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Jyn was close to blacking out from the pain when Cassian slapped a narcotic patch to her neck.
She didn’t even know he was carrying those.
Jyn cradled her injured hand as Cassian took her by the elbow - which seemed to be his preferred method of guiding her, when his hand wasn’t on her back - and steered her through the crowded streets of Jedha. Jyn kept her head up - Cassian was one of the most competent people Jyn had ever worked with, but the streets of Jedha were a crowded, constant source of danger.
They quickly arrived back where they were staying, in a shelter near the ruined temple that Chirrut and Baze had offered them as a relatively safe place. It was less a room and more an enclave off another courtyard that the monk and his bodyguard had claimed as their own. The bed wasn’t really a bed, either, just a pile of blankets that didn’t look like much but somehow kept them both comfortable and warm.
Jyn sat on the edge of the blankets as Cassian found a pair of pliers. He gently cupped Jyn’s hand in his left, as he worked out the long, thin spines that protruded from her palm, several dozen at least. Jyn had no interest in counting.
While she could feel the tug and pull as he worked out the spines, she felt no pain - the medicine he had given her was doing its job. It was a sharp contrast to her earlier agony when the spines had first pierced her skin. A Pake’it’s spines were poisonous, designed to incapacitate the intended victim with unbearable pain.
Finishing with the spines, but still not letting her hand go, Cassian rummaged around his pack before bringing out a tube of bacta gel. Jyn hadn’t realized he was carrying that, either. She thought about how much that was worth, especially on the streets of Jedha, and couldn’t quite believe he would use it on something as insignificant as the spine punctures.
Without really thinking about what she was doing, Jyn lifted her uninjured had to cradle his, as the fingers of his free hand gently worked in the bacta gel. Cassian was an odd mix of harshness and kindness Jyn was still trying to work out.
Once Cassian finished wrapping her hand, to give the bacta gel time to work, he pulled out a nutrient bar from his pack and handed it to her. “You need to eat,” he said, pretty much the only words he had spoken to her since she had slammed her hand into the Pake’it’s side to send its aim wide.
Baze chose this moment to stroll in, a steaming bowl of some local dish in his hands. “Chirrut sent me,” he said, making sure they understood that as usual, none of this was his idea.
Jyn smiled at him as she took the offered bowl with her good hand. The food Chirrut and Baze rounded up for them was far more palatable than the Rebellion-standard nutrient bars that Cassian carried.
Jyn balanced the bowl on her lap as Cassian handed her a spoon. Baze asked, “You alright?” as he nodded toward her injured hand.
Jyn nodded, as the warmth from the rather tasty food filled her mouth and stomach. Cassian answered, “A Pake’it,” in his normal understated style.
“Ah,” said Baze with a shiver of distaste and sympathy. He soon wandered away, no doubt to tell Chirrut of their latest, uh, endeavors. Which somehow never involved them staying safe.
Jyn, finishing half the food, offered the rest to Cassian, who was still rearranging the various, and seemingly endless, contents of his pack. “You finish it,” he said, as he indicated the nutrient bar.
Jyn frowned, as she looked from the tasty food, to the not-really-appealing nutrient bar, and back to Cassian. She was grateful he had not put her through thanking her for saving his life. They had only been wandering around Jedha, trying to locate Saw’s rebels, for a few days, but the number of times they had had each other’s backs was already too many for Jyn to keep track of.
Quietly, she set down the bowl and picked up the nutrient bar. She put one end between her thighs and used her good hand to snap it in half. She laid half the bar next to Cassian, and moved the bowl towards him, as she ate her half.
Cassian had stopped moving and was regarding the food next to him, his expression unreadable. Finally he picked up the bowl and began eating.
Jyn leaned up against the wall and finished her meal.