Cassian woke with a start, eyes struggling against the darkness of the tower till they came to rest on a familiar form, pressed into him. It was Rowan, and his eyebrows knit together in concern when he realized she was crying, shivering, her body gathered as close to him as possible, huddled against the cold and against some profound sorrow that ravaged her mind and brought the hot tears to her cheeks that streamed down, landing in a small puddle in his open palms. Her sobs racked her body, and his heart began to beat hard.
"Rowan," he whispered softly, his breath ruffling the hair that hung loose from her bun over her ear. He adjusted his position, wrapping his arms about her and holding her close. Her sobs stopped, and she stiffened, surprised, looking up into his face, rubbing harshly at the tears that still dampened her cheeks. Her eyes, red and bloodshot, met his, tired but gentle, and a sudden, profound hope rose within them.
"You're okay," she breathed, hiccuping a little.
Cassian nodded and smiled, chuckling at the catch in her breath. "I'm okay," he whispered, and her eyes softened once more, the tears, this time of joy, threatening to flow. Her breath coming in slower bursts, she relaxed once more into his embrace, thankful for this moment of rest, even should it not last. Heart pounding, Cassian held her closer, and his eyes churned with pain as he thought of the battle they yet had before them.
"We should go," Rowan finally mumbled into his chest, and he nodded, reluctantly letting his arms fall from her shoulders. She met his eyes as she pulled away, an accidental glance, and she was suddenly transfixed, finding herself lost in the soft brown. She held back a gasp, worked hard to steady her breathing as her heart suddenly began to beat irregularly. She looked quickly away, pushing herself to her feet and holding out a hand, falling back into his eyes once more as she spoke.
"Can- Can you walk well?" she asked, suddenly aware of the great emptiness of the tower, looking up and marveling for the first time at its enormity, feeling the heaviness in her heart as it sunk. Her eyes fell back to Cassian, who was watching her curiously, his head cocked, his brow furrowed, and she smiled gently, repressing the fluttering heart that burst to life within her chest.
As if waking from a stupor, Cassian shrugged and shifted his legs, working to get them beneath him and stand. With a groan, he clutched at his ribs and looked back to her, eyes squinting in pain. Rowan started forward, kneeling down beside him, wrapping an arm about his torso, her touch as gentle as she could make it. He hissed as she stiffened, straightening, her legs scrambling beneath her for a foothold even as his did, and she winced in empathy, breathing easier when they stood finally, buffeted now by the wind of the tower. Darkness swam before Rowan's eyes, and she realized how much healing Cassian's wound had cost her, sagging a little even as she supported him.
"Are you alright?" he asked suddenly, his voice low in her ear.
"Yeah," she swallowed determinedly, helping him step slowly forward. "Yeah, I'm fine."
Unable to contest the point, Cassian nodded, and they moved back to the tower, gazing up it in despair to the roof, where Jyn had disappeared. Cassian sucked in a deep breath, taking a stumbling step toward the tower, before faltering and falling back into Rowan's arms as she leapt forward to catch him.
"I-," she breathed heavily, "I can shadow travel. We- we can get K, too." Her voice was low as she spoke, swallowing past the ball in her throat. "We can fix him when we get out of here."
"Morpheus said that's what you did on Jakku," Cassian started, and Rowan nodded, cutting him off.
"Yeah," she said. "It's gonna feel weird, but I can do it." Cassian noticed she seemed to be convincing herself.
"He said it saps your energy," he finished, and Rowan nodded again, this time slowly.
"I know," she told him, meeting his eyes, her own resolute, a desperate steeliness deep within. "But I can do it. I have to. You might want to close your eyes," she added, sucking in a deep breath, preparing herself.
Cassian knit his brows together in concern, but did not protest, simply nodding and doing as he was told, his eyes sliding closed. He reached for his blaster as he did so, knowing full well that they might find themselves shadow traveling into more danger, and she admired him for the awareness. She watched him for a moment, the lines about his eyes tightening, resisting the butterflies that fluttered in her gut, frowning sadly, her features seeming to age infinitely in two seconds. Shaking the thoughts from her mind, she looked back at the ground, steeled herself, and reached deep within herself for that icy cold rush of power lurking somewhere behind her heart.
They were suddenly immersed in shadow, and Rowan felt Cassian's body stiffen against her as the chill, ethereal wind rushed over and through them. He held her closer then, and she fought against the beating of her heart, forcing herself to imagine the dimly lit chamber where she had to expect K-2's form to be stretched across the floor.
They arrived with the same abruptness of a ship pulling out of lightspeed, and their breath was forced from their lungs, leaving them gasping for air as they materialized in the hall, to the great surprise of a handful of Stormtroopers stationed there. Cassian's eyes snapped open when his feet found the floor, and adrenaline shot through his veins, steadying him as he took aim and fired upon the stumbling Stormtroopers, still readying their weapons. They fell with dull thuds to the floor, and then he realized he was standing alone. Fear stabbed his gut, and he searched desperately for Rowan, finally finding her in a crumpled heap on the floor at his feet.
"Rowan." Her name was almost a cry on his lips, and he knelt quickly beside her, placing a hand on her shoulder and moving her just slightly till she faced him. Her eyes flickered open, her face deathly pale, and she smirked a little, struggling against her resisting limbs, to sit up.
"Told you I could do it," she grunted, her voice barely audible in the echoing halls.
Cassian shook his head in incredulity, a small smile touching his lips. "C'mon," he said, wrapping an arm about her torso and helping her up. She sagged into him, wincing as he did at the pain in his ribs, and they staggered to their feet, breathing heavily. Rowan's head spun, and she squeezed her eyes closed, grimacing at the pounding in her brain, till it and the flashes of color in the dark of her eyelids stopped, and she could now face the world again.
She was met with the sight of K-2's form, stretched across the floor, surrounded by the bodies of Stormtroopers, and her heart sunk more than it had yet. She was sure BoShek could fix him, that he'd be up and running and cracking jokes as he had always been, so long as they could get him out of there. But that was where the difficulty came in. K-2 was far larger than she remembered.
Cassian noticed her fears, feeling the same ones himself deep within. "We can do it," he told her, his voice low.
She nodded, gritting her teeth against the dead exhaustion in her limbs just as he steeled himself against the pain radiating from his broken ribs. Together, they limped forward, unsure of who was supporting whom, of which steps were theirs and which steps were the other's, till they crossed the agonizing distance of three meters to K's form. They wavered there for a moment, till they finally knelt together, as if they were in some strange three-legged race, and looped their free hands beneath K's shoulder joints. Breath coming in short gasps now, they heaved, groaning against the droid's weight, moving steadily backwards to the elevator directly behind them. Rowan could not have said enough prayers of thanks for its proximity, knowing full well she would not have survived another bout of shadow travel, not after healing Cassian.
Cassian reached blindly behind them, fumbling with the elevator buttons when they reached it, till there was a pleasant "bing", and they opened, gently sliding into the walls. They backed slowly into it, pulling K through the doors as far as possible, till only his feet emerged from it. Letting out a sigh, Rowan helped Cassian into a corner, and he leaned gratefully against the walls, his head falling back against the steel as he controlled his breathing, hand placed gently on his ribs, eyes tightly closed. Rowan limped to the droid's feet, pulling them in with grunts of frustration till they were just clear of the doors.
The motion sensors no longer triggered, the doors slid closed, and Rowan found herself immersed in the flickering emergency lights of the elevator, and she remembered that the base was on lockdown. She wondered how their friends were, out on that great battlefield raging about them, in the dirt and the mud, and she was thankful to be here, with Cassian, even if they were both so exhausted that each movement felt as if they were lifting a mountain. She pressed the button for the roof of the tower, hoping beyond hope that Krennic had not gotten to Jyn, and then moved back to Cassian in the dark, slipping her arm back around his torso, readying herself for her next exertion.
Cassian's eyes slid open as she did so, and he moved his arm to wrap back about her in turn. She was breathing heavily; he could feel her heartbeat through her skin, desperate and strong but failing, and he swallowed audibly, pulling her closer to him. There was a repressed sob in her sigh as he did so, and she let her head fall involuntarily back to his chest, the way she had in the data vault, fearing for his life. She longed to say something, but no words came, just a deep pain in her soul: a fear and a heartbreak she dared not explore. Cassian found himself falling forward, settling his chin upon her head, his eyes slipping closed once more as he rested in the moment, rested in her presence, but they were cut off violently by the "bing" of the elevator once more, and a harsh light flooded over them as they reached the roof, the great satellite dish mounted before them.
Thankful, in a strange way, for the momentary distraction from what churned within her heart, Rowan stiffened, Cassian following suit, and they steadied themselves, adrenaline pumping in their veins as the voice of Director Krennic rose loud above the ships that soared about them in the warm tropical skies: "You, on the other hand, die with the Rebellion!"
- - -
Luke followed the large man, whom he now knew to be named Baze, toward the fighting on the landing pad, finding shelter behind the man's massive cannon, relieved he wasn't on the receiving end of the rapid-fire, heavy artillery, plasma bullets. The Stormtroopers were dropping like flies, and he had long since realized his little blaster was of no importance, and now carried it simply for the sake of appearance. He'd like to at least think he was being useful. About him, the remaining rebels they had rescued seemed to have the same thoughts, and he noticed that Melshi, the captain that had signaled to Luke, wore a strange, impressed smirk. Luke found himself mirroring it.
Above them hovered Romulus, covering their backs with his own fire from the U-Wing's guns. Luke could imagine the hard, determined expression the werewolf wore, knowing it was likely the same as the one he'd had in the caves as they fought Polyphemus. His heart sunk at the memory, and the prophecy, recited to him by the image of Rhea, whispered hauntingly through his mind. He knew that his reunion with Rowan would not be as happy as he had hoped. It would be the beginning of something much worse, a new struggle, a new war that they would have to face, and his heart ached for a time of peace. He was glad when Melshi pulled him from his thoughts, gesturing to a transport ship on his left, growing larger as they approached the landing pad at a run.
"He'll be in there!" Melshi cried over the booming of Baze's cannon. "You're gonna have to grab him and get back to your ship as quick as you can! He'll be able to take you to her!"
Luke nodded, squinting to catch a glimpse of the captain's face against the dirt kicked up about the rebel group by the bombs and bullets, not wishing to waste his breath by shouting back.
"We'll cover you!" Melshi added at the end, and gestured for his troops to follow him. They disappeared then, a short line of them, charging to the right of the landing pad, firing with a savage vengeance for their lost compatriots upon the unprepared Stormtroopers. Suddenly, Luke found himself alone with Baze, still following in the man's footsteps as he loped forward to the ship. Above them, Romulus still hovered, but he could not go much further for fear of crashing into the transport ship, and Luke suddenly wished for the company of Clover, but the satyr had elected to remain on board, taking his position at the large guns, firing upon the Stormtroopers with glee that contrasted wildly his brother, Grover, and brought a strange comfort to Luke.
Baze halted at the open gangplank, putting his back to the dim interior, leveling his cannon upon the fighting, his eyes steely, his expression fierce. In two leaps, Luke cleared the gangplank and found himself startled by the silence inside the ship. Before him, a man knelt upon the floor, speaking hurriedly, desperately into a radio.
"We have the plans!" he exclaimed, before shaking the excitement from his voice and rattling off his elaboration. "They- they found the Death Star plans," he explained. "They have to transmit them from the communications tower! You have to take down the shield gate! It's the only way they're going to get them through!"
Through the radio, a voice cracked back, deep and gruff. "Call up a Hammerhead Corvette. I have an idea," it explained to some unseen officer, before re-addressing the pilot. "Standby, Rogue One- we're on it!" The radio's line clicked dead, and the pilot breathed a deep sigh, looking off into the distance, muttering beneath his breath.
"This is for you, Galen," were the words Luke caught before his heavy footsteps startled the pilot, and he stood, looking surprised, fumbling with a blaster at his side. He'd obviously not had much practice, and, for that, Luke was thankful. Quickly, Luke secured his blaster in its holster and held up his hands, signifying he meant no harm, forcing an urgent calm into his expression.
"I'm not Empire," Luke hastily told the pilot, and the man calmed, his features falling from their tense position.
"Who- who are you?" he stuttered, and Luke took a step forward.
"I'm Luke Castellan," he explained, "and I'm looking for my sister. I'm told you know where she is."
