Well, hello everyone. Angel here. I thought I'd try my hand at a Star Wars fic. Always been a fan of the franchise and I absolutely LOVE the new series that came out. Am also a fan of OC's, so I thought I'd post this here.

I have the story also posted on Archive of Our Own under the same name, so you can check it out there as well if you like. Make sure to leave a comment or review wherever you read it, I love hearing from you guys.

Hope you enjoy it.

He sighed deeply, sitting back in the worn pilot chair heavily. Outside the cockpit window, the stars drifted by, a sight that fully captured the attention of the small, green toddler currently perched on the Mandalorian's lap. The child loved watching the stars pass by, could spend hours doing so in happy silence. Which was good, he also enjoyed the quiet solitude of space, preferred it to the crowed planets he often stopped on for his jobs.

After the catastrophe on Nevarro, Din hadn't bothered to stick around for long, pausing just long enough to give Kuiil a proper burial. His ship was still well stocked from his preparations in meeting with Greef Karga, so he'd just fired up the engines and left the planet. The few weeks that followed saw him stop at a few low populated Outer Rim planets to pick up a job or two for a bit of funding, but mostly he kept moving. Currently, his mind was filled with thoughts of the Armorer's words.

"It is helpless... honor demands that you seek out and deliver the it to the others of its kind...until this occurs, you are a "Clan of Two"."

Shifting, Din ran his hand over the still fresh engraving on his pauldron. Even through the leather glove, he could feel the edges of the Mudhorn signet, the memory of the small alien child lifting the massive beast to save him sending a sharp tear through his chest.

Almost like he could sense his guardian's unease, wide eyes looked up and floppy ears lowered. Seeing that small, innocent face look so dejected stirred Din's protective instinct towards this strange alien child.

"It's alright, little one. Look at the stars again, everything's fine."

A soft coo answered him, the child's expression brightening at the attention from his beskar clad protector. Despite himself, Din had to smile softly behind his helm. This foundling had worked his way beneath the layers of armor and hardness developed over years. Even knowing that he'd have to someday give the child back to his own kind didn't diminish the moment, didn't stop the warmth that spread through his being at the delighted look on the little green face. This was his child, his foundling, his...

"Ad'ika..."

Ears too large for such a small body perked up at the unfamiliar term spoken with such emotion from the normally stoic male. Din paused a moment, gauging his own reaction to finally acknowledging this alien as his own. It felt...right. Lifting a gloved hand, he pointed to the child's chest,

"Ad'ika..." Shifting the finger, he pointed to himself, wanting the foundling to understand the significance of what was being said,

"Buir..."

His ward's head tilted, dark eyes that seemed to understand far more than anyone believed, blinked and he reached up a small, three fingered hand, tapping it against the unyielding chest plate covering Din's torso. There was brief moment of pause before the warrior sense a presence in his mind. A soft touch, shy and unsure, but one he was sure he'd felt before.

Happiness...safety...warmth... A myriad of positive emotions not his own brush through his system. Din sucked in a breath quickly, the modulated sound from his helm startling the child and the moment was gone, his mind was clear and his own once again. The child looked apprehensive, unsure and shook slightly. Quickly he wrapped his arms around the baby, rocking it slightly in comfort.

"It's okay, Ad'ika. Don't be frightened." He hated it when the child looked scared, it torn him up. Yes, the foundling's strange powers could be terrifying, but Din never wanted the kid to be afraid of him. Relaxed again, the child turned back to the window, content to stare at the twinkling lights outside.

A beeping from the console drew his attention. Now Din tilted his covered head slightly at the words that popped up on the small screen. Shifting as little as he could to avoid jostling the small body perched on his thighs, he flicked a few switches. The incoming message was coded, protected from being hacked or intercepted by surveillance vessels. Standard practice for the Guild. Now curious about what Greef had sent, he flicked on the holo-recording.

"Mando!", the small flicking blue image of the Guild Leader bellowed out, "Hope you're doing well. Things are going swimmingly on Nevarro. We've rebuilt in record time and I can always use someone of your capacity if you're looking for work. In any case, I've come across a few things you'll likely want to hear about. If you in the area, drop by for a drink and we'll talk. Otherwise, I'll see you around. Good hunting."

Frowning to himself, Din replayed the message again, looking for any hidden meaning behind what was being said. While the two men had reached a point of mutual respect between them, he was still wary of Greef. The man had honor and pride, but he was still a Hunter at heart. Not able to find any deception and knowing Cara Dune was still on the planet, someone he did trust fully, Din looked down at the small green head on his lap.

"Well, what'da think?" His Ad'ika giggled happily, before reaching out for his favorite silver ball. Holding in a chuckle, Din unscrewed the knob and handed it to the child to gnaw on as he piloted the ship and set in hyperspace co-ordinates for the desert planet,

"You're no help."

Greef certainly didn't waste time, Din would give the man credit for that. In the short time he'd been gone, the outpost that the Empire had sacked was now fully operational again, with ships landing and leaving, as well as vendors, merchants, traders and a host of other activities bustling around. Sand crunched under his boots as he walked quickly towards the Guild's cantina. As he approached, Din noted that even the holes from the Empire's cannon were mostly repaired. How the hell had Karga managed that in such a short span?

More than slightly on edge at having to leave a sleeping child in his ship, Din resolved to speak with the charismatic man and leave again. He didn't like having to be separated from his charge for too long, the kid could get into trouble just by breathing. Striding into the dusty resident, beskar gleaming in the dim light, he scanned quickly for threats from the patrons, then started looking for his contact. Standard practise for any experienced hunter.

"Mando!" the voice that called to him wasn't male.

Turning his head, he relaxed slightly at the sight of Cara shoving her way through the crowd. As she got within arms length, the former Shocktropper lifted her hand. Without hesitation, Din clamped his palm into hers in a strong grip.

"Cara. Still hanging around here. Figured you've packed up shop already."

She shrugged her broad shoulders, "Well, Karga's good at negotiating. Still not sure how long I'll be around, but it works for now." Her eyes darted to the floor and glanced around expectantly,

"Where's your little green shadow?"

"Sleeping."

Cara looked disappointed at not getting to see the child, but said nothing else, a serious expression crossing her face as she turned and waved at him to follow. The crowds parted as the two imposing figures moved through it and Din saw Greef in a corner booth. The Guild Leader grinned broadly as they approached, waving them to sit in the bench across from him.

"There's my favorite Bounty Hunter...and my new partner."

"Haven't agreed to that yet, Karga." Was Cara's immediate reply as the serving droid brought over a round of drinks. Despite now having a slightly better opinion on the mechanical beings, Din still brushed his hand over his blaster as the machine drew near.

"You will," Greef replied confidently before his attention shifted to the Mandalorian, reaching over to take the drink the droid had place in front of Din, knowing full well the warrior wasn't going to consume it, "Well then Mando, how have you been?"

"What did you want to tell me?"

Din's filtered voice was flat and unamused. Greef didn't seem to notice, chuckling a bit as he down one of the shots of alcohol, "Direct as always, glad some things never change."

Fingers drummed on the table before he spoke again, "Well, I've got good news, bad news and...interesting news. Which do you want first?"

Din stayed silent, not impressed with the man's attempts to be dramatic. After a moment, he sighed in defeat.

"Too serious, honestly, you need to relax a bit Mando. The good news is your name is officially cleared by the Guild. You're once again a full fledged member and I'll be happy to give you work whenever you want it. Being as you're going to be galaxy hopping for a while, I assume you'll be needing some form of income. "

That was actually good news. Collecting the bounties the Guild put out was a healthy source of credits and he did need to survive somehow. Plus, taking on work from previous contact, like the disaster that had erupted from Ran's job wasn't something he wanted to be forced into in order to make ends meet. He didn't ever want to put his child's life in danger just so they could eat another day.

"What the bad news." Din replied bluntly. Greef did not need to know that he was grateful to him. His two companion's shared a look between them, something dark and foreboding that did nothing to put him at ease. When neither responded immediately, he felt a cold lump start to form in his gut.

"What is it?"

Cara leaned closer in, prompting Din to do the same as she lowered her voice, "A downed Tie Fighter was found outside the lava pools a few days after you left. Mostly intact...expect for a hole cut out of the side of it."

"He survived? Gideon's alive?"

Dread slammed into him, coiling tightly. He looked to Greef for confirmation and the man nodded grimly.

"It looks that way. The area was searched thoroughly, but no signs of a body, no biological reading left behind. I tried searching through the flight logs, but nothing came up. I've sent in a report to the New Republic, but...well, I'm sure you know how well that'll work. You need to be careful."

Exhaling slowly and not caring at the moment if it made him look weak, Din worked to calm his mind. Now, more than ever, he wanted to get back to the Crest and take off. He needed time to think, work out how to handle this new development. Cara nudged him slightly,

"You want me to tag along for a while?"

Din paused for a moment, then shook his helm as he gathered his thoughts. While the idea was tempting, he was still a Mandalore. He would deal with any threats to his clan in his own way.

"No, not just yet. We took out a lot of the Moff's resources when we lit this place up. I doubt he a serious threat at the time. You're better off here, you've got support. Keep your ears open and keep me in the loop. We'll be fine."

The ex-trooper looked unconvinced, but didn't argue with him, giving a single nod as a silent promise. Din truly felt honored to have her as a friend, she was loyal to a fault once she found a cause she felt was worth fighting for. He would've hated to have face her in the war, had he been part of it. As much as he want to leave, the niggle of Greef's words still nudged him.

"You said there was something else?"

"There is," Greef finished off the second drink before bringing out a puck from under the table. He activated it and the image of a human female's head appear, swiveling around, "Do you know who this is?"

"Should I?"

"Unlikely, she's not a Guild target. This young lady is Valriya Kordes. She's also known by her alias...'the Ghost Runner'."

Now getting a bit annoyed and anxious, Din replied with more bite to his voice, "Why do I care? If she's not quarry, she's of no interest to me."

"Patience Mando, I'm getting to that. Yes, its true she's not on the list, but her reputation might make you change your mind. Kordes's bounty is supported by the Hutt Cartel, she used to work for them as a Runner on Nar Shadda. Believe it or not, she started doing this when she was only 14 years old."

Din was grateful for his helmet, as he couldn't stop his eyebrows from rising in surprise. Even Cara snorted a bit at Greef's words, "No way that's true."

A Runner in the Cartel was an individual that delivered messages and information between the different syndicates on Hutt controlled planets. They transported details that were considered too valuable or dangerous to be sent via airwaves or holo-messages, information that could shatter clans if obtained by enemies or rivals. As these Runners were well known to carry such high value knowledge, they had to be fast, smart and lucky as hell to avoid getting captured or killed by those looking to get a leg up in the vicious, cutthroat culture of the Hutt's.

Needless to say, very few Runners survived for long.

Greef waved his hands at Cara to calm down her rampant chuckles, "I know, I know. I didn't believe it either. Thought it was just some rumor floating around. But then I started talking to some of my off world contacts, other Guild leaders working in and out of the parsec. Apparently, even though this young woman isn't an official Guild bounty, many leaders use her fob to weed out unwanted candidate's or break in greenhorns. She's had dozen's of hunter's tried to pin her down, some have even managed to catch her...but none of them have ever managed to hold onto her. She always gets away. Outruns them, hides away, jumps ship or just vanishes into thin air."

"So she's slippery, doesn't make her valuable. Her bounty price won't even buy ammunition for me, it's too small for me to bother with."

"True, hers is not a high profit, but there's more Mando. Valriya Kordes isn't just a hard target to snag, not if you believe half of what the hunter's come back saying after a run in with her."

Cara looked more interested now, "What do they say?"

"Well, take all of this with some skepticism. I didn't believe a word of any of this at first. But...then I ran into a small little alien that change my opinion of a lot of things." Greef looked to the Mandalorain with a hard look, face dead serious. Now Din leaned in a bit closer, curious about what the Guild head had to say.

"New hunters exaggerate all the time, hell even experienced ones do. Everyone's always trying to make a name for themselves, trying to outdo the other. Sometimes its hard to read between the numbers. But stories circle around about 'the Ghost Runner'. Those that talk about her say she always seems to know when she's in trouble. No matter how careful, sneaky or silent they are, she has a sixth sense about danger and always knows when to bolt. The ones that can actually keep up with her tell tales of her dodging blaster fire and traq darts, moving at the last second to avoid being hit. Even more interesting it the stories of those that get close to catching her. "

"One Hunter swears he was seconds from grabbing her...then she jumped over 20 foot ravine, looked almost like she was thrown over it by some kind of force, and landed safely on the other side. Another one say he trapped her on the top of a 300 story building. Right before he got his hands on her, she dives off and lands right smack in the back of a hover taxi in the traffic lanes below. What are the odds of that?"

"The few that have reported catching her say that the bindings they put on her malfunction or disengage, holding cells she's put in are opened from the outside, letting her race off so they have to chase her down again. Hunters swear she has stamina and speed unnatural for someone of her stature, that she can react to things before they actually happen, like she knows they're coming. Honestly, I would've put it all on newcomers just trying to make themselves look less foolish, but after seeing a few things...I think there may be more too it."

Now the Mandalorian's interest was peaked. Seeing what his foundling was capable of, the rumors of this 'Ghost Runner' didn't seem too far-fetched, "You think she might be..."

Greef shrugged, "All I know is what I've heard. There's no known report of any ancient order of magic users, just a girl that seems to be extremely difficult to hold onto. But, if your searching the cosmos for answers...maybe she might have some. Presuming of course, that you can catch her. "

There was a mocking tone to Greef's voice that he ignored. Din looked at the image on the puck more carefully now. She looked normal enough, an ordinary human with no cybernetic implants or enhancements. It might be worth while to try, she could have some kind of information on the Jedi people that the Armorer spoke of. He ignored the pang of pain that came with that thought, his duty was clear. Din would do was best for his Ad'ika. Even if it felt like a knife in his gut.

Decision made, he stood up from the booth.

"Give me the puck and the fob."

The music was heavy and loud, thundering through the air and making glasses vibrate. Multi colored lights filtered the dank air filled with bodies and movement. It was crowed, loud and uncomfortable. This was one of many, many reasons Din avoided Core Planets. He briefly wondered how anyone could even think in this racket, the pounding bass was echoing in his helm, bringing on the start of a headache in his temples.

Annoyance bubbled under his skin, his mood darkening even more when a drunken crowd of people almost plowed into him. His hand brushed against the blaster on his hip, debating about drawing the weapon. Pushing aside the urge, Din moved further into the club.

Corellia was not a planet he wanted to remain on. Din was far more comfortable in the Outer Rims, the wild part of space where one could disappear for years and no one would ever find you. But apparently, Valriya Kordes didn't agree with that. The overpopulated world was a long bloody way from where she apparently grew up, he was surprised an Outer Rim girl would travel this far. But then again, it wasn't a bad way to avoid a Hutt bounty. Overpopulated planets were a great place to disappear into.

The nightclub that the tracking fob had led him to was packed to the brim, it was difficult to move between the bodies. At least a few heads turned to stare at him as he walked through, several people fought to get out of his way. A fully armored Mandalorian was a striking sight in any situation, but on a planet like Corellia, they were regarded with equal parts awe and terror.

Finally managing to fine a corner booth in the club, one that was quickly abandoned by the individuals sitting at it as he walked towards it, Din slide into the cushioned seat, taking time to look around and study everything. The bar was situated in the center of the club for easy access. Several poles with female dancers of different races were scattered through the large center and one very large permanent stage was set up on the north wall.

Despite himself, Din let his visor linger for longer than he should have on a red skinned Twi'lek that curved her lithe body around the metal bar. The owner of this place did certainly know how to pull in a crowd. Looking away, he continued to survey the bustling partyers. It wouldn't be easy to locate his target in this mess. But then, he supposed that was why she'd chosen it for her resident.

There was sudden change in the atmosphere. The music became quieter, various crowds moved closer to the main stage and Din could hear different conversations of excitement and anticipation, speaking rapidly about a new source of entertainment. Lights dimmed, leaving the club in near darkness, save for the spotlights that whirled around the raised platform. The Manadalorian moved back further into the shadows, concealing his gleaming armor and waited to see what was coming.

A more upbeat, bright melody started to play on the clubs system. The lights swiveled and zoned in over a new figure on the stage, who stood with a bowed head. A black top hat perched on their skull, one hand pinning it in place. Female in form, human most likely, wearing a slinky tuxedo costume complete with lacy, see-through cloth over arms and legs, designed to make her look sexy and desirable, but not slutty. Her free hand held a glossy cane with a gold ornamental cap.

The music picked up in rhythm and she jerked her head up, a seductive smirk playing over her lips as her body started to move smoothly to the beat, the cane twirling in her hand, adding flare to the act. Din stared at the sight, mesmerized by the dance. It wasn't a shallow, over sexual performance meant to heat the blood of men. Her dance was co-coordinated with skill and style. She had talent, a lot of talent, and an instinctive knowledge of how to make her body match the notes of music, how to make ever twist look natural, each movement blending perfectly into the next. She dipped low, muscles flexing and showed off lean, powerful legs that stretched for lightyears.

Din watched with the rest of the crowd as she finished the performance with a flexible, acrobatic flourish that was truly impressive. The music cut out, leaving a heartbeat of silence before the club erupted into loud cheers. He hummed softly to himself as she bowed low and left the stage, watching as credits were tossed into receivers. That had been...unexpected. He certainly hadn't thought he'd find his quarry drawing that kind of attention to herself. Although, given her low bounty listing, maybe she just didn't think many hunters would be after her. Either way, he had a lock on her now.

Din waited in the booth for a while, studying the exits of the club before standing up and heading to the door that lead to the back of the business. He had a target to capture.

And that's where I'll leave it. Thanks again and drop a line if you have any suggestions. Till next time...