Chapter 14

Anakin jerked awake at the shrill sound of a ringing phone.

"It's ok." Obi-wan put a hand on his shoulder, guiding Anakin back down to his lap.

"Hi, Mace."

Anakin's whole body stiffened. The verdict must be in. What if Maul got out? What if –

"Thank you, Mace. I'll tell him." Obi-wan hung up and grinned at Anakin. "Maul got convicted. He's to serve three years for blackmail, starting immediately."

Anakin's breath came out in a rush. He flung his arms around Obi-wan's waist. "I can't believe it," he mumbled. "Thank you."

"No need to thank me, dear one. You did all the hard work. Are you still willing to push for the rape charge?"

"I don't have much of a choice now. He's going to be pissed when he gets out. The only way I can make sure I'm safe is to ensure that he stays where he is."

"You know that a single rape charge won't be enough to put him away for life. It should be, but the law says otherwise."

Anakin flinched. He hadn't thought of that. "I… I guess I'll have to move states and change my name when he gets out. Hopefully, that won't be for a good long time."

"We'll have to move states and change our names. We're in this together, my love."

Anakin felt tears brimming in his eyes. "I could never ask you to give up everything for nothing more than a –"

"Don't you dare," Obi-wan growled. "I don't ever want to hear you putting yourself down, Ani. You are worth everything. You trust me, don't you?"

Anakin nodded. Of course, he trusted Obi-wan. He trusted him more than anyone. Obi-wan had been there for him when he was at his lowest. It had been Obi-wan who had helped him when he had been desperate and alone. If there was anyone he trusted, it was Obi-wan.

"Then trust me in this. I know you don't think you are worth it, but you are. I promise you are."

Not for the first time, Anakin wondered if perhaps he was wrong and Obi-wan was right. Obi-wan was so insistent on this, and when had Obi-wan ever been wrong?

"I'm sorry. I know I'm a mess."

Obi-wan pressed a kiss to his temple. "Don't be sorry. It's not your fault. Anyone would have some self-worth issues after how you have been treated."

Anakin snuggled into Obi-wan's embrace, sighing in contentment as Obi-wan started running his fingers through Anakin's hair.

"I won't let it come to that, by the way. Moving states and changing our names. From what we know of Maul, I am certain that you're not the only person he has hurt. I will find the others and do whatever it takes to convince them to testify. One rape charge may not be enough to put him away forever, but a dozen separate charges will."

"How will you find them? Maul's not an idiot. I'm sure he's covered his tracks."

"No one can hide from a determined team of private investigators indefinitely, especially when they're in prison."

When Ahsoka got home from school, she insisted that they go out to celebrate. Anakin reluctantly agreed. In the end, he was glad he had. Ahsoka called Padme and Rex, who knew all about Maul by now, thanks to the trial.

The five of them ate and drank late into the night until the restaurant kicked them out. Anakin smiled and laughed and forgot his troubles for an evening. Things with Maul were far from over, but this was a starting point. For now, Anakin was safe.

"Are you ready?"

Anakin gulped. "Are you sure I should be there? I'll probably just mess things up and then she'll refuse to cooperate and –"

Obi-wan silenced him with a kiss. "You're not going to mess anything up. I've been prepped for this by three different psychologists, and all of them say that having you there will help. It'll make her feel less alone."

Anakin still worried he would screw it up, but if Obi-wan thought he could do it, he had to try.

"Ok. I'm ready."

They drove for an hour and a half. Obi-wan did his best to distract Anakin, and partially succeeded. When they arrived at the correct address, Anakin balked.

"I can't do this," he whispered. "What if she doesn't believe me? Male rape victims are so rare compared to female ones. What if she thinks I'm making everything up just to trick her into testifying?"

"She's not going to think that," Obi-wan said steadily. "She knows what Maul's like. There's no way she'll take his word over yours."

Obi-wan came around to Anakin's side of the car and opened the door for him. Anakin reluctantly allowed himself to be drawn out.

Obi-wan rang the bell. A short woman with spiky purple hair answered the door. "Hi. You must be Anakin and Obi-wan." She seemed more subdued than her hair suggested, but Anakin supposed that was to be expected. After all, they were hardly here on pleasant business.

"That's right. May we come in?"

"Of course."

Nomi led them through to the lounge and perched on the edge of the couch. Anakin and Obi-wan sat down opposite her. Anakin had Obi-wan's hand in a vice grip, but Obi-wan didn't complain.

"Well, Nomi, you know why we're here. We've come to request that you testify alongside Anakin against Maul."

Nomi bit her lip. "How did your investigators even find me?"

"I don't know, exactly, but I'm sure they have their methods. The important thing is that we did find you, and you can help bring Maul to justice."

"I know it's the right thing to do, but I'm scared. What if it doesn't work and he gets off? Then he'll come for me."

"I can protect you. If it'll make you feel better, I can hire you a private security team right now."

"You may say that now, but what happens five years from when Maul gets out? Ten? You're not going to be willing to pay for my security forever."

"I absolutely will. How about this? I make a transfer right now for enough money to hire private security for the rest of your life."

"But that'll be hundreds of thousands of dollars…"

"Let's make it three million, shall we?"

Anakin fought the urge to laugh as Nomi's eyes widened comically. "Are you serious? You'd do that, just to get me to testify against Maul?"

"I would do anything to keep Anakin safe, yes. Whatever it takes."

Nomi goggled at Anakin. "Where did you find this guy and where can I get one like him?"

Anakin chuckled. "It's a long story. So does that mean you'll testify?"

"Hell yeah! Fear for my safety was the only thing stopping me from testifying before. If I don't need to worry about that anymore, nothing is going to stop me."

"Hopefully you won't even need the private security, though you can of course keep the money regardless. We're aiming to get enough people to testify to put Maul away for life."

"How do you know there are enough people? What if Anakin and I are the only two?"

"You're definitely not the only two. My investigators haven't managed to find anyone else yet, but they have several promising leads. They assure me that there are other victims. It's just a matter of time before we find them. We have three years before Maul is released. I plan on using that time to find every single person he's ever hurt and doing whatever it takes to convince them to testify."

"What if the others are also worried for their safety? Surely you don't plan on handing out millions of dollars to multiple people?"

"That's exactly what I'm going to do if it's what's required to keep Maul in prison. I won't risk him getting out and coming after Anakin, not for anything."

Anakin wanted to kiss Obi-wan. He wanted to do more than kiss him, but he couldn't do that in front of Nomi.

There wasn't much left to discuss. Obi-wan went over some of the legal details with Nomi and gave her his contact details.

Just before they were about to leave, Nomi, turned to Anakin. "If you ever want to talk, you know where to find me. He hurt you recently, didn't he?"

Anakin nodded, his throat suddenly too tight to speak.

"It's been five years, but I still sometimes have nightmares. I remember what it was like in the early days. I joined a support group, and it really helped to have people to talk to who went through the same thing I did."

Anakin swallowed and forced a smile. "Thank you. I will keep that in mind."

He wasn't sure if he'd ever be able to truly open up to anyone except Obi-wan, but he wasn't totally opposed to the idea of talking more with Nomi. Maybe with time, he would be able to share his experience and gain comfort from her story.

The moment they were in the car, Anakin wrapped his arms around Obi-wan's neck and kissed him passionately, his tongue sliding easily into Obi-wan's mouth. Obi-wan made a surprised noise but kissed Anakin back, and soon he was moaning into Anakin's mouth.

Anakin finally broke away, breathless. "I want you."

"And you will have me, dearest, but perhaps you could wait until we arrive home? I don't think Nomi would take too kindly to us getting naked here in her driveway."

Anakin pouted. "I guess I can wait." He reached down to Obi-wan's obvious erection and stroked it through his pants.

Obi-wan groaned, his head tilting back to rest against the back of his seat. "If you keep doing that, I'm not going to be able to concentrate on driving. I'd prefer not to be in an accident today if you don't mind."

"If you insist."

It took a lot of willpower to keep his hands off Obi-wan during the drive back. The moment they were home, Anakin was dragging Obi-wan to the bedroom.

"What's gotten into you today?"

"Want you," Anakin mumbled, kissing Obi-wan's neck feverishly.

"How do you want me?"

Anakin hesitated. He wanted Obi-wan in every way possible, but he didn't want to have a flashback and end up sobbing in Obi-wan's arms.

"I want your cock in my mouth."

"Only if you let me return the favor, dearest."

"Deal."

They stripped quickly, kissing frantically as each layer of clothing was removed. Anakin braced for a flashback, but nothing came. The sight of Obi-wan's cock was enough to distract him from the fear of flashbacks. It was positively mouthwatering, so big and hard, the tip just starting to leak precome.

Anakin pumped Obi-wan a few times before going to his knees and replacing his hand with his mouth. Obi-wan moaned and immediately started thrusting up into his mouth.

"You don't know what you do to me, darling," he growled. "The whole time we were driving, I wanted nothing more than to stop and ravish you. We're lucky there weren't any cops around because I was definitely using a more liberal interpretation of the speed limit."

Anakin hummed in pleasure at Obi-wan's words, which caused Obi-wan to make a strangled sound and knot his fingers in Anakin's hair.

Anakin allowed Obi-wan to move his head, fighting his gag reflex as Obi-wan's cock hit the back of his throat. In no time at all, Obi-wan was coming down Anakin's throat, crying out Anakin's name as he did so.

The sound of his name on Obi-wan's lips in the throes of passion made Anakin's already achingly hard cock pulse angrily, demanding attention.

Obi-wan leaned against the wall, panting as Anakin got to his feet. Anakin grinned at Obi-wan and led him by the hand to the bed.

There, he lay down next to Obi-wan, ready to give him time to recover, but Obi-wan was having none of that. He rolled between Anakin's legs and took Anakin's cock into his mouth without warning, and now Anakin was the one making strangled noises.

He clutched the bed sheets as Obi-wan got to work on him, sucking his cock with wet slurping noises that were so filthy hot they almost had Anakin coming right there.

Anakin could do nothing but moan in helpless pleasure as Obi-wan's clever tongue brought him closer and closer to his climax. When it came, it came so hard it took Anakin's breath away.

His world twisted into one never-ending moment of pleasure as Obi-wan swallowed down his come.

Obi-wan licked his lips and pulled off, grinning at Anakin's flushed, sweaty face.

They kissed, and Anakin could taste himself in Obi-wan's mouth.

"I love you," Anakin mumbled.

"I love you, too, dearest. Rest, now. You've had a long day."

Anakin drifted off in Obi-wan's arms.