Disclaimer: I don't own Star Wars: Rebels. Obviously.
Story: The beginning, the becoming, and the present of Agent Kallus; the child, the street rat, and the girl that is Ezra Bridger. When Ezra accidentally forms a Force bond with the agent, their lives are suddenly dependent on each other, but as they view each other's memories, it's not that hard to become attached. Bastila Shan and Darth Revan's accident is recreated, and the crew have no choice but to bring along Kallus until they find a fix.
Set after "Shroud of Darkness" (2.16).
Spoilers: Yes.
Warnings: Violence, language, sexual situations, etc.
Pairings: Agent Kallus/fem!Ezra, Wrenga Jixton/fem!Luke

Killing Strangers (Leave Me Alone)
Chapter Four: Here For the Operation

Ezra didn't think she'd ever see such an open expression on Kallus' face, much less the extreme horror he had as his first unit he was assigned to was all but decimated by the Lasat mercenary. Kallus was left alive, left as a warning and to report back to his superiors…

But all Ezra could feel was the surge of hate, anger, and fear that wasn't her own.

"No, no, no," Ezra said frantically. This is what started and created Kallus' hostility towards the Lasat race and towards Zeb. "It's just him, Cor. Really! You can't think like this, you can't blame them all. Zeb –Zeb's awesome. He and I do the best pranks on the others. You can't…you can't…"

But she knew her pleas fell on deaf ears, as always.

However, a part of his anger and fear (though she steered clear of the hate) was shared by her, watching as this mercenary wiped out Kallus' unit. She admitted that even had she not met and watched over them by Kallus' side, just seeing and watching what had happened would have created those feelings. But having actually (maybe) gotten to know and like a little of Kallus' unit, she found herself upset at their deaths and feeling conflicted about this whole thing.

She also realized that her side could be just as ruthless and merciless as his side. Her side could be coldhearted and commit cruelties just as much as his side did.

Her side was capable of the same things his side was.

It made her uncomfortable to realize that. Maybe a part of her had always known that, but she didn't really think too hard about it. Or even didn't let herself.

She wanted her side to be the right side after all.

"I hate you!" she shouted at the Lasat's back, even though she wanted to stay away from anything relating to hate. "It's your fault!"

She blinked back angry tears, turning to a furious Kallus. She bit her lip before cautiously coming towards him and reaching out, surprised when her hand actually made contact. Even though he still couldn't feel her, her hand wasn't going through him and she didn't have to try so hard to keep her hand on him. Finding that out, she found herself throwing her body forward and wrapping herself around him, ignoring that just because she could touch him didn't mean anything in the long run.

It made her feel better though. And for now, that was all that mattered because she didn't know how much more she could take. She missed her crew and how light and happy they made things for her, after the period of darkness in her life after her parents had left her. She didn't want to drown in more darkness, even darkness that wasn't her own.

"I'll get you," Kallus growled. "I swear I'll get you back. All of you."

"Hello, darkness, my old friend," Ezra quoted an old song she used to hear her parents play sometimes. She closed her eyes tightly. "Oh, Cor…Don't blame them all, please…"

She was drowning in silence and darkness.


Kallus grew increasingly worried and upset the more days passed and Ezra went without food. She wasn't able to steal as easily as she needed to most days, what with security starting to tighten around the planet the more rebellion activity was beginning to act up. She was hungry and he could see that her stomach was starting to scream at her in pain.

"Just a little more," he murmured, holding onto her shoulder, having found he could do so by now. He didn't know why, but he wasn't going to question it too much at the moment. "Something will come up. You'll be fine."

She was getting desperate and he could understand. By then, a year had passed and she'd lived a hard life on the streets on her own.

"I'm so hungry," she whimpered, her hands moving to clutch her stomach.

"Just a little longer," Kallus reaffirmed, though he was more or less saying it for his own benefit. She couldn't hear him and even now he was having trouble remembering that.

Her eyes spotted them just as Kallus did, and he wanted to warn her away. However, seeing the look in her eyes, he could already tell what was going to happen.

"No," he immediately said, but she was already moving towards the group of gang members he wanted her to stay as far away from as possible. Especially as he remembered the last run in she had, all those years ago, with that sleemo that had tried to take her fruit from her. Still, Ezra approached the gang members hesitantly.

"What do you want, runt?" one of them asked, having finally caught on to her coming towards them.

She swallowed harshly. "I need money. Or food. I don't care. I'll do anything."

"Don't say that," Kallus snapped at her. "Who knows what their sick heads will come up with!"

"Yeah?" the same man asked with a menacing smile. "Just in time. Perfect actually. I got a job for you, kid. C'mere."

Ezra hesitated before making up her mind and coming closer. The man thrust out a package towards her.

"I want you to deliver this to a few guys from Scairt's gang. They're in the south end of the Capital, 'round the factories. You do that, you'll get a feast, kid. Alright?"

Hungry and thinking nothing but of her stomach, Ezra nodded eagerly and gave her agreement. Kallus was extremely unhappy and wary about all this.

"You've got an hour, you hear?" the man told her strictly. "And I mean an hour."

Though Ezra was becoming hesitant again, she nodded and set off to do as was tasked of her.

"Careful," Kallus tried warning her. "You don't know what's in the package, or what they want with these other gang members. You don't really know much about the situation at all. This isn't a good idea."

But she was steadfastly walking on, so he sighed and walked by her side. By the time they reached who that man was talking about, nearly an hour had passed.

"Um," Ezra said quietly. "Are you…are you from Scairt's gang?"

A much scarier looking man approached her from a group of his own. "Yeah? Wha'cha want, kid?"

"I'm supposed to deliver this to you in an hour. They told me to give it to some guys in Scairt's gang in this direction," Ezra nervously explained. "H-here?"

The man took it from her, narrowing his eyes at it. He shook it a little bit and then held it to his ear. After a minute of examining it, he opened it and then snarled as he saw what was inside. When he pulled out a decapitated head, Ezra screamed and her hands flew up to her mouth, the urge to vomit obviously prominent. Kallus could tell from her face, much less how the accompanying nauseous feeling from her hit him subtly.

"You!" the man yelled, glaring at her as the men behind him started to move closer to her. "You part of Maw's gang?"

"No, no!" Ezra screamed. "I don't know anything about this! I don't know anything!"

"Run!" Kallus shouted at her. "Get out of there!" But his frustration at these things came back and she wasn't heeding him.

By the time she got the sense to get out of there, she was only turning in place when the man grabbed her and then shoved something into her side. She screamed loudly and Kallus growled, stalking forward to try to do something, even though he knew he couldn't.

The man yanked out what Kallus saw was a knife and then dropped Ezra to the ground, where she lay curled on her side and was bleeding out. Just when the man reached down, probably to finish the job, Ezra leaped to her feet and ran, using the adrenaline fueling her to pump her legs faster and get out of there, and ignoring the loud blast behind her that she'd just missed. She ran and ran, even going out of the city and plowing through the wheat fields surrounding it. Ultimately, she came near a tower that Kallus recognized as one that was supposed to be defunct.

Though the adrenaline was draining out of her, she haphazardly but determinedly made her way up the tower and collapsed inside of it. The abandoned communications tower was safe. For now, she was okay. Then again…it didn't really matter.

"I'm going to die," she slurred out, crying alone on the floor of the tower.

"You aren't. You live." He knew so, having met her later on. Still, knowing that didn't help how he felt at the moment and how worried he was at her state. How in the galaxy did she survive? Looking at her now, she was definitely bleeding out and had lost a lot of blood. Too much blood.

He watched quietly as she lay there even more quietly than he, up until she passed out. Then, miraculously, there was a glow around her side and he watched in amazement as her wound began to close and heal up.

"Is this…is this the work of the Force?" he asked himself. What sorcery…

But, "At least you're okay now."

He could breathe a little bit easier while he waited for the next mishap she got herself into.


"Kamino?"

Both Ezra and Kallus had echoed reactions to that. She remembered Ahsoka and Rex talking about Kamino and how much of a role the planet and its inhabitants had in the CloneWars, and eventually in creating the Empire with the clones.

"You are assigned to help put down the uprising that the Kaminoans had created there, along with some of the clones. You yourself will be equipped with half a dozen units of loyal Empiric clone troopers, while working with a new unit of Stormtroopers to work under you."

Ezra felt it was too soon since his last unit and what happened to them. In fact, she didn't like how this new assignment sounded at all either. But it wasn't like he could decline it. She knew that. Damn it, she knew that. It just wasn't fair.

It wasn't too long until they were shipping out and Ezra could feel it, even if Kallus wasn't showing it. He was worried and feeling conflicted about this.

But he was a good and loyal officer, so he was going to keep his mouth shut and do as he was told.

She was horrified to watch how much of a mess the mission really was. There were clones everywhere. His clones, the Kaminoan's clones. It was just a mess.

Sweat poured down his temples and dripped down his face, and she could see the wild panic in his eyes as he shot at the enemy…at who he thought was the enemy. It was so hard to tell, when the clones all looked alike, and not even the armor could differ them –especially when they were wearing armor and their faces were shown and they all looked the frakking same –

At a corner, Kallus plastered himself against a wall and tried catching his breath, blinking sweat out of his eyes.

"Oh God, Gods –someone. Someone help me," he gasped out, and he let his blaster hang around him as he let go of it and pressed his gloved palms against his eyes. "I don't know what to do."

She'd never seen this side of him. But this was horrible. He didn't know who was on his side, or who was the enemy. He knew there was too many friendly fire going on, and he was starting to lose his mind over this.

She wished she could help, but she wasn't sure if she'd know what to do in this situation. She didn't know if anyone would.

Kallus cursed to himself before he threw himself back in the fray, and began blasting out in abandon, forsaking trying to differentiate and just trying to stay alive.

That was all the real option left.

In the end, when it was all over, Kallus was praised and commended in his role in the Kaminoan Uprising. But it belied the fact that underneath his stoic demeanor, he didn't feel it had gone too well at all and he was discontent about the whole thing. But he hid it well, and no one knew except himself.

And Ezra, who felt every bit of his discontent.


Kallus was relieved that Ezra ended up okay. She was still hungry though, and that left Kallus worried about what else she was willing to try to do for just a bit of food. She left the tower unhappily, though he could see that she kept glancing back at it curiously, thinking about making the place home.

He was well aware in the future that it had become her home before she stayed with the crew, so this was probably how she'd stumbled upon it. Curiously and humorously, Ezra didn't question her lack of wound or that she was now okay, but he suppose the hunger was still ruling over her head and wouldn't let go of her focus until she was no longer starving.

He watched her eye a mark, probably intending to try to rob whoever it was. A few Imperial credits would do her good, help survive another day or two…as much as he hated thievery (and the fact she had to resort to it often…everyday), he hoped for her success and that maybe she would finally get something in her stomach. However, just as she was going to approach the person, a hand reached out and grabbed her shoulder.

Both he and Ezra faced the newcomer warily, finding that it was a Xexto.

"You're way too obvious and will end up caught before you even try it," he said in amusement. "You're better off pickpocketing when you're relaxed and not looking like you're about to pounce on a piece of meat."

Ezra frowned, jerking away from the Xexto, but not running away like Kallus was tempted to tell her.

"Ferpil Wallaway's the name," he grinned widely. "You want to learn how to really pickpocket?"

Interested, though still wary, Ezra nodded.

"Great! Let me show you how it's done, kiddo."

Amazingly enough, Kallus had a feeling this guy really meant to help her (even in this roundabout way) and that maybe Ezra could trust him.


"Where do we go?" Hera asked tiredly.

"What do we do?" Sabine glanced at the comatose figures, particular the one who was causing this problem and was lying peacefully next to Sabine's best friend.

"We're stuck with him," Kanan said with shrug. "We can't exactly leave him behind or do anything with the man. Not if we want to make sure Ezra's okay and won't be in trouble because we did something with him."

"Don't be all…worried and stuff," Zeb gruffly cut in. He inwardly balked at the attention that brought him. "Look, uh, he's not that bad. Kallus. Yeah, him."

Sabine looked at him like he'd lost his mind. "Do you not remember that this is the guy that practically slaughtered your race?"

Zeb gave an aggravated sigh. "Yeah, I know! Karabast, I'm not stupid or forgetful, you know!" he glowered at her. "And I'm saying he's not all bad!"

Seeing the skeptical but wondering faces from everyone, he shrugged irritably. "Look, you guys remember the time I was stranded on that Geonosis moon? Yeah, this is how it went…"

Zeb knew it was going to be a really long night. Karabast.

Started 4/4/16 – Completed 4/4/16

A/n: We're halfway through chapters dealing with memories! Yay! I hope you guys liked this chapter and seeing their pasts unfold. Thanks for all the support! Please remember to review!


Anon Reviews:

1. Anon: Thank you for enjoying so many of my stories, and liking this one so much! I hope you continue to enjoy my writing! It really makes me happy to hear you enjoying it so much.

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