Hello! I hope you like this chapter!

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Chapter 3 – Silence

Ezra winced, the light from above impairing his vision. He brought his hand up to his eyes, rubbing them, before sitting up.

But something was not right. He was in the med bad, not his own; and as he looked down at his body, bandages were wrapped around his chest, practically covering it up entirely. He rubbed his eyes again, disorientated.

He remembered the landspeeder, the chase; and the explosion. A burst of fire shot up his spine, and Ezra flinched at the pain. He fell to the floor, managing to catch himself at the last minute before hitting his head. He rubbed the back of it, hands gliding over the bump from where he had been hit, as the memory came swarming back to him.

He was at the market, beside Kanan. He could tell that he was being protective, but it was annoying him that every other second Kanan would glance over his shoulder to see if Ezra was still there. Ezra rolled his eyes at his master, despite the feeling of caring that surfaced through him. It was odd; he had never felt what it was like to be cared about.

But as his eyes returned to his master, who was now looking away as if his glance had gone undetected, he noticed something on the edge of his eyesight. He turned quickly, his heart beating as his mind refused to believe what he saw. It was impossible.

With one last glance at Kanan, and a regretful look on his face, he disappeared into the crowd. He had years of experience, and knew that he would only have a few minutes before his master would check on him and find nothing but empty space.

He raced through the crowd, his heart beating as he stopped in front of the building where he had seen the figure. Walking through the door, he refrained from igniting his blade. His hands glided on the metal shelves, guiding him through the warehouse.

And then… suffocating, blaster shots and pain. Ezra blinked, taking a deep breath.

He slowly stood, his shaking body's protest ignored by his stubborn mind. He held on to whatever was closest to him, using it as an anchor in case he was to go astray. When he made it to the door, his mind was becoming clearer, and his body had stopped shaking.

Thankful for the automatic doors, he made his way down the hall and towards the common room. He had no doubt that someone would be there. He needed to tell them to run, to leave him somewhere and run. If the man was who he thought he was, then they would all be dead by the next rotation.

Ezra shuffled into the room, and four eyes looked up at him.

"Ezra?" Hera asked, as the crew stood up from their seats, concern and confusion written all over their faces. "What are you doing up?"

"Where are we?" Ezra questioned. Hera answered hesitantly.

"We're on Lothal. Do you remember what happened?" But if Ezra had heard her, he paid no attention. Instead, he shoved himself off of the door frame and shuffled forward.

"We need to go. Now." He grunted as another flare of pain shot through him, and the only thing that stopped him from falling to the ground was Zeb's bulky arms.

"Karabast, Hera. What did you put 'im on?" Zeb asked, still refraining from letting the teen stand, despite Ezra's attempts.

"Nothing," Hera replied. Ezra managed to stand upright again, and pretended to dust himself off.

"Take it easy, Ezra," Kanan said.

"Yeah, you can barely hold yourself upright," Zeb observed.

"I'm fine," Ezra said. He then gestured to the bandages that wrapped around his chest. "Thanks for ruining my shirt, by the way."

"That's what you're mad about?" Zeb exclaimed, his voice growing in frustration. "Kid, you were bleedin' all over the cargo bay, muttering nonsense!"

"I had it under control!" Ezra defended.

"Sure you did," Zeb scoffed.

"I did! It wasn't that bad, I could handle it!"

"Ezra," Kanan said, his voice calm as he took a step towards the teen. He pretended not notice how Ezra flinched ever so slightly. "Just take a breath. Why do we need to leave? Does this have something to do with the bounty hunter in the warehouse?"

Ezra, wavering on his feet, nodded his head. "We need to leave, Kanan."

"Okay, but you have to explain the situation to us first."

"And you need to sit down before you fall over," Hera added. Zeb guided a now submissive Ezra to the small couch. He sat on the edge, his back not touching the seat.

"We need to leave-" Ezra started, before Zeb cut him off.

"Yeah, we got that part."

"If you would let me finish," Ezra snapped. "I was going to say: we need to leave because the man will be back. And next time he'll have a better plan."

"Who is he? And why is he after you?" Sabine asked. Hera and Kanan had told her and Zeb what had happened, but there were still holes in the story; holes that needed to be filled.

"I wish I knew," Ezra admitted. "He's been after me for a while now. He first tried to kill me by fighting, but when that wasn't effective, he tried to lure me places. I can't believe I fell for it again."

"Care to elaborate a bit more?" Kanan asked, raising his eyebrows at the padawan. He could sense that Ezra was holding back, but what he was holding back was unknown. Ezra shifted a bit in his seat, before sighing and lowering his shoulders.

"I first saw him when I was about 10. He followed me into an alley and…" Ezra swallowed. The weight of the air around them was heavy, the crew's imagination of what happened taking root. When Ezra spoke again, his words sliced through the silence. "But I outran him, in the end. And the next time I saw him, I raced out of the bar as fast as possible," Ezra shrugged. "There were a few more run-ins after that, but the last time I saw him was about a year or two ago, when he lured me into a building and set it on fire. I was able to get out, but I never saw him make it. I thought he was finally gone," Ezra voice sounded relieved, before changing back into the heavy tone. "But I was wrong."

The silence nearly suffocated Ezra. He could sense the crew processing the information, filling in the gaps that he had left blank. And when someone finally spoke, it did not do much to ease the tension.

"Why did you wait until now to tell us?" Kanan asked. Ezra knew he was just being protective, but he did not need protection.

"Because, like I mentioned, I thought he was gone. So when I saw him in the market place…" Ezra shrugged. "Curiosity won over."

"Yeah, and curiosity is what also killed the loth-cat," Zeb stated, his voice flat. Kanan, ignoring the comment but completely agreeing with it, spoke.

"Ezra, he was going to kill you right there-"

"I don't think so actually. Whatever he wants, he needs me alive to do it. That's why he knocked me out," Ezra stated matter-of-factly.

"He knocked you out?" Hera questioned, concern radiating off of her. Ezra winced. He should not have mentioned that.

"Yeah, but it's not big deal. I can handle it."

"Ezra," Hera said, scooching closer to him. "We're your family now, and we'll protect you." Kanan could not help but notice the small flinch Ezra had at the word 'family'. "You don't have to worry about him anymore. And I'll fly the Ghost up into the atmosphere. We can spend the night up there to make sure he doesn't come after you." Ezra nodded in approval. "But you need to let me see your head." After a moment of hesitation, Ezra conceded, and lowered his head.

"Ezra, has the man ever said anything to you? Anything that might give us a clue as to what he wants?" Sabine asked.

"Only once, the first time he cornered me. I can barely remember it though; it was… a long time ago." Kanan ran his hand over his chin.

"I may have a solution to that."

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R & R

~ Kavella ~