♪ It's roughly two in the morning when Poe's phone rings. Good manners dictate that you don't call anyone past nine in the evening, but Jyn doesn't ever let manners dictate anything she's going to do. Which is of course what finds her calling him in the middle of the night, phone in her lap as she sits on the floor behind the couch.
Hi-lariously she manages to call on one of the nights he's actually managed some sleep. Still, he snaps awake at the sound of the phone, for one hallucinatory moment thinking it's the sirens at the base on D'Qar. Then he's up, staggering into the hall and grabbing the receiver, hopefully before it wakes Rey up.
Jyn doesn't introduce herself or follow any rules of telephone etiquette, lurching messily into the reason she called without so much as a hello, how are you, sorry for calling you in the middle of the night.
"I need to talk to BB-8."
She's not even calling for Poe but he is a necessary part of this conversation anyway.
She should correct him, that Cassian isn't there. Instead she murmurs, "Yeah", and hangs up. Things like thank you or please either don't occur to her or don't seem to fit the moment.
When he and BB-8 cross town to her home, the door is open and the light in the kitchen is on, he'll find Jyn sitting on the kitchen counter absently stirring a cup of tea, kettle still steaming on the stove, cabinet still open. Everything sort of half completed.
BB-8 rolls straight to her once he's up the stairs, chirruping concern. Poe closes the door. Picks up the phone. Moves the kettle, closes the cupboard.
"Not hungry." Even the sentence is just a fragment and it's clear once he gets close enough that Jyn's eyes are bloodshot and rimmed with red. As a personal rule, Jyn doesn't cry. She remembered breaking down alone on the ship after her father died, finally giving herself the chance to grieve the life she never had, the father who never raised her and protected her by lying to the world so well that he convinced even his tiny daughter that he had forsaken her and the cause.
For so long she'd believed that her father was a traitor, that her father was a bastard, but her father died in her arms not knowing whether or not his revenge would ever come to fruition. It seems to be a family trait, dying before seeing their mission completed.
The weakness of crying would irritate her on a good day, replacing her grief with anger as she usually does. It seems impossible to fall back on that coping mechanism now, shoulders slumped in defeat and loss.
There are times when Poe will push things, argue with his pilots, order them to take steps in self-care. Orders won't work with Jyn. The look on her face, her posture-- now isn't the time for arguments, either. It's not the time to push. He sits down across from her and sets his hand near the center of the table palm-up, reaching out without invading her space. He doesn't look at it, doesn't try to get her to take it. The gesture is simple meant to mean, I'm here.
"Yes."
BB-8 rolls back and forth in a little see-saw next to the table, silent but still worrying.
It takes her too long to find her voice again, protracted silence stretching between them, heavy and dark. When she does manage words they are clipped, almost clinical, impersonal because if she thinks about the men and women and droids that she lead out to the beaches of Scarif, if she thinks about Tonc and Sefla and Melshi and Bodhi and Chirrut and Baze... she won't make it.
"Status report--" She falters, voice cracking, breaking into a whisper. "Rogue One."
The query he's been avoiding. A history that, if not remembered, isn't his to know. BB-8 makes a final noise of concern before letting out a short chorus of sounds. Poe keeps his voice calm and steady, his focus on Jyn without looking her right in the eye. He doesn't want her to feel watched. Scrutinized.
He's done things like this before, he realizes. Not just with the news about Hosnian Prime. He's done this before, and it doesn't get easier.
"Rogue One determined killed in action at the Battle of Scarif, 0 BBY."
Jyn's eyes immediately close against the tears that threaten to fall, expression crumpling with grief. Their chances had been spent. That had been the Death Star in the sky. The weapon her father helped build, his acquiescence solely to make sure that Jyn would stay safely out of the reach of the Empire, had ultimately killed her and Cassian on that beach.
The irony is not lost on her.
It had been a futile hope.
"And the plans?" Had they even been transmitted? Had Bodhi made it that far? The man in white -- Krennic -- had taunted her that she shields were still up. What if he wasn't wrong? What if Bodhi had been-- Jyn finds herself unable to think of sweet, gentle, brave Bodhi Rook without shaking and when she heads the tea cup clattering dangerously against the saucer she abruptly sets it down. The scalding tea that splashes out against her fingers doesn't seem to have any effect on her.
This, he can answer without BB-8's help. "They brought down the Death Star."
He doesn't say the first. He made that mistake once already.
Poe gets up, goes to the sink, wets a clean rag with cold water. When he comes back to the table, her winds it gently around her burned fingers. He has to be delicate with her; she's so sharp, so willing to cut, that knowing how much comfort she'll let herself receive is a tricky proposition. "The Alliance took what you gave them and destroyed the Empire's weapon."
Every chance they took at been worth it. They had transmitted the plans and someone had been listening, someone had taken those plans and finished her father's work.
Her eyes stay closed as she reaches for her necklace, fingers curling around the crystal as Poe tends to her other hand. She doesn't fight it, all the fight seeming to have left her entirely in the moment, flooded with an odd kind of gratitude that the one thing that had gone right in her life was finding and transmitting those plans, fulfilling her father's legacy.
Fragility touches her voice now, as if it had broken and she's holding the shattered pieces of her entire life together by willpower alone. "My father built it, the Death Star, to keep me safe from the Empire, so that they wouldn't look for me and try to use me against him. He designed the flaw in it and he told us how to find the plans."
Jyn herself doesn't need credit, doesn't want it, but she does want her father to have some breath of recognition. He deserves that much, even if it's just Jyn telling a new friend.
[ He's being silly but he's going to hear soft crying on the other end of the phone, if he listens really hard. Her voice is shaky, uneven as she struggles to calm herself. After spending hours trying to calm Elena, to make her feel better, she doesn't have anyone to do the same for her.
She should probably call Steve but she calls Poe instead.] Poe. I need you to come to my place. Please.
[ Poe heads for Caroline's place at a jog. No one sounds like that, no one says I need you like that without things being...
Bad.
Bad in a way that means he asks BB-8 to stay at home, and to go to Cassian's for the night if Poe doesn't come back. To tell him not to worry, that he's just with Caroline. (He wouldn't have bothered, before his own disappearance, to make sure BB-8 has military-trained company.)
[ Things are bad. They're very bad and Caroline isn't sure where to start. She learned a long time ago not to be reckless and a part of her had a sinking feeling that Katherine, Stefan and Damon's disappearance might have been some kind of punishment for what she'd done. (It wasn't rational, if the town wanted to punish her, they should have taken Elena). But she needs to do something, she needs to fix this.
By the time Poe gets there, she's pacing her porch and the moment he's up the steps, she's moving to pull him into her arms for a hug, the tears falling all over again. She buries her face into his shoulder.]
[ He returns the hug fiercely, rubbing her back. His priority at the moment is calming her down, making sure she's all right. He can't find any signs of injury. That's a start.
Unfortunately, it doesn't take a genius to guess what she means by they're gone. Not any more. ]
Stefan. [ She murmurs his name, her heart aching at the idea of him being gone the most.] Damon and Katherine. They're just gone. [ She's being too reckless now, despite knowing better on some level, just saying this out in the open. But she's upset, she's worried.] They've been missing for three days and now all of their things are just... gone. And my memories of them... from here... are gone. Faded.
[ Damon. The one from the bar. Poe can't say he likes the guy, but clearly he matters to Caroline. That's the important part.
Any assurances he was going to offer about their vanishing, any comparisons he was going to make to his own, die when she tells him the rest. Didn't Cassian say something about that? About someone disappearing, memories fading?
It's a new problem, a new danger, a new mystery to add to the list. The top of the list, right now.]
Okay. [ He brushes her hair back from her face. ] What do you need right now?
[ To cry, to scream, to sleep, to tear down the rest of the town. Some he can help with, some he can help talk her down from. If she doesn't know, well. They'll figure it out. ]
[ She looks at him when he brushes her hair from her tear stained cheeks. Her eyes meet with his and she remembers to drop her voice, quiet but probably still audible to eavesdroppers.]
I need to find out what happened to them. I need to know where they are, if they're okay. [ Because Stefan wouldn't stop if the tables were turned and Elena isn't going to stop until she finds Damon. And even though Elena is human now and she can't turn off her emotions, Caroline is exhausted and angered by the idea of watching her friend suffer like this.]
I have to help them. [ But she probably looks exhausted, paler than usual and worn ragged. Caroline Forbes usually has the veneer of perfection, every hair strand in place but right now, she looks a mess.]
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the early morning of may 19
Date: 2017-05-19 03:25 am (UTC)As you do.
Ring ring ring ring.
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Date: 2017-05-19 03:40 am (UTC)"Mmmmf." That's probably not enough. "Dameron."
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Date: 2017-05-19 04:02 am (UTC)"I need to talk to BB-8."
She's not even calling for Poe but he is a necessary part of this conversation anyway.
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Date: 2017-05-19 04:15 am (UTC)"All right. I'll walk him over to your place, you and Cassian can ask him whatever you need to."
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Date: 2017-05-19 04:29 am (UTC)When he and BB-8 cross town to her home, the door is open and the light in the kitchen is on, he'll find Jyn sitting on the kitchen counter absently stirring a cup of tea, kettle still steaming on the stove, cabinet still open. Everything sort of half completed.
The phone is still on the floor behind the couch.
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Date: 2017-05-19 04:55 am (UTC)Whatever she's remembered, it isn't good.
(Cass. When did you die?)
"You eat recently?"
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Date: 2017-05-19 05:26 am (UTC)For so long she'd believed that her father was a traitor, that her father was a bastard, but her father died in her arms not knowing whether or not his revenge would ever come to fruition. It seems to be a family trait, dying before seeing their mission completed.
The weakness of crying would irritate her on a good day, replacing her grief with anger as she usually does. It seems impossible to fall back on that coping mechanism now, shoulders slumped in defeat and loss.
"You'll translate everything?"
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Date: 2017-05-19 05:35 am (UTC)"Yes."
BB-8 rolls back and forth in a little see-saw next to the table, silent but still worrying.
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Date: 2017-05-19 05:43 am (UTC)"Status report--" She falters, voice cracking, breaking into a whisper. "Rogue One."
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Date: 2017-05-19 06:04 am (UTC)He's done things like this before, he realizes. Not just with the news about Hosnian Prime. He's done this before, and it doesn't get easier.
"Rogue One determined killed in action at the Battle of Scarif, 0 BBY."
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Date: 2017-05-19 06:22 am (UTC)The irony is not lost on her.
It had been a futile hope.
"And the plans?" Had they even been transmitted? Had Bodhi made it that far? The man in white -- Krennic -- had taunted her that she shields were still up. What if he wasn't wrong? What if Bodhi had been-- Jyn finds herself unable to think of sweet, gentle, brave Bodhi Rook without shaking and when she heads the tea cup clattering dangerously against the saucer she abruptly sets it down. The scalding tea that splashes out against her fingers doesn't seem to have any effect on her.
Why would it? She's already dead.
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Date: 2017-05-19 06:33 am (UTC)He doesn't say the first. He made that mistake once already.
Poe gets up, goes to the sink, wets a clean rag with cold water. When he comes back to the table, her winds it gently around her burned fingers. He has to be delicate with her; she's so sharp, so willing to cut, that knowing how much comfort she'll let herself receive is a tricky proposition. "The Alliance took what you gave them and destroyed the Empire's weapon."
no subject
Date: 2017-05-19 06:50 am (UTC)Every chance they took at been worth it. They had transmitted the plans and someone had been listening, someone had taken those plans and finished her father's work.
Her eyes stay closed as she reaches for her necklace, fingers curling around the crystal as Poe tends to her other hand. She doesn't fight it, all the fight seeming to have left her entirely in the moment, flooded with an odd kind of gratitude that the one thing that had gone right in her life was finding and transmitting those plans, fulfilling her father's legacy.
Fragility touches her voice now, as if it had broken and she's holding the shattered pieces of her entire life together by willpower alone. "My father built it, the Death Star, to keep me safe from the Empire, so that they wouldn't look for me and try to use me against him. He designed the flaw in it and he told us how to find the plans."
Jyn herself doesn't need credit, doesn't want it, but she does want her father to have some breath of recognition. He deserves that much, even if it's just Jyn telling a new friend.
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Date: 2017-06-04 01:08 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-06-04 01:12 am (UTC)It takes him a second to finally fumble the phone out of its cradle. ] Delinquent speaking.
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Date: 2017-06-04 01:16 am (UTC)She should probably call Steve but she calls Poe instead.] Poe. I need you to come to my place. Please.
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Date: 2017-06-04 01:22 am (UTC)[ No hesitation, not a moment's thought. She needs him; she's crying. That's all he needs to know.]
Gonna hang up now, all right?
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Date: 2017-06-04 01:27 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-06-04 03:03 am (UTC)Bad.
Bad in a way that means he asks BB-8 to stay at home, and to go to Cassian's for the night if Poe doesn't come back. To tell him not to worry, that he's just with Caroline. (He wouldn't have bothered, before his own disappearance, to make sure BB-8 has military-trained company.)
He takes the steps to her porch at a leap. ]
What is it? Are you okay?
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Date: 2017-06-04 03:10 am (UTC)By the time Poe gets there, she's pacing her porch and the moment he's up the steps, she's moving to pull him into her arms for a hug, the tears falling all over again. She buries her face into his shoulder.]
They're gone. They're just gone.
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Date: 2017-06-04 03:19 am (UTC)Unfortunately, it doesn't take a genius to guess what she means by they're gone. Not any more. ]
Who?
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Date: 2017-06-04 03:23 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-06-04 03:50 am (UTC)Any assurances he was going to offer about their vanishing, any comparisons he was going to make to his own, die when she tells him the rest. Didn't Cassian say something about that? About someone disappearing, memories fading?
It's a new problem, a new danger, a new mystery to add to the list. The top of the list, right now.]
Okay. [ He brushes her hair back from her face. ] What do you need right now?
[ To cry, to scream, to sleep, to tear down the rest of the town. Some he can help with, some he can help talk her down from. If she doesn't know, well. They'll figure it out. ]
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Date: 2017-06-04 03:55 am (UTC)I need to find out what happened to them. I need to know where they are, if they're okay. [ Because Stefan wouldn't stop if the tables were turned and Elena isn't going to stop until she finds Damon. And even though Elena is human now and she can't turn off her emotions, Caroline is exhausted and angered by the idea of watching her friend suffer like this.]
I have to help them. [ But she probably looks exhausted, paler than usual and worn ragged. Caroline Forbes usually has the veneer of perfection, every hair strand in place but right now, she looks a mess.]
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Date: 2017-06-04 04:14 am (UTC)He's noticed how she looks. She's not going to do anything but get hurt, the state she's in right now. ]
When's the last time you ate? Slept?
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