Din Djarin signed with annoyance through his helmet. The job was perfect: large payout, reasonable quarry, probably not too much trouble. Except apparently the buyer required the job to be done by a two-person team.

"Any idea why?" He asked, the annoyance dripping from his tone.

His contact shrugged. "You know how it is with these buyers. They set the rules and we just follow them."

"Fine. I'll take the job."

The contact slid over the puck and the Mando pocketed it. He moved towards the exit quickly, his mind working. Sifting through a few contacts in his mind, he knew there was only one option. But he wasn't sure if she'd want to help him with something like this. There wasn't much in it for her- no imps, no child to defend. The kid was safe in his ship.

Sighing, he knew he'd have to ask anyway. If she said no, well… maybe he'd just have to show the buyer how capable he was of doing it on his own.

The ramp to his ship lowered as he approached. He could see the kid standing at the top, waiting. Raising a green fingered hand, he squealed as Din walked into the ship, the door closing behind him.

"Come on kid, you want to see Cara?"

The kid cocked his head to the side and made a questioning noise.

"That's right. We're heading to Nevarro."

oOoOoOoOo

Din thought about making a call first before showing up on her doorstep, but he didn't want to waste the credits. He was low on money as it was, and it would be cheaper to just go. He needed to resupply anyway.

The short trip to Nevarro was barely enough time to eat and take a short nap. When they arrived, Din tucked the kid into his side pouch and made the short trek into town. He talked to a few sellers who he usually did business with and bought a lot of supplies for his ship with some of his remaining credits. Then, finding Cara's office, he walked in, seeing her sitting behind the desk. She looked up as he entered.

"Mando, where you been, I feel like you were just here," she smiled and stood.

"I know. I was following a lead on a job. It turns out, the buyer is requiring a two-person team. You interested in making some credits?" He cocked his head to the side slightly.

She raised her eyebrows at him. "Maybe. What's the job?" She walked over and reached down to give the kid a pat. He gurgled appreciatively.

"Should be simple enough. Some local prince running from his duties at home. Father died, so they need him back. Hefty reward from the royal family. Likely don't want to take any chances, which is why the two-person team."

She nodded. "Where?"

"Trika. He was last spotted somewhere near the Coval system. It shouldn't be too hard to find him. Word is, he likes excitement now and again."

Cara rolled her eyes. "Ah. It's that kind of job." She leaned against the desk. "I might be interested, if the payout is as good as you say."

"It is. Even split two ways."

She nodded. "Well, you need a partner anyway on this so, why not? Easy money."

Neither of them knew how wrong that statement would prove to be.

oOoOoOoOoO

The jump to the Coval system took the better part of a day. Because it was so far, Mando had wanted to leave Nevarro right away, so they left after resupplying. Cara watched as Din fed the kid. They had some good food from Nevarro, and Cara dug in hungrily to her plate. The kid gurgled at her and she looked over at him.

"What's up kid?" she asked.

"He's just… happy to see you," Mando commented.

"Well, back at you little green man." Cara smiled slightly and continued eating. She had never been particularly comfortable with kids, but this kid had a soft spot in her heart.

Din rose and grabbed a packet of ration mix from the food stores, coming back to the table and pouring it in a bowl, mixing it quickly with some water. Cara looked at him curiously. He'd never eaten in front of her, for obvious reasons.

Then, to her surprise, he lifted the very bottom of his helmet just enough that he could slip the bowl in. His chin and mouth were still covered by his arm, but the action signified a high level of comfort with her. She looked down, noticing the child watching him, trying to catch a glimpse of his face.

She suddenly wondered what it was like to spend so much time with a faceless warrior as a young child. Did the kid miss physical touch? Did Mando ever take his gloves off? She'd never seen him do it. Then she suddenly wondered if Din missed physical touch, or if he was allowed to be physically intimate. Was it just his helmet that had to stay on, or all his armor?

She suddenly realized that Din was talking to her.

"What?" she asked, shaking herself out of her thoughts.

He cocked his head to the side. "You okay?"

"Yeah, fine," she brushed off his concern. "Just got lost in my thoughts."

He paused a moment. "I said, the only habitable planet in the Coval system is cold. I have a jacket for you and some better clothes if you want to put those on."

She nodded. "Right. Thanks."

There was a moment of silence while the kid finished his food.

"I've never seen you drink anything like that before," Cara looked at his beskar face. "In front of me, I mean."

He shrugged. "Well, things change."

Typical mando to give her a short, cryptic answer. She smiled wirily and rolled her eyes, leaning back in her chair.

"Things change for you, or things change between us?" she motioned between them.

"Between us," he said simply. "Before we took out the imperials on Nevarro, I wasn't sure I could trust you implicitly. Now I do."

She looked at him for a long moment and then nodded curtly. He nodded back.

oOoOoOoOoO

The rest of their time en-route was spent sleeping. Cara woke from her spot on the floor to a three fingered hand touching her cheek. Her eyes snapped open and connected with the kid's huge ones.

"Hey, you okay?" She asked. "Where's mando?"

He squealed and looked at the closet they used for a bed.

"Still sleeping? That's what you should be doing too, you little travuki." She sat up, her blanket pooling around her and the kid wasted no time crawling into her lap.

"Oh, that's how it's going to be huh? Look kid, I like you and all but…" she trailed off as she watched him curl a hand around her finger and close his eyes. Her mind strayed to her earlier thoughts. Maybe the kid did miss physical touch. It seemed the only explanation.

Suddenly she wondered how he had snuck out of the closet without Din or her noticing. Must have been using his powers, she thought. Sneaky kid.

Resigning herself to her fate, she got as comfortable as she could against the hard bulkhead and closed her eyes.

oOoOoOoOoO

Cara slowly became aware that someone was shaking her awake. Her eyes fluttered open a moment later and connected with Din's beskar face plate. He pulled back his hand and sat on his haunches.

"I see you two got cozy last night."

She realized the kid was still holding tightly to her finger, but was in the process of waking up.

"Yeah, he woke me up and promptly jumped in my lap." Cara shook her head at him. "I couldn't very well tell him no."

Din tilted his head to the side. "I told you he likes you."

The baby squealed and stretched, releasing her finger and then holding his arms out to Din. He picked him up gratefully.

"So, you still like me?" Din asked, with a smile in his voice.

The child emphatically agreed and then squealed loudly.

"Yes, I know, you're hungry. Let get some food before we get there."

Cara shook her head and smiled.

oOoOoOoOoO

They landed on the planet soon after, the snow and wind practically whipping them off course several times. Din could almost hear the flight control laughing at him, but he didn't have time to care. He was too busy keeping his ship from crashing into the landing pad.

When they finally got down, they could barely see anything out the front window except dark snow and a smudge that had to be the spaceport building.

"Nice place," Cara commented from behind him.

"Yeah, well, people don't come for the weather." He slid out of his chair.

Cara preceded him down the ladder, pulling on her jacket and her rifle. Din got the kid situated in his pram and then loaded up on his own weapons. After a few minutes, they were ready to go.

Din let the way. His HUD warned him that the temperature was dangerously cold for any unprotected life forms. Cara gasped next to him. His mind immediately jumped to the kid and he slapped a hand over to the pram. His hand connected with Cara's and he glanced at her, slightly startled.

"I didn't want the kid turning into a green popsicle!" Cara shouted over the wind, giving him a wiry smile. She shut the cover.

They arrived at a cantina a short while later. All eyes turned to take them in, the Mando's shiny armor attracting all sorts of unwanted attention. Din scanned the room when they walked in, his HUD running face recognition and warning him that the room was really quite full of thieves, smugglers, and general rabble.

That was no surprise.

The puck hadn't started pinging faster when they arrived on planet, so he'd known the target wasn't on this world. At least, not on this side of the world. But this was still his last known location.

He approached the bar and could feel Cara following.

"Bartender," he said, catching the bothan's eye. "I'm looking for information regarding this man's whereabouts. Have you seen him?"

The bothan glanced at the puck, then at the mando, and then behind him to Cara.

"I haven't seen him. But I have a friend who might be able to help." He pointed to a booth in the back corner.

He glanced that way and saw a human and a devaronian sitting in a shadowy corner. He sighed. Of course it had to be a devaronian. Nodding his thanks to the bothan and tossing him a coin for his trouble, they made their way to the back corner, the two turning to look at them.

"Don't see many mando's around anymore," the human immediately commented as they came close. "What are you doing in this corner of the galaxy?"

He took a moment as his HUD ran facial recognition.

"I'm a hunter. Searching for this target." He held out the puck. His HUD finally brought up the human's credentials, but the devaronian was a blank. The human was a spice runner. As far as he knew, the spice cartels were based very far from here. Maybe there was a black-market hub running through this planet? Maybe that's what the prince had gotten mixed up in. He had heard the prince had a taste for spice.

"Ah, prince Ta'ya," the human smiled and leaned back. "he's a regular client of mine. We may know where he is."

"How much?" Din asked.

"Not much," the human glanced at the devaronian. "But that drop trooper will have to stay behind." He nodded in Cara's direction and she looked at Din, surprised.

Din frowned to himself. Why they cared about a rebel drop trooper had him confused. The spice cartel didn't usually care who their clients were or what they had done. They only cared about money. He suspected there was something else going on.

"What's the matter, afraid you can't take the heat of a battle-hardened rebel?" Cara responded in a snarky tone.

"Where I go, she goes," Din replied.

"Well, I'm not sure my boss can supply the information then," the human said, an annoying smile on his face.

Din decided to push him and figure out just how far they were willing to go.

"Okay, we'll find our information elsewhere." He turned on his heel and started to make his way out towards the door. After a moment of confusion, Cara also followed.

"What are you doing?" She asked in a hushed tone. "I don't need to go with you."

"Something doesn't feel right," he responded quietly.

They were half way to the door before their path was blocked by the devaronian. He motioned to the side, towards a door.

"The boss will see you. But he may shoot on sight. The trooper isn't our responsibility."

"If she's harmed, no payment, and no deal," Din said shortly. His only answer was to smile threateningly.

Din and Cara walked through the door, the hover pram floating along with the top closed. There were several other people sitting at tables behind the door. They all turned to look at them as they entered. Din's HUD told him that most of them were spice runners.

They followed the devaronian to another door at the back of the room and walked through. The door shut with finality behind them.

There were several people in the room. One was obviously the boss. Din took stock of the situation and determined that if push came to shove, he could still probably shoot his way out. Spice runners weren't known for their fighting skills after all. It's the devaronian that would be the problem.

"So," the boss started, looking them over. "I hear you are looking for information about Prince Ta'ya."

"That's right."

"I'd be willing to make a trade. We're interested in hiring the services of this rebel trooper." He motioned to Cara. "We would be willing to give you the information if you're willing to loan her out to us… for a time."

"She's not a slave. She can make her own decisions," he responded.

Cara narrowed her eyes at the boss. "I don't know. What's in it for me? And why are you interested in hiring an ex-rebel anyway?"

The boss shrugged. "We have a job that requires your unique abilities. And you would get the information on Prince Ta-ya's location. Plus the hefty payout attached."

"Why don't you go after him, if you know where he is?" Cara immediately responded.

"Resources, money… and it's not in my best interest to track down well paying clients." The boss stared Cara down.

"Clients? What business are you in?"

He let out a soft laugh. "Do we have a deal?"

Din frowned to himself. The spice cartel definitely had enough resources and money to go after anyone they chose, and hire bounty hunters to do their dirty work. If the prince was a well-paying client, they certainly wouldn't have a good reason to sell him out to the first bounty hunter that came calling. They'd have every reason to protect him. So there was either something else going on, or this was a trap.

"Look," Cara responded. "Thanks for the offer, but I'm really not interested."

"And neither am I," Din said. "If you're not willing to sell us the information, we'll find it elsewhere."

They looked at each other for a long moment, and then the Mandalorian turned to go. He heard guns cock all around him and quickly drew his two blasters. He could feel Cara do the same.

They all stood looking at each other for a long moment.

"I'm afraid we can't let you go," the boss said, coming around the table. "We have business to conduct with Cara Dune."

Din turned to look at Cara, keeping his weapons at the ready. How does she fit in to all this?

"What do you want with me?" she asked, her eyes narrow over her gun.

A door opened suddenly to their left and they both swung their weapons to cover the door. A human male walked through. Brown, wavy hair, dark eyes, strong build, and wearing a smug smile. Din heard Cara suck in a surprised breath and immediately tense.

"Cara Dune," he said, approaching her.

"You come any closer, I'll blow you to hell," she responded through clenched teeth.

He shook his head, tisking his tongue. The sound made Din want to rip it out. He breathed deeply, trying to stay focused.

"Well, you'd be dead for sure. Your mando friend might make it out alive but I'm not sure his charge would." He motioned to the pram.

"If you come with us quietly," the boss said, "we'll let the mando and the child go free."

He could feel Cara breathing next to him, weighing her options. What did the spice cartel want with Cara? She didn't strike him as a junkie, and he'd never seen her use before. But there was still a lot he didn't know about her past.

"Let them go free first, then maybe I'll agree," Cara said harshly.

Din grimaced to himself. He wished he had a way to communicated with Cara, find out what was going on.

"What do you want with her?" he asked, still holding his weapons at the ready.

The brown-haired human sighed dramatically. "I don't want to bore you with all the details. But this one used to be a spice runner." He smiled at her and Cara just grimaced back.

"We were partners actually, in more ways than one-

"Until you double crossed me, you bastard," Cara spat back.

The guy kept blabbing on and on, but Din stopped listening. It was obvious Cara owed the spice cartel big and they were out to collect payment in blood. There was no way that was going to happen on his watch. He looked around, counting people and blasters. He had a few whistling birds that would take care of some of them, and after that he thought they had a good chance at escape. He knew he could take a few bolts, his armor would protect him, but he also knew Cara would definitely get hurt. But the alternative seemed worse and he guessed Cara wouldn't mind an injury compared to torture and death.

Taking a deep breath, he took a small step back, brushing shoulders with Cara in warning, and then quickly dropped his hand, arming his whistling birds, and sending them flying away. Din and Cara started firing immediately, plowing their way back towards the door and taking out the people guarding it. After a short moment of shock, everyone else started firing. There were only about half of them left, which Din thought were pretty good odds. Plus they were almost at the door.

He felt several bolts hit his armor and bounce away, hearing Cara grunt and then release a muted scream a moment later. She didn't let up firing, but he felt her lean heavily against him from behind for support. Her breathing was heavy and pained. She'd been hit.

He quickly slapped the panel for the door controls and it slid open, revealing the room of spice runners they'd walked through before. Din started firing, spraying the room with blaster bolts, before most of them could respond. Some ran, some took cover behind overturned tables, some fought back, but it seemed to Din that most wanted no part of whatever was going on.

That was good.

Din ran quickly through the room, dodging bullets, belatedly realizing that Cara wasn't keeping up.

"Dank Farrik," he muttered, turning back and running towards her. She was leaning against a wall, barely standing, firing her gun at people as they tried to leave the room, slapping the door shut every time it opened.

"Let's go!" Din yelled at her, grabbing her arm.

She growled loudly and then tried to walk with him but stumbled. Her left leg wasn't supporting her weight. He quickly grabbed her around the middle, one of her hands fisting his armor near the shoulder. Her other hand kept firing her blaster.

The pram floated along next to them, seemingly oblivious to the firefight as Mando dragged Cara towards the door exiting to the bar. She growled loudly, more angered by her injuries than pained by them. Her adrenaline was keeping the pain at bay.

Din slapped the door controls and they exited into the pub. He quickly armed one of his bombs and threw it towards the group of firing spice runners. The door shut and a loud bang shook the building. Many in the pub had drawn their blasters, but none seemed inclined to shoot so Din continued to drag Cara as quickly as possible towards the door.

When they finally exited the building, the wind hit them like a ton of bricks. Cara gasped loudly and Din doubled his grip on her waist.

They took to the shadows, letting the cover of darkness hide them. He half expected them to be blasted or blown up half way to the ship, but that didn't happen. They made it to the docking bay without incident.

As they dragged themselves towards his ship, he suddenly heard twenty blasters cock all around them. He stopped, Cara's breath coming in short gasps. The same boss appeared from behind his boarding ramp.

"Well," he began, pointing a blaster at them both. "That was sure fun wasn't it? I mean, you did a commendable job taking out so many of my personnel AND getting this far. We've heard the stories about you Mando. I guess they're true."

Din did quick calculations in his head. There was no way they would be able to shoot their way out of this one. There were too many.

He had a sudden idea.

"So," the boss continued. "I'm still willing to make a trade. If Cara comes with us right now, I'll let you and the child go. I have no quarrel with you. Although, I may like to hire your services some time." He nodded. "Very impressive work.

"Just let me go with them," Cara said through clenched teeth. "Then you and the kid will be safe."

"Never. Get ready to drop," Din said quietly, and pushed a button on his vambrance. "Drop!"

He pushed Cara over hard, pulling the pram towards them at the same time. Gathering his body around the two, he shielded them with his armor as much as possible, and then his ship opened fire. It let fly a salvo of laser bolts in a circle around the ship, a preprogrammed pattern for a case such as this.

Din quickly aimed his own blaster at the boss and shot him. A moment later, the docking bay was silent.

"Son of a mud scuffer," Cara swore.

Mando quickly got up, scanning the area for life signs.

"I think we're clear," he said, "let's get in the ship."

Cara tried to get up and failed, letting out a muted scream. "Dank Farrik! I am kriffed up."

He helped her rise, practically carrying her into the ship and depositing her in a corner. The ramp rose quickly.

"We've got to get out of here before more come," he commented.

Cara nodded. "Go."

He opened the pram, revealing the kids questioning face. "Ga?" he asked.

"You watch Cara okay? I'll be right back." The kid gurgled in response and Din quickly scaled the ladder.

oOoOoOoOo

About ten minutes later, Cara felt the ship jump to hyperspace. Her body was starting to come down off the fight's adrenaline high, and with it came waves of pain. The kid seemed very worried about her and kept gurgling and holding his hands out.

"I'm all right kid," she breathed. "Just… need treatment…"

At first, she had tried to crawl across the floor to get a med pack but actually passed out from the effort. Then, she had tried to get the kid to help by getting the med pack for her, but he didn't understand and kept gurgling and crying. She had finally resigned herself to lying there until she either died or was rescued.

Her breath came in short gasps as the pain made her brain hazy. Had Trax really been there? Had she imagined that? How had all this gone so far to hell? It was her fault the mission went completely sour. Her history with the spice cartel put them all in jeopardy, including the kid. That was on her. Would Din forgive her for putting the child at risk like that?

Feeling the world spinning, she closed her eyes and willed herself not to lose consciousness again.

oOoOoOoOo

Mando put the ship on auto pilot and quickly slid down the ladder. It had taken too long to lose the kriffing ships. He knew Cara was not in a good place and needed treatment right away. He didn't even really know the extent of her injuries.

Boots hitting the deck with a muted thump, he turned around quickly and saw Cara slumped on the ground.

"Dank Farrik," he muttered, grabbing a med pack and rushing over. The kid was hovering close by.

"Gar?" He gurgled a question, his eyes worried.

"Has she been out the whole time?" He asked him.

"aahhmm," he cocked his head to the side and seemed to shake it no.

Din could feel her breathing, but it was labored. Laying her on her back, he methodically went over her body, finding blaster burns littering her skin. One was large and had burned through part of her armor, directly over her chest. He treated that one first, with a bacta spray and a patch.

Her leg was pretty messed up too, having been hit multiple times. It was no wonder it didn't support her weight.

Her breathing seemed to even out a bit once he'd applied the bacta and shot her full of antibiotics and pain killers. But he knew a burn like the one on her chest would require more significant treatment.

And now the spice cartel was after them.

He sighed heavily, and leaned against the wall, allowing his hand to rest lightly on her leg. This was his fault. If he hadn't asked her to come along, this never would have happened. He had selfishly wanted to-

But no, this was all a set up from the beginning wasn't it?

The whole job must have been a sham, he realized. They must have known Cara had been running with a Mandalorian and from there, it had been easy to flush her out. That's why the job had demanded two people. He shook his head.

The job had probably only ever been offered to him.

Sighing heavily again, he looked over at the kid. "Come here kid."

The green child quickly complied, cozying up in the crook of his arm. With one hand still on Cara's leg, Mando rested his head against the wall and closed his eyes.

oOoOoOoOo

Author's notes:

Thanks for reading! I am posting on fanfiction for the first time since 2013 and can I just say, a lot has changed in those years. I have 4 kiddos, so I'm pretty busy but I want to prioritize writing again.

I love Mandalorian. I love these two characters. I'm super sad Cara won't be in the next season. I thought she was a great character for Din to play off of.

I will be updating once per week for sure until I get to the end of what's already written. I've already managed 30,000 words so I expect to be relatively consistent.

Thanks for reading.