Built on Hope (Cassian Andor FF)

2. Risky Business

The silenced shot sent a wave of vibration up Cassian's arm. He resisted against it, holding his arm steady until he lowered it to his side slowly. Cassian set the senator down gently onto the ground to make sure not to make any unwanted noise. He put his blaster back in its hidden holster, but didn't tear his eyes away from the body. He took in deep, silent breaths; his shaking hands retreated behind his back. A sick wave of nausea overcame him, until he swallowed down the pain. Killing storm troopers was easy. Not being able to see the face behind the mask made it easy.

This? Doing this made his stomach churn. He saw her face. The look of shock. The way her mouth contorted after death. The senator had three beautiful children. Conceited children, but nonetheless, delightful. A doting husband. A grandchild on the way. Now, look what he's done. Killed her for the sake of the mission.

An unsung silence drifted around the room. The senator's blood soaked into the carpet, a heavy stench of iron and copper wafted into the air. It was hard to move at first. Slight shock and nervousness jolted through Talia's system. She retracted her hand from her mouth. Working with another spy turned out to be...more eventful than she thought. He did the job his way. Ultimately, the dangerous way. She gulped heavily. "Tha-that's okay. Change of plan. We can pin this on the other two senators. We can say she knew too much and disagreed with her cohorts."

Cassian remained silent and unmoving. The gears in his head helped crank out some ideas. He forced his lips to move after he cleared his throat. He spoke slowly, as if he were in a daze, "The cleanliness in her office will make sense. Shows a sign of knowing her shooter, and welcomed them in. There was no need for a struggle."

It was so easy for him to kill, but he at least feels something afterwards. I wonder if I'm safe while working with him. Talia slipped the letter into the desk and shut it. She moved to Cassian, who refrained from jumping. His nerves stood on end, but he had to play it cool. He swallowed hard and let her pass him. She stopped for a moment, turning back to him with an expression of concern plastered on her face. "Are you going to be okay?"

Eventually. Cassian nodded reassuringly. Maybe years into his retirement. Maybe when he was finally able to sleep peacefully. Having insomnia never helped, and neither did the nightmares that came when he succumbed to sleep. All those memories were nearly burned into the back of his eyelids.

No one walked down the hall outside the room. A few storm troopers made their rounds down the adjacent hall, not paying attention at all as they passed by. Talia led the way outside of the office. Cassian followed, grabbing his camera bug on the way out. She felt the urge to ask for his name, but refrained from doing so. She knew protocol. Know as little as possible about the other rebels. She huffed and continued on, falling into step with Cassian.

Push it away. This mission is more important. Cassian overcame the heavy feeling that engulfed him. His body seemed lighter, and there was a pep in his step. Averting his mind to the mission was all the help he needed to focus. His dark eyes darted from one side of the hall to the other. The place started to fill back up with workers, but the senators weren't in sight. Please don't come back early...

Praying was for people who believed something would answer them, help them out of their current situation in any means necessary. Andor wasn't the praying type. He didn't see the point in it. He's asked for peace. For some happiness. For some down time. For a lead that would end the Emperor's reign.

Nothing ever came.

In his mind, the Force never aided him (if there was a such thing), so why would any other 'high being'? Jedi, Sith, the Force, deities, all of it must've been false. All he had was hope.