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Prey

MrsHamill (mrshamill@gmail.com)

Archive: MA and my site, Mom's Kitchen (www.hawksong.com/~momskitchen)
Category: Drama, H/C
Pairing: Q/O
Summary: Danger can wear a benign face.
Disclaimer: What, you think I own these guys? Do I even look like George Lucas? If this is not what you expected, please alter your expectations. No such thing as random coincidence. No such thing as too much lubricant.
Warning: Never say 'bite me' to a cat. (Archivist note: Warnings are actually posted at the very bottom of the story. Please scroll all the way to the bottom if you are concerned about warnings. Thank you.)
Series: No way.
Notes: I'm pretty sure that Laura was kidding when she wanted me to call it "Death by Hamill"... but then again... Camille and Clara Swift looked it over for me, bless 'em, and Sian and Lisa actually betad the damn thing, but all mistakes left are mine. This was in the Constrict 2005 'zine.

It was supposed to be an easy mission.

Qui-Gon had recovered fully from Naboo, finally, and he and Obi-Wan were bonded mates forever, something he could hardly believe at times. When the Council sent them out, all concerned thought it was something easy, something to get them both back into the rut of working again. A simple task; evaluating the planet Hakar for entry into the Republic, as had been requested through the office of the Supreme Chancellor. Meet with the leaders of the planet, talk to them, make sure they knew what was involved in joining the Republic. Issue a statement to the Senate over the world's readiness. A simple mission.

But when they arrived on Hakar, they found a hostile populace. They found people treating them with suspicion and anger, mixed in with a lot of hate. It made no sense.

The cities on Hakar were not, by any stretch of the imagination, metropolises. The planet had equal land to water masses, and the two large continents were divided into city-states. They were mostly cohabiting in peace, aside from the occasional flare up, and seemed united in their detestation of the Republic and the Jedi. As they entered each city-state the leaders grudgingly agreed to see them, but  no quarters were ever made available to them; they weren't even given a list of suggested places to stay. They were left to their own devices. Several times they'd ended up camping in the wilderness.

"I don't understand this," Obi-Wan muttered one night, staring out the small, dirty window of their rented room.

Qui-Gon looked up from his datapad. "It makes no sense," he agreed. "Their xenophobia is too strong to indicate a desire to enter the Republic, and we've met no one who admits to wanting the entry or even requesting this evaluation. And then... I feel there's..." Qui-Gon let his voice trail off, frowning.

"Something's not right." Obi-Wan turned away from the window and nodded slowly, finishing Qui-Gon's thought. "Something is definitely not right. There are times when I've actually felt as if we're being followed, as if something is... I don't know..."

"Hunting us."

Obi-Wan swallowed hard and nodded again. They stared into each other's eyes for a long time before Obi-Wan spoke. "I don't know where it's coming from, and I don't know how or who... But yes. That's what it feels like."

The room was pathetic. It was small, dingy and cold, with a thin, small mattress on a raised wooden pallet for a bed and no other furniture. They ended up sleeping on the floor, on their bedrolls, their cloaks giving scant comfort from the drafts that plagued the building. Huddling together as much for warmth as for love and comfort, Qui-Gon wrapped his arms around Obi-Wan, squeezing almost too tightly, though Obi-Wan made no protestation, merely squeezed back. They were both exhausted -- from trying to reach the indigenes, from walking from place to place, from the cold and from their inability to understand the situation.

"I think we should just leave," Qui-Gon whispered into Obi-Wan's hair as they got comfortable. "The shuttle is only a few days away. We can even remain in orbit while we get more information from the Supreme Chancellor's office. Obviously we're accomplishing nothing here."

Obi-Wan was silent for a long time, and Qui-Gon feared he had fallen asleep before he finally answered. "Yes. I agree."

They'd only had one positive connection with the indigenous population; it had been shortly after they had arrived. A shriek and a loud crack of wood had warned them of a child in a tree, far too high up for her size and age and apparently too heavy for the branch she had been hanging from. Qui-Gon had controlled the branch's fall and Obi-Wan caught the child in a net of the Force, brushing the branch aside. When she saw that she was being held by ohjin -- strangers, outsiders -- the girl had instantly begun to shriek again, struggling to get free. Her parent had seen it all, however, and offered guarded thanks before bearing the child away, scolding her furiously.

Every other time they'd encountered people, they had been stared at, given a wide berth or even shunned. It wasn't a comfortable place, by any stretch of the imagination.

As they had agreed, in the morning they left and began making their way back to the largest of the cities, Iblis. They had to go by foot, as no one would give them or let them pay for transport, but it wasn't much of a hardship. Four days later, they were camped in a wooded area that looked like a public camping ground. They stopped almost reluctantly; they were less than a day out of Iblis and both would have rather moved on, even through the heavy, moonless night, but knew it was safer to stop. They should have been relieved -- they were leaving Hakar and its unfriendly populace. Instead, their feelings of trepidation had only grown as they neared their shuttle.

Qui-Gon had meditated briefly, but it was better than nothing, asking the Force to help him pinpoint his feelings of dread. He had found no surcease, though, only a continued feeling of impending danger.

At their campsite, they built no fire, preferring the anonymity of the dark. They spread their bedrolls near a fragrant bush, an out of the way location and unlikely to be noticed. The moment Qui-Gon laid down, he found himself with an armful of Obi-Wan, who kissed him with such fervor that Qui-Gon was taken aback. "Obi-Wan?"

"I need you," Obi-Wan whispered.

"Not here, it's too dangerous," Qui-Gon protested softly, though his heart wasn't in it. He already felt himself hardening, just from holding Obi-Wan and from Obi-Wan's kisses. They hadn't had a chance to be intimate since they landed on the planet; they'd had no privacy, were under constant surveillance, or just plain felt uneasy. It almost seemed at times that Hakar was deliberately driving them away from each other.

"I don't care." Obi-Wan reached between them, freeing them both from their trousers, but not trying to  undress. "I have to have you inside of me, now. It's..."

"Shh, I  know..." And Qui-Gon was surprised to find that he did know, he felt the same desperate need. It wasn't related to sexual frustration, either, it felt almost like 'one last time,' and that frightened him as nothing else on the planet had so far. He found himself returning Obi-Wan's urgent kisses with hard, almost frantic caresses.

It was very brief. Obi-Wan rolled over, pushed his trousers down, then handed Qui-Gon a small pack of lubricant. Qui-Gon put all the lube on himself and tried to be gentle, but was thwarted by his lover who shoved himself back, grunting a little in pain as he took Qui-Gon deeply inside. "Obi-Wan!" Qui-Gon hissed, barely holding himself still.

"All right, it's all right," Obi-Wan's voice almost sounded like a sob as he shoved himself back as far as he could go.

"Wait, love, wait." Qui-Gon locked his arms around Obi-Wan's waist, holding himself back by a thread of will. He wanted nothing more than to thrust and finish, but he could feel Obi-Wan's channel spasming around him as Obi-Wan trembled in his arms.

"No! Now," Obi-Wan whispered. "I need it, you need it. Do it, now, Qui-Gon, please."

It didn't take long for either of them to climax, but their orgasms felt more like anguish than bliss. They fell asleep still joined, amidst promises and endearments that had to be kept nearly silent in the watchful, dangerous land.

Qui-Gon was in a restless sleep when Obi-Wan's cry of pain jolted him awake. Shaking off the wisps of nightmares, he sat up, looking around for his bondmate in the pre-dawn gloaming.

Obi-Wan was leaning against the tree they had designated as their toilet, his arms wrapped around himself, holding his stomach. "Obi-Wan?"

"Something..." he gasped, slumping.

"Obi-Wan!" Qui-Gon scrambled to his feet and nearly tripped on himself, since his trousers were still loose around his hips. Holding them up with one hand, he made it to Obi-Wan's side just as his mate began to slide to the ground. Qui-Gon went with him, ending up with Obi-Wan sprawled on his lap. "What is it? What happened?"

"Something jumped... while I was... It... it stung me? Gods! It hurts..."

Through the Force Qui-Gon could feel the incredible pain swamping Obi-Wan and his eyes widened in shock. "What was it, Obi-Wan? Did you see it?"

"No... not really..."

Qui-Gon looked around the area, looking for tracks, for a trace of whatever had attacked Obi-Wan, but found nothing. There were birds in the trees beginning to sing their praises to the sun as it rose, but nothing looked sinister, nothing looked violent.

"We need to get off this accursed planet," Qui-Gon muttered to himself. Obi-Wan half-gasped, half-laughed in agreement, though he didn't move. His breathing was still shallow and he felt cold, so very cold, to Qui-Gon's touch. "Can you move?"

Obi-Wan shuddered once then shook his head. "Not yet. No. Give me..."

"All the time you need, Obi-Wan, but I'm worried... where did it touch you?"

"Groin." Obi-Wan was barely able to talk and Qui-Gon could tell he was still trying to release his pain to the Force.

Gently, Qui-Gon pushed aside Obi-Wan's tunics and trousers, gasping at what he saw. Just to the left of Obi-Wan's penis was a huge purple welt, from the middle of which protruded a thick black... something. "Little gods. Obi-Wan, there's what looks like the end of a stinger embedded in your skin -- I've never seen one so large. I need to get it out."

"Please... get it..." Obi-Wan's face was white and his skin was clammy; he was going into shock.

Not even willing to wait long enough to get their simple med kit, Qui-Gon's imperative was to get it out, get that hideous thing out of his spouse as soon as possible. It was difficult to concentrate, given the circumstances, but he managed to calm himself sufficiently to call on the Force for help as he took hold of and pulled the thing out.

Obi-Wan gritted his teeth to keep from screaming as it was pulled slowly from his flesh. Much larger than Qui-Gon initially thought, it was nearly three inches long, barbed at the end and slightly curved.

It was also hollow, though there was a trace of something in the tube. It had obviously delivered a payload of some type, but Qui-Gon had no idea what it was.

"Obi-Wan, it was hollow," he murmured to his lover. "Can you concentrate? You need to trance down and isolate any toxin it might have left in your body."

"I don't... don't know if... I can..." Obi-Wan was limp in his arms, panting from the exertion.

"Let me help. Open to me, Obi-Wan. Try, please."

"Try..."

His mate's aura was chaotic with pain but Qui-Gon was able to pull sufficient Force to him to partially calm them both. Something was definitely affecting Obi-Wan's Force aura; it might have been a poison of some type but there was no way to know without a full med workup. He felt Obi-Wan weakly contributing to the effort, but his pain and shock were making it very difficult.

After several minutes of effort, Obi-Wan was able to isolate the pain and control it. Meanwhile, Qui-Gon worked feverishly to purge Obi-Wan's body of whatever it was inside him. Qui-Gon left Obi-Wan on their bedroll in a light healing trance while he quickly cleaned up their campsite and repacked their kit. Once Obi-Wan came out of the trance, they managed to eat some nutrient bars, though Obi-Wan had a tough time getting one down. After drinking and resting a bit more, they both felt up to the last push to get to Iblis and the shuttle.

Obi-Wan's energy flagged rapidly as the day progressed, until finally Qui-Gon was half-carrying him. When they got into the city, Qui-Gon headed to the Iblis government house in the hopes they would have some advice to give Qui-Gon on what had happened to Obi-Wan.

Shortly after they arrived at the government building, Obi-Wan collapsed. Qui-Gon ended up on the floor, cradling his mate to his chest. The other people in the waiting area gave them disapproving and harsh looks, but Qui-Gon didn't care; his whole purpose had been reduced to doing whatever it took to get them both home to the Temple, where he could find healers to help Obi-Wan.

When a page arrived to take them to before the head-men, he frowned. "What's wrong with him?" the man asked Qui-Gon, indicating Obi-Wan.

"That's why I've come here," Qui-Gon explained, still cradling Obi-Wan's thrashing, overheated body. "Something attacked him, and I need to know how to fight it."

"What attacked him?"

"If I knew that, I wouldn't be here!" Qui-Gon barely kept his words from a roar, but the sour expression on the messenger's face never changed. "He was... was stung by something. It had a huge stinger which remained in his flesh, and..."

In his arms, Obi-Wan stiffened. Qui-Gon looked down at Obi-Wan and gasped. Obi-Wan's eyes were open, red and filled with malevolence.

The screaming started shortly after that.

"...s'asleep, it's asleep now..."

The fight had been horrific. Bloody foam had come from Obi-Wan's mouth as he attacked everyone he could see without hesitation, mindlessly, viciously, silently. Finally, he'd been roughly borne to the ground under a troop of men who were being extremely careful not to kill him. Qui-Gon didn't know why they avoided deadly force, but he had suspicions, terrible suspicions.

Now, Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan were in a ramshackle hut on the edge of Iblis, near where their shuttle was parked. There were guards set all around them, clearly more to guard the people of Iblis than to protect the Jedi. Whatever it was that had Obi-Wan in thrall obviously worried and frightened the populace. But no one would tell them why. An unconscious Obi-Wan with Qui-Gon in tow had been dragged to the hut and tied to the bed, but not before waking as he was being secured and fighting mindlessly against everyone again. He had been roughly knocked out once more then the guards had left, ignoring Qui-Gon's rage and pleas.

Obi-Wan's left eye was swollen and crusted shut with blood. There were bruises from both of his maddened fights all over his face, neck and arms -- only one of which was secured, because the other was broken in at least three places. Qui-Gon felt the bonds that held Obi-Wan to the bed were too tight, but he couldn't trust any looser binding, for fear that Obi-Wan would get loose again and cause more damage; to himself, to others.

Qui-Gon had sat vigil at Obi-Wan's bedside through the rest of the day and into the night, waiting for and dreading his mate's waking. He almost missed the whispered words, but Obi-Wan's mouth had moved, so he must have spoken. He put his ear over Obi-Wan's mouth, hoping Obi-Wan was better, somehow, hoping this waking would be easier. "Obi-Wan?" he murmured.

"Can feel it... it's asleep..."

The words were slurred through a mouth swollen and dry. "What's asleep, Obi-Wan?" Qui-Gon reached for their water flask, tipping it gently over Obi-Wan, watching him swallow. He tried to link with Obi-Wan, tried to help him as he had back at their campsite when he had tried to purge whatever toxin was present. But the bright, welcoming flame Qui-Gon called Obi-Wan felt as though it was being reduced to a tiny spark, fading rapidly into the gray distance of Obi-Wan's pain-filled mind. That frightened him far more than the sight of the stinger ever had. Obi-Wan was disappearing, somehow.

"Wants to do more hurt, needs to do more hurt... Qui-Gon? Qui-Gon?"

"I'm here. What is it? Is it a parasite of some kind? Did it get into you yesterday morning?"

"Sentient. Hurts, likes the pain... hurts... Qui-Gon?"

"I'm here."

"Please..."

"Obi-Wan, what is it? How can we fight it? We need to get it out of you, somehow." Qui-Gon glanced around the one-room shack, effectively their prison. Fortunately, it was the middle of the night and he and Obi-Wan appeared to be the only ones awake. He kept his voice to a whisper, just in case -- if Obi-Wan wakened, Qui-Gon might have to defend him again from those who would hurt him, or worse, from whatever had him in thrall.

"Can't." Obi-Wan's one good eye focused on him. "Please."

"Please what? Obi-Wan?"

"Kill me. Please."

No. Qui-Gon choked, is throat too tight, too dry to swallow. He cupped Obi-Wan's cheek in one palm. "Obi-Wan, no, we have to find out what it is, get rid of it..."

"Can't." Bloody tears were seeping from Obi-Wan's swollen eye, and he closed the other tightly. "Part of me, now, feel it. I feel it. It hates... oh, Force, it... the pain of it hating, it kills, wants to kill..."

Frantic, terrified and unable to release it, Qui-Gon put his other hand on Obi-Wan's stomach, hoping to soothe with his touch.

But under that hand, something moved.

Jerking his hand away, Qui-Gon looked down at Obi-Wan's body, at the tattered and blood-stained rags that were all that was left of his tunics. A bit of the skin around his diaphragm moved, humped obscenely, and Obi-Wan gasped again. His good eye reopened, began turning red again. "No..." Qui-Gon murmured, appalled that it was happening yet again and that he could do nothing to stop it.

"Kill me...!"

Obi-Wan's breathy scream galvanized Qui-Gon. He wanted to gather his bondmate to his chest and comfort him, not kill him, but Obi-Wan's limbs were jumping, his legs thrusting against their bonds and his fists so tight his nails were digging into his  palms, leaving bloody welts.

Taking a deep breath, Qui-Gon tried to calm himself, tried to reach to the Force for help. Despite his exhausted and frantic mind, he managed to shove a command into Obi-Wan's poor, abused brain. "Sleep," he murmured, backing his command with enough Force to send a bantha into a coma. With one last spasm, Obi-Wan's open eye rolled back and he flopped down, completely out. There was also no more movement under Obi-Wan's skin, so Qui-Gon felt it must have worked on the creature, too. Thank the Force.

But how long would it hold? Obi-Wan said the thing inside him was sentient, which meant what? No one had told them anything! The guards who had so roughly treated Obi-Wan had never answered any of Qui-Gon frantic questions. The looks from the general populace were just as hate-filled and disgusted as they had been from their first day on the planet. He needed to get them both off-world, but he was loath to do so when he had no idea what it was inside Obi-Wan. Was it the way the creature bred? Implanting one of its young into a host then...

Qui-Gon's mind skittered away from that idea. Fervently he prayed that it couldn't be, please all the gods in the universe, it wasn't that. A part of him knew he would return to Coruscant with Obi-Wan no matter what, even if it meant possible contagion.

"You have to leave here."

Slumped as he was over Obi-Wan's body, Qui-Gon almost didn't hear the soft words. His head felt as if it weighed a million pounds but he managed to raise it to look for the speaker. It was a woman who stood just inside the hut. She looked vaguely familiar as she stood there, wringing her hands and looking about nervously.

"What?" Qui-Gon said, his mind still in shock. "Who...?"

"You have to leave here," she said again, her voice nothing but a breath. "They'll be coming to take you soon, to burn you."

That wrenched Qui-Gon's mind back to the here and now. "What?" he demanded, barely able to keep his voice quiet.

"It's a minche that's got him. They're pretty much all dead now, but you can still get them if you've got enough money. It's the minche young one what's in him, and it'll just get worse until it kills him and gets out." She glanced around again, furtively. "You can't kill him while he's got it in him, it'll just jump to the closest person. They're coming to burn you in the morning, to keep it from getting loose. It's the only way to be sure of it dying."

The shock of her words nearly killed Qui-Gon, and in that moment, he remembered who she was, remembered Obi-Wan handing a child to her, weeks ago. "There has to be a cure, what can I do? Please, help me!"

"No cure," she said, not without some sympathy. "Never has been. He's already dead, for all intents."

"How did this happen?" Qui-Gon's anguish almost choked him. "Why?"

"There's talk." Not without sympathy, but not with much, either. "Talk that another ohjin paid somebody here to do it to you. Don't know why, we don't want more ohjin here. If you don't go now, you'll burn in the morning. You and him both. Leave him, he's dead, and go."

"I can't," Qui-Gon said, briefly bowing his head to Obi-Wan's body, feeling ripped apart. The Force was confirming every word the woman said was true. "I can't. I can't leave him. I love him."

"Then take him, too, but do it now."

When Qui-Gon looked up again, she was gone.

He left Obi-Wan securely bound and gagged, terrified lest he wake from the Force compulsion still under the influence of that thing, the minche. None of the guards tried to stop them as he used Force-enhanced speed to get to his shuttle; Qui-Gon could feel their relief that the problem was disappearing.

Once aboard, Qui-Gon lifted as fast as he could and set his heading with probably more haste than was strictly safe. He signaled the Temple, but did not wait for a reply before heading aft to the small compartment where he had left his bondmate.

Obi-Wan -- and the creature inside him too -- seemed to have thrown off the effects of the Force compulsion; he was writhing on the narrow bed and Qui-Gon was glad of the removable sidebar he had put in place. He tried, once again, to feel for Obi-Wan, to find out what was happening inside that wracked body, but the little spark was gone, the last bit Obi-Wan couldn't be found.

There was precious little on the shuttle in the way of a med bay, but the diagnostic tools available to him didn't have to be sophisticated, they confirmed what his soul knew: Obi-Wan's body was being destroyed from the inside. The parasite, or whatever it was, was slowly killing him, devouring him even faster as it gained strength.

Qui-Gon gave into sorrow then, dropping to his knees next to the bed on which Obi-Wan's body writhed and foamed. His anguish felt as though it would shake him apart. He grieved for all the time they had lost, for all the time they would lose, for everything they had planned, for their hopes and dreams of a long lifetime together. They had barely been together as one for a year, and it was not enough, never enough. His only hope was in the Force, the only thing -- besides Obi-Wan -- that had never betrayed him, never left him. He let the grief flow, didn't try to release it, simply acknowledged it, letting it take as long as it would take, knowing it would take forever.

His tears, the few he allowed himself, burned like acid on his cheeks.

Finally, Qui-Gon managed a numb type of composure. He rose and fetched a vibro-blade that was in the weapons locker and a stasis jar from the hold. The stasis jar was meant for retrieving samples of vegetation and insects; he had no idea if the thing inside Obi-Wan would live in it long enough to get back to the Temple, but he had no choice and decided he didn't much care. It had killed his Obi-Wan, his only Light.

One last time, he brushed Obi-Wan's beautiful hair back from his face. He didn't see the ravaged, damaged visage, but rather saw his mate as he was before the mission -- clear eyed, loving, wise and strong. He remembered their vows to each other, how they pledged to be together forever, even after death, in the Force.

Leaning down, he placed a gentle kiss to Obi-Wan's forehead, avoiding the worst of the cuts and bruises. Then he pulled his 'saber out, pressed it to the side of Obi-Wan's head -- right where his braid used to be -- and thumbed the switch, briefly.

It didn't take long to find the still-living parasite. Qui-Gon shoved the small, ugly thing into the stasis jar and sealed it in. After that, he untied Obi-Wan, stripped him and cleaned the worst of the blood and gore off. Once finished, Qui-Gon tenderly dressed the body in clean tunics, covered it with a light blanket, and went forward to send his revised report to the Temple.

A small delegation met the shuttle as it landed. Qui-Gon appeared at the top of the ramp, carrying Obi-Wan's blanket-wrapped body in his arms. He knew he probably looked terrible; he had been sitting vigil over Obi-Wan's body all the way back, and while he had changed his tunics just before landing, he hadn't washed or slept. The med personnel had a gurney ready, but he shook his head, wanting to carry his beloved's weight to the med center himself. He walked slowly, not acknowledging the horrified stares and aborted movements of comfort his fellow Jedi offered him, not responding to any words at all.

Once in the med center, he placed Obi-Wan on a bed and carefully smoothed the blanket over his body. "The creature is in a stasis jar in the shuttle," he said to no one in particular.

"We've already retrieved it, Master Jinn." Mace Windu was one of those who had met him and followed him on his funerary trip. "Do you need medical attention?"

"No." Qui-Gon stood still, gazing down at the covered body.

"We've done the checking as you requested, and your suspicions have been confirmed." Mace's voice was heavy and sadly weary. "It seems he was indeed behind the whole thing."

Qui-Gon nodded but didn't turn, didn't speak again. There was an inrush of people to the med center then, and he used it to his advantage, melting away in the crush of bodies. He had an errand to accomplish.

It was easy to get into the Senate building. After all, Qui-Gon carried no weapon, having left his 'saber in the med center with Obi-Wan's. Several people gave him strange looks as he stalked through the massive building, but he didn't look back or answer any of the hails he was given. He knew where he was going.

The Supreme Chancellor was just coming out of his daily meeting with the Senate's Security Council. He was walking with his entourage of secretaries and guards, striding regally down the huge promenade. Qui-Gon put himself on an interception course, shouldering aside everyone in his path, pleased that his Jedi tunics gave him a sort of immunity here, in the viper's lair.

"Master Jinn!" Supreme Chancellor Palpatine blinked in surprise to see him. "I had heard terrible things about the mission to Hakar, but I didn't expect--"

"Did you think we wouldn't figure it out?" Qui-Gon managed to keep his voice from trembling by an act of will which didn't extend to his body. "Did you expect we'd die there? Cut off from everyone, no one knowing what had happened to us? Is that what your intent was?"

Palpatine's face settled into a sort of genial puzzlement, but his eyes belied it. "I'm sorry, Master Jinn, I'm afraid I don't follow... here, let's go to my office and we'll..."

Qui-Gon didn't allow him to say more. Instead, he stepped forward and slammed his hand into Palpatine's belly, opening his fist at the last moment so the glass container he held would break. The styrene glove he wore kept the knife-like shards from his skin, but not from Palpatine's. He heard clothing tear even as the Senate guardsmen hauled him back. "You are worse than the most baseborn slime, you lying, vicious gundark," Qui-Gon snarled, planting his feet and not allowing the guardsmen to take him further than a few steps back. "I had to kill Obi-Wan, my bondmate, my love, because of what you did. He died in agony, which I'm sure pleases you. I, however, did not die. As such, I am able to avenge his death and my pain."

One of Palpatine's hands had automatically pressed to his belly where Qui-Gon had hit him, now he pulled it away and looked at the blood on it in shock. "What...?"

"It's less than you deserve, you bastard." Shaking off the guardsmen's hands, Qui-Gon turned as if he were walking away. He didn't walk more than a few paces, though, before turning back and leaping forward with a roar, empty hands extended as if he were attacking the Supreme Chancellor. One of the guardsmen shot him, hitting his chest just a few inches to the right of where the Sith had skewered him on Naboo. Just far enough so this time, he knew he'd die of the wound.

He fell to the ground, not hearing the panicked shouts and the sound of feet running every which way. All he saw was Palpatine's face creased in horror as he felt movement inside his body. As Qui-Gon closed his eyes for the last time, he smiled.

Mace Windu met Adi Gallia's shuttle as it landed, embracing his friend as she debarked. "I came as quickly as I could," she said. "Is he..."

"He's dead. They're both dead." Mace took a deep breath and let his sorrow flow into the Force. "The immolation is to begin shortly."

"What happened?" She locked her arm around Mace's and together, they moved into the central part of the Temple, to the Funeral Grove.

"The thing that nearly killed Qui-Gon on Naboo was a Sith, we know that now. And the Sith master who controlled it was Supreme Chancellor Palpatine." Adi almost stumbled, but Mace steadied her. After a moment, they kept walking. "The mission to Hakar was a ruse; we think he wanted to get Jinn and Kenobi killed, perhaps because he feared them after they killed his apprentice. Palpatine found a creature on Hakar that was a parasitical arachnid and managed to infect Kenobi with it. Qui-Gon had to... he had to kill Kenobi, there was too much damage."

They had to pause again while Adi fought off tears. "Sweet Force," she whispered, trying hard to breathe deeply. "I hope we have that monster in custody, then."

They continued to walk, reaching the door to the Funeral Grove before Mace replied. "No. We don't need to. Are you familiar with the daour worm?"

"Yes, it's native to Dagobah, isn't it? It's one of those rapid eaters... of carrion..."

"Or fresh meat, it's not picky. Qui-Gon managed to find one and got it into Palpatine. In the confusion around Qui-Gon's attack, no one noticed, and Palpatine died in agony two hours later."

Adi swallowed and released her emotions again. "I can't say I'm upset about that."

"Neither can anyone else."

They had arrived. The Funeral Grove was packed with Jedi, solemnly standing by as the healers started the fire. Two lovers, entwined, lay on the marble slab meant for one. Together they burned, a bright flame which lit the sky.

The smoke from their pyre went up forever.

end