Notes: Thank you to aewgliriel for getting excited with me about this chapter.
Chapter 21: Trapped (Baze/Jyn/Lando)
feel the names carved into your battered heart, and wonder why
it takes so damn long for those scars to heal again.
realize there is one name that won't ever fade. and then listen to
the way your heart beats. beats. beats. interminably.
―death by degrees, Hannah Q
Baze shifts uncomfortably on the hard ground of this new base. After the constant cold of Hoth, Haven feels almost uncomfortably warm, even this deep in the base, which is still being built. Every day the Rebellion carves out new tunnels in these mountains. They've only had this proper room for the last day or so. Supposedly when the base is finished they will be able to better circulate the cooler air.
Chirrut is beside him now looking like the picture of calm, with his legs folded and his eyes closed. He's been meditating for a long time.
Lately he seems to be meditating for longer and longer periods and Baze can only suppose that Chirrut has to work a little harder to maintain his calm. What the Force wills and what they might want are two separate things.
It's not something they discuss. Chirrut talks when he's ready to talk and not a moment sooner and Baze has learned from years of being married to him, that's it a lot easier to wait for Chirrut to speak his mind when something is truly bothering him.
Finally Chirrut lets out a long sigh and opens his eyes.
Baze has stopped asking how the children are doing. He doesn't have to. Instead Chirrut turns to face him and says, "They're all still alive as far as I can tell."
Baze leans back against the wall and sighs, "Good."
Shara Bey just got back on base and she's been asking if they knew anything.
It's the waiting that gnaws at him, even if he's had years of practice at it.
"You regret staying behind," Chirrut observes because he never has to tell Chirrut what's bothering him. The blind man can read him like a book.
Baze sighs again, a long exhale through his nose and shakes his head.
"I regret that there was a need for them to leave at all. I don't regret staying behind with you," he says and Chirrut frowns.
"I believe it was you who wanted to stay," he says and Baze shakes his head. He doesn't know how to explain that he refuses to go through a Scarif again. He wants to stay and be near the children and help where he can, but he refuses to sit next to his husband's body unsure of if he will ever wake again.
War is for the young and they are old and scarred by all the wars they've already fought in. He doesn't know how to say any of that aloud and Chirrut finds Baze's hand where it rests on the floor beside him.
"I'm sure all will be as the Force wills it," Chirrut says softly and it sounds like a compromise of sorts.
"And what if the Force and I will different things?" Baze asks just as quietly and Chirrut smiles.
"I am fairly certain we will be seeing them all again soon enough," he says and Baze sighs again, pulling Chirrut's hand to his lips so he can kiss the man's worn and calloused palm.
"Stars, I hope you're right," he mutters.
Jyn walks beside Chewie at the back of their little group. The wookiee's heavy footfalls are an almost comforting distraction at this point. In front of them Han and Leia discuss the intricacies of Bespin being a mining guild. Jyn's honestly not listening. Every nerve in her body has been on alert since they got here and she doesn't know why.
"Aren't you afraid the Empire's going to find out about this little operation and shut you down?" Han asks and Jyn's skin prickles.
Lando leads them around a long curving hall as he replies, "That's always been that danger looming like a shadow over everything we've built here. But things have developed recently that will insure security."
Beside Jyn, Chewie let's out a soft whine and she stares up at the wookiee. Worry twists into dread. "I've just made a deal that will keep the Empire out of here forever," Lando says as they stop at a doorway and Jyn opens her mouth to say something. To try and get Han's attention.
She sees the look Lando shoots at Han.
It looks like regret as he presses the button and the doors open to reveal the figure from her nightmares.
Any sound she might make dies in her throat at the sight of him.
He sits at the end of a long table like a monster from stories who might consume them all as dessert after a meal.
Jyn opens her mouth again to try and scream, to shout, to do or say anything.
Han moves faster. In one swift move he steps in front of Jyn and pushes Leia behind him as well. He fires his blaster at Vader and it has as much effect as throwing a pebble. Vader throws up a hand and the blaster bolts disintegrate into sparks before reaching him. Then with a flick of his wrist, the blaster goes flying out of Han's hand and Jyn shuts her eyes with a grimace.
She can hear the soft click of the blaster landing in Vader's black gloved palm.
"We would be honored if you would join us," Vader says in that deep metallic voice that's had her waking up screaming for the last two years. Her hands tighten into fists at her side because there is nothing for her to hang onto now. No one she can get a hold on to keep her steady.
Cassian's not here to prop her up.
A figure in a green and red helmet steps out from behind Vader, holding a blaster rifle comfortably at the ready. Behind them a mass of Stormtroopers step out, ready to fire at will.
"I had no choice," Lando says softly to Han, "They arrived right before you did. I'm sorry."
Han looks at the man who he said was his friend and he looks furious in a way Jyn hasn't quite seen before. He takes Leia's hand and glances back at her and Chewie like he's checking they're still there and intact before looking back at Lando.
"I'm sorry, too," he says.
It's been two years, Jyn thinks.
Two years and the last time they met, she was tied up and drugged.
They could do the same to her here, they could poison her mind right back to the melting, shaking mess she was back on the Death Star.
She can't stop them.
But she'll be damned if she'll let them see her fear.
She can see Han looking at her again and she straightens her back and lifts her chin. He nods at her once and she doesn't nod back, walking forward into the room and letting the others follow behind her.
The doors sweep closed and she stands at the far end of the table. Chewie, Han, and Leia are are clustered together in front of the door and Lando is beside them. With his smile gone he's almost unreadable.
"Please, sit," Vader says and suddenly there's that feeling she hasn't known for two years, and for one terrible instant her body is not her own.
She moves mechanically to sit in the chair in front of her. It's painful, like her bones are grinding and her muscles are seizing. Like every atom in her body is fighting against his control.
Chewie moves to sit beside her, in the seat on Vader's left. Han sits on his right, and Leia across from her. Staring straight ahead, all she can see is Leia's eyes, wide and fearful as her own must be.
Once they are all seated, the feeling is gone and they slump into their chairs with relief.
Lando slides into the seat at the opposite head of the table and his face is still almost a blank.
"Now," Vader begins, "I have much to discuss with all of you."
And Jyn sits straighter in her chair. His emphasis on the word 'discuss' hints at a lot less talking than the word usually implies. She tightly folds her hands in her lap and lets the nails dig into soft flesh. She puts all her tension there so she can sit straight and impassive. Vader turns to look at her and it makes her want to crawl out of her skin.
"Jyn Erso, daughter of Galen Erso, one of only five survivors from the attack on Scarif."
She hardens her face into a mask so he can't see her twitch.
One of five survivors...does Vader not know about Hoth or does he know something that she doesn't?
Hope feels like a violent assault in her chest. She can't think of that right now.
"You escaped me once, you will not do so again," he says, his voice going dangerously soft and she can feel it again.
That feeling like burning fingers digging into her brain.
She shuts her eyes and tries to swallow back the small pathetic sound that's bubbling up in her throat.
Chewie's growling beside her and there's a sharp, "Hey!" and the feeling recedes.
She opens her eyes to see Han leaning forward in his seat, glaring at Vader.
"And you, Han Solo, a petty smuggler who thinks he's turned hero. You presume to tell me what to do?" Vader asks and Han visibly swallows and leans back in his seat.
She watches him swallow again and a hand reaches up towards his throat.
His face is turning red and she knows what this is. Her chest tightens as she watches him start to choke. Chewie's growling beside her again.
Leia must recognize it, too, because she grabs Han by the arm and says like steel, "Stop this, Vader." And suddenly Han relaxes gasping out a breath and Chewie jumps out of his seat with a roar.
"No, Chewie, don't!" Han tries to yell through squeezed vocal chords but it doesn't work. Jyn watches, muted and pale as the troopers swarm the wookiee and cuff him. Chewie is overwhelmed in moments and they don't even have to fire a shot.
"I will not try to reason with a Wookiee," Vader says dismissively. "Take him to the cell. We can deal with him later."
The troopers march him out the door. They all watch as Chewie go and the Wookiee lets out a last whine before the doors shut behind him. There is silence and Vader turns his attention to Leia now.
"And don't think I've forgotten about you, Senator Organa," he says. "These other two are only recent irritations compared to you and your precious Rebel Alliance."
Leia lifts her chin loftily without replying.
"I will have my answers from you this time, Senator, " Vader says and Leia almost smiles like a challenge, laced with fury and bitterness.
"What are you going to do? Blow up another planet?" she asks, and Jyn has to swallow hard against the urge to vomit. She has to look away and her eyes wander to Lando on her other side. The man is no longer unreadable. In fact he looks distinctly… Divided. His hands are tightly gripping the edge of the table and his eyes remain fixed on Vader the way prey might watch a predator.
"I see we will have no rational talk now. You all need preparation, " Vader says and Jyn's stomach drops. Across the table Leia's mouth opens like she wants to say something, to object. Vader only has to nod his head and the troopers step forward with binders and Han's shaking his head.
"No, no, no, no," he mutters under his breath as they approach and Leia's mouth is a thin line when the troopers grab them and leverage them up out of their chairs.
The moment she feels their hands on her, Jyn struggles against their grip. It's mindless, like an animal reflex and somebody is telling her to stop but she keeps trying to shake off their hold. She doesn't stop until there's that sick feeling again, that feeling of joints grinding down and paralyzed muscles and his hand is outstretched in her direction. She grits her teeth, as her body is forced to its knees and her arms pulled behind her back.
The moment the cold metal binders click into place she is released and she sags forward. Only the harsh grip of the storm trooper on her bound wrists keeps her upright. Her shoulders scream objections as she's pulled upright and she turns to see Han and Leia watching her, pale and panicked. Lando is the only one still seated at the table. Head down, hands tight in his lap.
They are marched out into the hallway and then the troopers force them in three different directions. Leia tugs at the trooper's grip as Han's low muttering gets louder as he's pulled away from them both.
"No, no, no. No!"
He struggles against their grip, but the troopers easily shove him down a far hallway and Jyn barely has a moment to exchange a last glance with Leia, tearful and afraid, before she, too, is gone from sight.
Then Jyn is alone and her hands are bound and her mind is spinning.
She can't fragment.
It's been years but she remembers how to organize her thoughts. Prioritize her memories. The crystal sits warm at her throat and she focuses on that as she starts to parse...
...And she freezes when she sees a familiar black metal figure marching mechanically down the hallway on inhumanly long legs.
Its eyes are empty as it looks down at them and keeps walking. She cranes her head trying to look back at it.
It's a KX security droid.
Lando is not stupid. He knew what he was doing when he made a deal with the Empire.
It was either this or be crushed, along with all his people.
It's not like when they were young, with no responsibility to anyone but themselves. He has people under his care and they would suffer for his choice if he made the wrong one.
But right now that means he has to stand outside the door and listen to Han's screams.
If pure agony had a sound, it would be this one now that chills Lando to the bone.
He hasn't forgotten the years they spent together. They were barely more than boys scraping to make a credit and survive.
Han did cheat him before he left. But Lando cheated right back.
He's not mad about how it ended, he hasn't been for years.
This right here, right now…
This is not something they would have ever done to each other and that sits hard on him.
The door opens amidst Han's howling and Vader walks out.
"Lord Vader," Lando calls out, but Vader ignores him, instead addressing the helmeted bounty hunter Boba Fett, "You may take Captain Solo to Jabba the Hutt after I have Skywalker."
Vader keeps walking, forcing the bounty hunter to follow and Lando trails behind them both, still itching as Han's screams seem to follow him down the hall.
"He's no good to me dead," Boba Fett says, his voice low and muffled through the helmet.
"He will not be permanently damaged," Vader says and Lando tries to ignore the way that statement makes his skin crawl as he squeezes around the bounty hunter.
"Lord Vader, what about the two girls and the Wookiee?" he asks, because right now it's just about minimizing damage where he can. He can't save Han, he can move on to trying to save his companions and hope that will balance the scales enough to make up for this.
"I will question them, after which they must never again leave this city," Vader says and for once Lando doesn't think before he speaks to the Imperial lord.
"That was never a condition of our agreement, nor was giving Han to this bounty hunter!" he waves a hand at Boba Fett who doesn't move and says nothing.
Nobody says anything for a moment.
Long enough for Lando to regret speaking.
Vader takes a dangerous step towards him.
"Perhaps you think you're being treated unfairly?" Vader asks and his voice has gone deceptively soft around the gasping breaths of the respirator.
Lando takes a step back feeling so many more kinds of regret than he ever thought existed.
"No," he says and shakes his head.
"Good. It would be unfortunate if I had to leave a garrison here," Vader says and there it is. The threat he's trying to save them from.
Imperial occupation and everything that entails.
He's heard horror stories enough to know he doesn't want that for his city if he can avoid it.
Maybe he can't.
Vader turns and sweeps into the elevator and the doors close. Boba Fett is already halfway down the hall heading towards Han's torture room and Lando grits his teeth.
"This deal's getting worse all the time," he mutters.
All of Bespin could suffer if he made the wrong choice.
He's not sure he made the right one either.
It feels like time grinds to a halt for an instant as Jyn scrambles to keep the retreating droid in view. K-2's drive weighs heavy on her chest and…
This may accomplish nothing. This may not save her.
She may have escaped Jedha, Scarif, The Death Star, and Hoth to die here on Bespin.
But if she's going to die, it will be on her terms.
One of them has to survive.
One of them has to.
Her mind churns, cataloguing every detail in an instant. There are only two guards escorting her, one blaster pressed against her shoulder. The trooper with the blaster is behind her. The other in front.
They are stopped at a closed door. The trooper in front, not aiming a blaster, is reaching for the button to open the door.
She doesn't have much time.
The hallway is nearly empty besides the droid moving quickly down the other end of the hall.
She doesn't haveany time.
With a grunt she kicks her feet up against the door, using the momentum to shove the trooper behind her to the ground.
He shoots right through her shoulder and she bites back a cry at the expected hit. She's on her back on top of the trooper and she rolls off him, in the process getting a fist to the mouth. She also manages to slide her arms out from behind her, slipping them under her feet as she lands on her back on the hard ground.
Now she can fight.
She jumps to her feet and in one swift move stomps on the fallen trooper's helmet, shattering one of his eye plates with her heel. Then she dodges a laser blast from the trooper still standing and drops to the ground. Using her cuffed hands as balance, she presses down to the floor and sweeps her foot out in a long arc that knocks the troopers feet out from under him. He falls with a grunt and she grabs his blaster from his hands.
She shoots him in the chest and then the other trooper, who is just struggling off the ground.
Then she stands there breathless for a moment, blaster in hand.
Before she can think or do anything else, she sees the KX droid running straight at her.
"You, don't move!" it calls in an empty metallic approximation of K-2's voice and she grins without humor, feeling blood between her teeth.
Perfect.
AN: YOOOOOOOOOO *air horn noises* GUESS WHOSE COMING BACK Y'ALL *mic drop*
(also some other stuff happened and I have been wondering for YEARS what happened after they all went into that room with the table. Like did they have My Dinner with Vader before they got tortured? Idk)