Wolffe marched down the pristine white corridors as he made his way through the medical station. General Plo Koon had skipped debriefing alongside Skywalker to head straight for their hospitalized Padawans. It fell on each Commander's shoulders to make a report on their side of the story and the interrogation of Poggle. Wolffe was sure Rex had been able to feel his desperation as well as any Jedi in the room, he kept giving his brother knowing looks every few minutes as the meeting continued on and on. Finally, his anxiety had won, General Kit Fisto had relented and allowed the man to go check on his Commander.

Marshal Commander Wolffe had never been this anxious, this nervous about anything in his life, but as he approached Kriari's hospital room, he started to feel nauseous. Behind the door was not only his General and closest thing to a father figure he'd ever had, but also the woman he loved.

The woman who had allowed herself to be possessed because she couldn't bear the thought of killing her comrades. He had seen the security footage, and he had been both touched and outraged by her selfless stupidity. Ahsoka had spoken with Kriari already, who had apologized for nearly murdering her while under the influence of the Geonosian queen. Ahsoka had called her stupid and laughed it off before warning her that if she ever put herself at risk like that willingly she would beat her ass to a pulp.

Wolffe was Glad Ahsoka had been able to lift her mood a little before he got there, but as he pondered whether to go in or not, the door opened to let General Plo Koon out.

"She's waiting for you, Commander," said Plo in that monotone but gentle voice those closest to him understood as him trying to soothe someone's anxiety. "She's been through quite a lot, so she needs all the support she can get."

Wolffe said nothing and for the first time in his life he looked down at his boots, uncertain and more than a little lost for words.

"Surveillance is off in the room, I asked for my padawan to be given privacy while she recovers, and I might forget we ever crossed paths outside her door."

Wolffe could not believe what he was hearing. A member of the Jedi council was looking the other way as his Padawan and his Commander bent the rules a little too far. This told Wolffe all he needed to know: Plo Koon was worried. He understood Wolffe was the only person who could help Kriari right then, and for her sake he was willing to overlook the fact that they were both breaking almost every rule.

"Thank you, Buir."

…

Kriari heard the door hiss open and shut once more. She knew who had come in, she wanted to look at him, wanted to run to him, hug him, but she was exhausted. She was still a little cold from her near freezing to death experience, and there was not enough tea in the galaxy to make her warm.

She was also extremely ashamed of herself.

She had simply given up, instead of compromising and killing a few clones who had been possessed, she risked her knowledge being acquired by the enemy, which would have gotten hundreds of thousands clones killed. She had been so tired, so mentally exhausted and emotionally drained that she hadn't even cared much when the possessed clones had caught her.

She had told this to her Master, she kept no secrets from him. But his response had not been the one she had been expecting. Plo Koon had not looked down on her, had not demoted her, had not given her any kind of reprimand, he had simply told her "Kriari, my padawan, you are still a child".

She didn't feel like a child, she was eighteen, she had been at war far too long to be anything other than a soldier, still, the hug her master had given her as she cried her eyes dry into his chest had given her some of the comfort she had been missing.

She had lost friends, comrades, she had amputated her best friend's legs with her own lightsaber, she had nearly lost Ahsoka in a demolition job, she had put herself at odds with the institution that raised her and was no longer welcome in, she had cut a comrade's arm for being careless with the clone's lives and had been possessed and nearly frozen to death.

She had the names of over five hundred dead men tattooed on her skin.

She could barely look at the man she loved.

Wolffe on the other hand saw right through her and felt both guilt and unbearable rage. He felt guilty because while she had been suffering, he had been sent on supply missions, he had been sent on charity runs for people who had been affected either by the war and it's economy or natural disasters, he had been busy charting courses and taking inventory and learning new languages while she had been taking on one traumatic event after the other. He was the soldier and she was the peace keeper, things should have been different. His rage came from a different place entirely.

He was angry because he had not been by her side, not once since she had returned from that damned undercover mission to Ord Anlata, he had let her go on her merry way, traumatized, alone and alienated from the people who should have been her safety net. And here she was, not even able to look at him.

Wolffe should have known when he spoke to her last that she was breaking. She had burst into tears and poured her heart out to him and told him she loved him completely unprompted. He should have seen it in the bags under her eyes, in her hollowed cheeks and in the desperation in her eyes. Maybe if he had seen it earlier he could have done something about it.

But it was too late now to regret everything he hadn't done for her. He was here now, alone, unsupervised and without surveillance. He had the perfect opportunity to do what he could have done months ago: be there for her.

Wolffe said nothing as he walked towards the bed and dropped his helmet on the chair General Plo had been using. He sat on the side of the bed facing her and grabbed her hands in his. He knew exactly what she was thinking, exactly how she felt. He would have known even if General Plo hadn't told him.

Before he even said anything he took his time looking her over, she didn't look much different than she had in their last call, the only difference was the dried blood around her left nostril were the parasite had gone in and the swollen lips from the intubation for assisted breathing for the removal process. He would bet her voice was horse too.

"I know what happened, I saw the security footage," he sighed and watched out the window into space when she didn't answer. "I have to admit I wasn't angry because of the information we could have lost or the casualties we could have suffered, what pissed me off is that, once again, I can't trust anyone with your safety, not even you."

Kriari stayed silent.

"Then I thought 'well, at least she held on to her principles until she couldn't fight anymore' and I have to admit I don't know if that makes me admire you even more or love you more fiercely."

Wolffe saw how his words made an impact on her. She looked up to him, finally, and what he saw shattered his heart into a million pieces.

"I don't care how incompetent you might think you are, I don't care how bad a Jedi other people tell you you are, I don't give a shit whose lives you put in danger today, and I deffinitely could not care less about the morals and standards people are judging you by."

Wolffe took his gloves off and cupped Kriari's face.

"I was raised to be a soldier and have been doing a peacekeeper's job the last four months. You were raised to be a peacekeeper and have been doing a soldier's job the last four months. You have been doing so well and taking every blow with a grace I have never seen anyone do. I have watched you lose comrades, friends, I've watched you lose your home, I've seen you point out and confront the corruption within the Jedi council and be punished for it."

Kriari's eyes had started to water as Wolffe spoke and tears were now flowing freely down her cheeks as he cupped both his cheeks with calloused but gentle, warm hands.

"You are the strongest person I know and I love you. I swear, to you Kriari Foreas, that my allegiance and fealty are yours and yours only. The Republic and the Jedi be damned, I will fight this war, but I will fight it for you. And one day, when this is all over and if you will have me, I will follow wherever you decide to go."

Wolffe knew there was very little he could do to make feel better in such a fragile state. As Kriari sobbed and hid her face into his chest, he hugged her tight. He could reassure her, that she was good enough, that whatever she had done had not been a bad decision because it turned out okay in the end.

He could put her mind at ease, let her know he loved her as much as she loved him, he could make her understand she could always rely on him. He could pledge his life, his body and his heart to her and mean it. He could reassure her that from then on she would always have a home with him. And he could give her the comfort and safety of a strong body guarding and protecting her in her most vulnerable state.

He did all this without expecting something in return. He did this because she needed him, and he would gladly give her the armor off his back.

For now, Kriari was safe, Wolffe would make sure of that, and if anyone dared come into her room to bother her within the next rotation they would get a stun charge to the face for their troubles. Kriari would not be deployed without the Wolf Pack, without Commander Wolffe any time soon.