Three, two, one; I watched the timer count down to zero and held my breath for the half-second of disorientation I always felt when returning from lightspeed.

When the starlines had settled into their stationary pinprick positions, I glanced at the display and studied the small, abandoned Imperial Outpost directly ahead of me.

So this is where Skywalker's former lover has decided to call home. Interesting.

I relaxed for a moment, stretching out with the Force. What I felt was not comforting: most of the station was blank and I couldn't sense Luke's presence. I frowned in concentration, trying to determine if it was a combination of my limited abilities and proximity to the Outpost, or if the wench had, in fact, populated her new home with ysalamiri. As the old Imperial station grew closer, I became more confident of the latter.

"This is going to be fun," I said sardonically to my computer as the Jade's Fire positioned itself on the number two docking bay platform. When the bay doors had closed and the air-pressure normalized, I ventured outside my ship.

The docking bay itself was rather small, but then so was the station it was attached to, so it didn't take long for me to cross to the entry passage to the rest of the Outpost.

I half expected to see Skywalker marching up to me with a bothered look on his face. Instead, I was surprised to find a mousy young deck hand walking lazily in my direction.

"Mara Jade?" The girl assumed with a voice that perfectly matched her appearance.

I gave her a curt nod, "Where's Skywalker?"

The deck hand slowed, then started walking in reverse as I caught up to her in the hall, "Um, who?"

I stopped suddenly and gave the girl a piercing stare. She stumbled slightly before recovering, then held out her hand, "Um, sorry. Name's Jesiqua."

I raised an eyebrow and made no move to shake the girl's hand.

Jesiqua adopted a wary look and dropped her arm to her side.

I waited a handful of seconds before crossing my arms across my chest and sighing.

Guardedly, she continued, "I'm pretty new here. Callista's on her way, though. She told me to show you to the mess hall."

When she made no move to direct me, I felt my patience drain. I gestured down the hall, "I'm sorry, am I supposed to guess where to go then? You'll tell me if I get warm?"

Jesiqua's face turned bright pink and she mumbled something like an apology. I felt a small pang of guilt for belittling the girl, but at the same time, this place was giving me the creeps. I just wanted to find Skywalker, talk some sense into him and get the hell out of here. And maybe take Callista down a few notches while I was at it, just for good measure.

Fortunately for her, the young deck hand collected herself quickly and started off down the hall, calling out over her shoulder, "It's this way."

"Thanks," I said dryly, and followed.

The mess wasn't that far away. It wouldn't have taken me very long to find it, had I been on my own, but I was glad Jesiqua was sent to guide me. Callista was alone, sitting at one of the small tables when we arrived.

The mousy girl inclined her head in acknowledgement of Callista when we entered, then stole a nervous glance in my direction before nearly running out of the room.

I stood my ground just inside the entrance and sized up the former Jedi seated in the middle of the hall. She looked very tired. Her eyes seemed dull, and her long chestnut hair fell limply down her back.

I almost felt pity for her until a vision of Skywalker, bleary-eyed and broken - not long after she had left him, flashed painfully across my memory.

"Where's Skywalker?" I demanded, taking a small amount of satisfaction in the slight wince she felt at the sound of his name.

I met Callista's eyes and was startled by what I read in them. Was she challenging me?

"If Luke wanted you to know where he was, don't you think he would have told you?" Her words were clear and cold, just as I remembered them.

I scowled, "I'm here, aren't I?"

Callista gave a hollow laugh, "Yes, I suppose you are."

My scowl hardened. "Look, I've had enough of all the games. Are you going to tell me where Skywalker is or aren't you?"

With a sigh, the slender woman stood up and pushed her chair under the table, "Mara, we clearly don't like each other very much. What makes you think that now, of all times, I would tell you where he is?"

"I have ways of convincing people to talk," I threatened.

The former Jedi was unimpressed. "Of course you do," she replied flatly.

"So start talking!" I was beginning to recall exactly why it was that this woman annoyed me so much.

She rolled her eyes, "You want me to believe that you're going to use some ghastly Imperial interrogation techniques on me to find someone who used me as a way to hide from you? Honestly, I think Luke would really love that when he found out."

So much for that bluff, "Who says he's hiding from me?" I asked, taking a few steps towards the smaller woman.

Callista smirked and quoted me, "You're here, aren't you?"

Angry that she had hit so close to the mark, I snarled. "He doesn't love you, Callista. He's long since gotten over you, stop trying to protect him."

Now it was Callista's turn to be angry. She quickly closed the distance between us with four long strides, then whispered between clenched teeth, "He told me he'd never stop loving me and that you meant nothing to him."

"Liar!" I shouted.

Disgust washed over me as quickly as a Tatooine sandstorm and I found the palm of my hand making contact with the apple of her cheek in a loud and satisfying 'SMACK'!

Focused on the stinging of my hand, I somehow missed the fist flying at my face until it connected with the bridge of my nose, bringing with it a blinding pain and trickle of blood.

My eyes flashed with hatred and before I knew what I was doing, I had the former Jedi pinned beneath me on top of the nearest table. I wanted nothing more than to crush her lying throat with the black-gloved hand I was using to choke her.

Her eyes rolled to the right and several emotions passed almost instantly across her face; pain, loss, defeat and finally guilt. She looked back at me, still struggling under my hold and trying desperately to draw breath, then smiled.

Taken aback, I let my grip on her neck slip slightly, but held my ground.

"Mara!"

I looked up to see Skywalker charging at me with concern written plainly across his face.

With a sigh of relief, I started to let Callista up from the table, "I'm fine, Skywa…"

I didn't finish my sentence. Skywalker pushed me out of the way and pulled Callista up into a sitting position, "Force, Calli, are you okay?"

I had to blink several times and take a step backwards to make sure I wasn't imagining this.

Skywalker hugged Callista to him and looked at me with accusing eyes, "What were you thinking, Mara? You could have killed her!"

It was awkwardly cold as I stood there, not knowing what to do, with blood dripping and pain radiating from my nose, watching the man I was in love with hold another woman.

And all I could think of to say was, "She started it."