Chapter 2

For a kid he could really hold his stare.

He looked them all up and down twice, and then once more. He couldn't trust them. You can't trust anyone in prison. Then again, you can't can't trust anyone on the streets either. When had it been the last time he had trusted someone? A question he would think about when he was in his cell at night.

When the cell doors slam shut, and it's just you and your thoughts, well that's when it really hits you. And that's why you always keep a straight face for the rest if the day. But trust or no trust, you never trust your allies. And having a Lasat on your side is a pretty good thing to threaten. He would help them. Like he had anything better to do.

"Okay, so don't ask what someone's in for. Good to know." Sabine commented.

"How'd you learn that?" Zeb asked.

Ezra rolled up the sleeve to his grey shirt the slightest bit to revile a large burn splotch. "The hard way." Ezra answered, the rest of the crew not covering their surprise very well. "Now." Ezra said, moving right along. "they all always heard up all of the inmates in here. This is where we spend our spare time." Said Ezra, gesturing to the large sixty foot by sixty foot cement room, consisting of metal tables and the occasional barred window, and large barred doors on each side.

"Seems easy enough." Kanan shrugged.

Ezra scoffed, gaining everyone's attention once more. "The guards only break up a fight if it has a weapon. You think surviving in a big locked room with some of the most dangerous criminals on Lothal is easy?" Ezra shook his head free from this as he had been known for running his mouth. "Never mind. When we're not in our cells, on meal, or working, then we're in here. It's like the main room you go to to kill time even though that's all prison is. Killing time."

"What kind of work?" Asked Hera.

"Well I can put good money on your Lasat here getting rock duty. We break a lot of rocks here to make pathways through the market places around Lothal. Usually the strongest prisoners are put on that. Either that or the ones who have ticked off one of the guards. They sometimes like to put the small guys on rock duty just make them suffer." Said Ezra. "There's also cleaning. Mostly the mess hall. But it's mostly a lot of land work. Cutting the grass, ripping off the ivy off the side of the prison. That kind of stuff."

"When does that happen?" Kanan asked.

A loud bell rang throughout the prison, echoing off of the walls, catching all of the inmates attention. It blared another three times before it stopped, the prisoners all stopping what they were doing and going to the barred doors, all lining up. "Right now." Ezra answered.

…

The crew followed Ezra into the line, and out of the room. They all walked out into the hallway, the walls paved with beige coloured bricks. They all lined up along the wall, backs to it, along with all the other prisoners as the guards looked them up and down, pacing and looking them up and down.

Finally one of them spoke. "Jarvis! Conolly! Sternly!" He yelled at the prisoners by last name. "Mess hall. Want it to shine." He assigned them, the two humans and one don't-even-wanna-know were lead off by a guard after they got their task. He then looked to the Ghost crew. "Newcomers, eh? Twi'lek, Mando, mess hall. Delta, take them." He said to two of the guards, them giving a slight nod before grabbing Sabine and Hera.

"Hey!" Said Sabine, resisting, as the guard forced her arm behind her back.

The guard behaving to tighten his grip around her wrists before Ezra whispered to her, "just do it." She looked at him questionably, giving him a slight nod. As she stopped restricting the grip loosened, as he proceeded to lead the two we on off to the mess hall for their work day. She gave a slight grateful look before being led off. Wait, what? Grateful? He must have been hallucinating!

Just then the head guard who had been as singeing the tasks slowly walked up to where Ezra had been standing, Zeb beside him, and Kanan on the other side of Zeb. He looked at Ezra carefully. Then with no warning whatsoever he drew back his arm and swung back, elbowing Ezra with great force into his ribcage. Zeb's eyes widened as the kid held his side and fell agent the wall, letting out a slight cry. "No talking." Said the guard.

Kanan and Zeb looked at Ezra shocked that they would just hurt a child like that with no remorse. They were as cold as the Empire. Kanan and Zeb gave each other a look as the guard kept talking.

"Danahu, Karshun, Blitzku, Malcro, Revar." He said, another guard coming up being him and handing all who's names have been called a pick axe. He then turned to the newcomers once more. "Lasat. We can use you. And you too, Human." He said to Kanan "Morgan. Three weeks in a row. New record." He said, pushing a pitch fork towards him, Ezra just grabbing it, falling slightly with its weight with his newly bruised ribs.

They lead the prisoners out into a secluded part of the prison yard. It was a large outdoor place littered with sandy hot ground. Large boulders lay around the court where other inmates hacking away at the boulders under the nearly unbearable Lothalien sun. Wheelbarrows filled with bits of smashed rock spread across the court, other being pulled every which way to be dumped off my the entrance in one big pile. Guards walked the ground, most just talking to each other and making sure things kept moving along.

"Go on, get to it." Said the guard, walking back through the door to the prison, closing the barred door and locking it behind him.

Kanan and Zeb watched as the other prisoners who were in the line up with them scattered about, lunging their pick axes in the air and having it plunge into the rock. Both Kanan and Zeb gasped as a Rodien collapsed onto the ground.

"Heart stroke." Ezra clarified all to nonchalantly, as he began to walk away. "Follow me." He said, not even turning around.

"Tell me what to do.." Zeb grumbled under his breath as he picked up his axe and followed Ezra, Kanan right behind him.

Ezra got to a large rock, and began whacking away, winching the slightest bit with his side. The Ghost boys noticed this, but said nothing, instead following his lead and began to axe at the rocks. The sun already beginning to take a toll on them.

"So, Dev." Said Kanan, filling the silence, "how long are you in here for? Unless we're not allowed to ask that either." He said, halting the axe at the rock.

Ezra could barely lift the axe, but gave it all he had, nonetheless. "Like you care." He said, not looking up from the Rock he was attacking. "What about you?" Ezra asked. "How long am I going to have to make sure you don't die for?"

"So if I kill you would that mean I'd die, too?" Zeb asked. "Might just be worth it."

Once again Ezra fear flowed, yet his face remained the same. Kanan sighed, he was good at hiding his emotion. "Minimum of two weeks. Empire's out for our heads." He answered.

Ezra hit the rock harder with his axe, "hate the Empire." He said, Kanan could even feel this keeps anger through the force.

"Yea? Who doesn't." Said Zeb. "Back to this whole 'not dying thing', any pointers?"

"Yea, sure." Said Ezra, wiping his forehead. "Okay, so that guard how gave us all our assigned tasks, you know, the one who tried to take one of my ribs as a souvenir? His name's Bronka, runs the show. If he were a bucket head he'd have a orange shoulder." Ezra explained. "Don't get on his bad side. Although I'm not sure he has a good side."

"Noted." Said Kanan. "How is this place for Imperials?"

Ezra sighed as he took and other swipe. "Troopers come in once a week, make sure everything's running smoothly then report it to who's ever in charge of them. If they ever come in more then once in a week, then you know something's wrong. As for rock duty, here's what your going to do,"

"Who made Joiner here in charge?" Zeb asked.

"Do you want to end up like the Rodien over there or not?" Asked Ezra, nodding to the still unconscious red Rodien face down in the dust.

"Talk about another one bites the dust." Mumbled Kanan.

"As I was saying." Said Ezra. "Everyday on rock duty you get a choice, if you take no water, then you get one less hour of work, if you take it, you get one more. Rule number two to surviving. Always. Take. The water. If you try to take the short cut you'll never make it though the day. Got it?"

"Uh, right." Said Zeb, ears going down the slightest at the sight of the Rodien, "water good. Got it."

"Any questions?" Ezra asked.

"Yea." Said Kanan, "is it true you need to look out for the inmates on death row?"

"Got nothin' left to lose." Zeb commented.

Ezra just shrugged, as he took another swing at the rock. "They're not all bad."

…

By the time the water came, Kanan and Zeb couldn't believe that some people actually said no to it. They took there jugs and began to chug them. "Carful." Said Ezra. "Save some for later." He said, walking over and sitting by one of the large rocks, Kanan and Zeb following him as they enjoyed their break.

"So have you really been doing this for three weeks straight?" Kanan asked.

"Remember when I said not to get on Bronka's bad side?" Ezra asked.

"Yea.." Said Zeb.

"Well I'm branded to that side." Said Ezra, taking a sip of his water.

Zeb gave a slight chuckle. They sat resting for a while, all of their muscles crying, the sun making their heads felt like they would explode, before Kanan broke the silence. "How old are you, Kid?" He asked.

"How old are you?" Ezra shot back. Both Kanan and Zeb looked at the kid until he cracked. "Fine. Thirteen. Why?"

"How's a thirteen year old land in prison for four months?" Asked Zeb, shocked.

'If only it were four months.' Ezra thought. One of the guards blew their whistle, and the prisoners around the court began to get up. "Come on." Said Ezra. "Time to get back to work."

Kanan and Zeb couldn't believe how soar they were. "How did you survive three weeks of this?" Kanan groaned, as he was this soar from half a days work. A child half his size enduring three weeks must just be held together by glue at this point.

"I took the water." He answered.

…

By the time they met up with Sabine and Hera the girls didn't look so good either. They were all locked back in the large wreak room they were in earlier that day. As they entered Ezra seemingly disappeared. They didn't pay much mind to it as they approached the girls.

"How did you first day go?" Kanan asked.

"Terrible." Said Sabine.

"Yours?" Asked Hera.

"Not much better." Said Zeb.

"Where's Dev?" Sabine asked.

"Come to think of it, where's everyone?" Hera asked, as they were now alone in the room. The rest of the crew looked around.

"In their cells." Said the guard, from the other side of the barred door. It was Bronka. "Suppose it's time we get you four some." He said, five other guards appearing being him, as he unlocked the door.

The crew was lead though the halls, hands chained being their backs. At one point they were separated, as Hera and Sabine were lead to the girls cell area. Kanan and Zeb walked though the halls, until Kanan was eventually shoved into one, and Zeb was on his own.

He looked around. Though the prison was sturdy and heavily armed, they've escaped the Empire, how hard could a Lothalien prison be?..right? Besides, despite his muscles, Zeb wasn't sure he could break a single pebble again under that outer rim sun! He had no idea how a kid could, either.

"Congratulations, Morgan." Said the guard leading Zeb. "You've got yourself a new roommate."

'Morgan?' Zed thought. "Uh no."

The guard shoved him in the cell, only to see a certain blue haired kid sitting on the top bunk. "You've gotta be kidding me." Said Ezra.

…

A/N, hey guys! This chapter took me ALL. DAY! You guys can that Canadian wether for this very long and very quick update. Yes, if you haven't guessed it, SNOW DAY! Almost a foot! All the schools in the province are closed.

I started this chapter at ten this morning, I am now being called for dinner. I just pulled a Locked up Secrets! Night guys, hope you liked it! Until next time,

-Azilia