CHAINED by Sarah Knight

Leia's rescue attempt fails and Han is forced to work as Jabba the Hutt's slave. Solo is determined to escape but he has a lot of enemies on Tatooine who want to see him suffer. Warning: VIOLENCE. Comments would be very much appreciated :)

Breathing in short, shallow breaths, he began to become aware of himself, his surroundings, and the chill of the air that was coming from his lungs. He was so cold that the stone floor felt warm against his cheek, and he groaned as a wave of nausea rocked through his body.

Can't stop shaking, was his first conscious thought. A terrible coldness shuddered through every inch of his body, accompanied by a dull, icy ache, and a stiffness in all his joints that made movement too difficult. He lay still, trying to breathe, trying to think. A disembodied voice said something that he couldn't make out and he slowly realised that he wasn't sitting up by himself. He wasn't alone.

"Just relax for a moment. You're free of the carbonite," said an alien voice. "You have hibernation sickness."

Han struggled to open his eyes but they were stiff and cold. With a shock somewhat numbed from his confusion, he realised they were already open. They just weren't working. Scared, he forced the words out:

"I can't see."

"Your eyesight will return in time."

The carbon freeze. Han's stomach lurched again as a memory suddenly assaulted him. He remembered the platform lowering, the pain in Leia's eyes, the fear he had hidden in the pit of his stomach to maintain his dignity in front of his enemies; to make it easier on his friends. He tried to push the images away. How long ago had it been? Were Leia and Chewie safe? Minutes? Hours? Days...

"W...where…" The words jolted as his lungs struggled for air and his mouth shook along with the rest of him. "Where am I?"

"Jabba's palace."

He was too disorientated, too confused to think about what that meant. The voice was unfamiliar, the face his numbed fingers brushed up against an anonymous mask. "Who are you?" he asked.

"Someone who loves you!" A different voice this time. Recognition dawned on Han and his heart fluttered, "Leia."

He reached for her and her lips met his in a longed-for embrace. Her mouth was hot. Leia. A voice disguiser. A rescue.

"I've got to get you out of here," she said urgently. Han felt he had longed to hear her voice for too long.

Then she froze as they heard a cruel laugh.

Jabba's laugh. The end of everything.

Han awoke, shivering on a floor that felt like rock. He had been dreaming of last night; Leia's heroic rescue attempt. Her voice still echoed around his head. He felt as if she must be here with him and the thought warmed him, although he knew that really she wasn't.

He could also still hear the empty laugh that had followed their kiss. He felt too weak to even cringe at the thought of Jabba listening to their reunion, knowing that he would intervene at any moment and take their freedom away again.

"I... I was o..on my way to pay you Jabba, I just got a little sidetracked," he had stuttered, hardly noticing Leia's arms gently turning him to face the right way. "It's not my fault!" It hadn't made any difference, his desperate attempts to bargain with the Hutt fell on deaf ears as he had felt strong arms grab his weakened ones and pull him away with little effort despite his protests.

Pushed into a room he had stood, afraid for a moment and disorientated, he had reached around him to feel unfriendly walls that obviously belonged to a cell of some sort. His heart was beating fast in his chest as he struggled in vain to make his eyes work again so he might not be so helpless to whatever Jabba was about to throw at him - he'd worked for the Hutt for long enough to know that there were a great many places in his palace that carried traps or ravenous creatures for Jabba to watch his victim's struggles in. But the cell had been just a cell. Jabba obviously had other plans for him.

He was still in the same cell now, he was sure of it. Solo pulled himself into a sitting position with some difficulty. His joints felt too old for his years, stiff and weakened from the unbearable carbon-freeze cold. The chill had lessened, but his bones still ached as though they might be made of a fragile ice.

Where was Chewie? He had felt immediately safer last night when he had heard his Wookie copilot's growl and had quickly fallen asleep wrapped up in strong, warm arms, knowing he could rely on his best friend to protect him if danger were to arrive.

But Han had woken alone on the stone floor, not leaned up against the huge protective chest of the Wookie. He reflexively turned to look for his friend, forgetting that it wouldn't do any good, and a shudder went through him - the only thing before his eyes was blackness.

Panicked suddenly, he clenched his fists in defence. It unnerved him not to know if there was anyone there watching or whether he was truly alone. "Chewie," he called determinedly, his voice hoarse, "You there pal?"

Silence. Han tried to quiet his ragged breathing to listen for his perhaps-sleeping friend, or any other sign that he wasn't alone, but the silence was only broken by the occasional drip of a liquid nearby, and its hollow echo sounding softly around the cell. Chewie wouldn't have left him voluntarily. What had happened?

The sudden loud noise of the metal door grating along the floor grabbed his attention, cutting short the trail of his thought. Company. He hoped it was Chewie rather than one of Jabba's beasts. At that thought he tensed fearfully and began to struggle to his feet, wanting to close the gap of disadvantage if at least by a small amount. He had only been standing for a moment, trying to seem ready for whatever was about to be thrown at him, when a strong hand shoved him hard and sent him stumbling backwards to the ground dazed, not strong enough to stay upright.

"Who's there?" he demanded. The only response was a mocking laugh.

"Still can't see, Solo? That's too bad. Get him up." The last part was aimed at the sentients whose arms immediately hauled him to his feet and held him there. Han's head spun wildly at the too-fast motion and for once he didn't bother with a comment, he didn't think the words would come out quite right the way his concentration was wavering within his spinning head.

The anonymous arms frogmarched him forward, with Han trying to take as many of his own steps as he could to avoid being dragged along the floor on his knees. They were walking faster than he liked in his current state but his complaint of, "Slow down, will ya?" was simply sniggered at, so he kept quiet and concentrated simply on keeping his legs moving. They walked for what was too long for Han in his weakened state; a sudden and unexpected turn made him stumble and he was yanked back up harshly, pulling him back to his feet only to be shoved forward onto his knees a moment later.

Solo remained tense and ready, wishing he at least had his sight back. He couldn't stand the feeling of helplessness that wracked his body. Too weak to fight back, unable to see his captors, he was truly trapped. They could do whatever they wanted with him. Han clenched his fists, stubbornly vowing to die before letting them get too much pleasure out of him.

The familiar sound of Jabba laughing at a prize echoed round the room and Han grimaced, wishing Leia was there to turn him round to the right direction. He didn't want to make a fool of himself again. He started to stand back up but a firm grip on his shoulder held him kneeling. Han frowned, still feeling too much like he was at Jabba's mercy being on his knees and blind to boot.

"Come on Jabba, this is ridiculous," he reasoned, to which Jabba only bellowed another laugh. "I swear, the money was in my ship, I was on my way here when suddenly I ran into Darth Vader. How could that possibly be my fault?" His voice quivered as he tried to reach his usual confident volume. His lungs weren't ready for the exertion.

"It's too late, Solo!" Jabba bellowed in his native Huttese tongue. "You've left it too long. Now you're mine!"

Solo resisted a resigned sigh, he knew now that the Hutt would never give him his freedom, but he hoped there was something else he could do: "How about I give you the money and you let Chewie and Leia go?" he tried, knowing the rebels would cough up the credits for the pair.

"It's too late for that too, Solo! I gave Leia to the Empire."

"The Empire!" Han started but was held firmly by the hand on his shoulder. "Damn you Jabba - if I wasn't so sick I'd cut off that ugly head of yours and feed it to one of your creatures!"

Jabba was obviously amused, "I'm glad I kept you for myself. I enjoyed you as a wall decoration..."

Han's heart sank as he realised that's where he had been whilst frozen. He must have been displayed on Jabba's wall for all the scum of Tatooine to see. Many of Solo's enemies, and perhaps old friends, must have seen him there, his face probably twisted in pain from the freezing, an example to anyone who dared to cross the Hutt. His heart was beating fast, but he didn't let his humiliation show.

Jabba continued, "I was going to have you refrozen but then I thought of something that will provide me with much more amusement."

Soft humanoid hands suddenly grabbed Han's wrists and tried to force them together. Han struggled against them, knowing they must be trying to bind him. He tried to push himself to his feet but whoever was holding his shoulder to keep him on his knees slipped an arm tightly around his neck, so that his struggling only provoked choking.

He wasn't strong enough yet to fight them off. But he tried any way.

"Stay still, Solo or we'll have to stun you... or worse," a voice warned calmly as the group managed to push the struggling ex-smuggler to the ground.

Han recognised defeat and lay still, knowing he would be more help to himself and Chewbacca conscious and able to move than stunned. The cold smoothness of metal brushed his wrists and a click confirmed cuffs were in place. Han could tell they were old-fashioned manacle style cuffs rather than more modern stun cuffs that gave the wearer a shock if they struggled too much.

"A little strapped for cash, Jabba?" Han drawled sarcastically.

"Not at all Solo, especially after the bounty I got for handing over your princess."

Han ignored Jabba's jibe and kept silent, his pride wouldn't allow him to ask what would happen to him next, he didn't want to admit that the Hutt had control over it. Whatever it was, he resolved that he wouldn't go down without a fight. Solo pulled himself up to a standing position finally, shrugging off the hands that now no longer bothered to hold him down. He hid the wobble of his unsteady legs, preparing for his sentence.

"Take him to the slave quarters!" Jabba bellowed, then laughed out loud again at the expression of shock on his captive's face. He had been around humans long enough to recognise their more animated expressions.

Han forced his expression to a scowl, the best he could manage, not wanting to give Jabba the satisfaction of seeing the horror on his face. A slave. He'd die before becoming a slave, he had to have his freedom, and his dignity.

More hands attached to sentients he couldn't see gripped his arms tightly and started to pull him away. To his dismay, Han stumbled, not knowing which way they were going.

Unable to glare at the Hutt, not knowing exactly where he was, Solo just looked straight ahead as he was dragged away. He hoped Leia had been right about his eyesight returning shortly. "You'll be sorry Jabba, I swear it," he yelled back as he was forced out. As his captor once more laughed at the Corellian's attempts at maintaining his dignity, Han only wished he believed it himself.