Quite a bit of discussion in the Jedi Council had followed the funeral service for Master Gallia. They had a seat to fill, and there was quite some discourse as to who should fill it. Multiple Jedi Knights had been nominated, but no one had really expected Master Windu to nominate Anakin. While people like Obi-Wan did not disagree with him, even he had to admit it came out of nowhere. Mace presented a well-thought out argument for it and many of the members had considered it after listening, but not enough to the point where he had a majority. 

Obi-Wan had decided to neglect to tell Anakin about his nomination. He didn't want to disappoint him with the result, and he didn't need his ego to be inflated. Overall though, Obi-Wan was quite proud of the nomination. Not only because Anakin had been his Padawan, but because it was now apparent that Master Windu trusted the Chosen One much more than he had over the past few years. It's amazing what happens when you remove a secret Sith Lord from the Republic.

Still, no decision had been made about who would be made a Jedi Master, and it had been weeks since the service. There were plenty of good nominees, but no unanimous agreement. At least they were actually having a conversation now, instead of bickering for hours on end like they had about the Inquisitor. Obi-Wan never wanted to do that agai-

"Hey! Obi-Wan!" 

He jumped before remembering that he was on mission, and he was supposed to be doing stakeout with Anakin and Rex, not daydreaming about the Council. Both of them were staring at him, and Anakin had a slight grin on his face. Obi-Wan assumed Rex did too, but he couldn't tell while he had his helmet on. 

"Sorry, I've been a bit distracted lately," he apologized. He looked back out at the street they were hiding above. "Did I miss something?"

Rex pointed down the street. "We found our guy, he's heading North down that way."

Standing up, he pulled out his lightsaber and asked, "Then what are we still doing here?"

"Waiting for you," Anakin teased, earning a glare from his master. All three descended to the street level and chased after their target, weapons hot and ready.

They had tracked a particularly notorious bounty hunter down to the Lower Levels, where they were hoping to find his hideout. He had gotten his hands on some sensitive intel, and the Republic had assigned them to retrieve it. Anakin, who had spent some time recently in the Lower Levels (although for what, no one had asked), was helping them navigate as best as he could, but it was still an uncertain terrain for them. They had received more than a few nasty looks already.

After a few minutes of running around, they tracked the hunter to his spider-hole in a run-down area. It kind of reminded Anakin of the black-market dealer he had busted with the Sister, way back when, but he wasn't after holocrons this time. 

Obi-Wan activated his lightsaber and approached the door. "I'll get to work on finding that intel. You two will be better off fighting that hunter than I would."

"Yeah, especially if you keep staring off into space like earlier," Rex commented, and when the Jedi gave him a look, he shrugged. "What? You're more likely to get shot if you're that distracted."

"I'm assuming we ought to try and talk to this guy first?" Anakin asked, looking to Obi-Wan for approval. "Just in case he doesn't try to shoot us first?"

For some reason, Obi-Wan just sighed. "Yes, I suppose we should."

Now that was off. Anakin glanced at Rex, who just shrugged. He didn't know what was going on. "Are you sure you're okay?" He asked his master, but he had already gone to the door and opened the lock. That wasn't a comforting answer to either of the other two men, but they followed the Jedi Master in and stuck to the plan. 

Once Obi-Wan started looking around for the intel, Rex, who was covering Anakin's six, asked quietly, "Any idea what's gotten into him?"

"Not really. I could guess all day, but he hasn't told me anything," Anakin admitted, shining his lightsaber into the darker corners. "I'm assuming it has something to do with the Council, but your guess is as good as mine, Rex."

"Funny," an unfamiliar voice called from behind them. "I didn't know you named your toy soldiers."

Rex and Anakin turned to the speaker, who was indeed their target from before. He didn't look very notable, but he had cornered the two of them which wasn't ideal. Rex didn't appreciate being called a toy soldier, but he kept his cool. Unlike this bloke in front of him, Rex had friends, which was much more important to him.

"Ah, just the person we were looking for," Anakin announced, and he lowered his weapon so it was angled from his side instead of in front of his body. "I don't suppose we could talk this out?"

The bounty hunter laughed, and aimed a blaster at them in response. "You sound like that Kenobi guy, or whoever they call 'the Negotiator'. That is Kenobi, right?"

Great, now I sound like Obi-Wan, Anakin thought, but Rex answered out loud for him. "I'll take that as a 'no'. Drop your weapons, you're under arrest for theft of Republic intel."

"Yeah...about that," the hunter grinned, and Anakin and Rex raised their guard. "If you want to get that back, you're going to have to find it yourself, and I wouldn't do that if I were you." 

As if on cue, a painful shout came from somewhere above them on the second floor. Anakin's eyes darted up to the ceiling, but Rex aimed both of his blasters at the bounty hunter. He was about to make some kind of smart remark, but Rex dropped him before he could get the words out of his mouth. The pair quickly retraced Obi-Wan's steps, fearing the worst. 

They sprinted through a door that had been left open, and found a group of seven other men surrounding a body on the floor. Clearly, they were expecting company, because all of their blasters were pointed at their victim, which Anakin was sure was his master. 

"We'll make this simple, Jedi," one threatened, and many of them flipped the safety of their blaster off. "Weapons down, or we shoot your friend."

Anakin wasn't a fool, and he knew they weren't bluffing. Instead of complying, though, he just flicked his wrist away from them. Their weapons came flying out of their hands, and Anakin sliced them in half as they soared towards his face. As soon as Obi-Wan was no longer in immediate danger, Rex started picking off the bounty hunters. Between Rex's trigger fingers and Anakin's reflexes, the hunters didn't stand a chance.

They tried to react, they really did, but they hadn't prepared for such a tight team. If they hesitated, Rex had enough time to aim and fire, and his shots were true to his aim. If they moved, Anakin was on top of them in a second, punching their lights out before they could land so much as a hit. If it hadn't been for Obi-Wan's painful outcry moments earlier, it would have been fun.

As soon as everyone was down Anakin kneeled next to the Jedi Master, who was trying to sit up, but was unable to. Anakin looked for whatever had caused him to yell, and the answer presented itself in a blood stain on the side of his robes. There, something had cut through the side, where there were no stoles protecting him. Rex looked around where he had fallen, and he found a small blade that was the same scarlet color as his robes. "Must have been some kind of defense mechanism," he observed, but he just threw away the knife. It wasn't going to help them now. 

Looking up, Anakin saw the data stick that Obi-Wan had found in the process of getting stabbed. "Grab that, I'll get him. We need to move."

Anakin propped himself under Obi-Wan's good side, his right side, and Rex grabbed the intel before helping his General. Obi-Wan winced and clenched his teeth, trying to stifle the moans escaping him. Once they were out of the house, Anakin stopped and let him rest, and Rex took a look at the wound. 

"I can't tell how deep it is, sir," he reported, looking up at the Jedi. "If it's bleeding this much, though, we ought to get you to a medical facility. Preferably before you bleed out on the street."

Holding his side, Obi-Wan managed to get a witty remark out, but it was strained and painful. "Yes, that...that would be nice."

"You are not dying on me," Anakin insisted, and then after a moment of thinking, he asked Rex, "What level did you say we were on? I forgot."

"23," Rex answered, moving so he was supporting Obi-Wan again. "I don't think there are any hospitals close by."

Anakin looked down, as if he was staring through the floor, "No, and we don't have that kind of time. There is something one level down, if you think you can make it," he told Obi-Wan, who nodded weakly. 

They started back towards the speeder they had taken, not wanting to rush Obi-Wan with his injury, but rushing to get him to...wherever Anakin was planning. Rex didn't really know, but he wasn't about to ask either. After ten excruciating minutes, Anakin lifted Obi-Wan into the backseat, where he could lay down in a somewhat comfortable position. Rex went back with him to keep him steady, and Anakin jumped into the pilot's seat. He quickly sped off towards the nearest shaft, and descended to Level 22. 

As Rex kept an eye on General Kenobi, he noted that General Skywalker wasn't heading towards the thick of the sector, where he would expect medical facilities to be. Instead, he was winding into dark, shady streets, ones that weren't top notch but still better than some of the houses they had seen that night. Also, what were they doing in a residential area? Just where exactly were they going?

It took another fifteen minutes to arrive, but Anakin finally pulled over on the side of the street and climbed into the back to get Obi-Wan back on his feet. "Hold on, Master, we're almost there. Just two more flights of stairs once we get inside." 

Obi-Wan, who was losing consciousness by that point, groaned at the mention of stairs, but Rex was finally curious enough to ask, "General, where are we going? This doesn't look like somewhere we can get help."

Anakin, surprisingly, smiled. "Take a guess, Captain."

Giving him a look, Rex got moving, and helped the Jedi into the building. If Anakin had done what Rex thought he had done, this was going to be an interesting night. 

It took way too long for everyone's preference, but they finally made it to the third floor. Anakin rang the doorbell on the right side of the hallway, and not a second later the door opened to reveal Ahsoka, dressed in a razorback tank top and light shorts.

To her credit, she didn't even blink at the sight of Obi-Wan's injuries. Instead, she made room for the three men to pass, and pointed towards the front room. "Keep him on the towels, and get him resting on the couch."

As they walked in, Rex looked over his shoulder. "You knew we were coming?"

"I had a feeling," she told him, with the smallest of smirks on her lips. "You guys can hardly go anywhere without something happening."