Chapter 17 – Unexpected Allies

Author's Note: Anakin and Dooku talk... and make plans. Sort of. :')

~ Amina Gila

He barely stops himself from flinching at the snap-hiss of a lightsaber from behind him. He had one chance at escaping, one chance at making this right, and that was lost. He failed at that as he fails at everything. Anakin finds himself tensing, glancing around the room, and searching for possible exits. He needs to get out.

"Don't move."

He knows immediately this is about to go downhill. It always does. Anakin stills, anyway. He's not stupid enough to think he can make it out the door – there's probably MagnaGuards on the other side – but there must be something.

"How did you come here?" Dooku asks, and Anakin hears him walking closer. The sound makes his skin crawl.

He doesn't respond. It's probably best not to, anyway. The Sith will only use his words against him.

"Take him back to his cell," Dooku orders finally.

He doesn't resist when the droids take him – they are MagnaGuards, and he can't fight four without a lightsaber. He knows better than to start a fight he can't win. They take him back to his cell, throwing him onto the floor and disappearing immediately.

His head is throbbing as he sinks onto the floor, leaning against the wall. Anakin is going to be stuck here until... whenever the Republic is able to find him, and that won't be for a while. He doesn't question if, though he understands the reality of how possible that is. To his knowledge, they have no way to locate him, or to know if he's still alive. He knows – hopes – Obi-Wan will look, but...

Dooku is going to come in here to talk to him, and... he isn't looking forward to that.

But they do have confirmation that the other Sith is in the Senate. Probably. Maybe there is more truth to the claims about Sidious than he realized.

He breathes in and out slowly, trying to calm his racing heart. His head is throbbing worse now. It happens after being electrocuted sometimes. It takes a long time for all the aftereffects to wear off. It takes weeks, sometimes months. The healers usually give him something to help with that, but he'll have to sit it all out naturally this time. Anakin might be taking this time to plan another escape – and this time make it all the way out – but his mind is feeling too muddled. He can focus through almost any kind of pain, but it doesn't really work if you have a migraine. He loathes those the most.

He groans quietly, lying down on his side and curling up to stay warm. Prisons are freezing. Maybe he'll be lucky and the Sith won't come back for a while. He really isn't in the situation or mood to deal with it right now.

It must've been a while, because he feels better when he's jolted awake when the door opens and Dooku steps inside.

He hurriedly shoves himself up into a seating position, ignoring how the movement hurts. He should have been more careful, but at the very least, they do have a lead to finding Sidious. That doesn't mean it'll matter much if he doesn't find a way out though.

"It was impressive you escaped your cell," he begins. Anakin doesn't respond – there's nothing for him to say, anyway. Not really. "But you must know you will never make it off this ship unless I allow you to."

"You're overconfident," Anakin replies finally. He aches everywhere, and an icy sense of dread is curling inside him, but he pointedly refuses to focus on it. Breathing hurts, too, but it's something else to focus on. Something other than the Sith Lord standing in front of him.

"As are you."

"What do you want with me?" he asks. This isn't... normal. Usually, they take him right there and... or is it that they think he's too badly injured?

"I have a... proposal to make to you."

This is... unusual. "Which is?" he asks. He's tense, braced for... something. He well understands that he's in enemy territory. There is no saying what can happen out here.

"If you accept," Dooku continues after an overly dramatic pause, "We will find a faster resolution to this conflict."

"There is no 'we'," Anakin retorts. He watches the Sith carefully, despite how his head is pounding and he really, really just wants to sleep. It's hard for him to focus and even harder to think rationally.

"Perhaps they can be," he replies. "Has your master relayed to you what I told him on Geonosis?"

"Former master," Anakin corrects automatically, annoyed. He's not bragging, really, but he's had more war experience than Obi-Wan has and hopefully ever will. "And yes." Why is he mentioning Sidious? That doesn't make sense. What game is he playing, and what changed from last time?

"You do wish to discover his identity, do you not?"

"Why would you help me with that?" Anakin shoots back. Something does not make sense here. He's missing a large part of the picture, and he suspects the Sith is manipulating him, but for what, he doesn't know. "Isn't it the way of the Sith for the apprentice to kill the master, or for the apprentice to be killed by his replacement?" A sudden thought crosses his mind, but he forces it away. It's crazy. Impossible. Dooku is insane if he thinks Anakin would be willing to become his apprentice. He'd die first.

"We have one common interest," he replies, "That of removing Sidious."

"For entirely different reasons. There will be no peace until the Sith are gone, and you want him to... stop interfering with your ascent to power. Or is he your apprentice, and he failed you?" Maybe he should choose his words more carefully. He is at the mercy of a Sith Lord here, and not one who seems to like him.

"The Jedi, too, stand in the way of peace," he replies. For a moment, those words seem familiar, but Anakin shakes it off. It doesn't matter. "I have no desire for the war to prolong. It is an... unfortunate necessity to restore peace."

"Why would you care?" Anakin asks, quashing his instinctive urge to defend the Jedi to the last. He can address that later, if at all. "You're a Sith. You feed off pain and death."

"It fuels the Dark Side, yes," the Count agrees, "But contrary to the belief the Jedi hold, I have no desire for this destruction."

Anakin tries his hardest not to laugh. Really, he does, but he can't help remembering the many times peace talks nearly began, only for the Separatists to destroy any hope of resolution. "Forgive me if I find that difficult to believe. It was you who started the war, Dooku. You didn't have to do it."

"It was unfortunate, but necessary. Sith do not abide by rules. They only hold us back. The Republic has become corrupt. You must see this. You were once a slave on Tatooine. The Republic could have saved you. They did not. It was by mere chance that my old padawan found you."

He has. Many times over. It was why he wanted to leave the Order when he was younger. "How do you know so much about me?" Anakin asks instead. Better to take the questions back to him.

"I have heard the rumors," he answers mysteriously, "Of a nine-year-old child taken to the Temple. Naturally, I was curious."

Anakin can't say why, but that makes his temper flare. He is so tired of how people always chose to talk about that. He hates how he's always different, but nothing will change that. Nothing. "Did you think I was powerful?" he snaps. "Did you want to make me your apprentice? Even if I were to Fall, I would never join you. I would kill you – at least to spare others from the pain you will cause." And myself, he wants to add, but doesn't.

"There is a wildness in you, boy. You would make a powerful Sith, but no. That is not my intention. I already have an apprentice, one you have... temporarily removed from action."

His eyes widen slightly before he schools his expression back to the controlled calm he wishes he could feel some shred of. Dooku is the Sith apprentice. He just confirmed it. Maybe he's lying about most of this, but this, Anakin senses, is the truth.

"And," Dooku adds, "I was the one who introduced Qui-Gon to the holocron of the prophecies. I taught him all I knew of it, including its dangers."

What is he playing at? Why is he acting like this is just some casual conversation?! "Dangers?" Anakin asks despite himself, intrigued. He never would have guessed Dooku was once interested in something of that nature.

"When one seeks to know the future, it is followed by the desire to change it."

With a jolt, Anakin realizes he doesn't know what to think about that. He's not here because he wanted to be, but... he does want to change the future. "Is that wrong?" He cannot believe he just asked a Sith that question. It's like that stupid, childish part of him is demanding acceptance from everyone he meets, and he loathes it more than anything.

"The desire for power and control leads to the Dark Side, and this... ability is not one known."

"And if it were?" he finds himself asking. He doesn't know why. Maybe it's as a million memories flash before his eyes, of his mother's body going limp in his arms and holding Ahsoka's hand as her body lies still at the burning warehouse and Lola Sayu when one of his best friends was blown up while he stood and watched. Briefly, he imagines watching as all that plays out the same way, but this never happened before. The timeline has already diverged, or this conversation wouldn't be happening.

"This," Dooku replies, "Is irrelevant. The galaxy was in chaos long before I began learning the Dark Side. I merely saw the conflict brewing and came to give it a leader in a difficult time."

"And lead billions of unsuspecting beings into war," Anakin shoots back. "No one wants this war, except those corporations benefiting it."

"Do not forget," he reminds, "That the Jedi officially began the war."

"Officially." Anakin could almost roll his eyes, "But you were intending to invade the Republic. It was self-defense. The Senate may be corrupt, but the Chancellor is not."

He can't say why the Sith looks mildly amused for a moment. "Perhaps, perhaps not. Your faith in the Jedi and the Republic may be misplaced. They allowed a Sith to control the Republic and have remained blind to it."

"Why are you telling me this?" he demands finally. He's tired of the mind-games – they have never been Anakin's specialty. He doesn't know how to handle them. "What do you want from me?"

"His removal would benefit myself as well as you," Dooku replies. "I am proposing a... temporary alliance until he has been removed."

"Why?" Anakin asks. "So, you can betray me after?"

"I already had a chance to end your life," he retorts. "I did not. Is that not proof enough?"

You mean, after you cut my arm off and tortured me? "It is proof," Anakin answers, "That you want something from me. If you know Sidious' identity, assuming he is real, tell me. Then I will know you are not trying to lure me into a trap, at least not yet."

"This will not be easy for you to accept," Dooku warns, studying him in silence for a few moments. "Sidious' public identity is Chancellor Palpatine. The entire Senate has fallen under his sway."

It feels like something crushed all the air out of him. Like the world around him screeches to a standstill. He can't hear the faint vibrations of the ship anymore. It's insane. It's impossible, because Palpatine has always been a good person and he was always there and tried to help Anakin when no one else would do it. Palpatine would never do that, be that. He's not evil. He can't be. It's impossible. (You thought Obi-Wan cared for you, but you were wrong. You thought you mattered to Ahsoka, but you were wrong.)

"Prove it," he says, voice barely above a whisper. Dooku is lying. He's trying to turn Anakin against his family and friends, that's it. It has to be. (What if he's not?) "Prove it," he repeats firmer, louder.

"That is why I am asking you," he replies. "Sidious is... skillful. He covers all leads. We require someone closer to him to unravel his secrets."

"How do you know?" Anakin snaps. "How do you know of my relationship with him?"

"His intentions," the Count replies, "Are to make you his apprentice. He has been watching you for a long time."

"No," Anakin bites back, shaking his head. His anger surges, and he grasps it. It fuels him just this moment, even if he should let it go. "I know what you're doing. You're trying to make me turn on my friends. You're lying to me. It won't work."

"He covers his tracks well. That is why I intend to help you find proof."

"Why would you betray your master?" Anakin shoots back. "I will not be drawn into a Sith power struggle." Though he doesn't believe that's what it is. He doesn't know what it is the Sith is playing at. What is he after? Something isn't adding up.

"He and I have had a... disagreement, and I have realized the only way the galaxy will find peace is in his death."

Anakin can't help the dubious expression on his face. "You started the Clone Wars. You ripped the galaxy apart."

"I did not make the choice for the galaxy," Dooku replies in an almost chiding tone. It's more disturbing than anything else. "I may have willingly encouraged it, but I did not create the war. It has been inevitable for decades."

"You are benefiting from the suffering of others," he spits back. "That is wrong."

"Am I?" Dooku replies lightly, as if he isn't discussing the lives of trillions of beings. Anakin barely holds himself back from doing something violent. He thinks it would be excusable at present, but he can't move much.

"You have power," Anakin snaps back. "You are the most powerful person in the galaxy now, after the Chancellor."

"I use all that I have for good."

Anakin scoffs. "You're a Sith."

"The Jedi are much the same," the Count replies. "They seek to gain power, and claim it is for the 'greater good'."

"Which it is," Anakin replies firmly. "The Jedi use their powers for others. They are selfless. The Sith only think for themselves."

For some inexplicable reason, the Count looks amused, and it grates on Anakin, but he forces himself to remain calm. "I will not deny the Dark Side twists love, but the Jedi prohibit it entirely. Call it what you may," he replies, "But I will help you find the evidence you need."

"What if I refuse?" Anakin asks. "Then what will you do?"

"I will find another way," he replies calmly. "And you will remain a prisoner here."

He can't believe he is even considering it. "If there is any truth to what you are saying, I wouldn't know," Anakin replies finally, measuring his words carefully. "He would hide whatever evidence, and he has done so well."

"What harm could it do?" he asks, and Anakin narrows his eyes again. That statement is normally proof that it most assuredly can hurt. "Either you will find the evidence you need, or you will not. No harm will be done."

Yes, it would hurt something, because it would mean Anakin doubted one of his friends for no reason. He should know better than this. The Chancellor has been nothing except trustworthy... except he nearly condemned Ahsoka to death. It's not as though he wanted to though, Anakin reminds himself. He's not being fair. "What would you have me do if I did accept?" he asks anyway – he needs to know everything about this before he considers agreeing.

"Search for information," Dooku replies. "I will give you what you need when the time comes. I will know how to find you."

"If I help you kill your master, you will only take on another apprentice," Anakin points out. "What good would it do?"

"They call you the Chosen One," he replies. "I know of the prophecy. I am the one who introduced Qui-Gon to it. It is your destiny to destroy the Sith."

"I am not the object of some prophecy," Anakin snaps back, the automatic anger he feels every time it's mentioned returning.

"And you have chosen to devote your life to the Jedi," Dooku answers. "We all have a destiny, Skywalker. Some have been foretold, and some have not."

Yeah. Because all he's capable of doing is destroying things anyway, so why not? Anakin doesn't answer, instead staring defiantly at him, refusing to concede the point – it's out of sheer, petty stubbornness, but he doesn't care. He's too angry to care.

"And if you do not act, he will destroy you. He knows of your purpose as well."

"If it is truly my purpose, I will destroy you, too," Anakin replies, smirking the slightest bit.

"Perhaps," Dooku replies, "Perhaps not. My master has intentions of turning you, and I have seen your destiny is far beyond that of an ordinary Jedi. He will exploit that. The Sith have a similar prophecy," the Count continues. "That of the most powerful Sith that has ever lived. Your destiny is split, Anakin Skywalker. Whether you be a Jedi or Sith, the choice is yours."

Whywhywhy do these things keep happening? He doesn't want to do this, or even so much as think about it any longer, but if he truly has a chance to destroy the Sith placed right in front of him, can he truly deny that? Once it's done, he can leave. He'll finally be free, and maybe – maybe he'll finally mean something to his master. Maybe Obi-Wan will finally acknowledge him, and he can leave the Order and be... free, stay with Padme and just... something. He doesn't want to be here anymore, but as long as he has a duty and destiny he can't break away. He's never made a choice for himself in his life, and if he's being honest, he's scared to.

He doesn't know how Ahsoka had the strength to do it, to walk away without looking back, but she has always been stronger than him, hasn't she?

It's somewhere lost with the flare of pain her very name ignores that with a start, Anakin realizes he senses Qui-Gon again. The man's presence is so close, hovering everywhere and yet nowhere at once. It wraps around him, calming, grounding, in an entirely different way than Obi-Wan's. Obi-Wan's is grounding in its lightness. Qui-Gon is grounding in his very existence, and with a start Anakin thinks he can feel it again, his hands, warm and comforting, on Anakin's shoulders, the "I will take Anakin as my padawan learner", stubborn, refusing to back down. Qui-Gon was always that, stubborn, unyielding, but he followed his own beliefs while Obi-Wan followed the Code. And for a moment, a fleeting, agonizing moment, Anakin could swear he feels it now, the hand on his shoulder, constantly supportive.

He swallows, blinking past the sudden tears that hit him and grounding himself. The presence is still there though. It makes him feel oddly safe. Even so, he doesn't trust himself to make the right choice. He can't anymore, not after he failed Ahsoka. Not that he trusted himself much before. Palpatine always supported him and told him to do what he felt was right, but Anakin could never... manage to do that. Normally, he wasn't even sure what that entailed. "Why not take this directly to the Jedi Council?" he replies at last, holding the Sith's gaze.

Dooku may be well-shielded, but Anakin can still sense him. He wants Anakin to do this, and he senses... something. Deception, perhaps. He may be genuine, but there is another factor at play here, and Anakin needs to be careful.

"The Council would believe it a trick. Also, if it were to go... downhill, retaliation would be less severe if only a lone Jedi Knight were found... committing treason."

He wants to laugh. Really. Of course – it's so obvious. He should have figured it out already. "You're doing this to get me killed, aren't you? You're afraid of me." It's not until Anakin says and feels the flare of truth in the Force that he realizes – yes. The Sith does fear him. "It is not as though you care for the Jedi."

"I do not," he agrees, "The Jedi Council has become complacent and arrogant. However, I am certain you understand the dangers."

He sits back slowly. Yes, he does. He understands why in a hypothetical situation where the Sith isn't lying, that he would do this. It makes logical sense, but there is more to it. At the same time, does it matter? It's his destiny. He – he must do this, whether he likes it or not, though he has reservations. "No other Jedi would be willing to align with a Sith to destroy the other," Anakin realizes at last, more to keep their conversation going than that he cares to speak it.

"Indeed," Dooku agrees, watching Anakin carefully. He has a calculating look in his eyes, and Anakin doesn't like it. It makes him feel... small and exposed and like an object to be studied. He is well accustomed to that sensation. "I understand you have reservations on this... alliance. We will not trust each other, but we can work together to reach a common goal. We are on the same side."

"That's stretching it."

"I can sense your reluctance. You fear making this choice of your own accord."

Anakin glares at him, reinforcing his shielding. Of course, Dooku can sense it. He always knows – he knows everything, somehow.

"Your emotions are wild, uncontrollable, Skywalker. I can sense it. Emotions fuel the Dark Side. You are naturally drawn towards it. Resisting its pull will not be an easy task." He starts turning, and Anakin thinks he's about to leave, but he stops. "You are not the Jedi Council's slave. You can make this decision alone. If you do not cast off these chains and free yourself, you will never find freedom, and the Dark will always call to you."

He disappears, and the door closes behind him, leaving Anakin alone to think. And he doesn't know what to think. Anakin can't trust himself to make this choice. He doesn't know how to anymore. It's... complicated. He failed Ahsoka, and she left him because of it. How does he know he won't fail this if he tries?

But how could he go back to the Jedi, assuming they'll find him, while pretending he never had a chance to stop the Sith. Anakin doesn't believe what Dooku told him about Palpatine, but he can't ignore the way something in him feels... like it's not wrong. He hates it, because it feels treasonous to even think of it, and...

Making a deal with Dooku is treason. He'd likely be executed for it if he were caught. This will be something he needs to do alone, and he doesn't know what to do. If he's successful in finding the proof, the proof he'll need to believe it himself, he will... be able to act on it freely. But the trick is getting it and obtaining it in a non-illegal manner.

But it's still betrayal. It will still be the betrayal of a close friend, the same way Obi-Wan did to him when –

Yeah. It's like that, but he's no better. He did the same to Ahsoka.

Getting rid of Sidious won't change much though. There will still be Dooku to deal with, and he's hit by the sudden, inexplicable urge to laugh. Really, it's funny. After they kill Sidious, they'll kill each other, won't they? Is that it? Dooku knows Anakin intends to kill him, regardless of their possible temporary truce. He knows that, so what is he playing at? He must have some other plan to get Anakin out of his way. Force, he is not good at these mind-games and double-crossing. He just needs answers, and... he'll meditate, that's all. The Force will show him what nothing else can and will. Of course, that doesn't mean he'll make the right choice, but it won't stop him from trying.

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