A/N: Thank you for being so patient, everyone! Comments are always appreciated.

-poplitealqueen

Sometime later, while still drunk upon the newly opened Force bond with Obi-Wan, Anakin was not called to Palpatine's offices. He simply went. Obi-Wan did not hear him leave.

He did not see Dar Wac at the receptionist's desk. In fact, the entire area seemed remarkably devoid of people. Anakin didn't bother to take much notice of it.

As he entered the main office, Anakin found it completely deserted.

Suspicion immediately took hold, and he scanned his surroundings warily with on hand upon his lightsaber. He expanded his senses, catching a static, dark presence in the small, private office beyond.

Taking one last look around, Anakin walked within.

In the sunken center of the metallic and black room, Palpatine sat in a tall, black chair with a large, red projection screen spread out before him. Anakin only caught a glimpse before the image flickered, froze, and then dissolved into nothingness, but it had almost looked like Naboo.

His curiosity quickly faded when Palpatine turned and regarded him with a relaxed, disturbing smile.

"Lord Vader," he said, tone bordering on bored. "I did not summon you."

"No, my Master. You did not," Anakin didn't offer him a smile in return, only walked the few steps down to stand tall before his Master. "I came of my own accord."

There was an ecstatic, sick sort of joy that came out of having a Dark Lord of the Sith forced to crane his neck up to look at him, and Anakin devoured the feeling with verve, letting it bolster him up.

Palpatine stared up at him, eyes nearly lost beneath his warped brow. He still kept that same, sickening smile.

"I have a request." said Anakin.

"As do I," Palpatine finally rose to his feet, abandoning all pretense of disability to rise in one, fluid motion. "Kneel."

Anakin didn't. "Whatever you did to Obi-Wan, I want you to break it." he let the dark warning seep into his tone.

"Foolish boy," the Emperor said, affectionately. "I did nothing but bring out what was already there. You should be thanking me."

The darkness swirled around them like a dance, and Anakin felt that familiar, irrational anger swell beneath his rib cage. His hands clenched into fists and he narrowed his eyes, attempting to control the fury and urge to strike his Master. Palpatine watched with approval.

"I gave him back the Force, to fight against whatever you did."

Palpatine's smile crept down into an almost-frown. "So you came here to tell me of your failure? How proactive of you."

"No, my Master," Anakin snarled. "I came here to tell you that you do not have dominion over what is mine," His voice lowered. "I am more powerful with the Dark Side then even you. You cannot hurt those I care about."

If that hit a nerve, as Anakin hoped it would, Palpatine didn't show it. His voice remained level, patronizing.

"You are right. I cannot hurt those you love. Not when you do that so perfectly well on your own."

Anakin's bared his teeth, eyes igniting.

"You should fear me."

"What do expect will come out of giving Kenobi the Force?" Palpatine suddenly asked, ignoring Anakin's show of rage. "Do you expect him to embrace the Dark Side?"

"He'll do anything for me," Anakin answered, assured. "He loves me."

"I'm sure he does," Palpatine's voice was whisper soft. "Why did you come here to tell me that, my apprentice?"

Anakin took a deep breath, before smirking crookedly. He took one step back, and then another. "Soon, you'll be unnecessary. You have no power over me."

Palpatine smiled at him in turn as Anakin turned to leave.

"No, of course not."

'''

Obi-Wan did not hear Anakin return, or crawl back into bed beside him all but bursting with pride.

'''

Obi-Wan woke to Anakin screaming.

He sat up just as the sounded faded into desperate whispers. He turned to see Anakin sitting hunched over, clutching at his head with his eyes squeezed shut, rocking back and forth.

"Tee maee. Kolka tee maee. Meecooda tee. Nobata. Nobata, youkesa," Anakin kept muttering, and he jerked when Obi-Wan placed a light touch on his sweat-soaked back.

"Anakin?"

The younger man was on him in an instant, eyes wild as he clasped his flesh hand around Obi-Wan's neck and gripped it as hard as he could.

"Cha kark couma mi. Bidkana koumhaptecee. Bidkana koumhaptecee!" Anakin snarled at him, pressing him back down onto the bed. It had been years since Obi-Wan had heard Anakin speak his first language. He'd only ever done it as a boy when he'd been startled or scared. He- Obi-Wan's thoughts were promptly cut off when Anakin added his mechanical hand, the strength behind it nearly collapsing Obi-Wan's throat.

This was no warning, no kriffed up plea for Obi-Wan to love him. Anakin was trying to kill him.

"Chateua... " Anakin hissed. " Chateua, chateua, chateua."

Obi-Wan concentrated the Force between his skin and Anakin's hands, putting all of his strength into getting some space between them.

He managed just enough to gulp down air, and bellowed as loud as he could, with his physical and mental voice.

"ANAKIN STOP." ANAKIN STOP.

The effect was instantaneous. The dull glint in his eyes passed, and Anakin blinked at him with eyes that swirled between venom-yellow and blue, like pollution in a clear sky.

His grip on Obi-Wan's throat loosened, and he moved off and away from the bed, stumbling in his haste.

"D-Dobra kouzago-ake," Anakin paused, as if shocked by the fact he was speaking Huttese. He quickly switched to Basic. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry...Obi-Wan?"

Obi-Wan coughed in answer as he moved away on instinct. He rubbed at his neck, at the fingerprint marks that must surely be there. Anakin's eyes followed the movement, bright with tears, and he choked back a sob.

"Oh stars," he looked down at his shaking hands. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry..."

He was out the door before Obi-Wan had even regained his voice.

"Anakin *cough*" Obi-Wan pulled himself out of the bed and ran out after him, catching Anakin breathing heavily in the hallway. "Wait. What is it? What happened?"

Anakin's chest heaved like he'd just run a marathon, but he managed to keep his voice almost-level and jerked his arm out of Obi-Wan's grasp.

"I don't want to talk about it."

Anakin slapped the panel to open the front door, and stormed out in a tumultuous flurry of emotion in the Force.

Obi-Wan followed after him, attempting to soothe the flayed parts of Anakin's mind through their bond, but to no avail. Anakin was in a complete panic.

"Anakin!"

Anakin glanced over his shoulder, but didn't stop moving.

"Leave me alone, Obi-Wan. I-I don't want to hurt you again."

But Obi-Wan continued to follow him all the way out to the landing platform, and the frigid wind currents made his skin goose-pimple as soon as he stepped outside.

Yet Anakin, who had never been one to stand even a slight chill, stood seemingly unfazed, before crumpling near the edge of the platform, legs swinging over the side, and covered his face with his hands.

After a moment, Obi-Wan sat down beside him.

Anakin dropped his head in Obi-Wan's lap, inviting his frenzied hair to be smoothed and played with. Obi-Wan did neither

"Was it one of your nightmares?"

Obi-Wan had only heard about Anakin's more recent precognitions secondhand from Padmé. Ever since the ones he'd had about his mother years ago, Anakin had refused to show Obi-Wan anything. He'd hoped that meant that the younger man was no longer plagued by them, but he had been wrong. Anakin had simply not trusted him.

Obi-Wan didn't expect to be told anything now, either, but Anakin proved him wrong.

"Yeah. It was them again," Anakin swallowed, talking quietly, as if he feared to give his vision a voice. "Nightmares. It's how it always starts."

"The visions?" Obi-Wan asked.

"The visions," Anakin agreed, and began an explanation like Obi-Wan had no idea what he was talking about. Obi-Wan did, of course, but he also knew allowing Anakin to talk about it would help. Give him some semblance of control over them, and calm him down. As it had in the past. "It starts out with the-the nightmares. I'll get them every night, and then...then I'll start to see them when I'm awake. It's how it always happens," a slight sniff, and Anakin was wrapping his arms tight around Obi-Wan's torso. "I can't do it again."

"What were they about? Do you recall?"

Anakin shook his head. "No. I just...I know you were there, and something was wrong. Horribly wrong. And it was my fault."

Obi-Wan could feel the fringes of panic beginning to close in on the younger man again, the fright spilling across their bond like a tidal wave. Apprehension began to grow in Obi-Wan as well, and he fought to keep it at bay.

Anakin was terrified. Not just for himself, but for Obi-Wan.

Resting his hand on the back of Anakin's head, Obi-Wan began to gently run his fingers over the tangles in the way he knew Anakin liked.

"You need to be calm. Remember that visions from the Force can be misinterpreted," he gave a reassuring smile when Anakin turned to look at him with one wet eye. "I want you to close your eyes and think, Anakin. Attempt to remember it."

Anakin's voice came out in a terrified whisper. "I don't want to."

"I'll be right here with you," Obi-Wan closed his eyes and allowed a small bit of his consciousness to peel off into Anakin's. That tiny Force tendril stayed close. "You don't need to fear. Show me what it was you saw."

Obi-Wan felt Anakin take a deep breath, and then he was being tugged along as Anakin began to remember.

The memory was dark, fuzzy, and painful. Obi-Wan caught snippets of conversation; a voice that was nearly like his, infants crying, and-

You are destruction personified; death trapped in flesh. You were not made to be loved. You were made to be feared.

Obi-Wan tore himself away just as Anakin forced him out, shaking and sobbing. The voice rang in Obi-Wan's head like the throb of a bell. It was him, yet not. It was someone he could almost be, might be, could be. A bloodshine shadow standing on a precipice of darkness.

Anakin squeezed his arms tighter around him, and pushed him back until Obi-Wan was caught between him and the durasteel of the landing deck.

"Don't think about it, don't think about it." Anakin seemed to be saying it as much to himself as he was to Obi-Wan.

Obi-Wan didn't care to think about whatever that had been, either. He'd never seen a vision so...deliberate, as if it had been tampered with. He filed it away to discuss at a better time, and wrapped his arm around Anakin's trembling shoulders.

"I won't. Shhh. It's gone. Ani, it's gone."

"I don't want you to change, Obi-Wan," Anakin held him closer, his Force signature wavering with unease and silently pleading for relief. "I can't lose you."

After a second's hesitation, Obi-Wan opened up his mental shields once more, wrapping them gently around Anakin. Soothing, soft, protective.

"I'm right here," he said. "I'm not going anywhere."

Anakin's rapid breathing slowly returned to normal, and as it did his face resting against Obi-Wan's neck shifted from innocent to...something else. His nose dragged along the bruised flesh, followed by his lips.

There was such a thing as being emotional unstable, but this was ridiculous.

"Do you want me to stop?" Anakin murmured, sensing Obi-Wan's sentiment.

Obi-Wan sighed, heart thudding erratically. Yes. "No." he said.

Obi-Wan felt a small, grateful grin against his skin, and nearly let out a yelp when Anakin suddenly bit down.

"Blast it all! Warn me before you do that." Obi-Wan felt a soft kiss against the bite, and Anakin sucked on it for a moment before pulling far enough away to speak, a slight sniffle still in his voice.

"Sorry..." he tilted his head back down, running his tongue once across the mark. As he did so, he reached up a hand to push aside some of his dark curls, nearly black in the night, exposing his own throat. " You don't need to warn me."

He went back to sucking, and Obi-Wan paused only for a moment before bending his own head forward and latching onto Anakin's tan neck. He bit down gently, rolling his jaw in such a way that Anakin actually did yelp.

You're better at this than I am, he said through their bond.

Obi-Wan snorted. I am older and more experienced, you know.

You could have fooled me. Anakin sent the sensation of feeling Obi-Wan's pulse against his tongue along their link, and Obi-Wan groaned. I don't think I've seen you kiss another being since Master Qui-Gon.

Memory flashed across both of their minds, of a younger Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon sharing a secret kiss next to a newly repaired hyperdrive core...

It was rude of you to spy. Obi-Wan said, lapping at the light indents his teeth had made.

He was aware of Anakin rolling his eyes, and shrugged his shoulder up in retaliation.

Hey! It wasn't my fault you two were so obvious about it.

Stop mentioning it.

Anakin leaned up, moving to another spot along Obi-Wan's throat. Fine.

Obi-Wan licked across the indents of his teeth once more, taking his time. He could feel himself hardening already, and with the cold metal of the landing deck beneath him and Anakin's warm body wrapped atop him, he knew it wouldn't be long before this became extremely uncomfortable.

Obi-Wan grabbed one of Anakin's hands and started to bring it between their bodies, when Anakin suddenly pulled back.

"What are you doing?" there was an odd fear in his voice that Obi-Wan couldn't place. Anakin had had sex before, he was sure of that, and by the look of things that was what Anakin wanted now.

Wasn't it?

Obi-Wan blinked as he sat up, gestured vaguely at his crotch.

"You didn't notice?"

Anakin glanced down and bit his lip. Obi-Wan could sense a whorl of contrary emotions on the other side of their bond. Anakin didn't seem sure of what he wanted at all. That struck Obi-Wan as odd, because if there was one good thing to come out of Anakin Falling, it was that Anakin alwaysknew what he desired now.

Obi-Wan wondered if it had anything to do with his vision. "Is something wrong?"

"No, no. Just," Anakin pulled a hand through his hair. "Not that. I...I don't want that," he gave Obi-Wan a sheepish look, a rather comical thing on a Sith Lord. "Unless you really want to, I...um."

Obi-Wan blinked at him again, and then relaxed back.

"It's all right, Anakin. You don't need to do anything," Obi-Wan raised an eyebrow, glad that enough levity had returned to him that he could joke like this. "I can handle it myself."

Anakin smirked tremulously, and leaned atop him again, chin resting on Obi-Wan's chest.

"I love you, Obi-Wan."

Obi-Wan tried not to grunt at the delicious friction rubbing against him. "And I you. Would you care to go back inside now?"

He felt Anakin tense. "No. Let's go somewhere else. C'mon."

Anakin rose to his feet and grabbed Obi-Wan by the shoulders to rise along with him. Then he was leading them both over to the speeder, bare feet pattering softly on the landing deck.

Obi-Wan was left on the passenger side as Anakin sped to the driver's. He rubbed his hands down his arms when a strong gust of cold wind blew past, yet Anakin still seemed unaffected.

"You don't even have the ignition key-"

Anakin jangled something as he got inside and unlocked Obi-Wan's door. "Yes, I do."

"-or any shoes." Obi-Wan finished jaggedly.

"Is it really that big of a deal?" Anakin asked, looking up at him expectantly.

Obi-Wan curled his own bare toes and sighed. "To me it is," Anakin continued to watch him, face still flushed from their impromptu necking. "You should at least get a tunic on."

"I have a spare robe in the boot of the speeder," Anakin waved his hand inside. "C'mon, Obi-Wan."

Obi-Wan stood there. His erection was already beginning to fade away, from the cold and inattention, and with it his excitement. Obi-Wan just wanted to get back to bed.

"Go without me-" he began, but Anakin cut him off before he could finish.

"No," said Anakin, in a tone that brooked no argument. "I'm giving you a chance to be away from the apartment, and it isn't to visit Palpatine." Obi-Wan felt a shard of cold dread and disgust stab through him, making him rub at his arms all over again.

Anakin noticed, and gave him a sympathetic smile. "I promise you'll like it. Trust me. I owe you after almost killing you in bed, don't I?"

Obi-Wan finally rose to the bait, knowing Anakin could sit and argue all night.

"What is it you want to show me exactly?"

Anakin's smile stretched into a wide, bright grin. "I'm going to take you to meet my children, Obi-Wan."

Huttese Translations

*Tee maee. Kolka tee maee. Meecooda tee. Nobata. Nobata, youkesa.: Not again. Please not again. I can't. No. No, stop.
*Cha kark couma mi. Bidkana koumhaptecee. Bidkana koumhaptecee!:Do not fucking touch me. Stay away. Stay away!
*chateua:die
*Dobra kouzago-ake: I'm sorry.