A Collision of Skywalkers

by Ambivalenthia

Leia, once the Princess of Alderaan, now the Emperor's Hand, is sent to the Executor to figure out what Darth Vader is up to. A collision with Vader is unavoidable, and his aide, one Lieutenant Luke Lars, is suspiciously eager to offer his assistance.

Leia, once Princess of Alderaan, now just Leia, knelt at her master's feet. She waited in silence. The Emperor was speaking to a courtier, a human man dressed as finely as her father, Bail Organa, ever had. The man departed with a bow, Leia could sense the movement, though she did not turn to watch. Her master's attention was on her now. She glanced up into his ravaged face, meeting his gaze for a moment, before glancing down.

"My child." Sidious breathed. "I have a task for you.'

Leia looked up at that, "I'm yours to command, my Master."

Sidious smiled thinly. "You won't be so eager when I tell you where you will be going."

Leia did not allow her features to change. She would serve however her master required, she let that thought linger clearly in her mind.

"I am sending you to the Executor." Sidious enunciated carefully, clearly interested in his acolyte's reaction.

"Yes, Master." Leia replied, though her mind was racing. Her master had been right, the Executor was the last place she wanted to be.

"Surely you can put aside your enmity for Lord Vader long enough to serve your Emperor." Sidious chided.

"Master, I will do whatever you require." Leia replied quickly. It wasn't like she had a choice about any of this.

"Once you are in place, you will watch Lord Vader. I have sensed his attentions are divided of late, and I would know what has distracted my most powerful apprentice."

Leia blinked, "You want me to infiltrate Vader's ship?" Even with the force on her side, Vader was impossible to spy on. Especially on his flagship. Every enlisted man and woman was fanatically loyal to him.

Sidious chuckled. "Hardly. Lord Vader knows to expect you. I have ordered him to extend you every courtesy."

Leia bit back a smirk, she expected her master had enjoyed giving that order. Vader would already be furious by the time she arrived.

"And what pretext do I claim for being on his ship?" Leia asked lightly.

Sidious smiled smugly at that, "Lightsaber training."

Leia bowed her head, training with Vader had never worked out well in the past. She restrained herself from reflexively reaching up to massage right shoulder. He had shattered the bone with his saber, she'd been lucky to keep the arm.

"As you command, my Master." She muttered, knowing that she was meant to go immediately. She bowed herself out of the throne room and drew up her hood. She slipped past the courtiers hanging around outside the throne room vainly hoping for an invitation to speak with the Emperor. A few eyes flickered towards her and quickly looked away.

She didn't bother fetching things out of her room. She had her lightsaber. Anything else she required she could replicate aboard Vader's ship.

A quick search on her data pad told her the Executor was at Kuat. She caught a transport up to one of the Star Destroyers in orbit above Imperial Center then requisitioned a shuttle of her own for the short hyperspace jump to the Emperor's ship yards.

She reverted from hyperspace and for a moment admired the immensity of the Executor. The first of its class, it was far larger than a regular Star Destroyer and far more powerful.

Leia transmitted her codes and received permission to dock. There was no escort waiting for her, but she hadn't expected one. She could sense Vader in the ship and knew, in that moment, that he was aware of her as well. She wrapped her black robe around herself and set off for the bridge.

Vader stood at the far end of the command walkway, his back turned from her, apparently gazing out the viewport.

She bowed deeply as she exited the turbolift doors then again when she was a few paces away from the dark lord.

"Lord Vader, thank you for receiving me aboard your flagship." Leia said clearly. Finally Vader turned. "Organa." He rumbled, the word seeming uninflected as it came from his vocodor, but she knew it was meant to sting.

Leia bowed again, "My Lord Vader." She would at least greet him properly, though he did not offer her the same respect.

Vader's helmet tilted incrementally. "Lieutenant Lars." He snapped, summoning a young officer who didn't look much older than herself.

The blue eyed man bowed deeply to Vader and then to her, "My Lord. Ma'am."

"Escort Organa to her suite." Vader turned to address her again, "We will meet tomorrow."

She bowed and let the Lieutenant lead her back to the turbolift. The door slid shut and they rode down several levels in silence.

"Where are you from… Lieutenant Lars, was it?" Leia asked. She was here to watch and learn, so she might as well get started.

The young man nodded sharply, "Yes, Ma'am. I'm from Tatooine originally."

Leia blinked. She was familiar with the Outer Rim planet. She had very nearly visited it two years ago, when this whole mess had started. "And how did you come to serve on the Executor, you can't be past your early twenties."

The lieutenant blushed at that, "Ma'am, I'm twenty-two. Lord Vader recruited me directly out of Starstrike."

"Then you must be quite good." She thought aloud, thinking of the elite flight school in the Outer Rim.

The boy shrugged, "Or very lucky."

Leia smiled at that, "Oh, I don't doubt it is both. So, you fly with combat with Lord Vader?"

The boy grinned, clearly proud of his commanding officer. "Yes, Ma'am, among other duties. Ah, here we are, this is your suite."

He had come to a stop outside a double set of doors on a quiet command level.

"Thank you." Leia said softly.

"Do you require anything, Ma'am?" The lieutenant asked earnestly.

Leia shook her head, "I know my way around a Star Destroyer, Lieutenant. I can't imagine a Super Star Destroyer is much different."

Lars bowed deeply, "Then I'll take my leave."

Leia let the door slide shut, finally she was alone. The suite was perfectly adequate. It was an executive suite such as a visiting commander might be given, and far more than she was accustomed to. In the Imperial Palace she had a simple room with a fresher. Her wardrobe held only her black robes, and a few pairs of boots for different terrain. Organa, Vader had called her. A jab at their past association, when he'd first captured her. In the space above Tatooine of all places…

She'd been so close to getting the Deathstar plans to General Kenobi. She'd loaded the droids on to an escape pod, they had their orders, it could have all worked out. If the pod hadn't jammed. That wasn't supposed to happen. She supposed the Force just hadn't been with her on that day, though she'd thought nothing of the sort at the time. She'd been hauled into custody, along with her droids, by Vader himself. He'd tortured her. She'd managed to resist, somehow. But when he'd brought her aboard the Deathstar, and Tarkin had told her they were going to destroy Alderaan….

She wondered if the galaxy would have been better off if she had just let it happen. But the force had burst out of her like a storm. She'd somehow brought Tarkin to his knees, though physically she had been held fast in Vader's grip.

Everything had just lit up. She knew, somehow, that if she wanted to she could hurt Tarkin without even touching him. And in that moment, she reached out, blindly, only wanting to stop the man before he could do any more harm.

She hadn't known what was happening. But Vader had known. Of course he had known. He'd brought his saber hilt down so hard on her crown she'd lost consciousness. By the time she had been woken up, Alderaan was space dust and she was imprisoned on Imperial Center.

Leia put it from her mind. Two years was a long time and she'd had to change, a lot. Princess Leia Organa was gone. She was just Leia now, it didn't matter who she had been. She was just one of Palpatine's Inquisitors. The 'fair one', she was called sometimes, because Palpatine had protected her from the scarring brutality with which Vader had treated the other Inquisitors. The courtiers feared her, as well they should, and the other Inquisitors hated her because she had a real name and, they assumed, their master's favor.

Leia sighed. So of course she'd been sent to openly surveil Darth Vader aboard his flagship. She rolled her eyes, her master's favor was a capricious thing. She wasn't sure if she was being punished by being sent here, or just tested. It didn't really matter. She would watch, hells, she would learn from Vader if he deigned to actually teach her. And she would figure out what, if anything, Darth Vader was up to.

The next morning the same Lieutenant came to call, inquiring if she had had her breakfast, which she had. And would she permit him to show her to the practice hall? She did.

Lars left her with Vader, bowing carefully before absenting himself. Leia, in turn, bowed deeply to Vader who wasted no time in lighting his saber.

Leia followed suit. Her blade was amber, not red, another affectation of Sidious's which did more to set her apart from the red-blade wielding Inquisitors.

Vader leveled his crimson blade at her heart, "Our master has commanded me to train you. Did you ask it of him?"

Leia blinked, she glanced at Vader's feet, knowing that he could attack at any moment, but also considering how to answer his question.

"It had not occurred to me to ask, Lord Vader. But I am grateful our master has given me this opportunity." She replied. She could be polite.

Vader brought his blade in a slow arc, testing her reach and balance. Leia parried easily, trying to sense Vader's intent in the force.

"As I suspected." Vader snapped, waving with his left hand to push her skidding across the floor with the force.

Leia kept her footing. Vader was tremendously powerful, and he was playing with her like a beast with its prey.

Leia called the Force to herself, desperate not to be pushed again. This time Vader launched a deactivated training droid at her, which she managed to redirect with the energy she had summoned. It clattered across the training room floor.

"Attack." Vader bit out. Leia squared her shoulders and swung at the dark lord's mid section. He dodged and was quick to bring his blade to meet her own as she went for the reverse attack.

"Passable," The dark lord commented, "But your connection to the Force is weak."

Leia braced none too soon, as Vader pushed her with the force again, far harder than before. This time she did fall, crashing to the floor.

Leia got to her feet, wincing. "Then teach me." She hissed.

"Perhaps this is all you are capable of." Vader spat back, attacking her with a serious of blows she barely managed to parry, before relenting and striding away from her.

"I'm here to learn." Leia yelled, taking the opportunity to leap at Vader when his back was turned. Then she felt herself arrested in mid-air, forced to hang immobile as Vader turned to face her. His Force power was hold her up, but, she thought wryly at least he wasn't choking her with it… yet.

"You are no apprentice of mine, Leia Organa. I am not your master. But if you would truly learn, then come again tomorrow at this same time."

Leia blinked in surprised as Vader lowered her to the ground slowly enough that she was able to regain her footing. "Thank you." She breathed.

She sensed a burst of irritation from Vader. Suddenly she was swept off her feet once again, this time she felt the vice of Vader's Force power around her throat. She struggled against the sense of durasteel contracting around her windpipe. Her vision was blacking out as she flailed wildly.

Then she was released and came crashing down on to the floor, gasping.

When she recovered Vader was gone. Typical. For a few moments she had hoped that Vader could be civil…

Lieutenant Lars was waiting for her outside the practice hall. He came to attention at the sight of her. . Leia rolled her eyes, "I remember the way back to my quarters, Lieutenant." She scolded lightly, though she did not mind the company.

"Yes, Ma'am." The officer replied lightly, "Perhaps I could show you the medbay?

Leia raised an eyebrow, "What for?"

The lieutenant kept his face carefully neutral, "You seem injured, Ma'am."

"Fine." Leia agreed, trying to hid her limp as she walked next to Lars. "Thank you."

Lars inclined his head, "I would say it is my pleasure to serve, Ma'am, but it gives me no pleasure to see you in pain."

Leia blinked, "Surely you've seen worse serving with Vader."

Lars smiled thinly, "The beauty of flying combat is that you win or you die. No slow deaths for us."

"I meant—" Leia broke off. Lars was clearly one of Vader's adjutants, she could learn more from him if she didn't alienate him.

Lars shrugged, "Lord Vader doesn't tolerate ineptitude on his ship. Or spies." The words were casual, dismissive. But Leia reached out in the Force, she had to know what Lars' intent was.

And she found herself blocked. The young lieutenant's mind was closed to her.

"Ma'am, the medbay." He gestured at a set of frosted doors with the usual markings.

Leia narrowed her eyes, she sensed no hint of Force use from the boy, but his mind was shielded completely. It was like talking to a holo, or a wall.

"I'll find my own way back, Lieutenant." She informed the man. Lars bowed and left. Leia entered the medbay.

There was a human medic rather than the droid she had been hoping to find. A brief look of confusion passed over the medic's face, quickly replaced by calm professionalism. "Ma'am, please have a seat. Forgive me, I— don't usual treat Inquisitors."

Leia sat. "But you know how to treat Force inflicted injuries?" She saw no point in pretending she'd been injured other than by Vader's hand.

"Yes, Ma'am." The medic set to work, scanning her throat. "Yes, I can treat this. And you'll want something for the inflammation and bruising."

"Nothing that will slow my reflexes." Leia clarified.

The medic considered her and nodded, "Very well. I would ask you to discontinue whatever activity put you in this state…" His voice trailed off.

Leia shook her head, taking the proffered tablets and tumbler of water. "Not an option, medic."

The medic forced a smile. "I quite understand. Please don't hesitate to comm me if you require further care."

"I will." Leia muttered, sure that this opening salvo of Vader's was just a taste of the pain he intended to inflict on her.

"You didn't have to be so brutal." Luke said softly when he was in the secure sanctum of his father's quarters.

Vader's helmet swiveled to look at him. "What a naive thing to say, my son."

Luke stared at his father, wishing he could call on the force to read his intent. "Do you think if you hurt her badly enough she'll go limping back to Imperial Center and leave you alone?"

"No." Vader replied shortly. "She is Palpatine's creature. His spy. She will stay as long as he wishes it."

"But why?"

Vader's helmet didn't move and Luke could only imagine the look he was getting from behind it. "The Emperor has sent his young Hand because he suspects I am conspiring against him."

Luke shook his head, "If he knew anything he'd send more than just an Inquisitor."

"You do not understand him." Vader chided.

Luke couldn't argue with that. He'd been kept carefully out of Palpatine's sights since Vader had first found him. "So what do we do?"

"Trust me, son. Keep shielding, as you did today."

Luke nodded, "And my training?"

"We cannot risk it. Focus on other things." Vader suggested.

Luke laughed out loud. His father had trained him relentlessly these past two years. But now Luke couldn't even keep a saber in his quarters, lest the Emperor's Hand go prying about.

"I like her." He said softly, just to see what his father would say.

"I should freeze you in carbonite, young one, if you are so bent on your own destruction." Vader snapped back, though there was a fair bit of humor in his modulated voice.

Luke shrugged, "How is she at combat?"

Vader did not hesitate in his appraisal, "Not as strong as you."

Luke rolled his eyes, "At least she gets to carry her saber openly."

"If I permitted you to do the same Palpatine would hear of it. Is that what you wish, to be trained by the Emperor, to be an Inquisitor like the girl?"

"No, I just—"

But he'd gotten Vader's ire up, so here came the lecture. "Do you realize what he would do? How he would torture you?"

Luke crossed his arms, his father had walked right into what he was going to say next, "I suspect he'd be just as cruel to me as you are being to Leia Organa."

Vader rose, a sure sign of his fury. "Leia Organa does not deserve your pity, she was a traitor before she was ever an Inquisitor."

Luke filed that information away. His father, when angry, often said too much. It was as predictable as Threepio's nagging.

"So you are going to do it again tomorrow?" Luke confirmed, though he didn't doubt it.

"It is the Emperor's command."

"And you like hurting her." Luke added.

"Leave me, son, go about your duties. You must not visit me too often, the girl will be watching."

Luke sighed and straitened his uniform. "Fine." He keyed the door open and bowed for the benefit of anyone who might be surveilling him. "My Lord."

The next morning he called at the Hand's quarters, though he knew it was unnecessary. He saluted smartly when the doors slid open.

Leia Organa raised an eyebrow at him, "Does Lord Vader think I need a babysitter?"

Luke gave her a polite smile, "I couldn't speak for Lord Vader, Ma'am. May I escort you to the practice hall?"

The girl clipped her lightsaber to her belt, eyes narrowed at him. Was she trying to read his mind? Probably.

Luke watched her patiently, "All healed up from yesterday?"

The girl scowled, "What do you know about it anyway?"

Luke stepped back to allow her past him into the corridor. They walked in silence for a few moments.

"Are you offering to explain it to me?" He said slyly once they were in the turbolift.

"It is nothing you would understand." The girl bit back.

Luke inclined his head, "As you say, Ma'am."

They reached the practice hall with no further words shared between them. The girl straitened her back, and checked that her saber was at her belt, then entered the room where Vader waited. Luke left them to it, he'd check back later to make sure the girl survived her second session of 'training'.

He headed to his own quarters and hesitated at his secure terminal, wondering at what would be the most innocuous search vectors he could input that might give him useful results.

Organa. He typed in. The screen filled with listings of a Bail and Breha Organa, the ill-fated rulers of Alderaan. He remembered the destruction of Alderaan vividly. He'd been fresh off Tatooine and had been utterly terrified of Vader, when he'd seen it all played out from the viewport of Vader's chambers aboard the Devastator. The Deathstar had fired a full blast at Alderaan and that was all it took to annihilate a billion people.

He knew now that his father was capable of inflicting terrible suffering, but he was also capable of restraint. He even had a sense of humor, buried deeply under all that armor and menace.

He returned his attention to the search results, there was no mention of a 'Leia Organa' but that wasn't surprising. Most Inquisitors had numbers instead of names, but in this case he imagined that Palpatine had let her keep the name and had had the records destroyed. That meant the name mattered somehow. The most simple explanation was that she was a member of the very house Organa which had been otherwise annihilated. The dates worked.

He turned to holo images, and was not surprised to see that, years ago, the Organa's had had a dark-haired, dark-eyed daughter. She had been born on Empire Day and had reportedly died with the destruction of Alderaan. Well, that had been surprisingly easy.

But Vader said she had been a traitor. The Imperial rhetoric was that Alderaan had been destroyed because it had been a hive of the Rebellion. She must have been caught up in all that, he thought.

He checked his chrono and wiped the screen of his computer, time to see how Leia Organa had fared in her training today.

Vader had left Leia floored, as he had the day before. She'd tried to fend off his use of the Force but as before he'd thrown her around like a rag doll. Was this training? She wondered bleakly, or had Sidious sent her here so Vader could kill her slowly?

Alone in the practice hall she lay prone on the floor thinking about that. Vader didn't want her here. He didn't want to train her. Of course he didn't, he knew what she was, and why she was really here.

The door to the hall slid open and she wrenched herself to a sitting position, incase Vader had returned. But it was the young Lieutenant Lars who gazed down at her with steady ice blue eyes. "I could call the medic." He offered. Was he teasing her? She couldn't read him and she hated that. He might know all of Vader's secrets and she'd be none the wiser.

That meant she'd have to actually get information from him the hard way, conversation. "I'm fine." She said quickly.

The young man chuckled, "Is that why you were lying here like a corpse when I came in?"

Leia scowled at him, "If you think I won't kill you because you are Vader's man…"

He had the temerity to smile, "Hey, as far as I can tell I'm the best friend you've got on this ship."

That stung because it was true. Lars had been kind to her. But he teased her, she wasn't used to that. Why was he so confident, anyway?

"Sorry." She managed, "Can you help me to the medbay?"

They made their way slowly, with Leia's arm wrapped over Lars' shoulders. She was lucky he wasn't much taller than she was.

When they arrived he followed her in, watching impassively as the medic treated Leia. It was a broken rib, this time. She had suspected as much when she'd heard it pop after one of Vader's attacks. This, she knew, would not be healed by tomorrow, she'd just have to fight through it, she supposed.

Lars stayed to walk with her back to her quarters. She should try to get him talking. "Lieutenant would you sit with me for a moment?"

Lars blinked, then smiled, "Of course, Ma'am." He followed her into her quarters looking impressed at the size of them.

Leia sank into one of the pristine white sofas and the boy took an armchair. "So you were at Skystrike?"

The boy blushed, "Yeah, for a few months."

"I thought their training program for pilots lasts a whole year?"

"Hey, I never said I graduated." The boy answered back, then slowly added, "Ma'am."

That made her want to smile, some officers were all too eager to drop the pretense of manners. "Don't call me that, for kriffsake ,we're probably the same age."

Lars smiled, "I'm older." Then he blushed, "Shavvit."

"How the hells do you know that?" Leia asked, more surprised than angry.

Lars shrugged, "Vader called you Organa, so I did some searching. You were just born just after Empire Day, right? That makes me three days older."

"I didn't realize that information was public knowledge." She bit out.

"Oh, a fair bit of conjecture was involved," Lars told her seriously, "But you are Leia Organa of Alderaan, aren't you?"

Leia winced, "I used to be. I'm just Leia now. Only Vader calls me Organa."

The boy frowned, "But why?"

Leia shook her head, she'd already said too much. And wasn't she supposed to be the spy here? "Tell me how it was that Vader recruited you right out of Skystrike."

Lars shrugged, "He saw me fly."

"And just like that you're his adjutant and fly with Black Squadron?"

Lars gave her an amused look, "You used to be the princess of a planet and 'just like that' you're the Emperor's Hand?"

Leia couldn't help but laugh at that, "You think you know a lot, don't you?"

"Am I wrong?" Lars shot back. They were both smiling now.

Leia shrugged, she was finding she actually liked talking to someone she couldn't read in the force. "What's your given name?"

"Luke." The man supplied easily.

"Luke Lars is a silly sounding name." Leia muttered.

Luke nodded, giving her an easy grin, "I suppose it is."

They sat in silence for a few minutes. "I think the medic gave me too many drugs." Leia said softly.

"Your rib was broken." Luke pointed out. "Yeah, I can't even feel it. I just mean— You should go, Luke Lars."

Luke rose to his feet, "I've enjoyed talking with you, Leia."

Leia held back her smile, she definitely wasn't herself right now. "I suppose I'll see you tomorrow?"

Luke bowed, an air of professionalism falling over his face like a mask, "Yes, Ma'am."

Leia watched the boy go. She was worried that she had spoken too freely. Tomorrow she'd have to ask the medic to hold back on the drugs. She winced, she'd probably be in even worse shape than she was today.

"You broke her rib." Luke burst out when his father had entered his chambers and the door was shut behind him.

Vader did not startle. "You should not be here, Luke." He replied, monotone.

"Yeah, well…"

"Do you realize what she will do if she discovers what you are to me?"

Luke swallowed, "She seemed to accept my story, and you know perfectly well there is no way she can sense me in the force."

"You've been speaking with her."

Luke shrugged.

"I should send you away until she is gone."

Luke shook his head, "Empty threat. You should have sent me away before she even got here."

Vader inclined his head. "We will continue as we have done so far."

"Until she runs out of ribs for you to break?" Luke asked lightly.

"If the Emperor's spy wishes to rest, all she need do is ask. I do have other far more important responsibilities." Vader explained simply.

"I don't think she will." Luke muttered.

"No." Vader agreed, something like humor hiding in his reply. "She will not ask for respite."

Luke sighed. "Why didn't you send me away before she got here?"

Vader regarded him steadily, "Luke Lars is not a secret. I had hoped she would find you unremarkable and dismiss your presence here."

"Thanks." Luke replied in feigned reproach. "I do try to be as unremarkable and dismissible as possible."

Vader coughed. "While flirting with her?"

Luke shrugged.

"I won't order you not to talk to her, Luke, but don't even think of starting a romance with the Emperor's Hand."

Luke crossed his arms, "And what about a friendship?"

Vader's voice was sharper when he replied, "She is a viper. A rat. Tell her nothing you do not wish the Emperor himself to know."

"Yeah, I know."

"If she discovers your true identity, I will kill her rather than let her bring that information back to Palpatine." Vader ground out.

Luke merely raised an eyebrow, "I think that might serve to confirm the Emperor's suspicions that you are up to something."

"I am Sith." Vader replied. "Every Sith yearns to rise against his master."

"So you are saying Palpatine knows you will betray him, just not when?"

"Essentially."

"So aren't you worried I'll betray you someday?"

Vader actually laughed at that, though his vocoder translated it as more of a cough, "You, my son, are no Sith."

Luke crossed his arms in front of himself, but it wasn't a condemnation, he knew that.

"Why does Palpatine want you training his apprentice, if he knows you aren't loyal?" He asked.

Vader was still a moment, "I believe it amuses him to taunt me in this way. He means to suggest this girl could be my replacement."

Luke was dumbfounded, "And you're going along with it?"

"That girl is as much a Sith as you are, Luke, she is no threat as a potential opponent. It is all part of the provocation. I suspect Palpatine would like nothing better than to punish me if I killed his apprentice."

"That is extremely convoluted." Luke sighed. "So what you're saying is tomorrow you have to break another rib but not kill the Emperor's Hand because it would please him if you did."

"We must play his game." Vader confirmed.

"Must we though?" Luke responded, mimicking Vader's tone. "Let's just attack the Emperor and be done with it."

Vader stood, striding across the room to tower over him. "That, too, would go to his plan. My poor, innocent son, you have none of your mother's political savvy."

Luke clenched his jaw, Vader's teasing words had cut him to the bone. Did his father even realize that? "I'll go." Luke muttered, taking his leave quickly.

Their 'training' on the third day was shorter that usual. Vader had made a single targeted force blow to her weak rib, and Leia had gone down in a wheezing mess to the floor. Medics had been called in and Vader had watched her with smugness rolling off him in the Force as she was taken away on a stretcher.

They'd sedated her for the main procedure and when she woke it was to a soft hazy feeling of powerful drugs. Luke Lars was sitting with her. Kriff.

"Go away." She hissed.

Luke smiled down at her, "It's time for your training. Aren't you ready?"

Leia made to lurch out of bed but found herself restrained across the chest. "Funny." She rasped.

"You are on bed rest for four days, until your rib mends. It punctured your lung, you are lucky it didn't hit your heart."

Leia rolled her eyes, "Yeah, the last thing I'd want is to be made into a kriffing cyborg like Vader." Oh that was far too frank, she needed to stop talking, fast.

Luke Lars' smile was gone. "He could have killed you."

"I guess the Force just wasn't with me." Leia rasped.

"You want him to kill you?" Luke asked, genuinely surprised.

Leia leaned back into the pillow, trying to look anywhere that wasn't at Luke Lars. "I'm not here for my health, Lieutenant Lars, " She sighed. "Please go away, I can't talk to you now."

"Why not?" Luke pressed, his face a mask of concern though she sensed nothing from him as usual.

Leia shut her eyes, "Because I can't think clearly. Kriff off, Lars, please."

The young officer rose, bowing slightly, "I'll come back to check on you later, Ma'am."

Leia was left staring at the medbay ceiling, strangely grateful that Luke had left and yet eager for him to come back.

Vader had gone straight for her weakest point and deliberately disabled her. He hadn't even spoken to her, he'd just commed the medics and waited until she was taken away. She wasn't sure what she was supposed to think of that, except that, as Luke said, Vader could have killed her. Hells, he could have just left her there to asphyxiate. Strange as it seemed, Vader had made it clear that he was choosing not to kill her, nor would he simply let her die.

If this was all part of Sidious's plan she didn't understand it. It least now she had a few days to think before she had to see Vader again. She was supposed to be gathering information. Palpatine had said that Vader was distracted. What did that even mean? How was Leia supposed to know what was normal for Darth Vader?

She relaxed and called on the Force to clear her mind, the Midichlorians in her blood forcing away the drugs that kept her pain free.

She could feel the injury now, as if she had been stabbed by Vader's saber rather than her own errant rib. But at least she could think.

Lars was the clear pathway to more information. Hells, he was the only person who seemed to want to talk to her, not that she had tried approaching any of the crew. They were afraid of her.

She must have slept, or blacked out, because when she woke again, Lars was back and she ached all over. Fine, he was back, good. She could do this, just talk to him. Be nice.

"Hi." She managed.

"You're in pain." Lars observed.

"Yeah, well, better that than high on drugs." Leia replied.

"Is that why you wanted me to go away?" Lars asked calmly. "You needed your wits about you?"

Leia just stared at him, "You're Vader's man."

"And you're his punching bag." Lars replied softly.

"Do you speak to him with this much cheek or is it just for me?" Leia rasped.

Lars considered the question, "You think Vader would let me mouth off to him?"

"No. I don't even know why you think you can mouth off to me." Leia said softly, she didn't mind it, she actually sort of appreciated the boy's humor.

"Yeah, I dunno." Lars agreed. "I guess you just aren't that scary next to Darth Vader."

Leia smiled at that. "And the Emperor?"

Luke's expression closed down, "I would never say an ill word about the Emperor, especially to you."

"Especially to me?" Leia repeated.

"His Hand, his favorite Inquisitor, the only one with a name of her own." Luke listed softly.

Leia stared at the young officer, her anger rising. "You don't know what you are talking about."

Luke shrugged, "So tell me."

Leia considered it. It was a valid tactic, if she opened up to Lars, he would feel obliged to open up to her. Not that he seemed particularly interesting. He wasn't even force sensitive. But he could tell her about Vader, and that was her whole reason for being here.

"You already know. I was the princess of Alderaan. Then Vader found me, destroyed my planet, and handed me over to the Emperor."

"How did he find you?" Luke prompted softly.

"He captured my ship. I had a mission, okay? It doesn't matter anymore but at the time it could have made all the difference to the galaxy."

"You were a Rebel?"

Leia looked away, yes, she had been a rebel. Until she had completely and utterly failed the Alliance. Now she was everything she had once sworn to destroy.

Luke looked thoughtful. "Alderaan happened just after the failed Rebel attack on Scariff."

Leia snorted, "It didn't fail. I had the Stardust plans. I failed. Vader captured me, my droids, and the plans."

"I was there." Luke said absently, then flushed brilliant red. As per usual he was blank in the force. It was so strange, he gave every appearance of being an emotional person but he had as much presence in the force as a droid or a rock.

"You were on the Deathstar?" Leia asked, unsure if she was being lied to, or why the young officer would bother to tell a lie like that.

Luke just blinked at her, his face carefully blank.

"Were you?" Leia repeated the question.

"No." Luke replied finally. "I was on the Devastator. I saw it all happen."

Leia blinked, they'd both been there, on that awful day.

"It was terrible." Luke muttered.

"I would have thought you'd approve, seeing as who your commanding officer is." Leia replied carefully.

"That's rich coming from the Emperor's Hand." Luke pointed out.

"Hey, I didn't choose any of this." Leia spat back, then bit her tongue. "Do you think the Empire was wrong to destroy Alderaan?"

Luke nodded. "Of course it was wrong. I'm not a monster."

Leia sighed. "You must wonder why I serve him now. The Emperor."

Luke shook his head, looking unaccountably sympathetic, "You just said you didn't choose it."

Leia should not have said that. "Why do you serve Vader if you don't believe in the Empire?"

Luke opened his mouth, then closed it, "What kind of question is that? Are you trying to get me shot for treason?"

Leia shrugged, "That's not—"

"Your mission?"

Leia shook her head, "You aren't part of my mission, Luke."

Luke smiled wickedly, "Unless you can get me to dish about Vader."

It was Leia's turn to flush red. "Would you?" She asked with some sarcasm.

Luke shook his head, "I wouldn't have anything useful for you."

That, Leia thought, was a lie. "You were on the Devastator two years ago… that mean's you've been with Vader this whole time."

Luke's face was carefully blank. "As I said, he found me at Skystrike."

"When precisely was that?"

"Leia—" Luke protested.

Leia used the force to release the restraints that were binding her torso immobile to the bed. Mincingly she raised herself into a sitting position, looking at Luke Lars with renewed interest. Mind racing. This boy could lie to her, the Force was no help to her. Did he know? Was he blocking her deliberately? Was that even possible?

Luke rose to his feet. "Excuse me Ma'am. I have other duties."

The boy bowed himself out. Leia watched him go, eyes narrowed. Luke Lars was lying about something, and she was going to find out what.

"Father, I think she suspects something." Luke blurted out as soon as he was alone with Vader.

Vader rose to his feet, "Tell me."

Luke frowned, "I— the way she was looking at me. It changed. She…"

"What did you tell her?" Vader asked sharply.

"That I was on the Devastator when Alderaan blew up."

"Have you contradicted your own backstory, about Skystrike Academy?"

Luke winced, "If she checks, the dates won't add up."

"And you believe she is suspicious of you now? That she will check?" Vader prodded.

"Oh hells, yes."

Vader gave a staticky sigh, "But you have maintained your shields?"

"Yes." Luke breathed.

"Then let her check. You are my agent, your backstory is just that, a story. She is nowhere near the truth."

Luke winced, "Has it occurred to you that we could turn her? Bring her to our side. Three force users against the Emperor instead of just two?"

Vader regarded him for a long moment then seemed to come to a decision. "I think it will be for the best if I just kill her." The dark lord said finally.

Luke rose to his feet lightning fast, "Please don't." Then Luke blushed.

"She is our enemy, Luke. As you have said, she suspects you." Vader continued.

"You said that if you killed her that would play to Palpatine's hand." Luke reminded his father. "Please."

"No more talk of brining her into our confidence. She is Palpatine's agent. Tell her nothing. Let her find the discrepancy in your records, but give her nothing more."

Luke nodded, "Okay. Just don't kill her, please?"

Vader shook his helmeted head, probably in disgust, Luke thought.

Luke went to see Leia the next day. He knew this would be hard, but he wanted to see how she was doing.

Leia was sitting up and narrowed her eyes as soon as she saw him. Doubtless she was searching for any way past his shields and into his head.

He smiled placidly, "Healing up?"

Leia's mouth went tight at that, "Two more days stuck here."

"And then?"

Leia shrugged, "Back to training."

Luke nodded, "Are you sure you'll be strong enough?"

Leia laughed darkly but shook her head. "I'm sure I won't be. But I don't think it matters."

Luke privately agreed, he didn't envy Leia her time with his father.

"You left quite suddenly, yesterday." Leia observed mildly.

Luke forced himself to stay calm, "I had duties."

"And I caught you in a lie." The girl observed astutely.

Luke managed to just shrug, "Not an important one."

Leia grinned, "What else are you lying about, Luke Lars?"

Luke let himself smile back, "Nothing important."

Leia gave him a disbelieving look, "What will I find if I look you up in the ISB files? Or the Ubiqtorate?"

Luke shook his head, "I honestly don't know. I don't work much with Imperial Intelligence."

"You're just a pilot." Leia said doubtfully.

Luke shrugged, "I don't know what to tell you."

"How about the truth?" Leia replied acidly. "Has SkystrikeAcademy even heard of you?"

Luke shook his head, "I don't know what you think you've discovered about me, but by all means, investigate, Emperor's Hand."

Leia had that narrow eyed calculating look again. "Who are you, really?"

"Luke Lars, 'just a pilot,' Ma'am." Luke answered back smartly.

Leia shook her head, "You are just making things worse for yourself, lying to me. You must think Vader will protect you."

Luke thought that if he wasn't very, very careful Vader was going to kill this girl and it would be entirely his fault.

"How are you able to block me?" She asked as if asking about the weather.

Luke couldn't help it, he blushed. "Ma'am?"

"In the Force? Someone has taught you to shield your mind. I'm guessing it was Vader."

Kriff, this was happening too fast.

"Oh, have you been trying to read my mind? That's rude!" Luke forced himself to laugh.

Leia remained stoney faced, though her cheek twitched, "Vader trained you to keep his secrets. That was quite clever of him. Let me ask you again, Luke Lars, who are you, really?"

Luke just shut his mouth and shook his head. This just kept getting worse and worse.

"Are you force sensitive?' Leia whispered, then broke into a wide smile. "No wonder you can block me so well."

"Stop." Luke cut through the girls's mirth. "If you tell the Emperor, we're all dead, starting with you."

Both of Leia's eyebrows shot up, "Now we're getting somewhere!"

Luke's heart was in his throat. "Vader will kill you. Please just shut up and let this go."

Leia smiled as though she had achieved some kind of victory. "I want the whole truth, then I'll decide what to do."

Luke wanted to shake her, hard. "You'd better forget what you suspect and shield your mind when you are with Vader. He will kill you."

Leia smiled, "He could have killed me in our last duel. He chose not to."

"And you're willing to risk it now that you know—"

Leia looked at him with brown eyes wide. "Say it."

Luke shut his mouth tightly, he was so kriffed. He had to try. She had to understand how dire this was. "Vader will kill you rather than let you bring these suspicions back to the Emperor."

"What makes you think I haven't told him already, Luke Lars?" The girl asked slyly.

Luke felt the blood leave his face, he felt dizzy. He sat down heavily, "Please tell me you are joking, Leia."

Leia nodded, "I haven't told the Emperor, yet. But I think you are the reason he sent me. Is Vader training you in the force?"

"No—"

"I think you are lying again, Luke Lars. If that's even your real name."

Luke couldn't help it, he blushed.

Leia leaned back into her pillows, shaking her head. "Promise to tell me everything and I won't report back what I already know."

Luke gave her a pleading look, "You won't say a damn thing if unless you want Vader to separate your head from your shoulders."

Leia sighed smugly, "And you won't tell Vader that I know, because whatever it is you're hiding, if the Emperor finds out, you're dead."

Leia was back in her own rooms. Her ribs and lung were healed. She might as well enjoy that while it lasted. If Luke was telling the truth, Vader would kill her rather than risk whatever secret it was that the boy was protecting.

Luke hadn't really told her much. All she had were her suspicions. But if he truly was Force sensitive and Vader had been training him… That was treason.

But she didn't know, not for sure, that the boy was even Force sensitive. He certainly seemed to think his secret had been revealed, but she had to remind herself this could all be a deception on Vader's part. If it was, that was clever, because if she went haring back to her master without proof… Palpatine would be livid.

Leia smiled grimly, she'd keep quiet for now. Until she had proof. She hoped Luke Lars, or whoever he was, would do the same.

The next morning the young officer was at her door, polite and unreadable as ever. He was either a very good agent, or a terrible one. She smiled, "Good morning, Lieutenant."

"Ma'am." He replied, bowing.

They walked in silence to the turbolift. If the boy was nervous, she couldn't sense it. He had to be blocking her on purpose, there was no way this was an innate talent.

He left her at the training room, walking away at a natural pace.

Well, Leia thought grimly, time to face the Sith Lord.

The doors slid open and Vader waited, his blade unlit.

Leia bowed. "Lord Vader."

"Organa." Vader replied. "Have you recovered your strength?"

Leia tried to summon a bravado she didn't feel. "Yes, Lord Vader."

The dark lord came in fast, his blade suddenly alive and whirring close to her face. She lurched back, barely ducking. In fact she could smell burnt hair on the air, that had been way to close.

She lit her saber and called on the force to accentuate her speed, if this was the end, she would would go down fighting.

She sensed Vader reach to push her in the Force but managed to hold fast, the Force was with her.

Vader came in for another round of blows with his saber, fast and hard. Again she managed to block, and duck, but barely.

Then something swept her off her feet and she fell hard, Vader's saber was pointed right at her face. It was over.

"Perhaps you are not completely worthless." The dark lord said levelly.

Leia blinked. She'd been fighting for her life. But Vader was speaking to her as if that had been… just training?

Tentatively she reached to sense Vader in the force, he was… amused. "Tomorrow you must not hesitate to call on the Force. Your small size and speed are also assets, use them."

Tomorrow. Leia shielded her mind to hide her relief. "Yes, Lord Vader, I will do as you say."

"See that you do." Vader said as she bowed her way out.

Luke was not there. She bit down on her disappointment and kept shielding her mind. She had to admit she had no idea what Luke might or might not have told Vader. She had to remind herself all of this could be part of Vader's game.

Luke was sitting there in her quarters when she got back. Blank as a rock in the force, she hadn't sensed him until she'd palmed on the lights.

He smiled. "Head still attached?" He asked rhetorically.

"So far." Leia replied. "Why are you in here?"

"I would have though you'd want to thank me for saving your neck." Luke pointed out tightly.

"Are you here to thank me for saving yours?" Leia replied.

"I thought through our conversation yesterday. You're very good." Luke said softly, "But you don't have anything worth reporting."

"Keep telling yourself that." Leia replied, relaxing incrementally.

Luke couldn't help it. He liked Leia. For all their shared threats and deceptions, he was enjoying spending time with her. But now he had to face his father, and lie to him.

No. No, he didn't. Vader had told him to stay away, lest he get the girl's suspicions up. Fine. He'd do that. He would just not visit Vader, as had been his habit since he'd found out the man was his biological father.

It had been just after the destruction of Alderaan, only just after Vader had found him on Tatooine. The explosion had been devastating for him. He'd never imagined he could feel so much pain, but to feel all those minds spike with terror then go silent. .. He'd been utterly overwhelmed. He'd thought he was going mad.

Then Vader had returned to his quarters, and found him there, a crying, terrified mess. He'd stood staring down at Luke for what seemed like ages. Luke was too overcome to feel scared of Vader's wrath. He'd just seen a planet die. If Vader thought him weak in that moment he didn't care. He didn't want to live in a galaxy where it was so easy to cause such devastation. Vader could strike him down, cut him to bits, he didn't care.

But Vader had comforted him. He'd called him 'Son'. Explained that he would protect Luke, keep him safe. He promised to teach him to use a power even greater than the Deathstar.

How could he lie to his father?

He went the only place that made sense, to the only ones he could be completely honest with. His droids. It was childish, he supposed, but things were always better when he was working on his droids.

He powered them both on, not disappointed as Threepio and Artoo came to life. "Master Luke!" Threepio filled the silence, "Dear me, I must have fallen asleep!"

Luke grinned, whoever had programed this droid had a twisted sense of humor. Artoo greeted him with a long stream of binary which Threepio duly translated.

"Master Luke, Artoo says it's been many days since your last visit."

"I've been busy." Luke admitted easily. "We have a visitor, she's… very distracting."

Artoo made an unmistakable wolf-whistle sound.

Luke blushed, "Not like that, really. She's just… fun to talk to."

Artoo let loose a raspberry then an interrogative simple enough he could follow it without translation.

Luke smiled, "Her name is Leia Organa."

Artoo went absolutely haywire, letting loose streams of binary far too fast for Luke to follow. Threepio answered the astromech in Basic, "What do you mean 'it couldn't be'. Artoo what are you going on about? I'm sorry Master Luke, he isn't making any sense."

"Slow down, Artoo." Luke urged, "Threepio, what's he saying?"

"He says, Master Luke, that Leia Organa was his mistress for many years. He'd thought she died, apparently."

"Does her name mean anything to you, Threepio?"

Threpio's eyes flashed in concentration, "I'm afraid not, Master Luke."

Artoo let out a burble.

"Oh dear, Artoo says I've lost my memory!"

"But Artoo knows who she is? He's met her?"

"Yes, Master Luke, apparently we were both in her service for many years."

"I thought you were my father's droids?"

Threepio seemed as baffled as Luke was feeling as he listened raptly to Artoo's frantic beeping. "Artoo says we were with your father for many years, then a certain Master Obi-wan Kenobi gave us into Bail Organa's keeping. Do you know who that is?"

Luke was staring at the droids open mouthed. These were the droids Leia had been captured with! He wondered what she would say if he brought her to see them. But there were too many unanswered questions and he wasn't about to go handing Leia any more secrets, even if these had been her droids to begin with.

He had to figure this out for himself. "Artoo, were you with the Rebellion all those years before we met?"

"He says it is correctly called the Alliance to Restore the Republic, and yes." Threepio supplied.

Luke shook his head, "What was that other name you mentioned? Bail Organa and…. Kenobi, where have I heard that name before?"

"Why that was who we were meant to meet on Tatooine, Master Luke." Threepio translated. "With mistress Leia and something called 'Stardust'. Oh dear, that'd doesn't make much sense does it, I think my little friend must have a few screws loose."

But Luke understood. He remembered. Kenobi had been an old man out in the desert, the one Uncle Owen had always warned him about. "Old Ben Kenobi." Luke breathed, putting it together. "You were supposed to find him?"

"And escort him to Alderaan."

"Kriff. Well it's good you didn't make it. You would have been dusted."

"Forgive me, Master Luke, I don't follow."

Artoo gave a whooping sound which dwindled into a despairing whine.

Luke spun around, he'd been so focused on the droids he hadn't heard the door slide open behind him.

"Luke." His father rumbled.

Luke stood up, trying to calm himself. "Father! You won't believe what Artoo just told me!"

Vader crossed his arms over his chest, "Something so momentous that you forgot to keep shielding your presence in the Force?" The dark lord asked angrily.

Luke's heart sank. "Kriff, I didn't even realize."

Vader was clenching his firsts, but luckily not around Luke's throat. "You've put us at terrible risk, my son."

Luke let out a breath, Vader had no idea how true that was. But he was dying to know. "Were these Leia Organa's droids?"

"Yes."

"You captured them when you captured her?"

"Obviously."

"Did you find me because you were chasing Old Ben Kenobi?"

"Yes." Vader growled. "Why does any of this matter now?"

"You said you sensed me from orbit." Luke couldn't understand why his father would lie about such a simple thing.

"I did. But I only thought to search because Artoo said he had been sent to find Obi-wan."

Obi-wan, not 'Old Ben'. Luke filed that away. "I feel like there is a whole story here that you're not telling me."

Vader coughed out a laugh. "Perhaps, my son, we should focus on the fact that the Emperor's Hand may have sensed you in the Force?"

Luke shrugged, "It's not like I was using the Force or anything."

"She may be more capable than I suspected. She fought well today." Vader commented.

Luke rubbed at his head, "I'm shielding now, okay? I won't mess up again."

Vader pointed a gloved cybernetic finger into his chest none too gently, "See that you do not, my son."

Luke nodded, chastened. "So whatever happened to Kenobi?"

Vader regarded him in silence, "I believe he may have been on Alderaan when it was destroyed."

"Kriff. To think I had an old Rebel General hiding in my backyard for years."

Vader coughed, "It was not mere happenstance. He was guarding you, Luke."

"From what? Sand-people?"

"Kenobi is the one who stole your mother away from me, I had not known that you were born until I found you that day. He was guarding you from me."

Luke snorted, "Well, kriff."

"In fact, I believe Kenobi must have taken the droids when he took your mother."

"Then how did they end up on Alderaan?"

"How indeed." Vader agreed grimly. "Artoo?"

Artoo let out a loud raspberry and then shut himself down. Luke had never seen him do that before.

"Well, that's one way to end a conversation." Luke joked.

"This conversation is not over." Vader growled, turning off Threepio with a wave of the force. "Go, call upon the girl. See if her demeanor towards you has changed. If she has sensed you in the orce, that is not a problem we can afford to ignore."

Luke bowed, recognizing a direct order. He left his father staring at the droids. Well, this wasn't good. Even if Leia hadn't sensed him today, she already had her suspicions about him. He had hoped she would keep quiet, but had he given her proof without even meaning to? He was so kriffed.

He found her in her rooms, she rarely went anywhere but the practice hall and the medbay.

One look at Leia's smug face was all he needed to know that she had sensed him in the Force.

"Listen, Leia- "

"You shine quite brightly for an apprentice of Darth Vader's." She cut through whatever he was going to say.

This was so, so bad…

"He'll kill you if he finds out you know." Luke explained, hoping that the girl would finally see how dire her situation was.

Leia raised her eyebrows at that, "Then don't tell him."

Luke grimaced. "Are you going to tell the Emperor, now that you know?"

Leia shook her head, holding up a hand to forestall him speaking further, "No. It doesn't make sense to me yet. You're Force sensitive. You are trained. But you're a Jedi? What the hells is going on here?"

"I'm not a Jedi." Luke said quickly.

Leia crossed her arms in front of her chest looking at him doubtfully. "For a few seconds you shone like a small sun. You are no Sith."

Luke sighed. Was it really that obvious? "Listen, you should leave tonight. I'll help you get a shuttle. I can't keep lying to Vader but I don't want him to kill you. Please, Leia. You have to run."

But Leia had gone a deathly white and was looking at her door as though it was a window. She slowly reached to her belt and unhooked her saber.

The door slid open and there stood Vader. He drew his saber in the instant he saw that Leia was already brandishing hers.

"Luke, step out of the room." His father ordered.

Luke hesitated, looking desperately at Leia, then back to his father. His father who had just called him 'Luke' to his face, not Lieutenant Lars.

Luke winced, "Please don't hurt her."

"Out." Vader commanded.

Luke stepped out into the corridor. Sound was shut out completely but he could imagine the short brutal lightsaber duel that was playing out between his father and the Emperor's Hand.

Then he realized there was no point in shielding himself any longer and reached out into the Force.

Inside the room he sensed his father, a flurry of conflicting emotions. And Leia— she was alive but unconscious.

This didn't make any sense. Vader didn't turn as Luke reentered the room. "You didn't kill her." Luke observed for lack of anything better to say.

"I cannot." Vader rumbled then seemed to come to himself and keyed at his comm link. "Shield your mind, Luke. Now is no time to risk the Emperor's notice."

Luke blinked, could the Emperor's power really reach so far?

"He may search out his Hand and find you instead." Vader clarified. "Or she may have already told him everything."

"She didn't." Luke whisper. "She said hadn't told him, yet."

Eight stormtroopers came barreling into the room. "Take her to level D18. Protocol 13 and sedation."

"Yes, Sir." The lead trooper said in a tinny voice and they wasted no time in scooping Leia off the floor and hauling her away.

Luke waited until the door had slid shut any they were alone again.

Vader was angry, Luke didn't need the force to tell him that. "Luke. I wish you go to your quarters, shield your mind, and we will speak later."

Leia swam back to consciousness with excruciating slowness. Something was very, very wrong. She blinked, it was so bright in here. Had Vader put her in the medbay again? She reached out in the force, and came up against durasteel shields not of her own making.

She blinked, looking around. She was in a pristine white cell, alone but for Darth Vader who was peering down at her in silence.

"Does he know?" He asked.

Leia glanced to the man's belt, where her own lightsaber hung clipped next to Vader's own weapon.

The pressure she felt was Vader's mind, she realized, he was blocking her from the Force. Slowly , she recalled him towering over her in her quarters. He hadn't even struck her… she'd just… collapsed and lost consciousness. And now he was blocking her from calling out to her master. He knew his secret had been found out. But why hadn't he just killed her?

"Does Palpatine know?"

"About Luke?" Leia asked, feeling crushed under the relentless pressure of Vader's scrutiny in the force. "No. He doesn't know. I wasn't sure until today."

"About you." Vader clarified angrily.

"He sent me here to find out what you're up to. I didn't have anything to tell him before today. Please Lord Vader, please stop.

The pressure in her head relented, but only slightly. She was still cut off from the force, but at least she could think now.

"Tell me what you know." Vader growled.

"Luke is force sensitive. You've trained him, but not in the dark side."

Vader shifted where he stood, "And the rest?"

"That's all I know." Leia pleaded. "Please, I'll keep your secret."

Vader was shaking his head, "I cannot possibly trust you, Leia."

Leia? Since when did Vader call her by her given name? Then he was doing something in the force and she was fading away. He'd decided to kill her after all. But it didn't even hurt…

When Leia came to again it was in the same cell, but she was alone. Completely alone. She could sense nothing of the ship, or Vader. It was just her and these brilliant white walls.

Leia got to her feet, the cell was only a couple meters wide and had no bed and no fresher. This was, she thought grimly, far worse than when Vader had captured her aboard the Tantive IV. She hadn't know then, what the Force could do. She'd had no idea the evil she'd been fighting against. It had been a simpler time.

Well, she knew now, what Vader and Sidious could do. She had learned some of it, but not nearly enough to stand against either of them. She wished things had played out differently on the bridge of the Deathstar that day. But she hadn't known. She hadn't known she was Force sensitive. It just happened. Tarkin gasping on the floor, then Vader cracking her on the skull with his lightsaber, and she'd woken up days later at Imperial Center.

She hadn't known, not right away, what had happened at Alderaan. There'd been a few days when she had waited, desperately, for her father to rescue her. For the Alliance to somehow, beyond all odds, pry her out of Palpatine's clutches.

But they had never come. Palpatine had shown her the holo footage. She hadn't believed it. Hadn't wanted to. And he'd told her to reach into the Force. That the Force would tell her if it was true or false.

And then she understood what Palpatine and Vader had done. They'd destroyed her planet, her family, and with it the heart of the Alliance. It was all gone.

In those moments of rage and despair Palpatine had showed her what true power was. It was that or death. She should have chosen death. She'd wished many times afterwards that she had done so.

But she was weak and, she deserved whatever Palpatine did to her. And so she served him. She let him control her, even to the point of killing for him.

Now she was here. Vader's captive once again, but this time he wasn't going to send her to Imperial Center. Or if he did, it would just be her corpse.

Leia let herself relax in the blank emptiness of the cell. Nothing worse could happen to her than what had already been done. This time, if it was a question of service to Vader or death… she would choose death.

It felt like days before the cell door opened and Vader's oppressive presence filled her mind once again. But he was not alone. A trooper placed food and water before and she drank desperately without any concern for what would happen next.

The trooper left. Leia swallowed what she could of the meal before her, though her stomach had begun to ache. She wiped her mouth and looked up into Vader's mask. His mind was all around her, but she could not read his intent at all.

"Please tell me that food was poisoned." She rasped. She just wanted this to be over, and she'd prefer it was quick rather than slow.

"No." Vader replied. "I have not poisoned you, nor do I plan to do so."

"Well, what then?" Leia burst out. Her temper was frayed, she was tired, she wanted this to end. She'd have to provoke Vader into doing it himself.

"Tell me, young one, what do you know of your biological parents?"

"What?" Leia spat. "Not a damn thing. Bail and Breha were the only parents I ever wanted or needed."

"I see." Vader said softly. Then he left her there, alone and utterly confused.

It wasn't so long before her next visit, and thankfully, another meal. Vader watched her eat. She didn't care what he thought. She didn't care if he was reading her mind. This was nothing Palpatine hadn't done to her before. The real torture hadn't started yet. That was something.

"I will not torture you again, Leia." Vader spoke in reply to her thoughts. "I— have much to say to you. But I need some guarantee you will not call out to your master in the force."

Leia blinked deciding she had nothing to lose. "Kriff Palpatine. I'd rather die here than go back to his tender mercies."

"Indeed." Vader said almost softly. "I would not return you to him even if you demanded it."

Leia rose shakily to her feet. "I won't call out to him, I swear it." She meant it, and she was sure he sensed that in the force.

"Do not make me regret this." Vader warned, then he stood aside and suddenly Luke was there.

The boy shocked her by throwing his arms around her. She felt his hot tears on her neck. "You're alive. You're alive." "Yeah." She whispered, feeling confused as the boy hugged her. "You... missed me?"

"He said you were alive, but— I had to see you for myself!" Luke whispered from between his tears. He looked up to the dark lord, "Is this over yet? Will you let her out?"

"She has promised not to call out to Palpatine," Vader told the boy. "We will see if she can be trusted."

"She can!" Luke put in eagerly. It was strange to sense him in the force, after days of sensing nothing at all.

Vader had crossed his arms over his wide chest. "Perhaps." The dark lord stepped aside and Luke grabbed her hand and guided her from the cell. Vader's oppressive presence in her mind bled away and she was free.

The first thing she sensed is that they were no longer on the Executor. They were on a planet. "Where are we?"

She looked around herself. It definitely wasn't a Star Destroyer. There wasn't that subtle sense of movement or the hum of ventilation. The air was warm, dry, and static here, definitely a planet.

She carefully stretched out in the force. There were other minds, a fair distance away, but very few, and none of them force sensitive.

Luke looked between her and Vader. "Come with me. You need a shower."

Leia nodded, looking back at Vader who seemed disinclined to follow them, thank the force.

"What's going on? What is this place?" She whispered as Luke led her up through rough stone corridors, and in to a turbolift.

"I'm not to tell you until we are sure you won't call for help." Luke said carefully.

Leia rolled her eyes, "I've already promised I won't. And I don't think Sidious would come even if I called."

"Shower. And here's some clothes. Take your time. I'll be here when you are done."

Luke didn't think Leia knew how rough she looked, but it was so good to see her alive. It had only been five days, nearly as long as she'd been on board the Executor, but it felt like lifetimes. They were living on borrowed time, Luke knew that. You couldn't just steal an Emperor's Hand and expect the Emperor not to notice.

And it wasn't over. She didn't even know yet. Not the whole truth. Not even half of it.

She didn't take long in the shower and she still looked drawn when she emerged wearing the shipsuit he had found for her.

Luke grinned, he sensed Vader not far off, his father was eager to have the truth out too, he could tell.

"Luke, I don't understand what's going on." Leia said tiredly. "Something has changed. You are looking at me differently now. You aren't shielding. Are you going to tell me the truth?"

Luke inclined his head. "You were right, Vader's been training me in the force."

"Obviously." Leia returned. "But here's more, isn't there?"

Luke nodded, "We want to tell you everything, but you need to hear it all before you…"

"What?" Leia snapped. "I've already promised to keep your secrets. I think you are over estimating my loyalty to Sidious. I'd rather stay in that kriffing cell of Vader's than go back to Imperial Center."

Luke hoped that was true. There were still so many unanswered questions.

"Come on, then. Let's go have the big talk."

Leia nodded. She followed him out into the sitting room. It wasn't much, he supposed, compared to the Imperial Palace or whatever she'd had enjoyed on Alderaan. But Vader's tastes were simple. Practical. And they hardly ever came to Mustafaar, anyway.

Leia was looking around herself curiously, when she saw a window, she ran toward it. The red of the lava planet's sky cast her in a strange light. "What is this place?" She repeated the question wonderingly. Then the turbolift doors slid open. Vader had come. And he wasn't alone.

Leia just stood there, waves of shock rolling off her. Then she was rushing over to the droids, ignoring Vader completely.

Artoo was going haywire. Threepio was struggling to keep up with this translating. "Mistress Leia, is it? Forgive me, Artoo says you are our former mistress. I'm afraid my memory must be faulty, but Artoo says he remembers you and that, oh dear, he says my circuits have probably been fried from too many memory wipes."

Leia was wiping away tears, "You haven't changed a bit, Threepio. Artoo, how are you still in one piece I thought he destroyed you."

Artoo was beeping nonstop. Threepio looked a little harassed, "Would you slow down, you blasted rust bucket, Basic is much slower than Binary."

"He says," Vader cut in, "That I would never have destroyed him. He is quite right."

Leia peered up at Vader, "You had them all this time?"

"They are my droids, Org— Leia." He amended.

Leia frowned at that, "I've had them my whole life. They can't be yours."

Vader gave a static laced sigh. "You and Luke really are very much alike. Have you considered the possibility that the droids had another owner before you were born?"

"You?" Leia asked dubiously. "It so happens I did ask them what happened to their former owner. They told me he died in the Clone Wars."

Artoo cut in with another rapid fire comment in binary. "Mistress Leia," Threepio said apologetically, "Artoo says he was mistaken on that point."

Luke sensed a tendril of annoyance from his father and cut in. "There are other more important things we need to tell you Leia."

Leia shook her head, "These droids are all I have left of my family, Luke."

Luke wanted to laugh, "Well the thing is…. Shavvit, Leia, please come sit down and let us tell you this properly."

Leia gave him a doubtful look, which only increased when Vader sat down with them, looking very uncomfortable on the low settee.

"Okay, I'm listening."

Vader waved a hand that Luke should keep talking. "Okay, so now I can tell her?" He asked his father, jokingly.

"Please." Vader answered, seeming exasperated by this whole affair.

It wasn't so easy to put it in order. But Luke forced himself to calm down and try. "Okay, so, here it is. The same person who gave Vader's droids to your—um to Bail Organa, brought you to Alderaan and took me to Tatooine."

Leia was frowning. "What the hells are you talking about? Who?"

"Obi-wan Kenobi," Luke blurted before Vader could say it didn't matter.

"Kenobi?" Leia asked, genuinely shocked. "Why would he have Vader's droids?"

Vader coughed, Luke winced, he was messing this up.

"Did you hear the part where I mentioned um, baby you and baby me?" Luke tried.

Leia opened her mouth, then closed it, then opened it again. "What?"

"So um, you never knew your biological parents…"

"Oh, for Force's sake, Luke." Vader breathed, finally giving voice to his irritation. "Leia, I am your biological father. Luke is your twin brother."

Luke sighed with exasperation at his father, "Oh nice, like that was so much better than the way I was breaking it to her slowly."

But Leia had tensed up completely, she was shaking ever so slightly and looking between Luke and Vader. "You." She glared at Vader. "You?"

"I didn't not know until very recently." Vader enunciated carefully. "I only found Luke by accident."

Luke scowled at that, bu quickly returned his attention to his sister. She was not taking the news well.

"That's impossible." She blurted. "Why are you saying this?"

"It is true, Leia. We only just got the whole story from Artoo Detoo." Luke tried to reassure her.

But Leia was rounding on Vader. "You tortured me. You destroyed my planet. You gave me to Palpatine. You've been flooring me in the name of 'training'. Then you put me in a cell, and now this?"

"The cell," Vader sighed, "Was the only way I could get you far enough away from Palpatine before telling you the truth."

A worried look stole into Leia's eyes at the mention of her master, "Does he know?"

"It is possible." Vader said heavily. "You do look a great deal like your mother, and she and Palpatine knew each other well. I was a fool not to see her in you."

"Who was she?" Leia whispered.

Luke turned to his father with acute interest, "Good kriffing question. Who was she, Father?"

Vader looked between them and sighed. "Padme Amidala Naberrie."

"Seriously?" Leia hissed at the same time that Luke asked, "Who?"

"She was the queen of Naboo, and later its Senator." Vader explained.

Leia was shaking her head, "She was a friend of my adoptive father's. She loved democracy she never would have taken up with—" Leia shut her mouth. Luke was glad.

But Vader merely sighed, "I was a different man then. A better man."

Leia was giving Vader a very strange look. She was starting to accept the truth, Luke thought. That was good.

"You were Anakin Skywalker?" She asked incredulously. "A Jedi."

Vader inclined his head, "I take it Bail told you about him."

Leia nodded, "He said Skywalker and Amidala were inseparable— he didn't tell me what you became."

"He gave you a good childhood." Vader said softly.

Leia shot to her feet, suddenly furious. "And you killed him! And my mother! And every living thing I ever loved."

Vader was on his feet with his hand on his saber hilt in an instant. "You are mistaken if you think I had control of the Deathstar, that was entirely Tarkin."

"But you were there!" Leia screamed. "You knew it existed and you kept it secret. You've been serving the man who created it for decades."

Vader said nothing. Slowly he lowered his hand from his saber hilt. "Yes." He said simply. Vader sat back down heavily.

Leia became very still. She sat down, her eyes distant, thinking. "For all he knows, you serve him still." Leia murmured, "He thinks we both do."

Luke glanced between his father and his sister, unsure how their argument had diffused so quickly.

"Why haven't you moved against him?" Leia asked, looking up into Vader's mask.

"That's what I keep asking!" Luke burst out, then shut his mouth, blushing.

Vader had interlaced his fingers in front of him and seemed deep in thought. "Do you really need to ask?"

Leia frowned slightly but finally nodded.

"There will only be one chance. I am not powerful enough to face him alone." Vader rumbled.

"So you are training Luke." Leia summed up.

Vader inclined his helmet, "Leia. I cannot ask anything of you. But—"

"But you're doing the math and think three against one has a better chance than two?" Leia cut in.

"Yes." Vader agreed.

"Great!" Luke exclaimed, feeling, for the first time, a shred of hope.

"We'd have to find the right way to do it." Leia said pensively. "As you've said. We'd only get one chance."

"So, we're doing it?" Luke asked brightly.

Leia looked at him and shrugged, "I don't think I can go back to My— to Palpatine after this. That means all I have left is you." She sighed, looking suddenly very tired.

Leia slept in a bed, in a small suite with a fresher and a door that wasn't locked. It was a marked improvement from the last few days, but it was exceptionally hard to relax, knowing what she now knew. She wondered, briefly, if this could all be a manipulation of Vader's, but the Force rang so loudly with the truth of it. Her brother. Her biological father.

More than anything she wanted to know, did Palpatine know she was Vader's daughter. Could he be so cruel as to set child against parent? Yes. He was absolutely capable of that. What then did her Master plan? Did he intend to reveal this truth at some point to weaken Vader or was it merely a secret he kept for his own amusement?

It still wasn't too late, she supposed. Biological family or not, the course of action that would be most likely to keep her alive would be to turn them both over to Darth Sidious. Vader was guilty. He was a traitor against the Empire and surely, if Sidious knew he was training his own son…. But Leia couldn't do that to Luke. She could imagine a hundred circumstances where she would gladly sell out Vader. He'd been cruel to her, unforgivably so. But Luke was kind and loving and somehow he made her believe that she could be too. Luke, she thought, could help her undo everything Sidious had done to her.

She wanted to cry. It had been months of torture and manipulations, threats and coaxing and in the end she had broken. She had chosen live rather than to die for what she'd believed in. Even now, that girl who'd been raised by Bail and Breha Organa seemed so far away. She was probably lost for good. Leia just happened to have the same name.

She wanted to survive this. She wanted Luke to survive this. That meant she had to side with Vader, but how could she trust him?

And if she couldn't trust Vader, that really meant she had no one but Luke. Her brother, yes, but they'd only known that for a very short time. He'd been Vader's loyal man for years. Where Vader went, Luke would be sure to follow. Luke's priority would be Vader's survival. Vader would doubtless sacrifice Leia to protect Luke…

That meant all she had was herself.

Soon she would need to make contact with her Master. She would need to tell him something, give him some sort of update on her progress. The question was, what could she possibly say? Could she even lie to her Master?

Luke understood that his father needed to think and plan, so he was restraining the urge to pepper the man with questions. This was hard. Leia had looked so sad, and so tired. Sure, she had been locked in a cell for several days, and had received a shocking piece of news… and, his mind supplied, only recently recovered from a punctured lung… but somehow, he still wished that she was happy about all this. He certainly was. He'd known he'd liked Leia from the moment he met her, Emperor's Hand or not. To find out she was his twin was… momentous. But she'd gone from angry to sad, and then excused herself and gone to bed.

Luke thought about when he'd first found out what Vader was to him. He'd just been wrenched out of his excruciatingly normal life on Tatooine and was mentally preparing himself for whatever awful thing the Empire did to Force users like himself…. And then the truth had all came out, and he'd understood Vader would protect him. He'd known, without a doubt, that Vader would protect him from all harms. In turn, he gave Vader his loyalty, and quickly his love. He'd always dreamed Anakin Skywalker would reappear after years of absence to whisk him off Tatooine and into the stars, and that was exactly what had happened.

The next day Leia was withdrawn as they ate their breakfast together. Vader, of course, didn't so much eat as received sustenance in his hyperbaric chamber, so he hadn't yet appeared.

He studied his sister's face as she ate. They didn't look alike, but they were nearly the same height. Vader had said yesterday that Leia looked like their mother. Luke had never heard Padme Amidala's name before yesterday, but Leia seemed to have heard of her. Maybe someday Luke could find a holo. He wondered if a holonet search on his mother's name would bring the ISB down on his head. Probably.

"Leia." He began hesitantly. "What did our mother look like?"

Leia put down the caf she was sipping and sighed. "We had holos of some of her speeches, back on Alderaan. She was beautiful. Anakin Skywalker was handsome, too."

Luke blinked. He had never seen Vader without the mask, but he knew his father was heavily scared and all of his limbs were prosthetics.

"It's a lot to absorb." Leia said thoughtfully. "My father, the one who adopted me, he would tell me stories about the two them." Her expression darkened. "All the while hiding the fact that they were my biological parents."

"What would you have done if he'd told you the truth?" Luke asked.

Leia looked surprised at the question, "Honestly, if I'd been told that Darth Vader was my biological father I don't know what I'd have done. He's always been an enemy, a walking nightmare."

Luke bit his lip. His father had to be that way. What other choice did he have? "I hope you can get to know him like I do." He told Leia. "I know he does terrible things, but he'd never do anything to hurt me."

Leia's face hardened. "I wish I could say the same."

"He didn't know." Luke protested weakly.

"But don't you see, Luke, he's a man who does those things, who tortures without hesitation."

Luke was probably going to regret saying it, but he couldn't keep it in. "You're the Emperor's Hand. You do those things, too."

Leia blanched, pushing her remaining food away. "I did what I had to do to survive."

"Well, did you ever think the same might be true of Father?" Luke pressed, feeling like it should be so obvious that was the case.

Leia leaned back in her chair, looking pained. "I don't believe it is the same situation at all."

"But—" Luke was going to say more when the turbolift door slid open admitting Darth Vader to the room and putting a halt to the conversation.

Vader strode over to the table, keeping a few steps back so as not to loom over them. "We should return to the Executor no later than the end of today."

Leia starred at Vader, "And then what?"

Vader hesitated, looking at Leia. "You are upset."

"Stay out of my mind." Leia snapped.

Vader inclined his helmet. "I will endeavor to do so. Perhaps if you resumed shielding instead of broadcasting it would be easier to do so."

Leia reddened but she wasn't backing down. "If we are going to move forward on this—"

"Treason? Assassination attempt?" Vader supplied drolly, thought Luke wasn't sure if Leia would hear the humor in his vocoded voice.

"Yes." Leia growled. "Then I need you to understand that you don't command me. You haven't earned that right."

Vader looked down at her, then nodded sharply. "Very well, Leia. May I make a request in return?"

Leia shrugged.

"My request is only that you consider this: My priority is that you and Luke survive. If we can destroy Palpatine, the galaxy will be all the better for it. But I would gladly lay down my life if it meant you and Luke could be free."

"Free…" Leia echoed carefully. "I hear what you are saying, Vader, but I don't think any of us will be free until Palpatine is dead."

"On that point we are agreed." Vader stated.

"I—"" Leia sighed, "I don't think I can lie to him. I've had him in my head for so long…"

"I quite understand." Vader said solemnly, "He's been controlling me since I was a small child. It took me years to see it for what it was, and longer still to break free."

"You've known him that long?" Leia asked, curious.

Vader used the force to pull a third chair to their breakfast table. "I met him, and your mother, when I was nine years old. He was in the background for years as I trained to be a Jedi on Coruscant. As I got older, he brought me closer. Loyalty to him was something I never questioned until it was far too late."

Luke blinked. Why was it so easy for Leia to get these answers out of Vader? Luke had been trying, and trying, but hadn't gotten very far at all in learning Vader's history.

"He orchestrated the Clone Wars, both sides of the conflict with as much ease as he maneuvered your mother and myself. His cunning cannot be overestimated."

Leia looked grave. "He'll sense it in the Force, won't he? Once we have plans he'll find a way to subvert them."

"He is not infallible." Vader stated. "But you are correct, in fact, he may have sent you to spy on me due to just such a premonition."

"But then he shouldn't have sent her." Luke protested. "If he knew something was coming."

Vader shook his helmeted head slightly, "He may be aware of change afoot in the galaxy, but I do not believe he intended that the three of us meet. It is my hope, Luke, that he has not yet suspected your existence."

"But if Leia can't lie to him—"

"Then as soon as I'm close enough he'll read my mind and know everything I'm trying to hide." Leia concluded.

"Perhaps if you were dead." Vader said carefully.

"What?!" Luke exclaimed pushing away from the table and rounding on his father.

Vader merely held up a gloved hand and Luke felt the force around him urging him to calm.

Leia looked amused, "I think he means to fake my death, Luke."

Luke blinked at his father, "How would that help us?"

"Think, Luke." Vader told him once again.

"Stop saying that!" Luke burst out, "I am thinking. I just don't have this weird genius for subterfuge the two of you have."

Vader coughed, likely laughing behind his mask. "No, Luke, you are very much like I was as a young man. Leia is more like your mother."

Luke sat back down. "She was good at this stuff, too?"

"She was a politician. But she used her wit to do good. Always."

"So," Leia said slowly, "If you kill me, what will Palpatine would do next?"

"He will likely recall me to Imperial Center. He is never pleased when one of his Inquisitors is removed from play."

Leia flinched at that but smoothed her features. "And if he does know what I am to you? How will that affect his reaction?"

"He will attempt to use that knowledge to manipulate me." Vader replied without hesitation. "It is his way."

"So he thinks I'm dead, and he doesn't know Luke exists. He calls you back to Imperial Center and then what will he do?"

"He may punish me, but he will not kill me. I am far too important to his Empire for that." Vader replied.

Luke was keeping quiet, he didn't want Vader to tell him to 'think' again.

Leia's heart was beating painfully in her chest. They were on a shuttle back to the Executor, and soon she was going to suffer a messy death at Vader's hands. After that, the real plan would begin. There were a number of ways to hide a Force sensitive. Unconsciousness would work. Or if one had a specialist cell like Vader's there was technology which could keep a Jedi contained. Neither of these would work if Vader wanted to sneak both herself and Luke onto Imperial Center under her Master's very nose.

She spend a restless night alone in her quarters aboard the Executor.

She understood Vader's plan for the next day and had to admit it could work. But she didn't like it. Who knew what the galaxy would look like when she woke up from what Vader was going to do to her?

The chime at her door sounded, though she sensed no mind beyond. That would be Luke. She waved the door open.

Luke bowed, "Ma'am. Lord Vader commands that you attend him on the bridge." Her brothers eyes were warm though he did not smile.

Leia shrugged, she was ready, she could do this. "Very well, Lieutenant Lars. Lead the way."

On the bridge, Vader was in a towering fury before she even got there. It was, she supposed, sort of impressive how he could call up such hatred and spite on the fly. As it was, he was a tower of dark side energy which rounded on her the moment she stepped foot on the command deck.

"Organa." He growled, "Your deception ends now."

She stiffened, "Lord Vader? What?" A vice grip in the Force tightened around her throat and she was lifted into the air. She struggled against it, gasping, trying to pull in a breath. Her vision was darkening. Panic flared and she reached out across the galaxy just as Palpatine had taught her.

Master! She cried in the Force, and knew she'd been heard. Then the darkness took her.

Luke hated the way Leia had just crumpled to the floor, like a rag doll. He hoped that his father hadn't gone too far.

"Lars, take care of that." Vader ordered dismissively.

Luke bowed and set about summoning troopers to carry Leia's body to the med bay.

He was itching to take her pulse as they rode down in the turbolift. But right now he just had to trust that Vader had known what he was doing. She looked so pale, she wasn't breathing...

The medic and several droids surrounded his sister as soon as the troopers carried Leia clear of the turbolift doors. The medic met his eyes, briefly, "I will do what I can."

Luke nodded at the man and watched for a minute as the medical team tried to coax Leia to breath. Then his comm signaled he was to return to the bridge so he turned his back on the scene and set back to rejoin Vader.

He reached his father's side just in time for the priority one holo comm signal to be announced by the captain. Vader nodded, "I will take it in my office. Lieutenant Lars, with me.

Luke stood well out of the holo pick up as his father knelt in genuflection to the ruler of the galaxy.

"I sense, Lord Vader, that some of my property has been damaged."

Vader raised his head, "I do not tolerate spies on my ship, My Master."

Palpatine gave a short bark of a laugh, "Is she alive?"

Vader hesitated, probably reaching out in the Force. "I sense the medics working on her now. Perhaps the damage will prove reparable."

"A loyal Force sensitive is a terrible thing to waste, my friend. Why it was not so long ago I rescued you from the brink of death... Bring her back to me and I will see what can be salvaged. And you will answer for your actions."

"Yes, my master." Vader rumbled.

Then the holo call ended and Luke let out a sigh of relief. "Is she really going to be okay?"

Vader coughed, "Yes. Now go prepare your dress uniform, we must fly for Imperial Center and I would have my adjutant at hand. Tell the captain we jump immediately.

Luke bowed and left his father's office. He saluted the captain, "Lord Vader commands we return to Imperial Center immediately.

The jump into hyperspace was almost immediate. Luke supposed that the officers had started doing the calculations as soon as the Emperor had made contact.

He retreated to his rooms and tried to rest. He did his katas, his pure white saber finally back in his hands. They were really going to do this.

The hours slipped by quickly. He sensed the reversion to hyperspace, a slight jolt, and sure enough his comm signaled him to the hangar bay. He hid his saber at the small of his back. The cloth of his dress uniform was thick and its sharp lines did not betray the weapon's presence.

His feet carried him to the hangar bay where a cadre of stormtroopers surrounded a medical sled upon which his sister lay sedated. She was breathing, that was a relief. He turned as his commanding officer strode in, barely glancing at the medical sled. He bowed to Vader.

"Accompany this to the Emperor's medical wing. Do not let her out of your sight until I give you leave to do so."

Luke bowed, "Yes, Lord Vader."

Leia was alive. She was home. Her Master's dark aura covered everything. She must be in the Imperial Palace. It was happening, they were doing this. She opened her eyes. Luke was looking down at her with an expression of muted concern. When he saw she was waking he alerted the medics and took a few steps away.

Leia allowed the medics to swarm over her. It wasn't the first time they had tended her like this. Her master had incapacitated her before. This time was only special because Vader had been the one to choke her half to death.

She tried to speak, but it came out as a wheeze.

"You have some damage of the vocal cords, Ma'am. I would recommend that you keep speech to an absolute minimum."

Leia nodded.

The medic was holding a hypospray, "I am giving you a stim, it should keep you on your feet for a few hours. The Emperor commands your presence immediately." The medics face betrayed no emotion though Leia sensed he would have preferred that she rest. The stim at her neck stung, but soon the chemicals were racing through her and she felt like she could run a marathon. She slipped on the black robes that had been waiting for her and, glancing to meet her brother's blue eyes. He nodded.

"I will accompany you, Ma'am." Luke said tightly. "As per Lord Vader's orders."

Leia shrugged and they set off through the halls of the Imperial Palace. She was careful to keep her thoughts on her pain, and an urgent need to see her Master.

Luke was the picture of Imperial decorum, keeping his eyes straight ahead as they passed priceless works of art from all over the Empire. If they survived this, she had a lot to show him...

The doors of the throne room were flanked by royal guards who parted to allow them passage. The sanctum itself was a long dimly lit hall which Leia was sure she could navigate in her sleep. At the end was her Master, sitting silent and brooding on his throne. At his feet Vader was one one knee, his head bent in submission.

Leia knelt, and looked up into Palpatine's disfigured face. "I failed." She rasped. "Master."

Palpatine glanced for her to Vader to Luke who was kneeling behind and to the right of Vader. "Well, my friend, it seems my protege will recover from your cruel treatment. Give me her saber."

Vader reached down to his belt and unclipped Leia's saber in silence. He handed it to Palpatine who examined it carefully before turning his his attention on Leia full force.

"Leia, my child, never let him take this weapon from you again." Her master used the Force to float it to her hands. "How it pains me that my two most powerful servants cannot cooperate for the good of my Empire. Lord Vader, explain why you have damaged my Hand."

"She was impertinent." Vader ground out.

Palpatine cackled, "She was on the Executor on my orders, as well you know. It displeases me to see her weakened."

Vader said nothing, which was, Leia supposed, an appropriate answer.

Palpatine was looking at her again, "Well, my child, did you find an answer for me?"

Leia looked up into Palpatine's sulfurous eyes, willing strength into her voice, "Yes, my master. Vader seeks to overthrow you."

Vader tensed at that, but Palpatine merely cackled and rose to his feet. "It is well you are here Leia, together we will punish Vader for his treachery."

At that Vader rose to his feet, his own saber quickly drawn though he didn't light it.

Palpatine shook his head in disgust. "Will you draw your blade against me, old friend? Do you really think you stand a chance against me and my apprentice?"

Vader lit his saber. "I will do what I must."

Distantly Leia sensed Luke baking away, to stay clear of the incipient battle.

"Leia, my child, take your vengeance on my wayward apprentice, then we will finish him together."

Leia bowed to Palpatine and lit her amber blade, turning to Vader. She thought about how he had tortured her, humiliated her, and taken from her every last thing she cared about.

"Do it." Palpatine ground out, the compulsion in his words irresistible.

Leia attacked. Vader met her blade with his own. He used his own power in the Force to push at her, circling. "You should yield, Young One." He rumbled.

"She will not." Palpatine snapped.

Leia struck out, Vader again parrying easily. "Traitor." She managed to hiss, though it pained her to speak.

Vader came in with a fluid series of blows, forcing her to back up, duck, and bring her blade over her head to block the final strike.

Palpatine cackled, outstretching his hands towards them both and calling the Force. Lighting burst forth lancing through Vader.

Vader fell, his suit sparking, his regulated breathing disrupted.

Palpatine was laughing. "Beg this child to spare you."

Vader was wheezing but he got to his feet reciting his saber.

"The girl may do as she wills." Vader rasped. "I will not beg."

Palpatine's eyes gleamed, narrowing with cruel amusement. "She is Padme's child."

Vader merely inclined his head, "I am aware."

Palpatine's sulfurous eyes lit up at that, "And you tortured her nonetheless? Perhaps you are not completely worthless, my friend."

Palpatine had drawn his own saber, crimson red just like Vader's.

Leia's saber shook in her hand. She could feel the moment of action approaching. What if they failed?

Palpatine turned on her, eyes knowing, "Ah, now I see. My Hand's own thoughts betray her. Very well, father and daughter, stand together. I will destroy you both."

A pure white blade appeared, thrusting out of the Emperor's chest. Luke, who had watched stiff and silent until now, had pierced the galactic ruler directly through the heart.

Vader did not hesitate, he swung at Palpatine's neck, cleanly cutting thought his master's flesh and bone.

Vader knelt down, picking up the head and crushing it brutally between his hands, bones shattered, flesh fell ragged, and globs of brain hit the floor.

"Are you sure he's dead?" Luke quipped.

Vader looked from Luke to Leia. She nodded to Vader, managing a smile, and whispered, "We're free."