This is a Winter Soldier AU, where Ezra is an Inquisitor with no memory of his time with the Ghost Crew. It also largely parallels that scene with Han and Kylo in The Force Awakens (hint hint) so if you don't like character death, this may not be for you.
This AU is in no way connected to my other Winter Soldier fic Levitation, although if you like this one, you may like that one.
Enjoy
They called him The Soldier. Or whatever suited them most at the time, but mostly, he was known as The Soldier. The Inquisitors weren't known for being terribly creative, but they had a new case for him, so he couldn't be picky.
The file on Kanan Jarrus that Seven provided was more informative than most of the ones the Inquisitors' gave, and it had detailed Jarrus's appearance, skills, and weaknesses - including a whole report on the loss, but never confirmed, death of his (son) Padawan Ezra Bridger.
For a moment, something sparked inside of the Soldier at the sight of the name. Almost... recognition? But as fast as the feeling came, it was gone, just as quick. Seven seemed almost disappointed at that.
His mission, she explained, was to find Jarrus and kill him. Simple enough, right?
The first thing The Soldier did was leak the rumor that yes, Ezra Bridger had survived and had woken up on Lothal with no memory of the past 5 years. And from the Empire's moles in the Rebellion, The Soldier heard that Jarrus and his crew fought Organa and Sato tooth and nail to be the ones to find the truth.
So The Soldier went to Lothal.
He'd staked out what used to be Bridger's home, an old communications tower in the middle of nowhere. Inside, besides the small accommodations for the person manning the station, the tower was large and hollow, with a thin bridge at the top. The Soldier felt it would do quite nicely for Jarrus's fall.
When the rebels' ship finally flew overhead, The Soldier was standing in the shadows of the town square. He'd... convinced several street vendors to let slip the locations of five different potential sightings of Bridger, with the most recent at the communications tower, all in the hopes of splitting up Jarrus's crew. While The Soldier didn't think it would be too much of an issue to take on the crew, it would definitely be a lot simpler on his lightsaber if it was only Jarrus.
The others could wait their turns. After all, this mission wasn't for them.
Even from The Soldier's perch on the rooftop of the Meiloorun shop, he could pick up on every word of the rebels' conversation.
"Hera, just because I'm blind doesn't mean I can't take care of myself," Jarrus snapped. The Twi'Lek twitched her lekku in annoyance.
"Kanan, you heard Fulcrum! She said she had a bad feeling about this. And you sensed it too! And you know she still hasn't gotten any new information on that new Inquisitor yet. We don't even know what to expect." The Soldier noticed that Captain Syndulla had her arm looped through his and was deftly leading Jarrus over the rocks and cracks in the ground, even though the former Jedi could sense any disturbances lying ahead of him. It seemed that without Bridger, Syndulla had to get back out in the field to pick up the slack. Interesting.
"There are five different sources we need to check. It would take too long to go as a group to each," Wren said. "And if this is a trap, which it probably is, then that means the Empire is probably on their way here now. We need to spread out." When Syndulla glared at her, the Mandalorian shrugged her shoulders, her too-small armor revealing streaks of paint splattered on her clothes. The Soldier felt his lips twitch in a semblance of a smile. She would've totally been his type in another life.
"I agree with Kanan on this one," the lasat - Garazeb Orrelios, The Soldier recalled - grunted. "Send Chop with him if you're that concerned." The Soldier made a mental note to alert Agent Kallus of his existence; another ISB agent failure to complete their mission, it seemed.
"But Chopper will need to stay with The Ghost," Syndulla said, a frown marring her pretty features. The group had stopped in an alleyway, none seeming to notice the black-clothed figure looming over them.
"Hera, listen to me," Jarrus said, putting his hands on her upper arms. "I can take care of myself. You heard Sabine; we don't have time to stay together. We're all going to need to take some risks at one point or another."
Syndulla sighed. "I don't like this," she said. Jarrus pressed a hand to her cheek for a brief moment and smiled.
"I'm not asking you too." She put her hand over his, and Orrelios cleared his throat awkwardly, ruining the moment.
"Right," Jarrus let his hand drop. "I'll take the communications tower, you get the-"
Captain Syndulla groaned again. "Kanan, are you crazy?! That's the most dangerous place. That's obviously the trap! There's no way you can-"
In the middle of Syndulla's rant, Jarrus's head swiveled in the direction of The Soldier. And even though he knew he couldn't see him, The Soldier ran towards the tower with a queasy feeling in his stomach.
The next time The Soldier saw Jarrus, Jarrus was alone. The soldier was on top of the communications tower, arms crossed and watching his target approach.
Jarrus was slowly approaching the tower, one hand outstretched in front of him to make sure the path was clear. His lightsaber was clipped to his belt, and the mask he wore gave no sign of his thoughts of the situation. He paused at the base.
"I know you're here," Jarrus called out, tilting his mask upward as if he knew exactly where The Soldier was. The Soldier remained motionless from his perch and said nothing. Jarrus sighed and resumed his trek, keeping one ear tilted in his direction. He reached the wall of the tower and fumbled around for a door panel, successfully pressing a button and stumbling inside.
That was The Soldier's cue. He slipped back inside and onto a narrow bridge that led into Bridger's bedroom. The Soldier had already looked inside. No holos, several ratty pairs of jumpsuits, at least three different hiding places for old packaged foods, and rusty and old pieces of metal strewn everywhere. Bridger used to be a mess, The Soldier noticed with a tad bit of disgust.
The Soldier could hear Jarrus bumping around downstairs, and he flipped down and landed on the ground softly behind him. Immediately, Jarrus had his lightsaber out and up, defending his face.
The Soldier slowly tilted his head to the side. That must be a knee-jerk reaction from his blinding, and strangely, he felt an odd twist in his stomach he shoved aside.
"I know you're here," Jarrus called out, shifting his grip on his handle ever so slightly. "What did you do with Ezra?"
"You are mistaken," The Soldier said, his modulated voice streaming through his mask. Jarrus tilted an ear toward him at the sound of his voice. "Bridger was never back in the first place."
The wave of utter grief that rushed through the Force made The Soldier stagger back. Jarrus sagged a little, but his grip on the lightsaber didn't falter.
"I don't believe you," Jarrus declared, although his emotions wafting through the Force declared otherwise.
The Soldier whipped out his own red blade, standing in an offensive position. "That will cause your downfall." Without another moment's hesitation, The Soldier charged, lunging toward Jarrus with the lightsaber over his head.
Blue clashed against red, and Jarrus bared his teeth. He pushed The Soldier back and immediately swung toward him again. The Soldier flipped backwards, regaining his balance and position meeting the strike with one arm raised.
The Soldier ducked under and planted a kick right against Jarrus's chest, sending him stumbling back. In a blinding maneuver, he knocked the lightsaber out of Jarrus's hand and stood over him, lightsaber to the tip of his throat.
"Funny," The Soldier sneered. "I expected more of a challenge from the great Master Jarrus."
"You haven't seen anything yet." Jarrus gritted his teeth. Without a warning, he kicked out The Soldiers legs from underneath him and ducked out of the way, calling his lightsaber to him. The Soldier crashed on the ground and rolled to move out of Jarrus's strike.
He pushed himself back up on his feet, twirling his lightsaber to make a whirring noise. He retreated, using some old equipment to flip back up on the connecting bridge he jumped down from earlier. Jarrus remained motionless on the lower level, following his movements through the Force. If he knew it was a trap, he said nothing as he followed the same path The Soldier took to get back on even footing.
The Soldier tilted his head, impressed. He didn't say anything, though, just adjusted his footing.
He took one step toward Jarrus. Jarrus slowly turned his head in his direction, obviously sensing where he was moving. The Soldier lunged in again, doing his best to knock the lightsaber out of his opponent's hand. Jarrus seemed to anticipate his attack, because he sidestepped his lunge forward and placed a heavy blow against The Soldier's mask, knocking it off. It fell, crashing on the floor.
The Soldier stumbled back, shaking his head as his ears rang. He groaned and cursed out loud as his vision swam, and he noticed that Jarrus froze.
"Ezra?" Jarrus cried, lowering his lightsaber.
The Soldier stiffened, whipping his head around. "That isn't my name," he growled.
"Ezra, what happened to you?" Jarrus said. "We thought you were dead!"
"That isn't my name!" The Soldier repeated, but without the same venom as before. Could it be true?
Jarrus took a step towards him, and the Soldier hissed, raising his lightsaber quickly. Jarrus held out a hand and sheathed his own. The Soldier carefully lowered his to his side, but kept the red blade out. Both of Jarrus's hands were out now, and he took another step towards The Soldier.
Jarrus lifted one hand, trembling, and touched his cheek. The Soldier stiffened, but Jarrus did nothing but let his fingers slowly trace the two small, faint scars on his cheek. Using his other hand, Jarrus took his own mask off, showing cloudy eyes wide and wonder.
"Ezra," he breathed. "It /is/ you." He laughed, in spite of himself, and in spite of the situation he was in, and lifted up his other hand to The Soldier's other cheek, cupping them both and squeezing lightly. "You're alive!"
The Soldier was absolutely confused. He debated running Jarrus through now, but he wanted to see how it played it. This had never happened before, and he could feel the pure joy radiating off of Jarrus; he really believed that he was his long-lost Padawan.
"Kanan," The Soldier tested out, playing along. It rolled off his tongue easy enough, but he still didn't remember anything.
"What do you remember?" Jarrus said, lowering his hands to The Soldier's arms. "We've been looking for you for years!"
"I remember... nothing," The Soldier said. Nothing except for waking up one morning in a medbay with Seven standing over him and leering. After that, nothing but his missions, Lord Vader's inspections, the emptiness of the Inquisitorious. And his training. The Soldier flexed his grip on the hilt of his lightsaber and grimaced.
"KANAN!" The Soldier jerked back as someone else barged into the tower. The twi'lek - Syndulla - and the Mandalorian had their blasters up and pointed at him.
"Hera, no!" Jarrus said, flinging out an arm in their direction. "It's Ezra!"
Syndulla's weapon faltered for a moment, and The Soldier could see her bright green eyes looking up at them widely in recognition. The Mandalorian only tilted her helmet to the side, expression unreadable.
"Come with us, Ezra," Jarrus turned back to him. "We can help you get your memories back. We can be a family again."
It was tempting. He hesitated for a moment, skimming his thumb over the power button on his lightsaber. Seven's voice rang through his head again. "You find Jarrus, you kill him. Even you can't mess that up, right?"
Without another second of deliberation, The Soldier jammed his lightsaber through Jarrus's stomach. One of the women screamed his name underneath them. Jarrus's mouth hung open slightly, unseeing eyes wide with surprised and eerily fixed on his face. With a wobble, he brought his hand up to cup his cheek and whisper "Ezra" brokenly. The Soldier yanked his lightsaber back, and Jarrus fell and crashed in the ground in a heap. The Soldier held out his hand for Jarrus's lightsaber, and it flew right into his grasp.
Syndulla raced towards Jarrus, and Wren immediately began firing off blaster rounds at him. Easily, he deflected them and escaped the same way he entered, through a hatch in the ceiling of Bridger's - his - room.
When he was gone, Sabine lowered her blaster and hurried over to Hera's side. Kanan's eyes remained opened, the look of surprise forever etched into them. Hera's lekku were trembling. Sabine crouched down beside her.
"It was Ezra," Hera said in disbelief. "How could he have done this?" Her hands were trembling as she lowered them to Kanan's outstretched hand.
Sabine shook her head and turned to hug Hera. "That wasn't our Ezra anymore."
(Later, back at the Inquisitorious, The Soldier presents Jarrus's lightsaber to Seven. She's pleased, up until he asks if he used to be Ezra Bridger.)
(Cheeks still stinging, The Soldier walks back to his quarters. When he dreams that night, it's of a happier time, of Jarrus smiling and laughing with him, of Jarrus instructing him to keep his elbow higher when holding his lightsaber, of Jarrus putting a hand on his shoulder, pride radiating through the Force).
(The Soldier - no, Ezra Bridger - wakes up, and he cries).
:( Poor Ezra. Poor KANAN tbh.
I have a great new idea for a multi-chap fic, so be expecting that very soon.
Also, did anyone see the new episodes of Sherlock season 4? I' g.
R&R.