"Handle this we will, Qui-Gon. Full security alert there is."

Qui-Gon hit the wall next to the unit with his fist as he spoke. "He's going to go after Obi-Wan."

Yoda's voice came sharply through the wall unit. "Come after you, he will, not the boy. Careful you must be. Find him we must."

"Yes, Master."

Qui-Gon turned away from the wall unit and ran to the door, pressing the keypad to get out. His heart already pounded too fast in his chest before he could start running. Guod's probably already there, he thought. I may be too late.

"Wait!" Bel-San cried, but Qui-Gon was through the door. He heard his friend's boots pounding the tiles behind him as he sprinted down the corridor.

He didn't know how long Guod had been free, but it couldn't have been very long. Although Guod had been angry when he apologized, Qui-Gon was shocked at the knowledge he had turned. It happened so rarely; he didn't know of any other Jedi that had turned since Xanatos. Air pushed in and out of his lungs quickly as he forced his legs to pump harder, doors whizzing by on both sides of his vision. He passed the faces of confused Jedi milling in the hallways, and he knew the Temple had been alerted, which meant Guod knew he was coming.

Bel-San finally caught up to him, panting hard. "Are you sure. . .he'd go to Heri's room?"

"He can't escape." He took a quick breath. "Where else would he go?"

***

Obi-Wan lay in the dark, his covers up to his chin. Master Heri had tucked him in a few minutes ago, but he still didn't feel sleepy. Ever since he woke up with the Healers, everyone seemed to want him to go back to sleep. He'd slept so much in the past few days he didn't think he'd actually need to go to bed for a week. But Master Heri said he should, so he obeyed. He didn't want to get her in trouble too, like Master Qui-Gon.

He turned over on his stomach, pushing his arms under the pillow and clutching it tighter. The room seemed darker than usual, even with his tiny hololight left on by the slide door. Master Heri only had him to look after now; the other two younger kids that used to live in the apartment had moved out for a while. "To help you get better faster," Master Heri had said. He didn't understand what was wrong with him. He didn't feel sick, but everyone had been worried since what happened with Knight Guod. The only thing that felt wrong was inside his head, and he didn't know what he could do to fix it.

Maybe Master Qui-Gon could talk to Yoda and we could make things okay again, he thought. But then he remembered Master Qui-Gon was in trouble. They wouldn't even let Master Qui-Gon see him without another Jedi. I don't know what I did to make things so bad, he thought, but I don't want him to be in trouble anymore.

He wasn't supposed to get out of bed. When Master Heri said, "Go to sleep," she meant it. She even sang to him a little tonight, but she couldn't sing like Master Qui-Gon did. It didn't make him sleepy at all. Obi-Wan pushed back the blankets and stepped on the cold tiled floor in his bare feet. He crept quietly over to his desk and opened the top drawer, feeling around in the dark for the comlink. His hands closed around the small object, and he held it to his chest as he jumped back in bed.

A slice of light cut into the room as the slide door opened, and Obi-Wan shoved the comlink down the front of his tunic. Its cold metal slid down his ribs, and he shivered.

"Obi-Wan. You have to get up." Master Heri walked quickly over to his bed, helping him out from underneath the covers. "We have to get out of here."

"What's happening, Master Heri?" Her voice sounded afraid, and he took her hand. It was sweaty.

"I'll explain later. It's going to be okay. Just come with me."

Obi-Wan followed behind Master Heri; she was still wearing her sleep clothes underneath her robe. They walked through the dimly lit apartment to the door, and he waited for her to open the door.

He felt suddenly cold, as if it were snowing inside.

"Don't move." The voice came from behind them.

Master Heri's gripped his hand even harder. "Don't hurt him."

"Turn around."

Obi-Wan knew the voice. It was the same one that had been in his mind, the one that had hurt so much. He turned with Heri, pressing himself against her leg. Guod stood several meters behind them. He had something in his hand.

"Get away from the child."

Master Heri stepped in front of him. "Guod, think about what you're doing. If you leave now, things will go better for you."

Guod laughed, and Obi-Wan cringed at the sound. It was like an animal grunting, deep in its throat.

"I know exactly what I'm doing."

"You're not thinking clearly--"

"This is the first time I've thought clearly," Guod said. "I won't ask you again, Heri. Step away from him."

Obi-Wan could feel Master Heri shake under his hands. He pulled away from her leg to sneak a glance at Guod. He looked angry. His face was red and purple, streaked with blood running down his cheek.

"You were kind to me before all this, Heri. I don't want to hurt you. But I will, unless you move. Now."

"You will not hurt this boy." Her voice was quiet, the way it got when she was really serious, Obi-Wan thought.

The object Guod held lit up brightly as a blast of red-orange shot across the room and struck Heri. She fell to the ground, holding her leg tightly as blood trickled out from between her fingers.

"Master!" Obi-Wan shouted, leaning over her. She was crying.

"Stay away from him!" she shouted at Guod, dragging herself to a sitting position on the floor. Guod laughed again.

Master Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan thought. He will know what to do. He reached into his tunic and turned on the comlink.

***

They reached the threshold of the Creche area, and Qui-Gon slowed his pace, his hand on his lightsaber. Bel-San's boots skidded on the tiles, letting out a short squeak behind him. As soon as Qui-Gon entered the corridor, he felt a cold wave wash over his consciousness. He shivered.

"He's here," Bel-San whispered, his voice shaking.

Qui-Gon nodded, keeping his focus on the door at the end of the hallway. He reached out with the Force, searching for Obi-Wan's signature. With the bond still in tenuous shape, he had a difficult time finding the boy, but he finally sensed the thin thread of Obi-Wan's mind. "We have to hurry."

"If he's already in there--"

"He is." Qui-Gon moved to take up his lightsaber, but a quiet beep from his robe stopped him. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out his comlink, switching it on.

". . .is coming!" Obi-Wan's voice was muffled.

Another voice spoke through the comlink, sounding even farther away. "I know. I want him to."

"Guod is going to kill him," Qui-Gon said, breaking into a run.

"Wait!" Bel-San shouted, catching up to him and pulling back on his shoulder. "We need to negotiate with him. Maybe he'll exchange Obi-Wan for something he wants."

"Negotiate? He's turned. He won't." Qui-Gon reached down again for his lightsaber.

"You can't go in like that. He'll kill him if you come in armed."

Qui-Gon swallowed quickly. "We'll try. He's waiting for me." He lifted the comlink to his lips. "Obi-Wan."

"Master Qui-Gon!" Obi-Wan's voice sounded thick and far away.

A patch of static ran through the comlink, mixed with the sounds of struggle. "Obi-Wan!" Qui-Gon shouted.

The static stopped. "There. That's better."

"Guod. It's Qui-Gon."

"I know who it is. You think I didn't sense you coming up the hallway?"

"What do you want, Guod?" He hoped his voice sounded calm.

"You can't give me what I want."

"Just tell me and we'll see what we can do."

"Aren't you obliging all of a sudden? Funny how nice people become when you've got a blaster against little Obi-Wan's head."

He stopped breathing for a moment. "I want to help you. Tell me what I can do. What do you want in exchange for Obi-Wan?"

"I want to get out of here. I want to leave the Temple. But that's not going to happen. They're going to keep me locked up here forever, and there's no way out."

Qui-Gon took a quick breath. "Guod, if you release Obi-Wan, you can take me instead. Let me take his place."

"You're trying to trick me. It's not going to work."

"You don't want Obi-Wan. You want me. Set him free, and you can have me."

Bel-San shook his head. "Don't do it. Trade something else. He'll kill you!" he whispered.

"He doesn't want anything else."

Guod cleared his throat. "Done discussing, gentlemen?"

Qui-Gon glanced away from Bel-San. "Will you trade?"

"I am getting rather fond of the boy, Qui-Gon. I can see why everyone is clamoring to be his Master. I never took a Padawan myself. I always wondered what it would be like."

"Just let Obi-Wan go."

"I thought you were a diplomat! You're a terrible negotiator, did anyone ever tell you that? Here I am, prepared to blow a hole through this kid's head, and you're telling me what to do?"

The image of Obi-Wan with a blaster against his head possessed Qui-Gon's mind. He gripped the comlink in his shaking hands. "Is Heri in there?"

"She's in here. She wouldn't listen to me. I had to shoot her."

Qui-Gon closed his eyes. "Is she dead?"

"Not yet."

"Please, Guod. Trade Heri for me. She has nothing to do with this. I am unarmed. Let me come inside so we can talk."

A pause came through the comlink. "All right. You can come in. But no one goes out. And if anyone else tries to get in with you, I kill the boy. Understand?"

"Yes, understood." Qui-Gon unfastened his lightsaber and handed it to Bel-San.

"This is madness. You're going to get killed. Wait for the others--Master Yoda is coming. He'll know what to do." Bel-San's face was pale.

"It'll be too late by then." Qui-Gon passed the comlink into his friend's hands. "Take this. When the others get here, you can try again."

He turned away from Bel-San and stepped in front of the door.

"It's just you?" Guod asked through the voicecom by the door.

"Yes."

"You're unarmed?"

"Yes."

"Turn around. Step backwards into the room when the door opens."

Qui-Gon took in a deep breath and turned around, his hands in the air. He felt the whoosh of air from the slide door along his cheeks, and he moved backwards one step into the room. The slide door nearly clipped his nose as it shut again.

"Don't move."

"Obi-Wan, are you all right?"

"Yes." He could hear the boy's teeth chattering.

"I didn't ask you to speak," Guod said.

"Guod, please, put the blaster down. This is between you and me."

He heard Guod's footsteps click across the tiled floor, coming closer to where he stood. Qui-Gon felt the cold metal of the blaster touch the back of his neck. He let out a silent sigh of relief. At least it wasn't pointed at Obi-Wan anymore.

"You're right. This is between you and me. And it's going to end very soon."

"Where's Heri?"

A grunt sounded from the near the doorway. "I'm here," she answered weakly.

"I told her to move. She wouldn't," Guod said. "That's why she's bleeding."

"There are going to be a lot of Jedi outside this door in a few minutes," Qui-Gon said softly.

"There already are. Can't you sense them?"

Like a distant thrum, Qui-Gon suddenly felt the faint press of Force signatures coming from outside the door. Master, he thought. Mace. Demeron. Adi Gallia.

"You should know better than allow yourself to be distracted."

Guod's voice ripped him from the moment. Qui-Gon felt the darkness from Guod's mind swirling around him, pulsing in the air. He reached out for the Force to calm himself, raising his shields even higher.

"You're trying to protect yourself. You can't. I can get underneath every shield."

The muzzle of the blaster pressed hard against his neck, and he winced. He closed his eyes, focusing on the Force. With serious concentration, he used the Force to change the setting on the blaster, moving it to its lowest potency. He knew if he tried to take it from Guod's hands the Jedi would fire, which meant he would have to disarm him some other way.

"This could be much easier, you know."

He could sense Guod's own mind probing into his, searching for an opening.

"You're a harder trap to spring than most, Qui-Gon. Must be a lot of bottled-up childhood trauma."

"What is it you want to know?"

"It's not what I want to know, it's who. You have--" he tapped Qui-Gon's skull with the blaster--"a great number of connections in here that I would very much like to have for my very own. Once I get in your head, I can get in theirs."

Qui-Gon started to shake his head, but stopped as the muzzle pressed harder against his vertebrae. "It won't work. They can block you out. It won't do you any good."

"I don't want to speak with them. All I need to do is cut the connection. Remember the boy? He proved me right. I don't suppose Master Yoda would do too well if I severed you both. You wouldn't be doing too well either."

"If you're going to kill me, just kill me."

Guod laughed. "Patience, Qui-Gon, I'm getting to that."

He sensed a movement behind him, but it wasn't Guod. Obi-Wan, no! he thought.

"Leave him alone!" Obi-Wan cried, and Qui-Gon turned in time to see the child leaping up on Guod's back, clutching his hands around Guod's neck.

"Obi-Wan!" Heri shouted from the corner of the room, moving to her feet.

Guod reached around and pulled Obi-Wan off his back, throwing the child to the floor between himself and Qui-Gon. Obi-Wan let out a choked gasp as all the air left his small body, and Guod held out his blaster, pointing it at Obi-Wan's crumpled form. He could feel the press of the Dark side all around him, trying to reach down his throat. He called on the Force, pulling it tightly to him. Qui-Gon sensed the blaster firing before Guod even pulled the trigger. With reactions faster than normal time, he jumped over Obi-Wan's body the same moment the weapon fired, taking the blast full in the chest.

A hot coil of pain wrapped around his ribs, crushing in on his lungs. He fell heavily to the floor next to Obi-Wan, gasping for air. His heart lurched inside his chest, launching into a series of palpitations as the electricity from the shot surged through his body. He wasn't bleeding--much--but even the lowest setting had him fighting for consciousness.

"Master!" Obi-Wan crawled to his feet, and Qui-Gon felt his small hands touch his arm, then his forehead.

"You changed the settings." Guod laughed, and Qui-Gon heard the click of the blaster as Guod reset the charge.

Guod smiled. "Do you think you'll feel it when the boy dies?"

Qui-Gon struggled to sit up, pulling himself in front of Obi-Wan. He was dimly aware of Heri moving somewhere behind them. "You can't have him. You can only have me."

Qui-Gon felt Guod's mind reaching deep into his, pushing farther into its recesses beyond his breaking shields. "I'm going to have you both."

Guod took a step towards them, and Qui-Gon felt Obi-Wan press into his shoulder, silently sobbing.

"It's going to be all right," he whispered to the boy, reaching his arm around him. He sent a wave of calm through their frayed bond, and he felt the boy's frame relax slightly.

A quiet thrum suddenly erupted behind them. "Put the blaster down."

Guod looked up in surprise, the blue light from Heri's lightsaber reflected in his eyes. Qui-Gon let out a painful breath; Guod had been too heavily entrenched in probing his mind for him to notice Heri's movements.

"It's over, Guod." She stood over them, her blade leaning out protectively in front of them. Her voice did not shake. "Shoot them, and you shoot yourself. So go ahead."

TBC