Chapter Text
Chapter One
The problem wasn't the Alliance bombs. Or the endless rain. Or even the Storm Troopers patrolling the area. The biggest problem that Captain Cassian Andor was suffering from right now was the fact that Jyn Erso was straddling him with a blaster pressed against his cheek and trying to decide if she was going to shoot him point blank or make him suffer even more for what he had done.
He had not put up much of a fight really. After the Alliance had destroyed the platform and Director Krennic escaped, he was forced to call to K-2 and tell him to get out off world. Bohdi and K-2 had Baze and Imnuit- they would return to Yavin IV and Cassian would have to find a way off the planet on his own. But he couldn't leave her. He coulnd't leave Jyn.
He had forced her down the ridge but the water had become so high that it was starting to flood and without a second thought, she shoved him into the raging river. He had reached out to save himself and accidentally grabbed her, tugging her into the water with him.
After being swept down a few miles, they both managed to get a hold of some fallen trees and scramble to safety, a cave nearby being a shelter. But the water had washed away his blaster and he was defenseless when she had pulled her own against him. But there was no way he was going to fight her. Not now. Not ever. If she wanted to shoot him, he was going to let her.
He had failed her. He had his excuses, but he knew that they weren't going to work. Since he had met Jyn, he had been unable to think straight. His usual survival instincts had been completely replaced with whatever feelings were bubbling to the surface that he had not yet been able to identify.
"You killed him!" she said, pressing the blaster against his head, shaking. Jyn had more rage against the universe than anyone he had ever met and it seemed that her rage against the Empire was being temporarily rerouted towards him.
"You... You were supposed to save him!"
"That wasn't my mission," he said, no point in lying about it. "But if you recall- I disobeyed my orders!"
"The Alliance killed him- you knew that they were coming!"
"I didn't know!" he insisted, defending himself that much. He had figured that the reason for the attack was because they had crashed and had been unable to communicate to that point. The general probably got nervous and didn't want to lose to opportunity to kill Galen Erso.
She was shaking so violently that he wasn't sure if it was because she was cold or if it was because she was angry. Probably both.
"If you're going to shoot- do it quickly, I'd rather die fast."
He'd rather not die at all, but this was the one instance where he was going to have to let it go. He was not going to be able to bring himself to hurt her. He wasn't going to fight her at all. So it was better for her to get her feelings out now and not waste time. They were still in enemy territory. The Empire was going to be sweeping through here sooner rather than later.
"You... You sent the ship away."
"Like you said- the message was important. Everyone heard it so they are going to tell the Council."
He looked skeptical that they were going to believe it.
"You don't think they'll listen?" she demanded and he looked up at her. It was still dark out but there was just enough sliver of light from the lights in the facility in the distance that he could make out her form and she looked worried, not angry.
That would mean her father died for nothing. That this entire mission was a failure. That getting Bodhi back, losing Saw, everything was for nothing.
"We have no proof, Jyn, don't be naive. They were never going to believe it, even if we brought Galen to them. We're talking about a weapon that no one has ever even heard of before- I doubt they even could comprehend what we saw on Jedha."
He barely understood it himself and he had been there. That thing was terrifying. It was a true weapon to end all wars. Even if they believed that it was real, he doubted that the Rebel Alliance was going to just decide to actually attempt to destroy it. The Death Star was a weapon on a whole other level.
She slowly lifted her gun from his face.
"You think that they would give up on destroying it?"
"I don't think they'd even consider it," he said truthfully, turning and looking at her.
The rain was pouring down outside of the cave and he was unsure of what she could possibly be thinking.
"That's not good enough."
She sat back a little and then looked out of the mouth of the cave.
"We have to get to the Death Star plans, no matter what it takes."
Easier said than done- they were without comms, they were on an Imperial planet and the only weapon they currently had was Jyn's blaster and he doubted that she was going to let him use that anytime soon. She slowly looked down on him.
"Get up," she said and moved to stand, Cassian slowly sitting up and waiting for her to decide what to do. There were only two options for her. She could kill Cassian here and now and get rid of him as a dead weight. Or she would have to force him to aid her at gunpoint because she doubted that since their missions were so misaligned right now, he might not want to help her at all.
He was going to have to go with a different option.
"I'll help you escape to Yavin IV and reunited with the others, you can do whatever you want to me after that."
She had considered shooting him. Blowing up Yavin IV. Destroying the universe. But her father's words were ringing in her ears. She needed to destroy the Death Star. Even if that meant she was going to have to work with someone she wanted to kill more than anyone else in the entire universe. She looked down at Cassain.
"Get up."
The choice was easy for her but for Cassian, he was certainly in quite a predicament.
He got to his feet and they headed to the mouth of the cave. The fires from the facility were easy to see from this distance.
"Walk," she said, looking at him and waited until he went in front of her. She was right to be cautious, they were technically enemies right now. He headed away from the facility and moved through the rocky gorge, trying to be careful not to fall back into the water. The rain pouring down made it hard to hear, especially with the occasional explosion behind them. Jyn was right, the Rebels certainly made a big mess this time around. Things were only going to escalate from here on out.
They made their way through the ridge and into open territory. He was reminiscent of his days on Aldani. He turned to look at Jyn.
"We need to find a ship."
Just as he said that, the sound of tie fighters screaming in the distance made him really wish they were still back at that cave. Well shit, things certainly weren't going well today at all. Without thinking about it, he reached out and grabbed Jyn's arm, flinging her forward and they started running down the ridge, trying to head for the tree line in the distance where they could hide. The rocks and the rain made everything hard and they both slipped and slid down the ridge, finally making it to the tree line just as a Tie Fighter started to run down the ridge looking for signs of life. He pressed low to the ground and waited, Jyn forced to watch in silence. The fighter didn't wait long and moved on quickly, but it was enough to force them to stay put for the night. Things were only going to get worse from here on out. And with her blaster in hand, she made it clear that he shout probably sleep with one eye open.