Chapter 9: Work

Kanan's POV:

We saw the building explode on the holo-net the day after he got back. Jazen did, too, and he groaned, letting his head thud against the table.

"Kriffing probe droids… Of course they had some way to monitor escape roots. Why didn't I check for that?"

"The girl, did-"

He shook his head without looking up. "Ceiling caved in. Couldn't move it. If that hadn't killed her, the smoke inhalation would've. Least it was quick." He stayed like that until Hera shut the holo-net off, then he sighed and straightened up, fishing a notebook out of his bag. It still smelled like smoke from the fire. "Troop transports… Where do you think they'd go with prisoners? Somewhere close. If they're trying to draw me out, then they won't go far. Even they know I've never gone further than the mid-rim."

"You sure you don't want to rest?"

"I have to find Darrick and Mason, Hera."

"They did finish building a prison Iego a month or so ago," Sabine offered.

He nodded and wrote that down, along with the other few suggestions he got. He turned the page and switched his pen to his other hand and continued writing.

"I thought you were right-handed," I commented.

"Nah. I'm both. I tend to write right-handed, but I can use both," he answered almost absently. "I'll call in some favors, find prison records for these, find them, and bring them back."

"There's a mission coming up that we need you for, but we can-"

"I can do both," Jazen cut in. "When's the mission?"

"Today, but you didn't get much sleep last night. If you want to rest-"

Jazen shook his head and half-smiled at her. "I'm fine. I'll just multi-task. I'll go gear up." He glanced down. "Nevermind. I am geared up."

Hera still didn't look convinced, but didn't press the issue. He was already waiting for us in the Phantom when the rest of us geared up. He didn't have his bag anymore, but he had slipped on a modified bandolier full of knives, visible because his jacket was unzipped.

"Are those…"

"Throwing knives. I lost my rifle, and it's been awhile since I used 'em, so… breaking another pattern."

"Who taught you how to use those?" Ezra asked.

Jazen shrugged. "Not entirely sure. Just a skill I picked up a couple years ago. I had more knives, but I lost 'em. What's this mission about?" He asked as he sat down.

"Stealing med-supplies."

"And why do you need me?"

"Because. You can get in easier than the rest of us. There's a vent that leads to the room they're in, but it's high up and too small for Ezra."

Jazen didn't say anything, and when I glanced back from the controls, he'd slumped forward against the seat belt, arms tucked over his knives.

"Is he sleeping?" I asked.

Ezra poked him, and Jazen didn't react for once. "Either that or he's unconscious."

"Then just… wake him up when we get there. Hope he's alert enough for a mission."

We didn't have to wake him up. More than half-way there, he jolted awake on his own. I didn't see it, but I heard his head hit the wall and the quiet curse that followed it.

"Are you okay?" Sabine asked.

"I'm fine, I'm fine. Are we almost there?"

That's probably the most normal thing he's said. "More than half-way. Another ten, fifteen minutes."

"Okay."

The next ten minutes were quiet, even the walk to the Imperial facility was silent. Jazen stopped us a several yards away from the building.

"What is-"

He didn't answer, just pointed at the wall after scanning it with his macrobinoculars. "Motion-sensor defenses. Get within twelve feet of 'em, the alarm and the guns go off. They're prototypes, though. The sensors don't over-lap, so if you can stay between the edges of the range, then you're fine."

"And how big is that range?"

He held his hands roughly a foot and a half apart. "You know, give or take. I could turn 'em off from inside, then let you in the room with the supplies. I'll contact you once I do."

"You sure you're up to this?" I asked uncertainly. Dark circles rimmed his eyes.

Jazen nodded. "I'm sure."

He zipped up his jacket and flipped on the hood, almost blending into the shadows from the setting sun. I lost track of him a few times, until he started up the wall of the building and pried the vent open.

It took two minutes before my comlink beeped. "They're off. I'll have the room unlocked for you."

He wasn't there when we got into the room.

"Where are you?" Ezra asked.

"I… I, um, I found something. I'll meet you in half an hour. Don't contact me until then, okay?" Jazen answered, voice just loud enough to be heard.

Wonder what that was about. I thought as we each grabbed supplies. We'd meet Hera later; she was on her own mission. We waited half an hour, and Jazen still wasn't back. He's never late for anything. Another fifteen minutes had the same result.

"Should we go look for-"

Jazen ran onto the ship before Sabine could finish her question. He didn't say anything when he sat down and strapped in, and three of his knives were missing. There was a red print on his jaw, along with vaguely hand-shaped red marks around his neck.

"What happened to you?" Ezra asked.

Jazen didn't answer for nearly a minute. "They're in prison in the outer rim, but I couldn't find out where. Darrick and Mason are being held for interrogation. They're scheduled to be brought back to Lothal soon, for… " The rest was too quiet to hear, and it took three tries for him to repeat it. "Execution." He kept his head ducked, twirling a knife in his hand the whole time.

"That's what you found?"

"...yes."

He found something else, too. Something gave him those marks… I didn't press it. The next time I looked back, about ten minutes later, he was sleeping again, the hand with the knife dangling towards the floor.

He woke up when we met up with Hera and docked the ship. He didn't stop to talk to anyone, just walked straight to our shared room. He'd taken his jacket off and dumped it on the floor when I got there, and he was laying down with his back to the door. His shirt was stained red with blood.

Why didn't he tell us he was injured? That looks like a lot of blood. I thought he trusted us more than that.

I was half-tempted to wake him up, but he was sound asleep already, still wearing his bandolier. He hadn't even come in the room the night before, and only slept a couple hours the day before that. I left him alone and joined the others for dinner.

"He's hurt."

Hera followed me back to the cabin. He hadn't moved at all. Hera saw the blood immediately and slowly reached out to tap him. He didn't react at all, and she lightly pulled up his blood-stained shirt. There was a loosely wrapped bandage around the cut, but it was soaked with blood. Several bruises surrounded it.

"He didn't tell us."

She touched one of the bruises, and Jazen cried out, bolting upright. He jerked his shirt down.

"What the hell?!"

"We tried waking you up, and you were bleeding really badly. We were worried."

"Why?"

"You joined our team, of course we're worried. That's a lot of blood. I just want to help," Hera answered.

Jazen shrugged. "I'll replace the bandage and I'll be fine."

"It needs stitches."

"It's fine." Jazen grabbed his bag off the floor and pulled a bandage out of it, pulling the other one off and wrapping it tightly around himself. "I'm fine."

He's not taking their deaths very well.