I'm late, Qui-Gon thought in frustration, making his way through the hallways to the room to which he'd been assigned. He'd just had a very uninformative meeting with Sorin and he struggled to release the negative feelings into the Force. He simply could not have them around for the next couple of hours. "I wish I could... make them tell me what happened," he muttered, and shook his head when he realized he'd spoken out loud. That was impossible. Someone, somehow, was going to have to get Obi-Wan to open up.
And speaking of Obi-Wan...
The boy stood outside the training room, still as he had been taught. Or as he'd been trained through pain, Qui-Gon thought angrily. Tendrils of the Force quested down the hallway past him, so thin that he barely felt it, and he could see Obi-Wan's eyes moving back and forth, trying to see to either side of him without moving his head. There was no fear in the Force, but the boy's stiff stance and his eye movements proclaimed uncertainty and fear. The anger he hadn't released swelled, and Qui-Gon paused. Taking a deep breath, he again released frustration and anger into the Force and was able to approach the boy in serenity. "Good afternoon."
Obi-Wan nodded, his stance relaxing slightly, but Qui-Gon could see a smile tugging on his lips. "Good afternoon, Master Jinn," he responded.
"It is good to see you. Shall we go in?"
Obi-Wan's eyes widened, and he nodded. "Yes, sir," he said, and followed the Jedi inside.
They warmed up together. Qui-Gon watched the boy, noticing how he moved freer and seemed happier. But then he'd always been happy when working with the lightsaber. Still, the return to the Temple appeared to have been a good move.
"Thank you for speaking with Master Elaida," Obi-Wan said as they finished warming up.
Qui-Gon smiled slightly. "Is it helping?"
The boy gave a one-shouldered shrug. "I think so," he said. "The last time one of the children pulled my braid, I didn't make them all cry."
"Good," Qui-Gon said. He'd figured that might be the outcome, and had spoken long with the Council about the wisdom of sending Obi-Wan to work in the creche. "And the Healers?"
Obi-Wan huffed a little. "It's not so bad. And Theela is really nice."
"Yes, she is," Qui-Gon said.
Obi-Wan glanced at him. "May I ask you a question, Master Jinn?"
"Of course."
The boy seemed to be gathering his courage. "I worked for the last few weeks with Master Yoda on my shields," he said. "Yesterday I worked with Master Windu. Do you know why?"
Qui-Gon looked at the boy in surprise. "I do," he said. "When I explained how you had reacted when I suggested you work with Master Yoda, the Council was concerned. We determined that you should work with all of them, one on one, to make sure that if there is another incident, we catch it now, rather than later."
The relieved look that crossed Obi-Wan's face was a surprise, and then Qui-Gon realized why. Of course the boy was insecure about changing teachers, he thought. It was no wonder, after being passed from Master to Master like an unwanted puppy. "I'm sorry," he said. "I didn't think to explain to you what we were doing. Right now is a testing time. We are trying to see if there are any more of the bombs in your mind."
Obi-Wan tilted his head to the side, a contemplative look on his face. "It might be wise, then, for me to face the entire council at once." His voice shook slightly. "And even alone."
"Why do you think that?"
The boy took a deep breath. "If they had set up a bomb to go off when I took a Padawan," he started slowly, "wouldn't they do the same for my first solo assignment? I mean, so that I reacted to the whole Council, and only when I faced them alone."
Qui-Gon nodded in approval. "Very good," he said. "I did not think of that. I will speak to Master Yoda and Master Windu tonight." He stretched his neck one last time, and then retrieved his lightsaber from his belt, turning it down to the lowest setting. "Shall we begin?"
The first spar was slow. He was careful, watching to see where the boy would need help in improving his technique. Having Master Zichri work with him had been a good idea; Obi-Wan was more confident in most of his moves. As soon as the spar was over, Qui-Gon shifted into teacher mode, walking Obi-Wan through exercises meant to strengthen the weaknesses he'd noticed. He'd forgotten how nice it was to instruct him; the boy was eager to learn, soaking in everything with bright eyes and a ready heart. It was seldom that he had to go over the moves twice, and he wondered how his Masters could have said he was unteachable.
By the end of the two hours, Obi-Wan looked even more invigorated than ever. "Thank you," the boy said softly. "It has been a pleasure working with you again."
Qui-Gon smiled. "Good, because I think you're stuck with me," he said. "There is no one else available, and I am not going to be sent out for a while."
The contented feeling coming from Obi-Wan was almost comical, and Qui-Gon chuckled. "Go get cleaned up. Mace warned me that he'd cook me dinner if I sent you to him sweat soaked. And I warn you," he said, leaning down to catch Obi-Wan's eyes. "He is a great Jedi Master, but he cannot cook."
Obi-Wan grinned, and then his expression sobered and he bowed. In seconds he was gone.
Qui-Gon stared after him, then took out his lightsaber again. Maybe working through basic katas would keep him from going after Toman with the green blade.
He was amazed, the next few days, at how much he looked forward to working with Obi-Wan. The two hours working with the boy became the highlight of his days. He had never had a student so adept at the weapon, not even Xanatos.
It was a week after his conversation with Sorin that he finally managed to track down Toman, and that interview made him late again for his time with Obi-Wan. He had turned onto the hallway where the training room was located when pain and fear flared out through the Force. He recognized the Force signature and sped up.
When he reached the training room, he was horrified to see Obi-Wan facing off against seven training droids. His tunic and pants were smoking, charred and bloody from where he'd been hit. Qui-Gon had the highest confidence in Obi-Wan's abilities, but he could tell that the boy was fighting the more advanced droids, and they had been set to highest setting; those were the only droids that produced such wounds. The boy simply could not keep up, although he tried, his blue lightsaber deflecting less than half of the bolts. He did not yet have the control to deactivate the droids. Leaping forward, Qui-Gon intercepted one shot and disabled the droid, but he was unable to deflect another bolt that hit Obi-Wan in the face. Obi-Wan gave a gasping cry and collapsed, his lightsaber falling, deactivated, from his limp hand. Qui-Gon jumped to stand before Obi-Wan, to intercept any other bolts with his body if need be. There were only two more bolts, neither of them aimed at him but at the boy behind him, before the remaining six droids froze in mid air.
"What happened?" Council Member Adi Gallia stood in the doorway, her hand up, and Qui-Gon could feel the Force around her. He didn't have time to wonder what she was doing there.
"I don't know." His words were clipped, angry. "Would you please get Obi-Wan to the Healers? I need to check something with these droids. May I have one of them?" The droids should have been aiming at him because they were programmed to go after whatever moved in the room. Why had they shot at Obi-Wan once he'd stopped moving?
Her eyes narrowed, but then she nodded and moved toward him. "I will do so."
"Thank you," he said. "I will meet you there."
She released one of the droids and he grabbed it with the Force as the other five dropped to the floor, deactivated. Adi knelt by Obi-Wan even as she activated her comm. Qui-Gon grabbed one of the deactivated droids as well and with a glance at the boy laying collapsed on the floor behind him, he ran.
"I don't know what you expect me to do," Miro said, looking quizzically at him. Qui-Gon gasped for breath. It had been a long run.
"I think the programming was altered," he said. "I think someone programmed them to attack a specific person. This one," he pointed to the one he held in stasis with the Force, "is still active. Adi deactivated this one."
Miro nodded shortly. "Who did they attack?"
"An initiate," Qui-Gon said. "Obi-Wan Kenobi."
The technician blinked. "Who?"
Qui-Gon took a deep breath. "An initiate I have been working with recently," he said vaguely, too pressed for time to go into the whole story, and he wanted to know how the boy was doing. "He's in the Healer's Wing right now. I was late to meet him, and they were attacking him when I arrived. I don't know how long he fought them."
Miro nodded. "Very well," he said, eyes narrowed. "If they have been reprogrammed, I will find out. And if I can, I'll find out who did it."
"That would be excellent," Qui-Gon said. "Contact me as soon as you know something." He only waited for Miro's nod before heading back toward the Healer's Wing.
When he reached the Healer's Wing, he was unnerved at the feeling in the Force, but he couldn't define how it felt, exactly. Once he was given directions to where Obi-Wan had been put, he moved quickly in that direction. Before he'd reached the room, Theela grabbed his arm in some distress. "He dropped into a healing trance before Adi brought him here," she informed him, pulling him into Obi-Wan's room. "And he keeps going deeper. I can't get him to stop. When I try, it seems to speed the process up. See if you can pull him out of it." She stopped next to the bed, and Qui-Gon inhaled sharply at how pale the boy was. The only color in his face was the burn he'd been unable to stop. It traced a line across the bridge of his nose and down his left cheek. There were barely any signs of life.
"I'll do my best," he said, and reached out to touch the boy's face, cradling Obi-Wan's chin in his own large hand.
Beginning his own trance, he slipped past Obi-Wan's crumbling shields and cast about in the Force for the bright spark that was Obi-Wan.
He caught half-glances of the events that caused the wounds that were appearing on Obi-Wan's body. If he'd been fully conscious, he would have said he caught them out of the corner of his eye. He saw enough that he had to rein in the anger that filled him. The anger would lessen his connection to the Force, and he couldn't afford that right now.
He found Obi-Wan's spark hidden in an untouched corner of the boy's mind, fading as he slid deeper and deeper into a trance. Cautiously, Qui-Gon wrapped a bit of his own Force signature around that fading spark, coaxing it back to life, gently guiding the boy back to consciousness. Obi-Wan resisted at first, pain radiating from him, but Qui-Gon added reassurance to the Force around him. Slowly, the spark brightened, then Qui-Gon heard Theela sigh in relief before he opened his eyes to smile tensely at Obi-Wan. "Welcome back," he said.
"It hurts," the boy said softly.
"I know," Qui-Gon told him, wishing he could have helped that. "But you were killing yourself."
The boy's brow furrowed. "How?" he asked.
"You kept dropping deeper into trance. You were nearly too deep, and you might not have found your way back out."
He fought to keep his eyes open. "Oh."
Qui-Gon looked up at Theela. "I'll keep him conscious," he said, a suspicion growing in his mind. "You call for Master Yoda, and for Mace. Quick. I don't think you'd better try healing him until they're here. Yoda will understand."
The Hjem left the room with a startling speed, and Qui-Gon turned his attention back to Obi-Wan, giving the boy's head a slight shake when he noticed his eyes had closed. "Stay awake," he said sternly.
Obi-Wan moaned. "Yes, sir," he said faintly, and his eyes opened, unfocused and vulnerable.
"Can you tell me what happened?"
There was a long pause. "I went in to start warming up," he said. "You were late."
"I know. I'm sorry. I was delayed. It won't happen again."
"I don't think anyone else was there, but there was a dark feeling." His brow furrowed, and he struggled to meet Qui-Gon's gaze. "I'd felt it before," he said. "The night before Bant left, when I couldn't sleep. Remember?"
Qui-Gon paused, then nodded. "Yes. You said you hadn't slept well, but it was not because of your sunburn."
"Yes. Every time I tried to go to sleep, it felt like something dark and angry was coming to get me." His words were beginning to slur, and he shifted painfully. "It felt like that."
"After the dark feeling, what happened?"
Obi-Wan swallowed, wincing slightly. "One of the probes activated," he said. "I thought it was a test or... or something. But then the second one activated, and the third...." His voice drifted off.
"I would not do that to you," Qui-Gon said, more firmly than he'd planned to. He did not want this boy to believe Qui-Gon would test him beyond his skills. It had taken so long to get him to trust, and Qui-Gon found that he did not want to lose that.
"I... I know. That's why I was so confused. I couldn't keep up when there were three," he said. "And I knew something was wrong when it hit me the first time. I tried to get out of the room." His voice dropped, almost as if he were ashamed. "I tried to leave, but then the other four activated and blocked the way."
"That was a good thing to do," Qui-Gon assured him. "I would have wanted to escape, too. Sometimes, the best defense is knowing when to get out of a fight you cannot win. Never be ashamed of that, Obi-Wan. It takes more courage to walk away than it does to stay."
"Y-yes, sir," he stuttered, and Qui-Gon almost desperately cast his senses out. Where were Mace and Yoda?
Almost in answer to his thought, the two Masters arrived. Yoda was perched on Mace's shoulders, and both of them wore a grim expression. "Another bomb, you believe to have found?"
"I'm not sure," Qui-Gon said, but he didn't straighten, his hand still on the boy's chin. "I didn't want to run the risk of hurting him or Theela if it did turn out to be something like that."
"Wise of you," Yoda said, and slipped off of Mace's shoulders, dropping onto the bed by Obi-Wan. "Focus you must," he said, watching the boy. "Help us, if you can."
"Yes, Master," Obi-Wan said, and Qui-Gon was disturbed to see the tears of pain in his eyes.
"Theela, try you must, through me to heal Obi-Wan," Yoda said urgently, and the healer nodded.
"Yes, Master," she said.
Qui-Gon was forced to move, and once he was clear of the bed, Mace pulled him from the room. "What is going on?" he asked.
Qui-Gon shook his head. "I don't know. It looks like someone is trying to break him. It all points to that, but not to whom." He huffed slightly in frustration. "I would point at his former Masters, but even that doesn't seem quite right. I mean, they are guilty of abusing him, certainly, but I don't think they are necessarily the instigators." He sighed. "Does that even make sense?"
"A little," Mace said. "Do you have any ideas?"
Qui-Gon shook his head. "I don't even know where to start. I'm not used to being suspicious of Jedi."
Mace nodded. "Yes," he said. "I find it difficult as well." He paused. "What else is there?"
"How did we miss this?" Qui-Gon asked.
"I don't know." Mace's voice was hard. "But we will find out who's behind it."
Mace's assurance didn't ease Qui-Gon's mind. He turned back to the closed door, wondering what was going on. The Force was loud around him, but it always was in the Healer's wing, where it was in use almost constantly. "What will happen to Obi-Wan if he is not taken as Padawan?"
Mace was silent long enough for Qui-gon to get a little worried, and he turned to face the dark-skinned Jedi Master. The expression on the other man's face was indescribable. "I hope it does not come to that," Mace told him honestly. "But if he is not taken as Padawan within the next few months, we will likely send him to the Agri-Corps. He is thirteen."
Qui-Gon turned again to stare at the door behind which Theela and Yoda worked on Obi-Wan. He was certain that the Agri-Corps was not the best place for Obi-Wan, but with his record, it was possible that there were no Masters willing to take a chance on him.
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