Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

Jango stands rooted to the spot, staring.

As the thing continues to lift itself out of the water, yellow-brown shoulders begin to emerge, giving him a vague idea of its full size – and it's mind-boggling. Just the head is bigger than Jango himself, possibly larger than two of him stacked on top of each other. The ground shivers under Jango's feet as an enormous claw lands on the bank of the lake.

Jango swears, the enemy behind him almost forgotten as he scrambles back to get away from the thing. He remembers thinking to himself that the lake could be hundreds of meters deep; apparently, that's big enough to fit a Mythosaur.

Ka'ra¹. A Mythosaur.

They're extinct, or so he's been told all his life, and have been for centuries. It seems no one has ever considered that they might be aquatic – or partially so – nor that they could have survived underground.

Jango glances back at the terrorists-in-the-making, but no one seems interested in fighting anymore. Half of them have already cut and run, the other half seem fixed to the spot, staring at the impossible sight before them.

Another gigantic claw lands in front of Jango. The Mythosaur's head now towers above them, brushing the cavern's ceiling. A few stalactites break off and plop into the water. A deep, thrumming sound vibrates the rock beneath Jango's boots, as if the beast is growling.

He's not sure whether it would be wise to run away. Some predators' instincts are only activated when the prey is moving. Slowly, he edges backwards, never taking his eyes off the creature.

Then one of the enemy warriors lets out a wild yell and begins firing on the Mythosaur. The plasma harmlessly dissipates across its scales, but its head swings around to focus on the idiot, jaws opening to reveal a row of serrated teeth. In a move faster than should be possible for an animal that large, its head comes down, jaws snapping shut around the unfortunate soldier. Jango dodges to the side to avoid being crushed by accident, but he's close enough to hear the aborted scream when the Mythosaur bites down, and the crunch of its teeth punching through the soldier's armor. It throws back its head and gulps the body down.

Two more people back away frantically, then try to run. One of them is caught by the Mythosaur's enormous jaws before they can take more than two steps, though the other makes it to safety. Jango flinches when a bloody leg falls to the ground in front of him². He forces his feet to stay rooted to the ground.

The last two enemy warriors have edged away quietly, reaching one of the tunnels and slipping inside. Now it's just Jango and… He carefully looks to the side, his eyes trying to find Kenobi's. But the Jedi is staring up at the Mythosaur in wonder. His lightsaber is on his belt – Jango didn't even notice him putting it away, nor can he fathom why he would have done so.

"Hello there," Kenobi breathes.

If Jango had dared to move, he would have smacked the stupid fool.

The Mythosaur's head turns to Kenobi, ponderously lowering to study him with its narrow black eyes.

Jango can barely believe it when Kenobi reaches out a hand. "Are you trying to get eaten?" he hisses.

His breath catches when the Mythosaur's eyes cut to him.

"Are you the one who has been calling me?" Kenobi asks, thankfully drawing the beast's attention again. "You are definitely the one whose Force presence I've been feeling, every time I go down here."

If he's expecting the thing to make conversation with him, he'll be in for a nasty surprise, Jango thinks. The Mythosaur lowers its head further, closing in on Kenobi. The vibration shudders through the ground again. Any second now, it's going to snap its teeth around that outstretched hand. He's going to watch the Jedi disappear down that enormous gullet. He has no idea how he's going to explain to Kote that his riduur³ volunteered to be a Mythosaur's latemeal.

Jango opens his mouth to speak, though he's not sure what he intends to say, when the impossible happens. The Mythosaur touches its giant snout gently to Kenobi's hand, then pulls away to look at him again. Seconds pass as the two of them simply look into each other's eyes.

Jango is a practical man. He has little time for rituals and prayers; they've never done him much good. But he can't help but feel a whisper of religious awe at witnessing this moment between a creature of legend and the man standing before it, dwarfed by its size. The ancestors used to tame Mythosaurs and ride them into battle, according to the ancient songs.

The thrumming vibration comes again. Then the Mythosaur steps back, retreating into the water – or rather, lowering its upper body back into the water, because its hind legs have never actually been visible. Jango swallows again at the reminder of its enormity; it was towering over them, without ever fully leaving the water.

Kenobi, seemingly deciding he hasn't taken enough risks today, follows it, standing at the edge of the lake as the creature sinks back down into it. As the head disappears below the water, there's a sudden wave lapping the shore and a flash of scales, leaving only a whirlpool behind; the Mythosaur has turned and swum away.

Jango finally dares to breathe again. "What the fuck," he manages.

"Beautiful," Kenobi whispers.

Jango stares at him, trying to find the words to express the utter madness of that statement.

The Jedi finally tears his eyes away from the water and meets Jango's gaze, eyes wide. "I was told they were extinct. This is an amazing discovery." His enthusiasm is grating, incongruous as it is with Jango's still pounding heart and watery knees.

"You offered it your hand," Jango finally grits out.

Kenobi shrugs, entirely unconcerned. "Well, I was connecting to it in the Force. It had an opinion or two about all the activity down here. It doesn't like all these humans in its territory."

"Are you trying to say it was talking to you?" He'd thought Kenobi might have tamed it with his magic powers, but talking goes a few steps further.

"It's more like receiving impressions, when it comes to animals. Though this was a very intelligent animal. It was quite clear in its communication. But do you realize the wider implications? To support an animal of that size, even if it's incredibly economical in its food intake, the aquifers must all be connected and have a functioning ecosystem." Kenobi is almost bouncing on his heels. "The AgriCorps will be very interested to hear this. Do you suppose that's why they call it the Living Waters?"

Jango hesitates. To be honest, he has no idea. He's never thought about the name.

Kenobi looks around the cavern, empty but for the bodies left behind. "It seems to have helped us out, too. Very kind of it."

Jango shakes himself out of the shock. He's just going to have to ignore the whole Mythosaur thing, for now, until there's time to process. For now, they still need to deal with the terrorists that didn't get eaten. He strides over to the nearest body, checking it for compatible spare power packs. "Two of them have gone to hide in the armory. The other ones went that way." He points to the middle tunnel.

"We know the armory is a dead end, so following the others seems like the best option. Unless you want to deal with the ones in the armory, first? We might not want to risk them coming up behind us."

Oh, now he's interested in Jango's opinion. "Let's get those two first."

As Kenobi heads off towards the tunnel they just came from, Jango stares at his back, attempting to integrate the otherworldly creature that just tamed a fucking Mythosaur into his mental image of the man.

When he'd been freshly elected as Mand'alor, having just lost Jaster, and thrust into a position he'd been nowhere near ready for, he had prayed to the Ka'ra often. It had almost been a way of talking to Jaster, since the Ka'ra were supposed to be the fallen Mand'alor'e watching over their people. Then Galidraan happened, and all the shit that came after, and he'd stopped praying. He'd been sure the Ka'ra were nothing but a myth, useful only to those who needed the crutch of religion to stay standing.

Kote has said more than once that he believes Obi-Wan has been sent to them by the Ka'ra to help their people into a new age of prosperity. Jango has always scoffed at the idea, believing it born out of infatuation. What he just saw, however, is enough to make his certainty waver. What if…?

Kenobi looks over his shoulder to find him still standing in place. "Having second thoughts?"

Jango gives himself a mental smack. The Jedi is just his son's annoying riduur, and the Mythosaur is just an animal, no matter how big.

Behind Kenobi, he sees one of the enemy warriors peek around the tunnel opening, then draw back as they spot Jango. "Heads up," he snaps to Kenobi, aiming his blaster at where he'd last seen the warrior.

Kenobi, eyes narrowing, turns back to the tunnel and holds out his hand. The next moment, the warrior stumbles out of cover as if pulled. Jango doesn't waste time on staring. He fires, and the soldier crumples to the ground. The second one seems to decide on a different strategy and comes racing out of the tunnel at full speed, heading directly towards the opening that the others disappeared into. Jango's first shot pings off their backplate, but Kenobi makes another gesture, causing the warrior to trip over their own feet. It's all the time Jango needs to make sure his second bolt flies true. He's momentarily grateful that they managed this without Kenobi drawing his lightsaber.

Kenobi doesn't even wait for him to check whether the enemy is really dead, hurrying towards the armory instead. "I have a bad feeling about this."

"Only those two went in here," Jango reminds him, following behind. "There's no one left. We should go after the rest."

But Kenobi ignores him, continuing down the tunnel. He halts in front of the crate of explosives placed in the center of the armory and sighs, defeated. "They armed it."

Jango bites his cheek. One of the blazer bombs has, indeed, been armed and set on a timer. Less than five minutes. Too short for them to get out of here. Damn it. "Combined with the rest of the armaments in here, this will bring the whole cave system down on our heads." He paces around the bomb, skin itching with restlessness while Kenobi crouches over the timer mechanism to study it. "Why would they do that? They'll destroy everything they've been setting up."

Kenobi shrugs, shifting in his crouch to look at the timer from another angle. "My guess would be they're hoping it will kill the Mythosaur. They certainly didn't seem to be aware that it lives here, considering how shocked they appeared to be."

Jango looks at him and privately thinks it's may not be the Mythosaur these terrorists are so scared of. After all, who do you fear more? The rancor, or the man holding its leash?

And for the Manda's⁴ sake, what is taking Kenobi so long? He's not even doing anything. "Do you have any actual experience with defusing bombs?"

Kenobi looks up. "I can try to shut it off using the Force…"

"Step aside, then," Jango says irritably. Why was he wasting time studying the mechanism if he had no idea what to do with it? He takes a look himself, relieved to find it's a brand he's familiar with, neatly labeled in Ryll. It needs a code, but Jango has his lock-picking cylinders again, now that he's got his armor back. He makes short work of the encryption and disarms the blazer with over three minutes left on the chrono.

Kenobi sighs out a long breath. "Well done."

Condescending fucker. Jango is gritting his teeth so much today that he wonders if he'll need dental work, after this. "Let's get out of here." He looks back at the bomb and its Ryll labeling, and suddenly it hits him. "The messages we thought were encrypted… It's Ryll. Transliterated using the Mando'a alphabet, which is why I didn't recognize it right away."

Kenobi perks up and grabs the commlink he took off the guard, eyes scanning over the messages. "Of course! I should have realized." He sounds out the latest message, awkwardly stumbling over the transliteration, which turns the normally lilting Ryll into something harsh and blocky. "Oh. That's not good."

Jango translates mentally. Arm them now. Five minutes. Meet back at the northern cave. He closes his eyes briefly. Them, not it. "Kenobi… Did your bad feeling go away?"

Kenobi meets his eyes grimly. "No. It didn't."

"Move it, then."

It feels like they've been going back and forth through these tunnels forever. They race back towards they lake, then into the tunnel the rest of the terrorists disappeared into. Jango's heart beats out a tattoo of five minutes, five minutes. Unless the way out is much shorter than he expects, he and Kenobi are not going to have enough time to get out of here.

Just inside the tunnel, Kenobi pauses for a second, head coming up like a strill catching a scent. "Rex?"

Ah. "So, the rescue party is finally here?" If Kenobi can identify Rex, that must mean he was right, and Kote didn't come. That doesn't sit right with Jango. Agreement with his riduur or not, Kote is Mandalorian, and he should defend his family and clan.

"Yes. But… If there is a second bomb, and they walk in here unawares…" Kenobi increases his pace.

Jango tries to keep up. "Well, hurry up and find him, before the roof comes down on all our heads." He's assuming the Jedi still has his magic compass.

At least this corridor seems to have some man-made improvements, because the going is much easier than elsewhere. The floor has clearly been evened out. He wonders how long these rebels have been down here, and whether the armory they found is the only one. If they've been stockpiling since Kote became Mand'alor – or, for that matter, even during Jango's reign – there might be multiple caches of weaponry.

A loud blast, followed by a low rumbling, pulls them up short. Time has run out.

Kenobi's head tilts, then he looks over his shoulder at Jango, eyes wide. "Back! Now!"

Jango doesn't question how he knows that's the safest path, not after watching the Jedi pet a Mythosaur. He turns and pelts back down the tunnel, ears pricked for the sound of tumbling rock that's coming ever closer. He pauses as they exit the tunnel, hesitating between the openings left to them.

Kenobi shoves him in the direction of the lake. "None of them are safe. Go!"

Jango goes. As they reach the water's edge, the shaking intensifies, and stalactites begin to rain down around them, followed by larger boulders. Jango is shoved to the side by an unseen hand, just before something large thuds down right where he was standing. He wades into the lake, feeling the ground drop away beneath his feet in short order.

Treading water with armor on is difficult enough without being exhausted, never mind when the ceiling is coming down around you. Rocks of all shapes and sizes splash into the water around them, drenching Jango with water, but somehow never hitting either of them. It's not until Jango looks over at Kenobi that he realizes the Jedi has his eyes closed. He must be doing something to keep them safe.

Then he can no longer see Kenobi's face, because the lights along the lake's edge are buried in rubble. In the darkness and noise, Jango loses track of Kenobi, and all he can think to do is swim further out into the lake, hoping that the arched ceiling will somehow be sturdy enough to hold. After a couple of minutes of furious swimming, his armor dragging him down a little more every second, Jango's hands find something solid. He gratefully grabs hold of the rock that juts out of the water, clinging on as the world trembles around him. He can still hear debris coming down, setting the water around him churning, yet even now, nothing hits him.

Finally, everything goes quiet. He can hear Kenobi nearby, breathing hard, and he fumbles for the helmet still latched to his belt, trying to find the light. By some miracle, it turns on. In its weak beam, he spots Kenobi nearby, one hand holding onto the same rock, the other held out above them. When Jango's gaze strays upward, his heart sinking, he sees that there's an enormous slab of rock hovering above them, ignoring the laws of physics entirely.

"Is that your doing?" he asks, praying he doesn't end up disturbing Kenobi's concentration. If that comes straight down, they'll be crushed, or pushed underwater to drown. The power to hold up something of that size… And Kote wonders why he wants to keep the Jedi as far away from Mandalore as he can.

"Yes." Kenobi's voice sounds strained. "But I can't… it's difficult to maneuver."

As if to punctuate his words, the stone slab drops a few centimeters lower with a scraping sound. In the meager light, Jango sees that they're close to the wall, and Kenobi is trying to get the slab away from over their heads without disturbing anything else that might fall and kill them. The slab shifts, stone grating against stone, until finally, Kenobi manages to guide it to the side and drop it into the water, leaving behind large ripples that lap against Jango's chest plate.

Jango looks back to where they came from. They've swum quite a way into the lake, and the way back is blocked, the shoreline no longer visible under rubble that is piled high. The ceiling, thank the Ka'ra (or should that be the Force?), seems to have stabilized now, though a few smaller pebbles crumble off the wall as Jango watches, rigid with tension.

It buys them time, but not a lot. They're trapped in the water. Though their kutese⁵ are waterproof, the water is cold, and the armor's thermoelectric systems are fried, so hypothermia will become a problem long before food does. And that's if their strength doesn't give out before then, because if Jango even shifts his grip on the boulder supporting him, he sinks deeper into the water. There's no room to get both of them safely onto stable ground.

Jango thinks frantically. If Rex came down, he would have brought an army, and an army has comms. Jango's helmet light still works… He puts on his helmet and tries the built-in comms. No dice. "Does the commlink you took from the guard still work?"

"You test it," Kenobi says, still breathing hard. "I can't… I need a moment."

Jango pulls off his helmet again and reaches over to take the commlink. There's a weak signal, but when Jango uses the general emergency frequency, it doesn't connect to anything. "Fuck."

"Right. From…from what I can tell, Rex is alive." Kenobi sounds matter of fact, though his speech is interrupted by his heavy breathing. "There are… others with him. If they're not trapped… And if the tracker in my armor still… still works, they may be able to find you in time."

That's a lot of ifs. And… "Find me?"

Kenobi laughs breathlessly. Then his grip on the rock slackens, and he slips into the water.

Jango swears. He manages to grab the back of Kenobi's kute before he disappears into the depths, dragging him up by his collar until his head breaks the surface again. He hangs limply in Jango's grip, eyes closed, while Jango fights with every fiber of his being to keep them both above water. Kenobi has been learning under the Goran, and while he will probably never be bulky like Jango and his kids can get, he has definitely packed on muscle, making him heavier than he looks.

There is no way they can wait for rescue. Even if Rex and his team still have freedom of movement, and they don't just assume there's nothing left to save, it could take days, even weeks, to dig through the rubble to find them here. And the odds that Kenobi's tracker is still working are low to begin with.

Jango looks down into the black depths of the water, remembering Kenobi's earlier words: the aquifers must all be connected, and have a functioning ecosystem. The lake should continue below ground, connecting to the aquifers supplying Sundari, Keldabe; all the larger cities and clan compounds. If they can't go back, the only thing to do is go forward. There may be another cave further down that holds air. Of course, the question is how to get there.

Swimming for any length of time means Jango will need to dump their armor here, sacrilegious as that may be. And with Kenobi unconscious and showing no signs of waking, he'll breathe in water if Jango takes him under.

He tests the air seal on his helmet; luckily, the mechanism is analog, not digital, and it works. He reaches for Kenobi's belt, hoisting the man up higher with a grunt, but there's nothing there. Did Kenobi's helmet get knocked off his belt clip in their mad rush to escape the cave-in?

The easiest way to do this would be to follow what seems to have been Kenobi's plan; let him sink into the water and go it alone. Even Kote probably wouldn't blame him for choosing his own survival in this case. But unfortunately, Jango owes Kenobi a life debt; several times over by now.

He sighs, toggling off the seal on his helmet. He pulls it off his own head, and with a grimace of regret, puts it on Kenobi. There's CO2 scrubber in there, but minimal oxygen; once he activates the seal, he'll have somewhere between five to ten minutes before Kenobi suffocates.

Which is a hell of a lot longer than Jango can hold his breath underwater, so that is the bigger issue here.

He starts to unlatch Kenobi's breast plate, awkwardly maneuvering them around to get to the latches. Kenobi is a dead weight, and since the helmet light is on his head now, not on Jango's, getting a good view is difficult. His right arm, now holding two people to the supporting boulder, burns with the effort.

A disturbance in the water below has him freezing in place. He waits for a long minute, the water continuing to eddy strangely around them. Just when he thinks it must have been rocks settling underwater, something brushes by him, scraping roughly along his left shin and catching on his kute. Jango jerks his leg away, but it's not like he has a lot of wiggle room here, clinging to a pointy rock with an unconscious Jedi in one arm.

Unconscious Jedi can't tame beasts. Jango swallows, peering into the depths, trying to catch a glimpse of scales. He seriously has to wonder if the Ka'ra are punishing him for his lack of faith, because that's when the light goes out.

Jango shivers, his left arm clenching onto Kenobi a little bit tighter, staring sightlessly at the pitch black around him. Out of all the ways he thought he might die, being eaten by a Mythosaur had never occurred to him. It would make for a good legend. Too bad no one will ever know.

He hears the splash of water as something lifts above the surface, very close to him, but in the darkness, he has no idea what it is. He waits, every muscle tensed, his breathing loud in his ears, steeling himself against the possibility that this is it; that the last thing he feels will be the teeth that tear him apart. The next moment, something hard scrapes along his breast plate, startling a curse from him and nearly tearing Kenobi from his arms. It has to be the Mythosaur, going by the size of the claws he can feel folding around the Jedi. He needs to release his grip on the boulder to be able to hang onto the Jedi, and is immediately plunged into the icy water, only barely managing to draw in a breath before his head goes under.

Some part of him remembers to toggle the air seal on the helmet, so at least Kenobi won't drown. Yet. Then he wonders if that was a rational decision, because drowning might be better than becoming a snack. They're pulled into the depths of the lake, powerful strokes of the animal's limbs propelling them first down, until Jango can feel the pressure on his lungs building, then forward. All he can do is hold on and hold his breath.

The creature is fast. The water rushes by, threatening to tear Jango away from Kenobi. The claws are wrapped tight around the Jedi, while Jango himself is just clinging on; if he lets go of Kenobi, he'll be free, though being alone underwater with barely any idea of what is up and down doesn't seem like much of an improvement. His lungs burn, and his arms are shaking with the effort, but he holds on, waiting for the moment those claws close fully, and Kenobi is crushed.

It doesn't come.

Just when sparks begin to invade Jango's vision, and he feels his grip start to weaken, the angle at which he's being dragged along changes, and it seems like they're going up. Then – light! Jango almost gasps, his chest spasming. Light ahead, and the Mythosaur is swimming towards it.

He finds himself praying. He can't help it. Oh, Ka'ra, Jas'buir⁶, please, let me hold on long enough.

Then they break the surface, and he and Kenobi are flung onto smooth stone paving, the movement finally overcoming Jango's grip and pulling them apart. As he rolls to a stop, Jango gulps in air, unable to do anything but lie there and breathe. After a minute or so, he regains enough of his faculties to sit up. The first thing he sees is the Mythosaur, its head half submerged in the water, already about twenty meters away. It's just hovering there, staring at him, only the tops of its curved tusks visible.

Jango looks at Kenobi's still form and remembers to turn off the air seal. He yanks the helmet off, lifts Kenobi's chin, then hovers his cheek over the man's face. When he feels a soft exhale against his still-wet skin, he sags, exhaustion hitting him all at once. He rolls Kenobi into a recovery position, then looks back at the Mythosaur, which is still just… staring.

It didn't eat them. It saved them. Or rather, it saved Kenobi. Jango was probably just along for the ride.

"Thanks," Jango says, the words rasping out of his throat.

The Mythosaur, unsurprisingly, says nothing.

Jango coughs. It would be really stupid to be eaten now, after all this. "He's alive?" he tries.

He can't say whether the Mythosaur understands or not, but the black eyes blink at him. Then, the enormous head sinks back into the water, leaving barely a ripple on the water's surface.

Jango exhales, long and slow. His hands are shaking, but he can pretend that it's from the cold. He finally regains the brain power to look around and see where they've landed, and it punches a near-hysterical laugh out of him. Because he recognizes this paved area, those steps leading down to the water, that triangular archway overhead. They're at the Living Waters, right underneath Sundari. They must have been close all along; though the Mythosaur had been a frighteningly fast swimmer, it couldn't have covered that much ground in just those few minutes that Jango had held his breath.

He lifts Kenobi's limp wrist and removes the commlink, then tries the emergency frequency again. Before it can even connect, however, he hears footsteps.

Without bothering to get to his feet, he fumbles for his Westars with numb fingers, hoping that they'll still work, even waterlogged as they are. He has them aimed at the entrance, safety clicked off, just as the first armored beings come through the archway.

"Jango!"

Jango's arms sag immediately, blasters dropping to rest on the stone paving. "Kote."

His son makes a beeline for him, then his visor shifts to Kenobi, and he abruptly changes course, crashing to his knees beside the unconscious Jedi. "Obi-Wan! Cyare⁷?" He pulls off his helmet and pats Kenobi's cheek.

Not so long ago, Jango would have been his first priority. But Kote's priorities have shifted dramatically since falling in love. Jango might have made a show of suspecting Jedi influence, but he's been witness to the phenomenon often enough over the course of his life that he knows it's just hormones. That doesn't make it any less annoying, and Jango will never fully understand it – especially when aimed at a Jedi. But at least Kote came; he didn't hang back just to honor that ridiculous deal Kenobi said they'd made.

A Protector and a baar'ur⁸ crouch down next to him, while a similar team joins Kote in assessing Kenobi.

"Are you all right, Mand'alor? I mean, Prime… sir?" The baar'ur, clearly one of Jango's progeny, fumbles with his hand scanner.

Most cultures have either a specific title for a former ruler, or simply continue using the old title, but on Mandalore, it doesn't happen all that often that the title is passed on while the previous Mand'alor is still alive. People flounder when it comes to addressing him.

Jango waves him off, holstering his weapons with difficulty, his fingers still clumsy from cold and exhaustion. "I'm fine. Nothing that needs fixing right now." Whatever Kenobi couldn't heal will require more than can be done in the field. He looks over at Kote, who is still fussing. "I think he's just exhausted," he calls, raising his voice. "Though you might want to check him for CO2 poisoning." Just in case. He's not quite sure how long he left Kenobi to breathe his own air inside the helmet.

"He's fine," the baar'ur using a hand scanner on Kenobi reports. "I can't find anything physically wrong."

The group is joined by someone Jango doesn't know, who is wearing the bare minimum of armor to still be able to count as following the creed, and no identifiers whatsoever to explain why he is there – no baar'ur or Protector sigil, not even a House Mereel crest. Maybe it's a New Mandalorian. The new person grabs Kenobi's hand and then just sits there, while Kote looks on as if this is a normal thing to do, even sitting back himself to give the mystery man room.

He meets Jango's eyes. "What happened? How did you end up here?"

"How did you?" Jango counters. "I'm guessing they sent you that holovid of the two of us to lure you in, and you decided to send Rex instead. But how did you know to come here?"

"Rex was heading there even before they sent the video. Sev, one of Obi-Wan's Protectors, got away, though most of his armor systems got fried. But he was eventually able to alert us." Kote glances at the man holding Kenobi's hand. "As for why I'm here… A friend of Obi-Wan's thought it was a good idea to come here, and I decided to trust him."

Jango takes another look at the supposed New Mandalorian, re-evaluating him with narrowed eyes. Minimal armor, long hair, a dark, flowing cloak, and apparently, the inexplicable intuition to tell Kote to come here, instead of to whatever cave system the terrorists were hiding in.

It has to be a Jedi, and not the farmer kind. Which means that, as far as Jango knows, this person is here illegally, uninvited, hiding among Jango's people and wearing their armor. A muscle in his jaw twitches, his right hand falling to the butt of his Westar.

"He's burned out," the Jedi reports in a soft voice, either unaware or uncaring of Jango's rising outrage. "Over-exertion. He just needs rest."

Kote nods, but his sharp eyes don't leave Jango, pointedly dipping down to where Jango's palm still rests on his pistol. "Thank you, Jon." He raises his eyebrows at Jango in challenge.

Jango blows out an annoyed breath and lifts his hand off the weapon. He's not up to a fight, anyway. The adrenaline draining away is leaving him giddy. "Your riduur tamed a Mythosaur."

Kote blinks, the confrontational look giving way to confusion. "What?"

Jango is abruptly so tired that he thinks he might fall asleep right then and there, even with two Jedi so close. "It's been a very long day."

"It sure sounds like it," Kote replies, the corner of his mouth lifting. "Let's get you both somewhere safe and warm, before we debrief."

"Have you heard from Rex?" Jango remembers to ask, as the baar'ur on his left helps him to his feet.

"He's okay," the Protector on his right reports. "He didn't get caught in the cave-in. Another… friend… warned him. He's still chasing down the cowards who attacked you."

The relief that all his children are safe and well turns Jango's knees even more rubbery than they were before. Even the notion that yet another Jedi seems to have gotten involved in all of this can't evoke more than a reflexive annoyance. It's really over. He can rest. "Thank the Ka'ra." He's almost surprised to find the prayer holds a little more meaning than it usually does for him.

---

"Fett."

Jango looks up to see Kenobi lingering in the doorway of the infirmary. Typical of him to corner Jango while he's trapped in a bone knitter, the magic scar on his shin bone being carefully repaired. The baar'ur'e aren't sure yet what to do about the one on his brain. Apparently, they're calling in a specialist for consultation, and he might end up needing brain surgery. He's been warned he's at risk for epilepsy until they can tackle the problem. He'd be tempted to get angry at Kenobi for putting him in this position, but if Kenobi hadn't done so, Jango would be dead. Not being allowed to drive a speeder in case of a seizure doesn't quite weigh up to that.

He sighs. "Kenobi. What do you want?"

"To talk." Kenobi seems to take his question as an invitation, wandering inside to sit down next to Jango's biobed. "I understand you saved my life, using your own helmet. I was surprised to hear it, especially since I'm aware you aren't happy about my presence in Cody's life."

"Be that as it may, your absence would probably be worse," Jango bites out.

Kenobi cocks his head, eyebrows raised.

"Grief can change a man into someone he wouldn't recognize," Jango elaborates. "We need a strong Mand'alor."

Kenobi nods slowly. "You would know better than anyone. Either way, I appreciate it. And that means we're even; your life debt to me is fulfilled."

Jango scoffs. Much as he would love to take the out, Kenobi is skipping a few important details here. "Your Mythosaur saved both our lives by swimming you to safety, while letting me tag along. If anything, I'm more deeply in your debt than before."

Kenobi frowns. "It's not my Mythosaur. I had no control over its actions at that point."

"You saved my life several times down there. The life debt is far from fulfilled." He stubbornly meets the Jedi's eyes. If he thinks Jango kept him from drowning out of noble sentiment, or because Jango has any warm feelings towards him, he can think again.

Kenobi sits back in his chair, seeming to mull this over. "Very well. I… can think of a way you could repay me, but…Cody has asked me not to speak of it."

Jango narrows his eyes. That sounds calculated to make Jango curious enough to ask. He hates that it's working. "What?"

"What happened down there… Does that happen to you more often?" Kenobi seems tense just asking the question, as if poised to run.

It warms Jango's heart that Kenobi seems afraid of him, whatever the reason. "Which part? The kidnapping, the cave-in, or the Mythosaur? Because none of those happen often."

"The part where you didn't recognize me and tried to shoot me," Kenobi clarifies.

All the smart rejoinders dry up in Jango's throat. He glares at the Jedi wordlessly, hatred making his stomach churn.

Kenobi holds up his hands, undoubtedly feeling it leak through Jango's shields, as intended. "I'm not bringing it up to spite you."

"Then why?" Jango snaps. His skin itches. He's trapped in this fucking biobed, with the Jedi staring him down.

"It's a clear sign that what happened on Galidraan still bothers you to a high degree."

Jango laughs harshly. "Was that your first clue?"

"I'm aware you hate me and my people." Kenobi sounds unbothered by this. "That's your prerogative. But what happened in the cave… That means you're affected by it in a way you don't control. It's harming you. And I don't enjoy seeing you harmed."

Jango blinks, his temper set to boil over and then suddenly chilled. He doesn't know how to react.

Kenobi keeps talking. "If you want to repay me, see a Mind Healer. A… mir'baar'ur."

That's the reason he's needling Jango about this? So he will get therapy? It's like he's asking for a beat-down. As soon as Jango can stand, that is. "And how the hell would that repay a life debt?" he settles for asking as snidely as possible.

"Your pain is reflected onto your family," Kenobi replies, not rising to the bait. "It hurts Cody. Since he is my riduur, helping him is helping me. Mhi solus⁹, after all."

"That's the most ridiculously convoluted reasoning I've ever heard."

Kenobi sighs. "More practically speaking, then, I'm protecting my people. Jon said you recognized him as a Jedi."

That confirms that. "He shouldn't be here."

"Cody knows he's here, and he hasn't told him to leave. The Mand'alor has that right," Kenobi reminds him – and annoyingly, he's correct. "Jon won't be the last Jedi to come to Mandalore. You can hate us – you have every reason to – but I can't risk you attacking one of my people in a compromised state of mind."

"I have better control of myself than that." The words taste like a lie as they come out, but Jango refuses to acknowledge that. "I'll find another way to repay the debt."

Kenobi raises an eyebrow at him. "Are you afraid, Jango Fett? I didn't take you for a coward."

The utter pain in the ass. Jango straightens up as much as he can. "Say that again, you osi'ba'viin¹⁰."

"It sounds as though you're afraid to see a mir'baar'ur," Kenobi says pleasantly.

Jango shakes his head, trying to dispel the reflexive rage. He's not going to let Kenobi wind him up again. "You think reverse psychology is going to work on me? Once I'm cleared for fighting, I'll be seeing you in the ring, Jedi."

Kenobi shrugs and shakes his head. "You seem to insist on proving me right. Pity. I'd expected better of you."

Jango watches in silent fury as the Jedi gets up and leaves. He desperately wants to call out something pithy, but he can't think of anything.

Damn it.

When Mij wanders in a few minutes later and checks the biobed's scanner, he looks at Jango with a frown. "Your vitals are all over the place. Are you all right?"

Damn the Jedi to hell. "I don't suppose you know a good mir'baar'ur," he forces out.

It's almost worth it to see Mij's dumbfounded look. "I've got a shortlist," the baar'ur says, once he's gotten over the shock, "in case you ever wanted it."

Of course he has a list. Jango glares at the back wall and blows out a breath. "Send it to me."

Kenobi has tried to set him up to lose this little game, no matter what he does, but Jango will turn it around on him. He'll mention seeing a mir'baar'ur tomorrow, in the karyai¹¹ over breakfast, and hopefully watch Kenobi choke on his bland Jedi porridge.

Glossary

1. Ka'ra: stars as the ruling council of fallen kings - Mandalorian myth [↑]
2. Nessie is a classy lady but, like T-Rex in Jurassic Park, she's not a neat eater. That guy sure tasted good, though! [↑]
3. riduur : spouse [↑]
4. Manda's : the collective soul or heaven - the state of being Mandalorian in mind, body and spirit - also supreme, overarching, guardian-like [↑]
5. kutese : flight suits, under armor (plural of kute) [↑]
6. Jas'buir : combination of Jaster and buir, parent [↑]
7. Cyare : beloved [↑]
8. baar'ur : doctor, medic [↑]
9. Mhi solus : we are one, part of the Mandalorian wedding vows [↑]
10. osi'ba'viin : piece of shit [↑]
11. karyai : main living room of a traditional Mandalorian house - a single big chamber for eating, talking, resting, and even the last secure stronghold when under attack [↑]