CHAPTER NINE : THE BOUNTY HUNTER

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ATLAS hadn't changed and yet she had, Anakin noticed. Her brown hair had grown longer and fell over her shoulders onto her back. Her eyes were still the same blue they had been ten years ago, the same ones who appeared in his dreams frequently.

Anakin had grown much, Atlas noticed. She wasn't towering over him now, more likely he was towering over her now, not that she minded. His hair was shorter and darker but his eyes were still the same.

As Atlas eyes glided towards Obi-Wan, she was amused to see that he had grown a beard. His hair was longer, too. She grinned broadly and tackled the older man into a hug. Obi-Wan laughed and hugged her back. Atlas took a step back before giving Anakin, too, a hug.

"You have no idea how happy I am to see the two of you," Atlas told them, grinning like a fool.

Anakin smiled back. "I'm happy to see you, too, Atlas."

"Our presence will be invisible, my lady," Obi-Wan told Padmé.

"I am very grateful you are here, Master Kenobi," Captain Typho spok up. "The situation is more dangerous than the Senator will admit."

"I don't need more security," Padmé replied. "I need answers. I want to know who is trying to kill me."

Obi-Wan frowned. "We're here to protect you Senator, not to start an investigation."

Padmé gritted her teeth, but didn't reply. Instead she said, "If you'll excuse me, I will retire."

Atlas nodded at the two Jedi, giving them both a warm smile before heading after Padmé.

"Well, I know I feel a lot better having you here," Captain Typho admitted as Anakin watched them leave. "I'll have an officer on every floor and I'll be at the command center downstairs."

He left as Jar Jar went to stand next to Anakin.

"Mesa busten wit happiness seein yousa again, Ani. Deesa bad times, bombad times."

"She didn't seem especially happy to see me, did she? I mean she was equally happy to see Obi-Wan and me. I thought about her every day since we parted . . . and she sees me as just a friend."

"Shesa happy," Jar Jar replied. "Happier den mesa see-en her in long time."

"Anakin," Obi-Wan began, walking towards him, "you're focusing on the negative again. Be mindful of your thoughts. She was very happy to see us. Now, lets check the security here."

"Yes, Master."

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"Anakin has grown into a handsome young man, hasn't he?" Padmé spoke up, eyeing Atlas with amusement.

"Yeah, but he's just a friend, Padmé, as I have told you many times."

Padmé walked over to Artoo and glanced over her shoulder towards her best friend. "Can you help me cover the camera?"

Atlas looked at Padmé and narrowed her eyes as she caught on the plan her friend had made. "No, that's dangerous Padmé, using yourself as bait . . ."

"But maybe we'll finally catch the killer," Padmé said, trying to persuade her friend. "Besides we'll program Artoo to warn the Jedi if there's an intruder."

Atlas hesitated, but agreed as her eyes met Padmé's.

"Now, I'm going to Anakin and Obi-Wan, I'll be checking on you every half hour, okay?" Atlas said, once Padmé laid in her bed.

"I'm not a child, you know," she replied.

"I don't care," Atlas said, switching off the light. "Goodnight, Padmé."

With that, the brown haired woman closed the door and walked back towards the living room.

She fell down on the couch as Obi-Wan and Anakin were quietly talking to each other, and not much later Atlas fell asleep.

"You look tired," Obi-Wan told Anakin, as the two of them had moved to the other side of the room, not wanting to disturb Atlas.

"I don't sleep well, anymore," Anakin admitted.

"Because of your mother?" Obi-Wan questioned.

"I don't know why I keep dreaming about her now," Anakin replied. "I haven't seen her since I was little."

"Dreams pass in time," the Jedi Master said.

"I'd rather dream of Atlas," Anakin said, looking at the sleeping woman. "Just being around her again is . . . intoxicating."

Obi-Wan stiffened at the name of his Master's daughter. "Mind your thoughts, Anakin, they betray you. You've made a commitment to the Jedi Order . . . a commitment not easily broken . . ." Obi-Wan's mind drifted off. What would Qui-Gon have said when he found out about Anakin's feelings towards Atlas?

Atlas woke up, a feeling kept nagging her and the brown haired woman jolted up. It came from Padmé's room.

She exchanged a glance with Anakin and Obi-Wan before running after them.

The three of them burst into the room and Anakin threw himself in front of Padmé, whacking the deadly creatures in half with his lightsaber.

Atlas head snapped towards the window and she saw a probe droid hanging in front of the window. Without thinking about it, she flied herself through the glass window and flunked herself at the droid, grabbing onto the deadly machine before it could flee. The droid sank under the weight of Atlas but managed to stay afloat and flied away, with the woman hanging on for dear life, a hundred stories above the city.

Out of all the things Atlas did without thinking about it, this was the most scariest one, she realized as she dared to look down. If that wasn't enough, the droid started sending out several protective electrical shocks across its surface, causing Atlas to almost lose her grip.

As they darted in and out of the speeder traffic, Atlas disconnected a wire on the back of the droid, hoping she could fly the thing herself, but instead, its power shut off. Both Atlas as the droid dropped like rocks. She tried not to scream and tried to put the wire back. The droid's systems lit back up and it took off.

The droid bumped against as wall, hoping to knock the woman loose, but all she did was groan a little. When that didn't work, it moved behind a speeder afterburner to scorch her. It then took her wildly between buildings and finally skimmed across a rooftop and Atlas was forced to lift her legs, tenaciously hanging onto the droid. She could swear her arms hadn't hurt more than they did now.

The droid headed for a dirty, beat-up speeder hidden in an alcove of a building about twenty stories up. The pilot of the speeder started firing at her.

Atlas' arm was almost hit, giving her a deep scratch and the brown haired woman had difficulty to hang onto the droid. The pilot managed to hit the droid and Atlas fell down, face towards the ground. She was trying to spot a speeder she could grab onto.

Anakin saw her first. She was falling.

"Quick, Anakin!" Obi-Wan almost yelled, his worry about the reckless woman growing every second she neared the ground.

The Padawan flew their speeder under the woman and Atlas managed to grab the back of it and hauled herself into the cockpit. Since there was only space for two, she sat down on Obi-Wan's lap, sending him an apologetical smile before turning to look at Anakin.

"What took you so long?"

Anakin glanced at her, her eyes sparkling in amusement and he couldn't help but to play along.

"Oh, you know, I couldn't find a speeder I really liked, with an open cockpit . . . and with the right speed capabilities . . . and then you know I had to get a really gonzo color . . ."

"So you tell me you did have time to look at the color but not at the amount of space there was?" Atlas asked, amused.

"If you'd spend as much time working on your saber skills as you do on your wit, young Padawan," Obi-Wan spoke up, "you would rival Master Yoda as a swordsman."

"I thought I already did," Anakin replied, making Atlas chuckle, as they followed the pilot who had shot the droid down.

"Only in your mind, my very young apprentice!" Obi-Wan said. "Careful! Hey, easy!"

Anakin moved deftly in and out of the oncoming traffic, across lanes, between buildings, and miraculously through a construction site. Obi-Wan wrapped his arms around Atlas waist as she was almost thrown out of the speeder.

"Sorry, I forgot you don't like flying, Master," Anakin said with a grin that said he was definitely not sorry.

"I don't mind flying . . . but what you're doing is suicide!" Obi-Wan yelled back as they barely missed a commuter train and Atlas held Obi-Wan tighter, afraid she would end up hanging over the side of the speeder if Anakin continued to fly like this.

"Master, you know I've been flying since before I could walk," Anakin commented. "I'm very good at this."

"Just slow down!"

They raced after the pilot through a line of cross-traffic made up of giant trucks. The speeders banked sideways as they slid around right-angle turns between buildings. The pilot raced into a tram tunnel.

"Wait! Don't go there!" Obi-Wan exclaimed, looked over Atlas' shoulder, but Anakin zoomed into the tunnel after the pilot. Atlas' eyes widened as a tram was coming at them and Anakin braked, turned around and raced out, barely ahead of the charging commuter transport.

"You know I don't like it when you do that!" Obi-Wan yelled.

""Sorry, Master," Anakin apologized. "Don't worry, this guy's gonna kill himself any minute now!"

They chased the bounty hunter through a power refinery.

"It's dangerous near those power couplings!" Obi-Wan warned Anakin. "Slow down! Don't go through there!"

Huge electrical bolts shot between the buildings as the speeders passed.

"What are you doing?" Obi-Wan exclaimed as Atlas felt herself safe enough to look at the wound she had from when that pilot fired at her. It was rather deep and needed probably stitches. Atlas tore a piece of her shirt and bound it around her arm.

"Sorry, Master!"

"Oh, that was good," Obi-Wan said sarcastically.

"That was crazy!" Anakin exclaimed.

They followed the bounty hunter through cross-traffic. The pilot turned down and left between two buildings. Anakin pulled up and to the right, making Atlas hold onto the spacer for dear life. She was grateful of Obi-Wan's arms around her waist, although in any other situation, that would be inappropriate.

"Where are you going?" Obi-Wan shouted. "He went down there, the other way."

"This is a shortcut . . . I think."

"What do you mean, 'You think?' What kind of shortcut? He went completely the other way! You've lost him!"

"Master, if we keep this chase going, that creep's gonna end up deep fried. Personally, I'd very much like to find out who in the hell he is and who he is working for . . ."

"Oh, so that's why we're going in the wrong direction," Obi-Wan replied sarcastically.

Anakin turned up a side street, zooming up several small passageways, then stopped, hovering about fifty stories up.

"Well, you lost him," Obi-Wan continued.

"I'm deeply sorry, Master," Anakin said, looking around. "Excuse me for a moment." He added, before jumping out of the jumper.

Atlas jumped into the driver's seat and looked down over the side of the speeder. "Anakin is on the bounty hunter's speeder!" she informed the Jedi Master before gaining on the bounty hunter. The two speeders dived through oncoming traffic and then through cross traffic.

Atlas raced under the speeder as Obi-Wan caught Anakin's weapon.

"Shit!" Atlas cursed as they got slowed down by traffic and lost sight of the bounty hunter's speeder.

"Land there!" Obi-Wan said, pointing at where Anakin was running.

Atlas obeyed the Jedi Master's orders and the two of them jumped out before hurrying after Anakin.

"Anakin!" Obi-Wan exclaimed, making his apprentice stop.

"She went into that club, Master," Anakin informed his master.

"Patience," Obi-Wan told him, handing his lightsaber back. "Here. Next time try not to lose it."

"Sorry, Master," Anakin, looking slightly embarrassed as he saw Atlas glancing at him in amusement.

Anakin reached for the lightsaber but Obi-Wan held it back. "A Jedi's saber is his most precious possession."

"Yes, Master."

Anakin reached again but Obi-Wan pulled it back.

"He must keep it with him at all times."

"I know, Master."

"This weapon is your life!"

"I've heard this lesson before . . ."

Obi-Wan gave him his lightsaber back. "But, you haven't heard anything, Anakin . . ."

"I try, Master . . ."

"Are we going in the bar or are you going to bicker all night?" Atlas spoke up, making the two Jedi look up at her. "Just so I know if I should get a drink or not."

Anakin rolled his eyes as he and Atlas followed Obi-Wan inside.

"Why do I think you are going to be the death of me?" Obi-Wan wondered out loud.

"Don't say that Master . . . You're the closest thing I have to a father . . . I love you. I don't want to cause you pain," Anakin replied, making Atlas' heard break.

Poor boy.

"Then why don't you listen to me?" Obi-Wan questioned.

"I will. I'll do better, I promise."

"Do you see him?" Obi-Wan asked, changing the subject.

"I think he's a she . . ."

"Then be extra careful," Obi-Wan replied, glancing from Anakin to Atlas. "Check it out." He turned around and walked away.

"Where are you going, Master?" Anakin's called after him.

"To get a drink."

Anakin blinked in surprise as Atlas looked around, trying to find their mysterious Bounty Hunter.

"You're bleeding." It took Atlas a while to notice Anakin was talking to her.

"Hè?"

"You're bleeding," Anakin repeated, pointing at her arm and the bandage she had tried to make with a piece of her shirt. The bandage was dark red but Atlas just shrugged. "It's only a scratch."

"Let me see that," Anakin said, taking her arm gently and removing the bandage. He then placed his hand on the wound, making Atlas flinch, and closed his eyes.

Her wound started inching but she didn't dare to remove his hand. It was only when he opened his eyes and removed his hand, that she knew what he'd done.

Her eyes widened as she saw that the wound had disappeared and she prodded with her finger into it.

"Where did it go?" she asked, looking up at Anakin in wonder, the latter looking rather proudly.

"I fixed it," he said, like it was no big of a deal, but Atlas could see his eyes sparkling in amusement.

"Well then, thank you," Atlas said, moving her arm back and forward. "It feels the same again."

They were interrupted by the sound of an igniting lightsaber and the two of them hurried over to Obi-Wan who had cut off the bounty hunter's hand. Atlas had already pointed both of her blasters towards the pilot as Anakin igniting his lightsaber.

"Easy," the Jedi Padawan said, as aliens rose menacingly from their seats. "Official business. Go back to your drinks."

Slowly, the aliens sat and Obi-Wan and Anakin carried the bounty hunter into an alley as Atlas was still pointing her blasters at her.

"Do you know who it was you were going to kill?" Obi-Wan asked her.

"The Senator from Naboo," the bounty hunter replied.

"Who hired you?" Obi-Wan continued, making the bounty hunter glare at him.

"It was just a job."

"Tell us!" Anakin exclaimed.

"That Senator's gonna die soon anyway," she replied, "and the next one won't make the same mistake I did . . ."

"This wound's going to need treatment," Obi-Wan spoke up.

"Who hired you?" Atlas said, looking at the woman with a glare that made her shiver.

"It was a bounty hunter called . . ."

There was a sudden ftzzz sound and the woman twitched. She blinked in surprise and died.

There was a weoosh from above, making the trio look up to see an armored rocket-man taking off from a roof high above. Obi-Wan touched the neck of the woman and pulled out a small, wicked-looking dart.

"Toxic Dart . . ."

Published 30.01.2021

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