The Great Escape, (Possibly AU) EU w/ Allies Spoilers

1,000th Cantina Post! Now I can be an Ace named Hotshot.

Warning Warning Warning. Vagueish Allies spoilers ahead. You've been warned.


Anyway... I've been sick the last few days and so I wrote this one out for my own mental well-being... must... resolve... Allies... rift. I would say this takes place somewhere towards the end of Vortex, but we'll see. What follows is just the beginning but I wanted to put it out here to force me to finish it. Thanks to Lex for sharing info with us and thanks to everyone who's been chatting in the Allies thread for your inspiration.


The Great Escape

Jaina Solo raced towards the hanger bay. She needed a way off-planet fast.

Daala's people were keeping an eye on the place she'd left her Stealth-X - so she couldn't go back there. Moments earlier her commlink had gone off but when she answered the connection was already cut. It was immediately followed by a message in the Force - Find us. Just as quickly, the touch was gone but Jaina had been able to identify it as her mother and gotten a general feeling of her location. Hampering down on her own presence in the Force, she had started for a private hanger bay her parents recently started keeping under an alias for emergencies. It was the only place she could think of that they might be in this part of the city.

When she reached the door, she tentatively extended her Force sense to the immediate area and felt her mother just a meter beyond the door. She didn't seem to be in trouble, so Jaina spared a glance over her shoulder before opening the door and sliding in.

"Hey, kiddo! Glad you could make it," her father said as he took long strides so he could come and quickly wrap her up in a hug.

Han released her and her mother turned a warm, but concerned smile to her. "As soon as we heard what happened, we called for backup."

That's when Jaina saw what was taking up the most room in the hanger - an Imperial shuttle. A stormtrooper stood with his helmet tucked under his arm at the base of the lowered ramp. When Leia nodded to him, he called up the ramp.

Jaina's eyes darted to her mother. "Mom? What's going on? We don't have much time."

She looked between her parents but her mother only gestured her towards the shuttle. Ashik, Jagged Fel's assistant and head of security, glided down the landing ramp. At the sight of him, Jaina picked up the pace in his direction. She was still several meters away from him when she shouted, "Ashik? What's going on? Is Jag here with you? ...Is he ok?"

Congrats on 1000th post!

Awesome start !

Fingers crossed, maybe we'll get lucky and see this rift resolved sometime in Vortex.

Thanks, Kaliene.

__________________

Her mind had been reeling, trying to piece together what to do about her situation and what her parents had in mind, so much so that she hadn't even bothered to reach out and find the answer herself. But as Ashik slowly nodded, Jagged Fel himself walked briskly down the ramp and towards Jaina. A small look of relief briefly washed over his face as their eyes met before a much grimmer look appeared.

"Daala's gone beyond way too far with this latest threat. Everyone knows that what you did was not illegal. Rash perhaps. But not illegal."

He was now almost directly in front of her and instinctively reached out for her hand before glancing at the floor and beginning to return his hand to his side. Jaina reached out and met his hand halfway, squeezing it tightly. He returned the squeeze.

"I refuse to let her take you. I refuse to stand by and let her put you in carbonite while she scrounges for shoddy evidence against you."

"Then I need to get out of here, Jag. But I don't know how you can help. My Stealth-X and public transports are being monitored. And we both know you can't jeopardize the unification talks over me. We've been over this." Her eyes began to well up. She released her grip on his hand. They'd been in this situation too many times before and she'd thought she'd put an end to it.

Jag shook his head. "The time has come to seriously question if the Empire can be a part of a government that continues to treat its citizens like this. Even with popular opinion against her, she shows no signs of slowing down."

Jaina looked down at her feet, trying to stop the tears. Her words came out in a whisper. "I can't... I can't let you -"

"Jaina." His tone was strict and succinct. "Look at me."

She lifted her eyes to meet his and bit her lip.

"Your parents and I have been over everything we could think of in such a short amount of time to get you away from this call for your arrest. Do you still trust me?"

She nodded.

"Do you love me?" he asked quieter now - the ice melting from his voice.

"Jag..."

"Do you still love me, Jaina?"

"Yes."

"And if things hadn't gotten so complicated between duty and politics, would you still want to marry me?"

"Of course, Jag. But the fact of the matter is -" His sudden clasping of her hands in his stopped her in her tracks.

"Then marry me. Right now."

Ace! Wow, I needed that, thanks!!!

Specs

See, now that's the way it should be done in profic and all of us would be soooooo happy.

Well done. Can't wait for more.

:

Thank you, a dozen times over! Profic matters less and less, as long as there's fanfic like this.

We really did need this! Great job!

This!

Made me smile. Well done!

Specs: I needed it too - to settle my mind about this situation.

Kaliene: Thanks! I'm having a hard time imagining Troy writing this, so maybe we have to wait 'til the next Aaron book. But if something like this was in Vortex, that'd be a hell of a victory for all of us.

Scrubs: Now that's a humbling comment. You are welcome a dozen times over. I usually like writing (and reading) missing scenes best but I'm willing to go into AU-how-it-ought-to-be if this shiite keeps up. To Suffer and Be Strong ended up being not too far off from the same scene in Invincible so let us cross our fingers and hope that same magic luck happens again.

EJSF: This!

TKL: Glad I could do that.

Compliments from some of my favorite authoresses... I hit a rough patch lately and all your kind words mean so very much to me right now. So thank all of you very much. And thank you to my getting sick for giving me time to write.

The next part will be up either tonight or sometime tomorrow morning.

Her mouth fell open but no words came out.

"I know. We wanted to wait until things settled down. We wanted to wait until all this got sorted out. But things aren't settling down. And they're only getting worse. Blast, even with what happened at the Temple... Hamner's willing to turn you in to get Daala to leave them alone. We all know that'll only hold her back temporarily. Yet he's still willing... even though he probably approves of what you did...even after everything you've done for them. My talks with her have been fruitless. I know you want to help the Order, but you can't do that from inside a slab of carbonite. You see all that, don't you?"

She let it all sink in.

She'd recently wondered how much more she could stand of trying to help those who'd cast her aside every time she did so. She was tired. She was tired of being so unappreciated. Jaina Solo was not asking for a parade or for everyone to cheer every time she entered a room. She wanted to know when she did what was right, everything would be ok in the end. That wasn't a given anymore. She had forced herself to live in the constraints of an expectation that left her as a hero and a sacrifice at the same time. It'd been breaking her, sending her into more and more fits of desperation. It'd cost her so much already. Jagged Fel had been one of those costs.

Or so she had thought. He was standing there right in front of her right now. His genuine love for her radiated off him, warming her soul, casting the darkness away. He was offering her all he could - to help her, support her, make sure she could keep doing what was right. He held the promise that the galaxy could be a better place. He would fight that fight right along side her. All she had to do was what she'd promised him twice already in their lives.

She closed her eyes, took a deep calming breath, and then let it all go.

"Let's do this."

Jagged Fel could not help the smile that spread across his face.

"You're absolutely sure? I realize this is calling for a quick decision now, but I don't want you to regret this later."

"I am sure. But this isn't a quick decision. It's one I made when you asked me to marry you. Plus you're right. This is as good a time as any. In fact - in light of the current circumstances - it's a really, really good time."

He brought both her hands to his lips and kissed each in turn. "Thank you," he whispered.

"Sir?" Ashik's deep voice sliced through the moment.

Jaina winced slightly as Jag turned away, dropping one of her hands. "What is it?"

"TL-77's picking up some comm chatter. It would appear Miss Solo was spotted in the area 10 standard minutes ago before they lost track of her. They're confident enough that she's still in the area that Daala is accompanying a squad herself to make the arrest. ETA 20 minutes."

"Thank you, Ashik. Kyr?" Jaina noticed a vaguely familiar blonde woman in uniform peeking down the shuttle ramp. "Prep that paperwork we discussed please."

The blonde offered a small salute and a smile. "You got it." And with that she disappeared back up the ramp.

The recognition settled in Jaina's memory. "Is that - "

Jag was quick to counter. "Yes. But our time now is limited. We can talk about it later. I promise."

Her parents had come up on either side of Jaina, Han placing an arm around her and Leia taking hold of her arm. Jag excused himself for a moment to further consult with Ashik. A thought suddenly hit her and Jaina looked at her parents. "I'm glad you're both here for this."

"You know, sweetheart, it's not too late. We can still knock you out and hide you in the Falcon's smuggling holds."

"Dad..."

"It was option 3."

"Mom, make him stop."

"He's serious," Leia chimed in.

"Where were you going to take me?"

"That... was still under contention," Leia replied.

"That's why it was only option 3, Princess. Couldn't put the incomplete plan first."

Jaina sighed. "Well I like Jag's suggestion better anyway."

"Well we had to go into Corellian Overdrive here, Jaina. You've certainly stirred up the mynocks' nest."

Just then Jag rejoined them. "As Ashik has reminded me, this event needs to take place in Imperial territory. Luckily for us, my shuttle counts as just that. So if you'll all follow me..."

"Wait."

All eyes turned to Jaina. Jag swallowed audibly.

I love the portrayal of Jaina here. And gotta love Jag! at Han's suggestion.

Well done with Jaina's inner thoughts.

Han's plan! I second Jaina - I like Jag's plan much better.

What is Jaina stalling for now?!?

This post has been edited by Kailene on Apr 10 2010, 03:09 PM

This was just what I needed at the end of a long day!

Jag's logic.

Jaina's vulnerability.

Han's options.

Leia's support - and subtle humor.

Ashik and the rest of Jag's very efficient staff...

Thank you for writing this!


P.S: I'll even say that I the evil cliffie.

Thanks, EJSF. Glad you liked it. Han's suggestion was the first thing that popped into my head when I thought about an idea he might come up with to get Jaina off-planet.

Kaliene, thank you. It's definitely how I'd feel if I was in Jaina's place. Starting towards the end of LOTF I started feeling like she was being used and FOTJ has only furthered that feeling. No one else in the Order is in a position quite like hers. I know she expected there'd be a chance of a fallout for Darkmeld, but now it feels more like the Order expects her to do the things they aren't willing to and then also take all the backlash that comes with it. It's even worse when the backlash comes from them. It's the whole idea of what's expected of you and what's right and the times when those things clash that we discussed a bit in one of the book threads (and Christie mentioned in some interview). Some of these thoughts have to be crossing Jaina's mind at some point. My hope is that they all come together and she reaches the same conclusion in pro fic as I had her do here. (Yeah... I'm don't have an opinion on this topic at all... )

Yay, oldj! Love to see so many of that smiley! I figured Jag has to have an efficient staff. He's got things tough enough with the Moffs - so he needs a tight little group of beings he can rely on and run with some of that Chiss military upbringing. And since this is a Fel plan, he's already thought of everything. Plus I'm sure Ashik is especially on his toes after those assassination attempts.

As for Jag's logic, I find he's good at making observations. And when it comes to Jaina, he's pretty good at being able to grab her by the shoulders (sometimes literally) and say hey, this is what I see, and you need to see it too. The sharpen the sword too much and it will easily break bit from LOTF readily springs to mind.

I'm glad you're liking it so much. Thank you for reading and replying.

And the cliffie... I was looking for where to break off this section and I just couldn't resist.



Next part will be up either tonight or later tomorrow.

"Don't look at me like that, you guys. I just... Jag, go ahead. I'd like my parents to escort me over... in the Corellian tradition."

"Jaina, I'm sorry this is so thrown together." The relief was evident even in Jag's apology.

"Frankly, I'd prefer the press wasn't here anyway," she returned, smiling.

"Well me too. But we can have something later for the rest of our friends and family."

"I wouldn't be surprised if, with Jag's position, something more public isn't called for," added Leia.

Suddenly solemn and with an unfocused gaze Jaina responded, "We'll do what we have to. I'm just sorry some of our loved ones will never be able to attend." She couldn't bear to list all the names, Anakin and Jacen being chief among them.

"15 minutes, sir." Ashik's voice rang out across the distance from the shuttle, shattering the sad silence.

Jag turned, nodded to his assistant, and then turned back to the Solos. He offered Jaina a reassuring smile and then made way to the shuttle. When they saw him start to disappear up the ramp, the Solos began their walk. Jaina linked each of her arms with one of her parents.

"So, Dad... you were ok with this being option 1?"

"I agreed with letting Fel offer his suggestion first, that's it. It was always up to you to decide. We would have happily given you the next one had you'd said no. "

"But this whole Empire thing..."

"I still don't like it, but it's managing to look like a better place than the GA these days..." Jaina knew how much it took for her father to admit as much out loud.

"We have both their respective Chiefs-of-State to thank for that," Leia added. "Jaina, your father is too proud to say it-"

"Hey!"

"-but we both know Jag's a good man. He loves you. And we have a pretty good idea how you feel about him. I'm confident the two of you will do great things together."

They'd reached the base of the shuttle ramp and Jaina turned to hug her mother. "Thank you, Mom." She turned back towards her father to find him blinking repeatedly in an attempt to not let any tears well up in his eyes. Jaina wanted to give him a hard time but thought better of it. Instead she let him scoop her into a wookiee-worthy hug and whispered how much she loved him. He returned the sentiment and then just loudly enough for everyone to hear said, "Go on now. Get married already."

The trio walked up the short ramp to where Jag was waiting just inside the shuttle. Ashik stood to his right and the blonde from earlier to his left. A small camera droid hovered over her shoulder. Jaina extended her left hand to Jag who cupped it in his right and then he made the same gesture to her. Han and Leia held each other as they stood nearby on the ramp watching.

Oh, yay! I love that the Corellian Tradition is the escort by both parents.

Yay! No Jaina bugging out. Ouch, just realized that was a bad joke. Anyway, I love that she chose to follow a Corellian tradition here and the H/L interaction was priceless.

I have no idea if there are Corellian wedding traditions. I mean, I'd guess there are but as far as I know I made this one up. And well, this wedding may be spur-of-the-moment but they should at least have something a little special.

EJSF.

Next installment will be up in the morning. I debated putting it with the bit that went up tonight but then it just seemed too long.

"We are here today to bear witness to a new beginning," Ashik began, reading from a flimsi. "Jaina Solo and Jagged Fel have come together to mark their partnership. Their love and understanding of each other has grown and matured, and now they have decided to live their lives together as husband and wife." He lifted his gaze to Jag. "Sir? Would you still like to say something? Updated ETA is 12 minutes."

With a quick nod Jag began. "Jaina, I love you. I love you for the remarkable being you are. Crossing paths with you has without a doubt changed my life, helped shape who I became - even brought out my inner Rebel, some would say." Jaina flashed him a lopsided grin as he let out a small, short chuckle. "We've faced more than a fair share of obstacles in our lives and I know there will be more along the way. But I believe in our partnership. I know the strength of our togetherness. It is my honor to share my life with you and support you in whatever way I can. All this, I vow." With that he raised her left hand to his lips, eyes never leaving hers.

When he began to lower her hand, a tear filled one of her eyes. He offered her a hint of a smile filled with warmth. She smiled back broader and then took a deep breath before she spoke. "Jagged Fel, I've always loved you. At first I kept that to myself. And when I finally shared it with you, it started me down a path that has brought many of the happiest times in my life. I'm finally ready to let myself be happy again - this time for the long haul. I'm thankful for having you as my partner - someone whom I respect and trust, someone who will save me from myself when my stubbornness gets the best of me, and someone..." Her lips suddenly curved into a smirk. "... someone who is a fantastic pilot." That got a snicker out of nearly everyone. Now she was practically beaming. "I believe in us. And I look forward to sharing my life with you for as long as I live. All this, I vow." She mimicked his gesture from before and kissed the knuckles of his left hand.

They then both turned their gaze expectedly towards Ashik.

"With these vows the partnership of Jaina Solo and Jagged Fel is sealed. In the eyes of the Galactic Empire they are now husband and wife."

She squeezed both his hands and he squeezed hers back as he leaned towards her. She helped close the gap and their lips met in a sweetly passionate kiss. When she'd left that ring on his desk several days ago she didn't know if she'd ever get to taste his lips again. And now here she was, standing just inside an Imperial shuttle kissing him as his wife. Jaina Solo hadn't felt this light in quite some time.

When their lips parted, their hands released to thread around each other in a fierce hug. She tilted her head up to whisper in his ear, "Thank you...for everything." He whispered back, "Not a problem, Goddess. I've been wanting to do this for years." She pulled back to see he wore a smile that matched her own.

Aaaawwwww!

Glad you waited and posted the ceremony separately. It deserved it's own little place. Very sweet, loved their vows to one another and Jaina was even able to throw a little Corellian tradition in there.

12 minutes and counting until all hell breaks loose. Daala is going to be pissed. I can't wait.