Chapter One:
The cantina Jessa entered was seedy, scattered with degenerates and vagabonds. Smoke filled the air, bad music was being played by a mediocre band, and drunken men and loose women were lounging over piss smelling furniture. She pressed the data pad she had clutched in her hands closer to her body, her knuckles turning white as she squeezed. She felt perhaps more vulnerable than she truly was, for this was a cantina filled with criminals of the imbecilic and feeble minded nature, beating and stealing what was in front of them, but unable to make the simplest observations.
She pushed through the crowed, hardly able to approach the bar without hands from all angles reaching out to fondle her. She would have shoved them away, but due to the data pad in her hands, could only walk faster and out of their grips. When she got to the bar the attendant looked at her long and hard, as if she had no right to be in his place of business. She would have made a snide remark if her mission was no so important. Nothing could come in between her and her goal and this night, at this cantina, was her only opportunity.
"Can I get you something?"
"I've heard there is a Mr. Boba Fett here tonight?" she asked, her naturally soft voice difficult to hear over the loud music and drunken laugher.
"He is, but he don't like to be disturbed," the man told her.
"I'll risk it," she answered and the barkeep silently pointed to a dark corner, where an unnerving looking man sat, a drink in his hand, a sour look on his face, and an arm around a pretty young alien girl. She swallowed hard, nodded to herself in encouragement, and walked toward him. She hugged the data pad close to her body as she walked, her arms wrapping around herself in a hug type state.
She had heard many stories about the infamous bounty hunter, and she knew if anyone was right for the job, it was him. She also knew however that he took big jobs, contract jobs, jobs that paid a lot of money. That was why her entire life savings, her inheritance, and all the money she could get from her the selling of her home and possessions was on the data pad in front of her. Credits were credits, and she hoped that he would take this one private case from a nobody from Tatooine, if it meant hitting pay dirt.
When she came to stand in front of him, he looked up slowly, his dark eyes landing on hers with frightening distaste and obvious annoyance. She swallowed hard and her tongue darted out to wet her lips. The alien girl scowled at her, clearly threatened by the newcomer. Most human men preferred their own species, and despite the look she was receiving from him now, for her motives were obviously not seduction, she was sure he would trade her for the alien girl in a heartbeat.
"I am not interested," he spoke, his voice deep and raspy. She nodded, snapped out of her daze and shifted the data pad in her hands.
"I have money," she rushed out, lifting the data pad up slightly in her hands.
"Not enough I am sure," he replied, his lips twisting into a sour half smile.
"More than enough," she countered and his look turned more neutral. He looked at her a moment, his eyes searching her for deception, and then down to the data pad. Just when she thought he was going to send her away he jerked his head at the alien girl, lifting his arm from her.
"Leave," he said and the alien girl looked at Jessa as if he had spoken the words to her, smiling triumphantly. It was only when Fett turned on her and spoke "I said leave" that she huffed off to the dance floor.
"You have thirty seconds," he replied and Jessa nodded again.
"I want you to kill someone for me," she hurried out, her voice a rush of air.
"I'm not an assassin," he replied.
"But you are a bounty hunter," she said and sat down by his boots, which were up on the table in front of him. "And you bring people to people who kill them right? I just can't do the killing."
"And what would you what someone killed for?"
"Does it matter?" she asked. "I have credits."
"You can't afford me, sweetheart," he said dismissively. She looked down to her data pad, frantically touching buttons. She held it out to him, and he glanced at it, his expression not changing.
"It's all yours if you do this for me," she said. She watched his jaw clench as he ground his back molars together.
"It's good money?" he asked and she nodded.
"I wouldn't know how to cheat the system," she replied and he nodded, believing her. He paused a moment to consider it. She was not the typical type of person that approached him for his services, and although he rarely worked for anyone of such little importance, the fee was substantial.
"Is the person dangerous?"
"Not to someone like you," she replied. He would have smiled if there was not a dark undertone to her words. He motioned with his fingers for the data pad and she handed it to him.
"How did you come by such a fortune? Will I have some spice trader coming after me for his money if I accept this?"
"I inherited all. It's everything I have in the galaxy."
"And you'd give it all up for one man?" he asked and looked her over. "You aren't a businesswoman. Whatever this is its personal."
"He needs to pay," she said simply.
"I don't do personal vendettas," he said and handed her the data pad back. She felt despair threaten to overtake her as he stood and moved to walk away. She grabbed onto his outer tunic, causing a gasp to come from a bystander who had been watching them. No one touched Boba Fett and lived to see the next day.
"He killed my father!" she cried, clutching his clothing tightly. "He made me watch. You don't know what it's like to watch your father killed right before your eyes."
Boba Fett paused a moment and turned slowly. Jessa slowly released the back of his tunic and waited, looking up at him with wide, expressive eyes. A scar that trailed from the bottom of his ear to the side of his mouth wrinkled slightly as he frowned, turning the white, indented skin whiter.
"He killed your father?"
"Yes," told him earnestly.
"Why?"
"My brother and his daughter ran away together. He took the dishonor of his family out on my father."
"And let you live?" he asked unconvinced. He saw her hesitate; her eyes moved a fraction of an inch downward, and then back to him.
"Yes," she answered.
"What is your name?"
"Jessa Reendor."
"I want half up front," he said and once again turned and began walking away. Jessa chased after him, thankful to be out of the stuffy cantina, and into the hot, fresh, night air.
"Thank you so much, sir," she replied and fumbled with her data pad.
"I am assuming, due to the payment and the fact that you did not go to the authorities, that he has fled?"
"Yes," Jessa replied. "Last I heard he went to Telos."
"What's his name?"
"Jax Lark."
"Where can I find you once I have finished the job?" he asked and Jessa shook her head.
"I want to come with you," she replied, struggling to keep up with his long strides.
"No," he answered simply.
"Then you don't get paid," she answered.
"Then Jax Lark doesn't get killed," he responded, stopping and turning toward her. She collided with his powerful chest and fell to the ground, her data pad flying into the sand beside her.
"I want to be there when it happens," she responded getting onto her knees and grabbing her data pad. She brushed some sand off of it, a sad little frown on her lips.
"I will bring him back then," Boba Fett replied. "But this isn't a field trip."
"I'm giving you my entire life savings. Everything I own. You cannot blame me for not entirely trusting you."
"If you want the job done, I go alone."
"Mr. Fett, please," she cried getting to her feet. "Surely the amount of money is worth it."
"No, it isn't," he replied and turned away from her. He was half way to the rooms he had rented when he realized that she was not going to give up. She pleaded and begged as she chased behind him, trying to reason with him, told him in detail how Jax Lark had slaughtered her father.
Decapitation.
A shiver almost ran through him as he remembered picking up his father's own severed head. How he struggled to remove it from his helmet. How long he cried over his father's dismembered body.
He knew there was something she was not telling him, but while she might be evasive, she was not dishonest and he knew she was too innocent and naïve to try and cheat him. But he certainly would not allow her on his ship while he hunted this murderer down. Still, what sympathy he had was stirred by her plight and as he got to the inn he was staying at he turned to face her one last time.
"Fine," he said evenly. "If you want to come so badly be at the ship yard, dock 4B-D, tomorrow at ten."
"Oh thank you!" she cried and in her excitement lunged at him, wrapping her arms around his neck and holding onto him. She had t stand on her tip toes to reach him, and he was like a stone block, stiff and unmoving. Slowly she pulled away, a blush on her face.
"Sorry," she mumbled in embarrassment. He nodded and stepped inside without another word.
Boba Fett left as close to nine in the morning as he could. He did not wish to run the risk of Jessa Reendor coming early and spotting him before he could leave. He left a note with the dock's overseer, informing her that he would return to Tatooine when he had her man, and that he would leave word with the barkeep of the cantina they had met in. She should check in there every Thursday at noon for a message from him.
He was sure she would be angry, but he was going to take the job, without half the payment up front and return with him alive. That alone should be appreciated from a man like Boba Fett, and were the story of her father's death not so similar to his own, he would not even have done that.
Once he was in hyperspace, his destination set for Telos, he removed his helmet and leaned back in his seat. The girl had been attractive, and when she had first approached him he had hoped it was because she knew of his fame. A part of him was still pleased, because it was true, but he had been disappointed her mind had been on business and not pleasure. After nearly falling into the Sarlacc pit he was in a foul mood, and she was just his type. Young, petite, light brown hair and big brown eyes.
But there was something behind her eyes that he admired. It was a strength, a strength one only possessed when they had suffered, been torn down, and come out on top. He had seen it, and part of him knew that whatever it was she was not telling him, had to do with Lark's attack on her. It was another reason he had decided to take the job. He had a sneaking suspicion that the man had violated her in some way, and that, to Fett's mind, was one of the most egregious crimes a man could commit.
Still, he would never allow another, especially a woman, onto his ship. Not only would it be infuriating to have to share his personal space with another, it would be far too… tempting. He sometimes spent months on end in space, rarely setting down into port, and almost never fulfilling his sexual desires, of which, like any man, he had an abundance.
Once he double checked his hyperspeed points he stood and removed his gloves. It would be a few days before he reached Telos, and he wanted time to ease his aching muscles before then. Crawling back up that sand pit and avoiding all the stray blaster fire had not been easy and had taken a toll on his body.
He was just sitting down on his cot behind the cockpit when he heard something coming from the maintained crawlspace. He listened, his ears on high alert. There was quiet, and then another bump. For a moment he thought one of his bounties had gotten out of his cage in the cargo hold, but he had redeemed all his bounties before going to Jabba's Palace. Slowly he stood and grabbed a large dagger he had nearby. If he had a stowaway in the maintenance hatch, which he certainly did not think possible, he did not want to be shooting. Doing repairs mid flight was not something he normally enjoyed doing.
Holding the dagger tightly in his hand he slowly moved down the latter. Once on the second level he walked the three steps to the maintenance hatch. His left hand paused on the latch as he waited. After a few seconds he heard another small thud, the unmistakable sound of a human voice, and yanked the lid open.
Jessa felt like she was going to faint locked up in maintenance crawlspace. When she had tricked the rather idiotic dock overseer into letter her onto Boba Fett's ship she had thought this would be the best spot to hide until they were on Telos. It was large enough to stand in comfortably, and hidden and away from the cockpit. But the moment the engines had turned on it began to get very hot, and her hair stuck to her skin as she began to sweat. Every time she moved she banged against the heated metal, causing little superficial burns to pop up on her exposed skin.
She quickly discerned she would not be able to make it to Telos down there and decided to hold out as long as she could. If she popped up mid journey, Fett was less likely to send her back. She was relieved when the hatch was opened, and a rush of cool hair enveloped her damp, sweltering skin. That relief was short lived however, for seconds later she was painfully yanked from the crawlspace by her hair.
A/N: First Fanfiction! Please let me know what you think. I am trying to keep Boba Fett in character, and I think I have so far. He's not really a bad guy, but he's certainly not good either, so I am hoping that's what I am able to convey.
Reviews would be most welcome. Hope to update soon.