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Title: After Bespin
Summary: After Bespin, Darth Vader feels empty at his son's rejection and questions his role in Palpatine's Empire. Eventually Luke Vader. Rated T for mild drug abuse, suicidal thoughts.
Piett watched his commanding officer as carefully as he dared during the introductions, without being too obvious - or so he hoped. The Empire conducting peaceful negotiations with a neutral system, in the presence of delegates from the Rebel Alliance, was not normal procedure. Praxin had valuable resources, and wanted certain assurances from the Empire about being permitted an unusual amount of autonomy in their business dealings. Standard procedure would have involved a large deployment of storm-troopers to convince them to change their minds and cooperate without further discussion. Instead, Lord Vader had agreed to their terms for a conference, and allowed the presence of Rebels as 'advisors'. So far as Piett knew, there were no unusual levels of military planning for the meeting, nothing that would suggest there was a trap being set. But Lord Vader was clearly on edge as the procession of Rebel advisors entered the room one by one and were each formally introduced to the Imperial party. The reason for the tension became clear as a familiar figure entered the room towards the end of the group. Of course, thought Piett. The rebels had included their young hero in the group. The introduction between Skywalker and Lord Vader was obviously a cause of nervousness both for the young man himself and for several other rebels who remained tensely in position around him throughout. As soon as the formalities were concluded, they hustled Skywalker away and to the furthest reaches of the room, clearly intending to keep the maximum distance between the two.
As the day wore on, Vader's hold on his temper became increasingly stretched. Not only was his son surrounded at all times by a small group of rebels who shepherded him away at every opportunity, making physical conversation impossible, but the boy himself would not respond to Vader's attempts to communicate through their link. If he did not take steps, they would spend the entire conference as distant as if they were on opposite sides of the galaxy. Finally unable to be sure of controlling himself any longer, he simply stood up from the table in the middle of a discussion and walked out of the room, to confused expressions from all sides. He found his way to an enclosed courtyard garden he had noticed earlier, in the hope that nature might prove to be of at least some use in improving his mood. As he became calmer, he sensed Luke's presence in the Force, looking for him, a note of concern in his thoughts. Vader found himself feeling guilty, a very unfamiliar emotion these days. His son had witnessed him at his weakest and most vulnerable during their last exchanges, and had now seen him behaving in an erratic way. The surprise and confusion in the other Imperials must have been obvious to a Force-sensitive, confirming that Vader's behaviour was a cause for concern amongst those who knew him well.
Vader sent an apology, and a sense of his current location, through the Force. Luke immediately responded with what seemed like eagerness, and within a few minutes he came through the door out into the garden. He had somehow shaken off his bodyguards and was alone. He still seemed more than a little wary though, and Vader suddenly came to a conclusion about how he could assure his son of his good intentions. He reached out gently in the Force to the boy, then dropped his shields almost completely, certainly enough for Luke to read his current mood and intentions without effort, and enough for him to dig deeper if he chose.
The responding touch on his mind was tentative at first, but became a little more confident as there were no unpleasant consequences. He stayed at the surface of Vader's thoughts, out of politeness perhaps, rather than fear. He looked directly into his father's eyes, as if the mask were completely transparent, and smiled, lowering his own shields in reply, and allowing his concern for his father to show openly.
It could only be brief, but it was a start, and perhaps would allow them to get to know each other a little more, if each had at least some measure of trust in the other.
Piett found himself walking through corridors and up and down staircases in company with the smuggler, Solo, who was one of the group who had been guarding Skywalker so jealously earlier in the day. He was muttering under his breath about what he would do to the 'kid' when he found him, and Piett recognised the depth of concern beneath the surface anger, and also the likelihood that both anger and concern would lead him to try to harm Lord Vader if the two were found together. Somehow the boy had gone missing in the confusion that had followed Lord Vader's abrupt departure - an unscheduled 'refreshment break' had been announced, since it was impossible to continue the discussions, and this had led to the various delegates wandering out of the room en masse. By the time the rebels had realised that Skywalker could not be found, several minutes had passed, and there had been no way to guess where either Skywalker or Lord Vader might be. But both Solo and Piett shared the suspicion that it would be a single location rather than two.
The thrum of a light saber was clearly audible through a door. Piett and Solo exchanged a worried glance before crashing through the doorway together, blasters raised, then both stopped short. Luke was standing calmly several metres away from Vader, watching as one solid black-clad arm swished through the air wielding a light saber with a pale blue blade. Vader's own saber was still clipped to his belt in its usual position.
Piett watched in confusion as Vader extinguished the blade and returned it to the young man, levitating it across the space between them. Skywalker had seemed unafraid as Vader handled his weapon. And you don't have to be a trained psychologist to spot the subtext inherent in that situation, Piett thought to himself, before pushing the idea as far from his conscious mind as possible.
Vader nodded respectfully to the young man before saying "Your skills are indeed complete. An excellent weapon, fully worthy of a trained Jedi". The boy nodded in turn, apparently pleased but not over-awed by the praise. Then Vader turned and left the garden, and Piett followed, leaving Skywalker and Solo alone.
Piett hesitated before knocking on the door later that evening, knowing how much Lord Vader disliked being disturbed in his quarters. But the call was from the Emperor's private office, and could not be ignored or delayed. Vader's voice called out "Enter" and he did so, stopping on the threshold in shock as he took in the sight of the young rebel sitting cross-legged on the bed, his boots lying nearby on the floor. Pulling himself back to his normal efficiency, Piett delivered the message and then left promptly.
Luke put his boots back on and left the room the way he had arrived, down the outside of the building to a balcony below, while Vader left more conventionally through the door.
'Father' - the thought was tentative but sincere, and he sent back a sense of warmth and happiness at being so addressed. 'Does Piett know who I am?'
'I... assume so - he certainly knows how important you are to me.'
'Perhaps you'd better make it clear. I... caught the end of a thought as he was leaving. He was worried about what he might have been interrupting. I'd hate for him to get the wrong impression.'
Vader choked back an angry thought about what Piett might have been imagining. But when he considered the matter, he could not recall making any specific reference to his 'son' on the rare occasions he had made any mention of Luke to Piett, and there were no records to show that he had ever been married, let alone become a father. His obsession with finding one specific teenage rebel could easily have been misinterpreted. He resolved to speak more directly to Piett at the first opportunity.
