Chapter 8 - Geonosis
Author's Note: No regrets. Also, don't panic yet. ;)
~ Amina Gila
He hasn't seen Dooku in a long time, and Anakin definitely would never have expected to encounter him here on Geonosis. He's been on edge since the moment he arrived here – it's a sand planet, like the one in his visions.
"Anakin," Dooku greets him, standing in the door of the cell he's currently being kept in. Padme is elsewhere, of course.
"What is going on here?" Anakin demands, "What did you do to Obi-Wan?"
"This is all a misunderstanding, I assure you," Dooku replies, though something about him now is... different. Anakin had felt the strange coldness on him before, and he feels it again now, except it seems stronger than it ever did in the past. He's not sure what it means. It's something dark, of the Dark Side perhaps, and he's heard that Dooku struggled with it, though he can't imagine Dooku has used it that heavily. He's a former Jedi, and he's... a good person. Though after the start of the Separatist movement, Anakin isn't entirely sure what to think. Dooku's intentions are good, but Anakin worries about where it'll lead.
"Then let us out."
"I'm afraid I can't do that," he answers, "There is much more at play here that I am not in control of."
"Such as?" he inquires, trying to gauge a better picture of what's going on.
"I am not in control of Geonosis," Dooku says, "But I can nevertheless give you an offer."
Considering everything Obi-Wan had been conveying to the Council, Anakin isn't quite sure what to think about it, or about Dooku. "What is it?" he inquires warily.
"If you join me, I will be able to persuade the Geonosians to release you and perhaps your friends."
Anakin doesn't know if this is meant to blackmail him or not, but it's very hard for him to turn down this... practically order. "Join you?" he repeats, "And leave the Order? You know I can't do that."
"I must ask you to reconsider this," Dooku replies, "You have never truly fit among the Jedi Order. Your skill set would be far more useful out here, not held back by the Council and the laws you must abide by."
"That's not the only reason I cannot go." The Jedi freed him, and he owes them that. He owes them everything. Just as much, he can't leave his mother, his master, Jacen, Ahsoka, or Qui-Gon. That would be ungrateful. And he won't abandon them. "And if I did, I would still be held back. I wouldn't be a part of something larger."
"You would be," Dooku counters, "Our movement here is growing. The galaxy and Republic as it is now would never stand. Join me, and we can help those the Jedi do not have interest in."
It's almost tempting, seeing as this is the man who freed his mother, when the Jedi did nothing. If not for him, Anakin may never have seen her again. But this isn't about him. And for all that Dooku claims the Separatists are trying to help, he doesn't know that he's seen that. If anything, there's been constant unrest everywhere... not that there wasn't before either, but still. "How are you helping?" Anakin demands. Dooku looks so old now, he notes distractedly. Nothing like he did even when Anakin last saw him years ago.
"We are restarting. With everything you have been through with the Jedi, I cannot imagine you do not desire that chance as well."
He has no idea just how much he wants that. But he can't. He will not betray the Jedi or leave his family. "This is not about me."
Dooku eyes him, thoughtfully. "What if I told you that the Republic is under the control of the Sith? The Dark Lord, Darth Sidious, now controls the Senate."
What?
But that's... Unease twists in him instantly. What scares him most is that he doesn't sense a lie. "How would the Jedi not sense it?" Anakin argues.
"They are losing their way, serving the Senate instead of the people and the Force."
"How would you know?" Anakin demands.
"I have searched for answers beyond the Jedi."
"Who... is it?"
"Join me, and I will tell you everything."
But that, Anakin can't do. Even if he doesn't know if he should refuse this either, because if the Sith is really controlling the Republic... "I can't do that," Anakin counters firmly. He can't betray the Jedi and the Republic, and his master like that. Especially not when he senses something so much... darker about Dooku that he can't trust, even if he doesn't know what it means.
"Then I'm afraid I've done all I can for you," Dooku states, a note of regret in his voice which Anakin thinks is genuine.
Not that it matters when he's pretty sure he knows what's about to happen.
**w**
The mission is taking up everyone's attention, but it's still almost uncomfortable to be on another mission so soon after Qui-Gon found out. His master says nothing of it, acting the same way he always does as they fly for Geonosis, but that almost makes it worse. Almost.
The first thing Jacen knows the moment they land on the planet, is that he hates this place. It reminds him so much of Tatooine – and there's little he even remembers of there anymore. But the memory of the heat, and the sand whipping painfully against his skin is something he could never forget.
The Jedi split up when they reach the surface, making their way to the execution arena, where apparently, Obi-Wan and Anakin are. How is his brother here?!
They have to hurry, because if those bugs hurt Anakin –
Silently, he and Qui-Gon weave their way through some of the catacombs, hastily backing against the wall at the sound of beating wing. A few more Geonisans fly past, chattering in their strange language, and he tries to blink away memories of – of someone else, wings beating furiously, as he prowled over him, critically watching what little work Jacen was capable of doing.
"Come," Qui-Gon urges, and they take off through the darkness again.
Up ahead he can hear the sound of animals making noises, and his heart rate picks up, hands clenching. He knows things like this happen – being fed to an animal for execution – but it's sickening. And doing this to Jedi – agents of the Republic – is an act of war. Right now, he doesn't much mind with how angry he is, though. Especially when they get close enough to the edge that sunlight floods in, letting Jacen see the plaza below. Obi-Wan is fighting off a huge, green, bug-like creature – acklay, he thinks it was called – while Anakin is riding around on a reek, desperately trying to keep it under control.
He's been on numerous missions with Anakin in the past two years, and his brother is always more than capable of handling himself – more so than anyone – but that doesn't stop Jacen's fear and anger. Anakin looks okay, at least, but still. They would dare to –
He sees Qui-Gon stiffen, following his gaze to the front of the plaza where Dooku is standing, watching the proceedings, ever the perfect picture of calm.
What?
Of course, Jacen knew he would be here – he's the head of the Separatists – but that didn't mean he knew he'd be directly involved in Anakin's near execution.
Dooku freed their mother. Anakin looked up to him. Jacen respected him, and now... how could he do this?!
"How could he?" Jacen demands, struggling to keep his voice down despite his fury.
"I don't know," Qui-Gon replies, shaking his head. He looks no less... taken aback by this than Jacen himself feels.
"We need to do something," Jacen whispers, shifting impatiently.
"We must wait for the signal," his master reminds, gaze never leaving Dooku.
Yes, he knows but that doesn't make it any easier to stand here doing nothing while Anakin and Obi-Wan are fighting down there. It's only worse when Obi-Wan joins Anakin on the reek, and then, a group of destroyer droids rolls up, surrounding them.
The same type that Anakin told him the Trade Federation used on Naboo.
Jacen sees it coming a moment before it happens, Master Windu stepping out from the catacombs behind Dooku, igniting his lightsaber. Across the plaza all the Jedi reveal themselves, igniting their blades, and Jacen is impatient to join.
They barely make it into the main part of the arena before droids are pouring in all around them, shooting. They have them surrounded, but there are so many Jedi here. There's no chance of them losing, is there? They just have to destroy the droids faster than they come in.
Jacen cuts through the droids as fast as he can, making his way to where Anakin is fighting, moving so they're fighting back-to-back.
"Are you alright?" Anakin calls over the noise of the battle.
"Are you?" Jacen calls back, swinging his lightsaber up to block a few more blades.
Anakin has a green blade now, and it looks wrong. Not that now is a good time to comment.
Jacen just wants to talk to him, to crawl into his brother's arms so he'll hold him. No one makes him feel so safe and just like... things can be better, except his mother.
"Of course," Anakin calls back, as he moves in a constant flurry of motion, taking down the droids. Now isn't a time to talk. It's a time to fight. Everything else will have to wait for later.
"I know this is not the best time to bring it up, but there's something I need to tell you."
"What?" Jacen calls back. They don't have much time to talk, especially not over the noise. They need to focus on moving, but he senses this is important. Hopefully, it's not about their mother.
"I've been having dreams. Visions. About... you. Just be careful, please."
"I promise," he says, almost before it sinks in what his brother is saying. He doesn't have much time to think about it now, but it's disturbing. Any other time, he'd be afraid. Maybe he is, just a bit, but Anakin is right beside him, so he has nothing to worry about.
"Jacen," Anakin adds, as if as an afterthought, "I just need to say that I... I love you."
Something soft and warm swells inside him. "I know," he replies, "I love you, too."
There's so much more they could and should say to each other, but there's a battle going on, blaster shots flying all around them, and any could be fatal if they don't focus. And in the end, they already know everything each other could say.
The only thing they can do is continue fighting, taking out droid after droid, staying near Senator Amidala – because she came into the midst of this madness, too. They'll have to protect her, and hope they can get out of this alive.
**w**
Sand whips around Jacen's face, as he pushes forwards alongside Qui-Gon. The droids and bugs are everywhere out here, and it's jarring to be suddenly fighting alongside these... white-armored people who showed up out of nowhere to rescue them in the arena. If they hadn't... he already knows how it would have ended.
He and Anakin got onto different gunships, so he doesn't know where he is now, but his brother will be okay. He always is.
"There's no end to these things," Jacen grits out, pausing for the briefest moment to catch his breath.
"They have been amassing resources for a long time," Qui-Gon replies, grimly.
"Why would they intentionally provoke a war?" he objects.
"There is more occurring here than meets the eye," his master answers, gesturing to the armored figures nearby. Well, there's no question about that. Apparently, the Republic pulled an army out of nowhere at the same time, too. "But now is not the time to discuss this. Come. We must keep moving."
Jacen darts out from behind the pile of rubble, pressing forwards as more droids and bugs shoot at them.
Somewhere in the midst of the chaos, he finds himself separated from Qui-Gon, not as if that's a surprise. There's chaos everywhere, and they're trying to win, not stick together. His master should be fine. Hopefully. They've fought in all out battles like this, that seems to be literally targeted against the Jedi.
Exhaustion is nagging at him, as he keeps fighting simply on automatic. It has to have been hours by now, and there's still no end in sight. It's harder when the bugs are flying everywhere, shooting from every possible angle, and a sudden burning pain rips through his leg.
Jacen staggers back with a gasp, going down on his knees in the sand. His leg is burning fiercely like it's on fire, and tears sting his eyes – from the pain and the sudden sand blowing into them. Jacen coughs, frantically reaching for his lightsaber as more shots whiz right by his head.
The Force suddenly screams in warning. Jacen looks up sharply, to see one of the bugs hurling an explosive right at him and the Republic troopers nearby.
He throws out a hand instinctively, deflecting the explosive aside, as well as he can but it's not countered quite fast enough. It explodes mid-air in a burning ball of flames and swirling sand, and the next thing he knows he's flying and falling, hitting the ground, desperately gasping for breath that refuses to come. Everything hurts, and it's the last thing he registers before everything goes dark.
**w**
Anakin can feel something is wrong, but he doesn't know what. He can't let himself be distracted by it though – there's a battle to fight right now. He's with Obi-Wan, and he was focusing on protecting Padme, until she fell out of the gunship. He knows he's disobeying direct orders from the Council by going to confront Dooku anyway, no matter how much Obi-Wan insists this is the right thing to do.
There are many other Jedi who can find Dooku. Anakin is the one who was sent to protect Padme. It seems like he can't even do that anymore.
His heart is pounding when they enter the hangar, anyway. He's angry. Very angry. And very confused. Dooku betrayed everyone, and Anakin can't understand why someone like him would ever do this. He wasn't a bad person. He...
Dooku turns around when they enter, expression as closed off as it has been this entire time.
"Why are you doing this?" Anakin demands, holding his lightsaber in front of him. He doesn't understand. None of this makes any sense.
"This is the only way to restore peace to the galaxy."
"You're the one who started the violence!" he throws back.
"It was the Jedi who took actions they knew would spark a conflict."
"You did that," Anakin accuses, silently seething. He trusted Dooku, looked up to him even, and to know he betrayed the Jedi, the Republic, and everything Anakin thought he believed in is... It hurts. He's never felt betrayed before, but he does now. Loyalty is always something Anakin had taken seriously, and the knowledge that Dooku betrayed that, betrayed them, is...
It's hard.
They're closing in on him, slowly, but Dooku still seems to be waiting for them to make the first move. Why, Anakin doesn't know, but he has a bad feeling about it.
"All of this is on you, Dooku," Obi-Wan retorts harshly. He's as angry as Anakin is – he's just hiding it better.
"I give you both another chance," the Count replies, "Join me, and help bring peace to the galaxy."
Neither of them so much as hesitate. They continue closing in, moving forwards. Anakin senses a flare of warning in the Force just before Dooku raises his hand and a bolt of lighting hits him, sending him writhing to the floor. And truly, he doesn't much remember what happens after.
**w**
He awakens slowly, the first thing settling into his mind that he's on Coruscant. There's no other place in the galaxy that could have so much life, so many people. There's always been a certain darkness to the planet that grates on him, but over the past ten years, Anakin would say he's become fairly accustomed to it.
Both Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon are waiting for him, next to his bed. It's... touching they took the time to come here. Anakin can't imagine it's easy for them to get time off.
And strangely, Jacen isn't here.
The next thing Anakin notices is that they feel – and look – unusually subdued. Maybe it's because of Dooku and the war, but somehow, he knows it's something much worse than that. "Where's Jacen?" Anakin asks, eyes darting around the room. "Is he..."
"Anakin," Qui-Gon says, gently, though there's a very obvious note of grief in his voice, "On Geonosis, when our gunship landed so we could get out and assist with the battle elsewhere, we were separated. We never found him."
Anakin looks to Obi-Wan, desperately, silently begging that his master deny it, even if Anakin knows the truth already. He did, for a long time. He knew this would happen. He felt it. Saw it. But still... Jacen can't be gone.
He couldn't have died.
He wants to deny it, to protest that Jacen can't have died, he was only fourteen, but what would be the point? Children die all the time on Tatooine. And truly, they're the fortunate ones, ones who never have to live long enough in a nightmare of slavery to understand the entirety of what they live amidst.
"He was only fourteen," Anakin whispers anyway, hands shaking. Please, no. Someone tell him this isn't true, and that Jacen is just injured. Something. Anything but this. His brother can't be gone.
"No one expected the battle to be this... severe. Few of us made it back," Obi-Wan tells him grimly, reaching out to touch his shoulder comfortingly. "Dooku escaped, too."
Dooku who started all this, and now, Jacen is gone because of him. He may have freed their mother, only for Anakin to have to go tell her now that he failed his little brother, that –
Anakin leans into Obi-Wan's touch, desperate, but that won't – nothing can change what just happened. All things die. He knows that, but seeing it – living it, is different. It's so different. Even the brightest stars die in time, and he knows that, but this is wrong. It's too wrong – Jacen should not have had to leave yet.
He doesn't know what to say, not that there's anything to say.
Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon stay quiet, expressions solemn, as they stay next to his bedside. There's nothing any of them can say, truly.
Jacen is gone, and nothing can bring him back.
Nothing anyone says or does can reverse it. You can't bring those who have passed into the Force back to the living. (Unless he's still out there, and they just left him, a quiet voice whispers).
**w**
Anakin leaves to see Shmi as soon as he can, even if a part of him doesn't want to. He doesn't want to go back to her and tell her that her son, his brother, is dead.
Gone, because Anakin failed him. Because the Jedi failed him.
He doesn't know how to tell his mother, but he thinks she already knows from the look on his face, and that he's here alone. "What happened?" she asks, voice strained.
"On Geonosis," he answers, faintly. His voice sounds distant and dead to his own ears. "I should have protected him, I should have..." He cuts himself off, shaking. He doesn't know what to say, but everything he can say sounds like excuses.
"You did everything you could," his mother replies firmly, even though tears are shining in her eyes. It guts him to see. He should have spared her this pain.
"He was my brother," Anakin chokes out, voice raw.
"There are times we all must let go of those we love most," she tells him, though he can feel her pain flowing freely into the Force. It's as sharp and deep running as his own, and it takes his breath away to feel. She's always happy when she sees him. Not now.
"But this is wrong," he protests, desperation surging, "This shouldn't have happened."
"It shouldn't have," she agrees, pulling him into a hug, "But you are not to blame for it."
Maybe it's true, but he had the vision, and he should have... something. Maybe stayed behind to protect Padme, like his mission was, and his brother. Dooku escaped anyway. He left them both injured and took off in his ship before the other Jedi even had time to show up.
And now, Jacen is gone.
It's worse when he can feel his mother's pain so acutely, and all he can do is cling to her, knowing his brother won't have this ever again.
**w**
Ahsoka knew something was wrong, something beyond that hundreds of Jedi left on a mission to Geonosis and hardly any of them came back. Everyone present at the Temple is called to the most massive funeral in... she has no idea how long, only a couple days later.
But what's catching her attention most is that Jacen isn't here. He hasn't come back to see her yet, and that inherently isn't anything to worry about, but when he went on that same mission... She can't shake the dread coursing through her, especially when she sees Anakin's empty expression when he comes to talk to her alone.
Which is also rare, because they know each other, but only distantly.
"I heard about Geonosis," Ahsoka tells him, though it's a moot point, because everyone has heard about Geonosis. "About the war starting, anyway. Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," he brushes off her concerns unconvincingly, "But Ahsoka, Jacen..."
Abruptly, Ahsoka has a very, very bad feeling about this. "What happened to him? Was he hurt?"
"Ahsoka," he repeats, voice strained, "We lost him. They never had time to – verify, but –"
She jolts back, eyes wide. No. Nonononono – all the time he was a padawan, she blindly believed he would be fine. She had no reason to think anything else. He always was fine, except the rare time he was injured like what happens to everybody. She was accustomed enough to it to no longer be worried. And he was a skilled fighter. How could he...
"I know you two were close," Anakin continues, but she can hardly hear him over the roar of blood rushing through her montrals.
"No," she breathes, desperately. She wants to cry. She hasn't cried in years, but somehow, that's all she wants to do – though she feels too numb for tears to form. Maybe it'll sink in later. Maybe. She hopes not. This is wrong. He should come back, and they should be joking about how he survived the battle without getting blown up, and that's probably exactly what happened.
"I'm so sorry, Ahsoka," he continues, hands shaking.
She steps back, shaking. She feels cold. Her hands are freezing. "You were there," she blurts out, fumbling, not even sure what it is she's saying. "You were – on Geonosis – why couldn't you save him –" It hits her then, with the force of a freight speeder that Jacen isn't coming back. He's not coming back to the Temple, not ever. She's never going to see him again, because he's... gone. He's just gone, away, somewhere else, and...
How could this have happened? How could he...
He was going to come back. He should have. But now, he's not going to, and that doesn't make any sense. They were supposed to stay together, always. They would have, if not for the war, for the Sith, for Dooku, for Geonosis, for... all of this. It doesn't...
She'd do anything to see him again, to bring him back. She would, if there were truly something she could do.
Which there isn't.
She blinks a few times, tears blurring her eyes, and moves forwards, throwing her arms around Anakin and clinging to him. It's definitely the first time they've ever hugged, but she doesn't even care anymore. Jacen was his brother, and he was her best friend, and she thinks they're probably the only two people in the Temple who truly knew him. She doubts even his mother could – she wasn't a Jedi, after all.
Ahsoka doesn't really know – or understand – what Jacen meant to her, but they were close, far closer than Jedi should be. Close enough that she would do almost anything for him, even if it meant breaking the Code. Even if she knows she should never do that for anyone.
But Anakin lost his little brother, too, and she can't make him feel better, because nothing could truly comfort or heal either of them from this, but she can... something. Maybe.
Because Jacen worshiped Anakin, and she can at least do the one thing she knows he'd have wanted her to.
"I knew," he rasps, voice strangled, "I knew what was going to happen, but I didn't stay with him. I should have – I could have protected him. But I... I didn't."
But either way, all she can do is cry, and they hold onto each other, alone in a darkened room of the Temple, and hope that no one will see them here. Though even if someone did, she's not entirely certain if it would even matter at this point. Everyone knows what they lost, and everyone knows that they were hurt by it.
The Council is busy with the start of the war. They both should be, too, probably – trying to find the best way of helping and seeing what they can do, but right now, she can't find it in herself to move.
Jacen is... gone.
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