I'm writing this story for tiktok user xxanimeabsxx, she is a connoisseur of unhinged Anakin thirst. This is basically a self insert fic but with her name, this is gonna be Grace x Anakin (graceakin), so you can just not read it if you don't like that. It's basically Anakin x an OC if you don't know anything about Grace lmao
I might not be able to keep a regular schedule with this as I am also working on some one-shots right now and want to have those out weekly.
Anyways, enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars, or Grace for that matter. If I did I would be arrested bc u cannot own people where I live
Chapter one: Grace McNally
Grace gripped the yoke tightly in her hands, nerves creeping in. It was her sixth year of service in the Senate and this was not the first time someone had tried to kill her, but she never felt good about putting Corde or any of her other staff in danger. It didn't matter that each and every one of them knew what they were getting into. She always wanted to fix problems herself, earning many an earful from Captain Typho about putting herself at risk. He swore that her impulsiveness would lead him to an early grave. He did mean well, and she did make his job harder, so she'd agreed to allow Corde to be her body double due to the threat on her life.
As the Nabooian Senator and a vocal member of the Senate she often found herself going head-to-head with powerful and angry people. Nute Gunray still held a grudge against her even though it had been Queen Amidala who had opposed him during the Occupation of Naboo. That very event is what made Grace distrustful of the slippery Neimoidian, immediately suspicious of his Senate bills. She despised that he still roamed free after what he had done to her planet.
The Senator in disguise completed a fancy ship spin taught to her for this moment as they approached Coruscant, bringing her small escort fighter into a 180 twirl to approach the South side of the planet right-side up. She had insisted that there was no danger, and yet here she was: pretending to be her own pilot as her body double risked her life.
The escort began the landing approach, the geometrical forms of the sprawling city-planet coming into view. Letting the astromech, R2-D2, take the wheel, she glanced around the landing pad for signs of trouble as they touched down. Opening the hatch of her fighter and stepping out, she walked to the side of Captain Typho to watch Corde be escorted out of the ship. He remarked, "I guess there was no danger after all."
Just as she began to feel a bit smug, a bit vindicated at being right, a thundering BOOM shook the platform as the ship exploded. Corde and her escort went flying, landing with sickening thuds mere feet away. The ship was a smoking wreck as Senator Grace McNally sprinted to the body of her fallen friend and protector. She grabbed the other girl's face, a near mirror image of her own, in a desperate attempt to animate her limp body again.
Typho laid a gentle hand on her shoulder as the tears began to flow and she removed her helmet. This was all her fault. The Captain urged, "My lady, it isn't safe here, we need to get inside."
"Corde…" that name was all she could think, the thing in the forefront of her mind.
Gregor Typho lightly tugged her shoulder now, trying to bring the exposed and unsafe Senator to her feet. "We need to go. Corde did her duty, you must do yours."
With that, Grace allowed herself to be led away from the landing platform and the death upon it.
Senator McNally stood before the Chancellor and several Jedi Masters in a new and elegant outfit, having washed and dressed after the tragedy on the landing pad. Chancellor Palpatine had summoned her after those events and she had finally arrived, much to the relief of Master Yoda.
"Good to see you alive, it is," he said, inclining his head. "Heard about the attempt on your life, we did. Sorry for your loss, I am."
She nodded at him. "My thanks, Master Yoda. I believe this attempt on my life was arranged by Count Dooku."
Master Windu scoffed. "With all due respect Senator, Count Dooku was once a Jedi. He could never do something like this."
She shook her head, the weight of her headdress upon it. "You're wrong. This has his fingerprints all over it."
Palpatine stepped in. "We do not know who is behind this attempt on your life, my dear, but we will do all in our power to stop it. I believe a Jedi should be assigned to you, for your protection."
Grace felt some anger at the outlandish proposition. "That's ridiculous! I don't need a Jedi to keep me safe, I need answers. I want to know who is trying to kill me."
Master Windu said, "We will look into it. Master Kenobi and padawan Skywalker have just returned from a border dispute, they can be assigned to you. They were a great help during the occupation of Naboo, they will do well to protect you."
She bristled a bit at the complete disregard for her wishes but did admit that it would keep her far safer than her security detail could. Their talents and ability were admirable, but a Jedi would ensure her safety best. It was the most practical idea. Surrendering to the whims of the Jedi and the Chancellor, she accepted and left the room.
Anakin stood in the elevator with Obi-Wan, thinking about his new assignment. He remembered Padme well, having thought of her every day since they parted. He had heard some news of her, though he tried not to seem as though he cared, and knew that she had retired from politics to foster children with her sister. He had also heard that she had been offered the position of Senator after her term expired but had respectfully declined, wanting no more intergalactic excitement.
As the turbolift climbed higher, bringing them closer to the new Senator, he wondered what she was like. Was Senator McNally kind like Padme, compassionate and caring? Or was she harsh and cold, thinking herself too good for the commonfolk he once was. Obi-Wan distrusted politicians, and for good reason. The only one Anakin could trust was Chancellor Palpatine, he was a good man. He would never do anything bad.
The door opened into her apartments, and Obi-Wan gave him a Look. Be good.
JarJar Binks came into view, an old friend from ten years ago on Naboo. He certainly hadn't changed a bit (aside from his clothes) and seemed overjoyed to see his old friend. The gungan cried, "Senator, lookie lookie! Thesa Jedis are here!"
Anakin stood beside Obi-Wan, slightly behind him as a padawan did, as Senator McNally glided into the entryway. She was… breathtaking. There was no other word for the elegance of this woman, her brown hair pulled back into a beautiful gold headpiece. Her presence was commanding, she seemed to fill the room. While Padme had been pretty, the Senator was gorgeous. He found himself comparing the shape of their faces, the ways they carried themselves. The padawan came to his senses, snapping himself out of his mind to hear his Master say, "I promise you, we will keep you safe."
McNally nodded. "I want to know who is behind these attempts on my life."
Anakin stepped forward impulsively, blurting out, "We will discover who is behind the attacks, Senator." He didn't know why he said it, something in him just wanted her to be safe.
Obi-Wan turned around and shot him a look, 'what did I tell you?' . He turned back to her and pointedly said, "We will do what we have been told."
Anakin replied, "Protection is a job for the local authorities. We will do all in our power to discover who did this."
Obi-Wan turned to him, a stern look upon his face. "Anakin, I will not go through this exercise again. We will do as the council has instructed."
The rash teen sighed. "Yes, Master."
Grace stood in the entryway of her apartment as the two Jedi bickered. The youngest one, Anakin, was a little standoffish but she could work with him. The Master was a little too stiff for her taste, he wouldn't be willing to go along with her plan. Typho would certainly be angry if she told him about it, but what he didn't know couldn't hurt him. Anakin could be trusted to help her with this, she just needed to wait until Obi-Wan was out of earshot. The perfect opportunity presented itself as the fighting ended and he announced he was off to perform a perimeter sweep to see what they were working with, Typho following to help.
The Nabooian seized the opportunity and walked up to her new bodyguard, having to look up to meet his eyes. "I agree that you should help me find the culprit, I have a plan." He listened carefully, giving her all of his attention while she explained her idea. He smiled when she was done, and it struck her just how charming that smile was. His teeth were straight and white, eyes lighting up with the pureness of that boyish smirk. They seemed to share a moment, staring into each other's eyes as they both grinned until Grace mentally slapped herself and turned away. It would do no good to let herself develop feelings for a Jedi.
She walked over to the couch and sat down as the Captain and Jedi returned. She really needed to watch herself.
Grace was violently awoken from her sleep at the sound of a lightsaber slashing through the air. She sat bold upright to look into the eyes of Anakin, his chiseled features illuminated by the blue of his blade. He sheathed it just as Obi-Wan ran through the room and dove out the window, grabbing hold of a droid positioned right there. She stared with wide eyes as he was carried away, turning back to her savior.
"What happened?"
The padawan sat down beside her, taking her hand in his. They were warm, a comfort after whatever had just happened. He answered, "The bugs, they were sent to poison you."
She looked down at where he had slashed and sure enough, there were three split bugs on her covers. Anakin lifted his hand to her face, the touch tender and very un-Jedilike. Almost immediately he thought better and snatched it away, placing it awkwardly on the covers. "Are you alright, Senator?"
She nodded, still too shocked to speak. Not only was what had just happened exciting, she was feeling butterflies from his touch, the places his hands had been leaving phantom tingles through her body. Senator McNally shook herself, extracting her hands from his. She looked away from his startling blue eyes, not trusting herself to remain logical if she shared another moment with him and his stupid haircut.
Anakin seemed to come to his senses, standing up and backing away a couple of paces before he broke into a sprint out of the room and presumably out of her apartments, off to help Obi-Wan. Her staff could protect her for now. On that exact note, her handmaidens ran into the room followed closely by Captain Typho just as the reckless Jedi sprinted away.
Dorme came to the side of her bed while Tekla gaped at the completely shattered window, Typho speaking over a commlink as he and his guards surrounded the perimeter of the room.
"Are you alright, my lady?"
Grace nodded, staring out the door where Anakin had gone. She pondered the meaning of his touch on her face, contemplating what indications enjoying it had. She really had loved the feel of his calloused hand on her cheek though the moment had been fleeting, almost angry that she had pulled her hands out of his comforting grasp. It was almost shocking to her what her adversaries would do to stop her voting in the military creation act. Almost.
Anakin hopped in the first speeder he found parked outside. He tried not to think of what had just happened and put all of his energy to finding Obi-Wan and that droid, but life just seemed determined to split his focus. His mind kept wandering back to the way he'd felt drawn to her, placing his hand on her cheek. He'd thought better of it immediately, snatching away his hand as if he could pretend that it had never happened, but he could have sworn she'd leaned into his touch a bit…
The padawan shook his head, trying to expel those thoughts. He was a Jedi, why was he feeling like this? He scanned the Coruscant traffic for signs of Obi-Wan, eyes zeroing in on a tiny droid zipping through the air with a swaying form attached. He zoomed through the air, almost causing several collisions, and set a course underneath his Master. That proved useful when a blaster bolt shot through the droid, sending Obi-Wan into a free-fall. His training had prepared him for this, allowing for a safe sky-dive in which he could angle himself into the obnoxious yellow speeder his student had selected.
"Thanks for dropping in, Master," The 19 year-old quipped. A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth, lips quirking into a smile. The Jedi Master gave a sarcastic laugh, halfheartedly glaring.
The older man turned around suddenly, pointing at a bright green speeder that had just flown off into the throng of traffic. "That's him!"
Anakin took off, maneuvering around several unhappy civilians to pursue the mysterious assassin. They all yelled in outrage, but the headstrong padawan paid them no mind as he shot after the man who had threatened Grace. She did not deserve to die, he had the urge to protect her and keep her safe. Seeing the Senator's face so shocked and even a bit scared after he had killed the bugs had brought forth a tenderness he had no idea he possessed. All the boy had wanted in that moment was to protect her from all harm, this was the way he could do it.
The green speeder took a turn into a tunnel, The Jedi swerving to go a different direction. Obi-Wan stared at the assassin's vehicle for a moment before it disappeared, turning to his padawan who was currently occupying the driver's seat. "You missed him, he went that way." He pointed at the tunnel they were straying further from.
Anakin shook his head as he drove. "This is a shortcut." he then muttered, "I think."
His Master's head spun to face him, incredulous, but it was too late to turn back now. They rode through the night for about a minute before stopping in the midst of a crowded intersection. Obi-Wan crossed his arms and glared at his student, grumping, "Well now you've lost him."
"I really am sorry Master." The boy was sheepish, looking around as if he could make that thug appear out of thin air. The Master started complaining about impulsiveness and some other mumbo-jumbo the padawan didn't care about as he looked over the side of the speeder.
Cutting in, he interjected, "If you'll excuse me-" and promptly jumped out of the speeder into the open air.
"I hate it when he does that."
Anakin freefalled through the Coruscant traffic lanes, utilizing his training to control the descent. Angling towards his target, he plummeted until he braced himself and landed with a huge thud onto the assassin's speeder. He swerved, looking up with wide eyes. Nobody ever expected reckless Jedi to skydive through Coruscant to pursue their speeders, that was why it worked every time. He set a reminder in his head to use that as a battle plan if he ever had to go to war or something, jumping from tall heights seemed to be super effective.
The person who upon closer examination actually appeared to be a woman started to swerve the speeder, attempting to buck off the little parasite on top. When that was unsuccessful she flipped it upside-down, almost losing the Jedi. He was resilient, and managed to cling to the smoothly polished vehicle enough to keep from plummeting to his death. Getting a little uncomfortable, the assassin rotated her vehicle to be the right side up again. Anakin took the opportunity to crawl up the prongs at the front, climbing his way towards the cockpit.
The bounty hunter looked at him in shock, surprised he was still alive. Then without warning she jerked the yoke so that the speeder would nose-dive through the traffic, hoping the Jedi would either fly off or fall downwards. She was really hoping he lost his handhold on her ride. The kriffing kid just wouldn't quit though, and he used a tight grip to stay aboard.
She leveled out, knowing a collision would kill them both and hoping to avoid it. The padawan shoved himself over to the cockpit, where he ignited his lightsaber and tried to stab her, preferably to immobilize. It wasn't the smartest move, but he wasn't known as wise for a reason. He just wanted to make her pay for trying to kill Grace, bring her to justice. After a moment of grappling the lightsaber sheathed itself and went flying into the empty air. Luckily, it did happen to fly into the waiting hand of Obi-Wan, who stored it in the speeder.
The bounty hunter pulled out a blaster, trying to shoot the struggling Jedi on the hood of her speeder. He grabbed her wrist, twisting it so that the blaster fire missed him. It did, but it ended up striking the control panel of the speeder.
Anakin felt some surprise along with a teensy bit of panic as the vehicle picked up speed towards a platform that was far too populated for his liking, the speeder set on a crash course with it. The assassin was clearly thinking the same thing, or maybe she was just panicking because she was about to crash, but she was trying to somehow fix the mess they'd both caused. It seemed like in an instant they were over the platform, an unexpected bump throwing the padawan from the flaming vehicle. He landed and rolled on the hard platform below, pain stabbing through his ribs.
He laid on his back for a moment, face scrunched in pain as he held his chest, but he pushed past it to rise to his feet, scanning for that bounty hunter. He saw her face flash to that of a changeling, the new form lifting a moment later as if it had been an accident. She staggered into the nightclub they had crashed beside, probably attempting to hide.
He saw Obi-Wan land the still-intact speeder they had "borrowed" and head over. The Master pressed his charge's lightsaber into his hand with a stern look, beginning the usual lecture, going on and on until- "-try not to lose it this time. Where did he go?"
Anakin pointed at the nightclub the bounty hunter had disappeared into. "He went that way, Master. And I think he is a she."
The older Jedi nodded, heading to the entrance. His student followed, adding, "And I think she is a changeling."
Obi-Wan nodded again. "Then I suppose we have to be extra careful."
The two Jedi walked into the energetic club, colored lights flashing as its clients gyrated on the dance floor. The duo got a few odd looks, people avoiding them because of the odd outfits and lightsabers that marked them as Jedi, not ones to be trifled with. They parted ways as the Master went to chat up the bar and the youngest went to scout the dance floor.
As much as some of the patrons were hoping for this random Jedi to tear up the dance floor with some sick Force-aided moves he just wasn't here to party. Anakin wondered if Grace ever partied, was she a good dancer? He'd love to find out.
Obi-Wan sat at the bar, sipping his drink. A man with antennae sat next to him, hoping to secure a drug deal. "Ya wanna buy some death sticks?"
He turned to the man, absentmindedly waving his hand. "You do not want to sell me death sticks."
"I don't wanna sell you death sticks."
"You want to go home and rethink your life."
"I wanna go home and rethink my life."
He left, taking the drugs with him as he went to follow those instructions. The Jedi waited for a minute, knowing his prey would seek him out first. She could not leave without his noticing, she needed to eliminate all liabilities. Sure enough, she snuck up behind him with her blaster out, finger on the trigger when he spun around and used his lightsaber to amputate the offending hand. She gasped in pain, eyes flying wide as she stumbled into the arms of her now captor.
Anakin spun around, speeding to the side of his master and the assassin. They carried her out of the club as patrons stared. He addressed them, "Jedi business. Go back to your drinks."
He and his Master dumped the bounty hunter's body outside, leaning her against the wall. Obi-Wan asked, far too kindly for his student's liking, "Who hired you for this job?"
She shook her head. "As if I'd tell you."
Anakin was tired of these games, a desire for revenge filling him. He wanted to know the culprit of this crime against Senator McNally so he could bring them to justice. He shouted, "Who is it!"
The aggressive tone and wildness earned a stern look from his Master, but it seemed to scare their captive. She looked at them, startled and perhaps afraid to lose more limbs, ready to tell the truth. "It was a bounty hunter by the name of-"
She didn't get the chance to finish her sentence, the impact of a tiny, metal dart cutting her off. The changeling's disguise faded into her wrinkled and hollow-cheeked form, her voice fading to nothing but a mangled rasp. The Jedi looked in the dart's direction to see a figure fly into the air, Jetpack whisking them away from the scene of the crime.
End of chapter!
Notes:
-Off to a good start I'd say, filling in the plot of Attack of the Clones here.
-I don't actually really have anything to say about this chapter that doesn't just talk about the other chapters I'm gonna write, so Grace, I hope u like it
Tune in next time for chapter two!