Malfunction

Summary: Luke hangs on to the gantry above the reactor shaft. Darth Vader is ready to tell his son the truth, except there seems to be a malfunction with his vocoder. ((A short little crack fic for Red Heathen who has helped me out a few times.))

Luke tucked his right arm under his left. His hand . . . his hand was gone. He tightly gripped the machinery at the end of the gantry. He glanced down at the bottomless shaft he was hanging over.

"Obi-Wan never told you what happened to your father," Darth Vader said.

"He told me enough!" Luke barked back with all the anger he could summon. "It was you who killed him!"

"No," Vader said with a heavy weight to his words. "I am- . . . -ath-"

Luke can't stop the frown that pulled on his lips. He shifted uncomfortably. It sounded as if Vader's vocoder had broken up. Vader just stood there frozen. The wind snapped at his cape and Luke's hair. Luke shivered.

Finally Luke asked, "You are . . . what?"

Vader straightened up as if bothered or shocked. He took a small moment. It looked as if he was collecting himself. Then he said, "I- -r- . . . -er."

"You err?" Luke asked. He was now really confused.

"No!" Vader shouted. "Fa- "

"Fa . . .? Er? You are far?" Luke said as tried to figure out Vader was so desperately trying to stay. "Far from what? Me? Good! Stay far away from me! Stay over there!"

There was an odd static sound that came from Vader. His hands balled into fists, but then he did them as he started to press buttons on the consoles on his belt. Luke glanced back down at the bottomless shaft. How was he going to get out of this?

Darth Vader was frustrated. Something is off with his suit. It is not projecting his voice properly. He fiddled with the controls, and finally felt like he has fixed the problem. He looked up. It was time. Time to tell his son who he was. Time to reveal the truth. Time for father and son to join together and rule the galaxy.

"Luke-" Vader said, but at the same time Luke spoke.

"Listen-" Luke said.

Both stopped. They stared at each other awkwardly.

"You," Luke said, "You go ahead."

"No, you," Vader said.

"What?" Luke asked. His body leaned forward slightly. "I can barely hear you."

Vader scowled and at once worked on adjusting the controls. Again.

"Can I help?" Luke mumbled softly. Vader's mask snapped up to look directly at his son. Luke glanced down at Vader's belt. "What happens if you turn that knob there?" Luke asked pointing at the belt.

Heat flashed across Vader's cheeks. He did not need help! He could maintain his own suit. He fiddled with the knobs and buttons some more. He hated this suit! This blasted prison! He hated being at its mercy!

Luke shifted again. He was growing tired and colder. He needed to get off this gantry. He eased back towards the small railing that connected to the walkway. Vader seemed completely preoccupied. Luke carefully crawled across the small rail and grabbed onto the railing. He was close to Vader who stood just on the other side of the railing. With Vader this close, Luke noticed the man was also huge. How was Luke going to get around him?

Slowly Luke put one foot through the railing and onto the walkway. He gripped the railing and started to pull himself forward, but he froze as Vader stopped messing with his belt.

Vader had finally got his vocoder working. The feed was working properly. The volume was set. The truth can no longer wait. He straightened up.

"Luke," he said. "I am your father."

What Darth Vader didn't know, was he over compensated on the volume. Instead of just the normal deep voice, it came out at full blast.

"LUKE. I AM YOUR FATHER."

Luke was frozen in shock. His eyes were wide. His mouth open. Vader finally noticed the boy was right next to him. The two just stood there. Staring at each other. Unsure of what to say or who should go first.

It was Luke who broke the silence. "You're uh . . . volume is up a little a loud," he said sheepishly. "I didn't quite catch that. It came out too distorted."

Vader sucked in a sharp breath. He grabbed the boy and dragged him onto the walkway. Luke gave a yelp. Vader would drag his son back to his ship. He would get his blasted Force forsaken suit looked at. Then he would talk to his son. Finally.