Disclaimer: I don't own Star Wars The Clone Wars or any of the original characters.

Drip.

I internally cringed at the sound of my sweat trickling down my face, dropping smoothly and landing with, to me, a glass shattering crash.

In reality, it was probably no louder than a sleeping child, but in this small, silent vent I was crawling through it might as well have been a blaster shot in the meditating chambers at the Jedi Temple.

I shook my head and took a deep cleansing breath, calming my racing heart and directing all my focus on the mission at hand.

A dim flashing light flickered in the corner of my eye and I glanced down to see my wrist com blinking green in the dark space, signaling a message from my master, Luminara Unduli. I pushed down on the button and, keeping my voice low, whispered, "Barriss Offee."

"Barriss", Master Luminara's muffled voice said, "Have you reached the detention block yet?"

I shook my head, forgetting momentarily that she couldn't see me.

"Not yet master", I whispered, pulling out my holo map and checking my location in reference to the detention block, "But I'm almost there."

"Has anyone seen you thus far?"

"No master. Everything is going according to plan."

"Good. I will see you at the rendezvous point."

I dipped my head.

"Yes master."

Taking a deep breath I continued crawling, listening acutely for the clank of the droids below in case anyone had heard me. Thankfully the air around me remained silent and still.

As I crawled noiselessly through the vent, I began to think about the events that had transpired to get me into this situation in the first place.

It had been a simple mission really.

Get in, get info, get out.

Easy.

A youngling could've done it successfully.

But, of course, nothing was ever that easy and, as I had feared, something went wrong.

My partner, Caldor Galess, and I had just finished collecting the intel and were on our way to rendezvous with Master Kit Fisto, Caldor's master, when I felt a disturbance in the force.

A powerful one.

I had been exceedingly confused, as there weren't supposed to be any Sith lords or apprentices on the ship and I could see that Caldor was equally puzzled by this great darkness that was sending chills down our spines. It had been coming from the engine room, deep into the heart of the ship.

I had thought to ignore it for now, keep going and report it to our masters later when we were no longer at risk of being discovered. But Caldor had been curious, as always, insisting that we go check it out before leaving.

I had protested at first.

I knew it could be dangerous and that completing our mission successfully was our top priority, but he had always had a way of talking me into the craziest situations.

It was worse than Ahsoka, and all who know her know that's saying a lot.

So after a few moments of hushed arguing, I ended up following him to the engine room, reluctantly grumbling about how much trouble we were going to be in and how much he owed me after this. When we got there, we snuck in as quietly as we could, trying not to alert whatever was in there to our presence.

It was so dark and we thought we were prepared, ready for anything.

I guess it wasn't enough.

Everything happened so fast.

One minute I was standing beside him trying to see in the penetrating darkness, the next I was sprinting down the dim hallways, gripping my injured arm as my breath came in heavy gasps, desperately trying to pull air into my burning lungs. I could still hear Caldor's voice echoing down the hallway screaming, "Go Barriss go! Don't look back!"

Regret filled my heart as I shook my head and glanced down at my now bandaged arm.

We should have been more careful, more alert.

We thought we knew what we were walking into, but we didn't have a clue.

I sighed.

I just wish I'd of tried harder, forced him to come with me to the rendezvous point. Maybe if I had, he wouldn't have been captured and I wouldn't be crawling through the vents of an enemy ship on my way to save him.

Letting out another heavy sigh, I pushed those thoughts to the back of my mind and pulled my attention back to the mission at hand.

There'd be time for regrets and what-ifs later. Right now I had a friend to find and a mission to complete.

I'd been crawling for a while at that point, so I pulled out my holo map to check my location and a soft smile spread across my face as I found that I had reached the detention block.

I stopped and sat back on my heels as I closed my eyes and cleared my mind, reaching out with the force just like my master had taught me. After a little while of sifting through all the energy signatures, I finally felt something familiar brush against my psych and a wave of relief washed over me as I recognized it as my lost friend's unique force signature.

Determination building and the level-headed calm I had picked up from my master when on missions spreading, I moved over to the grating a few feet away from me, moved it away, and dropped softly into the disserted hallway below.

I paused, letting my senses reach out to the surrounding area, making sure it was safe to proceed.

Satisfied that there weren't any droid battalions or patrols headed my way, I quietly continued down the hallway, passing cell after cell until I reached the one with Caldor's familiar force signature.

I concentrated hard on the intricate lock on the wall beside the door and waved my hand slowly in front of it, using to force to unlock it. Once that was done, the door slid open smoothly, revealing a large, dark cell split in half by a bright red energy field.

Pulling my blue lightsaber from my belt and igniting it with a soft whoosh, I crept cautiously into the cell, not even jumping when the door slid shut behind me.

"Caldor" I whispered as I approached the energy field slowly, "Caldor, you in here?"

"Barriss?"

Upon hearing the choked broken whisper, I rushed toward the energy field, forgetting to be cautious, and squinted desperately into the inky darkness, trying to make out the other padawan's familiar bulky shape in the gloom.

"Caldor!"

Finally I saw a shadow move ever so subtly and in my relief, rushed to the controls on the wall beside me and quickly shut off the energy field as well as activating the lights above. I blinked slowly as my eyes adjusted to the light before hurrying over to the slumped figure in the corner.

I deactivated my lightsaber and hooked it back onto my belt as I fell to my knees beside him and brought my hands up to carefully cup his bruised face. His normally bright blue eyes were dull with pain and clouded with confusion as he gazed up at my face. Then, after a moment, his expression cleared and a weak attempt at a small smile split his cracked lips.

"Barriss", he whispered softly, his voice harsh and gravely to my ears, "What are you doing here? Didn't I tell you not to look back?"

I smiled softly and moved my hands from his face to his broad shoulders.

"Saving you of course. You told me not to LOOK back. You said nothing about COMING back."

He let out a choked laugh which quickly turned into a heaving cough and his whole body shook with the effort.

My relief quickly turned to concern as I backed up slightly onto my heels and examined him more closely.

His face was bruised with a long cut seeping blood down the side of his face and his lips were dry and cracked. His breathing was slow and labored, as if every breath was a struggle, and one of his arms was bent at an odd angle. For the first time I noticed the force sensitive hand cuffs encircling his wrists and my breath caught in my throat.

"Oh force Caldor", I muttered softly under my breath, "What did they do to you?"

Then suddenly a soft thump reached my ear and my spine stiffened up. Caldor's eyes widened as they stared at something over my shoulder.

Please don't be what I think it is.

"Intruder!"

Damn.