AN: Hiiiii kiiiiids...Quick note. This was REALLY tough to write. I love the original idea of these events in the Clone Wars, and adapting it to this was very difficult. Hopefully I was successful, and I'm certain you guys will tell me if it wasn't. I went back and forth a lot on whether or not to divide this into two parts, but I eventually settled on (I think) just giving you one big monster of a chapter. I think dividing it up would break the flow a bit. Anyway, enjoy. There may or may not be a chapter tomorrow, depending on how my brain organizes itself.

Chapter 76: The Jedi Temple Bombing

Maul used a long steel beam to assist his furious pacing back and forth across the length of the long hull of the escape ship. They had barely escaped Florrum, and now, they were stranded, the ship out of fuel for a full day, and the power dead as of a few hours ago. It was getting cold, their breath frosty in the air, and it wouldn't be long before their supplies ran out as well. Maul still was mad with revenge, and, gripping the stub of his arm, Savage couldn't help but feel that this was all a very bad idea.

He had thought it a bad idea from the beginning, from the moment that he had learned that Obi-Wan Kenobi, the man that maimed his brother, was the Sith Lord Darth Lumis. He had said as much to his brother, but Maul hadn't listened. Maul never listened, not to him, not since he had declared themselves Sith and called him apprentice. Savage had resisted the idea, but Maul was far stronger than he was, and that was all that had mattered. After all, why should they be equals when Maul could best him so quickly? Why should they be mere brothers when they could be far more? However, how could they call themselves Sith when twice, they had faced a real Sith, and had twice been sent running?

Lumis was far stronger than they were, and he had always been. Even when Maul was apprenticed to Sidious, the then Obi-Wan Kenobi had found the power within himself to destroy Maul, even though the man was still a student, and a Jedi, no less. Yes, it was true that he had grabbed the Dark Side to wield it against the Sith, but that should have been no excuse for a Sith, one born and raised in darkness, to fall before a Jedi Padawan, one who had no prior training in controlling the dangerous and fickle Dark Side. By Maul's logic, they should be kneeling before Lumis and pledging themselves in service to him, not fighting a futile battle to destroy him, but Maul had destroyed that option in his blind rage. It was over for them now, and there was no going back. They were being hunted, and there would be no stopping this Sith Lord.

"Brother..." Savage said quietly, his hand gripping the stub of his arm. He was lightheaded, and the wound was severe, and they had been unable to treat it with anything beyond simple bacta patches from the emergency first aid in the escape ship. "Brother, we can't keep doing this..."

"Give it time and we will have him, Savage," Maul said firmly, his voice betraying none of the anger he felt. "Our plan will work, we-"

"But it hasn't worked. Lord Lumis has almost killed us both twice. And we don't have time. If we're very lucky, we'll last a few more days before we freeze to death."

Maul's face contorted with silent rage before relaxing, his eyes closed as he tossed the pole aside and hobbled to sit next to Savage on the ground. "He is formidable..." he whispered. "I hadn't expected him to be so strong."

"We cannot beat him."

"You may be right," Maul sighed, leaning his head against the wall. "But we may not need to beat him to win." Savage groaned loudly. Revenge burned in Maul, brighter than anything. He was driven by a singular hatred of Kenobi, a hatred so powerful it allowed him to survive fatal wounds, and he would not let go of it. "I swore to make Kenobi suffer," Maul growled, clenching his fist tightly. "And I will. I don't need to kill him to make him suffer. I don't need to beat him to make him suffer. I just need to know how to do it..."

"We are getting involved with forces far beyond us," Savage said softly. "Please, let's just forget this. We can stay hidden from the Sith and the Jedi and-"

"I will not be denied my revenge!" Maul snapped, his voice low and dangerous with anger. "Our plan will work. We may have been set back at Florrum, but our plan will continue. The criminal underworld has thrived with the absence of the Jedi. They are a formidable force that is being wasted with petty infighting. They are divided now, but if given common purpose, even these wretches can be made strong."

Savage groaned. "Not strong enough. Lord Lumis serves the Sith and the Separatists. Their army is far bigger than anything we can raise."

"We will take care to avoid them," Maul said quietly, grasping his arms against the cold and shivering. Savage was becoming frustrated, the pain in his arm giving him far less patience than he would normally have.

"We can't avoid them, Maul! They go anywhere they wish, and where they can't go, the Republic can!"

"The Republic and the Separatists don't own the entire galaxy." Maul ran his hand down the cold metal of his leg, the knee ending in a melted point where the Jedi had severed it. "I will admit that our first stand against Kenobi was poorly planned, but this second time, it was chance that he found us. It was poor luck that he happened to be allied with these pirates. We will not be so careless the next time."

"If the pirates aren't his only criminal ally-"

"If," Maul snarled in disdain. "We will not let our revenge be determined by ifs! We have learned from this experience. We were far too bold, and we attracted attention far too soon. We will proceed with greater caution going forward. To hunt our enemy, we must know him." Maul took a deep breath and felt calm resolve grip him, his cold fury giving him focus and clarity. It would take time, yes, but he would be patient. "What do you know of Darth Lumis, brother?"

Savage shook his head. "Not much..."

"Wrong. We know so much. We know where he draws his power from. We know the manner in which he uses the Dark Side. We know that pain makes him stronger, we know he has the ability to heal himself, and more importantly, he can conceal himself in the Force, not just his presence, but his body. This Sith we deal with is uniquely powerful, but his powers are not brash or bold. He is subversive."

"Just how are we supposed to stand against that?"

"The Sith have many enemies," Maul said softly. "And men like Kenobi have more than most. If we look carefully and keep to the shadows, I'm certain we shall find his enemies, and we will rally them to us."

"And what then?" Savage growled, watching as frost began to cover Maul's cybernetics. It was frightfully cold. He may have been optimistic when he had estimated that they could live a few days more. It was beginning to look more like hours. "We have seen what he can do. We cannot defeat him, and if we amass too much power, he will certainly destroy us."

"The first time, we met because we had asked him to meet us. Last time, he hunted us down, and now it's time for us to become the hunter, Savage. We will attack Kenobi where it hurts him the most, without compromise and without mercy. Even a Sith Lord can be made weak, my brother."

"If we do this, he will kill us. He isn't some Jedi made weak by loss."

"He may try. His suffering will give us strength as well. Remember, Savage. We are Sith. We are made strong by the pain and suffering of others, and when we come for Kenobi, it will be with a united army of the criminal underworld. These organizations deal in information. They will give us the tools we need to find his weak points and drive the knife in."

Savage shivered. "Provided we survive."

Maul smiled softly and closed his eyes. "We will, Savage," he whispered, their ship creaking and groaning around them as the durasteel walls banged loudly as magnetized clamps fixed around their escape vessel. The back of the ship began to spark as a long, thin laser tool cut a hole into the sealed door, and seven heavily armed men stepped inside, weapons drawn and their chest plates emblazoned with the symbol of the Black Sun. "We always do."

"I'm telling you, I know what I saw!" Ahsoka said forcefully, pacing back and forth across the room while Anakin looked calmly at her. She was frantic and afraid and so uncertain, and with her emotional state teetering dangerously close to darkness, Skywalker was glad that she came to him.

"I believe you, Ahsoka, relax," he said calmly, extending his hand to ease her, and it worked. Her body trembling, the Togruta sat before him, and Anakin took her hand in his. "I need you to calm yourself."

"How can I be calm!" she cried, wrenching her hand from his. "I watched my Master murder someone!" she hissed, and Anakin swiftly reached out and pressed a finger to her lips.

"Hush, not so loud..." Skywalker whispered. "The walls don't keep sound out nearly as well as you think, and if this reaches someone else's ears, it's going to pass into rumor and it will never be believed."

Ahsoka scoffed. "It won't be believed anyway, the Council will never-"

"You're right, they won't," Anakin said, laying his hands on her shoulders, and the Togruta looked away sadly. "You know they can't sense the Dark Side, not when it matters. None of us can."

"I can! I sensed it in Master Quinlan, I have for a long time!"

"I know, Ahsoka..." Anakin said tiredly, running a hand through his hair. It was something that had bothered Anakin for a long time. The Dark Side was violent, oppressive, cold and dangerous, and when it was being used, every time they had faced Dooku or Kenobi in the field, they could sense the raw power of darkness they harnessed, even if they couldn't actually sense Kenobi himself. It was extremely distinctive and very, very easy to detect in ones actions. But they couldn't sense it in other Jedi, and if there was a Sith Lord in the Senate, and Anakin knew there was, than they couldn't sense him either. Jedi were supposed to be bastions against the dark, so why couldn't they sense it when it mattered most?

Anakin supposed that a great deal of it had to do with knowing where to look, and the Jedi weren't naturally a suspicious bunch, willing instead to trust and be deceived rather than not being able to bring themselves to trust at all. But now, between the horrors of war and the irreparable way that Kenobi had shaken the foundations of the Jedi, many were beginning to see darkness at every turn, in every shadow, in every action. The suspicion was shaking the Jedi's faith in each other, and worse than that, it was obscuring real darkness when it existed. Anakin supposed that was why this Darth Sidious had chosen to hide within the Senate. Corruption and greed ran rampant in the Republic's ruling body, and with the frenzy of war driving their actions, the Senate had become mired in the Dark Side.

The problem now, however, was Quinlan Vos. Skywalker had no doubt that Ahsoka was telling the truth. The Togruta was honest to a fault, even when it didn't serve her, but she had also picked up her Master's disregard for the Code, making for yet another unconventional Jedi in the ranks. She followed it better than the carefree Vos, but there were few who were as wild as the Kiffar, and while these Jedi were considered difficult by the Council, they also were proving to be the most effective in the battle against the Separatists. I break the rules not because it suits me, but because sometimes during a mission, the rules can get in the way. His Master Qui-Gon had said this to him once, and when he was young, he didn't understand, but being in war had taught Anakin the truth of it, and living by this had made him a success. He was never as brutally effective as his second in command, Tarkin, but Anakin was willing to do what he must to achieve victory.

Quinlan had been in the same boat long before Anakin had even joined the Jedi, and he had always walked in the shadows of the Force, not quite in darkness, but certainly to the beat of his own drum, all traits that he had passed to his aggressive Padawan. Ahsoka was a talent, loyal and brave, but also reckless and stubborn, not unlike Anakin himself, which accounted not only for their personality clashes, but also for their deep understanding of each other. Which is why the Togruta was here instead of reporting to the Council. They would figure this out together.

"Look," Anakin said, rising to his feet and helping the girl up, "your Master has always been a bit dark."

"Not like this!"

"Alright, not like this," he said, rolling his eyes, "but the things he's done in his career as a Jedi have made him look darker than most. He's certainly on the edge of comfort, as far as the Council is concerned, but nobody believes he's a fall risk."

"He murdered a man, Anakin," she said softly, her voice wavering with emotion. "I saw it, I watched it happen. Obi-Wan helped him do it, and you know how close they were! Even Master Qui-Gon agrees that Kenobi wants my Master to fall, and now he's making it happen."

Anakin hissed as he pulled on his cloak. "That complicates things. Do you think Kenobi forced him to do it? He's been known to influence people to do things they wouldn't. You know, he's done it to you too."

"I-I suppose..." She violently shook her head. "No, I felt the Dark Side in my Master. Maybe Obi-Wan helped him, but Master Quinlan didn't fight it."

Anakin thought about what she had said for a moment than nodded. "I'll talk to Master Yoda the next time I see him for training, but I want you to keep an open mind. Maybe things aren't what they seem with your Master, and you aren't exactly the cleanest Jedi, Snips." He chuckled when she crossed her arms and glared at him. "After all, stabbing someone in the back isn't exactly the Jedi Way, now is it?"

"Anakin, that Sith has been the cause of almost all of our problems!" the Togruta cried. "Killing him should be a priority, and when I saw the opportunity, I took it!"

"Woah, easy there, Snips!" Anakin said, putting a hand on her head and patting her affectionately. "I agree with you. Obi-Wan Kenobi is a serious threat that needs to be handled immediately. Which happens to be my current mission." He hit the button on his door and it slid open, and both Jedi walked out of the room. "Come with me to the hangar. I'm going to be gone for a while and I don't know when I'll be back next, and I'm going to miss you, Snips!"

"Ha, ha, Skyguy..." Ahsoka droned, but she followed Anakin anyway. It was a relief to know that the Council was finally sending someone to confront Obi-Wan, and an even greater relief that it was the exceedingly powerful Anakin Skywalker that they were sending. There had been rumors that Anakin had been training in secret with Yoda, though for what, she did not know. What she did know was that Skywalker was said to be prodigious in his command of the Force, and with all the victories he had tucked under his belt, she believed it. Skywalker rarely lost a fight, and with Qui-Gon's somewhat loose interpretation of the Code instilled in him, he actually may have stood a chance at besting Kenobi.

"The Chancellor has forbidden us to continue our hunt for Maul," Anakin said quietly to his pensive friend, and the girl bristled. "He says we can't continue wasting Republic resources on what ultimately amounts to a personal matter."

"I don't know what to think of that..." she sighed. "Maul is a threat, but..." Ahsoka cast her eyes down to the ground as they walked. "Obi-Wan would have killed him if we didn't keep getting in the way. If Master Piell-"

"He was right. Obi-Wan is the greater threat. But he went about it wrong." Anakin groaned and rubbed his temple. He was getting a headache just thinking about it. "Adi Gallia's death was tragic, but Master Piell's was just senseless and brutal. It could have been avoided if they had taken a more united, tactical approach." He scoffed. "It could have all been avoided if you focused all your efforts on Kenobi first. Three Jedi Masters and two former Sith would have been too much for even him. He isn't invincible."

"Or we all would have been dead," Ahsoka said softly.

"...maybe." It was open season on the High Council, it seemed, and the Order was struggling to fill the seats of those they lost. In one day, two of their rank had been slain, and finding wise Masters to fill those seats was difficult when it seemed as though simply sitting on the Council was a death warrant. The Order was falling apart, and to Anakin, the solution was simple. Identify the cause of the trouble and eliminate it. Dooku may have been leading the war, but Kenobi was pulling the Jedi apart, which made him the Republic's greatest threat. It was this which led Yoda to sanction Skywalker's mission to seek out and meet the threat of Darth Lumis. In light of what had happened on Florrum, it was an easy thing for the Council to accept.

"If we can't hunt Maul," Ahsoka began, shuffling her feet and slowing down as they came closer to the hangar, "than isn't he just going to emerge as a bigger threat later?"

"He will to someone," Anakin mumbled. "As of now, it seems like Maul is Kenobi's biggest enemy. Give it time and he might prove himself to be an asset."

"Give it time and he'll have an army of his own," Ahsoka growled. "He was trying to form an army of pirates on Florrum. He'll try again, I'm sure of it, but it's going to be worse. Without the Jedi to keep crime in check-"

"I know. But the Chancellor says that if Maul wants to play with the galaxy's garbage, we should just let him. The Separatists are the real threat."

"So we're just supposed to let him have a crime empire?!" Ahsoka asked, stunned. "That's insane! That's what Kenobi did with Mandalore, isn't it? And it's made him very difficult to touch!"

"...it's not dissimilar, you're right." Anakin stopped outside of the doors to the hangar and ran a hand over his face. "There's nothing we can do about it anyway. Chancellor Palpatine is right. As long as we're fighting this war, we don't have the resources to spare in fighting the crime syndicates. It just reenforces the need to end the war quickly." He laid a hand on the girl's shoulder and smiled reassuringly at her. "Don't worry, Snips. We'll sort out this mess with your Master. Keep an eye out, and keep me posted." When the girl said nothing, he leaned down to her eye level. "Hey. There are going to be Jedi who disappoint us, but as long as there are good ones, as long as there are those who are doing what's right, it makes it all worthwhile."

Finally, Ahsoka nodded and grinned at her friend, and reached out to touch the button to open the hangar door. No sooner had she touched it, Anakin and Ahsoka were flung back by a powerful blast of heat, and they struck the wall, a deafening sound in their ears and searing light forcing them to shut their eyes tightly as they were pelted with shards of rock and metal that cut and bruised. Anakin threw himself over the Togruta as soon as he was able, shielding her from the blast. When they felt it was over, both Jedi jumped to their feet and ran into the hangar, the entire bay blackened from scoring of intense heat, and ships lay in pieces, flames consuming everything that could be burned. All around them were the screams of the injured and dying, and the ground was scattered with the dead, some barely recognizable from the burns, and some in so many pieces that they could not be identified. Anakin could feel the dread from his companion, both Jedi reeling from the pain of the people within and from the grim conclusion they had both reached.

Someone had bombed the Jedi Temple.

Nobody was safe from suspicion. The Jedi Temple was heavily guarded, and were there any with ill intent within the civilians that worked in the Temple, than the Jedi surely would have sensed it. Which led many to believe that the one responsible was a Jedi, or at least a trained Force sensitive. Six Jedi were killed, along with many civilians and clones, which resulted in something of a clash of jurisdiction over who was in charge of the investigation. The Senate appointed the recently promoted Admiral Tarkin to the case. The Jedi choice was a far easier one. They put Quinlan Vos on the assignment.

Every Jedi in the Temple was a suspect, and fortunately for the Order, their resident tracker had been off world at the time, having left the day after his return from Florrum for personal reasons. The Council granted him his request. The Kiffar had seemed strained and anxious, clearly shaken by his ordeal with his fallen friend, and it was an easy thing to allow the man to leave Coruscant to recenter himself. He was called back to investigate, and he had returned quickly, looking so much better for his short retreat. Within hours of being assigned to the case, not only had Quinlan found out the source of the explosion, but he had taken a suspect into custody as well, and while the Jedi's dismissive, carefree attitude irked Tarkin, he couldn't argue with results.

He was pleased further by the Kiffar's willingness to surrender the suspect to Republic custody. After all, she was not a Jedi, simply a civilian, the wife of a munitions expert working within the Temple. The man wasn't responsible for the bomb, he was the bomb, accomplished by millions of nanodroids floating in his bloodstream that were detonated all at once. The woman didn't need to confess, and she didn't at first, but the Kiffar's use of psychometry revealed everything, and when confronted with the truth of her crime, she had surrendered.

That would have been the end of it, had the woman chosen to submit to questioning, but she instead had refused to answer any questions at all unless she was allowed to speak to Ahsoka Tano. It was extremely suspicious to everyone involved. As far as anyone knew, there was no connection to Quinlan's Padawan and the bomber, and on Republic insistence, the Togruta had gone to the prison to find out what she had to say. The meeting had ended with Ahsoka learning that the woman had done what she did with the help of a Jedi that not only had the idea, but taught her how to secure the nanodroids to facilitate the attack, and she had called Tano because she had heard that the young Jedi could be trusted. Furthermore, the bomber was afraid of this Jedi and sought protection, but before Ahsoka could learn who this Jedi was, the bomber had been choked with the Force while a panicking Tano tried to stop it.

It didn't look like that on the recordings, and moments later, Ahsoka had been arrested as the mastermind behind the bombing. And that sat poorly with Quinlan Vos, who wasted no time in removing his Padawan from Republic custody, which Tarkin had very reluctantly allowed. Prompted by Skywalker to act in good faith with the Jedi, and for Master Vos' easy surrender of the bomber, Ahsoka was released to be held in custody at the Temple until they got to the bottom of the situation. To the Republic, the evidence was clear, but to Quinlan Vos, the whole thing reeked of a set-up. And he was not happy.

"Did you sense anything when you were in there?" Quinlan asked Tano from his seat on the Council, and the girl just shook her head. The interrogation had lasted hours already, and the young Padawan was exhausted.

"I'm sorry, Master..." she whimpered, a small smile on her lips as she looked at the Kiffar gratefully. Quinlan flashed her a bright grin.

"That's alright. We've all had trouble sensing the Dark Side." She felt herself tremble and look away. How could he say that so casually when he sat there steeped in darkness? Ahsoka supposed it didn't matter. Her Master was the only one of the Masters that had stood up for her, believed that she didn't do this thing. Master Qui-Gon would have believed it as well, but the old man was gone on some...thing. She didn't know what. Nobody seemed to know. If Vos was so full of the Dark Side and he still had such faith in her, Ahsoka had trouble coming to terms with how it could be such a bad thing. Perhaps his darkness didn't matter. Perhaps it was giving him the clarity that the Jedi were lacking. Bitterness welled up in her chest. Maybe Anakin had been right. Maybe she needed to keep an open mind when it came to her Master and his darkness.

"The evidence against you is compelling, Padawan Tano," Windu said coldly, and he was met with a sharp, cold laugh from the Kiffar.

"The evidence against her is bullshit," Vos growled. "Why would this woman only speak to Ahsoka if they have never met before!"

"Because they have met before, Quinlan!" Mace shouted. His patience was gone. They had another fallen Jedi on their hands, and it would not stand. "We have a recording of her choking the suspect! What more do you want!"

"A hell of a lot more than that! We need to look at all the angles, we need to examine everything."

"You're letting your attachment cloud your judgement again, Vos!" Mace took a deep breath and leaned back. "Admiral Tarkin is insisting that she be handed over to Republic custody for a trial. He says that if the Jedi try one of their own, then the trial will not be impartial, and given your attachment problem, I'm inclined to agree."

"You're inclined to be an idiot, you can't do this!" Quinlan shouted, standing from his seat and taking Ahsoka by the arm. "Come on, we're leaving." Mace rose to his feet and began to say something, but Quinlan quickly reeled at him and pointed an accusing finger at the Master. "The Jedi have always tried their own. Always. If we deny her this, we need to cast her out of the Order, and that is never going to happen!"

"It will need to go to vote, Vos!"

"Yeah, but not today. Not until I'm done investigating. And we can't have this vote anyway since Qui-Gon isn't here." Tightening his hand around the Togruta's arm, he pulled her from the Council Chamber and didn't hear another word. Anakin and Barriss Offee rushed up to greet them, Skywalker's entire being tense with worry, and the Mirialan threw her arms around the Togruta.

"What did they say?" he asked, wringing his hands and looking at his young friend, who seemed on the brink of tears.

"She's confined to the Temple until judgement can be passed," Vos mumbled. "They're talking about expelling her from the Order so she can be tried by the Republic, and refusing the Senate's request would be seen as an act of defiance against the Republic. Our hands are tied."

Anakin groaned loudly and rubbed a hand over his face. "Tarkin. I'll talk to him and see if I can't get him to ease up. At the very least, I can convince him to give us more time for an investigation. That recording is pretty damning, but it isn't good evidence. A skilled practitioner in the Dark Side could have done this from a fair distance, right?" Quinlan nodded, and Anakin groaned in frustration. "This entire thing is seditious and manipulative and reeks of Sith involvement. I'd say it's Kenobi, but such a bombastic display isn't really his style, is it?"

"No, this is something else..." Vos mused, hand to his chin in deep thought. He was more focused than Ahsoka had ever seen him before, and just being with her made the Padawan feel that everything would be alright. "Whatever it is, it's of the Dark Side. I can't place it, but I can feel it."

"Could another Jedi have gone rogue?" Anakin asked, and Barriss shivered.

"I hate to imagine that could be the case," the Mirialan said softly. "But so much is unclear, and things are so clouded with darkness because of the war. I feel many Jedi will fall before this is over."

"Yeah..." Anakin took a deep breath and stretched his shoulders above his head. "Alright, that matter's settled," he said, his tone cheery as he walked away, and Quinlan frowned.

"Nothing is settled, Skywalker."

"Sure it is. I'm going out to find what's lurking around in the slums of Coruscant." He flashed the Kiffar a grin. "I'm not half the tracker you are, Vos, but I'm stubborn, and I don't stop until I get what want."

"I can help," Barriss softly offered. "I'm not much in terms of field work, but I can do some digging and see if I can't find where the nanodroids were secured." She smiled at her friend and laid a hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry, Ahsoka. We'll get you out of this."

Qui-Gon Jinn returned the next day just in time to see his former Padawan throw Asajj Ventress at the feet of the Council. His own interrogation by the Council on his mysterious whereabouts the past few weeks was postponed in favor of the far more interesting capture of a notorious Separatist commander, and her possible involvement in the bombing of the Jedi Temple. It didn't exonerate Ahsoka Tano, as Quinlan had hoped. The Republic held fast to the belief that the Padawan was guilty, based on the recording they had of her murder, and the possible involvement of Asajj Ventress only made her seem more guilty. The case against Tano was rapidly being built, and with Qui-Gon's return, Tarkin had again demanded that both Tano and Ventress be turned over to the Republic.

Laughter rang out across the chamber, much to the shock of Tarkin, his blue hologram wavering as he looked in disbelief at Qui-Gon Jinn, Jedi Master, as the man completely lost it. Nobody else could seem to see what was funny. "Let me see if I can understand this," he said, chucking as he regained composure. "You want us to turn over Ahsoka Tano for Republic justice, even though to do so, we would have to expel the Padawan from the Order?"

"That's correct," the Admiral said, hands behind his back and glaring at the Jedi.

"Right. That's not going to happen." Tarkin's eyes narrowed.

"You would stand in defiance of the Republic?"

"Boy," Qui-Gon drawled, leaning forward in his seat. "I have stood in defiance before the likes of Count Dooku, Mace Windu, Grandmaster Yoda, and the Jedi Council as a whole. Who the hell are you next to them?"

Tarkin bristled. "Standing against your own Order is one thing, but this is the Republic! You would defy the system you are sworn to serve?"

"I'll have you remember that I am sworn to serve the Jedi, not you, Admiral, and I have defied them more times than I can count." Qui-Gon closed his eyes, sighing as he leaned back in his chair. "But no. I won't defy the Republic on this. You will have your due. After we have completed our investigation." That seemed to satisfy the Admiral, though he didn't seem happy, and Anakin breathed a sigh of relief. It was good to have his Master back. "You are, of course, more than welcome to listen to the proceedings yourself, Admiral, if it pleases you."

"That would please me, Master Jedi," Tarkin said stiffly, the hologram leaving the center of the room as it was projected off to the side to allow the interrogation to begin. Anakin stepped forward, pushing Ventress into the center of the circle of Masters, her hands cuffed tightly behind her.

"Asajj Ventress, I am so pleased to say that you are under arrest," Mace said, and Qui-Gon clapped his hands, Master Windu wincing as he did so.

"Yes, well done, Mace. I'll be taking it from here."

"Master Jinn, you can't-oww!" Windu swiftly silenced himself and looked at Yoda next to him, the little Master gripping his stick aggressively.

"Master Windu. Shut up, you must." That did it. With a grumble, Master Windu slid down in his seat, furious eyes fixed on the Separatist and Sith assassin.

Qui-Gon smiled, inclined his head to Yoda when the Grandmaster gestured with his hand to proceed. "Anakin, explain how you came to find Ventress."

"Gladly, Master." He cleared his throat and stood up taller, pointing to Ahsoka, who stood next to Quinlan, her hands bound behind her. "Many of us believed that Ahsoka Tano was framed for the bombings at the Temple. She and I were headed toward the hangar just before it blew up, and if we had been in there just a moment earlier, we'd be dead as well. I know that isn't proof, but all the evidence we found felt like a set-up."

"Your feelings have no place in the proceedings, General," Tarkin said, his tone softened considerably when addressing his commander. "The fact remains that the evidence points to Ahsoka Tano as the culprit. The recording of her Force choking the one responsible for setting the bomb should be enough."

"Tarkin, why would she do something like that with the Force, which is rare enough to get herself blamed when she could have done something to divert attention away from her? Someone is setting her up, and I think we're looking at her," Skywalker growled, pointing at Ventress.

"Ventress?" Qui-Gon asked, and the woman glared viciously at him. "May I ask you a question regarding the Dark Side?" She didn't answer, which Qui-Gon took as a sign to continue. "Could a person with a talent in the Dark Side choke someone from a great distance?"

"I didn't kill anyone," she snarled. "Not in this matter."

"I'm not suggesting that you did," the Jedi said kindly. "I just want to know if it's a possibility, since you have worked very closely to those with a talent in the Dark Side."

Ventress looked the Jedi Master over, reached out to touch him with the Force, and found...peace. This wasn't the whirlwind of emotions that she had been engaging in with Quinlan, who sat nervously in the seat beside the Master. That was acceptance and understanding of an entirely different sort. This was grace and ease, and she felt instantly relaxed. This Jedi wasn't like the others. "It's possible..." she ventured carefully. "I've seen Kenobi be tortured from halfway across the galaxy by his Master. I've seen Dooku choke the life out of someone, and he wasn't even in the room. So yes, it's possible."

Qui-Gon nodded. "So, could you, for the sake of argument, choke Tarkin there?" He pointed to the hologram, who suddenly looked nervous. "You have a talent in the Dark Side, and the Admiral is a good distance, and you have a visual on him. Could you do it?"

"...no." she said softly. "But Kenobi could."

"This tells us nothing!" Tarkin snapped. "If she could do this thing you ask, fine, but all this tells me is that someone has to be very close to do this."

Qui-Gon nodded. "I agree. We're dealing with an amateur. Anakin, tell us how you found Ventress. It seems we got sidetracked."

"Right." Anakin took in a deep breath. "We didn't think Ahsoka was responsible, despite the evidence, so I went out to see if I could dig anything up. We knew Ventress had been working as a bounty hunter, and since we knew this had to have some Dark Side motive, I thought she'd be a good place to start." Anakin smirked. "She's been making lots of friends. As it turns out, bounty hunters don't like having their bounties stolen, and Ventress has been taking a lot of jobs away from some big time hotshots." He shrugged. "Turns out she's pretty good, and it's making a lot of people very angry. You've got enemies, Ventress, and they gave you up in a second."

Ventress growled and looked down at the ground. "Typical."

"They said she was involved in the bombing?" Tarkin asked.

"N-no, no," Skywalker stammered quickly. "They said she is based here in Coruscant. I was going to go looking for her, but Barriss did some digging into the matter and found a warehouse down on 1315 that the bomber visited. I went to investigate, and I found the nanodroids there. Thousands of them, the same make as the ones used by our bomber." He grinned triumphantly. "And that's where I found Ventress. Satisfied, Tarkin?"

"No," the man said quickly. "All this proves is that Tano had an accomplice."

"Damn it, Tarkin, you are such an asshole..." The Admiral crossed his arms and glared at his General.

"With all due respect, Skywalker, I am interested in the truth. If you want to ignore the facts to protect your own, fine, but don't expect me to look the other way when the evidence points to your friend as a traitor."

"Anakin," Qui-Gon said quickly, effectively stopping the Knight's angry retort, "how did you catch Ventress? You and I have fought her several times. Many of us have, and if we know one thing about her, it's that she has a talent for not getting caught."

"...she was dazed," he admitted softly. "When I found her, she was barely conscious. I sent Rex ahead with a recon group to the warehouse so I could finish up with the bounty hunters, and they engaged her there. She killed six clones!"

"That wasn't me!" Ventress snarled, and Anakin glared at her.

"It was you, Rex said he'd recognize your lightsabers anywhere! Anyway, Master, she fought back, but not hard." He frowned. "She tried to hit me with a pipe."

"You deserved it," Ventress growled.

"When I had her beat, she surrendered and came willingly." He snorted. "For her..."

"Well." Qui-Gon turned kind eyes on Ventress. She didn't look at him. "Would you care to explain yourself?"

"Why," she snarled. "Will you even believe me?"

"Not likely..." Mace grumbled, wincing in pain when Yoda struck him on the shin with his stick.

"I believe you have no reason to lie," Qui-Gon said softly, and Ventress looked up at him suspiciously. "Not on this matter, in any case."

What was with this Jedi? Her pale blue eyes ran over him, and she shifted her shoulders in an attempt to ease the strain in her arms. It didn't matter what she said here. She was among the Republic's most wanted, and she was going into their most secure prison no matter what the outcome of this farce was. She looked over at Quinlan, this rogue Jedi who sat on the Council, and could feel anxiety bordering on panic radiating off of him. He wouldn't look at her. He wouldn't look at anyone, and for a moment, Ventress felt almost betrayed. She had grown close to him, very close, and the fact that he was saying nothing when he very well could seemed to her like he was distancing himself from her in case she was responsible. He didn't trust her, and nor should he. She shook the thought away as soon as she had it. That wasn't it, she could feel it wasn't. In a single moment, Vos stood to lose not only the Padawan that he so cherished, but the woman that he...well, he didn't love her, that's for certain, but they were a good team, at the very least.

One look at Ahsoka Tano, the young Padawan's face empty and lifeless, settled the matter for Ventress. It was what betrayal looked like, and Ventress knew it all too well. The urge to lie and damn the girl as a final revenge against the Jedi she hated passed. It was something that she would have done without a second thought a few short months ago, but Ventress had changed. That life was behind her, dead with her sisters.

"I was ambushed," she growled, looking away in embarrassment. "Not just anyone can sneak up on me. It had to be a Jedi."

"You're quick to accuse the Jedi, Ventress," Qui-Gon said, and Ventress tensed, looked up at the Master viciously, and instantly relaxed. The man was smiling. It wasn't accusatory, he was curious. "That, or you have a very high opinion of yourself."

"There are very few Force sensitive beings on Coruscant that don't belong to the Jedi," she growled. "It's a logical assumption."

"But you're here."

"I'm here," Ventress began, trying to be patient but finding it very difficult to do so with so many hostile eyes on her, "because it's the one place in the galaxy where I'm safe from Obi-Wan Kenobi." When it looked like Qui-Gon had questions, she made to move her hand to silence him, but hissed when the sudden movement pulled at her shoulder. "The Sith betrayed me," she said between clenched teeth. "And I made the mistake of trying to get revenge. Kenobi isn't one to leave loose ends."

Qui-Gon nodded, his patient face filled with sadness. "I'm sorry for what my former student has done to you."

"I don't want your sympathy, Jedi." Qui-Gon drummed his fingers on the arm of his seat, carefully looking Ventress over, and the woman winced when she could feel his presence wrap around her. It was warm, comforting, and she wanted nothing of it.

"What happened after you were attacked?" the Master asked, and Ventress took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and tried to make sense of it herself.

"I woke up in the warehouse that Skywalker found me in with a lightsaber in my face," She growled, shooting a smug Anakin a vicious glare. "I just want to be left alone. I am done with the Sith, I am done with this idiot war, and I am especially done with the Jedi!"

"Well, we aren't done with you," Anakin growled. "You don't get to just get away with all the things you've done because you say you're done with it."

"I did not get away with it!" Ventress snarled, staring to rise to her feet, but a dozen hands flew to lightsabers, and she thought better of it. "I did not get away..."

"Peace, Anakin," Qui-Gon said softly when he felt the Knight's temper flare. "It's not for us to pass judgement on Asajj Ventress. Not yet, in any case. In time, the Force will show us the best course of action. Do you believe that?"

Slowly, Anakin stepped away from the woman, his eyes cast at the ground. "Yes, Master. I do. I just want justice for Ahsoka, she didn't do this!"

Qui-Gon didn't answer his former Padawan. He was too busy observing Ventress. "Tell me, Asajj," he said softly, the woman tensing when he used her first name. "How does it come to be that a former servant of the Sith is confronted by an aggressive Jedi and doesn't draw her lightsaber? You could have escaped if you did."

Ventress glared at the Master. "I didn't have them," she said between tightly clenched teeth. "They were stolen from me."

"She's lying!" Anakin shouted, stepping forward again. "Rex said he saw her! Six clones are dead, and we have the bodies to prove that they were killed by lightsabers!"

"If I had my weapons, Skywalker," Ventress snarled, "believe me, you'd know it. I didn't fight any clones, and I'm willing to bet that the person you're looking for is the same one who stole my lightsabers."

"I've heard enough," Tarkin snapped, the hologram flickering as he moved to stand in the center of the room beside Anakin. "Her story seems terribly convenient. She is a known Separatist agitator and terrorist, and she cannot be trusted. I stand by Skywalker and his clones. Her presence in the warehouse alone is enough to add yet another conviction to her already long list of crimes."

"So you believe Ahsoka is innocent?" Anakin asked hopefully, but the Admiral shook his head.

"She is, without question, involved in this. All our evidence points to Ahsoka Tano and Asajj Ventress being co-conspirators."

"No!" All eyes shot to Quinlan Vos, the Master out of his seat, his fists balled in anger and his entire body shaking with tension. He had enough. "Ahsoka is innocent, we all know it, and it's impossible for Ventress to be involved!" Tarkin was not impressed.

"Oh? And you have learned of this how?"

"Because..." Because what? Because he hadn't sensed her there? Because he saw her in none of his visions? He hadn't seen the culprit either, which made that more of an excuse than anything else. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and settled on the truth. "Because she was with me at the time of the bombing."

Ventress stared in disbelief at Quinlan as the room around her erupted into chaos, accusations flying around them. Why. It was true, yes, but saying such removed Ventress from the equation and made his Padawan seem all the more guilty. So why...

The room silenced when Yoda slammed his stick on the ground, the sharp clang silencing the Masters, though it did nothing to stop their suspicious, accusatory looks. "True, is this?" Yoda asked softly, and it took Ventress a while to notice that he was talking to her.

"...yes," she said. "I was with Quinlan."

"She's been teaching me about Dooku," Vos said quickly. "Nobody knows the Count like she does, and if we're going to end this war, we need to get to him, and Ventress has been helping to accomplish that!"

"She was Dooku's assassin," Mace said in complete disbelief. "She can't be trusted!"

"You're right, she was his assassin," Vos growled. "And now, there isn't anyone in this galaxy who hates the Count more than she does. She's an asset, and we'd be fools not to take advantage of it!"

"This changes nothing!" Tarkin snapped. "All this does is bring suspicion on you as well, Master Vos. You're in cahoots with an enemy of the Republic!"

"Former enemy of the Republic," Vos growled, but was quickly silenced when Qui-Gon raised his hand for quiet and leaned in toward Ventress, his elbows resting on his knees and his hands clasping before him.

"The subject of Ventress' involvement with Vos is another topic entirely, and certainly not necessarily a crime. We need to stay focused." He took a deep breath. "Ventress. How did you know about this warehouse?"

"I didn't," she snarled, but her anger dropped away when she saw a sad smile cross the Master's face, a knowing look in his eye.

"I know you didn't. But someone did. Anakin." The Knight stood up straight and held his breath. "Who else knew about the warehouse?"

"I-I don't know. The bomber, I guess. I just went there because Barriss said-"

A cold pit dropped into Skywalker's stomach when Qui-Gon looked at Luminara, and he could feel the Mirialan felt the same way. It wasn't possible. It couldn't be. "Where is your Padawan, Luminara?" Qui-Gon asked softly, his voice filled with sympathy and compassion, but the other Master just shook her head.

"No, Barriss wouldn't do this," she said firmly. "This thing is of the Dark Side, Qui-Gon, people have been murdered. My Padawan isn't capable, she abhors violence!"

"So did Obi-Wan." It hit a nerve, though the Mirialan Master did her best not to show it. She bit her lip and looked away, and when Ahsoka leaned out to look at the woman, she could see her quietly mouthing the Jedi Code. Ahsoka didn't want to believe it to be true. Barriss was her friend and had been for years. That she would frame her for the murders of many people was unthinkable, and yet, Tano had sensed darkness from the girl before. She thought herself simply paranoid then, but between the darkness she saw daily with her Master, confirmed by his recent murder and now the revelation of his connection to Ventress, she was willing to believe anything. What was worse was that as soon as she thought it, she knew it to be true. There was only one culprit, and it was Barriss Offee.

"Allow me to put together a new story," Qui-Gon said sadly, and everyone collectively leaned forward to listen. He even had the suspicious Tarkin's attention. "Our mastermind coerced our bomber into attacking the Jedi Temple, presumably out of fear, and had told her that were she to get caught, the Jedi to contact was Ahsoka Tano. When this did happen, our little mastermind killed the bomber, effectively framing Ahsoka for both the murder and the bombings."

"You said that only a Master in the ways of the Force could accomplish such a thing from a distance," Tarkin stated. "But Tano was alone in the room with her."

"I didn't say she needed to be in the room, Admiral," Jinn said firmly. "Any Padawan can manipulate an object from another room so long as they know it is there, and the suspect in question is highly skilled, and would be watching this meeting very closely. After all, the bomber could reveal her identity." Tarkin didn't look convinced, but he gave the Jedi a short, curt nod to continue. "According to Anakin, Asajj Ventress isn't exactly difficult to find, and with a known enemy of the Republic walking around, it gave her a way to turn Jedi suspicion outward, preventing an internal investigation that would result in her discovery. I think the rest speaks for itself."

"And you think a Padawan could hide her presence from Ventress and get the drop on her?" Mace asked.

"I do. We all know the Dark Side is difficult to detect." Qui-Gon leaned back in his chair and sighed heavily. "If Quinlan couldn't find this warehouse, than nobody could, unless they knew about it beforehand."

"And it couldn't have been Ahsoka that attacked the clones at the warehouse," Anakin added. "She was confined to the Temple at the time."

"Which makes our prime target Ventress," Tarkin insisted, but Qui-Gon shook his head.

"If that were true, she wouldn't have attacked Anakin with a pipe of all things when he tried to apprehend her, she would have used her lightsabers. She's telling the truth. She has no reason to lie, this crime would be one of the lesser atrocities on a very, very long list. Anything she says can't possibly hurt her further. And..." he added, looking over at a very tense Quinlan. "I believe she is trying to build a new life for herself. Leaving the Sith speaks well of her."

There was silence for a while as the Masters looked at Ventress, but she refused to meet any of the accusing stares. She didn't know what to make of any of this. "I can...accept this version of events," Tarkin said reluctantly. "The presence of this third party explains a great deal. However, the evidence supports the notion that Ventress and Tano are co-conspirators. The simplest answer is often the correct one, and what the evidence supports is...messy." He looked at Anakin. "General Skywalker, if you can find proof that this third party, this...Barriss is the one responsible, it would prove to me beyond the shadow of a doubt that Ahsoka Tano and Asajj Ventress are innocent of this crime."

"I'll get that proof for you, Tarkin."

"I'm coming with you," Luminara muttered, standing quickly and heading toward the large doors. "This is my Padawan, and therefore my responsibility. If she has done this terrible thing, I will see to it that she is apprehended."

"Very well," Anakin said softly, following the woman out of the door. "After you, Master."

Barriss let her Master and Anakin into her sparse room without any complaint, eager to hear what had been decided about Ahsoka and the captured Ventress. Luminara offered her no answers, simply walked into the room, cold and detached, to the desk where Barriss' lightsaber lay and took it into her elegant hands. Anakin had been concerned about bringing the Master with him on this, thought she may be too personally involved in the matter, but it appeared as if the Mirialan Master had already distanced herself from her Padawan. He had to remind himself that not all Jedi were as emotional as he was.

"I thank you for finding the information about the warehouse, Barriss," Luminara said, holding the lightsaber in her hands and examining it. She had been there when her student had crafted the blade. "It proved to be invaluable to finding the truth of the matter."

"I'm happy to be of assistance, Master," she said meekly, bowing to the woman and smiling gently at Anakin, the Knight standing by the door, arms crossed over his chest. Luminara had insisted he not leave the door. If there was to be a fight, she didn't want to risk any more Jedi being harmed. "What did the Council decide? Is Ahsoka free? Did Ventress do it?"

"How did you come about this information?" the Master asked, ignoring the question to the concern of her Padawan.

"I-I wanted to help," Barriss stammered, slowly creeping to the side of the room to put some distance between herself and the other Jedi. "Ahsoka is my friend, and I know she did not do this. So...I looked through the information that Quinlan provided and chased leads that we were unable to follow up on after Ahsoka was arrested." She took a deep, shuddering breath, her small hands shaking from nerves. "Please, Master, tell me if Ahsoka is alright. I know she didn't do this, she is innocent."

"You're right, she is innocent of this," the Master said softly. "Ventress was found in the warehouse."

Barriss grinned. "So she did do it!" Her smile faded when she saw how serious, how grim the Master looked. "Master, is Ahsoka alright? Did they not believe her?" She gasped, her hands flying to her mouth. "Did they let Ventress get away with it?"

"No. Ventress is still in our custody." Luminara's face hardened. "But I don't believe she did it. She says her lightsabers were stolen by the real culprit. And I believe her."

Barriss' hands flew open, two curved cylinders flying to her grasp just as Luminara activated her lightsaber and swung it at the Padawan, and with a gasp, Barriss ignited the weapons she held, the red blades extending to clash violently against the Master's strike. Anakin drew and ignited his own blade, but stayed by the door, just as he was told to do. She wouldn't be escaping.

"Why didn't you get rid of them?!" Luminara shouted, her voice trembling with emotion and her blue eyes filled with pain as her Padawan's face darkened with sinister delight.

"I think they suit me," she said icily, and she swung at her Master's feet, but Luminara was far too fast She leapt out of the way, blocking a few quick, vicious swings from her student, but the close quarters made Barriss wild, powerful blows send her off balance. She caught herself the first time, but the second, Luminara pressed her back with the Force with such power that the young student was thrown back hard against the wall, the impact making her loose her grip on her sabers, which Anakin quickly called to him. Skywalker sighed in relief as he watched the Master hold the Padawan against the wall. It was over before it even began. The fight was hardly a fair one. A young, freshly fallen Padawan against the cold, detached might of a Jedi Master made for gratefully short work. Had she been able to get free, more may have died.

Anakin clipped the lightsabers to his belt and removed the binders he had brought with him, and Luminara unceremoniously slammed her former student on the ground, the younger girl struggling but unable to move under the weight of the Force. Securing her hands behind her back, Anakin hauled the girl up, and the three of them began to long walk back to the Council Chamber. It was...uncomfortable. Barriss had been one of his first friends in the Temple. She had always been kind and patient with him, always willing to explain things when he was too embarrassed to ask his Master. And now, that same girl had fallen to the Dark Side, had committed murders, six of those being Jedi. It was unthinkable, and Anakin felt betrayed. It wasn't a pleasant feeling. When Ahsoka had told him about the murder that Quinlan had committed, he could somewhat understand it. He had been influenced by a Sith Lord, and he was protecting his Padawan, in a sense. Anakin had also murdered people after his mother had died, six Tuscan Raiders were dead because of him, and while he knew it was the wrong thing to do, he didn't regret it. Revenge felt good.

But this was different. Barriss had killed lots of people, people she never even knew in the most dispassionate way he could think of. And then she tried to frame Ahsoka, their mutual friend, for murder, and Ventress for...well, Ventress may have been innocent of this, but she would have deserved it. He could sense Luminara's pain, despite her stoic face, and knew that she was running through all the things that his own Master had when they discovered the truth about Obi-Wan. Had she failed her Padawan? Could she have prevented this? If she'd been a better teacher, if she'd listened better, if she'd trained her harder, and a hundred other ifs would plague her, at least for a time, but Anakin knew this was no fault of Luminara. This was all Barriss, as painful as that was to admit.

"The only thing the Jedi Council believes in is violence," Barriss growled as they walked down the halls, and Anakin's temper rose, and he began to say something when Luminara's hand rested on his arm.

"Don't, Skywalker. She isn't worthy of our attention." With a nod, Anakin fixed his gaze directly before him. The silence, it seemed, was bothering the Padawan far more than the Knight and the Master.

"The Jedi are the ones responsible for this war," Barriss said again, her nerves prompting her to speak again when Anakin shoved her into the elevator that would bring them to the Council. "The entire Order has lost their way, we are villains in this conflict!" The Master and the Knight said nothing, and the girl became frantic. "We have transformed into an army fighting for the Dark Side, Master! Can't you see it?!"

"You may not be wrong," Luminara said softly as the doors slid open, and she looked coldly at her student. "But you don't respond to violence with murder. I thought I taught you better." Without another word, she strode into the Council Chamber with Anakin and Barriss in tow.

Anakin pushed Barriss into the center of the room, the Masters looking at her sadly as Luminara stood before Qui-Gon and bowed deeply. "I thank you, Master, for your dedication in getting to the truth of this matter. I recuse myself from the sentencing of my Padawan. Please consider my vote with yours, regardless of what your decision may be."

Qui-Gon stood and gently hugged the Mirialan, and with a shiver, Luminara gripped the Master's robes tightly, her shoulders shaking with tears. Anakin stepped into the center of the room, took the curved handled lightsabers off his belt, and held them before Ventress. "Yours, I take it?"

The woman nodded, and to Anakin's surprise, there was no smirk on her lips, no I-told-you-so expression on her face. There was just...weariness, like this had been a trial for her, like all she wanted to do was return home, like she just wanted this to be over, regardless of how it ended, and Skywalker felt a twinge of pity for his old enemy. Perhaps Quinlan was right. Maybe she had changed.

He held the lightsabers out to Tarkin's hologram. "That good enough for you?"

The Admiral nodded. "I am glad we could get to the truth of the matter. It would have been a shame of this traitor had gotten away with this."

"There is no ignorance, there is knowledge," Qui-Gon said, releasing Luminara and running a thumb over her high cheekbone. "We'll take it from here, my friend. I'll come see you tonight." Luminara said nothing, just nodded and swiftly left the Council Chamber, and Barriss' cries for her Master fell on deaf ears. Qui-Gon took a deep breath. "Are you going to try and deny what you have done, Barriss?" The girl shook her head, and that was enough. "Admiral Tarkin, I believed I promised the Republic would have its due in this matter, yes?"

"You did, Master Jinn."

Qui-Gon sighed. "Do we even need to vote on this? I motion to expel Barriss Offee from the Jedi Order. Is there anyone who opposes this?" There was silence in the chamber, and the young Mirialan trembled as the Temple Guards were sent in to take her away. As they secured the Padawan and released Ahsoka, Qui-Gon quietly asked, "Barriss, is there anything you have to say for yourself?"

"We have all fallen so far from the Light we once held so dear," she whispered. "My attack was an attack on everything the Jedi have become."

Qui-Gon nodded. "I understand. May the Force have mercy on you, Barriss." There was silence long after the Padawan was escorted away, save for the quiet, grateful muttering of Quinlan and Ahsoka, and Qui-Gon rubbed his head wearily. "I didn't expect to come back to a mess like this..."

"Thank the Force you were here to help us resolve it," Depa Billaba said softly.

"Where were you, Master?" Anakin asked softly, and Qui-Gon raised a placating hand.

"Another time. We still have business to attend to." He smiled softly and looked at the woman still on the floor. "Ventress."

"Master," she spat.

"You are free to go."

"What?" Mace growled, jumping out of his seat, "Are you out of your mind, Qui-Gon! This is an enemy of the Republic! She's committed thousands of crimes!"

"And without her help today, an innocent Jedi would have been imprisoned or worse, and a servant of the Dark Side would have been free to kill again. We owe her our thanks." He smiled gently at her. "Besides, she isn't the same as before. I feel she's trying to change."

"Yes!" Quinlan agreed swiftly, jumping out of his chair. "Yes, she is!"

"I can answer for myself, Jedi," Ventress hissed at Vos, and the Kiffar swiftly sat back down, beaming like an idiot. "I...have walked away from the Dark Side. I needed to turn back before it was too late for me."

Qui-Gon nodded. "And you have been helping Master Vos learn about Dooku's weaknesses?" Ventress nodded slowly, but couldn't help but feel that the Jedi Master knew far more than he was letting on. She didn't like it. She expected Jedi to be harsh and judgmental, but Quinlan hadn't been, and now this one was proving to be just as unconventional. What were Jedi like this doing serving on the High Council? Regardless, it had been enough for Qui-Gon. "May we call on you again for further help?" Ventress looked as shocked as the rest of the Council. "The fight against the Sith is a dangerous one, and we may have a powerful ally in you. If we called upon you, would you come and share what you know?"

"Do you think I am completely stupid?" she snarled, and Qui-Gon merely shrugged.

"At a later date, I will discuss the possibility of issuing you a full pardon for your crimes, if you were to aid us in this matter."

Before any of the sputtering Council members could say anything, Ventress bitterly said, "I'll think about it."

Qui-Gon nodded. "Anakin, will you see to it that our friend Ventress is escorted outside the Temple safely?"

"Master, I really-"

"Please, Anakin..." Jinn said softly, and Skywalker felt instantly ashamed. He didn't realize how tired the Master had looked. "We've all had a difficult day, and all our faith has been shaken. Please, don't argue, not on this."

"R-right..." He grabbed Ventress by the arm and pulled her to her feet and undid the bindings on her wrists, and the woman frowned, rolled back and stretched her aching arms. They silently left the chamber as the Council was dismissed for the day with the promise to meet early to discuss Barriss, Ventress, and everything else that had happened that day.

As soon as they were out of the chamber, Ahsoka threw herself into her Master's arms. They didn't say anything. They didn't need to. She felt betrayed by her friend Barriss, and she felt betrayed by the Order. Not by all of it, but there were Masters who were willing to cast her out of the Jedi. Anakin, Luminara, Qui-Gon, her own Master, even Ventress had fought for her in a way, but there were others that did nothing. She was glad she was still a part of the Jedi, she was, but she could feel the pull of distrust begin to grow inside her, a cold, angry pit that sat in her chest when she thought about what had happened. Her Master had murdered a man, and she could feel the rush of darkness within him, but...perhaps it wasn't such a bad thing. Not if he was doing what was right, and there was nothing more right than attacking the cause of the war at its source. And besides, he had stood beside her, fought with everything he had within him to clear her name. That was worth more than some code.

She wouldn't say another word about the darkness that flowed within him. Not when she could feel it so keenly herself.