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Bodhi had stepped outside, away from the bustle inside the base where rebels were falling over one another and he’d accidentally tripped up more than one with his crutch. ‘Stepped’ was a generous way to describe it; seeing as the injury he’d sustained while getting out of Scarif had left him with a distinct limp. Turns out, kicking away exploding grenades wasn’t advisable in the grand scheme of things – then again it was slightly more advisable than not to, and the doctor had said his chances of recovery were decent.
In any case, he limped outside and sat on one of the lower stone rungs of the base’s exterior, set aside his crutch and stretched out his stiff leg in front of him, closed his eyes against the dipping sun, and tried to center himself. The various sounds of the base and its inhabitants largely faded, and he let himself tune in to the sounds of the nearby forest, its creatures and the rustling of leaves. It differed markedly from the soundscapes he was used to. Neither desert nor space sounded anything like it. His long-haul flights had been dominated by the dull thrumming of machinery, the low hum of engines, the occasional blaring of an alarm. The desert was different yet, especially at night. Most thought it was silent, save maybe for the winds. Perhaps one had to have been brought up there to be accustomed to all the different ways that sands could shift-
That was an engine. He could hear it clearly, cutting through the otherwise peaceful air. Something small, eight cylinders- no, dual thruster repulsorlift engine. He saw it whistling through the air at a frankly concerning angle as soon as his eyes flew open. A swoop bike, almost six standard meters long, not new but well cared for, and some sort of red emblem painted on the side. He considered hiding, since running wasn’t exactly a viable option for him at present. Unfortunately all places he could have used for hiding were far enough away that he’d have to run there anyway.
Thus, with the heart rate of something being hunted for sport, he raised his crutch defiantly. The bike came to a halt at a middling distance away from him, and a figure descended, jumping off the bike with practiced ease. They wore a somewhat faded yellow overcoat and some sort of helmet, with a full face plate like Mandalorians or Troopers.
Whoever they were they didn’t appear as if they had spotted him, so what exactly possessed him to struggle to his feet and call out to them was anyone’s guess.
“Who are you? What is your business here?” He would have liked his voice to sound less pitched and brittle, but one could not have it all.
“Oh, I didn’t see you there.” The figure shaded their visor with one gloved hand, unperturbed by the distorted quality their helmet’s modulator gave their voice.
“Yes, well… answer me.” Please. Who did he think he was, anyway? He had no authority here to stop anyone. But he did have his only friends in the whole galaxy and they were all behind these walls.
“Yeah sorry… Sorry, I’m looking for someone.” The helmet went and revealed a human face, a young woman with dark hair and eyes, smiling slightly in a way that was probably meant to be disarming. It did not reach her eyes. There was something apprehensive and yearning in those eyes, a sort of haunted look shuttered just beneath the surface and oddly not unlike Cassian’s.
“How did you get here?” He demanded, hefting the crutch under his arm again because it was getting painful to stand on only his good leg.
“Flew over, from Yavin IV. Sergeant Kaniko sent me here.”
He did not know a Sergeant Kaniko.
“With that?” He motioned towards the bike doubtfully. It had a cabin that could be fully sealed, true, but nonetheless this wasn’t a vessel made for interplanetary travel, even if the distance from Yavin IV to this much smaller satellite moon wasn’t all that large.
“Sure, it’s not like it’s that far.” The woman shrugged. Oh good, Bodhi – himself no stranger to daring flight maneuvers – thought, she’s insane.
“Who are you?” He asked again, since she still hadn’t answered this, or much of anything in fact.
“I’m with the Cloud-Riders.” She said carefully, stance relaxed only on the surface.
“Pirates??”
“If you will.”
“I-“ Bodhi sputtered. He was with the Rebellion now; pirates were no longer a source of danger for him, he reminded himself. “You still haven’t answered me!”
She sighed deeply and set her helmet down on the seat of her bike. Then she crossed her arms and fixed him in her gaze, sizing him up.
“I could just walk by you, you know. You don’t seem like you’d be able to catch me. No offense.”
“That’s a bit rude.” Also, unfortunately, accurate. He shouldn’t have climbed up on the bottom row of the pyramid wall; he’d almost certainly fall if he attempted jumping down.
“How’d that happen, anyway?” She nodded at his leg, still in splints and bandaged for the burns.
“Kicked a grenade.”
“That seems… ill-advised.”
“Better than letting it explode in your face.”
“I suppose so.” The corner of her mouth ticked up in a smirk. “Especially in such a nice face.”
Somehow even more flustered than before, Bodhi sputtered helplessly. She was pretty, this stranger, with her long braid and the wisps of dark brown curls framing her face. Her enchanting eyes, so dark and intense. Very pretty, even. He caught himself.
“What do you want here?”
“I already told you I’m looking for someone.” She walked up to him now, sauntering closer until she stood at the bottom of the pyramid. “Please, I’ve been hunting down clues for ages now. For about twenty years actually.”
The last part came out in a whisper before her voice trailed off.
“How do I know you’re not here to assassinate some high-ranking rebel leader?”
“Oh, are there high-ranking rebel leaders here?”
Bodhi wanted to kick himself. “No?” He lied, very unconvincingly. She smiled as if despite herself.
“Why would I stop out here and talk to you if that were my plan?” She seemed unarmed, but looked capable (as a pirate she would have to be), and Bodhi knew he wasn’t in any condition to fight back normally, let alone with his bad leg. “Besides, that would be a terrible plan. There are people everywhere. I wouldn’t just plant myself right in front of the main door.”
“I suppose so.” Bodhi replied weakly. “Twenty years, huh? That’s a long time.” She couldn’t have been much older than that. Who could be so important that a small child would dedicate their entire life to tracking them down?
She hedged, as she had been hedging the entire time. Not one to volunteer information, was she?
“He’s very important to me.” She whispered. “Please.”
For some reason he was inclined to believe her. To believe she wasn’t a threat, sent here with nefarious purpose. The whole thing about this Sergeant Kaniko could have been a lie, but there hadn’t been any ships coming in and Yavin IV was about the closest one could have come from with that swoop bike, so at least that part checked out on the surface.
His leg was throbbing something fierce by now; he wasn’t supposed to stand for this long. “I’m going to need a name.” He carefully shifted his weight off the injured leg and fully onto the crutch.
“You should sit. You look like you’re about to keel over.” One hand went up as if to steady him. At this angle she could have just about grabbed his knee.
“The name.” He insisted. For the first time since spotting him, she looked away. It was like a weight off him, yet he mourned the loss.
“He is a captain. With Rebel intelligence.” Those arresting eyes returned to rest on him again, a pleading look in them.
“That doesn’t really narrow it down.” Bodhi replied. And she smiled because she knew she had him now, and maybe he smiled just a little bit because he knew it, too.
“His name is Cassian Andor.”
“Cassian???” Oh, he would make a terrible spy. Just how had he ever managed to get Galen’s message all the way to Jedha?
“So he is here?” Her eyes lit up with genuine excitement, the first truly unguarded expression yet. “You know him?”
“…Maybe.” Add hedging to the list of things he wasn’t good at.
“Where is he? Where can I find him?” She looked about ready to march off, storm the base single-handedly if she had to. Bodhi had enough presence of mind to know that might not be the best idea, what with hundreds of jumpy rebels inside the base.
“I’ll go look, okay? Wait here.” He began to lower himself to start his graceless descent to even ground.
“I can come with you.” She was positively vibrating now. “Right away, I can walk with you.”
He waved it away and lowered himself into a sitting position on the ledge. She was almost at his knee, hand still outstretched.
“I’m going to need a bit more space.” She stepped aside just the smallest possible amount, barely half a pace, if that. Bodhi sighed and resigned himself. If he fell on his face at least he could blame it on his gammy leg. He jumped-
-and promptly overbalanced, his knee half-buckling and his crutch clattering to the grassy ground. Hands planted themselves into his shoulders, palms first, and halted his forward momentum.
“Whoa, easy there.”
“Uh, thanks.” She had freckles. Not many, just a few sprinkled over the bridge of her nose and cheeks like a faraway constellation. The sun illuminated her from behind now, casting a golden halo around her face that was suddenly so close. She righted him, then pushed herself off, hands clasping in front of her.
“I’ll, um…I’ll go. Wait for me here, I’ll come get you.” He mumbled nervously, starting forward. It took him about half a step to remember why he needed the crutch.
“Here.” Again she saved him from falling, one hand steadying his upper arm, the other handing him his crutch.
“Uh, thanks.” As ever, he was a marvel of eloquence.
“Don’t fall on my account.”
Bodhi had thought he knew what being flustered was before, but apparently not. “Wait out here. I’ll come for you.”
He set off, faster than was probably advisable. His leg pinched and smarted and the crutch dug uncomfortably into his side.
“Hey, stranger.” He was about halfway to the hangar door when her voice made him turn.
“Yes?”
“What’s your name?”
“Bodhi. Bodhi Rook.” He answered out of the reflex of politeness, immediately flinching at the folly of it. She’d walked back to her bike and was leaning against it now, a show of casual flippancy betrayed by the tense way she held herself. “And you?” It couldn’t hurt to try one more time, right?
She smirked. Well, it was worth a shot. He turned and walked on. By his estimation, Cassian should be returning from the med bay about now. Jyn would lead him to his quarters to lie down and rest. That was his best chance of finding him. He wondered if Cassian had any idea who this woman could be. Probably not an old flame, not when they’d known each other twenty years ago.
He rounded the corner of the large hangar doors and turned one last time. The woman was where she’d been, leaning against her bike and waving to him. Reflexively, he waved back.
To her credit, she waited a good few minutes before she took off after him.