"You... you bastard!" I scream and turn away from him

"Sheesh... a little harsh don't you think?" Carth says as he removes his helmet.

"A little harsh? A LITTLE harsh?"

"Calm down gorgeous. We just needed to know..."

"Needed to know what? If I was going to rat you out to the Sith? Thanks for the vote of confidence."

"Hey, wait a second. Can you blame me? You haven't been the politest to me and the fact that you were at that party last night..."

"What does that have to do with anything?!?"

"Well... it was a Sith party."

"Oh, come off it. You just can't trust anyone. You don't trust Jared, you certainly don't trust me if you would pull this little stunt."

"Thanks for the analysis, but I could have told you myself that I don't trust anyone."

"Yeah, and don't try to ask him why," Jared says as he removes his helmet as well. "He will just go all moody on you and say 'let's continue on' or 'we don't have time for this.'"

"Listen, I have reasons, which are my own."

"Not like I care what they are anyway," I say as I sit down on my bed.

"Yeah, but if we need to work together to find Bastila, we..."

"Shut up, Jared!"

"Oh, come on Carth. Like I really care about your stupid mission. And Jared is right, you sort of have to trust him if you are going to work together."

"Speaking of working together," Jared says trying to stop the fighting between Carth and myself. "Carth, don't you have something to say?"

"I think he's said enough."

"Look, Serenity. I wouldn't be here unless...."

"Unless I wasn't a paranoid freak?!"

"Well... NO... can we just drop that? I said I was sorry?"

"NO... and anyway... you never saw my place? How did you know where I live?"

"Well, I asked...."

"No, wait. Let me guess.... Kelba!"

"Look, she only told me because..."

"Because?"

"Because Carth and I came into her shop dressed as Sith and demanded she tell us your address or we would shut her shop down?"

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME?"

"Look... we didn't really want to do it. We just needed to find you."

"So you could interrogate me."

"Not just that," Carth says and stops short. "Sorry. I mean, I really didn't intend on making it this big of an ordeal... I just needed to be sure we were safe."

"Uh-huh. So what else have you come to ask?"

"Well... we need your help."

"My help? I think I have helped you enough!"

"I wouldn't ask unless I was desperate."

"Are you just full of complements today?"

"Listen, Serenity. We need to find a Republic officer by the name of Bastila. Her escape pod crashed into the Lower or even the Under City. She is vital to the Republic war effort and we need to get her off this planet."

"And?"

"And... we think that you could be a vital part of us being able to find her."

"You both are soldiers. I think you could manage by yourself."

"Probably, but with your help it will take less time, and time is something we don't have. Bastila needs to be found, the quicker the better."

"Are you even sure she is alive?"

"Bastila is a strong... Republic officer. I bet she did survive, but she will need help."

"So, you are enlisting my help? Someone you hardly know? Someone who you think doesn't like you and doesn't want anything to do with you?"

"I wouldn't go that far, but... yeah."

I look from Carth to Jared and back to Carth. They could really use my help, but after this stunt, do I really want to help them?

"So will you help us?" Jared asks standing up from his seat.

"Maybe."

"Maybe? What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Carth says.

"It means 'maybe.' I don't know if I should help you, but I will think about it. Tell you what, if I agree to help you, I will meet you right outside the elevator after going down to the Lower City in an hour. Alright?"

"How would you be able to get through?"

"Trust me. I will be able."

"Fine, but if you're going to come, come promptly."

"Thanks for the kind words. Now if you two will how do I put this kindly, get the hell out of here, it would be appreciated."

"Well, talk about Ms. Tactful."

"Are we back to the name calling?"

"No... forget it. We'll be waiting."

With that, both he and Jared put their helmets on and walk to the door. Carth turns around before he exits my room and waves. I somewhat smile. He leaves. A few seconds later, I hear my front door shut. I fall on my bed contemplating what to do. After laying on my bed staring at my ceiling, I make up my mind.