Hi folks!

Thanks again for all the follows, favorites, and reviews. You have no idea what they mean to me.

Enjoy!
-Moki

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Din Djarin was sleeping.

Once Med had left to get some rest, Bo kept watch over Din and Grogu for a while, happy that Din's condition didn't change. Not just for the injured Mandalorian's sake, but for the tired medic as well.

As for herself, she felt like she could breathe for the first time in weeks.

After a couple of hours, The Armorer came into the room and relieved Bo from the watch.

"You may go to your duty, Lady Kryze," the other woman said as she walked over to Din's bedside, noting that he looked better than the last time she had seen him the night before.

"I will watch over them until Med returns. I just saw him in the passageway and ordered him to the galley to eat. He'll be back momentarily. Then I will join you on the bridge. The others are there, and we'll be able to continue our plans for taking back Mandalore."

Bo hated to drag herself away from the comforting sight of Din and Grogu slumbering restfully, but the other woman was right. She had other things she needed to do, no matter how much she'd rather stay at the bedside to ensure father and son were okay.

Besides, Med would be back soon, and she trusted the medic utterly and completely. There was no better care Din would receive; she was sure of that now. The other Mandalorian looked large and intimidating, but much like Din Djarin himself, below that strength lay a good heart and a man who cared deeply for others.

After getting a few hours of much needed rest, plus a quick meal, Med returned to check on his patient, keeping a close eye on Din's vitals. Just as he had throughout the night before, the medic talked to his old friend as he worked.

"If you keep up like this, I think we're going to be okay, Djar," Med said as he inspected Din's bandages. "These wounds of yours don't look too bad. Of course, things can change fast, but I prefer to keep a positive attitude until proven otherwise."

Din shifted in his sleep but didn't wake. Med was relieved to observe that the injured man seemed to be truly resting, as was the little one still snuggled at his side.

Once Bo finished her meetings, she returned to the medbay again. Not that she didn't trust Med, but now that they had Din back, she felt the need to make sure he was still doing well. She needed to see him with her own eyes.

When she arrived at Din's room, it was nearly time for the last meal of the day. The meetings had lasted several hours, though they still had a long way to go to figure out what their next course of action was.

Bo sat on the spare bed next to Din's. Med had gone to get something to eat after she told him to step away, with a firm promise to raise an alarm should anything happen to Din while he was gone. She knew the medic had been at his post the entire day, not taking a break or getting another meal since the quick early morning breakfast the Armorer had ordered him to eat.

When Med returned, Bo didn't feel like leaving so they both stayed in the room. The medic checked on Din again, inspecting some of the wounds.

"How does it look?" Bo asked quietly.

"There's still infection in some of them," Med said, keeping his voice equally low. By unspoken agreement, they were trying to let Din and Grogu sleep as much as they wanted.

"I want to wait to see if he fights it off on his own before using more bacta. I'll change the bandages again in a little while. Keeping them clean will also help," he said as he finished his exam and turned to her.

"You should be prepared for the fact that his condition will likely go up and down for a little while. He could be fine one minute and not fine the next. His body is going through a lot."

Once again, Bo appreciated the medic's honesty. She liked it when people told her all the facts about a situation and didn't try to hide things from her.

Med had walked over to the sink near the exam table and washed his hands. Then he began pulling out some supplies, setting up what he would need when he cleaned Din's wounds later.

Bo got up and stretched, walking around Din's bed and over to where Med was working.

"Thank you, Med for not just telling me what you think I'd want to hear. Even if it's tough, I'd rather know the truth."

"Of course."

"You know," Bo said, crossing her arms as a thought came to her. "I keep calling you Med because Din did, but I realize I don't know your name."

"Well, actually it is Med. It's short for Balmed. Balmed Rosca. Nice to officially meet you, Lady Kryze."

"Nice to officially meet you as well. And please, call me Bo."

"Of course, Bo."

She smiled as something else occurred to her. "Wait. So, your name is Med and you're a medic?"

Med chuckled and shrugged.

"Yeah, well, nobody ever accused me…"

"…of being original."

They both turned in surprise at the tired voice that came from the bed behind them, finishing Med's sentence for him.

Bo noticed that Din's eyes were closed. Whether from pain or fear of opening them, she wasn't sure. But at least he was awake.

"Hey, old man," Med said, walking over to the bed.

Bo smiled.

Someday, I'm going to have to find out why he keeps calling Din that.

"Hey, Med. Still introducing yourself with that same old line, I see," Din managed a small huff of amusement.

"If it works, why change it?" Med replied.

Still keeping his eyes closed, Din tried to move but got a sharp reminder from his body as to why that was not a good idea. He winced and hissed, his face pinching together, which brought on more pain from the healing burns around his eyes.

As Din shifted, Bo walked forward and smoothly took Grogu from his side, just in case the man's inadvertent movements bumped the still sleeping child. She put Grogu on the opposite bed, noting that the little one didn't wake up at the transfer.

"Nope, that's not a good plan. Just stay still. And keep those eyes closed," Med ordered.

"Wasn't planning on opening them," Din replied in a strained voice as he let his head fall back on the pillow.

"Dizzy?" Med asked worriedly.

"A… little," Din admitted.

"Alright, just give it a minute." Med put a hand on Din's shoulder to steady him. He knew that if Din admitted he was a "little" dizzy, it meant the injured man probably felt like the room was spinning and he was ready to throw up. Med wasn't falling for Din's attempts to downplay what he was feeling.

"Take some deep breaths, in through your nose, out through your mouth," Med demonstrated, and Din followed his friend's example.

"The injuries to your eyes are bound to cause this reaction. When you feel up to it, I want to take a look at your eyes. But I'm going to turn out all the lights first, just in case. Alright?"

Din could only nod, still breathing through the dizziness and nausea.

Med walked over to get what he would need to conduct the examination.

Din attempted to put a hand over his eyes, trying to block some light and ease the dizziness he was feeling. The motion made him groan as he rediscovered what felt like a barely healed dislocated shoulder that he'd completely forgotten about. He was pretty sure one of the many battles with Gideon's droid had done that. Then he tried to raise his other arm but groaned softly when he felt the movement pull at some stitches. The new pain surprised Din and he half sat up instinctively trying to get away from it, which then caused a twinge from his bruised and broken ribs.

"Dank Farrik, I'm a mess," Din said in exasperation. He gave up on moving and laid back down again.

"Yes, you are but at least you're alive," said a quiet voice nearby. Din hadn't realized he'd spoken out loud.

"Bo?" He turned his head slightly towards her, but still didn't want to open his eyes.

"Yep, I'm here."

When Din didn't feel a small body immediately jump next to him, he felt worried.

"Is Grogu okay?"

"He's fine. Just sleeping. He helped you when you got here, remember? Your eyes were…"

"Right."

"You've got quite a kid there, you know that?"

"I know." Din smiled, despite everything.

"Here," Bo picked up the little one tenderly and handed him back to his father.

The dizziness had eased a little, and Din tried getting up again. Bo helped him sit up straighter, putting pillows behind his back. Din kept his eyes safely closed as Med continued to get ready for the exam.

"Hey, kid." Din said softly, happy to have the familiar warm bundle in the crook of his arm again.

Standing by the bed, Bo smiled at the amount of love in that simple phrase. Din Djarin was a man of few words, but boy could he pack a wallop with those few. She almost felt herself tearing up again.

Kriff, I'm getting soft in my old age.

Din felt Grogu's face lightly, as if reassuring himself the boy was really there. Much as he had when he first arrived on the cruiser, he instinctively rubbed a fuzzy ear, then reached down to hold a tiny three-fingered hand. From her vantage point, Bo saw pride, joy, and wonder travel across Din's face as he took a moment just to enjoy his son.

Grogu woke at his father's touch and the sound of his voice. Seeing that Din was awake, he looked up and cooed happily, blinking his large eyes. Din smiled again at the sound.

"Hey, buddy. I know I have you to thank for my eyes. Thanks, kid."

Grogu jumped to Din's neck. The motion made him groan again as it pulled on various injuries, but he didn't care. He hugged the boy tight.

"Hey, hey, it's okay," Din reassured the little one. "I'm here."

Din continued to hug his son as he spoke to him softly.

"There were times I never thought I'd see you again. But I heard you in my mind. Thanks for that, too. I'm sorry you had to be a part of any of it," Din whispered as he felt the little one cry in happiness on his shoulder, as his own eyes filled with tears.

This time Bo couldn't hide her tears. She cried right along with them as they felt the emotions of the moment. They had come so close to losing the Mandalorian and they all knew it, including Din.

"Alright, if you're ready, let's get a look at those eyes," Med said as he walked over to Din's bedside. If anyone heard the roughness in his voice from the touching moment that he'd just witnessed, no one commented on it.

The medic had turned out all the overhead lights in the room, leaving only a gentle glow from the monitors over Din's bed, as well as the light coming from slightly open door to the fresher.

"Lay back down for me, Din," Med asked. "I'd rather not have you getting dizzy again."

"Okay," Din agreed.

Bo and Med helped Din down so he could keep hold of Grogu. The child watched as Med approached with the scanner.

Din felt Grogu tremble as the medic came closer, and he put a hand on the child's back reassuringly.

"Hey, buddy, it's okay. This is Med and he's a very good friend of mine. We're practically brothers so you can trust him, I promise."

Din felt Grogu relax, though he knew the little one was still watching the proceedings carefully.

Med rolled a stool over to the bed so he could sit down next to his patient. Bo watched with interest as the medic then put a hand directly in front of Din's eyes.

"Okay, Din. First, I want you to just open your eyes. I've got my hand in front of them to help block out the light so don't worry if you don't see much. Just let me know if you feel a lot of pain. Some is to be expected but let me know if it's above a ten."

"A ten?" Din asked in surprise.

"Well, I usually ask most patients to tell me if it's a seven or eight, but I know you too well. You probably would tell me everything was fine even if it was a nine point nine."

Din chuckled. Med knew him very well.

"Okay, deal."

Din slowly cracked open his eyes. His brows scrunched as he felt a sharp pain from the light, despite Med's hand in front of his face.

"Too bright?"

"Yeah, a bit."

"Okay, close them. We're going to take this real slow. We'll try again in another minute. But that's actually a good thing. That means you can see, which is very promising."

Din was relieved to hear the hopefulness in Med's voice, which was vastly different than when he had done his initial exam immediately following the rescue.

After another minute, Din tried opening his eyes again, this time raising his lids further. He blinked slowly as the pain and brightness gave way to images. He could see light and dark, but it took him a bit to figure out what was what. Almost as if he was learning how to see again.

"I… I think I can see."

When Med saw that Din's eyes were fully opened, he pulled his hand away. Din's eyes followed the movement automatically and Med smiled under his helmet. This was going better than he could have hoped.

"Bo, would you mind fully opening the door to the fresher so that we get more indirect light?"

"Of course." She rose and did as Med asked, flooding the room with more light.

Din blinked rapidly but didn't respond as though he was in more pain.

"Good. Now the overhead light, please?"

Bo flipped the switch, and the room became brighter. Again, Din blinked but didn't react with any pain.

"You good?" Med asked, still watching Din carefully.

"Yeah," Din said.

"Okay this is going to be bright, but I think it should be fine," Med said as he pulled out an optic scanner.

Med put the scanner above Din's eyes and leaned over to look into the brown depths. What he saw made him sit back with a relieved sigh.

"Your eyes are almost normal. They're still healing though, and you've basically got second-degree burns on your face. But I don't see any signs that you won't recover your sight fully. Just give it a little time. Expect headaches and rest them as much as possible."

"I think I can manage that." Din said.

Now that his eyes were fully open, Din looked over at the medic. He finally got to see the man he'd known for more years than either of them wanted to admit. He grinned at his friend.

"It's good to see you, Med."

"Good to see you, Djar," Med said, grinning back under his helmet.

Din couldn't see it, but he heard the smile all the same.

Bo stayed quiet and let herself fall into the background, not wanting to interrupt the official reunion between the two Mandalorians.

"So, what happened to you after the Covert helped me escape the Imperials on Nevarro?" Din asked, curious to know where his friend had been and why he hadn't seen or heard from him in so long.

As Med got ready to tell his tale, Din tried to sit up again. The medic helped him get situated, then he sat down on the bed opposite Din's.

Bo continued to stay out of the way. She leaned against the exam table, curious to hear what happened as well. Din had told her about that night, and she knew that many of his Covert fell in the battle. He never mentioned that one of them had been a close friend, probably not wanting to bring up a fresh loss. She didn't blame him at all. She would've done the same thing herself.

"As you know, that night was a tough one," Med admitted, leaning forward to rest his arms on his legs, clasping his hands together as he continued his story.

"After you got the kid out of there, the mercenaries took off and we thought we were alright. But then almost immediately the Imps showed up and the fighting started back up again. It went on for hours."

"Yeah, the Armorer mentioned that when I returned to the sewers. I found the pile of armor. I thought everyone was gone." Din's voice choked at the memory. Back then, the pain of realizing that he'd lost his people had easily overshadowed the pain of injuries he'd suffered from the E-Web that Moff Gideon had practically set off next to him.

"Honestly, brother, I thought I was gone for a little while there, too. I was trying to help the wounded in the field when I got hit myself. Next thing I know, I'm waking up on a ship and my wounds are being treated by someone I didn't know."

"It wasn't Mandalorians?" Din asked, curious.

"No. Apparently a few of the nearby townsfolk stepped in near the end of the fight and took some of us off-world in separate ships to different locations. They figured it would be better not to have a bunch of Mandalorians in one place to keep the Imps from coming after any of us. It was very smart, and I now know that more than a few lives were saved that night because of them."

"The people of Nevarro are good people," Din agreed.

"I was taken to another planet to recover. The group that found me hadn't been able to save any others when they grabbed me, so I was alone. By the time I recovered, I found out the Covert was gone. I didn't know how to find any of our people, or even if anyone had survived. I figured you had since you got away with the kid. But I didn't have a way to get in touch with you, either. So, I stayed on the planet and made myself useful acting as the small town's doctor."

"I wish I had known, Med." Din said sadly. "I'm sorry that my actions got so many of our people hurt."

Bo stepped forward to protest, knowing that Din shouldn't blame himself for what happened that night, but Med beat her to it.

"No, don't do that," Med shook his head. "You did exactly what any one of us would have done. You saved a child from the evil hands of the Empire. Foundlings are the future, and it is the highest honor of the Creed to save one."

Din looked at Grogu, who had gone back to dozing while listening to the soft voices of his father and Med.

"We all knew what we were doing that night," Med continued.

"As soon as we figured out what was happening, you couldn't have stopped any of us if you had tried. The Armorer asked for volunteers to help, and you should have seen the rush of people fighting to get out of the sewers and up to the battle. As soon as things started looking serious, the Armorer ordered the Foundlings to be taken away and they were immediately flown off-world with the Trainers and Guardians, but the rest of us wanted to stay and finish it."

"I got to see you escape with him," Med nodded at Grogu, "and that made it all worthwhile, believe me."

"Thank you," it was all Din could think to say for what had been done for him and for Grogu.

"Anyway, eventually I heard rumors of Mandalorians returning to Nevarro," Med said. "So, I found a ship willing to take me and I made it back just in time for the fleet to leave for Mandalore. You and Lady Kryze had already left orbit with the rest of the landing party, so I got onto another transport. I intended to find you at some point but then.."

"I got captured," Din finished for him.

"Exactly. You know the rest from there. I got word to the Armorer that I was back, and she had me transferred here to the cruiser so that I could treat you once you were rescued."

"I'm glad you were the one there when I got back," Din said gratefully. "With everything that was happening when we landed, it helped knowing it was you."

Med nodded in reply.

As the two continued catching up quietly for a little while, Bo eventually sat next to Med on the other bed and joined the conversation. They talked of nothing in particular, all of them simply happy to be in a relaxed, safe environment and not having some sort of emergency to handle. It was something that had been a rare occurrence in recent times.

A little while later, someone from the kitchen knocked at the door. Med got up and relieved them of the tray they were carrying, signaling the door closed again.

"I asked the galley to send up something for you and Grogu. Think you can eat?" Med asked Din.

"I… think so."

Bo heard Din's hesitation, but she knew he wasn't making a joke. Being without food for as long as he had, he likely wasn't feeling very hungry. He was going to have to get used to eating again.

"It's just broth for now. I figured that would be good for both of you," Med said. He'd heard the hesitation as well, also understanding why Din might not have an appetite.

"Thank you," Din said.

Din felt strange. Logically, he knew he should be hungry, but he really wasn't. It was as if his body didn't know what to do with food any longer, having been deprived of it for so long.

The injured Mandalorian took the mug Med handed him. But instead of drinking it himself, he held it up to Grogu. The little one had woken up from the smell of the broth and was sniffing at the cup suspiciously. Reacting to his father's inhumane treatment, the child had also gone without a good meal in a while, despite Bo and the Armorer's attempts to get him to eat.

"Here, kid. You should eat," Din said, trying to get the child to take the cup.

Grogu shook his head and pushed the cup away, pointing back at Din with a protesting squeak.

"I think he's telling you to follow your own advice," Bo said with a smile.

"Here, how about you both eat?" Med handed Din the other cup of broth.

"Okay, see buddy? I'll have some, too," Din said as he dutifully took a sip of the broth. Seeing his father eating, Grogu took a sip from his own cup.

Bo smiled as she saw how father and son only drank when they saw the other was doing it as well.

Grogu made happy sounds as he sipped his soup. Smiling at his father appreciatively.

"Is that good, kid?" Din drank his a little slower. He still didn't feel very hungry, but he had no problem getting it down, which he took as a good sign.

Once they finished, Med set the mugs aside.

"Alright, I think you should both get some more rest now."

Din definitely felt tired, but suddenly realized there was another issue that needed to be tended to first.

Bo noticed that Din looked restless and a little uncomfortable.

"Din? Are you alright?" she asked with a worried frown.

"I'm fine. I just need to get up," Din started to move his legs to get out of the bed and Med walked over, holding his hands out to stop the other man.

"Brother, you don't need to be walking around right now," the medic said warningly.

"You didn't exactly give me a choice," Din grumbled, giving him a sideways look.

Med was puzzled, his helmeted head tipping questioningly.

"What do you mean?"

"With all the water you've been making me drink," Din eyed his friend with raised eyebrows.

Med barked a short laugh. "Ah, got it."

The medic reached out to help Din up. "Alright, just take it slow."

"Well that's my cue," Bo said with a relieved chuckle of her own, glad that the issue was easily resolved. "I'll leave you two to take care of that. Good night."

She left as Med started helping Din carefully walk to the fresher, Grogu trailing behind protectively.

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A few hours later, Med awoke to an alarm. Not one of the screaming variety, which could send his heart racing instantly out of a dead sleep, but rather a small warning.

The medic had taken up sleeping in the room next to Din's so he could close the door and remove his helmet, while also being close enough to respond quickly if he was needed. He'd never gotten used to sleeping in a helmet, not the way Din had. Then again, he'd also never had to live on his own with only his armor to keep him safe while working in some very dangerous situations.

Med scrubbed his eyes and picked up his vambrace, which was sitting with the rest of his amor near the bed. He pressed a couple of buttons and looked at the reading. He had programmed it to forward warnings from the monitors over Din's bed.

The reading showed that Din's temperature had gone up two degrees in the last hour.

"Dank Farrik," the medic whispered.

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AN: If anyone is interested in a little bit of behind-the-scenes, it might interest you to know that I based the character of Med off of Oscar Isaac, as he and Pedro Pascal are such good friends. Not that I'm using any character traits of his as I don't know a lot about him. But I am picturing his face (mostly what he looked like in Triple Frontier) under the helmet, and I also used his first name to create Med's last name (Rosca). Med's first name (Balmed) is from Pedro's father's middle name, Balmaceda, which is also a part of Pedro's name.