Endless white halls. The stench of smoke. Bellowing sirens. That was all Mara could see, all she could hear. She could hardly breathe. She turned one corner after another, blood pumping, her eyes streaming with tears.

The princess was always just out of reach. Always two steps ahead. Mara glimpsed the white of her dress every time she turned a corner. She tried to reach out to her but she slipped like mist through her fingers.

Then Vader swept his enormous hand and Mara felt her feet leave the ground. She slammed into a wall and crumpled, feeling powerless for the first time in her life. Vader motioned again and she was trapped behind glass. Mara punched and rammed the invisible barrier but she didn't make a dent, not even a sound.

She tried to speak but her voice echoed and wavered until her words were indecipherable. Mara saw Leia being swarmed by stormtroopers. The princess reached out for her but Mara couldn't break through the glass wall. Darth Vader was behind her, his impassive, gleaming mask all she could see.

Mara's eyes snapped open. For a moment, she couldn't breathe, couldn't feel anything. She didn't know where she was. She forced herself to stay calm as she waited for her vision to focus. She tried to take in a deep breath but a sharp pain in her chest made her gasp. Mara tried again with more care but her lungs felt like they might burst. She sat up slowly, pressing a hand to her ribs. She gritted her teeth when she heard them crack.

She was on a medcentre gurney, that much was obvious. She reached out for something to hold onto, something to keep her body rooted whilst her mind collected itself, and placed her free hand on the side rail, the metal cool against her burning skin. Mara blinked a few times until her eyes adjusted to the bright lights and the room came into focus. The ward was small and crowded. The bed opposite hers was occupied by a human, the one next to it by someone of a species she didn't recognise. Mara could see nurses crisscrossing between beds like hummingbirds between flowers. The room reeked of disinfectant, the air heavy with low chatter.

A hand touched her shoulder. Mara flinched back, barely registering the jarring pain it brought to her ribs. She hadn't seen the nurse standing beside her. How had she not noticed? Mara could hit the dead centre of a target blindfolded and take out five attackers with her hands tied behind her back. Something must've happened to her but she couldn't remember what.

"Where am I?" Her voice cracked from lack of use. How long had she been asleep? Her head hurt like hell, had she hit it? All Mara could remember was getting into an escape pod, the rest was just a fuzzy, black haze.

"Just try to relax." The nurse smiled sympathetically but didn't answer her question. She held a syringe in her hands, filled with a clear liquid. Mara looked down and saw that they'd replaced her uniform with a scratchy medcentre gown. Then she saw the IV drip trailing along her arm. Mara forgot her swimming head and angrily slapped away the syringe, making the nurse jump back.

"Where am I?" she asked again, her voice rising as panic began to set in. The nurse stammered but this time Mara didn't wait for a reply. She tore the IV drip from her arm and jumped off the bed, already searching for an exit. She didn't know where she was but she sure as hell wasn't going to wait around to find out. The nurse took a frightened step back, her hands raised to defend herself, though it'd do little good against someone like Mara. She seemed to realise this and called for aid.

"Patient 14 is out of bed!"

Two orderlies raced over. Their palms were raised to show they meant her no harm but the way they kept advancing betrayed their intentions. Though her legs were barely strong enough to hold her weight, Mara chose to fight. She struck the closest man first in the groin then the ribs, disabling him in the blink of an eye. The second orderly was twice her size and tried to grab her arms but Mara had him flat on his back in moments. A couple of security guards and more nurses rushed over to help. One grabbed her from behind but she slammed the back of her head right into his nose and he let go immediately.

She hurled one nurse off and he smashed into the wall, then Mara grabbed a tray off the bedside table and brought it down hard on a guard's head. Medical equipment went flying, clattering all around her and only making her pounding head worse. Mara was able to punch a nurse out cold but her head was still spinning and she was quickly overwhelmed. A guard wrapped his arms around her from behind and lifted her clean off the ground.

Mara yelped as his tight grip squeezed her broken ribs but she didn't stop. She kicked out at the remaining nurses but they managed to grab hold of her and forced her back down onto the gurney. Mara was shocked that she'd actually been overpowered by the small group. She struggled against their heavy hands as a different nurse injected her with a sedative.

The small, round windows in the medcentre doors meant that passersby could only get a brief glimpse inside on their way past. Bodhi knew this only too well. On his journeys to and from the hangar, he would always linger in the doorway in the hope of getting a better look. Every time he almost had a perfect view of the ward, he either got under the feet of others in the corridor or a nurse shooed him away. Not today.

The medbay team tried to keep traffic in the ward to a minimum, they were in the middle of a war, after all. They couldn't have people hanging around and getting in the way of their work. But once every couple of days, the patients were allowed visitors. Bodhi always applied for permission with the CMO beforehand to make sure that he would be able to enter the medcentre without any hassle. Not that they'd be able to keep him away, even if they wanted to.

Today was one of those days. Bodhi waited outside the medbay doors until a doctor spotted him and hurried over to let him in. The doors beeped and hissed as they opened. They could only be accessed from the inside and a passcode was required to open them. At first, it seemed like an unnecessary security measure. Bodhi thought the Empire was paranoid, but the Rebels locked their patients away behind thick metal doors, often patrolled by armed soldiers. Then he learned how an Imperial spy had once infiltrated the medcentre and murdered three of the Rebellion's top fighters, all of whom were recovering from a mission. After that, the Alliance used what little funds they had to tighten security, not wanting to take any chances.

The doctor led him through the ward, past rows and rows of beds. He recognised her. He'd seen her hurrying around the medcentre on his last visit. Bodhi wasn't sure of her name but he knew she was seeing Yunlo. Relationships were rare on base. That wasn't to say that the Rebels didn't often entertain themselves in each other's quarters; the close-knit community and sense of captivity only heightened the "we might die tomorrow so why the hell not" war spirit. Still, it wasn't often two people stayed together, least not announce it for the whole base to know. It was uncommon but that only made seeing Yunlo and her girlfriend all the more heartwarming. It was almost a sign of hope, that life could still continue despite all that they'd seen, and that they might one day be free of this terrible war.

Bodhi knew his way through the medbay well, he could retrace his steps blindfolded, he'd visited so often. The doctor knew this too but she still showed him to the right beds out of courtesy and because she had a few spare minutes to chat if he had any questions. Bodhi paused by the foot of the first bed. Jyn Erso lay there, her eyes closed, her chest rising and falling as if she were merely asleep. Beside her in the next bed, Cassian Andor was also unresponsive, an all manner of twisting wires and tubes flowing from his body like vines. Bodhi curled his fingers around the bed frame, gripping the metal tight. It still felt strange to see them like this, even after all his visits. Jyn was such a force of nature and Cassian was one of the bravest men he'd ever met. Now they lay still and quiet, their breathing the only sound.

"I'll grab you a chair," said the doctor. When Bodhi smiled and thanked her, she turned and went to find him something to make him more comfortable. He walked around the foot of Jyn's bed and stood in between his two friends.

He visited as often as possible. Sometimes Chirrut and Baze would come with him but more often than not, Bodhi came alone. The Guardian and the assassin both survived Scarif by the skin of their teeth, a little shaken, a little scarred, but relieved to know they'd helped the Alliance. The nightmares and the broken bones meant little when they knew they'd won justice for Jedha's Holy City and for all those they'd lost.

K-2SO wanted to visit Cassian, although the droid was reluctant to admit it. Bodhi would be more than happy to bring K2 along, he thought he had something in common with the reprogrammed security droid and they got on quite well, but droids weren't allowed in the medbay apart from those on staff. Not that K2 would be able to get through the doors anyway. The droid was so tall, it would have to bend double and then it would only complain about its joints.

Bodhi didn't mind that he often visited the medbay alone. He was actually rather relieved to have some time away from the never-ending racket in the hangar. In his old job, he spent hours travelling across the galaxy in silence with just his thoughts and the stars for company. He enjoyed the peace of the ward but he wished Jyn and Cassian would wake up soon. Every day he lived in fear that the council would call him forward and convict him for crimes against the galaxy. It was a ridiculous notion, Bodhi had never hurt anyone and he was just a cargo pilot, hardly the bloodthirsty war criminal some rumoured he was. Still, it would be reassuring to have a few more friends on base. He was brought out of his thoughts when the doctor came back with a chair for him.

"How are they doing? Is there any improvement?"

The doctor gave him a sad sort of smile, like she wished she could give him better news.

"There's been no change, really." She held out the chair and Bodhi took it from her with a grateful smile. "But their scans are all looking very positive. We just have to wait."

As Bodhi nodded, he caught a glimpse of her name badge. Doctor Adina Kuponya, he'd have to remember that.

It was a miracle that any of them had survived the battle on Scarif. They were vastly outnumbered, clawing their way through the very heart of the Empire's operation. Bodhi didn't like to think about that day. Sometimes he couldn't if he tried, like there was something keeping the memories locked away. Some days, all he could see was smoke and sand. Chirrut took a nasty hit from a stormtrooper but Baze dragged him away from the line of fire. They were picked up by a reconnaissance team led by K-2SO, along with a few other lucky survivors. Bodhi remembered contacting the Rebel fleet and little else. He woke up in the medcentre days after the battle. There were holes in his memory but he'd been told he was caught in the blast of an exploding grenade.

Cassian and Jyn were found at the water's edge, kneeling in the sand, holding each other tight. They were picked up by the same crew that found Bodhi. He wished he could've been conscious just to see them, just to smile and say 'we did it, we helped, we're alive'. When Bodhi finally woke up, he found that Jyn had a swelling on her brain from a head injury and was being kept in an induced coma. The doctors knew she would recover soon, it was only a matter of time. Cassian hadn't been nearly so lucky. His body was a myriad of injuries: broken bones, torn muscles, internal bleeding, he had the lot. A bacta tank had fixed most of it. Like Jyn, they just had to wait for him to wake up.

Bodhi glanced at the clock, he didn't have much time that day. Yunlo kept him very busy, which he was grateful for. If his hands and brain were occupied, he didn't have time to worry about his friends or think about what he'd been through. He was scheduled to start work on a burnt-out fighter in an hour and would have to get some lunch before then. He thought about getting something for Yunlo too. She'd probably appreciate it but he didn't want to seem like he was going above and beyond to befriend her, like he was currying favour just to fit in. Then again, he was probably putting too much thought into it.

He was about to bring up his friendship with Yunlo to Doctor Kuponya when something across the room caught his eye. On the opposite side of the ward, a few beds down, lay a woman. She was completely still, her eyes closed. For a moment, Bodhi couldn't think why he recognised her. Then it clicked.

"Is that her from the escape pod?" He tried to keep his voice down, there were many other patients resting on the ward, but his curiosity got the better of him. The doctor looked up from her clipboard and he nodded in the woman's direction.

"She's tough, that one." Doctor Kuponya gave a scornful laugh and turned back to her notes. "Travelled halfway across the galaxy in that tiny pod with a list of injuries as long as your arm."

Bodhi craned his neck to see her better. He'd only caught a glimpse of the woman as she was lifted from the charred pod. Just moments after they found her, a crowd of medics swept her off to the medbay. There was all sorts of gossip circulating the base. Who was this woman? Where had she come from? What happened to her? Some said she might be an Imperial spy. Others claimed she was a refugee from another system. Bodhi didn't want to speculate, the woman had been through enough already, but he couldn't help being curious.

"Is she alright?" She didn't look as bad as she did when they pulled her from the pod. There was a drip in her arm and a couple of bandages around the worst of her cuts and scrapes, but otherwise she seemed to be all in one piece.

"She's a little unfriendly." Doctor Kuponya pulled a face.

"She woke up?" Bodhi looked up at the doctor in surprise, far too intrigued now to try and hide it.

"Came round a few hours ago. She went crazy on a few of the nurses, threatened them with a scalpel." Doctor Kuponya grimaced. A lot of patients suffering from trauma passed through their doors, some were even violent. They were usually wild and breathless until they inevitably calmed down. This woman was different. She was so agile, so precise, her eyes clear and focused. She knew exactly what she was doing. "They managed to give her a sedative but she'll probably be mad as hell when she wakes up."

Bodhi looked back over at the strange woman. He couldn't see much of her features apart from her dark hair and the slight frown that creased her forehead. Then he saw the restraints around her wrists and ankles, keeping her tied down to the bed. An involuntary shiver rolled over his skin.

"What's her name?" He didn't mean to whisper but his voice had somehow evaded him. Doctor Kuponya was looking at the woman too.

"I don't know." She sounded just as uncertain as Bodhi felt. His instinctive sympathy was overwhelmed by unease. There was something different about this woman. He felt uncomfortable just looking at her when he knew what she was capable of, but she was shrouded in such mystery, they couldn't look away. Doctor Kuponya shook her head, her mouth twisted with worry. "We don't know who she is."

Consciousness hit Mara like cold water. She sucked in a sharp breath then whimpered when her ribs ached. She wanted to press her hand against the pain but her body wouldn't comply. Shapes swirled in front of her eyes as her vision focused and an incessant beeping sound made it hard to concentrate. Mara had to narrow her eyes against the blinding artificial lights above her. She turned her head away too quickly, making the world warp and stretch until she felt sick. Once her head had cleared, Mara found that she was back on the medcentre gurney. The back of her left hand was pressed against the side rail. In her uncertain state, it was the only real, solid thing.

She tried to recall what had happened to her but her memories were distant, intangible. Images of the interior of a starship and the echo of blaring alarms were all she could grasp. That, and an overwhelming sense of panic. She had been worried and so, so frightened. Her head may have felt heavy and useless but her instincts were still sharp. Mara heard footsteps tapping against the floor to her right and slowly turned her head to find a woman standing over her, a different one than before. She stared up at her, trying to figure out if they'd met before. No, she couldn't place her, though that might have been because of her blurry memory.

"Who are you?" Mara winced as the words scratched her dry throat. It felt like she'd been asleep for years, she could barely even move her arms and legs. The woman leaned over her so that she could fiddle with the drip in her arm. Mara grimaced at the sight of it, she'd always hated medcentres. The woman had a kind face but her eyes were stern, clever, she'd seen a lot.

"My name is Doctor Adina Kuponya. You're in the medcentre on the Yavin 4 Rebel base." She spoke softly, aware that the sedatives they used could make you feel like you had the hangover to end all hangovers. The doctor stepped back and watched her patient's face crumple.

"Yavin 4?" Mara groaned and closed her eyes again. She'd hoped this had all been some elaborate nightmare. She had to get out of there, she'd wasted enough time already. Mara tried to sit up but found she still couldn't lift her arms. Moving slowly so as not to antagonise her headache or her aching ribs, she raised her head and saw that someone had bound her wrists and ankles to the bed. Panic began to take hold of her again and the doctor must have seen it in her face because she quickly tried to settle her.

"Please, try to relax." Adina placed a gentle hand on Mara's shoulder, attempting to persuade her back down onto the bed. "You have two broken ribs and a possible concussion, you really shouldn't move too much."

Mara shook her off, desperate to stay sitting up.

"You have to help me. I was on the Tantive IV. Our ship was captured by the Empire, they have the princess." If they wouldn't let her go then she had to warn them. Perhaps the Rebels could pass on the message, maybe even send a fleet to follow the Stardestroyer that had captured Leia. It didn't matter, Mara just needed to know the princess was safe. But the doctor wasn't listening.

"You need to stay calm." Adina tried to sound reassuring but she'd seen the damage her patient could do and despite the restraints, she was worried that she might be next. "We're still waiting on a bacta tank to free up. Until then, you're at a very high risk of-"

"Listen to me, you have to let me go!" Mara saw the doctor flinch but she didn't care. She kept pulling at the straps around her wrists, yanking them so hard that the gurney moved a couple of inches. "I have to get back to Alderaan, the princess is in danger!"

"You're not going anywhere soon, I'm afraid." Doctor Kuponya tried to remain calm but the woman was struggling so hard, she was afraid she'd do herself even more damage. Mara was so busy trying to get out of her bonds, she didn't see Adina gesture someone over to help her.

"Let me go!" Mara didn't care that she was frightening the staff, she didn't care that she was injured. She had to make them listen, she had to get to Leia. A nurse rushed over with another dose of sedative. Mara didn't see him make a grab for the IV they'd only just managed to put back in her arm. "Let me go! Let me-" Mara's final word dissolved on her tongue. She felt completely weightless. The sharp pain in her ribs was gone, her anger and frustration now a distant memory. She could feel a numbness seeping across her body and realised too late what they'd done to her. Mara fell back against the gurney, her breathing growing steadily deeper as she slipped back into sleep.

A strange kind of quiet fell over the medcentre. There was always some sort of noise, the machinery and numerous patients made sure of that, but now that the woman's cries had stopped, it was almost eerie.

"That should keep her quiet for another few hours," the nurse said, letting out a relieved sigh.

Doctor Kuponya wanted to share his relief but something was tapping away at the back of her brain. Amidst the confusion and the yelling, she hadn't really been listening to Patient 14, as they'd taken to calling her. Now that peace had returned to the ward, her words had finally sunk in.

"Did you hear what she said?" Adina asked the nurse, who shook his head. "She's from Alderaan."

"So?"

"So, she said she was on a ship with Princess Leia Organa. She said she's been captured." At last, the gravity of the situation seemed to sink in. The nurse looked between the woman on the bed, the medcentre doors, then back to Adina.

"We haven't received any distress signals." He spoke slowly, as if trying to convince himself as well. "Perhaps it's just the concussion, the stress of the journey?"

That made sense. Head injuries often left patients feeling very confused. They'd had Rebel soldiers claim they were ancient kings and rich explorers before they eventually came back to their senses. The physical exertion that this woman had suffered would be enough to make anyone a little confused. It was a valid assumption to make. Adina wished she could believe it.

"She has this." She reached over the woman and pulled up the sleeve of her gown. On her left arm, just below her shoulder, the Crest of Alderaan was tattooed onto her skin. The symbol of the House of Organa was well-known in this system, especially because of the Royal Family's involvement in the Resistance. Adina had recognised the upside-down triangle made of interlacing curves instantly, who amongst the Rebels wouldn't? Just as she thought, the nurse's hopeful expression melted into fear.

"I'll alert the commander," he whispered, then turned and hurried away.

Adina watched him leave, hoping he wouldn't draw too much attention to himself on his way to find someone in charge. She looked down at the woman on the bed. They still had no idea who she was. The tattoo meant she was close to the Royal Family. What if something terrible truly had happened to the princess? Some small part of her wished she'd been mistaken, that this woman really was just confused. Now Adina could only hope the nurse found someone who could help them. She sighed and pulled the bed covers over the sleeping woman, making sure she was comfortable. Adina knew she was important, though she didn't exactly know why. Whoever she was, she was still a patient.

"Don't worry, we'll take good care of you."

Bodhi lay quietly beneath a battered, old X-Wing, trying to figure out how the mechanics worked so that he could be of better use. If he got better at engineering, the others might start to trust him more, or at least respect him, and if he made friends, those higher up might loosen his leash and let him fly again. That was why Bodhi spent the majority of his time in the hangar. He had to learn fast, he feared that at any moment, the council might change their minds and send him off to some dismal backwater planet. He didn't mind the extra hours, it kept him busy and if he was busy, he wasn't thinking about Scarif, or the war, or any of it. He was just a pilot again, just Bodhi, not some war hero or a defected Imperial.

That didn't mean that he didn't get tired. After visiting his friends in the medcentre, Bodhi went straight to the hangar where he spent the rest of the day. Now it was almost midnight and he hadn't eaten anything but he'd got a lot done. He hadn't even spoken to anyone since that morning. The hangar was so quiet that when someone finally did call out to him, he jumped and banged his head against the underside of the X-Wing.

"Hey, Rook!"

Bodhi pushed himself out from underneath the ship, rolling across the floor on a creeper he'd fashioned out of an old dolly board because no one could find him a real one. Rubbing his aching forehead with one hand and clutching his spanner in the other, he found Yunlo standing over him. He didn't know how she managed to appear so intimidating despite her tiny frame but it worked.

"If this is about that hyperdrive, I promise I'll get it done as soon as I've finished with the compressor on Mo's fighter." Bodhi gestured vaguely in the direction of the ships in question. His voice was rough, his words a little slurred, betraying the fact that he was exhausted and hadn't spoken to another person in hours. He would move onto his next assignments in the morning, it was too late to start now.

Yunlo wasn't surprised to find Bodhi in the hangar at such a late hour. She was usually still hurrying around well into the night, running diagnostics and doing final checks on the ships in her care. She often saw Bodhi working as she did her rounds, so she knew exactly where to look for him when Adina asked her to pass on a message.

"I've got good news from the medcentre. It's about your friend."

At this, Bodhi perked up considerably. The tired haze was gone from his eyes, his whole expression brightening as he hurried to his feet.

"What? What happened?" He could feel cold dread curling in the pit of his stomach but he tried to push those invasive thoughts away. He hadn't had much good news recently, just a lot of close calls and sheer dumb luck. Bodhi couldn't remember the last time he hadn't felt anxious when receiving news. Thankfully, Yunlo was smiling.

"She woke up."

It took Bodhi a second to push through his worry and register what she meant, but once it clicked into place, he almost dropped his spanner.

"Jyn?"

"That's the one. She's shaky and a little confused but awake."

Bodhi felt all the anxiety seep out of his body. He suddenly felt light as air, like he did when he was flying.

"Thank you. Thank you." He kept repeating the words until they blurred into one another. He knew he was rambling but Yunlo didn't seem to mind. She smiled softly back at him, pleased that she had some good news for Bodhi after all that had happened to him. "Can I see her?"

"No visitors yet. They're not done checking her over but you should be able to see her tomorrow." Yunlo was under strict instructions from her girlfriend. No unauthorised personnel were allowed to enter the medcentre until the team had made sure that Jyn Erso was stable and comfortable. As much as she wanted to tell Bodhi that he could see his friend after weeks of worrying, he would have to wait until morning. Yunlo gestured in the direction of the hangar exit. "You want me to tell the others?"

"No, I'll do it. Thanks, Yunlo." Chirrut and Baze would be very pleased to hear that one of their fallen companions was almost back on her feet. They were due to leave Yavin 4 within the next few days and were worried they wouldn't see either Cassian or Jyn before they left. They had both risked their lives for the Rebellion but they weren't fighters anymore. They had plans to head back to Jedha and help those who needed it, perhaps even start rebuilding the Holy City. They'd asked Bodhi if he wanted to come with them, Jedha was his home too, after all. He hadn't given them an answer yet.

"No problem." Yunlo told him to go to bed one last time even though she knew he wouldn't listen, then turned and headed back to her own quarters. "See you around, pilot."

Bodhi flinched but thankfully she was too far away to see it. He didn't like the nickname Yunlo and most of the Rebels had given him but he didn't say anything. He was just lucky to be alive, he should be thankful they kept him around at all. Bodhi waited until Yunlo left the hangar to let out a relieved sigh. He leaned against the side of the X-Wing, letting his head fall back onto the metal. Jyn was awake, she was going to be alright. It wouldn't be long until Cassian came back to them too. Bodhi closed his eyes and allowed himself a small smile.

Across the base, the medcentre was dark and still. The hum of machinery carried on into the night but it served as a strange, monotonous lullaby to the ward's unfortunate residents. Jyn Erso's abrupt recovery had caused quite a stir. The few doctors and nurses on duty were tirelessly working to keep their war hero safe, so no one noticed Mara open her eyes.