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“Lieutenant Commander Bridger,” Ezra looks up from the holotable when Mon Mothma calls for him, “I have an assignment for you.”
“For me?” Stepping away from the table, he meets her halfway. “Alright, what can I do for you?”
“I’m sending you and Captain Kallus on a recon mission in the Targonn System. The captain just decoded some intel about a meeting being held soon.”
Since Kallus recovered from his escape, he’s been working closely with the intelligence HQ. Ezra honestly hasn’t seen the man much himself, the only time he seems to leave the office is when Zeb or Rex or Kanan drag him out of there. Well. Half the time it’s just Zeb carrying or dragging him because he passed out. “I didn’t know that Kallus was also assigned field work.”
A smile touches Mon Mothma’s face. “He’s got quite a variety of skills and has been very transparent that he’ll go wherever he is most needed. And with his fresh knowledge on Imperial protocols, I believe that he’ll be able to swiftly get in and out.”
Ezra quirks a brow. “This sounds like a solo mission and pretty much what he was doing a few months ago. Why am I needed?” It’s not that Ezra has been avoiding Kallus. He hasn’t. But he also hasn’t had the chance to get to know the man either. He knows a lot about him thanks to his roommate. Who doesn’t stop talking about him. But Ezra himself hasn’t spoken to him much.
Concern etches a frown on the High Commander’s face. “I and some of the Generals have worries that our captain may focus too much on the end goal and cloud his judgment on an effective retreat.”
The teen feels a twinge of indignation. Do the higher ups still have doubts on which side Kallus is on? He thought that that debate had been settled once and for all. “You’re saying he needs a babysitter?”
Mon Mothma wrings her hands as she shakes her head, almost apologetically. “Not quite. I’ve observed that when Captain Kallus works with someone along his side, he’s more likely to take caution rather than when he’s doing solo work.”
“So… I’ll be there for him to keep himself in check?”
“‘In check’ isn’t how I’d word it, but similar. But don’t be mistaken, this is a two person mission,” Mon Mothma offers him a reassuring smile. “I consulted with Kanan about the mission details and he recommended you. And I agree with his words.”
“Alright,” Ezra shrugs, “I can go grab my things and meet with Kallus.”
“Mm, yes, yes, one more thing…” Ezra watches as Mon Mothma touches her necklace. “Kanan told me to advise you to leave your lightsaber here. And he didn’t elaborate on that.”
Shoulders slumping, Ezra releases a sigh, “Training exercise, it’s for training.” Kanan will randomly give instructions along similar lines. So just the blaster it is.
Nodding, Mon Mothma hands Ezra a datapad. “Here is more information about the mission, you and the captain are set to leave in a few hours. Come to one of us if you have any concerns.”
The teen accepts the tablet, “yes ma’am. I’ll be sure to do that.” She bids him farewell as he begins to read over the mission.
Karabast!
Ezra’s grip on the pad tightens, blood draining from his face.
The mission takes course over a couple of days. It’ll be him and Kallus. Alone for no less than two to three days. Together. He can’t wear his compressor that long. Hera will chew him up alive for it. Ezra feels his heart drop to his stomach. He isn’t ready to tell Kallus though. And he was honestly hoping he wouldn’t ever have to.
Ezra swallows hard and takes a deep breath. It’s alright. This is okay. He has kept this hidden from Kallus this long. What’s a few more days? He can give himself recovering time by taking the nightwatch shifts. Yeah. He can do this. A few extra hours won’t hurt him for a couple of days.
He’ll be fine. Kallus won’t find out. He’ll be fine. It will go smoothly. If Kallus is anything, he’s a reliable mission partner. Ezra knows this.
—
Ezra should’ve listened to Kallus the first time the man said that they should pull back with what information they gathered. Kallus knew that their window was slim, but Ezra pressed on, wanting to get everything they came for so they could go home. It was stupid and rash, but Ezra made them stay longer until Kallus had to pull them out.
“Bridger, we need to leave now,” Kallus hisses his words through gritted teeth as he sends the last DT sentry droid he reprogrammed out to distract the stormtroopers thundering their way.
Swallowing the knot that grew in his throat, Ezra nods, “Yeah… yeah you’re right.”
A wave of relief washes over his mission partner as Ezra allows Kallus to help him up. Kallus makes sure that Ezra is a few steps ahead of him, covering his back. While he does that, Ezra focuses on making sure they have an opening for their escape. He shoots at a few of the stormtroopers blocking their exit, and his hits land, but unfortunately so do a few of theirs. Ezra hisses in pain as one shot hits his blaster, causing him to drop it, and another hits his side. The one that hit his hand burns since he was holding an active blaster, but the one that hit his side.
“Kal, we have an opening!” Ezra feels tears prickle the edges of his vision, crossing his arms over his chest as he runs.
Kallus turns back around, concern coloring his face when he sees that Ezra was hit. He picks up his pace, guiding Ezra out of the imperial compound. They’re able to put distance between them and their pursuers, and Kallus finds an abandoned building for them to shelter in until it’s safe to make it back to their ship.
Once safely inside, Kallus makes no delay in pulling out the bactakit. “Let me see your hands.”
Mouth going dry, Ezra chews on the inside of his cheeks as he holds out the hand that got injured in the shot, keeping his other arm covering his chest.
The other immediately begins to tend to the injury, making sure to be gentle. “This is the only hand that got harmed?”
Ezra just nods wordlessly, avoiding Kallus’s gaze.
“I heard two shots land. Where else did you get hit?” Kallus’s voice is void of any panic, but his tone is nothing but worried as he finishes his work on Ezra’s hand. Ezra can’t bring himself to speak, feeling as if barbed wire is ensaring his throat.
Kallus has to put more effort into masking his panic. “Ezra, I need to know where else you got hit so I can treat your wound.”
The rebel captain becomes speechless as Ezra just shakes his head and pulls his wounded hand back over his chest. That’s when he sees tears burning in the boy’s eyes before the kid desperately tries to blink them away in frustration. He drags his own voice back from wherever it disappeared to, doing his best to make his tone soft and assuring. “I can step back and allow you to treat it yourself, if you think you can manage it by yourself.”
Ezra just shakes his head faster, opening his mouth to try and speak. “I-...” He refuses to meet Kallus’s eyes. “The shot didn’t hit me. The worst of it will just be some bruising. I just-...”
Still just as worried, but now confused, Kallus asks, “Ezra. What got hit?”
The teen mumbles something that Kallus can’t hear.
“Come again?”
Ezra’s eyes finally snap over to him, clearly upset, but not at Kallus. “My kriffing chest compressor! The shot hit my chest compressor and snapped it and it’s going to be bruised tomorrow but now I don’t have a functioning compressor and I have to tell you because I was stupid to think I could hide it during a three day mission!” By the end of his rant, Ezra is back to avoiding Kallus’s eyes.
A chest compressor? Why would-
Oh.
Oh.
Kallus makes sure to keep his tone gentle, and is finally able to ease out his concern. “Ezra?”
“What,” the teen hisses the word out through gritted teeth.
“First, I’m aware that this isn’t how you wanted me to find out, if you wanted me to find out at all, and I’m sorry about that.”
Ezra peeks over at Kallus from the corner of his eyes, some of the tenseness in his body easing away.
“Second, know that I don’t think any different of you. You’re still very much the resourceful, cunning, kriffing wisenheimer I first met a few years ago. And you’re one of the best young men I’ve had the privilege of meeting.”
Ezra can’t hold back the snorting laugh that rips out of his chest. However, the motion causes him to wince. “Oohuch. Yep, that’s definitely going to bruise. Karabast.”
Handing Ezra his blaster, Kallus stands. “Stay here, I’ll be back soon.”
Taking the blaster, Ezra has to resist the urge to stand up. “Where are you off to?”
Kallus stretches as he replies with, “Shopping,” as if its the most obvious thing in the world. Ezra just raises a brow at him as he leaves.
At least that went better than he had imagined it. A warm smile works itself across his features, leaving Ezra defenseless against it. That actually… went over pretty great. Ezra does take the chance to remove the compressor, cutting it off. He whimpers in relief as his entire torso is able to relax. He eases himself against the wall and keeps his arms crossed over his chest as he stares into the darkness of the abandoned building.
In less than half an hour, Kallus comes stumbling in through the back entrance with a large bag. Ezra just gives him a confused look as he makes his way to him. “Whatcha got there, Kal?”
“Gifts.” Kallus stops for a moment and frowns. “However, you can’t use any of them until at least dawn.”
“I don’t…”
The other just sits across from Ezra and begins to neatly lay out the contents of the bag.
Chest Compressors?
Ezra stares at the general compressors. That’s a large bag, why did Kallus grab so many-
The teen stops and leans forward to see clearer. There’s a few generals, yes, but there’s also some soft compressors. Those are used for lighter days or in support to not over do it with the generals, since they have a time limit. Kallus continues to pull out more. There’s a hydro-compressor for prolonged periods in water, some compressors specifically designed for intense training, a-
“HOLY- Force, Kal, is that,” Ezra points at the compressor in Kallus’s hand, “a bacta compressor???”
The man nods, “Yes, for any type of non-critical injuries. I also grabbed a few more variations of-”
“Karabast, Kal, where did you even get these?” It takes so much effort to keep his voice down.
“I stole them. There’s an imperial medical facility not far from here.”
Ezra’s eyes damn near pop out of his skull, “And they just have these?”
"That and so much more. I didn't want to be presumptuous, but just in case it is something you want, I stole these as well," and Kallus pulls out a small box of hormone gel packets. "I can acquire more, if you want me to. And this is an open standing offer. At any point in the future, if you need anything and no one else is able to get it for you, comm me and I'll get on it immediately."
Ezra is at a complete loss as he tries to process this development. After a few minutes, he finally smiles through his shock and chuckles. "Remember how I said you couldn't move in?"
Kallus raises an eyebrow. “Yes. Why?”
Ezra shakes his head as he looks from the medical supplies to Kallus. "I take it back, you can take Zeb’s bunk. He can move in with Kanan-" Ezra just starts laughing and Kallus rolls his eyes, grinning nonetheless.
“But I’m serious,” Kallus hands the bag to Ezra so he can arrange the compressors back into it when and as he wishes, “I advise against putting any of these on, even the soft-comp, at least until sunrise. Because am I correct to assume that you have been wearing a general for the past two days?”
Ezra cringes as he avoids Kallus’s eyes. “I took it off after you fell asleep and put it back on before you woke up.”
“Ezra!” Kallus gives him such a Hera-mom look. “I only slept for four hours!”
The teen glares at the other, “Yeah, so maybe you should sleep longer, huh?”
Kallus chews on his lip as he returns the glare to the teen. “Not a word of this will reach Hera, if you follow the compressor rules.”
Ezra smirks at the other. “We have a deal if you get a full night’s rest before we leave in the morning.”
Kallus rolls his eyes and starts making himself comfortable, as time is running low. “Fair enough. Goodnight, Ezra Bridger.”
Ezra’s face softens, “Goodnight, Alex.”