Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars

A/N: haha, you guys probably hate me because I haven't updated in forever…But, please let me know what you think of this chapter! Leia is one of my favorites to write, so I had a lot of fun with this chapter. I would like to add that the character Leo was created by the core of justice.

Leia's POV

I stood in front of the screen, my eyes straining as a layer of gloss glimmered on them. I squinted, trailing my finger delicately across the screen as I moved to the next bit of information. I had been studying war plans, calculating different strategies for upcoming missions when suddenly I got an alert from Galactic Gala, a news network that posted about politics that it genuinely had no business in. Usually, they were nothing more than slander and petty gossip about war generals, but something told me that I needed to read it. I clicked on the link and watched as an article pulled up.

It was about the First Order.

My heart began thumping an erratic beat as my spine stiffened. I felt anticipation swirling within me. Poe was not yet back from his mission and I was trying to be as optimistic as I could for the sake of the others, but it was a sense of unwavering doom that had flooded the soldiers upon hearing no words from the beloved pilot. Poe never took this long to return from his missions. Something happened to him. Something bad.

I took a deep breath, and began to read.

"The First Order has been spotted on Jakku."

No. No. No.

I felt my body go stiff. My mind refused to accept the information, but the heavy weight in my heart told me otherwise. They weren't supposed to be there. The First Order was not even supposed to be near that planet. How did they even find out about it? It was classified information that only the Resistance was supposed to know about. I took a deep breath and continued to read.

"The entire village was slaughtered by First Order Stormtroopers. They were presumably given the order by the dark leader, Kylo Ren."

I winced as I thought of my son. Sweet, sweet Ben. The way he use to giggle and prance through the fields of green with nothing but happiness. The light that shined in eyes when he look at me and Han. He wanted to be a hero just like his parents and uncle…now he was murdering the innocent.

"It is unknown at this time why the First Order was present. However, a witness from another nearby village said that we saw the Resistance pilot, Poe Dameron captured and taken aboard a ship."

Anger began to swell inside of me. Nothing was working like it was supposed to. It never worked out. Nothing had worked out my entire life, why did I expect it to be different this time? I needed this information to find Luke. Now, my best pilot and closest ally was captured and Gods knew where the small unit holding Luke's location was. I was about to click off the news, thinking that nothing else on the matter would be said, when my eyes caught the words that followed.

"There were reportedly two other masked figures there with Kylo Ren. One of them is assumed to be one of his greatest confidents, Captain Phasma. The other figure is unknown. It was descried as being tall, holding a similar look to Kylo Ren. He apparently has a red lightsaber. Rumors have spread that there is yet another Vader look-alike working with Ren."

I scrunched up my nose, tucking a loose strand of hair behind my ear. Who could that possibly be? Someone else with a light saber? It seemed unlikely. I thought of Luke's past students, but none would do that. The only one that ever showed any concern was my little Ben.

I did not know who that masked figure could be, nor did I allow myself to ponder on it for very long. It was something that needed to be discovered but I had other priorities to concern myself with first. All that I knew for sure was that the First Order had taken Poe and that I needed to get him back. I needed the information that would lead me to my brother so that this madness could stop.

I was unsure of what to do. I knew that I could not risk sending anymore of our men to try and retrieve Poe. No, I could not do that at such a crucial time. I felt something shift in my chest and it was suddenly clear what I needed to do. I needed to something unethical. Something that brought back tragic memories of my past.

I needed to hire a bounty hunter.

I wracked my brain to try and think of any that I could easily get in contact with that I could trust to bring Poe back alive to me. They are ruthless beings and while they get the job done. It isn't always how the buyer requests. Besides, most of the bounty hunters want nothing to do with the Resistance. It was a tricky business. Especially when you're me.

Leo.

The name hit me.

Leo was someone I had not seen in years. I had not heard his name since he left. No one could bring themselves to speak of him. Not after what happened. It was many years ago when Leo was a student of Luke's. His parents recognized his powers and sent him to my brother to be trained. Leo and Ben grew up together, training and learning all they knew from Luke. Although they were close when they were young, the two boys drifted apart. Leo said that there was a darkness inside Ben. He was a few years older, but still was not old enough to have his opinion taken seriously.

Before Ben completely descended to the dark side and became Kylo Ren, Leo left the training. He turned his back to Luke and refused to continue to learn if he would continue to train Ben. At the time, I had been furious. I could not fathom why he thought that my son would turn out to be so evil. I knew that Ben had some inner turmoil, but I trusted Luke to keep him on the path of the light. The argument that Han and I had with Luke about it was probably one of the worst I ever had with my brother. We wanted Leo gone for saying such things about our son, but Luke insisted on keeping him as a student.

As much as it hurts, Leo was right. I owed him an apology and I regret that I never truly gave him one. I hoped in my heart that he was a bigger person now than I was then. I clicked open a new tab and searched The Cipher. Pictures of the bounty hunter came up, but there was no contact information anywhere to be seen. He did not belong to any organization and was seemingly nonexistent.

I decided to browse through the information that was available. I felt my throat constrict as I read where The Cipher resided. It was on Jakku. I felt myself start to laugh bitterly. Why was everything happening on that sand planet? I somehow needed to get to Jakku to hire The Cipher to go and rescue Poe who was taken on Jakku.

I pressed my hand to my temple with frustration, and before I even realized what I was doing, I picked up the data ad and dialed a number I had refused to call in months.

"Please, pick up." I mumbled as the ringing filled the air. I would not have been surprised if the person didn't pick up, but I desperately hoped they would. Our last conversation had ended so terribly that neither of us had attempted to speak to one another. We were bent pretty badly and I just hoped that we weren't broken yet.

There was a click and suddenly a voice that broke through.

"Princess?" Han exclaimed excitedly. She felt a shift and he suddenly sounded panicked. "Is everything okay?"

"Han," I breathed out. "I know that you and Chewie are probably off doing whatever it is you're doing, but I need you to do something for me." I tried to make my voice sound diplomatic, but my emotions seemed to be winning the fight.

"What's wrong?" He was confused. I was too stubborn to beg Han to do anything for me, especially after he left me to deal with this all on my own, He knew me well, so he also recognized that this was serious.

"He took Poe." I knew that Han would know who I meant automatically. Our conversations revolved around the same person every time.

"Why did he-"

"Poe was getting information that would tell us where to find Luke, Han. We are so close to finding him. But, the First Order got it. We have to get Poe back and get it so we can find Luke first."

There was a long silence. Han seemed to be processing the information.

"What do you want me to do, sweetheart?"

I let out breath. "I need you to go to Jakku."

I could practically hear the smile in his voice. "Funny world, isn't it? Chewie and I were actually going to Jakku to get the Millennium Falcon."

"You lost the- how did you lose the Falcon?" I asked and then stopped.

"Long story for another time." He replied. "Why do you want me to go to Jakku?"

"I need you to go and find The Cipher. I want him to help get Poe back."

Han remained silent again. This time it was much shorter. "Sweetheart…I doubt that Leo will even consider helping us."

"Han, please." I asked him, my voice cracking slightly. Had I been talking to anyone else, I would have been ashamed in the way I sounded. I sounded weak and fragile. "This may be our last hope into finding Luke."

I heard Han give a small sigh. "Okay. I'll talk to Leo. He'll get Poe back. I'll make it work, even if I have to end up going to rescue Poe all on my own." There was a small warble the background. "Alright, alright. Rescue him on my own with Chewie."

"The Resistance thanks you for your contribution. You will be well compensated for your sacrifice." I replied, feeling tears prick my eyes. I hated that I could depend on him for so much, yet also depend on him for so little. I loved him, yet he made everything impossible. I wanted to keep my composure, but the longer that I had to speak with him, the harder that became. I was reminded of how when I needed him more than anything, he left me. He needed to cope on his own, while I needed someone to depend on.

"And what about you? Are you going to thank me?" There was a sadness to his question that made me want to scream. When I didn't answer him, he let out a tired sigh. "How are you holding up, Leia?"

Had he used any of the pet names, I would have hung up. But the sincerity in the way he said my name made me stay. "I'm still here." I heard that he started to speak again but I tuned him out. I could not speak with him on a personal level. Not yet. "Goodnight, Han." I cut him off, and clicked off my data pad.

I looked at my reflection on the screen, wiping away the tears that had begun to fall down my cheeks. I sincerely hoped that Han succeeded in getting Leo, because that bounty hunter may be our only hope.