Chapter Text
I need you
Din had a bad feeling when they entered the ferry, but he also knew they hadn’t got much options left. Since they’d crashed down with the Razor Crest, their mobility depended on luck. But fortunately, they still remained undiscovered. With a silent sigh the mandalorian looked down to the kid, who was looking back at him. Worried. Din had noticed some changes in his personality recently. Sometimes, his gleefully mood was completely gone and he almost put on a worried, or frightened behavior. Secretly Mando wished to be able to make him at least a little more happy again.
Those big brown eyes were staring at him and although he wasn’t able to speak, Din somehow knew exactly what he would be saying if he could. The last couple of months tied their bond into a deep affection for each other and the mandalorian started to love him as his own. “I know, I have a bad feeling about this too. But it’s the only way to get out of here. We need to get another ship” the mandalorian explained and walked ahead, letting the child hover in his pram right behind him. He was sick of being stuck on this water planet. Nothing but endless, dark oceans, weird people and the constant smell of rotten fish and salty air at the port.
The ferry’s engines started and the whole ship began vibrating. Slowly, they made their way out of the port into the wide open sea. Din and the child remained on deck, to keep an eye on the other passengers. Since they were waiting to get on board, the warrior had the feeling that someone observed them. For a second, he thought someone with a dark, hooded cloak was watching them. But when he took a look around, the person was nowhere to be found. Din tried to relax and supported his elbows on the ship’s railing, watching the dark waves slamming against the bow. Spum sprinkled on his visor and the cold wind made him shiver for a moment. “Are you cold?” he asked the child, who was nodding back at him.
Din lifted him up and wrapped his blue blanket more tightly around the kid’s freezing body. For a moment, he held him in his arms, trying to warm him up a little. “Is this better?” Mando asked his little companion, but he had his anwer by having him snuggling onto the not in beskar covered side of his chest, trying to warm himself on Din's body heat.
The Mandalorian smiled underneath his helmet and covered the little body with his gloved hand to provide more warmth. He felt the kid’s shivering got easier and they remained watching the desolate waving of the ocean. “Pretty dreary isn’t it?” he asked and looked down to the little one, who actually was about to fall asleep.
“Seems like you’re more comfortable now. What about getting you something to eat and check out the cabin, which I’ve booked?” he asked the sleepy child and got a low affirmative coo from him. Carefully, Din put him back into his pram and closed the hatch to protect him from curious eyes.
Actually, there weren’t many other passengers on the ship and everyone was minding his own business. Regardless, Din tried to keep an eye on everyone around him because the person with the cloak still stuck on his mind. They went down the stairs to speak to the guy behind the dirty desk.
“Hey, I’ve paid for a cabin and a warm meal. Where can I get it?” he asked the guy, who had an almost toothless and dirty face. “Ah, a Mandalorian. Of course, of course, I’ll fetch someone to show you your room. Snacks are provided there too. I guess you guys prefer to eat in private?” the guy mumbled with a low chuckle and threw a quick glance at the hovering pram. They waited a few minutes for the coworker to come. It was a pretty big guy, almost the body shape of Burg. He nodded at Din and said “At your service, please follow me.” and went ahead.
A gnawing feeling started to spread in Din’s stomach so he put his hand on the close to his blaster, ready to draw it anytime. The deeper they went into the dark floors of the ship, the more Din’s suspicious feelings grew. The walls were damp and there was a constant rotten smell, which crept underneath his helmet. More and more discomfort rose inside of him.
From time to time he heard footsteps, which didn’t belong to him or the guy walking in front of him. The ship was creaking from every corner. They went down a dimly lit corridor with flickering lights attached to the walls. At the end of the corridor, the big guy pushed down the rusty handle of a wooden door.
“I hope it’s all for your comfort….” he grunted and Din threw a cautious look inside. It was a shabby, gloomy and pretty small room with an old, dirty bed, a table and a chair inside. There was no window and the only source of light was a small oil lamp in the middle of the wooden table. Din slowly went inside, but before he could fetch the child, the big guy rammed his fist into the mandalorians stomach, which threw him off the ground and he crashed against the wall. The punch had pushed all of his oxygen out of his lungs and he gasped for air. But before he could get up again, the guy threw a small, blinking device into the room, grabbed the child’s pram and locked the door.
Three seconds later, the small device detonated, ripped a big whole into the ship's floor and hurled Din against the wall. Instantly, cold, black water flooded the room and sloshed over Din’s prone body, because the explosion and the impact had knocked him out for a moment.
Groaning he pushed himself up and it took a second for him to realize what had just happened. Quickly, he got on his feet again and slammed his fist against the locked door trying to open it. Still he felt a slight dizziness and his back sustained quite some bruises. But he had to focus on the things now because the level of the water was getting higher and higher, now almost reaching to his hip.
It was freezing cold and the mandalorian started shivering. “Damnit, I knew it was a trap!” he cussed and threw himself against the door, desperately trying to open it. The water was getting higher and higher and Din ran out of ideas. He activated his flamethrower to burn a hole into the door, but since it was wet there only remained a black spot. He started firing his blaster but the door but he was caught in a wave which ripped it from his hand. The mandalorian cursed and searched for his blaster but it was lost. Another wave of cold water threw Din against the wall, making him dizzy for a moment.
Now the water level was over his chest and Din slowly began to panic. He grabbed the wooden chair and smashed it against the door, but it only broke into pieces. Again and again he slammed his fist against the door but it was useless. Now he almost had to swim to keep his head out of the water. The cold made it hard for him to breathe.
It felt like his chest was in an icy grip, which tightened every second. He tried to dive, trying to get out of the ship through the hole in the floor, but he couldn’t squeeze himself through, in fact, he got stuck for a moment. It was hard for him to swim in his beskar armor too, because it constantly dragged him down. Quickly he broke through the surface again and gasped, but he noticed the room was almost completely filled with water.
He just had enough space to keep his head out of the water, but more and more quickly the space narrowed. He felt his chest tighten even more, his heart was racing painfully against his ribs. Desperate he slammed his fist on the ceiling and called for help, although he knew, no one would come. Now the moment had come, he didn’t have the space to keep his head out of the water. He took a last deep breath and dived. Din knew, he had to come up with an idea now, or he would drown.
But suddenly, he had an idea, when his hand touched his belt. He still had his little bombs which he could use, but he knew he would risk to hurt or even kill himself using it in this small room. But he knew this was his last shot, so he tried it. The mandalorian grabbed one of them and activated the timer. He dropped it and swam the opposite direction, trying to get as much as space as possible between him and the bomb. His vision began to blur as he was running out of air. The cold water made it almost impossible for him to move or to think clearly and the lack of oxygen made his senses fade.
A few seconds later, the bomb detonated and he felt the shockwave from below, pressing him against the wall. Small, wooden shards pierced his flesh and the detonation ripped a whole into the ceiling. It took a moment for him to regain consciousness again, but now he saw a spot of light from below. With last strength he swam as fast as he could toward the open hole. When he broke through the surface he inhaled a deep breath of salty air. Quickly he climbed on deck and collapsed on his back, panting. Now he knew, he was safe but his body was still trembling from the adrenaline rush.
But suddenly a certain thought hit his mind. “The Kid!” he gasped and pushed himself up. He didn’t care if he was actually unarmed now, he had to find the child no matter what. Quickly, Din sprinted to the other side of the ship's deck, noticing that he was all alone now and the ferry was close to sink. But suddenly he saw a group of three StormTroopers in front of him so he hid behind a barrel. “I hope Gideon is finishing his business soon, don’t wanna drown here.” he heard one of them saying.
“I think they are searching for the Mandalorian since the second explosion. They think he has escaped.” another one replied. “How is it possible to survive that kind of explosion, when you are in the same room as the detonation happened? It almost ripped the whole ship in half” the other one answered, while the others nodded confirming. Din knew he could only retrieve the child as long as Gideon was on the ship. He looked around and grabbed a metal rod which was laying on the ground. Not particularly the weapon he had hoped for but better than nothing. Quietly, he snuck behind the Trooper in front of him and knocked him down. Instantly he had to dodge the blaster shots of his companions, but with some skilled moves, he managed to overpower all three of them.
But before he was able to grab a gun, he was shot in his shoulder. “I think we found him!” a Death Trooper said as Din was composing himself again. The shot had hit him right in the unprotected space between his shoulder pauldron and his beskar chest plate. Unfortunately it was his right arm and the pain caused him to drop his weapon. In a matter of seconds he was surrounded by Death Troopers aiming their blasters at him.
But suddenly he heard someone clapping, the ring of Troopers parted and Moff Gideon stepped into their circle. “What a creative way to escape your wet grave, Din Djarin. But I think you've only postponed your death. This time, I’m gonna make sure you die by my own hands.” Gideon snarled and tightened his grip around a small bundle, wrapped in a blue blanket.
“Kid!” Din called and stepped forward, but Gideon aimed his blaster at him. “He’s coming with me. I have some plans for him, but first I need you out of the way, Djarin.” Gideon chuckled and fired another shot, which hit Din’s right thigh. The mandalorian was forced to his knees, groaning in pain. “Let him go, Gideon…” he growled and noticed the metal rod he had used before was lying right beside him.
He knew his chances were low, but he grabbed it and threw it towards his opponent, causing him to stumble and drop the child, who was rolling towards Din. The mandalorian took his chance and jumped right at him and curled protectively over the child. “Don’t shoot!” the Moff ordered and got up again. “What a desperate attempt to save him, but I don’t think it improved your situation.” Gideon snarled with all of his arrogance in his voice and approached Din and the child.
“You know, there’s something you don’t know about me. I am well aware of the powers your child is using.” he said and stretched his arm after Din and made a fist. Suddenly the mandalorian’s neck felt like being crushed by some invisible force. He dropped the child and grabbed his throat, gasping for air. Gideon grinned while he watched him struggling. But he didn’t notice the child rose from his blanket and used his own powers to protect his father from being choked.
Din collapsed to the ground, when he felt the choking was over. Gideon was confused for a moment by the fact his force powers weren’t affecting him anymore, but soon his glance caught the child. He saw him focusing and decided to change his target. The Moff used his power to hurl the kid against the wooden wall, where he slipped down, unconscious. “No!” Din screamed, drew his knife from his shin guard and leaped at the older man.
But Gideon was faster and used the force to slam Din’s body against the same wall, the kid had been thrusted onto. The mandalorian fell to the ground, right beside his foundling. “Are you okay?” Din whispered desperately and pulled him into a close embrace. A small laceration on his fuzzy head leaked some blood down to his face. But he was still breathing, what relieved Din for a moment. He held him close, because he didn’t know if they would make it out here alive. “How touching….” the Moff said and gave a silent order to two of his Death Troopers.
Din felt something was hitting his back. One of the Troopers had used the metal rod and slammed it between Mandos' shoulder blades. He let go of his foundling and arched his back. “Grab him!” Gideon ordered and his servants obliged. Violently they grabbed Din’s arms, holding him down on his knees with his face forced towards Gideon. One of the Troopers retrieved the kid, who was still unconscious. “The game is over, Djarin. I don’t want to just kill you, I want to see your face when I’m doing it.” The imp said and approached Din, who tried to break free from the others grasp.
Gideon bent down to him and grabbed his neck, pushing him against the wall. “I want to see the light in your eyes fading when you die” he whispered, grabbed Din’s helmet and pulled it off. The mandalorian had closed his eyes and accepted his defeat. But no matter if he is unmasked now, he still had to protect the child. But he knew his chances were close to zero. Gideon looked at him and put his helmet to the ground. “So that’s the man behind the mask, too bad you won’t have much time to grieve it’s loss.” he said viciously and commanded his Troopers to pull Din on his feet, pressing him against the wall behind him.
Din didn’t dare to move, he knew he had lost. “I’m gonna leave this ship now, along with the foundling. And be assured, you will never see him again. It’s time to say goodbye.” Gideon whispered and looked into Din’s eyes. From the corner of his eye, the mandalorian saw the small, motionless bundle and in his thoughts he begged for apology. The Moff noticed his struggle and pulled out a metal hit, which he pressed against Din’s body, right below his beskar chestplate. Mando felt the pressure, but couldn’t tell what was the point of this. “Any last words?” Gideon said and waited a second. “I’m sorry, Kid.” Din screamed in his mind and closed his eyes.
A low hum sounded and a hot piercing pain shot through Din's lower chest. The Dark Saber had impaled him completely. Mando felt his blood pressure dropping and struggled to stay conscious. He couldn't move since the blade still stuck inside him. "I can see your pain but I want to hear it too." Gideon whispered and tightened his grip on the hilt. Slowly he began twisting the blade and Din screamed in pain. His wound widened and a spray of blood left his body when Gideon finally pulled it out.
Din collapsed to the ground trying to catch his breath. The wall behind him was coated in his blood. His head laid right beside his helmet and he saw his reflection in it. Suddenly he heard a crack and Gideon stabbed the top of the helmet with his sword
"You're tough I gotta admit. Do you want me to end your suffering?“ Gideon offered and drew his blaster, aiming at Din's head. But the mandalorian would rather die in agony than to beg for his death."I-I'm… gonna m-make you… pay you f-for that…" Din stammered as he felt his life was fading away with every drop of blood he lost.
It started raining, Gideon laughed and turned to his Death Troopers. With blurred vision Din was forced to watch Gideon picking up the kid. "Get him a nice wet grave, I hope some fishes are hungry." the Moff ordered and turned to Din one last time to shoot his other leg to make sure he couldn't swim. That pain knocked him out for a while, he didn't feel he was roughly pulled on his feet and being dragged to the railing of the ship.
But Mando quickly realized being thrown into the cold, black sea. He yelled when his wounds came in contact with the salt water. Desperate he struggled to keep his head above the water and he had to watch Gideon and his crew entering another, smaller boat. From the distance he saw him holding the little bundle of blue blankets.
But when they disappeared into the mist of the sea, he accepted his defeat and his tears mixed with rain on sea water. Pain consumed his body and he was carried away by the waves until the ice cold ocean pulled him underneath his surface and let him drift off into darkness.