A/N: This was written for a fan fic challenge at theforce.net, and I liked it so much that I decided to post it up here! Hope you guys enjoy!
Part 1
Leia stalked from the hanger bay in frustration as her mind began the mental tirade that inevitable followed her conversations with Han. Of all the stubborn, annoying, ARROGANT, men in the galaxy, I have to be stuck with this one…If Jabba doesn't get him first, I'll kill him myself! It's one simple request for him to fly a mission; why does he have to make it so difficult? Why can't he just…Preoccupied with ways to tell General Rieekan to find another pilot, she ran head first into someone, scattering the huge stack of paperwork he carried. Without looking up, she automatically bent down to start picking the papers up, murmuring an apology before Rieekan knelt down also and she heard his unmistakable Alderaanian accent saying,
"I was just coming to find you, Your Highness. Alliance Command has been looking for you, there's a…situation that you should know about." Leia handed him the last of the papers with a quizzical glance.
"Situation?" She repeated. He nodded.
"Yes. If you'll just follow me, I'll explain all about it on the way."
The Next Night
Behind his perfectly straight face, Han Solo was gloating. This had to be the best hand of cards he'd gotten in sabaac in a long while. This game was setting up perfectly, and he could really use the money he would win for new parts for the Falcon.
"So ,you guys heard about the Ice Princess?" The slightly slurred question came from Reynar Greane, an X-Wing pilot who was just downing his fourth glass of Mandrovian Whiskey. Han exchanged bewildered glances with Luke, across the table, before saying nonchalantly,
"What about her?"
"For the first time in Alliance history, she's going out on a date." Reynar threw
down some credits.
"What?" Luke practically jumped on the comment. His crush on the princess was
no secret, so Han could understand that look of hurt confusion in his eyes. What he couldn't understand was why he himself suddenly felt…betrayed?
"How'd that come about?" Wedge asked from beside him.
"I got the whole story last night from Renyce, in Central Command. Some millionaire that we've been trying to get to invest in the Alliance since forever finally called yesterday and said that he'd donate as much money as the bigwigs wanted, in exchange for one thing: a date with Leia Organa for tomorrow night." Reynar being busy pouring his fifth shot of whiskey, and Luke occupied with his own thoughts, Wedge was the only one at the table who noticed the darkening of Han's face as he asked,
"What's the guy's name?" Reynar gulped the whiskey down, hiccupped and
replied,
"Tyson something…can't remember."
"Tyson Aristide? That guy who made a fortune out of super durasteel but never goes out in public because he's so camera shy?" Luke asked, matching Reynar's bet.
"Prob'ly. Isn't it weird? He's worth 3 billion, he can have any girl he wants, and he's got his eye on Leia Organa, Queen of the Untouchables herself. He seems like the kinda guy she'd fall for, but…" Reynar trailed off in astonishment as Han threw his cards down, kicked his chair back, and left without a word. The other three men traded surprised looks and then looked down at the hand of cards he had carelessly thrown down. Idiot's Array. Wedge was the first to speak.
"What's with him?"
"He looks almost…jealous..." Luke said in disbelief. Reynar shook his head and laughed, gulping down another shot.
"No way; he hates the princess! Right?"
Later That Night
Rieekan was carefully carrying a stack of data disks to his quarters when 1.8 meters of brooding Corellian male crashed into him. He sighed.
"Hello, Han." Han glanced up.
"Oh, sorry. Hey, General, ya know where Leia is?"
"I would imagine she's still in her office." Han nodded absently and started to head off in that direction, then stopped and turned around. The nonchalance in his manner now was almost a comical difference from the hurried abstraction of a few minutes ago.
"Say, General, do you know what's going on with this whole dating thing?" Carlist Rieekan smiled. He could simplify things right now and tell Han everything he wanted to know; that it was a business meeting, that Leia had been forced into it by an imperious command from Mon Mothma, and that she was clearly going under protest. It would definitely make things a lot easier for them. On the other hand…
"I guess you'll just have to ask the Princess herself." Han just nodded and hurried off.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Han lifted his hand to knock at Leia's office door, but stopped himself. Great, Solo, just great. You're here all right, but somehow I don't think, "I have a really bad feeling about your impending date with a handsome, cultured, sophisticated millionaire" might not be the best way to convince her. Just play it cool… His thoughts were interrupted when the door opened and Leia herself came out. She seemed surprised to see him, but nodded coolly.
"Hello, Han."
"Hey. I, uh, just came by to say that…well I talked it over with Chewie and, uh, we've agreed to take on that mission you mentioned the other day. Ya know, the one to Ord Mantell." She nodded cautiously, surprised by this sudden cooperation, and started to move towards her quarters. He walked with her.
"It should be a pretty smooth trip. The Alliance doesn't foresee any problems."
"Yeah." The word was casual, but she doubted that he had found her at almost midnight to tell her about a mission. Long experience with Han had taught her that he didn't stall for long, and she waited to see what he would say next. She wasn't disappointed. "Listen, Leia, I've been hearing rumors…" So, he knew. She had convinced Rieekan and the rest of Central Command to keep it a secret, but somehow, he knew.
"What have you heard?" He shrugged.
"Heard you're going out tomorrow night with a millionaire." She nodded. There really was no point in denying it, and after all, why should she? Normal people went out on dates all the time…so why did she feel so bad admitting it to Han?
"It's true."
"Why?" At his tone, any misgivings instantly vanished. There was a challenge in the word, and Leia Organa always rose to a challenge.
"Why not? It's important to the Alliance and-"
"Let's leave the Alliance out of this. Why are you doing it?" Leia drew herself up to her full height- all 5"1 of it- and glared up at him.
"Why do you care?"
"Because…" He blew out a breath. Here goes nothing. She would probably laugh at him, but maybe once he told her, that niggling sense of foreboding would leave him alone. "Tyson Aristide, right?" She nodded. "Two weeks ago, someone told me he was dead." Leia's eyes narrowed as she said,
"What are you talking about?" Han mentally winced. She was definitely taking this the wrong way. "Yesterday he contacted Mon Mothma and told her that he was willing to donate all she wanted to the Rebellion. She saw him with her own eyes. He's arriving on base tomorrow morning."
"Well I have a bad feeling about the whole thing. Just tell him you can't go." His voice was almost commanding, and Leia felt herself growing angry in response. She gave a very un-princess-like snort.
"You'll have to forgive me for trusting Alliance Central Command over some smugglers' rumor. And as for bad feelings, you're just annoyed that there's one girl on this base who's immune to your charms, Solo!" He smirked. So that was how she wanted to play it, huh?
"Believe me, sweetheart, immune you ain't." His face grew serious as he added,
"Listen, Princess, the Alliance trusts me. Maybe it's time you did too." Her eyes widened in surprise. Trust? Trust!? Han Solo was telling her about trust?
"When have you ever trusted, let alone committed to, someone in your entire life?" They were yelling at each other by now.
"At least I'm not letting the Rebellion use me!"
"At least I'm not always threatening to leave!" Han opened his mouth to say something, but stopped himself as the last sentence sank in. Where had that come from? They were in front of the door to Leia's quarters now, and she turned to face him before going in. "Tyson is a sophisticated, refined, nice man, who is willing to contribute to a cause he believes in, and that's more than I can say for you!" The door slammed behind her.
Han slumped against the wall, closing his eyes in frustration and berating himself for letting the situation get out of hand like that. That went well. I'm sure she'll come around, as soon as she gets over never wanting to see your face again. Discouraged, he started to head towards the Falcon. But the one thing, out of the whole conversation, that bothered him the most was the fact that he couldn't seem to get Leia's words out of his head.
Why do you care?
