007 ──────────────── VARIOUS

 "Since when do we lock the door?"

 Eris and Cassian pull their hoods down as soon as their inside their childhood home—Maarva's expression is astonished. Maarva gasps at the sigh of them, before throwing herself into her sons arms. Cassian engulfs her tightly. Maarva does the same to Eris, holding the back of her head with care. "Wh-where have you been?" B2EMO asks. His question goes unanswered as Maarva switches between the two of them.

"Look at you. Darling, you've been hurt." Maarva whispers, delicate fingers tracing over the large contusion at her temple. "What happened?" Maarva asks sadly, looking to Cassian. Cassian shakes his head, helping his mother to the kitchen, where she began to brew caf for them.

Cassian goes to draw the blinds over the windows as Maarva moves about the kitchen. Eris helps her into a seat and smiles sadly. "I missed you." Eris admits.

"I've missed you, too. But you two cannot stay here. Cass," she turns to her son. "It isn't safe."

"There's t-t-troopers now." Bee announces.

Cassian sits at the table. "That was fast."

Maarva nods. "They came the next day. They kicked out Pre-Mor, took over the hotel. Ferrix is under Imperial authority. You shouldn't be here." Maarva reinstates.

Cassian moves closer to her. "Someone turned us in."

"You don't know?"

Cassian furrows his brows. "Know what?"

"T-T-Timm." Bee stammers.

Eris snaps her head to the droid. "Timm?"

"Timm Karlo turned you in. No point in stewing over it, he's dead now. The corpos killed him when they went looking for you two." Eris draws her hand down her face in frustration.

Cassian furrowed his brows. "How do you know all this?"

"Everyone knows it."

"Everyone?" Eris asks.

"Bix knew about it?" Cassian almost yells.

His mother waves him. "No, of course not. She was coming to warn you and Timm was trying to stop her, or to catch her. I don't know. I've...I've heard both things."

Eris huffs. "So...we're outlaws." She says to herself, hunching over with her elbows on her knees—fingers massaging her temples.

"You've pretty much done that to yourself, no? Killing two Pre-Mor's...what were you thinking?" Maarva asks.

Eris' head shoots up. "We had to. It was either us or them!" Cassian holds a hand out to her, beckoning her to calm down. "Sorry." Eris mutters.

"What I'm getting at is that...you two cannot be here. You can't. The Imperials are here to stay. They're not going away this time. It's all come undone." Maarva almost cries.

Cassian's face breaks into a smile as he goes to his mother, grabbing her hands and cupping them with his own. She finds those little stars of innocence in his dark brown eyes that she thought had gone out years ago. Cassian's smile lines form around his expression and his soft and sweet and Maarva thought she'd never see this Cassian again. "We won't have to worry about that anymore."

"What are you talking about?"

Cassian grins. "We're getting out of here. We're leaving!"

Maarva almost scoffs. "To go where?"

"Anywhere! Anywhere we want. We got lucky. We scored." Cassian states. "I've got enough credits to get us anywhere. We're gonna clear out. Leave this mess behind."

"When d-d-do we go?" Bee asks.

Cassian doesn't look away from his mother. "Tonight. We go tonight."

"Tonight?"

Eris nods, sitting beside Cassian. "Yeah, why not?" Cassian asks. "What do we need to take but the five of us? Me, you, Eris, Bee, Teo? Huh? Get out of the cold and damp. Find somewhere warm and easy. I can make it happen. It's all gonna be different now, ma."

Maarva nods, walking away to the kettle. Cassian sighs. "What's wrong?"

"Just...such a lot to take in."

Cassian shrugs. "No one knows we're here. We take what we can carry, and we disappear."

"It's just such a big idea. You know...I just...get so tired." Maarva explains. "You surprised me."

Cassian mentally slaps himself. "What am I thinking? It's...it's late. Yeah, yeah. You...you've got to rest, mama." Maarva nods. "I'm gonna go check on Bix, then we'll pull out first thing in the morning, okay?"

"Let's do that."

Cassian goes to make his move towards the front door, expecting Eris to be in tow. Once he reached the door, he turned around—but she wasn't there. Cassian finds her still sitting there, alone in the kitchen now that Maarva is heading off to bed. Cassian sighs softly, making his way back to her. He kneels in front of her, placing his hands on her knees and looking up to her. "What's wrong?" Cassian asks.

Eris shakes her head. "Nothing. Just tired."

Cassian reaches up to cup her face. "Why don't you rest?"

Eris shrugs, leaning into his touch. "You'll be out. I won't sleep."

Cassian chuckles so softly, it's almost unheard. "I'll be back, don't worry."

Eris nods at this. "Go get some rest. Run the bath, it may make you feel better."

"You'll come back?"

"Always." Cassian kisses the crown of her head, and just like that he's gone. Eris opens her eyes and she's alone again. She even wonders if it was real in the first place.

Eris manages to move herself slowly into the bathroom, beginning to run the bath. As it fills, Eris looks at herself in the mirror. She doesn't look like the same person who left Ferrix just a couple of a weeks ago. Dark circles have made their home underneath her eyes, and the contusion at her temple looked as bad as it felt. Eris pulled the band from her hair and undid her braid. Eris gripped the sink and sucked in a large breath before looking at herself once more. She looked awful. Eris moved towards the bathtub, stepping into it slowly. A sigh leaves her lips as soon as her skin touches the warm water. Cassian was right, this would make her feel better. Eris sunk into the water entirely, head submerging underneath the surface. Eris allows herself to not breathe for a moment—then her head is crashing through the surface and she's gasping for air.

Eris lays her head against the back of the tub, allowing herself to close her eyes and just lay in the water. She hadn't even known she drifted to sleep until a hand was pushing hair away from her face. Eris gasped, sitting up.

"Woah, it's just me." Cassian whispers.

Eris holds her face, trying to regain her breath. Cassian reaches a hand out and rubs her back. "I didn't mean to scare you. Here," Cassian says, reaching for the small pitcher he and Maarva's caretakers used to help her bathe. Cassian put a gentle hand over her eyes and wet her hair with warm water. "Lay back. Let me take care of you. You're always taking care of me." Cassian says softly. Eris nods, repositioning herself so she was concealed underneath the water. Eris watched as Cassian removed his jacket and rolled his sleeves, toeing his shoes off before sitting on the ground, on the side of the tub where he could reach her hair.

Cassian grabbed the soap and lathered it into Eris' hair. Eris sighed at the cold feeling, and almost gasped at the feeling of Cassian's fingers massaging her scalp. He was so gentle, Eris could fall asleep like this. Cassian switched from between the pitcher and his hands before he stopped once he was done. He wipes his hand and moves to sit beside her, moving down a little so he doesn't see her body—Eris admired this about him. He was respectful. Cassian stares at her, and she looks back at him with tired eyes.

"Your bruise," Cassian traces his fingers over it. "I'm sorry."

"You didn't mean to. You were trying to protect me."

Cassian chuckles. "Some job I did, huh?"

Eris shakes her head. "You always do good."

Cassian shrugs. "I got you hurt."

"Cassian..."

"What?" Cassian asks, turning to face the wall as Eris climbs out of the tub and begins to dress herself. He feels her turn him around. He can see her, now. Wet hair laid over her shoulder, her skin looking so fresh besides that damned bruise he caused. She's wearing his shirt it seems—an old tunic that hugged him too well, but laid perfectly on her.

Eris smiles softly. "You didn't mean to. Plus, I've gotten you shot a multitude of times."

Cassian shrugs again. "I...I just feel awful. I'm always getting you in these dangerous situations. And you don't deserve that..."

Eris moves, closer to Cassian. Cassian Andor's face is cupped with the warm hands of Eris Krennic, forcing him to look at her. "Who ever said I didn't want to follow you? I'd follow you anywhere."

"Anywhere?"

Eris nods.

Anywhere.

Cassian finds sometbing in Eris' eyes. Something burning. There are embers in her Eris he couldn't really see in any other form of light. He thinks she looks awfully beautiful here—in the house he'd lived in for so long. "Anywhere." Cassian breathes. Eris nods again. In Cassian's eyes, Eris can see all the softness he rarely shows to anyone else.

"Cass, I..."

Cassian nods. Eris wraps her arms around his shoulders to hang around his neck—and she's pulling him to down to her. She's wrapping him in a tight hug, as if she were going to lose him. "Cassian, you know I..."

"I know. I do, too."

They know what it means without saying it.

Cassian holds her securely. "So much." He adds, holding the back of her head. Eris breathes him in, eyes fluttering shut.

 "There you are." Cassian says

 "You haven't done much packing." Eris comments on Maarva's belongings still in their usual places. B2EMO rolls towards them, followed by Teo—who had been very excited to burst in while Eris was sleeping, waking her up by ramming himself into the bed over and over again.

"She says we can't go." Bee announces, and Maarva yells at him to be quiet. Eris and Cassian walk into the kitchen, finding Maarva watering her plants.

"What's he on about?" Eris asks, nodding to Bee.

Maarva sighs, setting the watering can down. "I'm not going." Maarva admits.

Cassian stares at her blankly. "What are you talking about?" Cassian asks softly.

Maarva finds a seat at the table, rubbing her temples with a weak hand. "I'm staying."

"But...it's—it's not safe." Cassian states.

"I know all that." Maarva informs.

"We can't be here. You said it yourself, it's all come undone. There's...theres Imperial barracks on Rix Road." Cassian fumes.

Maarva shrugs. "Good luck to them."

"You want to live under all that?" Eris asks, brows furrowing in confusion.

"It's happening everywhere." Maarva says.

"We'll find a place they haven't ruined yet!" Cassian reassures. He's doing his best to convince his mother to come with them.

"I'm already there. That place is in my head. They can build as many barracks as they'd like, they'll never find me."

Eris sighs softly. Maarva Andor, just as stubborn as the young boy she found on Kenari years ago. "Maarva, what's left to keep you here?" Eris asks.

"The Rebellion."

Cassian scoffs. "What?"

"Ferrix has been hiding long enough!"

Cassian shakes his head, rubbing a hand over his face. "So now you're taking on the Empire?"

"Laugh if you want to!" Maarva shouts, walking into the next room.

Cassian is hot on her tail, but Eris follows slowly. "Who's laughing? This is madness!" Cassian says, raising his voice.

Maarva pivots to face him. "It's not! It's overdue, and probably doomed! And I'm too old, I don't care anymore. For thirteen years, everytime I walk down Rix Road, I turn off before I get to the square. I take the long way around so I don't have to think about Clem hanging there."

Eris remembers that day. Her hand in Clem's—Clem being taking away by Stormtroopers, then them stringing him up and letting him hang. Eris hates remembering that day. She knows Cassian does, too.

"Then yesterday, I heard about this attack at Aldhani."

Eris' throat tightens at this.

"Have you heard about this?"

"What about it?" Cassian huffs.

"You heard about it?"

"Yeah, the garrison at Aldhani." Cassian says.

Maarva nods. "Well, I heard about it. I put on my best coat, and walked across the square with a smile on my face! If there are heroes brave enough to take on a whole Imperial garrison, I'm brave enough to stick it out."

"Aldhani was just a robbery." Cassian admits.

"People are standing up."

Eris shakes her head. "Getting killed for it. You have to think if it's really worth it or not, Maarva. This...isn't as easy as you think."

"I don't care anymore! I've been waiting to die long emough." Maarva yells.

"You can't beat them, Maarva." Says her son.

"Not if I run away. You have a different path, Cassian. Everything you've been through, everything that was taken away before you even started. Take all the money you can and find some peace." Maarva orders.

Cassian's expression breaks. Eris can see it in his eyes, the tears.

"I won't have peace. I'll be worried about you all the time."

Maarva nods. "That's just love. Nothing you can do about that. You can't stay, and I can't go."

Eris can see as Cassian's heart breaks.

 "Cassian?"

 "Cassian?" Eris repeats. She rises from the bed and pokes her head into the bathroom, where Cassian was messing with a device while the shower ran. He had no shirt on, only his trousers. "Cass." Eris calls, causing him to look to her.

"Eris, good morning." Cassian comes to a stand from his knees, coming to greet her. He wraps his arms around her, kissing the crown of her head.

"Well, good morning to you." Eris snickers, leaning into his warm body. Cassian was tanner now—his cheeks were red from the sun of Niamos. Eris still held her pale complexion, except her shoulders and cheeks held that pink berry color.

They'd been on Niamos for a few weeks now. It's been good. Quiet. Warm. "Whatcha doing?" Eris asks.

"Getting ready to take a walk. Do you want to go?"

Eris thinks for a moment. "I don't see why not. I have nothing else to do." Eris states.

Cassian smiles, pulling on his shirt. "I'll be outside? Take your time." Cassian says, kissing her head again before leaving the bathroom. Eris smiles to herself before starting to get ready. She pulls on something light—a blueish tunic and pants. Eris pulls her hair into two braids before grabbing some credits and leaving the house—finding Cassian sitting on the doorstep. "Hi." Cassian greets, standing to his feet.

"Hi." Eris replies.

"Ready?"

Eris nods, following Cassian down to the beach. It's windy today, but the sun warms them just right—almost a little too much. Eris sees the small beads of sweat forming at Cassian's forehead, and she can feel her small baby hairs sticking to her own forehead. Despite the heat, Eris keeps her hand in Cassian's.

"Where to?" Cassian asks.

"Hmm," Eris hums for a moment, looking around at all the shops lining the boardwalk. "Arkie's? We need a few things."

"Yeah? Like what?"

Eris draws a blank. Cassian laughs. "You just want a fancy drink, hm? I'll buy you your fancy drink, come on." Cassian nods, tightening his grip on her hand before leading her up the stairs on the shore. Around them, a group of people run, catching Cassian's attention. His brows furrow in confusion, but Cassian breaks the expression, turning back to Eris in a smile. "Come on."

Just as they're about to walk in front of Arkie's, a Shoretrooper stops them. "What are you doing?" He asks.

Cassian and Eris stop. Cassian turns around first, facing the trooper. "Excuse me?" Asks Cassian, genuine confusion in his tone.

"You keep looking around."

"Oh! Just trying to figure out what's going on." Cassian admits, referring to the people scampering around.

"You a part of it?" The trooper takes a step towards the couple.

"Part of what...?" Eris asks.

The trooper snaps his head to her. "I'm asking him." He clips.

"Don't play dumb."

"No, we were on our way to the store." Cassian informs, brown furrowing in slight frustration.

The trooper shakes his head. "You look like you're sweating."

Cassian laughs. "Well, it's hot."

"Or you've been running."

Eris steps in again. "Why would we be running? We just came to go to the store. We're tourists."

"I wasn't talking to you!"

Cassian huffs. "Don't talk to her like that."

The trooper calls over a droid—a tall KX Unit that Eris finds horrifying as it leans over her, hunched and towering. "Hang on to this one for me. Make sure the girl doesn't get away."

"He said hang?" Says the KX Unit.

"What—no! He means watch—" Cassian's words are cut off as the droid wraps its claws around Cassian's neck. Eris

gasps, watching as it slams Cassian into the wall. "Hey!" She yells, trying to stop the droid.

"Eris!" Cassian chokes out.

Eris bangs her fists against the droid before kicking the back of its knee component. It falls heavily, on top of Cassian.

"Cass!" Eris yells, trying to lift the droid off of him. It takes her a moment before she's rolling it off of him, pulling him up.

"Freeze!" A bunch of voices order.

They're surrounded—dozens of Shoretroopers pointing their blasters at them. Eris and Cassian exchange a look as they raise their hands in defeat. Shit, Cassian mouths.

 "Keef Girgo."

 Cassian walks up at the sound of his alias. His hands are cuffed in front of them, and he's surrounded by jurors and judges. Court. Cassian huffs. "Here!" He announces. Behind him stands Eris, bound just the same, waiting for her turn to be sentenced. She's just as irritated as he is, finding this whole ordeal rather dumb. If it hadn't been for her, they probably would've gotten off easier. But? She was the one that busted the KX Unit with one kick, was she not?

"Charges? Civil disruption, anti-Imperial speech, fleeing the scene of anti-Imperial activity." The judge says.

"No, no. I think there's been a mistake. I'm just a tourist." Cassian claims.

"Oh, apologies all around then. Six years!" Eris' jaw drops at this. Six years?

"Leda Castor!" Eris steps up.

"Charges? Civil disruption, damages to Imperial property, refusal to pay Imperial fines, anti-Imperial speech, fleeing the scene of anti-Imperial activity, talking back to the Empire. Ten years!" Says the judge.

Eris tries to find Cassian's eyes in the crowd as she's beginning to get taken away. "Yeah! You want to hear real anti-Imperial speech? Fuc—" The door of the courtroom is slammed in her face. "Let's go! Move!" An officer says, shoving her. "This is all total bantha—"

Something hits her head—hard. "Watch your tone with me, lady."

Fuck.