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You sat at the bar with a drink in hand, mulling over your next move. You should go to the room you had paid for at this hotel and get some sleep. You were exhausted from the past few months of planet hopping. The vast number of people here was becoming overwhelming, but that’s to be expected when you run off to Coruscant. At least it was easy to melt into the crowd and avoid being caught here. No one gave a damn if you shoved your way between people. No one gave a damn if you said, “Excuse me,” or any other nicety. Everyone had their own business to attend to.
Pounding back the last of your mystery drink, you pushed your glass towards the bartender who refused to look at you and dropped a handful of credits on the counter. You hopped off the barstool and made a move towards one of the halls leading the guest only areas when you were met with a face full of Beskar. Stumbling back, you had to catch yourself on the bar counter to keep from falling.
“I can bring you in warm, or I can bring you in cold,” the tree of a person growled, blaster aimed at you.
Oh… A Mandalorian. Great. You knew you had a bounty on your head, something you learned a while ago from the last couple of hunters you crossed. But for this guy to be after you? How steep was the price?
With a heavy sigh, you announced your choice, “Warm. Warm is good.”
You held out your wrists for the cuffs, earning you a curious tilt of his helmet. While you could hold your own against rookie hunters, you were no match for a Mandalorian bounty hunter.
“Well, come on. Let’s get this over with.”
He stepped forward, caging you in at the bar, and cuffed you in a flash. He roughly latched onto your bicep and guided you to the door.
The trek to the Mandalorian’s ship was quiet. You did your best not to squirm in his grasp, but the seams of his gloves were digging into your skin through your shirt. His long strides forced you to jog alongside him at times. It was almost of relief when you made it to the ship. Almost. His chosen vessel was a pre-Empire rust bucket, an old Razor Crest model. You weren’t even sure the thing could fly, and, if it did, break the atmosphere.
With his vambrace, he lowered the ramp before shoving you up and into the ship, locking it down the moment you were both on board. You took a quick glance around and noticed the carbonite chamber, eliciting an involuntary shiver from your body. You had never been frozen before, but the horror stories… Being able to hear everything around you but unable to move, trapped with no escape. It reminded you too much of the sleep paralysis you had experienced as a child.
You turned to the Mandalorian who had been watching your unmoving form. “Are you… Are you going to use that?” you asked, nodding your head in the direction of the chamber.
He stood there, continuing to observe wordlessly. Replacing the blaster in its holster, he hooked his thumbs into his belt and shifted the majority of his weight on one foot. His head tilted, looking at you up and down.
“That depends. Are you planning on behaving?” His modulated voice could have been considered playful if you didn’t know better.
You nodded fervently.
“Then, no. Now, come on.”
He motioned towards the ladder that you assumed led to the cockpit. Obediently, you climbed to the top, slowly due to your bound hands. The hunter waited patiently below for you to reach the platform before following your ascension. The cockpit doors slid open, and he pointed you to the copilot chair to the left of his. The one on the right was already occupied by what you believed to be a pram. Weird… What’s a hunter doing with one of those?
You buckled yourself in knowing you would more than likely have to make a jump into hyperspace for wherever he was taking you. The Mandalorian launched the ship and once the atmosphere was broken, immediately went into a hyperspace. No matter how many times you had traveled off-world, you never warmed up to the inevitable lurching. You had to force yourself to relax, clenching and unclenching your fists to cope.
A light tug on your trousers brought you back to the present. The perpetrating hand belonged to a small green creature with large, sparkling brown eyes and even bigger ears. Your lips slid into a small smile as you waved at the little one and reciprocated with its own wave and adorable coo. Before you could hum a laugh, the Mandalorian snatched the creature away and placed it in his lap, safely away from the likes of you. His black T-shaped visor pointedly stared at you. You held up your hands apologetically.
“I’m sorry. I meant no harm.”
He studied you for a moment before swiveling his chair back around. The silence that enveloped the cockpit was becoming unbearable. It felt dark and oppressive. For you, the quiet meant the predator was lurking while eligible prey were in hiding. It was clear which one you were.
Clearing your throat, you tried to do something about the lack of noise. “May I ask you some questions?”
Nothing.
“More specifically questions about the bounty on me.”
His helmet twitched and inclined slightly to the side. Maybe this was him listening. The little one was curiously peering over his arm to see you better.
“Who placed the bounty?”
Nothing.
“Okay… Where are you taking me?”
“Naboo.”
“Ah…”
He turned to you just a hair more.
“That tells me everything I need to know.”
He sat solid as a statue.
“So, after you collect your earnings and I’m set free, think I can get a ride off Naboo?”
The Mandalorian suddenly faced you fully, the seat spinning so quickly, the little creature squeaked and clapped its clawed hands. “What makes you think you’ll be set free?”
“You’ll see,” you quirked a smile. “Now if you don’t mind, I am going to get some shut eye before we get there. It’ll be fun once we’re on the planet’s surface.”
Once again, he did not move. It wasn’t until you settled more comfortably in your seat and closed your eyes that he finally brought his attention back to the control panel.
Hyperspace entry and exiting was the absolute worst, especially when it interrupted your sleep. You were pretty sure the seat belt had bruised your stomach. The rest happened in a blur. You had been pulled from your seat, sent down the hatch and the ramp, and were now being paraded through the streets. It was only then that you noticed the satchel hanging from the other side of the bounty hunter. The little one poked his head out and waved to you. Damn, the creature was cute. No clue what it was, but it was still one of the cutest things you had ever seen.
The Mandalorian slowed briefly as he reached an ornate mansion, pushing you up the gilded walkway. The guards opened the familiar golden doors, allowing your party to enter. The entryway was huge, only dwarfed by the high ceiling. And noisy. You could hear the echoes of every movement through the area. It didn’t take long before you heard the jogging clack of shoes headed in your direction.
“Darling! It is wonderful to see you again!” a voice boomed through the room, accompanied by a posh looking man throwing a nearby set of doors open.
You grimaced, mouth set in a hard frown as you turned towards the Mandalorian who seemed just as tense. Furrowing your brow, you gave him this look that read, “Are you really going to do this to me?”
His grip on your already bruised bicep softened. Was that a form of sympathy?
“Mandalorian, would you be so kind as to remove these dreadful binders? They were not necessary in the first place.”
Not necessary? He wanted you unharmed but was alright with you being brought in “cold” as the bounty hunter so eloquently stated?
You weren’t sure, but you thought you heard the hunter growl as he released you. Seems he hated this guy as much as you did.
The guy tossed the Mandalorian a large bag of credits. “Thank you, my good man! Now if you don’t mind, my fiancé and I have a wedding to plan.”
You arched an eyebrow and looked around as the man tried to take your hand and pull you away. “What fiancé?”
“Oh, my darling!” He closed the space between you and reached to cup your face, an action you immediately swatted away. “You, of course!”
And he just kept smiling like nothing was wrong.
“Mmm… No… No. I never agreed to anything like that.” You stepped away, not liking anyone invading your personal space like that.
“But my love, we were meant to be!” He made a grab for your hand that you swiftly hid behind you.
“Ripping your moronic ass from a vehicle you drunkenly crashed is neither a declaration of love or engagement.” You defiantly folded your arms across your chest.
“Yet in that moment, you saved my life which means-”
“It does not,” you interrupted. “It means I tried to do the right thing for a complete stranger, whose name I still don’t know. Nothing more.”
“Love, please, you must be tired. We can speak further after you have rested.” He tried again to bring you into his touch, but you refused and dodged it.
The Mandalorian stood on the sidelines, arms folded, watching how all this played out. He was either stunned into disbelief or so amused he couldn’t bring himself to leave yet.
“What is the meaning of all this,” a new, older voice echoed across the room. “What is a Mandalorian bounty hunter doing in my home?!” An older gentleman traipsed down the stairs at the end of the entryway. “And who is this- Oh! You…” He recognized you from behind the man accosting you.
“Good afternoon, sir,” you greeted. This was the guy you needed - The man’s father.
He nodded grimly at you before turning to scold his son. “We are not doing this again! You will not marry that former spice runner turned rebel.”
“But Father, I-”
“You do not! Your delusions are that of a raving lunatic!” The father focused on the bounty hunter. “Have you received payment?”
The Mandalorian nodded curtly.
“Good. Please take this for your troubles.” He handed the hunter another sack of credits. “And please inform the Guild to no longer accept bounties placed on this person by my son. I will be wiring the proper payment to them later this month.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Excellent. Now both of you leave my property immediately before I call the authorities.”
With your backs turned to the father and son, you grinned at the Mandalorian who refused to respond.
I told you so…
The little one in the satchel giggled.
When you made it back onto the streets in a more common area, you nudged the Mandalorian to get his attention. “So about that ride?”
Almost a cycle later and you were still cruising along with Mando, the name he gave during the first hunt you joined him on shortly after he asked if you would stay. You two had a system worked out. Smaller hunts meant you chilled out for a day or two with the kid. Anything longer, Mando brought you as backup while you both watched over the kid. It was a decent system you had worked out. Your skills developed at your previous “occupations” worked in tandem with his. You found yourself enjoying your time together. It helped that the kid was cute too.
At the moment, you were playing hide and seek in the cargo hold with the adorable womprat which really consisted of him running behind crates and the weapons while you walked around calling for him. You were crouched by one of the crates, so completely engrossed in finding the kid that you didn’t hear the ramp lower followed by Mando sidling up next to you.
“Lose the kid?”
Startled, you lost your balance and landed right on your ass. “Kriff! Mando! What’d you sneak up on me like that for?”
His low chuckle bounced off the metal walls. The child, upon hearing his father, waddled out into the open with happy coos. He raised his little arms, demanding Mando to pick him up, and to his credit, he immediately swooped down and scooped him into his embrace.
“Are you causing trouble for your buir?”
Again with the Mando’a words. You shouldn’t be surprised but he always seemed to come up with something new. For a while, it was “Mesh’la”. Then, it slowly transitioned to “Cyar’ika”. You guessed they were something like nicknames or pet names, but every time you would ask, Mando would either say nothing or deflect. Not that you minded the names though. They sounded much more endearing coming from him and not creepy like the guy who attempted to force you into marriage.
“Him? Never!” you quipped.
The child giggled and reached for you. Standing up and closing the gap between you, you let him grasp one of your fingers in his tiny hand, eliciting a squeal of delight from the child.
“He likes you,” Mando spoke softly.
You hummed, “Yeah, but he likes you way more.”
“I don’t know about that.”
“Just look at him! He adores his father,” you grinned up at Mando.
In response, Mando pressed his free hand to the back of your neck to keep you close as he gently bumped your forehead with his helmeted one.
“He adores both of his parents,” he corrected.
This. You began living for moments like this since coming aboard the Razor Crest more permanently, moments where you felt like you were part of a family. Who would have thought becoming a bounty would have led you here?