Han had been in the process of falling asleep when the sudden noise of someone screaming nearby jolted him wide awake and clear out of bed.

"Luke?"

There was another scream. Han grabbed his blaster and ran towards the door. In the dark he couldn't see anything and he ran right into the door. Palming it open he rushed out into the hall and over to Luke's room two doors away.

Palming that door open, he was met with more of the pitch black darkness, but his other senses weren't detecting any imminent danger. He reached over for the lights and squinted as they came on and blinded him for a second. A familiar sound came up behind him and he turned and saw Darth Vader had also come to find out what was going on. Turning back, Han saw what happened was Luke had fallen out of bed and was on the floor, hysterical.

Han holstered his blaster and knelt down in front of the kid.

"Luke..."

The boy let out a terrified scream and latched onto Han with an unexpected amount of force.

Han awkwardly put an arm around Luke's shoulders as the kid hugged him in a death grip and was rambling incoherently.

"Luke, what is it?"

A few more panicked sounds escaped the kid before he was able to form the words, "They were here."

It took Han's brain a second to realize what Luke was saying.

"They were here!"

"No, Luke," Han said softly in the kid's ear, trying to force the kid to listen to him, "there's nobody here, you're safe now."

The captain found himself looking up at the red tinted lenses watching the whole thing unfold. Vader stood back, the sound of his respirator the only audible proof he was even in the room.

Luke moaned and whimpered as he tried to press himself even tighter against Han, still caught in the throes of his nightmare.

"They came back," he half whispered, terrified.

Han shook his head and tried to figure out what he was going to do.

"No, Luke, think back...the men who hurt you are dead, remember?"

Luke moaned through closed lips as he slowly recalled.

"That's right," he said quietly, "because you killed them. You saved me."

Han wasn't sure how to answer that. At any other time he'd be thrilled to take credit for something that made him look good, but it just didn't feel appropriate right now.

Luke pressed himself harder against the captain, one more nudge and they'd both tip over and fall on the floor.

"Han," Luke's voice was quieter, desperate, "stay with me, please."

Han's eyes got big with puzzlement and uncertainty as he tried to figure out the most diplomatic way out of this.

"Me?" he asked in disbelief. Turning his eyes upward he looked to the dark lord for some hint of an appropriate answer as he stumbled along, "well...I'm not sure about..."

Vader finally answered, though it wasn't what Han had been expecting.

"I think that would be an excellent idea."

"You do?" Han blinked.

Vader knelt down on one prosthetic and helped pull Luke to his feet and take the unbalanced weight off the traumatized captain, "Let's get you back in bed, Luke."

Han felt his own legs turn to rubber under him and he sat on the floor for a second, gathering his thoughts. Darth Vader held Luke up and assisted the boy as he crawled back into the bed. Luke scooted around before settling on his back and Vader pulled the covers over him. Han noted the way Vader tucked the ends of the blanket behind Luke's shoulders.

"Do you need anything?" the dark lord asked.

Luke shook his head. Through the blankets he felt a durasteel hand pat his knee.

"Sleep well, child."

"Thank you, Father."

Darth Vader turned towards the Corellian captain.

"You will inform me if anything happens."

"Uh, sure," Han nodded.

Vader left the room, and Han found himself standing there for a minute in a stupor, before it finally sunk in what he was expected to do. He placed his blaster on the dresser, walked around to the unoccupied side of the bed, pulled the covers back and slipped in beside Luke.

"You okay, kid?" he inquired.

Luke nodded.

"Good, maybe we'll be able to actually get some sleep."

Luke let out a small sound as he laid further back against the pillows and closed his eyes. Han watched him for a couple minutes before also falling asleep himself.


Han had no idea how long he'd been asleep, but when he woke up, the room was still dark. At first he tried to remember just what had woken him up. Then he heard the sounds coming from the other side of the bed. Turning on his side he looked and saw Luke had his back to him and had his face pressed hard into the pillows, which weren't able to completely stifle the soft sobs coming from the teenager.

Han half sat up, "Luke?"

Even in the dark he saw the boy's whole body stiffen once he realized Han was also awake. He didn't respond, merely turned even further away from the captain.

Han reached over and grabbed Luke's arm and gently rolled the kid over towards him, half whispering, "Hey, hey, it's alright, you're okay, Luke." As he spoke he slowly gathered the teenager in his arms and held him close but not tight as he assured Luke, "it's over, you're safe now, nobody's going to hurt you again."

He could feel Luke's body trembling against him, felt more than he saw Luke bring his hands up over his mouth as he sobbed more uncontrollably, and futilely tried to fight it.

"It's alright, you're alright, kid," Han told him as he gently pulled Luke's hands down, "talk to me, kid, tell me what's wrong."

Luke raised his hands up to his eyes and tearfully replied, "I can't."

"Sure you can," Han replied, "listen, kid, it doesn't matter what it is, you can tell me...trust me."

All he got in return was an incoherent sobbing howl. He reached up with one hand and lightly patted Luke's hair as he continued holding the boy with his other arm. It felt like forever, but Luke finally calmed down enough to tell him, "I've tried so hard not to think about what happened that night, but it just keeps coming back and I can't get it to stop."

Han nodded. "I know, I understand."

Luke rolled onto his back and away from Han as he moaned, "If I'd just gotten home on time..."

Han swallowed the tears that were making his throat tight, and he told the boy, "Luke, you can't blame yourself for what happened."

"I know," Luke balled up a hand and rubbed his eye, "Father said if it hadn't been that night, it still could've happened, somewhere else...someone else..."

"Well that's one definite possibility," Han remarked, "but there's another one I don't think you're considering."

Luke quieted down and looked at the older man. "What's that?"

"Let's say you did leave the festival on time that night...you headed for home when you were supposed to, you wouldn't have had to take that shortcut through the alley...where were those men hours earlier?"

Luke thought about it for a moment and shrugged his shoulders, "I don't know. I never got a good look at them, I don't know if I'd seen them earlier that night or not."

"Exactly," Han replied, "they could've been anywhere that night...even if you'd done everything right, you still could've run into them, and the same thing could've happened anyway. And it could've been worse, because as crowded as the streets were, it could've even happened in the middle of everything, and there would've been too many people around for anyone to even notice what was happening."

Luke pulled the blankets tighter as this newfound fact sent a sudden chill running through him. "I never thought about it like that."

"Trust me, kid, you can't spend your life second guessing these kinds of things...there's no guarantee the outcome would've been any better, no matter what you did."

Luke somberly nodded in silent agreement.

"I just hate it...I hate what they did to me," he said as he pushed himself to half sit up in the bed.

"I know, Luke," Han reached over and wrapped an arm around Luke's back and pulled the kid against him, "I know."

There was a brief pause before Han felt his whole galaxy shattering as Luke asked, "How do you know?"

"Huh?" Han pulled back.

"How do you know about all this stuff?" Luke asked.

Han felt cold chills race from his spine down to his toes.

"I've been around a long time, kid, I've been from one end of this galaxy to the other, and I've seen a lot of things," Han weakly offered.

"Well...I'm sure glad that you were the one that found me that night," Luke said quietly. "I hate to think what would've happened if it had been anyone else."

Han nodded. "Me too, kid, me too."

Luke fell against him and he could feel the tremors running through Luke's body, which matched the low chattering of his teeth as if he were freezing. Han grabbed the covers with his spare hand and pulled them up over both of them and held Luke while he continued to shake and shiver.

"It's alright, kid, it's alright," he quietly reassured Luke.

That was the last thing Han was consciously aware of until some time later when he was awakened again, this time by Luke rolling around on top of him. The room was just as dark now as it was before, this night seemed to be lasting forever. Luke softly moaned in his sleep as he thrashed one way and the other in his sleep. It took Han a minute to figure out the boy was tangled up in the covers and trying to get loose.

"Okay, okay," Han tiredly grumbled as he reached over Luke and pulled the blankets loose, then eased Luke back over to his own side of the bed, and straightened the covers out over both of them. Luke settled down after that and softly sighed as he pressed his face into his own pillow and fell back into an undisturbed slumber. Han lay on his side staring up at the ceiling, thinking, remembering. Sleep didn't come as easily for him after that.


Han was still awake a few hours later when the door slid open and Darth Vader entered the room. He sat up and looked at the dark lord, Luke was slower to respond, but the boy finally acknowledged the presence and the sound of mechanized breathing and groggily asked, "Father?"

Han couldn't be sure because nobody could ever be sure what exactly Vader saw, the red tinted lenses on his mask made it fairly impossible to see just where his eyes focused, but he had a strange feeling the man in black was staring right at him.

"It's all right, Luke," Vader told his son, "go back to sleep, I need to speak with Captain Solo for a moment."

Han blearily nodded, "Yes, sir."

Luke was nowhere near fully awake yet, he tossed onto his side, bunching up the covers and groggily murmured, "No, Han, don't go, stay."

Han swallowed hard as he forced himself to sound more alert and more in control than he felt. "It's alright, kid, I'll be back in a minute, you just stay here and take it easy."

Luke murmured incoherently as he turned over again. Han straightened the covers and tucked them behind Luke's shoulders, then got up and followed Vader out of the room.

Instead of saying anything to the Corellian, Vader led the younger man down to the first floor of the palace and down to the kitchen. The droids were powered down for the night and there wasn't anyone around.

Han didn't wait for Vader to speak, instead he said, "He's a sweet kid, nothing bad should've ever happened to him."

Vader stared at the captain for a moment in otherwise silent puzzlement. In that instant he wasn't aware if Han was actually referring to Luke, or to his own brother.

It was almost as if the Corellian could read his thoughts. Han explained, "My brother had gone out to a holofilm one night with some of his friends, but it ran later that they thought and everybody was scrambling to get home before their parents killed them. Some guy in a speeder offered him a ride home so he wouldn't get in trouble...and...he...and, he uh..."

Vader merely nodded in response, sparing the captain from having to relive that part of history anymore than was absolutely necessary.

"I was in bed when he got home, but I heard him come in," Han told Vader, "he...looked like he'd just escaped from some wild animal. His eyes were huge with fear, terror, he didn't want to tell me what happened, but he did...and he cried...it was the first time I'd ever seen him cry. I didn't know what to do...I hugged him, and I said he should tell our parents." Han shook his head, "He was terrified of what they would do if they found out. He just knew they would blame him for being late, that he knew better than to hitch a ride with someone he didn't know. Even then I realized...he was more afraid of our parents finding out he'd been raped...than he was of the guy who did it to him. I couldn't figure it out...the next day he tried to act like everything was fine...I don't know if our parents actually believed it but if they thought anything was wrong, they didn't say anything. Then it was the next day, and the day after...and the day after...he tried to act like nothing happened, but I could tell, it never left him. He started getting angry all the time and he lashed out at our parents, they didn't know why, they thought maybe it was something going on at school or they thought maybe he was on spice, everybody started yelling at each other all the time and nobody said anything, nobody tried to get to the bottom of it. I begged him to tell our parents what happened, I told him they'd understand, but he was too afraid to tell them the truth...after three years he couldn't take it anymore and he killed himself."

Vader felt a stabbing pain deep behind his chest plate. What he'd gone through with Luke over the past couple weeks ran through his head at hyper speed.

The Corellian maintained eye contact with the dark lord, but it was as if he was staring far past the man in black, as he forced himself to continue, "After he died, I finally told our parents what had happened, I figured they deserved to know the truth...and..." he blinked, and he suddenly looked light years away, "they...they told me to get the hell out of their home...because it was my fault that their son was dead."

As a parent, Darth Vader felt a heavy weight on his heart.

"How old were you when it happened?"

Han blinked, back to the here and now.

"My brother was three years older than me...I was 13 when he came home that night."

The words made sense but it still didn't register in the dark lord's mind.

"Your parents...threw a 16-year-old boy out on the streets...the only child they still had?"

Han's gaze shifted towards the floor, to his boots, anywhere but at the man standing across from him.

"You know, it's funny...I'd always heard about parents having 'favorite' kids but...growing up I never got the impression that ours did, seemed that they always treated us both the same." He finally raised his head to meet the dark lord's gaze, "but boy, when I was all they had left, they didn't want to see or hear even a trace of me again. And I..." he shrugged and shook his head, "I've never been home since. I don't...even know if they're still alive."

Vader said nothing for a moment, he couldn't even begin to imagine what the Corellian had been put through at such a young age.

"I..." when he finally spoke the words didn't come easily, "I am truly sorry for your loss. Perhaps I made a mistake assigning you here."

Han only shook his head in response. "I've relived that night, and those entire three years, every day since it happened, I've always wondered if there was anything I could've said or done differently that he wouldn't have killed himself...and I just don't know. I'd never been in a situation like that before, and I had no idea what to do. The only good thing is this time I have a little more experience, a little better idea what to say. I like to think my being here actually makes a difference for the kid."

"It does," Vader answered, "believe me."

"Yeah, well," Han tried to compose himself, "I better get back before Luke starts freaking out."

"That won't be necessary," Vader told him.

"Actually it is," Han replied, "in a couple hours he's going to be up anyway and then I have to help him-"

"I will help Luke with his exercises this morning, this has been a long night for you," Vader said, "why don't you retire to your own quarters?"

Han considered the offer for a minute before reluctantly nodding in agreement. "Thank you, sir."

His eyes burned and his bones felt heavy, all he wanted to do was go to bed and put this night behind him.

Han trudged up the stairs to the second floor and returned to his room. He turned the lights on only enough so he could make his way over to the bed without knocking into anything. He sat on the edge and eyed the bottle of Corellian brandy that rested on his nightstand. Foregoing the glass next to it, he picked up the bottle, unscrewed the lid and knocked back a couple belts, felt the very familiar and by now comforting burn from his tongue clear down his throat and halfway down his chest. If he drank the whole bottle he might be able to succumb to sweet oblivion and forget about everything for a few hours. He'd been able to do it before, but over the years it was becoming harder to actually accomplish, not that it had stopped him from trying. Tonight however, he felt too depressed to even try.

His throat felt tight and burned in a different manner as he felt a sob growing in his chest and felt the tears threatening to work their way up from his throat. His brother's death had in turn become a life sentence for him. Every day he carried the guilt and the pain with him, most times he was able to keep it bottled up tight and nobody was the wiser. Of all people, he especially never thought he'd be telling his life story to Darth Vader, not when he'd never breathed a single word of this to another person in his entire life.

He heard the labored breathing but wasn't automatically aware it was coming from him. He felt the hot tears fall from his eyes before he actually realized he was crying. One hand reached for the collar of his shirt and undid the top button, revealing a chain around his neck. Reaching inside his shirt, he pulled out a metal locket that he wore with his Navy service tags. Thumbing the latch open, he looked at the old picture he had carried around with him since he was 16, a picture that had been taken many years before that. Han could barely even see the photo through the tears in his eyes, his voice broke as he got out in a gut-wrenching sob, "Lando..."

The picture had been taken so long ago the color was starting to fade, at the time it had been one of many taken of the two brothers playing together at a random moment in a normal day. Now it was the only thing Han had left to remember his home, his family. Han pressed his hand against his mouth in an attempt to stifle the body-wracking sobs running through him.