Hera did not want to believe her eyes.

She stood dumbfounded as she read the translation of Thrawn's stolen datacards. At first it all seemed quite mundane. There was a mountain of information, and some highly technical stuff that appeared absolutely unimportant—manifests of shipments of doonium that Thrawn had apparently deemed exceedingly necessary to analyze.

Hera skimmed through those, failing to see their importance.

But then she read his journals.

The first was his account of Batonn. All the evidence he had for Governor Pryce being the culprit behind the explosion which killed thousands of civilians. Hundreds of thousands of deaths merely to protect her own nefarious methods to secure safety for her parents. The way he and Eli had reached the same conclusion, yet the lack of rock hard evidence meant that he would have to assume responsibility and she would go scott free. Even his musings on how to better capture information from her in the future so to avoid a similar situation was a surprise.

It wasn't about him being pinned with something that bothered him, but that Pryce was capable of cruelty and he needed to catch her next time.

But then the journals got stranger.

There were contemplations written after each battle—the growing dissatisfaction with the other Imperial officers and what Thrawn viewed as their backwards priorities on setting alien life below mere commodities, his attempts to safeguard the innocent as much as possible, his frustration that his efforts were the "anomaly" and not the standard… the obsession with finding out what the Empire was doing with so much doonium.

The conclusions he'd made on the "Death Star" project. His confrontation with the Emperor over it and how inconclusive it went. His decision that the best way to prevent its construction, and possible use, was to push harder for his own TIE fighter initiative.

Initiatives that the Rebels had been doing everything in their power to thwart.

And then there were his thoughts on Eli…

Thrawn's initial confusion over what had happened when Eli vanished. His desires to find him, regardless if Eli had defected or not. His grief, written as beautifully gripping as poetry, when he'd assumed Eli had been executed. His growing excitement as he deduced that Eli was alive…It was spellbinding to see Thrawn's thoughts written out. How he pieced together pieces of seemingly irrelevant evidence to make connections...

And again, a second crushing depression when he returned from the mines where Eli had been rescued, empty-handed.

It took her hours to read through everything.

Hours for it to occur to Hera that Thrawn had willingly defected with Eli to the Rebellion. That she had suspected he was up to something because he was up to something. Just not the "something" she'd thought.

Even if it was late, even if the rest of the base had bedded down for the night, Hera made her way to the cell block.

She was angry, though she didn't entirely know why. Angry that she'd been allowed to be angry? Angry that Thrawn had fooled her?

But he'd still stolen her kalikori. He'd still forced Sumar to kill himself…

The kalikori had been returned. Sumar… It would be difficult for Ezra to so easily see Thrawn as a possible ally. The kalikori was stolen to safeguard it - Thrawn made that clear in his journals. Sumar had been killed because Thrawn saw him as an enemy combatant. As someone who willingly accepted the conditions of battle and lost.

Ezra had warmed up to Eli, but it was almost impossible not to like Eli. Even if he'd been an Imperial - hell, a lot of the Rebels had Imperial pasts. Thrawn on the other hand? Hera couldn't imagine Ezra could see it the way Thrawn did.

At the very least, it was worth a try.

Hera wasn't prepared for what she saw when she got to the detention cells.

Eli was curled up on the floor, facing the cell, his hand encased in a blue one. He was asleep, but his face seemed strangely illuminated. Another blue hand was lost in his hair. Moving slowly and methodically, back and forth, fingers combing through Eli's brown hair. Comforting him.

Hera watched them for a moment, her heart twisting painfully.

How long have they been like that?

And why?

If Eli knew Thrawn wasn't a threat… why wouldn't he have said anything? Gone to Hera? Gone to anybody?

Then it occured to Hera what Thrawn's game had been all along. Even reading his journal she'd picked up on his misgivings about the Rebellion—forgiving for a moment the particular offense of being lumped into the same pot as Saw Gerrera and his brutal tactics. Thrawn hadn't entirely believed that any one particular cell was any different from any other.

Thrawn had been afraid. Not so much for himself—he hadn't so much as protested when she hinted at a trial that would realistically end in execution. No… Thrawn was worried for Eli. He afraid that the stories surrounding the Partisans could be true for every Rebel cell and feared what kind of retribution they would have wrecked upon Eli...

Hera couldn't entirely make out the interior of the cell from her vantage point—but as she walked slowly down the cell block, she could tell that Thrawn laid beside him. His eyes were open. That's where the strange glow was coming from.

Hera tried not to be taken aback—herself being an alien, she had always tried to be mindful of other beings and their "differences." She just wasn't expecting it. The Thrawn she had first met on Ryloth didn't have glowing eyes. But then again… that Thrawn had seemed so…

Now in hindsight, it was getting increasingly clear why Thrawn had been the way he was. The frown on his face. The sad tone on his voice. The forlorn way he carried himself through his actions… the way he'd only truly lit up when he'd deduced who Hera was—Hera had already figured out that making connections was one of the few things that could still make Thrawn happy.

Eli had been taken from him.

He'd been so thoroughly depressed and alone… plowing forward in life with little joy. The very figure of a beaten and defeated man.

And the glow in his eyes… Hera had read his musings on that in his journal. That the glow had died out when he thought he'd been responsible for Eli's death. That it mirrored the loss he felt in his heart.

The glow now was soft… casting a faint red light, but it clouded his eyes so his pupils were merely faint shapes. The red glow made the movements of his pupils difficult to figure out what Thrawn was looking at, but Hera could tell Thrawn had taken his eyes off Eli for a moment—only the moment that was needed to identify who approached—before settling back on the human before him.

Hera waited for a reaction. For any indication that Thrawn was disappointed at being found like this. By his interrogator, no less. But no. Thrawn's attention was back on Eli. Entirely.

"Well, get up," Hera said at last.

Thrawn redirected his gaze to her again. Their eyes met. He must have realized she was talking to him and not Eli, but didn't ask her why.

"If I know Eli Vanto," Hera explained, "I'm not getting him off that floor unless you come with him."

"And where will we be going, Captain?" Thrawn's voice was so soft and low it was almost inaudible.

"Somewhere more fitting, given that you..." She fished for a word. Why was talking to him so much more difficult as a potential friend than when he was her enemy? She couldn't find an accurate description, because what was it really? Thrawn's… acceptance and integration into the Rebellion? Was that even what was going to happen?

"A cell for us both," Thrawn supplied when Hera trailed off.

"His room."

Thrawn's eyebrow arched. "A more comfortable prison? One that we both will share? I think not—"

"Stop. Look...I read your datacards," Hera said.

Again, Thrawn barely reacted. Not like how Hera thought he would have, given the circumstances. Again, she had to continue the conversation.

"I don't understand… Why didn't you say something?"

"You distrusted me," Thrawn responded. "Anything I may have said would have been tainted by that distrust. I believed a better solution was to be as nonviolent and compliant as I could, give you the evidence you needed and for you to reach the conclusion on your own."

Hera smirked. Thrawn as an enemy had been infuriating. But Thrawn as an ally? Still infuriating, but there was something almost charming about his words.

"I knew you were up to something." Hera didn't want to inflate his ego too much. "Ready to get out of there?"

A faint smile spread on Thrawn's face as he untangled his hand from Eli's gently, delicately… He didn't spring up like a man eager to leave a prison cell, but like someone who knew he was going to be released far before his captors did.

Hera huffed out a sigh, resting a hand on her hips as Thrawn stood slowly.

Even the door sliding open wasn't enough to wake Eli. But then again, Hera knew just how heavy of a sleeper he could be.

The moment the bars were moved, Thrawn was at Eli's side, kneeling next to the unaware human, those dazzling eyes fixed entirely on him, analyzing his state. Satisfied that Eli was still asleep, Thrawn scooped him up.

"Lead the way, Captain."

-SWR-

Eli didn't so much as stir at being lifted up off the permacrete ground he'd been sleeping on. Nor did he wake at being carried. He didn't get bothered at the sudden shift from the darkness of the cell block to the artificial brightness of the hallways. But the moment his body rested on a soft, plush surface, he felt himself torn from unconsciousness.

"Thrawn?" he said with a start, the sudden alarm erasing all hints of drowsiness as he propped himself on his elbows.

"I'm here."

A hand fell upon his chest. Even in the darkness, Eli could sense the familiarity of the touch. Memories of long, nimble fingers… those that were once his to hold and be held by… but… Eli glanced around his surroundings… was he… in his room?

There was a faint red glow over everything.

"Thrawn…." Eli said again, looking back at the source of the light. His heart leapt so far it caused his chest to seize up in pain.

It wasn't quite normal yet, not how it should be… but the glow… that familiar welcoming beloved glow was coming back.

"Shhh," Eli could hear Thrawn's tender voice, smoothing out his worries, the two orbs of light moving in the darkness as their owner spoke. "It's alright. We are safe."

Eli focused on the hand on his chest… the comforting pressure over his racing heart. He lowered himself back down, sinking into the mattress, placing his own hand on top of Thrawn's.

"We're safe," Eli echoed.

Soft lips pressed onto the side of his face.

"You did wonderfully."

Eli nodded in the darkness, swallowing back his own complaints. He wanted to tell Thrawn how difficult it had been to play along—how much physical pain it caused him to pretend to be absolutely indifferent to Thrawn's fate… how it felt to be worried almost sick over what he was supposed to do. To hold back the emotional avalanche for what should have been the end of this entire nightmare… how unfair it was for Thrawn to thrust so much responsibility onto his shoulders when he was so vulnerable. How it ate away at him, fearing what it would mean if he messed up... how Thrawn could be torn away from him forever if he made the smallest mistake…

He let the misgivings vanish. It wasn't the first time Thrawn had come up with a ridiculous plan. It wouldn't be the last. He'd put his trust in Thrawn, like he'd done every other time he'd gone along with one of Thrawn's plans, and everything worked out in the end.

"I'm proud of you," Thrawn whispered. "What I asked of you I understand was—"

"Shhh," Eli said, reaching up to stroke Thrawn's face. "I've already forgiven you."

"I insist," Thrawn whispered, letting his lips caress the side of Eli's neck. "I am indebted to you."

Eli didn't protest.

He buried his face into Thrawn's bare chest, melting into the Chiss's touch. Thrawn's kisses were gentle and numerous and slow, his hands tracing along Eli's frame. Thrawn and Eli alternated between holding and being held. Comforting and being comforted.

Slowly, that strange foreignness Eli had felt at their first kiss after being apart faded away into familiarity. Eli didn't even want to bring it up to Thrawn… the way his lips had felt new… in poems it was always portrayed as romantic but in reality it was devastating. Like Thrawn had become a stranger. The sensation faded blissfully fast.

The night was full of confessions given and heard, apologies offered and accepted. Thrawn whispered about dealing with Eli's death… Eli whispered back about his imprisonment. Thrawn was forgiven for giving up. Eli was forgiven for reaching the wrong conclusion. As the thorny layers of the past were stripped away, they grew more silent, letting the simple gestures of affection speak the wordless truth in their hearts.

They dozed off, then woke again, and the serenade would continue.

Throughout the night, Eli kept coming back to that one word. Safe.

They'd never been safe before.

They'd always been together, and there was a certain security in being assigned as Thrawn's aide. The position itself was more or less permanent unless the working relationship was dissolved, which Eli knew wouldn't happen by Thrawn's doing. But it hadn't been… Eli struggled to think of a word. Open.

It had always been a secret. A secret that was always in the back of Eli's mind. The constant struggles with what if? What if they had been discovered? What if they were dismissed from the Navy? What if he ruined Thrawn's mission? He wanted to believe that love was innocent and pure and righteous enough to get through any problems… but their love…

Eli smirked. The Emperor himself had turned it into a weapon that would turn against him. The way Thrawn's voice rippled in anger at Eli's description of what that mine had been like. The way he vowed to take them apart...

Thrawn would turn all his fury against the ones who had done this to him.

But that wasn't quite the same.

Safe.

Eli felt himself relaxing onto Thrawn's chest, lulled by the soft rise and fall as the Chiss drew breath. Thrawn had slipped back to sleep and Eli found himself smiling again. For once, it was Thrawn who was sleeping and Eli who felt possessed by a manic energy.

The future seemed strangely limitless. Full of promise. He had no idea what was waiting for him on the horizon, what being a part of the Rebellion would include, but he was ready for it.

Eli closed his eyes, willing himself to sleep.

For nearly half a standard year, Eli had been suffering - kidnapped and imprisoned, bore the terror of being executed, then enslaved and treated like an animal… and this was what he'd been dreaming for every last waking moment.

To find himself safe and secure and warm in the arms of the man he loved.

Eli nuzzled into Thrawn, listening to the steady beat of his lover's heart, and let himself drift to sleep.