OOC: I just finished reading Star Wars: A New Dawn. My story might confuse some folks who have read it because I have a slightly different relationship in my brain between Hera and Kanan. In my head, Kanan is less of a womaniser.

OOC2 - sorry, was sick with the flu. Should be back to updating, although there isn't much of this one left :)

Kanan struggled to catch the blows raining down on him, punctuated by the throaty tones of the Inquisitor haranguing him at every step.

"My master would have loved the darkness in your boy there," he spoke in sibilant tones. "Moulded him. Shaped him into a servant of the Dark Side."

Kanan gritted his teeth, barely beating aside a sharp flick at his chest. He stumbled back a step.

"You are weak." The Inquisitor beat at Kanan's defences with a burst of force push. Kanan struggled to keep his feet. "You are not a Jedi, are you? Still a padawan. Barely that." His voice was drily amused, as though Kanan was little more than an irritant.

Kanan let out the breath he was holding. The Inquisitor was right. He wasn't a Jedi. He glanced at Ezra, crumpled on the floor, blood oozing still from the wound. But the kid needed him. If not him, then who?

"That's just a title." Kanan gritted his teeth, taking the force of a blow on his saber. "A title that you and your kind tried to kill."

The Inquisitor laughed, the sound mocking. "Tried? I think we succeeded, don't you?"

A flurry of blows between the two. Kanan was barely holding it together. He was almost wholly defensive, the teachings of his master only a dim memory. The force was surging through him though. Not yet.

"I'm still…alive…" Kanan grunted.

"Scurrying away from the might of the Sith like little cockroaches."

"Cockroaches are hard to kill."

"One good stomp usually does the trick."

"Keep stomping, Inquisitor. Keep stomping." Kanan flared his force, lifting the Inquisitor off his feet. He sensed, rather than saw, the door opening. He had to hope it was Zeb. A flash of purple confirmed it as Zeb headed for Ezra.

"Is he alive?" Kanan gasped, holding the Inquisitor off his feet with sustained effort.

"Just." Zeb was gathering the kid up with the gentlest of movements. Ezra was limp in his arms. "Spectre Two is inbound."

"Okay." Kanan turned back to the snarling Sith.

Zeb took off, rifle on his back, pistol in hand with Ezra held easily over his shoulder.

"You will die cursing the Jedi." The Inquisitor called to Kanan, trying to find purchase on the ceiling. "Cursing the fact you have that blood oozing in your veins."

"That doesn't sound so scary coming from a bug floating on the ceiling," Kanan tried to keep his voice nonchalant, but couldn't stop the sweat beading on his brow. This was taking more effort to sustain than he thought. The Sith was powerful.

"You have to let go sometime…Padawan." The taunt plucked his pride.

"Yeah." Kanan grinned. "I do."

"I will hunt you and that boy down. I will crush his soul under my boot heel and make him lick the toes. He will serve my Master and I. And I will use him to crush your little rebellion."

Anger licked along Kanan's patience and his focus wobbled.

"That's it." The Inquisitor gave a snake-like smile. "You can do nothing to stop me."

Kanan flung his power sideways, shoving the Inquisitor into the wall. The Inquisitor struck hard and landed on his knees. His lightsaber fell with a clatter. Kanan turned to go. He had to. He would lose.

"I will kill you. Kill that furry beast. Turn that Mandolorian into a smear on the pavement. And crush the life out of that pretty little twi'lek."

Kanan stilled.

"Ahhh." The Inquisitor's lightsaber hummed to life, the dual blade turning his pale skin a malignant red. "Another weakness. The twi'lek." He took several steps toward Kanan.

"Stay…away from them." Kanan's voice was hoarse.

"No. I don't think I will. She will look so lovely as the life fades from those big green eyes."

Kanan roared his anger and leapt toward the Pau'un. A small part of his brain was saying softly that it was only talk, meant to keep him there. Meant to distract. But he couldn't hear it over the scream of rage that shattered his self control.

His abilities with the lightsaber were rough, untrained for a decade. But he had other, more brutal skills, honed in the dives of the galaxy, fighting for his life in back alleys and spaceports where credits and food were more valued than life. His hybrid style seemed to unseat the Inquisitor a little.

For a little while, he had the Sith on the back foot. For a little while.

But the agent was better trained. And Kanan didn't have back up.

The lightsabers clashed, the staticky sound of their joining loud in the room. Kanan's elbow connected with the Inquisitors jaw and they stumbled apart. In the dim recesses of his mind, Kanan heard her.

"Kanan, where are you?"

Her voice was a whisper of calm over the rough edges of his anger.

"Kanan, come on. Answer me."

Kanan eyed the Inquisitor, who was circling him with cat-like grace, swiping the back of his long, elegant fingers over his jaw.

"Kanan, damn it." Hera's voice was edged with frustration and fear. "I need you. Come on. Zeb can't get through. He is under fire. Come on."

Kanan moved his lightsaber in a thoughtful arc. This Sith would never leave them in peace. But he had to run. He had to help his family. He glanced up at the ceiling, large panels. He took a breath, dug deep and pulled with all his might. The ceiling smashed down on the Inquisitor.

"Spectre Two. I'm coming." He said simply.