Summary: Anakin, taken hostage by the Sith. Grievous, captured by the Republic. When Padmé refuses Dooku's offer of prisoner exchange, Anakin appears to be lost for good. One year later, a mysterious Jedi-killer called Vader appears. AU starting from TCW episode "Shadow Warrior." Inspired by Captain America 2: The Winter Soldier.
Link: https://m.fanfiction.net/s/11402676/1/Asylum
Word count:193k(COMPLETE)
Chapters:33
Chapter 1: Start Over
A/N - Please read! This story is an AU starting from the Clone Wars episode "Shadow Warrior." If you haven't seen it, don't fret: I've given all the information you need to know in the first chapter. I do not own anything in this fanfiction. Star Wars belongs Lucasfilm Ltd. under the Walt Disney Company. This story is made for entertainment purposes only.
EDIT 5/2020: Hi guys! Now that this story is almost done I just want to welcome any new readers and say this story is my heart and soul and puts an emphasis on realistic depictions of grief, mental illness, trauma, and recovery. It is an expression of the dark thoughts I'd had when I started writing and it doesn't skim over the details of what it's like to deal with mental illness and grief. It's very dark, contains elements of torture, slavery, abuse, depression, and a hell of a lot of hurt/comfort (eventually). It's also on AO3 if you'd rather read it there. If that sounds interesting to you, I really hope you enjoy reading something I'm so incredibly proud of. Thank you!
"I could be persuaded to return Skywalker to you in exchange for General Grievous...I'm sure you will make the right choice."
That was what Dooku had said. The words rang like a bell through Padmé's mind over and over. The right choice. What was that, exactly? Save Anakin, versus what, abandon him to his death? Release Grievous, versus handing him to the Republic so that this awful war might end a little bit sooner?
Padmé pressed a hand to her eyes. She had forty minutes left to decide. She sat in a remote corner of Otoh Gunga, the Gungan capital inside Lake Paonga. The lake was spacious, and would have been beautiful at any other time, but now it felt like it was pressing in on her, like the hydrostatic shield of the city walls would crack and she would drown. She opened her eyes and looked out at the dark water.
Give up Grievous, the mass killing machine who slaughtered civilians by the thousands, who invaded planets with his droids to take lives and resources and freedom?
Or give up Anakin, the one who without fail charged after Grievous and saved planets, liberated innocent people, put his own safety on hold for the sake of others? The Jedi's chosen savior, the hero, the friend and master and husband. Her husband.
She looked at her chrono. Thirty-eight minutes left.
Slowly, like she was moving through the lake water outside the city, she fumbled at her communicator and contacted someone who she prayed would know what to do.
Queen Neeyutnee had been waiting for an update, and Padmé gave her one, explaining the situation. She tried to keep her distress from sounding too obvious. When it was done, the queen looked thoughtful behind her makeup.
"General Skywalker is a hero to the Naboo," Neeyutnee said thoughtfully. "And I know he is your close friend. But you know better than anyone on Naboo how greatly the capture of General Grievous could shift the war. I do not envy you your decision, Senator."
Padmé frowned. "What do you think I should do?"
The queen looked thoughtful. "The Naboo strive for compassion. Giving up someone for a trade like this is not an easy task, especially someone who has brought so much good to our planet and others. But I must point out that removing Grievous from the equation could help lessen the suffering of all people in the galaxy. You know as well as I do, Senator, that our people are starving, poor, and cold." Neeyutnee looked sympathetically at Padmé. "I am sorry to ask you to make this choice alone, Senator, but I will trust whatever decision you make."
Padmé looked down. "Thank you, your majesty."
The call ended, and Padmé checked the time. Thirty-one minutes before Dooku's offer expired.
She paced. Across the room, and back. Across, and back. Deep breaths. Breathe. Breathe. Check the time. Twenty-nine minutes. Her heart was pounding. Her hands were sweating. Breathe.
She looked down at the communicator and froze. Just activate it, she told herself. It didn't work. She took a deep breath. Then another. Then another. Then, she activated it and contacted a Gungan chief who had a Republic cruiser on standby communications. Twenty-five minutes.
The flickering figure of an officer appeared before her. Urgently and in a pathetically shaky voice, she said, "Hello, yes, this is Senator Padmé Amidala, calling from Naboo. I need immediate clone assistance to Naboo. My people have managed to capture General Grievous and we need to remove him from the planet before the Separatists can launch a strike to retrieve him. I repeat, I need troops here as soon as possible."
Three minutes left, and Padmé stared down at the communicator like her eyes were glued to it. For a while, she couldn't move. Then, she activated Anakin's commlink channel. Dooku's thin face smirked at her as if he knew already that he had won. Padmé supposed that, in a way, either option was a win for him and a loss for her.
"Senator Amidala, you have certainly taken your time. You have made your decision?"
She had on her senator face. Strong, stoic, fake but genuine at the same time. "I have. I regret to inform you that the Republic will not be accepting your offer for prisoner exchange at this time."
Dooku looked taken aback. He motioned at two of the MagnaGuards standing behind him. Padmé could hear Anakin's agonized screams as surely as if she were in the room with him. She forced herself not to react. Dooku said, "Are you sure, Senator? I shudder to think what will happen to young Skywalker should you refuse."
Padmé looked at the holographic figure of her husband, hanging limply and shaking violently. She didn't remotely understand how the Force worked, but she willed him to hear her now through it: I'm so sorry, Ani. Please forgive me. Aloud, she said, "So do I," and shut off the comm.
Her stoic senator face shattered and she fell to her knees, crying.
Grievous had been transported by the Gungans to Otoh Gunga, the most secure location possible until the Republic arrived. He was guarded by the majority of the Gungan army, which was divided between the interior and exterior of the city shields. Padmé waited at a comm table for the clones to arrive. She had one more call to make. It surprised her to realize she dreaded this one more than the call with Dooku.
The holographic figures of half the Jedi Council – she supposed whichever members were on Coruscant at the time – appeared, standing around the table. Padmé tried very hard not to look at Obi-Wan.
"Senator Amidala," Mace Windu said. He frowned. "Where is General Skywalker?"
She looked down, suddenly ashamed. Trying to be brave, knowing they could probably see right through her, she reported how the Gungan minister Rish Loo had been working with Count Dooku to manipulate the Gungans into going to war with the Naboo, and how the Gungan army had managed to capture General Grievous by deactivating the droids that had arrived with him.
Padmé stared at them head-on. "General Skywalker went chasing after Rish Loo and tracked him down to discover that Count Dooku was hiding somewhere on the planet. Count Dooku then managed to capture General Skywalker." She tried to clear her throat, which was suddenly thick with emotion she couldn't dismiss. "Count Dooku offered me a prisoner exchange and – I refused."
She risked a glance at Obi-Wan: he was staring at her, crestfallen. She prayed he would forgive her. She certainly wasn't sure if she would forgive herself.
Master Yoda spoke. "Regrettable, it is, that forced to make this decision were you. Spoken with us first, perhaps you should have, hm."
"I'm sorry," Padmé said. She meant it.
"Nonetheless, a decision you have made. Secure, is Grievous?"
Padmé nodded. "I contacted a battle cruiser. They should be arriving to take Grievous back to Coruscant within a few minutes. Grievous is being held here in the underwater city, guarded by the entire Gungan army."
"Return with him to Coruscant, you should. Good for the Republic, this will be."
"And what of Skywalker?" Windu asked him. "Are we to leave him with Count Dooku?"
Yoda, admittedly, looked almost sad. "Try to recapture Grievous, the Separatists will. Do the same for Skywalker, we must, at the first opportunity." Yoda then blinked up at her. "Mourn not for Skywalker, Senator. Lost, he is not. An opportunity to end the war sooner, the Force has given us. Give us another opportunity to save Skywalker, it will. Feel this, I do."
Padmé was almost comforted by that. Almost. "Thank you, Master Yoda."
"May the Force be with you," he said. The call ended, but not before Padmé could glance once more at Obi-Wan, who had his hand on his beard and looked pensive. As his image flickered out, she couldn't help but wonder if she had just lost two of her friends.
The Gungans brought Grievous to the surface of Lake Paonga and handed him over to the clones, who secured him aboard a gunship. Saying goodbye to Jar Jar, who looked positively downtrodden at the prospect of losing Anakin, Padmé accompanied the clones to their main cruiser. As she watched her homeworld shrink through the viewports, one of the clones reported three Separatist ships exiting hyperspace. That wasn't what scared her; she had been in space battles before. But suddenly, she was afraid that Grievous would be retaken and Anakin would still be in the hands of Dooku and she will have singlehandedly sent the galaxy to its doom.
Naboo fighters flew into space with them to provide the Republic ships with a chance to break through the Separatist defenses. It wasn't like twelve years ago this time, though, when they had been a single yacht against the entire blockade – this time, the clone pilots navigated expertly through oncoming droid ships as if this were little more than a practice run. Some of the escort gunships alongside them were destroyed, but it didn't take long for her gunship to dock in a main hangar and for the cruiser to enter hyperspace.
Padmé had sought to keep the war away from Naboo. Maybe she ended up bringing it there instead.
Grievous was safely placed in the highest security military facility on Coruscant, guarded by a hundred clones and two Jedi Masters with several battalions of troops on standby. Padmé went home, exhausted and upset, and collapsed on her couch. She lay there long into the night, looking at the city lights and praying to the Goddess of Safety that her Anakin would be all right.
Count Dooku knelt before the tall hologram of his master.
"Forgive me, my Lord. We have lost General Grievous."
"This is most unfortunate," Darth Sidious said. "And a costly error. Grievous was a necessary part of my plan for the Clone War. You have failed me, Lord Tyranus."
Dooku felt the unmistakable feeling of the Force around his windpipe. Not enough to kill him, not now – just a warning, this time.
"Still," Sidious said, releasing him. Dooku choked and gasped for breath. "This could play to our advantage. As long as we have Skywalker, we hold the one person in the galaxy strongest in the Force." His master paused for a long time, considering something. "Transport Skywalker to a secure location out of the Jedi's sight. Then come to Coruscant. It is time I reveal to you the next part of my plan."
Link: https://m.fanfiction.net/s/11402676/1/Asylum