Things get worse before they get better.
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Their first and only clue as to Anakin's whereabouts comes in the form of a coded transmission to Master Obi-Wan. They are in the mid-rim, cleaning up a Separatist listening station (the war doesn't end just because her Master is missing), and when Master Obi-Wan sees who the sender is, his mouth becomes a thin line and he retreats into his quarters before viewing the message. He does not invite Ahsoka to watch it with him, and when he emerges looking pale and more shell-shocked than Ahsoka has ever seen, he will not divulge what he has seen. She trots behind him as he makes a bee-line for the Bridge, her heart pounding hard against her ribs because she has never seen Master Obi-Wan so uneasy, has never felt such turmoil in the Force from the normally-serene Jedi Master. "Where are we going?" she asks after the silence is nearly enough to drive her mad.
Obi-Wan does not turn to her, keeps his eyes forward as he continues his quick strides. "Telos," he replies tightly, offering no further explanation.
"What's on Telos?" she prods, hoping he will say that it is Anakin, that he is there and okay, and the stress she senses is because he's just run off without saying where he was going. It's unlikely, wishful thinking, because that isn't like Anakin at all, and if that were the case, Obi-Wan would have just said so.
She can feel the razor-sharp crack of Obi-Wan's strain as he replies, "An old enemy." Which doesn't mean much to her; she's long since learned that her Master and Grandmaster have many enemies.
"And Anakin?" she asks, frowning, jogging to keep up now.
This time Obi-Wan does turn to her, slightly, not breaking his stride. "I certainly hope so," he says, and lapses into silence once more.
It's hazy and at first Anakin thinks he is still hallucinating, because what he sees just doesn't make sense. Omega has returned from a brief respite, carrying with him two thick, sharp metal hooks and offering a smile that would look more at home on a krayt dragon. "Skywalker," he says, and his tone is curious. Anakin struggles to stand, but his head spins and his stomach lurches and every part of him feels liquid. He sinks back down as Omega comes closer.
"Whassat?" he hears himself say; between the jaw stiffness from Omega repeatedly and unceremoniously shoving his cock in Anakin's mouth multiple times a day and the sedating effects of the drugs, he's started to have a very hard time keeping his words clear.
Omega's smile widens into a grin. "I want you to live up to your name," he explains, but as far as Anakin is concerned it's a terrible explanation. Omega comes closer, runs a hand through Anakin's filthy hair, and slides a hand up his cock. In anticipation, Anakin's body responds, but Omega merely tsks at him. "Not yet," he scolds
The first hook comes as a complete surprise, entering the flesh of his chest just above his right nipple, sliding through muscle and skin to come out again, the hook dangling now from his chest and blood streaming down his front. It takes a moment for the pain to appear, and by the time it does, the second hook has been positioned beside the first. Anakin stares at Omega; the violation is confusing, and he's still not sure it is real. The pain is, though, but he does his best to ride it out. Soon enough the hypo will come out again and take the worst of the pain away.
He kneels in the center of the room that has become his world these past months (months? He isn't sure entirely), shivering, teeth clenched, hands clasped tightly in front of him, waiting for the next torment. He knows better than to ask for the relief the drugs will bring; the last time he did, Omega withheld them for a day and a half until Anakin felt like he was going to die. He won't make the same mistake.
After what seems like eternity, Omega flips a switch on the wall and a set of thick chains lowers, each with a device at the end designed to attach to the hooks now embedded in Anakin's chest. Omega makes quick work of it, and gives Anakin another smile as he flips the switch again and the chains begin to retract into the ceiling.
At first Anakin isn't sure what is happening, is only aware of pressure and pain and the feel of flowing blood, but then he realizes he isn't touching the ground anymore, that he's hanging suspended by the chains and hooks, that he can hardly breathe. This isn't the floating meditation Barriss Offee practices, this is entirely physical, and for the first time since being taken captive, Anakin feels true and utter hopelessness. He tilts his head back and lets the tears fall.
Narrowing their search down to Telos is not the immediate solution Ahsoka had hoped it would be. For one thing, it is still an entire planet, and they have nothing besides that to go on. Secondly, as Obi-Wan has pointed out, half the planet belongs to Granta Omega - or at the very least his family, which makes things even more complex. Ahsoka is almost ready to resort to some aggressive negotiations with planetary officials, but Obi-Wan's presence holds her back from displaying some of the less Jedi-like teachings passed down from her Master.
For his part, Obi-Wan is managing to keep his emotions in check, as he always does, while working with a variety of contacts for any kind of clue. He even makes a long, private comm call away from Ahsoka (and like the message he'd received, he does not share the content with her), and that is what seems to turn the tides. "Warehouses in the capital city," he informs her, tucking his comm back in his robes and running a hand over his hair, disheveling it slightly. "I wasn't able to get anything more concrete than that, but it's certainly better than nothing." He sounds tired, like Ahsoka feels. Obi-Wan has known Anakin far longer than she has; they are practically two halves of the same person. Though he's doing well to hide it, she can only imagine how he must be feeling. She knows how she is feeling, at least. Knows too how Anakin would be feeling were roles reversed. Still, Obi-Wan is right and now their search has considerably narrowed. She just hopes that Anakin will still be there when they arrive.
The pathetic mewling noise is coming from him, Anakin realizes blearily, trying to scrabble at the chains holding him off the ground. He's too weak, too doped up, and his hands can't find purchase so he dangles there, chest heaving because it's become so hard to breathe. He's decided that he is going to die here; no one is coming to rescue him, and Omega is like a spoiled child - once he has broken a toy, he will merely throw it away instead of tending to it.
Anakin knows, somewhere in the recesses of coherent thought, that he is very close to breaking. And since he is Anakin Skywalker, and since he has no desire to leave this galaxy on anything but his own terms, he raises his left wrist to his mouth and bites down. The pain doesn't even register, not past the hurts all over the rest of him. He continues biting, tearing at the flesh, working towards the vein, hitting it finally with a rush of hot blood in his mouth.
He spits onto the floor and lets his arm dangle. Everything starts taking on a hazy glow, better than the high of the drugs, warmer than the dunes back home. He feels his body start to convulse and is dimly aware of hitting the ground with the sounds of flesh tearing and a sickening crack. Because he is Anakin Skywalker, and this is his choice, he closes his eyes.
The montrals on a Togruta serve many purposes, the most obvious of which is a form of echolocation more sensitive than even the most sophisticated sensor equipment. Ahsoka can tell without anything more than a tilt of her head that the warehouse in front of them, unlike the others they have investigated, is almost entirely empty. "I think it's this one," she murmurs to Obi-Wan, though there is currently no reason to keep her voice down. It's the weight of things, the idea that her Master may be in there and she has no idea why or if he is okay. A prickling sensation down her lekku give her the notion that all is not well, but she could have told herself that weeks ago.
Obi-Wan nods, and slips his lightsaber off his belt. "Be cautious," he warns as she follows suit with her main 'saber. "Granta Omega is a very dangerous man."
The fact Omega has had her Master for months now is testament to that, though Obi-Wan still hasn't seen fit to tell her much about the man, nor about the history the three men share. She hasn't had the heart to press the matter, not yet anyway, not until after she knows Anakin is safe. "I'll be careful, Master," she assures him. She knows she is often compared to her own Master in terms of her reckless streak, but this is different; she won't do anything without the utmost certainty that it won't do more harm to Anakin.
Obi-Wan sounds pained as he responds, "See that you do." This merely strengthens her resolve to get better answers once this is all over, but in the meantime she follows him to a recessed door, reaching out with the Force and all her other senses to try and get a read on what may lay beyond.
Everything in the galaxy has some kind of presence in the Force. Any living being, no matter how endowed with midichlorians, can be sensed, even if it is merely a ripple. Droids, too, to an extent, can be sensed. What Ahsoka feels when she extends her power into the warehouse is a void, a black hole, absolute nothingness where there should be something. "Do you feel that?" she asks.
Obi-Wan's lips press together tighter than she's ever seen them. "It seems we are in the right place after all," he tells her, and waves a hand over the locking mechanism of the door. There is a tight grinding and the door slides open. Still without activating their weapons, the two Jedi enter, Obi-Wan taking the lead; Ahsoka can feel his concentration, his senses seeking out any trace of Anakin.
Ahsoka, though, senses it first: the sound of someone choking on something. It's faint, but she follows the sound to a cordoned-off area, held secure by a locking gate. The choking noise is interspersed by moans now and Ahsoka smashes the lock open with the Force as quick as she can. She knows it is Obi-Wan's place to enter before her, but she can't help darting ahead, recoiling violently as the smell of the place hits her like a physical blow, the pain in the Force making her knees weak. She straightens, determined to focus, and manages to see her Master curled up on the hard duracrete floor, a widening puddle of blood forming around him. Ahsoka activates her comm immediately, summoning the Clone company waiting on standby for just this moment. She kneels beside Anakin, Obi-Wan joining her for a brief moment. "I'm going to look for Omega," he informs her, barely looking at Anakin, choking and sobbing on the floor.
He's gone before Ahsoka can protest - she supposes she understands, but as far as she is concerned, Omega can wait. Anakin needs her. "Master? Skyguy?"
He doesn't respond and then Ahsoka sees the hooks on the floor, is able to make out the trauma to the flesh on Anakin's chest, the violent tearing of his wrist. There are other injuries too, she senses; the backs of his legs are sticky with blood and for the first time it registers that he is completely naked. She winces slightly as the implications of that sink in, and she reaches out a tentative hand.
He won't respond, stays huddled in on himself, inhuman sounds tearing from his throat every so often. "Master, it's me," she attempts. "Say something, please!" He doesn't seem to recognize her voice, and is losing blood fast, so she focuses instead on getting him covered with her cloak, checking his vital signs. "It'll be okay, Master," she murmurs.
"Please... please..." She thinks she hears her Master say, but she's not sure what he's asking for. It feels like forever before the Clones arrive, and Kix and Rex are finally by her side.
"We'll get him evac'd to the shuttle," Kix assures her as he begins his preliminary assessment. "It's all right, General," he says as Anakin tries to arch away from him. Bacta patches are slapped on his chest, a few spots on his legs and face. When Kix gets to the wound on Anakin's arm, he pauses for the briefest moment. "I don't think he thought he was getting out of here," the medic comments without a hint of judgement in his tone.
Ahsoka furrows her brow, not understanding. When she asks, Kix points at the jagged edges of flesh, wrapping it in bacta-soaked gauze as he does. "Teeth marks, Commander. General Skywalker did that one himself."
Ahsoka's stomach drops and she feels like she might throw up; she doesn't have time to think about it right now, she reminds herself. She needs to make sure Anakin makes it back home and then she can think about what has happened and what she will need to do to help him recover. Right now, she needs to get him to the shuttle so she nods tightly. "Let's get him out of here," she orders.
Kix and Rex settle a breathing mask over Anakin's face, slide a backboard under him, lift him together as they've done a dozen times before - but not like this, Ahsoka thinks, following them, protecting their path as they start the first steps of bringing her Master back.
