Guys, I am sorry this took so long. I had summer work that needed to be done, though!

Btw, I drew a cool pic of Sabine. Should I put it as a cover photo? How would I do that?

Thanks and enjoy the chapter. :)

Dang it! I'm always freaking waiting!

Hera jumped into hyperspace the second she could, but it wasn't nearly soon enough for her.

Can't you go any faster? She sucked in the dusty, metallic air, growling in frustration. Her gloves itched under sweaty fingers, wanted to be down that hall where she was needed. Of course, first she had to make sure that the ship wasn't blown to bits, or they would all be in trouble.

Hera leapt out of the pilot's seat as soon as the ship jumped. Her heart was pounding and she had a sick feeling in her gut. Regret and fear made her want to puke. We shouldn't have gone there. The rest of the crew was below, but she could hear shouting from the med bay echoing down from the first floor. It was a nightmare.

She sprinted down the hall as cold sweat dripped down her back. Her chest heaved and all she could feel was the cool air rushing over her hot skin. Oh, Ezra. Why is it always Ezra?! Another shriek cut strait through her like a chilling knife. Oh, Ezra! I'm so sorry!

Please, be okay!

Hera knew how cruel the empire was, but she didn't know these enemies at all, nor what they were capable of. Ezra knew, though. He had the bejebees scared out of him when he saw the city. The unknown fear put her on edge already, though, because there wasn't much that scared the kid that badly anymore.

All she knew now was that Ezra was hurt. Badly. When he commed her, Kanaan's voice was panicked and shaky. He was supposed to be the calm one!

And shouting from the med bay was never a good sign.

This all sucks!

She grabbed the ladder and slid down, feet barely touching the cold floor before sprinting again. The shouting got louder. She was one hall away. Why were there bloody tracks on the floor? Red liquid dribbled on and streaked the ground in some places. There was a large splatter on the wall, as well.

Oh, karabast!

Ezra was unintelligibly wailing something. Hang on, my little rebel! Kanaan and Zeb's disgruntled voices tumbled through the air. Ten more feet. Hera grabbed the doorway and spun into the bright, white room. Time seemed to slow for a moment and she could hear her boots hitting the ground with each step.

It was chaos. The first thing she saw was Ezra. Thump. He looked half dead. Blood dripped down his face. His shirt had been partially torn off, exposing his upper chest. There were red scratch marks, minor scrapes, and a particularly bad wound gushing on his shoulder. The most frightening things were the scars. Thump. Big, jagged white lines crossed his tan skin. He tore at them with his fingers. Thump. The teen was thrashing and wailing like a caged animal. He was as pale as a ghost on Mustafar. Hera felt sick as she gripped the smooth doorway. She could smell the iron in the air. Ezra was certainly making it hard on himself, too, as he screamed his voice hoarse. Thump.

Zeb and Kanaan were trying to hold the teen down on the bed, but he was thrashing and struggling so intensely that they were having a hard time of it. Chop was preparing the equipment and Sabine was running some sort of scan at the other side of the room. Thump. She released the doorframe and slid towards the bed.

Ezra had other plans. He kicked Zeb and wriggled away from Kanaan, who lost his grip with a curse, his face panicked and eyes wide.

Great.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"I thaid let goooo!" Ezra wailed, voice slurred and distorted. His limbs flailed uselessly around, clumsily and violently thrown in every direction. He did have some lucky hits, though. Zeb nearly doubled over when Ezra sharply kicked him just above his waist. Maybe not completely useless. Who knew the kid could pack such a punch, even in his condition? Most of his thrashing was weaker than it could be, but he still made it really hard to be controlled.

Kanaan hated the way his chest was red wide wet blood and rain. He hated the way gravel and dried blood felt as it chafed their skin. He hated holding his padawan down as he screamed in panic, thinking his own master was going to kill him.

"Knock i' off, kid!"

Kanaan grit his teeth and dug his feet into the floor. They'd had one heck of a time getting him in here. And getting a blood sample. Panic and fear seemed to make the kid gain the strength of several men. It would be easier if they didn't have to keep him from hurting himself, too. The kid was so confused that any time Kanaan reached through the force, Ezra began attacking himself. He had tried to calm him down, but Ezra just began clawing at his face and chest, ripping his gashes open even more. Perfect.

"Oh, tho you wamme ta make it eathier, huh? You thure like eathy!"

Kanaan pushed his padawan's chest back onto the bed. The kid hissed in pain, momentarily paralyzed as he gasped at the ceiling. Kanaan winced, but held him there for a moment. Sorry. I'm sorry, kid. Just calm down.

"Kid, you're safe. You're back with us-"

"Thafe, huh!? Jus'like ya tol' Tiffy, right? Thove it up your exhautht ven', you drunk!"

Wait, what?

Kanaan knit his brows together. Who-?

"Kid," the Lasat half-snarled. "Pull yourself together. That's Kanaan, I'm-"

"Shut it your fodder-brained griffinl-loo!" He slurred. "You two make a lov'ly couple. How did you two find each other? Wath it through yur 'buthiness'?"

"Snap out of it-". The smell of iron was driving Kanaan crazy. How the heck did this happen?

"And where am I?" His eyes were terrified and scrunched together, but his face was angry and defiant. His wide, blue eyes were clouded and bloodshot. "Where'd you take me? Where'r my frien-th?!"

"Kid-" Zeb started. The teen kicked him in the groin. Kanaan lost his grip; he was like a wet, blood greased pig. Ezra nearly escaped, but Hera slid into the room and pushed him back down with a small thud. Always the gentle one. The kid gasped, but thrashed and tried to wriggle away from Hera's sturdy grip. Thank the Force, for Hera. Third time today.

"Let go of me, you thlime ball! Isn't it -" gasp" nnaafff ta just lemme go?" He tried to glare cross eyed at Zeb. "You left me in the firs' place, fodder brain! Wha'r you comin' back for?"

Hera nearly got kicked in the face, but she pinned his legs under her. He let out another scream at no one in particular. He threw his head and chest around violently as Kanaan and Zeb grabbed his shoulders and pushed him onto the bed.

Ezra threw his head up and caught sight of Hera. Kanaan noticed his heart was going a mile a minute and his face was dripping. Ezra seemed shocked and scared. His body went limp, listlessly jerking and twitching as his wide, unfocused eyes pierced right into Hera's. His voice sounded broken and betrayed. "Tiffy?" Drops of water dripped from his hair onto the sheets. "Why're ya helpin' them?"

Hera melted. Her eyes opened wide in shock and sadness. Her mouth opened slightly and her face jerked back as if slapped.

Kanaan hated seeing his Padawan so broken and hurt. He just can't have anything easy. Why was it all so cruel? What was happening? Who was Tiffy?

He couldn't take that look of fear on his face any more. Kanaan had enough. It was time to get to the bottom of this. The kid was going to hate him later, but he needed to know what was up so this never happened again.

Of course, if he had just told me, none of this would have happened. He's a stinker.

"Ezra."

The kid's head snapped towards him. His eyes were unfocused and nearly crossed. Come on, buddy.

"Do you know who I am?" He made sure his voice was deep and even. Take the bait.

Ezra snorted. Hera glanced at him, caution written in her eyes.

"Do you know who I am?" Kanaan repeated. The kid's muscles shifted under his skin and violence flashed across his face. He wanted a fight. Kanaan felt the force swirl around him with a thrum.

Ezra glared with cold hatred. "I could never forget a traitor like you. Not after what ya di'ta yur wife and baby."

Kanaan went cold. He saw Sabine go rigid. She filling a needle across the room.

Almost done. Help Ezra. We will deal with this later.

"An' do ya remember me?" Zeb asked, catching on.

The kid turned his head to glare into the Lasat's uncommonly sensitive eyes. "I don' foget people who try to le-eave you in the sewer to die." His voice hitched as his chest arched. He was just jerking a bit now. Keep him calm. Almost done. He will be fine. Kanaan didn't dare loosen his grip, though.

The teen's breathing was labored and he gasped with every breath. He blinked rapidly, trying to stay awake. He'd lost a lot of blood because there was no way to bandage a writhing bantha.

Sabine cautiously approached. Kanaan motioned for Zeb to distract him more. Just a little longer, kid.

"Wha' 'bout my business?" Zeb asked in a hoarse scowl.

The teen snorted. "The bar? And, of course, the 'thide busineth'. Ya think I could foget?" Blue eyes narrowed to slits. "I'd think even you would remember thelling people."

Sabine hovered by the Jedi. Now!

Kanaan held the teen steady as she lunged, needle drawn. She injected it into his neck so fast he didn't have time to react. Howling, he flung himself around, but the four others held him down. One. The kid's eyes opened wide and he clawed his neck. Two. He kicked Hera off and threw himself against Zeb. Sabine jumped- Three. -and landed on his legs, forcing him back onto the mattress with Kanaan, who pushed his wet chest. Four. A swipe to the face gave Kanaan a bloody smudge, but the teen was loosing strength. Five. Zeb and Kanaan easily pinned him down as Sabine sat on his legs. Hera held his feet. Six. His eyes crossed and he arched his back, gasping. Seven. He jerked violently a few times, but couldn't move because his crew had him securely down. Eight. His eyes rolled up and closed, but his body jerked against Kanaan's strong arms. Nine. The kid lay back, twitching sligtly, but otherwise completely still.

Kanaan stared at his padawan as they all shakily stood back. Hera and Sabine busied themselves hooking him up to IV tubes. Zeb sat down in a chair.

Ezra was covered in blood. He had blaster, shrapnel and head wounds. Kanaan grabbed the bacta and began to patch him up. Something about this was really freaking him out. The scars were the weird part, he decided. No one had ever seen any part of Ezra's chest before, but they hadn't expected it to be a web of scars.

The shoulder is the worst. Deal with that first. The Jedi pressed a cloth against the bloody hole. The teen jerked away with a gasp. His skin was cold to the touch and wet with rain water and blood. A perfect combination, really. How do you always get in so much trouble?

Kanaan rubbed his gritty hands on the sheets, which were now a nice red. He stared at them with tired eyes.

This happened because he was saving our skins. Guilt ate at his insides and he wanted to punch something, anything, in frustration. We should never have gone there.

He breathed deeply. That was not the Jedi way. Only calm, level headed thinking and care would help the kid. The teen. His padawan.

Hera was shaken up, they all were, really, as she spoke to Sabine. Kanaan missed the question, too preoccupied with his thoughts. Her voice broke the heavy silence as they stared at the twitching, blood stained mess in front of them.

"Sedative," Sabine said, a slight shake to her voice. "It should work for the next hour or so. By then, he should be better." She smiled briefly at Hera. "They gave him one heck of a drug."

"So tha' was wha' made him go all crazy?" Zeb asked, leaning forward in his seat.

Kanaan sighed. He was numb.

Were we imagined, or were we memories?

Sabine shook her head and Hera grabbed a cloth. She walked over to the kid and gently began cleaning him off. Chop rolled over to help.

They were all ignoring the scars. It was too much right now. That can be dealt with later.

"I don't really know exactly what that was. It looks like it caused him to... Well, hallucinate flashbacks? If that makes sense? The scans indicated that that might have happened, at least."

Kanaan rubbed his face.

Why do we attract the broken ones?

He looked at his hands, still slightly red.

That's right. I'm broken, too.

Their broken family stood over their youngest, but not shortest, member. They wiped off the blood and stared at all his wounds and scars. He was family. But he had a past without them. Someone had hurt their family. And that seriously jarred them.

Right then, then couldn't do much for him. So the crew silently washed away the memory of pain and tried to patch him back together as best they could.

They couldn't help him until he let them, though.

Oh, kid. Kanaan thought. What are we going to do with you?

Thank you, Chiibe the Rebel for reminding me to write!

Cool idea, Taylor Fireheart.

Midnight Luna: Luna, I find your lack of character torment disturbing.

: kk :)

Thanks for the info, Jewlie-chan. It was really helpful. I will really need it in a bit. ;)

Guest: true. Depressing and heart wrenching, but true.

Try to guess the story behind the hallucination about Zeb. If you are close, you will get spoilers!

But, it will be pretty hard. Just to warn you. Look back at the previous one, too.