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For once, Jango woke up in an actual bed, instead of the hard, utilitarian bunk of his ship. He was in someone’s actual bedroom, and it was not even moving. Late morning sunlight cut into his eyes through the narrow, slit-like windows. Hot and throbbing, his temples pounded with the beginnings of a hangover.
Last night was a blur.
He thought the changeling was there, maybe. His memory of the night was hazy, but he vaguely remembered music so loud he could feel it in his ribs, drunkenly swaying with someone on a dimly lit dance floor. Something told him he made a mistake. He turned his head. He looked at her. She looked at him. He looked back at her.
He had made a mistake.
Pinching the bridge of his nose, he rolled forward to sit on the edge of the bed. Although he already knew the answer- he didn’t drink quite enough to forget- he had to ask the question. “What did we do last night?”
Zam Wesell crossed her arms over her chest, blowing air through her lips. “Something that won’t ever happen again.”
“Looks like we’re on the same page, then.” That’s it, he decided. No more drinking. Especially not around Zam. The last thing he needed was to complicate things and ruin both of their careers. He had a mutual respect for her, and though he didn’t trust her, he liked her. He would prefer it if things stayed that way. Stretching, he rolled the kinks out of his neck and shoulders. “I could make us breakfast.”
The look she gave him was sharp enough to kill. “Get out of my house, Fett.”
***
The mansion of the spice lord was as garishly opulent as the home of anyone with more money than sense would be. The target definitely had much more of the former than of the latter. Few intelligent people wound up with prices on their heads as hefty as this one. Jango turned a corner, scanning the hallways with his visor. He had a suspicion that someone had gotten here before him. Three guards were dead, and he hadn’t killed them.
As he turned a corner, he was proven right. Zam Wesell wheeled around. “Tell me it’s not you!” She hissed, furious.
He felt about the same way. The only reason they ever met accidentally was if the two bounty hunters were about to ruin each other’s days. Jango was not the kind of man to gamble, but if he were, he would put money on Zam being there for the same reason he was.
“It’s not me,” Jango drawled. She huffed.
“This is a big job for me! I can’t believe you’re just strolling on in. And you’re late! I’ve already done most of the work. You are not taking my target from me this time.”
“I got hired to take this guy out,” Jango said, crossing his arms over his chest. “And I always collect.”
“Well, I got hired to take him out, too. And you’re going to let me do it, Jango.”
“I suppose we’ve been had. I hate it when they do this.” He was not too shy to admit that he was one of the biggest names in the business those days. Anyone hiring him should have known better than to double book. “I work alone.”
“Well, so do I, but it looks like we’re working together tonight. I say we split it 80-20. I got here long before you,” Zam said. Moments later, a throng of dozens of guards burst through a set of double doors. Jango pulled his blaster from his hip and started firing.
“80-20 my way? That sounds perfectly fair.”
“Like you even need the money,” Zam said, cocking her rifle. “I heard all about your mystery client. I think you should help a lady out. Put a good word in for me.”
“You’re not a lady,” he told her, diving behind a wall, and narrowly avoiding a blaster bolt to the neck, “It’s a one-man job, and in any case, they don’t want you.”
“Rude! You think you’re such a hotshot. Can’t you at least tell me what it is?” Bracing herself with her stance, she fired off a round.
“No. They’re paying me too good for that.” In credits- so many credits- and in something else. A chance at a life he had long thought he would never have. There were just a few short months to go before everything changed forever. He would have someone to carry on his legacy, someone to teach and to raise. Jango made a fist, pressing a button on his forearm with the opposite hand. Fire flew out of his vambrace, engulfing the hallway in smoke and flames.
“What are you still taking jobs for, anyway?”
“Target practice.”
In the end, they each took home half the bounty.
***
“Come in. I wasn’t expecting you so soon, but we do have a lot to talk about,” Jango said. Outside, a rainstorm brewed. Inside, his apartment was almost blindingly white. The door closed behind her with a hiss, and he led her to sit down on a sleek couch in his living room.
“So, what is this business deal?” What little he explained over the comm had been aggravatingly cryptic.
Before he had time to respond, there was a crash from another room, followed by a small shout. Jango let out a world-weary sigh. “Hold on a minute. I have to… take care of something.”
A moment later, Jango emerged, a little boy clinging to the fabric of his pantleg. He ducked behind Jango the moment he saw Zam. Zam gasped, biting on her lip to keep from grinning. Jango Fett was just about the last person she’d ever peg for a family man, but everyone had surprises.
“This is why you’ve been so busy lately! Is he yours?”
“Yes. My son.” Jango looked down fondly at the boy. When he looked back up, his expression grew more serious. “I don’t think I need to tell you that this stays between us.”
“Of course,” she said, waving a hand dismissively. “How old is he? I’m terrible at guessing human ages.” Though she wore the face of a human almost every day, Zam knew only the basics about the species.
“Three in just a few weeks. Isn’t that right, Boba?” He ruffled Boba’s hair. “Say hello.”
“Don’t want to.” He buried his face in Jango’s leg.
“Go on, it’ll be okay. She’s someone I know.”
The boy frowned, but he peered out at her for a moment, waving. “Hi.”
“Hi, Boba,” she said. “Nice to finally meet you.”
“You look weird.”
Zam snorted with laughter. Jango dragged a hand down his face, which just made it that much funnier. “He hasn’t met a lot of other people yet,” he explained, bending down to look his son in the eye. “You can’t say things like that.”
“But she does!”
“Well, keep it to yourself. You could make the wrong people very angry.” He had a point. Everyone knew that the Hutts were some of the ugliest things in the galaxy, and everyone knew they became murderous if someone forgot to pretend they were gods of beauty.
“Yeah, I worked really hard on this face,” Zam piped up, helpful as always. Tilting his head, Boba furrowed his brow at her.
“What’s that mean?”
“It means I can do this.” She shifted her face to that of a tooka. Kids liked tookas, right? Apparently, they did. With a giggle, the boy stepped forward, throwing his arms in the air. She lifted him up, settling him against her hip. He grabbed at the tooka face, patting her cheeks with two little hands. It was a secret would take to the grave, for fear of looking soft, but sometimes Zam just adored kids. She shifted back, adopting her typical appearance to question Jango.
“I didn’t fly all the way here just to meet the little guy. What’s this plan of yours?”
“I know you want to make a real name for yourself- and, of course, get rich. I have my own needs, career-wise. I think we can come to a mutually-beneficial arrangement.”
***
“Oh, are you coming with us?” Zam asked as she strapped herself into the cockpit.
“Yep! Welcome to the party,” Boba said through a wide grin.
“Good to see you, kiddo. You’re a lot more likable anyway.” She gave him two high fives in rapid succession, then brought her hand back before the third. “What’s going on? You usually work alone.”
“Not this time.” Jango did usually work alone, and he almost never sought other hunters out, but this job was not about him. It was about Boba, who needed experience working with other people. Zam was a good hunter. Maybe his son could learn a thing or two from working with her.
“Dad’s been teaching me stuff,” Boba explained. “Sometimes I even get to fly the ship!”
“Do you now? Remind me to stay off the hyperlanes,” Zam said, in that joking tone of hers.
“I’m right there with him. He’s shaping up to be a decent pilot.” He turned to look at his son. “But you’re not flying without me anytime soon.”
“Yeah, yeah. I totally could, though,” Boba said, utterly serious. Jango had hoped he wouldn’t have to deal with that particular conversation until the boy was a teenager, but lately it came up about once a week. Guiding Boba as he flew them home after a job was one thing; letting him actually take the ship for a joyride was another.
“I hope your Dad’s been teaching you well.”
“I have. A boy should know how to take care of himself.” More than anything else, he wanted to teach him to survive. It was an assurance that, no matter what happened to him, Boba could stand on his own two feet and find a way forward. The engine roared to life and he flew them up and out of the atmosphere.
“Is that all you’re teaching him?”
“Of course not. But it’s none of your business, Zam.” Most of what he taught his son was practical, but it wasn’t that he was uneducated. There were some very good homeschooling curriculums out there.
“Forgive me for trying to make sure he has, I don’t know, books? That kind of thing.” Apparently, his son took issue with that.
“I can read, Zam. I’m not stupid.” Boba crossed his arms over his chest, scowling.
“I know, I know, I never said you were. You’re a smart kid. Jango here is the one I wonder about sometimes.”
“I could say the same thing about you.” There were very few people in the galaxy who would ever think of openly insulting him. There were even fewer who could make that mistake and live. Unfortunately, Zam knew exactly what she could get away with. She made a hobby out of testing his patience.
“Hey, you’re the one who asked me on this job,” Zam pointed out, tapping her fingers on the dashboard. “Speaking of which, I’ve been doing some digging. We’re still looking for that university student, right? Apparently, they know a little something they shouldn’t.”
***
Nothing in life was permanent, especially for a bounty hunter like her. Every choice she had ever made led to this. Zam knew what was happening. She knew why it was happening. She knew that she would do the same if things were different. That didn’t make it any easier. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Jango, standing on a rooftop, and she knew. In a way, that was the worst part, knowing that a man she almost called a friend was the one to finally take her out. At least he was a worthy opponent.
The sabersart stung as it sank into her skin. The toxins flooded her bloodstream. The pain came in sharp, sickening waves, worsening with every breath, every beat of her heart. It tore her apart from the inside out, but the pain was short-lived. Soon, it was replaced by a warm, overwhelming rush of calm, as if everything that had ever gone wrong in her life was washed away. It felt nice.
She relaxed, sinking into the feeling as a cloud surrounded her mind. So, this was the end, she thought, not for the first time. Things could have been better, but they weren’t. She did not have the strength to care. Zam slipped away. But, after all, nothing in life was permanent.