As the elevator door opened, the Jedi walked to the deciding moment. They found Palpatine bound to a chair watching the battle raging outside.

The battle he had orchestrated.

Grim felt her hands form fists at her side as a familiar rage threatened to bubble to the surface.

She forced herself to breathe. None of that mattered here and yet it held every shard of significance.

She allowed her hands to relax and forced a more concerned look on her face.

She knew it would not fool him but he was not who she was trying to deceive.

This was a game of chess.

To win she had to take every move into consideration.

She had to plan five steps ahead.

Grim had to know her enemy.

As much as she would never admit to the fact.

Right here and now he was in control.

Grim had to play to his rules.

Alerted to the presence of the Jedi, he spun his chair around and faced the trio. He gave Grim no more but a glance.

  For now he was the chancellor, and as such a padawan like Grim wasn't of much importance.

It was clear to her the angle he played.

  She knew his tactics and she allowed herself to abide by the same.

"Chancellor," Obi-Wan said as they rushed over to him.

He bowed ever slightly as a sign of respect. A Jedi Master who was going about his mission, nothing more to the action.

Grim said nothing but simply gave a respectful nod. A normal padawan, showing respect to the leader of the Republic, although it was only a disguise.

  She slipped into the role of a mere padawan unburdened by the knowledge she held with ease.  It was the role she always played only allowing the guise to disappear around the Council and its members.  Although she had once been foolish enough to allow this disguise to slip, so her enemy was not fooled by her deception.

“Are you alright?” Anakin asked. It was a simple question but it carried much more. The worry and concern was clear, this was the man whom Skywalker saw as a father. He wasn't just rescuing the chancellor of the Republic, he was rescuing his family.

The implications caused a brief flash of fear within Grim.

However none noticed as she masked her emotions well.

Although the Jedi taught her to be mindful of her feelings Grim often ignored the teachings, suppressing any fear that crawled its way into her heart. As she did now, she ignored the fear and pushed it deep. Rather than to acknowledge that it existed.

“Count Dooku,” was all the chancellor replied to Anakin’s question.

As if on cue the trio of Jedi turned to face the Count as he entered with two super battle droids as his guards.

“This time we’ll do it together,” Obi-Wan told his former padawan. Referring to that day many years ago that seemed a lifetime ago when the two had first encountered the Count.

“I was about to say that,” Skywalker replied.

The Jedi Master then turned to his current apprentice. "You are to stay with the chancellor, and get him to safety. Anakin and I shall handle Dooku," he informed her.

Obi-Wan knew his padawan well and was aware of her impulsiveness when it came to these types of situations. Kenobi was not new to teaching padawans of this kind.

Grim opened her mouth to argue but before she could the Count leapt from the balcony above and landed gracefully before them.

He pulled his lightsaber from his belt, but kept from igniting the weapon just yet.

“Get help. You’re no match for him. He’s a Sith Lord," insisted the chancellor.

Obi-Wan turned around. “Chancellor Palpatine, Sith Lords are our speciality,” he told him before he turned back to face Dooku.

Were the situation not so serious, Grim may have laughed at the irony of that statement.  Obi-Wan said these words to none other than Darth Sidious himself. 

Had she not been plotting out every moment to make sure the ending would not unfold as she knew it would, Grim would have joked or made a comment on Obi-Wan’s statement. The fact that he said this with such confidence only added to the irony and had Grim not been so afraid for a future yet to arrive she may have even found the whole thing incredibly funny.

And even faced with the dark reality she couldn’t help but form a half smile and quietly comment, “if you only realized how wrong you are, Kenobi.”

Not hearing the padawan’s comment, Skywalker and Kenobi shed their cloaks as Dooku stepped closer. “Your swords, please. We don’t want to make a mess of things in front of the chancellor,” He told the Jedi.

Kenobi and Skywalker walked to meet him.

Reluctantly Grim stayed with the chancellor as her master had instructed.

His plan was clear to her without the need to communicate it. He and Anakin would direct Dooku's attention onto them, leaving Grim to rescue the chancellor without having to combat the Sith Lord.

“You won’t get away this time, Dooku,” Obi-Wan informed the Count as he ignited his lightsaber.

Anakin followed.

  Finally Dooku ignited his own red blade.

The two Jedi ran at the Sith who deflected their attacks with ease.

“I’ve been looking forward to this,” Dooku said.

“My powers have doubled since the last time we met, Count,” said Anakin.

“Good. Twice the pride, double the fall,” remarked the Sith.

As they battled Grim observed.

Skywalker's plan was the same as Obi-Wan's, the two brothers having stepped into the sync of a single warrior the moment Dooku had entered the room.

She also observed the Count’s plan, which played on Sidious’s but with a twist for his own gain. At least on the parts of Sidious’s plans that he was aware of.

Lastly Grim observed it for how it all fell into the grand scheme of Palpatine's plans.

  As for her own plans, they currently relied on the very script into which this scene was set.

Grim stood beside the chancellor, not releasing him from his binds. She did not trust her own impulses to not thrust her lightsaber into his chest the moment they were away from the duel. The temptation was there, but to act upon it would be foolish without a cover.

However she would have her chance, she just had to be patient.

The plan was mapped in her head. Each step carefully crafted. She planned ahead and knew her opponents' own plans. That was one advantage she had as all her others slowly faded away.

The chancellor regarded Grim with a curious look. Studying her as he tried to figure out her motives and tactics. "You know, you could release me and get me to safety, " he said to her slowly.

The padawan's gaze flickered away from the battle that she wasn't truly seeing and to Palpatine.

"After all, is that not what your Master told you to do?" Palpatine asked her more clearly. 

It was Grim’s turn to give the curious look. She considered what he was saying, knowing he must have a plan behind those words. He wanted the two of them away from the battle.

Why?

  "I am studying a way past my masters and the Count," she replied. “After all I wouldn’t want you to get harmed when the goal is to rescue you,”

Palpatine saw through the lie, and into the true meaning of her words although he did not comment on it.

Attempting to appeal to her more reckless side he replied, "then why don't you assist them in their battle with the Count?"

She raised an eyebrow at him, seeing plainly through the manipulation. Grim bit back a remark that said too much and instead replied with a calm, "I do not wish to disobey my Master's orders."

Palpatine frowned. The girl was easy to manipulate when fear was at the reins but here she did not allow that fear to consume her. She was steady and calm, a side he had never before seen. Perhaps she had begun to take Kenobi's training more to heart since their last encounters. 

Or perhaps Grim needed more of a push for the fear to cloud her mind.

Dooku used the force to push Obi-Wan back, causing him to fall on the floor. He groaned in pain.

Grim ran to help him.

He got up and looked at her, "no, Grim. Get the chancellor to safety, don’t worry about me."

With that he ran back to the fight.

Grim watched as her master continued the fight. Her focus shifted to the duel rather than the chancellor she was supposed to be getting to safety.

Palpatine watched her trying to understand this different person he saw. During each of their encounters Grim had been reckless and ran into things headlong. Making comments without a second thought. Here she was calculating every moment, playing each option in her head and selecting the best one.

Here she was playing a game of chess against him.

He had seen the girl as a nuisance, then a possible asset, but now it was clear she was a threat.

She knew his tactics but he did not know hers.

This was Palpatine's game and yet Grim had changed the rules.

Obi-Wan was thrown across the room and knocked unconscious.

In that single second the mature padawan broke into the fear that the disguised Sith was familiar with. 

"Obi-Wan!" She cried out.

Without thinking through her options. Despite knowing he would be alright, she drew her weapon from her belt. She ignited the blade and ran at Dooku.

The Count blocked the padawan's attack with ease.  He had to put no effort into it at all.

  Anakin attacked from behind and Dooku gracefully slid to the side causing Skywalker to barely miss hitting Kennet.

"Sorry Tiny," he said. "Good thing you're short enough for me to miss."

Grim rolled her eyes, although a small smile tugged at her lips. "Hope you won't mind if I disobey our Master and help with the Count?"

"Don't worry, I won't let Obi-Wan know," Anakin replied.

She smiled at him. Then the two turned to face the Count. Both held their lightsabers ready to attack.

The same fire reflected in their eyes.

The chancellor who watched noticed this. Skywalker and Kennet were the same here. Both were filled with anger and fear, a passionate fire in their hearts. They stared down the Count - and though they had many differences Sidious noted just how much the same they were.

The two Jedi battled against the Count.

Still it amounted to nothing on the Padawan’s part as the Count kicked Grim back sending her backwards. She flung herself back at him but he caught her with the Force and flung her back.

She hit the floor and groaned. Staying on the ground a moment to regain her strength and try and clear her mind of the emotions clouding her. Of the fear and the anger.

Grim stood back up and brushed herself off. " Shit ," she muttered.

Dooku was left without hands and Skywalker held two lightsabers in his own.

His and Dooku's.

  Both lightsabers crossed in front of Dooku’s neck.

“Good. Anakin. Good,” laughed Palpatine. “Kill him.”

Dooku looked away from Anakin and at Palpatine, shock and betrayal written on his face. Anakin could not see it, but Grim did, as she knew the story that was going on.

She had known this very story when her own began.

  “Kill him now,” Palpatine said.

Dooku looked back at Anakin, and Anakin seemed conflicted,“I shouldn’t,” he replied.

“Do it,” Palpatine commanded.

“Don’t!” shouted Grim.

  Her plea was too late, for by the time that the word left her mouth, Dooku’s head was no longer attached.

  Instead Grim’s plea seemed to echo in the room. Lingering in the air, trying to win a pointless struggle in which it had already lost to the Sith.

“You did well, Anakin,” Palpatine told him.

“No you didn’t,” cut in Grim, marching over to them. “Anakin killing an unarmed - well, un-handed - prisoner is not the Jedi way!"

“He was too dangerous to be kept alive,” said Palpatine. He looked at Grim, “you’d be too young to understand.”

Grim and Palpatine’s eyes met. A fire burning in Grim’s. The two of them both knew that Grim was quite aware of what had just occurred. Both of them knew Palpatine had just claimed another step to victory, and Grim had lost.

Much like her plea, it seemed Grim too was trying to win a pointless struggle in which she had already lost to the Sith.

“With all due respect, chancellor. Padawan Kennet is right. What I did was wrong. Killing an unarmed prisoner is not the Jedi way,” said Anakin as he undid the cuffs that kept Palpatine trapped in the chair.

With those words a slight glimmer of hope twinkled in Grim’s eyes. Maybe she could still win.

Anakin gave Grim a look as he undid Palpatine’s binds, “you could have done that.”

The Padawan only shrugged, giving Anakin a lazy smile. “I got distracted watching your fight.”

“We must leave, before more security droids arrive,” Palpatine told the two Jedi.

  As they walked to the exit both Grim and Anakin ran over to Obi-Wan to pick him up.

“There’s no time. We must get off this ship before it’s too late.”

“He seems to be alright,” said Grim as she checked his pulse. It was for show, she knew he was fine. Palpatine must’ve known as well, because he could see through Grim’s act as well as she could see through his.

“Leave him, or we’ll never make it,” he told the two Jedi.

“His fate will be the same as ours,” Anakin replied. With Grim’s help he picked Obi-Wan up.

“I don’t think I can carry him,” said Grim. “Can you?” she asked him.

“Of course I can,” replied Anakin as he put the Jedi Master on his back.

“Good,” said Grim. “Then let’s get the hell out of here.”

Anakin laughed, “I couldn’t agree more.”

Anakin, Grim, and Palpatine headed towards the elevators. The Jedi Knight carrying Obi-Wan on his back. Even though Grim hated Palpatine she stood in between the chancellor and her older brother. Keeping her pace in the middle of the two.

Out of the three of them awake, Grim had the horrible realization she was walking between two Sith Lords. Because Anakin was only days away from his fall now.

Grim was the only one who knew of the darkness, as she stood in the light.

The three of them reached the elevators, Grim pressed the button, but nothing happened. “The elevators aren’t working,” she complained.

Anakin activated his commlink, “Artoo activate elevator 3224.”

Grim looked at Anakin apprehensively as she remembered the next scene quite well.

The doors opened.

The ship was hit.