Summary: Rec time.

Once I finish a chapter of What Lurks in the Dark, it's time to start making rounds on all my other fics. I think I might be catching up! XD Enjoy a slightly longer part of the prison verse. :)

R&O: Part Three

It was hard to sleep in prison.

The lights never went completely out in this place and Luke had no control over them anyways. Someone else, some nameless entity from the control room, retained the right to that power and it was an unexpectedly small but incredibly irritating thing to not have control over. The lights were either obnoxiously bright or dimly lit and either way, it made sleep difficult.

It didn't help that Luke was hungry either. The lack of control, sleep, and decent food combined had resulted in him having one hell of a headache and it refused to leave.

Luke cursed, turning his head into his near rock-hard pillow as an alarm blared outside his cell door. Seconds later, there was the sound of the locks disengaging and then the shift of metal on metal as the door to his cell slid open at last. There was some whooping and shouting from other inmates and Luke looked up, blinking rapidly. The entire upper tier of offenders were being let out, making about twenty or so of them total.

With a groan, he slowly sat up as well, swinging his legs over the side of his bunk so that his feet touched the cold floor. He pressed his face into his hands for a few seconds, trying to breathe the pain in his head away. Luke wished he had the Force. Maybe if it was within reach, he would feel less anxiety about all of this.

They were only being given three hours and whether he wanted to admit it or not, he was going more than a little stir crazy after being cooped up for so long. He wanted to stretch his legs and he really wanted to shower. Besides… it would make him look weak to just sit safely in his cell all day.

If he was going to make it through the next few weeks, especially once he hit population, then he was going to need some sort of reputation to keep others off his back.

Licking his lips, Luke stood up and carefully stepped outside his cell and onto the tier. The other inmates were all already mostly on the bottom floor, walking in big circles around the perimeter or sitting outside in the duracrete cage that served as the rec yard. There wasn't anything to do out there that Luke could see. As he walked towards the stairs, he noticed that a few individuals were still in their cells sleeping. Or they were dead.

Since that was also an option.

Unsettling… but not his business. His father had said to keep his head down and right now, after taking in the sight of who he was imprisoned with, Luke was inclined to agree with him.

It took a few seconds before he realized that there were whispers and fingers pointing in his direction. Even without the Force, Luke could feel the multiple sets of eyes tracking him as he moved. Being stared at like this was one of the most uncomfortable feelings he'd ever known in his life. It made his spine tingle. But... there was a lower tier shower available and he was going to snag it if he could. All he had to do was get there.

Luke privately wondered, not for the first time, if his being alone in a cell was more purposeful than coincidence. He was the only single cell - everyone else was doubled up. It meant he was bored out of his mind but he appreciated the privacy all the same. And none of these people looked like someone he'd want to share a small space with.

Show no fear, Luke thought to himself fiercely. Give them nothing.

He stepped off the stairs - sixteen of them - and hit the ground level. Almost immediately, someone stepped in front of him to block his path. The sentient was a fair bit taller than Luke was, a dark red color, heavily tatted and scarred up, with big bulging muscles and horns on the top of his head. Luke didn't recognize the species he was.

"Where are you off to in such a hurry, runt?"

Luke felt his heart begin to pound as adrenaline pumped through his system. He was careful to keep his expression neutral even as he met the other man's cold stare. He felt like he had back in the cantina with Ben, all those years ago, young, inexperienced, and surrounded by people who needed no provocation to hurt him. He'd come a long way since then... but he was weaponless in more ways than one. It made him uneasy to feel so vulnerable.

There was no reason to lie though. Han had told him once that most criminals worked off of some kind of code of respect - honesty was a safe bet.

…well, hopefully.

"Just going to take a quick shower."

"Can I join you?" someone else snickered. There were five other sentients crowding in on him and others in the section were watching them from far off, curious to see what would happen.

The red guy in front of him narrowed his eyes, his ugly face twisting into a frown. "Who told you that you could do that?"

Luke raised his eyebrows. "No one gives me permission to do anything," he said coldly.

There were a few laughs, though the being in front of him looked more than a little annoyed. "You haven't ever been to prison before, have you?" he asked. Then without waiting for an answer, he took a small step back, spreading his arms out wide. "Well, let me tell you something - I own this section. Everyone here does what I tell them to do. You want something, you gotta ask me first. Not him, not the guards, not the warden - me."

Yeah, right. Luke wasn't bowing down to anyone - especially not this guy. Vader could tell him to keep his head down but Luke wasn't going to be a pushover for anyone either. This guy was puffing himself up like a peacock vying for attention and Luke wasn't interested in playing his game.

"What happens if I don't?"

Another laugh. It was hard to say who it came from.

"No one that is sent here gets out, runt. I have a lifetime to make your existence nothing but hell. No one will care. The guards won't protect you - they don't give a shit. You want to get fucked up, then be my guest. Break my rules. But there's no getting back on my good side."

Two weeks.

Play the game for two weeks... or don't. Somehow, Luke had a feeling that bending to this guy, even for appearances, wouldn't give him an easy time in this place, no matter what was said or promised.

Luke nodded slowly, taking a moment to think it over. Then he shrugged. "I think I'll take my chances."

A/N Luke is his father's son, that's all I'm going to say. He's not going to make anything easy. smh.

Thanks for reading! :D