Without the use of his eyes as they watered incessantly, the first thing to register with Wil was the smell. As Baxer excitedly tugged him along from the vacant street into a small, dark store close to the surface of the Underlevels, it smelled every bit as much of an old droid repair shop as Wil expected. He could easily imagine all the rusty parts, the oil and grease covering almost every horizontal surface, and the tangled piles of durasteel wires that gave off a bitter, metallic and ozone-like scent into the stale, musky air about him. The atmosphere was heavy, both literally as he breathed it in and emotionally that he could sense through the Force, weighing on him like a suffocating blanket. So much pain and torment still resided within its walls, and he could do little to counter it in his weakened state.

Baxer released his hold on Wil and eagerly continued on inside to turn on a few meager glowlamps, leaving Wil to sway in place as he struggled to remain upright and conscious. The added light, although minimal, only made his headache worse and forced his eyes tightly shut to recover - until he heard a terrified, unfamiliar male voice speak up from the center of the shop just ahead of him.

"Please," the man begged shakily, "don't hurt me..."

Wil painfully looked up to see Baxer standing over a young human man whose features he could only barely make out, sitting on the floor bound with stun cuffs and chained to a nearby support column. Wil's eyes refused to focus on his face long enough to identify him, but there was no mistaking that Baxer was holding his blaster to the man's head, and it froze Wil in place instantly with his eyes wide in shock.

"I-I-I I told you, Kaz, you ha-had had to see," Baxer beamed at Wil proudly. "A surprise! I f-fo-fou-nd-found, found him while y-you were sle-s-s-sleep sleeping it off."

The man's eyes were full of desperation and dread, reddened and brimming with tears as he feared for his life with the barrel of a blaster being held at his temple. The only thing Wil could think to do to diffuse the situation, he slowly lifted his hand toward Baxer, willing him to calm as he commanded him gently.

"Baxer...let him go."

"But...bu-t-but but I, I found him," Baxer repeated with confusion. "He kill-k-ki-kill killed Effiri! I...I remember, rem-remember him! I saw him, Kaz! Kaz! He killed her!"

The man had begun visibly trembling, pleading with them both. "I didn't kill anyone! Please!"

Wil briefly gave the man a subtle nod of understanding, wordlessly asking for his silence to prevent any kind of escalation. "Baxer, this man did not kill Effiri. You have to let him go."

"No, he did! He did! He...he-he, he was in the alley. Alley! Behind the cant-cantina! Where he l-le-left her!"

"Baxer -"

"I had just landed my speeder across the way when he attacked me, for no reason, and brought me here -"

"We-w-we we should kill him, for what he did! Right now!"

"No, Baxer!" As Wil raised his voice, his headache rapidly intensified and doubled him over, blinding him with such sudden, severe pain. He even stumbled briefly as he groaned as he held his forehead, losing his balance where he stood as his head swirled. He took in a number of shaky breaths to get a handle on his pain, calling on the Force to give him the strength to resolve the situation before he blacked out again. Finally able to look up once more, he lifted his trembling hand toward Baxer a second time, desperate to stop him.

"Baxer... Baxer, listen to me. Listen. This man did not kill Effiri. I promise you. You have to let him go. He is completely innocent. Someone else killed her, a long time ago; it wasn't him. Please...let him go."

Baxer's head and face twitched as he stared at Wil blankly, seemingly struggling to process Wil's demands in his fractured mind. Did Wil need to beg him more? Should he step closer to him and carefully take the blaster from Baxer's hand himself? Or would that further set off the unstable Arkanian?

"'A long t-tim-time ago'," Baxer echoed Wil's words with further confusion as he shook his head. "No...no no no, it was la-last last week, Kaz. Just last week! You found her, in-in-in in the alley. We cried for d-day-days, days. Both of us. For days! You...you hu-h-hurt so much, so much. And I did, too."

Moved with compassion for the terrible past Baxer was obviously reliving, Wil kept his voice soft. "I know... I know you did. I know you're just trying to be a good friend, the good friend that I already know you are, but...killing this man is not going to bring Effiri back. She wouldn't want us to do this."

Baxer again considered Wil's plea a long moment as he strangely twitched and looked at the man on the floor. He even began to lower his blaster from the captive, a sign that Wil's influence was finally beginning to get through, but movement behind Wil caught Baxer's eye and lifted his gaze as he suddenly smiled broadly.

"Horatio! Yes, yes! See! I ca-caught-caught your mother's murderer!"

Wil's heart immediately stopped and fell to his feet as he slowly turned to see his father, standing behind him with an intense, raging fire in his eyes and his blaster aimed directly at Baxer. The elder Sheridan's gaze was firmly fixed on the oblivious Arkanian, hardly able to contain his fury as Wil watched his grip faintly tremble. He hadn't fully made the decision to fire yet, Wil silently realized as he released a weak breath, so he could be convinced to not retaliate against Baxer...couldn't he?

With his left hand still shakily extended toward Baxer and carefully lifting his other toward Horatio, Wil swallowed hard, reaching out to both of them with the Force. "Dad... You're angry, I know. And I understand, but right now, please... Put the blaster down. Let me handle this."

Horatio answered him without hesitation, his eyes not even lifting from Baxer as he panted from some kind of exertion. "Not going to happen."

"Dad - "

"Yes!" Baxer continued excitedly, completely misunderstanding Horatio's anger. "Yes, Horatio, we...w-we-we should kill him, together! For what he d-di-did did! Together!"

But Horatio's patience had long since expired. "I don't care what he did! You are the one who hurt my son!"

Taken aback by Horatio's accusation, Baxer's expression fell as he glanced between the two Sheridans, twitching and blinking in confusion. Wil knew he had only precious moments in which to salvage this confrontation without injury to any party, making his pleas to his father all the more desperate.

"Horatio!" he demanded his father's attention as he returned to him, his voice trembling as much as his breathing. "Listen to me. Put...the blaster...down. Put it down! Please... You have to trust me."

Another intense wave of pain nearly doubled him over again, but he defiantly fought through it, eventually locking gazes with his father as white hot tears streamed down Wil's face. Something about his final request, maybe the deep emotion in his voice or the fervent conviction with which he had said it, seemed to slowly win over the elder Sheridan as his expression softened and calmed in the tense silence. His hand still gripping his blaster remained aloft for a long, fragile moment before he finally lowered it to his side, conceding to his son's demand. A rush of exhilarating relief swept over Wil and threatened to reduce him to the floor, but he mustered up the last remaining reserves within himself and returned to Baxer, renewed in his determination to help him. His grandfather's loyal, tortured friend deserved at least that much from them.