Author's Note

Second chapter posted today, just FYI.


Prepare for Launch Pt. 3

It takes Mahin nearly an hour to fix the Razor Crest's engine, the majority of that time spent simply navigating the crawlspace built into the ship so she can get to the regulator without putting a spacesuit on and doing it from the outside. Definitely not an experience she wants to have. She's fine in a spaceship. It doesn't really feel like they're in space then. But putting just a thin spacesuit between herself and a vast, cold vacuum that can completely obliterate her in the time it takes her to splice wires?

Yeah, no thanks. She'd rather crawl through an engine on her belly.

Though this is definitely not easy, she thinks to herself as she shuffles on her elbows through the narrow space between the wires and tubing. The light at the end of the tunnel lies literally feet away, the light from the ship interior filtering in through the open access panel. But she is dead tired. She was up most of last night, slept maybe two hours before getting chased around by a bunch of Stormtroopers, then slept in an airduct for another…well, she's not entirely sure how long she was in that duct.

What kriffing time is it?

Space. A seriously messed up place.

A shadow falls in front of the light streaming in. She squints, making out the shape of Mando's helmet. "How's it going in there?"

Her knee bumps into something, again, and she hisses in a breath. Yeah, that's going to bruise.

"You okay?"

"Yeah," she huffs, crawling forward a little more. This is taking forever. "Go ahead and turn her on!"

"You sure?" he asks nervously, the echoes giving his voice more of a metallic edge than usual. "Shouldn't we wait until you're out of there?"

"It's alright. I'm not near anything dangerous."

Not anymore anyway. And she's ready for this night to be over.

He hesitates and then gives a short nod. "If you're sure…."

Mando disappears from the opening to go up to the cockpit while Mahin continues to crawl. A few moments later the machinery behind her rumbles to life. She pauses, listening, and then smiles. A nice, healthy engine. A whine builds in an upper part of the ship, the hyperdrive engaging to continue their journey through space and get them to a planet.

Finally.

She shuffles the last few feet to the opening, curling her fingers around the ledge to pull herself forward. She looks miserably down at the floor. It's not that far. Maybe three feet? But there's no way she has enough room to turn around and get her feet out first. She'll have to try to get her hands on the floor and lower herself with her arms.

Taking in a bracing breath, she wiggles forward and reaches down towards the floor. At least a foot still stretches between the floor and her fingertips. Carefully, she wiggles forward a bit more, upper body tipping downward dangerously.

Mondo's boots suddenly walk into her line of sight and then he grabs her beneath the armpits, hoisting her gently out of the crawl space to place her on her feet as if she weighs nothing. Her face burns slightly, feeling so much like a child next to him. His hands feel large, fingers splayed along her sides, and she has to literally tilt her head back to look at his helmet face since they stand so close.

He stares down at her for a moment, hands lingering like streaks of fire along her ribs. She feels dizzy next to him, a funny flutter in her stomach that she can't name, but then a yawn tears its way out of her mouth and she realizes exhaustion is what's making her sway on her feet.

"You must be tired," he says simply, releasing her and taking a step back. "I set a course for Helion. I have bounties in carbonite that I already collected and need to be dropped off there. I never got a chance to get money for fuel before we left Ulta-7 but we should have just enough to make it. It'll be a few hours though. You should get some rest."

"Sounds good to me." She rubs at heavy eyes with the heel of her hand, glancing around the narrow cargo hold. Razor Crests were built for a small crew with minimal needs. It definitely doesn't afford a whole lot of space. "Where can I sleep?"

He stiffens, glancing around the space as well in befuddlement.

She chuckles softly. "You didn't think that through before wanting me to come along, huh?"

"Well, I didn't know you were coming along," he says with an obvious smirk. "If I had, I would have prepped a place for you first."

"Honestly, I'm too tired to really care. Just give me a blanket or something and I'll conk out in a corner on the floor."

"No," he replies adamantly. He waves for her to follow him to the front of the ship near the ladder leading to an upper level. He presses a button on a control panel and a cubby door opens up, revealing a sleeping compartment with a padded mattress and some sort of small, makeshift hammock hanging from its ceiling. "You can sleep here."

Her brow furrows, sleepy brain taking an embarrassingly long time to put two and two together. "Wait, no, I can't take your bed."

"You need sleep more than I do," he comments pragmatically. "Besides, I want to make sure we weren't followed."

"Come on, Mando, you need sleep, too. You're only human, not invincible." She frowns a bit. Most Mandalorians nowadays are human, but not all of them since they take in foundlings of any species. "Wait, you are human, right?"

"Yes, I'm human," he says, amused. He nods towards the sleeping compartment. "But you still need that bed more than I do so in you go."

She feels like pressing it for all of two seconds before the exhaustion wins out. She crawls inside the compartment, feet towards the door. It's large enough for someone as tall as Mando to sit up in, wide enough for his broad shoulders, so she fits with room to spare. She curls up on her side, using her folded arm as a pillow. Mando squats down and lifts up the child to place him in the little hammock. The kid gives a sleepy coo, happily hunkering down in the hammock for a nap of his own.

She snorts lightly, eyelids already drooping as she murmurs, "That's adorable."

Something touches her ankle, just for a moment, before withdrawing. "Get some sleep, Mahin."

He presses a button and the hatch closes, the compartment lights automatically turning off with it.

"Well, it's definitely been a very long day," she whispers to herself. "Not the worst day, but definitely the longest."

At least she's safe. She has a home, if a spaceship can be called a home. She has friends, or at the very least someone watching her back. She wasn't caught. She still has her freedom. And her life. She lost the only family she's known for a long, long time. They may be dead. With their skills, though, they very likely made it out alive. She chooses to hope for the best.

Nothing lasts forever. Not even what she has now with Mando and the kid. She can close her eyes and in two minutes it'll all be gone. Nothing she does can change or control any of that. But what she can do is get some sleep and when she wakes up, do what she can to make the most of what she has now. Make the best life she can, with the Mandalorian and the child.

Mahin may even find something she never thought to look for.


Author's Note

For some reason, I like the idea of Din manhandling her. It's cute.

I don't know when the next chapter will be up. Everything is so up in the air in my life right now. More of my family caught Covid this week as well (unrelated incidents but, jeez, life likes to kick yah when you're down) so things are still really crazy and we don't even know when the funeral will be (or if we'll need another one). But I'll try.

Stay safe, guys.