"You have no idea how relieved I am to get rid of those fares," Charon told Han the next day once they docked on Monolo and the group of scientists and their droids left the ferry. The ferryman and the smuggler had gotten off Hades to walk around and check out the foot traffic before heading back to the ferry to part ways.
"Nowhere near relieved as Chewie is I'll bet," Han remarked. "So what's next?"
"Oh, same old same old," Charon answered, "always people who need to travel. How soon are you taking off?"
"I need to refuel my ship and restock our food supply, and then we're out of-"
Han stopped talking at the same second he stopped dead in his tracks, causing Charon to not only walk into him but about knock both of them down in the process. She barely got out a "What's-" before Han hissed out a Corellian swear and moved back, about knocking them both down again. He grabbed Charon by the arm and pulled her behind him as he ducked behind the corner of a building.
"What is it?" Charon asked.
Then she saw it. In the middle of a crowded street, in the midst of a hundred different life forms.
"Greedo," Han said with much disdain.
"He never came on the ferry," Charon said.
"He probably wasn't with them," Han told her, "he keeps hoping to get me all to himself so he can fry me."
Charon turned to him and commented, "Remind me again what you did to him in the first place to start that?"
"Nothing," Han answered, and saw her staring at him and asked defensively, "What're you looking at?"
"You think that pile of lard Jabba's around here somewhere then?" Charon asked.
"I don't know, but if Greedo spots me, Jabba will make it his purpose to get here and demand his money."
Through the corner of his eye he saw Charon reach her hand under her tunic, and she pulled out the carbon freeze blaster, "You think we should test this thing?"
"Are you nuts?"
"What? If it works it won't kill him," Charon pointed out, "but he'd never see it coming, and never see you leaving."
"And what if it doesn't work?" Han asked.
Charon shrugged dismissively, "Then I fry him."
"You do that and Jabba will be here before you can turn your head," Han told her.
"You think he really cares if Greedo gets fried?" Charon asked.
"No, but he'll expect his money, and I don't currently have it."
"Then why don't-"
"No," Han said firmly. "It's out of the question."
"Then your options are pretty limited, ain't they, cowboy?" Charon asked.
Han let out a disgruntled sigh as he tried to figure out his next move.
"Come with me," Charon said as she grabbed him by the neck of his shirt and dragged him along.
"What're you gonna do?" he wanted to know.
"I've got an idea."
"This galaxy's not in enough trouble already?" Han asked.
"I'll keep Greedo distracted while you get what you need," she told him.
"Oh no," Han dragged his feet, forcing her to stop, and shook his head, "that tangent you go off on might work with the other guys, but I can assure you, it won't have any effect on Greedo."
"That's why I'm not planning to approach him myself," Charon said as they walked over to a street market.
"So what are you going to do?" the smuggler wanted to know.
Charon purchased a bottle of imported star brandy from a vendor and somehow in the massive crowd of people, waved over one of her crew members, who came over, and Han listened in total puzzlement as Charon instructed him to keep Greedo distracted so he didn't spot the Corellian. Han hadn't caught the guy's name before but Charon called him Harmon. He was in his 30s, about Han's size and build with short black hair and tanned skin, and seemed to catch on quick to what the captain was suggesting. He took a couple swigs of the brandy, splashed another bunch on himself till he was reeking with it, handed Han the bottle, and staggered off into the crowd, until he came up behind Greedo, and very sharply slapped the alien on the back and loudly acted as if he knew the guy.
"You think this will work?" Han asked.
Charon looked at him and commented, "Harmon used to work in live performance, he can come up with any kind of spiel on the spot, and he can be even harder to get away from than I am."
"Oh great," Han grunted, "just what we need, another out of work actor."
"He'll keep Greedo busy, just get going," Charon told him.
The smuggler grunted under his breath and reluctantly added, "Thanks, I guess I owe you one."
"Oh you owe me more than that," she replied with an amused gleam in her eye, and added, "but who's keeping count?"
"What do you mean we can't get out of here?" Han asked Chewie when he got back to the ferry.
The wookiee howled and snorted. Charon added, "Greedo's got everybody on the lookout for the Falcon, which since it's been pointed out, 'they don't even make them anymore', is definitely going to stick out even in this cluster."
"Why? How? What's going on?" Han wanted to know.
"He's been staked out here all week, he's got everybody here convinced that you're a master criminal wanted in 10 systems," Charon folded her arms against her chest as she explained, "and apparently he's convinced you'd be coming here because of the high demand to smuggle goods to other planets, other galaxies."
"What goods?" Han asked.
"A new product being moved, CafPhen," Charon told him, "it's unauthorized, hardly tested, can make your heart explode, but it's becoming a booming industry, people fill up on it to avoid sick bays, they get so wired up they don't realize they're hurt, they don't slow down because of pain, and everybody wants it."
"The drug trade?" Han's eyes about popped out of their sockets and his shook his head in disgust, "Oh come on, getting Jabba his spice is one thing, but even Greedo knows I have my limits."
"He also knows you owe Jabba a lot of money and can't pay him," Charon added, "he might also figure you'd be willing to bend those limits to move some high credit product to keep from getting your face blasted off."
"You always did have a way with words," Han cynically responded. "Besides, how'd you find that out?"
"He told Harmon," Charon nodded to her crew member.
The man merely shrugged and commented, "You'd be surprised the things a guy's willing to tell so he doesn't have to keep listening to how much he reminds you of your ex-wife."
"Every ship moving in or out of the gravitational pull here is being stopped to make sure the Millennium Falcon isn't going to slip by undetected," Charon told him. "The only way you can get out of this is to stay on the ferry and I'll get you to another port."
Han sighed in discouragement.
"I guess I don't have any choice, do I?"
"It won't be so bad," she smugly replied, "we've endured worse before."
"I wouldn't bet on that," Solo said in response. "Besides, the ferry would be searched too, and Greedo would find the Falcon down in the hold."
"I already took care of that," Charon waved off the idea.
Han's eyebrows pressed together and his mouth became an unreadable straight line on his face as he asked, "What do you mean?"
"I already happened to 'accidentally' bump into Greedo, and when he suggested coming aboard the ferry to do just that, I put him on the comm with Jabba, who chewed his afterburners out and told him it'd be a waste of time to bother since his other bounty hunters already did that to no avail, and that they're going to have to find you before I do."
Han's eyes got big and a huge smile of combined shock and relief and amusement formed on his face when he heard this news.
"Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer," he said.
Charon smirked at him smugly and remarked, "And keep your exes closest of all, you never know when it'll come in handy be on their good side."
"You know," Han said to her, "I could just about kiss you."
"Don't be disgusting," she replied. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to see about picking up some fares."
Han watched as Charon pulled the sleeves of her ratty black tunic down to their full length which just about covered her whole hands clad in their black elbow-length gloves, and reached down the back of the neck and pulled up the tattered hood that came clear down over her whole face so nobody could even see her.
"Why do you always do that?" the Corellian wanted to know.
Charon pulled the hood up to show her face a few brief seconds as she merely explained, "Presentation is important, people expect certain things from me when I conduct my business." She pulled the hood down again so she became a faceless, almost formless figure with a sinister air about it as it wandered off into the crowd of people.
Chewbacca growled as they watched her walk off.
"You can say that again," Han turned to him, "come on, let's get on board before somebody sees us."
An hour later Han, Chewie and the crew stood by and watched as Charon returned to the ferry with 20 new passengers, and as everybody was boarding, she yanked her hood down to show herself again and gestured for the smuggler and the wookiee to follow her. Han didn't get it, but he made his way past the assortment of people and followed the ferryman into the cockpit.
"What's up?" he asked as he closed the door behind him.
Charon inhaled hesitantly and bluntly answered, "Look cowboy, before we take off we need to discuss something, you saw the people that came on board the ship?"
"I've got eyes, yeah I saw them," Han answered dryly, "so what?"
"I think they're Rebel alliances," Charon told him.
Chewie made a strange sound deep in his throat, Han's eyes widened slightly as he said, "Please tell me they didn't offer that information."
She shook her head, "No, their story sounds credible enough, their ship broke down and they're trying to get to Hoth, but I've charted a lot of people and I know some of them were Rebel forces, you just get a reading on some people and I think that's what we're looking at. So I've got to know, is that going to be a problem for you? We could get boarded, the Imperials could catch us, that's always a risk we run."
"What makes you think they're Rebels?" Han asked.
"They're coming from Dantooine, now it's just a rumor, but there's been talk for years about them having a base there...there's also been talk about them abandoning the planet and setting up operation elsewhere."
"So they pick the coldest planet in the galaxy?" Han asked.
The ferryman shrugged, "Maybe they're hoping it'll deter the Imperials. So what about it?"
Han chewed it over for a minute before he told her, "Right now I'm more worried about Jabba than the Imperials, but do you have any idea how far we are from Hoth?"
"I can detour and drop you off at the first moon we come to, and you can be on your merry way," Charon cynically answered. "That way if there would be any lingering problems with the Falcon, you'd have a place to work on it likely without being disturbed."
It sounded good to him. "Then that's it."
"Not quite," Charon held out her arm with her glove-clad palm turned upward.
"Again?" Han asked, annoyed.
"New trip, new fare," she told him.
Han sighed and grumbled, "Alright, alright," as he reached in his pocket and took out the money.
Charon curled her fingers around the coins but kept her arm extended and gestured.
"Seriously?" Han knew he wasn't going to win this argument so dug out the extra half fare for Chewie.
"Always a pleasure doing business with you," the ferryman said with a smile. She looked up at the wookiee and added, "Oh incidentally, Chewie, just what did he do to Gree-"
"Don't ask him that!" Han cut her off.
"Suit yourself," Charon replied with a smug look, "we'll be taking off soon so I suggest you head back with the others."
Chewbacca chittered something as he and Han left the cockpit.
"Yeah," Han agreed, "she's a shrewd businessman..." a nostalgic glint suddenly came into his eyes as he recalled, "That was one of the things that attracted me to her." His eyes turned slightly darker as he also remembered that was one of the things that made it the hardest when they went their separate ways.
Han paid no mind to the possibility of who the new batch of people being charted on the ferry might be, could be, what it would mean if they got boarded by the Imperials. He took his place in the midst of them as they heard the ferry's engines starting up, felt the vibrations as the boarding ramp was pulled in, it all felt very familiar. A little too familiar. He looked around but he wasn't seeing the people Charon had brought on board, he saw the crowd the two of them had stood in the midst of all those years ago when they'd left Tarfooth.
Charon was right, he'd even told Chewie although without ever telling him the reason why, he would never set foot on that planet again as long as he lived. But, he also knew, as long as he'd lived, he'd always remember the time they spent there before everything went to hell.
They'd bounced from one planet to one moon to another to another, hitching rides when they could, other times paying a legitimate fare, though avoiding that as much as possible, Han usually tried to scam their money back before they docked, sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't, sometimes Charon was able to pick the pilot's pocket without them realizing it. The constant travel had been fun and exciting in the beginning but as time wore on it grew tiresome, and increasingly dangerous, more than once they'd nearly been killed by some certifiable psychotics who thought they could dispose of the passengers without anybody being the wiser because who would miss a couple of rootless hitchers?
Han knew it would be a lot easier if he had his own ship, it was the one thing he still dreamed of every day, having a cruiser of his own and perfecting it to his own ideals, but between affording their travel fares and paying for rooms for the night so they didn't have to sleep on the streets, which he'd already done plenty of early in his life and had no interest to continue, thank you very much, and he suspected the same could be said of Charon, he couldn't ever get enough scraped together to even buy a two-seater ship. Once he managed to secure them an indoor spot to stay the nights, he was doing well to keep them in food, clothes and anti-odors, a dire necessity when they were on the run for days and didn't have access to a fresher.
At the first sight of Tarfooth once they docked, it looked like they'd finally hit upon their big break. The planet was a thriving metropolis, people coming in and flying out all day every day, endless suckers in sight to swindle and fleece. Han had managed to save up half of what he'd need to buy a cruiser, but for once in his life he decided to do the responsible thing and spent a good portion of it on a 6-month lease for a little three-room house, their first official home, no more sleeping over bars or in back rooms of cantinas, no slipping out in the middle of the night and running for the dock stations.
It was a poor but blissful way of life and they were too young and carefree to give it much thought. Han would be damned if he'd actually put in an honest day's work when he could run scams left and right, Charon on the other hand argued it'd be easier for her to relieve people of their credits if she had a legitimate job that gave her open access to paying customers, so she took a job at the local cantina. The hours were long, the work was for drudge droids and the honest pay was barely enough to keep them in food and spirits, but with her skills she was able to bring home an extra 30-40 credits a night, which given the inflation rates on Tarfooth, still wasn't enough to make ends meet but it was a closer stretch than going it straight.
The time they were both actually home was largely spent in bed. Sure, some of it was just carnal and that was great, but the rest of it was by the time they actually got home they were too tired to do much except lay around all night and they couldn't afford to go out and go anywhere or do anything anyway, and the other part of it was aside from an old table and two chairs in the kitchen, the bed was the only piece of furniture they actually owned.
From time to time Han would stop in at the cantina and make small talk with Charon, help make everything look on the up and up. At the same time though, he hated going in the place and seeing what she did, there wasn't any way in hell he'd work there, even if it was just a cover, it was a timely and exhausting cover that wasn't worth it in his opinion.
One night Charon was nearing the end of her shift and looking forward to getting home, when Han came scurrying back from the fresher and he got right up on her and said in her ear, "We need to get out of here."
"What?" she asked, so tired from her shift she could barely keep her eyes open.
"We need to go home right now," Han told her.
"I'm too tired to be in the mood," she replied as she piled some glasses on a tray.
"No," he followed her with every step she took and stayed in her ear the whole way so no one else would overhear them, "We need to go home, I'll tell you why when we get there."
"I still have to close the place, Han, you know that," she said.
"You stupid woman," he growled under his breath, and stomped as hard on her foot as he could, drawing an ear splitting "OWWWWWWW!" from the dark haired woman as she went down on her other knee and collapsed on the floor.
Han feigned innocence and concern without missing a beat, "Oh darling, did you hurt yourself? Let me help you." He grabbed Charon by the arm and pulled her to her feet and quietly said into her ear, "Trust me on this."
"I'm going to kill you for this," she groaned in response.
"Shh!" he warned her, after helping her to stand straight and it was obvious she couldn't hold any weight on her foot, Han called over to their next door neighbor and Charon's coworker and said, "Hey Higgings, can you finish closing the place?"
"Sure thing, Han."
"Thank you," he said and half escorted, half dragged Charon to the door.
They got out into the night air and were the only ones there as they made their trek home with Charon hobbling the whole way.
"Remind me to kill you later," she said venomously.
"I'll make a note of it," Han nonchalantly remarked.
"What the hell has gotten into you?" she demanded to know.
"I'll explain it all when we get home," the Corellian told her. "I don't want to take the chance of anyone overhearing."
"Overhearing what?"
Nine painful squares later, the two of them reached their home, and once inside Han made sure the door was locked, the windows were closed, made sure nobody could come in or hear anything they said.
"Now what the hell is going on, Han?" Charon asked as she limped over to the bed and sat on the edge of it.
He turned towards her and answered, "You are not going to believe what I found."
"I hope it's a new life mate," Charon said as she pulled her boot off and rubbed her excruciating foot, "I'm going to need one after tonight. Get me the bone chopper out of the kitchen."
Han unbuttoned his jacket and revealed a small satchel strapped against his ribs.
"What's that?" Charon asked.
Han pulled the strap over his neck to remove it and held the satchel up and told her as he walked over to the bed, "I found this in the fresher of the cantina, it was stashed under one of the faucets." He opened it, turned it upside down and dumped the contents on the bed. Credits, of all denominations, mostly large ones.
Charon looked at the money, then up at him and asked, "How much is that?"
"I didn't take the time to count it," he answered as he sat down beside her. "I wanted to wait until we got home and nobody else could find out about it."
The two of them sifted through the credits and spent an hour adding them up until the last one had been accounted for.
"37,000 credits," Han could hardly even breathe, he couldn't believe it.
"That's more money than I've ever seen in my life," Charon told him.
"More than I could ever get my hands on at one time," he replied, feeling his heart racing in his chest, feeling a sudden heat building in his face.
"Who do you think left it there? And why?" Charon asked.
"I don't know," Han shook his head, "but as much traffic as they get in and out of there, it's a wonder it wasn't already snatched up by somebody else. Nobody accidentally left it behind, they intentionally stashed it where it wouldn't be obviously found. In a public fresher? They knew the chances they were taking, and they get what they deserve."
He looked at Charon and told her, "You know what this means? I'm getting my ship!" The Corellian laughed as he ran his hands through the pile of money, brought up one large bunch in his hands and kissed it, then threw them in the air, "My ship! I'm finally going to have my ship!" He jumped to his feet and circled half the room as he tried to process this. He leaned against the wall and frantically told Charon, hardly even time to get a breath in between his thoughts as they popped into his head and out of his mouth, "I can get the biggest cruiser in the galaxy, the fastest one, it means no matter where we'd go, we'd be home, no more hopping freighters, no more hitching from moon to moon, we'd have a permanent home no matter where we went, it'll be huge, it'll have everything: furniture, a bar, an arsenal, a full kitchen, a master sleeping quarter, room enough for kids, a whole army of them, do you want kids?"
Charon laughed at the last question that was clearly an afterthought. Of all the discussions they'd had, that had never been a subject broached.
"What the hell?" she asked. "I never had a mother...shouldn't be hard to figure out how to be a good one." She pushed herself to her feet and told him, "All I care about is I don't have to work in that damn cantina anymore to fleece the customers."
The two of them whooped and howled victoriously and grabbed hold of one another and jumped up and down laughing at their sudden windfall.
"We made it!" Charon exclaimed in elated disbelief.
Han threw his head back and howled, "We're on top of the galaxy!"