[A.N:] I will have to start by apologizing that this took a million years to finish, but the past couple of weeks weren't so good for me. The month of May won't be that good either, because I won't be home on weekends and I will also be traveling for a while, so I will have even less time to write, but don't panic, I won't forget about this story and I won't give up on it. It will just take a little longer than it normally would, so I am sorry.
But word of advice: being passive aggressive in the comments won't make me write any faster. I will write when I have time, update when I have time, and I don't have that much time off. Feel free to comment or message me, here or on tumblr at Joeybelle, asking when I think I will update, but be nice about it, because I don't owe this story to anyone. I will also post some updates on my profile here, so feel free to check there too.
Thank you so much for the comments and the messages and the favs/follows. You guys are all very sweet and thank you for readin my story. It makes me really, happy. I hope you will enjoy this chapter too. Cheers!
"Samarkand is from now on under Imperial protection. Please stay calm."
"Why are there Imperial ships on Samarkand?" Cora asked, her back against a wall, Cassian's body protectively shielding her.
"Remain non-violent and no one will be harmed."
"I don't know," he said in a low voice, watching the people in the streets scurry for cover. Blaster shots could be heard in the distance, making the hair raise on the back of her neck. "We have to get out of here fast."
"Please take shelter until the Imperial troops have secured the perimeter."
He grabbed her arm and guided her away from the crowd, walking as fast as they could through the narrow lateral streets. This was a side of Samarkand Cora hadn't seen until now. If the rest of it looked shabby, the back alleys were positively filthy. They had to be careful not to walk into the piles of trash that just lied on the pavement or get bitten by vermin. When Cassian decided they were far enough, they hid under a low balcony and he took out the com-link, contacting K-2SO.
"There seem to be a lot more stormtroopers than any of us anticipated," came the droid's mechanical voice.
"Did they take over the spaceport?" Cassian asked, hastily. "Can we still leave the planet?"
"Probably. If you were here, we could leave right now," he said in what Cora could recognize as being a condescending tone. "They seem to concentrate their efforts on taking on the streets. But who knows for how long."
"That's good. Keep the engines running, we're coming to you." He seemed to want to turn off the com, but then changed his mind. "If we're not back in one hour," he added, "leave without us."
"I'm not leaving without you," the droid scoffed.
"If we're not back in one hour, take off without us," he repeated, more convincing this time. "We can hide until they send someone after us."
"The odds of surviving in case of…"
"Do as I say!" he barked and turned off the com.
"Do you think we'll make it in time?" Cora asked, hoping her voice wasn't shaking. She was just starting to get scared. It all changed so fast, her brain didn't get the chance to fully process the situation until now.
"Yeah, we will." He tried reassuring her with a smile, but despite that, she could still see his face clouded by worry. "But we have to move fast."
They took off in a hurried pace, taking only the most secluded alleys, avoiding to go out in the open. They kept quiet, often listening for the the sounds of battle and taking a detour if it seemed like their path would lead them directly to it. When they hit a dead end, they climbed on the roof of a small building.
The city looked desolating. While just a few hours earlier the streets were brimming of life, now they were deserted. The shops had been closed and the colourful stalls full of merchandise were nowhere to be seen. The neon ads that lit the streets at night had been turned off, leaving the city bleak and grey. Only closed doors and barred windows everywhere. In the pale light of morning, the city looked dead.
They kept walking on the roofs for as long as the terrain allowed them. She had no idea where they were, so she trusted Cassian to bring them to their destination. Once again she realized that she was useless in this war they were fighting. Without him, she would have probably cowered in fear and died in an alley sooner or later, unable to fend for herself. The blaster felt heavy on her hip.
"Get down!" Cassian urged, pulling her behind a parapet. He fished a pair of macrobinoculars out of his backpack and sneaked a peak over the wall. Cora waited silently until he let her look too.
In one of the main streets there was a fight taking place between stormtroopers and a group of people dressed in dark grey. From what she could see, their clothes didn't have any military insignia on them. "Who are they?" she asked, handing the binoculars back to Cassian.
"They're the local militia," he explained. "The planet's unofficially ruled by a smugglers' guild, but they have all the actual power. There's no military force, or any other line of defence besides this militia."
"Do you think they'll be able to resist the attack?"
"I doubt it," he said, zipping up his backpack. "Let's go."
They climbed off the building and took another detour. Whichever direction they went in, they seemed to always be just one step away from getting into a fight. Cassian's hand never really left the blaster, being prepared to retaliate at any sign of danger. Fortunately, and this was only thanks to him, they didn't run into any stormtroopers.
When the spaceport finally came into view, Cora allowed herself a sigh of relief. She could see ships taking off and leaving the planet, so she felt like they'd made it. The sound of an explosion made her realize that she had relaxed too soon.
"K! K!" Cassian yelled over the com, as they were running towards the spaceport. There were no stormtroopers in sight, so they risked going in the open.
"They seemed to have changed their mind about the spaceport once someone blew up one of their transport shuttles," K replied, a bit too calmly.
"Are you alright? Are they attacking the ships?" Cassian asked.
"The ship is fine. They're currently engaged in a fight with a bunch of smugglers and seem to take on anything that moves, but don't attack the ships directly," he said. "But I guess that isn't so good for you. Do you want me to cause a distraction?"
"No! You stay on the ship and wait for us!" he barked, before turning off the com.
Cassian readied his blaster, so Cora did the same, even though she doubted she'd be of any use. She feared she'd only be a burden to him, but he looked at her gave her an encouraging smile. "It's not that big of a deal," he tried reassuring her. "We just have to stay outside of their firing range and move as silently as possible. It's worked for us until now," he smiled.
"Well, I hope you'll be just as lucky from now on," she smiled back, but only for a second, as worry took its place.
"What makes you think I'm the lucky one?"
"You don't think it's me?"
"Why not?" he shrugged. "We have to get going," he said, his smile vanishing in the blink of an eye. He was Captain Andor once again. "Stay behind me, but try not to fall too far behind," he instructed. "If I tell you to duck, you duck. If I tell you to run, you run. If I tell you to run to the ship and leave me behind, you do that, understood?"
Cora didn't like where this was going. She tried to swallow the lump in her throat, but her mouth was dry. He was asking her to leave him behind if anything happened and save herself, but she knew she couldn't do that. She couldn't just leave him if he was injured. It was her duty as a doctor to never abandon someone in need of help.
"Understood?" He must have noticed her avoiding the question, so he insisted. Eventually she nodded. It was easier to lie when she didn't open her mouth. "Good. Listen to me and everything will be alright." But she was afraid.
She followed him, the blaster in her hands, her heart somewhere in Limbo. She could hear the shots and the explosions becoming louder and louder but she kept repeating to herself that she had Cassian, so everything was going to be alright. She had fought space pirates a while back and lived to tell the tale, so she was probably gonna make it this time too.
Once they entered the spaceport, they took the most roundabout way towards the ship. They stayed as far as possible from the fight, walking in the shadows, hiding behind the ships that still remained docked. Cora kept her eyes down. She didn't want to see all the people who were being wounded that she couldn't help. She just wanted to leave the planet already, and she was blaming herself for delaying the takeoff so much because she selfishly wanted to spend time with Cassian.
Their tactic of crossing the spaceport unseen would have worked if it weren't for the AT-ST that joined the battle and started shooting at the docked ships. If until then the smugglers seemed to have a slight advantage, with the addition of the Scout Walker, the tables seemed to have turned.
With their cover literally blown to pieces, they had no other choice but to run in the open. Cassian was shooting while he was running, trying to stay between the blasters and Cora, dragging her along when she was falling behind.
The U-Wing was getting closer and closer, and Cora hoped that they would make it. The ship had the engines already running and the lateral door was open, so the only thing they needed to do was to reach it and they were out of there. Or at least, it would become Cassian's job to bring them out of there.
But a stray blaster shot hit her back. The pain was white and searing hot, burning and seeping into her bones. For a moment she lost consciousness, waking up on the stone floor, with Cassian running back to her. She wanted to scream and tell him to go, to leave without her. But she had no power to do it. Her vision was blurry. She didn't want him to leave either, she didn't want to die alone.
"It's alright, it's ok," he hummed in her ear, holding her by the shoulders and helping her in a sitting position. He looked at her wound and Cora could see the colour drain from his face. "It doesn't look that deep. Can you feel your legs?" he asked, and Cora wondered how bad it actually was. The adrenaline rush had taken over and she didn't feel that much pain.
She tried moving her legs and was relieved to notice that she could. She smiled at Cassian. It meant that her spine wasn't affected, or at least, it wasn't that badly affected. She tried standing up, holding onto his shoulders for support, but her legs felt like jelly. He helped her out of the firing line, placing her down behind the smoking body of a ship. She could feel the blood slowly dripping.
"Do we still have time to get to the ship?" she asked, her voice weak, still clinging to his jacket.
He looked around. "Yeah," he said, but didn't sound too convincing. "We could…" The AT-ST came into view, shooting at another row of docked ships, getting dangerously close to their U-Wing. He looked at the ship, then looked at Cora and took the com out.
"K! Take off! Leave now!" he yelled. "K!"
"The AT-ST is getting closer, but you could still make it if you hurry," K said.
"We can't make it. Leave without us!" The AT-ST turned his attention to the ship closest to their U-Wing and fired. "Leave already!" he yelled in the com, and Cora saw the ship finally take off without them. It narrowly avoided the shots fired by the walker, but in the end it left unscattered.
"We have to get out of here and find a safe place. Can you walk?" he asked, his hands back on her shoulders.
"I think so," she said, trying to get herself together.
"Ok, get ready," he said, and fished a flash grenade out of the backpack. He set it on a timer and threw it.
He helped her up before the grenade detonated, placing one of her arms around his neck for support. He held her close, careful not to touch the wounded area, and guided her away from the fight. When the grenade exploded making a loud noise and lighting the room up, they used the ensuing chaos to slip out of the spaceport unseen.
Back on one of the deserted alleys, they found a hidden spot to rest a little. Now that the initial shock had died down, she realized that her injury wasn't that bad. Yeah, it hurt like hell and it was still bleeding, but the quantity of blood wasn't significant and the pain was superficial. It was probably just a graze, but it had incapacitated her at a crucial moment. Cassian had walked around for hours with broken ribs and a gushing wound and it didn't stop him.
"Give me an emergency patch," she told him, awkwardly twisting and shoving a hand under her clothes, trying to at least feel the wound if she couldn't see it. "I need to stop the bleeding."
"What are you doing?" he asked, slapping her hand away from the wound. Her hand returned smeared in blood.
"I need to know what's going on," she whined, but he hoisted her up once again.
"I'm gonna patch you up, but we can't do that here," he said, and Cora noticed a little tremble in his voice. "We're too exposed. I know a place, do you think you can walk?"
"Yeah." Now that the blasters weren't shooting around her head, she was feeling a lot calmer. "Let's hurry."
They started walking again, this time a lot slower than before, with Cora's injury holding them back, but they were still leaving the spaceport behind pretty fast. Cassian wasn't looking as self-contained as he did just a while back. He was paler than usual, and kept looking at Cora as if expecting her to just fall down and die any moment. His hand never left her back, even though she didn't need his help holding her up anymore.
They reached a building that looked deserted, with broken windows and no door. It looked even more deplorable than the rest of the buildings, if that was even possible. What confused her, she noticed, was that this was the only building she'd seen until now that was completely deserted.
"Space is very valuable here on Samarkand," Cassian explained, as they took the stairs up to the attic. "So not that many places are abandoned."
"So what's wrong with this one?" she asked, curious.
"It's haunted."
"You're shitting me."
"I'm not. People here are surprisingly superstitious," he laughed. "Right now, that works in our favour."
He picked the lock on the attic door in mere seconds. The room was in a much better condition than the rest of the building: it was relatively clean and dry and it had intact windows. A mattress on the floor indicated that someone was crashing there occasionally. She assumed it was Cassian.
He closed the door behind them and dragged the mattress to the middle of the room, asking Cora to sit down. He looked outside the window for a brief moment, probably to make sure that no one had followed them, then took out the medipack.
Taking off her clothes took a little effort and a lot of help from Cassian, but he didn't seem to mind. Left only in her bra, the cool air hitting her skin made her shiver. Her top was bloodstained, and the jacket, her precious jacket, had a hole in it.
She tried once again to touch the wound when she thought Cassian wasn't paying attention, but he stopped her. She snorted, frustrated. She hated not knowing how bad it was.
"I'll patch you up," he said, taking a seat behind her. He took off his jacket and rolled up his sleeves.
"How bad is it?" she asked, trying to look over her shoulder. When she couldn't see anything, she instinctively tried to reach for the wound again, but Cassian grabbed her hand and placed it back in her lap, holding it there. She could feel his shirt brushing the skin on her shoulder, and it made her hyper aware that she was almost half naked in front of him. "Cassian," she groaned.
"I've already told you, it's not a big deal," he said, running his thumb over her fingers. "Don't you trust me to do this?"
"It's not that I don't trust you…" she mumbled. "It's just that I hate not being able to do it myself. It makes me feel helpless."
He let go of her hand, opened the medipack and started cleaning the wound and the blood around it. "Well, you have no choice but to let me do it this time," he said. "You'll have the pleasure to assess my first aid knowledge, since you once accused me of knowing nothing."
"That's all your fault for not knowing that emergency stitching is just that: emergency stitching," she scolded. "By the way, how did you imagine you'd heal without any medical help?"
"I've survived worse," he said, and then concentrated on her injury. "You're really lucky. I'm not a doctor, but it doesn't look deep at all. You'll be needing stitches, and it's probably going to scar, but you'll be fine."
"I don't understand how being shot by a blaster counts as being lucky?"
He chuckled. "A few centimeters deeper and it would have hit your spine. That's really just a matter of the angle of the shot. If they held the blaster just one centimeter to the left…"
"You're not helping!" she laughed. "Just shut up and disinfect it. I'm gonna get stitches when we get back." If we ever get back, she thought.
"Don't you want me to stitch it?" he asked, and Cora couldn't tell by his tone if he really intended to do that or he was just joking.
"No, Captain. I trust you with the blaster, but I really don't trust you with that needle," she said. "Just disinfect it, smear it in bacta and put a patch on it and I'm good. The disinfectant is the purple bottle, by the way," she instructed, pointing at the medipack.
"Cora," he said, stopping whatever he was doing, "I got this. I've done it a million times before."
"I know, I'm just… micromanaging," she said, looking at her fingernails. There were still traces of blood on her hands.
"Alright then, would you like passing me the disinfectant?" he said.
Cora took the medipack and handed him the bottle over her shoulder. She felt a little more in control now that she had the first aid kit in her hands. She felt like she was actively doing something, as opposed to just waiting for him to finish, and that eased her anxiety a little.
"Is this your first blaster wound?" he asked, as she hissed from the burning sensation given by the disinfectant.
"No, I shot myself in the leg once before," she laughed at the memory. "But I guess this is the first one that isn't self inflicted and completely accidental. My first real battle scar." It sounded awesome until she realized one thing. "I'll look like shit in a bikini!"
He laughed. "I doubt it."
"Is that a compliment, Captain?" she asked, smiling cheekily at him over her shoulder.
"Maybe?"
He worked fast and clean. Even though she couldn't see what he was doing, and after he administered the local anesthetic she couldn't feel anything either, she knew he didn't lie about doing this plenty of times before just to make her feel better. She could sense it in the way he moved, it was muscle memory. She still told him what to do, even though it was clear that he didn't need the instructions.
"Now press on it tightly, and hold until it seals," she said, as he placed the waterproof patch over her wound. She sighed, relieved. They had done everything that could be done so now her brain was at peace. Somewhat. She had other things to worry about. Like the fact that they may not leave the planet soon (or ever). Or that she could feel his fingers pressing into the skin above the patch, reminding her how his hands once roamed freely under her clothes.
He seemed to remember the same thing, because she could feel his fingers inching upwards, idly caressing her skin. Even though the contact between them was minimal, she still felt enveloped by his warmth. One finger was brushing against her spine as his hands traveled towards her shoulders, giving her goosebumps. She leaned into his touch, but it was a mistake, because he seemed to realize what he was doing and took his hands away.
"Umm…" he muttered, shifting away from her. "You're all done."
"Thanks," she said, pulling the bloodstained shirt over her head. It was a little gross and definitely unhygienic, but she had no other choice. She was supposed to be a badass smuggler who shouldn't be queasy. She grabbed her jacket and sighed, poking a whole hand through the charred hole in the fabric. "I really liked this jacket," she complained, before putting it on.
"I think we can get you another one, if you'd like."
"I don't think General Draven would give me one for free, as a reward for getting shot on a mission…" she shrugged.
"Probably not," he laughed. "But we can ask the guys in Storage. If we ask them nicely…"
They both jumped at the piercing sound made by the com. Cassian hurried to turn it on.
"The situation on Samarkand seems to become increasingly unstable," came K2's voice from the small device. "I see more and more locals organize into groups and start to retaliate. I'd advise you to leave immediately. I'll be waiting for you at the old spaceport up north. It's currently pretty silent here."
"I thought I told you to leave without us," he shouted into the com.
"I did exactly as you told me," the droid said, calmly. "You told me to leave, you didn't tell me to leave the planet and go back to base."
"Semantics," he growled.
"Very important. You wouldn't want to be misunderstood." Cora couldn't help but smile at the cheekiness. "Anyway, I'd advise you to hurry. Ours isn't the only ship docked here."
Cassian seemed to think about it for a minute, the lines between his brows deepening. He got up and looked out the window, silently assessing the situation. "Give us two hours," he finally said. "If we can't reach your location in two hours, leave without us. And this time, you leave the planet and go back to base, no tricks. Understood?"
"Understood," the droid agreed, and the line went dead.
It seemed there was still hope for them. As long as Cassian was with her she wasn't that afraid, but she still felt like this whole situation could have been avoided if she hadn't insisted to spend more time on the planet. She was making things difficult for him, so she just wanted to go back to base and call it a day. She was sure that General Draven would yell at her for the rest of her life, but she took responsibility for that.
Cassian had taken out the macrobinoculars and was looking out the window. "I see two sets of stormtroopers patrolling. I think we'll lay low for a while. I don't think we should risk getting into a fight."
"Do you think they'll let us leave?" she finally asked what had been bothering her for a while now. "I assume they have a star destroyer up there and TIE fighters. Do you think they'd let us just leave the planet and go into hyperspace?"
"Yeah, they will," he said, and seemed quite certain of it.
"What makes you so sure of that?"
"I assume they want to take control of the planet, not wipe it out, otherwise they would have used a different tactic," he explained. "Most of the people you saw on the streets today aren't locals, just like us. It would make no sense to just imprison them all. Most of them are rich citizens of the Empire that just came here to have a little fun. Yes, most of the businesses on Samarkand are illegal, but it would bring the Empire a good deal of money if they were under their protection."
"So they'll just let them go in the hopes that when they come back and spend more money, but in this case, the taxes would go to the Empire?"
"Yeah," he said. "It's a good business. Besides, I don't think there are enough stormtroopers in the city to fight them all right now. They can be very dangerous people and who knows what illegal weapons they're hiding on their ships. If they all took up arms, there wouldn't be much of an invasion. The stormtroopers just scare them off and let them leave, so they only have to deal with the locals and the militia."
"So why don't they?"
"What don't they what? Fight back?"
"Yeah, why doesn't everyone just fight the Empire if they hate it so much? This is the perfect opportunity to fight it."
He looked at her and smiled. "Is the Rebellion finally getting to you, Doctor?"
"Oh, shut up."
"You'll soon become more dedicated to the cause than General Draven," he joked, and Cora glared at him. "First of all, they would need someone to organize them," he said, taking a seat besides her on the mattress. "Right now, they're just a bunch of people, each with their own agenda. For them to work together, you'd have to offer them something big enough for them to risk their lives for. Most of them live well enough in the middle of the Empire, there's no reason to fight it. Plus, they probably hate each other, so you'd have to convince them to put aside their differences and work together, and you won't be able to do that today, in just a few hours."
"Yeah, I guess," she replied, thoughtful.
"You could still try to do it," he laughed. "Cora, Defender of Samarkand. It has a nice ring to it."
"I'm not sure they'd listen to someone with my pedigree," she shrugged. "You do it."
"I don't think they'd listen to me either. Not really the hero type," he said. "But even if they did, and let's say we got them all to work together and we stopped this invasion, it would be a wasted effort on the long run."
Cora raised an eyebrow. "Why?"
"They'd only send a bigger fleet next time and wipe the whole planet out. We'd win a battle, but in the end we'd lose the war."
"So what do we do then? We just let them take over, one planet at a time until there's nothing left?"
"No, that's why the Rebel Alliance exists," he said, getting up and moving to look out the window once again. "We fight the Empire and we actually do some damage. Instead of fighting back now and risking to be completely wiped out, Samarkand can help the Rebellion and sabotage them from the inside. One planet as tiny as this one can't fight the Empire on its own, but it can help us face this common enemy and win in the end."
Cora couldn't help but smile. He looked so full of passion when he spoke about the cause. There was a fire in his eyes that burned brighter than what she'd seen before. There was hope, and there was determination. Now she understood why he hated her so much in the beginning. It probably wasn't personal, he just hated what she represented.
"Well, Captain, I think I now know why you can't get a girl," she laughed.
"And why is that?" he asked, crossing his arms over his chest, pretending to be seriously interested in what she was about to say.
"You're in love with the Rebellion," she said, getting up and stretching her legs. Her back wasn't hurting anymore, but the sensation of numbness was strange. Still, it didn't bother her when she walked.
He smiled, but it was a sad smile, and Cora realized she might have made a mistake with her joke. "You may be right this time," he said, and went back to looking out the window.
She joined him by the window, looking at the depressing city. "It's not a bad thing, you know," she said. "Being passionate about what you do. We wouldn't be having a rebellion if there weren't people who really loved the cause." She smiled. "Do you think we can win?"
"Maybe, one day. But not today. Today we have to survive."
They looked out the window for a while, Cassian actually scouting the city, while Cora was just lost in her thoughts. She realized that she had been really selfish. She didn't leave the Empire because she wanted the world to be a better place, she just wanted to be free and safe. The world could have gone to hell for all she cared, if her tiny little world remained unshaken. But there were people like Cassian who were sacrificing the quality of their lives to fight for people who they didn't even know. Who were in this fight because they made a choice, who could leave any time but every day, they chose to stay and keep fighting, because they hoped for a better future for everyone.
She looked at her bracelets and wondered, if tomorrow they took them off, would she leave? Would she still be here, with Cassian, trapped on a planet that was slowly being taken over by stormtroopers, if she had the opportunity to just get away and live peacefully someplace else? She liked to think she would. Maybe she didn't care that much about the Rebellion, or about the world, but she cared about him. So she decided she was going to stay, no matter what happened next, because the Alliance was important to him and he meant a lot to her.
"I think we can go now," he said, breaking her train of thought. "They seem to have left the area. Are you feeling up for it?" he asked, and Cora nodded. "We can stay here for a while and wait for a rescue team to come pick us up if you're not feeling ok."
"Stop coddling me, Cassian, I'm ok."
"Just making sure," he said, gathering the rest of their stuff and shoving it back in the backpack.
The streets were silent, but the air felt tense. She could see where fights had taken place, like burn marks scattered throughout the city. Occasionally she could see the brief, fearful gazes from behind the curtains of the people who had made Samarkand their home. It might have been filthy and depressing, but for some this was the only place they had ever called 'home'. And now they could be close to losing that, because greed was stronger than compassion in the Empire.
With her back numb and adequately patched Cora could move a lot faster than before and Cassian didn't have to keep an eye on her anymore. However, she still caught him throwing her quick glances from time to time. For someone who treated all his injuries, even the more severe ones, like they were nothing serious, he certainly seemed to worry about the graze on her back. He probably considered her quite incompetent for getting injured so stupidly, and she hadn't proved him wrong until now, but she also felt like he was genuinely worried about her.
They reached the old spaceport without any incidents. Most of the troops seemed to be concentrated in the center of the city, where the smugglers' guild had their headquarters, so the streets were rather calm. The spaceport, if you could call it so, was just an open space surrounded by tall walls that looked ready to break down at any moment. Safety wasn't something that Samarkand inspired, but this was a special kind of safety hazard.
They kept a safe distance and contacted K. He had the ship on the far side of the spaceport, meaning they would have to cross it all to get there. Not surprising at all, there were also other ships docked there, some of which could be a little hostile, Cassian concluded. No stormtroopers were in sight, though.
"So… do me make a run for it?" Cora suggested. "100-meter dash?"
Cassian laughed. "I don't think that's the best tactic."
"It's the fastest," she shrugged. "We either reach the ship or we die. Either way, it's gonna be fast."
He raised an eyebrow at her, then smiled and shook his head. "Do you have a death wish, Doctor?"
"Not a very well defined one," she joked, but he didn't smile this time, listening intently.
"We may actually have to follow your suggestion," he said, his face serious. "Something's coming."
Cora listened, but didn't hear anything that hinted that there was a battle going on. However, she was going to trust Cassian on this. She was sure he had better hearing than her, or maybe even a sixth sense. He readied his weapon so she did the same, and started advancing towards the spaceport.
They quickened the pace when they reached the gates, a deep thudding sound becoming louder and louder. Before they even knew it, they were surrounded by a bunch of raggedy looking people, running for their lives.
"Run, you two!" one of them yelled, passing them.
"Shit!" Cassian swore and started running, Cora following closely looking over her shoulder from time to time.
The thudding suddenly materialized into the shape of an AT-ST that was apparently following the others. And now, them too, since they were all running in the same direction.
"Fuuuuck!" Cora screamed, trying to run faster. There was nowhere to hide. Besides the few ships awaiting their owners, there was no place to hide.
They ran in zig-zag, trying to avoid the walker's laser cannons. Cassian and a couple of others kept shooting back, and occasionally threw a grenade at it, but Cora focused on running. When she had joined med school she thought she was done with running for good, but here she was, hoping she wouldn't trip and get crushed under the walker's feet.
The AT-ST was catching up fast, especially since the terrain was working in its favour, and Cora could see its shadow almost covering her. The others had scattered, or had been shot, she didn't pay attention, so the walker was left chasing her and Cassian. However, they had somehow managed to disable one of its cannons, and damage the other one, but even with the decreased accuracy it was still so close to blowing them to pieces.
Cora's heart was beating a million times a minute and her lungs felt like they were on fire, but she kept running. She knew that if she stopped, she'd be dead. The only thing that kept her alive was Cassian who was pulling her towards one of the grounded ships. She hoped it would shield them until they found a way to take the walker down. She tried remembering how they dealt with situations like this while she was in stormtrooper training, but she couldn't recall any scenario in which two people, very lightly armed and armoured, were chased by a nine meter tall war machine.
They were close to the ship, just a few meters away, when she heard a loud bang. She turned her head just in time to see the AT-ST falling towards them. She didn't have time to react, but Cassian grabbed her by the jacket and threw her forward, under the hull of the ship. She fell down, her legs not working anymore.
Fortunately Cassian had enough time to throw himself besides Cora, before the walker fell over the ship, the crashing sound almost deafening. He grabbed Cora and pulled her under him, shielding her as much as he could. She knew that if the ship gave in it would crush them both under its weight, but it was comforting having Cassian close. At least she wouldn't die alone. She put her hands around his neck and pulled him closer.
Surrounded by the the ear-shattering noise, in a state of detachment from what was going on around her, Cora had no idea if she was dying or not. Only when the noise ceased and she felt a foul smelling liquid dripping all over her did she have the courage to open her eyes. Jet fuel, she noticed, probably mixed with engine oil by the colour. She turned her head before it got into her eyes.
"Are you alright?" Cassian whispered in her ear. She didn't even try to speak, so she just nodded. "Are you hurt?" he asked again, and she shook her head after wiggling her legs a little to make sure they were still in place.
"You?" she whispered, her voice small and shaky, arms still around his neck.
"I'm ok." His body relaxed, letting Cora support all his weight for a brief moment, before propping himself on his elbows and looking around. "We have to get out of here before it crushes us."
The ship had sustained a lot of damage, but even if one of the landing skids had given way under the force of the impact, the other one was still holding, saving both their lives. They scrambled to get out from under it while it was still standing, managing to get drenched in fuel and covered in dust, probably also bruising their elbows and knees. They were alive.
The U-Wing was waiting for them behind the fallen scout walker, K-2 hurrying towards them.
"That was a really close call," he said, in a deeply disapproving tone.
"Thanks for saving our skin," Cassian said, breathing a sigh of relief.
"Well, someone had to do it."
"I guess we should hurry," Cora suggested, pointing towards a squad of stormtroopers who were just entering the spaceport gates.
"Shit!" Cassian cursed and urged them to the ship.
They took off before the stormtroopers had the time to reach them, and Cora could finally breathe freely. Somewhat. She had jet fuel in her nostrils and it was burning. Actually, the chemicals irritated her skin and made it itch. She hoped the patch on her back was still holding, because she really didn't want to know what jet fuel would do on an open wound.
"K, make the hyperspace jump as fast as you find a safe route. It doesn't matter where to, just take us out of here," he said, looking out the viewport at the star destroyer looming over Samarkand. It was the smaller, Victory-class destroyer, so Cora knew the Empire didn't go all out on this mission. No one seemed to notice (or care), that they had left the planet. They weren't the only ones anyway, as she could see other ships going into hyperspace. "We have to take a shower before we get chemical burns," he said, pushing Cora towards the living quarters.
The doors opened and the lights automatically turned on and Cora found herself in a tiny cabin. Tiny was an understatement, as there was barely any space for anything there. There was a table that could be pulled up to make more space when it wasn't in use. The bed, that looked oddly similar to what she had slept on while imprisoned, was currently pulled up, otherwise she was sure they wouldn't have enough space to move.
She felt a little awkward intruding into Cassian's personal space, even though she knew she really needed that shower before she smeared everything in jet fuel or she caught fire. However, it was unusual seeing something as intimate as the place where someone slept.
There was a pair of worn out boots thrown in a corner and a sniper rifle leaning on the wall next to it. A parka and some trinkets were negligently flung on the table, but apart from those, and a few diagrams stuck to the walls, the room looked clean and empty. The cabin of a soldier.
"The shower is in the back," he said, urging her to go first. "Just throw your clothes on the floor, I'll get you some clean ones."
She entered the shower and peeled off the wet and sticky clothes, dropping them into a pile on the floor, kicking them into a corner so she didn't trip on them. She regretted having to part with the badass smuggler outfit, but she was sure it was already ruined. Maybe she'd find another cool one in Storage, but she knew it would be of no use to her: after another mission that almost ended with them getting killed (even though, again, it wasn't her fault) she was sure Draven would never let her leave the base. White, medical uniform would be her only outfit for the rest of her life.
The water felt good on her skin, washing away the fouls smelling fluid. She grabbed a bar of soap and thoroughly scrubbed herself, but her skin still felt oily and dirty. Getting it out of her hair was another challenge, the engine oil and jet fuel mix seemed to stick to every strand and even after soaping it a few times still didn't seem to wash off completely. Fortunately, the patch on her back was still holding.
She jumped in surprise when the door opened and a naked Cassian stepped in. She didn't expect him to join her, but she realized that she was taking her time with the shower and they were in a hurry. She backed into a corner, leaving as much space between them as possible, even though it almost wasn't enough for both of them to fit.
Cora was very aware of how close and how naked they were. Cassian had his back turned to her, offering her a little privacy. She knew the right thing to do would be to get out of there as fast as possible, looking away, but the only thing she could do was stare at the way his back muscles moved as he washed himself. She was absent-mindedly clutching the bar of soap in her hand while the water washed down her skin. She was amazed at how fast the adrenaline that was still running through her veins turned into arousal.
"You've missed a spot," she said, making up her mind.
He looked over his shoulder, trying to find the spot he couldn't reach, but Cora covered it with a soapy hand. He looked her in the eye for a moment, then turned back around, letting her clean it. His skin felt soft under her fingers and even after the dark spot of grease was no more, she still couldn't take her hand away, letting her fingers follow the shape off his spine down to his waist.
He slowly and hesitantly turned around, as if giving her the chance to stop him. She didn't. She extended her arm and rested it on his abdomen, right above his semi-erect cock. She felt him tense for a moment, then relax and cover her hand with his. He looked at her for a second, wet hair sticking to his forehead and water dripping from his beard. There was a look of determination in his eyes when he pulled her closer, pressing his lips onto hers in a hungry kiss. She grabbed onto his shoulders, pressing herself into him, finally able to feel his naked skin on hers. She hadn't realized how much she needed to feel him like this and her body was shivering a little at the contact.
His hands were roaming freely over her body, his fingers over her naked skin giving her goosebumps and making the fluttering in the pit of her stomach increase to the magnitude of a medium tornado. However, the moment he touched the patch he seemed to remember her injury and started to back away.
"Don't you dare run away now," she growled in his ear, grabbing his hand and pulling it down to her ass. He chuckled and gave it a playful squeeze, making Cora jump a little and press her chest onto his, before he resumed the kissing and touching and nibbling. Her hand fell down to his cock, squeezing and pumping slowly, making his breath hitch.
The conditions were less than ideal. It wasn't the time and place for this, a shower module on board of a U-Wing was definitely not designed with sex in mind, but even with water getting into their mouths and the constant risk of slipping and breaking something, they were too immersed into each other to care. They seemed determined to make up for that missed opportunity in the catacombs, so now their hands and lips were freely touching each other's bodies, trying to draw out as much pleasure in as little time as possible.
A sudden jolt that sent them flying into a corner signalled that they had entered hyperspace. After making sure neither of them was hurt, they decided that shower sex was a fantasy they would have to fulfil another time, on less shaky ground, and reentered the cabin, leaving the shower door open and the water running. The cabin wasn't designed with sex in mind either, but they were both intent to somehow make this work.
Cassian lifted Cora up and placed her onto the small table, without bothering to make some space first so her ass landed on the blue parka.
"Is there anything that may go up my ass?" she asked, touching the material with her hands, making sure nothing was going to poke her.
"Uhm…" he looked around and picked up a metal tube off the table. "A silencer?" he said, before throwing it on the floor.
"Kinky," she laughed, and pulled him closer, running her fingers through his hair and kissing him passionately.
He positioned himself between her legs, holding her thighs in a firm grasp. Their foreheads were almost touching and he was looking into her eyes, hesitating for just a second, so she grabbed him by the shoulders and pulled him into an embrace. He buried himself deep into her as she gasped into his ear, pressing herself even closer to him. She could feel his breath on her neck as he let her adjust and then the tiny kisses along the sensitive skin behind her ear.
They were mostly silent, like they were only used to having sex where they risked getting caught. The water still running in the shower was muffling any stray moan or gasp that may have left their lips as they rocked into each other. It wasn't rough, but it definitely wasn't gentle. It was primal and needy, their bodies almost moving on their own, finding a rhythm that suited both of them.
It didn't take long before they found the much needed release, the excitement of the day, the fear and the adrenaline contributing to it. They collapsed into each other's arms, ragged breaths and heated bodies, their brains floating in the clouds of pleasure. They stayed like that for a while, snuggled up into an embrace, Cora's fingers idly playing with the hair on the back of his neck. She was feeling drowsy and content in his arms.
Cassian broke the embrace, a little too soon for Cora's liking. "I have to take us home," he whispered in her ear, his voice a little deeper than usual.
She nodded and hopped off the table, her knees feeling weak, and her body aching for rest, but she knew there was no time for that yet. She was still wet and without his arms around her, she started feeling cold, but before she started shivering, Cassian protectively wrapped her in a blanket.
She leaned against a wall, patiently watching him get dressed. He was way too energetic for someone who was just coming down from the heights of an orgasm, but she assumed cuddling after sex was something he just didn't do. No matter how much she wanted to pull him close and hold him there for a while, basking in his warmth, she knew she couldn't do it. So she just wrapped herself tighter in the blanket and yawned.
"I have to bring us home," he said once again, putting a stack of clean clothes on the table for her to use. "We'll have to make a few jumps until we get back, so you can pull down the bed and rest for a while." She nodded and decided she may actually take him up on that offer, a sort of sluggishness taking over her. "See you later," he said, and before she could say anything he was out.
Cora smiled. "No kiss goodbye, Captain Andor?" she whispered to herself before going to turn off the water.
When Cassian entered the cockpit he noticed that they were no longer in hyperspace. He didn't feel the ship leaving it, but to his defence, he hadn't been paying attention. He took a seat on the pilot chair and grabbed his headset.
"You took your time," K2 criticised him.
"Yeah," he didn't deny. There was no point. "Do you have the calculations for our next jump?" he asked, not wanting to delay their arrival at base any longer.
"Where is she?" the droid asked, looking back over his shoulder.
"Resting, I assume."
"I see." The droid was curiously looking at Cassian and he didn't understand why. "You've showered," he said, and Cassian raised an eyebrow. It wasn't like the droid to state such banalities.
"Yes," he replied, not knowing where this was going.
"Together?"
"What?" He looked at him wide eyed. He couldn't have heard them, not with the water running, and not while in hyperspace. Then what? Did he just assume it? That wasn't like him either. "Of course not," he denied it, going back to looking out the viewport.
"Right," the droid said, as Cassian started the procedure to enter hyperspace. "Because that would be highly unhygienic," he finished.
"Kriff!" Cassian whispered.