I do not own Star Wars in any capacity.

I did it! I have a complete draft of the entire story! (okay the epilogue isn't quite done but close enough!) Looks like it's going to be about 66 chapters long (I swear I didn't do that on purpose) and I'm going to try and keep up the once a week updates until it's finished!

Enjoy chapter 52!

Sabine knew she was going to accept Hera's offer. There was a chance it didn't work out in the long run, but a place to stay and relatively consistent access to food and work wasn't a bad deal in the meantime.

However, before she formally accepted, there were a few things she needed to smooth out.

"Could I ask you a few questions?"

It was early morning of the second day after their job, the Ghost parked on a remote moon for fuel and supplies. So far the only people awake were herself and Kanan, who had decided to get an early start on food preparation. Kanan had spotted a market with fresh food, he was apparently intent on utilizing them as soon as possible. However, with one of his arms in a sling as per Hera's insistence, he was struggling with some of the simpler tasks.

Which was why Sabine was currently standing next to him, helping him chop and mix as per his instructions.

"Go ahead," he said without looking up from the spices he was parsing out.

"How old are you?"

"Twenty-six."

That would have made Kanan fourteen at the end of the Clone Wars. Sabine frowned slightly at that. She didn't know much about Jedi culture. Were they like Mandalorians, practically full warriors at that age?

"How about you?"

"Oh, I'm… fourteen…" she said, suddenly realizing that he would have been her age. And for a moment, she tried to imagine what it must have been like. For her entire kind to be declared enemies of the Empire, hunted down into extinction.

In the back of her mind, she heard that horrible high pitched whine of the Duchess, the holos of her people burning alive in their armor…

She had to change the subject. "How old is Ezra?"

"Twelve."

Sabine raised an eyebrow at that. "Wow. You were… young when you had him…"

Kanan paused, turning slightly to glance at her. "Ezra's my adopted son."

"Oh." That made slightly more sense. Although it did bring a whole host of new questions to mind. "So this is just a thing you guys do? Bring strays aboard your ship?"

Kanan gave a soft chuckle. "I knew Ezra before I met Hera."

Sabine couldn't help but frown. A young Jedi on the run from the Empire just decided to take on some kid? Out of the goodness of his heart?

Then again, he did take a lightsaber to his shoulder just to save Sabine, a person he barely knew. She supposed Hera was right: it was just in his nature. "And how did you meet Hera?"

Kanan smiled. "Now that is a fun story…" He began to regale a tale of clandestine encounters, murderous cyborg Imperials, and a crystal moon set to be destroyed. Many aspects of it were fantastical and Sabine was almost certain many of the details were embellished. But she enjoyed listening to Kanan as he weaved the story together, all while putting together various containers of food.

Although as Kanan brought the story to its conclusion, Sabine noticed one very important detail was missing. "Where was Ezra that entire time?" He hadn't mentioned Ezra once in his retelling.

Kanan's expression fell slightly. "That's… a long story."

"Well, obviously since you put it so cryptically I'm not going to be curious and pry at all now."

Kanan gave her a sideways glance at her tone. "Maybe another time," he said curtly.

Sabine huffed but dropped it. It's not like Kanan hadn't been incredibly forthright up to this point. Besides, the door to the galley opened and Zeb came stumbling in with a loud yawn. "Caf?" he grumbled.

"Already brewed," Kanan said, pointing to the machine before he returned to cracking more eggs.

Zeb grumbled an incoherent thanks as he walked over and poured himself a mug. He leaned back against the wall as he sipped it, glancing at Sabine. "So, have you made a decision yet?"

"Not… yet," Sabine said. Out of all of the crew, Zeb was probably who she was most comfortable with. He was direct and down to business, and he didn't treat Sabine like a child. And even better, they have had basically zero qualms with one another in the last week. They've even played a few rounds of Sabacc together during their downtime.

"So…" Zeb said as he sat down at the table. "If she does stay, where exactly is she gonna sleep? Is Hera going to give up her room?"

"No," Kanan said. "Hera's going to need her own room, particularly when she needs to comm Fulcrum."

"Speaking of..." Sabine said. "... who exactly is this 'Fulcrum'?"

Zeb just shrugged. "Beats me."

"They reach out to Hera every so often with particular jobs," Kanan said.

"Yeah, that doesn't exactly answer my question."

"We finish the job, we deliver the goods, we get paid," Kanan said tersely. "Other than that, we don't ask questions."

Sabine bristled at that. "Wait, seriously? You just take orders from people you know nothing about?"

"It's not taking orders," Zeb said defensively. "It's not like we're forced to do the jobs. We even reject a good number of them."

That didn't make her feel any better. The idea of working for people she had never met - whose motives she didn't know - made her sick to her stomach. Suddenly her decision to join this crew looked just a bit murkier, and she was glad she hadn't accepted the offer from the get-go. Kanan and Zeb didn't really know much about this 'contact'. Hera was the one Sabine was going to have to talk to about this.

It was just as Kanan was finishing up their breakfast that the captain came in with Ezra right behind her. Ezra walked over to Kanan, looking over what he was doing. "You need help?"

"I think I'm good, thanks," Kanan said with a small smile. "Sabine helped me out."

Ezra glanced over at Sabine, and Sabine quickly diverted her gaze. She knew she was going to have to talk to the kid at some point, but that was a conversation for later. The kid did end up helping Kanan divvy out food, carrying the plates over to the overly-cramped table. "Here, Sabine…" Ezra said as he placed one plate in front of her.

"Thanks," Sabine said weakly. She was still getting used to the family atmosphere of this crew. On top of everything else, it was a lot to take in.

Meals had become an awkward affair these last couple days. At least, more so than before. With the offer to join still hanging in the air, the others didn't seem to know how they wanted to talk with her. Although Zeb had settled with just asking her about general Mandalorian culture, which she reciprocated by asking him about Lasat culture. She was admittedly lacking in her knowledge of their kind. She had heard rumors that their planet had been cleared not so long ago, and she knew the few remaining Lasats were scattered across the galaxy. Zeb was the only one she had ever met in person though.

After their breakfast, Ezra and Zeb were helping to clear the table when Hera walked up to her. "There is something else I wanted to talk to you about."

Sabine chuckled. "What a coincidence. There's something I wanted to discuss with you, as well."

Hera raised a brow in response. "Come join me in the cockpit."

Once they were alone, the door shutting behind them, Hera sat in the pilot's seat and waved her hand to the seat by the control panel. "Please, sit."

She crossed her arms as she sat down. "So what's this about?"

"I wanted to talk to you briefly about Ezra."

Sabine stiffened slightly. "What about him?"

"Kanan was under the impression that you have been lashing out at him."

"I've barely spoken to him!" Sabine insisted. "Yeah, I might have yelled at him once when he was getting on my nerves, but it was just once."

"I know," Hera said. "I spoke to Chopper, and he showed me what happened the other day."

Sabine's face felt hot, feeling very much like a child being lectured to. She did not like it. "The kid was literally asking for a fight. What did you expect me to do? Actually fight him?"

"Of course not. And I understand that you weren't going out of your way to hurt him." Hera sighed. "I wouldn't have given you this offer if I didn't already know that Ezra wants you to stay as well."

Sabine frowned at that. "Wait, really?" That was surprising, considering the kid had been avoiding her. Not to mention they hadn't been on good terms in the first place since she had tried to turn his dad over to the Empire.

Hera nodded. "I'm just telling you to be careful in the future.

Sabine sighed. "Honestly, I do feel really bad about what I said. It just came out in the heat of the moment. And… I was planning on apologizing."

"That's good," Hera said with a smile. "I'm sure Ezra will appreciate it."

Sabine rubbed the side of her neck, wanting desperately to change the subject to something less uncomfortable. "So I was talking to Kanan this morning… Who exactly are these 'contacts' of yours anyway? Are they the same people you just got the credits from?"

"We have a variety of contacts," Hera said. "We'll work with anyone who has no love for the Empire and willing to pay us."

"Okay, but who's Fulcrum?"

"Ah," Hera said. "Fulcrum is… like us. On occasion, they request our help to aid in the fight against the Empire."

Sabine waited for her to elaborate. When she didn't, Sabine huffed. "And? Who are they?"

"That's all I'm going to tell you," Hera said softly.

"I'm sorry, but I barely know you guys, and you expect me to just work for some guy that I know nothing about?"

"You don't have to work for Fulcrum if you don't want," Hera said, her voice frustratingly even. "You can sit out any mission you're not comfortable with. Most of our work doesn't come from them anyway, and you'll be able to meet our other contacts."

"That's not good enough! If you're working for someone and you don't even know their motivations…!"

"I know their motivations. They want to help those in need."

Sabine scoffed and rolled her eyes. "So you say. You can't possibly expect me to take orders from someone blindly, do you?"

"Not if you don't want to. No one is going to force you to do anything," Hera said. "And as I said, you can sit out those missions if you choose. It's not uncommon for only part of the team to pull off a job while the others stay behind."

Sabine bit her lip, crossing her arms tighter across her chest. It seemed like a reasonable compromise, but it still made her insides squirm. She wasn't turned completely away from the offer yet, but it made her twitchy to know that the crew was at times working for someone literally none of the others knew anything about. How could they be so sure that these missions were as altruistic as Fulcrum claimed?

"I know this is a lot to consider," Hera said quietly. "If it makes it any easier, I'm going to refuse jobs from Fulcrum for the next few months if you do decide to stay with us. Give us an adjustment period while we all get to know each other. And we'll only work jobs from contacts you can meet face to face."

Sabine closed her eyes and sighed. "Just… give me more time to think about it."

"Of course."

In the meantime, Sabine had to do something to occupy her time. They were going to be in hyperspace for the next several hours before they made yet another jump. While they had been on Tund, Sabine could at least leave the Ghost and do things outside or in her shuttle. But for now she was stuck in this ship, the best privacy she could find being in Hera's room.

That was where she decided to settle, doing some sketches. She did intend to talk to Ezra at some point but right now… she just needed some time to herself to decompress. To think through everything Kanan and Hera had told her this morning.

At the end of it all, the sad truth was that Sabine still saw no reason to reject their offer. She may not like certain aspects of their work, but she would never find an absolutely perfect partner or crew to work with. She… liked this crew. And oddly enough, the fact that Kanan was a Jedi was comforting. Not that she believed the propaganda about them being god-like peacekeepers or any nonsense like that, but because that meant there was no way they would want to do anything that could possibly benefit the Empire.

So while Sabine had no idea what Fulcrum's true motivations could be… She did believe Hera when she said they were against the Empire. Because there was no way Kanan would be willing to work for them if there was any whiff that they were cooperating with Imperials. Particularly with his adopted son in tow.

With a sigh, Sabine put her datapad away and got up. There was no use putting this off any longer. She wanted to be on even ground with the kid before she officially joined. Maybe she should even get to know him a little?

Okay, that sounded unlikely, but she had to at least apologize.

She walked out into the hallway and paused as the door closed her behind her. She took a moment to listen. Besides the hum of the hyperdrive and the normal sounds of an operating ship, she could hear Hera speaking with Chopper in the cockpit. While Hera's voice was mostly drowned out, Chopper's grumbles were clearer. From the sounds of it, they were discussing the best jump to take next to keep the Empire off their back.

Normally this kind of evasion would be overkill, but with a Jedi on board and a Jedi-like Inquisitor actively pursuing them… They had to be extra cautious.

One would think living under such conditions would be a point against taking Hera's offer, but it was actually the opposite for Sabine. It's not like she didn't have plenty to run from. If this crew just happened to be extra vigilant in avoiding the Empire, that was a resounding positive for her.

Of course, because the Empire was actively pursuing them meant they might have brush-ups with the Empire more often than not. And under much more dangerous circumstances. But on the other hand, that would just give Sabine that many more opportunities to fight against them and make up for what she's done…

Sabine shook her head. She was starting to overthink this. She walked away from the cockpit and up to Ezra's room, knocking on the door. "Hey kid, you in there?"

A moment later, the door opened. Ezra was blinking and squinting as if he had been asleep. "S-Sabine?"

Sabine raised an eyebrow at the darkness of the cabin. It was technically the middle of the day cycle. Did this kid seriously still take naps? "Uh, sorry if I woke you up…"

"You didn't wake me up."

The kid didn't sound defensive or offended. He sounded completely sincere. "Then… what are you doing alone in the dark?"

"Oh, I was, um, m-meditating."

"Meditating," Sabine echoed skeptically. Somehow, that was even more absurd.

The kid squirmed under her gaze. "Y-Yeah…"

Sabine sighed, letting it go. She had to remind herself what she was here for. And intimating the kid wasn't likely to be conducive for a proper apology. "Okay, well, sorry to interrupt. I wanted to talk to you about the other day."

Ezra frowned slightly. "You mean about the Inquisitor?" he asked gravely.

"No…" Although now Sabine was wondering what insights Ezra had on that particular Imperial. Probably not much. Ezra was probably just wary of the subject since the man literally wanted Ezra's father dead. "I mean the day you tried to challenge me to a fight."

"Oh." Ezra cleared his throat and pulled his bangs down over his face in what seemed to be an automatic motion. "Yeah, s-sorry about that."

"No, that's not…" Sabine scowled. "Look, I know you were just being some punk kid trying to prove something, and I shouldn't have let you rile me up so much. I'm sorry for what I said, okay?"

Ezra glanced up at her through his bangs. Then he gave a small nod. "Okay. And I'm sorry to… for being a brat."

Sabine actually chuckled at that. "Well, you'll probably grow out of it eventually." Feeling a bit lighter, she turned to retreat back to Hera's bunk.

"You know… you haven't apologized for kidnapping Kanan."

Sabine turned back around. "What?"

Ezra was avoiding her gaze, but he had his arms crossed tightly across his chest and an indignant expression as he stared at the floor. "U-Unless you apologized to Kanan in secret or something," he mumbled.

Sabine had to take a moment and think over the last week. For the most part she had kept her distance with everyone. And even when she was with others, she had generally been as tight lipped as possible. But now that Ezra mentioned it, she realized that he was right. She hadn't apologized to Kanan for taking him and almost turning him over to the Empire. Thinking about it now made her uneasy. Kanan wasn't some violent criminal usually associated with Aure Grade bounties. And if rumors about the Empire were true… She had nearly turned over a good man over to be tortured and killed.

"Kanan…" Ezra voice got caught in his throat for a moment, choking on his emotions. "Kanan means everything to me. And you took him without even knowing him."

She sighed, trying to sympathize with a kid who had almost lost his father while also being realistic. "I'm a bounty hunter. You pick up a contract and you don't ask questions. Otherwise you're more likely to get yourself killed."

"But you're not a bounty hunter anymore. You're Spectre Six now."

Sabine's heart skipped a beat at that. She quickly looked away, not wanting the kid to see how much the simple statement affected her. "Not yet," she said quickly. "I haven't accepted the offer."

There was silence between them. Sabine didn't look up or even dare move, trying to get her body to calm back down. It was ridiculous that she felt so… excited over hearing Ezra say it so easily, even though he was angry at her for taking Kanan.

"I'm surprised you want me to stay anyway," Sabine said, slipping on her mask of bravado. "Considering what I did."

Ezra gazed at intently for a moment. "Well… are you sorry?"

Sabine blinked. This was not the apology she had been anticipating. It never even occurred to her that she needed to apologize for what she had done. She was just doing what any bounty hunter would do. What difference did it make now? There was no way she was going to turn Kanan over now with what she knew. If she was going to join the crew, she would never put them in jeopardy like that.

But Ezra was still staring at her with those intense blue eyes, and it was more unnerving than Sabine would ever admit out loud. She swallowed. "At the time, no. I didn't regret taking Kanan. While I might have regretted stupidly going after an Aure Grade bounty alone and in my condition… I was just doing my job."

Ezra didn't respond. He just continued to look at her expectantly. It was like he was staring right through her easy going facade. It was disconcerting and made Sabine squirm. The kid had never seemed this eerie before.

Finally, Sabine sighed, some tightness in her chest beginning to unfurl. "I'm not sorry I took Kanan. But I am sorry that I almost took your dad away from you."

There was a pause before Ezra suddenly gave a small smile. Somehow, it broke the tension and eeriness he had been exuding just a moment before. "Apology accepted," Ezra replied.

With a single nod, Sabine quickly turned and went back into Hera's room. When the door closed behind her, Sabine leaned against it before sliding to the ground. That had been much more intense than she had been anticipating. But it was done. And she did feel a bit better for it.

Now… now she felt ready.

It wasn't until the next day - after they had finished their final jump and had taken orbit over an unfamiliar planet - that Sabine spoke to Hera. She was alone in the cockpit, turning in her seat when she heard the door open. When she saw Sabine, she gave a knowing smile. "Well?"

"I'm in."

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