Chapter Text
The man in front of him trembled against the wall, his sweaty hands scrabbling for purchase as he tried to make a futile escape, all while Din advanced menacingly slowly. But it was no use. The smuggler wouldn’t be going anywhere. Not after what he’d done. Din lunged forward like a Kodashi viper striking its prey, gripping the smuggler by the filthy lapels of his shirt and lifting him up until he was level with the black of his helmet’s visor. Even through that, he could see the fear that consumed the man’s eyes, despite the rapid flickering of the blast-damaged lights overhead.
“Please, please!” the man begged, squirming in his grip, his hands clinging to where Din held firmly onto his clothes. “We didn’t know who we were dealing with! We wouldn’t have done it if we’d known you were involved!”
Din silently tipped his head almost thoughtfully. The smuggler’s pleas were genuine. Painfully so.
It was a shame that the crime warranted no mercy.
With a soft snick, he released his vibroblade from its sheath on his vambrace, neatly slicing into the smuggler’s jugular as he released him. His victim clasped at his throat, crimson rivulets rapidly spilling untamed through his fingers as his life’s blood rapidly drained as he dropped to his knees. Din didn’t even spare him a second glance. His heart was pounding, breathing rapid and unsteady, coming out in desperate pants that made his helmet feel claustrophobic. In his ears, he heard the rapid-fire comms of Axe, Koska, and the rest of the small team they’d arrived on Corellia with, searching this place alongside him. But he wasn’t truly listening. He couldn’t focus. His focus had to be on getting through the facility to the lower levels because...
They took them. They took them.
Corellia had been a mission that was supposed to be relatively benign. His jobs for Teva and Bo’s diplomatic efforts had fortuitously coincided in a way that Din would deny ever having a hand in contriving; he’d interrupted smugglers who were stealing Imperial ship parts for resale at Santhe’s shipyards, and she’d been on world to speak with Senator Di’ipshet about Mandalore rejoining the Republic at Coronet City’s Senate House. Both had been somewhat successful; Teva had new intel on activities adjacent to Remnant operations, and Mandalore had a potential new ally if they could iron out a few issues. They’d met up afterwards at the marketplace to finish out the trip on a more pleasant note, and also as a treat for the kid who loved exploring the foods of different worlds before they’d head home. Din’s only concern at the time had been about Grogu’s sticky claws getting everywhere on the journey home. There had been nothing out of the ordinary. Nothing to suggest what would happen.
One minute they’d been quite happily making their way through the market’s food stalls in the narrow and winding streets, with Grogu babbling excitedly in Bo’s arms at all the delicacies Din knew they’d be bringing back to the ship, and the next he’d turned to find them gone. They’d been right there. It had been less than a minute since he’d spoken to her to say he’d seen the smugglers from earlier entering a nearby alleyway with a shipyard worker and looking, for all intents and purposes, to be continuing the work he’d disrupted.
Briefly following them in the hopes of getting more intel, he’d left Bo and the kid only twenty feet or so behind him, still within calling distance. As he reached the edge of the alleyway, one smuggler had turned as if he knew Din had been there all the while before he cockily smiled and winked at him, pointing back into the market and shrugging dramatically. Din hadn’t known what that meant. He’d wanted to keep following them, but the way had been blocked, and intel on new activity likely wasn’t going to help Teva much. So he’d turned back, only to find Bo and the kid were no longer where he’d left them. How could he have lost them in such a short time?
It hadn’t panicked him initially. Bo had an indulgent habit of letting the kid look at every single stall, which often left them some distance behind, and he’d usually have to retrace his steps to find them. That was what he’d done on this occasion, winding back between the sentients, hoping to find them; his son, sticky clawed from the treat Bo had bought him while his father wasn’t looking. Except all he’d found, lying on the ground in an alleyway, mere feet from the stall he’d last seen them at, was Bo’s weapons belt; both her Westar pistols still holstered.
Din’s heart had stopped.
Fear had sliced through him like a plasma blade, clean and fast, before white hot rage had suffused every part of his being at the thought of those sentients he cared for being taken from right under his nose by kriffing mudscuffers. Somewhere in that period of unbridled rage, Din knew he must have contacted the others; they must have figured out who took them and made their way to the underground facility at the shipyards that they were now in. Yet he had no memory of it. All he knew was that the bodies he’d left in his wake were of smugglers and Stormtroopers alike. The Imp presence here had been an unpleasant surprise, but given what the smugglers had been doing with the Imperial ship parts, it made an irritating amount of sense. Of course they’d been supplying the parts to the Remnant. Who else?
If he were honest with himself, he didn’t give a flying monkey lizard if the smugglers were working with Imps. That was Teva’s problem now. All he cared about was the fact that they’d dared to take Bo and his son from right under his nose. The smuggler who’d smirked and pointed back into the marketplace had been taunting him with that knowledge. He’d known what was about to happen, and now he was dead. A shot that went clean through the chest as soon as Din had caught sight of him again. Rage-fuelled justice.
Yet beneath that rage, there was shame.
Shame that a bounty hunter as feared and skilled as he was had allowed those he cared for to be so unguarded in such a public place. This was his son and his Mand’alor for kriff’s sake! He should have paid closer attention. He’d failed to keep his guard up, failed to protect them, and now they’d fallen into their enemies’ hands. Quite how they’d subdued both Bo and the kid without either of them fighting back or calling out remained to be seen. Din couldn’t imagine Bo not fighting back or the kid not making such a racket that everyone in the vicinity would be alerted.
Firing a shot at the door panel ahead of him, Din forced it open with a hiss, and tried to put the thoughts from his mind. There was a job he needed to do here, and it wouldn’t succeed if he allowed himself to fall apart. The Imp and two smugglers he found in the next hallway immediately met a fiery end as he activated his flamethrower and directed it straight at them, their screams barely registering before he shot each of them in turn to confirm their deaths. Autopilot. That’s what it felt like he was on. Desperately trying not to feel the panic while eliminating those he knew to be enemies with no thought beyond the need to return Bo and his son to him.
“Anyone breached below the sixth level of this place yet?” Koska’s voice crackled to life in his ear. “I just keep finding more scugholes and more levels. How advanced was this operation?”
“No, only level four, and considering anything below the surface was secret access, I’d wager the smuggling operation was creditrolled by high-level Imps with the help of someone at the shipyards,” Axe responded, the sound of rapid blaster fire coming through the line. “Djarin, what's your status?”
“Level three,” he said shortly. “I got intel that said they had labs here. I think that’s where they’re holding the kid.”
Din heard Axe sigh heavily over the line. “Don’t doubt it. A normal cell could hold Bo-Katan, but it wouldn’t hold him.” There was further blaster fire in the background. “Gotta go. Keep this channel open for updates. Woves out.”
The line cut, and Din was once again left with the task of locating those he cared for. It didn’t surprise him that the Imps had chosen to keep Bo and Grogu separate. Not only was Axe right – a cell would never contain Grogu – but there was still the possibility that they’d try to run experiments on him. These Imps weren’t with Gideon, but it didn’t mean they didn’t know who his son was and tried to exploit it. Bo, if they’d subdued her, was most likely in the cells awaiting transport to the custody of whatever Moff controlled this sector. Neither scenario was good, and Din tried to ignore the bile that threatened to rise in his throat. If any harm had come to them, then no one involved would make it out of this facility alive.
As he turned the corner of the hallway, blaster shots ricocheted off his beskar uselessly as smugglers and Imps fired on him alike. He fired back, easily picking off the smugglers who were quickly discovering why it had been a mistake to mess with the man known as the Mandalorian. The Imps hid around corners and behind the threshold of doors, taking pot shots, as the smugglers foolishly tried to engage in the open. It didn’t matter how good their tactics were; they all needed to pay for what they’d done. Raising his fist, he activated his whistling birds and pointed them directly at his foes. The tiny rockets launched, twirling through the air, seeking and picking off their targets until only one smuggler remained.
With a clatter, the man dropped his blaster to the floor. “Mercy, please! We weren’t told who we were taking! Please!”
“You’re not the first to tell me that,” Din growled, anger lacing his words as he advanced on the smuggler, blaster raised. “What makes you think I’ll grant you any more mercy than I did them?”
“I can tell you where the creature is!” the man exclaimed as he held his hands defensively in front of him, his fearful eyes trained on Din’s blaster as sweat beaded down his brow. “I know where the Imps took him!”
Din adjusted his grip on his blaster threateningly. “Where?”
“In a lab on this level!” the smuggler said shakily as he pointed behind him. “It’s that way!”
“And the woman?”
His heart was in his throat. Panic threatened to overwhelm the rage that had kept him going until now. There was a location for the kid, but could he get one for Bo? Did this scughole even know where she was or even who she was to him?
“I don’t know…I wasn’t responsi…”
The smuggler didn’t get to finish his sentence. Din shot a hole straight through the man’s chest, the body crumpling to the floor, allowing him to step over it and head in the direction he’d been shown. He had been more ruthless in searching this facility than he cared to admit, and would likely regret it when the dust had settled. In any other circumstance, he would have let that man live, but not in this one. This was too close to home. If you’d done your job, then you wouldn’t need to regret it, would you? his conscience hissed. You failed to protect your son, and you failed in your pledge to your Mand’alor. Until her song’s end? You will have caused that end if you don’t find her. Gritting his teeth, Din tried to force the thoughts from his mind. His anger should be directed towards those who took them, not at himself. There would be time for that later when they were both with him and safely on a ship off this kriffing planet.
He broke into a jog as he moved through the halls in the direction of the labs. The area was suspiciously quiet, as if all the troops and scientists that had been stationed here had abruptly been moved somewhere else. Din had expected to at least find lab personnel cowering under tables, but the place was deserted. It was only when he rounded a corner that he came across two Imps guarding a door at the end of a long corridor. Grogu. Of course they’d guard a high-value asset above everything else in this facility. Din didn’t hesitate. Whipping his blaster up, they were dead before they even registered that he was bearing down on them.
Callously kicking the bodies out of his way, Din assessed the door panel. Locked, of course. It was one of the more advanced models the Imps used, which meant simply destroying it by simply shooting it wasn’t going to do much for him. But his blaster could still help. Stepping back, he levelled his blaster at the corner and fired. The plastoid frame cracked off, exposing the housing and wiring that Din knew he could tamper with until the door released. Much better. Crouching, he examined the routes of the wiring with shaking hands before selecting two, wrenching them from their ports and touching the ends together. His heart raced so hard it felt like a bruise in his chest as he waited for a sign that it had worked. After a few tense seconds, there were several clunks before the door next to him mercifully hissed open.
Din darted into the open doorway, then froze at the threshold, too afraid of what he might find inside the lab. As the lights flickered on, he was almost blinded by the sterile white of the interior, even through the tint of his visor. He shielded his eyes from it momentarily, allowing them to adjust as his panic steadily rose, before he allowed himself to look for his son. It was just as every other Imperial lab he’d seen previously. Viewscreens lined the walls, hooked up to machines and equipment designed to poke and prod whatever, or whomever, the Imps brought here. In the middle of it all sat a steel table, and, in the middle of that, sat his son.
Unharmed, unbothered, and with a bag of snacks that he’d clearly been eating while chaos reigned around him.
Quite frankly, Din didn’t know whether to laugh or cry in relief.
Of course he’s unbothered, his conscience hissed at him. This is second nature to him at this point. Your parents protected you, but you take him into every dangerous situation imaginable. If he ever dies, it’ll be your fault. The words shot through him, clear and cold. That was his fear. Grogu was Mandalorian; this was their craft, their culture. Yet, Din knew that there were things he was supposed to mitigate, things he was supposed to wait until the kid was older to undertake. But just as his mentor had pushed him, he was pushing his son to go further, much sooner than he should. For him, that had resulted in some broken bones and harsh lessons, but for the kid, that behaviour was going to get him killed. Even on a mission that was supposedly safe, he’d ended up in danger. What did that say about his parenting?
The kid looked at him for a moment, swallowed the rest of his snack and then babbled excitedly, waving a crumb-covered claw at him. It was as if Grogu had simply been waiting for him. Yet that wasn’t the case as an explosion sounded on the level below them, making the kid flinch. Reality slammed back into Din like a herd of stampeding Bantha. This was no time for self-recrimination for his earlier actions. He had his son, but he still needed to find Bo.
“You okay, kid?” he asked breathlessly as he rushed to scoop the kid up. “They do anything to you?”
Grogu shook his head, chittering rapidly.
“Do you know where they took Bo?”
Another shake of the head was his response, the boy’s ears dropping as a mournful little sound escaped him.
“Then let’s go find her.”
Storming out of the lab and into the hallways, Din let Grogu jump to his shoulder and activated his comm as he headed for the turbolifts, ready to search the next level. “Woves? This is Djarin. I have the kid. Any sign of Bo-Katan?”
The line crackled as he got into the lift car, as brief shouts of both Nite Owls and their foes were heard over the top of Axe’s heavy breathing. “Not physically. I made it down to the ninth level – a ninth level for kriff’s sake! Got some intel out of a snivelling Imp and headed straight down to where he told me the cells were. Found her silver pauldron in one of them.”
“You think they moved her?” At the mention of Bo’s Mythosaur pauldron, he’d fought not to punch the side of the lift car. Those weren’t easy to remove. It often took a significant hit to dislodge any mechanism that held their beskar to their bodies. Either Bo had deliberately removed it in captivity, or the Imps had done something he’d make them regret.
“Almost certain of it!” There was more blaster fire over the line, followed by the sound of Axe smashing something – or someone – hard into a wall. “I think they panicked when they realised that we’d got into the facility. Fates knows where they’ve taken her now. But it isn’t here. Keep looking. Woves out.”
Anger at himself and the situation he found himself in burned hotly, and Din didn’t hold back on striking the lift car this time, rocking it slightly. He needed her back. Terrible thoughts swirled in his mind, trying to drown out rational thought. They could be torturing her. They could be smuggling her onto a ship to leave this planet and take her kriff knew where! They could have already killed her, and he had no way of knowing. He was failing his friend and Mand’alor, and he couldn’t stand it. Grogu chirped softly, bringing him back, and Din sighed. He had to find her. He already felt like a failure as a father; he couldn’t fail the woman his son saw as a mother figure too.
Pulling open the turbolift control housing, he quickly overrode the emergency protocol and hit the button to take him to the next unsearched level. Kriff, he wished these things moved faster. This downtime was giving his mind space to attack him when what he needed to do was find Bo and get off this planet. Mercifully, the tech complied, opening on the seventh level, where the emergency lights had suffused the environment with a deep red glow. Din stepped out and almost immediately collided with Axe.
“Dank farrik, Djarin! What are you doing here?”
“You’d cleared everything but the seventh and eighth levels. Made sense to be here.”
Axe blinked for a few moments. “Great minds think alike, then. Eighth and ninth are clear. I have the team mopping up, so this is the last one. I’m just making my way back up and double checking every place they could have taken her.”
“Has Reeves moved off the sixth?” Even in all the chaos, Din didn’t recall hearing any comms from her after they last spoke. She could still be there, and then they’d be another Mandalorian down.
“Good point,” Axe said with a stressed nod. “You take this floor and I’ll head up and help her out. If you find Bo-Katan, let us know so we can get out of this place. I don’t want to see an Imp for a week after this.”
Both men nodded at each other as Axe entered the turbolift before he reached into his utility pouch and pulled something from it. Bo’s pauldron. Din looked at him curiously for a moment. Why was he bringing that out now? But Axe only shrugged, a strange look on his face, as he shoved it into Din’s hand. Din stared at it for a moment, unable to comprehend that he was seeing it without its owner. Looking up at Axe, he opened his mouth to ask why he’d given it to him, but the lift doors slid shut, and he was left hanging. Desperately trying to ignore the well of emotion that bubbled up, Din tucked it into his utility pouch. He would find her, and he would place it back on her shoulder where it belonged. That was a promise.
Setting off at a jog, Din twisted and turned through the corridors as the sirens blared overhead. But there was nothing to find. Whatever the smugglers and Imps had going on here, it wasn’t in active use; mostly server rooms and generators humming away as if their systems weren’t under attack. It wouldn’t be a place they’d hide Bo. Dank farrik, this couldn’t be it! She had to be in this facility somewhere! But room after room only turned up more machinery and no sign of his Mand’alor.
He was just about to comm Axe with confirmation that there was no sign of her on the eighth level when the sound of muffled blaster fire echoed through the halls. Adjusting his fingers on his blaster, he raised it and made his way towards the sound of the commotion, listening to the rhythmic sound of blaster pistols being fired in the distance. Almost too rhythmic. Like the same person was firing one, then another, in a practised sequence. On his shoulder, Grogu suddenly chirped brightly, looking in the direction of the fight, and Din just knew.
Racing through the hallways towards the firefight, he rounded a corner just in time to see Bo-Katan gloriously barrel her way out of the emergency stairwell, duel-wielding stolen blaster pistols firing relentlessly one after the other at the Imps bearing down on her. They didn’t get far though. In their rush to follow her out of the door, they kettled themselves in the threshold as she picked them off one by one; their white plastoid corpses trapping the others, making it all the easier to eliminate them.
As the last Imp fell, so did the silence; broken only by the ringing in his ears. Din watched as Bo turned to run down the hallway, her blasters raised and pointing squarely at him, the fog of battle momentarily overtaking her until he saw realisation dawn on her face. Her expression turned from grim determination to abject relief. It, in turn, bolstered his own. She was there, she was fighting, and she was almost safe again. Almost…
“Din!” she called out, a smile breaking out on her face. “You found the kid!”
But he wasn’t listening. Behind her, stepping over the bodies of his fallen comrades, was an Imp; his blaster raised and pointed directly at the back of Bo’s unhelmeted head. Din didn’t hesitate. Between one breath and the next, he fired on the Imp, the bolt passing so close to Bo that her hair was disturbed slightly by the force of the movement. The Imp crumpled to the floor, and Bo’s smiling face changed to one of concern as she whipped her head around to look at what he had just fired at.
“Quick off the draw as always, I see.”
“This is the Way.”
Din needed her to come closer, to be within touching distance, even if he’d never dare crush her to him in relief. The further away she was from him, the more danger she was in. That was a ridiculous notion, but he wasn’t thinking straight. He couldn’t explain it, why he had this need to hold her and never let go, but it made his hands itch to do it. It’s this mission, he reassured himself. It’s messing with your head.
“I take it you escaped?” he asked as she caught up to him, trying to ignore the obvious gash on her forehead. “Imps don’t usually fight that hard for something they already have.”
Bo hummed, a small smile on her face as she reached up to stroke Grogu’s ear. “They had me in a cell until you attacked. I overheard them mention ‘the Mandalorian’ had arrived, and I just knew they’d run scared and try to move me elsewhere. As soon as they did, I took my chance.” She huffed a laugh. “That’ll teach them to think they can hold me with just two troopers and no binders on my wrists. Lost my pauldron in the fight, but it was worth it.”
Silently, Din reached into his utility pouch and pulled out the beskar in question, ignoring the way his stomach flipped a little at the way Bo’s face lit up when she saw it. Carefully, he slotted it back onto her shoulder, feeling an immense satisfaction when the mechanisms clicked into place. He’d feared he would never get to return it to her, and now here she was with it securely back in place. It felt too easy a resolution, and that was almost too much.
“Why didn’t you comm once you’d escaped?” he asked softly as he gave in and let his hand rest against her shoulder. “Woves has turned over this entire facility looking for you.”
“You mean you’ve turned over this entire facility looking for this little guy,” Bo said with a neatly arched eyebrow before she held up her vambrace. “Got fried by a shock-stick, so I wasn’t able to do anything. I was hoping to get to the surface or find you guys on the way.”
Din tilted his head. “Makes sense, but we should get out of here now.” He connected to the open channel as they took off towards the turbolifts. “Woves? Reeves? Come in.”
“Receiving.” He had Woves. “I hope you’ve got good news for us.”
“I have Bo-Katan,” Din replied, glancing at the woman next to him in the lift car. “We’re heading for the surface. What’s your position?”
“Shootout at the surface!” Blaster fire sounded over the line, cracking off the surfaces near Axe's position. “Smugglers are dead, but the kriffing Imps sent reinforcements. Not many, but we’ll have to shoot our way to the ship. Is Bo-Katan in a state to do that?”
He could hear the question Axe wanted to ask: ‘Has she been tortured?’ It had been on his mind too as they’d made their way here, and almost every second it had taken to find her. Mercifully, he could put Axe’s, and thus the rest of the team’s, mind at ease.
“She’s fine. Found her blasting Imps into Wild Space. We’ll have no trouble getting out.”
“That’s what I like to hear. I’ll see the pair of you shortly. Woves out.”
The line cut just as the doors to the turbolift hissed open to reveal the shootout Axe had warned about. Din immediately readied his blaster as Bo moved forward, her stolen blasters raised in front of her. They were going to fight their way out of this together. There was a shout as they were spotted, and then blaster fire began to rain down on them as the Imps opened fire on their position. Immediately, Din positioned himself to take the brunt of the shots, firing back as he gestured to Bo to run towards the ship. She looked confused for a moment, still prepared to fight as she had been doing, but after a few seconds, she took off running towards it.
Firing at several Imps in her path, Din ran after her, keeping a steady eye on her back as bolts ricocheted off his beskar. On his shoulder, he heard his son squeal, then a field like the one he’d conjured on Mandalore appeared around them, shielding them all the way to the boarding ramp of the Gauntlet, where Koska was waiting to seal them in the ship. He’d barely made it a metre past the mechanisms inside before the whole ship lurched as it left the ground. Glancing behind him, he saw Koska clutching onto the ramp mechanism he’d just passed, still firing on the Imps below before they were fully sealed inside, and silence blanketed them.
“Everybody good?” Bo asked as she leaned heavily against the wall. “That wasn’t one of our typical diplomatic missions.”
“You can say that again,” Koska grumbled. “Everyone got out, and you’re the only one injured. I’d say we were pretty successful.”
Bo merely smirked, but Din could see the weariness was starting to creep in. Her body was sagging harder against the wall, so much so that it looked like she would slip down it if someone didn’t prop her up. The adrenaline from the fight was wearing off, and he knew she was clearly feeling it now. If were to look after her properly, then they needed to get her to her cabin.
“We should assess your wounds,” he said, gesturing with his head in the direction of her cabin as Grogu slipped from his shoulder into his arms, chittering in agreement.
“Sure,” Bo replied tiredly, patting his arm and pushing herself to stand with some effort. “I know you’ll insist if I refuse.”
“This is the Way.”
Silently, Din followed Bo and Koska through the halls of the ship to her cabin, feeling his own adrenaline rush begin to slowly ebb. His muscles were shaking from the continued exertion, his mind felt all over the place, and his heart still raced from the panic of losing them. A panic that hadn’t quite faded. Surely it would leave soon? Din had to hope that it would. His entire being felt on edge, and the longer this went on, the harder it was going to be to get over it.
As they reached Bo’s cabin, Din was dismayed to find Axe already there, medkit open and ready to use. They weren’t all going to fit in the space, and, as Bo and Koska entered, he realised he would have to stand in the threshold if he wanted to stay. Immediately, he felt his hackles rise. He wanted to be in there with her. He wanted to be there with her alone so he could reassure himself that she hadn’t suffered too much due to his negligence. It should be you, not Woves, his mind whispered. You caused this, so you should fix it.
In his arms, Grogu chittered before the kid wiggled violently against his hold, and Din abruptly realised how tightly he’d been holding his son against him. Was he angry at Woves, or with himself? The two sentients he cared for were safe now, but the thoughts of failure and his burgeoning self-hatred for letting this happen had taken firm root in his mind. Loosening his grip, he allowed Grogu to leap out of his arms and straight into Bo’s lap.
“Hey you,” she said softly, cuddling the kid to her. “Glad to see your father got you back in one piece. That was scary, wasn’t it?”
His son cooed, his ears drooping sadly as he nodded, and Din’s anger at himself only rose. He let them get hurt. He did this.
“Lucky you didn’t get hurt,” Bo continued, speaking as if no one else was in the small cabin. “I wasn’t so lucky. I had to fight a lot of Imps to get back to you. Picked up some injuries along the way.”
“Yes, and we need to catalogue and treat those,” Axe said, rummaging through the medkit. “Aldel can treat you properly in the medcentre on our return, but I think it’d be best if we patched you up a little now. Where were you hit?”
Beneath his helmet, Din clenched his teeth in frustration. This should be his job. He should be fixing the mess he allowed to happen, not Axe. There was nothing he wanted more than to be alone with her and the kid, and to be allowed to right the wrongs of the past few hours, to apologise for letting his guard slip simply to chase after more intel for Teva. He’d put credits above the safety of those he cared for and that selfishness pissed him off. When he glanced at Bo, he found she was looking at him strangely, her eyes narrowed as if she were trying to figure out something, and it only agitated him further. She knew. She knew something was up, but Din understood Bo wouldn’t call him on it while the others were around. He tilted his head slightly and watched her sigh almost imperceptibly.
“The forehead is obvious, I think,” she said lightly, pointing to where blood had dried in streaks down the side of her face. Din wished she wouldn’t joke about it, it only made him feel worse. “Other than that, it’s just a small cut on my thigh, and I rolled my ankle running up that service stairwell. It could have been much worse.”
“Certainly could,” Koska muttered, folding her arms across her chest. “How did you end up there in the first place?”
Din tensed. He wasn’t ready to hear it. There was a desperate need to know just how badly he’d kriffed up, but he was too overwrought, too unsettled, to listen to how he’d failed those he cared for at that moment. Rolling his shoulders, he braced himself for the truth that would likely tear him apart. When he glanced at Bo, he could see she was eyeing him again. Din had never met anyone as good at reading his mood as she was. It felt like he was completely without his beskar when she looked at him like this. Exposed and vulnerable.
“I think a full run through on that should wait until we debrief,” she said slowly, her eyes never leaving him. “But, in short, I was grabbed from behind and dosed with something fast-acting. There was no time to call out before everything went dark.”
This time, he couldn’t contain his frustration with himself.
Without thinking, Din struck the threshold hard, causing everyone in the cabin to jump and then turn to him in confusion. Immediately, shame slicked over him, thick and cloying. He was never one to let his emotions get the better of him, certainly not in front of others, and yet here he was, rapidly unravelling in front of his son and his friends.
“Din?” Bo’s voice was soft and questioning, and he couldn’t stand it.
“Sorry…” he mumbled, backing out into the hallway. “Sorry…”
He turned on his heel and all but fled the scene. Dank farrik, what was wrong with him? Why was he reacting so strongly to this? Din couldn’t answer any of that. All he knew was that he needed to get out of there before he unravelled completely.
The kid babbled at her as Bo reattached her weapons belt. She hadn’t even known that it was gone until she woke up in the cell with it missing. Koska had told her it was what had alerted Din to the fact that she’d been taken, and from there he’d behaved like a man possessed until both she and the kid were safe. After that? Well, after that, she’d seen his behaviour for herself, and he’d been strange. Something was bothering him, that much was clear, and Bo knew it was causing him significant distress. Even now, hours after he’d all but run from her cabin, leaving Grogu in her care, Bo hadn’t seen hide nor hair of him. Din was hiding, running from something, and she was going to have to force him to give up what exactly it was before it ate away at him.
“Almost home, kid,” she said with a smile as she sat back on the bunk. Grogu chittered brightly and clambered into her lap, purring softly when she stroked over his ears. “You still doing okay?”
The boy nodded with a quiet coo she took to be an affirmative.
“Shame your father isn’t,” Bo murmured wistfully. “I don’t know what’s gotten into him, but it sure is something, isn’t it?”
Grogu made a soft, sad sound and rested his head against her cuirass, and it broke her heart. Bo knew Din’s behaviour was affecting the kid just as much as her. He’d never been like this after a mission before, even ones where the kid had been in danger from Imps. Tetchy? Yes. Even downright abrasive until he’d got the kid out of danger. But he’d never rejected his son, and that was concerning. His behaviour towards her? Well, that was something new. She’d never seen him so desperate. Perhaps it was just shock, and he’d get through it? This was Din after all, he didn’t always react in the way she expected him to.
“We’ll figure it out,” she gently reassured the kid. “He probably just needs a bit of time to himself, and he’ll be back to normal. If he isn’t, you stick with me and we’ll deal with him together. Sound good?”
There was a bright chirp of agreement, and Bo smiled. She was glad Grogu trusted her when it came to this. If his father couldn’t step up, then she would be the parent in his place until Din was ready to return.
A knock on the doorframe sounded before it hissed open, revealing Koska in the threshold.
“We’ve just cleared atmosphere. Should be landing in five,” she said, jerking her thumb in the direction of the cockpit before she glanced at Grogu. “Has Din not come back at all to check on the kid? It’s been hours!”
Bo shook her head. “I tried to comm him a while ago, but got no response.” She patted Grogu’s head as he trilled softly. “I suspect what happened on Corellia has had more of an impact on Din than we thought.”
“No kidding,” Koska said with playful sarcasm. “What do you think’s going on in that bucket of his?”
“It’s been a while since any of us have faced any real danger from forces out in the galaxy; especially with Gideon dead,” Bo mused, cuddling Grogu closer to her. “I think Din might have got used to Grogu being safe, so the fact that he was taken from right under his nose in a supposedly safe place will have been a shock to him.” She sighed. “I’ve let him be because forcing an issue with that man is a recipe for disaster. When he wants to talk about it, he’ll come to me.”
Koska smiled at her, her head tipping to the side as she did so. “I forget that you know him better than most of us. Even the Armorer wouldn’t be able to do what you do.”
“This is the Way.”
In her lap, Grogu mimicked the sound of her words proudly, just as he had done with his father as they’d escaped Kalevala, and Bo smiled. It was no wonder the kid had come back to Din after being sent away; he idolised everything about his father. In a way, she did too.
“I’m gonna guess that’s another one of those ‘time spent with Djarin’ things you smile about so often?”
Her friend’s voice held a note of smug knowingness that Bo knew she should object to. Koska had long teased her about her and Din’s close relationship, but she’d always brushed her friend off; it was natural to be close to someone you went through so much with. Though it had been getting harder to deny that closeness, and with the events on Corellia, she couldn’t dispute the way it must look to those outside their friendship.
“Yeah…it is,” she said quietly, grateful for the gentle rocking of the ship that told her they’d made their landing on Mandalore for providing an escape from this conversation.
“Looks like we’re here.”
Scooping up the kid, Bo nodded and silently followed Koska through the ship’s hallways and towards the boarding ramp. There, staring outside as if he’d rather be anywhere else, was Din. Well, at least he’s willing to leave the ship, she thought to herself. That was some progress, at least. Axe and the rest of the team were standing with him, though the former was giving Din a rather curious look as if some odd exchange had occurred shortly before they’d arrived. Given the way Din was behaving, she wouldn’t put it past Axe to have tried to bait him into a verbal sparring session, but it didn’t seem like that had happened. Had Din said something?
As she passed, Bo tried to catch his attention, but he studiously kept his gaze away from her, simply falling into step right behind her as they disembarked. When Grogu cooed and reached for him, clearly desperate to get his father’s attention, Din didn’t acknowledge him, continuing to stare straight ahead. Bo’s heart broke at the scene as she felt the kid curl back against her mournfully. Both Koska and Axe caught her gaze, each sharing a concerned look, but none of them said anything. Something about the way Din’s body was set – still tense and agitated – told Bo that challenging him on his rudeness towards his son wasn’t a good idea. There were other things she needed to do that didn’t involve tiptoeing around Din Djarin’s moods.
“Where do you want to head first?” Axe asked as they walked towards the Civic Centre. “The Council is aware of our arrival and was briefed on the incident. They’ll be expecting you relatively quickly, given what happened. Or you could head to the Medcentre and get a check-up.”
“My wounds were treated on the ship,” she replied. “I should meet with the Clan leaders to let them know the outcome of the meeting with Senator Di’ipshet…”
Bo didn’t get to finish her sentence before a familiar modulated voice interrupted her.
“You and the kid should head to the Medcentre for a full assessment. Either of you could have hidden injuries.”
Now he chose to kriffing speak?! Whatever this mood was, Bo hoped he would come out of it soon because otherwise, she was going to start a fight she knew she’d regret.
“I’m fine,” she said sternly, as she stopped and turned her gaze sharply towards him. “I will go to see the medics, but I will see them later. It’s not necessary right now.”
“We’re going to the Medcentre,” Din asserted to Axe as if she hadn’t spoken at all. “You can debrief the Clan leaders.”
Jabba’s tits she was going to kriffing kill him.
But something about the firmness in his voice stayed her ire. It was harsh, there was no doubt about that, yet there was a thread of vulnerability running as an undercurrent through it. If Bo didn’t know him as well as she did, she never would have picked up on it, and that reminded her of how he’d been when she’d first seen him in the facility. There’d been a tension to his body, a fear lacing his gentle words to her before they’d made their escape, and the reverent way he’d reattached her pauldron as if there was something else he was thinking of as he did it. Something about the incident was playing on his mind and making him behave strangely.
“Okay,” she said softly, swallowing her irritation. “We’ll go to the Medcentre.”
“I’ll comm Aldel and let him know you’re…” Axe began.
Once again, Din failed to let someone finish their sentence, as Bo felt his hand rest on the middle of her back and guided her away from the Civic Centre and towards the pathway that would lead them to Sundari’s medcentre. “Or not?!” She heard Axe call out disgruntledly behind them, and internally grimaced. If Din was looking to upset every single member of her team today, he was going the right way about it. With the speed he was moving them towards the medcentre, she was sure he was going to cause trouble there too. Din wasn’t manhandling her, Bo knew he’d never do that, but there was a determination in the pressure of his hand on her back which told her that, unless she seriously protested, he wasn’t going to hear any arguments.
The doors to the centre slid open, revealing her rather irritated-looking Chief Medic standing with his arms folded in the middle of the atrium. Well, at least Axe managed to get hold of him before Din did, she thought to herself wryly. If he hadn’t been prepared, then the walking emotional time bomb that was Din Djarin would have been quite the unpleasant surprise. Crispin Aldel was used to arguing with Din about his own treatment, but this scenario was different, and something told her it wasn’t going to go well.
“Mand’alor Kryze!” Aldel greeted them as they approached. “I hear from Woves that you and the little guy had a surprise turn in an Imperial facility’s cellblock. If you come this way, we can put you in one of the private rooms while you wait…”
“She is to be seen now.”
“She’ll be seen when there is a med-droid available to scan her, Djarin,” Aldel snapped. “Unfortunately, there was an accident up in the North sector this morning, and we’re still treating the wounded. Since Mand’alor Kryze is not in any imminent danger, she’ll…”
“I said now.”
Bo’s head snapped to Din in shock. That was the third time in as many minutes that he’d interrupted someone to press for something on her behalf, and the vehemence in his voice was a warning to everyone in the vicinity. Din Djarin wasn’t asking; he was demanding. He’d never behaved like that towards someone who hadn’t incurred his ire in all the time she’d known him. Where had the calm and respectful man she knew gone? What was going on with him? This situation had to be diffused, and fast.
“Perhaps you could take us to a private suite and perform the basic checks until a med-droid is free?” she suggested, hoping Aldel would catch the hint she was giving him. “You can start with the kid. He says the Imps didn’t touch him, but I’d like to make sure.”
“What about you?” Din’s voice was hard, like he was about to start another argument, and Bo had had enough.
“This is your son we’re talking about treating. How can you not want that to be your priority?” she hissed, pushing herself up into Din’s personal space and forcing him to take a startled step back. “What is wrong with you?”
Immediately, Din went rigid. His breathing sounded harsh through the modulator as if he’d just raced them at full speed from the ship to here, though she knew he hadn’t. It was like her words had hit him as a physical blow, rather than being a reminder of his parental duties. Jabba’s tits, getting the assessment over and done with couldn’t come soon enough.
Much to Bo’s relief, Aldel had evidently sensed the tension at play. “If that’s what you want, I can perform the scans myself and push you up the waiting list for the med-droid. Would that be sufficient?”
“Yes, perfect. Thank you,” she replied quickly before Din could interrupt them again. “Should we head there now?”
Aldel simply held his hand out in the direction she already knew the private suites of rooms to be, and Bo set off, leaving both men behind her. The medic was quick to catch up, his footsteps falling as a quick jog before he appeared at her side, but Din’s took longer. It was full five seconds before she heard the familiar jangling of the blaster canisters on his boots fall into step behind them. By the time they’d arrived at the private rooms, Din had caught up, but as they entered the room, Aldel held up a hand and blocked his entry.
“You’re staying out here, Djarin,” he said firmly, unintimidated by the way Din pulled himself to his full height and loomed over him. “You’ve already been disruptive and rude. I don’t need you distressing my patients while I assess them. Understood?”
Bo knew that wasn’t going to work when Din’s helmet tilted menacingly to the side as he stepped further into Aldel’s personal space. If she didn’t act now, Din was going to do something rash.
“Din.” His visored gaze snapped to her frighteningly fast, and Bo was suddenly aware of how much sway she held over him in this state. She needed to placate him and diffuse the tension. “Nothing will happen to us behind this door. You know that,” she said softly. “If we find something wrong with Grogu, we’ll bring you in immediately. Okay?”
He continued to stare at her for a tense few seconds before he nodded tightly and stepped back, allowing Aldel to quickly move into the room and seal the door behind him with a distinct hiss. Immediately, the tension eased, and she heard Aldel let out a shaky breath before he directed them to the examination bed in the middle of the room, where he brought down a scanner and a viewscreen. Bo set Grogu down in the middle of the bed and stepped back to allow the medic to do his work.
“Well then, young one,” Aldel said gently. “Shall we get this exam over with quickly enough so your father doesn’t self-combust with worry?”
Grogu cooed, bouncing his ears, and turned himself to face Aldel’s scanner.
“Excellent!” Aldel exclaimed. “Did the Imperials do anything to you while you were with them?” Grogu shook his head. “Good, good. Stand very still for me, then, little one.”
Bo watched as Aldel positioned the scanner near the kid and then activated it. A sharp, blue, gridded beam appeared and began its slow descent over Grogu’s little form. In behaviour distinctly different from what his father currently displayed, the boy did as he was told, standing perfectly still as the beam passed over him; right up until it stopped and he turned to her, fully animated and babbling.
“Well done, you!” she said, smiling widely before she turned to Aldel. “We were both dosed with something to knock us out. Do you need to take blood samples?”
Aldel shook his head. “Given the length of time between the incident and now, and knowing the types of drugs Imps use, I’d say they’re long gone from your systems. It’s not a concern.” The view screen beeped, and he looked over the results. “Perfect bill of health, buddy! Shall we let our Mand’alor take a turn now?”
Grogu trilled brightly, and Bo was relieved. A few cuts and bruises on her were fine, but if anything had happened to the kid, she would have hunted every Imp in the sector down. If only his father would be relieved to hear it, she thought spitefully, and then stopped herself. That was unfair. Din would be, deep down, but his current state of mind wasn’t going to let him show it. Picking Grogu up, she hopped onto the bed and set the kid at her side as Aldel positioned the scanner higher to cover her body. The blue grid appeared again and began to slowly track downwards.
“Given what Woves told me of the injuries you’ve had treated on the journey back to us, I’m going to perform a deeper scan. Though I don’t believe there’ll be much for me to do,” Aldel said as he tapped a few settings on the view screen. “I’ll be honest with you, Mand’alor, I’m largely doing this to prevent Djarin from tearing through my wards like he’s trying to bring down a Star Destroyer full of Imps.”
She sighed. “You noticed that, huh? I should apologise for his behaviour; I don’t know what’s gotten into him.”
“Well, he’s exhibiting signs of shock for one,” Aldel replied, his focus still on the view screen. “The bursts of anger and agitation we’ve seen from him are classic symptoms, and I want to tread carefully around that for all our sakes.” He sighed heavily and looked at her over the equipment. “From the short debrief Woves provided me with and from what I’ve seen, I suspect it has something to do with what happened to you both. He’s overprotective of you, but shuns the boy, which tells me there’s a level of guilt on his part. If you can find a way to get him to open up, it’ll go a long way to rectifying the situation.” He quirked his eyebrow at her. “I’d do it myself, but I don’t fancy getting into a fist fight with someone bigger than me today.”
“I’ll see what I can do,” Bo said with a rueful smile. She knew Aldel was right, and it was for one of the reasons she’d suspected herself. Stars, this was a mess. The scanner beeped softly, indicating it was finished. “So, what’s the damage?”
“Well, there’s the expected recently healed areas: your head wound, damaged ankle, and the blaster burn,” Aldel said as his eyes scanned over the results. “Yet the scanner has thrown up some anomalies. There’s bruising, as I anticipated, but it’s telling me there’s damage to your deep tissue.”
At her side, Grogu cooed worriedly, laying his head against her thigh.
“I’m okay, kid,” Bo reassured, stroking over the top of his head gently. “It’s nothing Aldel won’t be able to fix.”
“I’ll comm for a med-droid to get here sooner than I’d planned,” Aldel said as he tapped away on the view screen. “Their scans are deeper, and we should be able to figure out what’s causing those anomalies. In the meantime, I want to take a closer look at that healed gash on your forehead. I’m sure Woves did an excellent job, but I want to make sure.”
Bo nodded, settled back on the bed with the kid in her lap, and for a few blissful minutes, there were simply the sounds of Aldel’s breathing, the clicking and whirring of instruments, and the soft noises of the kid’s interest to occupy her mind. It allowed her some time to recentre herself, to relax after the last few hours. Sadly, that peace didn’t last. Outside, she heard the sound of a droid approaching, the unmistakable clanking of the footsteps echoing down the corridor to the private suites, a brief silence, then sounds of a scuffle as metal hit metal and what sounded like Din’s raised voice.
Dank farrik, what now?
Aldel looked at her knowingly before he set his tools down and moved towards the door. It opened with a hiss to reveal Din stood in the threshold, determinedly blocking the way of a med-droid, who was equally determined to pass.
“You’re not going near her until you tell me why they’ve called for you.”
Din’s voice was low and threatening, the stage she knew it got to right before his blaster came out, and things turned nasty. Of course, there had to be a droid added to the mix, she thought to herself with a sigh. He’s already on edge, and now there’s a kriffing droid to make it worse. Aldel had said he’d be calling for one, but Din had likely got himself worked up in the time he’d been outside and forgotten all about it.
“Sir, my programming does not allow me to disclose confidential medical information,” O-ME1 exclaimed, their arms jerking with the movement. “You will let me pass to perform my functions, as has been requested.”
Instead of relenting, Din moved fully into the doorway, blocking it entirely and set his shoulders into a ready stance, which Bo knew meant that he was seconds away from punting the droid across the hall.
“Djarin, let the droid pass,” Aldel said sternly. “I understand you are worried, but I will not tolerate this behaviour on my wards. Cease this or I will have you removed.”
“Do. Not. Interfere.”
The way Din’s head turned menacingly slowly towards them set the hairs on Bo’s arms on end. Stars, this was getting worse by the second. Aldel had correctly surmised that Din’s abnormal behaviour was due to the events on Corellia, but Bo knew the one thing a sentient shouldn’t do with a strangely behaving Din Djarin was to point it out. That would only make things much worse. Clearly, whatever was going on in Din’s mind was related to keeping them safe after the kidnapping, and knowing him as she did, Bo knew he saw the droid as a threat to the current equilibrium.
“Let him in, Aldel,” she said with more confidence than she felt. “It’s the droid he objects to. Since there’s nothing we’re doing in here that I mind him knowing, you might as well let him in to watch them work.” Her gaze flitted towards Din, meeting the black of his visor. “Would that be acceptable?”
For a few tense moments, she thought he might refuse her, but Din relented and moved into the room, taking his place in a shadowed corner, as the droid entered behind him. O-ME1, predictably, made a significant fuss about ‘never having been so poorly treated since the day they were activated’ but one look from Aldel silenced them, and Bo was relieved when they began to perform the scan. As the blue light passed over her again, she kept her eyes firmly on Din, who observed proceedings with his arms folded and shoulders set tense.
O-ME1’s scanner made several beeps to indicate they were finished before they retracted it. “The results have been uploaded to the viewscreen, sir.”
Aldel nodded, pulling the screen to him. “Ah.”
“What’s wrong with her?”
Din’s tone was stressed, a crackling line of worry running as an undercurrent through it, and for Bo, it was just another strike for his erratic state of mind.
“Who is the one being treated here?” she said softly, and was gratified when his gaze immediately fell to the floor. He was still listening to her, but dank farrik, she needed to talk to him before this got much worse. Turning to Aldel, she said, “Continue. Things are under control now.”
Aldel nodded, still eyeing Din suspiciously. “Your scan shows that your body has large areas of deep tissue burns…”
From the corner, there was a distinct sound of leather creaking, and when Bo glanced over, she could see Din had balled his hands into fists. He was angry, but he hadn’t moved or deliberately interrupted them, which frankly was progress.
“Care to tell your Chief Medical Officer where you got those burns, Mand’alor Kryze?”
Even Aldel was annoyed with her, and she couldn’t blame him. Bo knew how she’d got them; she’d just forgotten to mention it in all the chaos. Truly, they didn’t even hurt anymore.
“When I attempted my escape from the cell,” she said, studiously avoiding looking at Din. “I was struck several times with a shock stick as the Imps attempted to subdue me. Obviously, that didn’t work, but I suppose that’s why I likely have burns to my back where my cuirass doesn’t reach and on my thigh.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” There he was. Bo knew Din wouldn’t have been able to keep himself quiet about it for too long, but at least he didn’t sound angry. If anything, he sounded hurt that she kept this information from him. But how could she have told him if he hadn’t stuck around long enough afterwards for her to go over everything that had happened?
“I was more concerned with getting off Corellia than the ache from the burns at the time,” she said, looking directly at Din, whose gaze was levelled firmly at her. “They don’t even hurt now, which is why I forgot to mention them.”
“It would certainly match up with what I’m seeing,” Aldel interjected, glancing between the two of them. “You should have disclosed the injury as soon as you remembered you had it.” He stepped towards her. “Let me check the back of your neck. I’ll refrain from checking your thigh, as I don’t imagine Djarin will take too kindly to being asked to leave again.”
Bo couldn’t disagree with that and leaned forward, allowing him to investigate the extent of the damage.
“It doesn’t look too bad,” Aldel said as he encouraged her to sit up again. “I’ll give you some bacta gel you can apply before bed, and I imagine it’ll be all good after you rest for the night.”
Oh, that was a relief. Bo wanted to let out a physical sigh, but given how Din had been, it was likely best not to. She had the medical all clear, and so had his son; there was no longer any need for him to fret about that specific outcome, but whatever new worry he could conjure up to replace this one couldn’t be too far off.
“Will she require monitoring?”
There it is, she thought sardonically. Right on time.
“I would think that unnecessary,” Aldel said, looking over the notes on the viewscreen. “But that decision is up to Mand’alor Kryze, I’m afraid.”
Bo could see Din wanted to object, and moved swiftly to cut him off. “I’ll take that under consideration. Din and his son usually stay in the quarters that adjoin mine, so if it becomes necessary, I can call on them.”
In the corner, the tension visibly bled out of Din as if it had been the thing that was physically holding him in place. It was obvious to her that whatever this was, it was going to be an issue that lasted longer than the few hours post-mission that it usually took for him to right himself. The only positive of it all seemed to come from the fact that he was desperate to do right by her, and that, well, that was something she could control.
Taking a deep breath, she turned to Aldel. “Thank you for seeing us as quickly as you did.” Her eyes slid to Din, who still watched her from the corner, before she returned her gaze to the other man. “I know it’s not been easy, but I appreciate your understanding.” As Aldel nodded and left the room with the med-droid, she turned to Din. “We should regroup with the others now. I still have a debrief I’d like to complete.”
Din merely nodded once and then immediately marched out of the room, the door hissing shut behind him, leaving her and Grogu to stare at where he’d just been. Jabba’s tits, she thought she’d just got through to him and there he was acting strangely again. At her side, Grogu made a sad noise that almost broke her heart. When she looked at the kid, Bo could see he was staring at the door, almost willing his father to come back through it. This behaviour wasn’t like Din. She knew he loved the kid more than his own life, so whatever was going on in that head of his was all Din. But that didn’t stop it from hurting his son.
Scooping up the kid, she cuddled him to her as she swung herself off the bed. “I know your father is being strange right now. But neither of us should take it personally,” she whispered softly. “We got taken. That upset your father a lot, and he doesn’t know how to deal with it, so we’re going to have to help him, yeah?”
Mercifully, Grogu nodded his understanding, and with one final smile to the child in her arms, Bo headed out in search of his wayward father.
This was shaping up to be an extremely long day.