This time, on waking, he could think a little more linearly. And think about what he could do.
He couldn't choke down any nutrient, but he drank some water. And reflected that those supplies, clearly not belonging to any other container in this shed, were evidence that Jyn Erso was indeed real. And hopefully coming back. But, and not just on the chance she wouldn't, he shouldn't wait for her.
He mobilized himself enough, using the rifle as a crutch, to dig through some of the crates around him. He found supplies enough for a makeshift splint—and something to bite down on. Which he needed when he reset his own leg.
It was a pain he'd experienced before. Turns out that didn't help in it nearly making you black out. The concussion was the biggest 'nockdump of all. It didn't hurt as much as some of the other things but it kept him disoriented and nauseated and messed with his vision.
He stayed conscious and stayed hydrated and eventually had more of the nutrient bar. He was simultaneously ravenous and felt sick. Was this the worst he'd ever been injured? Couldn't be… could it?
He hadn't realized he'd drifted back out until he opened his eyes and the light had changed. He swore silently; but there wasn't too much else he could do with what he'd found so far. …So find more?
He was on the wrong side of the shed, arm-deep in a crate, looking for a datapad or anything else he could use, when he heard the door opening.
Jyn set about her usual duties - albeit a bit distractedly, not that anyone would really notice. Her duties here at Carbon Ridge couldn't be called important more than they were soul-crushingly repetitive.
But then, wasn't that was why she was here, after all, to learn how to follow directions and do her job efficiently, and all without asking questions or getting into trouble. Life here on this base was a lonely, boring thing, and Jyn hated every second.
Her shift ended, and she set out on mission to gather more supplies, and all without getting caught in the midst of it. If she didn't swipe things surreptitiously, like food, she either flirted (with no intention of actually following through) in order to pocket a bottle of unguarded painkillers, or talked her way into procuring an extra datapad from requistions because she'd 'lost' hers, and who was going to care if inventory was off by one, anyway?
It was nearing dusk when she returned, careful to ensure that no one was following before she keyed in the entrance code and stepped inside, just as careful to ensure she closed the door quickly. Neither of them could afford being caught now, and there was probably no doubt as to her role in this whole thing if someone were to discover them.
Jyn wouldn't care one way or the other if Gabrael was stealing whatever he could use. It didn't affect her directly, none of it belonged to her. And the ever more disillusioned part of her might even think 'good, stick it to them'.
The silence was unnerving, but understandable, and she slowly crept from the entrance to where his little nest had been set up, hoping that when she found him, she wouldn't find that the silence was going to be permanent.
"Gabrael? It's Jyn - ", she offered, her voice soft, but just enough to echo out into the room. "Are you here?"
Maybe he wasn't. Maybe he'd decided to make a go of it on his own in the middle of the night. She wouldn't blame him if he had - the odds probably seemed preferable than the danger inherent in staying here.
He managed to get himself up again, and started toward her, leaning on the blasterrifle. "I'm here." He hobbled into view; and was a little surprised to find how very good it felt to see her. (Yes, she was his lifeline… but this went even a little beyond that…) "Hi, Jyn."
Jyn couldn't even begin to describe the wave of relief that washed over her as finally, he popped into sight, awake and alert and walking, even if it was with the aid of the rifle she'd left for him. She sighed softly and her shoulders dropped just a touch, and a small, brief smile lifted her lips at the edges. "There you are. I brought more things for you."
She didn't ask why he was tottering about. Thank the Force.
And her smile was… really nice to see…
Okay, you're concussed.
He still returned the small smile as he limped over and eased himself to sit back onto the cot. One of those stupid statements-of-obvious he usually avoided, but something was needed to express gratitude and relief: "You made it back."
Jyn assumed that Gabrael had either gotten bored with lying down - and who could blame him, it was always her most hated part about being sick herself, or he wanted to explore his new surroundings. She could blame him for neither. The last thing she wanted was for him to feel as though he was in prison and she was his jailer.
She followed him back to the low cot, and after shucking her bag and setting at her feet, she sat down with a soft sigh, too. "I did make it back", she replied, her smile slowly widening. "And I brought some more things."
Rifling through the bag, the first thing she wanted to share was the little bottle of painkillers.
"How's your head today? Your back? Your leg can hold your weight better?"
He made a sound of gratitude at the bottle. On the one hand, it would dull his perception. On the other, it was pretty compromised with the distraction of pain, so kinda fair exchange.
"Back and leg are hanging in there," he said. Her binding of his back and his own of his leg were both holding up pretty well. "Head still being a nuisance." If only they could wrap a bandage around his skull and have that treat the swirling double vision. Maddeningly, still, the main treatment for concussion was physical and cognitive rest.
"And more water to go with them", she continued, reaching for the old canteen before handing over the new. "More nutrient bars - ", she sighed, wrinkling her nose. Most of the other food I considered wouldn't have kept in my bag all day. Sorry about that."
Jyn watched Gabrael closely as he shared the details of his injuries, and for the most part it sounded as though things were getting a little better. Maybe with the exception of his head, but there wasn't much she could do for that.
"Well, I'm here, so obviously no one's found you. I did have use some feminine trickery of my own to get those pills, and - oh, I managed one more thing for you, as well."
With that, she reached into her bag and pulled out a datapad, an eyebrow raised slightly as she handed that over, as well. "Not mine, although I did manage to duplicate my frequency. If you're going to send any messages out, please encrypt them heavily - they're all monitored. We've made it through one day, I'm not keen on getting caught now. Yeah?"
He decided not to ask what feminine trickery involved. Probably similar to tricks he'd pulled, himself.
The way he blinked at the datapad was maybe even more stunned than he had at the rifle. "I… thanks. I'll be careful."
He looked at her a long moment, trying very hard to profile objectively, not be swayed by her assistance or how he was increasingly feeling about it, or indeed his concussion. She was hard to read, but… with what she was doing for him, could it be so risky to see if…? "…If I manage to get out of here… are you looking to get out, too?"
Nothing too untoward. Perhaps some flirtation that Jyn had no intention of acting on. She could say without a shadow of a doubt that there was no one at Carbon Ridge who she was the least bit interested in. Hard to be, when one was doubting everyone's intentions.
She didn't know Gabrael, that much was true enough, but for some reason, she didn't distrust him. He hadn't tried anything with her, after all, and he had had every opportunity after she'd given him his rifle.
Maybe she was going soft, but ...
Jyn should have been expecting the question, but it still caught her off guard, even though it didn't show in her expression. Still, it took a moment of thought - a long moment of thought before she was able to offer an answer.
Did she want to leave the only life she had ever known? What would she do if she did? Where would she go? Whatever it was had to be better than continuing to perpetuate what she was beginning to believe was ... decidedly not the good that the higher ups kept telling them that it was.
They had stolen her childhood after the tragic death of her mother, and as it stood, she had no relationship with her father, and what did she have to show for any of the work she had done? She was stuck on this dustball in the middle of nowhere because she had dared ask the wrong people the wrong questions ...
Jyn didn't know Gabrael. But in the moment, she decided that she had to take the risk. It had to be better than staying here forever.
His heart pounded in his ears. He worked to slow his pulse and steady his breath.
But with that word, she'd just transformed this. Now it wasn't just him needing rescue; it was also a possible defection.
Not that helping someone escape the Empire wasn't a win in of itself. It was. She could go entirely her own way and he'd still be glad. But if, in addition, he brought someone of her skills and knowledge to the Alliance…
He was concussed and tired and injured and her presence made him feel strangely (if it wasn't the other things) so he wouldn't act on it either way yet; give it at least a day and see if her answer remained the same. Even then, might not be strictly necessary to tell her more until they were actually offplanet. But still…
He nodded and gave her a more unguarded smile. "Okay. Still don't know if I'll be able to get through. But if I can, I'll arrange extraction, for both of us."
This could be a ruse, and if so, Jyn had just opened herself up to a galaxy of trouble.
But Gabrael was legitimately hurt - and it didn't make sense to grievously injure a man just to pull potential defectors out of the shadows. Still, Jyn wanted to believe that it was true, that his presence here might be the catalyst to her getting out.
She didn't know where she might potentially go or what she might potentially do, but her options were wide open. Still, for as hopeful as she wanted to feel, she couldn't let it get out of hand. Escaping wasn't guaranteed.
Only time would tell. And until then, she would have to put in more effort to keep him safe. "Well, at least now you have a way to try."
She nodded slightly, smiling in return, although it was small and fleeting. "Thank you. For trying."
"Yeah," he agreed, touching the datapad. "Maybe you can help me figure out best time of day to try and send a signal? Monitors' lunch hour or something?"
Her thanks made him… something; and duck his head a little. "Least I could do. Hopefully it'll work."
"If you can route it to terminal G-77 between 0630 to 1200, that's my station. If you can't, then make the message as innocuous as possible so it doesn't raise any suspicions. Shift changes are staggered so that there's always someone monitoring. Your best bet is to go through me."
Jyn shrugged and then shook her head, unsure of how to respond. Truly, she didn't feel that she was doing anything out of the ordinary even though logically, she knew that she was. "Yeah", she murmured, "Me, too."
Normally he'd have those details immediately memorized. With the concussion, he isn't inclined to trust to that alone. Instead, he flicked on the datapad to preset to G-77 and makes note of the time window. "Yeah. Thanks—I'll encode it to look like a request for supplies." He'd used his codename for tech physics before.
He looked at her again, and, again, suddenly wanted to tell her more. (Everything.) It was getting harder to blame the head wound. What about her was he responding to, when he'd resisted social contact with surprisingly little effort for everyone for years…?
He wanted to ask her to stay just to converse. (Again… he was really good at being alone, so what's up, guy?) It wasn't a good idea, since anything he was inevitably called on to say about himself would have to be a lie. He found he wanted to minimize those with her.
He should probably plead off in favor of more sleep. But just… didn't want her to leave yet. "Don't suppose this thing plays dejarik?"
Jyn would have repeated the information as necessary if asked. But she watched as he entered the pertinent information into the datapad for reference, and she nodded her understanding. "I'll keep an eye out for it. Hopefully it'll get where it needs to go."
She didn't really have anything else to do here - she had given Gabrael the supplies that she had managed to pilfer for him. There was no reason to stick around any longer than needed, but -
She wanted to. If even just to ensure that his concussion was healing, even though she was no medic and hardly knew what else she could possibly do for him. What could they have in common? Why was it necessary to sit and talk? Jyn had almost always took care of herself, didn't need anyone, and yet ...
"'Course it does. You in the mood to lose a few games?"
He actually grinned. "I accept I'm probably going to." Was playing intellectual games a good or a bad re: getting over a concussion? Keeping the mind active or overworking it? Whatever, they could always stop. He handed the datapad back to her. "You do the honors?"
"So, we'll play best two out of three and see what happens", she replied, shrugging nonchalantly, even as her eyes glittered mischievously. "Alright, sit up, get comfortable. I'll get us started."
Carefully, she accepted the offered datapad, and with the appropriate swipes and keystrokes, pulled up the game. "Choose your fighter."
Steeling himself, he pressed his palms to the cot and pushed himself carefully upright. His ribs protested a little, but having a goal and the promise of diversion helped considerably. He leaned back against the wall. He was breathing a little harder, but overall, not bad. A sliver of his smile returned as he glanced at her.
"The Kintan Strider." He could do with some regeneration. *
Jyn quietly observed Gabrael sit, slowly and carefully, a little winded when all was said and done, but without requiring her help. That was a good thing. Hopefully, it meant that his body was beginning to regain some strength. He'd need it if he wanted to heal properly.
"The Strider, okay", she answered, humming softly as she scrolled through the other options to make her own choice. "I'm going with the Monnok this time around."
A few last keystrokes and she set the pad between them, the holo-board flickering into life, the little avatars ready and waiting to begin. "You first."
Cassian's playing style was hard to pin down. He seemed to keep switching between cautious and provocative. That was because he played dejarik the same way he treated spycraft (or vice-versa): less about imposing himself on a situation and more about learning and adapting to the style of the other player.
Jyn switched between bold, brash moves that almost certainly looked like they would spell disaster and carefully crafty and cunning as she watched and waited to see what her opponent would do, taking time to figure out what she should do to counter. She laughed as her latest move narrowly avoided coming to an abrupt end. "You're good, Gabrael, I'll give you that."
He didn't usually enjoy games, for all he'd been the one to suggest it. The strategizing, maneuvering, being adversarial… it felt too much like work. But this time, it was fun. He and Jyn were incredibly well-matched. It felt, rather than competitive, almost… cooperative. They were making a pattern together.
They were building to something he started to suspect would be a draw. At risk of throwing the game, but too curious to see how she reacted, Cassian made an audacious move—like one of hers.
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He couldn't choke down any nutrient, but he drank some water. And reflected that those supplies, clearly not belonging to any other container in this shed, were evidence that Jyn Erso was indeed real. And hopefully coming back. But, and not just on the chance she wouldn't, he shouldn't wait for her.
He mobilized himself enough, using the rifle as a crutch, to dig through some of the crates around him. He found supplies enough for a makeshift splint—and something to bite down on. Which he needed when he reset his own leg.
It was a pain he'd experienced before. Turns out that didn't help in it nearly making you black out. The concussion was the biggest 'nockdump of all. It didn't hurt as much as some of the other things but it kept him disoriented and nauseated and messed with his vision.
He stayed conscious and stayed hydrated and eventually had more of the nutrient bar. He was simultaneously ravenous and felt sick. Was this the worst he'd ever been injured? Couldn't be… could it?
He hadn't realized he'd drifted back out until he opened his eyes and the light had changed. He swore silently; but there wasn't too much else he could do with what he'd found so far. …So find more?
He was on the wrong side of the shed, arm-deep in a crate, looking for a datapad or anything else he could use, when he heard the door opening.
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But then, wasn't that was why she was here, after all, to learn how to follow directions and do her job efficiently, and all without asking questions or getting into trouble. Life here on this base was a lonely, boring thing, and Jyn hated every second.
Her shift ended, and she set out on mission to gather more supplies, and all without getting caught in the midst of it. If she didn't swipe things surreptitiously, like food, she either flirted (with no intention of actually following through) in order to pocket a bottle of unguarded painkillers, or talked her way into procuring an extra datapad from requistions because she'd 'lost' hers, and who was going to care if inventory was off by one, anyway?
It was nearing dusk when she returned, careful to ensure that no one was following before she keyed in the entrance code and stepped inside, just as careful to ensure she closed the door quickly. Neither of them could afford being caught now, and there was probably no doubt as to her role in this whole thing if someone were to discover them.
Better safe than sorry.
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The silence was unnerving, but understandable, and she slowly crept from the entrance to where his little nest had been set up, hoping that when she found him, she wouldn't find that the silence was going to be permanent.
"Gabrael? It's Jyn - ", she offered, her voice soft, but just enough to echo out into the room. "Are you here?"
Maybe he wasn't. Maybe he'd decided to make a go of it on his own in the middle of the night. She wouldn't blame him if he had - the odds probably seemed preferable than the danger inherent in staying here.
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And her smile was… really nice to see…
Okay, you're concussed.
He still returned the small smile as he limped over and eased himself to sit back onto the cot. One of those stupid statements-of-obvious he usually avoided, but something was needed to express gratitude and relief: "You made it back."
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She followed him back to the low cot, and after shucking her bag and setting at her feet, she sat down with a soft sigh, too. "I did make it back", she replied, her smile slowly widening. "And I brought some more things."
Rifling through the bag, the first thing she wanted to share was the little bottle of painkillers.
"How's your head today? Your back? Your leg can hold your weight better?"
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"Back and leg are hanging in there," he said. Her binding of his back and his own of his leg were both holding up pretty well. "Head still being a nuisance." If only they could wrap a bandage around his skull and have that treat the swirling double vision. Maddeningly, still, the main treatment for concussion was physical and cognitive rest.
"How about you? No trouble on my account?"
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Jyn watched Gabrael closely as he shared the details of his injuries, and for the most part it sounded as though things were getting a little better. Maybe with the exception of his head, but there wasn't much she could do for that.
"Well, I'm here, so obviously no one's found you. I did have use some feminine trickery of my own to get those pills, and - oh, I managed one more thing for you, as well."
With that, she reached into her bag and pulled out a datapad, an eyebrow raised slightly as she handed that over, as well. "Not mine, although I did manage to duplicate my frequency. If you're going to send any messages out, please encrypt them heavily - they're all monitored. We've made it through one day, I'm not keen on getting caught now. Yeah?"
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The way he blinked at the datapad was maybe even more stunned than he had at the rifle. "I… thanks. I'll be careful."
He looked at her a long moment, trying very hard to profile objectively, not be swayed by her assistance or how he was increasingly feeling about it, or indeed his concussion. She was hard to read, but… with what she was doing for him, could it be so risky to see if…? "…If I manage to get out of here… are you looking to get out, too?"
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She didn't know Gabrael, that much was true enough, but for some reason, she didn't distrust him. He hadn't tried anything with her, after all, and he had had every opportunity after she'd given him his rifle.
Maybe she was going soft, but ...
Jyn should have been expecting the question, but it still caught her off guard, even though it didn't show in her expression. Still, it took a moment of thought - a long moment of thought before she was able to offer an answer.
Did she want to leave the only life she had ever known? What would she do if she did? Where would she go? Whatever it was had to be better than continuing to perpetuate what she was beginning to believe was ... decidedly not the good that the higher ups kept telling them that it was.
They had stolen her childhood after the tragic death of her mother, and as it stood, she had no relationship with her father, and what did she have to show for any of the work she had done? She was stuck on this dustball in the middle of nowhere because she had dared ask the wrong people the wrong questions ...
Jyn didn't know Gabrael. But in the moment, she decided that she had to take the risk. It had to be better than staying here forever.
"... Yes."
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But with that word, she'd just transformed this. Now it wasn't just him needing rescue; it was also a possible defection.
Not that helping someone escape the Empire wasn't a win in of itself. It was. She could go entirely her own way and he'd still be glad. But if, in addition, he brought someone of her skills and knowledge to the Alliance…
He was concussed and tired and injured and her presence made him feel strangely (if it wasn't the other things) so he wouldn't act on it either way yet; give it at least a day and see if her answer remained the same. Even then, might not be strictly necessary to tell her more until they were actually offplanet. But still…
He nodded and gave her a more unguarded smile. "Okay. Still don't know if I'll be able to get through. But if I can, I'll arrange extraction, for both of us."
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But Gabrael was legitimately hurt - and it didn't make sense to grievously injure a man just to pull potential defectors out of the shadows. Still, Jyn wanted to believe that it was true, that his presence here might be the catalyst to her getting out.
She didn't know where she might potentially go or what she might potentially do, but her options were wide open. Still, for as hopeful as she wanted to feel, she couldn't let it get out of hand. Escaping wasn't guaranteed.
Only time would tell. And until then, she would have to put in more effort to keep him safe. "Well, at least now you have a way to try."
She nodded slightly, smiling in return, although it was small and fleeting. "Thank you. For trying."
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Her thanks made him… something; and duck his head a little. "Least I could do. Hopefully it'll work."
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Jyn shrugged and then shook her head, unsure of how to respond. Truly, she didn't feel that she was doing anything out of the ordinary even though logically, she knew that she was. "Yeah", she murmured, "Me, too."
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He looked at her again, and, again, suddenly wanted to tell her more. (Everything.) It was getting harder to blame the head wound. What about her was he responding to, when he'd resisted social contact with surprisingly little effort for everyone for years…?
He wanted to ask her to stay just to converse. (Again… he was really good at being alone, so what's up, guy?) It wasn't a good idea, since anything he was inevitably called on to say about himself would have to be a lie. He found he wanted to minimize those with her.
He should probably plead off in favor of more sleep. But just… didn't want her to leave yet. "Don't suppose this thing plays dejarik?"
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She didn't really have anything else to do here - she had given Gabrael the supplies that she had managed to pilfer for him. There was no reason to stick around any longer than needed, but -
She wanted to. If even just to ensure that his concussion was healing, even though she was no medic and hardly knew what else she could possibly do for him. What could they have in common? Why was it necessary to sit and talk? Jyn had almost always took care of herself, didn't need anyone, and yet ...
"'Course it does. You in the mood to lose a few games?"
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Carefully, she accepted the offered datapad, and with the appropriate swipes and keystrokes, pulled up the game. "Choose your fighter."
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"The Kintan Strider." He could do with some regeneration. *
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"The Strider, okay", she answered, humming softly as she scrolled through the other options to make her own choice. "I'm going with the Monnok this time around."
A few last keystrokes and she set the pad between them, the holo-board flickering into life, the little avatars ready and waiting to begin. "You first."
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He didn't usually enjoy games, for all he'd been the one to suggest it. The strategizing, maneuvering, being adversarial… it felt too much like work. But this time, it was fun. He and Jyn were incredibly well-matched. It felt, rather than competitive, almost… cooperative. They were making a pattern together.
They were building to something he started to suspect would be a draw. At risk of throwing the game, but too curious to see how she reacted, Cassian made an audacious move—like one of hers.
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