"Come on!" Casián pulled Jeanne away from the smouldering remains of the supply truck and into a street that led away from the square and, hopefully, to the cathedral.

Behind them, Saul's partisans and the Nazis still fought, exchanging bullets that burned through the air. But as he and Jeanne put distance between themselves and the fighting, the streets grew quieter.

Quieter, that is, until they crashed almost head-long into a squad of soldiers.

He was a few steps behind Jeanne and before he knew what was happening she was in the middle of the soldiers, cut off and helpless. He couldn't even get a clear shot in the melee and was just about to jump in after her when he noticed something peculiar: the amount of soldiers standing lessened every second.

Jeanne was a blur in the middle of it all, kicking, leaping, striking. All he could do was watch as she took out close to a dozen Wehrmacht soldiers, one after another.

/

"Impressive," was all Casián said when she finished. And it was. Not a shot had been fired. It was good, clean work that might have even gotten her a bit of praise from Saul if these were the old days.

She shrugged and tugged at her vest to straighten it. "You work with Saul for any length of time, you pick up some things." Then she stopped abruptly, head cocked, listening. Footsteps. And they were getting closer.

Jeanne whirled around just as a German officer turned into the side street.

She squeezed the trigger and the instant after she did, she recognized the officer as he swiftly ducked.

"Not the enemy," said Kay, sounding peeved at her lack of observation.

"What are you doing here?" Casián said. "I thought you were-"

Kay shook his head. An understanding look, a moment of sorrow passed between him and Casián, but it was so short-lived and so quiet that the next moment Jeanne wondered if she'd imagined the whole thing.

"I thought there were a few too many explosions for a couple of people 'blending in'," Kay said.

Casián only shrugged, but Jeanne didn't particularly like the bitingly sarcastic turn of speech the British agent seemed to always have.

/

They went quickly and quietly along the streets of Jeddah with Casián in the lead. They were close to the old cathedral now and he was glad. He wanted to find Saul and figure out what the supply driver had told him and get back to Y4 and all that he'd left behind to take Jeanne Erso halfway across the country.

They came across a rubble-filled clearing that had once been a lush green park. The landscape was now studded with Nazis.

He and the others turned back immediately to go back the way they'd come but it was too late.

"Halt!"

He turned around slowly, slowly and came face to face with a German officer, a captain with a face lined by war. He could feel Jeanne's presence beside him, hear the way her breath trembled like a sparrow about to take flight.

The captain stepped a little closer. When he spoke, he addressed Kay.

"Where are you taking these prisoners?"

Kay cleared his throat. "I'm taking these prisoners to incarcerate them in-in-"

It was at that moment of hesitation that Casián knew the game was up. He could see it in the captain's face.

"Einreich! Haus!" the captain shouted. "Take charge of these prisoners. And I would appreciate a look at your identification papers, lieutenant," he said, addressing Kay.

Two privates loped over to where Jeanne and Casián stood and snapped handcuffs over their wrists. Casián's jaw clenched. Jeanne gave him a single glance before snapping her eyes in front again.

Kay shook his head. "Sir, I am sure that if you just point me in the right direction..."

The captain shook his head. "Your papers, lieutenant."

They were all going to be very dead in a matter of minutes.

Footsteps crunched on gravelly rubble. The swish of a monk's robe caught Casián's attention.

"Let them pass in peace," came a voice from the opposite end of the clearing.

It was one of the Guardians that Jeanne had spoken to earlier, he would almost swear it. But what was the monk doing here now? The rebels' trouble with the Nazis had never been a concern of the Guardians, as far as he knew.

"Let them pass in peace," the monk repeated, walking straight and true despite the blindness of his eyes.

The German captain looked faintly annoyed. "Old troublemaker..." he muttered.

The monk continued to walk forward, coming closer and closer to the captain. He held a staff in his left hand but did not seem to lean on it or use it to feel the ground as Casián had seen other blind men do. No, it seemed more like a-

The captain cocked his Luger and took aim at the monk, who was now almost close enough to touch.

There was a moment's hesitation in which the world seemed to still. Casián held his breath.

And then the monk leapt into action, smacking away the Luger from the now surprised captain's hand and jabbing the officer in the throat with the staff.

Casián grabbed Jeanne's hand and pulled her behind a large chunk of decapitated wall. Bullets would begin to fly any second and with their hands still cuffed there was little they could do to help. Kay followed. He had a side-arm, but there was too much chance that the monk would be hit.

And this Guardian seemed to be doing fine on his own.

The rest of the captain's men had now pulled out their own weapons, but it was uncanny, the way the monk fought. He felled the soldiers one by one, dodging their bullets and going for their throats or stomachs.

When at last the monk stood in the middle of the rubble, surrounded by felled soldiers, a grin spread over his face.

/

It wasn't over. Jeanne had learned that the hard way. It was never over. The German captain – the first to fall and the first to recover – propped himself up on one elbow and took aim at Chirutt Imre.

"Look out!" Jeanne shouted.

A shower of bullets stopped the captain before he ever pulled the trigger.

She looked across the rubble in the direction of the shots and saw Chirutt's companion, the hulking, silent monk who had watched her so quietly and closely during her conversation with Chirutt.

"You almost shot me," Chirutt said and she couldn't tell if the complaint in his voice was real or not.

"You're welcome," his friend said gruffly and moved among the unconscious bodies.

Casián emerged from behind the broken wall and Jeanne followed him with Kay coming behind.

"Clear of hostiles, then," said Kay.

He had spoken in French, but when Chirutt's companion saw him, he took aim.

"No!" Casián shouted.

"He's with us," said Jeanne, though she didn't much like to admit it.

"They're all right," said Chirutt. Only then did the giant lower his weapon.

/

Casián pulled Kay to the side after retrieving the key from one of the privates and releasing his and Jeanne's cuffs.

"You didn't find her?" he asked, watching Kay closely. The agent had not been himself ever since Mora had announced the trip to Jeddah.

Kay shook his head. "I don't want to talk about it right now, Casián."

"Then you'd better go back to the truck and get it ready. We might need to leave quicker than I thought."

He watched his friend – his only friend, really, in this whole mess – march back the way they'd come and bit back a sigh. The time for introspection and regret was not now.

When he rejoined the others, he was just in time to hear Jeanne say, "Can you get us to Saul Garreau?" Casián shook his head. The last thing they needed was a couple of the Guardians tagging along and drawing attention.

He was just about to say something, when rebels – Saul's rebels – flooded the bombed-out park. They had guns and the advantage of surprise and had him and Jeanne and the others surrounded before the Guardians could answer Jeanne's question.

"Can't you see we are no friend of the Germans?" the blind monk said.

A rebel kicked Casián in the back of his knees. He fell to the ground. "Tell that to this one," the rebel growled. "He killed our men."

Casián swallowed a curse.

"Anyone who hurts me or my friends will answer to Saul Garreau," Jeanne said in a clear, firm voice.

"And why is that?" the rebel who'd spoken before sneered.

"Because-" Casián heard the hesitation in her voice. "Because I am Jyn Erso, daughter of Galen Erso."

There was a long pause and then, "Take them!"

A sack was thrown over Casián's head, but not before he saw them do the same to the blind monk. The blind monk. With idiots like these serving him, how was Saul still even in the game?