He had to stay calm. The venom did wear off; that he had woken up in control of his own body each time after being fed on was proof of that. He even had something of a time, given his smart remark to Olin. He would not have been able to speak at all if it had not been wearing off.

What was Sidious hoping to gain from this? It was humiliating, yes, but there was only the two of them here. It was not like anyone else would…see…

The Dark Lord of the Sith had brought a previously unnoticed case floating out from behind his chair. It opened, and recording equipment floated out.

…blast.

"I can feel your horror," Sidious murmured. "It's delicious."

The recording equipment, which Obi-Wan recognised as the expensive type that would be incredibly detailed for a hologram, and were incredibly difficult to fake, floated into position in a casual use of the Force that would have Obi-Wan frowning inwardly had his attention not been on the other thing Sidious had brought out.

It was a simple black robe; similar to the one Sidious was wearing, other than a high collar that would button right up the throat of the person wearing it.

Sidious gave him a glance. "Since you have removed my Apprentice temporarily from the equation, I cannot simple order you to put this on, can I?" he murmured, more to himself than the Jedi. "Very well..."

The robe was lifted up into the air with the Force, billowing towards Obi-Wan like a wraith of the Dark side before it swallowed his vision as it wafted gently down over his head, pinning his arms to his sides. Even knowing that he had no current control over his body's reactions, the feeling of being physically trapped was almost overwhelming for the few moments it took for Sidious to spot the problem and abuse the Force to correct it.

The Force was not meant for menial tasks, and Obi-Wan was, in a corner of his mind, slightly ashamed of that corner of his mind's relief at Sidious abusing it so instead of causing him to come into physical contact with the Sith Master again.

There is no emotion, there is peace.

It was far easier thought than done. But then, anything worth doing tended to be. And so he noted the feeling of tendrils of the Dark side of the Force curling around his limbs and moving them in a way that would not have been possible if he had been able to physically resist, and he released the gut-clenching disgust at the thought of being manhandled by the Dark Side of the Force, slowly, focusing on his breathing, which was not under his control, but was regular and something that was far less horrifying to focus on than anything else at that time. Being manhandled by Vader had been bad enough.

Sidious choose to do up the buttons at the neck manually, and Obi-Wan's skin crawled as the papery, flaky fingers brushed his throat – an effect that the Sith Master was well aware of, and had likely caused on purpose, judging by the slight smirk curling him mouth and revealing rotting teeth. It was, Obi-Wan thought slightly absently in an attempt to distract himself, a minor miracle they had not fallen out yet. Or perhaps not: Sidious must be using the Dark side to keep his body together even as its use caused him more damage, forcing him to become even more dependent on it. It was the nature of the Dark side to do such, as while it could cause beings to live beyond their time and do things that were unnatural, it did not make it pleasant even as it convinced it's user that the price was worth it, until their only way of escaping it was through death because if they ever relinquished their hold on it, who they were would die. Not physically, but who they were in the Dark, their identity, would die.

That was another insight that had gotten him some very strange looks from his fellow Masters when he shared it.

Sidious set the recording cam in place, holding it in the air. He stood in front of it, facing sideways, and then spoke, his voice reflecting none of the malice glittering in his eyes. "Kneel."

Responding to Vader's previous instruction, his body walked across the room and knelt at the feet of the Sith Master, and Obi-Wan wondered if the control extended to preventing him from throwing up. Out of the corner of his eyes, he could see a blinking light that indicated the cam was on, and something that was either a sob or a laugh rose in his throat before sticking there.

He felt his mouth open, unprompted, and then the words reached his ears and he began reciting the Jedi code in his mind to counter them.

"Peace is a lie, there is only passion."

There is no emotion, there is peace.

"Through passion, I gain strength."

There is no ignorance, there is knowledge.

"Through strength, I gain power."

There is no passion, there is serenity.

"Through power, I gain victory."

There is no chaos, there is harmony.

"Through victory, my chains are broken."

There is no death, there is the Force.

"The Force shall free me."

There was silence. Obi-Wan stared at the floor, which was where his eyes were pointed right now, in the utterly subservient position used by Sith disciples when cornered by their master. His heart, wounded so many times, from his Master tossing him aside to his Padawan turning on him and the Jedi, to the suspicions of those he was fighting for the same cause as, added yet another wound to its collection of scars. It hurt. It burned with hurt and fear and anger and hate, hate for this being standing above him, gloating silently about having appeared to have broken the Jedi to his will.

But he hadn't.

The illusion was there. The actions, forced by the vampire venom and the orders given, were there. His heart was wounded – but it was still beating, every throb of pain reminding him that he was still alive, still fighting on the inside. It was still there, and he was still there, even if no one would believe it after seeing this. And while Sidious revelled in the moment, despite its falsity, he steeled himself.

This was going to hurt. Maybe not physically, though there was no guarantee, but it would hurt. And so would the outright rejection of any rebels who saw the holo just made – and they would see it, he knew. That was how Sidious operated.

He heard a click as the recording shut off. Sidious's voice reached his ears. "And so you begin to understand. They will not trust you after this you know." He knew. "There will be nowhere for you to hide, no one to be your ally – unless you join me. Make the fiction a reality."

But just because no one else would believe in him was not a reason to stop fighting. No matter how much it hurt.

"Just something for you to ponder." Once again, tendrils on the Dark side wrapped themselves around his limbs, placing him on his feet. "Resistance is futile; I have seen you by my side in my visions."

There was a click as the cam switched back on. "Kneel."

He detached himself to ponder this. Sidious may well have had a vision, but visions of what kind? Fantasies, perhaps? Regardless, even if what Sidious referred to was a prophetic vision, he had seen first-hand how hollow prophecies could be, how ever-changing the future was. If he gave in to Sidious's "visions" he would be making them come true. And he would not give in.

"Peace is a lie, there is only passion. Through passion, I gain strength. Through strength, I gain power. Through power, I gain victory. Through victory, my chains are broken. The Force shall free me."

Outer chains were nothing compared to chains of the mind. Victory for victory's sake was meaningless and hollow. Power and strength – what kind was it supposed to mean? Their meaning depended on how you used them, and what type of power or strength you meant. And there was passion, just not for a Jedi, who replaced passion with serenity. As for peace…it was elusive, and the Dark sought to destroy it at every turn, but it definitely existed. The Dark's own pursuit worked against it, as in doing so, they acknowledged its existence.

Then he was back on his feet again. "Kneel."

"Peace is a lie, there is only passion. Through passion, I gain strength. Through strength, I gain power. Through power, I gain victory. Through victory, my chains are broken. The Force shall free me."

And even as he recited it, he found peace within himself, in the knowledge that who believed what did not actually matter, in comparison to what actually was.

Over and over, it was repeated, Sidious revelling in the power he was holding over the Jedi, pausing only to transmit some of the recordings to his intelligence department's head. Over and over, over and over, with Sidious deciding to relax in his chair after the first few, only exerting himself to set Obi-Wan on his feet by use of the Force. Over and over, until Obi-Wan estimated that hours had passed.

And because hours had passed, Obi-Wan's tiredness born of blood loss increased, and his feet and knees ached, and his mouth became dry from so much talking, so many times repeating the words he did not believe. Because hours passed, he let himself detach for a while and focus on his renewed understanding, and took the time to solidify his confidence that even though he was cut off from it, the Force, the Light side of the Force, would find a way to reach him, even here.

And because hours had passed, he had to return his attention to the present, to the motions he ran through and the words he recited, because while he could not escape from the Sith Master, he could escape from Clone troopers when they escorted him to his cell.

He was certainly not about to alert Sidious, that because hours had passed, the venom was wearing off.

A.N. I think this is nearing the end, so I hope that clears up the nature of the venom, and through it, Vader's control a bit. Thank you again to everyone who has read this, and most especially to my reviewers. You are wonderful, wonderful people, and I love the feedback.

Grey