Chapter 1

"I require immediate assistance," the image of Barriss was fuzzy, distorted as Obi-Wan glanced at the transmission again; she was in a full run, speaking almost absently to the device on her wrist with her robes swirling about her. "They've taken the Chancellor and are headed for the emergency bunker. I will not be able to cut them off; I am in the wrong position. They need to be outflanked."

"Not to worry, Master Offee," Obi-Wan assured her as he exchanged looks with Anakin. "Anakin and I are on the way."

"Anakin?"

Anakin grinned at the surprise in her voice. "Here, Barriss," he assured her, ignoring the protocol the situation called for as Obi-Wan turned the holo emitter to include him. "We'll cut him off if you want to tighten the noose."

"It's Grievous, Anakin," she told him with the faintest of smiles before looking once again at the Obi-Wan. "He won't be so easily caught."

"And we won't be so easily outsmarted," Anakin shot back. "Get ready to jump, Obi-Wan."

"Pincer?"

Anakin only grinned.

Obi-Wan groaned. "That's what I was afraid of. We'll be in touch once we're on the ground, Barriss."

"Hurry, Obi-Wan."

He shut off the comlink as Anakin expertly maneuvered the speeder through the Coruscant traffic, coaxing speed from the engines the speeder hadn't been designed for. They were nearing the senate building and Anakin banked sharply, twisting the speeder around like a top to neatly slide between two close together transports. Obi-Wan cursed and Anakin laughed despite the circumstances.

"Still don't like flying, Master?"

"Flying is for droids," shot back Obi-Wan. "Don't take too long to find a parking space when you land, Anakin."

"I'll keep that in mind and let the Council worry about the ticket," he shot back cheekily. "Ready?"

"As I'll ever be; I have a bad feeling about this."

"I'd be disappointed if you didn't; jump!"

Anakin tilted the speeder, dropping Obi-Wan near the base of the building and right next to an exhaust shaft. Speeding away, he angled for the other side and further up. If Grievous was after the Chancellor and intended to draw him into the emergency rooms below the Senate, he'd need to pass these corridors. Mentally reviewing the layout of the emergency shafts leading this way, Anakin gunned the speeder into a tight loop and sent it skimming across the duracrete casings that made up the exterior. Half way around the support pillar, he flipped the landing protocols and, using the momentum as the speeder was suddenly dragged to an abrupt halt, let it propel him upwards.

Using the Force, Anakin added speed and distance to the jump, catching hold of the underside of one of the support struts and dangling, his metallic hand gripping it tightly. A quick glance downwards showed he was free hanging beneath the Senate building, his speeder right where he'd left it. A grin spread across his face. "Huh; I didn't think that would work."

Giving himself a shake, he pulled his lightsaber free and slid it into the controls of a nearby maintenance droid access hatch. The hatchway sputtered and clanged, indicating a sealed lock down, and Anakin grimaced. His lightsaber reversed, sliding in a quick square and then large 'X' in the middle before he hooked his lightsaber back to his belt. Ensuring his grip was strong, he closed his eyes and called on the Force again.

The durasteel crumpled under the assault with a shriek and a whine, folding in on itself as Anakin pushed it back and into the shaft behind it. It scraped and screamed, echoing down the other shafts before the resistance to his mental commands suddenly disappeared and the sheet was left to free fall.

A familiar Force presence brushed his. Barriss. His smile returned as he reached for it, a hello in of itself that was nothing like the one he'd just shared with her in the speeder. Barriss' Force signature touched his, brushing with the force of a physical caress he felt to the soles of his feet. He sent back the same, hoping she wouldn't stumble when he added a suggestion before he swung himself into the access port.

Her presence flared in the Force before an admonishment came his way and Anakin couldn't suppress a laugh. For all she was a typical Jedi in most things, the bond they shared through the Force was a place no one but they could touch. Within it, she was everything she already was but couldn't be as a Jedi.

Within it, she was his Barriss; passionate, demanding and utterly engrossing.

The feel of her Force presence ebbed and faded as she focused on her surroundings and Anakin knew she was applying herself to the chase. Just that reminder was enough to wipe the smile off his lips.

Grievous had the Chancellor, his friend and mentor, with the intent of either killing him or ransoming him back to the Republic for power. Neither were acceptable options and Anakin, for one, wasn't about to allow the state of events to continue. He crawled through the narrow shaft, squeezing himself along as he mentally hoped the shaft didn't unexpectedly narrow.

Luck was with him as he turned the corner and came into the main ventilation shaft. The tunnels spidered out from this point, but the main shaft practically ran the length of the support pillar to the senate building and was wide enough Anakin could brace himself against one wall with his back and walk up it if he chose.

He didn't choose to; it would take too long.

Instead, he uncoiled into the main shaft and called on the Force once more. Springing upwards, he searched for the shaft that would take him to the perfect counter point to both Obi-Wan and Barriss, letting the Force guide his actions, and stopped after three leaps before throwing himself headlong into another side shaft. He crawled as quickly as he could, sensing that time was running out.

"Anakin."

He flipped on his comlink even as he continued to crawl. "Master?"

"I've located Grievous two decks below me. Where are you?"

"Not far now," Anakin assured him. "Junction Alpha, subsection one five seven two point four."

"Not far? You've practically on the other end of the building!"

"If he's headed for the bunker, he has to pass this way. I'm almost in position."

"It won't be enough," Barriss cut into their transmission. "Grievous has detoured; he's headed for the emergency evacuation ports; safety protocols prevent us from locking the shuttles down. It's his only way out."

Anakin cursed.

"Can you catch him, Barriss?"

"I can try, Obi-Wan," she shot back with a faint glimmer of amusement. "Get yourselves over here as swiftly as you can; I try and keep him from boarding that ship but I can't guarantee anything."

Anakin glanced around the access ports once again and hauled himself back into the main line. With Grievous' new location, he was badly out of position and wouldn't be able to join in the chase. Mentally reviewing the layout of the passageways he was in, Anakin considered his options. He had to get to the other conduits, up and around forty decks.

Unless...

With a grin no one could see, he ducked back into a side port and crawled for all he was worth, passing several access hatches before finding the one he wanted. Pressing his ear against it, he listened, hearing the sound of water rushing through the pipes. Counting in his head, he waited.

The sound stopped and he acted, calling on the force to lend strength to his muscles as he grasped the metallic cover and manual hatch controls and turned. It screamed, the shrieking of metal on metal putting Anakin's teeth on edge as he turned it for all he was worth. It popped open with a wet sounding squish and, deliberately not thinking about what would be within it, he slid into the pipe and closed it behind him.

Using the slick surfaces inside, for he couldn't see where he was going, he pushed off, sliding through the piping at an ever increasing clip even as he kept his arms braced before him to prevent sudden impacts and called on the Force.

Barriss.

He could sense her disapproval of his location even as he felt her amusement and admiration; no other Jedi would have considered his course. Focusing on her Force signature, he used it like a thread, pulling himself along it, guiding himself to the source.

Urgency suddenly struck him as fear mitigated by determination slashed through the connection like the blade of his lightsaber.

Barriss had met and engaged Grievous.

It spurred him onwards, propelling him to a reckless slide at dangerous speeds and he overshot his exit. Whipping around, he took the next off shoot, used the Force to slow himself, and grabbed the exhaust hatch. Throwing it open with a violent twist, he dropped from the pipe and into the main area, several corridors away from where he'd wanted to be. He closed the hatch just as the rush of fluids within began to echo down the pipe.

Slicking the yellow-green coating from his lightsaber, Anakin pulled it from his belt and, blade in hand, sprinted through the corridors.

"Obi-Wan."

"I'm almost there; do you see them?"

"Not yet, I - ugh!"

He almost doubled over as a pain ripped through his side just under his left arm near his heart. It wasn't his injury, but hers and she'd been struck. Badly.

"Anakin? Anakin! Are you all right?"

Forcing himself to push through the pain, Anakin answered his comlink as Obi-Wan's concerned demand ripped through the link. "I'm here. Barriss is in danger Master; she's hurt."

"Then we haven't much time." Obi-Wan paused and then continued. "If they're headed for the emergency evacuation ports, I'll head there to try and cut them off. Find Barriss and back her up."

"I'm on it," sprinting around another corner, Anakin headed for the area where he could feel Barriss.

There was a sudden tug on his essence and he felt her drawing on the Force to mitigate her injury; to give her time to act. That connection opened her up to him for she latched onto his own abilities, using his connection to the Force to boost her own; to channel the Force as she once had on Tatooine years ago.

There was a surge and then, just as suddenly, it was severed.

Anakin screamed within his mind, reaching for her - Barriss; NO!- but here was no response as his pace increased, his feet barely touching the ground as he careened dangerously fast around a corner heading for where he'd last felt her.

For where he could still feel her.

The thought penetrated as he crisscrossed another corridor and neared her location, slowing him, filtering in and sticking; Barriss was still alive. She was alive but, likely, unconscious and something was preventing a firmer contact.

Barriss! He sent the thought her way, hoping to feel her response or to wake her; anything... and received nothing but silence. Both in physical presence and the Force.

Anakin burst into the last hallway, lightsaber at the ready and brought it down on an infiltrator droid who had been lying in wait. It was cleaved in two before it realized he was there. Is counterpart whirled, firing one shot, and Anakin destroyed it too, slamming his lightsaber straight into its chest and core processor before whipping it up and out. The droid fell to pieces, hitting the ground as Anakin advanced purposefully.

"Barriss?"

There was no answer to his call as he stepped further into the corridor and her Force touch, while still present in the back of his mind, was no help.

A sound behind him had him whirling about to face another pair of droids, these Grievous' bodyguards. Force staves twirled in opposite rotations, designed to throw him off but Anakin had fought too many of them to be fooled. Striking straight out, he severed the first staff, sending it spinning away and up before slicing clean through the core of the droid.

Leaping up and flipping over the metal heap to avoid the strike at his back, Anakin parried the next staff blow with a grim look. He didn't have time for this; Barriss needed him. Stretching to the Force, he called it to his fingertips and pushed at the same time he surged forward on the attack.

The droid didn't have a chance as its staff went wide and the lightsaber arced in from the opposite side. Its hands hit the deck followed closely by its head and half its torso. Anakin kicked the lower half of the droid away and picked up his feet to run.

Even as he did, he felt Obi-Wan's frustration and keyed his comlink. "Master?"

"They beat me here, Anakin," Obi-Wan reported. "Get down here quickly."

Intuition kicked in and Anakin frowned at his comlink. It sounded as if Obi-Wan was deliberately avoiding a comment. "You're not telling me something. What is it? Is it Barriss?"

A sigh crossed his comlink, making his heart lurch in his chest, the lurch turning into a painful squeeze at Obi-Wan's next words.

"It's Barriss," Obi-Wan agreed, subdued. "Get down here, Anakin."

"I'm on my way; is she hurt?" Anakin clenched his hand more tightly about his still lit blade as his feet took off without him, guiding him unerringly towards the Force signature that was his old Master and best friend. "Obi-Wan?"

"She's unconscious," Obi-Wan informed him, a light on Anakin's comlink blinking as Obi-Wan engaged a private link. "But I don't know how badly she's hurt, my friend."

"She's still alive Obi-Wan; I can feel her."

"Oh, I have no doubt of that,"was the instant, dry assurance.

Anakin turned down another corridor and slapped the controls of the turbolift. With Grievous' escape, they'd be working again and would minimize the damage needed to be done for him to get around. It opened almost immediately and he stepped inside, pressing the floor he'd need with more force than was necessary.

Obi-Wan continued. "I simply don't know how badly she's injured because she's not with me. I didn't get the chance to look."

"Not with you?" Anakin frowned, staring a the floors as the lift descended. "Then where is she?"

Obi-Wan didn't answer and Anakin felt his trepidation climb. He still couldn't feel her properly through the Force and after years of having that anchor, suddenly being thrown adrift was unsettling. He reached for her again as the lift began to slow, once again feeling as if something or someone were blocking him.

His thoughts continued on the most logical course as fear skated down his spine. Dooku held Grievous' leash; Dooku knew of the attachment Anakin had to Barriss. Was the Sith Lord powerful enough to sense their connection and block it?

The doors to the lift opened into the emergency bay and Anakin strode out, meeting Obi-Wan half way, his gaze immediately going to the missing shuttle pod before sliding back to his mentor. Anakin barely took note of the droid bodies and parts littering the bay behind him, too focused on the fact that Obi-Wan hadn't been able to stop Grievous. He wasted no time in asking the most pressing and relevant question on his mind. "Where's Barriss, Obi-Wan?"

"I'm afraid I have bad news, my friend."

"I gathered that much."

"The last I saw of her she was unconscious and being thrown over General Grievous' shoulder."

"What?"

"They took her aboard one of the emergency evacuation shuttles." Obi-Wan's expression was grim. "I'm afraid Barriss is but another captive of the good General making his number of hostages the same as his guards; three."

"He took Barriss." Anakin stared at Obi-Wan and then, to Obi-Wan's surprise, a laugh bubbled out of him. "Right. What really happened to her, Obi-Wan?"

"That is what happened, Anakin," he was informed crossly. "I don't think you realize how serious this is."

"Grievous has no reason to take Jedi, only kill them." the thought sent another shiver down his spine. "Are you sure you weren't seeing things?"

"Positive." Obi-Wan headed for the docking controls where the shuttle that Grievous had stolen was berthed.

As a precaution, all shuttles had pre-programmed destinations that couldn't be overridden once in the air and they needed to figure out where this one was headed. Anakin caught on quickly and followed, stepping in when Obi-Wan would have tried to hack in. "Allow me."

"You're no better."

"I've more experience with programming than you do," he retorted, calling up the program. "Here it is; vector five one seven mark three six."

Obi-Wan flipped open his comlink and selected a frequency. "Master Yoda."

"Read you I do, Obi-Wan."

"We were unable to capture Grievous; he escaped by using one of the emergency shuttles."

"Unfortunate this is. Go after him you must. Allowed to remain his prisoners long, the Chancellor and Senator cannot."

"We've the heading on the shuttle, Master Yoda," Anakin interjected. "Tracking it shouldn't be an issue but..."

"There's another complication," Obi-Wan broke in. "Master Offee is with them."

"In pursuit, is she?"

"Captured," the older of the two Jedi corrected the venerable Master. "I don't like the feel of this, Master; what would Grievous possibly want with Master Offee? He's never taken Jedi prisoners in the past."

"Not true, Obi-Wan," was the immediate correction. "Often Jedi are taken prisoner to be questioned. Tortured. Killed, eventually, they all are. None have survived the General's methods."

"Then time is of the essence."

"Return to the temple," Yoda ordered, his tone grim. "Discuss we will, the course of action to take. Recovered they must be."

Anakin and Obi-Wan exchanged looks as the comlink transmission cut out and, as one, turned towards the lift Anakin had used.

"That's a new look for you."

Anakin glanced down at his sopping tunic, the slightly off color reminding him he needed a shower - with his clothes on. "I'm going for a new trend; battered Jedi."

Obi-Wan arched an eyebrow. "If you wanted to be beaten, all you had to do was ask."

"I'd rather let Barriss do it," Anakin returned with a smirk. "At least she'd kiss it better."

"What the two of you do on your own time," Obi-Wan shook his head with a smile that slowly died as the lift opened for them and they stepped inside. "I'm sure she's fine, Anakin."

"She is," he assured Obi-Wan with a half smile. "I wouldn't be joking otherwise."

"I sense a 'but' in there."

"I can't reach her. Something or someone is blocking our connection."

"I can't say I'm a big fan of the Force connection you two have," Obi-Wan admitted, "but at the moment it's most comforting."

"Yeah," Anakin agreed, taking the time to slick the goop from his hair. Someone would, later, likely be eating food that was made in the grease he'd slid through. Despite the fact, he found it amusing. He'd enjoy having Barriss tease him about being tasted by so many people - later. "Yeah; it is. I just wish I knew what was interrupting it."

"Dooku, perhaps?"

"It's possible; he's still out there."

"Well, let's see what Master Yoda and the council suggest for now; even with those coordinates, there's a lot of space to cover."

Silently, Anakin agreed. Barriss for the moment was on her own. Reaching silently for the glimmer within him that was their connection, he held onto it like a talisman. She was fine; alive and unharmed for now. He would, he promised that spark, find her before things changed.

For all she could take care of herself, anything else was unacceptable.