Author's Note: Most of the dialogue comes from Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon when I noticed some parallels between Anakin/Palpatine and Jen/Jade Fox. Only a few terms and concepts in the script have been changed to match the Star Wars universe. This is an Episode-3-era AU in which Anakin has been living parallel lives as a Jedi and Sith-dabbler.

Crouching Jedi, Hidden Sith

Anakin slipped in through the window of the apartment's living room, tracking rainwater across the lush carpets and easily disabling the security system with a twist of the Force. The summit of 500 Republica hummed with the distant roar of the generators, but otherwise the night was silent.

He padded over to the control panel of the room and brought up the low lights, and was startled to discover that Palpatine was sitting quietly at one end of the long couch, lightsaber gripped gently in both hands, robes wet with the night's tears.

Palpatine smiled faintly when he saw Anakin start and freeze. "You're home late…or should I say early?"

Anakin swallowed back the sudden emotions that were flooding his mind at the sight of his master here. "Why are you still here?" he snapped, falling back on the familiar anger for lack of anything better. "You killed a Jedi. You should leave. You'll bring ruin on us."

Palpatine leaned back against the couch and smirked. "They wouldn't have found me if you hadn't stolen that lightsaber," he motioned to the handle dangling from Anakin's belt. "Like a little child, you thought stealing would be fun? You too are responsible for that death, Anakin."

He suddenly leaned forward, pale eyes fever bright with excitement. "Come with me. You don't want to live your life as a pawn of the Jedi Council, denied your talent. As master and apprentice, we could rule… we will rule."

Anakin recoiled in the Force. "I'll never live as a Sith!"

Palpatine bared his teeth and chuckled darkly. "You're already a Sith."

"That was just…" Anakin shook his head. "How can I leave? Where would I go?"

The Sith master swiftly rose from the couch and drifted closer, stirring Anakin's blood with the darkness that threatened to overtake him. "Wherever we want," Palpatine purred, dragging his slender fingers across the broad chest. "We'll get rid of anyone in our way. Even your former master."

Anakin, who had been leaning into the touch, jerked away as though burned. "Shut up!" he glared at the smaller man and gripped him by the wrists, immobilizing him.

Palpatine barely seemed to notice, his voice falling into a guttural hiss. "It's the Sith lifestyle, Anakin… kill or be killed." He tipped his head up and brushed his lips against the corner of the dark Jedi's mouth. "Exciting, isn't it?"

Anakin groaned and took his mouth roughly. The Force boiled between them, and Anakin nearly gave in then and there. But the issue wouldn't be solved this way. The Council would be coming. He pushed the fugitive politician away, forced away the lust that raged through his body, and snarled, "I owe you nothing!"

The Sith lord's eyes flashed golden with the first obvious signs of anger. "Yes, you do. You are still my apprentice, Lord Vader."

Anakin growled and shoved him back, igniting his blade and bringing the blue glow close to Palpatine's throat. The older human grew still with a foreboding menace, eyes narrowing.

Anakin tried to ignore how utterly delectable he looked in that moment, how vulnerable at the end of his weapon. The Dark Side surged into his mind, suggesting decadent action that he could imagine only too well. He tried to divert the flow of his thoughts and lashed out, "You think you've been teaching me all these years? You couldn't even begin to understand my power."

Palpatine scoffed. "I studied the Force to create you, Anakin. You've only hidden your power from me."

Anakin lowered his blade slightly. Truly, he owed much to the other man, but he didn't want Palpatine knowing it. He wanted to give him no more leverage than he already possessed. Leverage over his body and soul. "You wouldn't have understood, even if I tried to explain. No one can, you know, not even you. I hid my power so as not to hurt you."

Palpatine reached out and pressed his fingers over Anakin's, deactivating the blade and stepping closer. "Yes, you are powerful, my apprentice. If I hadn't seen you fight with Mace Windu, I'd still be ignorant of all you've hidden from me."

Anakin didn't believe him for a minute. Deception and apparent weakness were weapons in Palpatine's armory, just as deadly as brute strength and a lightsaber. He shivered when the Sith Lord's hands went to his belt with practiced ease. "Master," he started, and gasped with the intensity of his pleasure as the slender fingers found their way under his trousers. "…I started learning from you in secret when I was ten. You enchanted me with the world of the Sith lords. But…" he bit back a low groan as Palpatine applied gentle pressure. "But once I realized I could surpass you, I became so frightened. Everything fell apart!"

Everything was still falling apart. He was falling apart in the hands of his master, the sensations fast becoming overwhelming. Palpatine knew his own power over the Chosen One, and he smiled. Anakin grew suddenly angry at the sight, wanting nothing more than to wipe that knowing smile from those thin lips, and he lurched forward.

Perhaps he could truly overpower the other man, or perhaps Palpatine only allowed him to take what he wanted, but as Anakin lowered him to the couch and began tugging at the endless layers of fine robes, Palpatine seemed entirely too content, like the proverbial tusk-cat that had eaten the voorpak.

When Anakin finally drew back for a breath of air, Palpatine passed one pale hand along the dark Jedi's jawline and grinned, "Believe me, I've a lesson or two left to teach you, Anakin."

His body aflame, Anakin found it all too easy to believe him. But as he moved in closer and forced a ragged moan from his master, as Palpatine submitted at last to his questing hands, he imagined that the roles might soon be reversed.