The steam from a cheap cup of coffee fogged the windshield. Cassian Andor took the cup in one calloused hand and lifted it to his lips. His dark, ever-watchful eyes never left the building across the street. The burning liquid slid down his throat, searing his mouth and esophagus, but he needed it that way. He'd been awake for 58 hours, and he didn't plan to break that streak until Little Miss Suspect was behind a table in an interrogation room.
The passenger door of the black Chevy Trail Blazer opened and a tall, lanky figured slid into the seat before closing the door a little too loudly. Cassian tore his gaze from his target's location long enough to give Kay Tuesso a reproachful glare.
"Please," Kay said unrepentantly, his British accent dripping with sarcasm. "It's 2:00 in the morning. Every sane person is asleep."
"And that rules us out," Cassian replied, knowing exactly where his partner was going with this. "Erso isn't exactly sane either, Kay. She could move at any second."
"If she's half the criminal that all the reports say, she'll peg this car in an instant and slip out the back."
"Where Kes Dameron will nail her. We've got her surrounded. She can't escape this time."
Silence descended like a cloud. Cassian preferred silence anyway. It was blank and grey and meaningless. Kay, however, hated silence, and seemed determined to break it whenever he could.
"Why are we bringing her in now, anyway? When we left, you said, 'Kay, pack your bags. We're nailing Erso.' You still haven't explained."
Cassian was sorely tempted not to explain at all. Kay was a brand new field agent, untested out in the world, where the real job was. Kay was a strategist by nature and profession both. Cassian had worked with him numerous times on countless operations, and Kay's quick-thinking and ability to run scenarios through his head like it was a computer had saved his life more than once. He'd suggested that Kay be moved to the role of field agent after Maria Clarke had been killed a month back. This was Kay's first official assignment for REBELLION, the United States' clandestine organization, kept from both other governments and the American populace.
"Isn't this a job for the police?" Kay demanded. "What's REBELLION doing after this girl at all? She's mostly small-time, some bigger heists, but nothing that we should be concerned about. What's this all about, Cassian?"
Cassian drew a deep breath and let it out. "She's got a contact," he said. He could feel Kay's eyes burning a hole in his head, so he continued. "Saw Gerrera. Free-lance merc with a private army. Two days ago he captured a man by the name of Bodhi Rook, a defector from the Taliban. Word has it Rook was pretty close to some high-up leaders of the terrorist bases in Afghanistan and Iraq. Transported machinery and weapons back and forth."
Cassian paused, unsure of whether or not to reveal the rest to Kay yet. He mentally weighted the pros and cons, and decided to take a chance. "Rook's saying the Taliban are making a biological weapon with the capacity to wipe out whatever group of people they choose… on a global scale. We're talking actual world domination here. We're after Erso because she's our ticket into Gerrera's camp, and the defector."
"Sounds simple when you say it like that," Kay said sardonically.
Cassian felt the corner of his mouth twitch. Kay had a remarkable ability to take information like that with philosophical sarcasm. "World domination doesn't send a shiver down your spine?" Cassian asked.
"I've seen you interrogate criminals without your morning coffee. Nothing shivers my spine anymore."
Cassian felt his mouth twitch again. How true that was. He opened his mouth to respond when an urgent voice called him from the radio at his side.
"Andor! Erso's made a break for it! She's heading West on Cotswald!"
Cassian knew he didn't have time to respond. He shoved the car door open and jumped out. Brown hair and a boot disappearing around a corner caught his eye, and he took off.
"CUT HER OFF ON WESTOVER!" he bellowed to Kay as he tore after the target.
The street was lighted by streetlamps spaced too far apart. He saw the small frame of the assailant sprinting several yards in front of him. One thing was certain: she was fast. Wisps of brown hair flew behind her as she disappeared and reappeared between the light of the lampposts.
The pavement smacked against his boots as Cassian pushed himself harder. His right hand felt for his pistol, and he pushed the thought away. He could hit her, he was sure of that, but where he hit her was another question. They needed her. She could neither escape, nor be killed.
Draven and Mothma would both have his head on a spike if he shot this woman. He pushed himself harder.
The ground between them closed. He saw her duck into a side alley, and he bolted after her. He rounded the tight corner. A sharp blow struck him, knocking him down. A stab of throbbing pain shot through his head, repeating the dull blasts of what was the aftermath of a hard hit. Stinging pain and a trickle of liquid told him his forehead above his eyebrow had been cut. A board with nails sticking out of it was thrown to the ground and a pair of feet scampered off into the darkness.
Cassian got up and pursued. He could hear her heavy breathing and her light footfalls. His own heartbeat drummed through his ears. He blinked blood out of his eye, wiped at it. He didn't take time to feel the sensations of the hit. He pushed himself even harder. The distance was closing again. In a few seconds, he knew that he could catch her with a dive. He didn't risk it. She was too quick. She'd just jump away.
Light at the end of the alley told him they were approaching Westover Avenue. He watched the silhouette in front of him get closer to it. Erso glanced over her shoulder and sensed that something was wrong a moment too late. Two hands caught her by her shirt collar. Using her momentum, Kay swung her around and slammed her against the pavement.
Cassian was there in a moment. He stared down at her, panting hard, and wiped at the stream of blood.
"Congratulations," Kay said mockingly, "you are being rescued. Please do not resist."
Jyn Erso looked stunned. She was breathing hard, and blinked several times. Kay kept a hand on her shoulder, pinning her down, but Cassian didn't trust that he could keep her there when the shock wore off. He brushed Kay aside, yanked the girl up, and shoved her against the nearest wall. He pressed his knee into her back and unclipped the handcuffs from his belt.
Erso whirled around, but Kay stopped her with a hard blow to her jaw. Something like a twinge of remorse clenched Cassian's chest, but he ignored it. He pushed her against the bricks again and bound her wrists together. He turned her around and pinned her back against the wall, hands on her upper arms, so he could get a reading on her.
"Call it in," he told Kay, his eyes never leaving the girl's face.
Jyn Erso would have been stunningly beautiful if not for the beginning of a bruise on her jaw and the black eye. There was a wild look in her eyes, a need; for what, Cassian could only guess. She snarled like a caged animal. It was sad really. Something inside him reached out to her, felt for her. He pushed the absurd feeling down, and made sure his expression was hardened.
"What do you want with me!?" she demanded.
"Take it easy," Cassian said, keeping his voice calm and even, despite the temptation to punch her. He blinked more blood out of his eye. "Cooperate, and we won't hurt you."
She scoffed. "Your pet brute already has!"
"Look at Cassian's eye-" Kay began, but Cassian threw him a warning look, effectively shutting him up. Giving this woman any information was like giving a tiger a key to its cage.
Her eyes snapped from Kay to Cassian, and she smirked. Not a nice smile at all and one that didn't suit her. "Cassian," she said, mockingly, "I can tell you're not the kind of man who likes hurting women. So let me go. I'll make it worth your while."
Cassian merely shook his head, asking himself what a woman like her could possibly offer a guy like him. Ignoring the temptation to ask her, he said, "Sorry, Miss Erso, but you're coming with us."
As if they'd planned it that way, Kes Dameron and his partner, Lance Drimmer, pulled up in an old Ford. Cassian pulled Erso away from the wall and hauled her to the car. She tried to get away, but he strengthened his grip on her and shoved her into the back seat. Dameron locked her in, and turned to Cassian.
"Great girl," he said sarcastically. He nodded to the cut above Cassian's eye. "Likes it rough, apparently."
"Good luck," Kay said. "Don't let her highjack the car."
"We know what we're doing," Lance Drimmer promised.
"Knock her out if you have to," Cassian ordered, "but only if you have to. She's sustained enough head trauma already."
"From the looks of it, you have, too." Dameron smirked at him. "Meet you two back at base."
Cassian watched the two other agents file into the car, Dameron in back with Drimmer driving. The car pulled away and out of sight. Selfishly, Cassian was glad he wasn't transporting her. The image of her crazed eyes and tangled hair drifted through his vision, blocking out the road and the city and everything else. She was a wild one; that was for sure. If she didn't help with this operation, they were sunk, and probably the whole world with them. They needed her, and he hated that fact more than he hated himself.
"Mothma will persuade her," Kay said, as if he could read Cassian's thoughts.
Cassian wasn't so sure. He recognized that look in her eyes. Jyn Erso was someone who helped no one but herself. She'd been let down too many times to trust anyone now. He didn't need for her to trust him. He just needed her to help him. But he did need to trust her, and he didn't think he could.
"Let's get back," Kay said.
Without waiting for an answer, he turned and walked back through the darkness. After a moment, Cassian followed him. Kay insisted on driving, and Cassian let him. He finally gave into exhaustion, and slept for the entirety of the four hour drive back to REBELLION base. He knew he'd need every second he could get. Something told him that as long as Jyn Erso was in his life, rest would be a faraway dream.