The remaining guard dropped his blaster and backed away from the scene, horrified.

"She…" he struggled, unable to articulate any further as he stared at Senn's limp body.

The Mandalorian swung his rifle onto his back, dropped to the floor, and cradled Senn's head as he looked her over for injuries. The man lingered in a state of shock.

"Get out of here!" Din shouted at him. The guard startled out of his stupor and bolted for the exit.

With that, the Mandalorian lifted Senn into his arms and rushed back up into his ship. After strapping her safely into the bunk, he bolted for the cockpit and prepped for hyperspeed. A deafening alarm burst through the air just as the landing gear retracted and the cruiser glided steadily through the blue atmosphere gate. Din wrenched on the hyperspeed lever before the ship had even left the freighter's colonnade proximity, leaving a massive scorch on the object and shifting everything inside from crates to bodies.

Din was back down in the corridor moments after making the jump, the ship protesting in its own way. He hit the door latch and let out a deep breath when he saw Senn still lying peacefully on the cot. He climbed inside, clumsily throwing his gloves aside and feeling for her pulse and breathing. He swept her over with all the diagnostics his helmet offered. She appeared to be in perfect health, if not still a little dehydrated and exhausted. His chest rose and fell rapidly as he fell back against the side of the bunk with a plethora of questions pounding against him.

"Din?" Senn inhaled sharply as she came to.

"Senn!" he practically shouted. "Are you alright? You're safe."

The operative nodded slowly, grimacing as she felt around her environment.

"You're in the bunk. We're back on the ship-at hyperspeed."

"What happened?" she murmured.

"You shot Raines in the head and passed out," the Mandalorian hesitated. "You...shot... how did you do that? ...Those men. I've only ever seen Jedi-,"

"-I'm not Jedi,"

Din stopped short, his chest tight. Senn rolled onto her side and struggled to sit up. Din shifted onto his knees to help. She was still pale and held her head in pain. The Mandalorian reached over and turned her face to him, searching for injuries. She closed her eyes and leaned into his touch.

"I'm sorry. I didn't have time to explain," she spoke low. "I...Sometimes I can tap into something. It's like an energy field. If I concentrate on the way it feels, I can...see-or at least feel, the world around me. I can even sense strong emotions, like fear or grief or joy. It makes me feel strong and at peace. But when I push myself, I become weak again..." Senn trailed off, struggling with the words and clearly self-conscious. "This all must sound insane," she looked down and shook her head woefully.

"No," Din pushed her dark hair out of her eyes. "I've seen this sort of thing before, Senn. It's the Force. And frankly, it's no more insane than a blind operative who can shoot better than a Mandalorian."

Senn could hear the smile in his voice.

Exhaustion and relief washed over her, and she leaned forward against her companion. Din held her close. An impulse pulled at him, and he reached up to remove his helmet before returning to grasp her tightly. Senn practically whimpered at the gesture. The Mandalorian inhaled her scent deeply.

"Senn," he whispered after a few minutes. She couldn't get enough of the sound of her name in his unfiltered voice. "You should rest."

The operative wilted a little against his beskar, but nodded weakly. Din took one of Senn's hands, pressed her fingers to his lips, and bent until his brow pressed against hers. Senn tilted her head and kissed him. It was a kiss filled with earnest affection as opposed to the ambitious appetite she brandished before.

"Please stay," she pleaded.

"I will," he nodded, sliding so his body lay flush with hers.

Senn fell asleep quickly in the crook of his arm.

The Mandalorian studied her face for what felt like hours. He relished in the feel of her hot breaths against his chin and neck, watched her dark lashes flutter, soaked in the soft sounds of her sleep, the rise and fall of her chest against him...it was enough to make him shiver.

No woman had ever affected him this way. She had crawled into him, and it both weakened and strengthened him all at once. But after his time traveling with Grogu, it also felt oddly familiar.

Din jerked awake at the feeling of nothing pressed against him. He was alone in the bunk. He looked down to find half of his chestplate had been removed, the bandage on his ribs changed and smelling of fresh bacta spray.

He gathered himself and slipped from the cot. Din reached for his helmet instinctually, but his hand lingered in the air for a moment before dropping back to his side. He closed the bunk door and headed up to the cockpit to check on their progress.

Senn slouched sideways in the pilot's chair, knees curled to her chest, fingers idly tracing loose patterns over her leggings.

"I've wanted to kill him for so long," Senn spoke quietly. Of course she knew he was there. "...and look at me. I feel like I'm 16 again. Still shaking after my first assignment,"

Din moved to the chair and stood close.

"It's different when it's personal," he murmured. Senn closed her eyes and tilted her head back.

"Yes, it is," she idled.

A long couple of minutes passed in the whirring hum of the ship's path through hyperspace before Senn spoke again.

"I was 23 when I went on assignment with Henrik. We were tasked with bringing in one of the Grin's stakeholders from the outer rim who'd been getting a little too close to the republic core for Raines' liking. We found him holed up with his family working in a geothermal energy plant-a wife and two little girls. When he realized what we were there to do, he sealed himself and his family in cytotoxic and vesicant chemical pressurizer and activated the discharge sequence. They died in seconds. The gas blowout caught us off guard though. Henrik saw it coming and pushed me into a ventilator valve while he took the full brunt of the blast. It all but killed him...dissolved his clothes, his hair, most of his skin. By the time I crawled out, he was unrecognizable. He pointed to my blaster, then his head. So I shot him." Senn narrated her memory in a distant, soft voice.

"That's how you lost your sight?" Din asked.

"Yes," she nodded. "And I thought, my soul, for a while. Watching those girls be put to death-choose death-because of me."

Din's heart flinched for her.

"Because of Raines," he corrected her gently.

"Yes," she responded automatically, her gaze fixed on the memory before her. "The last thing you ever see isn't something a lot of people think about, unless they're thinking about their own death," she pondered, her tone distant and contemplative. "But I think about it every day."

Din moved around the chair and crouched in front of her knees, so she could feel him-his warmth, his attention.

"I somehow got it into my head that, once Raines was dead, I wouldn't see it anymore."

The right words of comfort swam around in Din's mind, but none of them seemed sufficient. You've done so much good. You see more than anyone I've ever known. You don't have to worry about Raines doing that to anyone ever again. It all fell flat as he stared up into her pale, glazed eyes. Her neck and chest were blotchy with recent emotion, but her expression was calm and serene.

"What do you see right now?" he asked in a low hum. Senn smiled.

"I feel a small living space laced with an undercurrent of care, integrity, and solidarity. I sense the outline of the consol, the seams of the walls, and the porthole from the vibrations of hyperspace," she looked down over his face and smiled. "And the healthy beating heart of a Mandalorian, terrified of what Marshal Cara Dune will do to him when she finds out he's made love to her childhood friend."

Din's dimpled brow jumped at the sudden shift in her tone, but couldn't stop the smile that slowly spread from his brown eyes to his lips.

Senn suddenly leaned forward, planted her feet on the floor, and drew him into a kiss that quickly escalated into a much fuller embrace. Slowly, she slipped from the chair, letting her legs fall to either side of Din's lap as he knelt on the floor of the bridge, locked in another precious moment of connection he wasn't sure he'd ever have.

The Mandalorian savoured the warm caresses of her mouth against his own. They both danced, taking turns leading the stroke of the tongue, the pressure, the rhythm... When their breathing became short, Senn gently nipped his lower lip and Din once more felt the snapping strands of his restraint. He growled low into her mouth. Senn's eyes rolled up into her head with ecstasy. She decided she would never get enough of that sound.

His hands began to roam up under her tunic, his deep brown eyes hooded with the sudden rush of lust that came with the sensation of her soft skin beneath his calloused hands. Senn wrapped her legs around him as she continued to deepen their kiss. Din's hands instantly fell to her hips, round her rear, and hoisted her further up into his lap. Her dark hair curtained his face as he tilted his head up to meet her mouth. Senn once again ran her fingers through his hair. Din shivered at the feeling. Even this-being touched even so chastely-was almost overwhelming. Sensing his struggle, Senn paused their ramping stimulus for some softer contact.

She cupped his face with her hands, gently running one thumb over his lips, his cheekbones, his chin, his jawline. She traced his hairline with her slender fingertips, down over his ears. He shivered again when she reached the sensitive skin behind his ears and down the fluttering pulse along his neck. She smiled, mapping his face even more. She gently stroked his brow, traced the sides of his nose, the messy stubble along his cheeks, finally returning to his jaw. She found she was especially fond of his jaw and chin, square, strong, yet so telling.

After so many years beneath the helmet, it was no wonder he had trouble controlling or checking the emotions that surfaced on his face. He'd never had any need to train himself otherwise. As dangerous a man as he was, he all but fell to pieces beneath her hands. Senn felt pathetically proud at the notion, even if she didn't get to really see it. She felt it. That was enough.

Din was completely enthralled. Her touch, her scent, her patient awareness...all intoxicated him. He stared up into her attentive, foggy eyes and her softened, pink lips through his own languid brown gape-layered with appetite-as she studied his face with her fingers.

Slowly, another sensation dawned on the Mandalorian and his grip on Senn's hips tightened aggressively. He could suddenly smell the sweet, musty scent of her sex-suddenly aroused and damp. This stirred something dangerous-something feral-in him, and his hips bucked involuntarily as she kissed him again. His stiffening crotch felt the hot, humid touch of her as he desperately pressed her to him. He needed to feel it, he needed to know exactly what he'd done to her.

"Senn," he breathed heavily. "Stand up for me."

She did, and he followed, grasping her hard and diving in for another kiss. He leaned heavily into her until she was pressed against the consol. Din lay bold kisses all over her neck, his teeth scraping her flesh, and he inhaled her scent deeply as he dragged one hand down her body to the top of her belt. His movements were slowly becoming more clumsy, more desperate, as he fumbled with the buckle, ripped the leather strap from her hips, and tossed it on the floor of the bridge. Senn released a gratifying noise. Din's body responded, the tightness of his erection making his whole body ache.

His hand finally disappeared into her leggings and Senn gasped as he palmed her. Din's eyes widened at the accumulation of slick moisture...just from this.

"This…" he struggled out, his breath stolen away. "This is for me." It was half a question, half disbelieving affirmation. Senn opened her eyes and did her best to meet his own.

"Yes," she whispered.

"Just from…" he trailed off. Senn nodded. They both knew what he was referring to.

A low, guttural, breathy sound of utter aching need escaped his chest as the Mandalorian suddenly removed the hand and brought it straight to his mouth. He sucked her juices greedily from his fingers before fully descending on her, wrenching her leggings down just enough to expose her and run his tongue along her clit. Senn arched her back, startled, but delighted. Din's enthusiasm was almost as pleasurable as anything else.

He sealed his lips against her sex and threw her legs over his cool beskar shoulders, lifting her hips, and moaning deep into her-sending vibrations into her torso. He had done this before...Senn thought. And why not? She couldn't see his face from his angle, even if she had her eyes.

Din gently sucked and lapped at her, his tongue stroking her folds and darting in and out of her warm entrance. She dripped down his chin into his stubble. The Mandalorian utterly staggered at the sensation. He wished Senn could see his eyes as he savoured her taste. He breathed raggedly through his nose, her feminine scent all but undoing him right then and there. Each time his throat made an involuntary sound of pleasure, reverberating into her, Senn climbed higher and higher. Her knuckles grew white as she clutched the edges of the console and fought for breath.

Din slipped a finger inside her as he worked her with his mouth, and Senn cried out, shuttering and clinging to the precious bit of friction.

"Din," Senn breathed. Hearing his name articulated, no-struggling to be articulated-in such a tone, tossed him into a new level of desperate hunger. He stopped abruptly, unhooked her legs from his shoulders, and fiercely lifted her back up to stand flush with him. Senn's legs wobbled beneath her as she exchanged intense breaths with her Mandalorian.

"Tell me to stop," he huffed, before crushing her lips with his own again. He ravaged her mouth with new enthusiasm, his hand gripping her hair, tongue plundering all that was left of her mind.

"No," she whispered between frantic breaths. Her leggings had rolled back up over her pubic bone, but she could still feel Din's hard length dragging across her swollen clit, even through their layers.

"I won't be able to st-" Din was cut off, breath hitching, as Senn reached down and stroked him firmly through his trousers.

"I know," she breathed, nipping at his stubbled chin. His mouth went dry and he leaned into her touch, his head collapsing and rolling against her neck.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the old nest of blankets Senn had arranged when she'd slept on deck. He instantly stooped, hoisted the operative up into his arms, and moved over to the suddenly very inviting mess of linens. Senn wrapped her legs around him and tangled her fingers in his hair as she continued to kiss him vigorously. She loved being so easily maneuvered by his strength.

This time, Din was careful not to slam her against the wall (as much as he wanted to) still unsure how much her back had healed. Instead, he sank, one armoured knee at a time, into the soft heap of blankets and lay her down beneath him-never breaking their kiss.

Senn's hands flew to his side and fumbled for the armour straps there. Understanding, Din rose, sitting on his heels, Senn restless between his thighs, and quickly unfastened the chestplate. It hit the floor of the deck with a piercing resonance and was followed quickly by his pauldrons, bracers, and leg plates. He returned to his attention to Senn's lips as he kicked off his boots. Senn was already climbing out of her tunic again, her breasts springing from their confinement beautifully.

Din instinctively buried his face in her sternum, inhaling her scent again and again as he kissed his way across her chest. The feel of her racing heartbeat tapping against the skin of his cheek and neck roused him again, and he groaned against her ribs, digging his fingers into her wherever he could find purchase. His hands roamed, overwhelmed with bounty. With one hand he reached up and caressed her jaw, down her neck, her throat; with the other, he kneaded her breast with carefully tempered pressure. Senn bucked into his touch with the whisper of a moan. Din responded by lunging up her torso and taking her nipple into his mouth. Senn let out a soft cry as he ran his tongue over the straining bud again and again. He palmed her damp crotch again as he savoured the weight of her breast in his mouth, spurred on by the silk noises of encouragement she made. He loved them so much, he reached up to her mouth with his free hand and gently dragged his thick fingers over her bottom lip and jaw, silently advocating for more.

Senn gladly obliged, thrilled by his attention to such a detail.

"Din," she panted, once more hitching her hips into his touch. Everything he was doing to her intensified at her vocalization.

"Din," she mewled again. The Mandalorian growled in a stifled huff against her skin. Senn smiled wickedly at the power she now cherished. He rose back up her body, kissing her chin, her jaw, and sealing his lips over hers again in a desperate expression of need.

Senn gripped the bottom of his thermal layer shirt and yanked it up toward his head. His warm skin was surprisingly soft, but firm, articulated muscles defined his back as she raked her hands over him. She felt a wide variety of scars here and there, and made a silent promise to herself to one day soon attend to each of them personally with her mouth.

As soon as he broke away from the kiss to slide the rest of the shirt from his arms and head, Senn lunged for his belt. Her nimble fingers worked it quickly, his hands joining hers after a moment to assist. A line of soft, curly hair guided her from his navel to the top of his trousers, where she planted soft kisses while running her hands over his naked torso. Stars, he was beautiful. Din's breathing broke into uneven strides again as he reached down and unfastened the top of his trousers.

But before Senn could begin to enjoy what strained against the fabric there, he pressed her back down to the blankets and yanked her leggings down her hips. She lifted for him and he dragged them down her legs until he could seal his mouth over her glistening mound once more. He helped her kick the last of the fabric from her feet while he devoured her, his teeth gently grazing her most sensitive places. Senn gasped and her hands instinctually gripped his hair. She spread her legs and lifted her hips for him, which he took full advantage of.

He felt drunk off of her. Her scent, her soft moans, her slick desire coating his lips and chin. He snaked one arm beneath her hips, so she could rest at the best angle for him, and pushed one, then two fingers into her slit gently.

Senn let out a shuddering moan that once again ended in his name. As much as he wanted to undo her before allowing himself the privilege, he couldn't contain himself anymore.

He withdrew his hand from her, grasped his own length, and pumped himself once as he made his way back up to her throat and lips. He surprised himself as he bit her neck and jaw with a carnal impulse before retaking her mouth in a reckless demonstration of need.

He angled the head of his pulsating cock between her folds and looked up into her hazy eyes for her permission. Senn gave it by wrapping her legs around his hips and tugging him closer-inside her.

Senn gasped blissfully and Din released a strangled cry from deep within his chest. He trembled as he sank deeper into her, pressing his forehead to hers and groaning between his teeth. It was Senn's turn to lose control of her breathing as he deftly drove into her slick warmth until he was sheathed to the hilt. He filled her completely, gently stretching her walls and stimulating every nerve, the feeling of being full, complete, spreading to every one of Senn's limbs and digits like fire.

He fumbled and found her hands, clutched them, weaving his fingers between hers and steadying himself as she adjusted to him. And she needed to adjust to him. She was seeing stars.

"Breathe, cyar'ika," [beloved] Din murmured into her mouth. He didn't dare move yet. Their chests rose and fell frantically as their bodies harmonized.

Senn loosed an exquisite string of curses, rolling her head and arching her back until Din's brow rested on her chin. Even that small shift threatened to undo him right there. He couldn't bear the thought of ending it now. He concentrated on the flicker of her heartbeat, the freckles on her neck.

He pulsed frantically inside her, every instinct telling him to move. Senn bucked her hips, pushing another choked grunt through Din's clenched teeth.

"Senn," he breathed. "I won't last long."

"I'm not asking you to, ner cabur," [my protector] she returned.

Din's eyes widened, darkened with sudden shock and carnal lust as the mando'a phrase slipped from Senn's swollen lips.

His hips instantly thrust into her with new resolve. Senn keened up to meet him, her eyes tight with pleasure that bordered on pain. The Mandalorian felt the last strand of his self-control snap as Senn cried out with his name.

He thrust into her again, unrelenting and fierce. Again. Again. His pace quickened with every new sound that careened from Senn's lungs. He gripped her wrists and pinned them above her head as he plunged in and out of her, working her into a beautiful submission he didn't know he needed so badly until this moment. He stared at her with terrible intensity, drinking in her every expression; every breath that was pushed from her lungs with his thrusts, every shiver and bounce of her breasts, and every bead of sweat that began to form on her brow and chest.

His movements grew even more frantic, more animalistic, as he chased his pleasure and watched Senn unravel in his arms. He found himself lifting her by the small of her back and behind her neck, just to feel more of her, hold more of her, control her pleasure.

His breath was becoming just as ragged and strained as her own now, and he knew he wouldn't last much longer. His thrusts slowed again and he captured Senn's mouth with his own.

"Come for me, Senn," he breathed, adjusting so his angle also stroked her clit. Senn's voice broke in a shuddering whine.

"Come for me, cyar'ika," he moaned into her mouth, his tongue stroking her lips as she struggled to return the kiss through her mounting pleasure.

"Open your eyes," Din commanded tenderly through his bated breaths. "I want to watch."

Senn suddenly completely ceased to breathe as his words and their meaning came to rest in her mind and body as he thrust up into her faster and faster. Her climax snuck up on her like sudden thunder through the thick rain curtain of his sudden words muffling every other thought or sound in her world.

Senn all but screamed as she was hit with wave after wave of her orgasm. For a moment she was both blind and deaf as her world blurred and bled into a blissful ocean of satisfaction and warmth.

Din followed almost instantly, crying out in a series of hoarse, guttural moans and gasps as he filled her.

"Senn…," he huffed out, desperate to ride out both their orgasms until their bodies were wrung like rags.

They collapsed onto the blankets as one cohesive shape, panting and damp, in the fog of their act. Din instantly wrapped all his limbs around Senn, pulling her as far into him as she would go without smothering her.

Mandalorian and operative lay tangled together, catching their breath for long minutes and basking in the glow of their union.

Finally, Senn moved to run her hands through Din's hair again. Looking up at him, she poured all the affection she could muster into the place his eyes would be. His breath moved her hair.

"You really think Cara's going to kill me?" Din teased suddenly. Senn laughed.