Dar'briikase Jetii

(Unhappy Jedi)

His captured Jedi was still sleeping off his hangover when he woke for the day. Boba Fett half carried him back to Slave I last night, Anakin asking if he was going to die now. "Not quite yet, you are still of use to me." He had placed him in the holding cell on his ship and bind him with Force cuffs. Now he watched the still sleeping Jedi, his helmet on. At seventeen years old he was a well known Bounty Hunter, but only because he did not let anyone find out his age, even at thirteen. In his Father's Mandalorian culture he would have been considered an adult and ready for marriage but he did not consider himself Mandalorian. If his Father was not taken from him so young maybe he would know his heritage and have a wife and a little one on the way.

Thinking about his Father always brought his thoughts to Mace Windu, that aruetii took everything from him. His Father, a sense of family, a sense of home, and his childhood. He swore he would get his revenge, despite his failed times before. He was faster and stronger and smarter now, and now he had captured himself a Jedi, who hopefully would not prove to be useless, but the more he watched his prisoner the less confident he felt. Anakin Skywalker was not the Jedi he used to be, Boba knew that capturing him was much too easy, this was not going to work. He remember the first time he met Skywalker, if you would call it much of a meeting. The Jedi Knight was there with Mace Windu when Boba tried extract his revenge the first time. He almost killed him too only because he was in the way, nothing personal, just collateral damage. They crossed paths again a year later when he drove off Ventress and helped him repair his ship on a moon near Xagobah. He wondered if the Jedi would remember him but then he recalled that he may. Anakin was there when he repainted his Father's armor to the green it was now. He waited for his captive to wake, thinking more and more that he should just dump him in some back ally way and find another Jedi to extract information from.

It wasn't much longer until he did finally wake, sitting up awkwardly without the use of his hands; his blood shot blue eyes blinked as he tried to focus. "Where am I?" his voice was hoarse, Boba felt a little pity for the Jedi, poor thing.

"That does not matter right now. What matters is if you are going to be any use to me, if not, you're dead Jetii."

"Jetty?" he said wrongly, like most aruetiise do. "So you're a Mandalorian?"

"Smart Jedi, but are you smart enough?"

"I'm not going to be of any use to you, I'm no longer a Jedi." He said it so matter-of-factly. "So kill me if you want, I'm not going to fight you." Boba took a really good look at the Jedi; he looked dead in his eyes, defeated.

The pity that Boba felt for him manifested into worry. No man should give up this easy; plus Anakin had helped him out once before, it was time to pay his debt then he would feel right about killing him. "No, I want you to fight me. You are going to regain your strength and you will give me the answers I require and then I will kill you…it is not right to kick a man when he is down." That's what Mace did. Jango was weaponless and his jet pack was damaged. If you were a real man you fought fairly. Boba typed into the data pad next to the cell and the red energy field flickered away, he kneeled down behind the Jedi and undid his Force cuffs. "You cannot leave my ship, but you are allowed to clean yourself up and eat something. You look like hell." He helped him to his feet.

"I know you…I recognize your armor. Boba Fett?"

"About time you figured it out, Jedi."

"You're taller." He smirked, but it faded fast. "Why are you helping be now?"

"Remember four years ago when you helped me fix my ship? This is me returning the favor, and I like I said. I don't kick men when they are down."

Anakin was shocked by his kindness but accepted it without further questions; he realized he would be angry at himself if he didn't die without a fight, but having the man, who was going to eventually kill him, take care of him before hand, was odd. He half expected a blaster in his face whenever he reminded the Bounty Hunter that he was no longer a Jedi and probably could not help him, and with what he wasn't sharing yet. The first day as his prisoner felt like it went on forever. Boba never left the ship and never took off his helmet, the 'T' shaped visor following his every move. It was Anakin's default to pace when he had nothing to do but he sat in his open cell, back against the wall and legs out in front of him, his Jedi robes hanging loosely on his shoulders, and looked right back at that 'T' shaped visor that bore into him.

"Do you ever take that off?" he questioned when the staring contest went too long; Boba could have been asleep under there for all he knew.

"It is my face; I have no reason to take it off. Plus, all you will see is a Clone's face." And his voice sounded like every other Clone's, it was when they took their helmets off and their voice wasn't distorted you could hear personality; each and every one of them was different if only slightly.

"I don't think that is true, every Clone looks different."

"Only because you're Republic slavers that allowed them the freedom of dying their hair and tattooing their bodies."

Anakin smirked; he and the Bounty Hunter had a common ground in that they thought the same of the Galactic Republic. "I meant more than that. You could line up white jobs that have nothing but their nicknames distinguishing them from their numbers and I will remember each and every one of their names and who is called who without special markings to separate themselves from each other. They all have the same DNA but their personalities are what give them their face. How one would smile or narrow their eyes, how their muscles pulled when they laugh. Clone or not, you all have different faces."

"That is rather impressive, Jedi. You seem to be in the talkative mood, tell me what you are doing letting yourself get caught so easily?"

"Tell me why you need a Jedi? And do I really have to repeat myself again? I am going to be of no use to you, I've left the Order and the Republic."

"So you are just waiting to die?" Boba was shocked at the worry in his voice, why would he care?

"I don't know what I am waiting for; I just want to be numb for a long time." He let out a small laugh. "I think the only reason why I am talking so much to you is because I have had no one to talk to freely in a long time. I don't care if you judge me on anything I say, it's not like you are my friend."

"I can't see how anyone can be your friend, you didn't answer my question."

"Just like you didn't answer mine?" his smirk was back, he was almost tempting Boba to shoot him.

"Answer mine and I'll answer yours, deal?"

"Deal." Anakin continued to smirk at the Bounty Hunter, arms crossed.

"Well?" he waited for him to speak.

"I'm seeing how far I can push you until you have a blaster to my head." Anakin's blue eyes flashed with madness that was nothing but a mask for his pain. The Hero with No Fear wanted an out. Boba was not going to deliver him to the Grim Reaper, not yet. He did hit him though, closed fist, in the face, and Anakin laughed as blood ran down his mouth from his broken nose. The Jedi didn't fight when Boba put the Force cuffs back on him and was still laughing when Boba reactivated the energy field and left.

He did not like how he was feeling for Anakin, feeling sorry for him and wanting to help him out. He found the Jedi to be interesting and yet pathetic at the same time. Boba Fett needed to clear his head; he checked the Wanted list for an easy bounty to distract him from his thoughts, as he read down it his mind kept pulling him back to his prisoner. Giving up he typed in the Jedi's name into the Republic database that he accessed through the HoloNet, his file pulled up with a holo image that must have been taken at a happier time, he didn't smile but his eyes, even in the blue holo, sparked with adventure. His hair was shorter and he still looked like a teen in the image, but he had his scar down his eye. Bold letters in basic stretched across the image. 'Deserter' it read. Under that listed his biographical information. Name: Anakin Skywalker. Age: 27. Sex: Male. Species: Human. Affiliation: Jedi Knight. Beside the last part in parenthesis was the word deserted. Boba found himself gazing at the image, he wanted to know what made him desert. He had to do a little digging.

Anakin's hands were cuffed together in front of him so he was able to wipe the blood off his face on to his robes. He didn't expect Fett to hit him, blast him yes, but a punch in the face? Unless he was torturing him, Anakin laughed at that and then groaned in pain, his nose might be broken. He leaned his head against the back wall of the cell and stared through the energy field, he didn't see Boba beyond it. He sighed and groaned in pain again, he did not like being sober, it made the thoughts flying through his head clear and he could just imagine Obi-Wan now, his kind light blue eyes looking through him, a heavy sigh and then he would say his name in a disappointed tone. Maybe even make a joke about how he always manages to get caught. He missed his best friend, and maybe Anakin would still be at the Jedi temple right now if Obi-Wan weren't so dedicated to the Republic. The Republic before his friends, peace before anything else, it was the Jedi way.

Thinking about Obi-Wan just made him more depressed, he started to wonder what Ahsoka would think of him now. She would be concerned but not judging, she would ask too many questions and he wouldn't answer a thing…just like old times. She would help pick up the pieces and joke about it, she would smile at him, and her smile always lit up a hanger and gave hope to all of the men in Torrent Company. Those who got to know her were devastated when she left, Anakin was too, but he would never admit it out loud. It was better that she left when she did, he wasn't sure how much more psychological damage she could take. He was thankful that he wouldn't have to know her disappointment in him when he left, he wish he left when she did, then he would not have to feel so alone in this galaxy. His mind wandered to the day that she decided that she had enough of being a Jedi; she had left the proper way. Requested a presence with the Council, handed over her lightsaber and denounced her Padawan title and her vow to the Jedi code. Anakin had waited outside of the Council Chambers for her, when she came out she hugged her Master and placed her Padawan beads into his hand and that was the last that he saw of her. He kept the Silka beads on his person all the time, he wish he was able to reach the back pouch of his belt and hold them for comfort as he fell asleep, hoping the following morning brought death or a very stiff drink.

Aruetii(se)-coward(s), outsiders, 'them'