Chapter 2: Leena
They'd added new faces to their broken crew. Sabine befriended a vigilante ex-mercenary to their crew after a rather dicey mission they'd ran for a smuggling group, when they were delivering supplies to the civilians of an Imperial controlled world. It was soon after that Leena Taraji started travelling with them.
Leena was around Sabine's age, and just as volatile and driven. Like Sabine, Leena grew up in a world that was at war. She was born on Ryloth, the same world that Hera had been from. She left the planet with her parents to get away from the war, but the threat of the Empire loomed, and her parents were "recruited" to work in the Empire's factory on Geonosis, her father later killed from being overworked, and her mother locked up in an Imperial prison for speaking out against the harsh work conditions. Leena was left on her own at the age of 14, and soon learned that it was hard to survive alone in the galaxy, so she learned after her parents and taught herself how to survive.
When the Ghost crew met up with Leena, she had intercepted them on a supply run through the Outer Rim, and Sabine and Ezra quickly taught Leena about what it meant to protect civilians, and how sometimes (all the time) it was more important to do that than to stick it to the Empire. Leena's eyes were quickly opened when Sabine forced her to join them on their supply drop, and she wasn't surprised but still disheartened by all the other people that were hurting under the Empire's grip. They'd taught her what they'd learned over the years, that by annoying the Empire, it only causes them to tighten the grip on their civilians, and more people get hurt. Sabine, Ezra, Zeb and Kanan were tired of people getting hurt. Tired of getting hurt themselves.
After Leena saw the Imperial citizens in refugee camps she realized that just because the world was Imperial controlled didn't mean that the people on it were Imperials. It caused her to think outside herself for the first time since she'd lost her parents, and upon realizing that she truly had nowhere to go, Leena almost started to despair. She was stubborn though, and tried to refuse when Kanan insisted she join them on The Ghost, at least until she came up with a plan.
She and Sabine spent the first few weeks together on the Ghost arguing about how Sabine was running her ship before they started to forge a real friendship. Sabine was infuriated by the complicated, headstrong, pretty, Twi-Lek that seemed dead set on challenging her every opinion, thought and order. This was her ship, and dammit, Leena wasn't the one giving orders.
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Sabine bristled when she walked into the cockpit to see Leena sitting in the pilot's seat looking out the viewport, her boots propped up on the dashboard.
"Get your feet off." Sabine snapped, reaching out to snatch Leena's boots off the Ghost's dash, but Leena caught Sabine's wrist before she could. Sabine glared at her, twisting out of her grip.
"Protective, much?" Leena rolled her eyes, spinning in the pilot's seat, leaning back, making it creak. She noticed Sabine's frown and looked a little confused. "What is it with you and this ship?" Leena asked, "It's just a ship."
"It's my home." Sabine said simply. "It means a lot to me, and to everyone on it. And if you're not going to respect that, you can leave."
Leena smirked. "I don't know why Kanan's so set on me staying, I told you I'd be just fine on my own."
Sabine sighed. She didn't really know why Kanan was so set on it either. Sure, Leena didn't have anywhere to go, and they'd stopped her from committing a mass terrorist attack on an innocent system just to stick it to the Empire, but they should've just dropped her off on a different system. She didn't respect the Ghost or their family.
"You have to earn her trust, Bean." Kanan had told her, "It took you a while to warm up to us too."
Sabine scowled. "Listen," she said tersely, "I don't care if you stick around, but I just want you to respect my ship." she shoved the pilot's seat forward with her boot so it wasn't leaning back on it's hinges and Leena rolled her eyes.
"How old is this thing anyway?" Leena asked. "It looks like it's been around since the beginning of time."
Sabine put a hand gently on the worn dash, smiling a little to herself.
"She's been around a while," she admitted. "I've been here since I was thirteen. But Kanan's been here way longer than I have."
"So she's not even your ship?" Leena laughed a little. "You're a freeloader?"
Sabine glared at her. "No. We're a team. We each pull our own weight. And if you want to stay," Sabine shoved her boot at the pilot chair's base so Leena couldn't lean back again. "You have to pull your weight too."
Leena stood, meeting Sabine's eyes almost challengingly. Sabine looked over her. Leena wore one of Sabine's old shirts with a worn out leather jacket that had clearly seen some battles over it. Her lilac lekku rested over her shoulders, the deeper purple tattoos matching the dark purple in her eyes. At full height, Leena was a few inches taller than Sabine, which made Sabine stand up a little straighter.
"Who's Hera?" Leena asked suddenly, and Sabine visibly flinched.
"What?" Sabine asked, and Leena noticed her surprise instantly.
"Oh, so she was important." Leena raised her eyebrows. She pointed to the dash of the Ghost, right next to the wall of the cockpit the name "Hera" was etched in aurebesh. Sabine remembered that. She'd been the one to scratch it on, which Hera initially yelled at her for, but didn't sand away or repair.
"The Ghost was her ship," Sabine said casually, throwing her emotional shields up quickly. "Before it was mine."
"Interesting." Leena looked around the cockpit and smirked. "Kanan moved into her room," Leena mentioned, "When I joined the crew. Right?"
Sabine nodded. "Yeah."
"Were they married?" Leena asked next, and Sabine noticed that the mocking hostility that trademarked Leena's typical tone disappeared.
Sabine didn't let her feelings betray her expression. "More or less."
"You aren't good at having conversations," Leena observed, "I'm just asking questions."
Sabine sighed after a moment. "Sorry," she amended. "Yes, they were. She practically raised me."
"What ha..." Leena shook her head, changing her mind. "I get it." she decided, not wanting to pry into something that clearly bothered Sabine so much. She knew what it was like to lose people, and Leena didn't want to reopen old wounds.
"She's been gone two years," Sabine said after a long pause of silence. "None of us...we haven't been the same since."
"I understand." Leena said, her voice surprisingly soft. "I'm sorry."
Sabine nodded in gratitude and the silence that filled the cockpit around them was heavy. It was interrupted by Ezra's voice filling the inter-comm.
"You have like...three and a half minutes before Zeb eats everything I made for dinner." he said, and Sabine smirked.
"Come on," she told Leena, "Let's go."
Leena followed Sabine from the cockpit, glancing behind her at the worn seats, dents and dings, paint, stickers and designs and everything that made the Ghost a home. She'd seen it all over. It wasn't just a ship. It was a home. And Leena hadn't had a home in a really long time. She felt an ache that she hadn't felt in a really, really long time, an ache for something more. Not revenge. Happiness.
"You're a Jedi?" Leena shouted as she struggled back to her feet, and Ezra rolled his eyes.
"Yeah, but can we discuss it later? We're kind of in the middle of something!" Ezra used his lightsaber to deflect blaster bolts back and forth, his back to Leena's.
She grabbed at her throbbing shoulder, groaning to find her hand bloody. She ignored it and held her blaster out, shooting at the stormtroopers who continued to run from the other side of the hangar bay toward their position.
"Sabine!" he shouted into his comm-unit. "We could really use a pick up right about now!"
"I'm a little busy," Sabine shouted back, "Figure it out, Star Six!."
Leena squeezed her hand over her wound as she followed Ezra as he ran toward the troopers, using the Force (Leena assumed, since she didn't know much about Jedi stuff other than the stories her parents used to tell her about the Republic) to knock a few stormtroopers into the wall behind them, and clearing enough of a path for them to get through.
"You people don't tell me anything!" Leena yelled, and Ezra laughed.
"You're on a need-to-know basis, newbie." he told her, turning his lightsaber off as they turned the corner into an empty corridor.
Leena shoved his shoulder with her free hand, hard. "If you want my help on things like this, I need to know."
Ezra grinned at her. "You'll get there." he told her. He turned as he heard blaster bolts behind him and sighed. "You okay?" he looked at her shoulder, and Leena hated the worried look that came over his expression when he saw that she was bleeding.
"I'm fine," she insisted. "Don't give me that look, Bridger."
Ezra frowned. "Kanan," he said into his comm, "We got cornered on the other side of the hangar bay. It's crawling with troops. They didn't like the stunt that we pulled earlier on their walker."
"Yeah, well, I didn't like their walker," Kanan's sarcastic voice came over the comm. "We'll come to you, Six. We're finishing up out here."
Ezra's eyes narrowed. "It doesn't sound like you're finished," He mentioned, hearing the blasts and gunfire on the Ghost from over the comm. "Do you need our help?"
"I think we can handle ourselves," Kanan said snidely, "In case you haven't noticed, we've done this only a thousand times before."
"Where's Zeb?" Ezra asked next, wincing at the blast sounds coming through the comm.
"We'll grab him too. Just be ready for pick-up," Sabine snapped, "Ghost out."
Ezra looked to Leena and grinned. "Alright, let's get ready for pick-up."
"Hang on," Leena said, confused. "Is Kanan a Jedi too? Is that why he can shoot even though he's…" she made a face and Ezra almost laughed.
"Blind? Yeah. Who do you think taught me everything? The Jedi are kind of extinct."
Leena shook her head. "I'm really not loving the secrecy thing," she said with annoyance. "Aren't we supposed to be a team?"
Ezra shrugged. "Like I said, need-to-know basis."
Leena rolled her eyes. "Fine," she snapped, letting her shoulder go and wiping her bloody hand on her pants before refilling her blaster with a fresh cartridge. "You ready?"
Ezra held up his saber. "Always."
As they snuck back out of the hallway, trying to get past the hangar bay to a place where Sabine and Kanan could get them in the Ghost, Leena turned to Ezra again.
"We've been in firefights before, and you fought with a blaster," she whispered, and Ezra shrugged.
"I've been keeping a low profile," he said, "Kanan isn't big on the whole Jedi thing anymore."
"So why did you use that sword-"
"Lightsaber," Ezra corrected, cutting in, and Leena rolled her eyes.
"Lightsaber," she added, "Today but not before?"
"We weren't as outnumbered before," Ezra hissed, "And I just saved your ass, so can we question my secrecy later, please?"
Leena ignored the burning ache in her shoulder. "Thanks for that," she said genuinely.
"Don't worry about it," Ezra said. "You sure you're okay? You're bleeding a lot."
Leena shook her head. "I'm fine," she said, "I've had worse."
He looked at her and smirked a little. "You know what, I totally believe that."
They resumed their quiet as they tried to sneak out of the hangar bay, Leena not even fighting it when Ezra took the lead and guarded her.
"You sure you're okay?" Ezra asked as Leena lagged behind a little, holding her hand to her shoulder again but not lowering her weapon.
"Yep," Leena promised, "Keep going, Bridger."
"Sabine should make you some armor," Ezra said, "I'm sure she would if you asked."
Leena didn't comment and followed as Ezra crouched behind some crates.
"Good?" he asked, and she wanted to be annoyed at his concern but nodded.
"Yes," she said, "Go."
He nodded once and started forward, gesturing for her to follow.
"Ghost incoming," Sabine's voice echoed on both of their comms. "Prepare for pick-up,"
"Almost there," Ezra said into the comm, and waited a few beats before he broke into a run, Leena following him.
"In position!" Ezra shouted, and Leena shielded her eyes as Zeb shot with rear guns to hit the troopers coming out of the hangar bay toward her and Ezra. Ezra grabbed the wrist of her uninjured arm as the ramp lowered and he pulled her inside, slamming the button to close the ramp quickly, breathing heavy when he finally was able to relax.
"Get us out of here, Sabine!" he shouted, and braced himself with his hand as Sabine sped the Ghost up and broke the atmosphere. He looked to Leena, who was sitting down on a crate in the cargo hold, out of breath from the adrenaline rush and holding her shoulder.
"Sabine!" Ezra shouted up the ladder, "Where's the Med-kit?"
Sabine's voice echoed back down with worry. "Who's hurt?" She shouted.
"Leena got hit. Where the hell is the med-kit?" he looked through the crates nearby and Sabine appeared only seconds later with the med-kit under her arm. She looked concerned, and Leena felt that annoyance build again. Why did these people care so much? She'd been shot in much more dangerous places than her shoulder before, and figured it out all on her own. Why were they so worried about her?
It took Leena a moment to notice that she only felt this way because she was pretty sure that she wasn't worthy of their worry and affection. She'd barely been around two months, she was secretive and not nearly as grateful as she should be to them for how kind they were to her. Why would they be so concerned, they barely trusted her, and she didn't give them much reason to.
"I'm fine," she insisted.
"Can you get upstairs?" Sabine asked, "I'd rather be someplace cleaner than the cargo hold to fix that."
Leena made a face. "I'll take care of it," she said, sitting up straighter. "It's not that bad."
Sabine frowned. "It's hard to dress your own wound, especially in the shoulder. I'm a good medic, just let me help you."
If Leena wasn't in so much pain, she'd argue, but instead she stood and started up the ladder, and Ezra winced at the bloody handprint that she left on the railing. He gave Sabine a look and she gestured with her head to the cockpit.
"I plotted our jump. Just get us out of here before the Empire realizes we didn't make it too far." she told him, and Ezra nodded, hurrying up the ladder after Leena and running into the cockpit, almost bumping into Kanan.
"Leena's hurt?" Kanan asked and Ezra nodded.
"Took a shot to the shoulder. I think she's okay but she's also made of steel and doesn't say anything, so what do I know." Ezra explained.
"Sabine's a good medic. I'm sure she'll be fine."
"Yeah." Ezra glanced over his shoulder. "I...used my lightsaber. She knows we're…" Ezra rolled his eyes a little. "Force users."
Kanan had recently expressed his dislike of the word "Jedi" and all that came with it, so he insisted on using the "Force User" title instead. And even though Ezra didn't really see a difference, he let it slide.
Kanan nodded in understanding. "Fine," he told Ezra. "Go jump the ship, we'll talk later."
Ezra nodded and hurried into the cockpit and Kanan entered the galley where Sabine and Leena were arguing.
"Don't mess it up!" Leena shouted, yanking her leather jacket from Sabine's hands, "Don't touch it!"
"It's got blood all over it!" Sabine shouted back, "And a giant blaster hole through it!"
"Don't touch it, it's mine!" Leena shouted back.
"It's just a jacket!" Sabine argued. "We'll get you another one!"
"I don't want another one! It was my mom's." Leena snapped, "Leave it alone!"
Sabine let go of the damaged jacket in surprise, and opened her mouth to apologize when Kanan stepped into the room, taking his mask off his eyes. Leena balled up the dirty jacket and set it next to her on the booth, and let Sabine go back to dressing her wound, cutting away the shirt underneath, leaving her Leena a sports bra so Sabine could work on her shoulder.
"You okay, Leena?" Kanan asked and she sighed.
"I'm fine," she said, hesitating before she added, "Thank you."
He nodded, sitting next to her. "Sabine's a good medic, just let her fix you up, okay?"
Leena nodded. "Why…" she sighed. "Why do you care so much?" she asked, "All of you. What does it matter to you if I get hurt or not?"
Sabine looked up at her. "You're part of our crew," Sabine said honestly. "We don't leave anyone behind, and we do our best not to let anyone get hurt."
Leena hissed as Sabine wiped antiseptic on the wound to clean it before starting to stitch it up.
"You dropped everything to fix a stupid blaster wound," Leena said, "You're letting Ezra fly your ship."
Ezra flipped on the comm. "I heard that. Jumping to hyperspace."
The ship lurched forward as they jumped, and Sabine started to bandage Leena's shoulder.
"We're kind of sticklers for making sure everyone is taken care of," Kanan said, smiling a little. "And I take it that you haven't had anyone looking out for you for a while. That changes now."
Leena felt warmth grow in her chest and she smiled a little. "That...that would actually be really nice," she admitted. "Thank you."
Sabine left to grab Leena a tank top and helped her put it on, securing her injured arm in a sling before she sat back on her knees.
"Is the bacta helping?" she asked, and Leena nodded.
"Yeah," she said with a little smile. "Thanks, Sabine."
Sabine smiled too. "Be careful, okay? I'm just starting to get used to having you around."
Leena smirked. She could get used to being around too.