Chapter 19

Three hours and 46 minutes. Since then, Anakin had not seen the doctor. He kept his eyes fixed on the obsolete chrono on the wall, watching as the hands slowly advanced, accompanied by an almost obnoxious ticking.

Anakin took another whistling breath. Despite bacta treatment, his entire face was still badly swollen, forcing him to hang his mouth open a little to get any air at all. He didn't judge Obi-Wan for that. He had deserved that.

Shortly after he had woken up, he had asked the doctor about his master. Unfortunately Sadie had not been able to help him and somehow that had caused an uneasy feeling to spread inside him. A few hours ago a guard had suddenly appeared and had said something to Sadie, which Anakin had not understood because of the droning in his ears. Whatever it had been, the doctor had grabbed the first aid kit and left the medbay.

The time alone made Anakin think again. Still he did not know how to justify his own decisions. Only one thing became more and more conscious to him. Obi-Wan had not only been his master. He had been both the father he was never allowed to have and the brother who always supported him. And Anakin had never wanted to understand this. That Obi-Wan had always given, without taking even once. That behind the Jedi Master's stoic facade was also just a man looking for a place to call home.

Anakin had been Obi-Wan's home. And all he had done was destroy that.

In retrospect, Anakin should have seen his mistakes much earlier. His master had always been a quiet man, but even so, Obi-Wan seemed to grow ever more silent. His smile never reached his eyes anymore. He seemed to care less about himself.

Anakin had blamed all of this on the war.

It had always been because of the war.

Hadn't it?

Despite all the years they had spent together, he now felt he hardly knew the person who was so important to him.

Listening had never been my strong point.

He was jolted out of his thoughts when the door to the medbay swung open and Sadie returned, wearing a somber expression.

"Doc?" he called even though his words could barely be heard.

It was still enough to get the doctor's attention. After stowing the medkit again, she finally came over to his bed, gripping the clipboard at the foot of his bed.

"How are you feeling?" she asked, looking at his data, "Any pain?"

"Is' f'ne," he nasalized, blinking as his eyes began to water a little, "Did y'u find h'm?"

Sadie sighed and pursed her lips. "I think it's better if you don't know."

Anakin screwed up his face, confused. "Why?"

The raven-haired woman glared up at him with her ice-blue eyes. "You have a visitor, Anakin. The less you know, the safer it is for all of us."

Still he couldn't quite follow what must have shown on his face.

"The Chancellor is here," Sadie finally provided, jotting something down on the clipboard and then putting it away again, "He insists on talking to you, even though I've pointed out to him that you're not fit enough yet."

A sinking feeling spread through him. He still couldn't quite remember what had happened in the courtroom after the chancellor had intercepted him earlier. The outcome of the proceedings spoke for itself.

"Now?" he asked.

The doctor shook her head. "I was able to convince him that you needed at least one more bacta treatment so you could at least speak somewhat. That will take about two hours."

"The ch'ncellor agre'd to wait dat long?"

Sadie hummed. "You seem worth it."

He didn't like that.

Detached, he watched as Sadie prepared the bacta and finally began to apply it to his face. Until now, he had never felt uncomfortable in the Chancellor's presence - no, he had even trusted him.

But now? Obi-Wan's words echoed in his mind. Why had he always confided in Palpatine before his own mentor - his best friend? It didn't make sense.

Was it the Chancellor's words that made him think he was always right? Was it them that had sown the doubts in his mind? That had made him push Obi-Wan away?

"Okay," the doctor finally spoke, removing her gloves, "Maybe you should get some more rest while you have the chance. The chancellor is an impatient man."

"Y'u d'nt sound like im a lot," Anakin stated, eyeing her from his place on the cot.

Sighing, Sadie brushed a strand of hair from her face. "I won't say anything about that...the walls have ears here."

He then let his eyes wander around the room. Sure enough, he spotted two cameras in the corners. "I see."

"Rest," was the only thing Sadie told him before she finally turned away and disappeared into one of the adjacent rooms.

Anakin let his head sink into the pillow and stared at the ceiling. He missed Padme. His mother. Ahsoka. Obi-Wan, of course. But did he even have the right to call himself part of this family anymore? After all he had done?

So absorbed in his twisted reality, he hadn't even understood what he had done. He didn't know what to do.

Who else was going to believe him? Where normally the bonds with Ahsoka and Obi-Wan filled their spots, there was now an oppressive emptiness. He had always hated to be alone. And yet he had always held Obi-Wan at arms length. Like a stranger whom he could not trust.

But why?

The question bored into his mind as he finally let his eyes fall shut and he succombed to a restless sleep.

"Skywalker." A familiar voice snapped him out of his slumber.

"Rex?" he groaned a little dazedly before his mind caught up to him. Logically, his captain wasn't here. Just one of the prison guards.

He squinted into the clone's black visor, now on alert.

"Stand up, please," the man continued in a neutral voice, already holding a set of binders in one hand.

His eyes never leaving the guard, Anakin slowly straightened and planted his feet on the ground. With one hand he carefully ran it over his face, noting that indeed the swelling had gone down.

"Come on," the clone ordered again, now looking a little impatient.

"Sorry," Anakin replied shortly, finally standing up after hastily stepping into his shoes.

"Hands out."

Again he did as instructed, watching as the bindings closed first around his wrists and then another pair around his ankles.

The guard stepped back and waved him forward. "Any funny business and you'll regret it," he murmured as Anakin passed.

He acknowledged the threat with a blunt nod and continued shuffling forward, the binders whirring softly. "The Chancellor is waiting for me, am I right?" he finally asked as they strode through the long, gray corridors.

"Yes, has been trying to get a meeting with you for days."

Interesting... and kind of disturbing.

Anakin shoved his worries back into the back of his mind. He needed a clear head now.

Finally they reached their destination, but not as he had expected, they stepped into the visitor's center, but into an interrogation room. He swallowed around the lump in his throat. Dozens of times he had sat at this metal table - but never as a prisoner.

Chancellor Palpatine sat at the end of the table, a smile on his face as he caught sight of them.

"Ah, Anakin, my boy," he said as he stood up and walked over to them, "I was beginning to think I wouldn't see you again."

His blue eyes wandered to the binders. "Are they really necessary?" he asked the guard, obviously outraged.

"They are protocol, sir," the clone replied stiffly, straightening further.

Palpatine hummed and something flickered in his eyes as he fixed the other man. "Perhaps you could make an exception," he suggested, his voice sweet.

As the Chancellor spoke, Anakin suddenly felt a little woozy and the world began to spin, but as quickly as the moment had appeared, it disappeared.

What was that?

"...Very well, sir," the guard agreed in surprise, and began to undo his bonds almost mechanically.

"You may leave us," Palpatine continued, his eyes still trained on his target.

For a moment, the clone froze and it seemed like he was trying to say something, but Anakin again couldn't follow as the pressure rebuilt in his mind. Blinking, he bit back a groan.

Through the ringing in his ears he only half heard the guard again oddly agree and leave the room, closing the door behind him.

"Anakin, are you alright?" the Chancellor's concerned face appeared in his field of vision as the oppressive feeling subsided again and Anakin gratefully gasped.

"...I'm fine," he pressed out, still struggling a little not to vomit.

A hand hooked under his shoulder. "Maybe you should sit down," Palpatine offered sympathetically, leading him to the chair in front of the table, where Anakin immediately settled down with relief.

"Kenobi beat you up pretty bad," stated the Chancellor, looking anxiously at the bruises and his swollen nose.

"It wasn't Obi-Wan's fault," Anakin countered defensively, not really wanting to talk about it.

Palpatine huffed in disbelief. "Not his fault? My boy, did you see your face? I don't think his fists hit that often by accident."

He hit because I pushed him too far.

Anakin pursed his lips and chose to remain silent.

"You can talk to me, my dear."

There was something in Palpatine's eyes that Anakin couldn't place and he didn't like it. Something leering - something evil. The roaring in his head made itself present again.

Leaning back, he tried to gain distance. "I don't mean to be rude, but why are you here, your highness?"

Palpatine stood up and folded his hands in the sleeves of his robe. "I am here because I care, Anakin. To hear that it took only a few days here to awaken the beast in Kenobi."

Anger flared inside him. How could he speak of Obi-Wan in such a way?

"Obi-Wan is innocent," he bit out, then added in a whisper, "...we both know that."

A sickening chuckle pierced the silence. "You're disillusioned. Where was your master when you needed him?"

The pressing in his head turned into a painful hammering that made it hard for him to think. "He was by my side... as always," he panted.

"But don't you see where he's gotten you?" pressed Palpatine further, "You should let him go, my boy. He's no good for you."

Anakin shook his head in an attempt to clear the veil in his mind and jumped up from his seat. "No... he's like a father to me... I just realized too late that he always had my best interests at heart."

Something like a scowl flitted across the chancellor's face before it was replaced by a neutral expression. "You don't understand who could really help you..."

He'd had enough. Hastily, he stepped backward toward the door and pounded on it with one fist. "Guard!" he shouted.

Immediately the door was opened and the clone from before stepped in, blaster at the ready. "What's going on here?"

"Take me back...please," Anakin begged, holding his head.

Fortunately, the guard didn't hesitate long and led him out of the room. Away from Palpatine. Anakin barely caught on as they walked through the corridors and the clone spoke into his commlink until they arrived back at the infirmary and Sadie came running towards them.

"My gosh, what happened?" she asked, supporting Anakin and leading him to his bed.

He couldn't answer. Instead, his stomach finally got the better of him and he vomited on the spot, coughing and hacking.

The doctor cursed and produced a bucket from somewhere, which she shoved at him.

When it was finally over, she handed him a cloth.

"Thank you," Anakin murmured, wiping his mouth. The pressure in his head had faded back into nothingness.

"What was going on?" asked Sadie again.

"I don't know...I suddenly got a terrible headache," he explained.

"A migraine?" the doctor suggested.

"No," Anakin shook his head, "...it was nothing like that. It was...it was like something was trying to get into my head."

Sadie stared back at him as she began to understand.

"Doc, there's something wrong here," he continued again.

Her eyes flashed. "What can I do?"

Anakin licked his lips and his fingers clawed at the bed sheet.

"Get Obi-Wan out of here... I think he is after him now."