Into the Gloaming

Rating: T+
Summary: In the growing darkness Obi-Wan Kenobi and Qui-Gon Jinn have to deal with a political assassination.
Disclaimer: All cannon characters are owned by the Great Flanneled One, and now Disney. All others are mine. I make no money off this.
Note: This is a sequel to The Winding Path
Timeline: 38 BBY

Speech: " "
Training Bond communications: /
Internal thoughts: italics

Chapter Four

Stepping out of the lift, Obi-Wan paused so he could do a quick scan of the lobby. Even though it was empty at this time of the evening, which was rather unusual, he could still sense the exited thoughts coming from what was obviously the media. The first thought that came to mind was for him to pull his hood over his head and cowl within the dark brown material of his cloak so that he would not be recognized. Being a citizen of Coruscant he had every right, but at the same time he knew he needed to learn how to deal with the media. He had no doubt that the information was already procured and that they knew that Eira was a daughter of a leader from a non Republic world. It was also known that he had escorted her here from the gala. Then again, it wasn't that unusual for Jedi to escort different members of the senate or any other high ranking government official.

Steeling himself for what he thought was to come, he moved across the lobby and to the entrance. He was almost to the door when the media realized who he was.

"Jedi," one yelled, which caught everyone's attention. They quickly swarmed around Obi-Wan shoving recording devices in his face while others either took videos or still holos while throwing questions at him. For a moment he felt overwhelmed and wanted to shove everyone back, but he didn't.

"Can you tell us what happened at the Opera House?"

"How is the witness?"

"Do you know what will—,"

Obi-Wan took a deep breath while raising a hand for silence. Only when ones before him calmed down did he speak, "I have no comments at this time. If you have any questions, please direct them either to the appropriate authorities, or the Jedi High Council." He lowered his hand first thought to push through the group, but decided against it. He backed away and then went around the group, leaving them to shout more questions while following him. For a moment he though about using the Force to get himself away from the group, but the area was too confining, and he would only hurt himself. Plus it would make him look rather ignorant.

Stepping out onto the sidewalk, Obi-Wan quickened his pace when he saw a public transit bus. Casting his senses out he reached back to see if he was followed. Half were trying to keep up with him, while the others remained at the high end residential building. As soon as he felt that he wasn't being followed, he made his way back to the Temple.

It wasn't all that late when he stepped inside the apartment. As usual, he saw Qui-Gon seated on his meditation pillow in the corner.

"I'm surprised you didn't stay," the older Jedi's voice was soft.

"Because it's not safe. The media was already in the lobby by the time I left. They managed to corner me before I got out of there."

Qui-Gon raised an eyebrow.

Obi-Wan pulled off his cloak and dropped it on a chair then went over to his own meditation cushion. Lowering himself down, he sighed and rubbed his face. "Don't worry, master. I gave our stock answer about the council. I don't think that went over well."

"No, I don't suppose that would." Qui-Gon stood and then went over to the couch to sit down. Picking up the remote he turned on the vid to one of the local news channel. Even with it muted it was obvious that the reporter was standing in front of the Opera House. At the bottom was a text crawl giving the latest information.

Obi-Wan eventually followed him over and joined him.

"What bothers me is that I didn't feel or sense anything." Qui-Gon frowned as he turned to vid off.

"Eira did."

Qui-Gon actually stiffened, then turned to look at Obi-Wan. "Really?"

"She thought something felt off, especially with some of the politicians. I thought it was normal, but now I'm not so sure."

"Did she tell…no don't answer that." Qui-Gon pursed his lips, "I feel it's best you tell everything you know to the authorities."

"She told me that before the assassination, master. She wasn't sure who it was that gave her the off feelings. All she wanted was to be as far away as possible."

"And she told you this, Padawan?"

"In so many words."

For a moment Qui-Gon paused before handing over one of the comms. "She needs to tell the authorities about this."

Obi-Wan looked at the offered comm before finally taking the circular disc. For a moment he sat there with the small device before putting in Eira's personal code. Eventually her image appeared above the base. Thankfully she had a robe wrapped around her. "Obi-Wan?"

"Yes, it's me." He glanced over to Qui-Gon then back to Eira's bluish image. "Listen, when you speak to security tomorrow it might be best if you tell them what you told me."

"Before the…," she shuddered, and squeezed her eyes shut.

With the two of them a good distance apart, even though it didn't feel like it, Obi-Wan still reached out to her through their bond and sent waves of comfort, and love. It was difficult seeing someone killed before you if that had never happened before. Even though he didn't say it outright to her, he tried to show her how he felt in other ways. The next time they were alone he would tell her. "Yes, before that." It was difficult to tell if what he did worked through a holocall, but he could sense her subtle change.

Using the back of her hand, she wiped her eyes. "Thank you."

Any time, dear.

She looked over to the side then back to him, "Papa is calling. I really need to take this. I should have talked to him as soon as you left, but I didn't."

"I might see you tomorrow," just as he was about to conclude the call something else came to mind, "And I would think security will need to know that we know each other."

"I will." She reached over out of the camera range and the image winked out.

With a sigh, Obi-Wan let his head rest against the top of the backrest as he closed his eyes.

"Considering that she's led a sheltered life before our arrival, she's taking it better than I expected."

Cracking one eye open, Obi-Wan turned to look at Qui-Gon. "Yes and no. I've heard that some actually vomit after seeing something as traumatic as a death. I wouldn't be surprised if she did after I left."

"If she didn't then she is actually stronger than an average human."

"I don't know. Maybe it's because Vasda is dying. The people that live there have to be stronger."

Obi-Wan stepped through the doors of Coruscant Security Headquarters and looked around the large foyer. Eira was somewhere inside, and hopefully telling security everything she remembered. Was it only yesterday when the Vice Chancellor was killed? With the position now open, the large governing body needed to elect someone else to fill it. Even with the massive, and bloated bureaucracy that was the Republic government, things could move fast on that rare occasion, and this was one of those times. Now the Judiciary and courts? That was something entirely different. Qui-Gon would be coming later, though at this point he didn't know when.

Empty benches were in various places up against the walls. Picking one by random, he sat down and waited. Closing his eyes, he let his mind drift into a light meditation. At this point he had no idea how long he would be there.

"Thank you for coming, your Highness."

Cracking one eye open, Obi-Wan looked around to see what was going on. Eira had emerged from a doorway across the foyer from him. She was speaking with at least a humanoid and who he thought was the lead investigator. "You will do what you can?"

"Yes," the officer answered. "The Chancellor wants to make sure that the ones who were responsible will be brought to justice."

Because of where he sat, Eira had to walk past him. As she approached, she smiled and nodded.

"Jedi?"

Obi-Wan turned to see who had spoken. It was the same man that Eira spoke with. "Yes?"

He pulled out a datareader and tapped the screen. "You are Padawan Obi-Wan Kenobi?"

"Yes." Obi-Wan reached for one of the pockets connected with his belt so he could pull out his formally issued ID. Standing, he handed it over.

As soon as the obvious investigator was convinced that Obi-Wan was who he said he was, he handed it back. "If you could follow me, please? I would like to ask you a few questions on yesterdays unfortunate events."

After putting his ID back where it belonged, Obi-Wan nodded while standing up. Following him through the door he found they were in a larger room that had offices separated by movable walls. Both sentient and driods were everywhere. They eventually went through a door and into a space that turned out to be just an office. The humanoid sat down and indicated the chair on opposite side of the desk. "Padawan Kenobi, I want to thank you for coming. I know all you Jedi are very busy."

"Not too busy to come down and give some much needed answers."

The nameplate on the desk showed Jhon Marhon, and along with that were datareaders, flimsi, and different controllers and recording devices. After turning on the recorder, he messed with another controller on the desk. After a moment Obi-Wan felt his ability to reach out to the Force diminished. His brow furrowed, then raised an eyebrow.

"Forgive me, Jedi, but you do know that this is done to keep me from being manipulated." Marhon paused, "And at the trial, if you are called to testify, the same thing will happen."

"I understand," Obi-Wan nodded. He wasn't that comfortable with it, but knew that it was needed.

"Now," Jhon pulled out a flimsi and set it on the desk and pointed to a line.

Obi-Wan leaned over and read his name, then looked back to the inspector.

"The is the guest list, and it has your name on it. Is there any reason why that would be so for a political gathering of this nature?"

Leaning back, and not wanting to show how uncomfortable he was getting without the Force, he answered with a smile, "I was part of the Jedi security team."

"What level are you at now?" Jhon then turned his attention to the recording device. After messing with it for a moment he turned to look back to Obi-Wan.

The question caught him off guard for a moment. "If you're thinking of senior level," at Marhon's nod Obi-Wan continued, "Not yet. There was something that happened less than a year ago that set me back."

"Can you tell me what happened?" Jhon hesitated, "I need to know this, along with the prosecution, just in case it's brought up during the trial."

"I was electrocuted, and was almost killed," Obi-Wan shrugged. Thinking it would be a good lead-in he continued, "And that happened less than two months after I was poisoned and left for dead."

"Which is when you met the Princess?"

"Yes. She did tell you that Vasda's not a part of the Republic?"

Instead of answering, Marhon nodded.

"When poisoned, I had to use her energy to send a message, which created a Force bond between us."

"So you've kept in contact with her?" Jhon reached for a clean flimsi and something to write with. For a few minutes he wrote down several things before looking up.

"Yes, when there's a Force bond it happens anyway."

Putting the pen down, Jhon folded his hands on the flimsi, effectively blocking out what he wrote. "So, did you know the Princess was invited to the gala?"

Obi-Wan shook his head. "Not until I saw her there."

"Can you tell me what happened Padawan Kenobi?" Jhon glanced over to the recorder to see if it was still working.

"Because of the Force bond we tried to keep our communications down to only what was necessary. We did speak for a little bit when I first saw her. Eira…the princess…told me that it felt like something was wrong. The odd part was that neither I nor my Master sensed any malicious intent at the gala, well nothing more than what's normal with politicians." Obi-Wan gave him a depreciating smile.

"And?"

"I felt a sharp jolt that I quickly realized was panic from her. That must have happened right after the Vice Chancellor was killed. Surprisingly, I was near the area and was the first to reach the room. At the far end was an individual dressed as a security guard holding a blaster. I put him in a Force hold while making sure that Eira was out of the way. I wasn't sure if anyone else was involved at that point, or if she was the intended target."

"So there was nothing out of the ordinary before the assassination?"

"No." Obi-Wan drummed his fingers on his leg.

"The report states that you escorted the princess back to her apartment."

"Yes, I did. Master Jinn instructed me that it would be in the best interest of everyone involved to make sure she made it safely to her home." Obi-Wan paused for a moment, "The media had already arrived by the time I left."

Marhon froze. "You didn't tell them anything?"

"Definitely not. I only gave them our generic statement about the High Council and retreated as quickly as possible from there."

Leaning back, Jhon tapped his pen on the desk. "It sounds as if you don't like dealing with the media."

"It's not that. I haven't had a lot of dealings with the press. Plus, they broadcast their emotions and it can get overwhelming for a Force sensitive individual."

"But you have shields. I would think that would make it not much of an issue."

"Normally it wouldn't, but the electrocution changed things. It's only recently that I have fully recovered, but at the same time my shielding isn't what it was before the accident."

Propping an elbow on his hand, Jhon tapped his face with his free hand, while he raised an eyebrow.

"It didn't hinder my ability to keep my attention open to what might or might not happen," Obi-Wan finished.

Turning his attention back to the flimsi, Marhon wrote for a few minutes before looking back up. "Is there anything else you remember, Padawan?"

This time Obi-Wan closed his eyes and searched through his memories for anything more he could say. "No, sir."

Setting the pen down, Marhon reached for the recording device and turned it off. "Padawan Kenobi, I thank you for coming in and telling me what you know."

Standing up Obi-Wan bowed in respect. "Master Jinn will be coming by later to give you what he remembers."

Marhon stood up and placed his hands on the desk. "Padawan Kenobi, before you leave, who is Master Jinn to you?"

Just as Obi-Wan reached the door, he turned to look back to Marhon, "I am his Padawan." With another nod, Obi-Wan left the office and headed back to the foyer and outside the building itself. With the Temple being about a quarter of the planet away would take some time to get there.

/Obi-Wan./

Obi-Wan stopped and looked around, searching for the owner of the voice. It took a moment for him to realize that he was the only one that heard it. It was only recent that he had begun getting confused on either hearing voices through his ears, or in his head. He looked around again, this time for Qui-Gon. He found the older Jedi standing just outside Security Headquarters. Weaving through the growing crowd, he soon reached him. "Master, I thought you were going to come by later. What's the rush?"

"There isn't any. I only wished to do this sooner rather than later." The doors slid open allowing them entrance into the building.

"I'll wait here." Obi-Wan moved back over to the bench he had used when he first arrived and sat down.

"I shouldn't be too long." Qui-Gon disappeared into the offices Obi-Wan had recently vacated. Just before the door closed he he could hear the inspector introduce himself to Qui-Gon. Now alone once more, he leaned back and let his head rest against the wall and closed his eyes. Once again he slid into a light meditative state. A short time later he opened his eyes and rubbed his face. Truth be told, he was rather bored. A gentle prod at the training bond let him know that Qui-Gon was still in deep conversation with the inspector. Putting that to the side, he accessed the bond with Eira. It was still quiet, which wasn't that surprising.

Are you all right, he tried to be careful.

He felt a slight jump and then her soft voice, I think so.

I wish I could have stayed the night. It had been difficult to leave her at that point.

I'm glad you didn't. I couldn't hold anything down after you left. My stomach was more settled today.

Witnessing death can do that. He was about to send something else when the door to the offices opened and Qui-Gon appeared once again. I have to go, dear. Standing up, Obi-Wan moved across the foyer so he could join Qui-Gon on their trip back to the Temple.

TBC….