Chapter 1 – Making a Deal
"We would be honored if you would join us."
Leia felt frozen with fear as she stared back at the hulking figure of the Rebellion's most notorious enemy, Darth Vader. The masked man was standing at the head of a white dinner table in front of an opaque window. He was staring intently back at her and Han, his blank red eyes and flat tone revealing nothing but indifference.
A soft jingling sound caused Leia to glance away from Vader's insipid gaze. Emerging from around a corner was a short man dressed in green and grey Mandalorian armor. He held a blaster up against his breastplate which featured a gnarly gash down the diagonal axis.
"I had no choice, they arrived right before you did," came Lando's smooth, drawling voice. Swiveling her head to the right, Leia saw that they had been surrounded by Stormtroopers, a dozen or so indistinguishable soldiers pointing blasters at them. "I'm sorry," their traitorous host added, his expression grim.
Han looked down at her and reached out to grab her hand. "I'm sorry too," he said to Lando, his notorious temper remarkably subdued considering the circumstances. As Chewbacca growled at Lando, Han shared one last look with her before boldly walking into the room under his own volition. Leia allowed him to drag her forward, gulping audibly with fear when she met Vader's gaze for a second time.
"Take a seat," Vader said with a flourish of his gloved hand, having already sat down himself. Han didn't hesitate, releasing her hand as he pulled out the middle chair and gestured for her to sit. In spite of the tense situation, Leia couldn't help but blush at the gentlemanly act. Who knew Han could be so refined?
"Lord Vader, what is the reason for this delay?" came the modulated voice of the Mandalorian who was still standing by Vader's opposite flank. "I was under the impression Solo would be brought to my ship right away."
"You will have your bounty, Fett, but only after I am through with him," Vader rumbled in his rich voice. "Until then, please be seated. We still have business to attend to."
Fett hesitated for a moment before obliging. Begrudgingly setting his blaster aside against the wall, Fett pulled out a chair with his foot and sat down. Scooting forward, Fett laid his armored forearms on the table and stared directly at Leia. Feeling uncomfortable with the attention the bounty hunter was giving her, Leia fumbled with her collar and turned toward Vader.
"Lord Vader, I must insist that –" she began to say, but the Sith cut her off by raising his hand and pointing a finger at her.
"You are in no position to negotiate, Princess," he told her. "You are a known member of the Rebellion and a traitor to the Empire."
Leia shut her mouth and looked down at her lap. Perhaps it was a relief Vader had interrupted her when he had. She had no idea what she had been going to say, anyway. There was nothing she could do to get them out of this horrible situation. Surely they were doomed now.
"Han Solo," said Vader. Looking back up, Leia saw that Vader had turned his attention to the rugged pilot who was seated next to him on his right. "You are the pilot of the Millennium Falcon, are you not?"
Han furrowed his brow, perplexed by this inquiry. He briefly glanced across the table at Chewbacca who was seated to Leia's right before looking back at Vader and nodding. "I am," he confirmed.
"Was it you who fired on my ship at the Battle of Yavin?" asked Vader.
Han licked his lips nervously before nodding a second time. "Yeah, it was," he said. Reaching for her hand under the table, Han seemed to regain some of his confidence when he gave it a squeeze. "I should have aimed better," he said.
Leia inhaled sharply, fearing for Han's life. Vader didn't seem to have any reaction to the comment, however, revealing no emotion whatsoever as he continued to stare blankly at Han. Unnerved, Han's confidence faltered as he released her hand and began bouncing his leg rapidly.
"You will be quite useful to me, Captain Solo," Vader commented finally. Pushing out his chair, Vader stood up and flicked his wrist. Leia's head spun to the right when the door to the dining room opened. "Take him away," Vader commanded to a trio of Stormtroopers who came walking in. "Call in another squad and have the Princess and the Wookie brought down to the prison."
"Allow me, Lord Vader," Fett said suddenly as he leapt to his feet. "I can handle this."
Vader glanced at the bounty hunter, clearly surprised his eagerness. He considered the shorter man for a few moments before nodding. "Very well," he said. With that, Vader stepped away from the table and marched away, his cape billowing behind him as he exited the room. Once the door closed behind him, the three Stormtroopers approached them while Fett did the same from the opposite end of the table.
"Don't even think of running," Fett told them, blaster back in hand as he pointed it at Han's chest. "Vader can kill you even if he was miles away."
Han gave the bounty hunter a doubtful look, but he didn't bother to contradict him. He did, however, offer an objection when the Stormtroopers rudely pushed Leia aside as they made their way to him. "Hey!" he exclaimed. "Don't touch her!"
"Shut up," a Stormtrooper said as he shoved a blaster in Han's face. "Give us your hands."
"Just do it, Han," Leia pleaded with him when Han looked like he was about to say something else. "There's no point."
Han locked eyes with her before folding. Extending his hands, the Stormtrooper on the left produced a set of binders and firmly clasped them to Han's wrists. "Come on," he said, pushing Han forward. "Let's go."
"It'll be okay," Han attempted to reassure her as he walked past. "Don't worry about me." Chewbacca growled something and Han gave his friend one last nod before the doors opened and the Stormtroopers shoved him out into the hallway.
"You," Leia heard Fett say to her left. Spinning back toward the bounty hunter, she saw that he was pointing his blaster at Chewbacca. "Bind yourself." Reaching into his back pocket, Fett produced his own set of binders and threw them to the Wookiee who roared at him. "Go on," Fett said, flicking the safety to his blaster on and off. "We haven't got all day."
Once Chewbacca had done as Fett asked and applied the binders to his furry wrists, Fett lowered the blaster and gestured to the door. "Wait outside," he said.
"What?" Leia asked, puzzled by this instruction. "Why?"
"It doesn't matter why," Fett snapped, taking a step toward her. Intimidated, Leia shied away from the man, staring down at the floor to avoid his glare. "Just do it. And believe me, if you try to run, I will track you down and kill you." Chewbacca protested, nodding his head toward Leia as he growled. "Don't worry about the Princess," Fett assured him. "She'll be fine. I just want to discuss something in private."
She and Chewbacca shared a look, each of them concerned about what that might mean. "Go on," she said finally. "It'll be okay." Chewbacca growled something and tilted his head, asking if she was sure, she presumed. "Yeah, I'm sure," she said. "Don't worry." She couldn't explain why, but Leia felt quite certain that she wasn't in any danger from Fett. On the contrary, she was quite intrigued by what it was he wanted to discuss with her. Could he be planning on offering them his assistance? If so, why?
Chewbacca made a big show of hesitating, but finally he gave in and trudged away. Ducking slightly to avoid hitting his head on the frame, the doors closed behind the Wookiee when he made it into the hallway. Turning to Fett, Leia raised her chin in a vain attempt at projecting confidence.
"What is this about?" she asked, suddenly realizing that she didn't know what to call him. Bounty Hunter? Mr. Fett? Neither sounded quite right.
"We don't have much time, so I'll make this quick," Fett said urgently, glancing around the room, presumably for cameras. Not seeing any, Fett nodded to himself and stepped even closer toward Leia so that their faces were merely inches apart. "Vader's after someone," he told her in a whisper.
"What do you mean?" Leia asked. "Who?"
"Someone named Luke Skywalker," said Fett. "Do you know him?" Leia faltered, electing not to answer. Fett could clearly tell based on her expression that she was familiar with him, however. "Vader cannot find Skywalker," he told her. "That absolutely cannot happen."
"Why do you care?" Leia asked, increasingly bewildered by the bounty hunter's behavior. Wasn't he here to collect Han and return him to the Hutts? Why was he asking her about Luke?
"Skywalker belongs to me," Fett growled. Leia's eyes widened, startled by the vehemence in the Mandalorian's tone. "He's mine. Do you understand? Mine!"
Leia wasn't bold enough to remind the bounty hunter that nobody belonged to anyone. She was sure the man wouldn't appreciate it if she tried to bring up the ethical issues that proposition presented. Instead, Leia bobbed her head and attempted to subtly shuffle her feet backward so that she wouldn't have to be quite so close to Fett.
"Vader's going to use you and your friends as bait to lure Skywalker in," Fett told her. "When he arrives, you're going to help steer him away from Vader and toward me."
"And why would I do that?" Leia asked, eyebrow quirked skeptically.
"I'll smuggle you out of here, that's why," Fett said impatiently.
"But what about Han and Chewie?"
"Who cares about them? I'm offering you your freedom right now! Do you have any idea how lucky you are?"
Leia scoffed at the bounty hunter's self-importance. "I'm not leaving without them," she said resolutely.
"Vader will keep you prisoner for the rest of your life if you don't escape," Fett growled, prodding her in the shoulder with a finger.
Leia gasped, aggrieved and startled that he would be so bold as to touch her like that. "How dare you –" she began to say, but Fett didn't let her finish.
"I spent four years of my life behind bars!" he said in an angry whisper, slashing his hand through the air for emphasis. "You don't know what it's like! You don't know anything!"
Leia's mouth hung open slightly as she stared back at Fett, thoroughly caught off guard by this outburst. He seemed to be unhinged, yet nevertheless she didn't feel endangered by him. Once again, she found herself wondering why this ruthless bounty hunter was so invested with her friend Luke. She knew there was a bounty on Luke's head, but she thought Vader was the one who had put it there. It made no sense for Fett to be trying to keep Luke away from Vader. Was it possible someone had hired Fett to do this? If so, whom?
"I need to know that you will do this," Fett said, recomposing himself. "If you won't do it for yourself, do it for Skywalker. You can't imagine the things Vader will do to him if he gets his hands on him."
"What do you mean? What sort of things?"
"Like I said, you can't even imagine," Fett said ominously. "You don't know Vader like I do. He's as ruthless as he is evil. He will stop at nothing to get what he wants."
Leia frowned, her own experience with the man not corroborating that claim whatsoever. When Vader had captured her ship three years prior and taken her to the Death Star for interrogation, his resolve had been far from ruthless. To Leia, it seemed as if he hadn't been determined whatsoever to extract the information about the location of the Rebel Base out of her. He hadn't so much as laid a finger on her, depositing her in her cell and asking a few halfhearted questions which she refused to dignify with responses. His enigmatic behavior continued to astound when he had lied to Tarkin, telling the Moff that she had withstood considerable amounts of torture without cracking. Frankly, it seemed to her as if Vader simply didn't care much about the war and wasn't willing to debase himself to find out where the Rebel Base was.
"Why does he want Luke?" Leia asked, brow furrowed and arms crossed.
Fett sighed and craned his head back in exasperation. "I'll tell you later, alright? Do we have a deal or not?" He extended his hand to her, the frayed padding of his glove covered in oil stains.
Leia hesitated, but only for a brief moment. She knew Han would want her to escape even if he could not. While she didn't want to leave him and Chewie behind, she knew this was her only option considering the circumstances.
"Fine," she said, wrinkling her nose as she shook her coconspirator's grimy hand. "It's a deal."
Author's Note: The idea for this story came to me a few weeks ago and I just decided to post the first chapter without having written anything else. I've never done this before, although I'm sure it's common practice. For all my other stories, I always had a backlog of chapters before posting. As a result, updates will inevitably be more sporadic and less predictable. Nevertheless, I'm very excited for this story. I have a big twist in store which I hope none of you see coming!