A/N: Guess who's still alive and kicking! It's me! Back with another chapter!

I'm really sorry this took so long, I was done but then I decided to add something to the end and when that didn't just materialize straight out of my brain I skipped to the next chapters because that was easier. So at least I got some writing done. When I finally sat down and forced myself to finish this I got it done in like 20 minutes lmao. Was it as hard as I thought it would be? No. Will I learn anything from this? Also no.

Plus I moved so that was a whole ordeal.

I hope you guys think it's worth the wait.

Chapter 26 - Closer

The orange glow from the gas giant filled the cockpit, leaching definition until everything looked like a flat plane. Sinead's leg bounced with nervous energy as she watched the strange shapes in Dilo's swirling surface. The child was safely strapped to his chair, his eyes flashing in the orange light.

Jami stood behind the pilot's chair with a grim frown on his face. Mando was even quieter than usual, only moving when he had to flick a row of switches or adjust the ship's course.

"We just have to go right through," Jami said through clenched teeth.

Sinead jammed a finger into the back of her knee to stop the bouncing. "You sure it's safe?"

"According to files on the station."

"That must be pretty outdated by now."

"It's not really something that changes over time."

"Well, what did the files say about-"

The ship jerked into motion, cutting Sinead off, and she caught a glance from Mando before the Crest was swallowed up in the swirling sea of orange gas. Bursts of glittering constellations swirled and twisted through the gas, and suddenly a violent shudder went through the ship as a strange force grabbed the fuselage and threw it into a wild spin. Sinead's stomach rolled as they hit another gravity well, and Jami grabbed the back of the pilot seat to stay on his feet.

"Dank farrik!" Mando yanked the stabilizer to the side.

"You didn't mention this!" Sinead yelled, gripping the armrests until her knuckles turned white.

"Never flew through it, did I," Jami grunted and sank down on the floor to sit with his back against the pilot chair.

A row of warning lights started blinking. Sinead squeezed her eyes shut. What if a bubble of air had been trapped in the engine? If the ensuing explosion somehow didn't rip the ship apart, they would be left floating in the gas until the oxygen ran out.

At last the ship made it to the other side of the gas giant, where Mando struggled to keep it steady. "What now?"

"Turn on the comm but don't do anything else. Just wait."

"We don't have much time," Mando ground out, slapping a button when an alarm started blaring through the cockpit.

They sat there listening to the barely audible static from the comm as seconds slowly ticked by. The mist outside rippled like the ship was underwater.

It felt like an age until the comm gave a loud squawk of feedback, and Jami scrambled to his feet. "Now! Go!"

The Crest shot into motion and breached the surface like a whale, tendrils of swirling gas in its wake. The station was directly before them, turning slowly in the vacuum, and the few windows on the mushroom-like dome shone with light. The walkways on the narrow part of the station were as empty as the last time.

Jami pointed to a spot on the narrow part of the station near the bottom that seemed darker. "The entrance right there, see it? The magnetic field's still active."

As they came closer, the bluish hue of the magnetic field stretched across the empty space. As Jami had said, the escape pods were long gone. The ship creaked as Mando inched it into the vacant space, sparks flying when it scraped against the wall; a warning light started blinking on the controls. Finally, the Crest wobbled down to sit at an angle, part of the left turbine sticking out of the magnetic field.

"Not an exact fit," Sinead said, and pressed a hand to her hammering heart.

"It's better than the main door," Jami said as he made his way across the cockpit and swung down into the hull.

"You ready for this?" Mando had turned in his seat to look at her. Dilo was visible through the magnetic field and the light pulsed orange across his armor.

"Let's do this."

They got ready in silence. The child watched them from Sinead's bunk, clutching his Mandalorian doll. He seemed to understand that they were going somewhere he couldn't follow.

"Sorry to leave you again, little guy," Sinead mumbled, reaching over him to pluck the whip from its hiding place between the bunk and the wall. "It's just too dangerous." She attached the whip to her belt where it was easy to reach. "I'm sure you'll see enough fighting when you're older."

"Sinead."

She turned to see Mando stand by the open gate, blaster in hand. "Let's go." Giving the kid a soft boop on the head, she followed Mando outside. It was impressive he'd managed to get the Crest inside the opening, let alone land it on the furrowed surface meant for escape pods. The room was merely a creaking walkway that could be reached from a quick climb up some exposed pipes. Dust and other kinds of space-gunk had collected in every crevice, and there was a sort of sweet metallic smell in the still air that reminded her of home; she imagined it was the smell of space and stardust.

"C'mon," Jami hissed and pressed the button for the door. For a second nothing happened, then a mechanism whirred and the door slid away with a grating sound. "See. No one's been down here in years." He stole a look into the corridor and took a deep breath. "Coast's clear."

A cold gust of wind came up from the grated floor with nothing but pure darkness beneath. Red spotlights set into the ceiling lit the way as the corridor wound in a circle, and the station creaked and groaned as it slowly turned in place. Worryingly rusty canisters sat on an abandoned cart left in the middle of the floor. A clammy feeling of dread and panic made its way up Sinead's spine as her brain conjured up sounds of blaster fire and screams in the darkness. A much younger Sinead called out for her father ...

"You okay?"

Sinead gave a small start at the sound of his voice and looked over her shoulder at Mando. "Yeah ..." she turned back and wet her lips. "This place just reminds me of-"

A loud bang echoed through the corridor followed by a hoarse voice that froze Sinead to the spot: "Down here, isn't it?"

Footsteps were coming closer. Jami had vanished into thin air.

"Get ready." Mando adjusted his grip on his blaster.

"Wait!" Even if they killed the pirates, their cover would be blown. Her eyes darted around when they landed on a sliver of darkness set into the wall. A door.

There was no time to stop and explain. Grabbing Mando's wrist, she tugged him towards the door and forced it open before jumping inside, pulling Mando with her. It was a maintenance locker, barely big enough for one fully grown human, but it would have to do. She reached around Mando to pull at the door, but it wouldn't shut all the way, leaving a small gap where red light shone through.

She didn't notice the shelves digging into her back or the foul-smelling liquid that dripped onto her shoulder. Mando shifted and there was a sound of metal scraping against metal. She grabbed his shoulders and dug her fingers into the gaps of his armor,

"The kid-"

Keeping a frantic eye on the sliver of light, she pressed a finger to his helmet where his mouth would be. It was ineffectual, but he stilled under her hand. The locker grew hot and stuffy as the voices came closer, her breath coming out in quick bursts. Mando had ceased to move at all.

Her hand fell to his shoulder and she stood on her tiptoes, leaning into him to whisper in his ear. He jolted and tried to move away but the tight space wouldn't allow it, and they ended up in a weird embrace, pressed awkwardly against each other.

"Wait," she breathed close to his helmeted ear, feeling the rise and fall of his chest under his armor. "When they pass - quiet."

His helmet brushed her cheek as he nodded, and she let go of him. She moved back as far she could, but still, she felt the heat and tension coming off him in waves.

The footsteps were just outside. A bead of sweat dripped down her back.

A shadow passed in front of the light. She tapped Mando on the shoulder, who let out a deep breath before reaching back and pushing open the door. The air was freezing on her flushed skin. Two humans walked side by side, the one to the left keeping a relaxed hand on the butt of his blaster, and the one on the right swinging his arms exaggeratedly with every step.

Mando pointed to Sinead, then the arm-swinging pirate. She nodded and reached back to draw the whip, keeping it coiled up in her hand where it sent a strange burst of energy up her arm. The kyber crystals glinted in the red light.

They snuck after the pirates, the clanking and whirring of the station covering their footsteps. Sinead unwound the whip, eyes fixed on her target who slowed down to gob on the grated floor. Blood was rushing in her ears. Everything seemed unreal in the red light.

She moved and the energy transformed into a frantic wave that made it hard to breathe. The pirate was a hair's breadth away.

Beside her, Mando nodded.

"What do you think Vekk-"

His words were cut off when she wrapped the whip around his neck and pulled. His knees buckled and she was yanked forwards, never letting the whip slack. He thrashed against her, hands scrabbling against his throat and then trying to grab her. Her eyes swam with concentration. The whip burned in her hands.

There was the sound of a struggle beside her but she couldn't tear her eyes away from the glinting beskar that seemed to have come alive in the faint light.

Suddenly, it was all over. The pirate slumped and she stumbled back, the whip trailing along the floor with a delicate tinkle like a Tryna chime. She gasped as if she had just run the length of the station.

Mando got to his feet clutching a vibroblade that was dripping with blood. He absentmindedly wiped it off with his cloak. "Where's Jami?"

"I'm here."

Sinead whirled around in time to see Jami crawl out from beneath a cart that should not have been big enough to hide him. He glanced at the two bodies with the air of someone finding an unpleasant substance under their shoe. "Nice job."

"Let's hope no one's waiting for them." Sinead gathered the whip and returned it to her side.

"Doubt it. This lot's as callous as they are disorganized. C'mon."

It didn't take long before they reached the access tunnel set into a little alcove invisible from the corridor. Jami wedged his fingers into the crack and forced it open, revealing a ladder that stretched up into the darkness, only illuminated by the light from the corridor. Jami was right; there was barely room for Sinead.

"You all remember the plan?"

"Get to the top, activate the blast screens, find Vekkass," Sinead said.

"Broad strokes. You okay staying down here?" Jami squeezed through the door.

"Just be quick," Mando ground out, flexing his fingers repeatedly.

"I'll climb back to get you. Just hang in there." Jami jumped up on the first rung. "Hope you aren't afraid of heights." He glanced over his shoulder at Sinead.

She released a slow breath and was about to follow Jami when Mando touched her shoulder for a brief second before pulling his hand back.

"Be careful up there," he mumbled, watching Jami disappear up the ladder.

"You too. What are you gonna do?"

"I'll go back and check on the kid. You should go." He stepped back.

She pushed through the small gap in the door and wrapped a hand around the first cold metal crossbar. Jami had already been swallowed up by the darkness. She started climbing, and the faint light that came through the door quickly grew smaller until it was a pinprick beneath her. Soon even that was gone, and there was nothing but darkness that closed in around her, the tunnel becoming narrower and narrower until she had to breathe hard through her nose. The smell of stale air and starship fuel made her head spin.

Muffled conversation drifted into the shaft from unseen vents, too far away to make out what the words were. She concentrated on the metal bars, how the rust bit into her sweaty palms.

"Stop here," Jami whispered above her. She could sense his presence more than see him. "I'll just take a quick look."

Sinead blinked furiously against the sudden sharp light that filled the shaft, making the darkness beneath seem like an impenetrable veil.

"Okay, coast is clear." Jami pulled himself through the open hatch at the very top of the shaft and disappeared. Sinead climbed the last two meters, forcing herself not to look down, and found herself in the control room. It was an eight-sided room lined with consoles and switchboards. One wall was dedicated to a grid of screens, most of them showing a haze of static. The hatch was hidden inside a utility closet with the door torn off. It was empty for now, but it hadn't been for long; steam rose from a cup of caf left on one of the consoles.

"Watch the door," Jami said as he ran to the nearest control panel and started tapping a string of code into a keypad.

"You sure you know what you're doing?" Sinead drew her blaster and crouched down between two bulky consoles where she had a clear view of the door.

"I have to manually override the mechanism, trick the station into thinking there's been an explosion, else the screens won't stay down." He ripped off a section of the control panel and pulled out a wad of wires.

"Where'd you learn to do that?"

"The mine on Nimbal, the system kept acting up, and the guards thought it was easier to make us fix it. Once you know the basics, it's not that hard." The light surged, and an alarm screeched out a tone before it tapered into nothing. "It's done! Wait here while I get the Mandalorian. Shoot everyone who tries to come through the door, okay?"

"Fine. Hurry, alright?"

"Take this," Jami pressed a thermal detonator into her hand. "Don't blow yourself or the consoles up. Just hold on." He crossed the room and swung into the access shaft, disappearing back into the darkness.

"Okay, okay, just hold on," Sinead mumbled and pressed her back against the cold metal. The control room grew quiet, the silence pulsing in her ears, and she turned the thermal detonator in her hand.

Something banged against the door, and she nearly dropped the grenade.

"Hey! Station's on the fritz, what's going on in there?" A nasal voice sounded behind the door. "Open the kriffin' door! I know you're in there!"

Sinead slid further into the corner, finger curling around the trigger. A bead of sweat slipped down the side of her face.

There was another crash, and the door buckled dangerously. It hadn't been built to keep anyone out. "I said open-'' the door burst inwards and crashed to the ground, a disoriented Weequay struggling to her feet. Behind her, a Bith poked his domed head around the doorframe.

Sinead leaned out from her cover and pulled the trigger, and the Weequay stumbled back through the doorway, a sizzling hole in the middle of her chest.

The room flashed red as the Bith unleashed a barrage of shots through the doorway and a smell of ozone and burnt hair filled the air. A bolt hit the control panel behind her, showering her in sparks that felt like a million pinpricks on every inch of exposed skin. The hatch was still open, but even if she made it across the floor without getting shot, she would never make it to the bottom before the Bith got to the opening, and then it would be like shooting scalefish in a barrel.

A bolt hit the ceiling at an angle and headed straight for the control panel Jami had broken into. It shattered through the metal cover like it was flimsi. The light flickered, and an alarm started blaring through the entire station.

Fuck.

She had to get out of there.

The barrage of shots halted for just a second, and she sprang into action; arming the thermal detonator, she lobbed it through the doorway. It hit the floor with a resounding thud. It was like the world fell silent in anticipation of the explosion that tore everything in its blast radius apart.

It was so loud that Sinead barely registered the noise. She felt the press of the shockwave, a hot gust of air that tingled across her face.

Then it was over. No more blaster bolts flew through the air. She uncurled from her hiding place and surveyed the damage; the thermal detonator had been small and only the console nearest to the door was ruined, sparks and broken wires snaking across the ground. Not like it mattered. The damage had already been done.

She stepped over what remained of the pirates, not allowing her brain to register what she was seeing. A water pipe running along the ceiling had burst and icy water sprayed down, diluting the pooling blood. Disembodied shouts came from one end of the corridor, so she started to run, all the while the alarm blared out above.

The corridor split in two, and a partially closed blast screen obstructed one of the paths. Not only had they lost the element of surprise, the plan hadn't even worked.

"Sinead!"

She whirled around, heart crashing in her chest. The sight of Mando and Jami made her let out a gasp of relief.

"What the hell happened?" Mando shouted over the screaming alarm, slowing down when he reached her. Jami kept going to peer around the nearest corner.

"Blaster bolt fried the system."

"I told you to protect the control room!" Jami ground out between clenched teeth.

"They had some weird blaster, I did what I could-"

"It doesn't matter." Jami pinched the bridge of his nose. "They know we're here. Some of the blast doors are still down, but who knows how long that'll last. We need to get Vekkass and get the kriff out of here."

"Then lead the way." The alarm drowned out her words, but it didn't seem like Jami was listening anyway. He waved them down a diverting corridor and through the labyrinthian innards of the station, stopping at every intersection to peek around the corner; twice he signaled wildly that they had to hide as a group of pirates thundered past, all the while the alarm made Sinead's ears pound.

Finally, Sinead recognized the blast door that led into Vekkass' sanctum. It felt like months and not days since she'd been there last; the utter relief of discovering that Kyen hadn't turned to piracy seemed like a faint memory.

"How do we get in?" Mando said.

"Let me see." A keypad was set into the wall beside the door, and Jami started pressing the buttons in a flurry of motion, while Sinead and Mando could do nothing but stand around and watch.

"What if he's not in there." Sinead adjusted her grip on the blaster. "He could've escaped when the alarm started going. There were enough ships in the hangar last time we were here."

"He could, but I don't think so. He wouldn't risk losing everything without a fight."

"I hope you're right."

Three lights on top of the keypad turned green.

"Got it." Jami drew a shaky hand across his brow. "You should probably back up."

They took up position on the opposite side of the gateway. Mando's shoulders rose and fell with every calm breath, and Sinead tried to match his breathing, but her heart was hammering too fast. It felt like there wasn't enough oxygen in the air.

Jami let out a stabilizing breath and opened the door.

As soon as the thick metal plates receded, an explosion of blaster bolts tore through the gateway and smashed the opposite wall, warping the metal with its sheer power. Sinead felt a gust of hot air as it passed and she closed her eyes against the searing red. The sound of bubbling metal mingled with the alarm. A single bolt pinged against the pockmarked wall.

"You have no idea who you're dealing with!" Vekkass screamed, his voice easily carrying into the corridor.

Sinead stuck her head around the doorway, catching a glimpse of the chaos inside before pulling back as another volley of blaster bolts tore through the air. Every piece of furniture had been piled in the middle as a makeshift cover, except the gilded chair which sat at the other end of the room, gleaming sadly in the light.

"I counted seven pirates with Vekkass," she murmured to Mando, flashing seven fingers to Jami on the opposite side of the blast door. "How'd you wanna do this?"

Mando chanced his own glimpse of the room, followed by more blaster fire. "Doesn't seem like there's another way out." His voice was calm even as he holstered his blaster. "I have an idea. Don't follow me."

"What do you-" But Mando pushed past her and stepped fully through the entrance, barely out of cover before taking a bolt right to the chest; he stumbled but kept going, pushing his way into the chamber as blaster fire rained down on him. Sinead couldn't tear her eyes away. She was barely conscious of the smell of ozone and the fact that her blaster hung from her fingertips. Her ears buzzed from the sound of blaster bolts pinging off beskar.

Mando thrust out an arm as if to shield himself from the blaster fire, and small darts exploded from his vambrace with a high-pitched whine, trailing wisps of smoke. Six pirates crumbled to the ground. The alarm sounded much louder.

Vekkass screamed and shot again and again, but Mando kept advancing, pushing through the barricade like it was nothing. Once he realized it wasn't working, Vekkass threw his blaster to the side and pulled a wicked vibro-blade the length of Sinead's forearm. Mando slowed but didn't stop.

"I'm gonna enjoy prying that armor off your corpse," Vekkass hissed, his sharp eyes darting around the room before landing on Jami, who had stepped into the open. "And you, traitor!" He tripped over a fallen pirate, and the blade slashed dangerously through the air before he regained his balance. "You really think you're gonna get out of here alive? My men are crawling all over the station!"

The blade became a blur as he lunged.

Mando let it glance off his breastplate, then grabbed Vekkass' wrist in an iron hold. Vekkass dropped the knife into his other hand; his fingers had barely closed around the hilt before Mando headbutted him, and he went down with a sickening crunch, leaving a smear of blood on Mando's helmet.

Sinead wasn't aware her feet were moving before she stood above Vekkass, looking down at his bloodied face. Small evil eyes peered out from the mess. Mando secured him to the gilded chair with a pair of sturdy binders.

"I'n gonna gill n'you," he said in a rivulet of blood.

Jami stood right behind her, anger and spite burning against her back. The hatred was so thick she could taste it in the air.

She prodded him with her foot. "Where is Kyen?"

"I'll gill you, bidh!" Vekkass bared his teeth in a bloodstained grin. Dark purple circles were appearing under his eyes.

"I'm not asking again." She prodded him harder.

Vekkass writhed on the floor, but the binders held. His eyes darted around the room.

"Answer me!"

As Sinead stood over the pirate, the screaming alarm faded into the background. His eyes burned with an infectious hatred that curled against her mind and tried to worm its way inside. Her hand curled around the whip by its own accord, and an ice-cold calm went through her body. "I'll only ask you one more time-" the words seemed so loud- "where is Kyen Beck?"

Suddenly, it wasn't Vekkass lying bleeding on the floor, but every single pirate that had broken her family and destroyed her home. It was the Trandoshan bounty hunter that had found her on Toola. It was Jusgra.

A projectile shot over her shoulder and hit the wall behind the throne, and as her hand slipped off the whip, the spell lifted; everything shot back into motion with a pop.

Pirates swarmed into the chamber. She threw herself behind an overturned table as a human with a slugthrower took aim and fired. The wave kept coming; whenever one fell, another would take their place, and soon the air was choking with death and ozone. Sinead's blaster grew hot in her hand.

"When there's a break, get ready to run!" Mando barked out above the noise and shot a Nikto who tried to sneak around for a flank attack.

"What about Vekkass?" Jami shouted.

Sinead glanced over her shoulder, and her blood ran cold.

Vekkass lay slack on the ground; blood pooled around his body from a deep wound in his abdomen.

Mando's reply faded away. She crawled the short distance to Vekkass and pressed a hand to the wound, hot blood welling up between her fingers. Vekkass' lips moved but only managed to produce a weak bubbling sound. His eyes were wide, and for the first time, there was no trace of malice or rage, only a deep all-consuming fear.

"No, no, no, no, no." She couldn't breathe. His blood seared her skin. "Please, no! Stay with me!"

Vekkass coughed. There was so much blood; it seeped through her clothes and filled her lungs with its nauseating smell.

"Please-" Sinead gripped his shoulder with her free hand and forced him to look at her. "Where is Kyen? Where did he go? W-where ..." Vekkass' eyes started to lose their focus. "No! Don't die on me! You know where he is! Tell me where he is!"

He gave a wet grunt, and Sinead leaned closer. Concentration flickered across his face as he worked his lips to shape a sound.

Then his eyes went blank, and Red Vekkass died in her arms.

A high-pitched whine filled her ears.

Strong hands gripped her shoulders and pulled her to her feet. The body slipped from her grasp. The fighting was over, or the pirates had retreated to come up with a better plan of attack. Corpses littered the floor, and for the first time, Sinead was aware of the cooling blood that had soaked through her boots and pants.

"We need to go, now!" Mando gave her shoulder a shake before dropping his hand.

"He's dead."

"I know."

Jami climbed over a large Twi'lek and looked into the corridor. A bruise had already started to form under his left eye going from deep purple to a sickly green that stood out stark against his blue skin. "C'mon! Run!" Barely had the words left his mouth before he jumped back with a scream; a blaster bolt had grazed his lekku, leaving behind an angry red burn and the stink of burning flesh.

A red haze clouded Sinead's vision.

The whip was back in her hand.

Time slowed to a crawl.

Five pirates rushed into the room. The air reverberated with the sound of blaster fire and battle cries, but all Sinead could hear was the sound of her own slow breathing. A spark of energy tore up her arm and sank into the base of her skull.

Crisp energy rippled through the air when the nau'orar came to life in her hand, pulsing with pure red fire that burned everything it touched. It took hold of the anger blazing in her chest and tugged until it strummed through her entire being, feeding into the whip itself.

She swung the weapon, the resulting boom of sound blasted through the fishbowl over her head, rocketing the world back into speed. Two pirates fell before they had a chance to notice what was happening. A third threw himself under the chain of pure beskar, but Sinead whipped it around and caught him on the side of the head.

And suddenly, it was over. No more pirates were rushing through the doorway. They were either dead or had fled to another part of the station.

The energy retracted back into the hilt of the whip, and Sinead felt hollow. Her anger had burned and burned until there was nothing left until she was a husk standing in the middle of a battlefield that smelled of death and metal. She breathed hard through her mouth.

"Let's get out of here before they come back." Mando's voice broke through the strange vacuum left by the whip.

Jami, who had been staring open-mouthed at Sinead, blinked rapidly and tore his eyes away. "Y-yeah. Follow me."

The journey through the station was made in complete silence. Jami led the way, Sinead a few paces behind him, and Mando made up the rear. They only saw one pirate who ducked into an intersecting corridor as soon as they came into view. Sinead felt Mando's eyes on the back of her head, but she had to concentrate just putting one foot in front of the other.

Sinead was ready to collapse when they reached the ship. She accepted Mando's hand as they crawled into the well. It felt like she hadn't eaten or slept in days. The child let out a joyous coo as the trio trudged up the ramp, and Sinead reached out to him until the sight of her bloodied hands made her pause midway.

Mando scooped the kid into his arms. "Go get cleaned up." He looked at Jami and nodded towards the ladder.

Jami bit the inside of his cheek, eyes glued to the whip still clutched in her hand. "What is that thing?"

"Not now." Mando's tone left absolutely no room for argument. Jami's eyes met hers for just a second before he followed Mando up into the cockpit.

Sinead placed her hands on either side of the small sink wedged into the corner next to the refresher. She stared into the bare wall where a mirror would hang on a regular ship. Did he even have a mirror? She'd never seen any except for her own pocket mirror. In fact, she'd barely seen any personal belongings, only weapons and ammo, ration packs and expired medkits. It was kind of sad.

She took a deep breath and turned on the water, focusing on the sting of cold water running over her hands.

...

The journey back was spent in almost complete silence, and even the kid seemed to have noticed the tension and was content with sitting quietly in his seat. When the Razor Crest landed on the patch of torn-up dirt just inside the paddock, Din spotted Laar and his two children through the viewport waiting outside the house. Jami had gone down into the hull, and it was just Din and the child left in the cockpit.

When Din climbed down the ladder with the kid on one arm, Jami rushed down the ramp and grabbed the girl who ran to meet him. Sinead stood at the top of the ramp, arms wrapped around herself, watching the little family silently. He clamped down on the unease rising in his chest as he stepped up beside her, racking his brain for anything to say. "They seem ... happy." As soon as the words were out of his mouth, he wanted to snatch them out of the air and jam them back.

Sinead didn't take her eyes off the reunion but still managed a wistful smile. Down on the ground, Laar pressed a kiss to Jami's forehead. "They are. Even though everything went to shit and we're back to square one, we did a good thing." Her mouth twitched with a fathomless emotion. Din looked away.

"We're aren't back to square one. His last known location was Celvalara, we know he escaped when the Empire fell. We can go back there, try to pick up the trail."

"You really wanna go back there?"

No, he never wanted to set foot on the moon again. But he would do it for her.

"Yes."

She turned to face him, and the sudden hopelessness shining in her eyes was a punch to the gut. "Do you think I should give up?"

Out of all the questions, she could have asked, that was the one he least expected. Ever since he met her in a cantina on that forgotten space station, finding Kyen had been her one singular goal, one she was willing to charge headfirst into a civil war to reach. He remembered what she said when they sought shelter from the rain.

That's why I have to find Kyen. He's the only family I have left.

"I think ..." Shrieks of laughter reached the ship from the little family; Jami had picked up the girl and was spinning her around. "I think we should go back to Celvalara. Vekkass said they weren't the only ones who escaped."

An unreadable emotion flickered across her face, and she looked away sharply. "Okay. We'll go back."

Jami came bounding up the ramp with his daughter in tow, sporting a broad smile that showed his sharp teeth. "I don't know how to thank you, really. I … you saved us. I'll always be in your debt. Please stay as long as you like."

Sinead's gaze was locked on the horizon, so Din cleared his throat. "Thank you for the offer but we need to get back on the trail."

The smile didn't falter. "At least stay for dinner, I'm sure Laar would want to thank you too."

Din glanced at Sinead and tried to read her impassive face. "Can't. Sorry."

Jami sat his daughter down, and she wrapped her arms around his leg. "You know where you're going?"

"We have a couple of ideas."

"I'll keep an eye out, okay. Now that I don't have to hide like an ash-rabbit." For the first time since they landed, Jami's smile faded as he gave Sinead a somber look. "I'm sorry you didn't get the answers you were looking for."

Sinead blinked like she'd been somewhere far away and suddenly snapped into her own body. "Y-yeah. Thanks."

Once the Crest had gone into hyperspace and Din put it on autopilot, he left Sinead in the cockpit, taking the kid with him into the hull. She hadn't said a word since they left Jami and his family behind, just stared out into the swirling mist of hyperspace with an unreadable look on her face, and her presence had felt like a physical weight against his back.

He left the kid sitting on an old ammo crate, then grabbed a toolkit and got to work on re-calibrating the ventator washer that hadn't been the same since Tatooine. Every time he turned the Crest on its axis he could feel a slight drag on the left turbine.

The kid made a soft noise, and Din looked to see the kid sitting on the edge of the crate, watching Din with his dark, inscrutable eyes.

"Don't worry about her," Din said, keeping his voice low, glancing at the ladder to make sure she wasn't on her way down. "She'll be okay." He returned to the ventator washer, carefully slipping the protective cover off the top. "We go back to Celvalara, see if they'll let us take another look at ... I don't know ... the records or the mine." In truth he didn't expect to find anything in that labyrinth of tunnels, but he hadn't known what else to say.

The only family I have left.

"Maybe after this, we can start finding out where you come from. After we get the Guild off our backs." He let out a deep sigh. "Just hang tight, kid, okay? We'll find a way out of ..." his words trailed off as he looked up and discovered that the child was done. "Kid?" Wincing as he got to his knees, Din looked through the hull, but there was no sign of the kid. He was about to give up and got back to the ventator washer—it wasn't like there was anywhere the kid could go—when his eyes fell on the ladder to the cockpit. Even though the kid was the size of a porg he had a way of getting up there when no one was looking.

The cockpit was bathed in blue light from the swirling hyperspace mist, and he could feel rather than hear the hum from the engine. At first glance it looked empty, but when he took a step into the cockpit, a slight sound made him look to the side.

Sinead had slumped down her seat, head lolling to the side, legs folded beneath her in an uncomfortable position, face completely free of the strange, empty expression. Somehow, after everything that happened, she had fallen asleep. In her arms, the child slept curled up on her chest.

Din was hit with a horrible, warm, electric tightness in his chest that rooted him to the spot. He should leave ... he wanted to leave, but for a moment all he could do was watch her breathe slowly as blue light danced across her face. She looked so small and calm. The kid made a slight trilling sound and pressed his face against her chest, and now he really had to get out of there before she woke up.

Finally, his legs moved, and Din climbed down the ladder as quietly as he could, trying to ignore the hollow ache in the pit of his stomach. He would go back to the ventator washer, and he wouldn't think of her, of them, sleeping in the cockpit. He wouldn't think at all.

...

A/N: Man, this chapter should've been called Sinead and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good Very Bad Day. I really don't go easy on her.

As I said up top, the next chapters have been written, but I think I'll hold on to them a bit longer I got a good nice cushion so maybe the updating schedule can be somewhat consistent.

Thanks for reading!