Chapter 1

Hera could taste her own blood freely running down her throat. She was steadily coughing up blood. She definitely had a broken rib or two. She currently couldn't feel either of her thumbs but she wasn't worried about that, thumbs could be reset and teeth and nails could be replaced. The part that actually worried her was that she had no idea who was doing this to her. She wasn't even sure who to blame.

Hacking up more blood she groggily looked up at her captor. His face was hidden under a black ragged hood. At least she thought it was a he. His breathing patterns indicated he was at least two hundred and fifty pounds and he was easily six feet three, at least. He had just taken a break from breaking her fingers one by one. She had no idea how long she had been held captive. She had not been let out of her cell, even to relieve herself. It could have been weeks or days, she wasn't sure. He knew what he was doing. In addition to her black windowless room, he had specifically kept her schedule so erratic, that she couldn't tell time.

She heard the door humm shut as he left. She felt herself slump against the chair. Breathing was beginning to hurt. She had been on a simple routine mission. Pickup and drop off. She had been complaining about Kanan's drinking habits. They picked up every year gradually around the time that Order 66 was given. She knew she should be more tolerable considering all he had been through. But there was more at stake than his past and he needed to swim in the new world or he would drown in the old one. Order 66 was in a week so naturally he had a shot of fire whiskey every hour.

She had tolerated it for two days before she broke. That morning she had given him a serious speech about his drinking habits and general lack of decorum. He just blinked at her and nodded passively when she had spoken to him, like he wasn't listening or didn't care what she had been saying.

She would have loved to have stayed and yelled but they had a meet. She asked him if he needed to stay behind but he declined, saying he was fine. Like his drinking was fine, or the guy who cut him off who now had a broken arm and nose was fine. With an exasperated sigh she grabbed her gear and loaded up the Phantom. He followed silently sitting in the co-pilots chair while she loaded everything.

When she was done loading the ship she found him staring off at the sky in his seat. He looked peaceful and not for the first time she noticed how handsome he was. She sighed to herself. Handsome and damaged beyond repair, but weren't they all? That was what the Empire had done to everyone, damaged them to the point of not wanting to live anymore. Sometimes she wondered why he bothered getting up in the morning. He had never said anything but based off of his nightmares he had probably witnessed the massacre of the Jedi in their temple on Coruscant. He must have been a little boy then.

She slid into her seat her heart aching for the little boy whose world was destroyed that day and for the man who wasn't sure how to deal with the ugly decrepit world that had been left in it's place.

'Punching planetary coordinates. It's a Cantina called The Dead Taris.' She called to Chopper. She had just finished plugging the coordinates when he spoke up.

'I've heard of it. Seedy dark place. Not somewhere the Empire would even send foot soldiers.' She hummed thoughtfully in response.

That was good news. It meant the Empire was one less person they had to look out for. They flew in silence until they reached a small hangar bay. She unstrapped her safety harness and checked her blaster.

'Ready?' He nodded in response. She left Chopper on the ship despite his requests to come along. She smiled and patted his head.

'Please Chop?' He whistled his approval and hurried back into the Phantom. The two set off at a quick pace. He was studiously avoiding eye contact with her and staring at the floor as they walked down the crowded streets. She let the topic go because one of them had to make sure they weren't gunned down and killed in broad daylight.

Once they reached the hazy bar they split up to do a nonchalant sweep. Kanan nodded and they both sat down at the edge of the bar. Kanan immediately ordered two drinks. Hera fumed.

'Really?' We just spoke about-' A hooded figure bumped into her shoulder and a data drive was slipped into her coveralls.

She ignored Kanan and glanced at the data as he drained his glass and ordered another. She felt her throat go dry and her heart quicken. This couldn't be real. This... thing... it could destroy planets.

Hell, she needed a drink. Kanan who had been peering over her shoulder drained his glass and ordered a third.

'A third really? Do you plan on walking out of here? I thought you had this under control?!' She pocketed the tablet.

'One slip up is all it takes! This problem could endanger everything we've worked for. You need to get this under control. Ugh... Chop was right I should've left you on the ship.'

'Kanan are you even listening? I swear sometimes I-'

Her speech had been broken up because he noticed a tail.

The sound of the door caused her to look up. Her captor was back. She felt a sharp pain as he inserted a needle in her arm. She watched as he pumped dark yellow liquids into her arm. She felt her whole body shake in pain. She bit down hard so she wouldn't scream.

'You will give up your informant Rebel.' He sat in a chair calmly and watched her as she finally submitted to her screams. She screamed until only hot air came out of her lungs and she fell into a deep dark black abyss.