Savior Self
Holdan sticks it to the man.
Taris part five.
Rated PG13
Disclaimer: My name is Nat
I am a little fat
I do not own Star Wars
And that, dammit,
Is that.
Savior Self
Cortessa was about to exit when she spotted a shifty-looking man with a hungry expression on his face as he watched the Twi'lek dancers. Carth saw her perk up and consider him before she approached him.
"Who are you?" she asked warmly, studying him. A plate on his chest said 'Holdan.' Carth felt his blood run cold.
Holdan shook his head, his eyes glazing over, then turning normal. He looked at Cortessa, taking her in. "Huh? What? Oh… sorry. I didn't see you there. My attention was kind of focused on the Twi'lek dancers…" He went off with some drawn out, perverted statements, and Carth could see Cortessa going rigid, her hands firmly gripping the hilts of her vibroblades. Holdan shook his head again. "Don't worry, honey – alien girls aren't really my thing. I'm much more interested in an attractive female of my own species." His eyes were fixed on her breasts.
Cortessa drew a vibroblade once, but quickly sheathed it and instead folded her arms protectively, her eyes flickering with hatred. "Keep your hormones in check, buddy. I just want to ask some questions." Her leg twitched. She wanted to kick him.
Carth hated this guy already, and wanted more than anything for Cortessa to actually cause him some harm.
Holdan narrowed his eyes. "I don't like the tone of your voice. I work for Davik Kang – I'm used to people treating me with respect!"
Cortessa blinked, sobered. "You work for Davik?"
Holdan grinned. "I'm one of his top couriers. Davik's always sending me off planet to deliver and bring back packages. He knows he can trust me to follow my orders to the letter. Plus, I used to be an intergalactic customs agent so I now all the tricks they use to catch smugglers. That gives me the edge I need on my courier runs."
Cortessa raised an eyebrow. "You're pretty open about what you do."
Holdan rolled his shoulders. "It's not like it's some big secret. It's kind of hard for Davik to keep a low profile when he belongs to a big intergalactic syndicate like the Exchange."
Cortessa was thoughtful. "Do you think Davik could get me off Taris?"
Holdan shrugged again. "Davik's' ship is the fastest one in the entire quadrant, but even the Ebon Hawk can't get off Taris until the quarantine is lifted. The Sith fleet has the planet surrounded. Any ship leaving orbit without the proper access codes will be disintegrated by the Sith auto-piloting laser cannons – and those codes are locked safely away in the military base." Holdan sighed. "Davik's pretty upset about it. His smuggling operation isn't making any money, but even with his underworld connections he can't get his hands on those codes."
Cortessa sighed and Carth marked this information down in his datapad. He looked up when Cortessa changed the subject. "You're the guy who put the bounty on Dia's head, right?"
Holdan grunted, frowning. "You're here about that? I guess Zax must have mentioned me to you at the bounty office. Fair enough – I don't care who takes her out, just so long as the job gets done. I can't let her get away with what she did – that wench tried to cut me with her vibroblade!"
Cortessa rolled her eyes. "Now why would she do that?" she said sarcastically.
Holdan didn't catch the irony. "Because she's crazy! She started screaming that I was making advances, and the next thing I know she's coming at me with a knife!"
Carth snorted, hardly able to believe a guy could be so much sex and so little brains. "Yeah, right. Sounds to me like she was defending herself." He shook his head.
Holdan sighed. "I admit I was drunk. Maybe I got a little fresh. But it was no big deal. She didn't have to cut me!"
Cortessa grinned her awful, wolfish grin. "Sounds like you got what you deserved, other than being neutered."
Holdan spluttered. "Hey – you weren't there! SHE TOTALLY OVER-REACTED!"
Cortessa rolled her eyes and shook her head. She got right in his face, standing tall. "I want the bounty on Dia's head removed."
Holdan frowned. "What? I can't do that! Think how it would look! I work for Davik; I've got a certain reputation to uphold! I can't let her get away with this. There has to be payback!" Holdan paused. "Although… I do feel a little guilty about all this. Dia's a good looking gal… it'd be a shame to kill her. Tell you what – I'll take 200 credits in exchange for the bounty."
Cortessa snarled. Carth watched in mortified amazement as she grabbed him by the scuff of the neck and brought his face down to hers, her expression twisted with such anger sweat began to run down Holdan's temple.
"Take that bounty off Dia's head or you're a dead man," she hissed, and for the first time Holdan saw the blades on either side of her legs.
He blanched, but tried to worm his way out of it. "You're threatening me? I work for Davik Kang! If you kill me you'll be signing your own death warrant. Do us both a favor and don't waste my time with stupid threats!"
She drew her vibroblade and pressed the cold metal against his skin. He whimpered.
"Fine! Fine!" he gasped. "I'll take the bounty off! Keep your damn credits!"
She released him and he staggered back, rubbing his neck and glowering. He stomped off, and she followed right on his heels to make sure he did his part. After he had told Zax to take the bounty off, Cortessa turned and headed out into the streets of the Lower City.
"That was a pretty good thing you did back there," Carth told her gently.
She glanced at him, raising an eyebrow. "I did what I had to do," she replied. "Let's go back up to the Upper City and tell Dia. The day's almost over and I want to get some rest."
Carth followed in silence, turning his eyes to the sky, which was blocked out by the enormous buildings looming overhead. Sighing, he continued on his way.
They reached the Upper City without trouble, and went back to Dia's apartment. She looked at them with shining eyes.
"You're back. Did you… did you manage to get Holdan to withdraw the price on my head?" she asked, her voice shaking with suppressed hope.
Cortessa smiled. "I spoke with Holdan. I convinced him to remove the bounty on your head."
Dia looked stricken. "He… he called the bounty off? That's wonderful! Oh, thank you! I only wish there was something I could give you as a reward… Wait a minute! I know! I don't have many credits, but there is something I can give you. It's a family heirloom. It's not much, but it's something." She dug in her pockets for a moment.
Cortessa took her hands, shaking her head. "Keep your reward," she said. "Helping you was thanks enough." Carth was awed. He had never thought her to be so kind, but he did feel for Dia's case – she had done nothing wrong, and here she was offering every penny she owned as thanks. He smiled to himself.
Dia smiled back weakly. "I can never truly repay you for helping me, but you'll always have my thanks for what you did," she said. She hugged Cortessa tightly before she timidly stepped out, ready to face the world again.
"That was excellent of you, Cortessa," Carth told her.
"You start getting all schmaltzy about it and I'll slit you throat to groin, got it?" Cortessa snapped, not even bothering to look at him as she headed back to their room.
Carth recoiled. "Whatever you say, beautiful," he breathed.
He yelped and jumped back as her vibroblade hit the floor at his feet with a clatter.
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Author's Notes: Short chapter. Hope you like it all the same, though.
SilverSentinal21 - I'm glad you like her. I took my time building her. I'm sorry this chapter is so short. I'll make up for it soon, though.
Amme Moto - That's why I don't play pazaak.
Vila Skye - Hope you enjoyed!
