what am I even doing

[solo_junior]

So you're really sure about this now, huh?

I should probably thank you for not making me be the one in the mask, but I also hope you're thinking about the repercussions this is going to have no the universe as a whole. Things will be different than most people know, which might make it difficult for you to do anything with me.

But if you're prepared to try, I'm prepared to stick with it.

Besides, who doesn't love a scoundrel?

Comments

[isatraitor]

Astral! I always wanted a brother cooler than Anakin.

[solo_junior]

Haven't heard that one in a while.

Which one are you?

[isatraitor]

I'm Jacen.

Probably the loudest, or noisiest. Jaina and Anakin usually divert the worst attention.

[solo_junior]

Oh! You're from one of the timelines where Luke's academy actually worked.

[He's not jealous of much, most of the other timelines are worse than his, but not that one, apparently.]

But Anakin? Seriously? I mean, not that 'Ben' is much better, but what were they thinking?

[isatraitor]

Yep! I mean, he had a couple setbacks, like Gantoris and Kyp, but Kyp's totally a functional Jedi Master now so ... it worked out.

[ ...we just don't talk about Gantoris. Or Brakiss. Or, y'know, Jacen himself in fifteen years. ]

Mom wanted to redeem Grandpa's name, I think. Don't get me wrong, my little brother's a genius and super strong in the Force, but he causes just as much trouble as me! He's just quieter so people don't think he does anything wrong. [ Jacen scowls. He's not genuinely annoyed though; Anakin's got him out of enough scraps, after all. ]

[solo_junior]

[There's a small flicker of a smile at that] Yeah, being the quiet one definitely helps.

Well, and it helps if your friends are actually bigger troublemakers than you are.

[His brow furrows just a little] And setbacks are better than annihilation. Not that that's how things went in my timeline, as far as I know he's still training others, I just... couldn't stay anymore.

[isatraitor]

[ Jacen nods thoughtfully. ] Uncle Luke had a few people leave in my universe. I guess I never thought about me or Jaina or Anakin leaving, but ... I'm sure he wouldn't stop us, if we had to.

Why'd you leave?

[solo_junior]

Lots of reasons. Starting with the fact that I hadn't wanted to go in the first place. It was mom's idea, dad was against it, or, not entirely against it, but he thought that I was too young.

[He shrugs] I knew I needed to learn, but all I really understood was that mom was sending me away to live with someone I'd only met a handful of times.

[isatraitor]

Oh. In my universe, Uncle Luke saw us several times a year -- he taught us the basics as kids, and we didn't go to the Academy until we were almost 13. Well, 11 in Anakin's case.

[ Jacen's quiet for a moment. He can barely imagine having only one sibling, let alone none. How lonely must Ben have been in the first place, without a brother and sister to challenge him? ]

Sorry your Uncle Luke wasn't around as much.

[solo_junior]

I think he would have been, if we hadn't moved around so often, we had to, since the seat of the Republic moved every couple cycles, meant mom had to move with it.

[He shakes his head] I was six when I got shipped off, almost seven. Twelve when dad came back for me.

[isatraitor]

I guess we got lucky -- the New Republic stayed on Coruscant. I mean, we travelled a lot, but we always had the Palace apartments.

[ Jacen lets out a low whistle. ] That's young. And you didn't even have a twin... Uh, whaddya mean, when dad came back for you, though? Even when Jaina and I went to the Academy, it was only for six months or so at a time, like boarding school.

[solo_junior]

[His brow furrows, puzzled.] I wonder if that would have made a difference. But no, we lived there, full time. There were a dozen of us, give or take, at least at the beginning. More were arriving all the time.

I think there were almost twenty five when dad came to, [he bites his tongue on 'rescue' and substitutes] get me.

[isatraitor]

That's ... didn't Mom and Dad even visit?

[Jacen's trying to wrap his mind around this. Almost six years without parental contact? His parents felt bad leaving Jaina and him on Anoth for two years as toddlers, and he can't even remember that!

Something must have gone wrong between universes. ]

[solo_junior]

Mom sent me away. Why would I want her to visit?

[He's not entirely sure if she would have been able to anyway, as busy as she was, or if Luke would have allowed it, no one else got visitors either.]

I tried calling a few times, at the beginning, but she was always busy, couldn't ever talk long. Clearly she didn't want me anymore, and why would she? I was damaged.

[isatraitor]

Wasn't Mom the Chief of State? She could do what she wanted, in our universe.

[solo_junior]

[His brows both shoot up at that.] Chief of State? No, she was a senator, ambassador for a while, and then stepped down to instead lead the Resistance.

Went by General instead of Princess, though some still called her that anyway.

[twelve_not_fourteen]

"Listen they're all Leia's choice fine names."

Except for Jaina, since it's after his mother he's gonna have to take credit/blame for that, won't he?

[isatraitor]

"Uh huh. I'm not saying you and Mom gave Anakin a complex or anything, but..."

Jacen shrugs. His little brother might hide his feelings and anxieties as best he can, but he can't keep them all from his siblings.

[twelve_not_fourteen]

"How hard do you think I was lobbying for my youngest to be named after a guy who decided test his carbonite freezing process on me?"

And that's as far as hell go in terms of blaming it on their mother. Because, let's face it, there's only so much he can talk his way out of.

Though, Anakin ... in some respects, it was far easier to be stabbed through the heart than to live through that.

[isatraitor]

"Wasn't the only other choice 'Han Solo jr'?"

Jacen shakes his head, hiding a smile.

[twelve_not_fourteen]

"I'm still trying to figure out how that was a bad suggestion."

[isatraitor]

"I'm just really glad you didn't think of it until after I was born."

[twelve_not_fourteen]

"After you we're born, huh? Right."

Oh, that's cute. Jacen thinks he wasn't trying to figure out a matching name that started with the letter 'H' for his sister.

[isatraitor]

Han and Hilda Solo. (The mun can't imagine being as interested in those kids in the Nineties.)

"Dad..."

[twelve_not_fourteen]

Or a feminized version of Han, like, Haneia or Hannelle? Seriously, this guy is a fountain of ideas.

Still, not that he's certain, but, that sounded like the 'I've got something to tell you' dad and not the 'please stop' dad.

"Something on your mind?"

[solo_junior]

Hannah, obviously, double the Han and it works both ways.

[Look, someone ended up being a Junior even without being a Han, he knows how this works.]

PALINDROME!!! Ugh, why didn't we think of that. XD

[twelve_not_fourteen]

"The only logical choice of names for the twins of Han Solo." He says with a straightfaced nod. "Thank you, Ben."

lol, I've been sitting here going "someone's going to say it, they've gotta."

[solo_junior]

"You're welcome. I'm here to help. That's what I do, I'm a helper."

And also a troublemaker, but that should surprise no one.

*hands you the Internet trophy* Job well done.

[twelve_not_fourteen]

"Someone, clearly, raised you well."

Trouble? From Solo!kids. They were perfect angels. All of them.

/accepts, tearful I'd like to thank my mama, and my dog, and my agent and my hairdresser and...

[solo_junior]

"Uncle Chewie. Uncle Lando tried, but he wasn't as successful."

Solos raised by a pack of ruffians legitimate businessmen even more so!

Such cleverness only could come from a solo-mun *tears*. We're so proud.

[twelve_not_fourteen]

"You forgot someone, I think."

This Han likes to use the word 'privateer' as a euphemism to legitimize himself.

See, now my Calrissian-spawn is protesting that they're the clever ones.

[solo_junior]

"Really? You sure?"

He's picked up on Chewie's deadpan delivery if nothing else.

Your head sounds very crowded and noisy. XD

[twelve_not_fourteen]

"Y-yes?"

Gosh, he really sounds sure, doesn't he?

It can get that way, yes. Luckily most everybody plays nice

[solo_junior]

Aaaaand there's the laughter, he couldn't keep it in anymore.

"The look on your face."

Sounds like a good mix though. *would hang out there, js*

[twelve_not_fourteen]

"Ha. Funny. Isn't there some carbon scoring that you should be cleaning out of the circuitry bays?"

Whose kid is this, anyway?

It can be entertaining, definitely!

[solo_junior]

"That didn't work when I was twelve, it's not going to work now."

Whose he is depends on which parent you ask and what he was just caught doing.

[twelve_not_fourteen]

Han narrows his eyes, aims a pointed glare at Ben and since we all know what an amazing marksman he is, it certainly hits. Then he shrugs and smirks.

"Had to try." He says. "It's a mess over there."

[solo_junior]

Probably a more effective glare on people who haven't got the familial immunity.

"Yeah, it is, always has been. Luckily the mess doesn't interfere with the performance."

[twelve_not_fourteen]

"Yeah, well, if I wanted shiny floors I would have needed to hire a larger crew. I suppose."

Not that he's ever been much for 'the odds', but he never liked the idea of a large crew. The likelihood of getting stabbed in the back gets too high. And there's, you know, having to pay them.

[solo_junior]

"And the scuff-marks add character. Or so I heard, about fifty-seven times."

Even Chewie and Ben were sometimes too much of a crew, no backstabbings, but the occasional mutiny.

[twelve_not_fourteen]

Yes, the fateful day of bring Ben on board meant, suddenly, the Captain could be out numbered. It was a very sad realization to come to.

"It's a look that says 'I've seen battle and lived to fly another day'."

[solo_junior]

"It's also a look that says 'wow no one realized that thing had acidic blood, did they?' in some places."

Luckily for Han's ego everyone involved, the mutinies were usually short-lived, easily-solved and ultimately rare.

[twelve_not_fourteen]

"I never ask about how corrosive the blood is till after I've spilled it."

Anyway, why is always the meanest, nastiest, most difficult to contain creatures have the most acid blood?

[solo_junior]

"Acid blood on the deckplates is always preferable to being eaten."

It's A Thing™, maybe the acid blood is what makes them so mean.

[isatraitor]

"...you were never actually gonna call one of us Han Solo Jr, right?"

Jacen's worried. Is it too late for him to have any future younger siblings? (Not counting alternate Ben.) He doesn't want them subjected to that fate.

[twelve_not_fourteen]

"You act like it would have been so bad."

Think of how many doors it would have opened for them? No. Come to think about it, it probably only would have gotten more blaster bolts fired their way.

[isatraitor]

"DAD."

[twelve_not_fourteen]

"How can you be this worked up already? I have the whole day left to get on your nerves."

Han holds up his hand in mock apology and softens his look just a touch. "Do you really think your mother would have let me name any of you after me?"