Must speak.
Must warn…
They're in danger.
I must tell them…
I've been poisoned…
Must tell them… Who…
Must speak.
Must warn…
Hera checked the computer screen one more time, and turned to the rest of the crew, all who stood in the medbay, anxious expressions on their faces as they all stared at Ezra, who lay, quite still, on the table.
"Examination finished."
"And?" Kanan asked, hardly daring to believe it.
"No idea." Said Hera, and Kanan felt his face fall. "Scanners detect no anomalies in his blood. From this point on, all we can do is hope that, whatever's wrong with him, it gets better on its own."
"There's no chance of that."
Everyone turned to look at Zeb. They had never heard him speak like that. He was slumped against the wall, white as a sheet. But before Kanan could enquire further into this, someone screamed.
Kanan yelled in surprise, his cries mingling with those of the boy lying in the medbay.
For Ezra was screaming again. Hera had the restraining straps on, and he struggled against the ropes, screaming in pain. His eyes snapped open, but whatever he could see, or hear, it was clearly causing him terrible pain. Hera dived for the cabinet, but before she reached it, she froze in horror.
Blood was pouring from his ears, his nose, his mouth, choking his cries, but this time it leaked out of his tear ducts, from under his fingernails, seemingly everywhere from it could come. And he screamed more and more, struggling against the straps, blood flying everywhere.
Kanan couldn't tell whose screams were whose now, and whose were his. Hera seemed to finally remember where she was, and wrenched open the cupboard doors, grabbed a vial of the same green liquid she had used before, and injected the contents into his body. The flow of blood stopped immediately, and his eyes closed as he fell into unconsciousness.
"Kanan?"
Kanan rolled over in his bed, and stuffed his head into his pillow, trying to believe he had imagined the voice.
"Kanan?"
Kanan coughed, and made a sleepy grab for his comlink. However, he missed, and after a loud crash and several choice words, Kanan disentangled himself from the blanket on the durasteel floor, and swiped for his comlink again.
"Kanan. Cockpit. Now." Came a voice from his comlink. He shakily stood up, and left his room, grumbling to himself.
When Kanan knocked on the cockpit door, Hera opened it and led him in. As soon as he was in, she locked the door behind him.
"Kanan," she said, her expression grim. "I've got news. And I guarantee you won't wanna hear it."
Kanan looked more terrified than ever as he sat in one of the chairs. Hera pulled a screen closer to them, and switched it on, showing what looked like a security reading.
"I've been looking through Ezra's blood scans, and there's something here that doesn't add up."
"Who said it was in his blood?"
"The poison evaded regular biometric scans, and you'll notice both outbreaks had been his body trying to cleanse itself of its blood. I can add two and two together, Kanan."
"Good to hear it." Kanan said. "So what did you find?"
"Armadine Tipertinera." Hera said mysteriously.
"Wha-"
"A lethal, slow-acting and deadly poison. I found traces of it in Ezra's blood. It contaminates the blood and forces the cells apart from each other. Slow, painful, and completely deadly. And it gets worse. You'll never believe who manufacturers it."
Kanan felt a sick feeling in his stomach that had nothing to do with the dinner he had eaten.
"It was created for the Lasat Honour Guard."
Kanan drew a sharp intake of breath that was never heard. It couldn't be… It wouldn't…
"But… But… How could…"
Hera seemed to read it correctly, for she said,
"Zeb poured that wine, the day Caleb arrived. It would have been the perfect opportunity to slip something into the bottle."
"But… But…" Kanan spluttered, still desperately trying to find a way that it wasn't… That Zeb really hadn't…
"But wouldn't we all have been poisoned? If it was in the bottle, you know…"
"The poison only affects certain blood types. A Lothalians resistance to allergies means that this poison was created to succeed where others couldn't. It only affects Lothalian blood."
Kanan and Hera stared at each other for a long time. Then, finally, Kanan spoke.
"Go… Go and wake the kids. Bring them to the lounge area. And contact Caleb as well."
Hera nodded, and, patting Kanan on the shoulder as she walked, left the cockpit.
Ezra: Woooo! I am the ghost of Ezra Bridger! I bring a warning. Dark times, are ahead, should you kill Ezra at the hands of-
Me: Ezra get your head out of my flour. You are not a ghost OR dead.
Ezra: Sorry, I'll just clean this... Oh. Oh boy. Does this stuff come off? Oh... Wow. Ah... Well, you finally have a unique kichen. All this... Flour everywhere.
Me: THAT WAS MY LAST BAG! YOU GET BACK HERE!
Ezra: AAHAAAAAH! (Runs)
Me: (chases)
Zeb: those two. Always picking on me.
Sabine: To be fair, you kinda did almost get him killed once.
Zeb: Hey!
Sabine: And the time before that... And the time before that... And that time... You almost crushed him... And when we first met him, you let him get captured...
Zeb: Oh shut up you.
