Her consciousness was seperate from her body, like a balloon hovering above her head. The pain had vanished, and it was a welcome relief. Now there was just this bizarre floating feeling, as though she were suspended in midair. Far below her, as if from the bottom of a well, she felt her body being tugged slowly over the marble floors. A sweet, sharp odor, sickeningly sweet and cloyingly thick, was flooding her systems. The more she breathed, the higher she rose. She wondered what would happen when she rose to the very top. The floating feeling lessened slightly, and she felt a pair of powerful arms slide underneath her numb body. She tingled where the person touched her, as if his hands were covered with tiny needles. The thick sweet smell stopped quickly, and a cleaner scent filled her head. The floating feeling didn't abate, and she coughed once as fresh air cocooned her body. A warm, bitter liquid was slipped between her teeth, and the floating feeling stopped abruptly. She came crashing back into her consciousness, bringing with it the massive pain that was sending ripples from her hip. She cried out weakly, half of the slimy, bitter concoction coming back up, but she didn't care. The pain was enormous. She couldn't think, couldn't breathe.

More warm liquid flowed down her throat, and this time it went down a little easier. The fluid was sticky, and it coated her tongue, the nasty taste lingering. She moaned, shifting her weight away from her injured hip. Both of her eyes shot open as another cupful of liquid was shoved down her throat. She gagged, forcing the fluid out of her mouth and spitting it away from her. Ana took a ragged gasp, drinking in droughts of clean, pure air as she swiped a hand across her mouth. Panting, she examined her surroundings. The first thing she saw was a slight figure cradling her head, pale, pretty features framed by a hanging curtain of golden hair. Large blue eyes, framed with thick blonde lashes, blinked slowly at her, examining her curiously. Ana tried to drag herself upright into a sitting position, but the pain was too much. She bit the inside of her cheek to keep from shouting again. Gradually, she made herself relax. Reaching out to the Force, she allowed the Force to ebb at her pain, to soothe the monstrous feeling that was consuming her body. Slowly, with excruciating length, the Force took the edge off her pain. Her fuzzy brain stumbled over questions, and finally she managed to gasp out four words that meant more to her than anything else in the world.

"Qui-Gon," Ana rasped. "I need...Qui-Gon."

The beautiful blonde woman merely simpered prettily and dabbed a damp rag across her forehead. Ana's body was coated with an icy sweat that was rattling her teeth and seeping into her bones. The blonde went on as though she hadn't heard her, and Ana tried again. But when she opened her mouth to ask for her Master, the blonde tipped a ladleful of hot, steaming soup into her mouth. The heat scalded her throat and burned a red stripe across her mouth, and Ana swallowed with difficulty. It was thin and too sweet to be a soup, rather watery, and contained a few rubbery chunks of meat. She coughed again, pushing away the bowl. "Qui-Gon," she said hoarsely. "Qui-Gon...Jinn."

She let Ana's head fall back, smoothing her skirt as she rose. Ana watched her through bleary eyes - why was her vision suddenly slipping out of focus?. Everything was going fuzzy, and with a rising panic Ana realized she could no longer sense the Force around her. What had happened? Was her pain so out of control that she couldn't feel the Force? But the pain had stayed at a modest level, still sending sparks whenever she moved, but if she was absolutely still there was no pain. The soup. She paled. Something had been in the soup.

The blonde rapped twice on the door, and it hissed open promptly. A dark figure stepped in, long black hair touching his shoulders and sweeping across his face. Icy blue eyes, frosty as an ice cap and sinister as a cobra, glanced indifferently at the blonde. A smirk - no, a sneer - curved his lips, and he kissed her roughly, tipping her chin back with a single finger. The blonde cooed happily, lashes fluttering as the handsome young man broke away from her. "Leave us," he said disdainfully, as if he had merely inquired about the weather instead of locking himself in a passionate embrace. She nodded demurely, the door closing instantly behind her.

He surveyed Ana, noted her hair cording against her temples, matted by sweat. Her tunic was stained and dirty, and her leggings were ripped to the knee. A fresh wound encircled her hip, a deep burn that had seared her flesh to the bone. His thin lips twitched in a smile as he gazed fondly at his handiwork. "Quite a nasty scar, Ana," he drawled lightly. "I did a good job, if I say so myself."

"Monster." Ana panted. She squinted, trying to focus on her anger, indignation, rage. But every emotion was slipping away from her as easily as a cube of butter. She struggled to reach for the Force. Why couldn't she operate? "Where is...Qui-Gon?"

"How touching," Xanantos purred. "Your first thoughts turn to your Master. Rest assured, he is quite safe...for now. But when he comes to fetch you I don't think he'll be in such perfect health." He crouched down by her level, meeting her gaze. Her green eyes were blinking constantly, and they were rapidly becoming dull and unfocused. The seething anger that had been boiling in her eyes only hours before had been replaced by thick complacency. He stroked her round cheek with one finger, running the tip of it along her jaw line, feathering across her plump lips.

She moved faster that he had been expecting, striking with the savageness of a young panther. Her teeth buried themselves in his finger, sinking to the bone in a split second. Pain coursed up his arm and he roared with anger, striking her squarely on the jaw. She released him, the bitter tang of blood pooling in her mouth. The film was dimming her eyes, making everything go gray and cloudy. Xanantos's handsome face had been contorted into an inhuman mask of savagery. "I'm going to kill you, little Padawan," he hissed. "And I'm going to make your precious Master watch!"

-0

The blonde woman crossed her legs and arranged her hair, rumpling it slightly. She wanted to look very available for her master before he came out of the interview. Suddenly there was a shriek of rage, and she leapt for the handle - then stopped. Under no circumstances was she allowed to break up an interview. She had been punished for that the last time. She hesitated, dithering by the doorway. She didn't have to wait long - it shot open and he stormed out, wrapping his finger in the hem of his cloak. "Xanantos?" she cried, following him down the narrow hallway. "What's wrong?" she asked. Xanantos banged open one of the swinging doors in his massive ship, flicking on a faucet. He plunged his finger underneath the stream of water, cooling the fevered digit. Concentrating, he absorbed his pain and relaxed. There was nothing to worry about. Everything was going according to plan.

She tugged on his sleeve. "Xanantos? What's going on?"

He struck her, backhanded her across her cheek. She whimpered, clutching her reddened face, tattooed with an imprint of Xanantos's signet ring. Tears welled in her beautiful blue eyes. "Don't touch me!" he growled. "Never touch me!" He stood over her cowering figure ominously. "Double her dose. I want her out for the rest of the journey. By any luck, my former Master will arrive to pick up his precious bundle by tonight."

-0

Qui-Gon tapped his fingers on the dashboard of the Imperial Convoy. Bulgrasse had issued him the best ship Iridonia had, and Qui-Gon had taken it with no qualms. The redneck Senator was staying on Iridonia to straighten everything out, and to elect a leader in place of Bu-Taan. Qui-Gon had no doubts that Bulgrasse would choose wisely; under normal circumstances, he would have remained by Bulgrasse's side and helped establish a just ruler, but things had changed. When he discovered Ana missing and saw Bu-Taan's luxury cruise ship gone, he had put two and two together. A young assistant from Bu-Taan's slave hold had also gone missing, but Qui-Gon didn't think much of it. The overwhelming importance was to find Ana before it was too late.

It turned out to be very easy to find Ana. The luxury cruise ship had left an impressive wake, or at least that's what the captain had said. With his expert controlling and space-seasoned eyes, he had been able to easily distinguish the tracks of a fast-moving cruise ship. He had spouted some scientific nonsense to Qui-Gon, and was still babbling at his elbow. With great effort, Qui-Gon turned to him. " - and the arrangement of the asteroids suggests that there was a big ship passing through here recently," the blonde captain said. "Probably burning some cheap, low-grade oil."

This part didn't make sense to Qui-Gon. "How difficult is it to track low grade oil?" he asked, unease pricking the back of his neck. The captain shrugged.

"Actually, it's really easy to spot. See those purple streaks?" he asked, pointing. Qui-Gon could barely distinguish the shifting purple stripes between the swirling abyss of space, but he was able to manage it.

"Those are emission tracks. These are really vibrant and obvious, so they have to be burning low-grade oil and going pretty fast. Also, they've probably passed by here recently."

The uneasy feeling grew. There was only one reason Xanantos was painting such a wide, blatant trail through space. He knew that Qui-Gon would follow, knew that he would hasten with all possible speed to rescue his Padawan. So if he were trying to make a clean getaway, why would he mark such a lurid color throughout space?

He was leading him into a trap.

A/N: Please review. Please, please, PLEASE! I have no idea how this chapter turned out…Anyway, review!