The Mandalorian's Bounties | Din Djarin

Chapter 10 | The Passenger (Part 4)

The Child interrupts their work sometime later, babbling and pointing at the ship.

"How 'bout you come over here, give me a hand? Make yourself useful." Din tells the Child, going back to work. Cordelia rolls her eyes at him from where she works a few feet down from him. She leans back to look at the Child, but he's gone.

"Mando, will you go make sure he's all right? I'm almost done with this." She says.

"I'll be back. Once you're finished with that, head inside to wait for us." Din says. She nods, watching him stand to move after the Child. "Where are you going? Come back here!" He says, following the Child as he walks away from the ship. 

Cordelia continues with her work as their footsteps get farther away. She finishes the section she was working on and glances towards where Din and the Child disappeared. Deciding that they'll still be gone, she moves and starts working on Din's section. 

She's wrapping up the repairs when the sounds of blaster fire and heavy footsteps reaches her ears. She quickly scoops up her tools and rushes to get inside the ship. Throwing the tools onto the nearest crate, she moves to the ladder and climbs. 

Cordelia reaches the cockpit and curses, realizing she doesn't know how to pilot the ship. She hops down the ladder and snatches up blankets and anything else the group might need before taking them back up.

"Cordelia!" Din's voice shouts as they near the ship. "Get to the cockpit!" He yells.

"Already there!" She yells back, moving to stand at the edge of the ladder. She hears them enter the ship, along with lots of little legs. She shivers, then spots the Frog Lady with her eggs. She passes them to Cordelia, then climbs the ladder with the Child. 

Once the Child and Frog Lady are safely in the cockpit, Cordelia moves back to the ladder, drawing her blaster. Din finally climbs up, the spiders quickly following. The two shoot them, but they keep coming. They back up into the cockpit, trying to shut the door, but the spiders manage to keep it open with their bodies.

Din and Cordelia glance back when another blaster fires, seeing the Frog Lady with her own blaster. Cordelia turns her attention to the Child, who holds his hand above his head. She rushes to grab him, and Din shoots his flamethrower at the door, killing the spiders and shutting the door. He glances at the Frog Lady, then Cordelia and the Child.

"What the hell happened out there?" She asks. Din doesn't have time to answer as they turn, spotting spiders climbing the ship from the outside. 

"Strap yourselves in. This better work." Din says. They all sit, Cordelia holding the Child in her lap. "I've got limited visibility. It's gonna be a bumpy ride." He tells them as the ship starts. It begins to lift off the ground when something heavy slams into it from above, knocking it back down. 

The large spider moves off the top of the ship until it hovers over the windows. It stares into the cockpit at them before slamming it's mouth onto the window, trying to break through. It's teeth scrape along the glass before rears back to strike again.

Before it can, the spider is shot, more blaster fire sounding after it's dead. Cordelia holds the Child tighter, trying to soothe him by rubbing his back. Din stands, moving towards the door. Cordelia grabs his arm before he can leave, and he turns to her.

"Be careful." She tells him. He nods, moving closer for a Keldabe Kiss before he leaves the cockpit. They listen to the blaster fire continue for a while longer, until it stops, replaced with a voice.

"We ran the tabs on the Razor Crest. You have an arrest warrant for the abduction of prisoner X-Six-Nine-Eleven. However, onboard security records show that you apprehended three priority culprits from the Wanted Register. Security records also show that you put your own life in harm's way to try to protect that of Lieutenant Davan from the New Republic Correctional Corps. Is this true?" The voice says.

"Am I under arrest?" Din asks.

"Technically, you should be. But these are trying times." The man responds.

"What say I forego the bounties on these three criminals, and you two help me fuse my hull so I can get off this frozen rock?" He asks.

"What say you fix that transponder, and we don't vaporize that antique the next time we patrol the Rim?" He says. Cordelia listens as their ships start and they leave. Din heads back inside, where the others wait for him.

"All right. I'm gonna repair the cockpit enough for us to limp to Trask. There's nothing I can do about the main hull's integrity, so we're gonna have to get cozy in the cockpit. It's the only thing I can pressurize. If you need to use the privy, do it now. It's gonna be a long ride." He tells them. 

The Frog Lady moves to the privy and Cordelia moves towards Din. She wraps her arms around him, resting her head on his chest. He holds her tight, cupping her head and tilting it back until she looks at him.

"Ni kar'tayl gar darasuum." He says quietly. She smiles at him, cupping the side of his helmet and repeating his words. He leans down for a Keldabe Kiss. They stay like that for a moment before they're interrupted by the Child. He coos, standing between them and tugging on their pants.

"Do you want some love, too?" Cordelia asks him, lifting him into her arms. She kisses his cheek, and he squeals happily, placing his hand on her cheek. Din leans closer and the Child rests his other hand on the side of his helmet, giggling.

"Let's get up to the cockpit so I can work on getting us out of here." Din says. Cordelia nods and they head up the ladder. Din gets to work, the Child sticking close to him to watch. Cordelia sits in her seat, watching them with a smile. The Frog Lady joins them, sitting in her chair.

When Din moves outside, the Child watches him through the window, resting his hands on the glass. He returns to the cockpit a while later, picking up the Child as he reaches his seat.

"Okay, repair's all done. Let's see if we can get this thing going once and for all." Din says, starting the ship. They leave the hole the ship had fallen through, and into space, heading for Trask. "Wake me up if someone shoots at us." Din tells the Frog Lady. 

He spins his chair to face the two behind him. He turns to Cordelia and pats his lap, shifting the Child to make room for her. She leaves her seat and climbs into his lap, wrapping her arms around him and resting her head on his chest as he spins back around. 

"Or that door gets sucked off its rails. I'm kidding. If that happened, we'd all be dead. Sweet dreams." He says. Cordelia pinches his side.

"Not funny." She says, closing her eyes.

"Sorry." He mumbles, wrapping his arms around her and leaning his helmet against the back of his chair. They both quickly fall asleep.

The Child looks at them and coos softly before climbing off the chair. He climbs into Cordelia's and curls up with the blanket she had left there. He looks at his parents, their love giving him extra warmth as he falls asleep.

Sorry it's late! I had a bunch of stuff come up yesterday and I wasn't able to write at all, so I couldn't finish it. Also, I skipped most of the spider parts because spiders are gross and I didn't like watching the episode, so I definitely didn't want to write it lol. Hopefully it isn't too boring for you guys.