Desideratum | The Mandalorian

Best + Bitter = Better

Consciousness returned to Faye slowly and then hit her like a freight truck all at once. Her eyes snapped open and she jerked to sitting position. Headed reeling, she squinted at the bright orange of the campfire that meet her gaze. What the hel...hello there. Faye's eyes met those of a small green creature in a floating orb thing. He tilted his head and made a cooing noise at her, that had Faye's cold heart melting like butter. She reached toward him but found her hands bound together in front of her by thick metal cuffs. That's when the memories of the previous day hit her.

"You stunned me." Faye's death glare settled onto the armor clad Mandalorian who had been tending to a wound on his upper arm. He didn't even acknowledge her comment.

"Did you hear what I said, tin can? You can't just stun someone and then drag them across the desert to gods know where." Faye swore, then turned her attention back to the green creature. She lifted her bound hands to run a finger across his large ear.

"Don't touch him." A deep but modulated voice broke the silence. Faye turned back to the bounty hunter to see him frozen, hand hovering over his arm but head turned directly to stare at her. She may not be able to see his face but Faye could feel the heat of his glare. Smirking, Faye kept her gaze leveled where she figured his eyes would be.

"He speaks," she scoffed, "What am I going to do, hmm? Grab him and run? I'm pretty sure we wouldn't get far considering I have no bloody clue where we're at. You also have a blaster that I know you're willing to use." She knew that very well. Her torso was still sore from the lasting effects of the stun. Faye watched as the child climbed out of its carrier and moved toward the Mandalorian. It reached its hand as if it wanted to help the hunter, but before it could, the hunter scooped him up and placed the child back into the carrier. Faye was surprised at the gentleness with which the hunter did this. Bounty hunters were known for their cruelty and selfishness. Faye knew as she had run into quite a few bounty hunters in her day. And she always managed to escape. She just had to bide her time and wait.

XXX

The next morning revealed a dry and dusty planet. Faye had no idea what planet this was as she had been blind folded after her capture until she was forced into that storage room. Grumbling, Faye's stomach angrily reminded her that she hadn't eaten in quite a few days. Her captors had brought her food and water twice a day for weeks, until three days ago they had stopped. The Mandalorian who hadn't said a word since telling her to leave the child alone the previous night, tossed her a food bar from his pack. She caught it deftly in her still bound hands, the metal starting to rub her wrists raw. The bar was gone in seconds. The Mandalorian was still staring at her when she lifted her head up, chewing the last bite of the bar quickly.

"What? You try not eating for three days and we'll see how your eating manners fare." Faye scolded herself after the words left her mouth. Being rude wouldn't  get her anymore food bars. Better to play nice. "Thanks for the bar." The Mandalorian turned and kept walking. The pod carrying the child floating behind him leaving Faye to catch up.

"Can't have you starving to death. The client wants you alive."

"And I don't suppose you will tell me who exactly this client is? There are a lot of people who want me dead." The Mandalorian said nothing. Not that she expected the silent hunter to. His sentence earlier was the most she had heard him speak. She figured he was one of those silent types. They don't speak much but when they do, you better listen because you know it will be important.

XXX

After what seemed like hours of walking, the trio topped a sandy embankment and Faye saw the bounty hunter's ship for the first time. Or what was left of it. She smirks as the clearly upset Mandalorian fires his riffle at the Jawas that were in the process of stripping his ship. The few that the hunter hits simply disintegrate into ashes, making Faye's stomach curl at her possible fate if she tried running. Before she could say anything, the Mandalorian shot past her, chasing after the Jawas's moving fortress. Faye looked at the green child floating beside her. He cocked his head as if wondering about the sanity of the hunter as well.

Faye sighed, "Let's go, kid." By the time Faye had caught up to the Mandalorian, he had scaled up the side of the still moving fortress while trying to dodge items being thrown out windows by the Jawas.

"I don't think you thought this through very well." Faye shouted up at the Mandalorian. He turned his head as if to respond the same time a Jawa stuck him with an electricity rod. The hunter fell off the ship and hit the ground hard. Faye felt a bolt of concern rush through her as she rushed to his side. The child made a soft cooing noise, and Faye swore that he seemed worried about the hunter. She snapped her hand away from his chest plate as a spark of electricity zapped her. Faye was able to wedge two fingers in the space between his helmet and shoulder to feel a soft pulse beneath her fingers. She couldn't decide if the warm skin she felt surprised her or not. She had figured he was human, but it could be hard to imagine him as a person under all that armor.

For a moment, running away crossed her mind. There had to be a town somewhere on this planet. Though, as she surveyed the endless sand around her, Faye didn't even know which direction she would go. She could wander for days and not find anything. She was already running weak from the lack of food for three days, she wouldn't last long on her own. Not to mention if she brought the kid. At the same time, she didn't want to leave the Mandalorian to the mercy of the desert. Sure, he had captured her and the kid, but he was just doing his job, Faye though begrudgingly. She sighed.

"Well kid, what should we do while we wait?"

Thirty odd minutes later found Faye playing with the child on the ground, and a groaning Mandalorian starting to wake up. He sat up slowly but his hand shot to his helmet quickly to assure himself it hadn't moved.

"Don't worry. I may not know many things, but I know the custom of some sects of Mandalorians. Until I was sure to which you belonged, I knew to not remove your helmet." Faye didn't take her eyes off the child in front of her, giving the Mandalorian time to put himself together.

"What do you mean some sects?"

"Ah, so you finally decide to speak to me other than giving commands." Faye smirked at the hunter. She hated not being able to see his expressions, as she wanted to see if she was annoying him like she hoped. He stared back at her. "I have known a few Mandalorians before, and they removed their helmets. But I've heard stories about some who follow the old ways and refuse to show their faces."

"If a Mandalorian removed their helmet, then they were not true Mandalorian." The hunter stood and started back towards the direction of the ship. Faye brushed the sand from her backside and decided to carry the child instead of putting him back into his pod.

"Whatever you say. It's not my business what your people do one way or the other." They fell back into silence, which did not really surprise Faye. She was starting to understand this hunter, albeit with much difficulty since he hardly spoke. The scene of the ship showed much the same, and the Mandalorian moved to check the inside. Minutes later, he came back out of the ship and sighed.

"Everything is gone. And the ship won't start."

The child squirmed in Faye's arms so she stroked his fuzzy ear to calm him. He settled against her and closed his eyes, to which Faye gave a small smile. She looked up to find the Mandalorian watching them, his head titled.

"So what's the plan, tin can?"

He sighed again. "I know someone who may can help."