Stardust- A Jyn and Cassian Fanfiction

Chapter 16- Jyn

"Now, does this thing even have a hyperdrive?" I mutter, frantically looking over all of the controls.  

"Probably not." Cassian responds.

I groan. We survived the explosion, but now we need to figure out where exactly we're going.  I've flown this thing for a grand total of ten minutes, and I already hate it.  It's so cheaply made, and it can barely do anything.  My main problem with TIE fighters right now is that only a few of them can go long distances.  I have no idea how far we can go, or much fuel is in this thing, or if it's about to explode or something anytime soon.  There aren't any alarms going off, but hey, this is the Empire.  They don't care if a few of their pilots die. On top of this, the controls are extremely different from any other ship I've ever flown.  I really have to concentrate if I want to understand any of it.  

It doesn't really help that Cassian has his solid arms around my waist and his chin on my shoulder, pulling me close to him.  His soft breath flutters my hair strands and my heart, effectively distracting me from the task at hand and preventing me from thinking about anything other than him.  But I try not to mind all that much.  The poor guy missed me.  Plus, I kind of like cuddling. Okay, I really like cuddling.  But it's making my job of figuring out how to successfully fly this piece of junk much harder.  So, I'm sadly going to have to tell him to stop.

"Cassian." I laugh slightly, having a light tone to my voice.  "I can't concentrate if you're cuddling me.  Do you want me to crash this thing into something and kill us for real this time?"

He instantly turns a slight shade of pink, laughing.  He carefully removes his arms from my waist.  "I'm sorry.  Being killed for real would be bad."

"Yeah, you think?" I grin. 

"So, cuddling distracts you?" he grins mischievously.

I roll my eyes.  "Yes, stupid.  It's hard to think when your mind is completely befuddled."

"I befuddle you?"

It's my turn to go pink.  "Okay, moving on."  I clear my throat, changing the subject.  "So, you're probably more familiar with Imperial ships than I am.  Does this lever control the amount of energy going to the thrusters?" I ask, trying to decipher the small picture next to the slider. 

Cassian leans over my shoulder, squinting at the control I'm pointing to.  "I have no freaking idea. And no, you'd probably know more about Imperial ships than I do.  You probably were transported to different places in Imperial ships." he predicts.  "Knowing you, you were probably bored and tried to figure out how to fly them.  So you would know more."

"Well, yeah." I admit. "I know how to control a few Imperial ships.  But I was never transported in a one seater made by the Empire."

Cassian shrugs.  "Fair point.  I'll give you that."

"So once I figure out how this crappy thing works, there's still another issue." I say, changing the topic to another important problem that we're going to have to solve in the near future.

Cassian's expression turns solemn.  "I know."

I blink.  "You do?"

"The Rebellion.  If we should we go back or not." he explains.

"Yeah, that's exactly it." I say, surprised that he knew what I was going to say.  I stop the ship and  turn my head to look into his eyes. "So, should we or no?"

Cassian sighs.  "I really don't know.  I've been thinking about it for a while now.  I want to help them, but at the same time, I don't know if I would be able to tolerate it when you went on a dangerous mission alone.  And before you protest, it's definitely "when", and not "if"." He adds.  He takes a breath.  "I know Mon Mothma, and I know that she wouldn't hesitate you to put you into the thick of the action because you're strong and you could handle it.  But I've already had to deal with the grief of your death, even if it wasn't real.  I don't know if I could take that again."