4.
The Bounty Hunter typed a command into his vambrace and the pram floated down from the cockpit. The kid cooed a question, his big ears standing at attention as the Mandalorian placed him on the pile of blankets inside. "We're gonna get some supplies while they fuel up the ship." He told him. Din Djarin could not remember ever speaking as much in his entire life as he had the last few months since the kid appeared. He wasn't sure if the kid even understood anything he said but he had got in the habit of explaining everything to the little one in his care. He also wasn't sure if he believed Zo Mara's story about communicating with the baby or if she had just changed tactics to try and manipulate him.
"I'd love to stretch my legs," Zo said brightly from the floor. "My ass is numb."
"You aren't coming." The Mandalorian replied.
Zo sat back with a resigned sigh. "Fine. Can I at least have some water before you go. He couldn't get any of the bottles open."
The Bounty Hunter sighed and stalked to the case of water canisters on the floor. Half were squished out of shape as if someone had been attempting unsuccessfully to pry them open. He grabbed two, cracking one open and handing it to the kid before kneeling in front of his bounty and opening the remaining canister. He tipped the bottle into her mouth and she sucked down half of it in a few greedy swallows. "Thanks, Bounty Hunter." She said, wiping her mouth on her sleeve.
He turned back towards the kid who had managed to spill most of the water down the front of his robes. "C'mon. The traders market is topside and I wanna be outta here before dark."
"You're worried. You don't like it here…" Zo said quietly.
"I told you not to do that." The Mandalorian grumbled.
"I can't help it. Your emotions are loud." She replied. "He can stay with me."
"No." He pressed a command on his vambrace and the ramp descended. The kid let out a sad little coo from his bundle of blankets.
"I can come with you. Help keep an eye on him, " She tried.
"I said no." He headed towards the ramp, the pram slowly floating a few paces behind him. The baby leaned over the edge of the pram to look back at her. His big brown eyes shining wetly and his bottom lip beginning to quiver. Zo waved goodbye with her fingers and the dam broke. He bent back, head pointing up for maximum lung volume and began to wail. Tears slipped out of his eyes further wetting his robes and blankets. "God damn it." Mando let out an irritated groan pivoting back around. "Will you knock it off. She isn't coming-" The baby paused long enough to suck in another lungful of air before continuing his theatrics. "Look, look you want this? Quit cryin' ok?" He reached into one of his pockets and retrieved the little silver gear knob. The kid sniffled loudly, blinking away fat tears as he reached for the silver ball. The Bounty Hunter took a relieved breath as the kid quieted down.
The relief was short-lived as the kid pitched the ball down the ramp where it rolled away into the dark hangar. His temper tantrum ramped up to a full interstellar storm causing the workers that had been headed towards the Crest with fuel lines in tow to stop in their tracks. The Mandalorian hung his head with a resigned sigh and glanced at the woman in chains. He couldn't see her face as she had it buried against her shackled arm but he could tell from her shaking shoulders she was laughing at the scene in front of her. He wasn't sure why he cared what she thought but he prickled with annoyance.
"Fine. Fine." He yielded to the screaming fifty year old baby. His armor creaked as he kneeled in front of her again.
Her shackled arms popped off the walls and Zo turned her still smiling face towards him. "What are you doing?" She asked as the child stopped his screaming and hiccuped.
The Mandalorian tilted his helmet and let out a deep breath. "Do I have to remind you about the electrogag?"
She flexed her fingers trying to encourage the blood and feelings to return. "No, Mandalorian, I remember what it is." He programmed a few commands into his vambrace and the cuffs on her wrist flashed red.
"If you try to run...if you get more than five meters from me your cuffs will detonate and they'll take your hands and most of your arms with them." His mechanized voice was low enough so the child couldn't hear him.
Zo nodded, "Understood, Bounty Hunter."
He stood and walked away with more creaking armor not waiting for her to stand and follow. The Beskar clad man stopped to converse with the fuelers and the baby cooed happily as Zo walked beside his floating bassinet. She gave the baby a cheeky smile as she wiggled and flourished her fingers. His cherished silver ball flew from whatever dark corner he had pitched it and into her palm. The kid clapped his little hands and gurgled a surprised laugh as it floated from her hand into his. The Mandalorian swopped in grabbing her around her already bruised upper arm and propelled her and the child into the nearest gravlift. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" He barked, turning towards her once the doors slid shut.
Zo shrugged one shoulder, "I got the kid his toy back."
"Your magic draws unwanted attention." He growled.
"The Force isn't magic, Mandalorian," She replied, "And it's not me or the kid drawing attention." Zo rapped her fingers across his silver chest plate. "This Beskar cocoon you're wearing is worth more credits than most of these men will ever see in a lifetime."
He tilted his head considering her words. "No more of your tricks, Zo Mara."
"No trick. It's why you didn't really want to stop but you have no choice because fuel is cheap here and you're almost out of credits until you turn me in and get your reward." He reached a hand behind his back reaching for the electrogag. "Your thoughts are loud, you would do well to guard them. You never know who's listening," She smiled tightly, leaning towards him.
The gravlift doors slid open with a squeal and he nodded once before stepping onto the fuel station's top level. Ships landed and took off from the outer rings and in the center was the bustling marketplace. The sun shone down through hazy clouds only drawing more attention to the Mandalorian's shiny armor. He led the way quickly scanning stalls for the items they needed; mainly food and medical supplies. The baby babbled contentedly in his pram rolling his silver ball between his hands while Mando made his purchases and handed them off to Zo. "I'm not your fucking bantha, Bounty Hunter." She muttered.
"No. You're my prisoner, " he replied, piling another box of meal supplements in her arms. "So shut up and carry this." She sneered under the added weight as he dropped a few credits into the merchant's hand. He sighed looking over the meager supplies; it would have to do for now. "Let's get back to the ship." He grumbled.
The baby's pram and the packages in Zo's arms were jostled more than once as the trio pushed through the crowded marketplace. The Mandalorian marched forward, focused on getting them back into the gravlift, glancing to his side every few paces to check on the kid. He had a tingling sensation in his gut, an intuitive feeling from years of hunting others that something was about to go wrong. He had seen the same faces in the crowd over and over, appearing a stall over or standing too close to his prisoner. Maybe her words were making him paranoid; more Jedi tricks or maybe it really was his uneasiness that she had put into words.
He stopped when the alarm on his vambrace beeped. "I told you-, " he yelled turning back to face his prisoner. Zo stood still, arms curled around the supplies and head tilted like she was listening to a tune only she could hear. "We need to get back to the ship." He whispered harshly grabbing her arm again. Her cold eyes met his T-Shaped visor and he had a second to mutter out a "Damn it" before her invisible hands shoved him back.
The Mandalorian tumbled backwards into the kids pram, sending the baby spinning away and squealing in delight. A laser bolt ricocheted off his Beskar chestplate a second later knocking him flat on his back. The crowd scattered away from the commotion and Zo dropped her parcels as she dashed forward. The lid on the child's pram slammed down over his laughing face and locked with a quick wave of her fingers. "On your feet Bounty Hunter!" she yelled as a dozen armed men pushed through the frightened people. "I'll die to protect that kid. I'm not dyin' for you!" She called to her lightsaber, it tore free of the Mandalorian's belt and returned home to her waiting hands. The men circled warily, blasters drawn as Mando jumped to his feet. "Five meters?" She asked as the purple energy beam sparked and hummed to life in her hands.
"Yeah." The Mandalorian replied, drawing his own blasters. She nodded with a smile, a real one this time, as she rolled the hilt of her lightsaber over her cuffed hands to adjust the grip. The real fighting started with blaster shots and yells as the men attacked the Mandalorian and the lightsaber wielding woman. She parried the pirates' shots, deflecting the lasers as she darted forward always staying within her five meter boundary. Even through the firefight Din saw how easily the lightsaber cut through the men. The brilliant heat slicing through flesh and bone as easily as through hot butter. He realized again how she could have ended their fight as men dropped dead around her. She spun gracefully on her toes, detaching one of their attackers head's from his shoulders before piercing the purple blade of her saber straight through the belly of another man. She tore the sword up, cutting him from navel to shoulder then used the Force to push him away. His split body tumbled away still smoking from the heat of her lightsaber.
Din's blaster grew hot in his gloved hand as he fired shot after shot, none of them missing their target and he felt more than a little vindicated on his marksmanship. Too soon the group of would-be robbers dwindled to one. The pirate realized he was alone and turned to scurry back into the darkness where he and his now dead comrades had hatched their half-brained scheme. Zo threw her lightsaber overhand, it flew hilt over laser straight through the back of the retreating pirate. The man crashed to his knees and lay still on the dirty steel floor. "Anyone else?" She called to the staring crowd as her lightsaber returned to her hands. "Didn't think so." She muttered, turning to face the Mandalorian. He had both his smoking blasters trained on her. Her smile fell as she turned off her lightsaber. She twirled the hilt around her hand and held it out to the Mandalorian.
"We could have made it back to the gravlift." He said tucking his blasters back in their holsters before taking her surrendered weapon.
"That's a funny way of saying 'thank you'," Zo quipped, using the Force to pull the kids pram back towards them. The Bounty Hunter opened the lid and the child laughed in delight, clapping his little claws together as if asking for another round. She walked towards their dropped packages only to stop short when her cuffs blinked a red warning at her. She took a deep breath and concentrated her focus, neatly stacking the boxes of food supplements and medical supplies and bringing them back into her waiting arms.
The crowd gave them a much wider berth as they clambered back into the gravlift to return to the Mandalorians ship. The lift rattled and squealed as it descended once more to the landing bay. "How long did you know?" The Mandalorian asked quietly.
Zo sighed, "I could sense them following us for a while...but there was too much interference. Too many other thoughts, emotions I couldn't tell where it was coming from or if they actually meant us harm until it was nearly too late."
"Were they aiming for the kid?"
She shook her head, "No. They were just going to shoot him as a distraction." The kid looked up at her, his ears twitched slightly.
The Mandalorian sighed, "Did you know their blasters wouldn't work against my armor?"
The gravlift doors slid open on sublevel B and Zo looked at him over the pile of parcels in her arms. "No. I wasn't positive but I figured if my lightsaber can't cut through it chances were you'd be fine against a few Weequay blasters." She stepped out of the lift and towards the waiting ship. Her cuffs flashed a warning and she looked over her shoulders at the Bounty Hunter, "Five meters, Mandalorian."