Another two days spent at the Banarecc compound meant another two days his father was out there, somewhere, and Wil couldn't help the wild scenarios running freely through his head as he stood beside a grimy window, watching the swirling Coruscant skylanes hundreds of meters above. Had a friend found Horatio in the rubble of the demolished shop and taken care of him? And if it had been a friend, why hadn't they contacted him or any of the Paneau to tell them? If it had been an enemy who had recovered him instead, why had they kept him alive? Losing a hand and a leg in the explosion or in the shop collapse would have left him with grievous wounds and nearly fatal blood loss, but Wil was certain he could still sense his connection to his father, as strongly as if he were standing beside him. Unless...

Was he in denial, as Ethan had suspected? Was he only desperately clinging to the faint vestiges of Horatio's life force for fear of losing yet another dear loved one so soon after the last? His Uncle Koril's death, while long expected, had still caused him considerable pain that hadn't entirely resolved in the past two months, so was he somehow finding a way to also avoid dealing with the agony of losing his father, too? Was he fooling himself?

Despite the repeated attention of Master Kanomin since waking days earlier, Wil's head still pounded and ached from his injury, and he brought his hand up to massage his temple. He had almost become accustomed to it, accepting it as his new constant though thankfully his blurry vision had improved. The physical pain allowed him to focus on it exclusively at times, instead of on his aching heart...

"...Uncle Wil?"

Dropping his hand and turning to face Jake's timid voice behind him, Wil lost his balance almost immediately, unable to steady himself at all. The room spun uncontrollably and his legs began to buckle underneath him, until he felt Jake grip his wrist and pull his arm over his shoulders, bracing his hip against Jake's own. The teen's quick thinking and stability allowed Wil time to close his eyes and concentrate, releasing slow, controlled breaths as his disorientation waned.

"...should I get my dad?"

"No," Wil shook his head, firmly righting himself on his own feet while keeping a light grip on Jake's shoulder. "It's passed. I just forget I still have to be careful."

"Well, here, sit." Still worried, Jake stepped with him to a comfortable bench, watching him intently as they both lowered themselves onto it. Wil nodded his thanks with a wan smile, appreciative of the boy's assistance and hoping to calm him.

"Are both of the ships ready to leave?"

Jake nodded weakly. "My Uncle Veolar has them fueled and stocked, yeah, but...they haven't said when we're actually going to leave. I think they're waiting to see if...you're okay." As if having said something he shouldn't, Jake gasped and struggled to correct himself. "I - I mean, I know you're - you're not okay, your dad - he's... I don't - "

"Jake," Wil interrupted with another soft smile to stay his stammering, "I'm alright. Thank you." Still gripping the boy's shoulder, he gave him a gentle, affectionate squeeze before redirecting Jake's attention. "How's your mom?"

"Still quiet," he sighed sadly as he shrugged. "She's been keeping Liaa company while you're recovering. But one of her old friends from here came to visit yesterday, and I think he helped her feel a little better."

"That's good, I'm glad."

Jake nodded again, meeting his gaze with a worried, reluctant expression still in his eyes. He seemed hesitant to say something more, prompting Wil to carefully draw it out of him.

"What is it, Jake?"

He hesitated a moment longer, swallowing hard to steel his nerves before he spoke. "...I overheard you and my dad talking the other day."

Wil's heart sank. "Jake..."

"I know I wasn't supposed to," he continued apologetically, "but I want you to know... I believe you."

Wil furrowed his brows. "You believe me?"

Jake nodded fervently. "I know what that feels like, when no one listens to you, even though you know you're right. I know how much that hurts. The same thing happened to me when everyone was saying my grandma was gone after she'd been hurt over Rishi."

Stunned, Wil stared blankly at Jake, having not even considered the impact Master Natiyr's apparent death would have had on her young grandchildren half a galaxy away. Their Force skills were minimal at the time, but they, too, would have felt the connection and its loss had she indeed been killed. Her hibernation trance she'd immediately placed herself into after being mortally wounded by a concentrated blast had initially fooled her Master Healer husband, but Jake had held onto the smallest sliver of hope, only to be contradicted by all of the adults in his life. But had that hope been childishly foolish and only proven right in this one rare instance, or had he truly known all along? Wil had begun to shake his head, afraid to give the boy false hope once more, but Jake was quick to earnestly counter.

"I know you believe that your dad is still alive. I can tell how much you feel it, just like I did. And I believe you. You shouldn't give up."

Wil withdrew his hand from Jake's shoulder, unwilling to let the boy feel just how much he was trembling with conflict. "Jake, it's been days... I've been in no shape to go out looking for him myself - "

"So take someone with you. Uncle Veolar can lend you some of our agents, he said they know Coruscant really well."

"Jake..."

"What would your dad be doing if you were the one missing?"

Letting go of a slow breath, Wil shook his head with a slowly growing smile. He'd do what he's always done - throw every bit of caution to the wind and not allow anything to stop him until he found me. Horatio's intense dedication to his family was what had landed them in their current situation to begin with, but Jake was right to pose the question in such a way that Wil could no longer deny his plan of action. He just needed someone else to believe him, too.

Without requiring Jake's help, Wil lifted himself from the bench and stood in place briefly, making sure he could maintain his balance before he set off for the compound's main door with Jake keeping pace just beside him.

"I'm staying here," Wil plainly announced to Ethan and Veolar standing atop the Gem of Corellia's rear loading ramp. The two Banarecc men were softly conversing with each other as mechanics finished the last of their repairs on the Shadow Nova and the Sheridans' new yacht, and they turned to face Wil and Jake after exchanging concerned glances, though Ethan was first to speak.

"You need rest, Wil."

"I've rested plenty. I need to find my father. He is still alive, Ethan."

Though Ethan's troubled gaze flicked to his son standing beside Wil, his expression remained unchanged until a soft voice spoke up from behind him within the Gem's main hold.

"...Horatio survived?"

Arm in arm, both Cordira and Wyliaa stepped up just behind the Banareccs, their cautiously hopeful yet bereaved eyes locked with Wil's. Though he knew how much it would infuriate Ethan, Wil nodded confidently, putting as much strength as he could into his voice.

"I can feel it. I can sense that he's still here, and I've known since I woke up days ago. He's alive."

The light and life that returned to Liaa's weary, tear-stained face easily outshined the dark glare he earned from Ethan, even though his wife Cordira had yet to react herself. Liaa quickly pulled her into a tight embrace as she lightly laughed and wept with relief, but Cordira's gaze remained blank and fixed on Wil. Did she not believe him? Was she afraid to believe him?

"Well, it was very touch and go for a bit, but...I think we all know just how stubborn he is."

Turning to the new voice approaching from the misty alley beside the Banarecc compound, Wil felt his own breath leave him the instant he saw two men in the fog, one very clearly being helped along by the other. The voice belonged to his cousin Max, he knew, sounding perfectly recovered even after the last Wil had seen of him, he had been blasted square in his chest. The closer they stepped toward the ships, though, the more he realized just how much Max was helping Horatio walk - with a cane, and without a leg.

"Dad!"

Though his head began spinning once more, Wil sprinted, stumbling only briefly as he met the two Sheridans, tears already freely falling down his face. Horatio weakly looked up just as Wil enveloped him in a tight hug, returning it as best he could.

"Easy...on the ribs..."

Horatio's voice was more broken and grittier than Wil could remember, and Wil released him quickly, leaning back from him to look him over with a weak grin. "Right, sorry..."

A number of new burns and scars littered his face and neck, far more pronounced on his right side. His right eye was entirely red with blood, though it still moved in tandem with the other as he worriedly studied Wil in turn. Horatio's gaze briefly fixated on Wil's temple, where he likely remembered seeing his son's injury just before the explosion, before returning to look into his eyes once more. With an equally shaky breath, Horatio lifted a trembling hand up to Wil's face, the gentlest grip carefully pulling Wil's head forward to meet his at their foreheads. Wil allowed their touch to linger for the longest, most tender moment, breaking it only with a feeble laugh.

"...easy on the head."

Horatio let go of a soft breath in response to his son's quick wit, but Wil could plainly see how quickly his stamina was waning; he would need a place to land soon. But Wil still had so many questions, so much left unanswered...

"...and Baxer?"

Though he had looked to Max for his response, it came from yet another male voice behind them in the alley, another visitor approaching them from the dark fog.

"He survived, too, and we took him to a...clinic that specializes in psychological cases. He'll get the help he needs there. Isn't that right, Chip?"

A dark-skinned, lean-framed Kiffar man stepped forward, holding a four-year-old brown-haired and fair-skinned girl on his hip as a familiar orange-paneled R2 unit rolled with them. With a bright smile, she held tightly to a fistful of the man's long, black and yellow-tipped dreadlocks draped over his shoulder as she answered him excitedly. "Yep yep!"

"Let's get him on board," Max earned Wil's attention again as he hefted more of Horatio's limp weight onto his hip and shoulders. "We have a lot to talk about."

Wil agreed, turning to pull Horatio's other arm across his shoulders, too. Ethan suddenly stepped in just before he could, though, his penitent expression offering Wil his wordless apology as he effortlessly helped his cousin bring Horatio aboard the Gem.