Chapter 12: The Sith's Hideaway

Padmé blinked rapidly a few times. Her vision had slowly begun to clear and she was getting her first real glimpse at her surroundings. The room was a dreary gray color. There were no windows so the only light came from dim recessed lighting in the ceiling. The only object in the room at the moment was a small cot shoved in a far corner to her right. There were three doors to this room, one to her left, one to her right, and one behind her. All doors were currently closed except for the one to her left. If she could think of some way to break her bonds, it could be the means of her escape.

Padmé was not sure how long she had been down here, but she knew it had to be a few hours since she had woken up and Sidious had left her. She had periodically tried to wriggle herself, to see if Sidious had released her bonds, but found her attempt futile. She was not overly surprised, she did not think the Sith Lord would be foolish enough to release her bonds and leave a door to the room open. Padmé sighed at the door that was taunting her knowing she was stuck and at the mercy of the Sith Lord.

Suddenly, Padmé heard a sound of the door to her right opening and she jerked slightly in surprise. However, she did not take the time to look and see who was at the door, because she felt the bonds holding her down release. She immediately sprang up and tried to run to the open door on the opposite side of the room. However, before she could reach it she felt invisible hands holding her back as the door closed in front of her.

"Not so fast, Senator. There is no escape. From now on, all doors in here will be locked. They will only be unlocked when myself or one of the medical droids enters. You will no longer remain restrained while down here. You need to be able to move around for your own sake as well as the child's sake. You need to remain active to stay healthy." Sidious explained through Bail Organa. "You also need to eat something." He added as he held a tray of food out in front of her as he approached her from behind.

Padmé did not say anything, but turned her nose up at the food. She had no desire to cooperate with the Sith. As a further show of her defiance she did not turn to look at the Sith but remained standing and staring at the closed door ahead of her.

Sidious smiled at her defiance. Usually he hated her behavior, but he knew he had the upper hand today. She would have to give in. "Come now Senator, your child needs nourishment. You are not only hurting yourself by refusing to eat, you would be endangering the welfare of your child. Could you possibly do that to your child?" Sidious then lowered Bail's voice so that he softly added, "Anakin's child?" Sidious grinned maliciously as he watched Padmé's shoulders slump in defeat. "Yes Senator, now you see your defiance will gain you nothing. You will only end up hurting both your child and your husband. However, if you choose not to eat, I will not complain, I enjoy watching your loved ones suffer."

When Sidious finished, Padmé quickly grabbed the tray of food and took it to one of the left hand corners of the room, away from Bail and the Sith Lord. She sat down resignedly with tears of defeat streaming down her face as she began to nibble on the food before her. Sidious used his control over Organa and forced the Chancellor's body to walk over to her. "Why so sad, Senator?" Sidious mocked her tears. "You are providing a future for Skywalker's child, it will grow to become a strong Sith initiate."

Padmé looked up at the Sith Lord angrily, her eyes glaring at him as the last remnants of her tears clung to her face. At the sight of her damp face, Sidious smiled again, but then he felt a strange sensation. It was as if his presence was being forced out of the Chancellor's body. He tried to think fast as the Chancellor began to kneel down before Padmé and reach one of his hands out to her.

Padmé flinched and drew away when she saw Bail's hand come towards her, but then she heard a soft tone come from his voice, "Padmé, I am sorry. Forgive me."

"Bail?" Padmé asked, noting the sincerity in his tone. "Bail, you have to fight him, don't let Sidious take control. We will lose all we have fought for."

Sidious could feel his control over Bail Organa slip and he growled in anger as he forced himself into the Chancellor's mind once more. "Silence!" Sidious yelled as he regained his control after a brief struggle with Organa's conscious. "Organa is not here, it is only I, Darth Sidious, Dark Lord of the Sith."

"Former Sith Lord." Padmé corrected him.

Bail's eyes flashed yellow as the Sith's anger grew. "For that, Skywalker's child will spend one day being beaten by Force whips. When the child cries out to know his or her punishment I will be sure he or she knows it was because of their mother's behavior."

"Anakin will find me before that day comes." Padmé replied firmly although she pressed a hand to her abdomen as if to protect her unborn child.

Sidious grinned maliciously making Bail's features twist grotesquely as he said, "Yes, Senator he will, but you shall be dead and your child will belong to me."

"He will find me, he will know where to look."

Sidious cackled, this time the eerie sound could be heard outside Bail's body as it echoed against the walls. "Your husband has no idea where you are Senator. You are several feet under the Senate building in a catacomb built by myself. Your husband may have been my apprentice, but he never knew about this tunnel. Even Sith must be deceitful to one another to ensure their survival."

Padmé wanted to say, "Well you certainly succeeded in survival." However, she held back the sarcastic retort as the fear that Anakin did not know of this place took hold.

Sidious could see the fear in Padmé's eyes. He could not feel it through the Force because of the ysalamiri serum coursing through her veins, but he sighed blissfully as he imagined its feeling. "Yes Senator, you are quite safe from your husband's detection here. Now, I will leave you to finish your meal. A droid will be in later to give you another dose of ysalamiri. I must leave to attend to matters above ground. You should be happy to know that your husband is looking for you. I suspect I will be questioned about your whereabouts and I will be most pleased to lead him astray. I will relish watching him crumble with your absence and his eventual destruction with your death." With this last sneering statement, Sidious turned Bail's body around and stalked out of the door he had come from, his senatorial robes swaying as he moved.


Padmé pushed the tray of food off her lap and to her side. She was not hungry at the moment. She dropped her face into her hands and tried to hold back the desperate sobs that were trying to release. Her situation was looking more and more serious. If the Sith Lord was telling the truth and Anakin had no knowledge of this location, there was little hope for her. Where would Anakin even begin looking? With the ysalamiri serum running through her, he would not be able to find her or the baby in the Force and would have to follow other leads that would most likely be manipulated by the Sith.

She had little hope with the ysalamiri serum. With this thought, Padmé's eyes began to leak silent tears as she weakly called out, "Anakin, what can I do?"

Padmé began to weep is despair, but then almost instantly she remembered part of what Sidious had said before leaving. "A droid will be in later to give you another dose of ysalamiri." Another dose would only be required if the ysalamiri effects wore off over time. If she could find a way to delay the droid, perhaps she could help Anakin find her.

Looking around the room shrewdly, Padmé scanned the bare room trying to come up with a strategy in what little time she had until the droid would enter the room. Her tears ended and a look of determination crossed her face as a plan came to her.