Note: As of 21/12/20, this whole chapter and the following one have been re-written, so the order of events may be quite different to the original version. I'm hoping it makes a little more sense in terms of timing!

This week's shout-outs go to the following: SocietyMember, Shannyrox101, ArtistsChild93, sarahmichellegellarfan1, Soofi Mtz, Guest (also known as random reader w/o a profile, keep on with your mystery comments, you rock), Time-Dog and Beatlefan110. Thanks for all your reviews - I really appreciate them. :)

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars or any of its characters. Only Alice is mine.


Alice woke to the disturbing feeling of being watched. She wasn't quite sure how she recognised it, never having been watched in her sleep before, but some unknown reflex made her jolt upright, to find five or six of her fellow slaves watching her with unfriendly eyes. They were all women, and none of them human, and as she sat up, she saw them exchange cruel glances, as if having their suspicions confirmed.

Her chest feeling tight with unease, Alice glanced down at the floor to the left of the bed. Nyra was nowhere in sight. I don't like this…at all.

Tentatively, she cocked her head on one side, and held her hands up in front of her, "Hi…"

The women hissed, and muttered amongst themselves in their own language, their suspicious eyes never leaving her. Worried, Alice said, hurriedly, "I'm sorry if I've upset you somehow… I'm one of you, I'm a slave. I don't want to be here anymore than you do-" One of them, perhaps the leader, leaned forward very suddenly and tugged lightly at her hair. Alice's breath caught in her chest, and she wondered briefly if she was going to get mobbed by them.

Then very suddenly, Nyra's sharp voice rang out, and the women before her scattered, pressing themselves back against the wall as if to rid themselves of all association with her. Nyra appeared in the middle of them, her eyes darting harshly from side to side. She growled something to the other women and watched with satisfaction as they hurried away down the length of the room and out the door.

Alice let out a breath she hadn't known she'd been holding, and gave Nyra a weak, grateful look. "Thanks. That was scary…"

"They not hurt you," Nyra said, shaking her head and smiling, "just interested. We not see humans often."

If you say so…

"Come," she said, holding out her hand toward her, "we bring you new clothes."

Alice nodded, and got to her feet, running a hand through her bedraggled hair with a wince. That's pleasant. Following Nyra, they made the short journey to the clothes cupboard they'd visited yesterday, where the older woman fished out a new catsuit that was so skimpy it was more or less a bikini anyway.

Clothes, Alice thought wryly, as she took the item from Nyra, debatable.

It wasn't a particularly nice feeling, being so exposed, even in the oppressive heat. She winced at her reflection in the crude mirror in the corner, the way that her bare skin seemed to entirely overwhelm the stringy material.

"We go," Nyra said, pulling on her arm and guiding her out the door and to the left, the way that would lead them to the throne room. Surprise, surprise. This being a slave thing gets rather repetitive after a while…

An alien was getting dragged out of the room as they entered, which was interesting. Alice raised her eyebrows, turned around, and came face to face with none other than octopus man. He pointed at her, then up at Jabba's throne, where the ceremonial fan was sitting against the wall. Ah. Gotcha. She sighed, and made her way over to the dais, skirting around a group of aliens who leered at her as she passed.

As yesterday, she took up a position behind Jabba's shoulder, and slowly started to waft the fan back and forth. This is better than Captain Starn's workout routine.

Bored, she glanced over her shoulder, observing the crowd of aliens moving around the room. She missed seeing human faces, eyes and mouths and expressions that she could read and understand; more than that, she missed the warmth of a friendly face. She wanted to see a smile, a genuine one, not the unpleasant leers and sneers she received as she stood, mindlessly fanning a giant slug. She wanted her friends; Han's cocky laugh, Leia's steady support, Chewie's reassuring bulk…Luke's smile.

I guess I really didn't think about how horrible it was going to be in here, she thought, dispiritedly, all alone.

"Keep up your courage, Alice," Ben whispered in the back of her mind, "your friends will be here soon."

I wish they were here now…

The day dragged by, but to Alice's great relief, no one was killed, and she wasn't required to do anything other than stand there fanning Jabba, and at one point, to fetch him a refill on his bowl of frogs.

She kept her head down as she walked to the kitchen, an area she'd not seen yet. She held out the bowl to the large, fish-like alien who turned impatiently to meet her, not quite daring to make eye contact. The creature made a sound that sounded strangely like a snort and upended a tub of squirming creatures into the bowl, splashing Alice's face with salt water and slime.

Fabulous.

Swallowing down her disgust, she turned meekly back the way she'd come, only to meet Nyra coming the other way. The older woman tutted at the sight of her, and turning to the chef, gave him a barrage of abuse. Ignoring his irritable reply, she took Alice's face gently in her hands and patted it dry with a piece of fabric that had been wound around her wrist.

Struck by the tenderness of the action, Alice could do nothing but murmur her thanks, wishing more than ever before that she could take Nyra with her when she and Lando escaped.

As if she was reading her mind, Nyra gave her a soft, sad smile and pushed her gently in the direction of the throne room, "Hurry now."

She stumbled back to Jabba's throne and set the bowl of frogs in front of him, earning herself a rumble of delighted greed and a brush of his slimy hand against her shoulder, which she somehow managed to endure without shuddering.

Finally, finally, night came, and with it Alice's spirits rose. She spared Han in his carbonite prison one quick glance before she left the room, her hands balling into fists at her sides. Not long now, honey.

It occurred to Alice as they passed the costume store that she should probably try to find some decent shoes to wear before heading to rendezvous with Lando. The boots she'd worn to get here had been taken away yesterday, and all she had right now were flimsy sandals that wouldn't hold up if she had to run anywhere. Not to mention, it would undoubtedly be freezing outside, and she didn't much fancy travelling overnight through the desert dressed as she was.

Yup. Definitely going to steal some clothes before leaving.

There was no chance of her going to sleep, so she just lay on the cot that Nyra had once again let her sleep in, her eyes open, trying to calm her suddenly racing nerves.

Ben, if you could bestow some stealthy Jedi powers on me just for the duration of this evening, that would be fab.

There was no reply, but she felt…something. A brush of warmth, like a hand pressed against her shoulder in support. It calmed her a little and made her feel a tiny bit braver.

With a deep breath, she got to her feet, and was creeping towards the door when suddenly, something brushed against her ankle. She flinched, nearly screamed, and just managed to fling her hand over her own mouth to stop herself. Looking down, she found Nyra gazing up at her, a quizzical look on her face.

"What are you doing?" Her friend muttered, sounding concerned.

"I'm…just going to the bathroom," Alice said, feeling bad for the lie, but determined not to get Nyra into trouble, "I'll be back soon."

Nyra looked at her, her eyes disturbingly penetrating, "You try to leave?"

Alice's breath caught in her throat, guilty and anxious in equal measure, "I'm here to rescue my friend. I'm sorry I can't help you too…"

She waved the apology away, "You must be very careful. If you are caught…"

Alice nodded. She didn't need Nyra to finish her sentence – she knew perfectly well what might happen if anyone found her trying to break Han out, "I know."

Nyra gazed at her for a moment longer, then reluctantly, relaxed her grip on Alice's leg, murmuring, "Farewell."

Choked with sudden emotion, Alice knelt down to press a quick kiss to Nyra's cheek. Then she straightened up and hurried to the doorway, almost tripping over some sleeping slaves in the dim light.

She made it to the wardrobe without incident, only having to stop once to hide in an alcove as one of the pig-faced guards came round the corner, huffing and puffing as he went. Riffling through the racks of costumes, she managed to find an outfit that looked like a sexy version of an imperial officer's uniform (which she personally found to be in very poor taste) but which at least had a semblance of sleeves. There were a pair of knee high black boots that went with it, but they had high heels, so she left them behind in favour of the dusty boots she'd arrived in, which she found in a heap of old, dirty clothes undoubtedly destined for incineration.

She dressed quickly, very conscious that she didn't know whether Lando would be waiting for her or not, sticking carefully to the shadows at the far end of the room, away from the door.

Then it was just a question of making her way to Han.

She edged her way along corridors, jumping at shadows, keeping an eye out for the flicker of a torch that might indicate someone was coming towards her – but the entire palace seemed eerily hushed. Unease sprang up in her stomach, twisting there like a barrel of snakes, but she kept going.

It's too late to go back now, she told herself sternly, and I'm not staying here another day if I can help it.

When she reached Han's carbonite prison, though, Lando was nowhere to be seen.

Huh, maybe I'm early.

The hair on the back of her neck prickled, as though she was being watched, but when she glanced around fearfully, there was nothing there.

Seeking reassurance, she reached out to touch Han's hand where it jutted from the block of carbonite, whispering, "Don't worry, Han, not long now."

"Gotcha," someone said from behind her, in a worryingly satisfied tone.

Uh oh…

Alice whipped around just in time to be caught around the waist and shoved back against the wall by Boba Fett.

Oh god, no.

"I knew it," Fett said, one arm pressed hard against her collarbone, keeping her in place, while the other pressed a blaster into her side. The metal of the barrel was very cold, even through her clothes. "You're one of Solo's friends, aren't you. Yes, I recognise you from Cloud City now – your disguise was very clever. But not clever enough."

Staring back at him, Alice felt strangely calm – most of her fear had come from the anticipation of being caught, and now that she had been…well, it was almost a relief, in a weird way.

"So what now, buckethead?"

"…I…what did you call me?" He cocked his head on one side, apparently more surprised than insulted.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I meant 'what now, minor bad guy who probably won't even make it to the end of the film'?"

Fett's helmeted face tilted and her bravado disappeared at once – the horrible blackness of the mask combined with his intense silence was extremely unnerving, and she didn't doubt that if he thought he could get away with it, he would love to hurt her. Then with a grunt that spoke of how much restraint he was showing, Fett just twisted his free hand through Alice's hair and dragged her away from the wall, "Now, I'm going to take you to Jabba. And you will be silent."

"Wanna bet?" Alice said, as bravely as she could, as though she wasn't courting death by doing so.

Fett tugged hard on her hair, sending a spasm of pain through her scalp, "Do you?"

Uh…no. Not really.

The only consolation she could fall back on as Boba pulled her through the corridors to a part of the palace she'd never been to before – presumably Jabba's private chambers – was that Lando was still free and presumably undiscovered. As long as she wasn't killed straightaway, there was a chance that he'd be able to get a message to Luke and Leia and maybe they'd be able to rescue her. And if not…well, perhaps they could still get Han out.

Jabba the Hutt wasn't a pretty sight at any time of day, but Alice was surprised to find just how much uglier he could look when submerged in some kind of slime bath, which was apparently just how hutts slept.

Boba thrust her roughly to the dirty ground and went to Jabba's side.

Alice watched, fighting a sudden wave of hysterical laughter as the bounty hunter leaned down close to the sleeping crime boss to murmur in his ear.

They're so domestic.

Jabba woke with an irritable grumble, his amber eyes rolling blearily in their sockets for a moment before focusing in on Boba.

The bounty hunter bowed immediately, "Sorry to wake you, your mightiness, but I caught this one," he pointed back at Alice, "trying to free Han Solo. She's a friend of his, and I have reason to believe she's working with others. I'm not sure who yet, but I believe we can use her as bait to catch the rest of the conspirators. One of them may well be the wookiee Chewbacca."

Jabba growled, his gaze sliding over to Alice. She glared back, though internally she was relieved that immediate death didn't seem to be on the cards.

The hutt seemed to think for a moment, then grumbled out a command.

"Get up and come closer," Boba said to Alice, coldly. Her initial, stupid instinct was to snap at him, but of course, if she wanted to stay alive long enough to be rescued, she should probably do as she was told. Gritting her teeth, she pushed herself up and shuffled forward.

As he had when she'd first arrived with Lando, Jabba seemed to inspect her, stretching out a stubby-fingered hand to tilt her chin up to the light.

Alice held her breath against his stench, her skin crawling at his slimy touch.

Jabba nodded, satisfied, and said something else.

"Yes, your mightiness," Boba said in a tone of deepest satisfaction, "of course." He bowed once again, then grabbed Alice by the arm and led her back out of the room.

"What did he say?" She asked, not expecting to get an answer. Her expectations turned out to be correct. He dragged her on in silence, heading by some circuitous route towards an area she'd not seen before.

Ah. Prison cells. Not encouraging.

Boba slammed open the door and thrust her inside, and though she couldn't see his face, she got the nasty impression that he was grinning, "Don't worry, someone will be back for you in the morning. Jabba wants to keep you close from now on, until we catch all your friends. Then we'll have a little party out in the desert."

"Great," Alice muttered as he stalked away, "can't wait."

As the night wore on, she was very glad she'd taken the time to steal the clothes from the wardrobe store the previous night – it was much chillier in the stone cell than it was in the slave dorm, and she spent most of the remaining hours before dawn huddled into herself, too cold and tired to even think about anything other than how cold and tired she was. The one thing she had to be grateful for was that she wasn't still wearing a tiny leotard.

Unfortunately, that didn't last long. As daylight crept into the cell, a faint rattling drew her attention. Stiff and aching, she lifted her head from her arms to look towards the cell door. She half-hoped to see Nyra, but it was another slave woman, one she just barely recognised.

She clicked her tongue and beckoned impatiently, the Basic dialect falling far more easily from her tongue than it did for Nyra, "Come. Quickly. You'll need to change before we take you to Jabba."

"All these makeovers are a lot less fun than tv made them out to be," Alice observed to no one in particular as she got painfully to her feet.

To make matters worse, this woman was nowhere near as sympathetic as Nyra. Once Alice was out of the cell, she led her to a nearby bathroom and pushed her under a cold shower, recovering the crumpled costume that Alice had borrowed and spent the night in with a grumble of disapproval.

At her instruction, she scrubbed herself clean, doing her best to keep as much of her hair dry as possible – she didn't want to have to deal with having it restyled by this woman, who looked like she would be very harsh with a brush.

When Alice stepped out, it was to find yet another bikini-like outfit waiting for her, this one brightly spangled, as though they were deliberately trying to make it harder for her to escape notice. With a huff, she pulled it on. What really made her balk though was the thick leather collar she found underneath the clothes.

Jesus…

She swallowed, turning the hateful thing over in her hands. She had a horrible feeling that she knew exactly what Boba had meant when he said that Jabba wanted to keep her close…

"Hurry," the other woman snapped. Before Alice could do anything, she snatched the collar from her hands and fastened it tight around Alice's neck, though thankfully not tight enough to restrict her breathing. If it had, she might have suffered a full blown panic attack, which would probably not help her present situation. "Come on."

Flushed with shame and embarrassment, Alice let herself be dragged back to the throne room, gritting her teeth as they passed a contingent of Jabba's guards, who shouted derisively as she went by. Obviously, news about traitors spread quickly in here.

The woman deposited her at Jabba's throne. He wasn't there yet, but apparently she needed to be chained there nevertheless, waiting for him.

Alice shivered as the woman hooked the heavy chain into its place on the collar round her neck. She was starting to appreciate Luke's warning about how dangerous this mission would be a lot more now – rather too late to do anything about it.

I'm sorry I didn't listen, Luke. I was so caught up in actually wanting to be useful for once…

Jabba had the audacity to laugh at her when he arrived, slithering up a little ramp onto his throne with a horrible squelching noise that Alice could honestly have done without hearing this early in the morning.

She hadn't seen Lando yet, but as Jabba settled down behind her, all she could hope was that he'd figured out when she didn't show up to help him last night that something had gone wrong and that he'd managed to get a message to Luke and Leia.

It would be really great to see some friends right about now…

As if the Force or whatever cosmic power really did rule this galaxy was actually listening to her, there came a sudden ripple of talk from the other side of the room, which leapt from person to person like a fire. Alice cocked her head on one side, curiously. Two figures, accompanied by heavy-set guards, wandered across the room in a vaguely straight line. One of them was average-sized and gold and the other one was little and blue. Hang on…that's Artoo and Threepio! What? Since when were they part of the plan?

She stared at the two droids hard as they came towards Jabba's throne, wanting them to see her, but at the same time, not quite trusting them (well, not so much Artoo, since hardly anyone could understand him, but Threepio at least) not to reveal they knew her.

Artoo noticed her first – Alice saw his dome swivel in her direction, and he rolled forward a tiny amount; but otherwise, he very wisely remained silent. Thankfully, Threepio's attention was taken up with Jabba, who with two droids right under his flabby nose, had finally realised they were there. The doorman slipped past Alice to lean forward and murmur in Jabba's ear, who rumbled menacingly. Threepio turned to Artoo and said briskly, "The message, Artoo, the message."

Message?

Alice stared, as curious as everyone else in the room to see what was going to happen next – until an image of Luke, looking particularly cool in a smart black suit, his hair neatly brushed and his hands folded in front of him, flickered into view.

Ah.

She knew that her confused emotions on seeing him must show on her face, but hopefully it just made her look less suspicious.

"Greetings, exalted one," he began, smoother than a bucketful of cream cheese, "allow me to introduce myself. I am Luke Skywalker, Jedi Knight and friend to Captain Solo. I know that you are powerful, mighty Jabba, and your anger with Solo must be equally powerful. I seek an audience with your greatness to bargain for Solo's life."

Huh, Alice thought, frowning, interesting strategy…are we not going for sneaking anymore?

Luke, not spotting Alice's confusion, because he was after all, just a recording of Luke, not the guy himself, went on blithely delivering his politely phrased threat to Jabba. "With your wisdom, I'm sure we'll be able to work out an arrangement that will be mutually beneficial and enable us to avoid any unpleasant confrontations. As a token of my goodwill, I present to you a gift: these two droids. Both are hardworking and will serve you well."

He gave a polite nod and flickered out of sight. "What?" Alice heard Threepio say, outraged, "That can't be right – Artoo, you're playing the wrong message!"

Apprehensive, she craned around to look at Jabba's lumpy face, waiting.

It appeared he wasn't impressed. He started to laugh raucously, slapping the ground with his tail. When his mirth eventually died down, Jabba started to speak again in that odd, mumbly, growly language of his – Alice, helpless to understand his speech, glanced at Threepio, who turned to Artoo, and said, "We're doomed."

Not encouraging. Jabba continued for a bit, then suddenly said Han's name and simultaneously pointed off to the right where his frozen body sat against the wall.

"Artoo, look," Threepio declaimed, "Captain Solo! And he's still frozen in carbonite!"

This prompted a wave of laughter from everyone in the room, until suddenly Jabba stopped laughing and growled something commandingly to his doorkeeper. The man bowed, and gestured sharply at Threepio and Artoo, who with a muttered 'Oh dear' and a disappointed warble, were escorted from the room. Out of the corner of her eye, Alice caught sight of Lando's familiar figure, but she resisted the urge to look at him. The last thing she needed to do was give away his identity as one of her chums.

Jabba tugged suddenly on the chain around her throat, dragging her backwards and closer to him, and she winced, partly from the pain and partly from the by-now familiar image of Vader that flashed up before her eyes.

I hope someone strangles you, slug-boy, see how you like it.

She cringed away from Jabba's horrible spongy hand as much as she could, but luckily for her, before he could so much as touch her, the sound of blaster fire echoed through the room, breaking into the good time vibe of the room like a record scratch at a house party.

Well, Alice thought, straightening up along with everyone else to stare in the direction of the sound, that sounds promising.


Thank you for reading and please review!