A/N: This is my first attempt at a fanfiction in a while. I'm currently working on an original novel and wanted something else to write casually on the side. Fanfiction seemed like a perfect outlet. Curiously, I also felt like sharing.

This fic is set in-between the two trilogies, covering some of the time that George Lucas has purposely left untouched in the hopes of a television series (fingers still crossed). I have been a fan of the saga for years and have only just started to delve into Expanded Universe, so my knowledge of Expended Universe is limited and certainly not perfect. So if you're a stickler for Expanded Universe details, this may not be the fic for you.

I chose to focus on the Adventures of Boba Fett, since I think the character is great, and because the idea was there for me. Since I'm writing this as an aside from my novel, I don't have a specific direction set yet, but we'll see how one evolves as we go along.

Credits to Lucasfilm for Star Wars, and the makers of 'The Social Network' for their tagline.

Thanks for taking the time to open up the first chapter, enjoy.

Feeling too small for his armor, Boba Fett entered the great hall of a Hutt Crime Lord cautiously. His armor provided him a level of mystique he hadn't felt in a long time and didn't quite remember accurately. Led by a sleazy Rodian into the filled room, Fett tried to rediscover the confident step that had made him a respected bounty hunter in years past. Still, the anticipation of a new hunt, and the anxiety of a new place put a caution in his step that was more nervous than he would have liked. Those with no homes could walk anywhere with confidence; as one who had just left one behind, he walked with caution.

This was to be Fett's first bounty since he had left his wife and daughter.

Greasy swoop and pod racers turned to catch a glimpse of the bounty hunter, who had made a name for himself before trying to retire to an honest living three years previously. Gaudily-garbed gangsters tried to pretend not to be even slightly intimidated. For even though he didn't feel like his old self again, the Mandalorian still cut an intimidating figure in mixed company. He approached the slimy Hutt without changing pace.

"My Lord," cooed the Rodian to the Hutt, who seemed more preoccupied with the Twi'lek slaves atop his dais than anything else. "This bounty hunter wishes to take on the bounty of Silirio Varr, the smuggler."

The Hutt seemed to hardly care, which was not entirely unexpected. Crime Lords such as these usually didn't care who did the job, just so long as it was done. He waved the both off in acknowledgement and the Rodian bowed while retreating backwards. Fett took a much less pathetically obedient exit. He wasn't the pet of this Hutt after all, just a simple man trying to make a living. He moved off to the side, sidling his way past the racers and other riff-raff crowded in the audience chamber. But something caught Fett's eye. Standing off to the side of the Hutt was another armored figure. Straight and imposing, standing out from everyone else in the room, the other was clearly some sort of assassin or guard, perhaps even another hunter.

The armor was not dissimilar to his own, though clearly not of direct Mandalorian origin, and it was the colour of blood. Fett didn't usually stop to look at others, but did stop to observe the armored figure, as if to measure him. Likewise, the armored figure measured him equally. Fett could feel his eyes scraping him up and down, as if taking in every detail, even when neither could see the other's face. A curious sort of mutual respect passed between the two, then both turned their attention towards other business.

"He's intimidating, isn't he?" said a voice to Fett's side.

Fett turned towards the source of the voice, a Twi'lek biker with an ugly scar across one eye. "Who?" Fett asked, thinking his voice sounded strange within the confines of his helmet.

"Torsch, the bounty hunter," replied the Twi'lek. "Boss only sends him on the best missions, likes to keep him here. It entertains the crowd, and probably keeps 'em from bringing trouble."

"What do you know about him?" Fett asked. He'd never heard of a bounty hunter called Torsch before.

"Nothing, 'sides that. Haven't even seen what's really under the mask. He has an assistant though. A little wisp of a girl, name's Meela. Don't know too much about her either, come to think of it. I think she's an agent, or personal assistant. Some even say she's his lover, but who really knows? She comes around here sometimes though… fun to talk to… nice to look at too."

Fett had an idea that the Twi'lek might have continued talking forever. These racer-types, they were so difficult to deal with. Give them something to talk about and you could go an hour without getting a word in edgewise. Fett simply nodded and pushed his way through the crowd. The Twi'lek's attention was soon on someone else. Even through his helmet, Fett was beginning to smell the grime in the air. Wanting to get out and set to work on his bounty, he pushed his way out of the entrance hall. Glancing back at the dais, he saw the Hutt with his Twi'leks, but, more importantly, that the red armor was gone.

xxx

Boba Fett took off his helmet as soon as he entered his ship. The Slave I had been closer to home than anything else over the years. It was among the only familiar things left from his childhood and one of the only consistencies in his life. He was not a sentimental man, but he had not been able to part with the ship, even if he could have used the money as he tried to make it as a family man. It was a good thing he'd kept it too, since that idea had fallen through. Settling himself in front of the main computer, he punched in various information about his target.

Silirio Varr was a smuggler, who had apparently double-crossed the Hutt who'd hired him by violating a promise to trade exclusively. What cargo he carried and what his story was didn't matter. He was worth credits, and that's all Fett needed to know for the time being. Silirio had violated a documented promise and so bringing him before the Hutt was within reason. The smuggler frequented Nar Shaddaa, and that would probably be a good place to start, since he was due back any day.

Suddenly, Fett felt suffocated by his armor. Quickly, he removed his breastplates and shrugged off the jetpack, laying them on the floor beside him. With uncharacteristic stress showing on his face, Boba Fett leaned all the way back into the pilot's seat, covering his face with his hands. As much of a rush he could get out of the hunt, returning to this life was certainly not what he had wanted. Living from day to day, and moving from place to place, wherever the work was, unable to settle, it unnerved him, but at the same time, he had found himself unhappy in settling. It had made him restless, and impulsive. It made him do things he ordinarily wouldn't and say things he didn't mean. He had said so many things. He wasn't exactly a man built for regret, but he did regret some of the things he had said. But what was said was said, and he wasn't the type to take back what had already been done.

Taking a deep breath, he reached for the main controls. Starting up the launch process, he carefully navigated the ship out of the atmosphere. It was second nature for him now, since he'd done it so many times. It was just another reminder of how nomadic of a lifestyle he really led. Engaging the hyperdrive, he punched in the coordinates of Nar Shaddaa. Now was the hardest part, waiting. Plans weren't hard for people like this. Smugglers usually weren't tough without their ships to hide behind, so bringing them in was usually easy. It was a pathetic bounty for someone of Fett's skill really, but it had been the only thing he'd really be able to get. Apparently leaving the occupation for three years hadn't boded well for a future career back in the business.

Luckily, there were crime lords everywhere who had bounties they didn't want to waste their best men on. Clearly this bounty had been too good for Torsch, otherwise there wouldn't have been a posting for it. Fett did a lot of pondering over the red armor. It was hard to think of the figure as anything else. Was that how other people saw him? It couldn't have been. Fett remembered his father in full armor; he had never felt like it was simply a suit of armor staring back, not like he had with the red warrior. He knew there was someone inside the red armor, and that the person inside had been watching him, but there was an emptiness to the armor. It was as if he needed proof that there was someone else inside: to hear a voice or to meet in battle.

He ate, slept awhile, and thought some more. It was only about twelve hours through hyperspace to Nar Shaddaa, a short trip compared to others, but it left the hunter with more free time than he really wanted. Free time meant time to reflect, and reflecting was not something Boba Fett particularly wanted to do. He didn't have too many good things to reflect on recently, and dwelling on them did not make them go away. He knew he didn't deserve the ease of mind he wanted. He had done wrong, behaved unjustly and in ways he wished he hadn't, so he deserved every minute of the guilt, even though he would have gone to great lengths to rid himself of it.

He tried to think about something else: the upcoming mission, points in his training he may have overlooked since his… hiatus from bounty hunting, even the Red Warrior. The Red Warrior, frankly, intrigued him more than the actual mission at hand. The Red Warrior was doubtless competition. Fett combed through his brief memory of the Red Warrior, trying to think of a weakness. Weaknesses weren't easy, since he'd never seen the warrior fight. The armor was far different from his own, and from what he had observed, which, granted, hadn't been much, he couldn't locate a chink in the armor. The real weakness, as Fett knew all too well, lay behind the mask.

Fett steeled himself as the surface of Nar Shaddaa appeared through the windows.

A/N: Voila! There you have my first attempt at writing this character, though he's a very different person from how we're accustomed to seeing him. He's no longer the boy from 'Attack of the Clones' and 'Star Wars: Clone Wars' but not yet the man from 'Empire Strikes Back'.

Please take a moment to review.