It's a longer one. :)

Chapter Four


Reha breathed softly, fingertips hooked over the windowsill, ducked below the window of the Solo's apartment. Below her, seventy stories loomed until ground level. Her grip was iron, however, and she registered only excitement.

Listening.

The princess was almost crying.

She smiled darkly, reaching out as her glasscutter levitated towards the window.

She waited, sensing the princess's partner rattling around before the door closed.

Perfect.

Her violet eyes focused on the cutter as it blinked quietly to light. The tip of the wet blade made contact with the duraglass and it hissed softly. A switch ticked up and it fell silent again.

It ran slowly along in a large circle and went over a few times until the glass started to wobble. She cursed under her breath as she barely caught the chunk with the Force.

It landed noiselessly on the carpet inside and she stepped in, crouched low with her hood pulled over her face. The lights of Coruscant shimmered over the whole scene but luckily there wasn't much traffic outside of the window to alert the couple. She reached into a pocket and extracted a tiny pill. It didn't matter whichever one got it.

Her eyes looked about until they landed on the bottle of water. She started to unscrew the cap when a creak of floorboards made her whip around in surprise.

Han Solo stood in the bedroom doorframe, blaster pointed at her chest.

"Who are you?" he shouted. Reha could hear rustling and footsteps as the princess woke.

"No one you need to know about." she distorted her voice to a low, feline hiss. She could sense the princess sneaking up behind the man.

No problem. The blaster bolt snapped out with a hiss from the woman's weapon and she held her hand out, deflecting it easily with the Force. She ducked after the next two, tucking and rolling, leaping out of the window.

She spread her arms like an eagle, the wide flaps of her black jumpsuit levering her up, swooping in a wide arc until she landed on her ship, concealed behind a small building.

She could feel the princess's unease and shock. A wicked smile slowly spread across the Force-sensitive's face, eyes glinting.

She hadn't been able to execute the easy, quiet assassination, but oh, she loved to savor others' fear.

It didn't matter. Reha Maron always had a Plan B. Or a C and D, if it was necessary. It would just be more difficult than the one just attempted. She never liked orchestrating a huge death show, however. This, as she firmly believed, was one of the few faults of Darth Vader and the Emperor.

Maron was content with smooth, silent, deadly affairs. She just saw no point in all the deaths. So many workers killed in the line of the Empire...

Her hand trailed to the pendant hanging around her neck, metal, but as warm as her skin, if even warmer.

Too many deaths.

She shook away the memories and started up the ship. The astromech twittered to life and they shot off again into space.


"They...the person was Force sensitive."

Leia leaned back in her chair, hands trembling on the tabletop. Han stared down grimly at the large pane of glass, still left on the carpet.

"They deflected the bolts like..."

"Like Vader."

Han turned around, looking down at his shaken fiancee. He was almost as shocked but tried not to show it.

"Could you see their face?"

"The person had a hood. All I could see were purple eyes."

"Purple?"

They exchanged anxious looks. The ringer buzzed, and Han leaped to answer it.

"Come on up, Luke."

"I've got a bunch of police here too..."

"Send em up."

Soon the door rattled and was pulled open. Four beings, two human, one Mon Calamari and one Wookie, all with some form of display to show that they were officers. Luke stood at the front and immediately accepted Leia's embrace.

"Luke, the person...thing deflected the bolts with her hands, like Vader, she had a dark hood on..." she burst out softly. Luke shushed her gently, pulling back. The Wookie and the Calamari were studying the cut glass and taking pictures, while a human was inspecting the ground carefully. The last officer was watching Luke and Leia silently. He spoke up, clearing his throat politely. The three looked up in surprise.

"If you could tell us everything that you know about this, that would be a very big help." he inquired, waving a small recorder in his palm.

"Well..." Leia hesitated, back at Han's side. He came to her aid.

"She was in the kitchen at maybe 2200 hours when she felt someone watching," he said, thinking. "Like sensing someone."

"Mmm..." the officer narrowed his eyes quizzically at Leia but nodded anyways.

"We went back to sleep," Leia continued, obviously omitting the call from Luke and the special Force bond they had as siblings. "And at perhaps 2235, Han heard something and suddenly the apartment was colder. I could..." Leia stopped herself and spoke carefully. "I could almost say that there was someone out there."

"Han stepped out with his blaster and found the intruder."

"Details?"

"Um..." Han scrunched his face in effort. "Maybe five one or two, I could see purple eyes, and when the person responded to my question the voice was like a cat, real hissy and low. Couldn't tell if it was a human or a woman or guy or anything, really."

"What was the question?"

"I asked 'who are you', and they said 'someone you don't need to know', or 'no one you need to know' or something like that." Han scratched his head uncomfortably.

"Is this it?"

"Yes, then you and Luke came up." Han gestured to the Jedi Knight and he nodded quietly.

The recorder was clicked off and the officer was about to speak again when one of the men came up, something tiny cradled in a gloved hand.

"Sir, I found a capsule filled with suspicious powdered material." he spoke sharply.

"Is it closed?"

"Yes. Not punctured or opened, though I still have taken precautions and disinfected the floor around it. I also advise no one touch it with a bare hand."

Leia leaned in carefully. The capsule was maybe a cm and a half long, the type where you could open it and spill out the contents or swallow it as a pill. Its contents were a pale greenish-white, glistening inside its plastic case.

"Good work. Place it in a sample bag for scanning," he instructed, then turned back to Luke, Leia and Han. His expression was gravely serious. "This could have been a property theft, an attempt to bug the apartment, or even an assassination." Han's frown deepened. "Please take serious precautions from now on. I advise to be wary at all times, and set up an advanced alarm system that senses window break ins as well as doors. You can also purchase a biorecognition setup where it automatically knows when someone not authorized enters during a non-entering period."

"Thank you," Leia said, face calm. "We appreciate the prompt assistance and will consider the options you have suggested."

The men had wrapped up and bowed, shook hands, and left the apartment. Leia sat back on the couch while Han picked up the glass fragment gingerly and inspected the damage. Luke sat down next to his sister, watching the two with silent empathy.

"Looks like we need a new window glass." he studied the whole floor-to-ceiling pane in displeasure.

"That's not the problem, Han," Leia spoke. "How will we live? This is the first time this kind of thing has ever happened, and who knows how many times this will go on? How will we raise our own children? We can't guarantee their safety anymore without invasion of our privacy." She despaired, but her voice stayed strong.

"We'll find a way." Han assured her, but there was a note of unease in his speech. Luke shifted in his seat.

"I think it would be wise if you decide to set up the biorecognition alarms as the officer said," he suggested gently. "The cameras are not fed into any live beings watching, and the security is state-of-the-art. It's most definitely better than nothing."

Han nodded. Leia looked down at the ground.

"Do you ever wonder what it would be like..." she said softly. "If we were never so famous? Never involved with the Rebellion or the New Republic." She looked almost longingly at the ground. "Just normal."

"Well, then how would we ever meet, the three of us?" Han remarked. "A Tatooine farm boy, a smuggler, an Alderaanian princess."

"I'd be dead..." Leia said softly.

"Unless there was another princess in your place." Luke added thoughtfully.

"Hah. They wouldn't last a second." Han pulled his fiancee closer, an arm around her shoulder.

"We would probably meet eventually when Ben would seek us out for training," Luke nodded to his twin. "But Han..."

"Eh, I don't want to be normal," Han scoffed. "Especially if it means that I don't meet either of you."


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