Bound

One Last Time

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

Time was running out.

Qui-Gon walked the short perimeter of the storage container once again searching for weakness. It was sturdy, made of several inches of durasteel. It would have proved quick work with his saber, but he didn't have his saber. Qui-Gon resisted the urge to curse aloud, but that did not stop him from unleashing a torrent of foul words and phrases in his mind and in a variety of languages. His lightsaber, all curses upon the little gods, had been in the satchel he ordered Obi-Wan to handover to Xanatos. Qui-Gon had not known that little gem of information at the time, but truthfully it would have made no difference. Xanatos wanted the bag and would have injured them, perhaps even killed them to get it. That Qui-Gon's lightsaber was among the bag's contents was just an added boon for the younger man. Still, Qui-Gon could not help but feel the shame of a Jedi who had lost his lightsaber.

Shrugging off his displeasure and relegating his shame to the back of his mind, Qui-Gon set himself to his task. He had to find a way out of the death trap Xanatos had enclosed him and his padawan in and, despite any question to Xanatos's previous attempts to remove them from the equation, this was indeed a death trap.

By all appearances it was simply a portable storage container, tough and well reinforced, but through the Force or through the lack of it, Qui-Gon knew this was no ordinary unit. Xanatos had seen to its modifications its new and improved design incorporating a high degree of Force shielding. Both he and Obi-Wan were again cut-off from touching the Force. They were trapped, saberless, and Force blind and then, of course, there were still the bombs to consider...

"This is all my fault," a small, dulcet voice sounded from behind him. Qui-Gon turned around to find his padawan sitting on the floor, his knees pulled tightly to his chest, his arms wrapped around his body in a protective embrace. The master spared the boy a searching glance before turning his attention back to the task of escape. Though he continued his inspection, he attempted to address his padawan's concerns.

"Assigning blame at times such as these is rarely productive. However, ease your mind and know that none of this is your fault."

"How can you say that!" the boy yelled, disbelief and outrage clear in his voice. Qui-Gon did not need access to their bond to read the tumultuous emotions churning behind those blue-gray eyes, but he also knew that this simply was not the time to deal with them.

"Padawan, focus!" the master snapped and immediately Obi-Wan stiffened in response. Qui-Gon allowed himself the luxury of a mental sigh before turning once again to face his apprentice. "This is not the time. Right now we must focus on the task before us and not on our feelings, so you will control yourself, Padawan."

The Master Jedi waited a moment to received Obi-Wan's slow nod and quiet, "yes, Master," before returning to his work. Suitably chastised and all the more miserable for it, Obi-Wan rose unsteadily to his feet. His jerky, unbalanced movements causing the course material of his Agri Corps uniform to shift expelling the singular content of his pocket. The small holo-recorder fell to the ground with a quiet thump and beep as it activated on impact. Before Obi-Wan had fully registered what had happened, a tiny image of Jedi Master Vresh Tivi sprang to life; his utterly serene expression seeming absurd as he stood parallel to the ground due to the tilted emitter.

"Obi-Wan, Lantis and I bring you greetings and warm wishes on this your naming day," the familiar smooth baritone rang out in the small storage unit. Without thought, Qui-Gon turned at the sound, his eyes fixed on the scene in front of him. Obi-Wan reached down and picked up the recorder, holding it almost reverently in trembling palms even as the holo-image of Vresh continued speaking.