Author's Note: OK, so yeah. Rogue One. Jyn/Cassian AU. Still working on other stuff for Poe/Rey.

Disclaimer per usual – I do not own Star Wars or any aspect of the SW universe; just a fan with an idea. No profit here, just fun for me.

"Why in the hell do I let you talk me into this stuff, Bodes?" Jyn sighs in frustration as she plunks herself down at the bar in the Falcon, a pub owned by a friend. She'd just lasted all of fifteen minutes on a disaster of a blind date. Tension radiates from her small 5'3" frame, her brown hair askew from the windy early-December evening, green eyes sparking with irritation.

"Because dating in New York is hard, Jyn, no matter how much bullshit 'Sex and the City' tried to sell people." Her best friend and foster brother, Bodhi, chuckles as he settles onto the barstool next to hers, with admittedly far more easy grace than Jyn can muster on a good day. Bastard. At 5'8" and lanky, Bodhi has the agility of a cat. He jokes with her that she's more like a compact, angry honey badger.

"I don't care. Tonight was an unmitigated disaster. You set me up with a vegan, Bodhi. It's a totally legitimate position, being vegan, that is, but considering that I wouldn't survive without greek yogurt, cheese, and, you know, meat, maybe not the best match for me!" She gives him an outraged look. "I mean, I'd never be able to go plow through a Peking Duck at Decoy with my boyfriend. That would just be wrong."

The reference to one of their favorite places in Greenwich Village seems to make Bodhi glaze over for a moment. "We have to go back there. Soon."

"Right? But without Vegan Boy. And he wanted me to try yoga. What about me says yoga?" Jyn fumes.

A voice in front of them makes them both look up. "Not a damned thing, Little One." The bartender is standing there, and he puts a gin and tonic in front of Bodhi and a Manhattan, straight up, in front of Jyn. He grins at them, and then he levels a look at Bodhi. "Seriously, kid, you set up this one with a vegan yoga guy? Miss Black Belt in Kickboxing and let me eat this steak the size of my head?"

Bodhi shrugs. "I'm running out of candidates, Lando."

"Bar snacks, Calrissian. Stat." Jyn sighs. Bodhi means well. Ever since he hooked up with his steady boyfriend, Luke Skywalker, the twin brother of the Falcon's owner's wife, he has been on a mission to get Jyn a boyfriend of her own.

Last summer, they'd moved out of their shared apartment, her going into a studio in the same building, him and Luke into a one bedroom. She loves Bodhi, and Luke is delightful, but when Bodhi wanted Luke to move in, she knew it was time. She needs her space, and the promotion she just got at work finally made having her own place financially viable. She works at a private security firm owned by the last foster parents she and Bodhi landed with.

Baze Malbus and Chirrut Imwe had been friends with their old social worker, a kind woman named Mon Mothma, who had sensed that Jyn and Bodhi needed a different kind of home. Mon had convinced them to get approved to foster, and they'd taken Jyn and Bodhi in fourteen years ago. Within a year, they'd both been adopted by the pair, Jyn then aged thirteen and Bodhi fifteen. Chirrut likes to joke that they failed as foster parents but did ok as "your two dads."

That had changed both of their lives. They got Jyn and Bodhi both into a private school that emphasized STEM. Jyn graduated early, at sixteen, which meant she and Bodhi graduated together. She went on to NYU to study Computer Science and then to get a Master's in Cybersecurity by the time she was twenty-three. She's been a hacker since high school, though, much to Chirrut's delight and Baze's consternation. She considered pursuing her Ph.D. In Computer Science, but she isn't sure she really wants to, given that she's now running the Cyber division for Chirrut and Baze's company, MI Security Consultants.

Bodhi also went to NYU, getting a degree in Mechanical Engineering with a minor in Aerospace, but he also is a licensed commercial pilot. Knowing that his passion was for the sky, something he found through therapy and an idea from Chirrut – he started taking flying lessons at fifteen. Two years ago, Chirrut and Baze found him a job as a private pilot for a very wealthy friend of theirs, Leia Organa – sister of Luke, Bodhi's boyfriend. Leia actually has two pilots, Bodhi and a woman named Shara Bey. Bodhi found the job when Shara went out on maternity leave, but they asked him to stay on and work with Shara.

Jyn sighs. She can feel Bodhi's eyes on her, and she says, "Bodhi, I know you mean well, but this was my last hurrah. No more blind dates."

Bodhi shakes his head. "Jynnie, you are the only single person left in our circle of friends. We all are just trying to help."

"I get that, Bodes," she frowns, "And I appreciate it. But I need to be able to find my own way. I need to find someone who can understand how I see the world. I don't trust people, Bodhi. You know that. I can count on one hand the number of people I truly trust. I'm happy right now. I'm OK. I have my job, my apartment, my friends. I'm not lonely. Can't you just let me be for a while? I'm only twenty-six, you know? I have time."

"Will you at least get a cat or something?" Bodhi wrings his hands together. His voice shakes as it drops. "You shouldn't be all alone."

Jyn frowns again, reaching over and covering Bodhi's hands with hers. Softly, she says, "Bodhi, breathe. I'm fine, I swear. Breathe."

He closes his eyes and breathes slowly, in and out. It breaks Jyn's heart. She and Bodhi landed in the same foster home back with she was eight and he was ten. For almost five years, they lived in the Bronx with a man named Saw Gererra. Both of them had lost their parents violently, and Bodhi had barely survived his experience.

Jyn dealt with it by picking fights and being openly disrespectful and distrustful of adults. Bodhi, on the other hand, would retreat mentally, anxiety draining him and making him hide from the world. He still occasionally has anxiety or panic attacks, and that affliction is what kept him from joining the military to become an Air Force pilot. It also made him struggle with focus, leading to him being held back in school for a year.

Saw had been the worst possible foster parent for them both. He railed at Bodhi for being weak and would egg on Jyn's antagonistic side. He also was incredibly unkind when he realized early on that Bodhi was gay. But, he didn't beat them or starve them or abuse them any way but emotionally, so their social worker before Mon Mothma knew that they were better off than a lot of the other kids in the system.

One day, Saw dumped them at an orphanage and disappeared. Jyn was twelve, Bodhi fourteen, but even though Bodhi was older and taller by inches already, Jyn would take on – and win – against anyone who challenged them or threatened Bodhi in any way. One day, a new social worker showed up, and from there, their lives changed. The soft-spoken but iron willed woman understood two things – they needed to stay together, and they needed a home where they'd be challenged but not pressured.

When Mon first introduced them to Chirrut and Baze, Jyn thought she was nuts. Bodhi was just terrified, and, in the middle of an introductory outing to Central Park, he had a full-on, system-shutdown panic attack. Jyn had tried to help him, but Chirrut was the one who managed it. He sat down with Bodhi, speaking softly and holding his hands, helping him center and manage through the episode.

The next day, Jyn and Bodhi moved into Chirrut and Baze's very cool three bedroom loft in the Williamsburg area of Brooklyn, Jyn's first sign that this was probably a great thing for her and her brother. They'd been offered separate bedrooms, but Bodhi had paled at the idea. Jyn had quickly said that they wanted to be together. Bodhi's nightmares were relentless, and Jyn often spent the night with him in his bed, curled protectively around his lanky frame like a mama lion.

Chirrut and Baze hadn't argued; however, they also got them both into counseling almost immediately, Jyn very begrudgingly, and Bodhi on a course of anti-anxiety meds that changed his life. He learned to focus and his natural intelligence surfaced. Jyn was placed, based on her test scores and placement reviews, in the same class as Bodhi, something else that helped him survive. They took almost the exact same schedule until high school, when he focused on physics and her computers.

"Bodes, if me getting a pet will help you be OK with me not going on blind dates, that's a small price to pay." She squeezes his hands. "I'll get a cat if you promise no more vegan yogis."

That makes him snort, and after a moment, he opens his eyes. "I'm so sorry, Jynnie. It's just – it's you. And I need to know you're OK, and you know my head doesn't associate 'alone' with 'OK.'"

She sighs with relief, seeing that he's shaky but back to himself. "You never have to apologize to me for giving a shit, Bodhi Rook. You know that. No apologies allowed for it."

He nods, but she can see that he's still struggling slightly. She grabs her phone and sends a quick text, and then she motions to Lando. "Can I get some water for Bodhi, Lando?"

Lando knows them well at this point, and Jyn can see the concern coloring his expression. Jyn tries to covertly nod, but Bodhi quietly says, "Don't have a silent conversation about me like I'm not here, you two."

Jyn rolls her eyes. "Fine. Lando, Bodhi is OK, but no more booze. He needs to take a pill." She looks at Bodhi pointedly, and he nods, reaching into his pocket for the prescription meds that he keeps on him. He is to where he usually just needs beta-blockers, and she can see from the bottle that he's taking one now. After years of therapy, he was able to finish weaning off of his daily anti-anxiety meds two years ago.

They sit there quietly after that, him sipping at his water as the shaking in his hands subsides completely, her working on her Manhattan and the nachos Lando brought her. It's a quiet night, as Tuesdays often are. Lando wanders down to them and wipes down the bar, stealing nachos from Jyn's plate. She pretends to swat at him and then asks, "How long you hanging around this time, Lando?"

"Until the next job floats along, kid." Lando is a jazz pianist, and he plays mostly session work lately, as the trio he was with broke up last year. He's a friend of Han Solo's, the owner of the Falcon, and Han lets him work here whenever he needs to, which is often.

He also plays piano for Han's jazz brunches on Sunday, something Jyn, Bodhi, and Luke, Chirrut and Baze, Leia and Han, and the pilot Shara and her husband Kes often attend. Han is usually behind the bar on those days, and Shara and Kes usually bring their two-year-old son, Poe. The little boy is a handful, slipping away when people turn their heads, usually found when Han grouses about a toddler on the bar. Poe is not only an escape artist – he can also scale the bar in about five seconds flat.

Jyn and Bodhi actually love to babysit the wide-eyed, curly haired little hellion. He loves it when Bodhi holds him above his head, squealing and yelling, "Fly." The kid, in a word, has spirit. Jyn likes spirit.

She chats quietly with Lando for a while, her hand going to Bodhi's leg, patting gently. She learned long ago that simple touches help to ground and settle him. Luke knows to do the same when Bodhi has an attack, and Shara does too. But she says that he's never had one while flying, at least not that she can tell. But his job is part of why he fought to wean off of his SSRIs, a process that took well over a year.

The pub's door opens, and Jyn turns. The person at the door is shaking snow from his blond hair as he hangs his coat on the rack. His blue eyes catch her green, and she does her best to telegraph a thanks to the young man. He comes over to them, Bodhi turning as the man approaches. "Luke?"

He swings around to scowl at Jyn, but she just shrugs unrepentantly. "It was the right thing to do, Bodes."

Now that he's been seen, Luke goes to Jyn first, pressing a kiss to her cheek and whispering, "Thank you for texting me," in her ear.

She nods as he pulls back. "Thanks for coming, Luke."

Luke turns to Bodhi, who is glaring at both of them. Luke goes behind Bodhi, hugging around his waist and perching his chin on Bodhi's shoulder. "As if I'd want to be anywhere else."

After a moment, Bodhi relaxes into the embrace. Luke is good for Bodhi – he and Leia are both twenty-six, same as Jyn. They were raised apart for murky reasons Jyn doesn't quite follow. Leia ended up with a diplomat who became a senator and his wife, Luke with extended family in the midwest. After they reconnected several years ago, Luke moved to New York to go to medical school. He finished last year, and he is now a pediatric resident at Tisch Hospital on the East side. Given that he's as good with Poe as she and Bodhi are, she knows he'll be a great pediatrician one day.

Jyn drains her Manhattan, waving off Lando's offer of another one. He hands her a doggie bag of her favorite dessert, Key Lime Pie, and he waves her off as she had him when she pulls out her wallet. He winks at them. "Don't tell Han." She just grins and drops a ten in the tip jar.

She looks at Bodhi and Luke. Bodhi nods to her, forgiving her for getting Luke to come here instead of going home after his shift at the hospital. "I'm calling it a night, boys." She hops down, grabs her back pack, and offers Luke her stool. "Get Lando to feed you both, and then go home, OK?"

Luke agrees, and he turns to Lando, ordering a beer and some food for himself and Bodhi. Bodhi turns on his stool, hugging Jyn close. "I'm holding you to the cat thing."

She rolls her eyes, but she hugs him back. "I love you, big brother."

He squeezes her closer. "Love you, too, little sister. Thank you for getting him here." When she pulls back, she just nods and leans in, kissing his cheek.

She reaches over and squeezes Luke's shoulder. "Good night, Luke."

"Night, Jyn." He gives her a soft smile. "Thanks for the text."

"Anytime, Farm Boy." She winks at him. With a nod to Lando, she heads for the door, grabbing her coat on the way out. She shrugs into it and wraps her scarf around her neck. Going out into the early evening, she looks up at the sky. December snow is her favorite snow. It'll be Christmas in a few weeks, but this early snow shower, soft and quiet and making the city look bright and clean, at least now while the snow is fresh, is something she appreciates. By February, the snow will be pissing her off – but for now, she loves it.

She turns up 10th Avenue to walk the few blocks to their apartment building on West 29th near the High Line. It's cold, but she doesn't mind. She's tired in her heart, though. Bodhi worries her sometimes. She knows he still struggles with nightmares, and when Luke went to visit family back in the midwest in October, Bodhi actually slept over at her place. Even though they are only three floors apart in their building, for Bodhi, when the dreams start, it might as well be three miles. Even when it's just Luke working a night shift, Bodhi will show up, sometimes crashing on her small sofa, but more often just crawling into her bed with her.

Luckily, she'd dumped her last steady boyfriend over a year ago – she'd found out at Thanksgiving that he was banging a girl from his gym. Asshole. She gets to her building, and she lets herself in. The doorman approaches, nodding to her. She nods back, giving him a smile.

The building is fairly new and well-appointed. She and Bodhi shared a two-bedroom here until last year. Now she has her studio and Luke and Bodhi their one bedroom. It works for her. She can park her car here, and she feels safe. Bodhi parks his car here, too, and Luke has a motorcycle that he uses to go back and forth to the hospital.

She smiles to herself as she gets in the elevator to her unit, up on a high floor. She knows it's weird that they all drive in the city, but Bodhi works out of a small airport across the river in New Jersey, and Jyn's office is in midtown, a rare office space with parking available. It's one of the perks she's happy to accept as the daughter of the owners of the company.

She unlocks her door, and the silence is oddly comforting to her. She truly appreciates it, to be honest. The space she has is small but efficient, a nice kitchen, full bath, the luxury of an in-unit washer/dryer, a decent living area, and a tiny sleeping alcove. She has a dresser, a platform double bed, and a single nightstand in there, with little room to move. But the platform bed has drawers all the way around, storage being at a premium. It's full of her sweaters and bed linen, and it's a highly functional space.

She can admit that it's sometimes a little too quiet, though. After all those years with Chirrut, Baze, and Bodhi, the silence can be overwhelming. She changes into a t-shirt and PJ pants, checks the heat, and seeing that it's set at a decent level, puts the pie in the fridge, grabs a bottle of water, and climbs into bed with her laptop. She flips on the small TV that is perched on the dresser, letting an old sci fi movie play in the background as she reviews a new encryption protocol they're working on for a client.

Her concentration isn't there, though, so she eventually sets the computer aside, turning off the lights and clicking off the TV. She snuggles into her pillows, looking out her uncovered window at the falling snow. She's high up, over twenty stories, but she can still see the flakes fluttering down, a tiny amount accumulating on her windowsill. She knows she should get up and close the blinds, that the light from them will wake her up early tomorrow morning, but she doesn't, instead watching the snow fall until sleep takes her.

######

Pushing open the door to the ASPCA Adoption Center on the upper east side of Manhattan, Cassian Andor shakes the snow from his black hair. He has on a blue parka with a fuzzy hood that a friend loves to make fun of, but he's warm and doesn't care. It's a bit of a jaunt up here to the shelter, but volunteering here on the weekends makes him feel good.

His friend Kay Tuesso, a statistician for a huge investment bank down on Wall Street, does not understand why he spends his Saturday mornings this way. He doesn't know how to explain it to Kay – the man may be many things, but altruistic and sentimental are not on the list. When he and Kay were roommates at Cornell, him in Vet school and Kay getting his Ph.D. In Statistics, they'd found common ground in their lack of family. With Kay, though it's not easy to find much other common ground.

Kay was an only child, with only his mother left; but his mother lives abroad and is apparently not at all interested in her son. Kay doesn't seem to care. For Cassian, his parents have been gone since he was fourteen, and his only sibling, a younger sister, died of leukemia when she was five and Cassian was eight. Born in Mexico City to a wealthy family, his parents had been killed in a kidnap scheme gone wrong. His only close relative had been his aunt who lived on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. He'd visited her a few times while growing up, but at fourteen, he'd been sent here to live with her.

He's gone back to Mexico many times over the years, but he became a US citizen a few years ago, and he likes the energy of New York. His aunt passed three years ago, and he was stunned to find out that there was a trust fund for him. It wasn't huge, but he realized that it was what his aunt had used to pay for his schooling, both the high school he'd attended here, his undergrad degree at Columbia, and his DVM from Cornell, which he finished the year she passed.

There was enough left for him from both the trust fund and from what his aunt left him to buy a nice apartment and to set up his veterinary practice down in Chelsea. He's lucky as hell. Many of his peers from Vet school have school debt and no capital. It's part of what drives him here on the weekends – gratitude and wanting to pay it forward. He's wearing an ASPCA hoodie over his volunteer t-shirt. Though they know he's a vet (and he helps when there's an emergency), the shelter lets him work with prospective pet owners because it's what he enjoys.

He had a dog with his aunt, but the old guy died shortly before his aunt. Cassian keeps thinking he needs to get a pet for himself, but for now, at least, he finds himself happy alone. That is the one thing about him that Kay does understand. Honestly, after losing his parents the way he did and also losing his baby sister, he can be too broody and wary for most people.

Cassian goes out into the area with the cats, and he notes that there is a new cat in an enclosure towards the back of the space. It's solid black with sparkling green eyes, small and sleek. Given its size, Cassian is surprised to note that the little female, despite her size, is about a year old. He sighs. Black cats can be hard to adopt out. People think they're bad luck. The little cat bats at his hand when he reaches for her, and she gives him a cranky squawk when he scritches her ears despite the warning. After a moment, though, she seems to realize that he won't hurt her, and she relaxes. He thinks to himself that if the little girl isn't in a new home by the following Saturday, he'll adopt her himself.

Over the next few hours, many people parade in and out of the space, many going home with new friends for their family. The little girl cat in the back spends most of that time hiding in the back of her enclosure, and when she does come out, it's to hiss and bat at the small children who reach for her.

It's nearing the end of his shift when a small woman and a lanky man come in. She looks reluctant to be here, but the man is grinning. He heads straight for an enclosure of kittens. The woman smiles indulgently at the man, and then she wanders towards the adult cats. Cassian likes that. Kittens are far easier to adopt out than grown cats. The woman, who Cassian notes is beautiful, with medium brown hair and bright green eyes contrasted against pale skin, cheeks pink from the cold outside, moves from enclosure to enclosure.

As the friendlier cats wander up in curiosity, the woman keeps moving until she gets to the small black cat's space. The little cat peers out from the bed in the corner, and Cassian is intrigued that the shy, standoffish girl is the one that draws the woman's attention. The man she came in with calls something to her, referring to her as "little sister," and she nods in agreement. Cassian is annoyed with himself when he realizes that the endearment made him relax a little.

He mentally scolds himself that he's here to help the shelter, not to pick up women (not that he spends much time on the latter – his last serious girlfriend was when he was at Columbia). Nevertheless, he follows the woman, going up to her and saying, in still pretty heavily accented though perfect English, "Miss, do you want to look at any of the cats?"

She looks up in surprise, and her eyes take his breath away. They're even prettier up close. She motions to the enclosure with her head. "What's the story on this one?" He picks up a faint British accent from her, though no where near as heavy as his own accent.

He'd read the cat's file after meeting her earlier. "She was owned by an elderly woman who passed away. She's new." He smiles at her, his hair falling into his eyes a little. He nervously brushes it back. "She's a little standoffish, but if you're gentle with her, she seems pretty sweet. You just have to show her that you won't hurt her."

The woman nods. She carefully extends her hand, and the cat shrinks back, her little ears flattening against her head. Instead of pushing forward, though, the woman turns her hand and holds it out, palm up. She occasionally rubs her fingertips together softly, but she doesn't push otherwise. Cassian is impressed. After a minute or so, the little cat edges out of the bed and cautiously moves towards the woman's hand, sniffing delicately. The woman moves very slowly, clearly not wanting to scare the tiny creature.

A moment later, the cat meows softly and head-butts the woman's hand. Cassian looks at the woman in amazement. She has a small smile on her face as she continues to move slowly, scratching the side of the little cat's face. Softly, Cassian says, "You're the first person to take the time to try with her today."

"How old is she? She's so tiny?" The woman is right. The cat probably weighs five pounds soaking wet.

"One, and yes, she's definitely on the small side. But she's healthy." He assures her honestly, wanting this woman to take this cat. It's just a feeling he has, but it feels like it's meant to be. "You can pick her up if she lets you." That makes the woman quirk a smile, and he cocks his head at her. "What?"

She shrugs lightly, looking up at him. At 5'10", he's not extremely tall, but he notices that he probably has seven inches on her. The smile is still there on her face. "I like how you phrased that – not that I can pick her up if I want to, but that I can pick her up if she lets me. I like that you gave the decision to her."

He brushes his hair back again, nodding. "Animals deserve respect just like humans do."

She nods but doesn't say anything, instead reaching her other hand slowly towards the little cat. The cat meows softly, but she doesn't back away, allowing the woman to pick her up. A grin blooms on the woman's face as she snuggles the tiny cat close to her chest. The cat settles in, purring loudly. Cassian, in three years volunteering here, has never flirted with a woman looking for a pet (though more than a few have flirted with him), but he can't stop himself from saying, "I'm Cassian Andor, by the way. And that was amazing."

She smiles up at him. "I'm Jyn Erso."

He nods and smiles again. "It's very nice to meet you, Jyn Erso."

######

Jyn blinks up at the tall man (or at least tall to her) in the ASPCA sweatshirt, volunteer badge on a lanyard around his neck. Usually, she's wary of strangers, but he has been polite and helpful. There's also something soft in his eyes that makes her feel at ease. He's a little scruffy, but that's what she likes. He has a mostly neat mustache and goatee, but his hair is long on top, falling adorably into his chocolate brown eyes. She blinks again, thinking, "Where the hell did that come from, Erso?"

"Miss Erso, are you all right?" She must have a funny look on her face, because the man, Cassian, looks concerned.

She swallows hard. "I'm good. And please, it's just Jyn, Mr. Andor."

He motions to himself. "Doctor, actually, but really, just Cassian."

"Cassian." She nods, focusing on the purring cat. "I think this one likes me."

"I think she does. Do you want to sit with her?" He motions to a space in the corner set up for people to get to know prospective pets.

Jyn nods, and she's pleased when he follows her to the small area. She sits on the floor and puts the cat down, and then she looks up at him. "You can sit too, if you want to."

He grins, his eyes crinkling at the corners, and Jyn actually feels her stomach flip over a little. She notices Bodhi watching them wide-eyed as he cuddles a fuzzy black and white kitten, and he lifts an eyebrow at her. She gives him a stern look before turning back to the man now sitting cross-legged on the floor with her. He's scratching the little cat's ears, softly speaking Spanish to her.

Cocking her head, Jyn asks, "What kind of doctor?"

He looks up at her with a smile. "Vet."

Jyn nods. "I probably should have guessed that. That was Spanish, right?"

"Yes, sorry. I was born in Mexico City, lived there until I was fourteen. I still slip into it a lot." He looks a little sheepish.

"No reason to apologize. It's cool that you've retained it." She picks up a stick that has a bit of line and a feather attached to it, dragging it in front of the cat. The cat shoots after it, making them both laugh.

He looks at her. "Do you think you might take her?"

She nods. "I think I might. My brother over there," she motions to Bodhi with her head, "Isn't going to let me leave without a companion. I think it's his mission in life right now."

Cassian chuckles. "Did you do the application form online?"

"Yes, on Wednesday. I'm already approved." She smiles. "Is your office near here?"

He shakes his head. "No. I'm actually down in Chelsea. I just volunteer here on Saturdays when I can to help the shelter out."

"Chelsea? I'm at the north end of Chelsea." She blinks in surprise, and, without thinking, she asks, "Do you want to be her vet for me?"

He grins. "Where do you live?"

"West 29th near the High Line." She can't believe she said that – she never tells people where she lives.

"Are you kidding?" He grins again. "I'm on West 23rd between 10th and 11th. My office is at West 26th and 8th." They lock eyes for a moment before he blushes lightly, saying, "She still needs to be spayed – her first owner never did it. They were going to do that Monday. You could take her home by some time next week if you want to."

The little cat is still chasing the feather, and Jyn nods. "I do." She scoops up the little cat again. "Does she already have a name?"

"She might have, but sadly, the people who dropped her off didn't tell us what it was. I think we're calling her Jasmine, but you can name her whatever you want." He reaches out and scratches the cat's ears again.

Jyn thinks for a moment, then something pops into her head. "Kyber!"

Cassian appears to think for a moment, and then he snorts. "Like the cryptocurrency?"

She blinks in surprise. "Why do you know what Kyber is?"

He shrugs and stands, holding a hand out to her to help her up. She takes it and lets him pull her to her feet, the little cat in her other arm. He explains, "My grad school roommate has a Ph.D. in Statistics and works for a major international investment bank down on Wall Street, and he loves to rattle on about stuff no one else will listen to him talk about. Why do you know what it is?"

"Hacker." She grins. At his wide-eyed expression, she laughs. "OK, reformed hacker. Now I run the cyber division of a security consulting firm."

He shakes his head, laughing too. "Kyber suits her. I like it."

Bodhi wanders up to them. He is still holding the kitten, and Jyn knows that Luke is about to be surprised with a fuzzy new roommate. Bodhi holds out his free hand to Cassian. "Bodhi Rook. Jyn's brother."

Cassian looks between them, but he doesn't comment on how different she and Bodhi look. He takes Bodhi's hand and shakes it. "Cassian Andor. Veterinarian and volunteer."

"Nice to meet you, Cassian." Bodhi grins and then leers a little at Jyn.

She just rolls her eyes. "So, how is Luke going to feel about you bringing home a kitten?"

Bodhi shrugs. "He told me to. He knew I probably would anyway, so he just gave me permission if I found one that I liked."

Jyn smiles up at Cassian. "So, that's two new patients for you. We live in the same building."

######

Cassian returns the smile, his eyes crinkling again. "The more the merrier." He then leads them to the counter. They make arrangements to come pick up the two cats the following week, and after they finish their paperwork and pay the adoption fees, Bodhi says that he's stepping out to call Luke. It's the end of Cassian's shift anyway, so he grabs his backpack and parka. He wants to walk out with Jyn and is dying to ask her if she has a boyfriend or not.

To his happy surprise, she is waiting for him at the desk when he comes out to leave. She also makes things easy for him as they leave the adoption center. "Cassian? Do you know where the Falcon is? The pub on 10th?"

He nods. "Sure. I've been there a few times. Decent food."

"I'll be there tonight. With Bodhi and his boyfriend? And maybe some other friends? I mean, you know, if you wanted to –"

She fumbles the words, and it's the most charming thing he's seen in a while. "What time?"

"Eight?" Her cheeks are bright pink. He kind of hopes that it's about him instead of the cold.

"I'll be there." He grins. He has seriously smiled more today than he has in the last week. He's not entirely sure what to make of that, but he can't remember the last time he connected with someone the way he has with her. The fact that she lives six blocks away from him truly blows his mind.

"Great!" She turns even pinker, and he knows that's about him.

From behind her, he hears Bodhi yell, "Jynnie, it's freezing! At least give me the keys while you flirt with the cute vet!"

At that point, it's Cassian's turn to blush. Jyn turns and looks at her brother. "Shut up, Bodhi, or I'll leave your ass here."

Cassian snorts, and he notes that the car is awesome – a MINI Countryman, British Racing Green with white mirrors and white stripes on the hood. "I like your car."

She smiles. "Thanks. It's a lot of fun."

After a moment, he says, "So, see you tonight?"

"Yeah." She leans up and presses a quick kiss to his cheek. "Thank you for helping me with Kyber."

He knows that he has a rather stupid, dazed smile on his face, but he tries to smoothly reply, "Any time."

"Tonight, then." He nods and turns to start his ten minute walk to the subway, when her voice makes him look back. "Cassian, you're not a vegan, are you?"

He shakes his head. "No. Not a vegan. God, no."

"Into yoga?" She looks murderously at Bodhi as he bursts out laughing. She unlocks the car and points at it for Bodhi to get in, which he does, still laughing.

Cassian gives her a confused look as he says, "No. Not really. I'm more of a running and weights kind of guy."

"Oh thank God," she breathes out, then gives him another bright smile. "OK. Tonight at 8. We're going to go clean out Petco now."

Chuckling and thinking that he can't wait to hear about why she asked him about yoga and being vegan, he waves. "Have fun, and see you tonight."

With that, she waves back and jumps in the little car. As they pull out of the lot, he has that same stupid smile on his face. He barely feels the cold as he walks to the subway, glad as hell that he was here today.

Author's Note: So, I can't decide if that should be the end or if I should continue...preferences? : )