Chapter 10: Predicaments Galore

Ezra and Sabine are assigned to a mission that will test their personal limits.

"Ready to get out of here?" Gavyn asked as he came back into Sabine's room of the medical wing.

"Yeah," She confirmed. "I just got word that they're finally letting me go."

"I could tell you were anxious to leave yesterday," Gavyn replied as he took the seat closest to Sabine while she continued preparing to leave, strapping on her belt and holstering her blasters.

"I was anxious two days ago," Sabine corrected him. "Yesterday was just pure torture."

"You can't blame them for taking all the precautions and ensuring that everything was healing up properly before they let you back out into the field again," Gavyn said.

"No," Sabine reluctantly agreed with a sigh. "It was just so boring here, and especially after the first day when I started to hardly have any visitors."

"Hey!" Gavyn said with a teasing smirk as he blatantly faked taking offense to Sabine's statement. "I came to see you every day, and as often as I could each day too. You're lucky I like you, oh mighty Mandalorian."

"Sorry," Sabine said even though she knew he was only teasing. "I know you've been here. I was just surprised that aside from you and Hera, no one else really stopped by after checking in one time."

But what she'd said wasn't entirely true and Sabine knew it. Zeb had also stopped by on a couple of occasions and so had Ketsu. Even Kanan came by once to see how she was doing. If she was honest with herself, there was one specific person who had been absent ever since the first day back to Chopper Base, and that one person was supposed to have been her best friend.

When Ezra was injured, Sabine stayed by his side nearly the entire time as he recovered. In fact, on more than one occasion she had to be forced to leave his room, whereas he'd been noticeably absent from her room over the last two days entirely. She didn't want to admit it but his absence did hurt inside.

And Ketsu's presence wasn't exactly helping with the hurt she was feeling inside, as Ketsu seemed to know what was actually bothering Sabine, and she took every opportunity to pick at that sore spot too. Especially when she and Sabine were alone. She teased Sabine about her prospective options with either Ezra or Gavyn and even hinted once about how fun it might be to play with the both of them at the same time.

However, that was something Sabine never wanted to do at all. One person was the most she would ever be willing to become physically romantic with, and even then just one person was a stretch for her. She'd never really wanted to be with anyone before, let alone two at the same time.

She especially didn't want to be with those two regardless of what Ketsu thought. She had forged friendships with both Gavyn and Ezra that Sabine didn't want to risk ruining on the chance that something more might work out. If things were as Ketsu suggested, surely one of them would have a difficult time wanting to be just friends, and Ketsu didn't seem to understand or accept that. To her, they were delicious pieces of man meat to be enjoyed, savored even.

"I thought he'd never leave," Ketsu said immediately after the door slid shut behind Gavyn's retreating form. "It's difficult to gossip about your growing infatuation with Ezra when another potential suitor won't give us any privacy."

"Suitor?" Sabine asked in disbelief.

Ketsu bent over in a full-on belly laugh at Sabine's response. She laughed so hard that it was almost too much for her to take. "Oh, come on little sister," she said while wiping tears from her eyes. "Even you have to see that Gavyn has it for you. All you'd have to do is say the word and he'd probably worship the ground you walk on for the rest of his days."

"Gavyn's just a friend, Ketsu," Sabine argued. "He's never even tried anything or said anything that would make me think he wants anything more than friendship."

Ketsu's continued chuckling ceased instantly upon hearing Sabine's argument. She'd always doubted anyone's interest in her, but it was never their interest that Sabine was focusing on. Instead, before she would deny having any interest in any type of romance, even just of the carnal variety. And in Ketsu's opinion, she didn't know what she was missing.

But there was also another unspoken factor this time around. For Ketsu knew that a certain young Jedi had grown on Sabine even though she vehemently denied that too. "So, he's interested in you, but you don't return those feelings," Ketsu surmised and then smirked as she continued. "Or, maybe it's that someone else has weaseled their way into your heart."

"Now you're really starting to reach for something that isn't there," Sabine said. "There's nothing between Ezra and I either. Both Ezra and Gavyn are just my friends. There's nothing else going on despite what you think."

"You can deny it all you want, Sabine," Ketsu said, turning serious for a moment instead of teasing. "But if you truly think that you don't have at least a physical attraction to either one of them, you should at least make it clear to the both of them that there will never be anything more."

"Seriously Ketsu," Sabine said in disbelief. "I've spent years letting Ezra know in every way possible that I don't feel that way about him, and I was starting to believe that he was finally accepting it. He stopped hitting on me a long time ago, AND he didn't even look at me when I was practically undressed in front of him just a few weeks ago."

Ketsu openly laughed yet again, as she heard the bit of hurt in Sabine's voice. There was still the defiance, but when she went into details describing how Ezra had finally "accepted there was nothing between them" and the "he didn't even look" at her, in particular, made it stand out. Clearly, Sabine was too close to the situation to see it for herself. Ketsu wasn't even there and she could see it.

She would bet anything that Ezra averted his gaze intentionally to stay on Sabine's good side. From what Sabine had told her before, Ketsu knew that Ezra spent a good portion of their earlier days bumbling his way around trying to get Sabine's attention, only to be rebuffed at every turn. And considering who the other party was, it was likely that Ezra would've had to work extremely hard to get back into Sabine's good graces. So, she could only imagine how Sabine would respond if she caught Ezra ogling her, and assumed Ezra would think the same way.

It was also obvious who Sabine was interested in, even if she refused to admit it to herself, but that still left the third wheel to deal with. Gavyn had been coming around too often and adding the looks he gave Sabine when he thought no one was looking told Ketsu all she needed to know.

"Well," She eventually said. "You're going to have to tell Gavyn…"

"Tell me what?" Gavyn asked as the door slid open and he walked back inside.

Ketsu snapped her mouth shut, not going to divulge anything more. If Sabine wanted to get him to back off, then she was going to have to be the one to break it to him. "I should probably get going, " she said as she got to her feet. "Don't want to shirk on my duties after just a few days with the Rebellion and all. I'll see you later Sabine."

Gavyn took the seat that Ketsu vacated, and when the door slid shut behind Ketsu, he turned his attention back to Sabine. "So, is there something I should know that you two were just talking about?"

"No," Sabine responded. "Just Ketsu giving her opinion of things without all the facts is all. She just likes to push my buttons sometimes, like a typical sibling would."

After finally being released from the medical wing, Sabine eventually found herself back in the comfort of her own room aboard the Ghost. Initially, she thought about locking the door and getting in some serious painting time, but as odd as it seemed under normal circumstances, she found that she didn't want to be alone at that moment.

So, she strolled into the main area where Zeb, Hera, and Chop all were, seemingly just relaxing as a group for the moment. Sabine couldn't help but notice that they were two Jedi short of a full crew.

"Back to active status?" Zeb asked as Sabine joined them at the table.

"Yeah," She confirmed. "And I can't wait to get back to work. It was miserable in there all that time."

"Ezra was basically saying the same thing while he was being held in the med bay before." Hera pointed out.

"Speaking of Ezra," Sabine said. "Where is he? I haven't seen him in a couple of days."

Hera's eyes widened a bit upon hearing that Ezra hadn't been visiting Sabine, and she would've answered but Zeb was quicker with his reply. "He was on one mission the other day, and other than that, he's been keeping busy with his Jedi training off base."

"He hasn't been here much either," Hera added. "The last two days, he's been gone before daylight and hasn't returned until dusk. I honestly thought he would be checking on you with all the time he's been from the Ghost."

"He should be at the next briefing though," Zeb said. "The kid may not have been around here much, but he hasn't missed any meetings."

"What's the briefing supposed to be about?" Sabine asked, having been out of the loop during her recovery.

"There was a reconnaissance team investigating one of our Rebel cells after they suddenly stopped sending reports on their activities," Hera answered. "I was informed that there were no survivors, but we did receive a garbled distress call from that recovery team that was being cleaned up."

Hera stood from her seat and took her caf cup to the sink. "And speaking of the briefing, we should probably get going."

Zeb and Sabine followed after the Twi'lek pilot and headed over to the central command. When they arrived, both Commander Sato and Senator Amidala were present via holo image, while the rest of the higher-ups were there in person.

Just off to the side, Ezra was talking to Wini, who was right by his side, causing Sabine to involuntarily grimace before she managed to tamp it down. What she didn't realize though was that Hera was looking her way when it happened, seeing Sabine's expression and then looking in the other direction to verify the cause behind it.

If they had been outside of command, she might've said something, but for the time being, it was going to have to wait. Hera did, however, make a mental note to get to figure out what was going on between two of her crew members soon.

When the briefing began, Ezra didn't end up joining the rest of the Ghost as Commander Sato addressed the crowd. "We have finished reviewing the communication from the recon team, and determined that there is a weapon of unknown design." He said. "What we do not know at this point is whether the weapon is still being tested, or if it is already in production."

"We also know that this weapon has incredibly high destructive power when used against anything organic." The Senator added.

"Therefore, we will be sending a very small crew to infiltrate the Military Research and Development Division on the planet of Arkania," Sato stated. "The objective will of this mission will be to retrieve information on this weapon and get out without being detected."

"We have to know what we're up against with such a weapon," Organa added. "This Rebellion has just begun to start growing, but if this weapon is planned for mass production, just based off of what we already know, it could very well derail any chance we have of organizing a strong enough Rebellion to stand a chance against the Empire."

"Just how bad is this weapon we're being asked to investigate?" Gavyn asked from the far end of the room.

"The same capability on an organic lifeform as the banned T-7 ion disrupter is our best estimate," Sato answered. "The holo recording revealed the final member of the recon team disintegrating into nothing just before the transmission ended."

"When do I leave?" Ezra asked, readily volunteering for the mission.

"We do believe that your Jedi abilities would be beneficial to such a mission," Sato said. "But you will not be the mission lead for this. Instead, Ezra Bridger, you will serve as the backup for gathering intelligence, with Sabine Wren taking the lead."

"But his weapons knowledge isn't up to par for what this mission calls for," Gavyn responded as he stepped forward. "You should have two individuals who are best suited to determining what these weapons can do."

"Maybe not," Hera said. "But Ezra and Sabine have worked extremely well together on many occasions, and we want a team that has a proven successful track record to take this on."

"I have to agree with Captain Hera," Sato said. "But your knowledge of blasters would also be an asset."

"Gavyn could stand by with the extraction team and report back on Sabine and Ezra's findings," Hera suggested.

"I agree," Sato replied. "We have attained security codes as well as uniforms, and commandeered an Imperial shuttle that you will pilot to Arkania. Once Ezra and Sabine are on the planet, the extraction team will move in to establish a safe rendezvous point should a quick exit become necessary."

"You all will have your assignment details by nightfall," Senator Organa said. "I wish you all the best of luck on this mission."

After having said his piece, Bail Organa's holo-image faded away and was soon followed by Jun Sato's, leaving Hera to finish up. "You'll be leaving in two days." She said. "That should be more than enough time to gather any materials that you may need and to be well-rested before you head out."

Later that day, Sabine wiped her brow as she had finally finished loading the last crate filled with explosives and weapons for the mission. She'd been pretty much on her own since the meeting ended earlier that day as she added what she felt was necessary for the mission. Normally, Ezra would've tagged along under the guise of helping her, but just like in the med bay, he was a no show. The only person she did get to speak with was Ketsu, who was once again irritatingly able to determine who had Sabine frustrated about the upcoming mission.

According to Sabine, however, Ketsu was flat wrong about the actual reason for her sour mood. But no matter what Sabine tried to say, Ketsu wouldn't believe that romantic, or at least carnal feelings weren't behind it all. She didn't care what Ketsu said, Sabine believed it was about Ezra simply not giving her the same courtesy as she had when he was injured. It had nothing to do with attraction.

At least for the time being, Ketsu did stop pushing about Gavyn. But the damage had already been done there when he walked in on their conversation earlier. Sabine wasn't looking forward to how she was going to have to fix it, and could only hope that Gavyn was only interested in friendship with her or things would surely get awkward.

Sabine paused as she exited the shuttle for a moment to take in the sun as it began to set over the horizon. While this planet did tend to be rather uncomfortable due to the conditions, there were certain redeeming qualities as well. She tried to capture a mental picture, thinking of a way to incorporate it into her next work of art when she suddenly heard what sounded like a group of people laughing together.

Sabine walked around a large stack of crates to see who were enjoying themselves and found a group of young Rebels all seated around a heat source meant to stave off the cool evening air. At first glance, it was an even mix, spotting a couple of Rebel pilots along with Lissa, Cerra, Orar, and Valsi. Ezra was there too along with Wini at his side, sitting a little too close in Sabine's opinion.

What caught her off guard though was Ketsu and Gavyn seated on the opposite side of Ezra and Wini. Everyone seemed to be having a good time, and Sabine found that she wanted to slip away unnoticed, but Cleat spotted her and waved over to her, drawing the attention of everyone else in the group. "Hey, Sabine!" Gavyn said, excitement growing at seeing her there and standing up to make his way over to her. "Since it's our last night here for a while, we all thought it would be fun to have a little get together. We saved a seat for you."

"Yeah, come on over and take a load off, little sister." Ketsu teased. "We were just going over the specifics around your upcoming mission."

Sabine rolled her eyes upon hearing that statement, as the look on Ketsu's face told her that she knew something more about the mission than Sabine and it was likely something she wasn't going to enjoy. She knew better than to avoid knowing what that was, as that would only get more of a response from Ketsu. Besides, the sooner she knew all of the mission details meant that she would have that much more time to prepare herself. So, the band-aid approach was the choice she made, joining the group after all.

Gavyn of course, generously gave her his seat next to Ketsu, but in doing so, he only ended up moving to the seat right next to Sabine. With everyone seated, the small talk quickly went back to normal, but then Sabine noticed when one of the pilots pulled out a good-sized bottle before taking a swig and passing it on to the closest Rebel next to them.

It didn't take rocket science to figure out what the bottle contained, and the only question Sabine had was which kind it was. The pilots each took their turns with the bottle first, but before too long the flask made its way over to Wini. She somewhat hesitantly looked at the container in her hands before finally tipping it up and taking a hearty pull. She managed to swallow it down just fine, but then almost immediately coughed as the heat from the liquor finally got the better of her.

Everyone chuckled at her reaction and Sabine couldn't help but enjoy it as well, although her reasoning had a tad more to it than just Wini's reaction. However, that enjoyment quickly faded when Ezra took the flask away and displayed concern for Wini's wellbeing.

She did manage to compose herself in a few short moments though, and Ezra attempted to pass off the flask, but everyone began laying into him with peer pressure. Sabine knew that Ezra hadn't ever tasted an alcoholic beverage before, let alone drank enough to count as an acceptable amount for this group, and wondered for a moment if he would defy them and decline.

But even Wini joined in on the teasing while also being a bit more handsy than Sabine liked as she attempted to coerce Ezra into taking his turn. Sabine was about to stand up for the young Jedi, but before she had the chance, he caved and put the flask up to his lips.

To say that he handled his first try with alcohol with grace would have been a severe understatement. Just one look at his face with the mouthful of burning liquid was enough to cause chuckling around the group again, but then after he swallowed the liquid, they all burst into hysterical laughter as he basically gagged on the stuff. Needless to say, he was embarrassed.

Eventually, everyone started to come down from their high, some having to wipe tears from their eyes, and that's when Sabine happened a glance over to Ezra and found that he was looking right back at her, their eyes instantly locking onto each other. She could see his embarrassment but also saw anger building right before he tossed the flask over to the next person and stood from his seat, walking away from the group.

All the laughter immediately stopped when this happened, everyone looking back at one another, wondering if maybe they'd allowed their emotions to get the best of them and hurt the young Jedi's feelings. Ketsu took that moment to look over at Sabine to see how she would respond, but when Wini stood up and followed after Ezra, the only thing that happened was Sabine's facial expression darkened to an almost murderous intent.

Gavyn also noticed Sabine's demeanor, and wondered if Sabine would've been the one to go after Ezra had Wini not left first. And while Sabine didn't leave, he knew that her thoughts were somewhere else, or rather, with someone else. That notion caused his mood to sour to the point that he didn't even notice when the bottle was being held in front of him until he was tapped on the shoulder with it.

Gavyn didn't hesitate after that, taking more than his fair share before setting the base of the bottle on Sabine's lap. She jumped a bit when the bottle made contact with her legs, and it took her a second to regain her bearings before she took her share and passed the flask to Ketsu.

Ketsu playfully bumped their shoulders together as she took her turn, but she wasn't done with her little sister yet. She'd seen both Sabine's expression and Gavyn's as well. It was obvious that Sabine hadn't straightened things out yet, and figured it might be fun to help push her along. "It should be a fun mission, sharing a place with your Jedi friend." She said, smiling like a tooka that'd caught its prey.

If they could have, Sabine's eyes would've bulged out of her head upon hearing Ketsu's statement. "They're not getting us separate rooms?" Sabine asked. "Why?"

"You'd have to ask someone with more authority than me to figure that out," Ketsu said.

Sabine let out a frustrated sigh. Sharing a room with Ezra wasn't going to be very enjoyable, and especially since she was still a little hurt by his absence during her recovery. She planned to speak with Hera to raise her objections about being paired with Ezra in a single room for an unknown amount of time. But before she did that, she needed to read up on the report to find out if there would be any other unnecessary difficulties to object to.

Ketsu, as usual, seemed to know what Sabine would do, already holding the data tablet out. Sabine took it and pulled up the specs, first confirming that Ketsu hadn't been teasing. She confirmed that the Rebellion had set them both up with positions inside an Imperial Arms facility, where Ezra was going to be in an entry-level position on the factory floor while Sabine would be serving from a higher-level permission within the R and D department.

So, the plan was that Ezra would be handling the parts for weapons already in production while Sabine would have the opportunity to look into the more experimental ones. That part of the plan, she couldn't argue with, as between the two of them they should be able to find something about what this weapon was. Maybe even a few other ones if they were lucky.

But there was still the issue of sharing a room with Ezra to deal with. So, Sabine handed the datapad back to a still smirking Ketsu and got up to seek out Hera. If she could manage it, maybe she would be able to get some last-minute changes such as the sleeping arrangements approved.

The trip to Arkania was quiet for the most part. Although having to travel via commercial shuttle was more of the cause behind it than anything else. When they arrived at a spaceport nearby the planet, the extraction team exited the shuttle while Ezra and Sabine stayed behind to continue onto the planet's surface.

Things became a little more intense when they each first laid eyes on the room. It was smaller than either of them had anticipated. Another thing they both noticed was how there weren't many walls to separate rooms aside from the fresher, everything else seeming to blend in together in order to conserve space. Privacy was definitely going to be an issue.

Upon completing an initial sweep of their small living quarters, Sabine dumped her things off and went to head back out. Finding a cantina that would serve someone her age without asking questions was a must at the moment. She needed a drink badly if she was going to have to put up with the cramped conditions along with her new roommate. Had it not been for being forced to leave her armor behind as part of the mission directive, she would've been gone already.

"Where are you going?" Ezra asked when he heard the apartment door slide open for her.

"Out," was her simple answer.

"Out?" Ezra parroted. "I thought we were supposed to go over the plan for our first day of work with the Imperial Arms facility."

"There will be plenty of time for that later," Sabine said as she stepped out into the hallway. "I'm not going to be stuck in this puny apartment complex unless I have to be."

"Well, I could always come with you." Ezra offered, thinking this would be as good an opportunity as any to help advance their relationship.

"I don't think so," Sabine said, shutting him down before stepping back in and closing the door to give them some more privacy. "I'm not in the mood to deal with pretending that we're a couple right now, and if you come with me, there's always the chance that someone could see us. I don't know about you, but I don't want to blow our cover on the first day."

Ezra wanted to argue that it would be good practice, but he could see that she wasn't up for that kind of practice, and it made him wonder why he was so repulsive to her. When he turned away to head back into the living area of the apartment, Sabine reached for the door controls again, only to hear him grumbling. "I'm really beginning to regret being on this mission with you."

Sabine stopped and turned back toward the retreating Jedi, furious now. "What did you say?"

Ezra turned back to his roommate, anger showing clearly in his features as well. "If I knew you hated being around me this much, I would've asked for someone else to take on this mission in the first place." He reiterated.

Sabine's jaw dropped open when Ezra's words registered. She didn't hate being around him. She just hadn't gotten over Ezra's absence when she was injured. And once again, her struggles with sharing how she felt managed to throw a wrench into things. That drink seemed even more important, and so instead of making things worse, she left.

Ezra stood there as he watched Sabine leave him behind. He didn't know what to do or how things had turned out so badly, especially when things had finally begun to turn around after helping her save Ketsu from the Black Sun. Now things seemed terribly wrong as if he'd already lost his chance with her, and Gavyn stepping right in.

He was angry about the situation he was now in, about Sabine's cold shoulder, and especially about Gavyn. Why couldn't he just catch a break? He'd done everything right, hadn't he? Sabine was a Mandalorian, and being a Mandalorian meant that she didn't like weakness. She'd stopped visiting him when he started to recover from his injuries, and she didn't even really warm back up to him again until he was back on missions. Even then he had to successfully be a crucial part again before she really started to treat him like normal again.

And then there was helping to save Ketsu. She didn't even hesitate with who she wanted at her side to rescue her old friend. During that mission and when they returned to treat Sabine's injuries, she seemed so accepting of his careful caresses. She'd allowed him to hold her hand or help her to get up for the short walk to a fresher. Things seemed to be going so well, and he wanted to show her that he didn't think she was weak by giving Sabine her space as she had with him.

That was what the Holocron had shared with him about Mandalorians. He didn't understand what went wrong, and he wished that he hadn't left the Holocron behind. He needed advice on what to do because destroying their temporary living quarters in a rage-filled tantrum was beginning to feel appropriate. Then again, maybe Sabine's idea about leaving had merit. Maybe he could find somewhere else to let off some steam if he were to go out as well.

It'd been a little more than a couple of hours since she'd left Ezra behind in the apartment. Sabine was seated at a bar in a little cantina off the beaten path. Over the years, she'd found that places like these were the best to be served regardless of age. She chose to drink on the Rebellion's dime since it hadn't been willing to spring for better accommodations. She figured they could take this financial hit to offset her frustrations, tipping yet another glass up and downing the liquid in a quick gulp before slamming the glass back onto the bar top.

The bartender didn't miss the signal, filling her glass back up yet again. Sabine smiled in appreciation before she sent that shot chasing after the previous one. However, when she finished this drink, she didn't slam the glass back down. Instead, she set it down and leaned her forehead against the cool surface. While this stuff might not have been Tihaar, it was still doing the trick for her nerves.

"Think you'd be up for one more?" A voice called to her as she sensed someone taking a seat on the barstool next to hers.

Sabine lifted her head off the bar top to address this new person but gave pause when her eyes focused on this person. He was attractive and reminded her of some times from her bounty hunting days in the past. Whoever he was, he had a friendly, disarming smile, and was holding two drinks with one outstretched toward her. "Depends on what it is, I guess," was her answer as she took the drink and peered inside the glass.

"It's just some Arkanian sweet milk." The man answered, still smiling brilliantly at her. "You don't look like you're from around here, and I thought you might want to try something that my homeworld is known for."

Sabine might've been inclined to ask what gave her away, but she knew that like the man next to her, Arkanians tended to have white, shimmering hair, and hers, while altered by coloring, was definitely not. So, she chose to play along as she took a sip of the drink. "I guess I do kind of stick out a little with my look," she acknowledged. "I just transferred here today for my new job with IA in a couple of days."

"Working for the Empire, eh?" The man asked, and Sabine responded with a nod. "That makes sense then. Most of the outsiders on the planet tend to come here working for Imperial Arms."

"That isn't a bad thing, is it?" She asked.

The man smiled. "Nah," he said. "Besides, I like a little diversity in life, but where are my manners. I'm Derkian, Derkian Alding."

"Ria Talla," Sabine responded.

"Well Ria," Derkian said while raising his glass. "May your time here be fruitful."

Sabine clinked her glass up against Derkian's before pulling it back to her lips and downing the liquid. Derkian took a little longer to finish his drink, which brought another smile to her face, and from that point on, their conversation began to flow. Before she knew it, another pair of drinks were ordered and finished.

Things were going so well in fact, that when Sabine laughed animatedly at one of Derkian's funny stories, she lost her balance, having to reach her hand out to catch her balance. She nearly surprised herself when she realized that she didn't instantly remove her hand from his lap because of where it landed. Derkian didn't seem to mind though as he only looked down briefly before smiling at her and continuing with his stories.

The rest of the conversation was a blur, and before Sabine knew what was happening, she was being helped out of the cantina by her new companion. She was struggling to keep her balance as Derkian helped her down the street. At one point, she stumbled into Derkian, who managed to catch her before she fell to the ground.

That was when Sabine noticed a couple of things. First, she didn't know where she was, and secondly, that Derkian's face was closing in on hers. Normally, she wouldn't want to show any sign of intimacy with someone she'd just met, but this time she didn't seem to have any qualms as his lips met hers.

As he continued to kiss her, she recalled another time in her past when she was willing to kiss someone else she didn't know, and that memory gave her enough pause to fight the growing desire for Derkian to continue what he was doing with her.

Sabine found a moment when he pulled back for a breath to force herself to speak. "Wait," she mumbled, continuing to fight what felt like a losing battle within herself. There was a little inkling that felt off, but it was evaporating quickly.

"It's alright, Ria," he said, full of confidence. "We can go back to my place for some privacy. I promise you'll enjoy it."

Derkian then leaned in again for another kiss, and Sabine wanted to stop it, but couldn't fight the growing want within her. Then his lips crashed into hers again, and this time her mind became more clouded with desire, causing her to kiss him back. And that was when it happened.

"What exactly do you think my fiancé is going to enjoy at your place?" A voice asked from behind Sabine.

The question was enough to break the intimate kiss, and Sabine managed to look over her shoulder, finding a blurry looking Ezra with his arms crossed over his chest. If her vision would've been clear, she also would've seen the absolute fury all over his face. "If this were my fiancé, I wouldn't let her go to a cantina alone," Derkian said as he slid an arm around Sabine's shoulders to lead her back to his home. "And if she is your fiancé, that means she can be with whomever she wants. She isn't yours yet, so maybe you should cut your losses and find someone else."

"Maybe you should get your hands off of her," Ezra growled.

"Why?" was the only response Derkian gave before he started to usher Sabine away from this interruption.

Ezra allowed the piece of bantha fodder to walk just past him before he reacted, and then latched onto Derkian's arm, spinning the Arkanian directly into a vicious uppercut that sent Derkian staggering back. But that wasn't enough for the Jedi as he raced forward. He lashed out with some body blows before returning to Derkian's head with a left hook, followed by grabbing onto his head and pulling it down nose-first into his knee.

He brought his knee up into Derkian's face over and over until the Arkanian stop resisting completely. Ezra then let him crumple to the ground, unconscious as he stood over him, still seething. He tried to reign in his desire to cut the Arkanian to pieces, but Sabine, who was laying on the ground, managed to grab Ezra by his ankle, snapping him out of his rage.

Everything else stopped for Ezra when he saw Sabine weakly grabbing onto him. He knelt down and gently helped Sabine to her feet before taking her back to their apartment. Nothing much was as they approached the apartment door. Once they were safely inside, Ezra moved Sabine onto the small couch that was meant to serve as his bed during their mission. He propped her up there so that he could get the bed ready for her.

Once he had the bed covering pulled back, he turned to Sabine, only to find her gazing at him with half-lidded eyes. Her mouth was open slightly, and if he wasn't mistaken, it seemed that she was panting. Ezra wasn't exactly sure what to do, but thought that it would be a good idea to make sure to keep Sabine hydrated. So, he went to the galley area and brought her back a glass of water, which she sloppily chugged as soon as he helped her put the cup to her mouth.

She ended up wearing more of the water than she drank, and a wet shirt wasn't going to be comfortable to sleep in. So, Sabine reached down to her waist and whipped the shirt up over her head before flinging it across the room. Free of the soaked garment, she sighed and leaned back into the couch, feeling much more relaxed. "That's better," She said.

Ezra had to fight himself internally to avert his gaze at first but quickly lost the battle once Sabine sighed as she settled back onto the couch. He needed to get her to bed before he did something stupid, so he knelt in front of her and helped to remove her boots. "Let's get you to bed so you can sleep off whatever that guy did to you." He said, setting her removed boots aside.

He stood up and reached for Sabine's hands, pulling her into a standing position, and found that it was really difficult to control his urges with a half-naked Sabine in his arms. Her bare skin was amazingly soft and he couldn't help but feel a little enjoyment. It also didn't help when she suddenly put her arms around his neck to help keep herself upright.

Ezra stood there for a moment, lost in the thrill of having a willing Sabine in his arms, but eventually walked back the short distance to the small bed. When his legs connected with the side of it, Ezra helped Sabine onto it, but when he tried to tuck her in, she suddenly short-circuited his brain by latching back onto his neck and pulling him in for a passionate kiss.

He didn't know what to do. This was something that he'd wanted and been dreaming of for as long as he'd been a part of the Ghost crew. At first, he responded in kind, but eventually, his senses returned and he pulled away. No matter how badly he wanted this, it wasn't right, but Sabine continued to pull, which caused him to fall on top of her.

Ezra found himself in a fight for control, Sabine's hands constantly exploring as much of him as she could manage before he managed to wrap her up. Unfortunately, restraining her ended with Sabine on top of him with her back pressed against his front. From that position, she tried to use other parts of her anatomy to get a response out of him, and it very nearly worked. "Stay with me," she said as she tried leaning her head back to kiss him on his neck.

As Sabine continued trying to seduce him, Ezra couldn't help but continue to think about how life wasn't fair. Why couldn't Sabine want him like this when she wasn't under the influence of some foreign substance? There was still a part of him that was tempted to take advantage of the current situation, but if he did, when she did sober up, she would surely hate him for the rest of his days. And he knew that he would hate himself too.

So, he worked to free himself from being pinned down while keeping her at bay, but Sabine wasn't having any of it. Whenever he did manage to slip away, she simply refused to stay in bed alone. If he moved away, she simply got up to join him wherever he went, and her current state of undress was making him really struggle to behave.

Eventually, he coaxed her into wearing one of his shirts but had to compromise by giving her the shirt off his back and also promise to lay down with her. She wasn't really behaving herself, and the first couple of hours were sleepless for him as Sabine struggled to keep her hands at bay. But Ezra did manage to eventually get her to fall asleep by holding her with one arm while running his fingers through her hair with his free hand. There was just something about running his fingers through soft hair that soothed him, and it seemed to soothe Sabine as well.

Sabine did eventually manage to fall asleep though as Ezra remained underneath her in a semi-seated position. It wasn't very comfortable but allowed him to keep a better eye on her. He also took the time to ponder how he was going to explain things in the morning if for some reason Sabine didn't recall what happened once she woke back up.

A/N: Next up, Ezra and Sabine try to avoid the elephant in the room as they start becoming acclimated to their roles within the weapons factory.