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youkailuvr · 2 years ago

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RebelCaptain Secret Santa 2023

Hi @luciechat !

I’m not your original RCNSS, but I volunteered to whip up a little something for you when your original SS had irl happenings that prevented them from writing it.

Your prompts honestly sounds very much like something I would like to read. As usual, this almost grew a life of its own and I hope it meets enough of your prompts to make it enjoyable. It's titled <a href=https://archiveofourown.org/works/52791835>Choice</a> and it's also on AO3.

It’s been a heck of a year and I haven’t really written anything for a long time, so I really hope you’ll like this.

Enjoy! (Summary is below; full fic below the cut.

*****

She scoffed, sipping again at her cider. “Cassian, the only reason I’m even here in the first place was because Melshi and the others broke me out of prison. You can’t seriously think I actually would have come if I had been given the choice? With who I was then? Not a chance.”

Nearly a year after Scarif, the surviving crew of Rogue One found themselves fully immersed in the Rebel Alliance’s efforts against the Empire. Not only was the Alliance searching for a more permanent base after evacuating Yavin IV, but they were actively and heavily recruiting to boost their numbers, which is how Cassian Andor and Jyn Erso found themselves on the miserable little world of Agmir.

Cassian had only been fully cleared for all field missions a month previously, finally relieving him of the frustration of being on desk duty and intelligence analysis. During his lengthy recovery (which involved several surgeries and many hours of physical therapy), he and Jyn had grown closer. Jyn’s recovery had taken much less time than his and, as she found her place in the Rebellion, her talents as a fighter and coder had not gone unnoticed. Jyn had already been on a few missions with the Pathfinders and given several (unofficial) sparring lessons, but she always returned to Cassian’s side after each mission.

Once Cassian was cleared for full duty, he made it clear (with Jyn’s permission) to Draven that he would only be taking field assignments with her as his partner. (As much as it pained him to not have K-2SO by his side, Cassian had yet to find a suitable body for the droid’s backup disks.) Draven had then given him the assignment to investigate the planet Agmir for possible Alliance recruits and suppliers. A milk run, really, an easy job that Cassian hadn’t had to do for years, but having a non-life-threatening mission for once had seemed appealing at the time.

If only he had known about the rain.

Agmir was a developed planet, semi-populated, with the standard sector mix of rural and urban, wealthy and less-fortunate, law-abiding and law-breaking. For most of the planet’s rotational period, it was temperate – a few rains here and there to avoid droughts, but mostly pleasant. For the remaining two standard months, however, Agmir received eighty percent of it’s annual rainfall, resulting in daily rain and many destructive storms.

And, of course, Cassian and Jyn arrived a month into that two-month window. They realized very quickly that the rainy season was not prime time for tourists or even off-worlders in general, so they changed their cover stories from a clueless vacationing couple looking to explore the ‘edges of civilization’ to a pair of traveling laborers looking for work who had the poor luck to land on Agmir during the worst time of the year.

The rain would be bearable, Cassian thought as they entered the local bar and shook the rain from their shoulders, if only we were getting results. As Jyn walked to the bar to get drinks and Cassian headed for what had become their customary seats, he reflected on what was likely to be a failed mission. They had visited several cities so far and had currently been in this primarily working-class city for a week now. Typically, those lower on the social rungs of society tended to be more sympathetic to the Rebellion’s cause and more willing to fight for it.

However, it was becoming quite apparent that the people of Agmir were completely uninterested in any of the happenings of the galaxy outside of their little world – no one had even remotely shown any desire to stand against the Empire. And Agmir didn’t produce anything that the Rebellion could use; at least, not that they couldn’t get elsewhere for lower costs and easier shipping.

Jyn returned with two glasses of a simple brewed cider, easily the least alcoholic drink the bar offered and one that had become their go-to. They sat side-by-side on stools against the back wall of the bar, no table in front of them, but two small tables on either side, shared by other stools nearby. He took his with a word of thanks and kept his eyes on a group of five hard-looking laborers that had just walked in – already loud and possibly already drunk.

“So, when do we get to leave here again?” Jyn sipped at her cider, looking askance at his questioning expression as she did so. “Don’t give me that look. You know as well as I do that this place doesn’t offer us anything.”

“True,” Cassian replied. “We should stick it out until the end of the rainy season. Not being cooped up for days on end with nothing other than work to occupy the minds of the people could be helpful.”

Jyn rolled her eyes. “I’ve seen it before, Cassian – I used to be like every person here. Nothing will change their behavior until it affects them personally.”

Cassian’s attention was caught on the men who had walked in after them and he could tell Jyn was watching them, too. They seemed to be the rough and tough sort of folks – bodies large and shaped by decades of manual labor. But their voices were growing in volume, and they kept turning to look towards the rest of the bar. Cassian wasn’t sure if it was true, but he thought they looked toward him and Jyn a little more often than was normal. He kept an eye on them all the same.

Jyn’s words finally registered. He looked at her, lowering his drink from where he had raised it. “I don’t believe that.”

“What, that these people don’t care?”

“That you didn’t.”

Cassian took a drink of his own cider and watched the room for a moment before answering. “I saw you fight –”

His words were cut off by the sound of raucous shouting coming from the men they had been eyeing. One broke off from the rest and stumbled over towards them. Jyn and Cassian both put their drinks down and their hands drifted to their waists.

“You…girl,” the man slurred.

(Cassian amended his original notion – the men had most certainly been drunk when they arrived.)

“You, you should come over here. With us. We could – could show you a good time.” The man’s breath and words were laden with alcohol as he leered openly at Jyn, who stared stonily back.

“I don’t think that would be a good time,” she deadpanned.

The man scoffed and stepped closer. “How-how will you know if you don’t give us a try? We’ve seen you here, with him,” the man glared at Cassian as if he had been personally offended by the rebel captain.

“Me and my friends could wipe the floor with him in a tick,” he turned back to Jyn and smirked, “Then we could show you what a real man’s like.”

Cassian slid off his stool to his feet at the same time Jyn slid off hers.

“I said no,” Jyn repeated before looking to Cassian. “Time to go?”

He nodded once and they stepped forward, intending to walk past the drunken man and leave the bar. The drunkard had one more trick to try, however, and grabbed Jyn’s wrist as they stepped past.

Jyn’s other hand whipped out and caught the drunk on the chin, forcing his head up and back hard enough that the man released his hold on her. Howling in pain, the man stumbled back and held a hand to his face.

“You bitch! Forget a good time – I’m gonna kill you now for that.”

“Try it and you’ll regret every second,” Jyn hissed. Cassian looked around and saw that the commotion had roused the other bar patrons. Most were simply watching the altercation, but the man’s drinking buddies had risen from their seats now and were stalking in their direction.

Cassian slipped next to Jyn and placed a hand at her elbow. “We should go,” he muttered, low enough for her ears only, “We don’t need a scene.”

He felt her stiffen and saw a raised eyebrow. “It wasn’t me that started it,” she responded.

“I know,” Cassian smiled slightly.

Jyn followed his lead and turned to continue their path out of the bar, but they were stopped by the drunk man’s also drunken friends.

One of the bigger and burlier looking ones stepped closer. “You hurt our friend.”

“What of it?” Jyn asked, defiant.

Another spoke. “We want payback.”

“I don’t think you do. We certainly don’t want a fight.” Cassian knew his attempt at pacifying the men would likely fail, but he had to try.

“Oh, but we do,” said the man Jyn hit. The other men closed in.

Cassian saw Jyn reach just under the edge of her rain coat, where he knew her favorite set of truncheons lay.

Oh well, he thought and set himself into a defensive stance just as the men lurched forward.

---

Twenty minutes later found a drenched Jyn and Cassian opening the door to their rented room. As the door closed behind them, they peeled off their soaked outerwear and hung it to dry. Though given the chill in the room, their clothes weren’t likely to dry much.

The bar fight had not been a hard one. The drunks were easy enough to incapacitate; a few bottles had been broken (and maybe a wooden stool or two). Jyn and Cassian had maneuvered the fight out of the bar and away from the other patrons, but what had made it worse was that the moment they had succeeded in luring the men outside, the skies opened up, turning what had been a steady, if heavy, shower into an absolute downpour.

Cassian wasn’t sure if he had ever been this wet, even after Eadu.

He glanced over at Jyn, who looked back, just as soaked to the skin as he was. “You can clean up first. I’ll see about what’s wrong with the heater.”

“Thanks.” Jyn grabbed her pack and walked across the room to the small, attached refresher, closing the door behind her.

Ten minutes later, Jyn emerged, now in clean clothes with a towel across her shoulders to prevent her wet hair from soaking into her dry shirt. “Your turn,” she said, coming to stand beside where he knelt in front of the room’s heater. “Any luck?”

Cassian leaned back on his heels and shook his head. “No. I can reprogram droids without a thought, but this heater? Nothing I’ve tried has worked.”

Jyn reached out a hand and pulled him to his feet. “Go get changed – I’ll give it a shot.”

He flashed her a grateful smile before grabbing his own pack and heading for the ‘fresher.

When he emerged a few moments later, a second towel around his own shoulders, it was to the sound of low cursing coming from the area around the heater.

Jyn was kneeling by it, forcibly replacing the outer cover and cursing quite brilliantly under her breath as she did so.

“No luck?”

Jyn easily rose to her feet. “No,” she sighed, “At least it’s not cold enough to turn this rain to snow.”

Cassian hummed in acknowledgement as he stowed his bag next to hers by the door. The rainy season here wasn’t cold by most sentients’ estimations, but the dampness seemed to seep into the bones and make even a moderately cool ambient temperature feel much colder.

Body heat would likely be their best option for a safe sleep. Given how close he and Jyn had become, it wasn’t unusual for them to share a bed, though all they ever did was sleep. The comfort of knowing someone was near, was next to you – someone you could trust to have your back and protect you, should you need it – had given them a respite on the nights when their past became a little too prominent in their thoughts.

Jyn’s ease around him was obvious when she unerringly stepped forward and pulled down the covers on one side of the bed. “Are you coming?” she asked.

He smiled slightly and followed her lead, laying their towels across a nearby desk chair. As they settled into bed and dimmed the lights, a flash of red on Jyn’s arm caught Cassian’s eye. Her shirt sleeve had gotten pushed up enough to bare her forearm and he saw an angry red slash across it. He immediately sat up from the pillow.

“Jyn – what happened?”

She sat up as well. “What?”

“Your arm.” He reached for the injured limb and it was a testament to their familiarity with each other that she didn’t flinch away from his touch. He held her wrist gently as he turned her arm to see the mark on her outer forearm – a defensive wound, then.

Jyn stared at her arm. “Oh, it’s fine. It had stopped bleeding by the time I got changed.”

Cassian released her hand and slid back out of the bed.

“Where are you going?”

“We need to clean and wrap that. Who knows what was on whatever cut you,” he said, reaching his pack and removing the medkit.

“Cassian, it’s fine – it’s not even bleeding!”

He sat back down on the edge of the bed and held out his hand for her arm. “I’m still going to do this. An infection is the last thing we need right now.”

Jyn let him disinfect and bandage her arm. “Anywhere else?” he asked.

“No,” she responded. “What about you?”

He shrugged. “A few bruises, but they’ll heal.”

Jyn raised an eyebrow. “You made me show you mine. It’s only fair I get to see yours.”

Cassian flushed slightly and hoped the lowered lights would hide it. “Fair is fair,” he agreed, and showed her the two worst bruises – one to his ribs and one to his bicep. Her fingers lightly slid over the one on his arm and he could tell she was worried.

“They’re superficial, I promise,” he assured her, reaching for her hand on his arm and holding it tight. “I’m alright.”

They settled back down and further dimmed the lights, though they didn’t turn them off entirely and left just enough to see by if needed.

Side by side, they lay there and tried to rest. Cassian and Jyn both knew that Agmir was not what they needed, so they had decided on the way back to the rented room to leave the next day, rain or no rain. But to do that, they would need a good rest, if only a few hours’ worth.

Sleep proved elusive, however, as the chill of the room only deepened. The blanket provided to them in the room had previously been enough to keep them comfortable, but the combination of a cool room combined with the soaking they had received during the fight was proving difficult to regain that warmth and rest.

Finally, he had enough and turned to her, intending to offer the most basic way of warming he could think of.

“Jyn –”

She turned at the same time.

“Cassian –”

They both laughed lowly. “Go ahead,” he offered.

“No,” she said, still smiling, “You first.”

Cassian inhaled. “It’s cold in this room and I know you’ve got to be just as cold as I am. Why don’t we lay closer and share the body heat? It’s bound to be warmer than not.”

Jyn looked at him, thoughtful. “Okay,” she simply said, before sliding closer and curling against his side, her head on his shoulder.

Cassian froze. Jyn noticed and he felt her tense as well.

“Is this okay?” she asked, hesitantly.

“Yes, only let me just...” Cassian eased his arm out from under her to rest along her back. “Okay?” he asked, hoping she was comfortable. It had only been a moment for him, and he felt like he could rest there forever.

He felt, rather than heard her nod. Moments passed and Cassian felt himself drifting off when he heard Jyn speak.

“Cassian?”

“Hmm?”

“What did you mean earlier?”

Cassian woke himself fully. “When?”

The tone of Jyn’s voice was uncharacteristically vulnerable. “In the bar; when you said you didn’t think I was like these people. What did you mean?”

Cassian blinked, looking down at the top of her head on his shoulder.

“I mean that...I saw you. I may not know every detail of your life before we met, but I saw you then. I saw you fight for yourself. Fight to protect that little girl on Jedha. I saw you befriend two forgotten warriors so fast that they were willing to leave all they had behind to follow. I saw that when it came down to it, you wanted to do what needed to be done so others could have the chance to survive, to win – and your conviction was enough for others to stand and follow. That’s all this Rebellion really is – people who see what needs to be done and do it.”

Jyn was quiet for long enough that Cassian worried he might have overstepped. Then he felt her shift and lay her free arm across his chest. “Thank you,” she whispered. “I see you, too. I see the man who has given his life time and again to a cause he believes in. A man that befriended the most annoying, most loyal droid in the galaxy. I saw you come back for me. You’re the only one who’s done that in a very long time.”

Cassian’s smile at the mention of Kay faltered a little at the reminder that many of the people in Jyn’s life (and his own if he was being absolutely truthful with himself) tended not to stay long. And they couldn’t promise each other a full life together either. Even if they were to ever leave the Rebellion, civilians were never safe in a war.

Cassian gently pulled Jyn closer to him and tugged the blankets a little more snuggly around them. A moment passed and he felt Jyn relax into the first tendrils of sleep. But maybe, he mused, maybe we should take our own advice and take the chances given to us.

A gentle smile graced his face with the hope of the future as Cassian followed Jyn into sleep.

#therebelcaptainnetwork #rebelcaptainsecretsanta #luciechat #fanfic #gift fic #rebelcaptain #secret santa 2023 #cassian andor #jyn erso #star wars #rogue one

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