CHAPTER 5:

Endo Sargoza's bellowing laughter bounced off the walls in the warehouse, "I never expected to see you again, Solo."

"Likewise," Han, still wielding his blaster, pushed the princess behind him. "So you made some new friends?"

"You can say that," Sargoza broadly smiled. "And I have some old ones." He held his hand out and Jenvia walked into the open. She smiled sweetly at Han as she strolled over to Sargoza and hung on his shoulder.

Han shook his head, "You always had poor taste in men, Jenvia."

Sargoza placed a kiss on the side of the tall woman's head, "And it seems that you have poor taste in friends." Endo laughed, his stomach bouncing with his glee, "Once I heard that you were coming to liberate Princess Leia, I just had to make the occasion special."

"Thanks," Han nodded, "You've always been so thoughtful." His eyes fell on Jenvia.

Sargoza's dark eyes followed Han's to Jenvia, "No, Jenvia didn't know you were coming, but she did lead you in the right direction."

Han blinked a few times, confused. If not her then who?

Endo Sargoza smiled, "I figured that you weren't the type to wait until the deadline, so I organized this little party for you. As much as I would love handing you over to Jabba, the Imperials are more than happy to have both you and the princess. I know the princess has a reputation for withstanding interrogations, but how good are you, Han?"

Chewbacca bared his teeth and emitted a long low growl. Han smirked with false bravado, "What do I know about the rebellion?" He shrugged and looked at Leia, "This is just a job to me. Locate and retrieve. Don't know much of their goings-on, and frankly, I really don't care."

Sargoza raised his chin and appraised Han for a long moment, "This is just a job? Not according to my sources." He narrowed his eyes on Solo who could do nothing more than stare back. He then turned his attention to the Wookie, "I hope you will enjoy spending the end of your days on Kessel, Chewbacca. I'm afraid Han won't be around this time to liberate you from slavery."

Han took a step forward, but Chewbacca calmed him with a low mumble. Sargoza signaled a couple of storm troopers, "We can do this peacefully, Solo. No one has to get hurt. Slowly drop your weapons."

Han and Chewbacca held their weapons out over their heads and began to crouch down. Chewie steely blue eyes scanned the stacked crates next to him. Just as several of the storm troopers moved forward to overtake the rebels, Chewbacca howled as he shoved his body into the column of crates, crashing them on top of the storm troopers. Simultaneously, Chewie and Han shot out the overhead lights, and chaos erupted. A few rounds were exchanged between Han and the storm troopers. Chewbacca roared over his shoulder as he charged forward to wreck havoc.

"Gotcha!" Han answered as he pulled Leia in the other direction.

"Will you let go!" she struggled against him.

"What are you doing?" Han yelled at her as she slipped from his hand and headed toward Chewbacca. "He knows what he's doing! Get back here."

Leia ignored him and ran to the first fallen storm trooper she encountered. Just as she wrapped her hand around an Imperial blaster, Han yanked her by the arm and pulled her with him.

"I'm not going anywhere unless I'm as armed as everyone else," she yelled over the commotion.

"Fine! Can we go now?"

Han and Leia ran down a makeshift walkway that led them straight to the center of the warehouse. Heavy footfalls came toward them. Leia jerked Han to her left, pulling him down underneath a row of plasma machines. They held their breaths as four storm troopers passed them by unnoticed. Han started to crawl out from beneath one of the plasma machines, but Leia placed a hand on his. She then began crawling toward the other direction. Han grabbed her foot and pulled her back to him. She turned her red face to him and then kicked her way free, leaving Han no choice but to follow her.

Leia wiggled her way down the path she determined. Once she reached then end of the row of plasma machines, she squeezed her way out and waited for Han to do the same. When Han pulled himself to his feet, he realized that she had led them into a dead end.

"Just great, Your Worship," Han harshly whispered. "Now what?"

She crossed her arms and her hip jutted out to the side. The blue pants she wore hugged her curves, "I thought you were the one doing the rescuing."

Han leaned over her, "I am. So from now on you do what I say."

"If we all listened to your brilliant planning, none of us would've escaped the Death Star," she challengingly stared up at him.

The sound of echoing footsteps heading their way cut Han's argument short. He placed his hand over the princess' mouth and pulled her down in the shadows. Neither dared to move for fear that he or she would give their position away. But from their covert position, Han noticed a broken window to the right of them. Once he felt the danger had passed, he removed his hand from Leia's mouth and placed it on top of her head in order to guide her attention to what he saw. Once Leia realized what he was thinking, she stopped fighting his hold on her.

Han cautiously rose into a standing position, his blaster drawn and ready. When no attack ensued, he holstered it and turned to Leia. "Okay," he looked at the window. "That may be our way out."

Leia bit her lip, "It might be a very long drop."

Han considered what she said, "Yeah, but nothing else looks that promising. There are guards at all of the entrances, and we don't know how many storm troopers are wandering around in here. I'm sure Sargoza has his people looking for us, too." He looked into her dark eyes, "It may be our only hope."

"Lead away, Oh Great Rescuer," she shoved him with her hand in the direction of the window.

Han smirked, "I knew you'd see things my way."

"Just go before I change my mind."

Han and Leia stayed close to the metal wall as they slowly made their way to the window. The window was almost level with Han's head, but it stood well above the princess. Han removed his jacket and threw it over the jagged glass. He then leaned against the wall and held his entwined hands out for the princess to use as a step up. Leia placed her hands on his shoulders and her right foot in his hands. Han felt his face flush hot despite the icy breeze floating in through the window.

Leia placed her hands on the back of his neck and pulled herself up. She stopped when she was eye-level with Han. "What?" she whispered.

Han's brow furrowed, "What?"

The princess stared into his hazel eyes for a moment longer. Han wasn't certain what she was seeing, especially since he wasn't certain what he felt. Her breath was warm against his skin, and he couldn't help but breathe her in…

Han pushed her up toward the window to break the spell she had cast on him. It unnerved him that her proximity flustered him in the way that it did. He couldn't recall any other time in his life a woman, much less a girl, flustered him even a little. He prided himself on being in control of his emotions. He was the one who flustered the opposite sex, not the other way around. He reprimanded himself for allowing her to get to him. He obviously needed some womanly company, and running from storm troopers with this girl wasn't what he had in mind. The first thing he planned on doing once they got back to the base was to find some easily-flustered female pilot and spend a little R&R with her.

Before he knew it, Leia had pulled herself up into the window and was preparing to drop to the other side. She glanced out the window with trepidation.

"Can you make it?" Han whispered.

Leia looked down at Han, her eyes wide with uncertainty, "Of course." She turned away and prepared herself for the jump.

"Wait!" Han hissed. The vision of her jumping into the unknown—at least unknown to him, scared him to his core. He grabbed the windowsill, "Move over."

The princess did as she was told and before she knew it, Han was seated next to her. He looked over the edge of the window. It wasn't a huge drop, and there were a few crates lying haphazardly underneath the window. They should break his fall.

Leia's head tilted to the left, and she peered into his eyes, "You okay?"

"Of course. Why?" Han asked nonchalantly.

The princess hesitated but then shook her head, "No reason I guess." She looked down at the crates below, "Do you think they're strong enough to hold our weight?"

Han's eyebrows rose and fell as he appraised the crates. Your weight. Not mine. "Sure," he favored her with his cockiest smile. "Me first."

Before Leia could protest, Han leapt from the window and landed on the crates with a thud and a crash. Leia winced and glanced back into the warehouse. With all that noise, she expected blaster fire to come her way. She was about to reprimand Han, but he had recovered his footing and was now standing on a crate holding her arms out to her. Leia rotated her body and held on to the ledge as she gracefully slid down into Han's arms. She pulled his jacket free and allowed him to assist her to solid ground.

"You think you could've done that any louder?" she handed him his jacket.

Han shoved his arms into his jacket, "Come on."

To the pair's dismay, they hadn't quite escaped just yet. The princess and Han found themselves in a yard attached to the warehouse. Han started toward the fence, but beams of light searched them out. Han pulled Leia into a makeshift alcove of abandoned speeder seats and old rickety steel tables piled with junk. He directed Leia to squeeze under the speeder seat as he hid behind a tall crate adjacent to her. He held his breath as one of the beams of light sought them out. All the while his eyes stayed pinned on the princess. She was flat on her stomach, and he could see that she, too, was holding her breath. Her attention was focused on the movement of the beam of light that closed in on them. She's so tiny, Han bit his lip. He couldn't see the blaster she was holding.

Han was so focused on Leia that he didn't see the storm trooper approach the speeder seat. Before he knew it, Leia flipped the seat over and blasted a gaping whole in his chest. Han rushed over to her and place his hand on her blaster. He feared she'd shoot again, and a squad of storm troopers would easily pinpoint their location. But he didn't have to worry. Leia grabbed Han's arm and headed toward the fence. He had to smile at her tenacity.

Han started looking for a good place to climb over the fence, but Leia had other ideas. "Are you just going to stand there?" Leia yelled over her shoulder.

"Where do you think you're going?" Han crouched down.

"Where do you think?" She crawled under a work table and began hitting the wooden fence with a sharp tool. "So are you just going to sit there?" she yelled in between grunts, "Or are you going to help me?"

"It must be nice to be short," Han quipped, but the sound of stomping boots and the flash of light spurred Han into action. He grabbed some abandoned crates and used them to block Leia's actions. He took the tool out of Leia's hand and whacked the fence with more force than she could. With a kick of his foot, a hole was punched out. Han looked behind them as he pushed the princess through the hole. Then he followed her. Han grabbed Leia before she could stand and held her in a seated position next to the hole in the fence. They both listened for their pursuers. The noise in the yard quieted, but Han was worried that they'd run into Sargoza's men or some storm troopers outside of the yard.

Han waited, but no one came. He quietly explained, "Sargoza has a small army of his own besides the storm troopers. And they don't wear obvious uniforms like white armor."

Leia nodded and then turned her face up to him. "Where's Chewie?" Leia whispered as if she were afraid to ask.

Han pressed his lips together and met her eyes, "He should be heading back to the Falcon."

"Do you think he's okay?"

"He knows how to take care of himself," Han reasoned without conviction.

The princess looked down and shook her head, "We should have stuck together."

Han's voice rose despite his efforts of containing his anger, "They're looking for a Wookie and two humans. I don't know if you noticed, but there aren't many Wookies in this system." He knew his reasoning was faulty. He wished that Chewbacca didn't make that rash decision to distract Sargoza and the storm troopers in order to allow Han to escape with the princess.

He looked into her large eyes and saw swirls of guilt in those dark pools. Han sighed, "Look, Chewie knows what he's doin'." But she didn't look convinced, "Our best shot is to move the Falcon to another docking bay far enough away from Sargoza's reach. Fortunately, most of the territory out here is flat and very few beings inhabit the wild land. Chewie'll can get back to the Falcon faster on his own than if we stayed together. He's an excellent climber. They won't catch him." If he managed to get out of the warehouse, Han grimly thought.

The princess' lips parted, but she decided to keep her words to herself. She glanced down the deserted street, "What now?"

Han pulled on his chin, "Well, I'm not exactly popular around here." He thought about it, "At least not popular in a way that's gonna help us."

"Why doesn't that surprise me?" Leia quipped.

"You have any friends in the neighborhood?" He grinned at her.

"There is a rebel cell here," Leia bit her lip for a moment, not sure she should have mentioned that. "Guess that may not be so helpful."

"Who knew that you were going to be the contact here?" Han blurted out.

"Why? Do you think someone set me up?"

"Just answer the question," Han ordered.

Leia's brow furrowed. She definitely didn't like his tone, but she answered anyway, "Just General Serin, General Dodonna, and Reeiken."

"Whadda bout here?"

Leia shook her head, "No one."

Han looked down at her, "Whadda bout Jenvia?"

"I knew her identity, but she didn't know mine," Leia answered. Han didn't look convinced. The princess sighed, "Really. I was chosen to go hours before the mission. No one here knew I was the one meeting Jenvia."

"Hours?"

Leia nodded, "Commander Driut was supposed to go, but his services were needed elsewhere at the last minute. There was no one else who could go at such short notice."

Han ran his hand through his hair and looked down the deserted street. He opened his mouth to continue his interrogation, but Leia cut him off, "Is this important right now? I mean, we have numerous storm troopers, and according to you, Sargoza's men after us. Shouldn't we concentrate on getting out of here?"

Solo couldn't argue with that. He stood up and held out a hand for the princess, "Chewie'll contact us when he gets to the Falcon. I have a homing beacon that'll lead him to us or near us."

"Won't the Imperials be able to detect it?" she took his hand and pulled herself up.

"Nah, it's short range, and it's set on a low frequency," Han answered as they started down the shadowy street. "It won't come up on their long range scanners, and I can tell you that they're not looking for any tracking devices that can't be detected from space. They'll be expecting us to look for help off-planet."

Leia smiled, "Good point."

Han found himself pleased to see Leia smiling at him like that. He smiled in return as he scrutinized her appearance. He cleared his throat, "Don't take this the wrong way, but we need to fix ya' up a bit."

Leia's hand went to her hair, "That bad, huh?"

"No," Han answered honestly. Even with this disheveled look, she still looked beautiful in Han's opinion. He held his hands out, "May I?"

The princess narrowed her eyes on him and took a step back. But to Han's surprise, she silently nodded her head. His eyebrows rose, but he tried to hide his wonderment. Han fingered the long tail hanging from the right side of her head. Instead of wounding the tail back into the bun from which it fell, he pulled the pins from the bun on the left. Her hair uncurled like a snariget eager to warm itself in the midday sun. He wrapped the two tails around his hands, twisting them into curls. This style was popular among Corellian girls. Her hair plus the casual spacer clothes she was wearing made her appear more Corellian than Alderaanian, and they'd be able to move around in this area easier. Even better, they might be able to pass as survivors of a crash out in the wild land.

Han lifted her chin with his hand. There was nothing more he felt he could improve on. He flashed her a lop-sided grin, "When was the last time you ate anything?"

The princess blinked a few times and then shook her head, "I'm not sure."

Han held out his arm, "Whaddya say we find a speeder to steal and get something to eat."

Leia wrapped her arm around his, "Sounds like a plan, Captain."

With watchful eyes, the pair stayed in the shadows as they searched for the perfect speeder—preferably one that they could easily break into.