On a wet and rugged planet in a far corner of the Galaxy, Jyn Erso squinted through the slanting rain at the bar in front of her. It was dingy and inhospitable, nearly indistinguishable from the other low colorless buildings that were packed closely around it. The only thing that set it apart was a splash of red paint on the wall near the door. It looked like an upside down check mark, though someone had tried to add some additional details. If you squinted, it might look like a bird leaping into flight, its wings caught on the downstroke.

Jyn was more interested in finding the bar that what was on the sign. Now that she had found it her biggest concern was getting out of rain. She hurried inside.

The interior of the bar was as uninspiring as the exterior. Despite being nearly empty, it was uncomfortably warm and close inside. The lights were dim and irregular leaving patches of the room in deep shadow. Metal shutters covered the windows, angled to keep the interior hidden from prying eyes outside while affording anyone inside with a glimpse of the street. The harsh bluish light of a street lamp strafed the interior of the bar with narrow bands of light and shadow. It reminded Jyn uncomfortably of some of the prison cells she had been forced to inhabit at one time or another.

If Jyn's entrance was noted by the other patrons they gave no indication. A trio in one of the pod-like booths around the perimeter of the room didn't pause their quietly intense conversation at her entrance. The only other person in the place, a figure seated at a shadowed table, appeared to be quietly drinking himself senseless straight from the bottle. Nevertheless, Jyn kept her guard up as she approached the bar.

She took a seat at the bar as the bartender emerged from a doorway behind the counter. He was a large non-human of a race Jyn didn't recognize. His body was shaped like an egg with a long face that resembled a tapir. He had no neck to speak of and his head sat directly atop a pair of burly sloping shoulders from which a long multi-jointed pair of arms sprang. A secondary pair of arms, shorter and ending in long-fingered hands, was below them.

"Get something for you?" he grunted in a deep nasal voice.

"Whatever's local," Jyn replied.

"We got strot or alrot."

"Strot, then."

He poured a measure of clear alcohol into a glass and slopped an opaque amber liquid in after it until the glass was full. Jyn pushed her credits across the bar and collected the drink. She didn't recognize the name of the drink, but based on the fumes it was probably pure alcohol. She took an experimental sip and managed to not choke. After she got past the initial burn it wasn't so bad, though the point was clearly the alcohol content and not the flavor.

Jyn kept her head down as she nursed her drink. She was nearly to the bottom of her glass by the time the conversation in the booth wrapped up and the three people departed one by one without saying a word. The bartender lumbered out after they left to collect the glasses and swipe indifferently at the surface of the table with a rag. He returned behind the bar and began to put the glasses away.

"You want something else?" he asked.

"Just waiting for a friend."

"We're closing soon," the bartender said pointedly. Jyn placed another handful of credits on the bar.

"I'll wait a little longer, if that's okay." The bartender shrugged - an impressive motion with four shoulders - and reached for the credits. Jyn dropped her hand back on top of the small pile of currency.

"I'm looking for Cassian," she said in a low voice. The bartender's hand paused. Jyn looked at him intently. It was hard for her to read the body language of a species she had never met before, but she guessed he was worried. Slowly he withdrew his hand and went back to cleaning glasses.

"What for?" he finally asked.

"Just talk," Jyn said and the bartender made a honking sound through his long nose. Jyn could tell it was a scoffing laugh. She didn't blame him. "Talk about a job."

The bartender kept cleaning glasses silently. Jyn could tell she wasn't going to get anything if she kept going like this. She left a few credits on the bar and withdrew the rest, making sure to let them rattle noisily against the rest of the credits in her pocket. "I'll stop by again later. Just let him know I came about a job."

"You heard the lady."

For a moment Jyn was confused. Who was he talking to? But she heard the sound of a footstep behind her and everything fell into place

Before she could react, a hand grabbed her roughly by the shoulder. She was hauled off the stool and her back slammed hard against the bar. She grabbed the arm that still held her shoulder and twisted, breaking the hold. She tried to drive her elbow into her attacker's face but he leapt clear.

Jyn straightened up and faced the drunk from the shadowed table.

"Hello, Cassian."

The man who faced her was unmistakably her old ally, but it was no wonder she hadn't recognized him earlier.

Cassian Andor did not look good. His cheeks were sunken and his hooded eyes were shadowed. He had never been a large man but his build had grown gaunt. His posture was different, too. It was hard to put her finger on what had changed because he had never had the stiff upright bearing of a soldier, but now the easy grace in his slouch was gone. Instead of looking alert but relaxed he just looked tired.

And he was thoroughly drunk.

Despite being obviously worse for drink, he still had enough presence of mind to stay just out of Jyn's range. He swayed a little as he stood but his expression was as sharp as ever.

"What are you doing here?" he demanded. His voice was the same. Somehow that made it worse, to hear the familiar voice from this shadow of a man.

"I was just in the sector," Jyn began. Cassian lunged forward and grabbed her collar in both hands. Not in the mood for conversation, got it, Jyn thought. She immediately shoved him and he fell back, but he managed to hang onto her coat. They grappled for a second - Cassian trying to toss her out the door and Jyn trying to hold her ground - until she threw him off and he staggered back into a table. Someone had prudently bolted the tables to the floor, so he managed to stay on his feet. Using the table to brace himself, Cassian straightened up and pointed over Jyn's shoulder.

"Vreet. Throw her out," he said.

Jyn whirled to face the bartender, ready for a fight, but the alien cast a dour look at the two humans.

"Nah. Off the clock."

Jyn watched cautiously, but Vreet made no move towards her. He pulled a Vreet-sized rain cape from behind the doorway next to him and lumbered unconcernedly between her and Cassian on his way out the door. It was hard to tell in the dim bar, but for a second Jyn thought he winked one of his beady eyes at her as he passed. The pneumatic seal on the door hissed open as he exited and for a moment the bar was filled with the drumming sound of the rain. Then Jyn and Cassian were left alone.

She looked back at him but he had turned his back to her.

Looking at Cassian's slumped shoulders, Jyn felt her emotions roil. She wasn't sure what she expected to find when the New Republic sent her looking for the former Captain Andor, but it wasn't this. In her mind he was always a little larger than life, though he was average height. He was always a little louder, though he never raised his voice.

This is why they say you should never meet your heroes, a little voice said. Jyn pushed the thought aside. She opened her mouth, not really sure what she was going to say to him, but he broke the silence first.

"What do you want?" he asked.

"I'm here to offer you a job," she said. Cassian lifted his head but still wouldn't turn around. Jyn could read the skepticism in the gesture. "It's true. The New Republic needs you. You're the best intelligence officer they ever had. They want Captain Andor back." She paused to see how that would go over, but he didn't react. Jyn shifted her weight awkwardly. "Actually, they wanted me to tell you you're a Major now. They gave you a promotion after Nakadia. I told them it probably wouldn't change your mind, but…"

Cassian laughed mirthlessly. He retrieved the bottle from the table he had vacated earlier and sank into the nearest chair. For a long moment he seemed lost in thought, eyes focused somewhere in the middle distance, until he finally lifted his gaze to Jyn. He jerked his chin at the other chair and Jyn joined him. As she pulled the chair out Cassian took a drink directly from the bottle.

"I knew you were coming," he said at last, letting the bottle fall back to the table with a thunk. Jyn reacted to his words with surprise and Cassian glanced up at her briefly. "I heard the Republic was looking for me, but I didn't think they'd send you. Did they think it would help their case?" he asked with a bitter sneer.

"I volunteered," Jyn said evenly. Cassian acknowledged that with a nod.

"I decline."

"I haven't even told you what the job is," Jyn said, allowing a hint of frustration to creep into her voice. She had spent months tracking him to this system and another week searching all the bars on this planet for his. She knew it wouldn't do any good to tell Cassian how many resources the New Republic had spent looking for him, but this wasn't an idle search. Even now a courier ship was on standby at the spaceport, just in case.

"It doesn't matter. I'm done with the Republic," Cassian said.

Jyn felt a chill. The possibility that Cassian was now working against the Republic had never occurred to her. She realized maybe it should have. "Are you against the Republic, then?" she asked with studied casualness.

Cassian lurched forward in his seat. "Never!" he growled. "I would never betray the Republic."

"You deal in a lot of information here," Jyn pointed out. "You expect me to believe you only sell information to nice law-abiding citizens?"

"There's a lot of grey area between working for the Republic and being against the Republic. You should know that," he added pointedly. He took another swig from the bottle as he leaned back in his chair. This time when he returned the bottle to the table Jyn picked it up and took a drink herself. It didn't burn like strot, but it didn't make for easy drinking. As she replaced the bottle she noted that it was already close to empty.

"No, I'm not against the Republic, but I'm done with them all the same," Cassian said. There was something about the finality in his voice, the bitter acceptance, that shook Jyn. Whatever made Cassian turn away from the Republic that he had once devoted his life to ran deeper than a longing for a fresh start. Something in him had rotted.

"They need you, Cassian," Jyn said simply. "We need you."

"Need? What does the Republic need with me? Huh?" Cassian retrieved the bottle and took another long pull before returning it to the table with a slam. "A spy? An assassin? Whose petty political goals am I supposed to serve?

"That's not-"

"That's what I'm good at. What else would I be needed for? No. If the Republic needs me then it's not the Republic I fought for."

"The war is over but the Empire isn't finished. There are still the local warlords, Imperial sympathizers who haven't let it go. That's why-"

Cassian leaned toward her and held up a finger. "Answer me this. Is this a political job?"

"You'd be working for the Republic, of course it's a political job."

"You know what I mean."

Jyn wanted to say no. She was good at lying, she could have just opened her mouth and said whatever would have convinced him. But somehow she couldn't bring herself to lie to Cassian. You should have sent someone else, General, Jyn thought ruefully. Cassian nodded slowly at her silence.

"That's what's I thought. My answer is no."

Jyn slumped back in the chair with defeat. She should have known better than to pin her hopes on someone else like this, even if it was Cassian. She looked across the table at him but this time she really looked at him.

She hadn't realized until this moment how much she had built him up in her mind. Around the actual man Cassian Andor she had constructed another man, someone who was braver and stronger and more devoted than the real thing. The image of Cassian she had held onto since the last time she had seen him over five years ago was more like an icon than an actual memory of her old friend. She could understand that now. In a strange sort of way she was grateful for the reminder.

Cassian was a scarred and tired veteran who, like many others, had been let down by the reality of the Republic in one way or another. That was all.

Jyn pulled a short-range communicator out of her jacket and sent a hailing signal. Cassian looked up at the sound.

A moment later the communicator beeped and a tinny voice said, "This is ship Constellation, over."

"Constellation this is Aurora. Ready for rendezvous whenever you are," Jyn said.

"Roger that. What're your coordinates?"

"Sending now."

"Receiving." There was a pause. "How'd it go?" the person on the other end asked.

"No good," Jyn replied, locking eyes with Cassian. "I'm coming back alone."

"Sorry to hear it," Constellation said conversationally. "We'll see you shortly. Over and out."

As the communicator went silent Cassian rose unsteadily to his feet. Jyn kept her eyes fixed on the back of his chair as he walked over to the bar and set the empty bottle on its surface. She sensed him approach but she didn't look up. What more was there to say?

"Jyn." She scowled at the painful sound of hearing her name in his voice and ignored him.

She was startled into looking up when she felt something brush her cheek. Cassian gently tipped her face up to his. Half his face was obscured by the shadows of the shutters but the expression on the portion she could see was too subtle read. Though she couldn't see his eyes she could feel the intensity of his gaze.

"It's good to see you again," Cassian said softly. Slowly, he lowered his face towards hers.

Jyn froze in surprise and confusion. As his face drew closer she realized something was wrong.

Cassian's hand dropped from her cheek and he slowly fell face first onto the floor, dead drunk.

Jyn turned and stared at him, still trying to make sense of the sequence of events that had transpired in just the last two minutes. Cassian declined the job, she contacted her ride, Cassian passed out. Cassian passed out after saying and doing something so unexpected and inexplicable that Jyn was still struggling to understand it. She shook herself. Forget it.

Hastily she knelt next to Cassian and rolled him onto his back. A quick examination revealed he was still breathing, though there was already a formidable lump on his forehead. Luckily he had fallen at an angle or he would have ended up with worse.

Jyn sat back on her heels with a heavy sigh. She let all her disappointment and stress and anger out on that single long breath.

To hell with this. The mission was a bust. All those months of work down the drain with nothing to show for it. And worse, they still had to find someone to replace Cassian. She shot the unconscious man a resentful look. He was still the best. She could tell. He had known the Republic was looking for him. She guessed his presence in the bar tonight wasn't a coincidence, either. And of course, this bar was notorious as a nexus of information. Whether Cassian collected it himself or simply knew the people who knew and put them in touch with the people who would pay to know, the secrets of the Galaxy flowed through his fingers. Maybe he was done with the Republic, but some part of him was still in the fight.

But he turned her down flat. He wouldn't even hear her out. Some information broker you are, Jyn thought with one last scornful look at Cassian as she pushed herself to her feet. You'll be regretting this in the morning.

Outside she could hear the rumble of the Constellation's engines over the constant rain. Perfect timing. She was ready to leave this rock and its ungrateful inhabitants behind.

However she couldn't help pausing in front of the open door to take one last look at Cassian. He was still lying on the floor where she had left him, his figure outlined by the bands of light and shadow coming through the shutters. Once again she was reminded of the segmented view of the world through a prison cell.

The last time she had been in a cell was in the labor camp on Wobani. Wobani, where she had been abducted by K2 and dragged to Yavin 4.

Jyn smiled ruefully at the memory.

The communicator in her pocket crackled to life. "Aurora, come in. You're not at the rendezvous."

"Yeah, sorry. Can one of you meet me? I need a hand with my luggage."

Buckle up for the long haul with this one. There are so many places I'm taking this story and I hope you'll stick with me until the end.

Just to get it out of the way, though it would come up later, Jyn and Cassian are the only members of Rogue One to survive. Many familiar faces will make their appearances in turn but no one else from Rogue One.

Big thanks to my beta reader M. Rae for confirming that chickens are, in fact, canon.