Part Seven

Dooku had given his staff a day off again. Mostly, his plans for the day involved sitting down with Obi-Wan and Anakin and continuing to show his youngest grandPadawan how to deal with the earliest years of his life and the scarring that had resulted from it. But first, there were some files he wanted from the Jedi library and he was due to send a report to the Council at any rate.

Obi-Wan and Anakin flanked him on either side as he activated his hidden comm. unit and contacted Coruscant. Mace Windu, it seemed, took the call immediately, even going so far as to interrupt Dooku's conversation with Master Jocasta Nu, head librarian.

"Master Windu," Dooku greeted. "I must say, this is a surprise."

"No doubt."

"Master Windu," Obi-Wan bowed, as did Anakin.

"My apologies for the interruption, but once I knew we had contact with you I needed to speak with you right away."

"Of course."

"Dooku, we have arranged for transport for both Knight Kenobi and Padawan Skywalker to return that won't be suspected by Zeltrax's more conservative nature."

Something cold and painful pierced Dooku's heart, but he let nothing show. He didn't show how much having his grandPadawan's nearby was a comfort to him. He didn't show how he was only just starting to get to know them and was greedily wishing to know more about them. He didn't show that he was going to miss them terribly and how he already knew his life would be so much emptier once they were gone. He didn't show that he dreaded how long he was going to still be on this assignment without his grandPadawans there to keep him on his toes and guessing.

He showed none of it.

He merely buried it deep down to be meditated on later, preferably once they were gone and, he supposed, he might have time to start releasing all these pent up feelings to the Force.

Maybe.

He just didn't want to lose them.

"I see," he said instead. "And when should we expect this discreet transport to arrive?"

"We've had it on standby, waiting for your next communiqué. Now that we've talked, it will be on the way within the hour. I'd imagine it will take a standard week." Windu looked stoically at them. "Have you been preparing an excuse that will be acceptable to the locals?"

"Yes," Obi-Wan replied quietly with a slight bow. "We've been introduced here as Master Dooku's grandsons, having arrived after an accident where we lost our father. But while we've mentioned losing a mother, we haven't said that she's dead."

Dooku glanced behind him, surprised that a cover was already in place. But then, given how he'd neglected his two grandPadawans when they'd first arrived, it really shouldn't have been a surprise.

He'd wasted so much time.

"We will say that our mother has been found and we're off to save her. That when we 'lost her' it was because she was taken from us and sold into slavery."

Dooku worked not to frown at how frighteningly much of their actual history had been incorporated to their "cover" story.

Instead, he embellished on the story. "Once Knight Kenobi and Padawan Skywalker are off planet, I'll start making arrangements to go off-planet myself. I believe I'm close to a contact that will move me up the chain." Or so the Force was telling him.

"Very good. It looks like everything is in order," Windu nodded. "Kenobi, Skywalker, it will be good to have you back at the Temple."

"Our thanks, Maser Windu," Obi-Wan replied.

"Now Dooku," Windu started to continue, but Dooku was looking sharply off to the side, sensing an agitated presence coming up the drive quickly.

"It would seem we need to cut our conversation short," he said. "Someone is coming."

"Understood."

Dooku swiveled in his chair and started talking about the history of Zeltrax, Obi-Wan and Anakin already taking places as they usually did when they expected to be interrupted. Anakin sat on the floor and pulled out tools and started cleaning them. Obi-Wan reclined in a chair brought behind the desk and held a cup of tea, looking fascinated. All three of them tuned to the Force as the main door burst open and a voice called from the main hall.

"Dooku!"

"Hey," Anakin commented, "that's Mesagog!"

Dooku nodded, already standing and leading his grandPadawans out of the study.

"Dooku!"

"Mesagog!" Dooku called out, rushing down the stairs. "What happened?" This was breaking all manner of polite manners and even from up here he could feel the distress.

Agitated wasn't the word. Worried and confused and desperate. Dooku couldn't help but wonder what had pushed the reptilian so far as to be desperate, especially considering Mesagog's wealth and connections.

"My friend," Mesagog continued, meeting them halfway up the grand staircase. "I need your help. There is none other I can trust, please!"

"Of course, come with me."

The four of them went to the kitchen, Obi-Wan and Anakin rushing ahead to get drinks, Obi-Wan also thinking to get a good strong wine while Anakin bustled about with glassware.

Mesagog hesitated from the offered wine, before gulping it down and having another.

Desperate indeed. It was rolling off of him in undulating, spiking waves.

Against his better judgment, Dooku looked his reptilian friend in the eye and with a surge of the Force and a wave of his hand said, "Calm."

The noble reptile let out a long sigh, emotions still roiling but settling into a calmer pattern.

Gold eyes looked at Dooku sharply. "I was right. You truly are the only one who can help me."

"My friend," Dooku replied, "I will provide any help you need. You aided me in saving one of my grandsons. Please, what happened?"

Mesagog gave a dry, bitter chuckle, his jaw dropping before stretching forward and snapping shut. "Kidnapping, it seems, is the way of Zeltrax now."

Dooku stilled. "Oh?"

"My daughter. Someone now has my daughter."

Dooku and his "grandsons" blinked in unison as the thought settled in.

"Wait," Anakin blinked again, "I thought from all the stuff I heard that your daughter was dead?"

Mesagog barked out another ironic laugh. "Yes, that was the idea. I had no choice but to hide my daughter away." Dooku's friend looked him in the eye. "The same way your son had to leave. They both can touch the Force."

There was a sharp intake of breath. "How..."

Mesagog reached out, putting a clawed hand on Dooku's in a comforting manner. "I saw you reflect a blaster bolt back. You're good at hiding it, my dear friend, but sometimes you are just a touch too insightful. And you can fight like a man two decades younger. The children won't see the difference, they'll still think an old man is fighting, but I know. I've been around too long and sparred with far too many people of varying ages not to notice. It's why your son Qui-Gon left isn't it? He couldn't handle our restricting society or the prejudice we have against Force-users."

Dooku looked away, thinking of how many decades he'd gone without contacting Qui-Gon. The sorrow swelled at the loss again. "Something like that," was all he could say.

Mesagog nodded. "Your grandsons as well, if I was to wager."

"Yes, I've been trying to train them."

"That's how you knew your brother was in trouble," Mesagog turned to Obi-Wan, who could only nod silently in response.

"My daughter can touch the Force. We tried to keep it hidden. Back when she was born, over a century ago, a Jedi was on planet and I tried to subtly ask advice on how to raise a Force-sensitive child." Another smile of black humor. "He offered to bring my baby girl to the Temple. He didn't understand."

"We don't abandon family," Dooku agreed, looking to his grandsons.

"Correct. I tried. I truly tried. But she must be strong with the Force, because she could pick the thoughts out of me and my staff out so quickly and she didn't understand that she shouldn't say anything. She was just a toddler, my baby girl!" Mesagog ran a clawed hand over his browridge. "So I arranged for it to look like she had died. Moved her to one of my country estates. I visit as often as I can. I think she senses my love for her, or at least she's always happy to see me. And now she's gone."

Dooku covered Mesagog's claws with his own hand. "Give me and my grandsons some time to meditate. We'll find her."

The relief on Mesagog's face was palpable. "A moment first," he said, reaching into his jacket. "I received this."

It was a letter, the scripting precise, elegant, and almost showy. The wording, however, was as blunt as a spoon.

Remove yourself from politics.

There's no need for you.

Do the consequences need to be stated?

An uncharacteristic growl escaped Dooku's throat. "Using a beloved family member as blackmail?"

Mesagog nodded. "This has been planned for some time, I fear," he hissed. "When we went off to save young Anakin here, my estate was burgled. I'd thought nothing of it since my staff discovered it and chased off the ruffians, but apparently the scoundrels went through my papers. It's the only way anyone could have discovered my daughter's whereabouts."

Dooku was certain that the paper would burst into flame under his glare, so he closed his eyes to reign in the feeling. He was remembering all too well how it felt when he learned Anakin had been taken. He hadn't really dealt with it and it was being thrown back into his face.

Deep breath.

Without opening his eyes, he handed the letter to his elder grandson. "Obi-Wan, meditate on this letter, focus on who sent it and follow how the Force unifies us all to see if you can find out where Mesagog's daughter is."

That was as close as he could say that Obi-Wan's connection to the Unifying Force was the best chance without getting into just how knowledgeable he was of the Force. Knowledgeable enough to be a Jedi.

Obi-Wan nodded.

"I'll help too!" Anakin declared. "Don't worry, we'll find her!" He quickly scampered off after Obi-Wan. Dooku knew that he was in no state to meditate at the moment; so instead, he stood and went to his study. Specifically his swords. They would need to be cleaned. Perhaps Anakin would get a chance to use one this time. It would be interesting to see how he did in true combat instead of sparring. Perhaps gauge how he was doing with his forms and kata and seeing where he needed improvements when in an unstructured setting. He'd need to stay close to his grandsons; he didn't want to lose them.

He'd lose them soon enough already.

Mesagog paced behind him, calmer after Dooku's Suggestion, but clearly still anxious. The reptilian noble settled heavily into a chair with a deep sigh as Dooku unsheathed all three swords on his desk and pulled out some cleaning solution.

"I must apologize, my friend," Mesagog said quietly, rubbing a browridge. "This must bring up some bad memories from when your grandson was kidnapped."

Dooku said nothing, focusing and clearing his mind as he went through the careful process of cleaning each blade. There was a strong swirling of the Force in his grandsons' room, likely as they meditated on that ransom note. Dooku let out a long sigh of his own.

"I'm uncertain how much you know of the Force," he said quietly, stroking the blade he'd used when he'd headed off to rescue Anakin. "Many generations ago, one of my ancestors wrote a book about the Force. I doubt it was as good as whatever those Jedi teach in their Temple, but it seems the Force can run strong in my family. But over the centuries, those of us with the Talent, have studied it, added our own findings on it, things of that nature. My father last had to copy." Dooku looked at his reflection in the blade and flipped it to work on the other side.

"When he died, the book was lost to us."

Mesagog nodded. "He died in a fire, if I remember."

"Yes." Good to know the false history he'd made for himself still provided cover. "The book was with him. I was far too young. But I've tried to remember what I'd read of it, what my father taught me." And indeed, Yoda had been a good teacher. "But one of the important things, was meditation. Of releasing feelings to the Force instead of letting them fester." Dooku looked up. "It is not an easy thing, releasing certain feelings to the Force."

His friend looked down. "The loss of your son."

Dooku nodded. "My grandsons are actually faring better with that. But then, the younger are supposed to fair better than us. It's why we let them take over."

Mesagog's laugh was sharp and short. "Indeed. But then, they've been through this before when they lost their mother."

Dooku paused, looking up to Mesagog's golden eyes. "In a manner of speaking. Their mother is, technically, still alive as far as we know."

Mesagog stilled, his anxiety halting as he looked to Dooku again. "Oh?"

He looked back to his swords and started polishing the next one. "They were on a transport, moving to a new world, when it was attacked by pirates. As Obi-Wan tells it, their mother was captured to be sold into slavery."

The normally composed Mesagog let out a low curse. "All the more reason for us to keep to ourselves. The creatures out there can be hideous."

Dooku merely nodded. "It's why I can't abide what's happened to you. Ignoring my own experience with Anakin being kidnapped, I've known loss for far too long. I simply won't let that happen to you. For all that I must release my feelings to the Force, they still fester inside me, striving to twist to something dark. I hold on to my grandsons and remind myself that there is still good out in this galaxy, and strive to keep doing good. The more we do, whether it's by rescuing a kidnapped family member or simply putting up a billboard to offer truth amongst lies, is the only way I won't let what's festering control me."

Mesagog nodded, seeing Dooku's hidden advice. "You needn't worry, my dear friend," he said quietly, his lower jaw barely moving. "I will stay with my daughter as long as it takes to make sure nothing festers. I will shower her with all the love she needs."

"Building something helps. Gardens, healing animals, things that are inherently good."

"She's always been fond of sewing. I'll make sure she starts making things for the disadvantaged."

Dooku nodded. Now if only he could do something for himself and his own festering emotions.

But there would be time for that later. After his grandsons had returned to Coruscant and he was once more solitary.

... By the Force he didn't want them to go.

"We got it!" Anakin came bursting in, holding a datapad high in his hand. "Well, Obi-Wan got an image and I was able to put it into a program I wrote to take descriptions and make images of them, and-"

"Anakin, just show them," Obi-Wan interrupted, following in at a more sedate pace. "It's the only image that came to mind during the meditation."

Mesagog, however, was stiff with tension; so much he was almost vibrating. Dooku stepped around his desk and looked over his friend's shoulder and immediately recognized the estate.

"Goldar," he growled.

Dooku was furious.

Scratch that.

Dooku was beyond furious.

Zeltrax was a planet that had become xenophobic over the last thousand years because of atrocities done across the galaxy, Hutt slavery, merciless bounty hunters, unpunished violence, but most of all, Zeltrax withdrew from the galactic arena because of the Republic, because of their corruption, because they had been bought by others and endorsed lobbyists, because their words were different than their deeds, because they - like the Jedi - no longer represented what they stood for. Their seat at the Senate was a mouthpiece at best, lipservice to get certain key subsidies and tax breaks to keep their economy afloat and little else, and even now they wondered if it was even worth it.

In short, Senator Goldar's position of power was not going to last long.

And, instead of fighting for what was right in the Senate, instead of showing his people the honor the Republic was capable of, the reptilian senator had instead proven every fear the planet Zeltrax possessed. He was just as corrupt and underhanded as the rest of the galaxy.

Kidnapping an innocent child just to take a political enemy out of the arena.

So distasteful.

So... uncivilized.

And... and so like the Republic that Dooku had come to know that all he could do was growl, deep in his throat and vow that he would change it, all of it.

The four of them filed into Dooku's speeder, the boys in back and Mesagog in the passenger seat as the false Count gunned the engine and broke several speeding laws to get to the Senatorial Estate in the center of the city. It was agreed that security could not be brought in, there was no way to justify Mesagog's daughter being alive, let alone kidnapped or knowing where she was being held by a cursed vision of the Force.

The estate was the largest personal estate on the planet, no less than five separate wings, three floors apiece, with multiple dining halls and ballrooms for entertainment, and even a private theater, a dozen different gardens spread across the grounds, and other luxuries that were ostensibly for any guests and dignitaries of the Senator. There were no guards at the elaborate gates, and no security. All four of them knew that was a bad sign, and when they pulled up to the massive front portico, Obi-Wan muttered,

"This is a trap."

"Yes," Dooku said, drawing his sword.

"We know the policy on traps, right?" Anakin asked.

Dooku and Mesagog both turned to the boy curiously, and he only grinned. "Spring the trap."

"We are going to have an extended conversation on war strategy when we return," Dooku muttered.

They entered the house with no one in sight, the immaculately decorated spacious foyer and grand staircase utterly empty. Dooku could sense no beings near them, and for a moment he closed his eyes, casting his senses out. Obi-Wan did the same, and almost simultaneously they pointed up the staircase. "This way," they said in unison.

The four trailed up the stairs, cautious, circling around and weary of any sign of danger. On the third floor they followed the pulses of two beings down the triple wide hallways, under glorious chandeliers and floor-to-ceiling windows. The day was overcast, grey, like Qui-Gon's room. The thought only made Dooku all the angrier and he struggled to suppress it. Partway through the central wing they paused by a doublewide set of double doors, likely an entrance to one of the many ballrooms. The false Count nodded to Obi-Wan, who nodded back. Even Anakin could sense the life beyond the doors, his face set in anticipation and determination. Mesagog's ocular ridge was brightly colored, blaster at his hip; he had not brought his dura-staff, but his tight jaw did nothing to hide teeth or his talons, he looked more like a predator than a noble.

One a soft pulse from the Force, Dooku opened the door and strode in, the others fanning out behind him.

The ballroom was enormous, easily capable of holding a thousand people comfortably, and every step echoed cavernously through the space. At the absolute far end, by the servants' entrance, stood Goldar; the reptilian was dressed dramatically in a rich red overcoat, matching his eyes, and held his unnecessary cane in one hand.

"Where is Elsa?" Mesagog demanded, his voice low and menacing.

"Elsa? The daughter that died a hundred years ago?" Goldar asked, his reptilian jaw managing a sneer.

Mesagog drew his blaster. "You're the only one who gains if I resign from politics, my Senator. Release her at once!"

"Release her? A Force sensitive child?" Goldar asked in mock surprise. "Just how would you expect her to be received? She would be shunned to the point of being forced to hide her again. Truly, there's not much point in my releasing her, is there? I've only substituted one gilded cage for another. You've hardly been honorable towards her."

Mesagog growled, stepping forward. "Where is she?"

Goldar snorted, looking away slightly before narrowing his gaze on Dooku. "And you, Master Dooku. I must say I was more than a little surprised to learn your origins. I wasn't even given the decency of a notice by the Chancellor; you can imagine the insult. I must ask, why are you here? Or is your association with my most powerful adversary answer enough?"

"You have committed a crime," Dooku said evenly. "You must answer to the consequence of your actions."

"Must I?" Goldar asked, thoroughly bemused. "You must be old indeed by human standards, if you think something as outdated as honor has any bearing on decisions these days."

"You're a senator!" Anakin accused. "You're supposed to represent your people!"

"No," Goldar said, red eyes narrowing at the child, staring at the braid. "I'm supposed to represent my party. Everything is about power these days, little Padawan." Dooku sucked in a breath, horror dawning on him. "If one is to survive in these tumultuous times, the only way to do it is to side with whoever is the most powerful. I've made my allegiances, and because of that I have been given quite a few guarantees, the first was my ensured election next term, but the most lucrative is access to certain persons who everybody thinks is deplorable but everybody uses anyway."

"I have never lowered myself to brigands, burglary, or kidnapping!" Mesagog hissed.

"And that is why you are weak, my Lord," Goldar replied. "So weak you don't even know how you are being used. It makes you pitiable, except you've done me so much harm by this point I have no pity for you. You consider the Count here your close friend, yes?"

Dooku took a menacing step forward, realizing the full extent of this trap.

"How long have you known him, now? Nine months? Where did he say he came from, Reefside, right? Did you ever check his credentials? I did as soon as I saw that little braid on the boy. The forgeries are quite good, I'll grant him that, but he was an idiot to let the boy keep the braid. The HoloNet is a marvelous system, and on it I found the directory of every active Jedi in service on Coruscant. Guess who I found there?"

"You will be silent," Dooku growled, forcing his will at the reptilian that was ruining everything.

The senator reeled back as if struck, his cane clattering noisily to the ground and echoing off the expansive walls and ceiling. Staggering back, his back struck the wall and for a moment all Dooku's enemy could do was gasp.

Red eyes lifted up, and one taloned hand lifted up to show a remote, and the Living Force was roaring in his ears, and there was a deafening sound all around him, and then he was falling through the floor.

Goldar, it appeared, was more than a little prepared to fight Jedi, and had planted explosives in the support structures of all three floors of the central wing of the estate. All four were suddenly plummeting dozens of meters down amidst the debris of the duracrete and marble electrical structure as it disintegrated. This was the final nail in Dooku's pyre, he reached out to the Force to save himself, Obi-Wan and Anakin doing the same, but also reaching out to save Mesagog, thereby showing more skill than any untrained or half trained Force-touched being had any right to have. As their progress slowed and the debris rushed past them, Dooku could see the wide gold eyes of shock, his entire cranium colored with emotion, as they finally landed amidst the rubble panting.

"Jedi..." the reptilian gasped. "You really are Jedi..."

"And that thrice-damned Senator will pay dearly for sharing that one precious secret," Dooku promised, his eyes dark and the Force gathering around him in a thick cloud. Nine months of work gone in an instant. Here," he muttered, tossing his diamond sword to Mesagog. "You need a weapon more civilized than a blaster."

Reaching into his layers he pulled out his lightsaber, his most prized procession that never left his reach - even if he didn't use it when under cover. The blue light ignited. "Take care of Lord Mesagog," he ordered his boys, before touching the Force and leaping up the three floors to a few paltry support beams of the now destroyed ballroom.

Goldar was gone of course, but Dooku was not going to let that little detail stop him.

He was past all control now.

He was angry.

No, he was furious.

His cover had been blown, the mission was now defunct, Qui-Gon was no longer visiting him in dreams, and his grandsons were leaving him.

There was nothing more to say, and he powered his way to the servant's door and slashed it open with his 'saber. Anger rolled off him, making all the chandeliers above him shake and the windows rattle as he marched down a grandiose hallway, following the pulse of the Living Force. Someone had to pay for his misery, and Goldar had made himself such a beautiful target.

It was now, of course, that the security Goldar had been holding off was called, and the halls flooded with armed personnel ready to handle the intruders.

A joke, really, Dooku reached out and with a sweep of a hand they all careened off to one side, through the windows and down three stories to their deaths. Everything was rattling, still, almost pounding in his ears to match the pulse of his anger as he pushed his way through the crowds of security. Some tried to fire their blasters, and while Form II was weak against multiple opponents and multiple blaster, Dooku did not let such a minor inconvenience stop him charging his way through the swath, going from one end to the other in less than four minutes with nary a scratch while everyone behind him sported some kind of injury or missing limb. From the central wing he made his way to the far west wing, avoiding ray shields and deflecting automated blaster bolts with his lightsaber and destroying anything or anyone that got in his path.

At last he came to a hallway of private quarters, and he burst into one of them with a pulse of the Force.

Goldar was there, his reptilian skin so pale it was almost translucent; Dooku could see the blue veins of blood vessels. In his grip was another reptilian, her eyes slightly larger, her coloring browner, and her ridges slightly smaller. Elsa, Mesagog's daughter.

"You are a Jedi," Goldar said, his voice cracked and panicked. "You won't harm an innocent."

"Innocent? ...Innocent?" Dooku raged, the room shaking with his shout. "You think you are so innocent? You who disavow the very duty of the Senate and then hold me to the duty of a Jedi? You can't have it both ways, senator!"

"I will kill her! I swear I will!"

"I lost my Padawan! To hypocrites like you! Do you really think I will spare you if you threaten a child who has done nothing other than be loved by her father?"

"She is cursed by the Force! She is an abomination! Just look as what you've done! What she's capable of doing!"

"Because of evil like you!" Dooku roared, taking a menacing step forward. "You, who say one thing and do another, you who hold your own status above your duty to the people, you who accept and flourish in corruption, you who measure everything by monetary gain! It is people like you who created the Sith! The Sith created the Jedi, to forbid us attachment, to subject us to betrayal, to sacrifice everything for a higher duty. I have sacrificed everything for a higher duty: my childhood, my friends, my Padawans, and now you, you, who have created this towering rage have the audacity to blame the Force?"

Dooku ripped the blaster away from Goldar with the Force, and the smaller Elsa took her cue and broke away, darting forward and behind Dooku, her gold eyes meeting the Jedi Master's and for a moment Dooku saw Qui-Gon, and it only made him hurt even worse.

"I lost my Padawan," he growled, lifting Goldar up into the air with a gesture of his hand. The panicked reptilian's taloned feet were swinging in the air, impotent. "Saving my friend's daughter was the least I could do. And now there's only you.

"I will make you suffer."

"Granpa, wait!"

Dooku turned, furious at the interruption, to see Obi-Wan and Anakin in the room, Elsa behind in the hall being tightly embraced by her father. Anakin was positively white, a hand clutching his temple as he stared in wide-eyed shock at Dooku. "Granpa... it hurts..." he muttered. And from the closed off face of Obi-Wan he saw the startling picture of a Zabrak, the Zabrak, and a soft "not again..."

Their shock, their fear, broke through Dooku's cloud of anger and hatred, and with it gone, so went the energy, and he lowered the panicked reptilian to the ground.

He was so tired, suddenly, and he let out a trembling breath. He swayed slightly, before falling to his knees, and his grandsons were by his side in an instant, both hugging him, their soft pulses in the Force brushing against him.

For time indeterminate, they held each other, until slowly, he became aware of another touch, soft talons, and he looked up to see the daughter, Elsa, kneeling beside the three and touching his shoulder. Her eyes were a darker gold than her fathers, but the shape of her ocular ridge was exactly the same. "Your anger is terrifying," she said softly, slowly. Dooku looked away, ashamed of what had happened to him.

"... But your love is overpowering. It is just like my father's."

And Dooku looked up to see her smiling, Mesagog standing behind her and doing the same.

And behind him, a pale wisp of an outline of a man he missed more than anyone. Smiling.

Local news reported the events as a terrorist attack on the Senatorial estate by extreme isolationists who wanted to secede from the Republic. Senator Goldar was inconsolable, and had stepped down from his position, citing health reasons. Everyone in Dooku's and Mesagog's inner circle knew it was a lie, but none - not even Councilor Bridge - knew what really happened at the estate, and Mesagog and Dooku both agreed that was for the best.

Galactic news, of course, didn't even mention it.

Mesagog's daughter stayed with Dooku at his estate for several days in hiding, where he and his grandsons helped teach her some rudimentary mediation and connection to the Force. She was a skilled empath; her intuition suggested she was deeply touched by the Unifying Force, making Obi-Wan her best tutor. Mesagog watched in mute fascination when he visited, and a week later he finally confessed.

"It would appear I cannot completely erase a lifetime of training to hate silent communication. I watch what you do. I am impressed. But I am also nervous, and I am ashamed that I feel that."

Dooku squirmed slightly, and admitted, "I have not helped in that regard. My behavior that day was abhorrent and utterly unbecoming of a Jedi." At least, it was abhorrent to what the Jedi stood for; Dooku was less and less convinced today's Jedi met those standards.

"Please, carry no shame," Elsa said, her eyes closed in meditation with Obi-Wan. "Strong emotion is good for we who are touched. Righteous anger cannot be construed as wrong by your culture, surely."

"Anger springs from fear, and births hatred and suffering," Obi-Wan said, eyes also closed, "but denying anger is counterproductive. We are trained to let go of it."

"Let go of emotions? The very things that grants us strength?" Elsa's honey-gold eyes opened. "How very strange."

"Not all emotions," Anakin said. "Just the bad ones, the ones that make the Sith." He looked up to Dooku for an extended moment before adding, "And seeing what Granpa did out of anger, I can kinda understand why."

Mesagog smiled, softly. "Looking at it that way, it means your tantrum makes you fallible. I can work with that." His three-talon hand touched Dooku's shoulder, nodding in affirmation. "I regret the deception you came under, but only a true friend would help me find my daughter. I thank you. If you wish, tell me the nature of your espionage here and I will do all I can to help you."

Dooku was touched, and could not remember when he had a friend this close that didn't betray him. He was instinctively weary, but he pushed his way through the hesitation and smiled sincerely. "I am here for the HCC," he said. "I am to make contact with them and learn what their intentions are. Nothing more, nothing less. Transparency, or the lack thereof in their case, is worrying. We all seem to agree that they are unhappy with the Republic, as you and I both are, but no one knows how or if they plan to do anything about it."

"And if you learn they do plan something against the Republic?"

Dooku shrugged. "I assume negotiations will be opened. That is a Jedi's strength. I am under cover simply because if my connection to the Jedi and by extension the Republic is discovered, they may falsify their goals and intentions."

Mesagog gauged Dooku for a long moment before nodding. "Rita should be our target. "She recruited me to the HCC advocate council, and I believe she is part of their ruling board of directors; she's a human that lives on the lunar colony of Terak Nor."

The next link up the chain. His work had miraculously not been undone. "Excellent. I cannot thank you enough," he said, shaking Mesagog's hand vigorously. "I am deeply indebted to you. Here," he added, dropping the datachips he had made. "Some beginner lessons in how to touch and use the Force, as well as one intermediate lesson. I dare not give more. It would be best if her gifts were controlled, not grown."

"I heartily agree."

"I know it is difficult, but the Temple on Coruscant will always be open to you if you need help. Give them my name."

"I will."

Two days later, they discretely left Zeltrax. Dooku stared out the viewport, watching the planet shrink and thinking of the... of the friend he had left there. He had never made a friend when under cover. It... it made him smile, and he turned away and sat with his two grandsons.

"You know, for someone who scorned me for my penchant for trouble of a theatrical nature, you certainly beat me in terms of dramatic flair."

Dooku was in the grey room again, lighter than his last visit, returned to that perfect middle shade. Qui-Gon was leaning back in his chair, one leg hooked up and leaning against the table, foot tapping to some irregular beat. The Jedi Master smiled warmly, feeling his heart relax, and said, "I've missed you."

"And at last," Qui-Gon said with some fanfare, "He admits to what he sees! A miracle, ladies and gentlemen."

Dooku scoffed. "I have yet to be convinced that this is 'real,' but I will admit to enjoying seeing you, hallucination, dream or otherwise."

Qui-Gon shrugged. "At this point, I'll take what I can get. But that was always the case with you, Master; and I must admit I loved wheedling anything I could out of you. It made for a great game."

"Is that what we're calling your apprenticeship now? A game?"

"Only the best."

"I refrain from comment."

"Ha! You would."

A comfortable silence settled over them, Dooku looking at his former Padawan, soaking up every detail, eyeing every patch and scratch in his robes, the laugh lines at the corner of his eyes, the scraggly excuse of a beard he had. He couldn't be happier.

"Do you feel better now?"

Dooku blinked. "What?"

"After your tantrum. Do you feel better now? Less pressed, more in control, less overwhelmed?"

"... Yes."

Qui-Gon smiled, hooking his foot off the table and leaning forward. "I told you that you weren't releasing your emotions. Imagine my surprise when you finally got around to it and decided to throw a tantrum instead of meditating on it. I did mention you have a flare for the dramatic, didn't I?"

To his everlasting embarrassment, Dooku flushed.

"Did you know that that's why the room is lighter?"

Dooku blinked again, looking around to that perfect middle shade of grey that encompassed them. "Then... this is..."

"A reflection of your mind? Yes."

"So... I am...?"

"Not as bad off as you were earlier," Qui-Gon said, gently. He reached forward and knocked slightly on the table, making Dooku's eyes snap to him. Splaying his elbows onto the table Qui-Gon rested his head on his hands, looking up at his master with whimsy. "The Force isn't black and white, you know. Oh, there is a Light and Dark side, of course, but those are, as you can imagine, opposite ends of the spectrum. The funny thing about light and dark, white and black, and especially people, is that there are an infinite number of shades in between. Not even Yoda is completely light, but you can imagine that his shade of grey is a fair bit paler than this."

"What... what does this mean?"

Qui-Gon smirked and sat up again, drumming his fingers on the table. "It means even the Darkest Sith you can imagine isn't completely Dark, and that means that any and all Sith can be brought to a far lighter side of the Force. That little fact you should already know, given the tantrum you pulled earlier."

"Then... I was truly...?"

"Dark? Sith? That, too, is a matter of point of view." Qui-Gon shrugged. "I'm biased, I admit, but I wouldn't quite have called you a Sith. For all your fanciful uses of the Force, you were a man who wanted to get to know his grandchildren. What you didn't realize is that you have much more time than you thought, because there is always after the mission to get to know them." Then he smirked. "Just don't wait too long. They may have their entire lives in front of them, but you are decidedly running short on decades, 'old man.' "

Dooku reached out slowly, taking Qui-Gon's hand in his own. It felt warm. "I made so many mistakes with you... and I never told you how I really felt... never contacted you."

Qui-Gon smiled, softly, serenely, and cupped Dooku's hand in his own. "But you can tell me now, Master. You can tell me now."

"Qui-Gon, you were as a son to me. I loved you..."

"And you were an annoyingly superior big brother to me, and I loved you all the same."

Dooku woke on the transport to Coruscant with a smile on his lips.

End

Author's Notes: And voila, the finale. Hehehe, we liked the idea of Dooku in a tantrum. It also wraps up everything neatly. While Anakin, over the years and in the Clone Wars in particular, will see Sith and Dark Jedi, he doesn't see how one gets there. He sees them already on the Darkside. So this is an important moment for little Ani in seeing how unreleased feelings can backfire horribly. And, when Dooku's done with undercover, he can talk about how things festered till it exploded so horribly. This, with Anakin now working on releasing some of the trauma of how he grew up, he can have a Lighter future. Of course, Sidious still has hooks in him, but Dooku is now weary of the Chancellor, so he no longer is certain to become an apprentice. And, of course, Obi-Wan has gotten some much needed mentoring and reassurance that he's doing just fine. It's been a fun little fic. It still feels like it lacks the bright spark of Simple Steps and even the spark of All But Name, but it is a solid fic. It was definitely fun to explore Dooku's character more thoroughly and we hope we've opened him up for others to really study and look at him.