Hello- told you it wouldn't take as long! Aren't you relieved? I have the next three or four chapters planned in detail ready to be written- so this was actually rather easy and quick to write. Not like the other chapter which took months! We won't talk about that...

Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter though :D Love you all- you showed you care even though I made you wait :D Love love love! Thanks for all your comments and support!

Just a quick warning- this chapter is dark- not explicit or anything but yeah. Not really for the very faint hearted. It isn't that bad- but just in case :)

Aside from that...hope you like it...if that's the right word. Sorry it's rather short but it was a good place to stop. Or maybe bad- as you'll see. Seriously- no more spoilers AldabaranFox! Just go read!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything in the Star Wars universe :(

Chapter 6- Alone in the Dark

Pain. That was the first thing he felt and the only thing that mattered. It coursed through his veins, through his entire body until his muscles trembled in silent agony. He could not block it out, could not even cry out against it, as it hurt too much to make a sound; it hurt too much to even think about what was happening. The terrible sensation of nausea bubbled in his stomach and he involuntarily tensed, increasing the pain. No, no more pain…

Finally, a low moan escaped his lips and he felt consciousness beckoning him towards alertness. No, he did not want to go there. It hurt there. Being blissfully unaware of the pain was a much better option he decided. Much better than being awake and hurting all over. However, he had no respite and felt his eyelids flutter, gradually, painstakingly slowly opening.

He may as well not have opened his eyes. It was as black with his eyes open, as it was with them shut. He double checked to make sure. All the pain was making brain processes take several times as long as he thought they normally should and the blackness disorientated him further.

Where was he? Why was he here? Why did he hurt so much?

Slowly, his senses began to flicker back to life and feed titbits of information to his overtaxed brain. He was cold. Very cold, that was certainly one of the strongest feelings coming through. He shivered as his brain caught up, whole body shuddering painfully as the cold began to seep in. The clamouring sensation of pain had kept it at bay for a while. As his body shook, he felt his arms move. Vaguely, he was aware that he was standing in an upright position but his arms were not by his sides. They were above him, in the air.

Why were they in the air?

Hesitating for a moment, he then tried to pull them down. Sharp, instant pain shot through every nerve in his arms, coursing down to his torso and making him seize up in pain, clench his fists and squeeze his eyes shut against it. Why wouldn't it go away? He could not bring his arms down. Were they stuck? Slowly, much more cautiously, he rotated his wrists. There was something around them, something metal-like and cold against his skin. They chaffed too, so he immediately stopped the motion. There was no sense in inflicting more pain on himself.

He was in trouble. That was a much as his beleaguered brain could tell him at the moment. Something was most definitely not right here. It was dark, he was cold, in pain and his arms were in…what was the word…chains. His brain was also working very slowly, it took an age for him to understand anything, to process the smallest, simplest bit of information.

He was thirsty.

It had taken him a long time to realise that. His lips were cracked and mouth dry as he tried to lick his lips, find any moisture to cool his ragged throat. He was thirsty and he wanted- no needed water. His head swam sickeningly for a moment, even in the dark he felt dizzy. The nausea was coming back- even more strongly than before.

Sleep. He needed to sleep. Escape the cruel pain that taunted and controlled him. Why could he not control the pain? There was something, right at the back of his mind…but no…he couldn't quite…

Unconsciousness claimed him, for once mercifully taking him away from the agony and into a far away, dreamless state.

The next time he woke again, things were immediately clearer. His head did not feel as hazy or foggy as it had done the last time- making it impossible to think. Immediately, information began to flood his senses. He was still cold, still thirsty and still in pain. It did not look as though very much had changed in his situation.

Carefully, he began to open his eyes, remembering the darkness that had been outward and inward the last time he had done so. To his surprise, and his pupils' horror, there was definitely light- though not particularly bright it was definitely there. Even the smallest amount of light reduced them to slivers of black in his eyes, as they began to water.

"Oh I'm sorry. Is the light too much for you?" a voice asked.

A voice. This was also new like the light. Who was speaking to him?

Slowly, his eyes opened again, once he had regained a little control. From what he could make out through squinted eyes, he was in a square room. There was a door opposite him and it had a small light above it, a glow bar attached to the wall, allowing a small amount of yellowy light to infiltrate the room.

Where was the speaker?

"I'm here," the voice said again, from his side. Slowly, he turned his head and saw someone take a step towards him. He was human, or as much a human as he could make out at a glance. He was tall and willowy, with blonde hair that fell past his shoulders and was clipped neatly back. But his eyes. The human's eyes were black and full of a look that he did not like in the slightest. If anything, it promised more pain.

"I have to thank you Qui-Gon," the human said, rather pleasantly. "Your latest mission- to Sytenar? Do you remember? You found those extraordinarily interesting Force-blocking rocks? The planet was rich in it! I have found the rocks to be very useful indeed."

Qui-Gon. That was his name. The other minor details were slowly falling into place. Qui-Gon Jinn. Jedi. Coruscant. Rhasta. Obi-Wan. Obi-Wan! Where was he? Was he here? No…no, Obi-Wan was on Coruscant. He was safe. He let the relief flood through him.

"You are relieved? About what?" the blonde man demanded. His eyes lit up and one side of his lips twitched in a smirk. "You don't understand do you? Well- those rocks, which I have spent the last few months researching, actually form a part of your manacles holding you in place. You've been in skin to skin contact with them- no wonder you can't feel the Force or even use any of your powers. Poor Qui-Gon. You've been stripped of the very thing you hold dear."

Qui-Gon managed to tilt his head backwards to look up at the chains holding his wrists above his head. He then looked back at the man in front of him. He opened his mouth to speak but all that came out was a rasping noise, reminding him that his throat was most definitely raw and unable to allow him to speak.

The blonde man laughed-an evil, cruel sound that made the hairs on the back of Qui-Gon's neck stand up. "I guess that happens- when you scream like that, your throat might be a bit sore."

"I…k-know…you," Qui-Gon managed to force out, despite the pain, his sentence slow and voice low. "You…are…"

"I'll save you the effort," the man sneered, obviously too impatient to let Qui-Gon finish. "Yes, Master Sony-Da, of the Jedi Temple, Coruscant. Or perhaps, formerly of the Jedi Temple. I had been, until you got in the way!" he spat at the confused Jedi Master in chains before him.

Sony-Da. It really was him, Qui-Gon realised. The same, tall, blonde man he remembered from the Temple. The Jedi who had gone to prison for nearly killing a Jedi initiate. Obi-Wan. The man who been sent to prison for his crime, but was somehow here despite having not been released.

"Of course I escaped Qui-Gon. You knew that I had escaped. Isn't that why you left your precious apprentice back in the safety of Coruscant, surrounded by Jedi such as Master Yoda?"

"Let…me…go," Qui-Gon demanded. He knew it would be fruitless, probably just amuse this crazed former-Jedi. Using every possible ounce of strength he had, he focused, tried to feel for the Force. As he did so, it illusively slid away from him, the comforting warmth he was used to feeling, muted and dim, so distant he could not reach it no matter how hard he tried.

"Oh no Qui-Gon. Weren't you listening about those Force supressing rocks I was telling you about?" Sony-Da chided. "You can't feel the Force. You couldn't feel the Force right now if it hit you across the face! And of course I'm not going to let you go. I have far too much planned just to let you go. Now, where were we…oh yes- your apprentice, dear, young Obi-Wan Kenobi."

"Leave him…alone."

Sony-Da considered the bound Jedi Master before him. "Now, now Qui-Gon. You know how it is, what affects the Master, affects the Padawan too. And in your case… I don't think Obi-Wan is feeling particularly well at all at the moment."

Qui-Gon's eyes widened. No…this wasn't happening.

"You were injected with a potent drug Qui-Gon Jinn. One that paralyzed your whole body, as various important parts such as your liver, heart, lungs began to slowly shut down. It was painful, very painful as the toxin spread through your blood. But you did not beg. Not once. Not once. Until you found out…"

Qui-Gon felt his heartbeat begin to rapidly increase. There was more than something wrong here with him. He was beginning to think this stretched far beyond what was happening to him.

"Yes, that's right. You found out, what happens to you, happens to him. Another thing I've been researching recently. Too complicated for now- you're not in the right state of mind to comprehend but I'll simplify. As the drug moved through your system, it also invaded your mind. And found your bond. The bond you share with Obi-Wan," he hissed. "And so it spread down your bond- with a little encouragement of course. I had to magnify the bond- using some of my Force power. So it infected him. Would do exactly the same thing to him as it was to you. Of course, then, you started to beg. But not for your life- his. For his life. As though you did not matter but you couldn't stand for him to die. Once I was sure that Obi-Wan had contracted the drug- I simply shut off your Force link. The manacles," he pointed to them. "Shut you off from the Force and your bond."

"NO!" the vehement protest burst free from Qui-Gon before he could stop it. The pain, this was much worse. The bodily pain did not even compare to this. The fact that his Padawan had suffered, had felt such pain, made his heart contract in agony. Obi-Wan had done nothing to warrant this- he had left him on Coruscant to keep him safe…to keep him alive…no…

"Without your stoic Jedi mask you are so much easier to read Qui-Gon," Sony-Da smirked. "It makes this so much better."

"I don't…believe…"

Sony-Da shrugged. "They say seeing is believing. So you shall see." He snapped his fingers and a droid that had been stationary in the corner began to roll forward. It carried a holo screen in front of his. With a flick of the Force, Sony-Da activated the screen. "A droid in the hallway at the time picked up everything. And here we are- a hallway quite near you quarters…"

Qui-Gon's eyes were drawn to the screen. He picked out the time stamp and date in the bottom corner. The corridor was quiet for a moment before he heard faint voices picked up by the droid.

"…and afterwards we can catch up on that latest holo-movie that came out," a female voice said as two figures rounded the corner and started walking towards the camera.

"Master Vena will check to see if we've done the work," a male voice that was instantly familiar to Qui-Gon, shot back teasingly.

The camera zoomed in and Qui-Gon recognized the two figures. One was a female Mon Calamari, dressed in Jedi robes, holding a bunch of data pads and books to her chest as she smiled and laughed at her friend's teasing comment. His eyes then flicked to her human male friend. It was Obi-Wan, right down to the braid that hung down by his shoulder. Qui-Gon almost shut his eyes, to block out whatever might happen next, but he found he could not.

The two continued walking, until suddenly, Obi-Wan stopped.

Qui-Gon shook his head as he watched his padawan freeze in his tracks. No…please…no!

"Obi-Wan?" Bant had paused, looking back to see why her friend was not by her side. Seeing him a little way behind her, she turned back to walk over to him. "Obi-Wan? What is it? Have you forgotten something? Obi-Wan? Obi-Wan what's wrong?" she waited.

Obi-Wan's body suddenly stiffened, his face rapidly paling as the briefest expression of pain flitted across his face. Without warning, his body collapsed to the ground in one movement, as though he were a puppet and his strings had been cut.

"Obi-Wan!" Qui-Gon managed to say, his voice cracking, in pain and fear as he watched the video.

"Obi!" Bant cried, falling to her knees, books and pads forgotten as she frantically tried to help her friend and find out what had made him collapse. A few moments later and another figure, taller this time, came round the corner, approaching the two padawans.

"What's going on here?" It was Master Mace Windu, Qui-Gon realised absentmindedly, his whole being focused on the unresponsive body of his padawan, willing him silently to wake up, show him that the boy was alright, he wasn't dying…The rest of the tape was a blur to the Jedi Master. He watched as healers arrived, gently picking up Obi-Wan and disappearing, Mace walking by the holo stretcher, Bant disappearing in the other direction…

Sony-Da switched off the holo-screen. "There you have it," he announced. "The last living moments of Obi-Wan Kenobi."

Qui-Gon shook his head, as much as he could without the pain skyrocketing. "No…I'm…alive. I survived…he should…live…"

It was Sony-Da's turn to shake his head. "Qui-Gon, Qui-Gon. I gave you the antidote. That is why you survived."

Qui-Gon felt as though he had been punched in the stomach as all the air was torn from him and he found himself unable to breathe. No…this isn't happening! Obi-Wan! Padawan!

Sony-Da continued, mindless of the emotional pain he was inflicting, much greater than the physical pain. "Unfortunately, I administered it after I had closed the bond between you and Obi-Wan. This video was recorded yesterday night. I have it confirmed from a medical droid- Obi-Wan died…what…almost five hours ago now, as it took his body three hours to completely shut down. In complete agony. There was nothing the healers could do. Not even the Master Healer…I forget his name. They had to watch as Obi-Wan died. And all the while, his Master was off on some other planet- unaware they thought- of his Padawan's plight. How callous. How hard hearted that the Master was unreachable as his Padawan died."

And with that, Sony-Da left the broken Jedi Master to his own agonising, grief ridden thoughts, alone in the dark again as the blonde, twisted, fallen former-Jedi left the room.

Sorry- very sad :( Poor Qui-Gon. Now what is he to do? Sony-Da was chilling- he scared me when I was writing it! *Shivers* Hopefully you weren't too disturbed/creeped out. Hopefully it wasn't too dark :/

Any mistakes are my own :P Thanks to peanutmeg for spotting one in the last chapter hehe- I'll go fix that at some point :D

Next chapter will be up hopefully near the end of the week or beginning of next as going to be very busy with new job! Yay!

Thank you for reading- please review and say what you thought?

AldabaranFox