Kanan's POV

"Clones?" Ezra and Sabine asked in sync.

"Clones," Zeb gawked.

"Clones," I scowled, reaching for my blaster. I aimed the barrel at the three strangers in front of us. At the three traitorous soldiers that used to wreak havoc in the last war. I knew I recognised them from somewhere…

A hand gripped onto my wrist as I shifted my attention to Ezra. "Kanan, what are you doing?" he asked, concern etched over his face.

Every fibre of my body screamed at me to shoot. Clones couldn't be trusted. They were backstabbers driven to follow the orders of the Emperor. They had haunted my nightmares, destroyed my way of life and murdered my master before my very eyes. My fellow soldiers, my friends, had turned on us in one swift motion and snatched everything important from me.

Everything became fuzzy, my head pounding. My vision focused on the twin scars on the side of Ezra's cheek. What if he hadn't survived? What if I really had lost him that day? It was a permanent reminder of how I couldn't protect him. How I was too weak to save him. Just like master Billaba.

But not this time. This time, I'd make sure he was safe before the bullet holes made it into his back. Before a crimson blade could be plunged into his heart.

I fingered the trigger and narrowed my eyes at the three clones. My hand was shaking, the adrenaline pumping through my veins. Ezra squeezed my arm and stared up at me with wide eyes, full of fear. "Kanan," he whispered. "You're scaring me."

For a moment, my hatred flickered. I looked at the others. Zeb was watching with a blank expression while Sabine shifted nervously. Slowly, I lowered my arm, the blaster still handy. I took a deep breath and tried to supress my rage and fear. "Zeb," I hissed through clenched teeth. "A word please?"

He scurried over as I placed an arm around his muscular shoulder, pulling him into a huddle. "We can't trust them!" I growled quietly.

"But this is who we're looking for," he whispered.

"I don't care! Ahsoka said nothing about clones," I scowled, the word like poison in my mouth.

"Why? What's wrong with them?" a new voice asked. I looked up to see Ezra, watching us intently.

"Stay out of this," I snapped.

He frowned, but didn't reply. "We're leaving. Now," I ordered.

"Mate," Zeb groaned. "We've been searching for an hour and we finally found them! Besides, Ahsoka sent us on this mission, so they must be trustworthy."

I folded my arms and kicked the metal floor. I didn't want to admit that he was right. "The quicker we get this done, the quicker we can leave," Zeb said reassuringly, patting my back.

After a moment of silence, I begrudging agreed. "Fine, but keep an eye on them," I whispered, glancing over my shoulder. They were watching us with curiosity, as well as concern. Good. Fear will keep them in check…

Ezra stepped forward. "I'm Ezra. We were sent here to talk to you by Ahsoka," he explained.

The first clone nodded, stroking his white beard. "And what matter would be so urgent that you needed to find us?" he inquired.

"She told us to come get you… to help out with the rebellion," Ezra stuttered nervously.

The three clones glanced at each other, before cracking up laughing. "A rebellion? Against the Empire? You're crazy kid," the second clone chuckled.

"You know what, maybe I am. But from what I can tell, you guys aren't the most sane either," Ezra dared. "And don't call me kid," he added, folding his arms defiantly. I smirked, remembered the time when I used to be on the receiving end of the 'kid' nickname. Maybe he was more like me than I thought.

The trio stopped laughing as the first clone 'Rex' stepped forward. "You're a bold one kid. Maybe we can have more formal chatter inside our humble home?" he asked, gesturing to the open door.

Ezra was about to say something when I placed my hand on his shoulder and yanked him away. "Now wait just a minute," I growled. "How do we know if you're trustworthy?"

Rex raised a brow and folded him arms. "Seeing your reaction to our identities, I'll assume you're not on good terms with clones?"

I narrowed my eyes and grumbled "Yeah… Somethin' like that."

"Let me guess. You used to be a separatist?" the second clone 'Wolffe' suggested.

"Naw," the third clone 'Gregor' laughed dementedly. He walked closer as I instinctively tugged on Ezra's shoulder. "I can see it in his eyes," he said while looking me dead in the eyes. Bending down, he examined Ezra, me watching him like a hawk. "And the way he protects this one," Gregor squinted, pointing a curled finger at the teen.

"Hmm. Thought they were all gone, I did," he said, scratching his bald head. "Who knew some Jedi managed to escape order 66."

At his words I stiffened, and an old anger threatened to overthrow me. "And what's it to you?" I snapped.

"Order 66?" Ezra asked while looking up at me curiously.

"Well that explains a lot, but you don't need to worry. We had our inhibitor chips removed long ago," Rex explained while pointing to a pale scar on the side of his head. I tried to process it, but it wasn't making sense. Chips? What was he talking about?

"But," he continued. "I can understand your slowness to trust. How about we continue this conversation over dinner?"

Zeb's stomach growled, drowning out any attempts of my protest. "Sounds good to me," Zeb yawned.

"Yeah. Anything to get out of this heat," Sabine panted while fanning her sweaty face. I could only imagine how hot it was in that armour.

"Of course, we don't actually have any food yet. We have to catch it first. That big one would be perfect," he said, pointing at Zeb.

Zeb raised a brow. "Perfect for what?"

"Why, for hunting down dinner!" Gregor smiled. "Very strong, probably a good fighter, you're perfect!"

Zeb and I exchanged glances, before he shrugged and replied "Sure. Why not."

"Come on, we'll get you set up," Rex said, waving him over. "And jedi."

I folded my arms and watched him closely, showing that I was listening. "Since you probably know the in's and out of 'O' Reliable' here, how 'bout giving us a hand?" he asked, gesturing to the old vehicle. "More is better after all."

I glanced up at the rusted structure, completely aware that the vehicle had been heavily modified. It had been years since I had been in one of these, let alone help use one! I gave him an uncertain look, but Ezra was watching me expectantly with those big electric eyes. Finally, I sighed in defeat. "Fine."