Carlist Rieekan, Peeper, a star wars fanfic

AN: Today, we see Han and Leia's relationship change over time starting during ANH and ending after ROTJ from the ever-watchful eyes of General Carlist Rieekan. He's a bit protective at first, but he starts to notice a glimmer of something... Thank you to the wonderful Reading Writing Watching for beta reading!

I looked out over the gathered group of rebel fighters. They were, for the most part, focused on Dodonna or on the screen behind him. There was the occasional daydreamer, of course, staring off towards the wall or looking down at his hands. And then, there was Captain Solo. He was leaned nonchalantly against the wall in the back of the room.

I wasn't sure why, exactly, he was still here. He'd been paid and granted clearance to leave the system; why had he stayed for the briefing? I followed Solo's intent gaze: that was it.

The spacer's eyes were trained on the princess. I bristled. The look wasn't necessarily predatory, but it definitely wasn't innocent, either. It was the kind of a look that would make put any father on the defensive, and now that Bail was…well, it was up to me to take care of her now. The meeting disbanded and it seemed as though Solo was waiting around to talk to the princess, but I directed her quickly out the back door and towards the command center.

I started worrying.

I was standing on the catwalk three stories above the hangar bay floor. At this level, I could look out over the entire floor. I chuckled as Janson and Antilles nearly singed their eyebrows off in a flame that shot unexpectedly out of an X-wing engine. Solo and the wookiee were also among the pilots working on their ships, standing on top of the YT-1300 near the dish.

Suddenly, Solo wasn't looking at his ship: his attention was on something that was obstructed from my view. It all made sense when Princess Leia appeared from behind a row of A-wings, oblivious to Solo's gaze. His eyes followed her as she retreated purposefully from the bay. As she rounded a corner, Solo began leaning to keep her in his sights for just a few more moments. She walked further and he leaned further. The door slid closed behind Leia and Solo suddenly lost his footing. He somehow managed to grab hold of the edge of his ship, avoiding the 10-meter fall to the permacrete floor below. A giant wookiee paw shot out and grabbed him roughly by the collar, pulling him back onto the freighter. The sounds of wrenches and hydrospanners was briefly covered by the wookiee's woofing laughter.

"I was not!" Solo replied adamantly. "I…lost my balance, is all."

My worry increased.

"So you'd land, make contact, load the supplies, and get out as fast as possible."

"I can fly my own ship?" Solo asked circumspectly.

"You have to fly your own ship. We don't have any ships of the necessary size available right now. It'll be dangerous, though, Solo. Do you think you can handle it?" I looked at the captain, but he didn't seem to hear me. "I said, Solo, can you handle it?" He was looking at something behind me, just off my shoulder. I turned. The princess.

My protectiveness of her swelled suddenly and I knocked into his shoulder.

"Can you handle it?" I asked gruffly, trying to turn his attention away from her.

"What? Yeah, yeah. Me an' Chewie, we'll do it." I opened my mouth to dismiss him, but he was off, his path clear.

I wondered how suspicious it would be if I sent Solo to the Outer Rim for about 20 years.

"Who just landed?" My aid scanned the call board for a moment.

"If they were on schedule, it is the Princess and her team."

"Can't be. Solo went on that trip with her."

"Pardon, sir?"

"It's far too quiet for that to be Leia and Solo. They will have been closed up on his ship in hyperspace for the last eight hours; they'll be at each other's throats when they land!" We looked at the team disembarking and were surprised to see the princess and the smuggler walking side by side, apparently holding a quiet, civil conversation. Leia was actually smiling. Solo said something and she tipped her head back and laughed.

I started to wonder if he wasn't good for her, after all.

"The command teams will land a few miles out…" the princess continued. I saw her flush just slightly for probably the 20th time since she'd started talking 15 minutes ago. Her eyes flicked quickly back to the screen and she pointed with the laser. "And breach the shields here, here and here." We were in the intel briefing for a commando mission going after an imperial cell.

She went on and I listened with half an ear, watching her with a fatherly pride in my chest. There she goes, blushing again. I wondered briefly if she was coming down with something. It wouldn't surprise me, knowing the relentless way she works around here. She was looking out towards the gathered commandos, but her eyes stayed high. I looked towards the back of the room to see what kept drawing her gaze and making her blush. Solo.

He never sat down during any meetings like this, just stood in the back. I guess it went with his constant threats of leaving and his avoidance of a commission: sitting down would mean something. He was leaning against the wall like always, eyes never leaving her. I looked back to Leia. She blushed and looked to the screen again, and I cut my eyes quickly to Solo. Leia's blush hadn't gone unnoticed by him, either. He was wearing a cocky smile while her back was turned. His disinterested mask fell in again quickly, however, when the Princess turned back to face the room.

It was a ridiculous cycle that continued until the end of the meeting ten minutes later. As the commandos dispersed, Leia looked back to Captain Solo. He threw her a wink and she smiled up at him.

One thing was for certain: I could no longer tell myself that this was a one-sided attraction. This was something real. No matter what Leia might say, she was just as willing a participant as Han.

Solo and the Princess were arguing (again). I wasn't sure what had set them off this time, but it didn't take much. At least they were entertaining. Force knows we don't have much to laugh about these days.

"Anyone with half a brain can tell you that, your highnessness!"

"Could you possibly excuse me for a moment so I can go and find a person with half a brain Captain?" Advantage: princess. They continued to throw retorts like detonators for a few minutes until Leia turned on her heel and stormed towards the hangar bay door. I couldn't help but smile to myself, however. Neither of them looked the least bit upset by their little spat: Leia was smiling a smile that actually reached her eyes for the first time in months. Solo had a stupid grin on his face as he watched her march out.

They didn't hate each other. Not really.

I began to wonder when this spying thing could be considered voyeurism and not simply 'looking out for Leia'.

As time wore on and we moved from base to base, Han and Leia's arguments became more and more commonplace and less and less innocent. One would start the argument, they'd get in a few good remarks, then it was suddenly about Han staying or going. I could tell this was the last wall between them, but it was monstrous. They were so close to finally admitting everything, but as long as that barrier was between them, they might as well have been on the opposite sides of the galaxy.

I looked between them. They seemed to have reached a stalemate now, both waiting for the other to say something. Their chests were both heaving as they stood toe to toe. I could see every emotion written on their face. They were both begging the other to crumble first, to admit that feelings existed right below the surface. I could see on Han's face that when he threatened to leave, he was really begging her to give him a reason to stay. In Leia's eyes, I could see that she was screaming at the top of her lungs that she'd probably die of a broken heart if he left.

Their resolve broke at the same time. They turned and walked in opposite directions.

Leia insisted on being present at all the meetings, even though it had been only three days since her return, plus one Baron and minus one smuggler. I was pretty sure she hadn't slept except for the few minutes she got when she nodded off at her desk before being violently awoken by a nightmare. I glanced down the table and my heart fell out of my chest for the umpteenth time. Her head was propped on her arm and she was looking up at the empty space against the back wall of the briefing room.

Solo's place was absent, as was the gleam he put in her eye. I knew for certain, however, that he wasn't far from her heart.

Everything was going crazy on Home One with the influx of the Bothan intel, so I didn't even know that they'd returned until I read my nightly report during a late meal at 2330.

I saw them in the mess hall together the next morning. They both looked tired and drawn, but happy. Very happy. Solo was eating like he hadn't seen food in years, talking animatedly between bites. Leia was laughing, and it had been over six months since I'd seen her even crack a smile. She had an empty plate in front of her, too, another sight I had been deprived of for far too long. He was looking at her with love in his eyes, quiet concern for her well-being written behind his joy at being with her. The princess was looking at Solo like if she averted her eyes, he might disappear.

Solo said something that made her smile, and they sat for a moment, drinking in the sight of each other, plates forgotten.

For a brief moment, things were right in our corner of the galaxy.

They were sitting as close as possible and had even held hands covertly (or so they thought) for a while. At Madine's explanation of the plan, I saw Leia lean towards his ear and whisper something.

"General Solo, is your team ready?" She sat back and looked at him in shock. I knew he'd finally accepted the commission, but that was information to which Leia was apparently not privy. A look of quiet understanding passed between them: he'd accepted it for her, and she wasn't about to let him go alone.

They were in this together, or not at all.

I glanced at my watch and shifted uncomfortably in my chair. This damn meeting had started almost two hours ago. Only 10 more minutes. A lot of things could be said for peacetime, but exciting was apparently not one.

Out of boredom, I glanced around at the other people sitting in on the meeting. Mon Mothma was sitting perfectly prim at the far end of the table, clicking away at her datapad. Cracken and Madine were taking turns poking Ackbar, who was nodding off between them. Dodonna was fiddling with a hangnail. Solo and the princess sat across from each other. They were looking not at the being running the meeting, but at each other. There was a hungry look in Leia's eyes and Solo was looking at her like it was all he could do not to take her right there on the table. I shook my head, trying to remove the image. Now, that would make for an interesting meeting.

When the meeting finally disbanded, they were out of the conference room before the rest of us had properly stood up, pressed as close to each other as physically possible while still allowing for forward locomotion.

Several minutes after I sat down at my desk, I saw Solo stumble out of her office wearing a star-struck expression and a half-tucked shirt.

Ah, to be young and so in love…

AN: Let me know what you think; I love your feedback!