For all the terrifying situations Jaina had been in in her life, one of the scariest had been finding out that there had been an assassination attempt on her fiance.

Jag's people had been very smart about it, though, because they knew her. She'd been at the Temple when she'd gotten a call from Ashik saying that there had been an incident and that Jag had requested her presence at the hotel that they'd taken to frequenting because their own places were insane these days. So Jaina had rushed over, knowing that something had happened and that he was okay, and they only told her what the situation was when she got there… and then she couldn't really rage or freak out because the situation was being handled.

Besides, while Jag was physically fine, he was definitely shaken by the whole thing. The culprit/s had tried to gas his flight simulator- which probably meant it was a kidnapping attempt but it wasn't that simple in Jaina's mind- and while he'd gotten out in time, he'd had to kill six stormtroopers by the time his people got to him. It'd been an inside job, with Ashik's dayshift counterpart being among those Jag had killed, and the other five had all had a past in the Imperial military. He was the target of a conspiracy between people he was supposed to be able to trust.

And it was bothering him enough to lead to a rare role reversal, with Jaina sitting on the sofa only freaking out internally while he paced the room. "It's all pretty much according to formula," he said finally.

Jaina frowned. "Whose formula?"

"Oh, there's got to be a book or a file somewhere. Conspiracy, A Methodology, by Emperor Palpatine, annotated by Ysanne Isard, with a foreword by the Warlord Zsinj. The bestselling resource for plotters for the last three decades. Don't you think?"

It kind of figured that he'd be pacing not because he was upset, but because he was thinking. "Probably," Jaina smiled.

"Chapter six, I'm sure, is all about covering your tracks in case the assassination attempt fails. Insulate cells of operatives. Make sure anyone acting as a contact for two or more cells can be quietly killed or spirited away when things go wrong." He sighed and stopped pacing, facing the window to press his palms up against it.

Jaina found that that actually made her nervous. While the glass was mirror-reflective from the outside, it wasn't going to stop anything if someone tried to attack him right now. She knew it was paranoia, but she felt she was allowed. "You could be safer," she told him. "This suite isn't as secure as it could be. Neither is your embassy."

"What, return to the Gilad Pellaeon?" he said. "Hide out on my Star Destroyer? I have to project confidence and courage."

"Well, then you have to strike back," she said simply. "But whom?"

"The Moffs. It had to be."

"All of them?"

"No. One, two, three at most. Probing at perceived weaknesses."

Jaina nodded, considering this. "Lecersen would be in the best position to take advantage of the situation if you… were killed."

Yeah, she didn't like saying that.

Jag nodded. "But I doubt this was Drilk Lecersen. It's crude by his standards. And I think that an attempt like this would mean that he had given up."

"Given up?"

"Given up on getting rid of me in a more elegant manner," he clarified, standing straight and turning back towards her. "Let's face it, he really believes that my relationship with you is a weakness, one that is potentially harmful to the Empire. He hasn't come near to exploring all the ways he can cause me trouble."

Jaina couldn't help but wince. She'd spent far too much of her childhood with people attempting to use her as a pawn for whatever reason, so that was nothing new. But they'd never tried to exploit her. She'd never been a weakness, especially against someone she'd chosen to be in a relationship with. She also wasn't used to the political intrigue. Why couldn't it be easy like it was with her parents, where someone obvious tried to kill you now and then, you beat him, and then went happily on with your lives till the next crisis?

Jag must have seen the wince, because he stepped closer and raised his hands in an apologetic gesture. "I didn't mean it that way. I know it's not a weakness."

"Are you sure?" Jaina asked, wishing she sounded sure.

"I'm sure. It's change," he said. "I'm trying to change the way the Empire thinks of itself, of Palpatine, of the way the Moffs have done things for generations, of the Jedi. People who try to effect change are lucky if they aren't…" He trailed off, and Jaina found herself not wanting to know what he was going to say there. "Lucky if they have any success at all. Lucky if they're remembered fondly."

That did make more sense to her, and she relaxed a bit. "You won big tonight, though."

"Yes, I'm still alive."

"More than that. One of the nasty little rumors floating around about you is that my Jedi powers are all that have been keeping you alive- that I'm your secret backup bodyguard corps. But tonight I was nowhere around. You took out six armored veterans trying to kill you. That's very, well, Imperial."

Jag snorted. "My deputy minister of trade, perishable goods, was in the suite above mine. I shot her in the foot while she was entertaining a guest. Not so very Imperial."

"Well, that's not what everyone is talking about," she told him.

"Good," he said, and finally came back to the sofa to sit next to her. "I just don't know if I can pull this off, though. Hold things together long enough for the Empire and Alliance to reunite, and beyond. Effect any sort of change."

"Think about what you have accomplished," Jaina said. "You've saved lives. You've maintained the honor of the Fel family name and brought it into a new generation. And you've shot a deputy minister in the foot."

Jag looked somewhere between grinning and rolling his eyes. "Couldn't let that one go, could you?"

Hell no. "You could start a whole new Imperial custom. 'Dance, fool, dance!' Zap, zap, zap! 'Ow, my toe!'"

"Just keep quiet, will you?"

[NFB, NFI, OOC okay. Dialogue taken from Backlash by Aaron Allston, who I love dearly.]