So sorry for the late update! I had to drive like thirteen hours with my mother yesterday because we had to go to this hotel/casino thing for a future family get together. Again I apologize and here is the second chapter!

Enjoy!

Chapter 2: Red hair, Green Eyes

I opened the cockpit of my starfighter and stepped onto its hull. I was about to climb in when a hand caught my robe. I turned around and saw Ahsoka, "What?"

"Isn't there someone else you can go to?" She asked, a sick feeling coming on. I smiled gently and climbed back on the ground. I took her hands and placed a light kiss on her lips, "I'll be fine. And, I'm afraid that this is my only option. She's the only one who knows the underbelly of Coruscant that well. Plus, she owes me."

Ahsoka gasped, "She owes you?! What did you do for her?"

"I made sure that Anakin didn't kill her when we were searching for the bomber back then." I shrugged, "I made sure that she remembered."

"How do you intend on finding her?" Ahsoka asked, "I mean, there are billions of people down there, how are you going to find her in all that?"

I unclipped two crescent shaped hilts from my belt, "With these, Ventress has been missing these for a while. I think that she'll cooperate if I have them."

I could see that Ahsoka still wasn't convinced. In all the years I'd known her, she still showed the same sign of worry. From fourteen to twenty, she still bit her lip and shuffled her feet. I sighed slightly and raised her chin so that she could look me in the eye, "I promise that if I need backup, I'll call you."

Ahsoka loosened a bit, "Fine."

I nodded and jumped into the cockpit just as R9 inserted itself into my ship. I clipped my restraints in and activated the engines of my Beta 8a. R9 beeped wildly.

I looked at the monitor.

[Master! I hope that the coordinates are mistaken! Are we going to level 1315?!]

I waved at Ahsoka one last time before rising into the air.

R9 beeped again, [Master?!]

"Yes, R9, we are." I answered the impatient droid, "I've got an errand to run."

R9 let out a low whistle followed by a louder beep, [What errand could bring you down to the slums?]

I laughed at the droid that had been by my side since Mustafar, "Well, old friend, I need to find someone that may or may not be in the official Republic Database yet, though I'm pretty sure she isn't. And there is only one person that I know that knows Coruscant's underbelly incredibly well."

R9 gave a slow whistle as it turned its head to me, [I'm not so sure you should go in alone. Mistress Ahsoka was very worried about you for I'm guessing this exact reason, no?]

"She was." I said, "But I've got it under control."

[And if things don't go to plan?]

"I've agreed to call her." I said as I pulled the ship downward, into the crater where many sections of livelihood were. I could clearly see the vast variety of lights strung across many intersections and crosswalks, as well as many landing pads on shipping docks.

I veered the ship on the docking bay. I opened the hatch and R9 dismounted itself, rolling next to me. I could see now that an Ithorian was the bay keeper and he saw me. He got out of his station box and started to walk to me. I quickly whipped out my earpiece translator.

"What's your business around these parts?" The Ithorian said in its own language. He was a middle aged Ithorian that had probably worked as the bay keeper for several. I could see that the uniform he was wearing was probably his only work uniform.

I smiled, "I'm here to meet a friend. How much will it be to dock here for a few hours?"

The Ithorian's posture straightened showing his full height, "Standard fee for a few hours is two hundred."

I nodded, pulling out three hundred and handing it to him. The Ithorian seemed to frown, "I said only two hundred, sonny."

I smiled and patted his shoulder, "I know, the other hundred is for yourself. Take care."

I walked off as he shouted a "Thank you."

I looked back, "You're welcome. Come on R9."

The astromech rolled up beside me, beeping a familiar tone meaning, [This place is dark.]

"I know, R9. Just hold on." We came through several crowded areas before heading to a workshift elevator on the south side of the warehouse complex. I turned around, just making sure that we weren't followed and hit the activation button. We lowered only one level before I stopped the elevator and walked out. R9 quickly followed me, beeping furiously as he tried to keep up.

We rounded a few corners of the building as we exited the north corridor. I peered down the next hallway, immediately sensing something in there.

"Stay close."

The sections we were passing through were narrow at best and I had to bend down and pull R9 through. The passage way split into two from then on. I turned right, R9 directly on my heels, a low moan of disapproval coming from his system.

We continued walking until we stopped in the middle of a room as big as the council chambers. However, there was only one chair and it was occupied. From the armor that the person wore, I automatically recognized it as Ventress.

"Ventress." I gave a slight grin, "It's been a while. In fact it's been too long. Don't you agree?"

Ventress's hand went to her helmet, revealing her face. It looked the exact same as before. She smiled slightly at me, "Yes, it's been too long. Look at you, quite the Jedi Master aren't you?"

"I am." I said, then smirked, "And I see you're still living the life as a bounty hunter."

"It's not as easy as I thought without my lightsabers, but I have managed. Now, I'm sure you didn't come here just to see me, Marko. Why are you really here?" Ventress asked.

"I need your help." I admitted, crossing my arms, "I'm looking for someone."

Ventress chuckled, "Did it not work out between you and the Padawan?"

I laughed, "No, that's gotten even better. I'm talking about finding someone who's not on the Republic Database. Can you help me?"

Ventress bent one leg over the other and took off her helmet, setting it down on the armrest beside her, "Depends on who it is and what I get out of it?"

I nodded, looking over to another vacant chair huddled in the corner of the room. With the Force, I pulled it over to me and sat down, "It's a little girl named Mara Jade. Does that name ring a bell?"

"Does it?" Ventress asked, pushing me to continue, "You know how this works, Marko."

"Fine." I said and pulled out the lightsabers from my belt, "I believe that these are yours."

I flicked the hilts to her to which she caught with a grateful eye. She eyed the weapons with delicate hands before clipping the long lost blades to her own belt. She pulled out an old WESTER-20, the same gun that Viszla used against me, and threw it to me. I clipped it to my belt and leant forward, "How's that for a deal?"

"I appreciate you returning these." She said, almost smiling, "And as for the girl, word has got around about that name. In fact, there was someone here the other day asking for that name."

I froze on the spot, "Who came?"

Ventress shrugged, "Just someone I worked with briefly…Fett."

That wasn't good at all. Not only did Maltus have a fail-safe plan, but he hired someone totally qualified to do so. I frowned deeply and turned to R9, "I guess this won't be as easy as I thought."

Ventress rose from her seat, "Is there a problem with that?"

I turned to Ventress, "Yeah, I know what Fett's capable of and how he is capable of doing it. He's an adult now and he'll embrace his roots. He'll kill anybody that stands in his way." I immediately looked back to the way I came, then back to Ventress, "Did you tell him anything?"

Ventress walked over to me and traced a finger around my chest, in the creepy way she always did, "Now, now, who would I be if I kept grudges…I guess I'd be me. No, I didn't tell him anything. I told him to go jump in a volcano and find her himself."

"And this was yesterday?"

"Yes."

"Then you have to tell me everything right now." I said, "Chances are that he's already hot on the trail of Jade."

Ventress went back to her chair and thought for a moment, "Well, I overheard many things that are probably aren't true. But I did ask one of my partners about her, just because Fett perked my curiosity."

R9 rolled over and let out a low moan. I patted the droid's dome and focused on Ventress, "And?"

"She told me that a couple by the name of the Jades live just around the train station on this level. I didn't believe it until I checked it out for myself, you know how I am." Ventress smiled.

"Believe me, I do. First time I met you, you tried to kill me." I said with a hint of humor.

"Anyway," She said, "I found the Jades in apartment complex-"

Ventress never finished as I ignited my lightsaber in an overhead arch, slicing an unsuspecting spy droid in half. The two halves fell to the ground with a loud clang sound as they drifted to two different spots in the room. I deactivate my lightsaber and hooked it to my belt.

"Someone was spying on us." I said in a low voice, "And there might be more. You're just going to have to show me where this place is. I can't take the chance of us being recorded. Because, if this is the work of Fett, then we'll be knee deep in a bad situation of epic proportions."

Ventress led me and R9 through several different alley ways and warehouse complexes in an effort to shake any remaining spy droids and Fett, if it even was him. The walk was long, but we eventually ended up at the train station. Ventress leaned in close, "Number 142."

"Thank you, Ventress." I whispered, "Take care of yourself."

"You make it sound as if this is the last time we'll see each other, Marko." Ventress laughed under her breath.

I shrugged, "Might be. Now go."

Ventress gave me one last glance before disappearing into the shadows like a ghost. I stared at the direction she went for a moment, thinking about the possibilities I had. I could've jumped her and taken her in on multiple charges including: Assassinations, kidnapping, theft, and just being the apprentice of a Sith.

Former apprentice, I reminded myself. Ventress broke her ties with Dooku when she found out about his plan to kill her. But, still, I didn't know if I made the right choice. I unclipped the WESTER-20 and held it out to R9. R9 swiveled his dome silently, just before letting out a low beeping sound.

[What is this for?]

"It's just in case you need to protect yourself." I said, still with the gun in my hands. R9 reached out with his micrograbbers and placed the gun inside his tool compartment.

"Let's go find her."

We walked out along the shadows and through many archways before coming to the tracks of the train. It was unusually not crowded, only about twenty waiting for it. I walked up the stairs, immediately making a B-line for the walkway to the rooms.

I cast a glance behind me and saw R9 roll to a slow pace. I looked up and saw nothing. I surveyed the surrounding area, but found no traces of Fett.

I continued my pace through several more corridors that connected the complexes together like string of a spider's web. After a few minutes, my search proved fruitful. The apartment door was right in front of me: room 142.

I was about to knock when I looked at the door completely. It was already open. I unclipped my lightsaber and looked at R9, "Stay here, watch my back."

The door silently swung open as I entered. I looked around and saw nothing out of the ordinary, but I kept my senses alert. I could feel the presence of a Force user, but I couldn't pinpoint where it was. It was as if I was going in with only my right eye.

Suddenly the sound of glass shattering hit my ears. I ran through the next door adjacent to the room I was in and saw him…Boba Fett. He had a girl, no more than five or six years old, with fiery red hair and bright green eyes under his arm. He had only used one hand to hold her in place as she wasn't very strong, the other he had used to unsheathe his weapon, a standard E-9 blaster rifle.

I activate my lightsaber, the blue light reflecting off of the walls, broken glass, and his helmet. I could see Fett's eyes through the helmet, just daring me to make a move. His helmet moved to his left and I followed the gaze, right to Mara's parents. Her dad's forehead and arm was bleeding and her mom was thrown like a ragdoll into a wall.

I growled slightly, "Fett…give me the girl."

Fett made no move to do so, "I don't think so, Marko. I've got a deal and I intend to keep it." He jumped out the window and activated his jetpack. Fett propelled himself into the air and started to fly away. However, I wasn't going to let the bounty hunter get away with her.

"Damn. Here we go." I muttered to myself angrily.

I stepped back and, with the Force, launched myself onto Fett's back, slicing open the circuit board on his rocket. I pulled the entire mother board out and we went into a spiral. Everything was black and gray before we finally crashed into a rooftop, a metal one. Mara flew from Fett's hands and slid down the slope. I reached out with the Force and stopped her decent, just until she gained a proper foothold.

Fett fired multiple shots at me to which I had to roll away from. I jumped up backwards and ignited my lightsaber, just in time to deflect the next few blasts he had. He holstered his weapon and threw a grenade at me. I caught the grenade with a gentle touch and tossed it high into the air where it exploded in flash of dazzling light.

Fett took out his father's old WESTER-34s and cracked off several more shots at me. I dodged the first few but was backed up as to deflect the next several into the air. As the last one bounced off my blade, Fett charged at me, throwing his entire body at me.

My lightsaber flew out onto the edge of the rooftop, right next to Mara. I refocused my attention back on Fett as he caught me by the face with his fist. I dodged the next swing and rammed my knee into his chin. He recoiled slightly before attacking again, but I was up this time. He threw his fist to my face, but I caught it and kicked out my leg, sending him spiraling backwards on his back.

I reached out my hand and called my lightsaber back to my hand. I pointed the tip of the blade at his head, "Surrender, Fett."

He didn't respond. Suddenly, his wrist compartment flew open and he threw four small smoke bombs onto the ground obscuring my vision just long enough to get away. Once the smoke had cleared, he was gone and I had Mara.

I walked up to Mara and extended my hand to the frightened little girl. Her cheeks were stained with tears and her face was flushed from crying.

"M-M-Mom." She sniffed loudly, "Daddy…"

I held the girl tightly as she clung to my chest. I silently activated my comlink, "Ahsoka," I whispered into the device. "I need backup."