Trial of the Times

Chapter 12 - Repercussions - Rewritten

If there's a fic you'd like us to write, I have a SW fic request form which you can fill out. We'll gift write all the requests we get... eventually. :D The link is as follows, but with no spaces: forms . gle / rmXWtRomMMaULuPa6

We also made a tribute for Anakin on our new YT channel. Check it out if you're interested. :P Again, no spaces in the link: youtu . be / T9hdVkokQa4

~ Amina Gila

Anakin goes to Dooku's office in the morning just as he'd requested the previous evening. When he arrives, he notices that the Count seems unusually pensive. "We have a problem," Dooku informs him almost immediately, expression grave. "My master saw you. He'll recognize you, and he knows I know you. If he even suspects that I'm plotting against him, he'll probably kill me. And if he thinks that Vader was once Anakin Skywalker, the trouble only increases double fold."

Anakin sits carefully on the edge of a chair, folding his arms across his chest, carefully keeping all of his senses attuned. Dooku abandoned Ventress and left her for dead; he doesn't want to be next, even if he's unsure Dooku would do such a thing, at least not right now. Not only is this... partnership in the Count's favor, but also, he would lose against Anakin as he well knows from one of their first sparring matches.

Holding back yet another instinctive apology, Anakin shifts with concern. "So, what do we do?"

"Once he's out of the med center, he'll contact me," Dooku informs him. "He'll be paranoid, but I'll try to assuage his mind."

"But what will you tell him?" Anakin asks, suddenly feeling scared of something – someone – other than the Count for the first time since he came here.

"I will tell him that a dark Jedi wanted to ally with me. I wanted to see how he handled situations first. After attacking Sidious, I killed him." Dooku's voice is altogether too calm and level in Anakin's opinion. The almost nonchalant words again remind Anakin of the fact that the Count is more than capable of trying to kill him. They're evenly matched, and the knowledge that he could just as easily be the victim as the victor is not at all reassuring.

"Will it work?" Anakin wants to know, carefully trying to hide his uneasiness, which has momentarily taken his mind off the tumult and pain in his heart.

Dooku's silence is as much an answer as his words are. "I don't know," he replies finally, "I hope so. Sidious can be excessively distrustful, a trait which will be only increased after the attack. He'll be suspicious of everyone."

He probably should care more than he does, but a part of him doesn't exactly care if he falls victim to the Sith Lords as long as he manages to take them down with him. He doesn't even know what he wants anymore. Nothing. Everything. Mainly for this all to be over. He's tired of fighting against the Sith and the Separatists. He's tired of war. He's tired of dealing with so much pain. He's tired of life.

Suppressing a sigh, he lets himself slump back into the chair, eyes flickering to stare distantly at the window behind Dooku as his mind replays everything which has happened over the past couple weeks. His life has been entirely upended, and Anakin is no longer certain if he'll come out on top when it's all over. He feels as if he's been dragged down into a pit of darkness and despair, and then tossed out the other end.

"For so long as Sidious is alive, I will not hurt you." Dooku's voice is quiet, gentle almost. "You don't need to fear from me."

It's meant as a reassurance, and while it doesn't – can't – change months of carefully hidden fears of the Count, it... does help soothe him. At least for a moment. "If you don't need me, I'd like to go to my room." He doesn't want to be here, next to this dark presence that has brought him so much pain, not while he's struggling to keep himself under control.