A few minutes later the duo was sitting in one of the army cafeterias eating whatever it was this 'food' was considered. After years spent in this life Joamer had learned not to ask what he was eating.

He had said multiple times he was not hungry, but Havock had only given him a single look daring him to refuse. He knew she was stubborn enough to not eat if he did not. So grudgingly he ate, he always wondered if they put something in the food to cause it to have no taste.

Tapping his fork against his plate in thought he watched Havock eat, she tried to appear to take each bite slowly but he knew she must of been starving. He had lied to himself to think she could be left alone, he knew she loved Jaenna more then he thought was possible. Obviously when Jaenna left again it had tore Havock up, she seemed to stop functioning without her.

With a half angry sigh Havock tossed her fork down and pushed her plate forward. Joamer looked down to see the plate nearly wiped clean of any trace of food. He thought better then to offer what was left of his, he knew she must of been full, even if she eyed his lunch more then once.

"Now, since I seem to be a prisoner." Havock said slowly. "Where are we off to, Mr. Jailer?"

  Joamer looked up at her and smiled after a moment. A few seconds later he said "First, you pack a bag, enough for a few days trip." Havock started to glare at him, but he held up a finger and said quickly "It's obvious you are no good alone without her here. So, you are going to stay at my place till she gets back."

He could see her begin to stand up, the defiance clearly in her eyes. "Listen, Ayme. My house is big enough for more then two people. I have more then one bedroom, I'm not doing this for my own self gratification, or any wish to steal you from her. I'm doing this for your health."

Havock stood up and looked at him for a long moment. He wondered if she knew how much those last few words had cost him. It was true though, he knew Jaenna and her belonged together. He was doing this as a friend now.

After a long moment she smiled briefly and nodded once. He grinned and stood up, grabbing both of their plates he slid them into the cleaning slot and walked out. Walking slowly he took what seemed like random turns in the large complex, she followed without question. Everyone who lived here long enough knew the route to where ever they wanted to go, no matter where they were. Even if it seemed they wandered aimlessly through the halls, they always took the shortest route to their destination, confused the new people like crazy though.

Stopping at a pair of large double doors to the RAIDERS barracks he keyed in his access code and saw the screen flash green. Pushing the door open he motioned for her to step in and followed behind her.

"I'll be in the common area, go get changed and pack a bag." He told her quietly. Stepping around her he began walking to the main room, but heard her clear her throat suddenly.

He turned around to see her with an odd expression on her face, like two things were fighting inside of her. After a long moment she said "Why, don't you like the way I smell?" She walked past him, a few seconds later he heard a door slide open, then close.

He stood there for a long moment, he knew her well enough to pick out the various tones she used. That simple statement was full of them. Shaking his head after a few seconds he turned around and walked into the common area, he ignored the small plaque hanging on the wall and sat down on the couch to wait.



A long while later, as he began to drift into sleep a noise brought him back to a waking state. He heard it again a second later. Looking up he saw Havock standing in the hallway with a duffel bag propped against her leg. One hand on her hip the other trying to work her damp hair into some semblance of order.

"Don't even comment on the hair, the stupid hair dryer was being stubborn." She said when she saw him with the beginning of a smile on his face. He put up both his hands in defense and shook his head, it took him a few long moments before he got the smile under control.

Standing up he walked over to her. He reached down and picked up the duffel bag, she made no attempt to stop him as she continued to argue with her hair, after a few seconds she gave up with a loud huff.

"I guess everyone's out doing things, no one is here right now." Joamer said after a moment. Havock only mumbled something in reply. After a second he said "Alright, time for the prisoner to follow the jailer again." He had decided to keep it light, and slightly cheerful. He knew all she wanted was peace and quiet, he knew she needed that, but she also needed to be watched.

Taking one of the side doors, he stepped into the mid afternoon light and walked up to his KC-2019 Motorcycle. He starred at a medium sized gun case strapped to the backseat, he had forgotten he had brought those two items. He heard her walk up a second later and mumble to herself, he glanced over and saw her face had lightened a few shades. She at least seemed a bit happier right then, he knew it was mostly to do with the motorcycle though. She seemed to love the things.

After a long moment she pointed at the case and said "What is that?"

He sighed and motioned towards it, after a second he said "It's yours, something I've been designing and building for the past few months."

She looked over at him with an odd expression, but quickly unstrapped the case. After a long moment she unclasped the top and opened the box. Nestled into foam padding sat twin pistols, the bodies were based off old model Desert Eagles. Both were heavily modified though, in place of a chamber, and barrel for projectile ammunition sat a complex energy cell system.

"They work off the same principle as my Particle Magnum. Rechargeable energy cells provide power for the tubes and inner circuitry. Almost like a blaster, but without the tybanna gas, or some of the other things. Three settings, stun, kill, incinerate. Incinerate does not work like its namesake. It only punches a really big hole into things. One does less damage then my Magnum does, but they have a higher rate of fire." He trailed off as he watched he run her fingers along one of the pistols.

She closed the case after a long moment and said softly "You didn't have to do that." He shrugged slightly before strapping the duffel bag to the back of his bike. He turned around to see her gripping the case, making no move to hand it to him. After a second he pulled out a harness and handed it to her.

Stepping to the front of the bike he placed the key in the ignition and sat down. After a moment of strapping the case to her back with the harness she straddled the bike behind him. She placed her arms around him and leaned her head close to his ear, after a second she said "Thank you." After a long moment she whispered "What are their names?"

"I thought to let you name them, if you wanted. The classification code is N1 Particle Eagle." He said softly. He cranked the bike a few seconds later and revved the engine. He felt her sigh against him as he dropped the bike into gear and left the barracks, heading towards his house.

The house was large, much bigger than she expected. They pulled up and Joamer parked in his garage which Havock noticed was full of various vehicles, mostly bikes, in disrepair. She was looking so intently at all the speeder bikes around her she didn't even notice him getting off the bike.

"You coming?"

Joamer had his eyebrow raised as he looked back at the still speechless girl sitting on his bike. She slid off the seat and timidly touched the ground. The tools he had could rival the workshop where she spent many hours studying to be a vehicle crewman. Now, of course, she had switched to the medic specialty but that didn't mean that stopped loving speeder bikes.

"That's a 22-B Nightfalcon, and that one over there that's a HummBike or whats left of one. And that looks like part of a BARC speeder." She was talking in an exciting tone and moving around the garage touching every component she found. When she finally turned back to look at Joamer she found him smiling at her and shaking his head. "What?"

"Nothing, nothing at all. Want to take a look at the rest of the house, or should I bring you down a pillow?"

Havock smirked and rolled her eyes. "Alright, but I want to come back down here. This place is awesome, I want to work on those speeders. Well if you don't mind that is."

He chuckled and put his hand on her shoulder, gently pushing her towards the entrance to the main house. "I don't mind at all."

First they went past a fairly large living room with brown furniture that she wouldn't have thought he would have picked but looked very good in the space. The kitchen was fairly large too, Havock was not much of a cook at all. In fact, she was more likely to burn the place down before she would cook something edible. Jaenna was a great cook and made sure Havock stayed far away from the food preparation area, so that worked out when they both were home.

They entered another room, but she had become lost in thought she didn't even notice what the room contained. Joamer grabbed her from behind, he wrapped his arms around her abdomen and yanked her back with such force the air came right out of her lungs. "What the hell, Joa?" She turned and went to hit him on the shoulder, but paused when she saw him quietly pointing at whatever was behind her. She slowly turned around and saw the indoor pool she almost walked right into. She blinked, nodded, and muttered. "Sorry."

"Heh, come here you need to see this." Joamer grabbed her hand and practically dragged her around the pool into the next room. From top to bottom it was filled with weapons and a solitary tool bench neatly organized with components for repairing and upgrading the blasters around her. The room seemed to be by far the most frequently used out of all the room he had shown her so far.

"This place is amazing, Joa. You definitely have a nice collection here."

She turned to find him leaning against the door frame looking at all the neatly displayed weapons. "Yea. Okay come on two more rooms."

The next room was a fairly nice bedroom. It was average size with a double bed and dresser space, it even had its own fresher attached. The only part that was odd, was that it didn't look like the room had been used in a long time if ever. Havock raised her eyebrow and looked back at Joamer. "This is your room Ayme, mine is right next door."

She nodded and followed him into his bedroom, which was slightly larger than the guest room and definitely looked lived in. They both stood there for a long moment neither of them were talking. She leaned against the doorframe mirroring his pose from before in the armory. The silence was starting to get deafening, both of them avoiding looking at the other. Havock broke the stalemate first. "It's been a weird few days, I think I'm going to go unpack and find some more comfortable clothes. Maybe check out those speeders of yours."

Joamer looked up and smirked. "I should start dinner."

"Right." They both spoke at the same time, which sent the two friends into a fit of laughter as they made their way to their destinations.


--~--

She grabbed the hydrospanner off the workbench and headed back to the broken BARC speeder. She had repaired one of these before, and Joamer had an impressive collection of spare parts to sink her teeth into. This was pretty much the perfect distraction for her, and he didn't even plan it this way, or did he. Havock shook her head and laughed to herself. She knelt to get better access to the engine and placed the part she needed on the seat of the speeder. She didn't hear Joamer come in, when he cleared his throat her arm jerked up shaking the bike just enough to send the air filter sliding off the seat directly on top of her head. "Ow. Geeze."

Joamer stood over her blinking as he watched her rub her now sore head. "You really are accident prone."

"I know, okay." Rolling her eyes she stood and set the hydrospanner down. "You need something or you just came to watch me hurt myself? How long were you standing there anyways?"

He looked at her, and seemed to search for the right words to say what he had to say. That was never a good sign, that almost always meant bad news. "I got a call from Helena, you're not busy are you?"

.

The ship lurched slightly a few hours into the trip. Joamer glanced up at the nav board. That old rumor that hyperspace travel was easy was wrong. Sometimes nav computers shaved too much off a trip, causing some rather fun rides. That happened to a gravity wake from a rather large rogue comet. Luckily it was not close enough to do any damage.

After a minute he settled back down to the datapad in his lap. Starring at the scene for a long moment, he was not able to remember what he had been working on. He looked over at the chrono and blinked suddenly, nine hours had passed. Feeling his back protest as he raised his shoulders he figured he had fallen asleep.

He looked over at the still form of Havock. Two hours after she had fallen asleep he had put his hand on her shoulder to stop the nightmare. There was no thrashing or screaming, so no need to wake her, only to pull her out of that situation. He remembered doing it once more before he must of fallen asleep.

After the second time he had taken up position on the floor next to her, the wall was not a very good back support when you fall asleep for a few hours. His aching muscles agreed made that obvious.

After a few more long minutes trying to figure out what he had been working on, he shut the pad off and placed it next to him. He closed his eyes and listened to the gentle even breathing of Havock. He let the sound and rhythm begin to pull him back into the world of dreams.

After a long moment a sound that was not welcome brought him halfway to the waking world. He tried to ignore it, but it happened again. This time he heard thrashing, and brief screams. It took him half a second to wake fully up.

Reaching over he pressed his hand to Havock's shoulder and gently shook her, the nightmare continued unabated. "Ayme, wake up." He said loud enough to stir Lurk from her own sleep, she half growled at him then curled back up and began snoring once more. Havock however continued to scream and thrash around.

Moving himself onto the bed he cradled her in his arms and began shaking her gently. "Ayme, wake up right now." A long few seconds passed, before she stopped thrashing around. Another long second before she opened her eyes and blinked up in confusion.

"Nightmare?" She whispered quietly, a few moments later. Joamer nodded and propped her against the wall next to him. "Every night. How many minutes was I out?" She half mused to herself.

Havock turned to see Joamer laughing quietly. Her gaze began to turn into a glare as he continued to chuckle softly. After a few seconds he said "Ayme, you were asleep for almost nine hours." He did not tell her she had had three nightmares, no need to cause her more stress.

She blinked at him for a long few moments before yawning. "Well, that's a first." She said quietly, half to herself.

"Do you remember what the nightmare was about?" Joamer said. She looked over at him, he always asked this, he wanted to know what made her afraid. Most people she would lie to, but she knew he wanted to know so he could help her. After a long few moments she shook her head slowly.

He sighed and nodded, he knew knowing all of them would eventually help find the trigger for her reoccurring nightmares. He had begun studying dreams, trying to find a cure.  Sometimes, though,  she did not remember what had her so freaked out all the time, it was a small blessing but it was a blessing.

"How much sleep did you get?" She asked a minute later. He looked up at her and grinned after a second.

"I think four or five hours, I'm not sure. I sat down here to be near you, just in case, began working on something but I fell asleep." He said with a laugh. She smiled a moment later and began stretching. He watched her without being able to help himself. He had always thought she moved with the grace of a cat. Now, though, he was beginning to think she moved with more grace and dignity then any cat could ever manage.

His thoughts began trailing off, as the nav board began flashing red. It took him a few moments to realize Havock was saying his name. He blinked up at her after a second, she eyed him with an odd expression before standing up and walking over to one of the consoles.

"Looks like we are coming up on Ando Prime." Havock said over her shoulder. "You going to take your station? Or sit there like a dumbstruck log?" Her voice was teasing in the last bit, but only slightly. He knew she had caught him during a lapse in concentration. There would be an interesting conversation later about it, he was sure.

Standing up he walked over to his console and sat down. Hitting a few keys he watched the display count down a series of numbers for a long few seconds. Havock sat down in her seat, and was greeted by Lurk drowsily climbing up into her lap.

Joamer pulled back the hyperspace levers and dropped the ship into normal space. A frozen icy world filled the front windows, as he chopped the speed back even more.

"Snow." Havock said half to herself.

"A lot of snow." Joamer mumbled a second later. Looking over his boards he waited for a signal from any defensive array. "That's... different."

"What is?" Havock said as she began looking at her display as well.

"No targeting sweeps, no comm traffic directed at us. No greeting at all. Did we really just find a peaceful planet for once?" Joamer said in disbelief. He was so used to sending out false information to land on a planet, that for once he was shocked to not have to do it on this one.

"Alright, according to this her parents are staying in a small town called Juaka located about 500 kilometers from the capital city of Elesa." Joamer said as he read over the documents again.

"Nav beacon has Elesa here." Havock said, tapping a point on her screen. "500 kilometer range, puts Juaka right here. Nav beacons confirm, setting course."

Joamer smiled, he felt the ship change direction slightly as she headed into the atmosphere. Havock was so used to being in control, taking command of his ship on a whim was easy for her. It probably did not help that he never said no to her. Besides, he knew his ship was in capable hands with her in control.

He sat back and watched the speed and altitude readings. A few minutes later the small transport circled a small town nestled within a canyon. He could see multiple buildings lining what looked like three main streets. Even at this early hour he could see pedestrians going about their business, preparing for life to begin again.

"No port authority, or landing space at all." Havock mumbled as she circled the town slowly.

"Land in that small clearing there, guess they don't get many visitors here. Looks like we made one hell of an entrance." Joamer said as he keyed on the landing sequence. A minute later the ship set down, and the accelerator core began shutting down.

"I think we should bring our bags with us, so we look like tourists, or maybe minors of some type. Don't forget your weapons, this town might not see many tourists for a reason." Joamer said, as he stood up and buckled on his weapons belt, that contained his particle magnum and both his saber knives.

Havock glanced at him as she stood up and buckled her belt on as well. Hers carried her twin particle eagles, and two different knives. Pulling out a long coat from her bag she slipped it on, and grabbed a scarf as well.

Joamer opened a locker in the back of the cockpit and pulled out his floor length leather coat, and a small harness for Lurk. "Come on girl, it's a bit too cold for you to ride on our shoulders right now." He knew Lurk understood him as she glanced up from the back of Havock's chair. He heard her half growl before gliding over to him.

Closing the small harness bag he slipped it around his shoulders and put the coat on. A second later he picked up his bag and handed Havock's to her as she finished placing the scarf around her neck.

Walking down the small set of steps, they made their way to the cargo bay and out of the ship. Joamer tapped a code into a hidden terminal, a second later the sound of multiple pistons engaging as the ship went into lockdown mode.

Making their way onto the main street, they walked quick enough to maintain some warmth in the chill air, but slow enough to act like tourists. In truth he had no idea where he was going, he glanced up at the sky and watched snow begin to fall. A second later he looked over at Havock and grinned, she shook her head causing snow flakes to rain down around her. She grinned at him after a moment.

Stepping over to a store front that was just opening he said "Excuse me, miss." The shop owner looked up and blinked as the two strangers stepped under her overhang for a moment.

"Yes? What can I do for you two today?" The elderly woman said slowly, she was covered only in a light sweater and had no scarf on. She seemed to smirk at the heavy coats Havock and Joamer had on, but it was only in fun. Her eyes her amusement, as she looked at them.

Joamer caught on and grinned "We come from a rather warmer place. Is there, by chance a kaf shop around here?"

"Kaf, what is kaf..." The woman trailed off for a moment. "Oh, coffee. Mhm, good stuff that. You are in luck, the best coffee shop this side of the Galaxy is just up this street. Can't miss it, just follow your nose." The woman said playfully.

Joamer and Havock chuckled softly and walked away, leaving the old woman to her thoughts. The next few minutes were spent taking steps not to fall down in the quickly deepening snow, which only worked some of the time. Every few minutes one of them would fall, sinking into the snow bank a few inches.

Their infectious laughter, which at first had caused the residents of the town to glance at them with odd expressions, now had them laughing with them when one of them lost their footing.

"Hey, I think we are here." Havock said as she helped Joamer to his feet. Joamer looked up as he wiped snow from his coat, the smell of coffee, and fresh baked bread filled the area.

"I think you are correct." Joamer said as he stepped over the snow bank, and lifted Havock over a few seconds later. She grinned as he half spun her around, luckily he managed to catch himself as he felt his foot slip and almost send both of them tumbling to the ground. "Come on, your nose says it wants some warmth. My fingers do as well, probably should of brought gloves."

Havock grinned at him as he opened the door for her and stepped through a second later. The warm air hit them a very long three seconds later. He could feel his bones sigh deeply as they began to thaw out. The few customers looked up at them and laughed gently.

He grinned at them, he knew what they must look like. Half frozen figures, when today's weather was warm by their standards. A man came up to them a few seconds later, everyone nodded at him when he looked at them. Joamer took a guess and thought he would be the owner.

"How can I help two frozen ice cubes this morning? Besides the closest table to the fire." The man said with a small grin.

"We're looking for someone actually. A young woman by the name of.." Joamer stopped himself. The training wanted to kick in, and him to give another name. Something about this planet though, made him feel very secure and safe. "Helena, Helena Leucine."

The atmosphere in the small room changed instantly. He could feel the customers shift their weight and slide hands into pockets, or under the tables. The older man even went on alert, he did not move his hands to some hidden weapon, but nonetheless the air that suddenly formed around him told Joamer he knew how to handle himself.

Havock moved herself behind Joamer slowly, her hands very carefully moving inside her coat. Joamer on the other hand thought things through for a long moment, he recognized someone going on the defensive.

A long moment passed before Joamer said "Look, she's a really good friend of mine. We, used to serve together. She sent me a letter a day ago, asking her to bring this bag to her. Truthfully, I have no idea what she wants, only that I was very glad to hear from her." He held up the bag as proof.

The older man looked at it for a long moment before he visible relaxed. "That's Helena's alright, gave her that when she first left to join up. Go up those stairs, door at the top is the one you want. I suggest knocking though, I think you are in for a really big surprise."

The customers relaxed again, and the room filled with quiet chatter. Joamer and Havock walked to the back and up the steps.

Turning to Havock, he watched her shrug slightly. He sighed for a long moment before raising his arm and knocking on the door three times.

Havock looked down at the small child in her arms. It wasn't the first time she held a baby, but it had been many years. She sometimes helped in the orphanage, one of their interventions to try to give her purpose and calm her wild nature. Heh, she had to give the nurses credit for being persistent. It kept her busy, but back then she wasn't ready to settle down just yet. Now she wasn't so sure.

The baby, Ellia, was the spitting image of Helena. It was fascinating to her just how much the child looked like her mother. Havock wondered if she was going to act like her too. Not right away of course, when she was older because she was a baby. She rolled her eyes, here thoughts were drifting and she knew it.

She had been given access to a higher security clearance when she became squad leader, and did come across the paperwork for Helena's leave. Havock did not think that this trip had anything to do with this trip, how could she. Joamer and Helena were close from their time in Wraith, and he had gotten the call. Ellia stirred in her arms bringing her back to the here and now. Looking down at the infant, she couldn't help but wonder what it would be like to have children of her own one day. That seemed like something so far in the future it wasn't even worth thinking about.

"Joamer?"

Helena's voice caused Havock to look up. Joamer was staring at her holding Ellia, but his eyes were glazed she knew he wasn't seeing here even though he was looking right at her. He was shaking and had broken out in a sweat. She nodded at Helena and quickly but gently put the baby back on the cot, being careful to cover her back up properly.

By the time she turned, Helena was trying to get Joamer's attention but he was trapped in his memories now she knew that look it was one she probably had often. They had to snap him out of this and fast. She walked up behind Helena and put her hand on the other woman's shoulder. She nodded and went to check on Ellia. Putting a hand on both sides of Joamer's face, Havock got just close enough to make sure he was looking at her. "Joa, its over now. You're here with us."

He blinked several times, before shaking his head to clear the memories plauging him. The two of them both had their deamons in the past, they had both shared their nightmares with each other and it seemed to help. But she still couldn't shake that look he gave her when he found out that she had known about Helena's pregnancy.  "Not still angry at me are you?"

"Wh-what?" He was still confused and lost in whatever he had just remembered. Havock let her hands drop back to her sides and smirked. Her eyes still held some concern, there was no telling what had caused him to zone out. His mind finally cleared and he looked at her with understanding. "You kept a secret from me, you've just never done that before. Ayme I'm sorry I glared at you, I wasn't mad, it just took me by surprise that's all." His head drooped and he looked much more tired than he had when they entered the coffee shop.

"I couldn't tell you. Anyways, I never put two and two together to think that might be the purpose of this visit." She looked him over wondering if she should continue or not. "You want to talk about it?"

Helena cleared her throat and quietly walked up to the pair. "Why don't I go get you both something warm to drink, Hav keep an eye on Ellia?" She slowly turned to the uncomfortable looking woman standing next to them both.

"That sounds great Hel, thanks." She blinked and turned back to Joamer, who still looked distraught, she knew that look all too well. "Okay, now tell me."

"Its just Akilaa, I remember holding her like that. I didn't really before but seeing Ellia..." He drifted off for a moment, his eyes falling on the sleeping infant in the cot. "There was also something else."

Havock nodded. "We can visit Akilaa you know, on the way back. I wouldn't mind."

Joamer smiled. "Of course you don't. The other thought that was in my head you might mind though. Seeing you hold her, I just starting think about what it would be like if, well you know if..."

"Joa." Havock started to rub the bridge of her nose in frustration.

Before either of them could say anything else Helena tapped on the door. Joamer touched her shoulder. "I know, Ayme." Then he turned and opened the door.

.

Havock looked up at the pair of friends sitting quietly together. She thought briefly to herself what a cute couple they made. Part of her squirmed at that thought, but she was happy for both of them, especially Joamer. Her relationship with Jaenna had taken its toll on him, and she never wanted to cause him pain even though she knew that she had. He was still there for her, and she would never  be able to properly repay him for that. She was worried that if he and Helena did become an item that might effect her friendship with Joamer, but Havock knew that would never happen. After all they had been through together the two of them would always be close and watch each others back. All she wanted was for him to be happy, and maybe this was what he needed, the one thing Havock couldn't give him but Helena could.

Ellia squealing as she figured out a new way to produce noise from a typically quiet toy snapped her attention back to the little girl. They both giggled, and she tried to make the same noise with another object as Havock watched. She was so engrossed in what the little girl was doing she didn’t even notice Helena walk up behind her.

“She likes that one.” Helena pointed to the toy Ellia was currently shoving in her mouth as she knelt next to Havock.

She smirked. “Yea, I can tell.” It was hard not to laugh at the infant as she explored the room around her leaving a trail of toys and other objects in her wake. She seemed to have a thought, then changed direction and climbed into Havock’s lap studying a nearby star shaped object with great interest.

“Ellia seems to have grown fond of you, too.”

She smiled at the little girl playing on the floor then looked up at Helena. Joamer was still sitting on the cot, but he had pulled out a datapad, probably to contact Akilaa or plot the route. His eyes glanced up frequently to the trio playing on the floor.

Ellia was so small, her eyes were constantly searching and absorbing the world around her. Havock could not remember ever being that small or that innocent. This little girl didn’t have nightmares, and she hoped she never would.

Havock was still lost in thought when she muttered to Helena. “She really does look like you, Hel.”

The infant was busy playing on the floor in front of the two women. She could see Helena glance up at Joamer before moving closer to Havock. “Why do you sound sad when you say that, Love?”

“Well, it’s just that.” She sighed. “Looking at her makes me wonder if I look like my mother, or not. I don’t remember anything other than flashes of the bad stuff before the orphanage.”
She looked back to Ellia and smiled as the dark haired girl spun the wheels on a toy truck. Helena didn't speak for a long moment, then she shifted her weight and put her arms around Havock's shoulders giving her a squeeze. She smirked and patted the arms around her. "It's okay Hel. It's just a fact, not much I can do about it anymore. It would be nice to know, but it's okay if I don't."

Helena nodded and backed up a bit, keeping her hand on Havock's shoulder. "I'm going to start getting our things together, you don't mind watching her a bit longer?"

"Not at all." With a final squeeze on her shoulder, Helena stood and got to work pulling out bags and filling them with items from around the room.

Joamer leaned back and watched the stars stream by. His fingers were absently stroking Helena's arm as he thought about what was going to happen in a few short hours. First he would see Ferris again, she had left right after the Thrawn attack. Second, or maybe this was the real first, he would see his mom for the first time in many many years.

After a long few minutes Helena turned her head to look back at him, she had a small smile on her face. Her forehead crunched as she saw his far away look, she put two fingers under his chin and lifted his eyes to they were level with hers. After a long second she said "Don't go away on me again, what's going you so worried that your hands are shaking?"

Joamer looked down for a moment then said "It's seeing my mom for the first time in so long. It's got me more nervous than my first mission."

She smiled and spun her legs around, she positioned herself so her head was close to his shoulder but not touching it. His left arm was wrapped around her back, supporting her so she would not fall. After a long few seconds and a soft smile directed at him she said "I remember that day. A fresh faced new show off suddenly appeared in the middle of our mission. Was a good day still, even if you take into the account we almost died."

"We almost died on a lot of our missions." Joamer said after silence had filled the room. He looked over at Havock, she looked up at him for a moment and smiled. He could see the beginnings of loneliness in her eyes over Jaenna not being here. After a minute she pulled her legs up and leaned back in the chair, he heard her sigh softly and close her eyes.

"You know what's weird about this ship." Joamer said half to himself, Helena leaned her head on his shoulder and sighed deeply, after a moment he felt her shrug since she did not have the answer. "I have many beds, and many rooms. Everyone who travels in her tends to just sleep up here." He felt Helena laugh softly as she began drifting off to sleep. He shook his head after a long moment and leaned his head back.




A few hours later he was woken up by the sound of his nav computer beeping at him. Opening his eyes he stretched out both of his arms before he realized he should of smacked Helena in the head in the process. He looked over to see her and Havock standing over Ellia's crib laughing quietly.

"We both thought you needed some more rest, so I did not want to wake up when I got up." A soft voice said, Helena turned her head to smile at him. Joamer thought he detected a slight pause in what she had just said, but after a moment he just figured he was going crazy.

Reaching up to the hyperspace levers he watched the clock reach zero. Waiting a half second he pulled the controls back. The star field returned to normal, as the ship dropped back into regular space.

A green and brown sphere was quickly growing in size in front of them. Sparse cloud cover could be seen, a large city could be seen to the right of a huge body of water.

"That sea is the Melilla Sea, the city to the right is Stokoryce the capital. My home is close to it." Joamer said in a near whisper, it was like his whole childhood was coming back to him as he saw his home planet for the first time in so many years.

He felt a hand on his shoulder after a moment, he reached up and expected the familiar texture of Havock's hand, but he was surprised to find a new one. This one was different, but yet the same. He looked up to see Helena looking at him, her eyes were filled with concern. He smiled after a second and heard the comm link begin to beep.

"Unidentified ship, this is Leria space port control. Identify yourselves immediately." The voice sounded vaguely familiar. Joamer reached up and was about to switch on one of the many nav beacons his ship had but decided to try something else. Instead he removed a small cover panel and flipped on the ships original beacon. She seemed to sigh softly as her true identity began broadcasting itself.

"Did anyone else just feel that?" Joamer said quietly, he could of swore the ship was now happy. Helena and Havock looked at him for a long moment before both shaking their heads.

"This is the transport ship Ser'nity." Joamer said after a moment.

"Ser'nity, wait nav beacon confirms. No way you can be the same ship though, that was twenty something years ago." The voice sounded very familiar now.

"Zyric? Is that you, you old dog?" Joamer said in disbelief.

"Wait, Joamer you sound older but damn I think that is you." The voice said.

"Believe it old friend, I've finally come home." Joamer said with a laugh.

"Space lanes clear, bring her in. I take it you don't want a docking bay?" Zyric said after a moment of stunned silence.

"No, we had a small hangar at the house. I think I'll land there, come by some time. I'll be in town for a few days." Joamer said as he flipped off the comm.

After a moment he angled the ship towards the city and decreased speed. He felt her hit the atmosphere and sail down through the clouds. After a long count of seconds he angled the nose up and gave his passengers a very elegant view of Stokoryce City.

"Show off." Havock mumbled playfully at him, her eyes were wide as the city grew in size the closer they got. He felt Helena nod with Havock's statement.

Angling the ship to the left a bit, he headed for the outskirts of the city. He saw his familiar small plot of land on the very edge without even searching for it. Decreasing speed more he circled the house slowly until he set the ship down in a clear area a hundred yards away.

Joamer quickly shut down the engines and jumped out of the seat. He left a laughing group of females behind as he raced through the ship. Slapping the door release he jumped off the ramp before it had even opened fully. The ground seemed to speed by under him as he ran towards a figure who was charging towards him.

He stopped suddenly and was pounced on by a giggling Ferris. She wrapped her arms around his neck and sent both of them crashing to the ground. Wrapping both his arms around her he whispered in her ear "Hey baby girl." She sighed happily as they spent a few long minute reuniting.

After a moment she said "Mom went into town, had some work that needed to be done, she should be back soon." After a minute Ferris looked up and saw Havock who was holding Ellia walking towards them. Helena was about a foot to the side watching Joamer with an odd expression on her face.

Ferris looked down as Joamer and back up at Havock, then at the young baby in her arms. "You didn't... did you?"

Joamer laughed suddenly, his whole body shaking. Ferris scowled down at him for a moment before he said "No, it's Helena's baby." She looked at him again, this time the expression was even more scowling. "No, it's not mine."

"Come on, I'll introduce you." Joamer said as he motioned for Ferris to stand up. She sighed for a long moment while considering whether to get off of him. After a long playful look she stood up and helped him to his feet.

Walking over to the trio that had just sat down since Ellia wanted to play in the grass. Joamer sat down and pulled Ferris down with him. After a minute he said "Helena, this is my sister Ferris, that lil one there is Ellia, Helena's daughter."

Akilaa shyly mumbled something and waved at Helena, her eyes were watching Ellia pull grass up and toss it at Havock. The two seemed inseparable now, after a moment Ellia spotted Ferris and smiled really big. This caused the whole group to laugh gently. Ellia made a sound and tossed a hand full of grass at Ferris.

Sliding over to Helena without even thinking about it Joamer laid down and put his head on her lap. He sighed as he watched his sister hand Ellia big pieces of grass one by one. After she had a hand full she tossed them up in the air causing them to rain down on around her, which sent her into a giggling fit again.

After a moment he felt Helena's hand on his shoulder, he turned his head and looked up at him. She had a very odd expression on her face. He raised up to be eye level with her and opened his mouth to say something when suddenly she placed her lips against his and kissed him.

They stayed that way for a long second before she pulled away and looked down with a mumbled "Sorry." He blinked for a second before gently placing one of his hands against her neck. After a long moment of looking into her eyes he leaned over and kissed her. He felt her wrap her arms around his neck, after a second he pulled her closer as the kiss continued.

He was not sure how much time had passed before they broke off the embrace. When he looked over Ferris and Havock were looking at the two of them. Twin masks of confusion, happiness, and some anger mixed in covered both their faces.

.

The soft breathing sounds in the makeshift nursery were unbelievably soothing to Havock. It almost lulled her into curling up on the floor and napping herself. Akilaa had come in and placed the sleeping Ellia in her crib just a few minutes ago. She had heard the door open and close a couple more times and at this point she wasn't sure who was in the house anymore. Which is why she jumped with a soft hand gently touched her shoulder.

Helena leaned over and made some adjustments to Ellia's pink and yellow blanket then placed her hand on the peaceful child's back. “I love it when she's sleeping. I could just watch her for hours.”

Havock nodded, she couldn't agree more. The other woman made a gesture and she knew that she was meant to follow her into the other room. It was surprisingly hard to tear her eyes away from Ellia, she was starting to feel protective of the child. Havock closed the door as quietly as she could before finding Helena.

She heard the mumbled words before her eyes had the chance to focus on the the lone figure standing in the living room. “I don't want to hurt you.”

Havock froze and stared at Helena's back. She had her arms crossed and she was looking down at the carpet on the floor. Stepping around so that she could face the suddenly timid woman, Havock raised her eyebrow. “Why...how would you hurt me, Hel?”

“You saw us, you. He's been yours for so long, and there are other issues but I don't want you angry with me on top of everything else.” She was obviously flustered, her cheeks were reddish against her pale face.

“Mine? Joamer?” Havock laughed causing a very confused expression to cross Helena's face. “No, listen to me Hel.” She grabbed her friends arm and sat them both down on the couch. “I care about Joamer, he has always been there when I needed someone. But I love Jae, he knows that. I want him to be happy, I think he could be happy with you.”

Helena smiled, then seemed to consider something. “Okay then, maybe you can help me. I need to know something. You know Joa probably better than anyone, do you think he could be a good parent?”

Havock was taken aback, she blinked and tried to search her brain for her analysis of  her best friends parenting skills. She could remember her and Joamer having conversations about either of them one day having children and settling down, neither of them were ready for that responsibility yet. But then again if they had to deal with it, could they?

“Joa...is nervous about caring for something so small. But, I think, he would be able to do it if he was guided and not pressured, given some encouragement from the people around him. The one thing I know for sure, Hel, when Joa decides he cares for someone he would protect them no matter what.”

Helena nodded and she could see a small smile start to form on her lips, then she made an exasperated sound and fell back on the couch. A commotion near the back door told her that they would be having company any second now. For some reason she thought that Helena might have appreciated just a few more moments alone.

He watched as Helena pushed passed him with Ellia in her arms. He reached out his hand to grab her but she dodged it, and walked off into the garden, vanishing from view a second later. He felt a tug on his arm as he starred off into the direction Helena had gone, part of his mind telling him to follow her and another telling him to stay.

Turning to his mother he shook his head slowly, for the first time in his life not knowing what to do. She starred at him a long moment, her face going through multiple emotions before settling on one of confused anger.

"I just got you back, we both just got you back." She sighed for a long moment. She was speaking about herself and Akilla. Her face changing to one of reluctant acceptance. After a long second she said "Go to her, if you don't you will never have her by your side."

Reaching up, he ran one hand down her cheek for a second before spinning on his heel and jogging off into the direction Helena and Ellia had gone. He wanted to look back, but he knew what he would see, his mom probably breaking down into tears over him leaving her after only a brief instant of being together again.


He ran into the garden and stopped, he listened for the sounds of Ellia finding some new thing to play with. He did have to admit, he was growing fond of hearing her laughing over every new thing. Hearing the soft laughter he walked in that direction.

He stopped at the edge of a row of bushes and went silent. He could hear Ellia playing with something, after a moment he heard the sounds of sniffling. Turning the corner he took a few steps and stopped, he saw Helena go stiff but not look at him. He was watching Ellia though, he wanted to see her reaction to him showing up again.

It took a moment, the baby was engrossed with one of her toys. After a long minute she looked over at him, her face scrunched up before she broke into a silly grin then went back to playing. Joamer walked over to Helena and looked down at her, she purposely ignored him, her eyes watching Ellia.

"May I sit down?" He asked hesitantly. His voice was unsure, he was in uncharted waters right now.

"It's your garden." She said without emotion in her voice, he saw her breath deep for a moment before changing into a calm face.

He sat down slowly, sitting between Helena and Ellia, but closer barely to Helena. He saw her look over and see this, but after a second she went back to watching her daughter. After a long moment of watching Ellia he said "You said it was up to Ellia what happens. She is growing on me, slowly. I don't dislike children, I'm just unsure around them. I don't have any experience with them." He trailed off as he become unsure of what to say.

"Everything is happening too fast, your sister and mom just got you back. You should think about staying for longer then I can." Helena said softly, her eyes not looking at him.

"We are here for a visit, my place is with the Empire. Helena, I know how much you hate your parents house. Why don't you come back to Tadath with us, we can get you a room in the city somewhere. Close enough that I can visit you and Ellia, and work on getting to know her." Joamer said as he watched Ellia dig a small hole in the soft dirt. "I don't want to lose either of you." He said suddenly, he knew it was the truth when he uttered the words.

"I'm just not so sure, Joa. The last time I let someone in I was hurt bad, why should I do it now for you? What do you have to offer my daughter and I?" Helena said with sudden anger and defiance in her voice.

He opened his mouth to say the obvious but closed it a second later. He knew what he must look like, a lecher. Someone who goes to woman after woman in hopes of getting with them, then leaving them. Sometimes he felt like that. He pined after Havock for so long, then to suddenly spin around and go after Helena. He would not be surprised if both woman left him behind. Few people believed him when he said nothing happened though.

Unable to answer her he just watched Ellia play in the dirt, the small mound she was building beginning to look like a small castle.