A/N: Oh, hey, I've been recovering from COVID a bit better than I anticipated and was able to get this into a shape I mostly like.
Leia woke stiff and groggy with the vast vacuum of space stretching in front of her. She blinked a few times, rubbed the sleep out of her eyes with her palms, and yawned. She wasn't as cold as she expected to be, and realized a light, woven blanket had been draped over her while she slept curled up in the captain's chair. The blanket was a mossy green, obviously made of fine natural fibers, and looked like it would be itchy though it was actually very soft. She didn't recall ever seeing it before — not in Han's cabin, not in the locker of extra bedding in the crew cabin — and surmised it must belong to Chewie. She rubbed the edge of it between her fingers and smiled slightly before looking around.
Han was in Chewie's seat, adjusting a couple of controls but Leia was pretty sure he knew she was awake. "Sorry," she said through another yawn. "Didn't mean to take your spot." She didn't move much, but shifted her weight so she could press her fingers into a knot that had formed in her shoulder.
Han shrugged. "I'd've woken ya if I needed you to move," he said, his attention obviously focused on whatever he was looking at. He typed something into the navigator. "Got a message that they had to move the cruiser. Headin' to the D'Qar system."
Leia sat up straight in alarm. "Did they say what happened? Were we attacked? How much more time is it adding to the trip?"
"Whoa, hold on," Han said, sitting back in Chewie's seat. "They didn't say, I don't know, and," he glanced at the navigation screen, "coupla days."
She shoved her hand in her pocket and retrieved her comm. There was, indeed, a coded message from Seertay along with another message announcing an emergency Command call that morning. Leia checked the time. She had an hour before the call. "I can't believe I slept through two messages," she said as she tapped in a response to Command. She couldn't remember ever sleeping through a message.
"Scaring the hell outta everyone exhausting work?" Han asked mildly.
Leia squinted at him. "How, pray tell, did I scare the hell out of everyone?"
Han scoffed, obviously irritated. "I dunno, Leia, when the entire group comes back and says you ran off after some stormtroopers on your own, tends to make people nervous."
She frowned. Nervous was not how she would have described anyone's demeanor upon her arrival. Einara had been furious, Nihal had seemed fairly calm, and the other pathfinders had seemed more appalled by her tiff with Einara than anything else. "People or you?" she asked.
"Chewie was worried, too," he said lamely. "What were you doin'?"
Leia bristled. "You heard what I told Nihal. The four prisoners might've known information about the Alliance. I gave them a chance to not be interrogated for it." She paused. "There were no perfect choices. I did what I thought would result in the least amount of harm for the Alliance."
"You coulda been killed."
She shrugged. "I'm one person." Han stared at her and shook his head slightly. Leia felt the urge to continue trying to explain, but speaking the words was too much. I'm one person and I have already caused so much damage to the galaxy, Han. I'm trying to fix everything I can. Everything I can.
"You'll really do anything for this thing, wontcha?"
Leia tilted her head slightly, surprised that he had to ask. "Anything," she said firmly.
Han stared a moment more before changing the subject entirely. "You wantin' to sleep some more?"
She shook her head. "I have a Command call in less than an hour. I'd better not."
He stood and jerked his head toward the corridor, fingers brushing over her shoulder briefly. "Caf?" Leia nodded and stood to follow him.
Einara sat in the lounge, mug gripped in her hands. She looked up as Han and Leia entered the area, averting her eyes when Leia met her gaze. Han dispensed two mugs of caf, shoving the chipped, yellow mug Leia usually chose toward her. She retrieved the dwindling container of fresh bantha milk from the conservator and splashed a bit into both her caf and his — they drank theirs nearly the same way if fresh milk was available, though Han sometimes wanted more milk than she poured. The container was nearly empty when she finished. Leia wiggled it in the air in front of Han.
"Almost out," she said,
"It's gonna be powdered here for awhile then," Han said. "Unless there's fresh on Home One."
"It's all powdered," Einara said. "Supply runners don't bother with fresh. It's too much of a hassle for that many beings." She scoffed softly. "I'm surprised you could get fresh."
Han smirked. "I can get just about anything you could want," he bragged. He took a sip of caf, seemed to try to hide a grimace, and took the milk from Leia to add more to his cup.
Leia rolled her eyes in Han's sightline, but turned to Einara with a pleasant smile. "Han and Chewie kept us well-stocked with hard-to-find items."
"Are they going to have a hard time without you?" Einara asked, looking at Han. "The outpost?
"Miserable," Han said, practically preening.
Leia sat across from Einara at the dejarik table. "You can't stroke his ego like that. He becomes insufferable."
"So insufferable that you had a conniption when I tried to leave?" Han said, eyebrows raised. He backed toward the corridor, waiting for Leia's scowl before grinning and turning to walk out of the space.
Leia turned back to Einara who had taken up studying her caf very intently. "I wanted to talk about yesterday," Leia said.
Einara's cheeks flushed violet. "I shouldn't have pushed you," she said carefully. "But I'm not sorry for what I said."
"I'm not asking for an apology," Leia said. "I just want to talk."
"We were sitting on a time bomb." Einara's words were rushed, as if she thought Leia might interrupt at any moment. "I don't want to assume what you do and don't know, Organa. I know you've seen a lot. I get that. But they were about to send troopers into the houses while everyone was in the square so they could take a look around and be waiting for anyone with anything suspicious and if they had seen me…" Einara shook her head. "I'm suspicious on sight. I don't think you understand what that's like."
Leia arched her brow slightly. "I have a record-setting bounty on my head. I have people looking for me galaxy-wide."
Einara huffed quietly and shook her head again before looking at Leia. "You get a second glance, a moment of pause. Even if someone thinks they know who you are, you could just be a random female human with brown hair and brown eyes. I'm a Twi'lek walking around without an owner to vouch for me. I don't get a moment of pause before being watched with suspicion, and our missions cannot afford extra suspicion."
Leia considered her words in silence. She had lived a life of being recognized, but it had been as she had explained to Nihal: she knew when she was recognized and when she could slip away into obscurity, and, until the past year, most recognition had been accompanied by respect or at least vague admiration. She wasn't viewed as inherently suspicious by those who didn't know who she was, not like Einara and even Chewie would be to outsiders. Not like, in more recent days, natural-born Alderaanians whose skin and hair and facial features betrayed their heritage to anyone familiar with the planet.
She nodded slowly and looked Einara in the eye. "I understand that our experiences of the galaxy are inherently different, and I will try to be more aware of how those differences complicate situations moving forward." Leia hesitated, not desiring to commandeer the conversation, but wanting to explain herself further. "I may not have considered all of the possible issues with my going after them, but I did think through it. I wasn't being reckless. I took a calculated risk that I do truly believe only endangered myself."
Einara snorted in disbelief and shook her head. "Oh, yeah, like that's not a big deal in and of itself."
Leia shrugged. "I'm no more important than anyone else on this team. A casualty is a casualty."
Continuing to shake her head, Einara pursed her lips. "That sounds really nice, and I'm sure you want to believe it. But I think we both know that it isn't remotely true."
"The Alliance continued when my parents died," Leia said woodenly, shoving recollections of how insulting and wrong and hurtful that fact had felt mere months prior to the back of her mind. If she was honest with herself, it still felt insulting and wrong and hurtful that the Alliance had continued, that the galaxy hadn't folded in on itself, that beings went on with their lives when those she loved most couldn't, but she was doing her best to counteract that particular pain by continuing their work. It was the only thing she could do.
"The Alliance continued because we had a huge win right after they died. If we hadn't…" Einara shrugged. "We're not a personality cult; I know we would have tried to continue on. But it would have been much more difficult without the Death Star being destroyed. That was a massive morale boost after an almost insurmountable blow."
Leia considered her words and nodded slowly. "That's fair. And I know I'm important to some people. But I cannot live for my own safety. That isn't what I signed up for. I'm going to do what I think is best for the Alliance no matter what." She looked Einara in the eye. "There were no perfect choices in this situation. I saw an opportunity to limit harm done by the Empire and I'm glad I took it. I'd do it again."
Einara tented her hands in front of her face, closing her eyes. She sighed heavily. Leia looked at her teammate with equal parts intrigue and concern. "Are you all right?" she asked.
Einara opened her eyes and shrugged, a mirthless laugh escaping her lips as she dropped her hands to the tabletop. "I'm fine," she assured Leia. "Just supremely frustrated that I don't have the luxury of taking such opportunities."
The sentiment caused every part of Leia to feel heavy with remorse and duty. She tilted her chin up slightly. "I found out not terribly long ago that my people are being targeted by the Empire. I do not know to what end, but extermination seems likely." She paused. "I'm recognizable because of who I am, but you're right: I do get that moment of pause while someone decides if it's really me or someone else. People who look Alderaanian are not being afforded that luxury any longer. So I'm going to take those opportunities while I'm able. Because your people and Chewie's people and my own people can't. I have to take chances while I have the privilege of doing so." She paused. "I will do a better job at considering how those chances could affect the group, though."
Einara snorted softly, a smile playing at the edges of her lips. "You're such a kriffing politician," she said affectionately, shaking her head.
Leia dropped her jaw in mock outrage. "Excuse me," she said. "I would have monologued for much longer if I were on the Senate floor." She laughed quietly along with Einara before continuing. "I am serious, though. I'm taking chances while I can. For everyone who can't."
Einara nodded. "I know," she said, reaching over and patting Leia's forearm somewhat awkwardly. "It's disgusting how genuine you are about this type of stuff."
The move was due to an apparent fluke — two TIE fighters fell out of a hyperspace lane at the wrong time and nearly rammed directly into Home One. They hadn't appeared to recognize the ship, but Admiral Ackbar thought it best to err on the side of caution and haul everyone halfway across the galaxy.
The pathfinders were debriefed when they finally caught up with the cruiser, and Leia, Jarys, and Einara in particular were encouraged to talk to one of the Alliance therapists on board. Seertay — and apparently Nihal, though it all came from Seertay — thought just being in the presence of a mass execution might have been traumatizing. Leia almost laughed. It had been disturbing, of course, and her heart hurt if she thought about the sixteen bodies lined up in the square for too long. But compared to Alderaan…
She knew comparing traumatic events likely didn't benefit anyone, but she couldn't help it. Every difficult thing she had witnessed since being rescued from the Death Star was automatically compared to Alderaan in her mind. Between the torture and the loss, she carried with her a new benchmark for both physical and emotional pain. If she could survive all of that and continue pushing forward as she was now, she was certain she could survive anything. She just had to find the right things to focus on, the right type of work to do.
The next big mission was just the right thing to focus on. They had a few smaller scouting missions spread out over several weeks, but the big one — a mission to Ruusan to start work on establishing their next foothold — had Leia and the rest of the pathfinders excited to make some perceptible change in the tide, to perhaps pave the way for the Alliance to gain traction in the Mid-Rim. They were waiting on intelligence agents to report back with their findings, and once they had the necessary information, they would leave for Ruusan. If all went well, they would be there for a couple of weeks.
If all didn't go well…
Well, that was why they had spent hours every day for the past two weeks rehashing possible scenarios. Ruusan was odd. Not enough of an Imperial presence to be concerned about immediately being caught, not enough of a sympathizer presence to be sure they were walking into a safe zone. Even with the bit of intelligence that would be gathered before they left, they would likely need to scope things out, determine if they would be attempting to join local factions or if they would be setting up on their own. They had to plan for every contingency. Or, at least as many as they could.
"Think it'll work for the refugees?" Han asked when the group broke for lunch after a couple of hours of talking through plans yet again. He didn't attend most of the planning meetings, but Leia wanted his opinion on a few aspects of the mission, so he had stopped by that morning.
She shook her head slightly as they trailed a few meters behind the others on their way to the mess hall. "I don't know. There isn't a garrison as far as we know there, but that could change at any moment. Mid-Rim is aways riskier than Outer."
"Better for established resources, though," Han said, and Leia couldn't disagree.
"Have you ever been to Ruusan?" she asked, grabbing a bright orange lunch tray and moving through the mess line slightly in front of Han. The midday meal appeared to be a repeat of the past few days — some sort of protein unidentifiable by sight, a grain that she swore she'd once eaten at a Senate event years prior but clearly hadn't been memorable enough for her to recall the name or planet of origin, and boiled ruica. The list of meal components was written on a board posted on the bulkhead outside of the mess hall, but, at Leia's insistence, the pathfinders, along with Han and Chewie when they chose to join them, purposefully didn't read it, opting instead to offer each other increasingly ridiculous theories as to what they were being served. It was a pointless and silly distraction that Luke, Hobbie, and Wes favored during outpost meals, but spreading the activity to Home One made missing them a little more tolerable.
"Been to Ruusan twice, I think," Han said after a moment of thought.
They collected their full trays one after the other and headed to the table the pathfinders had staked out. "Any observations we haven't covered?"
"Casino's real nice there."
Leia shot him a withering look as they settled into seats across from one another at the end of the table. "This isn't a vacation."
"Sweetheart, I can't even remember why I was there. I'm not gonna have any observations that'll be real useful."
She smirked slightly, shoving a bit of mystery protein into her mouth. Too soft to be bantha, but it's more mushy than tender. Is it plant-based? After she swallowed, she met Han's gaze. "You once told me that you remember everything important about every place you've ever been."
He nodded once, swallowing his own bite of food. "Like I said: the casino's real nice."
"We think," Jarys said, pointing to Leia's tray from his spot next to her, "that they melted protein cubes down, let them semi-solidify, and shaped them into patties that look kind of like kod'yok steaks without even attempting to season them."
Leia took another bite of the protein in question, considering the taste and texture briefly before forcing herself to swallow. "I think you might be right." She lowered her voice and leaned slightly in Jarys' direction. "Would they actually do that?"
He shrugged, grinning in amusement. "Dunno. It was just the best guess."
"Protein's protein," Einara added.
"We have gotta get you all real food before you forget what it tastes like," Han muttered.
"You offering to cook for us, Solo?" Naj teased.
"I'll take my chances with the mess," Rory quipped.
"Han and Chewie both cook better than I do," Leia said.
Han smirked. "Don't know how much of a compliment that is, but I'll take it."
Leia forced down most of the meal, reminding herself that she needed the energy despite the unpleasant texture. She shoved her tray toward the center of the table slightly right as the comms of everyone at the table went off in tandem. Leia checked the message from Seertay that had apparently been sent to the entire group.
Intel's in. Briefing 1500. Take-off 0500.
There were dissidents on Ruusan according to their intelligence network. They had coordinates, names of leaders, and even somewhat grainy surveillance images that had obviously been taken from a distance. Leia had memorized the coordinates, studied the names, and could picture the images with clarity in her mind. They were in the right place, but the shelters in the woods had been empty for days.
"Maybe it's the wrong spot," Rory said for the third time.
Leia caught his eye and shook her head, digging her toe into a mixture of dirt and ash — remnants of a campfire, she was sure. "The coordinates match what we were given and this looks like the images. This is the right spot. They must have evacuated."
"What if they were raided?" Naj wondered aloud.
"I don't think they were raided," Nihal said. "There would be bodies. Blood. Something to warn…"
"We would have heard something at the spaceport if Imps had come in, probably," Einara said, sounding less sure than Nihal.
"Right."
"Well," Leia said after they looked around a few more moments in silence. "Should we regroup on the Falcon? Make a plan from there?"
Everyone agreed and they set off in order to make it back to the ship before dark. They had landed on an actual landing pad at a somewhat remote port that Han had seemed suspicious of. Leia hadn't paid him much mind; Han was suspicious of any plan that didn't originate from his own head, and the location had been repeatedly cleared by the Alliance. Still, they remained quiet and careful as they approached the ship. The ramp was up, and Leia used the code Han had given her to avoid making noise comming him for entry.
Han rushed into view as she reached the top of the ramp, blaster drawn and Leia held up her hands. "Just us," she said, walking past him as he shoved the weapon back into his holster.
"You're back early. What happened?"
"They're gone."
"Gone? Gone how?"
She shrugged. "Looks like they moved. There's no indication they were hurt, nothing left as a warning at the site."
Leia headed into the lounge, Han and the others on her heels. Chewie was seated at the dejarik table, the holo game pieces in front of him flickering slightly. He and Han must have been playing a game to pass the time. Leia retrieved her datapad and opened the mission details, adding to notes as she read what had already been written for the fiftieth time.
"They're still on this planet," Jarys said. "They have to be. There were too many for them to evacuate without being noticed."
"Were they livin' in a camp, or just storing supplies and training in one?" Han asked.
"They had rotating security posted on-site, but seemed to live in town from what intel said," Leia answered. She leaned against the bulkhead, pressing her shoulder and side to the durasteel. Han sidled up next to her, planting a hand above her shoulder and peering at the datapad.
"There's no way for you to get in contact?" he asked.
"We can send a transmission to Seertay. See if intel has another way to find them," Rory suggested.
"Or…" Han trailed off, clearly wanting to be asked for his opinion.
"Or?" Leia arched a brow at him.
"Nearest town's within walking distance. You could scope things out, do some listening, see if anyone local knows anything."
Leia nodded. Han's idea needed some fleshing out, but it seemed an obvious solution. They could go in small groups, spread out, listen at local establishments for any sign of coded conversations, get a feel for a possible Imperial presence.
Nihal seemed more hesitant. "Most of the businesses in town are very small," he said. "Residents will notice if a group of strangers converge on them."
"Depends on the business," Han said.
Leia looked up at him. He had responded to Nihal but was looking directly at her, a smile playing on his lips. "What?" she asked, unsure of what Han found so amusing.
"Know you said this ain't a holiday, sweetheart, but a casino's not a bad place to listen. Lots of people in and out. Blending in shouldn't be too hard."
Leia narrowed her eyes slightly and stayed quiet just long enough to make him wonder if she was actually going to object before tilting her head slightly in concession. "You're not wrong."
Han touched a spot over his heart in mock appreciation. "Wouldn't believe how long I've waited to hear you say that."
"I can hazard a guess," Leia quipped before turning her attention to the pathfinders. "What do we think?"
"It's worth checking out," Einara offered. "Could at least send a couple of people in and scope the place out."
The others nodded and Nihal said, "Agreed. Phibs? Cleave? Within the hour?" Naj and Jarys nodded and Leia tried to ignore the slight pang of annoyance she felt from being left behind. She was used to hiding in plain sight, used to using people's tendency to underestimate her based on her appearance to her advantage. They could certainly use her to gather information.
She wasn't going to whine about the assignment — or lack thereof — though. Who knows how long we'll be on Ruusan? This could be the first of many nights here. She spent the time Jarys and Naj were gone playing dejarik with Rory and helping Chewie replace a few fuses before settling down with her datapad again to go over her notes from the day.
When the pair returned, Leia sat in the lounge with the others, ready to listen to their observations. The casino was busy, they said, and the clientele was almost entirely human, well-dressed but not ostentatious, and starting bets in the thousands at most tables with only a handful of lower-stakes games being played. They hadn't spoken to anyone directly, but listened a bit at a few tables and a bar, and hadn't heard anything of interest.
"Gotta talk to people," Han said once they finished.
"Not really our area of expertise," Naj said.
"Talkin' to people?" Han asked drolly.
She shrugged somewhat awkwardly. "I don't strike up conversations with strangers in my everyday life. I can't even imagine what that would look like if I'm trying to gather information. Anyone would see through me. There's a reason I'm not in intelligence."
"Same here," Jarys said.
"You just gotta give 'em something to talk about," Han said. When he was met with mostly blank stares, he glanced at Leia a bit helplessly. She shrugged, unsure of what he was expecting of her. "You have someone go in and get settled, then someone else does somethin' to make a scene. Gives you an in with the people around you — somethin' to be appalled at together — then you make conversation."
"What sort of scene?" Rory asked.
"Somethin' bad enough to get kicked out but not anything that'll have them calling in the authorities." Han's eyes were on Leia again and she felt as if he were trying to communicate something to her.
She crossed her arms loosely in front of her chest and sighed, recalling a rather annoying conversation from weeks prior. "Like counting cards?" she offered flatly
Han snapped and shook a finger in her direction. "Exactly like countin' cards. It ain't illegal, but they'll want ya out. You make a big deal about it, but don't touch anyone or anything — we don't want assault or destruction of property charges."
"Counting cards playing what?" Einara asked.
"Sabacc," Leia answered before looking at Han for confirmation. He nodded with a small grin on his face.
"Do you know how to count cards, Solo?" Nihal asked. "I don't think the rest of us are well-versed in sabacc."
Han shook his head. "Not my specialty. I like winning fair and square." Leia scowled at the implication that her strategies weren't fair. He knows that annoys me. He's trying to get under my skin. Han tilted his head in her direction, still focused on Nihal. "She knows how, though."
Leia felt her cheeks flush but she nodded regardless. "I can," she agreed, but raised an eyebrow skeptically at Han. "What if they don't notice?"
"They'll notice."
His confidence soured Leia's mood slightly. "I am not that obvious."
He shook his head. "Not to the average player. But casino staff are lookin' for card counters. They'll notice you, they'll tell you to leave. You should make a scene, like you do when I say you're cheatin'."
She narrowed her eyes. "I have never cheated—"
"Yeah, that's the energy you should bring into this," he said, pointing at her.
Leia sat back, arms crossed over her chest. She looked at Rory and Einara. "I don't cheat."
"Right, sweetheart, we heard ya," Han said before continuing his suggestions. "So, she causes a scene. You talk to the people around you 'bout it, say somethin' like, 'This place has really gone downhill since I was here last. Only come here on vacation, so it's been awhile.' You let the them talk, see if they complain, bond over your disgust of the riffraff they're lettin' in to the casino. Once they seem comfortable, you start askin' questions about the area, ask if anything else has changed, that sorta thing."
Naj sighed, shaking her head and rubbing her elbow absently. "This is the kind of thing Kes usually did."
Han looked at Nihal. "You could probably pull it off."
Nihal raised his eyebrows. "Depends. The clientele is mostly human. Do you think they'll believe a Zabrak has enough credits to even be gambling? Will they take me seriously if I'm the one calling her—" He jerked his thumb toward Leia. "—riffraff?
Han tilted his head slightly in reluctant agreement and looked at Naj, who shook her head emphatically. "Like I said: there's a reason I'm not intelligence."
"Oh, don't say that; I think you're plenty smart, Phibs." Han winked.
Leia found herself frowning at the interaction and immediately wondered what her problem was. Han winked more than the average person. He was one of the few beings she knew who could wink and have it come off as charming rather than creepy. He winked at her semi-regularly, had occasionally winked at Luke to let him know he was messing with someone else — usually Leia — and had winked at Shara for similar reasons. But that was Luke and Shara. Naj wasn't someone Han interacted with often, even while on missions. It just seemed…
Actually, Leia wasn't sure how it seemed. Unable to quickly parse why it rubbed her the wrong way, she shoved the topic to the back of her mind for later evaluation. She tuned back in to the conversation that was still going on about who would be staying on the ship and who would be going into the casino.
"I could give it a shot," Rory said, sounding more hesitant than usual. He smiled at Leia briefly, as if she were the one making the decision, before looking at the others.
Han was uncharacteristically quiet, lips pressed together and brow furrowed in consideration. The longer his quiet lasted, the more apparent it became to Leia that he wasn't considering anything; he was holding back.
As the others continued the discussion of who it made sense to send, Leia met Han's gaze and raised an eyebrow in a challenge before walking past him, toward the ring corridor entrance. She touched his wrist lightly as she passed, a signal to follow her that she hoped he understood.
He did apparently, because he was on her heels as she stepped far enough away from the others that they could speak without the fear of being heard and far enough into the ring corridor that no one would watch them talk.
"You'll be okay," he said before she had a chance to say anything.
Leia furrowed her brow at him, annoyed confusion that he felt the need to assure her plain on her face. "I know that. You're holding something back about Rory and I want to know what you're seeing."
Han grimaced slightly. "Kid's green. I don't think this is a good mission for him start dabblin' in subterfuge."
"He's older than me by half a decade and you just said I'll be okay."
"Course I did. You started lyin' to Grand Moffs' faces how long ago?"
The corner of Leia's mouth turned up slightly. "About five years," she said, recalling the first time she had burst into forced tears in the presence of Wilhuff Tarkin.
"I don't think he's got it in him to hold it together in an environment like that." Han paused. "And he's a liability where you're concerned."
Leia looked at him warily. "I don't know what that's supposed to mean."
Han scoffed, shaking his head. He ran his tongue over his teeth. "Sure ya do."
"I really don't," she insisted. What is he talking about?
He studied her carefully before nodding a couple times. "Never mind."
Leia met his gaze with her own, looking at him steadily. His fast retreat was unnerving and made her wonder if she did have something to worry about where Rory was concerned. Han never backed down about anything that quickly, much less told Leia she was right after a disagreement without at least an annoyingly long discussion. Does he think Rory likes me? The thought felt too juvenile to verbalize.
Like the wink at Naj — and perhaps for very similar reasons; she wasn't sure — Leia wasn't in the right headspace to consider anything related to what Han had implied about Rory. She glanced back toward the direction of the lounge before meeting Han's eyes again. "I don't know what other options we have. If Naj and Jarys won't, and Rory's offering…" Leia trailed off, tapping her bottom lip with her thumbnail. She had a thought, but she wasn't sure how he would respond. "You could come with me," she finally said.
He shook his head, though his objection seemed halfhearted. "This ain't my mission."
"Why not? You're here, you have experience we need, which is apparently something the entire team lacks, it's practically your plan. You're kind of the best bet we have if we're going to go in unnoticed and get information out of people."
"You could get information outta people just fine, Leia."
She shook her head. "Not if I'm the one causing a scene. I think you're right; giving people something to talk about will help grease the skids, get conversation flowing. It's a good plan, but it isn't worth a damn thing if the person who sticks around can't get someone to talk."
"And you think I'm gonna be able to do that?"
Leia squinted at him. The question was ridiculous. Of course Han Solo could get just about anyone to talk if he wanted to. She raised an eyebrow pointedly. "You've gotten me to talk before, so, yeah, I think you can handle it."
Han scoffed, a grim smile on his face. He hesitated for the briefest moment before opening his mouth to speak, but ended up just shaking his head. "No."
Leia rested her fingers against her temple, closed her eyes, and sighed. "Fine." She returned to the rest of the group, who had fallen mostly silent, though Nihal was speaking to Rory quietly.
Nihal paused his conversation with Rory to address Leia. "Are you comfortable going in there?"
She nodded. "Yes, I'll be fine." She would. She had deceived senators and moffs and Darth Vader himself; she could manage throwing a minor fit about being kicked out of a casino.
Rory looked at Leia and she hardened her jaw slightly, refusing to glance away from her teammate just because Han had insinuated something awkward. She forced half a smile and Rory smiled back at her briefly before looking over her shoulder. "Solo," he said. "Got something to discuss with you."
Han ran his hand through his hair and brushed past Leia to approach Rory and Nihal. Leia backed away and sat across from Chewie at the dejarik table, but tilted her head ever-so-slightly toward Rory, Han, and Nihal, sure she could keep listening if she kept focused on the group.
"…this place before?" Rory asked.
"Yeah, like I told Leia. Been there a coupla times years back."
"Would you feel comfortable going in to try to figure out what's been going on?"
Leia could practically feel Han's eyes bore into the back of her head, but she didn't turn. "She put ya up to this?"
Rory sounded almost indignant. "No, Nihal and I were discussing our options. Naj and Jarys are right: they're no good with subterfuge. Einara and Nihal are out unless an influx of non-humans suddenly shows up."
"Thought you were goin' in," Han said.
There was a long hesitation before Rory said, "I think she'll be safer with you."
"She's safe as long as she has a weapon to aim," Han said casually. Leia bit her bottom lip, suppressing a small smile and shooting a glance toward Chewie, whose grin told her that he was likely listening in himself. His hearing was better than even hers.
"The stakes are too high on this one. I've never done anything undercover and I've been informed that I'm not exactly subtle."
"And I'm known for my subtlety," Han said flatly.
Leia snorted before she could stop herself, but managed to press her lips together hard enough to prevent a full-blown laugh from escaping her mouth.
It didn't matter. "If you're gonna listen, Worship, you might as well join us," Han said, obviously short on patience.
Leia turned on the stool, eyebrow arched and expression as neutral as she could manage. She said nothing, but noticed Rory glance in her direction. She felt her cheeks flush entirely of their own volition.
[You weren't exactly being quiet, Cub,] Chewie defended. Leia shot him a quick, thankful smile before turning back to Han, Nihal, and Rory.
Han pinched the bridge of his nose, obviously frustrated at being outnumbered. Leia didn't need to express her opinion on the matter again; he already knew she would prefer he go in with her. Instead of making further arguments in favor of him going, she watched him carefully, waiting for him to speak again.
"I've never gambled," Rory added. "I don't think I'd last long even at one of the lower-stakes tables and we don't exactly have a fortune to play with._"
"Fine," Han conceded. He looked Leia in the eye and pointed a finger in her direction. "But if I say we need to get outta there, we leave."
Han seemed prepared for an argument, but she had no objections. She trusted him, and besides, he knew more about the casino than she did. "Fine by me."
Leia waited a solid twenty minutes after Han entered the casino, straightening her spine as she walked and attempting to look like someone who was attempting to look like she belonged. That was what they had decided on for her character: she was a barely tested grifter, attempting to blend in so she could settle in at a sabacc table and count cards, and she wasn't particularly skilled in either department.
She had chosen the jacket she wore from one of Han's trunks of abandoned belongings. It was red and bore a prominent mid-level designer's logo in a repeated pattern on the sleeves. It was the exact sort of thing that beings who weren't familiar with wealth thought wealth looked like, and Leia couldn't think of anything more perfect to quietly signal that she didn't quite belong to anyone who took notice of her.
Any braid that could even be mistaken as being Alderaanian in origin was out as far as her hair was concerned, so she had opted for two simple buns worn near the nape of her neck with some loose pieces of hair pinned in such a way that they covered part of her forehead, almost resembling side-swept bangs. The hair had taken longer than any of her braided styles would have simply because she wasn't accustomed to the style, and she had eventually asked for help from Naj to make sure it looked right.
The casino was bright and loud and, as Naj and Jarys had reported, packed with well-dressed humans. Leia shoved one hand in her jacket pocket as she traded credits for chips and tried to appear as if she wanted to disappear into the crowd.
Han seemed pretty well settled at one of the sabacc tables, though he wasn't interacting with the men on either side of him. He primarily signaled to the dealer with raised fingers, tapping thumbs, and nods. The cards changed hands faster than she was accustomed to playing aboard the Falcon, but Leia was confident she could keep up if a seat opened up at the table. She lingered near another table where a casino employee tossed ten-sided dice and, every so often, a minor swell in the volume of the voices around her indicated that someone had won something. Leia glanced at the table where Han sat, pointedly ignoring any glance she sensed coming from his direction. The man sitting three seats away from Han left abruptly and Leia made a beeline for the table, slipping onto the empty stool before anyone else could and dropping a handful of chips on the table.
Leia glanced at the dealer's stack of cards and realized that she hadn't seen anything indicating which variety of sabacc they were playing. There were dozens of versions of the game and Han's favorite — Corellian Spike — used fewer cards per deck. She knew Han only played Corellian Spike and Coruscant Shift if he could help it, and he had taught her both. There were no dice on the table, so Leia surmised that they were likely playing Coruscant Shift, which meant seventy-six cards per deck. She looked between the players, the draw pile, and the empty spot where discards should go, and estimated that they were working with four decks. That was enough information for her to start counting.
Han looked at her, expression stony, before moving on to the other players at the table. He had made a similar sweep with his eyes when she had been at the other table, apparently watching everyone for signs of…something. Leia wasn't convinced that he was looking for anything in particular, but thought he might just be committed to the routine and was trying not to deviate.
Leia glanced around a bit more obviously than she would have if she had actually been attempting to hide her movements. The cards she was dealt were promising, but she needed to stick it out a few rounds in order to get a feel for which cards might be left in the deck. As each player showed their cards, she kept a mental tally, adding for high-value cards, subtracting for low-value.
She bombed out once on purpose, watching the rest of the table carefully as they played their hands and acclimating herself to counting at a quicker pace. During the next round, she lucked into a Pure Sabacc and couldn't resist playing the nearly unbeatable hand. She glanced around the table again, taking note of everyone's plays and tallying up their card values.
Just exactly like you did before when you didn't know it was cheatin', Han had said a mere hour earlier. Leia had, of course, argued that she didn't cheat, she was working with information that was free for anyone in the game to use, and who would bother to cheat at a card game, anyway, but he had ignored her entire rant before repeating himself. Just exactly like before.
She lost another round before winning four in a row. She had a handle on the card counts after the first five rounds, and had just placed her bet on what would likely be her seventh win out of ten rounds when she felt someone's presence directly behind her. Leia breathed to keep calm, reminding herself to act a little careless, a little suspicious, and very, very annoyed once she was spoken to.
"Miss?" the man behind her said, his voice firm.
Leia glanced up at him and tilted her head coquettishly. "Yes?" she said, using the Andaran accent she and Amilyn had both perfected a couple of summers prior. It had been a sort of momentary diversion at the time, something a bit silly to focus on that wasn't suspicious senators and moffs or dead boyfriends or parents in mortal peril. She hadn't imagined then that the practice would prove itself particularly useful, but now that disguising herself and hiding any evidence of her home planet was more of a priority, Leia was glad for the time spent developing the speech pattern.
"You need to come with me," the man said. Leia turned her entire body so she could see him more easily. He wore a security guard's uniform, badge and all, and stared at her with an exhausted, solemn expression. He was at least double her weight, but he had kind eyes, and she didn't see him attempting to use force. She almost felt bad about what she planned to put him through. He appeared thoroughly tired of people.
First, an attempt at charm, though. She shot him a winning smile and shook her head slightly, nose wrinkling. "I'm right in the middle of a game—"
"I understand, but you need to come with me."
Leia allowed her face to fall and her volume to rise. "I'm allowed here same as anyone," she said, voice laced with indignation.
The guard shook his head. "I need you to come with me."
Leia shook her head in response and turned back to the dealer, raising a couple of fingers to signal that she intended to be dealt in. The dealer looked from Leia to the guard, clearly unsure as to whether she should deal cards to Leia. The security guard shook his head again, this time while looking at the dealer.
"All right, game's over for you, Miss. You need to come with me."
Leia crossed her arms in front of her chest in a huff and swiveled on her stool to again face the guard. "I can be here same as anyone," she said, voice a bit louder, tone a bit frantic.
"Not doing what you're doing. You need to leave."
Leia scoffed loudly, voice raising in volume with every syllable. "I'm not doing anything wrong!" she protested.
"Ma'am, you need to go," the guard said.
"Let me finish my kriffing game!" Leia shouted, earning stares from every player at the table as well as a few others.
The guard placed his hand on her bicep and out of the corner of her eye, Leia saw Han's hand drift subtly to his hip, ready to draw his blaster if need be. She jerked her arm from the guard's grasp, eyes meeting Han's for the briefest second to attempt to reassure him. "Don't touch me," she said loudly to the guard. "This is ridiculous. Someone has a few good games and suddenly, it's criminal."
"No one said anything about it being criminal," the guard said. "But if you won't leave, that's trespassing, and I'll have to call the—"
"Fine," Leia sneered, standing so abruptly, she knocked her stool over in the process. She ignored it and started toward the exit, ranting the entire walk. "This is a trashy place, anyway. Probably don't have enough to pay out for the games I already won, huh?"
"That was…interesting," Leia heard Han murmur to the man next to him as she passed by them, the guard two steps behind her. She hoped the spectacle had been enough of an in, that his mark — or anyone who might have information, really — would be willing to chat.
Leia left the casino, checking behind her to make sure the guard stopped following her once she exited the building. She walked down one street and up another, seeming to meander as she kept her eyes peeled for anyone who might take an interest in her. Finally, satisfied that she wasn't being followed or paid any attention to in the least, she made her way back to the Falcon to wait for Han.
Leia passed the time following Chewie around the ship, asking for things to do to keep busy until even his patience was worn thin. She was nervous about Han — it had occurred to her in the hour or so since she had left the casino that he had obviously been hesitant to go in, and that perhaps there had been a reason for that. Maybe he wasn't just being ornery or difficult; maybe he was in danger and she had left him—
After Chewie assured her that there was nothing else she could help with on the ship, Rory asked if she wanted to play more dejarik. "I'm pretty bad," he said. "I could use the practice."
She agreed, her mind whirring with worry toward Han. Rory tried to make a few lighthearted quips in an obvious attempt to distract her, but Leia couldn't stop thinking about the fact that she had left — she had left the casino — she should have made a couple of loops and hung around outside in case he needed back-up, in case something happened. He was wanted by the Empire, too, after all, not to mention the Hutts. What if a bounty hunter—
The familiar mechanical creaking of the Falcon's ramp lowering caused Leia to leap to her feet and hurry to the entrance of the ship. Han ran a hand through his hair as he boarded and quickly hit the button to raise the ramp. Leia glanced over her friend, taking in his entire appearance. He looked none the worse for wear and even smirked a bit when he saw her.
"Took you long enough," Leia said, forcing a casual tone.
"Your arm all right?" he asked, glancing around at the others as they filtered into the main hold from other parts of the ship. His tone implied some deeper meaning to his words that Leia wasn't sure how to parse.
"You hurt your arm?" Rory asked.
Leia shook her head, trying to decode what Han was talking about. She hadn't hurt her arm—
"It looked like you had it under control or I woulda hauled us both outta there," Han continued, still looking at Leia.
Oh. The security guard had taken hold of her bicep. It had been such a non-issue that she had forgotten entirely, but she now recalled Han's hand frozen near his hip as she had yelled at the guard. Leia shook her head. "It's fine. He barely touched me. I don't think he wanted to be there any more than you did."
Han scoffed. "For good reason. You were real insufferable."
Leia pursed her lips before grinning. "I'll take that as a compliment." She paused. "This time. What did you find out?"
"There's an arms dealer in town who does unlicensed custom mods on the side."
Einara raised an eyebrow, arms crossed in front of her chest. "What's that got to do with anything?"
"If they're stockpiling weapons, they're gettin' 'em from somewhere," Han said.
"They've gotta know something, right?" Jarys said.
Nihal folded his hands thoughtfully. "It's something to follow up on at least, and it's about all we've got. Seertay said we have the most up-to-date intel available from our people, so we're working blind otherwise." He looked at Han. "Good job, Solo."
"Don't thank me just yet," Han said, taking on a sort of forced laziness in his tone that Leia was certain was a front. "May not turn up anything."
"You still went in regardless," Nihal said. "Thank you."
Han nodded jerkily, apparently uncomfortable with the sudden positive attention. He shifted awkwardly, seemingly ready to leave the main hold as soon as the others busied themselves with planning. Leia looked at him as he stepped toward the ring corridor and, meeting his gaze, mouthed Thank you. He smiled at her, a slight, genuine smile rather than the smug smirk he wore the majority of the time. Nodding one more time, he slipped into the ring corridor, leaving the pathfinders to their planning.
The lead was a good one. The insurgents on Ruusan were, as Han suspected, working with the arms dealer. Using that contact as a mediator, Leia and Nihal were able to get a message to the leadership of the local rebels who agreed to meet, first in town to confirm identities, then at the insurgents' training grounds.
They had moved, one of the leaders explained to the entire group of pathfinders, because they had spotted an Alliance intelligence agent and assumed they were Imperial spies. "We've already had to take care of one double agent," the leader, Taala, further explained as they walked the grounds, flanked by insurgent guards who Leia assumed were as armed as she and the others were. "Not something we want to repeat."
"What does that mean exactly?" Leia asked, fighting to keep her voice even. "'Had to take care of'?"
Taala looked at Leia skeptically. She was a tall, rangy, human with a hair color and complexion that reminded Leia of her own father's — both were several shades darker than her own. She had to peer down somewhat to look Leia in the eye, which Leia was sure appeared to be an intimidating stance from an outsider's point of view. Leia wasn't intimidated, though. "You probably don't want to know," Taala said.
"As a former double agent who was interrogated by the Empire and scheduled for execution myself, I very much want to know how our potential allies treat such people," Leia said, emotion sapped from her tone.
Taala studied Leia, amber eyes serious. "We checked his transmissions, asked him a few questions, and when he wouldn't cooperate, we shot him."
"You didn't use any special methods to encourage him to answer your questions?" Leia probed.
"Yeah, I used the muzzle of my blaster pressed to his skull as a bit of encouragement," Taala said coolly.
Leia nodded, pit growing in her stomach. She wondered briefly if she'd ever be entirely numb to such talk. "No torture, then?" she clarified.
"We don't commit war crimes, if that's what you're getting at."
"Blasting someone you've disarmed and captured isn't a war crime now?" Einara challenged.
"Taala," Leia said, shooting Einara a warning look. "We know we're not going to be aligned in every way. No two beings in the Alliance are. But there are certain key areas that have to be agreed upon."
Taala sighed. "We don't user torture, we don't take hostages. Mhar put us in a tough spot and was threatening our families. It was take him out or lose the entire operation and put everyone associated with us at risk. Possibly put the entire planet at risk. You know about what happened on Tibrin, don't you? Militias slaughtered, a garrison on the planet indefinitely? We don't want that here."
The group nodded, though Leia was glad that no one offered the information that they had been present the day the garrison had been put in place on Tibrin. "We don't, either," she said.
"Right, so I had to make a decision. It wasn't an easy one to make, I assure you, but I think anyone would've done the same if they'd been in my place."
Desperate people do desperate things. Han's almost-mantra rang through Leia's mind as she considered whether she would have done the same in Taala's place. She honestly wasn't sure, but she didn't think the issue, heinous as it was, was enough to turn away from an advantageous partnership. This was war, after all; they all had to make concessions. And it wasn't as if Taala seemed happy about the turn of events with this Mhar person.
Taala finished showing the group what she was willing to reveal, and Leia, Nihal, and Naj handled most of the negotiations. The group seemed eager to give the Alliance space if they had access to supplies and training, which were a given for most allies anyway. As they left the meeting, Leia felt a hundred kilos lighter and more energized than she had in days. They finally had a promising spot for an outpost.
The Alliance would soon have a permanent place in the Mid-Rim.
A/N: I'm just gonna take a moment to say that I promise there are no love triangles in this story's future. Just in case anyone was worried. I hate that nonsense.
Anyway, it's that time again when I need to take a longer break than usual because of life stuff - there's a whole list of things that I just need to get done. I am hoping that I'll get the next chapter out earlier than planned (and I easily might), but for my own sanity, I am setting the next chapter date for Friday, November 3. After that, I should return to my normal 3-week updating schedule. This season of life is just a little crazy right now.
Thanks again for reading and I'd love to hear what you thought of how things are panning out so far!