The extraction was undeniably easy. Or at least it was for Vos. The entire interaction had been maybe a half hour. It was what came after that would be the difficult part. Anakin hung limply over his left shoulder. Quinlan could make out the subtle rise and fall of his chest and kept one hand firmly against him as a way to reassure himself that the kid was still alive.
Vos boarded his ship as quickly as he could. Carefully he lowered the fifteen-year-old down on the small medical couch double-checking his breathing, and immediately set the coordinates on the nav computer. He felt no disturbance in the force, nothing yelling at him that he'd been spotted, or that the insurgents knew Anakin had gone missing from where they had been holding him. But Vos felt he should air on the side of caution anyway.
Anakin Skywalker had been kidnapped ten days ago in retaliation to the Jedi. Obi-Wan and his young apprentice had been sent to Havali VI to negotiate a workers union that had formed in a poor sector of the outer rim planets that had been newly aligned with the republic. Even Obi-Wan's silver tongue hadn't been enough to quell the anger there. The member of Haveli's governing body had kidnapped Anakin in an attempt to hold him as a hostage until the conflict was sided in their favor. Obi-Wan had contacted Quinlan the moment he was done debriefing the council on their condition, and Quin was more than happy to help Obi-Wan find the errant apprentice.
His ship took off smoothly into the surrounding atmosphere. A thousand things slammed again and again in Quin's mind of things he had to do. He needed to contact Obi-Wan and let him know he found Anakin, that the boy was safe with him, and to not go looking any further on Havali VI for his missing apprentice. He needed to go through their coordinates to make sure they weren't going to the wrong place.
But Anakin was by far his top priority. The kid hadn't been in great shape when Vos found him. His leg had been twisted at the knee and he had been bleeding from more places than one, including his head. Quinlan had entered the dark cell with his hands practically shaking in anger, how dare anyone do this to Anakin, beat him until he bled, and take him from where he was safe. How dare they do this to Obi-Wan, the veritable emotional torture the master had gone through when he discovered Anakin was missing, and then in the surrounding days when he had searched. How dare they do this to the systems that now had their negotiations halted. How dare they do this to Quin himself…
Anakin had made a sound when Vos had called his name and rolled him flat onto his back to ask for any type of response, but he was pretty sure it was a reaction the beaten boy had no control of.
Making his way back to the padawan on the medical couch Vos decided to look at the leg first. He washed his hands well and as gently as he possibly could, untwisted the leg to get a better look. The knee was clearly dislocated and he had several gashes trailing down his leg, Quin had no idea how long the leg had been misaligned.
Ten days. Anakin had been taken ten days ago. The injuries themselves could have only been there for an hour, for a week, he could have sustained them the moment they took him off-world. No matter the amount of time they had adorned the boy's body Quinlan decided it was for much too long. A stab of hot fury shot through his chest. Obi-Wan was one of Quin's very best friends, and had been ever since Obi had been brought into the creche. And Anakin….Quin had known Anakin for so long, had shared triumphs and pain with him.
Obi-Wan had been almost frantic when he had asked Quinlan to help him, the two had been separated only by a system. Quinlan knew Obi-Wan would never admit it, but that in itself was incredibly lucky.
Anakin suddenly moaned and twisted slightly at his injuries being disturbed.
"Anakin? Hey? Are you with me?" Quinlan said moving his hand from the injured leg to brace the boy's shoulder.
Anakin shifted again and his eyes fluttered a bit.
"It's ok… it's ok it's Master Vos." Quinlan cringed at that, "It's Quinlan." he amended.
Another thick rivulet of blood seeped down around Anakin's left cheekbone. Seizing a pad of gauze, Quin pressed the material to the wound on Anakin's head. Was that the cause for his confusion? Or was it just the shock of the ordeal finally catching up to him.
Anakin had still yet to open his eyes or answer Quin with words but a jarring feeling of relief shone in the force around him as if the mention of Quinlan's name let some part of his traumatized brain know that things were going to get better.
Quin pressed a little harder on the wound to staunch some of the residual bleeding, head wounds in their nature always bled quite a bit and Anakin's body was making no more exceptions. Anakin's head snapped to the right as Quin pressed tenderly around the inflamed skin. He figured much of the area around the gash was deeply bruised. Quinlan really had no way of clarifying that he was correct in his guess that there wasn't any internal bleeding but the force wasn't shouting angrily at him so he figured they were safe for now.
Vos picked up the com that he had been carrying with him and typed a quick message to Obi-Wan. He wished he could call face to face but wasn't sure how good of an idea it was to draw any more attention from Anakin, who was still bleeding rather profusely. He lifted the one section of cotton he had placed against the wound to see how well the blood was clotting before looking away from his charge for a second to further examine the contents of the med kid the skip had been stocked with. He was rifling through some bandages when he felt the slightest bit of pressure on his wrist. Immediately he turned his head. Anakin's hand was trembling slightly as he touched the pad of gauze Vos still had pressed firmly to the injury. His eyes opened in slits.
"Obi-Wan?" Anakin's voice was quiet and strained that Quinlan had a hard time deciphering one syllable from the next.
"No, he's not here. Sorry kid you just get me." Anakin's eyes opened slightly wider and he jerked into more alertness.
"Master Vos!" He gasped, "Quinlan, I-I need to talk to Obi-Wan. He-he doesn't know where I am, I need to let him know, please, I need to talk to him."
Quinlan braced the hand that wasn't trying to stop the bleeding to Anakin's shoulder, "It's ok Anakin, he already knows you're safe with me." he pulled one of the blue medical blankets around Anakin's shoulders. "It's ok."
Anakin's face suddenly shifted from worrying concern to relief and fear and sadness all at once. He bit the inside of his cheek hard and squeezed his eyes shut willing himself not to cry. He had been so sacred and now that he was safe his brain was having a hard time catching up with how he should feel. He took a deep shuddering breath and to his dismay, he felt reluctant tears welling up in his closed eyes. He took another deep breath allowing his emotions of painpainpainfearscaredangryhurtpain to drain out of him like a sieve. When he was done he felt strangely empty.
"Hey," Vos tightened his grip on Anakin's shoulder "Are you ok? Where's the worst of the pain?"
Anakin opened his eyes and looked at Vos's concerned expression with questions in his eyes. His worst pain? What was that supposed to mean? He didn't have one he could point to, his body hurt sure, but the things his captors had told him...the screams he heard of the other prisoners at night hurt him far, far worse.
"Anakin?" Quinlan questioned, "Are you with me?" By the tone of his voice, Anakin could tell it wasn't the first time he had asked the question.
"Yeah, I'm here." He groaned. Now that he had separated himself from his thoughts he felt the physical pain wringing through him. Every time his heart beat more pain coursed through him. "The leg is pretty bad…." that sounds so whiny he thought.
"Ok, let's see what we can do about that." Quinlan picked up Anakin's limp hand and set it on top of the gauze he had been pressing onto his face, "Keep pressure on that."
Anakin weakly obeyed, he didn't have very much strength to actually push against it but the weight of his hand was doing the work just fine. Vos resituated himself next to Anakin's leg. Anakin lifted his head slightly but refused to look any past to where his knee had been twisted. He shivered slightly and wondered if he was just cold because they were in space or if his body was in shock. He focused on taking deep breaths in and out through his nose. As soon as Quinlan touched the limb Anakin had to resist the very strong urge to jerk away and shout for him to keep away from him.
Master Quinlan isn't like that, he won't hurt you, he's trying to make you feel better, just relax. He repeats this in his mind again and again until his subconscious started to believe it.
"Well, on the bright side, nothing is broken. You've dislocated it pretty badly, and I wouldn't be surprised if you've torn some things, I don't really want to take the risk in resetting where we are...I do have some bacta gel and some painkillers so let's start with those."
Anakin nodded and took the capsules that Vos gave him, he pushed himself into a more upright position and put the capsules in his mouth. Vos gave him a container of water and Anakin took that enthusiastically. When he started drinking he found he didn't really want to stop. Quinlan had to leverage his hand down to get him to stop from pouring the entire container of water into his mouth.
"Little sips." he amended.
Anakin slowed his pace and shivered badly. "Are you cold?" Quinlan asked carefully.
"I-I'm not really sure, I don't really feel incredibly cold but I can't stop shivering." As if speaking about it could summon the chills he shuddered again as Quinlan unfolded another one of the thicker blankets.
"Are you ok if I start treating you with the bacta?" Anakin was astounded at how gentle Quinlan was being with him. Quin had never been unknowingly harsh or brusque, just a little rough and tumble. But that was just...Quinlan. Now he was treating it as if Anakin was going to crumble into little pieces, and Anakin couldn't decide how much he liked it. On the one hand, he didn't want Quin to treat him like a scared little kid, he wasn't nine years old anymore no matter what Obi-Wan or Quinlan did to treat him like so. But on the other, it felt strangely good to be treated with such gentleness after….
"Hey...Anakin? Hey?" Quin was slightly shaking his shoulder which let Anakin know he must have spaced out again.
"What?" He couldn't help it, confusion had settled over him like a thick fog bank.
"Will you be ok if I start using the bacta, you have some cuts that we should clean and try to close up, the faster we do that the less likely it'll be to scar or get infected." Quinlan Vos was acting surprisingly pragmatic, or at least he seemed to be through the calm way he was speaking and the even gentler way he was handling everything.
Anakin covered his eyes with one arm forgetting about the wound on his head he had sustained and immediately winced. "Just do it, Quin…" His voice sounded exhausted even to his own ears.
Quin uncapped the bacta gel and started cleaning and treating the multiple abrasions he had sustained. "Obi-Wan is going to be so relieved to see you ok kid," Quinlan said as he gently cleaned out one of the larger ones near his calf. "You should have heard him, he was going to tear apart the entire galaxy looking for you."
"Obi-Wan?" Anakin lifted his head again looking and sounding profoundly confused.
"Yeah, Obi-Wan," Quin said lifting his eyes to meet Anakins. "He was so worried about you, I know he has trouble with words sometimes, has trouble expressing how he feels to other people, but trust me on this, he was fiercer than I've seen him in a while."
Anakin nodded with his eyes shut. "Do you mind if I rest my eyes for a couple of minutes, I won't fall asleep if you think…."
"No! Of course not, go ahead." Anakin shifted his head to the side and let the sting of the bacta and Quinlan's strong and gentle hands do their work.
Anakin wasn't entirely sure if he had fallen asleep or just let his brain completely zone out until he felt Vos shake his shoulder and lift him into a more upright position.
"Here." Quin handed the padawan a slightly chipped mug. "It's tea, I have to admit I never cared much for tea myself but the hot water should help with those chills, and there were tea leaves in the galley."
Anakin held the mug close to his chest like he was trying to keep its warmth a secret all to himself.
"If you can keep that down for long enough we can try some real food." Quinlan continued, his voice meandering into an inevitable conversation.
Anakin's eyes were still downcast. He raised the cup to his lips and took a small sip. Quin chuckled at the repressed grimace that showed on his pale face.
"It's ok to tell me it's bad, I didn't really have high hopes for myself as a master tea maker"
To Quinlan's surprise, the corner of Anakin's mouth lifted into a half-smile. "It's okay, tea is really more Obi-Wan's thing. He makes it a lot so I drink it a lot, but it really isn't my favorite. The warmth is nice though."
Quin paused for a moment, unsure of how to continue with the conversion, and also manage to not scare Anakin into silence again.
"You know," Vos proceeded. "He really didn't get into tea until he was maybe twelve or thirteen. And when he started he was as bad as I am now. We would have a game when were kids where we would try and take food off each other's plates without each other noticing." Anakin's blue eyes lifted slightly. "Once I took a big swig of whatever was in his cup he was trying to pass off as tea and about choked all over the table."
Quin smiled at the memory. The "game" had really been a way that Quinlan had tried to keep track of Obi-Wan's eating habits when they were young. Obi had always been more small and skinny than a lot of the other initiates. And to make things worse when it became more and more apparent that no one had eyes on him to take as a student Obi-Wan's anxiety manifested in an extremely diminished appetite. The same bad habit had resurfaced again and again in Quinlan's experience with his friend. Obi-Wan had really only started drinking tea when Master Qui-Gon took him on as a student. Then he drank it almost obsessively as a way to try and be more like the tall imposing master, and as a way to try to curb the incredible anxious feelings that ripped through him. Quinlan felt it every time he picked up Obi-Wan's mug.
Anakin was quiet again. Clearly, the memory of Obi-Wan hadn't been enough to draw him out of the scared and quiet demeanor.
"How about something else?" Quinlan tried again, "I think I saw some soup packets, those should be easy enough. Or maybe I could try a second whack at tea."
"No thanks." Anakin's voice was still so quiet. "I mean, I appreciate it a lot but I'm really not hungry...I'm just, I'm just tired."
"Oh. Ok, try and get some sleep then." Vos cringed at the pandering sound of his own voice. He hated how stiff and clueless he sounded. "Do... do you want me to wake you up if we get a hold of Obi-Wan?"
Anakin was already settled comfortably on his side, one hand tucked underneath his cheek. He nodded a yes with his eyes closed.
"Ok…." Quinlan whispered patting the boy's calf. He stood up, "Ok."
He stood up from the small sleep couch Anakin had been settled on and walked to the cockpit scolding himself the entire way for how he had handled the conversation. WHY was he so helpless with stuff like this. He shouldn't be. By all means, he understood the regular human experience more than most other Jedi with all the undercover work he did. But when a mission was over...it was over. Had it been any other scenario, with anyone else but Anakin...For some reason, the fact that it was Anakin made the whole situation ten times worse. He had known the kid since he was nine years old. He had seen the kid cry before, seen him hurt, but for some reason this time was different. Maybe because every time before there had been an Obi-wan to turn to for help. A master he could hand the boy off to with only a slightly panicked expression.
A memory surfaced in Vos's mind of a nine-year-old Anakin. A very scary, stressful memory he had remembered for Anakin as a nine-year-old. Anakin, Obi-Wan, and himself had been sent on a very low maintenance mission to some of the lower levels of Coruscant. The task had first been given to only Obi-Wan. Rumors of a trafficking ring had been given to the council through another one of their lower-level informants, And Obi-wan had asked Quinlan to join in. It had been one of the rare times he had been granted extended leave on Coruscant after a very long mission, and his psychometry would certainly come in handy if they could discover anything new.
They were just explaining the finer details of the mission when one master suggested they bring Anakin. Anakin had only been an apprentice for a few months. And Vos found he quite liked the spunky energetic nine-year-old. Anakin had actually reminded him a lot of Obi-Wan at the same age. Curious and bright, and still young enough to be considered very cute. Anakin had only been on one or two unimportant missions so it could be a good idea for the little boy to gain some more perspective.
Obi-Wan had instantly disliked the idea.
"But masters, my apprentice is only nine standard. And the lower levels would most definitely not be kind to such a young child...not to mention the sensitive material we are handling with this" Quinlan still remembered the concern in his friend's voice.
Quin hadn't necessarily agreed with the idea of bringing Anakin but didn't think anything too bad could possibly happen in just a few hours. They wouldn't be going off-planet, kriff they wouldn't even be going even an hour away from the temple itself. What was the worst that could happen in a few hours...
Quinlan pulled himself out of the memory and settled himself into the cockpit's pilot's chair. Re-checked the flight plan and made sure the comm frequency was open in case Obi-Wan was able to get a hold of them. There was no standard time in space, but Vos felt as if it were very very late at night. He was exhausted. Tipping his head back he let his eyes close, he would only sleep for a short while. Quinlan supposed he could settle himself in the opposite bunk beside Anakin but decided it would be better if he was closer to the controls. He would only sleep for a little while anyway. Just a few moments of rest…..
Quinlan jolted awake suddenly. He immediately cast his eyes around searching for whatever had woken him. The force seemed to spike his adrenaline the moment he was jolted awake but now seemed oddly quiet...There were no beeping sensors, nothing in the space around their ship that conveyed any type of danger. If it wasn't anything in the cockpit, maybe…
"Anakin," he gasped, half stumbling into the back room with the bunks. It all made sense. It had to be about him, but he was sleeping and safe when Vos had left him. His injuries, although painful, were not life-threatening.
Anakin was still quietly asleep when Vos began shaking him awake. "Anakin, Anakin hey."
To Quinlan's surprise, the kid was easily roused if not a little disoriented from being shaken awake so suddenly. Almost the moment his eyes opened Anakin jerked half upright
"No!" He said in a shocked grating voice. His eyes searched wildly around the small room before landing on Quinlan. He relaxed somewhat when he recognized that Quin was the one who roused him but still remained taught and still looked frightened.
"Anakin, hey," Quin said, raising a hand from the boy's shoulders to touch the small wound on his head. "Are you ok?"
Anakin still looked somewhat startled, "I-I'm fine." He half hiccuped, "Is it Obi-Wan?"
"No, no Obi-Wan hasn't called yet, I'm sorry," Vos said, his eyes still looking over the young teenager. "Are you sure you're ok, something...told me to check on you." Anakin's eyes grew slightly wider. "Anakin if you're in pain I really need to know."
"No, no really I'm ok now," Anakin told Quinlan his voice strained and hard to hear. "It was a dream, just a dream...a memory." He stammered.
"A dream?" Quinlan asked quietly. "About them, the people that held you?"
Anakin screwed up his face slightly as if trying to remember something from a long time ago. "Kind of."
Quin raised his eyebrows, " A memory?" he questioned softly.
"Do...Do you know why I came into the temple so late?" Anakin questioned, his voice trembling. "Why Master Qui-Gon had to fight to teach me?"
"Well...yes," Quin said, incredibly unsure where the conversation was going.
Yes, Quinlan knew why Anakin had come into the order at nine years old, why he was so desperate to please, why he craved every inch of freedom. The first time Obi-Wan had told him about the boy's past as a slave he had been so shocked he didn't have any words, and for Quinlan Vos that was saying something.
"I know you've had a very hard life, I know you've been treated very badly by selfish people." He figured that was a good way to put things.
"You know," Anakin sighed, "About Tatooine…"
"You don't have to tell me anything you don't want to!" Quinlan said a little too quickly.
He would never say it out loud, but some part of him thought that if Anakin said it out loud if he told Quin the story then the entire thing would become more real. Quinlan had seen slavery before. Kriff, he'd even seen it on Tatooine, the very same day he accidentally watched Anakin win the podrace on Boonta Eve. But he never wanted to picture Anakin Skywalker as a slave, didn't want to know the stories of the whip weals on his shoulder and back. Quin didn't want to know why he had come to the temple so small and malnourished…
The night they investigated the possible trafficking ring they had Quinlan had begun talking to one of the workers for the underground under the guise of a conversation one would have with an interested investor. Only a few minutes into the talk he had grabbed Anakin's arm hard, his clawed nails digging into his clothes and tender flesh.
"Such a pretty child, so strong and well behaved." the sentient was reptilian and had hissed out each word like curses.
"M-master Quinlan!" Anakin had begged, his voice trembling.
Obi-Wan had asked Quinlan to take Anakin with him while Obi-Wan went out in search of some possible danger.
The reptilian eyes shot up to Vos, "How much?" he questioned. That was all the confession he had needed to get Courscanti authorities involved. Quinlan had clicked Obi-Wan alerting him to their location and had taken a step towards the two.
The reptilian gripped Anakin's face hard enough to leave marks. "How old is he?" He asked his long forked tongue running over his pointed teeth.
"Master!" Anakin's voice had become a shrill wail. Out of the corner of his eye, Quinlan saw a shadow move again one of the under-level alleyways.
"The boy is not for sale." He said sternly.
"You say that now," The reptilian hissed. "But I assure you, everyone has their price.That had been enough for Quin, he ignited his saber and took the opening stance.
"Jedi!" he hissed. He took a panicked step back, clearly upset with himself for not realizing the truth earlier. With a growing feeling of panic, Quin felt reverberating in the force he drew Anakin's tiny frame uncomfortably close to his body.
"Take one step closer and I'll tear the boy's throat out!" Anakin writhed trying to get away from the being that held him captive.
"I wouldn't threaten that if I were you." Said a crisp Courscanti accent behind them.
"Obi-Wan! OBI-WAN!" Anakin screamed as loud as his lungs would allow.
Quin took his chance and cut the arm that wasn't currently wrapped around the nine-year-old neck. The reptilian dropped Anakin almost immediately in favor of cradling his smoking limb. Quinlan made quick work of incapacitating him while the three Jedi waited for the Courscanti authorities to make the arrest.
Obi-Wan had gathered the nine-year-old to his chest as soon as the boy had been dropped. Anakin was shaking so much and sobbing in a way that physically hurt Quinlan's chest.
"It's alright, We're alright." Was the only thing Obi-wan could mumble to soothe him.
Surprisingly After a while of waiting for the arrest to wrap up and a brief questioning for Vos, Quin had returned to a very disheveled looking master holding his sleeping padawan in his lap. Anakin's skinny arms wrapped tightly around his neck, his blonde head resting comfortably on Obi-Wan's shoulder. Obi-Wan was staring firmly at the ground in front of them.
"Hey," Quin asked, tapping his leg with the side of his boot, "You two ok?"
Obi-Wan had looked up with an entirely unreadable expression. "Quinlan, the council they encouraged…" He trailed off and held Anakin a little tighter. "Do you think they knew?" his voice cracked slightly at the question. "Did they use my nine-year-old as live bait?"
Quinlan knelt down at Obi-Wan's eye level. "Obi, No. Of course, they wouldn't do that!" He said immediately. "They….they...Obi-Wan." He didn't know what else to say to him. The truth was they very well could have. And that made Quinlan shake a little.
"Let's… let's go home." He pulled Obi-Wan to his feet, "Come on. You want me to take him?" He nodded his head at Anakin who was still soundly asleep. Obi-Wan just clenched his jaw and shook his head.
That night after they cleaned up and Obi-Wan had put Anakin in his proper bed Obi-Wan told Quin about Anakin's life on Tatooine. Quinlan felt something inside him break for the small boy asleep in the next room. The cries for Obi-Wan had echoed in Quinlan's mind for hours that night as he tried to fall asleep.
Quinlan Vos let out a sigh as he returned to the present.
"Yes, I know about Tatooine...more than you yourself told me." Anakin's blue eyes shone strangely in the light of the cabin.
"T-The people on Havali VI knew about me too." He hiccuped, "They didn't know that they knew….but they did. They...they said, they did..." Anakin brought his uninjured leg close to his chest and hid his face away. His shoulders trembled and Vos could hear quiet sobs tearing through the padawan.
"Hey…" Quinlan put his hand on Anakin's head. Anakin's eyes turned to meet his. "I-I'm going to put my arm around you, ok?" Anakin nodded and Quin draped his arm around the boys shaking shoulders.
"You know that it doesn't mean anything anymore right? You're not property, you're not broken, you're not anyone's but yourself. I don't care about your past, no one does." Anakin lifted one shaky hand to wipe his eyes.
"Do you think I'm damaged?" His voice trembled worse than his body.
"No!" Quinlan said quickly. "Anakin, I think you're strong. You are impulsive and kind, and smart, you are many things, but you are not damaged."
Anakin nodded again and balled his fists. "I...I'm not sure if I know,"
"You don't have to know yet." Vos cut him off. "You just have to believe that it could be true, and if you can't do that either me, and Obi-Wan, and your friends, and your mother can believe it for you."
"Ok,"
"Ok."
The two sat there in companionable silence for a minute or so until Quinlan heard a chime coming from his comm in the cockpit.
"I'll be back right away," He said standing and untangling his arm from around Anakin, "Just shout if you need me." Anakin nodded the barest hint of a smile twisting upon his face, he had a sneaking suspicion they both knew who could be calling.
"Quinlan!" Obi-Wan's voice was clear and filled with excitement and worry all at once."You found him?! Is he alright?! I'm sorry I didn't answer sooner. What happened to,"
"Kenobi!" Quin interjected. "Slow down you're going too fast." He looked down that hallway where he felt a sharp warm spark in the force coming from Anakin. "Besides," he said grinning as he made his way down to the injured adolescent, "I think there's someone who wants to talk to you just as much."
He handed the comm to Anakin's shaking hand.
"M-Master?" Anakin stuttered, his eyes shining with emotion.
"Anakin! Padawan!" Obi-Wan's voice filtered through. "Are you hurt? It's going to be alright now. I'm coming to meet you."
Quin smiled, he heard Anakin's nervous chuckle as he walked down the hallway into the cockpit again happy to give the master and apprentice some privacy. Things would be ok. It was over now, and they would be alright. He settled himself down and put both hands behind his head, content, for now, to watch the stars and enjoy the soft thrum of the space around him. It was going to be alright.