A/N: Hi all!!! Here are two new chapters of Taking In An Orphan! As always, feel free to comment (I love reading them)! Enjoy!
By the time the crew made it back to the ship, Kanan was carrying a sleeping Ezra. The boy had been looking more and more tired, so Kanan decided to carry him, and he fell asleep in Kanan's arms (sucking his thumb, of course). After settling the boy on the couch in the common room, the crew met in the cockpit.
"So do we have any upcoming missions?" Sabine asked.
"Not yet and we're running low on credits. We need something soon or this baby's gonna be running on empty." Hera was worried they would run out of fuel.
Suddenly, a transmission came in.
"Hello, my friends! It is I, Hondo! I needed a little help transporting some … supplies. If you would like to take me up on this offer, I will send you the coordinates. The receiver says they will pay a high price in which we will be splitting, of course."
The Ghost crew looked wearily at each other. They all hated working with Hondo, but this was their best chance for a mission.
"Go ahead, Hondo," Hera said after each of the crew members gave a nod. The transmission ended with Hondo spouting out his coordinates and the time to meet him.
"Okay, Chopper, get ready to take off."
Chopper buzzed at Hera.
"What do you mean the thrusters aren't working?" Hera grumbled as Chopper ran a second diagnostic. "How did that happen?"
Chopper claimed he had no idea.
"Was it from this morning's terrible landing? Remind me never to let you land a ship again." Hera got her supplies for fixing the ship as the rest of the crew quickly resigned to the common room.
"What are we gonna do with the kid during the mission?" Zeb asked, helping himself to a snack.
"Hera usually stays on the ship, so he can stay with her," Kanan replied. He had already thought a lot about this. It wouldn't be safe to bring Ezra along on missions, especially since the empire was looking for him. It was also important to make sure the empire didn't find out Ezra was with them - that would most likely heighten the bargain of his capture. Kanan relayed this information to the crew and they agreed to keep it quiet.
"But it's cruel to keep him on the ship all the time. We can't take him on missions, but we will have to take him for supply runs and other things. Won't people see him then?" Sabine asked, bringing up a good point.
"Well, we're usually not recognized on those trips, but we will just have to be extra careful," Kanan said.
"Uhh...is the kid gonna sleep on the common room couch forever?" Zeb asked, glancing at the boy.
"Well...at some point we will move him to bunk with you. That's the only reasonable option since I don't have a second bunk in my room," Kanan replied.Zeb was anticipating this.
"It's fine, but we're gonna have ta wait until the kid's less afraid o' me if ya want 'im ta get any sleep at night."
"Yes, we will move him over in about a week."
"If he's still with us that long. Isn't Hera going to contact Fulcrum about finding a safe place for him?" Sabine asked, a little sadly.
"Yes. And if that happens, we can't get too attached to him. We don't want our selfishness to stop Ezra from going somewhere safe," Kanan said, trying to remind himself as much as the rest of the crew.
"Okay, we're all set to lift off," Hera told them. She went into the cockpit and started the ship. They launched off into space.
The crew gathered into the cockpit to hear the exact details of the mission. Everyone sat in their chairs and listened to Hera's information. After a few minutes, they heard a "woah" from behind them.
The crew whipped their heads around to look at the person who made the noise.
Ezra stood behind them, eyes big and staring into space. Kanan beckoned him over to sit on his lap.
"Hey, buddy! Have you ever seen space before?" By the look on Ezra's face, he had not.
"No, are we really in space?"
"Yes, hon. Those white dots are called stars and you can see them from the ground at night," Hera explained.
"Where's Lothal?"
"Pretty far behind us, now," Hera said.
Instead of looking surprised by this, the boy started to sniffle. He had never left home before and now he might never see it again.
"Don't worry, Ezra, we'll be back. The Empire loves making trouble on Lothal," Kanan told him. After they calmed Ezra down, Hondo contacted them again to tell them more about the mission.
"Hello again, Ghost crew! Since I have accepted your help" most of the crew rolled their eyes at this "I will share more details of the mission. First we will meet up. I need the Lasat and two others with me. We will find the supplies and take them to the receiver."
"That sounds too easy. Why couldn't you do this mission alone?" Hera asked, suspiciously.
"The supplies are being transported to an Empire base on Jackal. We need to intercept them and take the supplies to bring to the receiver."
"Of course the Empire's involved."
"Yes. I will see you at the rendezvous point so we can come up with a plan. Later!"
"Well, nothing can be easy, can it?" Hera said, angry that the Empire was involved again. "I wonder who this receiver is." Hera shifted into hyperspace. After explaining some of what was happening to Ezra, the crew discussed the mission some more.
"Hey, guys! The rebel news goes on in two minutes!" Sabine said. The crew shot up to get to the common room to listen to the weekly news cast.
At exactly 6 p.m., they tuned in to hear the "rebel news." On this channel, a few unnamed voices told about any new developments of the empire and gave messages of hope. Today, they were showing a new type of tie-fighter that was in development. The rebels lazily listened as Hera and Zeb started to cut up vegetables for their dinner.
"New threat to any Jedi or rebel alike. News from the outer rim confirms that there is a new threat to the galaxy. He is called 'The Inquisitor' and is force-sensitive. This Pauan is extremely powerful and has attacked and killed entire villages." They showed a holo-picture of the man as they continued to talk.
A small whimper came from Kanan's lap. Sabine looked up at Ezra, who she had a direct view of across the table.
"What is it Ezra?" She asked after seeing his face. Ezra was staring wide-eyed at the holo-image in front of him. Kanan looked at the boy in his lap, surprised he wasn't asleep.
"Ezra? What's wrong?" Kanan asked. Kanan felt the fear rolling off Ezra. Ezra turned his face, hiding in Kanan's shirt.
"Turn off the transmission, Sabine, it's scaring him," Hera said quickly. She handed her soup spoon to Zeb and came over to sit next to Kanan. Sabine quickly flicked the holo radio off.
"What's wrong, Ezra? I know that man looks scary, but I'm sure he's not anywhere near us right now."
"Mffm bhd mnh hrt mhe," Ezra's muffled voice came from Kanan's shirt.
"Ezra, hon, look at me, I can't understand you."
Ezra picked his head up and his blue eyes flashed towards Hera.
"That's the bad man. He hurted me…" Ezra broke off and sobbed into Kanan's shirt. Kanan and Hera looked at each other in horror, both thinking the same thing. This was the force user that taught Ezra.
Kanan comforted Ezra as Sabine looked from Kanan to Hera and back again. They knew something. She would have to ask them about it when Ezra went to bed.
"It's alright, Ezra. That bad man won't hurt you right now. None of us would ever let anything happen to you," Kanan said.
It took all through dinner to get Ezra to stop shaking. Ezra never wanted to see that man again. Now, the inquisitor was going to come and find him. The only thing that made Ezra stop shaking and crying were the comforting feelings coming from Kanan.
