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This particular contract had been pretty easy: kill some warmongering merchant who had been trying to start a civil war on a militant border planet colony.
After two days of searching, Slade had tracked him down to a shady trading port in the middle of nowhere. It wasn't even notably shady for how far out it was. Though it did attract a wide range of travelers, runaways, and smugglers. His mark was exceedingly easy to track, immediately going to a place that could accommodate his very specific and also well known tastes in sexual partners.
Walking into said brothel, Slade's eyes were instantly drawn to a dark-haired man perching in the corner. He wore a simple black skintight suit with an embroidered bird on the front. It highlighted his lean figure. A plunging neckline showed off his delectable, unblemished skin, hinting at perfection underneath. Their eyes met across the room. His were a pretty yellow-gold that almost seemed unnatural with their shine and unusually large size. His bright, confident expression was the most striking feature, though; it sat out of place in the unwelcoming room. Though the man was unusual, Slade dismissed him as not a threat and went up to the front desk.
"I'm looking for this man," Slade announced to the presumed owner, showing her a picture and placing a small pile of platinum on the desk (he wasn't paid to be subtle). She slowly looked him up and down and said, "Room 6. Upstairs on the right." Slade turned to go. "Make it clean, or you're paying double." He wouldn't.
The wooden stairs creaked loudly to his enhanced ears as he went up the stairs. Everything was too loud, and the smell was too strong here. Opening the door labeled 6, he was relieved to find the man asleep on a bed. He took a knife out of its holster and cleanly stabbed it through his eye into the brain.
After wiping the blood off his blade, he re-holstered it and walked out of the room. All the while hearing too much from the other rooms. Out the corner of his eye, he saw the enticing man from earlier, now upstairs staring openly at him. Deciding this stranger wasn't enough to get him to stay on this godforsaken planet. He would call Billy for his next job when he got back to the ship.
Thankfully the way back to the ship was short and not nearly enough to rile him up past breaking point. The short temper of his youth was long gone, but irritation seemed to be most of his moods nowadays. He wasn't distracted enough not to notice his tail, though. Even if it was only once he got in his ship and had left port.
Slade was so looking forward to some peace and quiet but the intruder had other ideas. The quiet (even to his ears) pitter, patter of feet on his metal flooring gave them away, along with the faint foreign smell of perfume that was decidedly not Slade's.
At least this was still somewhat interesting. He was known enough as a skilled mercenary around these parts that people generally knew not to mess with him. So either his tail was very dumb which could be entertaining in itself or someone wanted to seek him out which hadn't happened in a while.
As he approached almost silently, Slade saw the same pretty man from earlier. His lips widened into a smirk once he realized. Grabbing him in a tight choke hold from behind, Slade trapped him flush against his chest.
"Hello little stowaway," Slade whispered into his ear and felt him shudder.
"I'm going to ask some questions and you're going to answer me, alright?"
He felt a nod so continued.
"Let's start with a simple one, what's your name?"
"Robin but you can call me whatever you want darlin'," he answered but Slade could hear the inconsistency in his heartbeat and the slight hesitation in his voice.
"Try again, pretty bird."
"Aw, you think I'm pretty."
Slade tightened his grip to the point of pain. "It's Dick," he choked out. The pressure lessened.
"Why are you here?"
Dick swallowed before answering, "I needed to leave that planet."
"What's stopping me from going back and dumping you back there?"
"Wasting fuel?" Dick tried. "I can do whatever you want while I'm here." He leaned into Slade's hold but he wasn't impressed. "I could even help you with your mercenary job."
Slade paused. "You would make a good distraction," he considered, "Okay but this is not going to be a pleasant journey for you and I'm dropping you off at the next port."