Before ~ Misconception ~, Short Story, Leila/Jango Series 2, completed 9/4

Title: Misconception
Author: MsLanna
Timeframe: about 34 BBY
Characters: Leila Durmon, Jango Fett
Genre: General
Keywords: Bounty Hunter, Assassin, Seedy Side
Summary: Leila Durmon is stuck on a backwater planet with no way out, when suddenly an opportunity opens up.
Notes: Second story in a series. Find Number One here: Strictly Business
and Number Three there: ... and Loyalty
Again I promise: no romance.




Misconception

Leila hated to be stuck on this backwater planet, hated it with a passion. And what was even worse, was that she had actually finished her job already. The message telling her employer about her success had already gone out, telling about the fate of unfortunate Eran McGry. The guy had been real eye candy and it had taken little to no effort to sneak into his life and bed. Even though he had a wife and two daughters. Men will be men.

Now McGry rested in peace under a few feet of earth, and one piece of him rested in Leila's pocket. Taking the uvular had become a habit and trademark. Usually, most people were loth to look a dead man into the mouth that far.

But Eran had also been a fool. He had managed to get CorSec onto their trail and as soon as the ship had went down on Tenjoo it had been dutifully impounded. Not only that, it had also been collected by the organisation for further investigation. Which left Leila stuck.

She had given Eran a good kick or two extra when she found out, but unfortunately, he had already been dead then. And she hated having to dye her hair in the middle of nowhere, no mirrors, nothing. At least, she didn't have to bleach them this time. And all those years of changing hair colour had apparently given her enough practice to manage acceptably without looking.

It was not as if she had come without a back-up plan either. She had set off an emergency call to the port authorities as soon as she and Eran had made it to the woods. The kidnapped lady routine worked well with male officials, but now that McGry was wanted for spice smuggling, she could not hope that, even as possible victim, she would get away easily if she was found.

Though she doubted that after the breathtakingly scantily clad and beautifully helpless blonde that had asked for help, anybody would give the drab brunette a second glance, that walked the streets with the grim self assertion of a pyro-cat.

And walk the streets she did. After taking a room with a motherly and rather fussy landlady, Leila roamed the space port most of her days. Or she drank spiced tea in the small tap café opposite of the port, or she talked to Derek, the only employee there, receptionist, customs officer and janitor all in one person. He was the best, and only, source for news concerning arriving ships, and glad to finally have found someone who would listen to his rants. When Leila had let on that she knew a little about space ship herself, he had spontaneously proposed to her, despite the fact that the assassin pretended to be waiting for the arrival of her betrothed. She suspected that Derek was now fervently hoping the fiancé never arrived and every day that went by without a ship arriving strengthened his resolve.

The landlady who rented out her room, was a little more suspicious about her but since the assassin paid in advance and was a quiet and easy customer, she kept her suspicions to herself. Most of the time. Leila sighed and closed the door of her room behind her. Another great day on Tenjoo was waiting.

At least, she didn't have to worry about somebody searching through her stuff. Even though the door had no lock, there was nothing Leila owned that she hadn't bought on planet. There were regular trips, of course, but the next was scheduled in three weeks and cautious questions about getting a ship ordered here to collect here had almost gotten the local p

I'm on my way out the door, but let me just say "Put me on the PM list!"

I hate the fact that you've made me like the Fetts.

MsLanna, most excellent work I'm not a hard-and-fast fan of Jango Fett, but I love these short stories I got through 'Strictly Business' a little while ago and have been meaning to post here for a while.

I really like your style with Leila She's so great - things like 'her mouth failed to connect with her toast' and sending them into the hereafter are brilliant modes of description and they really bring her to life Brilliantly done!

I'm hopeful of another update shortly

Edit: Forgot to say, please PM me if that happens

What can I do, Vadey? I can only apologize again. Though I'm not really sorry where Jango is concerned. Fortunately, this is all about Leila.

Futon! What an unexpected pleasure to see you here.
Seems there ARE no Fett fans. *shrug* I'll make some.
If those are the bits you like, you're welcome to anything I post. It's the bits I love writing best, too.
And you dropped in just in time to see the next update.


Of course, it was a bit of a problem. She preferred to kill cleanly and be done with it, but if the authorities got wind of two killed members, which were not even sporting a bounty, she would be in much more of a fix than now. So she had to knock them out, and separately, if possible. If one of them had the opportunity to report, she might as well just deliver herself. So separating them was step one, or actually step two, since she would have to gain enough trust of the two be let aboard.

Men, nothing easier than that, Leila smiled to herself. Her clothes were nothing out of the ordinary, but with the scissors from Derek's office that was easily amended. Nothing but shreds were left to almost cover her midsection, and knotted tightly under her breasts, the strips of cloth brought them up a considerable bit. A little work on the décolleté and trousers and, voila, she had an outfit a Twi'Lek dancer would envy her for.

She would have to do without the make-up, since all Derek had in is office was a set of ink pens which were impossible to use, even for eye-liner. Instead, Leila pinched her cheeks for a little flush and wet her lips with the tip of her tongue. She would only pass for a third-rate prostitute, but that was only credible in a place like this. Swaying her hips, she approached the SlaveI.

The hatch was closed, but Leila went up the ramp nevertheless, pounding a fist against the durasteel. Nothing happened for the longest time, and Leila already considered simply breaking in and claiming it to be a malfunction, however unlikely that would be on Fett's ship, when she could hear footsteps. The door hissed open and a gruff looking man in uniform stood in it, regarding her with annoyance.

"What do you want?" he barked at her.

"Well," Leila purred, measuring him up and down suggestively, "I wondered if you would be interested in - business." She paused long enough before the last word to shove her hip towards him.

The effect was immediate. Instead of banging the door shut on her, he scanned her up and down. The upgraded outfit let little to imagination, but those were exactly the most interesting parts.

"I can understand if you don't want a tour of Tenjoo, it is a very boring place." Leila leaned towards him. "I am sure your ship is much more interesting."

He did not even try to take his eyes of the new view, talking more to her cleavage then her. "I'm not alone."

Leila closed the distance between them with a last step an laid her hand on his chest. "I am better working one on one, but if you want him in -" her voice trailed off, while her fingers traced the seams of his left breast pocket.

Instinct took over as he let her into the ship. The assassin made a point of sliding in with her whole body brushing against his. They would not be alone long, though. She could already hear the second man approach.

"What is it, Gerg?" a dark voice called. The man turning around the bend fit it well. He was tall and broad, and might have been handsome but for an ugly scar running through his face. And the sneer appearing on his face when he saw Leila.

"Fun," the addressed man replied, leering all over Leila, too. His eyes showed clearly that they had no intention of paying anything for services provided. Who was she but an unarmed woman locked up with two strong men? Leila wanted to sigh. Did nobody worry, when you approached without weapon? Should that not make anybody suspicious?

The nameless giant glanced at his chrono. "Enough time for both of us eh?" He threw a conspirational look at Ge/>

"I'm sorry," the assassin said softly. In one smooth movement she jumped up, bringing her right arm around behind his neck and striking her forearm against his Adam's Apple. With her belly placed on his shoulder, she kicked both of her feet into his crotch with maximum force, landing surely on her hands as 'Master' went to the ground. She turned a wheel to the side, crouching on the corner of the narrow bunk. From here she had easy access to the officers back and neck. A heartbeat later, he lay motionless, still clasping his damaged pleasure centre.

"Serves you right," she muttered as she began to drag him away by the feet. Though she was strong, his bulky body was difficult to manoeuvre, but Leila cared little whether his head or back banged against anything. If he had not been so heavy, she might even have gone out of her way to give his skull some extra dents.

When she finally reached the ramp, she just gave him a kick and watched him tumble towards the ground. Leila decided to simply drag him to the nearest wall. There she made sure he would be out for some more hours before she returned to the SlaveI to drag Gerg out, too.

Amazing! Another great story, another great update!

For Leila the human body was nothing so much to her than disaster waiting to happen. Just a little pressure here, a small twist there and it actually destroyed itself.

This is my kind of assassin I really like the way Leila is in control and extremely smart, and I very much like the way she knows how to manipulate. She's got this great control over exactly what she needs to do and once she has done it, bang Or choke, as the case may be.

Excellent update! Looking forward to more - even more fett

Thank you Vadey. It took me long time to get this together, glad it turned out to your liking. Close combat is great, if not easy to write.

Mine, too, Luton. Every idiot can use weapons, but the best weapon is still the mind. Know your enemy.
More Fett? Okay, here he comes:



Pleased with herself, Leila had just piled Gerg on his comrade, when the double doors to the hangar bay opened and Jango Fett walked in. He was preceded by a man in uniform who probably complied only because he was held at blaster point. Leila couldn't help but stare.

The bounty hunter did not even look at her as he led his prisoner into the SlaveI.

Leila stood as if nailed to the ground, softly rubbing her hurt cheek. The cuff still fastened around her left wrist jingled softly. And though she realized that the hatch had not closed, nor the ramp risen, she still stood motionless, captured in the eye of storm that her thoughts created. She could not say how much time had passed, when Fett reappeared in the hatch. For a long moment he just faced her direction, then he motioned her inside with his head. Mechanically, Leila set off.

When she tried to step past him, Fett's hand shot up, taking hold of her chin. Defiantly, Leila let him scrutinize the growing bruise on her cheek, before she jerked her head free. As she continued into the SlaveI, she did not see the bounty hunter's gaze resting on the cuff dangling from her arm. The assassin went directly to the holding cells, hoping to find a key in the place her wannabe master had found the cuffs.

The man Fett had brought was sitting on the narrow bunk in one of the cells. He stood up, hope gleaming in his eyes when he saw her approach.

"Don't bother," she said raising a hand dismissively.

The man closed his mouth, but kept his eyes on her. She turned his back to him and began searching the cabinets systematically. But there was nothing. With a sigh, Leila put everything back into place, wondering if that brute had the keys on him. Not that it mattered much, she thought, when she felt the ship rise with s shudder. Either Fett would have to deal with that personally, or she just would have a lock pick remove it at her next stop.

She closed the cabinet, and turned. The official now stood close to the bars, his arms reaching through the spaces. With a pleading look he opened his mouth -

"No, really," Leila said shaking her head in disgust. "Don't!"

She made sure to pass him by far enough to stay out of reach. The last thing she needed now was to damage the merchandise. Bounty hunters were rather particular about that. Without problems she found her way back to the small sitting area she remembered. Sitting down, she began to knot the broken pieces of cloth together again.

The bounty hunter came though the door just as Leila tied the last knot. He had left his helmet in the cockpit and his hair stuck out at odd angles. Suddenly Leila felt exposed. Her clothes were not covering much, but it had not bothered her before. And it annoyed her that she should feel vulnerable now, when she had not care before. Must be a helmet thing, she decided. Still she slid a little further onto the bench, putting the table between her body and Fett's gaze.

"It was a scam, right?" Leila challenged him.

Fett turned around with half a shrug, opening one of the cubicles behind him.

"I hope you got some good laughs out of it," Leila grumbled.

Wordlessly, the bounty hunter turned back to her with bacta patch in his hand and leaned over the table, intending to apply it.

"Not. Your. Business!" Leila snapped as she snatched the patch from his hand. "You might want to do something about this, though." Holding out her cuffed wrist accusingly, the assassin began to apply the patch with her other hand.

Fett drew a small multi-key from one of his many pockets and inserted it in the lock. It took the tool a few seconds to adapt to the lock, but then it clicked open easily. He caught the cuffs and placed t/>

Leila nodded. Taking into consideration that they were close to the Hydian Way, she had expected as much. She folded her hands around the cup. "Good enough." She kept her eyes on the caf, willing the bounty hunter to leave.

Eventually, he did, and Leila let her shoulder sag. At least, she was off that planet and back in business. Everything else was secondary. She fingered the bacta patch. With secondary action to be expected.

Leila is such a great character!

Thank you, Vadey. I like her a lot, too.
And she can take quite a beating and still get on with work. One tough cookie.

Pretty cool story. Bravo, MsLanna!

Thanks for dropping by, MandoJedi.
I'm glad you like the story.

And now, moving on to the second...

Leila's mouth failed to connect with her toast. "Two ships, you say?"

Great image; I love the way you worded that.

I like the way Jango was introduced in this one. Leila clearly enjoys the opportunity to have the upper hand this time.

The no-weapons approach continues to be fun and creative to read. Nice change from the typical hired killer.

Good work, Lanna; I definitely enjoyed it!