Okay, this is my first ever Star Wars fic. It features an OC from a series I'm currently doing on fictionpress (hint, hint) but other than him and his back-story, I do not own Star Wars, Disney does now (it should be George Lucas)

Read and review, read and review!

Obi-Wan still had no idea why his master had been called to deal with the intruder, when Master Windu and Master Yoda were already there. What difference would Qui-Gon make?

Apparently a lot, because when the pair arrived at the Healers', it was quite a scene.

The pale young man was strapped to the bed, whiter than any human Obi-Wan had ever seen before and struggling furiously. His eyes had no iris or pupil, they were just melted gold, two slanted almonds of it. The language he was speaking in was one he'd never heard before but he sounded panicked and really not very happy.

Qui-Gon quickly assessed the situation in the cool diplomatic way he normally did, before brushing past the two senior Jedi and crouching beside the young man, who stopped struggling once the Healer with the needle of anaesthetic had been dismissed.

"If I asked you some very simple questions, would you answer them?" Qui-Gon asked calmly. The young man cocked his head slightly, as though he didn't understand the question.

"Can I ask you one first?" he replied, with a heavy accent none present had ever heard before. Qui-Gon frowned curiously but nodded anyway. "Why do you need twenty-six wards around this building? I almost died trying to get through them and that would have been very inconvenient." He hadn't spoken a single word to Obi-Wan but already he was sure they would get along.

"That's no concern of yours," Master Windu replied severely, prompting a small, deadly-looking smile from the restrained young man.

"You're very rude, has anyone ever told you that?" the young man remarked. Master Windu merely cocked an eyebrow.

"You'll speak to me with respect, boy! I am a Jedi Master and demand the courtesy my position grants me!" he said slowly. The young man just smiled again.

"But I am not a Jedi," he reminded the Master lightly. "I am Kin-Student Jasper Vinciguerra and I don't demand the respect of any position. Even though I could free myself and kill the lot of you within two seconds." Then he laughed brightly, looking at everyone in turn, especially the Master and Padawan in the room. "I probably should have mentioned that I'm empathetic, as in I can feel every emotion you have, purely by accident. You don't need to be alarmed and you certainly don't need to fear me. Unnecessary deaths isn't something I have a huge interest in."

Obi-Wan saw his Master's frown and had to swallow a moment of jealousy that Jasper Vinciguerra, by all rights an intruder and criminal practically, was getting more attention from the man than he got in a month, despite their close proximity. He was sure Jasper had seen it though and took a deep breath, releasing his negative emotions into the Force.

"I don't really have many questions left to ask: you've already answered most of them," Qui-Gon said thoughtfully. "One last question: why are you here?"

That got to Jasper. "Honestly, I'm not entirely sure why I'm here," he admitted. "I was on a solo mission, trying to avoid a civil war on Randalor, but negotiations got a bit out of hand, by which I mean they tried to kill me. I just thought 'safe place' and ended up collapsing in your garden. So apparently this is the safest place in the universe: I wasn't exactly specific on which safe place I wanted to go to."

"Truthful, he is," Yoda said in his gravelly, calm voice. "But tired also. Rest, he needs. Take care of him, you will, Qui-Gon. A friend for your Padawan, he can be." And with that, Yoda hobbled out, Master Windu sweeping along after him, though not before sending Jasper daggers.

Once the two Masters were gone, Jasper slumped back against the bed-table and closed his eyes wearily. "That went well," he muttered darkly. "Can you let me out of these straps please? I think I'm losing circulation in my hands."

"They do seem to be going a little blue," Obi-Wan said, feigning seriousness. Jasper looked past Qui-Gon and smiled tiredly at the other young man. They were probably about the same age, Jasper thought, but he had never sensed such loneliness, tiredness and desperation in another person his age, at least not on the same level as this young man. He also couldn't help noticing the nervous look the young man sent the Master, like he was searching of approval. But all he got was a blank.

Obi-Wan undid the restraints and Jasper immediately pulled out of them, sitting up and sending them a dark look. Then he looked at the pair asked to take care of him until he recovered.

"Jasper Vinciguerra," he said again, greeting them properly. He held out a hand to the younger one first, feeling the surprise that he didn't allow to show, but he took the offered hand anyway. He only gripped though, he didn't shake, as though he was worried about overshadowing the older man, who barely seemed to notice he was there.

"I'm Qui-Gon Jinn and this is my Padawan learner, Obi-Wan Kenobi ," the Master said softly. He had what would have been a calming reassuring voice had it not been emotionally dead. Qui-Gon saw the brief look of confusion Jasper sent his way but he also saw the overwhelming exhaustion. "You need to rest. You're welcome to our quarters," he offered. But Jasper knew exactly whose bed would be given up and that didn't sit well with him.

"Only if I'm not inconveniencing either of you," he replied firmly, to Qui-Gon's obvious surprise. That just bugged the hell out of Jasper and both Jedi noticed.

There's always the couch, I suppose, but I doubt he'll want that, Obi-Wan thought to himself, unaware that Jasper could hear every word.

I've spent most of my career sleeping on other peoples' couches, he said gently, smiling broadly when Obi-Wan jumped out of his skin. I doubt yours will be worse than some nights I've endured.

If you're sure, he replied, full of trepidation.

"It's settled then," Jasper declared, hopping off the table and almost buckling when he did. Qui-Gon wasn't quite fast enough and Jasper's head hit the floor with a strangely hollow-sounding crack. Obi-Wan had to wince when he heard it. He was completely out, but there wasn't even a mark and in that case, there probably wouldn't be a bruise either.

Qui-Gon carried Jasper back to their quarters and laid the unconscious boy on Obi-Wan's bed, the student not having the courage to tell his master what they had arranged. He would rather face the stranger than his master, who would undoubtedly give him a talking-to, a thing he'd learned to fear, even though as a Jedi, he wasn't meant to fear at all.

If only Qui-Gon knew.