For a brief moment, there was silence.

Mara snapped abruptly into battle stance, her blaster tracking to Jacen's position, her eyes glittering with grim intent - a sandpanther, all sleek, deadly lines and immense power, ready to spring when one of her own was threatened. Even from his position, Luke could see her evaluating exit strategies and the odds of survival in a firefight.

Although Luke was prepared for an attack, he was more willing to listen to what Jacen had to say first. His nephew had made choices that stank of corruption, had aligned himself with the forces of darkness, had become increasingly hungry for power at any cost, but there was also the possibility, however unlikely, that he might return to the Jedi and purge himself of the Dark. If only Luke could find the way to help him.

And now he had that chance. One last chance.

It was almost a relief when Jacen stopped just inside the entrance way. His face had been open, friendly but the smile drained away when he saw the blaster pointing at him. Gazing sadly at Mara and then, with more questions in his eyes at Luke, he said carefully, "Are you going to shoot me?"

"Only if I have to." But her stark reply was drowned in Ben's eagerness.

His face lit up like sunlight after a sandstorm, all smiles and trust. "Jacen, you're here." Shaking his head, his thin braid bobbing with the motion, he said hurriedly, "You need to talk to Mom. She's acting crazy. She says she's going to take me away but you're my Master. My place is with you."

Jacen's gaze flicked to Ben for a moment, and he started to move toward the boy, one hand open-palmed and reaching for his cousin, as if to comfort.

But Mara would have none of it. With a voice as cold as the space between galaxies, she said, "Keep away from him."

He stilled, looking at her, frowning, puzzled. "Aunt, I'm sure that there has been some mistake."

"Mom, leave him alone." Ben shifted closer to his cousin, glancing up at him with anxious eyes, then turning to face them. To Luke's dismay, their son scowled at his mother, the boy looking both worried and furious - as if they were the enemy and Jacen his heroic protector.

This was not good.

While some blame could be put on Mara's handling of the situation, he couldn't really fault her. He wanted Ben away from Jacen just as much as she did, and he had to admit that she was better at infiltration and retrieval than he could ever be - even if she did go in with lightsaber lit or blaster blazing away on occasion. It had saved him more than a few times.

But this was different. This was Ben's future at stake. Caution had to be the watchword here. It didn't help that the Force was thrumming with discord, that danger thickened the air.

Ignoring the blaster, Jacen leaned toward their son, giving him a tenuous smile. "Ben, it will be all right. I'm sure your parents are just worried about you."

Ben blinked confusion, shaking his head and twisting to look at Luke. His face was flushed, hot with indignation. "This is crazy. He hasn't done anything wrong. Dad, can't you do something?"

But before Luke could say anything, Mara snapped back, "No mistake. You are coming home with us, one way or another." And looking straight at Jacen Solo, she said, "And your Master is not going to interfere."

"Is he leaving?" Jacen's face hardened into stone. "My apprentice appears to be quite unhappy at the thought. I would think that you would want what was best for your son."

Straightening, his arms hanging loosely, his hand brushing against his saber at his side, Jacen stared at Mara with challenge, banked anger behind his gaze, looking almost as if he were truly upset that it had come to this, that they were wrong to take away his apprentice without regard to Ben's wishes.

But Mara was having none of it. "You are not what is best for my son."

The frown Jacen shot her could have melted durasteel. Glancing down at Ben for a moment, he gave a slight shrug, and then stared back at her. His voice heated, he managed to sound affronted, almost incredulous, and deeply hurt by her accusation. "Apparently neither are you, if you are willing to kidnap him." Nodding toward her weapon, he pointed out, "He must make his own choices and if that means sacrificing his time with you in order to grow, then that's his choice, not yours."

Luke knew that confrontation would not get them any closer to leaving nor would it help his hoped-for attempt at reconciliation. And while he didn't truly believe that his nephew was acting in Ben's interest, Jacen also wasn't using force against them. For the moment.

There was only one thing to do.

Reaching out, a slight brush of fingertips on her arm, Luke motioned for Mara to lower her blaster. She was still looking at Jacen but, at his touch, her mouth abruptly flattened, stark white with defiance, her whole demeanor rigid. Her eyes flicked to his and they were green stone, opaque with mutiny. Crackling tension between them, he hadn't seen her, hadn't felt her this angry in many, many years. And he knew that, once they were free of this planet, he was in for a fierce round of husbandly denunciation - perhaps even banishment for a time. But he had to take the risk. There was no real alternative.

She glared blaster-bolts at him but, with a sharp click, she shoved the weapon back into her belt.

Ben let out a relieved sigh and murmured under his breath, "Thanks, Dad."

Bowing his head for a moment in gratitude, Jacen agreed, "A wise decision, Uncle."

Close enough to hear Mara's throaty contempt of the situation and his part in it, Luke ignored her scorn for the moment, saying instead, "Ben, I understand that you wish to remain with Jacen but we are concerned for your well-being. Your participation in the Galactic Alliance Guard activities is unacceptable. To me, to your mother and to the Jedi. I feel that it would be better if you would come back with us and regain your balance in this."

Jacen shook his head. "Ben has given you his decision. You should accept his choice in this matter."

"He is our son and we must do what we feel is best for him. Not you." Luke said firmly, "Your choices have not been exactly spotless, Jacen. Murder, torture, assassinations..."

"I did what was necessary for the good of the Galactic Alliance. I won't deny it." As Jacen lifted his head in defiance, his back stiffened ramrod-straight, he was the personification of wounded dignity. "If you have problems with the GA goals, perhaps you should take it up with them."

Luke shot back, "It's not their goals that is the problem. It's your methods that bear scrutiny and restraint. Or have you forgotten that compassion should always be your first choice?"

Jacen just shook his head, annoyance in his voice. "Compassion is all well and good when they aren't shooting at you, Uncle."

"And helpless prisoners? Torturing them..." He could barely keep the bile from rising in his throat at the thought. That his nephew could do this, that anyone could, made him feel unclean.

Apparently, Jacen Solo did not share his distaste for inflicting pain on defenseless beings. Shrugging away the question, one hand fingering the saber at his side, he said impassively, "They had information about traitors. It is an effective means of finding out where the terrorists were hiding."

Unable to hide the dismay in his voice, Luke warned, "It is of the Dark."

"It will help bring this conflict to an end. Since the Galactic Alliance has seen fit to promote me and approves my actions in these matters, there is nothing else to say." Lifting his chin, staring at them both with dark eyes, Jacen stood there - distant, determined, and with a calm that would be the epitome of Jedi restraint under other circumstances. "Unless... besides kidnapping Ben, you have come to arrest me."

Ben seemed horrified at the idea. Edging closer to his mentor, he scowled, "You aren't going to, are you, Dad? Mom?"

Shaking his head, Luke looked first at Ben with some concern, and then, frowning thoughtfully, at his nephew. "I don't have the authority to arrest you, Jacen, as well you know. The Jedi Order follows the law and since you have been working for the Galactic Alliance and under their jurisdiction, there is little I can do to stop you right now."

He could hear Mara shifting impatiently beside him but his focus was solely on Jacen. "But I will no longer allow our son to participate in GA activities. Choices or not, I will not sacrifice his future for political gain. He is coming back with us."

"No!" Ben looked frantically among the adults, his anxious gaze going from his cousin to Luke to Mara and back again. "No, I need to be with Jacen. We do good work in the GA. We are helping the war effort and I..."

Interrupting him, Mara said sternly, "You murdered two people, Ben. Two lives gone because of you."

He looked ashamed, stricken with guilt, thoroughly contrite. Shuffling his feet, Ben mumbled, "Mom, I didn't mean to hurt them but they were in the middle of a firefight. If they had just stayed inside like we told them, they'd still be alive."

That answer only made Mara more indignant. "So you are blaming them for your actions? Their families are in mourning because of what you and Jacen did."

Biting his lip, he looked even more guilty than he had before. His voice kept rising as he tried to explain, "No, I'm not blaming them but you can't think that I did it on purpose. It was an accident."

"Accident? That you were sweeping through terrified people, lightsaber in hand, and you just happened to cut them down. Like meat." Her face was thunderous, a deep frown cutting into her skin, mouth pinched white as she spat out her denunciation. But, for all her obvious anger, Luke could still see the grief in her eyes.

Ben's hands lifted up, protesting, "No, it wasn't like that."

"Ben, I saw the vids."

"Mom..."

Straightening, she lifted her chin; her eyes were a green storm of determination and uncompromising will. "No arguments. You are coming back with us and that's the end of it."

For a moment, no one spoke. Ben turned ash-white, scowling down at the floor and then sending little indignant glances toward his cousin as if expecting him to protest. Mara was staring at their son, her slim body arrow-straight and as unyielding as neutronium. Jacen merely stood there, stolid and unresponsive, a troubling blank spot in the Force.

And Luke was becoming very confused. This is not what he had expected.

His nephew was remarkably calm during this confrontation, argumentative yes but showing no true signs of darkness.

He knew that Jacen's actions over the last several months had been as unacceptable to the Jedi as it was unacceptable to Luke; the torture of helpless prisoners alone should have been enough to recall him back to the Temple. But the increasing discord among the Jedi and the GA's insistence that Jacen be allowed to continue had put Luke in a difficult position. He had desperately wanted his nephew within the serenity of the Temple. But he also knew that Jacen had been gathering forces, both political and military, for some power play of his own.

Luke could have accepted that his nephew wanted some control over a life that had had little of peace but his methods stank of the Dark. And with each new murder, with every new drop of innocent blood spilt, the shadows seemed to gather more tightly around Jacen, shrouding him in darkness, pulling him closer to the abyss.

Some claimed that he had already fallen, that it was just a matter of time before he made his move.

Much as it pained him, however deeply he wanted to believe otherwise, Luke had expected a trap here on Hell's Gate - for Jacen to fight with him, hold him hostage, to use him as a bargaining chip with the Jedi or worse, try to kill him. With the Grandmaster of the Order dead or incapacitated, the Jedi would be thrown into chaos for a time. Then the Galactic Alliance would be free to collapse into a police state with Jacen comfortably settled into a position of supreme power. All the signs pointed to it.

But the trap had not sprung. Instead, there was this simple disagreement. It didn't make sense.

And Luke hoped, with everything he had in him, that he was wrong about Jacen Solo.

Finally, it was his nephew who broke the impasse. With a loud, resigned sigh and an apologetic smile, he turned toward Ben. "Perhaps it would be wiser if you went back with your parents for now." His son tried to object but Jacen ignored his protest. "You do need further lightsaber training and it is much easier to get it at the Temple. I'm too busy at the moment to train you properly in the techniques. After a time, I'm sure that they will be more willing to listen about returning when you've shown them you are serious about your choices."

Scowling, the boy wouldn't take no for an answer. "But I want to be with you. That's where I belong."

Putting both hands on Ben's shoulders, Jacen bent down a little so that they could look at each other, face-to-face. In a very serious, no-nonsense voice, he said firmly, "Ben, we all must make sacrifices for the greater good. That's what Jedi do. Your dad has sacrificed his time with you in order to fight in the war; your mom did the same. They laid their lives on the line dozens of times, willing to sacrifice themselves so that others might live, people they never even knew. My own brother, Anakin..." He stopped for a moment, swallowing hard and then said, "sacrificed his life. So did Chewbacca. To help others. To make things better."

Ben's shoulders slumped in resignation. "But Jacen... I don't see how going back will help. I'm willing to do what it takes to end the war. How can I do that, hiding at the Temple?"

"You will know." Straightening up, standing tall and resolute, Jacen said firmly, "Ben, I want you to go back. Just for a little while. It would be better that way. Think of it as a mission."

The boy frowned down at his boots, and said in a small, unhappy voice, "Yes, sir."

"Thank you, Jacen." Luke breathed a sigh of relief. This would make things a lot easier.

"No thanks are necessary, Uncle. It will be good for Ben to interact with some of the others at the Temple. But before you leave, I would like to talk with you a moment." Jacen glanced at Mara, frowning at her obvious impatience to be away from the planet and away from him. He shifted uncomfortably and said, "Alone."

Mara's reply was instantaneous. "I don't think that's a good idea. We need to get back. The situation with Corellia is heating up again and the Jedi have been asked to mediate."

"Aunt, it will only take a few moments. I have something of a personal nature to talk over with my uncle." His eyes shifted away, and his face colored slightly; he looked almost embarrassed. "You could get Ben settled into the ship and Uncle Luke will be there before long."

If Luke didn't know better, he would have said that Jacen had romantic problems and wanted to talk with someone older and more experienced. His actions certainly gave that impression. But the Force was not quiet. Instead, it was roiling, its currents twisting around them, smoky tendrils of shadow obscuring every pathway, making it difficult to see motivation or possible futures. All Luke could sense was the bitter taste of impending danger.

It appeared that he had not misjudged Jacen after all. This had all the markings of a snare-trap.

Alone, he would be more vulnerable to an attack and he had to admit that he wasn't young any more. He could lose... badly. But this also gave him the opportunity to try and reason with Jacen.

Mara, much as he loved her, could sometimes be impatient, all too obstinate, and very protective. And they had to get Ben away from him before it was too late.

He had faced evil before in his family and survived it, bringing back into the Light his own father. And he did love Jacen and mourned what he had become. Perhaps he could turn his nephew around.

He had to try.

"I have a few minutes to spare." Touching her sleeve with tender care, he said quietly, "Mara, take Ben back and start prepping for take-off."

Worry turned her face dread-white. Sneaking glances toward Jacen who was talking quietly to their son, she clutched at Luke's hand, whispering furiously, "Skywalker, I don't think..."

Smiling, nodding as if agreeing with her, knowing that she was thinking of how to get him out of this, how to get them all out and knowing, too, that any resistance on both their parts would only end in disaster for her and perhaps for Ben as well, he murmured, "Mara, please. Get Ben out of here. It will make it easier on everyone."

The Force seemed to clot around her, her anxiety creating discordant ripples in the currents. Gripping his fingers tightly with her own, Mara pulled him close, scowling at him and hissed sharply,

"Skywalker, this is the stupidest thing you've ever done. I won't..."

Interrupting her before she could say anything else, aware that their conversation could be overheard, he said. "Mara, Ben must be your first priority. I will be along shortly." He sent her a tentative smile, "Trust me."

"That's Han's line and you know what kind of trouble he gets into." She said tartly but her eyes were liquid in the light. "And then you have to keep rescuing him."

"Well, next time, I'll let you rescue him." He turned serious, "And Mara, the name is Luke."

She nodded, hesitating, as if she wanted to say more but could not, certainly not in front of Jacen Solo. "Luke, I... "

Squeezing her hand and then lifting his fingertips to brush one errant tendril of bright hair from her face, he said, "I won't be long." And then he let her go.

For one fleeting moment, as she looked into Luke's determined face, Mara seemed uncertain, her eyes a green-storm mixture of exasperation and dread. But she was not one to show vulnerability, especially where a potential enemy could see.

Her gaze flicked over to where Jacen stood; he was still whispering urgently to Ben. In the Force, Luke could feel her alarm at the sight, knots of worry colliding with urgency, ripples of cold grey that were swirling into the already-unsettled omens of impending disaster.

Ben was hovering too close to his cousin, both of them arguing and gesturing with the familiarity of long association, muttering to each other like co-conspirators. Their son kept frowning back toward them, too. Apparently, much as Jacen had supported their insistence on him returning with them, Ben was not happy about the situation.

Neither was Mara. Scowl hardening quickly into durasteel, she twisted back to Luke. "I better get Ben to the ship," she nodded toward Jacen, "before he changes his mind."

There was something in her voice that set off claxons in Luke's mind. He had expected Mara to argue more strenuously to remain as backup or else for him to leave with them both. This capitulation was too unlike her - which meant she was planning something.

Brilliant in undercover work, she was one of the most knowledgeable fighters he had ever known, powerful and with a flowing grace that was unbelievable at times, but she was focused, always focused on her goal. Determined, intense and beautiful. He loved her very much but she could be a liability at times. Like now.

And there was only one thing that would make sense. Hoping that he was wrong, he said softly, "Mara, promise me you'll wait on the ship. With Ben."

He wasn't wrong. The glare she sent him could have melted rock. Drawing back, arrow-straight and rigid with fierce indignation, she snapped, "I said I'd leave you here to talk with him, didn't I?"

Her eyes dared him to cross her, at his own peril. The unspoken threat, the way she fingered her blaster as though remembering the first time she'd promised to kill him and only now considering actually doing it, reminded him of how much they had been to each other over the years.

But it didn't change the fact that he needed to talk with Jacen. Alone.

"Promise me, Mara." Flat, resolute. He had to make sure she knew that he would not yield in this.

Narrowing into slits, her eyes were banked wildfire. "Have it your own way, Sky..."

One look from him and she bit off the rest. But as Mara stalked toward their son, displeasure clacking sharp in boot-heel precision, Luke could hear her muttering under her breath about damn Jedi fools and husbands with martyr complexes.

Deliberately refusing to look in his direction, she stood next to Jacen, waiting impatiently while Ben said farewell to his cousin. Luke could see how upset she was, her body taut with emotion, one hand, white-knuckled and bone sharp, fisted on the hilt of her lightsaber, the other curling tight at her side.

He just hoped that Mara wouldn't try something foolish. It could get them both killed.

But before Luke could say anything else, Mara frowned down at their son, reminding him, "Ben, it's time to leave."

Sighing heavily, Ben shifted, glowering first at her and then, as if disappointed, at Jacen. As he turned toward the exit, his gaze fell on Luke and he scowled a bit, "Dad won't do anything, will he?"

"Of course not," Mara said quickly, her eyes meeting Luke's in puzzlement. That seemed an odd thing for Ben to say but there would be time later to ask, once they were safely away. "Let's go."

With that, she turned reluctantly, sending Luke one last anxious look, then hustled Ben out into the corridor and the landing platform beyond. Luke could hear the drift of shuffling feet and reluctance as the echoing noise faded in the distance.