New Republic Medical Center, Coruscant. Wedge Antilles and General Cracken stood side by side in a dark observation room. Neither man spoke, their full attention given to the actions happening on the other side of an observation window.
On the other side was a solitary med room. There was a single bed, on which Alison Sky lay. She was dressed in the simple white gown of a medical patient, her hair braided and placed over her shoulder.
On either side of her sat Face Loran, her closest friend, and Wes Janson, her ex-boyfriend. Both were trying to get Alison to speak about what had happened to cause her to stab herself with her own sword.
But the one thing Alison was known for was her ability to keep her secrets.
"This is exactly why I didn't want her going back to Terra, Wedge," Cracken spoke suddenly. "On any other planet, she would have been cautious and effective. But she's too familiar with Terra, and that's what made her too cocky for her own good."
"I just wish she'd tell us how this happened," Wedge replied. "She's always been rash, but never suicidal."
"You don't think that stunt she pulled on the Admonitor wasn't suicidal?" Cracken asked, looking at Wedge with a raised eyebrow.
"We could call it heroics," Wedge stated. "She saved a lot of people that day."
"But look at what she sacrificed, Wedge." He motioned at the window. "Hell, even my best agents hadn't been able to trace her history. If she hadn't lost her hand, we probably wouldn't even know her relation to you."
"Are you admitting that my sister's family is better at Intel than you are?" Wedge asked amusedly.
"Not in the least," Cracken replied.
"But you still haven't found him and you've been searching for how long now?"
Cracken crossed his arms. "He just has a few more tricks up his sleeve that I have yet to figure out, that's all."
Wedge chuckled for a moment, and then returned his gaze to the next room. Face and Wes were now standing. Wes leaned over to give Alison a kiss, but she twisted her head away from him. Face placed a hand on his shoulder and the two went to exit the room.
"Let's go see what, if anything, they learned," Cracken stated. He walked past Wedge and out of the observation room. Wedge started to follow, then took one look back at Alison.
Her head was turned to the mirror, and she stared straight at where Wedge was standing. A single tear was working its way down her otherwise emotionally blank face. Wedge slowly placed a hand on the window, as if he could touch her somehow that way, then turned and followed Cracken.
Face closed the door to Alison's room, and then pressed his forehead to the metal there. "I had hoped that would work," he sighed.
Wes, his teeth gritted in anger, turned and punched his fist into the wall. He left behind a nice fist-sized hole, as well as some blood form his knuckles. He looked at his hand dismissively. "Someone had to do this to her," he stated, anger evident in his voice. "If I find the bastard that did this, I will make him pay!"
"You'll be doing no such thing, Major," Cracken stated. "The last thing I need you doing is interfering in the affairs of the Terrans, just to avenge the honor of your ex-girlfriend, who should not have even been there in the first place."
"Look at her, General!" Wes motioned to the door. "You know just how tough a person she is. She's dealt with monsters on the streets of Coruscant for the past six months, not to mention that stint on Agamar. You really think that the Terrans can handle someone who just put down one of your better agents?"
"Alison is a trainee, and not one of my better agents," Cracken stated. "Plus, the Terrans work as a team, something Alison never liked to do. That is where her, and their, strength lies."
"Though I hate to admit it, Cracken's right," Face spoke up from where he was leaning against the door. He stood up, sighing heavily. "I love Alison like the little sister I never had, but she did this to herself. She went off lone wolf again, thinking she could handle whatever happened, and it came back up to bite her, big time."
"I agree with Face. It's a common Corellian trait," Wedge put in.
"I wish she would just tell us why she did stupid crap like this." Wes was furious now. He could understand Cracken placing the blame for Alison's condition on herself, but Face and Wedge too?
"Another Corellian trait," Wedge stated.
"Will you stop it with that?" Wes shouted. He looked at Wedge with a deep anger in his eyes, then pushed himself past the group and started to walk off.
"Where are you going, Major?" Cracken asked, his voice making it known that his question was one to be answered.
"Since you won't let me go to Terra, I'm going to go find someone else to pound on." With that, he disappeared around a corner.
"I think that's Wes' talk for `I'm going to go hit the simulators and shoot things until the computers blow up'," Face translated.
"I feel sorry for whatever rookies are in there tonight," Wedge stated.
Face shook his head, and then looked back at the door to Alison's room. "So, what are you going to do with her, General?" he asked.
"Well, I think it's obvious that she's got something wrong with her," Cracken stated. "I don't think she's ever recovered from her exploits on Terra, and who knows what kind of conditioning her father put her through as a child." Wedge cleared his throat but Cracken ignored him.
"I won't be sending her back on missions, that's for sure," he continued. "Instead, I think she needs time to think and figure out what happened and come to terms with that. And there's only one place that she can do it safely, and where I can keep a good eye on her."
"Perdition," Face stated.
"Yes; far from our influences. and far from any Terran contacts." Cracken nodded. "She's going on the next flight after the doctors clear her for moving."
"Ah well, it is a nice place." Face saw the looks that Wedge and Cracken were giving him and shrugged. "What?! I've only been there twice, I swear!"