Here we are once more. Another chapter as promised and this one is set to be a much more mature and serious one. No action here, no real comedy, just raw emotional fallout that you never think of happening in a Disney-made TV show. And no, still no romance. Like I said before I'm waiting for some confirmation from the show itself as to whether or not Ezra and Sabine will get "together".

And by the way, as promised I'm making fun of a guest reviewer who didn't bother to read the author's notes telling him exactly what he pointed out. Although if he didn't bother reading then I doubt he's reading this. So yeah, point and laugh everybody, and moving on.

Chapter 6

Aboard the Ghost

Things were quiet, even after such a close yet miraculous escape that was normally call for celebration. Sabine had yet to wake up after several hours of being unconscious and had worried the entire crew, leading to one or two of them being there, waiting on a chair at her bedside. At the moment Hera and Kanan were sitting in the cockpit, watching the mesmerizing spectacle of hyperspace fly by.

"How long will she be out?" Hera asked, concern laced in her voice.

"Not much longer I'd guess. She's been through a lot in the past day," Kanan replied grimly, "She wasn't sedated, the Imperials stunned her before we could get to her. Probably to slow us down."

"If she'd been stunned she would have woke up quite a while ago," Hera responded, swiveling in her chair, her head turning to look out of the cockpit towards Sabine's room where Ezra and Zeb were keeping an eye on her.

"Everyone's different Hera," Kanan mumbled, "And she's more than likely exhausted. Her body just wasn't quite able to handle that kind of torment. She's tough, but even the best of us have our limits."

"I know love," Hera whispered, "She's more than likely asleep. The stun itself probably wore off, and she's just resting."

"But it's when she wakes up is where I'm worried. So much happened that she's never experienced, so much pain was inflicted I'm worried. When she wakes up she may not be the same. That kind of trauma takes its toll."

"Well, at least she's safe, and that's what really matters right now."

"But we've just put ourselves on the radar in a big way. Blowing a gaping hole in an ISB building is not going to make the Imperials any less determined, and if what we saw is evidence they're getting better and pulling out all the stops to catch us."

"We need to speak with Fulcrum. Time to lay low and wait for the heat to die down. For real this time," Hera said, rubbing her chin in thought.

"I'm open to suggestions," Kanan replied.

"We'll need to go somewhere with a low Imperial presence, yet close enough that we can stay up to date with the latest developments," Hera continued, pulling up a galactic map.

"Somewhere in the Mid Rim would work. The Imperials will expect us to stay in the Outer Rim, so we do our usual strategy of doing the opposite," Kanan said, working out this new plan as he spoke.

"The problem is that we don't know of many planets in the Mid Rim that don't have an Imperial presence," Hera pointed out.

"There's a couple, but another thing we'll need to consider is that we'll need a planet where we'd be able to hole up for at least a month or two. So we'll need to be able to find jobs besides what we usually do, which attracts way too much attention," Kanan said, realizing another aspect of their new reality. A reality he did not like in the least.

"So an economically developed planet without many Imperials, boy you're sure narrowing our choices down love."

"Not any more, I've got a planet for us," Kanan perked up, tapping in a name.

"Oh, I've always wanted to go there."

Zeb and Ezra were both sitting at Sabine's bedside, keeping a watchful eye on their sleeping comrade. They'd laid her down in her bed as soon as the Ghost was clear, and cleaned her up as well as they could, wiping off the blood from her nose and put some bacta drops on her split lips. And then the crew had each spent some time keeping an eye on her, rotating in an unspoken schedule, making sure that someone would be there when she eventually opened her eyes to see that her trauma was over. But after these hours of watching Sabine hadn't woken up quite yet, and as expected Ezra was worried.

"How much longer you think Sabine's gonna be out?" Ezra grumbled.

"I don't know kid, she's been through a lot," Zeb responded quietly, his own voice showing his own worry quite clearly.

"It's been hours, you don't think she was poisoned do you?"

"Her tox screen came back clean, I don't think so. She was just stunned."

"But if she were stunned wouldn't she have come around by now?"

"It really depends kid, the smaller the target the harder it is on them. And Sabine may be tough but she's not built like me or Kanan, or even you in a few years," Zeb said, "And the torture that the Imperials used on her takes a lot out of ya. So the stun effect may have been worn off for a while but her body is just letting her recover."

"In other words she's just asleep," Ezra said, looking over at her, examining her face which was relaxed and calm as her covers over her chest rose and fell with each breath.

"Yeah, I know, it's not easy just waiting kid. But that's just our reality. We're fighting against the Empire, odds are one or two of us will get captured, or worse," Zeb sighed, "The fact is we're good enough that we got away with it this time."

"Let's not talk about that, I know it alright, I know that it's likely that some of us won't live to see the end of this fight."

"Yeah let's stop talking about this topic, I'm getting depressed."

"Yeah…" Ezra mumbled, now falling into an awkward silence that went on for a few minutes.

In those minutes Ezra felt his feelings start to come to the surface. He'd liked Sabine ever since he'd laid eyes on her. This wasn't unusual for a young teenage boy whenever he sees a pretty teenage girl. But that's, more often than not, just a simple infatuation, a crush. But for Ezra it had gone from a simple crush to truly liking her. He'd been part of the crew for a while now, and now knew everyone, but Sabine was special. Maybe it was just the fact they were of similar ages and always together but Ezra just didn't know. But he did know that seeing a girl he'd really come to like laying here absolutely out of it was a very tough thing. Part of him was hopeful that she'd be okay, part of him was afraid she wouldn't be okay. But the most dangerous part of him was angry at what these Imperials had done to Sabine. He wanted to strike back at them initially, wanting to do something, anything that would make him feel better. But he knew better, and Kanan knew better.

Kanan had noticed Ezra's feelings towards Sabine and the conflict that Ezra had seemed to be going through when it came to his conflicting feelings towards Sabine. The young Padawan not only had physical training, Kanan had to touch on the subject of the danger of love. It was a tough, especially considering Kanan himself was struggling with it with his relationship with Hera. So Kanan had to deal with that slippery slope, he knew it was hypocritical of him to say not to say to not intertwine yourself in a relationship when he himself broke that code. So he sort of skipped over it, only to touch on it if Ezra ever got into a relationship, or hinted at being ready for one. But so far Sabine had kept that pretty well in check, keeping the job at hand before her own "love life" if it existed.

Ezra had started wondering about that, she didn't speak of home except for the occasional story about the academy that had created her drive to fight the Empire. She didn't pay any human teenagers her own age any mind, despite them visibly checking her out. This was something that made Ezra feel a bit better. If she were not even concerned with relatively attractive boys her own age at a time in her life where the opposite sex was always on the mind then he wasn't the only one she was ignoring and hope was alive.

That hope started to glow ever brighter as Ezra saw the sheets where Sabine's hands were start to stir. Before Ezra could say anything to Zeb, Sabine let out a slight groan. The two of them stood up and moved over to Sabine as she started waking up. And then, she opened her eyes, squinting slightly at the light in the room coming from her desk that was there to keep it somewhat dark. But having been in a bad place when she'd last been asleep she shot up, her concern for her comrades still plaguing her mind.

"Guys?!" she gasped, looking around, and immediately saw Ezra and Zeb standing there, trying to calm her down.

"It's okay Sabine we're alright," Zeb said, putting a hand on her shoulder, pressing her back down.

"Kanan? Hera?" she stuttered, not seeing their leaders.

"Cockpit, finding a place for us to hole up," Ezra informed her.

"Everyone's okay?" Sabine weakly asked, laying back down.

"Yeah, we're good," Ezra replied, "No cuts, bruises, or twisted ankles."

"I was more concerned with you being dead," Sabine said quietly, looking away in shame that the reason they'd risked their necks was her.

"You want anything Sabine?" Zeb asked, "We can make you something. Take your pick from the usual items."

"Whatever you make will be okay," Sabine responded, not looking at them.

"Alright, come on kid I could use your help," Zeb growled in his usual manner, grabbing Ezra by the top of his backpack and dragged him out of the room.

Truthfully Zeb didn't need Ezra's help. But seeing Sabine and hearing her speak let him know that she wanted some space for a little bit. So as the two of them walked out, Sabine stared up into the ceiling, looking up at some old scribbles and doodles that had been among the first she'd ever made on the Ghost. She, as usual, thought of whatever meaning they might have in their numerous colors, swirls, straight lines and sharp angles. But this time she didn't feel like picking up her air brush and start adding to it or painting over a spot on the wall. Then she began thinking, her mind going on a series of what-if scenarios that didn't end well at all for anyone. She saw her friends falling in battle as they tried to rescue her, being captured and tortured, ending the resistance against the Empire. And it was all her fault she realized every time. Her friends, whom she would gladly lay down her own life for, depended on her, and she'd let them down by being captured without much of a fight.

Sabine now had her mind searching her latest memories of Davenport Gateway. She tried looking for the signs, trying to find anything she should have seen coming. It had been a well-laid trap, that much was for certain and Sabine found herself seeing signs that hadn't been there, mentally kicking herself for not seeing it earlier, not reacting fast enough, not being good enough to save herself and prevent her friends from being put into a very dangerous situation. She imagined what could have happened, and then imagined what history would make of it.

Sabine saw Imperial historians hailing Kallus as a hero, exploiting the weak link of the rebel band, and luring them into a trap. And she would forever be known as just that, the weak link, the one who would need to be watched and protected, lest she put them all in danger again.

"Sabine?" the voice of Hera said quietly, poking her head into her room, interrupting her train of thought.

"Hey Hera," she responded, her voice sounding much more tired than she meant to convey.

"You okay?"

"I'm alright, just tired."

Hera sat down next to Sabine's bed.

"It sounds worse than that," Hera responded, sitting down next to her.

"It's not," Sabine said with an almost growling noise in her voice.

"Sabine, you've never been able to hide your emotions very well. Especially from me," Hera said quietly, "What's wrong?"

Sabine knew she wouldn't be able to hide the conflict and guilt etched in her mind. So she gave a sigh and rolled onto her side.

"It was my fault," she started, "I should've seen it coming. I'm better than that, these things don't happen to me anymore. When I was captured that first time a few years ago the Imperials treated me horribly of course, but that was different. It was just a local police station, and you guys got me out of there without much trouble and without much risk."

"I remember," Hera said, "You were just starting out Sabine, you'd never been on an op before."

"But at least then I was still able to fight back, I almost got away. But this time…" Sabine snapped back, only to trail off, "It was like they'd just picked me up like a-a friend they'd called for a party. I didn't even get a chance to fight back."

"We didn't see it coming either. The Imperials are getting better, these aren't the local cops we're used to dealing with."

"But I still should've known that. I went to the academy, I of all people should know what the Imperials are capable of."

"Sabine," Hera said, shaking her head, "I know what you're feeling. You felt guilty at being helpless when being in that situation could mean dire consequences. But you have to understand something Sabine, it will happen and odds are it will happen to all of us. All we can do is be ready to adapt to the situation when that happens."

"And what happens if I get caught again?" Sabine responded, sitting up, "What if we're not lucky enough or good enough that time?"

"We can never know. We just have to live it day by day," Hera replied, "You can't go through life thinking about the what-ifs Sabine."

"I know, but," Sabine began again.

"No, don't let it bother you. Let it drive you, you'll never truly put something like this behind you so use it, harness that drive to protect your friends by learning from this so you can be better prepared next time," Hera said firmly, "Now are going to move on to the good news?"

"Sure," Sabine responded, spinning around to fully sit up as she put her feet on the deck.

"We're going to Zeltros to hide out for a while until the heat dies down."

"The vacation planet?" Sabine gawked, "How'd we afford that?"

"We didn't, Fulcrum has a contact that owns a hotel on the planet and got us jobs that pay pretty well. We'll be able to relax, earn some credits we can always use, and be safe. The Imperial garrison is the most laid back group of troops in the galaxy."

"I'd imagine, the entire planet is one big party," Sabine laughed, finally shedding the gloomy mood she had been in.

"We'll be there in a few days. Go ahead and get packed and be ready."

"What kind of jobs did we end up getting?" Sabine asked, standing up, feeling the weakness in her legs and consequently stumbled a bit.

"You may not like it," Hera said with a wink.

"Please don't say I'm cleaning up rooms."

"Nope."

"No dancing either," Sabine also stipulated.

"Beach-side waitress," Hera replied.

"What?! Hera!"

"Hey, you at least get tips, and it could be worse, you could have Ezra's job," Hera smiled smugly.

"And what would that be?" Sabine said crossing her arms.

"Window washing with Chopper," she laughed.

"Oh I'll take my job, no tips for window washers. What about Kanan and Zeb?"

"Kanan's a valet," Hera said.

"Lucky," Sabine grumbled.

"And Zeb's a bouncer for the hotel nightclub."

"Luckiest. And what about you?"

"I…" Hera replied quite smugly, "am doing what I do best, fly. You are looking at the newest tour ship pilot for the Blue Palm Hotel and Resort."

"The Blue Palm?! That's the most prestigious hotel on the planet!" Sabine gasped.

"And the hours are pretty good too. We'll even get our fair share of rest and relaxation."

"That, sounds like a plan."

Boy couldn't we all use some time at a hotel like that? And we could also use something called character development with our favorite female Mandalorian in the show as well. So hopefully this hits the nail on the head with Sabine's character. And as always I do hope you guys enjoyed this chapter.

As usual leave any ideas, suggestions, or issues you may have in a review so I can improve the story and improve your reading experience. I am also still looking for a co-writer who knows the SW universe and has a working knowledge of military tactics and strategy for a SW Clone Wars fic I've got in mind.

One last note, Zeltros is a real planet in the canon. It's on Wookiepedia but not very much about it is known so I'll be adlibbing quite a bit.

Next Chapter Preview: R & R my ass, working at a hotel is hard work.