Phoenix and Obi-Wan had been trailing the assassin for at least the past four hours or so. The assassin had really only been going from small bar to bar. Conversing with some people but doing nothing really out of the ordinary. She seemed to be acting like a pretty normal citizen for most of the day. Then she got a hover taxi which Obi-Wan suggested they follow and it turned out she was heading towards the posh, nice part of town. This is what confused Phoenix. Why would she be going towards that part of town? It was a little strange. There couldn't be anything down there for a criminal to go for. Unless she was planning on stealing from somebody but even that felt like a bad idea. There were cameras everywhere on those sort of estates. Phoenix had seen them. She always felt watched when she had visited Jax so the assassin wouldn't be stupid enough to try and steal.

     But they followed anyway. More just out of curiosity to where the assassin was going. It wasn't long until the taxi in front stopped and the assassin got out. Walking the rest of the way towards a set of gates that Phoenix knew looked familiar. They were white dura-metal. Tall and fancy, spiralling high above anyone who walked by. The grey bricked walls extended from them and wrapped around the whole perimeter of the estate. The gray boulders had a camera attached and there was a keypad next to the door with a comm link. It was so familiar and Phoenix couldn't place why.

     The assassin walked up to the buzzer of the gates and pressed onto it. Phoenix and Obi-Wan watched, making the taxi slow down a bit. But they were gone away from the estate before they could see who came to the door to allow her in. Phoenix couldn't help but feel those gates were familiar but really what did she know. She hadn't been around this area for a few weeks at least. The visits to see Jax's family were few and far between. He always came to see her either in the suburbs or at her studio; The interaction with his family were little and that made sense considering Phoenix stole his sister's Senate seat.

     But still there was something familiar and she couldn't work out why. Maybe it was a family friend of Jax's that lived there that she had visited one or two times but what did they need for an assassin. She knew that the rich got bored and sometimes wanted to get people killed but doing it so obviously felt like a bad idea. Doing it out in the open seemed like an incredibly stupid idea but it might have just been common place for the people in this area to hire criminals. Maybe it was normal though Phoenix doubted that.

     "Did you recognise the gates?" Obi-Wan asked as he watched Phoenix's face. It morphed from her eyebrows being pulled together in concentration to a confused slouch. Her hands resting on her lap as she stared at the ceiling. He was watching her go through the motions but either way she didn't come up with anything. Only hazed memories that she wasn't even sure if they were real.

     "I think so but I just don't know why. There's something about them," She admitted as she looked at him. He cocked his eyebrows and she shrugged. She didn't know what it was but there was just something. She couldn't work out what and she knew that she was unlikely to remember what. There was just something, in the back of her mind, trying to push it's way forward.

     "The rich hire assassins all the time to avoid getting their own hands dirty. Maybe she is doing some work while she waits to get you," Obi-Wan commented. His words so casual yet they held so much weight considering that they were talking about Phoenix's life. Still, they didn't seem to affect her all that much. She shrugged in response to him.

     "Maybe. She probably needs it since she's yet to kill me," Phoenix responded before she shuffled over and moved to rest against Obi-Wan's arm. Her hand took his and she rested her head against his arm. Nuzzling into it as she just enjoyed being close to him. They probably shouldn't be doing this but the driver didn't know that he was a Jedi and certainly didn't care enough to be paying attention to them so he dropped them off at a nearby park and Phoenix and Obi-Wan went walking.

     They both needed to clear their heads after what had happened and they needed to work out what they could do to get the assassin. They needed to get the assassin that they still didn't even know the real name of. Though there were various names in various places that the pair combined had a lot of access too so there had to be a trace of her somewhere. There had to be a way to catch her somewhere, they had so much information at their fingertips.

     "You're thinking too deeply." Obi-Wan said as he tugged her out of the way of a nearby bush that she was about to walk into. Phoenix nodded, she definitely was. She needed to pay a lot more attention or she was going to do something stupid or run into someone. She didn't want to cause any issues, that was the exact opposite of what she actually wanted in that moment,

     "Sorry, I was just trying to work out how we could even track a payment or something," Phoenix responded and Obi-Wan shrugged. He wouldn't even know how to do it. Someone in the Republic would be able to look but Phoenix wasn't solely set on the idea of the Republic helping just yet. She believed that they could do nothing but fumble and ruin it further.

     "It depends on who it is but there'd be ways to do it," He responded and she nodded. The pair then moved to sit on a bench together. Obi-Wan then pulled her closer as he let her cuddle up to his side again. The pair then just began to stare off at the pond. A small bridge went across the narrowest parts and little ducks were swimming around happily. A couple of ducklings alongside the mother too. The pair didn't say much as they cuddled together on the bench. Phoenix was just happy that they could openly display their affection here. It was away from the public eye and nobody could really question it because nobody knew who Obi-Wan was here. It was just a place where they could love freely and he didn't feel held down his responsibility. It felt good, it felt better and she had never been happier to be with him.

     "I really missed just relaxing with you," She admitted in a low voice. Her head turning to bury in his neck. A soft sigh escaping her lips. Obi-Wan's arm moved to rest on her hair, stroking it as he muttered back the same thing. Just enjoying her company and presence for the moment. They had tailed and got the information for the day. They could follow her the rest of the time tomorrow. There was just too many cameras around this neighbourhood for them to go completely unnoticed by everyone.

***

     Phoenix woke up the next day to find that Obi-Wan wasn't with her anymore. The warmth of where he had been lying was still evident though as she let her hand flop onto the patch where he should have been. A soft pout spread across her face before she turned over and pushed herself to sit up. A soft groan escaping her lips as she stretched her arms above her head.

     Obi-Wan was probably just making breakfast or getting ready for the day. She didn't bother to read too much into it as she wiped the sleep from her eyes. She then leant over and grabbed her datapad. Noticing a blinking notification on it and she pressed onto it. Realising what it was. A message from her sleepier self telling her to check Jax's most recent transactions. Her head tilted as she tried to remember why she was even wanting to do that but then the reminder of the previous day. The tailing, the gates had been so familiar. Phoenix managed to convince herself that they were the gates of Jax's home so she had to check the account.

     They had a shared bank account for a little bit and she had found out that the bank now belonged to just him after he removed her details from it a few months into their relationship. It was now his business bank account but she was pretty sure she still had the details to it. She just wanted to see if there had been any strange transactions or withdrawals of credits. If there had been, she was pretty sure that she had found out who her assassin is or at least who is sending the assassin to kill her.

     Those white gates had been playing on Phoenix's mind since she had left the estate area. They were just so familiar and she couldn't place why she knew them so well. A memory in the back of her mind was tickling the front and wanted her to realise that those gates were not all they seemed. Jax's family had been the few people she had visited in that area and she just had to be sure it wasn't him. She didn't know what he would go after her but he could of. She had to be sure.

     The fact that the assassin that was sent to kill her and was going there just felt so suspicious. So she was hoping that when she checked the bank account, she would find something that would lead her suspicions to be false. She didn't want to know that her ex-fiance wanted her dead. Wanted her dead while they were still together. He was there when the assassin tried to attack her multiple times. He had comforted her, cuddled her, kept her close and even made her feel safe but now he might have been the one that was trying to harm her. She didn't know if she could deal with that.

     As she logged into the account, she began to scour through the records. She was never meant to go through these. It would be seen as unfeminine and probably seen as going against every tradition in the galaxy but she wanted to know if her suspicions were true. She needed to know if her ex-fiance did want her dead and lied to her the whole time they were together. She just had to know.

     Scouring through, she didn't even notice when Obi-Wan came in after using the 'fresher. He came and sat next to her. Only a towel around his waist as he noticed her glued to her datapad again. It was hard enough to get her off it normally but she seemed to be glued to it a lot more than normal this morning. He just watched her and waited for her to notice or pay attention. His hair was dripping onto his back, still damp from the shower as he watched her. Waiting patiently for her.

     "What have you found?" He asked after a moment. His eyes flicking to her face. The way it crinkled and the frown only deepened as she pressed through more results. He didn't like seeing her look so upset but then she placed her datapad down on the bed. Her lip twitching with annoyance as her teeth gritted together. She couldn't believe that it was him. He wanted her dead and had sent people after her. Her hands clenched as she gripped the fabric of her silk pyjamas.

     "It was Jax. Jax is the one that sent that assassin," Phoenix said as she stood up from her bed. Her hands balled into fists and she walked towards the door. Her father needed to know. Her father needed to know that he had chosen an awful suitor and if she had stayed with him, she would be dead. His only daughter would be dead because of his decision of who she was to marry.

     "Phoenix? Are you sure? Show me what you found. I need to look too," Obi-Wan said as he rushed to grab her arm. Pulling her away from the door. He understood why she was annoyed. Why she was so angry but he needed to make sure that this conclusion wasn't baseless. He needed to make sure that this was a good enough theory and conclusion. Something that could help them and not something that could easily be thrown out by whoever they took this too.

     "I logged into our banking account or well his 'business' bank account," Phoenix said, putting up air quotes around business. Jax didn't have business he just wanted her to be killed. That's why he disappeared so often. He was planning her demise like the spiteful bastard that he always had been. Everything made sense, not coming back until late, leaving before the sun rose. It was obviously dodgy business. Dodgy business that was going to get her killed. That's who the familiar man was in the hotel. That was Jax coming to see her.

     "Show me," Obi-Wan said, his voice calm as he cupped her face with his hands. His eyes looking into hers with an immense amount of seriousness. He pressed a soft kiss to her lips and she took a deep breath. She knew that he was right. She needed to think this through. Breaking away from him, she walked towards the datapad she had dropped. Picking it up, she showed him the information that she had discovered. Four different transactions to a bank account under one of the fake names that they knew of for the assassin. It was a lot of money, enough to be payment for an assassination. More than enough to be payment for a single assassination.

     "Oh," Obi-Wan said as a soft sight left his lips. He grabbed the datapad delicately as he sighed softly. Phoenix nodded her head, rubbing her face with her hands. She just hated that it was Jax. Jax of all people. She trusted him, she was trying to convince herself that she was in love with him. They were going to get married but it was clearly all a rouse. She was glad that Obi-Wan had come back into her life now. That he had saved her from that fate, saved her from her own demise.

     "You saved me," She chuckled as she moved to sit on the bed. Her head in her hands as she stared down at the floor. She had fallen for his boy-ish smile and charms. How had she even allowed herself to be fooled by him? How had she allowed that to happen? She felt ridiculous and stupid. All the signs felt obvious now. The reluctance to care for her, the annoyance at her hysterics. That man stopped coming because he didn't do what Jax asked. He wanted more than to just kill her. Jax had orchestrated everything and she could have died.

     "You saved yourself by falling for me again," He responded, the turned down corners of his lips turning up slightly as he moved to sit down next to her. He took her hand and held it against his chest, his head moving to rest against her. She rolled her eyes at him and then leant back onto him. Why had she even fell for Jax? He just wanted to kill her. She wasn't surprised but it didn't stop it hurting just as much. He had betrayed her. Gone against everything she had believed about him. He was not charming or caring. He was evil. He wanted her dead.

     He wanted her dead and for what? To allow his sister to be elected. She couldn't believe that family. She couldn't believe him. They would kill just for a position in Government. It just proved that none of them deserved a position in the Senate. They didn't care about their people only the power that the position would give them and that angered her more than anything did. More than even discovering that he had done this. They were so power-hungry and uncaring. They would rather sacrifice someone who was doing well for their own gain.

     "I need to tell my father. He needs to know that I was lucky to get out of that engagement. That it was Jax who was trying to get me killed. We know what we have to do now. We can arrest him for attempted murder of a Senator," Phoenix said as she stood up. It was clear that Obi-Wan believed her so she was going to take every step she could to punish him. She hated him. The emotion crawling into her heart as she thought back on it. His smile, the gifts, the talks of their future. All of it meant nothing to him. The nights they spoke of her anxieties and meetings. They were nothing. They meant nothing. She put herself through so much just to try and convince herself that she was in love with him. But she wasn't. She never loved him and now she was free from him. Free from the man who wanted her dead.

     "That wouldn't be a good idea. For now. We need to catch the assassin first and she has to admit that it was Jax who hired her. Then we can go from there," Obi-Wan responded. Phoenix gritted her teeth. The anger bubbling in her chest. Why couldn't she just make him pay? She didn't understand why. He deserved to be punished. Obi-Wan could feel the anger and stood up, walking over to her. He cupped her face with his hands and looked into her eyes. Trying his best to calm her down a little bit more as his thumb stroked her cheek. She tried to pull away but he stayed close to her. He then pressed a soft kiss to her lips.

     "We'll get them, little one. I promise. We just need to be smart about this, okay?" He said softly against her lips. His forehead rested against hers. Her hands still at her sides as she tried to dull her anger. His presence was definitely helping with that but she still wanted to hit someone or just scream. She wanted to do something to make Jax feel the same pain she did right now. Just something but she knew that would never happen. It just wouldn't. She would have to live with this. He was rich.

***