Yes, I know I've left all of you waiting for a long time. I apologize for that. But I finally got my free time and inspiration to line up properly so that I could write the final chapter for this story. I hope you enjoy it.

Han Solo wasn't exactly a model member of the Rebellion. He didn't have much interest in dying for some noble cause. Honestly, the sensible part of him still thought he should have kept flying once he was paid for the job and never looked back. Or even better, never listened to that crazy old man and never taken the job in the first place, regardless of how much he owed Jabba. There were easier and safer ways to earn back the money.

But he couldn't resist the idea of how the Princess would look when he swooped back in, proving that he wasn't some scruffy nerf-herder. And the Kid needed someone to watch out for him. He attracted trouble and the old man wasn't around anymore. And Han was proven right. He came back just in time to keep the Kid from being killed. Besides, Chewbacca liked Luke and Han would never hear the end of it if something happened to the Kid.

He didn't come back because he was worried about the two of them. He didn't come back because he cared. He just pitied the two of them and the entire Rebel base. The Rebellion just needed someone with some common sense around and might pay handsomely for some help with the inevitable evacuations.

Because they were evacuating. Han could see the people around the base scurrying around and doing prep work. He and Chewbacca hadn't been conned into helping yet, but it was inevitable. They couldn't stay here. The Death Star might be gone, but the Empire knew where they were. It was only a matter of time before they made another attempt.

There had already been talks about where to retreat to. Han wasn't impressed so far.

"There's no way I'm smuggling any of these people to Hoth," said Han for the third time.

"Well, it's not like you've offered any bright ideas," Leia said, leading the four of them towards one of the smaller corridors.

"No, I've made a great suggestion. One that isn't a hostile and frozen wasteland."

"We're not hiding on Jakku."

"Why not? The Empire certain doesn't want to go there. No one does. There's nothing there but sand, sand, and more sand. And there's no snow."

"You know that could just as easily describe Tatooine, right?" growled Chewbacca.

"Well, Tatooine isn't that great either, but it isn't a completely empty wasteland," he admitted. "Not even the Hutts would bother with Jakku. If the Rebels want to hide somewhere that no one would ever bother looking, there are better places that Hoth. Warmer ones too."

"Nowhere could be as boring as Tatooine," said Luke.

Three sets of eyes turned towards the young man before Han said, "Kid, this is your first time off that planet, right? Trust me. As dull as Tatooine can be, there are a few bright points. Jakku has none."

Currently, Leia was leading them towards wherever they dragged the droids previously. Luke wanted to see how repairs on R2-D2 were going and the Kid deserved a break from the attention. He'd started seeming a bit overwhelmed by everything after his role in the destruction of the Death Star. The celebrity lifestyle clearly wasn't for him.

And if Han was honest, Luke seemed a little anxious about the little droid. Not as much as C-3PO, but still. The Kid's family was dead. The old man was dead. He'd lost a lot recently. The droids, Han, Chewbacca, and even the Princess were the only familiar faces around. Even if they were all relatively confident that R2-D2 would be fine after repairs, it probably wouldn't hurt to let Luke reclaim his droid as soon as possible.

"Are you sure you know where we're headed, Princess?" asked Han.

"Hey, I'm not the one who got us cornered in that detention block with no idea how to get out again," she said dryly. "I spent the last several years on dozens of rebel bases and, unlike some flyboys, I actually have a decent sense of direction. Trust me. I know how to find the repair bay."

As Han rolled his eyes slightly at her words, the group turned a corner in the narrow corridor. And as a result, both he and Leia nearly walked straight into a tall figure that Han's brain instantly identified as an Imperial droid, one designed specifically for battle.

And instinctively reacting to a threat, Han yanked out his blaster and fired.

The three droids knew someone else was coming. Their sensors were accurate and sensitive enough to pick up the approach of four lifeforms, especially when none of them were attempting to be stealthy. K-2SO wasn't particularly concerned by that. This was a rebel base. Unless these people could give him information on Cassian, there was no reason that he couldn't ignore them.

But as the three humans and the Wookie came into view, their reactions of shock and fear forced K-2SO to rapidly reevaluate his earlier dismissal. And more importantly, grab the older male human's wrist and redirect his blaster fire towards the wall. The man had fast reactions for a human.

Reclassifying the group as hostile, K-2SO squeezed the man's hand hard enough to make him shout in pain and drop the weapon, but without applying enough force to break bones. The droid honestly had no intentions of being shot again so soon.

But while K-2SO managed to successfully disarm the most immediate threat, there were other hostiles eager to strike. With an angry growl, the Wookie lurched forward and slammed K-2SO against the wall. The droid grabbed onto the Wookie's shoulders and pushed back, but the species was one of the few humanoids who could match his physical strength.

K-2SO noticed that there were shouts and questions from the others in the corridor, but he relegated that information to more secondary systems. The majority of his processor's attention was on the Wookie that he was attempting to hold off and the location of the weapons that the others might turn towards the droid.

The Wookie roared at him, the tone not at all friendly. But his original manufacturer never saw the need to download that language into something meant only as a weapon and Cassian probably didn't know how to add that language.

"I have no idea what you are saying," said K-2SO, "but I don't think it was very nice."

"He was asking how you got here," C-3PO translated helpfully. "But as I was trying to explain, this is merely a misunderstanding."

"How can I misunderstand one of those things trying to kill me?" snarled the older human, clutching his injured hand while the woman tried to examine the injury.

"No, I disarmed you," K-2SO corrected, still holding the Wookie back far enough to keep him from ripping the droid's head off. "If I was attempting to kill you, I would have snapped your neck."

None of them seemed particularly comforted by that statement. In fact, the one with the injured hand started scrambling for his blaster with the other one. K-2SO began calculating his chances of shifting the Wookie to block a shot. They weren't great.

"Artoo says he doesn't work for the Empire," said the younger male human. "He says he's been reprogrammed by the rebellion."

Holding up his injured hand, the older man said, "This doesn't look very reprogrammed to me."

"Would you have preferred that I let you shoot me?"

"Yes."

"Well, I certainly wouldn't. I've been shot enough recently. Why should I let strange people wandering the base use me for target practice?" K-2SO tried to shift the Wookie enough that he could break free from their current stalemate, but it didn't appear to be working. "This is a complete waste of time."

"Yeah, well, you're not going anywhere until we get some kind of proof that you're not here to kill all of us," snapped the man.

"Kaytoo?"

While she could technically leave before that point as long as she was careful not to further injure her recovering ankle, Jyn hadn't bothered. Most of the people she actually knew in the Rebellion were still stuck with bedrest. She didn't have much incentive to go exploring yet.

But today, she was on a mission. She, Cassian, and Bodhi were growing a bit tired of the food they brought to the recovery ward. They'd all eaten worse or even gone without at different points in their lives. But Cassian knew for a fact that the food they served the pilots down in the mess hall tasted better than the bland and nutritious meals intended to help their recovery. So Jyn was hobbling her way through the base on her stealthy mission to locate, retrieve, and sneak back food with actual flavor.

Of course, it might have helped if she actually knew how to navigate around the place.

She almost turned back at the sound of raised voices along one of the back corridors, planning to try a different route. But a familiar voice among the noise snagged her and pulled her in. Jyn hobbled towards the sounds until she found the right place.

Taking a corner almost too sharply to keep her balance, she nearly fell over the loud group. She briefly took notice of two smaller droids, an R2 unit and a protocol droid of some kind. Jyn also spotted a young woman dressed in white and a similarly-aged young man with blonde hair, both of which she quickly dismissed as not visibly armed and thus less important at the moment. The older man scrambling for a blaster on the floor using his nondominant hand and the Wookie were more dangerous.

But against the wall and grappling with the Wookie, she spotted an Imperial droid. Or, far more likely, a reprogrammed former Imperial droid.

"Kaytoo?" she called out.

Everyone instantly swiveled their heads towards her. Their previous aggression towards each other had clearly been derailed by her interruption.

"Jyn," said K-2SO with a hint of something that might almost be called relief. "You look better than I would have predicted after our last mission."

Giving a short and disbelieving laugh, she said, "You should talk. When we got here, you looked like burnt scrap metal. They didn't know if they'd be able to put you back together again."

"You know him?" asked the older man.

"Yes, I do. His name's K-2SO. He helped us steal the plans for the Death Star," she said. Eyeing the blaster that he'd finally managed to snag, Jyn added, "If you even think about shooting him—"

"He won't," interrupted the young man. "Right, Han?"

Raising his hands defensively, Han said, "Fine. I'll leave the Imperial droid alone."

"Reprogrammed Imperial security droid," K-2SO corrected. "Why does everyone have such difficulties with that part?"

As the Wookie reluctantly stopped his attempts to dismantle the droid manually, Jyn frowned in thought. There was something familiar that sparked at a memory.

"You… wouldn't be Han Solo, the smuggler, would you?"

"So you've heard of me?" he said with a smirk.

"Only that you were working for one of the Hutts, flying around in a piece of junk, and that half the other smugglers can't decide if your successes are because you're brilliant or crazy," said Jyn, earning an insulted expression from Han and a short laugh from the woman. "How'd you end up here?"

"Long story," he said. "It mostly involves on old man really skipping out on the details of a job. And you? How'd you end up in the Rebellion? Just eager to make a difference?"

"I was partially kidnapped and partially rescued from prison."

"What a coincidence," said the gold-plated protocol droid. "We managed to rescue Princess Leia from a detention cell a few days ago."

As Jyn shifted her weight to try and keep it off her injured foot, she briefly brushed against something solid. She looked up, realizing that K-2SO had moved closer without her noticing. And even with a limited capacity to emote and minimal body language, Jyn could somehow recognize anxiety coming from the tall figure.

"Kay?" she asked.

"Jyn, I… I was not in the best condition when we left Scarif," he said quietly, even that brief hesitation setting off alarm klaxons in her mind because she didn't think it was even possible for K-2SO to keep from immediately sharing his thoughts. "I was mostly unaware of my surroundings and my processor could barely process what little information my sensors could provide. Taking blaster fire to key systems clearly has that effect. But it means I do not have clear memories of our escape or what occurred afterwards. And it would be helpful if you could explain what I missed. Starting with…"

He trailed off, his eyes shuttering back and forth briefly. Jyn found herself reaching out to touch his long arm. Even the others who didn't know the droid very well were looking at him with various expressions of confusion.

"It would be best to know, she would have the information, but until she confirms or denies, there is still an infinitesimal chance," said K-2SO quietly and quickly. It took her a minute to realize he wasn't talking to her, but was instead arguing with himself the way someone else might in an internal debate. "The probability is too low, it isn't worth considering, but so was Jyn's survival and it is easier knowing than having uncertainty, but as long as she doesn't answer, there is still a chance, but whether I ask or not doesn't actually change reality, only my knowledge of it, and not knowing his condition isn't helping and I need to know what happened, but I already ran the calculations and it is nearly impossible…"

Jyn never thought she would see the day, but it almost sounded like the reprogrammed Imperial security droid was on the verge of a surprisingly calm and quiet panic attack or something. He was clearly scared and worried about asking her something about what happened, which went against his normal deadpan and snarky nature. It reminded her of the desperation in his voice as he told them to climb as he sealed the doors. There was only one question that could possibly be responsible for the complete change in behavior.

"Kay," she said firmly, interrupting his quiet stream-of-consciousness rambling. "Why don't you come back with me to the recovery ward? It might be better to stay with me, Bodhi, and Cassian instead of wandering around, making friends with Wookies. We can help fill in anything you missed."

Just as she hoped, slipping in Cassian's name casually had an instant effect on him. Every servo on him seemed to visibly relax. And even though he lacked the ability to demonstrate facial expressions, K-2SO somehow looked calmer now that he knew Cassian was alive.

"Thank you, Jyn," said K-2SO. "That sounds helpful."

Jerking her head back the way she came, she said, "Well, come on then."

As she hobbled back down the corridor with the tall droid trailing behind her, Jyn heard someone mutter, "Anyone else here feel like they missed something?"

"I know it isn't exactly the best quality, but look at it this way," said Cassian. "At least you'll be able to move around on your own. And they promised to try and get you something better after the evacuations."

Bodhi looked at him briefly, but most of his focus was on maintaining his balance. He clung to the edge of the bed, wobbling slightly with each tiny movement.

The worst of the man's burns were no longer raw, red, and glistening wounds, but they still weren't pretty. Patches of pink skin and new scar tissue formed a patchwork pattern across his body. And where his original leg was lost sat a new prosthetic, a primitive and ugly thing hastily attached so Bodhi could be mobile during the base evacuations. He wasn't comfortable or completely healed, but the man was alive.

That was more than most could claim.

So Cassian did his best to encourage his fellow patient as Bodhi tried to adjust. He had to give the pilot credit. Even after everything that happened to him and everything he'd faced, Bodhi didn't give up easily. And without him, none of them would have survived.

The Rebellion was lucky to have him.

As Bodhi reached the foot of his bed and turned around to work his way back the few short steps, Cassian's thoughts began to turn over the issue of what happened next. Obviously field work wouldn't be possible until he finished healing. Not to mention that evacuating the base and relocating their remaining forces to somewhere the Empire didn't know would take time.

But this victory would be a blow to the Imperial forces. They would finally realize that they could lose, something that could lead to more deserters and traitors to the Empire. And those too afraid to join the Rebels before might be more willing now that there seemed to be hope.

Furthermore, all those enemy forces who were on the Death Star were gone. All those ships, resources, and even the weapon itself were no longer an issue. Then there were all the files and plans that were destroyed on Scarif. The losses of those could set back the Empire quite a bit.

Losing Yavin 4 as a base and all those people and ships during the attack on Scarif and the Death Star would hurt the Rebellion short-term, but the Empire lost this time. They were the ones who suffered the worst.

The Rebellion actually had a chance now. They would have to keep their momentum going, but it was possible. For the first time in a generation, the Empire seemed vulnerable.

Bodhi finally collapsed back on his bed, apparently worn out by his practice with the new prosthetic. Cassian gave him an encouraging smile.

"You keep that up and you'll be running circles around Jyn and me in no time," Cassian said.

"I highly doubt it," said a voice from the doorway, one that made the man stiffen in recognition and yet couldn't accept as real. "Especially with that prosthetic model. Do you want to know the average time frame required for a humanoid to acclimate to moving around on that model? Because it is a truly embarrassing answer."

Part of him wanted to snap his head around at the first syllable. But a larger part of Cassian hesitated. It couldn't be him. It wasn't possible. He was gone. Cassian knew that for a fact. And if he turned his head and no one was at the doorway, he would have to accept that loss a second time and Cassian wasn't quite prepared to go through that again.

But loss was inescapable in the Rebellion, something he'd dealt with regularly his entire life. And that tiny hopeful part of him refused to be silenced. Cassian turned to look.

Jyn was there, wobbling slightly as she balanced against the wall. But her presence was overshadowed by a much taller figure. Even as tiny cosmetic details faintly registered in his mind that this wasn't physically the same droid, there was enough evidence in his voice and body language for Cassian to know that this was K-2SO. Impossible as it may seem, it was really him.

"So anyone want to guess who I ran into in the halls?" asked Jyn.

Cassian didn't immediately respond. He was too busy staring. And he noticed from the way his white glowing eyes flickered, it seemed like the droid was taking in Cassian's physical state. Perhaps he was even reassuring himself that Cassian was truly alive in a similar way to how the man was trying to make sure the droid somehow made it.

"Kaytoo?" said Bodhi in a stunned voice. "How… how did you get here?"

"If you mean the recovery ward, by walking," he said in a tone that suggested the droid was wondering if the man suffered brain damage in the fight. "If you mean the base in general, I assume you're responsible unless Jyn took over piloting the return trip. And since she hasn't demonstrated any real capacity in that area of expertise, you're far more likely."

"But you weren't onboard, Kay," said Cassian.

He wasn't. Even though he lost consciousness shortly after they hobbled onboard, Cassian would have remembered seeing the droid in the cargo bay. But there'd been nothing. Only debris, shrapnel, and other remnants from combat. No other survivors and certainly not the towering figure.

"Actually, I was. Or what was left of my body, anyway," K-2SO said. "Somehow, despite all probability, the three of you made it back in better condition than I did."

"There wasn't much left when I found him. I almost didn't recognize him," said Jyn, quiet and almost apologetic. "But I asked them to see if there was any chance of repair. And…" She gestured at the droid. "Well, they did a good job."

Cassian wanted to ask why she didn't say anything before. But he didn't. He could understand her reasoning. If it hadn't worked, that would mean losing K-2SO after a tiny flicker of hope. She didn't want to put him through any more pain than necessary. So he didn't say a word on the topic.

Instead, he simply said, "It is good to have you back."

"It certainly raises your chances of survival," said K-2SO. "We have all seen how difficult it is for you to stay out of trouble."

"And what about you?" Jyn asked with a short laugh. 'A few moments ago, you were trying to fight a Wookie and a mediocre smuggler."

"They started it."

I'm sorry it took so long to finish. But at least a few of the characters got a happier ending than they did in canon. Thanks again for all the support.