Chapter Text
When Caryss Howes received the alert from Artoo that her presence on Darth Vader’s star destroyer had been discovered by none other than Vader himself, she knew she was going to die.
It was a bit surprising to find she’d been noticed. She was, in many ways, a perfect spy for the rebellion; she was small, unassuming, with mundane, short brown hair and an unremarkable face, she was young, but skilled at avoiding attention in the way that she walked and acted. She was easy to sneak in and out of places and resourceful while on missions.
That was why she had been sent to Vader’s ship. Unfortunately, there was one thing about her that made her less-than ordinary, which was undoubtably the reason Vader himself had decided to deal with her.
She was Force-sensitive.
Normally, no one noticed this, and whenever she met other Force-sensitives they were always just grateful to meet someone who understood them. She was good at not advertising the fact that she could use the Force, on the rare occasion she did use it (usually to read someone’s mood or motivation more clearly).
Caryss had thought that she’d go unnoticed on this mission as well, since the ship was so massive and she’d always been careful not to televise her presence in the Force.
She should have known better.
She hurried down the ship’s corridors, trying to find her way back to the launch bay before Vader caught up with her, despite knowing she was too far away, she’d never make it back in time…
Her footsteps slowed as she came to a dimly-lit dead-end corridor. She stared at the wall for a moment, heart pounding in her chest, then took a breath and raised her comm-link. “I’m not gonna make it, Artoo. Take whatever information you can get from the computers and stow away on a transport first chance you get.”
The little droid on the other end whirred in distress. ‘I can’t just leave without you.’
“You have to. I’ll be okay, Artoo, I…” she swallowed hard and closed her eyes. “Don’t worry about me. Just get out as soon as you can and get back to base.”
She shut the commlink off, unwilling to listen to more of the little droid’s protests and pleas. As much as she loved him, Artoo couldn’t do anything to help her in the face of a Sith Lord.
She could feel Vader drawing nearer. His presence in the Force was like a massive, roiling stormcloud, or maybe a dark sea of darkness. It was smothering and overwhelming, meant to strike terror into the hearts of everyone who felt it.
She clenched her fists and opened her eyes, determination welling inside her. She wasn’t going to die cowering.
She reached into a secret inner pocket of her Imperial uniform and pulled out an unassuming black and silver cylinder. Took a deep breath.
The lightsaber whooshed to life in her hand, revealing a vibrant, purple blade. She lifted her head and held it at the ready. Maybe the sight of the saber and the fact that she was Force-sensitive would goad Vader into killing her in a duel. That would be quick and relatively painless, which she would much prefer over long hours of torture.
(even if they did torture her she wouldn’t tell them anything. She had no family, no close friends, nothing to be used as incentive to make her talk. All she’d have to do was endure the pain till it killed her.)
The low, even sound of Vader’s breathing reached her and she gripped the saber tighter. She’d never actually seen Vader in real life, but she’d heard plenty of stories, enough to know that he wouldn’t show mercy, no matter what she did.
Her heart thundered in her chest and her breathing quickened as a shadow appeared, followed by the hulking, armored form of the Sith.
He paused for a moment, observing her. She lifted her chin and glared at the empty eye sockets of his mask, ignoring the shaking in her arms and the sweat on her hands. She wasn’t going to let him take her courage, no matter how he looked or how all-consuming he felt in the Force, like a black hole trying to pull her into its orbit.
His red lightsaber ignited with a kwoosh and she tensed. He did not immediately move to attack though, instead, she felt…
Something slammed into the shields around her mind, tearing against them like a wild beast. She jerked back, surprised, then pushed back against the onslaught.
“You won’t get any information out of me!” she snapped, grinding her teeth. “Get out of my HEAD!”
She lunged forward and that effectively stopped the attack on her mind for a moment as he effortlessly parried her barrage of quick, aggressive slashes.
She kept at it. She knew he was toying with her, but she much preferred that he fight her outside her mind than inside it. Afterall, if she was lucky, maybe she’d make him mad and he’d kill her.
She thought she might have succeeded when she slashed at his legs (her signature move) and cut into the armor there, earning her a surprised “aargh!”
And then immediately she was paralyzed, arms tightly pressed to her sides, legs rooted in place. She snarled at him, fighting against the Force, but to no avail.
With a wave, Vader plucked the lightsaber out of her hand and it flew to his. She huffed, disappointed, but not surprised.
Vader dis-ignited both lightsabers and clipped them back to his belt. Then she felt the assault on her mind resume.
She ground her teeth and did her best to shove all thoughts of the rebellion as far back into her mind as possible, shoving anything else she possibly could forward.
But, to her surprise, Vader did not dig into her memories chasing after information. Instead he went to a different part of her mind, a happier part, mostly full of memories about children she’d met-
Oh.
No.
She fought to block out faces and yank back names, terror filling her at the idea of Vader finding any of these kids because some of them were Force sensitive and of course that was what he was looking for, because she was Force sensitive and he wanted to find the others and-
Vader left.
She blinked, and would have stumbled, if she had any control of her limbs. She stared up at him, frowning, unsure what the point of… any of that had been.
“You will follow me.”
She twitched a little at the deep, menacing voice and sighed heavily. So much for a quick death.
He released her legs and she immediately tried to bolt. Which was absolutely pointless, but she wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of walking calmly to her torturous end. He dragged her back with the Force and simply started pulling her behind him. She huffed and resigned herself to trotting along behind him.
They walked through empty corridors for a while, and she couldn’t help but wonder where everyone was. Surely Vader would want to parade her around, right? ‘Look at this stupid little Force-sensitive rebel who thought she could fool me, what an idiot’ or something like that.
Finally they stopped before a door but it was… definitely not on the detention level. On the contrary, this looked more like a hallway full of… officers quarters?
Vader waved his hand and the door opened. He pushed her inside and then she felt the Force restraints he’d been using on her vanish.
“You will remain here until I return,” Vader announced. And then the door closed and he just…
Left her in a really nice little suite of rooms? It was very basic, just a bed, dresser and a desk, and a door at the back of the room that led to a small fresher, but it was definitely not a holding cell. She inspected it for any weak points, but found none (even the vent opening was far too small for her).
With nothing else to do, she sat down on the bed and ran her hand through her hair, thinking. Vader hadn’t searched her at all, just taken her lightsaber, which meant she still had a number of knives hidden on her person, as well as snacks and a small flask of water. She had weirdly nice accommodations. Was this some sort of trick? Why in the galaxy would Vader, of all people, be trying to trick her by acting civil? That did not match any story she had ever heard of him.
Caryss sighed and flopped back on the bed. She had no answers. And was not going to get them by thinking herself in circles. She may as well rest and try to fortify herself while she had the chance (and a surprisingly comfortable bed) and trust that whatever game Vader was playing would reveal itself eventually.
****
When Darth Vader sensed an unfamiliar, weak, but steady, presence in the Force, he knew a member of the fledgling Rebellion had infiltrated his ship. That was an impressive feat, though it had been exceptionally foolish of them to send a Force-sensitive.
He did not explain why he demanded the deck where the signature came from be cleared, nor did he allow the order to be sent throughout the ship. He simply ordered that the deck be closed off due to an unexpected development. That would make it less likely for any other Rebels on board to notice until it was too late.
He went to deal with the intruder himself… though perhaps not for the reasons he should have.
As he drew closer the Rebel became aware of him. He sensed fear from them, but also defiance. That was interesting.
‘Promising.’
He was surprised to find that when he found her, the Rebel was standing in a dimly-lit hallway, wielding a lightsaber. And not just any lightsaber, but a purple one. He hadn’t seen that color since…
He scattered those thoughts and focused on the Rebel. She was small, and though she was afraid, she continued to stand her ground, glaring defiantly at him as he approached.
Vader had never expected to find the answer to his problem in the form of a young Rebel, but she certainly seemed promising. She was brave, but not too stupid, clever enough to con her way on board, able to at least use the Force in a rudimentary sense.
Now, he just needed to check one last thing…
He slammed into her mind’s defenses, attacking them viciously. She fought back, but was obviously untrained. He ignored her futile efforts and-
-was forced to react as she attacked him with her lightsaber.
She was much more skilled with a lightsaber than she was at repelling mind attacks. She was quick and fierce, and he found himself enjoying her ferocity-
Until she slashed at his legs, sending a jolt of (stupid, pointless) panic through him before the saber glanced off his armor, cutting into it, but only enough to snap a few wires and send sharp pains through his legs, not sever them.
The lucky hit was too close to home for him to allow the duel to continue, so he caught her in the Force and resumed his assault on her mind. At first she ignored him, shoving what she thought were unimportant memories at him until-
Ah.
Memories of her surrounded by children (their faces hastily hidden from him), laughing and playing with them, caring for them, letting them curl up on her lap and sleep safely-
He pulled back, satisfied.
“You will follow me,” he said.
She tried to run as soon as he released her legs, which was pointless, but spirited of her. Once he dragged her back she resigned herself to following him.
His thoughts swirled. The little Rebel was an unexpected boon. She was unknown to the Emperor and expendable to the Rebellion. She was not easily cowed and less frightened of him than most of his own officers.
And she was good with children.
He dropped her off at an unused minor officers room, made sure to lock the door, and hurried down the hallway, a tenuous hope building in his chest. It was desperate and foolish of him, but he had no other options, no other alternative to keep the boy safe-
He drew to a stop in front of an unassuming door with a strong, warm, familiar Force presence behind it. If he could have taken a deep breath he would have. Instead he drew himself up and rapped on the door.
“Come in!”
He slipped inside and froze as a wave of excitement and happiness washed over him in the Force, their epicenter a tiny boy with blonde hair and bright blue eyes who leapt to his feet and darted over as Vader entered.
“Father!” the boy cannoned into him, hugging him tightly.
Hesitantly, Vader pressed a hand against his son’s back. “Hello, my son.”
“Did you come to play with me?” Luke bounced, grinning up at him.
“Not… not this time, Luke. I have… news for you.”
He felt a slight twinge of fear from the boy and his heart ached. “What is it?” Luke asked, stepping back and squeezing fistfuls of his shirt tightly in his hands.
It had been about a month since he had discovered Luke’s existence. He had been in the Outer Rim, hunting down a suspected Rebel base, when he’d felt a sudden, overwhelming wave of terror and pain wash over him, the Force screaming at him, tugging him towards Tatooine, of all places. He’d tried to ignore it, but he’d been plagued with nightmares and visions of a terrified little boy who looked just like he- like Anakin Skywalker had, as a boy. So, reluctant, but curious, he’d gone to Tatooine and followed the call to…
A slave auction.
The second he saw the boy he knew. He knew this was Padme’s child, this was his son, and he could not leave him. So he had… freed the boy, and, incidentally, the other slaves as well, and taken his son back to his ship.
At first, Luke had been terrified of him. He’d screamed and wailed while Vader desperately tried to reassure him that he was safe now, that no harm would come to him here, that he was… he was…
It had taken almost two weeks of slowly earning the boy’s trust, bringing him food, coming to his room when he had nightmares- coming whenever Luke was in any kind of distress at all- until Luke finally decided to trust him. He had, shortly after, with much fear and trepidation, told Luke that he was his father.
Luke had been ecstatic, and he was still overwhelmingly excited whenever his father came to visit. Vader had no idea how to handle that.
Nor did he have any idea how to take care of a child in general, he had discovered, after he had been repeatedly late bringing Luke meals, and the boy begged to explore the ship and come with him to the bridge and to not be left alone and his father... had not known how to respond. For his own safety, Luke was confined to his room. He had a few toys Vader had been able to procure for him without suspicion, but…
Vader knew the Emperor had people on his ship who reported on him. He was terrified of them discovering that Luke was his son, terrified of what the Emperor would do to the boy, and how he would be powerless to stop it…
He needed time to come up with a plan. And in the meantime, he needed someone he could trust to not tell the Emperor about the boy to watch Luke so he would not become associated with his son and raise suspicion.
Vader steeled himself. “I have… found someone to look after you when I am… not able to be with you.”
Luke’s eyes widened. “Who is it?”
Vader hesitated. “She has… recently come aboard the ship. She has a great deal of experience with children. I have hand-picked her personally.” There, he didn’t even have to lie.
Luke rocked back on his heels. “Can I meet her?”
“Yes. I will introduce you tomorrow.” Best to let the little Rebel cool off in her room for a while. And… he needed time to think.
(not that his decision was going to change, however ironic it was that he could trust a Rebel spy to watch his son more than his own crew.)
Luke smiled, just a little nervously. “Okay. Will- will you still come visit me?”
He felt a pang in his heart and knelt in front of his son, despite the way his joints screamed in protest at the movement. “Of course, Luke.”
The boy relaxed, grinned, and threw his little arms around Vader’s neck, hugging him. “Okay, good. I miss you when you’re not here.”
Gently, he hugged Luke back. “I… miss you too, my son.”
How he longed to spend every moment of every day with his boy. Luke was already five years old, he had missed so much of the boy’s life simply by not knowing he existed, every second he wasn’t with him now made his heart ache.
But at least if he managed this Luke would not be alone all the time, and until he could find a way to free himself from the Emperor, that was all he could hope for.
Luke pulled back, smiling. “Will you play with me now?”
Vader hesitated for a moment, but he didn’t have anything pressing to attend to and how was he supposed to resist Luke’s pleading blue eyes?
“Yes.”
Luke whooped, and grabbed his hand, tugging him over to where his model ships sat on the floor and handing him a TIE fighter. “Okay, I’m a crew of pirates and you’re the Imperial fighters trying to catch me. So, catch me!”
Luke grabbed a freighter ship and shot to the other side of the room. Vader smiled and followed.
****
Caryss spent an uneventful night in her unexpected accommodations. (she had tried the door just to make sure Vader locked it, and was disappointed but not surprised to find that he had) When it became clear that no one was coming to get her immediately, she’d gotten a quick shower and changed into a clean pair of (boring, gray) nightclothes she found in the dresser drawers. At least if she was going to be tortured later she’d start off clean and refreshed.
‘Maybe I’ll be publicly executed to make a point,’ she mused. That seemed like a reasonable assumption, considering she was still alive and un-tortured.
It still didn’t explain why Vader had acted so strangely, or why she wasn’t in a cell though.
Eventually she drifted into an uneasy sleep, filled with weird dreams. She woke from them with a jolt, unable to recall what had frightened her awake.
After that she’d changed back into an Imperial uniform, minus the tight-fitting coat and the stupid-looking hat. Paced. Eaten one of her nutrient bars. Tried to reach out with the Force and figure out what was going on. Considered contacting Artoo but decided it was too risky. Paced more.
Then, at the edges of her consciousness she felt Vader’s storm rolling in. She took a breath and started to steel herself for meeting him again when she sensed someone else.
This Force presence was the opposite of Vader’s in everything but power. It was bright and warm, burning like a desert sun- and didn’t seem to be distressed.
Well, that was weird and unsettling. Did Vader have some sort of long lost twin or something? She’d never heard of anyone being close to him, but then again there was next to no information about the man (if he even was a man).
The two opposite Force signatures drew to a stop at her door. She took a deep, steadying breath and lifted her head, determined not to be cowed, whatever Vader had planned.
The door opened and Vader strode in. He stopped a few feet from her and folded his arms, but said nothing.
She tried to peer around him, but saw no one following him. She frowned. The light Force presence was here, so where-
Vader’s cape moved, and a tiny face peeked out at her from behind the man’s legs.
…
What?!
Her mouth dropped open as she stared at the small, blonde boy with blue eyes who was watching her uncertainly. There was?? A child??? with Vader?!
Was she still dreaming? Her dreams got very vivid sometimes, maybe-
“Is that her?”
The boy’s soft voice jolted her out of her thoughts. She blinked and saw him looking up at Vader.
“Yes,” Vader replied.
The boy bit his lip and looked back at her, then slowly crept out from behind Vader. “Hi,” he smiled shyly. “My name’s Luke.”
She had no idea what was going on here, but she couldn’t just keep staring at the child, she was going to scare him. So she took a breath and smiled, kneeling down. “Nice to meet you, Luke. I’m Caryss.”
She offered her hand and he took it and oh my goodness his hand was so small, he was so little, what was he doing here, on this ship, with Vader of all people?!
“Your name’s pretty,” Luke said. “My father says you’re going to look after me now, when he’s not around.”
Every thought in her mind slammed to a stop at that and she stared at him blankly for a moment. “Your… father?”
“Mhm!” Luke turned and looked at Vader and oh, no, this couldn’t, she had to be missing something, she-
“You will be his caretaker,” Vader said. “You will make sure he receives meals and accompany him whenever he leaves his room. You are to stay with him at all times during the day and if you are ever found wandering the ship without him-” here she felt a crushing weight press down on her in the Force and she ground her teeth. “-you will be dealt with accordingly. Luke is to be allowed anywhere on the ship save for dangerous areas such as the engine room and weapons facility, and the bridge.”
Her brain fought to catch up with what was going on. “You… want me to… look after your…” she looked at Luke then up at Vader. “son?”
“If you are able to adequately preform your duties you will be allowed to remain here,” Vader continued as if he hadn’t heard her. “If not, you will be removed and I will find someone more suitable. Are you able to read, write and do basic arithmetic?”
She blinked. “Yeah?”
“Then you will teach him those things as well, during the day. At night you will stay with him until he falls asleep then return directly to your quarters, is that understood?”
“Yes?”
“Good.” Vader turned and looked down at Luke and then, to her great surprise, he knelt down in front of the little boy and his voice… softened???
“You will listen to and obey Caryss as you would me, my son,” he said. “And if you dislike her for any reason you must tell me, do you understand?”
“Yes, father,” said Luke. “And you’ll still come see me?”
“Yes, my son,” Vader reached up and cupped the boy’s head in his hand. “I shall visit you whenever I can.”
“Okay. I’ll be good and I’ll listen, I promise.”
And then Luke threw himself forward-
-and hugged Vader.
Well. If she had any doubts that this was Vader’s son, that dashed them. She was fairly certain there wasn’t another soul in the universe that Vader would actually allow to hug him.
After a few moments, Vader pulled away and stood and oddly enough she sensed reluctance on both their parts when he did. When Vader looked at her again she felt something desperate and longing there, just for a second, and then his emotions were hidden from her once more.
“You will see that Luke is kept safe,” said Vader, his voice hard and commanding once more. “Or there will be consequences. Is that understood?”
Slowly, Caryss stood and nodded. She hesitated and he started to turn away so she quickly gathered her courage and spoke.
“Lord Vader…” he glanced back at her and she clenched her fists, forcing herself to go on. “You mentioned unsafe places on the ship. If I’m going to avoid those I’m going to need some sort of map, or we’re going to wander into a place we aren’t meant to be by accident.”
She half expected to feel pressure squeezing her throat or chest, but to her surprise, Vader nodded. “I will have a datapad with the information sent to Luke’s quarters.”
Then, he strode out of the room and she was left alone with Luke.
Vader's son.
'What a mess you've landed in this time, Caryss.'