***Huge chapter I know, longest I'll ever write, but very quick read and all needed. Fluff and stuff. Gore and more. Enjoy! Happy weekend!***

Ezra could feel the change in the Force that Kanan had sent, and immediately jumped.

He's dead?! He demanded.

Relax, kid. He's alive…

For now!

For now… he's bad off.

What injuries does he have!?

Burns, shrapnel wounds, hypovolemic and possible neurogenic shock, and a deflated lung, with a broken rib. We're in the hover, fifty seconds out. You said the evac was done?
It is!

Meet us in the med bay if you can stay calm.

Hearing that, Ezra turned to Zeb. "My friend is being taken to the med bay, you hold it down here!"

Zeb looked at the kid in confusion. "You have friends? Since when?"

"Why is everyone asking me that today!"

"Because the only friend we've ever heard you mention or seen you with is with that space pirate! Go, Ezra. I'll take care of things here."

Ezra nodded his thanks and ran off, the durasteel ramp clanging under his pounding footsteps. He tried to not freak out, as Kanan had instructed, but it was hard when the Force was telling him how bad off he was.

"Force please just save him." He muttered.

From the corner of his eye, he saw the incoming hover. That and Kanan's face. It was only a glimpse of it before it disappeared into the side of the ship, but the image of it was burned into his mind, making his stomach flip. His master was ashen, his eyes hard and squinted, eyebrows almost coming together in his face. His mouth was turned down in a worried, focused frown. It was the same face he'd gotten used to seeing over the last couple of months. There were speckles of blood on his face, though whose it was was anyone's guess.

It was what was in his eyes that all but convinced Ezra that his friend was going to die. There was doubt in Kanan's eyes. There was doubt and worry. Kanan never showed that. It usually meant that he was trying to ignore something that the Force was saying.

Don't think like that. It was Kanan. Ezra realized he must have been sending waves of despair over the Force.

Oh just shut up, was the best comeback he could think of.

Ezra he's going to be fine. Hera and Sabine and the med droids have got him now. Don't worry.

Don't worry!? Don't worry? Okay! I won't worry. I'm fine now.

"Ezra, you know how I meant that."

Ezra's fists clenched at the voice behind him. "Leave me alone Kanan. I'm really fine. I haven't seen him in years so why would I care about him?"

"Why would you?"

There were people swarming around them, heading outside. Some were bumping into Ezra, which only made him more irritated. "Could they watch where they're going?"

"Some don't have good balance. Come on, let's go into the kitchen. It's more private there."

"Too bad, I don't want to talk. Not about my friend, not about what happened or what I saw. Just put me to work, I'm fine!"

"Did you ever think that I wanted to talk?" He questioned.

"No, you never talk about anything."

"Actually, I do. You're the one who keeps everything inside. It's not healthy. I'm worried about you. The first time I saw bomb victims, it was awful. I still remember it to this day. I still have nightmares about it, to this day. And I wanted, I needed, someone to be there for me."

"I'm not you, Kanan! I'm stronger than that." Ezra wound up snapping.

Kanan glared at him, folding his arms. "I'm trying to help you kid and you keep pushing me away. You're not as strong as you want to be. You're not strong enough to get through this alone. No one is! Especially after what you saw!"

"And what did I see Kanan! It was just an eye, blast! It's not like someone's guts were spilling onto my shoes!"

"Well excuse me for thinking that you might want to talk to me. I don't know I guess I was wrong about that. I'll keep that in mind the next time you look like you want to talk about something. I will definitely keep that in mind!"

Their fight was so loud that it drew Hera out of the med bay. Her gloves and apron were stained with blood. She glared at them both. "Alright you two! If you don't knock this off right now, you're back outside! These people are traumatized already without you two having a shouting match right outside the med bay! Am I clear?"

Ezra said nothing, storming off to a different part of the ship, closing his mind as he walked. Still, waves of anger flowed off him, as strong as punches.

Kanan glared at him, turning to head to glare at Hera, but his expression quickly softened. "Sorry. I guess it didn't help."

"Get your gown on, we're understaffed, I need you in there."

Kanan said nothing as he walked over to the closet with the gowns and gloves, right outside the door of the med bay. He slipped one over his head, grabbing the large sized latex gloves. It had been a while since he'd needed to do anything medical related, let alone needing to gear up. "How many critical?"

"Five. Med droids are working on three. Sabine and I are working on the unstable. You need to work on the stabilized one."

"Med droids are working on Ezra's friend, aren't they?"

"They are." Hera reached out to put a hand on Kanan's shoulder but stopped herself as to not spread the blood. "He'll make it, he's in good hands." Hera paused. "He's going to open up to you. He always does. Just give him some time. You were the same way."

"No I wasn't."

Hera allowed herself to chuckle. "You're right, you were worse."

"Hera!" It was Sabine from inside the room. "I need you! He's crashing!"

Without another word both of them raced through the door.

"Where do you need me?" Kanan asked.

Hera interlocked her fingers and started pushing on the man's chest. "Clamp. In the one we haven't closed."

Kanan tried to push back the thought of what does a clamp look like again? as he looked on the table of blood soaked tools. He doubted all of the blood was from the one man. Not that it mattered. Locating the clamp, he opened it and looked at the gash. Blood was spilling onto the floor.

"The man had shrapnel in the common iliac. We clamped on both sides and pulled it. We stitched it but he's got another bleeder somewhere. BP skyrocketed when he went into shock. Not enough oxygen. Intubated and it went down but he's still bleeding out."

Force help me. Kanan thought to himself.

"I can't see anything in there. Sabine, give me some suction."

The girl put the tube into the cavity of the wound. It barely did any good. "Kanan we've recirculated as much blood as we could. He's not getting better. He's barely got a pulse. His oxygen levels are low. His BP is still high. We need to focus on the others."

Hera glared down at the man's face. "We are not going to be the reason his son is an orphan do you understand me Sabine? We keep going until he's really dead! There is still a chance!"

Sabine shook her head but didn't say anything.

Kanan let the Force guide him to one part of the wound. "Got it! Clamped the first part." He reached blindly for the second clamp. "Clamping second now. Still need to look for the bleeder. Sabine, you stitch him up again, I'll stop the bleeding. After you've stitched him, glue what's left."

Sabine got to work on stitching, her hands moving quickly and methodically.

"Hera hold compressions." Kanan instructed. She stopped, looking at the monitor. There was no improvement.

"Blast! Kanan you've gotta find that bleeder! BP is still dropping! You've got about forty seconds."

"What then?"

"Kanan you know what happens when BP gets too low." Hera had a serious look on her face, but she was determined. Sabine had all but given up, but kept going just because, if he really did have a chance, she didn't want to give up on him. She had moved onto gluing.

Kanan looked at the man's abdomen, searching for swelling or bruising. Nothing was obvious. "Kriff!" He blurted, and knew how bad everyone was when Hera and Sabine didn't react to it. Kanan checked the monitor. His BP was 90/40, his heart rate in the 180s. "Blast!" The Force told him he was a lost cause.

"Nothing in the legs or abdomen or torso. Have you checked his head?"

"A hemorrhage…" Hera looked at the man, looking up at Sabine. She put her hand up. "You can stop." Kanan could almost feel Hera's agony at having to let him go.

"Hera-"

She brushed him off, straightening. "Work on the other patients. I'll stay with him until the end." She didn't look at him, which meant she was hiding tears.

"I'm staying too. The droids are done on everyone else." It was true. As the man was dying, the droids had finished their work with the other four criticals. He looked around and saw that one was even moved down to serious. They were now cleaning up the mess that the blood had caused. At the moment, there was no one else but them.

Hera's grip on the table "Then go wash off."

"No. I'm not as bloody. Sabine, please?" Kanan asked.

"Alright. Are you okay?" She directed the question at both of them.

"Yes." Hera's voice was flat.

"We'll be alright, thank you. You really shouldn't be around for this."

Sabine nodded, unable to look at them as she walked past them. Before she walked out, she tossed her bloodied gloves into the biohazard bin. She stifled a single sob into her arm as she walked out, before giving a shaky sigh.

"She won't be out of her room for a couple of days now." Hera said. Her eyes had drifted to the man's face.

"We did everything we could." Kanan pulled his gloves off as he spoke, throwing them into the bin, before going behind Hera and putting his hands on her shoulders.

"I can't touch you."

Without a word, Kanan took off her gloves as well, and then her gown, throwing them in the bin as well, before shedding his own. "Hera." He said into her ear.

"Don't," was all she could say.

"Don't what?" All Kanan did was hold her, knowing she needed it, even though she didn't want him to see her like that. "Sometimes we can only do so much. A hemorrhage in the brain stem? There was nothing we could do. He was too far gone when we brought him here."

Hera reached up to her shoulders, clasping onto Kanan's hands. "Thanks, love…"

"I know how hard this is for you. This is just as hard for me, too. I know. I'm so sorry Hera. I promise you though we did all that we could."

"I know." She let herself sniffle, but that was all before she regained her composure. The machines began to scream at them as the man flatlined. Hera let out an agonized gasp, turning away from it and covering her mouth. She was fighting tears as hard as she could. "That's nine."

"I'll tell the boy." Kanan suggested.

"No, I will. I'm the one who couldn't save him." Hera walked quickly out of the med bay, down the still open ramp. Kanan quickly followed.

"Hera, we all did."

She shook her head. "Doesn't matter."

"You know it does." Their feet hit the grass.

Hera raised her head. "Neeko Alvis." A little boy gasped, no taller than three feet, tears still shining on his face. He bolted over to the two.

Kanan's stomach rolled.

Hera kneeled down. "I need you to come with me."

"Why?" Neeko demanded.

"Because I need to have a conversation with you, a private one."

"Can I see my dad?"

"Not right now. In a little bit."

"But he's alive right? Right!" The child demanded, backing up a step. His breaths became faster.

Kanan kneeled, looking at him. He reached his hand out but it was slapped away.

"No! He's dead, isn't he!"

"Kid, I'm sorry. But you've gotta be really strong right now."

"He's dead! He's dead!" The boy started to sob again.

Ezra please… let me in! I need you! I really need you!

Hera nodded. "He is. I'm so sorry, Neeko."

Neeko screamed, almost falling to the ground. Kanan reached out to steady him, but he caught himself. "No! You killed him!" He looked at Kanan with hate and fear and grief. He shook his head.

"No, but we tried to save him. We tried, kid. I know what it feels like to be alone, and I know that you think you're alone, but you're not. I promise, you're not alone."

"Yes I am! I'm an orphan now!" He was sobbing harder.

Kanan's heart wrenched. "Kid-"

Neeko ran off toward the forest.

"Neeko!" Hera yelled in concern. She got up, but Kanan put a hand to her shoulder.

"Let him. Let him burn off some steam." Kanan looked up at the ship. It was going to be a long day, not to mention a long night.

Ezra didn't know how long he had been sleeping, but a hand shaking him woke him up. He groaned in confusion. "Wha-?" He moved his neck and was met with a lance of pain. "Mm, oww."

"Sorry. I didn't want to wake you up but you looked uncomfortable. Come on, I'll help you get to your bed."

Ezra looked up in confusion. "You're not Kanan…"

"You're not awake yet. Come on." Small hands were trying to heft him up.

"Sabine stop… I'm comfortable…"

"You're a thief, not an actor."

"I should probably get up." Ezra tried standing and his left leg went out. "Stupid leg. Must'a fell asleep."

"Come on. Where do you want to go?"

"Med bay. Is my friend okay?"

"Which patient is he?"

"Small. My age…"

"I should have guessed. He's okay. They got him stabilized. He's in serious condition. He's awake."

"What!" Ezra whipped his head to the right so fast that it cracked. A lance of pain went all the way down his back. "Ow!" He yelped, smacking it. "How do you know his condition?"

"He's been drunkenly flirting with me. I was going to just stay in my room and pain but figured that the people should see something other than durasteel, might make them feel better. He asked for you so I went to find you."

Ezra took off to the med bay, Sabine following him. "How do you know him?"

"I'd seen him around town on Tatooine. He was an orphan like me. We were the same age, so, we became friends."

"That's sweet. How did he wind up here?"

"No idea. I'm going to ask him." Ezra turned the corner to the med bay, almost walking too fast for the door to open in time. He looked around expectantly. Like Sabine had said, his friend was sitting up.

"Leo!" He yelled.

The boy startled, his heart rate jumping for two beats on the monitor. "Whoa! Who the blast?" His eyes were unfocused, but when he made out Ezra's face, he grinned. "Oh, the pretty one did bring you! Where's your dad?"

"Dead, you know that." Ezra walked over to him as he spoke.

"Oh I thought the guy who saved me was your adoptive. My bad."

"He is kind of like our dad." Sabine said.

"Oh! So you two are like brother and sister. Haha, pretty one, you lie! You said he was your boyfriend!"

"To get you off my back. I have a name!"

"Sabine, yeah, yeah. Pretty one is better! Ezzy what do you say!"

"Ezzy?" Sabine snorted.

"He's drugged." Ezra turned pink.

"Noo no I'm not too drugged to remember my nickname for you! Hahaha! Ezzy bessy little long haired fella!"

"That's it, Sabine, I need a pillow!"

The girl only laughed, clearly entertained.

"You can't have mine!" Leo laughed.

"So what are you going by now, Leo?"

"I'm still going by Leo. I like it. I see you haven't changed yours yet."

"And I'm not going to."

"What was your name before?" Sabine cut in.

"Many names! I had Tras once. I liked it but it got old fast."

"I liked Mennatar." Ezra said.

"I hated that! I can't believe I called myself that. And then I had to stick with it!"

"Remember when you passed yourself off as a girl?"

"That was so funny, I can't believe anyone fell for that."

"Yeah because I helped you!" Ezra exclaimed.

Sabine's eyebrows rose. "A girl? Should I ask why?"

"No!" Leo shouted, at the same time that Ezra said, "Yes!"

She chuckled, other things on her mind. "I can hear it later." She picked up a discarded paint brush and dipped it in the can, getting to work again.

A warbling rang out, getting closer to the med bay. Leo turned to Ezra. "What's that?"

"Chop. He's like our pet."

Chopper clearly didn't like being called a pet. He had been within earshot and as soon as he got into the room he gave Ezra an ear full. Leo laughed, clearly entertained. Ezra turned to Sabine, who was grinning.

Meanie! Meanie! Mean face! Bad Ezra! Bad! No pet! Friend! I friend! No pet! No pet! NO PET! ME HURT YOU! Me hurt you meanie! Me taze you!

"Whoa what!" Ezra exclaimed, putting his feet on the bed and tucking them away. "No way! You stay away from me!"

Chopper warbled closer. Me taze, me taze, me taze you! Bad bad bad boy! Me taze me hurt! A low buzzing rang out.

"Hera! Kanan! Someone! Sabine, aren't you going to stop him?!" Ezra demanded.

"No thanks. You kind of asked for it. He's not a pet."

"I'm going to be charred in about five seconds here!"

Just as he said that, Leo laughed and pushed him off the bed. Ezra went flying, toppling into Chopper, landing a direct hit to the taser.

Without meaning to, Ezra let out a scream as 1000 joules of energy raged through him. He was laying on top of the toppled Chopper, his hands clenched around Chopper's frame and unable to draw himself off of the taser. He screamed again. It was enough to get the attention of Kanan, who came running. Distantly Ezra could hear a paint brush fall.

"Okay, you're okay." Sabine hauled Ezra to his feet, off of Chopper's taser.

"He couldn't have retracted it!" Ezra demanded, still shaking from the energy burst. His chest stung from burns.

Kanan burst into the room. "Ezra!"

"Chopper started it!"

Kanan's eyes narrowed. "I see I should get Hera."

"No!" Ezra protested, as Chopper warbled.

"Then you two both keep it down. Do I need to remind you that these patients need rest, not two stupid kids banging around? We're already at capacity, we don't need someone else being admitted. Is that understood?"

"Yes Kanan." Ezra grumbled.

He walked further into the room. "Are you alright?" He pointed the question at Leo.

"I'm fine, thanks. These three were just entertaining me." He laughed, before wincing, his bp spiking slightly.

"Where does it hurt?"

"Just my stomach, it's fine. It's just bruising." Leo said quickly. The Force said he was lying.

"Let me see." Kanan said, rolling up the kid's shirt. "No bruising, which is a good sign. Do you have nausea?"

"No, I don't."

Noticing Ezra's mind was open, he brushed his signature against his padawan's. Do you think something's wrong?

Wrong? Medically? It's just a stomach ache, it could be from the medicine.

Don't tell me the Force isn't tell you something is wrong.

I can feel it… What though?

That's what we're going to find out. You know him best.

"Does this hurt?" Kanan pressed on his stomach.

"N-ouch!" He winced, but his blood pressure didn't spike.

"Okay," Kanan nodded.

"So, I wanted to ask you something." Leo said quickly.

"Okay, go ahead." Kanan sat on the bed. "What's going on?"

"How did you take my shirt off without touching it? Was it with your mind or something? I've only heard that Jedi can do that but… well, there aren't any more of them."

Alarms spiked for both master and padawan.

Who is this kid? Kanan demanded.

He's my friend! There's something wrong! "Leo!" Ezra almost yelled.

His blood pressure dropped a good ten points, and then another five. "What, Ezra?"

"What's going on! You're speaking too fast like you're trying to get your words in. You're not in any pain, I know that's a lie! You're too drugged."

Leo's heart rate sky rocketed. The more the machine's went crazy, the more pale he got. "I'm not I'm sorry. I mean, I am…!"

"Sabine, could you please get Leo some food?" Kanan asked, and a look of confusion passed over her face. He signed you need to leave. Bugged.

Her eyes widened. "Sure. I'll be back."

"Thank you. I appreciate it. You too Chop."

Both of them left quickly. Kanan turned to Leo again, sympathy in his eyes. "I can tell when a person is scared without even looking at them. You look horrified. Tell me what's going on kid. Ezra and I can help you."

"Nothing! Ju-just answer the question, are you a J-a Jedi?" Tears were almost spilling out of his eyes.

Kanan put a hand to the boy's cheek. "Listen to me. Look at me. If you think we're gonna lose you, you have no idea who you just bumped into. Whoever is listening in, whoever you're talking for, I'm talking to them now." Kanan's face screwed up and his voice got harsh. "You leave this kid alone. Whatever you did to him we're going to reverse it! Whatever information you think you've got, it's not enough!"

Leo's oxygen levels dropped and he started wheezing.

"Force, how much control do they have over you?"

He started crying. "I don't know!"

"Come on, Leo, look at me. We've got you. You're gonna pull through. Breathe for me okay. Just like a few hours ago." Kanan tipped his bed back a little to improve his airway.

"I'm scared Kanan."

"I know, but you don't have to worry." He rubbed his hair in a futile attempt to calm the boy. "We're going to x-ray you and that's going to show us how and where these bastards are controlling you from."

His pulse dropped into the 50s.

Kanan grit his teeth.

"Leo!" Ezra exclaimed. "You sleemos! You leave him alone! Whatever you did to him we're gonna stop it you hear me!"

"Kid, don't!" Kanan said. "Let me talk to them, alright?" He turned to Leo. "I'll answer your question if you bring his pulse up."

"Th-they s-ay-ah!" He writhed.

"Leo…!" Kanan pushed on his shoulder.

He started to cry again. "Ow! They say answer!"

"Yes! My answer is yes, I am a Jedi, and you already know that! What's your next question!" The med droid rolled up behind them. Focus on foreign materials along the cns and cardiac system. He signed to it. The droid began the x-ray. Five seconds later, it beeped.

Image saved.

"Look at that, kid. Tell me what you see." Kanan tapped his head after saying it, and Ezra nodded.

He got his answer three seconds later. Force!

What?

It's everywhere! It's like he's half droid! Around his heart! His lungs! His spine! Elbows and knees!

Leo's heart rate began to even out. He started to cry again. Kanan sat next to him once more. "No, no, no. Don't let those bad thoughts start getting to you. Look at me, I look trustworthy, right?" Kanan hoped that the fear was out of his eyes.

"S-sort of…"

"You can trust me. Like you trusted me earlier today. I saved you once? I'm going to do it again. Okay?"

"Okay."

"What did they say this time?"
"The scary one is back… he says that, he says if you rand your padawan don't come to him in surrender in the next three days, or if you try to get it out of me, he'll stop my heart personally…"

"What's your name?" Kanan demanded slowly.

"He says Kallus… w-who is this guy…?"

Kanan had to force his jaw not to clench.

"No one that you need to worry about, try to rest, alright? Please, don't worry." His voice was clipped. Anger came at him in a wave, started by his padawan.

"He's laughing now… he says that he can see how scared I am… that here I am lying in your ship and I still belong to them, that you still can't save me." Leo looked up at Kanan with dead eyes. He had accepted it.

"Don't you dare give into them, kid. There's still hope for you. Don't you dare give up. We're going to save you. We're going to save you, I promise." Kanan sounded determined.

Leo nodded. "I'm trying…"

Ezra spoke for the first time in what felt like ages. "You're doing better than I would, Mennatar."

Leo almost laughed. Instead, tears came to his eyes again. "I'll pull through, I've been through worse. Don't worry about me. I know I'm in good hands. Especially with this guy. He must be something scary to get someone else so scary involved."

"Oh trust me, I am. And guess what, I don't give up on my friends." Kanan put his hand on Leo's shoulder. "I'm not going to lose you. You're a pawn in this, but you're not expendable to us." He paused, his voice growing rough. "You listen to me Kallus, you won't have him for long. He might be bugged but he's still with us. I don't care what you've done to him, he's going to pull through. And if he doesn't, you will feel the full force of our anger. That's not a threat, Kallus. That's a promise."

Kanan paused, waiting for the response.

"He says… if you don't find him in three days and give yourselves up, he's going to have my heart explode in my chest. He says, that's a promise."
***Okay guys, poll! How would you like to see Zeb's hand blown off? And as for the story... reviews? Death threats?