For candor1

[open_rebellion]

Poss. stuff in the lull between Death Star 1 blowing and the Battle of Hoth:
• Jyn+Cas (and however many of the others we want) survive Scarif; as soon as they get back to Yavin 4, Cas is stuck in a bacta tank, and after a while in a medical coma, he finally wakes up—to find Jyn is still there…?
• Cas likes to climb the Massassi ziggurat, maybe Jyn climbs up one with him; and/or they go for a hike in the jungle…
• Alliance is looking to rehome survivors of Jedha and Alderaan, J+C could help survey planets…?
• Alliance needs more members, C sent back out as recruiter if Jyn wants to join…? (could involve being in a city together)
• reunite on Hoth after getting separated during the evacuation of Yavin…?

Anytime:
• the process of figuring out how to get these crazy kids to sleep in the same room (if they want to)
• they're already sleeping in the same room when one wakes the other with a nightmare
• something purely fluffy like realizing they both have atrocious eating habits, or one does and the other tries to help them with that

Comments

in which I talk a lot and you should feel free to ignore any parts you don't like XD

[open_rebellion]

Jyn had been ready to die on Scarif. Truthfully, it was something of a relief. There'd be no more fighting to just survive and they'd done something important -- or she hoped they had. They'd sent the plans that would show the planet killer's weak point, and with no way to confirm it had been received, she and Cassian took the lift down to the ground level and waited in a haze of pain to die. Her eyes shut at a burst of light, and that should have been the end of it.

Imagine her surprise to wake up, period, let alone on a cot in what might generously be titled an infirmary, back at the rebel base on Yavin. She couldn't bully answers out of the medical droid come to hover over her, but once the medical officer showed their face Jyn began drilling them like they were the ones twenty seconds away from being court martialed. The explosion wasn't the Death Star destroying the planet, just off shore data towers destructing. Imperial troops had razed the place, and they came back to look for survivors. Yes, Captain Andor was alive and how had he walked out of there with her?

She wasn't expecting a question back and really wasn't in a mood to dwell on minute details, though she suspected adrenaline and sheer stubbornness had a fair amount to do with it. The officer wasn't nearly as easy to bully as the droid, and Jyn had to sit through the boring details of her own injuries (laceration, an ankle she should stay off of for a bit, and on and on, nothing she hadn't survived before) before she would be permitted to see Cassian.

Not that there was a lot to see. He looked exactly as awful as he had on Scarif, and they were keeping him in a coma for a few more days while he continued to heal. The bacta had helped a great deal, but at this point that meant weeks of recovery instead of months. In any event, there was nothing to do but wait, and she found herself waiting as close to him as she was allowed as often as they would let her. She didn't think she would be allowed to leave, considering the circumstances, but neither was she someone who had a role on the base. She was space flotsam, washed up on this particular shore and nobody seemed to know what to do with her.

The medical officer informed Jyn they were going to reverse the coma and let the Captain come to on his own. He was healing well, which was about the only good news she'd had in a great long while, and any further assessment would have to be done while he was awake. So she'd perched in a very uncomfortable chair at his bedside, watching like a hawk for signs of life. He was going to wake up to a nasty shock, and maybe she wouldn't be a help in that regard. But at the very least she could make sure he would be fine before disappearing into the ether, back to the hard scrabble in the shadow of the Empire.

I LOVE IT ALL <3 (now steals shamelessly from my own AO3 fic to blather on…)

[candor1]

They've stopped hurting: the cracked ribs, the concussion, dislocations, fractures; gotten by falling, made irrevocable by climbing… It was probably a bad sign, his body deciding there was no longer any point. If duration could have been a concern anyway. If he'd cared about anything, now, except giving the last of his focus, himself, to Jyn Erso

little galaxy of wiretaut strings transmuting his existence one more time—after saving him so many times already—to prop them both upright and take him in her arms: giving him one more purpose, even now, by needing him to hold her, too.

they'd never really clarified who was in command
which with this many variables should have become a problem for someone
but never did because it was mutual they were so in accord
one commander in two people
following her finally allowing him to step on the path he'd never been able for just himself

Could they ever have gone somewhere with trees, traded weapons for tools, sat at last on a beach like this but it would only be the sunset that enveloped them, in the end…?

Didn't matter. He closed his eyes into her shoulder and her hair. He didn't want to see the shockwave. Not out of fear: Out of utter lack of interest. All he wanted to feel, to breathe, to know… in this far better death than he could ever have hoped for or accomplished on his own… With gratitude and a sense of utter peace for the first time in his life, he filled his senses with her.

He welcomed falling into the Force.

~
he walked with Baze, who guided him, pretending to be bored but really as captivated as he was by
Chirrut, who could see the molecules of the world and expounded on the Force with language too sensical and profound to be held in a conscious mind
and he knew they had loved each other and did still though they didn't walk in the world anymore

on the rain-soaked cliff with Bodhi, the only one of them who hadn't had everything taken but instead had given it up
and been betrayed by Saw—and any minute now, by Cassian—
and then not Bodhi at all but… Tivik?
…no: Galen Erso; who looked at him with such burden and sadness, slipped a knife in his side to open his ribcage,
hook him up by veins and wires to Kaytoo, to keep him alive until Jyn could get there and detonate them all

being approached by Draven and Mon Mothma, who told him his next assignment was to die, but they'd do him the honor and service of dissecting him themselves; as Kaytoo held him up from behind

screaming at Kay not to leave him alone

in the elevator with Jyn, seeking the galaxy they'd saved and would never have again in one another's eyes; seeing everything she'd had stolen from her and wishing so badly he could give it back; but still, it was so good to be with her and be finished

~
How scarred he was under his clothes was probably no surprise. (Dusting of shrapnel over one shoulder onto his back; hollow of shoulder and chest and low on ribs shiny with blasterburn; knife lines in forearm and near collarbone; callouses from restraints on both wrists; some nearly-bacta-erased symmetrical surgical lines; raised mottling down his side going under his waistband, like someone had tried to dig something out of his side using an instrument not meant for it, but what really made it the worst was that it was stretched. He'd gotten it before he was finished growing.)

All in all: little surprise that he woke with a start and reaching for a nonexistent weapon.

[open_rebellion]

She would have thought that the whole waking process would have taken a little while longer, bits and pieces one at a time. But no, Cassian did it in his own characteristic way, which was to say with deliberation and like he had a cadre of storm troopers breathing down his neck. His movement has surprising precision for someone coming out of a coma.

Moving quickly, she gets up from her place in the chair. "Slow, Cassian. Slow," she pleaded in hushed tones, as he reached for a weapon that wasn't there. Unbidden, she reached for his grasping hand, though half a second later she wondered maybe if that was a wise choice. "Don't hurt yourself more."

[candor1]

Her hand met his. Just with that, his brain… landed.

For another moment, he still didn't know where (or when) he was. But she was there. Everything else was negotiable: she was there.

His fingers curled on hers. His voice came out raspish, denatured, but hopefully sufficient: "Jyn…"

[open_rebellion]

For a moment she hesitated -- should she call someone, holler down the corridor? -- but the way his fingers wrapped around hers fixed her to the ground. She would go nowhere so long as he held on.

"Yes, I'm here," she answered, stilling. "Take your time. I'm not going anywhere."

[candor1]

He held on.

He stared at her face like he was trying to reconcile strange readings, or read an unlabeled map, or interpret Shriiwook… but also not like any of that because of how seeing her face made his… shine…

What could he say to her…?

…Unfortunately, something occurred to him. Some of the light fell from his face, though his eyes never left hers, as he managed: "Where are we? …The others?"

[open_rebellion]

Jyn was holding her breath, seeing how he looked at her. She'd never seen anyone look at her like that. (Like what, you idiot? Like they're flush with painkillers?) Her cheeks flush, and he asks his question.

"We're back on Yavin. The Empire didn't use their weapon... and we survived it." She probably could have sounded a little happier about that, but with what she had to report next, it wouldn't come. She had to look away to say it. "Just us."

[candor1]

He looked at her steadily, then let his eyes fall closed.

Sefla. Melshi. Basteren. Calfor. Eskro. Farsin. Jav. Pao. Rostok. Stordan.

Rook. Malbus. Îmwe.

He wondered if there was anyone else alive who knew exactly which names were on that list.

Kaytoo.

I'm sorry. I loved you. I'm sorry.

He'd remember.

Whether he ever shared that list or not, depended on… how they proceeded to be…

judged?

remembered.

He opened his eyes to hers again. "Did it work?"

[open_rebellion]

He was doing it, too. Going through the list and remembering each person, right down the line. She'd done the same, even if she couldn't remember them all perfectly. They were there and made a sacrifice for a sliver of a chance of crippling the Empire.

"They got the transmission. It worked." She squeezed his hand as tightly as she dared. Never mind they had taken the long route to get to base. Her throat grew tight. "It worked. It's gone."

[candor1]

His head came a little off the pillow at that. "It's gone?" He'd been hoping against hope the plans had gotten out. (Do you think anyone's listening?) He hadn't tried to think so far ahead as to someone acting on them…!

He squeezed her hand back. And though his job usually involved being able to get meaning without its explicit transmission, there were some things you had to hear spelled out. "Destroyed?"

[open_rebellion]

"Relax," she warned as he raised himself only slightly. Knowing her luck, something would go wonky and then the medical officer would be in here yelling at her. Destroyed? he asks, to make sure.

"Completely." It hadn't been very long ago, and the entire base was in an uproar -- and rightly, if they were coming for them. Jyn... somehow hadn't cared, barely noticed. The only thing that had mattered to her was Cassian pulling through by the skin of his teeth. "The flaw was there, and... it worked."

[candor1]

He set back his head, because she told him to, though he didn't quite relax.

But that was okay. A sudden smile bloomed on his face.

"Good," he said. Understatement of the millennium.

His thumb moved on the back of her hand, consciously or un-. "And you're still here."

[open_rebellion]

The smile did wonders for his appearance, and a small smile appeared unbidden on her own face. It was good.

She looks back down again at his second pronouncement. "I don't know if they'd let me leave," she said, which was true, but it was also true that she was worried about him. She had to make sure he would live, partly out of curiosity and partly out of a complicated tangle of emotions that Cassian now evoked that she didn't want to examine too closely out of fear of what she'd see. "Is that all right? That I'm here?"

[candor1]

Maybe a bit too fast and emphatic: "Yes." The second, regaining some composure: "Yes, of course."

I don't know what I would have done if I'd woken up and you weren't.

He quietly breathed through his nose and got a grip; and frowned a little at the other thing she'd said: "Wasn't that your bargain with Mon Mothma? Help us and you'd go free?"

—Not that he wanted her to go. He just wanted it to be her free choice, if to stay.

[open_rebellion]

"Well. That was before I commandeered a crew and a ship on a suicide mission that we were expressly forbidden from," she said. No one had said 'court martial' and she's pretty sure if she wasn't technically enlisted they couldn't, but she's also sure if they wanted to, they would.

She looked up from where her hands held his. "And they said you were alive," she added, a little bit of truth.

[candor1]

He gave a slight, mirthless smile. "Technically, I did that." Not to take credit—it had absolutely been following her light—but in terms of the one who'd sworn oaths and had the actual authority over the others. "And, technically, we weren't expressly forbidden. The mission was unsanctioned. It didn't go against preexisting orders. I left that meeting before anyone with the authority to give me new ones would have the chance. It was also undertaken in the face of the Council's proposal to disband the Alliance and surrender to the Empire. You know what would have happened to all of us without you?"

[open_rebellion]

"Nothing good," she muttered. Wobani was still fresh in her mind, and that had been for petty criminals. She couldn't imagine actual political prisoners lasted long enough to even get to prison, certainly nobody with a rank in front of their name. "It doesn't matter," she decided. "You were still out."

[candor1]

Nothing good. Indeed. It ran through his head nonetheless:

Known leaders like Mon Mothma, Bail Organa, Dodonna, Raddus, Draven, would be imprisoned and executed. The traitor Bodhi Rook would be turned over as a condition of surrender and made a painful example of. The Guardians and most of the SpecForce volunteers would refuse to cooperate and keep fighting, but without the resources of the Alliance, mainly they'd be finding a more palatable way to die. In order to keep K-2SO from being restored to factory spec and turned back into an Imperial weapon, Cassian would destroy him, himself; then also join the Guardians.

It doesn't matter. She already knew or didn't need to hear. You were still out. And then what she'd said before, belatedly catching up to him: they said you were alive. He looked at her, feeling his heart pound a little more. "You stuck around… for me?"

[open_rebellion]

Her heart was going to come crashing through her rib cage at any moment. She was sure of it. It seemed crazy that she could do all she'd done, but this, right here, scared her more than storming Imperial data banks or trying to find Saw Gerrera again. It was an unusual level of self-awareness that Jyn didn't particularly allow herself to indulge in -- but what else had there been to do in the waiting?

More to the point, what was there to say? "I... yes," she said, because it was the truth. She was too tired for equivocation.

[candor1]

His heart was right there with hers. His eyes fell to their still-joined hands; wondering if he dared to keep holding on, not at all prepared to let go.

"…and now?" he said at last. His mouth was dry. It wasn't fair of him to put all the answers on her; at the same time, felt he needed further information before figuring out what on Fest to say or do, himself.

[open_rebellion]

'And now' indeed. Jyn swallowed, and gave a careless little shrug. "I hadn't actually made it that far in the thought process," she admitted. If he weren't hanging on to her hand or were cold to her, the answer would have been easier. She wouldn't have even needed to answer this question right now.

[candor1]

He nodded slowly. Looked once more at their hands; made himself let hers go. "Well, thank you. I'm glad you're here. …If I can help at all with figuring out what comes next."

[open_rebellion]

She never would have thought to describe the feeling as empty-handed, but here they were. She didn't hold on. "You should worry about yourself," she said, not unkindly.

[candor1]

"I know what happens to me. Victory transmutes sin. If I'm courtmartialed, Draven will testify on my behalf. I may get demoted but I don't think I'll be imprisoned. I don't mind getting demoted." And of course, whether he'd stay with the Alliance or not wasn't even a question.

—Or was it? because his eyes were on hers again and what he said next was— "I know I don't need to worry about you. You can take care of yourself. But… do you have to, this time? Couldn't we… I thought… we were a good team. I'm… I'd… if there's any way… the prospect of going back to… being without that…

"Things are different now, for me. I don't want to go back to how I was before. Even if I could. And a big part of that… was getting to… work… with you.

"What you do next needn't have anything to do with me. But what I do next… if… you're… okay with it… I'd kinda like to have something to do with you."

Clear as mud? Roger. But the look on his face and in his eyes was a little clearer.

[open_rebellion]

She'd meant whatever other recovery was ahead of him, but he was clearly feeling better as he got on a roll with... whatever this was. A confession of some kind? It wasn't clear at first, but the more he spoke, the closer they came to his point.

Whatever they've got him on for pain, it's just got him looped. He doesn't know what he's saying. Or that's what part of her said, the part that told her to run, hide, that one is plenty to look after, because everyone left anyway. But his eyes were clear, and it wasn't as though what he said were incoherent ramblings. Her chest hurt.

But she didn't want to leave him. Not out of guilt, or feeling indebted. "I don't know what's next either," she agreed finally, visibly uncomfortable with what she wants to say. "But I think -- I think that would be all right?"

[candor1]

A smile broke onto his face. Parts glad, hopeful, and relieved. (It crinkled his eyes pleasantly, as before. Unlike before, it also made him look younger.) He felt idiotic for letting go of her hand, but ah well. "Okay. …Thank you." And the Force.

[open_rebellion]

By the time her heart slowed down (why was this the scariest thing she'd ever done?) she was smiling as well, and she touched his hand again. "Now that's cleared up," she started, "I mean it, you have to concentrate on letting whatever you did to your body heal."

[candor1]

(Right there with you. He hadn't fumbled for words that badly when he'd had a hand in an interrogation droid and a blaster in his face.)

Her touch did something hard to pinpoint but tangible to his smile. He again crooked a finger to brush hers, back. Gently, with humor; also genuine regard—how entirely ready he was, any time, to follow her lead: "Yes, ma'am."

[open_rebellion]

The feeling was just as difficult to name inside Jyn -- but maybe it was enough to let it be a fragile, wild thing for now. "Don't mock me, Captain," she returned, just as seriously as he was.

[candor1]

He didn't have the capability for anything right now except honesty; and that was all that was in his voice. "I'm not."

No… he really wasn't.

What he was was starting to drift off again.

[open_rebellion]

There was a peculiar twinge in her chest, right where her heart sat under her rib cage. "Stop arguing and rest," she told him softly, squeezing his hand. "I'll be right here."

[candor1]

The squeeze of her hand made him feel safer and more comforted than any amount of painkillers. His fingers tightened for a moment on hers, back; and, per orders, he put back his head and closed his eyes.

Though his grip was gentle, she could move away the instant she wanted to, this time he didn't let go of her hand.