"Hey Mike, where are you!" Vickie's voice echoed through the Bat Cave. She sighed and began a cursory walkthrough looking for her friend. She'd long since given up trying to find him through the Force. He'd shut her completely out. It hurt like hell, but she hoped what she was about to tell him would change his feelings.
Up ahead, she saw Noreh working on one of the TIEs. She jogged up to the young woman. "Noreh, have you seen Mike?"
She lifted the goggles from her eyes. "He's not here?"
Vickie shook her head. "I didn't see him anywhere."
Noreh shrugged. "He's been rather down since we got back. Must have been all the time in bacta."
The older woman nodded. "I know the feeling. Well, thanks, I'll see if I can find him." She turned and waved as she jogged off out of the hangar.
Noreh waited until she was sure Vickie was gone, and then rapped three times on the hatch of the TIE. It eased open slowly, and Mike's head emerged from the darkness within. He was clad completely in black, and with the hood of his coat pulled over his head, Vickie hadn't even seen him. He stared towards the hangar door.
"You don't want to speak to her, do you?" Noreh asked, looking down at her friend with a bemused expression on her face. "And how did you know she was coming, anyway?"
"I always know where Vickie is," Mike said, absently. Then he looked up. "And I guess I do want to talk to her, if only to find out the truth about what's going on between her and Llessur."
"You think there really is a plot?" Noreh asked.
"Everything is weird," Mike said, his eyes still looking at where Vickie had gone. "I don't remember enough of what was in Vickie's head to be sure. But she was meeting with Llessur, and then Paris was weird, and..."
"Who else do you think might be involved?" Noreh asked, carefully.
"Llessur Atner stands to gain a great deal if she can place her choice of Queen on the throne. She is the prime suspect, and, well, it's not like anyone else is likely to be as bothered about who Thayer marries. But most of the current Ladies in Waiting would love a shot at the Queendom; we know that..." he trailed off, remembering how it was he'd discovered that. He looked up quickly at Noreh, but she didn't seem to have noticed.
"A Lady in Waiting like Lenka Leannan, perhaps?" the blonde pilot asked.
"Maybe. She's the one who's with Thayer right now, after all," Mike said. Sighing, he hauled himself from the TIE cockpit, grunting as his tired muscles complained at the unwanted exertion. Perching on the rim of the cockpit, he added; "From what I can remember, it's most likely Llessur is running the show, that the Ladies in Waiting are her pawns... I'd like to know for sure where Vickie comes in, though."
"So go ask her," Noreh suggested. In reply, Mike pivoted on the TIE's roof, and slid to the ground.
"I guess I'd better," he replied, heading for the door, pulling his hood up as he walked.
Vickie's search ended at the cliffs. She sighed and sat down, dangling her legs over the side of the short wall that was supposed to prevent anyone from falling. Fat lot it would do if someone really wanted to push someone or commit suicide.
Ever since she'd left Llessur's quarters, she'd wanted to find Mike to tell him the news. She'd passed several of the Ladies-in-Waiting, all who looked at her with a curious expression. Her senses told her they were curious, but she dared not to delve any further.
She looked into the sky. Somewhere, many lightyears away, was her "twin". "I screwed up big time, Kel. I hope you will be able to forgive me."
A meteorite shot across the sky. She smiled, hoping that really was an answer. She turned her body to lay along the wall. The sky was quite clear, which made it a bit chilly by the ocean. She deserved the chill. She deserved whatever happened.
Mike watched from the shadows nearby. He was curious as to why she was so desperately looking for him. He had followed her ever since she'd left the Bat Cave and watched her ask everyone if they had seen him. Over and over again her face fell in defeat. Now he watched as her eyes closed, and he knew that Vickie was struggling to fight back tears. He sighed, and stepped forward, pulling the jacket from around his shoulders as he did so.
Vickie suddenly felt a warmth envelop her, as a heaviness settled on her shoulders. At first she was confused, then realised what was going on, and relaxed into the warmness of the coat. Her eyes still shut, she listened as someone sat down beside her and sighed. She managed a small grin. Even Mike's sighs had a British accent.
"So talk already," he said.
"I've stopped working for Llessur," Vickie said. "I just wanted everyone to be happy. I thought I could do it, I really did."
Mike reached out and tapped Vickie on the chest. "You have something on your shirt."
Vickie looked down, instinctively, and Mike tapped her on the nose. "Gotcha."
Vickie looked at Mike as though he'd gone mad, but he just grinned. "Allow an ex-padawan to ask you a question?"
She nodded silently, and Mike pulled the hood of the coat over her eyes.
"What do you see? This isn't a trick question, incidentally."
"Well... nothing. I can't see anything."
"And if you reach out with the Force?" Mike asked.
"I can feel the castle, the people in it, their emotions..."
"Can you tell what they're thinking?"
"What? No, I can't."
"No, I didn't think so," Mike replied. He stared out to sea, then; "Why did you think you could before, then?"
"I didn't!" Vickie almost shouted. She pushed the hood back from her eyes, and glared at Mike.
"Hmm. Well, you tried to decide for Becki, Josh and Thayer exactly what would be going on between them. We've just seen that one can't always see what's going on, and even with the Force, perceptions aren't perfect..."
"What are you trying to say?" Vickie asked, looking small inside the huge jacket.
"Just... relax, V. You can't do everyhting yourself. I know you thought you were acting for the best, and saving everyone from heartache, but sometimes we need to feel the pain to appreciate the good things in life. I know you've left Llessur's employ, by the way. Scuttlebutt says that she's not happy, which suggests you did the right thing, in the end."
"I just couldn't keep on with it," Vickie said, sinking into a slouch. "What you're saying is right. I realised early that I wasn't going to help anyone the way I was going about it. I didn't really do anything, anyway. What happened between Josh and Becki happened because of them, not anything I did..."
She tailed off, as she realised Mike was looking at her curiously. "What happened between them?"
"You don't know?"
"I don't know a lot of what happened in Paris. As best as I can remember, I got beaten up, and there's a lot of blank spots."
"I might be able to help you with that," Vickie said. "But what you probably need to know is; Becki and Josh kissed."
Mike let out a low whistle. "No shit," he said. "Well, that's not good. Still, have you eaten?"
"What? No, no I haven't. Not since this morning. I've been looking for you all day."
"Even a Jedi needs nourishment, V," he said with a wry smile. "Come on, I think Rich was doing dinner when I went past earlier. Probably ready by now, although my watch didn't survive Paris, so I don't know what time it is."
"About seven," Vickie said, absently. "Mike?"
"Yeah, V?" he said, standing, and offering his hand to his once-again-friend.
"Why can't I read you anymore? I haven't been able to scan you, or check on your health, or anything since... well, since the day we hit the warehouse."
Mike blushed, before muttering something under his breath. Vickie strained to pick up his words, before giving up.
"I can't hear you," she said. Mike sighed, and looked stonily over her shoulder.
"It was before that... After the bomb blast. When you were unconscious. You were in my head. I saw you..."
"Talking to Llessur? But that's done with now. Why are you still blocking me?"
"It wasn't that," Mike said, evasively, turning a bright shade of purple.
"What, then?" Vickie asked, unable to work out what had embarassed her usually shameless friend.
"V, what'd you do the night before we left? Who were you with?"
"Well, I was in my quarters, getting ready, with Rich. Then we went to bed... Oh..."
Mike was glaring furiously up at the night sky, utterly refusing to meet Vickie's eyes.
"You saw that?" she asked, giggling. "That's why you've been blocking me? And Josh? I was so worried!" With that, she burst into laughter, stumbling backwards against a steep part of the cliff, which she slid down, tears streaming down her face as she laughed. Eventually, even Mike recovered from his embarassment enough to join in the laughing, albeit in somewhat subdued form.
Finally, the laughs subsided enough for Vickie to stand up again. "I can't believe you, Mikey," she said. Mike just shrugged.
"So, you gonna open up to me again?" Vicked asked.
"You gonna promise to keep your subconscious to yourself?" Mike countered.
"Sure, so long as there's no more bombs that I'm forced to shield five people from," she replied, easily. Mike just gave her a mournful look, and blinked. Vickie smiled as her friend once again became available to her.
"How do you do that?" she asked.
"Meditation," he replied. "Dinner?" he added, offering her his arm. As she took it, she pulled up short. "You're quitting?"
"Dinner," he replied. "It's a long story, and I'm hungry."