Changing Light

[Valae Heavenshield]

Still lingering near the screen, she watched as Andrei closed in on the end of the code. Her eyes widened slightly, taking in the information that was being spoken. As Jake’s father mentioned that this genetic code displayed before them was related to the reproductive system, she turned to look at the man. It wasn’t a surprise to learn that this was Andrei’s code.

With a click, the screen went dark.

As Andrei began to move towards her, Valae froze again, and watched as Jake stepped into his old man’s path. The two stood tall, both of them seemingly unflinching during their brief standoff. However, Andrei opted for speaking with her where he stood. Canting her head to the side, she could see Andrei just on the other side of Jake.

Just as Andrei and Gabrielle had mentioned, they had paid their price for meddling with the dark side. Though they had prolonged their lives this far, they couldn’t continue on this way forever – they knew that. Further dark sided procedures would likely cause their code to break down even more. Valae pushed out an audible sigh and stepped up to stand close to Jake.

No doubt, Jake would be able to feel the conflict brewing within Valae.

She was feeling hesitant. It wasn’t the fact that Jake’s parent’s had suddenly resurfaced nor the knowledge that they had been users of the dark side… and though the memory of Andrei attacking her in the cavern was still fresh in her mind, that didn’t factor into her hesitation at all.

The Jedi master just was not sure if this favor would be possible.

Turning away from both men, she began to pace the room. She thought about the possibilities, the potential risks and consequences that might occur. In a way, it was difficult to even try to imagine. Pinching the bridge of her nose, she looked back to Jake and Andrei as she spun around to face them.

“I’m more inclined to agree with Gabrielle, I’m afraid.” She blinked, finding it a bit odd that she had something in common with her future mother-in-law. “Unfortunately, I do lack the experience with this sort of healing… we would need more time to research to be safe. Fiddling with genetics isn’t something to take lightly. Something like this would need some serious precision. ” Her shoulders rounded slightly. “I’d like to help, really – I would. I just don’t know… if I can.”

[member="Jake Daniels"]

 

[Jake Daniels]

Andrei chewed on the inside of his cheek. His teeth ground into his flesh as he mulled over a response. This woman, this Master Healer, agreed with Gabrielle. Instead of just trying, she simply agreed? By her own accord she didn't have experience with genetics. Then why just shrug it off as a 'I agree with Gabrielle' reply. That was a cop-out. Andrei hated cop-outs.

"Andrei." Jake said, catching the elders attention. "You were going to show us the remainder of the facility."

Andrei simply stared at Jake for a moment. The failed Jedi Padawan, turned triumphant Sith Knight, turned rehabilitated Jedi Knight, was sensing his fathers unease. He had to be careful with Jake around. Andrei was treading on thin ice. He already attacked Valae in the realm of the force. If Jake found out, hell would break lose. But why? Why would would Valae essentially say no?

"So I was. This way." Andrei said. Though he motioned for the duo to step in front of them, Jake refused. The man was smart. Keep threats where he could see them.

"This overall facility is several floors. The first floor is what you would expect; patient intake. People come in. They sign up for a research project underway or they are here for experimental treatment. Second flood is clerical. Think financials and record keeping. The third floor is rehabilitation." Andrei explained as they walked out of the room and down a hallway. "We work with every sort of injury you can think of. Currently we're trying to fix paraplegic paralysis."

"Impossible." Jake replied. "One the spinal cord is severed, nothing can be done."

"We used to think that too but you'd be surprised how far science has come in the centuries you were asleep." Andrei replied. "We are using stem-cells to regrow nerve connections in spinal cords. We've had success with the legs of bipedal species. Its the arms and torso we are struggling with. But to carry on!"

Andrei opened one door which showed a large chemical lab, "This is our research floor mixed with genetic manipulation. Where third floor is rehab, fourth floor is experiemental surgery, and fifth is psychological rehabilitation, this floor is the brain of the whole operation. This is where we are trying to create implants that dissolve as the body heals. It was a brilliant idea of one of your cousins Jake."

Jake perked a brow.

"Think back. When you were leading your armies, if a soldier had a shattered knee, what was the common treatment?"

"Screws and bolts to stabilize it."

"They'd have that metal junk for the remainder of their lives. What we are doing here is taking those same objects and rematerializing them in a way that does what their metal equivalents do but disolve over time. That mixed with our attempt to regrow bone, would allow a knee, an elbow, or any other bone to go back to their natural state. The way it was meant to be." Andrei replied.

Andrei stepped into the lab and opened a cabinet to show some of the various dissoluble prototypes, "This will change treatment for war veterans for decades to come." He knew what he was doing. The man was pulling on Jake's heart strings. Being fatherly? That woudn't work. Being nice? Forget about it. Best way to catch Jake off guard was to force him to lower his guard. What better way than to pull in talk about veterans.

As Jake focused on the bolts in his hand, and before Valae could take note of what Andrei was doing, the man shuffled at a drawer. It was Andrei's sudden silence that rose alarm in Jake who set the bolts down.

"What are you doin..." Jake began. It was too late. As Andrei slammed a syringe into his neck, Jake lashed at his wrist. The Knight fought to prevent whatever was in the needle to be pushed out. "Valae get out of here" Jake shouted.

Unfortunately his father injected the needles fluid into his blood stream. Within seconds Jakes eyes rolled into the back of his head. The Knight fell to the floor which allowed Andrei to turn his attention towards Valae.

"Now you and I have some unresolved issues to address." Andrei sneered as he looked around for Valae. Stepping into the hallway, the man didn't spot the woman. Crap. "I just injected Jake with a sedative that will keep him down for a few minutes. That's more than enough time for me and you to have a little chit-chat about what happened in the cavern and about how you're going to help me and my wife. The choice is your's toots'. We going to do this the easy way? Or..." Andrei shouted as he cracked his knuckles, "the hard way?"

[member="Valae Kitra"]​

 

[Valae Heavenshield]

Valae could tell that her response wasn’t sitting well with Andrei. It didn’t take much to know, she needed only to see the look on his face and feel the tense silence around him. She couldn’t deny the time and effort that Jake’s family seemed to be pouring into their research, but they wouldn’t be this way if not for their use of the dark side. It was a strange situation that pushed and pulled on the healer.

Sticking close to Jake’s side, she followed behind Andrei as the tour continued.

Her gaze shifted about the hallway as they walked, merely taking in their surroundings. Valae’s brows rose as she learned that the facility was taking on patients with very serious injuries. Medical advances had come a long way, indeed. It did seem that the Daniels family was making some impressive leaps in the field. As they entered a lab, Valae’s eyes grew wide.

She’d never seen a lab like this before, nothing this advanced at least. “Impressive work,” She commented, implants were a steadily growing field. There were more and more people using them nowadays, and the idea of such a device that could be used to heal in such a way was interesting. Valae turned to glance at Jake. They had both been unsettled by the way his family had entered this field, but maybe they truly were trying to make the galaxy better.

It was a possibility that she entertained for a long moment, all the while Jake conversed with his father.

However, the thought was shattered as Jake suddenly shouted. Gasping, Valae went for the door and exited quickly. Out of the corner of her eyes, she’d seen the struggle between Jake and Andrei, but she wasn’t sure what was happening. Overcome by worry, her feet didn’t want to take her any further from the room, but she knew that she was in danger now. Jumping behind the counter of a nurse’s station, she crouched low.

Valae could still feel Jake, he was alive – but his senses were subdued.

There was a momentary flow of relief, but it seemed that the feeling would not be allowed to linger. Andrei’s voice filled the hallway. Heart beating hard, she did her best to keep her breaths slow and quiet. Drawing her force presence within, she hoped to keep the man from immediately pinpointing her location. Valae attempted to soothe her shaken nerves; she would need to have her wits about her in the moments to come. Andrei had already attacked her once… he’d shown her that he had the ability to be ruthless in his attempts to get what he wanted. However, she knew full well that the Daniels family needed both Valae and Jake alive in order to carry on…

“If you want my help, this is a funny way of asking…” She spoke up from behind the counter. “Are you prepared to face Jake when he wakes up?” Her normally cheerful tone had cooled considerably.

She drew a breath, eyes on a small hallway on the other side of the nurse station.

“I won’t be forced to cooperate with you,” She said, “Not after this…”

Valae knew she wouldn’t be able to stay here long, and so she took off – jumping over the counter and heading down another hallway.

[member="Jake Daniels"]

 

[Jake Daniels]

Valae remarked that Andrei had a funny way of asking for help then she made a remark about Jake waking up. The Elder Daniels scoffed at the thought, confident he would have what he wanted in just a few mere moments.

"Jake is a fool. He will eventually see what we are trying to accomplish. He, like you, will come around. You see," Andrei pried Jake's fingers from his wrist. Even though his Son had stilled, the man held a grip. "I'm not a very patient person. Gabrielle wanted to be diplomatic. She wanted to work Jake over with time. It's been a year. She thought mental torment would do the trick. It didn't. She thought a nice lunch would work. It didn't. Now we do this my way. Brute force." That grip prevented Andrei from noticing just how close his target had been until, well, she wasn't.

"You will cooperate!" Adrei sneered just as a flash disappeared out of the door.

"God damn it! Gabrielles going to have my head." Glancing down at Jake, and then the watch on his wrist, Andrei calculated the time. He had roughly four and a half minutes to get to Valae before Jake woke. He believed he would do it. With enough physical force anyone could be persuaded to do anything. Andrei closed the office door before and snapped the handle off. When Jake woke, it would take several additional critically important seconds to break free.

His feet hammered down the hallway, following a path he assumed Valae took. The man stopped suddenly, turning his head and looking in the opposite direction. Something clawed at him, tore at his gut. His hunch. Turning, Andrei decided to head the opposite direction. Valae was close. She couldn't have gotten off the floor and based on how protective she and Jake were of each other he knew she wouldn't leave.

"You may think what I do and how I act as cruel but isn't the nothing you wouldn't do for Jake?" Andrei shouted. "I will destroy heaven and hell to ensure my family's survival, to ensure Gabrielle's survival. Just like you are to Jake, I am to Gabrielle. I will do anything. Anything."

He kicked open a door to the first room he neared. Nothing was seen. Turning his head, he continued onto the next. "All we want is the continuation of our family line. I have seen too many families continue to grow from one generation and to the next. Their influence flourishes. We are stagnant. We can only stay in one sector for so long before people ask why we don't age. People here don't know we dabble in the dark side of the force. I need to change that. You are the key."

Andrei kicked open a second door, then a third. Coming to a stop at a fourth, he turned the knob but stopped. Checking his watch, he had just under four minutes remaining. Stepping back and raising both hands, Andrei sent a burst of force energy at the door. The door tore from its hinges and flew inward.

"Submit!" He screamed as he followed the door through the doorway and into the room.

[member="Valae Kitra"]​

 

[Valae Heavenshield]

Though Valae was already speeding down the hallway, she could hear Andrei’s every word. His voice made her hair stand on end. Ducking quickly into a room, she took refuge beneath a small counter. There wasn’t much room, so she had to shrink down quite small in order to hide here. The advancing footsteps of the Elder Daniels were a hint that he was on the advance, as was the growing volume of his shouts.

She wouldn’t be able to hide for long.

Though the strange ways of Gabrielle still did not sit well with Valae, Andrei made the icy woman seem reasonable. It was clear that Jake’s mother was the one with subtly, something that his father seemed to lack in spades. Valae could understand his wish to protect his family and see them prosper, but they had dipped into the dark side and they were paying the price now. No matter how much Valae may have wanted to help, she couldn’t exactly change that fact.

Shoulders tensed at the sound of a door being kicked open down the hall. Valae swallowed hard, still crouched down under the counter. Quickly, she began to focus her mind and hone her attention in on Jake. Even though she was not at his side, their bond allowed her to feel him as though they were in the same space. Her presence would begin to brush his, beckoning to Jake’s unconscious mind. “Jake, wake up…”

Gently, she would attempt to revitalize him. This ability was one that she was rather skilled using; she hoped that it would bring him back to consciousness. Of course, even if it worked he would need a few moments to gather himself and regain his bearings. And so, she had to turn her attention to her advancing foe. She’d need to at least hold out for a minute or two.
Just then, the door to her room was blasted from its hinges.

A hand rose to shield her face as the door was sent hurling into the room and slammed against the opposite wall. Luckily, her place beneath the counter was sheltered enough to keep her safe. However, now was the time to make her move.

“I will not submit!” She cried, throwing her palms out and hurling a force push Andrei’s way.

[member="Jake Daniels"]

 

[Jake Daniels]

The door hit the force barrier. It wasn’t the fact the door didn’t hit the occupant within that surprised Andrei. It was the fact the door buckled when it did so. The barrier wasn’t some piddly little protection thrown up in desperation. Valae Kitra had power behind her when it came to defensive techniques. Power that very few healers possessed. As the door fell to its side, Valae snarled a disobedience to his commands.

That surprise had taken his mind off of his target who let loose a force push that sent the Lord of Darkness out of the room. His body was flung against a door leading to a room opposite the one Valae hid in. Andrei’s sandwiched the door between his body and the floor. With the wind knocked out of him, the man rolled onto his knees and let out a cough.

Blood.

Coming to a kneel, Andrei leaned back. Pain shot through his right side. Lifting his shirt, several ribs pushed up against the skin. Obviously broken, the blood in his cough meant that there was some level of internal damage.

“Gah.” He gasped as he felt a gurgling in his lungs.

“You little…” Andrei said as he came to a stand. Launching his own blast of force energy towards Valae. Each blast connected with her unwavering force barriers. The impacts rocked the walls around them, the booms of each collision echoing through their ears. It was darkness hitting light. A show of shows as a battle raged within the confines of the Daniels Laboratories. As strange as this was, Andrei was beginning to respect Valae. Her defiance. The strength of her conviction. She was no push over. This wasn't going to work like this. Something had to change.

“Wait.” Andrei said. “How could I be so stupid?” A grin crossed his face. “We could go round and round all day,” glancing at his watch he noted a little over a minute remaining before the sedative would wear off, “but I have a better solution. You may not fear your own death like Jake but just like Jake you care too much for your better half. You would do anything to ensure his safety, wouldn’t you?"

Andrei took off, his target being that of his son. His feet backtracked, Valae hot on his heels. Every few steps he shot back a burst of dark energy in Valae's direction, desperate to keep her off of him.
As he entered the room where the fight had began, Jake was pushing himself up.

"Damn." Andrei snapped as he closed in on his son.

A swift kick to the gut dropped Jake back down before another, this time force infused one, launched his son across the room. Andrei was counting on one thing though. Jake and Valae were rubbing off on each other. His research of the pair proved as much. Valae was becoming more of a fighter but she lacked the ruthlessness of Jake. She wanted to protect before harming. He knew she wouldn't do what was necessary to stop Andrei from beating on Jake. How could she? She was a healer. She wasn't a killer. Right?

With each kick he unleashed on Jake, the pain in his chest swelled. More coughing. More gurgling. More blood being spit from his mouth and to the side. Each time he saw his own crimson fluid, the man kicked Jake just a bit harder than before.

"You won't submit?" Andrei said turning to Valae, "Then I guess we have no use for him anymore." Raising a foot, Andrei brought it just above the back of Jakes head prepped to slam it and the Knights skull into the tile floor.

​

[member="Valae Kitra"]​

 

[Valae Heavenshield]

Valae’s eyes went wide when she saw that Andrei was in obvious pain. There was blood, too. Her feet automatically carried her forward, but she stopped in the doorway. Her hand found the door frame and she watched as Andrei attempted to recover. She hadn’t wanted to injure him. However, she recognized that she was merely defending herself. And that also meant that she wasn’t unprepared for another attack.

The walls seemed to shake as Andrei continued to launch blasts of force energy at her. Her feet slid against the floor, pushing her back into the room. Each hit seemed to get stronger, but Valae maintained her concentration. But when Andrei’s attacks ceased, she was left out of breath. Sweat had started to bead on her forehead.

Her eyes narrowed as Andrei began to speak, immediately she was full of dread.

Andrei was intelligent and he was ruthless, very dangerous traits to combine. Swallowing hard, Valae took off after Jake’s father. Her heart beat hard within her chest, worry making her steps grow even faster. But just as soon as she began to catch up, another blast of dark energy was sent her way. Forced to dodge and block the attacks, she was slowed in her pursuit. Valae knew that she wouldn’t be able to catch up before Andrei reached Jake.

Please, no…

As she skidded into the room, she looked in horror to see Andrei delivering a kick to Jake’s middle. “Andrei – Stop!” Valae cried, eyes already wet with tears. Valae’s protective nature was growing stronger, but her soft side was still in control. Her breath caught in her throat as Andrei prepared to slam his foot down against his own son’s head.

“Please… you must stop this.” She said, voice stronger this time. “So, this is the kind of father you’ve been to Jake? No wonder he hates you.”
Valae knew that attacking Andrei would likely prove futile. She took a step closer.

“Let’s… let’s just talk about this.” She said, trying to distract Andrei while she drew the force. Close enough to Jake, she wrapped a protective barrier around him – protecting him from any incoming attacks… but leaving herself vulnerable.

[member="Jake Daniels"]

 

[Jake Daniels]

The call of Valae. That silky tone. It echoed in what had been the darkness of an unconscious mind. That echo sparked a chain of events that slowly but surely began to stir the Jedi Knight from the medically induced sleep. Her voice. The neurons fired. Her call. The electrical symbols exploded. His body jerked first. His eyes flickered. Then the fogginess of his mind finally cleared. Everything was coming back to him.

When Jake pushed himself onto his hands and knees, he saw Andrei enter the room. His reflexes were to slow. The beating started.

This shouldn’t have been happening.

This wasn’t how it was supposed to be.

Each hit Andrei landed hurt worst than the last. How had his father out muscled him with the syringe? Something wasn’t adding up. Why had a man lost such a fight with someone twenty years his senior? As the beating continued, Jake heard the voice of Valae in the background. The beating continued. The venom of his father rebutted everything she said. The beating continued… then the pain stopped. Jake felt it. Valae’s presence. Her protective barrier. Though Jakes body was getting hit the man felt nothing.

As Andrei spewed more toxicity towards Valae, Jake readied himself. When his father turned to place a kick upon his son, Jake caught the ankle. Kneeling upwards, Jake punched Andrei in the tendon just below the knee cap, which buckled the entire leg. Before Andrei could do anything more, Jake used what energy he had to grab his father by the throat.

The gasp of Andrei was like that of a person being drowned in water. The gurgling. The wheeze. The frantic way his hands thrashed at his throat and the unseen force grip. Harder Jake gripped. He hated this man and everything he represented. He hated that he had been his son. He hated his family. Just as much as they had hurt them, he had always dreamed of repaying the favor.

But that was then.

Jake’s eyes met Valae’s.

This was now.

There was a sense of serenity that washed over him. The images of their home. Their lives with one another. Breakfasts. Walks. Training. It was gentle. It was needed. Jake wasn’t a holder of a light because of a doctrine. He held it because of her and he knew Valae would want him to give mercy to the man that had never given him any.

Like paper into a waste basket, Jake tossed Andrei aside. Limping, he quietly found his place by Valae’s. Before they departed the room, Jake spoke but did not look at his father.

“Should I see you again I will not be merciful. Tell Mother the same thing. I’ve granted you a reprieve because I am not the monster I used to be. That doesn’t mean I’m a pushover. Threaten us again and I won’t be held responsible for what happens to you all. I’m done with this family. You all chose to play God with genetics and the force. Live with the consequences.” Leading Valae out of the office and down the hall, his tone softened to an almost un-Jake like level. “Let’s go home.”

[member="Valae Kitra"]​