Summary: The prison scenario continues.

Intake: Part Three

A moment of silence followed Luke's cautious greeting and then it stretched long enough that he felt his heart begin to pound in anticipation. He wasn't certain why he felt like a teenager again waiting to get chewed out by Uncle Owen for doing something that he'd call astronomically stupid.

But he did.

And he hated it.

Even with the Force currently out of his reach, Luke was perfectly certain that his father was in a special kind of rage. He just wished that he would say something.

When Vader did speak again, it wasn't to acknowledge Luke.

"Officer Gouban." Vader said dangerously. "How long has Skywalker been in custody?"

Gouban's hands were shaking nervously but his voice was remarkably controlled when he answered. "I don't know when he was arrested but he arrived at the prison facility from one of the county jails this morning. There… there hasn't been a trial or anything, but they were unequipped to handle a Jedi and he was sent here instead."

"I should have been informed of his arrest immediately." Vader seemed to seeth. "Why am I only hearing about this now?"

"I… I… don't know, my Lord." Gouban offered helplessly.

Personally, Luke doubted that that was completely true. While the planet itself was devoted and fiercely loyal to the Empire, Uhpes still preferred dishing out their own brand of punishment to wanted criminals. They didn't believe in the death penalty here and thought that public executions were a waste. They wanted guilty criminals to pay for their crimes for the rest of their lives and to live each day regretting that they had ever been born.

Luke had had to deal with a fair number of people over the last week or so who had been more than excited to have Luke Skywalker in their grasp. They were planning to forgo a criminal trial entirely, considering that it was a known fact at this point that he had been the one to fire the shot that had destroyed the Death Star.

He was already guilty and this planet was dead set on keeping him here. Luke had had no doubt in his mind that if they had gotten him into a cell (made to contain Force sensitives, apparently) before he'd gotten the chance to contact his father, that he would never get another opportunity.

"You don't know." Vader sneered contemptuously and Luke distantly thought it was impressive that Gouban hadn't fainted yet. He stood at attention, listening to Vader speak and answering what questions he could about a variety of different things regarding the prison itself and who was in charge.

But when it became clear that neither of them were going to speak to him, Luke slowly dropped his head back against the wall and tried to tune it out.

He wasn't certain what he had been expecting but he was disappointed all the same.

Everything was out of his hands. He just felt small and stupid.

And for the first time since he'd been captured, Luke felt desperately lonely. He'd survived the last week or so on anger and adrenaline and the need to find a way out of his situation. Policy only required that prisoners receive one meal a day and the food was basically garbage. Luke was hungry and tired and the drugs they pumped into his system every few hours kept him cut off from the Force and made the world around him seem dull and lifeless.

It made his head hurt.

He didn't know what he was supposed to expect moving forward and he didn't know if his father even gave a damn.

After a few minutes, Gouban moved around the small office space, pulling out files and documents and other such things that Luke had no interest in. He answered a few calls that came over his radio but he was terse and kept everything short and to the point. At one point, Vader seemed to be speaking to multiple people as well but the connection was fuzzy enough that it was difficult to make out what those people were saying.

Luke didn't realize he'd closed his eyes until he heard the office door open and then close again with a soft click. Everything was quiet and he blinked and saw that he'd been left alone.

A/N This thing just keeps going and going. XD