This story features my character, Kein Rei, and Ruby, who belongs to . This is a collaborative story between the two of us, and it will span over a series of parts.

Ruby rested her head in his lap as he absentmindedly stroked her montrals. A million thoughts ran through Kein's head, but one question was prominent among them. How am I going to explain this to Vader without winding up dead? He asked himself once more. He'd already thought up a multitude of ideas, but none of them guaranteed that he'd remain alive.

"I have a question," Ruby's voice broke through the storm in his mind.

"Hm?"

"Why do you work for Vader?"

"I didn't really have a choice," Kein replied.

Ruby sat up and leaned back against the wall beside him. "Tell me."

Kein furrowed his brow, feeling rather unwilling. It was something he never spoke of, not even to Ania or Cy back in the day. At last, he nodded. "I was thirteen, I think. I believed that my family had been killed on Ryloth during the Clone Wars. I had taken to scavenging the battle wreckage. I'd find some parts that were worth a little bit and sell them for food and weapons."

Ruby remained silent, simply listening. "When the Empire came to Ryloth, I thought I might be able to steal some of their equipment and use it to buy myself passage off the planet. I greatly overestimated my skills..."

"No surprise there," Ruby snickered.

Kein rolled his eyes and continued. "And I was captured. They were going to kill me, but for some reason, Vader ordered them to keep me alive. He had me taken to Centax 1 and I was trained as a bounty hunter. I never thought to try to escape. I knew if I did, I'd be killed and besides, running with the Empire was bringing me some level of safety and a nice amount of credits."

"I remember training with Cyana Otsan for a year or two before Ania came along. Before either of them showed up, Vader sent me out on my first assignment. I tracked down a Nautolan rebel who had been causing a lot of trouble on Coruscant. I found her with ease and killed her, as Vader had ordered." Kein released a sigh and closed his eyes for a moment. "All he wanted was her head as confirmation. When I took her mask off to collect it, I saw the face of my sister."

"Did you confront Vader about it?" Ruby asked. She wrapped her hand around his and squeezed it gently.

"I did and he knew who she was when he sent me after her. Ansel apparently had a Force Sensitive son but none of Vader's agents had been able to retrieve it. With her dead, they found my nephew and took him. I don't know what happened to him. I imagine they turned him into an Inquisitor or he was killed."

"You never looked?"

"I was too busy hunting."

Ruby tilted her head and gave him a disbelieving look. "You stayed there after they made you kill your sister?"

"I had two choices. I could leave and inevitably be killed, or I could stay and appease Vader enough that he'd leave me alone." Ruby opened her mouth to speak, but Kein held up a hand, stopping her. "Don't bother saying there was a third choice. I stopped believing that a long time ago. When it comes to Vader, there are only two choices. Obey or die."

Ruby lowered her gaze and nodded. "So Cyana and Ania. Who are they?"

"They trained with me for a while. Cyana still works for the Empire, I think, although I don't know where she is." Kein smirked to himself and added, "She was a very pretty Twi'lek. We were together for a while."

Ruby punched his shoulder. "Sleemo. I don't want to hear about your exes."

"You asked, Sweetheart." He grimaced and rubbed his arm before continuing. "Anyway, I only knew Ania for a few weeks. She was twelve when Vader brought her to Centax 1, although I've been told that he captured her when she was ten. We didn't get along at all." Kein tilted his head back, revealing a faded scar on the bottom of his jaw. "She tried to kill me, once. After that, Vader sent me away. Ania recently betrayed him and is on the run. She's the person I'm usually hunting these days."

"I see." Ruby thought for a moment. "What would you do if you didn't work for Vader?"

Kein shrugged. "I've never thought about it. I'd probably still be a bounty hunter. I'm good at it." He gave her a side glance and winked. "If you're asking out of personal interest, I could be persuaded to travel as a pair." Ruby's face flushed and she turned away. He chuckled a bit. "All right, I've told you my story. Now, you tell me yours. What are you doing on Cantonica and how did you wind up on Vader's hit list?" He waited as she silently thought.

Ruby thought about it silently for a while. She had buried most of the memories from when she was a child. Finally, she decided that it wasn't necessary to tell him everything. "Well, one of the reasons Vader wants me dead is because I was a Jedi youngling." Her expression hardened as she muttered, "But the reason the Emperor wants me dead is because of my...master."

"A Jedi?" Kein asked.

Ruby shook her head, as she began to trace shapes on the ground with her finger. "No...after the Purge... I was taken care of by a bounty hunter and my master, who was a...a Sith."

Out of the corner of her eye, Ruby saw the surprise on Kein's face. He shook his head seemingly confused. "Who?"

"The Emperor's old apprentice....Darth Maul." She fell silent, waiting for his reaction.

He thought about it for a moment before speaking. "I thought I recognized your tattoos."

She smiled softly, chuckling. "I designed some of them, but the majority of them are like his."

"And the head dress?" Kein asked, pointing to the horns.

"They aren't real, but yeah, they're supposed to look like Zabrak horns."

He nodded. "So why exactly does the Emperor want you dead? I don't think he'd bother hunting you down just because you are trained by Maul."

"He wants to draw my master out of hiding," Ruby clarified. "He's been gone for years, but if my assumption is correct, the Emperor wants to kill me and is hoping that our bond will be strong enough to alert my master. Although, I haven't had any contact with him. I doubt it would work. It's actually what I've been doing here," she explained. "I've been trying to find him, but it's been so long. I've actually begun to give up." She frowned.

"Is that why you've stayed here so long?"

Ruby nodded, looking back to the ground. "The gig pays well and I get the option of free food and rooms. Though, I don't usually accept any invitations." She smirked.

"All right, I get it. You're popular, and attractive," Kein grumbled. She smirked at the annoyance that crossed his handsome features.

She chuckled, leaning closer to him. "Aw, are you jealous?" She teased.

He scoffed in response, crossing his arms. "No."

She chuckled while grabbing his arm and kissing his cheek. "Don't worry. You're the only one who's tried to kill me, so you've got a head start." She snickered before standing up and stretching.

Kein remained seated as Ruby headed out of the cave. He didn't call after her, assuming she might want some alone time after her revelations. He knew he would. Kein sighed and pulled a plasma blade out of its sheath. He tossed it in the air and caught it a few times.

"A head start," he scoffed. "I hope I have more than a head start, considering the trouble I'm about to be in." Still, green eyes flashed before his eyes and he smiled to himself. Kein shook his head with a grimace a second later. "That is such a weird feeling."

He jumped to his feet and sheathed the plasma blade. Kein stiffened as the holodisk within his belt began to vibrate. He pulled it out and stared at it in surprise. "Vader," he hissed. "Blast it." Kein pocketed the holodisk and sprinted out of the cave. There was no sign of Ruby, so he boarded the Scorpion and barricaded himself within his cabin.

Kein set the holodisk on the floor and accepted the transmission. He knelt, trying to calm the racing of his heart. Vader's breathing flooded the small room. Kein lowered his head, forcing himself to draw in even breaths.

"Have you located the girl yet?" Vader demanded.

Kein quickly wracked his brain for a response. His mouth went dry as he spoke. "I've been tracking her, my lord." There. It wasn't a definitive answer, but at least Vader wouldn't strangle him immediately.

"I expected you to have her by now. Your time is running out, Bounty Hunter. Bring her to Coruscant within the next day, or it will be you facing the Emperor's wrath."

Kein squeezed his eyes shut. "Yes, Lord Vader."

Ruby felt her heart stop in her chest as she heard the last words. She had seen Kein go to the ship and had sensed his anxiety, though she hadn't guessed it meant this. Her hands clenched into fists as she rushed out of the ship.

She began gathering her belongings, the few that she had, and packed them. She felt overwhelmed by her emotions, feelings of sadness, fear and betrayal washing over her. The last thing she grabbed was her saber.

"Ruby!" Kein called from behind her.

She clenched the hilt of her saber tightly, keeping her back turned to him. "I shouldn't have trusted you," she muttered quietly.

"Ruby, I'm not..." he began to explain, but she cut him off.

"I should have never trusted a bounty hunter!" She turned, looking at him with tears stinging her eyes. "All you care about is surviving and getting your pay. I don't know why I thought any differently."

"Please let me explain," He said desperately, putting up his hands in defense.

"Why? So you can trick me with your stories again? I'm not going back!" She yelled, anger boiling up within her.

"Ruby, I'm not going to hand you in!" Kein shouted back.

She recoiled in surprise, not expecting him to argue against her so strongly. "How can you expect me to trust you after what I heard? You've just been manipulating me."

"Ruby, just listen to me for a minute!" He demanded. She kept her anger filled eyes on him, watching him closely. "I'm not planning on handing you in to Vader. He caught me off guard, and I had to save my neck. I said what I needed to in order to stay alive."

"How do I know you're not just doing that right now?" She asked, seemingly calmer. Her hands still gripped her saber tightly with her finger right on top of the activation button.

He hesitated a moment, gathering courage. "Because I care about you." He said firmly.

Ruby went quiet, looking to the ground as she thought, before looking back to Kein. Her nerves calmed and she was able to focus more on trying to read his thoughts and expression. "You're...not lying," she said quietly, still unsure.

"Of course not. It's not something I would joke about."

She sighed, kneeling on the ground. She had dropped her saber and was now rubbing her face as she calmed down. Ruby heard his feet shuffle towards her and felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Ruby?" He asked. She lowered her hands and looked up. Kein was kneeling in front of her. "Why are you so afraid of Vader?"

She looked to her hands once more. They were now shaking as she relived her memories. "He killed them all..." she murmured. "I watched him kill the others. One of the older younglings helped me escape through the vents. She was right behind me." Tears began to well up in her eyes and she shook her head, wanting to forget. "I should have died with the others."

He gently took Ruby's shaking hands into his own. "I'm sorry. I won't pretend to know how that felt, but don't ever say that you should've died along with them. You survived for a reason, even if you don't know what it is."

Ruby shook her head. "It doesn't matter. I was there when so many were...slaughtered, but I got to live, for whatever reason. I wish I hadn't."

"How do you think I felt when my parents were killed in the war, or when I killed my sister and found out about her son? We've all lost someone, Ruby, but we keep living anyway. We can't change what happened." Kein lifted a hand to her cheek. "I'm not turning you in. I promise."

Ruby leaned into his touch for a brief moment and nodded. She stood after a moment and began to unpack her things. After a while, she settled down for the night. Kein lay awake on his blankets, his hands folded across his stomach.

He turned his head and watched Ruby, soundly sleeping. I can't turn her in, he thought, but I can't let Vader know she's here. An idea slowly began to take shape in his mind. He had no idea if it would work, but he had to try.

Kein hurriedly pulled his boots on and grabbed his weapons. He sprinted out of the cave and started up the Scorpion's engines. Surprisingly, the sound hadn't woken Ruby. She was still asleep when he returned to the cave.

Kein knelt beside her and dropped his jacket, the same one she'd borrowed before. He kissed her forehead with a silent promise, then left once more. Kein boarded the Scorpion and took off, setting the navicomputer coordinates for Coruscant. He made the jump to hyperspace, possibly the last one he would ever make, and prepared himself.