Freshly showered and his company sent home for the evening, Anakin made his way back to the temple. Even though wartime left the order stretched thin by means of Jedi and Generals, they still did their best to allow for leave as well as they were able. Usually that leave was longer than one rotation. Anakin had yet to see one whole rotation still, as approached the Council chamber.
While it wasn't entirely surprising that he would be called back so soon, he couldn't help but shuffle through the possible reasons he might be summoned. None of them were optimal, needless to say. Upon entering the Council chamber Anakin found Masters Plo and Windu there to greet him. Alongside them stood Senator Bail Organa who paced the floor, wringing and flexing his hands nervously.
"Sorry to keep you waiting, I wasn't expecting to be called back so soon."
"And we didn't expect to need you back so soon. But you know how it is in war time." Mace answered grimly.
"Don't we all." Anakin acknowledged. In other circumstances he might have been more irritated about the summons. This time he had been more glad for it than not. It was a welcome distraction.
"What's this about anyways?" Anakin asked, eyeing Bail curiously. It was odd to see Organa in his senatorial role, just as he was sure it was somewhat strange for Bail to see Anakin in his official capacity as well. Though his presence told Anakin who the nature of this meeting was more than likely about.
"It's Padme." Senator Organa blurted, half frustrated, half terrified.
"Padme?" Anakin asked, his voice shaded with worry.
He and Padme had formed quite a close friendship, especially since her apartment was right next door to his own. It was Padme who had introduced Anakin to Bail and Breha back when Obi-wan had first left. Her friendship had helped keep him sane. She pushed him to stay focused when he wanted nothing more than to leave the order. She equally encouraged his darker inclinations, the ones that that Mace would certainly have condemned outright had he known about them.
"About a week ago Senator Amidala went on a diplomatic mission with one of her colleagues to Cato Neimoidia. We have reasons to believe she's been captured or otherwise compromised." Mace explained coldly, in the pragmatic tone that he tended to use often that Anakin couldn't stand.
"I told her it was a bad idea." Bail interjected, glaring angrily at Master Windu. The heavy bags under his eyes told Anakin he probably hadn't slept since Padme left for Cato Neimoidia. He was sure that Breha had to have been equally troubled over the circumstance, especially now that she was missing.
The couple doted on Padme and cared for her more than anything or anyone else in the galaxy. While the nature of their relationship held many dimensions, it was much more than purely physical. Anakin dared to think that the two of them even loved her. With Bail so torn up, Anakin could sense his pain transcended that of someone who had just possibly lost his favorite plaything.
"She went with an old friend, Rush Clovis. We had reason to believe he was colluding with Separatists. Senator Amidala was in the best position to investigate the matter due to their prior relationship." Master Plo said calmly.
"You think she was found out." Anakin said. "What was her mission, exactly?"
"To retrieve any evidence against Senator Clovis. If possible, any other pertinent information." Master Windu added.
"She was supposed to make contact at least once per rotation, but we haven't heard from her since she landed. And that was just over one week ago." Plo said, a hint of worry in his voice.
Anakin suppressed the urge to point out that one week was far too slow a response time for his liking. Of course, resources were spread thin. It was more likely that there just wasn't any manpower to spare. Anakin guessed that Bail had probably hounded Mace beyond what he could handle. Organa was indeed, a persuasive man whether you had something he wanted, or were just merely standing in the way.
"You're to go in undercover, get to the Senator and get her out. Any extra intel you could gather would be put to good use." Mace said, stressing the latter.
"But the safe return of Senator Amidala is priority." Master Plo amended.
"You're damn right it is. It's the least you can do." Bail snarled at Mace with disdain.
"Senator Organa insisted you head the mission yourself." Mace followed up, giving Anakin a glance of strained patience.
"I understand. I won't let you down." Anakin nodded in a slight bow.
"A small personal transport vessel is being readied for you in the hangar bay now. You're going in as a merchant making a deal with the Neimoidians on some questionably attained Sasho gems. Contact has already been established on your behalf." Master Plo said.
"That's plenty enough backstory to get close enough to find Padme. It shouldn't be a problem." Anakin said, more than up to the task. "I'll be on my way, then."
As Anakin turned to leave, Senator Organa cased after him only a few steps behind. Once they were clear out of earshot, the man broke.
"Anakin, you have to save Padme. If something has happened to her… Make sure nothing happens to her. Please." Bail entreated.
"You know I'll do everything in my power to help her. I care about her, too." Anakin said earnestly.
"I know. It's just- we begged her not to go. You know how bull headed she is once she gets an idea in her head." Bail said, exasperated and equally defeated. "Breha has been inconsolable ever since she found out Padme went missing."
"I'm sorry." Anakin said solemnly. "Go home to Breha and take care of her. I'll take care of Padme. You have my word."
"You're a good man." Bail said in a strained voice, tears welling in his eyes.
"I don't know about that, but I like to think I'm at least a halfway decent Jedi. Being a good man has nothing to do with it." Anakin shrugged.
"I would insist on coming with you, but I think I would just get in the way." Bail said in a half-hearted chuckle.
"Go home and get some rest." Anakin said. "I've got to go. It seems time is of the essence. I'll contact you personally as soon as I know she's safe."
"Thank you. I don't think I will ever be able to repay you." Bail said, exhaustion and emotional fatigue overwhelming him.
"Don't even start. No such thing as debt between friends." Anakin said earnestly. "I'll be contacting you soon. Keep your communicator on and near by."
….
"Do you always come here alone?"
Obi-wan slowly and painfully pulled his gaze from the bottom of his mug to look at the girl who sat across from him. Her eyes were bright and piqued, a verdant shade that contrasted the warm violet of her hair that fell down around her face in curling swaths. Her ruthless, energetic cheer grated on his already frayed nerves and it was besides the point, that she wasn't his type to begin with.
Obi-wan stared at her with the same dull quality in his eyes that he carried most times as of recent. "Do you always bother strange men you don't know?" He countered dryly, a curl of passive disgust on the edge of his lip.
As much as he disliked being alone with his own self damning thoughts, he liked the idea of company even less. The sting where Anakin's mind had brushed against his own still burned inside of him as he struggled to forget it altogether. That meant he was due for a permanent bad mood for the next two weeks, at least.
"Are you always so cynical?" She answered back quickly.
"Yes. And quite boring I'm afraid." Obi-wan ground out. "If you're looking for someone to keep you company, you should look somewhere else."
"I don't know about that. A Jedi living a double life as a vigilante? What could possibly be more interesting?" The girl said, the brightness in her eyes becoming devious and threatening.
Obi-wan drained his glass, trying to appear unphased by the words she spoke. If he hadn't had two drinks already, he would have caught her intent before she had the chance to sit in front of him. He would have fled the establishment long before she stepped foot inside, along with whoever else came with her. Undoubtedly, there were others. He knew there were.
"I don't know who you're looking for, but I'm not him." Obi-wan said, putting on a convincing show, so he thought. Just as he moved to sit up, a shrouded figure moved to sit beside him, forcing him back down.
The last thing Obi-wan wanted was to make a show in a place that he tended to frequent. He worked hard to build a life for himself on Coruscant, and he didn't want to have to start someplace else. Although the nice thing about living in such a populated place was that even locals had a certain level of anonymity, so long as people weren't paying attention. And they rarely were. But clearly he had already drawn more attention to himself that he ought.
Obi-wan started to turn his head towards the shrouded figure but was stopped before he could catch a glimpse. "Don't look at me, keep looking at her." A man's voice spoke, obscured by a modulator.
"In a moment, I'm going to stand and we're all going to leave." The man instructed.
"And if you truly think i'm a Jedi, what's going to keep me from killing you both and being on my way?" Obi-wan asked mirthlessly. He was concerned for the situation, but it didn't outweigh the confidence he had in himself to manage one way or another. And it most certainly didn't outweigh the raw, pessimistic dismality he felt festering inside his chest.
The man draped a hand over Obi-wan's shoulder and jabbed the cold steel of a blaster muzzle hard against his ribs. "You try anything, you die." The man said with unamused finality.
"Fine, fine. Let's do it your way, then." Obi-wan ceded, calculating a number of contingency plans in the span of mere seconds.
"Good choice." The girl said with a sly smile. Of all the plans Obi-wan held at the fore of his mind, none of them were going to be good enough.
Just before the man rose Obi-wan felt the sharp pinch of a hypo in his side, along with the soft hush sound of a vial depressing as he was dosed. By the way his vision blurred and how his body suddenly felt heavy, he supposed it was some kind of illegal depressant somewhere along the spectrum between Norbutal and Myocaine.
It definitely hit harder than Myocaine, which was designed as a muscle relaxer for therapeutic purposes, but it wasn't quite as severe as the full paralysis Norbutal induced. His mental functions were still sharp as ever, though he found communicating any sort of command to his body increasingly difficult as the drug fully circulated in his bloodstream.
Obi-wan reached out for the force but found himself blind to its existence. Whatever the toxin was, he had never encountered it before. There had been rumors in years past, of drugs that could sever ones force abilities, but it all had been taken as hearsay. Clearly they were quite real and effective to match.
"Get up," the man ordered in a low gruff voice. The girl gave a slight malevolent giggle as she stood, while the man wrapped a hand around Obi-wan's shoulders, helping him to his feet.
The world seemed heavy, painted in unsteady streams of color and lights that sparkled almost whimsically around him. Then suddenly, Obi-wan found the bartender in his field of vision. There was a notable worried crease in her brow, even through the lens of whatever drug he had been given, he could see it.
They weren't on a first name basis, but Obi-wan had been around enough over the last two years for her to remember his face. She was a kind, unobtrusive soul. She also no doubt had noticed that over the last two years Obi-wan had never once brought company or made any friends. He preferred to drink in peace before he went his way, and never had been so intoxicated that he couldn't walk by himself.
"Is everything alright?" The Mirialan woman asked, her voice rife with blatant concern.
Obi-wan's head began to loll to the side as he tried hard to keep himself upright. Unsatisfied, the mysterious man sent another hard jab to the back of his ribs with the blaster's muzzle. He needed to hurry it up.
"Yeah," Obi-wan said, nodding his head as best he could in an attempt to convince the well meaning woman. There was nothing she could do to help him, and alerting her to trouble would only cause more problems, not to mention put her at risk of being harmed as well.
"Yeah, errythingsss ff-fine," Obi-wan slurred, supporting himself against the man beside him.
"My friend here just had one too many. We'll take good care of him." The girl said, putting a friendly hand on his chest.
"Alright," the barkeep said skeptically. Obi-wan could tell she didn't feel good about it, but really there was nothing more to be done.
His two captors turned to leave with him draped between them, one arm hoisted over each of their shoulders. "If you keep behaving this well, you'll have nothing to worry about." The girl said brightly.
"Enough out of you." The man growled as they turned the corner, pushing Obi-wan into the backseat of the speeder that was parked there. "Now get in the back and make sure our guest stays compliant."
"You don't get to talk to me like that!" The girl snarled. In a flash the man responded with a sharp backhand that caused her to stumble back, nearly losing her footing.
"You fuck your way to the top and expect me to respect you? Whores are meant to be seen and not heard." The man muttered.
"Just wait till the Boss finds out you hit me!" The girl screamed. "You'll be sorry." She added darkly.
The man grabbed her by her arm and shoved her into the back of the speeder, sending her tumbling into Obi-wan who fell over with little strength to pick himself back up, although he did try. Without another word the man climbed into the driver's seat and set off to wherever it was they were going.
With angry teary eyes the girl hoisted him up off the floor of the speeder as well as she could before she sat arms crossed, glaring forwards for the rest of the trip. Obi-wan struggled to stay alert, but was pulled further and further against his will until he fell completely unconscious.
….
The deadened sting of a slap bloomed on Obi-wan's face as he slowly came to. A second, sharper slap made his eyes fly open with a gasp. Upon awakening he found himself suspended in electro-binders at the center of a detention room. The man from earlier stood before him. Now he could see that it wasn't just a simple voice modulator, but a full mask that hid the man's face.
Obi-wan reached out for the force. This time without the drug inhibiting him he could sense it, but the act of reaching for it triggered the electro-binders to arc, sending painful jolts of energy lancing through his body.
"Don't try so hard, Jedi." The man chided. "You're not getting out of here. And as much as I enjoy watching you suffer, if you pass out you would only be wasting my time."
"I would hate to be so rude." Obi-wan said in contempt.
"You think you're a funny guy, do you?" The man spat.
"I'm not the one parading around in a costume mask." Obi-wan countered, still feeling rather spiteful.
This time the man answered with an elbow to the ribs that took Obi-wan's breath away. It hurt terribly, and he thought he might have fractured something, but it was nothing compared to the searing icy pain the electro-binders had shot him through only moments ago. Although, at least when he was being beaten and electrocuted he didn't have space to think about Anakin. There were pro's and con's in everything, after all.
"Is that all you've got?" Obi-wan said, coughing as he regained his breath. "I'm not impressed."
The man answered with a harder blow to his side. Now he definitely cracked a rib. If he had any doubt, there was a dull snapping sound to attest. This time Obi-wan had a little more difficulty getting his lungs to remember how to breathe.
"If you knew what was good for you, you'd shut your mouth." The man growled.
But of course, Obi-wan couldn't resist. "Sure. I'll keep quiet and you can tell me all about how mommy hurt you and how daddy left. Or... was it your uncle-" The man interrupted him with a solid punch to the side of his jaw, filling his mouth with the taste of warm iron.
"Touched a nerve, have I?" Obi-wan said with a short laugh that left him wincing from the aftershock of his freshly broken ribs. In spite of the pain, his lips curled in a genuine smile painted with streaks of blood that dripped down his chin.
"It's unwise of you to get on my bad side." The man snarled.
"Oh?" Obi-wan said, his brows raised in mock surprise. "I wasn't aware I was on your good side to start. You make these things awfully difficult. Maybe if mommy had taught you to talk about your emotions-" Another crack to his jaw silenced him for a moment. It took a second for it to click back into place, and when it did it was awfully painful, sending a bolt of blinding pain crashing around inside his skull.
Perhaps his jaw was fractured, Obi-wan couldn't quite tell. Another punch and he was certain it would be if it wasn't already. But he didn't feel he had run out of dry wit quite yet.
Obi-wan spit a wad of blood laced saliva onto the floor to clear his mouth before he spoke. "You know, if you don't learn how to control your temper, I'm going to be dead long before I'm of any use to you." Obi-wan said in his holier-than-thou Jedi Master voice that he hadn't used in a very, very long time.
In answer, the man wrapped his hands- which happened to be quite large, around Obi-wan's neck tightly making it nearly impossible to breathe. Obi-wan fought against his grip, gasping in ragged strained pulls. Before his vision could go completely dark, Obi-wan heard the sound of a door being thrown open behind him. An unexpectedly familiar voice rang out not a second later.
"Tomek!" The voice said, booming angrily. Immediately Obi-wan was released, promptly lapsing into a coughing fit while the masked figure- Tomek, apparently, took a few steps back. "How are you supposed to be collecting intel when you're letting him get in your head?"
"I'm just doing my job." Tomek growled.
"Just doing your job. Were you just doing your job when you hit Khaleen, too?" The man said in a chilling tone that even let Obi-wan know Tomek was in trouble.
"That bitch was was out of line." Tomek said, the tenor in his voice fading noticeably, even through his voice modulator.
The other man stepped forward while Tomek retreated a few more steps. In the next moment the man brandished a small dagar, pinning Tomek to the wall with the small blade pressed up against his throat. "You've been a thorn in my side for months now. Do you really want to give me an excuse to gut you like the pig you are?" The man asked in the same smooth, threatening tone.
"The next time you even look at her, you'll be answering to me. Understand?" The man said, his voice twisting into a dark snarl.
The man seemed discontent with the silence that ensued. He pressed the blade harder against Tomek's flesh. "Understand?!" The man shouted, demanding an answer.
"Y-yes s-sir" Tomek stammered.
"Good." The man said in a smooth voice, pulling back the knife. "I'm glad we understand each other." In a flash the man plunged the dagger into Tomek's side and twisted. The masked man gave a startled grunt as he stumbled to the ground, holding a trembling hand to the bloody wound.
"You didn't think you could get away without a scratch, did you? What would people think of me then?" The man said with casual nonchalance. "Now get out of my sight."
Frantically, Tomek scrambled to his feet and left the interrogation chamber, throwing a fierce glare Obi-wan's way before leaving.
Watching the entire display with his mouth agape, Obi-wan finally found himself at a loss for words. Once satisfied the two of them were alone the man turned to face Obi-wan. The golden tattoo that striped his face confirmed what Obi-wan suspected.
"Quinlan?" It was almost difficult to believe his eyes, especially after the display that had just ensued.
"Is that any way to greet an old friend?" Vos said with null enthusiasm, cleaning the dirtied blade on his pants before sheathing it in the side of his belt.
"Are you going to let me out of these, or what?" Obi-wan said expectantly, spitting more blood onto the ground as it steeped into his mouth. "Or are you not the man I thought I knew?" He added in question. Not that he could judge, but it seemed that Vos had strayed far from the code. Just how far, Obi-wan wasn't sure.
"All things in good time. I'm undercover, if you hadn't guessed. Your presence has complicated things for me quite a bit." Vos said, crossing his arms irritably.
Obi-wan nodded in understanding, grimacing as the motion sent a jolt of pain through his jaw. "Well i'm sorry to have caused any trouble, really."
"Like hell." Vos spat crossly.
"Excuse me?"
"You and your little routine- running around the lower levels like some kind of amatuer hero. Do you know how much you've put a kink in my own operation? Twice now in the last month alone I've had perps that I've been chasing down for almost an entire year die in a bacta tank in some low level under-equipped hospital, due to injuries you caused. Those two alone could have produced, who knows how much valuable information to the Republic if they were turned in and interrogated, instead of killed." Vos growled.
"If you want me to be sorry for saving innocent people from suffering at the hands of those sadistic thugs, you'll only be disappointed." Obi-wan said bitterly. "The galaxy is a much better place without them."
"How about I put that in the official report? Do you know how much I've already gone out of my way to cover your ass?" Vos said curtly, pointing a finger square at Obi-wan's chest.
"I'm sorry for the inconvenience." Obi-wan replied dryly.
"It was so obvious. The whole facade you've been running. Ever since I heard the reports of some do-gooder vigilante in the lower levels. I knew it was you. I have been specifically censoring all of it from my official reports to the council. Do you know what kind of shit you'd be in if they found out about your little hobby?"
Obi-wan had thought about it on more than one occasion. The consequences would have been steep. Expulsion was on the list of possibilities. Exile. Imprisonment. All of those things would only make it more difficult to take care of Anakin if the need arose. All of those outcomes were unacceptable.
"I've thought about it once or twice." Obi-wan said sharply. "Have you thought about what the Council would do if they knew the extent of your own activities? I'm assuming you've censored that from your reports as well. You know, things like stabbing underlings because you feel like it. Things like that."
"Everything I do, I do for the Republic. But you- you think you're some tough guy, out there on your own, don't you? Think again." Vos snarled.
"You don't know the first thing about what I think." Obi-wan retorted, his anger growing brighter.
"What, you think you're so fucking hard to see through? I'll tell you what, Kenobi. You want to give penance? Do it where it really counts." Vos said, his eyes searing into Obi-wan's, making him feel uncomfortably raw and transparent.
"Reciting platitudes doesn't make you sound like you know a damn thing about what you're talking about, so don't even start." Obi-wan said, crimson spittle flying from his mouth. His body hung heavy from the binders, making his ribs ache, and he was tiring of conversation rather quickly.
"All I know is day after day, good men die in battle because cowards like you refuse to stand up and fight." Vos declared. "We've lost too many Jedi to count. And you want to run around down here, saving a handful of people to try and save your conscience. Meanwhile the galaxy's engulfed in all out war. People risk their lives every day. What are you risking?"
"Some things are more important than moral dogma and failed diplomacy." Obi-wan grumbled under his breath.
"Why did you take the Barash anyways? What could you possibly be attoning for?" Vos said, crossing his arms with disapproval. "It's a bunch of bantha dung if you ask me. Cowardice."
Obi-wan fell silent with a deeply carved scowl and downcast eyes. He wasn't about to answer that question, and Vos knew better than to ask it. No one was owed an explanation when someone took the Barash. It was the ultimate disrespect to even ask.
"What would Qui-gon think of you now?" Vos said in a disheartened voice.
Now, he had gone too far.
Obi-wan felt a raging fire flash inside of him in the breadth of a second. His eyes flew up and captured Vos's in a heated stare. "Don't you even dare say his name." Obi-wan growled. "You were there on Tatooine when we sent word for reinforcement. He might still be alive if you had bothered to help."
"I was undercover, you know that. I had no way to know what a dire situation it was." Quinlan said defensively.
"And Qui-gon is still dead all the same." Obi-wan snarled.
"And he would have wanted you to stay and train Anakin. Wasn't that his dying wish? You betrayed that. And for what?" Vos said, flaying his soul bare with a string of words that hurt more than he could possibly know. As a flash of haunting memories ran through his mind, Obi-wan returned the purposefully cruel remark with silence.
His broken promise wasn't something that had slipped his mind. He lived with that guilt every day, along with all of his other failings that he knew his late Master would be endlessly ashamed of him for. Still, even that didn't compare to the weight of his own self-cast damnation that he trudged through every waking moment. He wanted nothing more than to escape it, but knew he didn't deserve such mercies.
"You know Obi-wan, you were the closest thing I had to a brother growing up. I looked up to you." Vos said with a touch of remorse. "A lot of people did."
"Why did you have me brought here, anyway?" Obi-wan demanded. He was well past being scolded and reprimanded. He wasn't sure how much worse his day could possibly get, but he didn't want to test it to find out.
"Your men called me a Jedi which means only so much can be censored from your report to the council, eventually."
"You've been hot on the cartel's radar after taking out so many members. I'm not really in charge here. If I didn't make it look like I'm giving my all, they would start to ask questions. My cover would be compromised." Vos said.
"You seem to be in charge, enough." Obi-wan grumbled.
"Yeah, in this district I am. But this is a big operation. A lot bigger than one corner of the Coruscanti underworld." Vos replied.
"Why did they call me a Jedi?"
"It's just a rumor. I haven't reciprocated that one. But really, it's obvious." Vos sighed.
"How so?"
"A random vigilante rescuing poor souls in distress, never stealing or mugging anyone? Not to mention your acrobatics that borderline the supernatural by human standards. You haven't been blending in too well." Vos said with an exhausted sigh.
"I suppose." Obi-wan said, reluctant to agree. If Dex figured it out in a matter of weeks, perhaps there was truth to it. He didn't have to like it for it to be true.
"I plan on ending that rumor now. If I tell people you're not a Jedi, then you're not." Vos said. "But if I catch you running around playing superhero again, I will tell the council."
"So you're letting me go then?" Obi-wan said in a failed attempt at enthusiasm. "I was just starting to feel at home."
"I'm going to give you the opportunity to get out of here. You'll know it when you see it." Vos said, choosing to ignore the quippish remark. "And after you get away without using any 'mystical Jedi tricks', everyone will see that you're no Jedi. Just a huge pain in the ass."
"I see." Obi-wan said cynically.
"You're lucky I'm helping you at all." Vos said irritably.
"Please forgive my lack of enthusiasm." Obi-wan said curtly. "I've had better days."
"Haven't we all." Vos returned. "We might disagree on a lot Kenobi, but I meant what I said. We need you in the war. Regardless of what pushed you to take the Barash. I promise, you'll get your chance to pay your debts on the battlefront." Quinlan said earnestly.
"Duly noted." Obi-wan replied with the same charming lack of eagerness before he spit out another wad of bright red blood. "Now if you don't mind, let's get on with it already. I'd hate to hold you up more than I already have."