Cad Bane - The Concept of Trust

Can you breathe underwater? - Part 1

This is a new chapter. Like, completely new. I was asked about the "particularly nasty Nautolan" in the part "A Promise broken", and since the next chapter didn't offer that story I got an idea to deliver it later, and it fit perfectly here on the timeline. :) 

Also, I  didn't want to leave you hanging with this story, so publishing both parts at the same time. :)

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"You owe me." Bane growled in her ear over her shoulder. This time the Duros had definitely been able to sneak up on her in the midst of her shooting practice, and made her almost jump out of her skin. She missed the target handsomely, which was awarded with a disapproving whistle from R3.

It had been only a couple of months since the Khil had let her out of the sickbay. After that she had been using her time to adjust to the new prosthesis, and the amount of effort was irking her. She hadn't seen Bane much, but now he was there, smiling smugly at her reaction.

"What?" She had no idea what the Duros was up to now, and once again it was impossible to tell if he was serious, or just taunting her, but he had caught her attention.

"We missed that Nautolan contract when I had to come to save your ass." Bane watched her, trying to see if he was able to rattle her cage.

When she didn't react immediately, he continued,

"Fortunately, it seems no one's been able to catch him yet, so we are still in the game. ...But you gonna work for free this time. As a payback." Now the Duros was grinning, as if challenging her to have a row with him.

"So much for Cad Bane being altruistic when saving my ass..." She laughed, and gave him a slanted grin. It was she who got Bane to sneer, and she couldn't resist ribbing the Duros a tad more.

"...And how long shall I be in the life-debt, and work-slavery to my saviour?" She turned around, and pressed herself against him, grabbing the strap of his satchel.

"If you don't kick the habit of being a smartass, a lot longer." Bane snapped, and poked her chest with his trigger finger. It was obvious he was done with the jokes for now. She sneered. Can't chew what you bite?

"Then, what are we waiting for? Have to pay you back this ribcage, that makes me a worse shooter than the storm troopers." She waved towards the targets, and grabbed Bane's finger, holding it against her chest. Both were ready for a dust-up.

"Should I have left you with- ...What?" The Duros cut his own sentence short, her words now sinking in.

She released Bane's finger, and waved her hand dismissively, her voice losing its edge.

"It's nothing. It just feels ...different, like a part of your body is numb. Makes it harder to do something that needs precision. But, I am adjusting to it..."

Bane looked at the targets she had been shooting at.

"Looks like you need to adjust more, lady," he said, and earned a gentle punch to his chest, sided by a chuckle from her.

In a day she had crosschecked all the info they had gathered less than three months ago, and they were ready to go. She eyed through the compiled files. This was one nasty specimen of his species. Usually Nautolans shared the trait of being peaceful, but someone had clearly forgotten to tell Feli Dren that. Dren wasn't very old, but had made a name for himself as a ruthless smuggler, and as one who didn't honour contracts, or shun any means to make profit. That was the reason why Desilijics, maybe the most prominent of the Hutt families, had offered such a handsome reward of his head. Dead or alive. There were many opinions about the Hutts, but they respected contracts, and those who broke them learned quickly how bad of an idea that was. This was exactly what Dren had done. He had killed a smuggler that was delivering goods to Gorga, the crime lord who ruled their space with Jabba, and sold the whole cargo to the highest bidder, thus earning his name on the bounty-net with a very enticing reward.