Chapter 16 – 'We all have things we won't forget.' (ISB-Agent Kallus)
"You know…" Han's voice suddenly said very close and Luke pushed out from under the lid of the engine of the x-wing. "I've been thinking."
"…That sounds comforting." Luke says with a short smirk and steps away from the engine. Han is leaning up against the x-wing like he owns it. 'You wish' Luke thought with a bigger smile creeping up on his face and he threw a look at the millennium Falcon at the other end of the hall. There was no reasonable explanation why that things still held together, but fly it did, somehow.
He had long suspected that the major explanation for that was Chewie.
"You don't look much like a Jedi." Han said suddenly, he gave Luke a searching look, and sighed like he was disappointed.
'What?' Luke thought but didn't get enough time to put words to the thought before Han continued louder than before.
"And aren't they all supposed to be old wrinkled guys?"
"Han are you serious-" Luke could feel his left eye starting to twitch as visible sign of his astonishment.
"And wearing those smelly robes, like the old man-"
"Did you really just come all the way down here to insult me?" Luke says with a crooked smile of his own with a little more edge to it. Leia temper must be rubbing off on him. He wipes his hands on an oil-stained cloth. It is so cold that Luke really wants to wrap it around his hands rather than put it down on the box. "Or are you just hiding from Chewie?"
Luke knew Han was a good pilot, great even, but the Millennium Falcon always seemed to return a little worse off than it had been on departure. It had given Luke a great respect for Chewie's skill as an engineer. Nothing less than a master at the craft would keep that old scrapheap in the air.
"Ouch, kid." Han fakes looking hurt so badly that it takes all of Luke's limited Jedi training not to bark out a laugh. Han's grin gets even more crooked and he lifts his hands in mock surrender "I was only asking."
Luke taps his fingers on the box a few times, unsure how to answer. Han always seems to know what to say and Luke would rather spare himself any debates with the smuggler. He was tired of always losing them.
"It didn't smell that bad-"
Han raised an eyebrow
"…Yeah okay, it was a little… worn." Luke relented. He had liked Ben, but the robe was old and it showed. "Han, is there a point to this? because right now I cannot see it." He crosses his arms over his chest and appeared impatient, but secretly grateful for the distraction.
He was bored out of his mind! He had not thought there existed a planet in the galaxy that was more boring than Tatooine. Then they had found Hoth, and Luke had found himself corrected.
The constant danger of frostbite aside it was a planet filled with snow and little else. Nothing to do and nothing to see. One of these days he might even try to borrow one of the tautauns, no matter how much they smelled, just to get out of the base for a while. He was starting to go stir crazy.
"Just stumbled on this." Han said and pulled out something he had hidden on his back. "I know you can't really use it here, but we won't stick around forever in this ice cube." He threw it to Luke that just managed to uncross his arms in time to catch it. It was a large piece of black cloth. He looked back at Han that just grinned like he just stumbled upon an inexperienced first time criminal with a huge coin purse.
'Then Luke unfolded the thing and realized what it was. "This is a-"
"Couldn't find it in brown, but black looks cooler anyway." Han said with a nervous gesture while watching Luke's reaction out of the corner of his eyes. "The ladies like it too."
Han had given him a Jedi robe.
"Where did you even find this?!"
"Hey, smuggler here." He opened his hands in front of him with his palms out in a wide casual gesture. "It's a secret of the trade. I can't just tell people how I do my job."
"But why-" Luke held the robe close to himself, the warmth from it folded tightly against his chest that seemed to chase the cold completely away. He looked down, he brushed the dark cloth with his thumb and swallowed thickly.
A Jedi robe.
His Jedi robe.
The impact of it, and the thoughtfulness behind it left him grasping for words when he looked back at Han, but Han seemed to understand anyway, because his smile was suddenly very soft.
"Well you won't listen to sense will you? And if you want to be a one of those religious types so bad you might as well look the part."
"… it's called a Jedi, Han." Luke said, mildly insulted, but there was no sting to his words when he pulled the cloak up for closer inspection.
There was a sudden lightness to his heart that he could not explain and he could not suppress his wide smile if he tried.
"Sure." Han said and grinned. "Happy birthday, kid."
::::
"I am not worried Anakin. I have complete faith in you and your abilities." Palpatine said and watched the Jedi make a small nod and ended the call. The blue light of the holocom faded and left the room darker in the faded light he preferred in his office when it was this late.
He leaned back in the chair and the soft padding convinced his strained muscles to finally relax. It had been too long since he had been in combat, but he still shouldn't feel this exhausted after such a short battle.
But in his defence this had been an… eventful day.
The plan had been a great risk, he knew that when he arranged his own kidnapping, but the reward had been too great to pass up. If successful, he would have finally started the end game. Instead he had not accomplished anything at all, because a new player had entered the game.
Someone who knew and controlled the dark side of the force.
Palpatine turned the chair around and looked out over the city he had known for a long time would be his, for the last year it had seemed like a scripted inevitability and one he had looked forward to. Now it seemed his ambition had run away with him and another obstacle to his ultimate goal had blindsided him.
If the chosen one had not acted in his defence, then this game he had been planning for over half his life would have ended pitifully. Pitifully and unknown. He was still unsure which one of those were the most distasteful to him.
He placed the glass back on the table and the reddish liquid shifted softly back and forth in the glass before it finally stilled. Palpatine looked out over the city's many lights as his mind ran through the possible motives of this new enemy. The answer eluded him because the few clues he had led in opposite directions.
Vader knew who Palpatine was under his guise. It was a luxury Palpatine did not share as he knew nothing of Vader before the moment when he sliced off Dooku's head.
The enemy, this Vader, was a Sith but that in itself was impossible. There could not still be any Sith left in the galaxy. Palpatine had personally seen to that he was the only one and before his master had been notorious for nurturing the rule of two. It was one of the few things that still made Palpatine think fondly of his old master.
It meant that Palpatine had a lot less enemies to deal with now.
But then apparently, there was someone that his master had missed because, out of nowhere, comes this new Sith called Vader and the infuriation question of 'who' he was still remained unanswered.
He tapped a finger thoughtfully on the surface of the table, lost in thought. Vader had been too close too many times, but it was obvious that the man was not a Sith lord. Judging from his use of the force and his lack of technique he was an Sith apprentice at best.
The humiliation of almost being killed by someone so unworthy made his jaw tighten in anger. But it also presented another problem. Because if Vader was the apprentice, that would mean that Vader had a master lurking out there in the galaxy.
A Sith lord was a powerful enemy, and this one already knew who Palpatine was.
It was the real problem now that Vader had revealed himself. Sidious had complete faith that Anakin would take care of Vader for him. A smile crept up on his lips at the irony of that setup.
This unknown Sith lord should know better to send his poorly trained apprentice when Sidious' own apprentice was far more capable and far more powerful.
Calmed by this thought Sidious indulges and allows himself another sip of the drink that burns comfortably all the way down his throat.
Then he almost chocked on it when the holocom on his table signalled an incoming call.
Sidious coughed, the burn of the drink stung and wetted his eyes. He drew in a hissing breath and spat out the rest on the floor. He cleared his throat, forced the unnatural open and welcoming expression on his face, until he sees who was calling.
He sets the holocom to voice-display only and answers the call.
"Grievous."
:::
Anakin watches with hard-fought patience as Rex picks up the binders from a trash can. He could not even bring himself to be disappointed. It was like a part of him has expected this outcome. He could feel that Vader had been here recently because his presence still hung in the air, but it was nothing more than the weakest of imprints.
He doubted he could follow it.
There was also a spike in the force that signalled that some demonstration of power had happened, but it had occurred without marking the force with the cold touch of death. 'Maybe Vader is becoming unstable?' Anakin thought. The Sith was using a dangerous technique.
He sighed despite himself but it did not relieve the tension in his shoulders. The Chancellor had taken the news of his failure very graciously, and it made the guilt of failing in catching Vader feel even heavier. It was also the reminder he needed. Vader had shown a determination not to kill anyone in all of the battles Anakin had faced him, but with one notable exception.
Palpatine.
"So they are working together then." Anakin says when he sees that the binders are undamaged. He was surprised inwardly how much sting there still was to that realization. He would never have thought that Fives of all people would turn on his brothers, on the republic.
"Or Vader took them from him." Rex answered like Anakin knew he would and there was more hurt than anger in that tone.
"You believe that?" he found himself asking, secretly hoping that Rex's could come up with a plausible explanation for this. He had liked Fives. He did not want to discover that his friendship had been a lie.
"Fives wasn't in his right mind. He clearly under the effect of… something" Rex continued, but it looked more like he was trying to convince himself rather that Anakin "You know him, sir. Would he ever side with a Sith against his brothers?"
"If you asked me that question yesterday the answer would be clear… but now?" He sighs. "I don't know Rex, you saw what he acted like." His foot catches on something hard as stone and he looks down. The strange object looked like melted metal. He crooks his head at it.
'Is that a blaster?' he thinks and barely has the thought registered before he realizes the truth of it. He shares a look with Rex then nods.
"Seems they had a discussion." Rex says like it proves something, Anakin does not let his doubt show but he remembers clearly what Fives had tried to do to earn the warrant on his capture. As a detective, he could not believe that Vader's attempt at Palpatine life, that happened on the exact same day!, was a mere coincidence.
There were no coincidences.
"Orders, sir?"
"They are still on foot and won't have gotten far." He said with a certainty given by the force. "Set up patrols to lock down the area."
:::
It was a battle in itself for Luke not to look back. He knew that his father was there, not far behind him. It was so hard to convince himself to continue because the urge to turn around and try to make Anakin understand what was happening was almost overpowering.
But Anakin would not understand.
There was a heavy lock on the words that Luke needed to say to explain all of this and without them, Anakin would either think him a fool or a mad man…
He shook his head to himself and instead he followed this stranger this… Fives… into the labyrinth of smaller alleys and pathways slim enough that if he had found himself in the wilds he would have called them part of a hunter's trail. They were certainly not used often given all the discarded things he had to sidestep.
He strode down the darkened alley, following close after his new and unexpected guide. Fives had made it clear that they should not stick around and wait for the search party that he knew would be coming.
He didn't argue Fives point, because, despite his desperate wish to reason with Anakin in his heart he knew it was impossible, and he was not sure he could beat Anakin and his soldiers a second time. It was more luck than skill that had gotten him out of that situation the first time around.
At that thought he glanced briefly at Fives walking ahead of him. An ally that had been as unexpected as it had been welcome. He brushed a hand over his forehead and breathed in deeply.
This game had just gotten more complicated that he had thought previously. He had only come here to put an end to Sidious in the most direct way possible. But what was the point of killing Sidious, if someone else could just pick up whatever remote that controlled those chips and ordered the republic's entire army to kill the Jedi anyway?
If what he had just discovered had been done in the true past, then it was this order that killed off the entire Jedi order along with any hope the galaxy had for a peaceful future.
'Those chips… why had no one known before?' Luke thought. 'How can something so big just be hidden like that?' And how could the soldiers afterwards look themselves in the mirror knowing they had committed genocide. Killed their friends and allies in cold blood.
He rested his eyes a moment longer at Fives' tense back and then turned his attention behind them and the force he had spread out to watch out for the wolves at their heels.
He could not be angry with them, he realized. The clone troopers were as much the victims as the Jedi. He knew very well what it was like to carry the responsibility of having taken a life. It was not a burden he would wish on anyone.
Water splashed his boots when he passed a puddle he didn't try to step over. The boots were already ruined anyway. He cast a look at Fives that silently pointed down yet another dark alley. Apart from their steps, the silence was so thick that it felt like a physical pressure in the air.
Luke had not expected to find an even more forceless place than the alley he dragged the trooper into, but he found himself macabrely impressed with the state of this place.
He had seen more welcoming tombs.
He again tested the surface thoughts of Fives but found no deception. Still, it made Luke's skin crawl to trust someone other than himself especially given the circumstances. The chips were an event he had not foreseen.
Who knew how many knew the trigger to the chips, whatever it was, that made the troopers obey any command?
Even if he did manage to kill Sidious in time, would his father instead die by some cruel twist of fate in combat against another enemy? And even if he didn't then there was a great chance that the empire would come to exist anyway, just with another sitting on the throne.
…this was… a complication he did not need. He brushed his hand against the still aching arm, his finger brushed the black cloth. Back in his own time he had come to like the colour because it gave him anonymity when he needed it. But wouldn't it stick out like a sore thumb if he even got near the Jedi temple.
He might as well hold a sign over his head with the letters 'very suspicious person!' written on it.
He curled his fingers in the cloth, sapping the comfort it gave him and pulled the hood to cover his face more as they climbed another flight of stairs and a pair walked past them followed by a lone figure that ducked his head when Fives turned to look.
Luke pretended he hadn't seen them and kept his silence under the hood. He liked the security of anonymity it gave him, and it had also turned him from 'farm boy' into a Jedi in the eyes of others in his own time.
He scoffed at the memory of it and the boy he used to be. He had wanted so much to be… something… anything in those days. To be somebody that people would listen to and when Obi-Wan came out of blue and told him that he was 'chosen' and meant for so much more. Luke did not hesitate for one moment.
He knew better now. As painful as it was to admit to himself… he should never have left Tatooine. There was nothing out in this galaxy that he needed to see.
He pulled at the hood again when it started to slide back and kept his fingers on the coarse wool a moment longer than needed. He was grateful for it and the anonymity it provided in these streets, even if it still made him cringe to see his own refection in the store windows after-.
'Store windows?-' He cut the thought off and stops. 'Where were they?'
This was no rich area, but it was not poor either. Somewhere during Luke's thoughts, Fives had lead him out of the slums. Or beginning to at any rate. Fives had walked almost twenty steps before he noticed Luke had stopped.
"What?" Fives asked. He still felt genuine and honest through the force, but there was something nibbling at the edges. Something dark.
Luke retreated into his cloak, wrapping it tighter around him and eyeing the surroundings.
"Where are we going?" He asked. Before he had simply thought they had chosen any direction that lead 'away' as fast as possible. Now it seemed Fives had a destination in mind.
Luke straitened his spine at the same time his distrust curled in on itself inside him. It was an old and ugly little thing that twisted around itself, but it had served him well in the pasts years.
"I told you before. A safe place." Fives not-answered the question. "It is only a little further ahead-"
"No." If one could dig their heel into hard pavement, that was exactly what Luke would do.
"It is only a –"
"No." Luke let the word stand on its own.
Fives made a quick motion like he was chewing on the words he wanted to say then he closed the distance between them after a quick look on a small group of people that passed by. When Fives next spoke, his voice was lowered into a whisper. "What is the problem all of a sudden?"
"This is not the way to the senate." He decided to say honestly, he was never a good diplomat and any desire to pursue that path had died a violent death years ago.
"…The Senate? We are not going there right now. The security level would be as high as it can get after today. Going there now would be suicide." Fives says with clear irritation discolouring the careful blank mask that had hidden the intense disgust Luke had felt coming from him during the entire walk. "We need to get off the streets as soon as possible and lay low."
It sounded reasonable and Fives looked like he knew what he was talking about.
But Luke was too stubborn just to let it go and the distrust still ghosted at the forefront of his mind. He had trusted before and been punished for it more times than he cared to admit.
"Out of the question." He said and brushed Fives reasoning aside. "Nala Se would be a fool not to destroy the chips after she learns you escaped." Luke said and made a gesture that indicated the trooper. "I will not waste time by hiding like a coward."
"Look, I agreed to this because I thought we were better off together than alone." Fives said, he sounded like a commander Luke once knew. He was a man with a strict facade but it had turned out once Luke got to know him, that he had cared a lot more than he let on. The man had died in the field two days after Luke finally learned his first name.
Luke didn't really care much for first names after that.
"We don't help anyone but Palpatine by being caught easily." Fives tries to argue. "We will need disguises and security passes. I know where to get both" He stops searching for the words that might convince the Sith "Just… trust me on this, alright? I know what I am doing"
Fives sighed when Luke did not move an inch. "Let's try this then." He stepped closer right into Luke's personal space.
"What are you doing?" Luke said and couldn't keep his surprise out of his voice. He raises a hand on instinct to push Fives back but the Trooper resist Luke attempt. "Fives, what exactly are you-"
"The Jedi can feel if people lie. I guess you can do the same." Fives say and must have taken Luke's silence as confirmation because he nodded to himself. "Whatever our differences, I will work with you to save my brother's and I will not betray you to them or the Jedi." He said and added. "Even if you do deserve it, Sith."
"Am I lying?" Fives asked as he leaned forward and stared daringly right into Luke's eyes. The intensity of the stare made Luke feel uncomfortable.
"Ever heard of personal space?" Luke said and pushed the trooper away and this time backing it with a hint of the force. Fives steps back without resisting it, probably knowing that he could not best that. "…and I don't sense lies better just because you are standing this close." Luke continued without completely keeping the annoyance out of his voice.
"Am I lying?" Fives asked again but it sounded too demanding to be a question.
'Are you?' Luke thought. he could not feel any deception from Fives, only the almost overpowering devotion to his brothers but that did not mean it wasn't there. Strong emotions like devotion could sometimes drown the other emotions attached to it. 'I don't know.' He admitted to himself.
He never knew for sure.
He felt the pure intentions from Fives unstained by any doubt, but there was something else, the imprint of another emotion. It looked like hate. The old kind of hate that had to be nurtured over time to be this intense, and with the hate was the thing he didn't want to see.
Fives was lying.
'…this is not going to work.' Luke realizes even as he focuses on the weak ghost of anger he can barely trace over the intense devotion. But the anger is there and it is so dark it is almost pitch black. Luke knew alliances based on hatred had its uses and could be quite strong, but they never lasted long and Fives anger was not directed at Palpatine… it was directed at Luke.
"Where is this place then?" Luke asked and hiding his wariness behind an uncaring front.
"Not long from here." Fives adds as if he can feel Luke had seen through his facade. "It is safe."
'For who?' Luke thought, his agitation building.
Then a warning spikes in the force. Fives gasp when Luke robotic hand closes around his arm and drags Fives with him around a corner. Voices sound behind him in the same moment Luke's back hits the cool wall. The force presence was strong, not as strong as Anakin's, but contained and… loud.
"They came through here recently." A deep voice says at the same time that the sound of running steps stops. The steps are heavy and Luke does not have to look to know that it is soldiers. There is a strange light source in the dark street now. Luke can see a purple light that reflects off the white wall in front of him.
He leans forward, sneaking closer to the edge to catch a glimpse of his pursuers. A force stops him. He looks back to see Fives' hand locked around his arm. "No'" Fives whispers harshly, catches Luke's eyes and shakes his head. He motions down a narrow pathway that is so slim that it was completely hidden in the sparse light before Fives had pointed it out.
This was Luke's chance. He could get rid of Fives right now and try to do this on his own. Fives was a grenade waiting to go off, and the lie was glaring back at him in the force… but Luke didn't know this city and if there were more patrols like this one wandering the streets looking for him, there was a good chance he would get caught or killed.
Luke grimaced but he would have to take the risk and trust Fives this once. 'Then I will get rid of him as soon as I can.' he promised himself and hoped was making a fatal mistake. He clenched his hands into fists at his side in frustration.
"Come on!" Fives whisper with agitation. There is a rough pull at his arm."Before he sees us."
'Damn it!' Luke thinks, pushes off the wall and slips down the alley with Fives following close behind. They had barely come out at the other side before Fives takes the lead again. He breaks into a run and Luke follows.
The run silently through the streets taking seemingly random turns down the many streets that were strangely devoid of people.
Luke has lost all sense of direction when they finally stop. aided by the force, Luke barely broke a sweat. Fives looks less rested. He was bent over, his hands resting heavily on his knees, breathing heavily.
"Who was that?" Luke asked. He recognized the strong presence from the Jedi that had arrived with Obi-Wan and Anakin when he possessed the civilian in front of the Jedi temple.
"G-General Mace…. Windu" Fives gasped "You do not want to… f-fight him."
"Really?" Luke replied with another question. He doubted the unknown Jedi would be any threat despite his impressive force presence. Only Anakin, Yoda and Obi-wan survived the war after all. The other Jedi had been too weak to survive. "What makes him so different from Skywalker?"
Luke had already beaten 'the chosen one' in this time. Aside for Obi-Wan and Yoda, Luke doubted he would meet much worthy resistance in battle.
Fives just sends him a long look and he breathed in heavily in and out. "Most… only fight Windu... once."
Luke didn't try to hide his disbelief. After fighting Vader in his own future, he doubted anything else compared to that horrifying experience.
"Couldn't you have…" Fives breathed in heavily once more and pushed his hands again his knees to get up. "Used the force to help me too?"
"Yes." Luke smiles, faking a surprised expression, like he only realized this. "I could have." He allows himself a grin vindictively at Fives offended expression until he turns his focus to the immediate surroundings.
His heart misses a beat
It was beautiful. It was a small square with a little spring in the middle with fresh water blinking in the moonlight and surrounding it in a circle… trees. He hadn't realized how much he had missed trees before now and a whisper of a sound escaped him. He caught Fives watching him out of the corner of his eyes, but the trooper did not comment on it.
Instead the footsteps were loud in the silence when the passed the long row of trees. Luke reached out secretly when the passed a tree and he let a fragile leaf brush his fingers with a delicate touch. He knew it was a morbid indulgence. Fragile things never lasted.
But the beauty of simple things never ceased to surprise him.
"Never seen a tree before?" Fives said with a mocking tone Luke did not care for.
"It's been awhile." Luke says letting go of both his anger and the gentle hold he had on the little green leaf but the shame of showing this weakness tasted nasty in his mouth. He almost ripped his hand away, but that would have emphasized the image that Fives was already forming in his mind
'Focus!' He berated himself, and made very sure to keep Fives within eyesight. He straightened his back. "What way from here?" He asked as a poor distraction, but Fives gestured to the right, down another alley and fell into step beside Luke as they left the small square behind.
Luke was silently surprised at the quiet here in the middle of a city that had so many millions of citizens. Even if it was so long since he left Tatooine, it was still hard to grasp the thought of so many people living in the same place.
Unbidden his eyes slid upwards and took in the sight of the many lights blinking back at him. There was the constant sound of vehicles crisscrossing the sky above, but it sounded very far away down here.
Still he marvelled at the silhouettes of them against the many lights that he knew were all artificial. Deep inside the sight brought back the old ache, the old homesickness, that had never really left.
It was in memory of the only thing he really missed about Tatooine now that aunt Beru and uncle Owen weren't there anymore. It was the same reason he knew he would never come to like this planet, he enjoyed watching the stars too much, and this planet didn't have any.
"Give me a moment." Fives says and stop by a door that looks like it has known better days, but unlike the others they passed on the street this one was the only one not made of wood. "We need to get through here. He kneels down and starts working on the lock.
Used to these kinds of jobs Luke turns and he faces the street so he can quickly get a clear view of both directions. But he had already stretched the force behind him and into the building. Staring ahead he focused all his attention on searching for danger in this 'safe house'. At first he found nothing.
He used more strength on this than he really had to spare on a second search, but he would not risk walking right into a trap. Still after a third intense search he found nothing. It seemed Fives didn't mean to betray him just yet. He kept his guard up regardless.
"Why do you fight for the republic?" Luke asked breaking the silence that was only disturbed but the sound of Fives quiet workings on the lock.
"I would like to think that all people deserve freedom." He snaps like Luke's question had been an accusation that is entirely too loud for Luke's liking and he throws a quick look down and up the street. "Unlike the Separatists." Fives continues behind him a little lower like he too though he had been too loud.
"The Separatist faction fight to free themselves from the tyranny of the republic." Luke said in reply it was part of what little information about the clone wars. There had been almost no information to be found about the clone wars aside from the position that Palpatine got out of it. "They are fighting for freedom too, but apparently another…version than yours?"
Fives scoffs but does not answer the question. A word that sounds like a curse of some kind escapes him and Luke can hear him shift around.
"Got it." Fives says roughly as he stands back up. He avoided looking at Luke and he was trying very hard to suppress a heavy emotion Luke couldn't identify. The door opens with a light push from Fives. He stepped over the threshold without further ceremony.
Luke rubbed his arm from where the scars still stung painfully and moved to follow. The heavy door slid back close with a heavy hollow sound and Fives gave it an extra push for good measure.
"Is this the place?" Luke asked. He narrowed his eyes but he could not make anything out in the dark that descended after the door blocked the light of the moon outside. It made him instantly tense.
His answer is a soft click when Fives flips a switch and a small light ignites in a lamp in the celling. A trail of small lamps lights up one by one above him until the room is bathed in a clear but faded light that leaves the dark corners still covered in shadows.
But the place was empty, the force reassured him of that.
"Cosy." Luke says in a dry comment. It looked like a smaller version of the warehouse they just left. It seemed Fives had a preference for the places he used as hideouts.
"It looks worse than it is." Fives says sounding a little defensive. "It will a good place to lay low while things calm down."
Luke spots a chair and he cannot remove his eyes from it now that he has seen it. He resisted the urge. 'Don't show any more weakness.' He thinks to himself refuses to surrender to the fatigue, and sit down. "Won't somebody come eventually?" He asked to distract himself and tries to look relaxed when Fives throw him a searching look.
"Not for a while." Fives said and looks down the shelves as if he was searching for something. He moves in between the rows and opens a box. "This is one of the old warehouses. They are in the process of being shut down."
'Convenient.' Luke thinks, but keeps the thought to himself. "And how do you know about this?" he asked and drops his head down in his hands to close his eyes for a moment. By the force he was exhausted, but before Fives looks back up Luke pulls himself together and forces himself to stand up straight.
"How do you know?" Luke repeated. It seemed a little out of the usual that a soldier would know about a place like this.
"I know many things." Fives says with an uneven smile. "Like I know that we won't get anywhere dressed as we are now." He digs through the crate and pulls something out. "Catch!"
"What is-" Luke looks down at the thing he just caught out of reflex.
"Disguises" Fives says with entirely too much spirit for Luke's taste.
:::
Vader does not look excited at the disguise. In fact, he couldn't look less enthusiastic about it if he tried. He looked down at the pile as if it was something nasty he just found under his shoe.
Fives suppresses a grin. Vader would be even more disgruntled when he found out what it was Fives had picked out for him.
"I told you I would find us disguises." And adds a little more gleefully than he really has to. "Sorry, the dark and broody robe has to go. It is not really your colour anyway." Vader just narrows his
eyes to that remark as his free hand dug its finger into the dark cloth.
Fives sighs inwardly, missing his brothers. Vader didn't have any humour at all.
'It is just for now.' Fives reminded himself, until he got the proof he need to convince General Skywalker. The Sith was probably already thinking of a way to get rid of Fives. The Sith had a long tradition for treachery.
Vader looked at the cloth again and released a heavy breath before he turned on his heel and walked away behind some of the higher rows of shelves. "No looking!" He says loudly before he slips out of sight.
Fives scoffs and goes to put on his own disguise. 'Cheeky bastard' Fives thought "Don't flatter yourself" He mumbled. He shook his head, took his own disguise and moved a little away from the door but didn't hide behind one of the racks like Vader had.
He didn't have the same modesty the Sith had. In the army such silly things as bashfulness never lasted long, Fives reflected as he started putting on the uniform of the local security guard
It was the uniform of the security personnel of the entire senate district. It was a rare find that he had been more than a little lucky to get his hands on here. He had also found the uniform of the service personnel in the senate that he had folded neatly on the shelf, but he couldn't use it just yet. There was somewhere else they would need to go first.
He began putting the uniform on quickly, but he had barely managed to get the pants on and started reached out for the jacket, that was still folded on the box, when he heard footsteps behind him.
"I take this is funny to you?" The voice was calm but when Fives turned to face him he was startled by the anger. Vader posture was calm, but he had never looked this furious, not even when he had faced General Skywalker.
Apparently Vader didn't like the Jedi robe Fives had given him.
Fives barely suppressed a smile.
"It is just a disguise." Fives says, but he doesn't hide his inner glee at putting the Sith in that particular uniform, because Vader looks practically enraged. "Come off it. Everyone with even the smallest connection to the force would be able to recognize that you are a force-user. If your wear anything else, you will only attract unwanted attention."
"Hah!" Vader responds mockingly. "As if a force blind would notice-"
"I noticed right away." Fives countered. "It is in the way you act and talk, like you are aware of everything around you… it is hard to explain but very easy to see once you know what you are looking for." He said and then added to cement his point. "And now I am not even counting the Jedi, who will notice no matter how much you try to hide it."
"I refuse to wear this." Vader stated finally and stared briefly at the cloak in his hand as if it was a venomous snake, but there is something in his eyes that looked like horror. "They will know I am not one of them." Vader says with utter conviction. He pauses and looks at Fives in a certain way that makes him pause as well.
"They won't know." Fives says slowly as he tries and fail to recognize the odd look in Vader's eyes.
"There are many Jedi here, and not all of them know each other. This place has the largest concentration of Jedi in the entire galaxy. You will blend right in." He says calmly, beating down the rising frustration on the inside.
"This will fail." Vader says and after a breath he reveals with a reluctant expression. "This is not the first time I have been hunted. I have more experience in this than you do."
"From this side of the chase perhaps." Fives agrees. "But I know what tactics they will use to try and trap us, because I have been trained in using those same tactics too." He says and gives a little more ground now that the edge had gone out of Vader's eyes.
It is Vader's frustration talking right now, Fives knows this through his own experience and training. Vader had worn himself thin and was not really being rational because of the exhaustion he was trying very hard not to show.
"No one would ever believe that you, a Sith, would disguise yourself as a Jedi." Fives reasons.
Vader just stare back at him, the fire from before had gone out. Suddenly Fives regretted doing this. He cannot explain Vader's reaction to this, but there is clearly more to it than what Vader says.
Why else would he suddenly look so defeated?
"You overestimate my capabilities in this… This disguise of yours will only work as long as I do not speak." Vader admitted and the blank expression fought its way back into place on his face. "I know nothing of the Jedi. As soon as I open my mouth they will know."
"Well you must know something." Fives argues having seen the proof of that with his own eyes. "You couldn't have battled General Skywalker like that if you didn't." It was the truth. Very few could fight General Skywalker like Vader had.
"That was… a battle, that I know..." Vader stops and looks out into the dark like the words he was searching for were out there. "But their traditions? Customs?" Vader made a helpless gesture. "Before I came here I didn't even know what a Padawan was."
That takes Fives by surprise.
"How could you not know that?" Fives says, trying and failing to hide is astonishment. "Surely you must have at least heard of basics like that."
"I tried." Vader said with a shrug "But there wasn't really much left to find after the purge that Darth Sidi-"
Vader flinched back like he was struck. He grabbed his arm in a painful soundless gasp and stumbled back and up against the tall rack. The impact sent boxes crashing to the ground along with Vader when he collapsed up against it and hit the ground hard.
Then Vader was screaming.
"Vader!" Fives rushed to him his eyes darted around, but he could see no attacker. He kneeled down, he pulled at Vader trying to turn him around see what was causing this. "What is happening!"
But there was no response from Vader. He was twisting on the ground, completely incoherent. He clawed at his left arm and he wouldn't stop screaming. Vader resisted Fives' frantic pull at him, his eyes were wide open, but he didn't seem to register Fives at all and his whole body was shaking.
Fives could see Vader was trying to stop screaming. He bit at his arm to strangle the sound, but the sound only muted for a second until another rough spasm tore through him and the strangled scream ripped his clenched teeth apart.
'What do I do!' Fives thought desperately, searching for some injury that could explain this.
Anything!
"Vader! Tell me what is happening!" Fives practically yelled in frustration and helplessness. The screams were horrible to listen to and Vader face was torn in intense pain. But there was no visible wound, no injury that explained this extreme reaction. Nothing.
'What do I do!' Fives thought with horror. He was panicking. He knew he was panicking, but he couldn't help it in the face of this unexpected attack.
Then suddenly Vader stopped. He stopped screaming, moving… stopped everything, and his hand that had clawed at so desperately at his arm wilted limply to the floor.
The room was silent
Vader did not move again.
:::
"Skywalker?" Mace Windu stops to look back at Anakin who stood frozen on the spot halfway through a step.
"Sorry I just…" Anakin looked out over the city and the unnerving feeling he had felt for a fraction of second was gone. "… for a moment there I thought I felt something."
:::
It took hours before Vader woke back up.
Fives suppressed a relieved sigh when the cloak he had draped over the Sith started sliding off when Vader finally moved. A look of utter confusion stared back at him when Vader opened his eyes. He blinked at Fives with an open expression that made him seem very young. Then the constant frown was back and the look in his eyes darkened.
"You okay now?" Fives asked, not moving from beside the pallet he had placed Vader on.
"Yes… It has passed." Vader said, but the words sounded like a lie. Fives let the lie escape unquestioned between them, reasoning that in Vader's position he would have lied too. Vader shifted a little under the robe, trying to sit up and failing.
"What was that?" Fives asked and reached out a hand. Vader eyed it silently until he, after a breath, accepted the hand. Vader fingers felt colder than the air around them when Fives pulled him up to a sitting position.
"An old injury." Vader explained shortly "It acts up now and again." He leans forward and rest his arms on his legs. It was not really an answer, and Fives did not want to think about what could cause an injury that reacted so violently.
"Who did that to you?"
Vader does not answer. He blinks silently up out in the dark, his expression blank and carved out of stone. Fives waits long enough for the seconds to become minutes, and still no answer comes from the Sith.
"Did you kill him?" Fives ask and there is a sudden anger in his own voice that he does not understand. Vader still doesn't answer, but slowly, like the act took momentous effort, Vader turned his head towards him.
"Are you actually worried about me?" Vader asked with a smile that Fives thinks was meant to look cheeky, but with the exhausted line around his eyes it appears tired instead.
'So that is a 'no' then?' Fives thought. A Sith would generally boast about such things in his experience so the person that had done it was probably still around. "Don't get too used to it." He said instead of questioning Vader about his old enemy. He probably wouldn't get a straight answer anyway.
"Why did the robe bother you so much?"
"I am not a Jedi." Vader replied with narrowed eyes and a slight frown, but there was some other feeling attached to it, only Fives couldn't identify it. "You keep telling me that, but why does that matter so much to-" Fives stops himself there. Something inside him doesn't want to know the answer to that question.
It is better to keep things the way they are.
"Look…" Fives says after a moment of hesitation. When Vader had said that earlier, about the Jedi would know immediately that Vader was not a Jedi, he had not looked angry, he had looked… hurt. "If you really hate the robe that much we can find something different."
'You are too soft Fives.' Fives berated himself, trying to recall that a few hours earlier he had every intention of turning on Vader the first chance he got, but he never was really good at seeing people in pain, no matter who they were.
"No, you are right, it is the best choice." Vader seems to draw some power from his own words. He drags the robe that Fives had draped over him like a blanket over his shoulders as he sits up straighter with difficulty. He puts the robe on quickly, a little too quickly for it to look uncaring, but Fives supposed if one of the Jedi had to disguise themselves as Sith he would see the same reaction.
"So, how do I look?" Vader asked. He gently brushed a wrinkle out of the clothing and looks up at Fives. There was something about that image, Vader in a Jedi robe, that struck some cord within Fives. It was like he had seen it before today.
"Do I pass?" Vader says that with a smile that was clearly crooked and forced but there was something in his eyes that looked… hopeful?
"You, pass for a Jedi?" Fives said with a huff and looked away suddenly uncomfortable.
"In your dreams."
:::
To be continued
Author's note:
An enormous thanks to Shinigami Merchant for take the time to beta this chapter! :)
And thank you all so much for the incredible response :) I was overwhelmed by all your kind reviews, I cannot say how much it means to me that you enjoy the story and take the time to send me such nice words :) You can count on me to work even harder to complete this story.