As it turned out, Anakin had been right. Mechanics were in demand on this planet, and the laws for the naturalization of cyborgs with only slightly shaky backgrounds were surprisingly effective. One job at Sunrise Mechanics later, Anakin was firmly employed and learning a lot about ancient machines.

Despite the fact that there appeared to be geniuses in this world with, frankly, some incredible technology, Anakin was pretty sure they were being paid to not sell their inventions to the public, to protect the workers. The fear seemed to be that if said machines were released, then millions of people would be out of work. Well, Anakin had no intention of disturbing the status quo on this Earth. If they wanted to stay rooted to the ground while other people while a bunch of superheroes lived in a satellite… that was their culture.

Anakin had had enough of disturbing other people's culture.

"It was the rotator cuff, wasn't it?"

"Hm? Yeah. Busted up pretty good, too."

"Called it." Naomi Sunter leaned over the hood of the car to grin into Anakin's face. Her tangled brown hair stubbornly scratched into her face, abandoning her ponytail. "You could've saved yourself so much time."

"Well, I wanted to be thorough. That thing needed a good check-up anyway."

Naomi laughed. "What it needed was to find it's higher calling in a recycling plant. My goodness, what a wreck." She pushed off the hood, shifting her oil covered overalls into a more comfortable position. "Well, now that you've wasted the rest of your shift on checking a piece of trash I diagnosed immediately, it looks like you've only got time to reject my offer of fencing class before you go."

Anakin grinned, shaking his head. "Naomi, you know I don't want to get into a fencing class. It's just not… something I want to get into."

"Well, you've got to do something, you hermit. Fencing, sculpting, synchronized swimming… just do something with other people!"

"Naomi, this is really enough for me. If I ever want to go do… something else… I'll do it, okay? But I really like this quiet life right now. Maybe later."

"Every time you leave we have this conversation, and every time I accept your denials a little less."

"Sorry, Naomi." Anakin stepped back, and wiped his hands off on an already filthy rag. "But I gotta get out of here. Even the suburbs of Gotham are gonna be dangerous in an hour or so."

"I don't know why, Skywalker, but somehow it feels like you're not really so worried about getting in trouble."

Anakin laughed, and moved to gather his things. "Don't get too lonely without me, Naomi."

"I wouldn't conceive of it."

WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW

Thud Anakin's bag hit the couch and rested forlornly on the lumpy surface. Anakin groaned, and rubbed at the back of his neck with his metal hand, wondering how it was possible to get so exhausted from simple mechanic work. Repressing the force was hard. Not using it for everything from guiding his judgments to turning a hard-to-get screw was difficult to remember, though it was getting easier.

Naomi was nice, In some ways, she almost reminded him of his mom. Timid, honestly, but once she got to know you and got her mind set on something… well, Anakin didn't even know how many times she'd tried to pull him into something or other.

But… he just couldn't do it. He had to control himself, and fencing of all things, was not the best way to distance from his past self. But even other things… attachment had been what had gotten him into being Darth Vader and if he made attachments again… he couldn't risk it.

Couldn't risk the force, couldn't risk attachment… couldn't risk anything. He caught himself raising his hand to turn on the television before mentally slapping himself and walking over to the remote. Old habits…

"We interrupt this bulletin to bring you important news! Famed villain 2-Face has escaped Arkham and is leading the police on a chase that seems to be headed for Kane country. Citizens are advised to stay indoors at all costs. I repeat, citizens are advised-"

Anakin grunted, and shoved his palm against his head. "I shouldn't go." The pressure increased and screeched at him. The Force, it seemed, had other ideas. "I'm not using my powers."

"Again- except in the case of the most extreme emergencies, civilians must stay indoors-"

Anakin grabbed his lightsaber.