A Path Less Taken

Chapter 12 - What's Good and Right

A/N: Uploads are becoming more inconsistent because I don't have internet as of now. Still, I'm finding ways to get this stuff uploaded. Here's the next chapter for ya.

"At least you came up with a decent name for us," Ahsoka said, counting the credits that were laid out on a table.

"Decent?" Anakin questioned.

"Ok, pretty good. What'd you have to do for the job?" Ahsoka asked.

"Kill some drug dealer. He was running drugs through 'his turf,' so he wanted him gone. Wasn't hard to find. He happened to have a few unwarranted kills on his bio, so that's what pretty much sealed the deal," Anakin said idly.

"You going to kill the person who hired you?" Ahsoka asked.

"Probably. Most definitely if someone puts up the bounty. Apparently bounty hunters have a system," Anakin said, turning Padme's laptop so that Ahsoka could see it better. "There's a list of the bounty hunters that reside in each system, their skills, and their usual pay rate. The site is private and encrypted; kept secret in the Underworld like a code of honor. And here I was thinking bounty hunters had no sense of honor. Apparently, they do. To themselves."

"Seriously. I mean, no one discovered the site? No one other than the bounty hunters?" Ahsoka asked.

"No, people have found out about the site. But notice I said encrypted as well. You need a password or access code of some sort. If you don't, you're not getting anywhere," Anakin said, typing the code a bounty hunter gave him. The screen changed and it showed that the screen wasn't personalized except for a box for incoming jobs. There was list of jobs a mile long that you could apply for and a tab for hiring hunters for jobs of your own.

"Whoa. Who would've thought bounty hunters were this organized?" Ahsoka asked.

"Certainly not me. Not until we actually became one ourselves. And I suppose the money is not bad," Anakin said, swinging a bag with his credits inside in a circle.

"I still insist you take the other half you know," Ahsoka said, piling all of the credits Anakin gave her in a bag. "I didn't help on that job at all."

"It's fine. You need a little money of your own just in case. It does good for getting out of sticky situations without needing hastily strung together words or a lightsaber. Bribing may make things easier. And could possibly get you a temporary ally in whatever you're about to do. Money is a powerful thing on the weak and greedy," Anakin told her.

"You know a lot about it," Ahsoka said.

"Let's just say that the Underworlds we visit together are nothing compared to some the Jedi sent me to," Anakin said, looking very much disgusted. "Things happen right there in the bar that would even have you wanting to murder everyone in there."

"That bad?" Ahsoka asked.

"Yes. It may be unavoidable that I have to take you down to one of those one day. If someone touches you, you have all of the permission in the world to cut them in half," Anakin said idly. Ahsoka sighed. That was a thing she was going to have to get used to. Killing. She believed in the Jedi belief that you should spare people when you could. She had followed that particular code for so long, she wasn't mentally prepared to stray from it. That didn't seem to bother Anakin.

"Well, I may go for a simple stab, but I'll take it under advisement," Ahsoka said. Anakin only nodded before closing the computer and stretching his limbs. He sighed in some form of weariness before standing to his feet and pacing.

"What is it?" Ahsoka asked.

"I'm kind of worried about what Padme is going to say. I mean, I obviously don't want to keep it a secret as to where I'm going. I mean, why should I feel the need to anymore? But then again, I am a bounty hunter now. Something I wanted to rid the galaxy of," Anakin said, still pacing restlessly.