I do not own Star Wars in any capacity.

Hope you enjoy Chapter 54!

A soft thump roused Zeb from his sleep. His breathing hitching through a snore, and he cleared his throat and opened his eyes just in time to see Ezra run out of their cabin. When the door closed, Zeb rolled over and checked the time. It was the middle of the night still.

Zeb sighed, rolling onto his back. Kit must be going to the refresher. He closed his eyes, trying to go back asleep.

But as the minutes passed with no sign of Ezra's return, he found that he was becoming more and more awake, worry starting to niggle at the back of his mind. Realizing he wasn't going to be able to go back asleep until Ezra was back in bed, Zeb pulled himself up with a grunt and rubbed his eyes. He just wanted to make sure Ezra was alright.

He stood up and walked out as quietly as he could. He frowned when he glanced at the refresher and saw that it was unoccupied.

Then he heard it. Soft whispers coming from Kanan's cabin.

Ah, so the kid probably had a nightmare. He doesn't have them much these days, but when he did, he usually just curled into a tense ball on his bunk. Zeb had tried to comfort Ezra a couple times, but the kid would just reply with a clipped voice that he was fine and to go back asleep.

This must have been a really bad one for him to run back into his father's arms for comfort.

Zeb stretched. Well at least he knew where the kid was. And chances are Ezra would stay with Kanan for the night, so Zeb might as well go back to sleep. He went to the refresher to relieve himself before heading back to his cabin.

"Don't screw around with me!"

It was a harsh whisper, but more than loud enough for Zeb's sensitive ears. He turned with a frown, looking at the door across the hall. It was coming from Sabine's cabin. What was she doing up? And more importantly, who could she possibly be talking to?

On one hand, it wasn't really any of his business. But on the other, if Sabine was doing something behind everyone's back… that could not be a good sign. So he stepped over and pressed an ear to her door.

"That is quite the distance, you know." The voice was masculine, not one Zeb recognized. "I'll have to add a premium."

"That's not a problem," Sabine replied quietly. "If you've got the goods, it'll be more than worth your time."

There was a pause in the conversation, and Zeb leaned in to make sure he wasn't missing anything.

"If I leave now can be there tomorrow," the man finally said.

"Good,"Sabine said. "I'll send you the coordinates for a rendezvous at 1700 local. Don't be late."

"Oh I wouldn't dream of that, little lady~"

"And call me 'little lady' one more time, and the deal will be off."

There was another moment of silence. "I'll see you then."

There was the familiar ping of a holo being shut off, and Zeb heard Sabine sigh.

Zeb stood straight with a frown. What was that about? Sabine was buying black market goods on her own? She must really not trust them yet if she felt like she couldn't ask Hera or Kanan to buy… whatever this was.

Shaking his head, he went back to his room. Sabine was more than capable of handling herself. Whatever she had going on, he was sure she could handle it.

The next morning, various members of the crew were staggering in and out of the galley for breakfast. With so many of them, they didn't have all together sit down meals like they used to. Usually it was only dinner that they all ate as a family.

Zeb was enjoying his fourth mug of caf while Ezra sat across from him, poking at his breakfast. Kanan had whipped him up some eggs, but Ezra didn't seem to be in the mood to eat. Kanan was cooking something else for himself, glancing at the kid regularly. The nightmare last night must have been quite the doozy.

The door to the galley open and Sabine walked in, yawning loudly. She walked straight over to the caf machine, pouring herself a mug.

"You're up later than usual," Kanan noted, flipping the food over in his pan.

Sabine just gave a dull hum as she leaned back against the counter and sipped her caf.

Zeb pressed his lips together, thinking about the call he had overheard. He was debating with himself whether or not he should tell Kanan or Hera about what he had heard. Of course, Sabine was still a bit cagey about them. They all got along, but she was holding them all at arm's length.

Then he noticed that Ezra was staring intently at Sabine as well. His food was all but forgotten as he picked at the edges of the table and not-so-subtly observed the Mandalorian.

Zeb frowned, nudging Ezra's feet beneath the table and attracting his attention. "Everything okay…?" he asked quietly.

"Y-Yeah," Ezra mumbled, returning his attention to his food. He forced himself to take another bite while pointedly avoiding eye contact.

Kanan scooped out some food onto a plate, turning the hot plate off. "There's plenty left over if you want any," he announced to the others, going to sit next to Ezra.

Sabine glanced over at the food before giving a small shrug and grabbing a plate to serve herself. Then she left the galley without a word, presumably to eat in her own room.

By the time Kanan finished his own breakfast, Ezra managed to eat most of his eggs. Stacking their plates, Kanan put a hand on Ezra's shoulder. "Hera and I are going to be going over some potential jobs today. But you should take it easy, okay?"

"I'm fine," Ezra said insistently. "I am, really."

"Alright," Kanan said, though he didn't look completely convinced. "Still, you've been working hard lately. Maybe you should take a break today."

Ezra sighed with a slight roll of his eyes. "Okay."

After cleaning up the galley, Kanan left and Ezra turned to Zeb. "Sorry if I woke you up last night…"

"Ah, it's fine," Zeb said easily. "Fell right back asleep."

Ezra leaned over and stared at the galley door for a moment before leaning in closer to Zeb. "I think something's going on with Sabine," he whispered.

Zeb's ears twitched at that. "Why do you think that?" If he hadn't eavesdropped on Sabine, he would have easily brushed off the kid's concern. But the fact that he knew something was going on, he was curious to see what Ezra had to say.

"She's been acting different," Ezra said quietly. "Like, she seems normal, but sometimes when she doesn't think anyone's around… It's like she's preoccupied with something. And she's hiding it from the rest of us."

Zeb nodded slowly. "Have you told Kanan?"

Ezra squirmed a little. "No, because it's kinda stupid… Like, I don't know something is wrong. It's just a feeling. And I'm not even sure if it's a Force feeling or just a feeling-feeling…"

With a thoughtful hum, Zeb looked towards the doorway. "Well, sounds like the best thing to do is to ask her about it."

Ezra gave a soft scoff. "Even if there was something going on, no way she'd tell me. She still treats me like a kid."

Zeb had to bite back the retort that Ezra was still a kid. Though beyond that, Ezra wasn't wrong. Sabine was likely to brush off Ezra. But maybe Zeb could confront her himself. He had, after all, more or less concrete evidence that there was something up and that it was happening today. She might be more willing to talk to him. "Alright," Zeb said, putting a hand on Ezra's shoulder. "I'll talk to her."

Ezra visibly relaxed in relief. "Okay. I-I'll be in our cabin. Come tell me what happens."

Zeb gave a small chuckle. "I will, kit."

After downing the rest of his caf, he went to go find the wayward Mandalorian. Given her usual routine, she was either in her room or outside of the Ghost training or sketching on her datapad. First thing he did was knock on her cabin. "Sabine? It's Zeb."

No answer. He leaned in to try and listen, but didn't hear anything. Alright, that probably meant she was outside.

As he walked down the ramp of the Ghost, he almost immediately spotted her sitting on a nearby rock. She was sketching, going back and forth between drawing on her datapad and gazing at the horizon thoughtfully. Zeb walked through the grasses towards her, the rustling attracting her attention. She looked up from her datapad. "Oh hey…"

"Hey." Zeb looked over her shoulder to see what she was working on, but she quickly lifted the pad to her chest to hide the image. "Oh sorry, didn't mean to pry..."

"It's fine," she said, her voice clipped. "Did you want something?"

Zeb brought himself up to his full height, looking down at Sabine with a small frown. He wasn't exactly the most tactful person to begin with. Subtly almost never worked when he tried. Besides, Sabine was the kind of person who would probably prefer he be straightforward anyway. "I overheard you last night."

Sabine visibly stiffened - the datapad creaking as her grip on it tightened - but her expression remained neutral. "And what exactly do you think you heard?"

"That you're meeting with some sorta seller this afternoon," he said plainly. "Can't imagine what you must be buying considering you're going to such lengths to hide it from the rest of us."

"And why were you listening in on me?"

"It wasn't on purpose," Zeb insisted. "I was just going to the 'fresher when I heard ya." He pointed to his ears. "You humans are louder than you think."

Sabine bristled slightly. "Good to know…" she murmured. "Have you told anyone else?"

"No… figured I would talk to ya first. Although Ezra is a might bit worried."

"Ezra?" she said incredulously. "How does he know about this?"

"Oh he doesn't. He just got a 'feeling'. I imagine it's Jedi stuff."

Sabine scowled in annoyance. "Well, you don't have to worry about me. What I do in my own free time is my own business."

"Sure…" Zeb said hesitantly. "Look, I know you can take care of yourself and all that. But you're going to such lengths to hide this from the rest of the crew… I'm gonna have to tell Kanan and Hera."

Sabine sprung up to her feet. "You can't do that…!"

"Or…" Zeb said emphatically. "You can let me tag along and be your back up." He figured this was the next best thing. He did want the teen to feel like she was being coddled, but it didn't feel right to just sit back and doing nothing while she potentially got herself into a dangerous scrape.

She looked taken aback by the offer. Then she looked mildly offended. "I don't need back up."

"I know," Zeb said. "But it can't hurt to have some. You're part of this crew now, Spectre Six. It comes along with the territory."

Sabine pressed her lips together. They had worked together on a few jobs since she had joined the crew. But Sabine still tended to keep to herself when they were relaxing on Lothal. They didn't know much about her beyond the obvious: she's Mandalorian who loves art and explosives, she had been an Imperial cadet before leaving and becoming a bounty hunter.

"Look, it wasn't easy for me either," Zeb said. "The others just seem to make this perfect little…" He waved his hands on front of himself, forming an invisible contained shape. "... perfect little unit. And I just couldn't see how I could fit into that."

Sabine had her arms crossed across her chest, looking away from him out at the horizon. "So what changed?" she asked.

"I don't know," Zeb said honestly, scratching the back of his head. "I hung out, got to know them, they got to know me… We eventually bonded." He shrugged. "A good first step would be letting me help you out."

Squirming a little, Sabine bit her lip as she thought about it. Zeb was pretty sure she would agree. She obviously wanted to keep this from Kanan and Hera, and there was no good reason to refuse back up. Particularly if she was meeting with someone she had never met before.

Finally, she sighed. "Fine. But you have to make sure Ezra doesn't run his mouth off to his dad."

Zeb chuckled. "No promises, but I'll do my best."

Ezra was curled up on his bunk, fiddling with Caleb's fur as he waited for Zeb to come back and tell him what was going on with Sabine. He knew she was probably alright, but getting confirmation from Zeb would make him feel a lot better.

He sighed, turning onto his back and staring up at the ceiling. His leg was jigging against the edge of the bunk, a low thrum of anxiety vibrating through his chest. He wasn't sure which was the culprit for his current mood: his terrifyingly vivid nightmare from last night or his worry that Sabine was doing something that could put the Ghost crew in danger.

No, don't think about it. Ezra curled back up on his side, focusing on the patterns he was tracing out with Caleb's fur. It was really only when he was completely alone that he cuddled up with his Lothwolf like this anymore. He knew he was getting too old to be relying on a stuffed animal for comfort, but he was also too old to be running to Kanan every time he was upset. Of course, that didn't stop Ezra from hovering around their bond, finding the mere presence of Kanan on the other side calming.

Ezra swallowed, thinking about Sabine. They were just so… different from one another. She was so confident and independent, even though she was only a couple years older than him. She was a lone bounty hunter, for Goddess' sake! Meanwhile, Ezra was still wholly reliant on the emotional support Kanan and the others provided for him.

But on the other hand, Sabine didn't exactly seem happy. Sure, Ezra still had nightmares, and he lived in constant fear that the Inquisitor would show up at any minute and kill Kanan once and for all… But he was also genuinely happy most days. Sabine wasn't nearly as prickly as when she first came onto the Ghost, but she was still oddly distant from the rest of them.

He heard footsteps outside, and Ezra bolted up in his bunk. He jumped down just as the door to the cabin opened and Zeb stepped inside. "Well?!"

"Calm down, kit…" The door closed behind Zeb, and he leaned against the wall of their cabin. "So, Sabine is up to something, but it's nothing we have to worry about."

Ezra frowned. "W-What is she up to?"

Zeb opened his mouth to reply, but then paused. He appeared to be thinking about it how he wanted to say this. "She's buying something from a black market seller in Jalath today. I don't know why, but she doesn't want Kanan or Hera to know about it."

Ezra didn't like the sound of that. "That sounds dangerous…"

"Probably," Zeb said nonchalantly. "But don't worry. I'll be tagging along to act as back-up."

"Wait, w-we're not telling Kanan or Hera?"

Zeb's shoulders sagged as he sighed. "She asked me not to tell them, and as long as she's not doing anything too stupid… I don't see any reason to bring your parents into this."

That made Ezra very uncomfortable. This all sounded like the perfect reason to tell Kanan and Hera as soon as possible. "What exactly is Sabine buying?"

Zeb shrugged. "Don't know, and it's not really any of my business. I'm just gonna make sure she doesn't get in over her head."

Ezra was tapping his foot on the ground nervously. If Zeb was going to go and back her up, that made him feel a little better. But he was still nervous about it. Something in the back of his mind was poking at him. He wasn't sure if it was the Force or not, but if it was, he should probably be listening to it.

Zeb sighed. "I can't force you to keep this hidden," he said quietly. "And I'm not going to - "

"Can I help?"

Zeb's eyes widened, and a beat of silence passed as he stared down at Ezra. "Beg pardon?"

"Can I help?" Sabine didn't trust Ezra, but if Zeb thought everything was okay, and he was going to help… Then Ezra wanted to help too.

"I mean… I don't know, kit…"

"If it's not that big of a deal, why not? If I could help out at the Spire or with that supply job on Garel, why not this? Sabine might not trust me, but maybe she will if I can help out. I can even tell Kanan and Hera that we're just going to shop for parts for my slingshot or something."

Zeb continued to gaze at him thoughtfully, but Ezra just kept up his stare, using the same techniques he used regularly with Kanan. Look at him with wide eyes, lower his shoulders, reach out with eager ambition...

Then Zeb gave a long groan, rubbing the back of his neck. "Alright… You are certainly old and skilled enough to hold your own for something like this. Just promise you'll follow my lead?"

Ezra nodded eagerly. "I will! I promise!" His chest was thrumming with excitement. Not only would he be able to help Sabine out (and perhaps get more on her good side), but he would be getting even more experience in the field. It was perfect.

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