Miraculously, they arrived at Concord Dawn without any more calamity. Indeed, it almost seemed anticlimactic as the ship set down safely and nothing suddenly exploded. No Inquisitors popped out of nowhere, no Star Destroyers on the horizon, no desperate distress calls demanding immediate attention.

Xerno Fos's crew didn't ask Methos how he had seemingly survived being blown up and spaced. Gimbal and Breaker probably assumed it was a Jedi thing, or maybe just a Methos thing. After all, it wasn't the first time he'd mysteriously recovered from something fatal, so it wasn't exactly out of character. And the other Mandos trusted their blood-brothers and their captain, so followed their lead.

Then again, Methos caught Gimbal with that familiar I'm a doctor, not an idiot look - the one he used to use on members of the Century who tried to play down their injuries.

But since they didn't ask, Methos certainly wasn't going to offer anything; the truth, the whole truth… well. He'd seen what it did to people.

Gaffer, meanwhile, would be spending solid days floating in bacta. Gimbal refused to leave his side. (This was hardly the first time, either; Methos clearly remembered a couple instances during the war where he found Gimbal reading trashy tabloid articles aloud to his injured brother. He suspected that this habit had not changed in only a few short years.)

The important part was that Gaffer's vital signs had stabilized. He would live, despite everything, and boast another scar to add to his collection.

"Of all the ways to get a scar," Gimbal pointed out with a wry smile, "I'm pretty sure he'll think this was the most impressive. Not many people get an honest-to-kriff lightsaber scar and live to tell about it! He'll be insufferable when he wakes up, right up until I beat him back into a coma for trying to go one-on-one with an Inquisitor. Kriffing idiot."

Methos had no intention of staying with them long enough to witness such entertainment, however tempting. He was pushing things as it was, but it's hard to argue with a crew of insistent Mandos. So it was that he found himself at Concord Dawn with a squirming infant all but shoved into his arms by her proud parents.

Suni had her father's eyes. The same dark gold-brown irises that Breaker shared with his brothers. Methos rocked her slightly, back and forth, and the gentle motion settled her fussing after a moment.

He didn't ask after the Century. They had been told to scatter as much as possible in the aftermath of Order 66; a rogue company of clones together would draw far too much attention. Their lives were in their own hands, now. For the first time in their all-too-brief existences, really.

Breaker, Gimbal, and Gaffer had found themselves a home with Xerno and her crew, disguised in the anonymity of Mandalorian armor. The rest of them… he hoped they were well. (He couldn't ask for safe , not in this universe.) And he would leave it at that.

He dared not hope for more.

"I'm just happy Suni got to meet her ba'buir," Breaker said softly.

"I'm no one's father, let alone grandfather," protested Methos, but he couldn't resist smiling slightly at the burbling baby, who laughed in response and waved a hand at his face. "Certainly not yours!"

"Keep telling yourself that, Centurion." Xerno smirked, her arms across her chest.

"You people are utterly ridiculous."

"In our line of business, you have to be in order to not go completely insane," retorted Breaker. He paused momentarily, his expression becoming thoughtful. "Sever-"

"No. The less I know the better." Methos already knew how much he'd hurt Sever by revealing the truth about his Immortality, coupled with so much unearned guilt Sever felt over Order 66. But Methos was a selfish man, and he had no desire to torture himself further over one of many countless regrets.

"Boss," Breaker said firmly.

"No one's boss. Not even my own anymore. Didn't even get the chance to liquidate my assets, kark it."

"Methos." He was a persistent one, wasn't he? "Thank you. For everything. You try to take responsibility for so much while acting like you don't care. You don't need to act here. We know better. The entire Century knows better. Sever knows that you care. He just needs to find himself again. Look, I know we'll probably never see each other again after this. It was a kriffing miracle that we met this time. Just remember that however much in this universe is karked up, there's also a lot of good, if you know where to look. Just… please don't lose sight of that."

Breaker ran his fingers through the feathery-fine hair (showing just a hint of curl) on his daughter's head as Methos, almost unconsciously, continued to rock her.

Were Bail and Breha doing the same thing light years away with a confused, terrified Leia as she struggled to come to terms with her painful new enforced isolation? He ruthlessly thrust aside the thought; he'd done what he could to protect them. He couldn't save all the children of the galaxy after all. Even though sometimes they were pretty much thrust at him with giant flashing signs saying "Save Me, Methos!", regardless of any of his plans.

As little Suni swiped vaguely at his nose, he was absolutely certain that the Force was somehow having perverse fun at his expense.

Definitely time to head to the Outer Rim.