#she doesn't have to be paranoid anymore... no one's gonna use her .. there's no hidden trick or game at play....

[swordmaid]

honestly the hug is ooc for act 2 shri'iia bc i dont think she's ever hugged someone before in her entire life however am i picking it every time i get the act 2 confession scene maybe so..!

[supermarvelgirl15]

Home- Chapter 4 (The Prisoner)

Summary: Din and Jesla join a crew of mercenaries on a dangerous mission to spring a convict from a prison ship. Jesla sees someone from her past.

Pairing: Eventual Din Djarin (The Mandalorian) × OC!Jesla Gavdo

Word Count: 3,725

Warnings: Violence, gun TW, Mayfeld being insensitive

A/N: Din Djarin in red lighting. That's all I'm gonna say

Series Masterlist // Main Masterlist

××××××

   Jesla paces behind Din as he lands the Razor Crest in a space station hangar bay, muttering to herself. He told her that he had contacted a man he once knew, and that he would pay them for a job that he needed done. She was reluctant about taking this job, but then again, she almost died on the last one.

   “You don't need to be moving around so much. You're not exactly completely healed,” Mando reminds her as he stands up from his seat. 

   “I gotta bad feeling about this, Mando,” Jesla tells him, tapping the side of her leg. Something didn't feel right to her about this at all.

    Din rolls his eyes from beneath his helmet as he starts down the ladder. “You're being paranoid,” he replies. Jesla scoffs as she follows him down. He had the audacity to tell her she was being paranoid?

   “If I recall- correct me if I'm wrong- the last time I said that, we had to emergency land on Tatooine,” she retorts, placing her hand on her hip. Mando grumbles incoherently, making Jesla smirk slightly. She knew that she had a point. 

   He doesn't say anything as he lowers the ramp and walks out into the hangar, Jesla shaking her head before following him. Lately, she found herself following him a lot. Maybe it was because she always followed somebody her entire life, that she was use to it. You could say she was trained to follow somebody.

   She watches as a bearded man walks up to them. “Mando, is that you under that bucket?” The man questions, offering his hand to the Mandalorian.

   “Ran,” Mando says as he shakes his hand. Jesla could tell that they were just merely acquaintances just by Mando's tone of voice. He seemed to have a different tone when talking to people that he liked more.

   “Didn't really know if I'd ever see you in these parts again. Good to see you. You know, to be honest, I was a little surprised when you reached out to me. You know, ’cause I... I hear things. Like, maybe things between you and the Guild aren't working out,” Ran says, giving Mando a look.

   “I'll be fine,” Din replies shortly. That was Mando for you.

   “Hmm okay. Well, you know the policy. No questions. And you, you're welcome back here anytime,” Ran informs him. He turns to Jesla, giving her a once over. “I don't believe we've met. The name's Ran,” he offers his hand to her.

   Jesla looks at his hand briefly before looking back at him. “Jesla Gavdo,” she offers her name, but doesn't take his hand as she continues to walk across the catwalk.

   Ran drops his hand as he leans over to Din. “Some woman you got there,” he mutters to him. Din hums in response, watching after her.

   “So what's the job?” Din asks as they continue to walk across the catwalk as well.

   “Yeah, one of our associates ran afoul of some competitors and got himself caught. So I'm putting together a crew to spring him. It's a five person job, I got four- the extra help is fine. All I need is the ride, and you brought it,” Ran explains, gesturing to the Razor Crest.

   Mando and Jesla share a quick look with one another. “The ship wasn't part of the deal.”

   “Well, the Crest is the only reason I let you back in here,” Ran admits. Din slowly turns to him. “What's the look? Is that gratitude? Uh-huh, I think it is,” Ran laughs as he walks off. Jesla and Din share another look before following him.

   They all walk into a different area of the hangar. Jesla sees a bald-headed man, her eyes widening as she realizes who he is. This was just her luck.

   “Mayfeld?”

   The man turns around with his brow furrowed, his eyes scanning for who called his name. When his eyes land on Jesla, they widen slightly. Din looks between the two, his confusion hidden behind his helmet.

   “Gavdo? I thought you were dead,” Mayfeld remarks as he walks up to her, crossing his arms.

   “I'm surprised you're not,” Jesla comments, looking him up and down. He still looked the same since the last time she saw him. 

   Back then, Mayfeld and Jesla always seemed to compete with each other. They were the top two sharpshooters in their division. The two always tried to one up each other in the field. So basically, they didn't get along much. 

    “I take it you two already know each other,” Ran says, making Jesla and Mayfeld finally break their eye contact with one another. “This is Mando. The guy I was telling you about. We used to do jobs way back when,” he tells Mayfeld.

   Mayfeld then turns to face Mando. “This is the guy?” He queries, also giving him a once over.

   “Yeah, we were all young, trying to make a name for ourselves. Yeah, but running with a Mandalorian, that was... that brought us some reputation,” Ran reminisces.

   “Oh ya? What did he get out of it?” Mayfeld questions, raising his eyebrows.

   “I asked him that one time. You remember what you said, Mando? Target practice. Man, we did some crazy stuff, didn't we?” Ran laughs, patting Mando on the back.

   “That was a long time ago,” Din replies gruffly. 

   “Well... Well I don't go out anymore. You understand? So uh... Mayfeld, he's gonna run point on this job. If he says it, it's like it's coming from me. You good with that?” Ran asks Mando, quirking up an eyebrow at him.

   Din glances over at Jesla, who scoffs. “You tell me.”

   Ran shakes his head as he laughs. “You haven't changed one bit,” he says amusingly.

   “Ya, well, things have changed around here,” Mayfeld grumbles as he turns and walks away. Jesla rolls her eyes as she goes to stand beside Mando. 

    Mando leans his head closer to Jesla. “So who's he?” He quietly asks her.

   “Migs Mayfeld. He's also a former Imperial sharpshooter. We were in the same division,” Jesla answers as they all walk up to the Razor Crest.

   “Razor Crest? I can't believe that thing can fly. Looks like a Canto Bight slot machine,” Mayfeld comments as he observes it. They walk up to a group of people that's standing near the Crest. “Alright, the good looking fella there with the horns, that's Burg,” Mayfeld introduces the red creature that drops a crate he was carrying. “This may surprise you, but he's our muscle,” he adds.

   Burg walks up to the Mandalorian and inspects him closely, ignoring Jesla's presence. “So this is a Mandalorian. I thought they'd be bigger,” he sneers.

   “Droid's name is Zero,” Mayfeld gestures to a droid that walks up to them. Oh, Mando was going to love that.

   Jesla looks around the group with a furrowed brow. “I thought you said you had four,” she points out.

   “He does.”

   Both the Mandalorian and Jesla turn slowly to find a purple skinned female Twi'lek walking up to them, playing with a knife. “Hello, Mando,” she greets Din.

   “Xi'an,” Din nods in acknowledgement. Jesla could feel Mando tense due to the Twi'lek that seemed to ignore her, much like everyone else did.

   “Tell me why I shouldn't cut you down where you stand?” Xi'an hisses before she suddenly attacks, placing her knife on Mando's throat, who doesn't flinch at all. Jesla's fingers itch towards her blaster as she watches the Twi'leck closely.

   “Nice to see you too,” Mando responds nonchalantly.

   “I missed you,” she laughs. “This is shiny. You wear it well,” she comments as she clinks her knife against his beskar. She looks over towards Jesla, her eyes narrowing on her.

   “Do we need to leave the room or something?” Mayfeld jokes as he watches the exchange between Xi'an and Din.

    Ran chuckles slightly before answering. “Well, Xi'an's been a little heartbroken since Mando left our group,” he says.

   “Awww... You gonna be okay, sweetheart?” Mayfeld teases, Burg laughing from beside him.

   Xi'an pushes herself away from Mando. “I'm all business now. Learned from the best,” she points her knife at him.

   “All right, lovebirds. Break it up till you get on the ship. Right now, we don't have much time,” Ran tells them.

  They all walk toward the Razor Crest, Xi'an turning back and winking at Mando. Jesla decides that she doesn't like her at all. Then again, she didn't like most people.

                                              ∞∞∞

   Jesla's watches Mayfeld as he explains the job to them from beside Mando, shifting her weight to one foot as she listens. Her wound was starting to feel sore from her walking around so much. Maybe she should've listened to Mando, but she was never going to admit that to him.

   “So, package is being moved on a fortified transport ship. Now, we got a limited window to board, find our friend, get ’em outta there before they make their jump,” Mayfeld informs all of them as he shows them a hologram. 

   “That's a New Republic prison ship. Your man wasn't taken by a rival syndicate, he was arrested,” Jesla points out as she shifts her weight to her other foot. She wasn't about to be on the New Republic's radar.

   Mayfeld looks up at her from the hologram. “So what?”

   “That's a max security transport, and we're not looking for that kind of heat,” Mando cuts in, crossing his arms. 

   “Well, neither are we. So just don't mess up,” Ran tells them. Jesla and Din share a brief look, something they seemed to do quite a lot.

   “The good news for you is the ship is manned by droids. Still hate the machines, Mando?” Xi'an jeers at Din, making Jesla shoot her a glare. Who knows, by the end of this, Jesla may kill her like she did with Toro.

   They all continue to go over the plan. Jesla knew Mando wasn't thrilled with the droid, Zero, flying his ship. However, they both knew that Zero was the best choice to scramble their signal as they boarded the New Republic ship.

   Jesla didn't like nor trust anyone that they were working with. None of them knew the value of loyalty. They only kept each other alive so the job could be done efficiently. She despised people like that.

   “Some friends you got there,” Jesla says sarcastically to the Mandalorian as they walk up the ramp into the Crest. 

   Din chuckles dryly. “I don't think ‘friends’ is what I'd call them,” he mutters. Jesla nods in agreement as they walk up into the cockpit as the ship takes off.

   In the cockpit, both Jesla and Mando linger in the back as Zero sits at the controls. “Calculations complete. Jumping to hyperspace...now. Feel free to join the others. I will handle it from here,” it informs them. 

   Mando walks down the ladder to the hangar first, helping Jesla as she climbs down after him. He knew that she needed to rest before they got to the prison ship. She wouldn't be at her best if she was in pain. Jesla seemed to also know this as well as she sat down on a crate, taking a deep breath as she ignored the glare she was receiving from Xi'an. 

   “That's a pretty thing you got there, Mando. How'd you end up with it?” Xi'an asks him as she plays with her knife. Jesla ignores her as she lays her head against the wall. 

   When Mando doesn't answer her, she continues. “C'mon. There's gotta be a reason why you keep her around,” she says innocently. 

   “She's good at what she does,” Din answers her, handing Jesla a ration bar. She realizes she hadn't eaten anything all day as she takes a bite out of it. 

   Xi'an eyes their interaction as she sits up a bit straighter. “Oh? I'm sure she pleasures you greatly,” she smirks, making Burg laugh. 

   Neither Din nor Jesla reacts to her, Jesla taking the last bite of her ration bar. She knew Xi'an was trying to get under her skin, but she wasn't going to give her the satisfaction. Jesla found it amusing though.

   Mayfeld chuckles as he stands beside Xi'an. “Hey, if you wanna get to her, just mention Burnin Konn.”

   Jesla's head snaps up at that, Din watching her carefully. He really didn't want to deal with this right now. 

    “What's Burnin Konn?” Burg humors him with a sly smile, Xi'an laughing at Jesla's sudden reaction. 

   “It was a great loss for the Empire. Everyone in our division died, about 5-10,000 people,” Mayfeld replies as he watches Jesla closely. 

   Din watches as Jesla's eyes harden, her hand subconsciously grabbing her tatted wrist. “Watch it, Mayfeld,” she warns him.

   “Don't tell me you're still not over that. Is it because of those stupid clones you were attached to?”

    Abruptly, Jesla stands up and pulls out her blaster as she makes her way to Mayfeld, pointing it at his head. Before she could pull the trigger, Mando swiftly grabs the gun out of her hand. They stare at each other for a few seconds before she shoots Mayfeld a glare and walks away from him.

   Everyone, except for Din and Jesla, starts laughing. Oh, how Jesla couldn't wait until this job was finished so she could kill them all. 

   “Hey, Xi'an, you flew with Mando. Is he as good as they say?” Mayfeld questions the Twi'leck.

   “Ask him about the job on Alzoc III,” Xi'an answers him, turning her attention to the Mandalorian.

   It's Jesla's turn to watch Mando carefully as she turns to face him. “I did what I had to,” he simply responds. That was a phrase Jesla found herself living by.

   “Oh, but you liked it. See, unlike some people, I know who you really are,” Xi'an says, looking at Jesla as she says the last part. Jesla rolls her eyes as she takes her blaster back from Mando and puts it back in its holster.

   “He never takes off the helmet?” Mayfeld queries, crossing his arms over his chest. 

   Xi'an shakes her head with a chuckle. “This is the Way,” she mocks. Jesla wonders how Mando was even capable of putting up with the stupid Twi'leck. She can't even last an hour.

   “You ever seen his face?”

   “A lady... never tells.”

   Din tenses slightly at the new subject, Jesla not missing him doing so. He acted the same way back on Sorgan when her and Cara brought it up.

   “Aw, come on, Mando. We all gotta trust each other here. You gotta show us something. Come on, just lift the helmet up. Come on. Let's all see your eyes,” Mayfeld taunts. When Mando doesn't make a move to take it off, Mayfeld nods at Burg who then closes in on Din.

   As Burg's hand reaches to take off Din's helmet, Jesla grabs it and twists his arm back behind him. Burg tries to fight back, but Jesla kicks him back. Burg grapples for something to hold onto, hitting the release button to the cot, the hatch opening and revealing the Child. 

   “Whoa! What is that?” Mayfeld exclaims, examining the Child closely. “Wait a minute,” he gestures between Mando and Xi'an, “did you two make that? Huh? What is it? Like...a pet or something?”

   “Yeah. Something like that,” Mando says calmly.

   “Didn't take you for the type. Maybe that code of yours has made you soft,” Xi'an teases him.

   “Me, I was never really into pets. Yeah, didn't have the temperament. Patience, you know. I mean, I tried but... never worked out. What I'm thinking... maybe,” Mayfeld picks up the Child, “I'll try again with this little fella. Huh?”

   Mayfeld pretends to drop the Child, making both Din and Jesla flinch in response. Xi'an and Mayfeld laugh at them. Then the ship starts shaking, everyone fighting for balance. The ship rolls and everyone is thrown around in the hangar. Mayfeld drops the Child and Din immediately dives after him. Jesla tightly grabs onto the wall, balancing herself. 

   The Razor Crest finally docks to the transport. Mando places the Child back in the cot as Jesla curses the droid under her breath. Burg angrily tosses some crates around. 

   Once everyone settles, they start executing the plan. The Mandalorian hacks the opening mechanism of the prison ship's hatch. Jesla is the first one to quietly drop down into the halls of ship, everyone else following after her. 

   They all start moving down the corridors, looking into the prison cells. Everything was going well until Burg decided to blast a mouse droid, which alerted security droids of their presence. Luckily, Mando sneaks up behind the droids and takes them out in a melee fight by himself. Jesla had to admit, he had some skills.

   Upon reaching the control room, Mayfeld commands Zero to open the door. When it opens, it reveals a human guard inside, brandishing a blaster. There wasn't supposed to be any living things on board.

   “There were only supposed to be droids on this ship,” Mando voices Jesla's concerns.

   Mayfeld walks around the guard to observe the control panel. “Hang on, hang on. See here uh...cell two-two-one. All right, now for our well dressed friend...” He trails off once the guard pulls out a tracking beacon.

   Everyone draws out their blasters and trains it on the guard, except for Jesla who trains hers on Mayfeld. She wasn't about to kill an innocent man; she didn't do that anymore.

   Din tried his best talking everyone down. He calmly addressed the guard, whose name was Davan. When Mayfeld wouldn't lower his blaster on the guard, Mando joins Jesla on training their blasters on him. Mayfeld trains his second blaster on Din and his third blaster that was on a droid arm on Jesla. Burg takes out his weapon and trains it on Mando as well, making Mando aim his vambrace weapon at him. 

   An argument breaks out between all of them; Mayfeld wanting to kill the guard, Din and Jesla wanting to let him live. It suddenly stops when Davan is struck down by Xi'an's throwing knife. 

   “Would you all just shut up,” Xi'an complains. 

   Suddenly, Xi'an starts coughing as she starts to choke. Everyone starts freaking out as Xi'an grabs onto her throat. Din looks at Jesla, whose cold eyes is staring daggers at Xi'an's choking form. He moves over to her, grabbing her forearm. “Jes, don't. You can kill her later,” he whispers to her. 

   Jesla looks at him, not missing the new nickname, as Xi'an finally gets her breath back. “What the hell was that?!” Xi'an shouts as she rubs her throat. Mayfeld and Burg exchange a look of what could only be described as fear. 

   “We have twenty minutes before backup gets here,” Jesla states, gesturing to the now blinking beacon. “I suggest we move now,” she mutters as she steps over Xi'an and heads towards cell 221. Din doesn't say anything as he starts following her, Xi'an looking after them with a glare.

   They reach cell 221 with fifteen minutes remaining. Mayfeld orders Zero to open the cell door. Once it opens, it reveals another Twi'leck. 

   “Qin,” Mando mumbles to himself. 

   “Funny. The man who left me behind is now my savour. Mando,” Qin greets as he walks out his cell, side-eyeing Jesla.

   Then, Burg punches Mando in the gut, catching him off guard, and throws him into the cell. Before Jesla could react, Xi'an roughly pushes her into the cell as well, which is locked before either Din or Jesla can get up. Mando fires his blaster at the door, but the shot just ricochets around the cell, Jesla ducking so it wouldn’t accidentally hit her.

   Jesla bangs the door in frustration, the group outside laughing as they walk away. “You've got to be kriffing kidding me!” She shouts in anger. “I can't catch a kriffing break! You should have just let me kill her. No, you should've listened to me when I said I had a bad feeling about this job!”

   Mando grabs Jesla's biceps roughly, making her look into his helmet's visor. “Hey! If you don't get a level head, we're not going to get out of here,” he tells her, his voice like stone. Jesla stays quiet for a couple moments before taking a deep breath. He was right.

   She looks back out the cell, seeing a security droid pass by. “I have a plan.”

                                              ∞∞∞

   Jesla and Mando end up getting out of the cell, and one by one put the others in it. Jesla got the satisfaction of being the one that locked Xi'an up. She salutes to Mayfeld as her and Mando walk off to find Qin. The two find him trying to climb up the ladder into the ship. They decide to keep him alive at the promise of more money. Jesla thought they definitely deserved it after all this mess. 

   They make their way into the ship, finding Zero pointing its rifle at the Child. Mando immediately shoots it and Zero falls to the ground. The Child coos when he sees the Mandalorian and Jesla.

   Later, Din lands the Razor Crest in Ran's hangar bay. Jesla and Din walk Qin down the ramp, Ran meeting Qin in an embrace. 

   Ran looks around them, noticing no one else exiting the Crest. “Where are the others?” Ran asks, furrowing his brow.

   “No questions asked. That's the policy, right?” Mando nonchalantly replies.

   Ran nods, eyeing both him and Jesla. “Yeah. That is the policy.”

   “We did the job.”

   “Yeah, you did.”

   Ran reluctantly tosses the Mandalorian a coin purse. “Just like the good old days,” Din says before turning to reenter the Razor Crest. Jesla winks at Ran and Qin before she follows Mando inside.

   As they start to fly away from the space station, three X-wings drop out of hyperspace. Jesla watches as they fly pass them, heading towards the station and opening fire on it.

   “You planted the tracking beacon on Qin... I'm impressed,” Jesla comments as she turns to face Mando, gently hitting his shoulder. She watches as he unscrews a knob from the lever and drops it into the Child's hands.

   Din glances over at her, getting ready to jump into hyperspace. “I told you that was a bad idea.”

××××××

@living-that-best-life

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