In Shadows and Darkness

Chapter 27

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

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"Corlion, Massa." Han offered a native Corellian greeting as he came to a stop opposite Tag Massa the Intel Chief, in the crowded Mess onboard Home One.

When he had to ask a favour of someone, he always liked to underline any connection, no matter how vague- and he had to admit that coming from the same planet and therefore sharing the same native language was about as vague-a connection as you could get, but it was all he had. That and Massa's friendship with Leia, which was why he was here in the first place.

From the look in Tag Massa's eyes when she glanced warily up to him, she was clearly thinking the same. Mildly embarrassed before that calculating gaze, he switched back to Basic, "Uh... this seat taken?"

"Help yourself," She turned back to the automemo she was studying.

"Interesting?" Han asked, hoping to prompt a conversation.

Massa didn't look up. "Everything's interesting to an Intel officer."

"Yeah, so I hear." Han said, wondering how soon he could politely come to the point; this was as close to politics as he got - aside from when he got Leia in a clinch - and it was already too close for comfort.

Fortunately Tag made it easy- she had a habit of doing that, for the favoured few. "I'm assuming this is going somewhere, Solo?"

"Why's that?"

"Well, you've just finished a ten-hour Duty Shift and you're not even out of your flightsuit yet but you want to pass the time with me. Plus you haven't got anything to eat and yet you're wandering around the Mess Hall. Plus your friend the Wookiee is sat over there doing a bad job of trying to look casually disinterested. If you've hatched some plot up you always involve him, and if you haven't you always sit with him."

Han raised his eyebrows; well, 'make it easy' may be a bit of an overstatement. "Wow you're good."

"Yes I am." She glanced up for a second, eyebrows lifting expectantly. "And you're procrastinating."

"Okay... see... here's the point."

"Care to make it a little sharper?"

"I'm getting' there, don't rush me." Han tried his best hurt/offended look, which fazed the Intel Chief not one bit.

"Really, seriously; spit it out 'cos this is getting painful."

"I want in on the Patriot thing." Han blurted out.

Great; he'd had this whole speech worked out - spent the last ten hours cramped up in that A-Wing cockpit staring at the back end of a freighter and cooking up a whole story about being interested in getting into the Intel field, all that stuff about changing career and looking for an opportunity to...

"What Patriot thing?" She held his eye for a few seconds, confused... then sighed ruefully, turning away, "Ah, hell, it's not worth even trying that one on you, is it?"

Massa's Intel had been watching the Patriot very closely since its inaugural flight waiting to see where The Heir would point his new super-weapon, and there'd been a lot of nervous faces onboard Home-One when the Destroyer had first disappeared into hyperspace. But so far it had been decidedly quiet for a ground-breaking weapon - which was more worrying than if it had gone hunting in many ways.

So they'd called in a lot of favours and used up a lot of funds and gotten a few sets of fake ID's, and now they were engineering a little gap in the duty roster before they set it all in motion.

"C'mon Tag, let me in on it- I can do this."

"Do you know how many experienced undercover ops' I have just waiting for an opportunity like this?"

"Yeah? How many of them have experience as an Imperial Officer?"

"You were kicked out."

"Because I didn't like the routines, not because I didn't know 'em." he defended gamely.

"You were kicked out for insubordination, Solo." Massa said, pointing to herself, "Intel Officer, remember?"

Han opened his arms, palms up, "Hey, I'm gonna stick with; 'Cos I didn't like the routines, not because I didn't know 'em."

She sighed, setting down her automemo, "Why do you want to go, Solo- really?"

He shrugged, "I think I'd be good at..."

"I said really." Sharp eyes met his own, "Don't lie to me."

Han paused for an instant beneath that calculating gaze, "You know why."

"Yes I do, and that's why I can't let you. You'd endanger the mission. Do you know what it took to get those documents?"

"Well then don't waste them- give 'em to me. Tag, I can get results."

"For the Alliance- not for your own little crusade."

"C'mon Tag- give me this. I'm a good bet and you know it."

She stared a long time into his face, knowing that he was right; he had the experience, he was cool under pressure and he knew his stuff. If she turned him down out of hand, then she did herself no favours. But she wasn't so stupid as to miss why exactly he wanted this mission. She leaned back considering, aware of his eyes on her but unfazed; if he thought staring at her was gonna psyche her out, then he was sorely mistaken.

Eventually she sighed though, not particularly wishing to alienate him; he was one of the mandates of her mission here and that alone was pause for consideration. Plus her Chief clearly had some kind of connection to him, though he'd never admit it out loud.

Which was why it wasn't her call to make; it needed to go to Command. Oh, to be there in person, Massa thought; To see his face when this was passed on- that Solo had found out about the Patriot mission and he actually wanted onboard. What would the Chief think of that- no doubt it would amuse him greatly. Yes- she would need a few days to check what he wanted to do, how he wanted to proceed... but she would bet her last credit he'd say let Solo go. She absently let the edges of her lips curl up, amused at that thought, and Solo raised his brow in question, making Tag sit up straight, firmly wiping the smile from her face.

"I need time to consider - I won't be rushed into a decision."

"Absolutely."

She narrowed her eyes, "That wasn't an agreement Solo- I'll think about it. That's all I can say."

"Fine- that's all I ask." He rose to leave, re-tieing the sleeves of his baggy flight suit around his waist where he'd stripped the top half off to his undershirt below. "Maybe if I get something useful I can finally get Madine off my back."

Massa smiled dryly, voicing her doubts, "I think you'd need to actually come back with The Heir for that."

"I'll bet he'd find some excuse to lambast me even then. Probably bust my ass for being in the company of a known enemy- see that must be proof I'm an Imperial spy."

Massa shrugged, frowning up at him, unfazed by his sardonic wit. "Trust's a strange thing, Solo- sometimes even when the facts are right in front of you it's hard to see them. At the end of the day, either you do or you don't. And even then if someone keeps on putting ideas in your head, it's a hard thing to hang on to."

Han folded his arms, very sure. "No its not. It's the easiest thing in the world. Either you do or you don't. Doesn't matter what anybody says, you go with your gut."

"That what you do?"

"Every time. And don't tell me that you don't."

"Oh I do." Massa turned her attention back to her automemo. "More than you know."

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Nathan stepped quickly into Luke's ready-room aboard the Patriot, aware that he wouldn't have much time. He made a polite bow from the neck as he entered, the bright, artificial light of the Koornacht Cluster Shipyards casting harsh shadows within.

They were due to get underway to the Rim again in less than a day, their third such trip in the last two months, Luke having already spent long hours poring over documentation relating to the 'project' at Endor, which had now been codenamed 'Redress'- for whom Nathan didn't know.

But he did know how much time had already been invested in making Project Redress amenable to Luke's less obvious aims, the ones shared with the trusted few. They all saw the potential of course- now they were looking for the flaws; the traps and the pitfalls, the carefully hidden snares. When they'd cleared them all away, they could begin work.

So this wasn't exactly the ideal time to be adding to the problems, Hallin knew, and particularly not with one as delicate as this- but he would be remiss in his duties, both as an ally and a friend, if he chose not to report this simply because it was difficult.

He'd sent Luke a short message which was innocent enough at first glance but had one of several pre-arranged phrases within it which signalled him to empty his room. Luke had done so, charging Mara, who was on bodyguard duty this morning, with a task elsewhere.

Now he looked up from his wide desk as Hallin entered, eyes sharp and tense, the question unspoken.

Hallin stepped forward, coming straight to the point, "I overheard a couple of conversations when I was in the medi-centre this morning; 'techs who were repeating rumours."

"Go on?" Luke said, wondering why Nath was so tense at telling him this, whatever it was.

"They were talking about Jade- Mara. Rumours are that she keeps a few vials of glitterstim in her quarters... recreational use of course." Hallin said dryly of the popular drug, shaking his head. "I... put two and two together; she's not the type to take glitterstim but there is one drug she might still carry, though I'm sure she assures you otherwise."

Hallin reached into the pocket of his pale gray medical coat fingering the four small vials there, each as about half the size of his little finger, with a narrow neck halfway down their length.

"I took the liberty of going to her quarters this morning, when I knew she was on duty."

Luke rested his elbows on his desk at that, head in his hands; Hallin would probably have blundered through all kinds of subtle trips - espionage was hardly his forte - and worse, Mara was now who-knew-where onboard the Destroyer. If any of them were connected to her comm, she'd already know she'd been broken into so they couldn't even try to repair the...

Hallin stepped forward and placed four small, familiar vials onto the desk before Luke, breaking his train of thought completely, eyes following them as they rolled forward and came to a stop, chinking lightly against each other.

For a long time he remained silent, staring at the tiny vials, half-filled with a dirty brown liquid... finally he reached out and took one, lifting it to hold it at eye level.

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This was it, Luke knew.

This was the drug that Palpatine used against him so effectively; the tailor-made drug he had no counter to. The drug which, once in his system, could self-replicate at a rate faster than he could remove it with the Force. This debilitating drug enabled Palpatine to return Luke again and again to the cell beneath the Palace when he chose to discipline and chastise, punish or rebuke. The drug that kept him there, in any state Palpatine chose from subdued and listless to paralysing incapacity or unconsciousness every time he overstepped his mark.

The drug he'd tried so hard for so long to get a sample of.

The drug that Mara had said she no longer carried.

She'd looked him in the eye and promised him that she had none. Which meant she'd lied to him... which meant that she could lie to him.

He shouldn't be surprised, he supposed; he had after all taught her how to do it. He'd always known that in teaching her to be able to lie to Palpatine, he was also teaching her to lie to himself.

Luke glanced up to Hallin, who looked nervously down, then turned his gaze back to the vial, though he was no longer really looking at it.

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Hallin watched in tense silence as Luke looked back to the vial, shaking his head infinitesimally just once, jaw tight. He seemed to wander for long seconds in consideration...

Then he was back in the moment, turning a delicate vial over in his fingers, studying it.

"Is there any way to get a sample from this without breaking the cap- any way at all?"

Hallin shook his head, "No, not without destroying the vial. They're intended to be broken at the neck to release the contents into a pressure dart for delivery. It's a similar system to a standard hypo. All medical vials are designed to be impervious to any outside agent; completely tamper-proof."

Luke studied the vial as Nathan spoke, aware of his heart pounding, both at the opportunity and the betrayal.

He'd wanted this chance for so long; this had been the shadow hanging over him since he'd first arrived here- it was the one thing that scared him, because with it, anyone could stop him dead. And its distribution was tightly controlled by the Emperor, every vial always accounted for; Luke had no idea where it came from, how much was out there or who had it. He turned the vial over in his hands again, considering... because much as he wanted this, was the cost of gaining it right now, this way, too high?

It was a vulnerability and he didn't like having them, but was he blowing this one weakness out of all proportion? Palpatine meticulously controlled its distribution, this attested to by the fact that Luke had spent so long trying to gain a sample.

Was his unease a reasonable response to a genuine weakness or simply his distaste of Palpatine's use of it?

Had it ever actually stopped him doing anything- or had it simply made the consequences arduous? Which they would have been anyway, one way or another.

He tapped against the delicate vial, turning it over in his fingers and watching the dark liquid coat the inside of the glass... then reached out to press the comlimk set into his desk, looking to Nathan as he did so. "Is Wez up yet?"

Nathan didn't bother to answer, since Luke was already pressing the comm and Wez' voice came back seconds later; "Reece."

"Wez you need to get up here. And find out exactly where Jade is- comm me."

Luke didn't elucidate further but knew he didn't need to; Wez would already be on his way. He glanced back up to Nathan; "This is all the vials you found?"

"Yes. They were in a small metal case. I left the case where it was."

"Describe the case exactly."

"It was just... just a small metal case. There was a protective insert in it to hold the vials-"

"There were no empty slots?"

"Yes- two."

"Is there any way the insert could have been lifted out- that the antidote vials could have been hidden underneath it?"

Hallin's face lit, realising that Luke was looking for the antidote. "No I don't think so- the box was too slim."

"Do you have anything in your medical store which looks exactly like this - anything at all?"

"No- not that colour." He wants to replace one.

"Do you have facilities to seal a liquid into a vial this way?"

"No- that's a specialist facility. The contents would have been loaded in a sealed, sterile environment."

"Doesn't matter- can you seal a vial so the contents don't condense?"

Hallin squirmed slightly, "No. No I can't."

Luke fell to silence again, considering his options.

"First, we need to get these back into Mara's room- exactly as you found them."

"You're not going to keep one? The antidote..."

"This isn't the antidote, which means that if we keep one to hand over to Karrde's chemist to hopefully create an antidote, then Mara will know that she's lost one and report it to Palpatine. Even if she can't account for where it's gone - and I'm pretty damn sure she'll make it her mission to find out - Palpatine will play this cautiously; it's been too useful for too long for him to even risk my having a sample. Which will mean that he'll have the drug changed slightly; just enough that anything we make to counter it, assuming Karrde's chemist is capable enough to break its chemical code then create an antidote in a reasonable time, will no longer be effective. No matter what we do to hide the fact that we have it, if Mara can't account for all the vials, Palpatine will have the drug changed. If we can't get a sample and return the vial intact, she'll know that someone's been in her quarters and you're now on all the ship's standard security images as entering her apartment. That means I'd need a guarantee that every image was removed before she could take a copy because if she gets just one of them intact, even I can't protect you from Palpatine if it comes out. Finally, all this aside, she'll also know that I know that she can lie to me. Presently, she doesn't and I need to keep it that way. I need to break whatever she's doing - I need to know when she's lying - that's as important as the drug."

"But the sample..." Hallin argued, knowing how Luke hated the drug.

He shook his head decisively, "We know she has it now. We can always go back and get the drug Nathan - when we're better prepared; when we can disguise the loss, replace it with a duplicate - replace them all, even. This is bigger than my discomfort at being..."

Luke was interrupted by a knock at the door as Reece entered, eyes flashing around and coming to rest on the vial in Luke's hand, his recognition immediate. "Jade is in Navigation, checking the logs to be sure the system scrub is in effect, Commander. Apparently you sent her there."

"Did you speak to her?"

"No Sir; but I know the second array 'tech there; I contacted him directly and asked him what she was doing."

Luke handed the vial over to Reece, "Damage control; these need to go back to her room, and I need any trace that Nathan was in there removed. On the security logs too."

Reece only nodded, knowing better than to ask questions right now, understanding instantly the tight schedule they were on.

Hallin reached out to gather up the other vials - they would have to remove his fingerprints anyway - and glanced to Reece as he turned to the door; "One second- just one second please?"

Glancing back to Luke, who nodded slightly, Wez turned and left.

"Whatever it is it can wait, Nathan."

"This is important."

Luke sighed and collapsed back slightly, knowing already what Nath would say.

Hallin stepped forward, keeping his voice quiet. "I wonder whether... in view of the fact that Mara is still carrying these vials and so must be prepared to use them if instructed to do so by the Emperor..."

"Get to the point." Luke cut in tersely.

"Whether..." Hallin was as dogged and un-derailable as ever, "It's perhaps time to... re-evaluate you relationship with Commander Jade."

Luke didn't speak, didn't meet Nathan's eyes, his temper slowly rising as the realization of Mara's actions hit home. Unknowing, Nathan pushed onward, voice calm but purposeful.

"She told you she no longer carried them and you believed her. Without looking for further proof, you believed her. I wonder if... perhaps this particular game has gone far enough. I think you'll find..."

Luke rose, hands banging against he desk as he did so. It wasn't Hallin's words - they were nothing he hadn't said before. Still, the warring emotions that snapped at Luke's heels from Mara's latest betrayal were surprising in their intensity- and Hallin was pushing too far in the wrong moment.

"Don't lecture me- don't stand behind the safe obscurity of your anonymous little life and lecture me on rational decisions Hallin. When you've stood here- when you've lived this existence, always on the offensive, always under attack, you can..." He broke off in the face of Nathan's passive acceptance, the explosion over almost a quickly as it had begun, Luke's face falling to rueful regret.

Nathan sighed without animosity, knowing the knife-edge his friend had walked on for so long.

"Forgive me," Nathan said with feeling, looking down, "But... you are risking everything for something which at the end of the day, is quite impossible. And every single day that you continue, you place yourself at greater risk. You know that yourself - you've told me so. She will never be what you want her to be, she will never be trustworthy. As long as the Emperor is alive, she'll put her loyalty to him first... and as long as she's willing to do that, she's a risk. To your plans, to your allies... and to you." Hallin opened his hand, the vials chinking apart, "This is the reality- this is the truth; the limits of her fidelity. I'm sorry but..."

Hallin trailed to silence, tone and sense genuinely apologetic, and his words, gently spoken, held the power to cut through all of Luke's denials, cold reality knocking the air from his lungs in a rush. Abruptly Luke comprehended what he was doing- what he was asking those around him to do. He was gambling everything, not just is own neck, but those who already risked so much to support him- for what?

Because he didn't know anymore; he didn't know where the lies stopped. His stormy relationship with Mara had always been little more than a brittle truce, an uneasy compromise whose borders were marked by his knowledge of her loyalties. Now it wasn't even that- now it was at best a wilful denial; at worst a dangerous lie, manipulation in its coldest form.

If she held these vials... if?.. if!

She had the vials; she had lied- what was there left to trust? The real deception here was the one he had willingly created for himself, and if it had been only him at risk then perhaps he would have still closed his eyes...

"You should end this." Hallin stated quietly, and Luke knew that unlike his father, Nathan spoke only out of concern, "It's become too dangerous-a game."

"I know."

Hallin nodded once in silence, then turned and left.

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Alone, Luke stood absolutely still for a long time, trying not to think... knowing the truth;

She would betray him.

The vials were nothing- nothing at all. Whatever she was going to do, it hadn't happened yet. It hung, hulking, like a dense dark knot, like a black hole in the Force, impenetrable, unstoppable, dragging everything in about it. Nothing escaped its influence; nothing. Not him, not her, no-one. Its consequences radiated outwards changing everything...

How, he didn't yet know; past that single point, everything was darkness. There was nothing. Oblivion... would that be so bad?

Because he felt helpless to stop himself; despite everything he still wanted to trust her- wanted her close.

Again his father's words, spoken so long ago, whispered in the face of this one, crushing truth. 'You cannot be close to another- you cannot allow another to be close to you. Failure is inevitable and the consequences will spiral from your control.'

"I am not you." Luke whispered, less sure by the day.

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When Mara knocked quietly and entered Luke's quarters onboard the Patriot that night, it was to find him still dressed despite the late hour, sat at the circular table beneath the row of wide viewports, a pack of chipcards in his hand.

"Still up?" she asked, slipping in and closing the door.

"Waiting for you." he said simply without smiling, tapping the cards restlessly against the table.

Mara glanced at them then back to Luke, curious at his temperament, though it was nothing she could put her finger on. "Well that's handy, 'cos here I am."

She bent over, running her fingers through his long hair to push it back as she leant in to kiss him on the forehead before flopping down on the chair opposite. "So I guess we can go to bed now."

"I'm not tired yet. Play sabacc with me."

"I'm way too tired to play sabacc- especially with you." Mara said easily, "Come to bed. If you're not tired we'll think of something."

Luke glanced up, mismatched eyes momentarily amused... but he didn't give. "A few games. We never play anymore."

Mara slouched forward to lean her chin on the table, grinning. "Yes we do- just not sabacc."

But Luke was already dealing the cards, his manner brittly good-humoured. "What, afraid I'll beat you? Here- I'll give you a tell for free; one of my cards is the six of staves. How can I possibly make a winning hand with that?"

Her head still leant against the table, Mara sighed and lifted her cards as Luke reached out and hit the small pulse generator, sliding it out into the middle of the table.

"You'd better not win, Skywalker." she growled unenthusiastically.

Which he did- ten games straight. But then it was hardly surprising, Luke knew; he was using the Force.

Mara was sat up straight by now, infuriated at his winning streak- and Luke knew it.

By five games in she was shielding her thoughts, but by then she'd already provided the baseline for comparisons within the Force so he just kept on winning, pushing her to ever more suspicion and shields. For ten games straight he either kept bidding until he knew he held the winning hand or bluffed so high as to make her back down the moment he thought she'd lost her hand. Always watching, always reading her.

Every time the field changed the face value of the cards, every time a card was drawn, every bet she made, every fold, every raise. Closely attuned; pinning down thought patterns and hidden intent, slowly sensing faint variations, the slightest disparity. Chasing down increments, cracks in her armour, chinks in her shields. Hundreds of decisions made in quick succession, always hidden but easy to compare, the results borne out when the chipcards were turned.

He'd taught her the system to use against Palpatine; how to use the Force to shield secrets - a way to screen her thoughts then hide the screens - it was his system... and if he created it, he could break it. But subtly; try after try, test after test, setting bars and standards and offsetting each change in the flow against existing knowledge, every discreet flaw noted, every doubt, every bluff, every momentary triumph exploited, modifying his technique, tailoring his reading.

He had her at seven games; after that it was academic.

She scowled at him across the table, green eyes ablaze. "Are you using the Force?"

He sat back slightly in his seat, "I would never lie to you, Red."

Mara narrowed her eyes at his avoidance. "You lie all the time."

"I bluff," Luke corrected, "There's a difference."

"I'm not talking about sabacc."

"Neither am I." He said coolly, taking the opportunity to draw the conversation where he wished it, a test of new knowledge. "Ask me anything."

Mara leaned back, still frustrated enough to be drawn in. "Why are we playing sabacc at two in the morning?"

"Because I haven't played this game in a long time," he said, "Not with you."

Before she could speak again he straightened, "My turn- was it you who repositioned the surveillance lenses in the corridor so you could get in and out of here easier?"

Nothing too contentious to begin with; something he already knew, but she didn't know that.

Now it was Mara's turn to straighten, freshly wary at this bizarre question-and-answer session. "I didn't agree this was a two-way offer."

"Your question next." Luke said, knowing she wouldn't be able to refuse the lure.

She hesitated- but only for a second... "Yes I did. Why are you doing this?"

"Because I want the truth."

"That's not an answer, it's an avoidance."

"Because I want the truth- and I think the best way to gain it is to offer it in return." Again Luke pushed on before she could ask more."My turn; do you still carry a firearm when you come here at night?"

"I always carry a firearm, you know that."

"Yes I do- so why do you conceal it? What else do you conceal Mara?"

"That's two questions." She said, and Luke shrugged slightly, conceding; it didn't matter whether she answered out loud- she'd already responded in her thoughts.

Mara considered long seconds, realising now that this conversation was going somewhere specific, noting the abrupt edge in his tone and his stance. "What do you want- with this?"

Those sharp, mismatched eyes hardened just slightly.

"I want to know whether you lie to me." He paused just long enough to clarify that he was posing his question; "Do you lie to me Mara?"

Mara tensed slightly "Do you lie to me?"

The slightest smile brushed his scarred lips, "You've already asked that."

"You didn't answer."

"Why do you lie to me Mara?"

Mara shook her head, straightening, aware that the banter was taking a dangerous turn, "Why do you lie to me?"

He sat back slightly, seeming to consider for a moment. "Because you give me no option. If you could honestly say that you wouldn't repeat everything I say or do to Palpatine, then I wouldn't lie. If you would give your word that anything you see or hear in the time we spend together exists outside of your mandate then I wouldn't need to second-guess every moment with you. But you won't do that. So I lie to protect myself in the one situation that I really shouldn't have to, with the one person I really don't want to."

He paused, then repeated his question, "Why do you lie to me?"

Mara held to stunned silence for long seconds, taken aback by that burst of cutting truth, a whole minefield they had very pointedly never even tried to address before.

Luke's voice was sharper this time, the demand unmistakable; "Why do you lie to me Mara?"

"Sometimes... I have to."

He watched her struggle for long seconds before she said that, watched her realisation dawn as to where this was going.

And much as Luke wanted to stay angry, he couldn't; not before that, not with all the history that lay behind them. He had what he needed from this- he knew how to break her shields. Everything else was just to satiate his own frustrations and disappointment; he could probably validate it to himself as maintaining the conversation to hide his intent, or justifying to himself that what he was about to do was the right choice- but in truth it was procrastination, to make this easier. For him if not for her.

He sighed, glancing away, leaning back into the chair. There was, he knew, just one more thing he needed to lay to rest - and he should do it now, quickly, whilst he still had the anger to push it through.

"This is... this will never work, Mara. We were stupid to think it would. We should back out gracefully whilst it's still... at least reasonably straightforward." Mara shook her head but he continued, holding his nerve. "It will get too complicated, Mara. I'm amazed it hasn't already."

"Why? What would change?"

"What are you gonna do the next time Palpatine orders you to move against me- to make it possible to get me down to the detention centre again? Because he will, eventually."

"Only if you make him."

"He will do it Mara. He'll give that order eventually- and I think you'll carry it out." Luke was silent for a while, giving her time to consider that - to deny it. But she remained silent and he let out a resigned sigh, "... And where does that leave us right now- where does it leave me?"

"It leaves us where we are- nothing has changed."

"You want to know where we are? I don't trust you Mara- I can't trust you. What am I supposed to do?"

"What... what is... what's brought this on?"

Luke raised his eyebrows, incredulous. "It doesn't matter! It doesn't make any of it untrue."

Luke stood and backed up step, putting some distance between them, "Why you, Mara. Did you ever wonder... why you to be here every day, always near? Why you at the beginning, when I was completely alone? You're an assassin- a deep-cover operative, not a bodyguard."

"Because I know how to deal with a Jedi." she said, as if it were obvious.

Luke shook his head, refusing the validation. "What about Vader?"

"Palpatine didn't trust Vader, you know that."

"He doesn't trust you."

"Of course he trusts me- he always has."

"Then why do you have a watcher, Mara?"

She only skipped by the question, shaking her head. "Vader would have worked to his own ends if he'd been there- Palpatine knew that."

"And what are you doing, in being here- like this?"

"He doesn't know that. You said he didn't know we were together- in the Palace, you said he didn't know."

"I was wrong. He knew- I think he's always known. He engineered this, Mara."

She stood, taking a step forward but halting as he backed up, "Luke, he doesn't know."

"He knows. Maybe, just maybe we could have gotten away with it when we were well away from Coruscant - maybe even for one night in the Palace - but when he was on the Patriot?! When Nath was there, panicking and fretting?"

Mara was already shaking her head, a hundred carefully-created excuses lined up. Luke lifted on hand, chopping her words off with a gesture. "He turns a blind eye because it gains him so much."

"What would he possibly have to gain from you and I being together?"

"Everything. Everything he wants... needs."

Mara shook her head, unconvinced, unwilling to let the avoidance pass now that so much was at stake. " 'Everything' isn't an answer, Skywalker- it's an evasion."

"You want specifics? Fine. He needs a way to control me and he knows he can do that through you because you'll always remain loyal to him at the end of the day, Mara. You'll never disobey a direct order, not from him- so he always has someone close who he can turn on me. Because no matter how much anyone tries to remain vigilant, familiarity lowers defences."

He didn't stoop so low as to mention the other reason in his mind; that her closeness bought her information which she'd never otherwise have had access to, but they both knew he was thinking it, not least because it was true, much as he tried to maintain those defences.

Still, Luke skipped past it, citing other reasons. "He uses you as a direct method of control, Mara- he's used you against me already."

"What does that even mean- used me against you how?"

"As a threat, Mara." Luke said quietly, " 'Do this... or they will pay the consequences'."

Mara shook her head, unwilling to believe Palpatine would use her in that way. "Did he say my name?"

"He didn't need to."

Mara shook her head again. "He doesn't know."

Luke held his ground, unyielding. "He allows this- he turns a blind eye because he knows he has everything to win and nothing to lose."

"What? Like what?"

Luke sighed, reluctant to hurt her but knowing this needed to be spoken out loud. "A child, Mara. A force-sensitive child, to continue his precious dynasty."

Mara felt her jaw drop, realisation striking with an almost physical blow, making her feel sick. For a long time she remained silent, the implications of this slowly sinking in. A child- he would take it from them- from her. Hide it away and keep it; twist its mind and...

She shook her head, stepping back, needing space. Skywalker waited as she paced the room, dragging her fingers through her hair.

Would he do this? Was all of this planned? She knew her master wanted to instigate a Sith dynasty; he didn't need two Force-sensitives to do that, but she knew him well, knew how his mind worked; that he would want the extraordinary, the unique... wouldn't it be just like him to...

"It wouldn't be his dynasty." She said aloud, turning to Luke. "It would be Vader's."

Luke looked away at that, some uneasy disquiet shading his face. "He wants a Sith Dynasty, Mara- he wants his precious Sith Dynasty and this is how he'd gain what he wants. That's all that matters to him; it's what this is all about- you know that. This is what he does- games within games, everything twisted to what he wants. There are no coincidences- not here; you know that. Everything is to his design. And when he realises you're not gonna gain him what he wants, he'll wait for the very next time I push a little too far so he can blame it on me- then you'll be gone. You'll be gone because he knows that can hurt me." Luke shook his head, "I'm not doing this- I can't. I can't give him that kind of control- you know that."

"He only has control if you let him." Mara said, "Nothing's changed since the first night we were together- not really."

"No it hasn't." Luke said without flinching, "I don't trust you Mara. You're lying to me, about more than one thing."

Mara raised her chin momentarily but the anger didn't come; it was pointless and they both knew it. "I'm not lying to you about anything that matters."

"It matters to me."

"It's just Palpa..."

"I know exactly what it is Mara. What I don't understand is why you think that's okay. How you would think I would find the fact that you work for my enemy acceptable- how the hell you think this is a tolerable situation."

"He's not your enemy Luke."

"No? The man who maintains a detention cell specifically to hold me isn't my enemy? The man who equips those around me with a drug designed specifically to control me? He takes me to pieces down there, Mara, in case you hadn't noticed. In all the times I've been down there, I've never once walked out of that cell- because I've never once been capable. How can I think of the man who does that as anything but my enemy?"

He bit back on what he so wanted to say; and you're still carrying the drug that would get me back down into that cell... you!

Mara held her ground, "Those days are over now and you know it."

"How!? How do I know it?"

"He told me."

Luke almost laughed out loud.

"You can't trust him Mara! You can't trust anything he says." His voice was raising now, laced with frustrated disbelief.

"I can trust him." she maintained firmly, "He doesn't lie to me."

"Then why..." Luke broke off, dragging his hands through his hair. He was silent for a long time, looking down as he shook his head, and when he spoke again his voice had a forced calm; "Why do you call him master?"

"What?" She backstepped, avoiding the answer, playing for time. But he wouldn't let her, that calm expression overlaying whatever he was truly thinking.

"He has you call him master but he won't teach you- except what benefits him."

Mara glanced away, unwilling to answer, but he remained silent so finally she spoke. "He's taught me all he can." She insisted, very sure. "He can't teach me what I don't have the ability to learn." He'd told her many times; she had some connection with the Force, some affinity which made her able to hear his voice and respond in kind, but that was the limit of her sensitivity. She simply didn't have the connection to be capable of more. He'd told her that.

"I taught you more- was that so difficult to learn? He's not teaching you- he's holding you back... and deep down I think you know it." He stepped forward. "Mara, it's not that he can't teach you more... it's that he won't. Right now you're easy to control and you'll never become a threat- why should he risk that by continuing to teach you?"

"Well then why has he taught you?"

"Because I..." Luke broke off, clearly almost slipping in the heat of the moment.

"You what?"

"Because I already knew too much. Because he sees power and he wants to control it. Because he believes... claims he has a vested interest."

Mara shook her head in confusion, knowing that he was holding out on her; that he had deeper reasons that he seemed unwilling to share.

Luke sighed, uneasy. "Because he's convinced I'm different... my father's different. This line is different."

"Different how?"

"I don't know."

"Yes you do."

She studied him, trying to pull answers from the facts and he looked away, shaking his head, clamping his jaw.

"At least give me that." she pushed, "You want me to walk away... well then I think I deserve that."

Luke held silent for long moments, reluctant, but she remained still, waiting...

"I only know fragments," he said at last without alluding as to where from or how, "That there was a... prophesy. Made a long time ago by the Jedi..." He shook his head, seeming embarrassed now, "Something... I don't know. This line is mixed up in it; twisted through with it- that's what he claims."

"What's the prophesy?"

Luke shook his head again, unwilling to be pulled in any further. "Look at us; this line... we're bad blood, Mara. Bad blood."

There was something in his tone, angry and bewildered and desperate and completely convinced, and she knew he was trying to push her away but it only drew her in further. She moved forward, reached out to brush his hair from his eyes, but he stepped back, lifting his hand against her, refusing the intimacy.

"Don't." he shook his head. "We can't be together Mara. I can't trust you and you absolutely cannot trust me. We were playing a game, that's all. It was just a game that got out of hand..."

She reached forward and took hold of him, though he tensed against the embrace, hands to her shoulders to push her away.

"It doesn't matter Luke. None of that matters, don't you see? I don't care. I don't care about prophesies and Sith and Emperors and Heirs- I don't care. I care about you. I want to be with you... and I'm pretty damn sure that you want to be with me. So nothing else matters- does it?"

He remained silent, hands still to her shoulders, though he'd stopped trying to push her away. She held still against him, arms wrapped tight, feeling the beat of his heart, the rise of his chest- and nothing else mattered.

"Say no and kiss me." she whispered, stretching up to him...

And he leaned in to her, fingers trailing across her outstretched neck- and kissed her.

But he didn't say 'no'...

.

.

.

Mara glanced up at the light knock on the door to her room, eyes narrowing with suspicion. She'd returned only a short while ago, having stayed overnight with Luke, and had come back only to change before she'd make her public return to Luke's quarters to begin her formal day's work as his bodyguard.

She walked slowly to the door and pressed the release. Nathan Hallin stood quietly in the corridor, glancing up as the door slid aside.

"Commander Jade."

The fact that he was here at all was suspicious enough; the fact that he'd arrived here just minutes after she had was an obvious statement. He'd come with something to say Mara knew, so it seemed petty to make him say it here in the hallway.

She stepped aside, allowing him to enter, gathering her thoughts and forcing herself to concentrate on the situation at hand. Despite his apparently easygoing manner, she'd come to know that Hallin was astute and perceptive- a handful at the best of times.

He walked into her quarters but went no further, politely waiting. Mara palmed the door closed then walked past him into the room and he followed in silence, in no hurry to speak.

"If you have something to say then say it, Hallin."

He studied her for a long time in silence before finally offering in a casual, clipped voice, "The Heir is unaware that I'm here."

"Are you asking me not to tell him you came?"

"I'm making you aware of the facts Commander; what you do with them is your choice." He looked her up and down quickly, "And choices are such... interesting things. Revealing."

Mara narrowed her eyes, wary. Hallin always spoke his mind and had never disguised his mistrust of Mara, but this was something new. This wasn't a casual snipe in an empty corridor- he'd actually sought her out to say his piece. Of course, she should have realised; Luke's doubts yesterday had to have come from somewhere, and Hallin was the obvious choice, but this- to come to her quarters, to speak as he had done, the lines drawn already- this was unexpectedly direct, even for Hallin.

But if there was one thing Mara could do, it was direct; "I find if I'm curious about something, the best approach is to simply ask."

Hallin only nodded slowly. "An interesting approach for someone who tells lies for a living."

Mara arched her eyebrows at that, stepping subtly closer, wondering if the slight medic realised she could break his neck long before he'd even begun to react to the move. Whether he knew that the only thing which stopped her was Luke.

"If all you're here to do is speak in riddles Hallin, then you should go, because you're wasting both our times."

"Go? Where would I go?" Hallin purposely misunderstood her words, "This is my home Commander. My obligations and loyalties lie here."

"And you're saying mine don't?"

"Do they?"

It was a surprising question in that it was just that- a question.

"My interests lie here, Hallin." Mara assured acerbically.

"Interests are such momentary things- they wane. And when they do, someone must pick up the pieces."

Mara sighed, frustrated all over again at this ongoing grudge-match. "You know him so well, Hallin- I can't believe you think him so blind."

"In some things we are all blind, Commander. Then we must rely on those around us to protect us."

"I would never hurt him."

"As you said before. Yet you're still here... and we both know why."

"Why don't you tell me?"

"You don't need me to tell you where your loyalties lie, I'm sure."

"I've never made any secret of my loyalties." Mara said, Luke's argument the previous night ringing in her ears.

"Nor I, Commander." Hallin replied, "And they are, I assure you, easily as passionate as your own."

"I'm glad to hear it."

Hallin shook his head, studying her, tone polite and genuinely curious. "I cannot understand how you have been so close to him for so long, yet you seem to have no concept- none at all- of who he really is. You cannot understand how close to the edge he operates every single day. How much pressure he exists under-"

"You think I don't see the cracks Hallin, but I do."

"Then I can only assume that you test them on purpose- or ignore them for your own self-serving indulgence."

Mara's chin rose, "You have no idea how close to the line you are right now."

"And you have no idea of how much it's costing Luke to survive here, I think. No idea of how much it takes to rise above Palpatine's grasping control, his constant manipulations. Luke would do anything- anything to be free of him." Hallin's soft, serious brown eyes came to Mara, expression grave, "So much so that if he tears himself apart in the process, then that is the price he will pay."

"He won't do that." Mara said, unnerved by Hallin's sinister prediction.

"He doesn't need to." Hallin said without animosity, "You're doing it for him."

She shook her head in denial but the medic pushed on. "You do so every day, Commander, simply by remaining close to him- and you know it."

"I think he can take care of himself, Hallin."

"I'm sure he can. But that does not lessen the dedication of those around him- and I am, I assure you, not alone in my commitment to protect The Heir."

"What does that mean?"

He was very calm now, coolly assertive and self-possessed, "Do you think we don't watch you- do you think you operate with impunity?"

The first inkling of nerves rose in Mara at the declaration within those words. "Who's 'we'?"

"We will not allow you to harm him." Hallin said quietly, but with absolute commitment. "You think you're here by the Emperor's sanction and that's true. But whether you choose to believe it or not, you are also here by ours. And the first time you cross the line - the moment we see him falter because of your actions..."

He met her eyes and his tone was absolute, "We will remove you. Permanently. I will inform Luke myself... and I will deal with and answer for the consequences of my actions, secure in the knowledge that whatever happens, I have done the right thing."

Mara was both fascinated and moved by this unconditional commitment, this protective loyalty. The fact that it was being used to threaten her was in this moment unimportant. What mattered was that it was there- that Luke was safeguarded by this intense allegiance. That he inspired it.

Still, the confidence in Hallin's words spoke volumes, as did the fact that he would stand before her and admit this. His veiled declaration that there were others loyal to Luke, his assertion that they could now deal with any threat, secure in the knowledge that he remained untouchable, his position as Luke's close ally giving Hallin equal standing to Mara's as the Emperor's Hand.

Again Luke's words of the previous night came to mind; "It will get very complicated, Mara..."

At the time they'd seemed nothing; a passing comment - now, in light of Hallin's attitude...

Everything was changing as Luke gained ground and stature, Mara knew. Right now his support was still subtle and secretive, but it was clearly gaining confidence every day- and it wouldn't do that without reason.

For the first time it occurred to her to wonder what would happen when Luke eventually took power- whether those whom Hallin claimed believed as he did would be able to subtly exclude and undermine her.

"I won't hurt him, Hallin- that isn't my intent."

Hallin remained silent, expression set in stone. Did she care for him? Was she struggling between split loyalties or playing a role for Hallin's benefit? If she truly wanted to play that role, then surely she would have declared total loyalty to Luke and disavowed the Emperor... yet she remained caught between the two.

Could she be trusted?

"You're asking too much of him." Hallin said at last, searching her eyes.

"I ask nothing of him."

Didn't she understand - couldn't she see why the fact that her loyalties were not Luke's was so significant? That trying to find a path between her companionship and his own intentions was tearing Luke apart. He had few vulnerabilities before Palpatine- his greatest the Emperor didn't know- but he didn't need it; Mara was enough.

"What you ask of him- it destroyed his father, and he knows it. I won't let it destroy him."

"Neither will I." Mara realised in that moment just how much she meant it. How little everything else mattered by comparison.

Hallin nodded slowly. The warning was still in his eyes, though it hid something else, for Luke's sake; a willingness to withhold judgement... for now.

"I'll hold you to that."

Mara set her head to one side, throwing the words Hallin had murmured to her in the medi-center so long ago back in his face, "I'm not doing it for you."