word count: 2k
~
'Do you want to hold it?'
Mando looked from the blue blade of the lightsaber and then up to Logan, shaking his head ever so slightly. He was leaning on the wall of the hull, his arms crossed over his chest and an intrigued stare, though Logan couldn't tell.
He had been watching her practice for the past hour, just swinging her lightsaber around. He was also grateful she decided to change out of the scraggly old clothes that she had been wearing for almost five days. She was beginning to smell. He gave her a pair of long pants and a shirt to wear, and he apologised for how it looked, seeing as he had taken it from another Bounty Hunter, but she reminded him that it didn't matter what she looked like, as long as she wasn't naked. It was a joke that almost seemed like it landed on deaf ears.
She retracted the blade of the lightsaber and looked at The Child, who was sitting on a box, following her movements with his big brown eyes. Then, she had an idea.
'Let's try something, would you take this please?' She asked and handed the sabre to Mando, not giving him a chance to respond. He looked down at it, letting his thumb run over the black and silver bands on it as he studied it closely.
Logan picked up a small coil from another box before walking over to The Child, stopping only a few feet away.
'Hey Kid, I want you to take this,' she said quietly, resting the coil on her palm.
The Mandalorian stood up taller in astonishment as he watched Logan lift the coil into mid-air before pushing it towards the kid who cooed and reached up for it with both hands. Mando moved to stand next to Logan, glancing at her as she smiled at the kid, but it dropped when he let out a sigh and gave up, quickly taking interest in something on the floor.
As The Child climbed down off of the crate, Logan turned to The Mandalorian, her stare still on the little green creature.
'I don't understand it, you said he was strong with the Force.'
'I said he had powers, I didn't say it was the Force,' Mando defended himself quickly, looking down at her. 'Don't put words in my mouth.
'Don't put words in my mouth,' she mocked in a deep voice, earning a slight nudge as she laughed. 'No, look, it is the Force all right.' She crossed her arms. 'I can sense it. I can try a few other approaches, but I'm not sure if any of them will work... Maybe he has to be provoked?' She suggested.
'Provoked? You mean like attacked?' He asked incredulously.
Logan shook her head. 'No. From what you told me, what he did with that creature... the Mudhorn, that was to defend you. Maybe if who he is attached to is threatened, he might show his powers. But it's going to be a challenge, it's a very dangerous approach and I'm not too sure if it's even ethical. It shall be our last resort.' She decided with a firm nod.
+
The Mandalorian exited the Razor Crest and walked down the ramp, Logan following closely behind him as she looked around at the hanger they were in curiosity. She took note of everyone's heads following them as they walked by.
'Is that you under that bucket?' An old, bearded, and overweight man said as he and Mando approached one another, both of them extending their hands to one another. He looked at Logan and grinned, sending a weird feeling to swirl around her stomach. She didn't trust him.
'Ran,' Mando said and dropped the man's hand.
'Didn't really know if I'd ever see you in these parts again. Good to see you. And who is this, another Bounty Hunter?' The man, Ran, asked and stuck his hand out to Logan. She shook his hand firmly but froze when he brought it to his lips and kissed it.
Logan pulled her hand away in slight disgust as The Mandalorian took a small step forward, a silent threat. Ran got the message quickly and laughed at her, taking only a small step backward, however, it put enough space between them all.
'Well, what's your name sweet cheeks?' He asked as he and Mando began walking further into the hanger with her following closely behind.
'Logan,' she told him, wishing that the conversation topic would change. Thankfully it did, and Ran went back to talking with Mando about their last call.
'You know, to be honest, I was a little surprised when you reached out to me. You know, cause I... I hear things. Like, maybe things between you and the Guild aren't working out.' Ran was careful with the way he worded his sentence.
'The ship wasn't a part of the deal,' Mando said as they all came to a stop, understanding what he was hinting at.
'Well, the Crest is the only reason I let you back in here,' Ran told him, a sly smirk on his face. It dropped quickly as The Mandalorian turned to face him slowly. 'What's the look? Is that gratitude?' His smile was back as he let out a loud laugh. 'Uh-huh, I think it is.'
As Ran walked away into a different part of the hanger, Mando and Logan looked at one another and shook their heads before following after him, listening as he greeted a man named Mayfield.
'This is Mando. The guy I was telling you about. We used to do jobs way back when,' Ran said as the guy turned around.
Logan looked him up and down subtly, not trusting him either, He was a bald man, with a short patchy red beard, but the scars on his face indicated he had been in numerous battles and also doubled as a warning to anyone who dared challenge him.
'This is the guy?' He asked and gestured to Mando with a lopsided grin. He looked at Logan and stood up a little taller, his grin growing to a smile.
'Yeah, we were all young, trying to make a name for ourselves. Yeah, but running with a Mandalorian, that was... that brought us some reputation.' Ran puffed his cheeks out and put his hands on his hips. Mayfield asked what Mando got out of it. 'I asked him that one time. You remember what you said, Mando? Target practice.' Ran let out a loud laugh. 'Target practice. Man, we did some crazy stuff, didn't we?
Mando, who was as stiff as a board, clearly not wanting to be in the current situation, said, 'That was a long time ago.'
'Well... Well, I don't go out anymore. You understand? So uh... Mayfield, he's gonna run point on this job. If he says it, it's like it's coming from me. You good with that?' Ran asked Mando.
Logan didn't like that idea at all. Here they were, in a hangar full of people who obviously aren't trusting of The Mandalorian, and not only was he about to do a job with them, with Mayfield calling the shots, but he was about to let them use his ship as well. This could go terribly wrong.
'You tell me,' Mando said, still without moving.
As Ran talked about how Mando hadn't changed, Logan watched Mayfield walk away. She knew she couldn't trust him, so she decided once she found out the plan, she'd create another, just in case everything crashed and burned.
She followed after The Mandalorian, watching him and Ran talk as they walked back and approached the Razor Crest.
'Razor Crest? I can't believe that thing can fly. Looks like a Canto Bight slot machine.' Mayfield laughed, seemingly coming out of nowhere. 'Alright, the good-looking fella there with the horns, that's Burg.'
Mayfield pointed to a large man with red skin, complemented by two black horns protruding from the top of his head. He scared Logan half to death simply by the low growl he made as he dropped a giant crate and walked toward them with a deep glare.
'This may surprise you, but he's our muscle.'
Burg moved close to The Mandalorian and bent down to look him in the eye.
'So this is a Mandalorian. I thought they'd be bigger,' he said before looking at Logan, a smile lighting up his face. 'Oh, you brought a friend?' He asked and reached up to pat her cheek softly, but Logan turned her head and leaned away, upsetting him by her actions.
Mayfield laughed and moved on with the introductions. 'Droid's name is Zero.' He pointed at a black shiny droid that approached the group with short and quick steps. He was an odd-looking thing. He looked like a bug.
'I thought you said you had four?' The Mandalorian asked, remembering from when they had spoken over coms earlier.
'He does.'
Logan and Mando both around turned to find a purple-skinned female approaching them slowly. She was a Twi'lek. Logan was taught about them in school. Whilst they were extremely talented in combat, they were known for their short temper and it caused Logan to fear for her safety for a split second.
'Xi'an,' Mando said thickly. Logan raised an eyebrow. He must know her well.
'Tell me why I shouldn't cut you down where you stand?' She asked, toying with the knife in her hand. Suddenly, she jumped at Mando with her knife ready to press against his neck, but Logan was quicker as she grabbed Xi'an's wrist before she could come anywhere near close to Mando.
Xi'an looked at Logan and hissed, 'Who is this and why is it here?' She tore herself from Logan's grasp and stepped back, clearly looking Logan up and down in disgust.
'Yeah, who is this chick anyway? Not another side piece is she Mando?' Mayfield asked, causing Logan to glare at him as the rest of the group laughed.
Oh, she did not feel welcomed at all. Logan looked up at Mando, who could sense her uneasiness. He stepped forward and gave an explanation.
'This is Logan. She's a crew member on board the Crest.' He turned to face Mayfield whilst Xi'an walked around the two to face them again, questioning whether Logan was a Bounty Hunter.
Although she wouldn't show it, Logan felt incredibly proud that The Mandalorian recognised her as a crew member, and not just some girl he had to drag along to help figure out why his kid does weird magic things with his hands.
Xi'an grew closer to The Mandalorian, tapping her knife on his beskar chest plate. 'I missed you. This is new, you wear it well.' She purred, her eyes flickering to Logan before grinning in satisfaction at the hard look on her face.
'Do we need to leave the room or something?' Mayfield asked and raised his eyebrows.
'Well, Xi'an's been a little heartbroken since Mando left our group.' Ran laughed as if it was the funniest thing that had ever happened to him.
'Aawww...you gonna be okay, sweetheart?' Mayfield asked her in a teasing manner.
She grinned. 'Oh, I'm all business now.' She pointed her knife at Mando. 'I learned from the best.'
'All right, lovebirds. Break it up till you get on the ship. Right now, we don't have much time,' Ran said and waved them all towards the ship as he began to retreat further back into the hangar.
As everyone moved towards the Razor Crest, Xi'an winked at Mando before getting in Logan's face and hissing. Burg stepped in front of The Mandalorian, looking him up and down before looking at Logan and doing the same.
'She's too pretty for you, Tiny!' He laughed to himself before following after his friends.
Logan and The Mandalorian looked at one another.
'This is going to end horribly, you know that right?' She asked him as they began to follow after everyone. He sighed but said nothing, indicating he knew even though he didn't want to believe it.
~