A/N: Hi folks! This chapter was a tough one for some reason, so it took a little longer to get it done than I wanted. But here it is, finally.
Enjoy!
-Moki
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The Armorer heard the call over the comm announcing that the team was returning, but she didn't need it. All she needed to tell her of their imminent arrival was the little one sitting by her side. Grogu still looked weaker than his usual self, but his eyes continued to get brighter the closer his father came to the ship.
After some time, the child stood up, walking across the console where she was sitting on the bridge of the cruiser. His head tipped to the side and his ears perked up as he warbled at her questioningly.
"Are they close?" She asked.
Just then she heard Bo's call over the comm, telling the crew to prepare for hyperspace.
Grogu immediately held up his arms, clearly asking to be picked up and taken to wherever Din was. She pulled him to her shoulder and strode off the bridge toward the landing area on the ship. It would take them a few minutes to get there, and she and the child should arrive just as the landing party did.
The Armorer thought about waiting, to see what Din's condition was, but decided there was nothing to be gained by keeping the boy apart from his father. They had already seen how connected the two were. Besides, with his special abilities, Grogu might be exactly the kind of help Din needed.
As they arrived in the landing area, Grogu whined and tried to pull himself from her arms.
"Hold on, little one. Don't fall." Grogu was able to jump quite far and usually landed well on his own, but she didn't trust him in his current weakened state.
There was a crowd of people at the landing area. Most were the rescue squad, but some had obviously come to see Din Djarin returned to them. It took the Armorer a moment to find Din in the rush of people. When she did, it was only because the crowd was gathered around a prone figure lying on the deck.
That was all it took before the Armorer was no longer able to hold onto Grogu. He wriggled himself from her arms and jumped to the ground, running as fast as his little legs would take him. She went after him, not trying to stop the child, but more to make sure he made it to Din's side without being crushed by the many people milling around.
Grogu saw his father lying at the feet of all the others and rushed to Din's side. Something was very very wrong with the man who meant more to him than anyone else in the galaxy.
The little one was so frightened by the pain he could feel emanating from Din that he didn't stop to concentrate. Grogu's hand was out before he realized it. He didn't think, he just started pushing out as much healing energy as he could. The waves of agony radiating off Din were too much, and the child reacted without the control he might have normally had.
From his position on the ground, Din was in a haze of renewed pain from the hard landing. The little bit of adrenaline that had gotten him out of the base was lessening as much as the pain was increasing. In that confusing condition, Din didn't register any healing. All the injured man felt was a powerful impulse slap forcefully into his body. In his shock, in his already hurting state, it was just one too many things to deal with and his brain immediately registered it as another threat.
The wave hit Din and he sucked in air with a strained hiss as the sensation overwhelmed him. Even without his eyes he could feel the crowd collected around. Suddenly the Mandalorian felt naked, exposed, raw. His nerves were strung tight after all he'd been through and in that moment, even Grogu's healing energy was too much. He knew what was happening, but he couldn't take it, not then, not yet.
Din reached out a trembling hand, trying to find Grogu in the darkness that had been his world for far too long. He understood what the kid was trying to do, and he appreciated it, but he didn't think he could handle anything else at that moment. His body was exhausted and shaking. He needed a minute to just rest.
"Kid.. wait, please," Din begged.
Bo saw Din's reaction and reached down to gently cover Grogu's hand with hers.
"Wait, little one. Let's get him to the medbay," she said kindly. It occurred to her that maybe Din wouldn't want everyone to know what Grogu could do. Some probably already knew of his abilities, but it was better to give them some privacy. Better to let Din rest a bit and get over the shock of it all.
Though the wave let up, the wounded man was still in nearly as much agony as before. Din's boots scraped against the floor, and he groaned, his head tossing back and forth under the hood.
Grogu whimpered in response to his father's thrashing groans. When Bo had touched him, he became aware of what he'd caused, snapping his hands back as if burned. It had brought him out of his reverie, and he'd been shocked and upset to realize that he had inadvertently caused Din's new wave of pain. He hadn't meant to hurt him. He only wanted to help.
"He'll be okay for a few more minutes. I promise. Let's just get him someplace quiet." Bo looked around desperately, trying to figure out how to get the nearly unconscious man to the medbay. There were a lot of hands to help, but she didn't want to haul Din up and hurt him more. Why hadn't they thought to bring a stretcher?
The sound of running boots made Bo look up. A member of Din's tribe was sprinting towards them, obviously the medic. He pushed his way through the crowd and knelt beside Din.
The medic took one look at Din and turned to the others.
"I need water. Get me a canteen, something with a small opening. Now!" He turned back to Din without checking to see if, or who, had gone to follow his instructions.
Bo could see that the man was used to his orders being followed. When someone was injured, he was in charge, end of story.
The medic did a cursory exam without touching Din and saw dozens of things wrong with the injured man. But he had spotted the most immediate threat and was going to deal with that first. It was the one that would offer Din some relief immediately. Then he would figure out how to deal with all the rest.
Axe had run off at the order. He came back a moment later, having found a crew member with a full water canteen at a nearby station.
"Here," Axe handed it to the man kneeling at Din's side.
Bo wondered if the medic was going to start cleaning some of Din's wounds. It seemed an odd place to start his treatment, the medbay would be better, but she wasn't about to ask. If the Armorer trusted this man, she would, too.
To Bo's surprise, the medic carefully pulled Din off the floor and laid him against his chest. Reaching around Din, he opened the canteen and put it to the injured Mandalorian's lips.
The medic was cautious to keep the hood down, instinct telling him there was likely a very important reason for it to be there – and not all of it had to do with his missing helmet.
"Come on, Din. You're way too dehydrated. Let's start with that first, okay?" The medic said as he encouraged the man to drink.
Bo looked on guiltily. It had never once occurred to her to offer Din any water. Why hadn't she thought of that? As she watched, Din started drinking greedily.
"Whoa, okay that's enough for now. We have to do a little bit at a time," the medic said. "But that's good. That should help you feel a little better right now."
The water seemed to give Din some more strength and he turned his head under the hood.
"Med?" Din asked, suddenly recognizing the voice over his head. Was he dreaming again? "I thought you were… I never saw you after the firefight on Nevarro," he croaked out.
"It's a long story. How about we catch up later?" Med said, relief in his voice at the slight improvement in his old friend.
Din nodded. It was good to have another voice he knew in the confusion of his dark and noisy world. Med's hands were strong but gentle as he supported him, and Din felt himself relax a little.
Bo's eyebrows went up when she spotted Din's reaction to the man's voice, he obviously knew this medic.
"We were all beginning to think you didn't like any of us. Don't stay away like that again," Med said with mock reproach.
"I'll remember that," Din chuckled weakly, but Bo felt a small bit of elation at the lightness of his voice.
These two must have known each other a long time.
"What do you say, old man, how about we move this reunion to the medbay? Are you walking or am I carrying you?"
"Walking," Din stated simply.
Med, as Din had called him (was that simply short for "medic," Bo wondered) kept a hand on Din's back and stood up. Once standing, Med got behind the other Mandalorian and reached under his shoulders. In one heave, the medic had Din on his feet before anyone else could volunteer to help. The speed of his action also kept Din from feeling much additional pain from the movement.
The Armorer watched everything silently. She saw the covering on Din's face and much like Med, something also told her that it wasn't simply because he wasn't wearing a helmet. She saw his helm hanging from his belt and knew there had to be a good reason for that. Otherwise, he would be wearing it.
They needed to get him to the medbay fast.
The Armorer turned to the crowd gathered around them, raising her hands. "Clear the way," her voice was powerful though not loud, and everyone stopped at the sound of it. "You may all return to your assigned stations. The rescue team should return to their quarters. Your job is done, thank you. Go and rest."
The Armorer picked up Grogu as he toddled behind the slowly moving Med and Din. She hooked an arm around Bo's elbow.
"Come on, let's get him back to the medbay."
Bo nodded mutely, never taking her eyes off of the stumbling pair in front of them.
When they arrived, Med guided Din to the room he had already prepared with the meager supplies they had. He got the other man onto the treatment table and quickly ran to the sink to wash his hands and put on gloves.
Once he was done, Med removed the hood from Din's face slowly, unsure of what he would find under it but certain it wouldn't be anything good.
When Med saw Din's eyes, he was grateful for his many years of working as a medic. He'd seen some horrendous wounds, but nothing quite like this. It didn't help that those wounds were on the face of someone he'd known almost his whole life. Even if he hadn't seen that face since they were both young boys.
Din and Med had been raised together in the fighting corps. Found around the same time, they had formed a strong bond as children. Over time, Med discovered his calling for healing. He chose to learn how to treat those who supported the covert. Those whose calling was to go out into the world and fund the foundlings with the extra from their work. Those who sometimes came back broken because of their chosen profession. Those like Din Djarin.
Because of their history, it wasn't the first time Med had treated his best friend, but it was definitely the worst. And after all those times, all those countless injuries, this was one time Med wasn't sure he would be able to save Din.
The sound of Din's boots scraping against the examination table made the Armorer wince under her helmet. She had stayed still when Med removed Din's hood, but the sight of his face and eyes had chilled her to the bone. She had never seen such destruction, at least not on someone who was still breathing.
Much like they had done on the ground of the landing area, Din's feet were moving over and over again. Though he was trying hard to stay still, it was the one part of his body the Mandalorian was allowing to respond to Med's exam of his face.
When Med reached a particularly tender spot, Din couldn't keep his movements to just his legs. Hissing, his hand reached out and gripped the closest thing it could find the dark, coming to rest on the medic's upper arm. He grabbed at the other man's leathers just underneath his pauldron.
Med didn't try to remove the desperate hand on his arm, ignoring the fingers that squeezed and pulled at his leathers. If it helped Din get through this very necessary process, he could hang on all he wanted.
Med's only response was to growl in sympathy, but he couldn't let up on his exam.
"I know, I know, I know," Med ground out, sadly. Being a medic as long as he had, gave him the unenviable power to turn off the cries of pain from his patients. It was necessary to do what he did. If he let it stop him, people could die.
This was the first time in a long while that the pain of his patient had affected him this much. It made his stomach drop more than the gore of Din's eyes. Med hated that after not seeing Din in such a long time, practically the first thing he had to do for his old friend was cause him pain. But he had to get on with it if he was going to save the man's life. They had no one else, it was up to him.
"I'm sorry, Din. Just hang on. I'm almost done," Med said as reassuringly as he could, but there was sadness in his voice that he wasn't able to hide.
The eyes were basically destroyed. As he continued his exam, Med wondered if he was going to have to remove them completely to save Din's life. There were already signs of infection, which could kill Din. While most of Med's attention had been on the other Mandalorian's eyes, he had also spotted many other wounds, some of which were showing signs of infection too.
It was a kriffing miracle that Din was still alive. Med wasn't sure how it was possible. He was positive anyone else laying on his table in this condition would be dead. The man was still breathing by nothing but sheer stubborn will.
But even as Med decided that the only way to save his friend was to remove the eyes, he also knew he didn't have the surgical skills or anything remotely close to the equipment he would need to do it.
"Grogu," Din was calling out weakly for the child.
"He's here," Med said. "But I need to keep examining you. I need to start… treatment."
Din heard the hesitation in his friend's voice. If he needed any confirmation of how bad his eyes were, that was it. They were like brothers, and he knew Med too well. They'd never been able to lie to each other, not since they were boys.
"Wait, Med. Just wait." Din's hand was reaching in the darkness. Med backed off with a sad sigh as he looked to his friend's foundling.
At the end of the bed, Grogu was pulling and growling, trying to get out of Bo's grip and go to his father. Seeing them reaching for each other and knowing what it could do for both of them, the Armorer spoke up.
"Let the boy go, Lady Kryze."
Finally, Din felt tiny fingers wrap themselves around his thumb. As the warm little body settled against his side, he reached out to rub an ear affectionately. The wounded man rejoiced in those little claws he never thought would grab his thumb again, in the purring coo he never thought he'd hear again.
If his body had been able to spare any liquid, if his eyes hadn't been destroyed, Din might have cried some tears of joy at being reunited with the one person he'd wanted to see again more than anyone else in the entire galaxy.
As it was, Din didn't have to worry about not being able to shed any tears. Bo's eyes were tearing up enough for both of them. She had fought so long for this moment and almost couldn't believe it was really happening.
"Come here," Din said, motioning for the boy to come closer.
Grogu eagerly but carefully walked on the table until he was at Din's shoulder. He was frightened to touch the wounded man. He hadn't meant to hurt his father before and was terrified of doing it again.
"It's okay, kid. I know you were trying to help. What do you say we give it another shot?" Din whispered quietly, his words only for the little one he could feel next to his head.
Even as he asked, there was a very small part of Din that hated he needed help from a child he was sworn to protect, but he also knew he had no other choice. He'd heard the helplessness in Med's voice when the medic had examined his eyes. Maybe if there was a fully functioning medical facility and medical droids on board, he might stand a chance to keep his sight. But with the limited equipment and supplies he knew they had, there was no hope.
The only hope he had was currently holding onto his shoulder and warbling worriedly.
Med had protested when Grogu started climbing near his patient. He was worried about the little one inadvertently causing Din more pain. But the Armorer held up her hand to reassure him.
"Just leave them be a moment."
"It's okay," Din repeated, reaching out instinctively to find a fuzzy ear again to give it a gentle rub. Grogu leaned into Din's hand, a happy trill replacing the worried warble from before.
"Grogu, it's okay. Do whatever you can. I promise you won't hurt me."
Grogu gave a small coo, then closed his eyes. He took a deep breath and reached forward to put both hands on Din's cheek. He got as close to Din's eyes as he could but was careful not to touch the worst of the burned areas on his father's face. He concentrated, this time putting in more control, and started slowly and carefully pushing out the healing energy.
Din felt the same sensation as before but this time he was ready for it. It wasn't as overpowering, but still a lot for his tender senses to handle. Not wanting to scare the kid, Din kept his mouth pinched closed and breathed through his nose. He turned his head away slightly but didn't move from Grogu's touch, gripping the edge of the exam table in an effort to stay still.
On the side of the bed, Bo half-reached forward to take one of Din's hands, but the Armorer caught Bo's arm and shook her head silently. She was right. Father and son needed to do this alone. Grogu couldn't afford to lose concentration and any touch might send Din more over the edge.
Still, it was hard to watch.
Grogu didn't see his father's movements or what occurred between Bo and the Armorer. His eyes were tightly closed as he concentrated as hard as he could. He had never healed damage this extensive before. Eyes were relatively small, but full of tiny, delicate tissue, blood vessels and muscles, all of which required repair. The burns went deep, and infection had started to creep in after Din had been left in his cell for days on end.
As Grogu visualized the area, he almost felt like he was a tiny version of himself walking through it. He could see the places that were damaged, and repaired them, then went after the infection that was acting like a monster inside of Din. He followed every path within his father's eyes, putting together what Moff Gideon had taken apart.
Through it all, Din continued to writhe and groan softly, despite struggles to keep himself as motionless and quiet as possible for the kid's sake. Those watching had no doubt that the process was difficult for both father and son. They all wondered if they would have been able to hold up as well as Din was, given all that he'd been through and the current condition of his body.
As the three other people in the room looked on in wonder, slowly the tissue around Din's eyes began to change, the blackened burns receded and were replaced by healthy skin. Grogu had started from the inside, working his way out. By the time he reached the outer lids, returning them back to nearly normal and reducing the awful swelling, the little one's body was leaning with fatigue. Din's motions had also slowed down, his weakened body growing tired from the painful healing process.
Grogu's hands shook on Din's face and with a sigh, he dropped on the table next to his father. In the same instant, Din's body went limp.
There was a collected gasp as the pair became still, and for a moment, the others in the room were just as unmoving.
Med was the first to move. He went to the child first, lifting him up carefully. He didn't know anything about this particular species, but a quick look reassured him that the young one was still breathing.
"Here, take him." He said, handing Grogu to Bo. "Don't worry, he appears to be sleeping."
"Yes, that's typical for him," the Armorer confirmed. "Din has said he sleeps when he must exercise a lot of his powers at once."
Med nodded in reply. Then his hands went to Din's neck, feeling for a pulse. He pulled out a scanner to check on the man's other vitals.
"How is he?" The Armorer asked after a minute of letting the medic do his exam.
"Alive." Med announced, earning sighs of relief. "Unconscious and weak, but alive. His eyes are better but he's nowhere near out of the woods yet."
Med shook his head as he looked at the wrecked man lying in front of him.
"He's still got a host of other problems to deal with now. But the eyes were definitely the worst. They would've killed him first, of that I have no doubt." Med looked at the sleeping child in Bo's arms briefly, as if unable to believe what he had just witnessed.
Med looked up from Grogu, addressing Bo. "Put the child on the other bed."
After she did as she was told, Med pointed to the sink on the wall of the exam room. "Wash your hands and put on gloves. Armorer, you as well. I need both of you to help."
When they were finished, Bo walked up to Med at Din's side. "What do you need?"
"We need to remove his armor, then strip him down and find every single injury. Every burn, every wound, every broken bone. I need a complete list of everything I'm dealing with here. Without a full bacta tank we're going to have to do this the old-fashioned way."
Med was pulling together everything he had gathered to treat Din as he spoke.
"We don't have a lot of supplies so I'm going to have to figure out what's emergent and start there. Then I can move my way down to whatever's urgent, less urgent, and what can wait until later."
He paused again, but never took his eyes off of his patient.
"I need you both to help me triage. Once I know what I'm dealing with, I'll need to find and clean every wound. Infection is his worst enemy now, especially with the added factors of starvation, dehydration, and overall weakness. I have to stop the downward spiral and help him build his strength. He's going to have fight a lot of this on his own as much as he can, unfortunately."
Med finally looked up at the two other Mandalorians, neither of whom were trained medical personnel. Discussions with the Armorer told him they had no other medics on board the ship. He'd been the only one in the covert and Bo's tribe had either returned to her castle for treatment between battles or went to medical facilities on whatever planet they were on. He was it.
"I'm sorry that this may be difficult. If either of you aren't up for this, you can leave," he said it with no judgement. What he was asking them to do was hard, even when you didn't know and care for the person injured. He couldn't demand it of them, he could only ask.
Bo wasn't about to leave, and she saw that the Armorer wasn't either. But once they got to the actual removal of Din's armor and clothing, she realized this was going to be harder than she thought. It was awkward stripping the armor and clothes off of a friend, male or female, it didn't matter.
She decided to station herself near Din's head, concentrating on his upper armor and clothing. She let the trained medic, and the Armorer who had known Din most of his life, tend to the lower regions of her friend's body.
Bo started with the hood and cloak, untying the knot she had tied earlier and slipping it off Din's head and shoulders. He wasn't wearing the cowl as it had seemed unnecessary without the helmet. Also, the tight fabric would have been more painful than useful, so she had left it on the floor of Din's cell where Moff's men had thrown it.
Next, she took off Din's vambraces and gauntlets, then pulled off the gloves. She had always wondered about the lighter colored leather on the fingers. She speculated that it might make it easier for him to see his hands when working on something delicate, such as the wiring in his armor or on his ship. Dark gloves were hard to see in a helmet, even with the visual adjustments that could be made. The lighter leather was a wise choice.
Next, Bo removed the front of Din's cuirass and his pauldrons. It made her remember how he had put the pauldrons and most of his armor back on himself. Blinded and in more pain than she could fathom, the man had armored himself. Though he was gentle as a lamb with his son, no one would dare call Din weak in her presence. Not after what she had seen.
Once Bo got to Din's leather jacket, she tried to pull it off carefully. She wondered if they should lift him up to get it fully off, but before she could ask, Med handed her sharp scissors.
"Just cut it. It's ruined anyway." The medic was right of course, Moff Gideon had destroyed everything but the nearly indestructible beskar. All of Din's clothing was tattered and burned, not to mention covered in blood. There was no reason to keep it.
As she exposed more and more of Din's dark skin (it never occurred to her that he might be naturally tan), soon it wasn't the lack of clothing that felt awkward. It was the sheer amount of damage she uncovered on nearly every inch of his upper body.
When Bo had found the injured Mandalorian, his eyes had pulled most of her attention as the rest of his body had been covered in clothing. But now all his wounds were there for her to see.
Bo and the Armorer kept up a constant report of every wound they found on Din. Med moved between them, making notes in a digital medical report so he could decide which traumas needed the most treatment. When Bo discovered a particularly horrific looking injury, she brought Med over so he could see it with his own eyes. She saw the medic make another note, probably adding that one to the top of his triage list.
They turned Din over and Bo was dismayed to see that the damage went across his back as well. There was almost no place on the Mandalorian that didn't have some sort of injury. Some were easy to identify, such as burns and stab wounds, while others baffled her as to what the cause had been. It was as if the Moff had been using Din to find new ways to injure and torture a prisoner. Which, she figured, was probably exactly what the evil man had been doing.
Bo had to continually hold back angry tears, or screams, alternately. How had Din walked out of that place at all? How in the known universe was he still alive?
The longer it went on, the more Bo felt sick to her stomach. If she had stopped to think about it, she would have realized that most of it probably had to do with the fact that she hadn't slept the previous night, or much at all in the past few days. Plus, she'd had nothing to eat in at least a day. Not that she let herself think about that while looking at the man in front of her, whose ribs stood out as painfully as the blackened burns and other angry wounds on his body.
But it wasn't just her own tiredness and hunger that affected the Mandalorian leader, though that probably made things worse. But Bo couldn't help the feelings of guilt that came over her the more she got an intimate look at how badly Din had been hurt in that place. It made her want to cry or scream or kill someone. She wished she could do the latter to Moff Gideon. She was angry at herself for not figuring out a way to get Din out of there sooner and decided that seeing the damage, even if it made her sick to her stomach, was her punishment for not getting him out before she did.
The Armorer and Med continued to work smoothly together as they triaged Din's wounds. Bo started to feel out of place, like she wasn't really helping and didn't need to be there. Neither of the other two Mandalorians were thinking any such thing, but Bot was exhausted and not thinking clearly.
The Armorer didn't notice when Bo backed away from the table, but when the other woman started to stagger slightly, she looked over quickly. She found Bo standing and staring, almost asleep on her feet.
"Lady Kryze." The Armorer put a hand on Bo's arm.
Bo was busy staring at Din and didn't hear the voice at first. A gentle squeeze at her elbow moved her eyes to the Armorer.
"You're exhausted. Go to your quarters, take the little one. You all need to rest now. Med still has work to do. You can't do anything else for Din at the moment. Your work is done. You and the others brought him back. Med will do all that he can, but the rest is up to Din now."
Bo looked at her numbly for a moment. Finally, she nodded and reached for the sleeping child. The Armorer also stepped back from the table where the injured Mandalorian lay. They had finished cataloguing all of Din's injuries and there was nothing more for her to do, either.
"In fact, I think I'm no longer needed as well. I fear I'm more hinderance than help at this point. Med, do you need anything else?" The Armorer turned back to the medic.
"No, thank you both for your help," Med replied, barely looking up as he continued to work. Now that he had a comprehensive list of Din's injuries, he needed to move quickly and would do better on his own.
The Armorer started gathering Din's armor and clothes, getting ready to take everything with her. "I will repair his armor. The damage is extensive. It will take time."
She finished gathering it up, noting the destruction of everything but the armor. "The leathers and clothing are ruined. I will have the leather makers and clothiers start on new sets."
She paused. "Din will need them i… when he returns to the Fighting Corps."
Bo hadn't left the room yet and she noticed that the other woman was also staring at the man on the bed. Med was too busy doing his work to pay attention to what either of them were doing.
Bo had also caught the hesitation, the trip over one of the words the Armorer had said.
The Armorer had almost said "if he returns."
Underneath her words, carefully hidden but not completely unreadable, Bo had detected sadness in the Armorer's voice. She had never seen the Armorer show much emotion. The other woman was always reserved and stoic. But the sight of Din was enough to crack through anyone's shell.
Bo picked up the sleeping child in her arms as she and the Armorer made to leave the room with their bundles. The boy didn't even stir, the exertion of healing the worst of the injuries to Din's eyes too much for his little body. Luckily, Grogu would be fine with sleep.
But as Bo looked at Din's thin form on the bed, she knew he would need a lot more than simply sleep to recover.
They had him back. But now the healing was just beginning.
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A/N: I just wanted to add that my OC Med was inspired by another story I read called The Covert by Lisa Smithers. If you haven't read that, I highly recommend it. She just started updating it again, so yay!
My OC isn't the same, but I really liked that idea of adding someone to help take care of Din that was from his own tribe and someone he would have known almost his whole life. I felt like after all he'd been through, he would need that right now.
I also wanted to give another shoutout to the amazing She-Elf23 who has been such a help to me. I had some struggles with naming Med and she gave some great feedback. You must go and read her stories as well, she's an amazing writer!
Don't worry, you'll learn Med's actual name soon. ;o)