Anakin saw red.

Siri, who had taken a couple of steps after Dooku, her hand on her lightsaber hilt, gasped and stumbled. A hand shot to her head as she doubled over, as if in pain. A whimper escaped her lips and her gray eyes went wide and glossy.

Anakin ignored her, stepping right past her as if she wasn't even there.

Dooku must have felt something change, because he paused and began to turn around.

"You want to see the power he has?" Anakin asked darkly. He waved a hand and Dooku went flying down the hall, crashing into old crates stacked there. "Or the power that could not destroy him?!"

The Count blinked, likely out of surprise and shock as he tried to shake off the suddenness of it all and get to his feet. He wasn't succeeding.

"How...?" he started, probably referring to how easily Anakin had broken through the natural Force bubble that usually stopped other Force users from attacking directly.

Anakin didn't even bother to try and answer. Instead, he wrapped himself in the familiarity of the storm of anger and hate and rage, gathering it to him with a firm, unyielding will.

"Do you think I would just let him go on if I had any other choice?" Another wave of his hand and Dooku shot towards him through the air, not by his own power. Anakin rammed his fist into the man's stomach as he came by. He felt the metal extension bend and warp with the impact and berated himself. He must have forgotten to reinforce the metal with the Force. Sloppy of him. He would have to fix it before Master discovered and punished him for it.

Anakin watched as the Count flew back and slammed into the wall. Eyes wide and stunned, although that blow would have severely injured a normal man. He must have protected himself at the last moment. A shame.

The older man began to fall to the floor and Anakin darted forward. Before the Count could reach the metal grating lining the walkway, The former Sith was there. He raised his leg and kicked Dooku, enhancing the kick with the Force and making sure to reinforce the metal this time. Again, the Count shot back and rammed into a different wall before finally falling to the grungy ground.

"Here you are, full of more power than you know what to do with, but the reality is, you are nothing," he hissed as he advanced on Dooku's groaning form. The man managed to somehow get to his knees at least and reached out, grabbing those same crates he'd crashed into earlier with the Force and throwing them at Anakin.

The former Sith actually laughed at the pathetic move, waving another hand and sending those boxes away to smash harmlessly at random points in the hallway easily. The older man's grasp on the dark side was so new; he honestly had very little idea how to really utilize it. There was no way he could possibly overpower a Sith Lord. Typical arrogant Jedi.

Dooku's lightsaber appeared in his hand, but before he could turn it on, Anakin reached out and grabbed it with the Force, piercing through the other's natural Force bubble again (let him know the futility of his actions – of standing against The Chosen One) and ripping the cylinder out of his hand. The other man's eyes widened in shock.

"If this paltry display is all you have to show, then he will annihilate you."

The Count grit his teeth and thrust his hands out, sending a wave of the dark side at Anakin, who scoffed. Did he honestly think he could get through to him with that? Although, now that the advantage of surprise and the resulting shock had been lost, Anakin likely wouldn't be able to affect the former Jedi with the Force anymore. Well, not as easily, but there were other ways. He'd already made his point there anyway.

Good thing he had Dooku's lightsaber. He found it amusing how that likely wouldn't have happened if the former Jedi had been using the Force as normal.

He switched it on. A blue blade stretched away from his hand. He frowned at it for a moment. It was the wrong color. And its handle was too short... and curved.

Ah, well. One had to work with what they had.

Dooku held his stomach as he scowled up at the figure towering over him.

"Do you still think you even stand a chance against him?" the time traveler asked.

The Count's jaw clenched tighter. "How... do you have this much power?" he asked, and Anakin smirked at the underlying tone of fear. Good. Maybe he'd finally understand his place.

"Do you comprehend now?" the former Sith asked pointedly, holding the lightsaber out in front of him.

Dooku backed away slowly, still on guard.

"Answer me!" Anakin bellowed.

The Count didn't want to. Anakin could tell. He could also relate. Every single Sith apprentice had to be taught humility by their superiors. It was how the cycle worked.

"Yes," Dooku finally said through gritted teeth.

"Good," he couldn't help the pleased, superior tone in his voice. "Now kneel before—"

A hand on his arm – two, actually – clutching at it, practically hanging from it, cut him off. He looked down to see a wide-eyed Siri staring up at him. He hadn't sensed her? Why hadn't he sensed her? Then he realized she held no malice in her. Honestly, it looked like she was barely standing right now anyway. That was why he hadn't sensed her – or had, but dismissed her as no threat. A mistake.

"Anakin," she gasped. "You... promised."

It was obviously taking everything in her to get the words out.

For a moment, he blinked at her, then went to shake her off of his arm. How dare she—

"Remember, Anakin," she grit out. "Remember... Luke... you promised. Padmè... Luke... Leia..."

Anakin stared at her, and the faces of the names of the people who were the lights of his life – who he would do anything for – flashed in front of his mind's eye.

For a moment, one dreadful, timeless moment, nothing happened.

Then, once again, he released his grip on his anger and hate, practically shoving it away from him. The darkness slipped away, leaving nothing but emptiness in its wake, as it always did.

They stood there for several seconds, Anakin still facing down a wide-eyed former Jedi as his mind strove to process and simultaneously reject what had just happened. When was the last time he'd slipped that badly? When was the last time he'd actually embraced the darkness... despite everything.

Wasn't he supposed to be over this?!

He felt sick, and wanted to collapse, crawl away into a corner and hide from everything, but he knew if he did anything remotely close, Dooku, recently turned and now thoroughly humiliated, would likely pounce on him, seeing it as the sign of weakness that it would be. It took all of his remaining strength to continue standing, and he was once again very grateful for his mask.

Siri slumped a little, taking deep breaths in relief. Then she reached up and slowly took the lightsaber out of Anakin's hand before turning it off.

"Thank you," she whispered. He wondered why, because (yet again) he should be thanking her. Yet again, she'd dragged him back, kicking and screaming, from the darkness.

Then she turned to Dooku. "Do you still want to take out Palpatine?"

The Count looked between Siri and Anakin for several seconds before nodding. "I do."

They couldn't trust him. Not completely. Not anymore (not that they had until this point). With how the dark side twisted one's mind, there was just no way to tell exactly where he stood. Anakin forced himself to try and sense something deceptive from the man. He strained, but felt nothing.

"Then get us the information we need to condemn him," Siri said as she held out Dooku's lightsaber to the man. Warily, as if she or Anakin would attack him, the former Jedi cautiously reached out and took the weapon. Then he carefully clipped it back onto his belt.

"Who is Anakin?" he asked after another long pause.

Anakin didn't think it was possible for him to stiffen anymore. He was wrong. His muscles began to ache. He welcomed the pain. Was he shaking? He couldn't tell.

Siri looked back at him, as if expecting him to answer.

Well, he heard her in his mind, causing him to start slightly. Right. She stood next to him, easily close enough for them to speak telepathically. Through the bond...

What had he just done to her?

He didn't respond, either aloud or in his mind. He wasn't sure he could.

Siri must have realized she wouldn't get an answer, because she sighed and turned back to Dooku. "Anakin is... was a little boy who grew up too fast and met a rather... disturbing end – he never stood a chance." Anakin blinked. Did Siri actually believe that? Either way, Dooku's gaze turned to Anakin and softened ever so slightly. As much as someone in the thrall of the dark side ever could, in any case.

"I see."

The former Sith wasn't sure what the older man saw (or thought he saw). He could barely keep up with the conversation right now. It was difficult enough to keep up this facade of strength, and even now, he had to draw liberally on the Force to help keep him going at all. Somehow, he managed it.

"We will get in touch with you again. Thank you for your time," Siri said with a slight bow. Anakin didn't dare move for fear that he'd just keep going until he hit the ground.

"And to you," Dooku returned with a graceful bow of his own, even if he still looked and felt wary.

Good. Maybe he wouldn't be quite so power drunk in the future.

Except... the price paid to rein him in...

Anakin clenched his fists harder, focusing on the duraplast and metal digging into his fingers. Breathe, he told himself, counting backwards from 20 in Rodian. Vaguely, he realized that right now would be a good time to squeeze a stress ball... too bad he hadn't brought it. It hadn't even occurred to him to grab it before he left the temple.

Dooku walked away, disappearing down the hall, but Anakin didn't move. Neither did Siri. Not until they both felt him get far enough away that he had to have caught an air taxi.

That was when Anakin finally felt safe enough to let go. It hurt when his knees hit the ground due to his stilts, and he couldn't even catch himself decently because of his arm extensions. He managed to stop himself from falling onto his face, but it was a near thing. It occurred to him that he should have just let himself fall and break his nose or something. After all, it was the absolute least he deserved.

Then Siri was there, kneeling in front of him.

"Anakin? Are you hurt?"

No. He didn't hurt nearly enough, actually. A weakling like him deserved so much more pain... No matter what Girth or Xio said. Obi-Wan had to have sent him back to torture him, and he was right to do so. Anakin gasped, feeling like he was drowning in the air, and suddenly the mask was just too much, especially without the respirator to regulate his breathing. He needed it off. Now.

He reached up to try and grab it, but he'd somehow forgotten in the last ten seconds that his hands were still encased in their extensions and wouldn't actually be able to grab anything, but he wasn't sure he had the presence of mind to consciously use said extensions to grab the mask.

Then two hands reached out and took the mask off, letting the comparatively cooler air of the building touch his face.

"Anakin, breathe with me," Siri said firmly. "Slow down, or you'll pass out."

Was that a bad thing?

And yet, a part of him needed to cling to her words and he grasped onto them as if they would save his very life.

"In, two, three, four, hold." He followed her instructions, holding his breath as she began to count for him again, up to fifteen. "Out, two, three, four. In, two, three, four, hold," and the process continued until the panicked edge wore off several minutes later.

"I'm sorry," he was finally able to croak, not looking at her face. He felt her surprise, and then acceptance.

"Oh, Anakin..." she started softly.

"I'm so sorry!" he repeated and a sob tore itself from his throat, making him feel even weaker. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm so, so sorry," he repeated over and over again as hot tears began to stream down his cheeks.

Then he felt arms come around him and pull him close to her chest, petting the back of his head gently... just like his mother used to do.

He was so shocked, he stopped crying for several seconds.

"It will be okay," he heard her whisper.

Then his mind started working again and he realized that as much as he didn't deserve something like this, he needed it – and she was willingly stepping out of her comfort zone to give it to him. Everything wasn't okay now, but she said that it would be with such conviction... It overwhelmed him all over again and he clumsily wrapped his arms around her waist and let the tears come.

He didn't know how long they just sat there in the middle of the hallway as he poured his frustration and anger and grief into the water spilling down his cheeks. These weren't like the tears he'd cried earlier, in Girth's session. Those had been cleansing. These... he wasn't sure what these were, except unstoppable.

He even wondered when he'd become so uncontrollably emotional. Anakin Skywalker hadn't cried. Darth Vader certainly hadn't either. Yet Anakin the time-traveler – the child – did, apparently. There was a release in crying he'd never realized before. Part of him wondered if he deserved to feel that release – or even the cleansing he'd felt earlier – but he doubted he could stop at this point anyway. Everything inside of him just came pouring out and nothing short of the end of the universe could stop it now.

Eventually, he felt cried out and he found himself shuddering to a halt. They sat there for several more seconds in silence while he tried to gather the broken pieces of his soul up again. When he finally moved to push away from Siri, he found her smiling sadly, but warmly at him.

"Hey," she said softly, "let's get those stilts off you, eh?"

Sniffing, and feeling very much like the child his body was, Anakin could only nod.

xXx

Palpatine had long since gone back to work after he'd set up a series of alerts on the traffic holos. Every now and then, he'd look up to observe what had set off one of the sensors, but hadn't seen many who match the figure he'd torn from the assassin's memory. He marked each one that resembled the man anyway, making sure the traffic holos followed him. The bounty hunters had been all over the district, according to them, but hadn't been thorough enough.

He'd been looking for new mercenaries anyway.

Still, he was determined to get his work done before the morning. He also still had some training to do later... and as much as he wanted to rush out and confront Vader, that was not a good idea at this point, not when he knew so little. And besides, Vader was powerful. The kind of power only spoken about in legends and prophecies. It was... intoxicating to imagine that kind of power at his side, and maddening to imagine it pitted against him.

He'd almost finished up for the evening when the night secretary pinged his comm.

"Yes?" he asked as calmly as he could. He was pleased that he heard no malice or contempt in his voice.

"Sir, Count Dooku of Serreno is here to see you."

Palpatine blinked. Then he smiled.

"Send him in."

Deciding he could push everything else back to tomorrow, he put the data work aside and turned to look out the window, composing himself and letting his mask drop. He heard the door open and felt the familiar presence of the Count – now tainted with the deliciousness of darkness – step inside.

"I see you've finally seen and embraced the truth," he said as he turned the chair back to face the man walking into his office.

Dooku shrugged nonchalantly. "I ran into an opponent I couldn't handle. It was either choose the darkness or die. I chose to live."

"And then he unleashed his true power."

The other man blinked before looking to the side slightly, frowning. "Yes."

"Yet you escaped."

Dooku's frown deepened. "Only because someone else got in the way. A bounty hunter named Zora."

Palpatine took that information in and filed it away. Then he leaned forward, allowing the darkness to bleed into his eyes.

"Tell me, how did you find him?"

The Count studied Palpatine for a moment before he smiled and took a seat himself. "That is an interesting story. You see, I can now confirm to you, for certain, that the 'Darth Vader' you've been searching for is indeed Luke Lars."

Sidious smiled.

xXx

Girth didn't often get calls in the middle of the night these days. Seeing as he only had one patient currently, he knew immediately that something had gone dreadfully wrong.

Blinking the sleepiness out of his eyes, he reached over and his paw found the comm going off.

"Hello?" he asked groggily.

"Anakin and Siri have just arrived at the Temple," Tai'k said. "She just called me... Anakin had a relapse."

That made Girth sit up. "What?" he asked.

"Meet us at the usual room as soon as you can," she said. "Please," she added on as an after thought that he appreciated. She was used to giving orders in situations like this, apparently.

"Of course," he complied, already scurrying out of his blanket nest and heading for his closet. "I'll see you in a couple of minutes."

"Thank you," she replied. "Over and out."

The mind healer sighed and wondered exactly what would greet him this time.

xXx

AN: Short but hopefully worth the wait. Thank you to Carradee, Quathis and Khalthar for their help with this!

SO, FFVII... I can't play it because of the webcomic contest! NOOOOO!

Instead I've been writing FFVII fanfiction in my break times *ahem*. What? I like fanfiction? You couldn't tell? Oh. So, you may expect some of that to pop up here soon... one of them will be a time travel... of course. Okay, I have two FFVII time travels in the works, but only one of them will likely see the site. The other story I have is kind of a 'read it/play it' fic, except, hopefully, done well. I've seen SO many of those that just rehash what happens in the game, and while I do like a good reaction, I don't think that's all that makes a good fic.

And this is while I take breaks from the webcomic... of which I don't even have one full episode done. This... might not be something I can do... but I'm still gonna try! If anyone would like to trial run that one... and I can figure out how to get it to where people can see it (Deviantart maybe?), let me know!