Anakin flew the speeder as fast as the engines would allow, narrowly avoiding colliding with speeders and buildings.
Obi-Wan clung to the seat, his face pale as Anakin pointed the speeder down toward the lower levels. "We won't be helping Ben if we're killed Anakin."
"Relax Master. We're almost there, I can sense him nearby." Anakin responded, trying to reassure his Master.
Finally they landed and Anakin hopped out of the speeder and ran toward an abandoned building.
Obi-Wan used the Force to settle his flip flopping stomach and to steady himself as he climbed out of the speeder. By the time he got into the building, he found Anakin kneeling beside Ben.
Anakin brushed Ben's bangs back from his sweaty forehead, his other hand clasping Ben's trembling hand. "He's been hit with Force lightening. This place is filled with the remnants of the presence of the Sith." Anakin told Obi-Wan when he entered the building.
Obi-Wan walked in several long strides over to Anakin and Ben and knelt down beside Ben to check his pulse. "He's stable enough to move. Get him to the speeder, I'm going to alert the Healers."
Nodding his head, Anakin scooped Ben up in his arms and took him to the speeder.
"They don't know you're going with me are they?" Jacen asked from the pilot's seat.
Ben shrugged his shoulders as the ship entered hyperspace. "I think it should be obvious that I am going with you."
Jacen sighed and looked at Ben, his voice rising with every few words. "I told you that you had to get their permission first. How can I trust you on this mission if you can't do what I say!"
"Maybe you should have spoken to them yourself!" Ben snapped.
"They're your parents Ben. You can't avoid talking to them forever." Jacen replied, his voice softer than it was before.
Ben snorted and went to leave the cockpit. "You're one to talk."
Jacen shook his head and went after Ben. "That's different. I'm an adult, you're not. If I choose not to tell my parents that I have a daughter than that is the way it will be."
"Yeah, yeah. You're protecting her by not telling your parents." Ben replied sarcastically. He plopped down on the couch and put a pillow over his face. "Some people think you are to close to the line."
Prying the pillow away from Ben, Jacen tossed it across the room and glared sternly at Ben. "You are just like your parents, you know that?" Jacen said in annoyance.
Anger flashed in Ben's eyes and he left the couch for his cabin. "I…am…not…like…them!"
"To bad grandfather is not alive right now, he would have shaken some sense into you Ben!" Jacen shouted.
Ben stopped at his cabin door and looked back at Jacen. "What? You can't handle being a Master to me?" He replied in a sarcastic tone and then entered his cabin. Before the door shut, Ben added. "The ship is locked in hyperspace, so there won't be any contact with my parents."
"Ben!" Jacen shouted in exasperation from the cockpit...
Ben shifted in the bacta, tears escaping his eyes and disappearing into the thick greenish fluid.
Obi-Wan returned from their quarters and found Anakin in the waiting room of the Healer's ward. Sitting down in a chair next to Anakin, Obi-Wan looked at Anakin whose eyes were closed.
"Healer Tecwi informed me a couple of minutes ago that Ben is in a bacta tank right now. He'll be fine, but he'll have to have bacta treatment for a couple of days." Anakin informed Obi-Wan.
"Anakin." Obi-Wan waited for Anakin to look at him before he continued. "Ben didn't bring his lightsabers with him when he went down to the lower levels. They are sitting on his bed right now. Also, I have a feeling he intended to meet up with the Sith."
Shaking his head, Anakin wiped his face with his hand. "Why would he do that? I don't sense darkness in him Master, his light is tainted, but not pure darkness."
"I'm not sure Anakin, but what I am sure of now is that he is in need of help and that is why he is here." Obi-Wan responded.
Healer Tecwi entered at that moment and nodded to Anakin and Obi-Wan. "Master Kenobi, Padawan Skywalker. Please come into my office."
They followed her to her office and sat down in comfortable chairs at her desk.
Concerned, Anakin spoke first. "Is Ben alright?"
Tecwi sat down at her desk, her blue-green eyes looking at them intently, but softly. "He has been making progress, better than we thought he would at first." She answered, her soft voice helping to ease Anakin and Obi-Wan's minds. "However, that is not what I have called you both in here to discuss. Padawan Skywalker, I have read the report you gave to the Council that explained how you found Ben Jade and how he was involved in the battle on Geonosis."
"What are you getting at?" Anakin asked her impatiently.
"Did either of you know that Ben has been abused in the past?" Tecwi asked them.
Obi-Wan and Anakin stared at her in stunned silence. This was news to them.
"No we didn't." Obi-Wan answered.
Tecwi handed Obi-Wan a datapad and continued. "When we were preparing him for the bacta dip, we found old scars on his back and chest, most of them that looked like they had come from a whip."
Anakin felt as though he was going to be sick at the thought of his own grandson being abused.
Obi-Wan finished reading the medical report on Ben and placed it on the desk, his lips pressed in a thin line. "Thank you for informing us, Healer Tecwi."
Tecwi nodded and stood up, "I'll keep you both updated on his progress." She informed them before she left.
"Abused." Anakin repeated under his breath.
Obi-Wan closed his eyes and let the Force fill him, tossing any negative emotion he was feeling away from him and into the Force. "Remember, no one but us knows that he is from the future. We don't know what his future is like."
"That does not make me feel any better Master." Anakin responded in a bitter tone.
"I didn't think it would." Obi-Wan replied, opening his eyes. "Let's go back into the waiting room and meditate."
"I don't think I can meditate right now Master." Anakin confessed with a shake of his head.
"Anakin, when Ben wakes up he is going to need our support. We can't do that if we are not centered and calm." An idea came to Obi-Wan's mind and he added. "You can ask if there's anything here that needs to be fixed."
Anakin managed a tight smile and nodded. "I could do that Master."
They both stepped back into the waiting room and Anakin went to ask someone in the Healer's wing if there was something he could fix.
"The boy is fascinating." Palatine spoke to the other occupant of his quarters.
Dooku dipped his head, acknowledging Palpatine's words.
Palpatine turned away from the window to look at Dooku. "You say he attempted to get you to take him with you?"
"Yes Master. He seemed quite willing." Dooku confirmed.
"Yet he won't touch the Force." Palpatine put in.
"He did use it during the battle Master." Dooku reminded.
Palpatine looked at Dooku sharply. "Of course he did, but he did nothing to prevent me from attacking him except use physical force." He circled Dooku as he continued. "The boy is powerful, perhaps more than Anakin." He stopped in front of Dooku and ordered. "Head back to the Separatists main fleet and prepare them. It is time to create chaos."
Dooku bowed. "As you wish Master."