*The only character I own is Alexandra Dragon and her parents. Everything else Star Wars belongs to George Lucas and Lucas Films...and (shudders) Disney.

Ezra woke up with a jolt, glancing around frantically to see that he was not in the same place as he was earlier. The room was black, lowly lit by the dim red lights that came out from the walls. He groaned in dissatisfaction to see that he was in none other than an Imperial holding cell, and it looked like the ones they kept on Star Destroyers. "Great…" he huffed. "Kanan is not going to like this…" He went to hit his com, even though he doubted that it would work, but all there was in its place was a faded patch on his sleeve where it would stay. He forgot that the girl stomped it into the ground. Then he realized that his slingshot and his pack were gone. Of course they would be gone, the Empire's recruits may not be the sharpest tools in the shed but they weren't stupid enough to let prisoners keep their weapons. Even if it was just an energy slingshot that will just stun you for a brief millisecond and then you're back to normal like nothing happened.

But what surprised him most that the Togruta with the red lightsabers wasn't in the cell with him. Did she get away? No, she couldn't have. He remembered that she was struck down by stun blasters...and it took around four times to take her down. That girl was most puzzling to him...the only one he has seen with a red lightsaber was the Inquisitor. And Ezra had a pretty strong feeling that she wasn't like the Inquisitor...she was probably worse. She tried to kill him! He doesn't even know who the girl is, let alone what he had done to provoke her for the few minutes they had known each other. He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose as he shook his head in frustration. This was the last place he wanted to be at today.

He jumped when he heard a clank. It came from the other side of his cell's wall. Slowly, Ezra went to the wall, putting his ear against it, straining it to go farther. His head left from the wall when he heard a frustrated growl that was almost a scream come from the next door cell. It was followed by grunts of struggle and more clanking. Whoever was in that cell was having a harder time than him. He returned to listening through the wall, his heart nearly stopping when he heard the occupant yell in a language that was foreign to his ears. It sounded…ancient, almost. Like the person was speaking in a dead language. Being from a trade capital like Lothal, Ezra has heard about every language you could think of. Never before he heard a language like this. It sounded Dathomirian…but not Dathomirian at the same time. Ezra heard the person in the other thud against the wall then a skid, as if they were sliding down the wall to sit on the floor.

Ezra remembered that the red lightsaber wielding girl had a very faint Dathomirian accent, despite she was a Togruta. It must be her in the cell next to him…he had to have gotten used to his sense of the Force within her. He felt…nothing. Scared at first, he rapped his knuckles on the wall. "Hey, you okay in there?"

There was no answer.

He sighed and sat against the wall, bringing his legs up against his chest and wrapped his arms around them and resting his chin on his knees. 'I thought so…' The sudden silence confirmed his suspicions. It was the girl who tried to kill him in the cell beside him. Ezra was actually thankful that the Imperials separated them; she would probably try to kill him. Again. But…they were both trapped inside an Imperial Cruiser and if they're lucky, they're still in the docks near Lothal. And their fate in this vessel didn't end well in any scenario Ezra ran in his head if they stayed here. Sure, she tried to kill him…but the mystery of why she did and why she always seemed angry, especially when someone utters the word "Jedi", intrigued him. No matter how much she scared him.

He tapped against the wall again. "I know you're in there…uh…do you have a name?"

No answer.

"Can I call you something? Like give you a nickname?"

A angry growl emitted from behind the wall.

"Okay…never mind with the nickname…." Ezra cleared his throat before saying, "My name's—"

"I…could care less of your name…" the girl hissed, her voice muffled by the thick steel wall between them. "Jedi scum…"

"I'm not a Jedi!" Ezra argued. "I'm…just learning how to use the Force."

"Lies. You are a Youngling…a student of a Jedi…" the girl growled. "Therefore, you are one as well."

"How do you know that?"

There was a long silence. Then, she answered, "Your being with the Force is weak like a Youngling…the one you were with had the ties of a beginner Master…"

"You can tell what a person is in the Force?" Ezra asked her, astonished.

"Are you blunt? You can as well, Youngling…" A huff sounded. "I should not waste my breath talking to dirt like you."

"What else are you going to do?" Ezra questioned, a joking edge to it. "Talk to yourself like earlier—?"

He jumped when the girl slammed against the wall. He could feel her do it too, it was so powerful. "Shut up, Youngling…I don't talk to the likes of you."

Ezra couldn't help but laugh. "But you are! What do you think you're doing?"

He heard her hiss in irritation before silence fell again.

It took all the courage inside him to say, "Listen...I have been in this kind of ship before. And I've seen some of the possibilities that happen to prisoners like us…and they all end badly."

"I know what sort of fates that hang above my head, Youngling," she snapped.

"So…you've been in a Cruiser before?"

A confirming grunt came from her.

"And escaped?" When she didn't answer, Ezra told her, "That's…kind of hard to do."

"...Yes."

Ezra made a face of approval. "Huh. Impressive."

"It was a long, long time ago…I was what you would call lucky…" she grumbled.

"I thought you don't talk to likes of me?" Ezra mocked.

No answer.

Ezra sighed at the silence but went back to his point. "Anyway, we both know what can happen to us if we stay any minute longer in this hole. And since we both have…you know, experience of escaping Cruisers…we should…" The words caught in his throat. But he managed to get them out but in a hesitant, retrained voice, "Work together…?"

The continued silence from the Togruta made Ezra hold his breath. He didn't like this silence one bit. Why won't she answer him? Is it because he's a "Jedi"? What did she have against them anyways? Just the word seemed to ruffle up her feathers.

Then Ezra sensed a slow rage come from her. She spat like venom slowly, "Why…would I work with the likes of you? Why should I help you escape? You are Jedi scum. I would never," her voice rose louder and louder with each word, "Ever work with a Jedi! I would rather be eaten alive by a Rancor after it rips me limb from limb than work with the likes of you!"

Ezra scooted away from the wall at her angry shouts, scrambling up to his feet. He bet that the floors above and below them could hear her rage filled voice. His heart pounding out of fear was the only thing he heard in the silence after her yelling. He didn't mean to but he struck a nerve. A long exposed nerve that shouldn't be touched. He almost felt bad for asking. But, even though he didn't like the idea of it, he needed her in order to get out of this Cruiser. Alive.

His head shot up when he heard the door of his cell open. A pair of Storm Troopers stood in the doorway, their black blasters in their hands. One came into the cell and stood beside Ezra. Ezra grunted in pain when the Trooper butted him in the shoulder with the tip of his barrel. "Come on, kid. Move your feet."

Ezra glared at the Trooper. "Where are we going?"

"Somewhere where we can have peace and quiet while on guard duty," the Trooper by the door answered. "Your friend's yelling is driving us crazy back at the monitors."

Ezra was pushed again.

"Hurry up!" the Trooper barked.

Ezra glared at the Trooper once more, his eyes then drifting down to his feet. He shuffled his way to the door, the Trooper only inches behind him. Ezra smirked internally when a plan hatched inside him. As they went out the detention center's hall just outside his cell, he asked the Storm Troopers, "So…why move me?"

"Shut up."

"No, I'm serious!" Ezra argued, "I'm not the one who's making all the noise. It's the girl in the cell next to me. Not my fault she doesn't like to talk to me. So, my question again, why move me when she's clearly the problem?"

The Storm Troopers looked at each other. Then they shrugged. "Just keep moving, kid."

"One more question, guys…"

"Shut up."

"No, no…this one's really important, I promise." Ezra smiled devilishly when he stopped walking between the two Troopers, making them turn around. "How can you not feel me take these off of your belts?" In his hands were stun pistols. He fired two shots at each Trooper before they had the chance to raise their blasters or get on their coms. They toppled down to the floor, their bodies spasming before they became completely still, their bodies now motionless and limp.

Ezra went over to the cell that was next to his. He went to pry off the access panel but stopped. He tried to remember which wire is which and what needed to be cut or changed, realizing he doesn't have a clue in the first place. Plus, cutting wires with his fingers would probably be hard to do. He went over to the unconscious Storm Troopers and searched their belts. Giving up, he took off the belt from one soldier and put it on. Definitely easier than trying to flip the heavy guards. "Some guards you guys make…" He searched through the many compartments of the belt, not able to believe all the stuff that was on it. He laughed in triumph that instead of some sort of wire cutter, he found a portable scomp link, which was much nicer than his own. These are usually exclusive to droids, but when you don't have one, the portable version becomes pretty handy.

He placed the link into the lock, turning it slowly clockwise before hearing a click. Then he pulled it back slightly before turning it counter clock wise. He smiled when he heard the doors sweep open. Ezra put the scomp link back into his lent belt and entered the cell, and quite slowly with his hands up. He stopped dead in his tracks when the Togruta's bright blue eyes darted over to him. He noticed the large cuffs that were enclosed on her hands and that they pulsed a blue glow and they were around her ankles as well.

"What are you doing?" she growled.

Ezra inched closer to her, his hands still up. "I just want to help—"

"Help?" She repeated. "No. The only thing you Jedi know is the complete opposite."

Ezra knelt down beside her, still feeling her rage-filled eyes burn straight through him. "You might say that…" He examined her cuffs, seeing the access hole for a scomp and placed his in the lock. With a quick turn, the cuffs hissed and fell off, the blue glow gone. He noticed that the ones around her ankles fell off as well. "But why would I set you free?"

He yelped when he was Force pushed against the wall, groaning in pain by the impact. The Togruta walked towards him, her hand raised slightly so he would stay afloat. "Why? Why did you do that?"

"To prove that you can trust me."

She titled her head, as if she was confused with the concept. She growled, her teeth showing. "Trust you?" she repeated. "Why would I ever do that? You are part of the Jedi, Youngling…"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know, I know. Jedi bad. But we've both escaped from a Cruiser before and what did we both need when we did? Help." Ezra saw the shock replace the anger in her eyes. He felt himself get lowered to the ground, but not completely. So he continued, "Even though neither of us like the idea of it, we have to help each other escape. And when we do? We go our separate ways. I'll make sure we won't cross paths again."

"And if we do?"

"Have a party."

The Togruta stared at him. "If we cross paths in the future…" she brought her hand down to her side, letting Ezra go completely and have his feet planted on the ground again. "I will kill you. And your Master."

Ezra held out his hand towards her. "Then it's a deal then?"

She glared at him and pushed his hand away. "Yes." She walked out of the cell.

Ezra scrampled after her. "Hey wait!" She stopped. "We have to stick together…part of the whole helping each other thing."

"Fine…"

"I'm Ezra, by the way."

She snorted at him. "Like I care for what you call yourself, Youngling…"

"So…what's your name?"

She spun around, shocked to hear the question. "Why do you want to know?"

"Well it's either calling you by your real name or giving you a nickname. How does Twitchy sound?"

She growled at that. "You are not going to call me such a vial name, runt."

"Then what is your name? That's all I'm asking."

"…It's Alexandra."

"Alexandra? What kind of a name is that?"

"What kind of name is Ezra?"

"…True." Ezra looked down the hall. "Alright, Alex. Let's get out of here."