Han could see the Princess' radiance through the flesh-colored veil, her eyes reflecting love and beckoning him closer. The situation required what was at times for him elusive traits - patience and self-control. But he had to wait for her...all the while holding his breath in barely restrained excitement...
Corellian custom dictated that the betrothed woman must guide her husband-to-be's hands with her own to the edge of the veil, permitting him to lift and remove the sheer barrier covering her face - both a palpable and symbolic action of the bride's acceptance of the groom's pledge of life-bonding...
Leia smiled at him through tears as a bit of dust irritated his own eyes. He blinked the dampness away so he could behold her beautiful countenance unencumbered. With his own meter-wide grin, he carefully removed the veil from the intricate pile of curls and braids adorning the crown of her head – she was his now...
It seemed as if his heart might burst out of his chest with joy – an all-encompassing joy he had never felt before, in his former self-centered existence... lowering his mouth to kiss her waiting lips...
The sharp pain from a boot-tip planted in the captain's lower back radiated outward from its point of impact, jolting Han from his heavenly dream and into a hazy state of confusion. His eyelids were heavy, momentarily refusing to open wider than thin slits as a voice - which his foggy mind eventually recognized as Tilo's - echoed around inside his pounding head...
"Why don't you leave the smuggler alone, V'lander - his time's almost up anyway," the young man admonished the Ulerian, who hovered menacingly over the smugglers prostrate form.
It wasn't that Tilo was having any second-thoughts about his involvement in apprehending the smuggler, but it struck him as rather odd and unnecessarily cruel that part of the job was to turn Captain Solo's girlfriend against him before his final demise. Isn't the Corellian's death enough for them? he wondered in partial dismay.
Despite the dim illumination of the whorehouse suite, Solo still shaded his eyes with a palm before trying to rub the sensitivity away with a few fingers, wincing from the small effort. He felt like crap all over – from his throbbing face down to his aching and bruised torso and back. And the unusual sensation of cold enveloping his entire body brought about the realization he was bare and shackled at the wrists and ankles.
....What the hells goin' on - I'm buck naked; and where in kriff's sake am I? ...
Leia!...
Han was inundated with both physical and emotional pain at the thought of the beautiful Princess. Crestfallen hazel eyes tracked over to focus on his vest sticking out from underneath the nearby pile of clothes. Its interior pocket most likely still held Leia's Alderaanian fire ruby ring he had planned on giving her, unless the bastards that apprehended him had somehow discovered and lifted it already...
The captain's heart sank further into the pit of his stomach while anger at himself for losing his edge and getting captured swelled up his throat, the bitter taste of bile collecting in his mouth. The odds of escaping this rotten situation looked next to nil, but even worse was the awareness that the dream of a long life with the Princess was evaporating into the smoky air now filling his lungs.
Han was distracted from his thoughts by a rough hand grabbing a fistful of his hair, twisting his head sideways with an intentionally rough jerk. "Glad you finally joined us, Solo – we've been waiting for you to grace us with your presence," the Ulerian's mocking tone drawing a scowl from the incensed ex-smuggler.
Shifting on an elbow and leaning on a forearm, Han propped himself up against the looking-glass wall before glancing around the raunchily-decorated room and sneering, "Who the hell are you?"
"Guess I'm the bearer of bad news, captain," V'lander explained before taking a long, taunting drink from his water goblet, embellishing his guzzle with an exaggerated gulp of satisfaction.
Han's throat was parched, but he maintained his impassive expression despite raging thirst, refusing to give the Ulerian, whose nose he had obviously broke, the satisfaction of begging for a swig. His attention was drawn to the approaching form of Tilo, holding what appeared to be a cup of water in an outstretched hand.
The ex-smuggler vaguely wondered if the kid was planning on poisoning him, but considering the circumstances, he was willing to take the chance and have at least one final drink before they dragged him off to Jabba or killed him outright. Before Han could grasp the glass with his shackled hands, V'lander slapped it away, the coveted liquid sinking into the thick carpet.
"What the kriff are you doing, Tilo...offering this prick a drink?" The Ulerian scoffed loudly while shaking his head at the youngster's mistake.
Han licked his cracked lips and whispered to the young man who tried to offer him a measure of relief. "Did you do something to Kief?" I'll bet he got dragged into this mess too, because of me...
The Corellian's genuine concern for the old man caused Tilo to lower his gaze, determined to double his efforts against his resurfacing conscience about poisoning his employer... former-employer, he silently corrected himself. "He'll probably be alright," Tilo mumbled sheepishly while retrieving the cup.
V'lander interrupted the exchange with a chortle while tossing a few hard copy images into the smugglers lap. "Here, drink these up; Boba thought you might enjoy his newfound talent as a holographer."
Han lost his Sabbac-face, eyes widening and gaping in disbelief at the staged pictures of him and a couple of naked blondes in very compromising positions. Pulverizing them in his hands, he dropped the images to his side before eventually finding his voice to question both nearby men - one avoiding eye contact, the other distracted by his half-eaten meal - with one single word. "Why?"
The Ulerian shrugged dis-interestedly while taking a hearty bite of his sandwich; he was just in this for the money, and didn't put a lot of thought into the reasons behind the Corellian's less-than-straightforward apprehension and planned execution. "Guess you pissed off the wrong people...these pictures are already all over the holonews syndicates," V'lander mumbled between chews.
Han's empty stomach twisted with mounting fury and disgust – it didn't matter how or when Jabba chose to finish him off - the prospect of death was nothing compared to the realization that Leia would see these trumped-up images and think he had been unfaithful...she would hate him, despise him forever, even long after his death...
It was the lowest and most hopeless Han had ever felt in his life, hatred and fury spewing from his mouth in a vain attempt to relieve some of the anguish consuming him. "And where's your pimp, ladies? I'm surprised Fett isn't in here holding your leashes." Nodding at the assailant with the mangled nose, Solo chided, "Bet your face looks a lot better since I re-arranged it..."
V'lander motioned to a connecting portal before intentionally placing a brutal backhand to the Corellian's already swollen cheek and eye. "Right now I'd say Boba's probably nailing your holo 'co-stars' as we speak; he'll be paying you a visit when he's done with his playmates."
"Fine by me - I hate long waits," Han snarled while absorbing the Ulerian's wallop without any reaction; the emotional pain that was ripping his insides apart seemed to numb any physical punishment inflicted by his abductors. He would never see her again...
As if in response to Han's desire to get the inevitable over with, the connecting door to suite fourteen slid open with a soft hiss, Boba breaching the threshold with a confident stride and wearing a satisfied grin from the depraved activities he had participated in still fresh in his mind. It was always business before pleasure for the mercenary, but he decided to make one exception in this particular instance. "Holy Hells, what a pair of girls...you really missed out Solo," Fett taunted before redirecting his thoughts to the job at hand and mentally reviewing the final steps in this lucrative assignment.
Turning his head slightly to compensate for the swollen-over eye lid restricting his view, Han's brow wrinkled from lack of recognition of this tall, hard-featured man dressed in common spacer attire, but within a few seconds Solo recognized the voice and pushed back. "No thanks, Boba; I'm not into slumming it, like you have a habit of doing."
Fett strolled over to the adjacent table to study the thin length of wire that would be used to choke the life out of the captain – he had promised to keep it as quiet as possible for the sake of Thelena's other clients in nearby rooms - and the fact that she would help dispose of his body without a trace.
"Don't give yourself airs, Solo, just because you've hooked up with some young and obviously naïve piece of royal ass," Fett sniped with annoyance before raising an eyebrow at the crumpled images next to the smuggler. "I see that one of my associates has had the pleasure of showing you your now famous holos; I imagine that princess of yours has seen quite an eye-full by now. She'll be over you and moving on before your carcass is even cold," Boba offered smugly with a cruel grin curling up his thin lips.
It was too much for Han to bear any longer... screw it, there wasn't any hope left so he might as well meet his Maker now, he determined. Even with his feet shackled, Boba was close enough to reach...
After one last mental kiss and embrace to Leia, Han lunged at the bounty hunter with a maniacal Clan war whoop.
The familiar flash and hum of a lightsaber from the door caught Han's attention as his shackles made contact with the teeth of Fett - both of the men equally caught-off-guard at the glowing light as they tumbled to the carpet, flashes of laser shots bouncing off the looking-glass walls with hollers and painful groans and the scent of burning flesh filling the room...