Unexpected Detours, part 12
"No!!"
Han wasn't sure if he screamed the word or if it had simply screamed in his mind. The scene had played before him in slow motion and hyperspeed at the same time. He had watched as Leia, standing almost directly across from him, had waited patiently to cross the busy street. He hadn't been sure what had prompted her decision to change sides, but had been happy that she would now be closer to him as he trailed her. Then Luke's warning had echoed off the buildings and Han had watched as Leia turned to the sound of his voice. This was the part that replayed in his mind in slow motion even as he chased down the dark alleyway. Leia's head turning, the confusion clearly evident on her features. A break in the traffic had appeared then and he could clearly see her as she stood at the curb opposite him, the sweep of her braid, the drape of her shirt, the bags in her hands at her sides. That one instant was almost frozen, so slow had it seemed to play out before him. And then there was a hand. It had appeared so quickly that he couldn't recall the appearance of the man attached to that hand. Thick fingers had covered her mouth and a green clad arm had covered her chest and her bags were forgotten at the curb side as she was pulled instantly into the dark passage behind her.
This is where Han had chased her, not waiting to see if Luke was following and not pausing to formulate a well-planned approach. He had fought his way around and over the various modes of transportation that separated him and his princess, cursing - probably aloud - the precious moments wasted on manoeuvring across the busy street. Clearing the traffic and the pedestrians on the opposite walkway, he plunged after Leia into the comparative darkness of the alley, reaching to his thigh for his trusty sidearm. His hand met with the coarse fabric of his pants and he panicked for an instant before remembering that he had concealed the weapon against his ribcage in deference to the anti-weapons legislation that was prevalent on Ord Mantell.
"Solo," came the call of a woman's voice as he skidded to a halt just out of view of the sentries posted at the end of the alley. "This is simple. I know who you are and I know who she is… and, more importantly, I know who she is to you."
Han stood frozen in the dark shadows of the alleyway and cursed whatever gods or beings that were responsible for placing Leia in her current position. He assessed the situation quickly. There were two guards, a third man holding Leia at gunpoint and the woman who had called out to him, all clearly armed. Luke would find his way to his position shortly and he was carrying his light sabre, but Leia was unarmed. He scanned the area behind him, straining to hear the sound of Luke's footfalls but heard nothing. Turning back to the group a few metres ahead, he appraised each opponent, his eyes resting finally on the blaster pressed against Leia's chest.
"Solo," the woman called again, taking a few steps back towards Leia and the thug holding her. "I don't need her. It's you I'm after, but I will hurt her if I have to, understand?"
He debated a few seconds longer before making his decision. Luke would manage his way through the crowd to his current location soon, but that still left the odds in the woman's favour. If he surrendered, then Luke could get Chewie and formulate a better plan than a shootout in an alleyway. Admittingly, leaving with this group of bandits and being taken to wherever they were planning on taking him didn't leave a lot to be desired. Han's eyes strayed back to the gun pressed against Leia's heart. He couldn't make himself take the risks that the shootout would involve and, his mind made up, he stepped into the centre of the alley. He held his right arm outstretched, his gun dangling unthreateningly from his fingertips, his left hand held up empty in a show of surrender. All but one of the four blasters that the others held pointed directly at him.
"Solo, toss me your weapon," the woman ordered, clearly in charge of the group. Han scanned his memory for any hint of recognition of the woman before him, but found none.
"Not until you let her go," he answered. "You said it yourself: you don't need her. I'll come with you as soon as your dog sets her free."
"Nice try, but it won't work. She's coming along so I can assure your cooperation. When I have what I need, I'll set her free."
He met Leia's eyes and apologized for failing to keep her safe as he had promised; for putting her in this position in the first place; for not telling her that there was a chance that something like this could happen at all; for dragging her down into his life instead of rising up into hers.
Checking the safety, he let the blaster fall to the ground and sent it skidding across the duracrete to the nearest sentry who in turn picked it up and tossed it to the woman. Both sentries approached him then, guns steady. As they neared, a hint of recognition flashed in his mind and he was sure that he had served with one of the men during his brief stint in the military. 'Bosan? Brisan? Brist? Bristen.' His memory dredged up the name of the man currently levelling his blaster at his chest while his counterpart secured his hands behind his back. Visions of a younger, happier version of the man standing before him danced through his mind, his sandy hair slightly lighter and shorter than the shaggy locks that presently brushed his shoulders. Memories of a sabaac game and mugs of Corellian ale mixed with training sessions and class disruptions.
"Bristen, old pal, don't you remember me? Come on, there has to be some way we can work this out."
"Yeah, I remember you, Solo." Bristen's voice was grim when he answered and held no trace of amiability. "I remember you taking a full month's stipend from me at the sabaac tables when we celebrated completing the written portion of our pilot's challenge. I remember you leaving with my date that night and I remember you taking off and leaving all together a few weeks later. I was stranded without a wingman for the in-flight sequence. Yeah, I'd say it'd be pretty hard to forget you."
"Huh, well uh," Han stuttered in response as Bristen's accusations brought the full details of their history to his mind. "That's all in the past now, right? Looks like you're doing well for yourself now," he tried valiantly to recover some favour in the man's eyes. "Look, you have me now. I know I'm worth a lot of money to you. She isn't worth anything. Just let her go, okay?" After a few moments pause, he added: "I know I have no right to ask, but please, just let her go."
Han waited for some indication that the man had been swayed by his plea, but saw none. For a brief instant, he thought there was a slight change in the colouring of his eyes, a softening of their mossy shade and he had equated it to a softening in the man's stance, but he had been mistaken. The colour of his eyes might have softened, but the man hadn't and he spun on his heel with a hint of his military training before leading them back to the alcove where Leia stood.
"Han Solo," he stood face to face with the woman who was clearly the leader of the group as she purred his name. In fact, he was surprised that she nearly stood eye to eye with him. Her dark, almost black, hair was pulled back and tied at the nape of her neck. She was dressed in a tan jumpsuit with military styling reminiscent of another era and it fit her figure nicely. She might have once been beautiful, he realized, but years of harsh living had left their evidence on her face, leaving a few wrinkles and a coldness her dark eyes.
"I've been waiting a long time for this moment," she continued. "You've given me quite a chase and part of me should be very angry with you for being so difficult to capture. But then, part of me should thank you because I've made a lot of money now that it's taken so long to find you. Jabba won't be very happy to find out that you were captured only days after he doubled the bounty on your head."
"Listen," he pleaded. "What if I pay you instead?"
"You don't have that kind of money."
"You don't know that. I have some credits. And if I don't have enough, you know that she might," he jerked his chin at Leia. "Come on, just let us go. You'll get your money and you won't have to deal with the trouble of bringing me to Jabba. You never know what you're gonna get with him anyway."
"He's right, Jaivyn," the scarred man who was holding Leia spoke up.
"No, he's not," the woman, 'Jaivyn' apparently, rebuffed. "Jabba gets wind of this and then next thing you know, we can't get any work anywhere. And then, we'll have a bounty on our heads like he does. Sorry, but I'm not taking business advice from a has-been smuggler who's tossed his career aside for a lost cause."
The woman turned her back to him and headed off down the alley. He and Leia were pushed along behind her and he took the opportunity to take a closer look at Leia. He nearly sighed aloud with relief as he realized that, despite being slightly dishevelled, she appeared to be unharmed. Her eyes met his briefly and she allowed her emotions to show. The fear he glimpsed wrapped tendrils around his heart, squeezing painfully.
"Look…" he called out to Jaivyn. "Jaivyn, right? Just let's talk about this for a minute."
"Shut up, Solo!" she ordered, ending quickly his efforts at negotiation.
She had briefly turned back to face him and he was given a glimpse of the harshness that had made her successful in her line of work. And he knew that she must be successful. Female bounty hunters were a rare breed, especially human females; there were just too many species that could over power a woman and most bounties required that the offending party be captured alive. He knew that, for her to be successful enough to have a few men in her employ, she would have to be very intelligent and that fact didn't bode well for either of them.
Han and Leia were led further down the alley until they reached the back of the building on their right. Here, a covered skiff waited and they were shoved into the rear cabin with the scarred man and Bristen. Leia hadn't spoken throughout their ordeal and Han wondered at her silence. He knew that she was slightly out of her element with these people and that was one of the reasons that she had let him lead the conversation with Jaivyn, but he had been surprised that she hadn't contributed. He thought that she might have spoken up when he had offered the credits that she had just secured, maybe even a little more, and that might have swayed the bounty hunter's decision. He tried not to think that she wouldn't have turned over the money if he had been taken up on his offer. And he tried not to think about how she felt at his getting them into this situation and how angry she would be when she found out that he had been warned the night before and hadn't told her.
The skiff carried them away from the tourist area of Ord Mantell and toward the more industrialized section. Han noted that there was little concern of them knowing the route they travelled and knew that the bounty hunter did so because she didn't believe that they would escape and find their way back to the hotel. He was standing close to Leia and wished that his hands were unbound just so he could reach out to her. Their situation was rapidly degrading and his hopes were with Luke and his ability to trail the skiff undetected. 'Who am I kidding? I don't even know if he saw us leave,' he lamented.
Leia's hand brushed against his sleeve then and her fingers clasped his behind his back. Her touched soothed him and reminded him to not give up hope. He had too much to hope for and had to believe that they were going to find their way out of this somehow.
A/N: Please let me know what you're thinking of this story so far. I know that not as much happened in this chapter as some of you might have liked, but these things take time. Thanks for being patient with me. Scarlet.