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Description
A continuation of the Take Your Rebels to Work au

In the month following the Bespin Disaster (and Leia wrestling with whether to tell anyone how Luke had gotten captured or not), it was decided that it was probably for the best if Han paid off his debts before bounty hunters actually managed to infiltrate the Alliance.
And they'd come close to that point, but luckily they weren't the most professional of bounty hunters.

When Han didn't come back a week after going to Tatooine, no one was particularly surprised that Princess Leia promptly organized a rescue mission. Mon Mothma had warned her that the Alliance didn't have the political or military pull to openly take on the Hutts, but she had persisted, and there wasn't much they could do to stop her.

When the rescue went sideways, however, no one was expecting a young man clad in black to march into Jabba's palace demanding the freedom of Han, Chewbacca, and the Princess. He'd come so quickly on the heels of the failed rescue that the guards were still flailing about to find something to tie the Princess's hands with before she could break another nose.

"Jabba the Hutt," Luke did not bother with honorifics, something that secretly delighted the former farmboy. "You will release your prisoners and hand them over to me immediately. Or you will die," he added with a shrug. "Those are your only options."

What are you doing here, Luke?! Leia aimed a frantic thought at her brother, Did you escape or-

Er...no. Well, sort of. I have a three hour head start on Father. Luke shot a quick look at his sister and his shoulders twitched in an infinitesimal shrug.

It suddenly hit Leia that Luke was standing in a rather dangerous place. She felt the warning in the Force even as she opened her mouth to call out -- as did Threepio, considerably louder -- but nonetheless Luke quickly disappeared through the trapdoor. He tumbled across the sand and rolled to a crouch, looking around.
He's not going to put Han and Chewie down here, is he?

Leia's answer was short and worried. No, they're being escorted to a cell somewhere. Hurry it up down there! You have a lightsaber, I don't, and Yoda didn't teach me how to Force choke slugs!

Luke was about to protest that he hadn't learned to Force choke either -- he and Vader had already had one or two very sharp disagreements on what exactly he would and would not be learning, with regards to the Force -- but his attention was quickly seized by the squeal of a grate and the roar of a very large and hungry animal.
A rancor. Oh fabulous.

He felt death above him even as a warning whisper not unlike those that used to tell him sandstorms were coming informed him that Imperial ships were now orbiting the planet. This was almost distracting enough to keep him from noticing the claws trying to pry him out of his hiding place. Almost. Luke grabbed a rock and smashed down hard on the rancor's finger. It bellowed in pain and retreated slightly.

A prickling at the base of Luke's spine served as a herald for the near tidal wave of frozen shadow that stretched across the sand and into the palace moments later, and he knew that his inadvertent backup had arrived.

Darth Vader had expected to find his children fighting minions of the Hutt in some misguided attempt to rescue their smuggler friend. He had not expected to find his daughter standing on the dais dressed like a bounty hunter with a chain in hand, with which she had just finished strangling Jabba the Hutt.
He honestly wasn't certain if he was outraged that the twins were even here, or incredibly proud of his daughter for ending the menace's miserable life.

"I suppose you're looking for Luke," Leia said all too calmly as she ducked behind the massive corpse to avoid a stray blaster bolt. She popped back up and fired back with deadly accuracy, permanently ending a Weequay's promising career as a sharpshooter with a sudden case of death.

Irritated, Vader drew his saber and deflected a few more shots as his troopers filled the chamber. "I've come for both of you, Princess," he announced, "But you are correct. Where is Skywalker?"

"Oh, he's in the pit," Leia said casually, pointing.

Vader actually twitched.

Down below, Luke dodged the rancor yet again and tried to force open the emergency hatch to the side. The warden wasn't having any of it, and attempted to push him back with a pike. With a yelp, Luke rolled out of the way of the rancor again and grimaced. He hadn't really wanted to use his lightsaber in such close quarters, but it didn't look as though he had much choice.

"Luke!"

It was one part accusation and one part exclamation of relief.

"A little busy here," Luke called up as he ignited the saber.

"Obviously," His father answered dryly. "Do you require assistance, or shall I leave you there?"

Luke cringed. "Help, please," he mumbled sheepishly.

"You'll have to speak louder, my son, there happens to be a firefight occurring at present." Vader sounded the slightest bit smug, no doubt feeling vindicated after having previously forbidden Luke to go alone for this very reason.

Luke ducked the rancor again and swung high, cutting a long crescent into the flesh of its arm. "I said I need help, Father!" he called up, scowling. "I didn't actually plan for a rancor because what kind of idiot keeps a rancor under the floor?!"

Reaching out with the Force, Vader easily caught hold of his son and yanked him out of the pit. The rancor snapped at him on the way up, and Luke swung the lightsaber to ward it off. The blade connected with a buzzing hum and a sizable chunk of the monster's face hit the ground independent of its head.

"I believe you have your answer," Vader said as he hauled Luke to his feet and gestured at Jabba's body.

"You killed him?" Luke asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Your sister killed him," the Sith corrected him.

Leia lifted her chin defiantly and hopped down from the dais. "Well I wasn't going to wait for you to show up," she declared. "At the rate your ship travels, we'd have been dead or worse by the time you got here."

"At the rate my ship travels?" Darth Vader loomed over the girl, fists planted on his hips in annoyance.

"I've outrun you twice in a dilapidated Corellian cruiser," Leia folded her arms. "Give me the Falcon and a good pilot over a star destroyer any day."

"I would," their father answered flatly, "But you insist on clinging to that smuggler pilot instead."

Leia was effectively speechless for all of ten seconds. Luke tried very hard to stifle his astonished laugh, but failed. The last month, tense and awkward though it had been, had demonstrated on several occasions that his father was possessed of a rather snarky sense of humor that made its way out every now and then. The idea of Darth Vader with any kind of sense of humor at all still astounded him.

He felt a slight hint of satisfaction from Vader, suggesting that he'd intended it as a joke. He flinched when Vader abruptly rounded on him, ire surging once more.

"As for you, young one, did I not warn you that you were not yet capable of challenging the Hutt alone?"

"You did," Luke gulped. He glanced around for some kind of distraction, but the soldiers had all left the chamber to locate any prisoners.

"You deliberately disobeyed me, Luke, and you put both yourself and your sister in danger!" He didn't sound angry as such, but he was certainly displeased enough that Luke was on edge.

"She would've been in worse danger if I hadn't showed up to be a diversion!" he argued weakly.
He was right and they all knew it, but somehow being reminded of this only upset Vader more.

"Did your Alliance not send a strike team with you?" he demanded turning to look at Leia again. She opted for stubborn silence. With a harsh sigh, Vader caught hold of her shoulder and pulled her over to stand by Luke.
"You should have come to me," he scolded.

It was a very odd thing, being scolded by a sith lord. Luke was reminded enough of his Uncle Owen that he did feel rather chastised despite himself and looked away with a muttered "Sorry."

Leia, on the other hand, was not pleased. "Since when do I go to you with my problems?" she tossed her head. "What indication did we ever have that you would've been willing to help a pair of rebels? For all we know, this is a ruse to arrest us all."

Luke froze and grimaced. Leia!
By saying "we", she'd included him in the statement and inadvertently revealed one of the reasons why Luke had been so stubbornly determined to handle everything on his own so far.

Vader's grip on their shoulders eased suddenly. "That is...not unreasonable," he said reluctantly. "Yet any attempt against the emperor will require trust on the part of all those involved. I do not wish for you both to feel that you cannot trust me with matters of mutual enemies."

Luke could almost feel the heaviness in their father's voice as he released their shoulders and hesitantly added, "If that trust is best fostered by releasing you and your smugglers to the Rebellion, I will do so."

Luke should've been thrilled by the idea, but 22 years without a father left him, strangely, somewhat reluctant to so quickly cut ties when offered the chance, Sith lord or no. The man had come to rescue them, after all, and seemed to exhibit positively un-sithly behavior. That suggested to him that perhaps his father wasn't as lost as Yoda seemed to believe. Unless he and Leia were just means to an end. He swallowed hard, squeezed Leia's hand, and made a decision.

"If I go back with you," he mumbled, opting for a little forced levity, "Am I grounded for life?"

For a moment, Vader was speechless, caught off guard by the offer of surrender. He recovered quickly, however. Brushing his hand over Luke's hair, he mused, "I am tempted to say yes, considering your earlier defiance, my son. But as I suspect that your sister will require your cooperation if not your aid-" and here he glanced at Leia sharply enough to be felt through the helmet, "it would be...counterproductive."

"Well that's good," Leia announced, her tone considerably lighter now that she'd glimpsed Han and Chewbacca coming up one of the corridors with Lando in what passed for stealth in this place, "Because we're going after Black Sun next."

Father and son stared dumbfounded a moment at the Princess. Then Vader shook his head and began making private plans to find an excuse to kill Xizor before the slimy head of Black Sun got a chance to be anywhere near his children.

Parenting, as it turned out, was much more difficult than it appeared.

Description
A continuation of the Take Your Rebels to Work au

In the month following the Bespin Disaster (and Leia wrestling with whether to tell anyone how Luke had gotten captured or not), it was decided that it was probably for the best if Han paid off his debts before bounty hunters actually managed to infiltrate the Alliance.
And they'd come close to that point, but luckily they weren't the most professional of bounty hunters.

When Han didn't come back a week after going to Tatooine, no one was particularly surprised that Princess Leia promptly organized a rescue mission. Mon Mothma had warned her that the Alliance didn't have the political or military pull to openly take on the Hutts, but she had persisted, and there wasn't much they could do to stop her.

When the rescue went sideways, however, no one was expecting a young man clad in black to march into Jabba's palace demanding the freedom of Han, Chewbacca, and the Princess. He'd come so quickly on the heels of the failed rescue that the guards were still flailing about to find something to tie the Princess's hands with before she could break another nose.

"Jabba the Hutt," Luke did not bother with honorifics, something that secretly delighted the former farmboy. "You will release your prisoners and hand them over to me immediately. Or you will die," he added with a shrug. "Those are your only options."

What are you doing here, Luke?! Leia aimed a frantic thought at her brother, Did you escape or-

Er...no. Well, sort of. I have a three hour head start on Father. Luke shot a quick look at his sister and his shoulders twitched in an infinitesimal shrug.

It suddenly hit Leia that Luke was standing in a rather dangerous place. She felt the warning in the Force even as she opened her mouth to call out -- as did Threepio, considerably louder -- but nonetheless Luke quickly disappeared through the trapdoor. He tumbled across the sand and rolled to a crouch, looking around.
He's not going to put Han and Chewie down here, is he?

Leia's answer was short and worried. No, they're being escorted to a cell somewhere. Hurry it up down there! You have a lightsaber, I don't, and Yoda didn't teach me how to Force choke slugs!

Luke was about to protest that he hadn't learned to Force choke either -- he and Vader had already had one or two very sharp disagreements on what exactly he would and would not be learning, with regards to the Force -- but his attention was quickly seized by the squeal of a grate and the roar of a very large and hungry animal.
A rancor. Oh fabulous.

He felt death above him even as a warning whisper not unlike those that used to tell him sandstorms were coming informed him that Imperial ships were now orbiting the planet. This was almost distracting enough to keep him from noticing the claws trying to pry him out of his hiding place. Almost. Luke grabbed a rock and smashed down hard on the rancor's finger. It bellowed in pain and retreated slightly.

A prickling at the base of Luke's spine served as a herald for the near tidal wave of frozen shadow that stretched across the sand and into the palace moments later, and he knew that his inadvertent backup had arrived.

Darth Vader had expected to find his children fighting minions of the Hutt in some misguided attempt to rescue their smuggler friend. He had not expected to find his daughter standing on the dais dressed like a bounty hunter with a chain in hand, with which she had just finished strangling Jabba the Hutt.
He honestly wasn't certain if he was outraged that the twins were even here, or incredibly proud of his daughter for ending the menace's miserable life.

"I suppose you're looking for Luke," Leia said all too calmly as she ducked behind the massive corpse to avoid a stray blaster bolt. She popped back up and fired back with deadly accuracy, permanently ending a Weequay's promising career as a sharpshooter with a sudden case of death.

Irritated, Vader drew his saber and deflected a few more shots as his troopers filled the chamber. "I've come for both of you, Princess," he announced, "But you are correct. Where is Skywalker?"

"Oh, he's in the pit," Leia said casually, pointing.

Vader actually twitched.

Down below, Luke dodged the rancor yet again and tried to force open the emergency hatch to the side. The warden wasn't having any of it, and attempted to push him back with a pike. With a yelp, Luke rolled out of the way of the rancor again and grimaced. He hadn't really wanted to use his lightsaber in such close quarters, but it didn't look as though he had much choice.

"Luke!"

It was one part accusation and one part exclamation of relief.

"A little busy here," Luke called up as he ignited the saber.

"Obviously," His father answered dryly. "Do you require assistance, or shall I leave you there?"

Luke cringed. "Help, please," he mumbled sheepishly.

"You'll have to speak louder, my son, there happens to be a firefight occurring at present." Vader sounded the slightest bit smug, no doubt feeling vindicated after having previously forbidden Luke to go alone for this very reason.

Luke ducked the rancor again and swung high, cutting a long crescent into the flesh of its arm. "I said I need help, Father!" he called up, scowling. "I didn't actually plan for a rancor because what kind of idiot keeps a rancor under the floor?!"

Reaching out with the Force, Vader easily caught hold of his son and yanked him out of the pit. The rancor snapped at him on the way up, and Luke swung the lightsaber to ward it off. The blade connected with a buzzing hum and a sizable chunk of the monster's face hit the ground independent of its head.

"I believe you have your answer," Vader said as he hauled Luke to his feet and gestured at Jabba's body.

"You killed him?" Luke asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Your sister killed him," the Sith corrected him.

Leia lifted her chin defiantly and hopped down from the dais. "Well I wasn't going to wait for you to show up," she declared. "At the rate your ship travels, we'd have been dead or worse by the time you got here."

"At the rate my ship travels?" Darth Vader loomed over the girl, fists planted on his hips in annoyance.

"I've outrun you twice in a dilapidated Corellian cruiser," Leia folded her arms. "Give me the Falcon and a good pilot over a star destroyer any day."

"I would," their father answered flatly, "But you insist on clinging to that smuggler pilot instead."

Leia was effectively speechless for all of ten seconds. Luke tried very hard to stifle his astonished laugh, but failed. The last month, tense and awkward though it had been, had demonstrated on several occasions that his father was possessed of a rather snarky sense of humor that made its way out every now and then. The idea of Darth Vader with any kind of sense of humor at all still astounded him.

He felt a slight hint of satisfaction from Vader, suggesting that he'd intended it as a joke. He flinched when Vader abruptly rounded on him, ire surging once more.

"As for you, young one, did I not warn you that you were not yet capable of challenging the Hutt alone?"

"You did," Luke gulped. He glanced around for some kind of distraction, but the soldiers had all left the chamber to locate any prisoners.

"You deliberately disobeyed me, Luke, and you put both yourself and your sister in danger!" He didn't sound angry as such, but he was certainly displeased enough that Luke was on edge.

"She would've been in worse danger if I hadn't showed up to be a diversion!" he argued weakly.
He was right and they all knew it, but somehow being reminded of this only upset Vader more.

"Did your Alliance not send a strike team with you?" he demanded turning to look at Leia again. She opted for stubborn silence. With a harsh sigh, Vader caught hold of her shoulder and pulled her over to stand by Luke.
"You should have come to me," he scolded.

It was a very odd thing, being scolded by a sith lord. Luke was reminded enough of his Uncle Owen that he did feel rather chastised despite himself and looked away with a muttered "Sorry."

Leia, on the other hand, was not pleased. "Since when do I go to you with my problems?" she tossed her head. "What indication did we ever have that you would've been willing to help a pair of rebels? For all we know, this is a ruse to arrest us all."

Luke froze and grimaced. Leia!
By saying "we", she'd included him in the statement and inadvertently revealed one of the reasons why Luke had been so stubbornly determined to handle everything on his own so far.

Vader's grip on their shoulders eased suddenly. "That is...not unreasonable," he said reluctantly. "Yet any attempt against the emperor will require trust on the part of all those involved. I do not wish for you both to feel that you cannot trust me with matters of mutual enemies."

Luke could almost feel the heaviness in their father's voice as he released their shoulders and hesitantly added, "If that trust is best fostered by releasing you and your smugglers to the Rebellion, I will do so."

Luke should've been thrilled by the idea, but 22 years without a father left him, strangely, somewhat reluctant to so quickly cut ties when offered the chance, Sith lord or no. The man had come to rescue them, after all, and seemed to exhibit positively un-sithly behavior. That suggested to him that perhaps his father wasn't as lost as Yoda seemed to believe. Unless he and Leia were just means to an end. He swallowed hard, squeezed Leia's hand, and made a decision.

"If I go back with you," he mumbled, opting for a little forced levity, "Am I grounded for life?"

For a moment, Vader was speechless, caught off guard by the offer of surrender. He recovered quickly, however. Brushing his hand over Luke's hair, he mused, "I am tempted to say yes, considering your earlier defiance, my son. But as I suspect that your sister will require your cooperation if not your aid-" and here he glanced at Leia sharply enough to be felt through the helmet, "it would be...counterproductive."

"Well that's good," Leia announced, her tone considerably lighter now that she'd glimpsed Han and Chewbacca coming up one of the corridors with Lando in what passed for stealth in this place, "Because we're going after Black Sun next."

Father and son stared dumbfounded a moment at the Princess. Then Vader shook his head and began making private plans to find an excuse to kill Xizor before the slimy head of Black Sun got a chance to be anywhere near his children.

Parenting, as it turned out, was much more difficult than it appeared.