CHAPTER XIII: BETRAYED
Toro Calican decided he was far happier working on his own. He left Fennec Shand dead in the sand, and raced back towards Mos Eisley on a speeder bike. If what Shand said was true, he was about to become a very important man.
"A Mandalorian shot up the Guild on Nevarro. Took some high value target and went rogue."
Shand reclined back against the rock, delicately extending her wounded leg.
"That Mandalorian?" Toro asked, pointing vaguely with his blaster.
Shand shrugged. "Like I said, you don't see many. You bring the Guild that traitor, and they'll welcome you with open arms. Your name will be legendary."
Toro hesitated. It was a tempting offer, but another obstacle stood in his way if the assassin wasn't lying. "What about the woman?"
Fennec motioned to her injured leg. "She's a good shot. I'm not too proud to admit she is one of the best. At least, she used to be. But I've heard murmurs from some Imperial sources about a rogue sniper."
Calican tilted his head. "Imperial?"
"Quite a few years ago, I used to be fairly well-acquainted with Zakia. She was versed in different terrains than I was, and we learned from each other. It disappointed me that she wasted her talent with the Guild- my employers paid much better." Fennec's calculating eyes watched the area where the Mandalorian and Zakia had vanished into the distance. "But I heard later that a private sniper had eliminated a clan of Imperials from a hideout on Naboo. Six shots, six dead. Eight hundred yards, through thick woods."
"What's this have to do with anything?" Calican grew impatient, climbing from the bike.
"Forests were Zakia's speciality. The Imperials- what's left of them- have been searching for the culprit ever since. It's hard to broadcast when your beliefs are outlawed, but I have my sources. I'm sure you could find a warlord somewhere who'd pay you handsomely for her capture. If not, then I'm sure she was part of the Mandalorian's escape on Nevarro. The Guild would be thankful for her return." Shand smiled. "I can benefit you more than the Mandalorian ever will."
Toro nodded, using a finger to switch the safety off his blaster. "You're completely right."
Zakia leapt from the dewback when her and Mando made it back to the ridge. Toro was nowhere to be found, the only sign of them ever being there was Fennec's body folded in on itself in the sand. The blonde stepped forward with careful steps, tenderly rolling Shand over. A blaster wound marred the center of her abdomen, and the sand below her body was soaked in congealed blood. She was still cuffed, indicating there had not been a struggle of any sort. Zakia bit her lip and stood, shuffling back to Mando.
"She's gone."
Din lifted her onto the dewback behind him when she approached, hand lingering on her longer than necessary. "Are you okay?"
Zakia brushed him off. "Stop. I'm tired of crying, just- we have bigger things to worry about now. If Toro killed her and left, it was because of something she told him."
"You think she knew about Nevarro and sold us out?" Din nudged the dewback in the direction of Mos Eisley.
"Probably. Calican just wants his name to be recognized, and it would be a higher honor to bring in a Guild traitor than a Republic bounty. Plus, I think he's dumb enough to kill her and not bring you both in." Zakia reasoned, hands gripping the edges of Mando's armor to keep steady on the animal.
"He's dumb enough to come after me when you're still around?" Din wondered.
Zakia chewed on her cheek, thinking back to her and Karga's conversation on Nevarro before the shootout.
'Not that I was told. Sounded much more like they were interested in your skill set.'
"Well, it turns out that, uh, you might not be the only one being hunted." Zakia stammered. She hadn't brought up the whole 'the-Imperials-want-me' conversation to the Mandalorian. She figured it would be better left unsaid. If Din knew about their desire to have her, he would be ridiculously protective and unreasonable.
"What are you talking about?"
Dropping her forehead to rest between Mando's shoulder blades, she explained what had taken place on Nevarro. Zakia could feel the tension building beneath his armor, and sat straight up when she was finished.
"You didn't think it prudent to tell me any of this?" Din asked. His tone was measured, but Zakia knew he was furious.
"I knew that if I told you, you would be ridiculously overprotective. The Imperials don't even have a name. And it happened a long time ago. Before I started working with you full-time." Zakia was exhausted, physically and mentally.
"Have you ever considered I'm protective because I care?"
Zakia sighed. "I just don't want to fight anymore."
They rode until sunfall, eventually reaching the outskirts of the spaceport. Both parties were silent the whole time, neither finding any common ground to speak on. The dewback padded all the way to the hangar door before it stopped. Mando dismounted, leaving Zakia to slide clumsily off the monster's back. A single speeder bike was parked in front of the hangar door, and Din pulled a blaster before walking into the bay quietly. Zakia drew her remaining gun and followed, creeping along the interior wall of the entryway. When they emerged into the main bay, Peli's tools were scattered about but the mechanic was nowhere to be found.
A small shape startled both of them, and Zakia watched the DUM droid skitter into Motto's office and cower beneath the desk. Zakia could only pray that their new friend wasn't in the same condition as Shand.
"Took you long enough." Calican's voice came from the Crest's open hatch, and both hunters moved to point their guns towards the source of the noise.
It was Peli who was visible first, hands held up in surrender as Calican nudged her down the ramp. As the man stepped into the light, Zakia's stomach jumped into her throat. The Child was held nonchalantly in his other hand. She tightened her grip on the blaster, eyes drilling into Calican's body.
She was going to kill him. Zakia knew she had a bad feeling about the boy when she met him, and it was all coming around to bite her.
"Looks like I'm callin' the shots now."
Zakia's eye twitched while Din kept his blaster trained on Toro's head.
"Drop your guns and raise 'em." Calican commanded. He paused on the ramp, refusing to move any further until both the Mandalorian and Zakia were unarmed.
"You're going to die for this." Zakia stared straight into the wannabe's eyes as she tossed her blaster to the ground. Toro may have had control, but Zakia would never go down without a fight. She was able to grasp a sliver of satisfaction when Toro visibly flinched at her careless actions.
About to speak towards the moron before them, a flash of silver and gold caught Zakia's eye. In Din's clasped hands, hidden behind his helmet, was a flash charge. Her mouth quirked at the edges. If Calican was more experienced, he would have paid attention to that sort of thing. Lucky for them, he was anything but.
"Shut up."
Toro told Peli to cuff them both, shoving her down the hatch as the mechanic let out a disgruntled huff. His eyes moved back to the pair of hunters.
"You're a Guild traitor, Mando." He started, leveling his blaster at Zakia this time. "And I'm willing to bet that this here is the target you helped escape."
The blonde internally grimaced as Toro swept the gun from the Child back to her. Calican was still talking when Peli whispered something Zakia didn't catch behind the Mandalorian's helmet, but it was safe to assume she'd found the charge.
"Not to mention, your 'partner' is being tracked by Imps." Calican tipped his head and shrugged as if it were a casual conversation. "Bringing the two of you in won't just make me a member of the Guild. I'll be legendary."
Zakia caught Mando's hand beginning to move out of her peripheral, and ducked just as the explosion of light was set free in the bay. She rolled to the side and pulled her knife, whipping it by the blade in the direction of Calican's neck. A shot rang out at almost the exact same time. Peli managed to make it to Zakia's side, hand landing gently on the younger woman's shoulder.
"Are you alright? Where's the baby?"
All three looked around at the question, and Zakia rushed towards the ship. She ignored Toro's motionless body, unphased by the knife protruding from his neck. There was as soft shuffling as she called out for the kid, and all three adults could have got whiplash for how fast they turned.
The Child came tumbling out from behind a stack of crates, ears piqued at Zakia's voice and the soft clank of Mando's armor. It lifted its arms up in the universal 'hold me' gesture, and Zakia didn't hesitate to comply. He cooed softly, tugging at the loose pieces of her headwrap.
"Shhh, shh. I'm sorry, I know it was loud."
The Mandalorian made his way to her slowly, taking a long moment to rest his hand on her lower back. Zakia rotated so she could see his visor, smiling softly at his hidden face. Peli was watching the exchange with a smirk, arms crossed. The DUM droids began slowly trudging from her office as their processors deemed the threat neutralized.
"Don't get comfortable." Din murmured to Zakia, "We're leaving."
Zakia acknowledged his warning with a nod and crossed the disaster of a workplace to stand with Peli.
"Look at you." Motto playfully picked at the baby's ear before her eyes landed on Zakia. "Both of you."
"Thank you for taking care of him. Everything to do with that piece of shit is out fault." Zakia alluded to Calican, but Motto waved her off.
"He's a pleasure." The mechanic's face hardened as the Mandalorian approached, leaving Zakia giggling at their dynamic. The silent-and-macho man facade was fixed back into place, in turn ruffling Peli's feathers. "I take it you didn't get paid?"
Din withdrew a wallet with far more credits in it than Zakia cared to count. He emptied the contents into Peli's hands. "That cover us?"
Looking from him to Zakia, she nodded. "Yeah. This'll cover you."
Zakia nudged Din with her elbow, motioning subtly to Peli Motto. The Mandalorian grumbled under his mask, but tipped his head to the older woman. "Thank you."
After his companion gave him a nod of approval, he swept the Child from her arms and hustled up the ramp. Zakia followed, twisting around to wave. "Sorry, that's how he shows affection. But you really do have our gratitude. No matter how Mando acts."
Motto only winked. "Make sure he takes care of you."
"He always does."
Hours of space-travel flew by after they departed from Mos Eisley.
Zakia sat reclined in the pilot's chair, feet kicked up on the console. The Child was occupied on the floor of the cabin, chasing the small ball from the lever which he'd claimed as his own. It rolled with the ship's cadence, eliciting a fit of giggles from the Child whenever he came close to catching it. The mercenary chaperoning him swiped through pertinent news articles about Imperial remnants on Din's beat-up holopad. Zakia was idly searching for any evidence that could link her to the assasination she had been a part of so many years prior. The Mandalorian was below deck, eating and showering before they turned in for the night. If it even was nighttime.
Their sleeping schedule was so sporadic and disorganized that Zakia wasn't entirely sure when she was supposed to take time for her beauty sleep. Even the Child's natural circadian rhythm couldn't be used as a guide; the kid napped so much that Zakia expected him to be bouncing off the ship's walls at all times. Despite the thoughts bouncing around in her head, he preserved his chipper attitude most of the time. Apart from when he was hungry, their charge was not a difficult one.
"Eeek!"
Zakia raised a brow, laughing aloud as the Child tumbled into her jacket where it lay crumpled on the floor. He held the silver sphere triumphantly in one hand, waddling over to Zakia to display it.
"Good job, baby." She praised. It felt wrong to call the Child something so objective, but she had no other indicators to go on for a name. Nor did it feel right to give him one.
The little green womp rat giggled, keeping his full attention on her as he tossed the ball towards the back of the cabin. Its little legs made to chase, but the door slid open suddenly and the ball disappeared. A loud 'CLANK' resounded shortly after, and Zakia dropped her feet to the floor so she could see. The Child scrambled to sit on her knees, startled by the door's sudden movement.
The Mandalorian emerged from below deck, tiny ball in one hand and the other steadying his body on the ladder. Zakia chuffed at the realization that the ball had indeed made contact with his helmet.
"You're throwing things at me now?" Din pulled himself the rest of the way into the cockpit, bare of all armor except the helmet. He wore a dark tunic and pants, boots on but not buckled.
"Not me, the kid. He's got good aim." Zakia joked. The Child babbled at her, grabbing a fistful of curls and pinching it between his fingers. However, his eyes never left the Mandalorian. After deciding Zakia's har was uninteresting as ever, his arms extended towards Din. "And apparently, tired of me."
Still a bit skittish when it came to affection outside their relationship, Din was slow to acquiesce the Child's supplication. Once it was done, the beast snuggled happily against his chest, obviously appreciating the lack of armor and easy access to body heat.
"Did you find anything?" He indicated to the discarded holopad on the console.
"Nothing. It was so long ago. Karga had to remind me about it when he first told me the Imperials were interested." Zakia shook her head. "It just doesn't make sense they would be searching for this long. There's plenty of others out there who would work for the right price. Hell, they could've had Fennec working for them in the blink of an eye."
Din readjusted the Child so he rested in the crook of his arm, settling into the co-pilot's seat. "I thought the same. But Imperial plans don't often fit together quite right."
"Like I said. It doesn't add up to me." Zakia picked up the holopad and held it for Din to see.
A single blue hologram popped up, gleaming off Mando's helmet. The headline was in white, reading 'Six Dead in Apparent Assasination on Naboo'.
"That's ambiguous." Din swiped through the projected pages. "This is it?"
Zakia nodded. "All that I could find."
"I just wish you would have told me sooner."
"I know I should have. But after the shootout and the kid, it was honestly the last thing on my mind. We have people on our ass all the time. Why should it have made a difference?" Zakia took the holopad and replaced it on the dash, standing from her seat so she could settle herself onto Mando's free knee.
His right side was occupied by the Child, but his left was open. She sat on his thigh and leaned back into his firm body. Din tipped his chin up to accommodate her head and shifted the kid around until it was in her arms and he could maneuver them both as one.
"No, you're right." He conceded, warmth rushing through him as Zakia pulled her legs up over both of his and curled close. "It was a long time ago. If it was serious, they'd have found you already."
Zakia's head bobbed against his chin as she silently agreed. Her nose pressed into his tunic, she inhaled deeply. "You smell good, Din."
"I tried this new thing called soap" He quipped.
"Thank the Maker, I knew I was starting to smell something."
They remained in silence for a stretch, content to be close. The Child was still, sleeping peacefully on Zakia's lap. The blonde was starting to fade as well, her head growing heavier on Mando's armor-less shoulder. He hummed an off-key version of a popular tune, and Zakia was losing the battle with sleep very quickly as his chest rumbled beneath her ear.
"You ever think about what we would do if it was this quiet all the time?" She said softly, propping her cheek on Mando's shoulder. Her eyes steadied on his viewfinder where she imagined his eyes to be.
"More than you think, I'd wager." Din answered. His arms wrapped around her knees and waist, long fingers tracing aimless doodles into her skin. "One day."
Zakia tucked her chin back into his chest contentedly. "You'd be bored out of your helmet, Tin can."
His chest moved up as he chuckled. "I don't know. Sitting around sipping spotchka could make for a good retirement plan."
"I know you, Din. And, I'd like to think I know you pretty well. You would be content to sit for approximately two days before itching to get back at it." Zakia told him, fingers scratching over the material covering his chest. Her hand brushed gently over the Child's head, and the creature smiled joyfully in its slumber.
"Well, it's going to be pretty hard to get back at it. You know, with the Guild hunting me and everything."
Zaki felt the happiness slowly begin to leak from their conversation. "As long as they're coming after us while we're together, no one will get close. I have a shiny new rifle to keep them back."
Din smiled beneath the helmet. "Glad to know you still have my back."
"You owe me another blaster though." Zakia tapped at her empty holster. "I was going to try and snag mine back from the Tusken, but those guys scare me too much."
A soft trill from the dash drew them out of idle chit-chat, the telecom unit blinking with a new message. Zakia gently set the Child back in Din's lap, standing to stretch her legs. "I'll get it."
She typed her code into the communications screen, and a blue hologram popped up. At first there was no one in the picture, only a voice.
"Mando! I hope this gets through, I wasn't sure you still had the same ship." A figure wandered into the frame then, and Zakia groaned. She slapped the pause button, turning to the Mandalorian.
"It's Ran Malk."
Din hauled his body from the chair, holding the Child with ease. "Been a long time since we've heard from him."
Zakia smiled. "I worked that job the morning after you took me to bed with you for the first time."
"Did you? Didn't recall." Din teased, and Zakia beat on his arm.
"Don't be a jerk. What do you think he wants?" She wondered, hands hovering above the controls.
"Let's find out."
Din knocked her fingers away, pressing down on the resume button himself.
"But, I heard you were still alive and decided you'd be the best person to help me out." Ranzar had gained weight since Zakia had last had the pleasure to see him, but he was still the same man as all those years ago. Back then he had been conniving and selfish, and something told Zakia he probably had not had a grand metamorphosis.
"I need help busting a buddy out. I'll leave the you coordinates later. But the money's here and the pay is good. Even better if you bring the blonde that was with you last time. We could use her skills on this job."
Zakia cringed, wrinkling her nose at Mando. "Ew. Is he talking about my actual skills or my boobs?"
"Knowing Ran? Both."
The call ended with coordinates projected on the display, and Mando switched off the telecom's hologram unit.
"Classy as ever." Zakia remarked. "What do you think?"
Din swayed gently as the Child began to fuss in his hold. "Ran was never too smart on his own. I think it might be easy money very quickly."
Zakia propped herself against the pilot's chair. "I'll do whatever you feel is necessary to keep us flying."
He watched her body language for any outwards hostility, but he was clear. "Might as well. It's not much travel from here."
"Alright." Zakia concurred. "You think that Twi'lek still runs with him? 'Cause if so, please just point the blaster at me now."
Din typed in the coordinates, and their s temporary peace disappeared with the engagement of hyperspace.