Han had arrived on the Falcon early enough to get some work done before Rena and Korst arrived. It had always relaxed him to work on his ship… provided his life did not depend on the repairs being done in a timely manner, that is, which had happened on more than one occasion.

Glancing at his chrono, he saw that it was just about time for Rena to arrive, so he did his best to wipe the grease off his hands before going to the docking bay security door. Behind it, Rena was waiting eagerly with Korst standing behind her.

"Good afternoon, Han. So good to see you again," Rena said, extending her hand.

Han took her hand and gave it a quick grasp before backing up to let them through the door. "Yeah, you too."

As they walked past him, Han noticed that Rena had changed her clothes and was now dressed more like she had been the day they met for lunch, with a shorter skirt ending just above her knees and a low-cut shirt underneath a blazer closed with only one button.

It seemed a bit early to be worried, but he found himself wishing that Leia was there again, just to be absolutely certain that Rena wouldn't try anything, especially considering some of the things Leia had said about him the day before. Korst wasn't much of a reassuring presence, but at least he was there. He'd considered inviting Chewie along, but he wasn't looking forward to dealing with the grief the Wookiee would surely give him over the content of the article, so he opted to put it off as long as possible.

"I hope your wife is feeling better," Rena said.

"I hope so, too. She's getting some extra rest, so that should help."

"Well, I'd imagine that given what she does for a living, she doesn't often have time to sit back and relax. Do you two get to spend a lot of quality time together?"

Han wondered what exactly she had meant by that, but decided just to answer as simply as possible. "We get enough time."

Turning her attention back to the ship, Rena got a good look. "So, this is the famous Millennium Falcon," she said. "I must say, it's pretty incredible to actually see the ship that was instrumental in the destruction of both Death Stars." She indicated to Korst to take some shots of the exterior.

"Yeah, we've been through quite a lot together."

"Well, from what I understand, they don't really make them like this anymore. I suspect if it wasn't for you it would've been retired years ago, off in some scrap heap."

"She, not it. And maybe you're right, but I'd never let that happen. Now would you like to come inside?"

Her smile grew wide and she tugged on Korst's sleeve and pointed towards the entrance ramp. "We'd love to."

Han held his arm out toward the ramp, pausing when he reached the bottom to let Korst and Rena enter first.

Once into the lounge, Rena stood in the middle of the room and glanced around while Korst started snapping more photos. "Well," Rena began, "I imagine a lot of stories could be told about what's happened in here."

Han tried to hide the smile that tugged at his lips. That was surely an understatement. "I don't think there are enough pages in your magazine for all of that."

Rena let out a little laugh. "No, I suppose not. Well, how about we get some shots of you sitting at the controls?"

"Sure, right this way," Han said as he led them towards the cockpit. Sitting in his pilot's chair – arguably the most comfortable spot in the galaxy to him – he sat back and let Korst take his photos. Although he still didn't love the idea of having his picture taken for this, sitting in his favorite spot made it a little bit easier to deal with.

"You know," Rena said, "I'm going to have to admit it is a bit humbling to be in here, knowing all that has happened with you sitting in that chair."

Han almost started laughing. You definitely don't know all of it, he thought. "Well, I was just in the wrong place at the right time."

"Well, that doesn't change the fact that it takes an amazing pilot to have done the things you have - and an incredible man. I think we all owe you a debt of gratitude after your contributions to defeating the Empire."

Han felt his face flush a little bit, having never quite gotten used to being thought of as a hero. "I was just one small part of it. You should talk to Leia if you really want to talk to someone who was the reason we won the war."

"Perhaps we will. I certainly enjoyed talking with her this morning."

Rena smiled at him in a way that suggested she was remembering the part of their conversation he'd wished had never happened, and he felt as though the temperature in the cockpit went up a few degrees.

"All right, I think that's enough in here," Rena said. "Why don't you show us a bit more of the ship?"

Han wasn't much for giving tours, and he definitely intended to leave out the private quarters and such, but he figured he had to at least give them something.

"Yeah, I'll show you what I've been working on lately."

Exiting the cockpit, they walked down toward the corridor that held the ship's shielding circuits. Fortunately, as of late he hadn't had to rely heavily on the shields, but you never knew when they were going to come in handy.

"I've been working on increasing the shield capabilities here. I think I've just about maxed her out on speed, but you can never be too well-protected."

"Oh, of course," Rena said. "I've read about some of the things you had to do when the shields have failed in the past."

"You seem to know an awful lot about me."

"Research is part of the job. You history is quite impressive."

Looking up to avert her gaze, Han noticed a wrench he had carelessly left resting on the pipes overhead. Not wanting to get smacked in the head by a falling piece of metal, he stood on his toes to try and grab it. "Sorry, I just left one of my tools up there."

Not quite able to reach it, he jumped a couple of times before finally grasping it in his hand. Unfortunately, on the way down the wrench caught on one of the larger pipes, separating it at its connector and causing water to blast down in his face.

"Damn it!" He said, glad that he hadn't let out a stronger curse when he remembered he had company. "Stand back!"

Rena stepped back, watching him work while he tried to stop the flow of water and Korst had already been standing outside the corridor. Knowing he needed to act quickly or else wind up with flooded circuits, Han quickly removed his shirt and wrapped it around the pipes, attempting to seal them back together temporarily while the water continued to drench him.

While slowing the water flow, it didn't seem to want to stay put, so he quickly removed his belt and raised his arms above his head again, wrapping the belt around the shirt and pipes, securing them in place.

With the water now trickling down, he had a chance to go shut off the valve so that he could properly reseal the pipe.

He hadn't said a word while he worked, focused on fixing the problem. The water had flowed down the drainage system in the floor. Unwrapping his now-soaked shirt and belt from the pipe just above his head, he tightened the appropriate bolts and made sure the connection was sealed before he wiped the water out of his eyes and lowered his arms to his sides.

He was so embarrassed that his two guests had been there to witness the malfunction that it took him a second to realize that he was standing in front of them soaking wet and shirtless.

He brushed his fingers through wet hair, hoping to stop it from dripping into his eyes before looking at Rena and Korst standing just outside the corridor. "Uh, sorry about that. She's a little high-maintenance and she lets me know it if I'm not paying enough attention to her," he said, hoping that a bit of humor might help ease some of the discomfort he was feeling.

Rena was displaying a little smirk, and her eyes seemed to be anywhere but on his face. "That's quite all right, Han. Is there anything we can do to help?"

"Nah, I think it's all under control now." He noticed Rena's eyes move down his body, and remembered how exposed he was. "Uh, would you excuse me for a minute? I have to, uh, grab some dry clothes from my cabin over there."

"Oh, sure," Rena said stepping out of Han's way.

Once within the seclusion of his cabin, behind closed doors, Han searched for the nearest set of dry clothes. He hadn't been off on any long trips in a while, so he wasn't nearly as well-supplied as he normally might be. His soaked-through trousers were clinging tightly to his skin and he realized that throughout the whole ordeal, he was too caught up in stopping the leak to notice whether or not Korst had taken any pictures of him in such a state.

Shaking his head, he quickly removed his trousers, toweled off and threw on some loose-fitting, light blue lounge pants and a plain white t-shirt before going back out to try and convince Rena not to mention in the article that his beloved ship had burst a pipe just because he had been careless with a tool. And maybe suggest that she not mention some of the things Leia had said, either.

Walking back out into the lounge, Han found Rena leaning up against the holochess table, her blazer in hand now wearing only her white tank top. "Sorry again about that," Han said. "It was my own fault, really. I just hope you don't plan on mentioning that in the article."

"It's quite all right, really. It can be our secret."

Han glanced around again, suddenly realizing that someone was missing. "Where's Korst?"

"Oh, he had to go send in the photos for the article. We want to get it published as soon as possible, you know."

"Well, I hope some of them came out good," Han said, feeling a bit nervous but not really knowing why.

"I'm sure that they did," she said, giving him a wide smile.

Han suddenly realized that he was standing there essentially in his pajamas. There weren't many moments that he felt self-conscious, but over the past twenty-four hours he felt as though he'd doubled his lifetime total. "So, is that it, or…"

"Are you sure there aren't any interesting stories you'd like to add about things that have happened on your ship?"

Han's head fogged with pleasant memories, but none that he wished to share with the rest of the galaxy. Caught up in his thoughts, he hardly noticed when Rena, facing away from him, reached up and pulled the elastic out of her hair, letting the blond strands to rest just below her shoulders. After removing her glasses, she turned to look at him once again.

Han felt his forehead instantly growing hot as sweat started making its way to the surface of his skin. His throat suddenly dry, he found himself unable to speak.

"Han, I think I should tell you that it was my idea that we pick you. I've been an admirer of yours for quite a while, and I knew it would be a great chance to finally get to know you."

Rena slowly started walking towards him, and with just one step he felt his back hit the wall, leaving him nowhere else to go. Still hoping that maybe she was simply being complimentary, he tried to act casual. "Uh, thanks."

"You are an incredible man, Han Solo," she continued slowly moving closer, and he pressed his back harder against the wall. "And meeting you in person and talking to you has only made you that much more appealing. I've been waiting for this for a long time," she said just before lunging toward him.

Instinctively, he jumped to his left so that her hands met the wall instead of him. "Whoa, wait a minute. I don't know if you remember yesterday or not, but I'm pretty sure you know that I'm married." Han still had his back against the wall, slowly inching his way further and further away from her, irritated that he had jumped away from the door instead of toward it.

"Of course I know you're married, Han. But I also know that your wife is a busy woman who probably doesn't give you all of the attention you deserve. And I've seen the way you've been looking at me, too."

Han shook his head in disbelief. "No, I haven't! I…"

"Come on, Han. It's all right to admit it. This doesn't have to mean anything. I am willing to be discreet."

"Rena, I'm really sorry if you got the wrong idea, but I think you're grasping at nothing here. I love my wife, and I'm sorry, but nothing is going to happen between me and you."

Her grey-ish blue eyes gave a look of disappointment, but he felt the muscles in his back relax when she finally took a step away from him and he let out the breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding.

"Well, I'm sorry, too," she said, now looking at the ground. "I'm certainly embarrassed about this, and I hope you won't hold it against me."

I'm not going to be holding anything against you, ever. "Well, I might consider bringing a chaperone with me if you ever decide to interview me again," he said, again trying to diffuse the situation with humor. Where was Chewie when he needed him?

She let out a little smile at that before self-consciously putting her blazer back on. "I really am sorry, Captain Solo. Although I'll admit I was looking forward to finding out if some of the things your wife said about you were true," she said, making Han's face grow hot once again.

He shrugged his shoulders. "Sorry, that's just for her to know," he replied.

"I guess that's just another reason that you're the sexiest man alive, huh?" She said, moving toward the door.

"Speaking of which, um, would you mind maybe not mentioning some of that stuff she said yesterday in your article? It was all just a lot of incoherent babbling, you know."

She smiled at him, and he could tell that she didn't really believe that, but she sure did owe him. "Sure. I'll keep those little gems of information to myself. Thanks so much again. I really do appreciate your time and I'm sorry about this last part. Can't blame a girl for trying, right?" She let out an awkward laugh, and then turned all business. "The article should be out in a few days and we'll let you know."

"Thanks. Goodbye, Rena."

"Goodbye, Han."

Watching her walk down the ramp, Han felt a huge wave of relief, realizing that obviously Leia was right and it was a terrible idea to leave him to make his own decisions. Then he remembered that he was probably going to have to tell her what had happened, and he considered not going home for a while. But given the fact that she was still sick and he felt the need to be there to take care of her, he sighed, and headed for the exit.