Disclaimer: I don't own Star Wars. (I hope to someday, but that's another story).

Author's Note: Not much to say this time. Please review. And thanks to everyone who's still reading.

Chapter Three: In which Han outsmarts Leia.

At Leia's whispered identification of their contact's body, Han grabbed her arm and held her close to his side, steering her away from the body and the square. She tried to pull away.

"Princess," he said under his breath. "Now is not the time to be playing rebel leader."

She tore her arm away. "I am not playing, and we need to find out what happened!"

"Oh no, we don't. We need to get back to the Falcon as fast as possible and hightail it away from this planet. What if that guy saw us and talked before he was killed?"

Leia realized that if she turned around now, it would look very suspicious. She kept walking, but was obviously angry.

"Fine. We'll go back to your excuse for a ship. But we are not leaving."

It turned out that Han lost this argument, if only because all outgoing traffic was suspended for the time being.

"I have a bad feeling about this," he muttered as a port officer checked their IDs and told them they were allowed on board their ship, but that they would not be cleared to leave for a few days—until the initial investigation was under way.

They boarded the Falcon, and Han moved to check some of the systems that routinely needed maintenance—probably to take out some of his frustration at being grounded. Leia went to the cabin she had claimed for the trip and changed into a dress and sash with brighter colors. She started unwinding her hair and walked back to the front of the ship. She palmed for the access ramp, but nothing happened.

"No way, your worship." Han poked his head out from the cockpit hatch.

"Han," she said in an overly patient voice. "I still have to make contact here. And I need to find out what happened to that man. If the group has been infiltrated, we have to know."

Han noticed that she did not look nearly as regal with her hair down. He had not known very many Alderaanians before he had been caught up in this whole mess, and he wondered if all the women wore their hair long like Leia did.

"Are you even listening to me?" Her jaw was set, and Han remembered that hair down or not, she was still the same hot-tempered women he had met in the detention block on the Death Star. "Open the hatch, Captain."

Han shook his head and crossed over to her. "At least wait until the commotion has died down a little. The authorities said we would be here a couple of days, at least, so we have plenty of time."

He was using his best persuasive tone, the one that both grated on and yet pacified most people—even Leia. Sometimes. He was lucky today, because Leia merely sighed in frustration and stalked back to her cabin. Han saw her that night, briefly, as he finally left the engines alone and went to freshen up before bed. She was reading a datapad in the common seating area. She did a commendable job of ignoring him, so he just grinned at the back of her head and went to bed.

"Han?" Leia's voice was muffled, but loud. And urgent. "Han? You need to see this."

Han rolled out of bed before his brain kicked in. He opened his door and blinked at the sight of a fully awake, fully dressed princess.

"Come on." Leia led the way to the Falcon's access ramp. Han stumbled after her and stopped dead at the end of the ramp. Several of the ubiquitous officers they had seen the day before were leading one of the shipyard workers away.

"Guess what they're arresting him for? Our contact's murder."

Han cast a dubious—and finally awake—look in her direction.

"I know. I don't believe it either."

Han scratched his neck and yawned. "It's a good place to start our own investigation, though."

He did not miss Leia's approving half-smile, or her tired eyes, as he turned back up the ramp.