Chapter Text
The puck was forcefully placed on the bar top right next to your cup of freshly brewed spotchka. The sudden sharp sound in the otherwise quiet tavern made you flinch, but you didn’t make a move to look towards the presence you felt over your shoulder. You shifted your eyes towards the puck to see your beautiful face glowing blue and slowly rotating. Above your face, your name shown in red letters so bright they reflected off the shiny wood of the bar. You sighed and closed your eyes, bowing your head to meet the counter with a soft thunk. Deep down, you knew it was only a matter of time, but two weeks?! Normally it took the hunters at least a month to track you down.
“Don’t run, kid. I’ve had a long day.” The presence behind you said in a deep, almost robotic voice. Weird… this voice didn’t sound like the ones you were used to. It begun to seem that the same hunters picked your puck whenever you got mixed up in trouble. They knew you weren’t a fighter or a runner, and you assumed they relished an easy assignment. Some of them were even nice to you, like you were the closest thing they had to a friend. You couldn’t judge because sadly they were the closest things you had to friends now too.
You sighed again, lifted your head, and lazily turned to face your fate only to find… a Mandalorian?
“Seriously?” You blurt out, turning to face him fully. He tilted his shiny helmet at you in a silent question while you gave him a quick look over. You’d never seen a Mandalorian this close up before. His helmet was shiny and looked much newer than his scuffed, multicolored body armor. He was tall and stood confidently. The sleek silver helmet made him look undeniably intimidating. “They sent a Mandalorian after me?”
“Not exactly,” he answered back. “I took all the pucks they had left. You’re my last stop before returning to Nevarro.” He sounded grumpy, like he was the one about to be turned in and shipped to a cell. He slid the puck off the counter, and put it back in his pocket before resting both gloved hands on his belt, turning to face you again. You assumed he was giving you an expectant look under the helmet.
“Oh,” you answered lamely. Suddenly you didn’t feel as special. Oh well, at least you might get to hear some new stories before you’re turned over. Surely a Mandalorian has no shortage of adventurous tales to tell; the difficult part was going to be getting them out of him. Hopefully you could talk him out of turning you into a carbonite popsicle for the return trip. You looked down at your half empty cup of spotchka. “Can I at least finish my drink? It would be a waste of perfectly good spotchka.”
He sighed loud enough that his vocal enhancer picked it up, turning it to sharp static. His helmet tilted towards the drink, looking to see how much was left, before he looked back at you. “Chug it, we gotta go.”
Interesting, you thought. Maybe he wasn’t as grumpy as he seemed. You downed the rest of your spotchka in one long gulp. “Who needs to savor things anyway,” you muttered under your breath. You stand, leaving some credits on the bar top to cover the drink and a tip, before turning to the Mandalorian. “Alright sir, let’s go.”
You lead the way toward the door, but only make it a few steps before you feel an insistent hand on your shoulder, gently tugging you back a step. What now You turned to the Mandalorian, shaking off his hand as you did.
“Do you really expect me to let you walk out of here without cuffs?” He asked, sounding shocked by your audacity. It was an honest mistake, but you feel a little proud of yourself. Sure, you were in and out of short term jail ships, but rarely did you get to feel like a take charge badass. You weren’t a hardened criminal after all; you preferred to think of yourself as a highly moral vigilante. Hell, you were buddies with your regular bounty hunters! They must have been spoiling you all those times they let you walk freely in front of them to their ships. You kinda forgot that getting handcuffed was normal protocol.
“My bad, sir. It’s been awhile since I’ve had a new hunter bring me in. Most of the guild knows me well enough to know I won’t run.” You said with a small smile, hoping he would be cool about it.
“Hands out.” he replied. Well kriff, very uncool. You rolled your eyes a little but obediently held your hands out in front of you, watching as the Mandalorian put the cuffs around your wrists. He was careful to not make them too tight, which you appreciated. He double checked that they were locked, brushing his gloved hands over your wrists softly. “Let’s go,” he said, strolling past you to walk towards the door. You turned and followed, surprised he wasn’t guiding you by your hands like a pet on a leash. This must mean he trusted you a little, even if he wasn’t ready to admit it.
His ship was a short trip from the bar, but it was parked remotely in the middle of the forest. You struggled a bit with the terrain — stumbling on roots and fallen branches without the ability to stabilize yourself with your arms. You could see the Mandalorian’s helmet turn back every once in awhile to make sure you were still behind him. Once it got to the point where you were lagging behind enough to become a burden, he took pity on you and stopped. You caught up with him after a few painfully awkward seconds of stumbling. You breezed past him cooly without looking up at his visor, throwing a quick “c’mon slow poke” over your shoulder for good measure. You couldn’t tell if he gave a little vocalized chuckle or if it was the sound of the forest floor under your feet, but you decided to go with the former.
The Mandalorian fell in line behind you, electing to stick closer to you for the rest of the journey. When you stumbled over a particularly rough patch of earth, he reached out to gently catch your upper arm, stabilizing you quickly before removing his hand. He probably wanted to make sure he wasn’t delivering damaged goods to his client. Ever the professional.
It only took about two minutes more before you reached the ship. It was beautiful, practically an antique, and you could tell the Mandalorian took good care of it. As you approached, the Mandalorian pressed some buttons on his vambrace, and the side ramp began to lower slowly. He took your arm again, and led you up the steep incline before letting go in favor of pressing some buttons near the ramp entrance. He flipped on some interior lights and closed the ramp while you took the opportunity to look around. You stepped into the ship and looked to your left, taking in the short corridor. There was a vactube, a small hatch, and what looked like a locked weapons cabinet. You looked to the right and found a longer corridor. You turned back to make sure the Mandalorian was still preoccupied with getting the ship ready for flight before you started slowly walking down the hallway.
The outside of the ship looked so big, yet inside felt cramped. Didn’t Mando say that I was the last bounty before heading back to his planet? Where was everyone else? You figured there must be a separate area of the ship, maybe cells or quarters, dedicated for crew and passengers. You continued down the hallway, passing storage cabinets and a large closed door to the right that you assumed was the Mandalorian’s sleeping quarters. Your eyes drifted to the left and you felt a chill run down your spine.
“Kriff” you breathed quietly as your eyes raked past at least 10 carbonite blocks. The lights on the sides indicated that they were currently occupied. You raise your cuffed hands to part two of the blocks, looking up to see the poor creature's face frozen in terror. It’s hard to imagine what crime could justify this harsh treatment. Surely the Mandalorian hadn’t been catching vicious murderers back to back in one outing. They were probably simple bail jumpers and low level thieves, no worse than you.
You couldn’t help but think about the last time you were forced into a carbonite hibernation. It was at least 8 years ago, you were probably only a teenager, but it was a vivid memory. The hunter was brutal, the worst you’ve ever dealt with, and you suspected he got pleasure out of making his bounties feel hopeless. You were terrified going in, but coming out was the truly traumatizing event. You didn’t know where you were or how much time had passed. You were blind for almost 8 hours from the hibernation sickness, and had to nurse yourself back to health in your jail cell. It was not an experience you wanted to relive for the rest of your life.
Out of the corner of your eye you saw a dark figure move and you quickly jumped back, hands dropping in front of you with your palms out. The Mandalorian stood silently, visor tipped down to look at you. He was only about two feet away from you, yet you didn’t hear him approach. How long had he been following you down the corridor, watching you?
This was the first time in a long time that you felt legitimately scared of a bounty hunter.
You both stood in silence for what felt like hours. You were too afraid to break the silence and he was probably waiting for some sort of apology or explanation. Finally, you got the courage to squeeze out a faint “are you going to freeze me, too?” So much for feeling like a badass. In this moment you felt like a small, helpless child again.
His helmet tilted again, and this time the action seemed menacing. He shifted his weight a little, but continued towering over you. “I was planning on it,” he said, his low voice raspy and terrifying.
“Any chance I can talk you out of that plan?” You asked, daring to let out a scared chuckle.
“I’m not a big fan of talking,” he replied, putting both hands back on his belt like he had in the tavern.
“What if I promise to be quiet? I’ll even sit in the cockpit so you can keep an eye on me,” you quickly pleaded back. You tried to make your face look innocent, but you figured that wouldn’t really make a difference if the Mandalorian had his heart set on sticking you in a block. Either way, you weren’t afraid to sound desperate.
He sighed again, but didn’t answer immediately. You suspected he was building the tension for dramatic effect. You were about to tell him never mind and bravely become part of the frozen bounty menagerie when -
“Fine,” he replied.
“Wait, what?”
“I said fine. But you’re staying cuffed and quiet.”
He turned his back to you, walking to the end of the corridor and stopping by the ladder leading up to the next floor. He faced you again, but you were frozen (thankfully not literally) in your spot. Once your brain caught up, you practically ran toward the ladder. Best to not keep the terrifying, generous man waiting.
“Sorry,” you happily sighed. “I wasn’t expecting you to say yes.” You felt like you could cry tears of relief.
The Mandalorian grunted, not caring enough to come up with a reply. You watched as he scaled the ladder deftly before turning back to face you. He reached down, motioning for you to give him your hands. You obliged, reaching out to let him grasp both of your cuffed hands in his so he could pull you up while your feet climbed the ladder. When you made it to the cockpit, he turned away from you, wordlessly pointing to the chair behind him to his right. He sat down and immediately started pushing buttons and flipping switches. You felt the ship vibrate and heard the sound of both engines starting up. You sat down in your seat and took in the sights outside the ship’s big windows. The forest looked beautiful when you weren’t tripping your way through it.
“Brace yourself.” The Mandalorian barked, keeping his eyes on the control panel in front of him. You hunkered down in your seat, preparing to take off. The ship jerked as it gently lifted off the ground and slowly turned towards the sky before gaining speed. It wouldn’t be long before you broke atmo and went into hyperspace. The ship was old, but you assumed the hyperdrive was in relatively good condition. From Sorgan, it would probably take only a few hours to get to Navarro. You settled down for the ride ahead.