The week passed by quickly, with Obi-Wan feeling like his life was a blur. He carried Qui-Gon's phone with him at all times in case the informant reached out with the time for their meeting. As Wednesday rolled around, he was growing anxious that the informant had heard about his father's demise and decided to back out. His class got out and he went to sit in the quad before heading to the Temple for a shift when the phone went off. He fished it out of his pocket and checked the text. It was from a number he'd never seen before.
Contact: Are we still on for tonight?
Obi-Wan looked around him. He knew that no one else could see what was on this flip phone right now, but it didn't quell his nerves. This was it.
Obi-Wan: Yes. Seven at Dex's, corner booth.
Contact: I'm assuming he trusted you enough if he wants you to continue his work.
Obi-Wan's chest burned. Of course his father trusted him, and of course he'd see this through til the end.
Obi-Wan: The people have a right to know.
Contact: Seven pm. Don't be late.
Obi-Wan stared down at the phone in his hand, dumbfounded. He quickly gave Padmé the information so that she could be there. Then, he went to teach his class on meditation at the Temple.
The class went off without a hitch for his students, but Obi-Wan was growing increasingly anxious. He didn't know what kind of person his father had decided to befriend for this story, and he didn't know what would happen tonight. Whenever he tried to go to his happy place, he kept picturing the same things as before: gunshots, blood, a scream. He did his best to hide it from his class, but familiarity with him allowed Master Yoda to see his unease.
"Troubled you are, Obi-Wan," the short man stated as he came up to him after class.
Obi-Wan sighed. "I'm meeting someone important tonight."
"Nervous?" Master Yoda pressed.
"Very." He didn't know how dangerous this could be.
"Alone you will be?" Master Yoda asked, tilting his head and studying him.
"Not exactly," Obi-Wan replied. "Padmé will be there. She's not meeting the person, but she's going to make sure it's okay."
"Hmmmmm, interesting," Master Yoda said, tapping his walking stick on the floor. "Fine, you will be, if Miss Amidala is going. A formidable ally she is."
Obi-Wan gave Master Yoda a weird look as the old man hobbled off towards the inner sanctum. He supposed he was right. Padmé certainly did know enough to take care of herself. He checked the time and hurried off to his internship.
Professor Windu had left a stack of cases on his desk for him to peruse. His job was to look at the officer's reports and find ways they can get the clients off due to police error. He found two cases where they read the defendant's their rights at the wrong time, and another where they obtained evidence through what they called plain view, but Obi-Wan knew it wouldn't stand up in court. He was drained. All the rest of the evidence pointed towards these people doing the crimes. For instance, Count Dooku really was embezzling money from his charity funds, but due to an error in the chain of custody, he could walk free. It made Obi-Wan's stomach turn. He thought of all the people that could have been helped with that money, just to have it stolen by someone who was already wealthy enough to start the charity in the first place. He finished his four hours and left.
He was pensive on the ride home, debating on what time he was going to show up at the diner. He didn't want to show up too early, but he didn't want to be late either. Then, there was the business of having Padmé there without the informant knowing they were together. Eventually, he decided to shoot to get there five minutes before seven, and to drop Padmé off at the street corner so she can get there a little bit after he did so as to not raise suspicion.
When he got home, he parked his car and dashed upstairs to puzzle through the couple of assignments he had for the next day. It was his turn this week to cook dinner, so he made a quick meal of fish and asparagus over rice. It was something simple he could pop in the oven and on the stove without having to watch so he could read for his philosophy of law class. Anakin still wasn't home, which worried him to an extent, but then he thought that he was just really enjoying his new job; that or he was working harder to prove that although he was the newest hire, he was still capable. He made Anakin's plate and stuck it in the microwave to keep it warm, leaving him a note on the counter. Obi-Wan finished his own dinner and went to dress in clothes that were a little less noticeable than his current beige outfit. After tearing his wardrobe inside out, he eventually settled on a pair of jeans, a v-neck shirt and a blue and green flannel that his father had bought him for his birthday. While he was putting his shoes on, a knock sounded at his door.
Obi-Wan went to open it, grabbing his keys from the table next to the door on his way out.
"Ready?" Padmé asked in the hall. She looked a picture of calm, the exact opposite of how Obi-Wan felt in that moment. However, he knew he needed answers more than anything.
"Ready," he replied. They made their way down to his car, where he informed her of his plan.
Soon enough, he was seated in the agreed upon booth, waiting for his informant while Padmé sat over at the counter talking to the waiter and sipping a cup of tea.
The door jingled and a man came in, wearing a hood over his head. Obi-Wan had a moment where he froze, remembering the last time this had happened, but then he remembered to breathe and snapped himself out of it. The man came over to Obi-Wan's booth and slid into the seat across from him.
"You're younger than I expected," the man replied, brown eyes boring into his, measuring him up.
Obi-Wan could clearly make out the man's features now, taking a moment to analyze the man's face to see if he remembered him from somewhere. The informant had black hair, graying around his sideburns. He sported a goatee on his tan face.
"Who's going to expect someone my age?" Obi-Wan merely replied, raising a brow at him.
The informant smiled. "Today's youth is tomorrow's future," he replied.
Obi-Wan smiled back, feeling some of the tension in his shoulders release. "So, what exactly am I here for?"
The informant got serious, looking around briefly before leaning forward. "How much did he tell you?"
"That there is one man in charge of all the crime in the city," Obi-Wan replied. "Is it true?"
"I'm afraid so," the informant sighed.
"Do you know who it is?" Obi-Wan pressed.
"Not exactly, but I have suspicions that it's someone in the mayor's office. Mas Amedda has a tendency to always know a bit too much, and the bills that the council has been passing... let's just say they favor a majority of the businesses that are rumored to be involved with various crime groups. They say it's to benefit all of commerce, but it's a bit too coincidental for my taste," he explained.
Obi-Wan's brow furrowed. The mayor's office? After everything he's heard between Anakin and Padmé, it was hard to believe that something like this could be going on right under the mayor's nose without him putting a stop to it.
"And you're sure it's someone in city hall?" Obi-Wan asked.
"Look, I don't know things for a fact, but the signs are a bit too brightly lit to ignore," the man said pointedly.
Obi-Wan sighed, sitting back in his seat. This news certainly was troubling. "Do you have a way of getting more information?"
"I've done all I feasibly can so far. If I dig any deeper, I'd reveal myself and then I couldn't help the people that I need to for my job," his informant sighed. "It's in your hands now. I trust you to find the truth."
The informant gave him him a hard look before slipping out of the booth and disappearing into the night.
Obi-Wan sat there for a moment, watching the man get into his car and leave before gesturing for Padmé to come over.
"Don't you know who that was?" Padmé asked with wide eyes.
"No, darling, I'm afraid I don't. Do you?"
"That was Bail Organa, City Council member representing the Alderaanian district. What did he say?" she asked, leaning forward.
"Well, he seems to believe that it's someone in the mayor's office," Obi-Wan said, trying to gently break the news.
"No, that... that can't be. The City Council and the people in city hall are supposed to make laws that protect people, not use crime to line their pockets. No, it's hard to believe that someone in office would be abusing their power like that," she replied.
Obi-Wan placed a gentle hand on top of hers.
"Does he have any idea who?" Padmé asked softly.
"He seems to think its Mas Amedda, but he's not completely certain," Obi-Wan replied.
Padmé seemed to retreat into herself for a moment, thinking things over. He used his hold on her hand to rub his thumb across the back of it, bringing her back.
"So what do we do now?" she asked softly. Her eyes were wide, knowing that there were only two possible things they could do, one was exceedingly more dangerous than the other. "Do we tell Captain Rex and take a step back, or...?"
"Or investigate ourselves," he sighed, finishing her query. "Well, if we allow the police to step in, they have all these rules they have to follow for evidence. If just one thing gets bungled, the person could walk free."
She leveled him with a powerful look, the look of someone who knew they were about to make a choice that drastically impacts their future. "So we're on our own."
"Padmé, no. There's no 'we' this time. My father entrusted me with this, and I can't have you getting hurt," Obi-Wan said emphatically.
"If you work on your own, then who's going to be there for you when you get hurt?" she countered. "We're in this together, or we do nothing at all."
Obi-Wan narrowed his eyes at her. Of course she knew he couldn't just walk away now, not when he had made a promise to Qui-Gon. "Fine, but you're not going to do anything that could put you in harm's way. Got it?"
Padmé looked rankled by his command, but she gave in. "Fine. But, I'm not a damsel-in-distress, Obi-Wan. I can take care of myself."
His mind flitted back to Master Yoda's words from earlier. "I know, darling. You're a formidable ally, which is why I need you working with me and not against me."
She shook her head, not liking it, but knowing this was the only way she could keep an eye on him. "You're lucky I care about you so much."
"I know," he said with one of his softer smiles reserved only for her. He squeezed her hand before slipping out to pay for what little they had bought, noticing that Dex had taken the week off after the events of last weekend. Good for him, he thought. He wished he could take a week off, too. Obi-Wan went back for Padmé, and they went home.
The drive home was quiet as they digested what they'd just learned. The silence was finally broken when they made it to their doors.
"I'll see what I can learn while I'm at work," Padmé told him. "No one would suspect a college student investigating anything."
Obi-Wan nodded. "Keep me up to date. I'll do some research. There's some people we're defending that are involved in the various groups. I'm sure there's something there."
He pulled her in for a hug, burying her nose in his hair and inhaling the scent of her deeply. "Be careful," he murmured.
"You, too," she replied, holding him tighter. "Good night, Obi-Wan."
"Good night, Padmé."
He let go and entered his apartment, confused as to why it was still empty. The plate he'd left Anakin was still in the microwave. Concerned, he called Anakin to get sent to voicemail. Instead, he got a text back.
Anakin: Out with coworkers. Don't wait up.
Obi-Wan's brow furrowed. Out late on a Wednesday? That wasn't like him. No, he didn't like this one bit.
Obi-Wan: Alright. Drive safely.
Obi-Wan placed his phone on the charger and sat on the edge of his bed with his head in his hands. He almost missed the simplicity he had a week ago. Slowly, he shed the layers he'd put on, the persona of the person he wasn't. This wasn't who he was. This was what his father was known for, but him? He was so out of his depths, he was afraid he might drown. However, at least he had Padmé. She would be his life preserver, keeping him afloat whenever he felt like sinking down into the cold unknown far down below. She'd convince him to keep treading water, because eventually he might get somewhere.
Obi-Wan pulled on a henley and his flannel pants, letting them sit low on his hips. He flopped down on his bed and rubbed his temples with one hand. Oh, he had a big, big mess on his hands.