The Gift
Author: LVB
Summary: AU. Dark. She's not a person, she's a possession. Mara/Other undertones. LM.
Warnings: Dark stuff here. We have character death, sexual tones and the implications of an unconventional pairing. Don't say I didn't warn you.
Disclaimer: George owns all; I'm just playing with his toys. And don't forget the wonderful Zahn.
He sat in the shadows. He had heard his Master call for him. So now he sat, simply waiting, like the loyal servant he was. He grew impatient; patience was no longer his virtue. He was a man of action and did not appreciate the act of waiting.
"Patience, my apprentice," spoke his Master as he walked into the room.
"I apologise, my Master," he replied mechanically, taking his bowed stance before Palpatine. "What is thy bidding, my Master?" he asked, repeating the line he had uttered too many times to count since his ascension to the Sith.
Palpatine took his place on his throne. "It is not my bidding. Tonight belongs to you, my apprentice,"
He was confused. Picking up on his thoughts, the Emperor laughed. As if on cue, the door to the side opened. He immediately turned in the direction of the miniscule, yet still prominent Force disruption.
The woman walked in slowly, her head bowed. He tried to identify her, but found no record of her. Puzzled, he watched, intrigued as she made her way to the raised platform Palpatine's throne was seated on. She bowed before him and removed the silk veil that covered her face. She turned around and locked her gaze onto his.
For a moment he was mesmerised. Her jade eyes struck him as he traced the contours of her body, from the top of her fiery red hair to the way her feet delicately sat in her shoes. She was beautiful.
"May I present to you, Mara Jade. She is my Hand," he cackled. She moved towards him and he stood still, entranced. She was taking his breath away. She stopped right in front of him.
"Tonight she is yours, my apprentice. She is my gift to you to honour this anniversary- to honour the life you took to make you mine."
She curtsied briefly and as she lowered, he caught a glimpse of a vibroblade attached firmly to her thigh. When she looked up at him again, he caught the look of wildfire in her eyes. She was dangerous. He liked it. He wanted her.
"We will go directly to my quarters, Hand," he directed her. He caught her fleeting anger as a ripple through the Force and then felt nothing. Force-sensitive and trained- perfect.
"As you wish, My Lord," she said and led the way out of the door. He went to follow her.
"My apprentice," Palpatine called. "Do with her as you will. You will do well to remember she is not a person, she is a possession. She is my possession. Do not anger me by breaking my Hand. Bend her as you will, but if she cannot function, you both will be terminated. Is that clear?"
He turned to face the Emperor. He took in his calm stance. And he couldn't help but smirk evilly. "As you wish, Master." His cape billowed behind him as he went to follow his night's conquest.
--
Palpatine had ordered that his personal quarters be altered to accommodate the evening. He entered and immediately noticed the extra additions. There were extra guards posted outside his quarters. The surveillance cameras that adorned his walls were all switched off. His two droids were deactivated. Taking his cloak off, he placed it neatly on the chair, a contrast from the way he usually threw it, straight to the floor.
Black silk had been strewn across his bed posts but he could still see her through them. She was sitting on his bed, still barely clothed. She wore black silk. But beneath all her beauty he knew the darkness had captivated her. Her eyes were full of life but also full of the darkness.
He sharply drew back the makeshift curtains and watched her as she seductively crawled towards him. Her milky skin taunted him. She knelt on the side of the bed and drew him into a kiss. Their tongues clashed as they kissed passionately. He managed to quickly open his eyes and he caught sight of her face. His eyes moved down and he caught sight of the blade still attached to her thigh. Startled, he pulled away, as if he had been touched by flame.
Her green eyes bore into his. "What's the matter?" she purred. He forcefully pushed her back onto the bed and viciously tore the blade away from her leg. His eyes turned ice blue as he simply stared at her, frozen. Realising he had discovered her hidden little secret, she smiled seductively at him.
"I'm not the Emperor's Hand because I'm a fool, My Lord," she spoke, moving off the bed. She slipped on the black nightgown that was caste on the bed when she had arrived. He stood still, stunned.
"You seem surprised," she commented as she walked across the room to the leather couch. Grabbing a wine glass and a bottle of Alderaanian wine, she poured herself a glass and drank the entire thing. Putting it down, she licked her lips and looked at him again. Stars, she had never noticed him before her Master had instructed her of her mission tonight.
He had taught her of him, but until tonight he had never met her face to face. He still watched her, his eyes betraying the conflict within. Had his Master sent her to kill him? It wasn't possible. He would crush her throat before she could even go for her flimsy weapon to strike him. She was a pawn, another object of the Emperor.
"You're right," she stated. His thoughts wandered back to Mara Jade. He she picked up on his thoughts?
"And what do you think it is that I am right about, Jade?" he asked, putting his arms behind his back and circling her.
"If he had sent me here to kill you, it would have been his wish for me to die. No, my Lord. Like our Master said, tonight I am yours to enjoy."
Suddenly, he felt an emotion that wasn't hate, anger or lust. Could it actually be pity?
"Do you always do as your Master says? Are you an obedient Hand?" he sneered.
He could sense her anger but she kept it inside. She stretched out on the leather couch. "I serve the Emperor. I am loyal to him. I was raised in the Imperial Court at his side. My service to him is all I've ever known. I'm bound forever," she replied evenly.
"You are ruthless, Mara Jade. You kill at the Emperor's whim. You slaughter, you maim and you enjoy it," he replied, taking kneeling to come face to face with her on the couch.
"I don't enjoy it," she whispered. "But you however, my Lord, are also in his service. You came willingly. You devoted your life to the teachings of the Sith. You love the way the darkness feels when you slaughter and maim and destroy. I bet you loved the way it felt when you killed h…"
"ENOUGH!" he interrupted and slapped her. The sound of skin on skin echoed as her head jerked backwards with the force of his arm. He had struck her with his synthetic arm and he could feel her trying to control her anger. He didn't want to kill her. But he would.
He crept up and forced himself beside her. He dug his hands into her arms, knowing it would leave harsh, angry bruises the following day. He didn't care- she wasn't damaged.
"And how many men has the Emperor given you to now, Jade? Was that part of your job description too? You are a trained assassin, the Emperor's Hand. And yet he often sends you into strange men's bedrooms to either seduce or kill. Tell me, is this the first time he's given you freely, to one of his own, as a gift? Is this the first time he's given you away like the possession you are?" he hissed, the whole time staring into her green eyes. He saw them glaze over, and then harden.
"I will do what must be done," she sneered and pushed him away from her. Spinning around, she managed to draw her second weapon which she had hidden skilfully underneath her scant clothing. It was a lightsaber.
He laughed and casually grabbed her arm and twisted it, enjoying her face scrunched up in pain. "Don't insult me, Jade. You think the Emperor is training you? You will not replace me!"
With all her strength, she summoned the Force. She twisted out of his grip and punched him squarely in the jaw.
"Just like you replaced your father? Tell me, Skywalker. How did it feel when you killed your own father? How did it feel when you took his crimson lightsaber and hung it from your belt, took his cape and knelt in front of your Master as he had done for twenty years before? How did it feel when your Master told you how your father had killed your own mother?"
He felt the darkness inside him. It ran through his veins. How she had managed to stir the shadows within him, he didn't know. He was disorientated in the Force. What had she done to him? Within seconds, he felt soft lips on his own. Her mouth captured his as she pushed him onto the bed. He groaned and pulled himself up on top of her.
His animalistic urges broke out as he tried to claw his way through her clothing. She moved out from underneath him and climbed on top of him. She ran her nails down his chest, drawing blood.
"Let me tell you a story," she began as she traced her path with her bloodied nails. She leant forward so she was whispering in his ear.
"My Master used to send me to your father. I was his gift, he said. But as time went on, he saw something. He began to train me, waiting for the day when he could finally be rid of his Master. You see, Skywalker. That was his gift to me. He wanted me to be free. And when he found you, it all changed. You were to be my gift,"
He closed his eyes as she gently licked the blood off his chest.
"After he killed the Emperor, we were going to be one big happy family. But the one thing he didn't count on was the fact that I wanted him dead…and so did you. And so when you tore the lightsaber through him you did half the work for me,"
With strength he didn't foresee, she held him down and pulled out the first blade she had replaced on her thigh. "I must do what my Master tells me. And the last thing he whispered to me through the Force when I entered here was Kill Luke Skywalker."
Before he could make a sound, he was dead. She manoeuvred herself off his dead body and closed his eyelids. She looked directly at the camera that was subtly planted in the corner of the bedpost.
"Summon the Emperor," she commanded and held up the robotic arm of Luke Skywalker in view. "Tell him I have his gift."
And with one quick move, she removed the blaster from his bedside table and shot the camera.