Authors note: In case I wasn't clear in the summary this is an AU. This story will not follow the canon storyline exactly. I have and will continue to make changes to fit my work of fiction. Sex, language, violence pretty much from here on out. Thank you as always for the reads and reviews.
16.
"Race you to the waterfall?"
"What?" Zo pried her eyes away from the practice circle. Stars, how long has he been talking to her? She hadn't been listening to him, she was too focused on watching her sister's graceful movements. Nel and she hadn't sparred in weeks. They had barely spoken, not since Zo beat her. Her twin could be an especially sore loser when she wanted to be. But Zo still enjoyed watching her sister as her yellow lightsaber hissed through the air like focused sunbeams.
Jacen turned toward her smiling in that way that made her insides turn to hot Hutt goo. "I said, do you want to go practice at the waterfall, Padawan?"
Zo blushed, nudging him with her shoulder. "Just because the only surviving Jedi Master decided to make a nerf-herder like you a Knight does not make the rest of us your Padawans." She said, tucking her arms into her robes in a very practiced Jedi movement. In the sparring circle below her twin sister was fighting both Bran and Pax, the three of them moved in such synch it would be difficult to determine a victor.
"Is she the last Master?" Jacen's voice was heavy with concern. The thought that the future of their entire order, a thousand generations of wisdom and knowledge, rested on their shoulders weighed heavily on all of them.
Zo closed her eyes in exhaustion. She hadn't been sleeping well. Vivid dreams, nightmares, waited for her every night. Visions of an old man in black robes, his voice cold and full of dark promises, plagued her. Jacen was the only one she confided in about the visions. "I don't know...he says we are alone. All the Jedi have been wiped out while we've been hiding like rats in a sewer."
"I had dreams too before the trials-"
"These are more than dreams, Jace. It's like...I feel him trying to find a way into my mind."
"He isn't real. It's just your fear manifesting through the Force. You need to let go."
"Master Vatari has so much confidence in me to pass...what if I fail her? What if I'm not strong enough?" She turned to face him, worrying her bottom lip with her teeth.
Jacen tucked her Padawan braid behind her right ear then trailed his thumb along her jaw.
The simple touch made her shiver despite the warm light of the afternoon sun. "You are stronger than you know. Let go of your fear. The Force is always with you, it will protect you."
She wanted to learn into his touch instead she batted his hand away, cheeks glowing almost as red as her hair, as she made sure Master Vatari's back was still turned. "You can't do that," she hissed, Force pushing him a few feet away, "they might see. Vatari might sense something…"
"I don't want to hide anymore-"
"I don't either," she whispered, "But I need to talk to Nel. I need to tell her about us. She has feelings for you." A heavy stone settled in her stomach as she thought of her sister. Nel's infatuation with Jacen had been obvious to Zo for some time. Only lately had Nel been brazen enough to openly stare or find reasons to show off for him. She was completely heedless of their Master's presence. "She knows I'm hiding things from her. I can sense her suspicion. But She's been so distant with me lately as it is. She won't talk to me…. it feels like she's pulling away-"
"Nel has obstacles to overcome before Master Vatari feels she is capable of facing the trials. Her anger, her ego." Jacen turned towards the jungle surrounding the compound. "Come with me. They'll be at this for hours. You need to practice. Master is expecting you to start the trials on the next rotation. That's three days from now in case you lost count, Zo Mara."
She turned towards him with a sigh. "I know exactly when the next rotation starts Jacen Cendar."
He smiled again, "Good. Last one to the waterfall takes all the chores for a week." He dashed away from her, the trembling leaves of the green kudzu and giant monstera plants the only visible sign of his trajectory.
"Poodoo." She grumbled before sprinting after him.
The stone cavern behind the waterfall was their secret sanctuary. A hidden place Zo had found years ago when she needed a private place to clear her head and focus. Somewhere she told no one about, not even her sister. Not until ever-curious, sweet, friendly Jacen followed her winding trail through the jungle to this place.
The ancient Jedi altar carved into the rock wall, once forgotten and abandoned, now sat adorned with a collection of treasures she and Jacen had collected from their time exploring the old temples and the surrounding jungle: a shard of an old clay bowl, pieces of an archaic lightsaber, fragments of a scroll. Spare robes, blankets, and pillows were added once their innocent training sessions became more intimate. Slowly changing over the years from childhood companions into more. Love and attachment formed between the two of them even though they were taught it was forbidden by their Order. Then on the eve before Jacen entered the temple for his final trials they crossed that last line. The unspoken fear between them that he might not return from facing the ancient Force guardians was more than they could bear.
Now they spent whatever time they could here in this secret place. Sneaking out after dark or between lessons only to return to the temple before anyone noticed their absence.
Zo skidded to a halt on the flat wet stone floor behind the waterfall a heartbeat before Jacen. She beamed up at him, gloating over her win, "Have fun scrubbing the temple statues. Make sure Master Vatari can see their jade eyes shine." She unclipped her lightsaber from her belt and prepared for their first exercise: combat.
He grabbed her around the waist before she could slide into her forms and pulled her tight against his body. "You cheated."
"I did not." She tried pushing him away but he held her tight, burying his face in her neck. His lips were warm, trailing open mouth kisses along the V-neck of her robes. "You said we were going to practice." Her effort to break free of his grasp wavered when he sucked gently on the pulse in her neck.
"We will later." He replied, trailing his lips up her jaw and finally to her mouth. His lips were soft and inviting as he nibbled and licked her bottom lip. She tangled her fingers in his shaggy blond hair pulling him closer, as she opened her mouth to him. He didn't pull away until they were both burning for air. "I'm sorry…we shouldn't…" He mumbled.
"I love you, Jacen." She said it before he could pull away from her. She felt the guilt of their forbidden relationship weigh heavily on his conscience. "I love you. I don't care what the code says. The old ways are gone." Jacen sighed deeply as Zo stood on her toes to kiss his cheeks. "We can be Jedi, we can follow the light side and we can be together."
His thumbs rubbed circles across the back of her hands, his clover green eyes searched hers, "What if Master Vatari forbids us?"
"I will give it all up to be with you, '' she said looking up at him. "I want a family, I want children someday. I want a future– with you, Jacen."
He let out a deep breath and she felt relief wash over him. He was still conflicted. They both were. Being a Jedi was the only thing they knew how to be, adhering to the rules and guidelines laid out by the Jedi Masters that came before them. But they also couldn't ignore what they felt for each other. "We'll speak to her after your trials," he said quietly, "After you pass. We can show her that loving each other is not a path to the dark side."
After Jacen led her through their practice session they made love on their collection of blankets and pillows. One day, they told each other they would have a real bed, one they could share without the guilt of hiding their liaisons, where they could fall asleep and wake up in each other's arms.
For now they settled for the cold stone floor and the soft blankets. It was slow and sweet and still unsure but they loved every moment of it. It was these quiet, private little moments with nothing but the cascading waterfall and the breathy sounds they shared when everything else dropped away. When Zo would open herself up entirely to the Force and completely be connected with Jacen. She let everything else go except him. She felt his strength, his unyielding belief in the light, his love for her. He loved her as wholly and completely as she loved him.
When they finished, with the taste of each other still lingering on their lips and the other's scent on their skin, they would lie in each other's arms for as long as they dared. Zo lived for these finite moments when she could fall asleep with her head on chest, listening to his heartbeat and feeling his fingers tracing lazy circles on her back.
"Zoey, we should head back." He said brushing wavy strands of her hair away from her face. She grumbled into his chest, pulling their blanket over her head, and tried to disappear into the darkness underneath. Jacen chuckled, making his chest rumble against her cheek. "Come on, you sleemo cheater, I'll race you back to the compound. Double or nothing."
Zo tossed the blanket off her head with a huff and straddled him. "Sleemo cheater?" She gave his pecs an irritated slap and rolled her hips against him. She felt him growing hard again, he closed his eyes as he gripped her hips and ground up encouraging her to ride him. "I thought we had to get back?" She murmured, reaching between them and lining herself up with him. She sank onto his length, the tight fullness sent shivers down her spine and she sighed wondering if he would always get this hard for her in a matter of heartbeats.
Jacen was lost inside her. Jedi guilt gone. Uncertainty for their future together forgotten. Just them for a few more moments. Zo rocked her hips, feeling that wonderful tension inside of her growing. Jacen grunted, thrusting upwards to meet the sway of her body and trying to hold back his release until she got hers. Her orgasm pulsed through her starting at the place where she and Jacen were joined and rolled out in waves of pleasure that she allowed herself to be selfish enough to enjoy. Every part of her connected entirely to the Force in this one moment and she was no longer afraid of what waited for them in the darkness between stars.
"Krif, Zo." Jacen grunted through his teeth, the upward thrusts of his hips turning sloppy as he finished. She leaned down, breathing heavily, and kissed him enjoying his heat inside her and their shared warmth between her legs. She sat up with a startled look on her face, fingers clawing into his chest in fear instead of passion. He felt it too a moment later, an intruder in the dark outside their sanctuary; something cold and seething with anger.
Zo scrambled off him, pulling her robes on as she went. "Nel?" The tremble in her voice echoed off the stones as she called out to her sister. She got a flash of acid yellow light as an answer. The lightsaber thrummed loudly off the rock walls as her sister crept out of the shadows. "Nelie, listen to me." She took a step forward, hands held out empty in front of her. "Put your weapon away." Behind her, Jacen slipped into his pants and stood.
Nel's dark eyes roamed around the cave, lingering on the tangled pile of blankets. "This is forbidden. You'll both be banished from the Order."
"We are going to speak with Master Vatari. She'll understand," Jacen replied.
Nel looked at him, curling her lips away from her teeth in an ugly sneer. "Perfect Jacen Cendar…perfect Jedi Knight…is this why you denied me? To be with weak, pathetic Zo-"
"Enough Nel." Jacen took Zo's hand and squeezed it. "I love Zo and she loves me."
"Love is forbidden," Nel replied. She moved almost too fast to see, her muscles tensing as she swung her lightsaber. Zo countered the blow as she pushed Jacen away. Jacen stumbled out of the way as the sisters circled each other, their lightsabers hissing and spitting angrily as they fought.
"Nel stop!" Zo finally yelled, Force pushing her into the wall. She sheathed her lightsaber and stood still. "I'm not going to fight you. I know you're angry. I didn't want you to find out like this."
"How long have you been hiding this from me?"
"Two years."
Nel laughed and shook her head, sheathing her own lightsaber. "Two years? Good for you, sister, keeping a secret around here for a week is impossible."
"Are you going to tell Master Vatari?" Zo asked, her voice small and worried.
Nel crossed her arms and looked them up and down. Her eyes lingered on Jacen's bare chest before flicking to her sister. "Is it true you're going to face the trials?" She asked.
Zo nodded, "Dawn of the new rotation. Will you give me until then?" She stepped forward, reaching out to touch her sister's arm. "Please Nel. I never wanted to cause you any pain."
"Pain?" Nel repeated shaking her hand away from Zo with a cold laugh. "You have no idea what pain is. Maybe one day I'll show you."
Zo turned on her side and slowly opened her eyes. She stared at the dull grey metal in front of her for a few moments trying to sort out where she was exactly. Her head pounded, her muscles felt tense and wiry. She brushed tears off her cheeks with the back of one hand while reaching out to trace the mythosaur etched into the hull in front of her.
She was on the Razor Crest. She was safe. Her past couldn't hurt her. She was still outrunning the cold shadow that trailed her. She slowly sat up rolling the knots out of her shoulders and neck. The hold was empty, no green baby crawled between boxes while an armored Mandalorian kept a patient eye on him.
The grated floor was cold under her bare feet, the recirculated air felt good on her skin as she walked towards the crate of water and ration bars. She quickly gulped down two canisters of water, the liquid felt devine on her parched tongue. Then she dug through the ration bars until she found the fruity flavor she liked and tore the wrapper off with her teeth. In between ravenous bites of the chewy bar she wandered over to the meatscicle hanging from the carbonite rack. The man's frozen face was vaguely familiar, the slack grimace and outlines of sharp teeth made her stomach twinge with anxiety. Zo didn't know much about most of the Bounty Hunter's equipment including the freezing unit but she knew enough about the flat red line on the vitals monitor.
Mando landed behind her with a heavy thump. Zo watched him over her shoulder as he walked towards her. "Hey, you feeling ok?"
"Yeah," she pointed her half-eaten ration bar at the frozen dead man, "Better than him anyway… This Jox?" Shs asked, setting her snack aside, no longer hungry, and looked up at the Mandalorian. He nodded once. "I thought your old pal wanted him alive."
His helmet tilted towards his shoulder and she could feel him looking at her, "What do you remember?"
"I'm not sure...it's all kind of...there's a lot of blank spots." She closed her eyes and tried to focus her memories through the haze of pain that clouded them. "Fuck. I killed him, didn't I?"
He nodded again. "He deserved it. Trust me." He touched the warm, fleshy bandage on her chest. "You've been out for a few days. Fever sick from his poison."
Are we still friends, jetti'ika?
The soft, smokey voice drifted up from somewhere in her memory. She looked down at where his gloved fingers still touched her. "Guess that explains why my panties are inside out," she said eyebrows raised at her reflection in his visor. The thin tank top and panties were not her usual bedtime attire.
"You're a lot harder to get dressed than the kid." He said. "Sit, cyar'ika. Let me check your wounds."
Zo did as he asked, another wave of memories washing over her as she sat on the edge of the bunk and waited for him. She rubbed a sore spot on her thigh noticing the cluster of small blue-purple bruises.
What did you do to me, Bounty Hunter?
"So are you going to start teaching me Mandalorian?" She asked as he kneeled in front of her, setting his supplies down beside her hip before removing his gloves. "I think I was a pretty good girl," She spread her knees wide enough for him to fit between them, "I kept the ship in order, didn't let the baby get eaten, didn't maroon you."
He placed a thumb on her jaw and tilted her head. "Where should we start?" Mando replied. His fingers soft and warm on her skin as he peeled up the bandage on her neck.
Zo pursed her lips considering the words she heard Mando use. "Cyar'ika."
"It's just a nickname. Like jetti'ika. Mandalorians have a thing for nicknames...they don't translate well to Basic." A quick spritz of bacta and a wipe of gauze revealed a shiny new scar, the outline of Jox's teeth barely visible.
She narrowed her eyes at him, "You're lying."
"If you're so fluent in Mandalorian, why are you asking me to teach you?" He asked with a sarcastic tilt of his helmet.
"Didn't mean to offend you, Mando." She tapped her fingers across his chest, the muscles underneath his flightsuit as hard as the Beskar he usually wore. "What about mesh'la?"
He was quiet for several breaths regretting the decision to discuss his language with her. "Beautiful. It means beautiful." He quietly replied as he worked up the edges of the other dressing. This scar was more pronounced, raised, and bumpy where the fangs had torn into her skin. "Shabuir," he hissed angrily through his vocoder, running his fingers over the flaw in her skin. "That means asshole." He added.
She laughed as he applied a cream that made her skin tingle on contact. "It's just a scar. Not my first or last."
He applied a fleshy, transparent bandage over the cream and sighed, "I don't want his marks on you forever."
"I'll have to get someone else to put their marks on me." Mando made a noise somewhere between a nervous laugh and a cough. Zo closed her legs, trapping his hips between her knees. "What's sheb ner mean?"
His helmet snapped up to meet her eyes. His hands curled into the blanket she sat on and he took in a deep breath, "What happened to the blank spots?"
Zo bit her bottom lip, "Some of it is starting to come back." She toyed with the zipper on his flightsuit. "So you gonna tell me what sheb ner means?
"Fuck me." Mando breathed his voice a hoarse whisper.
"Oh?" she pulled the zipper down a few inches exposing the tanned skin of his neck. When he didn't stop her or protest she kept pulling until the zipper came to rest above his navel. "But you didn't, did you? Why didn't you fuck me?" She stared into his visor, her glacier blue eyes searching through the impenetrable glass for his. Din met her gaze, pretending for a moment he saw her eyes without the aid of his visors optic sensors. That he could see her as she was in front of him.
"Because," he started in that same hoarse whisper. His hands settled on her thighs and he traced them up, up, up until his thumbs rested millimeters from the covered heat between her legs. The hot, wet place he could still feel on his fingers. "Because I wouldn't ever have been sure if you wanted it or if it was just the venom." He flicked one thumb, barely touching her through the thin panties. She rocked her hips forward searching for another touch.
"Oh!" Her breath caught in a sharp gasp when he did it again, pressing his thumb against her clit. "What about now, Mando?" She cupped him through his flightsuit, rubbing her palm along his length and feeling him grow hard. His hips jerked forward into her hand. His thumb drew lazy circles around her clit, alternating between soft and hard, slow and fast. She dipped her head, trailing hot kisses along his collar bone and licked under his jaw, trailing her tongue along the edge of his helmet. "You sure?" She pressed her cheek against the angle of his helmet, whispering into his audio receptors. He grabbed her shoulders and pushed her back, her mouth twitched into a surprised smile. "Am I not allowed to touch the bucket?"
"Bucket?"
"Yeah," Zo smiled again, tapping her knuckles across the forehead of his helmet, "Bucket."
He growled and pushed her shoulders until her back hit the mattress. "The bucket stays on."
"I know." Her eyes went wide as Mando pushed his flightsuit down then kicked it off completely. He was breathtaking, broad-shouldered with lines of long, lean muscles, bronze skin dotted here and there with scars, narrow hips she wanted to wrap her legs around, and that beautiful cock. Now free of his flightsuit it stood out in front of him, swollen and hard. "You got a permit to carry that thing around?" She asked licking her lips and spreading her legs for him as he climbed between them. She watched as he wrapped his hand around the base of his cock and stroked upwards, gently squeezing as he went. His motion reversed, his hand sliding back towards the base. As his hand moved he gently pulled his foreskin back revealing the dark swollen head, his thumb spread a glistening drop of fluid across the tip.
"It's pre-Empire. Don't need a permit," Din said, grabbing her hips and pulling them towards him. He ground his erection against the fabric of her wet panties and groaned when she bucked her hips against him. He let go of his cock and hooked his fingers under the band of her panties, tugging them down the curve of her ass, suddenly impatient to be inside her. He had waited long enough, he could have had her a dozen times between then and now. Instead, he had jerked off in the shower imaging the hot water, and the grip of his hand was her pussy. He still couldn't stand her, the sarcastic smiles and the way she tight roped every rule and direction he gave her. But she loved the kid, despite what she said about Jedi and their forbidden emotions. She protected him, kept him busy, and well-fed.
And she seemed genuinely pleased that Jox hadn't murdered him.
The ship shuddered slightly as they dropped out of hyperspace and he remembered they didn't have much time until they reached their destination. He tore her panties off her ankles and flung them over his shoulder. Zo licked her lips and squirmed under him as he leaned down, bracing himself on one forearm as lined himself up. "Stars, please…" She was wound so tight she was ready to explode. And he was still sealed off, calm and cool, his emotions as blank as the cold stare of his helmet. The only reveal that he wasn't as cool and calm as he acted was the way his chest heaved with each breath and the rigid part of him that was teasing her entrance.
A low warbling cry drifted down from the cockpit and Mando stilled instantly.
"It's ok. He'll go back to sleep," Zo murmured, clutching his shoulders. The baby had other plans, his cries slowly and steadily raising by octaves. Mando pushed himself up, cold air rushing into the space between their bodies. "Don't, please. He's ok. Just ignore him."
"Ignore him?" He hissed, pushing himself up to his knees. He towered over her, helmet angled down in a pissed-off tilt. "Is that what you were doing? Ignoring him? Is that how Jox got past the perimeter? Because you weren't paying attention?" He hurled accusations at her as he backed out of the bunk.
"What?" Everything between them came to a screeching half so fast she felt like she had mental whiplash. She was dazed. Her body still hummed with excitement and pent-up arousal. What the fuck just happened? She watched numbly for a moment as he slipped his flightsuit back on, the groin in the front tenting out. "What?" She screamed pushing herself up as his words finally sunk in. "What the fuck? What in the ever-loving fuck? You think I…I would never-" She raged at him. "That fucker got through the perimeter because you fucked up!" He spun towards her, yanking his zipper up to his neck, all that beautiful copper skin disappearing beneath the dull grey fabric. "I told you not to go alone. I could've helped you!"
"I don't need your fucking help! I need you to do your fucking job!"
"I am doing my job! You don't know the first fucking thing about babies! They have a thing for crying as soon as they sense someone in a five light-year radius might be trying to fuck!"
"This was a mistake." He rumbled, shouldering past her on his way to the ladder.
Zo repeated, "A mistake?" His words stung, icicles in her blood that froze the heated passion she felt for him just a few moments prior.
"One that won't happen again." He grabbed onto the ladder and started climbing towards the crying baby. "Get dressed. We'll be at Ran's space station shortly."
She screeched in anger behind him and the whole ship shuddered. It could be interstellar turbulence, or it could be...he paused his ascent to look over his shoulder and watched as her bare ass and legs disappeared into her makeshift quarters. He sighed and banged his helmet against the ladder rung in front of him. Grogu cried again, screaming like someone was ripping his toenails out. "Alright, kid, alright," He said, pulling himself into the cockpit. The baby peaked out over the edge of his pram, tears pouring out of his big brown eyes. He raised his little green hands in the air towards Mando. "What is it, huh?" Mando gently asked as he swung the kid up and into his arms as the crying petered out into breathy hiccups.
Grogu cooed and pointed a clawed hand as Mando wiped tears off his green cheeks. "What is it? You hungry?" He asked, turning in the direction the kid was pointing.
He fell for it every time; he knew he did. He might act tough or admonish Greef about his doting on the baby but Din knew he was the softest of the bunch. Hearing the kid cry, his Foundling, the closest thing he would probably ever have to a child of his own, did something to him. He would burn the entire galaxy down to ashes if it meant saving the kid even a moment of pain. Grogu clapped and pointed, his meltdown melting away as he got closer to getting what he wanted. "Damn it." Mando sighed as his eyes settled on the silver gear knob.
Zo didn't rejoin them in the cockpit. Grogu crawled between the seats and Mando's legs as he reattached his armor. Ranzar's space station loomed in the distance. An immense, top-of-the-line, all-in-one floating fortress that was the hub of Ranzar's syndicate. "Mando!" Ran's voice crackled over the com. "Almost started to think you weren't interested in my offer."
"I had a skank in the scud pie. Took me a couple of days to sort it out."
"Can't wait to hear about it. I just got a shipment of that Bhakata you like." Ran responded. "Your usual bay is open."
The com went dead and Mando switched the autopilot off. He looked over his shoulder once more, waiting to see if Zo materialized in her seat before he landed. He sighed out a long "Fuck" as he tipped the controls down and slid the Razor into her old spot. "Stay close to me and Zo, understand? No wandering off, no hide and seek. Got it?" He instructed the baby as he placed him into his floating pram. Grogu sneezed in response.
Zo jumped down from her alcove as Mando was readying the carbonite slab containing Jox's remains. Grogu cooed happily, waving his claws and his silver ball as she approached him with a warm, wide smile. "Hello, young one." She greeted him by running her fingers along his big ears. "Well, it looks like Mando saved you from the rabid rathtar that was trying to eat you."
"It wasn't a rathtar," Mando answered for him as the slab slid free of its casing and free-floated horizontally with the help of grav-boosters, "it was a wampa."
Zo flicked her cold blue eyes towards him, "Thought it was too hot in this sector for them."
Mando lowered the ramp and let out a deep breath as the familiar dim lights and stale air of Ranzar's place filled the Crest. At the base of the ramp was the man himself. Ranzar was short and portly with a great mane of frizzy grey-brown hair that cascaded around his shoulders with a beard to match. He sucked on a cigar just like he had in the holo he sent Mando. "I'll speak...let me explain what happened." He said without looking at her. "He'll work with us. He'll give us the info we came for." He said firmly, sounding more like he was trying to convince himself than her or the kid, who was still happily playing with his ball.
"And if he doesn't?" Zo asked as they started down the ramp, her face hidden by waves of coppery hair.
"Then you can do your magic and make him tell us," Mando replied quietly. The dock was loud with the sound of droids, ship repairs, and yells so there was no real need for his lowered tone. Zo answered with non-committal hum under her breath.
"Mando!" Ranzar called, taking his cigar out of his mouth with one hand and reaching the other towards the Mandalorian.
"Ran," Mando dipped his helmet and gripped the other man's forearm. They shook twice and stepped back. Zo came to a halt next to him and the floating pram beside her. Ranzar's bushy eyebrows disappeared under his mop of hair as he eyed Zo. "This is Zo my…uh…this is Zo." Mando shifted on his feet.
"Zo," Ranzar repeated slowly like he was tasting her name. He licked the end of his cigar suggestively and held his hand out to shake hers."You work for the Guild?"
"No. I work with Mando, minding the kid." Zo gripped his hand and reached out with the Force trying to get a sense of what kind of man Ranzar Malk was. His mind was slippery in her grip, thoughts and memories darted around his head like fish through water. She immediately did not trust the man that called Mando an 'old pal'.
"Never really pictured Mando as the settling-down, family man type. Especially the way he fucked over Xi'an." Ranzar gave her an oily smile and she resisted the urge to pull her long black sweater tight around her body. He pulled his dark eyes away from her and turned back to Mando. "Let's get to the business at hand shall we?"
"About that…" Mando said as the other man stepped over to the floating carbonite slab.
"This son of a bantha's gonna pay for his fuck up-" Ran growled. His eyebrows knitted together in anger as he checked the vital reading. "What the fuck, Mando!" He roared jabbing his soggy cigar towards him. "I said alive! What the fuck part of alive don't you understand!"
Mando crossed his arms over his chest, "There were extenuating circumstances, Ranzar."
"Fuck your extenuating circumstances. This fucker owed me blood." He yelled back. Grogu whimpered in his pram, pulling his blanket over his head and held Zo's fingers in his trembling hand. "No fucking deal! Get the fuck off my space station!" Ranzar motioned to a group of men who moved forward, blasters in hand to force the group back on their ship.
"Damn it, Ran!" Mando yelled. "I'm not going anywhere! You have information on my people and I'm not leaving without it." The armed men pushed forward and Mando drew both his blasters. Zo locked the kid safely inside his pram and drew her weapon. The group of Mercenaries eyed the buzzing purple blade warily.
"Put your weapons down," Zo said firmly. Most of the men complied immediately dropping their blasters to the ground. The remaining men's arms shook, the muzzles dipping towards their feet. "Now!" She added with a yell. The rest of the guns clattered to the ground.
Ranzar smiled and blew out a mouthful of noxious blue smoke. "Been a long time since I've seen a weapon like that."
"Tell us where to find the Mandalorian!" Zo stomped towards him. Ran's smile grew wider but he didn't answer. "Tell us where to find the Mandalorian." She repeated slowly putting as much Force into her voice she could. Ran shook his head and took another long drag on his cigar. Zo sighed and looked over her shoulder towards Mando. "Well, I tried." She said with a shrug.
"God damn it," Mando muttered. "Jox attacked her. She killed him in self-defense." Ran exhaled, smoke obscuring his features completely unperturbed by the situation. "I need to find my people. Work with me."
"No. You work for me. One more job and I'll give you the Mandalorian's last known location."