Obdurate Heart – XVI

I do sincerely apologize that this fic is slowing down so much. Unfortunately, there really isn't much I can do about that. I really appreciate those of you who choose to continue reading, even if my updates are seriously lagging.

"The truth is rarely pure and never simple."

- Oscar Wilde

Obi Wan moaned slightly, opening his eyes to meet only darkness in front of him. He slowly lifted his head from his arms, which had been resting on the edge of the bed from where he sat on his chair. It took him a moment to remember where he was. Ah, yes. Back in Maul's quarters, wasn't he? Maul had been pronounced stable enough to move early that evening, and Obi Wan had, after a brief moment to himself, returned to his prisoner's bedside. He wasn't sure why, exactly, save for that he was overly worried about suffering another mishap.

Rubbing the side of his face and still trying to guess when it was he'd fallen asleep, he realized what had woken him up. Maul was shifting now, grumbling half-consciously and touching at his temple as his eyes opened. Obi Wan watched him carefully, judging by the lack of light seeping in from outside that it was somewhere between midnight and the next morning. "Good…evening." Was all he could think to say, straightening up.

Maul positively leapt at the sound of Obi Wan's voice, half scrambling up into a sitting position and staring over at him with shock.

"It's only me." Obi Wan held up his hands, bowing his head.

Maul's lips moved, but whatever he might have said died off in his befuddled state. He suddenly clenched his eyes shut and felt a hand to his side, sinking back down onto the bed. "…What have you done to me…?"

Maul was accusing him? Obi Wan snorted. "Part of your internal scarring broke apart. I had you fixed, that's what I've done to you."

Maul might have been more aggressive, but still on the tail end of anesthetic and the weakness of sudden surgery, he most likely wasn't quite lucid enough to be angry. He felt along his side and winced as his fingers grazed over parts of his bandages that were tinged a sickly orange from seeping tendrils of blood and pus.

Obi Wan kept his eyes on him, standing and reaching over to the side table where a cup of dark liquid sat. He took it carefully and reached out with it, pushing it towards Maul. "Drink this."

Maul looked up, eyes meeting Obi Wan's uncertainly before he took it in a hand and peered down at its contents. With another glance, Maul did as he was told, narrowly catching himself from gagging as it poured down his throat.

"It's a protein mix. It should help bring back some of the strength that the blood loss took away." Obi Wan explained. Unable to help a silent chuckle, he queried, "How does it taste?"

Maul swallowed thickly and sneered down at a half-empty cup, swirling the liquid once and making a face. "…like licking a rancor."

Obi Wan battled off a small grin and sat himself down again, working a hand at his sore neck. "How are you feeling?"

Maul cleared his head enough to glare resentfully. "Positively fantastic." He said huskily.

"I thought you'd died." Obi Wan continued as he leaned back.

"Then you obviously didn't give me enough credit." Maul took another drink before coughing hoarsely. He bent forward with a dry heave, and Obi Wan quickly made a move to stand, only to be dismissed angrily by the waving of Maul's hand. "Stay back…" he warned.

Seeing that Maul had regained apparent control over himself, Obi Wan hesitantly relaxed once more. "I apologize that this has happened." He said sincerely.

Maul opened his mouth and looked to protest, but Obi Wan continued on as though he was welcomed to.

"Yes, I do not need to, I'm quite aware of that." He met Maul's gaze for a moment as though challenging him to have something else to say other than that. When Maul made no reply, Obi Wan nodded. "This situation is my responsibility. If something goes wrong—"

"It is your fault?" Maul finished.

Obi Wan paused, letting a hand hang slightly in the air where he had forgotten what he was doing with it. "In a sense, yes."

Maul snorted a weak laugh and stared out ahead of him, seeming to ignore Obi Wan in favor of personal thoughts. "Please, spare me your nobility for once."

"I'm not being noble. I'm being honest." Obi Wan stated defiantly.

"Then lie." Maul's sarcastic levity was particularly getting under Obi Wan's skin. How could anyone be so ridiculously cynical right after surgery anyway?

"I'll do no such thing." He decided eventually.

"Humor me." Maul demanded next.

Obi Wan studied Maul in slight confusion, wondering why he was behaving so oddly. For once, the Zabrak Sith Lord was not looking, snarling, sneering, or otherwise expressively berating him. He was speaking rather casually, in a joking mood even… Suddenly, Obi Wan realized that this might not be natural indeed. It had definately been under twenty-four hours since Maul had been in the medical ward. This new mood wasn't attributable to a change of heart—he was drugged. Part of Obi Wan laughed in both amusement and intrigue. What better time to query him than when his defenses were down? "Oh very well, My Lord. It was every bit your fault, you should have kept your innards in check." Obi Wan said.

To Obi Wan's shock, Maul laughed outright. It was a strangely unnerving sound. "Yes. That's really more like it…"

Obi Wan thought for a moment and tried to judge how coherent his prisoner was, picking his words carefully. "Might I ask you how you're considering your fate? About negotiating, I mean." he began vaguely.

"I don't consider it." Maul shook his head. "I'm not in charge of it. I don't change it. You should know that. My placement is decided by the Sith when under their hand, and likewise by your order under theirs."

"Surely you know you've got the ability to make things easier for yourself. If not change your fate, at least shift it."

"As do you, but you won't." Maul pointed out, then paused. "And I won't."

"I see…" Obi Wan nodded. He did not see, however. "Well, isn't there anything you want? Anything that could be offered to you? Aside from your freedom, I don't see why other accommodations couldn't be made."

"You will give me my freedom in death. Why should I strive towards anything else?"

Obi Wan scratched his chin, perplexed. "So it's death you really want, is it? …You know Maul…your mortality is on thicker ice than I think you realize."

Maul was quiet, staring at Obi Wan with curiosity.

"Perhaps I was wrong before. Maybe they will not kill you once they see that you refuse to bequeath upon them what they wish to know…You are a valuable piece of this puzzle, after all. Now I know that you will not give them anything no matter the punishment, but they may suppose eternal incarceration could at least give them a fair amount of time to hope that you change your mind at some point. Death will not come swiftly then. It will come with age and wear, and world confined by walls. However, if you were to request execution in exchange for—"

"Pawn." Maul stated abruptly. "Do you know what it is to be a pawn? …I request nothing, I want nothing, I divulge nothing. I have but one function."

"And what is that function?"

"To be as my master places me." He looked down at himself.

"Your master?" Obi Wan feigned ignorance.

"Yes of course…" Maul's tone dropped quietly.

Obi Wan rested his elbows onto the bed in sudden anticipation. "Who is this master, Maul?" he asked carefully.

"Someone you know…someone…close." Maul said mysteriously.

"And…do you know his name?" Obi Wan continued on with a gentle but purposeful interrogation, feeling himself drawing closer to something.

"Of course I do…I'd imagine the entire galaxy knows his name by this point…" Maul rubbed his head, gazing up at the ceiling.

"Who?" Obi Wan prodded. "I must have heard of him too, if everyone else has."

"…His name?" Maul swallowed, pausing as though his head was becoming cloudy.

"Yes. Tell me his name."

Maul turned his head, eerie cattish eyes falling to meet Obi Wan's simply. "Why, Obi Wan Kenobi of course."

Obi Wan stared blankly.

"…He controls me now." Maul nodded, then took a long moment to gaze at the floor. Slowly, his hand released the empty cup he had been holding at his side, where it fell away, and his eyes closed.

Obi Wan sat, and wondered.