Anakin stepped back from the duel he was having from Luke, glancing at the time as he sheathed his lightsaber. "Luke, we should probably start heading for Palpatine's; we have to be there soon for that meeting."

Luke nodded, sheathing his lightsaber as well and clipping it to his side with a slight tremble of his hands.

Anakin, ever observant, did not miss the action or the waves of nervousness he was now feeling from the young man. "Are you all right?"

Luke let out a long sigh, grimacing. "No, I'm a nervous wreck."

"Why?"

"You'll see soon enough."

Anakin shifted uncomfortably at the statement, but led the way through the Temple and to the speeder they were taking to the Senate Building. Along the way Anakin spotted Master Windu making his way towards them. Anakin paused, Luke staying by his side as Windu approached.

"Anakin, you're headed to Palpatine's, right?" Windu asked.

"Yes, Luke and I are headed there now," Anakin told him.

Windu nodded. "When you get there, I'm sure he would like to know that General Kenobi has confronted General Grievous."

Anakin felt his stomach do a flip at the news, but he kept his face impassive. "I'll be sure to tell him."

Windu gave a curt nod, his eyes falling on Luke for a second. Windu frowned, probably sensing Luke's growing unease, but said nothing. He simply gave a slight bow and continued on his way.

Luke and Anakin stared after the elder Jedi for several moments before they continued on their way to Palpatine's. Luke was silent for most of the walk, lost in his own thoughts.

"Do you have your com link with you?" Luke asked out of the blue, startling Anakin.

"Yes...why?"

"Just wondering."

Anakin stopped his son, searching the other man's eyes intently. "Luke, what are you not telling me?"

Luke met Anakin's gaze steadily, though there was an undercurrent of sadness in his eyes and even fear. "Just make sure you're ready."

"Will you not tell me anything else? I feel like you're letting me walk into something blind, and I don't really like that feeling."

Luke looked away, over Coruscant and towards the Senate Building. "Sidious is there."

Anakin stiffened. "Are you sure?"

"Positive. He's waiting for us."

Anakin swallowed the lump that had appeared in his throat, regaining his composure. "Then we better hurry, shouldn't we? We don't want to keep him waiting."

"No, though he'll probably take his time in revealing himself, so I'm in no hurry," Luke mumbled. Anakin could tell that his son was nervous, probably dreading the oncoming confrontation. He put a hand on Luke's shoulder.

"We're going to be fine, Luke, don't worry. This isn't the Second Death Star."

Luke mumbled something under his breath about having plenty to worry about, but Anakin didn't comment on it. "Come on," he said instead, getting in the speeder.

"I hope Obi-Wan's all right," Luke said as Anakin started up the speeder and drove them towards the Senate Building.

"I'm sure he will be," Anakin said, though he seemed unsure, like he was reassuring himself.

Luke glanced at Anakin. "So, when we see Sidious, do you have any sort of plan?"

"Tell the Council who Sidious is and then confront him. Pretty simple, really."

Luke chuckled. "I guess there isn't a point in us making a plan, seeing as we both have a history of our plans going terribly wrong."

Anakin laughed. "Yeah, that's why sometimes it's just better to improvise or roll with what happens."

Luke smiled at Anakin and the two lapsed into silence once more. They both became more and more restless as they approached the Senate Building and by the time they touched down, both men were tense, and Anakin's eyes darted around constantly. Luke, however, kept his eyes trained forward, and Anakin had to remind himself that Luke knew exactly who Sidious was. With that thought in mine, Anakin managed to relax marginally. I'm sure whenever Sidious appears I'll be able to tell by watching Luke's reaction.

The two made it to Palpatine's office without running into any trouble, and Anakin relaxed as he walked into the familiar room. Palpatine sat at his desk, waiting patiently for them.

"Oh, Anakin, you made it," Palpatine said with a smile.

Anakin returned the older man's smile as he walked up to Palpatine's desk. Luke, however, remained by the doorway. "Yes, I figured I'd postponed on you too much, Chancellor. And I'm supposed to tell you that the Council has just received word that General Kenobi has engaged General Grievous."

"That's good news! We can only hope that Master Kenobi is up to the challenge."

Anakin felt the pang of worry for his friend return, and he couldn't help but be honest to Palpatine. "I should be there with him," Anakin said, looking down for a second.

Palpatine stood up from the desk, walking over to Anakin and putting a hand on his back and leading him towards the hall. "Yes, it does worry me that the Council decided to send General Kenobi alone, and without you despite my suggestion you be the one to apprehend Grievous."

Anakin nodded, and out of the corner of his eyes he saw Luke fall into step behind them, watching Palpatine with a hard gaze, his eyes never leaving the chancellor. Anakin felt nudged by the Force the same time he started to gain a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach. "Yes, well, the Council has put Luke and me on a much more important task."

Palpatine looked a little surprised, though Anakin caught the rapt attention in his eyes. "Oh really? And what would be more important than apprehending General Grievous and ending this war?"

Anakin stared at Palpatine. When he put it that way...

Anakin shook himself. Of course their mission was more important! "Catching the person behind this war."

Palpatine gave a small laugh. "Why, Anakin, that sounds ridiculous! The Separatists are obviously the cause of the war!"

Anakin shook his head. "No, it's a Sith Lord that's pulling the ropes on this war. Luke and I have been tasked with stopping him."

"Well how are you going to do that if you don't even know who this Sith Lord is or what he looks like?" Palpatine asked pointedly.

"I know it's someone powerful in the Senate. The same Sith was behind the assassination attempt on Luke, and when I caught up to that assassin he told me he was here on Coruscant."

"How can you be sure that there's a Sith in the Senate? The idea sounds ridiculous! Don't you think the Jedi would have been able to sense him by now? And where did you even hear such an idea?" Palpatine said in a scoffing tone.

Anakin nodded towards Luke. "Luke told me the part about the Sith being in the Senate and I trust him, Chancellor. Besides, the Jedi might not have been able to sense him because of the shroud the dark side has cast over everything since day one in this war, or because the Sith is too good at hiding his true nature for them to sense."

Palpatine glanced back at Luke, and Anakin couldn't help but notice the flicker of annoyance that flashed across Palpatine's face. The conversation was making him more and more uneasy by the minute.

"As far as I am aware, there is no one here in the Senate that seems to have more control of the war than I do," Palpatine said easily as he turned his attention back to Anakin.

Anakin shook his head. "I'm sure there is. I trust what Luke told me, Chancellor, why else would the Sith try to have him assassinated?"

Palpatine seemed to consider his words for a moment as the group reached the circular room where all the halls connected in Palpatine's giant office. "Well if there is a Sith Lord in the Senate, why hasn't he made a move yet?"

"Because he's writing for the right moment," Anakin said simply.

"But for what, exactly?"

Anakin shifted uncomfortably where he stood. Palpatine's question seemed innocent, but something wasn't right. Something was wrong, and Anakin was starting to sense it as clearly as he could sense his son. "What matters, Chancellor, is that we catch him before he makes his move. That way there's no unnecessary loss of life."

"The unnecessary loss of life, Anakin, is with this war. I wouldn't say if there was a Sith in the Senate that he is the reason for all of this suffering. The suffering is the war itself, not a Sith."

"Yes, but a Sith caused the war!" Anakin said, some frustration leaking into his tone.

Palpatine's eyes seemed to glint at Anakin's frustration, and Anakin looked away at Luke instead.

Luke hadn't taken his eyes off of Palpatine, one hand on his lightsaber as he silently watched everything that was being said, every movement. Anakin searched his son's face a few moments before he turned back to Palpatine. "I might be mistaken, Chancellor...but it almost sounds like you're siding with the Sith."

Palpatine wasn't looking at Anakin as he stopped just in front of him. "You know, Anakin...I've come to find that the Senate is far from effective. There are so many long, drawn out discussions that find no result. This Republic is not functional—pointless. And the Jedi have become corrupt and power hungry."

Luke had tensed, walking slowly to Anakin's side as Anakin put a hand on his own lightsaber. He was too stunned to do much else, his brain working too slowly to process what he was hearing correctly.

"Something needs to be done about it. And I've decided just what that something is."

Anakin hardly registered Luke's lightsaber activating next to him as he continued to stare at Palpatine in shock. Little pieces were clicking together in his head, warning bells going off in his mind.

Someone very powerful in the Senate...

'...don't leave anyone out. The betrayals came from the most unexpected places...'

'You can't trust him...'

Luke's aversion to Palpatine...

Luke came out of that meeting with Palpatine shaken and scared, and neither of them told Anakin the true story of what happened...

The flashes of malice Anakin would have missed if Luke and the Force hadn't told him to look...

Subconsciously, Anakin pulled out and activated his own lightsaber.

'Kill him! Now!' sounding so familiar to the Emperor's 'Strike me down!' in the dream of what had happened to Luke.

'Good, good!'

Now he could see how familiar the Emperor's voice was, now he could match it.

'Good, Anakin, good!' the chancellor had said, coaxing on his dark actions. Palpatine had coaxed him to kill in cold blood, then smoothly told him that it had been right despite Anakin knowing it had been wrong. He'd said things to Anakin that made him doubt what he'd been taught and what he knew, made him doubt those around him.

'You were deceived by the lies the Emperor told you...'

The Emperor...

"It's you," Anakin whispered, staring at Palpatine's back. One of his closest friends, Palpatine, a father figure since he was a child, someone who had been there for Anakin all of his life.

'The betrayals came from the most unexpected places.'

"You're the Sith Lord," Anakin said, his voice coming out in barely a whisper.

Stupid, stupid, stupid Anakin! He's been right here, this entire time, right under our nose! I've shared my secrets with this man, my fears! How could I have not seen it!

Anakin knew the answer to that. He hadn't see it because he hadn't wanted to. He already had so few people he kept close to him; he didn't want any treachery from someone so close. The sting of betrayal came fast and hard over Anakin as Palpatine remained with his back to him. Father and son stood at the ready with their lightsabers, though Anakin was suddenly holding his much tenser, leveling it at Palpatine's back.

Luke weakening whenever Palpatine came to visit, the assassin sent to kill Luke...

"You tried to kill Luke!" Anakin exclaimed with a snarl, fury mounting inside of him.

"Ah yes, the assassin. He was a failure. I should have finished you off, child, when I met with you."

Luke kept his face impassive, though his eyes were hard as he kept his silent gaze on Palpatine.

"What really happened that day?" Anakin demanded, holding his lightsaber tighter.

"I gave him a warning to stop interfering, one I can tell he did not heed." Anakin noted the tone in Palpatine's voice, as if the man was relishing in the memory. Anakin had a brief flash, a quick vision from the Force, of Luke standing immobile by the doorway, slowly turning a different shade as Palpatine choked him through the Force. Anakin's anger grew at the mental image, and even more-so as he realized another thing.

'Now young Skywalker, you will die.' Luke's screams echoed around in Anakin's head, and Anakin leveled his saber at Palpatine's back, his vision tinged red.

Palpatine—no, Sidious—seemed to sense Anakin's mounting rage. "Are you going to kill me, Anakin?"

"I would certainly like to," Anakin growled.

"I know you would...I can feel your anger. It gives you focus, it makes you stronger."

Anakin suddenly felt Luke's hand on his shoulder and he slowly came back to himself, the anger leaving him a little at a time. Luke showed Anakin the com link he had in his hand wordlessly, and Anakin realized he could sense anger and hate in Luke as well. It seemed Luke didn't trust himself to speak until he had regained control of himself. Anakin nodded to show he was fine and Luke backed away a few paces to contact the Council.

Anakin turned his hard gaze on Sidious, who had turned to face him once again. Anakin drew himself up defiantly, though he kept his lightsaber activated. "You won't turn me. The Council will know of your treachery. You won't get away with this; you won't overthrow the Republic or destroy the Jedi."

"That's what you say now, Anakin...but you will see. The time of the Jedi has passed; a new era is coming. You will turn: it is your destiny."

"No, I choose my own destiny," Anakin said as he heard Luke speaking to someone—probably Windu, knowing him—over the com link.

"Palpatine is the Sith Lord. Anakin and I are engaging him now," Luke said quietly into the com link. Luke didn't wait for a response. Instead he returned to Anakin's side, lightsaber held at the ready.

"Anakin, listen to reason! The Jedi are weak, they are not to be trusted! Do not make a mistake and choose those who cannot even save themselves," Sidious said sharply.

"No, Sidious, I will not join you. I know where I'm needed...where I belong."

Sidious eyed Anakin closely for a moment before he spoke. "I see you are beyond reason, Anakin. So be it. I will have to make you see the truth of my words."

Anakin heard a slight noise, and then a red lightsaber came to life in Sidious' hand, making the entire experience that much more real for Anakin.

"The Jedi will fall, Anakin, and you will kneel."