Magdalane woke early, Ian kicking and moving, and shuffled into the kitchen. She'd felt the force disturbance yesterday, but with the war it wasn't unusual to feel large shifts, and she'd discounted it, until it was too close to be part of the war. The others had put off telling her, simply wanting her to be able to rest after the trip, but she knew something had happened. Felix was still sleeping and so was Michi, so she had a precious few minutes to try and reach out with the force to see if she could determine what had happened. It only took her moments to realize that both Corso and Miriah were sad, and that Aric was determined. Maura was still sleeping, but dreaming of explosions and fear. Sarai was awake but calm.

So what happened? She sat with her cup of tea, and thought about yesterday, but came up with nothing. It was only after she'd pulled her datapad to her that she saw the news item that displayed as an update. Oh no, she thought, those poor soldiers and their families. She felt it then, the overwhelming grief of needlessly losing lives. She was still reeling when Felix came to her, having felt the change in her aura. He held her, feeling their son move against him, trying to infuse his strength to her. When Michi woke, he let her go to see to their daughter, and brought the child to her mother. The presence of Michi brought Mags back from the force trance, and she looked at Felix, grateful for his presence. He always knows, she thought, just what I need, and never hesitates to put me first. She beamed a smile at him, leaning over to kiss him. He cupped her face and kissed her again, Michi squirming between them. She got down from her mother's lap to play in the floor, ignoring her parents as Mag's brilliant aura covered them both. When he pulled away from her, she explained why she'd been in a force trance, and Felix brought up the holonews. There was a full story, but it didn't include many details, and said nothing of the prisoner they'd been detaining. "Corso is taking it very hard, as is Aric. Corso feels responsible for not just killing Brock last year, while Aric feels the death of his fellow soldiers more intensely. They are both recovering from injuries to themselves that happened after the news broke." She rose to get the teapot, but Felix motioned her to sit and got up himself, bringing muffins that Miriah had sent over as well. Michi was now in her chair, eating sliced fruit and little round cereal.

"Feed the boy," Felix told her, putting the baked goods in front of her, and she had to smile. "We'll go over and check on everyone in a little bit. First, take care of yourself, love." He grinned at Michi, who tried to put cereal in his mouth, and he mimed biting her hand instead, getting a giggle from her. Magdalane slowly walked to the shower, still preoccupied with her thoughts.

Miriah woke to find her husband already up. What is wrong with me, sleeping so much, she thought, then realized it was quite early still. She padded up the hallway and saw that Devin was still sleeping, and found Corso sitting in the swing, the cool early morning air making her shiver. He saw her approaching, and opened the soft throw he'd wrapped around himself to let her in. His body heat and embrace warmed her, and they lay on the swing, content in each other. "I really hate waking up and finding you gone. I see what you mean about it now, and I'm so sorry for all the times I've done that to you." She felt him kiss her head. "Are you okay, sugar? Let me see-" she broke off as he held his right hand out to her. "Wow, that's very nicely healed."

"It was that way last night, as I was going to sleep," he told her in his low rumble. "Figured you'd done something different to it. " She looked back at him, noting his fatigue.

"You didn't sleep very much, did you? I can tell you're not yourself today." She snuggled closer to him, feeling him relax into her. "It's not your fault, Cor. You're always telling me that I'm not responsible for what other people chose to do. Neither are you, as much as you feel that way." She kissed his throat, feeling the hard swallow he took to contain his emotions. Finally, she felt him nod. They stayed in the swing until Devin woke, and Miriah left Corso there with his thoughts as she fed their son.

Maura had been up and down all night, plagued by nightmares. In one, she and Aric were in different shuttles when his exploded, and in the other she and Mir watched as their husbands waved to them on the ground, only to watch the shuttle explode over them. She shuddered and rubbed her hands on her arms. Aric had only woken once, and had held her through the shakes, but now she was afraid to go back to sleep, so she got up and went to their home office. The thoughts that had come to her in the night wouldn't stop poking at her, and she got out her datapad to make notes.

Who recruited Brock into the spy game and why?

What happened to his cohorts from the Port meeting afterward?

How did Brock know where we were having dinner?

Who else knew where the shuttle would be?

She was afraid she knew the answer to the last one. The only people who would know not only where the shuttle was but who was aboard would be someone in their own army ranks. The thought made her blood run cold. If that were true, if Brock's handler was a traitor in their own ranks, who was it? Who would have enough power and pull to be able to pull something like that off?

She finally put her aching head down on her desk, only intending to rest for a few minutes. Aric found her there a couple of hours later, and gently took her in his arms. "Wake up, honey, " he told her, placing kisses on her forehead and nose.

"Huh?" she said, opening her eyes, realizing she'd slept. "Sorry hon, I was having nightmares and got up," she told him, and he looked around and saw her datapad. He took it after she nodded to him, and read her list, his eyes growing wide.

"Maura, love, your mind is so wonderful. That's it, what I was missing last night, when I was pondering how anyone knew where that shuttle was. It has to be the answer." He jumped up, leaving her dazed and trying to follow. "That's why they knew our moves, about Havoc squad, about the outposts. Everything. There's someone on the inside, feeding the intel to the Empire." He paced, incensed at the thought. "We've got to go to Coruscant. This isn't something we can handle remotely." He looked at Maura for confirmation, getting a frown instead.

"You want to go to Coruscant for revenge. But we don't even know who it is yet, nor if they're on Coruscant or if they just have lackeys or even technology there that's doing their spying. How can you go after someone you don't even know yet? Aric, this is someone well placed, not a new boot just out of training. It might even be someone in the Academy. If you go to Coruscant now, raging mad and looking for a fight, you'll tip our hand." He growled in frustration, continuing to pace back and forth. When Calleigh came to the door, Aric turned with that scowl on his face, still growling, and Calliegh burst into tears and ran for her room. "Nice, Jorgan. You just scared your little girl to pieces." Maura got up to go to her, but Aric put his hand on her arm.

"No, I did it, I'll fix it," he told her, schooling his face out of soldier mode and into his normal expression. He went up the stairs, following the sobs to his daughter, face down on her bed. "Sweetheart? Calleigh? Dad isn't upset at you, darling girl." She grew still and sniffled. "I was upset about something bad that happened, but I didn't meant to frighten you, sweetie." She peeked one eye out from around her arms covering her face. When she saw him, and his normal face, she pulled her arms down and glared at him.

"Why you mad? You scared me!" she told him, still keeping her distance. He sat on the edge of her bed and she didn't move away, just stared at him with those silver eyes.

"I didn't mean to, hon. I was upset. Some people I knew, well, they had a very bad accident." Her eyes widened, and he wondered how Corso ever had any defenses against Miriah's. "I was so sad and mad that they'd gotten hurt, baby girl, that I forgot how scary I can look sometimes. I'm so sorry you had to see that face." She crawled into his lap then, all was forgiven, and he held her in a tight hug. Once she'd relaxed and knew that he was okay, he got up and went into their training room downstairs, starting the treadmill up. After three miles, he started to relax, and his brain went from fight mode to analytical mode. Why was the whole shuttle taken out? Brock could have easily had an "accident" once he was on the main ship or even in the brig on Coruscant. So why take out the whole squad? He ran another three miles, pondering on this. The steady slap of his sneakers on the surface was soothing, and it allowed him to let go of the anxiety he'd felt. Maura followed that sound and found him, looking at the readout on the display.

"Fourteen miles? Not too bad, captain. Feeling calmer?" She looked at his sweating face and saw her Aric, not the snarling, growling mad soldier who was in their office earlier. "Calleigh told me that your friends were hurt. You did a good job, making her understand what was going on." She'd turned to leave him to his run when he hopped off the treadmill and pulled her into a kiss.

"I owe you an apology, too, honey. I let the guilt and anger override my reason, and I took it out on you. I'm so sorry," he told her. She just hugged his sweaty body to her, knowing all along what he was thinking and feeling. He took her hand and led her into the shower with him, and showed her where his heart was all along.

Miriah took a mug of caffa out to her husband, but found him sleeping, stretched out in the swing. His dreadlocks loose and tumbling over part of his face, his long, muscled limbs seeming even longer, he looked so peaceful that she wouldn't dare wake him, and kept Devin in the back part of the house. When he'd been there most of the morning, she went to check on him again. He was still lying there, eyes closed, but his face had a light film of sweat. She crossed the porch to him, and felt the heat from his body before she got next to him. Fever, she thought, crap! She took his injured hand in hers, but saw no evidence of infection there. As she went to get the scanner, he sat up and coughed, raising his bleary eyes to her.

"Oh sugar, you're sick, stay right there while I get the scanner, okay?" She ran to the medroom and then back, where she ran the portable scanner over his body. "It's a flu virus, should be done in another day or two. Come on, love, let's get you to bed so you can rest." She helped him up, getting him into their room.

"Shower," he croaked, his throat so sore it ached to breathe. She helped him in, and told him she'd come back as soon as she checked on Devin. I bet this is why I was sleeping so much, only he got sick and I just carried it. She quickly scanned their son when she went to check on him, and he was virus free. She'd just entered their refresher again when she saw Corso was sitting on the built in bench. "Sugar, you okay in there."

"Yeah," he replied. "is Dev sick too?"

"No, love. I might have carried it, would explain why I was so sleepy on the ship. I'm sorry, sweetheart." She opened the door, holding a warmed towel out to him, which he took gratefully. She made him dress in warm sleep pants and a long sleeved shirt, and pushed him to sit on their bed. "Lie down, and I'll go get you something cold to drink." He nodded, and the ease with which he acquiesced made her realize how sick he felt. He was almost asleep when she returned with cold juice and some stims. "Here's something for your throat, sugar. And I brought a couple of meds to help you get over this faster." He nodded, drinking, and she got him medicated and comfortable. She left him only after he'd dropped into sleep and went to get Devin's lunch. As she was sitting with him, watching her happy child as he ate, she saw Sarai's new little sporty speeder pull up.

"Hey, mom," she said. "Corso is.."

"Sick, yes, I know. I felt it, and brought some things that might help. The poor man works too hard, " Sarai said, dropping a kiss on her smiling grandson's head. The holo chimed then, and Miriah answered to see Aric and Maura there.

"Hey guys, sorry we're not at the office, Corso is sick."

"Sorry to hear that, Mir. We were hoping to get together to talk about things, think if we came there it would be too much? What's Cor got?"

"Some sort of flu variant. I've dosed him with all the proper antivirals, though. Let me see how he's doing in a couple of hours, and I'll call you then."

"Sounds good," Aric said, much more relaxed now than he had been earlier. "Tell him we hope he's feeling better." They signed off, and Sarai patted her daughter's shoulder.

"Sit, eat, honey." Sarai placed a bowl of rich, thick soup in front of her daughter, and took Devin to wash his hands. They came back into the kitchen, giggling and singing. Miriah loved seeing them together as much as they loved being together.

Devin looked at his mother. "Daddy nigh-night? Him okay?" She saw the concern on his little face, and reassured him that his daddy was getting better but had to rest. He nodded, trusting her words, and turned to play with the toys in the corner of the kitchen, humming quietly to himself. Miriah got up to check on Corso, saw he was awake, and went to tell him about Aric's request. He nodded, feeling much better than he had earlier. She smoothed the hair out of his eyes, and he took her hand, kissing it. She was about to go get some of the soup for him when Sarai brought some in, along with some other things. She'd prepared a hot herbal tea for his throat and brought extra water.

"Thanks, Mom," he told her, his scratchy throat making his normally deep voice even deeper. "I feel grateful to have so many healers." He smiled at them both, and saw Devin come into the room. "Dev, no sweetie, you don't want to get sick."

"It's alright, he's already got antibodies. In fact, you both probably got it from him," Sarai laughed, as Devin brought his dad a toy pod racer with a grin.

"Okay, gang, let me get up and get dressed. I'm feeling a good bit better, " he told them, and Sarai took Devin out to play. Miriah stayed with him, to make sure he didn't get feverish again, and they sat in the kitchen, Corso having lunch and Miriah hovering over him. He finally pulled her to sit next to him. "Okay, I get it, kitten. This is how you must feel when I'm being overprotective. I'm fine. Really." He kissed her cheek, and she moved to put her lips on his.

"Sorry love, my addiction again," she whispered to him. He was getting warm again, but it wasn't fever. She moved to the holo to tell Aric and Maura to come over, and he watched her, loving the way she moved. It was only minutes later that both Mags and Felix and then Maura and Aric were there, everyone already bearing antibodies to the virus Corso harbored. Miriah made him sit on the couch and the group gathered around. Aric was standing, pacing, when Mags hit him with a burst of calming energy and he stopped and sat as she grinned at him.

"There's really only one pertinent question here," Miriah said, even before Aric spoke. "Who's the traitor in the Republic officer corps?