Chapter 1 - Captive

Plot: Anakin, codenamed Vader, has been taught from creation that the Jedi are the enemy, that they are to be feared. But he loathes being the plaything of the Sith, so he flees. Only to find himself captured and chained in the Jedi Temple. And yet, perhaps the Jedi are not the enemies that Anakin has been told. Perhaps they can help a lost, lonely werewolf find peace.

Author's Note: This is a gift for Sinvulkt on Ao3. :D

~ Tirana Sorki

Anakin thought escaping Sidious meant he would be free. He didn't know where he was going, didn't have any idea how he would even get off Coruscant when he ran away from the Works, but he thought he would be free.

He didn't expect to run right into the Jedi.

And of all the things Sidious has taught him, the one he knows is true is that the Jedi are bad. They're dangerous and they're going to hurt him. But they'll probably hurt him a whole lot more if they realize that he's both human and the strongest Force-sensitive ever created.

Better to stay in his wolf form, to look like nothing more than an animal.

Anakin flicks his tail, barring his long, sharp teeth, and snarls at the two Jedi who keep trying to approach. They already have him cornered against the wall of a building in the dark alleyway he was trying to hide in. He's deep in the underworld and he doesn't even know how they found him but the only way out is past them.

"It doesn't look like a Tuk'ata," the ginger-haired one, who must be a Jedi Knight because he looks like he's only in his early thirties says, eyeing him. He has a Corsuscanti accent.

"It's a creature of the Dark Side, nonetheless. I can sense it," the dark-skinned Jedi Master who Anakin doesn't like at all even though he's only known him for thirteen seconds responds, eyes narrowed on him. That one's voice is deeper and sounds somehow more dangerous. "And he's young, whatever he is."

He's fifteen, actually.

And he's not a what.

Anakin snarls, leaping at him. He dodges the Force wave that he knows is coming, sinking his teeth into the man's leg. The Jedi Master yelps and the Knight yanks out his lightsaber, the blue blade activating with a snap-hiss. He swings it in Anakin's general direction, the threat obvious. He can feel the heat of it only inches away from his head.

The Jedi Master rips him off with the Force, shoving him back. Anakin lands on all fours, paws skidding across the duracrete as he slows himself. He's about to bolt when an invisible force wraps around him, pinning him in place.

No. No.

He thrashes against it, snarling at them. He could use the Force to break free, but he doesn't know if he'd be able to do it and get away and then they'd know he's a Sith and that would be worse. Much worse. He can only imagine what they would do to him then and even if he escaped them and Sidious found out he exposed himself to them... He doesn't want to think about what would happen. Doesn't want to think about what his master would do to him, knowing that he's out here when he's not supposed to be but the thought of facing down these Jedi is far less terrifying – which is saying something.

"Are you alright, Master Windu?" the Knight asks.

What a stupid question.

His leg is bleeding badly, and Anakin can distinctly smell the blood from his here. He can taste it in his mouth and as a wolf it doesn't bother him but well –

He might feel a little bad about what he did if he wasn't so scared. He was supposed to be free. Not – not captured.

"Well enough," Windu replies curtly. "We need to take it back to the Temple for further analysis."

Analysis?

He's not a thing!

Even if he has never known a time where he isn't treated as one, maybe partly because of his animal half.

Anakin snarls at them again, not that it'll do any good. He has no way out.

**w**

They take him back to the Temple, ignoring his growling and snarling and scratching and biting, and then lock him in a cage. Sunlight is flooding the room he's in, from large expansive windows up near the ceiling. It looks like it's intended to have a somewhat outdoor climate to be comfortable for animals as if he can somehow appreciate that.

Other wild animals are in the room too. Because that's what they see him as. The walls of the cage are glass and they're obviously designed to resist any force. But the Jedi seem to have decided not to take any chances after how deeply he bit Windu, so they chain him to a pole in the center of the cage, so he can't reach all the way to the glass sides enough to try shattering them.

He may have bitten the arm and scratched at the legs of all the Tempel guards who chained him and he definitely has no sympathy about that but it didn't do any good because now he's stuck here with no way out.

The cold metal of the collar snaps around his neck, a sharp tingly sensation flooding him. It feels like it's surrounding him in a bubble, like his chest is slowly squeezing as it cuts off his access to... the Force?

It's not complete because he can still feel the overwhelming sensation of life around him, could probably still lash out with it if he tried very hard but it's still making reaching for it much harder.

Fear is crawling into his chest, cold and strangling. It feels like he can't breathe. Can't anything. He's trapped here and there's nothing he can do about it.

Do they know he can use the Force?

Is it normal for Tuk'ata's to be able to do that and they're just taking precautions... or do they suspect something?

But it doesn't matter why. The reason doesn't change that he's trapped here, chained, helpless. The chain clanks loudly whenever he moves, driving the point home even further.

Windu's standing outside the cage now, watching him assessingly. Something prods at his mind – it's a mixture of both dark and light. It's Windu, and he's –

No.

He's not going to just sit here and be prodded and poked at. He never had a say in any of that with Sidious but – but at least he usually knew what to expect. He has no idea with the Jedi and he's not going to let them do Force knows what to him.

Not like there's anything he can do to stop them. But at least he doesn't have to be cooperative about it.

He snarls, leaping for the edge of the cage, showing his teeth at Windu. The chain yanks sharply against his neck, nearly knocking his breath away, and pulling him back from reaching all the way to the edge. He hates this. He hates it.

Hate is supposed to make him stronger.

All it is doing is making him feel more helpless and angry and terrified. Just because he's supposed to be the strongest Forse user ever doesn't mean he's able to use any of that power. He's just as helpless as he always has been. He paws at the floor furiously, snarling again.

Don't show he can use the Force. He can't forget that.

Windu finally pulls back from his mind, perhaps deciding that he's too violent to connect with, turning to go.

Anakin snarls at him one more time for good measure before stopping.

But he's still trapped here and he wants to be out. All he can think about is all the times Sidious chained him and the reason he ran away in the first place is because – because–

Sidious had chained him up in punishment for backtalking him. He should have known better, but he wasn't thinking, and it just slipped out. Sidious left him chained in the Works and he... hadn't fed him at all during that time. And then he hadn't come back, and all Anakin could think about for however many days it was, was that he had no idea if the Sith was coming back, or if he'd forgotten that he was left there chained and starving and waiting for him. He'd finally broken himself out. And then panicked because, of course, Sidious would never forget that he was punishing him, and if he found out that he'd resisted, he'd be even more angry, and he didn't want to face it and he hadn't thought it through, and he'd just run and run never looked back until he ran right into the Jedi.

He didn't come here to be chained again.

He needs to get out of here. now.

He digs his paws into the floor as best he can, straining against the chain. The metal clanks, yanking against his neck but the chain hardly strains in the slightest.

He's not being reasonable. He knows that, but he can't stop the panic building in his chest, that he's going to be stuck here forever and – and –

Biting at the chain and rolling around on the floor and yanking on it and seeing how much strain he can put on it to try to break it free isn't doing any good, but that doesn't stop him from doing it for at least the next hour until his neck is burning too badly for him to keep at it anymore.

The metal must've cut into his neck because it feels like it's bleeding. He can smell blood again, his own blood.

He might keep trying anyway if he wasn't so exhausted. He'd shifted to his human form in the Underworld briefly where he was hiding, and he'd gotten a tiny bit of food, but it wasn't much and he's still hungry and he has no idea how many days it's been since he last ate.

Anakin finally sinks to the floor, resting his head on his paws, tail curling around himself as much as it can.

He wants to cry but he can't really do that as a wolf. Doesn't want to do that with the enemy watching but it's not like anyone is here right now. He's trapped here with a bunch of wild animals, as a prisoner, chained and completely defenseless. He hates this, all of this.

He wants to go home.

But he doesn't have a home anymore. Hasn't for years.

He was six when Sidious found him on Tatooine, killing Shmi. It still haunts his nightmares even now. She was trying to protect him. She told him to run, and he was going to but then he heard her scream, and he ran back to find her, and Sidious had–

It was already too late. Anakin had shifted into a wolf then, jumped him blindly without thinking.

The Sith still has a scar on his face from that and Anakin thinks he's had a permanent grudge against him ever since.

Or maybe the way he treats him isn't really the result of a grudge, because it's not like he was ever any less harsh with... Maul.

It hurts to even think about him. He was the only one Anakin had for the first three years he was with Sidious. They – they were close even if Maul was strange. He enjoyed hunting wild creatures, the more dangerous the better. Sidious let him do it to keep him busy when he wasn't on missions. Maul had tried to convince Sidious multiple times to let him take Anakin with him on those ridiculous expeditions, but the Sith always stubbornly refused. He never approved of them spending time together, for all that he kept them in the same place. And then Maul didn't come back. It was a mission, to go fighting Jedi. The Jedi killed him. That was six years ago now.

Sidious had just told Anakin that it meant he could finally take his role as his new apprentice like he was created to be.

Because he was literally created by the Sith.

"You should be grateful to me, my boy," the Sith had told him once, "My master, Darth Plaguies created you. He was experimenting to see if he could create a being of the Dark Side, an embodiment of the Force, and he created you. You are the Dog of the Sith and this is where you were always meant to be. If my master were still alive, he would have torn you apart in the laboratory. He would have feared your power, but I will teach you to embrace it, to let it give us the strength we need to rule the galaxy."

"I understand, Master," he'd mumbled because was else could he say?

Tell Sidious that he could care less what dreams he has for him, because all he cared about was that the Sith killed his mother and he was never going to forgive him for it?

He doesn't really understand how he ended up on Tatooine if Darth Plagueis created him. The most he gathered was that his mother must have run away before his birth and the Sith had been searching for her ever since. That's probably why Sidious killed her on sight – because she technically betrayed the Sith by trying to keep Anakin safe from them.

He doesn't want to give up and admit defeat to the Jedi but – but maybe he'll try again later. Right now he's exhausted and miserable and he feels so trapped. So alone. He wishes he wasn't always so alone. He misses having someone. But he never will again. He already knows that. The only one he's allowed to have is Sidious and he hates him.

Anakin doesn't know how long he's been sitting here, but for all the time he's had to spend doing absolutely nothing when he's been chained up in the past, he's used to losing himself in his own mind and waiting it out. Except this isn't something he'll be able to wait out half as well when the Jedi aren't leaving him here to punish him. They aren't going to let him go. He's their prisoner. That – in that way, being here is worse than it is with Sidious.

Anakin doesn't remember falling asleep from sheer exhaustion, but he must have because he jerks awake at a sudden sound right outside his cage. He's on his feet instantly to see a Jedi he doesn't recognize approaching.

Anakin hisses warningly at her, bracing himself for – for something. But the Jedi just opens the cage enough to set the food down right inside and leaves without more than glancing at him.

They... brought him food?

Why would the Jedi care enough to give him food?

It probably wasn't fair to assume they weren't going to feed him just because they kept him chained. The two always came together with Sidious.

He cautiously patters over to the food, sniffing at it. It doesn't smell poisoned. But if they wanted him dead, they wouldn't need to poison his food to do it. He's hungry enough that he doesn't care anyway – nor does he care that this is dog food and not the kind of thing he likes eating. He gobbles it all down, licking his bowl clean when he's done with it.

He can't trust the Jedi because of this one act of... decency, though. They might just want him alive for... whatever they're going to do next.

And nothing they might do will change that they have him chained here like a dog and there's no getting out.

He wishes he could've died instead of his mother. Or instead of Maul. At least then he wouldn't be so alone and scared and – He wants it all to be over. Nothing ever gets better. Things only get worse or... change and he hates change because he never knows what to expect, just like he doesn't right now. All he can do from here is... wait.

And dread the unknown.

He's so tired of it.

**w**

Obi-Wan fails to see how his past experiences with fighting a Sith mean he's more equipped to deal with a Sith dog but he's had less pleasant mission instructions before. The creature is a little bit intriguing, anyway.

Obi-Wan cautiously approaches the cage the wolf is contained in. It's about three feet tall when it's standing, with dark blonde fur and burning yellow eyes, but it looks so... young, even if that certainly doesn't take an edge off its viciousness.

The wolf bristles instantly when he approaches, baring its teeth.

It's certainly no less feral than it was last night.

Ignoring the teeth display, which is actually not half as threatening as it's probably hoping because he admittedly finds it a little bit cute, Obi-Wan studies the rest of the wolf. It's surprisingly thin, almost thin enough to see its ribs. Its neck is swollen and bleeding and it... needs treatment. But how he's supposed to get close enough, he doesn't know.

Obi-Wan reaches out, very lightly nudging its mind. All animals have Force presences too even if it's not as easy to tell them apart from each other as it is for sentient beings but something about this wolf is brilliant. He's never felt an animal so bright in the Force before. It's... strange.

The wolf snarls furiously, skidding forward as far as the chain will allow. Its eyes are burning furiously but he can still sense its fear. It's scared of them. Has been this entire time and that means it must be intelligent enough to understand at least somewhat what's happening.

But he could almost swear that it just... shoved him away from its mind?

That... doesn't seem quite right because animals shouldn't be able to do that, but –

Maybe he imagined the sensation.

Okay fine, this isn't going to work.

"I'm not here to hurt you," he offers, trying to convey his meaning in the Force as he warily steps into the entrance of the cage. The wolf's ears twitch a little and it doesn't outright snarl at him but it's still standing defensively like it's about to attack at a moment's notice.

He takes another step closer, slowly.

The wolf growls low in its throat, backing off a few steps.

"Your wounds need treatment," he explains, moving a little closer.

The wolf snarls, jumping forwards. Obi-Wan jerks out of the way instinctively, but not quite fast enough to avoid a flailing paw scratching his arm. He sucks in a sharp breath at the pain sparking through his arm but it's not that bad. He is very annoyed, though.

The wolf hastily retreats to the far end of the cage, still watching him warily.

"Last chance to cooperate," Obi-Wan says with a huff.

This is not working in the slightest. He knows the wolf is scared, especially from the way its tail is curled between its legs and how it's backed to the far end of the cage, but he's wasting his time here if it's not going to let him help.

The wolf hisses at him again.

...Fine.

He feels a little bad about leaving, but he doesn't know what else to do.

It seems a little relieved to see him go.

Maybe he should just tell Windu that a header is going to have to deal with it. or a droid, something the wolf can't bite.

Obi-Wan doesn't know why he feels so bad about walking out, though, leaving it still here chained and alone.

**w**

Morning comes quickly enough. Anakin's hardly bothered moving since that Jedi Knight left. He's still exhausted and his neck hurts but he didn't believe the offer to treat it was genuine. He wants to get out of here. He wants to be free.

But he never has been and he can't believe he ever will be. He's dreamed of it sometimes when he was with Sidious but then he tried to escape and ended up in a place just as bad and if he runs away from here, who's to say Sidious won't find him? So maybe staying with the Jedi where his master can't get to him is for the best. He's terrified of Sidious getting to him. Doesn't want to face it.

It's sometime in the late morning when childish voices reach his ears.

Anakin miserably lifts his head, scanning his surroundings. Adult Jedi are coming in now, accompanied by what appear to be padawans and several groups of younglings. The adults are taking them up to the cages of the other wild animals, teaching them how to connect with life around them.

The poor animals.

He didn't realize how much he'd sympathize with them until people kept prodding at his mind. They'd better not dare come over here next.

Anxiety rolls in his gut just thinking about it, the desperate desire to cry building up in his throat again.

The adults seem to be keeping the children away from him, though.

Or at least they are until a small, orange-skinned Togruta who must be about nine years old runs up to the cage, pressing her hands against the glass wall. She's so tiny and she's adorable. And at least she's not an adult. She can't trust any Jedi, but he's certainly less wary of the other children than he is of the adults.

"Hi!" she chirps, waving at him.

What?

Anakin pushes himself to his feet, studying her.

"Do you have a name?" she asks, curiously.

What?

Why is she even asking? She couldn't possibly know that he isn't just an animal but maybe she's just... nice. Anakin growls softly, pattering up to the cage wall, chain clanking behind him. It rubs against his neck at the movement, pain sparkling sharply through it.

The girl's face scrunches into a frown as she presumably gets a better look at him.

"Ahsoka, stay away from there," an adult calls, approaching. It's a Kel Dor. He lays a hand on her shoulder, pulling her back.

"Why?" she objects.

"He's a Sith wolf. We don't know if he's dangerous or not."

"He looks sad!" she protests, "Why'd he be dangerous?"

"Tuk'ata's have a strong connection to the Dark Side. He... appears too as well. Can you feel the cold here? That's what it is."

Oh, nice. Of course, an adult comes up to ruin the first child being nice to him. Shouldn't have hoped for anything else but the sheer isolation of being trapped here is already starting to drive him out of his mind.

He misses Maul. But he always misses him.

Ahsoka bites her lip, expression faltering. "Yes, but – he's hurt. Shouldn't we at least take care of him?"

The same Jedi who was trying to treat his injuries yesterday steps into view. "I tried. He wasn't very receptive to it."

Anakin backs away from the cage wall, sinking to the floor again. Better to draw the least attention to himself possible until they move on.

"Can't you try again?" Ahsoka asks, "Maybe he'll like it better if I'm here."

The Kel Dor and the Jedi Knight exchange almost amused glances.

"Go ahead, Obi-Wan," the Kel Dor advises.

The Jedi Knight huffs but he approaches the door.

Ugh.

He doesn't want strange people coming in here, touching him. But at least he knows what Ahsoka's asking for is completely genuine. He doesn't even understand why she cares. On Tatooine, the other slaves he knew were nice to each other all the time for no reason except that they were. He's never known anyone who did that since. Even Maul told him things like that were weaknesses and would be exploited.

Ahsoka circles around the cage wall so she's closer to where he is. "He's just gonna help you, okay? You don't need to be scared."

If only it was that easy, but he still appreciates how nice she's being about it.

Obi-Wan opens the cage door, stepping inside. Anakin forces himself not to back away but he tenses anyway.

"See? Everything will be fine," Ahsoka calls, smiling brightly.

But it's not as if she knows.

He growls softly, flicking his tail as he looks at her.

Obi-Wan approaches, slowly crouching next to him. It's all Anakin can do not to pull away when he reaches for him, unlocking the chain.

He could bolt right now, rip his way through the Jedi, and run. Probably wouldn't get far, though. And he doesn't want to risk hurting Ahsoka. It's not her fault all adults in the world are mean.

He breathes in shakily at the feel of the air against his raw neck. The metal constantly rubbing on it, even when he was holding still, was painful. It's freeing to not be chained for at least a moment, even if it won't last.

Obi-Wan's hands lightly touch his neck as he starts applying the bacta patches to it. Anakin keeps his gaze focused on Ahsoka, bracing himself for violence. He tries to let his fear fuel the Dark Side the way Sidious always tells him to and it does, but it doesn't change that he's helpless here and he's so scared.

The touch is surprisingly gentle, though.

Even Maul was... rougher than this. Not that he was ever intentionally rough – Anakin doesn't think he physically knew what being gentle meant because no one ever was with him. Not even his mother. He still remembers when he first heard about that.

Anakin had been about seven then, curled up in Maul's lap – he'd done that a few times after the Zabrak was comfortable enough with the physical contact of that proximity. He'd missed Mom so much and that was all he could think about.

"What's upsetting you?" Maul asks, awkwardly.

"I miss Mom," Anakin whispers, blinking away the tears threatening to fall. He reaches out, taking Maul's left hand with his own much tinier ones, lightly tracing his fingers over the tattoos on the back of the Zabrak's hand. He doesn't pull away like he probably once would have.

"Use your pain to fuel you. It will give you strength," he replies.

He wishes he'd stop being told that! "I want her back," Anakin mumbles, sniffling. He doesn't care if her being gone gives him power. He knows he can't be useless or what's the point for him to exist but he'd rather have none of these abilities than his mother being gone.

Maul's hand lightly touches Anakin's back like he's only half sure what he's doing. There's a long pause of silence before he speaks again. "She cared for you," he says, finally, "You will always have the memories of that, if nothing else." He feels a sharp flare of pain and anger and betrayal and... jealousy? from the Sith as he says it.

Anakin looks up at him, meeting Maul's burning yellow eyes.

He used to find that gaze scary. Still does sometimes but he's used to it now.

"Are you okay?" he whispers.

"Yes," he replies, sharply. "Pain only makes us stronger."

He knows that's true and not only in Sith's definition, but he's so tired of everything hurting. Of having nothing. But – Maul's been here all this time and he hasn't had anyone until Anakin came.

"Did – did he hurt your family too?" Anakin asks.

Maul shifts, the air around him growing colder the way it always does when he's drawing heavily on the Dark Side. "No. Not the same as he did with you."

"Then what... happened?" He probably should stop asking. It's not nice to make him talk about it if he doesn't want to but Mom always told him that talking to people helps, to not try to do everything all by himself. Maybe he should just say so. "Mom says talking about stuff can – can help with it," he adds, quietly.

For a moment, he doesn't think he'll get a reply.

"My mother let him take me," Maul responds curtly.

Anakin freezes, horror welling up inside him. "What?"

"He was visiting her for a long time. I didn't understand why at the time. I was... perhaps younger than you are now. But then she went me away to live with someone else." There's something haunted and angry at once in his gaze. "I told her of how they... treated me at the place but she didn't care."

Anakin doesn't ask what he means by 'how they treated him'. He can feel the echoes of pain and anger and loneliness and it says more than enough. How could his own parent have let that happen?

"But in the end, they gave me power and I killed them with it," Maul finishes, "And... my master took me away, where you and I will both have a much greater destiny."

As if that somehow makes it any better?

But Anakin heard enough from Maul to know that his mother was never overly nice and it wasn't just because of Sidious. She didn't feed him sometimes if he was misbehaving. Mom literally starved herself to get Anakin food every night. He can't understand the difference.

Maul doesn't even seem to think there was anything wrong with it. He was used to it.

Anakin tries to push thoughts of him from his mind because of how much it hurts, refocusing on being hyperaware of Obi-Wan's every move next to him. He's finished bandaging up his neck now and it admittedly feels much better even if he can't find it in himself to feel grateful for it when it was the Jedi who caused this in the first place.

"Better?" Obi-Wan inquires, sitting back.

Yes, but when the Jedi were the ones who hurt him, he's hesitant to answer.

Ahsoka is still waiting outside the cage, hands pressed against the glass, waiting for an answer. She looks so hopeful.

She's so cute.

Anakin growls softly, as much of an affirmative as he can give them.

Obi-Wan looks like he's about to go but then he pauses, reaching for the chain.

Anakin's stomach drops instantly and he backs off a few steps, torn between snarling at him and outright cowering. He doesn't want to be stuck with that thing on again. He hates it and all he can think about when it's on is everything Sidious did to him. It's bad enough that he's already in a cage.

He's tired of being chained and contained and kicked around and – ugh. He only wants to know what it means to be free. But even more than that, he wants to stop feeling so alone and unwanted and used.

"I don't think he likes that," Ahsoka pipes up, frowning.

"I agree but it is... a risk. We don't want him hurting anyone either," the Kel Dor interjects.

Ahsoka makes a face. "Maybe all he wants is to be petted! Being mean to him is gonna make him be mean back."

Obi-Wan and the Kel Dor exchange another glance before the Kel Dor nods to him. Obi-Wan turns to go, thankfully leaving the stupid chain off but the door still clangs shut behind him, locking him inside.

Anakin stays tense, watching and waiting. They could still change their minds. It's not like there's anything he can do about it.

Though he could probably help the situation the same way he did with Sidious. By being quiet and submissive and giving in to whatever they want. But he's so tired of it. That's all he's ever done, all he's ever been able to do. He hates it but there's nothing else he can do. Unless he'd rather get hurt more and more until he gives in anyway.

"Come on, Ahsoka," the Kel Dor urges, tugging her away from the cage.

Anakin tries to ignore the swell of disappointment as all of them walk away, leaving him alone again. He's used to being left by himself, with nothing but his thoughts, but that doesn't mean he isn't so tired of it. He wants it to be over and he doesn't even know what the 'it' is. Just... everything. His life, maybe.

He sinks to the floor again, head resting on his paws, and goes back to waiting.

For the unknown.

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