A/N: Hey everybody! So this is my first Star Wars Rebels fanfic. I hope you like!
Warnings: Non consensual touching
Ezra tugged on the tight cuffs around his wrists as he glared at the inquisitor standing just a few feet away from him. She'd opened the visor of her helmet so that he could see her face, and somehow, he found that scarier than the mask. The way she was looking at him didn't bode well.
"Tell me where your rebel friends are," she said as she glared down at him.
"Never," he snarled, and the Seventh Sister growled in frustration. She thrust her hand out, and Ezra's head slammed against the metal behind him as he felt her probing painfully through his mind. He threw up his mental shields, but with each passing moment he felt them weaken a little more.
"Stop resisting and tell me where they are!" she demanded. Ezra clenched his eyes shut, trying to block out the burning pain. He wouldn't tell. He couldn't. The Seventh Sister seemed to sense his determination and she dropped her hand with a frustrated sigh. Ezra's labored breaths echoed off the walls, and he relaxed as the pain subsided a little.
The inquisitor crouched in front of Ezra and gripped his chin hard. He tried to pull his face away from her, but her hold was too strong. She smiled at him as she inched closer, her face too close for comfort. He could feel her hot breath on his cheek as she spoke.
"It's a shame." She ignited her lightsaber and held the edge right under Ezra's chin. "As pretty as you are-"
"What?" Ezra interrupted, leaning away from her. Pretty?
"I only need you alive. Not in one piece." Her grip tightened on his jaw. "Tell me what I want to know!"
The inquisitor pulled her hand away from him as the hiss of a door opening caught their attention, and the Fifth Brother dragged Sabine into the room, tossing her to the ground next to Ezra. Sabine pushed herself off the ground and quickly looked Ezra over for any serious injuries.
"Has the boy revealed anything?" the Fifth Brother asked.
"Nothing I wish to share!" the female inquisitor told him, irritation clear in her voice. She turned back to Ezra and Sabine with a forced smile. "Contact your rebel friends and bring them hear. That's all I ask."
There was no way he'd do that. Ezra would rather die than lure his friends to their deaths. But with Sabine here… What would Kanan do? The Seventh Sister reached out again and traced her fingers down Ezra's cheek. "I'd hate to have to ruin such a beautiful face," she said. Her smile sent chills down Ezra's spine, and his stomach twisted in knots.
He glanced to Sabine who was watching the scene with poorly hidden horror. Squirming under the inquisitor's touch, Ezra instinctively tried to scoot closer to Sabine. Sensing his unease, the Seventh Sister pushed him against the wall and slowly dragged her rough tongue up his neck to his jaw.
"Stop it!" Sabine shouted as the inquisitor placed gentle kisses along his jaw line. Sabine shifted forward but was held back by the Fifth Brother who was watching on with faint irritation. The Seventh Sister grinned as she glanced over at the furious Mandalorian before biting into the flesh just above Ezra's collar bone.
"Get off!" He growled at her as he frantically tried to push her off. She smiled down at him and reached down to played with the zipper of his flight suit. He froze staring up at her wide eyed as he realized just how far she was willing to take this. Panic flared through him, and his heart pounded painfully in his chest.
"We have a job to do," the Fifth Brother reminded the other inquisitor.
"Let me have my fun," she snapped at him. "Besides, it's not like these two are going anywhere."
The Fifth Brother rolled his eyes but said nothing. Sabine struggled in his grip, but the inquisitor was much stronger than her. Fire burned in her eyes as she tried desperately to figure out a plan.
The Seventh Sister slowly peeled the top half of Ezra's flight suit off the boy's shoulders, running her delicate fingers down his chest as she pulled the fabric down until it got caught on the cuffs. Her fingers danced across his stomach, and Ezra jerked, slamming his head against the metal wall as he flailed in her grip. The inquisitor's hand traveled back up his sides, and Ezra fought against the sudden nausea that churned in his stomach.
"You can make this all stop if you contact your friends," she whispered in his ear as she rubbed her hand on his thigh. "It's all up to you." He squeezed his eyes shut as he tried to calm his breathing. He could handle this. He would take whatever she threw at him because he would never give up his friends.
"I-I won't do it," he replied, though his voice sounded much more scared than he thought it would.
"I was hoping you'd say that," the inquisitor said with a grin as her hands moved higher up his legs. "Fight back and I'll kill the girl, understand?" Ezra looked at Sabine who was still struggling in the other inquisitor's grip. He nodded as the Seventh Sister grabbed the sides of his face and pressed her lips against his. Her hands traveled inside of his flight suit, and horror filled Ezra as they slid below his stomach. He closed his eyes tightly, fighting against the urge to pull away. Just then Ezra's communicator beeped, and the Seventh Sister retracted her hands and stared up at her fellow inquisitor. Ezra almost sobbed in relief as her attention was drawn away from him.
"Hello, Specter Six. Come in. Do you read me? This is Commander Meiloorun," came the hesitant voice of Zeb.
"Answer him," growled the Fifth Brother.
"Commander Meiloorun, yes, yes, I can here you," Sabine said quickly.
"You missed your check in. Am I correct in assuming mechanical difficulties have your craft stranded again and you're in need of help with repairs?"
Sabine hesitated for a moment before glancing at the Seventh Sister who nodded while pulling Ezra close so that his back was against her chest. She wrapped her arm around his neck and turned his head so that he was looking at her. Ezra couldn't help the small whimper that escaped as she placed a sloppy trail of kisses down his neck. The Mandalorian chewed on her lip as she contemplated her options.
"We could definitely use the help. You should probably bring Kanan and Ahsoka with you," she replied.
"Very well. We'll meet you in Bay 6. Don't worry. We'll fix everything. Just…keep your chin up and it will all be fine." Sabine looked at the inquisitors hoping they were satisfied, and the Seventh Sister released Ezra who crawled away from her as quickly as possible.
"Such a shame our fun had to be cut short," she purred as she hauled him up to his feet. "I would have loved to spend a little more time with you." Ezra shifted away from her as he and Sabine were led down a dark corridor.
The large doors to Bay 6 slid open with a hiss, and Ezra and Sabine were shoved into the empty hangar. Sabine glanced around looking for any sign of Zeb as she tried to remember the words he'd said when he contacted them. Chin up? She tilted her head back a little and smiled when she saw the Phantom hanging upside down on the ceiling of the hangar. She elbowed Ezra and flicked her eyes towards the Phantom. His eyes lit up a little as he saw Zeb waving from the cockpit. Apparently, the mini probe droid saw it too. It tapped on the Seventh Sister's shoulder and started chittering as it pointed up.
"Move!" Sabine shouted as she and Ezra darted to the side. Zeb detached from the ceiling and started firing on the inquisitors before hovering near the two kids. Ezra focused on his lightsaber hanging off the inquisitor's belt, and he used the force to summon it to his hands. After both teens jumped into the open hatch of the Phantom, Sabine started shooting at the Fifth Brother while the Seventh Sister held the ship suspended in the air and closed the doors. Zeb flipped on the auxiliary thrusters, and the ship pulled free, maneuvering through the doors just as they slammed shut.
Zeb laughed as he plugged in the hyperspace coordinates and the ship sped away from the medical station. When he turned to the others though, the laugh quickly died. Ezra was sitting on one of the seats of the Phantom with his knees pulled up to his chest as he stared at the floor.
"You two all right?" the Lasat asked. Neither answered as Sabine reached for a lockpick they kept in a box on of tools on the Phantom. She stood in front of Ezra who flinched and pulled away as she reached down to remove the cuffs around his wrists.
"Can I take these off?" she asked as she knelt down so that she was level with him. He nodded and held out his hands for her to unlock them. Zeb watched on, concern obvious on his face as he watched how reserved and nervous Ezra seemed.
"What happened in there?" Zeb asked. He looked between the two while Sabine fiddled with the cuffs.
"We'll talk about everything later," she replied. The handcuffs opened with a click, and Sabine quickly slid them off and dropped them to the floor with a loud thud. Ezra rubbed his sore wrists as he nodded gratefully at Sabine. The Mandalorian smiled at him and took a seat on the opposite side of the Phantom. She knew Ezra wouldn't want anyone near him right now. Zeb took in the unusual behavior, and he started to realize that something had gone seriously wrong. He desperately wished Kanan or Hera were here. He was never good with this kind of stuff, and those two always knew what to do.
"Thanks for saving us, Zeb," Sabine said, though her eyes were still on Ezra.
"It was no problem," he replied. He scratched the back of his neck as he leaned against the wall of the ship. "I'm just glad you two are okay."
They sat in silence until they emerged from hyperspace and docked on the Ghost. Sabine climbed down the ladder, and Zeb waited by the hatch for Ezra to go down before him. Zeb tried to smile reassuringly at the boy, but Ezra wouldn't meet his eyes as he passed the Lasat and climbed down.
"We need to talk," Kanan said as Ezra stepped off the last rung. Ezra folded his arms across his chest as he hunched over, not willing to look at his master. "You can't just go on missions you weren't assigned. We have rules and I expect you to follow them." Ezra simply nodded, his eyes meeting Kanan's for a moment, and the older Jedi could see the glassy tint of unshed tears.
"What's wrong. What happened?" Kanan asked. His anger about his Padawan's disobedience quickly disappeared. He reached out to place a hand on Ezra's shoulder, but he ducked out of reach and glared at his master.
"I-I'm fine," he said. "I'm really tired. I'll be in my room." He pushed by the others as he headed down the hall. Kanan, Hera, and Rex looked to Sabine and Zeb for an explanation.
"We ran into two inquisitors," Sabine said. Kanan and Hera glanced at each other, panic clear on their faces.
"Inquisitors?" he asked, and Sabine nodded grimly. Kanan thought he'd gotten rid of that problem when the grand inquisitor fell to his death on that star destroyer.
"We're lucky Zeb saved us. If he hadn't… things would have been bad." She shivered as she remembered the way Seventh Sister was touching Ezra. "It would have been really bad." Kanan leaned against the table as he thought, and Hera placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. Sabine hesitated for a moment before looking between the others.
"There's something else. One of the inquisitors had a…" she paused for a moment trying to find the right thing to say. "She had a weird… fascination with Ezra." She desperately hoped that they understood what she was trying to say, but the blank faces that stared back at her told her otherwise. It seemed to click with Zeb first who dropped the medical supplies in alarm.
"What do you mean by fascination?" he growled.
"When I was captured, I was taken to this room where she was interrogating Ezra. She was touching him, and she tried to…" she trailed off not wanting to continue. The others looked horrified as they took in the information. "She told him that if he told her where our rebel cell is she'd stop, but he wouldn't give them up."
"H-how far did she go?" Kanan asked, his voice cracking as the image plagued his mind.
"She didn't…Zeb interrupted before it got to that," Sabine replied. Zeb staggered back a step. If he had contacted them a few minutes later, it would have been too late.
"I should go talk to him," Kanan said.
"I don't think that's a good idea," Sabine replied. "I think he needs to be alone for a little bit. Maybe later tonight." Kanan nodded absently as a million different thoughts ran through his head.
Ezra sat on his bunk with his chin resting on his knees as he stared at the wall across from him. I'd hate to ruin this beautiful face. He could still feel her fingers on his face, traveling down his body. He shivered as he hopped off his bunk and darted out the door. Stumbling through the hall, he smacked head first into something. He fell on his back and stared up at the concerned face of Hera.
"Are you okay?" she asked as she held her hand out to help him up. Ezra's eyes widened when she moved closer, and his labored breaths grew more panicked. He scrambled away from her, flattening himself against the wall, and Hera's heart broke as she crouched in front of the scared boy. "Hon, it's okay. I'm not going to hurt you. It's me, Hera." He continued to stare at her as if she were about to attack him, so the pilot backed up a little, giving him more room. Ezra relaxed a little bit as he curled in on himself.
"Sabine told us what happened." Ezra stiffened, dropping his gaze to the floor. "I'm sorry you had to go through that." A sad smile played on her lips as she watched the boy. Ezra looked as if he had no idea what to do, so he abruptly stood up and darted down the hallway towards the showers.
Hera tried to hold back tears as she watched him disappear around the corner. Ezra was scared of her. Her heart ached as she realized just how much damage this inquisitor had done. She felt a hand rest on her shoulder, and she turned to see Kanan staring down at her. Wrapping her arms around him, she sobbed into his shoulder as he rubbed soothing circles on her back.
"What happened?" he asked.
"He was terrified of me," she told him, pulling away so she could look at his face.
"He-he's going to be okay. We'll help him through this," Kanan said as he wiped away the tears on her cheeks. She nodded and tried to pull herself together while Kanan wrapped his arm around her shoulders and led her back to the cockpit of the Ghost.
Ezra turned the nob until the water coming out of the shower head was almost scalding. He grabbed a bar of soap and scrubbed hard at every inch of his body, but no matter how hard he scrubbed, he couldn't seem to get rid of the feeling of her hands caressing his body, touching him where he didn't want to be touched. He let out a sob as he scrubbed harder and harder until his skin turned bright red.
He turned off the water and wrapped a towel around his waist before turning to the fogged-up mirror. He wiped away some of the steam and glared at his reflection. His eyes were red and bloodshot, and a small trail of circular bruises covered the side of his neck. As he ran his fingers gently over the bruises the feeling of the inquisitor biting and kissing his neck flashed through his mind.
He threw his clothes on, making sure that the collar of his suit completely covered the marks before exiting the bathroom. Ezra glanced down the hall towards the common room where he knew most of the crew was probably gathered. He took a deep calming breath as he trudged down the hallway.
As soon as he stepped through the door way, the hushed voices cut off, and every set of eyes burned holes in him. Ezra walked over to the counter to grab a Jogan and bit into it, trying to ignore the way the others were looking at him. Rex seemed to sense his discomfort because he awkwardly cleared his throat.
"I'm just saying, there is no way the battle of Mygeeto can even compare to the battle on Geonosis," the clone said, trying to come up with some topic to talk about.
"How do you know?! You weren't even there!" Kanan argued. And just like that everything seemed back to normal. Kanan and Rex were arguing, Zeb added fuel to the fire as he enjoyed their petty squabble, and Hera tried to intervene even though she knew it was futile. The corners of Ezra's lips turned up as he leaned against the counter and continued to eat his fruit. As he looked around, he realized there was one person who wasn't there. He grabbed an extra Jogan and wandered down the hallway towards Sabine's room. The door was closed, but Ezra knocked on the large metal door and waited.
"Who is it?" he heard a soft voice call, but something wasn't right. She sounded like she'd been crying.
"It's me. I brought food," Ezra replied.
The door quickly slid open, and Sabine plastered a fake smile on her face as she invited him in. When he entered the room, a large burst of color on the wall to the right caught his attention.
"That's new," he said, handing the extra piece of fruit to Sabine. He stared at the unfinished image as he tried to figure out what exactly she was painting. There were bright splashes of orange, blue, and red, but the colors didn't seem to be taking any specific shape. Sabine simply shrugged and dropped the can of paint in her hand onto a pile of other cans.
"Yeah, well, I needed a distraction." She couldn't meet his eyes, and the smile that had worked its way onto the boy's face suddenly disappeared.
"I'm sorry," Ezra said. The Mandalorian's eyes darted up in surprise as she frowned at him.
"What do you have to be sorry about?" Sabine asked. There was something in her voice that sounded almost angry, and the young Jedi wasn't sure if the anger was directed towards him or someone else.
"I'm sorry that you had to watch... that," he muttered. His cheeks burned with shame at the admission.
Sabine took a step towards him but hesitated a moment as she remembered how he'd reacted to her on the Phantom. "Can I hug you?" she blurted out. Ezra chewed on his bottom lip as he shifted nervously. He really didn't want to be touched right now, but he knew it would upset Sabine if he declined. He nodded, and her eyes lit up as she wrapped her arms around him. Ezra tensed for a moment, and suddenly the arms were too much. He felt trapped. His breathing came in short panicked gasps, and cold fear gripped his entire being. Ezra frantically tried to pull away, and as soon as the restrictive arms let go, Ezra tripped and fell to the ground.
He could vaguely hear a muffled voice saying something, but he couldn't focus on it enough to make out the words. Ezra ran his fingers through his hair as he took a couple of deep painful breaths. His heart slowed a little with each breath, and the voice got clearer.
"-going to get Kana-" he heard Sabine call frantically. Ezra's hands shook as he clasped them behind his head and brought his knees to his chest. Calm down. You're fine. You're fine, he told himself.
Something touched his shoulder, and he jumped, head snapping up and slamming into something hard. He looked up to see Kanan rubbing his jaw as he stared at his young apprentice, concern etched clearly on his face. His mouth was moving, but Ezra was having a hard time making out the words. Ezra took a deep breath and watched his master's mouth, focusing completely on the man in front of him.
"-zra, are you okay?" A calming presence flowed through his bond with Kanan as the older Jedi tried to reassure the boy. "It's okay. You're safe." Kanan placed his hand gently on his apprentice's shoulder again. Ezra relaxed a little as he embraced the comfort that flooded through the bond. Sabine was standing a few feet behind Kanan, and guilt weighed on Ezra as unshed tears pooled in her eyes. He'd made her cry.
"Sorry. I-I'm sorry," he said. He stumbled to his feet, using the wall to help steady himself as he looked between his two friends. "I'm fine."
"I don't think you are, Ezra," Kanan said. He tried not to sound accusing, but he wasn't going to let this go. Ezra deflated a little as his master took a step towards him. "I think we need to talk."
"Can it wait until tomorrow?" Ezra asked with a small tinge of hope. "I-I'm kind of tired. I think I'm going to go sleep for a bit." Ezra exited the room, and Kanan rubbed his forehead as he tried to come up with the best approach to this situation. He was totally out of his depth. A half-choked sob broke him out of his train of thought, and he turned to Sabine who was wiping away a tear from her cheek.
He wrapped his arms around her, and she sobbed into his shoulder as he rubbed soothing circles on her back. "Hey, it's okay. You didn't mean to scare him, and I'm sure he knows that," he said.
"You didn't see it, Kanan," she cried. "You didn't see what that monster did to him." Kanan froze as he realized Ezra wasn't the only one affected by this. Sabine was dealing with her own struggles, and the crew had completely overlooked her. "I should have done something!" she growled, ripping away from Kanan. She picked up her helmet and hurled it at the wall. Kanan took a step back in surprise. He'd never seen Sabine this upset before.
"There was nothing you could have done," he tried to assure her.
Sabine stared at the unfinished painting on the wall. "It's been a long day," she said. "I just want to be left alone." Kanan stared at Sabine's back while he tried to figure out if she was serious or not. With the younger members of the crew, he'd come to realize that they rarely ever said what they meant. He decided not to push her right now, and he left the room without a word.
"What are you still doing up, love?" Hera asked. Kanan glanced up at her as she sat down at the table next to him.
"I don't think I'll be sleeping tonight," he said. Hera decided not to acknowledge how tired Kanan looked, so she nodded and simply took a sip of her caf. They sat in silence for a few moments, neither knowing what to say to the other.
"With all the fears I had about training Ezra, this…this never even crossed my mind," Kanan said. He cradled his head in his hands, and Hera placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.
"Like you said, we'll help him through this."
"It's not just Ezra we have to worry about," Kanan said. It was going to be hard enough helping one traumatized teen, but now that the older Jedi knew how much the recent events were affecting Sabine, he had no idea how to proceed. No training at the temple had taught him how to deal with this situation.
Hera stood up and opened the freezer, pulling out an ice pack and handing it to Kanan. He frowned at her. "You've got a nasty bruise on your chin," she said. Kanan thanked her and held the ice pack on his chin with a wince.
"I honestly forgot that was the-" he stopped abruptly as a strange feeling of terror coursed through him. A terror that wasn't his.
"Kanan, what's going on?" Hera asked as Kanan jumped out of his chair.
"Something's not right."
Zeb's eyes shot open as something startled him awake. He sat up, ears twitching as he listened for anything out of the ordinary. He heard nothing but the usual creaks and groans of the ship. Just as he was about to lay back down, a soft moan filled the room, and he heard Ezra toss and turn in the bunk above. The Lasat threw the blankets off and clambered out of the bunk as he checked on the boy. His face was scrunched up like he was in distress, and he clutched the blanket as if it would shield him from whatever he was dreaming about.
"I don't want it," he heard the kid mumble. "No, d-don't."
"Kid, wake up," Zeb said. The kid continued to mumble and whine, and Zeb swallowed the bile that rose in his throat as he realized what Ezra was most likely dreaming about. He reached a hand out to shake the boy awake. As soon as his hand touched the teen, Ezra's eyes flew open and his hand shot out and latched onto Zeb's wrist, his breath coming out in panicked gasps. "It's just me, kid," Zeb said as he tried to tug his wrist free of the painful grip. Recognition flashed across Ezra's face. He let go of Zeb's wrist, and the Lasat rubbed the sore limb, never letting his eyes leave the young frightened face in front of him.
"You good?" Zeb asked. Ezra nodded as his breathing slowed to a normal rate. "Must have been one hell of a nightmare," he muttered to himself. The bedroom door hissed open, and a frantic Kanan rushed in followed closely by Hera.
"Ezra, are you okay?" Kanan's eyes darted around the room, searching for any sign of a threat.
"I'm fine. Just a bad dream," Ezra assured him. Kanan knew he was lying. He could still feel the intense waves of distress and shame flowing through the bond. Ezra shivered a little and curled in on himself. Kanan took in the concerned faces of Hera and Zeb, and he realized he couldn't let this go.
"Let's talk, kid."
Kanan handed Ezra a glass of water as he sat down across from the boy. He placed his own cup of caf on the table as he watched his apprentice. He ran his fingers through his hair with a sigh. What was he supposed to say? Thankfully Hera and Zeb had been understanding when he said he preferred to talk to Ezra alone, but that left Kanan alone to figure out how to start this conversation. He could sense how closed off Ezra was; he didn't want to talk about what happened, and Kanan couldn't blame him.
"Listen, kid. I can't imagine what you're going through, but if you need to talk about anything, you can always come to me. You know that, right?" Kanan asked. He bent forward a little as he tried to meet Ezra's eyes. The boy nodded slightly, but he still wouldn't look at Kanan. The older Jedi wanted to push harder, but he knew that if he pushed Ezra, he would shut down. Ezra wasn't a huge fan of sharing his feelings.
"Ok. That's all I wanted you to know." Kanan sighed as he stood, but Ezra made no effort to move.
"She said it was up to me," Ezra muttered. Kanan froze in doorway.
"What?" he asked, turning back to the boy.
"The inquisitor. She told me that…that I could stop it, that it was all up to me." Ezra's cheeks burned in shame at the admission. Kanan knelt next to Ezra and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. Ezra choked out a sob, and a hot rage boiled inside of Kanan. "But I didn't give up the rebellion. I-I couldn't." The older Jedi pulled Ezra into a hug and Ezra wrapped his arms tightly around his master as he sobbed into his shoulder.
"None of what happened was your fault," Kanan assured him. He could feel Ezra's hot tears soaking his shirt, but he didn't care. He'd stay like this for as long as his apprentice needed.
After a few moments, Ezra pulled away and wiped the tears from his face. "Will this feeling ever go away?" he asked. Kanan thought for a moment. What was he supposed to say? Tell the kid the truth, that it would probably always be with him?
"We'll help you through this," Kanan told him. "We'll take it one day at a time." And in that moment, Ezra held tightly to the belief that he would be okay.