Chapter Sixteen: That's What Friends Are For

Carth stormed through the common room, then headed down the hall towards the cockpit. "I don't want to talk about it!"

Jolee chased after him. "Carth, dammit, I can stop you in your tracks!"

Carth doubled his steps and slammed the cockpit door shut, almost smacking Jolee in the process.

Jolee sneered. "Children." He placed his hands on his hips. "Carth, open the door."

Nothing.

Jolee grumbled, then raised his hands. Slowly, the cockpit door slid open. Jolee stepped inside, then allowed the door to close again.

"What the hell's gotten into you?" Jolee scolded.

Carth was sitting in the pilot's seat, ignoring Jolee.

"Answer me, dammit!" the older Jedi spat.

Carth said nothing.

Suddenly Carth's chair spun around, and Carth was facing Jolee.

"Look at me when I'm talking to you, boy!" Jolee snapped. "Now what the hell's gotten into you?"

Carth's words were dry and crude. "You tell me."

"You listen in on a conversation you weren't supposed to hear—"

"Wasn't supposed to hear?" Carth cried. "Dammit, how—"

"Wasn't supposed to hear yet," Jolee finished. "Just what were you doing outside—"

"So it's back to second-hand news?" Carth asked. "Blasted, Jolee, I don't like being left out of the loop!"

"She's not leaving you out of the loop, dammit!" Jolee cried. "Carth, don't you get it? Who's the first person she turns to in a crisis? When she wakes up from a nightmare, does she scream Zaalbar's name? Juhani's? Mine?"

"Then why—"

"Because she wants to know what she saw before she tells you," Jolee said. "She doesn't want to hurt you anymore than she already has!"

"She's hurting me by not telling me—"

"You want her to tell you she saw the destruction of Telos and the death of your wife only to then turn around and go, 'Oh, my mistake! It was only a nightmare! It wasn't real!'"

"It's better than her lying to me!"

"Carth, it broke her heart when she found out she was Darth Revan, and you wouldn't speak to her or help her through it!" Jolee yelled. "She doesn't want a repeat of that! That's why she—"

"Then maybe she should start talking to me instead of leaving me hanging!" Carth snapped. "Because if this keeps up, I'm not makin' any promises to her anymore!"

Jolee sighed. This was going nowhere. He could feel Carth's emotions boiling inside the pilot. Anger, hurt, fear, concern… love…

Revan and Carth really needed to talk.

Jolee took a deep breath. "I'm going to get a cup of tea," he said, turning to leave. "If you feel like talking, Revan's still in your room."

The cockpit door closed.

Carth just sat there. He turned his chair back around and stared out the window. The beeps and boops of the cockpit instruments fell to the background. Carth closed his eyes, let out a soft curse, then tried to find some way to calm down.

"So what the hell's going on?" Canderous asked as Jolee entered the common room.

"Nothing that concerns you," Jolee answered, heading for the kitchen.

"Hey, pal," Canderous said, "I'm a member of this crew, too. So whatever's goin' on around here does concern me."

Jolee said nothing.

"Carth get all pissed off that Revan had another Malak-humping vision?"

Jolee turned around. "You know, you are quite possibly the rudest son of a kath hound I have ever met."

Canderous muttered an apology. "Look, I'm just as concerned about her mental status as everyone else around here."

Jolee turned back around and poured himself a cup of tea. He sighed and sadly shook his head. "The problem is, she doesn't know what she's seeing. Some of her visions are memories, some are Force imprints of things that happened she didn't witness, and some are just regular dreams."

"And lemme guess," Canderous said. "Republic-boy ain't happy she wants to figure out the visions before she tells him?" Jolee looked at Canderous. "I heard them in here two nights ago talkin' about her and Malak. He practically beat the information out of her. She kept tellin' him to shut up, but he kept at it. She finally screamed she and Malak were lovers, then ran outta the room."

Jolee shook his head. "That boy needs to leave her alone until she's ready to talk."

"Yeah, but he wouldn't have the title of 'Captain Paranoid' if he did," Canderous snorted. He drank his caffa then stood up. "You need me to go throw him around again?"

"Canderous—"

"Five minutes," Canderous said. "I'll have him straightened out."

"Canderous—"

"I'll tie one hand behind my back."

Jolee stared at the Mandalorian. "I appreciate the loyalty, but no."

"HK here offered to kill him," Canderous said, jabbing a thumb in the copper droid's direction. "Thought that might cheer Revan up."

HK cocked his blaster. "READY!"

"Canderous—"

"We could get Zaalbar to rip his arms out of his socket."

"Appalled Statement: You would leave the death of the Republic meatbag to the likes of the Wookiee?" HK asked. "He would leave the cockpit in shambles!"

Jolee just glared. "Believe it or not, this situation cannot be solved with unadulterated violence."

Canderous grinned. "But it would be entertaining."

Jolee rolled his eyes and shook his head. "I'm gonna go check on her," he said, holding his mug. "Poor kid's shakin' like a leaf. I can feel her from here." He pointed at Canderous. "No."

"But—"

"Leave Carth alone or it'll be your arms Zaalbar rips out of their sockets," Jolee warned. He turned to HK-47. "You, too."

Canderous scowled and sat back down at the common room table.

HK sighed sadly. "Statement: Our art goes unappreciated yet again, Mandalorian meatbag."

Revan was curled up, leaning against Zaalbar and sipping her tea when Jolee entered the room. Her face was red and she looked exhausted. "How are you feeling, my dear?" Jolee softly asked.

Revan looked up at him with her bloodshot eyes. "Peachy."

Jolee smiled sadly.

"Zaalbar's gonna rip Carth's arms outta his sockets," Mission said. "That outta teach him!"

Jolee blinked and looked out the door towards Canderous, then back at Mission. "Get in line," he said.

Revan shook her head. "This is all my fault—"

"Don't you dare," Jolee warned. "The only thing you did wrong was lie to him. The rest of this is his problem." Jolee sat back on his heels. "Carth'll come around. Man's stubborn as they come, but…" He sighed. "He cares about you, Revan. Make no mistake about that."

"Then why—"

"Because he's a guy," Mission said. "Remind me to tell you about the one swoop racer and his Rodian girlfriend."

Jolee's brow wrinkled. "That's part of it, Mission." He looked at Revan. "Give him some time to cool down. He'll start thinkin' clearly then."

"Where is he?" she asked.

"In the cockpit. Where else?"

Zaalbar growled and gruffed.

"Big Z's right, Revan," Mission nodded. "You should finish your tea and get some rest."

"I'm, I'm fine," she insisted.

"Zaalbar and I'll stand guard," Mission said. "We'll make sure that Telosian slugworm leaves you alone until his head's unstuck from his butt."

Revan smiled at the thought of Mission and Zaalbar ganging up on Carth. "Thank you."