Sidekick Therapy

Darth Maul, ex-apprentice of Lord Sidious, the Pride of the Sith, Dark Warrior of the Universe, ate another large spoonful of chocolate ice cream. He felt some liquid dribble down his chin. He licked it off and then began to channel surf again. What felt like a thousand years ago, Maul would have fallen upon his own lightsabre before allowing himself to become such a disgrace. Now, he didn't give a damn.

Maul saw the image of Senator Palpatine flash briefly across the TV screen and flipped back to the channel. His former master was wearing his favorite guise as he addressed a group of workers who had gone on strike. His heartfelt speech about teamwork and commitment rose and fell in the ears of the listeners. The benevolent senator knew of their troubles, knew of their minimal wages but also knew their sacrifice helped the greater good. Maul felt like he would throw up.

Without warning, there was a knock at the door. Maul stared at it, more than slightly shocked. He glanced at the remote somewhat begrudgingly, as if not willing to leave, but then slowly got up. The person at the door knocked more loudly.

"I'm coming!" Maul yelled, annoyed and wishing he'd stayed in bed again this morning. Reaching the door, Maul opened it and saw the last person he wanted to see.

"Chocolate mustaches suit you," said Toad, grinning widely as Maul scowled at him.

“Are you ready for your first group therapy session?” Toad continued, ignoring Maul’s scowl. “Dr. Bill says there will be several new people there tonight.”

“I don’t need group therapy!” snarled Maul, “I’m fine!”

“Denial ain’t just a river in Egypt, my friend,” quipped Toad, as he pushed past Maul and into the apartment. He walked over to the couch and sat down, glancing at the television as he did so. Seeing Sidious on the screen, he shook his head and turned to Maul, “You know, it’s not going to help you a bit if you keep watching him when he’s on television. Salt in the wound, you know.”

“I don’t recall inviting you in.” Maul growled, barely keeping his temper in check.

Toad grinned and leaned back, stretching his legs out in front of him. “You didn’t,” he said simply. “I’ll wait here while you go clean the ice cream off your chin and make yourself beautiful. You know what they say about first impressions. Hop to it, Maulie!”

Toad ducked as Maul used the Force to hurl the television at him. The TV hit the opposite wall and smashed into pieces. Toad looked amused; Maul looked truly disappointed.

Realizing that he wasn’t going to get rid of him, he went and rinsed his face off and then rejoined Toad in the living room. “Let’s get this over with,” he said.

“Geez, Maul. Try to hold back on your enthusiasm. You might overwhelm the group,” Toad said sarcastically, then leapt out of range of Maul’s ignited, double-bladed lightsabre that seemed to appear out of nowhere. “You’re driving, by the way,” he added.

“Certainly,” said Maul, smirking inwardly to himself.

“Cool!” Toad chirped, clapping Maul on the shoulder. If he noticed the tension in Maul’s shoulder, he didn’t acknowledge it. They rode the elevator down in silence and continued in silence outside to Maul’s speeder.

Toad’s eyes lit up when he saw it. “Wicked!” he exclaimed approvingly as he circled the machine.

“Get on,” said Maul as he pulled his hood up over his head and climbed on to his speeder. Toad had barely complied when Maul abruptly accelerated, causing Toad to lose his balance. He would have fallen off completely, but his leg strength and determination kept him on.

“Nice try, my friend, but I’m harder to get rid of than that,” chuckled Toad.

Maul groaned inwardly. “Clearly,” he said, already making plans to try again. He had no intention of setting foot inside of that therapist’s office. Seeing an intersection up ahead, he got an idea.

As they approached the intersection, the light turned red. Maul slowed down and waited for the cross traffic to proceed across. He could scarcely believe his luck when an eighteen wheeler started across the intersection. Jamming the accelerator, he launched the speeder into cross-traffic, narrowly avoiding being hit by the truck. The driver blared his horn and shouted obscenities out of his window. Toad whooped with glee. “Whoo hoo! You almost gave that guy a heart attack!”

Maul tensed with rage and proceeded to swoop and dive and dodge cars left and right. Much to his considerable irritation, they made it safely to the other side of the intersection, so he turned around and went back into traffic. This time he cut closer to the cars and even grazed a few of them. Ignoring the colorful language directed at him by angry drivers, Maul continued his quest but still made it to the other side without a scratch.

Damn, he thought, how am I going to get rid of this guy? The light changed and the other traffic proceeded cautiously across. Maul rode back through the intersection calmly until just before he reached the other side and then turned sharply to his left. This time Toad was unable to stay on, and flew off the speeder and landed in front of oncoming traffic. Thinking quickly, he lashed his tongue out and managed to grab on to a light pole and pulled himself in before he was crushed by an SUV.

Maul sped on after ditching Toad, not even looking back. He didn’t see as Toad leapt and bounded across traffic in the intersection, landing on and leaping from cars as he went. He didn’t see Toad land safely on the other side and begin to pursue him by those same leaps and bounds, and he certainly didn’t see it coming when Toad’s tongue lashed out and grabbed him around the waist, followed by Toad pulling himself in behind him on the speeder. “You sure know how to get a person’s heart going, old chap! I’ve never had so much fun in traffic!”

Maul felt positively murderous! "How can he be having such a good time when I’m trying to kill him!?”

“I see you’ve discovered the shortcut to the therapist’s office,” Toad said happily. “You must be very anxious to get started. Look, the office is right there. Just pull over and park on the side. You don’t need to feed the meters after 6 p.m.”

“Anxious does not even begin to explain how I feel right now,” said Maul as he parked the speeder. He’d have to go through with the session after all, he grumbled to himself. Could this day get any worse?

They rode up the elevator in silence. Maul was fuming, but Toad looked like he had just won the lottery. As they exited the elevator, Maul briefly thought about running down the emergency stairwell, or even turning his lightsabre on himself, then thought better of it. I won’t give him the satisfaction, he grumbled to himself as they walked down the hallway to the therapist’s office. I won’t say a word! Nobody can make a Sith talk!

All too suddenly they were at the door. Toad swung the door in like he was entering a saloon and dragged Maul in behind him. The assembled group looked up and waited for an introduction. Toad obliged. “Hallo, everyone! Good to see you all again! This is my friend, Darth Maul. He’s joining our little group this evening.”

“He doesn’t exactly look thrilled to be here,” said a man in a moth outfit.

“Ah, he’s just mad because he didn’t succeed in killing me on the way over here,” said Toad.

The moth man twitched nervously. “Um, does he do that often?”

Maul glared at the group as another man spoke up. He was tall, and balding, and wore a very expensive suit and tie and carried an air of authority about him. That had to be the therapist, Dr. Bill. “Yes, do you do that often?” he asked.

“Whenever I get the chance,” said Maul icily.

“And how’s that working for you?” asked Dr. Bill.

Maul opened his mouth to issue a scathing retort, but caught himself. What was that he was thinking about not saying a word?

"Oh, I apologize." Dr. Bill inclined his head in a patronizing manner that Maul rather disliked. "I understand all these new faces must make you feel uneasy, after all, this is your first time here. I'm Dr. Bill... and this is what we fondly call 'Sidekick Therapy'."

I know... and I sure as Sith-hell don't care, Maul wanted to say, but he contented himself with staring daggers at the therapist.

Dr. Bill was, unfortunately for Maul, decidedly unaffected by the dagger-glare. He gestured dismissively towards the other end of the room. "Come, Mortimer, why don't you sit your friend down over there?"

Before Maul could protest, either to being made to sit down or that he was Toad's friend, the mutant had promptly dragged him across the floor into an empty seat, and plunked down contentedly into the chair beside him. Maul so wanted to wipe the grin off Toad's face with his lightsabre.

"'Sidekick Therapy', pah," Maul grumbled under his breath. "Why should I even be here? I'm not a sidekick, I'm an apprentice!"

Toad heard, and gave him a funny look. "That's basically the same thing, you know?"

Rolling his eyes, not wanting to honor Toad with a reply, Maul simply scowled again and crossed his arms as he turned to survey the rest of the room.

The rest of the Sidekick Therapy group was made up of an assortment of other men, and women, all of whom were sending inquisitive looks at Maul. Some were gathered by a coffee machine near the back, catching up on each other's progress, while others were already in their seats waiting for Dr. Bill to begin the session.

Most of the other sidekicks were unfamiliar to the former apprentice. He recognized Arthur, of course, having watched re-runs nearly non-stop for the past few...what was it? Weeks? Months? Maul also saw Sabretooth, who although had always come off as being rather dim-witted and sulky, was smiling and having an enthusiastic conversation with one of the Wicked Witch's flying monkeys. Seeing Toad, Sabretooth offered a little wave and gave Maul an encouraging smile but became engaged in his conversation again before the Sith had a chance to scowl at him.

"Sabretooth used to be like you, ya know?" Toad said to Maul with a small smirk. "He was all grumpy and refused to make any progress. Nearly ripped my arms off when I made him come here." Maul felt himself smile at that image but Toad didn't notice. "Now he's organizing a sidekick-help phone number available 24/7!"

"Good for him," Maul growled in reply, already missing his couch and his television. Did I put my ice cream away before I left?, he thought, dreading coming home to find it melted. He was going to need it when he was finally was able to slip away.

"Hey! There's A.J.!" Toad started off across the room, expecting the Sith to follow. Maul stayed rooted to the spot, determined to prove to everyone that just because he was here it didn't mean he was going to play along. He was quite to content to glare at everyone for the course of the meeting, thank you very much! The mutant had other plans though.

"Maul's a bit shy," Toad said to the man he was leading over. Maul had never before met A.J. Ross but he had heard of him. Like the green-haired insufferable former-sidekick beside him, Ross was the same height but looked fairly normal. He was human, without anything very remarkable. No tattoos or bumps covering his skin. No cutesy or terrifying outfit to define his persona. He was just a man. He looks familiar, Maul thought but he couldn't say why.

"A.J., this is Maul. Maul, A.J. Remember I told you about him?" Ross nodded politely but said nothing. Maul gave a half snarl but said nothing either. Toad stood between them, smiling widely as he looked from one to the other, as if he were expecting something miraculous between the two. The silence made both of them uncomfortable but the mutant was unaffected.

"I like your tattoos," Ross finally said, trying to sound as genuine as possible. "Very elaborate." Maul never got a chance to reply. Dr. Bill was calling for everyone's attention and Toad had already picked where the three of them would sit together. Ross followed with a carefully blank expression. Maul moaned in his throat, ready to get this over and done with. At the encouragement of Toad, he made his way over to the seat, casting as many unhappy glares as he could at the other sidekicks.

"Okay, let's get started," said Dr. Bill, "we have several new people here tonight, so in the interest of time, I'll briefly introduce them to you. Let's see," he began, "Some of you have already met Mr. Darth Maul, former apprentice to Darth Sidious, and now a friend of Mortimer's here." Maul fumed at the introduction. Mortimer's friend, indeed! he thought.

Dr. Bill continued introducing the other newcomers. "Next we have Robin, who was Batman's sidekick for many years, and then we have Dynomutt, the robot Wonder Dog, sidekick of the Blue Falcon, followed by Gabrielle, Xena's sidekick, and Iolaus, best friend and sidekick of Hercules, and last but not least, we have Mr. Al Borland. You may know him from Tool Time, where he's Tim Taylor's "assistant". Let's give them all a proper welcome, shall we?"

Maul looked on in horror as everyone's face lit up into wide, beaming smiles and they all chorused, "Welcome! We're glad you're here!"

Seeing Maul's reaction, Dr. Bill decided to let Maul have the floor first. "Mr. Maul," began Dr. Bill, "why don't you tell us a little more about yourself and how you came to be here?"

Maul tried his dagger look on Dr. Bill again, but to no avail. Dr. Bill patiently waited for him to speak. And waited. And waited. The silence was fast becoming uncomfortable and the group members began shifting in their chairs and clearing their throats. To Maul's left, A.J. Ross shook his head and rolled his eyes heavenward. Sensing this, Maul turned his dagger look on A.J., who was apparently also immune to it. Maul's anger was building to a fever pitch. Finally, he couldn't stand it any longer and he leapt to his feet and pulled out his lightsabre and ignited it in one fluid movement. "I'VE HAD IT WITH YOU FREAKS!" he screamed, "NONE OF YOU WILL LIVE TO SEE TOMORR..."

He was cut off by a flurry of movement from all sides. A.J. Ross jumped up from his chair and nailed Maul in the chest with a spinning kick and sent him flying backwards. Instantly leaping to his feet, Maul brandished his lightsabre menacingly at Ross, who looked singularly unimpressed. Maul was about to run forward and impress him, when he was attacked on all sides by several members of the group. The Moth man flew at him and caught him on the jaw with a swift uppercut and then flew out of range before Maul could recover enough to return the favor. Mortimer lashed his tongue around Maul's lightsabre and pulled it away from him, and in the next instant Maul was besieged by several other group members who punched and bit him wherever they could.

"Ouch!" someone screamed. "Watch out for his horns! They hurt!" In spite of the beating he was taking, Maul smiled at the thought that he was still inflicting pain, even without his lightsabre. Of course he had other tricks up his sleeve, too. One in particular came to mind, and he inwardly berated himself that he hadn't thought to use it on Toad earlier that day. He managed to free an arm by flinging the flying monkey attached to it against the wall and immediately shot his arm forward and curled his fingers into a C-shape and Force-choked Al the flannel-wearing man in front of him. Al was turning blue and was about to pass out, when Sabretooth crossed the room in two large strides and towered over Maul and growled ferociously.

He grabbed Maul's arm and twisted it hard behind him. Leaning down into his face, he gave Maul a taste of his own dagger-look medicine.

Maul released his Force-hold on Al and winced in pain, but he did not cry out. Sith do not show pain! he screamed at himself, even as he felt his arm start to break. Sabretooth continued twisting his arm until he felt it break and then released him. Through his pain, and sweat pouring down his face, Maul brought one leg up between Sabretooth's legs and did his best to end the family line. Howling in pain, Sabretooth raked Maul across the face with his claws and was about to deliver a monstrous blow to his head, when someone shot him with a powerful tranquilizer dart. Sabretooth immediately started to fall and was unconscious before he even hit the floor.

Maul looked around for the source of the shot and saw Dr. Bill standing there loading another shot into the tranquilizer gun. "Do I need to use this again?" he asked? The group scattered, except for one. Maul felt something warm and wet on one of his legs. He looked down and saw a little brown bear lifting his leg on his pants. "WHAT THE..!?" he exclaimed, "WHO ARE YOU?"

The little brown bear looked up at Maul, smiled meekly and said, "I'm Boo Boo Bear. Sorry I'm late," he added.

Maul was still trying to recover from the shock of finding a bear-and a talking one at that-on his leg when he felt a firm hand on his shoulder. A quick glance revealed it was Ross. His face was as impartial as it had been the moment Maul had first met him.

"Perhaps you should just sit down for now and observe," he said, his voice firm. Normally Maul might have had a few things to say about that-no one had the right to order him about, even if technically he wasn't a Sith anymore-but he wasn't stupid. He was outnumbered, was aching in a dozen places from his failed attempt to escape, and was without his lightsabre. Even these odds were too much for a Sith, so he relented, taking his seat with as much as a scowl he could muster.

Dr. Bill gave Ross an appreciatory nod and began the process of getting the other sidekicks back into their seats. Boo Boo Bear meekly sat in the row behind Maul, the Sith taking every precaution not to turn around and stare. Sabretooth had to be dragged away into a corner by a few of the stronger members, which was no easy task. Eventually everything had been dealt with, the sidekicks were all back in their seats, and Dr. Bill was ready to begin.

"Perhaps someone who has been here longer should start us off, just so our new members have an idea of how it works." He didn't need to wait long for a volunteer. With a small glance at Maul, Ross stood up and made his way to the front of the room. Dr. Bill smiled and stepped out of the way, allowing him as much space as possible.

"Hello. My name is A.J. Ross."

"Hello Ross," the sidekicks answered in unison, earning another eyeful of daggers from the moody Sith. Toad's full attention was on Ross but Maul could just see the hilt of his lightsabre still gripped in the mutants' hand. His fingers began to twitch.

"I was a sidekick for about 10 years, under a man named Robert Gant. I haven't been a sidekick now for 3 months." Ross' eyes met Maul's for a moment, filling Maul with hatred. It was clear Ross didn't respect Maul for the way he had handled his...retirement.

Maul knew that shortly after Ross had been dispatched by some little kick-ass Asian with revenge on the mind-Maul forgot her name-he had been introduced to the therapy group and quickly become a full-fledged member. Maul hadn't been a sidekick for almost a year and still hadn't made what Toad annoyingly referred to as "progress." It's different for them, Maul thought with a pout unbecoming of a Sith warrior. They weren't trained their entire life for one purpose and then thrown away at the height of their career!

"I still sometimes find myself wanting to find a new job, one as equally degrading as the one I was at before," Ross continued on, with some difficulty. "Shady government types looking for henchmen keep calling me up and sometimes I just want to say yes." He smiled a bit embarrassedly at the group. Several members nodded in agreement. Boo Boo Bear made a wistful sigh and Gabrielle gripped her walking stick a bit tighter.

"Things have been getting easier though. Mortimer has been a big help, of course." Ross nodded in Toad's direction, causing the mutant to smile just a bit self-importantly though he tried to appear humble. Maul rolled his eyes and checked to see if Sabretooth was waking up yet. A loud snore gave him the answer he sought.

"I've always believed in paying a good deed forward. I plan to help those new members in the group"-Ross' gaze met Maul's once more, the Sith's anger rising when he realized that Ross was unaffected by his flame-encased eyes-"who may have a hard time adjusting. Thank you." Ross stepped away from the podium and the sidekicks clapped, Toad being one of the most enthusiastic. Dr. Bill retook his position, waiting to speak only when Ross was back in his seat.

"Thank you, A.J. for sharing. Who would like to go next?" A half roar sounded out from the back, causing Al and Gabrielle to start into each other. Dr. Bill smiled widely. "Looks like Sabretooth's coming around. Now we can have an update on the Sidekick hotline!”

Sabretooth attempted to stand, but the room spun wildly and he sunk back down to the floor, rubbing his head as if he had a world class hangover. He tried to focus his eyes on the group, but all of the faces seemed to swim into each other and dance in a circle around his head. What the hell happened? he wondered as the faces of Boo Boo Bear, Al Borland, and Gabrielle morphed together into someone resembling his last date.

Dr. Bill stood up, “Perhaps we should hold off on that hotline update. Sabretooth and Mr. Maul both need some medical attention. I’ll call an ambulance.”

As Dr. Bill walked to the telephone, Sabretooth roared, sprang to his feet, wobbled a bit, and yelled, “For a good time, call 1-800-EAT-SHooops!” he faded out as he collapsed again, a big smile on his face, and drool on his chin.

“I think you mean 1-800-GET-GRIP, old chap”, said Mortimer as he got up and helped A.J. Ross and Iolaus prop Sabretooth up against the wall.

“Does this happen often in this group?” Iolaus asked Mortimer as they walked back to their seats.

Mortimer looked thoughtful. “Once or twice a month, depending on who’s here. It will probably happen more now that Maul has joined us,” he said.

Maul looked on in disgust. He would never show such weakness to anyone, especially not to strangers! His throbbing broken arm reminded him that perhaps it was time to get over that particular attitude, but the Sith pushed the pain down as far as he could and tried to look as natural as possible with his arm broken into an S-shape. Hehehehe, “S” for Sith! he thought deliriously.

Meanwhile, the group had settled down once again and was patiently waiting for the session to begin. Mortimer stood up, straightened his jacket and said, “Dr. Bill, since Sabretooth is down for the count, so to speak, I would be happy to share what I know about the Sidekick hotline. I’ve been helping him with it a bit.”

“That would be wonderful, Mortimer,” said Dr. Bill. “Thank you.”

All eyes were now riveted on Mortimer. Relishing the attention, he stood up as straight as he could, cleared his throat and began. “Well, as you may have heard me say just a few moments ago, the number is going to be 1-800-GET-GRIP. It will be available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The hotline will be staffed mostly by trained volunteers, but there will be several professional therapists available, as well, who will supervise the volunteers. We even talked our own Dr. Bill into helping out a couple of times a week!” he said as he turned around and gestured widely to Dr. Bill, who bowed slightly to the thunderous applause by the group. Smiling, Mortimer continued, “The hotline should be up and running before our next meeting. Does anybody have any questions?”

There were no questions, so Mortimer sat back down and checked on Maul, who was no longer glaring at everyone, but now had a crooked grin on his face. Ooh, he’s in a good bit of pain, thought Mortimer. Just then sirens could be heard and Gabrielle got up and walked over to the window.

“The ambulances are here,” she said, “we’d better get the patients ready to go.”

Moments later the paramedics entered the room and began working on Maul and Sabretooth. “What happened this time?” asked the paramedic who was working on Maul.

Dynomutt spoke up, “Well, the one you’re working on there took issue with being here at all, and decided to try to kill one or more of our group members. They, of course, took issue with that and fought back. He didn’t win.”

“And the other one?” the paramedic asked.

This time Dr. Bill spoke up, “Let’s just say it was necessary force. He’s been tranquilized with a muscle relaxant, so he’ll be a little loose for awhile, but you still might want to monitor him in case he has a reaction. He hasn’t in the past, though.”

“We’ll check him out and give you a call,” said the paramedic. “Will you be here much longer?”

“Only about another hour,” said Dr. Bill, “but you have my cell number. You should have no trouble reaching me there.”

“Sounds good,” the paramedic said as he tried to help Maul to the stretcher. Maul, of course, wasn’t having any of that.

“Sith do NOT ever need medical attention!” he screamed through his pain and staggered a few steps away from him. He felt something sharp pierce him, but he attributed it to the stabbing pains in his broken arm.

“Of course not,” said the paramedic patronizingly, “but we’ll just take you to the hospital and make sure you’re okay.” The paramedic firmly guided Maul to the stretcher and made him lie down and then strapped him in. Maul fumed and plotted his untimely demise.

I’ll show him, he thought angrily. I’ll stand up and I’ll kick his smug little a…

“Nighty-night, sweet Sith,” said the other paramedic as Maul slipped into oblivion, not even aware that the second paramedic had quickly injected him with a sedative while he was ranting about never needing medical attention.

Sabretooth had already been safely strapped to the other stretcher and the ambulance teams now wheeled both patients out of the room and down to the waiting ambulances. When they were gone, the group turned as one to Dr. Bill.

“Do we have to keep him?” they asked in unison.

"Yes, you do," said Dr. Bill in a tone that indicated the matter was not up for further discussion. "And now," he continued, "in light of what just happened here, I think we need to make sure Mr. Maul has someone whom he can talk to outside of the group and hotline, on a friendly peer to peer level. Do I have a volunteer to be Mr. Maul's 'helper buddy', as it were?"

Ross was about to raise his hand, but put it back down when Mortimer's hand shot up. "I'll be glad to do it!" he said enthusiastically.

"Excellent," said Dr. Bill.

"What good will it do?" someone griped. "He did nothing but scowl and glare at us the whole time he was here, and then he tried to kill Ross!"

Suddenly the group was abuzz with angry agreement and soon people were yelling to be heard over each other. Dr. Bill retrieved an air horn he kept handy for just such occasions and blared it three times in rapid succession. Startled, everyone quieted down and turned to face Dr. Bill.

"Please relax and take your seats, ladies and gentleman," he said. "The matter has already been resolved and no further discussion is needed. Let's continue with our session."

Once Dr. Bill had the room settled down again he announced: "Well friends I hope we all made some progress tonight. But since our official hotline overseer is now in the hospital we will need a new volunteer to oversee the running of the hotline. And since Mortimer has so graciously volunteered to be Maul's helper buddy I am sure he will have his hands full for awhile. It's quite an easy job really, just oversee the phone lines and make sure all is running smoothly and report to us at each meeting on how things are going. Do I have a new hotline volunteer?”

Suddenly from the back of the room a hand shot up in the air and an unfamiliar voice called out, "Oh me, me, pick me!" Everyone turned to see who the new guy was. Standing there looking quite strange in his funny jumpsuit and strange backpack, and covered in some sort of yucky goo, was Winston Zeddmore. "Oh, please let me give it a try" he said. "After all, when you really need to talk to someone, "Who ya gonna call?!"

The first thing Maul saw when he opened his eyes a few hours later was a face hovering above him, blurry and vague. It swam in front of his eyes in a way that made him slightly annoyed. It looked familar though.

"Master?" he asked, trying not to sound too hopeful. "I just had the strangest dream...There were these sidekicks-Boo Boo bear and Al and a bunch of others-and they were all making me stay at this stupid meeting. One of them broke my arm. It was the worst dream ever! Especially because of that damned mutant!"

"Doesn't sound too bad to me," the face above said with an accent that was different from Sidious' and sounded far too cheerful. "The mutant sounds like a stud." Maul narrowed his eyes, forcing the face into focus, and then moaned loudly. It was Toad, not Sidious, that was hovering above him. The green-hair and bumpy skin gave it away.

"Not you again!"

"Oh, come on Maulie! You must have missed me a little bit." Toad grinned widely and disappeared. A moment later a man wearing glasses popped up with a clipboard in one hand.

"I see the drugs are finally wearing off," he said as he scribbled down a note. Maul winced as he tried to prop himself up, the pain in his arm crying out in protest. "We figured a normal dose wouldn't be enough for a Sith, so we tripled the dose, though"-a thoughtful look came over the doctor's face-"I guess double would have sufficed." He shrugged and scribbled something else down.

Maul finally succeeded in propping himself up and looked around the room. Toad had settled himself in one of the visitor’s chairs and was watching the doctor, expectantly. “So, when can he go home?” he asked. Maul’s ears perked up at the question and he quickly looked to the doctor for his response.

“Well,” the doctor began, “he is a strong one, and all of his vital signs appear to be normal for a Zabrak, but since the tranquilizer dosage was so high we’ll keep him in here overnight, just to make sure the drug works its way out of his system and there are no bad reactions. If all goes well, he can go home tomorrow morning.”

“I’m not staying here!” shouted Maul. “I’m going home now!”

He swung his legs over the side of the bed and started to stand, but Toad leapt from his chair and pushed Maul back on to the bed. “Do as the doctor said,” he said in a no-nonsense tone that Maul had never heard out of him before. “Stay here, rest, and tomorrow morning I’ll be back to drive you home.”

Maul was about to vehemently protest, but his throbbing headache and arm convinced him that perhaps it would be a good idea to rest up a bit. “What about my speeder? It can’t stay parked where I left it!” he growled weakly.

“Not to worry!” said Toad with a wink. “It’s safe and sound in the towing impound lot. We can bail it out first thing after we leave here. The doctor’s note may convince them to waive their towing fees, given the situation and all, even though you started the whole thing. Well, gotta run! Ta!” Toad skipped out of the room as Maul’s jaw hit the floor at the news that his precious speeder was being held hostage by the evil impound lot minions.

How am I ever going to get any rest now? he whined to himself as the doctor also left the room, turning the lights off behind him.

True to his word, Toad was back the next morning to drive Maul home. They managed to sign the release papers without incident, and the doctor prescribed pain medication for Maul’s arm and gave him a note to give to the impound lot operators in the hopes that they would at least waive their towing charges. Maul had no intentions of filling the prescription, however, his pride having been largely shattered by the previous night’s events.

“Suit yourself,” shrugged Toad when Maul told him he was not going to fill the prescription, “but I think you’re crazy if you don’t.”

“Thank you,” said Maul. “That’s the nicest thing you’ve said to me in awhile.” Toad shook his head and kept on driving.

A few moments later they arrived at the impound lot. Maul sprang out of the car and ran to the office to see the manager. Flinging the note on the desk, he impatiently tapped his foot while he waited for the manager to read it. After what seemed an eternity, the manager looked up at Maul and said, “Well, Mr. Maul, we can certainly waive the towing charges in lieu of the circumstances, but we will still have to charge you for holding your speeder safely in the impound lot overnight.”

Not even missing a beat, Maul waved his hand in front of the manager’s face, “You have reconsidered. You will not charge me for holding my speeder here overnight.”

The manager repeated, “I have reconsidered. I will not charge you for holding your speeder here overnight.”

Maul smiled. “And you will top off the fuel tank at no charge,” he added.

“And I will top off the fuel tank at no charge,” said the manager.

Toad walked in as the manager finished talking and shook his head at Maul. “You’re going to have to stop using your Sith mind tricks on people, Maul. You can't always have your way.”

“Oh can’t I?” asked Maul as the manager left to go fill up his fuel tank and bring the speeder around front. “Not that I particularly care, but what kept you, anyway?”

“Ever try to park in an impound lot?” asked Toad. “I wanted to be sure someone wasn’t going to take the car away and then charge me bazillions of dollars to get it back.”

Maul smiled at the thought of Toad being stranded at the impound lot, but Toad misinterpreted it. “You DO like me! I knew it!” he exclaimed.

Maul was about to show Toad how much he didn’t like him when the manager rode the speeder up to them. “This is a really sweet machine,” he said. “Where did you get it?”

“From….an old…friend,” said Maul, choking bitterly on the last word.

Nodding his head, the manager said, “Lucky you. That must be some old friend.”

Yeah, thought Maul to himself, Some old, decrepit, deceitful, arrogant, piece of shi..”

His thoughts were interrupted by the manager who had tapped Maul’s good arm to get his attention and give his keys back to him. Maul started and took the keys. “Thank you and goodbye!” he said and got on his speeder, started it and blazed out of the lot so fast he left a breeze behind him.

“See you at home, roomie!” Toad shouted after him. “That’s part of my being your helper buddy!”

Fortunately for Toad, Maul did not hear him and so did not yet know that Toad was his ‘helper buddy’ and new roommate.

Elsewhere in the galaxy, Lord Sidious, aka Senator Palpatine, was wondering exactly why good help was so hard to come by. He was on his way up, his true identity was still hidden from the Jedi, and ultimate power looming so close he could nearly taste it. You would think there would be no end to the resources someone in his position would be entitled to. Yet, Sidious was lacking one vital element: a sidekick.

"Look, Mr. Igor. I appreciate you coming all the way out here but I don't think you fill the requirements of the position." The hunchback sitting before him slumped a bit in his chair. One eye bulged at him in a way that made Sidious a bit sick to his stomach and the other began to tear up.

"Pleeeaaseee master!" Igor begged, his hands folded desperately in front of him. "Igor needs a job! Last master was killed after the lab exploded!" Sidious glanced at the resume in his hand.

"Yes, it seems many of your former employers have had rather tragic ends." Igor shrugged helplessly at this.

"Comes with the territory." I need some aspirin, Sidious thought as he rubbed his temple.

"My ad states that I require someone physically fit, preferablly with past experience, and if possible a strong hatred for all Jedi."

"Master knows of the Disability laws, doesn't he?" Igor replied with some bitterness. "Equal employment is the term!"

"Yes," Sidious began patiently, reminding himself that blood on the new carpet would not come out easily, "but this is a physically demanding job. Someone with your...condition doesn't exactly work for my benefit."

"What about Igor's references?" Damn, the hunchback was stubborn!

"They're all very nice," Sidious said with an irritated sigh, missing one of Maul's most admirable traits: his silence. "The one from Frankenstein was of much interest. But what about Jedi? You claim to know very little about them." Igor shrugged.

"Igor is a quick learner." Sidious shook his head.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Igor, but I simply cannot hire you. Thank you for your interest though and I wish you luck." It took another few minutes to finally get Igor to leave, that hunchback could throw quite a tantrum if he wanted, but finally Sidious had succeeded in getting him out the door. His secretary could deal with him now for all Sidious cared.

The Sith slumped into his chair and not for the first time began to think about Maul. He had been an admirable apprentice. He had been obediant, a fine warrior, and let's face it had the whole Sith appearence down flat. But Maul had to go. He was getting too good too fast. Sending him on a mission to deal with two Jedi, one a Master, had been a full-proof plan, one of Sidious' better ones if he said so himself. Still, if Sidious had known what a pain in the backside it was going to be in finding a suitable replacement he may have considered holding onto Maul for a bit longer or at least find the replacement first and then gotten rid of him.

"Excuse me, sir," a pretty brunette opened the door and popped her head through. Sidious could never remember her name but was sure it began with an M. "Your 11:45 is here."

"Ah yes," Sidious said, trying to hide just how much he dreaded interviewing another potential failure. "Show him in." The door opened again and in walked Sidious' 11:45.

"Hello, Mr. Marvin. It's nice to meet you." He reached out to shake the hand of the rather depressed-looking robot before him.

"I seriously doubt it is so don't bother saying it." I need a vacation, Sidious thought as Marvin began to explain how throughly depressing something called the Heart of Gold had been.

Meanwhile, Maul had arrived back at his apartment and was reading the Employment Ads in Villains Weekly. He had managed to survive very well on his own using his dark side powers, but he no longer had any direction in his life. He needed something he could feel passionate about again. Maybe a new job could lift his spirits and give him the direction he needed.

An obscure ad caught his eye and he read it with great interest.

Wanted: Force-sensitive apprentice. Must be physically fit, loyal at all costs, able to withstand torture, verbal abuse and anything else I can dream up. Must have past experience in espionage and murder and if possible, a strong hatred for all Jedi. Send your electronic application to futuremperor@mindgames.com.

Sidious! he thought bitterly. So, he's had to resort to advertising to find a replacement for me. Interesting...

Maul began to formulate a plan for revenge. Perhaps Toad could be useful to him, after all. He was lost in thought when the doorbell rang. Growling to himself he opened the door and who should be there, but his new unwitting accomplice. Perfect! he thought as he smiled and welcomed Toad into his apartment, dragging his luggage behind him. "Hallo, roomie!"

Maul didn't have time to react to the meaning of Toad's greeting. The phone rang as he closed the door and he hurried over to the desk to answer it. "What!?" he demanded into the receiver.

"Is this Darth Maul?" asked a somewhat familiar voice on the other end. Where had he heard that voice before?

"Yes," he growled. "Who's bothering me?"

"This is A.J. Ross," the voice said, "we met last night at Sidekick Therapy. Do you remember me?"

"Yes, I remember you kicking me in the chest." Maul growled again.

"Self-defense, Maul," said Ross flatly. "You were about to kill us all, if you recall."

Details, details, he thought. "What do you want, Ross?" he asked angrily.

"I want to help you," Ross replied.

"NO!" Maul yelled and slammed the receiver down. Of course that wasn't the end of it. Immediately there was a knock at the door. Maul spun around, but it was too late. Toad had opened the door and admitted Ross into the apartment. Maul had barely had time to process this when there was another knock at the door.

"What is this!? Grand Central Station?" he fumed as he stormed across the room and opened the door to see who else dared to intrude on him. He wasn't entirely surprised to see who it was.

In as unwelcoming a tone as he could manage, he said, "Hello, Dr. Bill."

"Hello Maul!" Dr. Bill said as he pushed past the Sith and entered the apartment. Maul felt himself become even more irritated when he saw Dr. Bill start examining the room. Empty ice cream holders, half-eaten pizza crust, and a pile of unwashed dishes were just a few of the things testifying to what Maul had been up to for nearly a year. Dr. Bill just sort of overlooked it all with a smile that made Maul even angrier.

"It's charming, eh, Dr. Bill?" Toad asked with a smile.

"Why is he here?!" Maul asked the mutant, feeling the dark side ripple around him. Dr. Bill gave him a surprised look.

"Mort didn't tell you I was going to be dropping by?"

"Didn't get a chance to, I'm afraid," Toad apologized, not noticing the daggers in Mauls' eyes.

"No, never mind," Dr. Bill said cheerfully before turning to Maul. "I wanted to conduct a private session before our next meeting. Just to give you a more thorough idea of how we operate."

"Anything else you forgot to tell me?" Maul growled at Toad, for a moment the flames in his eyes actually seeming to move.There was another knock at the door. Toad smiled sheepishly at his new roommate.

"I may have invited a friend over."

Toad used his tongue to open the door. There, standing just outside was a bland faced Mystique with her hand halfway in the air about to knock once more. Toad smiled happily. "C'mon in, join the party!" Maul's left eye began to twitch.

Why the hell does everything happen to me? He wondered before shutting the door and scowling at each of them in turn. In particular Toad, who simply smiled jovially back. Mystique raised an eyebrow at the green mutant and looked questioningly at Dr. Bill, who seemed to be enjoying this.

Before any of them could say much, Maul burst. "What do you people WANT with me?!"

"Now, just relax, Mr. Maul," said Dr. Bill soothingly, which only irritated Maul even more. "I just wanted to have a brief session with you and a few of the other group members in private. Clearly you weren't prepared for last night's session, and I thought this would be a good opportunity for us to get a little better acquainted and answer any questions you may have."

"Why?" growled Maul, "and why here?"

"Because we wanted to you feel comfortable," said Dr. Bill. "We thought you would be more comfortable and relaxed in your own home, than in my office."

"You have no idea how relaxed I'd be if all of you people would just leave and stay the hell out of my life!" Maul exploded.

Ross walked over and put his hand on Maul's shoulder. Maul tensed and clenched his fists, but didn't hit him. "Come and sit down on the couch, Maul. Please." Ross said. Maul glared at him, but did as he was asked. Maybe if I go along with them they'll just go away, he thought to himself as he crossed his arms and legs and prepared to not be impressed.

Ross sat down next to him, ignoring Maul's exasperated sigh and evil eye. Toad plopped down on Maul's other side and earned himself a look that would have felled an army had the daggers been real.

Mystique crossed the living room in front of them, her hips swaying suggestively and tossed a 'come hither' look over her shoulder as she passed them. Toad, Maul and Ross all stared unblinkingly at her and each one involuntarily licked their lips. Maul was mortified at the reaction he had as he felt his nether region begin to stir to life. Down you idiot! he screamed to himself internally. He folded his arms in his lap to cover it up, just in case anyone had noticed. He should have known by then that he just wasn't that lucky.

"I see you had the same reaction I did!" Toad said far too loudly, clapping Maul on the shoulder. Ross bit his lip to keep from laughing, but checked his own nether region to make sure his own body wasn't betraying him.

Clearly enjoying the effect she was having on them, Mystique sat down in a chair next to the couch, and crossed her long legs with slow, exaggerated movements, letting her pump dangle flirtatiously off of her big toe.

"Could we, people?" asked Dr. Bill.

All eyes turned toward him. Maul scooted slightly closer to Ross to put as much space between he and Toad as he could.

"Okay," Dr. Bill continued, "here's what I would like to do. We know that Mr. Maul here has been lacking focus and direction in his life since leaving the employment of Darth Sidious. Clearly Maul has some anger about how everything ended, and I thought Mystique here could help us to help him. If you please?" he said motioning to Mystique.

As he watched, Mystique stood and began to transform before his eyes. Her blue skin was replaced with a black, hooded robe. Her shoulders were now broader and she stood taller and with a supreme confidence that Maul found familiar and arrogant. Slowly she lifted her hooded head, and looked at him with piercing grey eyes. Those eyes! He knew those eyes! Those eyes that could hold so much compassion for others, but never for him! Those eyes that didn't even blink when he thought his apprentice might be dead and immediately replaced him with Darth Tyranus! It was Sidious standing before him now. Sidious would pay for taking his life from him, he would see to that!

"Hello, my worthless former apprentice," Sidious sneered.

Maul felt his throat tighten as a dark cloud of anger, frustration, and even fear fogged his mind. Some part of his mind kept reminding him that this wasn't Sidious, this was just some very impressive micmication, an illusion. Maul found it hard to listen to this voice though. Everything about the Sidious before him was exactly the way he remembered it. The same cold eyes. The same crooked nose. Even the demeanor, the one that had always been present throughout the years was there. The feeling of power and dominance. The feeling that he was being judged by an impartial looming figure.

"Easy, Mate," Toad said quietly next to him, for once sounding very serious. Maul blinked and glanced over at him, then at Ross, who had placed a firm hand on his shoulder. This helped to bring his emotions under control but just barely. Maul's control had never been one of his strong points which explained why his connection to the dark side was so strong.

"Pathetic!" Sidious/Mystique sneered again. It was so authentic Maul felt his skin bristle, an affect his master's voice always had when ridiculing him.

"What's the point of this?" Maul asked, tearing his eyes away from him/her and looking directly at Dr. Bill.

"Part of your problem, Maul, is your inability to accept what happened. Acceptance is always the first step. This is to help confront that." Maul felt a growl rise in his throat.

"I suppose everyone goes through this!"

"Of course not," Dr. Bill said, and Maul saw that the therapist cast a quick glance at the mutant sitting next to him. "This is a more...desperate therapy mechanism than what I generally like to use but I think in your case it is appropriate."

"You may hate it but it will help," Toad said softly. Maul saw Ross nod in agreement out of the corner of his eye.

"Forget them, Maul," the Sidious illusion sneered, a smirk on his lips. "You and I know you failed and nothing will change that. You are no longer a Sith. You are worthless. Therapy will never change that. Just give it up already."

"I won't fail!" Maul realized he had yelled without meaning to. He faced Sidious/Mystique again. "Sith don't fail!" The master smiled even wider and leaned foward.

"Ahhh! See? You did fail and are therefore not a Sith!"

"Is that the reason you are unable to accept what happened, Maul?" Dr. Bill asked quietly, something about his calm frustrating Maul beyond description. "You think that failing your purpose takes away your identity?"

"Shut up!" Maul shouted, turning his glare onto Dr. Bill. He didn't notice that Ross and Toad had both stiffened in their seats, ready to intervene if nessecary.

"Without the Sith, you are nothing," Sidious commented almost casually.

"You shut up, too!" Maul felt as if the walls were pressing down on him and his breathing was more labored. He hadn't let himself think about why he had choosen to act the way he had for the past few months-maybe it had been a year by now-it had just been an excuse. Being faced with it though, that was different. He didn't want to deal with it.

"That's why I got rid of you Maul. You were just a complete waste of time. I don't want nobodies like you. I need real warriors. Darth Tyranus for example. He was a real Sith. Not like you."

Sidious' words echoed through Maul's brain like swords through the stomach. Time slowed and things crushed him from all sides. He wasn't sure what happened next. Something in him lunged out to kill the one responsible for all his pain, the faces of Sidious and Dr. Bill merged into one face, and then black consumed him.

Maul lunged for Dr. Bill, only to be tackled immediately by Ross and Toad. Sidious/Mystique leapt aside as the trio fell to the floor in a heap at her feet. Maul struggled, fought, bit, growled and screamed in his efforts to get away, but Ross and Toad eventually managed to pin him down. His eyes were filled with hatred and his body shook so hard with rage that it was all Ross and Toad could do to hold him down.

Dr. Bill looked sympathetically at him and gently said, “I understand how hard this is for you and I understand your rage.”

“Do you really?" sneered Maul. "How could you possibly understand how it is for me?" Reaching with the Force, Maul lifted a Sith Holocron off the mantle of his fireplace and hurled it at Dr. Bill's head. Thinking quickly, Toad snagged the object in mid-air with his tongue and threw it harmlessly to the side.

Undaunted, Maul began using the Force to randomly throw several small objects around the room. Ross and Toad had to duck more than once and Maul almost succeeded in getting away, but was thwarted when Ross pinned him down with an arm below the base of his throat and pressed in. Maul glared at him, nostrils flaring widely. The doorbell rang, but only Mystique seemed to have heard it. She answered the door, spoke a few words and then stepped aside to let the mysterious visitor in. Mystique excused herself and walked to the back of the apartment on some obscure errand.

"Please relax, Mr. Maul," said Dr. Bill quietly. "There is no need for violence. We only want to help you."

"Help me!?" spat Maul. "Why would any of you want to help me? I'd kill all of you without a second thought if I had half a chance!"

"No? Really?" said Ross sarcastically. "And here we thought this was just your way of showing love." Maul bristled at Ross' tone, but was secretly pleased that Ross was beginning to show some anger. He understood anger. It was the only emotion he could understand. He could not recall the love of a family. Sidious had been the closest thing to a father that Maul had ever known, and he certainly wasn't the fatherly type.

Even as a small infant, his nursemaids had been instructed to feed, bathe and change him and nothing more. No hugs, no kisses, no love of any kind was to be shown to him. As a small child he was punished severely for any weakness or compassion shown on behalf of any other living thing. The only time Maul ever heard any praise was when he killed without mercy, and so he became a killer. It was the only way to be accepted and even remotely loved by Sidious, whose approval he craved more than he would ever admit. Even now.

He sometimes wondered what would have happened to him if he had been raised in his birth family. Sidious had told him that his family had been found guilty of treason and executed. Maul had only been spared because he was an infant, but had been placed into a Zabrak orphanage where he had been rejected by potential adoptive families time and again because of his family's shame. Sidious, who had been quietly watching Maul for some time and was by now convinced of the strength of the Force in him, came to the rescue and offered to adopt him. No questions were asked and they simply handed Maul to him. Sidious had melted away like a thief in the night with his new prize and Maul had awakened the next morning in his new home: a home utterly devoid of all love and compassion, and began his new life as an apprentice to evil incarnate.

Suddenly he felt a warm hand gently stroke his cheek. Startled out of his reverie, he looked up to see a beautiful Zabrak woman leaning over him. Her skin was a dewey cherry red, and her palm as she stroked Maul's cheek was cool and soft and smelled of a fragrance from his infancy that he could not recall anything about except that he had loved it. The woman's vestigial horns were smaller in size than his, but were the same in color and placement on her head as his own and she had the same red-rimmed yellow eyes that he had. Long, brown hair cascaded down her shoulders as she leaned over him. "My beloved boy," she whispered to him. "Khameir Sarin."

"Mother?" Maul whispered back, not believing his eyes or his ears. No, this has to be a mistake, he thought to himself. Where is Mystique? Looking sharply around the room and not seeing her, he turned back to the woman who was for all appearances, his mother. "You're not my mother!" he screamed at her, roughly shoving her hand away. "You're not going to play with my mind again, Mystique!" The woman's eyes began to mist over and she put her hand over her mouth so that he could not see her lips begin to tremble even as her tears began to fall.

"Oh, what are you on about?" said Mystique as she entered the room. Seeing the woman crying, she retrieved some tissues from a box sitting on an end table next to the couch and handed them to her. The woman got up and walked into the kitchen and leaned heavily on the counter. Her shoulders shook as she silently cried into the tissues.

Maul looked from one to the other in disbelief. "This is a trick!" he cried. "It has to be!" The woman's now audible sobs from the kitchen soon convinced him that it was all-too-real. Walking into the kitchen, he stood next to the woman, took her chin in his hands and looked into her tear-filled eyes. Her lips still trembled as he held her chin. "How can this be?" he asked her, not really expecting an answer.

"Sidious lied to you," she choked. "Your family was never guilty of treason. Sidious had manipulated events at every turn to make people around us believe that we had betrayed our nation. Your father and sister were executed, but I escaped as they led me to the Execution Arena. A Jedi had been on Iridonia for a long time. He had sensed your presence, Khameir. He had come to ask our permission to take you to Coruscant to ask the Jedi Council permission to take you on as his padawan. He helped me to escape and begin a new life outside of the Republic planet system."

Maul shook his head in disbelief. "No, it's not true!" he yelled. The woman nodded her head and reached to touch his cheek. He pulled away from her, glaring at her even as she began to weep again. "What was the Jedi's name?" he demanded.

"Qui-Gon Jinn," she replied through her tears as she dabbed her eyes with the now extremely soggy tissues. "He was a very powerful Jedi and a very good man. Your father and I had made the decision to let him take you to Coruscant. You would have had a better life with the Jedi than you would have in an orphanage, but they took you to the orphanage earlier than we had expected. Qui-Gon tried unsuccessfully several times to adopt you, but something or someone always prevented it. When he came back to try again after seeing me safely to my new home, someone else had already taken you." Maul felt his heart drop to the floor with a thud. Not noticing Maul's reaction to her last bit of information, she said, "Perhaps this will convince you that I am your mother." She pulled a parchment out of her robe and handed it to Maul. He took it and briefly scanned the document.

As he finished reading, he looked up and tilted his head to the side, questions in his eyes. "This is my birth certificate?" he asked increduously. "How did you get it? I was told it had been destroyed after my family had been executed."

"When the military soldiers came to take us away, I grabbed what little I could. I had a holocron with images of all of us stored in it, but they took it away from me before we ever got out of the house. Knowing we would never see you again, your father desperately wanted me to have some reminder of you in our last days. He managed to get your birth certificate off of his desk--he was going to frame it for me--and stuffed it in my hands as we were being shoved out the door. I somehow managed to hide it in my shirt before we were handcuffed. When they discovered it later, they didn't see the harm in my having it, so I was allowed to keep it. It doesn't surprise me in the least that Sidious told you it had been destroyed. It would suit his purposes well enough. You might then be deterred from trying to find your family, if you didn't believe his other lie for some reason."

"How did they die, Rala Sarin?" he asked. Startled at first by hearing her son use her name, she shook her head and said, "It's best if you do not know. It was so long ago, and it would serve no purpose now."

"How can you say that!?" raged Maul. "I have a right to know about my family, especially about how they died! Tell me everything you know!" he yelled, pounding his fist on the counter in his anger. Rala jumped and looked plaintively at him, begging him with her eyes not to make her tell this horrible tale. Maul did not back down and raised his eyebrows in sign that he would not wait forever. At last Rala sighed resignedly and told him what he wanted to know.

"Your father and sister were killed by dinkos in the Execution Arena," she said simply. Maul swallowed a lump in his throat as his nostrils flared to hold back his anger. Memories of the viscious dinkos that Sidious had placed in Maul's quarters as a child came flooding back to him. He looked at his mother with new tenderness and gathered her into his arms. Rala threw her arms around him and sobbed into his chest. "My dear son," she choked.

"My dearest mother," Maul said gently into her hair as he embraced her. "I have missed you more than you could possibly know. I look foward to hearing how you found me after all these years."

Dr. Bill, Mystique, Toad and Ross had been standing silently off to the side and now softly cleared their throats. "Um, we'd better be going so you two can have some time alone," said Ross as he pulled Toad towards the door.

"I live here, remember?" Toad whispered to Ross.

"Not now!" hissed Ross. "He's just been re-united with his mother. That is much more important than springing a new roommate on him. Give him some time. You can stay with me if you need to."

"Okay," said Toad as he retrieved his luggage from the living room. As he walked out of the apartment, he looked back at Maul and his mother, still embracing one another and felt somewhat envious. I wish I could have had a family that loved me, he thought to himself. As if he read his mind, Ross clapped a hand on Toad's shoulder and pulled him out of the apartment. "C'mon, buddy," said Ross. "I'll buy you a beer."

Cheered, Toad asked, "Can you make it a keg?"

Dr. Bill and Mystique shook their heads and quietly pulled the door shut behind them.