Hold-Out Trout: Thank you, oh wonderous graduate. I live to serve you . . . that is, if you work on a couple of stories that I've been nagging you about . . .

HanSolosGal: Nah, no extendedromance/sex scene, I'm sorry, but I have some Han-ness here for you . . . ;)

Prudence-Chan: I've only had one other reader on the JC ask me about this, and I'll tell you what I told him or her: you're reading this story exactly how I want you to. Thanks for that!

Angryteabag: Oh, I don't think I could write a story without some kind of Han/Leia element - I'm a tad obsessed with this particular ship, you see. ;) Thanks for reading!

TrinityDay: Why, thank you!

Summers2004: And you don't have to wait for a month for this one!

SuP3R G1R: Does one week work for you? Thanks for reading!

dm1: Thank you! QueenofAces even wrote out a semi-long explanation for why this activity is beneficial over at the JC - actually, she kind of showed me up. ;) But that's okay. If I had had her as a teacher in the eighth grade, I might not have become such a psychopathic nuisance. ;) Thanks!

Anna: Why, are you saying you actually enjoy Han in fics? Such insanity and ridiculousness! ;) Like we all don't click on stories that say they have Han in themmerely to get our daily quota of Solo, right?

Aladailey: Welcome! Glad to see you! And yes, I've got an update for you!

MissE: You mean there should be a plot to this? Are you kidding me? ;) Leia's in a precarious situation and doesn't have a whole lot of options for her mission yet. She's got her trip to the Sorrehs coming up and then she'll start to be more focused. Up to this point, she's been mostly concerned with her safety and protection. Thanks for reading!

Phoenix Flight: Thank you for reading this stupid, stupid story! Welcome and I hope to see more of you around here!

Just a shout out to lurkers and people too busy to respond. You are missed, for sure, but don't feel guilty. I know you're around and appreciate you reading and commenting when you can! Thanks!

Han's voice sounded weary and muffled when he answered his comm later that same day. "Yeah?"

"Hey. It's me."

"What's wrong, Rims?"

Leia started. "What do you mean, what's wrong?"

"Something's wrong. You sound upset."

"I do not."

"How long did it take you to stop crying before you called me?"

How do you know? "I wasn't crying, Jace."

"Yes, you were. What's wrong?"

And the deflectors are up. "Did I tell ya I'm goin' wit' Ivoen ta her parent's vacation house at Rivaucnev City this weeken'? I can't make that date. Sorry."

"Yeah, you told me. What's wrong? And if you're going to be stubborn and blow me off and pretend like something didn't happen today, I'll tell you right now that I don't believe you. What time do you leave?"

Leia sighed. He's going to make this difficult. "In two hours. The Sorrehs are picking us up. Don't come, Jace."

"I'll be there in a few."

Dammit.

"I brought a bug sweeper." Han presented a small rectangular disk out of the hideous red jacket he had squeezed into. "It'll disturb a few of your neighbors' comm calls, but they won't be able to pinpoint you."

Leia smirked, hiding the trembling that had not yet subsided. "An entirely legal device, I'm sure."

"You know better than that – " he flipped the device onto Ivoen's desk " – Princess." He sat down on her bed and looked at her. "What was it?"

"I think you're blowing this way out of – "

"You said, 'it's me' when you called. Its bad enough you called to tell me something you already knew I knew. Then you're acting completely out of character, without the accent, calling without a real reason, in the middle of the day when you're supposed to be getting ready to go." He pointed at her. "You know the drill. You know what to do undercover. This is not like you."

She hissed under her breath. "Because you know me so well and are qualified to make that statement."

"C'mon, Leia, I've known you for a year. I've carted you around on more missions than I can remember. What's wrong?"

"First you were obnoxious over the comm, telling me that I'm upset when I'm not, and now you risk security – meaning both my life and yours – to barge into my room, throw comm disrupters around and sit there like my personal shrink, all ready to plow into every problem I've never had." She took a deep breath. "You need help, you know that?"

"Yeah. So do you."

She crossed her arms and looked to the side. "I do not."

"Leia." She jumped a little at the second use of her first name during the conversation. Either that or you're too tired to pretend this isn't killing you. "Tell me."

Leia wasn't sure if it was his entreating tone, or his physical presence, or just her nerves that prompted her to sit down next to him and tell him everything. She assumed it was a combination of the three, with just enough of her own exhaustion to cap it off. She didn't intend to tell him about the debate, about the hideous comments she made denouncing her life's work, about her justification for Alderaan's destruction, but her mouth was moving, and he was comforting and had his arm around her, and she felt safer than she had at any base she'd lived in during the past year. And she wasn't sure that she could have maintained the pretense that nothing had happened, that she wasn't affected by the defense she had made for her worst enemy.

She didn't cry. She never cried. It wasn't a facet of her personality and certainly not something anyone would expect of her. She spoke in low, tortured tones, her throat tightening as she accounted for him the debate, the congratulations she'd received, her abrupt departure as soon as the class concluded. Leia twisted a red strand of hair around her fingers, twirling it absently and studying it when her tongue became thick and her lips refused to cooperate, to spill the reassuring lies they had been trained to say.

And once it had been expunged, once her demons had been exorcised, she dropped the red strand and slowly came to realize what had just happened, what she had said, what he now knew. She closed her eyes against his face, imagining the hated expression of pity. It was an expression she knew well, one against which she had fought since the moment she had debarked the Millennium Falcon upon its first trip to Yavin Four. The soldiers gave it to her. Dodonna gave it to her. Luke sometimes looked to teeter on the edge of sympathy and pity, to cross that hated line. Very few challenged her to survive, Rieekan being a beloved exception.

And Han.

To see that hazel expression, the one usually challenging and confrontationally teasing, become upset and sorrowful on her account, the way it had when she had told him her age, would be too much. She didn't think she could handle that.

Don't tell me you're sorry.

Don't tell me I deserve more.

Don't tell me you regret anything you've done –

"Yeah, it's kind of like the time I locked myself out of the Falcon on Mallia."

Leia opened her eyes.

"I didn't think I'd ever leave that pit of despair. It took me at least four minutes just to calm down and stop crying."

A laugh escaped from her traitorous lips, breaking the semi-serious expression on Han's face into a lopsided grin as she leaned her head onto his shoulder and chuckled. Flagrantly irreverent. Precisely what I need. She could feel him lean his head down, lift it to kiss her hair, settle it back down on top of hers. She enjoyed the physical contact, a sensation she'd forgotten, a comfort she'd abandoned a year ago. She could have been offended with his presumptuous actions but instead focused on its rarity, on the pure sensory delight that spiked through her.

"You okay?" she heard him murmur against her hair.

She sighed and lifted her head from his shoulder, turning to look at him and passing a hand across her eyes to steady herself. "Yeah." She smiled at him. "Thanks for coming, Han. Really."

He waved off her comments. "Nah. No worries, Sweetheart. And, before I forget – " he reached once more into the jacket "here."

Leia peered at a pair of obnoxious red earrings he held in his hand. "And when did you finally admit to your earring fetish?"

Han grinned. "I'm a closet earring fan. Have been for awhile. Figured I'd get one in a few years or so, what do you think?" At her slight laugh, he offered her the earrings again. "I found these in one of your drawers and borrowed it."

"Borrowed? Like stole?" Those look familiar. Where have I seen –

"Yeah, like that." She took the earrings from him and inspected them in her palm. "They've got a tracker in the dangly part. Thought we'd better keep an eye on you while you're with the Sorrehs."

I swear I've seen these before. "The market."

Han's confusion was evident. "Huh?"

"I stole these from the market the first day I was here." She walked to the mirror and began to fix one onto her right ear. "I completely forgot about them."

"Petty thievery. How un-princess-like."

Leia finished with her right ear and began on her left. "Espionage, rebellion, thievery. Give me some credit for variety here, Solo." She turned to him. "What do you think?"

He swallowed visibly. "I, uh, think they match my coat."

"Well, if you don't get yourself arrested or killed by the time I come back, I'll let you steal them, feed your fetish."

"It's a plan, Princess." He stood there looking at her, hands in pockets, until he cleared his throat, moved to collect the bug disrupter on Ivoen's desk and then the door. "Have fun on your trip, Sweetheart, and don't get into trouble."

She smiled at his retreating form down the hallway, wondering at the sometime ease and friendship that existed between them and grateful for his companionship during this difficult situation.

And then she glared at the three brunettes that peeked out of their doorways to likewise stare at the smuggler's exit. Stare? Leia found herself laughing. No. Ogling. Openly.

They are so unbelievably pathetic.

Taking one last appreciative glance, Leia closed her door and began to pack for her weekend at the Sorrehs.

Talking's almost done, Trout. I promise. I know how much you desire action . . . ;)

KR