A.N. And we're back to Cassian with this chapter... sort of.

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The door to the main area of the med bay slides open to a burst of warm air—it's the warmest room in the base—revealing a room much quieter than the last time she saw it. Quieter… but no less crowded. Every bed is full, and in fact there are more beds present than ever before, with mattresses even on the floor when there are no more frames to support them. It's late morning, but, after a long night of activity and desperate bids to save lives, the bay is shut down to allow those who are able to rest. Lights are dimmed, the few voices that break the silence only murmur, and the few people that are mobile—medics moving between beds to check on patients—do so quietly.

She makes her way to one of the furthest corners of the large room, searching for one person in particular. Yevez hadn't been able to give Cassian a private room, because in fact even the private rooms had become multi-occupant rooms, with extra cots shoved in the rooms in order to maximize patient space. Therefore, he's still in the main area, amidst a sea of other patients, but he's tucked away in one of the corners of the large room; it's the most privacy Yevez could give him.

She finally reaches his cot, and stands a few feet away so as not to give away her presence to the one person sitting beside him. Taking him in, she decides he definitely looks better now, without her hands the only thing keeping him alive, keeping him from bleeding out, without a metal rod piercing his rib cage and blood pouring from his wound, and eyes that struggle to open but won't. Now, he looks relaxed and very, very much alive. He lies mostly on his side, back facing the wall and propped up so that he can't roll onto it. The straps of a specialized bandage which immobilizes his left shoulder are visible, but other than that, a loose shirt covers the evidence of his trauma. Beneath it, she knows his ribs are deeply bruised black and several bandages cover the frightening wound that fought tooth and nail to take Cassian from her. She's ever so grateful that Yevez fought back just as hard, and won. That Cassian had enough strength left in him to fight with him.

His face is relaxed and his chest rises and falls evenly, there's not even a breathing apparatus attached to him, though she knows there used to be. She closes her eyes and listens for just a moment, to the wonderful sound of him breathing.

Satisfied, Jyn lets her eyes fall to the other person by Cassian's side: Vorin Yevez. He sits in a chair pulled up next to the cot, leaned over with his elbows on his knees and head in his hands, for all the world looking like the most defeated person in the world.

She closes the gap between them and steps around him, moving to Cassian's head. Yevez startles when she passes him, clearly having been unaware of her presence, and mumbles something about Jedi tricks, before returning to his position with a slight modification: his head rested only in his left hand so that he could look at her.

"How is he?" she asks quietly, kneeling down next to her partner and carefully brushing the hair out of his face.

Yevez attempts to stumble to his feet and offer her the chair when he sees her kneel, but she flaps a hand at him and scolds, "Don't be ridiculous. You're dead on your feet." And really, he looks it. His eyes are bloodshot, dark bruises are smeared beneath his eyes and though his hands don't tremble—a surgeon's hands can never tremble—every move of his body screams of exhaustion.

He sighs and settles down again, rubbing a hand over his face before answering her question. "He's damn lucky to be alive," Yevez growls lowly, voice a wreck and so rough she can hardly hear him. "But he is alive and he's going to stay that way if he knows what's best for him," he threatens, glaring at his best friend with one eye. "To answer your question with more specifics," he continues, "his several broken ribs—only fractures, though, thank the Force—are stable, his shoulder is set and the swelling is already going down, his other shoulder I've stitched and all that is doing well. It's the amount of blood he lost and the internal trauma that have me concerned, and I won't know more until he wakes up. Which won't be for quite some time."

"But he's breathing on his own," Jyn points out, feeling the need to grab onto something positive.

Yevez huffs. "Yes, he has that going for him, for now anyway. Cassian's never done well with an artificial breather, so I try to keep him off of them as much as possible."

"But he's healing. He'll be fine."

He shakes his head regretfully. "I won't guarantee it, Jyn, because I've promised not to lie to you, and I just… I want to, to promise it, but I can't. Because that was so damn bad." Yevez covers his face with his hands once more and moans, "I've told him so many times that he's going to get himself killed if he doesn't stop being such a damn hero, but I hoped that it would never come this close again, not after Scarif… but who am I kidding? I knew this would happen, and this is exactly what I feared."

Hand still stroking Cassian's hair, Jyn reaches out her other to grip Yevez's wrist. "This is who Cassian is. He'll always be running headfirst to save others. We can't change that about him."

He draws in a shuddering breath and squeezes her hand, but doesn't look at her. "I know. Force help me I know."

"And really, would you want to? Would you want to make Cassian not Cassian anymore?"

"No, of course not. It's just that sometimes…" he trails off.

Jyn waits for a moment, but when he doesn't continue, she prompts, "'Sometimes?'"

"Sometimes, I wish I weren't the one patching him back together, holding his life in my hands. Because one of these days, Jyn…" he finally picks his head up out of his hand and locks eyes with hers. "One of these days, I'm terrified that he's going to show up with something I can't fix. That I won't be able to save him."

Her heart drops, shuddering at the thought that he conjures. She doesn't want to think about it, but it's a thought that's frequented her mind as well. Only, she's never really thought about it from Yevez's perspective, at least, not until she got an up close and personal experience of what it is like. She doesn't know what to say, doesn't know how to comfort a person whose best friend of a decade almost died. Again. She doesn't even know what she would want to hear, what might comfort her, so finally she settles for the truth, since Yevez is always good enough to give it to her. "I can't say that won't happen," she murmurs, echoing his earlier words. "I worry about it, too. Or that he won't even make it back. So, when those thoughts overwhelm me, and bring me to my knees, I try to remember all the times he has made it back. All the times you have performed miracles. All the times we've had together."

Yevez lets out a harsh breath. "And that makes it better?"

"Sometimes. And sometimes not. I think there's just no easy place to be when someone you care about is hurt."

"Well, that we can definitely agree on."

She nods, letting them lapse into momentary silence, before she queries, "What are you doing here, anyway?" She winces the moment the brisk words leave her mouth, realizing it makes her sound like she doesn't want him here—which couldn't be further from the truth—that she would rather deprive him of sitting with his friend. "I mean, I would have thought you wouldn't be able to rest, what with all of the other patients you have to see?" she clarifies.

He laughs quietly. "I do, I have too many patients to see, but I've been up for thirty-six hours, which isn't really all that much when you think about it, except that the last twenty or so I've been running around—literally—plugging holes and operating and organizing, and about an hour ago I fell."

Jyn whips her head around to stare at him in concern, scanning for injuries.

He drops her hand in order to wave his own in the air, as if he could wave her concern away so easily. "It's fine, I just tripped over something, or my feet got tangled up, I don't know. And I didn't injure anything except my pride, but my fellow medics in their infinite wisdom have deemed me in need of a rest. It doesn't do to have a surgeon's hand shake or eyes blur, let alone trip out of nowhere. So, they ordered me to leave to rest, but I didn't want to and negotiated a compromise, as this was the furthest I was willing to go."

Jyn smirks. "It's a wonderful and terrible thing, having friends who care about you."

"Yes, it's wonderful but they're all so horribly bossy."

"Speaking of bossy," Jyn starts, tone turning deceptively sweet, "it occurs to me that something may have escaped your notice—but not mine—and therefore I need to remind you of it."

Yevez stares at her, eyes wide, clearly trying to remember what he'd done wrong and bracing himself for what's to come.

"Yesterday, you used your bossy tone."

"Well, yes…" he starts carefully, "you did tell me to, though."

"Let me clarify. I told you to in the hangar," she agrees, "but then you had to go and use your bossy voice on me in here. Do I need to remind you that you promised never to use your bossy tone on me?"

His mouth opens and closes, before he swallows. "Can I plead extenuating circumstances?"

She just stares at him and raises an eyebrow.

"Extreme circumstances, then!" Yevez declares desperately. "My friend, your partner, was dying!"

She crosses her arms.

"What if I promise never to do it again!"

She frowns, though inside she's enjoying this brief moment of levity. "Until the next 'extreme circumstance' comes along and you forget. And let's face it, with our occupations, 'extreme circumstances' are far too frequent."

"True," he concedes. "But, I think you'd agree some such circumstances have already occurred since our first meeting and I have only used my 'bossy tone'—as you have dubbed it—on you once. Which I feel is a fairly good track record."

She nods primly, turning away from him to hide her grin. "I will allow you that, but don't let it happen again," she threatens.

They lapse into silence, both staring at the prone, silent figure in bed, as if their gazes could will him awake.

Their silent vigil is interrupted a few minutes later by a hand suddenly appearing on Jyn's shoulder, gently squeezing.

Jyn starts in surprise and half turns, still kneeling on the floor. Gazing up at the person who's joined them, her eyes meet Leia's.

Jyn hadn't thought it possible, but Leia actually looks tired. Not even tired, but fatigued. Exhausted. Of course, it's not that Jyn didn't think it possible that Leia could be tired—absolutely not, the woman works three times as hard as everyone—it's that she's never seen it show, and certainly not to this extent. She can only imagine how tired the Princess must be in order for her not to even bother hiding it.

"How is he?" the other woman asks with a quiet murmur, eyes searching Jyn's face, before shifting towards Cassian's.

Jyn clears her throat. "He's stable, mostly. Yevez put a lot of work in and… and he should be waking up, just not for a while."

Leia's shoulders slump and she braces her hands on the back of Yevez's chair. "Good, that's good." The amount of relief in her voice is palpable. "I can't stay, I just needed to…" she starts to step back.

Jyn leaned forward and captured her wrist in her hand gently. "Wait, Leia, just wait. Sit." She flags down a passing medic, pointing at Yevez's chair, clearly asking for another to be brought over. The medic nods and scurries off.

"I can't," Leia objects, though clearly she wants to do just that. "There's so much that needs to be done."

"What, what needs to be done right this minute or in the next two hours?" she counters.

"Informing the council of developments."

Jyn quirks an eyebrow, knowing Leia's already done that.

"Well, updating the council," she clarifies.

Jyn shakes her head. "They can wait a few hours, and by that time you'll have more of an update anyway."

"The pilots coming back from the excursion will need debriefing."

"They will but they are not back yet," she points out.

"And the—"

"Leia," she interrupts, shifting her grip so that she grasps Leia's hand and squeezes, "we all know this base, this entire Alliance would fall apart without you, however I think it can manage for a few hours while you sit down with your brother and catch a few moments rest. So that you don't fall apart from exhaustion, and can continue to hold us all together."

She can see that her resolve is crumbling, so Jyn rises and slowly grasps her shoulders, maneuvering her so that she sits in the chair the medic had just brought to them.

The fact that Leia doesn't even protest that she's being forced to sit, or that Jyn should be the one taking the chair, speaks volumes. It's only moments before Leia's hand is reaching out and curling around Cassian's.

Jyn chooses to sit on the floor at the foot of Cassian's bed, back to the wall, elbow resting on the bed just close enough so that she can feel Cassian's presence, eyes moving back and forth between watching Yevez and Leia, and the steady rise and fall of Cassian's chest.

It is this position, facing the entrance, that allows her to intervene when thirty minutes later, someone bursts through the doors to the medical bay, wildly looking around. Their eyes land on Leia, who is now leaned over, head resting on Cassian's bed, his hand still clasped in hers, sound asleep. The moment the new person's eyes stop on Leia, Jyn is on her feet.

She moves so fast that Yevez—who'd been slumped in his chair, head tilted back painfully, snoring softly—startles awake and falls from his chair. He gives her a cross look, but she doesn't give him the chance to say anything before she's moving past him, on a collision course with the person who's rapidly walking towards Leia.

The distance closes and Jyn is able to pick out more of their features, recognizing her as an ensign named Jorell. The ensign doesn't even see Jyn, though, until she is directly in front of her and forced to stop with Jyn blocking her path.

"Excuse me," Jorell says politely, trying to step around Jyn.

Jyn sidesteps and blocks her path again. "No."

Jorell blinks, breaking her laser focus on Leia in order to bring her gaze to meet Jyn's face for the first time. "Excuse me?" she repeats, this time a question.

"No," Jyn says more firmly, taking a step forward and forcing the ensign to step back.

"You don't even know—"

"—What you're doing here?" Jyn interrupts. "I do, actually. I might not know the specifics, but I know that you are here to talk to General Organa, and I said no."

"You can't—"

"Is what you are about to tell her or ask of her life threatening?"

"No, but—"

"Will it endanger the Alliance, any of our missions, or any of our personnel if it waits just a few hours?"

"No, but—"

"Then it can wait."

"I really don't think it can—"

"It can," Jyn declared with finality, staring the ensign down. Daring her to object.

It is much to her surprise when after a moment of indecision, the other woman straightens her shoulders, lifts her chin, and returns Jyn's stare. "It can't. However, you have the clearance to deal with this matter, Lieutenant Erso, and I would be happy to brief you on it instead of the General given your experience and clearance in Intelligence."

Jyn has to admit that she is privately impressed. She's known this ensign a little while—she's someone coming up through Intelligence, recruited several months ago—but so far she hasn't done anything remarkable, and certainly nothing like standing up to a superior officer. She's going to go far, Jyn thinks with satisfaction, before she sighs and her heart sinks, because the ensign's conviction means Jyn has to leave. She doesn't want to, but she told Leia that they could survive for a few hours, and she's going to make sure that is possible.

"All right, Ensign Jorell, just please wait one moment."

Jyn turns back and returns to her partner's side. Placing a gentle kiss on Cassian's cheek, she rests her forehead against his for a moment, eyes closed, just as she had in the Falcon, untold hours earlier. "You'll be here when I get back," she whispers, an order wrapped up in a promise. "Don't make a liar out of me."

She rises and turns to Yevez, who watches her with kind eyes. She doesn't even have to say anything, before Yevez offers, "I'll look after them," he nods to both Cassian and Leia, who both slumber on. "And when I can no longer sit with him, I'll make sure someone else does."

"Thank you."

He shrugs it off, as if to say it's what anyone would do. Jyn knows it's not.

"Really, Vorin, thank you. Cassian isn't the only one lucky to call you a friend, I am as well," she tells him with a smile on her face.

He stares at her for a few moments, a small hint of surprise on his face, and she starts to walk away before he tentatively calls out, "That's the third time."

She stops in her tracks and turns back to see him twisted in his chair in order to see her. At the blank of confusion she gives him, he elaborates, "That's the third time you've called me by my first name. Yesterday, in med bay, that was the first."

She blinks at him, startled, and has to think back to the chaos of that day, sort through the panic and horror, and realize that he's right.

"Until yesterday, you've never called me by my first name," he declares, tired eyes searching hers, searching for an answer to his unasked question.

A protest rises to the tip of her tongue and dies, when she realizes he's right. And then she wonders why it matters? Yevez calls Cassian, Andor, most of the time, but he also calls him Cassian. Is it important?

Pondering it for a moment, she realizes that it is. While for some friendships and relationships, calling each other by last names is normal and by no means inhibits the familiarity or closeness of the two people, for others, it's a mechanism used to keep someone at arms-length. And, upon further examination, that's exactly what she's done, and Yevez has picked up on it. Though she's warmed to him these past few months as she's gotten to know him more and more, as his cheery and honest attitude has blown right past her defensive walls, she thinks it is in fact his likeableness that has made her unwilling to drop her arm and let him closer. It's pretty impossible not to like Yevez, and Jyn has never been one to go down without a fight or follow the masses, so subconsciously, she's thrown up every defense she has in order to maintain her stubbornness.

But as she thinks about it now and recognizes what a subconscious part of her has been doing, she realizes she no longer wants to keep him at arms-length. She wants to embrace him not only as a friend to Cassian, but as a friend to her. And she can see by the faint hope in his eyes that he desperately wants her to as well.

So, while she will not apologize for her distance these past months, right here, right now, she makes a silent promise to herself: she agrees to a new start. Not a fresh start, for that is entirely unnecessary; despite the occasional opportunity she takes to rib him for the stunt he pulled when they first met, she holds no ill will towards the medic. And their friendship and camaraderie has developed over the past several months, despite her best efforts to the contrary. So no, not a fresh start, but a new one.

She smiles and breaks the silence that fell while she thought things over, looking at her friend warmly and stating simply, "You're right, Vorin, I haven't. So, don't get used to it."

She leaves it at that and walks away, following after the ensign. Just before she exits med bay herself, she throws a look over her shoulder and sees Yevez still sitting, still looking tired, but with a wide smile on his face.


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A.N.2 Next chapter has Cassian in it for real this time :)