Disclaimer: I do not own Nickelodeon's TV Show "Big Time Rush" and Lucas Film's (and Disney's) Star Wars.

Characters Starring:

James Diamond as James Solo (Han Solo)

Lucy Stone as Princess Lucy Organa (Princess Leia Organa)

Kendall Knight as Kendall (Ken) Skywalker (Luke Skywalker)

Carlos Garcia as Carlos (Carlo) the Wookie (Chewie/Chewbacca)

Logan Mitchell as L3MO (C3PO)

Kelly Wainwright as General Wainwright

Katie Knight as Lieutenant Knight

Gustavo Rocque as Admiral Rocque (Admiral Ackbar)

Lightning, the dog actor as L2-N2

Amy Collins (Miss Collins) as Amelia Mothma, co-leader of the Rebel Alliance (Mon Mothma)

Reginald Bitters as Bitters the Hutt (Jabba the Hutt)

~O~

.

.

.

~O~

James' boots thudded on the frozen ground, his legs carrying him towards the docking bay in a recorded time. The Rebels he met stepped out of his way; droids were nowhere in sight. It was like they all knew that he was waiting for a reason to yell at someone.

He should have known better than to even talk to her. He should have just told General Wainwright that he and Carlos were out, said goodbye to the kid, and bailed. But no, he'd just had to seek out the princess and get into one last argument, to receive a one last icy look.

One last confirmation that her regard for him was that of a general assessing her troops.

Every step towards his ship was a step towards freedom and he should have been exuberant but even as he stomped his feet, he knew that he was also dragging them.

A great help? What kind of reason was that to stay?

Was Kendall a great help too? Everyone knew that the kid and the princess were thick as thieves. Was that personal, or did he just merit more attention because he was a wannabe Jedi and thus a greater help than a lowly smuggler?

His comlink chimed, and one glance told him it was Lucy. He hit the "off" button with a rather more forceful than necessary. It was against regulations to turn it off, but he was done with this army and its regulation and its leaders who insisted on seeing him as nothing more than another soldier for the cause.

It was Carlos who obliged him in the end; when he reached the falcon, it was to find that his first mate had taken the craft repulsor motivator apart.

In the Wookie's defense, he hadn't known that his captain was in such a hurry to get off of Hoth.

But James was not interested in the Wookie's defense. He was far more interested in yelling. "What pray tell, motivated this impeccable timing? I'm doing my damndest to get us both out of here, and you decided that this is the time to pull both of these-"

"Captain? Excuse me, Captain!"

Of course. James stopped mid-sentence to glare up at the source of the interruption, and of course it was the damn droid. L-3MO, better known as Logan, personal assistant to Princess Lucy and twice as annoying. And without any of the princess' fire, or courage or beauty, or other saving graces to make up for it.

James wasn't nearly done yelling, in fact he now had more to yell about, but he knew Logan. If he yelled, the droid would simply continue to politely try and say or do whatever he'd come here to say or do.

He turned back towards Carlos. "Put it back together or so help me I will-"

"Captain?"

Cut-off by this droid's word as he sigh then maneuvered himself out from under the ship. "What is it now?"

"It's Princess Lucy." Logan said in that typical tone that meant well but only grated on James' nerves. "She's been trying to reach you on the communicator."

"I turned it off. I have no desire to speak with her."

Logan didn't try to offer his services with mediating. He'd given up on James and Lucy's case remarkably quick after meeting them both in fact. "Oh. Well, she's worried about Master Kendall. She doesn't know where he is."

James gritted his teeth. Kendall. Of course it was about Kendall. What did he look like, the kid's babysitter? If she wanted Kendall, she ought to try calling him. James had just enough of solving everyone's problems around here. "I don't know where he is."

"Nobody knows where he is." Logan said.

And belatedly, James realized that he hadn't heard from or seen Kendall since coming in from his patrol. He'd assumed that the kid would follow suit soon and report in, given how annoyingly dedicated he was about matters like that, but if nobody knew where he was…

It also occurred to him that if Lucy was trying to reach him despite how angry she probably still was, it was because her worry for Kendall was outweighing everything else.

James' gut churned. "What do you mean, nobody knows?"

He realized that he was uninterested in the droid's answer, and that answer was surely a forthcoming, before Logan even began to respond.

"Well, uh-"

The droid stopped as James turned his back, yelling for the deck officer, who came running immediately. Not one to give up so easily, Logan stepped after him, servomotors whirring. "Excuse me sir, might I inqui-"

But if James was uninterested in the droid's answers, he was even less interested in his questions. He reached behind him to clasp his good hand over the droid's vocodor, silencing him as the rebel officer reached him.

"Yes sir?"

"Do you have any information on Commander Skywalker's whereabouts?"

The officer shot an odd look towards the droid, but either he was used to James' behavior or he was actually too professional to get sidetracked from answering a question. Perhaps both, James allowed.

"I haven't seen him. It's possible he came in through the south entrance."

That made four of them without any idea of where Kendall was. James felt his stomach tighten. "It's possible? I suggest you go and find out. It's getting dark out there."

The officer showed no reaction to James' admittedly snarky tone. He also didn't hesitate, or stop to ask such stupid questions. With a nod and a "yes sir", he turned on his heel and walk away.

Professional indeed.

James turned back the other, taking his hand off of Logan's vocoder as he did so. Predictably, the droid immediately began to talk again.

"Excuse me sir, but might I inquire what's going on?"

James' mind was already racing. If Kendall hadn't return, they were going to have to look for him quickly. Hoth's nights were deadly cold, far too cold for a human to survive. Kendall had been carrying the standard survival gear pack, but if something had happened to him, there was no guarantee that he'd still had it. He couldn't imagine what might have happened to him in the five minutes he'd left him out there alone but then again, his blonde-headed friend had shown a remarkable talent for getting himself into trouble. Between that and Lucy's talent for disagreeing with him on every subject in the galaxy, James thought darkly. It was a miracle that he even still knew what patience was.

But trouble or not, annoying or not. He couldn't leave Kendall out there to die.

To the south entrance, then. Find out if Kendall had been checked in and if not, whether the techs had gotten the speeders adjusted yet.

"Why not?" He told Logan philosophically, and left him standing there.

Behind him, he could hear the droid voicing his reproach for him, a familiar thing by now, followed by even more familiar concern. Logan was always concerned.

Granted that right now, James was pretty concerned too. But that sounded like something Lucy would point out, so he ignored the thought.

Kendall hadn't come in the south entrance. He hadn't been checked in at all, and James knew better than to even consider the possibility that he might have forgotten it. Kendall thrown himself into this rebellion thing with all the fervor and enthusiasm of an idealist determined to do something good, and he loved it. He even thought about writing and filing reports with stars in his eyes.

The speeders weren't ready to go either, their repulsors unable to handle the extreme temperatures without an overhaul.

James didn't hesitate, pushing towards the section that functioned as a makeshift stables. "We shall have to go out on tauntauns."

Briefly, he thought of Lucy, who would absolutely not approve of this course of action. Neither would Carlos; he'd insist on going in James' stead, or at least with him. But the Wookie was still putting the falcon back together, and there was no time. Kendall was out there, freezing to death right now and James knew it.

Besides, if someone had to go out there. It might as well be him.

The deck officer didn't approve either. "Your tauntaun will freeze before you reach the first marker!" He called out as he hurried after James.

James didn't falter, long since he was used to people trying to tell him he couldn't do the things he wanted to do, and just as used to shrugging them off. Kendall was out there. And he is going to get him back.

"Then I'll see you in hell!" he all but snarled at the officer before spurring his tauntaun forward and heading out in the cold fading light.

~O~

.

.

.

.

~O~

Lucy stared at the golden protocol droid, a heavy feeling squeezing her chest. "Who authorized that?" she demanded.

Logan looked as miserable as someone could look while being unable to change their facial expression. "No one authorized it. I'm sorry, your Highness. According to Lieutenant Knight, Captain Solo simply commandeered a tauntaun and headed out!"

Lucy clenched her fists. Of course he had. Hadn't stopped to check in, hadn't bothered to clear it. Oh no, the infamous Captain James Solo didn't have to bother with such trivialities.

'And you wouldn't have?' the voice in her head asked as she grimaced. The trouble with being good at detecting lies, she'd long for since she learned was that it also made it hard to lie to herself. A useful thing overall, especially for one of the leaders of a rebellion whose entire justification was that they were legally wrong, but morally right. She needed a strong conscience, and that required facing the truth, no matter how uncomfortable.

But it was, on occasion. Inconvenient.

It didn't matter what she would or wouldn't have done, she told herself sternly. What matters was that James had done it, and she now had two men to worry about.

Two friends to lose.

'Stop it', she ordered herself. She wasn't losing anyone. James and Kendall had both survived a lot already.

"Has he checked in since then?" Lucy asked.

"Not as far as I know, your Highness."

Lucy shook her head, already reaching for her comlink, trying to think who she could call for more information. But if James hadn't checked in, then no one in the base would know any more than she did."

"Nevermind." She told Logan. "Come on. Let's head down to the hangar. At least that way we'll know the minute they show up." Her gaze caught the sight of L2-N2 as she turned; the astromech droid was quiet as usual, waiting patiently until he was needed. "You too, Lightning. Maybe your scanners will be able to pick something up."

The little black and white droid gave a whistle of acknowledgement, and swiveled to head out of the room. Lucy followed through, still fuming silently and mentally composing a diatribe to hurl at James as soon as she saw him again.

Trying hard not to think about what she'd do if she didn't see him again.

She could always tell how bad things were by how hard the officers around her tried not to let on how bad it was. By now, she knew better than to try and persuade them that it wasn't necessary, that after watching her planet blow up before her eyes she could handle any truth to that matter. They wanted to protect her. That was important, too.

They were trying hard now. Lieutenant Katie Knight was skulking around the hangar bay like a concerned ghost, comlink in hand while eyes looking up at every noise. The men avoided Lucy as she leaned back against an X-Wing, not sure if she was trying to hide or seeking support. Nearby, Carlos was pacing across the hangar floor, silent and watchful. The droids had moved over to the hangar entrance to extend Lightning's sensor range as far as possible without venturing into the cold.

The cold. Lucy could feel the temperature dropping, fighting back the shiver on her body. They would have to close the shield doors soon, to protect the base and all their equipment from Hoth's unforgiving climate during the night. They should have done that so easily, in fact; a glance at her chronometer told her that it was past the time.

"Ma'am?" a voice called from a small distance as a young man Lucy didn't recognize came hurrying up towards Katie. "All the patrols are in. still no-"

Katie cut him off with a gesture and a concerned look towards Lucy. The young female lieutenant continued, in a lower voice that Lucy nevertheless still heard. "Still no contact from Skywalker or Solo."

Her efforts were negated fully by the appearance of Logan, making his way over to her with that stilted gait along with Lightning on his heels. "Mistress Lucy, L2-N2 has been quite unable to pick up any signals. Although he does admit that his range is far too weak to abandon all hope."

"Your Highness." Katie joined them in the conversation, her face soft with sympathy as she looked at her. "There nothing more we can do tonight. The shield doors must be closed."

She wanted to scream, to insist that they were alive, that James would find Kendall and get him back to the base, that they couldn't lock them out there in the cold. But she knew better. They'd probably leave the doors open if she ordered them to. And the cold would creep into the mechanism, freezing it in place and dooming the entire base to endure the freezing conditions for the night.

And even then, more people would die. Because of her.

Lucy thought that maybe, Katie would give the order without her; but she was waiting for her, maybe hoping that she still had an answer, a last-minute solution. And it was as always, her call.

She nodded with a slight movement of her head. It was enough. Katie nodded back and turned to the officer beside her. "Close the doors."

Carlos had come closer now, bracing himself against one of the support struts as if he no longer had the strength to stand. He'd nearly rush out there himself, for she knew how desperate he was to get his best friend and captain to safely, but he knew as well as everyone else how pointless and suicidal that would be.

"Yes Ma'am."

They left to carry out their orders, leaving Lucy alone with the droids. The little astromech twittered.

"L2-N2 says their chances of survival are seven hundred and twenty five… to one."

Lucy wanted to get mad at Logan for pointing that out, but she didn't have it in her. Besides, he was only reporting the truth. She was the one who'd given the order.

Behind the Wookie, the doors began to move. Lucy braced herself as the gap between them shrank, then heard the Wookie's soft moan over the hum of the machinery and knew that this was on her.

The doors slammed shut with a heavy thud, like a closing sarcophagus, and Carlos threw his head back and roared mournfully, unashamed of his grief, pain and worry. Lucy remained silent, calm, unmoving and still unable to muster up any anger or even tears. Maybe she just didn't have any left.

"Actually, L2-N2 has been known to make mistakes." Logan said, as if there was any chance that any of them would find that comforting. "From time to time." He added uncertainly. "Oh dear, oh dear."

Lucy didn't look at him. She couldn't look at Carlos either, couldn't seem to lift her eyes off the ground at all as she walked away. The doors were now closed, and that was that. They would freeze in place overnight and with that, the rebels were sealed in.

And James and Kendall were locked out.

There would be no news, no reports, nothing at all until morning came and the doors could be opened again. There was no point in staying here, and Lucy needed to get away from them all. They didn't need to see her worry. They didn't need to spend the rest of their shift tip-toeing around her and trying to give her information or hope where there was none.

For a long time, she didn't sleep, unable to stop replaying this afternoon in her head and wondering, over and over, if there was anything she could have done. Thinking back to the last time she had seen James and what she had said to him.

Maybe if she hadn't, he would have been checked in before heading out after Kendall. She could have talked to him, to make him see reason, to make him stay…

It was so much of a useless exercise. The rational part of her knew that there was no way she could have prevented any of it. But then, the rational part of her also knew that there was nothing she could have done about Alderaan. It never stopped the nightmares in her head.

She did not want James and Kendall to appear there, alongside her dead homeworld and foster parents. She'd feared it before, but after two years of getting into one impossible situation after the other with those two and always finding a way out, she'd begun to trust that she wouldn't lose them, too. At least, not like that. James had always been cagey about sticking around, first reminding her that he was in this for the money, then increasingly citing the price on his head as justification. The prospect of his leaving had been bad enough. The thought of losing him like this, for good was infinitely worse.

It's when life gets tough that our trust is tested. Her foster father had always told her. Trusting during the good times is easy. Trusting and holding onto hope when everything's arrayed against you… that's the truest test to make.

They were not helpless out there, she reminded herself. Kendall had his Jedi skills, erratic as they still seemed to be. And James had finely-honed survival instincts and more than his share of pure, dumb luck. It was possible to survive out there. He'd find a way.

She repeated that thought to herself a few times, trying her best to believe it. Eventually, her exhaustion worn out and she fell asleep as she dreamed of her home, and bright white destruction with a snow that came and swept everything away that she ever loved.