Note: Thanks for the reviews! PhoenixQueen ( Good, I'm glad you liked Jesi's little switch there. I wasn't quite sure what I was going to do for her but I guess I did alright. I think I'm going to try and show Jesi more…uh..what's the word…human, lately. I'm going to spread out an entire reason behind that as well. Man, this is going to be a long fic. Heheh. Enjoy! Oh, and don't poke anyone's eye out with that Royal purple plastic saber. ;) ) Omega ( Lol. I know, I'm evil!!! Heh. Naw, I'm not that bad am I?? Hmm, maybe I am cause I totally lead you guys one way and this thing goes the other way *Grins evilly* Sorry, I couldn't help myself. *Waves a plastic saber in front of you* No sabey?? Ok. J  Thank ye!)

OOOO! *Hint to the chapter.* Big bad evil boss guy is REVEALED!!!! Who is it? No one knows yet there's going to be another reason behind all of that little escapaid too. This is Really going to be a long fic. Heheh.…READ! Lol. Review too! Happy reading. Oh, and Obi gets a little p.o.ed in here. Kinda the silent dangerous kind of p.o.ed J I'm so mean to those boys. *Shrugs and smiles innocently*  Oh, and Jesi gets really pissed too. She's not a happy camper lately is she? ;) ENJOY! And review!

Ch. 8 Treading Dark Waters

Windu's eyes swept over the hallway and looked to the door far from it. Young Siri stood in it's frame watching him.

"Siri, what are you doing up here? You should be down with the others in the central building."

"My Master asked me to call apon you, you're com is disfunctional." Siri said eyeing him in the way that he had asked her, so surprised.

Mace grasped his com and exaimed it. "Is there a reason Master Gallia is looking for me?"

"Yes Master, it's healer Mckiri Anatosis. She was found to be involved in all of this."

"Master Anatosis?" Mace questioned.

Siri nodded.

"Very well." Mace said moving towards the girl as she awaited him. Windu glanced behind them as they left the area, his thoughts holding him back.

~~~~~~~~~

"What do you mean we Master?" Obi-Wan asked with a frown.

Jinn shifted in his chair. "I suppose I should start from the beginning." He said quietly. "You're right in saying that I, as well as many others, should have recognized who Grifth was right off, but we didn't because he under went physical surgery. You're also correct that he had to have had a Master…" Qui-Gon trailed off. The apprentice eyed him waiting.

"His Master was Master Windu."

"Master Mace?" Obi-Wan asked utterly shocked. "But I thought he's only had two apprentices and one was killed on mission…" Obi-Wan now trailed off realizing what had happened so long ago.

Qui-Gon remained silent for a while until Obi-wan asked what he thought he was ready for.

"So how did you find out who he really was??....And who is he really?"

The Master looked at Obi-wan regretfully. "We discovered who he was shortly after we came back nearly four months ago."

Obi-Wan's jaw nearly dropped.

"We found out when the Council ordered a complete trace on him. His DNA showed up as a person we once knew so well. His real name is Trace Regmainsh."

Obi-Wan was quiet for a bit, watching the heart monitor again. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"We thought he had died on Ginveri. There was no need to tell you Obi-Wan, at least that's what we thought." Qui-Gon said blainly.

Obi-Wan clenched his jaw at his Master's casualness. Had Obi-Wan kept such a thing from him…it would be servely taken into perspective. Of course, Obi-wan was just a pupil, the pupil needed no respect in a Master/Padawanship.

"And Jesi? Did you at least tell her who was trying to kill her?" Obi-Wan asked dryly looking at his hands.

"No..Jesi doesn't know who Grifth really is, just that he was a Jedi." Qui-Gon said quietly, a hint of regret in his voice.

"I'm truly sorry Padawan, we felt no need to tell you or Jesi about him….we thought he was dead. Besides what could you have done if you had known?"

"I could have known I'm not kept in the dark." Obi-Wan muttered.

"Pardon?" Qui-Gon asked not hearing him well enough.

"Nothing Master. When are you going to tell Jesi?" He asked sitting back in his chair.

Qui-Gon looked at him a long while. "The Council has ordered for her not to know."

"What? Why?" Obi-Wan blurted.

Before Qui-Gon could answer Jesi stepped inside from the open door…and did not look happy.

"Jesi-" Obi-Wan started.

"How long have you been out there?" Qui-Gon asked, his stomach turning.

"Long enough." She murmured. "Nice to know I'm kept in the loop on who's going to kill me, or my children." She added icily.

Obi-Wan could say nothing in the defense…he wasn't apart of the defensive this time. He was either an offensive, or a simple spectator.

"That's not what is going to happen. You don't understand why we didn't tell you." Qui-Gon said calmly.

"Explain it to me then." She asked crossing her arms. "Because, you're right, I sure as hell don't understand."

Qui-Gon started…but nothing came out. He sighed looking at her darkened eyes.

"Trust is such a foul thing." Jesi said coldly. She glanced at Obi-Wan then turned leaving the room.

"Where are you going?" Qui-Gon asked standing and moving to the door.

Jesi didn't answer, just kept walking down the darkened corridor. Jinn looked back at Obi-Wan who had turned his chair back closer to Bant's bedside, his elbows up on the bed and his head braced against his interwoven fingers. Qui-Gon's regret about the matter further grew as Obi-Wan slid down his shields. He knew this was a bad idea from the start….

~~~~~~~~~

"What is it you have to say for your actions?" Adi asked Mckiri as coolly as she could.

"I say, I'm much smarter than you. Don't you get it? I'm on the winning side, you're on the losing.."

"That's not how I see it. I see it as that you are in a cell being questioned as your fate is decided amoung a council you don't respect. I see it as I am a Jedi and you are now a mere lair and traitor." Adi replied idolly turning a pen on it's tip on the table as Mace entered the room.

"Well, that makes you about as blind as that Master Tahl was." Mckiri shot back.

Adi's eyes slid back to her's icily but Mckiri did not waver.

"Were you hired?" Mace asked feeling the tension in the room grow.

Mckiri looked at him and smiled tauntingly.

"Who hired you?"

"Who says I was hired? I didn't answer the question. Poor interogation skills Master Windu." Mckiri said happily.

"Then answer this, why? Why did you do it?" Mace asked glaring at her.

"Because….a war is coming and I wanted to live through it." Mckiri hissed with a smile.

Mace and Adi looked at eachother briefly.

************

The hatch slowly, painfully slow, opened and the trickle of water seeped through it as Billy, as well as 7 of his most trusted men and women, stood in the lower levels of the Temple itself. They weren't as low as the water supply system but they were in the systems that cleansed the lakes and falls of the Jedi temple. The water tunnels, not system.

"Check your breathers again." Billy whispered.

The group did so. Each one nodding when he looked at them. Finally he jumped the small bit into the hatch leading into the tunnels and splashing as mutely as he could into the waters. The others followed in turn. Once everyone was inside the group fanned over the tunnel as the water began to become deeper as they moved more inside the Temple. Finally they had to just dive under and use small propellers to move about the tunnels.

After following this grid map on the propellor Billy led the group into a much larger tunnel and then went deeper into the water finding the small caged down entrance. He motioned for the proper people to come forward and those did so flaring out lasers to cut the metal. When the hole was large enough each group member entered in turn. Lastly was Billy.

Cautiously Billy was the first to surface. He brought his rifle up in a ready position as he scanned over the area with his eyes. Half way around his eyes settled on a stony looking Jesi. She eyed him.

"I hope you brought more people than just you." She said, amused.

Seven other people then surfaced, in the cautious and slow fashion Billy had.

"That'll do." Jesi said quietly. "Get out of the water." She said moving towards a more level piece of land to help them out.

"Where are the Jedi?" Billy asked following her in the water.

"Slight change in plans." She said offering him a hand. He hesitated then grasped it rising from the water.

~~~~~~~~~~

"Where is she now?" Mace asked looking at Qui-Gon.

"I don't know." He replied shaking his head. "She won't come running back I'll tell you that much. She doesn't trust easily."

"Does Obi-Wan still have her trust?" Windu asked.

"Yes, he's done nothing to her as you and I have." Qui-Gon said pointedly. He had objected from the first moment the idea was brought up to leave Jesi and Obi-Wan out of knowledge. He was over ruled however and this was one of the times he couldn't go against the Council's wishes.

"We could use that." Mace said seemingly to himself.

"We're not using anything." Qui-Gon said firmly. "Obi-Wan's friendship with her will not be toyed with, I assure you."

"Just to-"

"No Mace. I wouldn't even have to tell him not to listen to you because he wouldn't. I believe he's already brewing at us over this matter."

Mace looked at Qui-Gon for a moment. "You're right. How are we supposed to get her to trust us again then?"

"We don't. We wait for her to decide. To her, trust is only there to be broken, and that's exactly what we did."

Mace nodded looking back into the room in which Anatosis was in.

"…I don't understand how we could not have sensed this. Trace is powerful…but powerful enough to block out the entire Temple?" He said with a frown. "He can't be working alone."

"But who is it that's helping him then? It has to be more than just two people to block out even Master Yoda on a plan such as this."

The two looked at eachother but neither had an explanation.

*****************

"Are you sure this is such a good idea?" One of the team members asked.

"Yeah, I'm sure Jedi don't like to have secrets running around this place." Another said.

"It's the only choice we have. And they made it for us I assure you." Jesi told them half sitting on a huge boulder.

"How will they not see us?" A female asked.

"All Jedi are in the central building and a few are scattered from the Healer's wing. We can avoid them." Jesi replied.

"But won't they sense us?"

"They're senses are impared for one reason or another. Force knows what it is and  I don't like it, but we can use it to our advantage. We can only work within ourselves now. If you encounter a Jedi, don't fight them, don't question them, allow them to take you. You'll be in good hands and you'll be out in no time." Jesi added.

The group was silent, including Billy.

"I know I'm asking a lot, and I'm not guaranteeing that you're actually going to be paid a whole heck of a lot for this so if you choose to, you can turn around right here and I will think no less of you. Jedi are powerful enemies, but one has my children….and I'm not about to let him get away with them without a fight."

Billy glanced at the group as they looked at eachother.

"Hey, we've been off field opps for nearly a year, I know I'm ready to kick some ass again." A man said willingly. The group chuckled and everyone agreed.

Jesi smiled at Billy who smiled back.

She pulled a map display from her belt.

"We have to find them first, so this is what we're going to do…" She clicked on the map and the digital display rotated for them as a red line drew itself through it.

~~~~~~~~~

"My friend, we have a couple of surprises for you." Grifth said with a grin as the two stepped out of the water and into a clearance shaft.

"I should hope so after all this waiting." The husky voice said behind the black cloak that was back facing them.

"Had a few complications." Grifth replied. "But the prizes are plenty worth it." He added shifting the little girl in his arms.

The Dark One turned and looked at the two. The follower offered the young boy to him and he gently grasped the infant.

"Yes…I can feel their power." He said smiling down at the boy then looking to the girl.

"And the third?"

"We were unable to retrieve him, but two out of three ain't bad."

"Not bad at all." The black cloak said looking back to the boy.

"I think our Masters are a bit slower in their old age. But Force it felt good to finally use the Force on that Jesiana. I've been wanting to scare the shit out her for 8 months."

"Jesiana is the least of our problems. She'll be dead soon, and we'll be far away from here."

"I know, but still, I would have liked to use it back on Ginveri, they wouldn't have excaped if you'd let me."

"If I had let you they would have found out who and what you were, and those Crept Hounds would have homed in on you like a rat." The dark said bored.

Grifth shrugged.

"I still can't wait until our Masters finally see us face to face." He said arrogantly.

"Yes. Master Windu should be very surprised to see you."

"As will your own." Grifth sneered.

"Qui-Gon Jinn won't even realize what happened to his life before I'm gone." Xanatos said cruelly.

Grifth chuckled, though he wasn't really sure what Xanatos had planned for his former Master. It had been many years since the two had faced off, and Qui-Gon believed Xanatos dead from Telos on.

"Killing someone isn't always by making their heart stop beating. It's when you make it stop feeling that hurts them the most." Xanatos said carefully running a deathly white finger along the infant boy's cheek. A cold smile hinted in his ghostly features. How satisfying this would be.

Tbc….

Can we say, TWIST? Heheheheh, I have an entire story to unravel just from that last scene. Did I catch anyone off guard with it? Probably not Cleo Shen but, I tried lol.

Review peeps! Must I start over again with cherries? ;) I'll update ASAP.

Till then,

Elli