Artie's request took both Corso and Sonny by surprise. Corso looked at their leader and studied him closely as he did this. Normally, Sonny would have said something by now. This time, he was silent, like he was weighing the pros and the cons very carefully. This was a place Sonny himself dreaded, and sending someone into that hell was not an easy call to make. Corso agreed that Artie could take this operation with a small team. He knew the planet's ways and customs, he would be able to get around undetected. If Opal and Sapphire needed help, Artie was the right man to get them out. But Sonny was in deep thought about this. The very name, Abraxor, raised some deeply buried memories for their leader, and not of the good kind. Ill timed or not, Corso told Artie to tell the guards, to lead Keiran back to his cell for now. They had to postpone their plan of action a little more. Artie looked at Sonny, just like Corso, slightly worried at their leaders lack of response. Artie started to grow worried.
"Was it something I said?" Artie managed. Corso shook his head, resting a hand on Artie's shoulder.
"Go deal with Keiran Artie. I'll talk to him. Sonny will let you know soon. Let me deal with him" Corso suggested mildly as he sent the younger man off. He then turned to Sonny, who leaned his head against a porthole, looking out at the stars.

"The name alone sends shivers down my spine. To send someone in there..." Sonny finally said. Corso nodded.
"I know the feeling." He said, taking a step towards his friend. Sonny sighed.
"I was only there for one week Corso. One of the worst weeks of my life. " Sonny confessed. Corso nodded.
"That's when the abuse started, right?" Corso looked at him. Sonny nodded.
"Sometime after. We had returned to Technoid Base by then. I saved Bleylocks life during a heavy rainfall, and received that dagger from his father as a token of gratitude. A very high honor on that planet. Bleylock got his hopes up that his father would accept him as he was. And our relationship. The dagger is rarely presented to outsiders ever, me receiving it, Bleylock thought his father would accept me as his partner. Turned out,He didn't. And in turn, after he was told where his father stood on matters, he closed himself off and let his darker emotions take hold. Once that downwards spiral was set in motion, there was no stopping it" He started. Corso recalled the dagger in the bench outside Mei and D'Jok's home.
"The one Keiran had? I wonder where he got hold of it" He asked. He got a silent nod. Sonny turned his back to him, thinking.
"When I finally broke free from it all, and escaped the abuse, I kept the dagger as a reminder to be careful with whom I trusted and pay more attention to red flags. After I joined the Pirates, I carved the emblem of our organization into a reminder of whom I had to become to survive. I don't know how Keiran got it, but he gets what it meant back then. I really want to question him more about that one" Sonny said. Corso nodded.
"It's time to let that part of your life be gone Sonny. Bleylock's dead, we both saw his demise, it nearly ended us too remember. Point is, He can't control you any longer. Not physically. Not mentally. I won't give him that pleasure, and neither should you" Corso said fiercely, placing his hands on Sonny's shoulders. Sonny turned towards him and pulled him into an embrace.
"It's a blessing I have you Corso,You always know what to say to make me snap out of the bad memories and re foucs" He said softly. Corso nodded, hugging his best friend back.
"You mean the Galaxy to me Sonny. I will get rid of anyone who would harm you, even if its a ghost from the past" Corso said, not breaking the embrace. Sonny put his hands around Corso's neck.
"You know I would never allow you to do that to yourself but I see what you mean. I need to get this out." He said. Corso nodded.
"I sent Artie to take Keiran to his cell. We should let him go to Abraxor. He knows the planet and knows what to give him a chance to do a solo mission for once, I think he is ready for it." Corso said. Sonny smiled.
"You're the Commander the Black Manta deserves. It is a wise decision, and I agree with you. I'll give Artie the mission. And I'll give you the explanation you deserve on some other more personal matters".

They had tried everything, she just couldn't make that jump. The Pirates had raised the holotrainer roof as high as they could. She could touch it with her fingertips, but not enough to hold on and pull herself up. Solaris was getting frustrated. How in the Galaxy were they going to get the Golden Armor if she couldn't even find the map to point them in the right direction? Artie tried his best to cheer her up, to no avail.
"It's no use. I'm not able to get a hold. I've tried everything." Solaris complained. Zarind looked at her sadly.
"We have to keep trying. We need that map. Without the Golden Armor, you can't take down Miller. Everyone depends on us finding that Armor." Zarind said. Solaris sighed.
"Being a leader is a heavy burden to bear." She said. Artie nodded.
"Leaders can still be human. You have the support around you. You don't have to do this alone." Artie explained. Solaris and Zarind looked at him. Solaris nodded.
"I should give Zoonia and Coran a lot more credit. With all that's going on at Stellar Unix, they're holding my spot while I'm here trying to find a way to restore order. All the while with also dealing with my own inner demons. In some respects, Paladins and Pirates are quite the same." she mused. Artie smiled carefully.

"I'll tweak the system a bit. See if we can get that last boost. I have a few ideas. I just need Sonny's approval." He said. Zarind at him, surprised.
"He didn't give you a go ahead yet? I would have figured he would have told you to get right on it." He said. Artie nodded.
"Not this time. According to Corso, the emotional trauma of his past has finally caught up with him. Sonny has some issues to deal with. I have to wait until Corso has helped him calm a bit, Sonny wont make a judgement call if he doesnt feel levelheaded" Artie said. Zarind nodded.
"He's almost ready to leave that past behind. He impresses me still, after all these years. A natural born leader if I ever saw one.A one of a kind. Your gain was someone elses loss" He said thoughtfully. Artie nodded. A signal came from his transmitter. He was called to Sonny and Corso's cabin. They made their decision. Artie waved goodbye, and headed off.

Callie was thinking about what Corso told her. It didn't come as a surprise. Corso was always very close to Sonny. Joined at the hip. And the fact Sonny had kissed him upon Corso expressing regret of not knowing something they had never really talked about among themselves, told her how he really felt about his friend. It made her realize he had feelings for Corso feelings. And with how vital Corso was to Sonnys wellbeing, he needed them both. She had to help bridge this obstacle. For Sonny. She looked at her ring. Could she accept this? Sonny loved her… but he loved Corso too. Could she be able to live with that? She knew that Corso would step aside if she asked. That man just wanted Sonny's happiness, even at the cost of his own. But then again, Callie didn't want to be responsible for that. It would also break Sonny's heart. And could potentially hurt her relationship with him. Corso had been around far longer than she had. She had to put her own selfish needs aside. This wasnt about her, it wasnt about Corso either. It was about the man they both loved from the deep of their hearts, the one they only wanted to see happy. She had made her decision. She would share her lover and husband to be with someone who was her equal and who loved him every bit as much as she did. She decided to speak to Sonny about this at first chance. She already had a feeling Sonny would feel relieved of not having to choose between them. She could not imaginge him wanting to either. This was how her life with him would be. Despite his strenght, Sonny was as much wounded and damaged as any other pirate. If she truly loved him, what was best for him would come before her own needs. With that decision made, Callie made ready to start her day.

Artie knocked on the door to Sonny and Corso's shared cabin. As soon as the door opened, he entered. Corso and Sonny sat on their beds. Sonny looked at him. And Artie saw a small smile on his boss face.
"Artie, Sonny and I discussed matters, We decided, You're cleared to go in and extract the girls." Corso said. Artie nodded, visibly relieved. But now, Sonny had a few words to say about the matter.
"Artie, before you go, You'll write down a detailed plan which we'll read through. This is your first time leading a mission like this, I want to make sure you're doing it right. Safety is priority number one. Second, You will also inform Corso and me, on what it is you know about Abraxor. If this connects to the reason why your past is wiped clean, you'll still need to keep Corso and me in the loop. As your superior, and your captain, I'm responsible for your safety. I will only allow this to happen if these demands are met. Am I making myself clear?" Sonny asked. Artie nodded.
"Do you want me to tell you what I know, or should I write it down?" He asked. Sonny looked at him.
"It's better if you just told us. For a start, what is your real name?" Sonny asked mildly. Artie looked at him.
"My name's always been short for Arthur. My last name is Simmordale. It's from Abraxor. For some reason I always felt out of place there." Artie confessed. Corso sent Sonny a look. Sonny nodded. It was time Artie learned the truth about his childhood and his parents. Corso coughed, making Artie look at him.
"Artie,The Paladins sent us a DNA profile from their records. I took the DNA sample we have on you and cross referenced it. The Paladins know who your father is. It is a positive match." Corso explained. Sonny rose from his bed, standing next to Artie as Corso said this. Sonny had a strong suspicion that his assistant was hiding his feelings. Artie swallowed hard.
"I need to sit down." He managed. Sonny handed him a chair.
"Take your time Artie. It was a shock for us too but it also puts a lot of things in place. Like your amazing hacking skills. Believe me, finding a relative you are unaware of alive and well, is quite hard to take in. I know, I went through it myself, with my son" Sonny said. Artie looked at him.
"What about my mother? Anadrea Simmordale." He managed. Sonny placed his hands on Artie's shoulders.
"She's not your biological mother Artie. Anadrea Simmordale was your nanny. Corso gathered all the information the Paladins had in this file." Sonny said, and handed him a green folder with the Pirates emblem on it. Artie knew what these files were. Corso looked at Artie with compassion.
"You've suffered more than enough Artie. You deserve closure. I am glad we were able to get this done for you. No one should have to experience what you did in your young formative years" He said softly. Artie looked at him. Corso was acting strange. This worried him.
"Did you read this file Corso?" He asked. Corso nodded. Artie nodded back, eyes all of a sudden a bit moist.
"All my life, I knew something was wrong. I only had vague memories, wich felt more like dreams. It kind of feels like a nightmare took place. I can recall, someone running with me, in the dead of night, from a house. I think I saw lights get turned on and someone shouting, at least, I think it was a nightmare" He said, Sonny took Artie's hands. He was shaking, remembering what happened to him. A suppressed memory was making its way back to him. Luckyily, the pirates knew how to deal with this.
"Artie, what we know is, Anadrea Simmordale got fired by your father for raising you the Abraxor way. He went to great lengths to find you after she kidnapped you. To her,it was revenge. She was an Abraxor agent, sent to keep your father under control. Your father was a danger to the Abraxor families of power. He knew their secrets and was about to go public with it. When you were kidnapped, your father and the Paladins did all they could to find you. They tracked down Anadrea but it was too late. She died under rather suspicious circumstances. They tried to find you, but Abraxor is big and they never managed. They had no way to breach the systems. Your mother, Marybeth, kept hoping until grief over the loss eventually claimed her life. The Paladins can show you to her grave after the mission, if you want." Sonny said. Artie looked down. Sonny and Corso could both see the streaks of tears rolling down his cheeks. He looked back up.
"What about my father? Anadrea never spoke a word about him." Artie said. Sonny nodded to Corso, who turned on his laptop. An image of a man, looking very much like Artie, appeared. Artie gasped.
"I've seen him. He's a wanted criminal on Abraxor. A hacker, just like me" He said. Sonny nodded.
"Do you know his name Artie?" He asked. Artie shrugged. Corso placed his hand on Artie's shoulder.
"That's your father Artie; Hawk Tidman." He said softly. Artie couldn't believe it.
"THE Hawk Tidman, the famous hacker?" He asked. Sonny nodded.
"That's the one. How about you go to your cabin and take time to read through and process this? We'll take off for Stellar Unix in two days. Make sure to have a plan by then. As soon as you are ready, notify Corso and me, we will take a look and make sure nothing is left to chance" Sonny told him. Artie looked at him.
"Maybe we should share our experience of this planet later Sonny. We've seen two very different sides of it. though I suspect you saw a very dark aspect often hidden" He said, Sonny smiled. Artie had a good idea. It could help him deal with some of the memories from there.
"Process this first Artie. When you feel ready to talk about the other things, come see me." He said. Artie walked off. Corso looked at him as he left to be by himself.
"He took it well. Kind of makes me proud. Like I was the one that raised him, not the obia moon thieves guild" He said. Sonny nodded.
"Let's plan on how to move forwards with Keiran."

Callie decided to cook dinner at home that evening. The kitchen smelled of pot roast. She heard Sonny and Corso arrived after a long day. Time to start the plan she had made to make things move forwards.
"That smells delicious Callie. Did you make dinner for two? I'll leave if it is." Corso said. Callie smiled.
" Thats Too bad Corso, I've prepared for three." She said. "Have you talked to Artie yet?"she asked as the two men sat down. Sonny nodded.
"He read some important things about his family, and only gets 48 hours to process it, but I feel it was good for him. It will take some time to process all this though. His whole world is turned upside down, That's familiar. I know where he is coming from with that" He said as he filled his plate. Corso looked at him as he took a seat on the other side of the table.
"Speaking of that Sonny. I want your X-Rays done to make sure we got it all taken care of" He said. Sonny nodded.
"Make sure Duke Maddox gets a copy too. I can get compensated since Bleylock was Technoid's employee at the time. The injuries occurred during my employment there, so Duke Maddox is serious about me being compensated for injuries sustained during my time with them" He said. Corso placed a hand on his arm.
"There is a certain crack to your spine that worries me. When we did the marrow extraction at the lair, the needle pierced your spinal cord in that exact area. No wonder it got infected.I should have known something was wrong, since you clearly expressed more pain than I expected you to" Corso said, taking a bite of the roast, the meat was tender and felt like it melted in his mouth.
Callie also took a seat, and plated up. and she had a smile on her face.

"I wanted to speak to both of you about something." She said. Corso and Sonny looked at each other.
"First off, I want to thank you both for being honest with me about the feelings between you two. and I got a question and a suggestion to a solution. But first, the question. Sonny, I know how close you are with Corso and that asking you to choose between him and me wouldn't be fair. Could you even consider having to choose between us, the way things are right now?" Callie asked. Sonny was surprised by the question.
"I would choose you both, because you both mean the Galaxy to me. I am not, under any circumstance, choosing between you" Sonny said. Callie smiled. Exactly what she hoped for. She then turned to Corso.
"Corso, would you be willing to come live with us full time?" She asked. Corso was rattled for a moment. He had to have misheard her. But Callie just smiled. And Sonny noticed Corsos old fear creep up on him, and Callies calm demenour.
"What are you up to Callie?" Sonny asked, slightly suspicious. Callie smiled as she put the dessert on the table. Home made fortune cookies.
"I figured I'd make this fun. You will find your answer in these" She smiled. Sonny tried to figure her out. And he was unable to read her as well as he had hoped for.
"Open the cookies and find out. I'll be waiting in the bedroom." She teased. When Callie left the kitchen, Sonny and Corso both took a cookie.
"I'm nervous." Corso admitted as he broke his open. Sonny nodded. He had some ideas.
"Let's open these at the same time." He said. Corso nodded. They both broke it open at the same time, and read the message. Corso looked at Sonny with a smile.
"This is the perfect solution. Callie has it all figured out, the perfect way" He said. Sonny was all smiles, staring at the message from his cookie.
"Remember, she said we have to agree. So tell me, how you feel about this idea." He said. Corso smirked.
"I would go all in with this. How about you?" He asked and looked at him. Sonny decided to tease Corso a bit.
"I will tell you on one condition." He smiled. Corso looked at him.
"What?" He asked. Sonny grinned.
"Kiss me, with that passion you are holding back, thats the one and only demand" He said. Corso grinned as he grabbed hold of Sonny and obeyed the order.
"There's a lot more where that came from." He said, pushing Sonny back against the wall, and pinned Sonny's wrists against said wall, and then gave him a deeper kiss. As soon as they could breathe again, they made their way to the bedroom to inform Callie of their decision.

A/N: Sorry for the tease. Clearly, our two pirates liked this idea. Once again, thank you to the ultra amazing Paranoidgirl, for betaing and giving so many amazing ideas to keep the story moving forwards.