Bound

Not Without Cause

Some spoilers from Jedi Apprentice.
No betas, therefore the mistakes are all mine.
See chapter one for disclaimers.

Qui-Gon eased into his healing trance feeling a bit better than he had in quite awhile which was why he was so unprepared for the unbalance he had felt upon his waking. The first thing he noticed was the noise. As a general rule, Qui-Gon found most medical facilities to be quite, sedate places aimed at calming and comforting those made invalid by injury or illness as well as those who trotted underfoot of the healers to fret and frown over those they cared for. What the master had awakened to was neither calm nor sedate.

It was chaos.

There was a charged energy in the air, a nearly palpable frenzy that rankled his Force sense and pricked at his shields. Taking only a second to mourn the loss of tranquility from his trance, Qui-Gon opened his eyes and glanced around the room. There were many things he found odd under his studious inspection—the opened door to his room, the few medical instruments that lay on the floor from where they had been knocked off the countertop, the cacophony of voices coming from the hallway—but what Qui-Gon found most amiss was Obi-Wan's absence. The boy's customary seat was empty and his lingering Force signature was diffuse meaning the child had been gone for some time.

Qui-Gon frowned. Not only was it improper for a padawan to leave without his master's knowledge or permission, but to do so when the master was in trance and, therefore vulnerable, could easily lead to a fatal mistake. Not that Obi-Wan would know these things. After all, the boy had been his padawan for only a few hours, not the few months the relationship should have had as its foundation. Qui-Gon raised himself into a sitting position, the slight pull of muscle and skin uncomfortable, but not particularly painful. To further test his healing body Qui-Gon swung his long legs over the side of the medical couch and placed his bare feet on the cold floor. In one fluid movement he stood up, swaying only slightly as a flash of dizziness passed and his usual sense of equilibrium settled over him. Satisfied he was not going to collapse where he stood, the master allowed himself to take a few careful steps away from his bed towards the far side of his small room. His entire left side from hip to ankle felt weak and sluggish, but he experienced very little pain. The bones had knit well, but the muscles and surrounding tissues would need much more time to rebuild their strength and flexibility.

Qui-Gon opened the cabinet doors to his left and found his Jedi robes, tunics, trousers, socks, obi, belt, and sash folded neatly inside. A further search of his room revealed his boots placed under his bed, but no lightsaber. Obi-Wan must still have had it. He had trusted the boy with it in the mines. It was only sensible to trust it to his keeping while he was under the healers' care, but Qui-Gon still could not help his discomfort at not having his saber's familiar weight on his hip. He needed to find his padawan, his lightsaber, and some answers.

It took a few minutes longer than normal for him to dress, the stiffness in his limbs affecting him more than he cared to admit, but soon he was done and leaving his room looking for all the galaxy the proper Jedi.

If the first thing he had noticed was the noise, the second thing was the movement. The entire medical facility was a hive of motion. Not the flurry or bustle of a busy office, but more the corybantic maelstrom caused by group panic in reaction to an impending disaster. Qui-Gon, in his calm stillness, was like a heavy stone seated in the midst of a river's turbulent rapids, waves of people rushing and breaking around him. The master reached out and gently, but firmly grabbed one of the facility's medical aides by the arm.

"Excuse me," he offered politely, "but could you explain what is going on here?"

The aide, an old Skärtis male, glanced up at the Jedi with a bemused expression.