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Leia was conflicted about leaving town. On one hand, she hated to leave while Yavin was in a crisis. But on the other, she knew she was the only one who could successfully lobby the state to provide the support they so desperately neede
Knowing it’d look worse if she just disappeared with an explanation, she posted a quick message to all her public-facing @mayororgana accounts. “Friends and neighbors,” it began, “We’re facing a difficult time as our community is hit by the earliest onset of the annual flu season in state history. This week I’m in Coruscant to negotiate with the Governor and State Senate for the support we urgently need- more personal protective equipment for our frontline medical workers battling this outbreak, and flu vaccines to fight the spread throughout our community and into neighboring towns. Stay safe and be sure to check @yavinhealth for the most up-to-date information.” When the post had been up for an hour, she scrolled through the comments to see if there were any relevant questions she could answer.
And no, there were not. There were slightly more comments asking her to run for president (seventy-three) than those calling for her to be impeached (sixty-eight), so she decided to count that as a small victory. Ten comments (all from accounts she suspected belonged to Lando) asked people to follow an “up and coming” musician on Soundcloud that was definitely just his own childish stage name. Eight comments (all from accounts she suspected belonged to Melshi) advertised an “up and coming” investment opportunity that was definitely just a pyramid scheme. And three comments from completely anonymous accounts asked her to post photos of her feet.
Rolling her eyes, Leia put away her phone, and hoped the town wasn’t falling apart without her.
-
“I love the flu!” Bodhi announced as he practically skipped into the room.
“Speak for yourself,” Shara grumbled as she poked at a bowl of the questionable slime the hospital tried to pass off as soup.
“Because guess who just got admitted?” Bodhi asked with a smile, then, before Shara could answer, exclaimed, “Luke!”
“Interesting reaction to the person you just started dating getting sent to the hospital.”
“Don’t worry, he’s fine. I mean, not like, ‘damn, he’s fine,’ even though he totally is-“
“Focus, Rook.”
“-right. But, he’s fine! And that’s been the only problem this whole time! He’s like a perfect specimen of a human. I can’t find anything wrong with him. One time, I thought he farted, but it was me. So having him here, sick and totally helpless- nothing makes someone seem less intimidating than being in a hospital gown!”
“Great, congratulations, happy for you,” Shara said sarcastically. “But Bodhi, you’ve got to help me. My head’s on fire, the food is disgusting, my phone’s dead, I’m bored out of my mind. And, my roommate hates me!”
Bodhi looked to the bed next to her where an elderly woman slept, snoring loudly. “She’s not even awake.”
“She looks innocent now, but I promise, when she’s up, she’s out to get me.”
He shook his head. “Well, I can’t do anything about that, and you can’t have more fever meds for another two hours. But I’ll text Kes, tell him to bring you food and a phone charger when he gets off work.”
“That’s five hours from now! What am I going to do until then?”
“I don’t know.” Bodhi walked towards the ancient TV in the corner, fiddled with a few buttons until it turned on. “You could watch a movie, somebody left this old VHS here.” And he tossed the case into her lap.
Shara picked up the box, which looked well over thirty years old. Top Gun, it read along the side. “Fine,” she said, “But I’m sure I’ll hate it.”
-
Across town, Han slammed open the door to the Parks office. “Listen up, kids!” he shouted as he jumped over the counter. “I heard fantastic news!”
Melshi looked up from the scanner where he’d been digitizing files all morning. “Beyonce’s moving to Yavin??”
“Like that’d ever happen,” Baze said gruffly. Jyn and Cassian looked up from their laptops in surprise, but Baze just shrugged. “What? I liked Lemonade.”
“Anyway,” Han continued, “You’re welcome, nerds, because I have news that’s going to save City Hall. Because guess which regional director for the Empire got reassigned to a lab facility in Scariff for the next six months?”
“Krennic’s gone?” Jyn asked, standing up.
“For the rest of this year at least. So he won’t be able to get in the way of any Harvest Festival plans!”
Jyn and Melshi cheered as Han wrapped them in a group hug. Even Baze smiled and said, “Good. Maybe we’ll get lucky, and the bastard will stay away until he rots in hell.”
Cassian had no clue what was going on, except that whoever this Krennic guy was, he didn’t have many friends in City Hall. Melshi even pulled a bottle of champagne out of a drawer and tossed it to Jyn. “Who’s Krennic?” Cassian asked as he ducked to dodge the popped cork.
“He’s my mortal enemy,” Jyn said cryptically.
“The scum of the earth,” Baze grunted.
“He killed Jyn’s mom,” Melshi said brightly.
“A real asshole,” Han summarized.
“Maybe her dad, too,” Melshi added.
“That’s…a lot to unpack,” Cassian said.
“He’s the director of the sciences division at the Empire Corporation,” Jyn explained, “And president of our Chamber of Commerce. Let’s just say…he and I do not get along. He wants to run the town like a company and has made it his goal in life to block any initiative I try to get through.”
“Sounds like an asshole,” Cassian agreed.
“There’s no way we would have gotten any local businesses other than the Falcon to sponsor the Festival if Krennic was around. With him gone, we actually stand a chance of getting enough donors to make it happen.”
“So I,” Han said proudly, “Just got the Parks department on the calendar to present at tomorrow’s Chamber meeting, to ask all the local business owners to be sponsors! Which I think calls for a celebration, drinks all around!”
“Or,” Jyn said, “It means we need to pull a revenge-fueled all-nighter so we have a solid case to present tomorrow.”
“Or,” Melshi suggested, “It means you need to stop being Boring Boss Jyn for five minutes and drink up! C’mon, the coolest thing about you is you’re one of the only people I know with a nemesis, and we got rid of him for the rest of year- you’re not going to celebrate that?”
Jyn thought about it for a moment. “You’re right. Drink up, we’re free of the bastard!”
Han cheered again, and Melshi grabbed cups to pour the champagne into. As they all raised them for a toast, Jyn announced, “Screw Krennic on three!”
Jyn, Han, Melshi, Baze, and even Cassian went, “One, two-“ but before they could get to three, Jyn involuntarily threw her head back and let out the loudest sneeze any of them had ever heard. Not realizing it was coming, she hadn’t even been able to cover her mouth in time. The group, with their uncovered cups, stood there, momentarily frozen.
Melshi was the first to put his cup down. “Actually, I don’t feel like drinking right now.”
-
“How’s my favorite patient?” Bodhi asked as he came into Luke’s room the next morning.
Luke sat up with a smile. “I bet you say that to all the pretty boys.”
“Only ones I’ve slept with.” He paused. “Actually, I think one of my college exes may be on the second floor, but that’s not a part of my coverage this week.”
“Well, it’s a good thing you’re assigned up here with me instead. I don’t think I have the strength to fight off any other suitors and win.”
“I don’t doubt you’d win,” Bodhi laughed. “Damn it, how can you be feverish and still be charming?”
“Lots of teaching- actually, make that bullying- from Han and Leia. I’m naturally an awkward mess. Then, I started working with Cassian and Kay, and someone had to smile and make sure everyone we met didn’t hate us.”
“Someone has to do the dirty work. I only tried to make friends growing up to preemptively stop them from getting into fights with Jyn.” The folder was still in his hands, and even though he had held off for as long as he could, Bodhi knew he had to do what he came into the room for. “Uh, Luke, listen, I don’t want to bother you for too long, but I needed to stop by here because we still need some information from you.”
“If I didn’t know for a fact you already had it, that’d be a great line to ask for my number.”
“…we need your medical history, Luke.” And he opened the folder to the offending page: FAMILY MEDICAL HISTORY written across the top in dark, black ink.
Luke’s smile from just a moment before was frozen on his face. “…oh?”
Bodhi spoke quickly, trying for apologetic as Luke continued to stare at the form. “I know, I know, I waited as long as I could, until you were feeling better. Because I know this is tough for you, being adopted and all. But at least you were raised by your aunt and uncle, so that’s some family history! Don’t worry if some of it you have to leave blank, but just fill out what you know, okay?”
“Sure…I can do that…I’ll just fill out…what I know…”
“…Is something wrong?”
Luke, not for the first time in his life, wondered if there was a way he could tell the story without making it sound as bad as it was.
-
Jyn poured a packet of Vitamin C powder straight down her throat. She coughed a bit at the dryness, before continuing with her spiel on the conference call. “As I was saying: looking at the numbers, if we get at least $20,000 in donations we’ll break even. But as a larger goal, I think we should aim for at least $35,000-“
“Stop doing this, Jyn!” Kes said through the phone. “GO HOME.”
Jyn looked through the office’s windows to where Kes, Baze, Melshi, and Han sat in the conference room, the only ones on the other end of her call. “C’mon, guys, just let me in there.”
“No!”
“No way!”
She stood up to make her way to the conference room. “Enough of this, I’m going in there.”
“Barricade the door!” Melshi shouted.
So Baze calmly went and stood in front of the door, blocking it just with his sheer size.
“Baze, let me in,” Jyn tried to reason.
“No.”
“Are you really letting this power go to your head? Leia leaves town and just because you’re the most senior department head, you think you can boss me around?”
“Jyn, I am your boss.” Ignoring her laughter at that, he continued. “You shouldn’t be here, you could get someone else sick. Bodhi keeps calling me about twoots-”
“Tweets,” Melshi corrected. “Since you refuse to download any social media, Bodhi’s just going to keep calling you to read out loud whatever he posts on the public health accounts.”
“-and he has already interrupted my day multiple times to bother me about ‘chronic conditions.’”
“Oh!” Han exclaimed, suddenly straightening up. “I have a chronic condition! You can’t come in here! Because I have a chronic condition!” No one said anything, so after a moment of silence he repeated, “A chronic condition.”
“No one say anything,” Baze warned.
“A condition. And it sure is chronic,” Han insisted.
“Do not ask him.”
But Kes couldn’t resist. “What do you have, Han?”
Han sighed dramatically, before announcing solemnly, “Ligma.”
“Nobody say another word-“ Baze threatened.
Melshi grinned broadly as he asked, “What’s ligma?”
“LIGMA BALLS!!!” Han shouted, before he, Kes, and Melshi collapsed into laughter.
Baze, looking defeated, made eye contact with Jyn through the door. She raised an eyebrow.
“Fine,” he said, “You can have them.” And he opened the conference room door, before striding quickly past Jyn and into his own office, locking the door behind him.
“Traitor!” Kes shouted after him, as he, Han, and Melshi scrambled to the opposite corner from Jyn.
“Guys, c’mon, I’m not-“
“YOU’RE SICK!” they shouted in unison back at her.
-
As the credits began to roll, Shara rewound the VHS back to the beginning to watch it again.
The old woman in the bed next to her groaned. “You’re watching this again?”
“Quiet, Yaddle,” Shara shot back.
“This is the fourth time.”
“Do you have anything better to watch?”
“Wheel of Fortune is on.”
“Absolutely not,” Shara insisted, as she hit play.
Yaddle’s eyes narrowed, and she decided to make her roommate’s life living hell. She’d become the most annoying person she knew.
She decided to be like her brother.
-
“Woah,” Cassian said as soon as he walked into the office and saw Jyn for the first time that day. “What’s wrong with you?”
“Hello, good morning, nice to see you too,” Jyn deadpanned.
“No, just that your eyes look really glassy, and- why are you wearing a parka?”
“It’s a bit nippy out today.”
“It’s June.”
Kay walked in then, but stopped almost as soon as he entered the office. “Oh my god.” He ducked behind Cassian. “Jyn, are you sick?”
“I’m not sick-“
“Yeah, she’s sick,” Kes said, and Cassian and Kay turned to see the others sitting at the table in varying degrees of protective gear- Kes with what looked like five cloth masks layered over each other, Melshi with a plastic face shield covering his face, and Han in a motorcycle helmet. “Why do you think we’re wearing these?”
“And why I’m misting myself with hand sanitizer every fifteen seconds,” Melshi added, spraying the bottle a few times into the air.
“I’m not sick,” Jyn insisted. “It’s just allergies, okay? I took a claritin, but I threw that up. So I took another one, and I threw that up. And then I took a third and it stayed down. I’m already getting better.”
Cassian walked to her side of the desk and put his hand on her forehead. “Then why are you burning up?”
“What? No. You’re burning up.” Jyn immediately cringed, wondering why she’d said that. Maybe she was going delirious from the fever. No, she couldn’t be going delirious from fever, she didn’t have a fever because she was! not! sick.
“I have to get out of here,” Kay said in a worried tone. “I only have 5.8% body fat. My body is like a microchip. A grain of sand could destroy it. I cannot get sick.” He look wildly around before grabbing Melshi’s bottle of hand sanitizer and spraying it vigorously on his hands. “MY BODY’S A MICROCHIP,” he insisted one last time before running out of the room.
“He took my hani-sani,” Melshi whined.
“Jyn, go home,” Cassian ordered.
“No time,” Jyn insisted, trying to fight off the feeling of lightheadedness as she looked for a pen that was already in her hand. “I gotta get ready for the Chamber of Secrets.”
“Commerce,” Cassian corrected.
“If this meeting doesn’t go well,” Jyn continued, “If we don’t get enough sponsors, then the Harvest Festival is over before it began. I cannot go home.”
“Will you at least go see someone? Who’s your doctor?”
“I don’t have a doctor, just Bodhi. Bodhi’s my doctor. He’s the only person I’d trust to do open heart surgery on me with a plastic knife after a plane crash.”
“I doubt that will be necessary but great, let’s go see Bodhi.” Cassian grabbed her bag and tried to move her towards the door.
But Jyn stopped in the middle of the office to take off her parka. “Wait now I’m hot. Why is it so hot in here?”
“That would be your fever.”
“I don’t have a fever.”
“Hey Jyn!” Han shouted after them, looking up from one of the new iPads Melshi had scattered around the office. “I typed your symptoms in here and it says you could have ‘network connectivity issues.’”
-
Luke was sweating as he looked at the medical history form. Three hours after Bodhi dropped it off, every line was still blank. He started to look up, hoping for some memory of anything that could have been a hint from his “aunt” and “uncle”- only to be met with Kay standing right by the edge of the bed, looking ashen and dripping in sweat. “Ahhhhhh!” Luke yelled.
“Luke Skywalker,” Kay announced, “This is deadly serious. Where is your lover, Bodhi Rook?”
Bodhi jogged into the room. “What happened? I heard yelling and- damn, Kay, what happened to you?”
“Bodhi,” Kay rasped, grabbing him by the shoulders, “There’s not much time. My condition has deteriorated rapidly. Because I have so little body fat, my health is compromised quickly when there is an attack. Now, it is very important that you help me replenish my body with electrolytes after every involuntary loss of bodily fluids. My body has already started to lose a lot of bodily fluids. A lot. The time has come, there is a 90% chance that I’m dying. The microchip is compromised.”
“I doubt you’re dying, but I’ll go grab some intake forms. You probably just have the flu. Do you have any idea who might have been the one to expose you?”
Kay stared blankly ahead as he processed Bodhi’s words. “Oh my god. Jyn Erso tried to kill me.”
Before Bodhi could ask what he meant by that, the intercom in the room buzzed. “Rook,” a muffled voice said, “You’re needed at intake. We have an insubordinate new patient.” The intercom buzzed off, then buzzed back on to add, “It’s your sister. Arguing very loudly with the guy who drove her here.” Another pause. “They’re scaring the other patients.”
-
“A 104-degree fever?” Bodhi read in a shocked voice off the thermometer, once Cassian had been able to help him wrestle Jyn into a chair. “I have no clue how you hid this from me. You’re definitely dehydrated, I’m admitting you immediately.”
“I’m not sick!!” Jyn argued. “Because if I was sick, could I do this?”
But she was just sitting there. Bodhi looked, confused, to Cassian, who shrugged, before looking back to Jyn. “Do what?”
“Cartwheels. Wait,” she questioned herself, “Am I not doing them?”
Bodhi shook his head, then went off to find a spare bed for her.
-
“Babe, I brought lunch-“ Kes started as he walked into Shara’s hospital room, only to see her and an old woman trying to wrestle a TV remote from each other, neither of them aware of him.
“Dumb movie, it is!” the old woman shouted.
“It’s a complicated masterpiece!” Shara shouted back. “I don’t like the glorification of male violence either, but the cinematography is stunning!”
“Wrong, you are!” Yaddle snapped.
“Did you just try to bite me?!”
“Hey Bodhi,” Kes said into his phone. “Can you help me? Shara and a grandmother are fighting over a TV remote.”
-
Cassian walked back into the office, still reeling from the events of the day so far. Never before had he had to physically hold down a coworker so she could get her nose swabbed for a flu test. Yavin was easily the most unique place he’d worked yet.
And also, the most frustrating. After a hospital side quest derailed his morning, Cassian hoped the afternoon would at least be productive enough to make up for it. He planned on running through the presentation with Han and Melshi as his audience, have them ask practice questions, maybe even use them to get a head start on filing the donor paperwork.
All of that would have been a great plan, if they were there. “Han?” he shouted. “Melshi?”
Baze unlocked his office door just to stick his head out, say simply, “They left,” then kick out a tumbleweed before locking the door back.
“Where did he even get that?” Cassian muttered as he watched the tumbleweed roll across the empty office. Another weird Yavin thing to mentally file away.
Han didn’t pick up any of his calls, but eventually, Cassian was able to get through to Melshi. “Heyyyy, what’s up man?” Melshi said loudly into the phone when he picked up, over the music and chatter of the background.
“Where are you? It’s the middle of the workday.”
“Uh, I’m at the library. Researching. With Books.” An unconvincing lie, made even more unconvincing by the sound of Han shouting, “Shots! Shots! Shots! Shots! Shots! Everybody!” somewhere behind him. “Fine, I’m at the Falcon.”
“Get back to City Hall. We promised Jyn we’d take this presentation seriously.”
“Oooh, actually, you’re wrong there. You promised Jyn you’d take the presentation seriously. I don’t promise Jyn anything. I purposefully keep everyone’s expectations of me very low, so then anything I do is a success.”
“And even though you’re on the clock, you’re going to spend your afternoon at a bar?”
“Yep!” Melshi replied cheerfully, then hung up.
Cassian stewed as he made his way back to his office to work on the presentation and do everything himself, as usual. But after a few minutes of frustrated, more violent than necessary typing, his phone rang.
“Hello?” a voice trying to disguise itself as deep asked. “Can I speak to Mr. Andor?”
“Jyn,” Cassian sighed, already exasperated, “I have caller ID.”
“And what do you have me saved as? ‘Genuis I Need Listen to More Often?’”
“Too many letters, I just settled for ‘Pain in My Ass.’”
“Funny, that’s what I have you saved as too.”
“Did you call to argue with me?”
“As fun as it is, no. I want to go over your presentation for the Chamber. What’s your opening line?”
“I’ll probably just introduce myself and then start reading from the PowerPoint slides.”
“No, no ‘reading from the PowerPoint slides.’ What is this, your seventh-grade book report?”
“I’ve done hundreds of presentations like this, I’m not going to screw it up.”
“Cassian. I don’t think you understand just how important this is. These people have been under Krennic’s influence for years, and we only get one chance to make a first impression.”
“Jyn. I promise I’m not going to half-ass this. Just get some rest, and I’ll take care of everything else.”
“You know what, something amazing just happened. I feel completely better, I have no symptoms. It’s a miracle of modern medicine, I’ll meet you at the Chamber-“
“Get some rest,” he insisted before hanging up.
But rest was the last thing on her mind.
-
Bodhi was an immaculate professional, going back and forth between rooms to comfort Luke in his spiraling over his family mystery, to reassure Kay he wasn’t dying, prevent Jyn from running away, stop Shara from fighting her roommate, and do it all with a smile and a steady hand.
Then on his break he went into the supply closet to yell from frustration and snap tongue depressors in half.
-
At least with Kay assigned as his roommate, Luke had someone to vent to as he freaked out over the medical history form. “They never talked about my parents. It took me fifteen years to learn Uncle Owen wasn’t even related to my dad, they were stepbrothers. So I don’t know any of my family’s genetic history. I don’t even know if I have any family still alive. It’s just this black hole of- Kay? Kay! Are you even listening?”
Kay was not. He was in the small bathroom connected to their room, sweaty and pale as his hands gripped the edges of the sink. Looking at himself in the mirror, he begged his reflection, “Stop. Pooping.”
Luke didn’t hear him, and continued. “It was always so embarrassing in biology class, when you’d have to make the little square, calculate the chances of you having your eye color…and I…I never knew.” He started to tear up. “I just had to steal percentages from the pea plants.”
“Don’t talk to me about pee right now,” Kay coughed as he made his way towards his bed.
-
“You better not have called because of the TV, I am not injecting myself into a fight over the remote again,” Bodhi announced as he walked into Shara’s room again.
“Have it, you cannot. Swallow it, I have,” Yaddle said.
“She’s lying! It’s in her sleeve! And she’s faking talking like that too!” Shara shouted, before falling into a coughing fit. Yaddle just laughed.
“I mean, it is a problem,” Kes said to Bodhi, “But that’s not why I called. I wanted to know if Shara could have more flu medicine?”
“Sorry, but I can’t give double doses. That stuff’s pretty powerful.”
“I never got-“ Shara coughed out “-my first dose.”
“What?” Bodhi asked, confused. “Someone should have dropped it off just a few minutes ago.”
Shara coughed once more before continuing. “Yeah, except Jyn came in right behind them and stole mine.”
Bodhi looked to Kes for confirmation. “Don’t look at me, man,” Kes said, “I was in the bathroom.”
“Saw nothing, I did,” Yaddle chimed in. “She’s selling drugs, I suspect.”
“Watch it!” and “Listen here-“ Shara and Kes started to argue with the old woman, but Bodhi was already out the door, sprinting down the hallway.
I’ve got a bad feeling about this, he thought, and sure enough, when he made it to Jyn’s room, all he saw was an empty bed. There was only one other place in the hospital to check.
“Have either of you seen Jyn?” Bodhi asked when he ran into Luke and Kay’s room.
Luke was still crying about Punnett squares, so Kay became the most functional roommate by default. Except he was lying face down on the tile floor.
“Kay!” Bodhi crouched next to him, snapping his fingers to try and get his attention. “Kay! Why are you on the floor?”
“The floor is cool,” Kay mumbled. “The floor is my friend.”
“You need to get back into bed-“
“No! Floor is friend!”
“Okay, fine, floor is friend. Speaking of friends, did you see Jyn come through here?”
Kay lifted a shaky hand to point. “I saw her come in and escape through that hole in the wall.”
Bodhi looked where he was pointing. “…do you mean the door?”
“She didn’t stay!” Luke interjected. “Just like my father!”
Bodhi began fervently texting the other nurses on the floor for backup and more pills. “Okay, great. Seeing how delusional you both are right now, I’m going to go out on a limb and guess she stole your flu meds too.”
-
Cassian was reviewing his notes one last time when Han and Melshi walked in with a group of business owners, laughing and chatting like they were all best friends.
“No, you’re the Ludacris of this situation,” Melshi told one of the owners as he held the door to the auditorium open.
“We’ll catch y’all in there later,” Han called out good-naturedly, and as the business owners split themselves between going in and continuing to linger in the hall, they shouted out their thanks and goodbyes to Han and Melshi.
“How nice of you two to finally show up,” Cassian said sarcastically. “How was your lunch? Or should I say, entire afternoon?”
“No need for that tone,” Han chided, “Because our work today contributed greatly to the ‘Saving Your Ass’ Fund. Ever heard of a thing called, ‘influence,’ Cassian? Remember that from when Leia made everybody watch The West Wing?”
“Han’s been running a lunch/Happy Hour special at the Falcon on days of Chamber of Commerce meetings for years,” Melshi explained. “Super cheap, the bar definitely loses money on it, but all the business owners who go love Han. And gives him a chance to influence them when Krennic’s not around.”
“Why else do you think Leia’s last campaign was endorsed by the pawn shop and the vet clinic?” Han asked proudly. “Also helps that Melshi’s a whiz at networking. At our little ‘booze lunch’ today, we were already able to get $10,000 promised to us in donations. So maybe don’t question our methods next time.”
“Ten thousand in donations is great, don’t get me wrong, but maybe next time tell me what you’re doing, instead of just letting me get mad for thinking you’re out getting drunk.”
“Don’t hate the player,” Melshi said, giving him a clap on the shoulder, “Hate the game.” Before Cassian could ask what he even meant by that, Han and Melshi were off again, to butter up a couple more donors before the presentation.
Everything’s going fine, a relieved Cassian thought to himself, watching Han and Melshi work the crowd. As long as everything keeps going according to plan, everything here will be fine. But the victory was short-lived.
Because at that moment, Jyn Erso, high on flu medicine, strode through the door. “Cassian Andor! Hello!”
“…Jyn? What are you doing?”
“Good to see you!” she said with more pep than he would have ever imagined possible for her, as she reached forward to shake his hand.
Which confirmed that, yep, she still had a fever. “You shouldn’t be here.”
“Can you help me with a reimbursement form?” she asked, ignoring him. “For the Uber I took to get here?”
“Uh, sure, how much was it?”
Jyn hesitated. “I’m not sure. Everything was in hieroglyphics.” Another pause. “Do you know the exchange rate?”
Cassian had a feeling nothing he could say would deter Jyn from giving the presentation. Briefly, though, he did wonder if pulling the fire alarm would do anything.
“Wait, did you see that?” Jyn gasped, looking wildly back and forth. “The wall and the floor just switched.” She took a large step forward, her arms spread wide for balance. “Walk very carefully,” she warned Cassian.
But the last of Yavin’s business owners were now filing into the auditorium, and Melshi was telling them it was time to go to their seats at the front. Han was supposed to introduce Jyn, which Cassian figured was his last opportunity to talk her out of this.
“I don’t think introductions are needed for me,” Han started, leaning nonchalantly against the podium, “But just in case: hi. Han Solo. Owner of The Millennium Falcon, voted by Yavin Today as the number two spot in town for cold beer and number one for barstools requiring a tetanus shot, five years in a row.”
“Jyn,” Cassian whispered as he sat next to her, “I can’t let you do this.”
“Watch yourself there, cowboy,” Jyn slurred back. “This ain't your rodeo.”
“And wow, would you look at that,” Han continued, now pulling out a flyer, “It says here the Falcon is now the proud host of Thirsty Thursday Ladies Night- where all ladies drink for only $3.47. That’s gotta be impossible, that’s just way too good of a deal.”
“Are you really going to risk everything we’ve worked on so far just to make a point? There’s nothing to prove- you’re sick! It’s human.”
“Just to remind y’all, at the Falcon we’re an inclusive, hang loose establishment. Ladies Night is in your soul, not in the pants, so just come on out as whatever gender you’re feeling. What do you think I’m gonna do, check your ID? My personal approach is, hey, let’s just all have a good time.”
“Well that’s where you’re wrong,” Jyn hissed in his ear. “I’m not human. I’m a goddamn superhero.”
Before Cassian could say anything else, Han was calling Jyn up. “But, enough about that, and time for the lady of the hour herself. Please give it up for- and be sure to never tell Krennic about- our guest this evening, Deputy Director of the Yavin Parks Department and Co-Chair of this year’s Harvest Festival, Jyn Erso!”
Melshi’s loud whoops rang out over the crowds’ polite clapping. Jyn gave Cassian a sloppy wink before wobbling her way to the podium. As he watched her pull out her notes and stare blankly at them for a moment, his eyes cut again to the fire alarm. It might be his only way to save them all from certain disaster.
Except Jyn took a slow, steadying breath, and it was like a switch flipped. She straightened up, looked into the audience, and with the professional precision of a woman who could give a briefing in her sleep, began. “Each of you, just by being here tonight, is making history.”
Cassian’s surprise must have been noticeable, because as Han slid into the seat next to him he explained, “Hang around Jyn long enough, and you just learn not to doubt her.”
And he was right. If Cassian hadn’t seen her earlier in the day, he never would have guessed the speaker in front of him now was hours ago bedridden with the flu. She was confident and clear as she walked through the history of the Harvest Festival, the sustainable development goals for this year’s event, and how donations from the local businesses would be used. He’d realized pretty quickly after arriving in Yavin that Jyn was a competent employee, but this was different. Watching her rattle off numbers and simplify complex environmental planning strategies for the crowd, he saw her as a force to be reckoned with. Even as they moved into the Q and A section, no question threw her off, as every ask fired at her was answered without a second’s hesitation.
“She’s on fire!” Han whispered at one point.
And hot, Cassian thought automatically, followed immediately by, Wait, what?
As Jyn went on a longer tangent about the tax write-off process for donors, Cassian was mentally spiraling in his seat. Hot as in fever, you’re just concerned about her fever, he told himself. But, now that he thought of it, he felt pretty warm himself, as if the walls of the room were closing in. Wondering if he was coming down with the flu too, he stood to sneak out of the conference hall and grab some fresh air. But it was hard to hide your exit when you were sitting in the front row, so of course, Jyn noticed, shot him an angry glare as she continued talking to the crowd. Her glare made his stomach do another flip. If it’s not the flu, maybe it’s food poisoning. It could be anything, really. Just as long as it was some physical illness causing how he felt. It definitely wasn’t any emotions he’d much rather push down.
So to push those nonexistent emotions down he paced the hallway and pulled out his phone, noticing five missed calls from Kay. Figuring it would be a good distraction, he decided to call him back.
“Jyn Erso stole my flu medication,” Kay said as soon as he picked up.
“That would help explain how she was able to pull herself together enough to present,” Cassian responded.
“What?” Kay exclaimed, as Luke in the background went, “She’s there?”
“Still presenting now.” Cassian hesitated before adding, “She’s…fine.”
“That sounds highly unconvincing,” Kay said. “And given how sick she was this morning, extremely improbable.”
“No, not at all. I’m telling you,” Cassian insisted, “The presentation was amazing. That was…” he searched for a metaphor Kay and Luke would both appreciate, and settled on sports. “That was a flu-ridden Michael Jordan at the ’97 NBA Finals. That was Kirk Gibson, hobbling up to the plate and hitting a homer off Dennis Eckersley. That was,” he kept searching for the right words, but all he could settle on was, “That was Jyn Erso.”
Something felt weighty in the way he said it, and neither Luke nor Kay immediately responded. The moment was shattered, though, with Bodhi storming into the building, seeing Cassian, and demanding, “Where is she?”
“I’ll call you guys back,” he said, quickly hanging up the phone, before saying to Bodhi, “Uh, who?”
“Who else?”
“I don’t know who you’re talking about,” he tried, with a neutral expression.
Except, you could hear Jyn on the mic just inside, answering audience questions the moment her flu medicine wore off. “Well, sir, I would like to answer your question with my own question, which is- why is your face so swirly?
A murmur went through the crowd and you could hear the muffled sounds of a scuffle through the door, as Han wrestled the mic from Jyn. “Alrighty folks, unfortunately, Jyn has another meeting to get to so she’s going to join our colleague in the hallway- yes, go- and we’ll just finish up here. Raddus, I think this is where you come up and do announcements. This shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone, but I never pay attention in these meetings…”
Melshi shoved a now noticeably pale and sweaty Jyn out the door. Jyn kicked the door, cursing, “Bastards!” before she turned, noticing Cassian with a smile. “There you are!” she exclaimed brightly, which Cassian told his suddenly nervous stomach was just because she was delirious again. “And…there you are too,” she said without excitement, seeing Bodhi standing next to him.
Bodhi shot Cassian a pointed look he was growing accustomed to receiving from the Erso-Rook siblings. “Enabler,” Bodhi accused him, before turning to Jyn. “You’re going to the hospital, and I’m not letting you leave until you’re rehydrated.”
“No!” Jyn shouted, and turned to run away.
On a normal day, Jyn could outrun Bodhi easily. Except now, with the stolen medicine worn off, her symptoms were back in full force.
And, because Jyn was disoriented by her symptoms, when she turned to make a break for it, she actually ended up running headfirst into a wall.
-
The next day, Cassian knocked softly and waited for a response (a “Yeah?” followed immediately by a sneeze) before walking into the hospital room. “Hey.”
“Hey,” Jyn said as she sat up in surprise. “What are you doing here?”
“Had a few things to drop off,” and he put on her bedside table a glass container, before handing her a folder of notes. “Remember how your goal was $35,000 total in donations?”
“Yeah?” she asked cautiously, flipping through the papers.
But Cassian had a small smile on his face. “Well, we’re already at $30,000.”
“You’re kidding.”
“Not at all. Han and Melshi did a great job warming up the crowd, but the rest of it, that was all you. We couldn’t have done it without the Michael Jordan of public policy.”
The compliment made her feel surprisingly warm. “Thank you. And thanks for all your help too, getting everything ready…even if I didn’t let you present. I’m sure you would have done a great job. But just because it was the Chamber, I felt like I needed to prove myself, even if Krennic wasn’t there…it’s a long story, but I just needed that victory.”
“I get that, but you should’ve just said something. Trust goes both ways, remember?”
“Yeah, I know,” she said, but she believed him. Next time, she decided, she’d let him in on her plans. “If I’d told you from the beginning, you would’ve helped me skip all this hospital nonsense, right?”
“Doesn’t change the fact that you were extremely sick.”
“I guess only a real friend would kidnap me for medical care,” Jyn joked, “So I’ll forgive you for that. I’m surprised you were even able to hold me down, you’re stronger than you look.” Cassian’s expression didn’t change, but she did notice his face turn slightly red. Before she could ask him what that was about, she remembered the other item he brought. “What’s in the container?”
“Oh, uh, that,” he stumbled, suddenly looking nervous. “Don’t worry about that, it’s just some soup. Not a big deal, just an old family recipe-“
She lunged for it. “You’re a lifesaver. The food here isn’t even edible, I’ve been starving. I’ll eat about anything-“ then she opened the lid, and the aromatic smell of a spicy chicken soup drifted through the room. “Oh my god,” Jyn sighed as she took a deep breath. “That smells amazing.”
“Like I said, it’s nothing-“
But then Jyn took a bite. “Oh my god,” she moaned.
“Do you need a moment alone with the soup?” Cassian deadpanned, while thinking (insisting) to himself, Nope, that didn’t awaken anything in me.
“This is amazing,” Jyn insisted. “This isn’t a flu delusion talking, I seriously think this is the best thing I’ve ever ate. Thank you.”
“No, it’s really easy to make, I barely did anything…you just need your rest, this helps, my adoptive parents always made this for me when I was sick…it’s nothing,” he insisted one last time.
“You’re extremely talented,” Jyn replied.
“No I’m not,” Cassian countered as he began backing out of the room.
“This is the nicest thing anyone’s ever done for me!” she shot after him.
“It’s nothing!” he said as he kept moving towards the door. Because he was facing her, and not watching where he was going, he did bump into the doorframe on his way out.
“I really appreciate this!”
“Get some rest, Jyn!”
She smiled as he disappeared into the crowded hallway, before turning back to the container. She took another bite. Damn, this is really good soup.
-
It’s not like Cassian went to the hospital only to see Jyn. He had another container of soup and one more stop to make.
“Delivery,” he announced as he walked into Luke and Kay’s room.
“There you are,” Kay said. “I sent 27 text messages and you didn’t respond to a single one.”
“I was cooking.” He set the other soup container on the side table between the two beds. “Knew I’d be coming by later. What’s up?”
“The Coruscant office wants us to leave Yavin, and take an assignment in Hoth instead.”
“But we can’t leave Yavin!” Luke exclaimed.
“Luke, we’ve been over this. Give me one reason to stay. Other than your romantic entanglement,” Kay challenged.
“…I’m only two hole punches away from a free drink at the City Hall coffee stand?” Luke suggested.
“I’ll buy you a coffee if it means that much to you. But,” Kay insisted, “There’s no good reason for us to stay in Yavin.”
“No, Luke’s right,” Cassian said. Luke and Kay looked at him in shock. “The Harvest Festival is still a few months away, and they need our help. The city budget is dependent on it- and we were sent here to balance that budget. We can’t leave a job unfinished.”
Kay frowned. “You really think we can turn this place around?”
“With an extension through October, sure. We’ll leave right after the Festival. Unless, of course, you want me and Luke to stay behind, and you go to the next assignment on your own?”
Kay looked offended. “Absolutely not. But fine. If you two are insistent on staying here for a bit longer, I will too. Even if this place has already tried to kill me.”
“That’s the spirit, Kay.”
“I had a feeling I could count on you, Cassian,” Luke started to say mischievously. “Something told me that you, just like me, would for some reason feel compelled to stay here. The people of this town sure are something, wouldn’t you agree-“
“When you’re back in the office tomorrow,” Cassian cut him off firmly, “We’re sorting through four years of backlogged spreadsheets. Get there early. You two rest up and eat your soup, but be ready to work in the morning.”
Kay suddenly looked at the container sitting between them. “Where’s the rest of it?”
“What?” Cassian asked, trying to play it as if he didn’t know what Kay was going to imply.
“The pot in our motel’s kitchenette holds 6 quarts. The kitchen set also comes with three 1.5 quart containers, of which this is one. And from past experiences, I know you refuse to make anything less than a full batch of your family’s soup recipe.”
“Some of it’s back in the motel-“
“Did any of it get delivered to any other patients in this hospital?” Luke interrupted, grinning widely. “Perhaps a certain brunette-“
“And I gave some to Jyn,” Cassian said quickly, cutting him off again. “Just because I had to deal with her all day, you know.”
Luke looked extremely pleased with himself, and Cassian wanted to tell him to stop smiling.
But Kay was perturbed as he held up the container. “Why does Jyn Erso get her own soup and I have to share?”
-
“Thank god you’re here!” Shara exclaimed when Kes rolled Jyn into the room. “They said they were going to get me a new roommate and I was worried it’d be someone awful again.”
“What happened to your old one?” Jyn asked as she sat on the free bed.
“Shara killed her,” Kes said.
“I did not,” Shara insisted.
“Smothered her in her sleep.”
“She was released.”
“Jyn, you’re probably next.”
“If you try to steal the remote like she did, maybe.”
Jyn shook her head. “Couldn’t care less what we watch, I’m going to sleep through it anyway.”
“Good,” Shara smiled, and she rewound the VHS back to the beginning for the seventh time that day.
“Well, I’m going to go grab some dinner,” Kes announced, moving back towards the door. “Shara, I’ll get you the usual. Jyn, you want anything?”
“No thanks, I have some soup.”
Shara made a face. “Eww. That stuff from the cafeteria's disgusting, how can you eat it?”
“It’s not from here. Cassian made it.” She opened the lid, and the smell of warm spices wafted through the room.
Kes and Shara both took a deep breath. “Woah,” they said together.
“I know, right?” Jyn said. “Tastes even better, too. Now that we know he’s a good cook, we need to talk him into doing an office potluck soon.”
“So let me get this straight,” Kes said, “Cassian made you soup, then came to visit you in the hospital? Even after you and him fought all day yesterday? And the soup isn’t poisoned?”
“We just have different work styles, that’s all. But I think we’re becoming friends.”
“Uh huh, friends,” Shara observed. As Jyn went back to eating her soup, Shara whispered to Kes, “Remember my theory?”
“Yep,” he whispered back. “You want to put money on this? I’m calling $50 it’ll happen by the Festival.”
She shook her head. “No way it’d be that quick. They’ll stick around longer, but nothing will happen until end of the year at the earliest.”
“I’ll take that bet.” And they shook on it.
-
“You ready to get out of here?” Bodhi asked as he and Luke walked hand in hand down the hall that evening.
“I don’t know, I think I’ll miss this place,” Luke replied. “The pain of the flu. Followed by my mental breakdown. Followed by my second mental breakdown. Fun times.” He switched to a serious tone. “I know you’ve been busy, but did you get a chance to research…the thing?”
“A lot of those companies are scams, but I think I found the one with the best reviews, and sent you the link. But Luke, you do know these tests aren’t perfect, right? They’ll give you some genetic insight, but actually finding other family members? That only happens if they took the same test, and there were no processing issues on either end. And even if you get a hit, they may not want to reach out…or it may not be an answer you want to see. You have no idea who’s out there. I just want you to know, this won’t be magic.”
“I know,” Luke sighed, “I know. But I’d rather know something than nothing.”
“Well then, Luke Skywalker, let’s order you a DNA kit and find your family.”