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Full summary: Sequel to Immolated Destiny. As the Clone Wars rage around them, Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi attempt to rebuild the broken bridges between them. But the Master's romantic entanglements with Anakin Skywalker continue to cloud his judgment...even when Obi-Wan's life is on the line.

Warnings: Slash, JA reference, drugs, and violence

Pairing(s): Qui-GonxAnakin (subdued GarenxObi)

Fic type: AU, romance

Bizarre speaks: So. Honestly. Lets take a poll? Which author do you like better? Bizarre or Aubrey? Send it in a message, leave it in a review. Go for it.

Chosen
Volume Five
The Seeds of Darkness
Chapter II: Wrenching

When Anakin came to, the first thing he noticed was the cold. He shivered and curled into a ball. The next thing that registered was a dull throbbing in his skull. He tried to reach up to touch his head but found that he couldn't. His hands were cuffed. He opened his eyes slowly, blinking in the dim light. They were in a dank cell, all of them, Master Jinn and the still unconscious Obi-Wan shackled nearby. The Padawan sat up slowly, to get his face off the freezing stone floor. His Master was grim but said nothing.

Almost immediately, a crowd of roughnecks came in. They hoisted Anakin up, dragging him away from his Jedi brethren. Qui-Gon glared over the barrels of their blasters but could do nothing.

They forced the apprentice to sit before a HoloNet transceiver in yet another cold, sparse room. It was several minutes before the device crackled to life. A cloaked and hooded figure appeared on the screen. The shadowy form began to speak…

While Anakin listened in mute horror, his elders were also taken from the cell. Qui-Gon glanced at Obi-Wan when the younger man moaned at the rough handling. Sweat was pouring off the Knight despite the bitter cold. Their captors were silent as they trundled them onto the back of a trailer, hooked up to a land speeder.

"We have no use for you two," the lady leading these villains said mildly, once the Jedi were chained inside. "But, we've arranged a nice little place to stash you," she chuckled. "I'm sure you'll enjoy Hoth's wilderness." With that she slammed the metal doors shut on them. In a moment Qui-Gon could feel the engines fire up and they started moving.

The Jedi were unceremoniously hauled out when they stopped sometime later and shoved into an old abandoned shack. Inside were a rickety cot, an ancient heater and some tattered blankets.

"Have a nice stay," one of the men said smartly as they all clambered back into the vehicle and took off in a cloud of icy particles.

Master Qui-Gon took in the stark situation and sighed, then he set about getting Obi-Wan onto the bed. He just got Kenobi to lie down on the thin mattress when Obi-Wan made a horrible gagging sound and jerked upright, sweating profusely again. He coughed violently and doubled over, nearly falling to the dirt floor. Qui-Gon caught him by the shoulders.

"Are you alright?" the big man asked with concern.

"I'm going to be sick," Obi-Wan sputtered between shaking coughs.

"How can I help?" The younger man was choking and gasping. Qui-Gon rolled Obi-Wan onto his side lest the Knight suffocate on his own vomit. "Come," Qui-Gon finally urged Obi-Wan outside to spew. He practically carried Kenobi out into the biting wind and cold.

Obi-Wan collapsed onto all fours to hurl. The contents of his stomach came up a startling red. His whole body shook with the effort and his eyes watered.

Qui-Gon could only watch helplessly. This was very serious!

Once Obi-Wan stopped his heaving and retching he sat back on his heels and wiped his mouth with a shaky hand. He was starting to turn blue so Qui-Gon dragged him back inside the hut.

"Wrap in those," the Jedi Master nodded to the meager blankets. He crouched down to see about getting the rusty heating unit going.

"Where are we?" Obi-Wan chattered. He burrowed into the pile of musty bedding still in a cold sweat but feeling a little better.

"Hoth," Qui-Gon replied soberly, finally getting a stream of warm air to come out of the aged heater. He moved the unit closer to Obi-Wan and rose. "And in a trap, I suspect."

Obi-Wan gave him an incredulous look. "Hoth?"

"Yes," Qui-Gon said flatly. He sat beside Kenobi and reached for the other's arms before Obi-Wan could react. "They took Anakin."

Obi-Wan tried to tug his arms away, but in his weakened state he could not pull free of Qui-Gon's strong grip.

"These are filthy," the Jedi Master commented on the linens wrapped around Obi-Wan's arms, beginning to remove them despite Kenobi's protests. The colored markings revealed beneath did concern the old man, however.

Obi-Wan's forearms were covered in an artful collage of tattoos. That alone didn't matter to Qui-Gon. It was the red, puckered and swollen needle tracks he saw mixed in with the ink that gave him pause.

"What is that?" he looked at Obi-Wan "This is why you are ill," he stammered in disbelief. "How could you? Explain!"

"Shut up, Qui-Gon!" his former Padawan burst out furiously, pulling free at last. "You don't know anything! Yeah," Obi-Wan snarled, "I'm a Stim addict, so what!"

Qui-Gon was speechless. He rose from the cot staring at Obi-Wan in shock and dismay. An addict…

"It has nothing to do with my illness, Qui-Gon," Obi-Wan insisted. "They must have put something into that syringe," he muttered.

Qui-Gon knelt beside the bed and took Obi-Wan's hands into his own. "It has everything to do with it, Obi-Wan," the old man said gently. "Now, tell me why."

"It's none of your business," Obi-Wan hissed.

"Obi-Wan," the Master said evenly. "Do not do this."

"Do what!" Obi-Wan demanded. Then he began another terrible fit of coughing, spattering them both with blood.

Qui-Gon held him tight despite the mess. "You are killing yourself, Padawan," he whispered in dread. "Tell me why."

"I'm no longer your apprentice, old man," Obi-Wan wheezed and spat. "It's many years too late for you to pass judgment on me!"

"Fine," Qui-Gon relented, pushing away. He couldn't help Obi-Wan now. But, as long as they were trapped, alone together he had some questions. "At least tell me why you left the Temple," he asked.

Kenobi was silent.

"Answer for Anakin's sake if not my own," Qui-Gon added tersely. "He had no other close friend, Kenobi."

"I should have stayed for him?" Obi-Wan stammered, shaking with cold.

"He needed you," Qui-Gon said. "He looked up to you and still does. He calls you his friend! Have you any idea what it did to him when you just disappeared?"

"I needed you, you hypocritical old kret!" Obi-wan shouted, eyes bright with fever and rage.

"Hypocrite?" Qui-Gon echoed blankly, not understanding at all.

"You may be old, Qui-Gon Jinn, but I know damned well you are not deaf!"

"I heard you," Qui-Gon scowled. "But I do not take your meaning, Obi-Wan."

"Have you gone feeble in your old age?" Obi-Wan growled. His throat tightened and he began coughing violently again.

"I did not abandon you, Obi-Wan," Master Qui-Gon said evenly. "You were ready and passed the Trials on your own merit. I had nothing to do with that."

"Idiot," Obi-Wan snapped.

"I do not know what you want from me," Qui-Gon admitted with a sad shake of his head. Then he rose and moved for the door. "I am going to look around. We will at least need water." With that he turned to go.

Obi-Wan went after him. He wasn't letting the old man off now! His legs gave out under him and he slumped to the floor with an angry moan of pain.

"Back in bed," Qui-Gon ordered, picking him up and depositing the limp body on the wobbly cot. "Stay," he said as he left the hut.

Obi-Wan cursed at his retreating back.

"No, curse you!" Anakin Skywalker would not believe what he was hearing. He shook his head angrily as if to banish the unwanted truth.

"It is true, young one," Darth Sidious said firmly.

"No, it can't be," Anakin snarled. "My mother, she…why are you telling me this?"

"So you can take your rightful place in the Force," Sidious smiled evilly. "Seed of Darkness."

"I am not!" the young man screamed at the view screen. He desperately wanted to deny all the Sith Lord had told him. "I am no 'Seed of Darkness'."

There was darkness in his past, however and all of it came rushing back to him now. His stubborn fits of resentment, his fear, his…anger….

The uncontrollable fury unleashed on the Tuskens. But, they had killed his mother!

"You cannot deny what you are, Anakin."

"I am not..." he trailed off helplessly.

"It is in your very blood."

"I am not Sith," he said firmly. "And I will never work to destroy the Jedi." Ani remembered the boy, Shaden Cormin, the Sith lackey who had come to the Temple bringing death. So many younglings had perished. This, Darth Sidious, had sent Shaden on that terrible errand.

"Wouldn't you?" the Sith Lord inquired.

"No," Anakin snapped. "I wouldn't."

"Oh, I think you might."

"Never," the Padawan insisted. "I will never betray my Master!"

"And if it was for your Master?" the Dark Lord queried.

"Master Qui-Gon would never ask such a thing of me." Anakin countered. Qui-Gon Jinn might not always follow the rules, he might even break a few now and then, but the Jedi Master was committed heart and soul to the Jedi Order and all that it stood for.

A smirk spread on Sidious' face. "What if I told you your Master, and Obi-Wan Kenobi were to suffer a slow painful death unless you bow to me, Skywalker. What would you say to that?"

"I would find them and save them," Anakin replied tightly. Was this true?

"It is only a hypothetical question, boy," the Sith Lord grinned. "But I want you to consider carefully. The Dark Side holds untold powers for you, Anakin. It is not as you have been led to believe."

"Your despicable actions say otherwise," Anakin said firmly. "You are a cowardly schemer, who sends others to do your dirty work," the apprentice held his head up proudly now. "I will never serve you."

"Unfortunate," Sidous sighed heavily. "Then you will be destroyed."

"I am not afraid of you, Dark Lord."

"Oh, you will be," the Sith Master chuckled. "You will be. Think on what I have said, young Skywalker. Think very carefully."

With that the transmission ceased and Anakin was left alone to ponder all that had been revealed.

To Be Continued...