He could feel her approaching the Temple. Her Force signature was unmistakable: full of deceit, evil, and Darkness. "Death" hadn't changed her at all. She couldn't ever defeat Obi-Wan in fair combat, so she resorted to black magic to try to break him. Anakin would sooner die than see his Master, his oldest friend at her mercy once again. Well, that wasn't going to happen. She wouldn't be long for this life once she stepped into the Temple. This time he'd make sure she was really dead before turning his back on her again.
Asajj never felt the shift in the Force as she scaled the outer wall of the Jedi Temple. Her excitement at what she'd discovered in the bowels of Coruscant's underworld overrode her usual caution. She cursed herself and her foolishness the moment her boots landed inside Obi-Wan's bedroom window.
The flare of the lightsaber slicing towards her would surely have cut her in half had her reflexes been mere milliseconds slower. She blocked the strike with a flash of emerald green, but that only held off her attacker for a moment. When her eyes had adjusted to the sudden brightness, a shiver of genuine fear crept up her spine. The look in Skywalker's eyes was akin only to that which she had seen in other Dark Acolytes; not even Dooku had ever looked so blatantly dangerous. He meant to kill her.
No.
NO!
Asajj tried to leap back through the window but found herself caught in a Force-hold that threatened to squeeze the life from her. She refused to die like this, at his hands, no less! She gathered the Force around her and sent it exploding outward. The tactic worked, sending both of them to the floor. Skywalker, taken by surprise, was one second slower in getting to his feet than her. She struck again and again, but not in an attempt to kill him. If she could have spared the thought she would have found that odd, but as it was she was too preoccupied with just trying to put as much distance between them as possible.
The battle spilled out into the main room of Obi-Wan's quarters in a flurry of blue and green plasma. The open space gave an advantage to both combatants, but Skywalker was more skilled with the Force. He had her pinned to a wall, his lightsaber to her throat, but he stopped short of actually beheading her. "The only reason you're not dead right now," he snarled with unexpected venom, "is because I have other plans for you."
Asajj gave herself only a moment to be confused by the statement, enough time for him to call for backup on his comlink, before batting his lightsaber away with hers and launching them both into the center of the room. The space was still too enclosed to employ any acrobatics or fancy footwork and she was still unused to fighting with only one lightsaber. She felt herself tiring quickly, her arms screaming in protest as she blocked a particularly vicious strike. There were only three ways out of this fight for her: death, a lucky hit that would buy her enough time to run, or an outright miracle.
So it was when she felt her lightsaber flying from her hand into that of another Jedi and three more blades aimed at her vulnerable points that her mind went blank. "She broke into Master Kenobi's room, Masters," Skywalker was saying. He sounded as if he were speaking from a deep well or an underwater cave. She tried to think of a way to escape, but with four Jedi blocking her every path and one with her only weapon the odds were very slim indeed that any hastily-concocted plan would end well. "Probably hoping to kill him in his sleep."
"These are strange times indeed," the female, Master Unduli if Asajj remembered correctly, said with a serenity the cornered bounty hunter wished she felt. "For a Sith assassin to rise from the dead and attack the Temple so brazenly-"
"Not the Temple," Skywalker corrected hotly. "Obi-Wan. She was after him specifically, always has been. Weren't you?"
Asajj almost shuddered at the hate in his eyes as he looked at her. How could the others not feel the Dark Side so strongly in him even in the same room? She had no other option. As slowly as she could manage, she sank to her knees and raised her hands in surrender. Obi-Wan, she thought as the two other males, a Gran and a Zabrak she did not recognize, pulled her to her feet and bound her wrists behind her back. Please tell me you had nothing to do with this.
With what, my darling? Of course NOW he chose to open his side of their bond.
I got your message yesterday and now I'm being led to stars-know-where by Skywalker and your Jedi friends.
There was a very definite pause before he replied, his "voice" colored with worry and concern. Asajj, what's going on? What message?
You didn't send me a text last night asking me to meet you in the Temple?
Darling, I'm still in the Outer Rim. Why would-
His abrupt silence worried her more than the feel of Skywalker at her back as she was led deeper into the Temple. Obi-Wan, what is going on?
I think I know what happened, but I hope I'm wrong. Just hold on until I can ge-
She yelped as his presence was wrenched away from her mind like a drunken dentist removing the wrong tooth without anesthesia. A Force-suppressing collar had been fastened roughly around her neck. "Just in case you get any ideas, witch," Skywalker growled in her ear. The only relief she had from the sudden weakness that flooded her limbs was that the room that was to be her cell was only a few steps away.
The Jedi holding her upright tossed her into the small room, which was more of an empty storage closet than anything else, without pity or mercy. She stayed where she landed, trying uselessly to reconnect to the Force and gather her wits. "Assemble the Council," she heard one of them say before closing and locking the door.
My love, she thought wearily, feeling as if she'd been awake for weeks on end without the briefest respite, how did it come to this?
Sorry this one's so short, but I hope it'll tide you over until the next chapter. I've actually had a couple people ask if I was giving up on this story? No freakin' way! I've got this planned out all the way through A New Hope! No way I'm giving up on this one! Don't you guys worry :)