No. 8—Everything Hurts and I'm Dying

Stomach Pain | Head Trauma | Back from the Dead

"So," Tycho said. "Rebel base? Yes or no?"

"It's not that easy," Luke said. "We've barely explored." He pulled his jacket closer. The Mid Rim planet they were exploring for a base was cold, dark, and rainy. Rocky hills rose up all around and caves pockmarked the landscape.

Janson pointed at a nearby pale pink bush. "That's interesting. We should move here because of that specific bush."

Luke sighed and massaged his forehead. "You two don't have to stay near me." He was going to kill Wedge for suggesting he have company on his first mission after Bespin. He was perfectly capable of scouting some random hills without Janson harassing him. "You can go harass the other Rogues over that way." He gestured near the squat trees, where the rest of the Rogues had congregated to chat and were not scattering to scout like he had ordered.

"But you need us," Janson said. He clapped a hand to Luke's shoulder. "Don't you, boss?"

Tycho pointed to a nearby cave entrance in a large hill—or a small mountain. Luke couldn't be quite sure. "I like that cave. That is a nice cave."

Luke sighed again, tucking his thumbs into his belt loops. "Not you too, Tycho."

Tycho grinned. "Sorry, boss." He sounded as sorry as Han's apologies after harassing Leia.

A prickling warning crawled over the back of Luke's neck. He laid his hand on his blaster. "Something's wrong."

A TIE Advanced spun out of control through the twilight sky. A cold, familiar presence pressed in on Luke. Unlike normal encounters, though, the presence was frantic, even panicked.

"Is that…?" Janson asked.

"Vader," Luke confirmed. His father—supposedly, anyway. Vader was crashing.

The TIE straightened out just in time to land hard right outside the cave entrance Tycho had praised.

Luke ran towards the crashed TIE, Janson and Tycho on his heels. If they could catch Vader off guard and capture him, they could take a significant player off the field and maybe preserve this planet as a possible base.

And maybe Luke could finally get some answers.

Just as Luke ran up to the ship, Vader leapt out, a stream of Huttese curses flooding from his vocoder. He turned and kicked the flaming ship. "Piece of junk. Schutta Imperial mechanics. Told them not to touch anything. If I get my hands on them, I'll…"

"Um…hello?" Luke said.

Vader spun. Another curse fell from his vocoder. He reached for his belt.

His empty belt.

Vader sighed and spoke in Meese Caulf, of all things, a trade language Luke had half-learned on Tatooine. "This has really not been my day."

"I know Meese Caulf," Luke said.

Vader didn't say anything, but Luke could feel he wanted to curse again.

Luke drew his blaster but didn't point it at Vader. "So what do you suppose happens now?"

Vader turned back to his ship. "I'll just comm the Executor and…"

The ship exploded.

Once Luke had picked himself up off the ground, he found a smile twitching at his mouth. Vader was kicking the flaming remnants of his ship, cursing even more.

His father was having a really bad day.

Tycho and Janson stood up on either side of Luke.

"Guess that comm to the Executor isn't happening after all, is it?" Janson called, grinning.

Vader spun, pointing a finger at Janson. He shook it at Janson wordlessly, cold filling the air. He glanced at Luke, then turned away, shoulders slumped, and kicked another piece of his ship.

"I don't think that's going to put the ship back together," Luke said.

"Luke!" Wedge called. He ran up with the other Rogues. "Is that…" He slowed. "Holy shavit. That's Vader!"

Luke held up a hand to stop the rest of the Rogues from crowding. He wasn't sure why Vader hadn't lashed out yet, but he didn't want to break him out of that. "You're going to have to come with us."

"I am not a rebel," Vader said.

A loud growl filled the air, wafting from the cave.

"Hold that thought." Luke stalked by his father towards the cave entrance. "There's something alive in there."

"I do not believe that is wise," Vader said. "All you have is a blaster."

"And all you have is…oh, that's right. Nothing." Luke took a petty pleasure in the fact that his father was lightsaber-less just as Vader had made Luke at Bespin.

"Right behind you, Luke." Wedge came up to his side. He leaned in and whispered in his ear, "What are we going to do about Vader?"

"I have absolutely no idea," Luke whispered back. Danger thudded in the back of his mind. He flipped his blaster from stun to kill and leveled it at the cave entrance.

A scaly beige three-toed claw crept out of the darkness of the cave. The claw was over twice as large as Luke's head.

Luke swallowed. Something big, then.

"Luke! Watch out!" Vader demanded.

Tension pulled at Luke's chest. He had the same tone that Uncle Owen would when he thought Luke hadn't noticed an obvious threat. He glanced over at his father. "I'm not stupid, I can see the—"

A beige blur slammed into him with a roar. He fell back, the breath knocked out of him, pain spreading through his chest. His head knocked against a rock. He slumped, his vision blurring. Pain sliced into his side. The beast leapt over him and ran off.

"Luke!" Several voices shouted at once.

A hand pressed against the side of his head. "Luke, can you hear me?" Wedge asked.

Two strong arms gathered him up. "Luke, Luke! Luke, I'm here. Luke!"

Luke groaned, fuzz thudding through his head. Blood trickled down his cheek. Nausea thrummed in his stomach and pain stabbed in his side with every breath. He could barely see anything. Black hovered over him. "Fa…Father?"

The beige beast ran out of the cave before Wedge could react. He was knocked to the ground, his breath slammed out of him. He sat up as fast as he could. The beast ran off into the distance.

He glanced over at Luke. His blood ran cold. Luke lay still, blood spreading across blond hair and his yellow jacket covering his new black Jedi duds. A rock was right behind his head.

Shavit. He'd hit his head. "Luke!" Wedge called, several voices joining him. He ran forward and knelt at his side. The blood trickled, not too fast, but fast enough to worry Wedge. He pressed a hand to the wound. Maybe he could stem the bleeding. "Luke, can you hear me?"

Vader physically pushed Wedge out of the way and gathered Luke into his arms. He cradled Luke's head in his hand and stroked his cheek with one thumb. "Luke, Luke! Luke, I'm here. Luke!"

Wedge frowned. What in the galaxy? Why was the Empire's most feared enforcer cradling the Hero of the Rebellion, destroyer of the Death Star, and Wedge's friend and boss in his arms?

Luke squinted hazily up at Vader, groaning. "Fa…Father?"

The bottom dropped out of Wedge's stomach. Luke's injury hadn't looked that bad, but it must have been severe if he was confusing Vader with his dead father.

"Yes, it's me, I'm here, I've got you," Vader said.

"Don't you dare." Wedge picked himself up again. "Don't you dare mess with his head like that. You don't know how much he looks up to his father. Anakin is his hero. Don't you dare take advantage of his injury to pretend to be someone you're not."

"Father?" Luke frowned. "My…my head hurts."

Vader's helmet turned towards Wedge, then back to Luke. "I am afraid I am not pretending."

Wedge sat for a second processing that, then quickly decided that Vader was a mystery he didn't want to decipher. "Hobbie, your medkit!"

"Of course." Hobbie ran forward and dropped his basic first aid kit at Wedge's feet.

Wedge snatched a bacta patch. "Hold him steady."

Vader actually did as he was told, holding Luke still so Wedge could slap the patch on his head.

"I can't see, everything's dizzy," Luke said. "What's going on?"

"You've got a head injury, Luke, we need to get you back to the ships and head out," Wedge said. Of course, Luke wouldn't be able to fly on his own. Normally, he'd just trust the astromech, but with that head injury, Luke shouldn't be alone, and they had Vader to deal with. "Tycho, you and Dix go to the ships and call for support. We can't fly Luke out in his X-wing like this. Janson, Hobbie, find another cave nearby that's unoccupied where we can bed down for the night. Vader, if you're willing to surrender yourself into our custody, I'll need your word you won't attack us in any way. Otherwise, I'm going to have to ask you to put Commander Skywalker down and step away before I shoot you."

"Father, don't…" Luke reached up and grabbed the chain of Vader's cape. "Just listen to them."

"As you wish." Vader pulled Luke closer. "I remand myself into your custody, Antilles. I give my word I will not attack you."

Tycho, Dix, Janson, and Hobbie took off.

Wedge nodded. This was perhaps the most bizarre day he'd ever had, but he wasn't one to look a gift tauntaun in the mouth. "All right, then. Hold Luke still, I need to check the wound on his side."

Luke shuddered and vomited all over his chest.

Wedge cringed. Bad sign. "Just hold on, Luke," he whispered. "We'll get you home safe."

Vader shifted Luke in his arms, laying him down on his lap and leaning him against his chest. He grabbed his cape and wiped Luke off with it, cleaning the vomit off his shirt and his face, for all the galaxy like a parent wiping off a toddler's messy face.

Wedge pulled the medkit closer to him and peeled the sliced black robes open. "You really are his father, aren't you?" he murmured. "Somehow, you're Anakin Skywalker."

"I used to be," Vader said quietly. "Am I…Is Anakin Skywalker truly my son's hero?"

"He used to be," Wedge replied. He pressed a bandage to the leaking tear in Luke's side. "Why are you…acting like this?"

Vader was silent for a long while before speaking. "Luke would rather have thrown himself into oblivion than be with me," he said. "And the Emperor…" He shook his head. "I cannot watch him die. Especially not because of me."

Wedge didn't know what to say to that, so he didn't address it. He peeled the bandage back. "This is going to need stitches." Not that there was a suture kit in Hobbie's first aid kit. Just bacta and bandages. He put pressure back on the wound. Too much blood already soaked the bandage.

"Come…with me," Luke whispered. He tugged on Vader's cape. "You have to come with me. And then we can be together. Father and son…"

"Of course." Vader smoothed Luke's hair back. "It seems the Force decided I should be the one following you. The Emperor believes I am already dead."

Luke frowned. "How…?"

"I would rather not talk about it. Let us just say that I have had an exceedingly unlucky day," Vader said.

Luke smiled. "I think I'm having an exceedingly lucky day."

Wedge pressed harder on Luke's wound. "Save your strength, Luke. You've got a long night ahead of you."

A/N: I had to cut this off because it was getting too long, but this definitely needs to be continued.