Chapter 27 – Mustafar

Author's Note: This is... one of the Darker things I've done in my life?

Warnings: Torture (just electrocution, but still), emotional abuse, emotional manipulation

~ Rivana Rita

When Anakin boards, he does it alone. He can feel Rex's unhappiness, but he knows there's no other choice. He will not put his boys in danger for him. Not when it's his fault they're all in this mess.

He's good enough at stealth that making it down to the prison levels is easy, though he suspects Sidious is intentionally letting him go there. He doesn't take the time to think of what he'll do afterwards. All that matters is the now, and that he will end this.

He can sense her presence clearly enough, and it draws him in like a beacon. She's sitting in the cell, visibly unhappy, but she brightens in the Force the moment he opens the door. "Ani!" she exclaims.

Anakin throws a glance over his shoulder before stepping inside, violently suppressing memories of being in places like this. "Are you alright?" he asks.

"Are you alone?" she responds.

"Yes, I am, but we need to get out of here. This is a trap." He senses her concern flare. "Don't worry about me," he reassures, "I'll be fine, Padme. Just go. Get to the hangar. I'll keep them off our tail."

"And leave you?" she demands incredulously.

"Please," he requests, "Trust me on this one. The Sith is after me, not you. I'll catch up."

She is not happy about it. For a moment, Anakin doesn't think she'll agree. "We'll stay together as long as we can," she decides instead.

It's fair enough, Anakin can't help admitting.

Tracking down the others who came with her is also fairly simple, since they're already here. The trick will be getting out without drawing too much attention. Predictably, they don't make it past the prison level before the doors in front of them slam shut. Sidious isn't playing, though what his game is, Anakin can't tell.

He would tell Padme everything and tell her to tell the Council if he weren't so certain Sidious would kill her for it.

He plunges his lightsaber through the door and cuts it open, Artoo trailing behind to try helping as best he can – he was the only one Anakin would risk for this mission. His droid has an inhumane survival rate that could probably rival Anakin's own.

It's easiest not to think, though Anakin knows something is about to go dreadfully wrong. He gets the distinct feeling Sidious is intentionally luring them somewhere seeing as many of the hallways have been cut off. The droids they've encountered thus far are the easy ones.

They're about halfway back to the hangar – Anakin can only hope his clones outside are doing alright, but judging from how the ship is shaking, they're the only ones having fun – when they're jumped by assassin droids.

"Run," Anakin yells to the others, taking up position behind them, lightsaber raised. "I'll catch up with you." After a moment, he adds an "I promise" just for Padme's sake – she doesn't need to worry about him.

He can only hope she'll understand that so long as they're here, they'll only serve to slow him down. They're collateral damage.

"We're not leaving without you!" Padme calls back.

"You don't have a choice!"

Around the corner, he can hear the clatter of approaching destroyer droids now. The longer they stay, the more danger they're in.

He can't let Padme be in danger because of his own stupidity, and that fear is throwing him off-balance.

It's different with Ahsoka and Rex. He's accustomed to the fear because they met in that fear. And they're soldiers, part of the army. They know what they're doing. Padme is no soldier. She's a Senator. She's not made for this.

In the end, it's a slamming door that cuts them off from each other, and Anakin can only offer a silent plea into the Force to take care of them before diverting all his attention to the droids. It's so much easier without having to worry about her here. He can fall into robotic movement easily and charge them without having to fear leaving his allies unshielded – it's always easier when it was just him and Obi-Wan or Ahsoka or... all of them.

The second the droids have been reduced to scrap metal, Anakin takes off after Padme and Artoo, who'd gone with her.

It's the moment he's starting to question if he'll make it off that he senses a shift in the Dark Side, and skids to a stop as he sees a far-too familiar cloaked figure standing at the end of the hall.

"Sidious," he says, accusingly. He can feel the presence, even if it's heavily shielded. How he had time to come out here, Anakin will never know. Even the Chancellor needs break time, he supposes.

"It's good to see you again, Anakin," he replies smoothly.

"What do you want with me?" he demands sharply.

"That is something you are well-aware of," he answers simply, "I should prefer this does not end in a fight."

"You should have thought about that before bringing Padme into it," Anakin growls.

"It was merely to bring you home."

"I was home before you interfered."

"I will give you a final chance to surrender, Anakin." For the first time, he realizes Sidious is angry. Very angry. A raw, blinding terror prickles down his spine, but Anakin stands his ground.

"You're wrong," Anakin tells him, begging the Force that it be true, "I know what I am."

Sidious tilts his head beneath his cloak. Anakin can feel the eyes studying him. "You are lying to yourself," he replies, "But I see through you."

He flicks out a hand in the same signal Dooku uses to the droids, and Anakin nearly flinches on instinct – when Dooku does that, it's usually telling the guards to start electrocuting him, or whatever it is they decided to use this time.

Instead, there's a high-pitched motor noise, and Anakin is jerked upwards. How Sidious knew to do this, he has no idea. It happened – by accident, he thinks – on Lola Sayu, at the Citadel. His hand is jerked against the ceiling, his lightsaber thankfully still held in his hand, but it's at an awkward position that he can't cut through the magnetizer with. Of course, Sidious, of all people, would exploit this weakness.

It's a blatant way of rubbing in his face how much of a failure he is, and it – he hates thinking about it.

He doesn't mind being... part machine because he never looked down on machines like most people do, but the shame of it is hard. It's dealing with the stares and whispers of how he failed on Geonosis, of how it makes him less of a Jedi, that he struggles with.

The shame of doing this right here, in front of Palpatine, makes him sick and furious at once. He tries twisting his hand, to get his lightsaber facing it, but the more he tries moving, the more stuck he is. He reaches up with his other hand, wrapping his hand around the hilt after prying his other hand's grip off – it's now completely stuck to the ceiling – pulling it away from him enough to avoid impaling himself and flips it over with a touch of the Force.

"Set to stun," Sidious orders from below him, and he looks down. A group of droids are there, and – oh, this is so not fair. He can't even move right now, and all he can do is try shielding himself with the Force. It's like what he did with Ahsoka from earlier, and it's giving him a very flip-flopped sense of déjà vu.

Out of sheer stubbornness, Anakin stays conscious for as long as he can. It must've taken about four, five times before his vision starts going dark, and he slashes through the ceiling around him, letting himself drop to free fall.

He barely has the energy to catch himself before everything blanks out.

**w**

The first thing he realizes when he awakens is that he can't move. He's lying on something hard, something he's strapped onto. He can do little more than turn his head, but right now, it's throbbing too much for him to want to open his eyes. He remembers what happened, and it makes him almost wish he never awoke at all.

Whatever this is, it feels dark. He remembers this, actually. Mustafar? He was here with Ahsoka. It wasn't pleasant in the least. It looks similar to that place on Mustafar, too, now that he thinks about it.

The door opens, and Sidious enters, his footsteps echoing in the room.

"You make it hard to reason with you," he begins chidingly. Anakin swallows back his rage to keep from lashing out.

"You know I would never betray you."

Anakin glares at him. "You hurt Padme," he accuses.

"I didn't hurt her. I used her to lure you out somewhere that we could speak alone."

"You shouldn't have brought them into this."

"I will give the ability to protect those you care for," he says, moving closer. He's too close now, and Anakin subconsciously jerks against his restraints. They hold firm, though. And he can't move his right arm at all. Sidious must have deactivated it.

"You're lying," Anakin accuses.

"You know something," he muses, moving to the edge of the table, trailing his fingers over the edge of the metal. Anakin tries leaning away, but his body only jerks uselessly. "You were aware of the Malevolence. Of the attack on the Rishi outpost. How did you know? Did Dooku tell you?"

Anakin stares at him, staying stubbornly quiet, keeping his face blank. Finally, he turns away and stares up at the ceiling. He tries to calm his racing heart – it's way too easy for Sidious to figure out something is wrong, especially after he told the Council. That was part of why he didn't want to say anything. He knew Sidious would figure out something was amiss far too easily.

He senses Sidious's flare of anger, and he flinches sharply, just a moment before a jolt of electricity runs through his body. He swallows back a cry, blinking back the haze that's blurring his vision.

"I have no desire to hurt you," he continues, "But if you continue being uncooperative, I will be forced to do what I must. You are well accustomed to working for the greater good, are you not?" Anakin breathes in shakily, not answering audibly. Staying quiet, he hopes, is the best option.

"Who else knows of it?" Sidious asks. "Your padawan, perhaps?"

Anakin almost laughs. As if he would drag Ahsoka into something like this. "No one. Only me." And... it's not entirely true, but it's not a lie, either. The information he'd given to Obi-Wan wasn't as much as what he has in his own mind. The Council knows, of course, but they have nothing more than Obi-Wan does. He only wishes he'd told them about Sidious, too.

"You will tell me everything," he promises, somewhere out of Anakin's view. The tone makes a shive run down his spine. He knows in truth, that he can only hold out for so long. It's not the pain that's the problem – it's always tolerable enough, especially if he loses himself in the currents of the Force, because it makes him feel completely disconnected from his body – it's the darkness in the Force, and that this is Sidious hovering over him, the man who was once his friend, who Anakin was willing to confide anything to.

"No," Anakin denies firmly, even as his heartrate picks up. He wants to say more – was going to say more – but then, a jolt of electricity runs through his body, and he cuts himself off with a cry. He falls still when it stops, gasping for air that won't come.

"I should prefer if you cooperate," he comments mildly. "Resistance will only bring you more pain, my boy."

"Don't call me that!" he snaps, anger flaring. He doesn't need to think about how he's been played from the beginning. It doesn't feel like this is Palpatine. It seems so impossible. "I do not belong to you. I am not – yours."

"That will be corrected soon enough," he replies placidly.

Unfortunately for him, and fortunately for Sidious, metal conducts electricity better than anything else could, and he suspects some of the current – he can't quite see where it's coming from, because he can't lift his head much, or really at all – is running through the metal, and it's making his nerves hypersensitive, and the constant stinging in his body is hot and burning where he's lying.

"I am aware this may be uncomfortable for you," Sidious muses, "But you already made it abundantly clear that you will have it no other way."

Sidious moves around him, laying a hand on his shoulder. "Why not make this simple, Anakin?"

"Don't touch me!" he yells, jerking again. His wrist is throbbing, but it's not enough to make him stop.

"Who watched over you for years when no one else did, Anakin?"

"You wanted me to be your slave," Anakin accuses. He's furious, and he almost wants to cry, and he tries lashing out with the Force, only to realize that when they did this, of course, it was made to restrain Jedi – he can't unlock the restraints with the Force short of in-depth concentration, because manipulating machinery is very difficult.

Sidious reaches out, touching his forehead. If he didn't know better, he would think it was gentle, real. But he's not foolish enough to accept that. Not anymore, but there's nothing he can do. "Tell me," he prods, pulling back.

"I'm not telling you anything," Anakin retaliates. Tears burn his eyes, anyway. It hurts. It hurts so much, because this was supposed to be his friend. "I'll die before I talk."

Sidious laughs. It's dark and chilling and the sound sends shivers down his spine. "The Jedi have no way of entrance, my boy. You will talk eventually. You are not that strong, and I know you will do what's right."

Anakin tries to ignore the dread rapidly pooling inside him, because he knows every last word of it is true. He's not, even if he likes to think he is, and this is the one person who knows every one of his weaknesses. He's failed before, and there's no guarantee he wouldn't again. That's all he's capable of, after all. "Good thing I don't need them, then," he replies, eyes narrowed. He's bluffing, and there's no way Sidious doesn't know it.

He feels the man's presence in his mind then, suddenly, through the bond they had which Anakin never knew about. Anakin reinforces his shields, even if he knows the Sith won't be able to break through, not without hurting him, likely permanently. Sidious won't do that, he knows. If he destroys Anakin's mind, it will destroy whatever information he has, with it. Likely, it'll get himself killed as well – Anakin has no doubt his fire of a presence could kill someone, if they tried. He always has to be careful with mind-tricks and everything of that nature.

"Your mind will speak or break."

"That would kill me," Anakin throws back. His objection is met with another surge of electricity running through his body and he chokes back a scream. The Sith really is not messing around here.

"It will take time, my boy. We have time. I will take you to Coruscant."

He... hadn't thought ahead. He'd been too focused on the moment. Here, it shouldn't – hopefully – be hard for someone to find him. Dooku, Anakin suspects, might come, assuming this entire thing hasn't consisted of everybody double-crossing each other. Anakin has no idea how Sidious could take him to Coruscant without the Jedi knowing, but at this point, he wouldn't even be surprised anymore. That would mean... Sidious is still the Chancellor, so he simply doesn't have time to be off planet for long.

"You are important enough," Sidious continues, reaching up to brush his fingers over his forehead, the touch accompanied by another probe at their bond. Anakin shudders against it and tries to turn away; it's hard when he's restrained as tightly as he is. He hates this. Always has, but it's worse because of who it is. This was someone Anakin cared for. He loathes it because it's... confusing, and it turns something he normally craves into something twisted and invasive. He feels so helpless, and he hates it. Anakin is very well accustomed to the sensation of being at another's (nonexistent) mercies, thank you very much.

He just didn't expect to end up this way with Sidious so soon. He should have.

It would be so much easier if Sidious was just being... Sithly, because it wouldn't be so confusing, and Anakin would be able to separate him from Palpatine, and it wouldn't feel like someone was stabbing a lightsaber into his heart right now. He had a long time to accept this, and the betrayal still hurts.

"It need not be this way," Sidious – no, Palpatine. He's talking in that tone now. "Your wildness makes this... difficult."

It stings as much as one of Obi-Wan's many, frequent insults, which is saying something. His former master has said the same thing about literally anything more times than Anakin can count.

"Let me in," the Sith encourages, "You know I will only use it for good."

"Like you started the war for 'good'?" Anakin snaps back.

"Yes," he confirms, "You are aware of this."

"I am aware you are destroying the galaxy and claiming it's for the greater good," he replies dryly. He could almost roll his eyes when Sidious's best comeback is electrocuting him again. Almost.

"The Jedi will do the same in time," he says, something in his voice growing darker, angrier. "You are not unaware that they have been causing as much damage as the Separatists."

"No one would be causing damage if you hadn't triggered it."

"My patience with you is short," he says, sharply.

Anakin doesn't respond, only reaching farther into the Force, trying to detach his mind from his body. He's something far beyond his physical form, and no one can take that from him.

"You are mine, Anakin," Sidious continues, "I can do with you what I want. If I want to take you apart, to remake you, I will. If I want you to give me whatever information you hold, you will. Do you understand me?"

"I won't," Anakin promises firmly. And he won't. He will never.

"You are lying to yourself," he admonishes, "You know better than this, Anakin."

He turns his head away, returning his gaze pointedly to the ceiling, swallowing back a sharp retort. Trying to keep back the emotions he's suddenly feeling from overwhelming him. It's so pathetic to be affected so severely by the words of a Sith, but they sting. They're harsh and sharp and cold in the same way Obi-Wan usually speaks to him. This was never Palpatine's role. He's the one who was there when Obi-Wan wasn't.

He can't find anything to say. He can't find it in himself to do anything at all either, except the sudden inexplicable urge to cry that he refuses to give into. Not in front of Sidious.

"I know of many ways to break a Jedi," Sidious continues, "I just never imagined I would use it on you. This is still your choice, of course. Tell me everything, and I can bring the chaos in the galaxy to an end. I can restore peace, and you can have everything you wanted..."

A lie, of course, because what he really wants is Ahsoka – his Ahsoka, but he can't imagine losing this one either – and his mother still alive and...

"... or you can continue to remain here."

Sidious moves away from him, finally. Anakin thinks he's about to go to the door, and with a jolt, he realizes that he has absolutely no idea how long he's going to be trapped here. He can't stand sitting still. It's worse, much worse, when he's completely restrained, unable to move, at another's mercy, especially when he knows exactly what that entails for Sidious.

Sith don't have mercy. They consider it a weakness, and no matter what Palpatine feels towards him – and it is something, because Anakin has seen and felt it – he won't let it interfere with his actions. Sidious has made that abundantly clear already, and it's not as though anyone has been willing to sacrifice anything for Anakin, save his mother.

Everything was different with his mother.

"I will prepare my location on Coruscant for you," he says. That sinister note is back in his voice again. Don't think, Anakin tells himself. Don't feel. Because he has the distinct feeling that he knows what's about to happen and he needs to... get the word out, but he can't let Sidious know that. He doesn't know what all the Sith is and isn't capable of feeling. "Until then, you will remain here."

His bond with Obi-Wan is too shielded, even if it's strong enough, and there's not time.

He can only hope this will work as he reaches inwards, reaches far across the galaxy to the soft, rose petal presence of his padawan, curling his fire around her as gently as he can – he has to be gentle, cautious, because his star-like presence could burn through anything, can shred minds with a touch, and he knows bonds with him are overwhelming – Obi-Wan hadn't taken it well. By the time Anakin bonded with Ahsoka he could shield himself enough that she wasn't as drowned as Obi-Wan was.

"You'll – what?" Anakin snarks back, knowing every word they're saying should be transmitted across the galaxy. "Leave me here on Mustafar?"

"Calling for help, are you?" Sidious asks icily, stepping forwards. Anakin fights the urge to tense. He knew the Sith would figure it out momentarily, but he had to do it. "They will never find you. If they come, you will be responsible for their deaths. Every single one."

He says nothing, staring stubbornly upward, silently begging the Force that Ahsoka will be able to answer him.

Sidious hisses angrily, and a sudden jolt of Sith lightning hits him. Before, it was just electricity, from where Anakin suspects is the mechanism he's strapped to. This is different, hotter, sharper, stronger, more painful.

It's strong enough that his vision whites out from it, and he chokes back a cry. When it stops, he's gasping, struggling to breathe in. His lungs are burning. Everything is burning – everything hurts. The metal is warm and burning, and his body is twitching now, jerking involuntarily. And the place in his arm where it connects to his prosthetic is burning the most – lightning is always drawn straight to his arm. It always...

"Consider this carefully, my boy," he says, the sudden use of that term makes something twist violently inside Anakin. He doesn't understand these mind games. It's obvious that whatever Sidious feels towards him is fake, so why does he feel so guilty for betraying it? But when there's nothing he doesn't feel guilty for, he shouldn't be as surprised.

He can only hope Ahsoka understood and will find a way to help, but he knows – logically – that Sidious is right. If they come, Sidious will probably kill them, and that'll be on Anakin. He doesn't know if he can be responsible for the deaths of so many people because the Council will – probably – send someone here to find him.

"You committed treason," Palpatine adds, "You are aware of what the penalty for it is, yet I will leave you alive. You are... important to me, Anakin. I expect you will not forget that?"

He stays quiet, knowing it's likely the best option. He could try fighting back, fighting against everything to struggle gaining some semblance of control, but he can't risk that right now – Sidious is furious at him, and he can't... do that. Just this once, his fear is outweighing every other outcome he can imagine.

"I will return tomorrow," Sidious tells him, moving for the door, "To take you elsewhere. I trust you will be... occupied in the meantime."

What does that mean?

He disappears out the door without another word. Anakin can't see the doorway clearly, even if he tries, but he can't help the sudden dread growing inside him.

What, exactly, does Sidious intend to do in the meantime?

He can't – wait for that. He can't afford to.

But he does know one thing without a doubt – there is only one way it can go on from here.

And that will be with Sidious dead, because there is, truly, no other way Anakin can stop him. He already made that abundantly clear, and no matter how much the Jedi say about it, Anakin knows he'll never... be able to do it without regretting it.

Yes, Palpatine is a Sith, and he is undoubtedly worthy of death, but he still... cared for Anakin on some level, no matter how twisted it was. That... caring is something Anakin had craved for so deeply, having missed it so much, but so rarely was it offered to him. When Sidious showed it, he was desperate and willing to take it.

He can't just... forget that.

He can't pretend it doesn't matter like Obi-Wan would do and would want him to, as well. He can't let go like he should.

There's only one way it can go down, with Sidious dead, and... that realization hurts far more than Anakin would've thought it could.

In the end, now that he's alone, he doesn't even care to try stopping himself from crying over what he once thought was a friendship, the one he thought he could never lose.

He doesn't have enough time to calm himself and try reaching into the Force before a droid rolls over to him and drugs him with some... very annoying sedative. He tries fighting it off, as Jedi are trained to, but it must have been made especially for that, because his vision darkens rapidly, finally fading out.

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