We Will Rule Together

You're Stuck With Me

AHSOKA'S POINT OF VIEW

"Commander, it's happening," Rex said, his voice a deadly calm. Ahsoka looked over her shoulder to see her soldiers stiff behind her. They had a couple of second, tops before the blasters in their hands started shooting.

"Go!" Ahsoka shouted, pushing Rex ahead of her. This had been their worst fear, that Fives would end up being right. Both of them, more than anything, wished he would be here to shout 'I told you so' at them as they ran. But Fives was dead, and they would join him soon if they didn't stay one step ahead of the rest of the brainwashed 501st Anakin had lent her.

A warning shot through the force, Ahsoka's lightsabers activating on instinct. Deja vu crept up on her as the familiarity of this scene and what had happened years ago when her ship had been taken over by brain control worms occurred to her. She deflected the shot aimed at her head back at the trooper who had shot it, continuing to run after Rex who was shooting anything that moved, covering his flank. Neither of them wanted to hurt the clones, it wasn't their fault, but right now if they didn't kill the clones, the clone would kill them. Ahsoka knew she couldn't be the only one dealing with a sense of deja vu, having read the reports about what had happened on Umbara. Neither of them had time to dwell on that, though.

"Just a little farther, Commander," Rex called. A realization hit her then, as more troops closed in. They weren't going to make it. At least not both of them. She could sense he had figured out the same thing. He had to. He had to.

"Rex," Ahsoka called, stopping in her tracks. Rex stopped a little ahead of her. "I have one last order for you." He opened his mouth as if to argue, but she kept going. "Survive, go to your brothers, take them somewhere far away, where even I wouldn't be able to find you."

"Commander..." Rex started to argue.

"This isn't up for debate, Rex," Ahsoka snapped, adopting a voice that Anakin usually had aimed at her. "Your brothers need you. I'll slow them down as much as I can." There was so much they both wanted to say. Years of emotions building up in that moment, but they both knew they didn't have time for a proper goodbye, again. He simply nodded, turning and running toward where he could find a ship to escape.

Ahsoka turned around, spinning her lightsabers in her hands. If she was going to go down, she was going down with a fight.

Ahsoka shot up, panting. Another dream. That scene had been months ago, but it seemed like a lifetime. She ran a hand over her face, the chains that connected from the wall to her wrists clanking as she moved. She swung her legs over the metal slab that counted for a bed in this tiny cell that was her room. She knew there were cameras everywhere, and that her nightmare would likely be reported to Vader, as were all her movements. She imagined the same was done for Obi-Wan, though they rarely got to see each other. The main incentive to behave coming from the fact that if one of them misbehaved the other's shock collar would be set off. Even after everything, neither of the former Jedi was going to risk the wellbeing of the other.

The door opened predictably and she looked up to see Vader's form silhouetted in the doorway. She took a calming breath as the face of the man she had trusted the most starred back at her. The only difference being the piercing yellow eyes that were feigning concern.

"Everything alright, padawan?" He asked, his voice more gravelly than it used to be.

She kept her face carefully blank, knowing any emotion would be used as ammunition to hurt Obi-Wan; no matter how much Vader claimed he didn't want to hurt either of them. She'd given up trying to get him to stop calling her padawan. He thought it would make it easier to turn her if he used such a familiar term. He was wrong of course so the term was more annoying than anything.

"Why don't you just tell me what you want and we can speed up this process?" Ahsoka said, her tone tired. It wasn't just from lack of sleep either. She was tired of having to keep her shields up all the time to keep Vader out. Tired of having to step on eggshells to make sure Obi-Wan stayed safe. Tired of having to worry about who survived and how they were doing. Tired of the lot she'd been handed in life and having the deal with it.

Vader raised an eyebrow at her and a spike of fear went through her that her tone might have been enough to get Obi-Wan hurt. "I want to make sure you're ok." His tone told her she had to watch her words more carefully.

Ahsoka took a couple breaths to calm herself down. Ironically Vader was trying to turn her to the dark side and he was helping her use the Jedi techniques more than any other force in the Galaxy. "I'm fine," she replied, her tone more even this time.

"Obviously not, based on how fast you shot up in bed. I don't need our bond at full force to sense your distress either." His tone darkened considerably when he mentioned the fact that she was blocking their bond as much as she could. Though she had to admit with how strong he was in the force it wasn't much. He came and sat down next to her on the bed. "Want to talk about it?"

She saw her opportunity to maybe get some information on the state of Obi-Wan. "It was about Obi-Wan," she said, her tone cautious. She was looking down at her lap, playing with the fabric of the clothes the Empire had forced on her.

She could feel the force darkening around her the moment Obi-Wan's name left her mouth. Vader hated it when they talked about each other. "You can't see him," Vader growled.

"You wanted to know what my nightmare was about," she snipped back, putting some merit in her old nickname. She stood up, more than a little peeved at how he was acting. Not that it was anything new. "You can't get mad at me for telling you what you wanted to know."

Vader stood up with her, not towering over her like he used to, but it still felt like he did. His whole presence filled the room. "I'd watch your tone, Snips," he said. Ahsoka winced internally with how he said her old nickname. "Unless of course, you'd like our conversation to get back to the Emperor."

She swallowed down her attitude, forcing herself to keep eye contact with him. "Of course not," she replied, her voice much smaller than it had been.

"His pain can stop of course," Vader said, his voice taking on the calculating tone it always took on when he brought up her turning or using Obi-Wan against her. This time it was both. "You'd just have to agree to become my apprentice, not a padawan."

"I'm still thinking it over," she replied, choosing her words very carefully. She could never determine what his reaction would be, and she feared his reaction would be more explosive today.

He spun around, his cape billowing out behind him, and his hand flying out. Ahsoka slammed into the wall behind her, a grunt escaping her when she made contact. "I suggest you start thinking faster. The Emperor is growing impatient. As am I." He dropped her, storming out the way he came. He'd never been very good at having patience, but these days his patience threshold was even lower.

She sank against the wall, putting her elbows on her knees. She had to figure out how she was going to deal with this. She couldn't let Obi-Wan get hurt because of her, but she couldn't give into Vader's demands either. She put her head on her knees as the feeling of being overwhelmed hit her again.

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A/N: 

Hello, everyone. I'd like to thank you for taking the time to read this fic of mine. Please Vote/Comment/Share this fic. I love to hear your guys' feedback on everything. Votes just make me happy. And I'll let you in on a secret. The more votes something gets the faster and more consistantly I'll update it. Just a tip.

~ Jesse