#how about dat reveal tho 👀

[im-no-jedi]

MLWTBB: Business Is Business

aka the (continued) journey into my self insert nonsense✨

chapter summary: the Bad Batch return to Ord Mantell and discover Cid’s Parlor has been taken over by Roland Durand, and by proximity, Hannah as well. Cid comes up with a plan to take back the parlor that includes Hannah’s help, but a visit from the Pyke Syndicate complicates things...

notes: this is a continuation of my story, “My Life With The Bad Batch”; I highly recommend reading that first before this one! I created a few new planets for this story. I’m also not 100% versed in SW terminology, so forgive me if some things are labeled incorrectly! each chapter will be rated accordingly, as opposed to the overall fic. lastly, there is romance in this story. hope you enjoy! 💙

add. notes: this chapter was edited and proofread by my sis @jam-n-ham! thanks sis!! 😋💙

Chapter 2, 3900+ words, rated T (for gun violence and alcohol, you know, stuff from the episode 😝)

previous chapters: Chapter 1

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✨MLWTBB masterlist✨  

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The next several days were absolute torture. Word quickly got out about the new management at Cid’s Parlor, which significantly upped its popularity. Hannah now not only had to contend with her sleazy new boss, but an increase in work as well. She barely found time to even sit before something or someone needed her attention. Every morning, she would wake up and hope with all her heart that she would walk into the parlor and the boys would be there to whisk her away. And every night, she would go to her apartment and cry herself to sleep. She didn’t know how much more she could take.

One particularly busy day, Hannah discovered that they’d run out of an ingredient in Roland’s favorite mixed drink. She insisted on being the one to go shop for it as an excuse to get out of the parlor. Roland thankfully agreed to it, and Hannah intentionally took her time to shop for what she needed. Somehow, the dirty streets of Ord Mantell were more welcoming than the place she basically lived in.  

Of course, her thoughts drifted to her friends once again, the people who had become her adopted family. She could just picture them swooping in on the Marauder and beckoning her to fly away with them, like she had done the first day she met them back on Astreon. She missed them so much, her chest physically ached, and it took everything in her to not cry on the way back to the parlor.

As Hannah reached the stairs leading to the parlor, she crossed paths with some people she was very surprised to see. Approaching her were three Pykes, who had just exited the parlor. She had never seen Pykes in person before, but she knew all about them. Mostly that they were the kind of people you didn’t want to get in trouble with. She gave them a wide berth as they came up the stairs and waited until they were out of sight before even attempting to go down the stairs herself. She had no idea why Pykes were in the parlor, and she was pretty sure she didn’t want to find out either.

The parlor was as busy as ever once Hannah got back into it. She quickly got to work making a drink for Roland, as she knew he would inevitably ask for one. Sure enough, she heard Roland call out from the back room, as he had been doing ever since taking over the parlor. The drink was quickly finished, and Hannah rushed over to the room to bring it to her boss.

The sight she was met with nearly made her drop the drink, and she let out a gasp. Standing in the room, along with several of Roland’s men, were five familiar persons; four adult men clad in black and red armor, and a young girl with short blonde hair. It was them - it was her family.

The five seemed equally surprised to see Hannah as she was to see them. Omega immediately exclaimed her friend’s name, which made Hannah nearly burst into tears. Hannah looked at each of them, a similar expression of shock on each of their faces. Her eyes ultimately landed on Hunter, who looked back at her in desperation. She wanted so badly to run into his arms and beg him to take her away from there, but she held back.

The moment was interrupted by Roland, who once again asked for his drink. Barely able to breathe, Hannah managed to pull herself together and walked over to Roland, who was seated behind Cid’s desk at the back of the room. Omega reached out for Hannah as she walked by, but to no avail.

“Ahh, yet another masterpiece,” Roland said after taking a sip of his drink. “You really are my best asset, dollface,” he said to Hannah smugly.  

Hunter visibly tensed up, balling his hands into fists; it looked like he was about to lunge at Roland. But Hannah gave him a look, begging him with her eyes to not start anything.

“If there’s nothing else you all need,” Roland started, clearly addressing the Bad Batch. “Then kindly leave my office. I have business to attend to.��

Everyone looked to Hunter, who was still visibly scowling at Roland. Hannah gave him another look, this time silently begging him to go. As much she wanted to go with them, Hannah knew it would be better for them to just leave while they had the chance. The pained look in Hunter’s eyes nearly broke her heart as he told the others it was time to leave. He had to practically drag Omega out of the room. Hannah could feel herself shaking as they all left.

“Well, I certainly didn’t figure you the kind to befriend mercenaries,” Roland said to Hannah after the Batch had left. “Much less disgraced former Republic troopers.”

Like Hunter had done before, Hannah balled her hands into fists, wanting nothing more than to slug Roland in the face. “There’s a lot you don’t know about me.”

Roland snickered. “Something to look forward to in the future, I guess.”

She had heard enough. Hannah huffed and stormed out of the room, barely holding back her tears. As she stepped behind the counter of the bar, a small figure caught the corner of her eye. Omega was standing in the doorway at the bottom of the stairs. The two girls shared a sorrowful look before Omega was beckoned away by one of the boys. Hannah could no longer hide her tears and sunk to the floor, quietly sobbing to herself behind the counter.

*****************************

“We can’t just leave her there!” Omega exclaimed desperately. She did her best to keep up with her brothers as they all began walking back to their ship.

“Yeah!” Wrecker added.

“We’re not going to,” Hunter reassured them. “Once the parlor closes for the night, I’m going to her apartment to get her.”

“It’s extremely likely that man has guards posted at her apartment,” Tech pointed out.

“Then I’ll sneak in,” Hunter replied sternly. “Whatever it takes to get her out of there. We’ll bring her with us.”

“To where?” Echo asked.

“I don’t know yet. But we’re getting off Ord Mantell. Tech, prep the ship. The rest of us will gather supplies.”

The others looked away solemnly. They had gotten used to Cid’s place and didn’t want to have to leave it, but everyone knew that Hunter was right in wanting to leave.  

Everyone except for Omega.

“What about Cid?” she asked her brothers. “What did that guy mean when he said she was ‘out’?”

“Given his tone,” Tech began to reply. “It is a plausible assumption that Cid was either forced out or taken out.”

Omega didn’t like the sound of that. She ran in front of the boys, stopping them in their tracks. “We have to find her and help her!”

Before any of the boys could respond, they all heard a familiar voice clear their throat. Standing in the door to the Marauder was Cid, her arms crossed as she leaned against the doorframe. “Nice to see one of you cares.” She gestured inside of the ship, basically ordering them inside.

As the Batch stepped inside the ship, Cid stopped Hunter abruptly. “Where’s Red?”

“Still at the parlor,” Hunter replied solemnly. “She looked miserable.”

“Poor girl,” Cid replied, shaking her head. “I expect you to get her outta that hellhole, Bandana.”

“Believe me, you don’t even have to ask.”

“Oh, I wasn’t askin’.”

Hunter managed a smirk, pleasantly surprised that Cid seemed as concerned about Hannah as the rest of them were.

A discussion was then had about what to do next, including Cid telling the others everything she knew about Roland and why he had basically stolen her parlor from her. Cid had a plan for how to get her parlor back, which included getting Hannah’s help. Hunter didn’t like the idea of her getting involved, but Cid insisted that Hannah would agree to it, even going so far as to berate Hunter and tell him to “have some faith in your girl.” Omega agreed as well, which meant that Hunter definitely had to relent now. That didn’t make him any less worried though...

*******************************

A bit later, after Hannah had taken some time to calm down, two familiar figures came walking into the parlor. It was Bolo and Ketch. They hadn’t come to the parlor at all since Roland had taken over, and Hannah was overjoyed to see them. And to her delight, the first thing they did was come over to see her and order some drinks. Hannah happily got to work making their order, but she noticed something was a bit off about the both of them, almost like they were trying to hide something.

As Hannah brought their drinks over, Bolo and Ketch thanked her, to which she responded by saying how nice it was to see them again. Bolo scanned the room to see if anybody was watching them before returning the sentiment. He nudged Ketch, who began digging into his pockets to pay for the drinks, but Hannah insisted they were on the house. Ketch refused, saying they couldn’t possibly accept such a generous offer.  

Now Hannah knew something was up. Bolo and Ketch never passed up an opportunity for free drinks.

Ketch took a moment to scan the room again before sliding some credits over to Hannah for the drinks. Immediately, Hannah noticed something unusual sitting underneath the money, but didn’t say anything.

“Here’s the cash,” Ketch said. “Plus, a little something extra.” He winked at Hannah, then nodded to Bolo, who took his drink to another table. Ketch also walked away, sitting down at one of the benches with his drink and a bag of Mantell Mix he’d brought into the parlor with him.

Hannah cautiously swiped the money into her hand and looked at what Ketch had put underneath it. She found a small folded up note and casually turned around so no one would notice her read it. The note was from Cid, which nearly made her gasp. It read, “Need a distraction. Keep Roland occupied. The boys and I are getting the parlor back.” Hannah clutched the note to her chest, fearful of anyone seeing it, before discreetly shoving it into one of her pockets. Then she turned back to see Bolo staring at her expectantly. Hannah quickly scanned the room before giving Bolo a wink and a nod. At that, Bolo quickly finished his drink before giving a thumbs-up to Ketch and leaving the parlor.

The plan was officially in motion.

Hannah took a deep breath, put on her best fake smile, and casually walked to the back room, knocking on the door. “Roland? You busy?”

The door slid open almost immediately. Roland was still seated at his desk, petting Ruby. “Not too busy for you. What is it, dollface?”

It was taking all of Hannah’s strength to not cringe, but the act she was putting on helped with that. “Well, I know how you’ve been wanting to make things more exciting around here, so I’ve been brainstorming some new drink ideas and was wondering if you wanted to test them out. You know, since you’re such a good judge of these kinds of things.”

Roland quirked an eyebrow at her and smirked. “Oh really? Why the sudden interest in my approval?”

“Oh, I just figured it was about time for us to make amends,” Hannah lied, doing her best to sound genuine. “Don���t wanna bring the business down after all. Plus...” She coyly tucked her hair behind her ear. “We haven’t really gotten to know each other that well yet. With how highly everyone out here speaks about you, I must be missing something.”

Thankfully, Roland’s ego was stronger than his intuition, and he gladly accepted Hannah’s offer. She immediately got to work pulling out different bottles and using what knowledge she had about each flavor of drink to try and put together something Roland might like.  

For what felt like hours, she was asking questions about Roland and trying to get him to talk about himself as much as possible. If nothing else, she knew that Roland’s favorite topic of discussion was himself.  

“And that’s how I single handedly got an entire group of Ugnauts to join my operation without question,” Roland said, completing his reiteration of one of his many tales.

“Once again,” Hannah said, acting impressed. “You never disappoint.” She finished mixing up another drink and slid it over to Roland.

“If only my mother could hear you say that,” Roland responded before taking a sip of the drink. “Hmm, could use a bit more zest in this one.”

“Noted,” Hannah said, taking the drink back from Roland. “And what do you mean by that other comment? I thought you said your mother approved of what you were doing.”

“Oh, she does. In fact, she thinks it's wonderful that I’m finally doing something with my life. As if I haven’t up until this point...”

Ahh. Mother issues. Of course. Everything made sense now.

“Well,” Hannah said, mixing up the newly fixed drink and handing it back to Roland. “For what it’s worth, I think you’ve made a very impressive mark on this place. Cid could never get the place this busy. I’m sure everyone will be coming here to meet with you.” She leaned her elbows on the counter and rested her chin in her hands, coyly staring at Roland. He was definitely buying the scam she was putting on.

“That’s the idea,” Roland said, swirling his drink around a bit. “Just you wait. Soon, you’ll be mixing up drinks for some of the biggest names in the galaxy, sweetheart.” He snickered. “Too bad Uncle Vinny isn’t around to see it.”

Hannah’s eyes practically popped out of her head and she felt her heart stop for a moment. Did... did he just say what she thought he said?

“W-who?” she hesitantly asked, barely able to hold herself together.

“My uncle,” Roland replied after taking a sip of his drink. “He was a bigshot businessman; had his toes dipped in all kinds of places, including the Empire. I personally always thought he was a bit too big for his britches, if you catch my drift. Ended up getting himself killed on a business trip a couple months ago, the poor fool.” He snickered again. “My mother was definitely not happy about it though, I’ll say that.”

As Roland was talking, Hannah had turned away from him, pretending like she was cleaning some cups so he wouldn’t notice how pale she had gone in the face. Of all people to take over Cid’s Parlor, it had to be Vin’s kriffing nephew. No wonder Roland reminded her so much of Vin. At least she had managed to get on Roland’s good side right off the bat. It was going to be very hard to even look at him from now on though.

After a bit longer of talking with Roland, Hannah noticed Ketch stand up out of the corner of her eye. He was still munching on his Mantell Mix and seemed to be making his way out of the parlor. She then noticed he was discreetly dropping pieces of food on the ground near Ruby, who was sitting on the stool next to Roland. The small lizard creature was immediately drawn to the food and began following the trail Ketch was leaving behind, which led up the stairs and out of the parlor. Hannah silently began questioning the viability of Cid’s plan because of this, but continued keeping up the act so Roland wouldn’t notice Ruby was gone.

Unfortunately, Roland was more attached to his little pet than Hannah anticipated. It didn’t take long for him to notice Ruby’s disappearance and immediately demanded that his men go looking for her. Hannah did her best to encourage Roland, saying that she couldn’t have gotten far and that she was sure Ruby was fine, but Roland was still visibly upset. It was genuinely shocking to see Roland caring about something other than himself for once. Then again, almost every single time she’d seen Roland that week, he’d had Ruby either in his arms or on his lap. And Ruby always returned the love, never letting anyone else near her without hissing or running away. It was touching, in its own weird way. At least Roland had that going for him unlike his super selfish uncle...

After some time, the armored men returned, informing Roland that the search for Ruby was unsuccessful, so Roland decided to take matters into his own hands. Hannah insisted he stay in the parlor to let his men do their job, but Roland was stubborn and left before Hannah had a chance to stop him. It was out of her hands now. She could only hope that whatever Bolo and Ketch were doing would be enough for Cid and the boys to enact their plan, whatever it was.

More time passed, and eventually, Roland came back with Ruby in tow, cooing at her and saying how they would “catch those two and kill them”, whatever that meant. Hannah expressed how nice it was to see Ruby back again, only half lying this time. Roland then said he was going back to his office and informed Hannah that if any Pykes showed up, to not worry about it and point them in his direction. Things were starting to click into place now for Hannah. She nodded to Roland, assuring him that she would do exactly as he asked.

Roland could be heard still cooing at Ruby even from the hallway. Worry began to wash over Hannah, as she desperately hoped that nothing unusual would be waiting in the back room.

PEW!

Hannah practically flew into the air in shock. She rushed over to the hallway, looked around the corner, and saw that the lock for the door had been blasted. She then heard Roland exclaim from inside the room, “The spice! It’s gone!”

Spice? That’s what he was keeping in there? Even more things were clicking into place, and Hannah grew more worried. She could hear Roland calling for more of his men to come into the room and “go after them” in an almost frantic tone. Hannah clutched her chest, realizing what was going on. Cid’s plan really was as crazy as she thought it was. And there was nothing else Hannah could do to help. All she could do now was wait.

She didn’t have to wait long for something to happen. Two of Roland’s men came into the parlor with Bolo and Ketch in tow, their hands raised above their heads. Hannah gasped and watched as they were shoved towards the back room. She couldn’t keep herself from following this time. From the hallway, she could hear Roland demanding to know everything and why they had stolen Ruby. It was all over from there. Hannah knew Bolo and Ketch were too cowardly to lie to someone like Roland. If they survived this, she was definitely going to berate them later for it.

Then suddenly, Hannah felt a presence approach her from behind - three presences, actually. She turned to look and audibly gasped at the sight of three Pykes standing directly behind her.

“Where is Roland Durand?” one of the Pykes asked her. He was completely monotone, but Hannah still felt entirely intimidated by him. She pulled herself together enough to answer, directing them around the corner. As the three Pykes walked past her, Hannah felt a chill down her spine. Just their very presence intimidated her beyond explanation.

Less than a minute later, Bolo and Ketch came out of the room, being shoved away by one of Roland’s men. She gave them a worried look as they were led away, but her attention was drawn to the office now more than ever. The door was shut, but Hannah could still hear through it, her face pressed up against the frame.

“I said you’ll get your money,” she heard Roland saying. There was a nervous hitch to his voice she had never heard before. “I suggest you go back to Oba Diah and wait.”

“You are out of your depth, Durand,” said one of the Pykes. It sounded like the same one who had addressed Hannah before. “Either you correct this grave mistake, or you and your entire family will experience what pain truly feels like.” The Pyke still spoke in monotone, but Hannah could just sense Roland quaking in his shoes from the other side of the door.  

Everything suddenly went silent. Hannah pressed her ear further against the door to try and make out any noise, but to no avail. She didn’t realize her elbow was so close to the door panel before it was too late. The door suddenly slid open, and Hannah practically stumbled into the office. All eyes were on her now, including that of the three Pykes.

“How disappointing,” the head Pyke said. “To think you would set spies on us despite our previous arrangements... you continue to wear out our patience, Durand.” The two other Pykes then pulled out blasters and aimed them at Hannah, who gasped in terror and threw her hands up.

“Wait!” Roland exclaimed. “Don’t hurt her! She had nothing to do with this!” The head Pyke turned back towards Roland as he continued to speak. “Cid’s the one you want. She stole your spice. If you want it back, you need to look for her. And if anything, this woman might know where she is.”

The head Pyke turned towards Hannah again and slowly approached her. Hannah felt like running, but was too frozen with fear to move. “If you know where this Cid is,” the Pyke said to her. “I suggest you tell us.”

Hannah shook her head, her breath catching in her throat. “I don’t, I swear.” Normally, she would throw in some comment about how she would “never tell them even if she did know”, but she was far too intimidated to say anything further.

The Pyke stared Hannah down. It felt like he was peering into her very soul. She was absolutely terrified, but couldn’t look away from his gaze. He then turned to the other two Pykes, saying, “Take care of the parlor.” The others nodded and started to walk out of the room, past Hannah, who was still frozen in place. The head Pyke then grabbed Hannah by the arm, causing her to shriek. Roland reached out, as if trying to stop whatever was about to happen.

PEW! PEW! PEW!

Gunshots could be heard from outside the room. The armored men rushed out, their blasters at the ready. At first, Hannah thought maybe it was her friends returning from whatever they had been doing with Cid. But no, it was far too quiet for that.

Suddenly, one of the armored men cried out, collapsing on the ground in front of the doorway. Hannah gasped loudly, realizing the man was now dead, a blaster shot clearly sizzling in his chest. Roland began to step forward, but stopped when he realized the Pyke now had a gun pointed against Hannah’s back.  

“I wouldn’t,” the Pyke taunted in his signature monotone voice.  

Roland looked at the panic in Hannah’s eyes and backed off.

In any other instance, Hannah would’ve enjoyed seeing Roland in such a defeated state. But now, it was taking everything in her to not break down crying out of pure terror.