Left for Dead

Skavak crawled out of the smuggler's hole he had hidden in when he heard Alico and Corso leave. He quickly disabled the Wookiee and stretched as he took a tour of the ship. Nothing had changed except for the disappearance of his stuff in the cargo hold, but here they were at the secret location of Nok Drayen's treasure so it didn't really matter. He stopped at the door to the Captain's Quarters and stared at the wrinkled sheets. He had slept on that bed. It was comfortable. He was looking forward to sleeping there again, once he got rid of the Captain once and for all.

It would be nice to tangle up in those sheets with her. Just once. She would wear the yellow nightgown he liked. It would be better than Tatooine. If they split this treasure—and, hey, why not? He had done just as much work as she had—and worked together, there would be much bigger paydays than this one. And they would spend every night in that bed, with him tearing that nightgown off of her.

But they were past that now. More than that, it had never truly been an option they had seriously considered. A fantasy. They were brutally honest when they were together, but it had still been one giant fantasy. One of them had to die for either of them to move on, and he was going to make sure it was her.

Skavak left the ship and pulled his blaster, waiting patiently for the sound of footsteps returning to the hangar. He waited almost an hour and was just thinking about going to look for her when they finally came sprinting toward the ship. He stepped out onto the boarding ramp and pointed his weapon at her. Her eyes widened in shock. He had finally gotten a reaction out of her.

"Heya, Captain," he said, and pulled on a smile. "Bet you're surprised to see me."

"How the blazes did you get here?" Alico blurted.

"I hitched a ride on the only ship that could make this trip—yours," he explained as he walked halfway down the ramp and took a seat. "See, I've always believed if you can't beat 'em, join 'em… and then beat 'em. So I stowed away back on Nar Shaddaa." He grinned like he was about to tell a joke only she would get. "Funny thing about Wookiees—they've got great, big lungs. Only takes a few breaths of happy gas to knock one out."

"Note to self: invest in some better locks," she grumbled, making no effort to hide her displeasure.

"Oh. You won't be needing those anymore," he assured her. "I wanna be civil about this. Sure, you've made my life miserable, but I don't hold a grudge. Really."

"I clearly haven't hurt you enough."

"Don't kid yourself, sweetheart. You haven't hurt me at all." It was one of a hundred-thousand lies he had told, but she didn't need to know it. She had fucked with him in every way possible—professionally, physically, and—stars, he couldn't believe it was true—emotionally. He couldn't wait to get her out of his head. "Now what's it gonna be, Captain? Do I blast you here or are you gonna cooperate like a good girl?"

There was suddenly a very serious look on her face, like he had never seen before. "The treasure's not what you thought, Skavak."

"Don't even think about lying to me, Captain."

"Would I lie about that with a blaster pointed at my face and my ship falling into a black hole?" Alico asked, taking a step toward him. Fair point. "This really isn't the place to discuss it. Can't we hash this out somewhere we're both not liable to die?"

"So you can dump me in some Republic spaceport and jump to safety? I don't think so, sweetheart. We settle this here and now."

"It wouldn't be like that. Think about it, Skavak. We're so much alike…" She took another step closer. "We don't have to be enemies… do we?"

"What are you suggesting? That we split the treasure? Partners in crime—that sort of thing?"

"Why not? I know you're thinking it. If we weren't so busy trying to one-up each other all the time, we could really make something off of this galaxy. Between your connections and mine…"

"We would make a pretty solid team, I admit. But we already discussed this, sweetheart. Neither of us is good at sharing…"

"What's to share?" she wanted to know. "You keep your creds and I keep mine."

She almost made it sound like a real deal, like it was something either of them could do. Part of him wanted to do it, to say yes. The bigger part couldn't trust her and refused to give in.

"Mmm. I can't deny there's something between us," he said, stroking his chin thoughtfully. He was brought full circle to their first meeting, when he kept wondering if it was at all possible to find time to seduce her. Only then they were waiting for a Separatist ambush and now they were falling into a black hole. "I wouldn't mind spending another night with you."

"Why stop at one?"

"Are you people out of your minds?" Corso exclaimed angrily.

"Go stand in a corner, kid," Skavak said lowly. "Your captain and I need a moment."

Corso looked at Alico with wide eyes, demanding an explanation. She just nodded and he obeyed, heading for the ship while muttering under his breath. Skavak briefly glanced back at him before he was suddenly being yanked by his shirt into a hot, hungry kiss. He groaned, grabbing her arms hard and pulling her into his chest, devouring her mouth like a last meal.

"You're really something else, Ali," he murmured as he stepped back. "Too bad this could never work. Now hand over the treasure."

Alico grinned, but something about it felt forced. "You were fun, Skavak. But the treasure's mine."

"You really are so cute when you're deluded," he said and aimed his blaster at her head. "I'm gonna miss you."

That serious expression returned when she said, "I'm gonna miss you, too."

He waited half a heartbeat after she entered stealth to pull the trigger. Their fight was short but painful, trading blaster bolts, grenades, and a slew of punches before the end. She was good in a fight, he had always known that. And she had been good in this one. She had gotten the better of him once again. Maybe his heart wasn't entirely in it—it had crossed his mind as he lay there, bruised and bleeding and dying—but maybe that was just an excuse for failing.

Alico limped over to him, silence chipping away at the moment as they drifted closer and closer to the event horizon. She dropped to her knee on the leg he hadn't shot and fished Corso's blaster off his belt then tossed it across the room. He couldn't read her expression.

"Torchy!" Corso exclaimed. "I've missed you! I'll never let you out of—"

"Corso!" Alico snapped. "Get inside. Make sure we're ready for takeoff."

"You got it, Captain!" he said and Skavak heard him shuffle off.

Alico and Skavak stared at one another for a long time, both wheezing for air, tired and wounded. She wiped the blood off her lip with the back of her hand, blaster hanging limply in her grasp. He tried to read her again. Hurting, that was a given. Frustrated? Sad? He didn't know. Smug? No. Victorious? No. She should be grinning, gloating. But she wasn't. Why wasn't she? It pissed him off.

"What're you waiting for, Captain?" he rasped arrogantly. "You don't expect me to beg, do you?"

"Not even a little bit," she replied instantly. "You wouldn't give me the satisfaction. I wouldn't give it to you, either."

"I always said we were a lot alike."

"Yeah…" she agreed quietly, flexing her fingers against her blaster grip. She tapped the barrel gently against her head as she regarded him. "I hate you. I hate you so much. I hate your guts."

Yeah… Yeah, he knew. And he hated her, too.

"I know, sweetheart."

Alico lowered her blaster and let her arm rest over her knee. He stared at her as pain spread through every limb. It wouldn't be long before she was out of his head forever. She was one hell of a woman. If they had met under different circumstances, they could have been partners, could have been lovers. But maybe not. Maybe they had to be enemies to realize they were so good for each other. She had been a good nemesis, and he loved her for it.

"I told you I'd ruin you," she began hesitantly, "but I'm the one who fell for you. Normally I'd consider this a loss, but since I can't stop kicking your ass, I'm inclined to let you have this one victory."

She tore her gaze away from his and looked beyond him. He gritted his teeth, shutting out the throbbing in his bones, the spreading of knives across his nervous system. I fell for you. Those words echoed between his ears, bounced around his skull. She looked regretful. She looked upset. Pained—not just physically, the physical could be numbed, healed, but really pained. He had gotten in her heart, a liar and a thief and a scoundrel—both of them.

Her jaw tightened as she worked an idea out in her head. Then she tensed, relaxed, found her resolve, he assumed.

"I'm going to leave you for dead," she said. "It's impossible you'll find some way out of this mess, but you always were bizarrely lucky when not pitted against me…" Without ever looking at him, she dropped a kolto injection just beyond the reach of his fingers. "Goodbye, Skavak."

Alico stood up, stepped over his body, and holstered her blaster as she walked back to her ship. Skavak eyed the kolto injection, wondering if it would be better not to try. He could barely move as it was. But he knew he had to pay her back for leaving him to his misery and not putting him out of it. Schutta bitch, he thought and gritted his teeth as he reached for the injection. Pain coursed through him in debilitating waves but he scraped and clawed and finally wrapped his fingers around it. In a flash, he jammed it into his leg and bit back the scream.

Skavak fought the pain as he rolled over and struggled to get to his feet, hobbling toward the boarding ramp that was conveniently still lowered. The ship fired up and he stumbled onto the ramp just as it started closing, rolling into the safety of the ship. By the time he got into the smuggler's hole, he was panting and shaking, but the kolto was already starting to work.

He hurt but he was alive.

Skavak closed his eyes in the darkness and brought his breathing under control. When they landed, he would sneak off the same way he had gotten on board. He would lose himself on Nar Shaddaa for awhile, let things cool down. And then he would find her again, someday soon, and they would make a new arrangement.

And he would pay her back for all of this.