Out of all the outcomes he had expected with this assignment, the one he was currently face-to-face with was certainly one he had not been prepared for.

His Amban rifle steamed at his side, the long staff of a multipurpose and valuable weapon having been put to good use to blast his way into the remote hideout where the assets were being hidden. His armour was hot to the touch, some of the exposed cloth on his arms had been singed from blaster shots, and his heart still beat unnaturally fast as he took in the sight before him.

The compound where the assets were being held had been somewhat of a challenge to both reach and infiltrate, but with his refined skills and the help of the bounty droid, though he was reluctant to admit it, they had been able to reach the source of the tracking beacon – the young woman and a youngling's pram that hovered at her side.

Her eyes were upon him from the moment he and the droid had blown the metal door open to reveal the innermost sanctuary of the heavily guarded bunker. Well - previously heavily guarded might have been a more fitting description for the destruction and death that he had created there.

She did not flinch, she did not run, nor did she beg. The young woman did not give any of the normal responses that a captured bounty might usually give. Instead, she smiled at him as if he were the sun itself.

It was not the sight he had been expecting.

The first thought that surfaced in a mind that whirled unceasingly was one of confusion.

A fifty-year old creature of an unknown species, and a humanoid female of an unknown age – that was what he was supposed to be looking at. That was the information that had been given to him when he was briefed before leaving for this mission.

The Mandalorian had worked many jobs in his life, but never one this vague and with as high a bounty as what had been offered for his services. But the payment being offered was simply too enticing to turn down.

The amount of Beskar that had been offered to him was priceless, to put it simply. It was likely worth more than he knew and would bring his armour one step closer to completion. The bounty of Beskar was the only reason he had taken this odd job in the first place.

The young woman was still smiling at him as he faltered, and it was not often he faltered. She seemed completely at ease with both him and the current situation, and that put him on edge.

Most were frightened of him. He'd seen grown men cower at the sight of him. Mandalorians had reputations after all, but this girl seemed blissfully unaware of what that meant.

As he stared into the unblinking gaze of a young woman lounging quite contentedly atop a pile of rubbish while his tracking beacon confirmed that she and the funny looking pram next to her were indeed what he was searching for, he could not help the strange feeling that this job was one that might have more repercussions than he could have expected.

It was only a gut feeling, an intuition of sorts, but he had been trained to trust his gut. It had yet to fail him, and his instincts were sharper than most.

Her voice rang out unexpectedly then, drawing him from his inner musings and confusion.

"On your right." Was all she said, face passive and with a serene sort of look to it, as if she hadn't a care in the world.

It was at that moment that another thug with a blaster barrelled into the room, but the Mandalorian was not to be bothered – a quick reaction time and a trigger-happy disposition soon left the foe dead on the ground with a blaster shot square between the eyes.

Though how she had known ahead of time from where or when the armed enemy would enter, he had no idea.

"Good shot." The girl commented in a light tone, never taking her eyes from his visor.

"Affirmative." Agreed the droid at his side.

The Mandalorian paused, taking a moment to glance between the young woman and the closed pram that undoubtedly held the other asset. The tracking fobs were never wrong, and it indicated that the other half of his bounty was within the device.

"I was hoping you would come for us soon. We were waiting for you." She continued happily, which only added to his mounting confusion. "I was beginning to think I got it wrong – that happens from time to time, you see."

What in the galaxy was she on about? He wasn't sure he particularly cared to know, and her words began to eat at him, adding to the confusion.

"Quiet." Barked the Mandalorian, still struggling to make sense of her strange words and the equally strange situation.

She complied with his demand, and made no move to stop him as he reached for the programming panel on the small carriage, a gloved finger brushing against the button that would reveal the other portion of his bounty.

That feeling of confusion skyrocketed at seeing what lay inside a child's pram. His eyes narrowed underneath the visor, the uncertainty and frustration only growing as the creature within let loose a small gurgle at being exposed to the sunlight that filtered in through the mangled metal remains of a doorway.

For a moment, he struggled with himself before glancing once more towards the girl, who had yet to move and was still regarding him with an expression that bordered between peaceful and hopeful.

"Wait." He finally muttered to himself as his eyes landed once more on the tiny creature that was now reaching for the girl after laying eyes on her. It seemed happy to see her. "They said fifty years old."

The young woman responded to The Child's grabbing motions, and she ignored his questioning statement as she made a move to pick up the tiny green bundle that was reaching up at her expectantly.

"Species age differently." The droid at his side offered factually. "It could live to see many centuries."

The young woman hummed in agreement, though did not lift her head to confirm what had been voiced.

"How did you know I was coming?" Demanded the Mandalorian, grip tightening on his Amban rifle.

This situation was spiralling fast, and that strange sense of foreboding only grew with each passing moment.

He had been careful, he was always careful. The only way the girl could have known he was coming for them was if he had let it slip about where he was heading and which mission he had accepted from the guild – and those chances were all but zero. There was always the chance that others had been given tracking fobs, but he doubted any others had the capability or talent to get as far as he had, and it was clear that he was the first to gain entry to the compound and make contact with the assets.

Nothing about this was right, and it made him more uneasy than he had felt in quite some time. Uneasiness was generally a sentiment he went without, for he was assured of his capabilities and was almost always the one with the most control of any given situation.

"I saw it." She replied simply, which only added to the frustration he was fighting to suppress. "You've come to save us. I've seen it. Our fates are intertwined."

Crazy. She had to be crazy. It was the only logical explanation.

He had heard many strange things uttered by his bounties before in an attempt to gain their freedom, but this was by far one of the strangest. He had to give her credit for trying though, he supposed.

He gathered his senses then, yanking the girl from her perch and taking The Child from her arms to set it down in the pram.

The creature gave an unhappy noise at the separation, and the girl frowned at the sight of the binders he pulled out, but she did not try to free herself from his grip as any other sane person might, not even when he placed the binders around her wrists that attached to the grappling wire of his arm-piece.

Then again, perhaps she wasn't sane.

"I'm not here to save you." He stated quietly, attempting to dispel whatever illusion she had created for herself. "I'm here to deliver you for a bounty."

Still, that annoyingly hopeful look of assurance on her features did not ease, and she even had the audacity to direct a small and knowing smile his way, as if she was aware of something he was not.

The orders he had received were explicit – the girl was not to be harmed in any way, and the other half of the bounty was to be terminated.

This was, however, before he had come to learn that the other half of his bounty was a child.

He didn't kill children. He wouldn't have taken the mission in the first place if he'd known the other asset to be assassinated was a child.

The Mandalorian may not have been the most sentimental or warmest of creatures in the galaxy, but even he would prefer to bring them both in alive. He would not kill a child if he could help it, it would violate his Creed, and he found that thought both sickening and disgraceful.

He would deliver the child safely, and after he'd delivered it they could do with it as they pleased. He would take them both in alive, and then his portion of the job would be complete.

The droid, however, seemed to think otherwise.

"Initiating termination-"

"No." Interrupted the bounty hunter, arm pulling the blaster back down and out of range of The Child's round and innocent gaze. "We bring it in alive."

The girl's smile widened at his words. He ignored her.

"The commission was specific." The droid argued immediately, stating the protocol with which it had been programmed. "The asset is to be terminated."

The Mandalorian disagreed. He and the droid had reached the limit of their cooperation, it seemed. He had no further use for it.

No sooner than the droid had spoken those words that a blaster bolt found its way through the central processing unit of its manufactured head. It tumbled to the ground with a loud clanking of metal.

A beat of silence followed. The Child let loose a small giggle. The girl's smile widened further.

The Mandalorian frowned, giving a small tug on the metal wire he had attached to the girl's restraints. She lurched forward, but righted herself quickly before she could fall, standing up once again with more grace than most might possess if they were being cuffed and man-handled.

"You see?" She said excitedly after straightening herself. She was beaming at him now, an ear to ear grin that he did not appreciate. "This is the first time you've saved us, but it won't be the last. I saw it all, you're the one I've been waiting for-"

He had only been in this strange young woman's presence for less than five minutes, but he was already itching to put his blaster over her heart and pull the trigger. He scowled under his helmet and gave the restraints another harsh tug.

"Enough." He stated strongly, his command dripping in vitriol. "You'll keep your mouth closed or I'll deliver you without your tongue."

It was an empty threat, and he knew it. Funnily enough, it seemed she also knew it. His orders had been explicit that she was not to be harmed, 'not a hair on her head', specifically.

He could tell she was not frightened by his threat, but she complied with the request anyways, following him obediently out of the compound like some a faithful pet as the pram hovered alongside them.

The Mandalorian had a horrible feeling about all of this, and that uneasiness manifested in another sharp tug he gave on the girl's restraints when he heard her whispering something to The Child.

She remained unperturbed, however, which only annoyed him further.

He increased his pace as soon as she had picked herself up and began trailing after him again, determined to get back to his ship as quickly as possible.

The sooner he got to his ship, the sooner he could get them back to Nevarro and into the hands of the client who was paying him so handsomely for his work. The sooner he had delivered them, the sooner he would be free of the deranged young woman and The Child.

And the sooner he was rid of them, the sooner he could be free of that small whispering of the conscience within him that warned that this was all wrong and that he would come to regret it.

He just needed to focus. The Beskar would soon be in his reach, and he could forget all about whatever fates lay waiting for the girl and The Child back on Nevarro. It would no longer be his problem once he delivered them and received his payment. He could forget them and move on. He needn't worry about what might happen to them in the clutches of what remained of a forgotten empire.

All that mattered was the Beskar.

Or so he tried to convince himself.

.

.

The girl was lagging.

The two of them had been walking for hours, and he was surprised that she had managed to keep up thus far if he were being honest with himself.

Every now and again he would glance behind him, taking a quick once over of both the girl and The Child to make sure everything was in order.

The Child continued to stare in wonder at their surroundings, soaking in everything they passed and making small noises every now and again. The girl, up until now, had walked obediently behind him, never once complaining about how tight he had fastened the binders on her wrists and how often he yanked her forward when she slowed her pace.

She was, by far, one of the strangest bounties he had ever collected – the both of them were. A child and a woman who seemed to believe he was there to rescue them? Yeah, that was a new one.

It was almost as if she wanted to be there, restrained and tugged through the desert like some sort of prized animal on the way to the slaughter.

He still wasn't half convinced it wasn't some elaborate ruse on her end. Perhaps she thought that if he believed her to be mentally infirm then he would relax his security and she could make an escape. He had seen all sorts of tricks and tries of escapes in his career, and he was not about to fall for this one.

Still...her acting was quite convincing. It was entirely possible she truly was mad.

Either way, he would not let his guard down around either of them any time soon. The situation was too odd, and his senses buzzed on high alert, even after hours of walking in the hot sun.

The heat of the sun had certainly taken its toll on the girl as well, and he was practically dragging her along now.

A sharp tugging sensation on his wrist panel and a grunt of exertion behind him indicated that the girl had finally reached her limit. He turned, taking note that she had collapsed upon her knees and was sweating profusely from the hours of exposure under a blazing sun with no protection for her skin or head.

The Mandalorian swivelled his head around, noting that she had collapsed at a convenient enough location. They would make camp there for the night, he decided, for the location in the canyon near an alcove of jagged rocks would hide their location from any beings passing by on the dunes to the north.

"Is there…any water?" She asked between pants, attempting to pull herself up to a standing position but only succeeding in falling flat upon her rear.

He regarded her a moment before procuring the canteen he'd strapped underneath his cape and handing it to her once he had twisted the lid off.

He supposed his client would not be pleased if he brought her in dying of dehydration, and despite what others may have thought about him based on his reputation, he was not completely heartless.

She took long sips, slow and seeming to savour every drop. Finally, the girl turned to The Child, making it to her feet and shuffling towards the creature who looked pleased to see her. She waited patiently as the youngling sucked happily at the lid of the canteen, carefully positioning it in her hands so that the flow of water was not too much for the smallest of the trio.

She returned it to him half-full, which he was grateful for. He would cherish the feeling of the cool liquid running down his throat once the two were asleep and he could remove his helmet to take his portion.

"Are we to camp here for the night?" She asked, turning from the floating bassinet and the funny-looking youngling to centre her attentions upon him.

He gave no answer, instead unhooking his cape from his shoulders and throwing it haphazardly at her feet.

"Thank you." Replied the girl gratefully, looking towards the setting sun on the horizon. "The nights on this planet are cold."

Again, he felt no need to indulge her in conversation, and he set to work securing the perimeter of their impromptu camp site, making sure it was clear of dangerous animalia or any sort of traps. Once the seasoned bounty hunter was satisfied the area was both safe and secure, he sat opposite the girl and little green creature cooing curiously from its position in the pram.

"What shall I call you?" The girl asked quite suddenly, continuing when he gave no reply. "I'm Noha."

"I'm not interested in your chit-chat, girl." He returned sternly.

He did not want to know her name. He had no interest in knowing it.

Having a name to match a face to made her a little too human for him, a little too real. He did not want to know her name, or that of The Child. It would be easier to hand them over to their fates the less he knew about them. Remaining detached was what kept him successful as a bounty hunter.

"You're a Mandalorian, yes?" She breezed on, ignoring his warning completely. "I can tell by your armour. I've heard many stories about your people."

He frowned underneath his visor. Was it really so difficult to take a hint?

"Well, thank you for rescuing us, regardless." She continued on, much to his annoyance. "I suppose I owe you a debt now. I've been good at getting out of tricky situations in the past, but there were too many men at that compound. I doubt I could have taken them on my own."

At that, he nearly snorted.

She didn't look like she could take on anybody at all, much less an entire compound full of armed thugs. She was of an average height for female humanoids, perhaps a bit shorter than average. Beyond that, she was malnourished, much thinner than she ought to be and with a soft and willowy figure that held little muscle to it.

What stood out to him the most about her statement, however, was the fact that she had once again mentioned to him her belief that this was some sort of rescue mission. He was already growing tired of hearing it.

"Let's get one thing straight." He groused, attempting to drive this fact into her head once and for all. "I'm a bounty hunter. I am going to deliver you to my client and collect my reward. That's it. I haven't come here to help you escape, so get that idea out of your head."

He stopped then, watching her face to see if the threat had sunken in or not. To his immense displeasure, she only blinked owlishly at him before responding in complete guarantee of her words.

"You won't hand us over." She stated calmly, and The Child made a gurgling sound, as though it agreed with her, though he knew this was likely coincidence. "I know because I've seen it. But don't worry, if I'm right you'll still get your Beskar."

Those words did not sit well with him, the bizarre premonition making his troubled and uneasy sentiments rise in an instant.

His fingers twitched towards his blaster at her words, and in that moment, he wished nothing more than for the ability to set his weapon to stun and silence her for the remainder of their trip. That would be inadvisable, however, even he knew it. He didn't want to have to carry her slung over his shoulder for the rest of their trek back to the ship.

Regrettable, really.

"Sleep." He commanded then, patience running thin. "You'll be walking all day tomorrow, so rest."

Thankfully, she did not argue, and it seemed that she had nothing left to say, or perhaps had wizened up enough to know not to say it. He was grateful for that. Her mad prophetic ramblings irritated him, and he wanted his portion of the water in the canteen.

He released the metal chord that bound her restrained wrists to his Beskar so she could make herself comfortable with his cape. In little to no time at all, the girl was sleeping peacefully, the exhaustion of the long day showing through with how quickly she drifted off after wrapping herself snugly in the fabric. The Child soon followed.

He waited an hour before removing his helmet, wanting to be sure the two were firmly and soundly asleep before disengaging the locking system and pulling it off his head.

The cool winds of the night time desert brushed against his cheeks, and his eyes took in the display of colours that his HUD visor did not allow him to see.

The scenery looked warmer than his HUD-enhanced vision had portrayed through the helmet, and he blinked a few times as his vision became accustomed to all the changes in colour scales that his naked eyes took in.

After finishing his ration of the water, he let his gaze flicker between the pair, noting that the horrible feeling of unease still lingered in his chest.

He faltered as he focused on the sleeping youngling, so innocently unaware of whatever horrible fate awaited it back on Nevarro. The bounty hunter was not daft, he was not under any impression that the old man who had offered him this job and the eccentric scientist with him were going to take the two of them with kind intentions.

There had been a cruelty in his client's eyes, he had seen it, it had not escaped his notice. Whatever scenario he delivered the girl and The Child to, he doubted it would be a pleasant one.

Even though he knew it was unwise, he could only wonder – why a child? And why the young woman? What was so special about them that the crumbling remains of a former empire wanted the two so badly?

What value did the young woman offer?

If it had not been a former higher-up from the Empire, he might have guessed she had been purchased for the skin trade. She was certainly pleasant enough to look at.

Even now, with a malnourished frame and burned skin made golden-brown from the harsh rays of the sun, she was aesthetically pleasing to the eye. The long and messy waves of her hair were a glossy brown that shone, and her features were soft and feminine. He had seen many girls around that age and with pretty features like hers bought and sold for such purposes. It wouldn't have surprised him if that had been the case.

But it was not the case, he felt sure. Not with clients like these. He doubted they were interested in any physical pleasures she might be able to offer. No – it had to be something else…

His gaze once again landed on The Child, the strange, green-skinned and wide-eyed youngling unlike anything he had ever seen before. It was defenceless, perhaps even a foundling like he had once been.

That thought introduced a newer and fresher wave of sentiment into his heart, one that tugged violently at his conscience and made it hard to continue that particular train of thought.

He had to stop thinking about their fate.

It was not his job to question why the client needed these two, it was only his job to deliver them safely there and collect his reward. That was it.

The rules of the guild stated that once a job was done, it was forgotten. Bounty hunters never looked back, never allowed guilt or other doubts to get in the way of their work, and the Mandalorian was not one of the highest praised bounty hunters in his sector of the galaxy for no reason.

His reputation as both a Mandalorian and a respected bounty hunter was one that had been built off fear and respect. He was known as a ruthless hunter, a killer, and a feared business associate. He honoured his deals, he collected his bounties, and he killed anyone who got in his way or double crossed him.

His reputation was one that he had worked hard to earn, and one brat and a mentally inhibited young woman were not going to ruin what he had worked so earnestly to build.

He shoved his helmet back onto his head with a sigh.

The Mandalorian would continue as he always had. He would finish the job, collect the bounty, and move on with his next assignment – and he would accomplish this without any interference from a traitorous heart.

He hoisted his blaster to his chest as he got comfortable for the long night of guard duty ahead of him, running through his mental mantra of his duties and responsibilities – duties and responsibilities that did not involve asking questions about his assignment.

He fought the urge to groan when the child awoke, as though it could somehow sense the inner conflict beginning to brew inside of him.

It stared at him with an unblinking gaze so innocent and so pure that he had to look away from it.

The Beskar, he reminded himself as The Child continued to watch him, Just think of the Beskar – it'll be worth it.