The door opened and light from the hallway spilled in. Liri was framed in the doorway for a split second before Vel hit the far wall.

Andronikos growled at her, "I told you I only wanted you! Why'd you recruit her?"

"I didn't."

That brought him up short. Liri stepped into the room, lightning starting to flicker over her skin as she looked at Vel. The door shut behind her.

"Tell me what happened, Rev." Liri's accent was more pronounced and she was gazing at Vel like a particularly nasty bug she was about to squish.

"I came in, she was kneeling by the terminal, backed me against the wall, told me she was a gift from you." He was starting to pant and sunk to the floor, "Liri, she got me with something."

Liri's eyes began to glow purple as lightning shot out in arcs from her. Vel was suddenly enclosed in lightning, mouth open in a scream, no sound emerging. Liri dropped beside him, her hands bringing up a used syringe from the floor. Her face began to swim in front of him and he fought for consciousness. "Liri," he croaked, "the bedside, there's a universal antidote in the hidden drawer."

"No time," she murmured and what felt like lightning was pushed through his skin, burning along his bloodstream as it moved. He arched up, holding back a scream. Then he was lucid, staring into Liri's purple eyes, an inappropriately timed surge of lust racing through him.

"That's the adrenaline, Rev. We'll have to wait." She planted a kiss on his forehead and paged someone with her comm. Bits of lightning were spinning off and shocking him, which was distracting and not helping him get his emotions under control.

Pella walked in, having been evidently summoned by Liri. Her eyes widened, taking in the scene and she dropped to her knees by him.

Liri looked at her and said, without preamble, "Do you remember what we discussed?"

Pella swallowed and nodded, holding out her hand.

Liri grabbed Pella's hand roughly and then the dark side of the force rolled through the room. Pella cried out in pain and fell over, panting. "You see now?" She choked out.

"I see it all," said Liri compassionately. Then she helped Pella to her feet.

"You take the lead in this. Xalek will help you; I've trained him in torture. I... would break her too quickly." Liri took Pella's face in her hands, "Do you hear me? You're better at this than I thought, and I can trust you now."

Pella nodded and turned to the open doorway. Xalek stuck his head in and nodded at Andronikos, who was by now thoroughly confused. He nodded back. Then Xalek was marching out the door, the lightning bound Vel hovering off the ground beside him. Pella followed quietly, after a long thoughtful look at Andronikos.

"When did you get here?" said Andronikos.

"About an hour ago. I was trying to arrange a surprise, but then Ashara wanted to show me her room; nicely done, by the way; and with getting everyone settled..."

"I didn't think you'd be here this late; I thought I'd have to wait until morning."

"I came as soon as I could."

His hand caught hers and he struggled to stand up.

"Wait, just sit on the bed, okay?" She helped him over to it.

"What did she get me with?"

"I don't know, but it was bad." Liri frowned and checked his pulse.

"Lir, what did you do to Pella?"

"Oh, I marked her."

"You what?"

"Marked her. She's very strong in the Force, you know."

"I didn't know." Andronikos shook his head.

"We need to find out what Vel was after, Rev. Can you stand up yet?"

"I... yeah," he said, struggling to his feet. He fell against her and she pushed him back on the bed.

"Get your feet under you. Is your terminal passworded?"

"Of course."

"Same passwords?"

"Ah, no, I changed what I use."

"Okay, go input it."

"It's just... it's the date you left me."

She stared at him for a moment, then crossed the room and slapped him as hard as she could. She went back and started checking through the files. "It doesn't look like she got anything; couldn't crack your security."

Andronikos sat stunned, holding his face. "What the hell?" He was abruptly dizzy again and lay back on the bed. Seconds later, Liri was hovering above him, looking worried. "Do you still feel the effects?"

The warm push of her healing floated through him as he lay there. With a growl, he flipped her over and pinned her to the bed. "What the hell was that for?"

"I did what I did to save your life and all it did was make you miserable. At least you were alive! I've been dead inside for months and you've been just..."

Andronikos grinned down at her. "I appreciate you saving my life, but it was no life without you. You don't need to feel guilty just because I missed you." The inappropriate surge of lust from before reared right back up and he growled in her ear, "I bet you're not dead inside right now."

"Rev, we have to check on..."

He slid his hand up under her robe and groaned, "Damn, Liri, are you always ready to go?"

"Only with you," she said softly.

All of the careful preparations he'd been making in his head about taking his time and making it slow went straight out of his head at her words.