A returning Echo

Chapter Four

"Hello, little lady," you heard someone call. You audibly sighed when you heard the familiar voice.
"Bane," you said, slowly turning around to see the snarky bounty Hunter approach you.
"What's a pretty little Jedi like you doing out alone on the streets of Coruscant?" He gently lifted your chin up with his finger, which you slapped away.
"What do you want? You never talk to me unless you need something." You folded your arms, narrowing your eyes at him. He threw his hands up defensively before saying, "how do you know I don't just want you to go on a date with me?"
"That's bantha shit and you know it. I would never go on a date with you anyways. Now get to it, I'm on a time limit."
"I need information," he said, turning serious.
"How's that my problem? Go talk to some back alley informant."
He shook his head. "No, Jedi, I need information."
You realized what he meant when he said that, shaking your head in response. "No, Bane. I've told you before, I'm not doing that," you began to walk away before he grabbed you.
"You owe me one," he said, staring into your eyes. You growled, angry at his point. You did owe him one, and you always came through on deals.
"Fine," you said through your teeth. "Follow me." You led him to a club that you were all too familiar with. You walked in and the bartender immediately took notice of your presence.
"What is it this time?" The Ithorian asked.
"I have a new client for you," you said motioning to Bane.
"The names Bane. Cad Bane," he said, leaning against the counter.
"I don't care who you are, I don't have anything for you."
Bane eyed you down, to which you sighed and put your hands on the counter, getting close to the Ithorian.
"Listen, I owe him one, and he needs information, so you'll give it to him," you threatened.
"It's not my job to make sure you pull through on your debt," he argued.
"If you don't give him the information he wants," you said, narrowing your eyes at him, "I'll make sure the Coruscant government finds out about your little business."
He laughed, unthreatened by you. "I'll tell them you've been helping me if you do."
"It's called going undercover, honey. They'll believe my word over yours," you countered.
He held your gaze for a second before sighing in defeat. He grumbled something about stupid Jedi, and turned to Bane. "Alright, Mr. Bane. What do you want?"
You walked away as the bounty hunter started asking about one of his bounties. You gave some dancers credits, to which their eyes widened when they saw how much there was. You slipped out of the club before any stranger could grab you. Before you got far, however, Bane reappeared.
"We meet again," he said casually.
"Leave me alone, I helped you already." You shoved past him but he grabbed your arm.
"Where are you off to in such a rush?" He asked, eyes filled with curiosity.
"None of your business," you said while yanking your arm from his grip.
He chuckled to himself before he reached out for your cheek. You grabbed his hand and pulled him down to eye level with you.
"Touch me again, bounty hunter, and I'll be receiving credits for turning you in."
He gave you a look before backing off.
"You know, there's a pretty nice reward for the head of any Jedi," he spoke while intensely holding your gaze.
"You could never bring me in," you said.
"Wanna make that bet?" He responded, hand hovering over his blaster. Your eyes darted down to where it was clipped to his hip before they went back up to his.
"Don't try this, Bane. I don't want to have to kill you. I kind of like you."
"Well, you could always come peacefully," he offered none too seriously.
"No, I don't think I could," you replied.
He shrugged and sighed before saying, "I gave you a chance," and grabbed his blaster and started shooting. You quickly ignited your saber and started deflecting his shots. He grabbed his other blaster while turning on his boots. You flipped out of the way as he flew towards you, almost crashing into the wall you had been next to.
"Do you really have to make a scene, Bane?" You said while rolling out of the way. You ran up to him, trying to grab him before he flew away. He kicked you in the face with his heel, and you felt your skin tear. You brought your hand up and saw the blood on your fingers. You groaned, knowing you'd have to explain this to Codo later. Using the force, you brought him to you and kicked him in the gut. You then knocked one of his blasters from his hand, grabbing it for yourself.
"I didn't think Jedi used blasters," he sneered.
"Well I guess I'm special then." You aimed at him and began firing, dodging his returning shots. He took to the air again so you aimed for his boots. He yelled angrily as you managed to hit one, putting him off balance and out of control. He landed back on the ground and ran towards you. You easily dodged his punch and slipped behind him, kicking behind his knee. He fell forward but managed to roll away from your next attack, before jumping up and grabbing you himself. His nails dug into your arm as he pulled you into his fist.
You fell forward as he knocked the air out of you, almost collapsing on him. You managed to regain yourself quickly, and kneed him in a sensitive spot. Both of you were bent forward, you catching your breath and him holding himself.
"This can be over now if you want it to be," you called to him. He merely bared his teeth at you and reached for his blaster again. You sighed and went back to deflecting them with your saber.
He managed to hit you in the shoulder, causing you to drop your saber. You grabbed the spot before you looked at him, baring your own teeth and launching yourself at him. Your fist met his jaw and his head flung back. His hat fell to the ground and he attempted to kick at you, barely missing as you twisted out of the way.
"You fight like a girl," he growled, trying to make you more mad than you already were.
"Thanks, I try," you said as you bent out of the way of his punch. He jumped up, using his still good boot to get some air on you, which you quickly shot with the blaster you still held. As he started to fall, you realized he was over the pit that led to the lower streets.
You quickly ran over and caught him with the force. You pulled him up and threw him into the wall behind you, knocking him out.
"You're lucky I'm letting you go," you mumbled. Bane wasn't your favorite person, but he was a good person to have as a friend when it came to needing something, as long as you had the money to pay for it. He also wasn't a rat, so you could trust him-somewhat. You wiped the sweat from your face and felt the sting when your hand ran over your cut. You clipped your saber on your belt and looked at your shoulder. The blaster shot wasn't too bad, so you decided to just ignore it for now. You put Bane's hat back on his head before laying his other blaster down next to him. You left a few credits in his jacket before walking off to find a shop.

You continued in your search for gifts, and ended up in a toy store. The twins were only going to be 4, so that gave you plenty of options. You found a cute porg stuffed animal that you could give to Tayah, and a toy blaster for her brother, Ringo. After you bought the gifts, you quickly made your way back to the temple, hoping to have time to clean up before Codo was ready. Just to your luck, as you entered the hanger, you saw Codo walking towards your royal transport. You internally groaned at having to explain your appearance to him.
"I see you've been busy," he said as you approached.
"Oh, just had a little meeting with Bane," you played off.
"I take it you owing him didn't go over well?"
"No, that part was fine. He just didn't know how to leave me alone afterwards," you said as you boarded the ship.
You sat down in the pilots seat and Codo gave you a look.
"What?" You said, "I'm a good pilot. I just don't care to be responsible when flying."
He rolled his eyes and strapped in to his seat.
"Hey," you argued at his silence, "at least I can land, unlike Anakin."
"That is true," he replied.
You gently flew out of the hanger and out of Coruscant's atmosphere. Once you were far out enough, you set the ship to autopilot on a course to Dohbar.