Chapter Text
It didn’t take a genius to figure that something was wrong with Maul, and though Savage didn’t consider himself smart in many ways, he knew when something was plaguing his family.
At first, Savage contributed it to stress about their operation. It was risky to operate under Sidious’ nose, not to mention forming a crime empire and controlling Death Watch while doing so. However, things were going well with their agenda, and his brother should have had no reason to worry.
But he kept pacing, metal feet clanging on the floor with each step, whispering about Kenobi and revenge. This by itself was not unusual for Maul; these two subjects took up a significant part of his mind, no matter what he was focused on. But lately he seemed conflicted, somehow.
“Brother,” Savage started, and got an offended glare in return.
“What is it, apprentice? Can’t you see that I’m thinking? I need to figure out how to best get revenge on Kenobi.”
He cleared his throat.
“Yes. I know that’s important to you. But there’s something I need to bring up.”
“What? Speak.”
Savage sighed and took his time putting his words together. He knew that if he said one wrong word about Kenobi to Maul, he’d end up on the wrong side of a metal boot in seconds.
“I don’t know if this ‘Kenobi’ appreciates how much effort you’re putting into your revenge. It made me think. Does Kenobi really know why you’re getting revenge on him?”
“Does he know-” Maul inhaled deeply, and pinched the bridge of his nose.
Savage braced himself for an impact, but it never came. Instead, Maul began pacing again. Faster and faster, until he was quickly striding around the room.
“Of COURSE he knows why I need to get revenge! He cut off my legs, Savage! He took everything from me! He left me for dead on Naboo, and threw me into a ditch!” he yelled, stalking closer to Savage, metal footsteps reverberating in the cockpit.
“I was put into the garbage! I clawed my way through living. Only thoughts of him kept me alive. for ten. Long. Years.” he poked Savage’s chest for emphasis.
“Day in and day out, I suffered, with only him on my mind! He thought I would die, but I…”
He narrowed his eyes.
”I survived. Survived to see him again, and to see the look on his face when he recognized me. And now I live. To break him.”
Savage looked down at Maul. Not metaphorically of course, for Maul was his master, and the shortest of his brothers. He only did it out of necessity.
“And it is an admirable goal. One I will assist with for as long as I can. But brother, I must be honest. Kenobi did not seem…shocked to see you.”
Maul huffed in amusement.
“Yes, part of an admirable facade of bravery he puts on. One that wasn’t at all developed when we were younger. It’s fascinating.” he said, something between a smirk and a grin creeping across his face.
“I’m sure that was part of it.” said Savage, not believing what he was saying, but wouldn’t dare upset his brother by implying he was wrong. “But don’t you want to make him afraid of you? Don’t you want to make sure he knows every reason he’s wronged you? Does he really know how much he’s made you suffer?”
Maul stopped. Paused, and looked at Savage, his yellow-red eyes wide with intrigue.
“What are you suggesting?”
Savage grinned. “I’m suggesting that you two should have a conversation. One that he can’t run away from.”
Maul raised an eyebrow in intrigue.
“We’ll find him, bring him here, and force him to liste-” he stopped, not wanting to offend.
“Er, you’ll make him realize why he’s so significant to you. And by the time we’re done, he’ll spend every night having nightmares about what you could possibly do to hurt him.”
Maul smiled with a sadistic glee. “An interesting proposition, my apprentice. But as I’m sure you know, capturing the Great General Kenobi is not an easy task. Never mind getting him in a compromised position long enough to listen to his own enemy. How do you suppose we do this?”
Savage crossed his arms and flashed his fangs. “I have a plan.”
Obi-wan awoke with the clumsiness and physical difficulty of an infant pulling cinder blocks against rough concrete, complete with ropes digging into raw flesh, and the high-pitched scraping sound of manufactured stone against manufactured stone.
When he opened his eyelids with great effort, he found that the ropes were real.
His tactician senses gathered that he was tied to a chair. The chair was bolted to the floor. A metallic room flickered with an eerie red light. This was a cargo hold.
His head throbbed with an overwhelming pain. He tried to reach up to touch his head, but as luck would have it, his hands were cuffed.
He felt duller than he’d been in a long time; these must be Force Suppression cuffs.
“This seems a bit excessive.” he mumbled, cursing his dulled senses and pounding headache.
Obi-wan was starting to piece together what had happened, though the picture was still incomplete.
He was in his camp, that much he remembered. He was either walking to or from a debriefing on a mission they’d just completed; a successful one. And then, he felt two hateful presences and jumped backwards, reaching for his lightsaber. But it was too late.
His senses went dark when something heavy hit the back of his skull.
He thought of his camp. Did anyone else notice his disappearance? Did people try to defend him? Was anyone hurt?
It was no use. Thinking about it only made his head hurt worse.
Whoever had done this was going to have hell to pay if he had anything to say about it.
“Kenobi, Kenobi, Kenobi.” sang a hauntingly familiar voice. “Of course you would be concerned about other people, when you yourself are in a far worse position.”
Maul.
Obi-wan raised his eyes to meet his enemy’s gaze.
“Hmm. I can sense your fiery resistance, but don’t bother trying anything. I’ve already thought of everything.” He laughed, a truly sinister sound; grating against Obi-wan’s nerves.
He struggled against his restraints, only to get nothing but rope burn. These bonds were well-tied, and held him tightly to the chair he was in.
Wound ropes covered him from shoulder to ankle, which was far more than would have been necessary for an ordinary captive, but Obi-wan knew Maul wouldn’t underestimate him. He would have been impressed at the sheer effort this must have taken, if he wasn’t so pissed.
He took a deep breath, careful to not let his temper take over.
“What do you want, Maul? A ransom? I’m sure someone would pay handsomely for me. But are you really that desperate for funds?”
“Ransom? Oh, no, Kenobi. Though I’m sure you wish it were that simple.” he said, confidently strutting into the room.
He walked in silence, keeping Obi-wan in suspense. The sound of metal against metal echoed off the walls of the room.
And it continued, until he walked right up to the chair and put his heavy, metal boot on Obi-wan’s knee.
He leaned over, and growled;
“No, I only want to talk to you. Or rather, I am going to talk, and you are going to listen.”
Obi-wan leaned his head back, away from Maul’s face that was inches from his own. His eyes scanned the ropes, looking for the comm-link he kept with him.
“Oh, don’t bother looking for your comms. I already took them away.” he purred, and pushed down on his knee, threatening to crush it. “You’re such a poor listener. I already said I’ve thought of everything.”
Obi-wan scoffed.
“And what if I don’t want to listen? What then?”
Maul lifted his boot from Obi-wan’s knee and walked around the back of the chair; out of sight.
“Well, I thought you would be pleased to know that your comrades are currently unharmed. But they don’t have to stay that way.” he said, gliding his fingers across Obi-wan’s shoulders as he walked. “What planet did you say you were going to rendezvous at, again? I could have sworn I heard you mention it in your debriefing.”
Obi-wan felt himself go pale. How did no one notice that the camp had been invaded? And he’d gotten close enough to hear the debriefing? What was wrong with security?
Still, he couldn’t show weakness in front of Maul, of all people.
“Well, if you have to ask me that, then you clearly didn’t hear very much.”
“Oh, but you even stated specific coordinates. And as you know, I have a very good memory.”
Obi-wan swallowed, and tried to get a handle on his quickened heartbeat. He hoped that no one could see his hands shaking. He could handle Maul, but everyone else? No, they wouldn’t receive the same “mercy.” Even if they managed to fight him and his brother off, the duo was known for leaving heavy casualties in their wake. Savage had even killed Jedi.
He couldn’t risk it.
“Alright. I’ll listen to you. Though before I do, I’ll need your guarantee that no harm will come to anyone else because of me.”
Maul smiled sadistically.
“Don’t worry, Kenobi. The only one I want is you. If you trust it, you have my word.”
Obi-wan didn’t trust his word, but it was all he had. He would have to take it.
He would die here if it meant protecting his comrades and keeping Maul distracted. His friends and allies had enough going on already with the ever-raging war. Maybe this was his role to play, for now.
“Fine. So, what do you have to say to me?”
Maul chuckled darkly, “Mmm, no. Not yet. I think I’ll let you suffer under the weight of your situation for a couple hours first.” and turned to leave.
“You would, wouldn’t you.” Obi-wan mumbled, watching him walk out of the door.
He got one more good glare as Maul looked over his shoulder, stared right into his eyes, and shut the door behind him.
Obi-wan sighed and let his head fall back against the chair. He got the feeling that this was going to be an incredibly long day.
As soon as the door to Kenobi’s room closed, Maul felt panic rise up from his chest. But what for? Why?
Savage stood at the end of the hallway, waiting for him.
“That was fast. Did you talk to him?”
“No. No, I need… time. I need to figure out what to say.”
He noticed Savage cross his arms. He would have to be very careful in what he said next.
“But don’t you already know what to say? You told me everything earlier. Or at least, I think you did.”
Maul knew that he was one of those people that thought of things as he continued talking, yet wove his words together in a way that made it seem like he’d composed it from the beginning. Improvisation was a delicate art, but he didn’t want to improvise this. This needed practice.
“It’s different, now that he’s here. It’s hard to explain.”
Yet, he was unsure why it was different. He felt like he’d practiced this exact speech several times in his head, but now that its intended audience was actually present, nothing would come out.
Savage scratched the back of his head.
“I could… help you practice? If you want?”
Maul snorted.
“No. No, I don’t want to speak these words to you. It would cheapen the impact. I need to be alone.”
Savage raised an eyebrow, but seemed to quickly accept his words.
“Okay, Brother. Whatever you say.” he said, and began to walk away before stopping in front of the cargo hold.
“Should we leave him be?” he said, pointing towards Kenobi’s current prison, “”Or should I supervise him?”
Maul sighed, and pinched the bridge of his nose. Savage wouldn’t dare damage his prisoner without permission, but it would be a bit frustrating if Kenobi got to talk to him first. However, he was too tired to do anything but trust his apprentice’s judgment.
“Do what you must. But don’t you dare touch him. And when I come in, leave the room.”
Savage stood up straight, and did a small salute.
“I understand.”
“Excellent. Now leave me. I have many things to consider.”
He walked down the hall, shut the automatic door to his room, and began to write.
Obi-wan nearly fell asleep sitting in the chair. He knew he shouldn’t. But with everything being so hopeless and silent , what else was there to do?
His arms hurt, his back hurt, his legs hurt. He had certainly been in worse situations, but this was the longest time he had been in one without being able to move. It was really getting to him.
He hoped that whatever Maul said to him was somehow worth all this trouble. It probably wouldn’t be. But if it kept his allies out of harm’s way for a while, he’d listen to literally anything from anyone.
But the silence was starting to become deafening.
Suddenly, when the presence of nothing felt like it had become too much, the door opened; Maul’s confident silhouette outlined in red. He walked in, metallic legs scraping against the floor as he strode. It was grating, and it was music to his ears.
“Finally. And here I was starting to get bored.” Obi-wan said confidently, trying to mask his mental and physical discomfort.
Maul laughed, sadistically.
“Bored? I’ll have to make things more interesting next time, then. Would you prefer to hang upside-down?”
It was unclear whether he was amused or indignant.
Obi-wan shut his mouth before he said something else he would regret. He didn’t need his enemy getting more ideas on how to torture him.
He shifted in his chair as much as he could, in an effort to get comfortable.
“So. I’m listening.”
“Alright. But as tempting as you’ll find it to make snide remarks, I’ll need you to shut up until I’m done. Or I’ll break your legs.”
He snorted.
“Fair enough. I can be quiet.”
Maul took a long, deep inhale through his nose. He seemed… nervous?
“Alright, Kenobi. Listen here and listen well. The words that you hear are for your ears alone, and if I find out that you spoke even a breath of this to someone else, I will not hesitate to hunt them down. Do you understand?”
Obi-wan nodded slowly, keeping his mouth shut, as hard as that was for him. Although, he wanted to bring attention to the fact that Maul said ‘them’ and not ‘you’. It seemed odd, given the circumstances. Instead, he waited for him to continue.
Maul cleared his throat, and began.
“It has been brought to my attention that perhaps you do not fully understand the ways in which you have made and continue to make me suffer.”
Obi-wan pinched his brow together. He was pretty sure he understood that ; at least vaguely.
“You killed me. You cut me in half, taking away my legs and everything I knew and had. You left me for dead on Naboo when you shoved me down that reactor shaft.” he said, and leaned closer to Obi-wan, bringing his voice closer to a whisper. “But these are things you already know.”
He backed away, and began walking around the chair.
“I survived. It was difficult, but I survived.”
Obi-wan’s head craned to follow him as far as it would allow, but stopped when Maul was directly behind him.
“How, I do not know. My body cried out every day. My hearts beat irregularly, and my legs,” he walked around to the front of the chair, and gestured to his synthetic legs,
”They burned, though they were no longer there. It must be some strange pull of fate and the great powers of the Dark Side that kept me alive, physically. “
Obi-wan slowly nodded, trying to wrap his head around how that might work.
Maul continued.
“But mentally…thoughts of you kept me alive. Yes..” he suddenly leaned in, and positioned himself inches away from Obi-wan’s face. His eyes scanned him.
“I thought of your face and I was filled with rage. My hatred for you, my desire to see you again, to make you suffer as I had suffered; it kept me alive. For ten long, long years.”
He backed away.
“To be honest, I can’t recall how long I was there, in that trash pit, but you, Kenobi. You lived on.” He laughed. “That thought gave me pain. It gave me power. I imagined what you were doing, how you were living.”
Obi-wan heard a deep growl come from Maul’s throat as he continued to speak. He sounded almost sad.
“Did you think of me? Did you know what you had done to me? And now…my old habits have yet to die!” he cried.
“Thoughts of you still bring me strength, for pain, hatred, and emotion are my strengths. I am a Sith. I delight in others’ suffering, but my own brings me power.”
He paced.
“I should want to kill you. I still do want to kill you, even now. It would be so easy, with you tied up here. But no!” he yelled,
“Thoughts of your corpse, lying in front of me, your heart stabbed out, should bring me joy, but it brings me despair! An emptiness! I might be…lonely without you.”
Obi-wan swore he saw him shiver.
“You’ve done more than take half of me, Kenobi. You’ve added something. Do you even know how much you hurt me? I can barely look at you!”
But he was looking. He was looking with a burning intensity that rivaled a supernova.
He put his hands on his horns.
“But if I don’t want to kill you, what could I possibly want? I don’t want you to die, I want you to suffer like I do! I want you to feel my pain! Whatever I could possibly, truly desire from you would never be enough to truly satiate this growing fire of emotion I feel. And that drives me insane .”
He stalked closer, yet again.
“I don’t even know what I feel anymore, but it all turns into anger and pain like it always does.
Anger and pain are my strength, so WHY?!?! Why do I feel so WEAK?! ANSWER ME!!!”
…
The air was silent. Deafeningly silent.
…
The fans of the ship whirred.
The lights flickered, an electrical buzzing and humming.
The only real sound in the room was the sound of the two breathing.
Obi-wan sat there, stunned. And baffled.
His mouth was agape in pure shock.
Unlike usual, he didn’t think he could come up with a snide remark if he tried.
It felt like hours had passed in silence before Obi-wan finally got the courage to speak; his face, for some reason, felt and looked about as red as Maul’s natural skin.
“Are you… Are you…In love…with me?” he spluttered, hardly believing what he spent so much effort to say.
Silence.
He felt shocked, flustered, confused, baffled, and oddly, very flattered.
But Maul didn’t speak. He just stood there, frozen, like he hadn’t processed what Obi-wan had said to him.
Finally, he spoke.
“ What? ” he said, anger coating his words.
Obi-wan took his time replying, for Maul’s sake. And for his.
“Well, it…seems that you feel very strongly about me. At least from your words, I gather that it is In a way that most people would interpret as love. Or at least, something similar.”
Maul’s mouth hung open.
In his mind, Obi-wan thought the Force must have a gut-busting sense of humor.
This was the last thing he had ever expected to get from a conversation with Maul; Darth Maul, the man who killed his master and hadn’t appeared in over a decade. It would be enough to make him laugh, if he wasn’t also horrified.
“No… No!! ”
Obi-wan flinched to the sound of crunching metal as Maul crushed a cargo crate with the Force.
“That’s ridiculous. Love?! I’ve never felt love from or for anyone , why would I ever feel it for you, of all people?!” he screamed. He force-threw another crate to the side, sending it clattering against the one he crushed from earlier.
Obi-wan winced, and waited for Maul to answer his own question. But he did not.
Instead, he stood there, breathing heavily, his eyes actually seeming to plead for an answer.
Obi-wan took a deep breath in, steadying himself.
“I don’t think that’s a question I can answer for you, Maul.”
Maul put his hands on his own head, grasping his horns.
Obi-wan braced himself for an impact, a scream, anything. But it never came.
Maul just stood there, hands on his head, looking like he was going through an internal crisis at light speed.
Obi-wan was starting to wonder if he’d broken him, when the man broke out of it and screamed.
“KENOBIII! YOUUUUU-”
Obi-wan shut his eyes and cringed. He had no way to defend himself.
What he would give for his lightsaber right now.
This was how he was going to die.
…
But a killing blow never came.
He opened his eyes to see Maul standing over him, hand at his neck; fingers hovering over his pulse points, touching them lightly, but not grabbing.
He was breathing heavily, and there was some kind of… fear in his eyes; his pupils dilated so far that it was difficult to see the yellow.
He pulled his hand back.
“I can’t. I can’t! You… You and your lies…” he stuttered, seemingly out of breath.
Obi-wan scoffed, feeling incredibly offended.
“Lies? I’m not lying! What would I have to lie about? You’re the one who-”
“ENOUGH!”
Obi-wan felt his throat close as the Force wrapped around it, shutting off his airway.
He gasped and held his breath, prepared to last however long this would take. It wasn’t something he practiced at, but he could hold out. He would survive this.
He was strong, but eventually started to lose his grip. His vision swam.
And then, he was freed.
He coughed, sucking in air, trying to get his bearings back.
He would have rubbed his throat if he could, but he couldn’t. All he could do was blink back pain, and raise his head to meet Maul’s gaze.
Maul seemed to bristle at the eye contact, and turned his back.
“I’m going. And you. You are staying.” he growled.
He stalked away, heading towards the door.
Obi-wan drew in a ragged breath, and he asked a very daring question;
“If I’m staying, could you at least untie me?”
The door slammed with a clang and a hiss.