Last time: oppie defeated Von Signa, but Sasha was severely injured. But they were rescued by the family in time to save her before she died.

Now: They head out to meet with the Valor.

Part 1- Chapter 1- Safe

Oppie sat numbly in the lounge of the Shadow Runner, not really processing that he was off the planet and back on something he considered a semblance of home, surrounded by his family. Once again connected to the Force. Cien had put a blanket over his shoulders, and he had a mug of tea put in front of him, before settling down next to him on the sofa. Kyr had run a scanner over him, and administered a bacta ampule as well as a treatment for the infection that had festered in one of his many cuts. And probably would have made him just as sick as Sasha if it had run its course for another day or two. They had immediately jumped to hyperspace upon reaching orbit, and all three ships, Kitsu and Illara, and Scamp and Nova in the U-Wing, were racing to meet the Valor. And everyone was on edge, hoping they had gotten treatment for Sasha in time.

Viran was pacing a dent into the floor of the ship as he waited impatiently for any news from Kelce on how his wife was doing. Worry and a bit of fear was clearly drawn on his face as he continued to look at the closed bunk room door where Kelce was treating Sasha at this very moment.

Kyr was leaning against the bulkhead, they had an hour and a half until they got to the rendezvous with the Valor. "So what happened?" Kyr asked, finally breaking the silence.

Oppie took a sip of the tea and swallowed, sinking into the sofa. "We woke up in the forest," he began, "he left us a holo message, explaining the situation. We had five sets of bounty hunters that were going to hunt us. He gave us minimal supplies. Barely any first aid and no weapons other than a dull pocket knife. First or second day a pack of vornskyrs attacked us, and one clawed Sasha's shoulder, I think that's probably what her infection is from." He said numbly. "The first hunter was okay, we disabled him and took his supplies. The second one was an assassin droid. Took him out. Then two brothers attacked us that afternoon, I guess the assassin droids self destruct let them know where we were." He took another sip of tea. "I killed one, Sasha killed the other brother."

Viran slowed his pacing and looked at Oppie, a look of shock on his face as he paled. But he said nothing. Cien and Kyr looked at him with a little worry, and a little surprised when he mentioned her killing the hunter.

"That really affected her. She thought the blaster was on stun, but it wasn't, he ended up dying in front of her."

Cien remembered back, so many years ago, during the attack against Dracul when Sasha had accidentally killed that Sith Trooper, and she had always thought it might have been the first time Sasha took a life. Since then, on the events of Caranas and later, she had always been so careful not to kill anyone. Cien had even killed some people so Sasha wouldn't have to have their blood on her hands. She exchanged a glance with Kyr, and her husband met her eyes before they both looked back at Op.

"Sasha broke her leg, though. I didn't see what happened, I think they were in a fist fight like I was with the other brother, and they ended up going down an embankment. Sasha fell and broke her shin. We had to splint it up. At least the brothers had some bacta on them though. The next day, we encountered a trandoshan, he was really hard." Oppie continued quietly. "He ended up following me through the forest and became a game of cat and mouse until I finally killed him with an improvised explosive." He sighed. "Sasha was really sick that night, she had been hiding her symptoms all day but she finally got a bad fever. We made our way to a cave where we spent the night. The next morning…" Oppie trailed off, "this morning, I guess, a Mandalorian came. I don't know what she did to Sasha in the cave -"

"A Mandalorian?" Kyr asked.

"Yeah." Oppie said, looking up at him.

"Did you recognize their clan sigil?" He asked in almost a low growl and a raised eyebrow.

"No, she had red armor, and horns coming out of the top of her bucket, like a weird crown." Oppie said.

"A Mauldalorian?" Kyr asked incredulously.

"A what?" Cien asked quizzically.

"The death watch, right around the end of the Clone Wars, some guy called Maul took over their clan from Vizla. I think he may have been a Sith, we just heard rumors about it."

Oppie looked at him, searching his memories. "Darth Maul?"

"I guess so." Kyr said with a shrug.

Cien looked between the two of them, deciding to ask later about this 'Darth' Maul.

"Anyway, we got in a fight, but she overpowered me. She was about to kill me when Sasha came up and killed her."

"Sash'ika killed a Death Watch Mauldalorian?" Kyr said with a hint of respect in his voice.

"Yeah." Oppie said, taking a sip of tea.

Viran stopped pacing and looked at Oppie, almost not believing any of what he was hearing. He found his voice for the first time since they left the temple. "Was Sasha okay after? And how… how did she kill her? Was it an accident?" He asked one after another.

"No, she killed her deliberately." Oppie answered. "She had pinned me and was just about to kill me, and Sasha just slammed a knife into the side of her throat." Oppie said, very absently. Remembering how close he had come there. "And she was affected by it, but I think she was too sick to really process it. That hunter did tell Sasha that the bounty was for her, specifically though, and that really upset her." Oppie replied.

Viran ran a hand over his face as he looked away. All of this being a little too much for even himself. He cast a worried glance at the door as he shuddered at the thought of everything they went through. And how mentally this was going to affect her.

"But she did leave us a speeder bike, and it had coordinates to where her ship was." Oppie said. "We used it to get to the temple, but Von knew we were coming, I guess. We were ambushed by construction droids and taken prisoner, and brought to him. He started toying with Sasha a little bit and I told him to leave her alone, so he backhanded me. Sasha told him to leave me alone and then she said something he didn't like, so he had one of the droids punch her." Oppie said, swallowing again. "The droid let me go so I could check on her, and I took that opportunity to steal a blaster. I got the droids, ended up in a knife fight with Von, and killed him. Then you guys showed up." Oppie finished.

Everyone sat silent for a while, not sure what to say.

"So what did you guys do?" Oppie finally asked, looking between them.

"When we felt you guys drop out from the Force, we immediately headed to Nivon." Cien answered for them, after a moment. "We had a little bit of time there, and Kitsu and Illara were able to figure out you guys were taken to Myrkr after they searched Vons office. We've been in orbit for two days trying to figure out how to find you guys."

"Two days?" Oppie asked, a little incredulously. "You guys were orbiting above us for the last two days?"

"Yes," Viran answered, looking back at him. "Cien and I even tried to use the mindspace to find you guys. All we learned was that Sasha was unwell and you looked to be… alive. We weren't really able to see you there. But the large explosions alerted us to where you could be."

Oppie just nodded. "I'm glad you guys were there so you could come when you did." Oppie said as the crushing despair of seeing Sasha as she was came back to him.

At that moment, Kelce emerged from the bunk room. He wiped the sweat from his brow as he let the door slide close. He released a sigh as he leaned against the wall next to the door.

"How is she?" Viran immediately asked as he looked at the doctor.

"I've done what I can for now until we can get her into the medical wing of the Valor." Kelce said then paused. "She's not out of the woods yet, but I have given her something to help with the fever and the infection. As for the punctured lung, we will just need to keep an eye on her until we get there. I've also given her an IV to help too."

Viran took a couple of steps back and sunk down onto a nearby crate as he released a shaky breath. Oppie's shoulders slumped and he sank more into the sofa, and deeper into the blanket.

"Thanks Doc." Kyr said, "should only be another hour and a half 'til we get there."

"Alright, when we do arrive, make sure to inform the greeting party that we will need immediate access to the medical bay under my orders," Kelce explained. "I don't want to waste any time once we get there."

"Sure thing, I'll go work that out with Captain Garret." Kyr said, turning to go back towards the cockpit.

Kelce nodded. "Thanks," he said, then looked over to Oppie. "Come on, Oppie. Let's get your injuries checked out."

"Kyr already gave me some treatments." Oppie said, "I'm okay."

"I know he did, but I would like to see for myself," Kelce said with a slight smirk. "Just amuse me, please."

"Don't you need to keep an eye on Sasha?" Oppie asked.

"Op, just let him treat you." Cien said quietly.

Oppie looked at her and then nodded, and slipped out from behind the table, leaving the blanket behind. All the aches and pains, all the injuries, all the bruises finally catching up to him even through the painkillers as he got to his feet with a grimace, and reached out to support himself by putting a hand on the back of the sofa.

Kelce came over and grabbed his arm, whether Oppie needed the support or not, and helped him towards the bunk room. Once inside, he guided him over to the empty bunk that Oppie would normally claim.

"Sit down and I'll grab my kit," Kelce ordered gently as he let go of Oppie's arm.

Oppie stood and stared at Sasha for a moment, in her usual bed. The IV in her arm, the various bandages, the various signs of her treatment, both at the hands of the hunters, and at the hands of Kelce. He swallowed, seeing her. Kelce grabbed his kit and walked over to the bunk. He looked at Oppie then over at Sasha. He then looked back at Oppie with a frown. He placed a gentle hand on his shoulder.

"She'll be okay," Kelce assured him. "Why don't you sit down?" He suggested, gesturing to the bunk.

He sunk into the bunk still looking at her. "If I had just fought him off on that alley, none of this would have happened." He said quietly.

"Don't blame yourself," Kelce said as he pulled out disinfectant wipes to clean the cuts on Oppie's arms. "You did everything to keep both of you alive from what I overheard in here." He started treating his wounds, not looking up at Oppie. "I shouldn't have let her go alone with that droid. If anyone is to blame it's me."

"You didn't know anything was wrong with it, I did since I felt Sasha disappear. And it's my job to protect her. Her and Viran, it always has been." He replied numbly.

Kelce looked up at him with a deep frown before turning his attention back to Oppie's cuts as he started applying bacta patches to help with the healing. "I know you guys have been together a very long time. Kyr told us during the war. And I love how much you all care and look out for each other. Let's not place the blame on anyone here, alright? You are both safe and in good hands now." He looked up again. "And I promise I will do everything in my power to make sure she survives this. Same with you."

"Thank you." Oppie said quietly.

Kelce nodded and silently finished patching up Oppie. Once he was done, he straightened up and cleaned up his pack from the bunk. "Why don't you go ahead and get some rest?"

Oppie nodded and swung up on the bed, taking a moment to relax. Feeling safe for what felt like the first time in years, and a comfort from having the Force back, being able to sense Sasha, Viran and Cien's presence around him. It wasn't the first time he had to go without the Force, and the comfort he felt was the same as when he had returned from being trapped in the World Between Worlds.

"I'm going to make a quick call outside. I'll send someone in to sit with you guys until I get back," Kelce informed him. "Will you be okay until I return?"

"Yeah." Oppie said drowsily.

Kelce nodded and left the room. As he exited the room, he loomed in the hatchway for a moment before completely disappearing. A second later, Viran entered the bunk room. He walked in and immediately halted when he saw Sasha's state. He stared at her for a while, visibly shaking. He then walked over and pulled up a stool to sit next to her. He took her hand in his before looking over at Oppie.

"You doing okay?" Viran asked.

"Yeah." Oppie answered drowsily. "Viran, I'm sorry I let her be taken." Oppie said, focusing on him.

"Please don't apologize," Viran said. "I admit I was so worried about both of you. I thought I had lost you both." Tears escaped his eyes. "I'm just glad you are both back and okay. And I'm glad I can feel you both in the Force again. Not feeling you guys was… empty." He looked down at that.

"Thank you for saving us." Oppie replied.

"Of course," Viran said, looking at him. "You're my family. I'll always be there for you two."

"Same for you two." Oppie said sleepily.

"Get some sleep, Op," Viran said. "We'll be right here for you when you wake up."

"'Kay." Oppie replied.

Viran got up from the stool and walked over to Oppie. He placed a hand on his brother's shoulder and gave it a comforting squeeze. "Night, Op," he said. Oppie didn't reply as he fell into a deep sleep.

Viran stood there for a moment, looking over his brother. A frown etched his face as he looked the man up and down. Both Oppie and Sasha, as everyone had noticed, were in such rough shape. From the dirt smudged all over their bodies and clothes to the dried blood and makeshift bandages, even how gaunt and pale the two of them looked. In fact, they both looked like they had lost so much weight during their time on Myrkr along with the injuries they both had. When the Shadow had opened its ramp and he saw Oppie standing there, Viran couldn't have believed his eyes. He hardly recognized his friend, his brother, when he saw him initially. But a sense of relief filled him the moment he realized that he was okay and alive.

Then he saw Sasha and his heart had stopped beating for a minute. He literally saw his universe crumble apart as he thought she was dead on the floor of that temple. And it didn't help that Force was completely gone the moment they had reached the surface of the planet. He wasn't able to sense if she was even okay. The fear Viran had felt the day that both of them had disappeared from the Force came back in full swing and shook him to his core. Because even though he could see his wife clear as day before him, he couldn't sense her or how she was fairing despite holding her own hand as Kelce had administered aid to her. And now they both lie before him, asleep and mending.

However, all of this was still too much for Viran. Never in the fifteen plus years of knowing both Sasha and Oppie had he ever seen the two of them like this. He was scared. And even though they were all back together and reunited, the fear remained. He was grateful that Oppie was okay and would most likely make a speedy recovery in a few days or so. But Sasha…

He looked over at his wife, staring at her as she laid there, hanging on. He moved away from Oppie and returned to his seat beside Sasha. He slowly sunk down onto the stool and looked her over. From the respirator mask that was helping her breath, all the way down to her broken leg that was now in a proper splint. His heart broke seeing her like this. He was glad Lana wasn't here as he was afraid of how his daughter would react to seeing her mother like this.

But aside from the actual worry that she was still in danger due to the infection and her punctured lung, he was worried of how all of this was going to affect Sasha when she would finally wake up. If she would wake up. Viran mentally and physically slapped himself for thinking that way. He couldn't think like that. Sasha was finally back by his side. And no matter what happens, he would be there for her every step of the way.

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