WAITING FOR LOVE

Bad Decisions reached Blackhold Isle in the middle of the night, and for that Dalla was grateful. There were few witnesses to their mad dash from the landing pad to the castle, Sloan with Swain in his arms and Dalla stumbling along with Cogon. Second, her family was asleep when Thias let them in the back door. It was just them, the defectors, and Blackhold's doctor, and Dalla could breathe.

That bubble popped in exactly two minutes, when Swain let out a throaty, wordless scream that shook the castle's very foundation. Then they were surrounded by half-asleep, concerned family members demanding to know what was going on and who the new arrivals were.

The doctor, thank gods, convinced everyone that she needed to see her patients in private and shooed everyone except Dalla, Sloan, and Thias back to bed.

"They're stable," she reported after examining Cogon and Swain and starting a few treatments. "Vitals look good and most of the injuries can be healed with topical bacta. They're both going to need physical therapy and extensive mental care. Which leads us to the most pressing problem, our young friends' medication withdrawals."

"Can you do anything for it?" Dalla asked.

The doctor shook her head. "The process is extremely unpleasant, but it's not life threatening. Keeping them warm, hydrated, and fed should ease it."

"We have a cosmetologist and esthetician on her way. Would something like a massage be helpful?"

"Maybe for Cogon," the doctor conceded. "It would be too much for Swain. For her, you'll want dim lighting, soft voices, low stimulation. A bath or hair brushing would be about it."

"That, we can do. Thank you doctor." Dalla pressed a few more credits into the professional's hand.

She gave them right back. "Just doing my job. I'll be back to check on them; call me if you need anything."

And then she left, and Dalla was alone with her brother.

"I'm sorry I didn't give more notice. I didn't know how bad this was and thought we could handle it in Iziz."

"It's okay." Thias looked down the hallway where Swain and Cogon were set up. "Do I want to know where the kids came from?"

"You really, really don't."

"Thought so. The Hold's at your disposal, and you can stay as long as you need. How many others can we expect?"

"Bernard and Sandor will probably come after the worst is over. Genna's brothers-in-law are bringing her and her family, but they're getting a room at the inn and pretending it's a vacation. The only other guest is Lux Bonteri."

"At risk of knowing too much, what's Lux doing here?"

"Because family is involved and Lux has the luxury of emotional distance." Time for another mental count to ten. Why hadn't Yularen told her that Swain was family? Sure, he had to be tight-lipped, but he could have clued her in before the great escape.

"Sounds fun. I'll be staying out of that mess, but I can keep our family out of your hair."

"That helps a lot actually. Thanks, Thias." She looked out the window. The sun was coming up, which meant everyone would be waking, including Swain. At least she'd traded in screaming for sobbing, which Dalla supposed was an improvement.

To her shock though, the first crisis of the day didn't come from Swain's room. They heard footsteps from the hallway where they'd put Cogon, and then Sloan frantically shouting "'Fresher! 'Fresher! Come on man, run!"

Followed by a great clamor and the telltale sound of vomit splashing on porcelain.

A few minutes later, Sloan appeared

Dalla hazarded a question. "What happened?"

"I was grabbing breakfast for Cogon, but apparently Aunt Shara beat me to it," he sighed. "She didn't know about his stomach, so she made him pancakes and eggs. They stayed down for about a minute."

She cringed. "Is he okay now?"

"I told him to stick with broth and gave him a bucket just in case. Is it bad that today's barely begun and I'm already over it?"

"Genna and Sam should be here any minute and we can start the image transformation. Hopefully that'll at least cover any blatant signs of –." she remembered Thias was present and cleared her throat. " – You know. Then we can focus on getting them healthy again."

"Speaking of which, Swain's up and someone should go sit with her."

"Is she awake?"

"Not really, but she has a request." Sloan plodded down the hallway.

"Are you going to get it?" Thias asked.

"Can't. She's asking for her daddy."

Her father, and her betrayer. Swain must really feel horrible to be asking for Kallus.

Dalla took a deep breath and whispered "One crisis at a time."

"What was that?"

"Nothing. I'll sit with her."

Unfortunately, no one volunteered to take her place. Dalla entertained a quick fantasy of stepping barefoot on Sandor's plastic blocks, because that would probably be more fun, and let herself into Swain's room.

"Hi, Swain." Did she prefer her last name or was it just Imperial habit? Dalla was supposed to be her aunt and she didn't know the first thing about her. Dalla sighed. She'd promised not to call Yularen unless it was an emergency, but she might have to break her word. "It's me, Dalla. Remember from the ship?"

"My dad." Swain tossed in bed. "Can you find him?"

Drat, she wasn't letting it go. "I can look for him. Tell me what he looks like."

"He's tall, with blond hair … can you find him?"

Dalla took her hand. "Keep telling me."

"What are we talking about?" Genna breezed into the room with more grace than anyone carrying a salon bag had a right to have. She put on her professional smile when she caught sight of Swain. "Hey hon, how are you feeling?"

Dalla stretched her neck. "Thanks for getting here so quickly."

"Maybe I should ask how you're feeling," she sized up Dalla with an expression that practically announced she looked like crap.

"I definitely feel better than she does. This is Hannah Swain, age nineteen, Senator Tural's last defector."

"Tural?" Genna repeated, the gravity evident in her voice.

Dalla nodded.

"That explains it." The stylist bent to examine her newest client. "Sam's downstairs giving your aunt Shara the son-in-law treatment, but he'll be up soon. I'll ask him to bring my vitamin E cream, that should help with the scarring. Now, let's take a look at this hair."

"I didn't try to detangle it; I was afraid I'd make it worse."

"You probably would have," Genna carefully picked through the tangled, matted mess that was Swain's hair. "Luckily, all the damage is recent. She took good care of her hair when she was able, and that'll save her. It'll take a while, but I think I can give her a little of her old self back."

"That would mean the world."

"Then it's settled. Let me grab my detangler and we'll get started."

While Genna gathered her tools, Dalla adjusted her grip on Swain's hand. She was quiet for now, but it was only a matter of time before she asked for Kallus again. "Genna's going to fix your hair and I'll be right here while she does, okay?"

No response until Genna sprayed down the hair and started to detangle the first section. Swain jerked, managing to yank her own hair, and shrieked "No!"

"Alright, we'll try something else." Genna picked up a different comb and returned to her work, but the damage was done.

"I'm not lying, I promise, I don't know who he is," Swain bawled. "Why can't anybody find my dad?"

"We're looking for a dad?" Sam knocked on the door frame and let himself in. "The girls are downstairs and I figured you guys could use a hand. What's up?"

Genna stopped brushing. "We're doing a detangle job on our friend here, and she got a little upset. Mind lending us a hand?"

"Not a bit. Here, let me clean up those tears."

At the first touch of tissue on her face, Swain totally lost it. "No, please! Kallus! Kallus, help me!"

Sam's face went white and he dropped the tissue.

Genna stopped what she was doing. "Sam?"

"What the kriff?"

"Sam, what's going on?"

"What's going on is that she's the child of a monster." Sam pointed a shaking finger at Swain. "I know Agent Kallus. I was there the day he turned Lasan to ash!"

"But she wasn't. She's a defector, just like every other who's come through the door." Genna tried to reason with him.

"It's not the same. He's her father; he's wormed into her mind, made her think like him, and the galaxy can't afford to have even part of that man still in it."

"We're not the Empire. We don't punish children for the crimes of their fathers," Dalla said.

"Don't worry, I bet she has plenty of crimes of her own." He snorted.

"She's hurt. She's no threat to anyone like this." Genna caressed Swain's head.

"Fine. Then cut the mats out of her hair and let her ride it out. I'll –."

That was it. Dalla snapped forward and punched Sam square in the jaw, knocking him to the floor with one blow.

He stared up in shock at Dalla standing over him in an Anaxes boxing stance.

"Get ahold of yourself, or I'll hit you again," she promised. "Swain left the Empire at great personal cost, and that's all I want to hear you say about her. Do I make myself clear?"

Sam rubbed his jaw and Genna got up and grabbed his arm. "Come on, let's take a walk.

"Are you calmed down now?" She asked when they were a little bit down the hallway.

"No," Sam spat. "That man killed children by the dozen, and his kid gets her hair brushed? It's not kriffing fair."

"That was a long time ago. Might I remind you that you've changed quite a bit since then? Had a couple three kids who helped to change you?"

"I didn't know what the disruptors were for. I thought we were going to use them against ships."

"So it's possible that Kallus didn't know either?" Genna hazarded.

Sam's only response was a grunt.

"Okay, let's think about something else. If Agent Kallus found one of our girls hurt, crying, and alone, what would you want him to do? Treat her like osik because she's your daughter?"

That rattled him. Just the thought of Kebiin or Saviin in such a state and unable to reach him brought a flash of horror to Sam's eyes.

"You don't have to like him, but treat his daughter the way you'd want yours to be treated. Simple as that." Genna huffed. "I'm going back in there to do my job. Are you going to be okay out here or do I need to send you back to Shara?"

Sam took a breath. "I think I need some space. Will you be okay if I'm gone for a while?"

She squeezed his hand. "Of course, love."

…

When Sam told her he was going to be gone for a while, Genna didn't think it would be for this long. Not that she wasn't busy herself. She'd spent the entire working day and then some trying to disguise the injuries dotting Swain and Cogon's bodies. Some fixes were easy, like hiding scars with clothing or trimming singed hair, but others nigh on impossible. Cogon didn't have enough fingernail on his nail bed to attach acrylics, and working with Swain required a second person to hold her still while the young woman cried out for her father.

Her father, who had butchered the Lasat people and walked Sam's nightmares to this day. Genna couldn't imagine how anyone like that could be a source of comfort, but she supposed that was Swain's call. This was when she really wished Sam was here to help. He might pass for Agent Kallus and bring Swain some peace.

Right now, Sloan was on hand-holding duty. "I've got you, honey. Just getting you fixed up."

"I want my dad!" Swain bawled for the umpteenth time and wrenched away from Genna's attempt to detangle her hair.

Genna sighed. "Can Dalla come in and help?"

"Negatory, my friend. A Fulcrum agent's gone missing and Dalla's on the comm with Command trying to figure out what to do." He wiped away Swain's tears and threw the tissue into a nearly overflowing waste can. "I don't suppose Sam's back?"

"Not yet." Sam would be sleeping on the couch for a week when he finally decided to show his face. "He'd better have a kriffing good reason for this disappearing act."

Wrong move, because enough frustration had crept into her voice for Swain, who had always been jumpy around Genna, to pick up on it. She yanked away with a scream and would have barrel rolled off the bed if Sloan hadn't caught her.

Dalla burst through the door. "What's happening?"

"Little help here?" Sloan grunted, kneeling at the bedside with Swain in his arms.

Dalla and Genna grabbed Swain under her shoulders and knees respectively and hoisted her back into bed.

"I would stay, but he's on the comm now and it's urgent." She squeezed Swain's hand. "Grandpa says he loves you, Hannah. I'll bring him in to talk to you later."

She pressed her comlink to her ear while she hurried out. "Aye, I'm still here. What do you mean, Kallus is missing again?"

…

"It's like he disappeared!" Yularen cried. "There was no indication of foul play. Last night we spoke on the comm, and now he's gone!"

"He disappeared on the ice moon last month. Are you sure he isn't on another mission?"

"I would know if he had an assignment. Please, you found him last time."

"I can look. Believe it or not, I have another missing person and Swain is some type of way, so it might be a little while."

"Is she doing any better?"

"Physically, yes. She keeps asking for Kallus." Dalla opened the door a crack so she could hear better. Swain was quiet for the moment, no doubt because Sloan was pretending to be her beloved father. It wouldn't last forever. No matter how sick she was, she would recognize the different voice, different body shape, different smell…

There was a new sound now; footsteps and Sam Beroya's voice. She hoped he was in a good mood, because she really didn't have time to deal with anything else today.

But Sam wasn't alone. As he approached, so did someone else. Someone who – Dalla took a minute to place the sound. That was a grown man crying.

"Oh no."

"What is it?"

"I think I found Agent Kallus."

"He's there? Dalla, I didn't tell him about Swain!"

The crying got louder. "Well, someone else did."

She terminated the comm and crept out of the office just in time for Sam to round the corner alongside a distraught and disheveled man wearing an ISB uniform.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry," Kallus wept. If Dalla didn't know who he was, she would never have believed the man before her was the same Alexsandr Kallus who Yularen said was so meticulous and composed.

She'd anticipated meeting her brother many times, but never like this.

"Save it for your kid," Sam quipped. "Hey Dalla. I brought the requested item."

"I see." She looked to Kallus, who had marginally pulled himself together. "Agent Kallus, I'm Dalla. I –" I'm Mollymauk? I'm your sister via Yularen who, by the way, works for me? "I'm in charge of Swain's defection."

"You? How?"

In reply Dalla pushed up her sleeve and rolled her forearm over to expose the inside. Nothing was visible in this light spectrum, but any ISB agent worth their salt knew what would appear on her skin under a UV light.

Kallus' eyes grew wide. He knew she wasn't the handler, which meant she had to be – "Mollymauk," He whispered half reverently.

"Right now I'm just your host." She gestured down the hallway. "Swain's in good hands. My lieutenant is with her now and she's getting the best medical care on the island."

He teared up. "May I see her, please?"

"Of course. How much has Sam told you?"

"He said she was sick." Kallus wiped his eyes. "Withdrawing from truth serum? It's horrible; you're not even supposed to do that to prisoners."

"Our doctor says her life isn't in danger anymore —."

"Anymore?!"

"— But she needs time to recover and for her fever to go down. All we can do at this point is continue the medication, and keep her safe and comfortable."

"I can do that." Kallus exhaled. "Gods know I should have done more."

"Let's focus on now. I should warn you, she's barely conscious and very upset."

Kallus nodded. "Is it just her, or is Cogon here too?"

"He's here, but we're keeping them separated until they're a bit better." She rested her hand on the doorknob and turned to Sam. "By the way, Genna's not happy."

Sam cringed and Dalla opened the door.

Genna and Sloan were at the head of the bed with Swain between them.

"There! It might have taken us sixteen hours and a whole bottle of conditioner, but we got it detangled." Genna tied off the end of the braid she was working on and set it down. "Thank you, Sloan."

"Don't mention it," Sloan said, already looking at the door. "We've got company."

Genna looked up and her eyes narrowed at her husband. "Demgar Samson Beroya, where have you been?"

"Where is my dad?" Swain screeched.

"I'm here!" Kallus cried and bounded across the room, shoving past Sloan and Genna both to kneel by the side of the bed. "I came as soon as I heard."

Swain's eyes filled with tears at the sound of his voice. "Daddy?"

Kallus crawled on the bed to pull her into his arms. "Right here, Hannah."

Swain cried and latched onto him like a barnacle while Kallus kissed her forehead over and over, seemingly content to never let her go.

Genna watched the display with a stony expression and slowly turned to Sam. "You found him?"

Sam looked from her, to Kallus and Swain, and back again. "I'd want someone to find me if our girls were asking."

Genna crossed the room with something unreadable in her eyes. Then without warning she jumped into Sam's arms and kissed him.

Okay then. Dalla studied the ceiling while Sloan loudly cleared his throat. Sometimes she really hated being the one in charge. "Genna, Sam, would you –."

"She's burning up," Kallus interrupted. He hadn't even noticed Genna and Sam, instead totally focused on his daughter. "You said her fever broke, but she's still so warm."

Sloan took one for the team. "The fever didn't totally break; it's just gone down."

"Then we need to cool her off. Get rid of these blankets —."

Dalla stopped him just in time. "If you take them off, she'll shiver and raise her temperature."

"More blankets, then, and a cool cloth for her head," Kallus announced like it had been his idea all along. "And something for her to drink?"

"Sure. We've got something right here." Sloan picked up a cup from the bedside table and angled the straw toward Swain's mouth.

Kallus pulled back. "Is that orange Rancorade?"

"Aye."

"She doesn't like orange Rancorade," Kallus said and pushed the straw away.

The muscles in Sloan's neck twitched. Nevermind that Swain had been sucking down orange Rancorade all day without making a peep.

"What kind does she like then?" He asked through gritted teeth, and Dalla held her breath.

"Red. But only fruit punch, not the cherry kind."

"Fruit punch. Got it." Sloan gave Kallus the galaxy's weakest thumbs-up while shooting Dalla a truly impressive side eye.

…

Getting the story was like pulling teeth.

Apparently Sam, chastened after Dalla smacked him to the floor, went on a walk to clear his head. Outside he ran into Crosshair, they got to talking, and after a good few minutes of comparing notes, venting, and hyping each other up, they decided that if Swain still thought Kallus was her father, then they were going to make him act like one.

"You didn't even know what planet he was on," Dalla said.

"Cogon gave us his address," Sam admitted. "Someone should warn him, because I think he thought we were going on an assassination mission."

Address in hand, Sam and Crosshair hopped on the Marauder and set course for Lothal. They landed in the wee hours of the morning, took a speeder to Kallus' place, and let themselves in using the door code Cogon had helpfully supplied. Then Crosshair trained a blaster at the sleeping man's head and Sam ordered "Wake up."

"How are you not dead?" Sloan demanded. "I'm not being sarcastic. I'm literally asking how you kidnapped an ISB agent and lived to tell the tale."

Sam and Crosshair would both deny this, but they only lived because they informed Kallus that they were there on Swain's behalf. Once he learned she was hurt and calling for him, Kallus didn't need a threat. He threw on some clothes and led the charge out of the apartment.

They spent the entire hyperspace trip from Lothal to Onderon tearing Kallus a new one. They started off by telling him everything that had happened to Swain, then berated him for being an awful father.

"What gives you two the right to lecture me on fatherhood?" Kallus demanded when they paused for breath.

Sam and Crosshair smiled smugly before the former told him "A lot's happened since Lasan. I have three ad'ike, two daughters I adopted as my own and a son with their mother."

Crosshair cleared his throat. "And I also have two children I adopted and … one on the way."

"Really?" Sam turned to him, the prisoner forgotten. "Ka'ra's expecting? Kandosii, Vod!"

Crosshair's smile was no longer smug. "Yes, we haven't told many people yet."

Handshakes and back slaps ensued until Kallus snapped. "You're having this conversation now, while my daughter's life hangs in the balance?"

They were pleased with his reaction, but not enough to soften the blow. "You were sleeping pretty soundly while her life hung in the balance."

Kallus' lip wobbled and he burst into tears. By the time they got to Onderon, every tissue on the Marauder was used up and Crosshair had to put his earplugs back in.

It was worth it, though. Swain was much calmer with Kallus by her side, and they could handle the annoyances he brought with venting and side eye.

Three hours later, Sloan was done with the side eye.

"I'm going to kill that man," he whispered.

"Stop being dramatic." Genna was in a much better mood ever since she and Sam returned from making up. "He's a worried dad."

"He's a menace!" Sloan insisted. "He won't leave her side except to pee, and whenever we go in there he's in our face. First it's Rancorade. Then it's ice, but for her head, not in the Rancorade. Then she sniffles and he starts flipping out that she's dying! Dalla's calling in the big guns."

Genna looked. Down the hall, Dalla was pacing and talking on the comm. "You need to get over here…to fix our family, that's why!"

"That doesn't sound good," Sam whistled.

Dalla started another lap. "No, I didn't tell him. How was I supposed to? He's freaking out about sports drinks and you want me to dump this in his lap? He'd have a heart attack." The other person said something and she laughed darkly. "I'm not kidding. If I tell him, he will literally have a heart attack and keel over dead. Can you please just come over?"

"Who's she talking to?"

Sloan leaned against the wall. "Yularen."

Sam wheezed. "You mean the Yularen?"

"Aye, he's been working with us for …" He squinted to concentrate. "Since Dalla was pregnant with Sandor. He adopted her about the same time and that's how we got pulled into this." He gestured at Swain's door.

"Rebel fence Dalla, who slings stolen goods with reckless abandon and pays for the entire kriffing rebellion, is the adopted daughter of the head of ISB?!"

"Yup. And he'd better hurry up and get here."

Dalla was still on the comm. "I'll hold down the fort until then. Pray that Swain stays asleep. I love you too, bye." She hung up and made her way to the group with a sigh.

"How'd it go?" Sloan asked.

"He's getting on the next flight." Dalla slid down the wall next to him. "And good thing, because if he doesn't get here soon I might commit fratricide."

"Not me, right? 'Cause I'm your favorite brother."

"You're always my favorite brother."

The door hinges squealed and Dalla's un-favorite brother stuck his head out.

"Something's wrong," Kallus said. "She's making a sound, an awful sound."

Sloan's and Dalla's shoulders tensed and Genna decided it was time for her to take one for the team. "Show me."

Kallus ushered her inside, and on initial inspection nothing appeared to be wrong. Swain was sleeping peacefully under an obscene amount of blankets which looked as if they'd been adjusted with her every move.

She coughed and Kallus pointed. "That's it! It doesn't sound like a normal cough."

"Oh, that." Genna relaxed and patted Swain's chest. "My girls sound like that when they're sick. She's clearing the congestion from her lungs."

"Are you sure? It seems so harsh."

"Yes, it means she's getting better." Genna looked closer. "What happened to her hair?"

The braids which had taken her sixteen hours to detangle and plait were undone.

"She doesn't wear her hair in braids," Kallus explained, and Genna summoned all her self-control not to strangle him.

"I should put it back so it doesn't turn into a rat's nest."

"I'll take care of it." He smoothed the hair, which was already starting to tangle, behind Swain's ear.

"Mr. Kallus, with all due respect, this should really be done by a professional. Her hair was already badly damaged when she got here. It'll only take me a few minutes to fix what we have here and redo the braids, so if you would let me get to her for a moment –."

Kallus hovered over her for a long moment.

"I'm the reason she's like this," he said. "When she wakes up, she won't want me to be around anymore, and who can blame her? I did this to her, as surely as if I'd cut her up myself and —." He wiped away a tear. "I just want to be her father a little longer. Please, let me take care of my baby."

Genna's heart broke for him. She couldn't fathom being in such a situation with her own children, but she knew if they were this sick she wouldn't leave their side for even a moment. Could she blame Kallus for wanting the same?

"Of course. Do you know how to braid hair?"

"It won't be pretty but it'll do the job."

"That's all I can ask for. Let me get a comb and some detangler for you." She left to fetch the tools of her trade.

Sam was waiting in the hallway when she returned. "How did that go?"

"Mando'karla," she said. "He's a true buir. About time he started acting like one."

"And you have a comb in your hand because…?"

Genna sighed. "That colonel can get here any time."