SURPRISE! Sorry for not replying MoAngel but I wanted this next chapter to be a surprise cos I bet you weren't expecting it to be out this soon! ;) Enjoy!

Chapter 44:

"I needed these tanks fuelled ten minutes ago!"

Aleema's voice echoed throughout the landing hanger, relaying her impatience to all within. She hated waiting for anything and usually she would have done the job herself, but her meeting with the Emperor had gone longer than she'd expected. Now she had to deal with the incompetence of the fuelling staff, something she would be sure to mention to the Emperor after the immediate issue was dealt with.

"What did the Emperor have to say?"

Aleema glanced over to the tall man beside her. He was dressed as she was, in Mandalorian battle armour, with his helmet tucked under his arm. His dark eyes were scanning the hanger, memorising everything he saw.

Maxim had once been the head of security for the Mandalorian Queen. He had been good at his job, his eidetic memory allowing him to remember everything he saw or heard or read. But after he failed to protect to former Queen of Mandalore from a suicide bomber, he had quit his job and dropped off the radar. Nobody had seen or heard from him for years until one day he reappeared on his home planet, challenged the leader of the bounty hunters guild, defeating him in minutes and claiming his place as head bounty hunter. Despite his rank, Maxim kept a low profile, which was probably how he had survived for so long. Bounty hunters were not generally known for their loyalty.

"We have the coordinates for the Rebel base where Skywalker is hiding. We go in, capture the guy, kill a few of those do-gooders and get out. Quite the reward too."

Maxim looked down at his young companion. There was a hunger in her eyes, the same desire he saw in every bounty hunter. Nothing was too deplorable if the reward was high enough. She was fingering the vibroblade in her belt, the restless energy rolling off her in waves. Maxim was no fool. He would keep an eye on her.

"Ma'am, your craft has been refuelled," a nervous engineer announced. He turned and disappeared without another word, either too busy or too scared to stay for a response.

The two bounty hunters made their way in silence to their craft, a modified YT-1300 light freighter whose pale white hull was in desperate need of a clean and an upgrade. Once inside, they wasted no time, immediately starting up the engines and beginning take-off procedures. Moments later, they were out of the hanger, through the atmosphere and making the jump into hyperspace.

Anakin stared longingly at the bed as he brushed his teeth. It looked so inviting with Padme's pregnant form sprawled over the comforter, her dark hair curling over the pillows around her head. She was reading some report Ahsoka had given her, steadfastly refusing to meet his gaze. She'd barely said a word to him, despite her apparent acceptance of Anakin's decision. He sighed, turned around and returned to the sink.

He switched off the light as he made his way to his side of the bed. For a moment, he contemplated just flopping down beside her, like he would have done months ago but then his hands started shaking. His legs cramped as though he'd just run a marathon and white hot streaks of pain began shooting down his arms. Anakin grimaced, clenching his hands at his sides, trying to ride out the waves of pain.

He sensed Padme's attention shift to him and realised his whole body had locked up. With a great deal of effort, Anakin released the breath he'd been holding and turned away from Padme.

"Ani?"

He knew what she wanted and he still couldn't give it to her. Ignoring her, Anakin lowered himself to the floor and got comfortable. He could hear Padme's sigh but she didn't press him. The first couple of nights after regaining his freedom, Padme had tried to get him to sleep in the bed but his body simply wouldn't do it. On day three, she'd attempted to sleep on the floor with him but Anakin had flat out refused. She was pregnant! There was no way he was letting her sleep on the floor. Since then they'd made do, Padme moving to his side of the bed, her hand dangling over the mattress to rest on his hip. That had been the first night Anakin's nightmares had lessened.

"I'm sorry Padme," Anakin whispered.

The soft blue of the holoscreen Padme was reading from was the only source of light in the room. It cast an eerie glow over everything but Anakin was in the shadow of the bed. He lay on his back, staring at the roof without actually seeing it. His hands had stopped shaking but the pain lingered like a strained muscle.

The silence grew uncomfortable before Padme sighed. "None of this is your fault."

"But it is," Anakin closed his eyes. "All of it is my fault. That morning in the garage I opened myself up to the Force again and the Emperor found me. Found you and the twins. If I'd been more careful... It had been years without an incident and I slipped up. One mistake, that's all it took..."

"Anakin stop it," Padme's voice was harsh. "You made a mistake. Terrible things have happened because of it that you can't change. I get it. But you're only human. You can't fix the past, you can only learn from it."

"I know I can't fix the past!" Anakin hadn't meant to raise his voice. He swallowed, forced himself to calm down. "I'm not wallowing Padme, I'm..."

This time his voice hitched. He wanted to tell her, he had to tell her. But how could she understand what he'd been through? The endless days of agony, not just the physical stuff but the emotional and mental attacks too.

The blue glow disappeared and the room was plunged into darkness. Anakin hadn't realised he was hyperventilating until Padme's hand touched his hip. Her fingers warmed his skin, spreading a different tingling through him. With his eyes still closed, Anakin placed his hand on top of hers and squeezed. He focused everything on her, her quiet strength, her overwhelming presence. His breathing slowed.

"When my Mast..." Anakin swallowed and tried again. "When he first started torturing me, it wasn't about using me or anything in particular. He just wanted to break me, weaken me until I couldn't defend myself. I thought being electrocuted or whipped or nearly drowning would be the worst of it but... he is more creative than that. One week I wasn't allowed to sleep or eat. Another I had to stand for three days straight lest I choke myself. When my body couldn't take any more torture, he started on my mind."

Padme was holding Anakin's hand just as tightly as he was holding hers. But she didn't say anything. She knew this was something that just needed to be heard.

"There was this device that he would place over my eyes. It showed you what he wanted you to see and it was like you were actually a part of whatever was happening. For days I would be trapped in some unending reel of you dying, the twins turning Sith, him making me do things to you that..."

Finally Anakin opened his eyes and sat up. He faced his wife, taking both her hands. His eyes were wild, desperate but not focused. He was trapped in his memories, reliving everything he'd been through. A tear fell down his cheek.

"Padme, I didn't mean to. I had to do what he wanted me to. If I didn't..." A sob escaped as more tears began rolling down his cheeks.

She slid off the bed so they were eye-to-eye. With a gentle, encouraging smile Padme placed her arms around her husband and drew him to her. For a few minutes there was silence, Anakin's body shaking under her arms as he dealt with what he'd been through. Her hand slid up his back until her fingers could wind through the soft hair at the nape of his neck.

Finally they pulled apart. Anakin cleared his throat, refusing to meet Padme's eye.

"That's not all. Once he had weakened me, he started training me. That collar and cuff device I was wearing was his main method of controlling me. By then a part of me wanted to obey. It was easier to just do what he wanted. I was tired and lonely and I just wanted to give up. I let him control me, I still am. I can't even lie on a bed let alone look at a weapon. He would still use you and the twins as threats when I didn't do something right. He was thorough."

Padme lifted Anakin's chin, forcing him to meet her gaze.

"Not thorough enough." She kissed him. "Those threats on our lives did the opposite of what he wanted. If Palpatine was looking to wear you down and make you his puppet, he didn't succeed. And he never would have. Not with that approach."

"What do you mean?"

"Ani, you are strong because you fight for those you love. You didn't give up when the Emperor was torturing you, you were surviving. There's a difference. You fought back in the only way you could, whether you realise it or not. You let the Emperor take your powers, your pride, your freedom because you knew you were more help to your family alive."

"I'm no help to you now, my..." he cleared his throat, "he made sure of that. How can I protect you and the twins when I can't use a weapon?"

Padme smiled, cupping his face in her hands. "You are not weak Anakin. You are the strongest person I know. I love you. I trust you. I know you'll find a way."

She kissed him again and this time Anakin responded just as desperately.

****

When Anakin and Padme entered the conference room the next morning, everyone was already there waiting for them. After sitting opposite each other, Ferus jumped straight into it.

"Are you sure you want to do this? Nobody is forcing you to go back to that."

Anakin nodded, his resolve unwavering. After talking to Padme last night, he was surer than ever that he needed to rescue Luke. He didn't want his son to go through what he did.

"He's not going back to that, right Ben?" Padme turned to look at their old friend.

Obi Wan shook his head. "No he's not. We are going to be there this time as backup."

"What's your plan then?" Ferus inquired.

"It's not enough that we just get Luke back and keep Anakin from falling back into the Emperor's hands. We need to get rid of the threat or we are just going back to square one. The Skywalker's will be in hiding again and next time the Emperor may not be so lenient to you."

"Are you suggesting we kill the Emperor?" Padme didn't know how to feel about that.

Obi Wan faced her. "It's that or you bring your new little one into this nightmare we're all living now."

Padme lowered her head and stared at her stomach. She placed her hand over the bump, feeling the little one move inside.

"So what's the plan?" Rex pressed. He was leaning against the back wall, one foot propping himself up.

"Anakin is going to contact the Emperor, desperate for his son back. He is going to propose a trade – himself for Luke. The Emperor will suspect a trap immediately but I believe his desire to control Anakin will outweigh his restraint. He will come prepared but he will agree to the trade. From there we let him chose the meeting place, it will help make him feel as though he is in control but it won't matter. Pieter, you will be the only one besides Padme to go with Anakin to the meet."

Pieter nodded, sitting back in his chair. Ferus' outburst was not unexpected.

"What? You said we were back up."

"We are, we will just be at a safe distance. The Emperor will be looking for a trap but we don't need to hand it to him on a silver platter. Pieter will stay hidden and let us know what is going on. If it looks like Anakin can't handle it, that's when we make our move. Otherwise we stay out of range."

"This is not your best plan Ben," Ferus growled. He looked less than thrilled about his part in the plan, or rather, lack thereof.

Obi Wan shrugged, "Anakin is the only one capable of destroying the Emperor. If he cannot do it, we will do what we can but at the moment, everything depends on Anakin."

Anakin felt all eyes on him. He ignored everyone, searching out the only pair of eyes that he needed to see. Padme smiled at him and he nodded.

"I will do my best."

They had been in hyperspace less than an hour when the comm. link beeped. Maxim had left for his room not long after the autopilot had been engaged, leaving Aleema alone in the cockpit. She had her feet up on the consul while she cleaned her blaster.

The comm. link beeped again.

Aleema reached over and answered the call. A hologram of the Emperor's face appeared above the comm. unit.

"Change of plans. Skywalker is handing himself over. Meet me at these coordinates."

The hologram of the Emperor disappeared and the comm. beeped again. Aleema read the incoming coordinates then entered them into the navigations system. Using the onboard speaker system she called out for Maxim.

Moments later the door whooshed open and the tall man entered.

"What's going on?"

Aleema motioned for him to take a seat as she bought the craft out of hyperspace. Maxim sat down, taking her lead and activating manual control.

"Apparently Skywalker has had a change of heart. We're meeting them on Byss," Aleema informed him.

Maxim looked over in annoyance. "But that's in the Beshqek system... which is in the other direction."

Aleema rolled her eyes at him. "Quit whining. Don't you think it's a little strange that Skywalker is just handing himself over?"

"It's likely the Rebels have devised some sort of plan or trap."

"And the Emperor is just going to lead us straight into it. I don't like this."

"The man is no fool Aleema. He will see through this plan of Skywalker's and we will still get paid."

"We had better. I'm not sticking around to get caught between the Chosen One," she scoffed, "and the madman who opposes him."

Maxim shook his head but returned his attention to the controls. He was with Aleema on this one. He had known the risks that came with working for the Emperor but there were some things that had to be done.

As they once again made the jump into hyperspace, Maxim discreetly checked his personal comm. device. No new messages or missed calls. Strange, considering the new developments. With a frown, he set his controls once more to autopilot and excused himself. He had a call to make.