A POCKETFUL OF RYE

Thank you to Guest for your review and feedback. As a quick hint, remember that "The Mousetrap" is told from Sierra's perspective, and Sierra isn't always a reliable narrator especially when she's worked up. I hope you enjoy the next installment!

It wasn't hard to find Piece of Crap II in the docking bay. Ezra remembered the ship from the first time he'd met the con men, when they'd sent Sabine undercover to investigate a crooked agriculture officer. He remembered the confrontation in the restaurant, Sabine's involuntary makeover, and the frantic chase to find her before she met a horrible fate, but the one thing that stuck out the most to Ezra was Molly. He'd spent a few glorious days by the junior hacker's side and the whole time he wished it would never end. It only took a few keystrokes and the look in her eye when she got down to business, and Ezra was gone for her in the way only a teenage boy could.

Kanan told him a few weeks later, when his distraction let Chopper hit him with a milk carton during Jedi training, that it would fade with time. ("Trust me kid, I thought I was gonna marry plenty of pretty girls when I was your age.") But when he saw Molly during Kallus and Sierra's wedding the feelings came back like a tidal wave. He showed off on the dance floor until Rex and Saw tried to shut him down, and shared a single wonderful slow dance with Molly while they were occupied.

And now he was going to get to see her again. The thought put a little more spring in Ezra's step. There would be no gang of con men trying to embarrass him or Zeb actually embarrassing him, just him and Molly.

Maybe after she was done running tech for the day she might like to go get ice cream with him. That would be fun, right? He had - Ezra patted his pockets - okay, he had five credits. That was enough for two regular ice creams or one of those shareable sundaes. He wouldn't mind getting two spoons.

Kallus seemed very distracted when he opened the boarding ramp. "Ezra? What are you doing here?"

He somehow hadn't prepared for that question. "I'm … your backup. Sabine told me you guys were working on a murder investigation."

"It just turned into more than that," Kallus replied, lowering his voice as he closed the boarding ramp behind Ezra. "We have reason to believe Thrawn is involved."

"What?" Ezra startled. "Do you know for sure? He never got involved with Mandalore before."

Kallus nodded. "Nor did he show any prior interest in the Onderon Con Men."

"You think he knows you're part of the crew? Back for revenge?"

"It's not impossible, but Sierra's and my marriage license is from Lira San. If he knows about the Lasat planet then he could do something much worse than frame my brother-in-law for murder."

"He doesn't need to look you up to know. You got married in a medcenter and nothing moves faster than gossip, especially when we're talking about you and Sierra."

Kallus nodded. "Fair point."

"It's a good thing I'm here if Thrawn's around." The young Jedi crossed his arms and puffed out his chest. "I'll pull guard duty. We don't want to leave Molly exposed."

"I think that's a very good idea. Thank you for offering your services Ezra." He looked over his shoulder. "Molly! Ezra Bridger is here!"

There was a squeak and a scuffle and a disheveled-looking Molly practically skidded into the entryway, brushing crumbs off her shirt. Her eyes lit up when she saw him. "Ezra! I didn't know you were coming."

Was it suddenly warm in here? Ezra rubbed the back of his neck. "Hey Molly. I uh...looks like I get to hang out with you today."

Kallus was already halfway out the door. "Lux and I will be back this evening if all goes well. Molly, I need tracers on all Thrawn's known contacts and channels. If there's any way we can see him coming, we need to do that."

"On it Uncle Alex." Molly fired off a mock salute. "Want to pull up a chair Ezra?"

Would he?! Ezra didn't remember anything from that moment until he was sitting at Molly's side.

"Okay Mol what can I do to help?" He asked eagerly. "You say it I'm on it, anything you need. I'm right here. Ready to go."

Molly grinned and tried not to laugh. "You can shut up and let me get my work done."

"Shutting up. I won't say another word."

That proceeded to last all of five minutes until the conversation started flowing again. Molly asked him how things were going on the Ghost, he told her about Chopper's latest antics and, over her laughter, continued on.

"I'm pretty sure Hera was going to kill all of us but -."

"Stop!" Molly laughed, wiping tears from her eyes. "You're making me mess up."

"Oh! Sorry." He slid back into his chair, instantly apologetic. "Should've shut up when you told me to."

"You still can," Molly grinned mischievously, leaned over and kissed him.

It was just a peck but Ezra's heart rate tripled and he met Molly's eyes in wonder.

"Woah."

"That bad, huh?"

"Not at all!" He gushed. "That was amazing! I just didn't think you … if you … do you want to do it again?"

Molly's excited grin was all the answer he needed.

...

When Kallus and Lux came across Amis he was sitting in his office staring at something on his desk. A glance over his shoulder confirmed that it was a copy of the holo of the cadets at their formal dance.

"Remembering the good old days?" Kallus asked by way of announcing their presence in the room.

"What?" The Captain's head shot up. "Uh… oh yes. We had some good times, the four of us. I wondered if there might be some clue here to a motive or something." He tried to cover for his interest in the thing.

Lux also examined the image. "Two pair," he mumbled as if studying a decent hand of sabbac.

"Here, look at this!" Amis pointed out eagerly. "See the way Lagos is looking at them. You know she always had a thing for Korkie. Put a damper on her Resurrection day festivities when he chose to ask Soniee instead of her to the dance."

"You know you might have something there." Kallus feigned interest.

Amis looked up, surprised. "Really?"

Lux was also intrigued by the statement but played along. "Oh yeah, why don't you just keep working on that and see if you can come up with anything."

Kallus gestured towards the hallway for Lux to follow him but before he left he asked, "It wouldn't be a problem for us to take a look at your comm records for the day of the murder would it?"

"What?" Amis, who was now staring intently at the holo as if demanding that it give up it's secrets, "My comm records? Why?"

"You were at the palace on the day of the murder." Kallus shrugged, unconcerned. "Knowing that you are the Captain of the police someone might have tried to place a comm to distract you from what was going on at the time of the murder. It doesn't hurt to check."

"Y-yes of course." He looked baffled, which wasn't a big change from his regular expression but then he seemed to come to the conclusion that idea made sense and chuckled. "I've got nothing to hide."

"Of course." Kallus gave Lux a smirk. "Thank you, Captain."

"You think he does have something to hide?" Lux asked after they had left the Captain and his office behind.

"Oh I'm sure he fits into this somewhere, I'm just not sure how yet."

There was something about that holo of the four cadets that didn't quite sit well with Lux either. "You know in the early days of our crew everyone was sort of pairing off."

"Hmm," Kallus considered.

"First Ahsoka and I got married and then shortly after that Hutch and Hero. We all wondered what took Rex and Steela so long and there were even those who thought that Saw and Sierra might eventually…"

Kallus laughed, "seriously?"

"Well no one from the immediate family. Although they were pretty spectacular dance partners."

"Seriously?" He said again, darker.

"Who do you think taught her all her moves?" Lux smirked, enjoying for once the look of surprise on his brother-in-law's face. "His mom was a dance instructor before she passed." But they were getting off the topic. "Anyway, what if the cadets at the royal academy were similarly pairing off?"

"If Ms. Jerec was jilted by Korkie, the esteemed captain might have been expecting her to turn to him as an alternative?"

"That might explain his animosity towards her after all these years."

"You think we should bring her back in for a few more questions?"

"Precisely."

…

"Oh yeah, me and Korkie, the perfect couple." Lagos tilted her head sarcastically as if disappointed at their assumption. "Do you all still have arranged marriages where you come from? Because on Mandalore those were outlawed quite a while ago. Elek, my clan was loyal to the New Mandalorian government. My uncle was a minister on the council. He was killed during the Clone wars for speaking out in favor of the duchess's stance on neutrality. So yes Korkie and I were thrown together a lot when we were kids. Our clans would have loved it if we became a couple."

Maybe it was a more politically charged motive. Kallus sat forward in his chair and inquired, "But you didn't always see eye to eye with the Duke?"

She fought back her annoyance. "Soniee was my roommate. I saw how people treated her. She had to work twice as hard as the rest of us to prove that she wasn't just the product of a prodigal clan. That's why she got better marks than the rest of us, always parroting back everything they taught us word for word from the text holos. It made me question what it was the academy was really teaching us. So elek, I have my own mind. I decided not to just blindly follow."

"And were you dissatisfied enough with the present leadership to try to overthrow the government?"

"When the invitation came for the meeting, we were under the impression that the Duke wanted to gradually move toward a more democratic leadership structure. We believed he wanted to allow several of us to discuss the matter without his interference and then he would hear out what ideas we had come up with after our meeting took place. Some of my colleagues believed he was taking things too slowly but I was willing to be a part of the process, especially since he was an old friend. Now that he's dead, it's chaos. We don't know if he meant to name an heir or adopt the system we proposed. Why would I kill him and undo all our hard work?"

Lux wondered if perhaps they'd been wrong this whole time and it was some sort of political assassination but his gut was telling him it was something more personal. And something was bothering him about that holo of the four cadets. "So when this was taken how did you feel about Korkie and Soniee's new relationship?"

"I was happy for them." Her expression warmed into a genuine smile. "I remember getting ready for the event. Soniee and I were on the decorations committee. We had to search everywhere for those flowers. The Peace lilies weren't in season. We must have cleaned out every greenhouse in Sundari." Lagos allowed herself just a moment of nostalgia and then straightened up again. "Will that be all? Am I free to go?"

Kallus could see the gears turning in his brother-in-law's head but he was fairly sure they were done for the moment. "Yes, we'll let you know if there's anything else."

She gathered her things, relieved but before she could leave the room Lux asked one more question. "Does the name Eli Vanto mean anything to you?"

"Eli?" A spark of surprised recognition caused her to stop in her tracks. "That's a blast from the past. Elek, we went out a couple of times but I haven't spoken to him in years."

"That'll be all." Lux opened the door and showed her out.

Kallus watched her retreat down the hall. "How did you know she'd have a connection to Vanto?"

"I didn't." He stroked the facial hair he had adopted for the role. "It is curious though, isn't it?"

…

"What have you got there?" Steela paused in her packing for her mission and bent down to address the little girl who seemed enthralled in her holo device.

"It's a book," Melaana answered shortly.

Steela wasn't much of a reader herself but she was glad the child had found something to keep her occupied. She decided to feign interest but was surprised by what she saw on the screen. "Is that Onderonian?"

"Yes."

"And you can read it?"

The nine year old placed her finger on the right side of the page under a line of text and tracked to the left as she read and simultaneously translated into Basic. "We'll be going to our second dance lesson this evening and John says he's invited a friend from the garrison to partner with his poor classmate who was on her own at our first lesson…"

Mina bustled into the room, her arms full of cloth. She transferred the load into Steela's arms. "These just came out of the dryer. Are you sure you've packed everything you need?"

Steela smiled indulgently at her. "You know I like to pack light for this sort of thing." But then she whispered. "Did you give Mel that book to read?"

"No," Mina looked curiously toward the little girl. "I think that was one of the few things she brought with her from home. It's probably comforting, especially with her favorite aunt stepping away for a few days."

"That's weird." Steela ignored the comment. "Because that holo's in Onderonian and it's got your name in it."

Mina's brow creased. "Well, Mina's not that unique a name. I'm sure it's just a coincidence."

At that moment Ahsoka also came in. She was holding Pasc on one hip even though he was probably too big for such a thing and she held out a data chip to Steela. "Here's all the intel Hutch could get on the security systems for you. You sure you don't need him to talk you through…"

Steela grabbed the chip. "You all act like I've never done this before! It's a quick job, in and out, just providing a little distraction for the boys! If Molly was around I might have asked if she wanted to come along but…"

"You won't take me," Melaana sulked behind her holobook.

Steela sighed. This is exactly why she had never minded that she and Rex weren't having any children. Ahsoka looked so natural, comforting Pascal, just like she had when her own were that little, and Mina was everybody's mom but Steela was always happy enough to spoil them for a few hours and then send kids home to their own parents. She was just thinking of a way to try to explain to Melaana when another unexpected distraction walked into the room.

Grigori Tandin also started grilling her about her travel preparations as soon as he entered the room. Why was he even here? Didn't he have a planet to rule?

"Yes, Dad. I'll be careful," Steela assured him before he could really get going.

Mel looked up. "He's not really your dad, is he?"

"No," That was an easier question to answer. "Tandin was like a dad to me when mine wasn't around."

The little girl glanced at her brother and then back at her holobook. "Kind of like Uncle Saw coming to help us when ... we lost our Buir?"

"Aw. Yeah, sweetie." Steela dropped down beside her once more. "Just like that." But then she noticed the time on the chrono. "Osik, I've got to get going if I don't want to get stuck in speeder traffic!"

Tandin noticed her unspoken plea for help and took his place next to Melaana. "What's that you're reading, Princess?"

"I'm not a princess." She bristled but she showed him the holo anyway. While he was looking at it she got up and left the room.

"Leave her be," Mina advised. "She probably just needs some time to herself." Then she spurred herself into action. "I should be going as well if I'm going to get over to the medcenter and back. You'll be alright with the two of them?"

"Of course," Ahsoka bounced Pascal in an attempt to get him to smile. He looked tired after having not slept well the night before. They all hoped that what Mina was picking up at the med center would do him some good.

Tandin was focused on the holobook that Melaana had left in his hands but then he looked up and answered belatedly. "Yes. It's been a while since I've had babysitting duty but I think it'll come back to me."

"Alright." Mina nodded. "And see if you can't entice Sierra out of her room to get something to eat later. I don't think she slept well last night either."

…

"But we're not allowed to have food and drinks at the nurses' station. Why do you keep trying to give me snacks?"

In the nurses' station of Onderon's Bethesda Memorial Medcenter, long-suffering nurse Temi shook her head at the newest addition to the team. "Because it's a stupid rule, Katooni. We don't have time to eat or drink anywhere else, so we have to do it at the nurses' station so we don't pass out from dehydration."

"It's the truth; I've seen it happen." Katooni's boyfriend Petro snagged the packet of crackers from his fellow nurse's hand and popped them in his mouth, crumbs spraying as he talked. "Rule number two of the medical field, eat what you can when you can."

Katooni accepted Temi's second cracker packet without protest. She still had a lot to learn about the medical field, but working with Petro made it all worth it. "If that's rule two, what's rule one?"

"Always stick with your team." Maddie said from further down the station. "But it looks like Kallus forgot that one. He was supposed to be here an hour ago."

"Why's Kallus coming here?" Katooni raised an eyebrow. "His sister is a doctor."

"Because we're his people," Maddie explained. "Your people are who you go to when you don't want to get family involved. For example, when your wife has just told you she's pregnant and you're about to have a panic attack."

"We managed to talk him down and offered to sign him up for infant CPR so he feels a little more prepared," Petro said. "Maddie, was that today?"

Maddie nodded. "He just missed the class. No call, no nothing."

"That's not like him." Becoming an intergalactic thief hadn't gotten rid of Kallus' military punctuality. "Are we sure he's okay?"

"That's what I'm worried about." Maddie confirmed her suspicions. "His sister works at the Lothal medcenter right? Let's give her a call. She might have heard something."

…

Dr. Angelica Kallus' day was going swimmingly for once, that was until Sophie the aide flagged her down at the nurses' station. "Dr. Kallus, you have a comm from Bethesda Memorial on Onderon. The nurse said it was about your brother."

Angelica pounced on the comm. If medical attention-hating Sandr was actually in the medcenter then whatever was going on had to be serious. She was expecting critical illness or devastating trauma, but it threw her for a loop when the ER nurse on the other side told her Sandr was a no-show to infant CPR class.

There were only a few explanations for that. Either Sandr was lying facedown in a ditch or he was on a job somewhere. Not ruling out the ditch theory Angelica called him in a hurry.

"Hello?"

"Sandr, thank space! Are you on a job?"

"I am but I can have Lux take over if you need me."

Kriff, that was right. Sierra had said as much last night and Angelica had forgotten. "That's not necessary. I just wanted to make sure you were okay since you —."

"The CPR class!" He swore. "I completely forgot. Though it's not surprising given all that's going on in this murder investigation."

"Did you just say murder investigation?" That got the attention of all the nearby staff, from the charge nurse to housekeeping.

Tiredly Kallus explained the situation. "So we're down a hitter, Sierra is about to go wild from impatience, and to top it off I'm not sure I want the coroner touching the body with a ten-foot pole in case they're part of this."

"Why not bring on one you can trust?"

Immediately her brother picked up what she was putting down. "But you're not a surgeon."

"There are other ways to take a look without slicing and dicing. I can at least get you some labs and radiology."

"I suppose that's better than what we have," he sighed. "If you can get the time off I would greatly appreciate it. I'll have Molly send you a transport ticket."

"And I would appreciate that. I'll be over as soon as I can, Sandr. See you soon." She hung up. Thank goodness this was her last day of call for a while. Angelica would always jump at the chance to have a new experience in her medical career and if it helped out her brother, even better.

She was so absorbed in her quest to finish her day so she could get on with helping Sandr that she didn't notice when one of the gathered staff slipped away to a quiet corner, comm unit in hand.

"Grand Admiral. There's something you need to know."