Title: Here at the Right Time (6/6)
Fandom: Star Wars
Rating: PG-13 for this part
Pairing/Characters: Thrawn/Jorj Car'das
Summary: Jorj Car'das learns that life is more interesting with a Chiss than without one. An AU of sorts taking place after the events of Timothy Zahn's Outbound Flight.
Notes: After debating this for more than a week, I sort of feel like "Here at the Right Time" has reached its conclusion. I am not done with this AU though. Not by any means. I definitely plan on writing a sequel or several sequels about what happened after this. For me if for no one else.
But to those who did read it - Thank you. I hoped you enjoyed "Here at the Right Time" as much as I enjoyed writing it!
The trip back to Coruscant was too long for Car'das' taste. The longer he sat in the cockpit, the longer he stared at the tiny red dot on the locator he'd found shoved under his seat. The red dot indicating Thrawn's movements to some spot outside the Unknown Regions. And the more Car'das studied the dot, the more he felt like a small, unwanted child who had been sent away for his own good. He contemplated spacing all of Thrawn's holograms that had been put on his ship, and finding a hot, normal Corellian to hook up with.
But no. Of course not. He had feelings for one of the stupidest members of one of the stupidest race of blue people he'd ever had the misfortune of discovering.
On the way, he spoke to several of the new Emperor Palpatine's men. He'd already told them what a proper Chiss exile entailed and with the locator, it would only be a matter of weeks before Thrawn was retrieved.
Upon arrival, he was greeted by a very different-looking Anakin Skywalker, or Darth Vader as he had been newly christened. He was scarred, seething with some inexplicable, irresolvable rage, and had lost at least one limb since Car'das had seen him.
"Don't be alarmed," the Dark Jedi said, clamping an arm down around Car'das' shoulders as he led him towards where the Emperor and other dignitaries were waiting. All human. Later Car'das would learn that very few aliens were at the capital, most of them had been shipped back home or simply instructed to leave. The Jedi themselves were gone and their temple in ruins with their teachings and way of life practically obliterated by the boy they had never taken particularly good care of.
"My work is difficult, and I will lose much more of myself before I am finished." The worst part was Vader sounded pleased by the prospects.
There were at least eighteen rumors going around as to why he'd gotten that way. Mostly by killing Jedi children, according to some overly superstitious soldiers.
"What happened to Amidala?"
"House arrest," Anakin growled out. "But it is only a matter of time before she sees things my way. Once our children are born."
This seemed sort of ridiculous and decidedly wishful thinking on the Jedi's part, but Car'das didn't dare call him on it.
"The Emperor will have uses for the commander as well when something can be spared to retrieve him. I will have uses for you in the meantime."
These uses were smuggling and the trafficking of information specifically secrets that would locate Jedi, all of them dead-ends much to Car'das' delight and Anakin's ire.
All the while Car'das felt ill-at-ease, wishing Thrawn would come back and find something more worthy of his time.
He spent evenings giving himself a headache as he debated ways to get out of his position or find a means of travel to the Outer Rims where he could shake down each planet until a Chiss fell out. But exile and failing to perform to the best of his ability wasn't an option when saddled with a half-mad Jedi Knight.
Anakin had only two methods of dealing with those who displeased him: force-chokes and cutting them into pieces with his lightsaber.
The Empire was, of course, the Emperor's first priority. Palpatine had been working behind the scene for years and had plenty of allies and supporters, but even so few ships could be spared for one purpose and one purpose alone. Car'das could spend evenings staring at a blinking red light, but no one could be sent so far from the Empire for several months.
As a result, Car'das spent most of his evenings drinking while Vader pondered death and doom for others nearby. Loneliness had driven him to spend time with Anakin, but drinking, well, he'd missed drinking. He knew other smugglers though, and occasionally forced Talon Karrade to go on runs with him. Just so he didn't get completely rusty.
Occasionally Vader would reminisce about Obi-Wan, but such reflections led only to an obsession with tracking his former master and friend for the express pleasure of killing him.
The Emperor seemed uninterested in Vader's own vendettas, sending the man out on more and more errands that involved less and less actual killing of the dwindling number of Jedi left to be annihilated.
Amidala remained a subject best untouched and Anakin never asked about Thrawn. But then, of course, he got sad enough to explain that Amidala was dead and two children, born mere hours before their parents' homicide-inducing argument, were gone. Presumably Obi-Wan knew where.
"She was leaving me for him. And he was mine. Just like she is mine," Anakin concluded at the end of one particular bad night. Vader had been sent to deal with a small group of Rebel insurgents and Car'das had gone ostensibly as an aide but primarily as a babysitter.
That night Anakin also looked sad and more like his former self. One eye was blood-red and the skin around it swollen. He was starting to wheeze a bit, which only meant more modifications in the near future. He was already becoming more metal than man, and Car'das found himself hating the slow transformation.
A wistful smile passed Anakin's lips as rapidly as thought. "Sometimes I still hate her for her infidelity. She denies it of course, but I know better."
Car'das worked on finishing his drink.
"But then in the end she remains here with me and I have no desire to see my former master and friend until it's time to end him."
Car'das decided to just nod. He didn't have to smile, obviously, but Anakin could not be reasoned with by anyone but the Emperor.
"Do you still love that blue alien of yours, Jorj?"
"Yeah," Car'das admitted reluctantly. "He's an asshole, but I love him."
A strange look passed over the Dark Jedi's features. "Come here," Anakin said. No, commanded.
The request seemed strange, and while Car'das couldn't think of a reason not to, he was still surprised to find himself abandoning his chair and straddling Vader's lap.
"This is good. You're comfortable here." And just like that Car'das was. "Do you think your love protects you?" Anakin murmured, hands clamping down on Car'das' biceps.
"I… don't know."
"Yes, you do. You're too clever to think affection or devotion to some blue freak makes a difference to me or anyone else here."
Car'das wanted to leave but he found himself leaning closer as if the words pleased him and he wished to learn more.
"I could do anything I wanted to you, Jorj," Anakin purred, leaning in. "You'd like it. Amidala does even if she's too stubborn to admit it."
Car'das wanted to shake his head, but found himself nodding instead.
"Love wouldn't stop you from giving in to me either."
"Why are—"
"I think you should kiss me."
Car'das leaned down and kissed Vader's scarred lips. Then he pulled away, trapped in place by the grip on his arms. When he opened his mouth to speak, an invisible hand wrapped around his throat.
"Love is weak. Strength lies in power and control. Love keeps you a prisoner and it keeps you weak."
"Stop," Car'das managed.
The pressure went away and Anakin's arms circled his waist. "They did find your commander." Then he shoved Car'das to his feet.
He felt a little more like himself the farther he got from Anakin, but the knowledge that he was able to do so only because the Jedi let him, wasn't very comforting.
"He'll be here tomorrow," Anakin calmly added. Then he stalked forward and kissed Car'das again, his gloved fingers digging roughly into the Corellian's neck as he bit his upper lip until he drew blood. "My master's new pet, safe and sound and ready to do the Emperor's dirty work. Just like me. So much like me that if you trust him, you might not live long enough to regret it."
Car'das spent the rest of the night holed up in his room, fingering the dark red glove prints on his throat and the mark on his lip. He wasn't particularly concerned about Thrawn so much as thankful that he was coming back. Similarly he wasn't worried about what Anakin had said so much as how strange Anakin had become.
Quite accidentally, the mission of finding Thrawn had fallen to iStrikefast/i, aVictory-class Star Destroyer under the command of General Voss Parack that was already in the Outer Rim Territories dealing with Booster Terik. Just why anyone in the Empire thought to could outfox the old Corellian smuggler was beyond Car'das.
Oddly enough they might have caught him when he was forced to land on a small planetoid consistently mainly of a dense jungle if they hadn't lost several TIEs and shuttles to rudimentary traps made with native flora and fauna. Parck had been impressed with Thrawn's efforts anyway, and had been only more so once it was obvious that not only did the Chiss speak Basic, but he was known to the Emperor.
Darth Vader had been sent away on some other mission which was just as well as far as Car'das was concerned. He wasn't sure how Thrawn would react once he noticed, and he was even less eager to see how little Thrawn might react even if he did.
He told himself as the shuttle came into view, that it would be better not to react all that much to Thrawn's arrival. At least not publicly. Clearly Palpatine wasn't fond of anyone blue, green, red, or fur-covered so things would only be made that much worse if Car'das was to act upon any urgent desires to fling himself at the Chiss.
Somehow his brain ignored the message and he made a beeline for Thrawn the second he was far enough away from the ship to be fully visible. He looked no worse for wear in his Imperial issue uniform that someone must have lent him.
Car'das hardly cared. He brushed off the arm of one of the lietenants who tried to stop him from rushing forward. Protocol be damned. He just had to at least touch Thrawn and make sure he wasn't hallucinating.
And then he had to kiss Thrawn because he was there and Car'das had been miserable without him.
If Thrawn was startled, he did a good job hiding it as he returned the kiss and let his arms wrap around Car'das waist. Jorj let his hands dig into the gray fabric that covered Thrawn's arms.
"I can't do this again."
"I know," Thrawn soothed. "Has it been difficult?"
"Very. Let's… There's got to be a way to prevent this. Next time let's just get stranded together. I'm totally okay with having to be your spouse if it means I can be exiled when you are," Car'das said quietly.
"I think that sounds…" Thrawn frowned darkly as he trailed off. "What happened to you, Jorj?"
Luckily the Emperor and his new Imperial guards clad entirely in red armor had made their way forward to join them by that point, and Car'das didn't have to answer the question.
If Palpatine was displeased by the display of interspecies affection, he was doing an excellent job of keeping the sentiment to himself. Several Imperials were not so capable of keeping their faces blank, but they were in the minority.
For his part, the Emperor shook Thrawn's hand, expressed his profound pleasure to finally meet him, and welcomed him to the Empire.
Thrawn bowed politely, then they conversed for quite some time and eventually continued doing so over an early supper. The Emperor talking of his plans and Thrawn talking about his after relating the series of misadventures that had made up the entirety of his stay on the uninhabited planetoid the Chiss had selected for him.
Car'das joined them since he didn't want to let Thrawn out of his sight, but contributed little and ate even less. He was content to listen just as he was eager to hold the Chiss' hand when it was resting on the table.
Once they were alone, he pulled the former commander into another hug and rested his head on Thrawn's shoulder, inhaling deeply and relaxing for the first time in days.
Thrawn exhaled slowly, kissing lightly at Car'das' hair. "Explain."
"It's nothing."
"Nothing?"
"Well, I missed you."
Thrawn laughed. "Sweet boy. I have spent weeks without you. I am eager to have you touch me and touch you in return for days on end."
Car'das moved back a little and yawned. "Good. Because I wasn't going to apologize."
The Chiss gently lifted Car'das' chin up with two blue fingers so they could look at one another properly. "I don't need you to explain the kiss, which was perfectly appropriate and gratifying in every way. I need you to explain the cut on your lip and the dark circle lurking right under your collar."
"The result of a misunderstanding with a co-worker basically."
"And the co-worker is where exactly?"
"Let it go, Thrawn."
"You cannot make our relationship entirely public, refuse to be parted from me even for something as trivial as a dinner, and ask to be exiled with me only to then expect me to ignore something like this. You were harmed."
"This isn't so bad. It could have been much worse."
Thrawn cursed in Cheunh as he examined Car'das' neck. Car'das had no idea what he meant, he knew it was something disparaging. "I shouldn't have left you here. What sort of people are these? I thought you said—"
"It was just one guy. It's not everyone here. I like just about everyone here.
Besides, worse things have happened."
"To you? In recent months?"
"No, relax," Car'das insisted. "All of this happened last night, Thrawn. I doubt it'll happen again."
"Explain, Jorj."
There was no chance of him switching topics when Thrawn was like this so eventually Car'das relented with a sigh. "I had an argument with one of the Jedi Knights who defected and who is probably defective. Like I said, it doesn't matter."
"I might have known it was a Jedi," Thrawn murmured. "I heard they were gone for the most part."
"Well, one of them is very much here. Darth Vader who used to be Anakin Skywalker. Not that you know who Anakin Skywalker is."
"Darth Vader? Emperor Palpatine's second in command?"
"I don't know about that, but they're close. He's pretty high up in terms of ranking."
"What is his purpose?"
"Someone has to kill the rest of the Jedi, I guess."
Thrawn looked disgusted. "What an ugly business. Why would he take offense to you?"
"We met once before. He… lost the person he loved and I haven't. It pissed him off."
"I sincerely hope I am not expected to work with him in close proximity."
"I don't see why you would."
"Then I suppose the matter is settled provided you understand that I expect you to rest until that mark fades."
"I'm fine though," Car'das protested, but he didn't really mind being gently ushered in the direction of his bed. He curled up instead, smiling a bit when Thrawn wrapped his arms around him and buried his blue nose in the crook of Car'das' neck.
"That remains to be seen," the Chiss murmured. "I'll need to conduct a more thorough examination in the morning."
"I'm so glad you're here. I said that right?"
"This will be the ninth reminder of the evening."
"Sorry."
"No, I am pleased. I did not doubt you would feel this way, but I was concerned that you might not be immediately happy to see me."
"It's been months."
"And I am sorry for that. I regret the way I sent you back here. I regret sending you back here at all as it turns out, but my people will scarcely give me a warm welcome ever again and there is a lot of good I can do here."
"It'll be better now that you're here."
"I sincerely hope so."
Car'das turned around so that they could kiss and so he could rest his head against Thrawn's shoulder again. "I don't mind it here. I don't following you where ever you need to go, Thrawn. What I hated was that I didn't even know if they'd ever get around to finding you. I don't want to be left behind again."
The Chiss was silent for quite some time. Car'das had almost drifted off by the time he said, "From now on, I will always take you with me then. For as long as the choice is mine to make."
This was not the answer the Corellian had been hoping for, not exactly, but it wasn't the worst compromise they could reach.
"Thank you," he quietly murmured, and after checking once more to make sure Thrawn was as close to him as possible, Car'das finally allowed himself to sleep.