Ch 7:

She Never Asked Me Once About the Wrong I Did

Jyn woke to find Cassian already dressed in his heavy combat clothes. He was moving about the room like a silent panther grabbing various weapons. She giggled, witnessing his stealth spy-act first hand. She sat up, clutching the sheet to her chest.

His head snapped to her, "Did I wake you?" Cassian asked, not stopping his packing.

"No." She said. "Well, yes. But I need to get ready anyway."

Cassian cast a sidelong glance at her. "Did you want to go see your father before we leave?" He said it casually but she heard the curiosity underneath.

"No." Her answer came quick. "I can't. Not now. I'll see him when we get back. When he's awake."

Cassian nodded, "I understand. He's stable at least."

"You went to see him?" It really shouldn't have surprised her…Cassian was always doing things that were unexpected.

"Last night. I stopped by." He might as well have shrugged but she could tell he was trying to play it off as nothing—it wasn't nothing.

"So, he's going to be okay?"

"Yeah."

She nodded and climbed out of the bed to get dressed herself. Cassian had scrounged up some clothes for her that were roughly identical to what she'd arrived in. Heavy, battle ready. Cassian leaned against the wall watching her, his face unreadable. They didn't speak about what was to come. When she was ready, they stepped together into the hall and made their way to the hangar. At some point, the others caught up with them. No one looked like they had gotten much sleep.

They walked on, Chirrut's staff clicking in time with their steps. The base was eerily silent considering the influx of people it had experienced the day before.

Jyn was glad when Baze broke the spell.

"So, how are the five of us going to infiltrate an Alliance base?" Baze, ever the optimist.

"Well…" Cassian said, pausing before the hangar entrance. "I may have found some volunteers." He stepped aside revealing dozens of resistance fighters already assembled and waiting by their stolen cargo ship.

Jyn found his eyes and the world fell away. "You did this?"

"Some of us" He began, "Me especially, have done terrible things on behalf of the Rebellion. We're spies. Saboteurs. Assassins…"

Jyn's eyes flicked to her partners and the volunteers, all of whom were hanging on Cassian's every word as if they were witnessing history. Chirrut smiled, his face alight with pride. Baze smiled or grimaced, she couldn't tell. Bodhi grinned. Jyn wanted to shrink back into the shadows where people did not look at her as if she were holding up the stars.

Cassian grabbed her hands, keeping her in the light. "Everything I did," he said, "I did for the Rebellion. And every time I walked away from something I wanted to forget I told myself it was for a cause I believed in. A cause that was worth it. Without that—without a cause—we're lost. The Alliance has lost sight of the true cause. I know I speak for everyone here when I say we couldn't face ourselves if we gave up now. We are with you, Jyn Erso."

Jyn didn't realize she was smiling until it hurt. "How early did you sneak out this morning?"

"It was a busy day." He said. Then, he turned serious again. "I've wanted to forget a lot of things in my life…until this surreal night on Corulag, when I met someone who I never saw coming. Despite my best effort, I couldn't forget her."

K-2 interrupted the staring contest that followed, "There is a 99% chance someone will vomit if you keep that up, Cassian."

The group laughed and the tension finally lifted. "Just kiss her and get on with it. We are on a tight schedule." Said Baze.

He did. It was quick and full of everything. Then, he turned back to the group at large, a bit flushed and Jyn couldn't have stopped smiling if she'd wanted to.

"Gear up. Grab anything that's not nailed down." He said. "We don't know what we are walking into and we don't have much time. Go."

As the soldiers scattered, Cassian elbowed K-2. "Remember what we talked about?"

The droid huffed. If he could've rolled his eyes, he would've. He said, "Jyn, I'll be there for you. Cassian said I had to."

She laughed, and patted the droid's arm. "That means—something, at least."

"We are not in the casually touching stage of our relationship." Said K, removing his arm from her grasp, and dusting it off with his metal fingers.

Cassian laughed as his pet droid retreated.

Jyn shook her head. "When you reprogrammed him, did you just type: Snark, snark, snark into the code?"

Bodhi hadn't expected take-off to be easy, but he hand't expected to have to lie and break every rule just to get off the ground. He winced. These rebels hadn't fully accepted him yet. They tolerated him, at best and he was about to fly a cargo shuttle right through that tolerance. After this, neither side would want him. There might not be an "after this".

"Cargo shuttle, you are not cleared for takeoff." the voice came through the comm, silencing the cockpit.

K-2 looked at him expectantly. Jyn and Cassian watched from the back of the cockpit. With his eyes screwed shut and his face in a wince he said, "Yes, yes we are cleared. Affirmative. Requesting recheck. Someone should have authorized it by now."

The line crackled and then the voice said, "What's your call sign?"

Bodhi looked to the others. He swallowed the weird ball of guilt and determination. For Galen. For Jyn. For Hope. "Call sign Rogue. Rogue One."

He thrust the cargo shuttle into motion, the squeaking of the commlink became a soundtrack in the background. The others' smiles powered his motions, "Rogue One pulling away!" He shouted.

They all cheered. Even the volunteer army in the cargo hold cheered and Bodhi nodded his head. This was what it felt like to do the right thing. It felt good.

Yavin IV had always seemed a miserable, sticky place to Mon Mothma…but today the walls were sticky with more than humid air. The council was wrong. She knew it, but had little power to bring them to heel. If there was a downfall to a senate—this was it.

Bail Organa had taken his leave to Alderaan to warn his people, taking with him her grave warning that genocide and war were inevitable. She thought of Bail's young protege who he would send to make contact with the Jedi.

The girl was so young, but capable. Mon Mothma had to believe she was capable. How had they come to this, she wondered? Their fate in the hand's of a woman barely more than a girl, and a Jedi in hiding.

Draven was beside her, sporting a fat lip that he sorely deserved. They shared a look of understanding as they watched the starships departing from the base. This would be the end of the Rebel Alliance.

A lieutenant scurried out of the base shouting for Senator Mothma. She and Draven turned to the man.

"What is it?" She asked, fearing the worst—another planet destroyed; more death.

"It's Captain Andor." Said the nervous man, eyes flickering to the ground. "He, Erso, and about forty-five of our solders just took off in a stolen cargo shuttle."

Mon laughed. It must have sounded a maniacal thing because the lieutenant squeaked, "Senator? Are you alright?"

"No, lieutenant. I'm not." She said between fits.

"Damnit." Draven growled, running a hand down his face. "Has Andor lost his sense completely?"

"I don't see how you can be surprised. Erso was on a war path and Andor's in love, he'll follow her to his death if he has to."

"How romantic." Draven sneered.

The Lieutenant cleared his throat and said, "There is one more thing. Galen Erso is awake…"

Mon Mothma didn't have long to consider her options, not with Jyn Erso half way to Scarif. "I need to speak to Admiral Raddus." She insisted.

"He's already left…he's gone to fight."

Speakers blared announcing the departure of several more squadrons—Blue, Gold, Red, Green. Maybe Jyn Erso's little speech had been more effective than she'd thought. Mon Mothma knew her place, she couldn't get involved in this battle…but with Galen Erso's input she might still contribute.

With a secret smile she marched toward the medbay.

Jyn rarely dreamed of the farm and when she did it was of that ugly day that she'd witnessed her mother's death, which is why this dream was particularly troubling. Her mother was in their small kitchen. Alive and smiling. She nearly tripped over Jyn, who was lying on the floor playing. It was cold, but not unpleasantly so, and the air smelled of Jasmine-her mother's favorite flower. She hadn't realized she remembered that.

What an odd addition to the memory bank.

Lyra Erso: moisture farmer, wife, loved Galen, brown hair, smelled of Jasmine, the end.

"I told you not to lie there, Jyn. Your father will blame me for the bruises if I trip over you again."

Jyn sat up, "I'm scared, Mama." She said.

Lyra crouched down before her. "That's normal, darling. It's alright to be afraid."

"What will happen if I can't protect them?"

Lyra smiled and ran her fingers through her daughter's chestnut hair. "Just keep this close and it will protect you both. Remember, the strongest stars have hearts of Kyber." She took a leather lanyard with a crystal pendant and draped over her daughter's neck.

"Is it hard? To be a mama? How did you learn what to say? Does anyone teach you?"

Lyra laughed. "It would be easier if they did." She tipped Jyn's chin up with her fingertips, "It's not hard because you are the best daughter in the whole galaxy."

"I wouldn't be good at it." Jyn said, fingering the necklace.

"You will be a wonderful mother someday, just look how well you take care of your dollies."

"I'm glad you're my mama."

Jyn jolted awake, and she could swear that her kyber crystal was burning a hole through the skin of her chest. Her breath was coming in rapid gasps as she tried to remember where she was. Her body was pressed alongside someone else's. Cassian. His dark eyes were watching her. They were in the cramped cargo hold, soldiers all around.

"You okay?"

She nodded. She smoothed her hands over her hair and touched the lump of the crystal beneath her shirt. "Are we still in hyperspace?"

He nodded, "We will be there in a little under an hour."

"How long was I asleep?"

"Few minutes at most."

Her brow furrowed. It felt like hours.

She glanced at the others, she hadn't learned their names, she didn't want to. Better to be responsible for a dozen nameless entities rather than people with names and lives. Of course, she knew they had come of their own accord…but they were following her. Her hope had wrought this.

Baze and Chirrut were chatting with a few of the volunteers. They looked happy side by side, despite what was to come. Jyn tried to borrow some of Chirrut's blind faith. She thought of her mother's words, of Chirrut's prayers and wondered what exactly the Force was trying to tell her.

"Captain! Jyn!" Bodhi's voice was echoing up the ladder from the cockpit. They exchanged a glance and got to their feet. "You need to see this!"

They climbed up the ladder and looked out the viewport.

"What am I looking at?" Jyn asked.

The ship dropped out of hyperspace and Scarif loomed before them as unforgiving and austere as she imagined it would be. Suddenly another ship materialized beside them and another and another.

"Those are Alliance ships." Cassian said, pointing at the lights.

Bodhi nodded and the Commlink buzzed, "Rogue One, this is Admiral Raddus of the Profundity, ready and waiting to coordinate attack."

Jyn might have smiled, she might have cried, she felt so many things in that moment that she couldn't categorize each one.

Cassian grabbed the comm, "Rogue One preparing for descent to ground. You have arial lead Profundity."

"Blue squadron following you to ground." Said Raddus.

Cassian grinned. "Bodhi, get us down there."

Jyn vaguely heard Bodhi begin trading lies with the Scarif control to gain access. K-2 said something about the odds tipping in their favor. Cassian swept her up and spun her in a circle, before burying his face in her neck. The joy was a quick flash. He sobered and they nodded to each other. The battle hadn't even begun and this was hardly a victory. But they weren't alone. The Alliance was here, backing them…and in K-2's words there was only a 48% chance of total annihilation…and that was something.

Cassian followed Jyn down the ladder and back into the cargo hold where their army awaited. Sefla approached and declared Jyn a sergeant, which Jyn was thoroughly unimpressed by. Then, it was time for speeches.

Jyn gave a few words and so did he but the most important piece of information was that they were no longer alone. Cassian informed them of the Alliance back-up that had arrived and was currently lying in wait for their signal to charge.

The air in the cargo hold was decidedly brighter as they all went to hide for the inspection that Bodhi had warned them about. Cassian found himself in the cockpit with Jyn's back flat against his chest. He wrapped his arms around her, has hands settling on her abdomen. He didn't need to clutch her to him—they were packed in close enough already. He could tell she was nervous but she was handling it well. He could tell though, something in her dream had rattled her.

"What did you dream about?" He asked her under his breath as much to hear the answer as to distract himself from the inspection.

"My mother." She said. "The farm where I almost grew up. Where I would've grown up if…"

"Did something happen in the dream?"

"No." She said, "That's the strange part. Nothing. We just talked…but it was so real."

Their conversation was ended by a muffled cry. He scrambled after her down the ladder to find Bodhi wide-eyed amongst a pile of bodies and Baze smiling like he was about to sit down at a feast. Baze's love for battle should've terrified Cassian more than it did…but on some level he was the same.

"Off to a good start." Jyn deadpanned while the others came out of hiding.

After Baze bid them goodbye with a kind, "Good luck, Little sister." The three of them—he, Jyn, and K-2SO—were in a rail car speeding toward the Citadel.

"Our odds of failure hold steady." Said K-2. "I would like to remind you again of the seven backup tapes I hid in your room Cassian."

Cassian shook his head, amazed once again by the workings of the mind of a droid.

Jyn he'd noticed had been uncharacteristically silent. He tipped her chin up to him finding her eyes haunted and far-away. "What if I can't do this?" She said.

"You're going to do fine." He pulled her to his chest but only for a moment; it was all they could afford. Even K2 allowed it to pass without comment.

Suddenly, the comm on Cassian's wrist beeped and an unfamiliar voice said, "Stardust?"

Cassian peered at the thing, then at Jyn. She moved closer and pulled his wrist within range of her lips, "Papa?" She said, her eyes sparkling with the tears she'd been holding back all this time.

"Mon Mothma told me what you're doing—"

"—I'm sorry, Papa…we had to—"

He cut her off, "—Jyn, we are all with you. But we don't have time…where are you now?"

"In a railcar."

"Good. That's good." His voice sounded labored. Cassian imagined him lying in a the medley, pale and clinging to life, still fighting with his last strength to see his plan executed. He had misjudged Galen Erso.

"We are slowing down." Cassian observed.

"Okay. Look, there is a service elevator. Go left right away and straight down that hall when you get off the car and look for a door with a keypad and a black triangle. The code is 84993. Do you have that."

"84993." K repeated.

The hum of the car died off and the doors shot open. There were stormtroopers, droids of K-2's model, and officers all milling about beneath the artificial lights of the Citadel. They stepped out and veered left, walking with purpose. Only a few feet down they found the door. K-2 typed in the code and the door beeped and opened. They hurried in and shut it behind them.

Cassian was on edge, but just enough to stay alert. Truthfully, there was a small ember of hope bubbling up. He tried to keep it at bay. Hope led to certainty and certainly led to carelessness. A bit of fear was healthy. Still, Galen was in their ear, the Rebel fleet was in the sky, their troops were on the ground. Maybe…

The service elevator was straight ahead. They got in and Galen told them to go to the 40th floor. So, again they were off, up 43 stories of steel and infrastructure.

Bodhi wanted to move. He wanted to help. He wanted to hide. He wanted all of those things at once. Instead, he sat in the cockpit beside a man called Tonc, biding his time, feeling guilty and useless and not guilty at the same time.

Maybe he was guilty.

Maybe he was hungry.

Maybe the sky was going to fall down. He couldn't say.

Cassian had been expressly clear. Bodhi was their way out. Bodhi had to stay with the ship. He could not leave until they were all on board or until it was very clear that no one else was coming.

The comm buzzed…Raddus directing his troops.

Bodhi grinned. He had an idea. He tuned to an Alliance frequency. This he could do. This he could control. "Pad two! Pad two! We count forty rebel soldiers running off Pad two!"

Tons grinned beside him, "Who needs SpecForce? We can do this all by ourselves."

They were in the shade of the trees when the ships began materializing. X-wings. Baze heard cheers from his comrades as they all began noticing their salvation. If there was a battle going on outside atmosphere, Baze couldn't see it through the haze of smoke and gunfire.

On the ground it raged. They had survived the first wave. The rebels were in a good position, but the Stormtroopers were multiplying. Where one fell five more sprang up. They couldn't hold them off with those odds.

Baze's eyes tracked their origin. They were coming from the barracks. That was where they needed to strike. Cut them off at the source. You didn't kill vine by tearing off its leaves…

Melshi must have arrived at the same conclusion at the same moment. "The barracks." He yelled. "Light them up."

Baze understood in theory but he didn't see how they would get there. They'd never make it through the melee across the beach to even get close enough to the barracks.

Then, he saw more ships arrive. Rebel ships. Baze had an idea. He lumbered off at a run back toward their cargo ship. He thought his luck had run out when a Walker opened fire on him. He aimed his rocket blaster and fired right at the body. His shoulder was nearly wrenched from its socket but the Walker tumbled to the ground, crushing a few Stormtroopers on the way down.

Baze closed the distance to the cargo shuttle where Bodhi was busy misdirecting the Imperial forces.

"Can you talk to the rebels on that thing?"

Bodhi nearly fell out of his chair at Baze's voice. "Yes." He said when he'd recovered.

"Good. Tell them to go for the barracks."

Baze didn't stay to hear him give the orders. He had lost sight of Chirrut and now that the barracks would fall, he had only one priority.

"You are a terrible spy." Jyn said with more than a little amusement as Cassian slapped the unconscious man's hand on the security lock for the third time.

"It's not working! K?" Cassian shouted.

"Right hand." K repeated.

Cassian switched hands. Finally, the door was open and the vault was before them. It was a massive towering monstrosity. Jyn wondered what the Empire possibly needed with all of these records. Time was on their side, but they still moved with frantic steps. If Krennic knew where they were headed he'd never get here in time. As long as nothing got in their way, they'd have the tape in hand and be on their way out in minutes. K-2 didn't follow them in. Instead, the droid tottered over to the console outside the vault door.

Cassian paused on the threshold to the vault, "What are you doing Kay?" He snapped.

"I'm going to lock into the Alliance feed to see if I can determine their current actions. Go get the tape."

"What is the file called?" Jyn asked.

Her father's voice on Cassian's wrist came back, "Stardust."

Jyn froze. My father is not a bastard. My father is a hero.

"Cassian!" K-2 yelled from the console. "We have a problem. They've closed the shield gates."

"We're trapped?" Jyn spun around to face him.

"Not necessarily." Cassian said, he raised his comlink again, "Galen, how do we override the shield?"

"Give the commlink to K." Said Galen. Cassian practically ripped the thing from his wrist and tossed it to the droid, who caught it with eerie precision. Jyn took one of the blasters from her hip and laid it beside K-2's hand.

"Here. Take this, you'll need it. You wanted one right?"

K-2 blinked between his prized blaster and her. "Jyn Erso, your behavior is continually unexpected."

She felt the first flood of fondness for the droid since he'd knocked her on her ass. she spared him a quick smile.

"Papa." She yelled into the comm in K's hand. "We're almost there."

She didn't hear if he responded. She ran to join Cassian in the towering vault. They were separated from the vault proper by a glass pane. Against that pane were what looked like control arm handles and another console. Cassian was already scanning entries in the console in search of Stardust.

"Do you still have the com link I gave you?" He asked once she was beside him.

She nodded.

"Get Bodhi." He said.

Jyn buzzed the pilot while Cassian worked. "Bodhi. Bodhi, can you hear me?"

There was silence on the other end. Her eyes slipped to Cassian. The silence was affecting him too. He was afraid and trying not to show it. She could see it in the pinched set of his shoulders and the thin set of his lips. "Tell me you're out there. Bodhi!"

Moments stretched by. She tried to pray as she'd heard Chirrut do. I am one with the Force. The Force is with me.

"I'm here!" Bodhi sounded breathless. Breathless but alive, Jyn thought with relief. "We're standing by but the base is on lock-down!"

"We know." Cassian said, "K-2 is working with Galen to get the shield gate down."

"Galen?"

"Don't ask. Look, we almost have the tape. Start gathering anyone you can. You will have to fly over here and pick us up. The second the shield gate is down we have to get out of here."

"Copy." They heard him whoop! Before the line went dead.

Jyn looked at the vault, rising up at least half a dozen stories. She marveled at the thousands of red lights. One of those lights held the key to their mission. All of this for one little red light.

Footsteps thundered outside the door and suddenly the vault doors clamped shut. Their heads whipped around in tandem. They heard K-2's muffled voice say, "The rebels…they went that way."

Jyn tried not to think about it, not to be distracted. What was happening out there didn't matter. Find the tape. K-2 was working on limited time with the shield gate, Baze and Chirrut were fighting for their lives, Bodhi was on the way-the rest was up to them. They could do this.

Cassian's fingers moved deftly over the console. He muttered to himself in the language he only used when he was in pain...or in the opposite of pain. She grinned at the mental picture that conjured.

"Got it!" He exclaimed.

They watched through the glass as one light, in the vast constellations of the vault, began to blink. Jyn guided the handles, holding her breath as a mechanical arm plucked out the tape connected to the blinking light. The tape dangled there, dozens of stories up, moving achingly slow toward the deposit slot in the glass. It wasn't until she was holding it in her hand that she let out the breath. She stared at the metal box in awe. They did it. All they had to do was get out.

"K?" Cassian shouted. "Open the door. K-2?"

The door whizzed open on command and K-2 stood before them, his head canted to one side. In his hand was a smoking blaster and a pile of stormtroopers were at his feet. "I don't know why it took you so long to give me a blaster. I told you I was a good shot."

Jyn could've kissed him. Her boys, she thought idly.

"Jyn?" Her father's voice on the commlink. K-2 held it out to her.

"I'm here. We've got it." She looked down at the tape in her hands, then at Cassian. "Here. Get Bodhi up here and get this to the Alliance."

Cassian's brow furrowed as she shoved the tape at him. "Jyn—"

She held a finger to his lips. "There's something I have to do. Arguing will only waste time...and we have none."

Cassian took the tape, but handed it at once to K-2. "Bodhi," he said into Jyn's comm. "K-2 is on the upper platform with the tape. Get up there." He turned to Jyn. "Whatever it is, I'm with you."

Jyn nodded, she didn't let him see how much that meant to her. Later, when they survived this she would tell him. "Go, K." She ordered. The droid sputtered objections even as he climbed the stairs leading to the door to the platform. Then, into the comm she said, "Papa, if I were Orson Krennic's...where would I be?"

Bodhi swept around the upper platform of the Citadel. K-2 was there as promised, holding a small metal box. Bodhi pulled up beside the bridge and lowered the ramp. Tonc ran back to help the droid in and retrieve the tape.

Bodhi barked into the comm, "K-2 is onboard. Cassian? Jyn? Where are you?"

"Don't wait for us. Get the tape to the alliance." It was Jyn. He wished he could strangle her through the receiver. What could be more important than getting on the ship? "If I don't hear from you in five minutes, I am going in there." It was an empty threat but it was all he could say. He didn't have Cassian's (quite surprising) way with words.

"Strap in." He said to Tonc and the droid currently clutching a metal box like his life depended on it. Bodhi pulled the ship up and swooped toward the beach. Time to find Baze and Chirrut.

The office where Krennic was reviewing Galen's transcripts communications was just down the hall from the vault. Galen wasn't certain that's where his old coworker would be, but it was his best guess. Jyn had promised that if she didn't find him there, she would leave it alone and run for the ship. Cassian was happy with the compromise. He let Jyn lead, happy to play back-up this time. This was her vendetta. She deserved it.

Jyn paused before the metal. She took a steadying breath and knocked against the unforgiving steel. Cassian almost laughed. Of course she knocked.

"I said I wasn't to be disturbed!" They heard a man yell through the closed door and then he was there all in white, towering before them.

Jyn's blaster was already positioned. "Hello Orson," she said, "What was it Lyra used to say…you'll never win?" She waited for the spark of recognition to light his blue eyes before she squeezed the trigger.

To an outsider it would've been terribly anticlimactic but to Cassian it was the most poetic revenge he'd ever been fortunate enough to witness. In that moment, Jyn was a cold, deadly thing that he barely recognized. Krennic buckled to the ground. The shot she'd fired wasn't immediately fatal, but he didn't have long. The fact that Jyn knew how to do that, to shoot for pain and not just the kill, sent a chill through Cassian. He decided he didn't want to think on it too long. They watched the crimson stain bloom on Krennic's white chest.

"I think my father would like a word." said Jyn. She shoved the comm toward the dying man's face.

"You lose." Galen said. "I built a flaw into the system and the plans are halfway to the rebels by now."

"Erso?" Krennic croaked out, "How?" Then his lips went slack.

"Did you hear that? There is a few lying in wait inside your Death Star, and we have everything we need to light it." She turned and stalked away, "Let's get off this hell planet." She said.

Cassian ran after her, trying to stop the trembling in his hands. The Jyn he'd just seen was an unfamiliar one. He knew what killing did to a person. It altered them in a way they couldn't always come back from. He'd gladly have taken the shot for her to spare her the pain. It wasn't her first kill, he reminded himself, far from it, in fact. She was no more broken than he was.

They climbed back into the service elevator and Jyn punched the button to take them down. The darkness enclosed them, only flashing light for brief seconds when they whizzed past a window.

He saw the moment the warmth returned to her eyes. She touched the crystal beneath her shirt, she locked her eyes on his, and she smiled. His Jyn was back. He ran his fingertips down her soft cheek and cupped her face, then he fitted his lips over hers.

Each time he kissed her he felt like the floor fell away, but now with the elevator literally flying downwards, he had the strange sensation that they were floating. Just the two of them, the world a blur flying by, while they were anchored together.

Jyn clutched her hands in the fabric of his shirt, sighing against his lips. She deepened the kiss as she always did. It seemed they could never have just a soft lingering moment, it burned or it didn't exist at all-not that Cassian was complaining about that. When they needed to breath, he rested his forehead against hers, eyes closed, hands still cupping her face.

"I love you." her voice was breathless and it was perfect.

He realized that she had never said those words—hinted at them but not voiced them directly. He opened his eyes so that he could be watching her when he said it back. "And I love you."

"I love you both." Galen's voice shattered their illusion.

Kriff, the comm. Jyn's cheeks were as red as he'd ever seen them, she buried her face against his shirt. Cassian cleared his throat as laughter came through the speaker…Galen, and a female. Cassian had a sneaking suspicion that said female had neatly cropped brown hair and a devilish grin. Jyn would be the end of his dignity, of that he was now sure.

"Right, well we have a shuttle to catch. Jyn and Cassian, out." Jyn said, then she shut off the feed.

The elevator doors opened and they strode out hand in hand, ready to take the next chance…but they both stopped in horror. What they saw in sky made Cassian's blood curdle in his veins, and his hand tighten to crushing intensity on Jyn's.

The Death Star had come to Scarif.