The Way It Should Be
Chapter 4
Immediately on alert, Han glanced at Leia with an unspoken reminder not to identify him, no matter what. She nodded slightly and quickly moved back into her cell, stretching out on the cot. Han managed to climb to his feet, continuing to stare at the door, wanting to be ready for anything. It swung slowly open and the two who had captured them came in. Both had blasters out and pointed at him. Han relaxed slightly, still wanting the chance to escape but not anxious to receive another stun blast or worse.
"Well Captain, nice to see you on your feet again," the first man spoke. "I had wondered just how long you might enjoy your little nap." Han chose not to reply, just keeping a wary eye on the two men. "Not very talkative are you? Could be getting information from you might prove to be rather interesting then. We already know who your lovely companion is, and her value to Lord Vader, but I have been wondering how you figure into the picture. Care to share that information with us?" The man smiled in a most unpleasant way, almost seeming to anticipate Solo's response.
Solo perused his captors, considering his options. Finally, he nodded slightly, and cleared his dry throat. Disgusted that his voice was still weaker than he'd like, he spoke. "I'm just a hired hand, 'sposed to pilot her and protect her. Ha. Guess I won't be earning my pay this trip. Jus' let me go and I won't bother you any; you can do whatever you want with her far as I'm concerned."
The first man raised an eyebrow, looking somewhat amused. "Is that right? Well, let's just see, shall we? Jimson, why don't you go persuade her Highness to join us?"
Jimson obliged by going into Leia's adjoining cell, grabbing her by the arm, and all but dragging her back to where the others were. Han's mouth tightened at her rough treatment but he refrained from even glancing in her direction. Leia yanked her arm free of Jimson's grasp and stood to her full height, glaring at both the men; somehow managing to appear intimidating in spite of her short stature.
Jimson however just laughed and said "Well, now Trave, ain't she a sight? Thinks she's pretty special now don't she?" And Jimson suddenly grabbed the haughty princess, and wrapped his arms around her, his intentions all too clear. Only a second or two passed when he unexpectedly found himself unable to breathe as hands went around his throat choking his oxygen off at an alarming rate. Han hadn't even thought about what he was doing, he simply reacted with pure rage when he saw Leia being manhandled. Trave just laughed, pleased with what he had witnessed. "Alright, Captain, enough. Let him go." But Han was beyond being reasoned with, and even though his own vision was dimming in time with the throbbing in his head, he didn't consider letting go of the mongrel's neck, instead, he tightened his grasp even more. Jimson had let go of Leia and was now panicking – trying to pry the fingers from around his neck without much success.
Trave shook his head and joined in the fray, grabbing at Han's arms and pulling, trying to get him to let go of the other man. Leia, meanwhile had slipped out from under Jimson's arms and was stealthily heading toward the open cell door, hoping to slip out unnoticed in all the commotion. She hated the thought of leaving Han, but knew one of them should escape if at all possible. Trave however, caught sight of her and realized the situation was getting out of hand. With a sigh, he let go of Solo's arms, lifted his heavy blaster and struck Han a hard blow on the back of his head. Given his already weakened condition, Han simply folded up, unconscious for the second time within hours. Jimson gulped in great quantities of air in relief, bending over, and massaging his aching throat. Trave reversed the blaster, pointed it at the man at his feet and without even glancing toward the Princess said "One more step Your Highness, and I pull the trigger, and this time it isn't set on stun."
Leia froze in her tracks and reluctantly glanced at both Solo and the man holding the blaster on him. One look convinced her Trave was quite serious and with a defeated expression she stopped, her shoulders slumping slightly. Now somewhat recovered, Jimson straightened and with an angry look at the still man on the floor, drew his heavy boot back and smashed it into his side. Solo moaned slightly and shifted until he was turned away, but did not regain full consciousness. Leia gasped angrily and fell to her knees at Han's side, forgetting she wasn't supposed to show any concern for him. She positioned herself between him and Jimson and glared, all but daring him to strike again.
Trave gave a bark of laughter and said "Yes, Princess, I do believe you and your captain are going to be most entertaining while we're waiting for Lord Vader to arrive. Do take good care of him now, and we'll be back to see you soon." Still chuckling he motioned toward the door with his head, indicating Jimson should precede him. When they had both exited, Leia quickly ran to her cell to soak another cloth in water and hurried back to Han's side.
He was stirring slightly when she returned and she quickly knelt behind him, pressing the cool cloth onto the gash on the back of his head. "Easy Han, take it easy," she murmured as he moaned again and tried to draw away from her. She took hold of his shoulder, keeping him from rolling away from her. Gently she cleaned the cut, pressing hard to stop the blood that was oozing; glad it wasn't too deep, but knowing his head was going to hurt more than ever.
After a few more minutes, Han's eyes fluttered open and once again he tried to make sense of what was going on. His head was pounding more fiercely than ever, and he could hear Leia murmuring in the background, but was having a hard time focusing on the words. Suddenly he remembered the danger she had been in, and with a start bolted upright, looking around for her. Startled, she dropped the bloody cloth and called "Han, easy, it's okay now." Turning toward her, her face finally came into focus for him and without thinking about what he was doing he pulled her into his arms and just held onto her. "Are you all right sweetheart?" he asked, with none of the caustic sarcasm that usually accompanied that term.
Leia registered surprise at the genuine concern and care in Han's voice, as well as the use of "sweetheart" in such a way. For once she decided not to react with a defensive comment and just replied "Yes, Han, I'm fine. You're the one who got bashed in the head. How do you feel?" She twisted in his arms to peer up at him, trying to see if his eyes were clear, or if there were any signs of concussion. Sighing, Han relaxed his hold on her, but didn't completely let her go. He laid his aching head back against the wall, and then winced when that caused more pain and leaned forward again. "Ah, I'm okay, he just hit my head ya' know, nothin' serious," he managed a wry grin as he looked down at her. Leia knew his head had to be killing him, but decided not to push the issue, especially since there wasn't too much she could do about it anyway.
"Did he say anything before he left?" Han wondered, as he settled them a little more comfortably on the floor, still keeping an arm around Leia. "Well, just that he thought we were going to be, how'd he put it? 'entertaining' while waiting for Vader to get here. I don't think we did a very good job of showing we 'don't care' though." She risked a glance up at him, surprised when he sort of smiled and looked almost pleased in spite of the circumstances. He tightened his hold on her before replying. "Yeah, well, I don't know what you did, but when that bastard put his hands all over you, I, ah, well, I just saw red. I guess I didn't think about what I was doin' – I just knew I couldn't let him, you know, do anything to you." He managed to look sheepish and a little nervous about her reaction all at once. "Thank you, Han," Leia decided to keep it at that.
"Is your side all right?" Leia turned in his arms and pulled at his shirt front, wanting to check him out where Jimson had kicked him so hard. "My side?" Han queried, just now realizing it also hurt. "What about it?" "He kicked you, after you were down. Pretty hard too, I hope nothing's broken." Leia succeeded in prying his shirt away from the waistband of his jeans and gently lifted it, sucking in her breath when she saw the black and blue bruises already forming. Gently she pressed against the injury trying to determine if any bones were broken. Han gulped, and tucked his shirt back in his waistband, but made no other sound. "I think it's okay Leia, nothin' feels broken. Not much you can do about it anyway."
Leia sighed her agreement, somewhat reluctantly. "Maybe we should just try to get some rest then, I have a feeling it's not going to be much fun later on. Do you think you have a concussion? Do we need to keep you awake?" Leia looked into his eyes again, trying to gauge for herself just how injured the pilot was. Han touched a hand to the back of his head, but shook it in the negative after just a short moment. "Nah, don't think so. Doesn't feel like it. Hurts more from the stun than anything." With that, he seemed to almost fold up and after settling back as comfortably as possible on the cold floor, drawing her with him, he yawned mightily, was almost already asleep when Leia sat up suddenly.
"Stars, I'm an idiot," she said. "We can go into 'my' cell – there's a cot there, you'll be a lot more comfortable than on this hard floor." Leia got to her feet and pulled at Han's hand, tugging him until he slowly got to his feet. Still holding his hand, she led him into the next cell. He stopped at the door briefly, eyebrows lifting at the sight of her cot and the refresher unit. "Ah, Leia," he said, "go ahead, get comfortable. I'm gonna' step in here for a minute," Han indicated the 'fresher unit and made his way in, closing the door behind him.
Leia stretched out on the cot, wondering if Solo would argue about sharing it with her, or would insist on sleeping on the floor. Sure enough, when he emerged, he glanced at her, then with a quizzical look, started to ease himself down on the floor, close to her, but not asking to share the limited space. Before he got completely down, she reached for his hand and said "Come on Han, no reason for your head to hurt more than it has to. It's pretty small, but I think we can both squeeze on."
Leia was a little nervous about sharing such close quarters with a man she had always tried to avoid until now, but both the circumstances they were in and the fact she was suddenly interested in getting to know him better influenced her decision. Han hesitated a moment longer, considering whether it would make her too uncomfortable and also wondering about the message they would be sending their captors, but decided that the damage was already done. The final factor in his decision to ease on down behind her was his pounding head – he knew he wouldn't get much rest if he was on the cold, hard floor.
With a grateful look in his eyes, he murmured, "Thanks, Leia," and laid his lanky frame down, glad to be able to finally put his head on something comparatively soft. There really wasn't much room and he found that in order not to fall off, he had to turn until he was more or less facing the Princess; finally, he chuckled and said "Mind if I put my arm around you again – there just isn't much room here, is there?" and without really waiting for her permission, he slipped his right arm under her shoulders, at the same time turning her until her back was to him. Gathering her in closer and turning his body even more toward her, until they were nestled together like spoons, he felt himself begin to relax as the long day took its toll on him.
Leia had to hold her breath when she felt Han slide his arm under her and pull her close. The warmth of his thighs against the back of her legs and the feel of his muscular chest and shoulders surrounding her made her heart race. When he slid his left arm around her too, she suddenly felt safe, cocooned in his warm embrace.
Leia couldn't remember feeling like this since long before the loss of Alderan, and to her amazement she felt something deep inside her release, as the comfort offered by the smuggler penetrated the armor she had kept around herself for years. She drew a shuddering breath and found herself snuggling even closer against him, if that was possible, relaxing into his arms, for once choosing to let someone be her protector. Han had enough sense not to say a word, though he too felt his heart hammering away in his chest at the nearness of the woman in his arms.
For the longest time, he had considered Leia to be little more than a child, barely out of adolescence, and an annoying one at that, but as he tightened his grasp around her in response to her body relaxing against him, he was very aware that she was anything but a child. This was a woman he held in his arms, a very interesting and desirable one. 'Get a grip on yourself, Solo' he reprimanded himself as he felt a stirring of desire; 'it's not like this means anything. She's just scared, and truth be known, so am I.' The pounding in his head seemed to increase with the pounding in his heart and before Han realized it, his beginning passion had dissipated and he was content to simply hold Leia close, glad to be able to offer her some comfort, for a few short hours at least, from whatever lay ahead.
Neither of them felt like talking, afraid they might somehow ruin the fragile moments and emotions that were developing between them, so other than a soft "G' night," from Han and a murmured "Mmm hmm," in response, no other words were spoken before they both drifted off to sleep, lost in wonder at what they were feeling, in spite of the danger they knew they were in.