"In Need of Wings"
Chapter the Twenty-Fourth
Bane set his scope on the edge of the roof where he could overlook the building Boba had entered. He was certain no one knew he was there, or was keeping an eye on him. He had taken every precaution as usual to make sure he had not been followed, and that Boba was not with anyone else. As he looked through the scope, he got out his comm to contact Todo again.
The masked figure suddenly appeared beside Boba. Bane froze in place.
Who the hell is that? He watched carefully.
As Bane studied the two, Boba approached the masked figure and seemed to start talking to her. Less than a minute later, he handed her a case. The figure opened it, revealing hundreds of credit chips inside. Bane's eyes widened.
If only both of them hadn't covered their faces, Bane might be lucky enough to get an idea of what they were saying.
It seemed like hours passed before Boba finally turned to leave. Bane could tell it was a long time because his back ached from staying still for so long. The masked figure turned away and disappeared as quickly as they appeared. Boba, meanwhile, continued onward through the docks. Wincing in pain—and fantasizing about no more than a heating pad on his bad back and some whiskey on the rocks—Bane got up to follow him.
About damn time. I don't like waiting for people.
He would worry about Boba's little business associate some other time.
Going back to his original plan, Bane turned around the bend to cut Boba off before he reached Slave I at the end of the docks. His back was killing him. He paused only to swallow more painkillers. Wasn't always hooked on them but after Vader's interrogators screwed him up…his health just hadn't been the same.
All the more Ahsoka would be better off without him, he thought.
Poor kid had enough to worry about. Forget a hunter in poor health whose reputation was slowly, but surely, deteriorating. It was his own fault for thinking he could be the best in his profession for too long.
Boba did not see him coming. Bane began to focus his thoughts of self-loathing anger on the younger bounty hunter. Thinking of how Boba had become more popular than him in recent months. Ever since Bane was put down as wanted by the Empire. Thinking of how Boba would probably have it easier too, what with the Empire's growing anti-nonhuman sympathies. That alone was enough to make Bane seethe with jealousy.
The young hunter sensed someone approaching him a moment too late. Bane struck him with a stun blast aimed at his legs, knocking the wind out of him. He ran towards Boba and whipped a cord around his ankles so he wouldn't get up.
"Dammit!" Boba cried out, reaching for his blaster. He took a couple shots at Bane, nearly hitting him in the chest and shoulder. But not enough to stop or slow him.
Bane kicked the blaster out of his hand and planted his foot on the boy's chest. But not before ripping off his helmet. It always took him back how Boba looked so much…older than he really was.
"Who were you just talking to?" Bane demanded.
"I don't know what—"
Bane aimed his blaster at Boba's forehead.
"You know I won't ask a second time."
To his surprise, Boba grinned, looking up at Bane like he had just told a corny joke. His chest shifted a bit as he held back a laugh.
"Somethin' funny?"
"Just, I can't believe you don't know…who else would hire me?"
Boba's statement made it all clear to Bane. If it should be that obvious who Boba worked for, that only left one option.
"The Empire, huh? You're still after the reward on me?" Bane sighed. Of course he is.
"One million dead. Two million alive."
"Too bad for you, this isn't your lucky day." Bane was about to pull the trigger when Boba spoke up again.
"Wait! I never said I would only work for the Empire."
Bane froze, glaring him down. Studying for any hint the kid was lying.
"Keep talking," he sneered.
"Maybe you and I can work out a little deal. I'm not out to prove loyalty to anyone. Only the next person offering me the best bargain." Boba's eyes grew big and he relaxed his muscles. A liar would be struggling to show he wasn't…
"And you think I'd actually be interested in a bargain with you?" Bane challenged, deciding to test Boba's limits.
"You would be if I were to tell you the name of the Imperial I was talking to. And where they're headed next."
The Duros had to hesitate and think it over a moment. If Ahsoka were with him right now, he would have to turn down the offer. Too much risk involved. Not just that he had no idea what sort of Imperial he was dealing with, but he didn't know how far Boba could be trusted either.
But as it stood, Bane's life was the only one at risk. He had nothing else to lose. If this plan failed, Ahsoka still couldn't get hurt.
Once again, he was the only person he had to worry about. Which meant he didn't have to worry at all.
That considered, it didn't take Bane long to make his decision.
"What do you want in return?"
"You let me go free. And, you pay me the money I would have gotten if I revealed your location to the Empire. Fifty-thousand."
A year ago, Bane would have scoffed at such a small sum. How times had changed for him. But information never came cheap, after all.
"All right, it's a deal. Now give me the name," Bane said.
In the middle of the night, Ahsoka packed her belongings and left. She did not look back once at Bane's ship, or leave a note for Ventress. She let herself vanish like she had never been there to begin with. The only thing she left behind, and by accident, was her tube of black lipstick in the small fresher.
It was better this way, she told herself. Really, she should have left long before it came down to this…being that Vader had become her last resort.
By the time dawn began to color the horizon, Ahsoka had sold her speeder, then used the last of what little money she had to buy a ship. A garbage ship that needed lots of TLC, but would at least get her off this planet and to the Mid Rim. She only packed what she needed—her lightsabers, a couple outfits, and the pills she had bought off the black market.
She should have left before Ventress was dragged into helping her…before Bane got hurt because of her…before anyone had to suffer because of the mistakes she had made. It had been wrong of her to think she deserved anyone's help when all she did was drag others down with her.
All she had left now was Vader. Mustafar.
The Dark Side.
Alone, back among the stars, Ahsoka was reminded of the day she walked away from the Jedi Order, heading out into a world that seemed so isolating and deadly. But this time, rather than walking away from her master, she was going back to him. Walking away from the light and the life she had bled and sweat to build for herself away from the Jedi. Walking towards Mustafar, a place that only spelled fire and destruction. Death.
"There is always death, Snips," Vader's calm, reassuring voice in her head reminded her.
Was this the wrong choice for her? No doubt about that. Vader would kill her last hope for a better future. But she had spent so long struggling to keep the light inside her, and even after all that fighting, there was hardly any light left. All that fighting and she still became a walking corpse who hurt anyone who got too close to her.
So what was the point of continuing to fight if she would just continue hurting the people she tried to protect? What was the point of thinking she could get better when she couldn't even get an hour's worth of sleep before washing down sleeping pills with vodka? What was the point when she was always going to lose, just as her former master had lost?
She spent her whole life doing this, and look how she ended up. It was time to end it once and for all.
"I miss you so much, Snips…I can't wait to see you again. I need you."
"I…I think I need you, too. Every since I left, I've been a mess."
"It's because you're supposed to be with me. I became a mess after you left too. Everything fell apart for both of us."
Ever since she had finally left and began her journey back to Mustafar, Vader's voice in her head changed. As if as soon as he knew she had accepted her fate to him, he could let himself break down. He could let the vulnerability inside him break its silence. He sounded smaller, weaker. Like a child inside her crying out for help.
It broke her heart.
"But we can fix it now. We're going to get everything back. And it can be just like it used to be."
"I'm coming home, Vader. I'm not going to leave you ever again," she whispered to him.
Just her and Skyguy. Once in the light, now in the shadows. Once sworn to save the galaxy, now fated to burn it down.
It was always meant to be. She just pretended otherwise for far too long, and nearly killed her only friends in the process.
The same fate twisted around both of them, dragging them down together. Locking their hearts and souls. One had already fallen…now it was the other's turn.
"Just as Skywalker fell, so will his apprentice."
Vader bowed his head at the hologram of his master who had just spoken.
"Yes, my master. She will fall…I feel it too." Her strength in the Force had been on the verge of falling to the Dark Side for so long, Vader knew a small push was all it would take. One push into the fire until she would be reborn, just as he was as well.
"It seems you sent out the Inquisitors for nothing, then. You told me you would need them to bring her back. But your influence on her was more than enough."
"It was, master…" At first Vader thought this meant Sidious was commending him. His connection to Ahsoka had always been strong, but the way he learned how to act on it, to the point he could actively communicate to her through the Force…that was a whole new level of skill. Something the Jedi Order had refused to teach him. Of course, because they had been afraid of his potential.
But he stopped. He didn't deserve that must recognition. No. Sidious was not going to reward him for bringing Ahsoka back singlehandedly…
"You wasted resources on the Inquisitors. Therefore, you will face punishment for this oversight."
"But, Master…they can still find the other Jedi and wanted fugitives. I won't let them go to waste." Vader could feel a bit of desperation rise in his tone. Desperation to avoid failure of his master. To make him proud. To avoid being punished…
"I should hope you can still find some use of them. Otherwise I will become very disappointed in you."
Vader nodded in understanding, trying to hide his fear of Sidious saying that Vader had failed him again.
"Yes, Master. I understand. I will not fail you. Skywalker's apprentice will not turn back once she arrives." He straightened. "There are still others the Inquisitors will find. With Ahsoka's help, no one will escape us."
"Then go back to Mustafar and meet her there. You will bring her back to Coruscant after that, and we will continue her new training." His hologram died out.
Vader practically ran to his ship waiting for him. No time to wait around. He had been waiting for this moment for years. Ahsoka would not dare turn her back to him after this. Not like the others….Obi-Wan, whose choice cost him his life…Padmé, who left him to fight against the Empire in the Senate…the Jedi Order, who rejected him when he needed them the most…and of course, Cad Bane, who could have had a pleasant future working solely for Vader who would give him all the benefits he wanted, if he had stayed. Everyone else left. But not Ahsoka. Not this time, anyway.
In fact, Ahsoka would not even want to turn back after Vader's plans were carried out.
All she had to do was see how much they were connected. How much she needed him…how much he needed her. How the Dark Side would be their home together from now on.