#Mando didn’t do a little tool flip though so … points lost

[questforgalas]

Who did it better

Favreau: “ok so Mando’s going to fix the droid, how should we set up the shot?”

Filoni: “well I just drew up this storyboard for TBB…”

Favreau: “perfect, we’ll go with that”

[newt-the-newt]

The Mandalorian’s Everything - Chapter 5

Story Masterlist

Episode 1- "Chapter 1"

A/N: Well that's not confusing at all.

Word Count: 10069 (;

Warnings: violence, blood, death, fluff... you know the drill.

It's been about 5 years since the Death Star had blown up for the second time, meaning it's been around 8 years since the Mandalorian met you. The funny thing is, even after all this time you still manage to surprise him in a new way everyday. Even if it's just the small things.

Yesterday it was when you were reading him a book, like you usually do when travelling, except this time he looked over and saw it was written in Jawaese. When he stopped you abruptly and asked where you learned that, but you just giggled and told him: "Well, when you have to deal with Jawas trying to steal your Grandma's droids all the time you tend to pick up a thing or two."

You had once again left him speechless, something he's sure you didn't even know you could do.

The day before yesterday it was your little idea to buy him a book this time instead of the other way around, making his stomach do flips upon seeing the little message you put at the front. He wouldn't admit it, but he was actually quite excited for this book. You must have seen him looking at it, and you had even said yourself it looks interesting.

Today, you were hanging upside down from a pipe on the ceiling to fix some of the wires that had been shot. He looked all around to try and figure out how you managed to get yourself up there, but there were no walls, stools or boxes to stand on anywhere. You weren't even tall enough to reach the ceiling, so you couldn't have pulled yourself up.

When the Mandalorian asked you about how you got up there, you simply smiled and replied, "I climbed."

"Climbed what?"

You pointed to the wall that was closest to you (but still quite far away), explaining "That wall, and then I just kinda squeezed my feet in between the support beams that I knew would hold me up. I used them too - crawl? - on the ceiling."

He chuckled. "And you have to hang upside down because..."

"... because apparently I have to make things way harder and take way longer than they have to be." You seemed hesitant for a moment, but the bounty hunter waited for you to speak. Slowly, you spoke up. "Speaking of..."

"Yeah?"

"Could you help me down? I'm done and I don't want to climb back to the wall."

Chuckling again, he stepped closer to you until you were face to face, you being upside down. It kind of reminded him of that one scene in a book you read a few weeks ago. "What do you need me to do?"

"Um..." At first, he grinned when he saw you scrunch your nose and forehead in thought, but that grin fell instantly when he heard your suggestion.

"Could you just, I don't know, put your arms up and catch me when I let my feet loose?"

The Mandalorian stood there stunned for a minute. Why? He doesn't know, he's had to catch you multiple times before (each of those being a very long story), but this time seemed different. Was it because you asked him to instead of it being to save your life from your clumsiness?

He shook his head to get back to the present and cleared his throat to force down the feeling that was rising in his chest. He then did as you asked, easily letting you slide into his arms putting one under your back and the other under your knees.

"Woah," you said, holding your head in your hands. "I don't think I should've been upside down so long."

The bounty hunter almost snorted at hearing that but held it in, trying to be concerned for you instead. You rested your head on his shoulder and the Mandalorian held you a little closer as he carried you bridal style up to your room, right beside his.

He placed you gently on the bed and took the tools out of your hands, vacating them on the nightstand. He sat beside your bed and rested his arms on them, smiling at your droopy eyes.

"I have to go get the bounty," he said reluctantly. "You'll stay in here, right?"

You nodded slowly and yawned. "Yeah, I'm not going anywhere."

The Mandalorian laughed through his nose and studied you for a moment. Your hair had grown longer from when he first met you; you weren't a sickly skinny anymore, either, meaning you had gained a healthy amount of weight, which the bounty hunter was grateful for.

You were much stronger as well. He could see thin outlines of the muscles in your arms and legs from all of the running and heavy equipment you've moved (without him knowing until after you've already moved it).

Some of the muscle could also be from when he taught you many self defense techniques that he knew would come in handy. He didn't want to, because if he didn't have to that meant you weren't in any harm. But if you were going to stay with him in this dangerous line of business it would be beneficial for the both of them if you were able to defend yourself in case the bounty hunter wasn't there to help you.

The bags under your eyes were still there; another con to this job. Mind you, they definitely weren't as shallow as when he first laid his eyes on you, but they were still there. The only good thing about them was he could use it as an excuse to convince you to go to bed instead of staying up late to help him.

He meant it in no way of saying they made you look bad and you had to fix the way you looked (Maker knows there is not a thing he would change). He was merely concerned and was trying to help you look after yourself.

It was a mutual agreement though, because you did the same to him.

"Good luck," you mumbled with your eyes closed.

The Mandalorian gently pressed his forehead against yours, closing his eyes as well.

"Come back to me," you whispered.

"Always."

You giggled and opened your eyes at hearing that, and the Mandalorian smiled too as he referenced one of your favourite book series of all time because yes, Harry Potter books do exist in this universe and there is nothing you can say to change my mind.

He stood up and exited the ship, leaving you to sleep in your room.

---

The Mandalorian walked off the ramp to his ship and held the tracker out, making sure he was in the correct place. There was snow blowing in the wind, but he didn't pay too much attention to it because his armour was keeping him warm.

Placing the tracker back into his belt, the bounty hunter began stepping towards the small town on the cold planet.

After a few minutes of walking he approached the bar the tracker believed the Mythrol target to be hiding in, and stood in front of the door, waiting for it to open. When it did the bounty hunter observed the place for a few seconds, immediately noticing the 3 guys that were threatening his bounty.

He walked in silently and went straight for the bar, paying no mind to literally every single person looking at him.

One of the men ganging up on his asset felt he was in no danger in the presence of a Mandalorian and spoke up rudely in Huttese.

"You spilled my drink..." the man snarled, keeping his eyes on the bounty hunter, but got no reply.

Now, the Mandalorian knew some Huttese, and could faintly make out what he was saying. Something about sprinkling his... glass? No that's not right. If you were here you would be able to help him. He's just glad you weren't.

"Hey, Mando!" the man tried again.

Ah, that he did recognize, the stereotypical Mandalorian nickname used by everyone on every Mandalorian. This means that this bearded man was, in fact, talking to him. However he did not let it get to him and simply stayed quiet, keeping his eyes forward.

The bounty hunter heard the man snicker under his breath and walk up behind him. "I said, you spilled, my drink..."

Good grief, I heard you the first time. You lost your cup, or- no that can't be it either.

"He says you spilled his drink," the bartender translated.

Oh.

"It's fine," the bartender insisted. "It's on me."

"Is that real Beskar Steel?" the man asked.

The Mandalorian did know that he was talking about his armour now, given by the gestures to his chest and the clear word of 'Beskar', but he showed no sign of his understanding by staying still.

One of the other aliens that were attacking the bounty, who had orange skin and many tentacles dangling from his chin, came up behind him and started growling threateningly. The bounty hunter kept his head straight. Almost there.

The first man with the beard took a knife to his chest armour and shaved off a line of it, effectively removing the paint and leaving a scratch.

"Here," said the bartender as he slid the drink down the counter for the bearded man.

Now.

The bounty hunter snatched the cup, elbowed the bearded man behind him and slammed the cup into the head of the third man. He grabbed the Tentacles by the front of his shirt and bashed his head against the counter, then blocked the bearded man from taking a swing by grabbing a hold of the attacking arm. With his other hand he punched the guy in the armpit, then twisted the arm in his grip and stabbed the man in the back.

As the man fell the Mandalorian turned around to see Tentacles trying to escape, but he quickly shot his Whipcord thrower at the runaway's feet, causing the alien to trip and fall. He then began pulling the alien back towards himself when Tentacles started shooting his blaster at him. However, it was already too late because the Mandalorian had pulled him back exactly where he needed to be.

Instead of aiming his blaster at the alien, he aimed it at the door's control switch where it closed around Tentacle's body, cutting it in half from the waist down.

With everyone's eyes on him he walked up to his bounty, still not saying a word. The Mythrol began laughing at the situation, and spoke up.

"Thank you. Thank you very much. You have my heartfelt gratitude," the blue alien used a tone that didn't sound very convincing, though.

The bounty hunter stayed silent for a few more seconds, causing the Mythrol to look down at the table.

"You know what? Here," he said as he pushed the credits towards the bounty hunter. "You take my credits. Buy yourself a drink."

The Mandalorian ignored what the target was saying as he placed his bounty puck on the table and turned it on.

"Oh," said the Mythrol. "Is that a bounty puck? Is that me?"

Still, the Mandalorian stayed silent.

"Look, there must be some mistake. I can get you more credits-"

"I can bring you in warm," the Mandalorian said, cutting off the alien. "Or I can bring you in cold." For emphasis he rested his hand on his gun.

The Mythrol sighed and gave in, allowing the Mandalorian to place handcuffs on his wrists and lead him outside.

After getting a ride to his ship parked on the frozen lake the Mandalorian jumped out of the speeder, ordering the Mythrol to do the same.

"You're kidding me, right?" He said, referring to the bounty hunter's ship that was falling apart. "I can hire us a Livery Cruiser. No big deal. It won't come out of your end, I'll pay for it."

The bounty hunter stayed quiet as he pushed the target out of the speeder.

"I'm just trying to make it pleasant."

The Mandalorian went and paid the man that drove them to his ship, tuning out the questions and comments the Mythrol had as he went to open the hatch to the ship.

Behind him he heard the target screaming about something in the water and rolled his eyes beneath the mask.

"Open the hatch!" the target kept screaming, obviously not realizing it was already open.

The Mandalorian fought back a loud sigh as he grabbed the bounty by his shoulder and dragged him in, narrowly missing the bite from the creature in the water which instead landed on one of the ships feet.

"Dank farrik, that was close!" The bounty hunter heard the target say but paid no mind to it as he raced to your room. He opened the curtain to see you a bit shocked from the sudden awakening, but calmed down a bit when you made eye contact.

"Lumpy, what's going on-"

"I need you to stay in this room until I say so, okay? And hold on to something, it's going to be a bumpy ride."

When he saw your nod of confirmation he closed the curtain and went straight for the cockpit, ignoring the whining and complaining of the target. He pushed some buttons to start up the engine and started raising the ship, but was stopped when the monster outside wouldn't let go of the landing gear.

"It's taking us down, what're you doing?"

Still blocking out the voice of the Mythrol the Mandalorian kept the ship hovering and left the cockpit, grabbing his Amban Rifle and heading towards his still open hatch.

He reached his rifle out and turned on the shock feature to electrocute the monster, which made it scream in pain and let go of the ship.

He then closed the hatch and walked back to the cockpit, aware of what the target was saying but not really paying too much attention to it. The bounty hunter heard that he as going to go look for the bathroom, but the Mandalorian knew better.

The bathroom is not a hard thing to miss. As a matter of fact it's right out in the open, but the target was going to go exploring like they all do and try to find a way to escape.

And he was right. As the Mythrol was observing the other targets he put into the frozen carbonite chambers, the bounty hunter snuck up behind him and pushed him into an open one, turned it on, and froze the bounty to prevent his escape. Not to mention the benefit of it shutting him up.

When he was finished he walked back to your room and saw you reading your book. You turned to face him and raised an eyebrow. "You done?"

The bounty hunter nodded and you stood up, stretching your arms above your head. "I think we're going to have to land some where soft so I can check up on the landing gear," you stated with a yawn as you stumbled out of your room from a small amount of turbulence. "And maybe some other things too."

He followed you to the cockpit and sat down behind the pilot's seat, watching with small amusement as you yawned again and asked, "Where are we going?"

"The guild hall on Nevarro, I've got to drop these guys off and look for a new job."

You nodded your head as you plugged in the coordinates. "Why don't you go get some sleep. I'll wake you up when we get there."

Reluctant yet grateful you had offered him some rest the Mandalorian went to his room and took off all of his armour, including his helmet, and fell into a deep sleep much quicker than he thought he would.

He woke up about three and a half hours later to your knocking on the outside walls and gentle voice. "Lumpy, we're here."

He sleepily rubbed his eyes and stayed silent before putting his helmet on and responding, "Okay, I'll be out in a minute."

He heard your footsteps walk back to the cockpit as he finished putting everything on and walked out, stepping up behind you.

He watched as you gracefully pushed any button and flicked any switch you needed to land the Razor Crest as smooth as possible. He noticed that you parked it behind a large rock, probably to block the view of anyone else so you could check up on the exterior.

"You go do what you need to do," you said as you gently traced the new line on his armour that you could've sworn wasn't there before. "I just have to make sure we don't die next time we fly this thing."

"I should be quick this time, I'm only returning the bounties and finding a new one."

You nodded as you both walked down the ramp. "I'll be here."

---

The Mandalorian walked into the bar and headed straight for his guild leader Greef Karga. Ignoring everyone's stares as per usual he sat down across from his leader.

"Ah, that was fast," Karga noticed. "Did you catch them all?"

In confirmation the Mandalorian placed all of the silent tracking fobs on the table.

"Good," said Karga, and placed the reward on the table.

"These are Imperial Credits," commented the Mandalorian. What was he supposed to do with those?

"They still spend."

"I don't know if you heard," continued the bounty hunter. "But the Empire is gone."

"It's all I've got."

The Mandalorian was about to take the tracking fobs back before Karga stopped him.

"Save the theatrics," he scolded. "Fine, I'll... I can do Calamari Flan, but I can only pay half."

After a contemplation, the Mandalorian reluctantly agreed.

Back at the ship, you were hiding in a small compartment under the ship while you were waiting for the men to take all of the bounties away. Once they were clear you went back onto the ship to get your tools and began fixing the chomped on foot, sighing and rolling your eyes at the situation.

In the bar, Karga was being no help at all in finding a new job.

"What's your highest bounty?" the bounty hunter asked.

"Not much," Karga replied. "5000."

Is he serious? "That won't even cover fuel these days."

"Hmm," Karga hummed as he was thinking. "There is one job."

Now his curiosity was peaked. "Let's see the puck."

"No puck," said Karga. "Face to face."

---

The Mandalorian walked back to his ship to check up and inform you of what was going on. He approached silently but you were somehow still able to hear him.

"Lumpy, there-ugh-you are," you grunted, struggling with turning the bolt in your wrench. "I was beginning to get worried."

He smiled as he walked up behind you and tightened the bolt for you. "Ah, thank you," you sighed, wiping some sweat from your forehead. "Where are we going now?"

"We're not going just yet, I have to meet somebody to get the job."

You furrowed your eyebrows. "I thought you just went to see Karga?"

"I did," the Mandalorian nodded in confirmation. "But the only jobs he had were not enough to let us even afford fuel."

"Yikes."

"Exactly. So, he gave me a chip and I'm going to go talk to the client now, get more information."

"Can I see the puck?"

The Mandalorian laughed through his nose at your question, for it was the exact same thing he asked not even 15 minutes ago.

"There is no puck. Client wants it done... I guess under the table."

You nodded. "Alright, well. The landing gear wasn't that bad, just had to replace a few small parts we already had. But I did see some leaks under the belly so I'll have to replace those tubes. If I can't find anything I'll have to go into town and buy them."

"There are a couple spare credits from the last bounty, I'm sure those will be fine."

You nodded again. "Okay. I'll only leave if I have to."

The Mandalorian stopped for a minute to gaze at the smile you sent him. "Thank you."

"Of course. Hurry back."

With a mock wave of a salute, the Mandalorian walked away towards the place he was told the client would be.

---

Another 2 hours later the Mandalorian was walking back to the ship with little to no information on the new job and a new pauldron mixed into his armour, something you noticed right away.

"Oooo," you awed, touching the new piece on his shoulder. "You know you could've just told me you were shopping for new clothes, I wouldn't have judged."

"Ha ha," the bounty hunter said in a half-hearted laughter. "The reward for the new job is a whole camtono of Beskar for when we deliver the asset, and this was my down-payment."

"Wow, that's generous. I remember you told me it's very valuable."

"It is, and the excess of it I donated to the Foundlings."

You smiled gently at hearing that. "That's good."

After revelling at the loss of your arm on his shoulder, the bounty hunter spoke up. "So did you have to go into town?"

Cute as it was, he didn't like the little frown that made it onto your face after hearing that question. "I did, and I had to spend most of the credits. I'm sorry. One of the main fuel pipes burst and we didn't have the specific pipe size needed to replace it."

The Mandalorian sighed, because of course, that just had to happen, but he was happy you made it back alright.

"I don't think anyone saw me walk to the ship, though," you added, looking down at the ground.

"Well, you're back now, so that's good. Is there a problem with anything else?"

You shook your head. "I don't think so, at least not from what I could see."

"That's good."

You nodded. "How'd it go with the client?" you asked while wiping your hands from the grease. He smiled as he saw a bit of it near your nose where you must have had an itch.

"Weird," he replied, furrowing his brows.

"Weird how?"

"I don't know. There were Stormtroopers guarding him for one-"

"Imperial Stormtroopers?"

He nodded and continued. "And I didn't get much information about the asset."

"No puck?" you guessed.

"No puck."

You sighed and thought for a moment. "What else did you get?"

"It's 50 years old, I have a tracking fob, and the last known location between where the tracking fob picked it up and now."

You sighed again. "Well, it's a good thing I fixed the main fuel pipe or we'd probably never make it looking for this thing. Anything else?"

"It has to be alive."

Picking up your tools you walked up the ramp and turned around when you noticed the bounty hunter wasn't following you. Truth be told he was too busy admiring you and wondering how you were still here with him after all these years.

"Are you coming?"

Smirking at your question he followed you up silently and closed the hatch, heading towards the cockpit to head into space where you would help him figure out the next move.

---

The planning and calculations from you and the Mandalorian had brought you to a planet much like Tatooine with it's sand dunes and scorching hot weather.

Curious as to what where the target would be you followed the bounty hunter down the ramp and looked around as he viewed through the scope in his rifle. It was silent save for your breathing, the wind and the beeping of the tracking fob.

As the Mandalorian was looking through the scope a creature that looked like a fish on legs with tiny T-Rex arms appeared in his vision, scaring you and making the bounty hunter ignite the flamethrower on his wrist.

"Get back!" he screamed as the creature bit into the same arm as the flamethrower, rendering the fire useless. The creature wouldn't let go of the Mandalorian's arm and used that to its advantage, repeatedly throwing the bounty hunter against the ground.

As an attempt to escape the creature's grasp the Mandalorian began punching the side of its head, which only angered the animal more and made it bite onto his other arm instead.

"Lumpy, hang on a second!" you tried to get his attention and tell him to calm down, but either he couldn't hear you or was panicking too much to pay attention.

All of a sudden an electric tranquilizer shot from a distance into the creature's side which made it pass out with the Mandalorian's arm still in it's mouth. He was lying on the ground trying to get up when you raced towards him.

"Hey, are you okay? Come on, let's get your arm out-" you were cut off by another screech from a second animal of the same species running straight at you.

"Don't move," you whispered as you stood up and walked slowly towards the creature.

The Mandalorian then fought harder than ever to get his arm free. "Hey, Y/N, wait, stop!"

"Shhh," you hushed, both at the Mandalorian and the creature. You held your hands out in front of you but not in a defensive stance, in an open-arms sort of way. This caused the creature to become confused and slow down.

"It's okay," you whispered, slowly inching your way forward.

The Mandalorian watched with a silent panic as he continued to try and release his arm, wanting to protect you in case your plan went horribly wrong.

Of course, as per usual when it came to who had the better idea, he was wrong.

He stopped struggling as he noticed you had successfully calmed the animal down and began petting it, murmuring words he couldn't hear from this distance and giggling as it seemed to lean into your touch.

He sighed as he never thought he could relate to an animal, but he knows all about craving more of your touch.

A third of the kind came walking up towards the both of you, except this one had a person sitting on it. He looked to be shorter, though it was hard to tell since he was sitting on the fish thing.

The person had orange skin and white hair growing on the sides of his face. He was wearing goggles on top of his head and carried a blaster in the hand that wasn't around the rope of the creature he was perched on.

The Mandalorian relaxed as he saw no more threat, and was now easily able to take his arm out of the animal's mouth.

"Thank you," he panted to the man.

Upon noticing his armour being bit into quite badly you rushed to his side, kneeling on the ground next to him and inspecting the arm.

"I'm okay," he whispered at you, making you look up at him.

"Are you sure, it looks pretty bad and I wasn't that helpful by telling you to calm down, that was actually pretty terrible advice-"

He placed his finger on your lips, effectively making you quiet as he smiled beneath the mask. "I promise you, I'm fine."

You nodded, and together you looked up at the man, still sitting on the creature.

"You're a bounty hunter," the man stated.

"Yes," confirmed said bounty hunter.

"And you are?" the man asked pointing to you.

You stayed silent, for you didn't know how the Mandalorian wanted this question answered.

"She's with me," the bounty hunter affirmed, and left it at that.

The man nodded and looked at the both of you for a moment, noticing the bounty hunter was still in a somewhat protective stance as he put you behind his arm and pushed his body slightly in front of yours. He saw you had one hand on his shoulder and the other wrapped around the bounty hunter's arm in front of you, and he smiled internally.

"I will help you," the man declared, making the both of you look at each other in confusion. "I have spoken," he said and turned around, leaving the two of you to shrug and follow him wherever he was going.

---

The Mandalorian sat down in what seemed to be this man's house, pulling his chair up to put him a small bit in front of yours.

He was correct in his assumption of the alien being shorter, for he seemed to be around 4 feet tall. If the Mandalorian was correct, his species was Ugnaught.

The bounty hunter looked around, noticing that the house was one big room, with a small kitchen to his left and a small bed on his right.

The alien man walked up to his kitchen, saying "Many have passed through. They seek the same one as you."

He offered you a cup of water which you took and kindly smiled at him mumbling your thanks, and drank from the small cup.

"Did you help them?" asked the bounty hunter.

"Yes," answered the Ugnaught. "They died."

The Mandalorian did his best to keep himself from laughing as heard you choke on your water from hearing that.

"Well, then I don't know if I want your help," challenged the bounty hunter.

"Lumpy," you scolded, nudging him with your elbow.

He looked back at you and ignored the feeling he got when he saw your 'angry' face.

"Well, it's true," he defended.

"That doesn't make it okay to say," you fought back.

"You do want my help," the Ugnaught interjected. "I can show you to the encampment."

"What's your cut?" he also ignored the sight of you rolling your eyes in his peripherals.

"Half."

"Half the bounty to guide? Seems steep," he accused.

"No, half of the blurrg you helped capture," the man clarified as he sat down across from the both of you.

"The blurrg? You can keep them both."

"No," the Ugnaught insisted. "You will need one to ride. The way is impossible to pass without a blurrg mount."

"I don't know how to ride blurrg." the Mandalorian countered.

The Ugnaught only stood up saying, "I have spoken."

The Mandalorian sighed and looked over at you, watching with slight amusement as you sleepily swirled the water in your cup, rubbing one of your eyes.

"Come on, let's get you to bed," he mumbled holding out his hand to help you up.

You groggily glanced up at it and took it, slowly standing up and leaning against the Mandalorian for support. "Are we going back to the ship?"

"Nonsense," the shorter man objected. "You may sleep using my extra beds, I have work I must accomplish before I may retire to sleep as well."

"Thank you," you breathed out. "For your kind services."

The man only smiled and waved you off, heading out of his home as the sun was setting. As you leaned your head against the Mandalorian's new shoulder plate he hooked your arm through his and lead you over to one of the beds.

He helped you sit down and watched with silent affection as you took your hair out of the intricate braid you had managed to get it into while yawning about 4 times.

You laid down and closed your eyes, but quickly shot them back open at the realization of something. "What about you?"

"What about me?" he asked, voice laced in confusion.

"Well, when are you going to sleep?" the Mandalorian smiled gently and sat down next to you. "I got sleep a few hours ago, thanks to you. I'll be alright."

"Are you sure?" you questioned, but not convincingly enough because you had already laid back down and closed your eyes.

"I'm sure."

Just as he was getting ready to stand up, you placed your hand on his arm. "Will you please stay with me?"

Immediately the bounty hunter plopped down on the bed and laid down next to you, his back facing the only door to the home. "Of course I will."

"Lumpy, please, at least take off some of your armour, you're going to get sore if you don't."

Upon hearing this he stood up and took off only the heavy metal parts of his armour, minus his helmet. He placed them all right beside the bed to ensure (as long as he was woken up) he can use it as some sort of shield in case he had to protect you and himself.

He then laid down on his back, for he discovered that was the only way he could comfortably sleep with his helmet on, and relaxed back into the hard mattress. You had rolled onto your side to face him, and when the Mandalorian looked down at you he could see you had already fallen asleep.

His heart began to race as you moved closer to him, wrapping your arms around his right arm and resting your head on his shoulder. Your body seemed to curl into his as you hugged his arm, and one of your hands found its way into his, your fingers sliding between his.

He let his head fall against yours as he squeezed your hand gently and found himself falling asleep even though he had slept merely a few hours ago.

---

The Mandalorian could hear you giggling as he fell off of the blurrg for the thousandth time, making him roll his eyes as he stood up and playfully glare at you. Even though you couldn't see his face he could tell you knew what he was doing and laughed again, petting the blurrg you were already sitting on.

He did see a look of sympathy cross your face though, making you jump off and go stand next to the Ugnaught outside the ring.

"Perhaps if you remove your helmet," the shorter alien suggested.

"Perhaps he remembers I tried to roast him," the Mandalorian countered.

"This is a female," the Ugnaught shot back. "The males are all eaten during mating."

Of course they are. He could see you trying to hold back your laughter and looked at you dead on, making the dam that held them back break.

The bounty hunter shook his head and turned back to the blurrg and jumped on it again, but the creature only got more irritated by this and growled as it tried to shake him off. The Mandalorian held on for dear life, but it was no use.

He fell back onto the ground, a bit fed up now with the situation. He walked straight to the Ugnaught after being threatened by the blurrg again.

"I don't have time for this, " he grunted out. "Do you have a Landspeeder or Speeder bike that I could hire?"

"You are a Mandalorian!" the Ugnaught argued. "Your ancestors rode the great Mythosaur! Surely you can ride this young foal," he said, pointing towards the blurrg. The bounty hunter looked back at it, then turned to you.

You reached out your hand to wipe off some of the dirt from where his eyes would be beneath the mask. "Just be gentle. It's an innocent creature, and if you want it to be your friend, you have to be it's friend first. Gentle."

The Mandalorian sighed, since he knew you were right and he was going on too intense.

This time, he slowly walked up to the blurrg, talking to it as calmly as he could. "Easy," he mumbled. "Easy." The creature hadn't moved yet, so he continued his small steps forward. "Now, all right. Settle down," he told the creature.

"Woah!" he raised his voice as she tried to attack him, but then quickly went back to being gentle. "Settle," he mumbled. "Settle. That's good, that's good," he praised the blurrg. He was close now.

"Easy," he murmured, and placed his hand on the creature's head. "Okay, that's good."

The bounty hunter could hear the blurrg purring at his touch, and was relieved that they were on much better terms now. Taking advantage of the animal now being calm, he used the rope as leverage to climb on top of the creature once more.

He relaxed when the blurrg didn't try to shake him off this time, and instead ran forward to get him moving.

"You did it!" you shouted in celebration as you ducked between the ropes into the ring. The Mandalorian slowed the blurrg he was riding down as you came closer.

"Good girl," you cooed at the creature, petting it slowly. "Very good girl."

"Okay, now that I can ride this thing can we get moving?" he asked in annoyance.

"Oh, don't be too offended," you whispered to the blurrg, though the Mandalorian could tell you knew he could hear you perfectly. "He's just grumpy cause he wants to take a speeder instead."

"Hey, I'm not grumpy," he defended.

You scoffed, "Of course you're not!" Then turned to the blurrg. "Yes he is."

Sighing the Mandalorian jumped off the creature and started walking towards the house as he began talking to you. "I'm not sure where you want to stay, but I'm sure the Ugnaught won't mind if you want to stay here, or you can go back to the ship-"

"Wait, I can't come with you?" That question made the Mandalorian stop in his tracks. You had never asked to go on a job with him before. He just assumed you never wanted to, and that made him feel better; you were much safer that way.

But now that you actually want to come? There's no guarantee that he can protect you and do his job at the same time, and that is not something he wants to risk.

"No, I was told that everyone who's tried to get this target has died and I am not risking that-"

"Oh, come on Lumpy, please, it's just one mission, please-"

"No." He continued walking back to the Ugnaught's home and could hear your footsteps walking behind him.

"But-"

"No."

"What if-"

"No."

"Alright, you got me there. But what if-"

"No."

"Come on-"

"Y/N."

"- why not -"

"Because I said no."

"- it's just one mission -"

"No."

"But why not!"

He quickly turned around and placed his hands on either side of your face. "BECAUSE I'M IN L-"

"If I may," the shorter man interrupted. "I believe it would be better if the girl comes with us. Her calming nature could be of good use."

"Lumpy," you whispered, resting your hands on his wrists. "Please."

"Why do you want to go?" he mumbled.

The Mandalorian watched as your hair blew gently in the wind and your eyes seemed full of curiosity.

"I don't know," you murmured back. "I just feel... like I have to."

The bounty hunter sighed as he leaned in and rested his forehead on yours. "I don't know if I can protect you though, and I don't know where we're going or what's going to happen, and if you get hurt I swear-"

"I'm going to be fine, I promise. And if I do get hurt, well... I'd like to think I'm a tough cookie, I can take it."

"You are tough."

You nodded slightly, and the Mandalorian could feel your grip tightening on his wrists.

"Let me come with you."

The bounty hunter was still very hesitant, because he knew if something happened to you he would never forgive himself.

But when he saw that you had closed your eyes and could feel you shaking slightly through his gloves, he knew that you really did want his approval, and if he did continue to say no, you would listen, no matter how much you wanted to go.

That made him upset, because he hated having to make you feel like he was in charge of you and you had to listen to everything he says. Like he was in control, and you were a pawn.

After at least 2 minutes of the only sound being your breathing and the grunts from the blurrg, he quietly whispered, "Alright."

He heard you let out a shaky sigh of relief, but he kept his hands where there were.

"Just please stay close to me unless I say otherwise."

You nodded vigorously, "Of course."

"Okay."

---

Together the three of you rode the blurrg with the Ugnaught in front to lead the way and the Mandalorian staying close beside you.

After hours of travelling in the hot sun, the shorter man stopped to overlook a canyon.

"That is where you'll find your quarry," he said as he pointed to a very small base just past a few more sand dunes.

The bounty hunter then reached his arm out to the shorter man, holding out a bag of credits. The Ugnaught put his hand out and shook his head in refusal, but the Mandalorian pressed on.

"Please," he pushed. "You deserve this."

"It's the least we could do to thank you," you added, and the bounty hunter felt grateful you were on the same page.

"Since these ones arrived, this territory has been an endless stream of mercenaries seeking reward and bringing destruction," he explained.

"Then why did you guide us?" you asked.

"They do not belong here," the Ugnaught answered. "Those that live here come to seek peace. There'll be no peace until they are gone. "

"Then why do you help?" questioned the bounty hunter.

"I have never met a Mandalorian," the man replied. "I've only read the stories. If they are true, you will make quick work of it. Then, there will be peace again."

The bounty hunter wasn't so sure he could live up to this man's expectations, because he didn't know which stories he had been told. Some are far greater than anything he could ever do.

He opted to remain silent, and let you do the talking instead.

"We shall try. Thank you very much for you help."

The man simply turned the blurrg around and gave a quick wave of his hand. "I have spoken."

---

"So, what's the plan?" the Mandalorian heard you ask as you were both lying flat on your stomachs looking at the base below.

He was observing what was going on through his small telescope when he answered. "I'm not sure yet. I can see 6 guys standing outside alone, who knows how many are inside."

He was doing his best to try and form a plan where you could stay off the map, maybe wait here for him to get back, even though you wouldn't like that very much. Or, if you really did want to help, he could cause a distraction and fight the guys while you sneaked into the place. He knew for a fact they would have no clue there was a girl with him. He was still cautious about this plan though, because there could be way too many guys for you to try fighting on the inside.

He sighed as couldn't think of any better ideas.

He saw you nod your head in his peripherals and turned to face you. "Okay, I think we should try-"

He was cut off by the sound of metal clanking.

"What's that?" you asked, furrowing your eyebrows and looking down again.

The Mandalorian peeked through his telescope to try and get a better look.

"Oh no," he mumbled.

"What is it?"

"A droid trying to do our job," he answered with a very audible sigh.

"Subparagraph 16 of the Bondsman Guild protocol waiver compels you to immediately produce said asset," the bounty droid said in a very loud but monotone voice.

One of the men at the base tried to take his gun out and shoot the droid, but the IG Unit was much quicker and shot him before he could even try. The bounty hunter heard you gasp as it continued to shoot all of the other men standing guard, then looked to see that they were closing all of the doors to get in the base as a lockdown drill.

The Mandalorian gave another loud and annoyed sigh. "Droids," he mumbled under his breath as he stood up. "C'mon," he waved you over to his side.

You instantly stood up and followed him, keeping quiet to listen to what he was saying.

"I need you to stay behind me, because anybody could shoot from anywhere and I need you to stay close. Do you understand?"

He could see you nod, but he needed to make sure you were safe, and you had to cooperate if that was to be accomplished.

"Y/N, I'm serious."

"Me too," you confirmed. "I understand."

"I think we should try making the droid our ally, I have a feeling it could be useful if more guys come and we have to break down the door."

"Okay," you nodded.

"Subparagraph 16 of the Bondsman Guild protocol waiver compels you to immediately produce said asset," the droid monotoned again.

You were both hiding behind a pillar when it spoke again. The Mandalorian turned to you. "Stay here, I've got to get that thing to shut up or we'll never get what we came here for."

He then came out from behind the pillar and shouted, "IG Unit! Stand down-" he was cut off by the droid firing at him and he flew back, hitting some barrels behind him.

He heard you yelp and run over to him but he quickly blocked you from view and held up his fob. "I'm in the Guild," he shouted.

"You are a Guild member?" the droid asked. "I thought I was the only one on assignment."

"That makes two of us," the bounty hunter groaned.

"And who is that," the IG questioned, pointing his gun at you.

"She had information on how to get here, she helped me," he quickly lied, still shielding you from the droid. "Now put the damn gun down."

"Alright," it said as it lowered it's weapons.

"So much for the element of surprise," you mumbled under your breath, and the Mandalorian couldn't agree more.

"Sadly, I must ask for your fob," the droid requested. "I have already issued the writ of seizure. The bounty is mine."

"Unless I am mistaken, you are, as of yet, empty-handed," the Mandalorian countered.

"This is true," the IG confirmed.

You stayed silent, and the Mandalorian knew it was because you weren't sure how he wanted this situation to be handled.

"I have a suggestion," the bounty hunter offered.

"Proceed."

"We split the reward."

"This is acceptable," the droid agreed.

"Great," the Mandalorian said in a very sarcastic tone, which seemed to go unnoticed by the IG Unit. "Now let's regroup, out of harm's way, and form a plan."

He waved the droid over but still kept his body in front of yours.

"I will of course receive the reputation merits associated with the mission."

"Can we talk about this later?" the bounty hunter barked to the droid.

"I require an answer if I am to proceed..."

Despite the situation he could hear you laughing through your nose because you knew how easily ticked off he could become from a conversation with a droid. The laughter was short lived though because the droid was cut off from a blaster being shot at him, and many more guards coming out from all over the place.

The bounty hunter quickly pressed you into a corner and stood in front of you, covering you from any blaster fire. He noticed that you would have to move near the door though, so he acted quickly.

Before he did anything, he asked, "Do you trust me?"

Even through all of the deafening noise, you still heard him.

"Always."

Smirking at that line beneath the mask, he quickly grabbed your arm, placing the gun in your hands.

"Do you remember when I taught you how to shoot?"

"At food cans? Yes. I don't know if I can shoot other people-"

"Y/N they're shooting at you first, this is your defense. Now, the only way we I can cover you is if I carry you and you shoot."

"But-"

"No time to argue," he shouted as he picked you up by wrapping one arm around your back and the other over your legs. "You're a good shot, okay?"

"I'm scared, Lumpy," you whispered, leaning your head on his shoulder.

He squeezed you a bit tighter and looked down. "I know, but it's only until we get to the door, and I'll run as fast as I can-" an explosion came from two pillars down, but he continued.

"-but I'm going to need you to push yourself up a bit so you can see all around, okay?"

When he saw you nod, he stood up, looked all around, and began bolting when he noticed most of the guards had their fire on the IG unit.

Twice he had to quickly swerve his body the other way and crouch when a shot was aimed right for the both of you, but his back had taken the hit both times, and you had shot them down right away.

As soon as he got to the door the Mandalorian sat you down on the ground and took the gun from your hands. He hastily wiped the few tears from your face, but had to get back up and fight when the threat grew exponentially.

When the droid also took refuge behind a pillar about 30 feet away, the firing from the opposing side ceased as more of them came and aimed their guns.

"It appears we are trapped," the droid deadpanned. "I will initiate self-destruct sequencing."

"What," he heard you mumble as you collected yourself and stood up next to him.

"Woah, you're what?" he shouted towards the droid.

"Manufacturers Protocol dictates I cannot be captured," he answered. "I must self-destruct."

"Do not self-destruct," he ordered as he gave you the gun again. "One more time, sweetheart," he whispered to you. Your nod was all he needed for him to shout "Cover me!"

Of course while he was being shot at multiple times and trying to figure out the stupid lock of the stupid door that put them in this stupid situation he had to mentally scold himself.

Oh god, are you stupid? Do you think she noticed the name? Probably not, she seems pretty shaken up. But does that mean anything? Surely not, and it just slipped out, I mean it's not like anybody's going to make it weird- scratch that I will definitely make it weird, ah fu-

He was brought out of his little debate in his head when the keypad got shot at too many times to see what was going on. He quickly hid behind the nearest pillar and pulled the IG Unit with him, looking over at you.

"There's too many of them!" he yelled, and you gave him a playful glare from the other pillar for pointing out the obvious. At least you were more like yourself now.

The Mandalorian pulled out a second gun and tried shooting a few more guys, but it was useless. "They got us pinned."

"I will initiate self-destruct," the droid said again.

Oh for crying out loud. "Do not self-destruct!" he barked at the droid. "We're shooting our way out."

You made eye contact with him and nodded once, ready to fight.

At the same time all three of you stepped out from behind your pillars and pointed your guns out at the enemy. There was a slight problem, though.

"Okay," the bounty hunter deadpanned as he noticed a Nitko behind a very large gun, and quickly went right back behind the pillar as the gunman pushed the trigger.

He checked to make sure you did the same as the shots started very quickly, but luckily the Nitko either couldn't see you are thought that you were less of a target so he only aimed for the Mandalorian and the droid.

"New plan!" the bounty hunter shouted, trying to be heard above the continuous blaster fire.

"Beginning self-destruct countdown," the droid said as he engaged the bomb in his chest.

"No! Stop it!" the Mandalorian scolded. "Draw their fire, I'll take it out!" He then turned to you. "Stay there, and when I say so, duck!"

You gave an awkward thumbs up as you shot another Nitko.

"Go!" he yelled to the droid, who then immediately went right, successfully gaining the attention of the gunman behind the large blaster. The Mandalorian took this as his window and shot out from the pillar, launching his whipcord thrower to wrap around a bar on the floating gun. He pulled on the cord, ripping it out of the gunman's grip and pulling it towards himself. He shot the gunman in the chest, killing him instantly.

The bounty hunter then took his chance and ran to the gun jumping on top of it and screaming "NOW!"

As soon as he noticed you dropped to the ground he began firing the gun, not taking his finger off the trigger and shooting down every Nitko he saw.

He spun the gun in a slow circle to make sure he got everyone, then ceased his fire, panting heavily.

He took one last sweep of the place to make sure he got everyone before he heard a small cry out from behind him. He whipped his head around and made a mad dash towards you, internally scolding himself for letting his blaster fire get near you.

He turned the corner to see you sitting on the ground with a piece of rock from the ricochet of the shots stuck in your left arm.

"Hey, it's okay," the Mandalorian whispered gently as he kneeled beside you. "I have to pull it out and clean it, or it'll become infected."

"Okay," you whimpered as your arm hung lifelessly beside your body.

He made quick work of pulling the rock out and grabbing the disinfectant and bandages from his belt, his heart breaking when you bit your lip to hold back your tears. When he was finished the Mandalorian put one hand under your elbow and the other on your side as he helped you stand up.

"There you go," he mumbled as he caught you with his arm around your waist when you leaned back on him for support.

"It doesn't hurt that much anymore," you sniffled. "I just need a minute."

The both of you turned to see the IG Unit walking towards you with a slight limp. "Well done," it said. "I will disengage self-destruct initiative."

The Mandalorian kept his grip firm on your hip as you spoke. "You know, you're not so bad... for droid."

He could hear you laughing through your nose at that line when the droid responded. "Agreed."

"That blaster hit looks nasty, are you okay?" you asked.

"Running a quick diagnostic." The bounty hunter could hear some whirring and buzzing as it scanned itself, then continued. "It has missed my central wiring harness."

"Is that good?" the bounty hunter question.

You gave him a baffled face and answered, "Yes, dumby, that's good."

"Hey, I'm not smart with that kind stuff," he argued.

You sighed loudly, "Oh believe me, I know. What would you do without me?"

"Crash and burn."

You snickered at that. "Literally, cause you'd be blown up cause you didn't fix your ship right."

"I hate to intrude," the IG Unit deadpanned. "But we need to get that door open."

Collectively the three of you turned to look at the large machine gun, all thinking the same thing.

The Mandalorian then slowly lead you to stand behind the gun and shot around the outer edges of the door. Once he had finished the three of you walked to the door watching it fall into the space it was originally blocking the bounty hunter from.

He had noticed you weren't as dizzy anymore and walked between you and the droid to the door. The three of you stood at the entrance for a few seconds, observing, when a straggling Nitko appeared and aimed to fire at you.

He was too late though because the Mandalorian had already shot him down, leaving him dead on the floor.

"Anyone else?" he asked to the room, and when he deemed it clear you all walked in.

"The tracking fob is still active," the droid said. "My sensors indicate that there is a life form present."

The Mandalorian pulled out his own fob and began scanning the room, following it when the beeping became more aggressive. The fob lead him to a white egg looking thing with a large fishnet resting on top of it.

"Those are used to carry babies, Lumpy," you whispered to him.

The Mandalorian furrowed his eyebrows but continued forward. The beeping of the fob intensified so much that he knew the target was in the baby carriage... thing. He looked over at you and slowly pressed the button to open it.

He heard you gasp as there was, in fact, a baby inside of the egg thingy.

"Wait," the Mandalorian faltered. "They said 50 years old."

"Species age differently," the droid answered. "Perhaps it could live many centuries."

He watched as you carefully made your way forward and cooed at the... whatever it was.

"Oh, Lumpy, look!" you awed as you held your finger out to the tiny body. It had green skin and ears that looked bigger than the rest of it's body. It had big brown eyes and a very small nose. It's tiny 3-fingered hand pushed down the brown blankets it was wrapped in as it made little cooing noises.

You smiled brighter than the Mandalorian had seen in a long time as the baby reached it's hand out to meet yours and grabbed onto the tip of your finger, smiling a little as well.

"Sadly, we'll never know," the droid monotoned as he began to raise his gun at the target.

"What," you asked in a horrified voice as you whipped your head around, though not moving your hand from the baby's grip.

The Mandalorian knew exactly what you were thinking and immediately reached his hand out to the droid's arm.

"No," he said. "We'll bring it in alive."

"The commision was quite specific. The asset was to be terminated," the IG Unit argued as he raised his gun again.

"What, no, Lumpy I thought you said it had to be alive," you countered as you quickly picked up the baby and held it close to your chest. Said child seemed oblivious to the situation as it giggled in your arms and grabbed onto the collar of your shirt.

"It does," he confirmed looking over at the droid.

The second the IG Unit raised it's gun and aimed it at you and the baby the bounty hunter took out his blaster and aimed it right for the droid's head, shooting it and watching it fall to the ground.

He then put his gun away and looked up at you, watching as you slowly began to relax. You then turned the baby in your arms and cradled it's head in the crook of your elbow, you're entire arm being able to hold it close to you.

He noticed a small tear falling down your face as you held the baby and whispered, "Thank you, Lumpy."

The Mandalorian cautiously stepped forward and stopped in front of you, looking at the child that was in your arms. Much like you had done not even 2 minutes ago, he reached his finger out to the baby, and it responded by doing the same.

He glanced up at you and wiped the tear from your face. He held you as best as he could when you fell into his arms, and carefully lead you over to the nearest wall and let you sit on his lap, your head falling on his shoulder.

He held you in his arms while you held the baby, keeping silent even though his thoughts were running a million miles an hour.

The main one being: What do we do now?