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The first time Wedge saw him, it was in Wedge’s hangar bay, the main bay for the Alderaanian security forces. Wedge never did find out what he was actually doing there in the hangar that day, but he suspected it had something to do with shirking his responsibilities. Wedge himself had just gotten back from a month-long mission, and the only thing he could think about was climbing into a sonic, and then falling into bed.
He’d just climbed out of the cockpit when he saw the kid, sitting on a couple of crates near Wedge’s fighter. He wasn’t really a kid-- maybe twenty, he would have guessed if he had any experience in guessing that type of thing-- an innocent face, watching the few pilots in the bay work on their ships. He didn’t look much like a pilot, too clean, too fresh-faced to even be a cadet, though Wedge was scarcely more than eighteen himself when he left Corellia and found himself on Alderaan.
He wasn’t the first person Wedge had seen in the hangar that wasn’t a pilot. Kids liked to sneak in and watch the pilots, and they usually let them stay unless there was any danger of them getting hurt. Alderaan was so open that nearly everyone was allowed anywhere, and everyone always said whatever they were thinking. It was one of the things he liked about the planet, it was so open. He knew Biggs would have been the first to introduce himself to the guy hanging out, but Darklighter was off-world, running relief missions for the royal house after an extremist group of Mandalorians ravaged a planet mid-rim. It probably wouldn’t hurt, if Wedge introduced himself. They’d always told him he should make more non-pilot friends, anyway. It was like his whole life was in the hangar bay.
“What’s your name, kid?” Wedge called out, pulling off his helmet.
The kid looked startled at being called out, his feet dangling from the high crate where he sat. He was wearing simple robes, which looked rather out of place in both the hangar and on the streets. Alderaan was the pinnacle of high fashion and art, something Wedge never quite understood, but clearly this kid never got it either. “Oh. Luke Skywalker,” he said, after a moment. “What’s yours?”
“Commander Wedge Antilles,” Wedge said, stopping just in front of the crate.
Luke’s eyebrows rose, “Antilles? Like the royal house of Antilles?”
Wedge scoffed, “Royal house? No, I’m from Corellia. We had a lot of non-royal Antilles there.”
Luke was grinning, though Wedge didn’t know what for. Something in Luke’s pocket started beeping, and when he heard it, he groaned, looking down at it. He made a face when he read the message, “I’m being summoned,” he told Wedge. Hopping off the crate, he said, “Maybe I’ll see you around, sometime.” Wedge doubted it. People came and went, even on Alderaan.
But Luke was back, later that week, draping himself all over the crates again, just watching the pilots. “Back so soon? What are you doing here?” Wedge asked, spotting him up high. It was only the second time Wedge had been back in the hangar since getting back-- he’d slept the entire day after he’d met the kid, and then he’d had to report in.
Luke shrugged, “I like ships. And my sister is off-world, it leaves my days boring and full of lessons…”
Wedge raised an eyebrow, “And that gives you clearance to be down here?” Lessons? It was possible he was a pilot, then, but Alderaan didn’t have a piloting academy-- they relied on importing them from other star systems. Maybe one of the university students then, the main university building was just across the park.
He scoffed, “I have clearance everywhere,” Wedge watched him incredulously, as he hopped down, eyeing one of the ships. “Do you think I could fly one?”
Wedge couldn’t imagine even entertaining the idea, but the kid looked so eager. He scoffed, “Not my ship.” The kid looked at him stubbornly. “And that would be if you do really have clearence. And not before you went to the simulators.”
He perked up, “I do!” Wedge didn’t know why he was entertaining this, but the kid was-- admittedly-- rather cute.
“Alright, let's go check the system,” he said, and the kid followed after him. At the computer, he said, glancing back at the kid, “Luke Skywalker, clearance level.”
After a moment, the computer spit out, “Skywalker, Luke. Clearance level: Full.” The look on the kid’s face was smug.
“Full isn’t even a level,” Wedge complained, “You aren’t a hacker, are you?”
Luke laughed, “No, I just have absurdly high clearance levels.”
“Why?” Wedge asked, narrowing his eyes. He wasn’t secretly some inspection officer, trying to see if Wedge was following protocol? But this would be the most bizarre inspection test he had ever seen, so he dismissed it.
Luke just shrugged, “Lead the way, Commander.”
Wedge side-eyed him, but Luke followed him to the training room, sitting in for a simulator. “Have you ever flown a ship before?”
“A couple of times, back on Tatooine. Just a few old ships, when I was a kid. My uncle never really let me do anything more than use a speeder.”
“Tatooine’s quite far. How did you end up here?” Wedge asked, and that was always the question.
“My aunt and uncle died when I was ten, I came here to live with family,” Luke said, with a shrug. Wedge’s past didn’t both him anymore, but he understood, putting a hand on Luke’s shoulder.
“Press that button to start the simulator,” Wedge said, pointing. Luke nodded, and pressed it, and the simulator was over shortly. Wedge was impressed-- Luke had good reflexes, but poor skills. He explained a few things, and Luke began again. It was over in less than thirty seconds this time-- Luke had completed it. “Kriffing hell, Luke,” Wedge said. “Are you sure you’re not a hacker?”
Luke frowned, “Yeah? Is that good?”
“You beat my score,” Wedge said, still staring.
“So are you good?”
“Luke, I’m the best.” Luke grinned.
“So does that mean I can fly a ship?”
“Yeah, that means you can fly a ship,” Wedge said wearily. Who was this kid?
Turns out, Luke was a pretty decent pilot. A little rough around the edges, but that was nothing Wedge couldn’t fix if given enough time. That is, if the kid stuck around. It looked like he was going to, at least for awhile. They must have been gone for over an hour, but Wedge tended to lose track of time up there if he didn’t have a set objective. An objective other than checking out the kid’s skills, anyway.
“Sure you’ve never piloted one of these before?” Wedge asked, dropping out of his own ship. Luke was grinning, shaking his head as he pulled off his own helmet. His hair was damp from sweat, much like Wedge’s own. They were both in the usual orange jumpsuit, but Luke managed to be the only person he’d ever met that actually looked happy to be in one on this planet. “Heading to the refresher?” Wedge asked, nodding towards the pilots barracks at the edge of the hanger.
There were about fifteen bunks in it, and a ‘fresher. It was technically meant to house the pilots full time, and Wedge knew a couple of them did live there-- but the job paid well, and after a couple months or years of living with a bunch of pilots that took off all hours of the day, most pilots left to find something small and their own nearby. Wedge lasted three years before he found a small hole-in-the-wall place, but he usually used the sonic at the hangars before heading back.
Luke looked at the time. He hesitated before shaking his head, biting his lip. “Can’t. I’ll shower at home, my parents are probably expecting me for dinner,” he said. Brightening, he clasped Wedge’s arm, and said, “Thanks for taking me out today-- I really appreciate it. It was nice flying for once. Even if we didn’t leave the planet,” he said wryly.
“Ha, nice try,” Wedge said, patting Luke’s arm back. “Not on your first run.”
Luke grinned, “I had to try,” he said, walking backwards towards the exit. He waved to Wedge once before spinning around and sprinting out of the hanger.
Wedge couldn’t help smiling as he shook his head, and gathered the pieces of flight suits littered around the two fighters.
Wedge was right, Luke didn’t stop coming. Usually once or twice a week, the kid would stop by. He didn’t always have time to fly, and Wedge didn’t always have the time to take him out. He started making friends with a few of the other pilots in the hangar, he took a liking to Biggs. Apparently they had grown up not far from each other on Tatooine-- but Luke had left the planet before they would have ever had a chance to meet. But it was Wedge that Luke took a particular liking to.
Wedge never let Luke take anything out alone, but he’d managed to sneak something out a few times with the help of the other pilots when Wedge was busy. But apparently he’d listened to Wedge on some things, and kept planetside. Wedge had promised him when he’d gotten back from the latest escort mission-- he’d heard the ship he was escorting belonged to the queen’s husband, who was a senator or something, but they weren’t really given mission details. He was surprised Luke had waited for him, he seemed impatient, but his smile seemed genuine.
Space wasn’t actually that dangerous, unless you were in the wrong area, especially since there was a lot less to run into, but it was also a lot harder to get to if something went wrong. Wedge shouldn’t have worried. Luke was a natural, he took to the stars like Mon Cala took to water.
As soon as they landed, Luke was out of the X-wing, practically shouting.
“I’ve never-- I’ve never felt anything like that-- that adrenaline rush!” Luke said, spinning around. “And I thought flying was great-- man, I’d have never thought going to space would be like that!”
Wedge grinned, “I know, it’s a bit of a rush.”
Then, Luke grabbed him by the collar, and pulled him in for a kiss. Wedge braced himself on the fighter behind him, his fingers splayed out as his other hand reached out to pull Luke closer to him, deepening the kiss.
Luke pulled back, grinning, “Now I get why you can’t stand to be out of the cockpit for long,” he said, and then stepped back, before letting out a whoop.
Wedge’s head was spinning as he watched the young pilot practically dance around what was quickly becoming ‘his’ fighter, though they didn’t officially have fighters assigned to people, and tried to ignore his flushed face.
And sometimes-- Wedge had to admit that he took a liking to Luke. Like when the kid pulls him into the storage closet at the end of the hanger, kissing him like his life depends on it.
Luke groaned against him, low in his throat. Luke had him pressed back against the wall of the closet, and was working on getting his hand under Wedge’s shirt. He hadn’t even finished getting dressed when Luke pulled him into the closet, and started devouring his mouth. What Luke lacked in finesse he was making up in effort-- not that Wedge actually had much to compare it to. Luke’s fingers were digging into his heated skin where he’d worked his hand under Wedge’s shirt and into his flightsuit, keeping them flush against each other.
Wedge wasn’t really vocal, so when a low moan slipped out of him it surprised him. They did this often enough that Luke knew that, and Wedge could feel Luke grinning against him. “Shut up,” Wedge mumbled against Luke’s lips, just a hairsbreadth apart.
Luke snickered, meeting Wedge’s eyes though they were just inches apart as he said, “Got it, commander,” kissing him again quickly and pulled back, teasing. Wedge growled, snaking his hand into Luke’s hair and crushing their lips together as he quickly flipped them around, Luke now being pressed against the shelving, Wedge’s body pressed against Luke’s.
He pressed one last kiss to Luke’s lips, a little roughly, before pulling away. He was still close enough to see Luke’s chest expand as he breathed heavily, running a hand through his hair. He took another step back, just to breathe. Apparently they hadn’t even closed the door all the way, a stream of light entering the dark closet.
“So what was it that you wanted to show me today?” Luke asked, rocking back on his heels. There was a mischievous light in his eye, he had to know what he did to Wedge.
“Uh,” Wedge said, swallowing, trying to regain his thoughts after that, “Have you ever been to Cloudshape Falls?”
Luke’s eyes lit up, and he shook his head, “No, is it far? My sister always told me she’d take me some time, but we’ve never had a chance to go.”
“Not-- not far,” Wedge said, running a hand through his own hair. He busied himself trying to fix his jumpsuit, but gave up, and just buttoned it all the way up. Luke was just watching him, grinning. “What? Let's go,” he said, shaking his head, hoping his face wasn’t as red in the light as he thought it was.
Luke, the bastard, just strolled out of the closet, nevermind being half dressed, practically rocking on his heels.
Wedge had just come back from the refresher when he ran into Porkins. He hadn’t seen Porkins in a while-- he’d been on a mission for a few weeks all the way out in the Outer Rim territories, and had just gotten back last week, and then before that, Porkins had been on leave back to his homeworld. Porkins stopped him before he could get too far.
“Hey, Wedge, where’s your friend? I promised him I’d let him borrow my radio when you were gone,” he said. “His was malfunctioning.”
“Uh, haven’t seen him in a few days. He likes to disappear for awhile,” Wedge said before realizing that Porkins hadn’t specified which friend he was talking about. Not that he really had to-- Luke was his only friend that didn’t actually work there.
“Oh, you don’t know where he goes?” Porkins said, frowning.
“No, I figured if he wanted me to know he’d tell me,” Wedge sighed.
“Huh, kinda weird I guess. How long have you been seeing each other?”
Wedge thought back on it. It was right after the mission to Felucia, so-- “Four months and… about three days? But we aren’t-- we’re just friends,” he said.
“That’s a really specific amount of time for people who aren’t together,” Porkins whistled. “And what you two do next to those crates when you think we don’t know really isn’t friendly,” he snorted. “But if you say so, Wedge.”
“Porkins, we’re not--” Wedge tried, but Porkins held up his hand.
“Whatever, Wedge! Tell your friend I have his stuff!”
“Porkins!” Wedge called, as his friend ignored him, heading out of the hanger, “We’re not-- why are you looking at me like that?” he said, frustrated, as his friend rolled his eyes. Wedge huffed, and tried to forget it. He didn’t like not being taken at his word.
He began cleaning the cockpit of his X-wing, annoyed at Porkins. He scrubbed harder when he remembered what he and Luke did in it last time he saw him, right before heading off to his latest mission. He was still cleaning the cockpit when his droid beeped at the arrival of Luke.
Wedge looked up to see Luke crossing the hanger, smiling. He dropped down from the cockpit, and waved. Luke jogged over to him, grabbing him in a quick hug. “Hey! Wedge, you’re back!”
“Yeah, hey, Luke,” Wedge said, “how are you?”
“I was getting bored without you,” he said, slyly.
“Like you haven’t bribed the other pilots to let you go out when I’m not here?” Wedge said.
“Hey,” Luke pouted, “It’s no fun out there without you. I’d rather have you even over Biggs.”
“Gee, thanks,” Wedge rolled his eyes. “Oh, Porkins says he has the parts for your radio--”
“He’s back too?” Luke said. “Thanks!” Luke kissed him, excitedly, and then bounded off towards Porkin’s part of the hanger.
A few days later, when Wedge actually had time to process what Porkins had said to him-- other than the relationship stuff-- Luke stopped by for lunch. He’d grabbed them something from across the park at the open-air market. Whatever it was, it was definitely better than what they were serving in the pilot’s cantina that day.
They were passing a Starblossom fruit between them when Wedge asked him what had been on his mind since his conversation with Porkins, “What exactly do you do all day?” he asked Luke.
Luke paused, his legs swinging over the edge of the metal walkway where they were sitting with their legs between the bars. They’d been watching the other pilots and mechanics at work around the hangers. “What do you mean?”
Wedge paused, trying to find the right words. “I just-- don’t really know what you actually do all day when you’re not here at the hangar. What do you do on Alderaan?”
Luke laughed, but Wedge could tell it wasn’t a genuine laugh. Almost nervous. He looked down, biting his lip. He looked to Wedge, “You really don’t know?” Wedge shook his head. Luke really shouldn’t find it that surprising-- he hardly ever talks about his life on Alderaan. “It’s not-- important, you know? I’ll tell you sometime,” Luke said, and Wedge believed him. He wasn’t going to press. If Luke didn’t want to tell him, he didn’t have to.
But Luke was quick to change the subject, “You never talk about yourself either, Wedge. What do you do on your days off? What do you do when you’re not here?”
“I don’t really do anything,” Wedge admitted. “This really is my life-- I’m here all the time. If I’m not in the sky, I’m right here.”
Luke hummed, and took another bite of the Starblossom.
Wedge had the smoking engine of his X-wing open, and he and Luke were staring into it when a woman walked into the hangar. They’d been flying just past the mountain range beyond the mountain palace when the engine had started smoking, so they’d landed early, and the two of them had been trying to figure out the problem ever since. They were both pretty decent mechanics-- you had to be to be a pilot, practically-- but the actual mechanics had all left for the day. Luke was arguing with the maintenance droid holding the extinguisher when Wedge spotted the woman.
She was dressed much more nicely than most of the women who came through their particular hangar, since most of the women usually in the hangar were other pilots, and she was in a long white dress. She didn’t come from the outside of the hangar, but instead from one of the adjoining side entrances, meaning she’d likely just arrived in a shuttle.
She looked around for a moment, stopping one of the hangar managers in a bright orange vest, who pointed in their direction. She thanked him with a smile, and started in their direction. Wedge didn’t know why, but he didn’t move to notify Luke as she approached. She seemed familiar, though he was sure that he’d never met her before, and captivating. Before she quite reached them, Luke finally looked up from the droid, spotting her.
His face lit up, and he bolted to her, yelling, “Leia!” forgetting the droid and the ship entirely as he picked her up and spun her around in his arms. She yelled in delight, clearly happy to see him. “It’s so good to see you! You’ve been on Coruscant for so long--”
“Luke!” she said, hugging him back as he put her down. Wedge could see they were clearly very familiar with each other. The two of them were grinning at each other when Leia looked over Luke’s shoulder, spotting Wedge. Wedge suddenly felt subconscious at her staring. She looked slyly to Luke, “Who’s your friend?”
“No one!” Luke said, quickly. He went red, not quite looking at either Leia or Wedge, “I mean, that’s, um, Wedge.” He looked embarrassed.
Wedge stood there awkwardly, wringing a greasy cloth in his hands, “Hello, I’m Wedge Antilles.”
Leia smiled, “Hello, Wedge. I’m Leia,” she said politely, and then turned to Luke. “So Luke, are you going to invite him to dinner?” she asked, almost maliciously.
Luke blanched, “No!”
She grinned, and all of a sudden, Wedge found her incredibly familiar, though he couldn’t pinpoint why. “Oh very well,” she humed. With one last glance at Wedge, she told Luke, pointedly, “I’ll wait outside. Dad’s back too, and we’re having dinner at eight.”
Luke nodded at her, and then spun around, turning back to Wedge, looking horribly embarrassed. For a moment, it seemed that neither of them knew what to say. Luke looked like he was about to say something, but stopped himself. Finally, Wedge couldn’t help but asking, “... your girlfriend?”
The question startled Luke so much he burst out laughing. Wedge frowned, “Are you laughing at me?”
Luke grinned, but there wasn’t any malice behind it. “That’s actually the funniest thing you’ve ever said, Wedge, you have no idea.” But he was still grinning as he said, “Does that make you jealous?” teasingly. Luke managed to sober up at Wedge’s face. Luke leaned in, smiling slightly, “Sorry Wedge, I couldn’t help it. She’s my sister, the one who was off-world.”
Wedge breathed a sigh of relief, a breath he didn’t know he was holding in. They just seemed so cozy together, the two of them, like a pair of old friends. He’d been thinking that whatever they had between them outshined anything between him and Luke, he thought, as he realized he had been jealous. He supposed that clouded his vision-- he should have seen it. She looked familiar, he must have recognized her as being Luke’s sister. But before he could think too hard about it, Luke pressed a kiss to his cheek, winking at him, and then running off to loop arms with his sister.
As he watched them leave, he wondered what Leia meant about inviting Wedge to dinner-- and why Luke had been so against it. But he supposed, with a sudden pang, that whatever was between them-- something he couldn’t truthfully define as anything but friendship-- wasn’t serious enough for Luke to introduce him to his parents anyway. Was Luke embarrassed he was just a pilot, on this world of artists and aristocrats? But Luke never seemed to mind, he was a pilot himself, though unofficially.
But Luke kept coming back, and as long as he kept smiling at Wedge like that, Wedge supposed he couldn’t really mind, could he? He’d take what he could get. They might not be in any sort of relationship, but maybe, in time, that could change.
“What’s wrong?” Wedge finally asked. Luke had been looking troubled all day, ever since they’d gotten back from their afternoon flight. The two of them were sitting side by side, thighs pressed together as they watched the sunset from the top of Wedge’s X-wing.
“It’s-- Leia,” he finally said.
“Has something happened?” Wedge asked, suddenly feeling cold. Luke shook his head, instantly relieving some of the pressure, but he still looked distressed.
“It’s not Leia, but what she told me,” he said, “about Coruscant. About the Mandalorians.” Wedge nodded. “You know about them?”
“Of course I do, Luke, it’s my job,” Wedge said. Luke might think that Wedge just waited around till Luke got there to hang out-- though Wedge was starting to think that was what he did all day-- but Wedge did actually have duties related to the security forces. Weapons might not have been allowed on the planet, but that was only achieved by having a stellar defense system protect the planet before forces actually arrived on the planet. Most of the planet could afford to be idealistic only because of them. “They’ve been in our briefings for months.”
“Mine too,” Luke said, picking at the threads in his flight suit. “Leia says the Mandalorians attacked another planet. Near the core worlds this time. They’re getting bolder since they left the Republic.” Several of the capital cities they’d raided had been so badly damaged they’d required humanitarian aid. “My father says the senate won’t do anything about it, because Mandalore officially claims that they’re just an extremist group.”
“I’m not going to tell you not to worry about it,” Wedge said, “but we’re here for a reason, Luke. You’ll be fine.”
“I’m not worried about myself!” Luke said, frustrated. “I’m worried about Aldera. I’m worried about everyone here-- I just wish I could do something. I’m not a politician like my family, and I know they’re doing everything they can, but sometimes it’s just not enough.” He brought his fist down on the top of the X-wing’s newly-fixed engine.
“Watch the engine!” Wedge said.
“Oh, sorry, Wedge.”
Wedge paused. The X-wing. He’d just realized that even with all the flight time Luke had gotten in over the last few months, Luke had never actually made a move to fly as one of them, officially. “Why don’t you fly with us, then? Do something about it?” Wedge said, with growing excitement, “You’re a better pilot than most of the guys here-”
“I can’t,” Luke anguished.
Wedge frowned, “Why not?”
“I just-- can’t!” Luke said, slipping from the top of the X-wing, landing on his feet, “I’m not allowed.”
“Luke--” Wedge called, but Luke was already shaking his head. He looked pained, and Wedge had no idea what about.
“I’m sorry, I have to go!” Luke said. “I promise I’ll tell you about it sometime.” Wedge watched him leave, still wondering what went wrong, and what was up with Luke.
The call was sudden, and the entire fleet was deployed. Alderaan was under attack.
Luke’s sister was right, the Mandalorians had planned on attacking Alderaan next. They’d been creeping their way into lesser-defended core worlds, since they could get away with more artefacts and more damage to the worlds without sustaining as much damage to their own. All of the fighter pilots were summoned to defend Alderaan from the invasion. The Mandalorians planned to attack the great cities-- Aldera, Juranno, Chianar-- and the greatest divisions of their fleet rested above each great city in space, they’d been alerted by the early-warning systems.
When Wedge climbed into his X-wing, he had a bad feeling about it, like it might be the last time he ever saw any of the rest of the pilots’ faces again-- Biggs, Porkins, Liani-- or even that he might see Aldera again. The Mandalorians were known to pick fights just to fight, after all.
The fight above Alderaan lasted hours. Wedge’s squadron managed to take out most of the larger ships before the smaller fighters started diving for the city. But Wedge wasn’t the best pilot in the forces for nothing. He took out several of the starships himself, even as he watched his squadron members slowly get shot down, till he was the only one left, with a few of the squadrons from hangars 3-6. Fighting above Aldera took another few hours, and when they had cleared all the ships, they moved on to backup over Belleau-a-Lir, the island taking a few hits before they could make it over there.
By the time all of the Mandalorians had been chased off from the upper atmosphere, back to whatever moon they were calling home, Wedge was exhausted. And instead of a shower, all he could think about was Luke.
And for the first time, he was glad Luke wasn’t up there with him. All of the pilots in his squadron were dead. Biggs, Hobbie, Porkins. All of them. Liani, Maili, and hundreds of others from squadrons he didn’t know from all over the planet.
When he landed in the hangar, there was a celebration going on. Most of the surviving pilots landed in Aldera, which had the biggest hangar space, and everyone was pulling from their cockpits, yelling, shouting, celebrating-- and all Wedge wanted to do was to see Luke. He cursed himself, he didn’t even have Luke’s comm number! Why couldn’t he have just been straight with him, and ask for it? All he wanted to do was tell all of this to Luke, but he didn’t even know how to get in contact with him.
“Have you seen Luke Skywalker?” Wedge asked one of the hangar managers who was hugging every passing pilot.
“Skywalker?” the manager yelled back over the clamor of the hangar, “He was just here! You just missed him, he was waiting for hours!”
And Wedge wanted to-- he didn’t know what he wanted. He didn’t know how to find Luke, had no idea if-- or when-- he’d be back. So he went and did what any reasonable pilot of his age would: he went home and slept.
The next morning, there was something of a celebration in Aldera. Well, Wedge corrected himself, when wasn’t there something of a celebration on Aldera? But the streets were particularly festive as Wedge walked to the hangar from his small apartment, and by the time he’d reached the hangar, he’d been given two flower wreaths and was kissed by at least one particularly rowdy person, if just on the cheek.
The moment before Wedge stepped into the hangar, he realized what he wouldn’t be seeing in there. All of his friends, save for maybe Luke and a couple of pilots from the other bays. When he stepped inside, his hangar was dark, but he could hear voices from bay three. He followed the sound and the light to where he could see a few other pilots he didn’t recognize, sitting around on crates, discussing something, and handing around a padd. Mostly humans, but there was a Rodian sitting cross-legged on the floor, and a Twi’lek man standing next to an Ithorian.
They looked up when he walked in. One of the darker skinned pilot women nodded in his direction, “You’re Antilles, right?” Wedge nodded. She held the padd out to him, “You’re on the list too. The royal messenger came by this morning to drop it off.”
“Royal messenger?” Wedge asked, taking the padd. He looked down at what was displayed on it. They were being honored. “Is this for real?”
She nodded. “We’re being honored as heroes of the invasion tomorrow in a ceremony. By the queen,” there was a murmur through the crowd of voices, “and her family. Even Viceroy Organa is going to be there, and the princess and prince. It’s going to be televised.”
Wedge didn’t know what to think. He wasn’t in it for the medals, but sometimes ceremonies like this were more for other people than the actual recipients. People like the pilots who died. It wouldn’t be right to not go, to not honor their sacrifice. And Wedge wondered if somewhere, out there, Luke would be watching the ceremony tomorrow.
They were instructed to put on their best and to meet at the Royal Palace at noon. For Wedge, that meant wearing his Correllian military uniform, from his first stint, back before Alderaan. When he found himself surrounded by his fellow survivors, he found himself surrounded by strangers. He couldn’t even see the woman from yesterday, in the crowd of pilots.
Wedge had never had a reason to go into the palace before. It was built to be fairly open to the public, he’d heard, so any citizen could come and voice their concerns with the royal family, but Wedge had never had any concerns. He liked the idea, though. The royal family on Alderaan seemed particularly involved with it’s people, though Wedge wasn’t much for gossip, he knew the queen, whose name he only knew because she’d done so much for the city, and her husband, who served a much more active role than most spouses of royalty, liked to keep their private lives just that: private. Wedge wasn’t much of a royalist-- where he’d been raised on Corellia, the monarchy had been disbanded for hundreds of years, and the ruling government was constantly changing. He didn’t have much of an opinion on royalty, nothing any different than his opinion on politicians: that they were simply different from himself. They were all talk, held higher than most people, while he was all actions. As much as he appreciated what they did for the galaxy, he didn’t think their kind and his would mix.
He recognized that the palace was quite beautiful as the palace staff started lining them up according to name. With the last name of ‘Antilles’, Wedge was one of the first in the rows of the couple dozen of pilots being honored, and his row lead the rest into the throne room as cam droids hovered around them and the entrance.
The room was already fairly crowded when Wedge and the others marched in. There were palace officers lining the elaborate room, with the royal family standing at the head of the room with what Wedge assumed were royal advisers from the look of their robes. Even with all the decadence and decorated officers in the room, his eyes were drawn to the throne where Queen Breha sat. She was sitting beside her husband, the senator-- former senator, Wedge vaguely recalled, having heard that their daughter, the princess, had taken over as Alderaan’s representative in the galactic senate a few years back.
When he looked past the queen and her husband, he was shocked to see than he recognized the girl in white standing behind them, the girl who could be no other than the princess. She had a familiar smile on her face, and Wedge suddenly recalled where he must have seen her a dozen times before. He dreaded the feeling in his gut as he dragged his eyes to look at the prince beside her.
And he hated the feeling of shock that came with recognizing that face too, though he knew he should have been expecting it upon seeing her.
Like the princess, Luke was dressed in white. It was so drastically different than anything Wedge had ever seen him in, from the first time he’d seen him in simple robes, to the dozens of times he’d seen him in standard flight suits. So different from the times he’d stripped Luke shirtless in the feigned privacy of the hangar. When Wedge looked to Luke’s face, he was looking anywhere but at Wedge. Wedge, feeling a vicious streak of anger, hoped it was out of shame.
However through the rest of the ceremony, Wedge was unable to draw his eyes from him, even as he was awarded a medal by the princess.
As soon as the ceremony was over, Wedge left. He didn’t stay for the party afterwards, didn’t stay to be personally greeted by the queen herself.
Wedge heard footsteps quickly following after him down the hall, and a cry of “Wedge!” but he ignored it, kept walking towards the entrance of the palace, until Luke had caught up with him, grabbing his hand to stop him, and looking at him pleadingly.
Wedge stopped, and forced himself to look at Luke. “Yes, your highness?” he said rather stiffly.
“C’mon Wedge, it’s me,” Luke pleaded, but Wedge wasn’t budging, “I meant to tell you, I was going to tell you after the battle, but you were gone-”
“That you’re the prince of this planet?” Wedge said, stiffly.
“Wedge,” Luke said, achingly, still holding Wedge’s hand, but despite his anger and sadness, Wedge couldn’t make himself let go. “What I told you was true! I grew up on Tatooine, and when my aunt and uncle died, I was sent to the only family I had-- my sister. She just happened to be being raised by royalty. So I became royalty.”
“That doesn’t change anything, Luke!” he said angrily, “You’re still royalty, and I’m just a pilot,” he said, finally withdrawing his hand. “A pilot whom you lied to. For months.” Wedge tried to recall everything he knew about the royal family, little though it was. Like the princess’ father, Luke’s sister was a senator. She would be queen someday like her mother. Luke, the prince-- well, Wedge knew little enough about him to admit he didn’t know what he would be doing, though he suspected it might be following in his sister’s footsteps. He ran in higher company than people like Wedge. Wedge was a pilot, enlisted into the Alderaanian fleet after he managed to get off Corellia. Luke probably knew princes and princesses, would probably marry someone well above Wedge, who he would never meet. People who’d know the real Luke, not just the parts of him he fancied telling pilots when it suited him. He was just a spark of rebellion in Luke, a fling. It would be better for both of them if he just left now.
He drew away from the prince. Luke tried one last time, “Wedge, please. I love you!”
That almost made Wedge pause. But it was just a fling, he told himself, and continued walking.
And so Luke didn’t come back. He heard the prince was off world, after a while, paying new attention to royal gossip like he never had before, and Wedge tells himself that it doesn’t matter. And so Wedge goes back to doing what he did before he met Luke. He makes friends with the new pilots that were transferred to his hangar, including the woman, who he learned went by the name Sheera Bey, and he flies missions for the royal house of Alderaan. At night he goes home to his small apartment, and he tries not to think about how it never seemed this lonely before he met Luke.
Weeks after the medal ceremony, Wedge was working on his X-wing when suddenly there was a whisper around the hangar that the prince was there. Wedge couldn’t help but looking up, because no one recognized Luke before when he’d stop by the hangar-- or they’d all known and Wedge was played the fool-- but the entire unit had been replaced by everyone who’d enlisted after the invasion. When the discussion near him became too distracting to continue working on the fighter, Wedge sighed and stood up, wiping his hands on the front of his coveralls. He was sure he was going to be a sight to Luke, but wasn’t he always?
Luke was standing there, at the entrance of the hangars, standing like he hadn’t been there dozens of times already and was unsure of where he was supposed to be going or what he was doing. Like the pilots in the bay hadn’t all just walked by just to see him, nodding their heads in respect. He was standing there awkwardly, in something much less fancy, but no less royal, than when Wedge had seen him last. He hated the feeling that spread through him when he saw the man standing there in front of him.
“Can I talk to you?” Luke finally asked.
Wedge nodded, but crossed his arms. “I didn’t know you were back on Alderaan.”
“We just got back,” he said, nodding in the direction of the transport bay. That explains the outfit.
“We?”
“Me and Leia. I went with her to the senate, on Coruscant.” He snorted, “I’m not good at politics, Leia is so much better. They’re vicious in the senate. But I wanted to do something.” Luke rubbed the back of his head, “I heard you were in a crash. Off-world. They said you were alright, but…” he looked worried.
“Yeah,” Wedge said, “Had a broken leg for a while.” It was a lot worse than that, but it was no use saying any of that to Luke. For awhile, they weren’t sure if he was going to fly again, but Wedge was nothing if not determined. And stubborn. Luke looked like he wanted to say something else, but he wouldn’t. Wedge finally sighed, “Was there something else you wanted?”
Luke opened his mouth, and then shut it. And then he tried again, “So… was it just the royalty thing, or was it something else?”
“What?”
“I mean, Wedge,” Luke said, “Did you not love me back?”
Wedge paused. He uncrossed his arms, almost nervously, and then crossed them again as Luke watched him expectantly. He finally sighed, saying, “It doesn’t matter now, does it?”
Luke frowned, “Of course it matters.”
If Wedge was being perfectly honest with himself, he’d have to say yes. He realized while flying over Alderaan against the Mandalorians, when the only person or thing he could think about was Luke, how he was the only person in Wedge’s life that he wanted safe more than anything. But Luke had been lying to him for months. He wasn’t the same person he claimed to be when they met, and Wedge was mad. He didn’t want to hear it.
When Luke realized Wedge wasn’t going to say anything, he crossed his arms, frowning. “Wedge,” he said. “I didn’t tell you when we met because no one treats me the same here. I figured if you didn’t know, it wouldn’t hurt you. I just wanted normal experiences! I just wanted to be able to do things with people who didn’t bow at me and call me Sir,” Luke’s face twisted into a look of displeasure, “I just wanted people to look at me the same.”
They stared at each other for another moment, Wedge’s arms still crossed in front of him.
“Are you not going to say anything?” Luke asked. Wedge was debating on it, but he didn’t want to have this conversation with him. Whatever reasons Luke thought he had, Wedge didn’t want to hear them.
“I should get back to work,” Wedge said. “I have a lot to make up for in the time I was out on medical.”
Luke frowned, and then said softly, “Fine. But I’m not done.”
A few days later, Wedge received a message on his padd notifying him that he’d been reassigned to the royal house of Alderaan shuttle crew in bay one. When he made his way over to the first bay, he located the hangar manager, who shook her head.
“No, it’s not a mistake,” she said from behind her transparisteel window, tapping away at her computer. “You’ve been transferred here. You’ll be on call most of the time. The queen has her preferred pilots, as does the viceroy, so you’ll be mostly piloting the princess and the prince,” she informed him.
Wedge froze, and then clenched his fist. “The prince?”
The manager nodded. “Mostly just the princess, though. The prince hardly leaves the planet, it’s Princess Leia that takes all the trips to Coruscant on behalf of the senate.”
Wedge sighed, “Even if it’s not a mistake--”
“It’s not,” she smiled politely, but he could tell he was beginning to get on her nerves.
“Can’t I just transfer back? Half my squadron would be happy to be here instead.”
She smiled, though her eyes were strained, “No, I can’t transfer you back. Listen, Commander Antilles, it’s a promotion. You did good work in the invasion. Just take this.” Wedge knows this. It’s higher paying, a lot more prestigious. But Wedge wasn’t having it.
“And if I wanted to transfer?” he was getting a little impatient with the woman himself.
“You’ll have to put in a request,” she said. “In the meantime,” she slid the transparisteel window back, sliding him his padd, “you have an assignment. Crown Princess Leia Organa is scheduled to leave for Coruscant in a few hours. Please familiarize yourself with her ship,” and shut the window.
Wedge was beginning to hate politics. He began formulating his request for transfer as he walked to her ship.
The princess’s ship was a CR90 corvette, the Tantive IV, a Corellian design usually used for consular vessels. Wedge was already familiar with the ships from his homeworld, but he hadn’t piloted one in years, so he took a tour around the ship quickly, and then returned to the cockpit to await the princess’s arrival.
Shortly after, the remaining pilots joined Wedge in the cockpit, and the princess boarded the ship. But instead of going to her quarters, she joined them in the cockpit, sitting back to watch them take off from the viewport, watching Alderaan’s rocky mountainside disappear into the vastness of space.
“I never tire of seeing that,” the princess said, breaking the silence in the cockpit, except for low exchanges between the pilots. “I fear that someday I might see the last of it like that,” she hummed, and then stood, walking closer to the viewport. She stood just behind Wedge, and placed her hand on the back of his seat. “Commander Antilles--”
“Yes, Princess?” Wedge said, not turning from the controls. He felt like the rest of the crew was paying more attention to the two of them than anything else.
She hesitated. “Nothing,” she shook her head, lifting her hand from his chair, “I just, wanted to know how you were doing? Luke told me you were in a terrible crash.”
Wedge nodded, “Fine, thank you for asking, your highness.” He felt like she had something more to say, but instead she turned away. Before he could stop himself, Wedge blurted out, “Did he get me reassigned here?”
Princess Leia nodded, “If you’d just talk to him--”
Wedge stiffened, then said, “Princess, I think you’ll find the passenger quarters much more comfortable.” The princess stiffened, and then nodded, retreating from the cockpit.
By the time they’d returned to Alderaan, the first of many of his transfer requests was rejected.
He’d piloted the corvette, shuttling the princess between Alderaan and Coruscant nearly half a dozen times, and her father once, having taken a shift from one of his regular pilots, by the time he saw Luke again. He wasn’t sure if Luke had continued taking the fighters out without him there, but Wedge hadn’t been back to that hangar bay in months, so he wouldn’t know.
Exclusively piloting consular vessels meant that Wedge, by the nature of his position, was bound to overhear quite a bit more than he was supposed to, though Wedge doubted that the princess and the dignitaries were keeping much a secret. Over the time Wedge was piloting Princess Leia, the Mandalorians were continuing to attack systems, and the senate continued to not do anything about it, especially in the Outer Rim territories.
It was through the Mandalorian attacks that Wedge saw Luke again.
Alderaan was only one of the many planets that had begun sending aid, so the trips were becoming less frequent for the princess, who’d decided to hold a humanitarian conference on her homeworld when a distress signal came from Abafar, one of the Outer Rim planets. The signal read that they were under attack by the Mandalorians, but after an hour, went dead. The princess, unable to leave the conference for the very purpose of the mission, sent someone else in her stead to deliver humanitarian aid.
Wedge stood as the prince walked into the cockpit. He was dressed for traveling, and was speaking with one of the officers, who handed him a padd of inventory. “Prince Luke,” the officer said, “will Princess Leia be joining us?”
Luke shook his head, “Leia is occupied by the conference this weekend. I’m going in her stead. It’s time I do something.”
The officer nodded, and then nodded in the direction of Wedge, who was still standing, staring at them. “Captain Antilles will be standing in for the usual captain this trip,” he told him, “who is currently on medical leave.” Luke almost hesitated, but nodded, before turning away from the officer.
Like the princess, Luke seemed to prefer sitting in the cockpit with the pilots, watching through the viewport window than from the comfort of the passenger quarters. He didn’t know if it was something all the royals did, to be part of the action, or if it was something specific to the twins-- or if Luke missed piloting. But unlike his sister, Luke made no attempt to talk to Wedge for the entirety of the journey. Wedge had no right to stare.
But he stared. He didn’t know why it bothered him so much that Luke wasn’t talking to him, it was what Wedge wanted. What he said he wanted.
When they arrived at the planet, their vision of the area was obscured till they got much closer to the surface. Through particles in the air, the light was refracted so it surrounded everything in an awful orange haze. The city that reported being attacked, Pons Ora, was a desert town built down into the surface of the planet. They were unable to land the corvette down in the town, so they had to land on the rim, and send shuttles down with the hover crates.
Luke wasn’t shy about helping, as he joined the crew with unloading the humanitarian supplies from the ship, turning on the hovering and pushing the crates down the ramp. When they’d unloaded them all, Luke gave the signal for the officers to start sending the crates down as he stopped and looked over the edge at the city. Wedge was watching him from the shade of the ramp. He was tired of feeling like this.
Luke looked back from the rim, to Wedge, frowning. “Captain Antilles,” Luke called, addressing him for the first time during the mission, “this is the place, right?”
Wedge stepped off the ramp, and over to Luke. He nodded, but checked the padd. “Yes? Pons Ora, these are the coordinates of the distress signal.”
“Tell me, does that look like a city attacked by Mandalorians?” Luke asked, and pointed. Wedge looked over the edge. Luke was right. The city seemed perfectly intact, though covered in a layer of dust from the desert, and completely abandoned.
“No, it doesn’t,” Wedge said. He couldn’t provide another answer. He was too distracted. “You never call me Captain Antilles.” Always Wedge. Except when he was teasing him, then it was Commander. With a teasing grin.
“Does it matter?” Luke sighed, repeating Wedge’s words back at him. No, he supposed, it didn’t. But he missed Luke.
He couldn’t help it. “Why’d you have me transferred to the royal shuttle crew, if you weren’t going to try and talk to me?” Was it to get him out of their hangar bay? Was it because he hardly ever left the planet, and wanted him out of the way?
He didn’t expect Luke to lash out. “You’ve made it perfectly clear that you don’t want anything to do with me Wedge!”
Wedge was about to say something when Luke’s eyes went wide, and he yelled, pulling Wedge out of the way of sudden blaster fire and behind some of the grounded hover crates.
“Ah!” Luke cried out, clutching his shoulder.
Wedge didn’t have time to react, he was pulling the standard blaster from his belt as the rest of the officers came running to investigate the sound of blaster fire. There were three of them. Mandalorians, all wearing jetpacks, having suddenly risen up from the city, “It was a kriffing trap!” Wedge bit out. Probably an assassination attempt….
Luke groaned, “They were probably expecting Leia.”
Wedge looked over and blanched, “Luke, you’re hurt!” Luke’s shoulder was blackened, he’d just been grazed by the shot. If it had been shot any lower, it would have been a nasty wound, but Wedge was shaken anyway. “You shouldn’t have done that!” he said gruffly, looking over the crate quickly. One of the officers was down, and the Mandalorians were too occupied with the rest of them to continue shooting at Luke and Wedge. “It’s not your job!”
“Shove off Wedge!” Luke said, but he didn’t sound angry, “I love you! I’m not gonna let you get shot for me, even if it is your kriffing job,” he said.
“I don’t have time--” Wedge said, before one of the Mandalorians shot in their direction. Wedge ducked, and then stuck his head up, firing back at them. Wedge hit one of them, knocking them over the edge. He didn’t come back up, so Wedge assumed he was dead. One of the two remaining Mandalorians continued firing on the two of them, while the other’s arm was hit by one of the officers, causing her to fly back. Wedge checked over the crate again, and then looked to Luke. “On my mark, hit hover,” he said to the prince. Luke nodded.
Wedge got down, and then nodded to Luke. Luke hit the button, and the crate rose up. Luke rolled to the side to get better protected from the fire, but Wedge shot the Mandalorian firing their way from under the crate, killing her. He joined the other officers in firing at the last remaining would-be assasin, and she was overtaken, joining the other on the ground. “Go check to see if there are any others! And find their ship!” Wedge barked out orders to the officers, who nodded, and ran off.
Wedge turned back to Luke, who pulled himself up against the back of the crate, and was looking at Wedge unhappily. Wedge looked to Luke’s shoulder, and then his eyes flicked to Luke’s face, as Luke said, softly, “Why won’t you just--”
And all of a sudden, faced with losing Luke, Wedge couldn’t help it. He growled, and grabbed Luke’s face in his hands, kissing him fiercely. He couldn’t even remember the last time they’d kissed.
When he pulled back, Luke was looking at him smugly, “Thank you! Finally!” Luke said with a grin.
“I do love you, Luke,” Wedge told him.
Luke nodded, “I thought you did. I love you too, you know,” he said.
Wedge sighed, and slumped back against the crate next to Luke. “Can I be transferred back to security again?”
Luke laughed, and looked over at Wedge fondly, “Yeah, I’ll stop blocking your requests. But also... Leia wants to know if you want to come to dinner and meet our parents.” Wedge couldn’t help but laugh, putting his face in the crook of Luke’s non-injured shoulder.