AN: Thank you Jimmy Rustled Bird for helping me with this BEAR of a chapter. Enjoy the rapid update because I kinda forgot to post the last chapter until yesterday(Sorry just has the most annoying process compared to AO3)
Disclaimer: I guess I own Hirsey and nothing else
Chapter 29: Quiet Like a Fight (Leia/Chirrut)
I'm a princess cut from marble, smoother than a storm.
And the scars that mark my body, they're silver and gold,
My blood is a flood of rubies, precious stones,
It keeps my veins hot, the fire's found a home in me.
I move through town, I'm quiet like a fight,
And my necklace is of rope, I tie it and untie.
This is the start of how it all ends
-Yellow Flicker Beat, Lorde
Her father had not wanted her to join the Rebellion. She thinks that even when he relented, a part of him wished she could simply live a settled life as a member of the council. She knew he was prepared to use her presence there for the Rebellion, but she is quite certain he wished for her to stay out of this.
It was easier and it was safer, but she was determined. At 15 years old she could already see the greed and corruption that infested the council. When laws came through, good laws, laws that could help people….they were overturned. But laws that put credits in the pockets of these politicians were passed with ease.
And she tried to live in this world. She would campaign, she would barter and make deals until she felt as filthy as the rest of them when one meager ruling passed in their favor. She wanted to help and she wanted it to be real.
When she begged her father to let her do something real, she could see the pain in his eyes as he eventually gave in to her wishes. He put her in touch with Mon Mothma and she trained to be something of a double agent. Publicly renouncing the Rebellion in the senate and privately gathering information for them, acting as a courier in dangerous territories where she had immunity due to her political status.
Her father was there to see her off before her first real mission and he bent a little stare at eye level. There was no smile in the lines around his eyes, he was deadly serious.
"If anything should go wrong—" he began and she interrupted him,
"Father, I'll be fine. " He simply continued as she had not spoken.
" If something should go wrong... " he paused and took a breath looking away for a moment.
"It's important to keep your head. People won't think straight because of exhaustion or fear and it's important to remember your priorities. You may need to triage your own friends."
She only nodded because she didn't know what to say. This was a side of her father she had hardly seen before and it was startling.
And Force damn it all if he wasn't right about all of it. She had been in that very situation on several occasions before. And she was in it again today.
Her only knowledge of Jyn Erso came from the brief communication that was sent out when the Rogues absconded with an Alliance vessel for Scariff. It briefly outlined those involved and suggested that it might be wise to remain nearby in case any usable information was transmitted.
In the report it stated that Jyn Erso, daughter of Imperial Engineer Galen Erso, was a criminal and had recently accepted a commission to join the Rebellion with the rank of Sergeant. It briefly mentioned the former Imperial cargo pilot Bodhi Rook. He had accepted his previous rank of Lieutenant. There were two Guardians from Jedha, all it stated was their names and that the one named Chirrut Imwe was blind. Last on the list was Cassian Andor and that surprised her. He had given her some lessons while she trained to be in the Rebellion. He wasn't around for long, but his tips on shooting a blaster at close range were invaluable. And she saw him around the compound from time to time.
Nothing about that man spoke of a defector. Of a man who would commit mutiny.
She stared for a time at that photo of Jyn Erso and wondered what kind of person she was. Even in the picture her eyes seemed to burn. There was no doubt this was her idea, but how she convinced the others was the question.
As soon as she saw the two of them in the halls of the Death Star, she understood.
She had seen this kind of a bond before even if she hadn't yet experienced it on her own. The way they clung to each other like their lives depended on it spoke of something that ran deep.
It all went sideways as they raced for the Falcon.
Obi-Wan was murdered and Bodhi was shot. She was too busy firing back at the stormtroopers to see most of it, but she saw Bodhi standing between a stormtrooper and his prey with nothing to defend himself and she saw the blaster shot shatter his arm before Han shot the trooper.
She saw Obi-Wan as the saber passed through him and he seemed to disintegrate into nothing.
Once everybody is back on the Falcon she looks around to find Cassian collapsed on the floor with Jyn clearly panicking beside him. Luke sits in a daze and Bodhi moves to a corner cradling his bloody arm, not looking the least bit concerned about patching it up.
She makes some decisions and goes to Cassian. He answers most of her questions and directs her to a med kit. All the while shooting her a look that clearly says 'we'll talk later.'
Alarms start blaring from the cockpit and she simply says,
"I'll take care of it."
She finds the kit and comes back to the central hold thinking of triage.
She begins with Luke.
She wishes she had time to truly lament their collective loss. Obi-Wan was a great man and a treasured ally even if he had remained dormant on Tatooine for some years. She grew up to stories of Ben Kenobi's heroics and that was one of a hundred reasons she sent the plans to him. She didn't know the man enough, but she can still feel the loss of a legend.
She says very little of that and instead, asks him to look after Bodhi. She hardly waits for his agreement before approaching the dazed pilot, who is now being crowded by R2. The small droid voices their concern and Bodhi smiles at them sleepily, patting them on the dome as she kneels down beside him.
"Bodhi, I'm going to bring you over to Luke so he can patch up your arm okay?" she asks and he glances at her looking a little startled. He's probably in shock and so it takes a moment before the information fully sinks in. He nods and she steps around to his good side so she can tug him to his feet. It's a little awkward when he's so much taller than her, but they manage it somehow. She's ready to drape his good arm over her shoulder for support, when he waves her off.
Leia can't help but raise her brows at how every member of this crew seems to be horrifically injured and ignoring it to their own detriment at every turn. It would worry her if she dwelled for too long on whether her new companions are truly that lacking in self preservation.
"You all make quite the group," Leia mutters wryly, "Even that laser brain managed to get himself shot."
Bodhi glances at her with tired eyes as she speaks and she shepherds him over to where Luke is sitting.
"Y-you mean Han? That was my f-fault...he pushed me out of the w-way..." he stutters quietly and she gapes at him. He hardly notices as he droops onto the bench beside Luke.
For his part, the boy watched their approach with wide nervous eyes, but as soon as Bodhi settles beside him he takes a breath and starts looking over the med kit. He nods at her once before turning to the pilot.
Satisfied that this at least, is being handled, she runs to investigate the alarms as the Falcon shudders with the impact of blaster fire.
She's met in the hall by Han who is running in their direction.
"What is it?" She asks
"TIE Fighters," he replies, "Where are the others?"
"Cassian, Jyn, and Bodhi aren't really fit to be handling this right now, Luke is patching up Bodhi's arm," she rattles them off with a calm she doesn't quite feel.
"But, I'm here," She continues and looks him in the eye, "What can I do?"
He almost scoffs, looking away for a moment before turning back to her with something like appraisal.
"Alright follow me," he says and immediately starts heading back the way he came. He hands her a headset and puts on his own.
"Chewie can you manage by yourself in the cockpit?" he asks into the headset and they get a growl filtering through the speaker in reply.
"Good," he says and then turns a corner and opens a hatch door that leads down into what looks like a gunport.
"I'm going to need you to try and shoot down these—" Han begins and she interrupts him as she climbs down the ladder into the small room.
"Yes I understand, thank you."
She moves to sit in the chair and pulls the controls in front of her. Now she hears Han through the headset as he scoffs again followed by the clattering sounds of him climbing into the other port.
The swivel on the chair startles her a little but she pays that no mind and focuses on what's in front of her.
She sees the ships flying towards them through the viewport.
"Here they come," she says.
When the last TIE fighter bursts into a plume of flame at her hand, Leia closes her eyes and breathes.
She's used a blaster before, this is not the first time she's had to take a life, nor the second, but she always needs a minute afterwards. A minute to calm herself and still any tremors in her hands.
She takes off the headset and climbs out of the gunport to find Han waiting at the top.
He doesn't say anything, he's holding his shoulder with a grimace, but when she comes up the ladder he lets his hand drop. he seems to briefly look her over like he's assessing something. Whatever conclusion he reaches, he nods and heads back towards the cockpit. She follows him.
Chewie is moving into the co-pilot's seat as they enter and Han falls into his chair with what looks like an attempt at being casual.
"Not a bad bit of rescuing, huh?" he asks, "You know, sometimes I amaze even myself."
Leia resists the urge to mock as she says, "That doesn't sound too hard. Besides, they let us go. It's the only explanation for the ease of our escape."
He cranes his head around to look at her incredulously.
"Easy... you call that easy?" he demands and she can only shake her head at how thick he is.
"They're tracking us!" she practically hisses and now he is shaking his head.
"Not this ship, sister."
She stares at him a minute and exhales a quiet breath. It wouldn't do to punch their pilot in the face no matter how irritating and dim he may be. There isn't a lot in their favor at the moment and angering the man taking them where they need to go would be unwise. He's facing forward again with hand on the control column when she speaks again. The words are more to herself than to him.
"At least the information in R2 is still intact, I just hope when the plans are analyzed a weakness can be found...It's not over yet."
Han whips around to look at her affronted.
"It is for me, sister! Look, I ain't in this for your revolution, and I'm not in it for you, Princess. I expect to be well paid ," he says and she has to grit her teeth a little at the callousness of this man.
"You needn't worry about your reward. If money is all that you love, then that's what you'll receive!" She says letting the condescension drip like acid from her tongue. From the way he's twisted in his seat her eyes find that blaster injury to his shoulder again.
It looks like it's still bleeding a little.
So, without a word she storms out of the cockpit.
She takes a few deep breaths as she walks down the hall towards the central hold area. Everyone is more or less as she left them with a few differences.
The first thing to greet her eyes is the sight of Luke, with Bodhi asleep on his shoulder. The boy looks like he is trying to sit very still, letting his shoulder be the pillow for the pilot's head to rest on. She can't help a wave of amusement at the sight of it.
She knew she was right to put Bodhi in Luke's care.
To her left, she sees Cassian pulled himself up to lean against the wall. Jyn is curled against him and also asleep. He has one arm wrapped protectively around her, but he's still awake and watching Leia.
She goes to Luke first to pick up the med kit.
'Good job,' she whispers, not wanting to wake the pilot who can surely use the rest.
Then she takes the kit and goes to kneel down so she can speak at eye level with Cassian where he sits.
There is something almost defiant in his look to her now. As if he is daring her to comment on the two of them. Leia doesn't have time for such things or the care to take him to task for something only the military might care about. She is not military and so she does not care.
"Do you still need this?" she asks holding up the med kit and she can see any sort of anger vanish in an instant. He is too practical to be petty at a time like this and so is she. He considers the kit and the sleeping girl beside him.
Without a word, Leia watches him lean over with a wince and gently press his hand against what must be the stab wound on her leg. His hand comes away with only a few small red drops that he immediately rubs off on the leg of his own pants.
She's guessing this is an improvement when he says,
"It can wait until she wakes up," and she nods and pushes herself to her feet. She's already thinking ahead and several steps ahead of that. It's how she was taught and so she has to ask as she stares down at the two of them,
"What will happen if the plans don't reveal any flaws we can exploit?"
He makes a face like he's been wondering the same and replies quietly,
"I don't know."
Uncertainty is not new to her and is surely just as familiar to an informations officer. It's an old friend that sits on one's shoulder getting heavier with every passing day.
She looks at Jyn Erso, her worries smoothed away by sleep. Her hair is a mess of what (most likely) used to be a bun. It escapes her ties in tendrils that drip onto her cheeks and over her eyes.
Leia does not precisely know the motivations of this young woman, although she can guess at a few.
"What will she do if there's nothing?" Leia asks and Cassian holds Jyn a little tighter, his expression tight.
"I don't know," he replies and she nods a little. Once when she was younger, and Cassian was trying to teach her something with the blaster…(the particulars of which lesson and which day it happened have blended). She recollects that she was tired and wanted to stop to get something to eat.
Eventually she made her complaints known and Cassian looked at her with such a severity it made her feel small. He told her that what she was learning was important, that one day these skills could save her life.
He told her it was best to always be ready, should the worst come to pass.
He was more than correct and his words ring true still. Presently she looks down at the pair of them.
"Well you have time," she says thoughtfully. "I suggest you think on that. Somebody once taught me it was wise to plan for worst case scenarios," she adds and she smiles a little bit. He almost smiles back, but doesn't quite manage it. She looks around at each of them once more before she heads back to the cockpit with the kit in hand feeling some renewed measure of calm.
A reminder of their circumstances brings perspective on her small annoyances compared to the larger scale of what's happening around them.
When she returns to that smaller space, Han is alone. He leans back in the pilot's chair with a posture that speaks of exhaustion more than relaxation.
"Where did that wookiee go?" she asks and he visibly startles, but he tries to hide it by not looking at her.
"He wanted to stretch his legs. It's not like we're super busy right now," Han says with a hand lightly resting on the control column.
With the ship still in hyperspace, stars stream by the window lighting up the small room with a soft layer of sparkling blue. When she doesn't immediately reply, Han finally cranes around to look at her.
At his glance, she snaps her eyes away from the cosmic tide happening beyond the plasteel of the viewport, and now she is all business. She puts the medkit on the seat behind his so she can rifle through it and make sure they still have enough bacta gel and patches to spare. Luckily this kit was generously stocked so she pulls out a bacta patch and goes to stand between Han's seat and the control panel with the patch in hand.
"Take off your shirt," she says and suddenly he's got his hands up and a smirk firmly installed on his face.
"Hey now princess, we hardly even know each other," he says in what is surely an attempt to be suave.
"No you nerfherder, you were shot and that needs to be checked out," she replies sharp and dismissive, pointing at his shoulder. Beneath her gaze he seems suddenly uncomfortable.
"It's fine princess," he says not meeting her eyes.
"Do you want it to get infected? You can put on the patch itself if you want, but if the bolt went through your shoulder, you'll need my help to patch up the back," she says and she's still too sharp. She's trying to remember her perspective, but she is feeling an acute lack of patience in this particular man's presence.
At her words he grumbles and begins to take off his vest. She can see that his movements are stiff when he pulls it off of his left shoulder. The white shirt underneath clearly illustrates the injury in bright red. He glances at her once before grumbling a little more and unbuttoning his shirt. He gets as far as peeling it off his shoulder before he winces and glares at her. It Obviously hurts to try and work his arm out of the sleeve.
She comes forward with practiced hands to help him gently work the sleeve off. He still hisses with pain, but now she can see the extent of the injury.
Some other girl might flutter over seeing exposed skin, but she's not here for that. The injury is still raw and seeping small rivulets of blood.
Without a word, Han moves at her touch so she can see his back where the bolt did indeed exit. She had a feeling based on the look of the entry wound that it went straight through.
Luckily the blaster cauterized the injury enough that she can clean it a little before applying the patch. Better to clean it now so the bacta can work on healing rather than disinfecting. She goes back to the kit and finds some antiseptic wipes. She rips one open and makes a face at the sharp smell of disinfectant before going back to Han.
"I don't think I have to tell you this will sting," she says and he scoffs.
"I've had worse."
She raises her eyebrows and prods at the entry wound with the disinfectant. Han yelps at the pain and she sighs. Pain is pain and a blaster bolt hurts like hell. Anyone who pretends otherwise is just stupid.
Before he can boast any further she goes in to clean the wound carefully and ignores the way he stiffens and winces.
She was told she had terrible bedside manner when she was given first aid training.
The nurse had suggested she try and make conversation to distract any would be patient from the discomfort of her attempts at said first aid.
(The nurse also said she was effective enough to be allowed in the field. She simply added these comments off the record to Leia herself)
She was never particularly good at small talk. The polite and political piece of her was a mask that she had to put on in the senate. It was like a switch that had to be flipped for her to smile at these impotent men she hated and these women who were too accustomed to looking the other way. The senate was full of useless politicians who were satisfied to accomplish nothing and convincing them to do otherwise took skill and effort.
Leia is too tired now to flip that switch. She does not feel like smiling or ingratiating herself to this ridiculous man.
But she remembers Bodhi's comments from earlier as she moves to clean the exit wound. At the first press of disinfectant, Han inhales so fast it sounds like a hiss and she says,
"Bodhi says you pushed him out of the way of this." She gestures at his shoulder a little and she can feel his eyes on her. She focuses instead on the grisly injury before her rather than meeting his gaze.
He looks away after a moment and sighs.
"That kid is either stupid as a bantha or he's got a death wish," he grumbles and Leia almost smiles.
"The line between bravery and stupidity is a very fine one," she murmurs.
"Well fat lot of good all this did, the kid still ended up shot," he says still sounding aggrieved. She glances up at him then to see the look is more regret than she expected.
She puts the cloth away and comes back around to unwrap the first bacta patch.
"It was a chaotic moment and he was trying to help his friends," she murmurs and that only seems to irritate him further.
"They're no better!" he exclaims gesticulating wildly with his uninjured side. "The whole lot of them seem hell bent on winding up dead," he adds and she looks at him right then. It's worry more than anything else that reigns supreme in his features. It makes her brows raise a little, just in surprise as she places the first patch on the entry wound and goes to get a second patch from the kit.
"Given the way today went, I think if they wanted to be dead, they would be dead," she says as she unwraps the clear foil around the patch. "Besides," she continues, "I'm more familiar with Captain Andor than you are. He's many things, but suicidal is not one of them." She places the second patch over the exit wound and comes around to stand in front of him again. Leaning against the console behind her and folding her arms.
He slowly pushes his arm back into the sleeve of his shirt as he says, "Yeah, well I know her and she was a lot less stupid before she met your captain and that Bodhi kid."
She stares at him, surprised again by new information.
"Emotions can compromise judgement in the field," she says cool and measured.
He points at her with what looks like a permanent frown and says, "Exactly what I said. Stupid."
Leia shakes her head.
"It is my understanding that they both experienced something rather intense on Scarif," she says and he looks away gritting his teeth.
"Yeah, so I hear. All I know is that girl's been a mess since I picked them up on Tatooine and whatever happened on that kriffing station made it worse." He crosses his arms slowly, like he's uncertain if he can with his injured shoulder. Apparently he can and he sits back in his chair to to glare at her.
"I don't know that kid…the pilot that well, Force knows what was in his head that had him go up against a trooper unarmed," he grumbles and Leia thinks she understands what she's seeing. So she allows herself to smile and say calmly,
"They were fortunate you were there to help."
He waves her off with a muttered, "Yeah, whatever," and a silence coats them both. She should use the comms to call into Yavin IV. They need a status update and so does she. But it's Han who speaks first.
"You went in there before to...um..." he trails off and that hand is waving again. It takes her a second to understand what he's asking, but when she does she chooses her words with care.
"Luke patched up Bodhi well enough for now, he'll need proper doctors when we land. Jyn's asleep and it looks like the bleeding in her leg has mostly stopped. You can go check on them if you want."
Clearly he's unused to worrying about others and how one goes about dealing with such things. Finally he nods a little and gets to his feet.
"Yeah I'll...yeah..." he turns to leave and she stops him.
"Do you mind if I use the comms?" she asks.
"No, go ahead. The switches for it are right behind you," he says with a quick glance in her direction before heading down the hall.
She sits in the co-pilot's seat, keys in the code she memorized before she left, and puts on the headset. She's relieved to hear the crackling voice on the other end begin with,
"Please identify yourself."
"Authorization code Echo-alpha-eight-two-one-zero-four-gamma," she replies. There's a pause as the operator checks her code.
"It's good to hear from you ma'am. This is Private Nev, who do you wish to speak to?"
"General Raddus if he's available," she says and hopes as the line goes quiet.
"I'm afraid he is unavailable at this time. I believe he's off world," the private replies and she sighs and decides to try her luck once more before resigning to the inevitable.
"Mon Mothma? This is urgent."
"One moment ma'am,"
Another brief silence and Leia fights the urge to fidget.
"Sorry ma'am I can't reach her," the private says in her ear and she sighs. Mothma is surely trapped in some meeting behind some locked door. Leia never had good luck so she'll try her bad luck.
"Try General Draven?"
"Yes ma'am."
There's another quiet and then a familiar deep voice filters through the headset.
"Princess Leia? We thought you were taken by Darth Vader's forces," he says and somehow he sounds utterly calm.
"Well a rescue was mounted by General Obi-Wan Kenobi. I sent the plans to him with my R2 unit."
"General Kenobi? He's been inactive for some years now," Draven says slowly.
"Yes, I was being sent to recruit him for the Rebellion under my father's orders. When we were boarded by Darth Vader, plans changed," she says and the General is quiet. It's even worse speaking to him without having visual cues to help read him.
"Obviously you will need to make a full report to the council upon your arrival, but was it successful? Do you have the plans?"
"Yes, we have the plans. They are still in my R2 unit so you'll have to extract them from the droid's systems but..." she trails off uncertain of how much she should say now. It would be best to know the landscape before they arrive. But too much could make things worse. Of course Draven is a pragmatist. He won't cause trouble unless it benefits him and she sees no reason that this would benefit him.
"We also had some more help from the remnants of the Rogue One crew...Unfortunately General Kenobi died as we were escaping the station," she says allowing her regret to be audible. The worst thing she could be right now is flippant with these hard facts.
The general is quiet again. He likes to take a long time and think before he speaks. It's very unnerving though to be on the waiting end of it.
"General Kenobi is a real loss, but the Rogue One crew? How did they find your location?"
She squints at the console wishing desperately she had more to go on than just his voice. She didn't expect him to cry over the Jedi, but his focus is strange to her.
"I think it was by accident. They discovered I was on track to take the plans to Alderaan so they went there and they got caught in an Imperial tractor beam," she says, not sure if she wants to try and explain the enormity of the Death Star to this man without the plans as illustration.
"Who exactly is with you now?"
"A smuggler named Solo, I will be paying him from my own accounts upon arrival. He required some bribing to assist us. A boy named Luke Skywalker from Tatooine who was training with General Kenobi before his death. Then there's Cassian Andor, Jyn Erso, and Bodhi Rook."
Draven goes quiet again and she wonders if she revealed too much, but she needs to know what they are walking into when they arrive. Plans or no, she might be safe but the others may not be.
"And what of the temple guardians?"
"They aren't here, general."
He's quiet again.
"Forgive me general, but it's been quite chaotic. I haven't had time to get the full details. The Rogue One crew members all require medical attention on our arrival."
She stares at the flashing lights of the console and hears a sound behind her. It's Han and he's watching her carefully. She nods and he goes to sit in his pilot's seat, watching her the whole time.
It's Draven in her ear who commands her full attention when he speaks again,
"It may be a lot to ask for immediately considering the situation," he says and the words are clearly chosen with care.
"General, I understand that, but they risked everything and if these plans are everything we are hoping for, they will have saved all our lives."
"They still committed mutiny, and that's a high crime under our laws. I know you know that ma'am." Draven says and Han is watching her with laser-like focus. She stares back trying to hide her growing dread.
"They nearly died to get us those plans. I think Jyn Erso may have been questioned by an Imperial interrogator and as far as I can tell she gave nothing away," she says and Han's eyes go wider. Neither he nor Draven know she is stretching the truth here. Jyn Erso was showing some classic signs of early PTSD and her injury was of the sort that could be inflicted during questioning, not to mention Cassian's behavior towards her. She had no actual confirmation, let alone real knowledge that the young woman successfully withheld information under interrogation. It's just an attempt to sway things in their favor as soon as possible.
"That does not change the fact that they committed mutiny. I can make sure they are given medical attention, but I can guarantee nothing more."
Leia lets her lips compress into a tight line knowing this is the best she can get from him.
"Well you should also know it is very likely the Empire is tracking us, so have your men on hand and ready to analyze the plans immediately," she says and she hears Draven take a breath.
"That's a serious risk you're taking ma'am. If the plans show no flaws—" the general begins and she interrupts him swiftly.
"I've sped up our timetable, but it was only a matter of time before they found us and I can tell you the weapon we heard rumors about is very real. Alderaan is no more thanks to what they call The Death Star. They would find us sooner or later and with such a weapon we would be annihilated in minutes."
Han is gaping at her now and she glares out the window at the stars flying past the plasteel.
"The council will not be pleased that you made this choice for them," Draven says slowly and Leia wishes she could say ' tough shit. '
Instead she takes a breath and says, "Well I was highly displeased that their inaction helped lead to the destruction of my homeworld and you can tell them I said so," she says managing to keep the acid from her tone but not the ice. She considers hanging up right then, but she doesn't.
The general is silent and after waiting she says, "General, have medics and information analysts ready and waiting. I will call again before we land," she says and after a brief pause she hears the one thing thing she hoped to hear in the first place.
"Affirmative ma'am."
She moves to hang up the phone when she hears one thing more.
"Princess, you are aware that both your parents were on Alderaan seeing the High Council?" he asks in what is surely an attempt at kindness and Leia has to swallow the lump in her throat. She didn't need confirmation, it still hurts to know for sure.
"I wasn't certain, thank you for providing confirmation general," she says and her voice hardly cracks. Han is finally looking away in a manner that seems very deliberate.
"I am sorry for your loss ma'am."
"Thank you, expect to hear from me within the next 8 hours," she says.
"Affirmative," he replies and she cuts the connection.
The cockpit is deathly quiet beyond the steady hum of the ship's engine. Leia leans back against the seat when Han finally says,
"Are you going to tell them?"
"Cassian is smart enough to expect this. But, you saw them out there," she says and points out the door.
"The girl's got it bad for your captain," Han observes and she almost smiles, surprised again that he would notice such things.
"I think the feeling is extremely mutual," she says.
"And the two kids are just as bad, curled up like a couple of loth-cats," he adds like such a bond is a disease. She shakes her head.
"My point is they've been through a lot and they deserve a rest," she says and leans back in her seat to watch the stars flowing like water past the window.
"Yeah, they do," Han agrees softly, mirroring her and getting comfortable in his seat. After that there is only the quiet calming hum of the engines and the sparkle of stars around them.
Chirrut has technically been old for some time. He likes to tease Baze by calling him the old man, but truly he is only a few years older than Chirrut. Baze would always respond along those lines, calling him just as old.
Chirrut would smile and reply, 'But I don't feel old!'
Today he feels old. He feels his age in every muscle, joint, and bone.
The ship they chartered rattles with the engine, and all the shaking only exacerbates his aches.
Not that he'll complain or say anything. To pilot of the ship is practically doing an act of charity taking them. (The amount of money they got for Baze's repeater cannon was an embarrassment, they were fortunate to find a pilot who was sympathetic to their fiction about Chirrut requiring special medical care)
Now he knows Yavin IV is fast approaching because every planet feels different in the fabric of the force and this one sings of untamed forests and fast flowing rivers. The dirt speaks of hundreds of footsteps taken in it by so many different kinds of beings.
He knows they are close and so he tries to leverage himself to his feet.
The pilot had provided a cot for Chirrut. Baze is sitting at his feet. The moment he tries to rise, Baze is on his feet telling him to lie down.
"We are almost to the planet Baze, we will need to radio in so they don't shoot us out of the sky when we land," Chirrut insists and Baze stops trying to push him back onto the cot. He steps back and folds his arms. A signal for Chirrut to finish his explanation.
"Of the two of us, I am the better speaker as you know." Baze rolls his eyes but doesn't interrupt. "So we need to go make an excuse to the pilot so we can use the comms," Chirrut finishes and Baze looks thoughtful for a minute before he steps forward and carefully helps Chirrut to his feet.
Neither of them comment on the hisses and winces involved in that process. Baze simply wraps a sturdy arm around his midsection and lets Chirrut throw an arm over his shoulders.
Baze grabs Chirrut's staff from where it leans against the wall and puts it into Chirrut's free hand.
Chirrut smiles for him, Baze simply nods.
With him in such a state it was tragically easy to convince the pilot Hirsey about this special medical facility. He even made sure to mention something about their security when they first chartered her.
Now, with Baze's help they walk into the cockpit.
"Excuse me, Captain," Chirrut begins and the human woman turns to them with a raised eyebrow and an easy smile to match his own.
"I told you, call me Hirsey," she says.
"Well Hirsey, I believe we are close to our destination are we not?" he asks and she glances at her readouts once before grinning up at him again.
"I don't know how ya know this stuff, but yer right on the money again sir," she said in a thickly accented Imperial.
"Well, I mentioned before this facility has heavy security. Would it be possible for us to privately use your comms to inform them of our arrival?" he asks and the woman shrugs.
"Don't see what a bunch a doctors need that much security for, but you clearly need the medicine so I'll git outta yer way," she says hopping out of her seat and handing Chirrut a headset device. Baze watches her leave before murmuring to Chirrut,
"That woman is far too trusting."
"She'll be fine, Baze. She has good instincts," Chirrut replies with a smile and Baze grumbles in his ear as he helps Chirrut sit down.
It's Baze who punches in the call code he memorized from Cassian as Chirrut slips on the headset.
"It's Chirrut Imwe and Baze Malbus, two of the surviving members of the Rogue One crew that went to Scarif," he says and there is a brief silence at the other end of the comm. He doesn't need the Force to tell him he surprised the operator.
"Hold please," the voice says and the connection goes quiet. Baze sits beside him, listening and watching. A minute or so later a new voice filters through the speaker.
"This is General Draven, who am I speaking with?"
"Chirrut Imwe and Baze Malbus of the surviving Rogue One crew," he says and his response is another brief silence.
"Do you have any way to confirm your identities?" the general asks.
"Not really," Chirrut replies, "But if you allow us to land, surely someone there will be able to say that it is us and not imposters."
There is another silence.
"Although it would benefit you to greet us with a med team rather than soldiers. Our pilot is under the impression that I'm very ill and need to go to a special medical facility," he adds and after a short pause the general asks,
"Are you ill?"
"Not technically," he replies and Baze rolls his eyes and leans over to say,
"My husband is a fool and he's still recovering from injuries he received on Scarif. We are only coming to see Cassian, Bodhi, and Jyn when they return with the plans."
It speaks to Baze's impatience that he's willing to talk so much. The general sighs a little before saying, "Well based on your previous contact I had assumed the latter at least. As far as I know, they are on their way back now."
"Good," Chirrut says, "So will you give us clearance to land?"
Another pause .
"If you try anything I will have you both shot, but yes you have clearance," the general says and Chirrut grins and inclines his head.
"Much appreciated General," he says and disconnects. Baze says nothing as they land and are greeted by medical personnel carrying weapons. Chirrut knows he wants to say something, but instead he sits quietly and waits. All they can do now is wait for the children to arrive.
AN: This chapter is 13 friggin' pages long...Leia had a lot of shit to do and this Chirrut scene was too short for it's own chapter so enjoy this monstrous update before I potentially go quiet for a week.
Han being an emotionally stunted 5 year old is seriously funny to me, like ew all these feelings are gross make them stop, it's unendingly hilarious for me...I hope nobody is sad that I didn't actually write the Leia shooting down TIE fighter scene...idk I wanted to get back to the 13 PAGES OF FEELINGS. (Also low key added a little thing in the last chapter so it could correspond with this one. It's a little detail but oh well keeping compliant to my own chronology is hard)
I know tough shit is probably not a proper Star Wars swear but look I'm already struggling to make do without the word fuck so :/
In other news I GOT ROGUE ONE ON DVD HELL YEAH AND I CRIED WATCHING IT AGAIN. And I am still so bitter about there being no deleted scenes dang it!
