Desperate Times - Part 2

Din really didn't like dredging up ancient history. He preferred to leave things in the past where they belonged. Some things couldn't be avoided, though.

During their travels over the next few days, he managed to scrounge up some credits and used that to buy more food. Also, the ship was holding up well, and got them from place to place. Those were the only good things. They would need more food and fuel soon.

Which obviously cost money.

At some point, he noted they were not too far from Ran's station. He was an old partner of his. They never really left on bad terms, but Ran didn't feared the consequences of his own actions. Even in his youth, as reckless as he once was, Din still managed to have enough sense to leave when the going was good.

While he wasn't excited at the possibility of seeing him again, Ran could know where to find work. As it turned out, he actually had a mission that he needed help with. He also asked how the Razor Crest was doing these days, much to Din's confusion. When Din inquired about how much the job paid, he was simply told not to worry about that. It was a cheap negotiation tactic, designed to just barely pique one's interest, depending on how desperate one was for money.

Not reassured in the slightest, Din was tempted to steer away, until he looked back at the passenger seat. The Child was sitting there. He had an empty soup bowl in one hand, and was playing with the little silver ball in the other.

With a sigh, Din landed in Ran's station. And his apprehension grew stronger by the minute. He heard that Ran had made many new friends over the years, all of which now worked for him. They were everywhere in that station, working on ship parts and weapons, and eyeing the Razor Crest. When they noticed Din, they scowled and got back to work.

Din shook his head slowly, and stood. He went over to the passenger seat and picked up the Child. After putting the ball back on the console, he went down into the hull. He needed to scope everything out before deciding whether it was safe or not.

He opened the hatch to the sleeping quarters. The Child scrunched his face at him when he was placed on the foot of the bunk. It almost looked like he was scowling.

Din crouched down in front of him. "I know this is a bad idea, but we don't have a lot of options."

The Child pointed at the main entrance, and grumbled.

"This is no place for a child," he tried to explain. "I have to see if Ran has anything worthwhile. And you need to stay here."

The Child's scowl didn't waver.

He sighed again, this time slower, with understanding. "This isn't Mos Eisley. I'll be back in a few minutes." He looked steadily at him. "You have my word."

The Child muttered something that almost sounded dubious. But gradually, his face relaxed. And after a few moments, he sat down, and waited.

Din nodded once, approvingly. He pointed to the button panel inside the bunk. "Don't touch that. I'll open the door when it's safe." He stood up, closed the hatch, and walked out of the ship.

Mos Eisley had been a minor inconvenience compared to what was currently happening.

It was a rescue mission, to free a criminal from a highly secure prison.

Though Din didn't precisely know when, somewhere along the way, he had agreed to all of this insanity.

He was teaming up with a few of Ran's associates. They all pretty much had no redeeming qualities. One of them, a guy named Mayfeld, had been told to lead the mission. Din felt like his ship was being invaded, and he also felt like his options were dwindling. He even had no choice but to let a damned droid into the cockpit.

Currently, there was no trust between any of them whatsoever, and Din wasn't about to let that change. He needed to stay sharp, not complacent. For all he cared, these were just business partners.

Ran had assured him that there'd be money involved at some point, whenever the hell that was going to happen. After it was all over, Din would no longer be doing business with any of them. He just needed to get through this mission, hope there would be something in it for him, and also hope that the Child remained hidden.

After he made sure that the droid knew what he was doing, he went down to join the others in the hull, and he almost instantly placed himself in front of the sleeping quarters. Thankfully, the hatch was still closed. Perhaps the Child understood more than he realized, because it wasn't often that he listened to his instructions.

The others took note of Din's defensive posture. They laughed it off, thinking he was being uptight for nothing. They started cracking jokes, especially about his helmet. They tried coaxing him to take it off, but he was silent, giving them nothing to work with. He felt cornered in his own ship, and he subtly readied his stance, just in case.

One of them did step forward, and put his hands on him. The moment that contact was made, they were brawling, while the others spectated. A control panel was bumped in the process, and the hatch to the sleeping quarters flew open.

When the Child cooed in confusion, Din immediately snapped his attention to him, and dread settled in his gut.

There was a shift from everyone in the hull. In under a second, jesting was replaced with intrigue.

Mayfeld stood up and walked towards him, eyes wide. "Woah! What is that?" He laughed at Din. "You get lonely up here, buddy? Huh?"

Something foreboding hung in the air as Mayfeld stalked closer to the bunk. Din felt it. And the Child felt it, too. He was staring at Mayfeld, cautiously eyeing him up and down. It wasn't often that the Child was anxious about anything.

"What is it, like a pet or something," Mayfeld asked.

"Yeah," Din grunted. "Something like that." He tried to not make this situation a big deal. They were already showing too much interest, and any wrong reaction from him might make things worse. Though he hated it, if they simply regarded the Child as a pet, they might leave him be.

Somehow, it only served to make them even more interested.

"Me, I was never really into pets," Mayfeld said casually. "Yeah, I didn't have the temperament. Patience, you know? I mean, I tried, but it never worked out." He turned to face the Child again. "But I'm thinking…maybe…"

Although Din was proud of the Child for holding his ground, his anxiety climbed as Mayfeld bent towards him.

"…I'll try again," he continued, and picked the Child up out of the bunk. He turned to face Din with a growing smirk. "…with this little fella. Huh?"

Then, his smirk disappeared. He jolted, pretending to almost drop the Child, causing him to whine in surprise.

For a split second, Din bent his knees, and his fingers twitched towards his blaster. His reflexes were extremely subtle, almost imperceptible, but the others noticed and laughed. Mayfeld was chuckling darkly.

Though his face was not visible to anyone, Din glared viciously at him. His posture was absolutely still as he stared Mayfeld down.

They were all idiots, but it seemed that they were perceptive idiots. The laughter slowly stopped. Mayfeld's smirk faltered. The arm holding the Child tensed, and he didn't take his sights off Din…

…Until that droid randomly warned them all that they were dropping out of hyperspace.

The speed of the Razor Crest almost grinded to a halt. The ship jostled. From then on, the droid barked out useless words, because no one could even focus on what it was saying. Everyone fell against the wall when the ship barrel rolled.

During all of the chaos, Din could just barely see the Child being flung from Mayfeld's careless grip. He rolled across the floor, letting out a small shriek. With absolutely no stability or footing, Din still somehow managed to crouch down and shield himself over the Child, placing his palms flat on either side of him to keep them both steady.

As soon as the ship finally landed and stopped, Din was already standing, scooping the Child into his arms in the process. Thoroughly distraught, the Child cried out and babbled loudly. In response, Din's hand briefly covered the top of his head in an effort to soothe him. Din didn't stop to dwell on how he thought to do that – or how automatic it was – but it had the desired effect. The Child almost immediately calmed.

Din quickly brought him over to the foot of the bunk and set him down. The Child stared up at him, probably wondering just what the hell was going on to begin with. The others spoke amongst themselves, but this took priority.

"You okay," he asked, his voice low so as not to attract unwanted attention.

The Child murmured, and blinked slowly.

Din nodded in response.

He was vaguely aware of Mayfeld speaking to the droid, and someone moving cargo out of the way. Dank farrik, it was already time to move out. He placed his hand on the control panel. After giving the Child a swift once-over, he pressed a button and the hatch closed.

One by one, they went down into the prison. Din looked at the hatch one more time, before dropping down to join them.

Aside from the fact that he was leaving the Child alone on the ship with a droid, of all things, he was also leaving him alone after that droid manhandled the ship and nearly killed everyone on board. He was only comforted by two things. One, the Child genuinely seemed to be alright. And two, the droid didn't even know the Child existed. It should stay that way, provided he didn't leave the sleeping quarters.

Din never liked the idea of letting the Child out of his sight. Now, he was truly beginning to despise it.

In fact, he found that he somehow despised it even more than being double-crossed, shoved into a cell, and nearly killed by everyone.

This entire day had been a waste of time, fuel, energy, and sanity. Tired and battered from fighting, Din was now making his way back to the ship. The droid was the only loose end he needed to take care of. And then, he would give Ran a piece of his mind.

His strides were swift. If being double-crossed had been planned from the very beginning, that meant that the droid was even more of a threat than before. It actually wasn't the only loose end, as it turned out. Din found the prisoner in the halls, the one they were supposed to bust out. Normally, he couldn't give a damn, but the way to his ship was being blocked.

He and the prisoner negotiated a little, and the plan changed yet again.

Climbing into the hull of the Razor Crest, Din saw the droid. Its back was to him, and it was standing right in front of the sleeping quarters.

The hatch was open.

In a single motion, Din took out his blaster, aimed, and shot the droid straight through the back of its chest. Din heard the clatter of metal, but he didn't bother to watch it plummet to the ground.

His focus was solely on the Child.

He was standing on the bunk, and his tiny hand was partially raised. He glanced at his own claws in what seemed to be confusion. Until he noticed Din and murmured in recognition.

Din spared the droid a glance as he stepped over it. He would figure out what to do with its body later. There were more pressing matters at hand. He stopped in front of the Child, and knelt down to be at eye level with him.

"You okay," he asked.

The Child cooed and blinked a little.

"Sorry that took so long." He stood up. "Now, let's get you out of there," he said as he picked the Child up.

The prisoner was sitting on a cargo box, and was trying to watch what was going on. When he noticed what Din was carrying, he scowled deeply. "What the hell's that thing," he asked.

"A child," Din responded curtly, not even bothering to look at him.

His scowl deepened, mingling with sheer confusion. "What's a child doing on the Razor Crest?"

"None of your concern. Now stay here. We'll arrive shortly."

Moving the Child to one arm, he climbed up the ladder. The Child gripped one of his pauldrons, trying to see over his shoulder. He waved at the prisoner. Din almost snorted, unsure if the sass was intentional or not.

Once inside the cockpit, he placed the Child in the crate. He sat down in the pilot's chair and piloted the ship into hyperspace. He wanted to be done with all of this as soon as possible. And he anticipated a strong finale.

They arrived at Ran's station within minutes, and Din received compensation for everything, as promised. When asked what happened to the others, Din was vague about it, just as Ran had been vague about the details of the mission. Ran respected that. Din didn't ask him or the prisoner as to whether they knew the double-cross was going to happen. After all, Ran's policy was 'No questions asked'.

Which meant that Din didn't tell them about the tracking beacon that would lead officers right to the station. But what happened next was none of his business. He had been paid, and it was out of his hands now.

He went back inside his ship, into the cockpit, where the Child was waiting in his crate. They left the station, and slowly flew away. Din needed to make sure that the approaching x-wings were going to do their jobs.

The officers opened fire at Ran's station. Within seconds, the place was engulfed in flames.

Satisfied, Din piloted the Razor Crest back into hyperspace.

He exhaled heavily.

He looked to his right, on the control console, and unscrewed the silver ball from the gear shift. He looked back at the Child. "I told you that was a bad idea."

The Child cooed and raised his hand towards him.

After a slight pause, Din placed the ball in his palm. Instead of immediately playing with it, he only glanced at it. Din turned to face the console again, adjusting some switches for a minute or two.

Eventually, he stopped, and simply let his hand rest on the console. He now had a moment to think. To let everything sink in.

The day actually hadn't been a total bust. The bag in his pocket had multiple different currencies in it, which would serve them well during their travels. Still, he could've done without…well, everything else. Especially what had nearly happened to the Child today. He could've been injured thanks to Mayfeld. He could've been shot and killed when the droid had cornered him.

At that thought, Din inhaled sharply, his grip on the edge of the console tensing for a split second. It was by pure luck that he had returned at that exact moment to prevent that from happening.

It was then that another thought struck him. When he had killed the droid, and it dropped to the floor, he saw that one of the Child's hands had been raised.

Weeks and weeks ago, when they had arrived on Sorgan, the Child had been attempting to reach some vegetables that were stacked high above the ground. His hand was raised then, too.

And even further back than that, when he'd first found the Child, he had raised his hand towards his injured arm.

And the day after that…

Din swiveled in his chair to face him. "…Did you really do that to the mudhorn?" The answer was so glaringly obvious, but it was still so unbelievable.

The Child was previously looking out the windshield, mesmerized as ever by hyperspace. Now, he looked at Din with steady eye contact. He was completely silent. After a moment, he returned his attention to the windshield.

As far as Din was concerned, it was an answer. Hell, he already knew the answer. He just didn't have time to ruminate on it until now. These last few months had been so hectic, he…never got the chance to let it sink in.

Din let the back of his head fall against the headrest. Had the Child really been under his protection for that long now? It didn't seem that long ago when the kid had saved him from the mudhorn.

While it was possible that he wasn't as helpless as Din originally thought, he seemed to not really be in control of what he was doing. Or at least, he wasn't able to use his abilities - powers? - all the time. And the only time he had, it resulted in him falling unconscious.

…Was this why the Empire kept sending bounty hunters after him?

Din's jaw clenched. It sickened him how relentless they all were. It still made no sense to him. He just couldn't fathom it. No child should ever be terrorized like this.

Powers or no powers, the plan would remain the same. It didn't matter how far they traveled, or how many bounty hunters came their way.

They were never going to get the Child.