Chapter 21 - Traitor
Fayra's eyes fluttered, she felt a pain throbbing at her forehead. She reached her hand up, but it was weighed down. Her heart jumped when she realized her hands were tied together. They were too tight, the smallest movement sent pain through her wrists. She placed a palm over the sore spot on her forehead. She brought her hand back down to inspect it. There was blood. She moaned. When her eyes adjusted, she took in her surroundings. She was in the Cargo Bay of the Razor Crest. She swallowed, her throat was dry. Movement beside her caught her eye. She turned to look. Peli was sitting on the bench, her arms and legs tied together.
"It's about time." A male's voice sounded behind her . It took Fayra a moment to place it. It was that hunter Manny left with… Toro. "You keep a man waiting all day."
She heard footsteps approaching. She started to squirm to get up. He reached for her and jerked her up by the arm. Her binds stretched at the weight. Fayra grunted. He turned her around to face him. He smirked as he eyed her. "You the bounty Mando helped?" He asked.
Fayra squared her shoulders and said nothing.
"I'm not playing, girl." He warned.
Fayra stayed silent. He dragged her, with one fist knotted in her hair and one at her back, pushing her to the back toward the weapons cabinet. It was open and the table was pulled out. He twisted her around to face him and pushed her against the table. Fayra grunted at the pain. He reached behind her, grabbing something from the cabinet. He took out a small blaster. Shoved it under her chin. She squirmed.
"No," He said. "To final." He shoved it down his pants. "How about this? It's a real beauty." He pulled out the curved knife. Fayra swallowed when she heard Mando's explanation of how it was used echo through her head. "Yes!" He said, smiling at her.
"Now, you're going to tell me about him." He said pressing her against the table. He grabbed another handful of hair and he yanked down hard. Fayra screamed as her neck was painfully exposed and stretched to the max. He placed the cold blade against her skin. He slowly moved it down, between her breast, then her bare stomach. She flinched and cried out when Toro placed the sharp tip into her belly and gently pushed. He didn't push hard enough to break the skin, but enough for it to sting.
"What are his weaknesses?" He asked. Fayra was relieved. If he was asking about Mando that meant he was alive. But where was he? She wondered. When she didn't answer he pushed harder on the knife. Fayra cried out again. She sucked in her stomach trying to put distance between her and the blade. Toro smiled at her. She could see it in his eyes, he was enjoying this.
"It's a shame." He said looking down at the blade on her stomach. He moved the knife up, his smile grew as he took the blade and lifted her shirt, exposing her breasts. She took the opportunity to raise her knee and kick him in the groan. Toro doubled over and grunted in pain as it knocked him off balance. Fayra jerked her elbows up trying to catch his chin. But he recovered quickly, blocked her attack and backhanded Fayra across her cheek. Blood trickled from the corner of her mouth down her chin, as her body rocked to the side. He grabbed her, twisting her around slamming her face down across the table. She groaned as he pressed her head down on top of the steel table. Fayra thought she felt her skull crack.
"Okay, if you don't want to talk, then we can play instead." He said hooking her skirt with the blade, grazing it against her skin as he lifted it up past her hips, Fayra whimpered and squirmed against his grip. She was now, completely, exposed to him. She felt the air hit her bare bottom causing her heart to pound so hard she thought it would explode.
"Mmm" Toro moaned. "I haven't seen anything this beautiful in a while." He sat the blade down, skimming his hand across her backside. He began unbuckling his pants. She protested, but Toro lifted her head up and slammed it back down on the table. Sparks exploded across the back of her eyelids as she squeezed them shut from pain.
"You know you're being very stupid boy!" Peli yelled out. "Very stupid!"
"Shut up you old bag!" Toro barked.
"You know you're making a big mistake!" Peli continued. "You left that Mandalorian alive, right?"
"What's it to you?" Toro spat, kicking Fayra's legs apart at her ankles. She cried out as his leather boots broke her skin open.
"It's dark now," Peli began to explain. "If you left him where you said, he should be here any time now."
Toro froze and turned his gaze on Peli.
"Do you really want to be in the middle of that when he turns up?"
Fayra was trembling uncontrollably now.
"Besides that, when he does show up, you're gonna need a hostage." Peli continued. "When you're done with her, she's not going to make a good one. So you'll have to use me. And I don't think that Mandalorian will care once he's seen what you've done to his… uh, property."
Toro released Fayra and she slid to the floor.
"We'll both be dead if she's broken and bloodied on the floor." Peli suggested. "Haven't you heard the stories about Mandalorians?"
He buckled his pants back in place and sighed. He grabbed her, pulling her up again. Fayra's legs were like jelly. She could barely stand. And trembling so hard she thought her teeth would shatter. Toro shoved her down next to Peli and sat opposite them. The curved knife in one hand and a blaster in the other.
Toro jumped to his feet when he heard the entrance to the bay opened and then slide closed. He grabbed Fayra and placed her in front of him. He cut the ties to Peli's hands.
"Don't try anything old bat!" He whispered. "Get those cuffs and walk in front." He motioned Peli to exit the ship with his blaster. He wrapped the knife around Fayra's throat, pulling her close as they heard a clatter just outside the ship. Toro placed the blaster at her side and they began walking out.
"Took you long enough Mando!" Toro called out. Mando raised his blaster as the trio exited the ship. Relief flushed over Fayra when she saw the familiar glint in his armor as the moon shone down. "Looks like I'm calling the shots now, huh, partner?!" Toro mocked.
"Drop your blaster, and raise 'em." Toro demanded. Mando took in the situation before him. Particularly the condition Fayra was in. Her hands were bound in front of her. She had a cut on her forehead at the hairline and another at the corner of her lip. There were fresh bruises on her arms, ankles and hip bones. Her breath was ragged and she was trembling.
"I once heard a story about a Mandalorian shooting through his target to get to a rival. " Toro stuck his nose in Fayra's hair, inhaling her scent and smirked. "Something tells me you're not going to be able to do that to her. Now, I said to drop the blaster and raise your hands." Toro pressed the blade up and into Fayra's throat. She screamed through her teeth falling back into Toro, she lifted herself on her tiptoes to relieve some of the pressure against her throat.
Mando dropped his blaster and raised his hands to his head.
"Cuff him." Toro instructed Peli.
"You're a Guild traitor, Mando, and I'm willing to bet that this here is the target you helped escape." Toro smiled. "Of course, she wanted to play rather than talk. I'd probably turn traitor too, to get a piece of this." Toro pressed the blaster into her stomach, pressing her backside into him. He groaned in pleasure as she whimpered and shut her eyes.
"She's feisty too." Toro said. "Don't worry sweetheart, we're gonna finish what we started as soon as Mando's dead." He whispered into her ear.
"Fennec was right -" Toro continued.
Peli worked her way around Mando. "What did he do to her?" He asked as Toro babbled on.
"If you mean what I think you mean, he came close." Peli whispered, slowly lifted the cuffs to his hands then saw the flash charge hidden in his fist. "You're smarter than you look."
"- it'll make me legendary!" Toro and Fayra yelped as a bright flash blinded him. Fayra heard blaster fire and she was harshly jerked backward and fell a good distance off the ramp. She rolled away from Toro's body, trying to blink away the spots in her eyes.
"Fayra!" She heard Peli call out. "Fayra! There you are."
The woman knelt down next to her embracing her around the shoulders. "You okay?" Peli asked. Fayra wasn't sure, but she nodded anyway. Fayra looked to Mando. He was inspecting the body.
"Come on." Peli suggested pulling Fayra to her feet and away from the body. They turned to watch Mando. He searched the body procuring what belonged to him. He turned and made his way to them.
Peli turned Fayra over to him. "So, I take it you didn't get paid?" She sighed.
Mando took out a pouch and poured credits into her hands. "That cover me?"
"Yeah, Yes, this is gonna cover you." She said, a bit shocked. Peli looked at Fayra. "You take care now, okay?"
Fayra smiled weakly. "You talked him out of it… thank you."
Peli smiled and shrugged. She waved goodbye to them as Mando guided Fayra ahead of him and onto the ship. She heard Peli yelling at her droids as the door sealed closed.
Mando led Fayra to his weapons cabinet. He felt her recoil from the table and halted. He drew his hands up. Fayra was startled and frantically stepped back hitting Mando in the chest. She yelped.
He wrapped his arms around her and grabbed her bound hands. "Fayra." He said. Holding her with one hand and pulling the curved knife from his belt with the other. She closed her eyes and turned away as he brought the knife forward. She was glad to hear his voice behind her and not Toro's. Yet, she barely knew the man under the helmet. He cut the binds and they fell to the ground. "It's alright." He tried to reassure her. But he could feel her trembling.
After a few moments, they moved and ascended the ladder. Mando sat her down in the chair just behind him and flew the Razor Crest up and into orbit. He heard her shift and exit the flight deck once the ship was stable. He took a deep breath and sighed, setting a course. A few moments later he heard the shower running.
He descended the ladder looking at the mess left behind. He began reorganizing the weapons, then noticed a small puddle of blood splattered on the table. With his deduction skills he could mentally see details of what took place.
After cleaning up, he headed to the galley. Fayra was standing there a glass of water in her hand. She was wrapped in a towel and her hair hung over her shoulder, it looked much longer when wet. He crossed the room and stopped next to the table. She turned, and jumped at his presence. She pursed her lips, but immediately regretted it when a surge of pain hit.
She set the glass down. He took in her appearance again, seeing every detail, from her head to her scraped ankles, of the recent events. She did the same, and noticed the black scorching mark. Her brows furrowed. She approached him, he didn't yield from his position, as usual. She placed a hand on his chest.
"What caused this?" She asked walking up to him.
"Sniper bolt." He answered.
She nodded. "And this?" She placed her hand on his forearm next to a poorly wrapped gash that bled through.
"Speeder bike crash, debris flew, nicked my arm." He explained.
She nodded again, closing her eyes.
"I'm tired, I'm going back to bed." She let her hand slowly drop from his chest then turned to go back to her room.