Leia strode down the ramp of the Millenium Falcon, flanked by four stormtroopers, and a uniformed officer whose rank she had not taken care to note. In front of her walked Lando, hands cuffed behind his back, followed by Chewie, hands cuffed behind his head. After her was Luke, and she listened closely to the slightly uneven rhythm of his footsteps. Luke had received a conspicuously gentle treatment from the arresting party - an odd irregularity in imperial protocol for which she was grateful. The officer had even offered Luke support, which he refused, insisting on walking alone. Leia was worried that he would not make it to the end of the ramp, yet down they all went, and were swiftly lined up in front of a full "welcoming" committee: two squads of perfectly lined stormtroopers, blasters trained on their heads, six ranking officers, who examined them with a mix of scorn and curiosity (one being a fleet admiral, by the looks of his insignia), and in the middle of the assembly - the looming, menacing form of Darth Vader.

Leia stepped swiftly in front of Luke, preparing to deliver a scathing remark, when she felt Luke's hand on her shoulder, and he whispered quietly: "Don't…". Leia turned to him in surprise. He gave her a shy, sad smile, squeezed her shoulder gently, then let go and strode towards Vader. She took a step to intervene, but sensed a heavy feeling in the air, and stopped herself. She observed that not a single stormtrooper was pointing a blaster at Luke, nor moved to impede his approach. Chewie growled quietly, and Leia couldn't decide whether she detected more worry or sadness in his tone.

Luke stopped in front of Vader, let go of his maimed wrist, and squared his shoulders. His head was on level with Vader's chestplate, his clothes and boots were in tatters, he had visible injuries besides the obviously missing hand, and the fact that he was still standing was a monumental testament to her friend's singular stubbornness and strength of will. Leia felt another keen stab of compassion for him, which quickly morphed into hatred for Vader, with whom Luke seemed to be locked into some sort of a staring contest now. A few seconds later, Luke hung his head briefly, appeared to nod at the Sith Lord, then his shoulders sagged, and the defiance left his posture, giving way to exhaustion. Vader then sharply turned his attention towards the rest of the captives.

Leia straightened up, and pointed her chin at him. Luke remained behind, casting a series of weary looks between her and Vader. Leia's anger was ready to boil. She wanted to be rational, to try and negotiate somehow for Luke's and Chewie's release, but she had nothing to offer, except perhaps a theatrical, utterly convincing repentance at her very public execution. She doubted her ability to deliver such performance, but she would still bargain, and at least buy some time. She was keenly aware of just how astronomical the bounty on Luke's alive and uninjured head was, and that it was issued by Vader in his personal capacity, in addition to the official Imperial bounty. The Sith Lord's zeal in pursuit of her friend was very troublesome - there was something specifically about Luke that Vader was interested in besides his powers, or a mere desire for revenge, but she had not been able to put her finger on it. All in all, she knew that there was no use pretending that Luke was a simple one-shot-wonder farm boy caught with the wrong crowd at the wrong time.

While she was still scrambling for something half-convincing to say, Vader stopped, cast a brief glance towards Lando, a longer glance at Chewie, placed his hands on his hips, and fixed his full stare on her. What came out of his vocoder next, Leia was entirely unprepared for.
"In exchange for his… albeit limited… cooperation, my son has pleaded for your release."
The universe seemed to contract into a single needlepoint, which lodged itself between her eyes, and exploded. Vader had no wife, lover, or progeny of any kind known to the Empire, nor to the best intelligence efforts of the Alliance. The word "son" bounced around Leia's brain like a cloud of Alderaanian sting-bats, and she ducked sharply around Vader's form to peek at the uniformed officers, as if trying to spot said "son". She was only met with six greatly astonished expressions staring back at her, complete with several dropped jaws, one of them, she noted with grim satisfaction, belonging to the admiral himself. Several stormtroopers had lowered their blasters, while others shifted uncomfortably on their feet.
"...and given this recent turn of events… ", Vader continued, unfazed, "I am inclined to indulge him."

Here, a few things happened at once. First the admiral, then the rest of the officers slowly shifted their attention, collective gaze converging on Luke. One more jaw dropped open. Chewie's angry growls echoed in the landing bay. Luke's eyes were desperately trying to catch Leia's, but she turned back to Vader, her voice coming out at a much higher pitch than intended:
"Yourwhonow?..."
Vader placed his hands behind his back, and loomed over her.
"Do not test my patience, your terrorist Highness. You heard me perfectly well. After your ship leaves the Executor, the codes to re-enable its hyperdrive and weapon systems will be transmitted to you. This is a one-time grant of leave offered to you by the Empire. I suggest that you take full advantage of it, and reevaluate your life choices. The next time I find you anywhere near a Rebellion operation, I will not be so forgiving."

Leia's own patience was summarily brought to an end.
"Now you back off!" She pointed a finger at Vader. The admiral visibly flinched. "Did you just use the words "son" and "cooperation" in the same sentence, referring to Luke? How dare you… How dare you presume!... Luke, this can't be true! It is simply not possible!"
Luke was hurriedly trying to hobble over to them now. Vader stilled, and there was a lethal undercurrent in his voice when he spoke next:
"I advise you to consider your tone very carefully from now on, Princess. And unless you are pining for an invitation to enjoy my personal brand of hospitality for a third time, I suggest you gather your companions and leave. Quickly."

"Stop it, both of you!" Luke had finally reached them. Leia looked at him pleadingly, she needed him to see through Vader's outrageous, incomprehensible ruse, but instead, the truth in his eyes struck her numb. She felt her world swirling around - fast, too fast to process and make sense of...

"Leia," implored Luke, "you need to go. Please."
"No, Luke… This is insane... How can you trust him?... How can I leave you here?"
"He will not be harmed," piped in Vader, then raised his voice so everyone could hear his next words. "I want to clear up any misgivings. My son, whom until very recently I believed dead, was stolen from me at birth. By the Jedi. They planned to train him, and use him as a weapon against me and the Empire. I've just made Luke Skywalker aware of our relationship on Bespin. He has not betrayed you, princess, nor your cause. He will not be interrogated for any information pertaining to the Rebellion. Any further contact between you will be severed. That is all."

"Please, Leia… Save yourself, go…" Luke hugged her, muttered something about Han, whispered reassurances that he would be okay… But Leia would not have any of that. She was not leaving him here. She shook her head, preparing to fight Vader with bare hands if she had to, the adrenaline was coursing through her, and consequences be damned.

Luke turned to Chewie, and quietly spoke a few words. Chewie's binders abruptly clanked to the ground, he gave Luke a mournful hug, then suddenly grabbed her, and unceremoniously carried her, ignoring all protests, back up the Millenium Falcon's ramp. Lando was quick to follow, while R2, who had somehow managed to disable the restraining bolt placed on him on the ship, was fervently rolling down the ramp, screeching. Vader motioned the stormtroopers off of R2, who then swiftly tried to attack him, but was immobilized with a single wave of the large gloved hand. The last thing Leia saw as the ramp was closing was Vader, placing said hand on Luke's shoulder. Several newly arrived medics swarmed over her forlorn friend, led him onto a hoverbed, and cut him out of her view.