[fic] For Thine is the Kingdom (1/4, R/NC17, Star Wars, for vikkir)
I'm leaving tomorrow, and I probably won't get online until after I'm settled at school again, but I wanted to post this now.
This started out as a drabble request, but then it took on a life of its own and developed chapters. Probably because I needed to create background in order for the request to make enough sense in my head that I could write it, and then I just had a lot of ideas begging to be included. I never expected to have this much fun writing incest. (Wow. That sounds so weird.) Am a bit nervous about the reception...
Anyway, here were go. Pay attention to the warnings if you're going to read.
Title: For Thine is the Kingdom
Author: Rynne
Fandom: Star Wars
Rating: overall, R/NC17. This part, PG.
Summary: Vader will do anything to persuade Luke to the Dark Side...post-ESB Luke/Vader slash/incest
Warning: This is rated R/NC-17 for father/son incestual slash, sexual acts, dubious consent, and (possible) disturbing themes. If you do not think you can handle such things maturely, please do not read.
Notes: Thank you to jedibix783 for betaing. Written for and dedicated to vikkir, who asked me for L/V slash. Hope you like it. :)
The warning and rating apply to the fic as a whole; this part, however, is rated PG and does not have any of the things I'm warning for. Those come later.
Chapter One | Chapter Two | Chapter Three | Chapter Four
1
Between the idea
And the reality
Between the motion
And the act
Falls the Shadow
T.S. Eliot, "The Hollow Men"
He stood in front of the Council, feet set slightly apart, hands clasped behind his back, immersed in that center of calmness that Yoda had taught him to find.
"Furthering your training is all well and good," General Madine said, "but not at the expense of your command! Do you deny that you abandoned them after the battle of Hoth, Commander Skywalker?"
He fought against grinding his teeth. "I told Captain Antilles of my intentions," he said, again. "And he's done well at leading Rogue Squadron in my absence."
General Rieekan sighed. "That's not the point, Commander," he said. "Had you formally applied for leave in order to continue your Jedi training, it would have been granted. The Alliance may not have as rigid a command structure as the Empire, but we can't afford to have one of our best pilots and commanders just leave, with only the word of one person that he's alive and intends to return."
"Wedge's word is trustworthy," Luke replied, sharply--and then immediately told himself to calm down. Anger was part of the Dark Side, and he would not go there. There was--
A dark image, tall, ponderous, and heavy, rhythmic breathing. Holding out a hand, it said, "Join me. It is your destiny!" And almost of its own accord, his remaining hand trembled and started to reach out--
He wrenched his thoughts away from that just as he heard Madine say, "That is not the issue here. For abandoning your command during battle--"
"The battle was over when I left!" Luke protested, but Madine didn't acknowledge the interruption.
"--you're lucky that we won't court-martial you," he finished, and only then glared at Luke.
But Luke didn't notice the glare. He blinked and unconsciously straightened. "You won't?" he asked. From the way Madine was talking, he would have expected that, at the very least.
Now Mon Mothma spoke, for the first time since the debriefing began. "We did already say that you're one of our best pilots and commanders," she said, looking at him coolly, but with a smile twitching at her lips. "Not to mention you're the only Jedi we have, Commander. I remember the Jedi before the Purges, and how they always had reasons for everything they did, even if not ones they could explain to others. And as a Jedi and the destroyer of the Death Star, your existence and presence in the Alliance is a morale booster, and dearly needed."
"Put simply," Rieekan finished, "we can't afford to court-martial you, even if the offense were more severe." He shot a glance at Madine. "Captain Antilles has led Rogue Squadron well in your absence, and we presume you come back more accomplished in the Jedi ways than when you left?" He raised an eyebrow, tacitly inviting Luke to elaborate.
Luke almost flushed, and fought the urge to look at the floor. "I've learned a lot since I started training," he said, "but I was unable to finish before circumstances forced me to leave."
Now Mothma leaned forward, sharp gaze set on him. "The Bespin affair," she said, the very name of the planet sending a chill down his spine in memory. "I must admit to curiosity about several things. Princess Leia informed us that she and Captain Solo were there solely to bait a trap for you, but she didn't say how you even knew that she and Solo were there. She also mentioned that you fought Darth Vader, losing a hand and somehow ending up at the bottom of the city, but she didn't know anything more. We were hoping that you could fill in the gaps in our knowledge."
Luke felt hot, then cold. What to say, what could he say, how could he avoid saying the most important thing--
Join me, and together we will rule the galaxy as father and son!
"I had a vision," he began, haltingly. "Vader was torturing Leia and Han. I had to leave, had to try and rescue them."
"Yet it was you who ended up needing rescue," Rieekan pointed out, dispassionately, and Luke flushed, because that was certainly true. Some rescue...
But Mothma flapped a hand, dismissively. "Princess Leia also said that it was almost certain she and Chewbacca would have been unable to escape had Commander Skywalker not distracted Vader. Continue, Commander."
Distracted Vader. How simply said--but Luke shook his head slightly, and went on. "When I got there, I saw Leia being taken away. She said it was a trap, but it didn't really matter to me, because she was still in trouble. I followed, but Vader intercepted me." He swallowed against a throat suddenly gone dry. "We fought, though I was definitely overmatched. Eventually we made our way into the bowels of the city. I was at the end of a gantry over a long chute when he cut off my hand. I couldn't escape any other way, so I had no other option"--except taking what he offered, and don't say you weren't tempted--"but to jump. The chute ended up at the bottom of the city, which is where Leia found me."
Mothma's eyes coolly surveyed him, and he began to wonder if he was hiding as much as he hoped he was. "Very lucky," she said finally. "Did Vader say anything to you?"
A spike of panic, quickly squashed. Does she...? No, she couldn't. What could he say?
Your destiny lies with me, Skywalker.
No. I am your father.
Join me, and together we can rule the galaxy as father and son!
Luke...
Luke almost jolted, because that last was more than memory. Quickly, he said, "Nothing more important than threats," and the lie tasted like ashes in his mouth. But he couldn't tell the truth. What would the Alliance do with the son of Darth Vader? If it was even true, he quickly amended to himself, and was disturbed at how easily he claimed Vader as his father even inside his own mind.
Luke.
But he ignored the voice rolling through his mind, and quickly built up the strongest barriers he had to keep it out. If he heard, he might listen, and that would be disastrous. He was a Jedi, and he could not afford to run after Vader now, not when his training was still incomplete. He had learned from the last time.
And still Mothma looked at him. Then she said, "Very well, Commander Skywalker. Have you given a thought to returning to active duty?"
Surprised but grateful at the change of subject, he answered, "I'd hoped to go after Han. We assume that he'll be brought to Jabba the Hutt eventually, and Lando and Chewbacca have already gone to Tatooine to wait. Leia and I hoped to join them soon."
She nodded as if she'd expected that, and considering Leia had already had her own debriefing and would have informed the Council of her plans, she probably had.
"We look forward to your return, then, Commander," Mothma said. "But since our intelligence says that Captain Solo has not yet reached Tatooine, perhaps you would be willing to run another mission before you leave? It should not take long, but we think it needs a more experienced commander than Captain Antilles."
He remembered the lie he'd just told, and that he had abandoned them a month before with very little word, and couldn't say no.
--
He should have refused, he reflected bitterly. Better to have his own guilt and the Council's unhappiness than to be here.
It had seemed a simple mission, escort duty for a small freighter bearing important intelligence that the Council immediately needed to hear, and could not be entrusted to the holonet channels. He took Rogue Squadron and met the freighter above Kothlis, and was to have escorted it to the Alliance flagship Home One, orbiting one of the moons of Sullust.
Simple. Easy. Nothing he hadn't done what seemed a thousand times before.
But on none of those previous thousand trips had the Executor shown up with an interdictor cruiser, pulling them out of hyperspace and trying to keep them from escaping. On none of those thousand trips had he felt that distinctive presence, surrounding him, wrapping him in a shroud of Force-strength he didn't even begin to know how to unravel.
And on none of those thousand trips had he had to stay behind to ensure the survival of the freighter and of his squadron.
Three squadrons of TIEs, and almost all of them focused on him, trying to cripple him, or herd him away from the others. None of them were shooting to kill; or if they were, they were doing very badly, and Luke was not just flattering himself that he was better at evading their shots than they were at shooting--though he was, especially with the Force to help him.
But even the Force was not being very helpful; at times it seemed constricting rather than freely flowing, and often Luke had to burn out of his mind what seemed like cobwebs, slowing him down and narrowing his focus. And that familiar dark presence seemed to get closer and closer...
Then his comm unit crackled to life on the securest channel he had. "Lead? Lead? Luke, you there?"
"Kinda busy here, Wedge," he said through gritted teeth, and sent his X-wing into a spiral turn to evade a blast of laser fire from three different TIEs.
"We're clear of the interdictor field, Luke, even the freighter. A few gave chase, but then they looped back when we got further away. All of them are going after you!"
"Tell me something I don't know!"
I couldn't have been set up. Mothma and Rieekan weren't lying when they said they needed me, and they know that if Vader wants me enough to put a bounty on me of over a million credits, but alive and well only, then it's probably a good idea to see that he doesn't get me.
He moved a little to the left, let a TIE shoot past him, and then quickly moved back and blasted the TIE. It went spinning off into another one, blowing them both up. But there were still far too many.
Mothma and Rieekan couldn't have set me up...but they could have been set up, just so that I would end up in Executor's path with little option of escape. If Vader would go to the effort of that whole thing on Bespin just to get me, I wouldn't be surprised if he did something like this. For a moment anger cleared his mind, blasting away the cobwebs that were still growing, but then he took a deep breath and calmed down. There were other important things to consider.
"Wedge, you'd better get away. Take the squad and finish the mission," Luke ordered. "I'll try to join you when I can."
"Stang, no!" Wedge exclaimed. "I'm not leaving you alone to three squadrons of TIEs and the Executor! Luke, Jedi or not, you can't get away."
"The odds are against it?" Luke asked, almost humorously, and blasted another TIE. "I thought Corellians didn't care about the odds."
"We care about not losing our friends!" Wedge snapped. "Luke--"
"You have your orders, Rogue Two," Luke interrupted. "Acknowledge."
There was silence over the comm but for static, and finally Wedge said, slowly and reluctantly, "Acknowledged, Lead. We'll meet you back at the base."
After about a minute, the Wedge-sense in his mind was gone into hyperspace, and he let himself relax slightly, now that his friend was out of danger. But even though he knew the mission would be completed, his situation was still dire, and regardless of his bravado to Wedge, he didn't think he'd be getting away.
Still he tried. Three more TIEs were destroyed before his X-wing was even damaged, and that just because they were getting in each others' way. And though Artoo asked if he should try to repair the damage, Luke told him to just pour as much power as he could into speed and shields. But he knew he couldn't last much longer.
When the disabling shot came, neatly killing his engines without hurting him or causing enough damage that he should have to eject, he knew who was behind it, and was not surprised to see Darth Vader's modified TIE interceptor slowly rise up in front of him as he drifted dead in space. And when a tractor beam from Executor locked onto his X-wing and towed him along in its wake, drawing him ever closer to its massive hulk, a nameless dread curled itself into a ball in his stomach and sat there like a stone.
And there was no way to escape this time. No Leia and the Millennium Falcon to snatch him out of Vader's grasp, no Han and Chewie to knock Vader away. He was on his own in this, with a damaged starfighter amidst two capital ships full of enemies. Utterly alone.
Alone...? drifted into his mind, and it did not come from him. He closed his eyes tightly and tried to build up his barriers again, but he was tired, and he could not keep that dark presence out. Not alone, it told him, a whisper in the darkness of space. I am with you. You are not alone.
I do not want you with me! he cried, but that other voice just chuckled, and did not say anything more.
He was brought gently into a hangar bay, one full of stormtroopers, all of whom had their blaster rifles pointed squarely at him. But there were no smuggling compartments to hide in now, and so he resolved to get it over with, and popped the cockpit open and jumped out, taking his helmet off and tucking it under one arm. His blaster in its holster smacked against his thigh as he landed, another reminder: he had no lightsaber now.
"Stand down," a voice said from behind him, and against his will Luke froze at the sound of it. But even when he heard the click of boots on the polished floor, he looked straight ahead of him, and closed his eyes when a large blackness stepped in front of him and filled his vision.
"Look at me," Vader said, commanding, and involuntarily Luke's eyes opened and glanced up. And there Vader was, exactly as Luke had seen him last, though the cut in his shoulder armor had been repaired. But the sight of him sent a jolt racing through Luke's system, and he was torn between wanting to back away, and needing to stand his ground, to wrest as much respect from Vader as he could. And there was even a part of him, small but getting bigger, that wanted to throw his arms around his father and hold on tight; but the utter absurdity of both the desire and the image stopped him, and he tried not to think about that.
"So," Vader said, with dark satisfaction, as Luke stood before him. "You will not escape, this time. I have told you before that your destiny lies with me."
Luke couldn't help it; he flinched, and his gaze fell to Vader's chest. But he didn't know what to say, so he said nothing, and stood quietly as Vader ordered the stormtroopers back to their posts, or at least out of the hangar bay. Then they were alone, and the emptiness echoed until Luke almost wanted the stormtroopers back, uncomfortable as that sea of white armor was.
Then his chin was seized and his head raised until he was looking up into Vader's mask, which was angled down to look at him in turn. Nothing else happened for a moment but that Vader looked at him, and Luke wanted to close his eyes again but didn't dare.
"I had not been able to look at you properly before now, but you have much of me in you," Vader said, finally.
"What?" Luke returned, shocked into replying. He had not expected that. "I--no, I don't! There's nothing of you in me!" And he struggled, tried to wrench his face away from Vader's grip; but Vader held fast, and Luke could not move away.
"Have you not acknowledged the truth, my son?" he asked, and his voice sounded weary suddenly. "Of physical features only, to say nothing of anything else, you have at least my hair and my eyes and my chin."
"Better for me if I had your height," Luke muttered, and was surprised at the strange barking sound that erupted from Vader--was that laughter? But then it was gone, and Luke had other things to think about.
"You have your mother's build," Vader said, "though she was somewhat shorter than you. You may thank me for the extra centimeters."
The idea that he should thank Vader for anything, much less something as ultimately silly and inconsequential as his height--but then his attention was caught at the mention of his mother. He opened his mouth to ask a question about her--and then closed it again. He did not want to hear what Vader might have to say, and it would probably be as much a lie as anything else that Vader told him.
Not a lie, something inside him whispered, as the silence stretched and grew. He's told you to search your feelings, and you have. You know he did not lie to you.
But that Vader should have spoken the truth was painful, a barely closing wound. Luke closed his eyes at the hurt of that wound as it opened wider with every moment that Vader still touched him.
As if he'd felt those thoughts and that pain--for all Luke knew, he had--Vader's hand dropped away from Luke's chin, and Luke's head slowly lowered. But barely had he had a moment of peace when Vader said, "You are coming with me. Do I need to bind you, or will you give me your word that you will not try to escape? Such an attempt would be futile, my son, and I advise against it."
And Luke did not want to give his word, but that Vader would trust it, would trust him, and would not bind him...was there not offered there the respect that Luke had earlier craved? And he knew that Vader was right, and attempts at escape would be futile, on a large ship full of Imperials and with Vader himself as his jailor.
So Luke said, with an already heavy heart sinking, "I will not try to escape. I give my word." But that did not mean he could not plan, for Vader surely would not be around him at all times, and in the meantime there was much information he could gather that he was sure the Alliance would be grateful for.
Luke's eyes opened in time to see Vader's nod, and his swift about-turn and stride to the hangar doors. Luke followed even without being commanded to do so, and he kept his eyes wide open in order to see as much as he could, and started to plan.
This started out as a drabble request, but then it took on a life of its own and developed chapters. Probably because I needed to create background in order for the request to make enough sense in my head that I could write it, and then I just had a lot of ideas begging to be included. I never expected to have this much fun writing incest. (Wow. That sounds so weird.) Am a bit nervous about the reception...
Anyway, here were go. Pay attention to the warnings if you're going to read.
Title: For Thine is the Kingdom
Author: Rynne
Fandom: Star Wars
Rating: overall, R/NC17. This part, PG.
Summary: Vader will do anything to persuade Luke to the Dark Side...post-ESB Luke/Vader slash/incest
Warning: This is rated R/NC-17 for father/son incestual slash, sexual acts, dubious consent, and (possible) disturbing themes. If you do not think you can handle such things maturely, please do not read.
Notes: Thank you to jedibix783 for betaing. Written for and dedicated to vikkir, who asked me for L/V slash. Hope you like it. :)
The warning and rating apply to the fic as a whole; this part, however, is rated PG and does not have any of the things I'm warning for. Those come later.
Chapter One | Chapter Two | Chapter Three | Chapter Four
1
Between the idea
And the reality
Between the motion
And the act
Falls the Shadow
T.S. Eliot, "The Hollow Men"
He stood in front of the Council, feet set slightly apart, hands clasped behind his back, immersed in that center of calmness that Yoda had taught him to find.
"Furthering your training is all well and good," General Madine said, "but not at the expense of your command! Do you deny that you abandoned them after the battle of Hoth, Commander Skywalker?"
He fought against grinding his teeth. "I told Captain Antilles of my intentions," he said, again. "And he's done well at leading Rogue Squadron in my absence."
General Rieekan sighed. "That's not the point, Commander," he said. "Had you formally applied for leave in order to continue your Jedi training, it would have been granted. The Alliance may not have as rigid a command structure as the Empire, but we can't afford to have one of our best pilots and commanders just leave, with only the word of one person that he's alive and intends to return."
"Wedge's word is trustworthy," Luke replied, sharply--and then immediately told himself to calm down. Anger was part of the Dark Side, and he would not go there. There was--
A dark image, tall, ponderous, and heavy, rhythmic breathing. Holding out a hand, it said, "Join me. It is your destiny!" And almost of its own accord, his remaining hand trembled and started to reach out--
He wrenched his thoughts away from that just as he heard Madine say, "That is not the issue here. For abandoning your command during battle--"
"The battle was over when I left!" Luke protested, but Madine didn't acknowledge the interruption.
"--you're lucky that we won't court-martial you," he finished, and only then glared at Luke.
But Luke didn't notice the glare. He blinked and unconsciously straightened. "You won't?" he asked. From the way Madine was talking, he would have expected that, at the very least.
Now Mon Mothma spoke, for the first time since the debriefing began. "We did already say that you're one of our best pilots and commanders," she said, looking at him coolly, but with a smile twitching at her lips. "Not to mention you're the only Jedi we have, Commander. I remember the Jedi before the Purges, and how they always had reasons for everything they did, even if not ones they could explain to others. And as a Jedi and the destroyer of the Death Star, your existence and presence in the Alliance is a morale booster, and dearly needed."
"Put simply," Rieekan finished, "we can't afford to court-martial you, even if the offense were more severe." He shot a glance at Madine. "Captain Antilles has led Rogue Squadron well in your absence, and we presume you come back more accomplished in the Jedi ways than when you left?" He raised an eyebrow, tacitly inviting Luke to elaborate.
Luke almost flushed, and fought the urge to look at the floor. "I've learned a lot since I started training," he said, "but I was unable to finish before circumstances forced me to leave."
Now Mothma leaned forward, sharp gaze set on him. "The Bespin affair," she said, the very name of the planet sending a chill down his spine in memory. "I must admit to curiosity about several things. Princess Leia informed us that she and Captain Solo were there solely to bait a trap for you, but she didn't say how you even knew that she and Solo were there. She also mentioned that you fought Darth Vader, losing a hand and somehow ending up at the bottom of the city, but she didn't know anything more. We were hoping that you could fill in the gaps in our knowledge."
Luke felt hot, then cold. What to say, what could he say, how could he avoid saying the most important thing--
Join me, and together we will rule the galaxy as father and son!
"I had a vision," he began, haltingly. "Vader was torturing Leia and Han. I had to leave, had to try and rescue them."
"Yet it was you who ended up needing rescue," Rieekan pointed out, dispassionately, and Luke flushed, because that was certainly true. Some rescue...
But Mothma flapped a hand, dismissively. "Princess Leia also said that it was almost certain she and Chewbacca would have been unable to escape had Commander Skywalker not distracted Vader. Continue, Commander."
Distracted Vader. How simply said--but Luke shook his head slightly, and went on. "When I got there, I saw Leia being taken away. She said it was a trap, but it didn't really matter to me, because she was still in trouble. I followed, but Vader intercepted me." He swallowed against a throat suddenly gone dry. "We fought, though I was definitely overmatched. Eventually we made our way into the bowels of the city. I was at the end of a gantry over a long chute when he cut off my hand. I couldn't escape any other way, so I had no other option"--except taking what he offered, and don't say you weren't tempted--"but to jump. The chute ended up at the bottom of the city, which is where Leia found me."
Mothma's eyes coolly surveyed him, and he began to wonder if he was hiding as much as he hoped he was. "Very lucky," she said finally. "Did Vader say anything to you?"
A spike of panic, quickly squashed. Does she...? No, she couldn't. What could he say?
Your destiny lies with me, Skywalker.
No. I am your father.
Join me, and together we can rule the galaxy as father and son!
Luke...
Luke almost jolted, because that last was more than memory. Quickly, he said, "Nothing more important than threats," and the lie tasted like ashes in his mouth. But he couldn't tell the truth. What would the Alliance do with the son of Darth Vader? If it was even true, he quickly amended to himself, and was disturbed at how easily he claimed Vader as his father even inside his own mind.
Luke.
But he ignored the voice rolling through his mind, and quickly built up the strongest barriers he had to keep it out. If he heard, he might listen, and that would be disastrous. He was a Jedi, and he could not afford to run after Vader now, not when his training was still incomplete. He had learned from the last time.
And still Mothma looked at him. Then she said, "Very well, Commander Skywalker. Have you given a thought to returning to active duty?"
Surprised but grateful at the change of subject, he answered, "I'd hoped to go after Han. We assume that he'll be brought to Jabba the Hutt eventually, and Lando and Chewbacca have already gone to Tatooine to wait. Leia and I hoped to join them soon."
She nodded as if she'd expected that, and considering Leia had already had her own debriefing and would have informed the Council of her plans, she probably had.
"We look forward to your return, then, Commander," Mothma said. "But since our intelligence says that Captain Solo has not yet reached Tatooine, perhaps you would be willing to run another mission before you leave? It should not take long, but we think it needs a more experienced commander than Captain Antilles."
He remembered the lie he'd just told, and that he had abandoned them a month before with very little word, and couldn't say no.
--
He should have refused, he reflected bitterly. Better to have his own guilt and the Council's unhappiness than to be here.
It had seemed a simple mission, escort duty for a small freighter bearing important intelligence that the Council immediately needed to hear, and could not be entrusted to the holonet channels. He took Rogue Squadron and met the freighter above Kothlis, and was to have escorted it to the Alliance flagship Home One, orbiting one of the moons of Sullust.
Simple. Easy. Nothing he hadn't done what seemed a thousand times before.
But on none of those previous thousand trips had the Executor shown up with an interdictor cruiser, pulling them out of hyperspace and trying to keep them from escaping. On none of those thousand trips had he felt that distinctive presence, surrounding him, wrapping him in a shroud of Force-strength he didn't even begin to know how to unravel.
And on none of those thousand trips had he had to stay behind to ensure the survival of the freighter and of his squadron.
Three squadrons of TIEs, and almost all of them focused on him, trying to cripple him, or herd him away from the others. None of them were shooting to kill; or if they were, they were doing very badly, and Luke was not just flattering himself that he was better at evading their shots than they were at shooting--though he was, especially with the Force to help him.
But even the Force was not being very helpful; at times it seemed constricting rather than freely flowing, and often Luke had to burn out of his mind what seemed like cobwebs, slowing him down and narrowing his focus. And that familiar dark presence seemed to get closer and closer...
Then his comm unit crackled to life on the securest channel he had. "Lead? Lead? Luke, you there?"
"Kinda busy here, Wedge," he said through gritted teeth, and sent his X-wing into a spiral turn to evade a blast of laser fire from three different TIEs.
"We're clear of the interdictor field, Luke, even the freighter. A few gave chase, but then they looped back when we got further away. All of them are going after you!"
"Tell me something I don't know!"
I couldn't have been set up. Mothma and Rieekan weren't lying when they said they needed me, and they know that if Vader wants me enough to put a bounty on me of over a million credits, but alive and well only, then it's probably a good idea to see that he doesn't get me.
He moved a little to the left, let a TIE shoot past him, and then quickly moved back and blasted the TIE. It went spinning off into another one, blowing them both up. But there were still far too many.
Mothma and Rieekan couldn't have set me up...but they could have been set up, just so that I would end up in Executor's path with little option of escape. If Vader would go to the effort of that whole thing on Bespin just to get me, I wouldn't be surprised if he did something like this. For a moment anger cleared his mind, blasting away the cobwebs that were still growing, but then he took a deep breath and calmed down. There were other important things to consider.
"Wedge, you'd better get away. Take the squad and finish the mission," Luke ordered. "I'll try to join you when I can."
"Stang, no!" Wedge exclaimed. "I'm not leaving you alone to three squadrons of TIEs and the Executor! Luke, Jedi or not, you can't get away."
"The odds are against it?" Luke asked, almost humorously, and blasted another TIE. "I thought Corellians didn't care about the odds."
"We care about not losing our friends!" Wedge snapped. "Luke--"
"You have your orders, Rogue Two," Luke interrupted. "Acknowledge."
There was silence over the comm but for static, and finally Wedge said, slowly and reluctantly, "Acknowledged, Lead. We'll meet you back at the base."
After about a minute, the Wedge-sense in his mind was gone into hyperspace, and he let himself relax slightly, now that his friend was out of danger. But even though he knew the mission would be completed, his situation was still dire, and regardless of his bravado to Wedge, he didn't think he'd be getting away.
Still he tried. Three more TIEs were destroyed before his X-wing was even damaged, and that just because they were getting in each others' way. And though Artoo asked if he should try to repair the damage, Luke told him to just pour as much power as he could into speed and shields. But he knew he couldn't last much longer.
When the disabling shot came, neatly killing his engines without hurting him or causing enough damage that he should have to eject, he knew who was behind it, and was not surprised to see Darth Vader's modified TIE interceptor slowly rise up in front of him as he drifted dead in space. And when a tractor beam from Executor locked onto his X-wing and towed him along in its wake, drawing him ever closer to its massive hulk, a nameless dread curled itself into a ball in his stomach and sat there like a stone.
And there was no way to escape this time. No Leia and the Millennium Falcon to snatch him out of Vader's grasp, no Han and Chewie to knock Vader away. He was on his own in this, with a damaged starfighter amidst two capital ships full of enemies. Utterly alone.
Alone...? drifted into his mind, and it did not come from him. He closed his eyes tightly and tried to build up his barriers again, but he was tired, and he could not keep that dark presence out. Not alone, it told him, a whisper in the darkness of space. I am with you. You are not alone.
I do not want you with me! he cried, but that other voice just chuckled, and did not say anything more.
He was brought gently into a hangar bay, one full of stormtroopers, all of whom had their blaster rifles pointed squarely at him. But there were no smuggling compartments to hide in now, and so he resolved to get it over with, and popped the cockpit open and jumped out, taking his helmet off and tucking it under one arm. His blaster in its holster smacked against his thigh as he landed, another reminder: he had no lightsaber now.
"Stand down," a voice said from behind him, and against his will Luke froze at the sound of it. But even when he heard the click of boots on the polished floor, he looked straight ahead of him, and closed his eyes when a large blackness stepped in front of him and filled his vision.
"Look at me," Vader said, commanding, and involuntarily Luke's eyes opened and glanced up. And there Vader was, exactly as Luke had seen him last, though the cut in his shoulder armor had been repaired. But the sight of him sent a jolt racing through Luke's system, and he was torn between wanting to back away, and needing to stand his ground, to wrest as much respect from Vader as he could. And there was even a part of him, small but getting bigger, that wanted to throw his arms around his father and hold on tight; but the utter absurdity of both the desire and the image stopped him, and he tried not to think about that.
"So," Vader said, with dark satisfaction, as Luke stood before him. "You will not escape, this time. I have told you before that your destiny lies with me."
Luke couldn't help it; he flinched, and his gaze fell to Vader's chest. But he didn't know what to say, so he said nothing, and stood quietly as Vader ordered the stormtroopers back to their posts, or at least out of the hangar bay. Then they were alone, and the emptiness echoed until Luke almost wanted the stormtroopers back, uncomfortable as that sea of white armor was.
Then his chin was seized and his head raised until he was looking up into Vader's mask, which was angled down to look at him in turn. Nothing else happened for a moment but that Vader looked at him, and Luke wanted to close his eyes again but didn't dare.
"I had not been able to look at you properly before now, but you have much of me in you," Vader said, finally.
"What?" Luke returned, shocked into replying. He had not expected that. "I--no, I don't! There's nothing of you in me!" And he struggled, tried to wrench his face away from Vader's grip; but Vader held fast, and Luke could not move away.
"Have you not acknowledged the truth, my son?" he asked, and his voice sounded weary suddenly. "Of physical features only, to say nothing of anything else, you have at least my hair and my eyes and my chin."
"Better for me if I had your height," Luke muttered, and was surprised at the strange barking sound that erupted from Vader--was that laughter? But then it was gone, and Luke had other things to think about.
"You have your mother's build," Vader said, "though she was somewhat shorter than you. You may thank me for the extra centimeters."
The idea that he should thank Vader for anything, much less something as ultimately silly and inconsequential as his height--but then his attention was caught at the mention of his mother. He opened his mouth to ask a question about her--and then closed it again. He did not want to hear what Vader might have to say, and it would probably be as much a lie as anything else that Vader told him.
Not a lie, something inside him whispered, as the silence stretched and grew. He's told you to search your feelings, and you have. You know he did not lie to you.
But that Vader should have spoken the truth was painful, a barely closing wound. Luke closed his eyes at the hurt of that wound as it opened wider with every moment that Vader still touched him.
As if he'd felt those thoughts and that pain--for all Luke knew, he had--Vader's hand dropped away from Luke's chin, and Luke's head slowly lowered. But barely had he had a moment of peace when Vader said, "You are coming with me. Do I need to bind you, or will you give me your word that you will not try to escape? Such an attempt would be futile, my son, and I advise against it."
And Luke did not want to give his word, but that Vader would trust it, would trust him, and would not bind him...was there not offered there the respect that Luke had earlier craved? And he knew that Vader was right, and attempts at escape would be futile, on a large ship full of Imperials and with Vader himself as his jailor.
So Luke said, with an already heavy heart sinking, "I will not try to escape. I give my word." But that did not mean he could not plan, for Vader surely would not be around him at all times, and in the meantime there was much information he could gather that he was sure the Alliance would be grateful for.
Luke's eyes opened in time to see Vader's nod, and his swift about-turn and stride to the hangar doors. Luke followed even without being commanded to do so, and he kept his eyes wide open in order to see as much as he could, and started to plan.