Reader is reassigned to the Senate after the destruction of Scarif, where she gives birth to Cassian’s children. She returns every year for the anniversary ceremony of his death, even six years later.
Word Count: 950
Warnings: Fluff, some angst I guess?
I hate that they make me go to these things. Every year it’s always the same, the somber tone with their holos brandished like a giant fuck you to me. His always hurts, it doesn’t matter that it’s been eight years. Each time I see it I feel like I’m being stabbed in the gut. Ranian and Giron are excited to see my crew, laughing as they are picked up and swung around. I hate that I took them and myself away, but I couldn’t live where we did, Scarif took him and I saw him everywhere. It wasn’t healthy. Mothma was good about it, me quitting being a pilot, especially when I tried to kill her after Scarif. She moved me, made me an ambassador so I could work “on the inside” and have my children away from battle. But every year they would make me come back and look at those stupid holos and be reminded that my children would never know their father.
There was a buzz of excitement on the base. Part of it was me, dressed in Senate garb and wearing shoes I absolutely despised but there was no time to change, the less time I spent on this base the better. The boys ran circles around me, and when they tried to usher me to the front I refused, standing toward the back under the overhand of stone with my crew. They never mentioned it or talked about it, but we all knew I could use the support. It was hard to see him, especially on the anniversary. Once they asked me if I ever got the same feeling with my sons, who were replicas of him, but no. They were my children, a testament of his power and his looks, I was proud to look at them. But that empty holo, no, that was too much every time.
Someone came back to try and usher me to the front again, again I refused.
“Pushy this year, aren’t they,” I said to Eilnorat. She smiled and said,
“Maybe they want the boys up there.”
“Could be, adds to the story I guess.”
The ceremony began. I only half listen, it’s not like I haven’t heard any of it before. The boys are rowdy, I try to keep them quiet, but death glares and threat of no dessert are only getting me so far. I knew I shouldn’t have let them nap on the transport but I guess we learn from these things. I’m about two seconds from dragging them out of the ceremony by their ears when Boon hits me on the arm and points to Mon Mothma. I look up to hear her say,
“We have searched for hope in every corner of the galaxy, and often it comes in the darkest places. Through the efforts of our many reconnaissance and recovery teams, we have been able to rescue and retrieve data, records, and people that we thought were lost during the darkest times of the Rebellion. That is why you are all here today, not to mourn, but to celebrate. We have found some of the greatest heroes of the rebellion, and we bring them here to you today, to celebrate with us and to remind us all why we fight. So, without further ado, we give you Jyn Erso, Bodhi Rook, Chirrut Imwe, Baze Malbus, K2SO, and Captain Cassian Andor, the heroes of the rebellion.”
I stand in the middle of the aisle, a child in each arm, stunned and crying as they all walk on the stage, people are screaming with joy, my crew looks at me, waiting for a reaction. I can only stare at him. He doesn’t see me. He’s holding Jyn’s hand and waving at the crowd, a slight smile furrowed into his face. I gently set the boys down, take off those stupid shoes I hate so much, and run. I feel like I’ve never run faster in my life, people are yelling as I pass them, and then he sees me and he literally leaps off the stage and meets me at the stairs, we crash together like water and land, melting into each other. I’m shaking and crying and I know he is too. He smells just like I remember, like old books and leather and engine grease. How does the man smell like engine grease after eight years? I pull back to look at him, and even though he’s thinner, even though he’s got circles and wrinkles and scars that I don’t remember, he’s there, he’s solidly, really there in front of me. He leans in and kisses me, running his hands through my hair. Just as I pull back, I’m hit with two small bodies from behind. They’re talking a mile a minute, both of them, completely ignoring Cassian, who is staring at them like he’s seeing the sky for the first time. I would tell him, but it seems like he already knows. They’re his, his last gift to me before he left for Scarif. Of course, they don’t need to know they were conceived on a dresser desk where I left scratch marks down their father’s back and he left me a mark on my neck that didn’t heal for weeks.
They look at him and wave shyly, and he waves back, smiling.
“Cassian, this is Ranian and Giron. Ranian, Giron, this is your father.”
A/N: I will no longer be tagging people in fics. I’m sorry for the long wait, but I hopefully have a better grasp on school this semester. Plus it’s my final semester of high school so does it even matter.
M78 wakes you up four hours early. This is the first time the droid has walked into your personal living quarters and it’s the first time that you’ve seen the droid active before you were. Instead of speaking he shows you a small holorecorder held between his fingers. You pluck the holorecorder from M78’s claws but before you can click the button to begin the recording M78 leaves your quarters. You sit in the silent darkness for some seconds trying to rationalize what was happening. At this point it was hard to remember exactly how you were woken up.
With the holorecorder still in hand, you throw the blankets off your lap and step to the desk set into the wall next to your bed. You click the holorecorder and a gentle blue light blankets the room. Mon Mothma’s empowering figure materializes out of the blue static.
“Dr. (L/N) I’d like to apologize for the sudden intrusion, but this is of the utmost importance. There is a mission leaving in only a few hours and I’d like you to be on it. I won’t force this upon you as I know you are attached to your current job, but I urge you to at least come to the intelligence room. I can further explain the details of the mission there.”
The message fizzles out and the blue glow slowly fades until the room is once more filled only with darkness. There are no words to describe the confusion rattling in your mind. Most of your confusion comes from the fact that you were in deep sleep only minutes ago, but another part of it, the most important part of it, is wondering why Mon Mothma asked for you. You’re the last person they would want for a mission. Despite the confusion you decided to go. At least then you might understand why she asked specifically for you. You pull on the wrinkled pair of pants you wore yesterday along with a starched shirt that’s already halfway off its hanger.
The door to your room slides open and the medbay beyond is just as dark as the sky outside. M78 is back in his corner, powered down as you would expect. You almost convince yourself that he was never in your room. This wasn’t the first time you roamed the base at night, but this night felt more eerie that those nights. Maybe it was because you weren’t rushing to some injured soldier’s side or maybe it was because this new mission was looming over your shoulder.
The only things you see on your walk are droids. The machines dutifully carry out the jobs no one else wants to do even through the night. None of them address you as you pass. Doors that are normally open during the day are locked now and it’s not until you get to the intel room that you see a light that isn’t for emergencies.
The intelligence room that also serves as the rebel’s meeting room is dimly lit by a group of lights set into the center of a hologram table. Opposite you stands Mon Mothma. Even before light appeared on the horizon the rebel leader appeared ready to face down the Empire. There is only one other person in the room besides you and Mon Mothma, but you don’t notice him until you are standing at the hologram table. Cassian leans against one of the green solar maps with his arms crossed and a deep scowl on his face. Your eyes connect for a brief second and you get the feeling that you are the cause of his scowl.
You tear your eyes away from him and instead gaze across the table at Mon Mothma. “You called for me,” You say simply, ignoring the dark glare coming from the corner.
“I did. And I’m glad you came. (Y/N), have you heard of a planet called Kaitera?”
You aren’t a well-traveled person so the name brings nothing to memory. “I’m afraid I don’t.”
“It is an interesting place, but it’s history is riddled with conflict and misery. This planet is the only place that the Kaitera Tree grows.” Mon Mothma takes a pause to look for any sense of understanding on your face. The only thing you can give her is a confused look. “The Kaitera Tree never stops growing. It will continue to spread until there are no more resources or it is completely destroyed. Unfortunately, there are only a few Kaitera trees left and those trees are fought over as if it could make people live forever. And maybe that’s true. But I’ll get to the reason I woke you up before the light has touched the trees. The Empire has established a heavily guarded base at beside one of these trees and they’re building more camps at other trees. We don’t know why they are interested in this planet or why the trees may be useful to them, but we know that the people are suffering under their control.”
The hologram table lights up and an image of a towering fortress surrounding a tree appears.
“That’s one big tree.” You comment under your breath.
“These people are being cut off from their small amounts of resources and they are severely beaten if they are caught in areas the Empire has deemed private.”
Here Mon Mothma stops talking and looks at you expectantly. You stare back at her for some time before realizing that she’s waiting on a response from you.
“I’m not sure I understand why you called me here.”
“You are the best medical officer on this base. Those people need the best medicine we can find. I want you to accompany Captain Andor and bring some relief to the people who live in the town nearest the Empire’s largest fortress. While you are healing illnesses, Captain Andor will be gathering intelligence that we can use to further help the Kaitera.”
Mothma hardly finishes her sentence before Cassian steps up to the hologram table. “I don’t think she should go with me. There has to be someone else on this base who has medical training.” Cassian speaks quickly with little pause between his sentences.
“There are plenty of people on this base who have medical training, but none to the extent of (Y/N). And let’s not forget that (Y/N) is one of the few people on this base that has some form of friendship with you.”
“That doesn’t make up for the fact that she has no combat experience. If I have to cover both of our backs, we’ll both die.”
You interject with your own opinion. “As much as I’d like to help I have to agree with Captain Cassian. I really don’t think I’m up to being in the middle of an Empire occupied area. I mean that’s why I’m in the medbay in the first place.”
“(Y/N), I know that you’re reluctant to confront Stormtroopers after what happened-“
“That’s unrelated.” You interrupt. Cassian’s eyes dart to your face, but you keep your gaze locked on Mon Mothma.
“Regardless you can’t let past fears stop you from reaching your full potential. I have complete faith that you will excel in this mission. And Captain,” she turns her head to look pointedly at Cassian. “I have heard stories of you performing impossible feats while in the line of fire. If you can’t keep yourself and (Y/N) safe perhaps those stories were simply misunderstandings.”
At this accusation Cassian’s eyes leave your face to stare down at the dark hologram table.
“I wouldn’t propose that the two of you go on this mission if I didn’t believe it was a worthy cause,” Mon Mothma finishes softly.
Every part of your mind is telling you that going on this mission would end in disaster and Cassian seemed one hundred percent against the idea, but Mon Mothma seemed genuinely invested in the mission. She was one of the most inspiring women in the rebel alliance and one of the people who helped you adjust to life in the alliance.
“I’ll go on the mission,” you finally announce.
This time when Cassian looks up at you his scowl is less threatening and more determined. Instead of responding verbally he nods his head.
“Cassian stay back so I can give you further details on the mission. (Y/N), go and pack. Cassian will pick you up in an hour.”
You nod at the rebel leader and make your way out of the intelligence room. You come to the full realization of what you’ve agreed to do when you open the door to the still and dark medbay. You didn’t know anything about going on missions. Mon Mothma told you to pack, but what did that mean. How much clothes did you have to bring? Obviously not your uniforms since that would be a bit obvious, but you didn’t actually have much clothing to speak of. After rummaging through all of your drawers you find a total of two outfits. You slip into one of them to begin with and stuff the other into the book bag that was sitting in the back of your closet. The rest of the items in your room are useless. With a half empty book bag and an old satchel from your home you lock the door to your personal room.
You grab bandages, disinfectants, scissors, scalpels, artificial skin, antibiotics, needles and everything else that could come in handy from around the medbay. You wrap the last piece of equipment in a protective cloth as Cassian walks through the door, his own bag in hand. He looks decidedly unhappy about the situation but it’s hard to tell what he’s thinking.
“K2 is waiting on us.”
You secure the buckles on satchel and swing it onto your shoulder. “Well then let’s go.”
Cassian leaves the doorway and starts down the hall towards the hangar. You follow close behind him. The walk to the ship passed in a blur. Your heart was pounding as you step up into the ship K2 was standing in. It was a small vessel, unassuming with room for four people to sit.
Cassian sets down his bag at the back of the ship. He turns around to face you.
“Let me see your bags,” Cassian says, extending his hand.
You furrow your eyebrows but you shrug off the satchel and hand it to him. He opens the bag and harshly pushes everything around.
“If you’re not careful you’re going to stab yourself with a knife,” you warn. You did a good job of wrapping everything so it wouldn’t break, but you didn’t appreciate the lack of trust that Cassian had. In fact, you weren’t thrilled with the amount of disdain Cassian was showing towards you. You wouldn’t be thrilled if a complete rookie was shoved into the medbay, but you wouldn’t be this rude. Maybe the friendship you thought you had with Cassian wasn’t as real as you thought.
He refastens the satchel and hands it back. “At least it looks like you brought useful stuff.”
“Wow thanks so much. I don’t have much useless stuff in my possession.” You snatch the bag back. “Maybe you should check my backpack as well,” you say with your hands on your hips.
Instead of giving you a verbal answer, Cassian looks at you with narrowed eyes
“I personally think that fighting amongst ourselves is a great way to start a deadly mission.” K-2SO is already settled into the co-pilot seat at the front of the ship, looking back at the two of you with his optical receptors.
Despite the droid’s comment, you and Cassian continue to stare at each other. Cassian gaze is unwavering and you get the sense that this is his dominance play. As much as you’d love to prove yourself to the man you can’t hold his gaze for any longer. You turn around and toss your satchel into a cove made by a shelf of gauges and screens. By the time you turn back around Cassian is already busying himself with the ship’s controls.
You silently strap yourself into the seat behind K2. The droid turns his head towards Cassian.
“I may be a droid, but I know that’s not how you interact with someone you like.”
At the comment Cassian’s head whips upwards. “Stop,” he commands with a tinge of red on his cheeks.
You shouldn’t make a comment, but your filter has already been demolished for the day. “What does he mean by that, Cassian?” you ask with a false tone of innocence
“It means you’re the only one on the base that can cut hair and you’re a tolerable person to have a conversation with.” Cassian’s reply is rushed and he’s even more annoyed now than before. He effectively ends the conversation by turning on the engine and forcing K2 to check the instruments.
If this was how the entire mission was going to be, you were in deep trouble.
A/N: This is a little shorter than the others but I wanted to get something out before I leave the country. I’ll be back in a little over a week. Hope you all have a good time and enjoy this.
Warning: None
The next morning you walk into the medbay to see Cassian still fast asleep in his recovery bed. M78 is running through his standard warm up procedures in the corner and you go about your own morning routines. You tiptoe around as silently as possible. You get through half of your normal routine before Cassian begins to stir in his bed. You keep your focus on cleaning medical tools, but out of the corner of your eye you watch Cassian sit up and look around dazed. M78 automatically moves to Cassian’s recovery bed to check on his vitals. You dry off the last piece of medical equipment and walk across the room to stand beside M78.
“So how are you feeling, Cassian?” you ask, watching the monitor beside his bed peak with every heartbeat.
“Like an AT-AT stepped on me.” He squints into the bright light of the medbay and runs a hand through his hair.
“That’s what happens when you don’t take care of yourself.”
Cassian only grunts in response.
“Well it looks like everything is doing well. You’ll be released this afternoon and you can go to your debriefing from there.”
Cassian nods with his eyes closed and lays back against the bed. You leave the soldier to rest in silence. He needs as much of a break as possible.
After he leaves the medbay, you don’t see Cassian Andor for a very long time. The frequency of injuries increases and you know that the rest of the base is becoming just as busy. Most days you barely have enough time to pick up food from the cafeteria and bring it back to the medbay to eat while you watch over the injured. Weeks pass without you seeing the sun and somedays you feel like you’re going to jump out of your skin.
One day you get a message on your communicator that some medical supplies had been delivered. Normally a hangar worker would bring them to you, but everyone was busy preparing for the newest mission. You jumped at the chance to get away from the medbay and into the hopefully open hangar. The boxes of medical supplies have been placed at the front of the hangar very close to the open hangar doors. The feeling of the warm son on your face mesmerizes you and you stand in the light for a few minutes.
“(Y/N)!”
You open your eyes and turn around to find who is calling you. Cassian strides towards with the smallest of smirks on his face.
“You look like someone who hasn’t seen the sun their entire life,” he says when he’s standing in front of you.
“It’s been busy. I haven’t actually gotten outside in a couple weeks now.”
“Are you sure it hasn’t been years because I don’t think I’ve ever seen you outside of the medbay.” Cassian was in a surprisingly good mood. You almost couldn’t see circles under his eyes.
“I could say the same thing for you. In fact, the only time I’ve seen you outside of the medbay you were unconscious on the ground.”
“You should take a break some time or you might end up like me. Go for a walk or something. I’m sure M78 can take care of everyone for a while.”
You roll your eyes playfully. “You’re one to talk Captain. I know for a fact you haven’t taken a break in twenty years. Maybe you’re the one who needs to take a walk.”
“Both of you need to go for a walk. Everyone knows you’re both so busy.” K-2SO walks behind Cassian with a sarcastic comment. “I’m insisting that the two of you go on a walk right now. No don’t try to argue.” K2 pushes the both of you out of the hangar towards the forest that borders the base. The droid is way too strong for either of you to resist the prodding. “Now I know you’re just so very busy so I will sacrifice my own important time to finish what the two of you have to do. I will meet with Mon Mothma and I will also bring the medical supplies to the medbay.” K2 continues to talk so that neither Cassian nor you can make an argument.
He pushes you right to the edge of the forest and then leaves you without any more words. You and Cassian stand looking into the forest in silence. You admit that you’d really love to take a walk with Cassian, but you’re not sure that he feels the same way.
“I think there’s a small path in the forest that goes around the base,” Cassian comments quietly.
You glance at him out of the corner of your eye to see that he’s watching you. “Well then…we should walk on that.”
Cassian steps into forest pushing aside branches. You follow his path and he makes sure that the branches he pulls back don’t bounce back and hit you. A few yards into the fringe of the forest you meet the dirt path. It’s barely wide enough for the two of you to walk side by side and sometimes one of you has to drop behind the other to fit.
“When I first arrived on Yavin 4 I was amazed by the size of the trees. Where I grew up there were almost no trees. Only grasslands and small bushes. I thought that the fruit trees on the farm near my farm were the largest trees in the universe.”
Cassian chuckled and looked up from his feet to look over at you. “I’ve been on Yavin for a while. I was born on Fest.”
“I don’t think I know Fest?”
“Not surprising. It’s covered in snow and it never thaws. Basically impossible to live on.”
You nod silently, not sure how to continue the conversation.
“Do you miss your home?” he asks quietly.
“Sometimes. But it didn’t really hold a lot for me. The only thing you could do was farm or transport produce. I wanted to do a little more with my life.”
“Why a medical technician? Didn’t you say you worked with a speeder. Why not a droid or ship engineer?”
You shrug. “I was always pretty good taking care of people and the recruiter said they needed a medical officer. I just went along with it and found out it was a pretty good fit. Why are you an intelligence officer? Couldn’t you have been an engineer yourself?”
“No not really. I’ve been in the rebellion for almost my entire life. They don’t let small kids work on the ships. All they’re good for is looking harmless.” He sounds bitter as he talks.
The entire walk around the base only takes about half an hour and after your initial conversation there isn’t much to say. The silence that exists between you and Cassian is both familiar and awkward at the same time. There was a lot you wanted to know about the man, but he seemed so closed out. Maybe one day you’d get to know him better.
The two of you walk back into the hangar where K2 is waiting. Cassian gives you a quick good bye before rushing off with his droid. You watched him go before returning to your own busy schedule. The Rebellion didn’t wait for its soldiers to rest.
A/N:Happy New Years everyone!! Let’s usher in the new year with the second part. Thanks for all the support everyone. I love you all.
Warning: Illness, needles
Part 1
The hair of pilots and engineers covers the ground of the medbay. Your thumb and ring finger ache from cutting so much hair in such a short period of time. M78 sits in the corner of the room with his visual receptors pointed towards the wall. He could only stand about two haircuts worth of hair on the ground before it became a problem.
A large mission is leaving the base tomorrow. A massive amount of rebels are being sent to a possible location for a new base. It was a last minute decision that resulted in chaos across the entire base. It was going to be a dangerous mission and no one wanted to be killed because their hair was too long. So they all came to you. Everyone who put off getting a haircut for months now rushed to your door to get it done. The last person you saw said the line was halfway down the hallway towards the cafeteria.
It was an hour before dinner and your current guess was that you’d be done by midnight. At least that’s what you hoped.
“Ok all done. Send in the next person.” You send the soldier away and shuffle your feet to clear the hair from where you’re standing.
“You look stranded over there in that sea of hair.”
You whip your head up at the familiar accent. Cassian steps into the room hesitantly. “I almost feel bad asking for a haircut.”
“Well you shouldn’t feel bad.” You grab the sleeve of his jacket and pull him towards the seat to hurry him up. “After all I doubt anyone else feels bad. They’re probably upset they have to wait so long.”
You start to chop the ends off his hair but you let yourself take a little more time with his haircut than you did with the others.
“How long did you wait in the line? The last person said the line was almost to the doors of the cafeteria.”
“An hour.”
“I am going to be here all night,” you mutter under your breath.
“The announcement was made at 11 this morning. Have you been cutting hair this whole time?” There’s a lilt to his voice that gives you the impression that he’s amused with your frustration.
You step back from the man and rub at your eyes. It was becoming painfully obvious that you were already exhausted. “That’s when they started coming in but the line didn’t start forming until after lunch. But that means I didn’t get the chance to grab food.”
You release a heavy breath and shuffle around the stool to stand in front of Cassian. You ruffle his bangs gently before taking your scissors to them. Twenty minutes after you started the haircut, you were finished.
“Ok I’m done, but I’m going to lean against this table for a few minutes so just pretend I’m still cutting.” You lean against the investigation table and close your eyes. Cassian sits on the stool patiently.
You furrow your brows. “You’re not going on the same mission as everyone else are you?” you ask with your eyes still closed.
“No. I have somewhere else to go.”
He sounds hesitant to tell you anymore so rather than ask any more questions you open your eyes and stand upright. Cassian takes the hint and stands as well. As soon as he disappears into the hall another pilot steps in.
You cut hair for a total of 12 hours. You usher the last engineer out of the medbay at 11:09, almost an hour earlier than you predicted. Your stomach cramps painfully from hunger and your eyes are on fire. However, you couldn’t go to sleep yet. The floor is covered in hair. Honestly it’s kind of disgusting. M78 has already started sweeping the hair into piles so you grab a hand broom and a dust pan and start sweeping the hair into the pan.
The hair from the first pan full is fluttering into the trashcan when someone knocks on the doorframe. You blow the hair out of your eyes to look up at Cassian standing in the doorway.
“Looks like you’re the one who needs the haircut.”
In your mind you laugh, but in reality you only give a weak smile.
Cassian looks at you with mild amusement. He steps into the room holding a small container out to you. “I thought you’d be hungry.”
You gratefully take the container of food. “This might be the greatest gift anyone has ever given me. Thank you.” Your eyes mist over at the act of kindness. Every part of your rational mind is being overturned by your exhaustion.
Cassian’s eyes widen at the sight of tears in your eyes. “You need to sleep.”
You nod your head. “Yeah I know. I think I’m going crazy. Thank you for the food though, really. I’m starving.” Cassian hands you a fork that he had in his jacket pocket. You eagerly stab a piece of the luke warm food and start chewing.
Cassian turns silently away, but before he can make it out the door you shout for him to wait.
“Come back safe from your mission all right? I need to fix your haircut since I rushed through it this time. May the Force be with you, Cassian.”
“May the force be with you.”
The food container on the counter beckons you and you turn away from Cassian before he fully disappears from the medbay. You miss the second look that Cassian casts your way before he walks out the door.
You sleep well that night. You don’t dream or stir until your alarm wakes you up at the normal time. Your life proceeds as normal for nearly a month. Almost exactly a week after the mission left a majority of the soldiers return. Many are injured and the medbay is filled with the sounds of suffering. M78 attends to the soldiers who have to be placed in bacta tanks while you focus on those whose injuries aren’t as dire.
They tell you that their mission was a success. Some are more pleased about the fight than others. You suspect that the ones who are more cynical lost friends in the fight. Most of the soldier were able to leave the medbay that night, but a few had to be kept under observation for several days. The last soldier, a man with burns covering his entire body, was released after a week of near constant attention. The door to the medbay closed behind the man and you release and enormous sigh of relief. Finally, you got some time to relax.
“Medical officer there is a collapsed soldier in the hangar who requires medical attention. Repeat…” Your communicator sitting on the investigation table continues to call for you until you pick it up and report that you are on your way. So much for relaxation.
You activate the levitating gurney that sits next to the door and push it rapidly through the halls. The people you pass turn their heads to watch you go, but none stick around to see what’s really happening. It’s a long walk from the medbay to the hangar and on the way you think of the different scenes you could be walking in to.
The first thing you see when you enter the hangar is a large group of pilots and engineers huddled near a small ship. You see K2 looking on from the edge of the crowd, but you don’t see Cassian near him. In that moment you connect the dots and figure out what has happened. Cassian Andor is lying on the ground surrounded by pilots while his droid looks on from behind the crowd. K2 spots you before any of the others do.
“I’d like to say it’s nice to see you again doctor, but given the circumstances that could be called insensitive.” K2’s comment draws the attention of the rest the pilots and a path to Cassian opens up.
You step forward so that you can kneel beside Cassian. “Tell me what happened,” you say to no one in particular.
“He just landed and was getting out of the ship when he collapsed,” an engineer to your right answers.
You take Cassian’s pulse and find that it’s strong and steady. “Ok I need to take him to the medbay. Can someone help me lift him?”
K2 steps into the circle before anyone else can offer their help. The droid effortlessly lifts Cassian and sets him gently onto the gurney. The pilots and engineers begin to return to their work and you leave the hangar without any more commotion
“So is there anything I should know before M78 starts poking at him?” you ask the droid that follows closely behind you.
“Well let’s see. It could be that he hasn’t slept in four days. Or maybe it’s because he hasn’t eaten any real food in a week.”
“He hasn’t slept in four days? Please tell me that you’re exaggerating.”
“I wish I was.”
In the medbay Cassian is laid out on one of the recovery beds kept at the very back of the room. M78 performs blood tests to confirm K2’s report.
“You’re right. Cassian has such low blood sugar it’s kind of scary,” you read out loud.
“Of course I’m right. Did you think I was lying?”
“No. Just confirming what you told me.” You continue scrolling through Cassian’s blood results while M78 sets up the IV that will give Cassian nutrients that will hopefully wake him up. You reach the bottom of the results and look up at K2. The droid hasn’t taken his optical receptors off of his friend since Cassian was placed on the gurney. “He’ll be fine. I’m guessing he’ll wake up in a couple of hours. I’ll get him to eat something and I’ll watch after him to make sure that his blood levels go back to normal. You can stick around if you want.”
“I’d love the chance to be the first thing Cassian sees when he wakes up, but someone has to be responsible and obviously Cassian is anything but responsible.”
It takes longer than you predicted for Cassian to wake up. When his eyes flutter open, the food you grabbed from the cafeteria is long cold and the base is almost silent. Cassian’s eyes rove lazily around the room before landing on you. You roll your chair closer to his recovery bed.
“Hey there. How are you feeling?” His eyes are only half open and you can tell that he’s not fully aware of his surroundings.
“I don’t know what happened.”
“You collapsed, Cassian. Do you remember what you were doing?”
“Landing. K2 was saying something. I’m not sure.” His face twists in displeasure and it’s obvious he’s not happy with his recollection. “How long have I been unconscious?” He blinks rapidly and attempts to sit up. You and M78 push him back down onto the bed.
“You’ve been sleeping for about five hours and you should sleep for the rest of the night after you eat something.”
“I have to tell someone about the mission.”
“Your superior stopped by early and told me she’ll be by later so you can report to her without exerting yourself too much. You really need to rest, Cassian. Your body has already given out once and if you don’t give it a break it’s going to give out for good.”
The man seems to have woken up enough to understand the urgency in your voice and he begrudgingly remains in the bed. You lift the hand that you had pressed to his chest and give him some room. “Whenever you’re ready I have some food for you. It’s cold, but after not eating for a while your stomach should be ok with it.”
“K2?”
“He told me you haven’t been taking care of yourself, but he didn’t go into details. He mostly talked about how he had to take care of the ship that you destroyed. At least that’s what he said.”
“He was the one who said going through the canyon would be better.”
This time when he pushes himself upright you watch, ready to give him a hand if he needed it. Seeing Cassian like this was strange to you. Every other time you’ve interacted with him he had a sense of purpose around him. It seemed like he always knew what he was doing and he didn’t need anyone’s help. This time he seemed very vulnerable. His lower half was covered by a blanket and IVs tubes were still stuck in his arm. The dark circles under his eyes were more prominent than usual, but even more than that the sparkle in his eyes was dimmer. He looked exhausted.
“Do you want the food?”
Cassian focusses back on you and nods. You stand up to grab the container off the counter. You hand it to him gently along with a fork.
“You act like I’m going to break if you touch me too hard.” He gives you a half smile and takes the food.
“You are the one who fell over because gravity was too strong.”
“I dare you to write that on the official report. ‘Passed out because gravity was too strong.’”
You chuckle. “Eat your food. Tell me if you need anything.”
You settle back down at your stool with a holoreader. Eventually Cassian sets aside the empty container and throws the blanket off of his legs. He moves so that his legs hang off the side of the bed.
“Where do you think you’re going?” you ask while standing up from your stool.
“Hopefully the bathroom. If I can make it that far.”
You walk to a panel on the wall and press a button. Part of the wall slides open to reveal the bathroom connected to the medbay. Cassian gingerly supports his weight on his feet and stands still for a few seconds before he starts walking. From your position you can tell he’s a little wobbly, but less wobbly than you would expect. You rummage through a draw to find the clothes kept in the medbay for patients that had to stay overnight. You place the folded clothes on the recovery bed and move away so it doesn’t seem like you’re trying to suffocate him.
As soon as the wall opens up you announce that you’re going to bed. His eyebrows furrow together in confusion.
“Do you sleep here?”
“No. Well kind of? There’s a room that connects to the medbay so I’m technically on duty 24/7. No way would I sleep on those beds. Good luck.”
Cassian huffs behind you. You hear the rustle of the bed sheets as the door to your private quarters closes.
A/N: This isn’t really romantic. I kinda planned more parts for this, but I’m not going to write them unless people actually want it.
Warnings: Blood
Officially you were a medic. Unofficially you were the rebels’ barber. You gave your first hair cut to an engineer who broke his nose after running into a pillar because his bangs were too long. You admired the soldiers’ dedication, but it often resulted in them not taking care of themselves. You saw a lot of people in the medbay who hurt themselves because they were sleep deprived and without food. They dedicated too much time to the cause and ended up neglecting themselves.
Your first hair cut was not good. It was an ugly, uneven cut that went across the engineer’s forehead. You didn’t bother with the rest of his hair since the bangs were the only real issue. You immediately forgot about the cut when the engineer left. You were more concerned with the number of rebels developing iron deficiencies. However, one afternoon, after the pilots and engineers were finished with the daily checks of the ships, a pair of pilots appeared at in the doorway to the medbay.
“We heard that you gave Finnis a haircut?”
You opened your mouth to tell them you weren’t a barber, but you couldn’t turn them away. You used a spare pair of scissors to trim the pilot’s hair. The haircuts still didn’t look great, but the pilots looked a lot happier. Now their hair wouldn’t stick to the back of their necks and their bangs wouldn’t obscure their vision while they were flying.
Gradually more and more people showed up to the medbay for haircuts. You heard people talking about you as you walked through the halls of the base. Sometimes people came by for haircuts simply to get away from the stress of the rebellion. You made it a rule that when people got haircuts they didn’t talk about the fighting. You met more people cutting hair than you did healing wounds.
“Hey Doc, can you give my friend a quick trim. I know it’s early.” You look up from sterilizing your companion medical droid.
“Oh sure.” You set aside the rag you were working with and reach around the 2-1B droid to grab your scissors. You hop off your moving stool and push it gently towards the man who entered the room. It’s a man you don’t recognize. He has shaggy dark hair that hangs in front of his eyes and a dark beard. He has dark circles under his eyes and he remains silent as he situates himself on the stool.
“So what do you want me to do? Just a trim or do you want it short?”
“Just a trim.” You hum a simple okay.
While you trim the man’s hair you glance over his outfit. He wears a brown jacket over a beige shirt and dark pants. There’s a patch on the left of the jacket. Two green circles. So he was a captain in the intelligence division. The captain didn’t seem like a talkative person so you look up to start a conversation with the pilot that introduced the captain. However, the doorway to the medbay was empty.
“Wow, your friend took off fast. He have a hot date?” You asked in an attempt to start a conversation.
“He wasn’t my friend.”
“Then he must be a pretty good Samaritan to bring you by here without being a friend.”
“Well my droid was making racket because my ‘flying inaccuracies raised the probability of death to 89%.’” He makes exaggerated quotation gestures as he talks.
You clip the hair that curls at the base of the man’s head before moving to stand in front of him. “Well I’ll make sure that your bangs don’t get in your way then.” You make quick work of the hair getting in his way before stepping back. “There you go. Shouldn’t have any problems now.”
The captain stands and brushes hair off his shoulders.
“Thanks.”
“No problem. Come back whenever your droid friend starts making a fuss again.” The captain leaves without saying anything else. You watch him turn right down the hall followed by an intimidating imperial droid. The man had barely spoken three sentences to you and you didn’t even know his name, but man! his hair was really soft.
For weeks you hear nothing of the intelligence captain. You continue treating the minor injuries of the pilots, engineers, and scouts during the day and in the evening you cut the hair of all the people who had no other time to take care of themselves. It’s shameful that you almost completely forget about the captain. There were so many people who rolled through the door of the medbay that it was nearly impossible to remember the names of everyone.
You’re good with faces though and you recognize the dark scruff of the intelligence captain’s beard when he appears in your door for the second time.
“Oh hey. You’re back uhhh…” You scramble through your brain trying to remember his name. Did he even tell you his name?
“Cassian,” the man states simply.
“Cassian! Good to see you again. Guess you need a haircut?”
“Yes.”
You gesture towards the stool that he’d sat in before. The surgical droid hands you the pair of scissors you always set aside for cutting hair. You run your hand through his hair and snip the hair between your fingers. Halfway through the haircut you make the executive decision to start a conversation.
“So, Cassian I saw your droid the other day when you left. He’s an imperial droid right?”
“I captured him at an imperial outpost and reprogrammed him.”
His answer was curt and you could tell any conversation with him would be a struggle.
“M78,” you gesture to the surgical droid behind you. “Is one of my best friends here. I spend all day with him so I guess I don’t have much of a choice. He doesn’t really appreciate my jokes though. Maybe it’s because he does most of the work around here.”
There are a few seconds of silence and you consider dropping the effort.
“K2 thinks it’s hilarious to give me the probability of survival every time I fly. I think that he makes the probabilities way smaller than they actually are.”
You chuckle quietly. “What a reliable companion.”
“He’s something,” Cassian says with a small smile.
Suddenly the large imperial droid appears in the doorway of the medbay.
“The funny thing about sound is that it travels through the air. And wouldn’t you know? Open doors promote the flow of air.”
Cassian opens his mouth to chastise the droid, but you swoop in to trim his bangs before he can say a word. Once completed you step back and let K2 see Cassian’s haircut.
“So does this haircut meet your flight standards, K2?” you ask making a grand gesture towards the man sitting on the stool.
“Well at least he looks presentable.” K2 moves from the doorway and Cassian moves to follow him.
“Thanks again,” he says, flicking hair clippings off his shirt before leaving the medbay.
Only two days pass before you see Cassian again. He walks into the medbay with a large cut across his forehead. Blood drips down his temples and his nose. K2 follows closely behind him. You don’t ask any questions. First, you usher him to the examination table and order him to sit still. M78 performs diagnostics on Cassian’s cut while you clean the blood off his face.
“Do you have any nausea?” M78 asks in a monotonous tinny voice.
“No.”
“Has your vision changed since receiving the injury.”
“No.”
M78 continues to ask the standard questions before performing more bio scans to confirm Cassian’s answers.
You throw out the bloody cloth. “M78 only asks the boring questions so I’ll be the one to ask the interesting ones. So, Cassian, how did this injury happen?” you ask with a datapad in your hands.
“A distracted mechanic lost control of one of his tools,” Cassian reports without any emotion. He refuses to look you in the eye. Instead, he stares out the open door.
“Actually he performed perhaps the worst landing in the history of sentient flight and his head made forceful contact with the dashboard.” K2, who has been standing just inside the doorway, reports with satisfaction.
For the first time Cassian takes his eyes away from the door and glares at K2. “Why is it necessary for you to say that?”
“You are the one who ignored my suggested flight path.”
Cassian doesn’t seem like the kind of man who would appreciate someone he doesn’t know teasing him, so you ignore the argument arising. “How long did you wait before you came to get help?”
“Five minutes.”
“An hour,” K2 corrects
“Wow ok. Well you’re still bleeding so that’s not great. M78 put a healing agent on the cut so it should heal soon, but that’s still a lot of blood to lose. I’m going to ask you to stick around the medbay for a little while so I can make sure that the wound heals completely.”
“I’m fine. I can’t wait around.” Cassian stands from the examination table. His feet hit the ground and his knees almost buckle. He manages to catch onto the edge of the table before his knees completely give out. He turns his head and catches your eyes. You school your face into an expression laced with smugness. “I’ll stay for a few minutes, but I have a debriefing in ten minutes.”
You reach under the examination table and roll a spare chair out into the open. “Here. I won’t make you stay on the table.”
Cassian sits gingerly on the chair and examines the medbay closely. The only sound in the room is the droids’ mechanics. K2-SO idly picks up medical tools and examines them briefly before M78 snatches them and places them back in place. You huff as you see your friend become silently frustrated. The medical droid almost never revealed a personality, but misplaced tools were the droid’s weakness.
Out of the corner of your eye you see Cassian glance at you. He looks at you several more times before you swivel in your chair to face him.
“Is there a question you want to ask?”
If Cassian is caught off guard, he doesn’t show it. “Why are you here?” He asks bluntly. You can’t tell if he means to insult you or if he’s actually asking why you’re in the medbay.
“I’m not totally sure what you mean? I might seem useless but I’m just an extra check. The medical droids do most of the work but I can understand emotion a little better and I can’t be reprogrammed as easily.”
Cassian cuts you off. “I mean in the rebellion. You don’t seem like someone ready to fight.”
You pick up a pair of scissors and fiddle with them before giving your answer.
“I don’t really know.” You shrug. “My family died a while ago but not because of the empire. The planet I lived on wasn’t bothered much. One day a recruiter showed up on the same day I happened to be buying new parts for my speeder. And I just felt a pull to join the rebellion so I did. Some people would say I’m impulsive.”
“So you believe in the Force. Or you just joined because you were bored.”
“I wasn’t bored,” you claim defensively. “I felt a pull in my heart to join the rebellion and I have always liked to help people. If you’d call that the Force then yes, I believe that the Force brought me here.” You cross your arms across your chest preparing for any more criticism of your motives.
“Well you’re here. That’s all that matters.”
The clock on the wall clicks over to the next hour. You stand from your chair and step closer to Cassian. The cut on his forehead isn’t bleeding anymore and it’s already starting to grow back together.
“Well your cut looks good to me. Just don’t knock into anything for the rest of the day. You are officially cleared for duty.” You step back to give Cassian room to stand from the chair. “Hopefully next time I see you it’s for a haircut and I won’t have to force you to stick around.”
“Maybe if he listened to me for once he wouldn’t get hurt,” K2 chastises while walking out of the medbay.
Cassian throws a look at the droid before turning back to you. “I’ll see you later. Without all the blood.”
You send him a thumbs up. “Good! You look better without all the blood on your forehead.”
You watch Cassian turn into the hallway and catch yourself looking forward to the next time you get to cut his hair.
