Ten minutes later Vette stood in front of the cockpit door. Okay, you can do this, just be friendly and talk about stuff he likes. Hmmm, but what does he like besides the imperial navy and rules? She decided to rely on her conversational skills to coax the reserved Captain out and entered. Quinn was sitting in the pilot's seat and was reading a data pad. He was visibly surprised to see her and stood up. "Vette, what can I do for you?" Quinn asked in a pressed voice.

Oh boy, he doesn't even like me, but she put a smile on and said: "It's not what you can do for me Capt'n Crunchy, it's about what I can do for you." Ok, I should stop calling him names – although it is so funny – otherwise I won't ever get that… date, she thought before continuing. "I mean I just wanted to ask you how you're doing?" For the next sentence she dropped her usual blithely intonation and tried to sound serious. "You must be lonely, I mean, after the transponder station… well, you get my meaning."

Quinn stared at her. "If you're referring to my betrayal and the fact that my authority has been undermined…"

Vette nudged him, despite his disapproving look. "I'm not talking about your authority, I'm talking about you. Since then nobody talks to you, I guess that must be hard."

"What do you care? Since the day I've set foot on the Fury we've constantly been on each other's throats, and your impertinence has…" The Captain sighted. "No matter. I'm fine, no need to… worry." Quinn said the last word hesitantly and Vette could not help overhearing a certain weariness in his voice.

Ah, he is lonely, that should make my challenge easier, Vette mused. Time for a little touchy-feeling! She stepped closer to Quinn and put her hand on his shoulder. The expression on his face was priceless: utter amazement and for a moment his usual professional stone face slipped and revealed actual emotion on his face. It showed surprise, anger and lastly sadness. Vette felt a bang of guilt, but she discarded it quickly, it was Quinn after all – Capt'n Stuffy himself, for the love of the Emperor!

"Is that some sort of game?" asked Quinn, visibly confused.

Crap, he sees right through me! "No, of course not. What kind of game would that be? Who dares to touch the untouchable Captain?" No need to lay on too heavy, perhaps I can talk later more. "I just wanted to make sure that you're alright – but I will disturb you no longer."

Vette left the cockpit and went to the computer terminal in the crew quarters. She pulled up Quinn file from the imperial network and started reading.

A few hours later Vette had finished reading Quinn's personnel file. By the stars! For being a rigid bore he had a rather large file, but her labour had already paid off – she had read about the Battle of Druckenwell and how Moff Broysc had court-martialled Quinn. Vette had pestered the Captain for week because she wanted to know who this Broysc was since she heard that he had killed the Moff with approval from Solange – damn, if she had known that all it took was to slice into the imperial network and pull this file. But how should she use this knowledge? Before Vette could make further plans Darth Solange called her crew of the intercom to the conference room.

As soon as they all were gathered in the conference room Darth Solange started the briefing: "The Dark Council wishes that I oversee the invasion of Makeb. We want the Isotope-5 that's only available on certain mesas on this planet." Vette watched how her boss paced back and forth, the tall pure-blooded Sith wore a bulky black armour who concealed her slender figure. The Twi'lek turned her head towards Pierce, it was no secret that he had been visiting the Sith in the night and even if she didn't knew that, his constant glare towards Solange's ass was a dead giveaway that he was interested in her. Solange displayed a holopicture of the Makeb. "The Imperial Reclamation Service has informed the Dark Council that the planets destruction is immanent, apparently the Hutts have drilled too fast into the Isotope-5 near the planets core. While I take charge of the whole operation I want to split you up in two man teams to take readings in different spots on the planet."

Quinn spoke up: "Wouldn't we be faster with our task if we would go alone?"

Solange turned towards him and shook her head. "No, the entire planet is a warzone, republic forces are already on the surface. The risk is too great."

Vette realised that this scans and readings were the perfect opportunity to get closer to Quinn, and before Solange could speak on she yelled: "I'm with Capt'n Accuracy!"

Everybody started at her, even Solange was baffled: "What the… alright, Broonmark take Tovee with you. Jaesa, you're with Pierce." They answered with "Yes, my Lord!" and shortly after Solange dismissed them. Vette caught how Quinn looked at her with a quizzical expression on his face before he disappeared into the cockpit to plot a course to Makeb.

Solange stepped to Vette and asked: "Vette, what is this about?"

"Nothing! Why is everybody suspecting me? Poor me..."

"You hate Quinn, why would you team up with him?"

Vette was a little taken aback by the word "hate", did she come across like she hated the man? She was just making fun of him. "That's not true, I don't hate him – he hates me!"

"Before his betrayal I requested that Quinn would submit mission reports and assess the entire team's performance – he always gave you a glowing review. He doesn't hate you, Quinn just can't stand your mockery and I quote 'Vette is a great asset in every battle, although her performance suffers regularly from her poor discipline and her constant, enervating blabbering'."

Vette was a second time surprised. "Really? I didn't know that – not that part about my blabbering of course but the other, the nice one."

"You averted the question, Vette. Why do you suddenly want to team up with Quinn?"

"Because nobody else wants to team up with him, you should have seen how sad he looked…"

"Well, Quinn should've thought about that before he betrayed my trust!" snapped Solange, but she calmed down immediately. "I'm sorry, Vette, it's just… I'm a Sith and I know for a fact that everybody will betray me if the price is right. But Quinn, he… you can't imagine (neither can I myself) how deeply it hurt me that he tried to kill me."

Solange fell silent and Vette felt that guilty again. Should I tell her that the reason that I team up with Quinn is a challenge? Her boss had obviously feelings for the Captain. Nah, she's happy with Pierce! Besides, Capt'n Fancypants deserves a little deception at his expense!

Solange spoke so softly that Vette almost didn't hear her: "Perhaps it's time that someone reaches out to him. We… He has suffered enough."

Before the Twi'lek could reply Solange had already stormed away. Vette was puzzled. Wait, did Solange and Quinn… no, I don't think so! She thought a little longer on the subject and decided finally to ignore the implications.

Three days later Vette and Quinn stood together on the Frinn mesa. The Twi'lek was enjoying the sights while the Human was screaming at a flickering hologram in his palm. "No! Sergeant… Pick us up in two… TWO HOURS!" Suddenly the holographic picture vanished. Quinn rubbed his temples. "Damn it, the electromagnetic interference cut the signal!"

"No problem, if he doesn't turn up in two hours we'll simply have a little vacation!" beamed Vette and gestured towards the beautiful sights.

"I would lecture you on our timetable, but I'm quite sure you're aware of that." Quinn put his holocommunicator in his bag and started to walk the narrow path towards the peak of the mesa.

"I'm still better company than Pierce, aren't I? He would probably challenge you to a race to the peak just for the heck of it and then question your manhood for declining such a 'wee sprint'." Vette managed to imitate Pierce's accent quite well and to her surprise she heard Quinn laugh. Huh, what about that, Capt'n Dire just laughed!

"Hey, I saw that! You actually laughed at one of my jokes!"

"No, I didn't," replied Quinn surprisingly playful before snapping back into his usual rigid speech pattern. "Lieutenant Pierce would probably do just that."

"You should do that more often," said Vette quietly and hoped that her low-key approach would have the desired impact and indeed it did: Quinn stopped dead in his tracks and turned to face her.

"Beg your pardon?"

"Nothing… It's just that I think you should loosen up," Vette started and mentally prepared herself for the coming bit of flattery, "I think you should laugh more… (you have a beautiful laugh)." She almost muttered the last bit under her breath and was surprised as she felt how her face grew hot. By the stars, she actually felt bashful!

Quinn just stared at her, visibly trying to find some kind of hidden joke. Vette realised that the last bit was a little too much and decided to enforce her compliment. "Hey, I mean it – you're too wound up…"

"Stop it!" yelled Quinn. "Don't mock me! And here I thought that…" He broke off and continued to walk.

"You thought right, I'm your friend. I mean well." Vette said, following Quinn up the path.

Quinn didn't turn around as he answered: "You're not my friend, Vette. You ridicule me at every possible opportunity. You don't respect me or my expertise and certainly not my person. I admit that it's partly my fault, I made an error in judgement back then, but that doesn't give you the right to constantly wear me down."

Vette was taken aback, she had never thought that her jabbing would actually braze Quinn deeply enough so that he would feel that it wore him down. Come to think of it, Solange did actually think that I hated the Captain, is my mockery so malignant? "I'm sorry, I didn't realise that my jokes come across as vicious." She meant it, Vette was a jester, but she never wanted others to feel bad. "I thought we were bantering, like friends you know."

Quinn stopped once again and turned around and approached her until their faces were but centimetres away and hissed: "A friendly banter? All these times you whispered insolences in Solange's ears while I was briefing our team about how boring I am just because I was professional! Every time you debased me by using derogatory names like 'Capt'n Tedious'? You just thought that was friendly banter? Are you serious?"

"Calm down! I was only joking to ease up the tension! Listen, we are risking our lives on daily basis, of course I have to lighten up the mood. Plus, I always thought that you were made out of ice or something – you never let on that it is bothering you so much." Vette took a step back, she appreciated her personal space.

Quinn struggled to regain his composure and finally shrugged his head. "Let's get back on the task at hand." With that they walked on.

While they were walking onward to the top of the mesa Vette mused about Quinn's words, she had to admit that her jokes about Quinn had increased since Pierce had joined them. She had always been a sucker for audience and the Lieutenant was always happy to hear slurs about the Captain who constantly berated him for his so-called unprofessional behaviour. Perhaps she had been out of line at least for a few comments, but Vette was still a little surprised that her sometimes childish blabbering was getting to the stoic Captain.

Strange that he didn't say anything about Pierce, I'm mocking him, sure, but the LT is also making fun of him. Hm, wait a moment! Quinn's writing 'glowing reports' about me and is upset when I make jokes about him… He doesn't care about Pierce, but I'm another story… Vette literally felt like some gears clicked in her head as she reached a conclusion: By the Stars! Capt'n Cold likes me! That's kind of creepy… and sweet… Due to this realisation she decided that she wouldn't pursue the challenge anymore. Vette had only accepted because she the vision of her and Quinn (of all people) on a date amused her – that and the fact that she didn't wanted to chicken out. But if there was a slight chance that Quinn actually liked her she couldn't go through with it. I mean, he isn't the nicest man I've ever met, Vette mused, but not even Capt'n Spotless deserves to be deceived in that manner… Come to think of it, it is indeed rather flattering that a guy like Quinn was even inclined to be interested in me. She watched his back and for a short moment she was actually tempted as she thought of his attractive features, blue eyes which made a nice contrast to his black hair – she dropped her sight – and his nice butt. "Ah crap!" she said loud when she caught herself thinking about Capt'n Protocol in that way.

Quinn turned around, and she thought that she saw concern in his eyes. "What's the matter?" His voice was devoid of his previous anger.

"Nothing, I just realised that need more sex." Vette sighted and rubbed her temples.

"Why do I even ask?" said Quinn and resumed his march.

"These were the last readings," remarked Quinn and looked at his chronometer. "Our transport should arrive in about half an hour – at least if the Sergeant understood a word I said."

Vette stretched and yawned. "Finally, I thought we were never going to finish these scans!" She saw from the corner of her eye how Quinn went on his knees to examine a red plant. He took out his data pad and seemed to compare his notes with the plant. Curiously she drew nearer. "What's up, Capt'n?"

"It's fascinating, I'm just observing…" he trailed off. "Doesn't matter, nothing important."

"Well? Don't leave me hanging!"

"I won't lecture you about biology," Quinn said with a weary voice, "you don't like being lectured."

"Is it again about my jokes? What do you want? I can't stop the way I am."

"I know, I don't expect you to change. I'm sorry that I brought it up in a moment of weakness." Quinn took a picture of the red plant and cut off a leaf and put it in his bag.

Vette struggled whether she should pursue their discussion from earlier or not. But after a few moments of consideration she decided that it bugged her too much to let it go.

"Quinn? About what you said… do you really think that I'm your enemy?" The Twi'lek sat down on a stone near the Captain, who was still kneeling.

Perhaps it was her timid tone or the calm environment, but to her surprise her companion sighted and answered:

"No, of course not. You're not my enemy, I merely wanted to express my regret that you don't respect me." Quinn stretched his legs and sat on a stone next to Vette.

"I do respect you, heck, I even consider you a friend! I can't even count how many times you patched me up during our missions or made plans on how to defeats Solange's enemies. But I dislike authority figures – save Solange of course – because they make me feel small. Authority makes me want to put people back in their places!"

"You said it again, you said that you're my friend. But allow me this question: Where were you the past months when I needed somebody to talk? Why didn't you yell at me and ask me about the reasons for my betrayal?" Quinn seemed to get angry again.

Anger welled up inside Vette as well – what the fuck? He sold out to Baras! But suddenly as she looked at him she read something else in his face: guilt and remorse. Vette realised that Quinn didn't want to justify his actions, no, he wanted somebody to talk about what had happened. Instead of replying the Twi'lek got on her feet, walked to Quinn and hugged him. At first she felt how he tensed up, but after a few seconds he returned the hug. He even buried his face in her shoulder. After a minute Quinn let go of her. Vette sat down on her stone.

"So, why did you do it? Why did you betray Solange?"

"Because I'm an idiot."

"Hmm, yes, sometimes you are an idiot – but hey, who isn't?"

"Darth Baras saved my career once, the navy is the most important thing in my life and it was almost taken from me. And I was scared that I would lose it altogether."

Vette shortly debated with herself if she should disclose that she knew about Druckenwell, only to decided that it was better to be honest. "I read you file, I know about the Battle of Druckenwell and the reason why you hated Broysc."

Quinn turned his head in a sharp movement towards her, he wasn't pleased. "I assume you sliced into the imperial personnel records?"

Vette nodded and continued: "I understand that it was bitter to see your career going down, but how could you betray Solange? After all these missions I thought that we formed a bond."

"We did, and Baras used it against me. He contacted me after Belsavis and ordered me to kill Solange. I refused at first, but he somehow convinced me that should he reveal my true role as his spy to Solange she would dismiss me and end my career with that as well… as well as our companionship. I was afraid that I would lose everything and I made a choice to salvage from my life what was possible."

"He convinced you 'somehow'? What's that supposed to mean?"

"I mean that I can't remember our conversation, I thought about it a lot and concluded that he force-persuaded me to forget my scruples, preying on my fears. I don't mean to deny my responsibility, but it's the only explanation I came up with."

Vette thought about it a moment. "Well, I always thought that it wasn't like you to do something like that. You're a soldier and I've seen you kill people in cold blood – but there was always logic dictating your actions. But there was no logic in trying to kill Solange, Baras was clearly only a selfish asshole while our boss did actually act only in the best interest of the Empire."

"In the end it doesn't matter, Baras couldn't persuade me out of the blue, he used my doubts one way or the other to lead me on. I did what I did and I lost your trust."

Vette couldn't contradict the last statement and therefore she remained silent for short time before replying. "Yeah, everything went to shit, didn't it?"

"Indeed."

A humming sound made them look up to the sky, a small shuttle was approaching them.

"It seems that you message came through after all," said Vette and rose to her feet.

"A pity, I really enjoyed talking to you, Vette." Quinn looked at her, his face expressed gratitude. Vette almost cringed under the gaze, without the challenge she would never have taken the time to understand the man and it disturbed her that she had been so unfeeling to somebody so close to her.

"Don't say that, Capt'n, soon enough I will drive you crazy with my constant blabbering."