Vader lowered himself into his chair, deliberate, unhurried. He gestured towards the table.
"Sit."
They didn't have a hell of a lot of choice. They sat, Han and Leia on one side of the table and Lando and Chewie on the other, Lando sliding his chair as far from the furious Wookiee as he could get.
Fett remained standing behind Vader's left shoulder. "We meet again, Solo," he sneered. "Looks like you got sloppy."
Han glared at the bounty hunter but said nothing. He's right, he thought dismally to himself. You fucked up, bigtime.
Vader held up a hand to silence Fett. "You may eat, if you wish," he said to the Rebels, indicating the food and wine the Cloud City staff had prepared for them. Han, Leia and Chewie remained motionless, tense and wary. Lando was the only one who moved, pouring himself a full glass of wine and gulping it down. Yeah, you better drink, asshole, Han thought. Beside him, he noticed Leia clenching and unclenching her fists in her lap. She cleared her throat, straightened her spine.
"Lord Vader." Her voice was imperious, haughty. "I must insist that you release my companions."
"And why is that, Your Highness?" Vader sounded vaguely amused. Han looked at Leia, wondering what she was up to. Her face was resolute, her features chiselled from white marble.
"Solo is a simple mercenary. He knows nothing of consequence and the Rebel Alliance will not bother to rescue him. The Wookiee is nothing but a slave. I'm the one you want, and now you have me. Let them go."
What the fuck, Leia? Han's stomach dropped. Across the table, Lando choked on his wine.
"Is that so?" said Vader.
Han laughed, loud and scornful. Two can play at that game, Worship. "Good luck getting any intel out of her, Vader" he snapped, glittering eyes turned towards the cloaked demon at the head of the table. His voice became low, insistent. "She didn't break for you last time, and she won't break for you now. You want an easy target? I'll tell you whatever you need to know."
Vader studied him for a moment. "I believe you will, Captain Solo." He waved a hand towards Han.
Han leapt to his feet with a sudden, sharp cry, his chair clattering to the floor. It felt like fingernails were raking through his brain, sifting through his memories as though they were grains of sand. The evil presence filled his consciousness, smothering, stifling. Tell me about the Princess, said Vader's voice in his head. Does she care for you? Does she… love you? Han leant over the table, locking his elbows against the trembling of his arms, panting, gritting his teeth. It was foul, violating in the extreme. Leia was staring at him in horror, her hand gripping his arm. Chewie was on his feet too, snarling ferociously.
"Get….the… fuck….outta…my….head," Han ground out, glaring savagely at Vader.
Vader laughed, a hollow, frightful sound, and suddenly, Han was released, sweating, shaking, sickened to his very core.
"Interesting," Vader gloated. "A princess and a smuggler. How touching."
Han slammed a fist onto the table and straightened, incandescent with rage. The thought of this evil piece of shit combing through his precious, private memories, his memories of Leia, tainting them with his filthy force tendrils – or whatever the fuck he had just invaded Han's mind with – made him want to throttle Vader with his bare hands.
"Did you enjoy that, Vader?" he spat. "Get a kick out of it?"
"I found out everything I needed to know." Vader turned to Lando. "Calrissian, have Captain Solo brought to the interrogation room."
Leia's terrified "No!" rang out, even over Chewie's howl. Han's heart sank, but he lifted his chin and stared straight at the blank eye sockets of Vader's mask.
"Rot in hell, you cybernetic filth," he snarled, low and quiet. Then he turned to Lando with a feral grin, held out his hands to be manacled. "Let's go."
Alone in a holding cell somewhere in Cloud City's underbelly, Leia sat huddled on the bunk, her heart hammering in her chest.
They had taken Han.
Vader had taken Han.
The one person in the galaxy she feared more than anything had taken the one person in the galaxy she couldn't bear to lose. And he'd facilitated it; stupid, stubborn, impossible man that he was. He had no idea what Vader could do, the depraved lengths to which Vader would go.
She knew. It should have been her being interrogated. Despite her absolute terror at facing Vader again, she would have done it.
For Han. To keep him safe.
Leia hugged her arms more tightly around her knees. It was freezing in the cell, a brutal, bone-chilling cold that seeped from the floor and the metal walls. She shivered. She knew she should move around, keep the chill at bay, but she was almost paralysed with fear, sick with worry and not-knowing.
The hatch suddenly hissed open and she jumped to her feet. Maybe Vader had realised Han didn't know anything, had decided not to torture him after all. But it was only Lando. Alone. Radiating shame and fear. He closed the hatch and stood just inside it, shuffling his feet nervously. She noticed he had her snowsuit clutched in his hands. The silence stretched between them, uncomfortable and bitter.
"What do you want?" she snapped, finally.
"Leia," he began, his voice low and quiet. "Please…"
She cut him off. "Where's Han? What are they doing to him?"
Lando swallowed, still looking at the floor. "Vader's modified one of our scan grids to use as a torture device. They're preparing it now."
"What's a scan grid?"
"We use it to analyse metals. It emits….electrical charges."
She closed her eyes briefly, her gut twisting in horror. Oh, Han.
"Look, Leia…" Lando raised his eyes from the floor and met hers. "I'm sorry."
She glared at him. "So you keep saying."
He flinched. "I thought you of all people would understand. I'm responsible for Cloud City, Leia. Everyone here is under my charge. Vader was going to take over if I didn't cooperate!"
She shook her head. "You know what Vader's going to do to us. To Han. He was your friend."
"You think it was easy?" Lando said, raising his voice, "You think I liked doing it? You ask yourself, Princess, whether you'd have sacrified one or two people – even your friends – to save Alderaan."
How dare he compare this to Alderaan! "That was different," she spat. "Nobody's pointing a giant laser at Bespin!"
Lando threw up his hands in frustration. "Look, I said I'm sorry," he said again. "I couldn't see any way out. You don't just tell Darth Vader 'No'."
Leia's gaze was withering, scornful. "I did," she said, and turned her back.
He didn't leave.
"Get out," she said coldly.
"Fine," Lando muttered. He dropped her snowsuit to the ground. "It's cold down here. You should change," he said, and left.
