"He's out. I don't care what shape he's in, the second he can walk he's out." Cassandra's eyes
glowed golden as she slammed her fist into the wall, snapping off the syringe needle she was
gripping in her clenched hand. Only when the air started to crackle around her did she
struggle for control.
"Uh-huh." Romy said behind her, not in the least fazed by this display of temper. It wasn't that she'd seen it before, not in Cassandra, so much as she'd finally figured out what was going on. No one else had, except perhaps for Kashya, but then that was the usual way of thing. "Right."
Cassandra turned around and glared at her old friend. "What?"
"Nothing." Romy held up her hands in the universal gesture of don't-shoot-the-messenger. "Absolutely nothing. You're right, as always." Tethys, rolling down the hall, made some decidedly disgusted noises which Romy correctly interpreted as commentary on Cassandra's latest behavior. "I agree completely, Tethys, she's being a damn fool."
"Really?" her voice had gone soft, dangerous. The same tones, in fact, that the bounty hunter had heard a few minutes before.
"Oh, give it up, Cass. Even Kashya can see how …" Romy paused, choosing her words carefully. "Attracted you are to the man."
"Not that we can blame you…" Kashya put in with what was obviously supposed to be a leer. The expression only looked comical on the fifteen-year-old's face. Fortunate, because it served to defuse some of Cassandra's anger.
"Kashya, one, he's too old for you, two, he's your father, three, he's your father, four, have I mentioned he's a deadly killer yet? Five, he's too old for you."
"Six, he's your father," Romy added in.
"Seven, you shouldn't even be thinking about that yet, and if I catch you messing around…" Cassandra said in mock-threatening tones.
"She'll turn your father on the unlucky boy," Romy snickered, and then ducked behind a chair as an empty drug canister went flying in her direction. "What? It's true."
"I never, ever want to see that man again," Cassandra said quietly. "I mean it."
"You mean it now. But what happens the next time you get news of where he is, what he's doing? What happens the next time you have nightmares in the middle of the night… yes, I've heard you. I know what you dream most vividly about, and it doesn't take a Jedi to see how attracted you are to him. More than just physically, although I wouldn't call it love, either." Not yet, Romy thought quietly to herself, hoping her friend wouldn't pick up on it.
"You think I don't know that?" Cassandra said, equally quietly. "You think I haven't figured that out? Why do you think I want him gone in the first place? Not because I'm entertaining any delusions about myself. But he's too dangerous… too dangerous for me to be even on the same planet as him. And not for the … well. Not for the same reasons as everyone else. You know what I'm talking about."
Romy nodded slowly. "All right. And then what?"
She shrugged slightly. "I do what I've done for the last decade and a half. This isn't exactly a game I can win. Hell, it isn't a game to begin with. Damned if I do, damned if I don't." She glanced over at Kashya, who was looking like she wanted to be somewhere else. "Where are you going?"
"Fishing," the girl said, and darted out the door. Cassandra shook her head slowly.
"Fishing."
Romy smiled slightly. "She has her mother's sense of irony, anyway. And can you really blame the kid for not wanting to stick around to see this? I wouldn't if I were here."
"Not really," Cassandra sighed. "All right. Let's do this. Be a love and take him to his ship, would you? I doubt he'll try anything, we're giving him what he wants and sending him on his way. It's not in his best interest to leave a trail of bodies, and he doesn't kill people if there's no profit in it."
"That's so comforting," Romy said sarcastically. Then, more seriously, "Sure. Are you going to be all right?"
"No," Cassandra smiled slightly. "But … we'll see."
Helmet, plates, and weaponry hit the floor with a loud clank. A second later, the restraints
retracted into the table. "Romy's waiting at the docks to take you to your ship. I retrieved
it from Tatooine, it's docked on the main continent." Cassandra's voice was steadier than
she'd thought it would be.
"So what do you want?" Boba Fett sat up slowly, carefully, testing arms and legs to make sure they would move properly and support his weight. He was also, in his own way, testing the environment. The last time he'd been in this situation it had turned out to be something like a dream, or a nightmare. Or a hallucination, for all he knew. He wasn't sure which, and was beginning not to care.
"I want you gone. I want you off this planet and out of my life. Again." Her voice, contrary to the noise she'd been making down the hall that even he could hear, was calm. They might have been talking about the weather.
"You were the one who started this," he reminded her.
"I know. It was a mistake." But a mistake she'd been glad to make, a little voice in the back of her head reminded her. She ignored it.
"You don't want credits, or a favor later," he half-asked, making sure. He slid down from the table slowly, wincing slightly at the chill of the floor on his bare feet. The armor, he saw, was behind her. Perhaps a deliberate, symbolic gesture on her part, or perhaps just subconscious precautions.
"I don't want anything from you. I never wanted anything from you, much less…" she trailed off, and they both looked away with nearly identical expressions that neither of them saw. Neither of them was sure, even now, what they thought about what had happened. He stepped towards the armor, and she stepped in front of him. Deliberate, then.
"I thought you wanted me gone," he commented mildly.
"I want you gone, and I want you to stay gone. I don't care how much money you're offered to find me, or Kashya, or anyone on this planet. I don't want you back here, and I don't want you in the system. If I ever see you again, I will kill you."
It was the uncertainty in her voice, the way she said it that was in some ways the same as the way so many others had said it before and not meant it, not knowing if they could take the formidable bounty hunter down. He grabbed her throat in his hand. "What makes you think you can?"
The old Cassandra would have squeaked and tried to pull away. This new Cassandra grabbed his wrist with both hands and swung upwards, a double kick to the solar plexus and jaw that made him wince and drop her. She landed neatly, swinging her leg around and kicking him in the back of the knee. His legs buckled, but he stayed on his feet. "I've learned better," she said shortly.
His fist slammed into her face, just above the bridge of her nose, sending her reeling backwards with lights flashing in front of her eyes. "Not that much better," he commented dryly until the foot launched itself into the small of his back and he did go down this time, onto his knees, pain shooting up through his spine.
"You'd be surprised," she said, finally sounding angry. He tried to spin around but her fist caught him exactly where he'd hit her, and now he saw stars. The second punch landed in his ribs, and the third he managed to evade, grabbing her arm and swinging around even as he got to his feet. As he twisted her arm up behind her back he remembered what had happened on the ship. Despite the cool of the room he suddenly felt warm, very warm. Odd.
"Why are you doing this?" he asked, his voice more hoarse and rasping than it had been yet. Nothing to do with the Sarlacc. He didn't even know what he was asking. It was starting to annoy him.
"Why are you?" she asked, and this time she didn't try to move. Not away from him, at any rate, although…
"You first," he growled.
"Go to hell," she said. She could feel his breath on her cheek, hot and fast, and it made her body go hot and cold all over. The situation was far too familiar for her comfort, exactly what she'd wanted to prevent. Great going, she told herself. Really great.
"Already been there…" he said softly, almost more to himself than to her. But he didn't move, either, and she wondered just what was going through his mind, even as the same thoughts flickered through his. Their bodies were touching at too many points, distractions they didn't need.
He turned her loose so abruptly that she staggered forward, moving towards his armor. Cassandra took several deep breaths, then moved quickly to the other side of the table, watching as the bounty hunter put on his armor and identity. Which was really what it looked like, as though he was an actor taking on an old, familiar role. When the helmet went back over his head it seemed to break the spell, and she found she could breathe again.
"Get gone," she said softly. He stared at her for a few minutes, then turned and left without a further word. She waited until she could no longer hear his booted footsteps echoing in the halls of her home, and then she collapsed to the floor, shaking like a leaf in the wind.
The bounty hunter walked out to the boat, thinking of the smile of a child.