A/N: Starts off before Rogue One, but after Rebels' episode Zero Hour.

An Evening with Thrawn

Grand Admiral Thrawn bit his tongue, looking at the boy wearing an ISB cadet uniform. The boy was staring at him, and really, he wasn't any more than a child. It was getting on his nerves. Humans had a tendency to do so, mostly because non-humans in high military positions were rare, these days. It didn't mean he liked the staring.

"What?"

"You're the Grand Admiral that led the Battle of Atollon," the boy said in a voice that might have been awe, "And the one that discovered Agent Kallus as a traitor."

"Yes," Thrawn said stiffly, uncomfortable with the strange way the boy was looking at him.

The boy nodded approvingly. "It made for a good read."

At this, Thrawn had to stare at the boy. That wasn't the kind of thing cadets said to Grand Admirals. The boy was strange, to put it simply. He wasn't particularly tall, but he might have been older than he looked.

He must have been older than he looked. Cadets didn't get invited to state dinners, especially with the number of senators milling around. Thrawn loathed these dinners.

A small dark-haired human female in elaborate robes, the senator from Naboo his aide informed him, approached. She had a smile on her face as she saw the two of them.

"So this is where you ran off to," she scolded the boy. "Grand Admiral, I must thank you for indulging my brother. He forgets himself sometimes."

Forgets himself. Yes, that was the right wording for it. No cadet would talk to a Grand Admiral the way the boy had, but the brother of a senator might. Especially, if he remembered the Nubian custom was to pick senators from noble houses. The Naboo didn't use any title for their noble families, but he was still familiar with the ways aristocrats would act.

The boy saluted. "I apologize, Grand Admiral."

Thrawn dismissed him and the boy hooked arms with his sister, dutifully escorting her around the room to socialize.

It was then he saw the dark towering shadow on one of the balconies. It was a surprise to see Lord Vader there. The man loathed these ridiculous occasions nearly as much as Thrawn.

He didn't know what it was about the boy that made him keep looking back at him, but whatever it was seemed to make Lord Vader stare at the boy as well. It wasn't obvious, he doubted the senators could tell, but every time the boy moved, Lord Vader's mask did as well.

Suddenly, the boy burst into laughter and tried to disguise it as a cough and his sister elbowed him discreetly. The boy shot a look towards Vader, a glare really. Interesting. Did the ISB have another traitor? He did seem to resent the Dark Lord's presence.

The night moved on and Thrawn kept a close eye on the boy. He didn't know his name, but it would be easy enough to find out since he was the Nubian Senator's brother. He would have to watch him since the ISB was incompetent when it came to finding traitors in their midst.

The evening was winding down thankfully. The boy had long since disappeared, but his sister was still there, talking with Senator Organa. Nothing overly suspicious about that, since Naboo and Alderaan had historically shared close ties. But Senator Organa was a rebel, despite lack of evidence to prove it, which made him wonder if the young Nubian senator was as well. It would explain her brother's glare towards Lord Vader.

"You promised," he heard the boy's voice come from around the corner. This hallway was not meant to be in use, but it held a back exit that Thrawn preferred to use to escape these kinds of gatherings. "No interference. Instead, here you are."

The tone was aggravated. A rebel contact perhaps?

But then he heard this hiss of mechanical breathing and his blood went cold at the first thought that entered his mind.

"There was a threat of rebel activity here tonight, young one," Lord Vader's voice came, low and dangerous and dare he think it, almost like he cared about the boy.

"I could have handled myself. Stars, you don't have to be so overprotective!" The boy was exasperated. He never heard of anyone talking to Lord Vader like that before and living. This child was indeed dangerous, but in a different way than the Rebels were.

Vader's breathing seemed to overtake the room and Thrawn left before either of the other two decided to leave. It wouldn't do for Lord Vader to know that Thrawn had overheard him showing weakness.

It would be in everyone's best interest if Thrawn just forgot that night all together.