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The persistent chime of the comm. unit finally roused Mace Windu from his first real night's sleep in several days. Groaning, the Council Member lifted his head from his pillow and shot a glare at the offending unit. When it simply continued to chime the notice of an incoming call, Master Windu finally surrendered and rose to his feet. Stepping around the loose blankets on his floor, he reached the wall unit without incident.

"Windu here," he stated, as he flicked on the unit. He worked to make his voice sound as clear and coherent as possible, since he did not want his caller to know that they had awakened him.

"Mace, it's Qui-Gon," the distraught voice of the other Master came over the line as the visual image flickered before stabilizing to reveal the weary features of Mace's oldest friend. "Something's happened."

"Obi-Wan?" Master Windu asked, no longer having to fake the alert tone of his voice. The sight of the usually unflappable Master Jinn being so flustered was more than enough to alarm and fully awaken him.

"He's not here, and I can't contact him through the bond. I think he has shields up and is outside of the Temple," Qui-Gon explained, running a hand through his loose hair.

"You can't break through his shielding?" Mace questioned, already considering just where the Padawan could have wandered off to if he was no longer in the Temple.

"No, the distance between us is preventing me from getting through," the older Master admitted. "Is there anyway you can track which exit he might have left from and when? If we can get that much information, I might be able to at least have an idea of where to look for him."

"I'll contact the front desk immediately, and notify them that you and I will be arriving there shortly," the Councilor replied. "I am also going to contact Master Gallia, she is probably the best we have at tracking those who don't want to be found."

Flinching at the meaning underlying Mace's words, Qui-Gon could only nod as he cut the connection.

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

I guess I knew I was in danger. I knew that the lower levels were not a good place to be and I knew that there was a reason that even the most seasoned of Knights didn't want to venture down there, but it just didn't occur to me that there was any problem with me being in harm's way. It wasn't like I was really even worth hurting. I felt like a ghost, totally ignored and totally alone.

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

When Qui-Gon reached the front desk, he was surprised to see Adi Gallia already there and discussing the situation with the Twi'lek at the desk. The Council member was impeccably dressed and styled as usual, giving no indication of it being the middle of the night.

"Master Jinn," Adi greeted as she felt the distraught Master's arrival. "It appears that Obi-Wan may have left through one of the side exits a few hours ago. He had his robe and boots on, but it appears that he was wearing only light pants and a tunic."

"Obi-Wan usually sleeps in an outfit similar to that," Qui-Gon supplied, unexplainably shaken at the image of his young Padawan wandering the streets of Coruscant in his sleep clothes.

"The outside video feeds didn't pick up anything that would indicate where he might have gone," Adi continued. "Is there any place you can think of that he would have gone to?"

"There is no where that he would go in sleep clothes," he growled, startling the Padawan at the desk with the vehemence of his tone. "I have no idea what would have possessed him to go out wandering like this."

"Well, once we find him, we can determine that too," Master Windu interjected as he arrived and moved to view the images the desk-duty Padawan had recorded. Studying the slightly blurred image, Mace continued. "I suggest we split up and begin searching the levels surrounding the side exit. He probably hasn't gone far."

Nodding their agreement, Qui-Gon and Adi quickly determined which areas each would search before the three Masters headed out into the dark Coruscanti night to find the lost Padawan.

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

As the cool night air whistled around him, Obi-Wan began to shiver. His robe kept him from being truly cold, but the lack of heat on the lower levels was barely tolerable. Rising up from his dark thoughts at the sudden chill, the young Padawan quickly realized just how dangerous of a situation he had wandered into.

"You're a long way from home little Jedi," a voice hissed from the shadowy recesses of the alley before him.

"What? No Master to protect you little one?" another voice cackled, joining in on the first one's fun.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to intrude," Obi-Wan apologized, as he began to back away from the menacing voices.

"It's too late to be sorry," the first voice stated, as a figure detached itself from the dark shadows and moved to stand in front of the young Jedi. "You're in our home, Jedi and we don't like your kind around here."

Taking in the appearance of the large Bothan, Obi-Wan reached immediately for his lightsaber. The Force was screaming a warning to him, but even without its presence, he would have known that the man was dangerous. As his hand reached inside his robe, grasping only empty air, the young Padawan truly began to feel fear.