Family Reunion
"Oh." He blinked. "Oh shit. Oh, shit."
"Nephew," said the green helmet.
"Hi, uncle." Lethal gave a small wave. Fett shook his head.
"You are too young to be running a bounty like this."
"Hey!" Lethal frowned. "I'm fifteen, I'm old enough."
"No. You should not be doing this hunt by yourself. You have a number of friends and cousins, you should be doing this with at least one of them."
"They were busy," Lethal replied, slightly stiffly. They'd gone off to the Rebellion only a few weeks previously. He was restless and needed something to do, so he'd picked the most interesting bounty he could find.
"Does your father know you went for this?" Fett grumbled.
"He knows I went. I told him I'd be safe."
"You lied."
"I did not!"
"Intentionally or not, you did."
"And you're running the same one," Lethal sighed. "I got here first, Fett. Finders keepers."
The green helmet shook side to side. "You are an idiot. I am not backing down from this, kid."
"I'm not either," Lethal returned. An edge crept into his voice and he gripped his blaster a little tighter. Through the HUD of his dark blue helmet, he scanned his uncle. Fett was shorter than his father by about an inch, but was of a height with any standard trooper and an inch taller than his nephew. He was a little over twice Lethal's age, in his physical prime, and had been doing this a lot longer than Lethal had. Commando's son or not, Lethal wouldn't win if it came down to a fight, and Lethal didn't want to shoot his uncle, even if it was to disable and not to kill. As he sized Fett up he was aware Fett was doing the same. Lethal swallowed, tensed and ready to spring. He almost jumped when Fett spoke again.
"Come on then."
"What?"
"You made it this far, so you're clearly not useless, and if your father's worth his salt he'll have taught you a few tricks. You want to run this. Fine. But you're running it with me, and we're doing it my way."
"Wait, you're serious?" Lethal straightened. Boba Fett had nearly matched Jango's reputation, he was at the top of his game. To run a job with him was a learning opportunity some up-and-comers would kill for. Family relations or otherwise, Lethal was not about to pass that up.
"It's that, or I knock you out and ship you home in a cargo crate," Fett said flatly. "I usually work alone, but your family coming after me is more trouble than it's worth. Cover my sheb, do what I say, and we'll split the fee at the end, 80-20."
"Oh, no, I want 50%, I got this far on my own, remember?" Lethal shot back instantly. Fett cocked his head.
"You're still a kid. And a rookie. 25."
"I'm a valuable asset and I can hold my own in a fight. 45."
"We're doing this my way, and you're listening. 30%."
"I'm covering your ass? I want proper compensation. 40%."
"35."
"Done." Lethal stuck an arm out. Fett clasped it in the Mandalorian fashion and they shook once.
"Good. Now patch me into your internal comm, kid. I don't want every conversation to be audible outside the helmet."
"On it." Lethal punched a few things in, and the little notification of connection established flashed up on his HUD. He gave Fett the thumbs up, and could practically feel the older Mando roll his eyes.
"You better be worth 35. You kriff up, I'm docking your pay."
"I won't kriff up."
"Good. And no mouthing off."
"What counts as mouthing off? Genuine question."
"I trust you're smart enough to figure it out." Fett checked his blaster, and gave a sharp nod. "Time to flush the kinrath nest. Don't get shot."
"Got it." Lethal fell in behind his uncle.
"And kid?"
"Yes?"
"Don't say a word to anyone outside your family about this, or next time I see you you will end up on your ass."
"Elek, Ba'vodu."
"Don't do that. This is a job, you call me Fett."
"Yes, Fett." Lethal was glad the helmet hid his smile.