Forbidden

PAIRING: Luke x Vader

WARNING: AU/Incest

DISCLAIMER: Not mine. No money made.

CHAPTER NINE: SHADOWS OF THE PAST

“What has happened to us, Father? What are we?” Luke heard himself ask in a small, uncertain voice.

Vader’s brow furrowed slightly as if he couldn’t understand the questions or the emotions behind them. The Dark Lord seemed to take all their new abilities in stride. Luke thought, ‘Maybe it has something to do with the fact that he’s always felt he should be able to do more, be this all-powerful being, while I didn’t even know about the Force until a few years ago. I was just a Tatooine farm boy dreaming of flying.’

Vader placed a comforting hand on Luke’s shoulder, his thumb rubbed gently over Luke’s collarbone. “Child, we are who we should be: the Balance of the Force. Do you not feel it?”

Luke nodded slowly even though he was uncertain what it meant to be the Balance of the Force. He did feel something … a sense of rightness in being with his father. But Luke did not have any special understanding as to what he should do with the powers he had been gifted with.

“I’m just … afraid. I know Jedi are not supposed to feel fear, but I do.”

“Everyone feels fear. It is only if it rules you that trouble comes of it. But why are you afraid?”

“Our powers … they’re so extreme. We could do something … something terrible, something that can’t be undone.” Luke stared at his hands as if they already were stained by potential crimes. “An individual’s effect on the universe is like throwing a stone into a still pond. The ripples of that individual’s actions spread out into infinity. When I bring someone bring someone back to life, aren’t I changing the universe forever?”

Vader’s brow furrowed. “Yes, but you do the same thing when you stop a laser bolt from hitting its intended target. Or for example, when I saved those slaves from their fate. Whether I used the Force or our ion cannons to stop the slavers, does it matter if the end result is the same?” Vader gestured out towards the ships that were being slowly pulled inside the Executor. “Every act we do, large or small, affects the universe in unknowable ways. You and I are just able to do more large things with the powers we have.”

“But what about the fact that the troopers were resurrected with greater mental acuity and physical prowess? They are changed radically from what they were before. That is different than if I had been on the transport with them when they were hit and I turned aside that blast and saved their lives that way, isn’t it?”

“I cannot deny that the troopers are indeed changed by their experience. But if you were not meant to use your powers to bring people back to life then you would not have been granted that ability, Luke. The Force must want you to use these powers.”

“Yes, but isn’t it how I use them and who I help that matters? What if the Force means me only to save banthas or something and not people, but the powers work just the same on either?”

With a smile at the bantha comment, Vader said, “Then you would know that. You would feel it. Did you sense anything wrong when you brought those troopers back to life?”

Luke remembered the calm he felt as he entered the troopers’ room, how it was so easy to help them, how right it felt to help them. “I felt like I was doing something that I was always meant to do. But Father I didn’t know they were dead!”

“I saw the result of your helping those men, Luke. When I walked into that room, you were glowing with what you’d done. Acting against the Force’s will could never produce such powerful positive emotions in you.”

Luke rubbed his hands together, trying to hide the fact that they were trembling from his father. But Vader noticed, knew Luke’s emotional state, like he always did.

“I can sense you are still troubled, young one. Perhaps the archives on Black Heart will assuage some of your fears.”

“Or just raise other ones,” Luke said wearily. “You are so calm and accepting of all this. I envy you your certainty.

Vader’s lips quirked into a wry smile. “All I need do to be certain that what we are doing is right is to compare where I was just two days ago, in constant pain, unable to breathe and … alone … to where I am today. That tells me that what we are and what we are becoming is not to be feared, but embraced.”

A lightness settled in Luke’s chest as he heard his father outlining some of the good things that had come out of their powers in such a short time. “I had not thought of it like that.”

The Dark Lord’s hand moved from Luke’s shoulder to stroke his son’s cheek. Luke found himself nuzzling the caressing fingers, but then abruptly pulled himself back. Their relationship was incestuous, forbidden under Imperial law and most moral codes, so it had to be kept hidden. His father was smiling though, a slow, amused smile. With a mental nudge from Vader, Luke glanced around the Bridge. No one was paying attention to them. All of the officers were assiduously going about their tasks. Admiral Piett was staring out the viewport at the slavers’ ships being brought inside the Star Destroyer with the tractor beam, his eyes never leaving the plastiglas. It was as if Luke and Vader weren’t even there.

Luke sent through their bond, ‘*The Force, Father? You are blocking their awareness of us with it?*’

‘*Of course. No one gets to observe our lovemaking unless we chose to allow it.*’

‘*I saw Ben use the Force to change a couple of people’s perceptions once, but twenty people at a time and so completely? Were you able to do this before?*’

‘*Not with this ease. Although in general, the Dark Side is more attuned to altering the perceptions of others. But enough discussion of this for now. There are more pressing problems to deal with such as our new … visitors. Would you care to accompany me to the Hanger Bay to release the slaves?*’ Vader’s amber eyes glowed deep gold for a moment.

Luke nodded. Underneath Vader’s gentle mind-talk with him, there was a dark river of anger and hate towards the slavers. The depth of Vader’s emotions was greater than Luke expected. ‘It is almost as if it’s personal, as if he wishes revenge. Father had some kind of run-in with slavers in the past … but when? And how? I know so little of his history.’

Luke felt his father release the mind control on the people on the Bridge. Admiral Piett’s head swiveled around to look over at them. Piett had a tentative smile on his face as he approached Luke. He stood there with his hands fluttering at his sides as if he wished to reach out and touch Luke, but didn’t dare.

“I just wanted to thank you, Lord Skywalker. Trooper Trans … Damon, my nephew, is a very good man. And it was a terrible thing to have … lost him. If there is anything that I or my family can do to repay you in any small way for bringing him back to us just say it and it will be so.”

Luke felt his face heating with a blush and wondered how he was supposed to appear all Jedi-like with his cheeks as red as a Kilmarian fire pot. “There is no need to thank me, Admiral. I was happy to help in any way I could.”

Slowly, Admiral Piett took one of Luke’s hands in his own. As if reading Luke’s conflicted feelings about his new powers, the Admiral said softly, “What you did … can do … is a miracle. Don’t fear it.”

Luke stared into Admiral Piett’s grey eyes, unable to speak as emotion clogged his throat. Piett was showing Luke the positive aspects of what he could now do, just as Vader had. He could feel Piett’s gratefulness for Damon’s renewed life through their handclasp. Luke’s own gratefulness for Piett’s kind words was only slightly less. The irony was that a few days ago he and Piett were enemies and Luke would not have allowed himself to think of this man as capable of kindness. Leia and Mon Mothma’s portrayals of Imperials as unfeeling and cruel fractured as he looked at the smiling face of Admiral Piett. Realizing that his thoughts had taken him far away and his silence was too long, Luke stuttered out, “Thank you, Admiral. I will … will take your words to heart.” Luke squeezed Piett’s hand and gently released it.

“Admiral, we will discuss exactly what is to be said about the troopers’ … return … later. Until then, you will not discuss Luke’s abilities with anyone. Do I make myself clear?"

Piett straightened up. "Yes, Lord Vader."

"Come, Luke. Let us go.” Vader took Luke’s elbow and steered him off the Bridge and into the lift.

When the lift doors closed behind them, Luke slumped against one of the lift’s interior walls. He shut his eyes for a moment. He gasped as his father placed gentle kisses on his closed eyelids. He had not sensed Vader move and the light pressure of soft lips over his closed eyes was incredibly soothing. Vader began to rub his shoulders, easing the knots that had sprung up since watching the slavers’ fighters disintegrate into red blooms of fire and wreckage. Vader reached out with the Force and stopped the lift doors from opening on their floor, locking them within the small chamber.

“Father, what are you—”

“Relax, young one. You are wound so tight I fear you will shatter into a million pieces any moment. Let me help you.”

“But shouldn’t we … the slaves … our duty …”

“We have time. The ships are not yet all inside the bay and the troopers must assemble to meet them. You need to let go, Luke. Trust me on this.”

And Luke did. So easy to forget the suffering of the slaves while his father continued to kiss him, mapping his forehead, temples and cheek bones with chaste presses of lips. So easy to forget the fear of what they were and what they were becoming as Vader’s lush mouth ghosted along Luke’s neck, nibbling and sucking on the tender flesh over the pulse points on his throat. Sparks of desire ran through Luke’s lithe form.

“Gods, father … oh!”

Luke’s hands fisted in his father’s thick hair. The Dark Lord didn’t resist him as he pulled Vader’s lips to his own. Vader’s release of control was intoxicating. Luke’s tongue begged for entrance and Vader’s mouth yielded. He wanted to drown in his father’s taste of sweetness and salt. One of the older man’s strong legs insinuated itself between Luke’s and the boy couldn’t help pressing and rubbing up against it.

‘*Give in to the sensations, Luke. Give in to me.*’

‘*Yes, Father, yes. Whatever you want ...*’

Vader groaned at his acquiescence. Luke rocked his groin harder against his father’s thigh, needing to touch more, wishing they were naked and it was slick skin against skin. The Dark Lord’s powerful hands gripped Luke’s waist and held him in place. Luke moaned and thrashed against the confinement of Vader’s body pinning him against the wall of the lift. The thrill of the forbidden coursed through Luke’s veins. Their love would be labeled by most as unnatural, but it felt beautiful, primal even, to Luke. He craved to have the same semen that gave him life flood against his bare skin and fill his body. He never wanted to forget that the man making love to him was his father. He whimpered into their kiss as his cock grew even harder. So wrong for these thoughts to excite him even more. But it felt so right.

‘*Father, want you so much. Need you so much. Can’t be without you.*’

‘*Never let you go, Luke. You are mine. My boy. My beautiful boy.*’

‘*I’m going to cum … oh, Father, I can’t stop …*’

Vader’s hands went to the button of Luke’s pants, quickly undoing the fly and easing Luke’s aching cock out. Luke hissed as the twin sensations of warm and cold engulfed his sensitized flesh: the warmth of his father’s hand and the coolness of the outside air. Just a few strokes and Luke was exploding all over the lift’s floor. His semen was a spray of white against the gleaming black tiles. Luke panted and gasped, leaning heavily against his father’s body.

“You haven’t had your release yet, Father,” Luke said after a moment as he felt the press of Vader’s organ like an iron bar against his stomach.

“I didn’t wish to ruin yet another pair of pants today,” Vader huffed softly.

“Let me help you avoid that.” Luke tentatively moved to undo his father’s pants. The brush of his fingers over Vader’s groin caused the older man to groan.

“Luke … would you let me … no, perhaps it is too soon for that.”

“What?”

His father’s eyes were almost black with desire when Luke gazed up into them.

“I want to … fuck your mouth, Luke. Would you let me do that? Get down on your knees for me?”

Luke’s legs quivered beneath him and his softened cock twitched, wanting to get hard again, but it was still too soon. To hear his father use such coarse language in those liquid tones would have been enough to make him orgasm, but the thought of being on his knees with his father thrusting into his mouth made him near incoherent with need. But there was a dash of cold water on his desire as just for a moment, he pictured the disdainful look Uncle Owen would have given him for wanting these things. He pushed the image of Owen away. ‘I won’t think of him. Won’t let him stop me from loving Father.’ Luke swallowed, trying to get saliva to moisten his throat, but his voice still sounded more like a croak.

“Yes, Father. I want you … in my mouth like that.”

A shiver went though the Dark Lord’s form. His amber eyes closed tight for a moment. Luke waited until he opened them before sinking to his knees in front of his father. Vader’s hands framed Luke’s upturned face. His hands trembled slightly.

“I’ve dreamt of you like this, my beloved son.”

Luke turned his face to the side and kissed the palm of his father’s healed hand. It was warm and soft as silk against Luke’s lips. He experienced only a sliver of shame as he felt the hunger in himself to submit to Vader like this. Luke knew his father loved him, knew it excited his father to see him like this, and those things were all that mattered. The voice of Uncle Owen calling him hurtful names was relegated to the back of his mind once again.

“Tell me how to please you, Father.”

Vader let out a bark of laughter. “Oh, child of my heart, you already have.”

Luke felt a flush of pleasure run through him. He reached up with shaking hands to undo his father’s pants. Vader’s organ was hot, hard and huge against his palms. It was flushed red with blood and the tip was glistening with precum. Luke had no idea how he’d ever be able to get even the head into his mouth let alone the whole organ down his throat. Vader’s fingers stroked his cheeks.

“Relax your jaw slightly, young one. I do not expect you to deep throat me. We will see how much you can take.”

“I want to make this as good for you as you have for me.”

The smile that curled the corners of Vader’s lips upwards was both sensual and feral. “Just looking at you on your knees, so willing to love me, is very good. Almost enough to send me over the edge without us touching at all.”

Vader brushed the head of his organ against Luke’s pink lips, coating them in precum. The boy licked his father’s seed off them and Vader moaned softly. The taste of his father’s cum was slightly bitter and citrus like Cararian pears. Vader then he pressed forward again and the head of his cock was in Luke’s mouth. The texture of his father’s cock was smooth, almost silky, against his questing tongue. Vader’s breathing hitched as Luke suckled on the head of his cock as if it were a sweet. Pleased with his father’s reaction, Luke attempted to take more of the organ in his mouth. Vader reached down and drew one of Luke’s hands up around the base of his sex.

“What you cannot take in … stroke with your hand.”

Luke curled his hand around Vader’s organ, understanding what his father wanted. Vader placed his palms flat against the wall above him and began to rock his hips, drawing his cock in and out of Luke’s mouth with each movement. His father’s breathing quickened and there was an expression of intense concentration on his face as he plunged his cock into Luke’s willing mouth. Luke ran his tongue along the underside of his father’s dick with each in-thrust.

“So hot, wet, and soft, young one. Your mouth … made for this. Made for taking me.”

The thrusts began to come faster and go deeper. Luke choked slightly as the cock hit the back of his throat, but he didn’t want it to stop. Even as Owen called him a whore in his mind, he didn’t care. Luke gripped one of his father’s hips with his free hand and hung on, while Vader’s thrusts became more erratic. His father’s face was flushed, lush mouth parted, his eyes half-closed as he concentrated on fucking his son’s mouth.

“Luke … please, please tell me you’ll try to swallow … tell me you’ll do it … can’t stop, please … oh, please …”

‘*Father, I want it. Cum inside me.*’

Luke’s cheeks hollowed as he sucked on his father’s organ. With one final thrust, driving his cock as deep as it could go without choking Luke, Vader suddenly cried out and came. His seed flooded Luke’s mouth. The boy tried to drink it all down, but there was so much and it was coming so fast that some of it trickled down the sides of his mouth. Finally, the spurts of liquid became manageable and Luke suckled the still twitching organ to drain the last of his father’s seed. Vader was taking in deep lungfuls of air. He clutched the lift’s wall for support, his shadow covering Luke’s body beneath him. Carefully, Luke drew off the now depleted and sensitive cock. With trembling hands, he tucked his father back into his pants. He tried to wipe the semen he’d not been able to swallow off his mouth and chin.

“Let me help you with that,” Vader said huskily and dropped to his haunches in front of Luke.

He leaned in and licked the boy clean. His mouth covered Luke’s in a deep kiss. When he drew back to give them both air, his eyes were sparking with happiness and contentment. Luke fussed with his own clothing for a moment before speaking.

“Was it all right?” Luke asked softly, suddenly feeling shy.

Vader chuckled darkly and rested his forehead against Luke’s. “I’ve never had an orgasm like that. I should have shared it with you over our bond. Next time. You … you were magnificent. Such a beautiful mouth. Even more beautiful when my cock is in it.”

Luke blushed and twisted his hands in his lap. He’d never thought he would ever do anything like this or what they had done earlier in bed for that matter. He’d surprised himself and now suddenly felt uncomfortable with the new knowledge he’d gained. It was as if he’d done a very adult thing and now wanted to crawl back to being a child. What kind of person was he that getting down on his knees in front of his father made him hard? Yet his cock ached just at the thought of doing it again. Uncle Owen’s sneer, the disgust on his face, surfaced again. He could almost hear his words, ‘Skywalker blood is tainted. Tainted.’

“Are you all right, Luke?” Vader’s eyes narrowed as they darted to look at the nervous hand-twisting movement.

“I’m fine, Father.”

Luke didn’t believe himself when he heard the uncertain tone his voice had suddenly taken. The boy squeaked as his father suddenly lifted him to his feet and made him look him in the eye.

“Child, what is it?”

“Nothing. We should … the slaves … we need to help them.”

“Do not lie to me, Luke.”

“I … I …”

Luke felt tears welling up in his eyes. He couldn’t tell his father that he was ashamed, that he still felt the burn of wounds Uncle Owen had inflicted years before, could he? It was so weak and … and ridiculous. They were adults, consenting adults. He had wanted his father to fuck his mouth, had loved it. But now he felt … dirty, soiled somehow. It was as if Owen’s beliefs were a living separate thing inside of him that could rear up and strike at him whenever they wanted. Vader searched his face and Luke could feel him probing their link. Suddenly, his father was crushing Luke to his chest, his mouth in Luke’s hair, pressing frantic kisses to his head. Love and paternal concern pulsed over the bond. Luke realized his father knew the dark shameful place where his thoughts had taken him without Luke saying anything. Vader’s words confirmed that.

“Don’t listen to Owen’s voice, Luke. Nothing we did or do together physically is bad. You are not bad. I love you.”

Luke nodded, tucking his head tighter under his father’s chin. Here he was safe. Here he would never be judged. Here he was loved no matter what. After long moments, Vader finally drew back.

Vader said softly, “What Owen did to you … said to you … will not fade overnight, child. But it will go. You’ve purged most of it out by reliving what happened. The rest will fade with time.”

“I wish …” Luke clutched his father’s suit harder.

“What?”

“I wish that the small part of me that listens to him … didn’t believe his words.”

Vader pressed a long, hard kiss to Luke’s forehead. “Whatever things he whispers in your ear, Luke, I will whisper the exact opposite. Show you how he is wrong. Then that belief in what he says will die.”

Luke took a deep breath, centering himself within the Force as he had been taught. He knew they had to go and face the slavers, to right at least this one wrong. He couldn’t let Owen stop him from helping people.

Vader smoothed Luke’s hair away from his forehead and fixed Luke’s clothes. “Are you ready to go?”

“Yes.”

Luke brushed his hands down the front of his jacket, surprised that he hadn’t spilled any of his father’s seed on the front of it or on his pants. He looked immaculate as did Vader. When the lift doors opened a tall officer with a blonde crew cut and a R2 unit were there. From the few stray thoughts Luke picked up from the officer, it was clear he had no idea what they had been doing in the lift, but the cum on the floor would soon clear that up. Luke was paralyzed. Vader, however, was calm and cool as if they had been discussing the state of the Empire for the whole time the lift was stopped.

“Lord Vader,” the blonde officer said, a slight tremor in his voice, “I hope you were not trapped in the lift for too long. I called a droid immediately to come fix the problem, but it could not seem to identify the error and—”

“It was not overly long. In fact, it was just long enough. Do not think any more on it,” Vader told the pale officer who Luke could tell still believed that he was going to suffer Lord Vader’s wrath for the “malfunctioning” lift.

Luke felt his father brush the officer’s mind so that he would not notice anything amiss as he and the droid took the lift up to the Bridge. Luke couldn’t help the feeling of shock that coursed through him.

“What, child?”

“Using the Force to distract him from the fact that we—”

“Smelt of sex and there was cum on the lift floor?”

“Yes. It seems so … so … sacrilegious or something. And the next people to use the lift will think that—”

“That the officer and the droid were to blame. Poor man. Poor droid. The R2’s reputation will be ruined for sure,” Vader said, amusement pouring off of him even as his face was composed and calm as he spoke.

Luke couldn’t help the laughter that suddenly bubbled out of him as they walked to the Hanger Bay. He knew the laughter was not just from what his father said, but a release of some of the stress he had been under. His father had a sense of humor that he was just now seeing glimpses of. ‘I wonder if he has friends that he gets to be this relaxed with? There’s so much I don’t know about him.’ Luke’s giggles finally quieted and he was able to think more clearly of what now faced them. He decided to ask a question that had bothered him since the slavers’ ships were spotted.

“Father, your reaction to the slavers … it felt personal to me.”

Vader tensed for just a second then answered. “Yes, you are correct. My feelings towards the slavers are quite personal. I … I began life as a slave on Tatooine.”

“What?” Luke felt his heart freeze. His father, the great Lord Vader, had been a slave? Luke had never encountered any of the many slaves on Tatooine since they were mostly kept in the cities and his time was spent either at the outer desert school or the farm, but still he knew the life of a slave was generally painful, brutal and short.

“My mother, Shmi, and I were owned by a Toydarian named Watto. My mother kept house for him. He had me work in his shop, fixing robots, speeders, ships, whatever came by. This state of affairs continued until I was six years old and I met a Jedi Master called Qui-Gon Jinn.”

Luke heard his father’s voice soften as he said the name of this Jedi Master. His father’s eyes were slightly unfocused as if he were seeing that meeting long ago rather than the sterile corridors of the Executor.

“His ship had broken down and Republic credits were no good on Tatooine so he had no way of buying the necessary parts to get off the planet. He could not call for off-world help, because it would draw attention to his location and he was protecting a young woman … a queen,” Vader’s voice faded and Luke saw him pass a hand over his forehead. “They were rather desperate and I … I volunteered my pod racer and myself to run in the race at Bunta Eve to get them the parts.”

Something clicked in Luke’s mind. A story he had heard of a human child that had won the Bunta Eve race, the first and only time that had ever happened. “Did you race?”

“Yes, and I won,” Vader said softly, pride coming out for a moment. “Qui-Gon was able to get his parts and he also, unbeknownst to me, purchased my freedom as well. He was to have been my teacher, but he … died at the hands of a Sith Lord named Darth Maul soon after freeing me.”

“So he rescued you and your mother from slavery?”

There was a pause that made Luke glance up at his father’s face. Vader was staring down at his feet as they walked, his eyes narrowed and a tense set to his jaw.

“No, no, he was not able to free her, only me. She gave me to him so that I could go to the Jedi Temple. I had to leave her behind. I was six and believed all the tall tales of the Jedi. I believed that I would come back to Tatooine and free all the slaves, but that … has not happened yet. And it is far too late for my mother anyways.”

The way Vader’s eyes darkened and his lips thinned let Luke knew this was a sore subject. He wished he could take the question back.

“The Jedi refused to allow me to see her after I started at the Temple. They believed that contact with the birth parents interfered with training, caused attachment.”

Luke’s face scrunched up. “But that’s … that’s awful! Everyone needs their parents. I mean … why would the love of a parent and child be disruptive to training? I would think the opposite would be true.”

“They preached that attachments of any kind could lead to the Dark Side and no matter how many non-Jedi suffered for a Jedi’s inaction because of that precept … well, the lives and happiness of non-Jedi were something the Counsel were quite ready to sacrifice,” Vader gave a bitter laugh. “Even when I began having visions of my mother in … great pain, suffering beyond anything I could imagine, still the Counsel denied me the right to go to her. And I obeyed them for too long.”

Vader’s hands clenched into fists. Luke slowly reached out to take one of those fisted limbs. His father’s skin felt cold.

“Finally, when I was away on a mission without Obi-Wan, the visions became so terrible that I … defied the Counsel. I took a ship and went to Tatooine only to find my mother had been kidnapped by the Sand People.”

Luke’s stomach clenched. He knew that whatever happened to her could not have been good or easy. Vader’s one hand trembled slightly in Luke’s.

“I … I found her in one of their villages. Broken and bleeding. She’d been raped and tortured and they were beginning the process of draining her fluids when I got to her. I was …” Vader’s voice faltered, growing so soft, Luke had to strain to hear him. “I was too late. She died in my arms.”

“Father, I’m so sorry. No words for this. So sorry.”

Vader swallowed and he shook his head as if to fling the pain physically from him. A wash of Dark Side energy radiated out of him, forming a black halo around Vader’s handsome head.

“I killed every single one of the Sand People in that tribe. Even the children. I decimated them. I thought I heard Qui-Gon scream out my name through the Force to beg me to stop. But I didn’t stop. I couldn’t stop. They all deserved to die. And still even with their deaths … it wasn’t enough.”

Luke could almost smell the sickly sweet scent of body parts, hot and smoking, after his father’s light saber slashed them off their owners. “Why … why wasn’t it enough?”

“Their destruction did not bring her back. Could not. And I still hated them even though they had been reduced to little more than chopped bits of meat.” Vader’s lower lip trembled slightly. He had stopped walking, apparently frozen in one spot, as terrible visions that Luke caught only half-sight of spun through his mind. “I felt I should be able to do more. Stop my mother’s death. Or bring her back to life. I told Padme …”

“Padme?”

Vader’s mouth snapped shut, his eyes slid to Luke then away. “Padme was … the woman I was protecting on the mission I was on prior to going to Tatooine.”

Luke sensed there was something more about this woman. Something his father did not want to speak to about yet. But his father’s evident distress made Luke bite back any more questions about her.

Vader continued, “I knew … I was sure that bringing back the dead with the Force was possible. I felt I ought to be able to do it, but I couldn’t! I thought Obi-Wan and the Counsel were thwarting me from reaching my potential and Palpatine fed that belief.”

Luke thought about how easy it was for him to bring back the troopers. He could have resurrected his grandmother just as easily and soothed Vader’s pain. Guilt flowed through his veins like acid. He tried to keep his feelings to himself, but his shielding was still too poor or his father was too attuned to him to miss them. Vader made a cutting gesture in the air in front of him.

“No, Luke, you will not feel guilt for something that happened years before you were even born. I know now that the type of power you wield I never could. Mine is the power of destruction and death. Yours is the power of creation and life. We are the Balance of the Force together.”

Vader began to walk again. He made his strides slower and shorter to accommodate Luke’s smaller stature.

“I was always told that I was the Balance alone. How I strove to be that! Something I never could be, was never meant to be. I sunk into a pit of despair, raging inside, when I did not know what was wrong with me, when I could not understand why I wasn’t reaching my potential.”

Vader laced his fingers with Luke’s. The boy squeezed his father’s hand tight. He understood all too well feeling you were meant for greater things and yet at the same time not meeting those expectations. Yoda’s disgust with his performance on Dagobah came quickly to mind. He knew now that he would not become like Vader as the cave had shown him. Instead he was becoming something else, something perhaps that Yoda feared even more. Vader’s quick kiss to his temple, brought Luke out of his reverie.

“But all of that is in the past. Now I am what I should be and … I have you.” Vader looked down into Luke’s eyes and the darkness within him seemed to retreat as they smiled at one another. “It seems I have strayed far from your original question. So to answer it: I hate slavers because of having been a slave myself. If I did not have to concentrate on the Rebellion, I would set my sights on wiping slavery out of existence. Making it so dangerous and so perilous to do such business,” Vader said that word as if it were bitter on his tongue, “that it would just die out for lack of profitability.”

Vader’s gait abruptly slowed. They were standing in front of a set of large double doors. “We are here, Luke.”

Luke had no chance to even half comprehend all his father had told him before the doors whooshed open for them and the sight of the gleaming white armor of the troopers drew his complete attention. The men stood at the ready, blasters pointed at the disabled ships. Luke sensed admiration and fear of his father flow through the ranks of troopers as each realized their Supreme Commander was present. Four familiar signatures drew Luke’s eyes. It was the troopers he had saved. Luke smiled at the four grouped together near the back of one column and got happy nods of acknowledgement in return. Even with their helmets on, he could tell who was who through the Force.

He followed Vader over to the head of the nearest column of troopers. While his father studied the troopers, Luke turned his Force senses towards the slavers’ ships. He felt rank terror coming from the slavers and behind that the confusion and despair of the abused slaves in the holds.

“So much suffering.”

Luke hadn’t realized he spoken out loud until he felt his father gently squeeze his hand one last time before he stepped away to a chaste distance of five feet. That last touch was the only gentle thing about Vader. His amber eyes were riveted on the ships, his normally plush lips thinned into a pale line, and Dark Side energy was building like a thundercloud around him. The commander of the squadron of troopers hustled over to Vader’s side to give him a report. He must have been slightly Force sensitive as he wobbled when he entered the Dark Side Force energy that circled Vader. Luke himself felt slightly queasy and drained by it.

“Sir, we have ordered them to disarm and come out of the ships. They have not complied and have jammed the ships’ door mechanisms. I have requested blow torches to cut through the doors.”

“No need for that, trooper,” Vader said. "Let me handle that."

Luke sensed a wave of Force energy unfurl from his father. The threads of Force energy sought out and surrounded each of the slavers. Luke could see through the Force one particular slaver in the cockpit of the nearest ship. He was clutching an old carbine blaster. Sweat was trickling down his pale face. His heart was beating a wild staccato rhythm in his thickset body. His thoughts were like birds taking flight in all directions: ‘We’re in Vader’s ship … slave cargo … death sentence … heard he’s a monster … why didn’t the sensors alert us … damned, this lot would have brought enough for me to get out of this business … especially that sweet blonde boy … would have brought a fortune … too late now … Vader has no mercy no mercy no mer--’

The man’s thoughts abruptly ceased as he keeled over onto the deck. The suddenness of his collapse made Luke think he had a heart attack, but no, the man was still alive, his heart still beat strongly. He was unconscious. And it was not only him, but every slaver had been sent unconscious by his father’s will. Oddly, Luke felt unease instead of joy that his father had not just stopped all their hearts. ‘He wants them alive for something. I fear whatever fate he plans for them will be far worse than a quick death.’

Vader’s Force powers unfurled again to strike each of the ships’ doors. The sound of hissing filled the bay as the doors began to open and the pressure equalized between the bay and the ships’ interiors. The troopers froze, their visors all turned towards the opening doors. Fingers tightened on triggers, hands gripped blasters tighter. Luke realized the men did not know that the slavers were incapacitated.

Vader turned towards the commander of the squad. “The slavers are unconscious. Have your men enter the ships and remove them to the detention block. The slaves can be housed temporarily in the third level cantina. Have cots set up and also have food prepared for them. Some will undoubtedly need medical attention. Call for all medbots and physicians to come to the bay immediately.”

The trooper gave Vader a salute. “Yes, sir!” He hustled off to do as commanded.

Luke was astounded as his father’s thoughtfulness for the slaves’ well being. ‘But I should not be after what he just told me of his past. I suppose I have been so accustomed to seeing how he treats his enemies I never thought he would treat the citizens of the Empire any differently.’

Vader faced his son. “Luke, you should have this back now.”

Vader handed him his light saber. Luke’s hand curled around it. The familiar heft and feel of the hilt in his palm was a comfort to him. He ignited it, loving the cool blue-white color of the blade. “I thought I had lost it forever on Black Heart."

“I … I found it in the hallway in the temple,” Vader explained and there was a flash of rage and pain in his eyes. The image of Luke’s old prosthetic hand still clutching onto the saber came over the bond for a moment before Vader clamped down on the powerful emotions that had allowed the image to leak out.

“Oh, Father … what you must have thought when you found …”

The Dark Lord shook his locks behind his shoulders, his mouth setting in a firm line. “But I was wrong. You were not … not … It is over. I killed them … the ones that hurt you …”

Luke heard behind his words the pain of a mother lost long ago when Vader had been too late. He had not been too late to save Luke. The boy touched his father’s arm to ground him in the present. The flickering emotions through the bond were terrible: hurt, pain, loss, fear, rage.

Vader’s amber eyes bored into Luke as if he could implant the words physically into Luke’s mind. “If anything were to happen to you, child …” Vader swallowed. “The universe would pay.”

“Father …”

Vader suddenly winnowed the bond between them down to a mere trickle. A mask of calmness settled over his features. Luke knew the conversation was over in his father’s mind and that was probably best for the present. They had to concentrate on helping the slaves in the ships. Luke could see that the commander wished to speak to Vader again. He gave his father’s forearm one last squeeze before letting go.

“It looks like you’re needed, Father.”

“Yes, I must direct them.”

“I want to go check out that ship. See what I can do to help.”

Vader nodded slowly. “Be aware of your surroundings at all time, young one.”

“I will.”

Luke jogged away from his father’s side to the ship that held the slaver whose thoughts he’d heard. He felt the Force guiding him there. Something about what the slaver had been thinking before he had fallen unconscious worried Luke. Something about a blonde boy. Luke met up with Davel and Trans on the gangway into the ship.

“Lord Skywalker!” Both men said in unison.

“Guys, its Luke, remember? Just Luke.” He couldn’t help but smile at the two troopers who seemed to frisk around him like eager puppies.

“Where are you going … Luke?” Davel asked, slightly stumbling over the first name.

“The Force … it’s pulling me. I feel there is something within this ship that needs my attention.”

“Then we will accompany you,” Trans growled as he gripped his blaster tighter and moved closer to Luke’s side.

Luke had to suppress a laugh. Both men were acting as if he were in need of protection. Trans’ tense posture made him seem ready to bite the head off anyone who even looked at Luke for a second too long. Only time would show them he was not defenseless as they seemed to think.

“I certainly won’t object to the company,” Luke said and gestured for the men to follow him into the ship.

It was as if there was a tether tied between him and whatever it was the Force wanted him to see. He walked swiftly down twisting hallways, Trans and Davel following, until he found himself in front of a durasteel door. He knew it was the captain’s room. There was an electronic lock that required a fifteen digit code.

“Locked,” Davel stated. “We can get a droid in here to break the code …”

“No need,” Luke said and with a wave of his hand the door opened. The boy felt the troopers’ awe. Even though they knew he was responsible for healing them, they had not apparently realized how he had done it.

“Let us go in first, Lord Skywalker,” Davel said, using the title again as he and Trans strafed into the room without waiting for Luke to respond.

Luke felt shock flood the troopers a moment later. He followed inside. An oversized bed dominated the room and what was on it dominated Luke’s attention. A human boy probably six standard years old with blonde hair the color of sunlight and large blue-gray eyes was sitting in the center of the bed clutching a stuffed toy. He was naked, just a sheet pulled up to his chest, staring at Luke and the troopers with wide eyes, his lower lip trembling. The child was so afraid he was frozen in place. A babble of thoughts from the boy hit Luke like a blow to the chest: ‘Hurt … please, don’t hurt … no more … momma momma momma!’

Luke gasped even as his mind refused to acknowledge at first why a six year old was naked in the captain’s bed. ‘This was the child that was going to make the slaver a fortune. Oh, Force, selling him as a … as a pleasure boy. Testing him out … no no no!’ Sickness settled in Luke’s stomach. A whimper from the boy made Luke pull himself together.

“I’m not going to hurt you,” Luke said as he raised a hand towards the child. “None of us are going to hurt you. We’re here to help you.”

The troopers had lowered their blasters and gave brief waves at the boy to identify themselves. The boy though scooted back on the bed away from them, clutching so tightly at the stuffed toy that his knuckles were white. Luke cursed himself for not thinking to use the Force immediately to let the boy know he wasn’t a threat but someone who was there to help. He sent out soothing thoughts to the boy and the child’s shoulders visibly relaxed.

“Who … who’re you?” The boy asked him in a sweet high voice.

“My name is Luke. Luke Skywalker. I’m a Jedi,” Luke said as he slowly walked over to the bed and sat down at the very edge so that he and the boy were at eye level. Luke felt Trans move to his side as if he would protect him from the child. He motioned for Trans to step away and not crowd him or the boy.

“A Je … Jedi? What’s that?” The boy crawled forward a few inches towards Luke then scooted backwards again, still unsure. Luke sent more soothing thoughts to the child.

“A Jedi is someone who helps people. What’s your name?”

“Joran. Is the … is the bad man coming back?” He whispered the last as if even talking about the man who had hurt him would conjure him up.

“No, Joran. All the bad people have been … captured. You’re safe now.”

“What about my momma?”

“Your mother?”

The boy nodded his head, one thumb heading towards his mouth as if to suck on it, but he stopped and put his hand down with a flinch as if he had been struck when he’d done so in the past. Luke felt his chest constrict at the aborted movement.

“Was she on this ship with you?”

Joran nodded again, his lower lip beginning to tremble once more. “They … they hit her when they took me from her. She was … crying.”

Luke closed his eyes tightly for a moment. He had to remain calm for the child, but it was getting to be more of a struggle. Finally, finding that calm center again, Luke opened his eyes and said, “Joran, I want to take you out of here. To find your mother and maybe a … a doctor.”

Joran’s brown eyes widened and a small smile curled over his rosebud mouth. “Please … I want momma!”

Luke cast an anxious glance around the room to find something to clothe the boy in, then he realized that he didn’t want anything of the captain’s touching the boy’s skin so he shrugged off his own jacket. He held up the jacket for Joran to slide into. After a moment’s hesitation the boy came over and allowed Luke to put his small arms through the arm holes. The jacket was so big on him it hung down to his knees. Luke wrapped the rest of the jacket around the boy snugly to allow him some modesty.

Luke sent a Force probe to check if the boy was injured. Thankfully, other than a few bruises on his slim arms there was no damage. He swallowed the rush of bile when he realized this meant that the slaver captain had not raped the child, at least not with his sex, because it would not have been possible to enter the boy without ripping him internally and there was no evidence of that. Joran scuttled off the bed and stood up with shaky legs.

“Trans … Davel … I’ll take the boy out to my father. Do you want to accompany me or do you have other tasks to do in the ship?”

Davel spoke up, “Take Trans with you. I want to check out these quarters for any records. See if this group was a part of the Hutts’ organization.”

Luke nodded and wondered how far the Hutts’ influence was felt beyond Tatooine. He swallowed at the thought of how many people right now were being dragged from their homes and enslaved by those gangsters. ‘And how many children like Joran and … and Father … are being harmed by them?’

Luke smiled at Joran and held out his hand for the boy to grasp. The boy still seemed leery of Luke and was unwilling to move from the known of the captain’s quarters into the hallway just yet. Luke wondered how he could gain the boy’s trust until he saw Joran’s eyes rivet on the light saber handing from Luke’s belt.

“What’s that?”

“My light saber. A Jedi weapon. Here let me show you.”

Luke detached the saber from his belt and ignited it. Joran almost reached for the blade, but Luke gently caught the small hand.

“No, Joran. The blade is hot. It would hurt you.”

His eyes sparkled with wonder. Luke could sense Trans and Davel felt almost the same amount of awe as the boy at his weapon. He wondered if they had ever seen Vader ignite his. Luke shivered at the last time he’d seen his father with his blade lit: Black Heart and before that the terrible duel on Bespin. He suppressed a shiver. Neither were good memories.

“Pretty,” Joran said softly, content now to just point at the blade.

“Yes, it is, and it can also protect you. I’ll keep it lit and we’ll walk out of here together with Trooper Trans.”

“O-okay.”

Joran reached up and grasped Luke’s hand without prompting as they passed into the hallway. Trans kept a watch at their back. The blade cast a blue glow over the walls. Joran’s eyes hardly ever left it. As they reached the gangway, Joran tightened his hold on Luke’s hand when he caught sight of dozens of rushing Storm Troopers. Again, the thumb came up to Joran’s mouth, but this time the boy began to suck on it and Luke felt relieved. In time, Joran might forget what the slaver captain had done to him.

“Luke,” Trans said softly from his elbow.

“What is it?” Luke slowed his pace then stopped as they reached the bottom of the gangway.

The trooper shifted from foot to foot, finally reaching up and tugging his helmet off. Luke was met with the sight of a young man with grey eyes and short black hair. There was a small white scar on his chin probably from a childhood fall. Trans’ grey eyes were fixed on Luke’s face and a smile tugged at his lips. The trooper was attractive, but nothing compared to Vader. ‘He’s handsome, while Father is … beautiful.’

“I …” Trans swallowed. “I just wanted to say … I didn’t know if I’d get a chance to talk to you alone before … what I mean to say is that … I’ll go get you another jacket.”

The way Trans’ eyes suddenly left Luke’s face and a hint of pink on his cheekbones told Luke without any help from the Force that this wasn’t what Trans had meant to say. Luke almost laughed out loud that anyone would be nervous about speaking to him, especially someone as seemingly sure of himself normally as Trans, an admiral’s nephew no less.

“Trans …”

“Damon … please call me Damon.” Another slight blush.

“Damon, you don’t need to get me a new jacket. I’ll get one myself later. I’m sure you have other duties—”

“You have more important things to do than fetch clothing.”

“So do you, I’m sure. Besides I’m not above getting my own things. Really. I know I’m Vader’s son, but I wasn’t raised a lord. I was just a farm boy on Tatooine four short years ago.”

Trans smiled wider as if Luke’s response pleased him. He also kept snatching glances of Luke then the floor then Luke again. Luke glanced down at Joran, knowing that he had to take care of the boy first and foremost before dealing with whatever it was that was flustering Damon. Although Joran looked quite content to suck his thumb and clutch on to Luke’s hand with his eyes riveted to the light saber.

Damon saw the glance down at the boy and Luke could see understanding dawn in the trooper’s eyes. “This isn’t the time to … to talk anyway. I’ll just go get that jacket for you.”

Before Luke could protest again, the trooper was gone. Luke shook his head, perplexed about why Trans seemed so eager to please him. ‘Well, I suppose it’s because he’s grateful I brought him back from that black place the troopers spoke about. I dread the fact that I’m going to be taking him to another black place if Father still wishes to go back to Black Heart.’ Luke thought just for a moment that Damon might like him romantically, but rejected that thought. ‘I’m hardly the type anyone would swoon over. I can hardly believe that Father is so interested. If it weren’t for the proof of it over our bond I wouldn’t believe it.’

Luke then caught sight of his father, standing tall, imposing and beautiful in the center of a swarm of troopers, giving directions with ease. Luke could appreciate the power and command Vader radiated now that he wasn’t in the Rebellion and Vader’s enemy. Luke sent a brief greeting over their bond to just let his father know he was out of the slaver ship, but he needn’t have as Vader was already turning towards him. One elegant eyebrow raised as Vader took in the sight of the half-naked child wrapped in Luke’s jacket. Luke sent visuals of the boy naked on the slaver captain’s bed. The Dark Lord seemed to freeze as he stared long at the small child that padded beside Luke across the hanger bay.

Vader’s mind voice vibrated with barely contained rage, ‘*Was he violated?*’

‘*Yes, though I don’t know the extent of it. Thankfully, there’s no sign of internal damage. He probably should be looked over by a physician.*’

Vader nodded stiffly, his eyes still transfixed on the small blonde child. A million thoughts were behind his father’s amber eyes, but none of them made it across the bond. Vader looked as if he were seeing a ghost of someone past as he stared at the young slave. Luke wondered if Vader saw himself at that age. Had his father been violated? Luke didn’t want to even contemplate that. Joran’s pace was slowing as they were nearing Vader. Luke could feel the boy’s awe and fear of his father.

“That’s … that’s Darth Vader,” Joran said softly, speaking around the thumb he continued to suck.

Even Joran apparently recognized his father without the mask as the great Dark Lord of the Sith. ‘Vader is more than just the suit and mask it seems,’ Luke mused.

“Yes, but you don’t have to be afraid of him. He’s the one that saved you. And he’s … my father,” Luke said not able to hide the note of pride he had in that fact.

Joran’s blue-gray eyes went wide. “Your dadda?”

Luke nodded. He couldn’t help but smile at the thought of Vader as his “dadda.” Somehow only the formal title “father” really fit Vader. He couldn’t even conceive of calling him “dad.” As to calling Vader by his given name of “Anakin,” Luke felt it might actually anger the man to be called that.

Luke sent over the bond to his father, ‘*Joran’s mother was on the same ship as him, but was potentially injured when they took Joran from her. Have the other slaves been released from there yet?*’

Luke’s question was answered when a dark-haired woman with a black eye who was just then coming down the gangway gave out a cry of joy and rushed over to Joran and Luke. She was wearing a stained and ruined dress of dark blue, her face was pinched from lack of food and fresh air, but the joy of seeing her son transformed her into something beautiful.

“Momma!” Joran cried as she swept him up in her arms.

Vader’s face became smooth and unreadable as he watched mother and son hug. Luke touched his shoulder. Vader gave him a small smile. The woman cuddled Joran and ran her hands over his body to make sure he was uninjured. Finally, she rose to her feet and faced Vader and Luke. Luke could tell she was overwhelmed meeting his father by the way she swallowed often and smoothed down the front of her dress with her hands. She curtsied with surprising grace.

“Lord … Lord Vader?” Her voice was slightly hoarse and deep, but melodic all the same.

Vader nodded curtly. “And the young man that rescued your child is my son, Luke Skywalker.” He explained as he saw her eyes dart over to Luke curiously.

“Jedi!” Joran cried happily and stared hungrily at Luke’s now unlit and sheathed light saber.

Vader raised an eyebrow at Luke and quirked his lips into a smile. ‘*Trying to resurrect the Jedi’s good name, son?*’

‘*Maybe. It wouldn’t be such a bad idea, would it?*’

‘*Hmmm, we will talk about that later.*’

Joran’s mother seemed to be aware that some hidden conversation was taking place between Luke and Vader, because she said nothing more until Vader’s eyes moved from his son to her.

“I just wanted to … thank you for saving us.” Her voice cracked with emotion, but she managed to regain her composure. “I don’t know what we would have done without … what would have happened to Joran and I if you had not rescued us. Words cannot express how grateful we both are. Thank you so much, Lord Vader and Lord Skywalker.”

Luke could feel a tremor of emotion run through Vader as the woman hastily brushed away tears that she couldn’t hold back then curtsied deeply again, her face lowered. The Dark Lord reached over and raised her chin up.

“I promise that you and Joran will be provided for. Everything you need will be taken care of. Do not fear. You are both safe … and free now.”

“Thank you again.” She reached up and touched Vader’s cheek briefly. “Such a handsome, kind face. You should not cover it so often with the mask.”

A small, sad smile crossed Vader’s features. When he answered her his voice was quiet, “I will do as you suggest, madam.”

A trooper came at that moment to escort Joran and his mother to the cantina where temporary housing had been set up. Luke promised that he would visit the little boy again and show him the light saber once more. Joran’s face lit up and Luke could hear him breathlessly explaining to his mother about the pretty light sword as they walked away.

“Father, are you all right?”

“Of course, Luke. Why wouldn’t I be?” Vader said as he kept his eyes resolutely on the unloading of the slavers’ ships.

“Did she look …,” Luke broke off, realizing that the Dark Lord was resurrecting his emotional shields then and would not appreciate Luke probing.

“Did she look like my mother?” Vader’s eyes still would not meet his. “Not really. But the spirit was the same.”

Luke bit his lower lip to stop the flood of questions he had about his grandmother and Vader’s early years. It was not the time, no matter how fascinated he was with everything to do with his father. Luke did allow himself to ask, “So will we still be going to Black Heart today or …”

“Yes, our plans have not changed. The slavers will have to be interrogated, but I will need to give that my … undivided … attention, which will not be possible until after we have downloaded the archives from the temple on Black Heart and retrieved some of the unique light saber crystals.”

Luke felt a wave of relief that Vader would not be torturing the slavers while his blood was still hot from seeing the slaves’ suffering. Even though that meant going to Black Heart sooner. ‘Although those bastards probably deserve to be tortured. At least the one that took his pleasure of Joran.’ But still Luke felt sick at the thought of his father hurting others with conscious and deliberate intent; that his father would enjoy and relish causing the maximum amount of pain and suffering to the slavers was obscene in a way.

He did not want to imagine his father’s beautiful face transformed by rage and hate and bloodlust as he made the slavers tell him everything about their organization. ‘And then when they’ve told him everything, the torture won’t end, he’ll just make them scream for no other reason than to make them suffer. But that’s type of darkness is a part of him. I cannot close my eyes to it. Nor do I think it is something that is going away.’

Davel, Greggs, Simok and Trans surrounded Lord Vader and Luke at that moment. The troopers were thrumming with anticipation to go down to the planet. Since the slavers had been subdued by Lord Vader, they had not had a chance to blow off the nervous energy that accumulated before a fight. Luke felt Trans nudge his shoulder softly.

“Let me help you get this on,” Trans said.

Luke saw that he had one of the black jackets from Luke’s quarters and was holding it up for Luke to thread his arms into the sleeves. Luke blushed slightly. Somehow it felt strange and intimate for Trans to be helping him on with his coat. Vader obviously thought so, too. His amber eyes narrowed and his voice was low, which always seemed to indicate carefully reigned in anger. “Trooper, my son is quite capable of clothing himself.”

Trans jerked back from Luke as if stung. That Vader then contradicted his own statement by helping Luke on with the coat and tugging it into place until it fell smoothly was not commented upon and the troopers looked carefully away except for Trans. Luke felt Trans’ eyes on him behind the black visor. Luke drew back the tentative Force probe he sent out to scan the trooper’s emotions and thoughts behind that stare, thinking it was an abuse of Trans’ privacy

‘*He is taken with you, young one.*’

Luke was too shocked to speak for a moment. ‘*Father, no, you must be wrong. He’s just--*’

‘*I am not wrong. I know. He desires you.*’ Vader gave a hard yank on Luke’s jacket as he fussed with it. ‘*Do you desire him?*’

‘*No! Absolutely not. You’re … jealous?*’ Luke couldn’t keep the surprise out of his mind-voice.

‘*Of course not.*’ Vader’s amber eyes glowed brighter as he fixed Luke with a stare worthy of the Dark Lord of the Sith. ‘*If he pursues you, however, I will not be responsible for my actions.*’

Luke swallowed, his throat suddenly dry as the Tatooine deserts. ‘*That won’t be necessary, Father. Even if he has a … a crush on me for saving his life … I feel nothing for him.*’

‘*I do not look kindly upon those that would try to poach what is mine, Luke. Discourage him strongly or I will do so.*’

With a final adjustment of Luke’s jacket, Vader placed one hand possessively on Luke’s lower back and guided him towards the shuttle that had been prepared for their journey to Black Heart. The reborn troopers followed close behind. Damon’s eyes never left Luke.