While Quinn was patching the others up Badesh took a quick shower and threw his bloodied robes into the fresher. Instead of wearing his heavy battle armour he decided to wear his black tunic he usually wore aboard the Fury. After the last day he simply wasn't in the mood to play the role of the relentless Sith anymore, no armour, no mask.
As soon as he was dressed he stopped by the Medbay. Quinn was about to fix up Theron by skilfully applying kolto and other drugs. Finally he scanned Theron; probably to make sure that there was no internal bleeding.
"You are good to go, Agent Heian," Quinn said stiffly turned to load the injector with fresh kolto as Theron got up. "Agent Biss, if you may…"
Kalda groaned as she lay down on the bedside. "You know, for an Imp you are actually a pretty good medic, Major."
Badesh was amused about her stubbornness. In her own way she reminded him much of Quinn, she was very patriotic and at the same time practical. How strange that he had thought at first that she was like Vette; was it because she was an alien woman?
"How gracious of you," replied Quinn prideful as ever and injected her with a syringe.
Kalda glanced at Badesh, then she let her head fall back on the bedside. "I guess thanks are in order for not letting us croak in that hole… my Lord."
"I would like to thank you too," interjected Theron who stood next to the bedside in a more rigid manner that usual. "Although I would choose less vulgar words than the previous speaker."
"Agent Heian, care to join me in the mess hall?" asked Badesh in a way that made it clear that it wasn't a question at all.
Theron looked uncomfortable. "Sure."
Badesh led the way and reached out through the force was they walked through the Fury, Theron's force signature had considerably dimmed down. Had he activated the implants?
Badesh replicated a lentil stew and sat down. Theron hesitated shortly and replicated a soup and sat down across from him.
"Tell me about your decision to leave the Jedi training." Badesh shoved a spoonful in his mouth and looked at Theron.
"So, is this the much dreaded imperial interrogation they warned us about in the SIS academy? A diner with a Sith Lord?" joked Theron but his smile seemed a little too forced, even Badesh saw that.
"You just were tortured and thought you were going to die and still kept your mouth shut. Of course I could hurt you even more, but perhaps I should just ask… republic worm."
Theron froze. "Did… did you just make one of your Sith jokes?"
"Yes… at least partly."
"Oookay… well, there isn't much to add. The Jedi lifestyle simply wasn't agreeable with me. So, as you probably already guessed, this" Theron tapped at the implant, "supresses my connection to the force – otherwise I wouldn't be a very effective operative when big bad Sith like you could feel my presence."
"Your connection to the force is very raw, I doubt that you could bent it to your will to manipulate it. Why did you deactivate your implant?"
In this moment Kalda and Vette appeared in the mess hall. Vette replicated a broth and a coffee for herself and a stew for Kalda and they sat down beside the men.
"You haven't answered the question… why you did you deactivate your implant?" repeated Badesh.
"Kalda and he were hoping for a miracle," answered Vette in Theron's stead.
"How interesting, and what kind of miracle would that be? Did you try to use the force?" Badesh thought about it for a moment. "No, that's not it… you are too untrained." Then he saw the cup of coffee Vette was drinking, and the remembered Theron's comment on how his mother would react if she saw that a Sith was drinking from the mug she had given her son. "Did you try to contact your mother?" Badesh finally asked and he knew the moment that he posed the question that he was right. Theron's force signature spiked shortly, but his face remained impassive.
"I will answer your question if you answer mine," Theron replied slowly.
"Are you sure you want to go down this path?" Kalda frowned at Theron.
"Yes, I am. So, do we have a deal?"
Badesh mused shortly, then he nodded.
"Although my connection to the force is artificially dimmed down, I was able to feel your power back then when you crushed our table. And I even felt it more clearly in the Organa estate. You could be the most powerful force user I have ever met – there is no way that you are still an apprentice. Who are you? And why did you lie about your station?"
"I thought you just wanted to ask one question," interjected Vette.
Theron smiled. "Of course, so I settle for this question: What is your actual rank and title?"
Badesh stared at Theron, then he averted his gaze and looked at Vette. She shrugged. Should he tell the truth? Did it really matter at this point? No… he could afford to be honest; there was nothing Theron and Kalda could do with this knowledge, at least not now.
"I am Darth Tenebra, member of the Dark Council and Head of Imperial and Sith Intelligence. Badesh is merely my given name."
Kalda immediately tensed up. "Fuck! We have been working with the Dark Council all this time? We invited the Head of Imperial and Sith Intelligence on our freighter? Shit! That's…" she broke off.
"I don't think that we worked with the entire Dark Council. It's just you, isn't it?" Theron narrowed his eyes. "That why you came personally to Alderaan instead of simply ordering someone to do it."
"Yes." Badesh put his spoon down and stared at Theron. "And now you answer my question."
"Alright – it's true, I tried to contact my mother, she is a Jedi."
Quinn, Vector and Nine entered the mess hall. The way Quinn's eyebrow rose as he looked at Theron indicated that he had heard his last sentence.
"Since the first time we met I always thought that your force signature is familiar… I thought that we had perhaps met before, but now I suspect that I met your mother. What is her name?" Badesh thought about the Jedi he had force-choked through the holocommunicator on Tatooine, Sornavi Chan, it had to be someone who was still alive after all.
Theron suddenly began to smile and leaned back. "It doesn't matter who she is."
"If I had to guess I would say that your last name isn't Heian, it's Chan isn't it?"
The reaction was immediate, Theron's smile died on his lips, and Kalda simply stared at Badesh in a shocked way.
"I… I…" stammered Theron. "That's impossible, where in the galaxy would you have met her?"
Badesh allowed himself to smile slightly. "We only… spoke over holo, but it was enough to pick up her force-signature."
"The Brentaal Star… that was you, wasn't it?" Theron stared at Vette. "And you were there too."
Badesh's mind went into overdrive. By the force! Theron wasn't talking about Sornavi Chan, he was talking about Satele Shan, the Grand Master of the Jedi Order!
"Are you alright, boss?" asked Vette. "You look like you have seen a ghost."
Badesh took a deep breath. "I was referring to a Jedi named Sornavi Chan, but your reference to the Brentaal Star tells me you mistook the name for the last name of your mother… Satele Shan."
"Wow!" exclaimed Vette.
"I second to that," mumbled Quinn.
The expression on Therons face became harried. Kalda simply sat there, staring in her soup.
"How interesting," Nine stepped next to Theron. "And how juicy."
"Actually it isn't that 'juicy'." Everybody turned their attention to Vector. "As our time as diplomat, before we joined the nest and Imperial Intelligence, we learned that Jedi can have children, they are simply required to sever their ties to them. According to the Jedi Code love and all attachments lead to the so-called dark side of the force."
"Really? I thought Jedi were all about love and stuff." Vette had asked Vector, but then she faced Theron and added: "Uh, sorry…"
Badesh was confused. Why did Vette apologize to Theron?
Theron smiled weakly. "It's alright. Vector is right – we aren't close. So, should you think about taking me hostage you will be disappointed. Grand Master Shan won't negotiate on my behalf."
"Really?" asked Nine, her hand lay casually on her blaster.
"Theron and I got kicked out of the SIS because somebody planted false evidence against us. Do you honestly think that would have happened if the Head of the Jedi Order had stood behind us?" hissed Kalda. "If that woman couldn't do that much…"
"I you would excuse me," said Theron suddenly and stood up, "I am not feeling well – probably a little reminder of the famous Organa hospitality."
Theron strode out of the mess hall, Quinn followed him while the rest of them fell silent. Badesh finished his meal, thinking about Theron. At first he simply mused about what he had heard, but soon pictures of a half-naked Theron inserted themselves in his thoughts. A little Jedi, so pure… Badesh rose to his feet and walked briskly to the Medbay.
ooOOoo
As expected he found Theron lying on the bedside while Quinn was rummaging in the cupboards. Badesh lingered in the doorway and watched how Quinn gave Theron a few pills and a glass of water. Then he checked Theron's bandages. Seeing Quinn palming Theron's naked, muscular chest almost took away Badesh's breath. And for an ever so short moment he pictured both men naked, but then he pulled himself together.
"Quinn, would you excuse us? I would like to ask Agent… Shan a few additional questions. And please see to it that we aren't disturbed."
"My Lord," Quinn denoted a bow and left the Medbay. Badesh followed his every movement until the door slid close behind him.
"So, fire away – or do you only want to rub in that hadn't the stomach to discuss my relationship with my mother in front of five Imperials?" Theron sounded surprisingly bitter.
Badesh realised that he had no idea what he should reply. So he remained silent and simply stood there.
"Fine, mind if I ask a question?"
"No."
"Do Sith believe in love?"
Badesh was taken aback. "We believe in passion. Love is a weakness."
"Oh the irony, both Sith and Jedi think that love is a weakness… But you don't believe that, do you? The way you bent down to Quinn and caressed him… and then you hugged and carried Vette with a softness I never thought possible from the likes of you. You love them. You stormed a fucking Organa fortress and killed at least three dozen people to save them."
"53 people and 36 droids to be exact," said Badesh quietly. "And the three people in the basement."
"I saw what you did to them, you and your companions are probably to most fucked-up group I have ever seen, and that means something coming from me. And yet… I envy you."
"You seemed… disappointed to see me in the basement. Why?" Badesh had an idea, but he wanted to hear it from Theron, he didn't know why. Perhaps because his pain was so… sweet?
"I guess it was quite the realisation – the holy Grand Master, the brightest and wisest Jedi of her time didn't feel my distress or decided that I wasn't important enough to warrant rescuing. But right next to me two Imps managed to contact their evil, depraved Sith Lord through the force even though they aren't even force-sensitive or blood-related to him. And said Sith cared enough to show up and kick the shit out of the thugs who had tortured his friends."
Badesh shifted from one leg to another. "You give me too much credit. I am a sadist – I killed the soldiers because it pleased me."
"I didn't dispute that you are a sadist – I just called you 'depraved' didn't I? But that doesn't change the fact that you dropped whatever you were doing and came to Vette's and Quinn's rescue. And that was so unbearable for me – I couldn't sit there listening to Nina who seriously considered to ransom me back to my mother who not only doesn't care but also sends dishonest gifts like that fucking mug! 'For my beloved son'! The gall of that woman!" Theron was now visibly upset, he wiped his face with his right hand and took a deep breath.
Seeing Theron getting worked up aroused Badesh extremely. With two huge steps he crossed the distance between him and Theron, took his face in his hands and kissed him passionately. Theron froze under his caress. When Badesh broke the kiss he saw that Theron had a shocked expression on his face.
"My little Jedi… your anger is so very sweet," Badesh whispered. "Let me taste it."
Badesh let his left hand slide into Theron's pants. Then he kissed him again, rougher than before. Theron moaned under his touch and kissed back.