Author: TemporaryUniverse
WC: 3,832 (30,472 Total)

A.N. If you're worried... I promise it's going to be okay.

TW: violence, assumed character death

Obi-Wan curled up as best he could in his chair. It had been a week since Empire Day, and the execution of Sia-Lan and Dorn, and Sidious had done nothing more than force him to kneel silently beside his throne as he spoke with the Imperial commanders, discussing the subjugation of various worlds and the hunt for Jedi fugitives.

He could feel the Sith in his mind at all times, lurking but never invading as he had when the bond was first established. Obi-Wan didn't know what he was waiting for. It would be easy for him to invade his thoughts and memories, to tear him apart from the inside and bend him to his will, but Sidious seemed content with letting things stay as they were. It unnerved him.

He kept his shields up as strong as he could make them.

The sound of the door opening made Obi-Wan's head shoot up and he froze when he saw the two people standing there.

"It is you," Ahsoka choked out. Obi-Wan was out of his chair in an instant, stumbling a bit, and then their arms were wrapped around each other. The tips of her montrals made her taller than him now, and he held her tighter as she buried her face in his shoulder.

His head spun because Ahsoka was alive and she was here. Why? How? It didn't look like she had been captured, but Rex was standing behind her. Rex, whose half-old and half-new armor was still painted and who felt like himself instead of the blank slate the stormtroopers were.

"Master Obi-Wan, it's so good to see you," his former Grandpadawan said, as they released each other.

You, too. Thought you were dead, he signed in Galactic Sign Language. Ahsoka blinked and tilted her head.

"I'm sorry, I don't understand."

Frowning, he tapped his temple, pointed to her, and then drew a line across his throat. It took her a moment but then comprehension dawned on her face.

"No, Rex and I made it out. I took his chip out and we escaped before the ship crashed."

C-H-I-P, he fingerspelled, making an inquisitive expression.

"Control chips, sir. In our brains. They forced us to follow orders," Rex said, still standing in the doorway. Obi-Wan turned to him.

You know G-S-L?

"Just fingerspelling, sir. Cody's the one who studied it."

Cody! Obi-Wan slipped around Rex and crouched next to one of the troopers on the floor outside his room.

"General?" Rex asked, and then gasped when Obi-Wan removed the trooper's helmet. "Is that Cody?"

Obi-Wan nodded, checking Cody's pulse and finding it strong. He sent a Force suggestion to keep him asleep, then looked up at Rex.

Carry him? He spelled. Need to go.

"Yeah, I've got him, sir."

Follow me. He pointed so that Ahsoka would understand and they set off.

Obi-Wan glanced back at Cody on Rex's shoulder and clenched his jaw.

Chips. It explained so much. He'd listened to Cody's concerns about them before, his worries that if the chip failed, he would become violent and try to kill Obi-Wan, like that one trooper had killed Master Tiplar. They should have looked into it more. They shouldn't have trusted the Kaminoans to tell them the truth.

The Jedi's blindness had failed the clones.

He shook his head to clear it. It was in the past.

He led Rex and Ahsoka through the halls, ducking into rooms and alcoves to dodge patrols and doing their best to stay out of sight.

"Where are we going, Master?" Ahsoka asked. "This isn't the way out."

Pick up someone first, he replied. She glanced at Rex for a translation. He was glad neither of them asked about his silence, or his cybernetics, although he could feel their concern.

"He said there was someone else we need to pick up."

"Who?"

Padmé, Obi-Wan replied.

"Senator Amidala is here?" Rex asked, surprise coloring his tone. Obi-Wan nodded.

"Alright, let's go get her," Ahsoka said, and Obi-wan's lips twitched in a smile at her familiar conviction. He'd missed her.

They made it to Padmé's rooms without being spotted, and he and Ahsoka knocked out the guards quickly and quietly.

Padmé was on the couch with Luke and Leia and she looked up when he entered.

"Obi-Wan?" He gave her a quick smile and stepped aside, revealing the Togruta. "Ahsoka!"

"Padmé," she greeted warmly.

"I assume you're here to rescue us, then?" Padmé asked, stepping forward into a hug.

"We actually didn't know you were here," Ahsoka said apologetically. "We saw Master Obi-Wan on the broadcast and came for him. What about Anakin? Is he here, too?"

Obi-Wan flinched, turning his gaze to the floor, and felt Padmé glance at him. His hands balled into fists by his sides.

"Anakin…" Padmé cleared her throat. "Anakin is dead."

Ahsoka's face fell and Obi-Wan could feel her devastation seeping out under her shields.

"…How? How did he…?"

Padmé spared another brief glance at Obi-Wan. He saw movement out of the corner of his eye and resolutely didn't look. He couldn't face a hallucinated Anakin right now.

"He… Fell to the Dark Side, Ahsoka," she said. "He led the attack on the Temple. He tried to kill me and Obi-Wan."

"That's impossible. Anakin wouldn't." Her shock in the Force was like a physical blow, followed closely by denial, even though she could tell they weren't lying. "He wouldn't. He was a good person. He—"

I killed him, Obi-Wan signed sharply. He didn't have to fingerspell with Padmé here.

"What? What did he say?" Ahsoka asked Padmé.

"Obi-Wan killed him." She at least said it steadier than Obi-Wan would have. They had talked about it, sometimes, and Padmé told him she didn't blame him. It was only partly a lie. Her emotions betrayed her.

"Why?" Ahsoka recoiled from him, pain and confusion written across her face.

I saw the Temple. No one was spared, Obi-Wan replied, Padmé translating for him. He knelt before Sidious and called him Master, he added and ignored how he had done the same.

Ahsoka gaped for a moment, looking more like a Mon Calamari than a Togruta. Obi-Wan couldn't look her in the eye.

We need to go, he said instead, knowing they needed to move soon if they were to get out.

"What's the plan?" Padmé asked.

We'll have to split up, Obi-Wan signed. I can draw them away. They might think you're still with me.

"Obi-Wan, we can't leave without you." Padmé didn't translate for him this time, making the conversation between the two of them. Ahsoka and Rex watched silently.

I still haven't found the tracker. You aren't getting out of here if I'm with you. Normally, an implanted tracker would be easy for a Jedi to find and disable with the Force. But Sidious had been clever and placed it somewhere in Obi-Wan's braces, where he couldn't sense it under the rest of the electronics. He didn't have Anakin's aptitude for mechanics.

"Obi-Wan—" She protested.

Think about Luke and Leia. They can't grow up here, Padmé. He still didn't know what Sidious' plan for them was, but he knew it was nothing good. Anakin's children didn't deserve to grow up in the Darkness. They would never know their father, but he could still give them a good life.

"He'll kill you."

Quite possibly.

Padmé looked up at him with tears in her eyes.

"I don't want to lose you, too, Obi-Wan. I want Luke and Leia to know their uncle."

It's okay. As long as you're safe, I can accept whatever happens. Protecting you and the twins is all that matters. He was just making up for his mistakes.

He stared her down, determination in the furrow of his brow and the set of his jaw, until she finally bowed her head.

"Okay."

He nodded and turned to their rescuers.

"…Master Obi-Wan?" Ahsoka said. He finally met her compassionate blue eyes and felt frozen in place by them. "I don't blame you." He turned and she reached out to touch his arm. "I don't. I know you loved him."

Obi-Wan felt the tears and closed his eyes. He reached out with the Force, brushing against her mind, and sent her a wave of gratitude and affection.

"I love you, too," he meant.

Her lips quirked in a wry grin.

"Right back at'cha, Master."

"I don't mean to interrupt," Rex said, "But we should go."

"Right," Ahsoka agreed. "Master Obi-Wan had a plan, but I missed what it was."

Padmé explained and Ahsoka immediately started shaking her head.

"We came to get you out, Master."

Unless you can find a way to get my tracker out… I can't leave, Ahsoka. He didn't want to mention the bond, the other reason he couldn't escape. Sidious' hold on him was absolute.

"I'll go with you," Rex said, his hand tightening on his blaster. "I can—"

Obi-Wan shook his head. Protect them, he practically begged, fingerspelling so he could be sure Rex understood.

"General—"

Please.

Rex gave in.

Take the northwest exit by where the Reconciliation Mural used to be. Ahsoka knows the one, but Sidious doesn't. He hesitated, then signed, May the Force be with you.

Obi-Wan snuck through the halls of the Temple, halls he knew intimately, even though they looked different now. Sidious hadn't changed much of the layout, just repurposed rooms and redecorated, the warm, inviting spaces filled with light and art transformed into harsh angles and austere walls.

Given the sheer size of the Temple, there were about twenty entrances in total, not counting the hangars. Many of them were secret, known only to the Jedi, like the one Ahsoka would take. Obi-Wan, though, was making his way towards the north service entrance, far enough away from where the others were headed to draw attention away from them, but close enough to Padmé's rooms that it wouldn't be suspicious.

He was still avoiding patrols. Until the alarm sounded, he would assume their escape had not been noticed yet. He would keep it that way as long as possible. He kept moving. A few minutes later, he ducked behind a corner as a squad of troopers marched by.

"Blasters set to stun," the commander called. "The Emperor wants them alive."

Time was up.

He let the next patrol see him for a split second, just enough for them to give chase, but hopefully think he wasn't alone. He moved as fast as his legs would let him through the halls, trying to stay barely ahead of the troopers. He was almost to the door.

Obi-Wan made it into the antechamber that led to the exit and skidded to a halt. The twenty troopers in front of him raised their blasters. He looked back over his shoulder to see ten more approaching from behind. Taking a deep breath, he ignited his lightsaber, trying not to cringe at the red glow. He just needed to buy time.

"Fire!"

He whirled his saber about himself, deflecting stun bolt after stun bolt, ducking and weaving so that the clones would fire on each other. With a wave of the Force, he slammed several troopers into a wall, knocking them unconscious. He spun and sliced through a few blaster barrels. He couldn't bring himself to kill any of them, not now that he knew about the chips.

The smell of blasterfire filled the air, reminding him intimately of past battlefields, fighting alongside his troops. But now he was fighting against them.

He slowly brought the fight closer to the exit. He knocked more clones out, deflected more bolts, spun and twirled and sliced, and yet for every trooper he downed, another stepped forward. More were arriving, so at least he knew the plan was working, but he was tiring quickly, his stamina still not what it used to be.

It was inevitable. One of the bolts slipped past his defense, hitting him in the chest. Things went fuzzy after that.

When his senses returned to him, the clones were dragging him through the halls, in the direction of the throne room.

They brought him before Sidious and made him kneel, a trooper on either side. One of them had his saber on their belt.

"Welcome back, Obi-Wan," the Sith said. There was a smile on his face that made Obi-Wan wary. "A valiant attempt, but we've been here before. Were the consequences of the last time not effective enough for you?"

Obi-Wan lifted his chin. Padmé and Cody were gone, he didn't have to worry about protecting them anymore. He had done what he needed to and he would not regret it, no matter what retribution Sidious would inflict.

Sidious stood and approached him, pulling something from his robe. He held it out and Obi-Wan could see that it was a handheld holoprojector. "This ship took off two minutes ago. It was shot down by Imperial enforcers."

Obi-Wan watched the ship in the image rise, and then watched a small object streak towards it and the resulting explosion that blew it apart in a catastrophic ball of fire.

Confused, he looked searchingly up at Sidious for an explanation.

"That was the ship carrying Padmé Amidala, Ahsoka Tano, and her clone friends."

Obi-Wan's heart stopped.

No. They couldn't… they couldn't be dead. Sidious was lying. He had to be. Obi-Wan closed his eyes, reaching out through the Force, hoping…

He found nothing but Darkness.

NO!

Obi-Wan had lost the last of his family, mere minutes since they had been reunited. Ahsoka, Rex, Cody, Padmé, and Luke and Leia. Gone in a fiery instant. He didn't even feel their deaths. Obi-Wan had failed them.

The image of the ship exploding played behind his eyelids, over and over.

He was distantly aware he was shaking, grief and rage burning through his entire body. Sidious' smile was blurry through the haze of tears that streamed down his cheeks. An awful noise escaped him, a scream fed by utter despair. Something inside him shattered. It felt like his heart.

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see objects and people being blown away, crashing into walls. The troopers next to him went flying. He lifted his hand, the Force responding eagerly to his call. In his grip, he could feel the delicate structures of muscle, bone, and cartilage. Could crush them so easily.

Sidious was laughing even as he choked, suspended in mid-air, his cackle echoing in Obi-Wan's ears, and he clenched his fingers tighter, needing it to stop.

"Obi-Wan, no!"

He ignored Qui-Gon, months of pain and suppressed emotion drowning him out. He was going to kill him, just like he deserved, and if Obi-Wan lost himself doing it then it wasn't as though he had anything left to live for, anyway. Everyone he loved was dead.

A pulse of the Force from Sidious freed him from Obi-Wan's hold and made him fall back. He righted himself and snarled, feeling power surge through him like wildfire in his veins, his hands tingling with it.

He hated Sidious.

"That's it," Sidious hissed, "Embrace your anger. Let the Force free you."

Obi-Wan summoned his saber off the trooper's belt and launched himself at the Sith with a cry. Their blades met in a clash of red, Obi-Wan on the offensive in a reversal of their usual fights. Fights which Sidious always won. Well, not this time. This time, Obi-Wan wouldn't stop until the Sith's head was severed from his shoulders.

They traded blows too fast for the naked eye to see, the battle raging across the entire room as Sidious flipped and spun and Obi-Wan doggedly pursued him.

"Good," Sidious taunted, his voice a purr, low and dangerous. "Use your hatred, Obi-Wan. Strike me down. Like you struck down your Padawan." Obi-Wan responded with an overhead slash, followed by one to the hip, both of which Sidious deflected. He continued his attack, driving the Sith back with his furious offense although he couldn't score a hit.

The duel stretched on, neither of them gaining the upper hand, although Obi-Wan could feel himself tiring and Sidious only seemed to be growing more powerful. He stoked the fire burning in his heart, let the flames of anger and hatred flare brighter and fill him with strength.

Their blades locked, Obi-Wan bearing down on his opponent. Sidious smiled, and with a push, their situations flipped, the Sith pressing down on him. The tempo of the fight suddenly reversed, with Sidious driving Obi-Wan back, the force of his blows sending shockwaves down Obi-Wan's arms. Control of the battle slipped from his fingers, if he'd ever had it in the first place, and it was all he could do to desperately parry the lightning-fast strikes.

Sidious was laughing again, wild and malevolent as Obi-Wan stumbled, crying out under the onslaught. He slid away from a thrust, blocked a slash, turned aside a jab. They clashed in another saber lock, the Sith forcing him down with a single-handed grip while Obi-Wan struggled against him with a two-handed one. He shoved Sidious off and retreated to give himself some space.

"Giving up already?"

Obi-Wan clenched his jaw, narrowed his eyes, and threw himself at the Sith again. They traded more blows, and Obi-Wan nearly broke through Sidious' guard, but a Force push sent him sliding back a couple meters. He didn't hesitate to rush in once more. Sidious met him with a vicious grin, the red glow of their sabers sharpening the edges of it.

It only took one mistake for him to end up on the floor, his saber knocked from his grip. Sidious' lightsaber hummed under his chin, close enough to blister his neck. He glared up at the Sith, panting slightly, the anger still burning a hole in his chest.

Sidious extinguished the saber, his piercing yellow-red eyes watching him. He felt their bond stir, the serpent uncoiling, ready to strike, and he braced himself…

The Sith tore into his mind, Darkness flooding every corner, sinking in teeth and claws. He screamed, clutching at his head.

"Submit."

The pressure was crushing, and he was unable to withstand it, his very self being ripped apart. Undone. The last stubborn bits of Light, the dregs of his hope, everything that made him Obi-Wan, crumpled and ground into dust.

He submitted.

He opened his eyes with tears on his cheeks.

"Kneel before your Master."

He pushed himself to his knees, head bowed.

"Henceforth, you shall be known as Darth Dicentis."

He closed his eyes, accepting.

Sidious had taken everything from him. His legs, his voice, his family. His mind and body had been invaded, broken down into a tool to be used whenever and however the Sith wanted, molded to serve. He had Fallen. He had failed.

He had nothing left to lose.

His Master turned toward his throne.

Obi-Wan breathed in, and then out.

He stood, reaching out a hand for his saber. The moment it hit his hand, he ignited it and lunged. Sidious was already spinning, bringing his blade up to meet the strike. He cackled.

"Do I already have to teach you another lesson, Dicentis? You cannot possibly hope to defeat me," he jabbed at him, both with his words and his saber.

Obi-Wan stepped forward into the blow, the same move he had used on Anakin, and for a split second, Sidious' eyes widened, right before Obi-Wan cleaved through his neck. The Sith's head fell back, hitting the ground with a sick thud, and the body toppled after it, lightsaber extinguishing as it left limp fingers. Obi-Wan felt something in his mind snap. He stood there, panting, an odd numbness settling over him. His legs wobbled. He stumbled back a step and they gave out on him entirely. He had just enough presence of mind to turn off his lightsaber before he sliced his own leg off.

There was a buzzing in his head as he lay there, staring vacantly up at the ceiling.

It was over. Sidious was dead. And, he thought, feeling the pain in his gut, he had once again been stabbed by a Sith while killing them.

Sidious was dead. The Sith were gone, all except himself. Wasn't that how it went though? The Apprentice killing the Master? He let out a humorless chuckle and regretted it as the pain went from dull to excruciating. Maybe now he would finally die. He would welcome it.

"Qui-Gon?" He asked through the Force. He'd shut him out earlier, in his rage. His Master must be so disappointed in him, for giving into it. For embracing the Dark Side.

Sidious was dead, but Obi-Wan had still let him win.

There was no answer and his breath hitched, tears filling his eyes, not quite spilling over.

"Master?" He asked again, mental voice shaky and weak.

"I'm here, Obi-Wan. I'm with you," Qui-Gon said. Obi-Wan sobbed with relief.

"I can't see you."

"You hurt our connection when you shut me out, Padawan. It will take time to heal."

"Oh. Will I see you when I die?" He could feel the end coming, his breath dragging in his lungs, uneven and shallow, the blackness creeping in along the edges of his consciousness.

"You're not dying anytime soon. Ahsoka is coming. You just need to hold on a little longer." That didn't make sense.

"Ahsoka is dead," he reminded his Master.

"She's not. Sidious lied to you. She's coming back for you, just hold on." Ahsoka was alive? Good. Did that mean the others were, too? If they had made it out, then Obi-Wan had succeeded. His purpose fulfilled. Sidious was dead, they were free. He didn't need to stay.

"I don't want to," he whimpered. "Master, please, I don't want to. Just let me die."

"Don't give up now, Obi-Wan. You've survived this long," Qui-Gon said, imploring.

"Please." He felt something warm and bright settle over his wound and heart. After so long in the dark, with only the weak light inside him, it burned. "No. Don't. Please."

Why wouldn't Qui-Gon let him rest? He was so tired.

"You need to live. Luke and Leia still need you."

Obi-Wan shook his head weakly, tears slipping from his eyes.

"Why would they? They don't need a crippled failure who Fell to the Dark Side." He deserved to die. He had deserved it a year ago on Mustafar, and he had deserved it with every moment he slid closer to the Dark.

"You can heal from this. You can still be there for them," the ghost of his Master insisted.

"—ster Obi-Wan!" He blinked open his eyes to find Ahsoka's face hovering above him. Worried, panicked, but alive. Alive. "Stay with me, Master. Please."

"It's going to be okay, Padawan," Qui-Gon said. He was still pouring energy into him, staving off his death. "Stay alive."

He couldn't bear to refuse his Master and Grandpadawan.

"Okay," Obi-Wan promised.

And then he closed his eyes.

A.N. DING DONG THE WITCH IS DEAD.
Don't worry, everyone else is not. Sidious is just a lying bastard.

me: I don't like Dark Obi fics that much, it's just not something I'll ever write. I just don't think it's that realistic, y'know.
also me: *writes this fic*
Honestly, though, this only sort of falls under Dark Obi-Wan. Yes, he's Fallen, and yes, he has a Sith name, but he didn't Fall like Anakin did. There's a way back for him. The only person he's killed while a Sith is Sidious. The next step would of course have been for him to kill innocents and cement himself as a Sith, but now Sidious is dead and that will never happen.
Things are finally going to start looking better for Obi-Wan. I just had to completely break him first.

Thank you for reading!