Alright. So. My computer died, and I had to recover this story from an old backup. That means this story is much farther from completion than it had been. I might end this somewhere else and work on a 'Part Two' later. Let me know what you guys would prefer. But also know that this means updates won't be coming as often as I'd like. Once I catch up to where the story is, I'm afraid it's up to my idiot muse on when anything gets done.


Leia couldn't believe her eyes when she came off his ship on Coruscant. The Senators all welcomed her home. Luke was there to help with Jacen and Jaina. And Boba Fett was being shackled without a fight. He simply held out his armored wrists, and allowed them to take him into the Senate chambers. They let him keep the helmet on.

"He took responsibility for your decision to run away, Leia. He'll face justice for that, along with the rest of his crimes." Luke frowned a little. "They might put him away for a long time, Leia. But they agreed not to give him a death penalty. He's still a Jedi, after all."

Leia looked concerned. "But why? He hasn't exactly broken the laws. He just skims them a lot."

"He's killed a lot of people, Leia."

She frowned. "Someone needs to defend him in there. I'm going to go. Would you please watch those two?"

Luke looked down at the twins, who were hugging his leg. "Yes. You do what you think is right. Even if I think he should face what he's done."

"He's doing this for me, Luke. I can't let him stand alone in there." She ran off after the guard taking him into the Senate building.

Boba closed his eyes, standing proudly in the center of the Senate. He would answer for what he'd done, the hatred and fear that he'd bred. All for her. It was the right thing to do, even if he had to answer to their sense of justice, rather than his. He would not falter now. He would not truly surrender. He'd given in to them, because he'd promised. But that did not mean he had to take their judgment without argument.

"Boba Fett, you are accused of murder, creating a fugitive of a prominent Senator, and crimes against the Republic. How do you plead?"

"I have killed only those who have deserved it. The rest was all business. I have done nothing against my code, and thus, I have committed no crime. I hid Leia, because you would have arrested and convicted her upon falsified evidence. There is no justice in such actions."

"How dare you speak to us of justice, Fett! You're nothing but a common bounty hunter. It's certainly not legal to deal out justice of your own!"

"That is not my concern."

Leia frowned. "Boba Fett helped me, because the Remnant said they would get my children. They wanted me dead. They knew that you would convict me for what the clone did. He only did what he felt was right. Who are we to tell him that's wrong? Fett may not exactly follow the laws of the Republic, but he hasn't outright broken them, either."

The counselor who had been speaking before scowled. "You would absolve him of his crimes, Senator Organa?"

"I am willing to forgive him. He helped me, without the actual need to do so. I owe him my life, and my freedom."

The Senate burst up with a thousand different opinions on what should be done.

Boba stood calmly, allowing his mind to wander off for now. He had risked his career. His livelihood and his freedom. He'd done this for love, and to him, there was no greater cause. In his mind, even if he was incarcerated, he'd done the right thing. He only hoped he could escape again. It had been difficult before.

"Take him to a holding cell while we decide his fate."

Leia had to absolve herself from the vote, so she went to see him. Fett seemed completely calm, despite the cell around him. He'd been allowed to keep his helmet, even though he'd been relieved of the rest of his armor. It looked odd, but the Senate had at least been willing to allow him to keep his anonymity.

"Boba.."

"Leia."

"They'll take your helmet away if they decide to imprison you."

"I know."

"And you still did this for me? Why?"

"So you could keep your position. The Senate is still corrupt. Greedy. Just as they were before the war." He shrugged. "This was all likely a way to get an honest Senator like you out of office, to be replaced by one who is more corrupt."

"And why do you care about the Senate, Boba?"

"I care more about you."

"You knew it would hurt me to be removed from office…"

"..Yes."

"So you prevented that."

"I did."

She frowned, leaning gently against the wall by his bars. "Thank you."

"You should go."

"I think I'd rather stay. This all happened because of me, Boba. The least I can do is be here with you."

He stood, and set his hands up against the wall on either side of the bars. They were energy, after all, and he had no intention of touching them. "Can you walk by my side, Leia? Can you live with yourself, if you cared for me?"

She blinked. "Why are you asking this now, Boba?"

"Because if you can't, Leia, you need to leave, before they see you with me. If you can't, my own reputation will only tarnish yours without reason to do so."

"I can, Boba. If you can sacrifice everything for me.. I can at least try."

Fett seemed to relax, and went to sit back down. He said nothing. It comforted him that Leia would stay. She would walk his path, as hard as it would be. He hadn't even intended that. But.. it was the first good thing to happen to him since Sintas. He only hoped it would last longer.

The young senator from before came in. "They've decided, Senator. Why are you down here?"

"He means a lot to me, Amethine."

She quirked a brow. "You're an item?"

"..Yeah."

"Don't let them know that." She walked off.

Leia looked into the cell. "Here's hoping they don't do anything drastic.."

Fett simply nodded once, and watched her leave.

"Boba Fett, you are hereby sentenced.. to death. Remove his helmet, and execute the accused."

Death had been promised not to be an option. Fett had enough. It hadn't been a fair trial from the beginning. He had a lot of enemies here. They had, no doubt, bribed the corrupt Senators into such a ridiculous sentence. Since he arrived, he'd been investigating a way out. He knew where they were holding his armor and weapons. He could die trying to escape, but it was preferable to being shot in the head without a chance to defend himself. Cowards.

The man came up to him to remove the helmet. Once close enough, Fett shot his head forward, cracking the man's skull on his helmet. In the next instant, he used the Force to yank a weapon away from a guard, leaping up in the air. He had limited movement, but that wouldn't stop him. He would shoot four more guards in the air. When others yanked his chain to bring him down, he swung upon it, and slammed his foot into another man's skull.

The blaster went off to take out the chain connected to his feet, then he ran. He ran with everything he had to that room, where his armor was kept. Guards were on his heels. He had to be quick.

Leia watched in horror. How could they give him a death sentence?! It made no sense. She quietly hoped for his escape. If she wanted to stay a Senator, she couldn't help him. But she could find out how death had been sentenced when it had been promised not to be on the table.

Fett shot the two guards at the door, and went in before he used a tool he had on his armor to remove his wrist binders. Once free of all the binders, he quickly got into the armor, shooting anyone that came into that door after him. Three. Four. They were throwing a lot of guards at him.

Once done, he blasted the window open, and calculated a path back to his ship. He was a fugitive of the Republic, but this wasn't the first time. He doubted it would be the last. His jetpack ignited, and he shot out the window. Blaster fire zipped past him, and he weaved to make himself a harder target. Speeders started up and took off after him.

Always quick in thought, Fett dropped out of the sky, landing in a speeder below him. He quickly knocked the poor driver out, and simply slid into traffic. He was still pursued, but they would have a harder time sorting out which speeder he was in.

He managed to make it to where the Slave I was being kept, but it was heavily guarded. After a moment of studying the forces, he readied himself and activated the defenses of his ship through his helmet. It had a sophisticated Identify Friend/Foe suite, and he set the Republic forces to Foe mode. The ship's weapons powered up, and began to shoot at the forces protecting it.

With this distraction, Fett leapt into action. He ran for his ship, blasting guards left and right. Most were too occupied being shot at by the Firespray-class vessel. He remotely opened the hatch, and jumped inside,just shy of being blasted by a nearby guard. Quickly, he hustled into the cockpit. He didn't even bother strapping in- he just ignited the engines and took off. Fighters zipped after him, but he used the Force to lose them in oncoming traffic.

Once clear, he set his NavCom for Concord Dawn, and shot away.

Leia sighed. It was so hard to track down the voters who'd written in 'death' for a sentence. This should have never happened. She wasn't entirely shocked to find large payments to these Senators from an anonymous source. It was troubling. It meant that Boba had known more than she did about the Senate. They were corrupt. Greed ruled, not justice. She was with Luke now, her eyes concerned.

"What do you plan to do about it? Fett has a lot of enemies. Figuring out which one of them is the one who paid of the Senate will be difficult."

"We don't need to find the source of the money, Luke. We need to do something about this corruption in the Senate! Senators shouldn't be able to be paid off to vote for something. How many of our laws are all there because of this?"

He rubbed at his temples, frowning. "Can't you just bring this payment to the attention of the Senate? Can it be solved that way?"

"A death sentence needs two-thirds majority. It means that at least two-thirds of our Senate is corrupt. Nothing I do will be able to fix that."

Luke scowled a bit. "So Fett knows about this corruption. That's why he killed those Senators." He ran a hand through his hair out of frustration. "It's just sad, when a bounty hunter upholds the true meaning of the Republic more than our own government does."

Leia had to laugh a bit. "It sort of is. But now he's the hunted. This needs to stop. I.. I don't know what I'd do if I lost him now." She was frowning now.

"You're impossible, sis." Luke sighed, rubbing the back of his head. "The Jedi could stand at the Senate, and force the corrupt to answer for their actions. It's not the best idea, but it's all we have. Jedi are peacekeepers, though. This is certainly not peaceful."

"I know. Me, in love with Fett." She rolled her eyes. "Half the time, I want to shoot him."

"So just like Han." Luke grinned at her.

She blinked. "By the Force. You're right."

Luke just shook his head. "Come on, then. Let's go see if we can't help you're new boyfriend."

"I wouldn't call him my boyfriend. Not yet."

"Right. Because he's obviously just your beloved bounty hunter."

"..Let's just go."