I am doing my best with updating with limited equipment to do so- it just may take an extra day or two added onto the schedule. I promise I am working! Love you all to much not to.

*UPDATE* After recieving several concers about the blood in Sabine's throat, I felt I needed to clarify- she'd bitten her cheek in the explosion, and the resulting blood basically trickled down to her throat. I've added a few more sentences actually in the chapter, so if you want more details on that it's down below. Sorry for any confusion! (Though we all know I'm not above basic torture :3)

Disclaimer: Plot is mine. Characters are not. Universe is not. Technology is not. Abilities are not. Terminology is not... are we getting the pattern here?

For the second time that night- that hour, even -the room blew up around Ezra. With him in it. Of course.

There was that split second beforehand, when an instinct curled up in his blood that leapt- and he knew there was deadly danger. He knew in his bones and in his veins what would happen before it did, and in that split-second of awareness, there also came the realization that if he didn't move, he would die.

Directly after that came the second realization that if he didn't move Sabine, she would too.

Not pausing to think- because thinking was always slow compared to the instincts of the Force -Ezra lunged, grabbing the top of Sabine's arm and pulling- pulling them both away as the bombs chain-reacted and blew the entire production line to smithereens. If he had been a second, even a half a second slower, both he and Sabine would have been caught in the blast and incinerated. Instead, they were both catapulted forwards by the Force, hurled sideways to take cover behind the half-finished vehicle on the side. Ezra held onto and grounded their cover with his mind, knowing that the durasteel would withstand the debris but not the force of the explosion itself without help.

But panic blossomed in his stomach once more as the roar of the explosion drowned his senses, because Sabine was gone- torn from his grip and flying away, energy of her own bombs propelling her as Ezra lost her. He would have leapt after her- but there was more danger, incoming to the both of them. There were welders and torches and metal and ceiling flying outwards and falling down- heavy and sharp and propelled through the air fast enough to crash through the husk of a vehicle or skewer them- no, those huge chunks of debris would most likely just squish them to a paste.

With focus he'd never achieved except for meditation, the large pieces debris flying towards them were halted in their tracks, the flame and explosions of the bombs washing around them as they were cast away. Roaring flames heated the metal husk with which he was trusting his life, flowing around the edges, turning them cherry-red and slightly melty.

Sabine-! was a far enough distance away from the blast; she should be fine. Focus on not letting chunks of the platform or the ceiling squish you both flat. Metallic thuds followed through the flames as the smaller pieces the Force hadn't screamed at him were dangerous slammed into the ground and surrounding vehicles, denting the finished and half-finished products that lined the sides of the once functioning production line. The roaring of the bombs and the screeching of metal bombarded him even as his hands leapt to cover his ears, and he screwed his eyes shut against the blinding light of the fire.

All of this happened in less than three seconds.

The rest was simply standing there as the shock waves dissipated near instantly and the forces behind the blast died down. Then there was silence, which Ezra took to meant as the explosion deafening his ears. He moved his jaw forcefully, and they popped- blood trickled down the left side of his neck as his hearing came back.

Ruptured eardrum- not surprising, since this is the SECOND explosion in ONE day. Just be thankful both of them didn't burst... It wasn't that serious, if he didn't do anything to it it'd heal on it's own with a bit of time. Until then, a ruptured eardrum was the least of his worries.

Ezra coughed, acidic smoke merging with the smell of melting metal and drifting through the air. His chest burned, but he payed it no mind. Based on the fact that there were no more lasers flying at them, the stormtroopers hadn't been as lucky with avoiding the explosions. Kind of expected, really. On a good day they didn't even have enough reflexes to handle Chopper- even with Ezra's Jedi reflexes he'd only barely gotten out okay. The bucket-heads didn't stand a chance.

And now, the entire eastern production bay was awash with acrid smoke, quickly floating upwards into the exposed night sky. If Ezra hadn't been concerned with a million other things, he would have found the situation amusing: most of the ceiling was blown away, yet the surrounding walls were still upright (if a little scorched), leaving them in a huge box open to the world.

More important things first.

"Sabine?!" He couldn't see the colorful Mandalorian- he was convinced she was still alive (she has to be), but he didn't know where. Or if she was okay. He'd done the best he could under the situation, but as he'd learned in the past- sometimes his best just simply wasn't enough. Panic rose in his chest when he didn't receive an answer, and Ezra stumbled a few steps away from his cover, legs slightly jelly-ified. Nerves. He did just stand through an explosion. And his best friend wasn't answering.

"Sabine!" Why isn't she answering. She knew as well as he did that they had to get out of there fast- especially now that the bombs had been detonated. The explosion would have registered on the Imperial's sensors, and Morden would send twenty troopers down- including himself, most likely. They had to leave- and Ezra was panicking for a completely different reason.

"Sabine where are you?!" Ezra whipped his head back and forth, searching the scorched rubble for any color or sign of her, but seeing nothing but the dull grays and piping hot reds. There were small fires still burning, not a threat but still to be noticed. Ezra moved out, clambering atop an overturned drilling frame and searching from his new higher vantage point.

Coughing- and then a subdued "O'er here-" brings waves of relief to Ezra's already shaky knees. She was alive. He scrambled down and towards the voice, slipping slightly as the hot metal gave way and slid to the floor with a dull 'thud'. "Sabine! Oh thank the Force; are you okay?!" Of course, 'okay' was a relative term. And even more so with her stubbornness that so matched his own. But he needed to know.

"Over he-" There's more coughing, and Ezra didn't like the fact that she only repeated her earlier phrase instead of giving an answer. But now he has a definitive location to match her floating voice.

"Hold on- I got you out of the direct line of fire from the blast, but I couldn't keep a hold of you so you went a little... further than just behind cover." Yeah, just a LITTLE. As in nearly twenty feet- He wouldn't be surprised if the whiplash from her flight alone had dazed her.

There-! Paint-splattered legs, hanging out sideways from a raised platform. They didn't look broken, so that was okay at least- Ezra felt his knees wobble dangerously as the overwhelming 'she's alright' drowned the rest of his thoughts. He shook his head. They couldn't celebrate until they were safely outside the complex. There was a sheet of metal obscuring the rest of her body from his immediate view, but the fact that she'd called out to him meant she was just buried underneath it, not squished flat underneath it. The fact that there was only a small margin between the two possibilities sent Ezra shivering despite the immense heat rising from the flames and the conducted metal. I should have kept a tighter grip on her-

"Just give me a second- I can see you, but there's a sheet of metal in the way, I just need to move it and we can get out of this place." And what a relief it would be to finally do so. Once again connecting with the Force, Ezra concentrated past the burning in his lungs and lifted it away from his friend. It felt heavier in his head than he thought- it took him far longer to move it away than he would have liked.

Panting heavily, Ezra lifted his eyes to greet the Mandalorian. And froze.

Ow.

Her head was ringing. Her body was aching. She was spinning. No she wasn't- that was... just her head, right?

How can my head spin on it's own?

No no no, it just felt like it was spinning... although it really really felt like it was physically moving too. That... that shouldn't- that wasn't healthy. Heads were supposed to stay still. Right?

I think that's right- ow.

Eyes opening slowly. When had they closed? For how long? A little voice in her head was whispering only seconds, but it felt like she was waking up after hours of unconsciousness. Why was she unconscious? Was she sleeping? No. Sleeping wasn't painful.

"Sabine?!"

There was noise- someone was calling out. They were calling out her name. That was her name... she was almost positive. So who was calling? They must be close- they were loud. Unnaturally loud. Why didn't they quiet down? Didn't they know how rude they were being?

"Sabine!"

She was half-tempted just to ignore the person. It'd serve them right, shouting so loudly and being so rude. Or was that distress? Were they scared? Was that why they were yelling?

Concussion- major.

What an odd word. What did it mean again? She was positive she knew... somewhere. How could she forget? Did she forget? Did she ever really know? Why did that word pop up?

"Sabine where are you?!"

The screaming voice was urgent. And afraid. Why was it afraid? Was the yelling person scared? Were they scared of her? That seemed right... after all, she was the Mighty Mand-

Ezra-!

Urgent. She needed to get up. She needed to call out- and she needed to understand, she needed to know- who was Ezra? No, she knew him- who was he to her? Why was she so confused? She knows him; why is there a question?

Dusty lips open, and there's a tang on her tongue. Blood, she thinks. That's my blood. What's it doing on my face? No matter- she had to answer the question. But she needed him there. Or did she? Wasn't it all in her head? Someone had said the entire matter was all in her head... was it her? Was she questioning her thoughts? About him? What was her conflict? And why was there even any conflict if she knew him?

"O-" Coughing. And then there was more tangy liquid in her throat. That was better- blood was supposed to be inside, not outside. Right? There was supposed to be blood there? Though it was trickling down from her mouth- blood was supposed to stay inside in one area, right? Or was it supposed to move from her mouth to her throat? She didn't know, but she swallowed and it was gone.

Try again.

"O'er here-" There's shuffling, there's movement and then there's change. The dark and dusty gloom that didn't let her see anything shifted, and then there was light. No- there was always light, she'd just not registered it. She thought. But there was movement. Dust and smoke are drifting upwards- and then there's the smell, the smell of burning.

Fire- is there fire? No- there were bombs. There were bombs, and explosions. Those were good things, she knew them. She made them. She knows them. But why was she hurting? She knows them, but did they hurt her? He wouldn't hurt her, she knows that. He wouldn't do anything like that. Except to her head. He was in there, and making her head hurt. Or was that just the ground. Or the blood?

"Sabine! Oh thank the Force; are you okay?!" There's the voice- his voice. Ezra's voice. And it's not scared anymore. That's a good thing. That's always a good thing. Not scared means no danger. She thinks. But why did he stop talking?

"Over he-" She coughs, and then there's more blood. It's splattering in the air in front of her- not the air. Her helmet. Her hat. Her helmet-hat is now splattered with blood. She blinks at it, narrowing her eyes in annoyance. Blood was supposed to stay on the inside, what was it doing going out?!

The ground shifts beneath her, and she groans as her head spins again. No, it wasn't spinning, it was just... spinning, why was it spinning?

"Hold on- I got you out of the direct line of fire from the blast, but I couldn't keep a hold of you so you went a little... further than just behind cover."

Sabine listens to him talking, and starts smiling like an idiot because she has no idea what he's saying. His voice is nice, though, so she doesn't mind. Somewhere in her head is screaming that that's a bad bad thing, but why would it be? Language is hard. The smile turns into a frown. But she was supposed to understand him. She was supposed to know him. So why wasn't she? It was his fault, he wasn't making sense. If she was supposed to know him, he was supposed to be known.

But she didn't know his label. Was he a friend? Wasn't he more? Was he interested? Was she interested?

Why don't I know these things? I need to know these things-

A question. There was a question, a really important question. She talked about it with... with... the green one. She talked about it because she needed to know.

That's right- those sign things. They made me think weird stuff. About him. Because I like him.

So that was the question- or did she just answer it?

Wait- isn't he supposed to... no, even better- I'm supposed to think about this stuff. Because he doesn't know. He's oblivious- do I like oblivious people?

"Just give me a second- I can see you, but there's a sheet of metal in the way, I just need to-" Woah there, not-oblivious alert! He knew metal! And he saw her! So he wasn't oblivious.

Well sorry- not oblivious, not liked. Because that's- No, that was wrong, because she did like him... right? Did she?

The world shifted, and light spilled over as the wall- that wasn't a wall -to her left fell down. There was a big crash, and Sabine scowled. She liked him! But, no? Did she? What was it?

There he was- there was blood on his face too. Apparently they both had rebellious blood. Rebel- that meant something. They were both rebels. They fought- with each other? No. With each other, against the buckets and... and shocking conduits. That was important.

Oh- it's simple. The answer is simple.

She looked at his face, understanding dawning as she lay there. Of course. It was so. Simple. Why didn't she get it before? I know the answer to the question now- aren't you happy about that? He should be happy. She was. So why were his eyes so big? And his face white? Was he scared of her? No, there was trust with them- he was scared for her? Was that why he was looking at her? No- he wasn't looking at her. He was looking at her stomach.

And the obvious source of her pain.

While Ezra may have protected the both of them from the brunt of the blast, accounting for the fire and the shock waves and the main pieces of debris... there was one aspect of the explosion that he had completely let slip by his radar. Shrapnel. Tiny, small enough to be insignificant against their hard metal shields, but big enough to make an impact against soft flesh.

And stab straight through Sabine's abdomen.

Tee hee, you guys thought I was done with you... :3