Carth's hand clasping her arm was the only thing that stopped Alexis from collapsing to the ground in a heap and crying. Or possibly lunging at Seré. Innocence stopped at the third interruption, did it not?

Alexis was trembling. She could feel it. Her entire body was shaking with emotion. She took two deep, calming breaths, and then a third for good measure.

"What's she doing here?" Seré asked, standing and pointing at Alexis.

Alexis stared at the girl for a moment. Was she daft? "I- live- here," she ground out, holding herself tightly in check.

Carth stepped inside and shut the door. "Seré," he said, quite calmly, Alexis thought, given the circumstances, "you didn't answer my question."

For the first time, Seré quailed under his glare. Alexis pulled her arm away from him and slowly made her way to Seré's side. She glanced apprehensively at Alexis. Alexis found this odd. "Are you afraid of me?" She asked softly. You should be! her heart screamed rebelliously.

"N-no…" Seré whispered.

Alexis very gently took her arm and pulled her back onto her seat on the couch. "I'm not going to hurt you," Alexis said with sympathy she didn't feel. It served the girl right. Perhaps she should stay away if she was scared of her. "Now, what did you come here to say?" Carth was watching all of this with a bemused expression from his position with his back against the door.

"I- wanted to talk to… Carth…"

"Why are there always assassins with you?" Alexis snarled when she noticed the single assassin standing a few feet from Carth. His stealth field generator was still on, and he wasn't aware that Alexis had seen him. She leapt across the room, igniting her lightsaber in mid-air, and sliced the man neatly in half. She barely retained her control over her emotions.

Seré, with a look of horror on her face, opened her mouth to explain, but no sound escaped. She looked a bit like a fish out of water. Alexis, breathing harshly, flicked off her lightsaber and hooked it back on her belt without sparing the dead man a glance.

Carth was staring at the assassin's body as Alexis arrived back at Seré's side. Taking pity on the girl, Alexis leaned forward and pushed on her chin until her mouth stopped gaping. "There now. Seré, why did you let in another assassin?"

Carth walked over to Alexis's side. "Are you okay?" he asked, glancing back at the body on his floor. There was no blood. The wound had been immediately cauterized by Alexis's blade.

"I'll be fine once I know where all of these damned Sith are coming from!" Alexis said calmly. She turned back to Seré. "You can't hide anything from me, dear, so you may as well go ahead and tell me."

"I don't know," Seré said with a catch in her voice. She hid her face in her hands and started to cry, "But they've been following me for days."

Alexis sat down on the couch beside Seré. She patted her back awkwardly. "How do you know that they're following you?"

Carth, still silent, took off, blaster pistols in hand, to search the apartment. Alexis remained at Seré's side. Seré could barely speak she was crying so hard. "I see things, moving, out of the corner of my eye. When I turn to look, they're gone. I thought I was going mad."

"You didn't connect it with the assassins that kept showing up when you came into this apartment?"

"N-no," she wailed, "because I thought that they were ghosts."

Alexis nearly groaned. Self-centered AND stupid. What was she? The Sith Lord of Stupidity? Wouldn't that be novel? 'I shall crush you with my towering ignorance!' It would certainly be the most terrifying of the lot. "And where have they been following you from?"

"Any time I leave my apartment. It's like they're waiting for me outside…" Seré whispered.

"I see. And where is your apartment?" Alexis asked. Carth slid back into the room, shaking his head. Good, the apartment was clean. Alexis motioned for him to check outside the door and he did so. Apparently there was nothing there, because he came back inside and holstered his blasters. She noticed a strange expression on his face, as if he'd seen something distasteful very recently, but she was busy, so she ignored it.

"By the shuttle bay where your ship is. It's in the residential module next door," Seré said. She was staring at her hands.

"Look, not that I don't believe you and all, but I have to be absolutely certain that you're not lying to me. I'm fairly sure that you're not, but I really need to know that you aren't bringing these assassins with you on purpose. So, I'm going to put my palm on your forehead. You'll feel a little bit of pressure while I riffle through your head, but it won't hurt. Now, close your eyes," Alexis ordered.

"Is this really necessary?" Seré asked fearfully.

"Yes," Carth replied.

Alexis sighed. "I won't do it without your permission, but if you won't consent, I will slap a set of stun cuffs on you and haul you over to TSF headquarters for questioning. I promise, their techniques will not be as painless as mine."

Seré whimpered and obediently shut her eyes. Alexis slapped her palm onto the girl's forehead and slipped into her mostly empty mind. Yep, stupid, but not dangerous. Well, unless you considered an IQ below 50 a hazard. Ghosts. She'd really believed that, too. "You're clean," Alexis muttered.

Seré's eyes snapped open as Alexis pulled her hand away. Everyone was quiet. "So why are there assassins following her around?" Carth asked.

"Well… I'm not entirely sure. It seems to me that they would be better off following you around, if they were after me, but I guess you'd probably see them. Maybe she was the closest they could get to us without being noticed," Alexis responded thoughtfully.

"Where are they coming from, then?"

"Maybe we should take a look around the shuttle bay tomorrow. I'll bet that there's something amiss. They wouldn't all be flying in on separate ships and unless they've been waiting here since Kalen left Telos the last time, they have to have arrived on something," Alexis replied.

"How did you get in here, anyway?" Carth asked, rounding on Seré.

"I'm going to go and get a glass of water," Alexis said, standing and starting to walk towards the kitchen.

"I'll get it," Carth said, trying to catch her arm.

"It's fine," Alexis said, staring at him. That reminded her… What had he looked so disgusted by earlier? She found out sooner than she'd expected.

Alexis stepped into the kitchen and found the lights dimmed. There were candles sparkling on the table and dinner plates set for two. There was a meal warming nearby and flowers sitting on the counter. Alexis eyed it all in numb shock for a bit before regaining her senses. Someone had set the scene for a seduction. It certainly hadn't been her and Carth had been gone all evening…

Carth put his hand on her shoulder and Alexis turned and raised her eyebrows. "Don't look at me," he muttered.

Alexis couldn't help herself. It was cruel, it was petty, and it was… too much. She burst into hysterical laughter. Seré started a fresh round of tears and Alexis lounged in the doorway, trying to catch her breath and stop laughing. "Can't breathe-," she gasped, grabbing Carth's arm for support.

Carth flipped on the lights and attempted to help Alexis back into a standing position. One of her arms held onto his in a vice-like grip and the other clutched her stomach as she continued to laugh uproariously. Carth was shaking his head at her and smiling faintly, but he wasn't laughing. Alexis could still hear Seré crying in the background. The sobs finally helped her laughter subside. She managed to calm down enough to make it back into the living room to sit down.

"Seré, it's okay… Please, stop crying… I'm sorry I laughed… Seré-," Alexis coaxed, rubbing at the girl's arm. She hiccupped and jerked away, tears staining her cheeks red.

"I'll call someone from the TSF to take you home…" Carth began.

"Please, no!" Seré gasped, her eyes frightened as she stared up at him.

"Let her stay," Alexis said. "What harm can she do now? We'll go search the Citadel for assassins tomorrow. There are certainly enough of us."

Carth sighed and glared at Seré. "It was- I wanted…"

"I know," Alexis whispered. She flashed a tired smile. "We'll talk some other time."

Carth nodded sadly and turned towards the kitchen. "I'll go clean up," he muttered.

Alexis glanced to Seré. "Can I get you some tea? Will that help you calm down?"

Seré made no reply. Her gasping sobs echoed through the otherwise silent living room. So much for calm. The serenity that she'd found earlier that day had completely vanished.

"I'll get the tea. If nothing else, maybe I can find an herb in Carth's cabinet powerful enough to knock you out," Alexis said to herself.

Alexis emerged with the tea a few minutes later and presented it to Seré. The girl downed it gratefully and was asleep within five minutes. Alexis was grinning when Carth emerged from the kitchen. "Powerful stuff," she said appreciatively.

Carth chuckled. "I used to have a hard time sleeping."

"Well… at least she's out. I thought I was going to have to listen to her crying all night. Then I would've needed a sedative. Force, that girl has a penetrating voice," Alexis said, rubbing her temples.

"Laughing at her didn't help matters," Carth responded, perching on the edge of one of the living room chairs.

Alexis swung Seré's legs onto the couch and tossed her own cloak over her. "I had no idea that she was that serious about you. I thought it was just a crush. I didn't know she was trying to crawl into your bed."

"It's not like much happens there, anyway," Carth said darkly.

"Watch it," Alexis replied.

"Well, I didn't know she was after me in quite that way, either. I guess I should've realized…"

"I think that you should retire those pants. I think that they fuddled Seré's brain."

Carth laughed. "I think I should retire them too. I'm probably going to have to pry myself out of them."

"And you still didn't get your laundry done," Alexis said with a smile.

"I might have exaggerated the desperation of my situation," Carth hedged.

"I figured as much," Alexis responded.

Carth shrugged and stood up. "What do you say we go to bed? Maybe things will look a little better in the morning."

"Not if you take off those pants," Alexis said, rising as well.

"I see that they've fuddled another brain…"

"No. Everything is crystal clear, thanks."

Carth held out his hand. "Want a lift to bed, beautiful?" He asked her softly. She took his hand and he lifted her up as if she weighed nothing at all and cradled her against his chest.

"I could get used to this," Alexis said, kicking her legs as he walked.

Carth kissed her forehead lightly. "I wouldn't mind."

Carth stared at the ceiling, gently running his fingers across Alexis's arm. She'd been so close to talking to him tonight. Maybe even telling him that she loved him. Why did Seré always pop in at the worst times?

Alexis hadn't been guarded, hadn't been upset, she'd been open, and sweet, and emotional… Carth wanted to storm out into the living room and toss his secretary out. Who knew is Alexis would ever be ready to talk to him again?

Carth glanced over at her beautiful face, so calm while she slept, and smiled. The poor thing. He'd thought she was going to fall apart several times this evening. Well, not really. She was too strong for that.

The day had been so beautiful, so perfect. Everything had fallen into place. Carth found it strange that he could still feel the Force, echoing around in his mind. Had it always been there and he simply hadn't noticed, or was there something else going on? Perhaps a connection he hadn't felt before… Carth shook his head. That was a thought for another time. Maybe, someday, he'd be able to mention it to Alexis. She had such a clear understanding of things of that nature.

He turned his thoughts back to his secretary instead. Why didn't Seré get the picture? He'd never given her any encouragement. In fact, he'd done everything in his power to indicate to her that he had no interest in her whatsoever. He'd known that Seré hated Alexis, but he'd assumed it was because she was Revan, not because she was having fantasies about a relationship with him. The reality of it would have been all too obvious if he'd just taken the time to look.

Why was she interested in him, anyway? It wasn't like she was short on options. She was one of the few young, decently attractive girls on a Station full of young men. Surely young soldiers were more appealing than he was. He was her boss, and he was nothing special: just an old pilot who still had a full head of hair. So what was the draw? They weren't even interested in the same things.

Besides, she was the same age as his son. Not that Alexis was that much older… seven years wasn't even a generation. Alexis had been born in the same generation as Dustil. Why did it always come back to age? He was too old for her, and he knew it, but he was so in love with her at this point that even his good sense couldn't turn him away. He couldn't pull away anymore. Everything was up to her now.

Carth was surprised to see a frown creasing Alexis's brow. She jerked slightly, in her sleep, and Carth sat up a bit to watch her. Was she having a nightmare? As far as he knew, she hadn't had nightmares since before the end of the Jedi Civil War.

Alexis twisted against him. Her breathing was coming faster. Just as Carth was going to wake her, Alexis shouted, "NO!" and sat straight up in the bed. He eyes were wide and her breathing was harsh. She stared at him for a few seconds. "Are you okay?" she whispered brokenly, reaching out to touch his face.

Carth stared right back. Was he okay? She was the one having the nightmares. "I'm fine, beautiful," he replied, reaching for her.

She jerked away and leapt from the bed quite suddenly. "I- have to go…" she said, looking lost.

Carth stood up with her and gently caught her arm. She looked up into his face, startled. "Alexis… calm down. It was just a dream," he said soothingly.

"But it wasn't…" she whispered, drawing herself to his chest and hiding her face.

Carth stroked her back gently. "Do you want to talk about it?" he asked. She shook her head no, but she didn't move. "Please?" Carth added, gently lifting her chin so that she had to look at him again.

He could feel her draw several deep breaths. The Jedi was returning to push away the frightened girl. He knew without a doubt that she wasn't going to talk about it now. She stepped out of his arms shortly thereafter and gave him a weak smile.

"I'm fine," Alexis told him. "I think I'll go and meditate, though. I'll never get back to sleep now."

Carth nodded. Neither would he. "Go ahead. I'll see you in the morning." He watched as she fled the room, her bare feet silent on the carpeted floor.

Alexis settled herself into her nice hiding place in the closet once again. With Seré in the living room, this was the obvious choice for privacy, and Alexis certainly wanted to be alone.

Why was the nightmare coming back? She hadn't had it once since her return to Telos and now it came back? Before that, she'd been having it once or twice a week for four years. Of course, then it had been more like a vision, since she hadn't been sleeping.

She remembered the dream vividly. After seeing it more than two hundred times, it was hard to forget. And of course, it had happened in real life. She couldn't have told Carth. No, he would have laughed at her; told her that it wouldn't happen again. It couldn't. Saul Karath and Malak were both long dead. So was Bastila, for that matter.

But she couldn't get Carth's screams out of her head… It was pathetic really, that the only nightmares that a former Sith Lord ever had were of someone else being tortured. Sometimes, she couldn't even see anything. All she could do was hear Saul Karath ask her a question, hear her own refusal to answer, and then hear Carth's pained screams.

Alexis shivered slightly and pulled her knees up to her chest. It was cold in this closet when all you had on was a t-shirt. She sighed slightly. It wasn't as if she'd never been tortured. Far from it. In fact, she'd been tortured quite mercilessly by Saul Karath herself. But memories of that didn't upset her. Her own torture was of no consequence. It was Carth's torture that had brought her so close to telling Karath what he wanted to know- to revealing the Jedi.

Carth had been so forgiving afterward, thanking her for doing what he didn't think he would have been able to do under similar circumstances. When he'd told her that, she hadn't felt strong. She'd felt like a monster. And then they had told her that she was really Darth Revan, and she'd known that she was a monster.

Alexis stared at the floor. Carth had told her once that he wanted to be her reason not to fall. Wouldn't it kill him to know that he had almost done the exact opposite?

"Do you want to know why I never told you that you were Revan?" Jolee asked her. Alexis jerked sideways and stared up at the old man who was once again perched on the crate beside her.

"Hello Jolee. How have you been?"

"Are you going to answer my question, or not?"

So this time he didn't want a normal greeting, hmm? Crazy old coot… "I'll never understand you, old man. Yes, go ahead, enlighten me."

Jolee glared at her. "Because it's none of your business."

"How can it be none of my business?" Alexis responded incredulously.

"If you had known you were Revan too soon, you wouldn't be the girl you are now."

"What does that mean?"

"I'd forgotten that you weren't the brightest star in the galaxy. Think, kid, think! How did Revan deal with other people?"

"I-," Alexis began.

"Not I. She. Are you still a Sith Lord? Sheesh…"

"Fine. She used them."

"So what would you have done the minute you knew the truth?"

Alexis thought about that. What would she have done? Well, she probably wouldn't have stuck around. Not if she had a choice. "I would have run away. I wouldn't have wanted to be around other people, for fear I'd-"

"...Use them. Exactly."

"Do you think I still would have gone after Malak?" Alexis asked.

"How would I know that? Kids these days…"

"Jolee… I know why I came to Telos."

"Good for you."

"Don't you remember… the last time you were here…"

"Remember what?"

"Jolee, the last time you were here, you asked me why I came back from the Unknown Regions."

"Of course I did," Jolee said, nodding as if he'd known exactly what she was talking about.

"And I know the answer."

"Good for you," he said again. Well, at least she was too frustrated with Jolee to be upset anymore.

"I came back for Carth. If I'd known I was Revan sooner, I never would have met Carth… and I wouldn't have come back," Alexis said.

"Look, kid, I don't know everything-"

"You've mentioned that before," Alexis interrupted.

"Are you going to let me finish?"

"Right. Sorry."

"I don't know everything, but I do know this: You met that boy for a reason. What you decide to do about it is your decision."

"What, no story?" Alexis said innocently.

"Hmph. You don't have the intelligence to appreciate my stories."

Alexis grinned at him. "More like I don't have the patience."

"Why do I bother?" Jolee muttered, starting to fade.

"Wait! I have a couple of questions."

Jolee materialized again, wearing a dark frown. "What do you want?"

"Why are my nightmares coming back?"

"Didn't I just explain that to you?"

"I didn't think you had…"

"What did I tell you?" he asked crossly.

"That I was afraid that I'd use people… that's why I kept running away… Oh. You mean that I'm having nightmares because I'm afraid I'll use Carth. But- why don't I have nightmares about Kalen or Atton or any of the others?" Alexis asked.

Jolee laughed. "Well, I hope that you're not quite as attached to them as you are to the pilot," he responded.

"But- the nightmare's about him being tortured. What does that have to do with me using him?"

"You used him to protect the Jedi, didn't you?"

"So are you saying that I was wrong, either way? If I'd told Karath where to find the Jedi, it would have been the wrong choice, but letting him torture Carth while I refused to answer his questions was the wrong choice too?"

"Sometimes there is no right or wrong and everything is just a shade of gray. Then it's up to your heart to decide."

Alexis stared at him. "You've given me a lot to think about."

He shrugged. "That's my job. Now, can I go, or do you have more foolish questions?"

"Just one more. Any news on Bastila?"

He smiled. "I saw her once, recently. She appeared for a second before she vanished again. Wouldn't be surprised if you started hearing her voice or seeing her sometime soon. Obnoxious kid…" he muttered.

"Thank you, Jolee…"

"It's like I said before… You couldn't figure these things out on your own, even with that Kalen girl to help you. Later, kiddo," he said, fading into oblivion.

Alexis stared at him, rubbing her arms against the chill. Well, he was useful for one thing. He certainly knew how to keep a room warm.