Disclaimer: I own nothing (except the characters I made up, of course!) It's all Georges'.

Chapter Eleven

The aging grey Dug reclined back in his chair, observing Clovis down his snout-like nose. He was a man obviously used to having everyone do as he said, and there were two beautiful young twi'lek women in form-fitting yellow suits hovering near him, who, judging by the sunken, defeated look in their eyes, Clovis took to be slaves. But, like both Bob and Sebulba, he ignored their presence, treating them as part of the furniture.

"So," Sebulba said, in a growling, rasping voice that held an accent much like Skywalkers, only slightly different. This man was obviously from the 'upper-class' part of Mos Espa. Clovis didn't know what Skywalker's life had been like before he joined the Jedi Temple, but he assumed that he wouldn't have been as well off as this Sebulba obviously was. "Bob here tells me you need some help. You want revenge on someone."

Clovis nodded, choosing not to speak, but to observe. Until he knew what he was dealing with here, that is.

Sebulba took a long swig of whatever alcohol was in his tankard at the local bar, his small, beady grey eyes on the young man before him. He sensed that he was very well off, and was largely out of place here. But no matter, no matter. Despite himself, Sebulba was curious as to why Bob had come to him with this pompous young man – because Sebulba could tell that he would normally be the type that wasn't used to being told no. Much like himself in fact, but infinitely more well off. Most probably from a planet without the heat of the binary suns or the sand of Tantooine, Sebulba was pretty sure.

"So, who are you out to get?"

Fire suddenly blazed up in the man's green eyes. "Anakin Skywalker." He spat, and Sebulba suddenly sat up straight, his attention now fully focused on the man before him.

"Interesting," He said slowly, in an effort to hide the fact that he was secretly leaping and jumping for joy inside. Finally! A chance to get his own back on the boy who he had always, always, hated…

He frowned suddenly. "But then why are you on this planet, of all? Surely that slave scum isn't here?"

Clovis's eyes had widened. "Slave Scum?" He asked, and Sebulba looked thoughtful.

"You didn't know? The boy was a slave before he won his freedom. Now, why are you here of all places?"

Swallowing the questions that had suddenly exploded in his mind and storing that information away for later, Clovis replied; "Because Skywalker and some others are here to do something about those contests."

Sebulba's eyes gleamed, and he suddenly looked much younger than he really was – and he had been old when Anakin was a child. "Well, well, well." He said, slowly and carefully as an evil smile twisted his withered mouth. "That is interesting. Very interesting." He was talking more to himself now, as if he had forgotten the others were there, but then his gaze snapped back to them.

"How long is he here for?" He demanded.

Clovis shrugged – and Sebulba did not like it when people shrugged at him. He saw it as insulting, especially when done in this condescending way. "I don't know, but I'm sure they're staying for the next contest. And then they'll probably stay longer to take action, or something of the sort."

Sebulba relaxed a little, already half way out of his seat to give this lout a good thumping. But, no. He would save that for Skywalker.

"Good, good." Again he seemed to be lost deep in his own thoughts. "And why is it that you want revenge on that scum?"

Clovis scowled. "He's just so great, you know? Every one loves him," He spat the words out bitterly. "But my wife most of all. My wife!" He exclaimed angrily, then his scowl deepened. "I think she prefers him over me, and I want to see him suffer. And her," He growled.

Sebulba nodded thoughtfully. "Your wife…how did you meet?"

Clovis was slightly surprised by this question. "We…I mean, she asked to go out to dinner one day, years after we had broken up. I mean, we used to date a long time ago, but she ended it, saying that she needed to focus on her career, or something stupid like that."

"And what happened after this, ah, dinner?"

Clovis frowned, wondering what this had to do with anything. But he needed this clearly ruthless man's help, and if telling him how he and Padmé got together again would get that help, then he would just have to do it.

"I was leaving for Cato Neimodia the next day on business. I asked if she would like to accompany me, and she accepted. I was, er, doing business of the seedier sort with a Neimodian, and didn't realise that she was listening outside the door as we discussed it."

"This business," Sebulba interrupted. "What was it?"

"I was conspiring with the Separatists," Clovis replied calmly. "I was helping to fund a new droid factory on Geonosis."

Bob looked impressed. "So, what happened then?"

"We – that is to say, Padmé, the two Neimodians I was dealing with, and myself – dined that night. But it turned out that Lott Dod – the Neimodian – had poisoned her drink. With the help of her pilot, I was able to get her out of there, getting the antidote from that two-faced lizard while holding him at gun-point," Here a cruel smile flitted across Sebulba's face as he was beginning to piece together this man's character. He liked what he saw: he was willing to conspire with the Separatists to bring down that blasted Republic, and he wasn't afraid to handle a gun. All good qualities in a man who was looking to exact revenge on someone. But Sebulba knew that they would have to tread carefully around Skywalker; he wasn't entirely sure of the boy's skills since joining the Jedi, but he had heard that he was a fearsome warrior who fought on the front-lines now.

"Anyway, it turned out that she hadn't been simply rekindling our old friendship as she said she was, but was really spying on me," Clovis continues bitterly, and Bob raised an eyebrow. Clovis hurried to explain. "She had stolen the holo-disk with all the information on it concerning the planned droid factory. Luckily, building was already well on the way, and it had already started producing droids, so it would be well able to defend it's self when the Jedi Council launched its attack. But I was willing to forgive this little miss-understanding, and, when her pilot had administered the antidote, I ordered him to take us back to Coruscant. I didn't know where the disk was, but I had a feeling the pilot knew. I haven't seen him again since that day. Come to think of it, I never actually saw his face, He always wore his helmet pulled down low over his eyes."

Sebulba rolled his eyes at this very obvious and basic mistake. Rule number one: always know as much about your enemy as possible. If you didn't, then there was a strong chance that you could be taken out easier.

"And then?" He asked, choosing not to mention his rookie slip up.

"We went to Scipio – my home planet - and, despite the fact that she had originally come to spy on me, we grew closer. After a few more dates, I proposed." He paused for a moment. "I'll admit I was a little surprised when she didn't immediately come out with an answer, but she came to me the next day with a yes. I suppose she must just have been consulting with her Queen, as is the practice. After all, she couldn't just go behind her back and do as she pleased with matter which could have dramatic repercussions for her planet's well-being."

Sebulba raised an eyebrow. "Your wife must be an important woman is her marriage could be that influential." He said casually.

Clovis looked a little miffed. "Well, of course she is! She's the Senator of Naboo."

Silence greeted his words as the two brigands gaped at him.

Sebulba was the first to recover from the shock. "So, after she said yes, what happened?" He asked as Bob too pulled himself together.

A dark look crossed Clovis's expression. "A battalion of droids showed up, trained all their blasters on us and demanded that we surrender to them."

Bob's eyes had gone big and round. "How did you get out of that one?"

"Skywalker showed up," He growled. "Destroyed the bloody droids."

"On his own?"

But Clovis shook his head. "No, his Padawan was with him, as was Dan Nabrynski."

"So, these three…they always work together?" Sebulba asked, trying to get a better picture of what they would be facing. And not just in revenge – which he would be doing more for his benefit than this snivelling, love-sick runt in front of him. No, Sebulba was a big shot in the group who were so brutal to slaves, and he was pretty sure that, if it was true and Skywalker really was here to help the slaves, then their paths would cross. Maybe not directly, but the men that he commanded would surely have to face these people who had taken out the droids so easily. And, with the man who had conspired with the Separatists before on his side, he hoped to get a little extra support for his crusade.

"No," Clovis replied. "Although both Dan Nabrynski and his sister – Sara, I think her name is – are here now. No, usually it's Skywalker, his Padawan and his old mentor Obi-Wan Kenobi who join forces out in battle. Or so I've heard, anyway."

"This…Kenobi. He's here too?"

Clovis nodded. "Yes."

Padmé was walking up the stairs to the sandy ground above when a pair of strong arms grabbed her and spun her around, at the same time as a hungry mouth descended on her own, plundering it with barely controlled desire.

Anakin pulled back from his wife a couple of centimetres, allowing them breathing room as they were both panting hard after the passionate kiss.

He opened his eyes to her chocolate brown ones, and knew that his were as hooded with desire as hers were right now.

He flashed her a roguish grin. "Say we go out to the ship for a bit…" He murmured, placing a feather light kiss right on the spot on her neck that he knew she loved the most. She shivered with pleasure and twisted closer to him. "Have a little privacy…" He kissed her again, and she gasped out loud.

"Yes," She breathed, and eagerly accepted the fleeting but passion filled kiss that he gave her before breaking away and leading her by the hand up the rest of the steps, while she tried unsuccessfully to stifle her giggles. She felt like a school girl sneaking off to make out with her boyfriend behind the bike sheds. Which, in a way, she supposed she was.

Unbeknown to either of them, Obi-Wan saw them move quickly over to the ship, hand in hand, and smiled to himself. He knew that both had been becoming increasingly frustrated at being so close but unable to touch, and he knew that they would soon be rectifying that with some much needed time alone. He made a mental note to avoid the ship for the next few hours: he had ne desire what so ever to find out what his former Padawan did with the beautiful Senator when in a locked room with a bed.

He shuddered slightly, and quickly blocked all thoughts of them from his mind.

Three hours later, Beru, Leianna and Sara walked through the streets of Mos Espa, heading to the one and only fabric/clothes shop there was in the little settlement that anyone could go to. There was a second one, but only the upper-class citizens were allowed to shop there.

Since she only had the tunic that all Younglings wore, Beru was taking Leianna to get a longer dress, with a wide skirt. The skirts, which were loose around the legs, swished when you walked, creating a soft breeze to cool you in the warm heat. Sara had politely declined Beru's offer to lend her one of her own dresses, saying that she was more comfortable in her familiar Jedi outfit, regardless of the heat.

The little girl skipped along in the blistering heat, barely seeming to notice as her wide eyes took in every detail of the only planet she had ever been on besides Coruscant – she had been found by a master long ago in the slums in the lower levels of the city planet.

She gently tugged on Beru's hand, which she had had a tight grip on the entire time, slightly wary of all these strange creatures who were more than a little rude.

Beru glanced down at her, and smiled gently. "What's up, Lei?"

"Isn't that Senator Clovis?" She whispered, and, following the direction in which her small finger was pointing, with a jolt Beru did indeed recognise the Senator of the Banking Delegation.

Beru stared at him. "What's he doing here?"

"Didn't we leave without him last time?" Sara said, and Beru nodded.

"Yeah, we did."

"Come on then." Sara began to march purposefully towards him, but Beru grabbed her arm, stopping her.

"Stop!" She hissed. "That's Sebulba!"

Sara looked blank for a moment, but then she remembered one of the few things Anakin had told her and Dan about his past when they were all still just children:

"There was this one guy I raced. A dug. He was the reigning champion of pod-racing, and he was never afraid to play dirty."

"What was his name?" Sara had asked.

Anakin had grimaced, and when he spoke his voice had held only pure and undiluted loathing. "Sebulba."

"What's he doing with him?" She hissed back, pulling Leianna with her into the shade of a nearby building, shielding themselves from view while still having a good vantage point of Clovis, Sebulba and a Zygerrian that neither of them recognised.

Beru shook her head. "I've no idea. I don't know him that well: only by reputation. And it's not a good one. There was a lot of talk when we first started revolting; a lot of people seemed to be afraid to go up against him."

"He's a slaver," Sara replied, peering round the corner at the unlikely trio while still keeping her body hidden around the corner.

Beru looked surprised, while holding back a curious Leianna from darting back out to see the rest of the small settlement. But the little girl had picked up on the seriousness of the two older women, and she stood quietly, eyes wide as she glanced from one to the other and back again, her eyes asking the silent question that her lips did not: What is it?

"How do you know that?"

"Anakin told me years ago," She replied, her mind only partially on the conversation as her training kicked in and she started to pay attention to every single detail. Not that she hadn't been already: it was grilled into them from an early age to always keep your eyes open, focus on your surroundings, feel don't think.

"But how did he…ooh." Understanding hit Beru with the force of a wrecking ball, as it clicked in her brain. She remembered Shmi Skywalker mentioning how one of her sons' fiercest competitors in the pod-races had been a man called Sebulba, a slaver who hated the very air that Anakin breathed, because he had the nerve to be human and able to pod-race. But what was the last straw for the ancient dug was the fact that Anakin had been a slave.

"We need to tell the others," Sara said grimly, as Clovis, the Zygerrian and Sebulba got up and left, disappearing round the corner on to another street.

Anakin kissed down his beautifully naked wife's neck, sharp little nips that left her gasping in pleasure and giggling at the same time.

The sound of his com-link broke through their haze of love and passion, and he groaned, kissing her harder.

"Ani," She giggled, then let out a sharp gasp, her body arching up against his as he got the spot below her ear that he knew drove her crazy. "Ani…stop, Ani." She couldn't stop giggling, but somehow managed to find the strength of will to push his face away. "Stop, Ani."

He scowled, and pulled back, looking down at her from where he was propped on his elbows on top of her. "What?" He growled.

Padmé smiled, and gently traced the line of his nose, momentarily forgetting why she had stopped such playful pleasure in the first place. He was cute when he scowled like that.

Then his comm. bleeped again, demanding their attention, and she was brought crashing back down to reality.

"You should get that," She purred, running her hands up and down his muscular torso.

He smirked down at her, running a hand up and down her thigh. "I'd rather not,"

She raised an eyebrow. "Tell me, then: what would you rather do?" She asked seductively.

He grinned, and dipped his head down to breath heat at her neck once more. "Can I show you instead?" He breathed, and she just had a second to grin at his suggestion before his mouth descended on her own and their hands were suddenly very busy.

Dan's comm. sounded throughout the small kitchen.

Clicking the answer button, he saw the small blue figure of his sister rise up out of the circular device. "Hey, sis. What's up?"

Sara frowned, ignoring the question. "Where's Anakin? He's not answering his comm."

"Er..." Said Dan, acutely aware of the three others in the room who didn't know about his best friends' marriage. Out of all of them, only Obi-Wan knew, though Dan had the sneaking suspicion that Kitster knew too, and possibly Seek – though he didn't know about the marriage part. Rex, Wald and Owen watched curiously, and Obi-Wan's eyes seemed to say: Get out of that one.

Gritting his teeth slightly at his unhelpfulness, Dan continued. "He's…um…busy." He said, hoping against hope that his sister would pick up on what he was hinting as innocently as he could. "You know," He added just for good measure. "What I was doing the other night,"

Sara knew that he was referring to the night when they had first met Kitster, Watto and Melee in the pub, and also realised where Anakin was. And why he was most likely ignoring his comm.

She sighed. "Of course he is," She muttered, but she couldn't stay mad at him. He and Padmé deserved some alone time.

"Anyway, what did you want to talk to him about?" Her twin asked.

"We found Clovis."

Obi-Wan joined Dan next to his comm. link. "Where is he?"

"Yeah, that's kinda why I called." Sara said.

Obi-Wan raised an eyebrow.

"What do you know about a guy called Sebulba?"

"Sebulba?" Wald and Kitster exclaimed at the same time, joining the two Jedi at the comm. link. "He's not with him, is he?"

Sara nodded. "Him and some Zygerrian, yeah."

Obi-Wan frowned. "Who is this...Sebulba?"

"He's a slaver," Kitster said. "And he hates Anakin."

"Why?"

"Because he won the Boonta Eve Classic," Wald replied. "But he hated him way before that, as well. I think it was firstly just because he was a slave, then, when it turned out he could pod-race…and he was a human. It was unheard of, and I guess Sebulba saw him as a competitor to his title." He shrugged. "He's just always hated him."

Kitster smiled wryly. "Yeah, well, I suppose it didn't help that Anakin talked back to him constantly."

"He was asking for it," Wald argued, defending his friend.

Kitster chuckled. "I know, man: I'm just saying."

"Who was the Zygerrian?" Dan asked.

Sara shrugged. "No idea. Kitster?"

Kitster chewed his lip thoughtfully. "Well…I suppose it could be Bob. He's the only Zygerrian I can think of who'd be hanging round that filthy slemo. What do you think?"

"I think you're probably right." Wald replied.

"What do we do? Do you want me to do a forced extraction?" Sara asked Obi-Wan, who frowned but shook his head.

"No, Sara. Leave them for now. It may not be anything."

Sara nodded. "Well, I gotta go. See ya later, guys." And she ended the transmission.

Dan turned to Obi-Wan. "We need to tell Anakin."

Out on the ship, Padmé and Anakin were getting dressed once more. This took longer than usual, because they were still entangled in each others lips.

Anakin suddenly pulled away, his head swivelling towards the door.

"What?" Padmé asked, confused.

"Dan and Obi-Wan are coming,"

Her eyes widened, and she grabbed her dress from the ground while her husband pulled on his shirt, leaving the cabin and closing the door behind him as he went out to meet his friend and former mentor, still with his shirt unbuttoned.

Obi-Wan and Dan saw Anakin exit the small cabin, and knew that he could tell from their faces that something was up.

"What's happened?" He asked straight away, fastening his shirt.

"Sara and Beru have seen Clovis," Dan began.

Anakin raised an eyebrow. "So? Where is he?"

The two other Jedi exchanged a look, and then Dan sighed.

"You're not going to like this, mate." He said grimly, and saw Anakin's eyes narrow.

"He's with Sebulba." Obi-Wan said, and caught the fleeting reaction on Anakin's face before he quickly hid his emotions. He was good at that; always had been, ever since Obi-Wan had known him. He supposed that, being a slave, he couldn't exactly show his true feelings in front of his master, so would have learned from an early age never to show any emotion.

He saw shock at first, and then perhaps a flash of fear in his young friends eyes as he swallowed, and Obi-Wan could only wonder what he was remembering. Surely not anything good; Anakin wasn't afraid of much.

"I see," He said quietly, his voice carefully neutral, betraying no emotion.

The door slid open behind him, and Padmé stepped out. "What's going on?"

"Sara found Clovis," Anakin said, his voice neutral.

Padmé raised an eyebrow. "I sense an 'and' coming." She said.

He smiled slightly. "And he's with Sebulba."

Padmé's mouth fell open as she stared at her husband in shock. She recovered quickly, though. "What the hell is he doing with him?" She demanded, and Dan snorted with laughter.

"Well seeing you're married to Anakin," He chuckled.

Anakin ignored him. "We've gotta get to Mos Espa."

Sara waited outside while Beru took Leianna into the clothes shop. She knew it was safe because they were the only people in it apart from the little old lady who owned the place, and she didn't sense anything overly sinister about her.

Dan had contacted her quickly to say that they were on their way but that had been an hour ago. Where were they? She was beginning to get anxious when she saw a group of people making their way towards her.

As they got closer, she could make out her twin, Anakin, Kitster and Obi-Wan at the front leading the group: Anakin and Kitster seemed to be having some sort of heated debate under their breath. And it was also obvious that the others didn't have a clue what they were saying, because they were speaking in the native Huttese. She guessed that Owen would probably have a vague idea of what they were saying even if he wasn't as fluent as the other two, and Wald definitely did, but they seemed to be giving the two men their privacy, allowing them to have their argument between them.

Padmé looked worried, "Where is he?" She asked anxiously. "He hasn't done anything has he?"

Sara shook her head. "Not that I'm aware of," she soothed gently.

"Yet," Kitster muttered darkly, and Anakin shot him a warning look.

Padmé looked slightly alarmed. "What do you mean, 'yet'?" she demanded, and Anakin sighed.

"Senator," He said, for Rex was with them, as were Wald and Owen, neither of who knew about their marriage. "I know he's your husband, but his past marks him here. If he has let slip to Sebulba in any way that he was once wiling to conspire with the Separatists, then he could well use him."

"Use him how?"

Wald and Kitster exchanged an uneasy look, and it was clear that Wald knew what Anakin and Kitster had been arguing about, but had kept quiet with his opinion.

Anakin gave her a calculating look, as if deciding how much to tell her, especially out in broad daylight in the middle of the street where anyone could overhear them.

"Sebulba has various…side businesses." He said vaguely. "Ones that aren't exactly legal." His eyes bored into hers, conveying the silent message that his mouth could not.

And Padmé understood.

Sebulba was a slaver. She had known that already, but it was still like a slap in the face. And if he somehow got Clovis to help him…

"He's in with organising things too," Anakin said now softly, and she once again understood that he meant the competitions. She swallowed. Of course that low-life would be involved in such vulgar activities.

"How do you know?" She asked quietly, and Anakin raised an eyebrow, smiling slightly.

"Friends in low places," He replied with the ghost of a smirk. Padmé couldn't help but smile back.

It wasn't that she was worried for Clovis; but that she was worried for the people whos' lives he could make a loving hell if he got involved in any of these activities.

"What about this other guy he's with?" Sara asked, looking towards Anakin, Kitster and Wald, knowing that they were most likely to have the answers she needed.

A dark look crossed Kitster's face. "His name's Bob, and he's a nasty piece of work. Dogs Sebulbas' every move, and practically worships the ground he stands on." He spat in disgust.

"Another organiser," Wald said quietly.

"So what do we –" Sara began, but cut off and whirled round to look at the small shop, her beautiful green eyes suddenly wide with fear as the other Jedi all snapped round to look too, all sensing the disturbance in the Force.

"What was that?" Ahsoka asked, exchanging a look with her master.

Before he got the chance to answer, however, the glass in the front of the shop shattered in a deafening blast, and the entire building went up in flames.

Clovis was feeling nervous. He had to admit that the bomb and fire had been a good idea, but that idiot Bob had accidently set it off before Skywalker was even in the shop! Now he was dreading the moment when he would come after him. He'd heard all the stories: Anakin Skywalker truly was without fear if the news reports were to be believed, and he wouldn't take kindly to Clovis being part of the plotters who had blown up the shop in all intents and purposes to harm him and his friends. He had a feeling he wouldn't be that bothered about the threat to his own life – no, his life was on the line far to often for that to have much effect – but he would surely be more than a little irritated at the attempt on his friends lives.

Another thing Clovis hadn't been counting on was that Padmé had been caught in the blast. From his observation point on the roof of a building not that far away from where the fire now roared, he couldn't see if there had been any survivors.

It hadn't been the plan to kill them all, but Sebulba didn't seem to bothered.

Clovis was beginning to feel as if he was in too deep, and just going deeper and deeper.

Anakin groaned softly as he came too. His head was pounding, and he simply lay there for a few moments, his mind blank.

Where was he? What had happened?

And then it all came flooding back to him, and he jerked upright, dislodging a few stray pieces of plaster and brick that had settled on him. He had been lucky, but, looking to his right, he could see straight away that Owen had not been so.

Glancing first up at the sun and then at the burning building in front of him, Anakin could tell that the blast hadn't happened all that long ago: a minute at most, but likely less.

Crawling on all fours across the ground towards Owen, Anakin's hand fell upon an arm. An arm that twitched when he touched it.

Dan.

Pulling bits of plaster and mud out of the way, Anakin could see his face.

He grinned down at his friend, but it was forced. "You alright?" He asked casually, and Dan grinned back.

"Never better."

Disentangling himself from the mess, Dan joined Anakin as they made their way over to Owen.

A large roof beam seemed to have fallen across him, but had caught before it landed, so that, at a closer examination, it became clear that he hadn't been injured and was merely pinned in place.

Reaching deeply into the Force, the two young Jedi focused their thoughts around the wooden beam, allowing the Force to flow around it, gently lifting it off the unconscious man.

The first thing Owen registered as he groggily came too was the hovering beam above his head. Jolting awake, he flinched away from it, then winced as he felt the massive bruise forming over his chest. Moving his head slowly and painfully to the side, he saw both Anakin and Dan, hands outstretched and eyes closed, and he realised that they were slowly but surely moving the heavy beam off him. Relaxing slightly now that he knew the beam wouldn't fall on him – he had faith in his half-brothers abilities, even if he hadn't ever seen him in action: after all, he had heard the stories - he closed his eyes again and drifted back into unconsciousness.

Well, there you have it: Chapter Eleven.

Plz, plz, plz leave me some reviews letting e know what you think.

Sorry to leave it on such a cliff-hanger, but I didn't want to leave you waiting for as long as last time.