#aa i hope you don’t mind being tagged but you gave me the idea for these drawings!!

[chadillacboseman]

Tired of Being a Fighter - PART ONE

Pairing: Axe Woves x F!Reader (no actual pairing in this first part!)

Word Count: 1.6k

Warnings: Violence, death.

Summary: Bo-Katan has become a woman obsessed with taking back the Dark Saber and will stop at nothing to reclaim it. Things come to a head, violently, one night, and Axe makes the difficult decision to leave her service. Left with no path and no oath to honor, he is unsure of what to do with his life until a fateful trip to Nevarro...

A/N: Did I write this to explain why he was absent in the finale? Maybe. Did I have to desperately try not to write with a bar as a setting?? Also maybe. Enjoy.

This will likely be like a three or four parter 😬

----

The night was cold on Lothal, and the streets were bustling with those returning home from their jobs at the local factories and warehouses. From his rooftop position, Axe could see the building he had been assigned to watch- waiting for their target to enter so that he could signal the other Nite Owls to begin the assault. In the alley below, a figure moved through the shadows and approached the large warehouse door before rapping, loudly, four times in a distinct rhythm.

Axe trained his night vision on the figure- a Rodian, eyes nervous and darting as if he expected to be attacked at any moment. Axe tapped his comm unit on and hailed Bo-Katan.

“Target is here. Looks nervous-”

The door opened with a pneumatic hiss and the Rodian entered a dimly-lit room. Axe could make out at least three figures inside before the door shut and the sound of jetpacks rumbled behind him. Bo-Katan and Koska landed softly on the rooftop, their armored boots surprisingly soft on the concrete.

“Where is he?” Bo-Katan’s voice crackled through her vocoder, impatient and full of venom as usual.

“Inside,” Axe had grown accustomed to her vitriol, “At least three others in there with him.”

There was silence for a moment before Bo-Katan spoke again.

“We’ll blow the door open, take them by surprise. Keep the Rodian alive, but kill the others.”

There was no point in arguing with her, Axe knew that by now. In her quest for Moff Gideon and the Dark Saber he carried, she had become reckless and gripped with an all-consuming rage. Since they had taken down the Imp cruiser on Trask, the missions had become more dangerous; Axe found himself patching wounds and repairing his armor more often than he liked.

But Bo-Katan pushed them harder each time.

Axe knew tonight would be no different. He hardly had time to think of the possibilities as his two companions leapt from the rooftop and jetted down to the alleyway. Axe landed behind them as Koska placed an explosive charge on the door and set the timer for ten seconds. As she hit the igniter, the three of them jogged for cover behind the opposite building. The beeps of the charge grew more rapid and Axe braced himself; there was a half a second’s pause, then the door erupted into pieces with a bang that shook the street.

“MOVE!” Bo-Katan gestured to the door and they moved quickly, drawing their blasters and engaging their thermal visors. Through the smoke, Axe could see four figures huddled near the center of the room, and one on the floor closer to the door. A blaster shot clipped through the smoke, narrowly missing Axe’s helmet, and he dove for cover behind a shipping crate as his companions followed suit. The haze began to clear and Axe glanced down at the figure on the floor- a human, dressed in the clothes of a warehouse worker, emblazoned with the Torrent Industries logo. A civilian.

“Shit-” Axe muttered under his breath before reaching out to grab the civilian by his boot and drag him behind the cover. He was still breathing- likely knocked unconscious by the blast.

“What the hell are you doing?” Bo-Katan screamed from her cover, blaster fire singeing the wall opposite her as their targets continued to fire on them.

“It’s a civilian!” Axe shot back, pausing to lean out from behind the shipping crate and return fire at the figures now visible through the fading smoke. One of the figures let out a yelp and fell to the concrete floor with a thud.

Axe silently prayed that he hadn’t just shot the Rodian.

“I’m moving out-” Bo-Katan moved, crouched, from her cover with Koska in tow. Axe engaged his jetpack and lurched forward, bursting into a jetted sprint. The smoke had cleared and he could see the Rodian now, crouched near a starship turbine.

“I’ve got the target!” Axe lifted from the ground with a leap and tackled the Rodian to the floor as Koska and Bo-Katan engaged the other three. He stood up and drug the target to his feet, producing a pair of stun cuffs and latching them to the trembling Rodian’s wrists. The last assailant fell to the floor with a strangled grunt and Bo-Katan turned her attention to Axe and his captive.

“Please-” the Rodian’s voice was brimming with fear, “Whatever you want-”

The butt of Bo-Katan’s blaster caught him in the jaw and sent him crumpling to the floor with a cry of pain.

“You know why I’m here, aruetii,” her voice was barely more than a whisper, filled with seething hate, "you helped to secure arms for the Empire."

Axe reached down and hauled the Rodian up by his jacket, planting him on his unsteady feet.

"I know you worked with Moff Gideon. And you will tell me where to find him." Bo-Katan moved closer to the trembling quarry as she spoke, her black visor trained, unwavering, on his face.

The Rodian let out a humorless chuckle, "You think I'd betray the Moff? Do you have any idea what he would do to me?"

Bo-Katan took another step forward and unsheathed her vibroblade, moving to hold it under his chin.

"It's nothing compared to what I will do to you," she tilted her helmeted head slightly, as though analyzing him, "have you ever seen a heated vibroblade at work?"

Bo-Katan ignited the blade and the Rodian's eyes flicked to it, nervously, as it began to thrumm and grow hot.

"A skilled Mandalorian could dismember their quarries entirely-" the blade glowed, ember-hot, in her grasp, "without letting them die."

The Rodian began to tremble at her words, and Axe tightened the grip on his jacket in case his legs gave out.

"The beauty of a vibroblade is that it cauterizes the wound as it makes it." Bo-Katan's visor was just inches from the Rodian's face, "So you won't bleed out before I finish."

She turned her visor to Axe, "Woves, hold him down." Axe obeyed without hesitation, moving to pin the Rodian on a nearby workbench.

"Wait-" the Rodian's voice was a strangled cry, tinged with hysterical fear, "I'll tell you!"

A chuckle cracked through Bo-Katan's vocoder and she sheathed the vibroblade. "I knew you would see reason. Now tell me-" she grabbed the Rodian by the front of his jacket and pulled him to his feet, "where is Moff Gideon?"

The Rodian produced a datapad from his jacket pocket and with the press of a button, a holo-projection of the planet became visible. "Here-" he used his fingers to zoom to a set of coordinates on the northernmost sector, "They have a hidden base built into the mountainside. Some kind of weapons lab. Lots of troopers and an AA gun on the roof."

"You made the right choice," Bo-Katan unholstered her blaster as the Rodian's eyes flicked between the three of them.

"I can go now, right?" His voice shook, but held a tinge of hope, "I mean, you got everything you w-"

The blaster shot hit the Rodian's chest point-blank and he dropped to the floor in a heap.

Bo-Katan retrieved the datapad from the floor as the smell of singed flesh filled the room. "We have our location. Let's go-" her words were cut short by a rustling sound from the front of the warehouse. The civilian was on his feet and moving toward them.

Bo-Katan drew her blaster and the civilian raised his hands to show he wasn't hostile. "He's a civilian- wearing a Torrent jumpsuit." Axe put a hand on her blaster, attempting to lower it, but she didn't budge. "I said he's a civilian-, Kryze," Axe raised his voice slightly as the worker froze in place, his arms still raised above his head.

"How do we know he wasn't part of this?" Bo-Katan's voice was steady- cold and calculating.

"I'm just a warehouse worker!" The civilian cried, "I worked late tonight- I had no idea what was happening. When the door blew it knocked me out and-" before Axe could stop her, Bo-Katan fired her blaster, striking the worker in the chest and sending him to the floor with a strangled cry.

"Haar'chak!" Axe cried out before he could stop himself, "He was a civilian! He was surrendering!"

Bo-Katan shrugged and holstered her blaster, "One less loose end."

"No-" Axe moved in front of her, anger burning hot in his chest, "You've gone off the deep end, Kryze. When this first started, I was with you. But you've lost your mind!"

Bo-Katan poked a gloved finger into his chest and shoved him backward, "If you're not with me, you're an enemy to Mandalore, Woves." She spat the last words out like a Voxyn spitting venom, and Axe knew she meant them.

"If this is how you plan to rule Mandalore, I want no part of it." Axe pushed her hand aside and moved closer, so his helmet was mere inches from hers, "And don't you dare try to stop me."

"If you do this, you abandon everything we have worked so hard for! You abandon your duty to your fellow Mandalorians!" Her voice was filled with her usual self-righteous fervor, but Axe had heard enough.

"I abandon nothing, Kryze. But you have abandoned reason, and you will pay for it."

Axe pushed past Koska and Bo-Katan and made his way through the doorway into the cold Lothal night.

---

TAG LIST FOR AXE:

@djxrxn​

@jango-fettish​

@lestrange2703

#star wars #axe woves #the mandalorian #tired of being a fighter

[spicycreativity]

A Place Where I Can Breathe - Ch 1

Chapter: 1/7 Rating: T (for language) Content Warnings: Canon-typical Remus behavior. This chapter only: "delusional" used as an insult Characters: All Pairings: N/A Additional Tags: Canon divergence, post-AA, retcon (name reveals, outfits, etc), all characters sympathetic, misunderstandings, Virgil is trying his best, Dark Sides are friends dammit, gratuitous references to Cats the Musical Summary: After Virgil is accepted by the Light Sides, he hopes to use his newfound position to bring Janus and Remus up with him. Hurt by his perceived betrayal, they push him away before he even has the chance to try. Virgil does his best to adjust to life without his oldest friends, but misunderstandings abound, and he soon finds himself going behind the Light Sides' backs in attempt to keep them safe from what he fears is a wicked revenge plot orchestrated by Janus.

It was hard to breathe in the basement. The air was heavy, thick with tension, and Virgil’s breaths came in uneven gasps and shallow paroxysms that made his lungs ache. He sat, paralyzed, on the couch with his legs drawn up to his chest, his eyes glued to his phone.

Janus’ snide congratulation still echoed in his head, the way his voice had dripped with jealousy: “Congratulations on your newfound acceptance, Virgil. You earned it.”

Virgil resented the way Janus’ words had implied that his decision to duck out had been nothing more than a successful attempt at manipulating the ‘Light’ Sides, as they called themselves, when they both very well knew that Virgil’s actions had been in earnest. Virgil’s unhappiness with his role had always been a point of contention between them. It wasn’t just about having his voice heard, no matter how hard Janus tried to pretend that was it; Virgil had grown to genuinely care for Roman, Logan, and Patton, and he wanted to spend time with them that didn’t involve antagonizing and scaring them.

Of course, Remus found that nearly intolerable, but he was far more direct than Janus could ever be. He teased Virgil and demanded assurances that Remus was his favorite Creativity and always would be, and Virgil gladly gave him what he wanted. But lately, the teasing had grown more intense and less enjoyable, and Janus’ remarks grew more cutting and bitter with every additional hour that Virgil spent upstairs. He had taken to avoiding the topic altogether in the hopes of somehow skating past the unpleasantness, hoping that Remus and Janus would eventually get used to Virgil’s new habits.

The sound of knocking pierced the silence and kicked Virgil’s pulse into overdrive. He was in motion before he even registered what was happening, vaulting off the couch toward the stairs. His mind caught up with his body just before his hand touched the doorknob and he made a concentrated effort to calm himself down. Three semi-deep breaths. One hand smoothing down his hair. Then he opened the door.

On the other side stood Logan, wearing his usual neutral expression. Earlier in their relationship, Virgil had mistaken it for perpetual boredom, but he knew better now. Logan was always thinking, and spared little energy on social graces.

“Hello, Virgil,” he said, nodding shortly. No trace of eyeshadow lingered on his face, but Virgil couldn’t help the guilt that twisted in his stomach at the memory. Maybe Logan was here to end their friendship.

“Hey, Logan.” Virgil glanced over his shoulder in case Janus or Remus had come to interfere. He saw no sign of either of them, but that only meant that they weren’t going to meddle. It certainly didn’t mean they weren’t listening. “You good?”

Logan paused before answering, thinking back to his flashcards. “Yes, Virgil. I’m gucci.” Virgil clapped a hand over his mouth to stifle his laughter and Logan continued, unperturbed, “I’m here to invite you to dinner.”

“Really?” Virgil asked,

“Yes. Is that surprising?”

“Unexpected,” Virgil said, unsure if he was agreeing or disagreeing. “Now?”

“Yes. Unless you have something you need to attend to.”

Virgil spared one last glance over his shoulder. It wasn’t like he was planning on eating with Janus and Remus tonight anyway; Janus was totally-not-sulking and Remus was… Well, Virgil didn’t know the details, but the bangs and the haunted-house shrieks emanating from Remus’ room indicated that he was definitely unavailable. “Now’s fine.”

“Excellent.” Logan smiled at Virgil. “Shall we?”

Virgil nodded and followed Logan into the living room, letting the door slam shut behind him.

While the living room and the kitchen were technically common areas, Virgil hadn’t spent much time in either of them. The basement had a kitchenette, a TV, and a couch, and all its inhabitants vastly preferred that over the idea of a strained ceasefire with the Lights. Of the three of them, only Virgil had been able to let go of his resentment and insert himself into the Lights’ regular meetings on Thomas’ conduct and decisions. Still, he didn’t exactly feel at ease as he crossed the threshold into the kitchen.

Patton’s joyous salutations and Roman’s begrudging regards were enough to pull Virgil out of his own head. He let Roman pull up a chair for him and nodded hesitantly when Patton offered to serve him.

He heaped an unreasonable amount of tuna casserole on Virgil’s plate and beamed at him. “So, uh Anxiety.” His smile wavered a bit. “We just wanted to apologize again for being so…”

“Put off by your off-putting demeanor,” Roman supplied before he could stop himself. Everyone looked at him and he almost doubled down before catching himself. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry. Go on, Patton.”

“Well, for being so harsh,” Patton said. “We didn’t realize how important you were to Thomas’ functioning.”

“I did,” Logan said under his breath. Roman flicked a pea at him.

Patton only had eyes for Virgil. “Um, anyway, we’re sorry. We value you a lot and we’d absolutely love it if you spent more time with us!”

Virgil nodded, thinking about the display of monitors and VHS tapes in his room. Much like the others, his mere presence was usually enough to keep Thomas on track, but sometimes he utilized the cameras to allow him to focus on specific aspects of Thomas’ surroundings to keep an eye out for danger. And sometimes , when he was feeling bored or unheard, he would pop “ Cringe Compilation: 7th Grade Edition” into his VHS player. They all had power focuses that linked inherently to their function, allowing them to magnify it as necessary. But when the Lights felt that Virgil’s function was impeding their own to an unacceptable degree, they would push back, and Virgil’s monitors would go black as all the lights dimmed. It was the same for Janus' and Remus' focuses and it hurt . “So does this mean you’re going to stop repressing me?” Virgil asked. The Lights didn't know the extent of the damage they did, and Virgil was determined not to be the one to break the news.

Patton nodded. “We’ll try to help you work through your feelings instead.”

“Wow.” Virgil’s cheeks ached with a smile he was fighting hard to suppress. Maybe there was hope for Remus and Janus too. “What about Dec--”

“Anyway!” Patton said, pretending he hadn’t heard Virgil speak. “We were thinking about watching a movie after this! We do weekly movie nights. Do you want to join?”

“Oh, um.” Virgil tapped the nail of his middle finger against the pad of his thumb. He wanted to push for acceptance for Janus and Remus, but what if that made Patton and the others angry? What if they kicked him out? Then he would be right back to square one. Maybe if he played it smart , if he was patient and good, then he could help his friends out too. “Sure, that sounds great.”

“Yay!” Patton clapped his hands. “We already decided to watch Anastasia tonight, but we should let you pick the next one!”

Logan launched into an explanation of the historical context of Anastasia, punctuated by the occasional interruption from Roman. Virgil was content enough to sit back and listen to the bickering, interjecting every now and again to take Roman down a peg.

--

When it came time to say goodnight, Roman cornered Virgil in front of the basement door wearing an unusually serious expression.

“I need to talk to you.”

Virgil leaned against the wall, taking pains to sound more nonchalant than he felt. “Gee, Princey, I’d have thought you’d be better at love confessions.”

“Oh, spare me,” Roman said, sticking out his tongue. “This is important.”

“Well, don’t keep me waiting.”

“Patton wants you to move upstairs.”

“Oh,” Virgil said, taken aback. “ Oh.” He swallowed hard, unsure of what to say. “I-- Why are you telling me this?”

“Because I know Patton won’t,” Roman said, impatient. Virgil hooked his thumbnail under one of his canine teeth and bit down, thinking. He wasn’t sure how to say no without stepping out of line. He wasn’t even sure he wanted to say no. Roman continued, “And I… Well, I--” he ran hand through his hair-- “I see your value now.”

“That’s the nicest thing anyone’s ever said to me,” Virgil sneered, hoping that Roman would pick up on his teasing.

But to Virgil’s surprise, Roman blushed. “I’m sorry, that’s not what I meant. I think you’re pretty alright, Anxiety. I want you to move upstairs, too.”

Virgil took a deep breath, screaming internally all the while. What was he supposed to do? He didn’t want to leave Janus and Remus, but he didn’t want to turn down Roman’s offer, either. He couldn’t have it both ways. What was the middle ground here? He stared right through Roman, panic wiping his mind blank.

“You do want to, don’t you?” Roman asked. He hated how unsure his voice sounded, even to his own ears. Surely Virgil didn’t enjoy living with that two-faced snake and Remus.

“Of course I do!” Virgil hissed, trying to shout without actually raising his voice.

“Then what’s the problem? Say yes!”

“It’s not that simple!”

“Seems plenty simple to me. We’re extending a hand to you, Anxiety, the least you could do is take it.”

“I need to think about it,” Virgil said. Surely Janus and Remus would understand if he just explained himself. Janus might even approve . It wasn’t as sneaky and duplicitous as Janus’ plans usually were, but Virgil wasn’t Deceit. And he was working with the tools at hand. They had to understand that.

Roman threw his hands up. “Fine. I don’t know what there is to think about, but I suppose overthinking comes naturally to you.” He sighed and shook his head. “I guess that’s it, then. Good night, Anxiety.”

“Night, Roman.” Virgil heaved a sigh of his own and opened the door to the basement. The air was cool and still. Virgil ordinarily found it pleasant, but tonight the chill went bone-deep and made him shudder. He zipped his hoodie as high as it would go and shoved his hands into the pockets. He watched his feet as he descended the stairs and remained so caught up in his own thoughts that he didn’t even notice Janus and Remus on the couch until Janus cleared his throat.

Both Remus and Janus were glowering. Virgil ducked his head like a guilty teenager, trepidation closing like a fist around his stomach. He knew a trap when he saw one, and the fact that Janus wasn’t even trying to be subtle about it meant that he was well and truly furious.

Virgil sat down in the armchair lateral to the couch and glowered right back. “What?”

“I have to say I’m impressed with you, Virgil,” Janus said in his usual silken drawl, aiming straight for Virgil's heart. “I knew fear was part of your function, but you’ve reached a truly unprecedented level of cowardice.”

Virgil exhaled slowly through his nose. “You don’t mean that.”

“And how can you be so sure? Because friends don’t turn on each other ad libitum?"

“I’m not turning on you!” Virgil insisted. “Did it ever occur to you that maybe I have a plan?”

“You told Roman you wanted to move upstairs,” Remus said once he’d unclenched his jaw. They all knew Virgil abhorred lying both morally and from a practical perspective; it made him almost too anxious to function. “You’d choose them over us.”

“They’re listening to me now!” Virgil tried to explain. He could forgive Janus his judgement, forgive Remus his anger even now if they would just listen . It was all a misunderstanding. “They even said they’d leave my cameras alone. Maybe I can get them to do the same for you.” Vigil scratched at the fabric of his jeans. “I thought-- Don’t act like you wouldn’t do the same, Janus. I know you would.”

“If I could tolerate the presence of those delusional do-gooders in concentrated doses, maybe so,” Janus said. “With one key difference. Even if I could forgive them for what they did to me, I could never forgive them for what they did to you and Remus. Every smile, every last moment of camaraderie would be. an. artifice.”

“We’re supposed to be family, Virgil,” Remus added. “And now you want to leave us for… what, a chance for a roll in the royal hay with Roman? Patton?”

“So what, you want me to be just as petty and miserable as you two for the rest of my life?” Virgil demanded, heat rising in his chest. “Forget it. I’m trying to do something nice for you, the thing you’ve been fighting for since you got branded as ‘Dark’ Sides. If you can’t recognize that, that’s your own fault. I’m going to bed.” He got up and strode out of the room without another word.

“Traitor!” Remus called after him.

Silence fell. The refrigerator started to hum.

“He’s going to get hurt,” Janus muttered, tapping his knuckles against his bottom lip.

#sanders sides #sanders sides fanfiction #this is my first time cross-posting my writing to tumblr im so nervous hhhh #spicywrites #idk what would be best for people trying to find other chapters in the future ummm maybe a special tag #spicywrites a place where i can breathe #that works #credits: #pics are from unsplash #the virgil cosplayer is my roommate #im his primary online presence so it's rly not worth it to tag his other accounts lmao #you can follow him on tiktok as patchwork.boy if youre into that