Lyran Residence
2.6 APC

"Leikam! Leikam! Get in here!"

It felt like an eternity before Swip heard Leikam's rushed footsteps behind him, echoing down the hallway into Elena's bedroom, and even longer before he stepped inside, on high alert with his blaster drawn.

"What is it?"

Swip was leaning over Elena as she lay on her side on her bed, very still and non-responsive. He had his fingers pressed against the bright red skin of her neck, checking her pulse that was faint and thready.

He quickly tossed his blond hair from his face as he looked back at Leikam. "Go find Sirema; tell her to bring their medical droid in here!"

Leikam's eyes widened as he stepped up beside Swip and looked her over. "What's wrong!"

"She's spiked a high fever, and I can't wake her up! Go!"

Though initially reluctant to, Leikam nodded and sprinted out the door, leaving Swip to continue his anxious attempts to rouse her. He gently tucked his hand under her flushed cheek, carefully turning her face up to him, though she still wouldn't wake.

"M'lady? M'lady, can you hear me? Elena?"

Her only movements were the light, shallow breaths she took, and he was beginning to panic. Her fever was dangerously high, which was bad enough for her, but what about her baby? Her illness had come on so suddenly, and that couldn't be a good sign, either.

"Saross?" Sirema's worried voice sounded into the room as she, Leikam, the meddroid, and Kaydee all quickly filed into Elena's room, crowding around her with concern. Swip stepped around to the other side of the bed as Sirema leaned over her daughter, feeling Elena's forehead with alarm. "Mennil, bring some towels from the kitchen," she swiftly told Leikam as she tugged the heavy blankets off Elena, carefully rolling her onto her back with Swip's help. "Soak them in cold water. We need to cool her down, quickly." Leikam nodded and left for the kitchen as the meddroid strode up to Elena's bedside, already cycling through some medications stored in its arm. "Onebee? Can you treat her fever? Safely?"

After it swept a small scanner over her, the droid nodded knowingly and brought its other arm toward Elena, gently holding her hand as it pressed its hypodermic injector just under her skin and emptied its contents into her bloodstream. Leikam hastily returned with an armful of soaked towels, and Swip helped Sirema as she took several and tucked them around Elena's neck and under her knees, keeping one to dab around her face. He watched Elena carefully as the medication began taking effect, deepening her breathing as she began moving her head. Still patting Elena's forehead with the cold cloth, Sirema stroked her cheek, encouraged by her eye movement.

"Elena, sweetheart?"

The more her temperature dropped and her skin normalized from its earlier redness, Swip noticed the more her eyes opened, though she still wasn't completely alert. "...Mom?"

Sirema released a shaky breath, nodding as she tried to catch Elena's gaze. "I'm here, I'm right here, sweetheart. Try to relax, you're very sick..."

But becoming more lucid, Elena glanced about at the others around her briefly before closing her eyes. "It's okay," she breathed. "I'm...I'm protecting the baby from it...I have been..."

Afraid that her condition was worsening, Sirema cupped Elena's jaw to turn her face back up to her. "Elena?"

With her eyes still closed, Elena weakly lifted her arm closest to Swip and brushed the back of her hand against his chest, silently asking for his grasp. Hoping to comfort her in her distress, he carefully took her hands in both of his, but when she spoke again, he struggled to keep his expression neutral.

"Koril..."

Even more worried, Sirema furrowed her brows as she shook her head. "Oh, she's delusional..."

"No," Elena answered, tightening her grip on Swip's hand as she looked up at them both again and pleaded desperately with her eyes. "No...I want to talk to him."

"You can't."

Surprised to hear Deilia's voice, Swip turned to the door, seeing the Rys'tihn Ghost Heir for the first time in weeks. She had left just after they learned of Veon's death, leaving Swip and Leikam in charge of keeping Elena trapped at her parents' home without any information, a fact that Sirema appreciated as little as they did.

"You leave this room, right now," Sirema ordered with quiet, intense anger, glaring at Deilia across the room. "You are not welcome in here."

Though frustrated with Deilia, too, Swip looked back down at Elena to calm her, but she was staring straight up at the ceiling with a blank expression, suddenly sounding distant and weak. "I need to hear him..."

"We haven't determined if the Royal establishments are secure yet--"

"I said leave!"

Undeterred, Deilia remained in the doorway, her eyes not belying her own regret as she met Mrs. Lyran's gaze again. "You agreed to this, Sirema."

"I agreed to shelter her," Sirema returned with disbelief, "not make her a prisoner in my home!"

"Mom," Elena began trying to reason with her, but Sirema refused, shaking her head as she looked down on her.

"No, sweetheart, she is the reason that you are so sick right now!" Shooting another dark look at Deilia, her voice shook as she spoke. "And she hasn't been around to see it." She returned her attention to Elena, gently smoothing her hair back from her face. "You've been depressed...and that leaves you even more vulnerable to little illnesses that can become dangerous very quickly...like this."

Still holding her hand, Swip looked back down at Elena, finding her blank gaze locked on the ceiling again. But what he hadn't noticed earlier was a steady stream of tears falling from the corners of her eyes without a sound, and it saddened him to see her suffering manifesting in such a frightening episode. Sirema saw her pain, as well, and desperate to resolve it, she handed Swip the cool rag that had been in her hand and left, taking Deilia with her to talk elsewhere. Though a bit surprised at how quickly she left, he nodded to Leikam, sending him with the two women as they hopefully settled their dispute out of earshot. The two droids remained, but as long as they stayed silent, he didn't mind them, and he hoped Elena didn't, either.

Turning the rag in his hand to find a cooler portion of it, he brushed it along the sides of her face with care, gently erasing the tear stains that tracked back to her ears. He hated feeling helpless to comfort her, especially since he owed her his life, and High Commander Rys'tihn had personally selected him and Leikam to travel with her, knowing how close they had become after surviving an attack by a vicious beast on Coruscant over a year ago. Hoping to raise her spirits, he sighed lightly and quieted his voice so he wouldn't be overheard, by the droids or by anyone lingering in the hallway.

"M'lady...I can try to patch a signal through the Driftdance to the Manor, and you could talk to the High Commander that way."

But she shut her eyes tightly and shook her head, sounding like she had given up. "No, Swip... He'd tell Deilia, and who knows what kind of disciplinary action you'd face for it."

"I don't care. You deserve to be treated fairly, like the Royal that you are."

Looking up at him briefly to consider his statement, she searched his face before she shook her head again, her eyes filling with tears once more.

"Then tell me how I can help you," he pleaded softly, watching her eyes as they tracked all around the room. Finally settling her gaze on a shelf on the far side where a small plush animal toy that Mand had given Derek was sitting, she sighed sadly before she whispered.

"Keep Derek happy."

Swip frowned. "M'lady...he's only quiet and sad because you are."

"I know...but he likes you. You can keep him distracted."

Smiling the slightest bit, Swip had to agree. He knew very well how to entertain young kids, having come from a large family, but he wasn't sure if she knew that about him or not. She had noticed, however, how much Derek had taken to him during their month-long stay on the frozen planet, even over his doting grandmother or his uncle Jeric. Nodding to accept her request, he looked her over again, releasing a reluctant breath.

"...are you sure there's nothing else?"

She nodded, squeezing his hand in thanks as she calmed and came to terms with her situation once more. "I'll be okay, Swip. I still don't like it...but I'll deal with it. Please," she continued resignedly, "go make sure that my mom and Deilia haven't killed each other yet."

Grinning a little, Swip glanced behind himself at the door. "I sent Leikam to go with them," he said as he returned to her, "...so yeah, I better go check."

She nodded and gave a short, half-hearted laugh before she used her grip on his hand to pull herself into a sitting position on the bed, shedding the wet towels that had been around her neck and knees as she hung her legs off the side. Swip wrapped his free arm around her back to steady her, unsure if she was strong enough yet, but she reassured him by placing her hand on his cheek.

"I'll be okay," she repeated quietly. "Go."

After a moment, he nodded and stepped away from her reluctantly, looking back as he left to see her gently rest her hand low over her stomach with a saddened, distant look in her eyes he had seen before.

Paneau Sector
Leveyn Asteroid Field
3.2 APC - 7 months later

As Mand forcefully shoved him against a rocky wall in the dimly lit corridor, Horatio easily felt the eyes of the other spicers all transfixed on them, making it difficult for him to maintain his concentration. He knew what they were waiting for, and as she continued to hold him, pressing his shoulders further into the uneven wall behind him, he met her cold, angry gaze squarely, barely breathing though his heart was racing.

"Sell it, Kil," he demanded with quiet intensity, moving his mouth little as he spoke to keep anyone from overhearing him or reading his lips. A brief fiery rage flashed though her eyes before she complied, hitting him hard with an earnest, passionate kiss they had been building up to for months. The other spicers in the hall laughed and cheered, whistling down toward them to antagonize them, but Mand continued without hesitation, keeping him locked in her grasp. He could smell the grime and perspiration in her ratty, badly bleached hair, and the stained, filthy jacket she wore scraped the skin on his bare arms as she moved against him. He hadn't expected her to be so...enthusiastic...

Finally releasing him, she leaned back only slightly, staying close enough to lightly brush her parted lips against his, taunting him further as she spoke with the same intensity that he had earlier.

"I despise you..."

Still breathless from her kiss, he swallowed hard to ease his shakiness. "I know," he answered quietly, touching his nose to hers to steal a glance down the hallway. "They got what they needed to see, though."

He turned his head slightly as she pressed her cheek against his, giving him a chance to further survey the spicers while she kept up the act and whispered in his ear. "This had better work. Is anyone taking notice?"

Most of their observers had left, returning to their work elsewhere within the complex, save for one gruff Weequay who lingered a ways back, eying them shrewdly. Horatio reached up and grabbed Mand's hands from his shoulders, pushing her to the opposite wall to kiss her in the same manner as he spoke quietly in between short breaths. "Yeah, one... Groller. You owe me...twenty credits. Time for phase two."

Fumbling for the panel that would open the door beside them, Mand slapped her palm against it and roughly swung Horatio into the room with what would've seemed like passion to anyone else. Horatio knew better, though, and once he regained his balance inside, he prepared to suffer her wrath before their target joined them. Surprising him, though, she looked confused instead as she stepped into the room's darkness after him.

"Groller? No, he can't be the one; he's too close to the packers. There's got to be someone else between them."

Taking a few controlled breaths to calm himself, he shrugged. "Either way, we can still use him. And you still owe me."

She gave him a challenging look briefly before something caught her attention as she turned her head to the side. "He took the bait. He's coming."

Though quickly resuming their embrace, Mand shoved him down onto a bench behind him as she sat on his lap and leaned over him, hovering her face just inches from his. As Groller stepped into the doorway, her expression changed instantly to a rare devilish grin as she looked back to greet their visitor, breathing heavily.

"Come to join us?"

But Groller had a dark look in his eyes as he leveled a blaster at them both, watching them closely. Feigning surprise, Mand gasped and shifted to the seat next to Horatio as he stood to protect her, placing himself between her and Groller.

"I knew there was something that wasn't right with you two," Groller began. "You might've fooled Reynak, but not me."

Trying to seem confused, Horatio furrowed his brows, bringing his hands up to calm Groller. "What are you talking about? We're not trying to fool anyone."

Groller rolled his eyes. "You can cut the act. Right now, it seems I'm the only one who knows that you're not who you say you are, since none of your fellow grunts seemed as surprised as I was, but that won't last for much longer." Glancing between them, he briefly looked disgusted. "You don't even look alike. So who are you?"

"Look, we're the A'Hearn Sib--"

"Oh, just drop it, Kaz. He knows."

Horatio looked back at Mand as she crossed her arms and legs, giving him an annoyed scowl as she sat back on the bench. He had to blink and shake his head furtively to rid his mind of a memory from years ago, seeing her in almost the exact same position as they faced a similar situation...

"Yeah, I know you were introduced to Reynak as Tol and Pel A'Hearn, brother and sister. Obviously, that is not the case. Start talking, or I'll hand you over to Soran's pet nexu."

Groller's look only darkened, awaiting their response, and Horatio drew it out as long as possible, testing Groller's patience. When the Weequay began digging through his pocket to find his comlink, Horatio gave in reluctantly.

"Alright," he said, raising a hand to halt Groller, "alright... We're spicers from a rival mine on Malastare. Kasimir and Killian Vasch."

Confused, Groller looked to them both, and Mand grinned at him as she held up her left hand and fanned her fingers to show off her wedding ring.

Returning to Groller, Horatio continued. "We heard Soran has been moving some high-grade spice, stuff that goes for a hundred, two hundred times what we make in a year, and we wanted to get in on the cut."

Groller's expression faltered briefly, and Horatio had to work hard to keep from grinning; he knew they had him hooked. "What, you don't know about it?"

"Of course, I know about it," Groller snapped. "I know a lot more than you two seem to think I do."

Mand stood and stepped beside Horatio, crossing her arms again as she kept her voice smooth. "Then you know where it's going? When it's going?"

Sensing a trap, Groller narrowed his eyes. "I might."

Leaving Horatio's side, Mand released her arms and slowly sauntered toward Groller, quieting her voice and holding his gaze like an experienced temptress. "Just how long have you worked for Soran, and never seen an extra credit for it? Five, ten, fifteen years? What's your reward for your loyalty? Don't you think it's time for you to take what you want because you can?" Standing just beside him though he hadn't followed her with his blaster, she whispered into his ear seductively. "Soran won't miss it. He's already rolling in enough credits to buy six of his own planets. All you'd have to do is switch out a few batches, replace the high-grade spice with a lesser grade, and you'd have yourself a mighty fortune. You've earned it. Soran would never know."

Horatio could see the wheels turning in Groller's head, and all he had to do was take the last bite...

"What's in it for you two?"

"We could provide a distraction for you, and we'd only ask for a few batches for ourselves. You'd keep the majority to sell elsewhere, and you'd never hear from us again."

Groller continued to mull over their proposal, studying Horatio's expression to determine if he could trust him. Horatio's anticipation built the longer Groller remained silent, but Mand stayed close at the Weequay's side, playfully running her fingers up and down his arm that was holding his blaster. Finally, Groller broke.

"Soran's not moving another shipment until next week. We'll talk more when it gets closer."

Though nodding to accept his terms, Horatio arched his eyebrows. "And, about our...uh, relationship...?"

Groller looked at Mand beside him as she gave him a seductive smile. "If anyone asks...I'll tell them they were just hallucinating off some spice dust in the atmosphere." His expression hardened as he returned to Horatio, though. "No more indiscretions. I can't promise that word of this won't get to Reynak, but more than one incident will be harder to disprove. Got it?"

"Got it," Horatio agreed as he pulled Mand back to his side, wrapping an arm around her to allow Groller to leave. The Weequay took one last calculating look at the two before he holstered his blaster and left, closing the door to their room once outside.

Expectedly, Mand shoved him away the instant the door sealed, but Horatio still had to recover his breath from the force of her push. He watched her as she sank back down onto the bench, shedding her jacket that had once been bright orange to reveal an equally dirty, grimy gray undershirt atop worn, heavy black flight pants. She looked contemplative, and maybe even a bit scared.

"...Kil?"

"He bought into it too easily."

Though he knew she would hear it in his tone anyway, he turned away from her so she wouldn't see his grin. "Well, you certainly laid it on thick enough. Soran himself would've given in."

As he looked back to her, she only stared at the floor with a guilty expression on her face and an equally disappointed sound to her voice as though she hadn't even heard him. "I feel like I need to shower for three days straight." Shuddering briefly with the thought, she swung her legs up onto the bench and reclined, using her jacket as a pillow under her head. Seeing her comfortable made him realize how tired he was, as well, so he followed suit, laying down on the less than comfortable cot they had been provided with on the other side of the room. She didn't say much during their downtime unless they were discussing their strategies, and he knew after the show they had just put on...she'd be even less likely to talk, and he couldn't blame her.

She was the one who had suggested their tactic, though, so she had no right to be angry with him. Her frustration she directed at him must be her way of releasing her own internal guilt, but he was getting tired of having to suffer it, especially since their progress was taking much longer than he anticipated.

Despite his reservations about working with her, they were able to find Soran's operational post in the Leveyn Asteroid Field on the far end of the sector, the physical border between Paneau and the rest of the galaxy that made trips to the Core ten long, tedious hours more than usual. Spicers, smugglers, and other like criminals used to travel uninhibited through the sector, until the asteroid field became the only avenue of travel that wasn't monitored by the Old Republic, the Empire, and later the New Republic. He thought it ironic that Soran's group had hidden themselves in an area of space that was so dangerous to navigate, but then it was also strategic; no one even dared to approach the field, so they could work comfortably without interruption.

Finding the post had taken more than a month, then getting into the group took even longer. Even though Horatio could've dropped half a dozen names connected to the criminal underworld that ran spice trafficking, he decided to withhold them until they got further into the group, and it had saved their lives. When suspicion began to mount, he told Reynak, the grunt leader, that he had worked with Izet, one of the spies Soran had sent after his former flame, Horatio's sister Recero. The spy had been dead for just over seven years, killed by a blaster bolt fired by Horatio himself, but he tactfully neglected to mention it. Reynak knew of Izet's mission to halt Recero from sharing sensitive information about Soran's practices with the Huxnel, and as Horatio divulged just the right amount of history about him, Reynak eased off his concerns. No longer being harassed, Horatio and Mand continued to slave away on the asteroid base as grunts while they worked through possible targets they could exploit within Soran's infrastructure, and finally they had found one.

Though he wasn't cold, he quietly crossed his arms over his chest to hold his upper arms, absentmindedly feeling the rough scars the months of hard labor had left behind. It was odd to think they were working for the man they were trying to destroy, but they were getting closer, and he could hardly wait to see Soran face to face. He wanted to see the look in his eyes when he realized how he had been fooled...and then he wanted to see him bleed, left in a helpless heap like the spice mogul had done to Recero years ago. If only they could get to him sooner...

"Sleep, Horatio," Mand demanded from across the dark room, her irritation muted only slightly by her own sleepiness. "Our shift starts again in four hours." Surprised that she knew he was still awake, he thought back over the past few minutes they had spent in silence, and he couldn't think of any point when he had moved noisily or even made a sound after settling on the cot...

"Yes, I can still hear your mind," she continued, answering his unasked question. After a moment, she answered his next question as she added reluctantly, "But no, I can't read it."

Even though he wasn't Force-sensitive, Mand had somehow developed a way to connect to his mind over their years of working together. It had saved their lives a few times before, but right now, it was just keeping them both awake.

"Sorry." Unsure if she could sense his sincerity or not, he turned onto his side to get more comfortable on the cot, hoping to quickly quiet his mind for her sake. Sleep would be slow in coming, but focusing on the memory of how Recero looked the last time he saw her would clear everything else from his thoughts.