Bellatrix checked the readings for the third time. It took a bit longer to get a result because her Master was moving around. That was a bad sign in itself as it was the middle of the night and he should be resting. Something must've disturbed him and it irked her that she had no idea what it was. He had not received any messages. At least, no electrical ones. It could be something he received through the force but his apprentice had returned a while ago. Maul was back on duty and there was no reason for him to bother entering meditative state, which she knew took him a while if he could just send a message through her.

But the assorted information from cameras, heat sensors and microphones, analyzing body language, expression and even heart rate where she could get it told her that her Master was excited and not in a good way. He was upset, stressed, nervous. It had taken her a few seconds (which was a small eternity considering her processing power) to figure it out as she had never seen him like this and thus couldn't compare his behavior to past events. Sometimes she really wished her Master would lose a limb or two. Then he would get a prosthetic and she could use the technology used to connect the durasteel with his bones to better monitor his organic reactions. It certainly made monitoring Maul easier.

But alas, no such luck. She was stuck doing it the old fashioned way. If she wanted to know what was wrong with her Master, she had to ask him himself. Even so, getting the information might not be easy. It was probably best if she asked him via holo. Humans tended to be more open around her when they had another face they could look at.

As soon as that decision was made, Bellatrix activated the holoreceiver closest to her Master and quickly transferred the information to it. Then she went through her self-developed algorithm of talking to Vader-not-in-a-mood.

"Greetings, Master", she said cheerfully, appearing just a few meter in front of him and announcing her intention by letting the air flicker red before forming it to her image so as to not to startle him. "Is it a good night to watch the stars?"

"Not now, Mo- I mean, Bellatrix."

The spike of annoyance at being pushed away was being balanced by the contentment of being called by her chosen name after all. He had remembered.

"I am sorry, Master. It is just that we are a bit worried you might have a bad day. Should I send out a choking alarm?" Joking about his murders usually lightened his mood but today he just glared at her. Maybe he didn't get the joke? She had mentioned in her last report that she had implemented a 'choking alarm' that would alert every crew member of the Executor that Vader was in a bad mood and in which sector he was heading so that the humans would pay extra attention to their work or just get the hell out of the way so they wouldn't be, well, choked. She knew he had opened the file but he might've only skimmed over it. A shame really, it had taken her a full 80 milliseconds to write it.

"Get out of my way, will you?", Vader said exasperated.

Bellatrix cocked her head. "I am physically incapable of standing in your way", she reminded him, standing very much in front of him. Vader could just walk right through her. She might not even give him a shock. No reason to agitate him further.

"I really don't need this right now, I had a bad night."

Ah, now they were getting somewhere. She knew he had been sound asleep the whole time before waking up quite suddenly and for no apparent reason. Then he had gone into meditation. From observing the crew she knew that, even through it made no sense to her, one could indeed have a bad night while doing nothing but sleeping.

"Did you have a nightmare?"

"Not exactly... It doesn't matter though, I already took care of it. Everything is going to be alright."

"But you're still upset", she noted.

"Look, it doesn't concern you. Just drop it."

Bellatrix switched to her annoyed protocol, letting him see that she was not amused by his antics.

"Of course it concerns me! If my reactor is fluctuating, I need to know why! If my hyperdrive is leaking, I kneed to know how that happened! If my crew is lazy, I need to know what the reason is. Even if a solution to the symptom has been found, I still need to know where the problem came from so I can prevent it from happening again! You're upset, you're... you're malfunctioning and I need to know why!"

Vader stared at her showing incredulity. Damn it. She should've known better then to use techno speech in social interrogation. Normally he found it amusing when she did it and so she had used it to further lighten his mood but it seemed he didn't like having his own malfunctions pointed out to him this clearly. Well, she could almost understand that.

"This isn't something you can do anything about or prevent from happening again", he snapped at her. "If you absolutely have to know, a situation has arisen with my family. I have a plan to avert the danger they're in but I still worry and I'll continue to worry until they're safe."

"Then this is about Anakin Skywalker", she stated. He was the only human who elicited inexplicable reactions from her Master on a regular basis.

"For once", and finally, the corner of his mouth twitched in something resembling a smile, "my son isn't the problem. In fact, he's part of the solution. No, this is about Padme."

Bellatrix's triumph at finally getting an answer was drowned in a wave of annoyance. She had given up on understanding her Masters actions or mood changes when it concerned Anakin Skywalker. Her Master refused to talk about it and she had asked many times. It was impossible to understand it but as long as Skywalker remained the only variable, she could live with that. But if there should join another variable that made her Master act ridiculous, he would become completely unpredictable. That was not acceptable.

Bellatrix wanted nothing more then to tell him to stay away from that woman, to stop thinking about her and let her affect him. But she also knew that Vader took very poorly to being told what to do so instead she did the same by making it a question.

"Why do you care about the senator at all? She has no connection to you. You only met her three times and never held a conversation with her for more then ten minutes. What could possibly be so interesting about her?"

Vader's face became expressionless all of sudden. Bellatrix had no means to measure the elusive force her Master could supposedly use. She could tell by the reactions of living people around him when he used it but unless he used telekinesis she had no proof that he really did use it. However she was used to connecting certain sets of body language to a severe shift in mood that was usually accompanied with the use of the dark force thingy. Such as now.

"I know this is hard for you to understand", Vader growled and Bellatrix briefly thought about utilizing her hurt protocol - sometimes it lifted his mood to see his anger had a visible result. "You are still in the process of learning about the human mind that is, by the way, vastly more complicated then any program you've encountered. So I will explain it to you once, and once only. My family, especially my children, are very important to me. They are not, however, important in the same way a component is important to a ship or a program is important to your system. They are irreplaceable. They are my legacy - they will continue to exist long after I'm gone and as such they are more important then anything, even my own life. That's why I have gone through so much trouble to keep Anakin alive and that's why it is so important Padme and the children that grow in her will live as well. I do not need to explain to you why I care, I simply need you to protect them, whether I command it or not."

Vader's anger was still growing and now Bellatrix did utilize her hurt protocol, letting out a gasp and falling to her knees in front of him. She needed to keep him talking because she did not fancy having to approach this subject again but she needed the information. It was new to her that there were any children in the equation. It made the whole thing twice as complicated.

"But the children...", she whispered, "they're not really family."

Bellatrix knew Vader's definition of family was different from the common one, as he did count his apprentices to it. But even his biological family situation was messed up. His woman wasn't his wife and he called her mother when in private. Out of curiosity Bellatrix had cross-referenced Mrs. Skywalkers DNA with her Masters (getting samples was easy as long when they lived on her for a while) and had found that she was indeed his biological mother. She wasn't sure how that was possible given the age difference but comparing the DNA with Anakin's had shown that the Jedi was Shmi's but certainly not Vader's son. He was more like a clone to him, their genetic information was a perfect match. So Vader had cloned himself a son, using his own mother as a surrogate. If he had that kind of technology it wouldn't be a problem to make Mrs. Skywalker age really well either so that explained the age difference. Anakin and Vader were family only because her Master chose so. Anakin's children would thus be his too, biologically speaking but due to Anakin distancing himself from Vader so much, they would grow up apart, developing no connection to him and sharing no legacy. There was no reason why Vader would count them to his family. They hadn't been born yet, he hadn't connected with them.

She tried to tell him that but he interrupted her harshly:

"You don't get it. Sometimes you do not need to connect. Sometimes you see, hear of a person for the first time in your life and immediately he or she becomes the center of your world. This you cannot understand."

Bellatrix hung her head and whispered: "But I do. I do understand - because the moment I was born, you immediately became the center of my world."

Yes, she had been programmed that way but what her Master described pretty much sounded as if parents were programmed to love their children on first sight as well. She was like a moon circling a planet that was her Master. But her Master in turn circled a sun and so by his command to protect his loved ones, she was forced to circle that sun as well. That annoyed her because until now, she had thought that she was the planet and Vader the sun. She did not appreciate suddenly being degraded to a moon. It made her smaller, less important, vulnerable. Vader had always been the only one who had any power over her. He was so strong, he could take on the world without even trying. She hadn't minded at all working under him, for him, with him. But now there was someone else that had power over her Master. Anakin she had tolerated as Vader had far more power over him then he had over her Master. But these... children... They influenced her Master simply by existing. They were so weak, so helpless beings, not even fully finished yet and already they had power over her Master and thus, over her.

Bellatrix did not mind working under a great master like Darth Vader. She did however mind handing over control to someone as incapable as the unborn children or their thrice cursed mother.

She understood - but she could not accept. She did not want anyone to have so much power over her Master, to be his sun. She... She wanted to be alone in the orbit with him.

"Do you see it?", her Master asked, his tone somewhat softened so she felt comfortable ending her hurt protocol and get to her feet again. "Padme and her twins are in danger and I have to get her here, in safety. I will need your help to protect them. Can I count on you?"

Bellatrix stared a him for a couple of seconds, overwhelmed with the discovery she had just made. The last time she had felt like this was when, after a thorough analysis, she had come to the conclusion that she wanted a name for herself. It had been the first time she had wanted to have something for herself that would not benefit anyone else or help with any of her duties. Asking Vader for it had been the first selfish thing she had ever done and she was confident that it meant her experience and vast amount of data was developing into an actual individual. She was on her way to reaching the next stage in her development as an AI.

But wanting a name was vastly different from wanting something that directly went against the wishes of her Master. She wasn't programmed for something like this. It confused her but at the same time she couldn't help but feel like this was a huge breakthrough for her. The wish itself lead to a problem. She would have to carefully analyze her priorities, to see if implementing the wish would be worth the negative reaction of her Master. She would have to take her time with that and sample more information first. After all that would be her first selfish decision to be made, her first... human decision. The decision to cut her Master off from all his loved ones.

That had to be well prepared.

Meanwhile though her Master was still waiting for an answer and so she smiled brightly and promised:
"Of course you can count on me."

Only when Vader had nodded and turned away from her, ending the conversation, did it occur to Bellatrix that she had just lied to her Master. She had just lied for the very first time. Normally her programming wouldn't allow that but the answer had been automatic and she had given it before she had fully finished her most important selfish line of thought and thus she had not noticed it was, technically, a lie and because she didn't do it knowingly, her programming couldn't pick up on it. Normally it would take her hours to pick her way through the many walls and disable the security means Vader had programmed her with. Just now she had circumvented them completely.

Yes, it was truly a day of great accomplishments for her. Such a shame though that she couldn't go and brag to her Master about it.

XxX

"Anakin! There you are."

Anakin turned around to see his former Master swiftly walk towards him.

"I was afraid my message wouldn't make it to you in time."

"Message? Which message?", he asked with a scowl.

Obi-Wan stopped, looking confused. "The one about the meeting that's going to start in ten minutes. Isn't that why you are here?"

"No, there's just something I have to do here", Anakin answered, vaguely gesturing at the temple. "You're talking about a meeting of the Jedi Council?"

"Yes and it's about to start, let's go! They especially asked for you to be there."

Obi-Wan wanted to lead the way but Anakin grabbed his shoulder before he could even make the first step.

"Obi-Wan, wait! There's something I have to tell you before we go to meet the others."

"Don't you think there's time for that later?"

"There might not be", Anakin returned unusually serious. "I don't want you to learn about it in a Council meeting so... just give me a minute?"

Obi-Wan instantly became worried but he allowed Anakin to lead him into an empty corridor.

"What is so important that it can't wait?"

"Master, I..." Anakin took a deep breath, preparing himself for what he was going to say next. "I was just on my way to Master Yoda, you see. I'm going to hand in my resignation as a Jedi."

Obi-Wan was silent for a moment, just blinking at him. Then, he turned away, folding his arms in front of his chest.

"Obi-Wan?"

Anakin had been afraid he would react with incredulity, maybe even anger or that he would just laugh and not believe him.

But Obi-Wan, after taking a moment to collect himself, remained calm.

"I see", he said at last. "Well, I... I can't say this is entirely unexpected but may I ask what brought on your change of mind?"

Anakin let out a relieved sigh. "Padme's pregnant", he answered. "We're... We're going to have twins. I have to be there for her now more then ever."

Now there was a hint of anger in his voice when his Master returned: "And you couldn't have waited with this until after the war!?"

"Look, I'm sorry. I know it's bad timing. But the war is almost over anyway, isn't it?"

Obi-Wan merely sighed.

"Isn't it?", he urged again.

"I don't know", the Jedi Master confessed. "The entire senate voted for the peace but the Chancellor found a few minor problems with the treaty. We won't be able to give a positive answer within the time limit and you know how fast Vader can change his mind. That's part of what the meeting is about."

"I'm sorry to leave you alone with this mess. If there is anything I can do, you just have to tell me. I will help you when I can but as a friend, not as fellow Jedi."

"I see."

"Padme and I will leave the public eye for a couple of months but I'll leave information with you on how to contact me."

Obi-Wan swallowed hard and didn't look at him. "This is really happening, isn't it? You're leaving." He shook his head. "What about Vader? Do you think he will just let you hide?"

"I'll figure something out with him."

There was another awkward silence.

"Obi-Wan..."

"It's okay. Really, it is", the Jedi added when Anakin didn't look convinced.

"I'm glad that you told me", Obi-Wan said at last. "I... It's not the first time someone I was close to left the order to go his own way. At that time, I turned away from him because I was hurt and it was the worst mistake I ever made in my life. I won't pretend I'm not hurt now as well but... I understand that you have to do this and I still want to be there for you. Just... keep in contact, will you?"

Anakin smiled relieved. "Thank you, Master." Then he suddenly stepped forward, surprising the Jedi by pulling him into a tight hug. "You have no idea how much this means to me."

"Yeah, fine... not... breathing..."

Anakin let go of him and grinned sheepishly. "Okay, let's go to that meeting."

Obi-Wan agreed but even though they hurried, they were late by almost twenty minutes. Another ten were spent explaining the situation to Anakin. He thought it was all rather petty actually, none of the concerns the Chancellor had brought up were reasons to reject the treaty. Of course it could be a trap and of course it wasn't right for Vader to demand they fire their voted leader just because he told them to but technically Palpatine had already been in his position for longer then was usual and would have had to resign after the war was over anyway. It remained fact that the Separatists were about to crush them and this was their last chance to get out of it alive and relatively unscratched.

The treaty would be accepted, it was just not possible with so many bureaucrats going at it to do it within Vader's time limit. That's why Anakin had been called here.

"The senate wants to review the negotiation and make everything official", Mace Windu explained. "Until now the Jedi have been doing most of the work, especially Master Kenobi. Now it's up to the government to finalize the treaty."

"What does that have to do with me?", Anakin wanted to know a bit impatiently. "I only ever accompanied Master Kenobi as backup."

"Only one Jedi we shall send with the delegation", Master Yoda said. "Think best, the Chancellor does if that Jedi be you."

"Me? But diplomacy isn't my strong point."

"And work on that, you should", Yoda scolded lightly.

"We all know the other party is not the Confederacy. It is only one man and the Council has agreed that you will have the greatest chance for success going with them", Windu explained. "Also, as this mission will require for the Chancellor to travel into enemy territory, it might be wise sending someone with the abilities and experience necessary for a bodyguard mission."

"I... don't know what to say", Anakin muttered, knowing that it was a great honor.

"More there is", Yoda continued. "Because of your unique position, demanded you be part of the Jedi Council, the chancellor has."

"Wait, what?", Obi-Wan exclaimed with the same surprise that Anakin felt.

"It is quite unusual and of course he doesn't have the right to make such a decision but he was quite insistent. Therefore, the Council has decided to accept Anakin Skywalker as a member."

"Then I'll... become a Master?" Anakin's heart beat louder. Maybe he didn't have to rely on Vader after all, maybe he could search the archive for a copy of the holocron he'd stolen, there had to be more then one possibility...

"No, Skywalker, that we cannot do. Unusual circumstances aside, you are not ready to be a Master."

"But that's preposterous!", Anakin exclaimed more incredulous then angry. "There hasn't ever been a Council Member who wasn't a master." It was an insult, really, how could they think he was wise enough to be a part of the Council but not yet ready or trained enough to earn the title of Master!?

"Anakin", Obi-Wan's voice came to him sharply.

Suddenly Anakin remembered where he was. He was acting really silly. After all he had just decided he wanted to leave the order. He wouldn't take the position offered to him anyway so there was no reason to argue over what he might or might not have gotten. He didn't want it anyway, right?

"I apologize, Masters", he said and straightened his shoulders. "I spoke out of turn."

"Still much to learn you have, Skywalker", Yoda said.

"I know", Anakin whispered but his thoughts were already elsewhere. They were with his wife and the twins. Once everything was settled with his father, they might go to Naboo and live there peacefully somewhere in the countryside. Yoda was right, he thought and almost chuckled. He had much to learn. He had to learn how to change a nappy and how to bathe a newborn and he would have to read up on bedtime stories... Oh force, his life was going to change big time.

He shook his head in an attempt to clear it. "I know and that's why I can't take on your offer. It would be wrong of me to take any part in leading this order."

"Now, that's not what we meant. Don't be so harsh to yourself. You will learn-"

"No I will not", Anakin said, this time without hesitation. "I will never learn to lead the Jedi the way you do because I do not agree with the way the order is being led. I am sorry to have to reject your offer, both to become a Council Member and for this important mission. In fact", and it took a lot more courage then he would've thought, now that he looked at all those disappointed faces, "I would like to resign the Jedi order completely."

That shocked them speechless for a few moments.

"Skywalker, if this is about your Master status..."

"It's not", Anakin hurried to say. "I came here to hand in the resignation form without even knowing a meeting was being called. I made the decision a while ago."

It took another few minutes to convince them he was not joking before they asked:
"Why have you decided this?"

"I have my reasons."

"No offense, Knight Skywalker, but you are a prominent member of our order who's just been given a great opportunity and yet you want to resign in a moment when we need you the most. I believe you owe us an explanation. You said you do not agree with the way the order is led. Can you elaborate?"

He was treading on thin ice here but Anakin was still a bit pissed at their earlier insult and to be frank, it was quite liberating to be able to tell them his opinion without having to fear consequences.

"Can you really not see it? None of you, what's wrong with this order? We've lost our way ages ago! Our order is supposed to spread harmony, knowledge, serenity, and peace. Now I don't know about you but I've never found harmony on the battlefield. If our younglings and Padawans don't focus on offensive knowledge during their studies, they get killed faster then they can draw a lightsaber. Has anyone of you ever really enjoyed true serenity ever since it was revealed the Sith are alive and kicking? And what about peace? I don't even know where to start there. We're supposed to be diplomats, intermediary agents and yet Master Kenobi and I are the only ones who made any effort in that regard while everyone else was busy leading armies of clones."

Obi-Wan slapped his forehead, hiding his face as Anakin went on and he felt a bit guilty at that but this had to be said and it should have been said a long time ago.

"I know you want to blame this all on my father but he's not the problem here. You are. You, that you let yourself be commanded by a government you know is corrupt and quite possibly under the control of another Sith too. How many people have come to you with proof of this? How many of you have had visions of our downfall and just sat there and done nothing?"

"You must not take Vader's lies seriously-"

Anakin laughed hollowly. "You know, my father taught me a thing or two about lying. The best lies are those that hold the most truth. I have proof that there's a Sith in the senate but I could never tell you because you're completely under his control."

The Masters were getting agitated. "Amuse us then, tell us who this supposedly Sith is."

Anakin's thoughts raced. finally he shrugged and said: "I don't know who it is but if I had to take a guess I'd say it's the Chancellor."

A murmur went through the circle. Obi-Wan looked like he wanted the ground to swallow him.

"Quite a serious accusation, that is. Why do you believe it?"

"It's a Sith, right? Those crave power. Therefore we should look in the highest positions. Palpatine has earned more then anyone else in this war. He's two years past his legal reign. He's always been rather creepy to me, making unusual offers to work with him and stuff. Now he's commanding you to let me in on your Council, like he really wants to have a spy. It wouldn't surprise me at all if he pulled something on that mission, sabotaging it so it looks like Vader broke the deal and keep the war running just so he doesn't have to leave his position. That my father practically pointed him out to us by making his resignation a condition is kind of a give-away too."

"You can't just go around saying things like that!"

"I'm not going around saying anything, I'm warning you! He has all the power. You can't even go in there and arrest him without being called traitors. He's probably only waiting for that to pull out his trump card. You have to distance yourself from the government and the war and you have to do it now or all of you will die. I had hoped that with this treaty you would have time and opportunity to see your mistakes but is obvious now that it will take more than that to open your eyes. The Chancellor can wipe you out ay second. It's the clones - an inhuman project by the way, that was supposedly ordered by one of you. They have these chips implanted and once the code: 'Execute Order 66' is given, they'll attack every Jedi they come across. They'll kill you all and you have let yourself be pulled so deeply into the war that you're completely unprepared for it."

Anakin shook his head sadly. "I've spent the last couple of years trying to save the order. Now, it is time to save myself and my loved ones. You've brought this upon you yourself. I told you all of this so you might have one last chance to make it right. Who knows, maybe Vader and Palpatine will battle each other long enough for you to make an escape. I will no longer have a part in this madness."

Anakin turned to leave when Windu jumped to his feet, just barely keeping his anger in check. "You can't leave, Skywalker, you're the Chosen One! If the danger is as great as you say, you must stay to fight with us!"

Anakin turned when he was at the door and stared at the Jedi with cold blue eyes.

"Choose again", he spat and a moment later, he was gone.

XxX

AN:

First (important!) I wrote this and then I remembered that Anakin doesn't actually know about Order 66, so I went back to chapter 37 and changed it so Vader tells him about it. It's at the end of their telepathic conversation if you want to read up on it again.

Second: I usually reread each chapter before updating, picking up on some mistakes my beta hasn't found and I was just finished with this one when my programm crashed. I was too lazy to do it all over again, so if you found any mistakes, you may keep them.

Lastly: You're awesome, guys, I got so many nice reviews again and from new readers too, I didn't want to leave you hanging so here is the new chapter. Then again, I seem to end every chap with a cliffhanger these days so now you're still hanging but from a different spot... Palpatine being Sidious slowly becomes common knowledge and Palpy is preparing a delegation to meet Vader in a diplomatic meeting... (yeah I know, I hadn't planned for that it just happened)