Chapter 17

Hello All! I'm sorry for the delay in putting out this update. Things have been a little crazy lately. I hope you are all safe and well.

Happy Reading!

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It took Mando longer than he wanted to catch the Dewback. Distances were always hard to judge in the desert. It was mid morning by the time he returned to the spot where he had left them. He pulled up the dewback and jumped down. There was a body laying crumpled on the ground. His throat constricted as he pulled his blaster. Had Toro gotten the drop on Yara and killed her to take full credit for the hunt?

Mando approached the body and was almost light headed with relief when he saw it was Fennec and not Yara laying dead in the sand. He kicked over the body and frowned when he saw she had been shot in the chest. The shot wasn't precise enough to have been Yara. In their time together he had yet to see Yara shoot someone and not land it perfectly in their heart or between their eyes. This was sloppier. Fennec also wasn't wearing the binders Mando had put on her when they caught her. Which meant Toro.

He swung around and lifted his hand to activate the thermal imager on his viewer. He looked around, but there was no other evidence of what had happened. He could see the residual heat from where someone small, Yara, had laid in the sand, presumably to rest. A pair of large male bootprints approached the spot and a deeper set moved away. For them to be deeper meant more weight. Toro carrying her maybe. There wasn't a sign of a scuffle in the sand. So whatever happened, had happened fast.

Mando tightened his jaw. Yara wouldn't have left him easily, not without a fight. He believed that. He wasn't sure why he was so sure of her loyalty so quickly, but she hadn't given him any reason to doubt her. He knew for a fact she wouldn't have chosen to go off with the obnoxious hotshot. She had disliked Toro even more than he had.

Mando ran back to the Dewback and climbed up into the saddle. He kicked it forward as fast as it would go back towards Mos Eisley. The Dewback wasn't as fast as the blurgs he had ridden recently and it took all kriffing day to cross the Dune Sea. He had nothing to do but obsess over what might have happened out there when he had left her alone. Yara was smart and capable and with her gift she should have seen anything coming.

It was his fault. He should have trusted his instincts, and at least brought her with him to get the Dewback. Although it wouldn't have made sense to force her to endure the exhausting journey at least she would have been safe. He had given his word she would be safe with him and he had not upheld his oath. It made him sick to his stomach. He had worked with partners before and had things go bad, sometimes there was no avoiding it, but he had never experienced this kind of fear. It didn't make sense. All he knew was that when he found Yara he wasn't going to let her out of his sight again.

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Yara blinked awake in confusion. Her temples were pounding and when her eyes fluttered open she saw metal grating beneath her cheek. She was laying on the deck in the cargo bay of the Crest. She frowned as she tried to piece together what happened.

A gentle coo sounded to her right and she bolted upright. Toro had attacked her out in the desert. How was the kid here? Her hands were still bound together and it threw her balance off as she tried to sit up. The kid chirped at her again. "Hey kiddo," she said in a low voice. "You okay?"

The child moved towards her, cuddling it's small body against hers. Yara lifted her bound wrists so he could sit on her lap in the shelter of her arms. The mechanic, Peli, was sitting quietly a few feet away. Her eyes met Yara's and she could tell that Toro must have already threatened Peli into behaving because Peli wasn't restrained. That was good, it meant they had a chance.

"It's fine," Toro's voice came from deeper inside the crest.

Yara turned to see him coming out of her quarters. She tightened her arms around the kid and scowled up at him from her place on the floor. She hated feeling trapped and weak, but she wasn't willing to let go of the kid. Instead she narrowed her eyes and refused to let him see any fear.

Toro just laughed. "I wouldn't damage my ticket into the guild. It's worth twice as much alive."

"You don't know what you're talking about," Yara snapped. She hated the idea of Toro in her space, in their space, going through their things. The crest was their home and having him wandering through it and snooping into their private life felt like an incredible violation.

"No?" Toro mocked. "Mandalorian shoots up the guild on Nevarro and makes off with two targets, a woman and a kid," Toro's eyes went from her to the kid and back again. "Now," he said crossing his arms over his chest. "Despite the way Mando acts, it doesn't look to me like you been living here too long," he said jerking his chin back towards her quarters. "So the way I got it figured you got two choices-"

"I'll take the one that doesn't involve going anywhere with you," Yara snarled before Toro could finish.

Toro just laughed again. "We'll see about that. Your boyfriend should be back any minute. Once I have him in carbonite, you'll be free of him, and then your tune will change."

"Yeah?" Yara challenged. "You against the Mandalorian? That'll be short and sweet," She mocked sarcastically.

Cold fury descended Toro's face and he stalked up to her. He let his fist fly and he backhanded her. Yara's head snapped to the side and she tasted blood on her lips, but she didn't make a single noise. Instead, she turned back to him and lifted her chin defiantly, challenge glittering in her eyes.

"You and what army?"she growled.

Toro bent down, his handsome face twisted with rage and he lifted his hand to hit her again.

"Hey hey hey!" Peli called from across the cargo hold. "Hitting a Mandalorian's mate, are you insane?"

"She's not his mate," Toro snapped at Peli and he turned his eyes back to Yara. "Someone needs to teach you how to keep that pretty mouth shut."

"Won't be you," Yara growled back. Her hands were clenched into fists inside the binders. If she had her blaster she would have shot Toro without hesitation.

"We'll see," he said and he snatched the kid from her hands. Yara moved to grab him back but Toro pulled his blast and pointed it at the kid. "On your feet," he ordered.

Yara huffed but climbed to her feet. Toro pressed the barrel of his blaster against the back of her head and pushed her towards the ramp. "Let's go," he ordered.

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It was the middle of the night before Mando returned to the hanger. The other speeder bike was parked out front. He pulled his blaster before he went inside. The hanger was dark and quiet. Even the droids were no where to be seen. He tapped his viewer and he could make out their heat signatures in the shadows of the cargo hold. He tightened his grip on the handle of his blaster as he waited for the trap to be sprung.

"Took you long enough Mando," Toro called from inside the Razor Crest. He came down the ramp, holding a gun against Yara's head. Mando didn't need any special powers to see how mad Yara was; her small form was practically shaking with rage. With the blaster pressed against her temple and her hands bound in front of her however, there was nothing she could do without endangering the kid.

"Looks like I'm calling the shots now," Toro gloated. He pressed the blaster against Yara's head hard enough for her to grimace but she refused to make a sound. She wouldn't give him that satisfaction. He was proud of her.

Mando tightened his grip on his blaster and forced himself not to react to her pain. He wanted to take Toro apart. He took a deep breath and settled himself into what he had to do here. Protecting was so much harder than just attacking, and he would have to play this just right.

"Drop your blaster and raise them!" Toro called, his voice was high with stress. No matter how badly he wanted to appear confident and in control, facing the Mandalorian had him shook.

Mando stared hard at the nervous young man. Toro had the kid in his arm and the blaster pressed against Yara's skull. There was no other option but to do as Toro said, for now. Mando tossed his blaster on the ground with his right hand, but let his left hand skim over his belt as he raised it. Toro was so focused on watching Mando's blaster that he didn't notice what Mando had pulled from his belt. Mando pressed his hands against the back of his head. If Toro got anywhere near him to put the binders on, he could end this. Otherwise, he had a backup plan.

"Cuff him," Toro ordered Peli with a jerk of the blaster. He wasn't taking any chances. Mando was too dangerous for him to get close to. He hadn't seen Mando fight hand to hand, but if a single one of the legends were true Toro would keep at least an arms length away from the warrior.

The mechanic shot a glare at him but did as she was told, shuffling down the ramp. She looked furtively back and forth between Mando and Toro, but did as she was instructed.

"You're a guild traitor Mando, I'm willing to bet that this here-" he said looking down at the child in his arms. "-and my girl Yara here, are the targets you helped escape. You must be getting soft in your old age. Falling for a pretty face like that. Unprofessional," Toro mocked with a shake of his head as though he hadn't been distracted by Yara from the moment he met them. "And what did it get you?" Toro asked looking down at Yara. "Nothing."

Peli shuffled across the bay towards Mando. She reached up to put the cuffs on Mando but hesitated when she saw the flash grenade he had in his left hand. "You're smarter than you look," she whispered into the back of his helmet, and as she closed the first cuff around his left wrist she took the flash grenade.

Toro however, was too caught up in his own narrative to notice it was taking Peli longer than it should to put on the cuffs. He was too excited about the prospect of becoming a legendary bounty hunter and too green to be able to keep his focus on four hostages. "Fennec was right," he preened, completely oblivious. "Bringing you in isn't just going to make me a member of the guild. It will make me legendary."

"So you're bringing us all in?" Yara challenged. She was trying to keep Toro talking.

Yara's adrenaline and rage made her gift come unbidden to the forefront of her mind. She could feel something building in the air, but she didn't know what it was. It moved over her skin and through the space between them like a thousand tiny pin pricks. The swirling energy could be Toro planning on shooting them. Feeling the tension and fear in Toro's body Yara was worried he was going to kill Mando.

The energy could be Mando. Yara let her gaze lift to rest on the cold, steel of his helmet. The energy felt cold and calculating, which didn't feel like Mando normally did, but there was a tightness to his body, like a great cat coiled to pounce. He looked intimidating and powerful despite the lack of weapon. Toro should be afraid. No matter how this went down Mando was not letting Toro out of here alive. She could feel it.

Toro looked down at Yara. "Unless you want to join me lovely," he offered leaning into her. "Two out of three ain't bad."

Yara leaned as far away from him as she could and Mando's muscles tightened another degree.

"The Guild will never let her go," Mando intoned emotionlessly as he felt Peli take the flash grenade. He realized as soon as Yara spoke, that she was working on distracting Toro, and hoping to make him emotional or defensive. While she couldn't make a move, she was doing everything in her power to give Mando his moment to take him down. He appreciated her ability to think clearly even as Toro had a blaster to her head. It went a long way to soothing the rage building in his chest. If she had been afraid he wasn't sure he could have forced himself to have the patience necessary to execute this just right.

Just as Yara planned, rage crossed Toro's face. "You think I can't keep her safe Mando?" he challenged. "Look what's happened to her since she's been with you!" He swung his blaster around to point at Mando and his muscles coiled like he was going to shoot.

The flash grenade suddenly lit up the hanger. Toro shouted in surprise as Peli threw herself behind the crates. Yara was blinded in that moment as she fought to regain her senses, but so was Toro. He shot blindly directly over her shoulder with the blaster less than an inch from her ear. With her ears ringing she was terrifyingly helpless for a moment. Unable to see or hear fear gripped her. Was Mando dead? She fought to push her gift away from her, to feel for him through the dark, but it wouldn't obey. Her thoughts were racing and her heart pounded with fear. What good was this stupid power if it never worked when she needed it.

Mando moved smoothly to the side, easily stepping out of the way of Toro's wild shot. He raised his blaster and waited a beat for Toro to recover and meet his gaze. He watched the fear etch itself across Toro's face as the man realized he had been easily out maneuvered. Mando normally wasn't one to play with his quarry, he didn't normally take pleasure in the misery or torment of others. Being a bounty hunter had always just been about business. He abhorred unnecessary cruelty it went against the code. Toro however, had attacked Yara and the kid and it made something ugly and primal rise up in Mando's chest. Toro deserved far worse than this single moment of fear. Mando took satisfaction knowing Toro would die afraid and knowing he had been beaten.

Mando pulled the trigger. The shot caught Toro square in the chest from less than ten feet away. Toro shouted and fell. The power from the blast sent him flying off the ramp. Even as he died he refused to release Yara and the kid. Instead his grip tightened and he dragged them down with him as he fell. The three of them slammed into the crates, sending them all crashing loudly to the ground, and echoing through the silent bay. 

Peli leapt forward to run to the kid's aid. "Stay back," Mando warned, holding his hand out to her. He side stepped around the ramp, pointing his gun at Toro's prone form. His shot had been good and Toro didn't wear any body armor, but he wasn't taking any chances. There were too many people depending on him.

"I gotta get it," Peli insisted, but she did as he instructed and stayed behind him. She gripped his cape, using him as a shield even as she looked frantically for the child. "Yara?" Peli called.

"I'm here," Yara called, her voice breathless. "I can't move the crate with my hands bound," she complained.

Mando let out a gentle sigh of relief to know hear Yara's voice. If she was annoyed she couldn't be that hurt. Peli tried to push past him again but he motioned once more for her to wait. He understood Peli's desire to check on Yara and the kid, but he had to stay focused and be sure Toro was dead first. He kept his blaster aimed at Toro and kicked the body over. It flopped lifelessly. His eyes were still wide and filled with fear. Mando grunted in satisfaction and tucked his blaster away. Peli jumped around him and began searching through the crates.

Mando shoved the crate Yara couldn't move aside and he crouched down beside her. Her eyes were still pinched shut. He reached down and gently touched her shoulder so she would know it was him and not Peli while her eyes adjusted. Yara groaned, but she didn't appear injured.

"Where is it?" Peli asked as she hunted through the crates.

Mando looked around and the child chattered happily as it came out between some crates.

"Is the kid okay?" Yara groaned, resting her bound hands over her eyes as her temples continued to pound from the flash grenade. Even with her eyes closed she was still seeing spots dancing behind her lids.

"There you are," Peli cooed. "Are you hiding from us?" she asked picking him up. "Look at you. That was really loud for your big old ears, wasn't it?" she asked in a high pitched baby voice.

"The kid's fine," Mando assured her in a low tone. He helped her sit up with gentle hands. Yara grunted but she let Mando support her. Her whole body ached.

Mando kept a single hand on her shoulder, stabilizing her. Her eyes fluttered open and he swallowed thickly as he stared into her violet eyes from only inches away. Yara was staring up into his visor and it felt like she could see straight through the tinted shield. Mando's throat was thick and he didn't know how to deal with the relief that flooded him. Dropping his chin he focused a little too much on unlocking the binders encircling her wrists.

"Is Toro dead?" she asked hopefully rotating her painful wrists.

Mando let his helmet lift an inch so he could look at her face and answer her. With his viewer, even in the dim light, he could see there was the beginning of bruising along Yara's cheekbone. The bastard had hit her. He went very still as he locked down his muscles against the rage the flooded him. Inside his helmet his jaw tightened as he fought to rein in his emotions. "Very," he assured her, although his voice a low growl.

Yara felt the moment Mando saw where Toro had struck her. The comforting, protective energy swirling around him had turned dark and deadly in less than a second. She swallowed but forced her body not to react. Mando was normally so controlled the sudden shift surprised her. Toro however was already dead. He couldn't kill him again. So instead, she focused on trying to pull Mando's attention away from it and help him find his equilibrium once more.

She groaned dramatically. "That hurt," she said lightly motioning to the crates.

Mando only grunted. He reached down and took her arm, lifting her to her feet. He looked her up and down. "Did he hurt you anywhere else?" he asked, his voice was a dangerous growl made all the more menacing by the vocoder but his hand on her arm was still gentle. Mando let go of her arm and lifted his had towards her face. His fingers almost touched her, hovering there in the space between them, but he snatched his hand back and let it fall into a fist at his side.

Yara stared up into the dark visor, hoping she was looking him in the eyes. She needed him to see she was fine."I'm okay," she promised him, though she rubbed at one eye. She was still seeing black spots at the edges of her vision but a headache from a flash grenade was a small price to pay for what had happened.

Mando nodded curtly and turned away from her. Tension thrummed through his body. Yara doubted if Peli could tell the difference but she had been with him long enough now to be able to tell by the subtle shift of his body that he was frustrated and angry.

Yara was embarrassed and ashamed that she had been taken hostage on her and Mando's first real job together. She had hoped to prove herself to be a useful member of his crew. Instead he had been forced to rescue her. She knew his anger was directed at Toro, but she was unsure if he was also frustrated by her inabilities.

Yara certainly wouldn't blame him. It had been a dumb mistake allowing him to get the drop on her. She never should have trusted Toro to keep watch. She had experienced a bad feeling about the whole situation, but had ignored what her gift was trying to tell her. She blew out a frustrated sigh. She wished she understood it better. If she only knew how it worked she could learn to trust it and actually use it when it mattered. Instead it came and went as it pleased.

Mando crouched over the body and dug through Toro's pockets, pulling out a small bag of credits. Yara took the child from Peli, hugging his small body to her chest. He yawned adorably and cuddled against her with a contented sigh.

"Be careful with him," Peli told Yara then she turned to Mando. She crossed her arms over her chest and appeared the shrewd business woman once again as though nothing had happened. "So I take it you guys didn't get paid?"

Mando tossed her the bag of credits. "Does that cover me?" he asked, and he jerked his chin towards Toro's body. He was leaving Peli quite the mess to clean up.

Peli looked in shock at all of the credits. It was more than three times what she was owed for the repairs. "Yeah! This should cover it," she said as casually as she could manage, but her eyes were grateful. This amount of money could change her life.

Mando nodded and he turned and put a hand on Yara's low back, ushering her up the ramp ahead of him. He was ready to get off this rock. Mando was used to being in control and so many things had gone wrong here. He wanted to get Yara and the kid on the Crest and into hyperspace where he knew they were safe.

"All right pit droids!" Peli called authoritatively behind them. "Let's drag this outta here," there was a pause. "-I don't know, drag it to begger's canyon," she replied. Take-"

The ramp closed, sealing them off from Peli's shrill voice. The cargo hold was dark, and while Mando could see easily through his viewer he knew Yara couldn't. He kept his hand on her low back and guided her gently through the darkness towards the ladder to the cockpit. Once they were alone and safely sealed inside he felt her take a breath and the tension leached out of her body.

Yara stepped into her quarters and Mando reached around her to turn on the low cabin lights. She tucked the kid into a nest of blankets to sleep on the corner of her bed. He cooed contentedly and snuggled his small face beneath them. Yara smiled down at him in relief and rested her hand against his small back. They were safe.

Mando turned to leave them alone and climbed the ladder into the cockpit. He had just taken his chair when he heard Yara's quiet movements behind him as she sat in her place. He hadn't expected her to come up, but maybe she was feeling as raw as he was. He fired the ship up and the engine purred sounding even better than it did before. Just to be sure Yara was studying the read outs as Mando lifted off and broke atmo. He punched in the coordinates for their jump and left Tatooine behind them.

Once they were safely in the hyperlane Mando felt like he could breathe again. It was like he hadn't been able to take a deep breath since he found Yara gone. The responsibility of keeping her and the kid safe was staggering. He had always been alone. He had never considered what it would feel like to have someone else depending on him or how much he cared about them.

Yara was still studying the computer's read outs. She was focusing a little too hard on them, and there was a slight tremble to her hands as she worked. He stepped up behind her. He wasn't exactly sure how to reassure her. He was so terrible at this sort of thing. Mandalorians didn't reassure or comfort one another, but his family had when he was young. A little awkwardly he laid a hand on her shoulder.

"You all right?" he asked, uncertain if he should have touched her. He moved to take his hand back, but she reached up and wrapped her fingers around his wrist. Her warm skin found his and she exhaled a shaky breath.

Yara closed her eyes and let the weight of Mando's hand on her shoulder ground her. She was so mad at herself for not being stronger than this. She was stronger than this.  She sighed and slowly turned to face him. "Yeah," she said but she shook her head. "I'm just-"

"Tired?" he asked gently. There was a part of him that was terrified that this was it. That she had finally realized what his life looked like and now she was going to run. They had only been together for a couple weeks, but he feared she would have already realized how dangerous his life was. That just being near him was dangerous. He was dangerous.

Yara looked down at her hands. "I'm sorry," she said. "I-"

Mando took a step closer to her and tilted his helmet. "We both misjudged the situation," he told her. "I thought-" he started to say and he stopped. He wanted her to know how it felt when he saw she was gone, when he realized Toro had taken her. He wanted her to know the lengths he would have done to get her back. He would have torn the Guild and the Imps apart with his bare hands.

"I wouldn't have let him take you," he finally settled on saying quietly. He didn't know how to do this and didn't want to scare her. All the feelings roiling through him were frightening to him, he didn't know how it wouldn't scare her.

Yara tilted her chin up to look at herself in the reflection of his visor. "I know," she promised him and her lips quirked a little. "Me neither," she promised and there was a flash of determination in her eyes.

Mando grunted. Of course not. Yara was a fighter, and she would have kept fighting until she had gotten herself and the kid out of there. She was such a strange dichotomy of determined strength and gentle vulnerability. It made him feel strangely protective and possessive all at the same time. She meant so much more to him than a member of his crew should.

His hand came up and he finally let himself touch her. His gloved fingers were feather light as they skimmed along her cheekbone just above where Toro had struck her. Pure rage roiled through him once more and he wished he could kill him again.

"I knew you were coming," Yara promised him. It felt important in that moment for him to know that she trusted him. That when they had said they were partners, it wasn't just lip service. Yara trusted and respected Mando. She only hoped he felt the same.

Yara lifted her eyes and smiled up at him. Her hand came up and covered his, encouraging him to cup her cheek in his large palm. She could feel the power in his hand, the violence he was capable of as he fought to rain in his desire to kill Toro a second time. He was being so careful with her, so incredibly gentle. She closed her eyes briefly at the contact and turned her face and pressed a feather light kiss against the palm of his glove.

Mando wished he could have felt her lips against his skin, instead all he felt was the pressure against his glove. He held his breath. He was terrified to move, terrified to break this moment of peace. Yara turned and rested her cheek against his hand once more and closed her eyes as though she were savoring the contact just as much as him. He exhaled and all thoughts of vengeance and violence left him. His body relaxed with a gentle sigh and he let himself just hold her.

"You weren't wrong you know," she said after a few moments. Her violet eyes fluttered open and she took a step back from him. It put space between them and forced him to drop his hand.

Missing the contact immediately Mando quirked his helmet. "About?" he asked curiously.

When Yara's violet eyes stared into his visor her gaze was haunted. "The guild won't ever let you back in with me at your side," she cleared her throat as she realized how that sounded. "Here, I mean," she stammered over her words. She didn't want him to think she presumed anything. "As your crew," she finally added.

Mando could see the fear in Yara's eyes. There had been no fear when Toro had pressed a gun to her head, but it was there now when she thought he would throw them out. She thought he would all of a sudden wake up one day and be done with them. Mando was a man of few words, and he wasn't great at expressing himself, but this felt too important for him to screw up. He needed her to understand.

"I'm aware," he promised her.

"Mando-" she started to say, but he stopped her with a shake of his helmet.

He needed her to understand how he felt, how much he trusted her, and how much she and the kid meant to him. It frustrated him. She was trying to leave and the thought of that made it hard to focus.

"I want you to stay," he finally said and his voice was rough. He helmet dipped as he looked down and away from her as though admitting it were a weakness he was ashamed to admit.

Yara frowned up at him. "You do?" she asked in surprise. "But I-" she started to say she had screwed up and had gotten them all into trouble, but she stopped when she realized his frustration wasn't directed at her.

Mando grunted and shifted his weight. He wasn't good at this. He didn't know what to say.

Yara seemed to realize immediately what the problem was. Mando was tense, but it wasn't because he was angry. He was uncertain and looked ready to bolt. She reached up and caught the side of his helmet in her hand, as though she would cup his face. It was the perfect mirror image of what he had done moments earlier.

"I want to stay too," she told him sincerely. "And I promise not to get kidnapped again," she teased gently, hoping to diffuse some of the tension.

Mando grunted again but didn't say anything more. He took a step back from her and her hand dropped. Once the contact was broken he practically fled the cockpit. He didn't know how to deal with this flood of emotions. He needed time and space. Sensing that, Yara let him go. She dropped down to sit in the pilots seat and watched the swirl of space flow past her. Feeling content, she let her eyes drift closed and fell asleep.

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