Disclaimer: I don't own these characters or Star Wars.

Plot: One of Darth's former colleagues has been found strangled in his office, and Luke and Leia believe that their father is the murderer. How can they prove to themselves that he's innocent?

Note: To read more about EmpireCorp and RebelCorp, read my other two Star Wars stories, "Dad, Don't Make Us Kill You" and "Han, Don't Make Me Slap You," by Centralia Currie. The links are available on my author profile.


Luke Skywalker took no pleasure in sleeping next to his sister. But the only spare room in Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru's farmhouse contained a single queen-size bed, so whenever the Skywalker twins visited their relatives, they shared a bed.

Not tonight. The space beside Luke was empty. Leia was off visiting her godparents, the Organas, who lived several hours away. Luke's godparents were Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru, which Luke had to remind himself of every time Aunt Beru examined the sizes of his clothing ("Luke, you're getting too skinny, honey") or gave him a second helping of chicken ("You need more meat on your bones, dear") or commented after he sneezed ("I hope you're not coming down with something, Luke. Just in case, let me take your temperature.") His relatives loved him and wanted him to be strong and healthy.

Luke and Leia's father, Darth Vader (whose legal name was actually Anakin Skywalker, but that was a story for another day,) was in the hospital. He had been experiencing some problems breathing, and his doctor said it was because a hole had developed in his breathing tube. Darth breathed through a tube…and was fed through a tube…and wore a black mask over his face…after a giant car accident that had killed his wife when the kids were only four years old.

Luckily, a damaged breathing tube was an easy fix. New breathing tube, spend the night in the hospital just for observation, and go home the next day.

Luke had begged Uncle Owen to drive him to the hospital to visit his father. He was dying to know what his father looked like without the mask. But Uncle Owen hadn't had the time.

The last picture that had been taken before the accident was a snapshot of Anakin twirling Leia's plastic Barbie baton in the front yard. He had had brown hair and had been rather handsome, like some kind of movie star. But Darth had gotten rid of all traces of Anakin Skywalker since the accident; now the only link Luke had to his father's past was a cardboard box in the attic, filled with old pictures.

It had been twelve years since Luke had seen his father's face. One time last autumn, he asked his father if he still had brown hair. Darth replied that he'd gone bald.

Luke hadn't believed him.

Luke tossed and turned in the cozy queen-size bed, thinking of his sister. He reached into her mind to see what she was thinking. Some twins sort of do that, but the Skywalker twins could really do that.

Leia was happy and comfortable. That was all Luke could get.

What're you up to? Luke thought, then sent the thought to his sister.

I'm in my new bed! I have 700-thread-count sheets, whatever they are, and a canopy on top.

Sheesh, Luke thought to her. What are you, some kind of princess?

They think I am, Leia replied coyly. Are you in bed, too?

Yep. The bed is more comfortable without you in it. No offense.

Oh, Luke.

Luke said goodnight to his sister and fell asleep.


Darth Vader was actually quite comfortable in his single room at Palpatine Memorial Hospital—despite the fact that his hospital bracelet and patient chart both read 'Anakin Skywalker.'

He really had to get his name legally changed. The last time anyone had referred to him as 'Anakin' was the time his stepbrother Owen had yelled at him for neglecting his kids, and that had been months ago.

The new respirator was working out just fine. He'd been instructed to take easy breaths and relax. Lying in bed, he thought of his children.

Darth hadn't told them yet, but he could reach into his kids' minds, just as they could with each other. They didn't know that he was able to do it, and if they did, they probably wouldn't be able to reach back to him, but he had the ability all the same.

Darth decided to reach out to the kids now and see how they were doing.

With Luke, all he got was a big empty space. Cobwebs. That meant Luke was asleep. Good kiddo, he thought amusedly. Sleep is good.

Leia projected a sense of comfort and warmth. The darling was probably in her own bed, drifting off to sleep.

Satisfied with the kids, Darth reached for the remote on the nightstand on the bed and flicked the television on. The evening news would be on in a few moments.

The day's top news story was an earthquake, plus a bank robbery in a town about two miles away. Some sports team was losing miserably. A house right in town had been raided and the homeowner arrested for drug possession. Darth thought he recognized the homeowner's last name—Hutt. Wasn't there a kid in Luke and Leia's class with that name?

Finally, the corporate news. "And in the business world today, Earl Jones, the President and CEO of EmpireCorp, has offered a merger deal to buy out RebelCorp, headed by businessman and yoga guru Yoh Da," the anchorwoman announced in a toothy grin.

Darth sat bolt upright in his hospital bed. RebelCorp was the very company he worked for.

"Da has made it known that he not interested in selling RebelCorp, which is only a few months old," the anchorwoman continued. "However, Jones' offer of $60 million to purchase the robotics company has triggered Da to organize a meeting with RebelCorp's Board of Directors to discuss whether or not they are interested in the possibility of a merger."

Darth couldn't bear to listen to the rest of the report; gazing at the television stupidly, he clenched his fist. He had spent the past two months persuading Yoh Da that a merger would be bad for business. "Competition is good!" he had told the CEO time and again. "It makes for a healthier company!" His boss had agreed and had called off any and all future merger deals initiated by RebelCorp.

But now that Bantha fodder of a man, Earl Jones—Darth's former co-worker- was offering $60 million, which was probably at least $10 million more than the company was worth. If Yoh Da took the money and the deal, what would happen to Darth?

Well, Jones and Da would be a fool to get rid of him. Vader had worked in robotics for twenty years, and all of the minions at the office agreed that he'd done an excellent job at whatever he'd been assigned. But how much management would the new company need? Darth might see himself demoted, or pushed further and further away from his dream of becoming a CEO.

To sit around all day, order everyone around, and get paid handsomely for it was the ultimate goal of Darth's.

Darth looked at the television again, opened his fist, and placed his hand in an invisible chokehold.

Someone had to be destroyed for this.


Up Next: The Murder