Desideratum | The Mandalorian

The Mistake

*Warning: this capture does contain a bit of graphic material (blood, violence, mentions of torture) It's not terribly bad, but I just wanted to warn incase that bothers some.*

Faye had not been able to go back to sleep after Mando patched up her arm. She had spent their time traveling swapping between watching the stars, watching the silent Mandalorian, and watching the sleeping kid. Said kid had woken up about ten minutes earlier and now sat in Faye's lap. Having her hands unbound made it much easier for her to entertain the kid, as she was currently making funny faces at him. An alert of an incoming message made both her and the child turn towards the front of the cockpit.

A miniature blue outline of a man appeared on the dash.

"Mando! I received your transmission. Wonderful news. Upon your return, deliver the quarries directly to the client. I have no idea if he wants to eat it or hang it on his wall but he's very antsy. Safe passage. You know where to find me." Faye's eyes widened at the mention of eating the kid. She would not let that happen. But whoever wanted both her and the kid had to have something devious planned. Especially after witnessing what the kid could do. She wondered if the client knew about the kid's powers, but the sinking feeling in her soul told her that they did.

"Where are you taking us?" Her voice was quiet, but she knew Mando heard. He didn't answer for quite some time. In the meantime, Faye had unscrewed a silver knob off a lever that the child had been eying and handed it to him.

"Nevarro." Faye sucked in a breath. She knew what was on Nevarro. Who was on Nevarro. Imperials had gathered and set up a base on the planet, which was why she had always steered clear until now. Faye had run into Imps before, and she was constantly being hunted by them since she escaped. Many people wanted to kill her, but the Imps were not counted among them. They needed her for what she had, but she would never give it to them.

"Imps. You're taking us to the Imps." Mando said nothing. The child's ears drooped as if he knew it was a bad situation.

"Mando," she hesitated, " You can't give us to them. Please." The word was delivered through gritted teeth, as Faye was not one inclined to beg. Unfortunately, the situation was dire.

"It's what I was paid to do." Faye shook her head at the emotionless hunk of armor.

"Take me, but leave the kid out of it." Mando's head turned slightly toward her. "I know what they'll do to me, and I - I can take it. But he's just a kid. He can't." She looked into the wide eyes of the kid, who cooed at her and placed his tiny hand on hers, sensing her distress. Mando turned back around to stare out at the stars.

"I have to." Anger was sparked in Faye, hardening her eyes and sending waves of that anger towards Mando. He stiffened as if he could feel it.

"You know, I started thinking that everything I learned about Mandalorians was wrong. That you weren't cold, heartless mercenaries who only cared about yourselves and your creed. I guess I was wrong." The words dripped from her mouth like acid, but they only burnt the hunter. He knew he deserved every one of them. He took the silver knob away from the kid and screwed it back to the lever.

"Get used to being disappointed."

                                         XXX

When the ship landed, Mando put the child back into his floating crib and put the cuffs back on Faye. At least the cloth wraps put somewhat of a barrier between her bare skin and the cold metal. Faye would barely even look at the Mandalorian and when she did her eyes held nothing but anger. Mando hated the way her anger clouded her once bright green eyes. He also hated himself for thinking things like that. He gripped Faye by the arm, his grasp was tight, not because of frustration with her but with himself. He had never had a problem turning in a bounty before and he wasn't going to start now. The streets of Nevarro seemed barren but he knew better. The real enemy simply knew how to hide in plain sight.