Disclaimer: I don't own these characters.

Leia felt sick to her stomach. The only thing she could do was lie on her bed.

Luke had been right. That night, on the evening news, Earl Jones' cause of death was announced as strangulation. The killer had worn gloves (well, Darth always wore gloves, so that made it easy) and had strangled Jones with his bare hands. To top everything off, EmpireCorp didn't have security cameras anywhere but in the parking lot and near the entrances to the building. Everyone at EmpireCorp that day would have to be questioned, and a list of people was being compiled by the police.

Leia had gone to bed without dinner, claiming she wasn't hungry. Luke had done the same.

"What is it with you two?" Darth had demanded, breathing heavily through his respirator. "I worked—okay, Threepio worked very hard to make this meal!"

"Thank you, Mr. Vader, sir," Threepio spoke up, always trying to get a word in.

"I'm not feeling well," Leia said quietly.

"Me neither," Luke said miserably. "Dad, I'm going to bed. I think I'm coming down with something."

"It's almost July! Kiddos just don't come down with things when it's almost July!" Darth was pounding his fists on the dining room table.

"There, there, master Luke and mistress Leia. I'll take your temperatures. Off to bed we go." C3PO shuffled the Skywalker twins off to bed.

Of course, neither of them had had a temperature, but the droid insisted they stay in bed and rest. After changing in to some pajamas, Luke stared up at his ceiling and thought. We need to figure this out, he thought to Leia, and then sent her the message. I can't just sit back and let the police arrest Dad. If we figure it out before they do, we can convince him to go into hiding. How about at Alderaan? They'll never find him there!

True, Leia sent back to him.

We need to ask everyone who might know about Dad's whereabouts yesterday.

What about simply asking Dad where he was? Shouldn't we give him a chance to defend himself?

Are you nuts, Leia? The first rule about committing felonies is that you deny that you do them.

Says who? Han Solo? Have you been talking to him again?

After that, they needed to take a break. Sending mind messages was exhausting, and it was making both of their heads hurt.

Meanwhile, Darth was pacing back and forth in the living room. He was worried about the kiddos. Reaching into their minds, he felt alarm and panic. Why were they panicking?

"Sir," Threepio offered, coming into the living room, "master Luke and mistress Leia are both rather ill. They're requesting medicine for headaches. May I have permission to give them their medicine, sir?"

"I'll give them some medicine, Threepio. You finish the dishes."

"Yes, sir."

Darth went into the bathroom for a bottle of painkillers. He went to the kitchen and filled two glasses of water, then put everything on a tray and set off for Luke's room.

"Here you go, Luke." Darth passed his son a glass of water and two pills. "How about you tell your old man what's really going on here? Why don't you feel well, son?"

"I don't know," Luke mused after swallowing his medicine. "I guess I've been working too hard at the farm. I don't even want to become a farmer, and every time I go over there, Uncle Owen insists I milk the cows."

"Come on now, Luke. We both know that's not what the problem is. Even when you're sick, you can eat a whole bowl of your aunt's chicken soup. You never skip dinner. What's wrong?"

"I don't want to talk, Dad," Luke wept, and turned around in bed so that he was facing the wall.

Darth sighed and went into Leia's room. "Here are some painkillers, princess. What's wrong?"

Leia took her medicine and sniffled. "Dad, where were you today? Before you picked us up from Uncle Owen's?"

Darth looked surprised. "Why, I was working, princess. I try never to miss work. You know that."

"Where, at RebelCorp?"

"No, as a matter of fact, I wasn't at RebelCorp. I was working at EmpireCorp today. Yoh Da was with me. Leia, why is this relevant?"

"Because they found Mr. Jones dead at EmpireCorp, Dad."

Oh, that's what this is about, Darth thought, then shrugged. "I know. So what?"

Leia stared at her father. "You aren't at all worried that the police are going to come and arrest you?"

"Arrest me for what? They have no proof. Innocent until proven guilty, kiddo."

The phone rang. Luckily, Leia had a phone right in her room for her endless gab sessions with Carrie and Marilou, so Darth answered it. "Hello?"

Leia listened carefully.

"Yes, I was there," Darth confirmed to the caller on the other line. "From about one to three." Pause. "Yes, I saw him." Another pause. "Well, I'm very busy. We'll have to do this at my office tomorrow. I work at RebelCorp." Darth said a few more things to the caller, and then hung up the phone.

"Who was that?" Leia asked.

Darth didn't answer. He just stood up and stalked out of his daughter's room. "Damn investigation," he muttered through his respirator.

Leia slid under her covers. Luke was right again; there was no way on Earth that her father was ever going to admit to anything. Leia missed Alderaan and the Organas. The Organas would never be wrapped up in a murder investigation.

Vowing to contact her godfather first thing in the morning, tears slid down Leia's face as she cried herself to sleep.

Meanwhile, across town, Owen Lars was getting into bed with his wife after a long day of work on the farm.

"Beru," Owen said to her as she took off her robe and slid into bed, "did you see that report on the news about that CEO who was found strangled?"

"Yes," Beru mused.

"Isn't that the guy that Anakin used to work for?" His stepbrother was always 'Anakin' in their private conversations.

"Yes, I think it is." Beru paused as she reached to turn off the bedside lamp. "You think Anakin had something to do with it?"

"You think he didn't? I know my stepbrother's temper. He tried to strangle Padme at one point, didn't he? It's a wonder we didn't end up raising his kids."

"We could still end up raising his kids," Beru muttered as she turned off the lamp and settled into bed. "Luke and Leia are only sixteen."

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