Vinn Atrius had his arms folded across his chest and his face was tight with skepticism as Theron Shan strode toward him.

"You'll need my help," Theron assured him. "No one knows the Alliance better than one of its founders."

"You expect me to trust you," Atrius hissed, "after you helped the Outlander forge a partnership with the Empire?" Anger was etched into the lines of his face, barely contained malice at the thoughts his own words conjured. "In a single blow, you doubled their support and cut ours in half."

"I also led the Commander into that trap on Iokath," Theron cut in, pacing away from him. "You wouldn't hear me out, so I took matters into my own hands." He turned back to Atrius. "Look, you doubt my intentions. I get that. How can I convince you?"

Atrius stared at him for a long moment before replying, "Umbara. The Adegan crystals."

Theron held his arms out to the side, a gesture of confidence. "You got it."

"We'll see," Atrius said.

Theron watched him walk away and wished he could shoot him in the back. That man was so angry, so bitter, it blinded him, made him stupid. He hated to work for him, hated to be in the same room with him, hated the awful feeling he couldn't shake at setting her up…his Alico.

This is for her, he told himself again. He had done nothing he knew she couldn't survive, nothing he knew she couldn't escape from. But hiding it from her was like a splinter digging into his skin, a tiny nuisance festering into fever and poison.

He hated going undercover. He hated Vinn Atrius. He hated being away from her. He hated lying to her. And most of all, he hated himself for doing it. But he would do anything—anything—to protect her. Not being with her was nearly unbearable, but losing her would…her death, it would…destroy him.

Theron waited until Atrius was out of sight and then turned to leave, anxious to get back to Odessen, to see her, to hold her, and then explain his plan. He hated the thought of revealing his setup but was positive she would understand now that he had real, actionable information to bring to the table.

He stopped short as the imposing wall of GEMINI 16 stood in his path, fixated on him with those red, robotic eyes. He knew she was just a droid, but everything about her screamed evil. He frowned as she stared and wondered what she wanted and why his feet weren't moving.

"I do not trust you," she finally said.

Theron did not swallow the lump that started to form in his throat or shift his weight—tells of nervousness. He gave her the flattest look he could muster, a mixture of "Is that really all you had to say?" and "I don't care what you think."

She studied him a moment longer before continuing. "I do not trust you but you have our attention. Deliver the Adegan crystals as promised and you will have earned Atrius' trust. But do not think you can betray us to the Outlander once you have passed this little test. I am watching you, Shan."

He almost snorted in disbelief when she suddenly held out her hand and projected a blue holo image. A galaxy map appeared and a red blip lit up in a far corner, quickly zeroed in, further and further, right to Odessen, to Zakuul, to Odessen, to various points in space, to Iokath, back to Odessen—all over. It plotted his recent locations as though he were wearing a tracking device.

"I know everywhere that you go," she said as he watched the cascade of maps and wondered how she could have possible gotten this information. "I hear everything that you say."

Audio files began playing, one after the other, of him and various Alliance members. He heard blips of work conversations—high security clearance and top-secret debriefings, how the hell had she gotten ahold of these?—his usual banter with co-workers, idle chats, him snoring, even a clip of him ordering a cup of caf.

"I see everything you do."

Various camera angles of dozens of locations and times flashed before him, and the subject matter was him—talking and laughing and eating and working. He saw himself on Zakuul meeting with a relief team, on Iokath with Lana as she tried to convince Alico to spy on the Alliance, in the Gravestone with Koth running diagnostics on some of the upgrades, on Odessen with Alico—

His whole body went rigid as his jaw went slack and he lost his breath, feeling the impact like a blow to the gut. There in front of his eyes was a video of him and Alico making love in her bed. He heard his heavy breathing and her soft moans, heard her murmuring his name, heard him muttering his love for her.

His blood was like ice in his veins as fear crept up his spine and sent tendrils spidering into his brain. How had she gotten this footage? What angle was this taken from—the computer in the corner? GEMINI 16 had invaded every ounce of his life, every private and intimate moment. He had never felt so exposed, so vulnerable.

"H-how did you…" It was nothing more than a whisper, too shocked to speak.

"I'm watching you, Theron Shan," GEMINI 16 said. "If you are ever false, I will know. And I will kill you."

She closed her fist just as Alico's pale form arched against his, crying out. His heart skipped a beat as his stomach dropped and then it was hammering against his ribcage in absolute terror. GEMINI 16 stared at him for another long moment then stepped around him and walked away.

Theron stared at the ground, at his feet, and wanted to vomit. He couldn't tell her. There was no way he could tell her, even whispered in the throes of passion. Who knew how many recording devices GEMINI 16 could access—where all of them even were! He tried to remember every access point in Alliance Command and growled in frustration twenty seconds in. There were too many.

He was going to have to betray her, make it look real. She was going to believe he had turned on her…and he was going to have to let her.

He rushed out of the meeting spot, afraid to show anyone the look on his face as he realized he was going to have to crush the person he loved most in the world and smile when he did it. He almost lost his nerve, almost halted his trek back to his ship in favor of sabotaging the station before Atrius and GEMINI left. Innocents would die, but so would a couple leaders of this Order of Zildrog. They wouldn't be able to hurt anyone again. Wouldn't be able to hurt her.

Theron's fists clenched at his sides as he forced himself to keep walking. If he sabotaged the station, there was no guarantee he would take them out or stop their plans. He didn't know enough. He didn't know how deep it went, what their ultimate goal was, or how they planned to execute it. He couldn't bail out just because he was afraid—terrified—he was…

Mortified.

His jaw clenched so hard that his teeth hurt as he thought of their naked bodies pressed together as seen from GEMINI 16's palm. He remembered that night clearly in his mind. It was after a long and stressful day for both of them—full of long conferences with angry and entitled political leaders, the relief team sent to Dantooine had suffered serious setbacks from diplomatic tape, the caf machine had broken—and he was overworking himself as usual to compensate for what felt like an unproductive day. She had come in and snatched his datapad out of his hands. He had snapped at her and she had barked at him and he had barked back, and then she inhaled deeply and her angry expression became a sad frown as frustrated tears filled her eyes, and then…

And then he hadn't cared about work or the Alliance or the relief effort or the politics, only her. All other things were forgotten. He had scooped her up and kissed her, and she wrapped her arms around him, and they held each other in desperation for human contact that confirmed that they were not alone. For that loving touch that reordered their priorities, reminded them what it was all for.

They had made love long into the night and he had told her again and again that he loved her, worshipped her, that she was everything to him. And she was. Everything. His heart still skipped a beat as he remembered the rasp of her voice as she whispered back, "You are my everything, Theron."

And now GEMINI 16 had taken one of the most precious moments of his life and poisoned it. As he remembered that night, he remembered it seen through GEMINI 16's spying eye, was nauseous from the blow. Exposed and so vulnerable…and afraid.

That was why he had to do it, to betray her. Because Alico was everything to him. And he would do whatever it took to protect her.

Author's Note: I remember thinking, "Really? There wasn't a single opportunity you could tell my smuggler what was going on?" So I had to write this because it made it make sense for me. Also because I just wanted to get inside Theron's head. My initial impression of him all those years ago when I first did Forged Alliances was different than how he turned out, and I really enjoyed seeing his personality unfold. I also think the romance was really well done and Troy Baker pretty much nailed it. This isn't my Alico head canon, but it's my Alico game canon, so here's a lot of angst and Theron and possibly fluff because I love a happy ending.