Chapter 16: Trust

Obi-Wan sat on a large, soft sofa on the balcony of Sundari Palace that overlooked the beautiful lights of a thriving city at night, a glass of Mandallian Narcolethe in one hand and the small, elegant hand of his Satine in the other. He was taking his time with the liquor, as the Mandalorian drink was known throughout the galaxy as being extremely potent, and Kenobi never handled alcohol terribly well. He had improved a great deal from when he was younger, as his lavish lifestyle under the indulgent watch of the Sith led him to drink often, and Dooku rarely went an evening without a glass of something in hand. Satine, however, was raised on the stuff, and the woman was well on her way to finishing her third glass, and she barely seemed to be feeling the effects at all.

Kenobi's comlink began to beep, and the Sith ignored it as the Duchess pressed her self closer to her lover, nestling herself between his arm and his strong chest. The comlink beeped incessantly.

"You have certainly become busy," she said softly, squeezing his hand, and he rolled his eyes. He had been on Mandalore for three days now, and the com rang nearly four times every hour, day or night. He would have destroyed the cursed thing, but galactic events required him to keep it close. That afternoon, the Senate had given the Chancellor Palpatine emergency powers, and he had become the Supreme Chancellor. His Master may need him, so the com stayed close.

It was never Darth Sidious.

"We're going to ignore it, my love. It will stop soon."

"It will start again. What if it's important?"

Obi-Wan growled softly, setting down his half empty glass and answering the call.

"Lumis," the deep voice on the other end said, the sound distorted by the hiss and static of the com's speaker, and Kenobi's hand tightened around the device. "I can't find my reading glasses. Have you seen them."

"No, Tyranus, I haven't. Honestly, this is getting childish. I said call me if you need me, not if you need to inconvenience me."

"I do need you. I can't find my reading glasses. I have an array of vastly important papers I must read, and I can't do anything without them. You can't be doing anything important, come help me find them."

"I am doing something important, I'm with my lover."

"Oh!" came the voice on the other end, mock surprise dripping off the exclamation, and Obi-Wan ground his teeth together. "I'm so sorry, I had no idea! Hello, Satine!"

"Hello, Tyranus," the Duchess chirped, leaning over her suffering lover to speak into the com. "Are you staying away from the war?"

"I am trying, my dear. I'm afraid we may be brought into it. We aren't at war quite yet. There may be time to sue for peace."

"You could always come to Mandalore," she offered, and Kenobi held the com high above her head, hissing in frustration.

"No, sweetheart, he can't."

She put her glass down and planted her hands on the Sith's chest, pushing up to bring herself closer to the comlink. "Lumis and I could be together all the time!"

"And wouldn't that be lovely. I thank you for the offer, Duchess, but I must decline. My Master has work for me to do. After the war, perhaps."

"J'us aras koshûjont isâsis plejada kia erzinti nun," Kenobi snarled into the com, Ancient Sith rolling off his tongue like he was born to speak it, and Dooku laughed deeply. You were born into this galaxy to vex me.

"Teznnuo j'us mielis." Just for you, darling. With a growl, Kenobi cut the comlink and tossed it to the side, knocking Satine's hands off his chest, and she fell against him, his strong arm wrapping around her waist and he nipped at her ear.

"He calls you a great deal," Satine said softly, reaching behind her to stroke Kenobi's bearded cheek.

"Mmm."

"...couldn't you stay here, Obi?" Kenobi inhaled deeply, sighing as his senses were flooded with the sweet, floral smell of her hair. "War is inevitable now. I don't want you caught up in it."

"I need to fight, Satine." He kissed her cheek. "For the good of the galaxy."

"War isn't good for the galaxy."

"No, but it has come to that. We can't all be you, my dear. Someone needs to fight so we may have peace."

"Do you hear how stupid that sounds?"

"No government ever has come to power peacefully. Not even yours."

"Mine was different, Obi-Wan, mine was a civil war, and I objected to it!"

"This is a civil war as well! Something new will come out of it, something better!"

"You can't know that!"

"No, all I can do is trust in the Force to guide my path, and this is the only way!"

Satine's blue eyes narrowed and she pulled away from the man, the passion rising in both of them until it was nearly all-consuming. "...does this count as politics?" she drawled slowly, voice tight with anger.

"I think it might." Satine nodded and turned away from Obi-Wan, her shoulders rising and falling with her deep, calming breaths, and Kenobi did the same. They had quickly decided that, during his extended stay, politics was a subject that was dangerous for the two of them to touch. They disagreed on nearly every aspect, and their tempers would quickly get the better of them, passions rising in a violent crescendo that always ended in crushing kisses and rough, savage intercourse that left the Duchess bruised from the Sith's tight grip and Kenobi bloodied from raking nails.

It wasn't that they didn't enjoy it. They did, a great deal, much more than either of them cared to admit, but in just three days, it had become a problem. Both of them could talk politics all day, and when they were apart, Satine did talk politics for a living, Kenobi was surrounded by politics, and both had a great deal to say when they were together. Which led to their problem.

They were getting nothing done.

Things would start civilly enough, but they would degrade quickly, the conversations easily turning political, which led to arguing, their passions rising and culminating in loud, vicious coupling, and with their passions spent, the process began again. His first day on his pre-war sabbatical was spent violently in bed, the evening finding the two lovers bruised and bloodied and battered, the white sheets stained with long slashes of red, wet blood from the Sith Lord's back, and they both agreed that they could not continue in this way. Her staff was going to ask questions.

Which they did, but only once. After all, the punctual, responsible Satine was absent from several meetings that day, and Almec was forced to stand in for her, and he had been worried. When he went to see her between meetings that afternoon, it had been impossible, as the woman had locked herself in her rooms, the noises from within unmistakable. He had always known the Duchess Satine to be quiet, collected, and adverse to violence, but the sounds coming from her chambers were anything but. However, the woman was Mandalorian, and though she may have been a pacifist, breeding violence out of the Mandalorians simply wasn't possible. When Almec asked her the next day if she was alright, she simply smirked, a coy, telling thing, and the matter wasn't brought up again.

Satine reached for her glass and quickly drained the little that remained, grabbing for the open bottle and pouring herself half a glass more. Kenobi reached for his own glass, slowly drinking the golden liquid and putting it down when the burning sensation in his nose became too much. Much of the galaxy considered the signature Mandalorian drink to be good for little more than ship fuel, but Obi-Wan didn't dislike it. After all, it dulled the two lovers enough to make their passions less heedless, more gentle. Neither of them knew when Kenobi would be forced to leave, torn away from peaceful Mandalore and thrust into war, and it was making the already passionate people desperate and possessive.

The Duchess settled against her lover again, sighing happily when his long fingers lightly brushed down her arm. "Lumis..."

"Hmm?"

"Is it easy for you to be called that?"

"Yes. I've taken to the name well, I think." He smirked, pulling her close. "Do you like it?"

"It's...fitting, to be sure, but you'll always be Obi-Wan to me."

He smiled softly, holding her closely, possessively. "I don't expect to ever be anything but that to you."

"Do the others know who you really are?"

Kenobi held his breath as he thought, feeling the slow, even heartbeat of the Duchess against his chest. Satine was clever, exceedingly so, far more than what was good for her, and he wondered how much the woman actually knew. He certainly didn't tell her anything specific; his actual activities were a closely guarded secret, and not just because he was uncertain if she would approve. But she did know some things. It wasn't possible to keep all his activities a secret when the two of them lay in bed together, relaxed and unguarded. Slowly, she learned, and, Kenobi imagined, she was beginning to piece things together. It wasn't difficult to do if one knew that Obi-Wan Kenobi, Jedi Knight, didn't die on Serenno.

"They do know, yes," he said finally, quietly, touching her mind with the Force to gauge her reaction, but there was nothing. She already knew the answer. He frowned; this was an interrogation. Satine was digging for information. "It's difficult to keep things from my Master. He can read minds."

"Like you?"

"Like me, yes..." The comlink beeped again, and with a growl, Kenobi picked it up. "Yes..."

"Lumis, have you misplaced the medical droid again?" Dooku drawled, amused, and Obi-Wan furiously cut the call.

"What about him?" Satine asked, smiling and wriggling into a position where she could drape her arm over the Sith's chest. "Does he know?"

"He was there when I left the Jedi, so yes, he knows."

"So he's responsible for the incident." Kenobi's yellow eyes drifted to the cold, hard blue of Satine, and he bit his lip. She was peaceful before, but now she was angry. "The Jedi had claimed that Count Dooku was responsible for your death, and that he was a Sith Lord. Just how many people were there on Serenno that day?"

"...does this count as politics?"

"No, this is personal!" She growled fiercely, and Kenobi scooted away as much as he was able, but the Mandalorian was unrelenting and aggressive, and she placed her tiny hand on the strong chest and pressed down hard. He wasn't pinned, but he did feel trapped. "Talk, Obi-Wan Kenobi. I know more than you think, so you had better not lie to me."

"Satine, darling..."

"And truth by omission is still lying." Kenobi touched her mind, eyes narrowing as he buried himself deep in her consciousness, and the woman gasped, her pupils narrowing into pinpoints at the intrusion. She could not feel the Force, but she knew when her lover's presence was within her. He had taught her to feel for it for more...pleasurable activities, but she was using that knowledge now.

And she was right. As Obi-Wan perused her knowledge, he found far more than he expected, far more than he had taught her. Satine had done her research. But still, she hadn't left him yet, still accepted him within her, still burned with love for him, and...something else he could not place. If she was going to leave him, it could have happened a hundred times before, and with war just around the bend...it seemed as good a time as any to be as truthful as he could.

"What are you doing," she demanded softly, her delicate hand balling into the fine cloth of his tunic, and he reached up to rub at the tense muscles of her long, slender neck.

"I'm just...looking, my dear, I'm not altering anything."

"But you could." His gold eyes locked with hers, and Kenobi saw defiance in the clear blue, along with the slightest touch of fear.

"But I won't. Do you trust me?"

"I don't know," the Duchess said softly, and that hurt the Sith more than he thought it could. "Do you trust me?"

He slowly nodded, choking out a quiet, "Yes." Without trust, there could be no love, and he loved Satine, he did. It went beyond possession. She was his, yes, all his, all of her, forever, but he was also hers. Perhaps she felt the same. Perhaps she was willing to look beyond the things he had done to keep what was hers, just as he was.

"There were seven of us there that day," he said quietly, slowly slipping out of her mind, but keeping his senses wrapped around her. She was easy enough to read, but Satine was a politician, and therefore a remarkable actress. He had to be sure.

"Four Jedi dead, with you left alive. Dooku was one of them. Who was the other."

He could have said the other was Tyranus, could have easily made the Count and the Sith different people, but before he knew what he was doing, he had whispered, "My Master."

"Tyranus isn't your Master." Kenobi shook his head. "Which makes Dooku Tyranus." A nod, and her blue eyes narrowed in anger. "So this whole time, the Jedi have been correct about Dooku's connection to the Sith."

"Satine, you don't know anything about-" She slapped him hard, his cheek stinging keenly and becoming a sharply painful throbbing. "You are certainly a fan of striking me..."

"Only when you deserve it. What are you doing getting mixed up with the Sith, Obi-Wan?!"

"My love, the Sith aren't what they seem! They certainly aren't what the Jedi seem to think, the Jedi don't know anything!"

"They know about the Force, Obi, they are wise!"

"About only a very small part of it! The Force is much more than just..." He look a deep breath, his yellow eyes drifting away from her, but she grabbed his bearded chin and forced his gaze back to her. "There are two sides to the Force, and the Jedi only teach one part. My new studies expose me to all of it."

"I don't pretend to know the Force," the Duchess said softly, her long fingers gently touching the cheek she had struck, "but I do know the Jedi talk of the Dark Side like it's dangerous."

"It is to those who aren't strong enough to control it."

"And you are?"

"Oh yes." Her sharp features relaxed slightly, but she was still guarded, cautious, but he could feel that she believed him. "The Sith," Kenobi began slowly, carefully, reaching for her hand and gently taking it in his, "have been allies of the Mandalorians for a very, very long time. It's natural we are together, our cultures belong together."

"The Mandalorians also fought against the Sith. I do know my own history, and, I believe, when my people raised arms against the Sith, they were annihilated."

"Not because of the Mandalorians, dear, the Sith killed themselves." Kenobi smirked, gently placing his hand under her chin and running his thumb over the Duchess' lips. "Is that what you would do, Satine? Destroy the Sith?"

She shook her head. "The Mandalorians have changed."

"So have the Sith." The com beeped again. With a vicious snarl, Kenobi answered it, and before Dooku had a chance to say anything, he hissed, "Nu valiakots tu'iea dvasi negu j'us mrias delsus xelami iruzpramas nuozhol." I will break your mind before I kill you, and you will beg for it. The Sith deactivated the com, it's flashing light dying as the device powered off. If Sidious wanted him, it could wait until morning. At this moment, the war could wait.

"What do the Sith want?" the Duchess asked softly, and Obi-Wan felt at her mind. She was...curious, not afraid. That was good.

"Peace. Order. We want to see the corruption of the Republic purged and replaced with something that works."

"Oh, and you would purge the Republic, would you?"

"If necessary..." Kenobi shrugged. "We have presented an alternative, as have you, dear. The Republic will have none of it. You have seen what happened when systems began breaking away. The Senate was furious. They are willing to go to war over this."

"So is the Confederacy!"

"Yes, they are willing, but they don't want it. The Republic is forcing their hands, you saw what happened on Antar 4."

At that, Satine bit her lip and looked away from him, and Kenobi could feel her outrage. Finally, she agreed with him. Obi-Wan could work with this. "...didn't an extremist group take over the government on the moon first?"

The Sith shrugged. "I don't know what actually happened, I wasn't there. I know what the Republic said happened. But I feel that the politics of the moon should have stayed there. The Republic had no business intervening if the government happened to want to be independent, and the Jedi were certainly wrong to bring an army to destroy them."

"...the Jedi were wrong to deploy that weapon, yes." Satine was conflicted, and Kenobi smiled softly, running her silky blond hair through his fingers.

"The Jedi have changed too, my dear. They are abandoning their Code. They're slaves to a corrupt Republic..."

"The Sith are warriors, Obi-Wan. The Jedi are committed to peace, they have always been, they are peacekeepers."

"I think Antar 4 proves that is no longer the case. And when war comes, the Jedi will be at the head of the Republic Army. There isn't much difference between Jedi and Sith anymore."

"...you will be fighting?" He nodded.

"If I must."

"You don't have to."

Obi-Wan softly kissed the woman. "I don't want to, my love. I am avoiding violence if I can. But I will defend myself."

The Duchess slowly relaxed, and Obi-Wan felt her anger fade as she eased off his chest, the hand there slowly stroking downwards as she straddled his hips and pressed against him, her head in the crook of his neck and her hand stroking through the hair on the back of his head. Relief washed over the Sith Lord. Nothing had changed.

"I don't want to lose you, Obi-Wan..." The Sith's hand came to rest on her hip, and he could feel the woman trembling. "You know I object to fighting. I will be angry regardless of which side you fight for."

"You know very well that I can't fight with the Jedi. Not after what they've done."

She nodded, softly kissing at his neck. "I understand. I don't like any of this, and I certainly don't agree with it, but I understand. You...believe this is right."

"I do."

"Even if it isn't."

Kenobi scoffed, his light grip on her hip tightening. "Of course it is. Doing nothing when there is a problem is exactly why we're in this mess. That's what the Jedi did to me, that's what the Senate has done with the Republic."

"If the Republic did nothing, than there wouldn't be a war about to happen!"

"Well, we can't all be like you, Satine, not all of us can live in a perfect, neutral little world. Some of us need to actually deal with people."

"I do deal with people, that's how I maintain peace!" Her hand tightened in his hair, and Kenobi hissed with pain, his golden eyes blazing, a deep growl coming from his chest.

"Until someone comes along and just takes what you have." Obi-Wan's thumb dug into the inside of her hip, his long fingers gripping hard into the muscle, and the Duchess wriggled, the hip bone shifting and moving in his grip, and the Sith snarled possessively. "Someone needs to fight for you."

"I fight my own battles!"

"But you don't!"

Satine whimpered, her hands resting on his shoulders, her nails digging right through the fine cloth and into his skin, the slight pain making his golden eyes glint dangerously. "...politics?"

"Politics." The separated quickly, both of them breathing heavily and Obi-Wan started to laugh loudly. "I don't even know why we're restraining ourselves," he said, chuckling softly and patting her leg. "We did get things done today, right?"

"Yes, I think so. Not as much as I would have liked, I did get a late start."

"That was your fault, my dear."

Satine's blue eyes narrowed, and when her pulse returned to a slow, even beat, she lightly brushed her lover's leg. "Sith..."

"...yes."

"Have you killed anyone?"

Kenobi held his breath. There wasn't a good way to answer that, not one that the woman would like. "...yes. Though not as many as I killed as a Jedi. I...try to avoid killing if I can." That, at least, was true. Killing was always so needless, so senseless to him. He'd much rather keep people alive, if possible. Dead people had no use to him, and the rebellious could be subjugated.

"I wish you told me sooner," Satine said softly. "I cannot support your war, but...I can support you."

He chuckled and pulled the woman close. "I'm sorry for not telling you, Satine."

"The galaxy thinks you're dead, Obi-Wan. You need to trust me." Her small hand cupped his bearded cheek and he closed his eyes. He was foolish to doubt her before. Of course she wouldn't betray him. She couldn't, she belonged to him. The Duchess slid back on to his lap, her hands on his chest and lightly kissed him. "When were you going to tell me about the Negotiator?"

Obi-Wan froze, his golden eyes wide and meeting the accusing gaze of Satine Kryze. She was unfairly clever, or he was disgustingly transparent. It was most likely both. He couldn't say a word, and his silence spoke more than words ever could.

"Obi-Wan!" she gasped, her hands balling into his black tunic, and his heart sped up. "How could you keep this from me?! You're living a double life, it's like I don't even know you!"

"How did you know!"

"I didn't until just now! I suspected, but..." She growled in frustration, her slight movements just enough to set the man beneath her to softly groaning as the Dark Side stirred within him, awakening his passions and demanding to be satiated. "If you know anything about me, you know I am committed to peace. How could I not love someone that has earned the name Negotiator?"

"Well..."

She cupped his face and kissed him, not the crushing, frantic hunger of their previous entanglements, but something softer, gentler, though no less passionate. They only parted when their lungs burned from lack of air, their faces flushed and their blood coursing through them and feeding their arousal. Nothing else mattered in that moment, and Obi-Wan knew that nothing would come between them. She knew it all, all the important stuff, at least, and the rest would come easy, so long as he worded it right, so long as he put it to her properly. When the Empire took hold of the galaxy, it didn't seem such a bad thing to have a Mandalorian queen by his side. Under the guidance of Darth Sidious, they could be unstoppable, the Sith and Mandalore united once again after a thousand years apart.

Kenobi gently bit at her neck, pulling her close and hands digging possessively against her pale, flushed skin. "Mine," the Sith Lord growled, and the Mandalorian shivered.

"All yours."

There were two of them, and they were Sith. Obi-Wan couldn't see them, but he knew they were, could feel the Dark Side swirling around the pair, just as the flames of the burning village did. Like before, he couldn't see their features, couldn't identify their race, but he knew they were male, knew one was a goliath of a creature, knew one was a cyborg, his heavy legs clawed and mechanical. Both held red lightsabers that glowed brightly even against the burning village, the bodies of the villagers piled high around them. Kenobi tried to draw closer, but as he did, the flames consumed them, and the shadows were gone. The inferno raged around him, but the Sith Lord was safe. He thrived in the flames of the Dark Side, he had nothing to fear from this place.

He could see a face in the flames before him, but it was burning, screaming, shifting with the dancing of the fire, and Obi-Wan couldn't identify who it was, what it was, or what it meant. Reaching out to it, the Sith Lord growled with irritation as the vision disappeared, leaving him in darkness. He frowned; it was true that the Dark Side could cloud one's vision, but Kenobi always found clarity in the darkness. Not so with this. At least he recognized when he was having a Force vision, unlike when he was younger, more foolish, a Jedi.

Closing his eyes, the black faded away and was replaced by scenes of war, death, broken battle droids and the bodies of thousands of clones. There were Jedi, thousands of them, all rushing on to the galactic stage in the name of the Republic, and they fell one by one to the might of the Confederacy. And then, the tables turned, and the Separatists were crushed, led by the might of Sidious and the Empire. The scene faded again, and the face in flames appeared again, and above it all was Obi-Wan, holding two lightsabers, one his familiar red, and the other the bright blue of a Jedi Knight.

He gasped, shooting up in bed and clutching his chest, breathing deeply and wiping his sweat-slicked hair back. It was viciously hot, as it always was when he awoke from one of these visions. The Dark Side showed him the future, yes, but it was vague at best, completely incomprehensible at worst, and he always awoke with a start, his heart pounding and dripping in sweat. It was physically taxing, draining on the body to bear the rage of the Force, especially when left unguarded, as he was when he slept.

Satine stirred next to him, groaning softly as her lover's sudden start woke her. "Obi?" She turned over, looking at him through tired, hazy eyes, and the Sith laid back down, his heart slowly calming. "Are you alright?"

"Yes. Go back to sleep, love." That was enough. The Duchess nestled against him, and within moments, her breathing slowed to the gentle, even rhythm of sleep. Kenobi extended his hand, and his comlink came to him. He grabbed the device and powered it on, relived to see he had no messages, though several missed calls, all from Dooku. Sidious didn't need him yet.

He commed Dooku, waiting for only a few moments before a tired, thick-tongued voice answered, "Yes..."

"Good morning, sweetheart," Kenobi purred, and he heard the Count on the other end groan. "Sleep well, precious? You were so good."

"Are you quite done..."

"I don't know, Tyranus, are you done calling me every fifteen minutes?"

"...I may be..." He yawned, and Kenobi grinned as he heard the man shuffling. "Sith Hells, Kenobi, do you know what time it is?"

"I know what time it is on Mandalore. What time is it on Serenno?"

"I don't know, I'm not on Serenno, I'm on Geonosis."

Kenobi wrinkled his nose. "Eww."

"Mandalore is no better."

"No, but Sundari Palace is! It's beautiful and warm, and there's a naked woman in my bed! I bet you don't have that!"

"I could if I wanted." Kenobi scoffed, and he could almost hear the Count groan in frustration. "And it isn't your bed, it's the Duchess'. You are a kept man."

"I may be alright with that."

"It's well before dawn, Kenobi. What do you want."

"I had a dream. Want to hear it?"

The Count groaned loudly, and Obi-Wan put his hand over the speaker to muffle the sound. "Tell your girlfriend, I don't care."

"She's sleeping."

"So wake her up. You are a Sith Lord. Take what you want from her, you own her."

"I do, trust me, but I also wanted you awake, and since you are, it seems senseless to wake her up too." Kenobi chuckled when he heard a stifled, choked sob on the other end. "Besides," he drawled, "it may have been a Force vision."

"...may have?"

"Was. It was a Force vision."

There was silence, followed by shuffling and static, and then, in a much clearer voice, Dooku said, "What did you see?"

"Two Sith and a face in flames."

"Again?" Obi-Wan could hear the Sith Lord breathing slow and even on the other end of the com; it was almost as if he could hear his mind turning things over. "You have had this vision before. Often."

"Yes."

"Does our Master know?"

"I've showed him, yes," Kenobi sighed, running his hand absently over the sleeping Satine's back. "It's unclear to him as well. He doesn't know what to make of it, he says the meaning will reveal itself in time."

"...so he knows."

"Almost certainly, yes." Kenobi could feel Dooku's anger in his silence. "He can keep things from us, Tyranus, it's his right."

"Maybe so..." Dooku growled. The Count didn't believe that at all. "Who do you suspect the two Sith are?"

"If I knew, darling, I wouldn't be calling you, I'd be going out to find them and enslave them. They are male, though."

"Are they us?"

Kenobi scoffed. "No, absolutely not. One was tall, taller than you, the other was mechanical from the waist down."

Dooku chuckled on the other end, and Kenobi frowned. He didn't like it when Dooku laughed, it just made him...unhappy. "Could it be your Sith Lord, Sithkiller?"

His heart stopped. He knew it did. Obi-Wan stared at the com like it was a small, disgusting creature he had no way of getting rid of. It was impossible...wasn't it? "You think it's Maul?"

"You think he's Sith, and at this moment, you, our Master, and I are the only Sith Lords in the galaxy."

"Maybe the vision is far, far in the future," he stuttered, and the Count just laughed.

"Search your feelings, Lumis, you know that's untrue. The injuries match up, don't they? You cut Maul in half, and your Force vision Sith is legless. Maul was Sith, so..."

"No," Kenobi said quickly, shaking his head. "You're right. There's...almost no doubt, I'm embarrassed I didn't see it before."

"You and Maul are closely linked, of course your vision is clouded." A pause. "Also, I'm better than you."

"Ha. Ha. Ha."

"That isn't funny, Lumis."

"No, it is, it's hilarious." Obi-Wan took a deep breath and held it while the Count sputtered and reprimanded and lectured on the other end, but he put his hand over the speaker and the deep voice became muffled. A long time ago on Dathomir, he had met with Talzin, Maul's mother, and the meeting was...unusual. Now, her behavior made sense. She sensed her son was alive somewhere, and were she to manage to get hold of him, Obi-Wan would be in some very serious danger. He and Maul were linked . After all, it was his victory over Maul that made him realize the power of the Dark Side. His own lightsaber was even powered by the kyber crystal that once belonged to the Dathomirian Sith Lord. And Maul did have a brother...

"Are you even listening?!" Dooku shouted over the com, and Obi-Wan chuckled softly.

"No."

"Why do I even bother with you?"

"...because I'm cute?"

Dooku scoffed, a loud, forced laugh coming in static bursts over the com. "Your lover may believe that, but trust me, Kenobi, nobody else does."

"You're just jealous because Ventress thinks I'm cute too." Dooku sputtered on the other end, and Kenobi quickly cut in with, "Speaking of, you better be treating her right. If Maul is alive and something were to happen to Asajj, than that Dathomir witch is going to have it out for all of us."

"You have nothing to fear from Talzin. She is nothing."

"I'm not stupid enough to underestimate her. Are you?"

"Goodnight, Lumis. You don't need me as a distraction, you have one. Use her."

"Well, maybe I will. But just to spite you, darling." With a groan, Dooku cut the com, and, smiling, Obi-Wan rolled over, possessively clutched Satine to him, and fell asleep.