ooo

Luke stood as tall and stiff as he could, but he wouldn't be surprised when they would notice something was amiss just by his nervous sweating. Left and right of him two Imperial Lieutenants stood so close that their shoulders nearly connected. His rebel instincts told him to run, but he knew that that would be a poor choice. The hangar he was in was practically crawling with Imperials and the next door was far from where he stood. They would gun him down before he made it even halfway. And even if he made it, with the entire garrison on his tail they would catch him. He knew that.

Luke tried to calm his breathing as much as he could. Concentrate on the positive, flyboy. Stand still and keep quiet. So far they had not noticed that he wasn't who he pretended to be, they didn't know that right in the middle of their assembly one of the most wanted rebels was hiding. If they would get wind of this he had a fair idea of what would happen to him. General Madine had given him the pep talk when the astronomically high bounty had been released that offered six million Imperial credits for his life capture and delivery into Imperial custody.

More correctly into the Emperor's right hand man's custody. As their Bothan contacts had told them, Lord Vader had personally been tasked with capturing Luke and had mobilized his entire flag division Death Squadron dedicated to find and capture him.

This was his first ground mission since the bounty had come out and Luke had been elated that he was finally being sent out again, he had been afraid tHigh Command would continue to see it as too dangerous for him to be out there where he could potentially be captured. Well his task had been simple enough, to sneak into this garrison in search of a clue of the Empire's newest TIE fighter program the rebel spy network had gotten wind of. They were rumored to be developed here.

He had landed his fighter in the forest surrounding the base and then hiked to the small entrance he had found while doing a quick sweep of the area with his X-Wing's sensors. He had gotten lucky and managed to sneak up upon an unsuspecting Imperial who had been out to smoke a forbidden stick. Luke had quickly overpowered him and tied him up after he had appropriated his uniform. Hiding his own fatigues and pulling the cap matching the unlucky Lieutenant's outfit deep into his face as not to be recognized, Luke had set off to find any evidence of the plans.

All had went well until he had been surprised by an enraged looking officer, who had caught up with him right outside the restricted area he was sneaking around. His heart had dropped to the floor, but the Imperial had just shouted him down and then sent him to the hangar where apparently the original owner of the uniform had been supposed to report to. The Imperial had ordered two Stormtroopers to escort him there as to make sure Luke would arrive. Luke had clenched his teeth at that, no sneaking away possible, then.

So he had ended up in this crowded hangar, where he had been shouted at some more for being late until he had arranged himself near the end of the neat lines of Imperial officers and ground personnel, pilots and troopers. They stood in two long lines facing each other. Behind him Luke could hear the occasional rustle of armor when the squads of Stormtroopers shifted slightly. Nowhere to run, flyboy. The cap was still pulled deep in his face and no one had questioned his presence yet. Just keep quiet and all will be well. Maybe this was just some regular drill they made.

"Attention," someone shouted and everyone seemed to pull themselves to an even more rigid posture. Luke frowned under his cap. The distant roar of an engine could be heard, coming closer. Soon it was unmistakable to identify as the engine of an approaching shuttle. Luke blinked and peeked in the direction of the noise. A few moments later a sleek Lambda class shuttle set down in the hangar, the cabin depressurized filling the far side of the hangar with ominous clouds. And then the boarding ramp opened and Luke's heart stuttered to a stop.

Down the ramp, his wide cape billowing out behind him, strode Darth Vader.

ooo

Vader couldn't help, but feel tired when faced with the tedious ceremony of having to stride down yet another useless assembly of sweating junior officers and troopers, instead of getting straight to the purpose of his visit.

This was all holding him off from his true task. Holding him away from finding his son. Palpatine had found out about his offspring, there was no more opportunity to conceal the boy's identity. He had ordered him to find the boy and deliver the child to him. Palpatine wanted to turn him and make him his new apprentice, eventually replacing Vader with the boy, he was sure of it. Vader clenched his teeth in anger.

He stopped at the end of the assembly to be greeted by the sycophantic commander of the base. But something was different. Vader felt the pull of the Force. It whispered to him, it quivered around him in anticipation of something big. Vader let the commander talk and reached out with his own Force tendrils, seeking answers from the very fabric of the Force.

He could make out the glimmer of another Force presence nearby, faint, but now he reached for it, it became clearer and brighter. He could sense nervousness, fear, agitation, but also determination. Could one of the assembled officers be Force sensitive? It might be worth to follow up, some of them could be used and those that could not needed to be disposed of before they could fall prey to the corrupted Jedi teachings.

The Commander was still babbling along, some pointed questions from Vader keeping him going, which served him just well. Vader reached deeper into the folds of the Force, probing, searching for the elusive individual. He found the small glimmer in the Force once more and reached for it, more forcefully. It flared at the touch and with a thrill of excitement Vader recognized the Force signature. He had felt it before, during the final attack on the Death Star and before that, long before, when he had felt the baby kick in its mother's womb.

The boy was here.

But how, had he been captured and the Commander, standing in front of him, was trying to get into the Emperor's graces by delivering the child directly to Palpatine? But no, he could feel the boy close, he was in this very hangar and there was no room for prisoners here, let alone the Emperor's prize. Vader reached deeper into the Force, he needed to locate the boy. He was close, so close. Almost as if he stood right beside him. Vader turned his head, scanning the officers standing at attention. All of them looked like they could not wait to be dismissed before he started choking one of them. But only one radiated genuine deep-rooted fear.

Vader smiled unseen behind his mask. It seemed the boy had indeed infiltrated the base and disguised himself as an officer. The cap pulled deep in his face shadowed his features but a treacherously long lock of blonde hair was visible under it. Yet he kept himself together well despite the stress he was clearly under, it was barely noticeable that anything was amiss with this particular Lieutenant. Vader turned back to the commander. He needed to ensure not to give the boy a reason to jump, else he might end up doing something rash and endangering himself.

An idea sprang into his mind. The Force had led him here and provided him with the means to collect the boy, unseen, unnoticed by his Master. The boy was his and his alone. He began putting together a plan in his mind. Most importantly he had to avoid that the boy got away, but that he could easily arrange. He could practically feel the boy's relief at the prospect of finally being dismissed, when his talk with the Commander came to an end.

"Very well, Commander," Vader growled out, projecting as much impatience as he could. "I will use this visit to inspect this facility." He could see the Commander's jaw working furiously but he had no right to refuse. He gave a quick bow.

"Of course my Lord, I shall show…"

"No, Commander. That won't be necessary," he said with a hint of impatience. "Lieutenant?" He turned swiftly back to the boy, fixing him with his masked gaze. Luke froze up again, having slumped slightly. He floundered for a second, hoping that Vader had not addressed him specifically while around him the other officers tried to give him some room without leaving their parade ground perfect stances, but still keen to get themselves out of the line of fire.

"M-my Lord?" the boy answered, his voice only shortly betraying his fear.

"You will accompany me, Lieutenant," Vader turned back to the Commander who turned slightly red, his feelings warring between the indignation at being sidelined for some Lieutenant and relief at not having to take the Dark Lord's displeasure himself. "Resume your duties, Commander."

"Yes, my Lord," the man gave a short bow and gave his second in command a short wave before turning and leaving. The assembled officers dispersed and before Luke could try and sneak out with them Vader turned back to him, staring him down. The boy had clearly intended just that, but aborted his half step quickly, instead returning to something that only approximately resembled a proper attention. The rebels clearly did not bother with proper military training, just like the rag-tag band of disgruntled no ones they were.

Well, this was one of the many things he would have to see rectified in his son's education. A grim smile played around his lips. But first he had to see to boy's convenient disappearance. Luke was visibly nervous now as he stood practically alone with Vader in the vast space.

"Follow me, Lieutenant," Vader said briskly as not to give the boy an indication that his cover had been blown to pieces.

"Yes, my Lord," the boy answered, his voice firmer now. Through the Force Vader could feel his determination warring with his fear, but there was also a large dose of anger directed at him. If Kenobi had the boy, there was no telling what he had told him. But from his reaction so far Vader was sure that the boy had no clue that he stood facing his father.

He turned around swiftly, his cape flicking at the boy's ankles, and headed for the hangar exit. He remained vigilant, closely monitoring the boy through he Force to ensure the child complied and sure enough, in his foolish hopes that he could still keep his cover, his son dutifully followed him. Soon, he thought grimly, would the boy follow him willingly.

He headed straight for the supply depot of the garrison, his plan calling for a suitable way of concealing the fact that the 'Lieutenant' had ever left the base. Somewhere in the base the real officer must be, either dead or otherwise incapacitated. This would play very well into his plan. Sooner or later that man would be found and the hunt for the imposter would keep the garrison busy.

The boy still tailed him obediently. He probed his undefended mind, marvelling at the potential in the Force he felt, yet it was ridiculously untrained. He could feel the boy's rising uneasiness at being in such close proximity to the very man that had been tasked to capture him.

The officer in charge of the depot approached them at their entrance, but Vader waived him down quickly, he knew that he had just to follow the prompts of the Force. They led him to a door and with a swift manipulation of the Force it opened. He turned to Luke.

"Enter, Lieutenant," he ordered shortly.

Luke looked for a moment like he would bolt, but he then clearly decided that that would be straight up suicidal and he hesitantly stepped into the room. Vader followed him. The room contained shelves upon shelves with large crates, but no one else but the two of them was inside. this suited his purpose. "Identify the content of those crates," he ordered, pointing at some at the very far side of the room.

The boy crossed the room, seemingly glad to get some space between himself and Vader. He stepped closer to the shelves and began inspecting the data-readouts.

"Well?"

"Um, they contain power cells, my Lord," the boy answered.

"Good, that will do," he said. "Bring me that crate." He pointed briskly at a rather large one.

ooo

Luke stared in dismay at the crate in front of him, bigger than himself. He didn't like this, not at all. He was alone with Vader in a small room and while he didn't seem onto him yet, he wasn't sure how much longer he could keep the Emperor's henchman off his scent.

Well, he had gotten himself into this tight spot and all he could do was play along and hope that Vader would dismiss him once he had his power cells. He activated the repulsors and lifted the huge crate off the shelve, letting it float through the room closer to the door where Vader still stood.

He let it sink to the floor in front of the Dark Lord, hoping that this what all the man wanted from him.

"Very well, Lieutenant," the dark voice intoned. Luke was sure he would have nightmares of this encounter. "Open it and show me its content."

Luke clenched his teeth but crouched down, deactivating the lock to lift the lid. It opened and he placed the lid next to it.

"What is in it?"

Luke peeked into the crate. "It contains four power… mmh." Luke's eyes bulged in shock as a large black gloved hand clamped down on his mouth and muffled his surprised cry. How had he not noticed that Vader had snuck up from behind him? Luke grappled with his hands, desperate to pry away the Dark Lord's fingers but Vader merely pulled him upright, his hand still clamped tightly down on his lips, preventing him to call for help he knew wouldn't come either way and pressing him with his back against the armored bulk of the man.

The other hand reached for his head and peeled off the cap, as he was held in an unyielding headlock.

"Your little masquerade is over, Skywalker," Vader said and his voice chilled Luke to the core. He knew. He knew. Luke doubled his efforts to break free ineffectually kicking against Vader's legs. Another hand settled on his head brushing his blond locks from his face.

"Cease, boy," Vader said. Luke could feel the vibrations of the voice through his body, so tightly was he pinned against the murderer of his father. "You are only making this harder for yourself."

The hand settled on his head in a mockingly soothing manner and suddenly he could not breathe. He struggled to pull in air through his nose, but it was as if his throat was tightly closed. Panic dropped like a veil and he trashed as much as he could. To no avail. His movement became quickly sluggish and finally his hands, still pulling desperately at Vader's unyielding grip over his mouth, fell uselessly to his sides. His limbs felt heavy like lead while he stared in horror at the dark room around him, desperately searching for a way to stop this. Shadows clouded his eyes and his vision wavered. This was it. Through the haze he could hear Vader's voice vibrating through his body.

"Calm down, Luke" Vader said. "Cease…"

ooo

The boy finally slumped in his grip and Vader immediately let his Force hold on the boy's trachea go. He held him still for a few moments, probing with the Force, checking the boy's life signs and his Force signature. Both resonated soundly to him. The boy was merely unconscious. Vader turned the boy around, cradling the limp form in his arm. For a moment he indulged himself in just taking in his son's features. With one careful finger he traced the nose and the jaw line. Finally they were reunited. He would not allow the boy to be taken from him again, not by Palpatine, not by the rebels. He would protect the child from all dangers. As it always should have been.

The thought sobered Vader. He needed to hide the child, scurry him unseen to safety. Vader checked his life signs once more, both physically and through the Force. He was unconscious, but for how long. He needed to act.

He used the Force to lift all four power cells from the crate, levitating them into a nearby shelve and instead carefully placed the prone form of his son in the now empty crate. With the heavy wire he was carrying in a coil on his belt Vader tied the boy's hands and feet to limit resistance once the boy came to. He then punctured several holes in the lid to ensure the boy would not suffocate before deliberately sealing the lid.

Vader used the Force to activate the repulsors of the crate as well as several others, striding confidently from the room. No one questioned his impoundment of several boxes of equipment and no one questioned the young blonde lieutenant's disappearance. He had the boxes including the one containing his precious son brought aboard his shuttle and left the garrison, leaving the ground personnel glad that they had come out of his inspection unscathed.

ooo