Rekindle

Despite the fact that they were in the middle of a very hot firefight, Hera's strafing run over the beaches of Scarif was a breath of cool relief for Zeb. At the very end of one of the stretches, amidst the sprays of blood and sand, he could spot Kallus' distinct blond hair. Still moving...

Still alive.

He'd been terrified when they'd rescued the few remaining commandos from the infiltrator shuttle, as the defector pilot had told them that Kallus had been part of the ground forces and not part of the infiltration team. He would be where the fighting was hottest.

Don't you be dead. Don't you dare be dead, Kal! If you die on me, I'm gonna drag you back and kill you myself.

But he wasn't dead. When the Ghost made its pickup sweep, the human had suffered hardly more than a few blaster grazes. With two other soldiers in tow, he was helping the black-robed Guardian carry his husband from the battlefield.

Quickly passing the gunner's seat to Rex, Zeb hurried down to the hold, anxious to see for himself that Kallus was all right. When he arrived, his foolhardy lover only just managed to pull himself away from the two Guardians with a worried look. Zelina had already arrived and was working on stabilizing the injured commandos. Kallus' injuries, at least, wouldn't need to be looked over immediately.

"Cassian?" he pressed. "Have you found Cassian and the girl yet?"

"No. There's been no word. Kal-"

"We have to find them! Cassian's one of mine, Zeb. I can't just leave him here."

Zeb exhaled heavily before asking, "Where'd they go?"

"The comm tower. That's where they'll be."

"And there's nobody else?"

"Unless you've had word from any of Blue Squadron, no. We are- all that's left," Kallus said, the ghost of something painful flickering briefly in his amber eyes.

"You catch that, Hera?" Zeb asked over his comlink, which he'd kept open throughout.

"Got it," was her response.

Kallus did a double take at this. "Hera? Hera Syndulla's piloting this ship?"

"Yeah."

"But- she- she's still on medical leave!" he spluttered in shock. "It hasn't even been twenty-four hours since-"

"I'm where I need to be, Alexsandr Kallus," the Twi'lek's scolding tone came over the comlink. "Now you just sit tight and hold on."

"Ravenous kath hounds couldn't'a stopped her when she thought she might lose another member of her family," Zeb told him, offering him a very pointed side eye. "Couldn't'a stopped me, either."

A look of guilt moved across the ex-Imperial's face at this. Looking away from Zeb, he squeezed his eyes tightly shut. "I had to, Zeb. I couldn't-"

"I get it," Zeb ground out, voice a strange mix of anger and relief. "I know why, but you can't expect me not to have a go at you. It could'a been you! It could'a been you down there right now," he snarled as he pulled his lover into his arms, holding him fiercely against his chest.

"Oh...Zeb..." the human whispered tremulously, fingers catching in the fabric of his battle suit as he clung to him. But the moment was interrupted all too soon by Hera's terse comm.

"I've got your wayward agent and his friend on my scope, Kal," she informed them. "I'm gonna do a sweep. You need to be at the ramp to make sure they're onboard. We're gonna need to get out of here yesterday once we have them."

They did as Hera asked, hurrying to the entry ramp. It was almost worth their present danger to see the look of shock on Andor's face when the Ghost swooped in to rescue him and the Erso girl.

"COME ON!" Kallus roared at the pair. Andor was dumbfounded, but some survival instinct clearly kicked in with the girl, because she was instantly helping the Fulcrum agent limp to the ship. The blistering heat and light of the Death Star's shot were already bearing down on the tiny freighter.

"Hera, we got 'em. Go!" Zeb snapped over his comlink.

"Gone," she snapped back, immediately sending her ship rocketing away from its present location.

The four of them were knocked nearly off their feet. Bracing himself against the bulkhead with one hand, Zeb kept the two younger rebels pinned against the wall while they held tightly to each other. Kallus he kept pinned against his own chest with his other arm, trusting him to hold on.

Kallus didn't disappoint. He held tightly to the Lasat, making himself as small as possible against him. For several tense moments, the two of them just breathed each other in – in case this was the last chance they would ever have to do so.

"Come on. Come on!" Andor whispered several times, his eyes wide with fear as he clung to Erso.

"Please. Not now. Not now," came the sound of Erso's voice, muffled against Andor's chest.

"Zeb..." Kallus started, looking up at him.

"I know," he returned, kissing the top of the ex-agent's head. "Me, too."

It was close. So close none of them really wanted to know just how close it had been. But they all felt it the moment the Ghost achieved escape velocity, bursting into the hollow whiteness of hyperspace. For a single, protracted moment, they all collapsed against the bulkhead, quite certain they would all be on the floor right now if not for its cool, solid reality.

"Who?" Erso...Jyn...asked suddenly, mastering her breathing as she looked over at Zeb and Kallus. "Who made it out? Bodhi? Chirrut and Baze-"

"Your friends are all right," Kallus reassured her. "Zelina is seeing to them now. Everyone is down in the hold if you want to see them."

Jyn immediately slipped out from under Zeb's arm, heading up the corridor. Cassian followed suit a moment later, taking the time to look back at them.

"I don't think- she knows the Ghost just yet. Better point her in the right direction."

"Of course," Kallus said with a nod.

"Kallus...Orrelios..." he started, reaching back to shake both their hands. "Thanks for the save?"

"Any time," Kallus said, and Zeb agreed with a nod of his own.

Then the two young rebels were gone and the two of them were alone in the ramp corridor.

"Zel," Zeb hailed the young medic over his comlink. "You got this handled or do you need help?"

"It's handled," she responded a moment later. "Rex is here now, and one of these guys has some basic field training. You do what you need to," she told him, and he couldn't quite stop himself from rolling his eyes. He could just about hear the little wink in the young woman's voice.

He didn't say anything in response, though. He just took an unquestioning Kallus by the hand and led him back to their bunk. It would be hours yet before they were able to limp back to Yavin IV and they both knew how they'd be spending the time.

Once their door slid closed behind Kallus, the human was leaning silently against it, arms held out to receive the Lasat into them. Zeb quickly covered the smaller male's body with his own, claiming his mouth in a desperate kiss. Kallus groaned softly as he was pressed against the door, both holding Zeb and clinging to him.

"Oh, Zeb...my Zeb," he breathed against the Lasat's fur.

"I really thought- I wasn't gonna see you again," Zeb whispered against his grimy skin, dropping his face down to the ex-Imperial's neck in order to work his scent into the skin – to banish the scent of battle and death.

"I'm sorry," Kallus returned, dropping little kisses on the top of the Lasat's head. "I never would've...but I couldn't..."

Zeb silenced him with another kiss to the lips. He didn't need to hear it. He didn't need to hear how little his Alex valued his own life – how little he cared for the treasure that Zeb prized above all others. He just needed the man to know how he loved him. So, divesting him of his jacket and shirt, he gently guided the two of them to their bunk, gazing tenderly down at him as he laid him down on the bed.

It didn't take them long to remove the last of their clothing, nor for Zeb to simply fall on the human, caressing and kissing every bit of his lover that he could. Alternating between Basic and Lasana with each whispered declaration, he pressed his love into Kallus' skin.

"L'ashkerrir an. I love you. L'ashkerrir an."

"Ungh...Zeb," his lover panted against him as they moved together on the bed, making love slowly.

The words were simple between them, their meaning made more explicit by each movement and each touch.

I love you. I need you. Please don't leave me.

This went on until they came undone in each other's arms, Zeb crouched protectively over Alex's body and Alex with his head thrown back against the bunk, his mouth contorting around a wordless, voiceless cry.

They didn't speak when it was done. There was little that could be said that hadn't already passed between them in their coupling. They simply lay together in the warm darkness, their promises to each other renewed.