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Zavvi gave a great sigh as she felt her beloved freighter lift higher and higher, away from danger, and she rested her back against the metal wall as her adrenaline waned.
She heard the clatter of Risha's footsteps as she hurried over to them, ready to give the captain an ear full for getting involved with a Sith, but as the woman rounded the corner and took in the sight, her anger died on her lips, eyes widening at the state of Zavvi and Corso. She looked to the Twi'lek, who took a moment to catch her breath.
"Bowdaar, get Corso to the med bay stat; drag him if you must, but we gotta get him attention right now." The wookie growled an affrimation, hauling the heavily armoured mercenary up and carrying him to the med bay, blood dripping with ever step. She followed them, and Risha took one look at the captain and hurried back to the bridge.

The Twi'lek and wookie managed to get Corso onto the first medical cot they could reach, and Zavvi quickly began to unlatch and unbuckle all of the durasteel plates from his body, shouting for Bowdaar to bring her numerous vials of kolto and medication, as well as plenty of bandages. Corso groaned with pain as the last drops of adrenaline disappeared from his body, pain and fatigue rolling over him like waves. The smuggler took stock of his injuries: his upper thigh and lower hip had been burnt and was bleeding badly; it was where he was losing most of his blood, one of eyes were rapidly filling with blood due to a burst blood vessel, a blaster burn to his shoulder; mercifully not bleeding, bruises over his throat from the Force choke, and the large laceration on the back of his thigh; it was lucky that his entire leg was not severed and it only cut him. Unfortunately, it meant the amount of blood the Mantellian was losing was dragging him closer and closer to shock.
Zavvi concluded that they needed to stem his bleeding as quickly as possible before bundling him into the kolto tank. She knew he hated the claustrophobic nature of the container, but if he didn't go in, it was entirely possible he'd expire on the cot.
"Bowdaar, fill the tank!" She commanded, the wookie nodding and moving away. Corso shifted, moaning. "Corso, stay still, or you'll bleed more. We need you in that tank or you'll die." She gently flushed his bleeding eye with saline, causing him to wince, and then adding droplets of kolto into the mixture to repair the vessel. She continued this until no more blood appeared, moving down to clean his thigh wound, the clotting that was occurring just not sufficent for the amount of haemorraging.

She was absorbed in her task when she noticed his breathing was getting more ragged and weak. She looked up, and to her horror saw he was very pale and his eyes only just focused on her.
"Corso..." She spoke, watching him blink slowly.
"...I'm cold, Captain..." He murmured softly. Zavvi swallowed hard, quickly grabbing some sheets from the other medical cot nearby and hurriedly draping them over his body as it shivered slightly. No, please, don't go into shock, please... She thought.
"Is that better? We'll get you some painkillers; Bow, there's some morphine in the green crate on the top shelf of the cargo hold, get me two vials!" She called out to her crewmate. "Thank you!"
"...tired..." The mercenary mumbled, eyelids drooping at half mast. Zavvi's heart felt as if it was being squeezed by a vice and quickly moved up to his face, holding his cheeks.
"No, Corso, stay with me!" She shook him slightly, to get him to focus. "Don't you dare fall asleep on me! Not after we got out of that alive! You hear me? Stay awake, Corso, please!" Tears began to well up in her eyes, and she felt a fatigue drop over her as well, having not dealt with the bleeding wound on her back, which was starting to weaken her as well.

Bowdaar came back with the morphine, rumbling to get Zavvi's attention as he saw her starting to cry. She looked up, tears sliding down over her cheeks and down her nose.
"T-thanks." She sniffed, taking the morphine from him. "Come on, Corso, stay with me, please..."
"Captain." Risha's voice snapped at Zavvi's attention, and the Twi'lek looked up to older woman, not bothering to wipe her face of tears.
"Yes?" Her voice wavered unhappily, and a part of her wondered why the mechanic didn't seem to have a judgemental expression.
"I've directed the Skylark to a nearby Republic space hospital. We'll be there in a couple of minutes, and I've sent them an emergency call to treat the both of you as soon as you get off." She said, looking at wounded mercenary sadly. She may think he was too much of hick for her, but to see him in this sorry state tugged at her heartstrings.
The smuggler frowned with puzzlement.
"Corso's the most badly wounded of us. Why do I have to go in? I'm not that badly hurt." She asked, giving him an injection of fluids and Bowdaar placed a rough bandage on Corso's thigh to protect the open wound. Risha pointed first to the blood splattered floor, then to her trouser leg.
"Captain, you have a large back wound that's open and bleeding everywhere, just Corso's wounds are doing. If you don't get any treatment, you'll be in just as sorry state as he's in." She sighed. "Trust me, Captain, you're the most capable person I've hired to do this, and I'd like if you stuck around, honestly."
Zavvi couldn't help but smile a little.
"Cheers, Risha." The woman looked at her, a little surprised. "I mean it, Rish. Thanks a lot. Take the bridge for now, me and Bow will sort Corso out. And don't worry," a slight, pained grin, "I won't pass this around the galaxy." Risha couldn't help but smile too.
"I appreciate it, Captain." And with that, she went back to the Skylark's bridge. Zavvi turned to the weakened Corso.
"Please hold on Cor...You'll be alright soon..." She whispered to him, gripping his hand tightly, tasting the salt of her tears.

Three days after Zavvi and Corso had been rushed into emergency care at the Cresh space hospital, the Twi'lek was observing her new back scar in a mirror sadly. It was lighter than her normal skin colour, the scar tissue stretched over the wound where they'd stitched it closed. She hadn't wanted it stitched, another thing to remind her of her forehead scar, but they'd insisted that if they didn't, she'd be in very bad shape later, so she'd eventually relented. Hadn't stopped her yanking the stitches out as soon as she could, to which the doctors allowed her that victory. She turned back around, looking into her eyes. Another scar on her body, a rather ugly one at that. Normally she would've thought about how it was gonig to be harder to find a man who wasn't turned off by a woman with deep scars such as that, but this time all she could think about was going to see how Corso was doing. All she knew was he'd been rushed into intensive care as soon as they'd got hold of him and she hadn't seen him for a while. She hoped he was okay.

The smuggler shook her head of those thoughts, going over to the neat pile of clothes to get dressed. The feel of her leathers against her skin relaxed her, and made her feel more confident, more herself. SeeTwo had done a very good job repairing her shirt and jacket, but Zavvi decided then to get rid of them. They too were marked by the event, and she wanted no reminders; she needed to put as much distance between her and the event as possible. She looked back at herself in the mirror, and saw her uncertainity, her fear. A sliver of anger flared up at the sight of vulnerability. Zavvi stood upright, rolling her shoulders back and closed her heart.
Time to see Corso.

Stars, it was so unfair for him to look so happy to see her. They'd been separated from each other since they arrived, mostly because of Corso's critical injuries that needed urgent care (to his chagrin, he'd been bundled into a kolto tank). Now his injuries were healed (with new scars to join his already impressive collection), he'd been fished out and allowed to clean himself up. Sitting in a soft grey trousers and white shirt, Corso's brown eyes were shining to see Zavvi again, looking fit and healthy herself.

"Hey Captain." He spoke softly, voice husky with lack of use. "You alright?" He asked, eyes flicking over her briefly.
"Yeah, I'm fine." A smile that didn't reach her eyes. "They did a good job on you; you look intact." Corso frowned slightly, and she thought she'd been rumbled.
"Yeah, they stitched me up, but then they stuffed me in that damn tank." He grumbled, the Twi'lek feeling relief that his annoyance wasn't directed at her. Her heart twisted slightly then as he brightened. "But they said I could go now, that I'm all good. I guess they said the same for you too, Captain?" His chipper attitude hurt with what she was about to say to him.
"Yeah. We can go today." She said, and Corso quickly picked up on the anxiety in her voice. His brows furrowed, and he sat up slightly, his full attention on her.
"Captain? What's wrong?" He asked, before feeling immediately stupid as he recalled what had happened. Of course something was wrong, with what that Sith did to her! He kept his mouth shut as his captain shifted on the stop, trying to pluck up the courage to say what she knew she had to say. I can do this, I can say this, I need to say this, I need to, for him and me...It's better this way, honestly... her thoughts tried to convinced her, and she took a breath.

"Corso...I..." Stars, why is it so hard to say this? "I...we can't keep doing this." His eyes widened.
Oh no, please don't be what I think this is... the young man thought to himself.
"W-What do you mean, Captain?" He did know, even before she clarified, but he was desperately hoping it wasn't so.
"We can't keep 'courting'." She replied, ignoring the tightness in her chest. "It's too dangerous. You saw how those Sith used us against one another. First with Vaverone, then Feyrl..." She moved away a little.
"Za-" Corso hadn't the chance to get her name out before she talked over him quickly, almost if she'd expected him to argue.
"This is why I've never gotten close to anyone, Corso! Stuff like this just proves it! We're just being used against each other, just as weapons to strike hard at someone! It's not fair on you, or me! We can't, we can't do this!" Desperation was bleeding out of her voice.
Corso feel his heart starting to break, and for a brief moment, he didn't know what to say. But he did know that he had to fight for her; she was slipping away, and if he didn't do anything he might not ever get another chance with her.
"Zavvi..." He began, noticing her tense. "Zavvi please, we can do this."
"No we can't!" She cried, keeping her back to him. As much as Corso was tempted to reach out and touch her lekku, knowing the right touch would soothe her, he knew this was something that needed be worked out by itself; no tricks or get-out-of-jail-free cards.
"Zavvi..." He sighed. There was no easy answer to this. What could he say to reassure her?

"What that Sith did to me...I won't let anyone do anythin' that to me again."
"You can't promise that." Zavvi said, voice wavering. Corso shifted.
"Perhaps not. But I swear, Captain, that I'll never hurt you. I'll shoot myself before I ever shoot you, and before that I'll fight it so damn hard my head'll have to blow if I don't get free." He clenched his fist to underscore his promise. "As for the other one, Feyrl..." A pause. "Captain, I hit her because of what she did to you, not me." He watched her almost freeze in place. "Sure, it was hell, what she did to me. But...The way you looked after she let me go...You just looked like ya life had just been sucked right outta you." Corso looked away, to one of the clean white walls.

"And it hurt, Cap- Zavvi." He looked back to her, and she was looking over her shoulder, eyes wide. "You're the strongest person I've ever known, and to see how she just, just..." He shook his head. "I couldn't stand it, I had to hit her. I didn't want her to do to you want she did to me..." A hand traced his throat, feeling it ache slightly in sympathy. "Captain, I know our job ain't sunshine and rainbows, but...But that's not a reason not to try, surely?"
"You don't understand!" She cried, hugging herself. "I could've died! You could've died! It's not fair!"

Corso remembered how Zavvi had spoken of the 'unfairness of leaving love to waste' on the bridge of the Skylark when they'd got it back, and then her sister Xuleena's comment that she was scared of her heart joing the list of things the smuggler had broken. He couldn't be completely sure if she felt anything back to him, though he knew she trusted and liked him. But Corso knew he'd fallen for her, and he couldn't just let her draw away from him without a fight, because he realized now that she was scared. He felt another twist of hate towards the Sith warrior for having hurt his captain mentally, as well as physically; it was causing Zavvi to raise her armour once more to hide herself, and the mercenary was desperate not to lose her to her uncertainity, to let her know he could help her, that he'd do anything for her.
He just had to make her see...

"Zavvi." He waited until she looked at him, feeling his heart wince at her expression, tears twinkling in the corners of her eyes. He swallowed hard. "I'll always be here for you. If you need a shoulder to cry on, someone to talk to when the nightmares come, or anything, anything at all, I'll be there for you." He lifted a hand to silence the protest. "It's a promise I'm damned well gonna keep, Zavvi. I'm gonna make sure that I never do anything else that needs your forgiveness, or that'll hurt you or that'll break your heart. I'm not that guy whose gonna leave a lady in the dust just because he saw someone prettier, or she winked at him in that way. I'm the one who's gonna be here, waiting for you. And maybe we'll be old and grey. And maybe that's when you realize that I've been here all along, that I've never looked at another woman but you. And that's when I'll take you in my arms and say: 'What took you so long, Captain?'" He smiled somewhat weakly.

"I'll wait for as long as you need, Zavvi. We don't need to rush it and ruin it all. If you wanna take your time about it all, then you can. I ain't gonna hurry you, but I just..." A sigh. "I just don't wanna leave you. I want to show you I can be something more to you, if you'll let me."

A tense silence descended, and Riggs wondered if he'd botched it up. Had he said something that got her ire? Had he not convinced her to keep this relationship going? His teeth worried at his bottom lip and he hoped and prayed that her next words weren't her shutting him out forever...

A strangled sob came the Twi'lek, her shoulders knotting and head bowing. The young man glimpsed a flash of a tear sliding down her nose, another twinkling by her cheek. Another she didn't speak, Corso got closer, ready to comfort and soothe her however he could, and yet waiting for permission to do so, his respect for his captain strong even when it looked like she was a wreck. He didn't judge her; everyone was allowed to be weak and cry. Even Zavvi had to obey that rule, even though it made him hurt inside.

"H-Hold me..."
It only took that feeble sob for Corso to quickly wrap Zavvi up in his embrace, holding her close to his body and resting her head to his chest, sharing her strength and warmth with her. Somehow she felt very fragile, a difference to their first proper hug, when he could sense her latent power, just waiting for combat. Now it seemed to have vanished, and Corso found his protective instinct surging, wanting to take her under his wing and fight anyone who dared tried to take advantage of her. And yet her knew she was more than capable of defending herself without his assistance, and the mercenary was caught in this bizarre paradox, quite unsure what to think.
But he knew that the least he could do was be there for her, to be a safe harbour in the midst of a tempest.

They stayed like this quite a while, Zavvi trying to stop her tears whilst Corso just held her, one hand very gently stroking a lekku with the lightest of touches. The Twi'lek didn't need or want to rely on anyone to pick her up after bad scraps, so a part of her loathed the fact she was letting Corso in to hold her and comfort her. But the rest of her was infinitely grateful for him, the way he didn't bat much of an eyelid at her state (well, he did, but it made him only want to help, which wasn't that bad she supposed) and how he held her and touched her with such care and attention...It was too early for his words to sink in just yet, but already she was becoming accustomed to his warmth, the muscles underneath his shirt, and the deep, melodic booms of his heart that soothed her.
As much as she still wanted to run and hide her heart away from him, another half of her yearned for what Corso had to offer. Again she questioned if he was real or just a figment of an over-active imagination; surely someone like him couldn't exist in the galaxy, which was full of people only out for themselves just so they could get through the day alive? And how could it be a rancher's son from Ord Mantell? It didn't seem to make any sense, but yet the smuggler didn't really give damn, not right now. Not when he was offering comfort for her pains.

Give it just one more go. The matriarch in her head said softly. You won't get anyone like this again.

But I'll need to tell him about what happened. She trembled as she thought about it. What would he think of her, when he realized she was brain damaged? Would he reject her? Would he think she was a freak?

Yes. But not right now. You can do it later, when you're sure he won't run off. The logic seemed sound enough, and Zavvi accepted this. She'd tell him, hopefully sooner rather than later, but not just yet.

The Mantellian felt her shift and released his grip, letting her slip away from him. He stifled the sense of loss.
"Feelin' any better?" He asked softly, brown eyes watching her intently. She sniffed slightly, rubbing the last droplets of tears from her eyes.
"Yeah." She replied, and Corso's heart warmed slightly. She looked up at him, light green eyes slightly bloodshot. "You wanna...stay with me?" She asked.
"Of course, Captain. There's nothing I'd like more." He replied with a warm smile. The Twi'lek made a sound that was a cross between a snort and a sigh.
"You're one stubborn bastard. Mind it doesn't get you hurt in the end." Corso had to stop the wide grin from taking over his lips as he noticed the captain pull herself together again, closing her armour around her and exhibiting her tough persona once again, so he didn't even care that she was half-heartedly trying to ward him off again.
"It's a little too late fer that now, Captain." He commented, rubbing the scars on his nose. "I'm not the one 't back down when there's someone in trouble."

A small smile graced her lips.
"Rooting for the underdog, were you?" She asked.
"Always, Captain. And helping 'em too! Mom always chewed me out for it, but I couldn't help it." He shrugged. "I just can't stand a bully."
"Me and you both." Zavvi said softly, before shaking her head, closing the conversation before Corso could ask more prying questions. She kept wondering how he kept managing to sneak past her defences.

"Are you two done?" Came an unimpressed female voice, and the two whirled to see Risha leaning against the door frame, a smirk on her lips.
"You were watching us!" Corso spluttered, a bright red blush exploding over his face. The woman chuckled.
"You could say that." She raised an eyebrow. "Is there something you lovebirds need to tell me?"
"We're not lovebirds!" Zavvi snapped. "We're just friends!"
Corso winced slightly at that, but reassured himself that the Twi'lek was just saying that because Risha was in the room.
"Explain the canoodling, then." Risha was trying to stop her smirk from widening, with limited success as the farm boy seemed to have decided he was a Sith Pureblood and the captain was surprising good to tease.
"Well," Zavvi began, but couldn't quickly formulate a plausible story in the time Risha had given her, until Corso decided to step in.
"The Captain was feeling a little low about havin' another scar on her, so I was jus' reassuring her that it weren't all that bad." He said, puffing his chest out a little proudly, first because he figured it would quickly shut Risha up, and also it was an attempt to defuse his rather large blush. He just hoped Zavvi wouldn't mind his choice of words.

Risha raised her brow a little bit higher.
"You don't look like you have many scars, Captain." She said.
"I don't have many, and I prefer to keep it that way. Just a bummer that this one won't fade." Zavvi replied, easily slipping into Corso's version of events. "Would prefer not to look like a warrior who's been through seven wars in a row."
"Or like him." Risha sneered, nodding her head at Corso.
"I don't have that many!" He retorted.
"Oh really? Just take a look at your arms for a start, let alone what's on your legs and torso!" She grinned as his blush returned in full force, realizing Risha must have seen him nip from the crew showers to the refresher at one time.
"Stop teasing the farm boy, Rish." The captain spoke, relieving the mercenary from any further embarrassment. "I assume you came to find us?"
"Yeah, I did. Next job's come through; that rusty droid Skavak picked up from Ord's going next, and you'll be able to get rid of that head too."
"Thank the stars!" Corso breathed. "I swear that blasted thing was watching me every time I went in that place!"
"Where's it on?" Zavvi asked, leading out of the door.
"Alderaan, Captain."
Corso noticed the smuggler's eyes sparkle.
"That makes going through Taris and Tatooine all worthwhile!" She cried happily, picking up the pace so suddenly the others had to jog to catch up with her.
"What's so great about Alderaan, Captain?" Corso asked, briefly hearing Risha mutter something about 'stuck up nobles'. Zavvi looked over to him with the brightest eyes he'd seen since she'd got her ship back.
"You know you've always wanted to go to a nice planet?" She spoke eagerly.
"Yeah-"
"Well, you're gonna be in for a treat!" At that the captain sped off, Corso and Risha trying to follow behind her.

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Zavvi gave a great sigh as she felt her beloved freighter lift higher and higher, away from danger, and she rested her back against the metal wall as her adrenaline waned.
She heard the clatter of Risha's footsteps as she hurried over to them, ready to give the captain an ear full for getting involved with a Sith, but as the woman rounded the corner and took in the sight, her anger died on her lips, eyes widening at the state of Zavvi and Corso. She looked to the Twi'lek, who took a moment to catch her breath.
"Bowdaar, get Corso to the med bay stat; drag him if you must, but we gotta get him attention right now." The wookie growled an affrimation, hauling the heavily armoured mercenary up and carrying him to the med bay, blood dripping with ever step. She followed them, and Risha took one look at the captain and hurried back to the bridge.

The Twi'lek and wookie managed to get Corso onto the first medical cot they could reach, and Zavvi quickly began to unlatch and unbuckle all of the durasteel plates from his body, shouting for Bowdaar to bring her numerous vials of kolto and medication, as well as plenty of bandages. Corso groaned with pain as the last drops of adrenaline disappeared from his body, pain and fatigue rolling over him like waves. The smuggler took stock of his injuries: his upper thigh and lower hip had been burnt and was bleeding badly; it was where he was losing most of his blood, one of eyes were rapidly filling with blood due to a burst blood vessel, a blaster burn to his shoulder; mercifully not bleeding, bruises over his throat from the Force choke, and the large laceration on the back of his thigh; it was lucky that his entire leg was not severed and it only cut him. Unfortunately, it meant the amount of blood the Mantellian was losing was dragging him closer and closer to shock.
Zavvi concluded that they needed to stem his bleeding as quickly as possible before bundling him into the kolto tank. She knew he hated the claustrophobic nature of the container, but if he didn't go in, it was entirely possible he'd expire on the cot.
"Bowdaar, fill the tank!" She commanded, the wookie nodding and moving away. Corso shifted, moaning. "Corso, stay still, or you'll bleed more. We need you in that tank or you'll die." She gently flushed his bleeding eye with saline, causing him to wince, and then adding droplets of kolto into the mixture to repair the vessel. She continued this until no more blood appeared, moving down to clean his thigh wound, the clotting that was occurring just not sufficent for the amount of haemorraging.

She was absorbed in her task when she noticed his breathing was getting more ragged and weak. She looked up, and to her horror saw he was very pale and his eyes only just focused on her.
"Corso..." She spoke, watching him blink slowly.
"...I'm cold, Captain..." He murmured softly. Zavvi swallowed hard, quickly grabbing some sheets from the other medical cot nearby and hurriedly draping them over his body as it shivered slightly. No, please, don't go into shock, please... She thought.
"Is that better? We'll get you some painkillers; Bow, there's some morphine in the green crate on the top shelf of the cargo hold, get me two vials!" She called out to her crewmate. "Thank you!"
"...tired..." The mercenary mumbled, eyelids drooping at half mast. Zavvi's heart felt as if it was being squeezed by a vice and quickly moved up to his face, holding his cheeks.
"No, Corso, stay with me!" She shook him slightly, to get him to focus. "Don't you dare fall asleep on me! Not after we got out of that alive! You hear me? Stay awake, Corso, please!" Tears began to well up in her eyes, and she felt a fatigue drop over her as well, having not dealt with the bleeding wound on her back, which was starting to weaken her as well.

Bowdaar came back with the morphine, rumbling to get Zavvi's attention as he saw her starting to cry. She looked up, tears sliding down over her cheeks and down her nose.
"T-thanks." She sniffed, taking the morphine from him. "Come on, Corso, stay with me, please..."
"Captain." Risha's voice snapped at Zavvi's attention, and the Twi'lek looked up to older woman, not bothering to wipe her face of tears.
"Yes?" Her voice wavered unhappily, and a part of her wondered why the mechanic didn't seem to have a judgemental expression.
"I've directed the Skylark to a nearby Republic space hospital. We'll be there in a couple of minutes, and I've sent them an emergency call to treat the both of you as soon as you get off." She said, looking at wounded mercenary sadly. She may think he was too much of hick for her, but to see him in this sorry state tugged at her heartstrings.
The smuggler frowned with puzzlement.
"Corso's the most badly wounded of us. Why do I have to go in? I'm not that badly hurt." She asked, giving him an injection of fluids and Bowdaar placed a rough bandage on Corso's thigh to protect the open wound. Risha pointed first to the blood splattered floor, then to her trouser leg.
"Captain, you have a large back wound that's open and bleeding everywhere, just Corso's wounds are doing. If you don't get any treatment, you'll be in just as sorry state as he's in." She sighed. "Trust me, Captain, you're the most capable person I've hired to do this, and I'd like if you stuck around, honestly."
Zavvi couldn't help but smile a little.
"Cheers, Risha." The woman looked at her, a little surprised. "I mean it, Rish. Thanks a lot. Take the bridge for now, me and Bow will sort Corso out. And don't worry," a slight, pained grin, "I won't pass this around the galaxy." Risha couldn't help but smile too.
"I appreciate it, Captain." And with that, she went back to the Skylark's bridge. Zavvi turned to the weakened Corso.
"Please hold on Cor...You'll be alright soon..." She whispered to him, gripping his hand tightly, tasting the salt of her tears.

Three days after Zavvi and Corso had been rushed into emergency care at the Cresh space hospital, the Twi'lek was observing her new back scar in a mirror sadly. It was lighter than her normal skin colour, the scar tissue stretched over the wound where they'd stitched it closed. She hadn't wanted it stitched, another thing to remind her of her forehead scar, but they'd insisted that if they didn't, she'd be in very bad shape later, so she'd eventually relented. Hadn't stopped her yanking the stitches out as soon as she could, to which the doctors allowed her that victory. She turned back around, looking into her eyes. Another scar on her body, a rather ugly one at that. Normally she would've thought about how it was gonig to be harder to find a man who wasn't turned off by a woman with deep scars such as that, but this time all she could think about was going to see how Corso was doing. All she knew was he'd been rushed into intensive care as soon as they'd got hold of him and she hadn't seen him for a while. She hoped he was okay.

The smuggler shook her head of those thoughts, going over to the neat pile of clothes to get dressed. The feel of her leathers against her skin relaxed her, and made her feel more confident, more herself. SeeTwo had done a very good job repairing her shirt and jacket, but Zavvi decided then to get rid of them. They too were marked by the event, and she wanted no reminders; she needed to put as much distance between her and the event as possible. She looked back at herself in the mirror, and saw her uncertainity, her fear. A sliver of anger flared up at the sight of vulnerability. Zavvi stood upright, rolling her shoulders back and closed her heart.
Time to see Corso.

Stars, it was so unfair for him to look so happy to see her. They'd been separated from each other since they arrived, mostly because of Corso's critical injuries that needed urgent care (to his chagrin, he'd been bundled into a kolto tank). Now his injuries were healed (with new scars to join his already impressive collection), he'd been fished out and allowed to clean himself up. Sitting in a soft grey trousers and white shirt, Corso's brown eyes were shining to see Zavvi again, looking fit and healthy herself.

"Hey Captain." He spoke softly, voice husky with lack of use. "You alright?" He asked, eyes flicking over her briefly.
"Yeah, I'm fine." A smile that didn't reach her eyes. "They did a good job on you; you look intact." Corso frowned slightly, and she thought she'd been rumbled.
"Yeah, they stitched me up, but then they stuffed me in that damn tank." He grumbled, the Twi'lek feeling relief that his annoyance wasn't directed at her. Her heart twisted slightly then as he brightened. "But they said I could go now, that I'm all good. I guess they said the same for you too, Captain?" His chipper attitude hurt with what she was about to say to him.
"Yeah. We can go today." She said, and Corso quickly picked up on the anxiety in her voice. His brows furrowed, and he sat up slightly, his full attention on her.
"Captain? What's wrong?" He asked, before feeling immediately stupid as he recalled what had happened. Of course something was wrong, with what that Sith did to her! He kept his mouth shut as his captain shifted on the stop, trying to pluck up the courage to say what she knew she had to say. I can do this, I can say this, I need to say this, I need to, for him and me...It's better this way, honestly... her thoughts tried to convinced her, and she took a breath.

"Corso...I..." Stars, why is it so hard to say this? "I...we can't keep doing this." His eyes widened.
Oh no, please don't be what I think this is... the young man thought to himself.
"W-What do you mean, Captain?" He did know, even before she clarified, but he was desperately hoping it wasn't so.
"We can't keep 'courting'." She replied, ignoring the tightness in her chest. "It's too dangerous. You saw how those Sith used us against one another. First with Vaverone, then Feyrl..." She moved away a little.
"Za-" Corso hadn't the chance to get her name out before she talked over him quickly, almost if she'd expected him to argue.
"This is why I've never gotten close to anyone, Corso! Stuff like this just proves it! We're just being used against each other, just as weapons to strike hard at someone! It's not fair on you, or me! We can't, we can't do this!" Desperation was bleeding out of her voice.
Corso feel his heart starting to break, and for a brief moment, he didn't know what to say. But he did know that he had to fight for her; she was slipping away, and if he didn't do anything he might not ever get another chance with her.
"Zavvi..." He began, noticing her tense. "Zavvi please, we can do this."
"No we can't!" She cried, keeping her back to him. As much as Corso was tempted to reach out and touch her lekku, knowing the right touch would soothe her, he knew this was something that needed be worked out by itself; no tricks or get-out-of-jail-free cards.
"Zavvi..." He sighed. There was no easy answer to this. What could he say to reassure her?

"What that Sith did to me...I won't let anyone do anythin' that to me again."
"You can't promise that." Zavvi said, voice wavering. Corso shifted.
"Perhaps not. But I swear, Captain, that I'll never hurt you. I'll shoot myself before I ever shoot you, and before that I'll fight it so damn hard my head'll have to blow if I don't get free." He clenched his fist to underscore his promise. "As for the other one, Feyrl..." A pause. "Captain, I hit her because of what she did to you, not me." He watched her almost freeze in place. "Sure, it was hell, what she did to me. But...The way you looked after she let me go...You just looked like ya life had just been sucked right outta you." Corso looked away, to one of the clean white walls.

"And it hurt, Cap- Zavvi." He looked back to her, and she was looking over her shoulder, eyes wide. "You're the strongest person I've ever known, and to see how she just, just..." He shook his head. "I couldn't stand it, I had to hit her. I didn't want her to do to you want she did to me..." A hand traced his throat, feeling it ache slightly in sympathy. "Captain, I know our job ain't sunshine and rainbows, but...But that's not a reason not to try, surely?"
"You don't understand!" She cried, hugging herself. "I could've died! You could've died! It's not fair!"

Corso remembered how Zavvi had spoken of the 'unfairness of leaving love to waste' on the bridge of the Skylark when they'd got it back, and then her sister Xuleena's comment that she was scared of her heart joing the list of things the smuggler had broken. He couldn't be completely sure if she felt anything back to him, though he knew she trusted and liked him. But Corso knew he'd fallen for her, and he couldn't just let her draw away from him without a fight, because he realized now that she was scared. He felt another twist of hate towards the Sith warrior for having hurt his captain mentally, as well as physically; it was causing Zavvi to raise her armour once more to hide herself, and the mercenary was desperate not to lose her to her uncertainity, to let her know he could help her, that he'd do anything for her.
He just had to make her see...

"Zavvi." He waited until she looked at him, feeling his heart wince at her expression, tears twinkling in the corners of her eyes. He swallowed hard. "I'll always be here for you. If you need a shoulder to cry on, someone to talk to when the nightmares come, or anything, anything at all, I'll be there for you." He lifted a hand to silence the protest. "It's a promise I'm damned well gonna keep, Zavvi. I'm gonna make sure that I never do anything else that needs your forgiveness, or that'll hurt you or that'll break your heart. I'm not that guy whose gonna leave a lady in the dust just because he saw someone prettier, or she winked at him in that way. I'm the one who's gonna be here, waiting for you. And maybe we'll be old and grey. And maybe that's when you realize that I've been here all along, that I've never looked at another woman but you. And that's when I'll take you in my arms and say: 'What took you so long, Captain?'" He smiled somewhat weakly.

"I'll wait for as long as you need, Zavvi. We don't need to rush it and ruin it all. If you wanna take your time about it all, then you can. I ain't gonna hurry you, but I just..." A sigh. "I just don't wanna leave you. I want to show you I can be something more to you, if you'll let me."

A tense silence descended, and Riggs wondered if he'd botched it up. Had he said something that got her ire? Had he not convinced her to keep this relationship going? His teeth worried at his bottom lip and he hoped and prayed that her next words weren't her shutting him out forever...

A strangled sob came the Twi'lek, her shoulders knotting and head bowing. The young man glimpsed a flash of a tear sliding down her nose, another twinkling by her cheek. Another she didn't speak, Corso got closer, ready to comfort and soothe her however he could, and yet waiting for permission to do so, his respect for his captain strong even when it looked like she was a wreck. He didn't judge her; everyone was allowed to be weak and cry. Even Zavvi had to obey that rule, even though it made him hurt inside.

"H-Hold me..."
It only took that feeble sob for Corso to quickly wrap Zavvi up in his embrace, holding her close to his body and resting her head to his chest, sharing her strength and warmth with her. Somehow she felt very fragile, a difference to their first proper hug, when he could sense her latent power, just waiting for combat. Now it seemed to have vanished, and Corso found his protective instinct surging, wanting to take her under his wing and fight anyone who dared tried to take advantage of her. And yet her knew she was more than capable of defending herself without his assistance, and the mercenary was caught in this bizarre paradox, quite unsure what to think.
But he knew that the least he could do was be there for her, to be a safe harbour in the midst of a tempest.

They stayed like this quite a while, Zavvi trying to stop her tears whilst Corso just held her, one hand very gently stroking a lekku with the lightest of touches. The Twi'lek didn't need or want to rely on anyone to pick her up after bad scraps, so a part of her loathed the fact she was letting Corso in to hold her and comfort her. But the rest of her was infinitely grateful for him, the way he didn't bat much of an eyelid at her state (well, he did, but it made him only want to help, which wasn't that bad she supposed) and how he held her and touched her with such care and attention...It was too early for his words to sink in just yet, but already she was becoming accustomed to his warmth, the muscles underneath his shirt, and the deep, melodic booms of his heart that soothed her.
As much as she still wanted to run and hide her heart away from him, another half of her yearned for what Corso had to offer. Again she questioned if he was real or just a figment of an over-active imagination; surely someone like him couldn't exist in the galaxy, which was full of people only out for themselves just so they could get through the day alive? And how could it be a rancher's son from Ord Mantell? It didn't seem to make any sense, but yet the smuggler didn't really give damn, not right now. Not when he was offering comfort for her pains.

Give it just one more go. The matriarch in her head said softly. You won't get anyone like this again.

But I'll need to tell him about what happened. She trembled as she thought about it. What would he think of her, when he realized she was brain damaged? Would he reject her? Would he think she was a freak?

Yes. But not right now. You can do it later, when you're sure he won't run off. The logic seemed sound enough, and Zavvi accepted this. She'd tell him, hopefully sooner rather than later, but not just yet.

The Mantellian felt her shift and released his grip, letting her slip away from him. He stifled the sense of loss.
"Feelin' any better?" He asked softly, brown eyes watching her intently. She sniffed slightly, rubbing the last droplets of tears from her eyes.
"Yeah." She replied, and Corso's heart warmed slightly. She looked up at him, light green eyes slightly bloodshot. "You wanna...stay with me?" She asked.
"Of course, Captain. There's nothing I'd like more." He replied with a warm smile. The Twi'lek made a sound that was a cross between a snort and a sigh.
"You're one stubborn bastard. Mind it doesn't get you hurt in the end." Corso had to stop the wide grin from taking over his lips as he noticed the captain pull herself together again, closing her armour around her and exhibiting her tough persona once again, so he didn't even care that she was half-heartedly trying to ward him off again.
"It's a little too late fer that now, Captain." He commented, rubbing the scars on his nose. "I'm not the one 't back down when there's someone in trouble."

A small smile graced her lips.
"Rooting for the underdog, were you?" She asked.
"Always, Captain. And helping 'em too! Mom always chewed me out for it, but I couldn't help it." He shrugged. "I just can't stand a bully."
"Me and you both." Zavvi said softly, before shaking her head, closing the conversation before Corso could ask more prying questions. She kept wondering how he kept managing to sneak past her defences.

"Are you two done?" Came an unimpressed female voice, and the two whirled to see Risha leaning against the door frame, a smirk on her lips.
"You were watching us!" Corso spluttered, a bright red blush exploding over his face. The woman chuckled.
"You could say that." She raised an eyebrow. "Is there something you lovebirds need to tell me?"
"We're not lovebirds!" Zavvi snapped. "We're just friends!"
Corso winced slightly at that, but reassured himself that the Twi'lek was just saying that because Risha was in the room.
"Explain the canoodling, then." Risha was trying to stop her smirk from widening, with limited success as the farm boy seemed to have decided he was a Sith Pureblood and the captain was surprising good to tease.
"Well," Zavvi began, but couldn't quickly formulate a plausible story in the time Risha had given her, until Corso decided to step in.
"The Captain was feeling a little low about havin' another scar on her, so I was jus' reassuring her that it weren't all that bad." He said, puffing his chest out a little proudly, first because he figured it would quickly shut Risha up, and also it was an attempt to defuse his rather large blush. He just hoped Zavvi wouldn't mind his choice of words.

Risha raised her brow a little bit higher.
"You don't look like you have many scars, Captain." She said.
"I don't have many, and I prefer to keep it that way. Just a bummer that this one won't fade." Zavvi replied, easily slipping into Corso's version of events. "Would prefer not to look like a warrior who's been through seven wars in a row."
"Or like him." Risha sneered, nodding her head at Corso.
"I don't have that many!" He retorted.
"Oh really? Just take a look at your arms for a start, let alone what's on your legs and torso!" She grinned as his blush returned in full force, realizing Risha must have seen him nip from the crew showers to the refresher at one time.
"Stop teasing the farm boy, Rish." The captain spoke, relieving the mercenary from any further embarrassment. "I assume you came to find us?"
"Yeah, I did. Next job's come through; that rusty droid Skavak picked up from Ord's going next, and you'll be able to get rid of that head too."
"Thank the stars!" Corso breathed. "I swear that blasted thing was watching me every time I went in that place!"
"Where's it on?" Zavvi asked, leading out of the door.
"Alderaan, Captain."
Corso noticed the smuggler's eyes sparkle.
"That makes going through Taris and Tatooine all worthwhile!" She cried happily, picking up the pace so suddenly the others had to jog to catch up with her.
"What's so great about Alderaan, Captain?" Corso asked, briefly hearing Risha mutter something about 'stuck up nobles'. Zavvi looked over to him with the brightest eyes he'd seen since she'd got her ship back.
"You know you've always wanted to go to a nice planet?" She spoke eagerly.
"Yeah-"
"Well, you're gonna be in for a treat!" At that the captain sped off, Corso and Risha trying to follow behind her.