Disclaimer: It's George's sandbox, I just play here.
AN: Here's chapter 9! Thanks for all the great reviews! Enjoy!
Never Gone
Chapter 9: The Bounty on Amidala
Jango could clearly see the house they were gaining on now.
"Well, it looks like we have a welcoming party waiting for," Jango said, as he instantly recognized Kenobi. He assumed that the boy standing with him was Skywalker.
"That's Skywalker. I've shown you where he lives. Now, let's discuss reward," Sebulba said greedily.
"Here's your reward," Jango said, as he raised his blaster and shot Sebulba in the head. He pushed the body out of the moving speeder and into the sand.
"Filthy Dug," Jango grumbled. Boba had stayed behind to get the ship. He was tracking his father from there and would arrive in a few minutes providing them with a quick get away. Jango eased up on the throttle, before coming to a screeching halt. Obi-Wan's saber blazed to life and Anakin's blaster whined, as he flipped the safety off. Jango jumped out of the speeder.
"I'm here for the Senator, but I see you're not going to make this easy on me," Jango said.
"You won't touch her," Anakin snarled.
"I'm afraid that Nute Gunray wants to see her execution personally. I would prefer just to kill her and be done with it, but the good viceroy is offering me twice the credits to bring her to him and credits do the talking," Jango smirked.
"You'll have to go through us," Obi-Wan said, as he spun his saber and engaged Jango. Anakin stood on the sidelines. He took a vibro blade from his belt and looked for an opening. When Jango elbowed Obi-Wan in the stomach, Anakin threw the vibroblade, as Jango raised his blaster at Obi-Wan. The blade caught Jango's hand just right, causing him to drop the blaster. Jango growled and turned to Anakin.
"You'll pay for that desert rat," Jango said, as he released his harnessing cable. It wrapped Anakin and held him in place.
"I'll deal with you after I deal with Kenobi," Jango said, as he shot a barrage of blasts at Obi-Wan, who blocked and evaded.
Seeing Anakin's plight, Padme rushed out of the hovel to help him.
"Padme, get back inside!" Anakin said. Padme took a blade from his belt and cut Anakin loose. This caught Jango's attention, as he felt his cable slacken. Jango sidestepped Obi-Wan and headed for Padme. Anakin leapt in front of her. He pulled the trigger on his blaster, but the armor Jango was wearing resisted the blaster bolts. Obi-Wan was about to advance on them, but a ship came out of no where, causing him to take cover, as the pilot shot at him.
"Looks like our ride has arrived Senator. Come along," Jango said, as he grabbed her arm and began dragging her to the ship. Anakin began to run after them, but Boba had good aim on him and Anakin was forced to take cover on the ground.
"Anakin!" he heard Padme's frightened call, as she disappeared inside the ship. Anakin felt the Force wrap around him. He leapt up and began a Force assisted run to the ship.
"Anakin, wait!" Obi-Wan called, but Anakin ignored him. The ship hovered a few feet off the ground. Just as the ship's ramp was closing, Anakin leapt onto it and scrambled inside, just as it closed. Obi-Wan stared after him. once again, Anakin had shocked him by using the Force to things he shouldn't know how to do. Thinking quickly, Obi-Wan tossed a tracking device at the ship. It locked on and started working.
Jango removed his helmet, as the ship slowly left Tatooine's atmosphere.
"Dad, look!" Boba cried. Jango spotted Anakin, who was heaving in breaths of air.
"Anakin!" Padme called.
"You are persistent, I'll give you that," Jango said, as he grabbed a fist full of Anakin's hair and hauled him to his feet. Anakin swung and punched him in the jaw. Jango was flung back, but quickly recovered. He hit Anakin in the side of the head. A sharp piece of metal from his armor cut him, just next to his right eye. Jango hit him again on the back of the head with the butt of his blaster. Padme cried out for him, as she knelt down beside him. "Boba, I'll fly the ship. Come back here and keep an eye on them," Jango said, as he went to the cockpit to set a course for Dantooine.
Shmi came dashing out of the house, frantically searching for her son and Padme.
"Obi-Wan, what happened?" she asked.
"I'm afraid that the bounty hunter got a hold of Padme. Anakin jumped onto his ship at the last minute. I placed a tracking device on the hull of his ship that I will be able to tack from Padme's ship. Artoo, come with me. We must contact the Jedi Council at once," Obi-Wan said to the little droid.
"You'll find them, won't you?" Shmi asked. Obi-Wan smiled gently at her.
"I won't rest until they're safe," Obi-Wan replied. About thirty minutes later, with the Lars watching on, Obi-Wan left Tatooine in Padme's ship with Artoo and Threepio.
About an hour after they had entered hyperspace, Anakin began to regain consciousness. Padme had his head on her lap and she had torn a piece of fabric off her skirt to dab the blood on his temple. Without any bacta, she knew that the cut would probably scar. But she did her best to clean it with what she had so that it would not get infected. She had asked Boba for a bacta patch, but he refused, stating that where they were going, they wouldn't need it.
"Anakin, can you hear me?" Padme asked. His vision swam, but he could make out the outlines of her beautiful face. He blinked his eyes several times, allowing his vision to clear for the most part.
"Ani?" she asked.
"You are the most beautiful woman in the galaxy," he said, as he stared up at her with one of those looks that made her want to melt. Her brown curls were a bit disheveled and they framed her lovely face. Yes, he was certain she was the most beautiful sight that he'd ever seen. He slowly sat up and gazed around at the ship they were on. His eyes came to rest on the dark haired boy that watched him intently.
"I was so worried about you. This cut was bleeding like crazy," Padme said. He smiled at her.
"You know head wounds always bleed a lot," Anakin replied.
"I know, but I was still scared to death," she said, as she stroked her fingers through his hair.
Anakin saw a couple tears trek down her cheeks. He reached up and brushed them away.
"Please don't cry angel, I'll find a way out of this," he said, as he pulled her into his arms. Anakin heard someone snort in disgust. He looked up to see Boba glaring at him and Jango standing there with a smirk.
"When we get to Dantooine, your as good as dead boy. And so is she, once I turn her over to Viceroy Gunray," Jango said. Anakin glared back, before turning his attention back to Padme. He looked at her and winked, giving her the impression that he had some kind of plan.
Hours later, Anakin felt them dip out of hyperspace.
"Padme, listen to me very carefully. I'm going to take out the cabin lights here in a moment and no matter what you hear, I need you to stay face down on the floor and cover your head, until I come for you," Anakin whispered to her. She looked at him with frightened eyes.
"Anakin," she began, but she shushed her.
"I'll be all right, I promise," he said, as he kissed her for a long moment. Anakin observed Boba, who was still watching them from across the cabin.
"I don't know if I can do this master, I won't be able to see anything," Anakin said in his head.
"Yes you can Anakin. The Force will guide you and allow you to see without your eyes. Trust in it and it won't let you down," Qui-Gon told him through the Force.
Anakin glanced above Boba's head and noticed a large, heavy travel case. Reaching deeply into the Force, he focused on the cabin light switch and cut the lights. A clattering was heard, followed by a scream from Boba, as he was knocked out by the large case falling on him. Padme had did as he said and was lying on the floor, covering her head. Anakin centered himself in the Force, as Jango fumbled around, trying to get the lights back on. Anakin picked up the heavy travel case and hurled it at Jango. Anakin jumped around him and attempted to take control of the ship. But suddenly, blaster shots rang out around him, as Jango shot blindly into the cockpit. The controls sparked wildly.
"Oh shit," Anakin mumbled, as he tried to maneuver the ship. But he wasn't able to get any response from anything. The ship lurched, as it skimmed into the atmosphere of Dantooine.
"Stupid!" Anakin cursed, as he felt Jango behind him.
"Don't move kid," Jango said.
"You realize that we're going to crash now, thanks to you," Anakin replied.
"It won't matter for you, because you'll be dead before then," Jango threatened. Reaching deeply into the Force, as Qui-Gon instructed, he pulled the blaster from Jango's hand.
"No, you'll be dead," Anakin said, as he shot Jango in the head. He hated the fact that he had to kill a man, but at the same time, this man would have killed his fiancé without a second thought. He jammed the brakes on, hoping to at least get some response and get them to slow down a bit. He stepped over the body and ran to Padme. He helped her off the floor and strapped her into the seat and then quickly strapped himself in.
"We're going to crash, aren't we?" Padme said, her eyes tearing, as she looked at his silhouette in the darkness.
"I'm afraid so angel. But hold on tight to me and we'll make it through this, I promise," he replied, as he kissed her forehead and put his arms around her. Padme wrapped her arms around him and buried her head in the nape of his neck.
"Ani, in case we don't make it..." Padme said.
"We'll make it Padme...we have to," Anakin replied, determination lining his face.
"But if we don't, please know how much I love you. I truly, deeply, love you," she sobbed.
"I love you too my angel," Anakin replied, as he slanted his lips over hers and kissed her deeply. They broke the kiss, as the felt the ship brush a hard surface. Anakin gripped the seat tightly with one arm and Padme with the other, as he practically throwing himself over her. A large, crashing ship disrupted the still nature of the Dantooine marshes...