Where were we last? Ah, yes. Lyra confessed something that made Orson freak out.

I don't own anything.
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"ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!??" Orson pushed Lyra over.

"I'm sorry!" Lyra said and she got back up. "I just... thought it was a good thing to tell you."

Orson gripped his hair angrily. "Go get the damned machine! We're getting out of here and I'm gonna have a good talk with that scientist!" Lyra shot off, deciding that Orson's bad side was something she didn't want to deal with.

He was fuming. Galen and Lyra had had an affair!?? It wasn't fair! Orson wanted to be the first one to do that to Galen!

Lyra came back with the crystal and stabilizer. Orson clipped it on to the ice block and tied a magnifying glass at the edge pointing towards the door. He placed his hands on the crystal. "Do the others know you're going to shoot this thing?" Lyra asked. "And are you sure this is safe?"

"It's safe enough," was all Orson said. He gritted his teeth and centered his mind only on shooting down the door. He could feel powerful energy engrossing his body and his eyes zeroed in on the door, losing focus on everything else around him. Crystals from the walls surrounding him flew out and circled above his head. Suddenly the large red crystal shot out the beam, cutting straight through the door and causing a giant explosion. Orson and Lyra were thrown through the air.

The two hit the ground with a hard thud, Orson landing on Lyra. Lyra shoved him off and she and Orson lay there on the ground, too stunned to move.

"Are you Force sensitive?" Lyra asked.

"No?"

"I'm pretty sure you were just using the Force with that crystal."

"Reekshite." Orson finally got up. He glanced over and saw Galen standing at the gaping hole.

Galen's face was shocked. And then relief flooded in. He stepped through hole and walked slowly towards the two. Then his pace quickened. Suddenly he was running, his arms outstretched. "Orson!"

Orson stood up. He waited until Galen was close enough before he did what came to mind first. He slapped Galen across the face, causing the scientist to fall to his knees. "YOU BASTARD!! YOU DIDN'T BOTHER TO TELL ME YOU HAD AN AFFAIR WITH LYRA!!??"

"You never asked..." Galen rubbed the side of his face. "Ouch, you slap hard..."

"WHY WOULDN'T YOU TELL ME?!?"

"I didn't think it was relevant to our relationship!"

Orson charged forwards to slap Galen again but Lyra grabbed him and held him in a chest lock. "Chill out, Krennic. That was months ago. It's over."

Orson clenched his fists. Lyra had messed with Galen! HIS Galen! He kicked around, trying to get away as he yelled "I can't believe you! Here, you told me you had never been in a relationship before and now I found out you were LYING!?"

"I never said I wasn't in a relationship before!" Galen said defensively.

Orson gripped his hair and nearly tore it out. "I wasted ALL OF MY ENERGY trying to be a perfect lover because I had the impression I was your fir-" he stopped himself. He remembered back to their first kiss...

{{"I believe you owe me something," Galen said.

"I do?" Orson didn't remember what. When did he owe Galen something? "What?"

"You owe me the end of a good date."

"How?"

A mischievous smile appeared on Galen's face. "Well, what is your ideal way to end a good date?"

"I wanna kiss you! Wait! I didn't mean that! I mean, I did... no! I- I-" Orson stammered.

"Orson, you're too funny," Galen said, shaking his head. "Come here." Galen bent down to Orson's height and pressed their lips together. Orson felt his heart beating so fast he felt like he was going to die of a heart attack. Suddenly, Galen pulled away. "You haven't kissed many people have you?"

"W-Well... y-you're my first k-kiss..."

"Then let me show you how it's done right..."}}

"Let me show you how it's done right..."

Orson realized that Galen had to have had a kiss before if he knew the difference between a good kiss and an inexperienced kiss.

He screamed, making Galen flinch and cover his ears. Lyra didn't get to so that since she was holding him back. "DAMMIT, ORSON!!" Lyra snapped "IT WAS AT THE BEGINNING OF THE SEMESTER!! THE FIRST WEEK!! WE HAD TWO TOO MANY DRINKS!! NOTHING ELSE HAPPENED AFTER THAT!!!"

Orson look st Galen for confirmation. The older man nodded. "What Lyra says is true. We were drunk and once we were sober, we decided to end any signs of a relationship before it became unhealthy.

Orson hated the way he couldn't stay angry at people for long. Because after hearing that, he was suddenly all peppy again. "Okay! I forgive you two!" He broke away from Lyra's arms and grabbed the giant crystal. He skipped over to Galen, whom he hugged. "I'm sorry for the slap." Then he held up the crystal. "I want to give this to you."

"You're so sweet," Galen said. "Can you hang on to it until we get home?" Orson nodded. He put it in his backpack and then went in for another hug from Galen. Galen pulled the teen to his chest and held him there tightly. He kissed the top of Orson's head. Orson melted into Galen's touch. It was so nice to be in Galen's strong and warm arms again. He felt Galen fingering the tips of his hair near his nape.

"I love you," Orson whispered as Galen nuzzled the top of his head.

Galen hummed "I l-"

"Yo, Galen. Should we call off the help?" Oraki called in from the hole.

Orson frowned. He wanted that moment to last! Now Oraki ruined it. Thankfully, Lyra was thinking along the same lines. "Way to ruin a cute moment, Oraki!" She shouted.

"Sorry," he muttered. "I just wanted to ask..."

Galen released Orson, making the teen whine a little. "Yeah, call them off. We don't need them. We have our teammates." Galen wrapped his arm around Orson and pulled him right against his body.

Lyra went out of the cave to see the others. Once she was far enough away, Galen leaned down and kissed Orson on the lips. Orson eagerly kissed back, his fingers fiddling with Galen's.

Suddenly the ground shook, and Galen and Orson lost hold of one another. The two managed to keep their balance as the mini earthquake passed. Once the ground was stable again, Galen and Orson ran out of the cave to see Lyra and the other looking around frantically. "Did you feel that?" Miyah asked.

"Hard to miss," Galen responded, hurrying down the stairs at the entryway. He stroke to where the other five were standing. "See anything?" The five shook their heads.

Orson watched as the group split up around the room, looking for clues about the problem. He wanted to help so he travelled down the stairs and stood at the bottom. His keen eyes studied every detail in the icy ballroom. Something felt odd and he knew it.

Then he saw it. One of the pillars holding up the ballroom roof was cracking at an abnormal speed and Galen, Zinno and Miyah were in its falling path. "Galen!" Orson called. "The pillar!" Orson pointed towards the crack.

Galen looked up at it just as the crack seared through the pillar. The pillar tipped onwards towards the group. Orson's eyes widened. "No!" He cried.

Galen sensed the danger too. "Zinno! Miyah! Move!" He shouted. The three took off running as fast as they could. The pillar fell within a few meters behind Miyah, shaking the ground. Miyah slipped and fell, ramming into Zinno and Galen as she slid across the floor.

Orson suddenly saw all the pillars cracking. No, the whole ice temple was breaking. He realized that the blast from the crystal must have been too much for the ice palace. One by one the pillars fell. Panic broke out and the seven scientists made a bolt for the exit. Oraki, Zinno, and Galen were trapped in the middle of the room, dodging large ice chunks. Lyra and Talise were cornered off by the giant pillar chunks. Miyah and Orson were trying to find their way through the labyrinth of fallen pillars.

Orson found a path straight to Galen. He glanced over to see Lyra on top of pillar chunk, reaching down to help Talise climb over. Suddenly he heard something crack above his head. Orson looked up to see the giant chandelier... falling... in his direction.

Orson found himself unable to move for a moment. His breathing had stopped and so had his heart. Then reality hit him again and he screamed. "GALEN!! HELP ME!!" Galen turned and made eye contact with Orson. He outstretched his hand towards the teen. The scientist took one step forwards but it was too late.

The chandelier came crashing around Orson. His knees buckled from the heavy chunks of ice beating his body and he found himself on all fours. Sharp shards of ice pierced into his shoulders, his spine, and neck, drawing blood. Orson felt ice shards smashing to pieces on the ground. Some thin chunks ricocheted off the ground and got him in the face. A heavy ice piece landed on his back and pain raged through his body. Then something hit him in the side of the head and everything went black. The last thing Orson heard was Galen screaming his name.
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The shuttle was unloaded inside the Star Destroyer. Stormtroopers escorted the new Empire recruit from the ramp. "You are dismissed," Orson said once the recruit was positions in front of him. The stormtroopers marched off. Orson motioned for the recruit to follow him. Galen looked dead as he walked after Orson. His limp had gotten worse.

Orson brought him into his office. He let Galen sit down on one side of his desk while he occupied the opposing side. Orson pulled out blueprints and data cards for Galen. "These are the plans for the weapon. Study them, revise them if necessary." Galen fiddled with his fingers, never making eye contact with Orson. "Run everything by me before you start the process of constructing it."

"Krennic..?" Galen's voice was tiny, barely audible, yet Orson felt his heart leap a little at how gentle and quiet the scientist spoke. He mentally reminded himself to keep his crush away from business. "May I request some time to adjust into this new setting?"

Orson frowned. "And why would you even consider asking this?" He wanted to say yes, he really did. But the weapon needed to be completed.

"I just lost my wife, I have no idea whether my daughter is alive or not, and I need some time to adjust my body clock to the Empire's," Galen reasoned.

Orson had his doubts about Galen's reasoning. He could tell the man was partially lying. Galen had always been terrible at lying. "And what else?"

Galen sighed. "I just want some time-"

"What else?" Demanded Orson. "What else do you want?"

"... it's nothing..." he said in that quiet voice again. "I just want three days."

"One day."

"Three days."

"Two days."

"Three."

"I am not giving you three!"

"Please, Krennic. I need three."

"I'm not giving you three. That is-is-is too much time. We need you to work on the weapon now." Orson bit the inside of his cheek. Of all places, why have the Ilum Incident condition now?

Galen stood up and walked around the desk. He suddenly dropped to one knee and bowed his head as he clasped his hands together, setting them on Orson's. The pose shocked the younger man. Galen Erso, the most stubborn man Orson knew, was putting himself in a defenseless position. "Please. I'll spend those days well. I'll look over the plans and memorize them! But I need this. I'm begging you, Orson. As friends. As former lovers... "

Orson felt a lump in his throat grow. Whether Galen knew it or not, he had never outgrown his crush on the scientist. Hearing those two words made him want to tell Galen everything he wanted to tell him. How he longed to kiss the man, how he longed for the gentle loving touch, how he longed to spend the nights whispering to each other. But he didn't. "You'll keep to this promise?" He asked.

"Yes. I swear on my life."

"Fine. But just this once."
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Omg what is going on?!?

Hopefully you all aren't getting confused by two separate plot lines going on here.

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