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Today was not turning out the way that it was supposed to.
Of course, Han had thrown his lot in with Luke Skywalker and the Rebellion, so that was basically a given at this point. But today, which had started off pretty phenomenally, was now a particularly bad day to get caught by the Empire and no matter what he had said (bragged) to Leia, this trip was not going end up being like his famous Kessel run story.
Judging by the dirty look that he could tell she was giving him from half a galaxy away, he wasn’t going to be bragging about anything for a very long time.
If they managed to make it out of this situation alive, that is.
Han barely managed to bite his tongue when the doors to the Millennium Falcon were forced open despite Artoo’s valiant attempts to keep them closed. They screeched in protest and sparked a little around the edges and dammit if the Empire broke his ship –
“Crew of the Millennium Falcon, prepare to be boarded.” A strong, commanding voice spoken through some voice amplifier ordered loudly and moments later, the sudden flood of stormtroopers coming aboard the Falcon took priority over the wellbeing of his girl. Han dropped his blaster willingly enough though he stepped as casually away from the room he’d locked Luke in as he could, hoping with a futile hope to keep his friend out of harms way for a few minutes longer.
“Gentlemen.” Han greeted the six or seven stormtroopers facing him, armed to the tee, and prepared for business. He offered them a strained smile that was as sincere as it was convincing.
One of them came forward, entering a little too far into his personal space while several other troopers fanned out to search the main cabin rooms and the cock pit for Skywalker and a reminder not to physically harm him once he was found. Oh, they knew exactly who it was that they wanted and it sure as hell wasn't Han Solo. These guys had done their homework too because one of them even knelt down on the floor and pried up a loose length of one of the metal deck plates, poking his head into the smugglers hole to see if maybe Luke had been crammed down there.
Which he hadn’t been.
But Han had definitely thought about it.
The stormtrooper towering over him was eerily confident and radiating danger in a way only a member of the 501st could seem to manage. “Where is Luke Skywalker?” he demanded again.
Telling the man to 'kriff off' seemed counterproductive to life so Han just shrugged helplessly.
The troopers’ gaze immediately flickered to the door Han was diligently trying hard not to look at as if he’d actually shouted ‘he’s in THAT room!’ and the trooper - CT-7567 - raised his blaster again. “Move aside, Solo.” He ordered coolly. “Hands above your head.”
“Look – " Han protested weakly as he was shoved to the side and immediately CC-1119 stepped in to prevent him from interfering. “The kid, he’s really not in a normal state of mind and strictly speaking, I don’t think this is a really great idea right now – "
CT-7567 ignored him completely and fired a single shot at the locking mechanism on the door. It melted, smoking slightly, and Han watched with no small amount of dismay as the door slid open as a result.
Luke was exactly where Han had left him after their whole dramatic escape from Kothlis with the small amount of information that Luke had managed to decode before they'd been attacked by the Imperial Red Guard. They had been damn lucky to even get off planet with the shit show that had been. Once they'd cleared the atmosphere, normal Luke officially left the building and after politely asking why the hell are you covered in purple spotted flower petals, the kid had made a wobbling, drunken beeline for the crew quarters and promptly collapsed on the bed near the far wall to commune with the higher forces in more ways than one.
Han had managed to pluck a dart from Luke's neck, the spot where it had gone in already a dark bruise. He would have done more for him had the damn Executor and the Avenger not almost immediately arrived in the system, presumably to protect and secure the information that they had just stolen.
From there, it had been a game of loth-cat and mouse as Han had singlehandedly tried and failed to outrun two Imperial warships with a hyperdrive that kept glitching out right before he could make the actual jump into hyperspace. The consistent malfunction hadn't felt like an accident either though he couldn't personally say what the cause had been without getting the chance to check it out and see for himself. They ended up being herded by a string of TIE-fighters and eventually dragged onto the Executor via tractor beam.
And for better or worse, Luke had not improved at all over the last hour or so. Hell, he didn't even notice the stormtroopers crowding into the room and demanding he submit himself to Imperial authority and not cause any trouble.
He just laid there, one hand pointed at the ceiling as he slowly traced invisible lines in the air.
"Skywalker - " The lead trooper, if Han had to guess, CT-75-something, reached out to possibly pull the kid up to his feet but before he could make any kind of physical contact, some invisible force shoved him backwards, knocking him completely off his feet with a startled cry of surprise.
At the same moment, the walls around them began to shake and tremble, rattling ominously and with enough energy that Han was concerned the paneling would shake loose and smack someone before slowly settling again.
Everyone turned to stare at Luke.
Luke, who was still tracing his invisible lines, completely unaware of anything that was happening.
"Told you it was a bad idea." Han called out, making a valiant effort to not sound smug about it. "Maybe let us go and try again in a month or two. The drugs will hopefully be out of his system by then."
CT-7567 turned to glare at him, completely unamused.
"You get him." He ordered shortly, gesturing for him to come forward. "No funny business and make it quick."
Han raised his hands innocently and after shrugging CC-1119 off of him, approached Luke with more confidence than he actually felt.
"Hey kid." He greeted, tapping his friend lightly on the shoulder, half expecting to be knocked over as he did so and immensely relieved when he wasn't. "Come on, up and at'em. I know you're tired but we have to go."
That got Luke's attention and the kid glanced at him; his pupils were dilated and his eyes were bloodshot. "Go?" Luke asked, looking and sounding completely befuddled by this idea.
"Yup. We got to go, kid." Han confirmed, helping his friend to sit up. A task which was harder than it had any right to be because Luke was currently trying to act out his best impression of a dead fish.
“Geez, Han. Why didn’t you tell me we had plans?” Luke complained, reluctantly allowing Han to pull him to his feet.
“Sorry, Luke.” He muttered, throwing Luke’s arm over his shoulder and steadying him before he collapsed to the ground like a puppet with their strings cut. “It was a last minute thing. The Empire made an offer and I couldn’t refuse.”
“Wow.” Luke mouthed, his blue eyes widening with apparent astonishment and he looked around as they slowly exited the Falcon as if trying to gauge the reactions of an invisible audience. “That’s incredible. I didn’t think the Empire liked us enough to invite us to dinner.” He lifted his free hand as if to try an emphasize how truly remarkable the whole thing was.
If they weren’t in such dire circumstances, Han would have laughed himself silly.
“Me neither. I wouldn’t expect much from the dinner party though.” He groused, thinking about the last Empirical dinner party he attended and desperately wondering how the hell he could keep them from having to repeat that experience. Lowering his voice a little, he asked, “Hey, do you remember what I told you about surviving in the Core Worlds?”
There was a short, pregnant pause as Luke careened unhelpfully into Han’s side because thinking and walking at the same time was somewhat beyond his abilities for the moment. At least the kid wasn’t very heavy. “Don’t ever accept a joint from a guy named Don?” he finally guessed.
“Well – okay, yeah, don’t do that.” Han agreed, though he was not the one who gave the kid that bit of solid life advice. “But right now, all you need to do is be quiet and don’t draw attention to yourself. Let me do all the talking.”
Because that was definitely going to solve all their problems.
There was no getting out of this one.
They were screwed.
They were dead men.
It didn’t matter what either of them did. It didn’t matter if Luke managed to stay perfectly quiet as they were processed and formally arrested. Their identities were already known and Luke was the most wanted man in the galaxy with perhaps, if not the most recognizable face of any humanoid to ever exist. He was on every wanted poster in every sector and kriffing hell, there was no getting out of this –
“Be quiet?” Luke asked, his face pleasantly puzzled as if being quiet was an idea never before known to him.
“Yeah.” Han nodded emphatically. “Just be quiet. No talking right now. Play the quiet game.”
Luke’s brow furrowed and he actually looked concerned now. “A game? But... I don’t know how to play. You haven’t explained the rules yet – "
For the absolute love of Corellian. If Han had an extra hand, he would have pulled some of his hair out.
“Luke – "
“Whoa – shit,” Luke stumbled again because the perfectly smooth durasteel floor of the hangar bay that they’d been forced into was definitely a dangerous tripping hazard for drugged up Jedi idiots. Fire a one in a billion shot at the reactor core of the Death Star practically blind – sure, no problem. But walk in a somewhat straight line with helpful assistance on a flat surface? Obviously, that was asking too much.
And that really wasn’t fair, Han lamented silently – none of this was actually Luke’s fault. Fortunately, someone might have taken pity on them because they were told to stop moving a few moments later and just wait. The 501st circled around them in a tight formation as if they were going to prevent Han from tossing Luke over his shoulder and making a run for it.
He sighed, gripping his friend a little tighter and trying to adjust him into a position that was more comfortable for him to support without drawing too much unnecessary attention to them. He didn’t want the stormtroopers to shoot the kid for falling on his face, and privately wondered what use the damn Force was if it couldn’t just sober somebody up when they were in a tight spot and needed to be on their A game.
Kriffing mystical space magic.
And Luke.
Luke.
Gods of Corellian have mercy on this kid because Luke was having a completely different experience than everyone else was. And granted, in a perfect galaxy, the kid should have been comfortably sleeping off whatever the hell had been pumped into his system and instead he was upright and off his rocker, stuck trying to make sense of where and maybe who he even was. Between his occasional observations that the very stationary floor was actually moving and that it was starting to get dark outside, his bloodshot eyes were huge as he looked around, trying to take in the utterly massive hangar bay of the Executor (which, yeah, it was pretty damn impressive) and all of its many Imperial ships.
“This,” Luke said slowly, trying and failing to whisper, and pausing as if he were building up to some dramatic statement that would be the mic drop of all statements ever made. “Is not the Alliance base. The stuff is way too damn nice. Han, I think you made a wrong turn somewhere.”
He should have taken a headache pill before getting off the Falcon. Hell, he’d take a shot of whatever Luke was currently on because it seemed pretty incredible. Between keeping his Jedi friend alive and upright, the image of his girlfriend silently cussing him for not being able to outrun a Star Destroyer, and then with the upcoming interrogation that he was positive was coming, it would have been smart to get a head start on staving off unnecessary irritation and pain.
Hindsight was a cruel bitch sometimes.
If they made it out of this, Han made a mental note to stick a reminder in the form of a post-it note on the door to the cockpit of the Falcon, just in case this sort of situation happened again.
Fortunately, and also not so fortunately, they didn’t have that long to wait before the familiar, dreaded sound of rhythmic breathing reached his ears, and moments later, Lord Vader turned a corner and entered the hangar bay.
He moved in their direction with calm purpose, a black behemoth of pain and death.
“Oh hey – dad!” Luke suddenly jolted more upright, a dopey grin appearing on his face as he finally seemed to notice that they were literally surrounded by what had to be the entirety of Death Squadron and now Darth Vader himself. “Hi dad!”
Who in the hell was he talking to now?
Han tried to line up his field of vision with whatever Luke was looking at without appearing to do so and did not like what he saw at all.
“Luke - shut up.” Han muttered, pinching Luke’s arm a little to try and redirect his attention from whatever drugged out hallucination he was suddenly experiencing that made him think Darth Vader was suddenly his father. He didn’t think it was a far stretch to assume that Vader wouldn’t be accommodating or understanding of Luke’s current status as an unwilling druggie. “Shut up, shut up, shut up.”
“Ow, don’t pinch me!” Luke yelped loudly and being somewhat overdramatic in Han’s honest opinion. The look of complete and utter betrayal directed at him was also a little much. It wasn’t like he’d stabbed him. “Artoo – Artoo, Han pinched me.”
Artoo, the little bastard, whirled and beeped something that was definitely rude in Han’s direction before boldly positioning himself between them and Vader. Exasperating monster he may be, but not even Han could accuse him of being disloyal. However, even if Artoo could probably single-handedly taken out an entire Imperial warship, he still wasn’t much of a threat against a Sith Lord. Vader eyed the droid for a brief moment before waving his gloved hand and there was a slight click before Artoo abruptly shut down and was swept out of the way, allowing Vader to come even closer.
With their last line of defense officially out of commission, Han adjusted his hold on Luke again and tried to position himself slightly in front of the kid. It didn’t work – Luke was too out of it to be very helpful and ended up almost face-planting instead. Luke being behind him wouldn’t be enough to stop someone like Vader anyways – but Han would be damned if he didn’t at least make the effort.
Before Han could say or do anything at all, Luke, without any kind of prompting to begin and no filter to stop him, looked straight at Vader and began to confess.
“So – so, we were totally trying to steal stuff,” Luke started to say, stumbling slightly over his words in his sudden haste to incriminate himself. “Like, full on thievery and shit. We planned the whole thing a week ago and… and, like – we were leaving the, the place to go back to base with the stolen thingies but… surprise! The whole thing was trap. The,” Luke paused, gesturing to the stormtroopers wordlessly. “The… like… gremlins? Goblins?”
“Imps.” Han offered immediately, totally mortified on behalf of his friend.
Luke snapped his fingers and pointed at him, nearly poking his eye out in the process. “Yes. Imps – Imperials. Those guys. Except these ones wore red and they – they knew we were there the whole damn time and came out of the walls – “
“ – doors – "
“ – whatever – " Luke rolled his eyes and lost his balance, stepping on Han's foot in the process. “And they were shooting at us like bam bam bam and I blocked the shots with my Jedi skills but then I got hit with a little metal poke-y thing – "
“– a needle – "
Luke heaved a deep sigh and turned to give him what Han was positive was meant to be a death glare the likes of which would have had the Emperor turning over in his sleep but instead it came out as more of a pouty face. "Stop doing that." He whined, gesturing to Vader wordlessly as if to say 'look, he's listening and you're being rude!'.
Han decided to humor him and apologized, because why the hell not? They were both going to die anyways.
After he was satisfied Han was going to be quiet, the kid turned back to Vader with way too much enthusiasm to be anywhere near normal cognitive functioning levels. “I got hit from behind with a needle and like – okay, I mean. Blasters are easy-peasy cause they’re bright and they make noise and shit but a needle is like… it’s small.” Luke’s expression was so focused as he brought his thumb and forefinger as close together as possible without them actually touching, to fully demonstrate the smallness of the needle that hit him and then promptly shoved his hand at the Sith Lord so he could see.
While Vader stared, obviously too baffled by all of this to be angry, Han very slowly reached out and lowered Luke’s hand for him before he ended up losing another one.
He could literally feel Vader raise an evil eyebrow at him from behind that mask and dammit, if Han didn’t win the award for friend of the year after this, he was going to riot.
Luke didn’t notice and just. kept. talking. “So, so… so I didn’t block that and I got hit and then everything was woozy and like, whoa but we still escaped so that was awesome – and then we were in space and Han.” Luke swallowed, pausing dramatically once again but beginning to droop at the same time. “Dad. Han – he said some really bad words. Like it was next level bad. Aunt Beru wouldn’t never have let him come over for dinner if she’d heard what he’d said. And I have like, no idea where I am and… and I’m pretty sure I can smell color. And now you’re here – that’s…probably bad - it wasn’t the plan for today, I don’t think. But hi.”
Han couldn’t remember the last time someone had tattled on him and he didn’t think the next level bad assessment was fair either seeing as how Luke’s favorite thing to do was curse like a pirate whenever he was high on drugs. He was mildly offended that Luke didn’t think Han saving his life warranted an exemption from his dead aunt’s household standards and basically disinvited him from a dinner that wasn’t ever going to happen unless someone figured out time travel.
And he really didn’t like this whole ‘dad’ business either. Because… the longer it went on… the more he got the weird feeling that Luke actually did know who he was talking to. And if he knew who he was talking to then the parental title probably wasn't an accident. And Han really wasn’t sure what to do with that except hope that stress and fear was causing him to completely misunderstand whatever the hell was going on.
With Luke's vivid and detailed explanation over as abruptly as it had begun, Vader finally took a step forward and then another and another until he was just an arm’s reach away. There wasn’t anywhere to go, surrounded as they were, so Han did the only thing that he could do.
He stood his ground, a sick feeling growing in the pit of his stomach.
“Hello, Luke.” Vader greeted and while that damn vocoder didn’t allow for hardly any tone inflection, making it literally impossible to guess the emotion behind the words, Han’s best guess at this exact moment was that Vader was amused as hell. But why wouldn’t he be? This whole thing from start to finish had been utterly ridiculous and it wasn’t as if he was having an exceptionally horrible day.
And since Luke clearly wasn’t thinking properly and Han definitely didn’t have any plans tucked away in his back pocket, the likelihood of a spectacular last minute escape into hyperspace was currently less than zero.
Vader’s four year hunt for Skywalker was coming to an end today. The bastard had plenty of reasons to be happy for once.
“Hi.” Luke repeated, staring up at the Sith Lord, appearing remarkably unafraid. His voice was quieter this time and the two just stared at each other for what seemed like a long, long moment, as if both of them were entirely uncertain on how to proceed.
It was awkward as hell to be in the middle of. Han just hoped the stormtroopers were weirded out by the whole thing as much as he was. But their masks kept their expressions shielded and Vader’s legion was probably too professional for that sort of thing anyways.
When Vader extended a hand towards Luke, Han tried hard not to shiver because he knew the pain that man could inflict – the memories of the last time he’d been at Vader’s mercy were not easy to shake and he didn’t wish that kind of torture on anyone.
Especially not on Luke.
“Hang on – " He tried to interrupt, attempting to stall despite knowing it was futile to try.
“Silence.” Vader snapped at him, turning a cold look his way. After glaring at him into submission, the Sith Lord redirected his attention back to Luke and to Han’s silent amazement and lowkey horror, he reached out to hesitantly brush stray fringe out of Luke’s eyes.
It was a tender, gentle gesture – not the sort of thing one would expect an enemy to do to a long sought after rival. Neither was it the sort of thing a stranger would do to another stranger, or hell, even a straight up friend would do to another friend unless they were extremely tight or one of them was dying.
It was the sort of thing that a parent would do to their child though.
Han closed his eyes, trying hard not to think too loudly as his thoughts began to race.
Shit.
Shit shit shit.
When Vader pulled Luke away from Han a moment later, the kid was surprisingly compliant to it, easily switching his grip to hang on to the Sith Lord in order to stay upright. Vader carefully pulled Luke's arm over his shoulder and had his other arm around the kids waist to help support him and presumably keep him on his feet. Luke happily pointed at once again to dad that the floor was still moving.
And for some Force forsaken reason that Han might just now be beginning to understand, after the events of Bespin, Luke had begun dressing in all black. That in itself wasn’t inherently bad and Han wasn’t the type of friend to demand to know the specifics of another friends wardrobe change. It was a good look on him and made him seem more mature.
But now… standing next to Vader the way that he was, the similarities between them, physically looks aside, were abruptly and blaringly obvious. And Luke, even high as a kite as he currently was, looked like he might actually belong there.
Shit.
What the hell was even happening today?
“You are tall.” Luke blurted out in amazement, saving Han from having to think any harder than he was. His head lulled lazily backwards as he stared up at the walking nightmare of a man who was his father. “Like, really tall. Why am I not tall? Is it harder to breathe up there?”
Vader didn’t bother to respond to that, but dammit, if he wasn’t smiling underneath that insidious mask of his, Han would eat a sock. That, or the man was contemplating murder. It was probably an either-or scenario with Vader at any given time.
“Captain Solo,” his voice rumbled and no amount of drugged-Jedi-idiot humor could ease the renewed sense of fear and terror that being under Vader’s scrutiny and attention once again evoked. The torture he’d experienced on Bespin was often forgotten by his friends in favor of his time spent in carbonite but he vastly preferred one to the other. Still, Han straightened up defiantly, refusing to cower. He simply wasn’t built for cowardice. “What information did you and Skywalker manage to appropriate from the Empire?”
He leveled the Sith Lord with a cool look of his own and decided that there was no point in trying to lie. “Only that you’re building another Death Star.”
Luke bobbed his head in agreement at that. “That is not super awesome.” He said in a light sing-song voice, poking Vader in the side a few times, presumably to emphasize how infinitely not awesome a new Death Star was. “But we stole that information fair and square so it’s ours now. You can’t have it and you’re not allowed to just take it back either.”
“That is not how thievery works, my little one.” Vader replied promptly, taking on the tone of someone who was generously imparting knowledge on another.
“It is so – " Luke began before getting distracted again. The dark lord he was trying and failing to argue with was forced to pause for a moment in order to carefully bring Luke more upright against him when the kid began to sag towards the floor, stretching outwards with one hand for a nonexistent imperial credit that only he could see.
Luke Skywalker.
The last hope of the galaxy.
Force help them all, Han thought hysterically, shaking his head as much as he dared. With Luke upright once again and reporting to the nearest stormtrooper that he felt kind of warm and tingly, Vader redirected his attention back to Han, scrutinizing him with frightening intensity from behind his mask. Han could almost imagine the man invading his mind once again, ripping and tearing at his memories, shattering him from the inside out – he could practically feel that horrific, agonizing pain that there were simply no words to describe, as punishment for knowing what he wasn’t supposed to know.
He was going to die. Probably be tortured for more information about the Rebellion first and then be executed only once they were satisfied they’d milked him for everything he had.
He was so certain of this that when Vader spoke again, he almost didn’t register the words that were said.
“I presume," Vader began slowly, haltingly, as if he was loath to say anything to someone like Han Solo. "That you also learned the Death Star is being constructed near the forest moon of Endor and that despite reports stating otherwise, that the weapons systems are indeed fully operational.”
Han blinked.
And blinked again.
Because no. They hadn’t gotten that far actually.
“Uh – ”
Vader continued, smoothly cutting him off, fixing him with a steady, meaningful look that practically demanded Han pay close attention to what would likely only be said once. “You also learned that the Emperor will be leaving Coruscant in roughly one month in order to oversee the final construction of the project himself and know that if the shield generator on Endor were to be deactivated at the right moment, it would leave the Death Star vulnerable to a coordinated attack."
For some reason, Han felt his heart begin to pound in his chest.
That was huge.
The Emperor leaving Coruscant? That was information people would give up their lives to learn.
It was the kind of information that had the potential to turn the tide of the war.
"And that the warships Executor, Devastator, and Accuser and those in command are no longer loyal to the Emperor and would likely assist in the destruction of the Death Star should such an attack occur.”
Why in the hell -
"You're betraying Palpatine." Luke said quietly, with complete and utter certainty.
- was Vader telling him this?
Stunned, Han dared to look away from Vader, and he could see that the color in Luke's face was starting to come back and that his eyes already looked less bloodshot and crazy then they had just a few minutes ago. Hell, even the bruise on his neck was getting lighter.
His eyes flickered back to Vader, who was still glaring at him.
Son of a bitch.
If that was true and Vader sure as hell wasn't saying anything to deny it then....
"I am."
Holy kriffing shit.
Han wasn’t entirely certain why is came as such a surprise to him that Darth Vader could be planning his own treasonous coup against the Empire.
But it was.
And the only thing that he could think of was that the Rebellion had done its job too well in presenting the figure of Darth Vader as a loyal, obedient dog to the Emperor. At least to the public eye, the man had never done anything to even suggest disloyalty and had certainly hunted the Rebellion (or perhaps just Luke?) with enough fervor to suggest that he really did not like them. Han wasn't naïve enough or willing to consider that this was actually an offer to join forces with the Rebellion without speaking to High Command.
But at least for the moment... it seemed that Darth Vader had quite a few plans of his own and maybe whatever his goals were, that they were lining up with the goals of the Rebellion for now.
“And perhaps, if Captain Solo can somehow manage to report on the information he stole, the Rebellion may just do something useful for once. Admiral Piett,” Vader turned his head to look at the somewhat short but incredibly severe looking man who had arrived with him. He radiated calmness despite looking as though he needed to catch up on a hell of a lot of sleep. “Clear the Millennium Falcon for departure. I have no interest in Han Solo. He is free to leave unharmed.”
“It will be done, my Lord.” Straight-faced, no questions asked, Piett turned around, raising a comm to his lips and began distributing orders and Han watched in total disbelief as some hangar staff in typical engineering overalls, complete with grease and oil stains and various tools poking out of their pockets, began prepping his ship to be fueled for takeoff.
Han stared, the words free and unharmed repeating like a mantra in his brain.
One moment he was convinced he was going to die a painful death and the next, he was handed critical information about the Empire from Darth Vader himself and was allowed to just... leave with it? He tried and failed to imagine how High Command would react to all of this once he told them what had happened and everything he now knew. His hands were suddenly shaking and Force, he needed a drink - badly.
Except…. “What about Luke?” He asked with as much boldness as he could muster, swallowing thickly.
“Commander Skywalker will be staying.” Vader replied instantly, his voice once again taking on an threatening tone. “His destiny lies outside your Rebellion.”
“I think that should be his decision.” Han argued, despite knowing that he was really pushing his luck – but he couldn’t just abandon Luke without trying. Aside from being his friend, he owed the kid a serious debt for coming to rescue him from Jabba.
“I’ll stay.” Luke interrupted before Vader could say or maybe even do anything else. The kid was definitely sobering up now - quickly, though by what means, Han couldn't say. Rather than spaced out and crazy, now he just looked exhausted but still managed to offer Han a small smile that he must have meant to be reassuring. “I’ll be alright, Han. Promise. You should get out of here."
Han's eyes flickered between Luke and Vader helplessly. The words 'I'll be alright' were not meant to be used anywhere near the general vicinity of Darth Vader. Coming from anyone, it simply wasn't true.
And yet... Luke seemed to mean it. Maybe as Vader's son it could actually be true.
He wondered what the story behind all this was, wondered if Bespin was when Luke learned the truth, and then wondered if his friend would ever get the chance to tell him himself.
"Luke - "
"Han," Luke cut in, his expression surprisingly calm, though pleading. "The Rebellion needs you. And I... I think I need to stay and help my father. This wasn't the plan but... he can't do this alone. Maybe together we can get rid of the Emperor. Maybe we'll actually have a chance of killing him."
Oh, there was definitely a story there. But Han was enough of a man to be willing to admit that he wasn't certain if he wanted to know the details of it. What the hell was Palpatine if Vader, the verifiable one man army himself, an unstoppable force of nature, couldn't confidently kill him alone? Just how powerful was the Emperor if he was more then the creepy, frail looking old man in a hood ruining everyone's lives from a palace throne on Coruscant?
"The Millennium Falcon is ready for departure, my Lord." Piett reappeared and Han turned around, surprised to see that most of the 501st that had previously surrounded him had disappeared or at least moved to stand behind Vader. The way to the Falcon was clear once again.
Someone had even been on board and turned the engines on for him, a clear sign if there ever was one that it was time to get the hell out. She was thrumming in the background, calling out for him and prepared for take-off.
Abruptly making up his mind, Han took a few steps forward to point a stern finger in Luke's face, making him go just a little cross-eyed in the process. "You're going to tell me everything one day." He ordered, refusing to believe that this might be the last time they saw each other. "All of this - everything. You're going to live and you're going to tell me. You got it?"
Luke glanced up at his father for a moment and then back to Han, a smiling playing at his lips as he leaned a little heavier into the Sith Lord's side. "I promise." He said quietly.
Han felt his throat tighten and he swallowed, tears pricking at his eyes because even now, Luke wasn't a very good liar - never had been. No matter what he said, Han could read between the lines well enough- and there was a very real chance that whatever he and Vader were going to attempt together wouldn't be enough.
He could feel Luke's eyes tracking him as he turned and headed for the Falcon, trying and failing not to sprint lest Vader abruptly change his mind.
This war was going to end - sooner than possibly anyone had thought it would. And people - a lot of people - were going to die before it did. But Vader had gift-wrapped him the timeline and they had a month to prepare. To plan, to possibly coordinate with members of the Imperial Navy if High Command dared to believe him.
And they might. If they were lucky and all of this was real, then they just might go for it.
The assistance of not just one but three Imperial warships was more than a tempting offer. Working with Vader instead of against him - there were many people who would fight tooth and nail against that. But maybe there were some who could be convinced to try.
After all, Darth Vader was better as an ally than an enemy.
And with Luke Skywalker on the inside... if he survived this... if they were really, really lucky... maybe there could even be peace one day.
If he survived.
"Han," Luke called out just before Han flipped the switch to shut the doors so he could disappear inside. He scrubbed his face of tears, hoping he didn't look as distressed as he felt, and turned back. "Remember that old saying from Tatooine I told you about once?"
The desert people of Tatooine had a lot of odd sayings among themselves, but there was one in particular that he had really liked, a metaphor they had for dealing with the curveballs of life, that Han thought perfectly encompassed their sheer will to survive another day.
"Catch it by the blade." He replied almost instantly.
Luke nodded and was quick to offer him another smile. "I promise." He swore this time, pressing weight and feeling into the words. "I'll tell you everything one day."
And this time, despite everything, Han smiled back. "I'll see you soon, kid."
The End.