"This is yours?" Hanli asked as Qui-Gon led them into his flat. It was comfortably furnished and he liked to imagine it was relatively fashionable, not that fashion mattered much to him. Until that moment, Obi-Wan had been the only visitor he had brought there with him.

"It serves its purpose," he replied with a shrug. Jango was the last to enter. Qui-Gon was far more interested in his reaction than he cared to admit. Jango seemed disinterested in what he saw.

"We're still not enough to go up against that Sith," Jango said. "Unless you're gonna give me a lightsaber—" Hanli cut him off with a peal of raucous laughter.

"A 'saber-wielding bounty hunter? You'd cut your own arm off about as soon as you managed to turn it on," she taunted. Jango shrugged as he removed his helmet.

"It's no more foolish than the idea that we three could take Sidious on."

"Neither of you is duty-bound to help me," Qui-Gon reminded them gently. His face hardened as he put his hand on his lightsaber. "However, if you are going to help me, we need to train."

"We don't have time. If he's in the hands of a Sith Lord, he—"

"Sidious won't kill him," Qui-Gon assured her. "He's got a far better scheme worked out for himself. He's making use of the training bond I have with Obi-Wan. After someone wiped his mind, he isn't able to control what he transmits to me. They get to torture two Jedi for the price of one."

Jango looked down at the floor guiltily as Qui-Gon spoke.

"You need to work on your 'saber technique," the Jedi Master continued. "The bedroom through that door over there is set up with a holoscreen and a couple of training droids. Study. Learn what you can. I'll test you later."

"Yes, Master Jinn."

"Hanli."

"Yes, Master?"

"Call me Qui-Gon." If we're going to die together, we might as well be on a first name basis.

She nodded and turned to do as she'd been told, leaving the men alone. Jango strode further into the main room and sat on a plush sofa. Qui-Gon watched his every move, making no attempt to hide that fact.

"And what would you have me do to prepare for death, Qui-Gon?" he asked bluntly as he heard the door hiss shut behind Hanli. The Jedi blinked hard at the bounty hunter's bluntness. He wanted so badly to be shocked, but it was just further proof that Jango was still the boy he'd known so intimately in his teenage years.

"Go, get back in your ship, and leave. Live."

"And let you have all the fun of being tortured to death? Nah. I've always wanted to know what it's really like, facing a Sith. The stories you used to tell—"

"The stories I used to tell were legends told to kids at the Temple. I've done some independent research… Oh, the stories I could tell," Qui-Gon said as he strode across the room and sat down beside Jango. There was perhaps half a meter between them, but Jango tensed as though the Jedi had plopped down in his lap.

))((

Obi-Wan was curled up behind the sofa in the main room when Maul and Sidious returned. He felt them before he woke, but it was only Maul's icy glove closing around his throat that roused him from the exhausted half-sleep he'd slipped into. He'd spent much of the time following Palpatine's departure wondering when the torture would resume.

Now he found himself being held up by his throat, kicking and clawing at the Sith Lord that held him.

Maul laughed as he squirmed and fought, his grip never faltering. It was only as Obi-Wan's protestations grew weak and his limbs grew heavy that Maul finally released him. Before he hit the floor, Sidious caught him with the Force and held him in place as he fought to catch his breath.

"Your former Master believes he can steal you away from me," he said as he approached Obi-Wan, who did his damnedest to cringe away from him. "I can feel him. He believes it's just a matter of training and quieting his mind and he can beat me." He laughed heartily.

"I shall enjoy slaughtering the Jedi Master when he arrives," Darth Maul said. Sidious looked up at him, unamused.

"The Master is mine, Lord Maul. When Qui-Gon Jinn is dead, you can do as you will to this boy. He'll no longer be of any use to me." Sidious turned his attention back to Obi-Wan. He raised one hand in the boy's direction and an arc of blue electricity shot from his fingertips. Every muscle in his body clenched as electricity surged through his body.

All at once he collapsed to the floor, no longer being gently held up by the Sith Lord. His breath came in tiny gasps as his heart did a strange tachycardic dance. He stared fearfully up at Sidious as he slowly stepped closer.

"Please," he begged. Sidious stopped in his tracks as Obi-Wan's eyes widened. I spoke? He tried to form another word, but all he could manage was to repeat, "please…"

He saw the Sith's mouth twist into a frightening caricature of a smirk before electricity tore through his body again. A pained scream tore itself from his chest as he writhed in pain.

))((

Qui-Gon was sparring with Hanli when it hit him. All of Obi-Wan's pain, his fear…

His death.

The Master sank to his knees mid-strike, as he felt precisely what he'd been fearing since he'd first started having that horrible recurring dream. It felt such a long time ago that he'd been having that dream, that dream warning him of the terrible things to come.

He could feel Obi-Wan dying. Until then, every emotion, every sensation the boy had sent through their training bond had been of simple pain. Now, his body was beginning to give up.

Jango was at Qui-Gon's side in an instant. "What is it?" he asked quietly.

"He's dying," the Jedi said as the color slowly drained from his face. "We're too late. We've got to get to him now."

"But Qui-Gon, we don't stand a chance—" Hanli began to protest as Jango helped the Jedi to his feet. He didn't let go until Qui-Gon was certain he was stable.

"I'm not going to let my Padawan die alone and afraid," Qui-Gon snapped. Jango was already strapping his armor back on as Qui-Gon strode over to the door. He slipped his robe on and clipped his lightsaber back to his belt.

"Do you even know where he is?" Hanli asked quietly as she joined them by the door. Jango slipped his helmet on and he was ready. They hurried out to the platform where Slave I was waiting.

"I can find him," Qui-Gon said, grimacing as he felt Obi-Wan's pain again. He couldn't tell what the Sith was doing to the boy now, but the pain was intense. -I'm coming, Obi-Wan,- he promised as he closed his eyes and cleared his mind.