Active Headcanons: Autistic Force sensitives
Trigger Warnings: Torture, abuse, mentions of blood
Luke sat, huddled, in the corner of his little cell. He'd wrapped himself as tightly as he could in the blankets they'd left him, and the jacket he had worn when he was captured, but the reality of his situation was still all too clear.
The rebellion wasn't like his father had said.
There was no safety to be found here.
He ached from interrogation. He had experienced much, much worse, of course, at the hands of the Emperor, but he had expected safety. After all, wasn't that what the Alliance fought for? Safety?
He knew they probably thought him an enemy, that he had been used as an Imperial figurehead…. But when they had uncovered his scars, and whispered to each other, he'd thought they understood.
He let out a shaky sigh, resting his head back against the wall. He wanted his father. Even though he'd been powerless to stop Palpatine when he came after Luke, Vader was a comforting presence. After Palpatine had had his fun, beating Luke bloody, and telling him terrible things, Vader would always cradle him in his arms, and reassure him.
The galaxy had left them with nothing but each other, and both of them knew it. Each of them suffered punishment at their master's hands, each was threatened with the other's pain. Through it all, they knew they could count on each other.
But now, they were separated, as they sometimes were when their master grew angry with them…
At least it's not Palpatine, Luke told himself. In the twenty years he'd been alive, he'd only truly known two people. His father. And his master. And all the comfort Vader had been able to provide could never fully repair Palpatine's cruelty.
Here, he was alone, and was being interrogated, but at least it wasn't Palpatine. At least they weren't threatening his father, any more than they usually did.
That didn't stop him from being miserable, though.
He pulled at his jacket again, hating this reality.
Vader had always told him about the Alliance, and how they fought back against him, every day, trying to free the galaxy from Palpatine. And from a very young age, Luke's answer had been to look up at him, and ask, "Even me?"
And Vader would nod, and reassure him, and then dress him for another public appearance.
Luke squeezed his eyes shut, digging his hands into his hair, and pulling at it.
Of course they wouldn't want him roaming around. He was the Imperial Prince, and didn't he always announce the horrible things his master did with a smile? Hadn't he been forced to kill dissenters, as if it was something he'd wanted?
Remembering the feeling of the Emperor steadying his hand as he pulled the trigger, and a revolutionary fell dead, Luke began to cry.
Maybe he deserved this. Were they wrong to hate him for killing one of them? Even though he hadn't had a choice, he had… sort of. If he had refused, and stood up to Palpatine for even a second, maybe the galaxy would've seen…
Even if Palpatine would have tortured his father.
Luke gagged, choking on his tears at the memory of his father's voice, breaking and agonized at their master's treatment. He would've hated himself for letting him be hurt like that… But didn't he hate himself now, anyway?
"No," Luke whispered to his knees, "He'd have covered it up anyway! He'd have made me do it!"
Suddenly, he found a hand on his shoulder, and cried out, slapping it away, and clumsily trying to scramble back, still tied in his blankets.
When his eyes focused, though, he saw not the cruel eyes of the Emperor, but instead a kind stranger. Or… almost stranger.
"S-senator Organa?" he asked, his voice trembling.
Once, years ago, when he'd still been just a small child, he had accidentally met his daughter. His master had allowed him some freedom, back then, and he had dared to approach the young girl. He'd never met another child before, and he had been shy and uncertain. But she hadn't seemed to mind, and had invited him back to her father's disk in the Senate, with her.
For that one, beautiful day, he had been a kid. Her mother had sat at the back with the advisors, and when she'd seen Luke, she'd taken him into her arms, letting him rest beside her. When his stomach growled, Leia had shared her snacks with him.
By the end of the day, Luke had been eager to see them again the next day.
But his master had put an end to that.
He'd been beaten that night, and his father too, for good measure. The next day, Palpatine had fed him a mild poison that made speech temporarily impossible, and kept him chained to his side, with an invisible leash.
Ashamed, Luke had avoided the Organa's eyes, and stood at his master's side in silence, his head bowed in submission.
"Yes," the senator answered.
Shaking himself out of his reverie, Luke looked up at him, struggling to find the right words before murmuring, "I'm sorry…"
"I suspect there is more to this situation than meets the eye, isn't there?" Bail said, and a light smile played at his lips.
Immediately, Luke felt some of the tension drain from him, remembering that perfect day. This man was from a moment when he had been safe…
"Yes," Luke said, sitting up, and leaning towards the senator. Yes, everything was wrong about what they'd seen of him! He wanted Organa to understand, and recognize him as the child he'd been!
"They told me you have some scars," Bail said.
Luke felt his lip tremble, and some of his eagerness vanished. He knew Bail would be kind to him, but he hated that he had those… "Yes," he admitted.
Bail knelt down, offering Luke his hand. "May I see?"
Luke's throat closed, and he felt a tremor run through him, but he squeezed his eyes shut, and nodded. With shaking hands, he began extracting himself from the blankets, finally unbuttoning his shirt to allow the rebel to see.
"Alright," Bail said calmly, gently taking one of Luke's hands, as he slowly turned him, brushing his scars with the other hand.
Panting in spite of himself as Bail's hand neared a particularly deep wound, Luke squeezed his hand tightly, desperate for the comfort. Bail's human hand was nothing on his father's mechanical one, but it was still unusually steady for a person.
Luke winced as Bail touched his wound, but he quickly moved on, finally withdrawing.
"Thank you, Luke. You did very well."
Luke struggled to open his eyes, and look up again. The senator's dark, gentle eyes made it worth it, somehow, though, and Luke found himself trying to lean into Bail's arms. Stop it, he told himself, trying to lean back again, You're not a little kid anymore, you're a monster, just like Master!
But then, he was in Bail's arms, as the senator leaned towards him, instead.
Drawing in a ragged breath, he pressed himself against the senator. "I missed you!" he sobbed, clinging to his cloak, "I wanted to come back, so, so badly!"
"What happened, the day after we met?" Bail asked, withdrawing slightly. His hands stayed on Luke's shoulders though, and Luke was able to maintain eye contact.
"M-master told m-me I wasn't allowed to speak to you again!" Luke said, reaching out to grasp Bail's cloak again as his eye contact broke. "He beat me, a…and my father…" Luke looked up again, desperate for Bail's compassion, "He poisoned me."
"Leia wondered why you didn't speak to us again," Bail said, gently caressing Luke's cheek.
"She missed me?" Luke asked weakly.
"She did," Bail promised.
"I thought you hated me," Luke whispered, leaning back into the senator's arms. "Master's made me do terrible things…"
Bail merely shook his head, and Luke trembled anew at the gentleness.
"You would be welcome with my family," Bail said at last.
"You'd trust me?" Luke asked, freezing. Even if Bail was really this compassionate, how could he be so trusting!
"Leia will know if you mean to hurt us, and she was only concerned about your wellbeing. She would like to see you home."
"I want to come!" Luke burst out, clinging to Bail to ground him, "I wanna come home, I've never been safe before, I don't wanna have to go back to Master…"
He was rambling, he knew. Lying in Bail's arms, he found himself spilling all his secrets to the kind senator. But they weren't really his secrets, after all… They were Palpatine's. And if he was going to be safe, he wanted to share them all. He wanted to bring down the Sith. He wanted his father to be safe, too.