"HOW COULD YOU?"

For the first time in weeks, Obi-Wan could feel his Padawan's emotions – and he wasn't entirely sure he wanted to. Anger, hatred, and desperation rolled off Anakin in waves, and Obi-Wan tried to reconcile the conversation and void of emotion that had just occurred with what he was seeing now.

Anakin, standing in his doorway, quivering with rage. "How could you?" he repeated, his voice breaking in his anger. "You had no right. NO RIGHT!" Anakin's hand shot out, and Obi-Wan found he had to duck to avoid a Force-flung lamp.

He sprang to his feet, his mind already in full defensive mode. He had never seen Anakin acting like this, and behind his Force-aided calm, Obi-Wan was terrified. "Anakin! Calm yourself!" he demanded, deciding to focus on getting Anakin to stop hurling things at him and then deal with the cause.

Anakin's eyes flashed, and Obi-Wan deflected a dish hurtling from the kitchen. "That's my room! My stuff! How could you take it? Did you think I wouldn't notice?" He was shouting now, tears welling in his eyes, hands clenched at his sides.

Obi-Wan held up his hands and shook his head. He wanted so much to believe he didn't know what Anakin was talking about, but now he knew. There was no other answer, really. How could he not have seen it? "I didn't take anything from you, Anakin," he replied, keeping his voice calm and even, such a far cry from the despair he felt.

"Do you think I'm stupid?" Anakin demanded, voice still raised. "You honestly think I believe you?" He moved in a blur, somehow making it around Obi-Wan and to the door before Obi-Wan could muster an appropriate response.

"Anakin!"

The door slammed open and shut in a whirlwind of black cloak and pure, unadulterated anger. Obi-Wan yanked the door open and watched his Padawan running down the hallway. "Anakin!"

And here he was again, watching Anakin running away from him.

--

Anakin ran without destination, without caution, without caring where he was going or how he would get there. He just had to get away. How could Obi-Wan simply stand there while Anakin hurled hate and furniture at him and still deny having betrayed Anakin on any level?

Unsurprisingly, Anakin found himself in the lower levels, standing in the doorway of the seedy bar this had all started in. It didn't matter, he realized. Now he had no choice but to lose himself down here. Obi-Wan was no doubt telling the Council about what had transpired, and Anakin knew he would never be allowed back.

What kind of Jedi used drugs to achieve enlightenment?

The same kind of Jedi, Anakin recognized, that needed the Zone of Self-Containment to feel human. Feeling physically numb and sick, Anakin slipped into the shadows.

--

This was the last place Obi-Wan had hoped to find his apprentice. He wasn't sure where he had expected Anakin to go, but he hadn't wanted his suspicions confirmed like this. He hadn't wanted to actually see the drug, hadn't wanted to see Anakin bent over a table, inhaling a line of blue powder. If he hadn't seen that, if he wasn't watching it happen, he would have been able to fool himself. He would have been able to convince himself that Anakin's outburst had simply been him cracking under the pressure of trying to excel in everything at once. Not this. Not something Obi-Wan should have sensed so long ago.

What kind of master was he, that he couldn't even sense such a radical problem in his apprentice?

He stayed in the shadows and watched as Anakin ingested more of the drug, and much more of a purple drink Obi-Wan didn't recognize. No, this wasn't right. He shouldn't just stand and watch his apprentice – his friend – destroy himself like this – because that was what it seemed like Anakin's goal was.

But would marching over there and dragging Anakin out by his braid really help matters?

Certainly, it would keep Anakin from killing himself right before Obi-Wan's eyes. So it would be an immediate solution, but then what? What was he going to do when he got Anakin back to the Temple? He didn't know if he could stand any more of Anakin raging against him – it pained him too much, made him all too aware of his failings.

He tensed as Anakin raised his head and looked around the dark barroom. He was, for a brief moment, certain that Anakin could sense his presence, but the young man simply turned his attention back to the Twi'lek he was sharing a booth with.

Obi-Wan felt ill as the Twi'lek ran a long fingernail down Anakin's cheek, gently, tenderly. Anakin turned away from the contact, but the other being held out what Obi-Wan could only assume was a vial of the drug he'd been watching Anakin taking. Anakin reached for it, but the Twi'lek held it out of Anakin's reach, and once more caressed his face.

Like a kick to the gut, Obi-Wan realized what he was seeing. He found himself nearly doubled over in agony as he watched his apprentice begin to respond to the touches, nuzzling against the Twi'lek's hand. No, no he would not watch this. Bad enough he had stood idly by while Anakin got himself into such a state that this… this… seemed like a good idea, but he would not watch while Anakin turned himself into nothing more than a common whore.

Pulling his lightsaber off his belt but keeping it hidden in his cloak, Obi-Wan strode purposely over to the table. "Get up," he commanded Anakin, pinning the Twi'lek to his seat with the Force.

Anakin swiveled his head towards Obi-Wan. Realizing who it was giving the order, he narrowed his bloodshot eyes and turned back to his table mate. "Don't mind him," he informed the Twi'lek, and Obi-Wan's heart wrenched at the sound of Anakin's voice. "Where were we?"

But Obi-Wan maintained his Force-grip on the Twi'lek, and grabbed Anakin's arm. "I am not going to watch this anymore, Anakin. We're going home." Home. And what would he do once they were home? Pretend he hadn't seen any of this, that he didn't know what was going on? No, he couldn't do that. But he also couldn't bring Anakin before the Council – doing so would be tantamount to leaving him here to fend for himself.

Anakin pulled out of Obi-Wan's grip and clumsily waved a hand at the Twi'lek, effectively neutralizing the Force-restraint enough for the other being to stand, drawing himself up to his full height and wrapping a hand around Anakin's arm.

Obi-Wan swallowed heavily as Anakin stumbled up from the booth and moved to join the Twi'lek. Never had Obi-Wan been so tempted to use his lightsaber against an unarmed being. Never had he been so tempted to use the Force against Anakin, if only to save him from himself.

"Anakin, please." Every bit of love and compassion he felt was channeled into those words, and Obi-Wan wrapped his love around Anakin like a cloak, hoping against hope that this, if nothing else, would at least make Anakin realize what he was doing.

Anakin looked at Obi-Wan desperately, obviously torn between what he considered his old life, and what new life he had been reduced to. The Twi'lek tightened his grip on Anakin's arm, making the young man wince.

"Get your own," the Twi'lek hissed.

Obi-Wan could feel Anakin pleading with him for help, and even if the words would not come, the intention in Anakin's glazed eyes was all that mattered. "This one is mine," Obi-Wan replied, surprising himself. He reached out and released Anakin from the Twi'lek's grip, holding tightly as his apprentice stumbled and fell against him. "And I will be taking him now."