disclaimer: Star Wars and all related content is not mine. I'm just playing in the sandbox for a bit.
rating/warnings: Teen / coarse language
notes: This is a series I've wanted to write for a long time. It chronicles the events before, during, and after the beginning of RotJ (aka Jabba). This first part is probably going to be the lowest-rated of the trilogy, as there's no sexual assault or sex included or discussed. The Teen rating is, in fact, mainly for coarse language (though I've kept it to the PG-13 guidelines).
The Luke & Leia relationship is NOT meant to be incestual. Read it however you like, but that's not how it was intended. It is meant as purely platonic.
Lastly, I hope you enjoy!
CENTER OF THE WEB BOOK 1
Pattern and Plot
Chapter 1
"We found him."
Lando Calrissian's voice crackled through the comlink, static from some unseen and unknown star interfering with the connection. Luke Skywalker, Jedi and pilot for the Rebellion, tapped it against the palm of his left hand. The static buzzed—then fell silent.
In the background, Chewbacca whuffled a comment. Luke glanced at Leia, who shrugged and mouthed, I didn't catch that.
"So where is he?" Luke asked, both Leia and him turning back to the comlink he held between them.
"He's on Tatooine. Boba delivered him to Jabba two days ago."
"Damn," Leia cursed.
They had hoped to find Boba Fett, infamous bounty hunter and self-proclaimed Mandalorian, before he reached Tatooine and Jabba. It would have been far easier to rescue Han, who had now been frozen in carbonite for eight months, before he was the prisoner of the gangster Hutt.
"It's okay, Princess," Lando said quickly. "We'll still get him."
Chewbacca warbled. The small comlink buzzed out, the frequency of Chewie's voice shorting the speaker for a second. Again Luke tapped it against his opposite palm, cursing the cheap comlink quietly. The Rebellion didn't have the money for good quality technology, and it was moments like this when that showed.
"Say that again, Chewie?" Luke asked, and Chewie repeated what he had said, lower this time.
Again Luke looked at Leia for a translation.
"He said it'll just be more difficult now," Leia said, "and then I think 'but we'll manage it'."
Chewie huffed an affirmative that even Luke understood.
Luke nodded. "Okay. Lando, Chewie, come on back to the Fleet. We'll make a plan once you get here."
"Where are you guys?" Lando asked.
"The Dantooine system," Leia replied.
Chewie growled a question.
"I know," Leia said, "but Mon thought that, given that the Empire's already glassed the planet, they won't be looking for us here."
Luke reached out with his free hand and gripped one of Leia's tightly. Leia looked up at him, a question in the quirk of her eyebrows; Luke smiled softly, and squeezed her hand—and he saw that Leia understood.
He knew she blamed herself for Dantooine's destruction. Though they had known that the Rebel base had moved on, they had glassed the planet anyway, killing millions of people and turning the surface of the planet to fire-blown glass using the power of Star Destroyer lasers.
She had told him that one night as they lay curled together during the bitter watches of the night, neither of them able to sleep. They had been in Leia's quarters on Home One, the taste of sweat and fear begat of nightmares still tainting their skins and tongues.
"It's my fault," she had said softly to the night air, staring up at the ceiling with wide, dry eyes made even darker by the shadows.
"What is?" Luke had asked when Leia did not elucidate.
"Dantooine. It's my fault."
"It's the Empire's," Luke had said stoutly. "You can't blame yourself for them finding the remains of the Rebel base."
Leia had laughed then, bitter and mocking. "You don't understand," she had said. "I'm the one that told them about the base. I'm the one that sent them here. I'm the one that damned all those people to—"
Luke had rolled over onto his side, propping himself up on one elbow so he could look down at Leia, still staring at the ceiling. "No," he had said, cutting her off. "It's the Empire's fault. They knew the Rebellion had moved on, but they still glassed the planet. It was their choice—their decision. Not yours."
"But if it wasn't for me—"
"If it wasn't for you, the entire Rebellion would have been damned, just as surely as Dantooine was."
"We almost were anyway," Leia had said. Her tone was acid and spite and anger.
"But we weren't."
"Thanks to you."
Luke had smiled then, soft and gentle just like him. "Thanks to all of us."
Leia had laughed then—lighter and happier than Luke had heard her all day—and shook her head. "You're too modest, Skywalker," she had told him.
"Modesty looks good on me," Luke had said in response, which drew another laugh, as he had hoped.
Now, Leia squeezed his hand back and mouthed, Thank you. Luke smiled in reply and squeezed her hand back, then released it.
"Alright," Lando said, breaking the moment he had no way of knowing was happening. "We'll meet you about Dantooine in… five days."
"Understood," Leia said. "See you then, Lando, Chewie."
Chewie harrumphed and Leia laughed.
"You too," she said, then nodded at Luke to cut the com signal.
"What did Chewie say?" he asked, after he flicked off the comlink.
"He told us to stay out of trouble," she said.
"I still can't believe you picked up that much Shyriiwook in the six months I was gone," Luke said.
Leia shrugged. "I've got an ear for language."
"I do too," Luke said, "but even that's stretching it for me."
Leia stood and offered a hand to Luke. He took it, and she pulled him onto his feet. "Come on," she said, "I think it's dinner time."
Luke laughed and followed her out of her quarters.
"What's so funny?" Leia asked, dropping back to walk side-by-side with him down the bright and shining corridor.
"If I knew that all it took to make you eat was to quit eating myself, I would have done it a long time ago."
Leia rolled her eyes and jabbed Luke in the side with a well-timed elbow. "You loved Cookie too much to quit eating his food."
Cookie was the head cook of the Rebel cell that Luke and Leia had been a part of until the consolidation of the Fleet after the attack on Hoth. While his deserts were famously inedible, Cookie had the ability to take ice and ration packs and make them into a serviceable meal. He hated Luke, however, as Luke had accidentally ruined his favorite frying pan by bashing it over the head of a Stormtrooper.
"I'll never forgive you for that, Skywalker," Cookie had said, taking the dented pan out of Luke's hand once the danger was over and he had crawled out from under the table where he'd been hiding. "That was my favorite pan."
Luke had tried to apologize—and explain—but Cookie would have none of it. From then on, Leia or Han had had to get Luke's food for him; if he went up himself, Cookie would inevitably turn up to give him the driest, grittiest, most burned part of the meal.
Luke snorted and shook his head. "It's not my love for Cookie that kept me coming back to his cooking. More like 'ravenous hunger'."
"What changed?" Leia asked, turning suddenly serious.
Luke was silent for a long moment, considering what to say—what to tell her. "Bespin," was all he said at last.
Leia nodded and didn't press. She knew, just as he did, that daylight hours were not the time for confessions or explanations.
They walked into the messhall together, shoulders just barely touching. Luke lifted a hand to wave at Wedge and Hobbie, who were seated at a table in the corner of the large, brightly lit room. They motioned Luke and Leia over, and they went willingly and gladly.
"Hey," Luke said, sliding into a seat beside Wedge.
"Hey," said Wedge. He nodded at Leia, then turned to Luke and said, "Have you heard about the new formation General Ackbar wants us to try flying?"
Luke shook his head. "What is it?"
"I'll go get us food," Leia cut in, and stood to leave.
"Thanks," Luke said, grinning and glancing up at her before returning his attention to Wedge. "So, what's this new formation…"
~oOo~
Lando's relationship with Luke and Leia was tenuous.
Three months into their search for Han, Lando had been shot by a contact. Chewie had rushed him back to the Fleet to be given medical treatment, but the intervening days between the injury and his first bacta treatment had left Lando with crippling nerve damage to his right leg and arm.
"You should go see Lando," Luke said. He and Leia were perched on the small couch in Luke's quarters, Leia writing reports while Luke read. He put down his book and looked at Leia, who was ardently focused at the screen of her mobile computer. "Leia?"
"I don't see why I should give him the time of day," Leia snapped, finally looking up. Her eyes were hard when they met Luke's. "He betrayed us. Without him, Han would—"
"Without him, you'd be in Vader's clutches, I would have fallen to my death, and Han would have no hope of rescue."
Leia shook her head and looked resolutely back at her computer. "He betrayed us," she said stubbornly.
Luke sighed and sat back, picking his feet up off the ground and tucking them beneath him. "I still think you should go see him. You know what nerve therapy is like."
Leia huffed and typed out another sentence on her report—then slammed the computer shut and whirled on Luke. "Why?" she snarled. "Why should I care about him?"
"He's trying to find Han," Luke said, calm in the face of her storm.
"He's only trying to fix his own screw up."
"But he is trying to fix it. He could have just left."
"So you don't deny that he fucked us over?" Leia asked.
Luke shook his head. "No, I'm not denying that. But I think maybe you should consider the position he was in."
Leia rolled her eyes.
"Don't pretend that you wouldn't have made the same choice he made," Luke said quietly, softly, as if he barely dared to speak the words. "Don't pretend that wasn't what you did to Dantooine to try to save Alderaan."
Leia's face went white. "How dare you?" she asked, voice barely there, thin and taut like a wire stretched too far.
Luke knew he had gone too far. He ducked his head. "Sorry," he said and stood, dropping his pad to the couch as he rose. "I shouldn't have said that."
Leia watched him leave, eyes dark in her white face. They burned like embers in the night, swallowing shadow and light alike.
That night, however, as they lay together in Luke's bed, blankets heaped over them in an attempt to stave off the chill of deep space, Luke's flesh hand held in both of Leia's, Leia said softly, "You were right. I…" She took a deep, steadying breath. "I damned Dantooine. Just like Lando damned us. And all to save what I thought was better—just like Lando. You were right."
"That didn't mean I had to say it."
"Yes," Leia said. "You did. I… I'll go see Lando tomorrow."
Lando was surprised to see her. Leia could see it in his face when she appeared in the doorway to his room. It was sterile and as white as the rest of the ship, plain, with only a bed and a wall full of monitors. Lando sat in the bed, a dark smear of shadow against the white of the sheets, of the walls, of the ceiling, of the floor.
"What are you doing here?" he asked. "Did you get lost?"
Leia shook her head and stepped into the room. "No, I came to be with you during your nerve treatment."
"Oh." A beat. "Why?"
Leia took another step into the room. "I've been through them. I know how awful they are."
Lando looked even more surprised, his eyebrows crawling another centim up his forehead. "You suffered nerve damage?"
"From the Death Star," Leia said. "My right hand still goes numb sometimes."
"Oh." After a long second, Lando stretched out his left hand, palm up, fingers spread wide. "Truce?" he asked.
Leia crossed to his side and, reaching out, gripped his hand. "Truce," she said, and then let him go and perched on the edge of his bed. "The worst part is how long it takes," she said. "But it helps to have someone to hold your hand."
"Are you offering?"
Leia smiled, thin and small and hesitant, and once more held out her hand. "I am."
~oOo~
Five days later, Lando and Chewie arrived above Dantooine. Leia, who had been carrying the comlink, went to find Luke. He was in his office, which he shared with Wes and Hobbie—two other Rogue Squadron pilots—who were also sitting at their desks filing reports.
"Hey," Leia said, propping her hip against the door frame. "Lando and Chewie just contacted me. They're here."
Luke rose, abandoning his reports. "Let's go," he said.
"You want company?" Wes asked.
Leia and Luke shared a look. Luke looked back, smiling at Wes, and said, "Not this time. Thanks Wes."
Wes nodded and leaned back in his chair. "Well, if you need us, you know where to find us," he called after Luke and Leia as they left.
They were waiting for Chewie and Lando when they arrived through the door to the airlock. Leia smiled and crossed to Chewie, giving him a tight hug. Chewie warbled a greeting, hugging Leia back, then once she had released him he ruffled Luke's hair. Leia turned to Lando and gripped his hand in a firm handshake.
"Welcome back," Leia said.
"Thanks," Lando said. "It's good to be back."
Chewie huffed an agreement.
"Do you want time to settle in?" Leia asked. "Or—"
"No," Lando said quickly. "Let's get straight to planning. The sooner we figure out what we're doing, the sooner we can get in and save Han."
Leia grinned, glancing at Luke who was smiling as well. Luke met her eyes, and an unspoken understanding passed between them.
"Agreed," Luke said. "Well then, let's go."
They went to Leia's quarters. Though still small, they were some of the largest on the ship—a gift befitting her status as one of the Rebellion's leaders. It included a sitting room, bedroom, and an attached 'fresher.
The group congregated in the sitting room: a small room with a couch and an armchair bolted to the floor, and a viewscreen affixed to the wall opposite them. A door in the wall opposite the front door led into Leia's bedroom, closed now.
"So," Luke said once they were all seated. "What now?"
They talked for hours, in circles and straight lines, coming again and again to dead ends.
"We need someone in there to be a plant," Lando said at last. "I think that's where we need to start."
"What do you mean?" Luke asked. He was standing, having risen to pace around the small room. Now he halted and turned to face Lando, a frown on his face.
"We need someone in there who Jabba trusts, so that we can help manage and mediate whatever happens."
"How do we do that?" Leia asked.
"I don't know," Lando said slowly, leaning forward and planting his elbows on his knees. "Chewie? You know more about Jabba and how he runs his operations than anyone else."
Chewie howled a statement, then softened to a growl. Luke looked at Leia and Lando for a translation.
"He said that Jabba keeps a large staff at his palace, and that that's probably where he's keeping Han," Lando said.
"Okay," Luke said. "So someone gets hired onto his staff."
"Doing what?" Leia asked.
"Whatever he needs," Lando said.
Chewie interjected with another growl. Lando nodded, and Leia shrugged.
"That would be best, yeah," she said, "but I think we need to be flexible."
"What would be best?" Luke asked.
"If whoever is the plant was hired as a guard."
Chewie howled a statement. Leia and Lando both nodded.
"Okay, point," Leia said. "So we try really hard to get in as a guard. Next question: who's going in as a guard?Or whatever position we can get in as."
Chewie warbled.
Leia laughed. "No," she said, "not you."
"And not you either, Leia," Lando said. "I don't know much about Jabba specifically, but I know the Hutts. They like their women scantily clad and serving, not guarding."
Leia pulled a face. "Okay," she said, "so not me. That leaves you and Luke."
"It probably shouldn't be me either," Luke said. "Whoever goes in is going to need to be there for quite a while. I can't abandon the Rebellion for that long."
"Which leaves me," Lando said. After a moment of thought he nodded. "I'll do it."
"So what now?" Luke asked. "We have Lando planted—but what about the rest of us?"
"We need a way to get Chewie in," Leia said. "The question is: how?"
"I have an idea," Luke said slowly, coming around the edge of the couch and joining Lando and Leia on it once more. He looked at Chewie, sitting in the armchair. "But I'm not sure how much you're gonna like it, Chewie."
Chewie huffed a question. Luke grinned; he understood that one.
"Remember how we got into the prison section on the Death Star?" he asked.
Chewie canted his head to one side and growled.
"Yeah," Luke said. "Well, what if we do something similar here? One of us brings Chewie in to collect the bounty on his head. That'll get Chewie down in the cells where Han probably is. And that can plant one of us in the rest of Jabba's goons, if we play it right."
Leia straightened. "I could do that," she said. "I'd have to cover my face somehow—but if I go as a bounty hunter, that wouldn't be too hard." She looked at Chewie. "Assuming you agree, of course."
Chewie huffed again, this time in annoyance, but then he howled an agreement.
"Okay," said Lando. "So I'll be in Jabba's guards—hopefully. Chewie will be down in the cells. And Leia will be a newcomer bounty hunter."
Chewie howled. Again Luke looked at Lando and Leia for a translation.
"He said I'm going to need some way to ingratiate myself to Jabba," Leia said. "Otherwise I'll be escorted out of his palace once I'm done delivering Chewie."
"Hm," said Luke. "Any ideas?"
"Threaten him," Lando said.
"Threaten him?" Leia repeated, startled. "Won't that do the opposite of what we're trying to achieve here?"
Chewie huffed and yowled, and Leia turned a surprised look on him.
"Really?" she asked.
Chewie growled.
"What?" Luke asked, turning between Leia on one side and Lando on the other. "What did he say?"
"He said Jabba likes brash and crazy bounty hunters," Leia said.
"You'll have to threaten him in a way that makes sense," Lando put in. "Don't just go in there waving your gun and threatening everyone."
A thought came to Leia. "What if I threaten him to get more money out of Chewie?"
Chewie warbled, and Lando said, "Yeah, that might work. I'd still suggest not pulling a gun on him."
"Then I'll use something else," Leia said. "Like… like…"
"Like a thermal detonator?" Luke suggested.
Leia looked at Chewie, then at Lando, who in turn glanced over at Chewie. Chewie warbled, and Lando nodded.
"Yeah," he said. Then again, sounding more confident, "Yeah, that could work. Okay," Lando said. "So we know how to get me, Chewie, and Leia in—what about Luke? And how do we propose to get out?"
That sobered them.
"First rule of negotiating is that you need a negotiator," Leia said. "If the rest of us are in there undercover—or, in Chewie's case, as a prisoner—we need you to be the negotiator, Luke."
"Me?" Luke asked, surprised. "But I don't have much experience with that kind of thing. You're the politician here."
"True," Leia said slowly. "Then maybe you should bring Chewie in, and I'll negotiate?"
"I'm not sure that's a good idea," Lando said, cutting in. "While I know you're a well-renowned politician and figurehead, I'm not sure how Jabba would react to you coming in and making demands. It will come across like the Rebellion making the demands, not just us—and we don't want to make an enemy of the Hutts."
"Luke is well-known as the Hero of Yavin," Leia pointed out.
"He's still not as well-known as you are, Leia," Lando said, serious and grim-faced. "Besides, as I said earlier, Jabba likes his women scantily clad and serving him. I'd be afraid he'd try to seize you as a trophy."
"And he won't seize Luke?"
"Not as likely," Lando said.
"Here's another thought," Luke put in. "What if Jabba refuses to see the negotiator? They'd need some way to get in. I can do that, using the Force—which you don't have, Leia."
"True. Okay," Leia said, nodding. "So we go with our original plan: I bring Chewie in, and Luke plays as our negotiator."
"And what if Jabba refuses Luke?" Lando asked.
"That's why we have you and Chewie and me set in place," Leia said. "We may have to wing it—we won't know details until we're actually in place—but with all three of us in Jabba's palace, we should be able to figure out a way to get him out."
"I also suggest," Lando said, "that if any of us see the chance to get Han out before the plan is brought to full fruition, we take it."
"Agreed," Leia said. In his chair, Chewie growled an agreement as well, and Luke nodded.
"Okay," Luke said. Then, again, "Okay. I like this plan. I think it could work."
"I do too," Leia said. She looked at Luke. "But how are we getting you in?"
"What do you recommend, Leia?" Lando asked. "You're the one who knows about these things."
Leia rose and paced up and down the small room once, twice, three times. Finally she said, "We should send a herald. We want this to be as professional and gratifying as possible. A gift would also not be amiss, I think."
Luke's face brightened. "What about Artoo and Threepio?" he suggested. "They could serve as both heralds and as gifts—plus that would get them into Jabba's court as well. We can hide weapons in Artoo, in case one of us—or all of us—get captured. And Threepio can serve as translator, since I know Leia doesn't speak Huttese."
"I speak a little bit of Huttese," Leia protested.
"Leia," Luke said, looking up at her, "you speak seven different languages fluently—sorry, eight now that you know Shyriiwook—and five more passably. It's okay that you don't know Huttese."
Leia blushed and turned away.
"Speaking of which," Lando said, piping up, "you should use one of your other languages when you're a bounty hunter. That will make it more difficult for Jabba to recognize you as one of our party."
"Okay," Leia said. "Does it matter which one?"
"Let's wait and see what bounty hunter outfit we can find for you," Lando said.
"Okay," Leia said again. She sighed, turning and putting a hand to her temple. "I'm tired, hungry, and have a headache. Let's go get dinner and take a break from this."
"Agreed," said Luke, standing also.
He led the way out of the room, Lando and Chewie behind him, Leia bringing up the rear. Once they were out in the hall, however, they bunched together like a herd of banthas.
"How was the trip back?" Leia asked, turning to look at Lando and Chewie.
Chewie howled, and Lando laughed.
"Yeah," he said. "You say it, Chewie. Long and boring—and by the end of it I was just as sick of you as you were of me."
Chewie huffed a laugh and reached out to ruffle Lando's hair. Lando ducked out of his range and dodged behind Leia.
"I'm not going to be much protection," Leia warned. "For one thing, I'm short. For another, I'm not going to sacrifice myself for you. Sorry, but our relationship just isn't there yet."
Lando laughed again. "Noted."
They reached the mess hall and got in line for food. Luke was telling Lando about the new maneuvers Rogue Squadron was practicing, while Leia filled Chewie in on the high command gossip.
"I have some good stories too," Luke said, leaning around Lando to look at Chewie.
Leia rolled her eyes. "Are you really interested in who's screwing who, Chewie?" she asked. "Because that's about all Luke's rumor mill talks about."
"Hey now," said Luke, sounding much more affronted than he looked. "We also talk about why they're screwing."
All four laughed and moved up in line. Leia was at the front of it now, and she turned around to grab a tray and bowl. Dinner that night, it seemed, was a thick stew made from bantha meat, tubers, and tomatoes.
"Oh," said Leia, surprised, "Cookie! I thought you were serving on the Peace Maker."
Cookie, the old cook that had a grudge against Luke, harrumphed. "Paul's sick today," he said, "so they dragged me over here to feed you all."
Leia smiled. "Well I'm happy to see you," she said.
Cookie afforded her one of his rare smiles. "It's good to see you too, Princess," he said, voice softening. "You, on the other hand," he said, looking at Luke, who was grabbing a tray. "You I could do without seeing." He brandished his ladle, sending droplets of thick sauce spattering across the table on which the warming plates and pots of stew were sitting.
Luke blanched. "Good to see you too, Cookie," he said, trying to smile.
"Hmph. Well, go on, Princess. Get an extra roll—you look skinny. Have you been eating well?" He shook his head. "Never mind," he said, and ladled stew up for Chewie, who had claimed two bowls. "Just make sure you eat all of that, and you'll be fine."
"Thanks, Cookie," Leia said with a smile, drifting down the table and picking up a soft, warm bread roll. After a second's hesitation she grabbed another one, figuring she could split it with Luke.
"You look skinny too," Cookie commented. Leia turned in time to see him ladle stew into the bowl on Luke's tray. "You haven't been eating much either, have you?" he asked.
"Well," Luke began, only for Cookie to cut him off.
"You're a young man. You need your food. You take an extra roll too."
"Oh," Luke said, sounding as surprised as Leia felt. "Okay. Thanks, Cookie."
"Hmph," Cookie said again. "Well go on. I have more people to feed."
The four of them trailed over to a table in the corner and sat, Luke beside Leia, opposite Lando. For a long moment there was only the sound of slurping and spoons clinking against tin bowls. Then Leia broke the silence.
"Han is still alive, right?" she asked softly. "Jabba didn't… didn't kill him, did he?"
There was silence around the table. The words no one had wanted to say hung heavily between them all, thick and echoing and resonant.
Chewie howled.
"He says no," Lando said, translating before Luke could ask. "He doesn't think so. He wanted to make an example of Han—and Hutt justice is long and painful. And yeah, sure, it ends in death, but not for a while."
"So he's being tortured," Leia said, even softer, quieter, thinner.
"Probably," Lando said.
Leia's jaw clenched and she gripped her spoon tight enough to cut lines into the skin of her palm. "I see," she said.
Luke reached over and put a hand over hers, squeezing gently. "We're going to get him," he promised. "We are."
Leia nodded, and offered a weak smile. "I know," she said, though she did not sound like she believed him. "I know."
end notes: I have no idea when the next chapter will be written. This is kind of a side project right now - but I'll be honest with you guys, the more feedback I get on this, the more likely I am to buckle down and just keep writing it. So if you want to see more, be sure to comment and let me know.
Most importantly, though, I hope you enjoyed.