Let's do a little bit of Eius point of view before we get to this next chapter.

I believe we're going to see the return of a character from the Original Trilogy...

We'll touch more on that in the next chapter though, hehehehehehe

Yes, you should be scared.

But that's the next chapter ;D

Thank you for the reviews! Keep them up, I love them and they keep me motivated!

Enjoy!

Eius stalked through the halls of the new base with a purpose. He had been gone the past week since his master had sent him from place to place with a series of new missions executing Jedi, hardly giving him time to come back to the secret base they had established. In between the regular Jedi extermination missions he'd been sent to the occasional bounty hunter, giving them jobs to execute certain important people to cause turmoil in the Galaxy and keep the Jedi Council busy. So far, everything had gone smoothly.

Curiously, Eius prodded his senses towards the lowest level of the ruins where he knew Luke and Mara were held. Immediately he sensed Mara, who was still in the cell and unhurt thankfully.

As soon as the relief at her well-being appeared he shoved it away as well as any other thoughts of her. Now was not the time to be thinking about her, not as he made his way to talk to his master. He didn't exactly feel like enduring through one of his master's punishments for having such weak thoughts today.

Speaking of his master, he was in the room they had reserved for the torture sessions right now with Luke. It was hard to miss the agony rippling towards him through the Force from the Jedi, and he used the emotion to lead him to his master. He felt a flicker of acknowledgement of his dark presence from Luke when he brushed against his mind, but other than that the Jedi did not react; he was too wrapped up in surviving his current session.

Easily, Eius navigated through the halls of the ruins, plunging deeper and deeper into their depths before he came across the door that housed his master and Luke. Believing Sidious had already sensed him, he stepped inside quietly, taking in the scene in front of him.

Sidious had bound Luke's hands behind his back, making it somewhat easier to contain him. In the middle of the room there was a tub of ice water, which Sidious was currently holding Luke's head under. Duly, Eius noted that the water was pink, and most likely from Luke's blood. Lightsaber slashes, bruises, lacerations, and welts covered the Jedi's exposed torso and back, some of the wounds still bleeding profoundly. He kept his face blank and emotionless as Luke struggled in Sidious' grasp, desperate for the air he'd been deprived of for a while by now. Eius stayed silent, the only sound the sloshing of the water against the tub. Sidious would be the first to speak; Eius had learned quickly not to speak out of turn.

When Luke's struggles became particularly desperate, Sidious pulled his head out of the water, and the Jedi's gasp for air quickly turned into a cough as he fought to expel the water from his lungs and replace it with air before he could be forced back under again. He sported a nasty bruise across one side of his face, as well as a nasty gash across from it. That and the newly broken nose gushing blood explained the pink water.

And this was one of the milder days.

"I see you've finally returned Eius," Sidious said nonchalantly as he tossed Luke aside. The Jedi gasped as he connected with the stone, but other than that the only sound he made was his coughing and sputtering. Eius tore his eyes from the scene and met Sidious' gaze calmly, kneeling down out of respect.

"Yes my Master," Eius said humbly.

"Do not bother with the report. I can sense that all your missions were a success," Sidious said easily, eying Luke and obviously deciding how he would proceed next. Eius sensed the concentration of the dark side in the room thicken, closing in on Luke, who curled up into the fetal position, obviously trying to ward off the advance despite his weakened state. "I will have a new mission for you tomorrow. You will stay in your quarters here until then."

Eius felt a flicker of surprise. He was staying at the base overnight? Usually Sidious just sent him right back out into the field…

"I have something you need to deliver, and make sure that he agrees to the job when he gets it. You will be meeting him on Tatooine," Sidious said.

That made a little more sense. "Who am I meeting Master?"

"I will brief you on that tomorrow," Sidious said sharply. Eius felt Sidious' assault on Luke shift, and Luke cried out in pain, clutching his head as Sidious performed a Mind Shard attack.

Eius bowed his head lower. "Yes Master."

"And while you're here Eius, you should check on the progress with Jade."

Eius felt some small part of his heart he'd thought had died by now flutter before he swiftly quashed the feeling. Maybe if he was alone he would entertain such thoughts, but right now he was in close proximity with Sidious, and dared not do so.

"Of course Master," Eius said smoothly.

"You may go," Sidious said as Luke let out a particularly loud scream of agony as Sidious tore into his mind violently before Luke fell into unconsciousness from the pain. "And take him back to his cell on the way."

Sidious swept out of the room after that, and it was only when the door shut behind him that Eius stood, glancing over at the crumpled form of Luke with a frown. He summoned the dark side, manipulating it carefully until strands of the dark side weaved into a net constricting tightly around the Jedi, who moaned, coming to the edge of consciousness but remaining just barely unconscious. He would wake up soon enough. Once the net finished sapping away whatever was left of his strength it would start to burn. He wouldn't use it to dash Luke to pieces like he had with the occasional Jedi; killing Luke wasn't on the agenda any time soon.

With a wave of his free hand, the door opened and Eius re-entered the hall, dragging Luke behind him and constricting the net just slightly in the hopes it would wake the Jedi up. He wasn't allowed the privilege of sleep.

Luke moaned once more, and Eius suddenly tightened the net, eliciting a gasp from Luke and confirming that he was now awake.

Good.

The temperature in the hall dropped the further Eius went, and he could see his breath by the time he stopped in front of the cell, the hall illuminated by the light of his lightsaber. Sidious must have started messing with the temperature as well. Eius opened the door with another wave of his hand, tossing Luke inside without a second thought, dispelling the Force Net and freeing him once more. Luke yelped as he landed on a rather nasty collection of wounds and Mara appeared from the shadows almost instantly, rushing to the Jedi's side with his shirt clutched tightly in her hand.

Eius scowled darkly as he saw her fret over Luke, gingerly setting him into a more comfortable position and already starting to heal some of the larger wounds, like his broken nose. Before she could get too far, Eius spoke up.

"Mara; you're coming with me," he said lowly, keeping his sharp gaze on her. She looked up and glared at him.

"It's freezing in here and he's soaking wet. He's going to get sick and most likely die because you won't treat him and he's already weak, and from what I've gathered, you want him alive. So I suggest you turn up the temperature in here first, or I won't go with you so easily," she hissed.

Eius' scowl deepened. "You're in no position to bargain."

"I'm not bargaining, I'm telling you how it is. Either you turn up the temperature or he's going to die," she said coldly as she eased Luke's shirt on him, pushing the hair out of his face. The Jedi's eyes remained closed, and Eius could sense that he teetered between staying awake and slipping back into unconsciousness.

Finally he sighed, relenting, though he kept his tone annoyed. "Fine. I'll see what I can do," he said chillingly.

Once she was sure that Luke would be all right, Mara stood, walking straight-backed out the door without a fight and trying to hide the fact she was shivering from the cold of the cell.

As always, it was the pain that registered in Luke's mind when he finally came back to himself.

He grit his teeth and slowly rolled over, pushing himself to his hands and knees despite the fact it sapped at the little strength he had recovered during his period of unconsciousness. To his surprise, the room wasn't as cold as it had been earlier. Of course there wasn't a comfortable heat, but it had warmed up enough that he most likely wouldn't get sick, like he'd heard Mara say earlier. A strong pang of worry blazed through him for Mara after a moment as he realized she wasn't still in the room, but he knew he couldn't do anything for her. Painfully he pulled himself over to the first wall he ran into, leaning against it with a sigh.

The cold wall felt good against the bruise on his face, and he let his eyelids flutter closed once more, sighing contently as he got as comfortable as he possibly could in this Force-forsaken room. Sleep eluded him as he'd suspected, but he still kept trying.

Miserably, his mind wandered back to a time when he had endured a similar trial under Rezi Soresh, the Imperial Officer who had hoped he would be able to turn Luke to his cause. Except this time, Luke was pretty sure the end game was his death. Sidious was just going to draw it out as long as he could, wait until he was sure that he'd broken Luke before he finally killed him.

Luke was starting to agree with Han's statement back at Jabba's palace. He hated long waits.

With a short sigh, Luke focused on relaxing himself and trying to find his center again. Being surrounded by darkness all the time was taking a toll on him, and he treasured the quiet moments when he got to dig deep and find his inner light again.

After a while alone—he had no way to tell just how long it had truly been—the door opened, and Mara walked calmly through. Luke could see her outline from the light of Eius' lightsaber out in the hall, and he sat a little straighter, wincing as he felt some of his wounds re-open after being still for so long.

The door was quick to close behind her, plunging them back into utter darkness. It was only a moment later he felt her gentle hand on his shoulder, a feeling he was starting to crave. Any other time a hand was lain on him it was to harm.

"How are you doing?" she asked softly in the darkness, her voice coming from right in front of him.

Luke shrugged slightly, knowing she'd feel the gesture. "No different than usual these days."

He just knew she was smiling. "Do you want me to heal some of those wounds?"

"Just the worst ones. I can live with a few burns and bruises," he said with a small smile.

She chuckled softly in front of him. "All right farm boy."

Luke slowly shrugged off his shirt, which Mara helped him with. He'd stopped waving off her help after the second day of going through Sidious' torture. Help was welcomed now.

Luke repressed a shiver when he felt one of her warm hands against his cold chest, thankful for the warmth her gentle touch brought. With a small sigh of contentment, he leaned his head back against the wall while she got to work healing the worst of his injuries.

"What happened?" Luke eventually asked softly after a few minutes of silence had passed. "When he took you, what happened?"

"He didn't do anything to me, if that's what you're wondering," Mara told him reassuringly.

"Well then what happened?" Luke asked curiously.

Mara snickered a little. "You ask too many questions…" After a few more moments she spoke again. "He was simply told to see if I had changed my mind yet. They want to sway me to their side voluntarily, and they're not going to do that torturing me. Sidious knows that; I was trained not to break under torture."

"So what did he do, just sit with you and have a conversation over two glasses of champagne?" Luke asked sarcastically.

Mara snorted softly. "You're actually right there, we did talk over champagne."

Luke was silent for a moment. "Wow…"

Mara laughed softly before she sobered. When she spoke next, her voice was much closer. "I do feel bad though. While you're going through all…this, I'm drinking champagne with one of the people doing this to you."

"Eius hasn't touched me since we left Korriban," Luke said almost immediately.

Mara paused. "What?"

"He's been gone. Sidious has been keeping him busy, keeping him away from…wherever we're at. He hasn't been involved in any of my torture sessions. He's been in the room a few times, but he hasn't been involved…well…not yet anyway."

Mara was silent for a few moments. "I didn't know that…but still…while you suffer…" she sighed, probably looking away if she had been previously looking in his general direction.

"Mara," Luke said softly. "Don't worry about me. I'm strong, I can get through this. Besides, it's a relief to know that you're not being harmed too."

"I still don't like it," she muttered.

"You might not like it, but it can't be helped. And knowing you're safe makes this easier for me to get through. I'll gladly go through the pain for the two of us," Luke said gently.

Mara growled softly. "Why do you have to be so kriffing selfless?"

Luke grinned, leaning forward a little. "Because I love driving you insane with how noble I can be," he responded with a chuckle.

"So I've noticed farm boy. I think we've been stuck in this cell together too long," Mara said quietly, and Luke noticed she sounded even closer and that he could feel her warm breath on his cold face. He hardly even realized that her hand had stopped moving over his exposed chest.

"Probably. We're most likely not even responsible for our actions anymore," Luke murmured. "Maybe we've already snapped and gone crazy; we just don't know it yet."

"That sounds about right Skywalker, especially for you," Mara said. Was it just him, or had she sounded a little breathless?

Luke started to lean forward a little farther while he spoke. "Yeah, especially for me. I probably wouldn't do this if I was in my right mind—"

He cut off when he suddenly felt Mara's lips against his own, soft and warm and oh so welcoming after everything he'd been through. He trembled a little from the foreign contact he'd only experienced once in his life, a small gasp escaping unbidden from his lips.

The warmth from her lips seemed to spread, seeping through his limbs and to his very soul, purging the darkness that had been stalking him in a single, fluid motion. He leaned into the kiss, wanting more—no, needing more.

After what had seemed like an eternity in the moment but seemed too short of time now, she pulled away. "Luke..." she started, but her voice trailed off.

There was silence between them for a few moments before Luke finally spoke, his voice echoing in the cell.

"I will get us out of here. I promise."

Eius kneeled at his master's feet, head bowed low as he waited for Sidious to finally acknowledge him.

He didn't have to wait long.

"Rise," Sidious said simply, studying the map of the galaxy in front of him. Eius did as he was told, staying rooted to his spot in the room, hands clasped behind his back. "What is the status with Jade?"

Eius was silent for a moment, battling with the conflicting emotions that rose in him at the mention of Mara. Control. He needed control.

"She's right where we want her Master; as is the Jedi. It shouldn't be long now," Eius said emotionlessly.

"Good…good…now about your new mission…"

Eius waited patiently for Sidious to continue. He knew better than to speak first.

"I want you to go to the bounty hunter Boba Fett. Give this message to him; it's the job I want him to carry out," Sidious said, waving at a small holodisk on the table in front of him. "This is a rather important one, necessary for my plan. Make sure it gets to him. After that, I believe there is a pair of Jedi on Christophsis that would appreciate a visit. Why don't you grace them with your presence?"

Eius smiled—an empty, cold smile. "Of course Master. It shall be done."

"Return as soon as you are done. I foresee that I will need you here for a while after this mission."

Eius bowed deeply. "Yes Master."