Bad Blood

Chapter 8 - Loyalty is Stronger than Rage

Astéri waited half an hour before peeking her eyes open. Fett was slumped in a seated position on the couch, chest rising and falling rhythmically. For a moment, she just watched him, taking in his sleeping form, before wrinkling her nose. Green wasn't really Astéri's colour.

Sighing and rolling into a different position, Astéri weighed up her options for escape. She had no intention of staying in the handcuffs, but getting out of them was a problem.

For a fraction second, Astéri wondered why she was so desperate to escape. What purpose would it serve? There was the matter of her bounty, sure, but that wasn't even the real reason she had gone after Fett anyway.

She had come for vengeance.

Astéri put her thoughts aside as she made up her mind. She barely even felt the pain as she once more dislocated her wrist to slip out of the cuffs; she was too focused on the job at hand. Ghostlike, she glided across the room towards Fett's sleeping form. This time, there was no time to stop and get a drink to take the pain away. This time, she had a clear shot at Fett and he had left himself vulnerable.

Astéri's hands hovered over Fett's helmet. She could take it off, there and then. He might not even notice. She could see his face one last time before she took the shot and handed in her bounty. Astéri's fingertips brushed the corner of the visor.

No.

She wouldn't do it. Fett hadn't wanted her to see his face. She would respect that wish, especially as she was about to attack a sleeping man. She didn't need even more on her conscience. Instead, Astéri's hand moved to Fett's utility belt and nimbly plucked the blaster from its holster. Her fingers started trembling.

She knocked off the safety. Her fingers shook.

She aimed the blaster at a chink in Fett's armour. Finally, her hands were steady. A steady hand for a clean shot.

Pull the trigger.

Why wasn't her finger moving?

Come on, you can do this. You need this.

Her finger still didn't move.

Make the shot, Vorte. Come on, pull the trigger.

Astéri flipped the blaster to stun mode.

It won't even kill him. You can turn in your bounty and be done with it.

Closing her eyes, Astéri prepared herself to make the shot.

Her father's face blurred in her thoughts.

That's right, I'm doing this for you, she thought, but instead of encouraging her, it only held her back further.

Put down your blaster and think for a minute before you do something you regret.

Some of the last words she had ever heard her father say rang through Astéri's head. Gritting her teeth, she steeled herself.

Instead of the blast she had been expecting, the only sound she heard was the click of the safety being flipped back on. 

Reluctant to even look, Astéri cracked open one eye. She hadn't done it. She couldn't do it. Staggering back, Astéri stared at the blaster in her hand. What was she thinking? Had she really wanted her payment that much? The price was too high. No amount of money could make up for what she might have done.

Still, it hurt. It hurt to know that she was weak, that she couldn't do it. That the time had come, and she had failed in her mission, failed to make the shot. Numbly, Astéri stepped backwards until the backs of her knees hit the bunk she had been cuffed to. Sinking down onto the mattress, she stared at the unused blaster. She clutched it like a lifeline in her one good hand; the other still throbbing from its recent dislocation.

She hadn't pulled the trigger.

Waiting out the night was her best option. The only good option, really. She needed Fett and Slave I for passage off Hazor, so unless she wanted to be stuck on the ice planet, running away wasn't a great idea.

She hadn't pulled the trigger.

Crossing her legs, resting the blaster in her lap and leaning back against the hard wall, Astéri prepared for a long night.

She would have several hours to think through her regrets.

She hadn't pulled the trigger.

As soon as Boba woke up, he sensed something was wrong. Eyes snapping open, his gaze immediately went to the girl across from him, the girl that-

Oh, shit.

The girl that was no longer chained to the bunk and who was holding a blaster. Where had she even got the blaster from?

Oh. Kriff. It was his.

Instinct kicked in and Boba hurled himself at Astéri, pinning her to the mattress. She made no effort to retaliate; instead, she whimpered quietly and moved to cradle her wrist. There was evidently something wrong with it. Looking into her eyes, Boba could see that Astéri was bone tired. Had she been up all night? But then-

Boba was alive. Astéri had escaped and got hold of a blaster, it somehow, he was alive and she was still there. Why hadn't she run away?

Beneath his tight hold, Astéri jerked away from him, closing her eyes. It looked like she was preparing for death. What the- she thought he was going to kill her?

Taking the blaster from her hand, Boba backed away. He spotted the discarded handcuffs on the floor and deliberately kicked them to one side, settling down onto the mattress opposite Astéri. Sighing, he checked the blaster was on safety mode before looking up at the girl beside him.

"We need to talk."

Astéri's whole body went rigid, but she gave a taut nod. "Yeah. We do."

_____

Woop woop, another one out. Sorry for how short it was, I think it was even shorter than the prologue lol, but I needed this to be its own chapter. Hope you enjoyed.

See ya in the next one! 😜