Welcome Back Everyone!

Who saw the clip for season 3? I did, many times, and I'm still crying... Can't get used to it! What did they do to our cute Blueberry! Not just with his hair, the killing spree too! I'm sure his blaster wasn't on stunt and that he sliced two Troopers with his lightsaber... *Sigh* (Did you notice that Ezra's pants style look a lot more like Kanan's?)

Anyway, I think I need hugs... lots of hugs...

Special mention!

-Hivedragon = Promise, I'll work on it :3 I love Stockholm Syndrome story XD

-Magic = When you think you've done everything imaginable to a character... then, you discover it was just the beginning XD

-Fear and yadira5053 = I hope this was fast enough :3 And that you'll enjoy this chapter too :D

Have a nice reading time! :3

P.s. I own Nothing!

Chapter 9

-"Last one." Said Kallus calmly, hands behind his back." What is a 1-5-7?"

-"An emergency protocol." Immediately answered Ezra.

-"Alright, about what?"

Ezra frowned, searching for the answer, and, in the end, simply grunted.

When Kallus realized the boy wouldn't answer, he sighed. -"The Grand Inquisitor won't be satisfied with this."

Ezra swept his hand with rage, turning on his chair to face properly the Agent. -"I've got 8 out of 10 questions! It's not nothing!"

-"You have to memorize all of them." Replied back the man, neutral.

The kid grabbed the Holopad and waved it toward Kallus. -"He can't expect me to have learned all that in only 3 days?! If he wanted a Protocolar Droid, he should have bought one!" He turned and threw the pad on the table.

Catching sight of the Holoprojector, he calmed down a little and took his forehead in his hands, elbows on the metal surface. If this continued, he could never help his parents... -"How can someone memorize all those stupid codes. It's just an absurdly huge bunch of number."

The Agent seemed to feel a slight sympathy for the boy, but got himself together the second after.

He walked toward the kid, -"He seems to have high expectation for you." and posed a hand on the table to lean closer. His tone hardened. "Tell me, why are you different?"

Ezra raised his head, looking serious and puzzled at the same time by the question. -"I'm not..."

But Kallus interrupted him, posing his second hand on the chair's backrest. -"There's an Imperial Academy on Lothal. If he wanted to form you as a cadet, he would have sent you there. Even considering you had affiliation with the Rebels, you weren't with them long enough to know that much. Yet, he still interrogated you as if you could have some kind of crucial knowledge and took the trouble of running after them to bring you back..."

Ezra's frown deepened. -"He said I share some kind of power he has. A connection with this thing called the Force."

Kallus continued, spiteful. -"Consensual Force sensitive children are sent to the Arkanis Academy. Non-cooperatives one... are eliminated..."

Intimidated by the Agent's tone and glare, Ezra tried to stand, but Kallus caught his shoulder before he could move away.

-"Look, I don't understand either!" Snapped the kid after having been pushed back on his seat. "Why don't you ask him instead?!"

The Agent seemed to calm down, even though keeping a strong grip on the thin shoulder. -"I tried, but he didn't answer and I can't push this matter further. The Grand Inquisitor's decisions are out of my jurisdiction."

Cornered, Ezra answered back, defiantly. -"The only thing I know is that he did something with his Force thing and now I can't run away from him. So, if you find something interesting, feel free to share it with me."

Kallus locked his sight in the electric blue eyes and, to his disappointment, realized the kid was honest. He really wanted to know if and how he could escape.

On his side, Ezra felt relieved when the man stood up again. He had never been the center of attention and really didn't understand why the Inquisitor would spend so much effort on him. Sure, he was suppose to have this 'unique gift', but it had only caused problems until now... and, anyway, he had forbidden him to tell anyone, so the inquiring Imperial Agent was everything the kid wanted to avoid right now.

As to answer Ezra's unspoken wish to see Kallus disappear, the Inquisitor's voice was heard from the Agent's comlink.

-"Agent Kallus, we have a 1-4-5 on 5-6-3/1-6-9. There's your chance to catch them."

The man turned on his heels and walked toward the door, comm in hand. -"Understood. I'm on my way."

-"Seriously, how can you memorize those codes?!" Bursted Ezra, incapable to contain his exasperation.

The Agent looked at him, a hand on the doorframe. -"There's a pattern for each kind of codes. Emergency protocol starts with a 1, after is the nature of the problem and finally the priority. Location codes are the abbreviated coordinates of the system, then the ones of the planet." He gave a faint smile and started to run in the corridor.

Did this Imperial Agent just take the time to help him, a street-rat kid? Ezra felt something strange inside him, something comforting, and leaned back on his chair, looking at the now empty doorway. Unless he was the one closing it before sleeping, it was always open, mocking him, daring him to walk away...

He turned his sight to the Holopad and grabbed it back, curious to understand what this emergency was about. Plus, he felt somewhat good right now, somehow encouraged, and the feeling kept growing inside his chest.

Still looking for the codes' meanings, he didn't even bother to look at the Stormtrooper who entered into his room. At least, not before the door was closed! He raised his head to stare at the newcomer suspiciously. Now that he was thinking about it, he already had his three meals today...

The trooper removed his helmet and the kid finally understood again what was that sensation spreading in him from his heart. Kanan smiled and the warmth inside Ezra grew even more! He raised from his seat, making the chair fall on the floor, and ran into the man's arms, hugging him strongly!

Kanan held him closely, stroking gently his blue-black hair. -"Found you."

-"Took your sweet time!" Falsely scolded Ezra, tightening his grip. He was holding back his tears, but his shoulders were shaking.

-"I'm sorry for the delay. We were preparing a diversion. The others are keeping him occupied to allow me some time alone with you."

By him, it was easy to understand he was talking about the Inquisitor...

Kanan released his hold, grabbing the kid's upper arms to look in his eyes. -"We might not have that much time before us and, anyway, let's not make them face him too long. It's not safe."

Ezra nodded and Kanan posed a hand on the back of his head to close the distance between them and leaned his forehead on the kid's.

The Jedi dived into the boy's inner-self, opening his eyes to see Ezra still strongly ensnared in his shackles, but now calmer... resigned... and the man's heart twinged again. No one should be bound like that, even less a child! He had more restrains on him than a criminal would have!

As he approached, Ezra raised his head to look at him. The boy seemed tired, even exhausted, but he still menaged a smile when Kanan kneeled in front of him, running a hand in the blue-black hair while returning the smile.

-"I still don't know how, but we'll go through this together ." Promised the Jedi, solemn.

Ezra nodded and Kanan started to inspect the chains. They were holding their prisoner tighly, so close it would have cut the blood flow if it had been his material body, leaving no space to move them away. If he wanted to free the kid, he needed to find a way to unlock or break them... Following one of them to its source, he reached the ground without finding any lock. He followed another one and it was the same result, only links...

-"How did he create them..." Pondered the man aloud.

-"They appeared from the floor right after he plunged that yellow one inside me." Frowned Ezra.

Kanan leaned to observe this one too and he also saw the blue stream still hiding under it. His smile widened seeing it had become bigger and stronger.

He raised his sight, looking intensely inside Ezra's sapphires. -"I will try something. It may be uncomfortable, but I swear I won't hurt you."

Ezra nodded once more. -"I trust you."

This time, it's Kanan who felt the warmth spreading inside his heart! The kid's trust was worth every risk and he was glad to have met him, even if it meant he was now infiltring alone a Star Destroyer disguised as a Buckethead!

He leaned a hand on the thin shoulder and moved the other along the yellow chain, looking one more time into Ezra's eyes to reassure him while plunging gently inside his chest. The kid winced, but stayed still, and tried to control his breath. It was not painful, like the last time with the Inquisitor, but the sensation was far from pleasant.

Moving his finger, Kanan probed the chain and found it ensnared around the kid's inner-heart. Searching a little more, moving slowly and carefully, he felt two links inserted one inside another. This was the end of the Bond! If he could break this link, the rest would be easy to pull away...

Focusing on this particular link, concentrating to shatter it, he nearly didn't hear Ezra's warning.

Under his panting breath, the kid whispered, afraid. -"Something cold is approaching..."

Kanan opened his eyes again, witnessing the boy's frightened expression as he was staring behind the man's shoulder.

Ezra's stare turned to Kanan, panicked. -"He's coming!"

The Jedi took a deep breath and vanished, his body turning into the blue mist and he merged with it.

The second after, the Grand Inquisitor Inner-self appeared in sight, glaring at the helpless boy...

...

Hello everyone! I need your help!

I made up the code's patterns based on episode 9 of season 2 (Steath Strike) 'cause I searched everywhere on the net and couldn't find an official explanation. If you have the real explanation about those protocols code, please share them with me! :D

Until next time, Take Care! :3