Obi-Wan went to open the door, but fallen debris kept it closed. He groaned in frustration, looking over at his only way in now, the broken windows. As he crawled through, he felt his clothes snag and tear on the jagged glass, but he didn't care. He had one thought on his mind, and that was getting to Padmé. Holding his elbow up to his nose to avoid smoke, he tried to look around the space to find her, feeling his eyes begin to water. The office was in bad shape, and he knew that it wouldn't stay up much longer, not with the flames licking at the support beams. With no time to waste, he pushed forward, scanning for any signs of her familiar body. Then, he saw a hand from behind a desk. He rushed towards it, finding a limp Padmé lying on the ground, her body twisted in a position that would have been very uncomfortable had she been conscious. His eyes softened as he knelt down to scoop her up as gently as he could. He heard the sound of fire engines and police sirens in the distance, steadily growing louder as they drew closer. Holding Padmé to his chest, he walked the narrow path out of the building, flames on either side. He kicked out more of the window so that she wouldn't be cut on it, and then he passed through the hole, emerging into the daylight swathed in smoke like a darkness that had settled around him. As Obi-Wan raised his head to see the emergency team arrive, he locked eyes with an all too familiar face across the street. Anakin. The boy was wide-eyed and slack jawed, but he quickly averted his gaze. A grimace passed over Obi-Wan's face as he tried to connect the dots. Padmé shifted slightly in his arms and he sighed, looking back at Anakin. That discussion would have to wait.
Firefighters rushed past him to see if anyone else was in the building and to put the fire out. An EMT rushed over and took Padmé from him, placing her on a stretcher to be taken to a hospital.
"Will she be okay?" he asked.
The EMT, a woman named Shaak Ti, sighed, "She has some gashes from shrapnel. It will have to be removed. Without knowing the full extent of the damage, it's hard to say."
Obi-Wan bit his lip. "May I go with her?"
Shaak Ti nodded. "If you wish. After all, you need to be checked out, too."
"I'm fine," Obi-Wan insisted.
"You may feel fine now, but once the adrenaline wears off, there may be more damage than you realize," she said pointedly, pushing the stretcher up onto the ambulance.
He heard a door slam, followed by footsteps coming towards him.
"Why is it that lately whenever anything big happens in the city, you're around?" Rex asked with a slight smirk, trying to lighten the mood.
"Bad luck," Obi-Wan said dryly.
Rex looked over at Padmé and then back at Obi-Wan. "I'll need to take your statement, but that can wait. I'll find you at the hospital once we're done here."
"I appreciate that, Captain," Obi-Wan nodded as he climbed into the ambulance.
Rex closed the doors and whacked the back so that they knew they could drive off.
Obi-Wan's eyes softened as he took Padmé's hand gently in his own. He ran his thumb over the back of her knuckles. "Darling, I promise, you'll be alright."
In his head, he was praying that his words were more than just a hopeful wish to comfort a woman who may not even hear him. He felt like a fool, squandering all of his time with her because he had other things he felt he had to do. His sense of duty may have lost him the love of his life without him even telling her the truth. Finding his father's killer and working through his own issues were just excuses for him to put off telling her the truth because he was scared. He feared opening up to someone again just to be hurt. He feared falling in love with someone only to have them eventually fall out of love with him. But, all of those fears right now were outweighed by his biggest fear: losing Padmé. Taking her hand to his lips, he gently kissed her knuckles.
"Please, darling," he murmured, feeling tears prick at his eyes as he looked down at her still body. "Please hold on for me. I can't... I can't lose another person that I love. I can't lose you. Not without telling you I love you."
The ambulance pulled up to the hospital and her stretcher was rushed out. Shaak Ti pushed Obi-Wan towards the emergency room to get examined. The exam confirmed what he already knew. He was fine. A few bumps and bruises, but no internal bleeding or broken bones. He went to pace outside of surgery in the waiting area. His nerves propelling him back and forth as he slunk lower and lower into his thoughts.
"Is she going to be okay?" a voice asked.
Obi-Wan stiffened. "I don't know, Anakin. She was closer to the explosion than I was."
Anakin replied. "No one was supposed to be in the building."
"She finished lunch and we went back," Obi-Wan said, rounding on him. He pulled him into an empty room and shut the door. "What did you mean no one was supposed to be in the building?"
Anakin was silent, unable to meet his eyes.
"Anakin, what did you do?" he asked in exasperation. Quiet realization dawned on him. "You built it, didn't you?"
"No one was supposed to get hurt. I didn't even... I didn't know it was still an active office. They said it had been recently abandoned. Fuck, I almost killed the mayor, too," he said despondently.
"Who are they?"
Anakin looked up at him and swallowed.
"Anakin, you need to start giving me answers," Obi-Wan ground out. "She almost died today, hell, she still could die today. What did you do?"
"I just built it and placed it. They said they needed me to prove that I was loyal and willing to do whatever it took," Anakin replied, starting to cry. "I didn't think anyone would get hurt. They said it would be empty."
"Who is they?"
"The Sith. I don't know much about who it is. I just know they're in charge of the whole city. When they tell you to do something, you do it if you value your life," he replied.
"How did you even meet?" Obi-Wan asked in confusion.
"My friends at work. They knew of them, some work for them. I was with my friends when we got into some trouble and I drove the car to get us out of there. That was when the Sith took an interest in me. They thought I could be useful. Somehow they knew about my robotics backgrounds and my background with mechanical engineering. They tasked me with this," he replied.
"And why didn't you just go to the police? Hell, Rex is our neighbor!"
"I didn't think they'd believe me. After all, a few people, possibly just one person, in charge of the whole city's underground? Do you know how crazy that sounds?"
Obi-Wan blanched remembering the discussion he and Qui-Gon had had before he died. "Not as crazy as you believe."
"What?"
"Before he died, dad was working on uncovering that. He said there was only one person in charge of it all. Then, a follow up that I went to with his informant connected it to someone in city hall," Obi-Wan informed him.
"You kept that from me?" Anakin asked incredulously.
"I was trying to keep you safe!"
"Well, that plan backfired."
Obi-Wan glowered. "I also figured out who killed dad."
"And you decided to keep that from me, too?"
"When was I going to tell you, Anakin? You're never home!"
Anakin narrowed his eyes at him. "Who is it?"
"Some man named Maul."
Anakin's eyes widened. "If it was Maul, then dad may have been killed on purpose."
"Nonsense. It was a robbery gone wrong."
"Maybe that's what they want you to think. Everyone knows that dad would do the right thing, even if it risked his own life. I don't think targeting Dex's Diner was random if dad was onto something. Maul was one of the enforcers for whoever this person is," Anakin replied. "I've met him once."
"He's just a drug dealer, though," Obi-Wan replied.
"Well, yeah. Who's going to look at someone like that and think they could unravel a whole operation? No one. It's the best way to hide in plain sight."
"I still don't see why they would want to attack the mayor's campaign office," Obi-Wan replied after a moment of silence.
"It could've been to send a message," Anakin replied thoughtfully.
"But to who?" he asked, stroking his beard.
"Maybe the mayor, to let him and the city know that they can't do anything to stop them?" Anakin leaned against the wall. "Who were you investigating in city hall?"
"Mas Amedda, but nothing was adding up. We went to spy on his meeting with a Tyranus, but instead we only saw the Mayor and Count Dooku."
"We?"
Obi-Wan looked down. "Padmé and I."
"I see."
"I'm sorry," Obi-Wan said honestly.
"Don't be. She chose you. She made a good choice. You're not the one who almost killed her today," Anakin replied. After a moment something dawned on him. "Wait. How do you know the meeting was for Amedda?"
"It was on the calendar in his office."
"You and I share a calendar. If I write something on it, that doesn't mean you'll be there," he said pointedly. "What if the meeting wasn't for Amedda. What if it was for the mayor? He does keep track of the mayor's events."
"Then... that would mean that this Tyranus is really Count Dooku," Obi-Wan said in realization.
The doctor, Dr. Che, knocked on the door for them. "We removed all the shrapnel. She's stable. It may take a while for her to wake up, though."
"Thank you, Doctor. Can we see her?" Obi-Wan asked.
Che nodded. "Third door on the right."
Obi-Wan shared a look with Anakin and then went to leave. Anakin stopped his arm.
"Listen. I truly am sorry about everything. When dad died, I wanted a father figure again, and you weren't it. I found it in the mayor, and when I started to work at his garage, I got into the wrong crowd. I should've known better," Anakin told him.
Obi-Wan placed his hand over Anakin's. "It's alright. I know I'll never replace Qui-Gon, but I could've tried harder to be there for you."
"I'll quit," Anakin said earnestly.
"No, don't. I have an idea," Obi-Wan said with a slight smirk. "But, it'll have to wait."
"She needs you. Go."
Obi-Wan nodded and went to her.