Disclaimer: I don't own Star Wars
AN: Here's chapter 13! Thanks for the great reviews. You guys are awesome!
Forever Destined
Chapter 13: Dangerous Dealings
Anakin and Padme sat at a private table at a very nice restaurant. Padme had specifically asked for privacy to keep out the prying eyes of the gossip reporters who always seemed to find her private life most interesting. Especially since it was well known that she was being romanced by Anakin Skywalker, the youngest Jedi Knight in history and grandson of the illustrious Count Dooku. But even if their table was out in the open for all to see, neither would have noticed that anyone else even existed for they were far too focused on each other. They sat next to each other, as they shared whine and fed each other the desert they were sharing.
"We didn't get much chance to talk last night...or this morning. Tell me about your mission," Padme said.
"Talking did sort of take a backseat, didn't it? We were very...busy doing much more entertaining things," he said quietly, as he lightly blew in her ear. She gasped in surprise and then smacked his arm playfully.
"Not here," she lightly scolded. He chuckled, before capturing her lips in a passionate kiss.
"I love you," he told her. She smiled.
"And I love you," she replied, as she picked up her fork and fed him another bite of their desert.
"So, I want to hear about your exciting mission," Padme said.
"I don't think you do. There was a lot of danger," Anakin replied.
"I don't care. I always want to hear everything, good or bad," Padme replied. Anakin smiled and fed her a bite.
"Well, for the first couple weeks, Gunray evaded us on Cato-Neimodia. They think of him as a hero there, so it was easy for him to hide. We ended up with a lot of false leads and dead end chases, just because any information given to us was usually meant to throw us off Gunray's trail. But we finally managed to catch up to him as he was trying to flee Cato-Neimodia. Obi-Wan managed to attach a tracking device to the hull of his ship and we followed him to Utapau.
"Utapau? I've never heard of it," Padme replied.
"Not many have. It's in the outer rim and not part of the Republic. Gunray had a droid factory there too. We tracked them down there and had to aggressively negotiate his capture with several droids," Anakin said, with a small smirk. She cuddled against his side, leaning against his shoulder.
"So, did they see things your way, handsome Jedi?" she asked coyly. He smirked.
"Eventually. Now, are you going to tell me about your endeavors in the Senate?" he asked.
"You don't want to hear about that, my love. We simply argued like we always do," she replied.
"Oh, but I bet your arguments were full of wisdom and courage. The other Senators are fools not to listen to you," he replied, as he placed soft kisses under her ear. She shivered, as his lips drove her wild.
"You're sweet," she replied.
"No, you're sweet...so sweet," he said, as he nipped and kissed at her neck.
"Ani...we can't...not here," she said. He responded by yanking her out of her chair and into his lap. His lips possessively claimed hers, as he wrapped his arms tightly around her. Padme moaned, as his lips traveled down her neck.
"Ani...we're still in the restaurant. This may be a private room...but the wait staff still has access," Padme said breathlessly, as ravaged the skin on her neck.
"Well, then let's get out of here so we can have some...alone time before we get to the club," Anakin said, as he slapped enough credits down on the table to cover dinner and the wine, plus a lofty tip. They stood up and left the restaurant quickly.
Siri quietly slipped out of the man's bed. His name was Garret Wells and he was the new leader of the dangerous crime ring that she was still embedded in. She wrapped the blanket around her nude body and slipped quietly to his desk. Very quietly, she opened his desk drawer and found a circular disk. She was positive it probably had some valuable information on it, so she quickly slipped it into her datapad to copy the information. Once it was done, she slipped the disk back in its hiding place. Garret came behind her and kissed her neck.
"You need to come back to bed, baby," he said, as he dropped the blanket that was around her and began to touch her.
"I thought we were going downstairs to party? You know, this is an impressive club. No one would ever suspect that this high class club and hotel is really just a front for your organization. You've done better than any of those other idiots ever did," Siri said.
"Well, thank you. Now, before we go downstairs, I'd really like you to come back to bed," he growled.
"Well, you always get what you want," Siri replied sultrily, as she let him take her back to bed...
They arrived at the exclusive club that Anakin had chosen. It was very nice and catered to a higher class. It had hotel rooms above the main floor, which was actually the club and bar. Anakin carried her over the threshold and Padme looked around the spacious suite.
"Ani, I thought we were going to one of those clubs with your brother?" Padme asked.
"I told my brother that if I was going to bring you to a club, then it was going to be a nice one. I told him that I refuse to take my beautiful angel to one of those dives he likes for some reason," he replied, as he kissed her.
"You did very well," she replied.
"Then you approve, milady?" he asked, as he strode toward the bedroom.
"I do, my Jedi hero," she said sultrily. Padme tossed her head back, as he began to kiss down her neck again. As the bedroom door slid closed, Anakin pressed her up against it, as she wrapped her legs around his waist.
"You're so beautiful..." he rasped. She moaned, as he nipped at her throat and collarbone.
"Unnnhhh...I want you..." she demanded breathlessly, as she lifted his shirt over his head and let her hands travel over his bare chest.
"I want you too..." Anakin rasped, as he kissed her hard, while his hands tugged at her dress. He nipped and sucked on her sweet lips and luscious tongue. They tumbled to the bed, locked under passion's spell...
Their trembling bodies collapsed to the bed in a heap, as they panted and attempted to get their bearings, as an incredible sexual high settled over them, bathing them in the afterglow effect. They snuggled together, thoroughly entwined in each other's arms, kissing and caressing softly. After recovering from their amazing bout of lovemaking, they both found their way to the fresher and then got dressed again, before heading downstairs to the club.
Obi-Wan sipped at his drink, as he sat at the classy bar. He usually didn't like to frequent this place, as he found it a little stiff. But Anakin had insisted on bringing Padme some place "nice". Obi-Wan rolled his eyes and gulped his drink down. He snorted, as he saw Siri approaching him, wearing a black dress.
"What in blazes are you doing here?" he asked.
"Working," she replied, as she ordered a drink.
"I'll bet," Obi-Wan replied.
"I'm getting close to busting this ring wide open. This place happens to be a front for the crime ring I've been working all these years," Siri told him.
"Gee, how many times did you have to sleep with the boss to get that information?" Obi-Wan jeered. Siri ignored his question and sipped at her drink.
"Bitterness doesn't suit you Ben," she replied.
"Oh and what does suit me? You perhaps? I don't think so Siri, not anymore. And why did you not warn me that this place was actually run by criminals? If I had known, I would have told Anakin that this was not a good place to come," he replied.
"We were good together Ben. And you don't have to worry, there should be no danger," Siri said.
"Were, as in past tense. And I don't like to take chances with my family's lives. Family might not mean anything to you, but it means everything to me," Obi-Wan said, as he spotted Anakin and Padme enter together.
"Well, it's about time you two got here," Obi-Wan called, over the music.
"Sorry, we were a little...occupied," Anakin said.
"I'll bet. You look beautiful tonight, milady," Obi-Wan complimented.
"Thank you Obi-Wan, but please call me Padme," she insisted.
"Can I order you both a couple drinks?" Obi-Wan asked.
"Sure, but I think we're going to go dance for a bit. We'll be back," Anakin said, as Padme practically dragged him onto the dance floor.
Garret stood behind the bar, sipping at a glass of Corellian whisky, observing his surroundings.
"We gotta talk?" the bartender said, as he approached him.
"What is it?" Garret asked, his eyes never resting on the man.
"It's about that girl," he replied.
"You mean Steph?" he asked.
"Her name ain't Steph," the man replied.
"What are you getting at?" he asked.
"I'm tellin' ya, that she ain't who she says she is. Her name is Siri Tachi...and she's a Jedi," the bartender informed him. Garret nearly choked on his whisky, but kept his composure. The implications certainly made sense and if it was true, it meant that she was responsible for the collapse of half his crime ring. Sure, that collapse had put him in power, but they had still lost a significant amount of ground.
"Where did you get this information?" he asked.
"From the bosses themselves. They managed to get a call out to me from inside the prison," the bartender replied.
"Well, we'll have to deal with Miss Tachi. She cannot be allowed to get away with such treachery," Garret replied.
"You gonna axe her?" the man asked.
"No...at least, not yet. I like to make people pay by using those that are close to them. I'll find out if she has any family...and they'll be the ones to pay for her transgressions. And then, she will pay with her life as she is begging me to spare her loved ones," Garret said, as he watched her. A tall young man, with blonde hair approached the bar with a young brown haired petite woman in tow. He saw Siri touch the young man's arm and begin talking to him. He smirked, as he planned to find out what this young man meant to her.
"Anakin, can I talk to you for a minute?" Siri asked.
"I guess," Anakin replied, as he picked up the glasses of jawa juice he'd ordered and handed one to Padme. She was silent, hoping to speak to him alone.
"Whatever you have to say to me Siri, you can say in front of Padme," Anakin replied, as he wrapped his arm around Padme's waist.
"All right, I'll level with you. I want to get Obi-Wan back," she told him.
"And what do you want me to do about it?" Anakin asked.
"Would you be willing to talk to him for me? I really want to work things out with him, but he won't hear me," Siri replied.
"You hurt him badly Siri and frankly, I don't want to see it happen again. Obi-Wan's finally starting to move on. Besides, your continued involvement with this mission only puts you in danger. You can do what you want and put yourself in danger Siri, but leave my brother out of it," Anakin said, as he led Padme back to the dance floor.
"Who's the kid and the girl?" Garret asked, as he approached her.
"Oh...that's...he's my...little brother and that's his girlfriend," Siri lied.
"I didn't know you had a little brother," Garret said.
"Well, we don't really get along very well. Pay him no mind and let's go back upstairs..." Siri said sultrily, hoping to deter his attention from Anakin and Padme. Obi-Wan would be upset if he knew that she inadvertently put his little brother in danger, especially since she'd failed to level with him about the club itself being run by the crime ring she was embedded with. If he knew that she hadn't told him because she was looking forward to him being here, he would be livid with her. Though, she saw no reason for Garret to take any interest in Anakin, especially if he thought he was just her little brother. Then, he would most likely ignore the boy.
Anakin and Padme swayed their hips to the music and danced together. Padme turned in his arms and gyrated against him, driving him absolutely wild with desire. His hands slid over her hips, as her rear gyrated against him in rhythm with the beat of the music.
'Force, does she know how sexy she is?' he found himself thinking. He saw other men looking at her, but she only had eyes for him. She turned to face him, her chestnut eyes boring into his own cerulean pair. She swayed her hips sexily, taunting him, before she wrapped her arms around his neck. His hands slid around her back and to her curvaceous rear, as he pulled her possessively against him. Denying that there was some electrifying connection between them was impossible, as no other man or woman even dared to approach either of them to try and vie for either's attention.
"I love you..." he projected his words through the incredible bond that allowed them to speak with their minds.
"And I love you..." she replied. Their lips crashed together passionately, as they continued to sway slowly.
"I'm kind of thirsty," Padme said.
"Me too. Let's go get something to drink," he replied, as he led her to the bar.
Siri was sitting at the bar, slaving over the encrypted files that she'd copied from Garret's disk, as the young couple approached.
"Where did Obi-Wan go?" Padme asked.
"Looks like he's dancing with Aayla," Anakin pointed out at the dance floor. Those words stung Siri and part of her wanted to go cut in...but she couldn't. She had to find out what was in these files. Plus, she couldn't let Garret see her with another man. That was part of the reason she'd told him that Anakin was her brother, for if he thought Anakin was anything else, he'd go into a rage.
"Anakin, you're good with these tech devices. Can you help me?" Siri asked. Anakin rolled his eyes, having his attention forced away from Padme.
"In case you haven't noticed Siri, I'm off duty and I'm here with my wonderful girlfriend. What do you want?" Anakin asked irritably.
"If you could pull your lips from hers for five minutes to help me, that's all I ask. I do happen to outrank you too, so show a little respect," Siri said. Anakin rolled his eyes.
"Now, I need these encrypted files opened," she said. Anakin grabbed the datapad and began looking through it. After a few minutes, he shook his head.
"There too well encrypted for me to unlock here. I could do it with the equipment at the archives or one of the droids could even do it for you," Anakin replied, as he handed it back to her and returned his attention to Padme.
"Damn...I don't have time to go back to the temple tonight..." she said to herself, unaware that Garret had been watching her all this time.
"Do you think he's in on it?" the bartender asked.
"If she is a Jedi, then it's likely the kid is too. He looks too young to be a Knight, so it's likely he's a rookie," Garret replied.
"What are you going to do?" the bartender asked.
"Let's just say, my boys are preparing my cruiser out back. If he is a Jedi, then I'll have to take him away from Coruscant," Garret replied.
"You're going to abduct the boy?" the bartender asked.
"Yes...we'll see what he knows. Then, we'll see what Siri is willing to do to get her brother back," Garret said, with an evil smile.
"What about the girl?" the bartender asked.
"Oh, she'll provide the perfect leverage over him. If he wants her to live, then he'll cooperate with us," Garret replied, as he watched them, waiting for the right moment to capture the young couple.
"Do you have it?" Garret asked the young man that had approached him. The man opened his cloak and handed him the concealed dart gun.
"Even if he is a Jedi, what's in these darts will knock both him and his girl out cold," the young man said.
"And the needle?" Garret asked. The man produced a capped syringe.
"Inject him with this ysalamiri serum every four hours and no Jedi will be able to locate him," the man replied. Garret nodded, as he saw the young woman head for the lobby and to the public refresher. He raised his comlink to his lips and spoke into it.
"Get the girl as she comes out of the fresher. Take her around back and be prepared for the boy to be on your tail right away," he said.
"I'm going to go use the fresher. I'll be right back," Padme said, as she kissed him quickly and went through the lobby and into the fresher. As she came out a few moments later, she was startled to see six very large men surrounding her. Before she could scream, one of the men covered her mouth with his hand and hauled her off her feet. The men carried her outside and around back of the establishment...
Anakin jumped to his feet, as he felt a spike of panic and fear come from Padme. He ran out of the club and into the lobby. Searching his senses, he followed her Force signature and exited the club, before running around behind the building. He stopped dead in his tracks, as he saw several men standing in front of a ship with his angel being held captive by one of them. Anakin lifted his pant leg and extracted his light saber from its holder and ignited the blade.
"Let her go!" Anakin called fiercely. Two of the men shot at him with their blasters, but Anakin blocked the shots and killed each with a single saber strike. As he was busy with two more, Garret aimed the dart gun at Anakin's neck. Padme tried to scream to warm him, but her mouth was still covered. Thinking quickly, she bit the burly man's hand and he cried out in pain.
"Arrrgggh...little bitch!" he screamed, as he dropped her.
"Anakin...watch out!" Padme cried. The man she'd bit slapped her face hard. She yelped in pain, as she crumpled to the ground.
"Padme!" Anakin cried, livid that the man had laid a hand on her in such a manner. Suddenly, Anakin felt a sharp pain in his neck. He reached up and pulled out a peculiar looking dart. His vision swam and blackness invaded his senses. His saber fell from his hand and extinguished upon contact with the ground. He fell to the ground with a hard thud.
"Anakin!" Padme cried, as she tried to get to him. She yelped again, as she too felt a pain in her neck. She pulled the dart out, but the sleep agent was already working and she quickly fell unconscious. Garret knelt down beside Anakin and injected him in the arm with the syringe full of the serum that would cut him off from the Force.
"Get them on the ship and put them in the holding cell," Garret ordered, as he and his men boarded the ship.
Obi-Wan stumbled slightly, as Anakin's Force signature suddenly disappeared.
"Ben, what is it?" Aayla asked. Obi-Wan held a hand to his head, as he tried to make sense of what he was feeling. For the first time in nearly twenty years...Obi-Wan couldn't feel his baby brother.
"Something terrible has happened," Obi-Wan said.
"It's Anakin...I can't sense him anymore...nor Padme," Aayla said.
"He was just here...what could have happened?" Obi-Wan wondered in horror. Never had he felt so terrified in his life. Suddenly, from across the room, he noticed the look of nervous fear on Siri's face...and he had a feeling that she had an idea...
Siri stared at the message on her datapad with abject horror. A message had just popped up and she felt it hard to breathe.
"I know who you are...Siri Tachi. I've got...baby brother and his little girlfriend. I'll be in touch to state my demands. Consider your cover blown, you bitch. You'll pay for crossing me...or at least baby brother will..."
"Oh Gods...what have I done?" Siri asked herself, knowing that Anakin and Padme's capture was completely her fault. And Obi-Wan would probably never forgive her...
Qui-Gon and Shmi's bedroom...
Qui-Gon suddenly shot up out of bed with a start. His startled state disrupted his wife beside him.
"Darling, what's wrong?" Shmi asked sleepily.
"It's Anakin...I cannot feel him. Something's wrong," Qui-Gon said, his face pale as a ghost.
"Ani...oh no...oh please..." Shmi said, as her eyes began to tear. Qui-Gon pulled her close.
"Calm down my love, we don't know what has happened yet. Let's get dressed quickly and we'll go to the temple. We'll find him...and Padme," Qui-Gon said, as they dressed quickly and headed for the temple.
Serenno...
Count Dooku was awakened from his sleep by a frightening tremor in the Force. His grandson's and Padme's Force signatures had disappeared violently and suddenly. He threw his clothes on stormed out of his room. The palace erupted in chaos, as he woke his entire staff.
"Prepare my ship. I must leave for Coruscant at once," Dooku ordered.
"Sir, what about the negotiations?" one of his men asked him.
"Negotiations can wait! I will send someone else to replace me! This matter concerns my family, now prepare my ship! I must leave now!" Dooku yelled. The man's eyes widened, for he'd never seen the count so upset and unsettled. He scurried off to do as the Count ordered. Ten minutes later, Dooku was in hyperspace, headed for Coruscant...
In the next chapter, Anakin's family and the Jedi discover what has happened to he and Padme. Siri confesses her involvement and Obi-Wan, as well as his family are furious...