Post 18

Han leaned against the pool stick, waiting for Jag to take his shot. They hadn't talked much since Jaina had left and he should probably do something about that. Jag took his shot and stood back to watch it, so Han decided the time was right.

"So Fel. You and Jaina back together?" He asked casually and not surprisingly, Fel gave no outward reaction to his question.

"Yeah, I think so." The young man said as he came over and picked his drink up from the small table. Han made no move to start playing.

"You think?" Han asked, extremely curious now.

"Well, to be honest, the exact words were never spoken." Jag said, his brow furrowed in thought and Han hid a smile. "We've been hanging out a lot lately. Going to dinner, watching the holonet. I think we both just fell into the mode again." Jag took a drink and glanced over at the man who he had once thought would be his father-in-law.

"What changed?" Han asked, as he walked over to take his shot, giving Jag time to answer.

Jag hesitated. Not that he didn't want to tell Han, but Jaina had been reluctant to tell him as it was. He wasn't sure how the man would react to hearing his two dead sons had visited his remaining child.

"She had a visit from a few friends of hers that made her change her mind." Jag finally said after Han had taken his shot.

"The boys finally visited her huh?" Han looked up to find shock on Jag's face. So, the kid actually could be surprised. Interesting.

It took a minute for Jag to recover. "Yeah."

"Bout kriffing time. I think they were the only ones she was going to listen to at this point."

"Han…" The older man clapped Jag on the shoulder and smiled.

"Don't worry kid. I ain't gonna say anything. I'm just glad she finally came to her senses."

Jag nodded his thanks and the two men went back to playing their game, their hearts a little lighter.

/____________________________________\

Kyp had indulged in a couple of ales and was feeling good, but he definitely wasn't drunk. He and Jag were probably the only ones that weren't. Jaina and Ben had only left about 30 minutes ago and he was desperately trying to keep his worry under control. Valin hadn't shown up yet, but he could have run home before he was going to stop by. He finished the ale and sighed.

Next to him, Jag raised his eyebrows and nudged his friend in the ribs.

"Relax Kyp. She's fine." He told him and Han nodded in agreement.

"So, what's going on between you and the ambassador?" Solo threw at Kyp. Zekk, Jag and Jared were the only ones that had heard the question and they transferred their gaze to the Jedi master. Kyp cleared his throat and wondered how he was going to answer that question when his head exploded in pain.

/____________________________________\

She reached out with her senses, just like Kyp had taught her. She felt the others in the room, then tried to extend her awareness further, but all she got was what felt like static. Shaking her head in frustration, she concentrated on finding Jaina, since she was the closest. A hand wrapped around her upper arm and she fought back the scream.

"It's me. Just stand still" Jaina whispered in her ear. Her eyes were starting to adjust to the darkness and she saw they had all moved around the room, trying to cover every entrance and exit. She and Jaina were towards the middle of the room, when shattering glass behind her made her turn towards the back doors. Jade watched, almost in slow motion, as a small silver ball flew into the room, there was a pulse of light, then her world caught fire.

/____________________________________\

"Kyp!" Jag grabbed his friend before he nose-dived into the floor. He looked over at Zekk and saw the man had his eyes closed as if he was searching for something or someone. Kyp's hands had flown to his head before Jag had heard him cry out in pain. Han, sobered instantly and pulled out his comm to call Jaina.

Trying to catch his breath, Kyp leaned his head on the table and tried to figure out what had happened. One minute he had been fine, then a supernova had gone off in his head. Unconsciously he reached out to Jade and caught his breath when he found her faint signature.

"Something happened at the house." He said suddenly, standing and trying to get by Jag. The former Chiss commander stood, stopping him.

"Kyp, wait. First off, you need to calm down. Zekk says they're not dead." He told his friend calmly.

"Get out of my way, Fel." Kyp growled, but Jag didn't flinch. He stood his ground and grabbed Kyp by the shoulders to keep him from getting past him.

"I'm just as worried as you are, let's just…" Jag's comm chirped and he chanced moving one hand from Kyp's shoulder to answer it. Surprisingly, the Jedi master stood there quietly, probably still in shock.

"Fel."

"Jag! Where are you?" Iella's voice came over the device.

"We're at the bar. What happened?" He asked.

"Meet us at the med center down the street from the temple." Kyp flexed to move, but Jag stopped him again.

"We'll be right there." Putting his comm back on his belt, he reached into his pocket to throw some credits on the table, then turned to find Han, Zekk and Jared ready to go.

"Guess the party's over." He threw out, then grabbing Kyp by the arm walked out the door.

/____________________________________\

They all hopped into the speeder Kyp and Jared had driven over in. No one spoke on the way there. Kyp was in the back seat between Han and Jag, still in shock. Suddenly, he felt something touch his mind and felt Jaina's reassurance that they were all ok. Taking a deep breath, he sat back in the seat and rubbed the bridge of his nose.

The med center was close, so it didn't take them long to get there. Jared had barely stopped the speeder when Jag had jumped out, Kyp close behind. When they made it to the lobby, Iella was standing there with her arms wrapped around her and her head bowed. She looked up when she heard them noisily come in and looked relieved.

"They're all fine. Some scrapes and bruises. Corran got hurt the worst, but it's really not that bad. He managed to absorb some of the energy." Kyp said nothing as he walked behind the group, lost in his own thoughts. He never should have gone out tonight. He wasn't stupid, he knew he couldn't have stopped this, but at least he would have known how she was.

The group stopped in front of him and Kyp's head came up to see they had entered a small waiting room. Wedge stood up when they entered and nodded to the group. Kyp started to say something when a door to their right opened and Jaina and Ben walked out. Jaina had a gash above her right eye and one down her right cheek, but other than that she looked fine. Ben had a few cuts on his face, and his upper left arm was bandaged.

Jag walked over and pulled Jaina into his arms, squeezing her tightly. She buried her face in his chest and sighed. Han had walked over towards them and wrapped an arm around Ben's shoulders.

"You ok kid?" Ben nodded and gave his uncle a small smile.

"Where's Valin?" Zekk asked, garnering everyone's attention.

"He's in with Corran." Jaina answered quietly, as she brought her head up to look at everyone. "He's ok, he just got a few burns and a couple bad cuts on his chest. Jade's not going to be happy that he took out the back of her house though." She said with a sad smile.

"Where is Jade?" Kyp asked quietly. Jaina started to answer, when Iella stepped towards him.

"Where were you, is what I want to know?! Why weren't you there? While you were out gallivanting around town, someone attacked her again." Wedge tried to pull Iella back away from Kyp, but she wasn't' having it. She got up in the master's face, but he didn't budge. "You promised you would keep her safe!"

Kyp picked a spot on the wall over Iella's head to stare at. He wasn't sure he could look anyone in the eye right now. The Intelligence agent had just summed up exactly what he was feeling. Guilt was thrumming through his veins and he just went numb. He deserved her censure and so much more.

"You can be sure I'm going to talk to Luke about this, Durron. Jade isn't any safer now than before, and with each attack, they get bolder and bolder, and one of these times, they won't miss." She told him quietly, her voice filled with disgust. Wedge came up and this time managed to get her to back off. Kyp just stood there, his emotions eating him up inside.

"Let's go for a walk, Ella." He faintly heard Wedge whisper, and out of the corner of his eye he saw her stalk out the door ahead of her husband. Wedge watched her for a minute, then turned his head towards Kyp. "She's just upset, Kyp. She'll be more reasonable later." He told the master quietly. Kyp nodded slightly and heard the man go out the door.

Jaina started to go to him to say something when the doctor came in the room. He looked around and when he didn't see who he was looking for, he gazed at the small group that was there.

"Are you looking for Mrs. Antilles?" Jag asked.

"Yes, I was just going to let her know the ambassador's condition."

"She's going to be ok?" Jared asked. He had remained quiet until now. The young man had wanted to speak up while Iella was going off on Kyp, but he wasn't sure he could have helped any. He would make sure that Luke Skywalker got a different story about Kyp's performance from him than he would from the Intelligence agent.

"She's going to be fine. She has a slight concussion and some cuts, but with rest she'll be good as new."

"Can she have visitors?" Jaina asked.

"One or two shouldn't hurt. But you must be quiet. Her senses are still very sensitive from the flash detonator." Jaina nodded at the doctor and thanked him, then turned to look at Kyp. He still hadn't moved and the look on his face was one of calm but she knew he wasn't.

Han scratched his head, then threw his arms up. Walking over to Kyp, he grabbed him by the arm and pushed him towards the doors that led back to the examination rooms. Kyp looked at him like he was crazy and Han just cuffed him upside the head.

"Go." He told him, then pushed him again. "Go!"

Kyp finally turned to look at the double doors, then slowly walked through them.

Only two of the curtains were pulled on any of the beds. The one to the right of the doors held Corran. Valin looked up and gave Kyp a smile, then looked down to the other end of the room where the other pulled curtain was and back to the master. As Kyp walked down the aisle, he heard the younger Jedi leave the room and he took a deep breath.

When he made it to the bed finally, he felt his anger rise. Jade was stretched out, one arm across her stomach, the other over her eyes. The lights in the room were dimmed, probably to make her more comfortable. He stood there watching her for a while, afraid to touch her in case she might break. Suddenly, he felt a brush against his mind and he couldn't help but smile a little.

Jade's hand moved from over her eyes and she opened them to look at him. "Hey, handsome." She said quietly. When he didn't move, she held out her hand to him and his body seemed to move of its own accord. Grasping his hand in hers, she squeezed and gave him a smile.

"How was the party?" She asked when he didn't say anything.

"It was boring." He told her as he sat down in the chair next to her bed.

Her smile got bigger and she turned onto her side so she could see him better. Slowly, her smile turned into a frown.

"What's wrong?" She asked him, concern etching her features. Her hand reached over to push a lock of his hair that had fallen into his eyes away. Kyp closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

"I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"For not being there."

Jade didn't say anything for a minute and he opened his eyes to find her looking at him, a tear escaping to run down her cheek.

"It's not your fault, Kyp. Please don't blame yourself." She whispered.

"How can I not?" He responded, looking down at the floor.

"Because I told you not to." She joked and he found a smile trying to form on his face. Her brow crinkled in pain and Kyp felt his heart skip a beat.

"Will you stay with me?" Jade's voice said, barely a whisper. She opened her eyes just enough to see him nod at her.

"Iella might try to get me thrown out." He said, moving the chair closer to the bed. She still had his hand in hers and didn't seem to want to let go.

A smile graced her face and she moved his hand and placed it under her cheek. "I'll take care of her, just don't leave."

Leaning over, Kyp deposited a kiss on her forehead. "Never."

/____________________________________\

Jaina and Jag were still out in the waiting room 30 minutes later.

"I'm thinking he's not coming back out." Jag said, then laughed when Jared snorted from beside them. He placed a kiss on Jaina's head and then moved to sit up. "Let's go home." He told her as he stood and held a hand out to her.

"What if Iella comes back? I don't want to leave Kyp here alone."

Jag smiled and pulled her up to a standing position. "I think even with a concussion, Jade can handle Iella." Nodding to Jared, the two left, hand in hand.

/____________________________________\

She disconnected the comm call and sat back in the chair, rubbing her eyes in exhaustion. Wedge walked into the room behind her, but she didn't turn to acknowledge him. Her anger was still brimming just below the surface. How dare he go out to enjoy himself and leave Jade vulnerable. She thought to herself.

"Ella, you have to let this go." Her husband told her as he kneaded her tense shoulders.

"He was supposed to be protecting her, Wedge. How can I let that go?" She spat angrily, standing to start pacing the living room. Wedge watched her helplessly, wishing he could get her to see reason.

"Honey, there were four Jedi in that house and even they weren't able to prevent it. What makes you think Durron could have if he would have been there? There'd just have been one more casualty."

"He promised to protect her!" She shouted and Wedge suddenly realized the root of the problem.

"Iella, look at me." He told her forcefully. Her head whipped around at his tone and he saw the shock on her face. Wedge now had her attention.

"You have got to let go of your hatred of Kyp."

Throwing her arms up, she resumed her pacing. "Now you sound like Luke. I'm not a kriffing Jedi."

"Anger is just as destructive for non-Jedi as it is for the Jedi themselves. You're letting your personal issues with Durron get in the way of reason. He's protected her up to this point. Did you know he's helped her to learn how to use her force abilities? Or that he asked Jag to teach her self-defense?"

Iella stopped abruptly and again stared at her husband in shock. "No." She said quietly. "How…"

"Jag and I had lunch a couple days ago. He told me she's quite good. Coming from him that's saying a lot."

She didn't know what to say. Wedge took advantage of her hesitation and walked over to embrace her.

"Kyp isn't going to let anything happen to her. You know that. And from what I hear…" He hesitated to finish his thought. Iella's head came up and she gave him a questioning gaze.

"What?"

"From what Jag told me, Kyp seems to be quite taken with Jade. Not that I'm surprised." He added with a smile. Then his wife surprised him. She didn't rant and go off on the Jedi master again. She actually returned his smile.

"Really?"

He nodded his affirmation and she seemed to relax in his arms.

"But she's still married and…" Wedge silenced her with a kiss and when he finished was happy to see his wife quite dazed.

"Let them figure it out. Kyp is not going to compromise the case or Jade."

"When did you start liking Durron?" She asked suspiciously. Wedge laughed.

"I don't like him, but Luke trusts him, so therefore I do. He'll do his job honey."

/____________________________________\

Kyp woke with a crick in his neck. Sleeping in the chair had not been comfortable at all, especially at his age.

"You're not old, Kyp. Stop thinking you are." A voice came quietly to his ears. Looking over he saw a sight he would be happy to wake up to every morning for the rest of his life. Jade still had that dazed, sleepy look in her eyes and a beautiful smile was on her face. Leaning over he gently placed a kiss on her lips, then stood up to stretch. He grimaced as he heard a series of pops and sighed.

"I'm sorry you had to sleep in the chair last night. I didn't think about how uncomfortable it would be until now." She told him quietly as she watched him work the kinks out of his neck.

"It's ok. I'll live."

"I would have asked you to climb in bed with me, but I don't think the doctor would have liked that." She chuckled and he saw a blush come to her cheeks. He reached out to caress her cheek and the sound of voices jerked both of their gazes towards the door and Kyp's hand fell away.

It took him a moment to figure out who the people were who walked into the room, but the burst of joy from Jade confirmed his suspicions. Her mother hurried over to her side and running her hand from Jade's temple to her cheek, she leaned down to kiss her forehead. Michael Storm kept back a little, knowing his wife would need the most reassurance that their daughter was ok. Glancing at Kyp, the man nodded in his direction and Kyp returned the gesture.

More voices sounded and he looked up to see Iella and Jake enter the room. Oh boy. He thought. This is going to hurt. Bracing himself for another dressing down, he was thrown by the smile that Iella granted him. A chuckle from Jade, shifted his attention to her and he gave her a small glare. Before he could make an excuse and remove himself from the room, Jake stopped him.

"Can I speak with you Master Durron?" Kyp nodded and avoided Jade's gaze as they left the room. The waiting room was empty and he stopped a few meters from where the elder Storm sibling had and wondered what he had just gotten himself into.

"What the hell are you doing?" He said quietly, but his tone was full of anger.

"What?" Kyp was floored.

"You're supposed to protect her, not take advantage of her!" He said a little louder, but made sure to keep his voice low.

"What are you talking about?" Jake hadn't been here nearly the entire time he had been assigned to Jade so he wasn't sure where this was going.

"My sister is a married woman, in case you forgot."

"I'm well aware of her availability, Commander. The only thing I'm confused about is where this conversation came from and is going." Kyp said, sounding much calmer than he actually felt. Apparently, Iella Antilles had decided to get her revenge by sending Jake after him.

/____________________________________\

Jade was listening to her mother ramble, when she felt Kyp's emotions spike. Her eyes shot to the door and then rested on her father. He narrowed his eyes, then the light went on. Michael politely excused himself then went to see what his son was doing.

/____________________________________\

"Look…" Kyp started.

"No, you look. I'm going to make sure you're replaced." He responded, as he moved closer to Kyp, trying to intimidate him. The master held his temper in check. A response was on the tip of his tongue when he heard the doors open behind him.

"Jacob. Your sister wants to see you." Michael's voice came authoritatively. The young man closed his mouth and looked at his father. Without another word, he moved past Kyp and back into the room.

Kyp took a deep breath and wasn't sure he had just gotten rescued or not. Michael was a lot bigger than his son and could probably get a good hit in before Kyp could stop him. Turning, he faced Jade's father and cleared his throat.

"Relax Kyp. I'm not here to ream you." Michael told him quietly, a smile coming to his face. Kyp visibly slumped in relief and sat down in a chair. Rubbing his hands over his face he leaned forward to rest his elbows on his knees. The mayor took the seat next to him.

"Actually, I'd like to thank you."

Kyp turned his head and gave the man a look of disbelief.

"You're joking?" His question was met with laughter.

"No. I'm not. You've done a good job of watching over her."

"But I…"

"What would you have done had you been at the house last night?" He asked abruptly, stopping Kyp's pity party.

The master found he had no answer and stared at the wall across the room.

"That's what I thought. Actually, from what Iella told me, your friends did quite a good job of making sure she wasn't hurt worse."

"Iella?" Kyp managed to eke out through his shock. Again, the man laughed at him.

"Yes. She's almost as overprotective of Jade as Jake is. You'll have to forgive my son. He sometimes forgets that Jade isn't helpless. I think he still sees her as a little five-year-old in pigtails that needs her big brother to help her."

Kyp had to chuckle at the mayor's imagery and found himself relieved. He might make it through the day yet.

The doors to the room opened up and Corran walked out, his arm draped over his son's shoulders. The former Corsec officer stopped in front of Kyp and gave him a grin.

"Next time you need a babysitter, don't ask me unless it's a houseplant, Durron." Clapping the younger man on the shoulder, the father and son left the room.

"You have good friends." Michael said, dragging Kyp's attention back.

"Yeah. I do." Kyp responded, wondering if Corran had hit his head harder than everyone thought.