A/n: My apologizes for the lack of updates! I really appreciate all the comments since the last chapter, even if I don't have the time to respond to all. Regular posting will hopefully resume come the end of November.
A grim silence hung over Obi-Wan, the Doctor, and Donna, braiding them together in its bleakness. They walked through a hauntingly empty corridor, devoid of all the rich, myriad life that had been present at the Temple previously. Obi-Wan spoke, not sounding entirely pleased. "You have the right to know that I'm not too happy with the latest turn of events."
"You don't like Palpatine." Somehow, the Doctor managed to maintain a calm front, even after having been told that they were to meet with a –no, the- Sith Lord.
"I wouldn't say that. He is a…" the Jedi Master looked like the Doctor's screwdriver had gotten wedged down his throat, but he continued on, "…a talented leader. The Republic is lucky to have him. I'm just surprised that he's taken such an interest in you two. I had thought of you as primarily Jedi business. To see the Chancellor, possibly the Senate, get involved in it is… worrying." Under his breath, almost to the point where Donna wondered if he knew he spoke out loud, he murmured, "He's been granted so many emergency powers all ready…"
"Hey, it's no big deal." The Doctor shrugged, so casual a gesture that she thought maybe he didn't know who Palpatine was. "We'll meet, we'll greet, we'll go –to Jabiim, I hope!"
"That's appreciated, Doctor. And I do believe you'll be off to Jabiim soon –it's about a day and a half worth's trip, but that shouldn't matter, correct?"
"Oh, no. As long as we get there, I'll be fine. We can wait, right Donna?"
"Of course. It's all about waiting." She wondered if he got the more subtle meaning in her words, something she knew Obi-Wan missed, if not for the reason that he had no idea what was to come, but because of the slightly curious, slightly confused look he gave her.
"That's good to hear. You have quite a while until you go before Palpatine –there's not much to do, if you've been on Coruscant before. I would suggest sightseeing, but if you're used to the place…"
A quick glance –they were still together in this, after all, even if they were having more disagreements than most cats and dogs—and it was decided. "Well, we really haven't been here in some time," the Doctor admitted sheepishly, "So if it wouldn't be a bother…"
Obi-Wan's lip quirked up. "Not at all, Doctor, not at all."
******
"Well, that was quite educational." The Time Lord shot Donna a grin. "Nine-hundred years old, and I can still learn something new! Strangest street performance I've ever seen, and I have seen a lot."
"Fire swallowers aren't that uncommon." She leafed through the small pack of clothes she had brought off of the TARDIS, looking for something appropriate to wear while meeting the Galaxy's leader, while the Doctor straightened his tie.
"Well, yeah, but how often do you see themwith translucent throats and numerous openings through which the fire spouts? Trust me, I've beenall over the major and the minor galaxies, and I've never seen anything quite like that." He grinned. "Didn't you enjoy it? C'mon, I know you did!"
"Okay, okay, I did," she admitted, slightly reluctant. In fact, she had loved all of it –the bird's eye view of the city, the bizarre products being sold in the indoor park, and of course, the performers. Still, though, it seemed strange –wrong, in a way—to be enjoying herself so much, while a universe was hurtling towards a dramatic shift and they were to meet with the man who was to cause said shift. "But aren't you, you know, a bit worried? Meeting with the Sith Lord and all that?"
His smile disappeared. "Yeah. Yes, I am very worried. Nothing is exactly falling into place like I'd hoped, not that I'd really expected it to. But this is a once-in-a-lifetime chance, Donna! Star Wars. Trust me, we'll never be here again –enjoy it while we're stuck. And know, well… we'll both just need to be careful with Palpatine. Very, very careful."
"Will he be able to… to tell? That we're from far, far away?"
For all his previous optimism, he was brutally honest. "I don't know, Donna. I don't normally deal with Force-sensitives of that level, and…" he siaghed and shook his head, and abruptly changed the topics. "What were you going to tell Obi-Wan?"
She shrugged; that seemed distant and unimportant now. "Does it matter?"
That alone answered the question and he sighed, but for one reason or another didn't push too far with his reprimands. "Donna, there isn't much I can tell you that I haven't said before. But… it's suicide for this galaxy to tell them. Trust me."
"I do." An automatic, though unquestionable, reply. "It's just that… I talked to Ahsoka today and," she shook her head. "Doctor, what happens to her? To the ones we pass in the halls and see hanging around? What happens to them? Why aren't their stories told, too? Why don't we remember them?"
Again, he didn't have an answer for her. "I don't know."
******
"There are a few things you should know before talking to Palpatine." Mace Windu was the man lecturing the two as they sat in a cramped airspeeder, dressed in the finest clothes they could fine. "One: Under no circumstances are you to insult him. Never. Two: Be respectful. Maintain eye contact when appropriate; use honorifics when you need to. Never, ever be rude. Three; we'd prefer if you didn't discuss Jedi policies –you are not representatives of us, and if the Chancellor has a question he'll have to ask directly. And fourth, finally, if you know something, tell us. The Chancellor's agenda frequently conflicts with ours –and, it seems, yours. I ask that you trust me on this matter."
"Oh, there's nothing to worry about there. You're Jedi. Of course we can trust you." The Doctor waved a hand lazily. "And don't be concerned. Donna and I've faced far too many things to worry about a little meeting with the Republic's leader like this."
"He's right. We have faced plenty." Not, of course, enough to keep her from being concerned about what was soon to happen, but there was no need to mention that.
"Of course, you may have, but there is nothing like meeting with Palpatine for the first time." Obi-Wan spoke up, looking grave. "It is… intense. We wish to see that you are prepared."
"We appreciate your concern." For once, she spoke up rather than having her jaw clamped tightly in worry.
"Thank you." Obi-Wan gave her a half-smile just as they pulled up in front of the large building that housed the Chancellor's office. The two Jedi got out first, stepping onto the platform that jutted out into the air from the building's side, and presenting identity to a droid waiting before them. It beeped what sounded like an affirmative to Donna, and her assumption was proved when Obi-Wan beckoned for the two of them to get out.
They were almost there.
******
The hallways that the group of four walked through, led by several tall figures cloaked entirely in red that Donna assumed were Palpatine's guards, were not at all like the ones at the Temple. These were harsh, crimson and unwelcoming, artificial light hitting bizarre, silvery sculptures at odd angles and reflecting to form menacing shadows. The place was designed to be intimidating, and it worked.
At last they halted, or at least the Jedi, the Doctor, and she did: One of the guards muttered a "Wait here," and walked through massive wooden doors. It was only a heartbeat before he stepped back in. "You may enter, Jedi and newcomers."
"Come." The two men with more experience led the way into the Chancellor's office.
If the halls were intimidating, this was… consuming. Scarlet walls surrounded them partially, and the night view of Coruscant which she had first thought of as striking now looked threatening. And again, sculptures lined the room, their shadows dancing outwards like jumping demons.
"Well!" She almost jumped, becoming aware that there was a person sitting behind the humongous desk and realizing almost in the same instant that this was the Sith Lord, the one destined to bring down this galaxy through use of pawns and puppets.
His dark, almost black, eyes scanned over her and the Doctor. "These are them, my good Masters?"
"Yes, Chancellor. I offer you our greeting." Although Obi-Wan was the speaker, both he and Mace bowed.
Palpatine gave their gesture a nod of acknowledgement as he stood up and approach them. "You're the Doctor, I presume." He extended a hand. "How good it is to meet you." They shook hands and the Chancellor smiled slightly at the response of "Likewise," before moving on to her. "And Miss Donna Noble. A pleasure to have made your acquaintance." Habitually she extended a hand to meet his weathered, bony one but was unable to force her throat to open up and greet him. Instead she smiled at him, although it probably ended up more as a grimace than anything else.
"Please, please," he waved a hand to indicate two, plush, red chairs that looked like blood-soaked thrones, "take a seat. Master Kenobi, Master Windu, would you care to step out for a moment? Just so we can have a friendly discussion; I'm sure you understand."
"Of course." They bowed again and backed out the doors, leaving them alone with virtually no way to defend themselves against a Sith Lord –besides the Doctor's wealth of knowledge, which was impressive, granted, but she wasn't sure how well it would stand against the Force.
She suddenly realized that the Doctor had sat down and was glancing at her expectantly. Blushing, she quickly did the same and together they sat through an awkward moment of silence, broken by the Sith Lord. "Thank you, Miss Noble." He took a seat himself and steepled his fingers, and for another moment there was silence. "Perhaps you would like some refreshments?"
They replied in unison, a jumble of "No's" and "No, thank you's."
"Very well, then." Palpatine inclined his head in acceptance of their decision. "If that is the case, then perhaps we should begin our talk. I'm sure you understand what a busy man I am."
"Oh, yeah, Chancellor. We're all on bought time." The Doctor offered him a sympathetic look.
"Good. I hope your understanding, then, will allow you to realize why I must speak this frankly." The expression he had been wearing previously, that of a kind, if aged, man vanished, replace by one of cold intensity. "Where are you from?"
"Coruscant. The other side of the planet, though; we're rarely in this sector." She was glad the Doctor had spoken because she wasn't sure she was capable of doing so at the moment.
"Come now; we both know that isn't true. I assure you, sir and ma'am, I will know if you are lying, and I will not like it." He leaned forward. "Honesty, however, that will get you results –and good ones, for that."
"You don't know we're lying." Donna was astonished she had the guts to speak up, but the desperate times were calling for desperate measures, and if they called for her to manage to channel her normal, unyielding personality and face off against one of the most dangerous men she and the Doctor had come across, then so be it. "How could you?"
Palpatine raised an eyebrow, surprised at her outburst. "I have… a talent for reading people, Miss Noble –that's such a mouthful. May I call you Donna?"
"No." She felt fury bubbling up inside her and glared at the man, knowing all the while that glowering at the most powerful man in the known galaxy here [i]probably[/i] wasn't a good idea.
Not that she cared.
"Do you realize who you are talking to?" When neither of them answered he gave a gentle chuckle, "I take that as a yes. You are aware how far my power reaches, and yet you're so disobedient –insubordinate, even." He shook his head, smiling slightly. "It's been quite awhile since anyone dared to behave like that before me."
"Your power is small in the galaxy," said the Doctor quietly, a note of intensity ringing in his voice.
"And how would you know that?"
There was no reply, and again, he smiled. "You two are intelligent people. It makes me wonder… just how much you know."
Donna had to restrain herself from snapping the answer to him, calling his the names he deserved. In fact, if it weren't for the Doctor's hand pressing down over hers, a wordless warning, she probably would have done just that.
And as it was, both stayed speechless, letting a chrono's gentle ticking count the seconds and fill in the empty silence, until the Chancellor was forced to speak again. "You know, there are no holo-recorders in here. None. As it is, you could attack me right here, right now, and I could defend myself –and no one would know otherwise."
"We aren't defenseless." That bit did get a reaction, if a mundane one, from the Doctor.
"Ah, yes. The glowing blue device, the one that shuts down battle droids, and can't be more than ten centimeters long." He raised an eyebrow. "We could talk about that, if you'd rather."
"Actually, I wouldn't." The Doctor shrugged.
"Then do tell, what would you like to talk about?" He kept the look of an amused grandfather, playing with and humouring his grandchildren.
"Does it matter?" This, it seemed, was appropriate for her to say. "You called this meeting. What say do we have?"
"Well, when you look at it that way… perhaps it doesn't. Perhaps I should ask all the questions –in fact, perhaps it would work best if I just got to the point." He leaned forward, the intensity in his dark eyes growing by the second. "How much do you know?"
"We both know a lot of things, in a lot of different categories. Donna here could tell you about growing up with her beloved grandfather and two loving parents. I can tell you about, er, boarding school. I'm a photographer. I know a lot about photography."
"As a person whose made a living captioning photos, I could tell you a lot about the art of… captioning," she added helpfully, remembering their previous lie to the Council.
"Don't take me for a fool." Palpatinesighed. "So uncooperative… but then again, perhaps I was not specific enough. Tell me, Doctor and Donna-" the use of her forename didn't escape Donna, and she deepened her glare, "-what do you know about the war? Perhaps… about me?"
"You were Naboo's senator. You succeeded Chancellor Vallorum, and ended his family's dynasty. You've been granted a startling amount of emergency powers. You are not too fond of the Jedi- or at least, you haven't been too quick to grant them the proper equipment and men needed to fight the war."
"Hmm. All correct responses –except for the last one. Tell me, how do you know that?"
"Well, isn't that common knowledge?" The Doctor frowned and shrugged.
"Perhaps it is, my good Doctor. Perhaps it is." He smiled and stood. "That will be all, thank you."
They all but bolted for the door, where the Chancellor's voice forced them to pause. "Actually, one more thing. Did I hear someone mention that Jabiim was your planet of choice, to help you to get home?"
A pause, in which they exchanged a nervous glance, before the Doctor reluctantly replied, "Yes."
"Hmm, very good." He smiled again. "You can leave, now. I think we're done, though it was nice meeting you."
"You too, Chancellor, you too." A sense of forboding followed them out the massive doors.