Predator and Prey

Chapter 12

"Predator, are you there?" General Hux's voice woke Zheth from her sleep and she picked up her communicator to put it in her ear.

"Yeah, and you woke me up so this better be important." She mumbled, biting her finger to stifle her yawn.

"I thought the hunters might've gotten you." He gave a crude joke.

"Very funny." Her voice was flat line and emotionless. "I suppose you want an update... I've been recovering from my torture."

"What have you found out of their plans?" Hux demanded.

"Nothing yet. But I'll figure them out soon, don't worry, when I get a job I do it well." She assured him.

There was near silence on the other end but she could tell Hux was still there as if he was waiting on something. Zheth coughed a bit. "Uh, that's it... you can go do something else now."

"Really? No pet name this time?" She could imagine one of his orange eyebrows arched slightly and his cold blue eyes observing whatever was around him as he waited.

"I knew you'd miss them, people always do." She sighed before speaking again. "I'll update you later Hux."

She turned off the communicator before tossing it aside and standing up. Zheth limped out into the hallway, still not sure what she was going to do about her new information other than keep it to herself. Finally though, she found herself in the landing bay where Poe was working on his X-Wing as usual while BB-8 watched from beside their new friend Finn. She hesitated before showing herself to them and giving a nod in greeting.

"Feeling better my little Reaper?" Poe questioned with a smirk on his face.

Zheth forced a smirk on her face as she took off her helmet. "Of course Hot Shot."

Finn glanced between them, seeming to be embarrassed as if he were intruding on their privacy. "Um... Should I go see if I'm needed somewhere?"

"Nah, they'll come find you." Poe motioned towards a spare crate beside Finn. "There's a spot for you to join us if you'd like, I'm about done here."

Zheth flopped down beside Finn and glanced over at him. "So where did Poe find you?"

"I helped him escape the First Order... kind of didn't go as planned." Finn responded with a slight blush of embarrassment.

"I am not apologizing for that by the way!" Poe called back to them as he worked.

"Of course he's the one to get into deeper trouble." She grinned at the pilot. "Never one to take the easy path."

"That would be too boring."

"What about you?" Finn turned to her. "What's your story?"

Her grin faded a bit. "Not much. My adoptive parents taught me about smuggling but after they were caught I was left on my own until a bounty hunter took me in and trained me to be a killer... I thought I lost him on a mission when a fire broke out, the treatment used to heal my wounds is what turned my hair white but that doesn't matter too much, and then Poe and General Organa hired me one day. I've worked for them up until now."

It a bit vague but Finn didn't need to hear all the details, like what side of the war her adoptive parents worked for, what she was doing on that mission, and what up until now really meant. However, the other man seemed to accept this story and he started talking about other things to them. She half paid attention as she tried to think through her plan for getting information... these people cared for her here... Sure, the First Order gave a better pay but, after five years of helping the Resistance... She had to admit; some loyalty had developed for certain people.