Chapter 3: Can the Leopard Shed Her Spots?

[Arya Ravenwing]

Arya's breath escaped as a grunt when she slammed into the hood of the speeder. Adia might have been a small woman, but she certainly had muscle packed onto that slight frame.

"Who are you working for, delivery girl?" The rain was thick and heavy, and all three of them would be drenched again in a matter of minutes. Adia slammed her shoulders to the hood again for good measure, and rain dripped of her red hair into Arya's face.

The smuggler's eyes narrowed at being called a girl, face to face with a woman who could only have been a few years older than she. The smaller woman's eyes widened a bit as Arya's right hand moved slightly, pushing the muzzle of her holdout blaster into her stomach. She'd just had time to pull it out from underneath her seat as she'd been pulled unceremoniously from the cab.

"Why don't you ask him yourself?" Arya shoved Adia back and stood up, nodding towards the warehouse door. The curiously empty warehouse door. What? Where are you Dan... She licked her lips and wavered momentarily, trying to keep an eye on the man Adia had called Rick as well.

[General Dan]

"Ease off 'er, assassin."

The familiar voice should be more than enough to answer Adia's question, as a lean silhouette appeared in the warehouse doorway.

[Rick Wright]

Things had taken a sudden change for the worse. Though Rick knew that both he and Adia could handle themselves if things came to blows, Arya had the upper hand. She had blindsided Adia first with the blaster and now with the appearance of her apparent benefactor. From the look on her face, Adia recognized the voice. Rick, on the other hand, was beginning to feel as though this was going to turn into yet another situation where the pair of them were plunged into something far over their heads.

“Take it easy,” he motioned one hand downwards, gesturing for Arya to lower her weapon.

[Adia Issoris]

Dan stood just shy of the drops splattering while the rest were victim of an increasing rain. Adia was a wet cat in every sense of the phrase: wet and furious. She considered breaking Arya's arm and taking the cab, but knowing Dan, it was rigged.

She glanced at Arya's blaster, and then up at the rain. Then, as if she wasn't interested or impressed, turned back to Dan.

"I told you I quit."

[Arya Ravenwing]

Arya narrowed her eyes at Rick, and kept the weapon trained on Adia as the rain drenched them all. He was focusing on her, but the woman was the greatest threat. After all, Arya still had the keys to the cab in her jacket pocket.

"I told you I quit." Adia turned her back on the smuggler and addressed Dan. Arya immediately trained the weapon on Rick, just in case he tried to make a move.

She spoke up over the sound of the rain. "Well she quits, so should I be going? I'll just take her back where I found her."

[General Dan]

"And I told you it ain't exactly the quittin' profession."

Dan kept his voice even, and his gestures disarming. He didn't need to remind Adia who he was, and what he could do.

"How bout you all come inside, before you catch your death of cold."

[Rick Wright]

The gun now pointed directly at him, Rick saw little option other than to comply with the request. He raised his hands in submission and moved towards the man whom Rick guessed had once been Adia’s employer. His instincts told him that Adia, at least, was important to the man and that therefore no harm would come to her. Unfortunately, he wasn’t so certain about his own safety.

[Adia Issoris]

Adia looked back up into the rain and contemplated staying in it. For a human, she supposed it might be on the cold side, but it didn't bother her much. That wasn't what Dan was talking about.

She smiled slightly at Dan beneath his dry overhang.

"Dan, this is Rick. Rick, Dan. Rick's a friend. He bumped into me on my way to a job interview."

[Arya Ravenwing]

Arya motioned with the blaster, making sure Rick didn't get any last minute ideas about running away. Adia seemed happy to stay in the rain, but the smuggler didn't want to have to force her inside. She wasn't a hired gun, for frell's sake.

Not a hired gun, Dan. She pursed her lips, and lowered the blaster. She was still in the rain though, trying to bring up the rear of Dan's two reluctant guests.

[General Dan]

"Heh."

An easygoing smile snaked its way across the parched canyons of the shootist's face.

"Pleasure to meet you, Rick. Maybe you can convince our ladyfriend not to be a mule about my hospitality. It's a damn soft evening out there."

He glanced to Arya offhandedly.

"Oh..." He nodded dismissively "...you can put that away. We're all friends."

It was the kind of thing the walrus would say to the oysters.

[Rick Wright]

Though Dan had instructed Arya to holster her weapon, Rick did not think for one minute that they were – as the old man had said – all friends. In fact, there was something more worrying about a man who was so assured of his control over a situation that he did not see the necessity for firearms. At least they were inside now – although it would be a good long while before Rick dripped dry. Even his bones were soaked.

[Adia Issoris]

Adia stepped under the overhang, following Dan into the warehouse. Arya and Rick followed. Even with the rain, she could smell that Rick was on edge. Dan was always up to something, but it was near impossible to garner what. Adia knew that after tracking him for weeks. His motivations were different. She suspected he was guided by the Force, if such a thing existed.

Damn him. She thought as she gathered her hair and squeezed it. Water spattered against the duracrete in the mostly empty warehouse that seemed too small. This was a front for something else.

"I'm in a bit of a mood, I haven't had lunch. You know how it goes. Is there a place to hang my coat?"

[General Dan]

Dan looked to the side, a visual cue for the droid standing near the door. The automated coat rack unstiffened, walking towards Adia on spindly legs, and chittered a binary salutation.

"I'm less handy when it comes to hot lunches, unfortunately."

He glanced to Arya and grinned roguishly.

"We do have a delivery girl, though."

[Arya Ravenwing]

Arya stood with arms crossed just inside the doorway, and tried not to glower as Dan referred to her as a 'delivery girl.' She managed to hold herself to a dark look in his direction.

[Rick Wright]

Rick looked between Dan and Arya, establishing a mental chain of command in his mind.

“So,” he cleared his throat. “Why are we here, exactly?”

[Adia Issoris]

"Thank you." Adia said, placing her coat on the droid rack, which aranged it neatly and skittered back off into the corner.

Dan appreciated politeness, especially when it came to his hospitality. The man had a special disdain for the rude.

"Rick, please indulge our host."
She glanced over at Arya, ignoring Rick for the time being.
"Thirty minutes or less and the food is free." Dan's grin returned briefly.
"Is there somewhere we can sit to discuss, ah, whatever it is?"

[General Dan]

"Of course. This way."

Dan gestured to a door towards the back, which led to a modestly-furnished office. The desk was cluttered with some papers here and there.

"You'll have to excuse the mess. The previous tenant was a bit of a slouch."

He gestured to some comfortable chairs.

"Rick."

He squared himself from behind the desk, giving the man his full attention.

"I must really apologize. I can see I'm wasting your time. You may go if you'd like."

[Arya Ravenwing]

Arya was still trailing along behind everyone, feeling very ignored and used. But she really didn't have any choice, as she had accepted the job.

As Dan addressed Rick, she stepped aside, to let the other man pass by on his way out of the warehouse.

[Rick Wright]

“I don’t mind waiting for Adia,” Rick shook his head. Though he knew she could look after herself, he didn’t feel comfortable with the thought of leaving her with Dan.

[Adia Issoris]

It was clear Rick didn't fully understand. Dan wanted to talk to her, and only her. Rick probably made it inconvient for Dan, who was smart enough to know that this was probably a coincidence. Adia tended to be a loner.

She hooked her thumbs in the crook of her arms, and frowned. This was an awkward situation--if she had killed Dan when it was convient, this wouldn't be happening right now. Adia was one of the rare people that were true to their word. She had quit, or so she thought.

"Dan, why have you brought me here?"