A/N

Hello! First off, this is my very first fanfic, so any pointers or advice is appreciated.

I had the idea for the story come me to while I was reading the Rogue One novelization, but it took a couple of days to punch it all out. I expect to do maybe one more chapter just to finish things off.

So, without any further ado, here is my story. I hope you all enjoy!

Update as of 2/18/17 - I changed the first conversation between Kay and Mira. I was in such a mad rush to get the story published before I lost my nerve, I didn't take the time I should've to make everything right. I'm sure there still are some things that need fixing, which I will get to eventually. I'm just finishing up the second chapter, so it should be here soon, along with more. The story progressed in a way I wasn't really expecting, so we'll see how soon I get it done. I'm such a procrastinator...

The first thing Cassian was aware of was the loud ringing in his ears. Second was the smell; a thick ashy scent making him burst in a fit of coughing. When they finally subsided, he winced, surprised to find how much it had hurt.

Lastly, he opened his eyes, seeing nothing but fire and ruin.

He furrowed his eyebrows. What happened?

Cassian groaned as he lifted himself into a sitting position, which offered him a clearer view of where exactly he was. It looked like he was in some sort of shuttle. An Imperial shuttle he realized as he gazed at the dead stormtrooper in front of him.

The ship was in tatters. Loose cables sparked above him, and fires burned intensely on anything flammable. There were two other bodies with him. Another stormtrooper and a human male dressed like a civilian.

So, he was a prisoner then?

Cassian cursed at himself for his lack of memory. So instead he tried to focus on leaving wherever he was. Where there were two dead troopers, more were bound to come to investigate. And Cassian didn't want to be there when they did.

He bit back a cry as he tried to lift himself into a standing position, pain radiating intensely through his entire body. He eased himself back down and looked over himself for injuries. Cassian winced at what he saw.

His entire right leg was peppered with small shrapnel, but the real concern was the large piece of metal embedded in his stomach. He felt the bile rise up his throat, and he resisted the sudden urge to threw up.

He really got himself into a jam this time, didn't he?

Or did he? He couldn't remember.

But Cassian was alive, which was more than he could say for the other passengers on the ship. Which was something of a miracle in and of itself. Or the Force, he thought with a wry smile.

Cassian didn't really believe in the Force, but it had become something of a token within the Rebellion. More of a, 'good luck,' than anything. But neither luck nor the Force would get him out of this mess.

He grit his teeth as he mentally prepared himself for what he was about to do. Pulling shrapnel out of a wound wasn't always the best of ideas, and oftentimes caused more harm than good, but Cassian didn't see any other alternative. If he was going to get off the ship, it had to come out.

He tried to steady his breathing while he wrapped his hands around the warm metal and started a mental countdown.

One. Breath, don't hold it in.

Two. Steady, don't loosen your grip.

On three he pulled upwards, hissing and trying hard not to scream as a wave of hot pain pulsed through him. He pressed one hand down on the wound, trying to stop the sudden flow of blood. He took in deep, shuddering breaths and closed his eyes, resting his head against the wall suddenly feeling exhausted. His body was shutting down from the shock, but he couldn't afford that to happen.

Cassian moaned as he tried to pull himself up, finding it a useless effort as his body refused to cooperate.

"Okay." He murmured to himself. "New plan."

He tried racking his brain for anything, but his thoughts were growing sluggish, and he was having a hard time focusing.

"Cassian?" A voice called beyond the wreckage. "Are you alive?"

Cassian would've laughed if it didn't hurt so much. Kay-too was oftentimes too blunt for his own good, a byproduct he supposed of his reprogramming.

"I'm in here!" He called out, although it came out much fainter than he would've liked. He wasn't sure at first if the droid heard him, but all doubts were cleared away as the seven foot machine eased his way into the wreckage. He looked at his master with a cocked head.

"You don't look well." Kay-too stated.

And why would you say that? Cassian almost responded, but he needed answers, not a sassy retort.

"Where are we?" He asked instead.

"You don't remember?"

Cassian shook his head. Talking took up too much breathing, and breathing at the moment hurt.

"We are on Corellia, to gather information on the new TIE fighter." Kay-too told him.

That definitely sounded right, as a memory slowly started to emerge. Cassian remembered going undercover at the factory, and being able to transfer the schematics to a data card. But after that everything was fuzzy.

"Kay-too, what happened?" He asked.

The droid's next words almost sounded like a reprimand. "You had insisted on going alone and leaving me at the ship while you retrieved the data. But I was listening to Imperial broadcasts and heard a Rebel skirmish was going on. I thought you might need my help. Obviously, you did."

Cassian let out a long suffering sigh. "We need to get out of here before more stormtroopers come to investigate."

"Can you stand?" Kay-too asked.

Cassian winced and shook his head. "No."

The droid looked at him for a brief moment before coming to a conclusion. "Then I must carry you."

Before Cassian could say anything against it, Kay-too already had him in his lanky arms. It was a little awkward, but he figured it was the best that could be done at the moment.

The ship groaned as Kay-too exited it, and Cassian blinked at the sudden rush of daylight. He considered his options.

They could return to the ship, and from there to Yavin IV, but Cassian doubted if he would survive the trip in his current state. But if this was indeed Corellia, he knew of several safe houses they could hide out at. With medical supplies.

He gazed at the street they were on, but pulled a blank of where exactly in Corellia they were.

Kay-too seemed to read his thoughts. "We're in Coronet City, near the market square."

Cassian nodded. "We need to get to Veria sector, there's a house there we can stay at."

"That is quite a distance, and there is fighting going on in that general direction." The droid stated in a dubious tone.

"What other choice do we have?" Cassian grit his teeth as a fresh wave of pain hit him.

Kay-too made no comeback, but instead started at a quick jog Cassian hoped was in the right direction. The droid's long strides ate up the distance at a rapid pace, but Cassian lurched and jostled in his hold, making him hiss in pain.

"Kay!" He managed to gasp out. "Going- too fast. Slow- down."

The droid slowed his jog to more of an even walk and looked down at his master. "I'm sorry, Cassian."

He only grimaced. He was finding it harder to stay awake, and the pain, although still there, had turned into more of an aching throb. The world was going around in him at an odd tilt, and he found his vision going in and out of focus.

Concussion, he came to the decision. And who knows what else?

"Kay, try to keep me awake."

The droid placed a mechanical eye on him. "I predict a ninety-five percent chance your wounds will become infected, leaving a seventeen percent chance of your survival."

"That's not helping."

If a droid could have shrugged, Kay-too would've done it. "You only asked me to keep you awake." Cassian sighed, too tired to respond. After a brief moment of silence, Kay-too spoke up again.

"Depending on the metal fragments and their staggering, there's a high chance that your leg will have permanent nervous damage." "Kay." Cassian managed weakly. The droid must not have heard him as he continued.

"And the wound on your abdomen is bleeding profusely. If it is not sutured it is quite possible you will bleed to death." "Kay." This time was a little louder, and the droid looked down at him. "I don't want to hear it."

Kay-too almost sighed. "Very well."

Cassian couldn't blame him. It was the only way the droid knew how to show compassion; by rattling off probabilities and statics of how they, or more specifically him, were going to die. He almost smiled. At least someone cared.

He was suddenly jolted awake as blaster bolt blew past them and exploded into a plaster wall. He looked ahead to see a staggering row of rebels give ground to the Imperial force in front of them, a wall of blindingly white armor and- he blinked. A tank?

"They must be desperate." Kay-too said behind him. Cassian wasn't sure if he was talking about the rebels or the Imperials. Either way, it was getting dangerous to stay here.

Before he could mention as much to the droid, Kay had already made a detour down a narrow alley. As the sounds of battle grew fainter, the droid made another turn down a street, placing them right behind the Imperial troops.

"Not much further." Kay-too assured his master.

"Hey!" The harsh, almost mechanical voice of a stormtrooper stopped the droid dead in his tracks. "Where are you going? The fighting's that way."

"I, uh." Kay-too stammered on his words and Cassian winced.

The trooper looked around Kay-too at the crippled form of the rebel captain in his arms. "Who is that?"

"Oh, him? He's a, uh-"

Cassian winced again. Kay-too blew it. He didn't need to see the trooper as he raised his hand to his com-link to alert the others to their presence. But the stormtrooper never got the chance as a blaster bolt sounded out and landed squarely on his chest. He fell with a muffled cry as a pale trail of smoke rose from his scorched armor.

A woman rose from the rubble surrounding the street, a dark hood covering most of her face. Her dark eyes glanced at the pair and she made a sharp gesture with her head.

"Come." Her voice was flat, commanding.

Kay-too looked down at his master, who sighed and nodded his head.

They followed her at a slightly quickened pace, the droid careful not to jostle Cassian too much. The woman kept her blaster up and her eyes peeled, only stopping for short moments at corners as she scanned the area ahead.

Cassian tried his best to keep track of where they were going, but found it was becoming difficult to do anything. He kept wanting to close his eyes, and his hand was starting to slip from pressing down on his stomach. Not good signs, he mused to himself.

Before long, the woman stopped near a doorway and leaned against the frame, her weapon up and menacing.

"Get in, quickly."

Kay-too had to stoop to even get through the doorway, and the woman waited for a moment before following.

The room was dark, with only a few meager rays of sunshine coming through slits in the curtains. The woman locked and bolted the door behind her, and turned to face them, pulling off her hood at the same time.

Her face might've been beautiful if not for the large burn covering half of it. Her eyes were dark and challenging, as if she wanted them to ask about it and punch them for their troubles. Her hair was a dull brown and was tied in a tight knot at the back of her neck.

She gestured sharply towards Cassian. "Who are you?"

He let Kay-too speak for him. "What's it to you?"

The woman's finger twitched on the trigger of her blaster, and a low frown crossed her features. "Seeing how I just saved your lives, I think I deserve a few answers. Now are you going to tell me, or do I have to toss you back out?"

Kay-too was silent, calculating different replies he could give her, Cassian knew. Thankfully, he didn't take long to choose one.

"How do we know you can be trusted?"

If possible, Mira's frown darkened even further. "Look, I just don't go shooting Imps for kicks. If I risked my life for some deserters, I might as well kill you myself."

Kay-too looked down at Cassian and came to a decision. "He is Captain Andor, Rebel Intelligence. And who might you be?"

The woman gave a short bark of laughter and holstered her blaster. "A rebel spy, I might've known. The name's Mira, Mira Ortooga."

"Well, Mira Ortooga, do you have any medical supplies? I fear the Captain is severely injured." Kay-too's tone was condescending, which Cassian supposed was from Mira's lack-luster attitude.

She straightened and leveled a glare at the droid, her fingers dropping and lingering on the hilt of her blaster. "Yeah, I do."

"Then could you provide them?"

Cassian heard Mira mumble as she turned to gather them, something about Imperial droids never changing. He groaned as Kay-too placed him as gently as he could on a nearby table.

"Here are your medical supplies, oh…" Her voice trailed off as she gazed at Cassian. "Karabast, why didn't you tell me he was this bad?"

"I did." Was Kay-too's curt reply.

Mira cursed softly as she removed Cassian's blood soaked shirt, revealing a gaping red line still oozing with crimson blood.

"This is not good." She murmured to herself. "All I have are patches, not the whole damn bacta tank." She glanced at Kay-too. "Watch over him, I have a few extra things to grab."

"I wasn't intending to leave."

"Kay." Cassian was surprised to find how weak his voice was. "Don't make her angry, she's just trying to help."

"But she thought that I would leave. Any droid who would abandon his master should be dismantled. And I am not any droid."

At this point Mira had returned with an armful of odds and ends, placing them near Cassian's head. She picked one up and flicked a switch, igniting a burst of blue flame. Kay-too cocked his head at her.

"What are you planning on doing?"

"We have to get the bleeding stopped somehow, and I don't have anything else to do that with." Mira replied while picking up another item. A vibroblade, Cassian noted distantly, the fire sending ripples of light across it. She held the blade over the flame until it turned white hot, and when she pulled it back it deepened to a fiery orange.

She looked at him with what could've been pity in her eyes. "I'm really sorry about this."

Before he could even process what she planned to do, Mira placed the burning knife against his stomach and held it there.

Cassian tried hard not to cry out, but the pain was so intense, so sudden that he couldn't help himself. Thankfully, the scream was short and when the blade was finally pulled back he found himself gasping for breath.

Mira offered him a small smile and squeezed his shoulder in assurance. "Not so bad, huh?"

"That was not very funny." Kay-too stated.

Mira chose to ignore him, as she proceeded to open up bacta patches and place them on the newly seared cut. She secured them with bandages and then continued down to his leg. Taking up a pair of scissors, she cut along the side and carefully rolled up the cloth, wincing as she looked at the metal fragments staggering the whole length of his leg.

"Okay, not as bad as the other one." She murmured to herself.

Cassian found himself drifting in and out of unconsciousness as his leg was being tended to, but he was surprised he was able to hold on as long he did.

When she was finally finished tending to her patient, Mira sighed wearily and slumped on a nearby chair.

"Didn't know what I was doing half the time." She murmured to herself as she rubbed her temple.

"That's very reassuring." Kay-too's droll tone made her head snap up at him.

"Kay." Cassian's weary reprimand thankfully didn't fall on deaf ears, as the droid offered a mumbled apology, although it didn't sound very convincing. But there was something nagging on the tip of his memory. Something important, something to do with why they were here in the first place. Then it came to him.

"Kay." He said again, his voice urgent. "The plans. You have to get them to the Alliance."

"I will not leave you, Cassian."

Cassian sighed at Kay-too's obstinate tone. "Yes, you will. The survival of the fleet depends on them having those schematics."

"But you are still hurt."

"So you'll have to come back for me." Cassian grit his teeth. It was getting harder to stay awake, and he needed Kay-too to do this for him. "I won't be able to go anywhere for a couple of days. Which is time the fleet doesn't have. Figure a day to get there, and a day to get back. By that time, things will have calmed down and I'll be able to move to the ship."

The droid was silent for several minutes before he responded. "Do you remember where you put them?"

Cassian's mind suddenly pulled a blank. He blamed it on blood loss. "Put what?"

"The data card."

Oh. Yes. Weren't they just talking about that?

"Try my left boot."

He barely felt it as the boot was slipped off, and the world around him was becoming a foggy haze. He vaguely heard Kay-too's voice telling him he would come back, and his low threat to Mira.

"If anything happens to the Captain-"

"I know, I know." She cut him off. "Don't worry, I'll look after him." Mira added more softly, so soft Cassian wasn't sure if he heard it or not before the world around him became completely black, and he slipped again into unconsciousness.