Hey guys!

Sorry for taking so long to update! I know it's been forever since the last chapter! Funny story actually, I almost uploaded the chapter three instalments ahead of this one because I'd forgotten where I was up to XD Lucky I caught the mistake before I posted it and left you guys desperately trying to figure out what had happened! That could have been bad XD

But anyways, thanks so much for all your support guys, and I hope you enjoy the chapter! May the force be with you, always!

-Superherotiger

…

Kanan's POV

"Hera, you're absolutely sure about this?" I whispered softly. "You know she hates me."

The Twi'lek smiled and cupped her palms around my face, leaning close and replying warmly "You and Jet will be fine. I'm sure of it."

I shot her a guilty look, pressing my hand against hers as I nuzzled into her warm touch. "I wish I was as confident as you," I teased softly.

"Trust me Hun," she soothed with her honey-like voice. "Everything is going to work out. I promise."

I stared deep into her emerald eyes and smiled, before she, to my great displeasure, slid her hands away from my face. Stepping back the Twi'lek then faced the teen who had just entered the room, giving her a gentle expression and placing her hand on her shoulder. Jet glanced up at her with a wide gaze as the captain spoke "You be careful out there."

Jet nodded her head, replying firmly "Always."

Cautiously, Hera pulled back the brim of the teen's hood, just enough for the light to hit her normally shadowed features. There, over Hera's shoulder, I could see her young face, her eye covered in a sterile patch. And if you looked hard enough, you could just see the ends of the scar winding out from the edges of the cloth. I immediately felt sick at the sight.

My mistake. Her punishment…

Hera brushed loose hairs away from Jet's face and smiled, saying warmly "Maybe tomorrow, if you're feeling up to it, we can try taking the cloth off?"

Jet pursed her lips with uncertainty, asking "You… think it's healed enough?"

"Sure," Hera replied optimistically. "You'll hardly even notice it."

I sensed the teen's scepticism almost levelling mine as we both took the comment with a grain of salt. I'd seen the wound when it first happened, and like Hera had told me the day she bandaged it, that scar was going to stay with her for the rest of her life…

Shaking my head, I stated "We should probably get going. We don't want to miss the shipment."

"Alright you two," Hera said, tugging Jet's hood back down so she was hidden again. "Get the crates and meet us back at the Ghost. Chopper will have all the co-ordinates already."

"Will do," Jet said, walking past me and entering the Phantom.

I stepped backwards towards the ladder and asked again "Too late to turn back?"

Hera shook her head, her lekku swinging hypnotically as she repeated "Remember what I told you Kanan."

"And what was that?" I quizzed.

She smiled with a hopeful twinkle in her eye.

"Everything is going to work out."

...

Jet and I walked side by side in sheer silence, neither of us even acknowledging the other's presence.

It was an uncomfortable tension, one I often felt but never to this magnitude. I didn't even have Chopper to try and talk to, as he had elected to stay and guard the Phantom where we had parked it. And I didn't blame the rust bucket.

Because even though the markets were teeming with life and activity, and noise was all around us, the emptiness between Jet and I was almost suffocating. I was tempted to say something, but I never really had enough nerve to actually pronounce the words aloud. Hence we both just stayed quiet the whole way to the hangar bay.

As we walked through the corridors, searching for bay fifteen, it was actually Jet who broke the silence by stating "Sabine's been sleeping better lately."

My eyes shot open in shock, before in trying to play it off, I engaged "Oh, that's good to hear. No nightmares recently?"

"No, no. There was only one, about five days ago. But besides that she's been pretty good," Jet replied.

"Cave or medbay?" I questioned.

"Medbay," Jet answered simply. "But she was fine once I assured her we were all okay."

I nodded, a quick pause passing between us until the girl asked suddenly "Did… those happen to her often?"

I shrugged my shoulders, saying "It was a regular occurrence. Back when it first happened, none of us knew about it because she was too stubborn to tell us. She tried to hide it, but eventually she confessed about her nightmares and from then on one of us always stayed with her. But I guess that day still haunts her."

"Yeah… I get that…" Jet murmured under her breath, maybe not expecting me to hear it.

Sealing my lips together, I felt a question burning in my throat. I mentally warred over whether or not to ask, knowing that if I did it was almost destined to end in disaster. Come on, don't say it. She's actually talking to you right now, don't-

"You're obviously itching to say something Kanan, so why don't you just spill it," Jet said sternly as we turned a corner.

I rubbed the back of my neck nervously, not sure how she would react, until she pushed again "Kanan, you know I won't answer if I don't want to. So hurry up and say-"

"What happened to your mother?" I blurted, immediately regretting the words once they'd left my mouth.

Jet froze in place, her presence going cold. I winced and awaited an onslaught of rage as her hands balled into tight fists. But, to my ever-growing shock, she continued forward and growled passively "No comment."

I blinked rapidly, before running after her and saying "R-Right. Of course, I completely understa-"

Suddenly I was jerked to the side, Jet grabbing my wrist and pulling me to behind a wall of crates. I was about to ask what she was doing when she suddenly pressed her finger against her lips in a simple 'shh' gesture. Then, she pointed over one of the crates and signalled for me to look.

I shuffled forward and glanced over the edge, before my gaze settled on the big cargo doors saying 'BAY 15'. But, stationed in front of it were four Stormtroopers, guarding the entrance of the sealed and locked bay.

Frowning, I turned back to Jet as she hissed "Hera said there wouldn't be anyone here. What about the plan?"

"It seems the plan's changing," I murmured. Gesturing to the guards, I stated "We'll need to get them away long enough to get the supplies."

"Or we knock them out," Jet suggested. "If I get close enough I could easily take them down."

"Yeah? And how do you plan to get there without setting off the alarms?" I quizzed.

"Well, feel free to throw out some ideas, master Jedi," she retorted icily.

Glaring at her from the corner of my eye, I instead glanced over at the hall directly across from us. There I saw a trooper pushing an empty crate lift in the direction of Bay 15, presumably to pick up the supplies we had come for. A small grin pulled at my lips as a plan formulated in my head.

I turned to Jet, who watched me with crossed arms, and said "Time to put that iron grip of yours to use."

Shifting awkwardly in the ill-fitting Stormtrooper suit, I took a deep breath to stabilise myself.

The helmet made me feel constricted, and to be honest, a little bit queasy as my heartrate sped up. I tried to tell myself that I was okay, that there was no need to panic. But the thought of being trapped in this tight suit sent all my nerves on edge.

"C'mon Kanan, we don't have all day," Jet's voice hissed.

I shook my head and grabbed hold of the hover platform, making sure to nudge the unconscious trooper out of view before pushing it in the direction of Bay 15. As I steadied my mind we approached the four troopers, one of them stepping forward and scolding "It's about time you got here. Load up those crates and be on your way."

"Sir yes sir," I replied sternly, giving a quick salute before pushing the cart forward.

The other troopers opened the large hangar doors, the reinforced metal pulling away as I steered the cart towards the stack of crates in the middle of the hangar. Once I was a little further away, I glanced over my shoulder to check if they were watching, but to my great relief they had gone back to facing the main entrance.

I pulled up beside the supplies and quickly jerked the helmet off, taking deep breaths to calm myself. There was a gentle thud from under the cart, before Jet rolled into view and pushed herself onto her feet. She coughed and dusted her shoulders off in disgust, scowling "Next time, you can be the one to cling to the bottom of a hover cart."

"Let's just get the supplies and get out of here," I whispered. "We don't want them becoming-"

There was a loud noise from behind as the hangar doors we had just entered began to close again. "Uh, Kanan, I don't think that was part of the plan," Jet said nervously.

"No, it wasn't."

SLAM!

The doors released a pressurised hiss as they sealed together, trapping us inside.

"Kanan," Jet murmured softly, her tone strained. "What's going-"

Suddenly I was kicked forward, falling to the hard cement floor with a grunt as the world spun around me. "Kanan!" Jet's voice called. Quickly, I twisted around to see the figure that had attacked, my gaze settling on a male adorned in scrappy armour and a worn down, dented helmet. In his right hand was a blaster, and on his belt strap hung multiple bombs and other bits of equipment I couldn't identify.

He was circling Jet, prowling like an animal as Jet mirrored his actions, holding her inactive whip at her side. She growled at the man, spitting "Bounty hunter scum."

I jumped onto my feet and snatched my blaster, quickly aiming it for the man's head. He glanced over at me and snickered, stating "I didn't come here to fight you. I came here, for the girl."

"Well you can't have her," I snapped, taking my place at Jet's side as I raised one arm protectively in front of her.

The bounty hunter laughed, before he explained "That one's father paid me a handsome price for the return of his daughter. I do plan to collect."

"You'll have to get through me first," I snarled.

He shrugged nonchalantly, saying "If you say so."

He pulled something off his belt and threw it at us quickly, Jet on instinct pushing me away as she jumped to the side. But we still didn't make it to the clear as the bomb exploded mid-air, the force of it pushing me away another few meters while the heat wave charred my exposed skin. I hissed in pain, the entire side of my face stinging as I tried to get to my feet again.

I'd lost my gun in the chaos, but I grabbed my lightsaber instead and glanced over at where Jet had been.

But that's when everything froze.

Dazed by the explosion, Jet sat up with a groan, rubbing her head sluggishly. And speeding at her with lightning speed was the bounty hunter, two blades clutched in his palms.

Instinct caught me off guard as I propelled myself to my feet with an energy I hadn't felt in years, just as quickly sprinting towards the two. The surroundings blurred, my mind focused and my eyes fixed. I saw it all a moment before it happened.

Jet, finally recovered from the blast turned to her hunter with horror as she remained defenceless, while the masked figure leapt, his daggers poised for a strike.

That was until, mid-swing, a flash of blue blared across my vision.

Everything was white for a moment, my senses fading, before ever so slowly figures and colours returned to my sight. I blinked rapidly to rid the black dots from my eyes, shaking my head as I turned to the voice calling my name. My gaze shifted to the ground as I narrowed my eyes, a familiar face focusing through the blur.

"Kanan!" Jet's voice yelled.

At her voice I snapped back to reality and stumbled backwards, finally taking in the events that had just occurred.

In a flash, I had swiped my blade at the hunter, cutting both his blades in half and slicing a decent trail up the side of his mask. And judging from the fact he had jumped away while holding his face in agony, I could only assume I'd caught more than just the metal.

My gaze immediately flickered back to Jet as she pushed herself to her feet, her eyes wide and distraught. "Y-You just… how did you… I almost…" she stuttered, too flustered to form a proper sentence.

My grip tightened around my blade subconsciously as I stared at the girl with wide eyes. It had all happened so fast. I couldn't even be sure what I had done in the moment. Maybe it was just adrenaline. Or sheer instinct from protecting my crew over the years.

Or maybe the fear of losing her again…

I shook the thought from my head and put my mind back on track. Now wasn't the time to feel guilty. We needed to get out alive first and foremost.

"So what's the plan?" Jet asked as she activated her whip and swung it through the air. "We going to finish him?"

"No, we're going to run for it," I replied swiftly, grabbing her wrist and dragging her along as I began to sprint back towards the door.

Jet scowled and shrugged from my grasp, though still following as she spoke icily "Come on, we can take him!"

"Doesn't matter," I said sternly, my brows furrowing. "He's after you, and he's got the ammunition to do it!"

"What about the supplies?!"

"Forget them!"

"Kanan wait!" she snapped, grabbing my arm and jerking me to a halt.

I twisted to face her, about to argue before she pointed to the crates beside us and stated "I have a plan! Just keep the lowlife away long enough for me to load the supplies to the cart and then we'll just push it straight into the Phantom when Chopper arrives!"

I was tempted to argue, but glancing at the stack of supplies, I winced. We did come out here for a reason, and there was no point returning empty handed. So I guess in a way, it wasn't such a bad idea after all…

A grimace pulled at my lips, until after a few tense moments, I sighed and nodded my head. "Fine," I said hesitantly. "Load up the crates, I'll signal Chopper."

"On it," she grinned, before dashing to the side and gracefully leaping to the top of the crates.

I knew she'd have no trouble in securing the supplies. My part on the other hand, was going to be the tricky one.

Running forward I whipped out my comlink, ordering "Chopper we need a pickup at bay fifteen! The roof is open, glide in and Jet will be ready with the supplies!"

"Whr!? Whoop wha whr!?" the droid warbled.

"The plan changed!" I snapped in frustration as I began charging towards the recovered bounty hunter. "Now get over here!" With a flick of my wrist I attached the com back to my belt and fixed my gaze on the hunter's idle form.

He was just standing there, motionless.

I bared my teeth in aggression, raising my blade for a strike as I pounced forward in a mighty leap. The wind whipped through my loosened pony tail as I snarled, bringing the beam down in a graceful arc.

Until suddenly, life returned to the stranger's body, the hunter twisting from the range of my blade and instead kicking me mid jump. I was sent backwards, my head reeling as I slammed into hard surface below. The sky above swirled, and in a struggle, I tried to regain control. Finally, my vision focused on a silhouette above, until in haste I rolled away, just in time to miss the sharpened point of his new blade. Jumping to my feet, I glare at the man fiercely as he released a sickening, distorted growl.

"Why defend her, Jedi?" he spat, his tone like acid. "Her father practically rules Lothal! He'll have the whole world out for her head, and yours too!"

"I won't let her go to the likes of you," I retorted, reaching for my lightsabre, only to find my fingers raking the open air.

"Looking for this?" the man ahead snickered, holding up my weapon like a trophy.

A snarl fixed on my lips as my eyes watched his every move. He was quick, and I needed to keep that in mind if I was ever going to win. If the force were still with me, I could have easily pulled the sabre into my grasp… but that had been ripped away with Ezra, and it's once familiar presence was no longer at my side. No… I'd have to win differently this time.

"It seems the tables have turned," the bounty hunter smirked, his voice brimming with poisonous glee. He attached the hilt to his strap of ammunitions and shifted to a more relaxed position. "I didn't come here to bicker with you though, so I'm afraid now is where our fight ends."

With that, his sleek figure rushed in the direction of the crates.

But he didn't get far, as I had quickly tackled him in his path, slamming his body into the ground and holding him in a tight lock. "Shame, 'cause you're only going to fight me today!" I barked sternly.

"We'll see about that!" the man roared, freeing his arm just enough to elbow me straight in the face and reverse the positions.

I glared up at the male and scowled, grabbing him by the arm and using my free one to punch him in the face. He was knocked back, but his helmet was strong enough to take most of the blow.

Not wasting my opportunity though, I pounced forward and tackled him down once more, the two of us wrestling and punching fierce blows to the gut and face repeatedly. After what seemed like an endless game of back and forth, I caught him by the collar and slammed him with all my might into the floor, producing a sickening metal crack from the helmet. Grabbing his arm, I pulled it to behind his back to keep him pinned, a small bit of blood spitting from my mouth as I hissed "You… lost…"

He struggled in my grasp as I took my lightsabre back from his clutches and held it tightly in my palm, before he sputtered cruelly "So… did you!"

I shot him a puzzled look, before his free hand loosened something from his ammunitions and flung it to my face.

My vision was suddenly engulfed in light as I screamed and scrambled backwards, holding my arms over my face to shield myself from the fire in my eyes. The sound hit me second, a sharp, loud 'BANG!', and a tingling sensation in my face. It took a few moments for the effects to wear off, but by the time I'd realised he'd hit me with a flash bomb my eyes shot open in alarm as I glanced over at the crates to my side, fearful his distraction had been enough to capture Jet.

But that's when I saw her, standing atop the stack of crates with her golden whip glowing at her side. The bounty hunter stood perched below her, growling as he tried to find a clear opening. But every time he stepped too close she cracked the whip, occasionally hitting him on the arm with an electric zap.

I grinned in pride, watching as the teen single-handedly outwitted the strong hunter.

"You have great skill," the figure scowled icily, his patience wearing thin. "You truly are your father's daughter."

"I'd rather die," she spat as she swung the whip once more, just missing the side of his mask.

The hunter laughed a sickly, menacing chuckle, casually stepping forward as he spoke "You fight well."

Jet, seeing her opportunity, smirked and arched her sizzling weapon for a clean attack of her opponent. It would have easily caught his chest, a clear shot on the approaching figure, until suddenly, he extended his hands and caught the rope mid-swing. Time stopped in place as both Jet and I froze, our eyes going wide in shock as we watched the sparks and jolts of the whip get blocked by his obviously insulated gloves. Jet's skin paled.

"But not good enough," the hunter said, his voice triumphant.

Suddenly, he jerked the cord forward, throwing the girl from the top of the crates as she tumbled to the ground with a pained cry. She rolled over herself, her cloak getting caught as she struggled to focus.

I pushed myself to my feet and sprinted forward, calling desperately "Jet! Watch out! Watch out!"

But she didn't even have time to turn before the bounty hunter jumped to her side and caught her by the hood. With a harsh grip he pulled her to her feet while the teen frantically attempted to escape, throwing punches that never seemed to find its mark. In haste I activated my blade, dashing forward with the same energy I'd felt during his first attack.

But this time, he'd learnt.

He swung his arm over Jet's neck and dragged her back, pinning her to his chest as she roared in protest. "Get off me you low life metal head nerf herder-"

Then, everything stilled with one, simple, motion.

I skidded to a halt and watched with wide, petrified eyes, as Jet, paralysed in place, stared at the blaster resting against her skull. Her gaze flickered to me, her signature an explosion of fear.

"Glad I finally have your attention," the masked man growled, breaking the tense silence. "Now I'm going to say this, loud and clear. We can make this easy, with you putting down your weapon, and allowing me to leave-"

"I won't let that happen," I snarled in both anger and shame.

"Well then," he said nonchalantly.

The blaster cocked, and my heart skipped a beat.

"K-Kanan…" Jet whispered, her voice so frail and shaky. Her eyes flashed with something, something familiar. Something that made my soul go cold. It was the same look she had given me the day I'd given her away, when her Father had held her in his deathly grasp. The look of horror… of unwavering terror…

And with that single look, my fingers loosened around the hilt of my lightsabre, the beam retreating to the base as it fell to the ground with a clatter.

"Good Jedi," the hunter snickered as I became engulfed in defeat.

He pulled his arm away and shoved Jet to the ground, her hands grinding into the floor as she released a hostile grunt. I watched her with a pained expression, until suddenly, the figure raised his gun at her fallen body.

"NO!"

BANG!

For a moment, I felt my entire world shatter at once as Jet screamed and collapsed to the floor.

But it was only when I realised he'd set the gun to stun, and not kill, that my lungs kicked back into gear. I released a weary sigh, my eyes still wide and my heartbeat racing.

Casually, the bounty hunter holstered his gun and picked up Jet's limp form, throwing her over his shoulder as if she were just loose cargo. He shot me one, icy look, before activating a button on his wrist. A thick tension filled the ensuing minutes as the two of us stood still, watching… focused on each other's move. Until suddenly, the purr of an engine broke the deafening silence.

"Careful Jedi," the man called as a shadow cast over the hangar bay. "One wrong move, and I'll make sure the next shot isn't on stun."

I glared at him in hatred, but my muscles remained paralysed in terror for our youngest member. What was I to do? She was defenceless, in the clutches of the enemy, and with a leader incapable of protecting her…

I shifted my gaze to the descending ship, the ramp of its sleek hull sliding open as it hovered over the ground. The hunter strolled forward, scooping up Jet's fallen whip and inspecting it curiously. Then, he glanced over at me with a devious smile. "A pleasure doing business with you," he snickered as he twirled the golden hilt with ease. And then, without a single concern, he jumped to the ramp and continued inside, Jet in tow.

The door lifted once the two were out of view, and the moment it sealed shut, I snatched my sabre and immediately whipped out my comlink, barking "Chopper! A bounty hunter got Jet! Get the Phantom here now!"

"Whhr?! Whr wh brr whrrr?!" he retorted.

"No, it wasn't my fault again!"