One second they were cryptic; the next they were yelling at you for not being able to read minds, then they were calm… "Um… look… I'm not really following you, but clearly this is upsetting you, so maybe we should just… stop talking."

"It's you, you idiot," mumbled Mical, ignoring him.

"Me? What about me?" asked Atton, perplexed.

"How is it that you could possibly be that clueless?" Mical asked in disbelief, his anger returning. "And worse, how could she possibly…" He stopped. "There is no emotion, there is only peace," he muttered to himself.

Atton opened his mouth, but before he could say anything, Mandalore, clearly thinking they had had enough time to work out their differences, returned. "There are quite a few Sith guarding the door, but I think we have a chance to make it through. I suggest we get a move on."

Accordingly, they continued on, Atton glancing perplexedly at Mical, who shot him a black look and coldly ignored him. They arrived to the temple door at the end of the clearing, but they had quite a fight on their hands, as it was heavily guarded. Mandalore glared at Atton from beneath his mask, as guards and dark Jedi apprentices kept coming out. If that sad excuse for a pilot had managed to disable that sensor properly, they wouldn't be in this mess…

They eventually made their way inside. They started walking around the temple trying to find… What were they looking for, anyway? All I know is there's some kind of energy emanating from this temple. That much I can feel. You'd think that being the one responsible for this operation, I'd have a better idea of what exactly we're dealing with…After watching Mical in action, Atton was starting to vaguely wonder why Jena had gotten him to lead the mission, instead of Mical. He admitted he felt the latter certainly was the more capable one of the two. I'd like to be able to say it's because I'm sleeping with the boss that she put me in charge, but that's not quite accurate, now is it? He smiled faintly and shrugged. She must've had her reasons. She wouldn't have asked him to do this if she didn't think he was up to it. She's not stupid.

But what had Mical meant? "How could she possibly…" How could she possibly what? How could she possibly put me in charge? How could she possibly—? Atton's eyes suddenly opened wide. He couldn't have meant that she…that she… but she's been avoiding me… Atton stopped. No, she hadn't been avoiding him; he was the one who had been avoiding her. But even so, she hasn't exactly sought me out either… and she's the one who ran out on me without even looking at me! And she never even came back to…to… No… NO! He's wrong… kid's wrong…there's no way…there's no way she…cares… Despite the fact that he felt convinced Mical was wrong, Atton suddenly had a good feeling about everything: about Jena, about telling her of his past, about this mission…

Whoa. What on Telos is that? They had been walking rather aimlessly through the temple for some time, and other than the occasional battle, Atton hadn't really paid close attention to what was going on, until now. They had stepped into a large room – the crypt, assumedly – where a number of Sith were doing some sort of ritual. Well, I think we may have found what we were looking for… The energy that emanated from the room was almost unbearable. And it was dark energy. Atton could almost feel it overpowering him.

"Break the ritual," bellowed a Dark Jedi in front of Atton. The Jedi turned around. He was probably smiling, but Atton couldn't really tell because of the mask that covered the Jedi's face completely. "You're too late," he arrogantly told Atton. "Now Onderon will fall and with it, the Rep—but what's this?" He looked curiously at Atton. "Interesting… very interesting that a mere Force adept managed to make his way here. You have within you the potential to wield the Force. It is good that you sought us out. This tomb is strong with the Dark Side. Here is where you will take the first steps toward your destiny."

Surprised, Mandalore and Mical turned to look at Atton, slightly lowering their weapons. Mical was especially dumbfounded. The Force? Him? Surely the Sith was kidding! This was a joke, right? Mical slowly looked behind them to see if there was somebody else to whom the Dark Jedi could possibly have been talking. Not seeing anyone else, he then turned his attention back to Atton. And it suddenly dawned on him – Atton hadn't looked in the least bit surprised when the Jedi had told him he was a Force adept. His face grew dark and he immediately grew concerned. What if Atton were to…?

"Surely you can feel the power of this place, echoing through you... Accept it… embrace it. Do not limit your potential by merely becoming a puppet of the Jedi Order. I feel much anger within you. Much passion. Embrace these feelings the Order would have you deny. Do not limit your potential."

Atton could feel his will wavering. After all, it would be so easy, so simple to just give in… he would no longer have to fight; he would no longer have to run away from his past. He would even be respected for what he had done. Respected and feared! He, who never was either of those things... He could feel the anger growing in his heart. He could be so much more... The power in the room was starting to take over his thoughts, and he was on the brink of giving in and falling when—

Atton… please…

Jena's voice crawled through his head like a whisper… but it was a whisper that blocked out all other thoughts and slowly became louder and louder. He had no idea where this voice came from, nor did he try to figure it out. All he knew was that it had chased away all his dark thoughts, his anger, his lust for power, and he suddenly felt strangely at peace with himself, more than he had ever been. He opened his eyes and calmly looked up at the Dark Jedi.

"No, I will not give in," a voice spoke through him. "That path leads to the Dark Side. I will not be tempted."