The Way It Should Be
Chapter 2
Coming out of the cantina where they were supposed to meet Leia's contact, Han tried to convince her the best thing to do was get back to the ship and see if any messages had come in. He was more uneasy than ever about the meet now. Not liking it from the start, he really wanted to get Leia to somewhere safe. Usually when he got these hunches, it meant someone was after him; but this time, he kept insisting Leia was the one in danger. Of course, convincing her to take extra precautions, like staying on the ship while he scoped out the meeting place, had been impossible.
"Leia," he argued, "he didn't show. We waited more than an hour past the time, and he just wasn't there. No one was even close to the description you had. Waiting around out here just doesn't make any sense. Let's check back with Chewie and Luke and see if there's been a message from headquarters. Maybe the guy got delayed and we'll be able to see him tomorrow. Besides, Chewie's only going to wait another hour before he comes looking for us." Of course, the Princess knew Han didn't for a minute believe what he was trying to sell her on; he just wanted her back in the relative safety of the Falcon.
"You go right ahead, Captain; that way you can set Chewie's mind at ease," Leia smiled sweetly, always a sign she wasn't going to be reasonable. "I'll just wait around here a little longer and see if the contact shows up. This shipment is just too valuable to take any chances with. He could simply be running late." They continued walking as they argued and were now down the street, away from the brighter lights of the Cantina. They stopped in an alcove where they could observe the front of the cantina, but hopefully remain inconspicuous under the cover of night themselves.
Han just threw his hands up and stalked off a few yards, knowing that short of picking her up and carrying her to the Falcon, which he seriously considered for a brief moment, there would be no convincing her. "Fine," he sputtered as he turned back to the waiting princess, "we'll wait. But keep your eyes open Sweetheart, something just doesn't smell right." Leia rolled her eyes, tired of hearing Solo's dire predictions about this mission, none of which had yet panned out.
At that precise moment, a previously unseen door in the alcove opened suddenly and before Leia could so much as squeak, a very large hand had her by the throat, while a blaster was pressed tightly to her temple.
"Very carefully and slowly, now, Captain," a rough voice said out of the darkness, "I want you to take your blaster out of your holster and toss it this way. No tricks, I won't hesitate to blast her. She's worth almost as much dead as she is alive, and would certainly be less trouble that way." The hand holding the blaster to the Princess' head pressed it even tighter against her scalp and the finger on the trigger tightened ever so slightly, giving credence to the harsh words.
Solo stood, gulping and waiting for inspiration to strike but quickly gave up on that as the hand on Leia's throat tightened until she was struggling to breathe. With a resigned sigh, he carefully loosened the ties that held his blaster down, eased it out of the holster, and slid it toward the alcove.
"Very good, Captain, it looks like you're a level headed man. Now, remove your comlink and toss it over here as well." Again, Han wished desperately for another option, but with Leia being held so tightly, didn't see that he had much choice. As he removed his comlink, and tossed it away, he watched as Leia's link was also removed and confiscated by her captor. As soon as both communication devices were taken, another man appeared from behind the first, and taking Han's blaster, he pointed it at Solo, and fired point blank. Fortunately, it was set on heavy stun or he would have been killed instantly. Han crumpled, unconscious before he hit the ground.
The pressure on Leia's throat immediately eased and she gulped in a huge breath in before gasping, "Han!" She struggled to free herself from the arms that still kept her pinioned; wanting to check on the smuggler, not knowing if the setting on the blaster had been lethal or not. With a curious, "hmm," suddenly the man who held her let her go and observed as she ran to Solo, turned him over and checked his vital signs. Relieved when she felt his slow, but steady pulse, she turned to glare at their captors. "You could have killed him," she rasped out, holding onto Solo's hand. She knew an escape attempt was useless, not only would she be cut down before she got two steps, but there was no way she could take Solo with her, and she wasn't about to abandon him.
"Well, Princess," the evil man chuckled. "You've certainly settled one question for me. I was trying to decide whether to bother taking the Captain with us, or just leave him here. Seems he might have some value to us after all, since you seem to care what happens to him." Too late, Leia realized her mistake in showing concern for the Corellian. She was roughly grabbed and a piece of tape placed tightly over her mouth before she could cry out again. Han was gathered up and slung over the shoulder of the man who had shot him. They were hustled away from the alcove, going deeper into the shadows of the alley.
Leia tried to keep track of the many twists and turns they took, but before long she knew she was hopelessly lost on a world she had never been to before. She wished desperately that she had Han's innate sense of direction or that he was conscious so he would be able to find their way back should they somehow escape; however he didn't make a sound during the long journey, neither did she expect him to, knowing how hard he'd been stunned. Not knowing what else to do, she tried to send her thoughts toward Luke, going over and over in her mind what had happened to them.
Luke was sitting in the cockpit, absently reviewing takeoff and landing procedures when suddenly he stiffened. Something was tickling at the edge of his subconscious mind. Holding very still, he extended his awareness outward, trying to marshal the Force to him. Vaguely he heard Chewie come in and woof an inquiry, but he ignored it, holding his breath as he tried to hone in on whatever it was. Concentrating fiercely, he thought he could almost hear Leia's voice in his head. "Leia?" he whispered. "What's going on?" As he continued his attempts to hear her, he also cast outward for Han's presence. Even though his sense of Leia's mind was growing stronger, he couldn't seem to find Han at all. "Leia?" he asked softly again. "Are you all right?" For a brief moment he seemed to see her stumbling along in the dark, but though he could almost sense her thoughts, they weren't focused enough for him to get more than a feeling of near panic and desperate worry. He still couldn't find Solo anywhere, but suddenly realized her worry was centered on the Corellian pilot. "Leia" he almost shouted this time, and then the tenuous connection was gone.