The rain poured down around them, providing an ominous scene. Leia felt her body tingling from anticipation and the freezing rain. Her hand was still clasped in Han's, and had she not already been drenched, she was sure they would be clammy. She was nervous and excited—it was almost over.
Peering out from under the gigantic hood, Leia averted her eyes from the hut and looked at Han. She made out his vague appearance. With squinted eyes, and what was probably intuition from knowing him so well, she recognized the look of determination etched across his face. She smirked.
She turned towards Luke and even though she could barely see him, felt his reassurance. He signaled for them to make their move. They crawled through the trees and bushes and sludge of the forest. Pulling up to the front of the hut, Leia briefly wondered how they would get inside if it were locked, but then remembered who she was with.
Luke opened the door and stepped inside. The rain muffled any creaking that may have been heard, but when Han and Leia followed suit, they were met with no resistance. Leia pulled back her hood and took a moment to relish in the warmth the hut offered. There did not appear to be any signs of life, and Han must have thought so too because he opened his mouth to speak.
"This is just great. We trudge all the way up here and there's no one even here. Was this your plan all along? You know what I think? I think they probably got caught up in the storm when it first began, then died out there in the woods. Serves them right."
Leia rolled her eyes, but secretly hoped he was right. Luke looked halfway between amused and annoyed. He gave Han a look that told him to keep his voice down, then signaled to the door where they had been taken after being captured.
Han rolled his eyes, held his blaster out in front of him, and walked towards the door. Leia went to tell him to stay back, but caught herself. Instead, she held up her own blaster to back him up. She noticed Luke didn't even have his hands anywhere near his lightsaber. He didn't sense any danger.
Han looked back at Leia, nodded, then swung the door open. At first glance, Leia didn't think anyone was in there, but when she stepped inside to get a closer look, noticed the young man who they had stunned and left behind. She was afraid for a moment that he was dead, but through the darkness, she could see he was stirring.
Holding her blaster still at eye level, she prayed that Han wouldn't get too trigger friendly right away. If they were going to learn anything about what was going on, she thought this man would be their best bet. While he had technically assisted in their imprisonment, he hadn't acted like the other two men and seemed pretty sorry about it.
For his part, Han did not move but kept his eyes trained in the direction of the man. Luke stood back, watching and calm. He spoke to him, "Where are the other men?"
The man took a long time to answer. "Gone."
Luke's patience was not matched by Han or Leia. He carried on with his questions. "Gone where?"
"I dunno. Into town somewhere probably. They went to find those two and never came back."
"Who are you?"
"I-"
"We won't hurt you."
Han snorted. Leia gave him a stern look, she felt bad for the man.
"Nikolai."
Luke smiled. "Alright, Nikolai. Why don't you stand up? I'd like to be able to see you when we talk about a few things."
Leia thought that he was just going to ignore Luke, but after a few moments, she heard the ruffling sound of Nikolai standing up. When he came into the light coming from the door, she gasped. She couldn't help herself. "What happened?"
Nikolai looked miserable. "Them. They came back shortly after the two of you escaped and weren't happy. Said I needed to toughen up. Thought they'd help me practice."
Leia grimaced and looked at Han. He appeared skeptical but concerned.
Luke motioned for them to step out of the makeshift prison and into the main area. Both he and Nikolai sat down at the desk opposite the door, but Leia and Han kept one eye trained on the door.
"Who's they exactly?"
Nikolai shrugged. "I dunno. What do you want me to say about them?"
"Their names for a start." Han's voice sounded gruff.
"Thorn. He's kinda the leader. Makes all the decisions. And Dron. Dumb sidekick if you ask me. Does all the heavy work." He grimaced as he clutched his side.
"What exactly is going on here?"
"Well, that's complicated."
Han spoke again. "Make it uncomplicated then."
Nikolai hesitated. "At first, I didn't think anything bad. They came to me looking for help with something and it sounded innocent enough. It wasn't till you guys showed up that I started realizing things weren't as they seemed."
Han looked like he wanted to say something else, but Luke interrupted him.
"Why did they come to you?"
"I dunno. I guess probably cus I can sense things. Like intuitively. I dunno why but people are always coming to me for help. I like to help them."
"What do you mean sense things? How do you do that?"
The young man looked confused and sat still for a moment in contemplation.
"Well, there was that day in town. We were standing outside one of the storefronts and then they were walking by and Thorn and Dron. Well, they looked kinda afraid and interested and stopped talking. And I kinda just looked over and immediately I sensed something. I didn't mean to say it out loud, I was just kinda surprised and said it to myself and they heard."
"What was it you 'sensed?'"
Nikolai blushed and averted his eyes. "She was pregnant."
"And you couldn't have noticed it just from looking at her physically. It came from inside?"
He nodded and Luke looked at him and smiled. "I think I understand what's been going on."
The man looked at him, expectant.
"I think you might be force sensitive. Do you understand what that means?"
Nikolai looked at him with a mixture of fear and excitement.
"I-I, well I always thought I might be, but I wasn't sure. I didn't know if it was something that even existed and then everything happened with you and I thought-well I thought maybe. But I didn't even know if it was something I wanted."
"It's not something we can choose. It makes sense though doesn't it?"
Nikolai nodded in response and sat back in the chair, thinking. Luke waited patiently and Leia herself was trying to come to terms with all of this. Han, however, was growing in his impatience.
"This is all fine and stuff and I'm sure you're gonna want to go over all of this, but can it wait till later? We still have a problem on our hands. Like what in all hells is going on here?"
Luke gave Nikolai an assuring look before answering Han. "I don't think that's something Nikolai quite understands himself. If I'm right in my assumptions, I believe that Thorn and Dron either knew, or highly suspected, Nikolai's force abilities, and have been using him to keep an eye out for any Alliance involvement. They use him as much as they can without letting him in on the secret. Is that right?"
Nikolai nodded enthusiastically, in the hopes that if he shook his head hard enough, Han would be more inclined to believe him. Instead, Han ignored him and let out a dramatic sigh.
"Great, still we got nothing."
Leia was the one to speak. "I wouldn't call this nothing, Han. I think Nikolai will be a great asset. Now that they don't have him on their side, they won't know what to expect."
"Sure, that's all great and fine. But we need to find them first."
Luke interrupted them. "I know where they are. I just needed to get to Nikolai first."
"You mean that we didn't need to come up here? It was a krethin mess, kid." He looked at Nikolai, threatening. "You better be worth it. So now what?"
Luke looked a bit sheepish. "Now we go back down."
It had been hours since they made it back through the forest, down the hill, and to the ship, but Han still had not spoken. Leia knew it was really bad when he didn't try to join her in the fresher.
Chewie seemed a little surprised to see them back so soon, and with an additional person, but listened quietly and accepted the story. He set to work making them lunch, while Leia watched Han stalk off towards the cockpit. She decided to give him some time and take her fresher first, then she would talk to him.
The sonic fresher in no way compared to the hot water she was accustomed to on the Falcon and back home, but at least she was clean, even if she had to go back out in the weather in a few hours anyways. She gratefully accepted the food from Chewie and asked if Han had eaten yet. He shook his head, so she fixed him a plate, and told the others she would be back. Luke and Nikolai were deep in conversation and didn't look up at her.
Stopping in front of the door, Leia took a deep breath and braced herself for what was waiting for her. She knew he was frustrated. She matched his frustrations and wanted nothing more than for this all to be over. For him, for her, for the baby, for them
When she stepped inside the cockpit, Han turned around to see who had come in. She took it as a good sign that he didn't look angry with her and offered him the food. He accepted and offered her the seat next to his. They ate in silence, listening to the rain pouring down outside and Luke and Nikolai's voices drifting from the hold. Every so often Chewie would join in with a woof of his own.
She decided to break the silence. "We've done a lot of waiting around, huh?"
Han nodded and laughed in a humorless way. "You could say that, yeah."
"Luke knows what he's doing."
"Doesn't make this thing go any faster. I hate the rain."
Lei gave him a skeptical look. "You love the rain."
"Sometimes. But that's only when we're alone and home and it's warm. And we can spend all day together in bed. Alone. Did I mention alone?"
"You mentioned that a few times. But I'm going to make this up to you in the best way."
Han scoffed. "Let's not get too excited, there are other people around who are sensitive."
"It's something to look forward to."
He didn't answer, just shook his head in an impatient way. They both gradually turned their attention to the rain outside, sitting in comfortable silence. She knew he wasn't mad at her, but the situation.
Han broke the silence first. "I'm telling you right now, sweetheart. If your brother wants me to go back out there, it better be to find some action."
She laughed and leaned over to kiss him on the lips. "I completely agree."
It was about an hour later when Leia found herself pulling back on the heavy jacket. She couldn't muster much enthusiasm when she thought of how cold and wet it was going to be, but she couldn't help but laugh at Han in his jacket. He was grimacing, but at the sound of her laughter, turned towards her. His stony face relaxed into a wide grin.
"Like this, sweetheart? Maybe I'll ask Luke if I can borrow it on a more permanent basis." He affirmed his point with a wink. In the crowded room, the only person who was blushing harder than Leia was Nikolai.
Han still hadn't exactly warmed up to him, but at the moment, was accepting his presence, and that was all they could really ask for. Han sighed and turned to Luke.
"You better know what we're doing, kid. If I have to go back up that trail, I think I'd rather drown."
Luke laughed. "Don't worry. This time we're going into town."
"To find the bad guys?"
Luke nodded. "To beat the bad guys."
Han shook his head in appreciation, checked his blaster, and threw his hood over his head. He looked at Leia again.
"What about you, sweetheart? Ready to kick some ass?"
Leia gave him her most proud look. "I'm always ready to kick ass, Han." With that, she led the group out of the ship and back into the rain.