"Routine. A routine mission. Perfectly normal. Just go in, get the girl and return her to her home planet, two weeks at the most. Routine. Nothing could possibly go wrong. Well that's most definitely the last time I listen to him." Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn punctuated each word by slamming his already bruised and bleeding fist against the cold stone wall of the dungeon he was trapped in.
He turned from the wall and started pacing the length of the dark, damp room. "Routine!" he snorted again. "I'm gonna take routine and shove it up his...."
Unbidden, one of Yoda's sayings came to Qui-Gon's mind: "If routine you count on, disappointed your hopes will be." The saying also brought back memories of he and Obi-Wa...
Obi-Wan!
The thought of his apprentice immediately shocked Qui-Gon out of his state of near-claustrophobia.

Tentatively, remembering the failure of his last attempt, Qui-Gon reached out to his padawan Obi-Wan Kenobi through their training bond. //Obi-Wan?//. He listened for a nerve-racking couple of seconds before...
//...//. It was a wordless and confused reply, but relief filled Qui-Gon's body and he let out the breath he didn't know he'd been holding.
//Obi-Wan, can you hear me?//
//M..m.. master?// Again the reply was faint and confused, but Qui-Gon could feel his own relief echoed from his padawan. He felt Obi-Wan send a tendril of the Force toward him, testing the strength of their bond. Along with the probe rushed intense feelings of pain, frustration, shame, and running through all of those, an overwhelming sense of fear. Before Qui-Gon could reassure his padawan, their bond was blocked, shutting them off from each other once again. The force of the block sent the Jedi Master reeling to his knees, clutching his head in pain. He pulled his cloak tightly around him as he rocked slowly back and forth, whispering one word as a lone tear slid down his cheek. "Obi-Wan."



-tbc-