Han walked into the prison on his first day, looking around, trying to disguise his wonder. Fresh out of the Academy and assigned to work on the Death Star! He had expected a low paying job on a remote planet, and this was something else entirely. Sure, he did have the lowest rank within the prison, but still. The Death Star!

He marched over to the commanding officer. The other man looked at him disdainfully and waved a hand in the general direction of the row of cells. "Teach yourself how to torture them."

Han nodded curtly and started in the direction of the cells, aware of the torture droid that followed him obediently. He kept walking until he reached the highest security cells. He would do his worst to some of these rebels and hopefully tomorrow's commander would be more informative and would teach him how hard he was supposed to be on them.

He walked past rows of empty cells. It was a new prison, after all, Han thought, of course most of the cells would be empty.

Then, suddenly, he came across a cell with traditional bars instead of the modern solid doors the rest of the cells had. A rebel lay inside, facing away from the doors and curled in a ball. He tried to unlock the door, but his keycard didn't have access.

The person in the cell heard the sound and rolled over, sitting up and crossing his legs. Han met a child's innocent, blue eyes.

He turned, calling to the officer, "A kid managed to get into one of the cells! He's looked himself in, he can't get out."

Turning back to apologise to the kid about the mistake, Han was surprised to see a shaking, crying child.

"You shouldn't have done that." The boy informed him as the commander walked up behind Han.

Then, before Han could do anything, the child received a stun stick to the face. He cried out then stifled the sound with his hands.

Han turned to the commander in surprise.

"Don't give commands to us." He snarled at the boy.

Han looked back at the child's crumpled face.

He turned back to the commander, wanting to ask why the child had deserved that. The officer saved him the time.

"I see you've met Luke Skywalker. You'll learn not to listen to him quickly enough. He tells most of our younger officers he doesn't belong here. As you get to know him, you'll understand why we changed out his door. He's a miserable, worthless liar. It's good to see him get what he deserves."

"I didn't tell him any-" The boy sobbed.

It earned him another stab to the face, "Silence!"

Han nodded, less curtly, even unsteadily. The officer walked away, back to where he'd come from.

Han looked back at the child in the cell. The boy was trying to tend to two burns where the stunstick had hit him. Han knelt down in front of the cell looking at the boy in concern.

At last, Luke Skywalker looked up at Han. "The droid can get through the bars," he told the other man. "They made sure of that. You don't need to be able to get into my cell to beat me."

"I don't wanna hurt you, Kid." Han said, feeling the colloquialism of his home planet showing through as he talked to the child.

The boy shook his head, "You should. I'm here because I'm your enemy."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm here because I tried to save Princess Leia." The boy said, starting to cry slightly.

"You did?" Han had been told it was highly dangerous rebels who had done that. The child before him couldn't have looked less threatening.

Luke nodded.

Han looked at the boy again, trying to convince himself to give the boy due hatred. But he couldn't bring himself to hate him. "You're lying to me. You're not even wearing a rebel uniform. Who framed you? What did they do to you to force you to lie like this?"

The boy folded himself into a ball, looking at Han over his knees. "No-one framed me. Ben told me I had to. He said the Empire had killed my father. So I did as I was told."

"This Ben character sounds pretty sketchy, Kid."

Luke sniffed and shook his head. "No. He is-" the boy's voice broke, "Was a Jedi."

"Tell the commander what you've told me. He'll see your side of this. I can take you home, wherever your home is, at the end of my shift."

The boy's face crumpled still further. "I haven't got a home to go to. The Empire destroyed it and killed my aunt and uncle. He wouldn't believe me anyway. You think I haven't tried?"

Han felt a terrible constriction on his chest. He had lost his home too, after all. "Listen, Kid. This is all wrong. You don't deserve to be here."

Luke shook his head, "I don't have anywhere to go. You should probably go before you get yourself in trouble."

"Get in trouble for talking to you? I can just say I'm trying to get information out of you."

Suddenly, Luke's face lit up slightly, "If they ask what you learned, can you tell them that I don't know anything?"

"I dunno, Kid. What do you know?"

"Just that. I left Tatooine and was captured trying to save Leia."

Han nodded. "Sure. Kid, this is gonna sound morbid, but what makes you go on living?"

Luke closed his eyes, and his answer was soft. "My father."

"Your father? I thought you said that you didn't have a home to go to."

The boy gave a gasp as though he was trying not to cry, and his eyes opened wide. "I don't."

"But, your father?" Han asked, confused.

"He's the one keeping me here. Vader." The boy managed before he started to cry. "And he knows. He's the one who told me who we are to one another."

Han reached through the bars and put one hand on the boy's head. "Why'd he do that to you?"

Luke started to cry harder. "I have no idea!"

"Shh, Kid. It's going to be okay. Everything's gonna be okay."

But Luke was crying inconsolably. Han pulled the boy against himself, rocking the child slowly.

"They're gonna kill me," the boy cried.

"I'll see what I can do."

Luke didn't seem to have heard him, "He doesn't even care! I just want to be cared for. I get a last wish, at least. I'll ask to see him again."

"What did he do when he told you who you were?"

"He just came to my cell and-and told me. And then he asked me to join him, and I said I couldn't do that. Then he left me to be tortured."

"Maybe you should join him, then."

"No! I couldn't do that. Not after everyone he's killed. He killed Leia, and Ben and my aunt and uncle, and so many people I don't know."

"Huh? He didn't kill Leia. She escaped with a group of rebels. One of them was captured, I thought it had to be you."

"Really?" Luke asked hopefully.

"Yeah," Han said, hating the boy's urgency to have something to cling to.

"I-they'll be making rounds of the cells again soon. If they find you caring for me, they'll jail you too. Will you come talk to me tomorrow?"

"Sure thing, Kid." Han promised, standing. He went on with his business, but his confidence in the Empire was seriously shaken by the tortured child.