AN: Sorry for the exceptionally long wait. Finals week for the Summer semester I had to take to finish school in time was killing me. Netted my first B- in a college class. Luckily it was a two credit class. Logic Proofs make me wanna kill puppies. If you don't like math don't ever do a Formal Logic class… ugh. Anyway. Got two weeks of vacation before fall semester. I'll get Chapter 10 up by then. Then update time will slow once more. Thanks for all the kind reviews.
On to the Reviews for Chapter 8 (dunno why I said 8 last time. Forgot that I had a prologue or something…):
Jedi Master Misty Sman-Esay: Danger is his middle name. Han Solo's idea. True story… Jacen "Danger" Solo. Han was planning on raising him to be a force sensitive Pazaak shark who cracked banks all over the galaxy while sipping martinis. Luke told him that would lead to the dark side and of course Leia sided with Mr. Reasonable. The middle name stuck though. Glad I could fool you though…
Lordban: Right? I had to put some thought into just how I was gonna get him out of that. Luckily the Aing-Tii are relatively undocumented so that left room for embellishment.
PastaSentient: Glad you liked it.
Onimiman: Traitor was like a formative experience for me… What a fine read back in the day. Loved it… Glad you enjoyed the chapter.
Loteva: Lumiya you say? Whose that ;)? And yes… that type of spontaneous impetus has gotten the occasional Skywalker into trouble. And we all know Jacen is much more Anakin than Han…
Anakin + Solo good looks and charm – whiny little bitch who pre-dark side acted like a perennial teenager = Jacen Solo
Utuu: Well Jacen's trying to pick up the slack. He thinks it's all on him now. Maybe he's right, maybe he's wrong.
The brown cow: Jealous you say? Maybe he just picked up on the fact that there was something off about this dude... if so, he was right for a change too!
The cool night air hit Jacen, feeling far colder than it really was. A thin sheen of sweat covered his entire body. His system was reacting to the multitude of injuries he had incurred over the last few grueling hours. Fever was the least of his worries right now, however. He had lost a lot of blood. While his makeshift bandage was impeding the blood loss, it was not stopping the flow entirely. Jacen felt dizzy and he was approaching a state of delirium. He needed help. And he needed to avoid any connection to what had happened here. Crime at this level of the city was not uncommon. But the mass murder he had committed—more than 10 people dead—would attract significant attention from the authorities.
He reached out with the Force and clamped down on the mind of the first speeder pilot he could find. An old Bothan was the unfortunate victim of his controlling touch. Jacen brought all the power he could muster to bear and planted a suggestion that instructed the driver to stop flying along his chosen route and start heading towards Jacen. The speeder, which Jacen could not initially see because it was around the far corner of the sky scraper, changed direction almost immediately. A few seconds later it flew into his field of vision, blurring due to Jacen's impeded sight, and slowed down in front of Jacen, hovering at the edge of the landing pad he was standing on. Jacen stumbled towards it, opened the door, and made eye contact with the dazed Bothan.
"You will take me to the entrance of the Sunset Apartment Tower, which is right above us." Jacen commanded, not bothering to wave his hand.
His pain was fueling his Force power considerably. Jacen flinched as he sat down, a flash of agony so acute tearing through his body that even he could not help but show discomfort. His finger was throbbing, as though containing a miniature heart of its own. As the Bothan yanked the speeder into a rapid ascent, Jacen concentrated on the force, attempting to augment his body's natural healing abilities. He was still very much suffused in the darker portion of the Force which was impeding his healing talents. Jacen frowned, annoyed at the Force's unwillingness to fully comply with his needs. As he concentrated blackness encroached on the edge of his vision.
He felt bile in the back of his throat as he saw "her". A mouth so large, it reached from ear to ear. Multiple tentacles rather than arms and long yellow straw like hair. A creature this hideous could not be blessed by the Force to this degree, could it? A dark side creature perhaps? Like the ancient Terentateks. But no, Jacen mused while glancing at the Pool of Knowledge, that's not possible. Vergere had proved that there was no dark side. Only motive. If the end was justified, then no Force-given ability was inherently dark. So this creature was a manifestation of the Force itself. But that would mean that the Force inherently was far more malevolently inclined than he had previously considered. How could that be? The Force was the purest thing in the Universe. It could not birth such a monstrosity, could it?
Jacen shook his head. That had been the first time he had doubted Vergere's teaching in a long time. There, alone, shortly after having exchanged words with his dead brother, in a misty netherworld. He snapped out of his stupor. This was no time for foolish mental meanderings. The speeder slowed as they flew into the canopy covered entrance which fronted Sunset's Apartment's main doorway. Jacen reached over and touched the Bothan's forehead, casually erasing the man's short term memory. He limped out of the speeder and stumbled to the door of the tower lobby. Before entering he short-circuited the lobby's cameras and knocked the doorman's head against the table at which he was sitting. As he felt the guard sink into unconsciousness, he staggered into the foyer and hit the turbovator button.
The lift seemed to take forever to arrive. Jacen felt the overwhelming urge to lie down, and let his body recuperate. Jacen slammed down aggressively on that impulse, stifling it lest it end his existence. The door's finally parted, allowing him to enter the glass lift. Jacen moved inside and hit the appropriate level. As the lift rapidly ascended he stared out of the glass at the Coruscant night, inwardly naming the structures he could recognize, forcing himself to stay awake. The lift came to a halt and he found himself standing there, naming the landmarks in a mumbling voice, for several seconds before he realized that he had arrived at his destination. Jacen shook off his weakening hold on reality, focusing on his pain to remind him where he was. The real world, where all life is pain, Jacen mused, echoing Yuuzhan Vong philosophy.
He limped out of the turbovator and reached Mara's apartment a minute later. Jacen dropped the shields around his mind and rang the doorbell. He listened as a tune rang behind the closed door: the tune that accompanied the refrain from Luke's favorite song. Jacen sneered at the sentimentality of that. He felt Mara's approach rather than seeing her. She stopped on the opposite side of the door.
"Go away Jacen. I think you've said enough for one night. And by the Force, it's five in the morning." He heard Mara's voice admonish sharply.
Jacen chuckled, wincing when the contortions of his stomach strained his open wound. "I think you'll regret killing me… at least a little."
"A little dramatic don't you think? I saw you drinking at Topicas." He heard her sigh audibly. "Fine, I don't want to cause a scene that will just set my neighbors to gossip."
He heard her hit the key pad's release, and a moment later the door swooshed open. Jacen, stumbled inside immediately, and Mara reflexively caught him, when his forward momentum turned into a tumble. A flash of annoyance crossed her features at her nephew's condition as his forehead almost collided with hers.
"We don't need an alcoholic in the family you know, and Ben definitely doesn't need an alcoholic for a Jedi Master." Her tone seemed more disappointed than angry.
Her glance fell on his jaw and split lip. "Did you get into a fight?" she asked, askance.
Jacen shook his head. "Couch." He said. "Cilghal."
Mara frowned. "For a split lip and a bruised jaw?"
Jacen tore free from his aunt, angered by her sleep addled state. Did she really think him drunk? Didn't she realize that there was something seriously wrong? As he pushed past her, she turned and caught sight of the back of his head, which was still encrusted with a lot of dried blood.
"Jacen?" she exclaimed in a shocked tone.
He ignored her and pulled off the dirty suit jacket, exposing his torso, which was still wrapped in the makeshift bandage. The white Falleen cotton was completely soaked crimson.
As he collapsed on the couch, Mara cried out in horror. "By the Force!"
She was by his side instantly, her hand outstretched as she ripped her medicine cabinet off the fresher wall, in the other room. She pulled a pair of scissors out of it as Jacen looked at her with a look of confusion. She cut away his bandage and gasped fearfully when she saw his wound.
"Either you ran into an angry surgeon or you got impaled by a vibrosword." Mara declared and rose to her feet.
She ran to her com unit and activated it. Jacen watched her in a dazed state as she called Cilghal on her private number. The moment the Mon Calamari answered, Mara insisted that the Jedi Master come to her apartment immediately. Jacen found himself musing on Mara's night gown, appreciating its aesthetic value. The light material flowed around her but narrowed at all the right places. He shook his head, clearing his mind, and reached into the medicine cabinet that was lying on the table in front of the couch and pulled a bottle out of it. Recognizing it as a white blood cell efficiency booster, which operated at a molecular level, he ripped the cap off and drank some of it straight out of the bottle. Mara watched his actions as she finished her conversation with Cilghal with a raised eyebrow. She hung up and hit the emergency button. Jacen poured such an overwhelming amount of negativity into the Force when he recognized what she was doing, that she instantly disconnected the line. Jacen nodded slightly, in gratitude.
As she hung up, her eyes fell on his left index finger, wrapped around the bottle from which he was sipping. "By the Nine Corellian Hells! Who tortured you?"
Jacen laughed painfully. "Your boyfriend . . . with his scintillating wit." His mouth was slow in forming the words he wanted to enunciate and stumbled over some of the words.
Mara was at his side again, holding his hand and running her thumb across his wrist, which was heavily bruised by the shackles that had chained him. "Who did this?" she asked, angrily.
"I'm not really joking." His voice broke again. "And I'm pretty sure my right ankle is heavily sprained, if not broken. Meld your force power with mine or I will be dead long before Cilghal arrives."
He sensed Mara lowering her shields immediately. Her trust almost shamed him.
"Lar'shan did this?" she asked, doubt palpable in her tone.
Jacen stared into her eyes, marveling at the deep green hue. Tahiri and Tenel-Ka both had green eyes but they paled in comparison to hers. Mara's had an enigmatic quality to them, something mysterious and dangerous, whereas Tahiri's constant blinking made her seem utterly unsure of herself and Tenel-Ka's eyes radiated a certain overbearing cool eminence he did not really appreciate. Jacen reached out to Mara in the force, melding their Force essence's into a single uniform reservoir of power. He was still gazing into her eyes and watched as they widened, in what he read to be either awe or distress. Jacen began to funnel Mara's force power into his injury-plagued body, augmenting his own healing abilities.
He nodded a moment later. "Check my suit pocket."
She frowned and reached over not letting go of his hand. She reached into the pocket and withdrew the holodisc Jacen had made at the warehouse, just before leaving. She turned it over in her hand and looked at her entertainment center's holodisc player and then at Jacen's hand.
He smiled reassuringly. "The meld will hold even if you let go."
Mara nodded, almost absently and walked over to the projector. "I feel so powerful," she observed, in an offhanded tone.
Jacen felt the drugs he had ingested start to dull his senses. Or maybe it was the blood loss. Or the fever. He was in a sorry state, all things considered. Mara inserted the disc into the reader and turned around, returning to her previous spot, sitting at the foot of the couch.
"Did you make Ben stay at the Temple?" Jacen asked, musing on his cousin's absence.
"I thought it would be best if he maintained his normal routine. I didn't want to interfere in his training." Mara explained.
The projector flickered on, and a holographic image of Jacen appeared, chains leading from his wrists out of the recording's scope. Lar'shan stood in front of him. He felt Mara's anger spike. As the entirety of the torture began to play out, although admittedly it only lasted only fifteen minutes, Jacen sensed as Mara's emotions change from anger to sorrow, from sorrow to empathy, and finally her empathy transformed into angry self-doubt.
"I've seen you shake off pain that would make other people pause before… but that was downright terrifying." Mara observed in a tone Jacen could not interpret.
The recording ended with Jacen ending the life of his torturer and switched to Lar'shan's office. As they watched, Jacen's holographic image remained out of the recording's scope. They could hear Jacen breathing heavily, but only Lar'shan was visible. When he told Jacen about what he was planning for Mara, he heard Mara whisper an expletive directed at the deceased slaver. The final scene shower Jacen's knife impaling Lar'shan's hand and a moment later Jacen appeared, brutalizing his helpless victim. Then, after questioning him, Jacen's recorded avatar flung Lar'shan out of the recording's coverage field.
As the footage ended, Mara stood and dazedly walked to the holodisc reader, ejecting the disc. When she turned around and Jacen caught sight of her face for the first time since they had begun watching, he was shocked to find her cheeks tear stained and her eyes reddened by sorrow. She stood there, like a statue for a moment, until Jacen extended his hand towards her.
"Don't cry." He said brokenly.
"Oh Force, I'm so sorry." She cried despondently and ran back to Jacen, kneeling in front of the couch. She was wringing her hands, in a pleading gesture. "I'm such a stupid fool."
Jacen shook his head vehemently. "No, his ysalamiri extracts made it impossible to tell. You're not at fau—"
Mara shook her head now, mirroring him. "I should have noticed. You noticed something. And I'm the trained, experienced spy for force's sake." Her voice broke several times, as she stopped to catch her breath. "I can't believe you noticed something suspicious while I did not…"
Jacen cupped her face with his right hand, the other paining him too much to move any longer. "You're not a fool. I didn't dislike him because I was apprehensive. Not really."
Mara leaned into his touch, her force essence signaling that she interpreted it as forgiveness. "What was it then?" she asked, confused.
Jacen chuckled, and he momentarily closed his eyes. "Jacen!?" Mara's voice was sharp and horrified, as his force signature began to dim
Her voice brought him came back out of the darkness. He remembered his trail of thought, but only barely. "I… I didn't like that he was with you. He wasn't good enough for you."
Jacen felt as though it was not himself saying the words. His hand had fallen away from her face and was limply draped across his chest. Darkness was starting to re-encroach at the edge of his vision.
Mara smiled and sniffed at the same time. "That's sweet but it doesn't excuse my idiocy, Jacen. He and I shared a small ship for several months. You were tortured and injured because of me. I will never forgive myself if you..."
Her voice fell silent, as she shook her head in a mixture of fear and sadness.
"You're not an idiot. You're Mara Jade." Jacen said forcefully, his voice suddenly strong and clear. "You're the most fascinating person I know. You're fierce and loving, independent and selfless, intelligent and unassuming. And very beautiful... No woman I know begins to compare." He inhaled shakily, his breath shallow, the impassioned speech having further drained him.
Mara stared at him in wonder but said speechlessly. He searched Mara's face for any reaction to his words but aside from shocked wonder he could read little. Her eyes were almost alarmingly gentle. Jacen's hand lifted, almost from its own volition. It required almost superhuman strength but all at once his hand brushed up against the back of her neck. Her eyes flicked to his lips momentarily and then returned to his eyes. He was unsure what possessed him, but when he pulled her towards him she did not resist him. Her eyes fluttered shut, and his name flowed from her in a tone that would allow him to die happily once having heard it. And then his lips touched hers.
A shiver raced through his frame at the contact. He felt as though his entire world was coming undone. A part of him that he had thought long dead—no, a part he had forgotten entirely—jump started back to life: genuine thrill raced through him as he tasted her lips. He tasted the saltiness of her tears, tears she had shed for him because she truly cared what happened to him, despite what she knew him capable of. It warmed the frigid corners of his soul. The physical pain that he was feeling was dulling and ceased to matter. He captured her lower lip and nipped it gently. She gasped, and her parting lips were all the invitation he needed to deepen the kiss. He tasted her in full and the smooth silkiness of her tongue responding to him excited him immeasurably.
"Jacen, I…" He heard her utter in a breathy tone as he briefly broke contact, tilting his head, but he silenced her immediately when he resumed the kiss.
One of her hands buried itself in his hair, her response to his intimacy surprising him, and fueling his passion. Suddenly his head fell back against the couch's armrest. His first thought was that she had pushed him away. A droning rang all around him, however, which dispelled that thought. His vision elongated and her face seemed to flee from proximity. Her voice rang out but he couldn't make out what she was saying, the auditory portion inaudible to his failing senses. As darkness rushed over his very being the last thing he saw was the terrified look on her face.
He was holding an ornately crafted crystal glass, adorned with precious gems. Before him stretched a vast hall, where many finely attired men and women moved to and fro. He was confused. Where was he? Without any prompt from himself, his hand guided the glass to his lips. When his eyes fell on the perfectly manicured fingernails of his hand he realized that he was not within his own body. He could not taste the liquid nor could he feel any sensation. The emotional response of the person whose body he inhabited, he could read, however. She, whoever she was, was weary and bored. Jacen felt a palpable yearning on her part to be somewhere else.
It was strangely difficult to make out the words of the various little groups mingling even closest to him. By rights he should be able to hear them but he couldn't. As he focused on the mood of the person whose body he was hitchhiking in, he realized that the reason he couldn't hear anyone was because she was actively drowning them out. He could only hear what she heard.
A person approached from the side, and Jacen heard a voice that rose above the surrounding clamor address "him". As the voice became increasingly insistent, the audible portion of his environment clarified until he could clearly understand words spoken around him.
"Queen Mother?" His head turned towards the voice, free from his own will's command. The woman addressing him, a beautiful brunette in a frame hugging green dress, spoke the title in a respectful tone, addressing the person through whose eyes and ears Jacen was experiencing the environment. Clearly he was experiencing a vision of the past, present, or future pertaining to Tenel Ka.
"Yes?" Tenel Ka responded to the inquiry.
"I'm sorry for disturbing you, Chume'da, but there is a small matter that requires your attention."
Tenel focused more intently on the speaker, which caused the voices around her to become almost inaudible. Jacen found this phenomenon very annoying. It was like he was flow walking into someone else's body, forced to experience everything as they did.
"Well, what is it?"Tenel Ka replied.
The woman addressing her sovereign clasped her hands behind her back which lent her a militant air. "Two guards stationed at the garden entrance of the palace were found sleeping on duty."
"Both of them?" Tenel Ka queried.
Her adjutant nodded. "Typical males. Can't even guard a door properly…"
"Strange that they would both be asleep," Tenel Ka mused. "Have them placed under arrest for a week. I'll question them myself when I find the time."
The Queen Mother's addressee bowed slightly and retreated from what Jacen now recognized to be a throne-like chair that overlooked the festive hall of the palace. As Tenel Ka's eyes scanned the hall Jacen felt her in deep contemplation. Jacen was somewhat confused. He doubted the Force was granting him this insight just so he could watch Tenel Ka spend an ostentatious evening with her courtiers. He also didn't seem to have any control of the goings on surrounding him. Nor could he rouse himself.
Suddenly Tenel's eyes settled on someone in the room—a blonde woman as far as Jacen could tell—who was conversing with a group of courtiers at the far side of the large hall. Jacen felt his friend's subdued suspicion but had no reason to share it. Of course she had a more intimate knowledge of the people who comprised her court. Jacen focused in on the woman but felt his ability to drawn on the Force limited to what Tenel Ka was doing—which was nothing at all. She was merely observing.
The woman they were studying detangled herself from the group of people and moved to another conversing cluster of typically attractive Hapans. One thing that stood out to Jacen was the fact that her gait was not as flowing and smooth as that of the other Hapans. It was militaristic… mechanical even. Something about her was setting him on edge. Then he realized it wasn't him that was on edge but Tenel, whose suspicion was heightening for some reason that Jacen could not understand. Jacen continued to peer at the subject of Tenel Ka's scrutiny, finding it curious that she was the only woman in the room with a scarf around her neck. It made her look slightly out of place. Jacen wondered if he was grasping at straws, trying to understand Tenel Ka's suspicion by picking out insignificant details that would put him on even footing with his friend in terms of understanding the situation.
As they both watched this woman move to a third group, seemingly doing nothing unusual, Jacen began to get annoyed at Tenel Ka. Why was the Force sharing this with him? Was this person they were tracking simply a political enemy? She was mingling like everyone else at the ball or whatever it was that was taking place. And wasn't he dying in Mara's apartment… Well probably not since he was having Force visions. What condition was he in? Why couldn't he wake up? And why was Tenel's emotional response to this woman spiking? Could she really know all her courtiers so well that she could sense someone who didn't belong so readily? Tenel seemed ready to rise and confront the person at any moment. As Jacen was forced to scrutinize the woman due to Tenel Ka's focus he was momentarily relieved when a group of people passed in front of their vision to distract Tenel. Tenel Ka rose immediately and sidestepped the obstruction and—
The woman was gone. Jacen felt his friend's surprise and found himself sharing it. They had broken visual contact for three seconds at the most. Their target was gone. Tenel Ka immediately began to walk through the crowd, avoiding inquiring eyes and reverent greetings. They were nearing the spot that the woman had vanished from. As they approached, the group that was occupying that corner of the room turned to face Tenel Ka and bowed, addressing her respectfully. Tenel ignored them and approached the wall. Jacen was confused. Was there a secret door or something? Tenel's eyes fell to the floor, and sure enough there was a crack signifying a seam. As Tenel studied the crack in the floor, both her and Jacen observed a bit of reddish liquid begin to protrude from beneath the door. Instantly Tenel Ka's demeanor went from worried to alarmed. It took Jacen a split second longer to realize they were watching blood begin to pool out from beneath the "wall", the small portion of red fluid expanding steadily.
Jacen's friend and lover hit a release mechanism which was hidden within an ornate wall carving, which caused the wall panel to release and pull back, revealing a hidden passage. Lying collapsed within it, was a dead guardsman who was bleeding from multiple gashes along much of his body. Tenel's frame was obscuring the vision of the courtiers into the narrow passage beyond her, which kept panic from erupting. Tenel Ka stepped within the tunnel and closed the door behind her, drowning out the muted whispers.
She instantly broke into a dead run, fumbling within the folds of her dress for a communicator which she pulled out a moment later. "I need a security detail to meet me at my private chambers NOW!"
The environment around them blurred as Tenel Ka drew on the Force to lend her increased speed. They passed several other dead guards, all of whom bore similar, remarkable wounds: multiple gashes, some of them alarmingly deep. As Tenel Ka's emotions transformed from a frightened to a protective state Jacen began to share her fears. There was only one reason she would feel caring to the degree that she was… and that was if there was a threat directed against Allana.
Tenel Ka burst into the nursery a moment later, sharp pain pulsing through her being. Jacen could not tell what was causing her agony. Sparks flew from the mangled corpse of the YVH nanny droid that was crushed against the wall. As she approached the crib that belonged to Allana Jacen felt his own worry rise. Whoever had attacked the palace was certainly no Hapan noble seeking to commit regicide against the heir. He assumed an abduction had taken place. Tenel Ka lifted the draping over the crib slowly and reverently. The moment Jacen saw the unnatural angle at which his daughters head was lying he woke up with a cry of horror.
Jacen immediately clamped down on his emotional outburst, masking the emotional turmoil within so as not to project it into the force. He had become adept at doing this instinctively whenever his guard faltered. Emotional broadcasting was just one more avenue, especially when dealing with Force users, through which he could be attacked.
He found himself inside a bacta tank. His cry had been stifled by the oxygen delivery mast which covered the lower portion of his face. His vision was obscured by the liquid his body was submerged in but he could make out a person outside the tank, looking in on him. The Force told him it was his mother. The features he could make out confirmed his extrasensory perception. He projected a feeling of entrapment to her. She frowned, and then shook her head almost immediately, returning a feeling of soothing reassurance. She must have thought it unwise to let him out of the bacta tank already. His healing was likely incomplete. Jacen broadcasted frustration and a yearning to be free. Leia said something he could not make out. She sent him a sense of confusion along with motherly compassion.
Jacen shook his head vehemently. He focused in the connective tendril that existed between him and his baby daughter. As far as he could tell, she was still alright. But his senses were not at their most heightened state while in this drug addled state. He started to consider just shattering the glass and jumping out. To show his mother how serious he was about escaping the healing prison he was in, he sent a burst of Force power against the glass, enough to crack but not to shatter. The moment his Force wave impacted, the bacta tank reverberated with the dull thud, audible even through the liquid that he was suffused in. The glass cracked a little, but it did not break entirely.
His mother jumped back in surprise. Radiating a sense of trepidation she sighed and nodded. She walked over to the control panel of the Jedi Temple's medbay tanks and tapped some keys. Jacen heard the drainage unblock and the fluid level began to decline around him. Bacta's chemical composition was manipulated in such a way as to keep anyone submerged within it at mid-depth, so as to avoid the patient bumping their heads against the ceiling of the tank when inhaling, and sinking to the bottom when exhaling. It seemed to take forever, but several minutes later he was standing on solid ground, sterile smelling fluid dripping off him. A moment later the tank sprayed him with hot sanisteam, cleansing him of the fluid. His abdominal wound was still furiously red and tender but he had no time to waste. He felt his daughter's presence in the force, her bright signature a beacon of joy to him. If what he had just seen had been a vision of the future he would prevent it. Come what may, no one was killing his little girl.