#it took a few tries which was mostly me getting arrogant and forgetting to dodge

[devotedlystrangewizard]

yeah i guess you could say i play ultrakill

[invaderhogtwopointohno]

Doesn’t Sound So Bad To Me

A gift for @coppernailpolish for the RebelCaptain Secret Valentine’s Day Exchange

 Summary: A RebelCaptain Boxer/Coach AU. Jyn Erso has been fighting since childhood, and won every title she can get her hands on. But when she suddenly goes through a major public incident, her coach and gym drops her and she has to figure out how to get back on the scene. She ends up at Alliance Gym, where the owner wants to put her together with infamous Cassian Andor, a coach known for only producing real winners.

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A/N: I decided that Leia was the perfect person for Jyn to fight because I feel like if she were a boxer Leia would be the freaking best.

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Chapter Four

 Morning Glory

 Jyn might have put up a strong front in front of Cassian but she was secretly nervous about a fight with Leia Organa. She was America’s sweetheart, she was a major player in the game and by far one of the best fighters Jyn had ever seen. At only nineteen she was already doing pretty well for herself. Her twin brother, Luke, was her coach and the two were a serious threat. She was going to have to work hard to win the fight, if she could win. Jyn wasn’t stupid. She had been out of the game for a bit and was having a hard time winning lately, if she was going to lose, she wouldn’t mind losing to Leia because at least it was expected. But if she was going to lose, she was going to make the Princess of Boxing work for it.

Jyn did her homework and watched a few of Leia’s fights on her own and only mildly grumbled when Cassian made her sit down and look at his laptop the next day.

“Here, watch her matches, get to know her,” he said, leaving her with the laptop when he was called over to look at another fighter. She watched one video and then without Cassian looking, clicked out and decided to go exploring his actual laptop. He had a picture of space on his background and several folders of family photos in his pictures, but nothing to do with a significant other. She didn’t know why that was satisfying to know but it was. She found work photos and several listings about fighters. Probably his personal notes.

She found a new folder made the night before with her name on it. She saw several videos and photos of her in it, and several notes already. She was surprised to find that one of the pictures was the one of her from the night of her arrest. She had been only wearing a towel in that photo and she clicked out quickly, looking up as Cassian came closer. She put another video up and pretended to be disinterested.

“What do you think?”

She looked up at him, taking a moment to realize that he meant the fighting video. Not the fact that Cassian Andor had a picture of her in a towel. Something about that felt strange and she just shrugged.

“She is a good fighter, she is hard to predict,” he said, reaching down and taking the laptop from her lap, and she felt his fingers brush her thigh. She closed her eyes, trying not to think about it but it had happened anyway. Cassian was looking at his laptop now, clicking around and found another video, putting his laptop back, leaning in close.

“This was her fight last week,” he said, showing her a video, his breath against her neck as he pointed over her shoulder the way Leia was moving. “Perfect form.”

She was suddenly really angry. Maybe it was a delayed reaction to the photo or the fact that Cassian had called Leia perfect, but that was enough to make her mad. She moved, getting him to withdraw his hand and she stood up, handing him the laptop.

“I got it,” she said, “She’s better than me.”

“I didn’t say that,” he said, frowning at her and setting down the laptop. She crossed her arms, unsure what else to do. “You are a really good fighter. You just don’t have Leia’s control. She lets her opponent open themselves up for attack. You just kind of dive in for it. That’s fine but its not going to always work. If you just do what you usually do, you are going to get knocked down by her time and again.”

She saw the genuine concern in his eyes, which was surprising because he wasn’t really good at giving away anything. He suddenly became hard again, as if he had said too much and looked away.

“Get your gloves on.”

He moved and went to Kay, getting on the sparring equipment.

“What are you doing?”

“You want to hit something, hit me,” he said, Kay looking down at her.

“Don’t tempt me,” she said flatly and moved to the ring after getting her gloves on. The thought of punching him in the face was too tempting to pass up.

She got into the ring and he held up the gloves for her to hit.

“Right,” he demanded, and she ignored him and instead went left. He watched her as she went for another shot and he reached out, hitting her shoulder and she glared at him.

“See, you never listen.”

She swung but he dodged.

“Come on, right, right,” he said and she gritted her teeth. She swung again and he moved away, making her chase and she didn’t like it. It was like he was toying with her. She swung again, hitting his gloves but it was only temporary as he was swinging again, this time hitting her in the glove and she was forced back.

“Come on, hit me,” he said, now getting almost arrogant, as if she couldn’t do it.

“Stop fucking moving!” she growled and swung, but he anticipated and countered, hitting her a little harder this time. She pushed back and went for his stomach, not thinking as she jabbed him, getting him pretty good in the side. He didn’t let up, and swung again and it was finally then when she listened to him and threw a right, hitting him in the shoulder and knocking him to the ground.

“Cassian!” she yelped, dropping to her knees, surprised that she had been able to knock him down. She used her mouth to tear off her gloves, touching his cheeks as he groaned. “Oh my god, are you okay?” she asked, and he opened his eyes, squinting at her.

“You threw a right,” he muttered and she helped him sit up. She touched him, his cheeks, his neck, his shoulder, finding that he was mostly okay, just stunned. She had never meant to go that far, it was supposed to be a little spar but he had made her so angry.

“Are you okay?” she asked, looking him in the eyes and for the first time it seemed like they really were looking at each other. Cassian had been unable to keep a neutral expression this time as he stared at her, her palms cupping his face and making his heart start to forget how to work properly.

“Cassian!” the others had rushed over when they saw him on the ground and were hurrying into the ring, Jyn forced to let him go as they got him to his feet. She stepped back, not realizing that her hands were shaking. When was the last time she had ever been that scared? She took a glance at Cassian and then got out of the ring, not looking back as she went to the showers.

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Jyn hadn’t cried in six months and for the first time since her fateful phone call to her father, she stood in the showers at Alliance Gym and she cried.

Jyn had never hurt anyone. Sure, she beat the living shit out of people, but that was people. Cassian wasn’t a person. Not like just anyone. She didn’t know any of the other people she had beaten on. They were just people standing in her way. She had never worried about it because with the same vigor they’d have done the same thing.

Her hands were still trembling as she leaned against the shower wall, closing her eyes and letting the tears come.      

What in the hell had she been thinking? She could have seriously hurt him. She closed her eyes and slowly fell down into the corner of the shower, grateful the constant flow of water was there to let her believe that everything was going to be okay, no one was going to see her like this.

She heard people coming into the showers and she hurried, rubbing her eyes and letting the water hit her face, trying to make it stop. She left the showers, and found Kay standing over Cassian on a bench. Cassian had an ice pack on his jaw, and she felt like she had when she was in that courtroom, all of those people looking at her. Shame filled her insides. She couldn’t remember the last time she had been so angry and upset. Usually her outlet was punching, but it felt like that had made everything worse.

“Jyn,” Cassian said, going to stand and she did the only other thing she knew how. She ran. She turned, walked out and didn’t look back, even after hearing him call her name over and over again.

She ran to her motorcycle, got on it and didn’t stop until she was in her apartment and hitting the punching bag in her living room, trying not to cry again.

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Cassian stood at the ring the next morning, looking at his watch. It was a Tuesday morning so it was fairly quiet. He looked again. He felt the ache of his jaw and wondered how bad it could have been if Jyn had been any more mad. He looked again.

She was an hour late. And then two hours. He walked in circles and then tried his cell phone, but no answer.

She didn’t come. That day, or the next day. Or the next.

Cassian waited until day four and then he was in the middle of reps with Kay when he suddenly threw down his towel and let out a frustrated yell.

“I am going over there,” he declared, leaving Kay to sigh.

“You are making a mistake.”

“I am going to talk to her. She should be working. We have three weeks until the fight,” Cassian said, grabbing his jacket and keys, ignoring the look on Kay’s face. He left the gym, and drove to where Draven said Jyn lived. The place was godforsaken to say the least. He was sure that in this kind of a neighborhood, he was probably never going to see his car ever again. So he patted it and took out his favorite pair of boxing gloves. He found the apartment building easy and then only had to go up one flight of stairs before he reached her door.

He had come over here, so determined, that he didn’t actually know what he was going to say. He had wanted to apologize, honestly. He had been trying for days to figure out how to get the best out of Jyn and he had been smart to provoke her, but he had been stunned with how he reacted when she’d hit him. He had thought she would have gloated but Jyn was so upset about it and running off like that? He didn’t know what to do. He had originally taken Kay’s advice about keeping his distance but it wasn’t working. He needed to see her.

“Jyn!” he yelled, banging on her door and putting his hands on his hips. “Open the door. You haven’t been to the gym in four days, we have to work.”

Cassian was not aware that his voice was filled with intense need. He needed her to come back to the gym. To keep on training. She was going to be a great fighter if he could get her there. She needed to come back with him.

“Jyn,” he said in a quieter voice, one that was barely enough to choke out the name. He closed his eyes and leaned against the doorframe. “Please, open the door.”

There was a long pause. The longest of his life. And then the sound of a chain moving and the door unlocking made him straighten. The door opened a little and Jyn looked small, fragile and very, very sick.

“Jyn,” he said, surprised, and rushed inside, grabbing her by the arms and touching her forehead. Her nose was red and she looked like she hadn’t been sleeping. She was sniffing and coughing.

“I thin- I’m thic-” she coughed and he looked around the apartment. She had a few posters of boxers, a fridge with no food, a mattress on the floor and a punching bag. He wished he could say he was surprised.

“Come here,” he said, grabbing her and bringing her back to the mattress. He sat her down and grabbed her blanket, wrapping it around her shoulders. “What happened?”

She sniffed and looked at him, clearly tired and sick. He touched her forehead, she was burning up. Her phone was sitting next to the bed, charging on the floor and had an indicator that she had several missed calls from him.

“You’re sick,” he said, though he didn’t know why. He grabbed her by the shoulders and laid her down, with no protest much to his surprise. Apparently there was an end to her fighting if her shivering was any indication that her strength was completely gone. He got up and looked around the room, finding a closet with clothes kind of just piled up, and found that she had an extra blanket. He laid it around her, and stopped to touch her hair, her eyes closed and her breathing steady. She’d fallen back asleep. She probably had the flu.

He got up and found her keys on the counter in the kitchen, and grabbed them, locking the door behind him. He went to the store he’d seen down the block, got her some medicine and soup and came back to find she was still out cold (pun not intended).

The kitchen was a disaster and he had to clean it up just to avoid getting sick himself and threw away what food she had left over and did the dishes while she slept. A large flatscreen in the “living room” was his source of entertainment for the afternoon as he watched news about boxing and waited for Jyn to wake up.

She finally did after about an hour and he heard her moans as she attempted to sit up.

“Jyn,” he said, coming to her side almost instantly and touching her forehead. Still hot. She looked at him lazily.

“Cassian,” she said, and he nodded.

“Eat,” he urged and made her take the bowl and spoon. He would make her something better later, but this would have to do. He figured that she wasn’t a great cook but he knew what he was doing so he could manage fine for her.

She fumbled with the spoon, shivering because of her cold and finally got a hold of what she needed, eating quietly. She didn’t speak and kept having to stop to close her eyes, fatigued by simply eating. He sat down on the mattress next to her, watching her to make sure she ate every last bit of it.

“How long have you been sick?” he demanded.

“A few days, I just have been sleeping,” she muttered. She usually just kind of waited for it to be over. She was never really a great patient, so she would just hole herself in her room and wait for it to pass. She looked at Cassain as he took her bowl. He reached out and touched her forehead again, but he lingered and she blinked, opening her eyes a little more to stare at him.

“You’re still warm, go back to sleep,” he said, setting down her bowl and turning. He grabbed her shoulders and laid her down, still wrapped in her blanket and staring at him. He tucked her in and she was looking at him, unsure if she should speak.

“I’ll be back, just go to sleep. I am taking your house keys,” he said, and she nodded, unsure what to say. He hesitated a moment and she thought he might actually treat her like a child and lean in for a kiss on the forehead but suddenly he was jerking up and standing, grabbing her bowl, going to the kitchen, and then leaving her to sleep. But with what just happened, it was going to be hard.

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A/N: I stuffed like as many tropes into this fic as I could manage because who doesn’t love just going for it? And I made sure to mention every time that we go to Jyn’s apartment that SHE DOES NOT HAVE A COUCH. I don’t know why that was important for me but it kept bothering me that I forgot to give her a couch and I just wanted to make sure to continue to point it out for no reason.