Disclaimer:
All characters in this piece are the properties of George Lucas and Co. All credit for this piece, therefore, goes to them for the creation of the wonderful world and characters I am playing with in this story.
Summary:
Some possibly OOC and marginally AU musings of Cad Bane on Hardeen prior to "The Box".
Introspections
Cad Bane was not a nice duros. Far from it. Indeed, as far as general nastiness was concerned there were few around who were more proficient at it than he. It was one of those incontestable truths of the galaxy; Tatooine had two suns, Coruscant was covered in sprawling city, Jedi were interfering doo-gooders and he was a ruthless, amoral and competent bounty hunter. It was a fact of which he was justly proud.
So it was with no small amount of irritation that he realised he did not dislike Hardeen as much as he had when they had met two days ago in the prison cell. For most people this would not have been a problem. They would have decided they had misjudged the man, perhaps, or just decided he'd 'grown on them'. But Cad Bane was of the sort of disposition that recognised such platitudes as, well, platitudes. And as an alien with nearly two decades of experience in the bounty hunting profession, he was used to making snap decisions with instinctive accuracy. Rarely had he been wrong in his summation of the character of others.
Hardeen he had tagged as weak; plenty of bravado but no actual substance when it came to doing such necessary tasks as shooting unarmed (or armed) inconveniently situated bystanders. He gave the man points in courage for turning on his teammates, and for resourcefulness in obtaining a new ship, but anyone could see the revulsion in those eyes when forced to kill. Cad Bane could not respect such a man.
If he had been wrong in his initial assessment he could have shrugged it off. A simple mistake anyone could have made, thinking that the blaster was working fine in the cremation chambers and that he had been virtually pleading with Fett Jr not to make him fight. Prison could do that to you. And the man had supposedly been dirty enough to kill Kenobi with a sniper gun.
Unfortunately, from throwing credit chips to Pablo's assistant to trying to help Eval and Cad Bane out of ship wreckages, Hardeen showed himself to be a lamentably honourable man. It was curious really, just how a man who would dive Skywalker from the side-lines as he readied a maiming-Cad refused to say killing-blow would have sniped Kenobi from the rooftops...
He scowled thoughtfully, chewing on the electrostraw he never liked to be without. More long lasting than chewing gums, the device could double as a needle-like weapon in a pinch. It was why he didn't chew in combat; death by accidental swallowing of a relaxational prop wasn't how he wanted the holonet to record his death. But that was not the point.
The point was that despite having been absolutely correct in his initial assessment of the man's character, he was starting to not-quite-hate him.
It could have started when the man had cooked the meal on the ship, enough for three, after Cad had refused on general principles to do so menial a chore and Eval had muttered something about evil genius' being above such material considerations. Or perhaps it had been earlier, when Hardeen volunteered to face Kenobi's blatantly grief-stricken apprentice alone. He'd dealt with Skywalker's particular brand of possessive protectiveness before; going by the look on his face, so had Hardeen.
It shouldn't have made a difference, though, the things that Hardeen seemed to take for granted. But a part of him had to admit, despite himself, that with Hardeen he didn't feel the need to be constantly on his guard. The man was simply too loyal to betray an ally, and to nice to backstab without cause.
It wasn't trust, precisely, because Cad Bane didn't trust others. But it was as close to it as he was ever likely to come.
And that bothered him.
After he got his money he decided he'd be parting ways with the Hardeen as soon as possible. At Sorenno. And then he would no longer have to deal with the man who had so illogically chosen to show honour to the honourless and who tempted them (though he would never admit this out loud) to reciprocate.
