OBI-WAN

"Where in the galaxy did you find this ship?" Thalia asked in utter disbelief.

"I borrowed it from Anakin, what did you expect?" Obi-Wan replied, running a hand across the back of his neck uneasily. To say the ship was a rust bucket was a compliment. Obi-Wan wouldn't have been surprised if the wings fell off as they stood there staring at it. It had used to be red, but it was more a mishmash of different hues of rust. When he'd tried starting it up, the engines had made a groaning noise so loud it sounded like it should be coming from a star destroyer than a small freighter.

Obi-Wan cast a sideways glance at Thalia, who was sceptically watching a black puddle grow steadily larger on the platform under the rear engines.

"As long as it takes us where we want to go." She shrugged and Obi-Wan made, what he hoped, was a comforting noise in reply. He shifted on his feet, turning his face to the Coruscant horizon, scanning the flow of ships making their early morning commute.

"What's on your mind?" Thalia asked, following his gaze.

"Quinlan Voss." He replied.

"The other Jedi with the…reputation?" She asked with a sly smile.

"That may be understating it, my dear. Let's just say he's crazy." He grimaced back at her as the sound of ships engines reached his ears. A troop carrier roared up to the platform and hovered about ten meters off the ground. The doors slid sideways, and a smug looking Quinlan Voss appeared, brushing one of his many dreadlocks out of his face.

"Hey, Kenobi!" He called down to the Jedi. Beside him, Thalia held her hand up in front of her face to protect her eyes from the dust the troop carrier sent gusting their way. She looked up just in time to see Voss execute a perfect somersault out of the ship and make a textbook landing in front of them.

"Kenobi, you look worse for wear. How's temple life?" He grinned, knocking Obi-Wan on the chest with his fist. He cast Voss what he hoped was a disapproving scowl as the other Jedi grinned from ear to ear, the yellow face paint stretching across his nose. As per usual, he had forgone any robes with sleeves in order to show off his taught, tanned arms.

"Good to see you too." Voss shrugged, laughing at the older Jedi's sour expression. However, Obi-Wan soon wished he'd kept Voss distracted with conversation as his eyes slid past him to land on Thalia.

"And hello, your highness." He smirked, holding out his hand for Thalia to shake. She hesitated for a moment but extended her hand to him. Voss took it and, bowing deeply, brushed his lips over her knuckles. "It's an honour." He added, flashing her a dazzling smile.

"Master Voss." Thalia smiled politely, quickly retracting her hand. "Thank you for your assistance today."

"Hey, if it means getting in the good books of the Queen of Troska, I'll do anything." He replied with a wink, but Thalia only raised a dubious eyebrow.

"Yes, well, if you could tell time half as well as you could stick a landing, we wouldn't be behind schedule now, would we?" Obi-Wan decided to cut in, crossing his arms as he glared at Voss' back.

"Well, that's your opinion, man." Voss shrugged, still grinning at Thalia.

The look on Obi-Wan's face must have been something to behold because Thalia looked as if she were about to burst into laughter. But after casting her a pleading look, she put Obi-Wan out of his misery.

"Master Voss, we're heading to Akiva for what we've been told is a meeting of business." Thalia explained as she clasped her hands in front of her. She didn't give Voss time to make a smart comment as she continued. "However, Akiva has been considered inactive for the past ten years, so there's a strong chance we'll be walking into a trap."

"Sounds like fun." Voss winked. "I'm in."

"As far as I know, you don't have a choice." She said tersely. Clearly his flirtatious actions where quickly wearing thin. "This ship still has Akiva logged on its archives, so we shouldn't have any trouble finding it."

"I see we're all business today." Voss grinned, clapping his hands together. "Alright, after you, Your Highness."

. . .

"Our course is set for Akiva. We should be there within the hour." Obi-Wan said, moving into the common area of the ship from the cockpit. There wasn't really anywhere to sit other than the floor and a few random pieces of plastic furniture someone had dumped in as an afterthought. From the large, cleaner mark on the floor, Obi-Wan assumed there must once have been a bench seat running along the base of the far wall.

Thalia was perched on the edge of one of the plastic chairs, one leg crossed over the other with her hands in her lap. She was staring out of a tiny, grimy window as the lights of hyperspace flashed past, reflecting in her eyes.

Quinlon Voss was splayed out on the ground across from her, his back against the wall with his legs outstretched in front of him.

"Excellent." He sighed, tucking his arms behind his head. "More time for staring into space." Voss added, nodding at Thalia who chose to ignore him. "Is she always so…wistful?"

Obi-Wan didn't dare answer the question, and to his relief, Thalia did it for him.

"When she wants to be." She said, turning away from the window to cast Voss a challenging look.

"Does she ever smile?" Voss asked, his cocky smirk returning to his lips as he directed his question at Thalia.

"Sometimes." She replied, just as smoothly.

While he was amused at this banter, every time Voss asked his flirtatious questions Obi-Wan had the sudden urge to toss him out the ventilation shaft.

"Go on. Ask me a question that doesn't have anything to do with the mission, or your planet, or anything like that. Can the Queen of Troska actually hold a casual conversation?" Voss goaded.

Obi-Wan thought he saw a flash of hurt in Thalia's eyes but if that's what it was, it was gone in a flash, replaced with something that look suspiciously like smugness.

"Why are you on probation?" She asked and Voss dropped his gaze as he grinned a guilty grin.

"Kenobi didn't tell you?" He asked, casting a sideways glace at his fellow Jedi, who tried everything in his power not to shift uncomfortably. "Ever the gentlemen." He added before turning back to Thalia.

"I'm sure you know that one of the Jedi's most debated rules is to not form attachments." Voss began. "Well, they only implemented that rule so that our judgements don't become clouded by our emotions. To avoid the potential of that happening, most Jedi just stay clear of everything, but uh…what can I say? I like people. The council thought I spent too much time in the lower-level districts. There was this one girl, Antonia, she was… anyway, they thought my judgement was askew, so here I am, working off my penance."

"That…is not what I thought you were going to say." Thalia admitted with an amused nod.

"It's not that uncommon." Voss shrugged. "But you have been hanging around with the best of us." He added, nodding at Obi-Wan, who crossed his arms over his chest. "Come on, Kenobi. You can't tell me you've never had the hots for someone. I hear you were quite the looker back in the day."

It took every fibre of his being not to look at Thalia. He could feel her eyes on him, but he wasn't going to give in to his subconscious, nor to Voss' taunting. He realised that he could conquer both by staying completely silent and fixing Voss with a patronising, raised eyebrow.

"What did I tell you?" Voss grinned at Thalia, while jabbing a finger at Obi-Wan. "Ever the gentleman."

"Indeed." Thalia replied, and this time, Obi-Wan couldn't catch himself before his head whipped round to look at the sly smile on her face, aimed undoubtably at him.

Voss stretched from his spot on the floor and pushed himself to his feet, sighing loudly as he waltzed into the cockpit. Obi-Wan made to follow him but Thalia quickly jumped to her feet.

"Obi-Wan." She said suddenly, catching his arm before he could turn away. "I need to tell you something."

"What is it?" He asked, feeling his stomach drop at the look of worry in her eyes.

"It's the Chancellor…" She began. "…somehow he knew Dooku was involved with Class Five. I didn't realise it until recently. He couldn't have known his. He said Senator Dichi confided in him after overhearing our conversation, but I never specified it was Dooku, only the Separatists in general." Thalia finished in a hurry. "Obi-Wan, I don't trust him."

"And you're sure there's no way he could have found out from a reliable source?" He asked carefully and she nodded confidently. "Then, that is disturbing indeed. I need time to think on this, but I promise this won't go unsolved. Something is afoot in the senate, the Jedi have sensed it, perhaps this can add another piece to the puzzle."

While Obi-Wan sounded confident, he was much more worried than he let on. The fact that the Chancellor was privy to inside information, and information that was unknown to the parties involved, was a worry and meant he had far more power than the Jedi thought he did.

He was pulled from his thoughts, however, when Master Voss called to them from the cockpit. They'd arrived at Akiva.