The Child's Keeper: A Mandalorian FanFiction

Episode 8, Part 1: The Run

"We're not dying," Greef said, breaking Lys out of her conversation with Cara.

Lys turned to glare at him, "Yeah, right," she spat venomously. She wasn't sure what was coming over her, but it was as if some feral preservation instinct had grabbed a hold of her, and she just knew she needed to run.

"Well, is there another way out of here?" Cara asked, looking around the place.

"That's it," Greef replied, pointing his gun towards the window that showed Moff Gideon and his troops standing at the ready.

"What about the sewers?" Din asked.

"Sewers?"

"The Mandalorians have a covert down in the sewers," Din said. "If we can get down there, they can help us escape.

"Yeah, sewers are good," Cara said, giving an encouraging nod.

"Checking for access points."

As Din moved away from the door, he began to scan for the sewer entry. Lys peered back from her spot on the wall only to once again be met with Moff Gideon's eyes.  He seemed to see her standing there, and a grin settled on his face.

"Pleasure to see you again, Lysa," he called out.

Lys watched his every move religiously, knowing that every motion and action he made had a purpose. She hadn't noticed Din freeze behind her, pausing his search for a moment to see Lys's vulnerable position.

"Lys!" He called to her. She couldn't hear him. Din clenched his jaw and grabbed Greef by the elbow. "Pull her from the window. Make her snap out of it."

Greef nodded as Din turned back to look for the vents. Greef snuck up behind Lys and grabbed her, pulling her out of the fire and back to a safer position against a wall.

"Don't let him get to you," Greef shook his head.

Lys was brought back once more to the present and looked out, avoiding Moff Gideon's gaze. She hadn't even noticed that the troopers had brought out a large gun and begun to set it up.

"If you come out here to me, I will give you your life," Moff Gideon spoke, seeing her head reappear for a brief second. "And you will survive. Despite your untimely exit from my service, I am more than happy to deliver you once more."

Lys caught his eyes for a second time, wanting to say no to his face. She wanted to scream at him, for what he had done to her, but she was silent. She was utterly silent, and she found herself nodding to him, as if in some sort of trance. It had been engrained in her when he had been near her. Yes. Yes, she would come to him, if he asked it of her.

Lys could barely hear what was going on in the room, barely noticing Greef had joined where Cara and Din had made their way to a sewer pipe and were clearing out the area and were firing at it. She took a step forward, unable to think straight. It was as if her head was short-firing, she was losing all control.

Luckily, before she could move any further, she felt an arm on her wrist, and she looked back to see that Din had come forward, grabbed her, and pulled her away from the window again.

"I need you to focus, Lys. Whatever happened between you two, you've got to keep it together right now. Think of Ad'ika," Din said.

At the sound of the child's nickname, Lys perked up, nodding. She needed to get back to him, no matter what. As if sensing that, Din let go of her and turned away.

"Come on, come help me here," he said, leading her to a small grate.

Lys tried to pry it open with her dagger, but it was useless, and she was pulled back, letting Cara fire at it until she heard Moff speaking loudly once more, his voice ringing in her head.