There's Never A Perfect Time - A Star Wars: Rogue One Fan Fiction by Foxfire79 (Jyn/Cassian)
Disclaimer: Is this really necessary? Do I look like I own freakin' Star Wars? Very well then, let's get this over with: No, I don't own the Star Wars franchise, if I did I'd be living pretty off royalties for the rest of my days. The world saw fit to not bless me in such a way, and so here I sit, writing fictions about my favourite characters instead. No bitterness here. Avert your eyes.
Alright, so regarding this little story here... I'm not going AU or creating a new ending where our favourite rebel and captain get to live happily ever after. I saw the movie twice and bawled my eyes out twice even though I knew it was coming the second time. I'm just extrapolating from the information we already have. So here we go then!
I have a bad feeling about *thonk* ... Ow.
Jyn
They'd done it. They'd actually succeeded, or at least she hoped they had. The tower had said the transmission had gone through, and that was technically the end of their mission. Their mission. Cassian. Cassian had come for her. If he hadn't somehow managed to beat down his pain enough to follow her up to the tower, Krennic would have... He would have... She looked away from the crumpled body in the cape and brought her attention back to Cassian, suddenly the most important person in her world. She turned from the console and took a step towards him, trying to ignore the pain in her ankle and the other assorted injuries she'd accumulated in the past few minutes. She inhaled a deep, hissing breath, steeled herself and tried not to limp.
He looked a lot worse than she did. Of course, he had been shot, and fallen down at least two levels in the archive, hitting multiple steel beams on his way down. The only reason he'd been shot was because he'd pushed her behind him to protect her from Krennic's blast. A purely selfless act, from the man she suddenly realised she didn't actually know that much about. Maybe it wasn't a selfless act, maybe he'd weighed up the odds of who could climb up the archive to the roof more quickly and the odds had been in her favour. Maybe he'd thought that if Krennic shot one of them he'd be satisfied that the other would be too mentally crushed to finish their mission, and not take Jyn's speed and determination into account. Or maybe he'd just been the easier target, being taller and more muscular then her. Jyn closed her eyes briefly, cursing herself for thinking of Cassian's muscles while he bled to death in front of her.
She made it over to him, and felt herself starting to tear up. He was a lot worse off then she'd assumed. The blaster wound in his abdomen was steadily leaking blood all the way down his body, and showed no sign of slowing. One of his arms hung limply by his side, while he held the other closely to his chest, still clutching his blaster tightly. He also seemed to be favouring one leg over the other, but his grave injuries were not the reason for her sudden tears. It was the look of pure relief on his face once he'd seen that she'd survived up to this point. Cassian cared that she was still alive, had actually insured it by shooting Krennic. She assumed he would have shot Krennic anyway, mostly in retribution for Krennic shooting him first, but still... It wasn't just relief in his face though, there was something else, beneath all the bruises, blood and the pain in his eyes, something she couldn't quite place...
He reached out to her with the arm and hand that still clutched his blaster, and almost knocked her over with his weight. It turned out he wasn't just favouring one leg, he could barely stand. With their faces almost touching, Jyn pushed an errant lock of hair out of his eyes, and couldn't help her mouth quirking up at the corner.
"Took you long enough."
Cassian chuckled, then winced, leaning heavily against both her and the elevator wall.
"Forgive me, I was otherwise occupied."
Jyn didn't mind that he was leaning on her, almost to the point that she would collapse from both his weight and her own exhaustion. She could feel his body heat soaking into her through both sets of their clothes, and couldn't help but move closer to him, while the elevator brought them back down to the facility. When the doors opened she knew they'd probably have to fight their way through even more Imperials before they could even fathom thinking about making it to Bodhi and their ship, if there would be time at all. For all they knew, Krennic had commanded that when the elevator descended anybody on board should be shot. This could be all the time they had. Jyn could feel Cassian's chin resting on top of her head, and his harried breathing against her side.
"So, this is us, saving the Universe. Who'd have thought I'd be saving the Universe? And that I'd be a rebel?"
Cassian loosely wrapped his injured arm around her, and she leaned even closer to him.
"Someone had to do it. Why not us?"
Jyn sighed and closed her eyes, enjoying the warmth.
"Why not us."
They traveled the rest of the way in silence, and when the descent speed began to slow she felt Cassian start to tense beside her again. Then the doors slid open to... nothing. Well, not nothing, but no line of storm troopers ready to shoot them to pieces. The base seemed to be in a panic, people rushing everywhere, and not paying any attention to the two injured, grimy rebels exiting the elevator. They glanced at each other, then Cassian winced again, almost dropping to his knees. Jyn could tell that his temperature was much higher than it should have been, just from the heat baking through his clothes into her, but they had to get out, they had to take this chance. She also knew that if he dropped to the ground there'd be no way she could pick him back up again. She threw his 'good' arm over her shoulder, relieving him of his blaster, much to his chagrin.
"Whoa there, Captain. You're no good to me on the ground."
He coughed, or it could have been a laugh, as he tightened his grip around her shoulders.
"You could join me down here, make the most of these last few minutes I have."
Jyn stopped in her tracks, mouth dropping open, before she re-positioned his arm over her shoulders, and took the safety off the blaster. Cassian was bleeding out, could barely move, and was burning up with fever, and yet somehow he'd just managed to flirt with her. She couldn't see his face from the position they were standing in, but she assumed he'd be smirking. This was the first time he'd tried anything like this with her. Maybe he felt that he was close enough to death that he could get away with it. Cheeky bastard. Two could play at this game, however now was not the time. They turned the corner leading to the next elevator which would lead them to the ground floor and access to the landing bays and beach. Two storm troopers seemed to be guarding the elevator, and they straightened up as Jyn and Cassian approached. Before they could even draw their weapons, Jyn whipped the blaster up and shot them both through the helmets, dropping them to the floor.
"Or you could keep walking, we can escape this hellhole, and then you can have your way with me in a comfortable bed in a nice safe Rebellion base. Your choice."
Cassian sighed, leaning even more heavily on her.
"A bed sounds good right about now. Anything else would have to wait though, I just need to sleep..."
Jyn closed her eyes, took a deep breath and elbowed Cassian in the ribs, hard. He gasped then straightened up, easing some of his weight from her. They stumbled into the elevator, pressing the down button almost in afterthought as the doors slid closed on them. Cassian fumbled with the communicator in his pocket, then looked over at Jyn helplessly. He was clearly starting to lose control of his finer motor functions. She took it from him wordlessly, then depressed the button, trying to raise somebody from their team.
"Chirrut? Baze? Bodhi? Rogue One, come in? Anybody?"
The silence and static coming from the device was not comforting, and neither was the growing pool of blood beneath Cassian's feet. His breath was still racing, his chest rising and falling in such a shallow rhythm than Jyn was surprised he was getting any oxygen at all. Cassian, even while leaning against the elevator wall, hadn't broken their eye contact. She found herself drowning in his deep brown gaze, and found herself unconsciously licking her lips. She took her finger off the button and let the communicator drop to the floor.
"It could just be interference from the elevator?"
He was still trying to raise her spirits, even when he was bleeding out in front of her. She shook her head, limping to stand in front of him. She raised her gaze to his, then closed her eyes, leaning into him, wrapping her arms around him, holding him as closely and as hard as she could without hurting him. She felt his breath falter for a moment, then felt his arms encircle her loosely, and the pressure of his head resting on top of hers once more. She knew it wasn't interference, and she knew that he knew that also. The others were all most likely dead, even if the fleet had made it through the planet's shield. This had been a suicide mission from the beginning, a rag tag bunch of rebels stealing a ship to go unsanctioned to a secure Imperial base to retrieve something which may or may not actually be there. The fact that they'd made it this far was surely just luck... Or the Force working through them. Her eyes started to blur again as she thought of Chirrut and his holy teachings. If the Force was indeed working through them, then why was Cassian dying before her eyes?
The elevator doors slid open revealing chaos. Storm troopers and others wearing Imperial science uniforms were scurrying into escape ships, while looking up at the sky, terrified. Jyn looked up and gasped, stopping in her tracks. Was that...? Cassian stumbled beside her, looking up and cursing.
"Well, now we know..."
Jyn blindly reached between them, eventually finding Cassian's hand and grasping it tightly. The Death Star, in all of its terrible glory, was cresting the horizon. It looked so serene, like an early moon-rise, but Jyn recognised what it's arrival meant for them. The facility would be the test target, most likely, or the entire planet. She looked over to where Bodhi and their ship should have been and saw only a crater, surrounded by un-moving figures. She looked up at the Death Star again, and sighed, tightening her grasp on Cassian's hand, and she was relieved when his fingers squeezed hers in return. A strange sort of calm fell over her as she continued regarding the planet destroyer that her father had designed and built, with one tiny exploitable flaw that the Rebellion hopefully now had the plans to.
"Yeah, now we know..."
She knew that it was real, and that their deaths were inevitable. She wanted to go to the beach. For no reason other that she wanted to see the ocean one last time, possibly feel the sand between her toes. The palm trees swayed slightly and the sun baked down on them. She could feel the heat of the sand through her boots, and decided against shedding them. She'd rather spend her last few moments comfortable than trying to deal with burning feet. Cassian seemed to be leaning most of his weight on her narrow shoulders again, making walking on the sand almost impossible. She stumbled the last few metres to the shore, when her ankle gave out finally, making her drop to the ground heavily, dragging Cassian with her. He grunted in pain as he landed, then pulled himself up into a half sitting position, dragging her roughly back into his arms. His heart was racing, and his breathing was so shallow... He didn't have long. But then again, neither of them did. She hoped he'd hold on until... Well, she didn't need to dwell on it. He coughed again, running one of his hands through her hair. She leaned into his touch, savouring it.
"So, raincheck?"
She knew what he was referring to, and couldn't help a small smile from ghosting across her lips.
"Definitely."
Jyn looked back up the Death Star, and could see the targeting lasers starting to fire up. She pulled away, albeit reluctantly, from Cassian's embrace, and stood up, moving closer to the ocean's edge. The Death Star was minutes from killing them, and all she could do was admire it's deadly beauty. If her father had been anything, he had been a brilliant engineer. She wondered if, given the time and training, she may have followed in his footsteps, instead of becoming an outcast, a criminal, and then a rebel. If she had though, she probably would have never met the man that was clumsily pulling himself to his feet behind her. She turned, holding out a hand to help him up, and he batted her away gently. She tried not to look at the dark patch of sand that he'd left behind. Cassian remained upright, though unsteady, and he limped sluggishly towards her, pulling her into a rough hug against his chest. He pulled her in tightly, even though his arms and ribs were probably screeching in agony. She looked out at the Death Star and saw the targeting lasers merge, and the huge beam that the thousands of stolen Kyber crystals created seemed to pierce the horizon.
"Beautiful..."
Jyn didn't know why she whispered the word, but somehow it seemed fitting. Now her family could reunite in the afterlife. She wondered what her father would have thought of Cassian, then wondered what her father would have thought of her. Cassian's arms tightened around her, and she felt him bury his face against her shoulder.
"Your father... He'd have been proud of you..."
Jyn suddenly realised what the look that she couldn't quite place, the look that Cassian had had on his face when he'd shot Krannic and saved her, had been. Love. She felt it too, though hadn't wanted to acknowledge it. She'd only known the stoic captain for a couple of short months, how could love blossom in such a short time? She had to admit though, that she'd found him attractive from the first moment she'd seen him. Even though he had been an unlikable arse towards her in the beginning. Right now though, with his arms wrapped tightly around her, and his warm breath in her ear, telling her that her father would have been proud of her, she knew she loved him. The horizon was quickly being eaten up as debris started to rush across the ocean's surface towards them. She clutched him more tightly, hearing him breathe in sharply with a hiss. She had to tell him. The searing wind from the approaching shock-wave was starting to tousle their hair. She looked up at him, and already found him looking down at her, his eyes so full of the same emotion she was feeling she almost couldn't speak. Her eyes started to water again, but from tears or the oncoming storm she couldn't tell. She took a deep breath and couldn't help it once again as her lips quirked up into a small smile. What better time was there to confess to the person you loved?
"Cassian Andor..."
END OF PART 01
Well, that's part one done! I haven't written for a while, but I am on holiday at the moment so hopefully I'll catch up. I'm already well into part two of this so it won't be too long! Hope you're enjoying it so far, and as always, read, review and enjoy!
Foxfire out!