The mission had been going entirely too smoothly, as far as Obi-Wan was concerned. So when there was a sudden onslaught of the Dark Side in the Force followed by an explosion that damn well burned his eyebrows clean off and they lost all contact with Anakin, Obi-Wan was unsurprised. Unhappy, but unsurprised.
He finished the mission.
"What about General Skywalker, sir?" Cody asked. He held out what was obviously a Sith artefact. "Rex found this at the site of the explosion."
Obi-Wan poked at the artefact with the Force. It reacted by doing the mental equivalent of a tired snarl. "It's a teleportation device."
"So Skywalker's not dead, then?" one of the clones asked.
"Of course not," Obi-Wan said, with a confidence he didn't feel. He had been guessing when he had called the artefact a teleportation device. It was that, yes, but there was more to it.
"If you say so, sir."
"Would I lie to you?" Obi-Wan asked. "On second thoughts, don't answer that."
Senator Amidala was waiting at the platform when they returned from the mission. Obi-Wan was not looking forward to letting her know they had lost Anakin -- lost! as if he was still a child and had taken a wrong turn down one of the corridors in the Jedi Temple and teleported Force alone knew where by a Sith artefact -- but he owed her this much.
"Senator," he said.
"Master Jedi." She was smiling, which made it worse. "You seem to be missing someone."
He offered her his arm, and she took it. "About that --"
Her fingers tightened painfully on his forearm. Obi-Wan knew about her relationship with Anakin and she knew he knew, but they never talked about it and pretended not to, for the sake of both appearances and Anakin.
Obi-Wan told her what he knew of what had happened. He told her he'd do is best to bring Anakin home. Except for the last part, he was rehearsing the speech he would give the Jedi Council.
"I would not phrase it like that if I were you," Padmé said.
"No?"
Padmé was a politician, if anyone knew how to phrase things, it was her, so Obi-Wan listened when she said, "You're making it sound like it was Anakin's fault."
Obi-Wan looked at her, because, well.
"Be that as it may." She waved a hand loosely. "If you want the Jedi Council to sign off on a rescue, it's not the best strategy."
Obi-Wan nodded.
"I've never seen a Sith artefact before," Padmé said. She stared at him until he understood that was the political way of saying "show it to this instant".
He opened the containment case and showed it to her. It wasn't honestly that impressive, just a glowing blue cube the size of a fist -- Rex's fist admittedly, but stil nothing all that impressive. It didn't even feel especially Sith-like in the Force.
Padmé's eyes turned the same blue as the cube and she reached out. Obi-Wan lashed out to push her hand away. In doing so the underside of his wrist grazed against a corner of the cube and
suddenly he was somewhere else.
He was also dressed in a completely different colour, which he felt was a cosmic joke at his expense, right up until the woman in scarlet asked him if he was alright. Maybe the cube was trying to help him blend in and wasn't that a cheery thought.
"I am fine," Obi-Wan said as he got to his feet. Asking where he was wouldn't be a wise move, so he didn't, but this was clearly not Coruscant. There weren't any lawns on Coruscant. "I'm looking for a friend."
He pulled out a holo of Anakin and a look of surpise crossed the woman's face.
"What's his name?" Contritely, she added, "what's yours?"
"Anakin. Obi-Wan. His and mine."
"Wanda." She held out her hand.
He shook it. For a moment, she blazed in the Force like a neutron star, then he let go and was left with nothing but the afterimage of red. He shook his head lightly, trying to dispell the sensation; it wasn't quite the Force, but it wasn't quite not the Force, either.
"I may know where your friend is," Wanda said.
"But?" The word had hung unspoken in the air like a cloud of ill omen, Obi-Wan had simply given voice to it.
Wanda gave a light shrug and said simply, "Family."
The good news was that Wanda did know where Anakin was. The bad news was that Anakin was with her father. As in with with.
As with with as it was possible to be with. Like with with with with.
They were banging.
Now Obi-Wan understood why Wanda had stayed outside.
"Kriffing hell, Anakin, you're a married man!"
This turned out to be entirely the wrong thing to say. Anakin's prosthetic twisted into a knife aimed at his throat. Anakin backflipped away from it -- had he known Anakin was that flexible? --, naked, and managed to pick up and put on his pants in the process. Like all the clothing in the room, they were a striking shade of magenta.
Obi-Wan ignited his lightsaber. Halfway through his customary pre-battle twirl, it too twisted in his hand. He focused with the Force to keep it usable and rushed Magenta.
Magento?
Wanda's father.
They fought.
Anakin sat next to Wanda, on the floor by the door. The scarlet of her cloak clashed with the magenta of Anakin's robes and she seemed to be reshaping his prosthetics into something, if not usable, then at least vaguely ressembling a human hand.
Magneto lashed out with an outstretched palm and the blade of Obi-Wan's lightsaber rippled.
Obi-Wan jumped away from him, at which point Anakin finally decided to join the fight. Not that two lightsabers were especially more effective than one had been, especially given that Magneto was generating his own magnetic shield.
Wanda forked her fingers in his direction with a snarl and Magneto's shield dropped.
Then Padmé showed up with the Sith Lord.