Saving You, Part 1, Star Wars AU, Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker, Rated PG-13
Title: Saving You, Part 1
Author: my_ani
Fandom: Star Wars
Characters: Darth Vader, Luke Skywalker
Rating: Rated PG-13
Warnings: A little bad language.
Word Count: 2120
Disclaimers: I do not own the rights to anything Star Wars.
Notes: Takes place after The Empire Strikes Back and before most of the events in Return of the Jedi. It takes an AU detour. Also, Luke doesn't know about Leia being his sister yet.
Summary: Luke has been captured by Darth Vader and taken to his star destroyer.
Saving You, Part 1
Thirty-four days. Thirty-four standard days. Thirty-four long, boring days aboard Vader’s star destroyer. If someone had once asked him how he thought he would feel to be on a star destroyer, and not just any star destroyer but Darth Vader’s, he didn’t think he would have said bored out of my skull.
He got out of bed in the morning. At least he supposed it was morning when all the ship’s lights came back on and everyone started bustling around more. He ate the nice, nutritious, and bland as hell breakfast he was provided.
He was allowed access to a training room. He was allowed to go to an archival room where he was free to read and look until the universe came to an end. He was free to roam a few other areas of the ship. He received lunch and dinner in the same manner as he did breakfast. He went to bed when the ship’s lights dimmed, mimicking nightfall.
He rarely saw his father. Darth Vader was a busier man than he had thought. There were endless meetings and messages. Apparently, the title of Dark Lord of the Sith came with a lot more strings attached than Luke had imagined.
What had he expected? A lot more attention, he thought, and wanted to laugh at the petulant child that still resided within. He’d expected a barrage of Jedi-turning Sith propaganda. Hadn’t happened. He’d expected more arguing, more intimidation, and perhaps another lightsaber duel? Even that was beginning to sound appealing now.
Luke wondered just how far down on Vader’s list of important things to do for the day, was the name Luke Skywalker, Long Lost Son. It must be very far down because so far his turn with the Dark Lord kept getting bumped to the next day.
Luke sighed, banishing the depressing thoughts to the back of his mind again. Let’s see…should I wear the black pants with the dark blue shirt? Or the brown pants with the white shirt? He’d been provided clothing after he’d arrived and been checked and examined from top to bottom.
Of course, what he had been wearing had been filthy and singed and coming apart at the seams. He supposed he could have held onto his own clothes more forcibly…made an important political statement…I’m a Rebel and I’m proud of it! Leia probably would have. But Luke had discovered he had a practical streak running through his bones…wondered where he got that trait from…and accepted the offered clothing, if not graciously, then with a minimum of fuss.
And all of it wasn’t even black! He’d expected to be dressed as a watered down version of his father with a placard proclaiming him the Sith Lord’s new apprentice slapped on his back. That hadn’t happened either.
Getting dressed, Luke wandered out into the hallway. This section of the ship was quieter than others. Luke eyed another plain gray doorway just down the hallway from his own. Those were Vader’s rooms, though he rarely seemed to be there. There were a couple of droids that went in and out periodically and two or three human men.
Luke found himself very curious about one of the men. He looked old but still walked quickly. There were traces of small scars on his face. His hair was a mixture of gray and white as was a short-cropped beard. He wore plain clothing, no insignia evident on it. And he was obviously free to move about the Dark Lord’s quarters. A servant? Aide? Friend? That was an unsettling thought.
His name was Jamus. Actually, Master Jamus was how Luke had heard the droids and other ship personnel address him. He’d heard Vader speaking to him once and he had simply called him Jamus. Luke had noticed at the time that though Jamus spoke respectfully to Vader, there was no bowing and practically kissing his boots as there was with some of the other crew, especially the officers.
Luke rolled his eyes just thinking about them. Some of them resided in rooms along the next corridor over and Luke got the distinct impression that they were highly insulted at his freedom to walk around. Although they frowned and glowered or pointedly turned their heads away when meeting Luke in the hallways, they never spoke to him. But they wanted to. Curiosity radiated off them in waves.
Luke wandered down the hall towards a small observation deck he was allowed to use. At first he had steeled himself for some kind of interrogation. He’d heard the horror stories about Imperial torture methods. He’d heard some of Leia’s recant of her time spent on the Death Star before being rescued by Luke and Han Solo. He’d expected to receive treatment of a similar fashion. It hadn’t happened yet.
Luke settled himself into an alcove and looked at the view. There was a planet, grey and mottled white. There was at least one moon and it was the more appealing of the two and more habitable looking, made up of blues and greens that bespoke of a chance of living things. Luke pressed his face to the cool window and could see various Imperial ships darting here and there around the big star destroyer.
He missed his friends. Wedge. All the men in his squadron. Did they think he had abandoned them? Did they think he was imprisoned? Maybe even dead?
His mind shied away from thinking about Leia. She would be worried. He could imagine the small line that would appear between her brows, the look in her brown eyes.
And Han…Luke missed his company. His stupid jokes. He’d been teaching Luke and Leia how to play sabaac. Not surprisingly, Leia was the better of the two. Han was trying to teach Luke to keep his emotions from showing on his face and in his eyes. Calm. Serene. Tranquil. Words that Han used. Unexpected advice from a rough-around-the-edges smuggler.
Chewbacca. Luke had not expected to get so attached to the Wookiee. He still could not understand most of his language. But many times Luke just knew what Chewie was saying. It had been Chewbacca who’d let Luke pilot the Millennium Falcon for the first time, one long day when Han had been trapped into a meeting with some of the Rebellion’s leaders.
Luke felt the loneliness wash over him. Would he see them again?
But here he was. On his father’s ship. His father…the only living relative he had left. He felt so many emotions when he thought of the man. A machine. Twisted and evil. That had been Kenobi’s view of his father. He had warned Luke to stay away from him…or kill him. The first he’d tried to do. The second…he couldn’t. Not even to save himself.
His thoughts were interrupted by voices. And his father’s distinct breathing. Tilting his head to peek out of the alcove he was hidden in, he saw Vader and an officer, Piett was his name, Luke thought, and Jamus walk past the doorway. Quickly and quietly, he hopped up and followed their trail.
They walked into Vader’s rooms, leaving the door open. Luke quietly sidled up to the door. Not really eavesdropping, they would see him if they looked up. Then Piett was leaving, surprising Luke by giving him a curt nod of his head as he passed him in the doorway.
Vader was busy looking at a scroll of information on a screen. Jamus was watching over his shoulder. Luke eyed them for a moment and then let his eyes roam around the room. He’d been in here once before but the room had been darkened.
Now with the lights brighter he was surprised to see a variety of things he hadn’t really associated with his father. There were odd gadgets…machines…here and there. What did Vader want with those, he wondered? Old books and papers littered one desk in an alcove to one side of the door.
Towards the back of the room, there was an open door leading into another room, a large bed with the covers still rumpled and pulled back visible. Did Vader really sleep there? An image came to Luke’s mind of the Dark Lord laid out on the bed in full armor and cape. Surely not. He’d always assumed Vader slept upright or in some kind of special chambers.
Like the one in there, he thought, craning his head to see some kind of opened chamber surrounded by a lot of machinery, including medical equipment and even a bacta tank, located through another open door.
Luke’s curious thoughts were brought to a standstill when the old man, Jamus, planted himself in front of Luke, fisted hands on his hips. “What are you looking at, boy? Nobody said you could come in here.” He glowered, bristly white eyebrows almost hiding his eyes.
“Jamus…” Vader’s voice rumbled gently.
“Huh. I’m going. I’ll call you back when I get the information.” Jamus eyed Luke up and down once more, shrugged his shoulders and shuffled out the door. Luke watched him for a moment…really, his rabid protection of Vader was rather ridiculous.
Turning his head back, he watched his father. The black gloved fingers moved surprisingly fast over the keys and buttons. Then Luke noticed the Dark Lord wasn’t wearing his trademark cape, it was thrown haphazardly over the back of another chair. Walking slowly and silently, Luke casually eased up closer to his father.
The armor and leather were really a wonder to behold. And the helmet…it was magnificent, Luke thought reluctantly. Today the shine was so bright he could see himself in it. As he watched, the helmeted head turned until the black eye sockets were staring directly at Luke. Luke wondered what Vader saw. Could he see Luke as he was or was his vision changed by the viewscreen obviously contained in the helmet?
“Did you need something, Luke?” The unexpected question made Luke start a bit and he cursed himself for it.
“I need to get off this floating ice cube before I either freeze to death or go insane.” Oh, yeah, Luke, he told himself, that’s going to go over well.
Vader tilted his head slightly. Luke could feel his eyes looking him over. “Maybe your blood’s a little thin. Your body is used to a warmer environment. Perhaps you could wear a thicker jacket.” Turning his head, he went back to scrolling through the encrypted words on his screen.
After a moment, Luke realized his mouth was hanging open a bit. Firmly closing it and biting his tongue, he flung himself into a nearby chair. Having the odd feeling that he was twelve again, he propped his feet up on a low table, crossed his arms and glared at his father.
After a while, the gentle hum of the computers caused Luke to drop into a restful sleep. He was unaware that the Dark Lord had risen from his work and knelt beside his chair for a long while, watching him, trying to memorize his face. Then he had pulled off one black glove and gently ran golden fingers over his son’s face.
By the time Luke awoke, blinking his eyes and stretching his stiff muscles, the Dark Lord was gone. Luke had wandered the rooms a bit, thinking if he could just see something in particular, what it was he didn’t know, he could understand his father better. Wondering at the sudden feeling of loss in Vader’s absence.
Luke finally sighed and made for the door. It was unlikely his father would be back again today. And what if he did come back…what would they do…have tea and biscuits? Hell, did he even eat real food? If he did he wasn’t likely to do it in front of his son.
With one last look behind him, Luke pushed the button to close the door and walked back to his own room. It was still so fucking cold that his bones were beginning to ache. Surely the Empire could afford a little heat. Still grumbling to himself, Luke didn’t see the figure that snuck up behind him, not until it was too late, and found himself face down on the polished metal floor.
Author: my_ani
Fandom: Star Wars
Characters: Darth Vader, Luke Skywalker
Rating: Rated PG-13
Warnings: A little bad language.
Word Count: 2120
Disclaimers: I do not own the rights to anything Star Wars.
Notes: Takes place after The Empire Strikes Back and before most of the events in Return of the Jedi. It takes an AU detour. Also, Luke doesn't know about Leia being his sister yet.
Summary: Luke has been captured by Darth Vader and taken to his star destroyer.
Saving You, Part 1
Thirty-four days. Thirty-four standard days. Thirty-four long, boring days aboard Vader’s star destroyer. If someone had once asked him how he thought he would feel to be on a star destroyer, and not just any star destroyer but Darth Vader’s, he didn’t think he would have said bored out of my skull.
He got out of bed in the morning. At least he supposed it was morning when all the ship’s lights came back on and everyone started bustling around more. He ate the nice, nutritious, and bland as hell breakfast he was provided.
He was allowed access to a training room. He was allowed to go to an archival room where he was free to read and look until the universe came to an end. He was free to roam a few other areas of the ship. He received lunch and dinner in the same manner as he did breakfast. He went to bed when the ship’s lights dimmed, mimicking nightfall.
He rarely saw his father. Darth Vader was a busier man than he had thought. There were endless meetings and messages. Apparently, the title of Dark Lord of the Sith came with a lot more strings attached than Luke had imagined.
What had he expected? A lot more attention, he thought, and wanted to laugh at the petulant child that still resided within. He’d expected a barrage of Jedi-turning Sith propaganda. Hadn’t happened. He’d expected more arguing, more intimidation, and perhaps another lightsaber duel? Even that was beginning to sound appealing now.
Luke wondered just how far down on Vader’s list of important things to do for the day, was the name Luke Skywalker, Long Lost Son. It must be very far down because so far his turn with the Dark Lord kept getting bumped to the next day.
Luke sighed, banishing the depressing thoughts to the back of his mind again. Let’s see…should I wear the black pants with the dark blue shirt? Or the brown pants with the white shirt? He’d been provided clothing after he’d arrived and been checked and examined from top to bottom.
Of course, what he had been wearing had been filthy and singed and coming apart at the seams. He supposed he could have held onto his own clothes more forcibly…made an important political statement…I’m a Rebel and I’m proud of it! Leia probably would have. But Luke had discovered he had a practical streak running through his bones…wondered where he got that trait from…and accepted the offered clothing, if not graciously, then with a minimum of fuss.
And all of it wasn’t even black! He’d expected to be dressed as a watered down version of his father with a placard proclaiming him the Sith Lord’s new apprentice slapped on his back. That hadn’t happened either.
Getting dressed, Luke wandered out into the hallway. This section of the ship was quieter than others. Luke eyed another plain gray doorway just down the hallway from his own. Those were Vader’s rooms, though he rarely seemed to be there. There were a couple of droids that went in and out periodically and two or three human men.
Luke found himself very curious about one of the men. He looked old but still walked quickly. There were traces of small scars on his face. His hair was a mixture of gray and white as was a short-cropped beard. He wore plain clothing, no insignia evident on it. And he was obviously free to move about the Dark Lord’s quarters. A servant? Aide? Friend? That was an unsettling thought.
His name was Jamus. Actually, Master Jamus was how Luke had heard the droids and other ship personnel address him. He’d heard Vader speaking to him once and he had simply called him Jamus. Luke had noticed at the time that though Jamus spoke respectfully to Vader, there was no bowing and practically kissing his boots as there was with some of the other crew, especially the officers.
Luke rolled his eyes just thinking about them. Some of them resided in rooms along the next corridor over and Luke got the distinct impression that they were highly insulted at his freedom to walk around. Although they frowned and glowered or pointedly turned their heads away when meeting Luke in the hallways, they never spoke to him. But they wanted to. Curiosity radiated off them in waves.
Luke wandered down the hall towards a small observation deck he was allowed to use. At first he had steeled himself for some kind of interrogation. He’d heard the horror stories about Imperial torture methods. He’d heard some of Leia’s recant of her time spent on the Death Star before being rescued by Luke and Han Solo. He’d expected to receive treatment of a similar fashion. It hadn’t happened yet.
Luke settled himself into an alcove and looked at the view. There was a planet, grey and mottled white. There was at least one moon and it was the more appealing of the two and more habitable looking, made up of blues and greens that bespoke of a chance of living things. Luke pressed his face to the cool window and could see various Imperial ships darting here and there around the big star destroyer.
He missed his friends. Wedge. All the men in his squadron. Did they think he had abandoned them? Did they think he was imprisoned? Maybe even dead?
His mind shied away from thinking about Leia. She would be worried. He could imagine the small line that would appear between her brows, the look in her brown eyes.
And Han…Luke missed his company. His stupid jokes. He’d been teaching Luke and Leia how to play sabaac. Not surprisingly, Leia was the better of the two. Han was trying to teach Luke to keep his emotions from showing on his face and in his eyes. Calm. Serene. Tranquil. Words that Han used. Unexpected advice from a rough-around-the-edges smuggler.
Chewbacca. Luke had not expected to get so attached to the Wookiee. He still could not understand most of his language. But many times Luke just knew what Chewie was saying. It had been Chewbacca who’d let Luke pilot the Millennium Falcon for the first time, one long day when Han had been trapped into a meeting with some of the Rebellion’s leaders.
Luke felt the loneliness wash over him. Would he see them again?
But here he was. On his father’s ship. His father…the only living relative he had left. He felt so many emotions when he thought of the man. A machine. Twisted and evil. That had been Kenobi’s view of his father. He had warned Luke to stay away from him…or kill him. The first he’d tried to do. The second…he couldn’t. Not even to save himself.
His thoughts were interrupted by voices. And his father’s distinct breathing. Tilting his head to peek out of the alcove he was hidden in, he saw Vader and an officer, Piett was his name, Luke thought, and Jamus walk past the doorway. Quickly and quietly, he hopped up and followed their trail.
They walked into Vader’s rooms, leaving the door open. Luke quietly sidled up to the door. Not really eavesdropping, they would see him if they looked up. Then Piett was leaving, surprising Luke by giving him a curt nod of his head as he passed him in the doorway.
Vader was busy looking at a scroll of information on a screen. Jamus was watching over his shoulder. Luke eyed them for a moment and then let his eyes roam around the room. He’d been in here once before but the room had been darkened.
Now with the lights brighter he was surprised to see a variety of things he hadn’t really associated with his father. There were odd gadgets…machines…here and there. What did Vader want with those, he wondered? Old books and papers littered one desk in an alcove to one side of the door.
Towards the back of the room, there was an open door leading into another room, a large bed with the covers still rumpled and pulled back visible. Did Vader really sleep there? An image came to Luke’s mind of the Dark Lord laid out on the bed in full armor and cape. Surely not. He’d always assumed Vader slept upright or in some kind of special chambers.
Like the one in there, he thought, craning his head to see some kind of opened chamber surrounded by a lot of machinery, including medical equipment and even a bacta tank, located through another open door.
Luke’s curious thoughts were brought to a standstill when the old man, Jamus, planted himself in front of Luke, fisted hands on his hips. “What are you looking at, boy? Nobody said you could come in here.” He glowered, bristly white eyebrows almost hiding his eyes.
“Jamus…” Vader’s voice rumbled gently.
“Huh. I’m going. I’ll call you back when I get the information.” Jamus eyed Luke up and down once more, shrugged his shoulders and shuffled out the door. Luke watched him for a moment…really, his rabid protection of Vader was rather ridiculous.
Turning his head back, he watched his father. The black gloved fingers moved surprisingly fast over the keys and buttons. Then Luke noticed the Dark Lord wasn’t wearing his trademark cape, it was thrown haphazardly over the back of another chair. Walking slowly and silently, Luke casually eased up closer to his father.
The armor and leather were really a wonder to behold. And the helmet…it was magnificent, Luke thought reluctantly. Today the shine was so bright he could see himself in it. As he watched, the helmeted head turned until the black eye sockets were staring directly at Luke. Luke wondered what Vader saw. Could he see Luke as he was or was his vision changed by the viewscreen obviously contained in the helmet?
“Did you need something, Luke?” The unexpected question made Luke start a bit and he cursed himself for it.
“I need to get off this floating ice cube before I either freeze to death or go insane.” Oh, yeah, Luke, he told himself, that’s going to go over well.
Vader tilted his head slightly. Luke could feel his eyes looking him over. “Maybe your blood’s a little thin. Your body is used to a warmer environment. Perhaps you could wear a thicker jacket.” Turning his head, he went back to scrolling through the encrypted words on his screen.
After a moment, Luke realized his mouth was hanging open a bit. Firmly closing it and biting his tongue, he flung himself into a nearby chair. Having the odd feeling that he was twelve again, he propped his feet up on a low table, crossed his arms and glared at his father.
After a while, the gentle hum of the computers caused Luke to drop into a restful sleep. He was unaware that the Dark Lord had risen from his work and knelt beside his chair for a long while, watching him, trying to memorize his face. Then he had pulled off one black glove and gently ran golden fingers over his son’s face.
By the time Luke awoke, blinking his eyes and stretching his stiff muscles, the Dark Lord was gone. Luke had wandered the rooms a bit, thinking if he could just see something in particular, what it was he didn’t know, he could understand his father better. Wondering at the sudden feeling of loss in Vader’s absence.
Luke finally sighed and made for the door. It was unlikely his father would be back again today. And what if he did come back…what would they do…have tea and biscuits? Hell, did he even eat real food? If he did he wasn’t likely to do it in front of his son.
With one last look behind him, Luke pushed the button to close the door and walked back to his own room. It was still so fucking cold that his bones were beginning to ache. Surely the Empire could afford a little heat. Still grumbling to himself, Luke didn’t see the figure that snuck up behind him, not until it was too late, and found himself face down on the polished metal floor.