Chapter Seven
The wine glass was empty, drained and Leia debated if she should have more.
The month-long search for both Breha and Han had gone absolutely nowhere. Despite exhausting nearly all the resources at her disposal there was still no leads on either Breha or Han. She was somewhat hopeful about her daughter, she needed her back and would do anything to get her, but she still felt…well…healthy.
When she thought of Han, she had to restrain her tears. His life essence was so weak that it almost didn't exist, she felt he was dying, and if they didn't find him soon it would be far too late.
Her heart ached for him, and somehow without being force sensitive, he had shut down his connection to her, there were only a couple of flares of extreme pain as if he couldn't contain them, followed by tremendous guilt and regret. And the signal she felt from him was rapidly fading… a couple of times she thought it had stopped completely.
"Oh, Han, where are you?" she whispered to the empty room, but as expected, there was no answer.
She regarded her wine glass with longing, the wine bringing her comfort on this lonely night when her thoughts had turned melancholy, but nothing except for finding them would make the pain go away, and her heart ached with the knowledge they hadn't found them yet.
"Mom?"
Her son's querulous voice and troubled expression broke her out of her reverie, and she patted a spot beside her on the couch. "What is it, Ben?"
"Couldn't sleep," he mumbled.
"What's wrong?"
"Mom, when are they coming back?"
"I don't know, love, we're trying to find them."
"Mom?"
Ben swallowed and Leia heard the shake in his voice and looked at him in alarm.
"I'm scared. What if they don't come back?" Ben curled into her side and she hugged him.
"Mom, I'm really afraid."
"Why?" Leia pulled back and looked into his face.
"Something's going to happen, soon. And I don't know if it's good or bad." He paused. "It's Dad."
"Not Bre?"
Ben cocked his head as if thinking for the moment. "No. Wherever she is she's okay. But Dad isn't." A tear leaked out of Ben's eye. "He's really hurt. I can feel it."
"I know, honey, I feel it too."
Ben bit his lip and Leia realized he was trying hard not to cry. Concerned she knelt by his side. "Ben? What is it?"
He suddenly let out a shriek of pain that caused all the alarms of her mother instincts to go off in her mind. Quickly she felt over him, pulling up his shirt, pulling down his pants, looking for some sort of wound as he screamed and crumpled to the floor, curling up into a fetal position. There were no obvious signs of injury, so heart pounding in her chest she caressed his cheek, muttering sounds of comfort until he finally looked at her.
"Ben?"
Without a word, he opened himself up to her in the force and she felt a sharp lance of pain run through her, as if a laser sharp spear had just pierced her side.
"It's Dad," he whispered. "Sometimes I feel him…" the boy swallowed and felt the pain slowly subsiding.
When she felt, it was all right, when her touch wouldn't hurt him, when the pain had gone away, she pulled her to him and rocked with him against her as when he was a toddler. "How long has this been going on?"
"Not long. It started the last couple of weeks. I think it's because he's…because he's dying, Mom." Tears streaming down her son's face. "What do we do?"
"We keep looking. And we find him. Soon."
"Promise, Mom? I want him back with us. Bre too."
Leia leaned over and kissed her son's forehead. "I know, I miss them too."
They hugged each other tighter, rocking back and forth in silence seeking comfort from one another in their grief.
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
Han hung weakly from the chains, his wrists rubbed raw from repeated escape attempts, his back flayed open from a whip and fine metal chains, he hadn't had water or food in days, and was currently sleep deprived. It was only his sheer will, his determination to get out and find his daughter and bring her home to his family that kept him going, that kept his heart beating. And Han Solo was nothing if not stubborn, but he knew he was in trouble. No matter how hard he fought, no matter how he struggled to survive, a body could only take so much. He was nearing the end of his rope, and he knew it.
A familiar sound broke through the thrum of his dulled consciousness and he was surprised when his lolling head was lifted very gently by furry hands. He found himself staring into Chewie's concerned eyes.
Han!
"Chewie, thank God, you're alive! He looked at his friend and realized the Wookie hadn't done much better than he did. Are you all right?"
No, but I'll survive. I have to get you out of here.
No! Han shook his head. "I'm locked in…you can't escape…if you help…me…"
I can't leave you. The life debt…
"Use it for Breha, for Leia…" Han painfully raised his dislocated shoulder to grip his friend's shaved, bleeding shoulder. "You have to leave. It's the only chance….I have…only chance…they have…"
Chewbacca and Han exchanged a long, significant look and Han's head fell to his chest.
"Help them, Chewie, please help them…"
I will, Cub, and I will be back soon! Chewie turned and Han heard his footsteps disappearing down the hall.
"Leia, Bre, Ben…Chewie will help…Chewie…find…Chewie…" he swallowed with difficulty, and thought of Leia, desperately hoping that somehow, she would hear him through the force link she created.
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
The fleet ships landed on the outer rim planet of Ord Mantell with Leia in command. The distress call they had received from Chewbacca was specific about where to be and requested they get there as quickly as possible so they had time to save Han.
After they landed the crew, Leia sped off to the nearby medical facilities where Chewbacca was being kept in the intensive care unit. He had been shaved down and now looked like a fuzzy teddy bear, but a very injured one. Through the fuzz, healing scars could be seen from numerous cuts and lacerations, and dark bruising was visible through the fuzz. He had several tubes attached to him too, which further indicated the extent of his serious injuries
"Chewie?"
The Wookie howled a greeting and tried to climb out of the bed where he was reclining only to be pushed back by some strong medical personnel.
Little princess! I am glad to see you. You must save Han.
"He's alive?" Leia suddenly found it hard to swallow.
He lives, though I am not sure how. He is… Chewie dropped his head and made a mournful sound.
Leia studied him with worried eyes.
"You didn't take him with you?" Leia was stunned for she couldn't imagine Chewbacca ever leaving Han behind.
If I were free I knew I could bring help, there was not enough time…he told me to go… The Wookie gave her an earnest look. He lives. Go Princess. I will come with…
Chewbacca attempted to sit up and grunted with the pain as the medical personal pushed him down onto his bed again. The Wookie coughed harshly and regarded Leia with sadness.
I am too weak, I will only delay you. Please, Little Princess.
Leia nodded, and she laid a comforting hand on his chest and she thought the Wookie blushed.
My apologies for my appearance. I am practically naked. They shaved me… Chewie hung his head in embarrassment
"Why would they do that?"
To humiliate me. He couldn't look at Leia anymore
"Chewie, we never received a ransom message."
There was no ransom. It was all about Boba Fett's revenge. Chewie hung his head again. I'm sorry I failed them, Princess. The blame is mine.
"It's not your fault, but right now we need to get Han. I'm bring in the strike force leader and we can go over logistics.
"I beg your pardon," said one of the medical technicians that hovered nearby, "but Chewbacca is still in need of medical attention. He should be resting now."
The wookie growled in a menacing tone, and Leia glared at the medic who took a step back.
"Uhh, okay, it can wait for a while."
"Chewie, I'll be back in five minutes. We have to go find Han."
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
They found him a day later in a sterile, clean, soundproofed room that had once been one of the Empire's most dreaded Insane Asylum's. It had been closed when the empire fell some ten years previously, but the building remained in surprisingly good shape.
Leia and her strike team entered the building expecting to be attacked, but no attack ever came. An eerie sense of foreboding filled her with dread, and as Leia made her way through the unfamiliar building she reached out with her senses and felt the smallest glimmer of Han's essence through the force. She stopped outside of the sealed door of a room hidden in the cellar of the building.
"He's here," she murmured, her hands on the door. She reached to open the door but the it didn't budge.
One of the task force stepped forward and pulled out a laser to cut through the lock. It took a few minutes with Leia watching impatiently, but finally part of the lock fell inside the room with a resounding clank. The technician quickly finished his job and pushed the door open for Leia.
The room was barren, empty except for the shape of a body that looked as if it had carelessly been tossed into a dark corner like a broken toy.
"Han!" Before Leia was aware of it she was next to him. He lie curled in a protective position, trying to shield his side. His leg was broken as was one of his wrists, there were horribly dark bruises on his sides and his breath was shallow. His shoulder and knee were dislocated, and his head and face were bloody, onr eye swollen shut.
"Medics! Here!"
She was surprised to hear Han's voice rasp out a word.
"Breha…" He breathed, "…Breha…" he whispered as his breath faded away.
The medics pushed her out of the way and began emergency care of Han, their grim faces telling Leia how desperate his struggle to cling to life really was.
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
The holovids were on a news channel while Ben's favorite nanny Susan went into the kitchen to prepare lunch for her and Ben. Leia had left Ben in her care while she was off planet looking for Han. Ben looked up from the homework he was doing on his data pad when he heard the name of his parents repeated with some urgency and the image he saw was appalling. The news clip showed Han being brought into the hospital from a medical space ship, a close up showed how beat up and ill he really was, tubes sticking out of him, and a medical person beside him pumping his chest. Horrified, Ben sank to his knees and suddenly became aware of his mother's panicked state and the fear within her. It was something Ben had never felt from her.
Then the second thing occurred to him. Breha wasn't there, she wasn't anywhere close.
"No, no, no!" he yelled into the empty room causing Susan to come running from the kitchen.
"Ben? What is it?"
"No! No! No!" he chanted.
Ben, I can help you, the whisper said.
The emotions rushed through his mind. Strong, unyielding emotion filled with grief, sadness and despair, but also anger at what had happened to them; anger that his father was tortured and almost murdered; anger that his sister was still gone.
Let me help you, hissed the voice inside his head. I can help you be the person you were meant to be, let Kylo out…
"No! No! NO!" Ben shouted and the glass in two rooms shattered as he let out a soul splitting scream. "Get out of my head!" He held his hands to his ears.
Susan swallowed nervously, but rushed to his side. Her gentle hands got him to remove his hands from his ears as he began to hear her, began to listen to her, and he clutched her like he was drowning and she was the only thing saving him.
"It's okay, Ben. They found your Dad, they can help him now," she murmured into his ear.
He concentrated on her words, listening only to them and after a few minutes the demons in his mind were quiet.
Things were bad, so bad for Han, that Leia wasn't sure how she was holding herself together. If Han died, she wasn't sure what would happen to her because he was the light of her life.
He kept them all centered and grounded. He may not have the force, but he was one of the most perceptive people she had ever known and had a way of saying the exact right thing at the exact right time; at least when he wasn't being intentionally irritating. He also excelled at pushing people's buttons at the exact wrong time, but thinking about it, maybe that was intentional too.
She sat at his bedside, watching the graphs on the monitors as they stayed steady, she watched the ventilator which helped his lungs continue to breathe, and drew a shaky breath herself. He wasn't out of the woods by a longshot, but for the moment he was stable.
His long list of injuries included a broken leg, broken wrist, spinal fractures, punctured lung, broken ribs, multiple contusions and lacerations, bruises so deep that they may not heal, internal bleeding, possible internal organ damage, a back so flayed she didn't understand why he had any skin left, and a concussion. After a long, painful conversation with the surgeon in charge a course of action was put into place for Han; he was to remain in an induced coma for an extended period of time with the belief that the extended time would help him to heal at a faster rate. The risk factor was that he was already in a coma, and prolonging it might mean he would never wake up.
Leia shuddered at the thought and squeezed her eyes shut, willing herself not to cry.
They hadn't even immersed him in the bacta tank yet because the medical personnel said he needed to be stable for a couple of days before they could risk it, so it was all up to Han as to if he lived or if he died.
Leia took his unharmed hand in her too small ones and squeezed it, hoping that somewhere there was enough of him left to feel her presence, enough of him to respond to her love and her desperate need of him.
"Fight, damn you, fight. Don't you dare leave me now that I have you back!" She whispered fiercely, and felt the smallest glimmer, the tiniest spark from their once active force connection. To her it seemed like a firework display. "Han, I love you. Fight, Flyboy, fight!" she whispered into his ear and the tiny spark stayed steady.
It wasn't much to work with, but it had to be enough. And when he was recovered enough so she could leave his side without fear of him dying, she would seek her vengeance. She knew it wasn't her best trait, but the former bounty hunter had crossed the line by taking what she loved most away from her. She would have her revenge.
Han's hand still clasped in hers, she leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes and let her exhaustion claim her.
