Stuck With Me: A Cad Bane Novel

Chapter 5

A/N: heyyy yall i hope you enjoy <3

Warnings: swearing, guess who's feeling horny, todo has great... timing?, reader has trauma from being a sex slave, mentions of body used as a bargaining tool,

Word count: 1309

From the moment he walked into the cantina and everyone's eyes flashed with recognition when they fell on you, Cad knew he wasn't going to find anyone to sell you off to. Not that he really believes that he'd be able to sell you off, not when you told him exactly what you were willing to do to stay with him. Not when you offered him your fucking body - an offer he knew scared the shit out of you, and an offer which he should not have found so hard to refuse. Not when he finally realised that you are smart enough to stay with someone who's going to treat you better than the streets of Coruscant and their inhabitants would. Not when he saw the hesitant smile pull at your lips, your hopeful soul glimmering through your eyes like the prettiest thing he's ever seen.

He wonders idly to himself whether he's going soft as he navigates his way out of the Inner Rim. But in his bones, he knows it's not just that. He knows that you remind him of her, because even though she was a Duros like him, and therefore looks nothing like you, she still haunts him. The look in her eyes seems to be the same as the look in yours; every movement you make, he can see her doing it - or the faded image he has of her in his memory. Maker, he hates it, hates how he can see her ducking her head, making herself smaller, the way you do, pressing her lips together to keep quiet, the way you do.

In the far recesses of his memory, he remembers that she was pretty, like you. Well, of course she was pretty, since she ended up as a... Cad shakes his head, hoping to put a halt to his thoughts. He doesn't need any of that right now, doesn't need to think about how fucking delicious you look, because as much as he craves company, you're still very much terrified of him, and that's enough to stop him short.

He curses Uta Syss because he's beginning to think she was right about one thing. He does like them warm blooded; he can smell you, can almost hear the life thrumming through your veins, can practically feel the heat oozing off you, and it's driving him crazy. He hasn't had a female - or a male (he fucks who he likes) - on this ship in what feels like years, and your scent is nearly making him salivate. He hates it, he hates the way he's so dependent on company, the way he craves it when he shouldn't want to. He knows he should be at least be trying to ease your fear of him, but he's afraid that if he starts speaking, he'll say something that will scare you - which is the opposite of what he wants, since you're going to be on his ship for the foreseeable future, helping around the ship and not getting in the way as you had said.

Cad ponders if you'll ever not be scared of him. Truthfully, he doubts it. His reputation, as always, precedes him, and guessing from your first reaction to him, you hadn't heard good stuff - not that he's done any good stuff for people to gossip about. The best he can do is make you at least a tiny bit more comfortable, and presumably you'll warm up to him a little bit, because surely you can't go tip - toeing around everywhere, can you?

Can you?

You're near silent as you pop back into the cockpit from the 'fresher, and he muses that some of his bounty hunting partners could learn a thing or two from you. He's figured out that you're just going to wordlessly follow him around the ship until either he tells you not to or asks you to help with something, and he feels a bit guilty making you sit there with nothing to do, so he turns to you, spinning in the pilot's chair.

'Did ya do anything in yer spare time back on Uveth?'
You frown. 'I... slept?'
That reminds him; he forgot about the bed. 'We'll take turns on the bed, if yer wondering'
You nod. 'O - okay.'
'Do ya know anything 'bout mechanics?'
'A bit.' You frown. 'I used to fix th - things back on Uveth, like - like lights and droids, but that stuff might not b - be anything like the stuff here.'

Cad grunts. He knows that the mechanics on the Justifier are pretty simple, and it would be helpful for him to have someone who can fix up the ship on board. He just has to show you. He finds that he's telling himself that some knowledge of ship workings will be helpful if you do choose to leave him for a job, and he grits his teeth. You aren't her. He has no obligation to be anywhere near nice to you. And yet he stands up, gesturing to you.

'C'mon,' he says. 'I'll show ya the basics.'

─────•~❉᯽❉~•─────

Half an hour later, Cad finds himself with two panels unbolted from the wall to expose the colourful array of wires there, Todo nearby with the toolbox in his little hands. The hunter watches you inspect the workings of the Justifier, ever so often glancing at the circuit board, and smiles. You're smart - smarter than you look, smarter than he expected you to be, and you're a quick learner. He's pleased; it will be helpful to have someone like you on board, especially if he's not free to fix something and you can do it instead.

Touching your finger to a little orange light on the circuit board, you frown and glance over your shoulder at him.

'What's this?'
He looks down at it. 'That's a light tellin' me I need to secure these wires because they're loose.'
Bright eyed, you turn to him. 'Can I do it?'
'Yeah,' he says, chuckling at your eagerness. 'Ya gotta watch out for this, it - '

His arm brushes yours as he leans forward to point out the red wire. Almost like you've been electric shocked, you jerk away from him, hands instinctively flying up to shield yourself. Hurriedly, you hide the action by curling your arms around yourself, and when he looks down into your eyes, they're brimming with fear; fear that he's angry at you for reflexively recoiling away from him, fear that maybe he's angry at the way you're shaking, memories flashing before your vision.

Cad's brain stops working for a second. He's never really noticed the way women like you act around him - he's always only ever bestowed his attention on those who seeked it, not those who avoided it. And now that he's got you in front of him, pressed with your back against the wall in effort to get as far away from him as you can, he almost forgets what to do.

'Well, this is awkward,' Todo says.

His voice snaps Cad awake, and his thoughts catch up with him. He jerks away and your relief is practically audible in the way your shoulders sag and you peel yourself off the wall just a little. Unsure what to do with himself, Cad takes another step back to put a good bit of distance between the two of you.

'I... Uh... If you need any help, I'll be up in the cockpit.'

Ducking your head, you smile shyly, tentatively, now that he's moved out of range. He thinks the curve of your lips is one of the prettiest things he's ever seen - nothing like Aurra Sing's vengeful smirk.

Shaking his head to dislodge those thoughts, Cad turns and strides away from you and into the cockpit.