Meditating in the thick blackness, immersed in the Dark Side of the Force, Darth Vader felt intensely the presence of his son. He had never sensed him so close since Bespin, and since Bespin he hadn't perceived such a suffering. Luke's Force signature was feeble, it looked like a candle while it was usually a novastar.

The young Jedi was calling for help, even if it wasn't in an explicit way. Vader could sense an unbearable amount of pain, and it was coming... from the torture chambers?

Deeply shaken, Vader contacted the responsible of the prison.

"Did you capture any new prisoners, today?" he asked menacingly, holding onto the comlink for dear life.

"Yes, sir" a voice replied "two young Rebels, they were spies. We know one, she's the notorious princess Leia. The second, a male, doesn't have a name yet. We're using the rude methods now, and we'll get something from both. They won't resist much".

Rage burnt in Vader's chest. "Put the two prisoners in the same cell and suspend the interrogation. I must see them personally" he declared before closing the call.

~~~

Leia was hurled brutally in Luke's cell, too exhausted to move from the floor.

In the past hours she had suffered more than she thought a human could bear: the Imperials had almost drowned her, and she had been given tremendous drugs. She had been beaten up so hard that she didn't even think she was going to survive. Her neck and upper chest had been burnt with scorching tools and hurt terribly; her airways had been closed for a very long time, and it wasn't helping at all.

Luke tried to come closer to his friend as soon as he saw her, but he had to give up: he couldn't move a single muscle without putting himself in a terrible pain. Deep cuts decorated his skin all over, his back had been whipped and his forearms broken; in a surge of cruelty, the Imperials had ripped his prosthetic hand off. And there were also the first, terrible blaster wounds on his side and a final, potentially deadly hammer blow on his head.

The temperature was freezing cold, and Leia, despite her injured legs, tried to crawl towards Luke in order to get some warmth from the closeness. He wasn't warmer than her, since the Imperials had also taken off his shirt to have more flesh to harm, but even the minimal source of heat would be gladly accepted by the girl, who was also wet down to the bones.

With difficulty Luke wrapped one arm around Leia to keep her warm, ignoring the stabbing pain from the broken wrist.

"Come on, it'll be all right" he said encouragingly, although he himself was expecting to die in that cell.

Leia shook her head slightly, eyes closed.

"I... d-don't...". Air left her as soon as she tried to speak, her lungs likely damaged. Luke felt his heart clenching when the girl's voice broke down; he was about to murmur some comforting words in her ear, but the door opening interrupted him.

Darth Vader himself stood phlegmatically on the entrance, emotionless and stoic. Or, at least, this was what the prisoners were supposing, because he was suffering. Suffering because he hadn't come on time, because his son had been hurt beyond measure.

The Sith Lord approached the two small figures and slowly bent on one knee to face them. He recognised his son's face, tense in pain, covered in dried or still fresh blood, and looked at him gently even if he couldn't see his eyes.

"I'm taking you to the medbay" Vader said, his baritone shaking the silence of the cell.

Luke looked up at his supposed father and tightened his grip on Leia despite the pain in his arm. He knew that he needed immediate medical attention, but he couldn't leave without his friend.

"You'll bring Leia, too" he said, and it wasn't a question.

Vader considered the option. The princess was a public enemy to the Empire, and that was a fact. Luke was too, but he was his son. Unluckily for the Sith Lord, the boy declared that he would have killed himself with his own hands if Leia wasn't taken care of just like him.

Vader tried multiple times to persuade Luke, but in vain. Reluctant, he used the Force to make the two Rebels fall in a peaceful sleep and brought them personally, with his own arms, to the medical centre.

There he met a nurse, a small man in his fifties with a white uniform.

The man jolted upright and bowed his head, then greeted: "Good morning, sir. What can I do for you?". Normally he would have just taken the patients under his custody, but Vader was unpredictable.

The tall, masked man pointed two young people, battered and bloodied, who lay on a series of chairs nearby.

"They must be treated quickly, now" Vader demanded. He was genuinely concerned for his son: tortures were a serious problem. He had seen many people dying because of their consequences.

The nurse nodded obediently and prepared two stretchers where the patients were promptly placed. A group of medical droids brought them beyond a thick glass door.

"You must know that, if they don't heal, you will pay" Vader added before vanishing in his private chambers.

He needed to think, to reflect. Saving his son he had done the right thing, for sure, but what was the Emperor going to think? Vader had already disappointed him once when he should have killed Luke or turned him to the Dark Side. Now the young Jedi had been allowed to live once again...

Maybe this was an occasion to force him to join the Dark Side... perhaps taking advantage of the princess he cared so much about. It would be perfect for the Emperor's plans and for the future of the Sith.

Vader left suddenly his hyperbaric chamber, headed to the medical centre for the second time in just an hour. He was going to model his son's mind as soon as he was in better shape, and Luke was going to become a great heir to his father. Yes, that was how everything was going to be.

That was what Vader would make sure would happen.

Hello! I hope you're liking my story so far (-:
I can assure you that the physical angst is over XD But this is a pretty angsty story, so get used to it.
Also, this chapter was the hell to write, there were a lot of difficult verbs that I had to change from the original version (I spent an hour on WordReference XD). So just tell me if you find grammar mistakes or mistypings!
May the Force be with you!
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