Stuck With Me: A Cad Bane Novel

Chapter 24

Warnings: same shit as always ngl, men are bitches,

Word count: 1.2k

You're sitting in the cockpit chair, in your own form, with your feet kicked up on the dash, when the Twi'lek comes to from where he lies on the floor. Glancing down at him, you watch with amusement as he groans loudly, squirming when he realises he's cuffed. It takes a while for his eyes to focus on you, but when they do, he goes still, and a smile begins to curl his lips, as if he knows something that you don't.

'Hey, ma'am. What brings a pretty lady like you here?'
You raise your eyebrows. 'Heard that one before.'
'Ah, I like the ones with character.'
'You won't like this one.'
'But you'll find that you'll like this, if you just uncuff me.' His smile is like oil, his eyes glimmering suggestively as he nods down to between his legs. When you don't answer, just turn away with a bemused smile, he changes his angle. 'C'mon, sweetheart. I'm sure you haven't had a good dick like mine in ages.'

'Wrong,' a gravelly voice says, and you glance up at Cad's voice.
'Couldn't help yourself, could you?' You tease.
The Twi raises his eyebrows. 'Oh, I see how it is. You're his whore.'

In seconds, you're in the shape of a chalk white Palliduvan, and you grab his collar, stroking bony fingers down the Twi's cheek, drawing blood. You revel in the fear that shoots through the man's eyes, and you don't try to hide your disgust. There are always going to be men like this in the galaxy, and it needles you to no end; you're pretty until you show that you've got an opinion, you're charming until you show something other than compliance, you're not a whore until they decide you're one. It's... repulsive.

It feels like your fear from your days with Gavinc Russ has all been converted into pure, white hot rage. Rage so hot inside you it almost feels like it hurts, rage that is so strong that you need to get it out somehow, rage that feels like it's going to explode out of you in a torrent of - of - screams, of blows. Instead, it comes out in a soft, string syllables that would be soothing if it were not for the sheer amount of venom injected into them.

'Want to say that again?' You purr. 'Want to call me his whore one more time?'
The Twi goes pale. 'You're the changeling - '
'Not so brave any more, are you?' You spit.

He doesn't answer, just stares at you, his eyes wide, his lower lip trembling, and you make a sound of disgust, releasing him. With a hollow thump of flesh and bones, he hits the ground, and, melting back into your own form, you raise a brow as the bounty turns his pleading eyes on Bane, barely able to get a word out because he's shaking so much.

'Pl - please, she's - she's crazy, please - '
'If you dare even look at her again, you're going to regret it,' he hisses, shoving his blaster in the Twi's face.
'No, no, please - '

Cad's blaster goes off. Smoke curls up from the Twi's slumped body, limp and a sallow shade of yellow. His eyes are still open, fear preserved in them as the glimmer of life is snuffed in half a second, and you nudge him with your foot so you can see the black scorch on the floor. Through your stunned thoughts of how damn fast it was, thoughts of how moments ago, that Twi was alive and calling you a whore, stirring up flame hot rage in you, and now, he's dead, silenced by a single plasma bolt, you register that that's going to hurt like a bitch to clean out. Slowly, your brain begins to catch up, and you blink away the remnants of the red bolt from your vision, doing a double take and blinking incredulously at your partner.

'We were supposed to bring him in alive!'
Bane shrugs. 'No one calls you a whore.'
You sigh. 'They all know my face. It's as good as true.'
'No, it's not,' Cad snarls. 'Not any more. You're free, fullua. And fuck the Hutts and whatever they want, you're free, and you can do what you want.'
You smile wryly. 'I appreciate it, Bane, but there's no need to turn you fucking our hunt up into a speech about freedom.'
He curls a sneaky arm around you, nuzzling his rostrum into your cheek. 'Don't worry, izrin, I'll take the blame.'
You roll your eyes. 'Sure, I - '

An alarm beeps on the dashboard, and you slip out of Cad's arms and into the pilot's chair to manoeuvre the ship down into the Kanji docking bay. Behind you, your hunting partner - as you like to think of him now - slings the Twi's body over his shoulder and growls at the Gamorrean guards when they glance at each other at the sight. Sighing, you follow Bane, far too aware of the way that, unlike when you were arriving, the Gamorreans have their axes in their hands, aiming the glinting points subtly at your backs. Flicking your eyes towards Cad, you twitch your head a bit in the guards' direction, and he moves his neck in the smallest of nods, hooking his thumb in his belt momentarily to tap his index finger to his blaster. You incline your head. You get the message; if you need, the two of you will shoot your way out.

'The great Leader of the Kanji says that you have become cocky to bring him back a dead target when he requested it alive,' the droid says the moment the two of you step into the chamber.
'My apologies,' Cad replies. 'It was necessary to bring him in.'
The Hutt shakes his head, and the droid translates. 'The great Leader of the Kanji is sorry but he still needs compensation as the bounty was worth much more alive than dead.'
'Doesn't sound very sorry,' you mumble.

The Hutt's eyes snap to you, and you hold his gaze. Anger from the Twi's word still sizzles below the surface of your calm, and you don't consider backing down, not when the oversized slug before you is sneering at you as if the only thing of you that is worth something is your body. Your fists ball at your sides, and your eyes flare with hate, no remnant but ashes of your past timidity in the midst of the flames of your anger.

Eventually, he breaks eye contact, and you glare at him a moment longer as he beckons to the droid. A glance over confirms that Cad's frown also deepens as he strains to hear the Hutt's words. And then the droid turns to you.

'The great Leader of the Kanji has come to a conclusion that you may be content with. The great Leader of the Kanji says he will pay you all the money now if you fight in the Garkata Fighting Arena on Nar Shaddaa tomorrow to compensate for the cost of the death of the target.'
'Me?' You ask.
'Why her?' Bane asks simultaneously.
The droid consults the Hutt before turning back to you. 'The great Leader of the Kanji will only accept the form changer. The great Leader of the Kanji believes there will be more public intrigue.'
'Public intrigue?' Bane echoes. 'No, no way! Izrin, that's a shit offer!'
You cross your arms, setting your jaw. 'I'll do it.'