Post 11

One week later…

Jag was pulling on his shirt when the door chime rang. Rolling his eyes, he continued buttoning it as he walked to answer the door. A smile crept onto his face when he saw who it was.

"Hey cuz. Mind if I come in?"

He stepped back and waved her into the living room. Myri turned to look at him as he finished with his shirt. When he looked back up from the buttons she was giving him 'the look'.

"Is there a particular reason I'm getting glared at?" He asked as he walked over to the couch and sat to put on his shoes.

"What are you doing?" She said, standing in front of him, hands on her hips.

"I'm putting my shoes on, Myr. I thought they covered that in basic training."

"Jagged! That's not what I'm talking about and you know it."

Jag grinned at her and tried not to laugh. He really didn't feel like sporting a bruise on his date. If he laughed at Myri that was exactly what he would have.

"Why are you going on this date?" She asked him, her voice quieter now. He looked up and saw a frown on her face.

"Myri…"

"You and Jaina belong together." She interrupted him.

Jag sat back on the couch and sighed. "Myri, I really don't want to talk about this before my date." Can we have this discussion some other time?"

"No, because it will be too late then. Why don't you ask Jaina out on a date?"

"A guy can only get shot down so many times before he gets the idea. Besides, I don't think you really have any place to be telling me this."

He saw her bristle at his comment, but didn't apologize.

"We're not talking about me. We're talking about you."

"So why haven't you asked Jake on a date?" He countered and saw her deflate just a little. "I'm sorry Myri, that wasn't very nice of me."

She sat down next to him and sighed. "No, you're right. I should have done something, but it might be too late now. He's on a date tonight."

"You're kidding me? Please tell me your mom didn't set him up?" Jag pulled her to him and wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

"No, some girl asked him out. I found out from his wingmate."

"I'm sorry, honey." He told her as he kissed the top of her head. "You know, it may not be too late though. Maybe he'll be so bored that he won't want to see her again."

"Or she'll be so ugly, he'll run screaming from the restaurant." She mumbled and Jag had to laugh.

"Don't give up yet, Myri. I know Jake likes you, you just have to make sure he knows your feelings are returned."

"Yeah." She responded. They sat there in silence for a few moments, then Jag sighed.

"I have to go, honey." Myri nodded and stood up. He did the same and pulled her into a hug.

"You know, you could follow your own advice." She turned to tell him right before she walked out the door.

He smiled and nodded at her, then she left.

/____________________________________\

He moved to ring the door chime, but stopped right before he hit it. Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath and pushed everything else out of his head. He would not think of Jaina tonight.

/____________________________________\

"Jagged?"

His eyes snapped back to Ranna and gave her a smile.

"I'm sorry, I was thinking about something else."

She smiled at him and took a drink of her wine. He had to admit that Iella had picked someone who was extremely beautiful. Her long blonde hair and blue eyes had drawn more than a few eyes tonight and she was very interesting to talk to. Why the hell couldn't he just focus? He should be enjoying himself.

"Is she pretty?"

He looked at her confused. "What?"

"Whoever you were thinking about." She told him. He searched her eyes, but saw no hint of anger or jealousy.

"I wasn't…"

"Don't lie. From what I've heard, you're not a man prone to lying."

He didn't say anything for a minute, then looked down at his plate.

"I'm sorry. This was terribly unfair to you." He told her as he gave her an apologetic look.

"Stop apologizing Jagged. It's apparent that you have no interest in being here and that's ok. I understand. I'm not expecting you to ask me to marry you."

He chuckled and she gave him a smile.

"So tell me about her." Ranna asked as the waiter came and cleared their plates.

"You don't really…"

"If I hadn't wanted to talk about it, I wouldn't have brought it up. She's obviously very special to you. Your eyes lit up when you thought about her."

He gave her a bewildered look. This had to be one of the weirdest dates he had ever been on.

"Does she know how you feel?" Ranna prompted and he nodded.

"Yeah. She knows."

"She doesn't feel the same way?"

"I honestly don't know. She used to, but so much has changed since then."

"You knew her during the war?"

"Yeah. Flew with her."

"Ah. So she's a pilot."

"Yeah."

"That doesn't surprise me."

Jag raised an eyebrow at her comment. Ranna just smiled at him.

"I get the feeling that type of person would hold your interest more than anything else. Is she good?"

Jag smiled, his eyes not focusing on anything except memories. "Yeah." He answered wistfully.

"So what's stopping you?"

"Some horrible things happened between us. We're still friends, but…I don't know. The main problem is she doesn't think she deserves to be happy, with anyone. She's so awkward when we're around each other too."

"Ah."

They sat in silence for a moment before Jag spoke again. "I'm sorry Ranna, I can't do this." When she smiled at him, it was only filled with understanding.

"Bout time you figured it out." She laughed at his expression and Jag couldn't help but smile back.

/____________________________________\

Kyp walked into the outer office and smiled as Seena looked up from her desk and greeted him.

"Good evening Master Durron. How are you tonight?"

"I'm good Seena, but why are you still here? She being a slave driver tonight?" He winced inwardly at his choice of words and was thankful Jade hadn't heard him. Seena just laughed. She was the aide for four different ambassadors and had confessed to Kyp a few days ago that Jade was her favorite. The young Thyferian has been working in the office for only a few months but Kyp could understand why Jade liked her so much. She always had a smile for whoever
walked in the door and was a hard worker.

"No, more like she's working herself to death. Take her home please." She joked with him as she started to gather up her things to leave.

"You need me to walk you out?" He asked before he moved to open the door into Jade's office. Seena just shook her head and smirked at him.

"No, you need to get her home. I don't have far to walk and the guard can see me out. Night Master Durron." She called back over her shoulder.

He stood there for a minute and watched her leave, then turned to go into Jade's office. He found her standing in front of her office window, looking out over the skyline. They had fallen into a comfortable routine in the last week or so. Bela hadn't been home, so he figured that was a big part of it. He had been having some issues though, personal ones. It seemed like his ability to look at Jade as just a job was slowly dwindling and he wasn't sure how
to deal with it. He started noticing little things that she did and found himself wanting to do things for her. Things that guys do for girls they like, not people whose lives they were trying to protect. He needed to talk to Jag, but hadn't had a chance since they had both been so busy. Kyp had been free tonight, but Jag was going on his date. That was bothering him too. He hoped this wasn't going to mess with the tentative truce his two best friends had decided to forge. Unfortunately, he had a feeling it was going to.

/____________________________________\

Jade watched the traffic speed by her office window and sighed. Bela was supposed to be home in a few days and she was already starting to dread it. She had promised Jared she would try to not let it bother her so much this time, but she wasn't sure she could. This led her to the second issue. She rested her forehead on the glass and closed her eyes. Kyp. They had gotten closer in the last week, since she had apologized for being a pain and that was the
core of her problem. She wasn't sure her feelings were pure business anymore. They were starting to border on something else. And that made her feel a million different things, not the least of which was scared. She shouldn't be feeling this for him. She was married and he was just here to make sure she stayed alive, but she couldn't help but feel her heart beat harder when he was around. Which was almost all the time, not that she was complaining.

Everytime she thought about her feelings for the Jedi master she inevitably thought about her husband. She hadn't talked to anyone about it, not even Iella, but she was starting to doubt herself. Jade had always been extremely confidant in her abilities and herself and now she found herself in unfamiliar territory. She had finally resigned herself to knowing that once Bela was ousted that she would be on her own. There was no way she could stay married to him now, regardless of what they once had. It wasn't the being on her own that bothered her. It was the moving on part. She found herself daydreaming a lot more than usual, and the subject seemed to be Kyp. A part of her felt like she was betraying her marriage too. Not that she thought anyone would blame her, but she blamed herself.

She heard the door behind her open but didn't move. It would just be Kyp and she needed to compose herself before she looked at him.

"You ok?" He asked her quietly from where he stood by the door. She swore she could feel electricity in the air when he walked in the room, but that had to be her mind playing tricks on her. Taking a deep breath, she pulled a blanket of calm over her and turned to grace him with a smile.

"Yeah. Just had a long day."

Kyp raised an eyebrow at her in question, but didn't push her. "You ready?" When she nodded, he turned to go back out into the outer office and she started to get her things together. When she came out of the room, he was standing by the door waiting for her…with a smile. Her pulse quickened and she returned the gesture.

They walked quietly down the deserted hall, their footsteps echoing on the polished floor. He was a little distracted, but she didn't say anything. The last thing she wanted to do was distract him more. They stopped to wait for the lift and she glanced at him from the corner of her eye. He had showered and his hair was still a little damp around his temples she noted, as she ran her gaze over his face. The master's face brow was furrowed in thought and
she smiled to herself. He looked so handsome when he did that.

She heard the lift door swoosh open and, with a smile on her lips, moved to walk in. A gasp escaped her when she felt an arm grab her around the waist and pull her back out of the lift. Kyp had pulled her back against him, but that wasn't what made her catch her breath. When she looked into the lift, she saw only blackness.

/____________________________________\

Kyp felt a tingling on the back of his neck and only had a second to react. Grabbing her around the waist with his left arm, he reached down to his light saber and brought it up in front of them. There was no one in the lift. Actually, there was no lift. His heart was pounding in his chest as he realized what would have happened if he hadn't grabbed her!? He felt her start to shake and backed up, while he was scanning the surrounding area. His back finally
hit the wall behind them and he lowered his weapon. She hadn't uttered a noise this entire time, but her fear was palpable in the force. Clipping his saber back on his belt, he wrapped his other arm around her shoulders and slowly felt her trembles lessen.

Leaning his head against the back of hers, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He could feel her pulse pounding against his arm and he tightened his grip. While he wasn't complaining that she was in his arms, he had hoped it wouldn't be under these sort of circumstances.

"You ok?" He asked her softly. Jade nodded stiffly and he reluctantly pulled himself away from her. He could feel her calm a little, but she was still shook up. Kyp scanned the hallway visually, then took her hand and walked back to her office. Sitting her down in Seena's chair, he reached over to call security.

/____________________________________\

"Master Durron, I am so sorry. I have no idea why that lift was malfunctioning." The guard uttered. After his call, neither one of them had said anything as they waited for security to show up. A precursory check of the lift had found it to be turned on to maintenance mode, but no record of any maintenance being done in the last two weeks. It was unnerving to him to say the least.

Kyp nodded at the man, then turned back to Jade. She was biting her lip and staring at Seena's desktop. He had to get her out of here.

"Please let me know if you find anything. I'm going to take the ambassador home now." The man nodded enthusiastically at him and then left. Wordlessly, he reached over to grab one of Jade's hands and pulled her up to a standing position. She still didn't say anything, but let him lead her out of the room. They took the stairs to the ground floor this time, Kyp's senses on high alert. He had called ahead to have Jared come and pick them up and the young man was waiting for them when they got to the bottom of the steps.

The two men shared a look as Kyp held the door open for Jade. Jared didn't know what had happened but he could tell Jade was shaken up. He knew that Kyp would fill him in as soon as he could. The drive home was quiet, as he just sat beside her, holding her hand. Actually, she was holding his hand and didn't seem to want to let go.

They arrived back at the mansion and Kyp walked Jade up to her room. She walked over to the bed and sat down, putting her head in her hands. He stood there for a moment, then sat down next to her and pulled her into his arms. At the first jerk of her shoulders, he clenched his jaw. She cried quietly in his arms and he hated that he couldn't do anything about it. He had always hated people crying, but Jade's tears were particularly hard for him to take. A
few times in the last week he had heard her quietly crying when she thought everyone else was asleep. He couldn't count the number of times he had wanted to go and hold her, instead he just listened and thought of the different ways he was going to kill her husband when this was all over.

A few minutes later, he realized that she had become still and he rested his chin on the top of her head.

"You need me to stay until you fall asleep?" He whispered. She shook her head and he gave her one last squeeze before he disengaged himself from her. Jade wiped furiously at her cheeks and he stood not sure what to say.

"I'll be fine Kyp. Go talk to Jared. I'm sure he's going crazy wondering what happened." She told him softly, then stood and walked into the fresher.

/____________________________________\

Kyp walked into the living room and motioned for Jared to join him in the kitchen. The younger man hoisted himself up on the island as Kyp leaned against the sink; Jade's favorite thinking place lately.

"Do I want to know?" Jared asked quietly.

"No. But I'm going to tell you anyway." Kyp answered. "One of the lifts at the embassy was apparently turned to maintenance mode sometime today. That wouldn't be an issue, except Jade almost walked into said lift."

Jared's mouth hung open in shock. "Damn." He finally said when he found his voice.

"Yeah. There was no records of any maintenance in the last two weeks and from what we were able to piece together the lift was working fine earlier today."

"This was another attack." Jared said angrily and Kyp just nodded his head.

"She's fine, just shook up." He continued as he ran his hand over his face. "One of us needs to stay up and watch the monitors tonight."

"I'll do it." Jared said quickly. "I had already planned on it."

Kyp nodded, and Jared left him alone with his thoughts. He had to make a call and he wasn't particularly excited about it.

/____________________________________\

Wedge groaned when he heard the comm signal go off. The planet had better be falling apart, he thought as he separated himself from his wife and padded over to answer it. Scratching the top of his head, he sat down and let out a yawn before he his the button. On the screen was the last person he wanted to see at this hour of the morning. Then his brain kicked in and realized what that meant.

"What happened?" He asked, quickly waking up and talking a little more harshly than he intended.

Kyp cleared his throat, but didn't react to Wedge's tone.

"Is Iella awake, cause I don't really want to have to tell this story twice." He asked quietly. Before Wedge could answer, she walked up behind him and Kyp nodded at her.

"We were leaving Jade's office tonight, when we went to get in the lift and it wasn't there." He said, his voice flat and without emotion. Iella had a feeling he was trying to keep his anger in check, because she noticed he seemed to be clenching his teeth. It was too early in the morning to dwell on that observation though.

"Is she ok?" She asked, Wedge reaching over to put her hand on his shoulder, wrapping it in his own.

"Yeah, she's a little shook up, but she's fine." He told them. "I had security check the maintenance records, but it hasn't been worked on in at least two weeks. At least not officially." He added.

"I'll have Raxle check the video feeds for her floor and see if we can find something." Kyp nodded at her suggestion, then took a deep breath.

"Have you heard from Suna and Chaz?"

"They checked in a couple of days ago, but nothing out of the ordinary, at least not yet. He's on his way home. Should be here in a day or so."

"Ok. Let me know if Raxle finds anything out."

Iella nodded at him, and Kyp said good night, then signed off.

Wedge stood and pulled his wife into his arms. "Let's go back to bed. There's nothing we can do right now. We can go and visit her in the morning." He suggested softly. Iella nodded against his chest and he placed a kiss on the crown of her head.

/____________________________________\