"Are you completely sure you don't need medical attention, Palpatine? There's a med bay in this Temple." Sifo-Dyas looked upon the young Palpatine, concern riddling his face. They were striding through one of the main halls of the Jedi Temple.

Palpatine tried to conceal his slight limp. It wasn't terrible, but it was not ideal to have a twisted ankle. Every second was precious. Bazaron…Plagueis was dangerous. He was a Sith Lord. The last thing he wanted to do was deviate from his mission.

"No, please, Sifo-Dyas. I am quite alright," Palpatine insisted with a polite smile.

Sifo-Dyas grimaced as they passed an unsightly drawing on the wall. A maintenance droid was smoothing over gashes where some sort of phasma etcher had blazed the insulting graffiti into the wall. Palpatine stared at it. "What happened?"

"A mischievous mudscuffer—that's what happened." Sifo-Dyas replied and stared at the obscenity before them. "I almost got him. Almost. I'll get him next time. I swear." Palpatine nodded hesitantly. They walked on.

His hand went to his HoloComm when it started blinking. Palpatine glanced up at Sifo-Dyas and he motioned to an empty corridor off to their left. "May I take this? It will just take a minute."

"Of course!" Sifo-Dyas waved him off. A Jedi Rodian was speaking to his fellow Jedi down the hall. "I have to talk with Master Hago anyway. Take your time! I mean…within reason. We must find Dooku."

Palpatine stepped into the empty corridor. Perhaps it's Buddy. Or Girris. Oh, I forgot to tell Girris that my plans changed. Whoever was Comming him at this late hour was surely not pleasant. With a deep breath he clicked the blinking HoloComm.

A familiar face flickered up, "Oh, Sheev! Hello there! Preparations for Mairda's wedding has just been so crazy. How did the Model GR go? You could barely stop talking about it before you left."

"Mother?" He walked farther away from the main corridor. Palpatine hid behind a statue of an ancient Chiss Jedi, Fyra Vytuia. "What time is it in Naboo?" he glanced down at his HoloBand clock that said half past 0000.

His mother glanced off screen. "About 0900." Her gaze returned to Palpatine's with a curious expression. "Why do you ask?"

"Well, mother. Its midnight…where I am." Palpatine informed her. His finger hovered over the HoloComm button. "I believe we can talk lat—"

"Oh, I'm sorry! I'm just…it's so strange for you to be so far away." His mother laughed although Palpatine could detect an anxious note in her tone, "Predune's off somewhere with his husband. Mairda, you know, she used to stop by when she wasn't crusading on some adventure. And now…she's going to be married and gone...and I'm happy for all of you but…I…" she trailed off.

"Well, Sheev. What are you doing up at this fine hour?" His mother appeared to be trying to look behind him. Palpatine stepped closer to the wall away from the Jedi statue. "Are you with friends?" she waggled her eyebrows, "At a party…?"

Palpatine almost laughed but he didn't for his own mother's sake. No, I'm on a mission for THE Dark Lord of the Sith! However, he realized his dark feelings were wandering beyond the deepest corner of his heart. Before any Jedi could detect that dark Force emitting from him— he wretched it back and buried it even deeper. It was so…suffocating, the weight of all his darkness was almost too much to bear, but he held out.

"No, I'm afraid not, mother. You see, I'm studying," he lied. His finger hovered over the HoloComm button.

"One more thing, I need to talk about Mairda's wedding. Times, transportation, and such." His mother held a hand to her temple, "Sheev, I honestly don't know what to do. Mairda might not be able to get her big white wedding if your cousin keeps soaking up the funds." She sighed deeply.

Palpatine's eyes went wide. Bratte? "No…he's back? What's he done this time?"

His mother scoffed, "Crashed in our house for the second time this year. Last night he bought a farking yacht. Your father was in on it too." She put a splayed hand to the bridge of her nose, "He's too kind to Bratte. Bratte doesn't need coddling, he's twenty-eight, he needs to get off his lazy bottom, get a job and get out of my house!"

Palpatine nodded along but he inquired, "Have you returned the yacht yet? Perhaps you'll still be able to salvage what's left?" Palpatine was attempting to sound more reassuring than offending but his mother's face only heated up even more.

"I CAN'T! The credits are all gone. Like a thief in the night, the woman who sold it to them was gone by the time I found out about the purchase. Wiped off the face of Naboo. Predune, Mairda and I have been Comming your father and Bratte all day. Nothing, not a sound! I would bet an Arkanian jewel that they're hiding somewhere in their loathsome yacht."

I can see why. Palpatine kept that thought to himself.

His mother took a deep breath and collected herself, "As much as I'm infuriated at least we'll scrape by. Just barely." She put her face in her hands. "—as long as nobody else in this family does anything stupid…credit wise. We'll be just fine." Palpatine gulped at those words.

The weight of 66,000 credits on his shoulders felt suddenly much heavier than before. Palpatine knew that the damages for the fight at the Model GR would be hard for his family to pay. But now…this was ten times worse than he anticipated.

Why does Bratte always have to make things even worse? Every. Single. Time.

"Mother, I'll Comm you at dawn. Well, for you that would be…3pm." Palpatine told his mother.

He saw his mother scrawl a note. His mother smiled at him, "See you at three or…dawn, whichever. I love you, Sheev. Goodnight!" He crinkled his nose at those parting words.

Palpatine nodded to his mother. "Goodbye." He ended the Holo.

Palpatine hit a button on his HoloBand that transmitted his location to Buddy. As much as he despised that cyborg, it had a layout of the Grand Jedi Temple. Plagueis wouldn't allow Palpatine to download it onto his HoloBand.

Palpatine skulked into the main hall where he saw Sifo-Dyas, and his fellow Jedi had obtained multiple cafs. No doubt because the majority of them were on the nightshift either guarding the temple or on a mission.

Palpatine preferred his Raging Rancor quencher over that bitter smelling and tasting liquid, he desperately needed a boost. He was becoming drowsier by the minute and a little caf might awaken his mind.

Sifo-Dyas smirked as Palpatine drew closer to the Jedi cluster. A few of the Jedi gave Sifo-Dyas a questioning glance.

A haughty Twi'lek Jedi arched an eyebrow and barked at Sifo-Dyas. "Sifo-Dyas, why are you allowing this child to wander the Temple?" The Twi'lek gave Palpatine a scathing look. "You know how the Council feels about outsiders in our sacred temple."

Sifo-Dyas defended himself and motioned to Palpatine. "Look, the kid says he knows where Dooku is. I can tell you with certainty none of us know. And he's a harmless little shrimp, what's he going to do?" Palpatine's lips thinned at that comment, but he kept silent.

Sifo-Dyas stepped out of the circle and towards Palpatine. "Well, that certainly longer than a minute," Sifo-Dyas half joked, "Okay, wise guy, where do you think Dooku is?" He took a sip of his caf and gazed at Palpatine expectantly.

Palpatine took only a minute to spin his perfect story. "You see, I heard about Dooku and his behaviors. He did… retrieve me after all, so I was able to observe—"

Sifo-Dyas looked past Palpatine's shoulder as he ordered Palpatine. "Hold my caf," he shoved the caf into Palpatine's hand.

"Sifo-Dyas, wha…?" Palpatine spun around to see Sifo-Dyas leap through a window. The glass shattered. The other Jedi turned around, some bewildered and some already shaking their heads.

They gathered at the shattered window. The window overlooked a massive Jedi Garden with Jedi statues and magnificent fauna growing. Sifo-Dyas landed and without pausing got up. Two suspicious short figures in masks who had been etching their nasty words into the wall garden with their plasma cutters spun around.

"RUN!" He heard one of the vandalizers' voices echoes off the garden walls.

"I'VE GOT YOU NOW!" Sifo-Dyas cried out, chasing after the two vandalizers.

While the Jedi were distracted, Palpatine slunk away like a shadow. Palpatine darted behind ostentatious statues and hid behind elaborate tapestries at the sounds of voices or any approaching Jedi.

Palpatine finally rendezvoused with that loathsome cyborg in an empty study.

Buddy had been using the vents to make its way around the temple unnoticed. It made quick work of unscrewing the vent, crawling out and then tightening the screws once more.

As Buddy dropped to the floor Palpatine's mouth fell agape as he saw blood dripping from its fangs. "Did you kill someone?" Palpatine asked bluntly.

Buddy only hissed for more food as a reply.

"Stop whining, I've got a Kaet for you." Palpatine sighed deeply.

Palpatine reached into a baggie and tossed a dead Kaet to Buddy. Buddy pounced and began its disgusting eating process.

Actually, Palpatine rather not know how Buddy got blood on its fangs. It probably didn't kill a person, hopefully not. Even a creature like itself could understand its master's wishes. At least Palpatine hoped so. A corpse in the Jedi temple would prompt a temple wide search.

Palpatine turned away from the disgusting sound. He drew the map of the temple from Buddy's files and refreshed his memory on its layout once more.

"Are you done, beast?" Palpatine inquired after ten minutes passed. Buddy clicked its pincers. Palpatine followed glancing down at the map, "Interestingly enough, this map does not display a set of stairs leading to the lower levels. Hmmm."

Buddy hissed from behind. Palpatine twisted around half expecting that nasty cyborg to pounce on him.

However, it was using one of its mechanical legs to drag a robe across the floor. Palpatine snatched up it and inspected it.

It was an older Jedi cloak made of a rougher type of fabric than what was used now. It was fraying at the sleeves and at the hem of the cloak. Palpatine glanced down at Buddy and passed a remark, "This will be adequate."

A good disguise, perhaps? Palpatine had a feeling that where he was going, he was going to need it.

He sniffed it. Thankfully it didn't smell too awful. Palpatine brushed off the dust and threw the cloak over his shoulders. It went past his ankles. He was too short for it, but he would have to make do.

As a final touch Palpatine draped the cowl over his face. The sleeves over his hands, his face obscured. The senatorial robes made him feel important, the casual wear he wore when he was not on duty, relaxed. But this, this made him feel something else.

There was mirror upon the wall which he gazed into. This made him feel different…in a good way. In a way that couldn't be described with a single word or even a trillion.

Perhaps if the cloak were a shade darker, he'd feel complete. But he touched his face. His face was far too friendly, a face that truly didn't suit him.

Palpatine was missing something. He was staring at the reflection of a sickly-looking boy—a far cry from what he wanted to be. Palpatine wanted to be something else, the thing that was within himself. Ugly and scarred as it may be. One day he would stare back at his true self, his exterior and interior as one. To be seen as a frightening sight that would instill fear, not to be seen as the insipid young man he was.

Palpatine turned away from the mirror. Buddy folded himself into a small box shape. Palpatine tucked the cyborg into a deep pocket of his cloak before he swept away.