SHORT CIRCUIT ─ the mandalorian ✓

TWENTY

"How 'bout I put ya back in carbonite?" Greef yelled. "Get over there!" Mythrol sucked in a breath his eyes dazed as he looked around hurriedly, trying to find some way out of the situation. When all hope seemed lost, when it seemed like he would be stepping out onto the gate, a miracle arrived.

It arrived in the form of a fifteen-year-old girl sick of the world she lived in.

"I'll do it." her voice was as strong as a summer wind. The Mandalorian turned to Tess sharply, his eyes blazing under his helmet. She stood steady, arms clenched at her sides, eyes wide. But they were not scared. They were angry. The Mandalorian shook his head immediately, something in his chest twinging at the thought of her going out onto the catwalk. It made him sick just thinking about it.

It was one thing for Mythrol to go out, a man who'd done wrong. He was expendable, a bounty gone wrong, now trying to make amends. Tess was a different story.

"No." Mando said with enough finality to make the others in the room pause.

Tess ignored him and walked over to Mythrol, eyeing him up and down. "I'll be better at it than him." she turned back to the group. "Quicker."

"Tess, no." the Mandalorian said again, and her gaze shifted to him sharply.

"Mando is right, young one." Greef added in. "It's dangerous." Tess didn't even look at Greef, but her fingertips started to ache, and her mouth thinned into an imperceptible line.

"I didn't ask you." she said, and her words cut each one of them like a shard of glass. "We're running out of time. I'm doing it." Without another word she turned and walked towards the catwalk, leg clunking against the grated floor. Mando was quicker, grabbing onto her forearm and pulling her back before she could reach the step.

Tess gasped a little at the force of his touch, and tensed as his voice came out barely a whisper. "Tess, don't do this, let Mythrol go." the tenderness in his voice was almost enough to make Tess stop dead in her tracks. There was pain in his tone, like he was treading over an open flame, trying to stay strong. Tess didn't understand it, why he was being like this.

It never once crossed her mind that he was worried for her. He was scared for her. So very scared.

"Mando, I'll be fine." Tess reassured him. "We're losing time just standing here doing nothing."

"But Tess—"

"Mando, please." Everyone in their group looked at each other nervously, noting the frustration in her tone. "I'm going." He let go of her, though it pained him to do it. Every alarm, every security system programmed into his mind from years of danger and near-death experiences were going awol, screaming at him to grab her and throw her back, taking her place instead. But he knew that there was some truth in her words.

Tess was a magician with machines, quicker than anyone he'd ever met, even the riotous Peli Motto. She was the best one to do this, not matter how much it made Mando want to fling himself into the lava at the thought of her going out onto the catwalk.

But there was nothing he could do as she walked past them again, grabbing onto the console and hoisting herself onto the step. It was then both the girl and warrior realized the thing had no rail, nothing to keep Tess from dropping into the molten heat bubbling beneath their feet. She paused, only for a millisecond, and when no one could see her face, the mask slipped slightly, revealing a frightened little girl with a hint of regret spiking in her gut.

It passed as quickly as it had come.

Tess squared her shoulders and kept herself close to the console, making her climb over to the controls, trying not to think of the canyon level drop that awaited her if she made one wrong step.