milliways_bar | (no subject)

Entry tags:

(no subject)

Bodhi makes his way to the library after a few more nights of not sleeping and not coping. Only now he’s not alone. Myrrh the forge cat has adopted Bodhi and has taken to riding around on his shoulder.

Bodhi’s currently curled up on the library floor, almost catatonic. A datapad with The History of the Rebellion open on it has fallen from his hand.

Myrrh is perched on the human’s knee, hissing at anyone who gets too near.

{ooc: the probably of Rogue One spoilers in this thread is high. Very high. Tags are open to all and as always, if you’re worried about spoilers or anything, PM me first and we’ll plan something out.}

[tiny tag - Bodhi Rook]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

He nods, soberly. "Couple times. Lost friends in some of them, too. It's ... kind of always terrible."

"I'm sorry." He nods. "I hope-" He has no words for any of this.

"Yeah," he murmurs.

And hesitates.

"... Did you make it out? Or ...?"

Bodhi lowers his eyes and shakes his head. He didn't make it out.

Andrew bites his lip. "I'm so sorry."

His glance goes, briefly, to the datapad on the floor.

"I wanted to know... I needed to know... if it was worth it, what we did." He can feel his throat closing up with a choke.

Careful now, careful --

"What you did?"

"We stole the plans, for the planet killer. Galen, he designed a weakness into it. Something the Rebellion could use. To destroy it."

"The planet killer --?"

He lets his eyes widen, his mouth drop open, as they wanted to when he first thought he recognized the man.

"You and your friends -- you were Rogue One?"

Bodhi looks at him blankly. "Yes. How...?"

"I, I've heard stories --" He rakes a handful of hair away from his forehead, meets Bodhi's eyes. "I've met people from your world here. Years ago, but they were from your future -- it's a thing, time gets really weird here sometimes. I knew Princess Leia. Leia Organa?"

"I read about her. She got the plans to the Rebellion. Even after..." Alderaan. Bile rises in his throat and he pales. "Her world. Her whole world."

He swallows. "Yeah. But -- she did get the plans to the Rebellion. And they used them, they -- they told their fighters where the weak point was and sent them in. And it worked. They destroyed the Death Star before it could be used against any more planets."

"Galen's legacy." He whispers, almost to himself.

A beat.

"And yours," he says, low but deeply earnest.

(Because it hurt so much, to know that none of them ever knew --)

"They -- the Rebellion named an elite fighter squadron for you. You and your team. Rogue Squadron. They were the best."

He gives a bitter little laugh. "It was the first word that came into my head when they asked for a call signs. I was sure the Rebellion would shoot us down at any moment."

He blinks. "Really? I ... I knew your mission wasn't authorized, but ..."

"We were stealing the ship, defying the council's orders. Cassian and Kay, and the men Cassian brought with him - they were part of the Rebellion. Jyn, Chirrut and Baze, me - we weren't part of them. We just... I was there to see Galen's sacrifice wasn't in vain. The Rebellion, they killed him. Not the Empire."

At the words defying the council's orders, one corner of Andrew's mouth crooks the tiniest bit, unhappy and unconscious. At the last words, though, he looks away.

"The Empire would have, you know," he says finally, very low. "Sooner or later."

Bodhi nods, trying hard not too think of the last time he saw Galen. His memories were still fragmented and he couldn't remember their last goodbye completely. But even the thought makes heart clench and his breathing catch. "He knew- we knew. As soon as Krennic realised where the message had come from. We would never-" he chokes back a sob.

"I know." His own throat hurts, hearing that note in the other man's voice. "But you -- you did what he needed. His plan worked. He didn't die for nothing. None of you did."

Bodhi shakes his head. He wants to believe that. That what they did was worth the cost. "History might remember the call-sign, but it will forget us."

"No," Andrew protests, "no, it won't. The, the official history books maybe, but -- people will tell stories about you. They'll remember your names. All of you."

And he knows he's right on the edge of a lie there, because ... well, because he honestly doesn't know one way or the other about whether anyone in the Rebellion did. But they should have, it's not right if history wholly forgot them ... and it's not wholly a lie even if it did. Because in another corner of the multiverse, their story has been told.

It might almost be a lie but it's an almost lie Bodhi needs to hear. He gives Andrew a look that isn't a smile but is less miserable than before. "Thank you. That's... kind of you."

He can't tell if Bodhi believes him or not, but he has the feeling that insisting will make things worse, either way.

"I'm Andrew," he offers after a moment, and holds out a hand.