I do not own anything to do with Star Wars or Dark Disciple but it would be nice if I did.
AN: If Ahsoka and Asajj seem a bit ooc in this chapter as it has more of their interaction please understand that the last year of their lives had some of the biggest changes to their lives and thus will be quite different from the end of the clone wars show and different from the books at this point. Also it is having a slow start and I hope you bare with it. The back story on how they got together and became partners will not be until at least the next chapter so there is a lot of set up to do. I hope this story will continue on for a while. Thank you for listening to me ramble and I hope you enjoy the latest chapter.
Dark Disciple's Partner
After being escorted to the senator's building since he had gone to Pantora without notifying the senator, which is against regulations, Vos had asked for a private room to call the council to ask what to do next. This was new territory, he never had a mission go this wrong from the very beginning. He had refused to answer any questions from the former Jedi due to the sensitive nature of the mission that had started off rough already. Even more nerve racking was notifying the council of a former Jedi that not only was associating with a Sith but also in a relationship. That was awkward on a few levels after he had spent that time trying to banter (not flirt like Tano insisted) with the Sith, which is Obi-Wan's fault as that was his advice in the first place. No he was not ready for this.
He arrived at a secure conference room and pulled out his comm. He was in the council room as a hologram and surrounded by surprised members.
"Master Vos, I understand you are good at infiltration, but we had assumed it would take longer for you to get Ventress to trust you. We did say not to contact us until then did we not?" The stern master Mundi stated while the rest took in Vos waiting for him to reply. He seemed nervous.
"That is the problem, my cover was blown due to the unforeseen complication that I had spoken to Kenobi about earlier." All attention turned to Kenobi. He had not mentioned anything before in hopes it wouldn't be a problem.
Kenobi turned to the rest of the councilors to explain "Before he left, Master Vos discovered rumors that Ventress was working with a partner who is as skilled as Ventress in the art of a lightsaber. We had some reservations about this information but had hoped that the extra skilled person could aide in the mission to make it easier."
"Know you, this partner does?" It was a question from the grand master while also a statement directed back at Vos who was looking deeply uncomfortable at having to relay this information.
"Yes, I had encountered Ventress on Pantora while she was going after a new bounty and tried to get a rapport going between us. I had not seen a partner at the time and she seemed to be going after the target alone. The only thing my attempts accomplished was manage to annoy her and she rebuffed me at every turn." There was a short mumbling suspiciously coming from the direction of Obi-Wan that sounded like he was saying something along the lines of not being the only one. "When we lost the target we got in an argument and that was when her partner suddenly showed up with a lightsaber at my throat. But not just any lightsaber it was white."
That had everyone sitting up. Nobody had even heard of someone with that color of a saber. No one except for a certain grand master "Heard of a saber like that, I have. Balance and peace, it means. Neutral, the wielder must be." Taking in the information the council got quiet. Including the chosen one who always heard whispers of how he was supposed to bring balance to the force.
"Please continue with your report Master Vos." Calmly stated Windu. He was intrigued as well by someone else wielding a unique blade.
"Ah… yes. Following the blade I looked to its wielder to find the woman dragging the target we lost as well as the senator of Pantora." He still seemed a little hesitant to give away the woman's identity although after his gaze flickered to Anakin and Obi-Wan the older and wiser of the two caught the glance and was able to connect the dots as he knew of the senator being close with only one lightsaber wielder.
"Force…. It can't be." All attention turned to him including his old padawan who was still confused.
It was Master Vos who answered. "Yes it is Obi-Wan. She held a lightsaber to my throat and asked me, by name, what the council wanted and…." he paused not wanting to give the awkward information.
Anakin was getting impatient with this discussion. "Who asked you what?!"
Vos turned to the impatient Jedi. A glint in his eye showing some mischief "Ahsoka Tano asked me if I would stop flirting with her girlfriend." He said as dryly as possible. No one in the room said a word and it was almost comical how far out all their eyes bulged at the admission.
"I did not see that coming." Came from Master Windu. A soft chuckle could be heard and everyone looked to Master Plo Koon.
"She always did the unexpected." He said rather simply through his mask.
Of course her former master could not keep as calm. "Unexpected?! She is off doing who knows what with a Sith! We need to stop this now!" Getting out of his seat to rush out the door. He never stopped being frustrated at what the council had done to his padawan.
"Wait Anakin. We need to talk about what to do regarding the mission first." Ordered his master. Grumbling the youngest in the room returned to his seat.
While the council was discussing what to do with the new information, in another room down the hall was one bounty hunter trying to calm down another.
"What are they doing here!? Did they know I was here with you? Are they going to try to get rid of me now they know I am with you?" Ventress calmly sat on a couch watching her partner pace back and forth across the room in the middle of a mild freak out. It was understandable considering the Togruta had a bit of resentment and mistrust for the order still and this was the first time they had come across a Jedi since. She had been able to think it over a lot over the last year to try to come to terms with it, but being faced with it so suddenly could shake the younger girl.
She grabbed Ahsoka's hand as she walked by again and dragged her onto the couch. Ahsoka crumpled up into her side while she stroke the former Jedi's lekku. This usually had a calming effect on her. As her breathing leveled out Ventress tried to answer her concerns. "We just have to wait and see what it is they want. Vos, as you called him, seemed extremely surprised to see you so they had no idea you were here. As for the Jedi coming after you to get rid of you, that would never happen. The Jedi don't send out assassination missions." Scoffing at the idea. "Don't worry about it. Your friend will make sure we are protected."
"We have been over this before Saj. Riyo is an old friend who wanted to catch up and isn't exactly comfortable around former Sith. Just because she wanted to see me alone didn't mean she wanted to see me alone." She replies smiling at Ventress's awkwardness. She was still a little uncomfortable with….. well feelings.
"I told you not to call me that." She grumbled in response.
Ahsoka hopped up and laughed at the pouting former Sith. It had been an interesting year since she left the order and the only reason she is here and in one piece is because of the woman in front of her who admittedly has also tried to kill her several times, although that was before they started working together.
There was a knock at the door and Ahsoka went to answer it while Ventress got her lightsaber ready. She may be in friendly territory but it is always better to be prepared. When Ahsoka opened the door it was Quinlan Vos with one of the Pantoran guards who was escorting him due to his unannounced presence on Pantora. He had his lightsaber with him now. "Hello Miss Tano, would it be alright if I came in?" He seemed entirely out of place and uncomfortable at the moment. Though that was understandable considering the possibly sticky situation the Jedi were in plus from the few stories about the man she heard from Master Kenobi, Vos was not exactly a manners type of person.
"Of course….. but no flirting." She said half-jokingly. They entered the room and she took her spot next to Ventress again which made the pale woman a bit uncomfortable. Flirting and banter is one thing but the whole touchy feely thing in front of others was still new for her.
"So what is it the Jedi want of us? Now that your deception was caught I assume that things have changed." Asajj started the discussion. Ahsoka usually let her do the discussion part of their work as Ahsoka always had been more of a follow orders type person. But she listened intently here as this had to do with the Jedi. Still a sore subject and not entirely something she felt comfortable with which is why she was being a bit more affectionate than usual with Saj.
Vos still not use to feeling this uncomfortable especially with the two ladies. "While I am not at liberty to say exactly what is going on.." Insert Ventress scoff. "Two Jedi are coming to Pantora to try and smooth things over with the senator over sneaking in. They will explain the situation thoroughly as representatives with the council."
Ahsoka was the next one to speak up "Do I even need to ask which two are coming here. I doubt Anakin would allow anyone else come here." She was unsure how she should feel about that. Part of her wants her former master to be proud of her and she felt that if he saw her now, who she was with he would be anything but proud. The other part of her, the independent part that has been growing rapidly isn't sure that it should matter. She was happy with where she was now and what she was truly afraid of was that he would make her feel ashamed of that. Not that it seems glamorous but at least it's what she chose.
"Of course it will be Skywalker and Kenobi." He looked uncomfortable "Is that a problem for you? Do you have anywhere you need to be? It will take them a few hours to get here."
She looked to her right to her partner. She knew there wasn't another job or contract lined up but she wanted to be sure that Saj was alright with staying to hear the Jedi out. Saj gave her a nod.
"We will wait. I hope you understand if we ask to wait alone." He nodded and seemed to relax in relief to be done with this disaster of a mission. He got up and left the room leaving the two of them by themselves. Ahsoka let out a breath and sagged on the couch. She laid her head on Saj's lap and looked up at her. "What do you think? You've been unusually quiet on the situation considering you are still technically a criminal to the republic and you are going to be meeting with 3 Jedi Masters on a Republic allied planet."
"The Senator is your friend we will be fine and you still have a lot to learn about deal making young one." This made Ahsoka crack a smile and chuckle. "The Jedi came here looking for us or more specifically me. They want me to help them with a job since he tried to get me to be his partner so he needs my abilities. They will then try to use you to try to convince me to help you and the Jedi are specifically using Jedi you are close to so they can convince you instead of one you barely know. This way, whatever they need done that they don't want connected to them will have twice the muscle to do it. Whatever this is, they don't want a Jedi to do it but need someone as good as one and since they came to me… It most likely has to do with Dooku." Saj finally reaching the end of her train of thought and looked directly into her eyes. "Don't worry about me Soka. Whatever it is they need me so they won't do anything." She smiled gently down to the Togruta in her lap, a smile she would only show her.
Ahsoka smiled right back. "That is a good logical argument, but logical arguments get thrown out the window when it comes to Anakin. He will be all over protective brother on me probably and try to kill you anyway or….. he will try to get me to come back." She closed her eyes and sighed.
"Do you?"
"Do I what?" Ahsoka was confused at her partner's question.
"Want to go back to the order. Your master never betrayed and looked out for you and will welcome you back. You could have a home that doesn't involve shady bars and crappy hotels."
Ahsoka couldn't help but smile at her words. Not because she wanted any of that but because she could feel and understand the emotions behind what Saj was thinking.
"I won't go back Saj. I'm not like the others, I won't leave you." She gave her partner a comforting embrace to assuage some of her insecurities. Ventress may be a badass former Sith bounty hunter, but she still had fears and worries and Ahsoka liked that she could bring out some of these emotions in her.
Asajj got up off the couch suddenly and grabbed her cloak. "Let's get going to the hanger than to meet the parents." And she walked out of the room her usual bantering self. All trace of the faces she would only show Ahsoka were gone. Only the grim determination to keep what was now hers.
On a star-ship headed towards Pantora someone was getting lectured. Since this trip involved Jedi and a senator on Pantora it was decided Jedi and a senator should be sent there to help clear things up and this lead to the situation of Padme trying to tell Anakin how to act which tends to be quite a futile thing. "This is a diplomatic mission so we don't need you trying to kill someone!"
"But it's Ventress! She is probably using Ahsoka in some crazy plan or exploiting her for money. Maybe she is even trying to turn her to the dark side and against the Jedi because of what happened to her!" Anakin had not stopped worrying about his former padawan since she left and now knowing who she had been with had made it many times worse. Obi-Wan being the smart one had avoided the conversation by choosing to fly the ship to Pantora.
"Ani she is a big girl. She is 18 years old and can make her own decisions. I am just as surprised as you that she ended up being a bounty hunter but she is no longer your responsibility. If you show up there angry rather than being happy to see her she will pull away and stay away forever." That finally got him to stop pacing. He didn't want to lose Ahsoka forever. He always hoped that she would just travel a little then return to him but her having a life and if it is true she is with Ventress that would get in the way of her returning.
"Ahhh!" he stormed off. Tired of the same argument going on for another hour.
Padme knew he would not calm down or relax until he saw her again. Sometimes she was jealous of the small Togruta. A woman that could affect her Ani like this and got to spend all her time with him. But she had grown to like the girl too and hoped she wasn't in over her head like Ani had thought.
During this Obi-Wan may have been hiding from Anakin's tantrum but he was also thinking over the mission he was specifically given. To say he was uncomfortable would be an understatement.
Flashback
The hologram of Vos had disappeared and Anakin shot out of his chair to pack for his trip to Pantora and left the room. "Obi-Wan we need to discuss Miss Tano." Master Windu halted his own retreat.
Obi-Wan was perplexed by his statement but waited for him to continue. "Miss Tano is a perfect candidate for Ventress to use. She could have spent the last year teaching her in the ways of the dark side and stoking the fires of revenge." Obi-Wan was getting a very uncomfortable feeling in his stomach from the direction of this conversation. "We are not going to go through all of this work and planning on this mission to get rid of the Sith threat to allow two others to take his place. Anakin will not be up to it but you will need to be the calm one and talk to Vos. If she is a threat you will need to take care of both of them."
Obi-Wan looked for help amongst the other masters but found nothing but sympathetic and resigned eyes. Master Plo Koon looked a little angry but said nothing. He directed his gaze back to Master Windu. "I will follow my own judgement and if she is a threat to the council I will take appropriate action." With that he got up and left.
Down the hall from the council room he was met by Master Plo Koon. "Master Kenobi I do not agree with their assessment. Please help little Ahsoka if she needs it….. even if she needs help to stay safe from us. We committed a great injustice against her. Let's not make it worse." He walked away more defeated than Kenobi had ever seen him.
Flashback end
Obi-Wan hoped that it would not come to that. He hoped that this mission would be uneventful and peace would be found. But considering the people involved and the danger the mission will pose that was unlikely. He set down the star-ship in the hanger prepared for their visit with a sense of doom. He knew that everything would be different the next time he returned to the temple.
AN: I hope you enjoyed that chapter. Once again leave a review with any ideas or suggestions I would love to hear them. My other two stories will be updated over the next week also. I hope you will go and check those out.
