Category: pre-slash
Notes: Took me a long time to have another idea. This isn't really slashy, but kinda, mostly just a story. Possibly will have a series of 'missing scenes' of a different sort, as Karen D had suggested in a post - thanks, my dear!
Ben and Qui-Gon's relationship fascinates me, of course, from what I've seen of the Prequel. And, as it always has, so does Ben's relationship with Anakin.
Pairing: H/Lu
Rating: PG
Series: Possibly, but not sure. First story, in any case.
Spoilers: Set during the flight to Alderaan in "A New Hope".
Summary: Han Solo considers his 'cargo'.
Warnings: I don't use betas.  :(  Any mistakes are solely my fault and the fault of my *#^&@ spellcheck.

"Go ahead, Chewie. I'll take over for now. Might as well try and relax, while we still can. You never know when we might run into some more of those Imperial ships."

Chewie roared his agreement to Han's suggestion. Knowing his partner's luck, they'd be running into more trouble before too long, and rest came at a premium at these times.

Han leaned back in his chair and put his feet up, careful to avoid any of the 'Falcon's master controls. She could practically run herself, and the trip to Alderaan, given the boost through lightspeed, wouldn't be a particularly long one.

He allowed himself a smile as he gave thought to his 'cargo'. It had been a long time since they'd transported anything but spice or weapons or machine parts; they'd certainly never had anything that was in the least bit as intriguing - or, in the kid's case, as attractive - as the passengers on board now.

The old man was a deliberate mystery; Han had come across his like before, mostly in the employ of the Empire, although this one seemed to want to avoid Imperial entanglements, which was a good thing as far as the Corellian was concerned. Still, if the money was right, he wasn't beyond doing the work and not asking any questions. If it came down to a question of a fast getaway, well, the 'Falcon had proved herself time and time again; and if it came down to a fight, it wouldn't be the first time. The old man seemed handy enough with that saber of his, Chewie took good care of himself, and Han made it a point not to go anywhere without his blaster.

That only left the kid to worry about.

Normally, there was one thing that Han knew he could count on: the fact that he didn't have to worry about anything but his own skin. He made it a point never to get involved in anything too complicated, nothing too worrisome, and never with anyone who might prove more trouble than they were worth.

And then he walked into a cantina on Mos Eisley and saw a blue-eyed, blond-haired kid with both a mouth and attitude to spare, attached to a lush young body that just wouldn't quit. He was so green he probably didn't have any idea how close he'd come to being carried out of the place by any one of the dozens of disreputable scum the cantina catered to - either as a pleasure-boy or a slave, or both. Put him on the block on one of the mass human auctions regularly held in the spare hangars nearby, and he would have disappeared without a trace in seconds. He probably still thought that ruckus he'd caused was because he'd said the wrong thing to the wrong person.

Hell, Luke Skywalker was prettier by half than any of the dozens of fresh-faced farm boys that Solo had had the 'pleasure' of doing business with in the specialized bawdy-houses that dotted the galaxy. Even more than his looks, he had an air about him that signalled something special underneath - there was a brightness in his eyes that life experience hadn't yet broken in him, a hopefulness, a genuine pleasure in the excitement that they were running into. The fact that they'd nearly been killed wasn't even enough to dampen his enthusiasm for the trip they were taking. Pleasure-boys knew all about their trade, but they shared a deadness in their eyes that even their skills couldn't hide.

The almost sullen, distrustful pout and flashing sky- blue eyes that Luke showed whenever he was near the 'Falcon's pilot was intoxicating as anything that Han had ever seen. The fact that he probably didn't even realize how sexy he was made him sexier.

Han shifted in his seat, his smile broadening as he drifted into a daydream about the kid, a sheltered pool in the middle of a desert oasis, and a singular absence of clothing.

"Am I interrupting anything?"

Han jumped, taking his feet down from where they were propped, trying to quickly look like he was doing something important. Obi-Wan was looking at him with frank amusement - the way he'd generally looked at Han, much to the Corellian's chagrin. "No," Han said. "Just trying to get us to Alderaan in one piece."

"May I sit down?"

"You're paying the bill, you can sit wherever you'd like."

Ben sat in the chair that Chewie had just vacated. "I was wondering if I could ask you a favour?" he said, in his carefully modulated tones.

"As long as it doesn't cost me anything, go right ahead."

"I would like to ask you to look after the boy for me."

Han looked at him, startled. He had the feeling - not for the first time - that the old man could read his mind. It was a damned uncomfortable feeling. "You planning on going somewhere?" he asked, trying for a diffident tone.

Ben paused for a few minutes before he spoke again, as if he was trying to decide whether to take the pilot into his confidence or merely brush him off. "I have the feeling that I might not be coming back from this trip, and I want to know that Luke will not be alone if I don't."

"You're not talking about just staying there, are you?" Han asked. "You're talking about - "

"I feel as though my time here is coming to an end," Ben said, interrupting him. He nodded out at the space that they were travelling through. "There is something dark out there that we are walking into."

Han looked out the viewer. As far as he could see, the whole expanse of space was dark. "Then why go at all? Why not turn this ship around? For seventeen thousand, I'll take you wherever you want to go - within reason, of course."

Ben smiled. "If there is one thing that I have learned, it is that you cannot run from your destiny, Han. I must go to Alderaan. And from there, who knows?" He shook his head, brushing off the mist of the inner voices that spoke to him, and asked again, "Will you do as I ask, and keep an eye on Luke?"

Han didn't know why in the world he should say yes, but the word escaped from his mouth, even before he really thought about it. "Sure, but let me ask you something."

Ben nodded his head.

"Why are you asking me to do this? Why not leave him in the hands of the droids, or Chewie? Hell, why not with someone on Alderaan? You must have friends there, and you hardly know me."

Ben smiled again, but this time it was an old smile, wistful, remembering. "When I was younger - about your age, I would say, I had the opportunity to witness and participate in the training of a great and powerful man. He was very much like Luke, only even younger, and he had the same vulnerable, enthusiastic view of the world, combined with an intense power that he didn't know how to use. I tried to teach him to use his power; unfortunately, I failed. I don't want the same thing to happen to Luke."

"That's a sad story, old man," Han said, not without sympathy, despite his blunt words. "It still doesn't answer my question, though."

"Luke needs someone around who will push him to strive beyond what he believes his abilities to be. He does that when he's around you. For some reason, you fascinate him, irritate him, and challenge him." Ben smiled. "You have much the same effect on each other, as a matter of fact. You may find that he could be good for you, as well."

Han shook his head, bristling. "I have enough trouble on my own. I don't need that kind of 'influence' in my life, thank you very much."

"Don't you? In every strong relationship, there is an element of give and take; each person is, in turn, master and apprentice."

"And what makes you think I need a master?"

"You misunderstand me," Ben said, bowing his head slightly, still with his inscrutable smile. "I am thinking only of the boy."

"Right. You want me to teach him? I don't know anything about your Force."

Ben became more serious. "He'll have teachers who will give him the knowledge that he needs to use to Force, but he needs someone to be his friend as well, Han. No-one should spend his life alone, and he, for reasons that he doesn't even know yet, will eventually come to think that he should be alone, and separate. If he pulls away from his - friends, then that will be the end of him. He needs to love, and feel loved. That is the only way that he can be saved from the Dark Side."

Han rolled his eyes. "Right," he repeated. "Sure, fine, whatever. I'll keep an eye on him. Don't worry about it."

Realizing that Han was uncomfortable with the conversation and was trying to brush him off, Ben stood, and placed a hand on the pilot's shoulder. "Thank you," he said. "I know you are a man of your word." Slowly, he walked away, disappearing into the belly of the ship.

"'A man of my word'," Han said, under his breath, after Ben had left the cockpit. He shook his head. "Jedi Knights, mystical journeys. What's next? Spend any more time with these two and I'll start to believe in this stuff."

Still, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't quite get back into the daydream that he'd been having, finally deciding to put the damn thing on auto and go see what the others were doing.

Luke was practicing with the lightsaber when he walked in the room, Ben watching and quietly encouraging him. In the corner, Chewie and the droids were playing a game, and from the sounds that were coming out of Chewie, Han could tell that his friend wasn't winning. He grinned to himself. He knew from the times that they'd stopped for some relaxation and to play some cards that Chewie was not a good loser. There weren't many places in the sector that at least one of them hadn't been thrown out of.

"Let him have it. It's not wise to upset a Wookiee," he cautioned, after Chewie let out another sharp bark.

Threepio was indignant. "But sir, nobody worries about upsetting a droid."

"That's because a droid don't pull people's arms out of their sockets when they lose. Wookiees are known to do that." He winked at Chewie. He had a sore temper, but the guy was not a menace, by any means. The 'threat' tactic was one that they'd used before in gaming-houses; usually, it was what led to a hasty retreat, once the other patrons figured out what was going on.

Threepio seemed disinclined to argue about it, however. "I see your point, sir. I suggest a new strategy, Artoo. Let the Wookiee win."

Han chuckled and stretched out in his seat, looking over at the kid once again. Ben was watching him intently as he went through his exercises with the 'saber. Han watched the old man as much as he did the kid, their earlier conversation heavy on his mind. It wasn't often that he was given a 'blessing' to pursue a relationship - especially considering that Ben was, for all intents and purposes, the kid's only guardian. He'd thought, when he first saw them, that maybe there was something there of the daddy-son type, but that idea was long gone. Luke blatantly hero-worshipped Ben, seeking out his counsel and trying to impress him, but the thought that there could be anything sexual in their relationship was obviously completely foreign to him.

But Han saw the rest of what Ben had been saying, too. Luke had visibly bristled when Han entered the room, and was quite plainly ignoring him. An hour ago, he might have mistaken that for an honest dislike; now, he wasn't nearly so sure.

The tiny flying robot struck Luke in the leg with a laser beam he wasn't quick enough to deflect, and Han burst out laughing. Ben gave him a knowing look, which he shrugged off.

"Hokey religions and ancient weapons are no match for a good blaster at your side, kid."

That only served to make Luke angrier. "You don't believe in the Force, do you?" he asked, trying to walk off what had to have been a pretty sharp shock.

Han leaned back and spread out his hands, keeping his easy grin. "Kid, I've flown from one side of this galaxy to the other. I've seen a lot of strange stuff, but I've never seen anything to make me believe there's one all-powerful force controlling everything. There's no mystical energy field that controls my destiny."

He thought he caught Ben grinning at him, out of the corner of his eye, but he was so intent on Luke that he didn't look at him to make sure. "It's all a lot of simple tricks and nonsense."

Luke made a disgusted gesture at him and turned back to his exercises. Han tried to look disinterested in the whole thing, but there was something about the way the kid moved that caught and held his attention - something about the awkward yet centred movements of his body, the earnestness of his concentration - even though he hadn't yet mastered the moves that would serve him with the 'saber, it was fascinating to watch.

And damn but he was good-looking, even with his brow furrowed and his hands tightly grasping the lightsaber; nothing could disguise that. Han slipped back into the game that he'd been playing before in the cockpit, trying to guess where the tan ended on the kid's body - wondering if it was confined to his face and hands or if it went all the way over. He was mulling over ways to find out when he noticed the panel light flashing that meant it was time to go back and do his job.

He switched it off. "Looks like we're coming up on Alderaan," he said, and headed out. Those seventeen thousand credits weren't going to earn themselves, after all.

It struck him when he reached the cockpit that if they'd reached Alderaan, for all intents and purposes it was the end of the road as far as he and Chewie were concerned. Despite giving Ben his 'word' to look after the kid, baby-sitting a green kid didn't pay anything like cargo hauls and smuggling did, and a fellow had to make a living.

Still, seventeen thousand credits - if and when they received it - could go a long way. Keep he and Chewie firmly in the good life for a few months, at least. And, if something did happen to the old man, the way he seemed to think that it would, well, then Luke would be needing a friend to lean on, right? It was only natural. He couldn't just leave the kid alone in a strange and possibly hostile part of space - he wouldn't last two minutes without some protection. No reason why Han's own shoulders couldn't be used in such an eventuality.

"No reason at all."

Chewie, standing behind him in the corridor, roared a puzzled question.

"Nothing," Han said to him. "I was just talking to myself. Get ready." He sat down, his expression tempered by a grin that twitched at the corners of his mouth. He glanced at Chewie and shook his head to clear it. Time to concentrate. "Stand by, Chewie," he said, "here we go. Cut in the sublight engines."

Chewie sat down and prepared to slow down the ship. Han stood, grasping the control lever. One last thought struck him, and he grinned.

Alderaan, here we come.

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