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by Jenifer Davis
Han pulled his head back into the Millennium Falcon, cursing to himself as he tried to keep from loosing his cool. "Chewie! Where the hell is she?"The large Wookie just grunted, shrugging his shoulders in a noncommittal fashion. Annie had just said she was going out for some fresh air. Of course, she had also said that she would be back before Han realized she was gone. She was definitely headstrong for a fifteen-year old, but then she had a good teacher. He started to grumble at Han, only to be cut off.
"Shh. There's someone outside, if we're lucky it's Annie and not those bounty hunters." He slid up to the edge of the open hatch, blaster in hand. The sounds outside stopped and he relaxed only slightly, anticipating a trap. Suddenly a small figure launched itself at Han, bringing both down to the floor.
"I got you!" the hood of her cloak dropped back to her shoulders as the girl giggled.
Han just shook his head, studying the girl he had psuedo-adopted 8 years prior. Back then she hadn't any family and nor had it cost much to keep her around. And often a customer would give them a better deal out of sympathy for his 'sick' younger sister. Not that she could come too close to looking sickly now. He shook his head again, she was just too beautiful, attracting too much of the wrong people's attention. Not that she flaunted her beauty, but she didn't try to hide it either. It had been a major victory on his part when she had finally agreed to wear the hooded cloak whenever she went out alone. She did look enough older, however, that when she went out with Han people assumed that they were a couple. That and Han and Chewie's glares usually kept the guys off of her.
"Where have you been?"
"I went for a walk." She slopped out of her cloak, rubbing her hands up and down her bare arms. "Gees, it's cold in here."
"Then put your cloak back on! Hurry up to the cockpit and get started on the preflight. We're already an hour late!"
"What! We're leaving already?" Don't tell me that you took another job. I thought that we were going to take a break! Goodness knows that we are money ahead enough and the Falcon needs some major repairs."
"She does not. She'll do just fine, no thanks to you running off when you should be helping Chewie." Han looked to his co-pilot for support; Chewie on the other had, wanted no part in this flight.
Annie just glared at her brother, knowing full well that she was right. "Han, the repairs that need to be done on this ship need to be done by professionals. It is so jury-rigged that it's probably confused half the time, not to mention me and Chewie."
"The Falcon is the fastest ship there is. She can outrun anything-"
"Yeah, when she's running." Turning on her heel, she started to the cockpit. "C'mon Chewie, his royal highness says we need to start on the preflight."
As she stormed out of sight, Chewie turned to Han with a questioning growl. "Go ahead," Han replied with a sigh. "I'll talk to her later. After she's calmed down."
Han went to the lounge and sat to think. Annie was as stubborn as he was, and the fights had definitely increased. Knowing her and how much she took after her brother, there was going to be a major blow-up in the future. And Han was afraid of what would happen then. Maybe if he just tried to reach out to her, they used to be so close, in many cases they still were. He took a deep breath to relax as he felt the ship take off from planetside. The pull of the hyperspace jump pushed against him as he took a deep breath and made his decision.
Annie turned to Chewie, "I can't believe that he is such a jerk sometimes. It's like we mean nothing, he is such a pig. We're supposed to have a break, that was supposed to BE our break. Chewie-"
She sighed in frustration to herself, realizing he had just left. And he had good reason to, she told herself. He probably doesn't want to sit here and listen to me complain. Just why can't we take a break for once? Annie shook her head as she leaned back in the pilot's seat, knowing very well why she had wanted to stay on that backwards planet for a few more days. The same reason that she had been late getting back. Closing her eyes, a wistful smile crossed her face as she thought about what had happened.
Looking in at her, Han wondered how someone so beautiful as her could be such a ball of fire. That girl got into more trouble than he would have ever dreamed of when he was her age. But to see her there, asleep and looking so peaceful, most would have figured she was an angel, not a little she-devil. He sat in Chewie's seat, waiting for her to wake up.
Slowly, one eye opened. "Hmm?"
"You are awake, I figured you were catching a quick nap." Han spoke lightly, hoping to avoid another fight.
Annie stretched, frustrated to be forced out of her reverie, but Han was trying to be civil, so in all fairness she should also. "Nah, I was just resting my eyes and thinking."
Opening his mouth, Han started to ask what she had been thinking about, but quickly decided not to broach that subject, shutting his mouth abruptly. The figure next to him burst out into laughter. "Han, what? If you keep that up you'll turn into a fish."
"Oh, nothing. So, what'd you do while you were out?" Suddenly he realized that this wasn't going to be good.
"Nothing really," she looked out the window at the starscape, avoiding his gaze. "I went for a ride."
"A ride?" Taking a deep breath, he continued. "With who?"
"Nobody. I went by myself." Annie's chin rose to a defiant angle, it was the truth for the most part.
"Where'd you go?"
"Out to the country."
"Annie, that planet was a desert. There is no country."
"I went exploring, okay? Han we've been cooped up on this ship constantly for who know how long. I needed some fresh air. I rented a skyhopper and took it out of city limits to ride around."
"What towns did you go to?"
"Who said I went to any?"
"Annie, I know better."
"Okay, I went by some places called Anchorhead and the Toshe Power Station, but I didn't go in to either."
"You left Mos Eisley? You realize that Jabba the Hutt has his eye on you, don't you? One little trip out 'to the country' and you might disappear into his palace as the newest addition to his harem of dancing girls."
"Han, he wouldn't dare attack me in any way. Even he would know better."
"Annie, I don't care. I don't want you to go about endangering yourself. I suppose you were planning on returning. It's good that we left after all."
"Why do you have such a problem with me heading out? It's like you don't want me to meet anyone else, especially other people my age?"
"What?" glaring, Han stared down at his younger sister. "I thought that we had an agreement. You don't go out meeting people unless I know them."
"Well, I seriously doubt that you know them, or that Jabba does either. They were just a bunch of locals, country kids that I ran into out at some canyon. I think they called it Beggar's Canyon. They were racing, so I joined. And beat them all. There was only one kid that even came close. He's a pretty good pilot." Out of the corner of her eye, Annie looked to see if Han was backing off any. Only she couldn't read the expression on his face.
"So you raced with them? You could have gotten yourself killed! I've heard of Beggar's Canyon, and I wouldn't dare fly it in a race if I hadn't flown it before.
"I hate to call you a coward, but there was nothing to it. I'd be more likely to get killed staying with you."
"Fine. After the race what'd you do?"
She fidgeted a little, knowing very well that Han wouldn't like her answer. "Nothing really," was her mumbled reply. After all, she hadn't really spoken to them, she doubted they knew who she was or would ever recognize her.
Flying around the deserts of Tatooine was all she had planned to do. She had seen the small group of teens at one end of the canyon. Pulling out her electrobinoculars, she'd watched them goof off and race through the canyon. One had caught her eye. He was one of the younger ones in the group, probably around her age. And he had definitely been the best pilot, beating the rest by several lengths. Finally, she had given into temptation and as they lined up for the next race, she had taken her skiff down and joined them on the line. Only the blond had come close to giving her a run for her money, he was good. Navigating had been a bit more than she'd expected, but nothing too tough.
After winning the race, she had driven off, but doubled back up behind them. She could hear the rest of the guys tease the blond about being "beat by a girl." That had raised her ire enough that she had almost gone down to talk, think beat, some sense into them. To her amazement, the blond had just shrugged his shoulders. Up at the rim of the canyon she could hear his reply, "she's a better pilot than me." The tone was one that finished the conversation, a look of shock crossing the faces of all his friends.
As the group broke up to head back to wherever they were from, she watched the blond. he had gone back to his skyhopper, but none of the girls went with him. Instead another guy walked over to talk to him and jumped in. Annie watched the direction they went, and after enough time had passes, she followed. At the Power Station, she watched them joke around, noting that it didn't appear that the blond had a girlfriend. Odd for someone as cute as him, but that made it all the better.
"Annie," Han could see the wistful look on her face. A pit formed in his stomach as he realized what it meant. "Annie, wake up."
"Hmm? I'm awake."
"Yeah, but your mind is back on that damn planet."
"It is not!" Standing up, Annie's eyes were flaring in anger. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to my cabin where I can have some peace."
Not long after she stormed out, Chewie poked his head in the cockpit with a low growl.
"Yeah, she's gone. It's safe for now." He played with the knobs and levers a little. "I don't know what to do with her. She's practically becoming a stranger, I feel like I don't know her anymore."
Cocking his head to the side, Chewie growled in agreement. A short string of grunts and growls added his own opinion, much to Han's amusement. As he suppressed a laugh; "Yeah, it's like she's going through puberty all over again." He thought back to when that whole ordeal started. Thankfully, he had still been dating Jessa and she had taken Annie under her wing, explaining all those womanly things that neither Han nor Chewie knew."But, I think it's something different now. I think she's met someone. I knew that we had stayed on Tatooine too long." Looking up he could see his copilot's confusion. "I think she's fallen for someone down there. And believe me, I have no plan of returning there for a long time. I don't care who she's got a crush on."
With a shrug, Chewie agreed, although he had no clue why Han thought she had a crush on some guy on Tatooine. She had only left the ship by herself once, hardly time to fall in love. But Han was the true definition of an over-protective older brother, so if he thought Annie was getting in over her head, they would look after her.
And Han was worried about his sister, she was too young to be falling in love. In the back of his mind, he wished he was still with Jessa. Somehow she always had the answer when it came to Annie. Granted, she took Annie's side most of the time, but she could at least make it seem more reasonable. It had been a long time since he had seen Jessa, and he had the feeling that she wouldn't appreciate him showing up now. Even though she had always liked Annie. A warning bell startled him out of his reverie, it was time to come out of hyperspace. As he gently eased the Falcon out of hyperspace, he came to a decision. It was time for a break, something to give them a chance to relax. All he had to do was pick up the cargo here on Ord Mandell and then deliver it to his contact on Tatooine. Then they could go somewhere and take some time off. But he wasn't going to tell Annie, no it would be a surprise.
He brought the ship into the port, as he prepared to go find his contact, the told Chewie where he was going and gave him instructions not to let Annie leave the ship. As far as he was concerned, it was going to be a pretty uneventful day.
"Chewie!" Han groaned, envisioning the worst as he searched the ship for the Wookie and his sister. Neither was anywhere to be found, and he had a bad feeling that Annie had snuck out, with Chewie trying to find her. "Great, and just when I need help loading the cargo."Giving the wall a frustrated kick, he turned to head out to find both of them before the delivery. As he headed out, he could hear them walk up, very loudly. They walked on the Falcon, both very toasty. Han's jaw dropped as Annie pointed at him, "What's you doin' here?" With a laugh, she disentangled herself from Chewie, launching herself in Han's direction. He caught her, giving Chewie a pointed look as he just guffawed in amusement.
She reeked of alcohol, he noted as he led her back to her cabin. Han couldn't believe it himself, Chewie had gotten his sister drunk. Annie just collapsed on her bed, fully dressed. With a sigh, he left her there, with every intention of reaming Chewie when he got the chance.
Chewie was loading the delivery onto the Falcon, storing everything along the passageway walls. Once the delivery boys were gone and they had the ship closed up it would be stored in the smuggling compartments. But until then, no one besides them needed to know that they existed.
Han patiently helped load the bundled goods onto the Falcon, giving a delivery receipt to the workmen. As Chewie closed up the Falcon he moved the stuff out of the way to open the smuggling compartments. They were quickly loaded and secured, and the pre-flight was started when Han finally confronted Chewie about what had happened.
"What do you mean, she looked upset; so you decided to get her drunk?"
With a roar of laughter, Chewie explained. He had thought that maybe a walk would help her feel better. It had been by accident that they ended up at the bar. Once there, however, nearly every other guy had either danced with her or bought her a drink.
"You let her drink? And dance with those punks?"
Chewie's reply got across the point, Annie was very capable of taking care of herself. And if anything happened, Chewie would be there to look out for her.
"I know, I just worry about her. At least she'll probably still be passed out when we unload at Tatooine. No fights that way."
After unloading and accompanying the delivery to his contact, Han headed to the cantina he frequented in Mos Eisley. There were bars or cantinas across the Empire that he stuck to when it came to meeting customers and making deals. But he had no plan of that, they were going to take a break for a while. All he wanted was a drink.Sitting at his usual table, he watched as the veritable scum of the universe made their oh-so-important deals. And you rank up there as one of the best of them, he told himself. In many ways he couldn't believe that he had raised Annie in the midst of all of it. He almost wished that he could go to just straight shipping; no smuggling, nothing illegal, for Annie's sake. But he hadn't ever been able to, there just wasn't enough money in it. But they were going to take a break. Annie was right, they were money ahead enough to. Thinking of Annie, he realized that the longer he stayed there they more likely she would wake up and sneak out.
Throwing some money on the table, he stood up and headed for the door, only to be stopped by Bortan Loess, one of Jabba's dealers. "Solo, just the man I want to see. How's your sister doing?"
"Annie, oh, she's off visiting Lando on Bespin. Haven't seen her since she left, wouldn't really know." Han desperately hoped that she was still passed out on the Falcon and that Chewie would keep her there. "What do you want?"
"I have an offer, from Jabba himself. A job that only a ship like yours could handle. Jabba wants to get back into the Spice trade, but he needs a good smuggler with a fast ship to make the first few runs."
"I don't know Loess, I was planning on taking a vacation. Just take a break from everything. I promised Annie I'd visit her on Bespin. It'd have to be a good reason for me to break my promise to my little sister."
Han's stomach flipped when he heard the price. But he never let it show, acting instead as if he expected more. "I don't know, I mean, I need a REALLY good reason." He stood, as if to leave, as he did so Loess doubled the price.
"Well, that might be a good enough reason, if we throw in the agreement that Jabba keeps his hands off Annie, here, on Bespin, wherever. OK?"
Loess paled, but agreed, and gave Han the details of the job. Han's blaster pointed in his direction kept him from taking it too slowly. Arrangements were made for the drop off to occur on Ord Mandell. Han quickly left the cantina and headed to the Falcon, fearing the worst. Loess had to have been sent as a diversion to get him away from the Falcon long enough for them to kidnap Annie.
As he ran on Board the Falcon, he triggered the ramp to come up and everything to lock up. "Chewie?"
The copilot looked up from where he was working on one of the systems. "Is everything here okay? Was there any trouble? Is Annie still here?"
Confused, Chewie answered that Annie was still passed out, no there hadn't been any trouble and, yes, he had been checking on her every half an hour, so she couldn't have snuck out.
"Good, go start the preflight, set course for Kessel, I'm going to check on Annie. I have a bad feeling about this job."
Sitting on the edge of Annie's bed, Han pushed several stray hairs from her face. Only after several minutes did she stir, slowly opening her eyes and groaning as she sat up. "What did Chewie give me to drink?"
"Probably something you shouldn't have had. But, you must admit, it was a good idea on his part, to get your mind of whatever was bugging you."
"Where are we?"
"We just took off from Tatooine," He studied her face to see her reaction.
Her eyebrows raised, though he wasn't sure if it was in astonishment or not. That question, however, was answered with her questions. "Where are we going? And who's job did you take?"
"Jabba's, I think it may be a trap, he's offered an extraordinary amount of money for a spice run. I think Loess, his contact, was trying to delay me so they could grab you. It's good that you were passed out, that meant that you weren't off gadding about where you could have been kidnapped."
"Like he would ever try. How extraordinary?"
"Let's just say that selling it at black market price would barely cover the cost of my shipping it. I'm willing to bet that he'll try to bargain down the price when I deliver."
"When we deliver."
"Annie, you know that I don't want you any where near that over-sized space slug."
She giggled at her brother's description of Jabba, but acquiesced to his argument. If she didn't accompany him to Jabba's palace she would have more time to explore Tatooine. Or so she thought until he spoke again."I suppose, however, that it wouldn't hurt to flaunt the fact that they can't touch you. Afterall, the drop off is going to be on Ord Mandell, and that's no where near Jabba." Han knew what she must have been thinking, especially with the way her face fell at hearing his words. Giving her a quick kiss on the forehead, he left her to think about their newest job.
The spice run had gone reasonably smooth, the Falcon managing to avoid any and all Imperials in the area of Kessel. With a seemingly calm trip to Ord Mandell ahead of them, the transmission from Lando was the last thing he was expecting."Lando, old friend. I thought I had heard you had gone respectable."
"And decided to pawn your troubles off on me."
"What?"
"Bounty hunters, Han. Loads of them, combing my station with a fine-tooth comb looking for your little sister."
"Damn, I was afraid this job was a set up. Listen, Loess, one of Jabba's guys, cornered me in the cantina and offered me a job that no one in his right mind would refuse. He had been asking about Annie, so I told him that she was visiting you, not that she was passed out on the Falcon."
"You got her drunk?"
"Chewie did, we had a small fight. She decided to rent a skyhopper on Tatooine. And apparently went out racing the locals."
"No harm there."
"Yeah, she was just in Jabba's back yard. Lando, even I know the price he is offering to get her as one of his dancing girls. He's all but offered to buy her from me. And she's my little sister."
"But that doesn't help my problem any."
"No, but the drop off tomorrow will. We're handing the spice over on Ord Mandell and I'm going to bring Annie with me. I'll tell them that I picked her up on my way to Kessel. Whether they believe me or not, they'll know that she's not with you."
"Good, and Han."
"Yeah."
"Take care of that girl, she attracts trouble worse than you do. Probably because she's better looking."
Han smiled as his old friend ended the transmission, wondering how he was going to tell Annie.
"So, Jabba's offering a price on my head?"He turned to see her standing at the doorway to the cockpit. "How long have you been standing there?"
"Long enough to hear that Jabba offered to buy me from you. Why? Why is he so interested in me?"
"Because you are the prettiest girl this side of the Core Worlds, and maybe even on the other side too. He want's you as a dancing girl, a throne decoration."
"Of all my luck."
"Which is why I don't want you sneaking out whenever we are on Tatooine. He could have you kidnapped and hidden in his palace without batting an eye. And there would be no way for me to find you."
"Don't worry about me, Han. I can take care of myself. You need to figure out how we are going to fix the thrusters and backup power generator. They're both on the fritz again." Patting him on the head, she went back out to work on repairs, thinking more and more about the blonde boy on Tatooine.
Han locked up the ship, readying for takeoff. They had done two spice runs for Jabba now, both at the astronomical price that Loess had offered to begin with. And so far no one had tried to steal Annie. Entering the cockpit he could see her staring out the window. Things had become strained again, she was pushing for a break. It was true that he Falcon needed repairs, but with was just too lucrative to keep up the pace of things."Ready to go."
"Hardly, the nav computer isn't coming online."
Han swore under his breath. It seemed like there was always something falling apart. He sister spoke again. "You didn't get another job did you?"
"Nah, we have a few days before we need to go to Kessel."
"Has it crossed your mind that maybe now is a good time to get the repairs we need done?" Her eyes bore into him.
"Know of a good service station?"
Annie snorted, "We're on Ord Mandell, and if you remember, you never let me off the ship. So, no, I don't."
"I guess that I'll go ask around, until I find someone, why don't you and Chewie start on the repairs." He left the cockpit before he could hear her string of expletives aimed at him.
Annie growled to herself as the hyperdrive beeped it's failure again and threw a tool at it. She was getting more and more frustrated and not just with the repairs that needed to be made on the Falcon. Her brother had definitely begun to outstep his bounds, confining her to the ship like a prisoner. What I would give for a nice breath of fresh, not recycled, air. Stretching her arms above her head, she headed to the door, maybe if she just cracked it open, Han couldn't get to upset over that, could he? But she knew that he would instead fly off the handle about letting someone in. Instead she went into her cabin and flung herself on the bed. Falling asleep she never noticed Chewie poke his head in to check on her.She was still asleep when Han returned. He spoke with Chewie shortly and left again, with the Wookie accompanying him. Neither one noticed the shadow move around to the other side of the Falcon, slipping on as they left the spaceport. Nor did Annie, fast asleep, ever notice the drug laced cloth that was placed over her mouth and nose.
She woke up several hours later, instantly aware of the fact that she was no longer on the Falcon. Staying still on the rough cot, she could hear two people enter the room. "Jabba will pay a hefty price for this girl. He has been offering much money."
"Yes, but will her brother be able to track us down."
"He's just a smuggler, and an incompetent on at that. He and the Wookie should still be unconscious in that whorehouse on Ord Mandell. They'll wake up not knowing how they got there or where their precious Annie is."
Annie reacted instantly, reaching out and knocking down the kidnapper closest to her while grabbing his firearm. The second didn't have any time to react and the original owner of the blaster followed his friend in an untimely death. Closing and locking the door to the room just in case, she quickly searched the ship for anymore people. Realizing that it was a two-man operation, she got to work, pulling the ship out of hyperspace. She removed the bodies, knowing that no one would really miss them, except maybe Jabba, and checked the coordinates. They were heading for Tatooine.
She searched the rest of the ship as she considered the possibilities at hand. She could return to Han and Chewie, although she was ready to strangle them both. Or she could start into smuggling on her own. She short-circuited a locked room as yet another possibility occurred to her. The door opened to what definitely appeared to be the trophy room, filled with expensive items and standard chests that were more than likely filled with credits. Or I could go to Tatooine, find a place there to stay. With the piles of money in front of her beckoning, she knew which option she was going to take.
Han, raced to the Falcon, with a pounding head and Chewie on his heels. If he hadn't know better he would have thought he had a hangover, but he knew better. Jabba was up to something. "Annie!"The Falcon was deathly silent. As he entered her room he noticed the unmade bed, coverings on the floor. Near the door was a piece of cloth that he didn't recognize picking it up, he could smell the chloroform. "Chewie," he said to his first mate when he finally caught up with him. "Jabba's got her."
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