When did elevator music go out of fashion? Too soon.

Coretta is stood to the left of Anakin in a golden elevator as it goes up towards Senator Amidala's apartment, Obi-Wan is to the right of him, and it's absolutely silen-

"You seem a little on edge,"

Oh.

"Not at all," Anakin barely turns to look at his Master who ignores his denial.

"I haven't felt you this tense... since we fell into that nest of gundarks,"

"I beg your pardon?!"

"You fell into that nightmare Master, Cory and I rescued you, " Anakin corrects, and Obi-Wan smirks.

"Oh... yes," Obi-Wan was now laughing and Anakin and Cory both laugh with him, Anakin's however coming out more nervous.

"You're sweating," Cory notes, looking over at the other Padawan

"Relax. Take a deep breath," Obi-Wan instructs

"I haven't seen her in ten years, Master," Cory was confused as to why he was nervous, she was a senator sure - but they met senators often.

The elevator doors open and the three are greeted immediately

"Obi? Obi! Mesa so smilen to seein yousa!"

" Good to see you again, JarJar,"

"Senator Padmé. Mesa palos here! Lookie, lookie, Senator. Desa Jedi arriven," Cory holds back a smile at his enthusiasm as he leads them into the main living area.

"It's a great pleasure to see you again, milady," Obi-Wan greets and the Senator turns around, a bright smile coming to her face as she recognises her old friend. She was drop-dead gorgeous, with long brown hair up in a golden cage hair accessory, a long purple dress wrapped around her.

"It has been far too long, Master Kenobi," The senator looks over to the two Padawans "Ani? My goodness, you've grown!"

"So have you," Anakin notes very plainly, Cory's eyes widen as she contains a laugh. Anakin doesn't add anything else and Padmé has a small smile on her face, luckily, she doesn't seem to take any offence to his bluntness.

"Oh Ani, you'll always be that little boy I knew on Tatooine," She then turns to Cory, taking a moment to properly look at her "You must be Master Yoda's Padawan, Coretta if I remember correctly?"

"Yes," Cory nods, bowing her head "It's a pleasure to meet you Senator,"

"You can call her Cory - most people do," Anakin interrupts and both women raise an eyebrow.

"Well, I'm sure Coretta can decide on which name she prefers on her own Anakin,"

Cory liked her.

"Cory's fine, I prefer it actually," Padmé nods and then leads the three Jedi to the couches in her living area, the four then talk over the threat briefly before Cory grows agitated - she was not one to sit still. Padmé notices.

"Perhaps with merely your presence, the mystery surrounding this threat will be revealed. Now, if you'll excuse me," she stands, causing everyone else to out of courtesy "I will retire,".

Once Padmé has left the room, Obi-Wan excuses himself to go and talk to the security downstairs, and Anakin moves out and onto the balcony.

When Coretta goes to follow, she notices that Padmé has re-entered, now in her night clothes.

"Senator," she nods and Padmé smiles softly

"Please, just Padmé," she gestures for Cory to step closer "Master Obi-Wan and Typho don't wish to discover who is behind these attacks on me, they merely wish to prevent them,"

"Well that's better than letting you die," Cory speaks quietly, and Padmé laughs, a small delicate sound.

"I can tell you and Anakin share the same thoughts as me: I wish to know who is behind these attacks, and to do that we must bait them,"

"Senator-"

"Padmé," she corrects "R2D2 will be in the room with me, all I'm suggesting is we cover the camera's,"

Coretta thinks about it for a moment, then sighs "It's your life your risking,"

"Well, I trust that a Jedi master and his padawans can take care of me just fine," she winks and walks back into her bedroom Cory looks out on the balcony and sees Anakin still standing there.

"Ani?" Cory asks gently, walking out " Are you okay?"

"Yeah..." Cory stands next him, her Jedi robe gone and her forearms now bare.

"Why were you so anxious to see the senator again?" she asks after a few moments of silence and Anakin turns to face her as he tries to put his feelings into words.

"Padmé was one of the first people who became my friend who wasn't from Tatooine. She was kind and pretty and... I wanted you to like her Cory," He refers to her by the nickname he gave her.

"Coretta? That's long," Anakin notes on their first meeting "I'm gonna call you...Cory,"

"Isn't that a boy's name?"

"No, now it's your name,"

"But it's not," Coretta shakes her head

"Ani's not my name, but you can call me it if I can call you Cory,"

"Fine,"

"You wanted me to like her?" Cory's eyebrows furrow in confusion "I don't understand,"

"You're also kind," Anakin starts, and his eyes find Cory's "and pretty..." she can't help the grin that breaks out on her face as she gently shakes her head, going to respond but Anakin continues "I don't have many important people in my life, I wanted you two to get on,"

"Well, you don't need to worry," Coretta smiles and grabs Anakin's hand, swinging it back and forth "I like her," She gets no reply, and that's fine. The two's hands stay interlocked, and their eyes don't move away from the other's and Cory isn't sure how long they stand there,

"Ani," she whispers

"Mhmm?"

"Obi-Wan just entered the apartment,".

They unlock their hands, and Cory enters the apartment again, Anakin close behind.

"Captain Typho has more than enough men downstairs," Obi-Wan announced as he takes off his robe and lies it on a sofa near him " No assassin will try that way. Any activity up here?"

"Quiet as a tomb," Cory replies

"I don't like just waiting here for something to happen to her," Anakin voices, watching as Obi-Wan checks a palm-sized view scanner he's pulled out of his utility belt.

"What's going on?" Obi-Wan asks when he realises, he can't see properly on the scanner.

Anakin shrugs and Cory rolls her eyes before going to grab her robe, she had a feeling she was going to be needing it soon.

"She covered that camera. I don't think she liked me watching her,"

"I don't think anyone would want you watching them," Cory laughs as she slips on her robe, the small buns at the back of her head loosening slightly.

"What is she thinking?"

"She programmed Artoo to warn us if there does happen to be an intruder," Cory informs a pacing Obi-Wan

"It's not an intruder I'm worried about. There are many other ways to kill a Senator,"

"I know, but we also want to catch this assassin. Don't we, Master?" Obi-Wan turns to his apprentice

"You're using her as bait?"

"It was her idea..." Cory adds quickly, not wanting to hear another famous Obi-Wan lecture.

"No harm will come to her. Both me and Cory can sense everything going on in that room," Anakin assures but Obi-Wan still looks apprehensive

"Trust us,"

"It's too risky. Besides, your senses aren't that attuned, young apprentice,"

"Yeah Ani," Cory smiles teasingly

"Oh, and yours are?"

"Possibly,"

Obi-Wan takes a seat by the sofa Cory is leaning on and Anakin once again leaves to go to the balcony and Cory gives Obi-Wan a small smile before following, she leans on the doorway as she watches her friend "You look tired," she observes.

"I don't sleep well, anymore," he admits and Cory walks forward quietly.

"Your mother again?" he nods slowly and Cory puts her hand over his which was resting on the railing.

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

"Have you told Obi-Wan?" she says quieter, so as not to alert Obi-Wan if Anakin hadn't done so.

"He told me that 'dreams pass in time',"

"Well then listen to him,"

"I'd rather dream of you," he looks down at her and Cory's shocked by his sudden confidence.

"You really don't," Cory starts, whispering quietly "I have dreams where you turn into a massive lizard creature and eat me," Anakin laughs and Cory grins, "Really, it's terrifying, once I had a dream where Obi-Wan did the same thing - now that was horrifying,"

"Oh, I'm sure it was," Anakin seems to have forgotten his troubles for a minute and Cory gives him a grin before strolling back into the main living area and sitting across from Obi-Wan.

Anakin stares at the speeders in the sky for a few moments, gathering his thoughts before following Cory and sitting next to his master.

"You should both be careful," Obi-Wan says seriously "Don't forget Padmé's a politician and they're not to be trusted,"

"She's not like the others in the Senate, Master," Anakin tries but it falls of deaf ears

"It's been my experience that Senators are only focused on pleasing those who fund their campaigns... and they are more than willing to forget the niceties of democracy to get those Funds,"

"Bad experiences with a Senator before then Master?" Cory asks but Obi-Wan just gives her a warning look, she shuts up.

"Not another lecture, Master. Not on the economics of politics.... It's too early in the morning,"

"Too late at night," Cory 'corrects' and Obi-Wan sighs, sometimes the two of them wouldn't stop bickering.

"And besides, you're generalising," Anakin continues " The Chancellor doesn't appear to be corrupt,"

"Palpatine's a politician, I've observed that he is very clever at following the passions and prejudices of the Senators,"

Cory feels something...

She stands up and looks towards Padmé's room, the other two ignore her and she stares at the door, trying to sense something more definitive before she makes a rash decision...

"I think he is a good man. My instincts are very positive about..."

"Obi-Wan," Cory starts quickly, something was wrong and they could all now feel it.

"I sense it, too," The three run into Padmé's room, Artoo is sounding an alarm and creatures Obi-Wan recognised as Kouhuns are inches from Padmé's face. They immediately stand on their hind legs and hiss as she wakes up. Anakin throws himself in front of her, whacking the deadly creatures in half with his lightsaber.

Cory sees a droid outside the window and she doesn't think before she throws herself towards the window, flying through the blinds and glass as she barely manages to grab onto the droid.

"Ow," she mutters quietly as the droid drops from her weight and starts flying a hundred stories above the city. No one blinks an eye bellow, a Jedi doing something possibly illegal wasn't new.

Back in the bedroom, Anakin, Padmé and Obi-Wan stare as Cory is carried away "That girl..." Obi-Wan mutters, exasperated, not quite yet noticing Anakin quickly running out the room and after her "And that boy," he shakes his head as he tells Padmé to stay there and goes after his Padawan.

The probe droid tries its best to drop Cory: pushing her into buildings, speeding up and moving in any way but a straight line. It even tries sending several protective electrical shocks across its surface which do, to its credit, cause Cory to nearly lose grip.

As they dart in and out of the speeder traffic, the wind causes one of Cory's buns to fall out and she swears under her breath. It's not like they were the neatest things she'd ever done, but now her hair was covering her eyes.

The droid bumps against a wall, hoping to knock the Padawan off, it then continues its way through the traffic, causing many civilians to shout 'Jedi!' at her. They never were very popular when it came to traffic.

Cory senses even more danger and she tries to move her head so her hair isn't covering her eyes, yet it's useless as the droid explodes and she falls down. She swears profusely as she begs the force she can survive this. And just her luck, she sees Anakin and Obi-Wan in a speeder below and Anakin tries to get directly under her. She lands on the back of it and groans.

"What took you so long? You slacking?" she asks as she clings onto Obi-Wan's seat.

"Oh, you know Anakin, he couldn't find a speeder he liked," Obi-Wan teases

"It needed an open cockpit... with the right speed capabilities, then you know I had to get a colour Obi-Wan hated,"

Cory looks down at the bright yellow speeder, raising an eyebrow.

"One problem with your choice however" she starts

"What?"

"It's only got two seats!" she screams as Anakin does a sharp turn and Obi-Wan has to help keep her on the speeder.

"If you two spend as much time working on your saber skills as you do on your wit, young Padawans, you would rival Master Yoda as swordsmen,"

"Oh, we're working on that currently," Cory informs him proudly, trying to ignore the fact she was hanging off a speeder in the middle of busy traffic whilst chasing after a bounty hunter.

"I thought I already did," Anakin boasts

"Only in your mind, my very young apprentice," It's clear Obi-Wan is not having a great time as Anakin dives downwards - Cory screams in both fear and joy.

When Anakin starts riding normally, well as normal as it can get for him, Obi-Wan sighs "You know I don't like it when you do that,"

"Sorry, I forgot you don't like flying, Master,"

"I don't mind flying... but what you're doing is suicide!" he shouts as they barely miss a commuter train.

The chase continues and Cory is thrown about on the back, having a go at Anakin every time she's mildly hurt and Obi-Wan is also displeased with his apprentice's driving. Anakin takes a sharp turn and Cory growls as she's thrown left.

"Where are you going?! He went down there, the other way,"

"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's working for..."

"Could be a she," Cory mutters as her hair on the left side also comes undone.

"Oh, so that's why we're going in the completely wrong direction," Obi-Wan says sarcastically and Cory smiles slightly.

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

"You think?!" Cory shouts as she's thrown right and off the speeder, Obi-Wan quickly uses the force to put her back up "Thank you Master,"

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

"Well, you lost him - or her," Obi- Wan adds when he feels Cory flick the back of his head slightly.

"I'm deeply sorry, Master,"

"That was one shortcut Anakin. They went completely the other way," Obi-Wan starts his lecture as Anakin looks around the front and back of the speeder. He spots something and seems to start counting to himself as he watches something below approach.

"Excuse me for a moment," Anakin jumps out and Cory struggles to get into the driver's seat whilst Anakin starts his attack below on the bounty hunter's speeder.

"Cory, would it be easi-" Obi-Wan starts, watching the young girl struggle

"No!" she slides into the seat and hits accelerate, trying to make up for lost time as Obi-Wan mutters under his breath

"I hate it when they do this," Cory smirks and tries to keep her eyes on Anakin.

Sometime later, Cory sees a lightsaber hilt fall down and she quickly catches it, shoving it into her Jedi robes so Obi-Wan doesn't see. Cory stays close and when she sees Anakin fall out, she starts finding a place to park. As she lands, Obi-Wan runs put, leading Cory to where he sensed Anakin to be.

"Ani!" Cory shouts in relief when she sees him almost run into a large nightclub, he stops immediately and turns to her.

"She went in there," he points

"So, it was a she," Cory says to them both and Anakin rolls his eyes. As Obi-Wan enters the nightclub, Cory nudges Anakin and passes him his lightsaber. He sighs in relief and gives her a quick kiss on the cheek before hurrying after his master.

Cory stands in shock before following, making sure her padawan braid is hidden by her now free hair so she looks older.

"Why do I think you are going to be the death of me?" Obi-Wan sighs

"Don't say that Master... You're the closest thing I have to a father," Anakin tells him honestly

"Then why don't you listen to me?"

"I am trying," Cory never usually spoke during these moments, she never wanted to intrude on Anakin's training.

"Do you see them?" Cory asks Anakin when she joins the two in the centre of the club after Obi-Wan's small teaching moment.

"Not yet," Obi-Wan sighs and walks off

"Where are you going, Master?"

"To get a drink," the two Padawans are in shock, both blinking hard to process what he had just said.

They nod at each other before walking in opposite directions and searching for anyone suspicious. Both get strange looks from the other people there, they were very obviously a part of the order, and Jedi weren't usually seen in clubs.

Commotion in the centre draws them both there, finding Obi-Wan and the bounty hunter with aliens staring at them all.

"Jedi business!" Cory shouts to them all "Go back to your drinks," they comply but a few eyes stay on them as they drag the hunter out of the club.

Anakin and Obi-Wan lower the hunter onto the ground below and Cory bends down, supporting her head. "Do you know who it was you were trying to kill?" Obi-Wan asks as he tends to her shoulder which Cory assumed Anakin had something to do with as she was glaring at the man with hatred.

" A Senator from Naboo," she chokes out through pain

"Who hired you?" Cory continues

"It was just a job," she moves her glare to Cory

"Tell us!" Anakin shouts in her face

"It was a Bounty Hunter called - "Something shoots past them and into the hunter's neck, she twitches and makes moaning noises before she collapses onto Cory, her breathing having stopped.

The Jedi Master and Padawans look up and see an armoured, presumed man, taking off from a roof and Obi-Wan touches the hunter's neck and pulls out something small Cory couldn't see in the darkness.

"Toxic Dart...".