A/N: Hi everyone. This chapter hasn't been edited a million times like I usually do (I'm very OCD about editing), but I hope it passes muster. I've given a few hints as to what's in the box...hopefully the hints will foreshadow what's coming. If I get lucky, I might post the next chapter before the end of the weekend.


12

Kanan reluctantly opened his eyes when he heard Hera's com beep. Reaching out behind him, he located it and shut off its annoying sound. Then he turned back around and wrapped his arm around Hera once more, letting her warm scent wash over him. Truly, for the first time in a long time, he felt at peace. She stirred in his arms and he let his fingertips gently graze her side, carefully avoiding the bacta bandage she still wore over the healing blaster wound. He'd come close to losing her, and it still weighed upon him. He leaned in and placed a kiss on her shoulder.

"It's time?" She murmured, leaning into his touch.

"Yeah." He replied.

She groaned, reluctant to move, but then she turned in his embrace, so that they were facing each other. "You ok...with….all of this?" She gestured to both of them, and he took her hand in both of his own larger ones.

He nodded, his eyes scanning her features. "You?"

"Yes." She answered, a shy smile touching her lips. She reached up and fingered a lock of his hair.

"I would kiss you again, but then I wouldn't be able to let you up from here." The feel of her body against his own was distracting, to say the least.

"I'm already considering that idea." She said, giving in to kiss him, when they both heard the beep of the com. "Chopper..." She groaned. He retrieved her com, placing it in her hand.

There was a flurry of chirps and whistles, letting her know that a ship was dropping out of hyperspace near them.

"Our contact." She said, looking up at Kanan. "Thanks, Chopper. Be out in a minute."

Kanan got out of bed, and she got another look at his perfect build. Many humans were light skinned and pale, but he had an olive skin tone, which she found beautiful. His near perfect physique was marred in several places by varying sized scars. There were two blaster wounds, a knife wound and several other difficult to determine marks, lighter against his dark skin. In her eyes, they only made him more attractive. She wanted to learn every story behind every scar.

However, there was no time now. She tried not to stare too much as he got dressed, but it was simply impossible to take her eyes off of him. As she caught his gaze, she realized he was having the same trouble, and a satisfied smile touched her features. He responded with an answering bad-boy grin that reminded her of their time on Gorse.

"Like what you see, huh? Business first." She reminded him with a teasing lilt to her voice. "Then...we might pick up where we left off."

"Yes, Ma'am." He replied, pulling on his green undershirt where he found it on the floor. "How did my other boot get under your bed?" He asked as he reached underneath for it.

"We weren't exactly paying attention to where things fell last night." She smiled wryly as she pulled on her flight pants and a close fitting black shirt that accented her curves in all the right places.

They finished getting dressed, then made their way to the cockpit where Chopper let out an electronic snort of what was clearly disgust.

"Chopper!" Hera said sharply.

"Is he objecting about the specifics of 'us' or just on general principals?" Kanan asked. He knew a little binary, but not enough to get all of what Chopper was saying.

Hera shot Chopper another look as he squawked loudly, then shook her head. "You don't wanna know, love." She contacted the other ship. "Unknown ship, this is the Scythe."

"Scythe, this is Iron Hammer."

"We read you." She gestured to Kanan. She'd told him he could take the lead on this one, and meant to stick by it. She had her blaster handy, however, just in case he needed back up.

"You have a package for us?" he asked. They met each others eyes as waited for the response.

"That's an affirmative, Scythe. We have the scheduled payment, as well."

"Initiate docking procedures. Have the package and the payment ready. We don't have all day."

He nodded at her, and she cut the intercom. "Well done, Captain Jarrus. Just watch your six out there."

"Yes ma'am, Cap'n Syndulla." He replied, placing a hand on her shoulder and squeezing it.

Chopper gave another disapproving squawk, and Kanan patted the top of the droid on the way back to the airlock. "Be back in ten." He called over his shoulder.


Gravik, the owner of Iron Hammer turned out to be a third-rate smuggler that was in a bad spot with a Hutt. Apparently the small, shifty looking man had been caught skimming off the top of some of his shipments, and his boss had put out a bounty on him. The lowlife hadn't admitted as much, but Kanan was able to put two and two together. That's why he had hired the Scythe's crew to deliver this special "package."

"So, what is it we'll be hauling?" There were two shipping crates to be loaded. One was longer, a definite rectangular shape. The other container was thinner and smaller all around, and also rectangular. Kanan reached over to pop open the top on the larger one, but Gravik stopped him.

"You don't wanna open that." He said, placing his hand on the top of the container.

"Then I don't haul it." Kanan took his hand off of the lid and stared at Gravik pointedly.

"Ok. Look." The short, rather unassuming little man held out both hands. "You got me over a barrel here." He sighed. "Jabba the Hutt collects curiosities. This here is a rare albino sabercat. Got the bastard frozen in carbonite. If you uh...accidentally unfreeze it, it could be bad for both of us."

"Uh huh." Kanan raised an eyebrow. It was a likely story, though. Many crime bosses kept sabercats as pets and this Jabba probably would want something as rare as an albino one. "I'll be careful."

Before Gravik could respond, Kanan had unlatched the lid and pushed it to the side to look in. Inside was a carbonite container, just as he'd been expecting. The creature contained had to be large, because the Carbomite filled the entire shipping container. From the light that hit the dull sheen of the black surface, he could see an extended, almost hand-like claw. "Okay." He said, moving the heavy lid back to cover the carbonite.

Gravik breathed a sigh. "You need to deliver both boxes to Tatooine. Please let Jabba the Hutt know they are from Tonnus Gravik. To settle a debt."

"Sure." Kanan snapped off the lid to the second container, and inside was only one item. He reached in and pulled out the strange looking blaster rifle. Something about it seemed familiar and he found himself trying to remember some of the classes on weapons that he'd taken at the Jedi academy. "Nice piece." He hefted it in his hands.

Gravik wiped the sweat off of his face. "Yeah. I was told it's the weapon they used to immobilize the creature."

Kanan measured Gravik's expression. The guy was really scared of this Hutt character. He and Hera would have to be careful when dropping off the package. "Interesting rifle…" He set it back in the box and resealed it.

Gravik pulled credits from his pocket and dropped them into Kanan's hand. The former Jedi counted them, then motioned for the rest from the smuggler, who sighed and dropped the rest of the chips into Kanan's hand. He tucked them away and Gravik continued speaking, "Upon landing on Tatooine, my agent Sayed Jan will pay you the rest. He will meet you in the Mos Eisley spaceport after you deliver to Jabba."

"Sounds like a plan." Kanan laid the smaller box on top of the shipping crate. He pointed a finger at Gravik as his hand found the button to activate the suspensors. "You cross me and I'll hunt you down." He used his most menacing tone for a little insurance, then began pushing the package to the airlock as Gravik nervously watched him go.


They were in the middle of the first of several jumps to Tatooine when Kanan found himself in the middle of the cargo bay, staring down at the two boxes. Thoughtfully, he reached out and opened the smaller box. He unlocked the top and reached in for the blaster rifle, turning it over in his hands. Something was important about this rifle. It had been tugging at him all day.

He searched it for identification marks and found AB-75 and LMFC. Well, that was no help at all.

He sighed and slipped down against the shipping container to rest his back against its side, still holding the rifle in his hands.

The wrappings on both ends were well-worn. The rifle seemed to have seen heavy usage and been lovingly cared for by its previous owner. Why would the owner let such an interesting weapon go? He raised an eyebrow, running his hand along the gun's grips. The owner had held this gun in just the same way, he could feel. This weapon had been used to protect others...he didn't know how he knew that, but he did. He realized that he had been unconsciously reaching into the sea of light of the Force to sense things about the owner of this gun, in an effort to understand what had been nagging at him. Hera's voice broke his concentration, and he looked up, almost startled.

"Hey, Kanan?"

He blinked, looking up at the railing above. She was there, leaning over it and watching him.

"Yeah?"

"Dinner's ready...Hungry?"

He stood up and carried the rifle with him as he climbed the ladder two rungs at a time. "Yeah." When they reached the kitchen, he held the blaster rifle out to Hera. "This rifle was supposedly the one used to take down that sabercat in the crate back there. There's something strange about it...does this look familiar at all to you?"

She examined it. "Not really. It doesn't look like anything I've seen before."

"Yeah..." Kanan took it back when she offered it back. He ducked in his cabin, tucking the rifle into the corner. "Maybe I can ask Chop about it later. I just have this weird feeling about it."

"Is it a weird Jedi feeling? Or just a feeling?" She dished up some of the soup she'd thrown together, and handed a steaming bowl to Kanan.

"Not sure. I just think I'll be glad when we get this job over with." He grumbled, almost to himself. "Not looking forward to dealing with a Hutt."

"Thirty hours till we reach Tatooine. Then we'll drop this shipment off and be done. The payment's worth it and it'll keep the Ghost in fuel and us in food for quite a while. We'll just have to watch our backs, that's all."

"Yeah." He replied, but he was still not convinced.