The Warrior's Path

Chapter 7 - Torture

Author's Note: This is the beginning of the second half of this fic. :')

WARNING: Sidious being a creep. Read at your own risk. You have been warned. Also, canon levels of torture.

~ Amina Gila

They refuse to talk, so Sidious leaves again. They're taken down from the torture devices and thrown into a cell to wait for the indefinite future when the Emperor comes back to have his fun with them. And he will come back, Vader knows. Sidious is nothing if not sadistic. Even now, years later, the memories of what he went through at the Sith's hands haunts him. Plagueis was awful, picking him apart like a lab rat, but Sidious? He brought a whole new meaning to the word pain. He would hurt him, hurt them just because he could.

Some nights, he can't sleep, unable to hear anything other than a cruel malicious whispers of Sidious as he slowly circled him while he was strapped down to a table, unable to move.

Mine. Mine. All mine. You'll be mine. You were always meant to be mine. I created you. I made you. I gave you life so you could serve me. You will serve me. You will always serve me. Me and only me. Forever. Because I deem it so. You are mine. Mine. My apprentice. My slave. You will be whatever I tell you to be. I will make you into the perfect tool, the perfect weapon. I will wield you in my hands, and you will be my enforcer. I'll keep you at my side like one would keep a wild animal. Chained. But mine. Always mine. Forever mine. Eternally mine.

His head is ringing, and he's panting for air, partially because of the aftereffects of electrocution, and partially from the panic attack he's about to spiral into.

"-der? Vader! Talk to me. Say something. Vader?!"

Vader blinks sluggishly, looking up into Ahsoka's worried face. Her forehead is creased with concern, and she's reaching out towards him as if she wants to touch him though she's hesitant to do so. And for good reason. She's dealt with his panic attacks more than enough to know how to handle them. Touching him while he's experiencing one is a very bad idea. On the one occasion when she did, he accidentally gave her a black eye, and he couldn't look at her, out of guilt, for days afterwards. She never did that again.

"Hey," he croaks out, too exhausted and scared and in pain to even attempt a smile.

Ahsoka lets out a breath of relief and leans forwards to press their foreheads together. "Good," she whispers, wrapping her arms around him and hugging him against her. "You had me worried for a moment."

Every movement is agony, but Vader doesn't care. He lets himself melt into the embrace and hugs her in return, taking in the comfort. Who knows how long it will last? And they have to stay strong. For each other. For their family. They can't break. If they do, then it won't just be their lives on the line. It will be the lives of every person who they've ever been in contact with, every person who is part of the Rebellion. And Vader knows how to face torture. Maybe he hasn't dealt with it since he was a child, but he and Ahsoka both studied techniques for how to resist cracking under torture.

Unfortunately, enduring torture while someone they love is also a prisoner is much, much harder.

"They'll come for us. They will," Ahsoka murmurs, her grip tightening a little. "I don't know if they should, but they will come."

Vader blows out a breath. "They probably shouldn't," he admits. "It would probably be safer for them. For all we know, this is a trap."

Ahsoka pushes him back enough so that she can meet his eyes properly. "I know, and they'll know too. They'll be careful." She doesn't need to add that the ones who will be careful are Anakin and Obi-Wan. Vader knows that his dad is far more likely to simply rush headlong into the mess without being careful, simply because of how stressed he'll be about their capture.