A/N: Ooops, when I first posted this part, I accidentally left out a big chunk of the chapter! So here it is and it probably makes a little more sense now. Thanks to Angel Tsuiraku, Kazzy, Clariceb1966, and The Good Twin for your kind reviews!
Mara threw an "Excuse me!" over her shoulder to the poor tech she had just knocked to the floor in her headlong race towards the hangar, but she didn't stop. Darth Vader himself would have been blown aside by her haste as she rushed to assure herself that the message she had just received was, in fact, true.
The snow-speeder had just landed and the hatch was just opening as she turned the last corner. An arm suddenly wrapped about her waist, abruptly halting her and preventing her from getting any closer. She turned to Wedge with a fierce glare and was about to rip his arm off both her body and his own when he spoke.
"Easy, Mara, you need to give them room to work. Luke is injured."
She paled and the glare gave way to panic as she asked, "What happened?"
"They don't know for sure, but he must've run into some kind of animal. It mauled him pretty badly."
"Is he--" She couldn't even finish the sentence as she felt her heart seem to seize.
"He's still alive. They'll know more once they get him to the medbay."
Wedge spoke softly as he could see how devastated Mara obviously was. That was interesting. For as long as he'd known the two of them, Mara and Luke had danced around each other, both obviously attracted, but neither willing to take that first step. More accurately, Mara wasn't willing to take that step. She was hesitant about getting involved with someone in the middle of a war, or at least that was what Wedge always figured. He and Han had a running bet on whether Mara would finally give in or whether Luke would finally force the issue. As Wedge's bet lay on Mara, he hoped it was the former.
His musings were interrupted by Mara's gasp and he looked up to see the medical techs lifting Luke's limp body out of the speeder. He cursed as he saw the blood crusted on his friend's face and noted how pale he was, his lips seeming to be almost blue with cold. The techs carefully laid their burden on an anti-grav stretcher and moved quickly towards the medbay. Mara and Wedge followed, catching up with Han in the corridor.
"Han, what happened to him?"
"He ran into somethin' pretty nasty and I think it tried to make him lunch." Han sighed and they could tell that he was exhausted.
"Maybe we should get the med droid to check you out, too." Mara said this with a smile because she knew what his answer would be.
"The day this Corellian needs to be checked out just 'cause of a little dip in the temp is the day this Corellian kisses Palpy's wrinkled, white ass."
Mara and Wedge couldn't help laughing at the outrageous statement of their friend and it also made them less apprehensive about Luke. If Han could joke, then Luke's condition couldn't be too critical.
***********************************************
Han, Mara, and Wedge walked swiftly behind the stretcher carrying their companion towards the medbay. In their distress, they never noticed the pair of eyes that watched them intently. Arica Alie, as she was known to these people, let a cold smile play at the corners of her mouth. So sentimental, these rebels. If a member of her team was stupid enough to let himself get lost in a huge blizzard, she would have left him to rot, and said good riddance to an obviously incompetent comrade.
Even as this thought ran through her mind, something tingled at the back of her consciousness, a fleeting dread at the idea of Skywalker dying. But it was so quickly gone that she didn't have time to focus on it and it was swiftly forgotten. She made her way towards the medbay, at a much slower pace than the ones she was following. She wanted to be there when Skywalker woke up.
This assignment from her Master had so far proven to be quite more difficult than she had at first anticipated. Of course, this was the first time he'd wanted her to bring him a live prisoner instead of proof of an execution. Still, she wouldn't have imagined that the task would be so frustrating, especially for someone with her skills. The Emperor wanted Skywalker alive and relatively unharmed. Why, she didn't know, but then that was not Arica's business. Her business was to fulfill her Master's command. Normally, she would use her body and her looks to get to Skywalker. For some reason, though, she had felt an immediate distaste for that idea. And she had observed him with the redhead, so it might not have worked anyway.
That was the real problem. The blasted redhead, that infuriating smuggler and the annoying pilot. Skywalker was always with one or more of them! She had been trying for three weeks now to get the bastard alone and had been unsuccessful thus far. She wouldn't be surprised if one of them went to the 'fresher with him! She had done a little discreet questioning of the other rebels and had surmised that the three had been like that ever since Skywalker had fired the shot that destroyed the Death Star.
Apparently, they felt he needed protection from unscrupulous people that may want to take advantage of him. And from what she'd observed so far, the boy needed a keeper. He was reckless, impulsive, and occasionally downright careless with his own personal safety. Hence, Solo having to go and pull his butt out of a blizzard.
She had managed to speak with Skywalker several times and he was nice enough, a bit naïve, but friendly. Actually, she'd caught him looking at her a few times with an unusual expression on his face. Not a sexually interested look, more somehow…confused. It was as if he wanted to ask her something, but didn't know how, or even what the question was.
With a growl of frustration, she cleared her mind of such inane thoughts. Her Master hadn't exactly given her a timetable on this assignment, but she knew he would be getting impatient if she didn't deliver his prize soon. She focused her thoughts and moved a little quicker towards the medbay.
She paused in mid-stride as she felt the tiny niggling in the back of her skull that let her know her Master was about to make contact with her. Abruptly, she turned and headed for the hangar where her ship, the Windrider, was so that she could give him her full concentration. Once she was seated in the hold of her ship, she relaxed her mind and waited for him to speak to her.
*My Hand. Have you located the boy?* He rarely wasted time in getting to the point of his communication.
*Yes, Master.*
*Shall I be expecting you soon, then?* She could detect an edge of impatience in his voice.
*I…have experienced some unexpected delays, but I swear it will not be much longer. Master, I can give you information about the rebel's hidden base--*
*I am not interested in that pitiful rebellion, Hand. They only exist because I have allowed them to thus far, but that won't last much longer. I only want you to concern yourself with the boy.*
*Yes, Master.* she replied, properly chastened.
*I expect results, my dear, and my patience is growing thin.*
*I understand, Master, and I will bring him to you.*
*See that you do.* He cut the contact so suddenly that she gasped. It always left her with a bit of a headache when he did that. With a low sound of frustration, she stood and once more headed towards the medbay and her ultimate goal.
***************************************
"So what happened out there, Han?"
Han pulled his gaze away from Luke floating lifelessly in the bacta tank and looked at Mara before he answered her question. He heaved a deep sigh, feeling the weariness straight to his bones no matter how much he protested to her and Wedge that he was fine.
"I'm thinkin' it was one of those Wampa things. Pretty nasty creatures, obviously. By the time I found him, his face already looked like that and he was near frozen. The kid was delirious, too. Muttering somethin' about dagobar and yodel. And I think I heard that old hermit's name a coupla times."
Mara shuddered and they all turned to watch Luke again. He was moving about in the bacta fluid now. That eased Han's mind somewhat. Luke hadn't been moving very much at all since Han had found him. In fact, when he'd first seen Luke lying there, facedown in the snow, Han had feared that he was dead. The thought sent such a paralyzing pain into his heart that, for a moment, he couldn't even bring himself to go to Luke's side and check, because he'd just known his best friend was gone.
Luke had managed to get himself into some tight spots before, but this was the first time Han actually had the thought that the kid might die and it had scared the smuggler senseless. Han felt a somewhat rueful smile cross his face as he pondered where he'd been only three or four years ago and how his life had changed almost before he realized what was happening.
He knew he owed that change to the kid who was immersed in the bacta tank now. Luke Skywalker was an extraordinary person and he had an extraordinary effect on nearly everyone around him. He supposed that was why he had taken it upon himself to watch over the kid. There certainly was no other explanation for it.
Han, Mara, Wedge, and Luke. The other rebels called them the four musketeers. Han knew, and he was pretty sure Mara and Wedge did, too, that Luke was the one who held the four of them together. Luke himself was undoubtedly completely clueless to this fact. There was definitely a reason Han only called Luke "kid" when he, Mara, and Wedge were all around the same age. Luke had to be the most innocent person any of them had ever met.
Han glanced at Mara's pale, set face as she watched Luke and almost grinned despite the grimness of the situation. Mara would have everyone around her believe that she was tough as nails. While Han had no doubt that she could definitely handle herself, he had a feeling that Luke was getting through that hard exterior she liked to show. He caught Wedge's eye over Mara's head.
Wedge smirked and pointed to Han, then to himself, and then he rubbed his thumb quickly across his first two fingers, as he silently mouthed the words "You are gonna owe me." Han shot him an obscene gesture behind Mara's back. A flash of movement from the doorway snagged his attention and he looked over to see the new recruit--what was her name…Arica, he remembered--hovering there.
"Arica." She jerked her gaze to him as Han said her name. "Did you need something?"
Three pair of suspicious eyes were suddenly aimed in her direction and she seemed to flinch a little, or so Han imagined.
"I, ahh, just wanted to see how Commander Skywalker was doing."
"He'll be fine." Mara said and Hoth itself couldn't have been any colder than the tone she used. Han knew that she didn't trust Arica, but this sounded a little more like jealousy to him. He gave Antilles another subtle rude gesture at the smug smile on the pilot's face.
Han was intrigued by Arica himself, but he was also a little wary of her, as well. There was no denying that she was a beautiful woman and Han had always had a weakness for petite brunettes. But there was an undeniable air of danger around her, too, and Han wondered if he was the only one who felt it. Luke certainly didn't and, in fact, he'd noticed the kid seemed almost fascinated by her sometimes.
"Yeah, he got a little chewed up by one of the Wampa creatures, we think, but Two-OneBee says he'll be fine once he gets out of the bacta." Han ignored the incensed glare that Mara sent him at giving out what she thought was way too much information to a relative stranger.
"Okay. Do you think he might be up to receiving visitors after a while?"
Oh, she's really pushing it with a certain redhead, Han thought to himself while trying to contain a snicker. Before Mara could answer, Han said nonchalantly, "I don't see why not." If there was one thing he loved more than picking on Luke, it was picking on Mara. They both got so mad-- it was funny.
"Excuse me, Captain Solo. I thought I should inform you that Commander Skywalker is ready to come out of the bacta tank. If all of you would please wait outside while the procedure is being performed." Two-OneBee's mechanical voice interrupted them and Arica and any trust issues were immediately forgotten by the three friends.
The droid waited until they had left the room and then shut the door and pulled the blinds on the observation window closed. Mara started to voice a protest, but Han cut her off.
"Jade, you know they've got to clean all the bacta fluid off him after he's out. Just how much of Luke do you really want to see?" he asked with a wicked gleam in his eye. He was rewarded by her blush and a foul word that she only used when she was really angry.
"Well, I'd better go let Chewie know how the kid is doing. He's probably gonna want to come by later." The giant wookiee had hugged Han so tightly on his return to the base that Han could still smell his scent. He had scolded Han and worried over Luke. When Chewbacca was worried, he comforted himself by fiddling with the Falcon. Han needed to make sure his precious ship was still in one piece. Before he left, he decided to stir the pot a bit more. "See ya around, Arica."
Mara, clearly having forgotten the other young woman's presence, immediately turned to glare at what she obviously considered an intruder. The dark-haired girl merely smiled serenely back at her. To add insult to injury, Solo's mocking laughter could be heard floating back towards them as he rounded the corner.
***********************************************