This story is a work of fan-fiction. Star Wars and its related characters were conceived by George Lucas and are now owned by Disney. I own none of this.

My thanks to my son for beta-reading this for me. Any remaining mistakes are mine.

Clearly, Luke and Han grow much closer as friends between the end of ANH and the beginning of ESB. This is one story to explain the development of their friendship. Although this is AU, I did try to loosely follow canon and parts of the EU that aided the story. If you see something that would be better explained by canon or the Star Wars EU, please drop me a line. Thanks!

My apologies to Han Solo. I had a massive headache when I wrote this and had to inflict it on someone.

Han Solo had a sarlacc of a headache. It might not have been so bad if Chewie had been there to spell him at the helm, or if Luke hadn't been hovering nervously just outside of the cockpit. But the kid was anxious about his first diplomatic assignment for the Rebel Alliance and nothing about this mission had gone smoothly so far.

Han sighed. Would it really have been better if Leia was there? Luke might have settled down then, and Han could have winced in peace at the throbbing in his temples. But Leia had taken ill prior to the mission - nothing severe, thankfully, although Han would be loathe to have Leia know that he actually cared enough to check up on her - and she was unable to accompany Luke. Han had agreed to tag along on this assignment - officially as Luke's pilot, but unofficially, Mon Mothma told him, as Luke's bodyguard. It seemed that everyone, friend and foe alike, wanted a piece of the farm boy from Tatooine who had managed to bring down the Death Star.

Luke's voice was hesitant. "You sure you're all right, Han?"

The spacer gritted his teeth. "Fine, kid." He knew what Luke was thinking. And yes, he had spent the night before partying with Chewie and his friends on Kashyyyk, while Luke had stayed aboard the Falcon, studying his notes about the fringe group he was supposed to make contact with in the Expansion Region. But he wasn't hungover, as he knew Luke assumed but wouldn't quite confront him with. Chewie had actually kept an eye on Han's alcohol intake, knowing that Han would be flying without him the next day. Another friend to fuss over him. When had he turned so soft? Han rubbed his forehead and sighed.

Inching his way into the cockpit, Luke sat down tentatively in the large co-pilot's chair. "We're about to head to light speed, right?" Without waiting for Han's reply, he added, "Let me double-check the coordinates for you. I know Chewie usually does that."

Surprised, Han found himself torn between pride in Luke for being so bold and annoyance over the young man's brashness. Irritation won out. "Here," he snapped, sending his figures over to the co-pilot's screen. "If you think you can do better than me, maybe you should fly 'er too." He glared at Luke.

The blond swallowed. "I never said that, Han," he replied, as his eyes raked over the lines of numbers and calculations. After a pause, he added, "It all looks good except for line four."

Han squinted at his own screen. "Kest!" he swore. "You're right." He corrected the error and recalculated the figures. "How's that?" He sent the revised data back to Luke.

Luke nodded, his sunny smile now filling the cockpit. "Looks good to me."

"Great, we're outta here."

The minute that Han had punched the coordinates into the hyperdrive, he deflated in place, one hand covering his eyes.

Luke watched him with a growing sense of concern. It wasn't like Han to make a serious error in piloting. It disturbed Luke to think that Han was hungover enough to impair the mission. That fiasco with the hyperdrive coordinates could have ended in disaster. He thanked the Force for watching over them.

Han didn't look up or move as the ship streaked into hyperspace. Luke gently touched the Corellian's shoulder. "Uh, Han? Maybe you should go get some rest now. I can keep an eye on things here."

The man startled and tried to focus his unsteady gaze on Luke's face. It gave him a vaguely cross-eyed appearance as he nodded. "We'll be in hyperspace for at least two hours, kid." Han looked away, blinked several times, and stood up. "I need to check on something." In a firmer voice, he added, "You should stay here and get ready for your meeting."

As the captain of the Millennium Falcon left the cockpit, the uneasy feeling in Luke's stomach grew. Trust your feelings, he could almost hear Ben Kenobi whispering. Well, his feelings were telling him that Han was hungover. He was disappointed in Han, but that wasn't the real problem. His sense of unease was keyed in to something else: Han didn't trust him enough to be honest with him.

How impaired was he? If Han wasn't going to tell him the truth about his condition, then Luke would have to confirm his suspicions for himself. He snuck down the hall after the pilot.