Another day, and another Imperial headache. All Vader felt like doing was getting in his oxygen pod and getting his mask off for a while while he meditated. Fate however, clearly had other plans.

"Oh good, you're back," the humanoid palace droid said as it approached the dark lord, "Lord Vader, that Corellian captain stopped by to see you."

"He did?" He turned his head and looked through his red tinted lenses but didn't see anyone in the immediate vicinity, "where is he?"

"Well," the droid said as he put his durasteel hands on his sides, "I told the captain you were due back soon and he said he'd wait for you, so he must be around the palace somewhere."

"When you find him, send him upstairs to my private chambers," Vader said. Even though most of his body was durasteel his limbs still felt weak, he hoped whatever it was was a short visit.

"Yes, milord," the droid said as he turned around and stiffly walked away.

One more thing to deal with. In 18 years Vader had had to put up with a lot, but this past week was proving to somehow be the most exhausting experience he'd ever had. In the morning his first stop was to Luke's room, he helped the boy with his exercises and dealt with all of Luke's frustration, his outbursts, his tantrums, every time he lost his balance, his footing, and fell on the floor again. He could appreciate how hard all this was on the boy, but when he got done helping Luke re-learn how to walk, he got the boy back in bed, and for several hours he became the responsibility of the palace staff, while Vader tended to matters of the Empire. When he returned home his first stop was always to check on Luke, see how he was doing, if he needed anything, how he'd been during the day. He almost wished he could get himself cloned, then that one could go out and deal with the Empire's business, and he could stay home and keep an eye on his son. In some star systems that was only a figure of speech, here it was a reality but he also knew from the mistakes of history, often more trouble than it was worth. He didn't like leaving Luke alone, he didn't like it when Luke was able to take care of himself, it especially sat wrong with him now. The staff would comm him if anything was wrong, of course, and Luke had his comm with him all day in case he needed his father, he never made contact though, presumably nothing ever went wrong when he was absent, but he'd feel better if he could actually see that for himself. He'd been doing everything he could to hold off on a mission in the Outer Rim because he'd be gone for over a week, at least, and right now he couldn't chance leaving Luke alone that long.

If he could, Vader would sigh as he climbed the stairs to check on Luke before heading to his chambers to meet with Captain Solo. His prosthetic legs felt heavy under him, more so than usual, and he was practically dragging as he walked.

Reaching the upstairs hall, he headed over to his son's room, using the Force to slide the door open, overriding the palm scan.

"Luke."

He took two steps into his son's room and stopped in his tracks, behind his red lenses his eyes were wide with shock. The only sound filling the room was the mechanized breathing of his respirator. His brain felt like it came to a roaring stop, as he stood there unable to comprehend the image he was seeing of Luke sprawled facedown on the floor by his bed, and the Corellian captain from the Navy on top of Luke, straddling his legs. Both young men were equally wide-eyed in shock at the sudden appearance of the dark lord.

"Father," Luke said half under his breath.

Han didn't even blink as he dug one booted foot against the floor and pushed himself to his feet, blankly staring up in the red lenses as he stammered, "Honest, sir, this isn't what it looks like, your droid downstairs said you'd be back soon so I came up to wait for you and when I got up here I heard Luke fall and..." there was suddenly a look of recognition in his eyes as he shook his head and added, "forget it, I don't even believe it myself and I know I'm telling the truth."

Vader shifted his gaze downward and looked at his son.

Luke had one hand covering his mouth and had his fingers spread far out to half cover his face, but his father could still read the expression on his son's face. Luke was annoyed, mildly embarrassed, and clearly wished he was anywhere else right now, but that was it, not mortified, not terrified. Right offhand, Vader couldn't figure out what was going on here but it was obvious it hadn't been anything nefarious.

"Luke?"

Luke squinted his eyes half shut but lowered his hand and explained, "He was helping me."

Han nodded and pointed to show that Luke's left leg was bent behind him at the knee till his foot was practically touching his back. It twitched and Luke squeezed his eyes shut and let out a small groan.

"He was trying to walk on his own and this started," Han explained, "some kind of muscle spasm."

Vader knelt down on one prosthetic knee to better assess the situation. He could see Luke's leg kept twitching and each time it did his leg tried to bend behind him a little further until it was practically a triangle. The dark lord placed one hand on the spot in question, through his neurotransmitters he could feel one muscle knotted tightly, and he could feel something pulsating like it was trying to rip loose.

Luke let out a half stifled yelp as he felt his father's durasteel thumbs press against the spot that seemed to have taken on a rampant life of its own just a few minutes ago, he felt the solid pressure of the prosthetic digits kneading the muscle just as he did every morning when they started his rehabilitative exercises. After several excruciating minutes of his leg trying to bend itself even further back, the spasm finally ended and he felt his knee unlock and moaned in relief as his leg unbent and lay flat against the floor again.

"Thank you," he heaved out, feeling utterly exhausted after that ordeal.

"What were you doing out of bed?" Vader inquired.

Luke hesitated slightly before answering, "I wanted to see if I could make it without anybody's help. I hate this."

"You are doing well, Luke, but you still need to be patient," he told his son.

Han leaned down and grabbed Luke's hand to pull him to his feet, "Come on, junior, let's get you back in bed so you can rest."

Vader took a step back and watched as the captain slowly pulled Luke up and in one gradually fluid movement got Luke seated on the edge of his bed again, then nudged him to lay back against the pillows and replaced the covers over him.

"Thanks, Captain Solo," Luke said quietly and humbly.

"Don't mention it, kid," the Corellian responded. "I need to talk to your old man now, you take it easy and I'll see you 'round."

Vader pointed a finger to the door, which slid open in the process. "Captain Solo, go wait for me in my private chambers."

"Yes sir," Han gave a small salute and quickly walked out of there.

Vader turned back to his son. "Is there anything you need?"

Luke shook his head.

"Have you eaten?"

He shook his head again.

"I will be back in a few moments," Vader told the boy.

Luke nodded. "Okay."

Vader paused for a moment, hovering over his son, before asking, "How long has Captain Solo been here?"

Luke was visibly confused as he answered, "He came in about 10 minutes ago when he heard me fall."

"And that's all that happened?"

Luke scowled up at him. "Father."

"I just want to be sure."

"He saved me," Luke insisted, "he wouldn't do anything wrong."

Vader looked down at him and said nothing at first, then finally he replied, "I know."

"What brings you here, Captain Solo?" Vader asked when he entered his chambers.

The young captain looked at the dark lord uncertainly for a few seconds, then he answered, "My superiors told me that I'd been transferred here to the palace security detail."

"That transfer was scheduled for tomorrow," Vader told him.

Han nodded. "Yeah, I know, but I figured I'd better come over now in case it turned out to be a glitch in the report."

"No, it was correct," Vader said. "From a certain point of view."

Han raised an eyebrow questioningly, "I'm afraid I don't understand, sir."

"You are being transferred here to the palace, but I have other use for you," Vader answered.

For some reason that sent a cold chill down the Corellian's back.

"Okay?" he responded, having no idea what he was supposed to say.

"Outside of myself and some of the palace staff, Luke has seen no one since his attack, he wishes to see no one, talk to no one."

"I...can't really say I'm surprised," Han said, not sure where this was going.

"But he responds to you, further evidenced by what just happened," Vader pointed out. "I will be leaving for the Outer Rim soon, under the circumstances I don't trust taking Luke with me, I also don't trust leaving him alone for that amount of time."

"Oh," Han thought he was starting to get it, "so I've been assigned to Luke's security detail."

"Not exactly," Darth Vader responded. "While I'm gone, he's going to need someone to help him with his treatments, and I think it will be beneficial for him to have someone to talk to whom he trusts."

There was a confused look in the Corellian's eyes that gave way to a blank expression as he said in a dumbfounded tone, "So...I haven't been transferred to the palace security detail...I've been transferred here as Luke's companion."

If anyone else would've said it, they would already be dead on the floor, the way the sentence was put together it had a default air of disdain to it, but it was obvious the captain's brain was merely trying to put the pieces together in an already confusing situation.

"In a way," he answered. "You have already proven yourself trustworthy with my son's life. I believe your presence will prove therapeutic for him. First I must bring you up to date on what's happened since you were here last."

Once the dark lord was finished explaining the situation, Han merely stared ahead with an almost blank look on his face and said in a monotone voice that sounded like he was just barely grasping the concept, "Psychosomatic, huh? Whoa, that's a tough break..."

"The medics have stressed how important it is Luke believes he's receiving legitimate treatment for his condition," Vader told him. "They will show you the exercises he must do every day."

Han slowly nodded his head, "Okay, sure, I can do that...no problem. Is there anything else I should know?"

"I will determine that over the next few days while you're here, before my ship leaves."

Han nodded again. "Okay...so...what do I tell Luke?"