Hola, folks, and I now bring you the next chapter of my fanfic. Thank you to all that have reviewed, and I promise that you're getting your money's worth.

__________________________________________________

Chapter Six

Once upon a time I was of the mind
To lay your burden down
And leave you where you stood

- Shadow on the Sun, Audioslave

When Obi-Wan awoke he was in some sort of holding cell. His hands were tied tightly behind his back and his feet tied against a hook in the wall. Blinding light filled his eyes, and he blinked rapidly, struggling to gain a hold of where he was. Coughing a little bit, he shook his head slowly and tried to make sense of the terribly bright world around him.

First thing: where was he? Shrugging his head around, he saw that he was indeed in some kind of cell. The walls were clear and black, smooth as river rock. He saw a door in the corner and frowned. His arms were tightly bound behind his back in a way that his shoulder sockets were strained and painful. He couldn't see well, but from the corner of his eye he saw a rope tied against a wall. He legs were crossed at the ankles, tied with rope. The rope was attached to some kind of hook in the wall.

Second thing: what happened? Obi-Wan thought back.

He had taken a shower. Okay. After that he had come out and had seen Sabé. Okay. After that… they had laughed and he was about to take her home. They were walking-

Oh, Sith.

Obi-Wan began to buckle in his binds, anger starting to waver over him. Someone had attacked him, and he hadn't even heard it! He wanted to lash at himself. How could he not have known? He was usually so good at that kind of thing. It had been the only thing he had excelled at when he had been Jedi: no Force-sensitive or danger could hide from him. How could-

He stopped struggling.

He was usually so good at that kind of thing… nothing had ever surprised that badly before. The attack had to make some noise. Not even a Jedi could sneak up like that. How could he have not known about it? He didn't have many Jedi skills, but picking out danger was one of his talents. How could he have not known?

Someone had to be blocking him. By deduction it had to be a Force-sensitive, and the only one around besides him was Qui-Gon Jinn.

Qui-Gon Jinn. The dream killer. Although Obi-Wan harbored a great dislike of the man, he didn't think Qui-Gon would attack him. There was no logical reason to do so. He was pretty sure Qui-Gon either hated him or disliked him, but that still gave no logic. Qui-Gon was a Jedi of the Light. He didn't do things like go knocking people out just for the fun of it, even if Obi-Wan wasn't his favorite person in the galaxy. It just wasn't in his character, and Obi-Wan had gone over and over about Qui-Gon's characteristics and why the Jedi hadn't chosen him as a Padawan.

However, Qui-Gon was the only other Force-sensitive. If he didn't block his use of the Force then who would? Who was it? More importantly, why would anyone attack him? He wasn't important or anything, he was only a parts dealer. If anyone in Negdraw wanted to get someone important, they may as well have gone after the Naboo senator.

Sabé!

Obi-Wan wanted to top himself right there and then. He had completely forgotten about the girl. Was she the real target of the attack? Where was she? Where was he?

So many questions and no answers.

Footsteps came. They stopped.

The door opened.

__________

Qui-Gon listened through the Force, struggling to put his finger on where Obi-Wan's signature was emitting from. He ran through the desert, seeing the lights of Negdraw in the distance. He was almost there, but still couldn't find Obi-Wan's mark.

He reached the town.

He shone his flashlight on a hut. It looked abandoned and a perfect place to hold Obi-Wan if anyone had taken him, which he had begun to think. After he examined the hut he would sprint to the store. After that he would have to comb through every building in the town until he found Sabé or the former Jedi.

As he was heading towards the door, his flashlight aimed, he heard movement and ducked the moment a blaster bolt went flying through the wood and at his head. He rolled away, igniting his lightsaber. He dropped the flashlight, its light failing. He stayed dead still, waiting for the next move. Whoever was in the hut wanted him gone or dead, although Qui-Gon highly suspected the latter.

"Jedi?" a voice cried out through the window. Still holding the lightsaber up, Qui-Gon crept towards the hut. "Wait, Jedi!"

The door flung open and a man holding a flashlight came stumbling out. With the light shining in his face, Qui-Gon recognized the man as Obi-Wan business partner, Macab. Qui-Gon deactivated his lightsaber and clipped it to his belt. "Is Obi-Wan here?"

Macab looked at him, puzzled. "He's at the store. We always have one-"

"What about Sabé?"

Macab's eyes widened. "I forgot about her!" He sprinted back towards the house, Qui-Gon behind him. They came to a skidding halt at the door. Macab flipped a light on.

"Obi-Wan is in trouble," Qui-Gon said shortly, turning around from the empty hut. "I think Sabé may be with him."

The man's eyes squinted into silts. He followed Qui-Gon. "How do you know?"

"I have a strong feeling about this," Qui-Gon answered quietly, breaking into a run for the shop.

"Well, I'm coming with you!" Macab said, dashing in front of the Jedi. "You don't know the way."

"Then lead me!" Qui-Gon growled.

They reached the shop in less than seven minutes. Macab stopped, his hands going to his knees. He leaned over, panting for breath. Qui-Gon approached the shop, breathing hard. The lights were off, and he sensed no life forms inside. Using the Force, he unlocked the lock and flipped the lights on.

It was deserted.

"They're not there," Macab wheezed, watching the Jedi. He stood up, running his hands through his hair as he did so. Qui-Gon could barely see him in the dim moonlight, but he saw enough to know that his lip was curled in anger and his dark green eyes glistened with rage. His fists were clenched at his sides and pressed against each other tightly. "He would never leave the shop alone. Something's happened!"

Without a word, Macab started towards a building. It looked tattered and old, on the verge of collapsing into itself. The paint was a sick kind of yellow that gave Qui-Gon the impression it was as disgusted with itself as much as Negdraw was disgusted with it. Qui-Gon watched Macab set out across the darkened dirt road until he was little more than a speck, then called on the Force and sprinted over.

"What's that?" he asked.

"Deserted building where the Red Clan lives," Macab growled. "The Red Clan hates me."

Macab's voice was on the edge, alarming him. He wanted to stop him from going into the building, but something held him back. He didn't have any idea what the Red Clan was, but he had a feeling that it was important. The Force called to him lightly, urging him on. "What is the Red Clan?" he asked.

Macab grunted in reply as they reached the steps. "Just stay here, Jedi," he snarled. "I can handle this."

It was at this that Qui-Gon had to step in. "I'm sorry, Macab, but I have a duty to protect the innocent. Let me handle this, okay? Just follow me and tell who the Red Clan is."

Macab opened his mouth to protest, but then thought better of it. He inserted himself in front of Qui-Gon and stepped into the building. Immediately in front of them was a flight of stairs. To the right and left were pure cement wall. He started up, and Qui-Gon had no choice but to follow.

"The Red Clan," Macab explained in a quiet voice as they crept up the stairs, "is a gang of Negdraw's teenagers and middle-aged kids. There's only about twenty of them, but they like to vandalize the shop. That's why we always keep one person at the shop during the night. They don't dare come out during the day because of what happened a few months ago." He paused and listened. There was no sound. "They tried to rob the shop. I wasn't around and there were ten of them. They beat Obi-Wan up badly and were ransacking the place when I came."

Macab let the silence hang, and then turned back to Qui-Gon, a smile on his face. "I scared them bad. I shot a couple of them with my blaster and kicked the others out. They were so desperate to get out they were tripping over each other!" He laughed lightly. "That was a beautiful sight. Needless to say, they'll never try our place during the day or the night when I'm there. Obi-Wan, on the other hand…"

His voice trailed off and he began climbing the stairs again. Qui-Gon wasn't repulsed, but he was stunned. How could Obi-Wan be friends with this blood-thirsty Macab? It just didn't fit in with what Qui-Gon had gathered from Obi-Wan's character. Yet another way he had surprised the Jedi.

"They're on the third floor," Macab hissed, slowing his steps. "I don't hear a lot of them. Probably some of them are raiding something." He voice held barely suppressed anger. "I'll go in first, since they know me-"

"Which is why you're not going in first," Qui-Gon replied, sliding gracefully to stand in front of Macab. "They'll fire on you. They don't know me-"

"No," Macab spat.

"-and let's keep it that way. I'll walk in, ask, and then I'll call you if need be." Qui-Gon glared at Macab. "Stay here. We'll get to Obi-Wan quicker this way."

Macab took the blaster from his belt. "I'll keep this end clear, then," he said. His eyes melted holes in Qui-Gon. "Don't bail on me. You hurt Obi-Wan before." Before Qui-Gon could get in a word Macab was down the stairs.

Angry, Qui-Gon stepped up the final flight and was greeted with the site of a bare floor on which about ten beings were sitting. The moment they heard someone step onto the floor they all jumped and spun around, reaching for weapons.

Qui-Gon spread his arms. "I mean no harm."

The beings did not move. Someone took a dagger and pointed it at him. "Who are you?"

Qui-Gon nodded. "My name is Qui-Gon Jinn. I was wondering if you had any information about a man named Obi-Wan Kenobi. He owns the shop across the street and is a parts dealer." When no one moved, he went on. "He's nineteen or twenty and has light brown hair. His eyes are blue?" When it was clear no one was going to respond, he said, "I know you know who he is. You robbed his shop some time ago."

At this, one of the younger female beings shouted, "We didn't rob it!"

"Be quiet, Peg!" the man with the knife snapped. He came forward a little. "I don't know any Obi-Wan Kenobi, sir, but I know a Ben Kenobi. He's a parts dealer and owns the shop across the street with that blasted fool Macab. I think that's who you're looking for."

Qui-Gon remembered the lady who had told them the way to the store. She had said "Macab and Ben." Obi-Wan must have given the townspeople a different name, yet Macab called him Obi-Wan. He frowned. Was Obi-Wan trying to hide from the Jedi or was he trying to start fresh? Qui-Gon suspected the latter, and he had to respect that, although it made things harder.

"I'm looking for Ben Kenobi," Qui-Gon rephrased.

At that the man laughed. He was nothing more than a boy, really. "I can't tell you that, sir."

Qui-Gon waved his hand. "Tell me where Ben Kenobi is."

"I'll tell you where he is," the boy said, shrugging. "Mason-"

"Ty!" the girl cried.

"- and some of the others were sent to get him and some girl."

Qui-Gon felt a trickle of fear creep up his spine. "Tell me where they are."

"Mason was supposed to take them to some ship in the desert."

Qui-Gon cursed. "Do you know the coordinates?"

"Nah. He just said about half a mile from old Hyster's place, west."

Qui-Gon stopped waving his hand. "Thank you." He sprinted back down the stair, nearly plowing Macab over in his haste to get out the door. Macab followed him out into the darkened street. Moonlight bathed them. "Where is Hyster's place?"

Macab's mouth fell open. "Hyster is in on this? Oh, my stars, I am going to-"

"No, he's not!" Qui-Gon cried. "The Red Clan was supposed to take Obi-Wan and Sabé to some ship about half a mile from there in the desert. We have to get there quick!"

Macab started running. "He's on the other side of the damn oasis! It'll take us thirty minutes to get there!" He suddenly skidded to a halt and started running towards the shop. "We'll take the speeders."

"Good idea," Qui-Gon commended.

"I am smart," Macab replied and opened the door. They charged in and ran to the back. Macab whipped his key out and unlocked two of the speeders. He rolled his out of the courtyard gate and spun around as Qui-Gon's struck the frame. "Hey, watch it! We gotta sell these blasted things!"

They straddled the cruisers and took off. Qui-Gon's face was smacked again and again by Macab's trail dust. His eyes stung, and he had to move from his spot directly behind the man. When they reached Hyster's place, he slowed his speeder down and wiped at his eyes. "We're going west."

"Gotcha," Macab replied, starting off fast again. Qui-Gon pressed his foot and followed, his eyes stinging. Macab's speeder was a silver flash against dark night. He looked over Macab and saw nothing. Just darkness. How Macab was navigating without a light was beyond him. The moon provided some cover, but not enough to possibly follow any sort of trail.

"I think I see him!" the dealer suddenly yelled. He added more speed, zipping ahead to a spot only he saw. Qui-Gon reached into the Force and felt it: Obi-Wan's clear and prominent Force signature. He smiled in relief, speeding up. Questions laced his mind, but first thing to do was check on Obi-Wan to make sure he was all right. And there was still Sabé to take into consideration.

"We're here!" Sabé called.

__________

"Who are you?" Obi-Wan demanded as the hooded figure stepped into the room. He appeared to be about normal height with a muscular build, dressed all in black. Obi-Wan couldn't see under his hood, which was pulled down very, very low on his face.

The figure leaned against one of the walls. "It is no concern of yours who I am, Obi-Wan Kenobi. Name doesn't mean anything, does it?"

Obi-Wan was furious. "Okay, look, I'm not in the mood for any of this preaching. What do you want?"

The figure laughed. "How very impatient." Without warning he reached out and kicked Obi-Wan with his boot. Obi-Wan groaned. "Ah, so at least you feel pain. That's good."

Obi-Wan was silent as he let his rage boil over. He would give the figure nothing. He knew enough that anything he said could be used against him to play games with his mind if that was what they were intending to do. Seething, he just gazed at the figure, his eyes clouding in fury.

"They say you didn't put up much of a fight," the figure said. "I would have expected more, really." When Obi-Wan didn't reply he continued. "I see you're not going to talk, so why don't we get this over with?"

When the figure removed his hood, Obi-Wan flinched. The man's face was tattooed red and black, his eyes large and yellow. Three horns spurted from his forehead, and Obi-Wan blinked, certain it was all an illusion. When he stopped and the horns were still there, fear stalked up his spine and he shook his head rapidly. What was his life coming to? First Qui-Gon and now this! What-

His thought was cut off by the figure bending down to him, something in his hands. Before Obi-Wan knew what was happening, the being had struck him in the head and had kicked him in his ribs. Groaning, Obi-Wan buckled in his restraints, struggling to break them.

"Don't bother, Kenobi," the being growled. "It's no use."

With that the being stuck a needle into Obi-Wan exposed arm and he blacked out.

__________

When they pulled up, Qui-Gon saw that Obi-Wan was sprawled out on the ground, unconscious. The white bandage wrapped around his arm was like a neon in the pale moonlight. Cutting the engine, Qui-Gon leapt off the speeder and immediately bent down to Obi-Wan, although Macab beat him to it.

"What happened?" he asked Sabé, who was standing a few feet away. Her face was etched with fear and she held her arms around her chest tightly. Her eyes were wild as she looked for his face in the darkness.

"He was walking me home," she said in a hurry. "Someone attacked us. They knocked Obi-Wan out and they blindfolded me and taped my mouth shut. I… I don't know where we were. They took me somewhere and left me there. They never undid the blindfold. After…" She stopped. Regained her composure. Continued. "After a while they came for me again. They were all men, I think. They took me out of the cell and brought me out here and dumped me in the sand. I felt it in my hair.

"Then they brought Obi-Wan. They practically threw him on top of me. He was unconscious and bleeding. I was able to get the rope off. They didn't tie it too tightly and I undid his rope. I… I was too late. They were all ready gone. I felt the heat when they took off. They were all men."

Her voice wavered and she clapped a hand over her mouth. "Is he all right?" she muttered through the fingers.

Macab was administering CPR to Obi-Wan even though he was breathing quite fine. Qui-Gon put a hand on his shoulder, hoping to quiet his fears. Macab knocked his hand away.

Obi-Wan began to cough. Macab responded by slamming his fist into the man's chest rapidly, encouraging him to breathe. The man's eyes flew open, and wildly they found Macab's. Still, Macab kept pounding. Obi-Wan choked and rolled away, yelping when his arm struck the ground. He lay on his back at Qui-Gon's feet and groaned.

"He's breathing!" Macab shouted in relief.

"He's been breathing!" Sabé snapped, smiling in relief.

Qui-Gon checked Obi-Wan's pulse. It was weaker than he would have liked, but it was strong enough. Obi-Wan fluttered his eyelids and seemed to see Qui-Gon for the first time. He rolled away, leaping to his feet. Immediately he quavered and leaned heavily against Macab.

"What happened?" Qui-Gon asked, concerned. "Are you all right?"

Macab slung Obi-Wan's arm around his neck. "He's hurt."

"No," Obi-Wan protested, weakly trying to get away from Macab. "I'm fine."

Qui-Gon frowned at the strain in Obi-Wan's face. Even though it was relatively cool on Candalas at night, sweat beaded on his forehead and lower lips. A slight flush was apparent in his cheeks. He probed the Force and found something that had eluded him before: Obi-Wan's Force signature was terribly and impeccably sick. He suspected the man also had a fever.

"What happened?" he repeated.

Obi-Wan's eyes drifted shut and he spoke, his voice a whisper. "I…I don't know. Don't… remember… Something…"

With that he collapsed against Macab, his legs tucking underneath him. Macab caught him under the arms, his face panicked. Qui-Gon moved quickly and helped Macab lay him gently on the ground. Bending on one knee besides the fallen man, he instructed Macab to bring over a speeder. Qui-Gon removed his cloak and wrapped it around the younger man, his hand gentle as he did so.

Sabé stood at a distance, watching, her mouth frozen in a straight line. She hiccupped.

When the speeder was brought, Qui-Gon picked Obi-Wan up gently, almost tenderly. It was the least he could do. Obi-Wan immediately curled up to him, shivering. Setting Obi-Wan's over the end of the speeder, he laid a hand on his forehead and then took it back in distaste. He was burning up!

"We have to get him medical attention," Qui-Gon barked. "Where is the nearest medic?"

Macab's eyes flashed in the darkness. "We don't have one. The nearest one is in the next town!"

Sabé jumped in. "Rabé is a healer in training, Master Jedi. She can help him."

"Good," Qui-Gon snapped, slinging himself over the speeder. "Ride with Macab. Quickly! Follow me."

He slammed the engine and rode into the darkness.

__________________________________________________