Disclaimer: I don't own Star Wars. I just created my own little AU corner to play in.

AN: Here's chapter 8! Thanks for all the great reviews. Reminder, 3 years have now passed since the events in chapter 6. Anakin is now sixteen.

Force Jumper

Chapter 8: The Plot

Cox walked into the lively cantina, his eyes scanning his surroundings, as his partner followed him. On the stage were several scantily clad female dancers, some human, some Twi'lek, entertaining the patrons with risqué dances. Other slaves were elsewhere in the establishment, forced to serve patrons with even more soul damaging acts and others milled about, serving drinks. There was one slave in particular he was looking for though, one unique young woman that had found what could be considered a rare sliver of salvation because of her unique abilities. Cox had sampled her other abilities years ago on a lonely night and occasionally came back. He liked her and had even promised if she helped him out with tasks he asked of her that he would eventually buy her freedom. She was not a stupid girl and even though she knew he would likely never keep his promise, she never refused any job. He eyed the woman with auburn hair and green eyes in the corner. She was very lovely, but it was her special abilities that kept her Master from forcing her to entertain clients in the another way…most of the time.

Mia Solo had been a slave since she was thirteen and was owned by the same man that owned the swanky establishment. Micah Va'jork found many ways of making money, but Mia had become his unique means to even more riches. From a very early age, Mia's empathy drew attention from the people in her small Corellian farming community and her parents soon had her blood tested at the age of three when she had told her mother that her father was in an accident. To her mother's surprise and horror, she was called an hour later and told that her husband had lost his leg in an accident with the machinery at the grain silo. Taking Mia and her baby brother, she had rushed to see him, thanking the Force that he wasn't killed. Now jobless though, it soon became difficult for them to put food on the table and with heavy hearts, they had their children tested. Mia's brother's count was very low, but hers was borderline for training at the Jedi Temple. The couple was urged to send their daughter to Coruscant and sadly, seeing that perhaps she had a shot at a better life, they agreed.

Mia's short years in the Temple were ordinary, as she attended her youngling classes with the others and learned to listen to the Force.

The Masters were quite impressed by her abilities to almost see things before they happened. While many Jedi were gifted, or cursed, with visions, Mia's seemed different. Most visions weren't objective, but Mia's seemed to be, as she rattled them off as predictions of one clear event, rather than flashes and unclear actions that other Jedi experienced. Her visions weren't perfect, for the future was always in motion, but she was right enough to impress a few Masters.

However, her combat skills, which were slightly below average, failed to attract any willing Master to take her on as a padawan. And many soon frowned upon the hobby she had adopted, which was giving her fellow younglings readings of their futures when they asked her to. It was very un-Jedi like behavior and so it was inevitable that age eleven, she was sent off to Agri-Corps.

It was that fateful day that changed Mia's life from one of hope and acceptance in the Temple to her worst nightmare. Always curious to a fault about her surroundings, Mia wandered away from the Masters that were escorting her group while at a fueling station.

Before she knew what was happening, the man known as Micah Va'jork had her secured aboard his ship and they were on their way to Bespin. Once there, she was chipped and forced to work in her Master's brothel. By sixteen, she was a broken shell of her former self, as most the girls in her situation were. But that's when she discovered she was pregnant. Micah had been furious at first, ranting about how she wouldn't be able to work for months, though he wasn't too unhappy at the prospect of the money he would make selling the baby on the slave market. Mia was terrified for her child…until one night during one of her Master's famed Sabaac tournaments. He was losing…badly and would lose the entire place, slaves included, if he kept going this way. And the monster that would inherit it all was even more of an abhorrent excuse for a human being than Micah. And that's when Mia made the move that saved her life and her baby's life. Briefly pulling Micah from his game, feigning a fake emergency, nearly earned her a beating. But when she promised she could help him win, he was more than a little intrigued.

Mia confessed her talents and told him about the Force training she had received in the Temple. She promised to make him a rich man…if he let her keep her child. Desperate and promising he would see her suffer if she didn't come through with her end of the bargain, he reluctantly agreed. It was that night that Micah Va'jork became a Sabaac legend in Cloud City. He won a fortune's worth of credits and properties that night. Sometimes when she looked back, Mia was ashamed that she had been the means to creating what had become his Cloud City network of brothels, slaving, spice dealing, and black market goods. But she had her child, her little Han, as she had named him. And Mia, knowing that her abilities gave her leverage now with her tyrant owner, she had often bargained with him. And he more often than not gave into her demands within reason. She spent most of her days now splitting her time between her son and taking people's hard earned credits to read them their futures or fortunes.

These days, Mia fortunately wasn't forced into bed with dozens of her master's clients. He had started reserving her for himself, much to her disgust. Still, she knew how much worse it could be. Her valuable skills had given her the opportunity to negotiate with him and not only keep her son, but see that he was protected. When he was old enough, he would work in her master's shipping yard with the mechanics and droids that kept all his ships, speeders, and machinery in working order. It was a far better fate than most slave children received.

But Mia was determined to somehow escape this life and take her son back to her home world of Corellia to raise him peacefully. She knew such dreams were silly for a slave. Slaves rarely escaped this life for freedom.

"Well, well, if isn't my favorite little palm reader," Cox sneered, as he sat down at her table.

"Well, so much for having a good day," she shot back, as she glared at her least favorite patron. Cox was a sadistic, murdering bastard and unfortunately had taken a liking to her years ago. Her skin crawled at the memories of him forcing himself on her. These days he usually mocked her or promised her things for favors, promises he rarely kept.

"Oh, you wound me darling," he hissed.

"What do you want? You're not one to come for a reading, so why are you taking another customer's spot?" she asked.

"You're right, I'm a smart man and I make my own future. I don't need a little harlot like you telling me what's going to happen," he replied, earning him another glare.

"Anyway, I have a project for you," he stated.

"Not interested," she snapped back.

"Oh, but you will be. If you pull off this one, I promise your and the brat's freedom," Cox said.

"That's what you said last time. You promised me if I seduced the last one, you would free us," she spat.

"No, I promised you a reward and that was the credits I floated you for helping me, as always. I hope you've been tucking all that money away. If I were to free you and the kid and you had no money saved up, you'd be back to working on your back just to feed him," Cox reminded. She glared at him again, but was silent, knowing he was right.

"What do you want this time?" she asked reluctantly.

"There's a young man that will be coming here soon. Delivering his head on a platter to my superiors will guarantee me a huge leap in ranks, which means that I'll see that you and the kid go free with a nice little nest egg," Cox promised.

"Now you need help taking out some kid?" she scoffed. He glared.

"He's no ordinary kid and don't be taken in by his handsome face. He's a killer, just like all the ones I hunt. You'll know him when you see him, just like you always do. Seduce him and then hand him over. Freedom for you and the brat will be the reward this time," Cox tempted. Mia wanted more than anything to say no. She knew he could simply be bluffing. She had no guarantee that he would keep his word…but if there was even the slightest chance that she could earn her freedom for herself and her son, then she couldn't refuse.

"I'm in, but you better keep your promise this time," Mia hissed. He smirked.

"Don't worry…you'll get what's coming to you this time," he leered, making her uncomfortable.

"Fine. I better get back to work. I'll get word to you once I see him," Mia said, trying to brush him off. But she knew it was no use. Cox was good friends with her master and she never got out of becoming his evening entertainment when he visited. He grabbed her arm.

"Nice try…" he said, as he caressed her face. Mia shivered, as he practically dragged to one of the back rooms…

Anakin whipped his light saber around and parried Master Quinlan's.

"So…where are you going to hit next?" Quinlan asked, as their sabers clashed furiously.

"Cloud City again. It's a cesspool," Anakin replied.

"Yeah, it's one of the worst. Just like Coruscant," Quinlan responded, as they sparred, shuffling along the entire expanse of the sparring room. Anakin parried and back flipped, before bringing his saber over his head and slamming it down on his Master's.

"Why do the Jedi let it go on? There's so much crime right there under their noses. Why do they just ignore it?" Anakin asked. It was frustrating. He wanted to tackle Coruscant, but it was a huge undertaking. He wasn't ready and before he could even think about it, he needed to be comfortable with the disguise he was working on.

"It's not that they don't care," Quinlan tried to explain, earning a questioning look from his padawan.

"Okay, some of them don't. But there are many that do. Those on the Council, however, are far more concerned with the matters that the Senate deems worthy of them. Some Jedi think taking down the people that you are taking down is beneath their standing. They believe that the regular authorities should be doing those jobs," Quinlan explained.

"And people say I'm arrogant," Anakin spat.

"You are sometimes. I am too. So are they, but the difference between us is that we have people to keep us in check and make sure we are told when our arrogance is clouding our vision. When you need knocked down a peg, I'm only too happy to do it," Quinlan said with a smirked, as he parried the young teen's blade and swept his legs out from under him. Anakin landed flat on his back.

"Don't let your frustration with the Jedi Council distract you," Quinlan instructed, as he helped him up. They extinguished their blades and grabbed their water canteens.

"The Council has lost the ability to properly read the Force. Their vision has been clouded by stagnant ways and arrogance in their own abilities. The Sith have in turn adapted through the years, so much so, that it now allows them to operate right before their eyes. But the Sith are also arrogant and ruled by absolutes. They seek whatever path is the easiest means to power and it leaves the blood of innocents on their hands," Sifo warned, as he entered.

"Then there's us, right?" Anakin asked. Sifo nodded.

"The gray area is usually the most liberating, as we have enjoy a certain sense of freedom that our fellow Force users do not. But our path is perhaps the most difficult and most often frustrating, as we sometimes are simply forced to watch the supposed champions of light and dark war with each other in a battle that neither will ever truly win," Sifo explained.

"Because without the darkness, there can be no light," Anakin recited. Sifo nodded with a pleased expression. As eager and reckless as Anakin could be, he was a good student.

"Exactly. Now go get cleaned up and we'll get something to eat," Sifo said.

"Good, I'm starving," Anakin replied, as he headed off to shower. Quinlan snorted.

"Like that's new," Quinlan joked. The sixteen-year-old was growing and usually ate them out of house and home. Keeping him fed was their greatest challenge. Sifo chuckled.

"You were no different at that age. You're just lucky my cooking doesn't taste like Master Yoda's," Sifo-Dyas joked.

"The boy would have starved his first month here if it did," Quinlan joked back, as they left the training room.

Zana let out a frustrated sigh, as they missed him once again. It had been several days and the kid they were after still hadn't gone after the place they intended to be a trap.

"Why isn't he going for it?" Zana hissed.

"Relax…he will, trust me. He's still cutting his teeth on the smaller operations, but he's getting confident and this place is just a little bit bigger than what he's used to. This kid is good and he's not stupid. He'll only start taking on bigger when he thinks he's ready," Cox assured her.

"And when he is, this place will be his first. I'm sure of it," Cox added.

"I hope you're right boss. Our Commander is not happy," she reminded. Cox snarled in disgust, as he thought of the pompous wind bag that was his superior officer. He was usually too busy kissing Mace Windu's boots to kill any Force Jumpers himself. It escaped him as to why he had even gotten a command in the first place.

"This plan will work and then he'll be taking commands from me," Cox said with a determined stare.

Nearly two weeks later…

Mia finished yet another reading and her eyes scanned the room, as she had done every day since Cox had come to her with the deal. She was beginning to think he was wrong though and this person wasn't ever going to come. He insisted that she would know him when she saw him, but she wasn't so sure. Most people didn't understand that she didn't choose what the Force decided to show her. She was wrong sometimes and her master always punished her when she was. She had begun to think that maybe Cox had been getting her hopes up about freedom from this life. It would be just like that arrogant, sadistic bastard too. Freedom…she had never seen that her future and he was probably laughing his ass off at her right now. She was about to get up and angrily storm into the back, but a small tug on her dress stopped her. She looked down into brown eyes of her three-year-old.

"Han…what are you doing out here? Mommy told you that you shouldn't come out here," Mia said in a hushed whisper, as she hoped none of the patrons noticed him. She didn't trust her master not to try and sell her son if someone took an interest and offered him enough money.

"I gotta owie," Han said, pointing at his knees, which were skinned and scraped.

"Okay, let's go to the fresher and get some bandages," Mia whispered, as she kissed his forehead and lifted him into her arms. He was her whole world, the only thing good about her life. And just when she thought that nothing would ever changed, her emerald eyes met a pair of sapphire ones from across the room. And she knew in an instant that it was him.

"Hey you, why don't you get rid of the brat and show me a good time?" a drunk man leered toward her.

"That's not my job," Mia spat back, as she held her boy close. He roughly grabbed her arm and Han looked at the man with wide, fearful eyes.

"It's gonna be or something bad might happen to the brat," he growled, ushering her toward the back. Mia swallowed the bile that had suddenly risen in her throat. This wasn't the first time she had been forced to use her body to save her son's life and this time would be no different it seemed.

Anakin's cerulean eyes scanned the room from under the hood of his brown cloak. He was only casing this place today, for it was a larger take down than he was used to. His armor and mask were nearly ready and he had decided that a slightly larger operation would serve as his trial run with his new disguise.

And even though this was supposed to be a simple mission to observe his next target, his attention was quickly caught by the distress of a young slave woman, who was holding a small child. If he was going to stick to his plan, then he couldn't interfere. But Anakin Skywalker was incapable of not interfering, especially when some drunk sleamo was putting his slimy hands all over an innocent woman, who would in turn to do anything to protect a child. The sight made his blood boil so fiercely that he could almost feel it roaring in his ears.

"I think you better let the lady and the boy go," Anakin hissed, as he was suddenly right beside them. The woman looked shocked at how he had seemingly come out of no where.

"Get your own whore pal. This one is mine," he slurred and stumbled, trying to force her into the back. Anakin restrained his overwhelming urge to pound his fist into this man's face. Making a scene right now could cause more trouble than he was ready for. He waved his hand in front of the man's face.

"You need to let her go and then go sleep it off," Anakin said firmly.

"I need to let her go and then go sleep it off," he parroted back the Force suggestion, before stumbling into the back.

"Are you okay?" he asked. She nodded.

"I've been waiting for you," she replied, causing his eyes to widen in surprise, before slowly narrowing. She was captivated by his crystal blue eyes and noticed that he was now staring at her with suspicion.

"Relax…you're not the only one that the Force imparts to," she replied, motioning to her table, as she sat down, shifting Han in her lap. He looked at the sign and quirked an eyebrow.

"A fortune teller?" he asked in tone that wondered if she was joking.

"Your skepticism is appreciated, but I assure you I'm the real thing," she replied. He was intrigued and sat down across from her.

"Why should I believe you?" he asked. She smiled, admiring his handsome face. It wasn't often that a man that wasn't creepy or disgusting came her way.

"I'm Force sensitive…like you. Not nearly as much as you though. I don't think I've ever felt the Force in someone as strongly as you before. Your midichlorian count must be off the charts," she deduced. He narrowed his eyes again, wondering just how in the hell she could know that.

"If you're Force sensitive, then why are you here and not in the Temple?" he asked.

"Why aren't you? Your presence in the Force makes mine pale in comparison," she retorted. He seemed reluctant to answer and she shrugged.

"Mine was borderline to be accepted into the Order in the first place. My interesting gift of being able to see an individual's clear future was intriguing to them at first, but it was quickly decided that my talents were useful for very un-Jedi like ways and I wasn't picked by a Master. So, I was loaded on the first transport to Agri-Corps and then abducted by slavers when we stopped at a fueling station," she explained. He looked at her sympathetically.

"I'm sorry…I used to be a slave too," he told her, trying to show her that he could identify.

"I know," she replied simply, again unnerving him. She giggled at his uncomfortable stare and took his hand. He started to pull away, but she clasped her other hand over his.

"Relax…I'm not going to bite, though I bet you taste Devine," Mia leered, enjoying the blush creeping up on his cheeks. Immediately, flashes of his future exploits ran through her head.

"Wow…it's not every day a girl meets a true hero," she mentioned, looking into his eyes. He shifted uncomfortably under her admiring gaze.

"Then you know why I'm here?" he asked. She nodded.

"Freedom for my son is the only thing I've desired since he was born. And I'll do whatever it takes to make it happen," she told him.

"Then you can help me by telling me everything about this place," he replied.

"Come back tonight. My Master has a Sabaac tournament tonight. He uses my abilities to cheat and win. I'll make sure I'm extra good tonight in picking his hands so he'll be distracted in a drunk haze of winning. He won't know what hits him," Mia proposed. Anakin smirked.

"I guess I have an ally then," he replied, as they stared at each other for a moment. Anakin noticed that she was still holding his hand in her own and saw the smile on her face.

"What?" he asked.

"Interesting ability. I was wondering how you were going to pull all this off," she replied, referring to his Force jumping.

"You can't tell anyone," he warned. She looked annoyed.

"I'm not going to do anything to jeopardize Han's freedom," she assured.

"I take it this is Han?" he asked, referring to the shy boy that was burying his face in his mother's chest.

"The only light in my life," she replied, as she brushed her other hand through his hair.

"Han, it's okay. I want you to meet Anakin," she whispered. Anakin's eyes widened and then he realized that he shouldn't be surprised.

"Hello Han," he greeted.

"Hi," the little boy answered.

"You know my name, but you haven't told me yours," he replied.

"Mia Solo," she replied.

"It's nice to meet you Mia," he replied sincerely.

"The pleasure is mine. It's not every day that I meet someone dedicated to freeing slaves," Mia said, as she continued seeing flashes of his future. She was thrilled to see herself in his near future, but sadly to her, there was another woman further ahead.

"Just my luck," Mia said with a coy smile.

"What?" he asked.

"I'm in your present, but not your future. There's another woman…and she's beautiful of course. I think you have a thing for brunettes though," Mia teased, enjoying the blush that spread across his cheeks. He had been through a lot, she had seen, yet he still retained some of his innocence. It was like fresh air to her. Cox could go to Sith hell. He would get her to freedom without asking for anything in return. All she had to do was help him do it. She had been waiting a long time to double cross that son of Bantha. Anakin would finally make him pay. She had seen it.

"You better go for now," she suggested. He nodded and pulled his hand away.

"I'll be back tonight," he promised. She nodded and picked up Han, taking him in the back.

"Where are we going mommy?" he asked.

"To pack sweetheart. But you can't tell anyone. It's our secret, okay?" she asked. He nodded. Han was good at keeping his mommy's secrets. She had several and he had never told anyone. Little did he know, everything would change for them after tonight…