Title: In the End it Doesn't Even Matter

Author: Emjen Enla (Fanfiction)/emjen_enla (Wattpad)/emjenenla (Tumblr)

Teaser: The world ended with the pounding of a first on the front door. [Modern Detective AU]

Rating: PG-13/T

Canon/Timeline: Modern AU, NOT part of the Somebody to Lean On universe

Dominant Characters: Anakin Skywalker, Padmé Amidala, Ahsoka Tano

Pairings: Anidala

Warnings: false accusations of terrorism, various members of the Jedi Council being cruel and thoughtless (actually, in this AU all the Council members but Obi-Wan are total losers)

Notes:

-You all know the drill for my AUs by now.

-This story is inspired by two drawings on Tumblr. One is a Modern AU Anakin and Ahsoka by theresa-draws which inspired Ahsoka's appearance (which is different than it was in Somebody to Lean On). The other is by the amazing Shorelle. It's an image of Anakin and Obi-Wan as detectives (which—FYI—is what this AU ends up as). I'll put links to these images in the Tumblr version of this story so if you want to see them look me up over there; my username is emjenenla.

-This story is technically set in the United States, but I've added a couple states (heheheh). Places like Naboo and Tatooine are their own states, while places like Theed and Mos Espa are cities. Coruscant is the only exception; it's a large city just like it was in Somebody to Lean On.

-Hopefully I didn't botch the details too badly.

Disclaimer: I don't own Star Wars or "In the End" by Linkin Park.

The world ended with the pounding of a first on the front door.

Anakin Skywalker started out of a shallow, toss-and-turn sleep and sat up in bed. The bedroom was still shrouded in shadow, but there was light outside the curtains on the front window. Light that pulsed red and blue, painting a kaleidoscope of dull but terrifying colors across the bed and the far wall.

The pounding came again. Anakin's stomach clenched in fear. He turned to wake Padmé only to find that she was already awake, her dark eyes shining. Neither of them said anything, but Anakin could see the same thoughts running through his mind matched in those eyes. Without a word, he got out of the bed and crossed the rough wooden floors. He took a deep breath, reached out with a shamefully shaking hand and pushed the curtain slightly aside to look down at the front yard.

The front yard of the small hobby farm he and Padmé had bought and fixed up together was full of over half a dozen police cars. Anakin let the curtain fall shut and turned back to Padmé. She was sitting up now, watching him. Her pregnant belly bulged beneath her white nightgown. Her right hand pressed there, as if trying to reassure their unborn twins. "Police?" she asked.

"Police."

She took that with a nod and began to get out of bed. She was always the calmer one under pressure. Anakin envied that; he was a ball of nerves unless there was a murder people were counting on him to solve.

He stumbled over to the dresser looking for a shirt. He couldn't deal with the police in just his pajama pants. His hands were shaking so much he could barely open the drawers. Pull it together, Skywalker. You're a homicide detective. Most people would quail at the kind of stuff you deal with on a regular basis. You can handle this.

The pep talk didn't help much, but he was able to find a shirt and pull it over his head. Padmé opened the bedroom door and they stepped out into the hall.

The upstairs of the farmhouse was small. Just two bedrooms with a tiny bathroom and the stairs to the downstairs floor in between. The door to the other bedroom opened and Ahsoka came out, clad in an old tee-shirt and running shorts that she'd borrowed from Padmé. "Skyguy? Why are they here?"

The last few weeks had wrought a startling change on Ahsoka. Her eyes were sunken, her cheeks hollow and her chocolate skin had lost its luster. The hair she'd so proudly chemically straightened and dyed blue and white had grown out to display frizzy black roots. Still, the look of fear in her eyes was the same as it had in their childhood when she'd been scared to climb Tatooine's old water tower with him. Looking at those eyes, Anakin found a scrap of calm. It didn't matter what had changed, he would protect Ahsoka. That was his job, because she was his little sister (the whole adopted thing was a technicality and didn't matter).

"I'm not sure," he said, even though they all knew there was only one reason the police could be there in the middle of the night.

"Could there have been a murder?" Ahsoka asked.

The hope that shone in her eyes was so vibrant, it hurt to crush it, but there was no choice. "No. They would have called if they needed me to come in."

Ahsoka's face fell. "What should I do?"

"Hide in the basement," Padmé said. "Anakin and I will deal with the police."

Ahsoka nodded, teeth snagging her lower lip. "Okay."

They began to go downstairs. The staircase opened into the living room at the front of the house. It was against one wall and the front door was on the other wall next to the downstairs bathroom. Between the staircase and the front door were several windows. The shades of these windows were drawn as they had been ever since Ahsoka had come to stay with them, and Anakin was thankful for their foresight now.

They reached the bottom of the stairs at the same time and the officer outside banged on the door with enough force to rattle the hinges. "Skywalker! Open up! We know you're in there!"

Anakin flipped on the living room lights to placate them. "Coming!" he yelled and turned to Ahsoka. "Get down in the basement. Keep the lights off and wait. No matter what happens, don't come out until the police are gone."

She nodded vigorously. "Yes, Skyguy." And darted along the staircase wall and into the kitchen. Anakin listened to the basement door open and close before he turned to Padmé. They shared open silent moment and a soft kiss before they walked across the living room to the front door. Anakin took a deep breath and opened it.

Inspector Mace Windu of the Theed homicide division and Inspector Saesee Tiin of counter-terrorism were standing on the front stoop. Both looked very unhappy. Anakin's voice caught in his throat, but, per usual, Padmé came to his rescue. "Is something wrong?" she asked smoothly.

"We're here to search the house and grounds for Ahsoka Skywalker, who is suspected of the bombing of Theed City Hall three weeks ago," Tiin said, studying their faces.

Anakin's heart sunk down into his stomach. It was just as they'd feared. "Inspector Windu, sir," he said, "I work for the TPD. I was involved in the initial investigation of the bombing. Why do you think I'd be hiding the suspected perpetrator?"

"Ahsoka Skywalker happens to be your adopted sister," Windu said like Anakin didn't know that. "You can hardly be trusted to be impartial in this investigation. Governor Palpatine's good word was the only thing that kept this from happening a long time ago, but in light of the lack of other leads, he has agreed to step back and allow us to do our job."

"Your job?" Anakin asked. "Inspector Windu, you're not even part of counter-terrorism."

"Anakin," Padmé said sharply before he could say more. "Relax. We have nothing to hide," with that bold-faced lie, she turned back to the police inspectors. "With respect, sirs, before we allow you inside, we would like to the search warrant." Somehow, even though she was almost nine months pregnant and standing at her front door in a nightgown in the middle of the night, she managed to sound like she was in a courtroom arguing a case before a judge.

Tiin produced the warrant and handed it to her. Anakin looked at it for a second over her shoulder, it was all in order. Padmé nodded briskly and handed the paper back. "Then you can come in and look around." She stepped back into the living room and Anakin had no choice but to follow her.

The police filed into the house after them. "On the couch," Tiin said with a jerk of his head. "And don't move."

Anakin and Padmé did as they were told. They couldn't hold hands without appearing nervous, so they sat close enough together that their thighs touched. Windu and Tiin loitered in the living room while the other officers worked, looking at the pictures on the mantelpiece and color of the walls. Two counter-terrorism officers stood guard on either side of the couch. One was a middle-aged woman Anakin didn't know and the other was his friend Tru Veld. Tru looked as nervous as Anakin felt. Anakin watched Tru's long, pale fingers tap on the butt of his service handgun and tried to work up the guts to say something to him. It might be good to break the tension.

After several minutes, Barriss Offee, a young dark-haired girl who had recently joined counter-terrorism, came down the steps from upstairs. "Well?" Tiin asked turning to her.

"Two bedrooms and a bathroom upstairs," Barriss said professionally. "Bedroom on the left contains a queen bed, a closet and a chest of drawers. Bedroom on the right is partially done up as a children's nursery, but with a set of bunkbeds—old by the look of them. Both the queen bed and the lower bunk have been slept in."

Windu turned to Anakin and Padmé, eyebrows raised. "Do you have any company tonight that you neglected to mention?"

Anakin felt like he was going to throw up, but he forced his voice to sound normal when he spoke. "No. That's where I slept," he jerked his head at Padmé. "My punishment for daring to argue with her."

Padmé caught on immediately and turned to him with a convincing pout on her face. "Peanut butter and pickle sandwiches are not gross!"

Anakin didn't need to fake his disgust. That was not a thought he needed when he was already nauseous. "Sure, if you don't have any taste buds. Honestly, Padmé, I'm not sure what those pregnancy hormones have done to you."

Padmé opened her mouth to retort, an expression of rage on her face, but Tiin cut in. "Alright, we get the picture. Anything else, Officer Offee?"

"Yes," Barriss said. "Several of the drawers in the bedroom with the bunkbeds contain the clothing of a young woman."

"We don't have an attic," Padmé said, "so we have to find other places to store things. Those clothes are all mine."

Anakin was impressed. That one was entirely true. There was a reason Padmé was the lawyer and he was the lowly homicide detective.

Tiin nodded. "Anything else?"

"That was all the obvious stuff," Barriss said. "Would you like me to do a more in-depth search?"

"No," Tiin said. "Wait until there's more reason to do so."

Anakin bit his tongue. So far so good. Now, if the police could just miss Ahsoka in the basement they'd be home free.

Silence descended over the living room again. Anakin listed to officers banging around in the kitchen and then down in the basement. They were being very thorough, he hoped Ahsoka had gotten better at hiding since they'd been kids.

The minutes dragged by, then Anakin heard something that froze his blood. A high pitched, enraged scream. Ahsoka. All the police perked up like dogs shown meat. Anakin quit with the whole "not nervous" thing and took Padmé's hand and squeezed with all the force he could. She squeezed back with the same intensity.

Footsteps pounded on the basement steps and Gregory Wolffe—another member of counter-terrorism—dragged Ahsoka through the kitchen and into the living room. She was writhing like a snake as the officer pulled her in front of the couch and shoved her onto her knees before the police inspectors. "Please, this is insane!" Ahsoka shrieked. "I'm innocent! I never set that bomb! I swear!"

The two police inspectors looked down at her with stone faces. "The judge will be the decider of that," Tiin said.

Windu glanced up at the officers who had gathered in the living room. He said nothing, just jerked his head at Anakin and Padmé. They must have discussed this beforehand, because within seconds Tru and the other officers had lunged forward and shoved Anakin and Padmé off the couch and onto their knees on the hard floor. Anakin tried to hold onto Padmé's hand, but they were ripped apart as the officer behind him forced his hands behind his head. Padmé grunted as one of the officers gave her an unnecessarily hard shove.

"Hey!" Ahsoka yelled. "Be gentle! She's pregnant!"

"That excuse has been used already," Windu said.

"But-" Ahsoka started to argue.

"Ahsoka," Padmé said in her "lawyer voice." Ahsoka's mouth snapped closed with an audible click of teeth.

Silence fell over the room. Windu looked them over. "Interesting," he said. "I would not have pegged as a terrorist, Skywalker."

"I'm not a terrorist," Anakin snarled, "and neither are they."

"Perhaps that would be convincing if that girl had actually turned herself in three weeks ago."

"I didn't do anything!" Ahsoka protested again. "Why am I supposed to hand myself in for something I didn't do?"

"Well hiding out in your brother and sister-in-law's farmhouse doesn't look good for you," Windu said.

He was right. Anakin had only seen some of the evidence (he wasn't part of counter-terrorism and Commissioner Yoda had though it best if he wasn't involved), but he'd seen enough to know that the evidence was damning. That was part of the reason he and Padmé had hid Ahsoka here; they both knew the case against her would be difficult for anyone to fight.

Tiin stepped forward. His face was completely blank, but his eyes were focused on Ahsoka like she might teleport away from them. "Ahsoka Tano Skywalker, you are under arrest for the bombing of Theed City Hall. You have a right to remain silent, anything you say can and will be used against in a court of law."

Wolffe snapped handcuffs onto Ahsoka's skinny wrists. She struggled but he shoved her down onto the floor and held her there with a hand pressed against the back of her head. "But this is a mistake!" Ahsoka wailed. "I didn't do anything!"

Both police inspectors ignored her. Tiin took a deep breath and turned to Anakin and Padmé. There still wasn't a hint of expression on his face, but Anakin knew what was coming next.

"Anakin Skywalker and Padmé Naberrie Skywalker," Tiin said, "you are under arrest for harboring a suspected terrorist. You have a right to remain silent, anything you say can and will be used against you."

Ahsoka's voice rose into an anguished howl. "No! Leave them alone! They were just helping me! You have nothing on them!"

Tiin showed his first visible emotion of the night as he raised his fingers to pinch the bridge of his nose. The expression was exasperation. "Will someone please get her outside and into a car? I can't hear myself think."

Wolffe hauled Ahsoka to her feet, he and the woman officer Anakin had seen before dragged her out the front door together. Ahsoka never stopped kicked, struggling and screaming. The door swung closed behind them and the living room descended into silence again.

After a few tense seconds the officers holding Anakin and Padmé cuffed them. Tru tried to put on Anakin's cuffs, but the young officer's hands were shaking so much that he fumbled with the cuffs. Someone shoved him aside and finished the job with much more efficiency.

"Get them into the cars too," Tiin said. "Let's get back to the station."

The officers holding Padmé started to pull her to her feet. She and Anakin stretched towards each other desperately. Their lips brushed in a tiny almost-kiss, then Padmé was pulled away. The officers lead her out the door. Unlike Ahsoka, she didn't resist; it was pointless.

Tiin had turned away to talk to Barriss and Officer Koon about searching the house more thoroughly. Windu stepped closer and looked down at Anakin. "Despite all the complaints I had about you, I always believed you had the makings of a fine detective," he said quietly. "It's a pity you chose to throw it all away like this."

Anakin didn't say anything, there was nothing he could say that would help this situation. Windu shared a look with the other officers. They dragged Anakin to his feet and lead him out of the house.

The front yard was still full of police cars, all still flashing blue and red lights. Anakin could make out the figures of Ahsoka and Padmé in two of the vehicles. Tru darted ahead of Anakin and the other officers and opened the door of a third car, he refused to meet Anakin's gaze.

The officers shoved Anakin into the car and slammed the door with an ominous and final clunk. Anakin leaned back in the seat, closed his eyes and prepared himself to meet his fate.

Anyone who's watched season 5 of TCW knows who the real bomber is.

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Emjen