My first attempt at a Mandalorian fanfic

Title: Unknowns
author: Cindy Ryan
spoilers: all
pairings: Cara/Din
category: alternate storyline

Din Djarin looked through the large glass windows of a medical infirmary on Trask The ship was being repaired in a hanger a few miles away. His passenger had been reunited with her husband and had been on her way to a new life. Now the Mandalorian was waiting. He was watching the medical staff attend to his littlest charge. The Child. Such a little thing had crept into Mando's life and secured a spot. The small green skinned big dark eyed creature that he'd rescued from the ruminants of the Empire had become part of something Din hadn't had in a long time. Hadn't let himself think of. The Madalorians had raised him had become his family. Yet this alien, this responsibility had enacted a bond like nothing else Din had ever experienced.

Soon after the frog lady had departed with her husband the Child had gotten sick. Shaking, cold and unresponsive. Din suspected it was a touch of food poisoning from the many spawns the kid had eaten over the past few days. The ice spider alone could've wrecked with the young one's insides. Could've had poison in the blood; in the shell of the egg. Mando rested his right palm against the glass. He just didn't know enough about the creature's anatomy. Hell he didn't know what species he was. The doctor had asked and Din hadn't had an answer. There were so many things Din didn't have an answer to when it came to his companion.

Looking at The Child now it looked so small in the humanoid bed. Trask wasn't exactly top of the line of the Rim worlds. The bed was all they had. Din had just been grateful there was a medical facility on this mostly water planet. With the state his ship was in Din wasn't sure he'd make it somewhere where the little guy could get the help he needed in time.

Inside the medical room the activity seemed to intensify. The staff one human male blond middle aged, one droid tall and slender and gray metal, and a female Mon Calamari. One of the computer monitor's screeched an alarm and Din tensed his left hand forming into a fist. Had he failed?

/Hang in there, kid./

It'd been his mission to return The Child to his own kind or to the mysterious Jedi. As time went by Din found himself wanting to get his companion home not because it was his mission but because The Child deserved to be safe and loved. Not one of the most wanted bounties in the galaxy. In the medical room the kid's small body twitched as if in a seizure. Another alarm went off. Din's right hand slid from the glass to the small window sill. The metal fingers of his glove gripped it tightly.

Din unclenched his left fist reaching for the controls on his right arm. As he touched the familiar buttons the inside of his helmet lit up. Small screens activated showing the lay of the land. It told him a lot of information but it didn't tell him what he wanted to know the most; what was wrong with the kid. His fingers retracted from the buttons and Din continued to stare at the scene before him. Finally the alarms quieted and the human doctor walked to the door. Din straightened to his full height and moved away from the window trying to brace himself for whatever news he was about to receive.

"Is he alright?"Din demanded cutting off whatever greeting the doctor was going to give.

"He will be."The doctor replied.

The doctor motioned to a wood bench at the back of the waiting room. Din sat and turned towards the blond man who's name tag read Collins.

"The spider egg had a toxin. We were able to identify that by analyzing the Child's blood. "The doctor continued grimly. "My guess is it was in the lining of the egg to protect the larva from any attackers."

Din cringed grateful his helmet shielded his facial expressions from others. He'd been on the wrong end of toxins more than he cared to admit. The recovery was often worse than the initial sting or bite. This would be a painful lesson for his companion to learn. Hopefully it'd curtail the Child's wandering appetite .

"Whatever his species is."Collins stated thoughtfully as he looked through the window and at The Child's now sleeping form. "His body was doing a good job fighting off the poison. I can name a lot of species including humans that it would've killed within minutes."

/Within minutes./

The words echoed as Din followed the doctor's gaze. If the kid had been human Din would've had to bury him. The thought made his heart feel like a ball of ice as large as the planet they'd just left. Din had lost people he'd cared about. Too many to count. Part of life. Part of living in the galaxy they were in. He 'd adapted to a life alone. A life on the move. The bright moments of warmth the little one had brought to Din's solitary existence he knew he'd miss. The sharpness of knowing that absence could've come sooner caught his breath. Too damn close.

"We'll continue to closely monitor him."The doctor said as he stood. "There are a lot of unknowns still of how he will recover. I've never seen anything quite like this child. Non medically speaking and as I'm sure you are aware as caretaker there is something special about that little one."

A lump formed in Din's throat as he stood. He nodded in agreement to the doctor. Despite the headaches of the last few months, despite Din's life being turned upside down. The kid needed someone. Family, a protector, a big brother. Din had found himself growing into that role. A role he didn't want to admit even to himself that he needed.

"You can visit him for a short time."The doctor added as he left.

Din took a deep breath to steady himself before walking into the room where the Child slept.