Ship in a Bottle
Skills of the Trade
Yeah I came from way out of left field with this one but this is what came to my mind as I sat down to write. Hope it still turned out okay. I was listening to Wake Me Up When September Ends by Green Day while writing the majority of this.
She stood at the edge of the crowd watching, waiting. Her target appeared out of a backroom on the other side of the bar; he was some high up business man with connections to several very profitable corporations. She grabbed her drink from a nearby table and downed it in one go before sauntering over in his direction.
She checked to see if her pistol was still securely attached to the inside of her thigh, the tight-fitting t-shirt and skirt she had on weren't exactly made for practicality or combat but they certainly got people's attention. She didn't want to have to resort to using her weapon, but it never hurt to be prepared for every possibility. It was small and made specifically for stealth so it wouldn't do much in a real fight but she had other ways of dealing with something like that; she checked the blades she had hidden up her sleeves.
"Hey," she said as she approached him, her tone seductive. "You're Cade Vandal aren't you."
"Yes I am," he said smiling. "A fan of my work?"
"Of course," she said. "That deal you worked out with TitanCorp on Garren Prime was particularly impressive."
"Well it's always nice to meet a fan, but I really should be going" he said. "Miss?" He stuck out his hand for her to shake.
"Emily Kolburn," she said taking his hand.
"You know," she said leaning in to whisper seductively in his ear as they were still shaking hands. "We could get out of here together and I could show you how much of a fan I really am."
He cleared his throat nervously, "Yes, I'm sure we could work something out."
People, especially corporate types like Cade Vandal, were easily to manipulate, it wasn't always sex but everyone was always looking for something and if you knew how to use that to your advantage you could get them to say or do anything you wanted. It was a two way street of course, people were trying to manipulate you as much as you were trying to manipulate them; it was a game you had to play in this world and it was a game she played better than almost anyone.
As Cade Vandal led her down several corridors in the direction of what she assumed was his room she carefully planned her next move. He didn't appear to have any armor or weapons on him but then again neither did she; it was always better to be careful when dealing with someone of his stature. She had faith that in a straight fight she could take him no problem but things rarely turned into a straight fight and even a complete idiot could get lucky against a skilled warrior every once in a while. In one motion she swiftly kicked out his legs out from under him and had a knife along his throat.
"Crazy bitch," he gasped out.
"Come on, you didn't actually think anyone would be interested enough to just walk over and ask to sleep with you," she said sarcastically. "Did you?"
"I thought we had a connection," he said.
"Of course you did," she said with a sigh.
She moved to tie his hands and gag his mouth, wouldn't want any unnecessary complications. After that was finished she started moving him in the direction of the Raza. She had expected to be able to get him onboard and tied to a chair for interrogation before anyone noticed; unfortunately that plan went out the window when she arrived back at the docking bay to find a very annoyed and deceptively calm looking Two standing with her arms crossed at the airlock.
She went to speak but was quickly stifled by a hand and a, "Save it," from the other woman.
"Three," Two yelled at a tone that Five thought unnecessary. "Get your ass out here now."
As Three took in the scene before him he suppressed a sigh, he was never going to hear the end of this.
"Put him in the brig," Two said pointing to the tied up man. "I'll deal with him later."
Three moved silently to take hold of the man; he shot Five an apologetic look before turning and heading back inside the Raza.
"Who is he," Two asked in a measured tone.
Five knew lying would only make it worse, "Cade Vandal, a businessman; I thought he would be an easy target and I was right."
Two didn't seem to like that last part but said, "You were right."
"What if you hadn't been," she continued after a short pause.
"My skills are sufficient enough that I could have gotten out of any problems he presented," Five said calmly stating her usual line.
"Your skills," Two said. "So if he had happened to have an army of armed guards you would have been completely fine."
"If he had had an army of armed guards I would have noticed and not moved on him," Five said what she thought was obvious.
Two made a loud sigh at that, "What did I tell you when we docked here?"
"This station is known to be a haven for several unsavory characters, we've never been here before so I want you to be careful, no shore leave until I've given the all clear," Five recited almost to the letter. "That about cover it."
"Yes as a matter of fact it does," Two said her tone rising. "And did you heed any of that?
"Well no," Five said unsure. "But it worked out; we can probably get a lot of money out of him."
"What if you'd gotten hurt," Two said seemingly ignoring her.
"Well," Five started to say but was cut off.
"What if we would have had to come looking for you," Two continued.
"What if you would have died," Two finished. "Do you know what that would do to me; if we found you dead in a dark corridor somewhere?"
Five was starting to waver, "I didn't think about it like that."
"No you didn't think," Two said. "You just did whatever the Hell you wanted because you were getting antsy waiting around on the ship."
"Because screw Two, she doesn't know what she's talking about," she continued. "I'm the big con artist, I can do what I want."
"Sorry," Five finally said sounding defeated. "I didn't mean to worry you so much."
"Hey," Two said in a more comforting tone recognizing she may have gotten a little out of hand, "I didn't mean to go off like that, I just worry you know."
"I know," Five said her tone not getting any lighter.
"You know I love you right," Two said moving to give her a hug.
"Yeah," Five said a small smile making it's way onto her face.
"Good," Two said. "Because you're not allowed off the ship for the rest of the trip."
"What," Five said aghast.
"You heard me," Two said. "Now get your ass onboard while I deal with Mr. Vandal."
Five made her way onboard and headed straight for her cabin. She had some sleep to catch up on anyways.
"Hey kid," Three said from where he was leaning on a nearby wall. "She didn't get into you too hard did she."
"Not as bad as that time she caught me dancing on top of a table after buying shots for the entire bar on that station back in Draco," she said.
"I actually erased that incident from my memory but thanks for reminding me," he said with a sigh.
"You did good today," he said holding out his fist for a fist bump.
She obliged him, "Thanks."
And with that she continued on to her cabin to begin her confinement. She would serve it dutifully, getting caught by Two a second time was not a prospect she relished. She took consolation in the fact that at least they would be getting a decent payday out of the whole thing once Two worked her own skills on Mr. Vandal. He was definitely not having a good day right now.
This was all sort of based off that part of the episode where Three said he was being a bad influence on her. It just sort of grew from there. May write more for this universe in the future, depends what comes to my mind.