MUSTAFAR:10BBY

VII

The sound of the button being pressed on the other side of Keelan's door rang out mere seconds after his comm had woken him up. His bleary eyes turned to the door, and he stumbled from his bed near blindly, trying to find a pair of pants to throw on quickly. The muscles in his hands were still stiff from last night, making it a bit difficult to use them but he managed to get to the door. His body teetered and wobbled forward as he pulled up the pants and pressed the button to open the door.

Standing in the doorway facing him was an officer of some kind, he didn't quite understand the ranks yet. His eyes were cold and serious and his gloved hands held a small box. He held it towards him with quick motion. "From Lord Vader, he sends his compliments."

From Vader? His heart squeezed in his chest and his eyebrows came together in confusion and surprise. Complements? For him? He hadn't even really spoken to him. He was still down in his bacta tank, wasn't he? Was he awake?

Keelan wasn't able to get a word out to ask any questions other than "huh?" before the man quickly turned on his heel and walked away down the long hallway, his footsteps echoing off the black walls.

He was just left with the package.

The door sealed behind him as he moved back to his bed and sat down to rub his eyes and look over the small box. It was black, of course, and the top could easily be pulled off. He held it to his ear and shook it, trying to get an idea as to what it could be. Whatever it was, it sounded fairly light. He finally gave into his curiosity and set it in his lap, pulling it open with ease.

Inside, folded neatly, was a pair of gloves. This confused him more, he already had a pair of gloves with his uniform, was he supposed to wear these instead now? He pulled them out slowly and as they unfolded in the air, his eyes widened.

They were long, the sleeves would reach far up enough to reach his elbows, and they seemed to be woven with thin metal wire, the cloth was breathable too. Full-fingered compression gloves, they had to be, and they fit him perfectly. The cool cloth squeezed at his hands and fingers, helping his bones and joints support themselves.

How did Vader know that he... He shook the thought away, Baize must have told Vader about it. Maybe Vader hadn't really sent these, and it was someone else claiming to be so he wouldn't turn away the gift. He didn't like gifts, they made him feel guilty, but he needed these so badly, so he decided to accept them.

He also didn't want to risk upsetting Vader if he had actually been the one to send them.

The idea of that made something in him squirm, he didn't know if it was a positive or negative type of squirm. No one had ever given him a genuine gift before, especially not someone he served.

He tried to focus on getting ready for now, he could question things later.

* * *

"Nice gloves," Brandall muttered as he sat across from Keelan in the cafeteria. He wasn't sure why this guy wanted to be near him, Keelan didn't like him all that much. "Where'd you get them?"

"Lord Vader..." Keelan said after hesitating to answer, after he started in on his second cup of coffee. He wasn't sure what coffee was made of, Keelan liked it a lot.

Brandall's jaw dropped and Tyla's eyes widened, setting her own cup down.

"Lord Vader gave those to you?" She asked, sounding extremely surprised.

"No way, you're pulling our legs. Lord Vader doesn't give people gifts, he gives them breathing problems." As soon as he said it he seemed to grow paranoid and looked around the cafeteria. "Don't tell him I said that."

Keelan frowned, but said nothing in response to that. He understood why they were being nice to him now. They must have figured that he could put in a good word for them, he was close to Vader after all. Brandall and Tyla were probably looking for a way to get a promotion, he was more inclined to respect Tyla's reasons than Brandall's.

Close to Vader, there was that squirming feeling again.

"Have you... spoken to him?" Keelan then asked lowly, looking at the inside of his cup as the steam hit his face. "Lord Vader, I mean."

"Oh yeah," Brandall said right away, his voice confident and a smile spread across his face. "He told me good work, once."

"For what? Did he tell you to give him an impression of an idiot? You can do that without acting." Tyla snapped, her own smile appearing on her lips.

Brandall laughed sarcastically. "Haha. You're hilarious. I don't see you getting praise from Lord Vader, so, I suggest you shut it."

"You suggest?" Tyla raised her eyebrows, seeming to be offended and amused. "May I remind you that I'm your superior officer, I could report you."

Brandall seemed to shut his mouth after that, though unhappily.

Keelan just watched the whole scene unfold, he was confused by the relationship these two had. They weren't related, though they argued like they did. Despite Brandall's tendency to speak without thinking, he seemed to listen to what Tyla said. Tyla seemed to be annoyed by Brandall and yet she still tried to pull him out of problems he created for himself almost every time.

"Are you two...?" Keelan began and motioned between the two of them with a finger.

The two officers raised their eyebrows and they turned to look at each other. For a split second there was a flicker of recognition between the two. That is, till it suddenly burned out.

"Hell, no-" Brandall started.

"Absolutely not-" Tyla spoke over him.

"She's a pain in the-"

"He's as ugly as a-"

"Hey." They said in unison, their angry expressions facing one another's with a snap of their heads.

Keelan pursed his lips. Guess so.

"I have never spoken to Lord Vader." Tyla then said, turning the conversation in reverse with a maturity that Brandall lacked. "But, I've been in the same room as him, he probably didn't know I was there."

Brandall gave a grunt like he was still trying to rub in what he had said earlier concerning his run in with Vader, lifting his cup to his lips and raising an eyebrow.

"I'm thankful for it, honestly," She continued swiftly, cutting him off. "He was angry that day, I heard he killed one of the admirals in front of a group of officers."

Brandall stopped smiling.

"Killed?" Keelan then whispered, leaning forward slightly to listen better. "Like... with a saber?"

Sizzling heat.

"No, no, he never uses that..." She murmured. "He was choked to death... with the Force.

"Choked..." He echoed the words, feeling his breath already grow shorter. Keelan's hands drifted up to his throat to touch along some scars that ran across his windpipe, he could still feel the metal around his throat, they had pulled that chain so hard.

"Why?" Brandall asked.

"He had let those Jedi get away." Tyla answered, then turned to Keelan and smiled. "Thankfully Keelan turned them in a few days after. They were on Tatooine, right?"

Blue then purple then red.

Keelan felt faint suddenly, like the room was turning on an axis. God, he could still smell it. He put a hand to his mouth to keep himself from gagging and his face went even paler than he already was.

"Are you alright?" Brandall asked faintly. Keelan was too lost in his thoughts to recognize the concern in his voice.

"Keelan?" Tyla's voice was getting lost too.

"I need to... go..." Keelan muttered, rising to his feet, his knees knocking together as he neared the trash can to throw away his half empty cup and leave the room.

Keelan made it to the restroom and immediately bent over a toilet to vomit up all the coffee had drank, he hadn't consumed much else in this place. He shuddered and wiped his face, then flushed it away and began to cry.