Chapter Text
Anakin did not dislike when he and his master were sent into the underbelly of the planet to clean up trouble. If anything, it was familiar to him. The seedy bars and rough hangouts of criminals reminded him of Tatooine. As much as he hated that dust ball, nostalgia tugged at him all the same.
Their goal was to locate a Trandoshian by the name of Voll, a suspect in a smuggling case. Even if they did not find him, word of their poking around would spread in the underground, and the authorities had ears. They were there to kick the hornet’s nest.
The first two dives yielded nothing but dirty looks that raised Anakin’s ire, making him wish he had a weapon to flash at them. He did his best to remain calm as they entered the third, fidgeting with his padawan braid to relieve some energy. He and Obi Wan scanned the faces in the place before slowly approaching the bar.
“What can I get you?” The bartender asked. He glanced down at Anakin, “I can’t serve him.”
Anakin was tempted to fire back a smart remark. Despite being well under the legal drinking age, he was no stranger to bars. Obi Wan gave an amused chuckled before proceeding.
“Luckily, we aren’t here for drinks.” Obi Wan held up his data pad with a photo of their suspect, “We’re looking for this man. Have you seen him?”
The bartender squinted at the picture and mouthed the name to himself under his breath, “Maybe. I might remember better if you told me what you want with him.”
“What we want with him is nothing you need to concern yourself with.” Obi Wan smiled and placed his saber on top of the bar, “Now, have you seen him about?”
Anakin smirked as the bartender’s face fell. Any thoughts of asking them for a bribe quickly left his mind.
“It’s still a maybe. I don’t know everyone around here. But you’re welcome to look around…Just, uh, keep that under your hat if you can,” he motioned toward his light saber with the glass he began wiping down.
“Naturally. Thank you for your help.”
The Jedi put their backs to the bar and looked the customers over, taking stock of who would be the least trouble to talk to. The bathroom door slid open after a moment and a familiar Trandoshian stepped out. His posture was relaxed as he looked about the room, likely looking for whoever he came there with. Voll did a double take when he realized they were there, and Anakin saw tension fill the man’s body. His scaly skin only further pronounced the deep scowl growing on his face. Anakin took a step toward, already preparing for a chase.
They locked eyes with the man in question, and their suspect bolted for the door. Obi Wan sighed with a shake of his head before following, Anakin already hot on his heels. The first few steps of every chase begin with a bit of panicked chaos, stumbling feet, and shoving past obstacles. Voll gave no heed as they shouted at him to stop. He pushed his way through the crowd of people in the street while the Jedi did their best to weave around them. They supposed that Voll was hoping he could lose them in the crowd. People got the message quickly though and attempted to move out of their way. Anakin ducked and dodged as blocks went by in a blur.
Anakin finally gained on him when they came to a street that was largely empty. He could not ask for a better opening. Anakin used his forward momentum as well as the Force to tackle the man and bring them both to the ground. They tumbled end over end until coming to a stop, drawing the eyes of everyone nearby. They were not a moment too soon, because a group of speeder bikes raced by where they were standing. Anakin watched them pass him by mere inches away for his face. The crowd cheered as they rushed by in a blur of mechanical colors and glinting metal. His eyes and mind struggled to track them on top of processing the situation. He felt the wind ruffle his hair and could practically taste the heat off their engines. His heart beat a little harder that had nothing to do with running.
“Anakin!” Obi Wan shouted in concern for his padawan. He rushed over to them as soon as the speeders cleared the road, “Are you alright? Are you hurt?”
He sucked in several deep breathes before answering, “I’m, I’m okay. They missed us. What, what was that?”
One of the spectators nearby overheard them and answered, “A speeder bike race, what else?”
Voll chose that moment to struggle under Anakin’s grip, now that he realized they were not about to be flattened, “Ugh, help!”
Obi Wan hauled the pair to their feet and held Voll in place with a touch of the Force, letting him hover an inch above the ground,
“Let me go! I haven’t done nothing!” He trashed but the grip was enough that he could get away.
“Hello, Mr. Voll. I am master Obi Wan Kenobi, and you’ve met my padawan Anakin. We have a few questions for you.”
“Let me go!”
“Ah, why don’t we go some place with a bit more privacy?” Obi Wan let their suspect’s feet touch the ground but kept an iron grip on his arm. They lead him around the corner to an empty alley. Not taking any chances, Obi Wan bound Voll with binders and heaved him onto a crate. Anakin gave no comment if he thought his master was being tougher than necessary.
“Now, it’s my understanding that you know something about spice being smuggled into the senate. Would you care to confirm that?”
“I don’t know anything! You’ve got the wrong guy,” he grumbled.
“It’s hard to believe that you are innocent if you ran at the sight of us. Perhaps you have a guilty conscious?”
“Kriff off!”
“I see we are throwing civility out the window quickly. Surely we can come to some kind of understanding.”
Anakin knew he should be paying better attention to his master’s interrogation, but the race pushed itself to the front of his mind. The sounds of the speeders rushing by echoed in his head and took his mind back to another important race. That had been the last time he had thought about being in such a competition. His studies and duties as a Jedi kept him busy but he spent as much time in the temple’s hangar as he could. Machinery, programming, and ships continued to serve as his passion, and the race sparked his curiosity. He had an idea.
Anakin drew himself back into the present, Obi Wan and the Trandoshian were getting nowhere with their back and forth of questions and denial. Anakin gave their Force bond a tug to get his master’s attention. Obi Wan turned to him, unstartled, fixing him with a questioning look. Anakin conveyed that he had an idea and pointed at their suspect with his eyes. Obi Wan gave the slightest of nods so as not to tip his hand. Anakin took a half step forward.
The Trandoshian let out a cruel chuckle, sounding all the harsher with his reptilian voice, “What? Is the baby Jedi suppose to scare me into talking?”
“What can you tell us about that speeder race we saw?”
The Trandoshian furrowed his brow, “What? What race?”
“The one that almost ran us over.” Anakin supplied with a false cheeriness.
He rolled his eyes, “I don’t know, and I don’t care about that stupid race.”
Anakin leaned forward a hair, he could tell this sleemo was feigning ignorance but not annoyance, “Well, I care, and I want to know about it.”
“That doesn’t…What does that have to do with what we’re talking about?”
“Who says it doesn’t?” Anakin pressed.
“Me!” He spat, “Because that race has nothing to do with our route!”
“Route?” Obi Wan interjected, “You have a route you follow?”
The Trandoshian sucked in a sharp breath, “I-I didn’t say that.”
“I think you did, and I’m sure the police would love to hear more about it.”
Obi Wan pulled Voll to his feet and marched him to the nearest station. His slip up wasn’t much to go on, but it was enough to get them started. After dropping him off and giving their statement, the pair made their way back to the temple. They found seats on the busy subway, and Anakin slumped into his, more than a little drained. He let his head rest against Obi Wan’s shoulder, only able to reach it while seated.
“Good work, Anakin.” Obi Wan smiled with a hand on the boy’s shoulder, “How did you know talking about that race would get him talking?”
“I didn’t,” Anakin replied with a pleased grin and perking up at the praise, “I was just curious about the race. I could tell he was annoyed, so I thought that if I brought it up in a roundabout way, he’d get frustrated and let something slip.”
“Clever. Perhaps that is a tactic we should employ more often.”
“Thank you, master. Honestly, I expected things to go much worse.”
“Oh? How so?”
Anakin opened his mouth to explain but stopped, unsure of how to explain how the encounter made him feel. He tugged at his braid, a habit he had yet to break in the handful of years since he join the order. Instead, he conjured an image of the first bar fight he had seen as a child. It had been all shouting, flying fists and chair, and angry words that sent spikes of fear through him. He sent this across the Force bond and hoped it was enough.
Obi Wan’s eyebrows knitted together in understanding, “I would not let anything like that happen to you. You trust me to look out for you, don’t you?”
“Of course, master.” Anakin smiled, leaning into the warm touch and reassurance.
Obi Wan shifted so that his arm draped across the boy’s shoulders, “Besides, you are not that same little boy anymore. You have grown up a lot in a short time.” Anakin’s grin grew wider, a warm feeling settling in his chest, “Although, you do still have some growing to do,” Obi Wan teased.
“Are you calling me short?” Anakin asked in mock indigence.
“Which one of us has to stand on a chair to reach the top shelf?”
“I’ll grow! I’ll probably end up taller than you out of pure spite!” Anakin poked him hard in the side for good measure.
Obi Wan rubbed at the spot and chuckled dryly, “Oh, I have no doubts about that.”
They returned back to the temple and their shared apartment without further incident. After eating and showering the grim of the under city off, Anakin bid Obi Wan good night. But he did not yet sleep. His mind was ablaze with the prospect of the race today, in spite of the fact it had nearly killed him. He had given little thoughts to speeder racing since leaving Tatooine outside of the mechanics of it. Back then, he told himself that he raced out of necessity, for money, for his mother. But that was only half true. It was dangerous, but it was a thrill. A thrill that sent adrenaline singing in his veins. He had forgotten precisely what that thrill felt like.
Anakin knew that he shouldn’t risk it. He also knew that his master wouldn’t approve for several reasons, not the least of which was that it was likely illegal. Maybe there was a way around that. Anakin Skywalker, padawan learner, couldn’t enter such a race. But maybe someone else could?