Chapter Text
Din watches the elevator door close, and he feels his heart stutter. He has finished his quest. He has delivered the child, Grogu, to the Jedi.
The task is finished. His kid is gone. He is safe.
But standing there on the bridge of the Cruiser with his helmet in hand, it doesn’t bring him the joy he thought it would.
Someone shifts behind him, and Din is reminded that all of them can see his face. They can see that he has broken the code. This is not like it was with Mayfield. This feels different. More permanent.
He turns and meets Cara’s eyes. They stare at each other for a second- she was there when the Armorer gave him this task, and it feels fitting that she is here when the task is finished- before she smiles and bends over to sling Moff Gideon over her shoulder.
Din looks over at Bo-Katan and finds that she is already watching him.
“This solves our problem, doesn’t it?” Din tells her, and Bo-Katan frowns at him.
“What problem?” She asks.
Din lifts the Darksaber and holds it out to her. Bo-Katan’s eyes follow the movement greedily.
“I am no longer a Mandalorian,” He says.
She jerks her head back up to look at him. “What are you talking about?” She demands.
Din holds her gaze.
“I have removed my helmet. All of you have seen my face,” He glances at Fennec and Reeves- to make sure Bo-Katan understands- before he looks back at her. “I’m no longer a Mandalorian, and I have no claim to the Mandalorian Throne.”
“That is not how it works,” Bo-Katan snarls. “You dont loos your right to be a Mandalorian by removing your helmet.”
“Perhaps that’s not how it works for you, but that is the Creed I swore,” Din tells her. “And now that I have broken my Creed, I can no longer wear the armor.”
He holds out the Darksaber once more, but Bo-Katan doesn’t move to take it.
“That is not how it works,” She repeats, and Din sighs.
He half turns and places the Darksaber on the console next to him.
“What are you doing?” Bo-Katan challenges, but Din ignores her in favor of looking at Fennec.
“Our agreement is done. You and Fett have fulfilled your part of the agreement,” Din tells her.
Fennec studies him.
“Just like that,” She asks, and Din hesitates.
“Cara and I would appreciate a lift back to Navarro, but if Fett is not amendable, we can find another way,” He says, and Cara snorts.
“No, we are hitching a ride with them. No kriffing way am I returning to Navarro in an Imperial transport,” Cara says as she stands back up. She has Moff Gideon slung over her shoulder, like a sack of potatoes, and seeing the smug Imperial in such an undignified position makes Din smile.
“What?” Cara asks when she catches sight of his expression, and Din feels his face shout down.
Right. He is not wearing the helmet. Din is tired, and he just wants to go to bed.
Cara gives him a sympathetic look before she starts walking towards the elevator. She is not even stumbling a little under the Moff’s weight, and Din is once again reminded of their first meeting and how lucky he was to get out of it in one piece.
“You can’t just leave,” Bo-Katan snarls.
Din glances at her and then bring his comm unit up to call Fett, who answers on the first ring.
“You done?” Fett asks, and when Din answer in the affirmative, Fett continues. “And the Princess? She still alive?”
“Bo-Katan is still alive, but she will be staying on the Cruiser,” Din says. He doesn’t know that for sure, but that had been the deal. Bo-Katan helps him get Grogu back, and she gets the light cruiser.
“Good, I’ll be there in five,” Fett says and closes the connection.
“No,” Bo-Katan step into his personal space and pushes her face almost into Din’s.
“No,” She repeats with a snarl. “You can not just walk away. What about Mandalore? What about our people?”
Din holds her gaze and then turns on his heel.
There is the sound of several blasters being pulled and a body hitting the ground.
Din pulls his own blaster and swirls around to see that Bo-Katan and Reeves are pointing their blasters at him. Fennec slides around to his back and points her blaster over his shoulder at Bo-Katan, and Din suspects that if he were to look back over at Cara, he would see that she has dropped the Moff and that she is now pointing her rifle at the two Mandalorians.
They all stand frozen for several seconds before Cara speaks up.
“This is how it’s going to go,” She says, and this is not the voice of a rebel dropper or a mercenary. This is the voice of New Republic Marshall Cara Dune, and she expects to be obeyed.
“We,” -Cara gestures at herself, Din, and Fennec-” are going to leave the bridge, get on Fett’s ship and leave. And then we are never going to see each other again.”
“That is not going to work,” Bo-Katan says and shifts on her feet.
“Except it is,” Cara tells her. “It’s three against two, and we have the sharpshooter.”
“First shot goes through your head,” Fennec says, her voice as steady as her hands, and Din feels his heart warm a little.
“This would be a good time for you to put your helmet back on,” Fennec says, voice low. Din wants to protest, but he can read the room and compiles.
Bo-Katan keeps her blaster pointed at him, but she doesn’t make any move to stop him when Din starts inching backward towards Cara.
“What about the armor?” Reeves asks, and Din pauses to look at her.
“What are you doing?” Fennec whispers furiously at him, but Din can’t look away from Reeves.
“You said your no longer a Mandalorian. Then what are you going to do with the beskar?” Reeves challenges and Din feels his throat close up.
The thought of removing the armor to never put it back on is a terrifying thought. He has lived wearing the helmet and some kind of armor since he was just a child, and to walk around the galaxy without it makes his skin crawl.
It takes him a moment to answer, but when he does, he is relieved to hear that his voice isn’t shaking.
“I’ll find my Covert and return it to the Armorer,” He tells her. “They will melt it down and use it to make armor for the Foundlings.”
“Foundlings?” Bo-Katan asks.
“Yes. Before Navarro, we had several of them, but after the Empire found the covert I don’t know what happened to them,” Din says.
“Foundlings,” Bo-Katan repeats, and with a bitter laugh, she lowers her blasters and tilts her head back to look at the ceiling.
“Go,” She commands. Din and Fennec waste no time and hurries into the elevator as Cara covers them.
As the elevator doors close, Din looks back at Bo-Katan. She is running a hand down her face and speaking in a low voice to a furious Reeves.
She looks exhausted.
The three of them stay silent for several seconds before Fennec speaks up.
"Well, that was dramatic," She says and Din smiles weakly.
"What are you going to do now?" Fennec asks Din, and he shrugs.
"I could always use some help on Navarro," Cara offers, and Din turns to look at her.
It's a tempting offer, but Din has already set himself a goal. "I need to find my Covert."
Cara nods.
"But afterward. The offer will still be open." Cara says, and then she grins widely. "Unless you are thinking of paying Omera a visit?"
Din opens his mouth the deny the accusation before he pauses. It's not a bad idea, actually. And he could use a break.
"I'll think about it," He concedes and Cara smiles at him.