The turbolift had stopped.

Again.

Flashes of memory from their original descent—truly not that long ago, but it felt like ages after everything that had happened since—fed Eli's growing dread.

They were never going to escape, were they?

Surely this was just some horribly nightmarish dream, perhaps the result of something bad he must have ingested recently. Squeezing his eyes shut, he tried to remember what he had for his last few meals. His fear-addled mind refused to cooperate, and he could think of nothing except how they were trapped in this metal container, again, hovering on the brink of a deadly fall.

As long as nothing else forced its way in first.

Eli felt his hands shaking, and he clenched them tightly, counting his breaths until he felt himself grow calmer. They had traveled upward for some time before the lift froze. They were far above the floor they had been on. There was no way the sentinel would be able to reach them anytime soon. Would it come after them? Eli had no doubt. But it would take time. Time that Eli now had to put to good use.

He glanced at the intercom, wondering if he should try contacting that man back. Had he been attacked by the sentinel again? The noise that had filled the channel before it was cut off did not sound good.

Pressing his lips together, Eli shook his head. He and Thrawn were on their own now. Even if the man was alive, he was still on the bottom floor as well. Eli had to rely on himself to get them out of here now.

Turning his gaze to Thrawn, Eli crawled toward his unconscious companion, feeling his face and head for any noticeable swelling and checking the pulse at his neck. He was still alive, still breathing, and there wasn't anything that Eli could see or feel to indicate further head injury. "Thrawn?" he tried, tapping lightly at his cheek. Still nothing. Thrawn had been unconscious for a while now, and Eli felt worry gnaw at his stomach, despite the lack of physical signs of trauma.

But he could not let that distract him. Not right now. They had to get to safety above all else.

Pulling himself to his feet, he went to the control panel of the lift to inspect it. None of the buttons responded to his touch, although the display was currently backlit by an orange light. He was pretty sure it wasn't like that when they entered. Was that because of whatever made them stop? Would it be possible for him to override it?

Doubt and urgency warred within him as he looked from the panel to the door and back again. He wished desperately that Thrawn was awake. He could use some advice and support right now.

"Thrawn," he murmured as he ran his fingers around the panel to get a feel for its design and how to open it. "Come on, please. I need you." He glanced over his shoulder, but Thrawn had not moved. Tears burned at the corners of Eli's eyes, and he wiped them hastily away.

To be so close to getting out of here and fail now—

Eli jumped at the sound of something scraping the roof of the lift, and he immediately dropped into a crouch, staring upward as his heart tore at his chest. He could see now that there was a hatch in the roof, and by the sound of it, something was working on getting it open. He could hear the various latches and locks being released. Any moment now, it would swing open.

He couldn't breathe.

It couldn't be.

It couldn't have found them already.

It was impossible.

Hands fumbling for his blaster, Eli crawled back to Thrawn and leaned protectively over him, aiming his weapon at the hatch. His finger brushed the trigger, ready to shoot the moment it opened.

Don't be so quick! It could be rescue.

Eli swallowed painfully, moving his finger away reluctantly. That did seem the more likely scenario, given his most recent thoughts regarding the movements of the sentinel.

Unless the sentinel had activated another elevator and beat them to the surface while theirs was in lockdown.

His finger twitched again.

The hatch swung down, a short ladder attached to it descending about halfway down the length of the lift, and Eli's heart leapt into his throat at the sight of a familiar face peeking over the edge.

"Whoa! Don't shoot!"

Eli immediately shifted the muzzle of the blaster down a few centimeters, not trusting his nerves at the moment. "What in the name of all that is great and good is going on here?" he snapped, frowning in irritation as he leaned his head back and closed his eyes for a moment. "How are you here, and how are you not dead?" His limbs shook, and he passed a hand over his eyes.

"I'm sorry about that," his rescuer said sincerely as he shifted around and dropped into the lift. The whole thing shook briefly with the impact, but the lock holding the lift in place was strong. "There wasn't really time to explain—and honestly, there isn't really time now, either. You're only about a floor away from the warehouse level where you first entered. There's an access ladder outside. If we can get you out—"

Eli opened his eyes again as the man spoke—and froze, staring at the other with a look of horror.

The man stopped, catching Eli's look and immediately realizing what was wrong.

"Oh, right, this…" he said quietly, touching the side of his face where it had been slashed by the sentinel. What could be seen beneath the torn skin was not the expected red of flesh and blood or white of bone; what could be seen instead was a mess of black and silver, with periodic flickers of blue light. "I'm sorry." He turned away so that Eli couldn't see the injury, as if embarrassed by it.

But it wasn't so much the severity of the injury as it was—the man—he—

"What are you?" Eli's voice was barely a whisper.

"A project," the man answered enigmatically. "An experiment." The previous energy had drained from his voice. His hand then drifted to his stomach, where Eli now noticed the torn clothing and strange markings on the man's skin—what he could see of it. The man kept it mostly hidden, pulling at his shirt as if to cover it. "It doesn't matter," he then said, a hardness creeping into his words. "All that matters is that we get you out. Now." He turned his head just enough to meet Eli's gaze. His eyes were sharp and determined. "Do you trust me?"

Eli continued to watch the man silently. Did he trust him? He had gotten them this far and had offered his assistance readily from the beginning. If Eli refused his help now, they could wait and hope the Blood Crow and its crew would find them before the sentinel did. And if the man did betray them?

Well, Eli had seen him fight. If the man had wanted to take them down, why wait until now to do it?

"What is your name?" Eli asked, lowering the blaster to his side as a show of good faith.

The man's mouth flattened as he considered Eli's question, and his head tilted slightly. "You can call me Arc," he said after a moment, and it sounded more thoughtful than suspicious.

Eli nodded slowly. "My name is Eli." Wincing, he rose to his feet. "And I do trust you. You've given me no reason so far not to."

A look crossed Arc's face then, again one that Eli couldn't quite define, but he seemed almost…pleased? Arc nodded as well, his mouth pulled back into a grim smile. "Let us get you and your friend back to your people, Eli."

Eli holstered his blaster, glancing down at Thrawn. "What happened to the sentinel?" he asked, unable to help himself. He then looked back up to catch Arc's eye. "You obviously got away alive. Did you destroy it?"

"No," Arc admitted, turning and moving toward the control panel himself. "And that is why we must hurry."

Eli did not like the sound of that. "What happened with the turbolift?" Eli then asked, looking around the lift as he said it. "Why did it stop?"

Arc had pressed a series of buttons that released a touchpad beside the control panel, onto which he now placed his hand. "The sentinel was trying to break through my system command to call the lift back. In the end, the only thing I could do was lock the lift in place. I knew you were near the top and that we could get you up the rest of the way manually. I took another lift after ensuring the rest were either too damaged for use or were themselves powered down and locked, to keep the sentinel from following in the same way. But that will not stop it for long. Undoubtedly it is already taking another path upward."

"Why is it so determined to come after us?" Eli frowned, watching Arc as he dropped his hand away from the touchpad and turned to move toward Thrawn. He followed him, and they both knelt beside the unconscious Chiss. "We just want to leave. Surely that should be enough to call it off its death hunt. We're not a threat to this place."

Arc looked up at him then, raising his eyebrows questioningly. Eli thought back over what had happened and muttered a silent oooooh as realization clicked. They had attacked the sentinel first before they knew what it wanted from them. It hadn't shown any sign that it intended to harm them, yet Eli had shot it without question. He reached up and rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "I guess an apology won't be sufficient…?"

Arc softly hummed a negative. "It has also been severely damaged," he said. "Even if I attempted to override its current objective, I would not be successful." He looked back at Thrawn, reaching out to touch him. "Believe me, I tried."

"Lovely." Eli sighed heavily. "Look, I'm—I'm sorry, Arc. None of this would have happened if we hadn't come here."

Arc glanced sideways at him, the corner of his mouth curling gently. "I wouldn't be awake if you didn't come here," he said. "This is my chance to escape as well."

"Escape?"

Arc nodded as he slipped his arms beneath Thrawn and picked him up once more. "The people I worked with are long gone," he said, turning to look at Eli. "I was alone, locked in sleep, possibly forever. Now I have a chance." He stepped to the middle of the lift beside the ladder and looked up through the hatch. "A chance to live," he finished quietly, almost to himself.

Then, shaking himself out of it, he stepped back slightly. "After you."

"No," Eli said, shaking his head. "Get him out first. I've got the blaster if anything happens. I will cover you." As he spoke, he withdrew the blaster and stepped away as well.

Arc stared at him for a moment then nodded, shifting Thrawn until he was draped—rather unceremoniously—over his shoulder, freeing his hand to pull them upward. Eli watched as they disappeared into the darkness above, impressed and almost jealous of the ease with which he moved in such an awkward situation. But it was only brief flicker. It was because of Arc's abilities that they were even able to make it this far. With a quick glance around the turbolift, Eli followed them up.

Arc had moved over to the side of the turbolift and was about to start climbing the access ladder he had mentioned before. Looking up, Eli could see the dim shape of the open doorway above them, the distant roof of the warehouse just visible through it.

That was it. Their escape. The end of this nightmare. Eli could see it. It was within reach.

He hadn't realized just how long he had been standing there staring until he became aware of the dark shape of Arc climbing through the opening with Thrawn at his back. A moment later, the doorway was empty again. With his heart skipping hopefully, Eli put his blaster away and moved forward, reaching for the ladder eagerly.

A bone-jarring sound, like the rending of metal, vibrated through the lift under his feet. Eli's hand gripped the rung, and he suddenly couldn't move. Arc's head popped through the doorway above him.

"What was that?" he called, a harsh, urgent tone in his voice.

"I—I don't know," Eli stammered, looking up at him but only able to see a vague outline. "It came from inside the lift, I think."

Arc muttered something Eli couldn't quite hear, and the next thing he knew, Arc was moving like lightning down the ladder toward him. Eli just barely managed to release the ladder and move out of the way.

"Go up," Arc ordered, his gaze fixed on the hatch.

"But—"

"Just do it," Arc hissed, and when he looked back at Eli, there was a light in his eyes that made Eli's stomach twinge.

"What are you—" Before he could finish, Arc had pushed him to the ladder and up the first few steps. He felt something pressed into his hand.

"When you get to the top, put this in the slot on the side of the lift panel." He kept his voice low, but Eli could hear him clearly. He could also hear other noises beneath their feet, noises that were growing louder, noises that made the blood drain from his face. "Eli, do you understand?"

Eli blinked, snapping back to attention. He glanced down at the thin disc in his hand. "Yes. Side of lift panel. Insert."

"Good. Go." Arc released him, stepping away. "Don't look back. Don't wait for me."

Eli's breath caught in his throat. "But you have to come with us!"

"My objective is to get you to safety," Arc said, crouching at the hatch and testing its lock. "You will not be safe in the warehouse if the sentinel gets through the turbolift."

"But—Arc—!"

"Please don't make all of this be in vain." Arc looked up at him one more time, and Eli only now realized that he wasn't testing the lock—he was releasing it. Shooting Eli one last grim smile and a quick nod, he heaved on the hatch door, pulling it open just long enough to slip inside. As the hatch swung back down into place, Eli felt his blood chill at the sound of a hated scream.

With shaking hands and his heart in his mouth, Eli obeyed Arc's command, climbing up the ladder rungs nearly as quickly as Arc had climbed down them. At the top, he saw Thrawn laid out carefully on the floor a few feet away.

A terrible sound echoed through the turbolift shaft. The magnetic lock holding it in place had released. In a mad scramble, Eli made it over the threshold, jumping up and lunging for the lift panel on the wall. He heard the lift move, but something was wrong with the sound. It wasn't moving upward. Cautiously, he leaned his head through the doorway and just barely caught a glimpse of the lift as it plunged into the darkness below, its speed far greater than it should be.

"No…" Eli's stomach dropped with it as he realized what Arc was attempting to do. His throat tightened painfully.

When you get to the top, put this in the slot on the side of the lift panel.

Eli stared down at the disc in his hand.

Don't look back. Don't wait for me.

His fingers tightened around it.

Please don't make all of this be in vain.

With slow, mechanical movements, he found the slot and inserted the disc. The panel lit up and beeped as it received instruction. The door slid closed, shutting off access to the turbolift shaft. The light in the panel blinked several times and then went dark. The panel itself was unresponsive after that.

Turning, Eli shuffled over to Thrawn and carefully lowered himself beside him.

"We're out, sir," he said quietly, gazing intently at Thrawn's face. "Now let's just hope Captain Rossi thinks we're worth coming back for."

He sat with his face buried in his hands. It wasn't until he heard the familiar whine of an engine approaching that he stirred again, and he sighed with relief as he recognized the troopers storming into the warehouse minutes later.


"Well, now you can say you've have the bacta tank experience," Eli said with forced cheerfulness as he sat with Thrawn in their shared quarters. Thrawn had finally been released from medical, and Eli's relief at that was entirely genuine.

Thrawn's response was short and considerably less enthusiastic. "Yes." He was attempting to put his hair back in order, although his gaze had shifted enough to meet Eli's.

Eli chuckled quietly under his breath as he leaned back. He tried not to think too much on recent events. Once the report was filed, he got to work on forgetting about the whole thing.

Except that he couldn't.

He wouldn't admit it to anyone, but he still had dreams about what happened, and sometimes he woke up uncertain of where he was or what had really happened.

And worst of all, he couldn't stop wondering what had happened to Arc. Had he had a chance to escape? Or had he sacrificed himself again, falling to his death and taking the sentinel with him so that Eli and Thrawn would have a chance at rescue? Would the sentinel survive yet again and doggedly pursue Eli's steps across the galaxy?

He knew it was impossible. Even if it survived the fall of the turbolift, climbed its way out of the facility, and found a ship that it could fly off the planet, there was no way it would be able to find Eli. The galaxy was huge. Unfathomably so. He had nothing to fear. If only he could tell his brain that.

"Eli."

He jumped, turning to find Thrawn staring at him. "Hm? Sorry, sir."

Thrawn watched him a moment longer. "Do you wish to talk about it?" he asked softly.

Eli looked away. "Not really."

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Thrawn tilt his head in acknowledgement. "When you are ready, then." He folded his hands in his lap. "Even so, thank you. I have my life because of you."

Eli felt his cheeks grow warmer, and he played absently with the edge of his tunic. "Oh, you don't need to thank me, sir. I probably made things worse more than I made things better, to be honest."

"Any worse than entering a turbolift without confirming it is safe to do so?" Thrawn asked with a raised eyebrow.

Eli shrugged and conceded reluctantly.

There was a small smile on Thrawn's lips. "You acted admirably in a difficult situation, taking control and doing what needed to be done, and you got us out alive. That is no small feat."

"It wasn't just me," Eli said roughly, still avoiding Thrawn's gaze. "I can't claim the credit for getting us out of there."

"I read the report," Thrawn said with a tiny nod. He observed Eli silently for a moment. "Discernment is a necessary and often vital skill. Do not underestimate its value." His eyes glinted keenly. "I can see that my own choice was on the mark."

Eli finally glanced back at Thrawn to find an intense red gaze holding him fast. He wasn't entirely sure what Thrawn meant, but he smiled back awkwardly.

"Well, sir, you're welcome," he said, straightening where he sat. "And if I may be allowed to say so, it's nice to have you back."