And, despite my feeling that after putting so much work into these characters that I should have some rights, they are not mine. George did put so much more effort, after all. Send all your money to him. But reviews, I will take those gladly. Scarlet.
Unexpected Detours, part 13
Their skiff carried them into a warehouse district several kilometres outside of the main tourism sector of Ord Mantell. It finally came to a stop next to one of five nearly identical buildings lining the deserted street. They were ushered quickly into the building by the scarred man and Jaivyn while Bristen and his still nameless partner remained outside.
Leia was pushed onto a large box, bonds clasped tightly around her wrists. She watched as Han was shoved forcibly into a chair, his hands released briefly, only to be secured to the chair along with his feet. She assessed their situation, vainly trying to develop a plan of escape.
"Okay, Jaivyn, you've got what you want," Han addressed their captor. "Now you can let her go."
"Actually, there's still something I need." Leia cringed internally as the woman's cold gaze fixed on her, but straightened her back, giving no outward impression of the fear that churned within her.
"She'll be released when we're on our way," Jaivyn continued, turning her focus back to Han. "And, once you tell me where the rebel base is."
"What?" Leia couldn't believe what she had heard. "No, absolutely not. That's not going to happen. You'll be bringing me with you."
"You're not worth anything to me, but the location of the rebel base is. So one of you is going to tell me that location…"
Jaivyn levelled her blaster at Han's forehead, directing her stare to Leia. She met the bounty hunter's gaze, determined to prove to the woman that they wouldn't be bullied into revealing the location. After a few minutes, Leia felt some measure of triumph, as Jaivyn turned away. That feeling of triumph quickly dissipated as she found herself staring into a blaster and Han was now fixed with the woman's cold stare.
"Well, Solo, I guess it's up to you. You know where you stand with her, but where does she stand with you? Are you going to sacrifice her for the rebellion?"
Han met Jaivyn's icy stare, but Leia could clearly read the indecision in his eyes. She knew that he would eventually cave to the woman's demands; that he lacked her commitment to the rebellion; that he would readily choose her life and the life of their baby over the lives of the many men and women stationed on Hoth. The choice had been easier for her since she had known that Jaivyn wouldn't hurt Han. Jabba's bounty had prevented it.
She was about to speak, to convince Han somehow not to speak, when an explosion of pain lanced across her temple. She swayed, barely maintaining her seated position as her scrambled senses tried to make sense of what had just happened. Taking several deep breaths, she slowly opened her eyes and saw the booted feet now standing beside her. The scarred man, who had stood in silent observation until having struck her, was holstering his weapon, apparently believing that the physical blow he had just rendered had garnered the desired effect.
As Leia gathered herself enough to recognize the cause of the throbbing in her temple, she also became aware of Han's bartering with the bounty hunter on her behalf.
"Okay, okay!" The clatter of his chair echoed off the walls as he struggled futilely against his bonds. "Stop it! Just stop it! Don't hurt her again. I'll tell you where the base is."
"No, Han," she cried out before he could speak anymore. "Don't tell her anything. I'm fine," she lied in her efforts to reassure him. She wasn't fine; her head hurt so badly that she feared she might vomit.
"Leia, it'll be okay," Han answered. "We'll give Jaivyn the location. She'll let you go and you'll contact the base and they'll evacuate before the Imperials can move in. Jaivyn'll still get her money and you'll be okay and we'll all be happy."
Leia didn't make an effort to keep her reaction to his plan from her face, nor her opinion of the bounty hunter's likelihood of keeping up her end of the agreement. "Han, I don't think…"
"This is not a forum for debate," Jaivyn interrupted loudly. "And, I don't really care what you think," she pointed at Leia with her blaster. "Now," she continued, returning her focus to Han, "you will tell me where the rebel base is or I will kill her."
Leia opened her mouth to speak again, but was quickly silenced as the scarred man cuffed her quickly across her jaw. The staccato of Han's chair rose again.
"If he hurts her again, I won't tell you a thing," the threat in Han's voice rang clear in the air.
"If you don't tell me anything, then she will die," came Jaivyn's quick retort.
The bounty hunter motioned toward Leia and she found herself quickly pulled up from her seated position. Before she could plant her feet firmly beneath her, the scarred man had grasped her arms and shoved her viciously against the wall. Her head slammed backwards, bouncing off the wall behind her and exacerbating the ringing that the blaster blow had begun.
For the first time since she had been captured by the bounty hunters, Leia found herself gripped with real fear. Until this moment, she had been worried - worried about how they were going to get away, worried that one of them would get hurt, worried that Han would be taken away. She wasn't worried anymore - she was terrified. These people meant to kill her.
The scar-faced man threw her to the floor where she landed painfully. Her hands were trapped beneath her, still bound and one was turned at an awkward angle, causing a sharp pain to radiate from her wrist up through her forearm. That pain, she knew, was just a shadow of the pain that was beginning to pulse in her abdomen.
"I said 'stop'! Stop it already. I'll tell you," Han's cries penetrated the fog of her pain as she struggled to her hands and knees. "They're in the Hoth system."
Leia looked up only to find herself staring once again into the nose of scar-face's blaster. She continued with her struggle to stand, keeping her eyes on the muzzle of the weapon. Once safely on her feet, she chanced a glance at the face behind the blaster.
Suddenly, blaster fire sounded from outside the building. The scarred man turned to the sound and Leia took advantage of his momentary distraction. Using her bonds as leverage, she pulled the blaster from his hand. It scattered across the floor, sliding out of reach. His moment of distraction ended and he threw her against the wall. Ignoring the pain that seemed to emanate from every part of her body, Leia forced herself to retaliate. She locked both hands together and swung with all her strength, connecting with his jaw.
The blaster fire continued from outside and the clatter of Han's chair had intensified, but Leia couldn't allow herself to think about those things. Her blow had briefly stunned her attacker and she dove for the discarded blaster. A vice wrapped around her ankle and she fell forward, stretching for the gun. Her fingers tightened on the cool metal in the same instant that a sharp heat seared into her hip. The cry escaped her before she could stop it as the pain intensified. Rolling on her back, she shot at the man holding her ankle, hitting him twice before turning her attention to the woman who had shot her. Jaivyn was rising to her feet and Han lay on his side, still secured to his chair. The woman's arm raised to point her weapon at the man prone at her feet. Leia discharged her blaster several times and the woman dropped next to Han.
Drawing strength from deep within, Leia forced herself to disregard her pain for a few minutes more. Half-walking, half-crawling, she reached Han's side. Searching Jaivyn, she quickly found a vibroblade stashed in the bounty hunter's belt. A whimper escaped as she shifted and her weight pressed her injured hip against the floor. Her hand shook as she sliced the material binding Han's hands to the chair. As soon as they were freed, they caressed her face as the tears she had been keeping at bay spilled over.
The sound of weapons discharging from outside the building was replaced with silence. Leia reached blindly for her discarded blaster, keeping her eyes on the doorway. Her fingers brushed the cool metal as the door slammed open and her breath caught in her throat. She exhaled with a whoosh as a mountain of brown fur filled the opening. Chewie's howl echoed through the room.
"Chewie!" Han couldn't keep the sound of his relief from his voice. "Get over here and help me."
Han retrieved the vibroblade and quickly sliced through the material binding his ankles to the chair. Finally able to move freely, he slid the chair aside and moved to cradle Leia. He tried not to pay too much attention to the damage to her face. It cut him to the core, but he knew that she had more serious injuries that weren't so clearly visible.
"She's hurt. We need to get her out of here, now!"
Luke raced in after Chewbacca, somewhat winded and stumbled slightly as he neared the pair. Han watched as the younger man seem to struggle to catch his breath and stood nearly doubled over in pain.
"Are you hurt, too?" he asked.
"No, I…" Luke began, but Han didn't hear anything further as Leia recaptured his attention with a whimper and a moan. He caressed the curve of her cheek, cataloguing the swelling and redness that marred her perfect complexion. His hand fluttered down to her hip and floated over the wound there, trying not to envision the injury that would have resulted had he not been able to knock Jaivyn's aim off. He hesitated, unsure of what course of action he should follow next. He knew how to dress wounds, but he worried about the wounds that he couldn't see.
"How'd you get here?" Han barked his question, his mind racing. "We need to get her to a hospital."
"N-no, Han." Leia's voice quivered with pain and he wondered at how she had been able to control her reaction so well earlier - how she had been in so much pain and yet, had been able to save his life while he had sat by and allowed his life - her life - to be jeopardized.
"It's not safe," she added quietly. "And it's too late."
"No. No. You don't know that, Leia. C'mon, Luke. Give me a hand."
"Han, she's right. It's not safe. We can't just go prancing into an Imperial hospital with a known rebel who's suffering from blaster wounds." Luke's answering voice seemed more focused now. "Let's get her to the med-bunk on the Falcon. It can evaluate her condition while we make a quick jump to a safer port."
He wanted to argue with the younger man's logic, but instead accepted his help to rise. Leia moaned painfully and her eyes squeezed shut as he hoisted her in his arms. The action pressed her wound against him and he winced as the pain he had caused drew a sharp cry from her lips.
"I know, sweetheart. I know it hurts." He pressed a kiss on the top of her head as she buried her face against his chest. "Shhh… I'll make this as quick as I can, okay?"
She didn't answer - not that he had expected her to - but her hand fisted his shirt tightly. He exited the building into the bright light of the late afternoon sun, eyes blinking as they adjusted to the unexpected brilliance. The welcoming haven of the Millennium Falcon stood just a few metres away and only the fragile weight in his arms prevented him from racing up her awaiting ramp. Instead, he tread carefully, barely registering the prone bodies of his former captors as he made his way steadily to their escape. Even so, each step he took yielded a sharp intake of breath and if it weren't for the graveness of Leia's injuries, he might have breathed a sigh of relief as his foot first fell on the metal of the Falcon's ramp.
Easing her into the medical bunk near the Falcon's crew's quarters, he quickly hooked her into the diagnostic systems and secured an oxygen mask over her nose and mouth. He wasn't sure if she needed the oxygen, but felt that it couldn't hurt and it made him feel as though he was doing something to help her immediately. He still wasn't completely comfortable with delaying her medical care, but knew that he had to trust Luke's judgement in this matter. He was too personally involved to make a rational decision and despite his instincts screaming at him that he should be high-tailing it to the nearest hospital, Chewie's lack of argument further solidified his trust in Luke's decision.
He inputted as much of Leia's information as he could into the data system as the familiar lurch of the ship's take-off shifted his axis slightly. Luke was in the cockpit aiding Chewie with the pre-flight procedures, neither thinking to replace him at her side. The med-bunk beeped and the first data began to stream across the screen. He attached two electrical leads to her abdomen and sent a whisper through the Force, hoping for the best. Leia used her good arm to pull the oxygen mask from her face and he felt her eyes on him. His hands hung uselessly at his sides and, meeting her gaze, he raised one to rest on the curve of her abdomen and the other to caress the curve of her cheek. The med-bunk beeped again, the sound seemingly loud in the silence between them.
He didn't want to look. He didn't want to read the answer that he was sure was there, but he couldn't continue to meet her dark eyes either so he turned to face the screen.
No heartbeat. No sign of life.
He must have hesitated long enough to tell Leia what the screen had read because tears were already spilling down her cheeks when he turned back to meet her eyes. He was speechless as he read the pain and sorrow in her face. There were no words that he could offer to make her feel better. Shame and sorrow and grief and anger. These things coursed through him like the blood in his veins and he wanted to scream at the injustice of it all. Her eyes squeezed shut as another cry escaped her and he was reminded that there wasn't any time for his emotions. She still needed him.
The computer beeped again and he turned back to the screen to read its latest report. Mechanically, he followed the recommendations on the screen to the best of his ability, barely meeting her eyes again. He couldn't face her. The early redness of the injuries that marred her face was fading, giving way to a deep bruise that screamed its accusations of his guilt. He closed his eyes only to face the images of her battering at the hands of the scarred man - hands that might as well have been his own considering how little he had done to save her and how much he had done to put her in that man's hands.
But the visible injuries - the visible injuries that were nearly impossible for him to cope with - they were nothing compared to the reality of how he had truly failed her. He had never imagined that he would ever sit by and watch someone he loved be abused so brutally. He had killed their child. He had taken away her first real taste of happiness after so long. He was no better than the man who had taken her world from her, nor any of the others who had taken that and so much more.
Okay, so? I know it was too long between updates to ask if it was worth the wait, but if the wait had just been a few days, would it have been worth it? I'm winding this down - only a few updates left - so this is one of your last chances to review:) All comments - good or bad - are welcome. Scarlet.