Han Solo was sure he could not have heard correctly. There was no way Leia was in the comm center at 0230.
He'd only just pulled in to the hangar bay, back from an uneventful but necessary run to Marros 3, and had been on his way to the mess for a much-needed nightcap when he overheard the watch commander telling the deck officer she'd just spoken with her highness in the communications room.
Surely that 'just' meant 'some time in the past day'—not within the past hour? Right? Surely she hadn't meant to imply that Leia was up and manning a comm station in the middle of the blasted night.
Han wanted to believe that. But this was Leia they were talking about. Even though she had no business at all being up and at a duty station at this preposterous hour, there was absolutely a non-zero chance she was doing exactly that.
But there was also every chance his initial assumption had been correct. Leia was the second-in-command of the new downside base, and there was a prestige of proximity that had followed her as long as he'd known her. "Just spoke to her highness" held a lot of pull. Hell, the watch commander might even have been making it up—she might never have spoken to the princess at all.
But Han couldn't help but wonder if Leia really might be up and working. Sometimes she carried the weight of the entire Alliance on her shoulders, and he certainly wouldn't put it past her to be working insane hours if she'd somehow gotten it into her head she ought to.
He decided it was worth the few minutes to check for himself.
Han was mildly annoyed, but thoroughly unsurprised when he turned the corner into the communications hub and found Leia standing there. She was alone save for the few droids who were tasked with staffing the comm center overnight. He couldn't begin to imagine what she was up to, but it was obvious from the moment he spotted her that she wasn't altogether well.
Leia was standing with her back to the door, facing nothing in particular. She was swaying unsteadily on her feet and seemed to be staring off into space. She stood at an odd angle, her head tilted markedly to the right as her left hand gripped at her left shoulder. She had her fingers dug as deeply into the flesh as her padded snowsuit would allow.
Han was careful not to walk too softly as he came up behind her. He'd learned the hard way that sneaking up on the princess could result in sore ribs.
"Hey," he said, placing his hands on her shoulders. He began to knead gently at the spot she'd been pinching— just where her shoulder met her neck. He'd known her now for long enough to know this was where she often held extra tension. Leia wasn't fond of most forms of affection, but she was usually amenable to a neck rub when she needed it. There was a time she'd have been prickly about it, insisting loudly that he take his hands off her, and she was still likely to react that way if there were other people around. But when it was just the two of them, these days she was more likely than not to stand still and let him work the knots out of her overworked back and shoulders.
Leia rolled her head around for a second and then covered her face with her hands and sighed.
"Hey," she replied. "When'd you get back?"
"Just now," he said. "Overheard someone say you were up here—figured there was no way you were actually at a comm station in the middle of the night…"
"But you came to check anyway."
"Sure I did," he replied, "just in case. And here you are."
"Yeah." Leia took another deep breath and shrugged her shoulders. "Stop," she said then, shaking her head, "don't do that."
"Ok," he agreed. He stopped what he was doing but left his hands resting on her shoulders. He thought he'd been careful not to squeeze too hard—he was pretty well aware of Leia's pressure tolerances at this point, but sometimes he didn't know his own strength. He hadn't meant for her to be uncomfortable. "Sorry," he said, "didn't mean to hurt—it was supposed to feel good."
"To be honest, Han," she said back, turning around to face him, "It did feel good. But the pain in my shoulder is just about the only thing keeping me awake right now."
Han looked down at Leia and nodded. He'd thought she looked a mess from behind; seeing her face to face, she looked terrible. Her eyes were sunken, her hair was mussed, her clothes were wrinkled, and her pallor was off. Whatever was keeping her awake, shoulder or otherwise, he meant to do something about it if he could.
"Why are you awake right now?" he asked her then. "You've been doin' double shifts—days and swings—ever since we put down on this ice cube. What's got you up in the middle of graveyard? And if it's just your shoulder, then you gotta let me rub it, or put some salve on it—or somethin'. But I reckon it's more'n that or else you'd be barely awake someplace other than the freezing cold comm center."
Leia went back to rubbing her shoulder.
"It's an intel check-in," she said. "It should have come in by now…" Leia's voice trailed off and she shook her head as she visibly stifled a yawn. "General Rieekan's up, too. He just went down to the mess for some caf. We need to see it as soon as possible." The next yawn Leia couldn't conquer; she covered her mouth with the back of her hand.
"Hey Leia," he said, "tell me somethin'. When's the last time you slept? How long've you been up here waitin' on this thing?"
Leia shrugged.
"You know, I'm not sure," she admitted. "I'm still not acclimated to the local day cycle. Thirty? Maybe. Something like that."
"Thirty hours?" Han asked. "Thirty hours since you've slept."
"Something like that," Leia repeated, "I think."
"Well, you know what I think? I think you'd better go lie down."
"I can't, Han. I have to be here when this intel comes in."
"Nah," Han said back. "If I'm hearin' you right, what you actually need is to be able to do something with it when it gets here. And you're in no condition to do anything useful right now. I'd be surprised if your eyes'll focus long enough to read it."
"Han…"
"Leia, go get some rest!" He could tell she was gearing up to argue, and he also knew the Princess well enough to see her heart wasn't in it. She was far too exhausted to have much fight in her at the moment. She'd push back a little, but it wouldn't take too much convincing. He was going to win this one.
"I can't, Han, I…"
"No," he interrupted her. "You can. And you gotta. You're a mess, Leia. You're not doin' anybody any good like this. Go climb in your bunk for an hour. Hell," he said, "go sack out on the Falcon for a while- nobody'll look for you there."
"Han…"
"Listen," he stopped her again; Han took hold of Leia's upper arms and looked her in the eye. "I'll stay here—okay? I got nothin' else goin' on right now. It's the middle of the night; there is nothin' else I gotta do. I'll stay here 'til your thing comes in and I'll come wake you up when it gets here. Okay?"
"Will you, really?" Leia challenged.
Han frowned.
"Yeah. I will."
"You will?"
"I will!"
"You're not going to decide when the time comes that I haven't gotten as much sleep as you wanted and figure it's ok to hold off for just an hour?" she asked. "This won't be one of those 'for my own good' situations?"
"No," he replied, "it won't. Ok? It'll be one of those 'if you can't trust me on the little things, how're you ever gonna trust me on the big things' situations. Go," he encouraged, "talk to Chewie—he'll get down the extra pillows. Get a little sleep. I'll come get you when the time comes."
"You promise?"
"I promise," he insisted. "Now go."
"Hey, sweetheart," Han whispered, crouching down as he gently shook Leia by her shoulder. She was tucked into his bunk aboard the Falcon, clearly sound asleep. She'd nestled herself on her stomach beneath more blankets than Han had realized he had on board the ship. She looked cozy and peaceful; it almost pained him to wake her.
But a promise was a promise.
"Is it here?" Leia asked. She rolled onto her side and pushed the covers down around her waist. "Did my intelligence come in?"
Her eyes weren't fully open and she was already talking business. It was all Han could do not to chuckle. As it was, he allowed himself a smile.
"Yeah, it's here," Han said, putting subtle pressure on the shoulder he'd been shaking, "but don't get up yet."
"What?" Leia opened her eyes and frowned at him, but she stayed otherwise still. He hadn't turned on the overhead lights, but the glow strips built in to the bulkhead gave off just enough light for Leia to be able to see Han clearly. She was a little bit surprised to find just how close Han's face was to hers—so close that Leia entertained a momentary concern as to the state of her breath. But she was able to meet his gaze, and having him at her eye-level was an interesting and unusual development.
"It came in," he said, "Sort of."
"Sort of?"
"There's something wrong," he said, "corrupted data or something. I didn't hang around for the full explanation. But what I know is there's nothing actionable. General Rieekan told me not to even wake you up. But I promised. So here I am. I'm wakin' you up. But really you ought to go back to sleep. There's nothing you can do right now—nothin' anybody can do. Stay here for now. I'll head back in there and I'll come get you when there's somethin' you can actually work with."
Leia closed her eyes again and took a deep breath.
"Okay," she replied. She shifted over onto her stomach and pulled the covers back up under her chin.
"Okay?"
"I'm tired, Han," she admitted, letting her eyelids go droopy as she settled in. "And if General Rieekan thinks the best use of my time right now is sleeping, I just don't have the heart to argue."
"You've got plenty of heart, Princess," Han said back. He moved his hand to stroke her back gently as her eyes closed again. "But, "he added, "you've also got a good enough head on your shoulders to know to take your chances while you got 'em. The Rebel Alliance can survive without you for a couple hours— when's the next time you think that'll happen, huh? You've gotta recharge while there's a minute between crises."
Leia's eyes stayed closed, but she smiled back at him.
"Yeah, okay," she agreed.
Han tucked the blankets up snugly around Leia's shoulders and bent his face to kiss her temple before turning to leave. He paused to marvel at how easy this exchange had been—how intimate and tender. They'd gotten close over these years since they'd been thrust together by happenstance and war. These unguarded moments were becoming more and more frequent, and Han liked it more than he'd probably ever admit.
In the midst of all the tensions and the squabbles and the quarreling they'd come to form one of the deepest and most genuine friendships Han had ever experienced.
They battled and they scrapped—beside each other or against each other—but beneath the veneer of hostility that somehow always seemed to be cropping up between them, when one of them needed someone, the other one always seemed to be there.
She wasn't at all what he'd expected to find inside that cell aboard the Death Star, and certainly not anything like his initial idea of a princess. She was someone who, even in the midst of the worst life could throw at a person, had never been fully in need of rescue. She carried the weight of worlds around— not that it was anything she couldn't handle—Leia could handle just about anything.
But no one should have to carry such a heavy burden alone.
So Han was glad, for these few hours, that he was able to help her to rest—that he could take this one small weight off her shoulders.