Let's just stop,
Drop everything,
Forget each other's names,
Can we please just walk away?
It could be...It could be...
Like we never knew each other at all.
Answer me!
All egos aside, what do you say?
All egos aside, what do you say?
Ignoring what we've felt,
Overlooking what we've done,
No awkward silences, no hiding any truths
Ignoring what we've felt,
Overlooking what we've done,
What do you say?
-Chiodos
Xanatos
He rejected me. But it wasn't like Tarria, it wasn't because of Qui-Gon. It was because he really doesn't want me anymore.
Gannen.
Of all the people to lose him to… Gannen. It had to be Gannen. How humiliating.
My friend, what fodder. I can barely stand the sound of his voice. I should kill him. Slowly.
The signal of his comlink broke Xanatos out of his sadistic thoughts. He pressed the accept button and the flickering blue image of a cloaked figure materialized.
"Lord Sidious," Xanatos said solemnly. He was not his master, and that was the only respect he intended to show the dark lord of the Sith. Xanatos had unraveled hundreds of Sith secrets on his own, would Sidious be so great if the tradition hadn't been handed to him like a gift?
"Xanatos," Sidious acknowledged the dark Jedi. The Sith didn't like him, he knew that much. But Xanatos was, however, too talented to be ignored. "Things are running smoothly, I assume."
"Of course," Xanatos replied nonchalantly. "Nothing could happen that I couldn't handle."
"And young Obi-Wan is feeling… cooperative?"
Xanatos kept his face neutral. "As cooperative as he's ever been."
Meaning no.
"Gannen and Varn will need to be watched," Sidious continued. "They do not share your shrewd business sense."
"I've already installed the surveillance in their rooms."
"Their room sensors –"
"Have been spliced. They won't suspect anything out of the ordinary."
"What about the supposed ex-Jedi?"
Xanatos shook his head. "Varn and Gannen are so wrapped up in their own success that they wouldn't even fathom the possibility of true Jedi infiltration. As for the Jedi themselves… I know all their moves before they do. Take care of Coruscant with a calm mind Sidious, I have everything under control here."
The Sith lord smiled bemusedly. "There's an old maxim that perhaps you should take to heart. 'So sharp you cut yourself'."
Returning the smile, Xanatos shrugged. "Don't worry about me Senator, I'm sharp enough to keep my eye on the blade."
He clicked the transmission off.
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Darth Maul
"The arrogance," Sidious said contemptuously as he pulled back his hood.
Conceit with no results, Maul thought bitterly, but said nothing.
"Unfortunately, he has his uses," Sidious continued. "And so will his Jedi lover."
Irritation flared in Maul at the idea of any Jedi – former or present – being useful.
He hated Xanatos.
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Obi-Wan
He didn't know whether he wanted to cry or throw up.
He's alive.
It's been almost two years, but he's alive.
The relief was more exhausting than high level training at the temple. Nothing sounded better than sinking to his knees and falling into a coma.
He's alive, and I told him no. Obi-Wan felt the sharp loss in his chest acutely.
I don't know if I can do this again. Not again.
He sat down on his sleepcouch inside the quarters he shared with Siri and Bant. Just like when he was on Tarria, he felt like half a Jedi whose life was out of his hands.
But this isn't Tarria, and things will be different.
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Qui-Gon
"I'm very worried about her," Senator Palpaltine said softly as he explained to Kit Fisto and Qui-Gon Jinn why he called the Jedi to investigate Cad'ara. "Not only is she a very sweet young girl, but our king loves her very much. I fear for his state of mind at this moment, with her taken from him to who knows where."
Qui-Gon nodded, understanding the senator's trepidation. "I promise you, we're doing all that we can. Is there anything you can tell us about Cad'ara that might be of assistance?"
Palpaltine shook his head. "Just that they're kidnapping people and selling them. Slavery is despicable, no matter who's being taken."
"How did you know that they were the ones to be investigated at the girl's disappearance?" Kit asked.
"It was mostly a guess, to be honest," Palpaltine shrugged. "I had heard the rumors from my fellow politicians, and I knew that the Coruscant police were suspicious. I thought it was a logical place to start. Tell me, has there been any sign of her?"
"Not yet," Qui-Gon said, reluctant to disclose information about their Padawans' specific task. "But we'll let you know if we find something."
Palpaltine sat up a little straighter. "I'm curious, how are you going to find out?"
"The Jedi have their ways," Kit said, nodding his Nautolan head.
Qui-Gon and Kit concluded their meeting with the Naboo Senator and strode out of the Senate building and on to their own ship, where Adi waited for them with the Abductor's coordinates.
"What do you think?" Qui-Gon asked Kit as soon as they had some privacy.
Kit was pensive for a moment. "He seems sincerely concerned about the girl's safety. I see no reason to distrust him."
Qui-Gon nodded. There was something wrong, he could feel it, but it felt far vaster than anything that could possibly have to do with Senator Palpaltine. "I agree. And no one else in the Senate was able to tell us anything about the slave ring, which means that we're no closer to finding out who is backing Cad'ara."
"Our Padawans might solve the problem themselves," Adi interrupted, approaching them from the cabin. "I received a transmission from them last night, while you two were still interviewing prospective suspects."
Qui-Gon's frayed nerves pulled apart. "How's Obi-Wan?" he asked quickly.
"Fine," Adi said, ignoring the desperate worry in his voice. "But I have some bad news."
Apprehension burst in Qui-Gon like an explosion.
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Bant
I'm a horrible friend.
Worse than horrible, I might as well have suffocated him in his sleep with a pillow.
I should have told him. I should have known that Xanatos would never leave him alone.
Bant hung her head as she sat in the dank corridor. She was supposed to be inspecting the prisoners, but she couldn't bring herself to it.
All she could think about was Obi-Wan.
It'd be different if it had been Siri who hadn't told Obi-Wan about Xanatos, but I knew.
"You wouldn't believe some of the people in these cells," Siri said, ducking her head next to Bant's helmet. "These prisoners… they've got the hated and loved, the famous and insignificant… it's really something. If we didn't need to bring Cad'ara down I might applaud them."
Siri had been making a show of examining each cell's security and escapee potential, but really she was trying to get an idea of the slaves up for market.
"The have that Naboo girl here, the leader's daughter? She's so young," Siri's face was briefly etched with distraught, but she covered it up quickly. "What did you find out?"
Bant shook her head.
Siri frowned deeply. "You and Obi-Wan are really off your strides – am I going to solve this mission by myself?"
Now I'm not only failing as a friend, but as a Jedi.
"It's this Xanatos thing," Bant sighed. "It's really hit us hard."
Siri rolled her eyes obviously. "I don't see why."
Of course you don't. No one told you about Tarria, and you wouldn't understand.
"He tried to kill me," Bant said softly. "And he's tried to kill Obi-Wan multiple times. We thought he was finally gone for good, and now…"
What happens now?
"Well, what I want to know is why he hasn't turned us in."
Bant glanced up at the blonde curiously.
"If he knows Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon so well, then he has to know Obi-Wan wouldn't leave the order, not again. Why hasn't he said any of this to Gannen and Varn?"
Bant rubbed her temples, exasperated at herself.
I should have been thinking about these things, this should have occurred to me as well. I need to get over this and help Siri and Obi-Wan.
"It's just so unnerving; if he's not telling his partners then he's getting something out of this. There's something that he wants, and letting us play our game is just a means to an end."
A chill ran down Bant's spine.
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Obi-Wan
I can't believe I'm doing this.
Obi-Wan straightened his tunic and ran his hand through his shortly cropped hair. He glanced nostalgically at his half-mask, but knew that he shouldn't wear it.
What do people do on dates? What do we talk about?
His thoughts were interrupted when the door behind him slid open to reveal Siri and Bant.
The blonde grinned at him ruefully.
"Hello Obi-Wan, how are you this fine evening?"
He scowled. "Shut it Siri."
"Touchy, are we nervous about our big night?"
Bant looked at Obi-Wan worriedly. "Leave him be Siri, he has had kind of a bad two days."
Siri sighed dramatically. "You guys are blowing this dark Jedi thing out of proportion. How bad can one guy be?"
He visibly flinched at her words.
"Bad Siri," Obi-Wan said. "Very bad."
Worse than you could imagine.
Shrugging her shoulders Siri shook her head. "Clearly I'm not going to win against the two of you." She looked at them, her eyes dark with meaning. "But don't let your feelings jeopardize why we're here."
Believe me Siri, if I could stop it I would.
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"This is easier than I expected it to be," Gannen said, smiling at Obi-Wan. "You made me work so hard to get you here that I expected to work even harder to make this evening enjoyable."
Obi-Wan returned the smile. They had already eaten dinner and had retreated to Gannen's sofa to relax and drink. Gannen seemed perfectly content with downing the entire bottle himself, but Obi-Wan was careful to take it slow. He made it look like he was drinking without consuming more than he could handle. It was imperative that he remain lucid and stable.
"I don't want you to overexert yourself," Obi-Wan said. "That would be a waste."
Flirting, now that was a difficult skill to master. Obi-Wan had to consider every word before he said it, not trusting his natural instincts. He had never flirted with Xanatos. If Gannen wanted to fight and argue, Obi-Wan could have dealt with that. He had angry love down to an art form, but this gentle intimacy was new and treacherous territory.
The other man's eyes twinkled with suggestion. "I hope that's a present concern and not a future one."
Obi-Wan felt embarrassment heat his face. He hadn't meant to imply anything inappropriate.
"It seems strange to me," the Jedi said, quickly changing the subject. "How does someone who seems so kind run a business such as this one?"
Gannen shrugged. "I could say that circumstances dragged me into it, but that would be a lie, and I don't want to lie to you. To be honest, I'm just greedy."
"You wouldn't strike me as the avaricious type."
Raising an eyebrow Gannen studied him curiously. "But surely you know that appearances can be deceiving. You hardly seem like a traitorous Jedi."
It took Obi-Wan a moment to regain his composure. He had momentarily forgotten himself and his mission in the friendly banter.
"You're nothing like Xanatos," Gannen continued thoughtfully. "And for that matter, neither are your partners."
It seemed odd to talk about Xanatos at that moment. Wrong, somehow.
"Is there a stereotype now for Jedi abandoners?" Obi-Wan asked, forcing a smile. "I wasn't aware of that."
Gannen grinned back. "That's unfortunate. I suppose you'll have to spend more time with me; to keep yourself updated, of course."
This isn't going in the direction I need it to.
'It seems strange," Obi-Wan said, moving so that he was sitting closer to Gannen. "That I have four employers, and have only met three."
Gannen leaned in toward Obi-Wan so that his face was only inches from the younger man. "The fourth is a mystery to me as well. The only person that had contact with him is Xanatos."
Wonderful.
"Is something wrong?"
Obi-Wan quickly masked his disappointment and frustration with a wink. "I just don't like mysteries, I had enough of them at the temple." That seemed like something an Ex-Jedi would say.
"In that case I'll try to keep them at a minimum."
Gannen's breath flowed gently across Obi-Wan's cheek. When had he gotten so near the Jedi?
"It's… I should probab-" Obi-Wan's nervous word stumble was interrupted by Gannen's lips.
The kiss was soft and slow, every move deliberate. Obi-Wan had only ever kissed one other person, but Gannen was different. Xanatos's kisses were all passion, desire, and hatred. There was nothing quite as overwhelming in his partner's kiss.
Despite his better judgment Obi-Wan pushed his lips back against Gannen's, thriving on the sweet comfort of innocent affection.
Untainted love was an interesting experience.
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A/N: Sorry it took me so long. And please nobody kill me, Obi-Wan's allowed to kiss other people. Really he is…. And I've got a long full life ahead of me. My parents love me a lot… and you'd feel horrible. Let me know what you think, please review!