The Way It Should Be
Chapter 7
Unknown to the Corellian, Leia had stood at the window, with Jimson hovering close by, but not saying a word even when Leia swallowed her distaste of speaking to the man and asked what was to be done with the Captain. Jimson just smiled in a sick sort of way and indicated Leia should watch. Leia kept her eyes on Han's face, wondering what was being said to him when she saw him nod his head sharply. Before she had time to wonder what was next, she saw Pix hit Han a fearful blow to his back, causing him to stagger forward and almost go to his knees. She fully expected he would come up fighting, and so was most surprised when he simply regained his balance and turned to face the giant without even opening his mouth.
Leia grew more and more confused as she watched Han take blow after blow, a few to his face and head, but most to his arms, ribs, stomach, chest and back, without any effort on his part to either defend himself, or to utter a word. Instead, he seemed intent on simply regaining his feet whenever he was knocked down, and facing the beast who continued to hit him with his fists, or kick him if Han took too long to get up.
The first blow to his back had been hard, but as they continued, Han began to despair that he could keep the 'rules' as set forth by Trave. The first time he went to his knees, he was flattened by Pix' boot as it impacted his ribcage. Unable to restrain a grunt of pain, as he felt a rib snap, Solo desperately hoped that wouldn't be enough to cause Leia to be hurt. He climbed to his feet as quickly as he could and was glad when Trave either hadn't heard his sound of pain or chose to ignore it. Han clamped his mouth shut, gritting his teeth against the increasing pain as Pix seemed to find more and more places to hit him that left him gasping for breath.
Once, when he had managed to gain his feet rather quickly, Pix grabbed him by the shoulder, spun him around and hurled him into the wall. He broken wrist hit the wall hard and he felt his vision dimming. Somehow, he managed to stay on his feet, though he doubled over. This seemed to enrage Pix, who appeared to especially enjoy it whenever Han hit the floor. He smacked him directly in the face, causing his head to snap back against the wall. Han's vision narrowed some more and he thought he might pass out with the force of the blow, but a mighty kick to his right thigh by Pix' huge foot caused his leg to buckle, and the shock of that pain restored his consciousness, even as he lost his precarious balance and once again found himself face down on the cold cement. He lay there for just moment, feeling his eye swelling and tasting blood. 'So much for not hittin' me in the head' he thought. Wearily, he hauled himself up, limping badly as he tried to keep to his feet.
Time after time he was knocked down, and Pix seemed to take special delight in delivering kicks whenever he took more than a few seconds to at least start getting to his feet. Han knew he had to have several cracked and broken ribs after 15 or 20 minutes of the continued beating. He could only hope one didn't puncture a lung; he was having enough trouble catching his breath as it was.
Another direct blow to his broken wrist had him reeling, sending him to his knees. Before he could recover, one more hard kick to his side put him on the floor again. This time, no matter how hard he tried he couldn't seem to force his body to get up, as his head spun and his vision blurred in time with his heart rate. It was then he had first heard Luke's contact, after which his mind had wondered back to the morning, even as he groped for the wall, trying to get enough leverage to heave himself up.
Remembering what had brought them to this point didn't help him feel any better. Still afraid that Leia would suffer if he didn't somehow find the strength to rise, he pushed hard against the wall and managed to gain a half upright position, up on one knee, still fighting to retain his hold on consciousness, not knowing if Trave would consider this 'enough' if he passed out. His broken ribs protested the movement, causing him to gasp for breath and swallow convulsively.
"What's the matter Captain?" Trave taunted, signaling Pix to hold up. "Are you forgetting the rules?" Han managed to glare his rage at the man, but held his tongue, again afraid Leia might suffer if he said anything. Trave turned toward the window, smiling toward the Princess he knew had to be watching. "Well, Captain," he said as he turned back toward the breathless Corellian, "I think maybe that's enough for now. It's obvious neither you nor the Princess are quite ready to talk, and I haven't had breakfast yet, so what do you say we let it rest for now?" Han just managed to keep from keeling over, instead, he relaxed slightly, but stayed up on his knee, and leaned on the wall, not wanting to fall flat on his face quite yet.
Leia watched from the next room with her heart in her throat, wanting desperately to know what was going on; it seemed as though Han had relaxed ever so slightly with whatever Trave had told him. She observed as Trave made a gesture to Pix, who then shuffled over to the door, opened it and left. Trave then waved toward Jimson, who grabbed the Princess by the arm again and hauled her into the other cell. As soon as Jimson released her she immediately went to Han, but though she placed a gentle hand on his arm and tried a tremulous smile for his benefit, she said nothing. Han, for his part appreciated both her touch and not having to try to speak just then. He was having trouble just keeping his breathing somewhat even, and was trying not to tremble and shake, knowing his effort to remain somewhat upright was failing fast. In fact, with the comfort offered by the lovely Alderani Princess, suddenly even staying on his knee was too much and he found himself sitting back rather abruptly, shaking his head, trying to hear whatever it was Trave was saying.
"Captain, you don't seem to be attending to what I'm telling you," Trave's voice was full of amusement, "so I'll give these instructions to the Princess instead. Lord Vader will be arriving within one to two standard days and I want you both in condition to welcome him. So, please try to keep the Captain alive while we're away, will you? Now don't look so shocked, my dear; you could have stopped this with just a little information about the rebellion, you know." At Leia's stunned look, Trave smiled maliciously and said "What? Did Jimson forget to tell you that? Oh dear, what a shame. And there you stood, watching all this, when you could have prevented it with just a word. Really Jimson, what were you thinking?" With that, Trave walked to the open door waving at Jimson to accompany him and Leia could hear him telling his flunky on his way out "Well, that was very entertaining, don't you think? But I'm sure we can do better…"