Under the Helmet ~ (The Mandalorian x Male OC)

Chapter 32: Goodbye

The group gathered at Lyra's ship, and immediately began repairing faulty systems. With no new parts lying around, rigging the decaying pipes and wiring was a challenge. Working tirelessly late into the night, they were finally able to get it flying. The hyperdrive was beyond repair, so the plan was to fly through open space whilst broadcasting a message to Adelphi Outpost. Hopefully, someone on the other end would send a transport to bring them the rest of the way.
Din was in a complicated situation. He had spent the past few hours with Lyra, and he was deeply fascinated by her. He wanted to develop a relationship with her, preferably romantic. It was a little soon after Daedalus had ended things with him, he he owed it to himself to get back out there. The Foundling had taught him how love was a beautiful, life changing thing, and he didn't want to go without it.
Now, he was with Lyra in the cockpit, and she was running a diagnostics report on all the systems.
"Hey, Din?", she called.
He turned to face her. "Yes?"
"The weapons system reportedly has a faulty wiring, do you want to go check on that for me?"
The Mandalorian nodded. "Of course."
He left the cockpit and made his way to the engine room, where he found Daedalus tinkering with the weapons controls.
"Oh, umm, are you fixing that?", Din stammered, slightly uncomfortable in his ex's presence.
"Trying, at least, this thing is super old," Daedalus chirped, not looking up from the frayed wires in front of him.
"Can I give it a go?", Din offered.
The Foundling backed away from his workspace. "Be my guest."
The Mandalorian made his way to the control box. He thought Daedalus would have left the room, but he didn't. "Is there something else?", Din chided.
"Yeah, umm, I...", Daedalus stumbled on the words, "I'm sorry," he finally spat out.
Din was confused. "For what?"
"Just...reacting the way I did. You still did a douche-y thing but I went a little overboard."
The bounty hunter fused some of the loose wires together, and a small chime rang out, signaling that the weapons system was no functioning.
Din turned to face the Foundling. "It's okay. I shouldn't have done it to begin with. I went overboard too, I guess."
Daedalus stuck out a hand. "Friends?"
The Mandalorian reciprocated the handshake. "Friends."

———

Din left the engine room, leaving Daedalus alone in the dim room. He crumped you the floor and began to cry. Being only friends with the Mandalorian is what had to be done, but it hurt. Deep down he still believed that they belonged together, and hoped more than anything that somewhere down the line something would become of them.
Wiping the tears from his eyes, he lifted himself to his feet and went to check on Alis and Gayle.
The Twi'lek remained unconscious, eyes wide open, but solid white. Gayle stayed by her side, holding hands with her fallen sister.
"How are you doing?", Daedalus asked.
Gayle looked up at him, her eyes bloodshot. "I've been better." She mustered a small smile as he sat next to her.
The ship suddenly buzzed to life, and deducting from the large jolt that followed, they had taken off and were heading back to Adelphi Outpost.
"Are you going to stay with the New Republic once we get back?", Gayle wondered.
Daedalus wasn't sure. He couldn't stay with Din, especially if he were allowing Lyra to tag along. He didn't necessarily want to join the New Republic, but he also had nothing else to go off of.
"I don't know," he finally mustered. "I want to continue bounty hunting, but I also have no ship or money."
"What if we all joined you?", Gayle proposed. "I talked to Verid and we both agreed that something is coming. Something big. I mean, look at what they did to Alis," she paused. "We just want to get out before whoever is out to destroy the New Republic makes a move."
The Foundling was ecstatic. "That would be great! We could make our own little crew." He looked over at Gayle, who was smiling at him. "Thank you."
"Of course."

—— A FEW HOURS LATER ——

The crew arrived back at Adelphi outpost about nine hours after leaving Dromund Kaas. Cara had heard their transmission and had sent another team of hers to fix their hyperdrive so they could get back. It was a rough ride home, but it gave the team enough time to rest after their prison break.
Once the ships set down, the team found themselves greeted by Cara.
"What happened to Alis?", she questioned as Wally carried her out of the ship.
"She found something, but then she was captured and they tortured her so she couldn't talk. We think it was some sort of advanced Star Destroyer," Verid informed.
Gayle made her way to Cara. "Can I talk to you, privately?"
"Of course," the Marshal consoled.
"I'm going to go clean up," Lyra chided. "I'll be right back."
Wally bellowed and headed into the base with Verid, leaving Din and Daedalus alone on the dock.
"Lyra and I are going to head out pretty soon," Din informed.
The Foundling nodded. "I figured. What about the bounty on your head?"
"I'm not sure, I'll figure something out."
Daedalus realized he still had the Mandalorian's helmet. "Here's this by the way. I sort of used it after  you died."
Din chuckled and took the helmet. "You know you're welcome to come with us."
"I appreciate the offer but I think I'm going to put together a little crew of my own."
The Mandalorian nodded. "Good luck, it's not as easy as you'd think."
Daedalus could see some sadness in Din's eyes. They may be over romantically, but deep down the Foundling knew he still meant more to Din than he'd like to admit. "Good luck to you, too."
The two embraced in a quick hug, before Lyra emerged from the base, dragging a bag full of Din's armor.
"This is all yours?! Why didn't you tell me you were a Mandalorian?!", she exclaimed.
The two chuckled.
Lyra tugged the armor up the ramp of her ship and began cleaning up.
"What about the Razor Crest?", Daedalus wondered.
Din sighed. "I guess it's staying on Sorgan until the heat of my bounty dies down. Lyra hump of scrap will have to do until then."
A frustrated "Hey!", came from inside the ship.
The two broke into laughter again.
"I guess this is goodbye?", Din sighed.
Daedalus smiled softly. "For now."
The pair hugged again.
"I'll miss you," Din admitted.
Daedalus wanted to say something. He wanted to tell Din he was making a mistake and how they should be the ones leaving together instead. Don't force it.
"Me too," he finally replied.
They pulled apart, and Din placed his helmet back on his head. Daedalus almost thought he could see tears in his eyes before he concealed his face. He nodded at the Foundling and made his way into Lyra's ship.
Daedalus watched the ship as it took off and left the outpost. A single tear rolled down his cheek.
At this time, Gayle returned to the dock and made her way to Daedalus.
"Well, Verid, Wally, and I are officially out of the New Republic. Cara said she'd let us have a ship for our years of service."
Daedalus nodded. "And Alis?"
"It doesn't look good...they're not sure she'll even wake up," Gayle stated, tears welling in her eyes. "But it's okay. We had a good run, and she had a great life."
The Foundling pulled Gayle in for a hug.
"As for you...why are you crying?", she pondered.
"Din and Lyra just left," Daedalus sniffled.
Gayle placed a hand on his shoulder. "You guys will see each other again, I can assure you of it. The galaxy's a big place, but it has a weird way of bringing people together."
Verid and Wally joined them outdoors.
"We got your stuff, Dae. Ready to teach us the ways of bounty hunting?", Verid mused.
Wally let out an excited bellow.
Daedalus chuckled.
His life with Din may be over for now, but a new chapter in his life was starting. He had a new crew, a new family.
"Okay team, let's head out. Them bounties aren't going to turn themselves in."

———

A/N:
HI EVERYONE!
I hope you've enjoyed this season as much as I have. Season 4 will be coming in the coming days, and I hope you'll continue to read this story :D
I apologize for ending the season like this but i SWEAR it only gets better from here!
If you've enjoyed any of it so far, please feel free to vote for your favorite chapter(s), it really helps not only promote the story more but also continue to motivate me to write more chapters :)
~ nunu

UPDATE:
i already feel bad for leaving it like this 5 minutes after publishing, so season 4 will be coming sooner rather than later lmao