AN: Since I'm out of school for the holidays I had some extra time for an early update. Plus, I felt really excited about Star Wars since I just saw the new movie. It made me want to update super bad. I hope you all enjoy this chapter! And thank you all so much for the favorites, follows, and reviews! You're all so kind to me I don't know how I could ever thank you all. You definitely inspire me to keep the story exciting.

Chapter Twelve

"Upper Hand"

Vader knew when the transmission came in something was very, very wrong in the Force.

He approached the incoming message, standing before it as he accepted the transmission and allowed the hologram of his master to engulf his quarters. Vader stared behind the mask, seeing the hooded face of the Emperor assessing him unemotionally. Vader felt a slight…Disconnect with his master.

He knew it was bad.

"Darth Vader," The devil's voice rasped out in a drawl. "I suspect you know already…Something is very amiss."

He knew. Vader knew and for the first time since Padme's death, he felt lost. He could not find words to describe it. The children would be taken, killed for the sake of the Emperor. Not that Vader was attached. Not that he had looked after Isaac for four years and that Ezra had a way of picking everything apart like no child ever did.

Not that it reminded him of maybe…What life would have been like had Padme not perished with their child in her womb.

Darth Vader came to a conclusion. He had to deceive further. It was the only way to save the lives of his apprentices and eventually overthrow the dictator that was Palpatine. Vader straightened his back with new found confidence and said, "I am sorry, Master. But, I am not aware of what you are insinuating."

"An Agent Kallus came to me some time back," Palpatine pressed, folding his hologram fingers together. "He claimed that you had a young boy working under you. That he referred to you as Master but you simply referred to him as an associate. Conflicting…And that you were searching gravely for the Rebel's padawan?"

Vader paused as he racked his mind…

The words flowed out before he could stop them.

"Master, the elder boy was trained at the Inquisition Academy for nearly nine years. At age fifteen I began to assign him to several different missions in order to strengthen his skills with the intention of him taking over as Grand Inquisitor one day," The lie was smooth and set. "The younger of the two shows much promise and I plan to send him to the Academy as well."

"Hm," The Emperor hummed. "Darth Vader, I would like to discuss this further. You are to be in my presence within the next forty-eight hours. Is that clear?"

Vader kept his hands steady, "Yes, Master."

The transmission cut off and Vader clenched his fists…

Damn him.

Isaac hadn't expected the sight before him when he entered Ezra's room the next morning.

A distraught child…He had expected to see. Isaac could feel a twinge of agony in the Binding and it was actually making him unsteady on his own feet. But, he had mistaken it as anger. As hate. His master obviously hadn't taken into account the discomfort an unwilling Binding causes for both parties.

Or maybe he had…And he just didn't care.

But, no…What Isaac saw when he entered Ezra's room that morning was a shivering child drenched in cold sweat and curled so tightly into his blanket; Isaac didn't think he would ever be able to move again.

Isaac approached the bed quickly, moving the covers back to see Ezra's pale face. His eyes were half open and his teeth were chattering. He had bags under his eyes and his face was flushed with red rimmed pupils. He looked unlike himself…Dying.

The elder shook his head. The Binding couldn't have had such ill effects already…Not this quickly. It would kill him slowly if he did not let Isaac in, yes, but not this fiercely. This was something else entirely.

"Ezra," Isaac whispered, pushing the boy's hair back on his forehead to get a better look. "Ezra, hey…"

Ezra's eyes opened a bit wider as he continued to shiver uncontrollably. He coughed before muttering, "S…Screw…Off."

Isaac rolled his eyes, "Well, even on your death bed you still have whit. That's refreshing. What hurts?"

"My back," Ezra croaked, wincing slightly.

Isaac gently rolled the boy over, still coaxing a cry from him even with his care. He grabbed the bottom of Ezra's night shirt, pulling it up. He nearly cringed at the side of a burning red wound on his lower back, gashing at an angle and reaching nearly to his back hip and ribs. Isaac whispered, "Damned kid, you let it get infected."

"Yo…You c-cut…" Ezra coughed heavily. "Me."

Isaac rolled him back over, wrapping the blanket tighter before he turned to leave the room. He couldn't admit a bit of guilt was forming in his gut. The kid was sick and the Binding probably didn't help his immune system.

The teen walked down the hall, sensing out his master. However, by the time he realized he was close they were bumping into each other around a corner. Isaac jumped back in surprise, blinking up at Vader before he said, "Master, I don't think Ezra will be training today…He is ill."

To his surprise, Vader asked no questions about the boy's condition and simply spoke, "It's just the same. I have been called away by the Emperor."

Vader began to walk around him but Isaac's voice stopped him, "Wait. Why?"

The man couldn't bring himself to turn and face the boy, so he spoke over his shoulder, "He knows."

Isaac felt his body tense up in horror and Vader continued, "Watch over the boy carefully, Isaac. I sense something is coming…"

Isaac didn't stop Vader when he continued down the hall.

He just stood as his world started to break away.

Ezra wasn't in his right mind.

He couldn't quite figure out how to control his shivering limbs and no matter how hard he tried he couldn't rise from his bed. It was the convulsions that were the worst. It was so cold…Freezing. Like all the times the Dark Side had entered him and made a home, but this was different. It was a flood. An icy flood searing into the core of his mind and body.

He felt like he was dying. But, he probably was.

Ezra curled into himself, pulling the blanket around his freezing body tighter. He opened his swollen eyes to see a whirl of colors before him. Isaac had come in and tried to pry him from delirium…Maybe he had imagined it though. His back hurt so badly…If he didn't feel so out of it he would cry.

"Kanan," Ezra croaked through a sore throat. "Please…Please…Help me. I can't feel it."

He couldn't. He couldn't feel his master through the Force any longer. It was as if the Binding or whatever Isaac had called it had completely cut him off from his master. A blockade of some kind. Agony. Just Isaac was there and that was…Not fair. He pushed away the presence as much as he could, but every time the cloud threatened to eat him alive it was harder to shove it away.

It felt like someone was twisting a blade in his infected wound with each rejection.

Ezra blinked, turning to his side and he froze. Kanan…Standing in the doorway staring at him…Ezra felt nauseous because…No, it was wrong. It was wrong for Kanan to be here with him in this moment. He couldn't feel him. He couldn't. Just Isaac's billowing Force and God, he wanted it to go away…away…

Ezra whispered, "Kanan?"

The figure said nothing, just stared with a solemn expression. Ezra's shoulders seized and he said again, "Kanan…Please…Say something."

The silence was overwhelming. Solemn. Sad. He was disappointed, Ezra could see it. He hated Ezra now…He hated him for being so weak and for not fighting harder against Isaac and Vader. He didn't want him for a padawan anymore. It was over. It was done with. Ezra let out a sob and shouted as loud as his weakness would let him…

"Say something!"

"Quiet child."

Ezra jumped, his eyes blinking and suddenly…Vader was standing above him…

The boy shivered on the bed, trying to look around the man that had suddenly appeared. His eyes searched for Kanan, but he was gone…Just as silently as he had appeared and stayed…He was gone again.

Ezra clenched the blanket close.

He was going crazy.

His teeth chattered, looking up into the black orbs above him. Vader's machine was loud and Ezra gulped down his nerves. Tears were drying on his cheeks…Had he been crying? He couldn't remember now.

Vader continued to speak, "Isaac's Binding to you will make past attachments obsolete."

Ezra swallowed thickly as more tears fell down his face and the memories from the basement came to light. He saw Vader. He saw him happy and in love and something in the pit of his stomach was cruel.

"Is that how you felt when you let the Dark Side in?" Ezra rasped out, but managed to fill it with malice. "You didn't need her anymore?"

Vader paused a moment before replying, "What are you talking about?"

Ezra shook his head and shut his eyes, crying, "You hurt her! You loved her and you hurt her! I saw it!"

The child expected some sort of punishment for the outburst. To be choked. To be hit. But instead Vader sounded rather curious and shocked when he spoke, "Explain."

Ezra's chest was sobbing and it hurt…It hurt so damn much and Isaac's Binding was pressing hard against his heart and skull. His back arched on the bed and he shouted, pressing the palms of his hands into his eyes…

"She was going to have your baby! She married you! I saw it in the basement! I had a vision, I saw the picture! She loved you, I could feel it! And you hurt her!"

All was silent and Ezra sobbed on, "Which means hope for Isaac is worthless…If someone loved you…Married you and cared about you…And you still turned…"

Ezra's head fell to the side with exhaustion from his outburst and shoving down Isaac's Binding once more. He mumbled, "Pointless."

His eyes fluttered shut a moment and Ezra heard Vader say quietly, "It was to save her. It was because I loved her."

His presence was gone…

Ezra opened his eyes in time to see him leave the room and Aylo enter, carrying medical supplies in her hands. He said nothing as she set them down on the bed beside him and pressed a thermometer to his forehead, pulling it away and immediately growing pale.

He forced his words to sound joking…

"Not looking good?"

Aylo set the thermometer aside and grabbed his hand in hers, whispering, "I'll fix it. You have my word."

Ezra stared in surprise as she continued…

"I need a way to contact your allies."

Kanan felt terror rising within him.

He paced back and forth in the Ghost, Hera and Ahsoka sitting nearby watching him worriedly. Fear was etched into him along with rage and every other emotion they could imagine. Even someone who wasn't Force sensitive would be able to feel it radiating off of him.

He could no longer feel Ezra.

There was turmoil within their bond and his chest ached. All that could be wrong in the world was wrong and in this very moment he was positive nothing would be ok ever again. That's what the disconnect felt like. Worse than when Ezra had been taken from Lothal…This was an abyss.

This was Hell.

"It could be nothing," Ahsoka said, breaking Kanan from his panic. "Rifts in the Force happen all the time."

"Not like this, Ahsoka," Kanan snapped, clenching his fists. He looked miserable. Tired. Wounds were still healing from the explosion so long ago, but the pain wasn't coming from them. It was coming from Ezra…Or lack of. "I've never felt this before."

Hera sat forward and whispered, "Maybe they did this on purpose. To throw us off…To manipulate Ezra. You did say he was wanted for training so…The chances of him being…Well you know…Are slim."

Kanan shook his head, leaning against the wall to steady himself, "I could feel him…Before…He was alive. He was existing…I could feel him. But, now I feel nothing. Not a remnant. Like someone shoved me out…"

"The Sith Lord..." Ahsoka provided. "Or possibly even his apprentice. It definitely wasn't accidental. If I had to guess, I think they want to destroy any attachment to you that he has and start over bare. It's the only way they can leave a lasting impression."

Kanan groaned, "Without the master and padawan connection, how am I going to get the proof that the fleet wants of Ezra's presence on Naboo?"

"We'll figure something else out," Hera insisted. "Until then, you need to rest."

"Guys!" Sabine's voice shouted suddenly and the doors slid open, revealing the girl, Zeb, and Chopper at her heels. She was breathing heavily as she gasped, "We found something."

Both Hera and Ahsoka stood up and Kanan stood straight. Anything…Anything meant something at this point. Any proof. Anything…

Sabine kneeled down in front of Chopper and began to speak, "A transmission is coming in on Chop from Naboo."

Kanan stepped forward immediately and ordered, "Let it in. Don't bother hiding anything, just let it through. Now."

Sabine nodded quickly, gesturing at Chopper to do the work. The robot whirled, a hologram shooting from his front showing the image of a young woman…

No one recognized her…

"H-Hello?" She said quietly. She appeared to be hiding somewhere, glancing around nervously. "Hello? Is this the Rebel Fleet?"

"It is," Ahsoka said calmly. "Who are you?"

She paused, looking behind her and then back into the hologram…

"My name is Aylo…I'm an Imperial servant on the planet of Naboo. Currently I'm working in a manor on the outskirts of the main city. I bear a message of great importance. A young boy by the name of Ezra Bridger had been held a prisoner here for several weeks," The woman was speaking in a hurried whisper.

Kanan's eyes widened and he stepped forward, asking, "Is the boy alright?"

"He is alive," She insisted. "But, gravely ill I fear. Please, send help right away for him."

Sabine spoke, "How can we trust you?"

"The boy gave me the contact to this droid, I assume that is enough proof," She explained. "Please…I do not wish to see anyone else suffer in the hands of the Empire. Hurry."

Her vision whirled to the side and suddenly the transmission cut off. Kanan looked at Ahsoka with wide eyes and Ahsoka asked Chopper, "Did you record it?"

Chopper made a whirling sound and she looked at Kanan, smiling…

"There's our proof."