xvi

Mando makes his way to the cockpit, brushing past all of us on his way up. He follows Zero's path, probably to keep an eye on him since the droid is the one he trusts the least out of the crew. I let out a breath, leaning against a wall as I observe them. Whenever one of them gets too close to the child's hiding spot I tense, knowing he could be revealed and potentially hurt at any moment.

Xi'an concentrates on balancing a knife on the tip of her finger as the ship flies smoothly through space. Burg is pacing, and it's getting to the purple bitch. She huffs. "Will you sit down?" It's more of a demand than a request. She doesn't remove her eyes nor her concentration from her knife.

Burg turns to her, banging on the ceiling roughly with a glare. The Twi'lek only hisses back in return. Burg and Mayfeld snicker, and I roll my eyes. I've been cooped up in a ship with them for a matter of minutes and I already want it to be over. The money better be worth these dumbasses. 

Burg begins messing with the buttons on the wall, his one brain cell probably attracted to the pretty lights. The door to Mando's weapons compartment opens and I breath out a quiet sigh of relief, still keeping a close eye on him. At least it wasn't the child's compartment.

The red alien turns, laughing triumphantly at his findings and moving closer to examine the weapons. He sticks his head inside the compartment curiously. As if on cue, Mando jumps down from the upper level, landing behind the being. He immediately presses a button on his forearm and the compartment closes as fast as it had opened, forcing Burg's hands out lest he get something stuck. Burg slams on the door, grunting in frustration before he turns on Mando, glaring. 

He goes to press more buttons, these ones leading directly to the child, but Mando grabs his wrist roughly before he's halfway there. They get in each other's faces, the tension obvious as they hold an aggressive stare. Burg growls, not liking the challenge and I tense, ready to get in between them if necessary.

Mayfeld attempts to break them up by yelling from where he sits. "Hey, hey, hey. Okay. Okay, I get it. I'm a little particular about my personal space, too. So let's just do this job. We get in, we get out, and you don't have to see our faces anymore."

"Someone tell me why we even need a Mandalorian." Burg growls, still in Mando's face.

"Well, apparently, they're the greatest warriors in the galaxy. So they say." Mayfeld explains, his tone disbelieving.

Burg looks Mando up and down. "Then why are they all dead?" The group laughs, but I keep my eyes on Mando. He's just standing there. 

I push myself off of the wall. "Enough." I speak up, my tone brusque. The laughter dies down and all eyes turn to me, their gazes accusatory since I ruined their fun. I glare back, twice as fierce.

Mayfeld smirks, turning back to Mando and pointing a thumb in my direction. "Where'd you find that one?" He keeps silent, looking at me and ignoring Mayfeld entirely. The bald man looks between us, realizes we aren't going to answer, and shrugs, deciding to change the subject. "Alright. Well, you flew with him, Xi'an. Is he as good as they say?"

She doesn't take her focus off of her knife. "Ask him about the job on Alzoc III." All eyes turn to Mando.

He hesitates, still looking at me. "I did what I had to."

Xi'an chuckles, finally dropping the knife into her hand to turn to him. "Oh, but you liked it. See, I know who you really are."

My brows knit as I look to Mando. He never speaks about his past, not since that tiny piece of information I was allowed on Arvala-7. I mean, I of all people understand rough pasts and secrets, but he's shared even less than I have. It leaves me wondering what he's really done. I doubt it's worse than some of my regrets, but then, I've only known him a matter of months. What is he truly capable of?

Mayfeld turns to the purple bitch. "He never takes off the helmet?"

She chuckles, and in a deep, mocking voice, replies, "This is the Way." Laughs circle the room once more, and I grit my teeth, jaw working at the blatant insult to his culture. It's one job. One job, and then we never have to see these assholes again. One job. I repeat it like a sacred mantra in my head. 

Everything will be fine. I'll restrain myself as best I can and hopefully, by the end of the day, I won't have killed one. It'll all go smoothly, and we can leave with our reward and never be bothered by them again. It'll be fine.

"Huh. I wonder what you look like under there." Mayfeld contemplates. "Maybe he's a Gungan. Is that why yousa don't wanna show your face?" I clench my fists as the inconsiderate disgraces to intelligent life guffaw. Nope, I think to myself. Can't do anything. Stay quiet, don't knock any teeth out. You still have to do a job with them. Be civil. "You ever seen his face?"

Mayfeld asks Xi'an. She gasps derisively. "A lady never tells." I don't see much of a lady anywhere, I think, but manage to keep my trap shut. 

"Aw. Come on, Mando. We all gotta trust each other here. You gotta show us somethin'." Mayfeld prods, blatantly asking him to disregard his entire culture. Don't do it. Be civil. Decent, at least. "Come on. Just lift the helmet up. Come on. Let's all see your eyes."

Mando doesn't budge, so the bald asshole nods at the red one, who steps forward. "I'll do it." He starts toward Mando, raising a hand, but the hand is caught and shoved down quickly. My anger bubbles over. Oh, to hell with decency.

I go to move forward and hopefully land a few solid hits on Burg, but Xi'an is on her feet before I can get there. "And where do you think your going?" 

"Move." I demand, conjuring a knife as her own swings toward me. I block the hit and go to strike when I hear another compartment opening. Both of us freeze and I look over her shoulder in horror to see the child's compartment open. The child looks at all of the new people, his wide eyes curious.

Shit.

Mayfeld is already on his feet. "Woah. What is that?" he walks towards the child, and my knuckles are white at this point, fists shaking. If he lays one hand on that child, he can kiss his ability to have children goodbye.

The bald asshole looks at Mando. "You get lonely up here, buddy? Huh?" The child coos, and Mayfeld turns around with a smirk on his face. "Wait a minute." he points between Mando and Xi'an, completely ignoring my existence. "Did you two make that? What is it, like a pet or somethin'?"

"Yeah. Something like that." Mando says, keeping Mayfeld under a watchful eye. He's just as tense as I am.

Xi'an approaches Mando and I'm not far behind, trying to get to the child before Mayfeld hurts it. I move around Mando and the purple bitch as she hums, "Didn't take you for the type. Maybe that code of yours has made you soft." 

Mayfeld turns to me, continuing his talking. "Me, I was never really into pets. I didn't have the temperament. Patience, you know?" I narrow my eyes, trying to communicate how much I truly don't give a shit about whether or not he likes carrying another smaller and far cuter creature with him. I just need him to back off from my kid. "I mean, I tried, but it never worked out. But I'm thinkin' maybe I'll try again with this little fella."

He scoops the child into his arms, holding him completely the wrong way as if he's never dealt with anything delicate in his life. I step forward, completely ready to snatch my son away from this disgusting bald asshole, but Mando's hand latches onto my wrist. I look back at him, only to see him shake his head slightly.

Being stubborn, I attempt to shake his grip off, but it doesn't work. Instead, he pulls me closer so that his arm is linked around my waist and I'm pulled back against his Beskar-clad chest. He's successfully trapped me, rendering me helpless as this man handles our kid.

I struggle and Mayfeld notices, smirking when he sees Mando having to physically hold me back so I don't take my child and beat his ass with one hand. He locks his eyes with mind, pretending to drop the child, who squeaks in alarm. I growl dangerously as the crew laughs. "Hands. Off." 

"Yeah? What are you going to do, huh, short ass? You gonna jump for him?" I jerk forward, Mando's arms restricting me from tackling him.

"You put him down. You're dead." He merely grins, looking down at the child before throwing him into the air and barely catching him before he hits the ground. Mando tenses, and his grip on me loosens just enough to be unnoticeable by the group around us but felt by me. I look back at him and he nods once.

Mayfeld notices our interaction and I see fear growing in his eyes. He quickly covers it up, sneering, "Alright. You want me to put him down?" He keeps his eyes locked on mine, holding the child above his head before dropping him entirely. Mando's grip falls and I dive forward, barely managing to catch him before the tiny, precious baby hits the ground. The bald asshole, however, was expecting my move and knees me in the face. I fall back onto my ass, the child cradles safely in my arms but my nose hurting like hell. The rest of the crew laughs as I get to my feet, passing the child off to Mando. 

"What you gonna do?" Mayfeld spreads his arms out wide. I make a single baton out of light and rush at him. He wasn't expecting a full attack as I get him pinned to the wall of the ship, my baton pressed on his throat, and not lightly. The two others surge forward, but I shoot them both glares and they stand down. I then get in Mayfeld's face, growling viciously, "If you ever lay a hand on that child again, I will shred you to pieces and you will never see the light of day again. Am I clear?"

"Sure." the man rasps. I release his windpipe, allowing my baton to disappear. He gasps, coughing, and I shove him into the ship's wall again before letting him go. His egg-looking head hits the wall with a satisfying bang, and I smirk.

Mando places the child gently back into his compartment, closing the door which I then settle back on, leaning against the cool metal protectively, my arms crossed. The ship is blissfully silent for a few minutes more, until Mayfeld and his big mouth break my peace.

"So, Mando, I'm gonna ask you again: where the hell did you find her?" I suppose it's supposed to be a joke, but neither of us respond.

"Probably at a bar." Xi'an suggests, drawing snickers out of her comrades.

They begin throwing insults around about me, which I tune out after the first two. Instead of listening, I draw up a knife and keep my focus on it, much like Xi'an earlier, although I've already mastered balancing the knives so I resort to a different form of entertainment.

My attention is drawn back to the conversation at the first sign of Mando's voice. "Hey," He speaks up, his own temper clearly wearing thin.

I sigh, not knowing what was said but knowing that if it was enough to get Mando to break his calm, it was probably bad. Looks like decency is already far gone with this group; no point in trying to play nice. "The next person to talk is getting a knife in their eye." I comment, my tone carrying a casual ease that barely masks the ice and steel underneath. I lazily flip my blade as I make the threat and for the few beats of silence afterwards, enjoying the blissful peace when the air isn't full of insults from the tongues of jackasses- and Mando. My weapon follows a calming rhythm. Toss, catch. Toss, catch. Toss, catch. 

That is, until Mayfeld can't keep his idiotic mouth shut. He stands, having sat down and pouted like a child upon hearing my threat, and begins to protest. Before a full sentence can even leave his mouth, the knife has been thrown from my hand and implanted itself two inches deep into a metal wall behind the asshole himself- quicker than anyone can blink. He raises his hand to the side of his bald head, where I made sure the blade nicked him on its way to the wall. As his fingers come away with blood, the man seeths and steps towards me. I remain calm and unflinching, even though his nature reminds me of the predatory slave owners from my childhood. And although nobody else does, Mando notices the slight fear in my eyes and steps forward as well, his stance protective as he places himself slightly in between myself and Mayfeld.

"You little wench." The bald asshole spits. "I'll-"

I look him dead in the eye for my next words. "I should warn you; I never miss."

>>>>><<<<<

The rest of the ride is silent. We're all just sitting and staring at each other (which is better than hearing them talk) when Zero's voice can be heard. "Dropping out of hyperspace, now." The ship jerks suddenly and we're all thrown to the side, forced to brace ourselves against whatever we can. "Commencing final approach, now. Cloaking signal, now." Everyone is thrown around once more. I grunt as I collide with Beskar. "Engaging coupling, now." The ship thuds as we finally land, all panting. "Coupling confirmed. We are down. And relax. Commence extraction, now."

Xi'an snarls. "Useless droid didn't even give us a proper countdown."

"Z, are you sure they can't see us?" Mayfeld asks over comms. 

"The Razor Crest is scrambling our signature and I am inside the prison system. It's impressive that this gunship has survived the Empire without being impounded." Zero replies.

As the droid talks I realize both Mando and I are on the floor, myself having fallen on top of him. My face flushes, and I whisper a quick, "Sorry," before shooting to my feet and rushing over to the child's compartment. I open it, seeing him lying sideways and making concerned noises. I smile, helping him up, apologizing and placing a quick kiss on his head before closing the compartment once more.

Mando stands, the door into the transport ship now open. The crew is silent, looking expectantly at Mayfeld. "It's me?"

Burg nods. "Always you."

The man steels himself before dropping into a crouch and peeking his head through to look for any droids, his guns ahead of him. He comes back up, nodding at the rest of us before carefully lowering himself down into the prison. Xi'an is next, flipping down with an acrobatic grace. I hear Mayfeld talking to Zero on comms before Burg jumps down, landing with a thud. Mando hesitates, glancing at the child's compartment before he jumps too, landing with only a little noise, and I'm the last in the ship.

I take a deep breath, mentally preparing myself to work with these jackasses, before I jump and land in a crouch, not making a sound. "All right, we're on the clock. The second we engage those droids, they're gonna be all over us." Mayfeld explains.

Mando dismisses his words. "We know the drill."

Zero's voice sounds through the communication devices. "Bio trackers activated. I've got eyes."

"Lovely," I mutter sarcastically. "May we go now?"

Mayfeld says nothing for once, leading the way with a blaster ready. I have one of Mando's spare blasters for this mission, just because we're dealing with prison droids and there's no need to make things harder on myself by just fighting with knives. It's always good to have options.

We run silently through the halls, taking cover in the alcoves between cells when we hear any noise. They're like mini-walls, just big enough for a person to fit. I can feel the many prisoners' eyes on us as we pass, making me uneasy.

Mando voices my thoughts as he sees the various prisoners, all watching silently. "I don't like this."

Xi'an hums. "You always were paranoid."

I roll my eyes at her comment, and for once Mayfeld and I are in agreement as he mocks, "Is that true, Mando? Were you always paranoid?" he makes an annoyed face, his voice raising in pitch to mock Xi'an's.

Everyone jumps as a prisoner screeches at us, the unholy sound magnified by the silence as it bounces off the sterile walls. The purple bitch snarls back at the prisoner, her and Burg laughing loudly. I shake my head.

"Approaching control room. Make a left at the next juncture." Zero supplies.

We have to be more careful now, since Xi'an and Burg's fun may have attracted unwanted attention, especially this close to the control room. Mayfeld leans around the wall, beckoning Mando, who shuffles over to the other side and takes cover behind a ridge. He sees the clear hallway and gives us the okay. I'm next, keeping to the side of the hall I'm on and taking cover behind the ridge across from Mando. Our guns are ready. The two arrogant aliens simply walk into the hall, shoulders back and chins lifted. I roll my eyes; they're gonna cause us trouble.

Seeing no need to hide if Burg and Xi'an are going to be out in the open, the rest of us come out from behind our separate ridges and we walk down the hall cautiously. A little droid comes around the corner, beeping happily, and everyone is immediately on edge.

We all sigh upon seeing that it's not a threat. "What? It's just a little mousey." Burg laughs. He unholsters his gun, hiding it behind his back as he outstretches his free hand toward the 'mousey'. "Come here, little mousey."

"Burg." Mayfeld hisses, but the red alien pays no attention.

I roll my eyes. "We don't have time for this."

"Mousey! Come here. Come here." Burg continues to beckon the mouse droid. It rolls away from Burg, who gets frustrated and shoots the poor thing, throwing a fit like a toddler.

"No! Burg, what are you doin'?" Mayfeld scolds.

Burg turns. "What?" he defends. Two security droids, most likely having been alerted by the red dumbass with half a brain cell, turn the corner.

"Intruder alert. Open fire." One commands, and we all dive to take cover behind a ridge as they start shooting mercilessly. I try to shoot back, but I can't get any good shots off because they're shooting at anything that moves. I can't even stick my head around the ridge to see.

Mando, who's behind the same ridge as me this time, taps my shoulder. "I'm gonna go around behind them."

I nod, turning my attention back to the droid as Mando leaves, undetected by the droids and the rest of the crew. "We're too exposed here!" Xi'an shouts, struggling as much as the rest of us. A third blaster comes out of Mayfeld's backpack and shoots around the corner as he hides, but it does little to help us.

"If they get a signal out, it's not gonna matter." Mayfeld grunts. "Mando, let's go! You're supposed to be somethin' special!" he turns, only to see find no sign of Mando. Xi'an lets out a frustrated groan as Mayfeld shakes his head. "I knew it! I knew it!"

I roll my eyes, shouting above the blaster fire. "Would you calm your shit?! He didn't leave!"

"Oh, yeah? Looks like he did!" the bald asshole argues. I let go of the subject, turning my attention back to the droids as I try not to get hit. It isn't worth wasting my breath on; he'll see that I'm right.

As I watch, Mando comes around behind the droids just like he'd promised. He runs forward, sliding and cutting off a droid's leg right below the knee. He's back on his feet in an instant, kicking out at another droid and knocking it down. The other two, who have broken formation by this point, are struck down quickly. Mando shoots one and then the other, after withstanding a shot to the Beskar. It's safer to go out in the hallway now, with the droids scattered and distracted, but the crew make no move to help.

I look at them, incredulous. "Aren't you going to help?"

Mayfeld shrugs. "This is why he's here." I roll my eyes at their obvious stupidity, rushing forward as a couple of reinforcements arrive. Mando narrowly dodges a couple of punches, but after that I don't see what happens to him. I throw one of my knives into a droid's eye.

Whirling to the other droids, I see that two are approaching Mando, who lies on the floor. He shoots out at one with his grappling hook, pulling it forward by the neck and knocking it into another. I run at the second, exchanging a couple of blows with it before I manage to grab on to a handful of its internal wiring. I pull and it falls to the floor, now a lifeless shell.

Two more droids round the corner, and I let Mando take one, running at the other. I slide under the shots that it takes at me, coming up behind it and, as it turns around to face me, I wrap my legs around its shoulders while it's unprepared for my . I then throw my body back, taking the robot with me and disabling it as it slams into the ground hard. I land in a crouch, adrenaline buzzing through my veins like spotchka.

In the time it takes me to get those two droids down, Mando's already decapitated one and partially cooked another before shooting clean through its head. The head that Mando yanked off rolls to a stop at the rest of the crew's feet and they look at the both of us, shocked for a moment.

The prisoners begin cheering at the show, but the crew wipes the surprise off of their faces and try to look unimpressed instead, even though we both just saved their asses (well, okay it was mostly Mando, but I helped).

Mayfeld sneers, "Make sure you clean up your mess." as he walks past, Xi'an only laughs, and Burg clips Mando's shoulder roughly. I have no idea how he keeps his cool for so long around these ungrateful idiots.

He sighs as they pass us, coming over to me. I hold my hand out in front of me and he grasps it tightly, leaning his forehead against our joined hands. "We better go." he mumbles. I nod, letting go of his hand as we run after the hated group. I am so excited for this to end.

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