A/N: in which zaara pines, cori pines, and davri isn't very good at her job. I'll be out of town for the rest of the week, so I'm not sure when I'll get chapter seven up. that, and I've had a massive case of writers' block for over a week now.

Zaara had always expected to end up trapped by Rei at some point. But, she'd assumed it would involve the wrong end of a lightsaber and some horrifying mistake on her part, not holding a now-cold cup of caf, with Rei slumped halfway on top of her after falling asleep in the middle of a conversation.

With as small as Rei was, it wouldn't be difficult for Zaara to slip out from under her; it was waking her that she was worried about.

Considering everything that had happened over the past two days, Zaara didn't mind having a few hours of silence to herself. Meeting the Minister again — former Minister, she corrected herself — had been unexpected. The fact that he'd kept the whole truth from her again and misled her again was also unexpected, though Zaara knew it shouldn't have been; logically, she should've stopped trusting him a long time ago, but some part of her still put too much faith in the old Intelligence.

And Keeper. Shara Jenn.

She should've known that, even if the universe were to be so kind as to give them a few moments together, the former Minister wouldn't. Learning that Keeper was safe — that Shara was safe — and only being given the courtesy of a quick farewell via holo was enough to crack Zaara's strict professionalism.

She'd snapped at him. Considered throwing every failure and mistake and betrayal at him.

But she hadn't. She'd simply said her goodbyes and left. Vector had tried to comfort her, as did Kaliyo, in her own way, but Zaara didn't want to be comforted.

She wanted back the few brief months that Cipher Nine and Watcher Two had together.

Her teeth ground together, her grip tightening on the handle of her mug; it wasn't like her to get this sentimental. She couldn't afford to — she should be resting, or catching up on everything that had happened while she was gone. She had a job to do, and it wasn't going to get done by hiding out in the safehouse pining over a woman she'd once loved.

Still, Zaara was content to sit and pine until Rei woke up.

She'd only just made the conscious decision to spend the rest of the morning stewing in anger when footsteps caught her attention; Theron walked in a few moments later, looking generally disheveled and half asleep. He paused upon entering, running a hand through his hair and hesitating, as if not entirely certain what to make of the situation. "You're back," he finally said.

"Good observation." Zaara kept her voice quiet, forcing a smile that she hoped looked somewhat genuine.

Theron grabbed one of the chairs from the table, swiveling it to face the couch and wincing as it scraped across the floor. "And?"

Zaara frowned. "Success. We got back early this morning. I've told Vector and Kaliyo to take the day off, but I'd rather throw myself into whatever mission comes next," she admitted. "Hang on, would you—?" She held out the half-empty mug, tired of holding it thanks to her limited range of motion.

"You'll want to talk to Lana, then. She spent all morning yesterday out doing… something." Theron set Zaara's mug down on the table, glancing towards the door with a knowing smirk. "She also spent the entire evening with your sister."

"Good," she sighed, rolling her eyes. "It's about time Cori did more than get those big, sad eyes whenever she talks about Lana."

"And here I thought you and your general dislike of Sith would be disappointed."

Zaara would've laughed if she weren't still trying to be quiet. "I happen to like Lana. Most of the time, Sith stick their noses into things they shouldn't and everything falls apart. But Lana knows what she's doing. Or," she amended with a one-sided shrug, "she's doing a good job of acting like she does."

"It's amazing how competent people assume you are just because you can wave around a lightsaber."

Theron and Zaara shared a wide-eyed glance at Rei's muffled words. "Is that your way of admitting you're less competent than we all think?" Zaara asked lightly, idly wondering just how long Rei had been awake.

"Not you." Rei shifted so she was laying on her back, with her head resting on Zaara's lap, and made no indication she was planning on moving again. "But I'm fairly certain half the council is convinced I've got some master plan to topple the good and proper Sith way of life." She snorted. "Even if I wanted to, I don't have the patience to plan something like that."

"And so the truth comes out."

Rei's only response was a lazy wave of her hand.

"So, you were telling me about all the excitement I missed over the past two days." She absentmindedly flexed her fingers; her left arm, now free from Rei's weight, was beginning to regain feeling after being asleep. "You were trying to remember something about Teeseven?"

Rei frowned, brow scrunching in concentration. After a moment, she sighed. "I don't know," she admitted. "We had to go after the Nova Blades because… something about Revan. Cori was going to come, but I went alone and Theron—" Rei jabbed an accusatory finger in his direction, "—didn't think I could handle it, but I did. Then yesterday, I had to call in to a council meeting. Vowrawn was suspiciously absent again. Remind me to ask Darth Evris about that—"

"Nox, stop," Zaara interrupted. "What about Revan and the Nova Blades?"

"The Revanites threatened to pull their support," Theron cut in. "It's a combination of our efforts and the fact that they already lost the Mandalorians — which is what Lana's been looking into." He turned to Rei with a frown. "And I never said you couldn't handle it. I said there was no reason not to wait for Cori."

"And if I had waited for—"

"Nox."

Rei glanced up at Zaara, arms crossed. "What?"

"What about the Revanites? You mentioned the Nova Blades' base earlier — is that related? You're not doing a very good job of filling me in, you know."

The rattataki let out a frustrated huff of air. Pushing herself up so she was sitting beside Zaara, Rei pulled her feet up onto the couch to sit cross-legged. "We — I — made one final strike at the Nova Blades. Ashara and I went after the pirates and their supplies to cripple them, and Teeseven and Theron went searching through their computers, and Lana went looking into rumors about the possible location of the Revanites' base. We killed a lot of people, Andronikos is back, and now we're just waiting for all the information to be decrypted." She paused, letting her hands fall into her lap as her mouth twisted in concentration. "I think that's everything."

Finally completely free of Rei's weight, Zaara stood, stretching her arms above her head. "Get any good data?"

"Not yet," Theron admitted. "A lot of it's corrupted, and most of it's still encrypted. There's some information on the Mandalorians Lana's been looking into, and lists of Revanites in both Imperial and Republic ranks. We won't be able to salvage all of it, but it's a start."

Zaara crossed her arms, thinking. "Let SCORPIO take a look at it. She should be able to save more of the data than you or I could, and you saw how quickly she worked through that encryption back on Manaan."

Theron ran a hand through his hair and frowned, not looking entirely pleased with the suggestion. Before he could say anything, Rei cut in with a satisfied, "Good idea. The sooner we can attack the Mandalorians, the better."

"They're potential allies. We're not attacking them."

Rei dismissed Theron with a lazy wave of her hand. "Same thing — they're Mandalorians."

"Don't you have some sort of council business to work on?" Zaara asked pointedly, resisting the urge to sigh with relief when Rei grumbled something about Vowrawn and Acina and trudged out of the room. "Nox does have a point, actually. They might respect that we have a common enemy, but Mandalorians aren't exactly known for their diplomacy."

"True," Theron conceded with a shrug, "but that doesn't mean we should go in blasters blazing. Or, lightsabers, or whatever."

Zaara pursed her lips. "Right." They didn't exactly have enough information for her to finalize a plan, but she could start.

"The sooner we work through this data, the sooner we can get started."

"Let me take a look at what you've got so far, then I'll go find SCORPIO."

"You'd be more comfortable in my quarters, you know." Zaara gave a belated knock to announce her presence, biting back an amused grin at the sight of her sister sitting cross-legged in the copilot's chair, clearly trying to meditate yet looking anything but relaxed. "I made the bed this morning and everything. It's cleaner than up here, and smells better, too — Vector and Raina found these scented oils on Voss that…" She trailed off as Cori's brow knit together in frustration. "Are you alright?"

"I'm not sure," the Jedi admitted, shoulders drooping as her eyes opened, "but meditating isn't helping."

"Need to talk about it?" Zaara settled into the pilot's chair, toggling the map display so she could see her sister clearly. "Or, if you want to get your mind off of it, I could bore you with an inaccurate retelling of an Intelligence mission. Maybe… did I ever actually tell you how Vector and I met?"

Cori shook her head. "I appreciate it, Zaara, but it wouldn't help. Especially not that." She looked down, fingers toying with the edge of her robe. "This is… I should be asking one of the Jedi masters for guidance. I've already spoken with Kira. I— The problem is, I already know the answers to the questions I have, I just don't like them. That's why I've been meditating, and… ugh." She buried her face in her hands for a moment, sighing deeply before leaning back in the chair.

"This is about Lana."

The look Cori shot Zaara was a mix of frustration and pleading. "Yes."

Zaara propped her feet up on the console and crossed her arms, searching for an answer that was both diplomatic and helpful. "You've seen people — Jedi and Sith — fall to the dark side, correct? And be redeemed anyway?"

"Yes."

"I'm no Jedi, but to me that says problem solved. If, somehow, this all ends terribly, just say the word and I will personally drag you to Master Satele herself for cleansing or healing or whatever it is you do." She paused for a moment to gauge Cori's response. "But, really, I would hope that one little date isn't enough to corrupt Satele's model Jedi."

"It wasn't—" Cori's voice faltered. "Maybe it was. But this isn't about yesterday. It's about everything. I already care about you and Kira more than I should, and it's different with…" She trailed off again, her expression smoothing in a thinly veiled attempt to hide how upset she was. "This is why I need to speak with one of the other masters."

Annoyance flashed through Zaara; she understood, of course, that some problems could only be solved with the help of those that had the same experiences. However, even with as eternally thankful as she was that Cori had ended up with the Jedi instead of the Sith, she couldn't forgive some of the things the Order had done to Cori.

Zaara was no stranger to sacrificing her own happiness for her duty, but that didn't mean she wanted her sister doing the same. Still, it wasn't her place to stand in the way of whatever Cori thought the right course of action was.

"Of course," she sighed after several moments. "You're still welcome to use my quarters to meditate, and the holoterminal's secure if you need to speak with someone."

"Actually," Cori spoke up as Zaara rose to leave, "speaking of holoterminals, Major Sohms wanted me to ask you to call her. Davri — you remember her from Manaan?"

"I do." Zaara turned to face Cori. "What does she need me for? From what I remember, she couldn't get away from us Imperials quickly enough."

"I'm not sure," she admitted. "I think she needs help with something." Cori paused, looking down for a moment. "She's had a rough time lately, but she's a good person and she's trying to make amends. This has to be important if Davri's asking for your help. You'll at least consider whatever she has to say, won't you?"

Zaara was intrigued enough to agree. At the very least, having Havoc Squad in her debt could be a very powerful advantage one day. "I'll see what she wants. I need an empty ship, though. Tell Kaliyo on your way out."

She made her way to the holoterminal, waiting until everyone else had cleared out before making the call. She clasped her hands behind her back and resisted the urge to pace, fingers tapping restlessly on the opposite hand as the mirialan's dour image finally flickered to life. "Major."

"Agent." She crossed her arms. "Have to say, I wasn't sure Master Cori would convince you to actually talk to me."

"I never turn down a potential ally," Zaara shot back blithely.

Davri cocked an eyebrow, but jumped straight into an explanation. "I'm not sure what Cori told you, but she filled me in on the situation last night. She said there's a list of names of Republic Revanites."

"There is."

"Cori wants me back on the mission. To see it through to the end, or something. Thing is, I have my own mission right now. A… mess to clean up. One that's going to turn into an even bigger mess when the politicians get wind of it. But if there was a way to, say, pin the blame somewhere else, I could be on Rishi in a matter of days."

Zaara considered the information, mulling the Major's unspoken request over as she began to pace. "You have a name you want on that list," she clarified.

"Several. A whole squad." Davri narrowed her eyes. "Assuming it's even in the realm of possibility."

"Are you asking if I can or if I'm willing?"

"Both. And how much it'll cost me."

"Why not go to Theron?" Zaara asked, stalling for time to respond. It was a question she suspected she already knew the answer to, but it couldn't hurt to confirm her suspicions.

Davri snorted, placing her hands on her hips and rolling her eyes. "You think he'd agree to this? Even if he would, this way, if there's ever evidence found that these names were added in later, with you the blame just shifts from the Revanites to the Empire. The last thing I need is for this to end up looking like a Republic cover up." She frowned and looked away for a moment, focusing on something out of view. "I won't lie, Agent, I'm desperate. I need this taken care of."

"You're protecting someone," Zaara guessed.

"Yeah, and I owe her my entire career. This is the least I can do. So, will you do it?" she repeated. "And what's it going to cost me?"

Zaara didn't answer immediately. It wasn't a simple request that Davri was making; actually changing the data wouldn't take any time at all, but the changes — especially to the Republic list — were unlikely to go unnoticed. She had no doubts that Theron was taking every precaution with security, same as she was. Still, that didn't mean it was impossible.

And then, of course, there was always the option of simply not doing it. Even if Davri wasn't directly responsible for whatever she was trying to bury, Zaara had the feeling that she was involved, regardless. That, combined with the fact that she was reaching out to an Imperial to cover it up, could be enough to finally put an end to her career. She was both a hero and a menace in the Republic, and a stubborn thorn in the Empire's side; she'd been the driving force behind many devastating losses for the Empire, and employed ruthlessly efficient tactics that stood out in the Republic.

But taking out the Revanites was their top priority, and Zaara forced herself to admit that, for the moment, Davri was valuable. Besides, she could always hold on to the proof to use later.

"I'll see what I can do," she finally answered. "I'll go take a look at the data, and if I can make it look convincing, I'll let you know and we'll discuss it further."