Under the Helmet ~ (The Mandalorian x Male OC)

Chapter 14: The Mand'alor

Daedalus woke with a raging headache. He threw up immediately after trying to sit up. He heard a knock on his door.
"Come in," he wretched.
Din's helmet peaked through a crack in the door. "You good?", he asked kindly.
"Umm, yeah?", Daedalus responded, confused. "Did something happen last night? I can't remember a thing."
Din shrugged, "Not really."
"Ah, ok. Good."
Daedalus appreciated Din checking up on him, but didn't understand why he would. They had hardly talked all week and now he was consoling him. Something had to have happened. He got into his jumpsuit and walked up to the cockpit. His head throbbed as he plopped down in the seat next to Din.
"Where are we headed?", he asked, holding his head in his hands.
"I got a bounty last night, it's in the Batuu system," Din responded, swiveling in his chair to face his partner.
"What are they wanted for?"
"Just embezzlement, nothing too significant. You should probably stay back with the kid."
"No, I want to go with," Daedalus groaned.
Din chuckled, "You sure? I can only imagine the hangover you're experiencing."
"It's not that bad," Daedalus lied. "I want to go with."
"If you insist."
"Are you sure nothing happened last night?"
Din turned away, looking out the bay window. "Nothing you want to remember."
"Oh Maker, how bad was I?"
"You're a sloppy drunk, that's for sure."
Daedalus cradled his head in his hands again. "I'm sorry if I embarrassed you or anything."
"You didn't, it's fine."
"How did I even get home?"
"I carried you."
"Oh...", Daedalus drifted off, "Sorry for putting you through that."
If he was being honest, Daedalus thought it was cute that Din carried him all the way back to the ship. He could only imagine what the people around thought. As sappy as that sounded, it still didn't justify Din's sudden caring nature. He wanted to ask what exactly he had said, but perhaps it were better if he didn't know.
The ship brought itself out of hyperspace, and the team descended on the planet. Grogu had just woke up, and stumbled into the cockpit. Din set the ship down outside a run-down trading post. He walked over and picked up the kid.
Turning to his partner, he asked, "Are you sure you want to come?"
Daedalus nodded.
Din shrugged and exited the cockpit. Daedalus went back to his room and grabbed his lightsaber and blaster pistol. Din and Grogu were standing on the starboard boarding ramp, staring out at the crowd before them.
"Who are we after?", Daedalus asked as he joined them.
"An Aqualish, named Rozwald. He apparently runs a general store around here," Din informed.
Daedalus nodded. "Sounds easy enough."
Din placed the kid in his satchel, and they made their way into the market. They asked around if anyone had seen Rozwald, until they got pointed in the direction of a small shack at the end of the main drag of the port. As they approached the store, Grogu wailed and pointed down an alleyway, where Rozwald was circling around, looking lost. When he saw the group, he ran around a corner and disappeared.
"Come on," Din urged, chasing after the Aqualish. When they rounded the corner, they were met by a shorter figure, conceiled in an oversized robe. The figure rushed them, knocking Daedalus down and thrusting Din against a wall. The figure had snatched Grogu out of his bag and was holding a blaster to his head.
"Surrender your lives to me or the kid gets it," their attacker demanded.
The voice sounded oddly familiar to Daedalus. "who are you?", he beckoned.
The figure threw off the robes to reveal what he feared most.
It was Bo Katan.
Din and Daedalus looked at one another, hoping one of them had a plan.
"You're in no position to bargain. Get on your knees," Bo demanded.
Din reluctantly got to his knees, and Daedalus followed. They noticed her leg had some sort of cybernetic brace on it, allowing her to walk.
"How did you find us?", Din questioned.
"It wasn't very difficult," Bo bragged, "I had an associate of mine set a bounty on a small shopkeeper and gave the intel to your friend on Nevarro. It was only a matter of time before you showed up here."
Grogu wailed in her arms, trying to swat the blaster away from his head.
"Why didn't you listen to my offer. You never had to see my again, Mandalore never had to know I survived," Din inquired.
"I could have united the clans, brought order, I could expel those still loyal to the Empire, but it will all mean nothing if I don't earn the saber for myself. I will never rule Mandalore with a gifted blade," she boomed, "I will end your little clan and rule Mandalore with truth and justice."
Grogu let out a high pitched scream and launched himself through the air with the Force, catching Bo by surprise. Daedalus saw her loss of focus and rushed at her, twin blades ignited. She drew the Darksaber just in time to parry the attack. Din rushing at her with his Beskar spear. He swung the staff at her knees, but she jumped over it. She spun around, flailing the Darksaber at the duo but missing complete.
"You're sloppy," Din teased.
She growled and locked bathe Darksaber with his spear. Daedalus swung his saber at her back, which she blocked with her gauntlet. She activated her jet pack and flew above their heads, firing shots at them from above. Daedalus began spinning his saber above Din and himself, blocked a majority of the shots. She soared down, landing herself directly on the duo's lightsaber, shattering it into pieces Din and Daedalus flew backwards in the miniature explosion. Din was lying face down, unguarded. Bo Katan charged him, stabbing him in the back in a chink of his armor.
Daedalus screamed, and rushed Bo, desperate to get revenge. He tackled her to the ground, sending the Darksaber flying. He began slamming his fists into her helmet. She found a moment of weakness in his blows and kicked him back into a nearby wall. She scrambled for the Darksaber, igniting it. Daedalus forced himself up, tears streaming down at his face. He glanced over at his fallen partner, instantly feeling reinvigorated with rage. He drew his blaster and began firing a volley of shots at his foe, who allowed the shots to hit her beskar. She charged him, swinging the saber at his head. Daedalus dodged the attack and grabbed her wrist, stopping the blade mid-swing. She attempted to punch him, but he caught her fist. She gripped her wrist tighter and tighter until she dropped the saber. Daedalus released her clenched and grabbed the Darksaber as it was falling. He swung up abruptly, catching her helmet with the saber. Bo Katan grunted and fell to the ground, helmet rolling off. Daedalus got down to her level, placing a knee on her chest. He held the lightsaber to her throat in reverse grip.  His vision was blurry and he felt weak, but he held his assailant down despite how much she squirmed.
"I am Daedalus Vizsla, Member of Clan Mudhorn. I have defeated you and am now the rightful owner of the Darksaber. You will return to your home world and speak of how you were bested by a foundling. You will never show your face around me or my family EVER again, or I will kill you without hesitation. Now leave us, and I hope for both of our sakes we never cross paths again." He released his hold on Bo, who got up and ran into the crowd.
Daedalus dropped the saber and rushed over to Din. He ran a finger up his neck, frantically searching for a pulse. He choked up when he felt one, a very faint one.
"Gro—Grogu," Din murmured, barely finding the words.
Daedalus ran down the alley to find Grogu huddling behind a dumpster. He grabbed the kid and brought him to the Mandalorian. Taking Din's head in his lap, he pulled up his shirt to reveal the saber wound. It was fairly large gash, and Daedalus feared he would lose his partner.
"Din, I—", Daedalus choked on the words. "Please hold on, I need you. I love you."
Din placed his hand on Daedalus's face, who put his own hand atop his. The two rested their heads together, tears dripping onto the Mandalorian's helmet.
Daedalus heard Din muster a small cry, and looked down at his wound. Grogu had placed his small, green hand on the wound. He closed his eyes, and exhaled. Ever so slowly, the wound began to heal itself. Daedalus whimpered and looked down at Din, who was no managing to sit up. The child removed his hand from the wound, which was now entirely gone. Daedalus pulled Grogu in and held him tightly against his chest. Din was now sitting straight up, looking over at his partner. He placed his hands on either side of his helmet, slowly removing it.
Daedalus gasped. He had never expected to see Din's face. Tears were puddled in his deep, brown eyes.
"I love you," he whispered as the two embraced in a passionate kiss.
The pair pulled apart, resting their foreheads together. Daedalus had his hands on Din's cheeks, who was massaging the back of his partner's neck. Below them, Grogu turned and made a gagging noise. They laughed, returning to each other's lips. Daedalus pulled away. He reached over and grabbed Din's helmet, placing it back on his head gently. He left his hands on the sides of the helmet, staring deep into the darkness of his visor.
"Let's get back to the ship," Daedalus choked.
Din nodded in agreement, and tried to stand. He let out a loud groan and fell back to his feet. Daedalus helped him to his feet. Grogu cooed behind them, drawing their attention to Bo Katan's abandoned helmet.
"I think it's time someone got some armor," Din chided.
Grogu handed the helmet up to Daedalus, who held it up to his face. "Will I be able to take it off if I make it my own?", he queried.
"You can do whatever you want," Din promised.
Daedalus rested his head against the Mandalorian's shoulder, taking slow steps back to the Razor Crest II for their next adventure.

———

This is the end of first season of "Under the Helmet", and I hope you enjoyed! Please leave your thoughts/comments for me, I'd like to know what you think!

Season 2 will come out some time soon, stay tuned :)