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TITLE: Diversions
AUTHOR: Amarantha (amaranthamorgan@thesmithgeeks.com)
RATING: NC-17
CHARACTERS: Anakin/Vader (depending on his mood), OFC
CATEGORY: Humor, Seduction, AU

DISCLAIMER: As much as I wish he was, he’s not mine. The OFC is mine, though. And I haven’t gotten any money from this, as kick-ass as that would be.

SUMMARY: A sergeant meets her new commanding officer … here on vacation from the GFFA. Vader's Fortress challenge fic.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: Thank you, gracias, merci, thanx to Mel for being my beta.

AUTHOR’S NOTE: Partially in response to a fiction challenge, partially because of a recurring dream I keep having. Eh, either way works for me. *grins*

Sergeant Smith was sitting at her desk, going through the database and adding new Marines when the first sergeant bellowed for her. She sprang up and darted into his office.

“Yes, first sergeant?”

“We’re getting our new commanding officer this morning; why don’t you take him around battalion, and help him out if he needs anything.”

“Roger that; who’s the new CO going to be?”

The first sergeant consulted the computer screen on his desk. “Says here a Lieutenant … Skywalker.”

Sergeant Smith tried to smother a laugh. “Skywalker? As in ‘Star Wars’? Man, someone’s parents were cruel.”

The first sergeant’s mouth quirked. “You know what’s even better? They named the poor guy Anakin.”

At this, Sergeant Smith burst into laughter. “And I’m supposed to show this guy around with a straight face?”

“We figure you’d be better at it than anyone else.”

She rolled her eyes. “Well, if I have to.”

She’d just taken her seat at her desk when the office door opened and the new CO walked in. Sergeant Smith leapt to her feet.

The Lieutenant smiled and motioned her to sit down. “Don’t bother with all that ‘attention on deck’ stuff, it drives me nuts.” He paused. “And not in a good way,” he grinned.

Sergeant Smith laughed. “Yes, sir. First Sergeant Jordan has asked me to acquaint you with battalion and make sure that your check-in process is seamless.”

The lieutenant nodded. “I’d appreciate that. Where’s my office?”

Sergeant Smith motioned to the office across from her desk. “Right there, sir.” She extracted a key from her desk and handed it to him. “Here’s your key; I’ve been hanging onto it so we can get docs out of that office when we need them.”

“Thanks.”

“Sir, I’ll need you to fill out this new join sheet, if you have time.” She handed him a database sheet, and made a superhuman effort not to stare at his eyes. She’d never seen sapphire eyes shot through with amber in her life, and found it hard to look away from them. Of course, the chiseled cheekbones and innocent-yet-knowing grin didn’t help, either.

“I think I can make time for this,” he answered. “When do you want to start the tour?”

“Well, sir, it’s almost chow, so I can get your information put into the system and make sure you have an email account, and then I can show you around at 1300.”

“Works for me. Let me get this filled out and given back to you.” He disappeared into his office and shut the door.

“Thank god for doors with glass panes,” Sergeant Smith muttered as she studied the new lieutenant.

He ran a hand through his close-cropped, wavy, dark blond hair, searched through his desk for a pen, and absently nibbled on a fingernail while he filled out the paper. She noticed the scar over his right eye, one cutting into the hairline on the left side as he swung his chair around to look at the wall calendar, and how well his body was suited to Marine Corps blues – tall, lean, but just broad enough across the shoulders. Every adjustment he made to his uniform seemed to involve standing, bending, or twisting in some incredibly erotic way.

Sergeant Smith snapped out of her reverie when the first sergeant walked up to her desk.

“I’m heading out for the day,” he said. “RHIP.”

Sergeant Smith rolled her eyes. “Yeah, yeah. Rank Has Its Privileges. I know; you tell me every time you leave early. You oughta just say, ‘Hey Smith, I’m going to skate now.’ It’d be a lot simpler.”

First Sergeant Jordan laughed. “I would, but I’m pretty sure the new lieutenant wouldn’t approve.”

“Oh, I don’t know, he seems pretty laid back.” She pointed to the door, where the lieutenant could be seen propping his feet up on his desk and tilting his chair back.

The first sergeant laughed. “You might be right. Well, either way, I’m going skating. I’ll see you on Monday. Just be here around 0800, okay?”

She nodded. “Have a good weekend, first sergeant.”

He grinned and headed out of the office. The lieutenant’s door opened shortly afterward.

“Here’s your paper, sergeant.” He presented the paper with a flourish.

She laughed and took it. “Thank you, sir.” Looking down at it, she said, “Sir, your parents really named you Anakin Skywalker?”

“Mother. Yes, that was the name she gave me. Why, is there something wrong with it?”

Sergeant Smith swallowed the laugh threatening to bubble out of her. “No sir, I was just curious.”

He eyed her strangely. “Well … I’ll be in my office whenever you’re ready for that tour.”

“Aren’t you going to chow, sir?”

“Nah.” He turned and walked back into the office, shutting the door behind him.

She’d have to admit her typing was greatly slowed by the fact she was watching him more than half the time; there was something undeniably sexy about a guy with an unbuttoned blue shirt kicked back in his office chair like the world belonged to him.

“He’s my CO,” she muttered fiercely to herself. “Just keep telling yourself that.” She finally finished updating the database – “Anakin Skywalker,” she chuckled to herself again – and then knocked on his door.

“Come in,” he called lazily.

“Sir, I’m done with the database if you’d like to start that tour now.”

He stood and stepped toward her. “And what particular area would you like to start the tour with?” he murmured.

Sergeant Smith stood there, dumbfounded, for a moment. She couldn’t have formed a coherent answer if she’d tried. “I … well … that is … we ….” She paused, and the short curls around her face danced as she shook her head in an attempt to clear it. She took a deep breath, and started again. “Well, sir, there’s-“

He put a finger over her lips to silence her. “Let me rephrase that. We can walk around battalion – something I already know you hate doing – or I can fuck you in this office for the rest of the afternoon, since I know First Sergeant Jordan left for the day.”

Smith stared at him. “How the hell are your eyes turning yellow? Weren’t they blue a minute ago?”

“They get like this when I’m quite excited about something.”

Sergeant Smith glanced down. “Well, we can certainly tell you’re excited about something.”

“That would be the thought of you, naked, bent over my desk.”

“People would walk in on us! It’s the natural karma of the military. How the hell do you not know that?”

“Oh, that’s right, I forgot.” He made a waving motion with his hand. Sergeant Smith heard a distinct click from the main office door. “Now they can’t get in. And they’ll think we’ve gone home for the day. It is Friday, after all.”

She stared at him. “How did you do that?”

He laughed. “Can’t you put two and two together?”

She eyed him skeptically. “You’re trying to tell me you’re the Anakin Skywalker? Please. He’s just a figment of George Lucas’s imagination.”

“That’s what he likes to think,” he answered. “Don’t worry about the physics of it, just accept it.”

“You’re one to talk,” she shot back. “You couldn’t accept anything, if the movies were right.”

He glared at her. “We don’t need to talk about that.”

“Well, then don’t get preachy at me, Mr. Dissatisfied with Everything.”

Anakin looked at her in disbelief. “Are you allowed to be this mouthy in the Marines?”

“I generally don’t display it at work, but you seem to bring it out.”

He grinned. “Anything else I can bring out? Like you out of that uniform?”

She rolled her eyes. “Good god, what’s next? You gonna ask me if I want to see your Mustang?”

“Please. Mustangs are so overrated. I have a Firebird.”

She burst out laughing. “Now that is just funny. Firebird.” She looked him up and down. “Although apparently you didn’t end up extra crispy this time around.”

“Hell no, Obi-Wan remembered that he pulled the same jump-over routine on Maul … a little too late.”

“Ah. So you won in this one.”

“Yep. And knocked off Palpatine.”

“So why are you here?”

“Vacation.”

“On Earth. In America, 2005. In the Marine Corps. There is something seriously wrong with you.”

He chuckled. “That’s what most people think. At least people in my empire are smart enough not to mention it to my face.”

She shrugged. “What do you want me to do, cower in abject fear? Not gonna happen.”

“Well, what about my previous offer?”

“What, to fuck in your office all afternoon?”

“Yeah.”

“You have any more scars? I dig scars.”

“Of course. I’m a war hero – don’t they all?”

“Good point. And you’re sure the door’s locked?”

“Yes.”

She looked him up and down. “Sure. I didn’t have anything more exciting planned this afternoon, anyway.”

“First things first. What’s your name? I refuse to call you ‘sergeant’ the whole afternoon.”

“Danielle.”

“I like that,” he smiled.

“You better,” she grinned.

He slid a hand up the bottom of her blues blouse. She laid her hand over his. “This blouse cost me $120. If you rip all these buttons off, I’m going to beat you to death with my shoe.”

Anakin looked at her for a second, then nodded. “Okay, I’ll unbutton them.” A moment later he swore. “Are they all this hard to undo?”

“Yep, those buttons are a bitch.”

A couple of minutes and a lot of cussing later, the blouse was neatly laid in a corner of the office.

“What I don’t understand,” she said, “is why you didn’t just use the Force to do it.”

The look on his face was so chagrined that she doubled over laughing. “That was priceless!” she gasped.

He mock-glared. “I hate you. Really. I do.”

“Ooh. One more time, with feeling, eh?”

“You listen to Bon Jovi, too?”

“I don’t even want to know how you came across Bon Jovi. Seriously.” She clapped a hand over his mouth and started unbuttoning his shirt. As he went to take it off, she stopped him. “Wait. Just take off the t-shirt, then put it back on.”

He obliged, then began to button the blouse back up. She stopped him. “Man, you’re dense. Leave the blouse unbuttoned.” She knelt in front of him and slipped his corframs off, then stood and unfastened his trousers.

“Why am I not surprised you’re a boxers kind of guy?”

“They’re more comfortable.”

“Be that as it may … but Darth Vader boxers?”

“What? I liked them!”

“You would,” she said, mock-derisively.

“Hey!”

She laughed. “It’s so easy to yank your chain.”

He pulled her up to him. “Oh yeah?”

She looked up at his sapphire and amber eyes. “Ummmm … yeah. Yeah, it is.”

He leaned closer. “You sure about that?”

“Look, the fact I really want to kiss you doesn’t change the fact that it’s easy to yank your chain.”

“Well, damn,” he said, before planting his mouth on hers. She wrapped one leg around his, and her arms twined behind his head. When they broke apart, she was near-breathless.

“It’s really too bad you had to cut your hair,” she muttered. “Much more pullable before.”

He nodded. “I agree. But I couldn’t really join the Marines with long hair.”

“True.” She looked around him at the mahogany desk. “Good thing you just got here, your desk doesn’t have crap all over it.”

He nodded and walked her backward until she hit the desk and lay back on it.

“You know, under that prim and proper uniform, you really have some racy stuff,” he said as he pulled off her left stocking.

“You telling me you still consider a thong racy?”

“When it’s under the military version of a librarian uniform, I’d say so.”

She grinned as her right stocking went flying over his shoulder, then slid down so she was standing, and turned over so she was bent over the desk.

“Not that I don’t appreciate the idea,” he said, “but you really want to start off that way?”

“No, but you’re not gonna be able to get this skirt off, otherwise.”

“Ah.” He reached for it, but she shrugged him off, stood, and turned.

“Actually, sit down.” She pulled him around and pushed him into his chair, then stood in front of him. After unbuttoning and stepping out of her skirt, she straddled him.

He stared up at her. “Take charge type, huh?”

“I’m in the Marines, aren’t I?”

“Touché,” he answered with a smile.

She leaned over to kiss him as she unbuttoned her shirt and cast it to the side, then draped her legs over his and sat on his lap. Wrapping her legs around the back of the chair, she leaned in close to him.

“So,” she said, nibbling his earlobe, “do you have any specific plans,” and lightly kissing his jawline, “for this afternoon,” and nipping at his neck, “or were you just going to wing it?”

“I figured we could wing it,” he answered distractedly.

She pulled herself in tighter and swayed against and on top of him. “Well … let’s get to it.” She kissed him hard.

Suddenly, she found herself being lifted away from him. He grinned wickedly. “I can cheat,” he smirked.

“Hey, as long as sex is involved, cheating is allowed,” she replied with a smile.

He got out of the chair, rolled it to the side, and set her down on the ground, then turned her so she was facing the desk. “I’ve just noticed there’s a mirror on the un-windowed part of this door, and I think that’s going to come in handy,” he said.

She looked at the door. “Well, I’ll be damned.”

He came up behind her. “Nothing like being able to watch at the same time, eh?”

She grinned. “Well, maybe making a video, but I left the camera at home today.”

“Damn.” He bent over her, and ran a finger lightly up the inside of her thigh. An involuntary shudder ran down her spine as the maddeningly teasing digit fluttered over her most sensitive areas.

“Well, that didn’t take much,” he said.

“So are you going to just stand there and admire the merchandise, or are you gonna do something with it?” she taunted.

He mock-glared, positioned himself, and fully sheathed himself in her. She cried out in surprise, then moaned in pleasure. “Now that’s more like it,” she gasped.

Anakin leaned over her again. “Are you the soft and gentle type?”

“Are you kidding? If there aren’t bruises, it wasn’t good, baby.”

She didn’t have to look in the mirror to know he was grinning. “I think I can handle that,” he said. “You realize this won’t set a speed record, but it’s not going to be any Barry White, three-hours-later bit, right?”

She shook her head. “Just quit talking and fuck me, dammit – we can talk next time!”

She watched the amber rise in his eyes as he sank his nails into her hips, pulled almost all the way out, and then rammed himself back into her.

She dimly noticed the fact that the desk was moving across the room, and that they were making enough noise to echo down the hallway.

“Don’t worry, I took care of that,” he murmured.

Her nails scraped varnish as he continued hammering her. As they screamed their release in unison, she could feel blood running down her legs from his fingernails still digging into her hips.

“Holy shit,” she gasped. He stepped backward and let her go, and she looked down at her hips. “Goddamn, no one’s done that in awhile.” She grinned. “That earns you extra points.”

Anakin smiled. “Good. I’ll let you pick the next position, how’s that?”

“Oh, I was going to do that anyway,” she said, and swung him around back into his office chair. She knelt between his legs and looked up at him.

He grinned. “See, this is how it’s supposed to go.”

She raised an eyebrow. “If you’re gonna go chauvinistic on me, I’m gonna get dressed and go home … sir.”

“That mouth is gonna get you in trouble one of these days.”

Leaning forward, she ran the tip of her tongue over his quivering shaft. “Oh yeah?”

Anakin looked down at her. “You know it’s not fair to … ask questions when you’re … going to distract someone like that … right?”

“I’m sorry, I must have missed the part where I was supposed to play fair,” she grinned.

His response was abruptly cut off when she took all of him in her mouth. As she noticed him nearing the brink, she paused, and withdrew. An involuntary whimper escaped him, and she chuckled.

“You know, that’s way past ‘not fair’, and right on into ‘torturous’, right?” he mumbled.

“Yes,” she answered sweetly.

He fisted a hand into her hair stood, bringing her to her feet with him.

“One might say,” he growled as he backed her into the corner, “that reciprocation is in order.”

Her eyes widened at his tone, but her reply was merely inquisitive. “Oh?”

He stepped right against her as they hit the wall. “Yes.” She noticed that the sapphire was mostly gone from his eyes, replaced by glowing amber and coal black. “In fact,” he continued as he dropped to his knees, “one might say you’ve kicked the proverbial sleeping dragon.”

She looked down at him, but said nothing. A wicked-looking smirk crossed his face as one hand snaked around her left thigh and lifted her leg up and over his shoulder. The other trailed behind her and cupped her ass, angling her toward him. Her eyebrows shot up as she could swear she saw a serpentine tongue emerge from his mouth and delicately glide over her clit. Her knee threatened to buckle, and one hand shot out to brace her against the wall.

He stopped for a second. “Problem?”

“No,” she managed through gritted teeth.

“Good.” The tongue snaked back and lightly caressed her folds. She wobbled.

“Holy shit,” she whispered. She felt him penetrate her, felt her slick wetness virtually cascading down her thighs. A pure, unadulterated scream of pleasure escaped her as she threw her head back and arched more fully against him.

He paused for a moment. “Look at me,” he commanded tersely.

She glanced down.

“No. Watch me.”

She ran her fingers through his hair and nodded wordlessly. She watched his tongue dart in and out, back and forth, and soon found herself unable to pull her eyes away. Four times he brought her screaming to the brink, only to pull back, grin wickedly, and pause to lap at the clear liquid continually running down her thighs.

The fifth time he pulled away, she grabbed his hair and yanked his head back. “If you do that to me again, I will call on every trick I’ve ever learned to make sure you regret it,” she said with a smile.

“Are you threatening me?” he asked in a suddenly menacing voice.

The smile melted away. “Are you serious?”

“Answer me!’ he bellowed. “Are you threatening me?”

“Ohh … I see. It’s ‘Time to Be Vader’. Got it.” She grinned and leaned over seductively. “Yeah. Are you gonna … punish me?” She winked at him.

He pushed her leg off his shoulder and stood. Wrapping his hand in her hair, he yanked her in close. “No one threatens me. No one. You’re not special; don’t act like you’re entitled to special privileges.”

Danielle slapped him. Hard. “Don’t get all high and mighty with me because you can’t handle a little teasing. This was all going fine until you decided you didn’t like how it was going, and now here we are at each other’s throats. Christ, maybe sometime on this vacation you can go to some goddamn anger management classes.” She put both hands on his defined pecs and shoved him backward.

He grabbed her arms as he staggered backward and they both fell on the desk.

“What did you do that for?” he yelled.

“Because you’re being a dick!” she shouted right back at him. “What the fuck is your problem?”

He snarled and grabbed her arms, trying to throw her off the desk. She wrapped her legs around his as he did, and they both went crashing to the floor, along with the few things on top of the desk. Danielle extricated herself from the tangle of limbs and the mess of papers, stood, and stepped back away from him.

He sat up and stared at her balefully. She folded her arms across her chest and said nothing.

Tense seconds passed as they regarded each other. Finally, the blue slowly bled back into his eyes. “I … look, sometimes ….”

“If you’re going to give me some kind of lame line about ‘I can’t control myself,’ you may want to reconsider that. No one makes you act that way.”

He stood and took a hesitant step toward her. “I ….”

After watching him for a long moment, she closed the distance between them. “I’d like to pick up where we left off, if you’re not going to go all berserk on me again.”

He nodded slowly.

She ran a finger across his cheek. “I like you commanding and rough … but I don’t like you as an asshole, okay? You have a lot to learn about give-and-take.”

His eyes darkened for a second, and then he nodded. “So … I believe I owed you one?”

“Or five,” she grinned.

He swept her up and walked back toward the wall as she wrapped her legs around his waist. They hit the wall hard and he thrust into her at the same time.

She hooked an arm around his neck and ran her other hand through his hair, while his hands seemed to be everywhere at once. She arched her back, pressing her breasts into his questing hands as he picked up the pace. As they neared climax, he gripped her shoulders and she mirrored his grasp, nails cutting into the delicate flesh near his shoulder blades. He kissed her hard as he came, their cries mingling as she reached her climax immediately afterward.

They slid down the wall and collapsed in a heap on the floor.

“You’re bleeding,” she remarked.

He looked down. “I’m sure it’ll go away.”

She moved closer, eyed him for a second, then bent and licked away a stray drop. He blinked.

“Now that was novel.”

“Sorry, it’s just something I get the urge to do now and then.”

He grinned. “How do I get on that list?”

She rolled her eyes. “I knew you were going to say something like that.”

He laughed. “Well, I have to make up for the unpredictability somehow.”

She swatted playfully at him. “No, you don’t. Unpredictability is a nice thing.”

A moment of silence passed, and then he scooted next to her, put his arm around her waist, and kissed her gently. “So, was this a one-shot deal?”

She thought for a moment. “Maybe. I’m not going to promise anything. And you can’t do anything out in the open because you’ll get court-martialed, and so will I.”

“I’m not going to stay in the military the full four years, you know. I have things to take care of.”

“Back home.”

“Well … yes.”

“Maybe it would be better if it was a one-shot deal, then. If you’re going to leave.”

“I’m not leaving tomorrow or anything.”

 “How are you going to get out of the military early?”

“I have my ways.”

She decided not to press the matter. “How long are you staying?”

“Dunno. Haven’t decided yet.”

“We have a field op coming up in a couple of weeks.”

“What’s that mean?”

“Nighttime, camouflage, patrolling. Stuff like that.”

“Sounds entertaining. I like all this military stuff, anyway.”

“Have you even fired a real gun before?”

“Guns are so uncivilized.”

She thought it best not to tell him how much he sounded like Obi-Wan at that point. “Well, we don’t have lightsabers, and you can’t really take one to the field – you’ll be laughed out of the officers’ corps.”

“Guess I’ll have to learn.”

“I’m thinking about going out shooting tomorrow; want to come?”

“I thought we couldn’t hang out.”

“I guess I should reiterate that. My parents have a house and some land down here, and I’m staying there while I’m stationed here. My shooting range is my backyard.”

“Ahh. I see.”

She stood and held a hand out to him. He took it and rose. Danielle looked him up and down and sniggered.

“What’s so funny?”

At that she outright laughed. “The combination of dress blue coat and Vader boxers is priceless. I’d give my right arm for a camera right now.”

He mock-glared. “Yeah, yeah, everyone’s a comedian.”

She pinched his cheek. “You’re so cute when you’re trying to be fierce.”

His jaw dropped. She laughed and started collecting her stuff from around the room. He settled into the leather chair.

“There’s nothing sexier than watching a woman get dressed,” he commented.

She nodded and smiled. “Want to help me button my blouse?”

He swore and shook his head. “Hell no. You can do that yourself.”

As she finished buttoning her coat, she turned to him. “If you’re gonna get dressed, I’ll wait for you.”

“Okay. I’ll be out in a second.”

She opened the door, then looked back at him for a moment before walking out into the main office.

He emerged a few minutes later, straightening the medals on his blouse. "Ready?”

She heard the door unlatch. “Yes, sir.”

He grinned. “I could get used to that.”

“Where did you park?”

“Park?”

“How the hell did you get here?”

“I … well, this lady gave me a ride.”

She snickered. “I didn’t ask what you did at the office. And an officer walking? Oh, please.”

“I had the portal open here.”

“Wait. So you spent your leave back there, and then portaled here this morning?”

“Basically.”

“So you don’t even have a car?”

“Well … no.”

“Where are you staying?”

He didn’t even bother to answer that time.

“Oh my god. Do you have civvies?”

“What?”

“Civilian clothes. Do you have them?”

“Oh! Yeah, they’re in the bag in my office.”

“How many times have you done this vacation thing before?”

“This is my first one. I just figured out how to do it recently.”

“And you didn’t even think to get transportation or a place to stay?” she asked incredulously.

“Obviously not,” he snapped.

“Unbelievable. Well, go change. You can stay at my house tonight.”

She was ready to throw Anakin out the passenger window.

“Can’t you go any faster?” he asked, for the fifth time.

“Anakin, there are speed limits. They’re there for a reason.”

“To make you die of boredom before you get to wherever it is you’re going?”

She sighed. “No. So imbeciles who want to drive 5 bajillion miles an hour won’t for fear of getting in trouble.”

He snorted. “Can this heap even break 50?”

She very pointedly checked the speedometer, then feigned a heart attack. “Holy shit! Cap’n, we broke 65!”

“Can I drive?”

“I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear that.”

“Aww, come on!”

“Ani, look ….”

He broke in. “One thing. Please don’t call me Ani. I hated that.”

“Okay. Anyway, Anakin, you don’t know how to drive.”

He pointed downward. “Gas.”

“Yes.”

“Brake.”

“Yes.”

“Steering.”

She shot him a withering glance.

“And all I have to do is maintain the designated speed.”

“Technically.”

“So I know how to drive.”

“You know theory. I know, in theory, how a TIE fighter works. Doesn’t mean I can fly one.”

“That’s a completely irrelevant argument.”

“Only ‘cause I’m right.”

“Sort of.”

“You’re still not driving.”

“Please?”

“Hmm. Nah.”

He sat back in his seat in a huff. “Fine. I didn’t want to drive your crappy vehicle anyway.”

The rest of the drive passed in relative silence, with the exception of Anakin bouncing through every radio station on the airwaves. He hit the classical station for the third time when they pulled into Danielle’s driveway.

“Hey, this place is pretty nice,” he commented as he grabbed his bag and got out of the SUV.

‘This place’ was a two-story white farmhouse sitting on six acres on the outskirts of town. “Yeah, I like it,” she answered. “My parents bought it when my dad was first stationed here; got it paid off by renting it out; said I could use it while I’m down here. I’ll make up the guest bedroom for you.”

“The … “ he started to protest. “That sounds good,” he finished as he saw the look on her face.

An hour later found them sitting on the porch, watching the sunset.

“Can I drive now?”

She stared at him. “Do you ever give up?”

“Nope.”

“What are you going to do if you get caught? You don’t have a license.”

“I just won’t get caught.”

She smirked. “Yeah, that’s what everyone says.”

“Come on … let me.”

“Why do you want to drive so badly?”

“Because it looks like fun, because I want to try it, and because it has to be good if you don’t t me to.”

She rolled her eyes. “You always get what you want?”

“Generally.”

“Figures.” She thought about it for a moment. “Wait a second. You told me this afternoon you have a Firebird. Where’s that damn car?”

“I heard a couple of guys talking about it when I came to the office today; I borrowed what they said about it when you asked me about cars.”

“Why am I not surprised?”

“Well, I couldn’t very well say that I didn’t have a car, now could I?”

“No kidding, honesty is so passé,” she retorted.

He grinned. “Come on, let’s go. It’ll be fun.”

She sighed again. “Fine. You better not get a ticket.”

They walked out to her Expedition and she handed the keys over with trepidation. “Please don’t wreck it, I really like this car.”

Anakin got in and spent five minutes fiddling with controls. “Okay, I think I’m ready. Wait, how do I move backward?” he asked, turning to look down her driveway.

“Oh good lord,” she said under her breath, and pointed to the gearshift. “P is for park, which is what we’re in now. N is neutral; the car won’t go forward or backward unless it’s on an incline. R is reverse. D is drive. And don’t worry about the other ones. Got it? Oh yeah, and you have to step on the brake to shift.”

“This is so much more complicated than a speeder,” he remarked.

“Great. Just what I wanted to know,” she muttered.

He carefully eased the car into reverse and backed down the driveway. “See, that wasn’t so hard.”

“Good job, you made it 20 feet.” She clapped, rather sarcastically. “Now you just have to make it to wherever it is you think you’re going without killing us.”

A few minutes later, they were on their way down the road, heading out of town.

“I’m impressed, Anakin – you’ve stayed within the speed limit the whole time so far.”

“Well, I try. Where are we going?”

“There’s a nice restaurant downtown we could go to.”

“That works for me.”

“Okay, get on the interstate at this onramp coming up.”

He navigated onto the freeway, then settled back into his seat.

“Hey, look, I can drive with my knee,” he said as he waved his hands in the air.

She rolled her eyes. “Another driving milestone reached.”

When she looked over again, she noticed that neither his hands nor his legs were on the wheel. “What the hell are you doing?”

“Trying something. It’s not like it’s hard to do this.”

She took a deep breath. “Please don’t do anything crazy.”

“You may not want to watch what I do next, then.”

She promptly unbuckled her seat belt and crawled into the back seat. “I’m not going to have a front row seat to your fiery death,” she said as she buckled in.

A moment later, he joined her in the back.

“Anakin!” she yelled. “You’re supposed to be driving! Wasn’t that the whole idea of this exercise? How the hell are you driving, when you’re back here?”

“The Force, naturally. And yes, I know when cars are in our way, I know how fast we’re going, and I can manipulate everything just fine.”

“I should have known this was a bad idea,” she mumbled.

He grinned rakishly and scooted next to her. “That’s a lot of space there in the back.”

“I took the back bench out – didn’t really need it in there.”

He moved so close to her that their legs were touching. “Uh-huh, that’s nice.” He reached over and unbuckled her seat belt, then pulled her over the seat with him.

He kissed her, hiked her skirt up with one hand, and ran the other up her back to undo her bra strap. She pulled back and looked at him for a second, then shrugged and pulled her sweater off. After pushing him back so he was sitting on his heels, she whisked the t-shirt off over his head, yanked the belt out of the loops, and unfastened his pants.

“Lay down,” she commanded. He obliged with a smile.

She pulled his Dickies off, threw them to the side, and snickered when she saw his new boxers. “Darth Maul this time. Sheer morbid curiosity makes me wonder what I’m going to see next.” She deftly pulled those off as well, tossing them in the same general direction as the Dickies. She stretched to her full height on top of him, putting her mouth right by his ear.

“It’s about time you weren’t in control for once.”

He swallowed hard. “Only because I have to concentrate on driving.”

“If you can podrace, you can navigate this car.”

“Basically,” he smiled. “See, I knew you’d understand.”

“And since you’re navigating the car, I don’t think you should really do anything else,” she added.

He smile faded. “What?”

“I think you should just lay there.”

“And not …?”

“Nope. You can’t do anything. And you can’t cheat, because you’re already busy.”

His eyes widened. “Um … okay.”

She kissed his earlobe … his jaw … his neck. She planted one on the corner of his mouth, flicked her tongue across his bottom lip, then pulled back and grinned as he lunged toward her.

“Ah-ah, what did I say?”

He laid back and sighed.

She winked at him, then continued planting kisses down his torso. She paused and lightly rubbed his nipples with her fingertips, making him groan softly. As she reached his waist, she sat up and scooted backward, until she was down by his ankles. He looked at her incredulously, but said nothing.

Starting at his calf, she trailed a finger up each leg. As she reached his ramrod-straight cock, she leaned over and very deliberately ran her tongue around the tip, staring at him the entire time.

The car wove in the lane a bit, but that was the only sign she had that he noticed what she was doing, as he hadn’t moved or made a sound. She sat up, spread her legs, and knelt over him.

“Maybe we should stop,” she said with a wicked grin. His eyebrows shot up and he whimpered, but he didn’t say anything. She lowered herself barely onto him, moved slightly, then withdrew.

“Do you think we should stop?”

“No,” he managed to choke out.

She lowered herself a little more, then withdrew again.

“You sure?”

“Yes,” he said between clenched teeth.

This time she lowered herself about halfway onto him, squeezed, then withdrew.

“You’re shaking a bit,” she observed casually.

He managed a weak smile, but that was all. His eyes were still blue, but the amber streaks were glowing. Beads of perspiration stood out on his forehead and chest. He’d bitten his lip so hard that the teeth marks still showed, and his breath was coming a little faster. She leaned over him again, pressing her breasts against his chest.

“I like you when you’re all worked up. And completely at my mercy.”

“You’re enjoying this way too much,” he said hoarsely.

“Oh, I’ve only begun to enjoy this,” she answered. Straightening back up, she sheathed him completely and leaned back. He let out a half-groan, half-sigh of relief … which abruptly changed to a hissed intake of breath as she began moving up and down.

As she leaned back to brace herself with one arm, he noticed a glint of silver amid the light blonde curls around her clit. “What’s that?”

“What’s what?” she asked lazily, concentrating on how he felt inside her.

“That ring,” he replied.

She opened her eyes and looked. “Oh, that’s my clit ring. My friend dared me to get it last year, so I did. I was basically looking for an excuse to get one, anyway.”

“What’s it do?”

“Oh … mostly it just sits there, but … “ and here she paused to lick three fingers, “it’s also nice when I’m playing with myself, like so, because of this ball on the ring, there.” As she leaned back, watching those hypnotic eyes, she positioned her free hand over her clit and ring and began slowly massaging. While she did that, she ever so slightly picked up the pace at which she was fucking Anakin. His eyes widened and his jaw dropped as he watched her pleasure herself and screw him at the same time.

“So, ahh,” he asked between short breaths, “how long do I have to just lay here?”

She smiled slowly. “I’m sorry … I’ve been neglecting you.” She began moving faster and pulling farther out with each stroke. Outside, horns blatted and angry drivers gesticulated as the Expedition picked up speed and started weaving more noticeably. Anakin looped one hand through the seat belt from the corner seat and pulled as she rode him faster and harder. The other hand knocked hers away and took up stroking her clit.

She took a deep, shuddering breath as he changed the pressure and speed. “Oh my fucking god,” she moaned as she pushed herself harder into his fingers. The Expedition passed 95 miles per hour as she felt her climax rushing at her like a freight train. She threw her head back and screamed at the top of her lungs a split second before he roared her name and arched up toward her as he exploded inside her. She collapsed on top of him, shuddering, then absently looked out the back window.

“Ah, we’re still moving,” she observed.

Anakin was trying to catch his breath. “Well … yes … although I probably … should tell you that … we’re going quite a bit … over the speed limit.”

“Should slow down,” she said.

He half-nodded, and dropped the Expedition back down to 70.

“Oughta turn around soon.”

“Do we have something to do tomorrow?”

“Nah.”

“So, let’s head to the big city, stay there, and relax until we have to go back to work.”

She looked up at him, smiled, and laid her head back down on his chest. “Whatever you want,” she answered. “Don’t have anything else to wear, though.”

“We’ll go shopping tomorrow.”

“Where are you getting the cash for all this?”

“I have my ways.”

“I don’t even want to know.”

He smiled. “Probably not.”

A half hour later, they were back in the front seat and pulling into the Ritz-Carlton parking lot.

“Holy shit, Anakin, how much money do you have?”

“I had some changed before I came here.”

“You have currency exchanges for planets outside your galaxy?” she asked skeptically.

“Of course. Are you really that surprised?”

She thought about it. “Nah. Not really.”

“Well, suffice it to say, I have enough money to do most likely anything you’ll dream up this weekend.” He parked the Expedition, got out, and came around to open her door.

“Can you walk yet?” he grinned.

She stepped out and stuck her tongue out at him. “Just fine, thank you.” She took his arm and they walked inside.

At the desk, the female desk clerk looked up, then did a double take and stared at Anakin, jaw open. He grinned, and it looked like she was going to faint. She finally recovered her wits enough to ask the name the room would be booked under.

Anakin winked at Danielle. “Christensen.” She hid a smirk by searching through her purse.

The clerk gasped. “I knew it! I knew it was you!” she squealed. “Ohmigod, I love your movies!”

He smiled. “I’m glad. Can … uh … we get our key?”

She blushed. “Of course!” Retrieving them, she handed one to Anakin with a smile, and one to Danielle much more slowly, with something almost resembling a glare, which might have worked better if she hadn’t been trying to smile at Anakin at the same time.

He grinned again. “Thanks.” He took Danielle’s arm and they made their way to the elevator.

“I bet she’s on her phone before we even get to our room,” she laughed.

She was ready to throw Anakin out the passenger window.

“Can’t you go any faster?” he asked, for the fifth time.

“Anakin, there are speed limits. They’re there for a reason.”

“To make you die of boredom before you get to wherever it is you’re going?”

She sighed. “No. So imbeciles who want to drive 5 bajillion miles an hour won’t for fear of getting in trouble.”

He snorted. “Can this heap even break 50?”

She very pointedly checked the speedometer, then feigned a heart attack. “Holy shit! Cap’n, we broke 65!”

“Can I drive?”

“I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear that.”

“Aww, come on!”

“Ani, look ….”

He broke in. “One thing. Please don’t call me Ani. I hated that.”

“Okay. Anyway, Anakin, you don’t know how to drive.”

He pointed downward. “Gas.”

“Yes.”

“Brake.”

“Yes.”

“Steering.”

She shot him a withering glance.

“And all I have to do is maintain the designated speed.”

“Technically.”

“So I know how to drive.”

“You know theory. I know, in theory, how a TIE fighter works. Doesn’t mean I can fly one.”

“That’s a completely irrelevant argument.”

“Only ‘cause I’m right.”

“Sort of.”

“You’re still not driving.”

“Please?”

“Hmm. Nah.”

He sat back in his seat in a huff. “Fine. I didn’t want to drive your crappy vehicle anyway.”

The rest of the drive passed in relative silence, with the exception of Anakin bouncing through every radio station on the airwaves. He hit the classical station for the third time when they pulled into Danielle’s driveway.

“Hey, this place is pretty nice,” he commented as he grabbed his bag and got out of the SUV.

‘This place’ was a two-story white farmhouse sitting on six acres on the outskirts of town. “Yeah, I like it,” she answered. “My parents bought it when my dad was first stationed here; got it paid off by renting it out; said I could use it while I’m down here. I’ll make up the guest bedroom for you.”

“The … “ he started to protest. “That sounds good,” he finished as he saw the look on her face.

An hour later found them sitting on the porch, watching the sunset.

“Can I drive now?”

She stared at him. “Do you ever give up?”

“Nope.”

“What are you going to do if you get caught? You don’t have a license.”

“I just won’t get caught.”

She smirked. “Yeah, that’s what everyone says.”

“Come on … let me.”

“Why do you want to drive so badly?”

“Because it looks like fun, because I want to try it, and because it has to be good if you don’t t me to.”

She rolled her eyes. “You always get what you want?”

“Generally.”

“Figures.” She thought about it for a moment. “Wait a second. You told me this afternoon you have a Firebird. Where’s that damn car?”

“I heard a couple of guys talking about it when I came to the office today; I borrowed what they said about it when you asked me about cars.”

“Why am I not surprised?”

“Well, I couldn’t very well say that I didn’t have a car, now could I?”

“No kidding, honesty is so passé,” she retorted.

He grinned. “Come on, let’s go. It’ll be fun.”

She sighed again. “Fine. You better not get a ticket.”

They walked out to her Expedition and she handed the keys over with trepidation. “Please don’t wreck it, I really like this car.”

Anakin got in and spent five minutes fiddling with controls. “Okay, I think I’m ready. Wait, how do I move backward?” he asked, turning to look down her driveway.

“Oh good lord,” she said under her breath, and pointed to the gearshift. “P is for park, which is what we’re in now. N is neutral; the car won’t go forward or backward unless it’s on an incline. R is reverse. D is drive. And don’t worry about the other ones. Got it? Oh yeah, and you have to step on the brake to shift.”

“This is so much more complicated than a speeder,” he remarked.

“Great. Just what I wanted to know,” she muttered.

He carefully eased the car into reverse and backed down the driveway. “See, that wasn’t so hard.”

“Good job, you made it 20 feet.” She clapped, rather sarcastically. “Now you just have to make it to wherever it is you think you’re going without killing us.”

A few minutes later, they were on their way down the road, heading out of town.

“I’m impressed, Anakin – you’ve stayed within the speed limit the whole time so far.”

“Well, I try. Where are we going?”

“There’s a nice restaurant downtown we could go to.”

“That works for me.”

“Okay, get on the interstate at this onramp coming up.”

He navigated onto the freeway, then settled back into his seat.

“Hey, look, I can drive with my knee,” he said as he waved his hands in the air.

She rolled her eyes. “Another driving milestone reached.”

When she looked over again, she noticed that neither his hands nor his legs were on the wheel. “What the hell are you doing?”

“Trying something. It’s not like it’s hard to do this.”

She took a deep breath. “Please don’t do anything crazy.”

“You may not want to watch what I do next, then.”

She promptly unbuckled her seat belt and crawled into the back seat. “I’m not going to have a front row seat to your fiery death,” she said as she buckled in.

A moment later, he joined her in the back.

“Anakin!” she yelled. “You’re supposed to be driving! Wasn’t that the whole idea of this exercise? How the hell are you driving, when you’re back here?”

“The Force, naturally. And yes, I know when cars are in our way, I know how fast we’re going, and I can manipulate everything just fine.”

“I should have known this was a bad idea,” she mumbled.

He grinned rakishly and scooted next to her. “That’s a lot of space there in the back.”

“I took the back bench out – didn’t really need it in there.”

He moved so close to her that their legs were touching. “Uh-huh, that’s nice.” He reached over and unbuckled her seat belt, then pulled her over the seat with him.

He kissed her, hiked her skirt up with one hand, and ran the other up her back to undo her bra strap. She pulled back and looked at him for a second, then shrugged and pulled her sweater off. After pushing him back so he was sitting on his heels, she whisked the t-shirt off over his head, yanked the belt out of the loops, and unfastened his pants.

“Lay down,” she commanded. He obliged with a smile.

She pulled his Dickies off, threw them to the side, and snickered when she saw his new boxers. “Darth Maul this time. Sheer morbid curiosity makes me wonder what I’m going to see next.” She deftly pulled those off as well, tossing them in the same general direction as the Dickies. She stretched to her full height on top of him, putting her mouth right by his ear.

“It’s about time you weren’t in control for once.”

He swallowed hard. “Only because I have to concentrate on driving.”

“If you can podrace, you can navigate this car.”

“Basically,” he smiled. “See, I knew you’d understand.”

“And since you’re navigating the car, I don’t think you should really do anything else,” she added.

He smile faded. “What?”

“I think you should just lay there.”

“And not …?”

“Nope. You can’t do anything. And you can’t cheat, because you’re already busy.”

His eyes widened. “Um … okay.”

She kissed his earlobe … his jaw … his neck. She planted one on the corner of his mouth, flicked her tongue across his bottom lip, then pulled back and grinned as he lunged toward her.

“Ah-ah, what did I say?”

He laid back and sighed.

She winked at him, then continued planting kisses down his torso. She paused and lightly rubbed his nipples with her fingertips, making him groan softly. As she reached his waist, she sat up and scooted backward, until she was down by his ankles. He looked at her incredulously, but said nothing.

Starting at his calf, she trailed a finger up each leg. As she reached his ramrod-straight cock, she leaned over and very deliberately ran her tongue around the tip, staring at him the entire time.

The car wove in the lane a bit, but that was the only sign she had that he noticed what she was doing, as he hadn’t moved or made a sound. She sat up, spread her legs, and knelt over him.

“Maybe we should stop,” she said with a wicked grin. His eyebrows shot up and he whimpered, but he didn’t say anything. She lowered herself barely onto him, moved slightly, then withdrew.

“Do you think we should stop?”

“No,” he managed to choke out.

She lowered herself a little more, then withdrew again.

“You sure?”

“Yes,” he said between clenched teeth.

This time she lowered herself about halfway onto him, squeezed, then withdrew.

“You’re shaking a bit,” she observed casually.

He managed a weak smile, but that was all. His eyes were still blue, but the amber streaks were glowing. Beads of perspiration stood out on his forehead and chest. He’d bitten his lip so hard that the teeth marks still showed, and his breath was coming a little faster. She leaned over him again, pressing her breasts against his chest.

“I like you when you’re all worked up. And completely at my mercy.”

“You’re enjoying this way too much,” he said hoarsely.

“Oh, I’ve only begun to enjoy this,” she answered. Straightening back up, she sheathed him completely and leaned back. He let out a half-groan, half-sigh of relief … which abruptly changed to a hissed intake of breath as she began moving up and down.

As she leaned back to brace herself with one arm, he noticed a glint of silver amid the light blonde curls around her clit. “What’s that?”

“What’s what?” she asked lazily, concentrating on how he felt inside her.

“That ring,” he replied.

She opened her eyes and looked. “Oh, that’s my clit ring. My friend dared me to get it last year, so I did. I was basically looking for an excuse to get one, anyway.”

“What’s it do?”

“Oh … mostly it just sits there, but … “ and here she paused to lick three fingers, “it’s also nice when I’m playing with myself, like so, because of this ball on the ring, there.” As she leaned back, watching those hypnotic eyes, she positioned her free hand over her clit and ring and began slowly massaging. While she did that, she ever so slightly picked up the pace at which she was fucking Anakin. His eyes widened and his jaw dropped as he watched her pleasure herself and screw him at the same time.

“So, ahh,” he asked between short breaths, “how long do I have to just lay here?”

She smiled slowly. “I’m sorry … I’ve been neglecting you.” She began moving faster and pulling farther out with each stroke. Outside, horns blatted and angry drivers gesticulated as the Expedition picked up speed and started weaving more noticeably. Anakin looped one hand through the seat belt from the corner seat and pulled as she rode him faster and harder. The other hand knocked hers away and took up stroking her clit.

She took a deep, shuddering breath as he changed the pressure and speed. “Oh my fucking god,” she moaned as she pushed herself harder into his fingers. The Expedition passed 95 miles per hour as she felt her climax rushing at her like a freight train. She threw her head back and screamed at the top of her lungs a split second before he roared her name and arched up toward her as he exploded inside her. She collapsed on top of him, shuddering, then absently looked out the back window.

“Ah, we’re still moving,” she observed.

Anakin was trying to catch his breath. “Well … yes … although I probably … should tell you that … we’re going quite a bit … over the speed limit.”

“Should slow down,” she said.

He half-nodded, and dropped the Expedition back down to 70.

“Oughta turn around soon.”

“Do we have something to do tomorrow?”

“Nah.”

“So, let’s head to the big city, stay there, and relax until we have to go back to work.”

She looked up at him, smiled, and laid her head back down on his chest. “Whatever you want,” she answered. “Don’t have anything else to wear, though.”

“We’ll go shopping tomorrow.”

“Where are you getting the cash for all this?”

“I have my ways.”

“I don’t even want to know.”

He smiled. “Probably not.”

A half hour later, they were back in the front seat and pulling into the Ritz-Carlton parking lot.

“Holy shit, Anakin, how much money do you have?”

“I had some changed before I came here.”

“You have currency exchanges for planets outside your galaxy?” she asked skeptically.

“Of course. Are you really that surprised?”

She thought about it. “Nah. Not really.”

“Well, suffice it to say, I have enough money to do most likely anything you’ll dream up this weekend.” He parked the Expedition, got out, and came around to open her door.

“Can you walk yet?” he grinned.

She stepped out and stuck her tongue out at him. “Just fine, thank you.” She took his arm and they walked inside.

At the desk, the female desk clerk looked up, then did a double take and stared at Anakin, jaw open. He grinned, and it looked like she was going to faint. She finally recovered her wits enough to ask the name the room would be booked under.

Anakin winked at Danielle. “Christensen.” She hid a smirk by searching through her purse.

The clerk gasped. “I knew it! I knew it was you!” she squealed. “Ohmigod, I love your movies!”

He smiled. “I’m glad. Can … uh … we get our key?”

She blushed. “Of course!” Retrieving them, she handed one to Anakin with a smile, and one to Danielle much more slowly, with something almost resembling a glare, which might have worked better if she hadn’t been trying to smile at Anakin at the same time.

He grinned again. “Thanks.” He took Danielle’s arm and they made their way to the elevator.

“I bet she’s on her phone before we even get to our room,” she laughed.

“Okay. I put the shower curtain back up and fixed the faucet, but the sink is a total loss. Hopefully they won’t notice. And didn’t hear when it came off the wall,” Anakin said as he walked out of the bathroom.

Danielle looked up from where she was sprawled on the bed. “Meh. They make enough money, I’m sure they can repair it.”

He threw himself on the bed next to her. “So, what’s next on the agenda, now that we got the pressing ‘sex’ issue out of the way … again?”

She snickered. “Well, we can go shopping, and then maybe hit some of the clubs around here.”

“Clubs?”

“Music. Dancing. Drinking. All engineered toward getting people to hook up with each other.”

“Ahh.” He grinned. “Sounds like my kind of fun.”

“That may be, but you’ll want something besides denim and a polo shirt. Let me get dressed and we can go.”

“Why didn’t you just buy the store?” he snarked as he carried their bags upstairs.

“Well, I didn’t think the gimp suit really fit you,” she retorted. “Quit bitching, it can’t possibly be that bad, and don’t think I didn’t notice you looking around while we were there.”

He stuck his tongue out at her back while she unlocked the door, then smiled innocently as she stepped aside to let him pass.

Snatching his bag, he disappeared toward the bathroom. “I still say I’m not wearing this in public.”

She threw a pillow at him. “Just go change.”

While he was in the bathroom, she threw off her t-shirt and skirt, wriggled into the lace-up leather pants and top, and fixed her makeup. She was putting on her boots as he walked out of the bathroom.

He posed dramatically … to no effect, because she wasn’t watching him.

“Ahem!”

She looked up and dropped the boot she was holding. “Oh … my … god.”

He looked a little uncertain. “It’s good?”

She stood and walked over to him. “Good? Babe, this is fucking hot. I’ll have to beat girls away with a stick.”

“What are we beating them away for?”

She raised an eyebrow. “I’m not even going to answer that. Although, while you’re distracted by the girls, I can entertain a circle of guys.” She winked.

His brow furrowed. “You’re kidding, right?”

She laughed and shook her head. “You have some of the wildest mood swings I’ve ever seen.”

Anakin smiled ruefully. “Yeah, I know.” He looked in the dresser mirror. “You know, I’m thinking this haircut and these clothes really don’t go together.”

She glanced up from buckling her boots. “Oh?”

He nodded. “Yeah.” He studied the mirror for a moment longer, then ran his hands through his hair. As Danielle watched, wide-eyed, his hair grew out to his shoulders.

“Now that was a cool trick!” she exclaimed.

He grinned. “Every once in awhile it comes in handy. How do I look?”

She scrutinized him, then tossed him black eyeshadow and a small eyeshadow brush. “Get the brush wet, dip it in the shadow, and line your eyes. Then we’re good.”

After he was done, she nodded. “Okay. That works. Let’s go, I’m tired of sitting around.”

“Where’re we going?”

“There’s this club I really like, called Noise. You’ll like it.”

As they walked up, Danielle eyed the long line and sighed. “Looks like … wait. Can’t you do that Jedi Mind Trick thing?”

“What, to the bouncer? Sure.”

They strolled past everyone else, eliciting a chorus of boos and snide comments from the people in line.

“You don’t need to see our identification,” Anakin said.

“I don’t need to see your identification,” the bouncer repeated.

“We can go on in.”

“You can go on in,” he repeated, leaning over to unlatch the rope.

Danielle turned to blow a kiss to the line, much to the ire of the crowd.

Inside, she grabbed his arm and pulled him close to make herself heard over the music. “I’m gonna go grab a drink; you wanna come?” Watching him ogle the chicks was enough of an answer for her; she shook her head in exasperation and headed toward the bar as he wandered into the crowd.

“Bacardi O3, please,” she shouted to the bartender. He smiled, nodded, and tossed her one. She caught it, left her money, and turned back around. Leaning against the bar, she surveyed the crowd, looking for Anakin.

She was only able to guess she’d found him by the crush of girls over in one corner. They were jockeying for position close to the center of the circle, where every once in awhile she could see a toss of dark-blond hair. Danielle rolled her eyes, then settled back onto a barstool.

“Lose My Breath” came thundering out of the speakers, and she saw a girl with purple and platinum streaks pull Anakin out of the corner to dance with her. This spurred about 15 other girls to attempt the same thing, until he was surrounded in a swaying feminine mass … and grinning like a Cheshire cat about it.

A few shots, 6 Bacardi O3s, and 4 Long Island iced teas later, she decided, “Two can play this game, bastard.” She downed the last of her drink and made her way to the dance floor.

She’d gotten about two steps onto the dance floor when two guys came up to her. The blond got behind her, while the dark-haired one stepped in front of her. With hands on her hips and her shoulders, they began grinding in time with the music. By the end of the song, they’d attracted a sizable crowd.

A few songs – and not a few drinks – later, “Dirrty” came pulsing through the club. Danielle grinned, and the crowd started moving again. Halfway through the song, the mass of people suddenly parted, as though shoved with invisible hands. People unfortunate enough to be in the middle stumbled and fell as everyone was jostled around.

Anakin strode through the crowd, a petulant look on his face. He approached the ten or so people in the center of the circle, and motioned dismissively at the women; they suddenly looked confused and wandered off. The guys were Force-shoved halfway across the dance floor, landing in a heap with the people caught in their path.

Danielle turned to him. “I’m sorry; can I help you?” she asked icily.

“What are you doing with them?”

“I’d guess that I was dancing, Anakin.”

“You were all but fucking them right out on the dance floor!”

“Can you please explain how that was different from what you were doing with all those women?”

“Don’t turn this back on me! You always do that!”

“Well, maybe if you held yourself to the same standard you apparently hold me to, I wouldn’t be able to! And don’t come out here acting like you own me when you couldn’t even be bothered to talk to me once we got here!”

“You could have come over!”

She snorted. “And what, joined the Court of Anakin Adoration? Please. Don’t hold your breath waiting for the day I fawn over you.”

“Fine!” he shouted, and stomped away.

She shook her head and turned back to the people actually dancing, as opposed to standing around watching the little drama unfold. Suddenly, she was swooped up and tossed over Anakin’s shoulder.

Rotating her body upward, she bit his shoulder as she kicked him in the side. He yelped and dropped her. Danielle landed in a crouch, then stood as he spun to face her. She grabbed his shirt and yanked him close.

“Don’t you ever fucking treat me like your goddamned property, Anakin Skywalker,” she hissed, emphasizing each “ever” with a sharp poke to his chest. “Don’t you ever expect me to just fucking nod and say, ’Whatever you want’ when you lose your temper. And don’t you ever fucking think for a second that I’m going to be a little wilting flower. If you want demure, you for damn sure won’t find it here. And if you can’t handle a woman like me, just say so. I’ll be outside whenever you’re done here.” She turned on her heel and melted into the crowd.

Outside, she made her way to the corner of the building, took a deep breath, and punched the wall. Hard. “That goddamn, motherfuckin’ … what an asshole! Who the fuck does he think he is? I don’t fucking give a rat’s ass if he’s the fucking ruler of the entire goddamn galaxy. What kind of shit does he think he’s pulling? He takes ’flinging testosterone‘ to a wholly new and intolerable fucking level! I just want to fucking strangle him sometimes!” She hit the wall again, heedless of the blood now running down her knuckles.

As she stood there staring at the wall and trotting out every curse word she’d picked up in the military, she felt someone grab her ass. She whirled around, fists already up to beat the hell out of whoever had had the temerity to grab her.

No one was there.

“Oh, what in the hell?” she muttered. “Whatever. I don’t care.” She moved around the corner … just in case. As she rounded the corner, the laces on the left side of her shirt loosened. Danielle looked down, then looked around again.

“This isn’t funny,” she mumbled. She almost had the laces retied when the other ones loosened. Danielle threw up her hands and slouched against the wall. “I’m not even going to bother anymore.” She scowled again. “God, he is so frustrating! I could just – whoa!” Her rant was cut off as the laces in her shirt split and the shirt slid off her shoulders. She tried to snatch it but missed, and just stared at it in disbelief as it fell to the ground. As she peered around, something – “It feels like a hand; fuck it, I’ll call it a hand,” she thought – ran rough hands over her breasts and down her torso.

“What the hell is happening to me?” she whispered. To her mingled disbelief and suddenly flaring anger, she got an answer.

**You are gravely mistaken, love. I take what I want … when I want.**

Danielle’s response was lost as she felt him caress her ass underneath the leather. She moaned and arched forward involuntarily as he moved across her folds and began rubbing lazy circles around her clit. Her leg started shaking as she felt something large and pulsing push against her slickly wet opening, and her head bounced off the brick wall as she was shoved upright.

**And I’ve decided that I want to hear you scream. Now.**

Her head started throbbing from the strain of holding back the scream triggered by the sudden, rough penetration. She bit her lip hard enough to send a trickle of blood down her chin, but she didn’t make a sound. She could feel his frustration, and permitted herself a tiny, self-satisfied smirk.

**You’re only making this more difficult on yourself,** she felt him snarl.

Her patience had been wearing thin the whole night, and it finally snapped. She was done playing nice. “If this is the real you,” she hissed through clenched teeth, “then I can see why you were betrayed at every turn.”

She felt an obliterating black rage roll through him, and shrank back against the wall as the thrusts jarred her. Strands of her hair fell when he pulled it, and bruises blossomed on her arm where he held her against the wall. Tears ran down her face as she shrieked against the back of her hand, and the pain and anger mingled when she felt his surge of conceited satisfaction. He withdrew wordlessly and she slid down the side of the building, collapsing into a shaking huddle by the corner.

She awoke to the sharp sting of rubbing alcohol being dabbed over the raw patch on her arm, and looked up to see Anakin, brow furrowed, tending to her. She slapped his hand away and stood up.

“I ought to just leave your ass here, Anakin Skywalker.” She advanced on him, until he’d backed up to the window of the hotel room. “I’m going to say this as clearly as I possibly can: I don’t give a shit that you’re the leader of your galaxy. I … don’t … care. If anything, you should have a higher standard of behavior than the rest of us! See, there’s this saying we have around here: ‘With great power comes great responsibility.’ I guess they don’t have a similar equivalent on Coruscant.”

“Well, not exactly,” he mumbled.

She shook her head. “But I digress. I don’t care who you are, or what position you hold. I don’t know who encouraged the idea that you can just take whatever you want, but I’d hazard a guess that it wasn’t your mother. I give you a place to stay, let you drive, take you shopping, take you out partying, and how do you thank me? You put your vast and varied powers to use raping me!”

“I didn’t think ….” He trailed off.

“You didn’t think what?”

“I didn’t think it would end up like that. But you taunted me!” he added defensively.

“Maybe, but is that an excuse for what you did to me?” At that, he looked away from her; she had to grab his chin to turn his face back to hers. “Anakin, I understand you’re not perfect. I don’t expect you to be. What I do expect is for you to treat me with the same respect and dignity I show you. If you can’t, we’re going to end this friendship now.” He didn’t answer, and she continued. “I realize that no one ever makes you take responsibility for your actions. You blamed your turn to the Dark Side on Palpatine, and rationalized it with ‘I was trying to save my wife’. You blamed your lack of progress on the Jedi, and not on your lack of maturity.”

“I’m sure it’s a lot easier to see these things when they’re not happening to you,” he mumbled.

She nodded. “That may be, but you still weren’t honest with yourself. And you will never progress until you understand that you choose what path you take; no one else is responsible. You made the decision to act on your jealous impulse, and it ended up with me lying unconscious in an alley.” She stepped back and put her hands on her hips. “So, what is it going to be?”

Anakin had been pacing for an hour. She was stretched across the bed, watching him.

“What is that song playing?”

The radio had been playing softly in the background, and she identified the song automatically. “The band is Green Day, and the song is ‘Boulevard of Broken Dreams’. I have that CD – it’s pretty good.”

He turned and stared out the window, hands clasped behind his back. “I’ll have to find a copy. I really like that.” He paused. “Did you mean it?”

“Mean what?”

“That you’re going to leave me here?”

She sighed. “Anakin … I … Look, I like you. A lot. You’re fun, you’re witty, and you have this astonishing ability to bring out my impulsive side. I don’t want to leave you here. But if you’re going to keep treating me like property, going berserk when I do something you don’t like, or do what you did-“

“I know; please don’t say it.”

“If you’re going to keep doing that, I’m going to leave. I refuse to be treated like that, by anyone.”

He nodded slowly, but said nothing.

“Why did you do it, Anakin? That’s what I don’t understand.”

“I … It was … I just saw you with those guys and lost it. I couldn’t help it.”

She sat up. “Don’t give me that. You could, but chose not to. I understand that it’s hard to say no to some things, but sometimes you have to. Why’d you choose to do what you did, instead of just talking to me about it?”

He turned and glared at her. “Because I knew I was doing the same thing, all right? And I couldn’t lecture you if I was doing it, so I just lost my temper. At least I wasn’t doing it in retaliation like you were. I just got caught up in the moment; you did it to make me mad.”

She shook her head. “No, I was tired of sitting at the bar by myself, waiting for you to come back.”

“But you certainly weren’t sorry that it got my attention.”

“No, I guess not. But I didn’t do to you what you did to me out of a jealous rage.”

“You’re right. You got in my face, talked to me like I was four – after biting _and_ kicking me, I might add – then stormed off. And you said exactly what you knew would make me the angriest outside.”

“I-“

“Just admit it.”

She pursed her lips and nodded grudgingly. “I wouldn’t have bit you if you hadn’t tossed me over your shoulder.”

“I was coming to get you so we could come back here.”

“You could have said that.”

“I ....” He stopped. She raised an eyebrow. He smiled ruefully. “Yeah, I guess I should have said that.”

She smiled slowly. “Might have helped.” Rising, she walked over to the window and stood beside him. “Tell you what, I won’t leave you here … this time, anyway. But you’ve used up all your coupons for some time, you got that?”

He nodded. “Yeah.”

They stood in silence for a few minutes, then he hesitantly touched her shoulder.

“I hurt you.”

“Quite a bit, yes.”

He sighed. “One more thing to add to the list of stuff I’ve messed up, I guess.”

She turned to face him. “Anakin, as much as I would have been thrilled to beat you within an inch of your life two hours ago, I don’t want you using what happened to psychologically flog yourself, okay? Besides, you’re the ruler of the GFFA, how bad can it really be?”

He looked confused. “The GFFA?”

She chuckled. “Oh yeah. ‘GFFA’ stands for “galaxy far, far away”, which is how George Lucas referenced where you’re from in the movies.”

“Ah. Well, it’s not like I was elected, you know. I did a lot of bad things to get to where I’m at.”

“Don’t most politicians?”

“Most don’t murder people, Danielle.”

That made her pause. “Good point. So what happened? How is your story different from the one we saw?”

“Maybe it would be easier for you to see, than for me to tell you all of it,” he answered. “Although you may not ever want to speak to me again after you see it.”

“I’m up for it, if you are.”

He stepped behind her and wrapped his arms around her shoulders. “I don’t have to do it this way, if you’d rather I not touch you right now.”

She placed a hand over his. “It’s okay. Promise.”

“If you’re sure.”

“I am.”

“Okay. Just relax.”

She rested more of her weight against him and closed her eyes ….

Striding toward the temple, robe billowing, with the 501st Legion in formation behind him, Anakin Skywalker – the newly christened Darth Vader – was lost in a sea of conflicting thoughts. The people inside this temple were his only family; was he really expected to cut them all down? What about the younglings? It just didn’t seem right. Palpatine knew what he was doing, though – or so Anakin hoped.

As they climbed the stairs, he once again admired the statuary outside the temple. Artisans of the highest caliber had been commissioned to do the pieces, and their work had lasted through generations. At the door, he saw Shaak Ti.

”Get inside,” he said curtly.

Shaak Ti stared at him. “Anakin Skywalker, that’s-“ She was abruptly cut off as his lightsaber ignited in front of her face.

”I said, inside,” he repeated. She nodded quickly, turned, and darted into the building.

Once he was inside, he beckoned to her. “Get all the Jedi, and the younglings, and bring them to the council room.”

“What is going on?”

He didn’t answer – just waved her away.

***

In the council room, he stood in front of the huddled crowd. The looks on the faces of the younglings – their hero, talking to them! – destroyed his original plan to contain the slaughter to one room. He took his hand off his lightsaber and cleared his throat.

“Chancellor Palpatine is the Sith Lord we’ve been searching for.” Audible gasps and shocked murmurings followed this announcement, as he’d expected they might. He held up his hands for silence.

“He instructed me to come to the temple and wipe out the remaining Jedi.” At this, many pairs of eyes darted to the lightsaber resting on his belt. “That doesn’t make any sense, though. I don’t want to do it, and I’m not going to.”

Tentative looks of relief morphed to consternation as he continued. “You will remain in the temple. The 501st Legion will be outside, and I will be protecting the temple with a Force shield.”

A youngling broke in. “The whole temple?” he asked in awe.

Anakin knelt and looked at the young boy. “Yes, the whole temple. I can do that, and I will because I don’t want you to get hurt.”

The boy smiled at Anakin as he stood back up. Anakin looked around. “Are there any questions?”

Cin Drallig spoke up. “If you were sent here to wipe us out, that means you have aligned with Sidious.” His lightsaber hummed to life.

Anakin shook his head. “Yes and no. I don’t believe that either the Jedi or the Sith realize the true potential of the Force, because they have separated neutrality into light and dark – or good and evil.”

Master Drallig stepped forward. “And you propose to what?”

“I propose to put things right, and that’s exactly what I’m going to do.”

Cin Drallig stared at him for a long moment. “If you go back on your word, Anakin Skywalker, rest assured I will find you.”

Anakin shook his head. “This isn’t the time for false bravado, Master Drallig. You may be a better swordsman than I, but there isn’t a Jedi alive who can wield the Force as I do. If you search your feelings, you will know that what I say is true.”

Master Drallig stepped forward. “I won’t listen to a Sith claim to be looking out for my well-being. It is well-known that the Sith care for nothing but themselves.” He raised his lightsaber into a ready stance.

Anakin sighed. “I don’t want to have to do this, but you leave me no choice.” Their lightsabers crossed with a flash and hiss.

Cin Drallig was the Order’s leading swordsman, and with good reason. Many had tried to best him; none had been victorious, until today. Within a matter of minutes, Anakin had disarmed him and stood in front of him holding both lightsabers.

“Master Drallig, please do not make me take this demonstration any further.”

He nodded slowly. Anakin handed over his lightsaber … then put him in a Force hold.

“Don’t think I’m stupid. I know you’d try something as soon as my back was turned. Your close-mindedness about anything different from what you believe is exactly what is wrong with the Jedi Order today, and exactly what I’m going to change about it. Now … sit down.”

Cin Drallig returned to his seat.

Anakin looked around at the gathered Jedi. “I mean what I say. I won’t slaughter you. As I said, I will be guarding the temple. Both my shield and the 501st will ensure you’re your safety. I will be back when I have a chance.” Before he left the room, he knelt down to talk to the boy who’d spoken up before. “You work hard on your studies, young man.”

The boy nodded solemnly. “I will.”

Anakin smiled sadly. “I think I’m having a little boy just like you soon. Maybe one day you’ll be his teacher.”

The boy smiled. “That would be fun, I think.”

Anakin stood. “So do I. You be careful.” He spun on his heel and left the room, breaking into a sprint as he reached the main corridor.

***

Anakin stepped onto the veranda at 500 Republica. Threepio walked out to meet him.

“Master Anakin! It’s so good to see you again!”

“Threepio, where’s Padmé?”

The droid fidgeted. “She had to run an errand, sir. She didn’t tell me where she was going.”

Anakin walked around the room, feeling the residue of her excitement. “Well, wherever it was, she was sure happy about it.”

“Yes, sir, she was fairly glowing as she left the house.”

“When she gets back, please tell her that I’ve been called to Mustafar. We’ve found the Separatist leaders, and I’m going to finish this war.”

“That’s wonderful news!” Threepio exclaimed. “I will be sure to inform her!”

“Thank you, Threepio.”

***

Anakin ran down the passageway to Palpatine’s office and was surprised to find the door open, and Palpatine’s personal guards sprawled in the entryway. He stepped over their inert bodies and looked around. Palpatine’s chair was tipped backward, and lightsaber scores were on the wall.

Suddenly, he heard machinery start up, and turned toward the antechamber where Palpatine’s Senatorial podium was housed. He darted out of the office, and up around to the top tiers of the Senate chamber.

Inside, red and green lightsabers flashed and hummed. Yoda bounced around Senatorial pods, dodging Sidious. As Yoda jumped to a higher level, Sidious Force-lifted a pod and hurled it at him. Yoda ducked, but had to catch the next one thrown. Spinning it adeptly, he tossed it back at Sidious, who had to drop to his knees to get out of the way in time.

As Yoda sprang up, intent on wiping out the Sith scourge once and for all, Anakin leapt down to intercept him.

“The apprentice, you must be,” Yoda said wearily.

Anakin nodded. “For now.”

“Then deal with you first, I must. Short work, it will be.”

Anakin glared at the last remark. “That’s right, because Anakin Skywalker, even though he’s the one to fulfill the prophecy, doesn’t pose any sort of threat because he’s just a boy, is that it?”

“Misread, the prophecy was, if joined the Dark Side you have.”

“We’ll see,” Anakin growled. He channelled all his anger at being underestimated, ignored, cut down, and talked down to into his actions within the Force. Yoda floated into the air, then was tossed across the Senate chamber like a rag doll. As he hit the wall, his lightsaber – thrown at blinding speed by Anakin – streaked toward him and cut him in two.

“Good!” Sidious cheered from the pod where he’d been crouching. “Marvelous work, my young apprentice!”

Anakin turned to him. “’Young apprentice’, is it? I have more mastery over the Force than you could possibly dream of.”

Sidious looked astonished for all of a second before smiling. “I see. I see you haven’t learned anything from what I’ve taught you – that the Dark Side will always triumph.”

Anakin vaulted forward and swung his lightsaber. Sidious dodged it … barely. A mere eyebrow twitch betrayed his surprise that Anakin had gotten close enough to nick his robes.

“I’m done being someone’s apprentice!” Anakin roared. “I’m tired of being enslaved, lectured, and punished by people who don’t know me!”

“But my boy,” Sidious answered, “I do know you. Very well.”

“No! You know the horrible things I’ve done, and that’s it! That isn’t all I am!”

“Isn’t it? You’ve killed Jedi. You slaughtered the oldest living member of the Order. Not to mention that business with the Tuskens … and Count Dooku.”

Anakin wavered for a moment. “I … but those aren’t the only things I’ve done.”

“No, but they are important things to consider when looking at your character, aren’t they?”

Anakin looked down as though considering Sidious’ words, then looked up. His eyes were shot through with amber, and he smiled sadistically.

“Then, I’ve fallen and am unredeemable,” he said, “and that means I have no problem doing this.” He stretched out a hand toward Sidious’ chest and slowly squeezed his fingers together.

Sidious staggered, but held onto the side of the pod and sent a furious burst of Force lightning at Anakin. Anakin swept it away with barely a glance.

‘Is that all he has?’ he thought. ‘The great and powerful Sith Lord, and he’s just going to throw lightning at me. Doesn’t he know who I am, what I can do?’

Sidious cackled. “Usually, apprentices wait more than a day to attack their Masters. I suppose, though, I’m not surprised, seeing how you’re still so young … and immature.”

“Then why’d you pick me, if I’m so bad?”

“Because I thought you were talented, more so than the rest. Apparently I was mistaken, young Skywalker.”

Anakin bounded over pods toward Sidious. “Is that so?”

“Yes. Be honest with yourself, Anakin … even Padmé didn’t think you were talented enough, did she?”

Once again, Anakin faltered. “What?”

“Don’t pretend like you don’t know, Anakin. How often have her and Kenobi found excuses to spend time together? How often has he called you back to the temple, only to be leaving as you arrive? Are you really so gullible?”

“It can’t be. Why would they betray me? I’ve done everything in my power to make sure she’s taken care of, and to make sure Obi-Wan isn’t chastised about me anymore.”

“I guess, as always, what you were doing wasn’t enough,” Sidious answered, a self-satisfied smirk on his face. “Surely you’re not surprised, Anakin – it’s been like that ever since you tried to save your mother.”

Red swam in Anakin’s vision at Sidious’ last remark. He launched himself at Sidious, screaming his pain, rage, hatred, and guilt.

Sidious laughed and raised his lightsaber as Anakin flew at him … only to have it knocked out of his hands. It landed in a pod eight levels down. Amusement turned to shock when he had to call on all his resources to avoid Anakin’s frenzied strikes.

Sidious backed up against the edge of the pod. “Wait, Anakin, please ….”

Anakin backhanded him, sending him flying into another pod. As Sidious stood, he launched a concentrated stream of energy directly at his former Master’s heart.

The look of shock on Sidious’ face froze, and he clutched wildly at his heart. Anakin vaulted over to the pod Sidious was in.

“Looks like I’m not so lacking in talent after all … Master,” he hissed. Sidious raised his hands … and Anakin sliced through both of them. Sidious yelped and fell backward.

“I tire of this,” Anakin said, and drove his blade through Sidious’ heart. A visible dark cloud rose from the body, writhed, and dissipated. Sidious’ corpse was decaying at an alarming rate; Anakin prodded the body with his boot one time, then leapt down, collected Sidious’ lightsaber, and headed back to his speeder.

“It’s time to end this war once and for all,” he murmured.

Anakin emerged from his fighter and looked around. Lava ran underneath and around the station, while droids skated over the top of the molten river. The heat enveloped him, and he instantly began sweating inside the hooded robe.

He stormed the control center, searching for the Separatists. He found them celebrating the end of the war in the main control room.

“Good evening,” he said cordially to the gathered leaders. “I’m here to negotiate a peace treaty.”

“Anakin Skywalker!” Nute Gunray exclaimed. “But … how did the Jedi know where to find us?”

“I am no Jedi,” Anakin growled, as he sent his lightsaber spinning out to impale San Hill. As he called it back to his hand, the spinning blade decapitated Passel Argente. The remaining Separatists backed toward the doors. Po Nudo made a run for it, and was subsequently crushed when Anakin swept the doors closed. Shu Mai, Rune Haako, and Poggle the Lesser were the next to fall under Anakin’s whirling blade.

‘This is what a lightsaber is meant for – to perform the dance of death for those unworthy of drawing breath. It’s meant to cut, to rend, to kill. It wasn’t designed to look pretty, or just for defense. In the hands of a master, this blade is the Reaper himself, come to collect.’

Wat Tambor backed away from Anakin, hands raised in surrender, pleading for his life. Anakin’s response was Tambor’s dismemberment and decapitation.

The coppery scent of blood in the main control room tickled his nose as Anakin stalked toward the gibbering, shaking wreck that was Nute Gunray. Anakin didn’t even look down as he swung his lightsaber and sliced off the Neimoidian’s head in one slash.

He turned to face the carnage littering the room. “Gentlemen, I believe this will conclude our rather aggressive negotiations.” He saw the outline of a ship on a monitor as he walked out of the room. Recognizing Padmé’s skiff, he strode out of the control room, shutting the doors behind him. At the landing bay, he ran to meet her as she slowly made her way down the ramp.

“Hello, Padmé.”

“Anakin, there’s been a slaughter at the Senate! Master Yoda and Chancellor Palpatine were killed!”

“I know.”

“How … how do you know?”

“Trust me. I have everything …. “ His voice trailed off as he noticed another figure standing at the entrance ramp. “Obi-Wan.”

“Anakin.”

“Well, I can’t say I’m overly surprised. Why did you bring him here, Padmé?”

“He … he just came with me to help pilot, Anakin.”

“I see. Whose idea was it for him to come, yours or his?”

“Does that matter, Anakin?”

“It matters! Answer the question!”

“Well, it was a mutual decision,” she murmured.

“I spent quite some time trying to convince myself that this wasn’t going on, but now the evidence is overwhelming.”

“Going on? Anakin, what are you talking about?”

“You and Obi-Wan!”

Padmé opened her mouth, then closed it again. “We … “

Anakin’s stare bored into her. “Is the baby even mine?”

“Well … I’m pretty sure.”

“’Pretty sure,’” he mocked. “Nice to know this isn’t a spur-of-the-moment thing.”

“Anakin, we … I never meant for this to happen. It just … did. You of all people should understand that.”

“’Gee, Anakin, why are you mad?’” he parroted. “Please, Padmé, spare me.”

“Anakin, all I’m trying to say is-“

In an instant he was in front of her and wrapping his mechanical hand around her throat. “No!” he roared. “I’m through with your treachery!”

Obi-Wan sprinted down the ramp. “Anakin,” he started, before he ran into a Force wall and bounced backward.

“You’ll have your turn soon enough … Master,” Anakin snarled, and sent Obi-Wan hurtling back toward the skiff with one dismissive gesture.

He watched his fingers sink into Padmé’s throat as though he were watching a holovid.

‘I wonder if I should just snap her neck. I knew this had been going on, but I didn’t know it was for that long. How could he do this to me? How could she do this to me? And then expect me to just nod and understand? I shouldn’t be enjoying this … is that really what I am, some kind of monster? What if the baby is mine?’

He abandoned that disturbing train of thought when he felt her throat collapse, then snapped her neck and cast her body off to the side. Turning, he advanced on Obi-Wan.

“So. You take me on as a student, even though you don’t want to. All of your dislike comes out in little passive-aggressive ways, making me work that much harder just to make you happy. But then when I do something really impressive, you tell me I’m showing off or that that’s not how Jedi use the Force.”

“Anakin, I ….” Obi-Wan was endeavoring to stay away from Anakin, to no avail.

Anakin knew his former Master well enough to predict how he was going to move, and he used that advantage to slowly back Obi-Wan into a corner. “I’m not finished yet! You’re so intent on following the rules that you don’t realize that people are different. You were brought to the Order as a baby; I had to leave everything behind, and you didn’t seem to think it was right that I would have a problem with that! I wasn’t allowed to miss my mother, because ‘attachment is of the Dark Side’. What kind of rhetoric is that, Obi-Wan? You’re not allowed to love, to bond, to care for others? What kind of life does that leave you with?”

“Anakin, you’re wrong. The caution is against attachment, not – “

“And you’re telling me that love isn’t attachment?”

“Well … it is, but ….”

“No, Obi-Wan, you can’t have it both ways! I wasn’t allowed to live with Padmé openly because it would get me expelled from an Order supposedly created to help people. Meanwhile, the Order’s own people are forced either to be monastic, or to live a lie. The failure you set yourselves up for is astonishing.”

“’Yourselves’, Anakin? Do you no longer consider yourself a Jedi?”

“Do you consider me to be one, Obi-Wan?”

“After that slaughter in the Senate, no. No, I don’t.”

“Exactly. But only because Yoda was involved! If it had just been Sidious, I would have been hailed as a hero!”

“That’s because ….”

“No, Obi-Wan, there is no ‘because’. Even though I destroyed Sidious as gruesomely as I destroyed Yoda, I would be a hero because Sidious was ‘bad’. Even though I gave into my rage, and hatred, to be able to destroy him … it would be okay, because I was on the Jedi side, the supposed ‘right’ side, when I did it. How do you live with that double standard?”

“You are oversimplifying things, Anakin.”

“No, I’m not. I’m seeing both sides clearly for the first time. The Light are so self-absorbed, so buried in their dogma and meaningless rules that they’ve lost touch with the one thing that sets them apart from everyone else – their command of the Force. They’ve come to take it for granted – it’s now their right, and not a privilege. They’ve grown so self-centered that no one else could possibly be right.”

“And Sidious was better, was that it, Anakin?” Obi-Wan snapped.

“No, he wasn’t! But he at least was going to purge the galaxy of the bureaucratic nightmare that the Republic had become!” Anakin had gotten Obi-Wan pressed against the side of the skiff, and was right up in his face. “Bogged down in procedure, with the people they’d promised to represent left behind as Senators chased money, fame, and power. Megalomaniacs ruled, and that was all going to change. Are you telling me that this change could have been effected through normal means, Obi-Wan?”

Obi-Wan was silent, staring at Anakin.

“I didn’t think so. The Dark is just as self-centered as the Light – it cares only about power, greed, and all the base emotions. The Light went to the opposite extreme – caring so much about ideals that it lost emotion altogether. Is that how you wanted to live your life, Obi-Wan?”

“I knew nothing else, Anakin.”

Anakin pulled backward and assumed a casual stance. “How did you feel when you first realized how you felt about Padmé?”

“I … I tried to fight it.”

“You tried to fight one of the purest emotions that exist.”

“I wasn’t supposed to be feeling that way – not only because of the Order, but because she was your wife, and you are my friend, Anakin. Or were, anyway.”

“But once you accepted it?”

Obi-Wan debated silently. “It was amazing, Anakin. It was like the love I have for you – as a brother – multiplied and magnified into something I could barely comprehend.”

Anakin nodded. “But I was supposed to ignore it.”

“Anakin, there are rules … rules that are there for a reason.”

“What, to be broken? You obviously did.”

Obi-Wan started to reply, then fell silent.

“Exactly.”

Obi-Wan watched him sorrowfully. “Anakin, I can’t let you leave here.”

“Why?”

“Because of what you’ve become.”

“And what is that, Obi-Wan? I destroyed the Sith, I defeated the Separatist leaders … what more do you want from me?”

“While all those things are admirable, Anakin, the fact remains that you yourself have fallen from the path of the Light. You are the most powerful Force-sensitive in the history of the galaxy, and your complete lack of maturity and foresight have turned you into a very large liability.”

“So, I’m to be summarily executed for not following ancient dogma anymore.”

“That’s not it, Anakin. The purpose of the Jedi Order is to promote peace, and you have taken it upon yourself to become a one-man killing machine.”

“Completely unlike the Jedi out fighting the war, I presume,” Anakin remarked sarcastically.

“Yes!”

Anakin rolled his eyes. “No matter. You have a choice now, my former Master. You can join me … or you will fall here, never to rise again.”

“So I must betray the code I have lived by all my life in order to live.”

“You must realize the code you have lived by all your life is outmoded, and demands that its followers be automatons.”

“You will not sway me, Anakin. I was born to be a Jedi, and will die as such if need be.”

“So be it.”

***

The battle raged for hours, but at the end, there could be only one victor. Obi-Wan stood over Anakin on a bank of the river.

“I have the high ground!” he shouted, extinguishing his lightsaber. “It’s over!”

Anakin lunged up and forward, impaling his former Master and sending him staggering backward. Anakin caught Obi-Wan as he fell.

“I didn’t want it to come to this, Obi-Wan. But you wouldn’t listen.”

“I will never … abandon my idea