𝖜𝖎𝖘𝖍𝖇𝖔𝖓𝖊, 𝔡𝔦𝔫 𝔡𝔧𝔞𝔯𝔦𝔫

𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐯𝐞

‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾

HER GAZE BURNT into the trembling man as he shielded the child with his body, pleading, "Please! Please don't hurt him, it's just a child!" Mando had his gun raised as he stepped towards the man, ignoring his cries as he shoved him out of the way. Sevara hurried to Mando's side, gazing down at their sleeping child, a spark of rage coursing through her veins as she looked to the young, cowering man with narrowed eyes.

"What did you do to it?" Mando asked, his weapon pointed towards the man, who's frame shook in the corner of the small, dingy lab. When there was no coherent response, Mando raised his voice, "What did you do to it!"

"I— I protected him!" The man said, "I protected him! If it wasn't for me, he would already be dead!"

Mando glanced at Sevara, to which she nodded and moved to the child. She slid one hand beneath his back and another behind his neck, pulling his swaddled body close to her chest as Mando ushered the three of them from the room, leaving the man inside. Immediately, they swung around a stack of crates as a pair of Stormtroopers made their way past, creeping out from the shadows once the coast was clear. Sevara trailed Mando closely, her toes lightly brushing against the heels of his boots as he lead her and the child through the hallways of the building.

As they entered through another door, she ducked alongside Mando after his smashing of a control panel alerted some nearby guards, with red beams shot in their direction as they ran low across the room. Sevara crouched behind a crate stack beside Mando, hearing one of the Stormtroopers say, "Split up. We'll flush them out."

The torch light danced over the room, reflecting off of the metal crates and cool flooring. Mando beckoned for Sevara to follow him as he hurried past the guards, sliding behind another metallic object. She scampered towards him, holding the child close to her chest.

"Give it up," a Stormtrooper said, "there's no where to—!"

Mando jumped up, attacking the guard from behind. When they were down, he tackled the other, using the pronged end of his rifle to ripple a spark of electricity across their white armour. The two of the went onwards to the next room, with Sevara aiming her blaster high with one hand and their child in the other. As a Stormtrooper rounded the corner, Mando unleashed a spray of flames, burning through the guard as a horrifying gurgle erupted from the them. The child stirred, his gaze fixing on the blood-curdling spectacle before them. Sevara gently used her finger to push his cheek towards her, refocusing the child's large eyes on hers as she scurried alongside Mando.

The stench of burnt flesh made her eyes water, but she pushed through as they found themselves in the familiar, industrial room from before. As they made a move to the exit, each door that led to the room slid open, with multiple Stormtroopers marching towards them.

They were surrounded.

‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾

"FREEZE—!" ONE OF them said.

"—Don't move!" Another warned.

"Hands up—!"

"—Drop your weapons!"

Demands were being shouted left and right as Sevara cast a worried glance at Mando, unsure if they were to obey the Stormtrooper's commands. He stared at her for a moment, his gaze briefly dropping to the child before looking to the guards, saying, "Wait. What she's holding is very valuable. Here," as Mando lowered himself to the floor, Sevara followed suit, gingerly placing her blaster by his rifle and hesitantly setting their child beside the weapons, too.

"Now," said a Stormtrooper, "turn and face me."

Sevara waited for Mando to rise, her brows knitting together when he didn't. Instead, he cocked his wrist, whispering in a low voice, "Get down," as minuscule, blue tipped blades shot out like bullets every which way.

One by one, the Stormtroopers went down. Sevara glanced at Mando, then the device built into his armour asking, "What was that?"

"Whistling Birds," he informed, scooping up his rifle as Sevara picked up the child alongside her blaster. Together, they crept from the Client's dwellings and back into the street, now deserted save for a few straggling vendors.

With the child clutched tight in her arms and her blaster tucked in her waistband, Sevara turned to Mando, saying, "You're different, you know that? Most people would've just left the kid to die but you came back for it. I admire that about you."

"You admire me?" He asked, his pace slowing as he turned towards her.

Sevara narrowed her eyes at him, her head tilting as she asked, "Is that all you got from what I just said?"

Mando huffed a quiet laugh, "I'm sorry, I meant to say thank you."

Inching towards him to close the slight gap between them, Sevara looked up into the silver beskar of Mando's helmet and softly asked, "What's going to happen after all of this? I mean, we stole back the child from the Empire, surely someone will come looking for us, right?"

"I don't know," he admitted, his arm brushing against hers as he glanced down at the child, who was now wide awake and gazing up at the two of them curiously. Sevara smiled sweetly at the small creature, raising one hand to gently run a finger down his soft cheek, feeling the weight on Mando's gaze fixated on the two of them.

Mando quietly spoke, "Can I ask you something?"

"Yeah, sure," said Sevara, glancing up from the child to him, her eyes bright.

"It's just that on the ship, when you mentioned your child... I just want you to know that you don't have to hide things from me. I understand what it's like to lose people and besides, we're a team now so I'm going to be here for you, no matter what you need."

"Oh," said Sevara, a faint flush coating her cheeks as she bit back a smile, gazing at the bounty hunter before her. "I— thank you, truly."

Her smile faltered, however, as a brief rustle alerted the two of them, their heads whipping left and right in search of the intruder. Unfamiliar faces began to flood the empty streets, the only thing in common with each of them being the small, blinking device in their palms. Once more, Sevara cast a worried glance towards Mando as numerous blasters had begun to be drawn upon them. Her eyes widened as it dawned on her that the notion of someone looking for them seemed to resemble the idea of everyone looking for them, a lot closer.

Just as inside the Client's dwellings, they were surrounded by weapons out in the streets, too.

‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾

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