Maul stretched, exiting Ezra's mind with a small yawn. The whole situation had him fuming, yet the zabrak had to give credit where credit was due, the boy had boldness to him. Boldness wouldn't provide for every situation, and the boy needed to taught that. Along with that, the boy had, in all likelihood, drawn his 'master' into the endeavour, which wouldn't help Maul in the slightest. The man was one simply known as 'Kanan' though Maul doubted that it was the former jedi's name. He held a startling amount of dedication to his apprentice, but, frankly, the fact that he had one was the surprising.

Maul rose, entering the antechamber of the fortress he called home. Twisted stone arched to form a domed ceiling that Maul suspected wasn't natural. His gaze roamed the walls, the crude paintings and scorched rock a reminder of what dathomir once was. The unnatural stone dome that Maul found strange awe in; he'd studied the sith and dark magics of his orders' past, though never put them in practice - yet. The spell he planned to use was archaic, at minimum a thousand years had passed since its creation. It wouldn't be his first time using it - he'd lost his youthful overconfidence nearing thirty years ago, and Maul had used it several times on Dathomir's indigenous fauna to a great degree, but the stock the stock the dathomirian put into that fact was low. His apprentice had been surprisingly resilient to his mental attacks, though when true effort was put in he would collapse. As he already had.

This attack wasn't a guaranteed success, though Maul felt his skill in force domination had improved. Dark side magic depended on whether the caster could overpower their victim's will.

And that was the rogue element in the equation.

It was the undetermined variable, having yet to be defined. It was the thorn in Maul's side that the zabrak hoped would be moot by the end of this. Yet Maul hadn't found the correct time; he was sure his apprentice would have to tell the rest of his crewmates about the connection, thus making Maul's attempt require the perfect moment. But...he could wait.

He'd waited near twenty years for Kenobi.

A few more wouldn't make a difference.

Ezra sucked in a breath as the door slid open, and let it out as Hera, Zeb, and Sabine took up positions around his bed. Hera took a seat across from him, while Zeb simply stood. Sabine was almost directly on the thing, easily the closest of the three. A small, insignificant part of him hoped in vain for some quip from someone. none came.

"Ezra, I'm sure you know why we're all here," Hera said, her voice a stern that had traditionally reserved for Kanan, "So I'm not beating around the bantha here: what is going on with you?" Ezra felt the first twitch of awkwardness, his mind frantic to give some sort of response.

"Maul." was all he gave. Hera's arms crossed and her eyebrows rose.

"Kanan talked about someone with that name - said he was a sith." Ezra shook his head, matted hair falling down his forehead.

"Former sith." he corrected, then paused. "He's been invading my mind." Hera blinked, and Ezra sure in the knowledge that every mind in the room was putting the pieces together.

"That nightmare...you said it was about someone invading your mind..." Hera trailed off, the events of the previous night coming back to her in a flood. Once she'd realised what Ezra had done, the twi'lek glared. Ezra's eyes flicked around the three figures, making note of their expressions; Hera's disturbed him, Zeb's was in a similar state, and Sabine's...the mandalorian looked ready to kill. Her hand twitched, a sure sign she was ready to hurt something - or him.

A stern glance from Hera stopped that in its tracks.

"So; you hid this from all of us," there was significant emphasis on 'all' "then when you really needed help, you brushed it off." Hera stated, her glare intensifying, "Kanan talked about 'bonds' people like you form...no. You don't, right?" Ezra shook his head.

"I did." Hera fell silent at that, while Sabine and Zeb looked utterly bewildered. Unawares to this, Hera inquired further.

"How?" ezra's eyes directed to the floor and he said,

"If I knew, we wouldn't be here." the statement was nothing but a whisper, so quiet only the mandalorian next to him heard it. Their eyes held a small amount of pity.

"The nightmare?" Ezra's eyes rose to meet Hera's then darkened, seemingly causing the temperature in the room to drop several degrees.

"When he broke me." The twi'lek across from him frowned, worry starting to replace anger.

"What do you mean by 'broke me'?" Ezra directed his gaze to the blankets covering his feet, staring through them, the pain he felt when Maul broke him hitting him once more. He shivered.

"He has full access to my mind." Sabine inched away from him at that,, while Zeb merely stared. Hera, out of all of them, let out a breath.

"Okay...what does this mean?" Hera didn't know it was possible, but Ezra's irises grew darker.

" He has everything." The trio facing him blinked, all their eyes growing in size. Sabine shook her head, not believing it.

"'Everything'?" The youth she asked nodded slowly.

"Yes. Maul. Knows. Every. Thing. I can't change it - none of you can." Zeb opened his mouth, but Ezra straightened his back and held up a hand.

"He now knows that you know. He knows all the information I've got on the rebellion, and of all of you - he knows everything. I'm surprised he hasn't taunted me during this conversation at all yet," His crewmates looked at each other, before leveling them at Ezra in sync. "Through our bond." he clarified, pushing down his uncomfortableness and locking gazes with each crew member in turn. Hera and Zeb gave him little difficulty, expressions of anger replaced by worry and uncertainty. When his met Sabine's, the movement of his eyes stopped dead.

The mandalorian's eyes held emotions unprecedented for Ezra; worry mixed with fear, anger, compassion...they were a kaleidoscope, each with various levels of precedence over the others. For a few moments, the pair stared each other down. Both attempted to read the other's emotions, but to no avail for both fronts. Ezra forced himself away from the gaze, instead leveling his irises on Hera.

"I understand if you want me to leave." he began to swing his legs over the sides of the bed when Hera said:

"No...stay. I'll contact Kanan. Zeb, Sabine - watch over him." the pilot said, and without a word more, she left the cabin to the trio. Ezra stayed still, while his crewmates drew their arms. They were pointed at per se but the teen was sure the safeties were off.

The three were silent, each with their own thoughts. For Ezra, these were increasingly fatalist; he didn't know how Kanan would react, nor how his life would spiral from this point. One item was a guarantee, however.

Maul would be the major player in it.

AN: Yeah...I don't think this chapter is the best. :/ But, I'll put it out nonetheless - you guys needs something from me. The chapters after this will be far superior (I hope) and we're reaching this story's climax. The crew now knows whats been happening with Ezra, but what will they do with that knowledge? Find out next time...when I get past my procrastination and get another chapter out. ;] Any reviews/follows/favorites will be duly noted - Raging Celiac