Ventress raised her hands, expecting the next strike and hoping to ward it off. Dooku and Grievous, however, weren't happy with the fact that she refused to die. Dooku, particularly, was not amused when Ventress grabbed his foot and twisted his ankle when he tried to kick her. Hissing with the pain, anger flaring up within him, he staggered over to the wall next to him and leaned against it, using a quick scan with the Force to assess the damage.

"You tore the ligaments!"

Ventress said nothing; she simply retreated into the corner, hissing and spitting like a cat that was frightened of some outside threat, and was trying to mask its fear with aggression. Grievous took a step towards her-which, in Grievous's terms, equaled two or three human steps. He planted himself right in front of Ventress, leering down at her with his golden eyes.

"I'm going to heal this," Dooku growled. "And you, miss, will stay put."

"My lord," Grievous rasped, "if I may-?"

"Do whatever the hell you want with her, General, I do not care," Dooku said dismissively, testing the foot by hesitantly putting some weight on it. "Just don't let her get more than arm's length away from you."

With that last, cranky order, Dooku then proceeded to limp away, his attempts to walk almost comical. Ventress would have laughed, if not for the circumstances. He leaned heavily on the wall for support, limping so badly Ventress thought his entire leg had been shot out from under him. As soon as he turned the corner, Grievous's gaze swiveled back to her. Ventress matched his gaze, wrapping her arms around her waist and trying to use the Force to heal herself as much as possible. It wasn't easy; there were still residual traces of the Jedi's Force-suppressing drugs in her system. They inhibited her now, disrupting what little control of the Force she had left. And Grievous wasn't letting up.

Ventress found her left leg suddenly trapped in the cyborg's clawed feet; she felt the fear flicker into her eyes a moment later, and knew then it was too late to try to hide it. Grievous pulled her closer; Ventress fell back onto her elbows, caught off guard by the sudden motion. Grievous's harsh, grating laugh echoed throughout the entire corridor, and Ventress knew in a heartbeat she was about to die. As slowly and painfully as sentient being could die.

Grievous's claw tightened considerably around her leg, effectively crushing the bone and tearing through the muscle. Ventress cried out in pain, her eyes closing and fighting tears. Warm blood spilled out onto her leg; it stained her skin and clothes alike, soaking through her boot and emerging on Grievous's foot as he pulled it back. Ventress rolled onto her stomach, trying to force her knees beneath her. Maybe, if she was lucky, she could use her good leg to push herself forward, between his legs and out from underneath him-

As if on cue, Grievous seized her again, this time her upper right arm falling victim to his steeled claws. There was considerably less blood, but no less pain. Grievous drew back his other hand, dealing Ventress a stunning blow to the gut and knocking her back into the wall. The mere force of the blow dented the walls of the space craft, and Ventress could feel the entire thing shudder as it strove to take off.

And now, there was no one left to save her.

Ventress slumped down against the wall, dazed and seeing red from the repeated blows. Stars danced in front of her eyes, their twinkling brilliance and ironic contrast to her bleak future. The sound of a lightsaber igniting alerted her to what else was to come; thank the Force. He's putting me out of my misery. I'm so sorry, Obi-Wan. I know this is exactly what you wanted to prevent, but-

The smell of burning flesh preceded the stinging agony of the burns placed on Ventress's arms, and the Rattataki cried out once again. Grievous kicked her firmly in the chest, seeking to collapse her lungs. "There's no one here," he hissed. "So why do you still scream? It's over, Asajj Ventress! Just give up! Hate Dooku for what he did to you! He betrayed you!"

Somehow, the words registered in the thick fog that encompassed Ventress's mind. She strove the commit the concept to memory, but her damaged body won the fight. She slipped into unconsciousness, and the last thing she remembered was hitting the floor.

OOOOOOOOO

Pain. Like her entire body was on fire.

Ventress bit her lip so hard it bled. The blood trickling down her lip was from her other internal injuries, she knew. A terrible cough wracked her prone form; her lungs were failing. More blood erupted from her mouth, the product of internal bleeding. Ventress let a small tear slip free; why was she still alive?

Her eyesight was clearing; that was the good news. The bad news was, she still had no idea where she was. Gray enveloped her on all sides; just gray bricks, and gray metallic chains. She found that her arms were restrained with the same, as were her legs. When she tried to move, nothing but pain followed; courtesy of the many broken bones she had sustained. Ventress felt a small whimper escape her lips, and closed her eyes in shame. She had gone through worse than this, hadn't she? Come to think of it…no. Ventress found herself hard-pressed to think of an incident that even rivaled this one, and simply decided to give up. She was going to die; bottom line.

But when?

When would they tire of playing with her, and simply end it? When would Dooku finally give up, and just put her out of her misery? Ventress had to admit, she no longer feared death: Obi-Wan's word and the current pain nullified her every previous fear, instead replacing it with nothing but a cold, hard, urge to alleviate this seemingly endless pain.

Obi-Wan…oh, she couldn't do this to him, could she? Not when they had just realized what they felt for each other! To love, and then to lose so soon…it was a cruelty the world just seemed to want to give her. Ventress sighed softly, trying to see if she could feel the Force at all. Of course not; the Sith were much more cruel than the Jedi. Her arms had been bound above her head, her feet had been chained to the floor, her entire body was incapable of movement, she couldn't even feel the Force within her-Ventress was in bad shape. Not to mention he still-bleeding wounds all over her body.

Ventress almost cried when she heard the door open.

Relief cascaded through her system. Finally, someone who would end this madness! But she could hear no footsteps coming closer, nothing to tell her who this mystery visitor was. There wasn't the ominous clanging of Grievous's metal appendages; there wasn't the comforting rhythm of Dooku's soft-soled boots. There was merely a whisper of silk, and then, a cool hand touched her face.

Ventress's icy blue eyes flashed open, capturing sickly yellow ones in her gaze. The rest of the dark lord's face was hidden beneath an ebony cowl that flowed into a cloak made from the shadows themselves. All she could see were his eyes-yellow, fiery yellow, ringed by piercing red and bleeding that same crimson into his irises. Ventress couldn't look away-she suddenly knew who was before her.

Her entire body trembled with the realization. She was relieved as well, though: he would help her, she knew! He could see what was really going on-couldn't he? "My lord," Ventress gasped, "Please…"

Reduced to begging. Ventress cursed herself for it, but somehow couldn't stop the tears that sprung to her eyes, nor the words that came from her mouth. "Lord Sidious, please, forgive my appearance, but the General-"

"I am aware of what the General has done."

Ventress stopped cold as that icy, flat voice permeated her thoughts. It seemed to drift into her head, filling her mind, polluting every corner, and then, just as she thought its welcoming embrace was short at hand-

He crushed her.

Ventress cried out at the mental attack, feeling her shielding crumple. Barriers that were far too weak to begin with came crashing down, and Sidious invaded her fully. He took her mind and poisoned it beyond all compare, beyond all recognition: he scarred her happiest memories, taking every one of them and twisting them into something dark and disgusting. Ventress took her memories of Obi-Wan and hid them, hid them deep within herself-but even that wasn't enough to stop the dark lord. Ventress retreated, deep within herself, clutching the memories like a little child clutches its mother's hand. But still, she couldn't hide. Sidious found her, and tore the memories from her ever-weakening grip, rifling through them and then crushing them underfoot.

In the waking world, Ventress couldn't even begin to control herself.

"Stop!" she cried, struggling with numbed hands against the chains that bound her. "Stop, please! I loved him! I loved him!!"

Darth Sidious paid no heed to her pleas. He took her most precious memory, tore it into pieces, and threw it back in her face. Her memory of finding Obi-Wan's mutual love was now of him firmly rejecting her, pushing her away and claiming he could never even begin to love "some abomination like her."

As soon as Sidious withdrew, Ventress gave herself over to her tears.

OOOOOOOOOO

Obi-Wan was struck with a pain so debilitating, he almost fell over.

As it was, he was stopped in his tracks, and had to struggle to maintain his balance as shockwave after shockwave of Force-transmitted pain hit him. The waves went right through him, reeking of the dark side's poison. Anakin, walking beside him, stopped as well, turning and bending over slightly to try to see his master's face. Obi-Wan was surprised to find himself doubled over with pain, and fought to maintain his composure. As it was, he felt like losing his lunch.

"Master?" Anakin asked, concern lacing his voice. "Are you alright?"

"Get me a Council member," he gasped, still fighting the pain. "And do it quickly!"

Anakin raced off at once to find someone from the Council, searching out the closest and strongest Force-presence he could. It was Shaak Ti he found not a minute later, barely two hallways away. She was instructing a class of Younglings on the basics of Makashi lightsaber combat. Anakin rushed over to the room he sensed her in, and banged on the door as loudly and insistently as he could. Shaak Ti's lightsaber hissed away, and she quietly excused herself to the door. She opened the door as soon as she could, worry etched into her face as she caught sight of Anakin.

"Anakin!" she said, sounding surprised. "What's wrong?"

"It's Master Obi-Wan," Anakin gasped. "Something happened, I don't know what, but he just stopped, and his presence in the Force got all fuzzy, and then started exploding. And then he collapsed, and told me to find a Council member-"

"I'll go. I sense him, now that's I'm looking for him. Class, Padawan Skywalker will keep an eye on you. Anakin, if you please?"

Anakin nodded once, knowing that arguing would only cost them more precious time. Shaak Ti raced away, heading for Obi-Wan's distressed Force-signature. She heard Anakin's voice as he addressed the class, introducing himself and promising to report any misbehavior to Shaak Ti. And then, the Togruta Jedi could hear no more. She rounded the corner, almost immediately happening upon Obi-Wan. He was sitting against the wall, breathing hard, clutching at his stomach, as if sick.

Shaak Ti dropped to her knees next to Obi-Wan, placing a hand on his shoulder and quickly searching through him for anything that would cause this. All she could see was that someone from outside was sending him this pain, as a plea for help-but who, and why? Shaak Ti severed the bond, and then sat back, waiting for Obi-Wan to regain his sanity.

Obi-Wan sat up, glancing around as he was dropped back into the real world. Beside him sat Shaak Ti, looking more than worried. Anakin was nowhere to be seen.

"Where's Anakin?"

"Watching my class," Shaak Ti said dryly. "What was that about? Who was that?"

Obi-Wan shook his head. He knew who it was, but dared not say it. But, Shaak Ti needed an answer. He had to come up with something…something besides the harsh, bitter truth. Unfortunately, nothing he could come up with would work.

"Ask me again when I get back."

Obi-Wan stood up, then, and burst into a run. Shaak Ti, caught off guard, was left in the dust as Obi-Wan tapped into the Force to increase his speed. Shaak Ti gave a small huff of indignance.

"You're welcome."

OOOOOOOOOOO

Obi-Wan raced towards the aircraft hangar. She had called to him, in nothing but pure despair. She was dying, and she had been betrayed by everyone she had ever trusted. Except Obi-Wan. And by now, he was long out of reach. It had been nearly twenty-four hours since she had been released; she had no hope. What she didn't realize was that Obi-Wan knew exactly where she was. And it wasn't far. Obi-Wan leapt into the nearest fighter, making sure it was slightly covert and then jamming his thumb to the ignition. He backed out of the hangar, whipping around and took off into the sky, streaking away from Coruscant and making the jump to hyperspace almost immediately. Yavin 4: the Great Massassi Temple. They would take her there, of all places. It was if they had known he would come. Festering, dank, uninhabitable, incessant, disgusting, rotting, backwater-soaked darkness all around, hatred in no short supply-even Yoda would be foolish to go there, and hope to win a battle to rescue a friend. He would need a full strike team! But, as Obi-Wan dropped out of hyperspace, he felt the presence of another Jedi-in his mind. Anakin had found him through their mental bond.

Padawan, I warn you-

I don't need a warning, Master. Just give me your coordinates.

What exactly are you planning, my foolish Padawan?

Well, Master Windu wanted to know where you were, just so he would know where to go if there was trouble.

Obi-Wan snickered slightly, taking care to hide the thought from Anakin. Oh, there would be trouble, alright. Especially when they found out who he was going after. Just tell them I am replying to a call for help, he said finally, after a long pause. And tell them I'm at the Great Massassi temple on Yavin 4.

THE MASSASI TEMPLE?!!!!

Not so loud, Anakin, you heard me correctly.

Obi-Wan felt Anakin severe the connection, and smiled softly to himself. He was glad that Anakin was worried about him, but he could do without the theatrics. He closed himself off firmly from anyone and everyone, save the one precious woman on the moon below. He masked his presence in the Force, but still tried to send her one last message as the cadences of her last breath reached him:

Save one breath for me.

A/N: Well, that came out better than I expected. Review, please!