Magdalane smiled as she packed Michi's things for Coruscant. Her daughter had grown so much in the past few months, her first birthday having passed a few weeks ago now. Mags had finished the packing and stood, and felt a twinge around her pregnant self. I'm glad this is my last, she thought, this is much harder the second time around, at least for me. She had taken a few steps when she was hit with a hard pain. She did a quick force scan of herself, and realized the practice contractions were telling her she needed to rest. Felix had felt her initial alarm through their force link and rushed to her, urging her to their room. He got her settled on their bed, and went to check on their daughter. Seeing the packed bag, he had a better idea of what had happened, and went back to Mags with some tea and a snack. She had fallen into a light sleep, and opened her green eyes when he approached.
"Mags, sweetheart, I'm not so sure that this trip to Coruscant is the best thing for you right now. You're over tired already." He sat on the side of the bed, watching her sip her tea.
"I am tired, but I can't let the others do all the work, Felix."
"Actually, yes, you can. You know they'd rather you be well than be there, if the choice is either or." He moved to stretch out beside his wife, seeing the indecision on her face. "Come here, lie down." She did, her head on his shoulder and his hands stroking her back. He could see her eyes getting heavier, and whispered to her, "Rest, my love. Our son needs you to be strong and rested. Love you, so much." He knew she heard him from the rush of affection he felt whisper over his skin in her force aura. Maybe I can convince her to just go to Coruscant and be with everyone, but not necessarily do much. She won't like it, but maybe she'll accept it. He gently moved his arm from under her, and went to watch Michi, hoping his wife would sleep.
Maura had spent the time the twins were napping gathering things for the ship. Miriah does so much for everyone whenever we go on these things, she thought. Least I can do is contribute some. She was putting toys for the twins in a bag when she heard her datapad chime and retrieved it from the kitchen counter. Wow, that was fast, she mused, reading the acceptance of her declaration of candidacy. She sent out a message to the rest of the group, letting them know they were ready to go whenever, and went to find Aric. He was on the treadmill, which didn't surprise her. Exercise was his way of combatting stress.
She thought about that for a few minutes. Aric ran, Miriah baked, Corso had the ranch. Magdalane used the force or meditated, and Felix never seemed stressed, but she knew Mag's aura would affect him, too. What do I do? She wondered, but then she realized, her stress relief method was manic energy. Aric noticed her then, and started to cool down, his ten miles had satisfied the need to burn off the worry. She watched her husband, appreciating the way his muscles moved. He gracefully hopped off the machine.
"What's wrong, honey? I can see in your eyes you have news for me." She was silent but handed him her datapad. "Good, we can get this going then." He looked down at her, then pulled her to stand, pressing his body into her. "We knew this would be the outcome, Maura. Why is it bothering you?" He bent to kiss her, feeling the anxiety in her slight tremble.
"Trust me, love. I'm going to be with you every moment, just like when you danced. All you ever have to do is look in my eyes. Even if you don't have faith in yourself on this, I do. You're an amazing woman, Maura." He held her close and felt her arms around him. He hissed when she found the edge of his shirt and her fingertips brushed up his abdominal muscles, and pressed her against the wall. She was edging his shirt up his chest when they heard Calleigh call for her mom. He took a step back, kissed her again, and told her, "I know, you have to answer that. But save our spot, we'll continue later." She blushed and nodded her agreement, then called to their daughter.
Miriah was snuggled into Corso, her silver eyes half closed in satisfaction. He was kissing her fingertips, holding her hand with one of his and the other was caressing her thigh, when her datapad chimed. She reached for it, only to have him move his hand from her thigh to hold her arm down, and she was surprised at his response.
"No. No work, no outside things. It'll keep, at least for a while." He kissed her then, and he had her undivided attention until their son woke, needing cookies. She took him to the kitchen for a snack, and Corso took him with him out on the ranch, riding over to check a couple of herds that were expecting calves. While the guys were gone, she settled in to bake, in preparation for their trip to Coruscant. She sighed, thinking of the last time they were there, of Rona Rigg's death and the circumstances of Mina Chantalle's death, their anniversary. She'd finally banished some of the demons she'd always felt there, but she knew she'd never be totally comfortable on Coruscant.
She'd turned some music on while she baked, and was cleaning up when Corso and Devin came in. She was dancing around, and Corso just stood watching her, admiring her grace. The way she was swaying aroused him, and she turned her head to him, her sensuous movements becoming even more exaggerated. Devin clapped his hands for her, jumping around to "dance" too, while the look in Corso's eyes told her that even after their afternoon, he wanted her again. She understood his focus, then, on the remainder of the day being theirs. Work always had a way of introducing a level of worry, whether it was for the soldiers they knew would be following their mission plans or themselves going to another planet to put on a ruse. Today, they both felt free, light. It was a pleasant illusion, she thought. She picked up their son and danced around with him on her hip and he giggled and clapped his hands. When she put him down and he went to play before dinner, Corso wrapped her in his arms, the music now slow, and they danced and kissed, telling each other in words and actions how much they loved.
The next morning saw them gathering at the office, planning on leaving after lunch. Sarai would meet them at the hangar then, and mid morning they left the office, as much of their work done as they could do at this juncture, and met again early afternoon. The kids were all cranky, getting ready for nap time, and as they climbed into orbit, they began to settle into what they all knew as "ship routine", the cargo hold now a playroom for the children with built in sleeping cots for naps. Devin ran to his usual spot and climbed in, ready to fly. "Mama drive," he told her, loving being on the ship. Colin was ready to rest, but Calleigh took longer to get settled. Michi was already asleep, and they'd sent Mags to nap as well. There was no argument about who would take the private quarters this trip, everyone agreed Mags would need the extra rest.
Once the kids were settled, the adults met around the holo to discuss strategy. Maura was reviewing protocol for the functions she'd be attending and briefed the group on what she'd learned. Mags had done some research into the Rehab Council's activities, and had looked at what Corso had sent her from his search. He was disturbed that one of the projects the Rehabilitationists had promoted was something called Castellan restraints, an invention of the Empire's scientists to essentially reprogram an individual's brain chemically, so that a keyword could trigger certain behaviors, including total obedience to a set of predetermined rules. This greatly disturbed both Mags and Corso, and they'd not mentioned their search findings until now, when they could all discuss them.
"You're kidding, right? They can inject this, this stuff into someone and after a few weeks that someone can be reprogrammed?" Aric was shocked, his face showing his thoughts.
"Apparently the side effects were too great for their research to continue, but there's some indication that Castellan restraints might still be in use in the Imperial Intelligence." Mags hated to even think of the consequences of this serum, and truly hoped the rumors were false.
"Well, if this is true and this stuff exists, theoretically someone could be controlled with only a word." Miriah looked thoughtful. "Wonder if they would know or remember what they'd done afterward?" She shook her head, this sounded too farfetched to believe, but if Mags thought it possible, she'd have to at least consider the possibility. Miriah was still mulling this over when she went to cook dinner for them, and nearly cut herself twice before she managed to put it out of her mind.
Felix and Aric joined Corso on the bridge, but no one wanted to really discuss this latest development. They just sat, looking at the star streaks. Finally Aric spoke. "Gentlemen, what the void have we gotten ourselves and our wives into?" Corso just shook his head, and Felix paced.
"I knew when we started this, that there was more to it than we realized. Otherwise, Garza would have just turned the investigation over to SIS," Felix said, his voice thoughtful as he roamed back and forth over the bridge.
"Felix, Mags health is way more important than anything else here. You two don't have to be involved." Corso was genuinely concerned for his sister in law's health and that of their unborn son.
Felix and Aric both snorted at him. "You know that won't fly. She'd never be able to just sit by and watch, any more than Maura or Miriah would." Felix sat heavily, and sighed. "They're all such strong people individually, together they're formidable, and with us included in the mix, somewhat unstoppable." He slowly started to grin, and Corso and Aric joined him.
They had dinner and watched a holovid, trying to relax and forget their earlier discussion. It mostly worked, and Miriah was happily snuggled into Corso. He had his arm around her, and he was feeling sleepy when Devin came running to them, tears on his little face. He practically leapt into his mother's arms, sniffling and unable to tell her what was wrong. After a few minutes he relaxed on Miriah's shoulder, and Corso could see he was asleep.
"Bad dream, you think?" Corso asked his wife, concerned about his son. She nodded, settling her son in her lap.
"Poor little guy," Mags said, reaching over to lightly touch her nephew, her calming touch relaxing him further. Miriah stood to take him back to his bed, and Corso helped her, steadying her when she stood. As she tucked him in and stood, Corso hugged her.
"Think he's okay?" he whispered to her, his concern in his voice. She nodded, and they went to their quarters. "Is he feeling anxious because you are? Or is he just growing, like Mags said? He usually is such a good sleeper, it worries me." He sat on the bed to take his boots off, seeing her thoughtfully sit as well.
"I think he's picking up on my emotions. I was a little freaked out by the whole mind control thing, maybe he just sensed that." She slid her boots off, and put her head in her hands, propped on her knees. "I hate that he's so affected by my moods and feelings. Makes me feel guilty if he's upset or can't sleep." She felt Corso kneel beside her, his hands pulling hers away from her face.
"You can't control everything, kitten. He'll get past it, you know kids are more sensitive when they're young." He rubbed her back. "Or maybe we just replace the anxiety with something else," he told her, as he brought her chin up to kiss her.
Magdalane felt her sister let go of her restless anxiety and relax, and knew her brother in law would soothe her. She turned to see Felix staring at her, a question in his eyes. They made their excuses to Aric and Maura, then went to their quarters. She turned to Felix, "What is it, love, that you're worried about? I'm well, the baby is fine, Michi is fine." She started to undress, a much more pleasant activity now that she didn't have the heavy Jedi robes to care for.
"Would you at least consider the possibility of just being support on this mission? I'm worried about you doing too much, and you can be just as valuable doing background work." He hung his head, slightly embarrassed that he would even ask this of her. She crossed to him, gently touching his face with her fingers.
"I repeat, I am fine. I am resting well, and eating well. Love, I have to be in this, I know the players too well to not be there." She sat beside him on the bed. "I know you worry, you always have, but you have to trust me when I tell you I am alright. My sisters need me there, and I will do what I can, but if that interferes with Ian's health, you know I'll do whatever is necessary." He nodded, he did know that. It didn't keep him from worrying, but he did know that she was vigilant as well.
Maura and Aric turned off the holo, checked the twins, and retired to the crew bunks. Maura seemed resigned to her role once they were on Coruscant, and Aric was pleased she'd stepped up and conquered at least some of her fears. They cuddled together and slept peacefully.
Sarai lay awake in the quarters she'd fashioned for herself in the spacious secondary hold, feeling the ebb and tide of emotions on the ship. Calleigh and Devin, the more force sensitive of the children, felt the undercurrent of vague unease that prevailed through the ship. She felt it then, the soft warm air that surrounded her body. She always associated it with her late husband, and she finally fell asleep, feeling as if the force itself were looking after them all.